Issue 3, 10/20/2017 by The Campanile

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

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The Campanile

Vol. C, No. 3

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

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2017

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A brief history of Spirit Week at Paly CASSY replaces previous

Spotlight takes a look at Paly's favorite tradition through the years on pages B4-B5

school guidance service By John Loftus

PALY JOURNALISM ARCHIVES/USED WITH PERMISSION

Juniors (Class of '88) wear T-shirts with their class motto to show their spirit during the 1986 Spirit Week at Palo Alto High School. thirty-one years later, Paly students still make T-shirts and slogans to face off with the other grades during the October rallies.

Senior Staff Writer

aly has chosen Counseling and Support Services for Youth (CASSY) to replace Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS) as its official counseling service after ACS failed to reapply for a contract at the end of the 2016-17 school year. At the time of the decision, CASSY was the provider for counseling services at Palo Alto Unified School District's (PAUSD) elementary and middle schools, which played a major role in the decision, according to senior and climate and social justice commissioner Claire Billman. “One thing we have to look towards when picking our program is long term effect on the District,” Billman said. “CASSY is currently at the elementary and middle school level, and it was high schools that had the gap. By having CASSY throughout the entire school district, we now have a cohesive mental health and wellness program, and will have seamless transition from middle school wellness to high school wellness.” The District was facing a budget deficit when they parted ways with ACS, yet CASSY’s services are almost four times more expensive. However, CASSY’s proposed budget of $467,000 was the cheapest of the District's options,

the other two being priced at $875,000 and $541,000. Even though the price is steep, the services are worth it, according to Billman. “Budget was a factor in our decision making process, but we thought of how many on-campus, full time therapists we are [going to] need,” Billman said. “[With] what we are paying for CASSY, we are getting amazing resources.” According to Billman, CASSY tailors its services to each individual school they work for, and understanding the community and environment of Paly was a key factor in choosing them. “CASSY ended up talking about student climate and how they were going to navigate the waters of the parent networks in Palo Alto, which are infamously known for being very involved in student life,” Billman said. However, the change from ACS to CASSY was more difficult than expected for some students. Although one counselor remained from ACS as a resource for students, the transition was still fraught. Paly senior Ryan Liu has experience with ACS, and finds it difficult to work with CASSY. “The ACS counselor knew my struggles, family situation, sources of stress and just had an overall knowledge about me,” Liu said.

Guidance A3

Hendricks takes place of McGee Palo Alto responds to NorCal fires Interim superintendent chosen unanimously three weeks ago Students and teachers work together to relieve the North Bay By Kaylie Nguyen & Shannon Zhao Staff Writer & Board Correspondent

ollowing former Superintendent Max McGee’s resignation, the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education appointed Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Karen Hendricks as Interim Superintendent on Oct. 2 in a unanimous vote. Previously, Hendricks held many titles in public education, including the Chief Human Resources Officer and Interim Superintendent of the Carmel Unified School District. She also served as the Assistant Superintendent of the Santa Cruz City School District. According to Hendricks, her extensive experience in education will help her have a “really clear focus” on how she plans to serve and bring positive change to the District.

While the District has developed three major goals, according to Hendricks, she prioritizes student well-being above all. To achieve this, the District plans to create a system for middle and high school students to track homework loads, manage test and projects, continue social emotional learning (SEL) and implement recommendations from the 201617 staff wellness survey, according to the 2017-18 draft of PAUSD Board and District Goals. The second goal is making sure all the student have access to the resources they need to be successful. “Some of the things I’m hearing clearly articulated are around equity and access and persisting with our efforts and our commitment towards [equity and access] and towards the plan initiated,” Hendricks said at a Board meeting. “There’s solid work behind that. Continuing that and bringing it forward for review and progress ... is going to be important.”

The last goal is establishing high quality instruction and learning in the District. Hendricks said she wants the District to be able to recruit and retain a diverse and excellent workforce. “My main goal is cheering on the good work of the District that has already begun, supporting students to have the best possible experience,” Hendricks said. According to Hendricks, she plans to make frequent visits to leadership groups such as Associated Student Body (ASB), gather focus groups to discuss students’ concerns and build personal relationships with students. She also encourages students to contact her through email, phone or meet her in person to talk about concerns or ideas they might have. Along with enriching campus life for students, Hendricks said she will support equity work, and recruit and retain the finest educators in the schools. Hendricks said while becom-

Hendricks A3

PAUSDGEN decommissioned

School district to replace wireless network this winter By Byron Zhang

Staff Writer

chool officials will decommission the district-wide wireless network PAUSDGEN at some point this winter, according to Chief Technology Officer Derek Moore. Over the summer, the District refreshed its wireless infrastructure by introducing a new internet platform named “PAUSD,” along with the addition of an authentication feature which requires students to log in with their Infinite Campus usernames and passwords for access. PAUSD will eventually replace PAUSDGEN as the schoolwide wireless network for students and faculty, but both PAUSDGEN and PAUSD will keep providing service until then. As part of the new internet system, the District also recently replaced its unencrypted network StudentWireless with PAUSDGUEST over

INSIDE

the summer. Unlike other district wireless networks, PAUSDGUEST utilizes an authentication process which requires the full name and email of anyone who tries to access it. According to Moore, the District decided to remove PAUSDGEN because of the vulnerability of its one-password feature, which grants unlimited WiFi access to anyone who has entered the password once. Moore said the District’s wireless networks are “intended primarily for instructional purposes.” While acknowledging that many students and staff do use the WiFi for school-related purposes, Moore said he fears that the freedom PAUSDGEN offers has led students to overuse the entertainment aspect of the internet. Many popular video streaming websites such as Netflix and Amazon use a large amount of bandwidth, which causes problems in connection speed for those using

the WiFi for educational purposes. The new PAUSD internet platform will restrict internet data usage for every account. “[The new internet platform will] give us the ability to handle the individual incidences that we have to in an individual way and not necessarily cut or block entire websites for the entire group,” Moore said. Since the new PAUSD network will limit potential internet misuse, the new network will allow access of all clients within the District, including students, teachers and possibly parents and other organizations affiliated with PAUSD, according to Moore. Additionally, the new network’s authentication system will prevent users unaffiliated with PAUSD from accessing internal WiFi service, Moore said. While District officials emphasize the positive impacts of in-

PAUSDGEN

News

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE/PUBLIC DOMAIN

Fires across Northern California have left at least 42 dead and are yet to be fully contained.

By Christopher Pierno

Senior Staff Writer

arly last week, fires broke out in Northern California and surrounding areas. The intensity and destruction the fire has caused has led members of surrounding communities to reach out and help the victims. Paly students and staff immediately began organizing to help victims of the fires in Sonoma and Napa counties north of San Francisco. English teacher Cris Bautista, for example, collected food and other necessities and delivered them to the area on Sunday. “I decided that I need to do something; I need to actually contribute something to benefit and help with what’s going on,” Bautista said. “When I heard about the Napa fire, it was very jarring for me. It was a place I find to be a very big part of myself. I would say I became a teacher over there. I used to teach at a charter school in Vallejo and I worked at a high school in Richmond.” Several devastating wildfires

Opinion

spread at night on Oct. 8, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from Sonoma and Napa counties, leaving destruction in its wake. More than 6,700 homes in the North Bay have been destroyed, and 42 people have been confirmed dead as of Wednesday, with over 400 people reported missing in that area alone. Several new fires broke out last Monday in the Santa Cruz area near Dons Road and Rons Road. Five firefighters have been injured so far and the blaze has consumed 271 acres of land. These fires have caused loss that has personally affected many families in Palo Alto, including students and teachers at Paly. “My cousins’ house and school burned down in the [Sonoma] fire; he and his family had to evacuate to San Francisco,” said senior Derek Gubbens. “They are going to have to stay there until the situation gets better.” Hundreds of individual relief efforts are underway in the Bay Area by private citizens and larger organizations. The Mercury News,

Lifestyle

for example, has regularly urged readers to donate through articles on the impacts of the fire. As of Oct. 17, according to the official fire news report service CalFire, many of the fires are more than 50 percent contained, with the only exception being the fire near Oakmont, north of San Francisco, which is 27 percent contained. “It is not good to donate directly to a shelter because they might have enough of that stuff," Bautista said. "Instead it’s better to donate to a location that distributes to other places because they know where things need to go. Basically, what I find the most useful is donating to a local organization ... because they know what they need.” Bautista said new donations should be primarily monetary as supplies are no longer in short supply, and recommends donations be made at the Napa Valley Community Foundation (www. napavalleycf.org) or the Redwood Credit Union (www.redwoodcu. org).

Sports

this edition

News . . . . . . . . . . A1-A4 Opinion . . . . . . . . A5-A7 Editorials . . . . . . . . . . A8 Lifestyle . . . . B1-B3, B6 Spotlight. . . . . . . . B4-B5 Science & Tech . . B7-B8 Sports . . . C1-C3, C6-C8 Sports Spread . . . C4-C5

BEN VAN ZYLL/THE CAMPANILE

GLOBAL PANORAMA/CC BY-SA 2.0 (CROPPED)

MADS MCCLUSKEY/THE CAMPANILE

ERIC HE/THE CAMPANILE

The Campanile summarizes the

Myanmar crisis overlooked

Expectations of Spirit Week

Weightlifting outside of sports

2017 Palo Alto College Fair.

The world's response to the widespread violence is unacceptable.

PAGE A4

PAGE A6

PAGE B6

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Paly college fair

There is a rising anticipation of upcoming Paly Spirit Week.

Weightlifting has lots of benefits outside of competitive sports.

The Campanile

Friday, October 20, 2017

NEWS

The Centennial Report Paly choir mentored by renowned male chorus

A third look at 100 years of Campanile history Globally recognized Chanticleer visits Paly to offer inspiration and advice to students

could tell how they were thinking and what the song was about.” During the session, both Homestead and Paly choirs spent an hour presenting their pieces to each other and to Chanticleer. Different musical groups within Paly’s choir program such as madrigals choir, concert choir and premier choir all performed separately.

PHOTO BY LISA KOHLER/CC BY-SA 4.0 PALY ARCHIVES/THE CAMPANILE

The Chanticleer men’s chorus, comprised of 12 vocalists, has been demed one of the best choirs in the world.

Seniors wear Greek toga costumes for Spirit Week festivities in 1992.

By Grace Kitayama Senior Staff Writer

ne hundred years, over 500 editors, thousands of staff writers, approximately 4,000 issues, millions of copies and one Woj. The Campanile has witnessed innumerable events in the past century. Let’s take a look back through our newspaper’s archives and see what was happening at Paly in the month of October over the last 100 years. Oct. 24, 1923: Volume 6, No.2 Ninety-four years ago, construction for the swimming pool, the automotive-mechanic building, the science wing and the gymnasium were all underway. The gym was originally designed to have a boys’ unit and a girls’ unit, which more recently were referred to as the big and little gyms, respectively. The three-part construction project was intended to accommodate a rapidly increasing student body. After almost 100 years, Paly’s athletic center has gotten a much-needed upgrade. Oct. 15, 1936: Volume XVIII, No. 4 In addition to The Campanile switching from digits to Roman numerals when numbering its volume, a Republican banquet was held with Alonzo L. Baker, the Republican nominee for the eighth Congressional District. The banquet was held in support of 1936 presidential candidate Alfred M. Landon. The dinner cost $0.50 a ticket (about $8.75 today) and members of the Republican Club were invited along with their parents. Rallies were held so that students could meet Landon. Though Landon did not win the presidency, he was still the governor of Kansas and a prominent political figure at the time, and was even featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1936. Oct. 23, 1941: Volume XXIII, No. 6 This week in 1941, Paly held a pep rally in order to drum up enthusiasm for the basketball and football teams, which were both playing games in the same week. According to the article, the en-

tire student body assembled to cheer on the Vikings. The rally consisted of performances from the pep band and cheer squad as well as several speeches from the student body president and the basketball and football coach. The rally proved to be successful as both teams won their games. This scene from history solidifies Paly’s reputation as a spirited school.

History solidifies Paly’s reputation as a spirited school Oct. 19, 1992: Volume LXXIV, No. 2 Twenty-five years ago this week, Spirit Week was just starting off with several changes implemented in order to eliminate controversy. There was formerly a yell, which was a competition between which class could yell the loudest. This activity was eventually replaced due to the argument from many students that it was unfair (also, because the school was getting noise complaints from Stanford). This year in history, Spirit Week was only four days long due to teachers’ anger about the intrusion it had on classes. Luckily, this did not become a tradition and students presently enjoy five full days of spirit-filled fun. Oct. 27, 2003: Volume LXXX, No. 2 In an in-depth and daring Spotlight article written in 2003, students took a look at the racial segregation that took place at Paly. The article delves deep into the divisions between White, Asian, African American and Latin American students at Paly. Students concluded that the racial division went all the way back to elementary school. Students were separated by race from an early age because of segregated neighborhoods. The article was a powerful and accurate view of racial segregation and bias at Paly. It was a strong piece and a proud asset of The Campanile’s history. Visit palyjournalismarchive. pausd.org to find more of The Campanile’s past articles.

By John Tayeri

Staff Writer hanticleer, a renowned choir group deemed “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker, performed for and mentored the Paly choir at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Oct. 16. The group made its way to Paly for a workshop, giving both the choir and the Homestead High School choir the opportunity to work with a world renowned group. Performances were held in the PAC at 10:30 a.m. The songs performed included “Haec Dies,” a

song that praises god in Latin. Other rooms in the PAC were used for breakout sessions later in the day.

A renowned choir deemed the “world’s reigning male chorus” peformed at the PAC. Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by Louis A. Botto, who sang in the chorus until 1989 and passed away in 1997. After his death, the musical group has con-

tinued to grow in popularity. Over the years, they have traveled the nation for performances and shows. The group has sold over $1 million dollars in albums, and has received two Grammy Awards. Chanticleer has given special attention to youth choir groups since its onset, especially those located in the Bay Area. According to Chanticleer’s website, its youth programs help over 5,000 young musicians every year. “The performance was an incredible experience,” said junior and Paly choir member Brian Ho. “They were expressing the music to the audience in a way that we

The live performance was an eye-opening experience for singers from both schools According to Ho, the live performance was an eye-opening learning experience for singers from both schools. However, they received most of their learning after the recital, when they had the opportunity to learn from the Chanticleer members directly. “Right after the performances, we broke into little groups and we worked on our song pieces,” Ho said. “They looked at what we did well, and how we could improve as both individuals and as a team.” After the performance and the instruction sessions, Paly hosted a lunch for members of Chanticleer and the choirs in the PAC lobby.

Spirit Week and Homecoming to feature variety of new and returning activities

ASB plans exciting event lineup, taking advantage of new facilities on campus

UJWAL SRIVASTAVA/THE CAMPANILE

Students on the quad trade cothing and gear from previous Spirit Weeks for items they can use this year.

By Ujwal Srivastava

Staff Writer

s Spirit Week and Homecoming approach, Paly’s Associate Student Body (ASB) is working to make this year’s events the best ones yet. While the beloved week of festivities will feature classic favorites such as lunch rallies, it will also feature a host of new activities, largely due to the new gym. “Since we have the gyms back, there will no longer be a night ral-

ly; ASB is going back to its roots and putting on a rally on Thursday during Advisory,” Spirit Commissioner Sam Embersits said. “This rally includes a three-point contest, new games and a reorganized relay, all of which helps us achieve our goals of having more students and staff participate.” The new gym also adds an extra layer of excitement to the Homecoming Dance. “[With] the new gym, we are able to host Homecoming on Paly campus, lowering the cost of the

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tickets this year in hopes to get a higher attendance,” Spirit Commissioner Sarah Mitz said. In the weeks leading up to Spirit Week, ASB will also be organizing Spirit Swap. According to Mitz, Spirit Swap is a way for students to save money while receiving new clothes at the same time. Students can bring their old Spirit Week clothes or any other items they have a home that would work for a different grade’s theme in exchange for something of equal value.

Mitz and Embersits say they are both looking forward to a successful Spirit Week after months of work. “We’ve been planning spirit week since May,” Embersits said. “Everything’s been going according to plan so far, and we couldn’t be more excited to see the end result.” During the week of Oct. 9, ASB organized a Capture the Flag tournament, a project headed by Sports Commissioner Benner Mullin. According to Mullin, this was the first sports tournament of the year, but ASB is hoping to host three more. Mullin said that Capture the Flag was chosen by popular vote and teams were split up based on grade (freshman/senior and sophomore/junior). Despite getting off to what he called a great start, the tournament had to be suspended due to smoke from the fires in Sonoma County. “Unfortunately, due to the bad air quality, we have had to cancel the games indefinitely,” Mullin said. “The district mandated that all outdoor activites stop and we have to honor that. Hopefully the air quality improves soon, and we can finish the tournament next week. Otherwise we may have to complete the tournament after Spirit Week.”

UPCOMING EVENTS OCT

SPIRIT WEEK You’ll definitely have time for float building, spirit dance and all your college apps!

OCT

HOMECOMING

OCT

UNITY DAY Apparently, that’s a thing. We didn’t know either.

OCT

HALLOWEEN

NOV

Desperate? So are we.

There’s no age limit on free candy. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS You needed less sleep.

NOV

VETERANS DAY

NOV

TURKEY TROT Turkey-trot your way over to University Avenue.

11 17

Thank you to all who serve.

The Campanile

Friday, October 20, 2017

NEWS

Rail committee examines impact of changed Caltrain system Council aims to address safety concerns, help connect community, refine transit system and improve the environment By Leela Srinivasan

Staff Writer

he Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee is currently working with the community to explore options for underground train tracks that are projected to run along the existing Caltrain path through Palo Alto. The Rail Committee re-established itself this year to address the impact that the Peninsula Corridor Electrification project will have on the residents of Palo Alto. The project involves converting the current diesel-hauled trains to Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) trains and upgrading the efficiency, safety and reliability of Caltrain’s service, according to Caltrain. While this improvement will benefit daily commuters in the region, it will also aggravate the current disadvantages of the Caltrain’s path through Palo Alto, including disruptions and traffic jams. Many students are inconve-

nienced by the current railroad crossing at the intersection of Churchill Avenue and Alma Street, located directly next to one of the entrances to Palo Alto High School. “Technically, it’s faster for me to take Alma to school, but then I have to worry about the unpredictability [of the train passing through],” said junior Angela Cummings. “I could either be 10 minutes early or 10 minutes late to school.” Thus, Cummings needed to find an alternative route and decided to start traveling on El Camino Real, because it was a route that she could rely on to arrive at school on time. “I know that my commute to school would be much faster if the trains didn’t constantly pass through [the Churchill intersection],” Cummings said. Rail Committee and City Council member Adrian Fine believes this situation would be magnified as a result of the Peninsula Corridor Electrification

project. “The railroad crossing at Churchill closes every five minutes, and causes a huge traffic backup,” Fine said. “With the efficiency of the [soon to be instated] Caltrain project, now imagine if the trains were coming twice as often and the effect it would have on residents who are trying to get across the city.” The Rail Committee is determined to combat this issue and has decided to work directly with the community to determine what solutions they would accept by holding open workshops. Fine says that after receiving community input from the last two workshops, the committee found that the majority of the community prefers a solution with underground train tracks. “It would be ideal to have a tunnel, where the train is out of sight and out of mind while still maintaining great connections to San Francisco and San Jose,” Fine said. “This would also open up space to build parks or build more

housing, giving us more freedom for the land above [the underground train tracks].” When the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system was originally constructed in the 1960s, Berkeley, Calif.’s City Council voiced their concerns about the disruptions of transit above ground which were then altered when they included sections of the line underground to accommodate this request. As a result, current Berkeley residents are not affected by the disruption that an above ground system entails, which is an atmosphere that Palo Altans could look forward in the future. However, it is important to recognize the tradeoffs of choosing to implement underground tracks. This choice will involve high costs and complicated logistics, involving working with neighboring cities, managing engineering and navigating the underground water cables, among other obstacles. Fine also discloses that while

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/CC BY 2.0

A speeding Caltrain approaches the downtown Palo Alto station. the decision to go underground is not directly correlated with past incidents involving community members who have taken their lives on the tracks, one of the guiding principles of their decisions regarding the Rail Corridor is the community’s welfare. “As we decide the rail corridors and grade separations, safety is top of mind,” Fine said. In addition to addressing safe-

ty concerns, the Rail Committee’s top priorities are to promote a connected community, good transit and a clean environment. The next workshop will be held on Oct. 21. Residents are encouraged to participate in and take advantage of the opportunity to have their voices heard as the committee begins to narrow down choices to the preferred alternative.

CASSY supercedes Hendricks chosen as PAUSDGEN to be ACS as guidance new superintendent replaced in January CONTINUED FROM A1

“Swapping for a new counselor meant that I had to start anew.” “It felt that the CASSY counselor was sort of replacing the ACS counselor and that didn’t feel right, especially since there were so many moments worth remembering with the old counselor.” Additionally, the fact that students can’t stay in contact with their previous counselor creates an even harder situation. “When a counselor stops being ‘hired’ or stops talking to you in a counselor-patient relationship like the end of last year, by ethical reasons in the business you cannot befriend them or anything after,” Liu said. However, Liu does acknowl-

CONTINUED FROM A1

edge the immense resource counseling services provide and wishes that more students took advantage of them.

When a counselor stops being ‘hired’ or stops talking to you in a counselor-patient relationship like the end of last year, by ethical reasons in the business you cannot befriend them or anything after.” Ryan Liu

“CASSY does still offer a good service and the people are very friendly,” Liu said. “I feel counseling is just an underused resource.”

SHANNON ZHAO/THE CAMPANILE

Former superintendent Max McGee stepped down on Sept. 29.

CONTINUED FROM A1 ing the interim superintendent this early in the year came unexpectedly, she is ready to establish trust in the community and to “steady the waters” within the District.

Although Hendricks said she does not have specific plans for responding to student input she did say she is eager to implement policies such as open Q&A sessions with students to increase transparency and her involvement with them.

troducing the new PAUSD network, some students see this change as unnecessary. “PAUSDGEN is working so far, [so] why [is there] the need to change it?” said junior Kiran Majeti. “I don’t see an issue with the way the system works right now.” In response to student concerns, Moore clarified that the changes are intended to give students quick, safe and reliable internet access. “We want to ensure that students and staff can get to work as fast as possible,“ Moore said. “It’s about giving the right people the access to right resources.” Because the new network system demands an authentication process regardless of whether us-

ers are affiliated with PAUSD or not, district technicians worry that it would be inconvenient in classes where students must share their computers between classes and have to login every time they access the internet.

“We want to ensure that students and staff can get to work as fast as possible. It’s about giving the right people the access to the right resources.” Derek Moore

Moore said this problem could delay the removal date of PAUSDGEN.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

NEWS A4 Las Vegas shooting raises Annual College Fair held safety concerns at concerts at Peery Family Center Students concerned about Rolling Loud Festival’s security CCC provides insight to opportunities after high school

BEN VAN ZYLL/THE CAMPANILE

In the Peery Center students and parents wait to talk to college representative and collect brochures. EGGHEAD06/CC BY-SA 4.0

The Las Vegas shooting incident raised concerns among students about the security of events like concerts.

By Will Robins

Staff Writer

he recent shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip is sparking security concerns for the upcoming Rolling Loud Music Festival. The two-day event, set to take place on Oct. 21-22, features some of the biggest rap and R&B artists in the nation, such as Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert and 21 Savage. It will be held at Shoreline Amphitheater, a popular concert destination for Paly students. Although the Las Vegas shooting was an isolated incident, many Paly students say higher security measures at Shoreline are necessary. “I think that the shooting in Vegas shows us that we don’t always know what can happen,” said junior Dwayne Trahan, who will be attending the festival. “Rolling

Loud should make sure audience and artist safety is a top priority.” According to Rolling Loud’s website, the festival has now been named the largest hip-hop festival in the world.

“The shooting in Vegas shows us that we don’t always know what can happen.” Dwayne Trahan

Junior Claire Moley feels unaffected by the recent events in Las Vegas. “I understand why some of my friends are a little scared [by the shooting], but I feel like the attack in Las Vegas was a very rare incident and had little to do with the lack of security of the festival itself,” Moley said. However, other festivals and

events across the country have increased police and security throughout the venues, something neither Rolling Loud nor Shoreline have mentioned as a priority. One music festival that has increased security measures since the Las Vegas shooting was the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which took place in Austin, Texas on Oct. 7. After the tragedy in Las Vegas, Austin’s Police Chief Brian Manley told NBC News he had to re-evaluate the security plan for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. “You have to realize that you do host the next large music event in the country,” Manley said. The Austin festival even offered buyers refunds on their tickets if they no longer felt comfortable attending the event. So far, Rolling Loud has not announced any changes in security or any alterations to the event.

By Ben van Zyll

Staff Writer

ith over 100 representatives from colleges all around the world, the 2017 Palo Alto College Fair was an opportunity for students to pursue possible post-high school destinations.

Attendees were pleased with the sophistication and convenience of the event. Students often view the annual college fair as an opportunity to gain more knowledge about they want to go to college and what they want to study. The fair also gave students the opportunity to understand of what each college provides in terms of culture, academic rigor and student life. “I wanted to gain some exposure on the different universities that I might not yet know about to open my mindset a little bit more,” Gunn junior Bridgette

Gong said. “There was a lot of good information at the stands, people who could answer my questions thoroughly, and a lot of people with experienced backgrounds.” Representatives from the schools provided information for prospective students from both high schools. “Depending on what the students are interested in, I tell them about our location, our size and kind of different programs we offer and different things about our campus life,” said St. Lawrence University representative Mary Kelly. Attendees said they were pleased with the sophistication and convenience of the event. “It was a great way to learn about colleges without needing to go through the process of doing visits and other things like that,” Paly junior Nicholas Welch said. The only downside for some students of the event was the lengthy lines. Schools with long lines included the University of Michigan, the University of

Washington, the University of Southern California (USC) and other popular schools among Paly and Gunn students. “Some of the long lines in front of the popular schools really took time away from getting exposure to as many schools as possible, because you would have to wait so long just to talk to one representative,” Gunn junior Brenda Cornelio said. “Maybe if they could get more [representatives] it would flow better.”

The only downside of the event was the lengthy lines. Despite the lines, the event had a large turnout. “I’m really surprised at how well this even turned out because there are representatives from so many different schools, and it’s really great to learn about different schools from so many places across the world,” Gong said. “I definitely got what I wanted out of the fair.”

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Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

OPINION

Colin Kaepernick is a football player turned American martyr By Leyton Ho

Staff Writer

olin Kaepernick is a modern day martyr. He isn’t dead. He isn’t holy. He isn’t fighting a battle for religion. But he is a symbol of sacrifice and advocacy in a divided nation, a polarizing force who has been both commended and condemned for his protests and the discourse they generate. We live in a world where white supremacists can walk through a college town wielding torches screaming “Jews will not replace us” and “blood and soil” (a Nazi slogan) with only a half-hearted reprimand from the President of the United States. A world where Philando Castile and Trayvon Martin, young African American men, are shot and killed by police without consequences for the officers. A world where minorities often find themselves bound by the confines of society, unable to break the vicious cycle of poverty. Scary times indeed. Over a year has passed since Kaepernick first took a knee during the national anthem of a National Football League (NFL) game to protest racial inequality in America. He is no longer playing in the league, largely due to the publicity and controversy following his protest. NFL team owners, all white except for one, are unwilling to sign him.

We live in a world where white supremacists can walk through a college town wielding torches screaming “Jews will not replace us.” On Sept. 23, Kaepernick’s actions culminated in a response from the White House. President Donald Trump tweeted, “If a player wants the privilege of making millions of dollars in the NFL, or other leagues, he or she should not be allowed to disrespect our Great American Flag (or Country) and should stand for the National Anthem. If not, you’re fired. Find something else to do.” It isn’t hard these days to provoke a Trump reaction on Twitter, but his tweets often quickly fade

out of the spotlight. In the case of Trump’s NFL tweet, however, the response was immediate and sustained. The following day, over 100 NFL players knelt in a stunning display of defiance, and have continued kneeling weeks after Trump’s tweet. This is the power of a martyr. A martyr is a person who makes a tremendous sacrifice for a cause and is seen as the driving force behind the cause. The word evokes images of John Brown, an anti-slavery abolitionist whose death drove the North to pursue abolition, and Joan of Arc, a heroine wrongly burned at the stake. Colin Kaepernick stands with them, having sacrificed his career. A martyr sacrifices, but more importantly, a martyr becomes a symbol, a leader representing a message even long after he or she is gone. The power of a martyr comes not from what they say (or tweet) but from the power of their followers, who amplify and propagate their message well beyond the reach of a single person. That is why President Trump’s tweet had the exact opposite effect that he intended; instead of silencing Kaepernick’s voice, he amplified it by a thousand times. Believe me. “Those who don’t care about football are now going to weigh in because they either like Trump or don’t like Trump,” said Paly AP

US History teacher John Bungarden. “So suddenly people who don’t pay attention to the NFL will pay attention because Trump has made it an issue.” So whether you agree with Trump’s message that American society is racially biased against people of color or you agree with the President, we all have to acknowledge how Kaepernick’s actions have successfully engaged the nation in the discussion that he intended. He has not given many interviews on the topic; he does not speak at rallies, spewing rhetoric or giving simplistic sound bites. Instead, he took simple and consistent action. He caused people to ask “why,” to do their own investigations and to come to their own conclusions. It is a thoughtful protest, one that inspires independent thought in a nation driven by mob mentalities. The impact of his simmering message is felt more acutely each week of the 2017-18 season as his protest spreads. It spreads to Bellarmine High School, where 12 high school football players knelt in a game against Sierra High School. To Oakland, where catcher Bruce Maxwell, the son of a veteran, became the first MLB player to kneel for the anthem. The platform varies but the message remains the same: this isn’t the America we want; change is needed.

Colin Kaepernick is a divisive figure in America, a rallying figure for some and the target of immense hatred from others.

The power of a martyr comes not from what they say but from the power of their followers. As the NFL season rolls on and America attempts to close the growing divide between her citizens, Kaepernick’s protest holds strong. He is perhaps the most influential football player living today, in large part because his message transcends sports. While Tom Brady will be remembered for Super Bowls wins and touchdowns, Kaepernick’s legacy extends to every past, present and future American citizen. Possessing the bravery and courage to fight for the oppressed, the 6-foot-4-inch African American with the afro is an unexpected hero and symbol of resistance in the midst of hard times. Colin Kaepernick, once a rising star in the NFL, once a Super Bowl starting quarterback of one of the most storied football teams in the nation is a modern day martyr. The only question that remains is whether we as a nation will avenge his sacrifice and fight for his cause.

Digital clocks ought to replace analog ones throughout classrooms ing the clock is frozen,” Itzkowitz said. “Teachers will sometimes let us out late because of it, planning the class based on the frozen clock, forcing us to stay in longer to finish the lesson.” These freezes or lags in the analog clocks can be incredibly annoying. “It’s kind of hard to tell when [analog clocks] are not working sometimes,” said freshman Gaurav Tyagi.

One of the worst feelings Paly students experience during a test is not knowing the time.

By Edan Sneh

Online Editor

hroughout the years, the use of technology at Paly has advanced dramatically. Chalkboards have changed into SMART boards, laptops and iPads have replaced giant binders and spiral notebooks are being traded in for Chromebooks.

The only real advantage analog clocks have over digital ones is their elegant and symbolic looks.

But one aspect of Paly is still heavily outdated: its clocks. Paly administrators need to rethink their implementation of clocks by replacing analog clocks with digital ones and putting more clocks up outside of classrooms. Analog clocks have been around since the 1500s and were first popularized by clockmaker Jacob Zech who lived in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. Analog clocks were shaped in a circular fashion, which minimizes the energy used to tell the time. In the 1500s, it would have required a substantial amount of energy and a complex mechanism

for analog clocks to have the same interface as digital ones. But with the invention of electricity, the difference in the use of electrical energy between analog and digital clock has been reduced to an average of about two D-cell batteries every two years. Additionally, although the cost of digital clocks might seem like an issue, both digital clocks and analog clocks installed at Paly cost $200 to $300, because the clocks need to be wirelessly synced together. In modern times, the only real advantage analog clocks have over digital ones is their elegance. Yet, elegance should not matter in classes where knowing the time in a fast and accurate manner is extremely important. “[The minute hand on analog clocks have] almost no difference between 53 and 54,” said senior Ruth Itzkowitz. “Those last few minutes in class can really matter, and if the minute hand is barely moving, it is a pain in the butt.” While a switch to digital clocks may be trivial in classes that do not require tests, it is essential to most math, science, social studies and music classes. One of the worst feelings Paly students can experience during a test is not knowing the time. The

mini panic attack students feel when it seems like five minutes are left on a test when in actuality 20 minutes remain can put their bodies in panic mode. Because reading the time on an analog clock is more difficult, remembering when the test started can be much harder. As a more visual thinker, memorizing what a digital clock looked like before a test is much easier than thinking back to where the hands were pointing, because numbers are much easier to think back to when compared with the angle of an arrow. “I definitely prefer digital clocks,” said freshman Christopher Chen. “The hands moving [on an analog clock] can be distracting.” Having a clock that’s distracting and more difficult to look at not only takes extra time out of a test, but also makes students forget the problem on the test they were focusing on. In classes where the teacher has the clock directly facing them, such as orchestra and band, the teacher will often count on an analog clock to know when to dismiss class. “[Analog clocks] have frozen in class and teachers do not know what time it is, not always know-

On the other hand, it is easy to tell when a digital clock has stopped since the screen will just go blank. As for a lag, digital clocks almost never miss the time and can even adjust to daylight savings time automatically depending on the model. In the cases of lagging, digital clocks are easy to adjust and do not require a mechanic. A common argument against digital clocks is that the bright light burns people’s eyes. However, companies such as Innovation Wireless provide clocks with a non-eye-straining liquid-crystal display (LCD) rather than the light-emitting diode (LED) display, which is much harder on the eyes. These digital clocks are able to display exact seconds and the date, so teachers do not have to put it up on the board each day. Some models can even calculate temperature. According to Assistant Vice Principal Jerry Berkson, new renovations for the World Language buildings already plan to install digital clocks. Digital clocks would also be an important addition in areas outside of classrooms, such as the exterior of the portables facing the quad, the exterior of the MAC and the exterior of the math and history buildings. If the administration does not soon implement digital clocks at Paly, it will mostly likely lower test averages in the long run and lead to confusion among students and teachers in terms of time.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

OPINION

Myanmar genocide should receive more attention By Yusra Rafeeqi

Staff Writer

illages burned to ashes, civilians brutally shot to the ground while running for their lives and the fear of triggering land mines right outside their homes — these horrors are not even a fraction of the calamities the victims of one of the worst humanitarian disasters of this century face. “A textbook example of ethnic cleansing” is how United Nations (U.N.) Human Rights Council High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein described the situation in Myanmar. The world’s fastest-growing refugee crisis is taking place in the Rakhine district of the country, where Rohingya Muslims are fleeing the callous violence of the military. The situation in Myanmar has presented itself as a serious issue for several years –– yet no one seems willing to recognize, let alone discuss, the atrocity. What should be happening is an international recognition of this gross display of inhumanity. An insurgent attack on Aug. 25 led by very few Rohingya militants claiming to represent Rakhine has provided enough of a pretense for troops to drive more than half a million Rohingya, at least 240,000 of them being children, out of their homes and across the border to Bangladesh, according to the U.N. News Centre. The refugees brought with them accounts of indiscriminate slaughter and mass rape. The scorched-earth reaction of the government has been to force almost 200 villages into abandonment. According to Human Rights Watch, close to 100 villages, home to hundreds of thousands of indigent civilians, were targeted by arson attacks and total destruction. Al-Hussein described the reaction to the attack as “clearly disproportionate,” and rightly so. The historical situation is an accumulation of years of discrimination by Myanmar’s government and the Buddhist majority, taking it so far as to deny basic rights, work, education and even citizenship to the generations-old ethnic group. The persecution of the Rohingya reaches back to the origin of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. This practice is intertwined with the country’s Buddhist tradition, according to New

York Magazine. Upon taking office, Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who wrongfully won her position through the removal of hundreds of thousands of Muslims from voter rolls, announced her plans to end the ethnic discrimination, proclaiming “our country is thirsting for peace.” However, as the situation intensified, she refused the help of the U.N. human-rights team, as well as several other international organizations according to The New Yorker. She has allowed the prejudice to continue and denied the Muslim Rohingya should be recognized as an ethnicity in Myanmar. Her office has gone on to accuse the Rohingya of setting fire to their own homes to provoke an outcry. While speaking to Turkey’s president, Suu Kyi claimed international media has created “a huge iceberg of misinformation” and has gone on to propose that “there have been allegations and counter-allegations,” and “we have to listen to all of them.” Some say to avoid risking the large domestic majority in order to save an already-hated minority is a justification for Suu Kyi’s silence. However, even the fact that Myanmar’s military has most of the power does not provide any excuse for Suu Kyi’s refusal to acknowledge the massacre happening in her country.

It’s like replaying history — hundreds of thousands of a minority population being shoved into internment camps by the government and with little access to food and medicine. Hundreds of lives lost while trying to escape the very homes where they were oppressed, families being torn apart and children dying or being left behind in the process. And yet, the responses to the circumstances in Myanmar have been disappointing. Myanmar’s government continually refuses to accept what they are doing is ethnic cleansing, and the country’s own leader, who represented a beacon of hope to end ethnic tensions in the country, has instead turned her back on her own citizens, calling them “terrorists.” Although the U.N. called for an investigation in March, as well as a commission to Suu Kyi’s government providing “recommendations,” there has been almost no focus on Myanmar’s military, a large component of the authority in the country. In fact, the opposite of this has occurred, with countries in Europe and Asia giving the head of military a thumbs up and continuing to train the soldiers of the brutal regime, according to Al Jazeera. With international support from some of the world’s largest countries, it’s best to think the Burmese military won’t back off anytime soon. The only way to

The main focus of Paly’s Living Skills class is wellness, health and finding one’s identity. The class syllabus lists many learning objectives including lessons on drugs and alcohol, racism, sexism, sexual safety and the gender spectrum. Although Living Skills does a fantastic job in promoting social emotional learning — critical components for succeeding in college and in the future — there are plenty of other relevant concepts that students could benefit from learning in the class. In our complex society composed of intricate tax systems, insurance rates and voting polls, the real world can be immensely confusing to navigate, especially for young adults who have been sheltered by their parents for the majority of their lives. “From first-hand experience, I have seen very knowledgeable students who have slowly fallen behind due to not knowing how to deal with living alone and being independent,” said Paly graduate Nathalia Castillo (‘17). “Learning how to build your credit, manage credit cards without falling into debt and balancing checkbooks are just a handful of skills that should be taught in high school.” Not only do many graduates leave Paly unprepared for the real

world, but many students forget the material taught in Living Skills soon after completing the course, according to Castillo. To remedy this problem, the course should must be geared towards making the significant information resonate with students. Of the course’s content, only a small portion of it includes skills that can be applied in the future. For example, even though the curriculum for Living Skills involves instruction on how to maintain a balanced diet, there is no unit on the basics of cooking. While Paly provides a culinary course, students enroll in it since it is not a required class. This inability to cook a healthy meal leads to the consumption of cheap, artificial foods with the potential to cause health issues. Right now especially, in an era full of booming technology and advanced learning, young adults are becoming more intellectual, yet many still lack the basic skills required to get them through certain situations. An individual might have the facilities to acquire a job, but not the background information on how to build a resume or conduct successful interviews. This is a necessary unit Living Skills instructors should spend at least a few weeks

ease the pressure building up in Myanmar and save thousands of innocent lives is through international awareness of the dire situation. Even in the socially-conscious community of Palo Alto, few people have mentioned or are aware of this crisis. Not only has the genocide of Muslims in Myanmar been going on for several year, but that crises such as the one in Myanmar that revolve around the concept of discrimination even exists is concerning. In a time where most people understand the consequences of discriminating against a minority for the actions of small, extremist groups, we don’t seem to be paying attention to a textbook example happening right before our eyes.

Even in the socially-conscious community of Palo Alto, few people have mentioned or are even aware of this crisis. In addition, respect for human rights is an utmost priority that has been revolving around the world in light of recent events, yet many of us just bat an eye when we see a situation like the one the Rohingya face, not bothering to confront, discuss or even simply acknowledge the atrocity of it.

Living Skills ought to prepare for real-world problems

By Kennedy Herron

Staff Writer

ost parents want to ensure their children have the skills required to succeed in whatever path they choose. However, there is only so much a parent can teach their child. Immediately after graduating from Paly, seniors are released into the world to live away from home for the first time. But how are they expected to thrive without having learned the practical skills needed in life?

Of the course’s content, only a small portion of it includes skills that can be applied in the future. When enrolling in Living Skills, one would expect to gain the necessary knowledge to help guide them through life. While this course touches on extremely important general topics, such as mental health, sexual education and social justice issues, Paly does not offer a course that teaches students simple, applicable tasks — like balancing a checkbook and paying household bills.

teaching. Nevertheless, some students who attended the summer session of Living Skills report that the program briefly addressed the subject of finance. Even though the summer class includes a segment of information about money, the content did not have any lasting effects. “There was one speaker who came in and gave us a lecture on basic finance, but I don’t remember much from it,” junior Natalie Churchley said. “[Instead] we pretty much just watched a movie every day about drugs, eating healthy and social pressures.” A finance unit is desperately needed in the Living Skills curriculum, as it is a prominent part of adult life. This lack of coordination between the semester program and the summer program leaves many under prepared. Teachers must streamline the two curricula in order to create better communication and a more specific course structure. In the long run, it will be more valuable for students to learn about useful tips for the future, as well as the current class syllabus. Castillo said, “The Living Skills curriculum should be redesigned to focus on life after high school.”

The Campanile

Friday, October 20, 2017

OPINION

Honors electives should be weighted to increase enrollment

By Byron Zhang

Staff Writer

ver the past two years, Paly publications have written a total of 23 articles regarding the issue of weighted GPA (WGPA). Although the school board’s unanimous approval of WGPA shut off the fierce debate for five months, the topic jumped back into the spotlight following the recent hacking of Paly student GPA data and the creation of a class ranking database. Those who opposed WGPA say they worry about increased stress on students who are already facing stiff competition. But what’s the problem with competition? Competition encourages students to seek out more knowledge. In terms of mental health, the real culprit is that the WGPA system may drive students to take Advanced Placement (AP) and honors courses for the sole purpose of receiving weighted credit, possibly causing students to neglect their actual passions. There is a clear reason why a student can play video games enthusiastically for five hours straight yet easily be exhausted by three math problems –– they’re simply not interested. Administrators keep an eye on enrollment numbers to further understand student choices, according to Assistant Principal Vicki Kim. Last year, before the Palo Alto Unified School District

School Board announced the decision to weight GPAs, some 788 Paly students enrolled and remained in at least one AP course, according to Paly Academic Technology Specialist Mona Siegel. This year, the number increased to 821, with roughly the same number of upperclassmen as last year. This shows a potentially dangerous trend — AP courses, the majority related to core subjects, are sapping the enrollment in elective courses. When examining the enrollment data deeply, one will find class sizes are growing for introductory electives such as Video Production and Concert Choir. But these classes are widely used to fulfill graduation requirements, and the higher enrollment is probably due to the overall increase in school population. On the other hand, advanced-level electives such as Radio Broadcast and Advanced Vocal are on the verge of cancellation, some with a miniscule enrollment of four students each. “I’d hate to see us not run courses because of low enrollment,” Principal Kim Diorio said. Despite the discouraging data, it is futile to keep arguing for unweighted GPAs. The Board’s unanimous decision is firm, and it’s too soon for either side to make a defensible argument based on sufficient data. Fortunately, a solution has emerged that utilizes the advantage of weighted grades and still encourages students to pursue

their passions: improving elective classes so they can qualify for AP and honors credit which will also contribute to a WGPA. Increasingly, electives teachers are adjusting their curriculum, especially in arts and media, to entice students to continue taking those courses. The trend began two years ago when art teacher Kate McKenzie succeeded in winning weighted credit for Advanced Painting/ Drawing Honors. Photo teacher Margo Wixsom followed by refining the Advanced Photo curriculum. Last April, Wixsom collaborated with Gunn High School in designing an Advanced Photography Honors course, which University of California (UC) later approved. Students taking Advanced Photography this year will receive weighted credit. Wixsom said this serves the broader goal of enabling a wider range of Paly students to access AP courses. Michael Najar, Instructional Supervisor of the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Department, said teachers are looking into honors credit for more arts classes. Journalism teacher Paul Kandell said he and the other journalism teachers are working to create a Career-Technology Education (CTE) pathway for students, including a weighted Advanced Journalism class. “After you finish Beginning Journalism, the introductory course, you will spend a year as a reporter on one of the publica-

tions,” Kandell said. “When you come back, you will participate in journalism with another perspective which involves leadership and management [which will be weighted], where students put in extra hours doing more complex work.” People who argue for weighting GPAs say it establishes fairness because it rewards students who enroll in AP and honors classes that are truly challenging and require substantial effort. The new advanced-level CTE and VAPA courses will also be difficult and demanding, so they deserve the same benefits.

At this point, it is futile to keep arguing for unweighted GPAs. “If electives are weighted, it’ll encourage more students to try new things and take new classes and develop passions for said electives,” junior Annie Tsui said. Diorio said the time of year has come when teachers and administrators start thinking about next year’s course catalog. Students and parents should support the effort to upgrade the curriculum in elective classes. Tougher electives can provide more interesting challenges and improve students’ GPAs. Even though there isn’t enough data yet to show the benefits and drawbacks of turning regular electives into honors classes, it won’t hurt to give it a try.

College and Career Center makes positive changes to advisory

By Raj Lele

Senior Staff Writer

very fall, seniors are bombarded with school assignments, extracurriculars and college apps. At Palo Alto High School, they are instructed to follow specific guidelines to ensure that their Common Application (Common App) and University of California Application (UC App), among others, are ready to be sent to colleges.

Advisory has become a lot more useful because it is now meticulously guiding students through the Common App.

Some of the most important documents in this checklist include cover sheets, adding teacher recommenders on the Common App and explaining how students should guide themselves through the application portals. In prior years, it was wellknown that students had to complete the Common App and UC App and get their cover sheets in before a certain date. However, according to College and Career Center (CCC) adviser Sandra

Cernobori, students had been incorrectly completing their checklist. “Every year, Ms. [Ann] Deggelman and I would see several mistakes when students filled out their cover sheets and especially the Common App,” Cernobori said. “We wanted to create a way to solve the problems that emerged in the last few years, and we thought the best way to do this was by making them part of lesson plans in advisory.” The CCC had been playing a game of chess far too long where they moved pawn after pawn, making minimal adjustments to its seemingly rudimentary lessons. However, this most recent move should be considered a checkmate. Advisory has become more useful because it is now meticulously guiding students through the Common App, a necessary tool students use during the application process. This allows students to become more informed about how they can meet Paly’s standards in terms of getting documents sent in on time and without penalty by either the college or Paly’s CCC. Senior Nicholas Ogawa said the transformation of advisory

from less useful lessons to lessons that will save seniors’ time during the college application process is a huge help for students who may not know the intricacies of the process. “The time in advisory gives me a nice overview, and I’m also able to fill in sections of the Common App with my advisor’s help that I may not get around to at home,” Ogawa said. Although many students, like Ogawa, may have a college counselor outside of school, he said the lessons are still necessary for Paly students. “The lessons fill cracks on the Paly side, such as cover sheets and needing to turn forms in by certain deadlines, so it’s pretty helpful, even if I do have a college counselor,” Ogawa said. However, senior Dylan Hu said these advisory lessons haven’t been totally worth the time seniors spend, because most of what is presented is common knowledge, and the application portals are easily navigable. “I would say everything has been helpful so far, but I would say that it could all be learned on my own,” Hu said. “Time could be better spent — we’d [be] better

off with more Flex time because we need to keep our grades strong throughout this semester. I would advocate that students who need help could visit their adviser and essentially make advisories like these optional.” It seems that taking into account all views, advisory should be spent helping students properly filling in their application portals with their teachers or completing homework. If necessary, certain advisories should be reserved for recent lessons such as hand-shaking. In fact, both Hu and Ogawa agree lessons, such as hand-shaking, should have time devoted to it because it has its merits. “‘[Learning how to shake] hands would probably be the least helpful, but it has benefits because we’ll probably need to know how to properly shake hands before interviews and meeting college [representatives],” Ogawa said. Although there are currently some flaws in the Advisory system as Hu and Ogawa pointed out, Paly’s three-tiered guidance system is headed in the right direction, and we can only expect better things from them moving forward.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

EDITORIALS

CCC should consider reform Student-teacher evaluation forms must be improved T he college application season is fraught with deadlines and decisions. Amid the stress of standardized testing, college research and Advanced Placement (AP) classes, the College and Career Center (CCC) becomes an increasingly vital resource, providing experienced counselors and a plethora of information about prospective colleges. However, the role of the CCC in the college application process could be improved. Expand Seating Anyone who has visited the CCC can recall the limitations of such a small space. The room can comfortably seat about 15 students along with a college representative, but often more students want to attend. When more popular schools such as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) or Columbia University visit, the room becomes so crowded that some students have to stand against the back wall or listen from the hallway. These limitations cause some students to miss out on the chance to learn more about the schools they want to explore. Even when students can sit comfortably, the college representative often must shout over the college counselors’ meetings with individual students, taking place less than 10 feet away and separated by only a thin partition. This not only disturbs the visit, but it inconveniences the student and counselor and giving

as many as 30 people the chance to eavesdrop on a private conversation. The Campanile proposes that all future college visits take place in the Performing Arts Center, where the bigger space can accommodate more students. College representatives could also utilize the PAC’s technology by preparing slideshows, providing them with a greater degree of versatility than the CCC currently provides. Highlight opportunities The current system allows many smaller, lesser-known colleges to go unnoticed, simply because students don’t know their names. In Paly’s efforts to steer students away from the high pressure Ivy-League-or-bust mentality, the CCC should encourage students to research other lesserknown colleges that could potentially provide the same quality of education. To increase interest in more obscure colleges, the CCC should add a short description of each college on the college schedule, to attract students to attending college visits that they wouldn’t otherwise know about. Improve communication Few students outside of college applicants utilize, or even know about, the CCC webpage and Naviance, the two main places where students can check the schedule for college visits. While InFocus publicizes college visits, it only announces the current day’s visitors, much too late for the

mandatory one day advance notice to obtain a teacher signature to excuse the student from class. During the college visit season, the CCC should place college visit schedules on the calendar on the front page of the Paly website, or link their website directly on the website for easier access and increased awareness of its resources.

The current system allows many smaller, lesser-known colleges to go unnoticed. Share notes online Sometimes, students can’t attend college visits because they would miss an important class period, but fortunately, they can still learn about that college through the meticulous notes taken by CCC volunteers during the presentation. Unfortunately, since many students don’t know about the full extent of resources provided to them, they miss out on these intricate details about schools they might consider. In order to ensure all students can access this information, the CCC should upload their notes to their website to aid students in the college research process. While the CCC is an incredibly valuable resource, it remains underpublicized and underutilized among Paly students. Don’t let this wealth become a waste.

Classes need to implement more project-based learning

nce again, the shift from conventional learning methods to more projectbased learning has been the topic of conversation among educators and schools nationwide. Advocates of project-based learning say it has proven to be an integral part of student success and growth in the long term. While Paly has implemented project-based learning in some of its courses, namely its journalism and Advanced Authentic Research (AAR) programs, The Campanile believes that this method should be expanded to include core subjects. While the idea to shift towards more project-based learning may be appealing and potentially helpful, students may feel reluctant to change. There comes a time when a student will receive a poor grade on a long-term project or lab. These low grades on projects can be rather demoralizing, and often there is no way to make up for those grades.

Advocates of project based learning say it has proven to be an integral part of student success and growth in the long term. The Campanile believes project-based learning should be implemented more frequently in classes because projects allow students to develop more applicable skills than exams do. Completing projects involves the use of many critical thinking and time management skills, according to educational foundation Edutopia.

“Because project-based learning is filled with active and engaged learning, it inspires students to obtain a deeper knowledge of the subjects they are studying,” according to the Edutopia website. “In addition, students begin to develop confidence and selfdirection as they move through both team-based and independent work.”

This academic policy would promote learning rather than demoralize the student who performs poorly on high-value projects. Additionally, partaking in project-based learning will more effectively prepare students for the future workforce and higher education. In the real world, we will be expected to collaborate on long-term projects with co-workers often. The same can be said for higher education in which we will be asked to work on long papers and research projects. The cooperation and time-management skills that we acquire from classes in high school will aid us later in life, if performed correctly. The Campanile proposes that teachers implement at least one long-term project per semester so that students will introduced and aided in creating end products that they can take pride in and utilize in the near future. The idea to implement new projects is a great one if executed correctly. Because these projects will be relatively long-term, it is only natural that they count for a significant portion of students’ grades.

However, the student who receives a relatively low grade on an important project may not be able to raise the overall class grade because of the lack of opportunities to offset such grades currently offered within the majority of courses at Paly. This simply shifts the stress from tests to projects. As a solution, The Campanile suggests that teachers allow students the ability to redo or earn additional credit for projects in which they receive a low grade. Not only would doing this alleviate the stress around creating perfect projects on the first attempt, but it would also serve as a learning experience for those who have done poorly on their projects. Through this process, students will realize the complications involved in big projects, and recognize that lengthy projects usually are not successful on their first attempts.

The idea to implement new projects is a great one if executed correctly. This academic policy would promote learning rather than demoralizing the student who performs poorly on high-value projects, and is also more similar to the reality that we will encounter in the workforce or in higher learning. We realize that as the world of education adapts to new and more effective learning methods, so must Paly. With the suggested improvements, The Campanile believes that students will be able to learn in a more captivating and interesting manner that makes them feel supported, comfortable and ready for situations beyond high school.

OCTOBER’S TOP TEN LIST Top Ten Ways to Survive Spirit Week 10) Don't be a freshman, sophomore or junior. 9) Start a flame war in your class Facebook. 8) Pay $20 for a low-quality student-designed Custom Ink T-shirt you'll never wear again. 7) Pretend it was your choice to go to Homecoming alone. 6) Maneuver through hordes of prepubescent freshmen who managed to get a date. 5) Come to the sad realization that school work doesn't stop because you're in a neon tutu. 4) Enjoy your last moments before you have to hear Christmas music for the rest of 2017. 3) Understand that Spirit Week is about unity and it doesn't matter who wins. 2) Don't freeze your eggs. 1) See if Reese will catch 'em this year.

-KESI SOUND, NOAH BAUM & PAARTH SHARMA

t the end of each semester, the District mandates their students to complete the course evaluation survey for their classes. These surveys ask students to assess their courses’ curriculum, methods of learning and the teacher’s performance and attitude throughout the semester. When the forms were first introduced, Paly envisioned a gradual move toward a collegestyle feedback system for teachers. The intent was to enable students to share complaints and praise teachers to improve their teaching style, including content in their lectures and overall interaction with students. At the time, most students thought the implementation of this survey was an influential development, with the potential to drastically improve learning and student satisfaction at Paly. The reality of the feedback forms the District provided is quite different. Teachers are not required to act on or even read any of the feedback they receive. Essentially, these forms are more of a formality with little to no impact. In fact, teachers were just recently given access to their feedback from last semester. This delay is a slap in the face for students who thought their opinions would finally create an impact on their teachers, since half the first semester has already passed. How is a teacher supposed

to act upon feedback which they never received? Teachers could potentially read through hundreds of responses from last semester in the next few weeks and begin to improve their lesson plans and classroom style for the following quarter and the rest of the year.

Essentially, these forms are more of a formality with little to no impact. However, the late release of last year’s forms brings potentially negative effects by unperfected teaching methods used for the first nine weeks of this year. Regardless, it is unrealistic to expect teachers to go through all of their feedback forms and alter their teaching methods at this point in the semester due to heavy workloads. In order for teachers to continue improving their classes and for students’ opinions to be accounted for it is essential for a new method of student-teacher feedback to be implemented. This method must meet several criteria. First, teachers must read the feedback forms and act upon it. If certain complaints are shared by the majority of students, teachers should be required to re-

spond to the complaints and come up with a way to ameliorate them. Second, teachers must be given access to and made to read the feedback in a timely manner. The purpose of and the need for teacher feedback are clear. Teachers are not perfect, and neither is the information they teach or the methods they use to teach it. There will always be room for improvement in the classroom, and teachers must be constantly aware of students’ struggles and respond to feedback. Paly administrators must ensure teachers are given access to student feedback within a few weeks after it is submitted, not several months after. It is time for the District to implement an effective student-teacher feedback system instead of using a faulty, untimely survey.

Teachers must be constantly aware of students’ struggles and respond to feedback. Students should have at least a sliver of a voice in the quality of their education on the teacherstudent level. If not, who shall dictate the progression of the quality of education in our district?

Title IX article clarification

Editor's Note: In an ongoing effort to be transparent with our readers, The Campanile will begin running a Clarifications and Corrections box on page A8 when applicable. If you read something in The Campanile that you think needs clarification or revision, please email theeds18@googlegroups.com. A story published in the Sept. 29, 2017 issue of The Campanile, “Title IX Misconduct,” included the line: “The incident was subsequently determined to be consensual.” This line was based on conversations with Principal Kim Diorio and an interview conducted by The Mercury News with attorney Stephanie Rickard, who represented a former Paly student who left the district following accusations of sexual assault. In May 2017, Diorio said in an interview with The Campanile, “The information that I have permission to disclose is that the student was neither convicted nor charged with sexual assault in the bathroom or on campus.” On Oct. 18, 2017 in an email addressed to Campanile reporter Shannon Zhao, Diorio reiterated her earlier comment, writing, “He was neither arrested nor convicted of sexual harassment or sexual assault on school grounds.” In May, Rickard said in a statement published

in local newspapers , “… the district attorney’s office has declined to file anything against the student other than consensual underage sexual activity as a result of the conduct on campus … ” Court records regarding these proceedings are not available for review by the press, including The Campanile, because the case involved minors. According to the Cozen report, a review of the PAUSD and Palo Alto High School administration’s handling of sexual assault and harassment allegations, “... the School relied upon a determination by law enforcement as to the nature of the incident, which involves a different analysis (different standard of proof ).” While the standard of proof in court is “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” the standard in a Title IX investigation by a school district is “the preponderance of the evidence,” the District’s Title IX Compliance Officer John DiPaolo said in an interview with The Campanile on Wednesday, Oct. 18.

The Campanile Editors-in-Chief Maya Homan • Niklas Risano • Ehecatl Rivera Allison Wu • Ashley Zhang Online Editor Edan Sneh

Managing Editors Nicholas Melvin • Paarth Sharma

News and Opinion Editors Noah Baum • Renee Hoh

Lifestyle Editors Vivian Feng • Kesi Soundararajan

Science & Tech Editor Peyton Wang

Sports Editors Eric Li • Kiran Misner

Multimedia Editor Philip Ericsson

Board Correspondent Shannon Zhao

Business Manager Edward Kim

Staff Writers Khadija Abid Marie Davis Eric He Kennedy Herron Leyton Ho Samantha Hwang Grace Kitayama Bernie Koen

Raj Lele John Loftus Waverly Long Navid Najmabadi Lucy Nemerov Kaylie Nguyen Ethan Nissim Christopher Pierno

Photographers Peter Gold Samantha Hwang

Jonathan Stoschek

Advisers Esther Wojcicki • Rodney Satterthwaite Letters to the Editors: Email all letters to editors to theeds18@googlegroups.com The Campanile prints letters on a space-available basis. We reserve the right to edit submissions. The Campanile only prints signed letters. Advertisements: Advertisements with The Campanile are printed with signed contracts. For more information regarding advertisements or

Yusra Rafeeqi William Robins Riley Short Leela Srinivasan Ujwal Srivastava John Tayeri Ben van Zyll Byron Zhang Illustrators

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Writing Coaches Evelyn Richards • Elisabeth Rubinfien sponsors in The Campanile and their size options and prices, please contact The Campanile Business Managers by email at campanile.ads@gmail.com. Note: It is the policy of The Campanile to refrain from printing articles that misrepresent or alienate specific individuals within the Palo Alto community. The Campanile would like to thank the PTSA for supporting the mailing of our newspaper!

The Campanile

Friday, October 20, 2017

LIFESTYLE Art by Marie Davis

Design by Navid Najmabadi

Finding the Right Fit

By Nick Melvin

MIDDLE COLLEGE offers untraditional pathway for high school students

magine if your first class did not start till noon, you were truly passionate about the subjects you were learning and you got to pick your teacher. Well, at Foothill Middle College (FMC) these dreams are a reality. For many students, Palo Alto High School is the right fit, offering great resources, a high quality of education and helpful teachers, but for others, it does not fit their ideal learning environment. For students that feel this way, FMC offers the solution. “[The] most common reason for switching to Foothill Middle College is typically students who don’t necessarily fit in with the Paly culture,” said college advisor Sandra Cernobori. “They might be a bit more independent [or] they’re looking for a different experience.” According to their website, FMC is a nontraditional high school program open to juniors and seniors in the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District and Palo Alto Unified School District. It targets bright students who may not be performing up to their full potential at their public high school, or whose high school environments are not conducive to their learning style. “I chose to go to Foothill because Paly’s atmosphere was uninviting, the students were competitive and the focus of the classes was not to learn,” said junior Katarina Merk, who attended Paly during her freshman and sophomore years, but now attends FMC. While Merk’s opinion is definitely a prevalent one, some disagree. Paly has already done a lot to curb stress and competitiveness, which many students

appreciate. “The classroom and social environment is superior in every aspect compared to other schools,” junior Nick Paddy said. “The people and the teachers are so amazing.” One of the biggest differences at FMC is how the classes are structured. Students can take a mixture of high school and college classes and form a schedule that works for them. As appealing as this flexibility may seem, many students like Merk appreciate the genuine appreciation of education amongst the students the most.

FMC and about the things we learned. Everyone is focused on actually learning something and doing what they love, not just on grades or what they can get out of this experience to put on their college resume.” For both Merk and Mukherji, FMC has filled the void that Paly was unable to, providing them with an educational experience that betters suits them. In addition to the individualized learning style, another factor could be the abundance of programs that FMC has to offer, while still allowing students to continue attending Paly events.

“Paly's classes focused on memorization and grades and the environment created an unpleasant atmosphere.” Katarina Merk “The classes are at a much higher pace; however, classes are less stressful and the work is more meaningful,” Merk said. “We are not there to get into college, we are there to learn. The majority of the students are interested in what they are doing and the professors are passionate about their subjects.” FMC junior Anwesha Mukherji has noticed a similar trend. Personally, she loves the interactiveness of her classes. “There is a lot of discussion about what we learn,” Mukherji said. “I haven’t had a conversation about grades or tests with anyone since school started. The only conversation I’ve had about school is about how much we love

“We can still be a part of clubs in Paly, go to dances, and go to Paly graduation if we want,” Mukherji said. “However, FMC also hosts its own dances, has its own clubs and we have our own graduation ceremony, so it really depends on what the student wants to do.” Individual choice seems to be at the heart of what FMC offers, and with more choices comes more responsibility. Therefore, the prospect of a transition is scary for many. While the transition depends on the individual, according to FMC junior Adam Pelavin, it ultimately went smoothly for him. “[The transition] has been relatively easy,” Pelavin said. “Ev-

Managing Editor

eryone here is really nice and mature so making friends was not a problem.” In contrast, Merk, who considered herself quite prepared for the transition, was overwhelmed by the sudden increase in responsibility. However, she believes making the switch was absolutely worth it because of how much she learned through it. One thing that Merk, Mukherji and Pelavin agree on is the success of FMC. Pelavin adds that he would have done it earlier if he could. For anyone who feels Paly is not the right match, Pelavin recommends making the jump. “Don’t be scared to not like it,” Pelavin said. “Sometimes I felt scared because I didn’t want my other option to be bad and have nothing left. I would strongly recommend this program.” On the other hand, Merk and Mukherji do warn that the program may not be the right fit for all student. Education is a subjective topic and just how Paly works for some but not for others, FMC works for some but not others. “I would recommend this program but it definitely is not for everyone,” Merk said. “[That said,] if Paly [doesn’t feel right], I would strongly urge you to apply. It is a great alternative experience.” For those interested, students can learn more about this path at an information session organized by Foothill. “Foothill holds an event at Paly for prospective students,” Cernobori said. “Then, if students are interested there’s an event at Foothill, where they have students who are in the program and I think actually talking to students in the program is the most helpful thing.”

Text & Design by Ujwal Srivastava

Lifestyle

SCIENCE & TECH

Virtual currencies

PHOTO BY SATOSHI/AUSBITCOINS LOGO/PUBLIC DOMAIN

In this increasingly digital age, learn about the rise in popularity of cryptocurrenices, such as bitcoin and their potential impact on Paly students' day-to-day lives. PAGE B8

PHOTO BY SHINYA SUZUKI/ULTIMO COFFEE/CC BY 2.0

Brunch review

Check out three of Palo Altoís best spots for a Sunday morning brunch. PAGE B2

Lifestyle

CC0 CREATIVE COMMONS

Halloween costume ideas

Need a Halloween costume? The Campanile has your back. PAGE B3

Daylight Savings: Helpful or Hoax?

ragging oneself out of bed each and every godless morning is a challenge that can only be conquered with our humanly form of ambrosia: coffee. But once a year, there is a Monday so despicable that not even the warm juice of South American beans can shake us from the firm grasp of shadowy sleep. This is “Sleepy Monday.” Twice a year, we are asked by the U.S. Department of Transportation to change the time on our clocks, either moving them an hour forward or setting them an hour back. Depending on who you ask, the reason behind this varies. Some say that it’s to help farmers, some say it’s a government plot to keep citizens too tired to lead revolutions and some will even claim that it’s because every once in awhile the universe lags and Earth’s orbit freezes for a short period of time. Unsurprisingly, all of these people are grossly misinformed. The real motivation for the time change that we all wholeheartedly despise is to save energy. Daylight savings time was utilized by Germany first during their premier attempt at world domination to save coal for the war effort. Those darned Germans thought that if more of the day’s sunlight was utilized, there would be less of a necessity for electricity. The logic behind this, unlike the logic behind Gavrilo Princip’s actions, was sound; unfortunately, it did not work — or, at least, it does not in our modern equivalent of the 1910s. Studies have shown time and time again that daylight savings time does not save energy, but actually wastes it. A study done in Indiana found that during daylight savings time, a whopping one percent more energy was used in residential areas. This may not seem “whopping,” as it was previously described by yours truly, but given the fact that setting our clocks back is supposed to decrease energy usage. The fact that it does not just have no effect on energy usage but that it increases is absurd. Along with this, daylight savings time has severely negative effects on the people who are forced to alter their entire lives at the request of our sovereign government. During daylight savings time, people are less alert as a result of a change in their circadian rhythm. This leads to an increase in automobile accidents, as well as an increase in accidents in dangerous working environments, such as mines and construction sites. Additionally, health is directly affected by the changing of our clocks. The rate of heart attacks increased by roughly five percent in the first three days following the clocks being sprung forth.Cluster headaches have also been shown to be triggered by the shifting of the clocks in either direction. Another issue with daylight savings time is that so-called “standard” time is only in place for an insignificant four months of the year, leaving us in “daylight savings time” for the remaining two-thirds of the year. If “standard” time is standard, then why in the world is it only in place for a third of the year? Why do we not just call daylight savings time standard, and call the other four months daylight wasting time? This injustice is more than just an inconvenience; it is a serious problem that must be addressed as soon as humanly possible. So stand to protect our precious hours of comatic-rest, and protest the power that the corrupt Department of Transportation has exerted over us citizens.

Spotlight

KAI ODA/THE CAMPANILE COURTESY OF MADRONO 1989/USED WITH PERMISSION

History of Spirit Week

A look at how Palyís beloved tradition has changed over the years. PAGE B4-B5

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

LIFESTYLE

A guide to undiscovered brunch locations around Palo Alto

A look inside the menus of a French patisserie, bistro and American cafe, showcasing sweet and savory delights Menlo Park that has a larger kitchen and menu. For coffee enthusiasts, the lattes are a must-try; they are light, foamy and not too bitter. To pair with the lattes ($4.00) and other coffee drinks, try out the Kouign Amann ($4.75). The Kouign Amann is like a crunchier, more buttery, flakier, sweeter croissant.

By Samantha Hwang

Staff Writer

he transition into fall has led countless people to flock to restaurants to catch up with friends over midmorning brunch. Skip the overrated spots and try these restaurants for a great morning brunch. Partis (447 California Ave.) A step into Pastis’ small bistro is like transporting yourself to a quaint restaurant in the south of France. With bright, welcoming yellow walls, Pastis is perfect for a small get together before making a stop at the California Avenue farmers’ market on a lazy Sunday morning.

A step into Pastis’ small bistro is like a step into a quaint little restaurant in the south of France. The waiters are extremely knowledgeable and friendly, and more than happy to let you know if there are any special additions to the menu. In addition to its wide range of brunch staples, such as their homemade strawberry jam and cheese omelets ($11.95-$13.95), Pastis serves unique dishes like their freshly fried beignets ($13.95) doused in powdered sugar. Be sure to try their French

SAMANTHA HWANG & SHANNON ZHAO/THE CAMPANILE

Popular dishes from Pastis and Tootsie’s include chocolate crossiants, cream-filled donuts, fluffy pancakes, cheesy omelets and rich coffees. Onion soup ($13.95); it’s possibly the best one out there. When the dish is served, the Swiss cheese gratinée on the soup is still bubbling, and mixes well with the carmelized onion. Before heading out to Pastis, make sure to make a reservation

or arrive early. The line is often out the door, especially during peak brunch hours, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sundays. Mademoiselle Collette (499 Lytton Ave.) Mademoiselle Collette is an

upscale French patisserie located on the quieter side of downtown Palo Alto, on the corner of Lytton Avenue and Cowper Street. This is the perfect brunch spot. Here you can quickly grab a pan au chocolat ($4.25) and go, or grab a latte and read the Sunday

paper on slower mornings. Mademoiselle Collette creates a simplistic yet sophisticated atmosphere with its marble counters and Diptyque candles. This small patisserie is a new addition to the downtown scene, with a larger sister location in

Tootsie’s (700 Welch Road) Tootsie’s is a rustic, homey little restaurant tucked behind the Stanford Mall; it’s great for a day out with the whole gang, or just a small get together with a friend. Customers pay upfront at the counter, and the large staff size makes service quick, which allows them to accommodate large parties of eight or more. The staff is welcoming and eager to make your brunch experience as smooth as possible. While visiting, try their variety of paninis and pastries. They have all the classic brunch dishes including pancakes, extravagant omelets and eggs on top of their unique paninis, salads, pastries and lattes. For the baked goods, the Nutella Bomboloni is fluffy, and a fantastic way to satisfy your sweet tooth. The paninis are especially flavorful, and are a convenient choice to take on the go. From scrumptious lemon scones and hot chocolate to cheesy omelets, brunch with friends and family at these fantastic eateries will be a meal to remember.

Benefits of detox cleanses have no basis in nutritional science Hidden hazards behind the trendy health diets promoted by celebrities and online clickbaits are quite common By Marie Davis

Senior Staff Writer

f you have ever opened a laptop, you might have seen advertisements like “This One Vegetable Will Make You Lose 20 Pounds” or “Five Celebrity Diets You Need To Try.” More often than not, you have probably peeked at the seemingly-harmless link and thought, “if Beyonce says it’s healthy, then it couldn’t be that bad.” The sheer volume of nutritional advice on social media can be very overwhelming to the general public. Bloggers and celebrities on the internet often claim to have found the new revolutionary diet, promoting a healthy and skinnier appearance. However, unless they are doctors, they are no more of a nutritional expert than you are. You would not trust someone who once sprained their arm to fix your broken leg. You would not trust someone who has a low heart rate to properly inform you about the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. So, you certainly would not trust someone who has eaten a salad to give you nutritional advice, right? Nutrition is a legitimate science that should only be addressed by experts. However, health advice on social media is often embraced by the public without any question of the diet’s credibility. In particular, detox cleanses,

MARIE DAVIS /THE CAMPANILE

Pressed Juicery, located at Stanford Shopping Center, offers a variety of cold-pressed juices, raw vegan freezes and packaged juice cleanses. which advertise the removal of toxins or weight loss, have recently become very popular among teenagers. These cleanses are often advertised on various social media platforms by many companies and celebrities. “Ultimately, one of my biggest concerns is the anxiety that these online sites create as they try to manipulate young people into using their products or buying their books,” said Paly nurse Jennifer Kleckner. “Even kids who are at a perfectly healthy weight end up

worrying that they may be less than attractive.” For example, the Kardashians have endorsed the product FitTea, a detox cleanse that supposedly burns your fat, on their Instagram channels. However, the family is also sponsored by this product, meaning they profit from FitTea’s success. In fact, most celebrities who endorse diets are sponsored by the companies they promote. If they are being paid to sell a product, can you really expect them to have

researched the information they are selling? A study conducted by The Paediatrics and Child Health Journal shows that one-half of teenage girls and one-quarter of teenage boys have tried dieting to lose weight. However, eliminating entire food groups or taking in too few calories and proteins is especially dangerous at this age. For example, juice cleanses, in which a person drinks mostly or only juices for a certain time, can be extremely unhealthy as it contains

almost no proteins, which are necessary for growth. In addition, while teenagers are still developing, extreme dieting can lead to severe eating disorders and other illnesses. “Longer term adherence can contribute to anxiety, depression, bone loss, kidney and liver damage, infertility and heart disease,” Kleckner said. According to the United States National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, detox cleanses also cause unpleasant

side-effects such headaches, fainting, weakness, dehydration and hunger pangs. Although the diet might lead to quick weight loss, there have been no studies about the long-term effects of such diets, which could be harmful. Even among experts, nutritional advice varies from one doctor to another due to developing research in health and nutritional sciences. However, even the more general advice given by nutritional doctors are more medically accurate than advice found on the internet, as their methods are proved by science and aren’t sponsored by food companies. Although nutritional advice should be considered as an opinion, the general public often embraces advertised diets without checking the facts. Engaging in extreme diets that are not backed up by any scientific evidence can be extremely harmful to one’s health. We need to start treating nutrition like any other medicine. People should question all diet trends and seek advice from reliable sources with evidence. Kleckner said, “For reliable advice on how to have a healthy diet, I encourage you to check out Nutritionaction.com produced by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the Berkeley Wellness Letter published by the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.”

Review: A rundown of the infamous members of the A$AP Mob By Paarth Sharma & Kesi Sound Managing Editor & Lifestyle Editor

$AP Mob: a name synonymous with money, women and one of hip-hop’s elite crews, the mob is a group of rappers and designers who live life to the fullest in each and every moment. A$AP Rocky Former teen crack dealer Rakim Myers, also known as A$AP Rocky, has gained a penchant for rapping about his pretty looks and various fashion brands. Hailing from Harlem, N.Y., Rocky gained attention after releasing his debut mixtape “Live.Love.A$AP,” which led to Drake choosing him to open for him on his Club Paradise tour in 2012. Since then, Rocky has released two studio albums, both of which have topped the Billboard 200 charts. With lyrically pressing songs like “Everyday” and less profound bangers like “F---ing Problems,” Rocky is one of the new school’s toptier talents. Rocky has contributed heavily to the mob’s “Cozy Tapes” mixtape series, and is expected to release his third solo album this

winter. A$AP Ferg Harlem native and longtime friend of A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg is another of the mob’s most influential members. With several successful solo projects under his belt, Ferg has become notorious for dropping some of the catchiest but raunchiest lines in hip-hop. Ferg is known as the businessman of the mob, having gone to college for two years for marketing and management. With the recent release of his mixtape “Still Striving,” and the mob’s rise to fame, Ferg’s career is showing no sign of slowing down in 2018. A$AP Yams A$AP Yams, the now deceased manager of A$AP Mob, was another of the founders of the mob. The cause of Yams’ death is contested, with an official report saying it was due to a drug overdose, while mob members claim it was due to Yams’ sleep apnea. Yams’ death caused the mob to drop the song “Yamborghini High,” an ode to Yams’ life philosophy of living every single day to its fullest. The song mainly revolved around getting “Yamborgini High,” or incredibly blasted different drugs.

In short, a man’s death via drug overdose (or sleep apnea) is okay because it resulted in the making of a mediocre song glorifying the very things that killed him (unless it was sleep apnea). A$AP Bari This unregistered sex offender is yet another of the mob’s founding members. Unlike others, however, Bari’s actions speak louder than his words, with a video recently surfacing of him clearly committing sexual assault. Despite the heavy allegations against him, the A$AP mob made no official statement denouncing his actions. However, at a live show, Rocky improvised to change the line “A$AP Bari he legit” in the song “Telephone Calls” to “A$AP Bari he a b----.” Bari’s main role within the mob seemed to be raking in revenue with his hit brand VLONE and its $200 gildan screen printed t-shirts. The VLONE spring/summer 18 collection was featured on Paris runways this year, and while selling well, received much criticism from people who actually know what they are talking about. A$AP Twelvyy One of the lesser-known art-

ists in the mob, A$AP Twelvyy recently released his debut album “12.” Twelvyy is a key contributor to the mob’s “Cozy Tapes” series, with his most notable verse being his schizophrenic, 17-bar verse on “Crazy Brazy,” where he talks about a variety of items that he keeps on his body, including, but not limited to, money, bandanas, luxury bags and crack. A$AP Nast A$AP Nast, originally New York Nast, was one of the first additions to the A$AP mob. His style often emulates ‘90s East Coast rap, with his long bar flows and boom-bap instrumentals. However, he has yet to garner significant attention outside of the occasional verse on the “Cozy Tapes” series. A$AP Ant A$AP Ant is arguably the all time worst rapper of the last decade. Rumor has it that Kim Jong Un tortures prisoners by making them listening to Ant’s incredibly off-beat delivery and violent lines. Ant is so extremely awful that he makes Martin from Palo Alto sound like Tupac. Real s--t. In all seriousness, he is an awful human being.

A$AP WORLDWIDE/POLO GROUNDS/RCA RECORDS./FAIR USE

A$AP Mob in the 2017 album cover of Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy. Playboi Carti While by no means a member of the A$AP Mob, Playboi Carti had frequent features on both Cozy Tapes 1 and 2. He has risen to fame based off of a successful self-titled debut mixtape released earlier this year that featured the hit “Magnolia.” Since then, Carti

has been delivered a variety of features for all kinds of artists, from Lana del Rey to Lil Uzi Vert. While Carti is not the most lyrical rapper, his ability to say the word “what,”and “hide it in my sock” in a very catchy manner has allowed him to have a lucky success anyway.

The Campanile

Friday, October 20, 2017

LIFESTYLE

Reproduction of previous films trends in Hollywood Reboot culture is becoming increasingly popular, as these films rank highly among viewers By Ethan Nissim Staff Writer

or many years, a common stereotype in popular culture has been that Hollywood is “obsessed with itself,” meaning the entertainment industry has favored movies, shows or music about Hollywood and the entertainers themselves. For example, one of the most critically acclaimed films of the last two decades, “Mulholland Drive,” is a mystery about the film industry in Los Angeles, and the 2016 Best Film nominee “La La Land” chronicled the rises of an acting star and jazz pianist.

Since the year 2000, 279 different movie reboots have been released, from Wars of the Worlds to Total Recall. The changes made from the original often vary. Less discussed but equally important is the way this love of selfreferential art has created a cycle of reboots and sequels, drowning out fresh ideas and original content. According to Stephen Follows, a data researcher in the film industry, from 2005-14, only 40 percent of the top earning movies were not a sequel, reboot or other such continuation of older work. Since 2000, 279 different movie reboots have been released, from “War of the Worlds” to “Total Recall.” The changes made from the original often vary, so measurements like these statistics should be taken with a grain of salt. For example, 2001’s release of “Ocean’s Eleven” is almost universally considered better than the 1960 film of the same name, with an 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes score compared to a 48 percent for the original film. The film is significantly different, with a revamped script, cast and plot, but it still has the same basic concept of a casino heist. Of course, not all reboots are created equal, for there are hand-

I CREATIVE COMMONS/FAIR USE

Remake movies like “Baby Driver,” which came out this year, are attracting viewers like never before and generating plenty in the box office. fuls of movies that are almost the same film as their original.

With public interest and money so thoroughly invested in art that has already been created, why should any artist feel a need to innovate? Granted, movie reboots are just a small piece in the puzzle that plays into our nostalgia fixation. From music to video games to every form of consumable media imaginable, nostalgia-inspired products make up a sizeable chunk of the market. While there is a ton of quality content that references older pop culture while providing modern updates and interpretations, the fact remains that pop culture seems to unable to escape the past. Turn on the radio, and you’ll find dozens of “Best of the

‘80s” stations, showcasing the music of the past. This issue is hardly being ignored — in the 2010s “Retromania,” author and music critic Simon Reynolds wrote about “nostalgia culture,” saying that our society’s obsession with its own past has stalled originality and creativity. This also encompasses music in our culture. According to Reynolds, the nostalgia the internet provides us has created an environment that is “calcifying” modern music. With public interest and money so thoroughly invested in art that has already been created, why should any artist feel a need to innovate? Similar complaints have been lodged about movies, with the low number of original Hollywood scripts every year a critical talking point around awards seasons. Making and marketing a film is an incredibly expensive and risky endeavor especially when it’s an

original-scripted film, is not established in the minds of the public. For any profit-minded studio, reboots are simply the most economically intelligent decision they could make. Is nostalgia really holding our culture back? While there’s no denying that focusing too much on the past does slow down the development of new and interesting ideas, there are plenty of ways to implement the ideas of the past into modern cultural developments. Older movies updated to stay relevant or music that incorporates older motifs are both great ways to use the past in a constructive way. Old jazz or soul samples incorporated into modern electronic and rap music have created entirely new sounds or genres, such as the ethereal, bizarre sounds of vaporwave. Films like this year’s “Baby

Driver,” which riffs off of classics like “Taxi Driver” while incorporating a soundtrack that any nostalgia-fueled music fan would fawn over, are prime examples of the past melding with the present to create something new and different.

Older movies updated to stay relevant or music that incorporates older motifs are both great ways to use the past in a constructive way.

Innovation and cultural change can come from the past, no matter how much critics might say otherwise. For as long as popular culture has existed, it has always been taking the best pieces of the past and dragging them into the future to create something entirely new. Culture is nothing without its history.

With Halloween on the horizon, explore some fresh designs to avoid repeats from years prior

VIVIAN FENG/THE CAMPANILE

Unique costumes such as life and lemons will distinguish you from other Halloween-goers and cause you to receive compliments from your parents, siblings and hopefully friends.

Staff Writer

ith Homecoming, concerts, Spirit Week, testing and Halloween on the agenda for October, it’s easy to forget to meticulously plan out an unique and impressive Halloween costume. With all these events coming up, no one wants to spend hundreds of dollars perfecting a costume for a single night, so here are some affordable, feasible and comical ideas!

Recreate Napoleon’s iconic shirt by using a red marker to scrawl “Vote for Pedro” on a white t-shirt. Napoleon Dynamite The movie “Napoleon Dyna-

Column: Steps of the college app process

By Edward Kim

How to dress to impress your friends this Halloween

By Lucy Nemerov

mite” is undoubtedly a fan favorite and cult classic. Like many of the recommended costumes on the list, the supplies needed for this costume are limited and easy to come by. All you will need is a white t-shirt, a red permanent marker, a curly blond wig and the largest pair of glasses you can find. Once you’ve purchased your supplies, recreate Jon Heder’s character’s iconic shirt by using a red marker to scrawl “Vote for Pedro” on a white t-shirt. Once you’ve created the shirt, grab your wig with curly brown hair, put on some nerdy glasses and you’re all set. If you are interested in a group costume, gather some friends and have them play other characters in the iconic film. The choices range from lovestruck and awkward Kip to Napoleon’s dirt-biking grandmother. Whichever character you choose to resemble for Halloween, it’s sure to be an affordable

crowdpleaser. Frat Boys Living in Palo Alto, we are constantly surrounded by this style. The mass amounts of Nike, Vineyard Vines and pastel apparel can sometimes be overwhelming, but why not mock this attire at your upcoming Halloween party?

The mass amounts of Nike, Vineyard Vines, and pastel apparel can sometimes be overwhelming, so why not mock it? This low-effort costume will take almost no time to create as you can borrow clothes from a friend and can be turned into an inclusive, fun group costume that anyone can join in on. To accomplish this popular look, grab

a backwards baseball cap, some Nike Elite socks, slides and a pair of khaki or neon pastel shorts. Don’t be afraid to carry around a speaker blasting some Lil Wayne. Life and Lemons For someone who really doesn’t have time to prepare and opts for the clever and “punny” costume, I have something for you. All you need for this is a white t-shirt and a bag of lemons; easy, right? To create this easy costume, simply purchase a huge bag of lemons (they will run out quickly) and ruin an old t-shirt by writing “LIFE” on it with a permanent marker. People will be shocked by your clever play on words as you’ll be life giving out lemons. The slight downside of this costume is carrying around and handing out lemons for the entirety of the night, but it’s a small

price to pay for such a witty and clever costume. A Bunch of Grapes If you really want to stand out in a crowd, this is a great choice. To dress up as a bunch of grapes, the necessary supplies are a large amount of purple balloons and some tape. Put on some purple clothes and go crazy taping purple balloons all over yourself.

People will be shocked by your clever play on words as you will be life giving out lemons. Before you know it, you will have the perfect costume, impressing all your peers with your uncanny resemblance to a bunch of grapes. It can be even more fun when you consider the possibility of balloons randomly popping throughout the night.

Business Manager

t’s hard to quantify what college applications feel like. You can try to use numbers, the acceptance rates of whichever selective university you’re applying to. You can try to use dates, Nov. 1, Nov. 30, Jan. 1 and March 30 (Ivy Day). You can even try to use the amount of sleep you get, a graph which would just be a plateau at around four hours (not including your daily three hour nap). Nevertheless, here’s a useful summary of what a typical student should expect while completing college apps from a wellfunctioning high school student. Letter of Recommendation Outside of standardized test scores and grades, the letter of recommendation is inarguably the most important part of junior year. This is where you smile in class until your cheeks hurt, attempt to stay awake even though you just saw the sun come up in the morning and participate every opportunity you can. As a general rule of thumb, if you’ve managed to make the other people in your class hate you and your annoying voice at the end of the year, you’ve done a good job. At the end of junior year, evaluate which teachers dislike you the least before using your prepared speech to entice them into saying something good about you to colleges. The Common App This should only take you an hour or so, with most of the time being spent reflecting on your a depressingly empty awards and extracurriculars section. After asking your parents what colleges they went to and wondering how intelligence managed to skip a generation, you fill out several pages worth of personal information. As you reach the race box, remember there is still a chance for you to change your name from “Park,” “Chen,” “Kim” or “Wong,” to something like “Juan Rodriguez” or “D’Brickashaw Johnson.” Otherwise, this part should be a breeze, especially when you’re making your college list with 14 reach schools and nothing below the top 25 rankings because your parents are Asian. The Personal Statement Probably the most important essay of your life, this 650-word nightmare should contain “passion,” “voice” and “personal identity.” Combining all three of these leads to you staring over and over at the sample essays online (shoutout Johns Hopkins University’s 2020 cranes essay) to figure out a direction for your essay. When actually beginning to write your essay, be sure to avoid thinking about the perfectly crafted Ivy-level essays, or else you’ll be constantly comparing your own sh-tty writing to what talented people would actually write. In the end, stare at your 650-word essay until you realize there is truly nothing remarkable about your sad, pathetic, wretched life and you’ve wasted the last 18 years of your existence here on Earth. Supplements Be prepared to shift your time spent on Netflix to time spent on your dream school’s website staring at pictures of students who have managed to do what you will inevitably fail at: gain acceptance. Regardless, at least attempt to show some “demonstrated interest” by following the tried-and-true formula of flexing extracurriculars, name-dropping professors, spouting courses you probably won’t even take, and talking about how “prestigious” whatever your major of choice is. In the end, you’ll reuse the majority of your supplements, simply by copy-and-pasting and find-andreplacing the names of colleges with each other. I would say these are foolproof...oh wait, they are.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

SPOTLIGHT

SPIRIT WEEK THR text by paarth sharma

pirit Week and all the wild rallies, spectacular dances and intricate floats it’s comprised of may be all-encompassing when it comes to school pride and spirit. Few people, however, know of its origin, or the school-wide events that existed before it. Rewind. The time is 1 a.m. and the date is Oct. 21, 2016. Junior class president Jaiveer Sandhu stumbles into the darkness, leaving the Palo Alto High School auto shop where he had spent all day working with class members on a massive, mobile construction of wood, metal and paint — the Spirit Week float. In about 14 hours, nearly 2,000 students, as well as family, staﬀ and community members will arrive to see the product that has kept Sandhu and his classmates at work for the majority of the past week. It will be his job to ensure everything moves according to plan. Rewind 36 hours. It is Generations Day, and each grade has dressed as an age group. Sandhu is jumping on a table, hyping up nearly 500 fellow juniors through a series of lunchtime chants, each one more repetitive and energetic than the last. The crowd, all dressed in formal attire, moves in rhythm with him as he leads them, following Sandhu’s lead in a near-hypnotic manner. To his right, a similar scene plays out among Paly’s seniors who are dressed to resemble the elderly, while to his left, the sophomore class, dressed to resemble greasers, recites a wave of couplets, matching the overwhelming energy of the two previous classes. Rewind two days, and he is back in the auto shop, as he had been for the last week every day after school. Swarmed by members of his class, he shoots down questions one by one, deconstructing the massive job of the float into smaller tasks. A

text & Design by khad

group of four paints a crowd on the front of the deck, while another student builds a boxing ring, complete with a smoke machine. Finally, other students find any work they can, stuﬃng the back side of the float with colored paper or covering the ring’s floor with swaths of mahogany paint. Rewind. Rewind. Rewind.

tHe jinx

ewind to Palo Alto High School in 1927. According to a 1967 Campanile article, from 1927-68, the Girls’ Jinx was a popular, schoolwide event. An annual variety show featuring skits, pantomimes and a plethora of performances, students looked forward to the Jinx all year. In the beginning, performers were exclusively female, but in 1967, the Jinx became co-ed by popular demand, and male students began performing in skits alongside their female peers.

The crowd, all dressed in formal attire, moves in rhythm with him as he leads them, following Sandhu’s lead in a near-hypnotic manner. Ainsley Baven, a Paly alumna, said the Jinx was “an incredible masterpiece that showcased student talents and encouraged school spirit.” Participation open to all grades, the Jinx brought students together to unleash their creativity and marvel at their peers. The Jinx was canceled in 1968 when English

teacher Jon Phillips stepped down from his role as director, citing a busy schedule. With no faculty member volunteering for the position, the Jinx faded into the history books and Spirit Week took over. According to the article, with no Jinx to look forward to, anticipation for Spirit Week consumed the school. Class representatives geared up for Spirit Week, and began prepping for a new competition featuring hall decorations. Restricted by a $20 limit, grades competed by decorating the main halls with banners, balloons and streamers.

FRIENDSHIP WEEK

ewind to Palo Alto High School in 1951. From 1951-65, participants in Paly’s Friendship Week were given an opportunity to grow closer to their school community. Not a lot of the Paly students participated in these activities. Attendance dwindled during the first few years of the annual event. The week was sponsored by what was known as the Boys’ and Girls’ Leagues. In the week’s debut in 1951, sophomores were required to wear green and white beanies to school on one of the days. Sophomores continued to wear them at home football games. The Soph Tyro and Big-Little Sister dinner were both initiated in 1952, with hopes of increasing student participation in the events, according to an edition of the 1955 Campanile. The timing of the week varied throughout the Friendship Week era. From 1960-65, Friendship Week kicked oﬀ the year during the first week of

The Campanile

Friday, October 20, 2017

SPOTLIGHT

ROUGH THE YEARS ija abid & Bernie koen school in August. Earlier in the 1950s, the week took place at diﬀerent times throughout the first few months of school. There was not much participation from Paly’s boys until 1955, when junior boys dressed up as sophisticated gentlemen, sophomore boys dressed up as the gentlemen of tomorrow, senior girls dressed as old ladies and freshmen girls dressed as little girls. This practice, started 62 years ago, appears to have continued into today as Generations Day. Beginning in 1961, however, interest in these activities began to decline. The system in place had a problem. The disengagement got to the point in 1964 that the annual sophomore boys barbecue was canceled for “lack of interest.” Few students came to school with clothes corresponding to the dress-up themes. At some point throughout the Friendship Week era, the week was replaced with a single dress-up day, and according to a 1955 edition of the Campanile, more of the student body got involved. Things remained this way for some time.

spirit week

ast forward to 1968. The time is 7:30 p.m., and a massive crowd has gathered in the fields around Stanford University. A man moves to the center of the crowd, where a tall pile of wood looms in front of him. He raises a torch, commanding the attention of the group. Silence pours over the crowd, and the man leans downward, lighting the pyre aflame. The crowd explodes, students jumping and reciting chants and poems. This was the scene at the annual Paly bonfire,

design by kesi sound

a key part of Spirit Week later discontinued and deemed a fire hazard; however, much of Spirit Week during this time still exists. Fast forward to 1978, and the scene is much like today’s. Crowds of students gather, standing on bleachers and looking down as classmates compete in tug-of-war, dances and competitions for bestdressed.

“[That] particular year chose to use camo as their green theme. The juniors liked it so much that they continued thaT idea of camo the next year and it’s stuck since.” Arne lim Generations Day has begun, and the attire would seem familiar to Paly students. Freshmen dressed like babies, sophomores dressed like greasers, juniors dressed in formal wear and seniors in dressed in grey wigs and walkers. Floats paraded around campus, and thousands flocked to watch Paly hammer Gunn in the annual Homecoming football game. The senior class took home the crown, and the event that is known today as Spirit Week had finally taken shape. Fast forward to 1991. “[That] particular year chose to use camo as their green theme,” said Paly math teacher Arne Lim. “The juniors liked it so much that they continued that idea of camo the next year and it’s stuck since then.” Fast forward to 2001, and students gather around the quad at lunch. It is a typical lazy, post-

AP-exam spring scene on campus. Suddenly, commotion strikes. The crowd quickly parts and students fight to get in front of one another, engrossed by the uproar of their fellow classmates. Two bodies, devoid of clothing, sprint from one end of the quad to the other before pulling themselves into a jet-black car and speeding off. It is the fourth streaking incident that week. The first Paly Streak Week landed and lasted for over a decade. Over that time, it is estimated that over 75 streaking incidents took place on Paly campus. But while the tradition of streakers at Paly may have diminished, recently, streakers have moved away from the small crowds of Streak Week to a much larger audience: Spirit Week. Fast forward to Spirit Week 2016. Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson sits in his golf cart at a lunch rally, hidden from view by tree cover. He watches the football field with the eyes of a hawk, looking for a streaker. And suddenly, the crowd’s cheers become significantly louder and unified in one direction. Berkson looks out and spots his target. A teenage boy, covered in paint, sprints length wise down the football field, making his way down the field in plain view of the student body. He revs up the cart and takes off, but it is too late. The streaker effortlessly climbs a fence and disappears into the patchwork of Palo Alto’s Southgate neighborhood. Fast forward to the early hours of Friday morning. Sandhu makes his way home, stumbles into his bedroom, and collapses into a deep sleep. His work will not be in vain. His float will not only land the first place in the float competition, but also a spot in local papers.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

LIFESTYLE

Korean music and culture has a rapid increase in popularity Many different countries and demographics are becoming increasingly more interested in Korean culture By Eric Li

Sports Editor

uring a White House visit in 2013 between former President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, the American leader advanced the diplomatic and political relationship between the United States and South Korea. Aside from policy, Obama emphasised the remarkable growth of industry in South Korea, highlighting a cultural phenomena that has swept up the world: the Korean Wave. “Of course around the world, people are being swept up by Korean culture, the Korean wave,” Obama said at a White House press conference. “As I’ve mentioned to President Park, my daughters have taught me a pretty good ‘Gangnam Style.’” The Korean Wave is operationally defined as the popularity of Korean entertainment and culture across Asia and other parts of the world. Ever since the 1990s, the industry has grown, becoming rapidly successful in other parts of Asia. As internet streaming has grows, Korean culture is spreading across the globe. Traditionally, the entertainment industry has been dominated by the United States and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Japan. However, recently, government funding of South Korea’s enter-

tainment industry has allowed a new culture to be widely publicized and celebrated. Korea has not always been focused on developing its entertainment industry. The Asian Financial Crisis of the mid-1990s caused many of South Korea’s manufacturing companies to transfer to other industries, such as entertainment. In addition, the country loosened regulations during this time period, removing foreign movie quotas and lifting restrictions on cultural imports. The Korean wave first grew through popularity of the Asian film industry, but more specifically the drama film industries. Korean dramas, coined as “K-dramas,” have been able to be spread globally with the influx of dedicated streaming services that provide subtitles in a variety of languages. There have been dubs of shows in multiple languages as well. Additionally, the lack of Asian representation in many western film industries outside of particular roles has also stimulated the growth of these shows. “I know many people who do not necessarily watch K-Dramas for the plot but rather the actors’ and actresses’ appearance,” said junior Hyunwoo Roh. Another defining characteristic of the Korean Wave is its massive music industry, more commonly known as K-pop. Kpop has developed a distinct sys-

TRAVIS WISE/CC BY 2.0

An MBC Korean Music Wave concert at Shoreline in 2012 demonstrates how Korean entertainment is gaining popularity in the Bay Area. tem of determining stars, or idols, through a trainee system that focus on developing talent provided by agency. Through these programs, future idols are pushed into developing a very specific image to cater to the public, creating likable personas that appeal to everyone. K-pop idols fill in the void left by the American music industry, which has a severe lack of Asian influence despite their relatively large population. Consequently, many choose to follow these foreign celebrities rather than those of their own country, feverishly watching variety shows and emu-

lating their fashion, much like how American culture treats its own celebrities.

K-pop idols fill in the void left by the American music industry, which has a severe lack of Asian influence. The internet has also had a vital role in the growth of the genre. A majority of groups utilize the media platform YouTube as their main sharing service, generating hundreds of millions of views for

some of the most popular songs. The rise of Korean culture is not completely representative of what the country actually may stand for. Korea’s entertainment industry actively emulates western trends, whether it be fashionably or aesthetically, in order to gain the global appeal that American culture. As a result, the world’s image of Korean life is much different than what it actually entails. The divergence between the two images of the country may be misleading, especially because the westernized image is much more popular and vocal. “In my opinion, the Korean

entertainment industry, K-pop in particular, isn’t a good indicator of what traditional Korean culture is,” senior Andrew Park said. “As a Korean American, I feel like the state of Korean entertainment resembles more of what American culture is rather than that of Korea.” Despite this, many still ascertain that the global growth of Korean culture has been beneficial for the country. Park said, “Even though the image of Korea that many of us see is distorted, I still think that the Korean industry has been good to the country.”

A closer look at rising expectations of upcoming Spirit Week Preparation for float building, spirit dances and rallies are setting high expectations for Spirit Week 2017

MADELINE MCCLUSKY/THE CAMPANILE FILE PHOTO

The class of 2017 displays their spirit on the last day of Spirit Week 2016. Their enthusiasm and unity has raised the bar for Spirit Week 2017.

By Waverly Long Staff Writer

nce a year, the students of Palo Alto High School transform from ordinary teenagers to cranky senior citizens, rambunctious cowboys and cowgirls, sharp businessmen and businesswoman, rather large babies and more. They cover themselves from head to toe in their grade’s designated color, causing the local stores to sell out of random orange, red, yellow and green apparel. They dress in these creative, extravagant costumes to prove that their class is the most spirited. During this week, the deafening roar from the football stands can be heard from miles away. Camera rolls fill with silly memories to be cherished for years. The students’ infectious smiles and enthusiastic screaming of chants can only be described with one word: spirit. With the famed Spirit Week just around the corner, students buzz with passion for their class and build high expectations for this year’s Spirit Week. “I expect the junior class to win, and I am excited to see how we compete this year as compared to last year and how we develop as a class,” said junior class vicepresident Ben Rapperport. For some students, it is the thrill of the entire week they are looking forward to. For others, a specific part of the week sticks out to them, such as the spirit dance, float building, games at rallies or dressing up. “I am most looking forward to the spirit dance, because we have amazing choreography planned,” said Natalie Churchley, a leader of

the junior spirit dance. According to Churchley, so far the main struggle she has faced is getting more people to participate in what she says will be a great experience. Wide participation in the spirit dance is crucial to the success of each grade’s dance, because the more people participating in the dance, the more points the grade gets. There is also a minimum requirement of five girls and five boys for each grade level’s dance, which has been an issue for some grades. In addition, more participants in the dance will make the performance more impactful overall.

Each year, passionate students toil away in the autoshop for hours upon hours, painting, gluing, ripping and working together in hopes of building. “We don’t have as many people as we would like for spirit dance, and we would like to encourage more participation,” Churchley said. “We would love it if people come to practices; it’s relatively low commitment and it will be really fun.” Julia Asher, a leader of the senior spirit dance, has had similar challenges thus far. “[In] senior year there are a lot of things to do, such as college applications, grades and teachers’ rec letters,” Asher said. “People showing up to practices has been difficult and finding a time for everyone to come, because during

tutorial everyone is here but they have to go see teachers.” Asher has combatted this challenge by creating additional chances for her peers to have the opportunity to participate in the dance despite their busy schedules. “[We’ve been] making lunch practices, after school practices and weekend practices for those who can’t make it at tutorial,” Asher said. “We really want to ensure that everyone who wants to participate can, because it’s [our] senior year. But [seniors’ absences] create challenges with formations because we can’t set people without everyone being there.” Despite having the same struggle with encouraging peers to attend dance practices, Taylor Yamashita, a leader of the sophomore spirit dance, remains optimistic the spirit dance will ultimately have a hugely positive outcome. “I’m definitely hoping that spirit dance brings everyone together and brings our class closer,” Yamashita said. “I’m hoping that we’ll all have a lot of fun.” Dancers are not the only ones excited for the spirit dances; Student Activities Director Matt Hall is also looking forward to seeing the final outcome of each classes hard work.. “Nine times out of 10, I get a little preview of the spirit dances, but you don’t get a sense of it until they’re out there on the field, all hundred kids, all in the outfits and the color,” Hall said. In addition to the spirit dances, float building is a prominent part of Spirit Week. According to David Foster, a float designer for the junior class, he has been designing since the summer when themes were first

pitched. Class officers and their float designers have submitted their designs to Hall as of Oct. 13 and are working with Hall to get the necessary materials. “I always look forward to the floats,” Hall said. “I love to see what they become over time. When they start out on the first Saturday, you’re just looking at something that’s nothing, but the last day on the field, when they pull them out and they’re all bedazzled in color and shape, man, that’s great.” Each year, passionate students toil away in the autoshop for hours, painting, gluing, ripping and working together in hopes of building the reigning float. In each grade, there are several key leaders behind these ambitious projects. “We have a few builders, a few people that lead the art and Caroline [the class president] and I are going to be there to help build — because we’re there almost every day of the week — and to help lead and oversee the float building process,” Rapperport said. One of the key parts of making each Spirit Week unique is the class themes, which are represented in both the spirit dance and the floats. This year, the freshman class has voted for their theme to be Nickelodeon, the sophomore class has selected racecars, the junior class has chosen rubber duckies and the senior class will be showing their spirit through the theme of Monopoly. Though not all students were in agreement of each of these themes, some have been swayed as planning for Spirit Week goes on. “At first I wasn’t excited for rubber duckies, but after looking at our spirit dance, song and float

and thinking about some ideas of how to dress up, I’m very hyped,” Rapperport said. Other students have been onboard from the start and are looking forward to finally beginning Spirit Week festivities. “I really like the theme [of Monopoly],” Asher said. “There’s a lot of songs just about money and we are also using canes, so it works well, music and dance wise.” Yamashita is also fond of her class theme of racecars, and said the theme provides many opportunities for a great spirit dance, specifically with the abundance of music which suits the theme. Though the themes are a large part of the spirit dance and float, other aspects of Spirit Week have different focuses. These include the games played at rallies, the annual dress-up days and the homecoming dance. Spirit commissioners Samantha Embersits and Sarah Mitz have been doing a lot of planning behind the scenes to improve these aspects of Spirit Week. For Mitz, one of the biggest goals of this Spirit Week is encouraging inclusion and participation from everyone. “I hope that we make a Spirit Week that everyone really enjoys and include as many people [as possible] and [have] activities that people who are scared of participating will join in,” Mitz said. “We made a relay that has 34 people in it per grade so that people can participate and have it not be as high stakes.”

For Mitz, one of the biggest goals of this spirit week is encouraging inclusion and participation from everyone. In addition to promoting inclusion of all students, the two spirit commissioners have worked to provide opportunities for teachers to show their spirit as well. According to Embersits, for the first time in seven years, there is a dress-up day for teachers every day of the week. Teachers will also have additional chances to participate in the rallies. According to Hall, there will be a teacher finalist battling the student finalist in the Thursday advisory rally in the three-point basketball contest. The spirit commissioners have been planning a number of new games for spirit rallies as well as refining old games such as Tennis Ball Bounce, which will be revealed in the instructional videos on the rally games. Students can also look forward to Pantyhose Bowling, which will be debuted this year. In addition, a new and improved version of

Name That Tune will be played at a rally. This year, Name That Tune will be much faster and the songs have been selected with more student input in order to make it easier for the contestants, according to Embersits. Hall hopes that the adjustments will result in a better outcome of the game this year. “We want to see a good battle on that one, we want to see people dancing in the stands, we want to see people having fun and enjoying the songs that we do select,” Hall said. Some other changes this year are the replacement of the night rally with the Thursday advisory rally, according to Embersits. This change goes hand in hand with the addition of the new gym, which will be utilized in the Thursday rally. “Now we can return back to our roots, the classic advisory rally on Thursday, [which includes the] 3-point contest [and having] the whole school in one enclosed, inside space,” Hall said. “Man, it is going to be loud in there. It is going to be crazy. I remember how it used to be in the old gym, and it was fantastic.” The crazy and loud energy Hall is expecting for the Thursday rally will also be present in the homecoming dance, which ends Spirit Week. For the past two years, the homecoming dance has been held off-campus due to the construction of the new gym. This will be the first dance to be held in the finished Peery Center. The set location has enabled ASB to be able to pay even more attention to a set theme, food, decorations and music. “[The dance is] going to be so much fun,” Mitz said. “It’s only 5 [dollars for those with an ASB card] and $10 [for those without] this year, there’s going to be really good food, we have the nice new gym, a lot of people are going to be there, there’s going to be good music [and] there will be a red carpet.” Ultimately, Spirit Week is about bringing the school together to bond over passion and pride of Paly. The loving and spirited atmosphere at homecoming dances is representative of the community built throughout Spirit Week. Going into Spirit Week, Hall and all the student leaders strongly encourage students and staff to get involved in as many ways as possible. “We want inclusion; we want as many people to be involved in some way, shape or form,” Hall said. “Doesn’t mean you’re in the game, maybe you’re just dressing up. Maybe you’re in the dance. Maybe you’re building the float-you’re just doing tissue. But we want to see a lot of people. Ideally for me, I’d love to see all 2,000 students doing something, even if it’s just dressing up one day, getting involved, in some way.”

The Campanile

Friday, October 20, 2017

SCIENCE & TECH

Overnight sleep studies detect imbalances in sleep cycles Students participate in a variety of experiments to advance sleep research and provide biomarkers of common sleep disorders By Peyton Wang

Science & Tech Editor

hroughout the night, a person snores loudly, frequently taking long pauses between their shallow breaths as they sleep. In the morning, they wake up with a throbbing headache and sore throat. Despite receiving a full nine hours of sleep, they still feel exhausted and are in an irritable mood for the rest of the day. In 2006, Wilson Tsang, a math teacher at Juan Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara, Calif., exhibited similar symptoms and was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder in which a person’s breathing interrupts their sleep. “I was researching on business opportunity of sleep medicine and as I was learning about sleep illnesses, OSA came up,” Tsang said. “As I was studying the disease, I realized I had some of the symptoms, like daytime sleepiness.” Tsang’s doctor recommended that he undergo a polysomnogram, an overnight sleep study typically used to detect OSA and monitor patients’ brain waves, cardiac signals, breathing patterns and leg movements. Additionally, an oximeter, or an instrument that measures the proportion of oxygenated hemoglobin in the blood, determined his blood oxygen saturation level. Many sleep apnea patients have low blood oxygen saturation levels, as their unhealthy breathing patterns result in a lack of oxygen in their bodies. “In my first sleep study, I had an apnea hypopnea index of 30, which means I stopped breathing 30 times in a minute,” Tsang said. “That is considered borderline severe OSA.” Although OSA is the disorder most sleep clinics diagnose and treat, insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, affecting 30 percent of adults in the world, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. There are two types of insomnia — transient and chronic.

“Transient insomnia is usually associated with a stressful or traumatic event and usually goes away as the stressor is resolved,” said Michael D. Schwartz, a research scientist at SRI’s Center for Neuroscience. “Chronic insomnia is a recurring difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep that persists for a month or more.” Other major sleep disorders include restless leg syndrome, the uncontrollable urge to move the legs at night, and narcolepsy, which involves extreme daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis and sudden losses of muscle control, or cataplexy. Unhealthy sleep habits, psychiatric disorders, medical issues and physical disturbances can negatively impact sleep cycles, often resulting in these disorders. According to Schwartz, the typical sleeping brain undergoes a sleep cycle that repeats four to five times throughout the night. When a person falls asleep, the brain transitions from an alert state to progressively deeper stages of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, or deep sleep. Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, is associated with highly-synchronized neural activity in the cortex, while REM sleep is characterized by faster and more desynchronized neural activity.

“To get a good night’s sleep, you need all of these states in the correct order and ratios at the right time of the day.” Michael D. Schwartz Oftentimes, OSA patients are unable to experience REM sleep due to their obstructed airway, preventing them from entering a restful sleep state. “To get a good night’s sleep you need all of these states in the correct order and ratios at the right time of day,” Schwartz said. “The sleeping brain is in fact

PHOTO BY RACHEL TAYSE/CC BY-SA 2.0

OSA patients wear continuous positive airway pressure masks, which blow air into their airways and enable healthy breathing. an incredibly active and complex place.” People with OSA can be treated by wearing a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a mask that blows air into their mouths and keeps their airway open after they fall asleep. Ever since his diagnosis, Tsang has slept with a CPAP. Besides wearing the mask every night, his daily life is not affected by OSA and he no longer exhibits daytime sleepiness. “There has been clinical evidence that connects sleep apnea to other health problems, like cardiovascular diseases,” Tsang said. “I’m just glad I got diagnosed 10 years ago and the CPAP has been working well for me.” Patients with sleep disorder symptoms often undergo sleep studies offered at research centers, such as Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine and SRI International. Additionally, these centers conduct paid sleep stud-

ies, enabling students and adults to participate in a variety of sleep experiments, from neurodegenerative disease to aging. For the past five summers, Paly senior Charlie Baldwin has participated in a paid sleep study at SRI International, a nonprofit research center headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif. Baldwin was placed in the control group for a sleep study on substance abuse. “I think the test is about the effects of drugs and alcohol, so they get a gauge from different types of people and how it affects their sleep over the years,” Baldwin said. “At [SRI], I usually take surveys and play memory games until bedtime, then they put electrodes on my head while I’m sleeping and take magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.” Paly seniors Amira Garewal and Chloe Hong have both participated in sleep studies at the Stanford Center for Sleep Sci-

Longitudinal study aims to map health and well-being of 10,0000 volunteers

Wearable technology monitors daily health in new Project Baseline study

PHOTO BY AR130405/CC BY-SA 2.0

Project Baseline’s study documents frequent health information from exercise habits to moods.

By Philip Ericsson

Multimedia Editor

ver since the idea of going to see a doctor was introduced, the purpose of these visits have been to cure what is wrong. The purpose has never entailed trying to gather information to try to prevent these diseases from occurring. The purpose of Project Baseline is to gather data about the average human in to try to prevent disease.

“By focusing on health and wellness, we can have a meaningful impact on the wellbeing of patients around the world.” Sanjiv Sam Gambhir

The first initiative of Project Baseline will be led by biotechnology company Verily, Duke University School of Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine and Google, and will document

the different ages, backgrounds and medical histories of 10,000 participants. The demographics of these individuals will be monitored for the next four years in order to discover what makes us healthy, with the ultimate goal of curing human diseases. “The Project Baseline study has the opportunity to significantly influence our current body of knowledge by better understanding the indicators of wellness,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association. “The outcome of this study could inspire a new generation of tools that are geared towards disease prevention versus just diagnosis and treatment.” The first portion of the study will take place in the United States. Anyone over the age of 18 is eligible to apply for the study. These participants will take part in specialized health visits up to four times a year to test new technologies and wearable devices, gather key data and complete surveys and journal entries about their health and current lifestyle. The individuals selected to take part in the study will be subjected to an annual site visit and

short quarterly appointments. The visit will take place at a Baseline study site near each participant and consists of two days of health tests. These tests include several standard tests, such as reviewing an individual’s medical history and assessing their physical strength. The short quarterly appointments will occur three times a year for about one to two hours each to gather frequent health information. “The annual physical exam, aimed at detecting major problems, has been largely unchanged for years and is very limited in preventing future health problems,” said Adrian F. Hernandez, MD, MHS of Duke University School of Medicine. In addition, information about the day-to-day health of the participants will be tracked with wearable, technological devices. Traditional visits of the past have only been able to detail health information from year to year, but with new technological advances, Project Baseline will be able to acquire this information within minutes. Participants will wear a wristwatch which tracks their

daily activity and health, as well as a sensor that monitors their sleep. “There are many signals coming from the human body that have been previously inaccessible,” said Jessica Mega, MD, MPH at Verily. “With advanced sensors, tools and data analytics, we have the opportunity to access and organize these signals — creating a comprehensive map of health that can better predict and prevent disease.” Surveys and health diaries are the final tool for discovering crucial health information. Every three months, subjects will fill out a set of surveys that take around 30 minutes to complete. These surveys will ask about conditions such as well-being, diet and exercise habits. Additionally, the Project Baseline mobile app will be used to collect more frequent data, like a person’s mood. Lastly, participants will provide updates on new prescription medicines or other changes in their lives to contribute more detailed information about their health. “Most of what we see as treating physicians are snapshots in time after people are already ill,” said Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD of Stanford Medicine. “By focusing on health and wellness, we can have a meaningful impact on the well-being of patients around the world.”

“The outcome of this study could inspire a new generation of tools that are geared towards disease prevention.” Nancy Brown

By utilizing state-of-the-art technology and allowing committed individuals to participate, the study might be able to find key information about human health within the next four years. Hernandez said, “Through the Project Baseline study, we are aiming to engineer a true twenty-first century approach to health — in a preventive and personalized way.”

ences and Medicine. Garewal acted as a control for a sleep study that researched the impact of bipolar disorder on sleep in youth.

“In my first sleep study, I had an apnea hypopnea index of 30, which means I stopped breathing 30 times in a minute.” Wilson Tsang “I participated in a Stanford sleep study last year, which involved logging my sleep daily and wearing a watch that measured physical movement over the course of a three-week period,” Garewal said. “Additionally, during two nights of sleep, electrodes were attached to different locations on my body to track the signals that occurred.”

In her sophomore year, Hong underwent a sleep study that tested whether flashing certain frequency wavelengths of light improved sleep. “[The doctors] gave me a bracelet to wear that tracked my sleep patterns and installed the light in my room,” Hong said. “Also, I came in for weekly checks that asked about symptoms and sleep habits and talked through how to improve my sleep through changing habits.” Although Hong did not receive the results of her study, she learned that an accumulation of sleep debt prevents the human brain from adjusting to sleep patterns. “Sleeping in on the weekend can actually harm you,” Hong said. “It ruins your cycle because you’re not waking up at the same time each day. Shifting wake up times beyond one or two hours of another can cause you to be sleepy and tired throughout the day.”

Hyperloop takes off under Virgin

Richard Branson invests in new transportation

PHOTO BY CAMILO SANCHEZ/CC BY-SA 2.0

Hyperloop utilizes magnetic levitation in order to reduce friction.

By Noah Baum News & Opinion Editor

irgin Group founder Richard Branson has recently followed in the footsteps of the aerospace manufacturing company SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk by expressing his belief in the growing hyperloop transportation industry. Branson invested an undisclosed amount with the company Hyperloop One, one of the major companies in the hyperloop industry, effectively changing the company’s name to Virgin Hyperloop One. Virgin Group is a corporation conglomerate founded by Branson focused on entertainment and travel, including Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines. With subsidiaries involved in air travel, train travel and even cruise lines, Virgin Group’s involvement in the hyperloop seems to be an involvement in the new frontier of travel. The hyperloop is a form of technology inspired by inventor Robert Goddard’s idea for the vactrain, which utilized magnetic levitation to decrease friction and make a more efficient transportation method that could reach high speeds. Musk has described the hyperloop as “a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table.” The idea for the hyperloop was initially discussed between Musk and entrepreneur Shervin Pishevar in 2013 on a humanitarian trip to Cuba, inspiring Pishevar to cofound Hyperloop One, according to the Hyperloop One website. Pishevar has always credited Musk as his inspiration for the

project, according to The Verge. In 2013, Musk proposed the idea of the hyperloop to be developed by anyone interested, but as of August, Musk has decided to build his own hyperloop transportation system in its entirety, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

“[The hyperloop is] a cross between a Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table.” Elon Musk

Musk’s intentions to build a hyperloop system surprised the companies who had been developing the transportation system since Musk’s proposal of the idea in 2013. In a tweet on July 20, Musk announced that his infrastructure company, The Boring Company, had received a “verbal govt [sic] approval” to build an underground hyperloop system, promising a trip from New York to Washington, D.C. in 29 minutes. He tweeted again on the same day promising that a Los Angeles to San Francisco hyperloop was one of his priorities as well. Branson’s financial backing of Virgin Hyperloop One effectively makes him a competitor of Musk in the race to create a successful high-speed transportation method. As detailed in Branson’s 2017 autobiography, “Losing My Virginity,” Branson and Musk also competed in 2015 over providing internet through inexpensive satellites in space.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

SCIENCE & TECH

Cryptocurrency: currency of the future How Silicon valley partakes in the modern day Gold Rush of virtual currency

n the modern age of technology, when car rides can be summoned with the tap of a phone, mail is considered archaic and checks are cashed with the press of a button, it’s no surprise that virtual and online currencies are becoming the latest craze amid Silicon Valley’s efforts to digitize all aspects of daily life. Cryptocurrency, coined the digitized currency of the 21st century, is all the buzz for Silicon Valley startups and Paly students alike. After all, it takes high risk for high reward. “Silicon Valley is all about innovation and toppling big people,” said junior Neil Yeung, an altcoin collector and cryptocurrency enthusiast. “This same hacker ethos is very integral in the history of bitcoin.” Following the rubble left behind by the financial crash of 2008, the bitcoin emerged, marking the first decentralized cryptocurrency. The anomaly from traditional fiat money, or physical cash, almost immediately sparked interest among online communities. Forms of cryptocurrency alternative to bitcoin such as Ethereum and other altcoins soon followed, utilizing a similar decentralized structure and eliminating the need for central authority. “Throughout history, when using a monetary transaction, there has always been a middle man,” Yeung said. “The middleman in these cases are banks and other financial instruments. Bitcoin essentially does away with the middleman.” Instead, Bitcoin uses blockchain technology that offers a public ledger for tracking and auditing transactions, one that is available to any person connected through the server. In this system, transactions are validated with computing power contributed by miners, who are then rewarded with coins. “It’s kind of like a Rubik's Cube,” said sophomore Tyler Furrier, an Ethereum miner. “There’s different ways of solving it. If you

Text & design by Renee Hoh

want to mine any cryptocurrency, you have to use computer processing power to solve the algorithm [and]get the coin.”

The anomaly from traditional fiat money, or physical cash, almost immediately sparked interest among online communities. In order to regulate the price of a currency, its creators cap the number of coins available; an uncapped form of currency may result in unlimited and unhealthy amounts of money. The value of each respective coin is derived from how much the currency is demanded. “Any time you invent a new currency, it’s only as strong as people’s faith in that currency,” said computer programming teacher Will Friebel. Similar in volatility and risk, initial coin offerings (ICOs) can be paralleled to initial public offerings (IPOs). In ICOs, a coin can represent a share of a project, which is later translated into value or even voting power comparable to investors supplying companies with fiats. The inherently risky nature of ICOs may deter potential investors. Not long ago, the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) Hack cost investors $50 million worth of cryptocurrency. Another hurdle for Ethereum came when an online hoax claimed that the creator had died, causing a crash in Ethereum’s value. However, Cryptocurrency’s risk and volatility go far beyond the occasional hack or false post. Bitcoin’s hard fork, a change in the software that results in divergent

coins, in October 2017 increases its value by over $800 in one day, and recently hit its all-time high at $5,714. It’s evident that investors are willing to take the risk as more money has flowed through ICOs than earliest-stage venture capital in 2017. “A lot of new companies might go this new ICO route, because simply put, IPOs are too heavily regulated,” Yeung said. “You can say regulations prevent rampant dishonesty, but it’s really hard to get money for your project [through IPOs]. The reason why ICOs have become so popular is because you can easily get money to start a project.” Projects funded by ICOs are advertised through their respective white papers, an academic paper outlining the entire thesis of the project. Thereby, projects manifest in multitudes of industries including healthcare, finance and others. For instance, NEO, China’s first public blockchain project allows for users to store physical assets onto the blockchain, according to its thesis. Others, such as Steem, reward people for posting valuable content on social media.

Cryptocurrency’s risk and volatility goes far beyond the occasional hack or false post.

“They [Steem] have a social media app that basically every time your post gets an upvote, you get a Steem coin,” Yueng said. “The Steem coin is currently at one dollar [$1.01 to be exact]. So each time you get upvoted, you literally get a dollar.” While altcoins appeared in

Design by Sam hwang

droves after bitcoin’s inception to accommodate various industries, there was never a necessity for them until now, as the bitcoin cap draws nearer. It is predicted that in one year, bitcoins will be 80 percent mined. Interest in cryptocurrency started as a niche craft for coders such as Yeung. However, as with any enterprise that creates immense wealth in short amounts of time, cryptocurrency attracts crowds that are not necessarily skilled in their trade. “Cryptocurrency is [gaining] more and more popularity,” Furrier said.“There are specified chips that can be bought that [are] made for mining. People might start buying miners for themselves even though they don’t know what it’s doing, but they just know that it’s making money.” Widespread use of cryptocurrency is far off, even in a technology-driven setting such as Silicon Valley. However, the idea of digitized money is not as far-fetched. The adoption of Paypal, Venmo and Apple Pay as accepted forms of compensation may be the first step to normalizing decentralized cryptocurrency. “If you paid someone in an euro and they accepted it, then that [transaction] would be fine,” Friebel said. “According to our current way that we do things, it’s not out of the normal to say here’s a different currency. If someone is willing to accept it, then they can.” It’s not up to chance whether or not blockchain technology will be successful in the future, but many on Sandhill Road are hedging their bets on its profitability. “With anytime you invent something new, there’s always going to be challenges to it,” Friebel said. “There’s no panacea that fixes everything. There’s going to be ways to exploit it. But, I see Blockchain becoming a bigger technology, and specifically cryptocurrency, I see it growing at least right now.”

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

SPORTS palyathletics.com

Therren Wilburn: Paly's new athletic director The career path of a long-time sports fan from middle school sports coordinator to paly' athletic director

fter school ends, seventh grade Therren Wilburn heads for the basketball courts, ready to assume his role of coordinator in the heated championship game of his after-school basketball league. After the game comes to an end, his teacher, Mr. West, praises him for his efforts in creating the games and tournaments that all of the students had the opportunity to participate in. West surprises the team with a celebratory pizza party, which, at the time, felt like the equivalent of w i n ning the Cen tr a l Coast Sections (CCS) Championships. During this moment, Wilburn said he discovered what would eventually be a career based around in his interest in organizing athletic events. “Looking [back] at [this mo-

ment], I’ve always been passionate about coordinating sports,” Wilburn said. This childhood passion sparked his interest and paved the path for Wilburn that eventually led to his new position as Paly’s Athletic Director. His position officially changed last January from Assistant Athletic Director to Athletic Director. Wilburn grew up in Lemon Grove, Calif., where his passion

sports growing up. My first sports memory that I can think of was watching the L.A. (Los Angeles) Raiders on Monday Night Football. When I look back at some things I’ve done, I’ve always found myself in coordinating sporting events. The first time I coordinated something in sports, I was in seventh grade, and I organized basketball teams to play before school and after school.” Even as early as the seventh grade, W ilb u r n said he recognized a probl e m w i t h the way basketball was previously organized, and decided to make a change in the way the kids played at his school. “One hundred of us want to play basketball, but there’s only 10 people that can play at a time, so I was like, what’s a way where we

“What I most enjoy is the enthusiasm that surrounds all of our sports; whether it’s the more popular sports like football and volleyball and tennis, everybody’s enthused and invested in being a Viking.”

Therren Wilburn for sports and directing sports evolved at an early age. “My passion for sports started as early as [age] 5,” Wilburn said. “I competed in all kinds of

SPORTS

College Apps through the eyes of recruited athletes

A collection of high school athletesí opinions on the process of being recruited by universities, and how it changes their application process.

PHOTO BY WOKINGHAM LIBRARIES/CC-BY-CCO-1.0

PAGE C4-C5

can maybe get more people playing?” Wilburn said. Wilburn said his passion for sports continued during high school, where he participated in three different sports: football, basketball and track and field. Growing up, he maintained the belief that sports would serve as a fun experience as well as an opportunity to develop essential life skills. “Like many student-athletes, I had aspirations of competing at the highest level, but in high school, you begin to see how elite your peers are; therefore, I knew sports would just be a tool to develop interpersonal skills while making lasting memories,” Wilburn said. Using the experiences from his high school sports career, Wilburn said he decided to obtain a sports management degree from San Jose State University, drawing skills from his previous experiences and childhood history with athletics. After getting his master’s degree in sports management, Wilburn said he contacted 84 athletic directors from around California, seeking advice on continuing on the career path in the realm that he had pursued for the majority of his life. The opportunity presented itself when Paly began its search for a new Athletic Director.

Weightlifting

JONATHAN STOSCHEK/THE CAMPANILE

“The position opened around January,” Wilburn said. “I was planning on applying, and right when it opened in January, I knew this would be a position I would definitely want.” After obtaining his new position, he has maintained his views on the importance of sports in a student’s life and has enforced the healthy balance between athletics and academics at Paly. “I believe sports plays a vital part in the development of teenagers,” Wilburn said. “I like to use the word education-based athletics, because athletics should be a place where students develop lifelong skills and find out characteristics about themselves that they may not have in the traditional classroom setting. Specifically at Paly, we’d like our student-athletes to walk away with one positive character trait per season.” Wilburn said he utilizes the system that he calls the “three, two, one approach” in order to enforce this mindset. His three goals in this approach are to “have all of our studentathletes above a 3.0 G PA , finish top two in Santa Clara Va l l e y Athletic League

students I have seen him interact with seem to really respect him a lot [and] respect his opinion on college or athletics or academics. There’s kind of a wide range of things that kids will come ask him or come and talk to him about.” Most importantly, Rosenthal said Wilburn’s experiences help him connect with the students more personally. “He played varsity sports, so he definitely knows what it’s like to be an athlete in high school, and he has good relationships with coaches,” Rosenthal said. “He’s pretty well-suited for the job.” Junior Ellie Krugler has also had positive experiences working with Wilburn, as she is currently interning at the gym, along with junior Ellie Jeffries. “He really tries to get a lot of opportunities with everybody,” Krugler said. “He’s definitely fun to be around because he’s really into the athletic department and getting kids interested in sports.” Both Krugler and Jeffries believe that Wilburn is a supportive ment o r w h o makes the internship i n str uctive yet enjoyable.

(SCVAL) play and build one athletic community.” For many students at Paly, Wilburn is more than just an Athletic Director; he is also someone many students go to for advice and guidance both in and out of the sports world. “I’ve known him since he’s been here, so I feel comfortable talking to him about stuff outside of sports,” junior Walker Rosenthal said. Wilburn has developed a highly-regarded reputation among the student body and is admired throughout the school, according to Assistant Athletic Director Sydney Davis. “I think he is a really great teacher,” Davis said. “All the Paly

“When Ellie and I started working with Therren, he told us that he really wants us to make the job our own, so he does everything he can to make sure we’re bringing our own sense of independence to the job and finding things that we want to do and that we’re interested in,” Krugler said. As Wilburn gains more experiences with students, he continues to learn about the enthusiasm behind the the sports community at Paly. Wilburn said, “What I most enjoy is the enthusiasm that surrounds all of our sports; whether it’s the more popular sports like football and volleyball and tennis, everybody’s enthused and invested in being a Viking.”

“All the Paly students I have seen him interact with seem to really respect him a lot.” Sydney Davis

Sports Opinion

PHOTO BY ECHO73/CC-BY-SA-3.0

Lifting outside of sports

Bryce Love for Heisman

PAGE C6

The benefits of weightlifting in creating a healthier lifestyle.

Why Love should receive the Heisman Trophy.

Football

PHOTO BY YTOYODA/CC-BY-2.0

Fantasy Football

The punishments that come with joining a Fantasy Football league. PAGE C8

Friday, October 20, 2017

SPORTS REPORT FOOTBALL RECENT SCORES

Paly @. Homestead 9/22, W, 28-14 Paly @ Los Gatos 10/06, L, 8-31 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly vs Milpitas 10/20, 7:00 Paly @ Saratoga 10/27, 7:00

TENNIS RECENT SCORES

Paly @ Saratoga 9/28, L, 3-4 Paly vs. Lynbrook 9/21, W, 5-2 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly @ Saratoga 10/24, 3:30 Paly vs. Los Gatos 10/26, 3:30

BOYS WOPO RECENT SCORES

The Campanile

SPORTS

Varsity football falls to powerhouse rival Los Gatos After a close first half against the Wildcats, costly mistakes late in the game contributes to the loss By Waverly Long

Staff Writer

fter a disappointing loss, the varsity boys are scrambling to recover. The defeat tarnished an otherwise promising league season. The game against Los Gatos ended 31-8, making varsity’s overall record 1-5 and their league record to 1-1. According to junior Wes Walters and varsity coach Danny Sullivan, the team had the potential for a win, but ultimately could not pull through. “We were in the game for the first half, and we made some dumb mistakes, and it ended up costing us the game,” Walters said. Sullivan attributes the loss to the team’s subpar passing game, but noted that the team ran the ball well. In addition to passing, the team could use some improvement on taking advantage of scoring opportunities, according to Sullivan. “Not winning that game had to do with not capitalizing on opportunities to score that were given to us,” Sullivan said. According to junior cornerback Damion Valencia, the referee’s unfair calls also contributed to the loss. “The [referees] were kind of making bad calls, and it just

DAVID HICKEY/USED WITH PERMISSION

Junior running back Aiden Chang carries the ball during a game against Los Gatos as junior running back Wes Walters runs in front to block

brought us down to a low level,” Valencia said. “We couldn’t play to our best potential.” Despite the loss to Los Gatos, Walters remains optimistic the team could rebound and have a successful season. According to Walters, a game against Wilcox High School would have provided a good opportunity for a comeback; however, the game was can-

celled due to the smoke from the wildfires north of San Francisco. “We beat [Wilcox High School] last year, and I think we got a really good game plan going into this week. I think we can bounce back and get a big win this week,” Walters said. The bad air quality from the smoke took away that chance for redemption. However, the poor

air quality hasn’t had a great negative impact on the team, according to Sullivan. “We moved practice inside the last two days,” Sullivan said. “We practiced in [the gym] yesterday and actually threw the ball, because there’s a lot of space. We’ve actually been as productive as one team can be. The only [way] it’s going to affect [us] is just [not]

Volleyball team continues to dominate opposition

Both varsity and JV teams have stayed healthy and strong, defeating team after team in SCVALs

Paly @ Harker 10/10, W, 11-6 Paly vs. Gunn 10/05, L, 4-8

The JV girls team stands at 21-2. “Our success comes down to how cohesive our team is and how well we can work together,” said middle blocker and sophomore Grace Thayer.

UPCOMING GAMES

“Overall, we have strong offense and defense, so the key for us is just to know what we are up against.”

Paly vs. Soquel 10/21, 1:00 SCVAL Tournament 10/23, TBA

GIRLS WOPO

Trisha Razdan

RECENT SCORES

Paly @. Saratoga 10/10, W, 10-4 Paly vs Gunn 10/05, L, 6-8 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly @ Mountain View 10/19, 3:30 Presentation Tournament 10/21, TBA

VOLLEYBALL RECENT SCORES

Paly @ Los Gatos 10/10, W, 3-0 Paly vs. Homestead 10/05, W, 3-1 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly @ Saratoga 10/23, 6:45 Paly vs. Lynbrook 10/26, 6:45

CROSS COUNTRY RECENT SCORES

Clovis Invitational VG 2nd Place, VB 13th Place

Monterey Bay Invite VG 2nd Place, VB 2nd Place

UPCOMING GAMES

City Championship 10/25, 3:15 SCVAL League Finals 10/31, 1:45

GOLF RECENT SCORES

Paly vs. Los Gatos 10/03, W, 222-192 Paly vs. Lynbrook 9/21, W, 155-181 UPCOMING GAMES

SCVAL Tournament 10/24, TBA CCS Championships 10/31, TBA

being outside and running special teams, but all the other aspects we’ve been able to accomplish.” The team’s next opportunity to prove itself will be against Milpitas High School on Oct. 20 at home. Valencia said, “[I expect] that we will have higher energy, and we fire out and score the first touchdown and try to get the W.”

DAVID HICKEY/USED WITH PERMISSION

Junior Mallory Kuppe jumps in the air to spike the ball during a varsity volleyball game against Los Gatos at Paly’s Peery Athletics Center.

By Kennedy Herron

Staff Writer

ollowing a sprinkle of losses at the beginning of the season, both the varsity and junior varsity ( JV) girls volleyball

teams have improved in strategy, resulting in a 36-5 winning streak. The varsity girls team stands at 15-3. “I definitely think we are a team with some really close bonds, which truly betters us as a team,” said sophomore and mid-

dle blocker Trisha Razdan. “In team sports, it’s really important to trust your teammates, and our friendships provide us with that trust.” The varsity team defeated Los Gatos in its most recent match, with a final score of 3-0. Raz-

dan credits victories like this to a strong game plan. “Our strategy is mainly just to read the opponent as well as we can,” Razdan said. “Overall, we have strong offense and defense, so the key for us is just to know what we are up against.”

“Because we don’t have assigned captains, our setters really help us because they are the merge putting back row and front row together,” Razdan said. On Oct. 17, the two teams hosted their annual dig pink matches dedicated to raising money for the breast cancer awareness foundation. The team beat Los Altos on Oct. 17 2-1. Both varsity and JV have games against Monta Vista on Oct. 19. The JV and varsity teams plan to implement their skills and playing strategy in these incoming matches. “In our last match … I think we did really well when it came to hitting to specific spots, targeting opposing players when we served, and being ready for any ball they gave us,” Razdan said. “We hope to continue this streak of high level playing.”

Girls tennis looks to end strong after a shaky season After an anticipated rough start, the team hopes to overcome its lack of experience for the last matches By Bernie Koen

Staff Writer

dversity, challenges and hard-fought battles have filled up the past few weeks for the girls tennis team. Since Sept. 26, the Vikings have gone 2-4, defeating Castilleja High School and Cupertino High School but taking defeat against Saratoga, Homestead, Los Gatos and Monta Vista.

“With the rest of the season, it’s just trying to find the best fit for our players.” Mailinh Truong

The team has entered the latter portion of the season, starting to play every team in the league for the second time. Senior varsity captain Emma Cockerell attributes the team’s two victories to the strategic maneuvering of their coach. “Our coach has decided to have creative lineups,” Cockerell said. “That means moving around our stronger players and stacking, which works to our advantage a lot of the time.”

DAVID HICKEY/USED WITH PERMISSION

Junior and varsity tennis player junior Soumya Jhaveri prepares to return a serve against league opponent Cupertino at Palo Alto High School.

Cockerell also said the new freshman members have played a large part in the team’s success. “We definitely feel really lucky to have the freshmen that we have, because without them, we’d definitely be in a much worse place,” Cockerell said. Senior varsity co-captain Mailinh Truong said she was impressed by the performance of the team in its 5-2 victory over

Cupertino. “I didn’t expect us to win that many matches [against Cupertino], which was surprising,” Truong said. “With the rest of the season it’s just trying to find the best fit for our players.” The victories have also been met with some losses and some tough times for the girls. However, Cockerell said the losses have done some helped,

giving a sense of unity and community. “We have grown closer as a team,” Cockerell said. “There’s just the period of getting to know each other and practicing together and bonding over our losses. Whenever we do lose, we’re always really supportive of each other.” This internal team support and dedication to grow closer to-

gether has given the team something to be proud of, according to Cockerell. “We definitely came into it with realistic expectations,” Cockerell said. “We definitely knew that it was going to be a difficult season.” The team is set to play Saratoga High School on Oct. 24 and Los Gatos High School on Oct. 26.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

SPORTS C3 Boys water polo strives to rebound from Gunn loss Varsity team gears up for SCVALS after tough rivalry loss, aims to achieve high seeding for the CCS tournament By Yusra Rafeeqi Staff Writer

eady to power through the rest of the season and determined to secure a high position in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) standings, the boys water polo team strives to maintain a positive mindset for their upcoming games. At the team’s first game against crosstown rival Henry M. Gunn High School, the moralebooster of the beginning of the season, the boys won by a single point (10-9). Its recent game against Gunn, however, was not as rewarding, and resulted in a 4-8 loss on Oct. 5.

“Overall, it’s been an awesome season with a really fun group of guys. It’s been one of my favorite seasons at Paly.” Ben Rapperport

“We didn’t start with enough fire,” said junior Benjamin Rapperport. “That really [continued] into later in the game.” Jackson Stefanski, junior goalie, said the game was a struggle

for the team. “We saw the mistakes we were making,” Stefanski said. “We knew what we had to do, but we were just having trouble executing.” Rapperport said the team was able to regroup near the end of the game and work together. “It just frustrating that we weren’t able to play with the same intensity the entire game,” Rapperport said. Rapperport says, however, that the team has high hopes for the end of the season. “We really want to win out for the rest of our leagues,” Rapperport said. “So when we go into the SCVAL tournaments, we could get a high seating and get into Central Coast Section (CCS).” If the boys are able to win their next four games as well as SCVAL games, Rapperport said there is a good chance of entering the CCS tournament. “I know that we can win [SCVAL] tournaments,” Rapperport said, speaking on the basis of how the team is doing thus far. The SCVAL tournament occurss during Spirit Week, where the boys will take a shot at qualifying for CCS. The team hopes to redeem itselves at the tournament, according to Rapperport.

PETER GOLD/THE CAMPANILE

Junior goalkeeper Ben Rapperport practices his goal-defending skills. The team hopes to end the season with a trip to the CCS tournament. “We’re hoping [these games] will get us back on track to win CCS and put a positive note on the end of the season,” Stefanski said. On reminiscing about the season thus far, both Rapperport and Stefanski said it was an enjoyable

season. “It’s been fun,” Stefanski said. “I really like my teammates, and our coach is great.” “It’s kind of disappointing because some of the games that we lost, we definitely could have won,” Rapperport said. “That was

a bit frustrating. But overall, it’s been an awesome season with a really fun group of guys. It’s been one of my favorite seasons at Paly.” Junior varsity won its game against Lynbrook High School 8-3, and will have their last game on Oct. 19 against Monta Vista

High School. Practices and games were cancelled for all teams due to poor air quality from the wildfires up north during the week of Oct. 9, but the varsity boys will play their next game against Soquel High School this Saturday.

Cross country sets records at the recent Clovis Invitational Both girls and boys team aim to continue their run of success throughout the rest of the season and make CCS

the school as well, placing fourth while participating in the Division II race. Sophomore Miranda Jimenez finished seventh in the 3.1 mile race, while senior Julia Doubson and freshman Gretchen Berndt finished at 19:33 and 20:22, respectively. The girls hope to continue their impressive performances and make state competitions.

“Our team goal still

remains to make it to state, but that also includes being motivated for races and mentally prepared. ” Alex Evans

TOM TAYERI/USED WITH PERMISSION

The boys varsity cross country team strikes a pose after their record-breaking performance in the Clovis Invitational meet on Oct. 7. The team looks ahead to competing in CCS.

By Navid Najmabadi Staff Writer

unning over hills and under the scorching sun, the boys and girls varsity cross country teams competed in the Clovis Invitational on Oct. 7, where a number of top teams from around California came to

race. The Clovis course will also be used for the State meet, meaning that if the Vikes qualify they will have a significant advantage. “The Clovis meet gave us a taste of the competition this year across the state before regionals begin and [allowed us to] learn more about the course” said ju-

nior Alex Evans. The boys team clinched a spot in the championship division, finishing in 13th place out of the 25 teams. The boys also broke the record for the fastest total team time in school history. Junior Henry Saul finished in 14th place, clocking in at 15:24,

followed by seniors Sam Craig and Reed Foster who finished with times of 15:41 and 15:59, respectively. Juniors Donald Taggart and John Tayeri followed with times of 16:29 and 17:09. The team is now focused on the bigger stage, locking its eyes on the Central Coast Section (CCS) finals, where the top two

Division I teams get to qualify for states. “Our team goal still remains to make it to state, but that also includes being motivated for races and mentally prepared,” Evans said. “We want to place well and keep the overall team strong before the last SCVAL meet.” The girls team set a record for

More recently, the cross country team headed to Salinas, Calif. for the Monterey Bay Invitational. Both varsity and junior varsity ( JV) competed in this invitational, and they performed very admirably against teams from all over CCS. Girls varsity came in second place, lead by Julia Doubson and Miranda Jimenez. The boys, without top runner Henry Saul, still managed to come in second place out of 32 teams. Girls JV and frosh-soph teams both came in first place, destroying all competition with their depth. SCVAL championships will be held on Oct. 31. Both teams are look to follow up their success by advancing to the CCS finals.

Girls water polo rallies, Girls golf stays undefeated, looks to CCS wins Aptos tournament With trip to the CCS Championship secure, girls battle adverse conditions By John Tayeri Staff Writer

he regular season for girls water polo is coming to an end, and with that comes the SCVAL (Santa Clara Valley Athletic League) tournament, and the CCS (Central Coast Section) tournament. Palo Alto High School’s girls water polo team, who have had their ups and downs this season, believe they can finish strong, and qualify for CCS. “For the rest of the season, our goal is to win three more games in order to qualify [for] CCS, which is definitely within reach,” said senior captain Hollie Chiao. Although the girls are 2-7 in league play, they have had impressive performances in various tournaments. Earlier in the season, the girls won a tournament in Aptos for the second time in three years of participation. “Winning the Aptos tournament was really exciting for us,” Chiao said. “It was definitely a huge confidence boost because before that tournament we hadn’t been doing too well in our league games.” The team has a winning record of 6-5 in games against teams outside of SCVAL.

However, in their league, they have not had as good of luck. After a four-game losing streak, they played impressively well against Saratoga High School on Sept. 10, winning with a score of 10-4. This was the second time this season that the girls annihilated Saratoga.

“Winning the Aptos tournament was really exciting for us. It was definitely a huge confidence boost because before that tournament we hadn’t been doing too well in our league games.”

Hollie Chiao

“We have already improved so much since the beginning of the season, but we’re still working on being quicker with our pressure passing,” Chiao said. The unpleasant air quality from northern wildfires has forced the girls out of the pool and into the new Peery Center, impeding their progress. As a result of smoke, the game against Homestead scheduled for Oct. 12 was postponed. The season finished on yesterday against Mountain View High School.

By Byron Zhang Staff Writer

n 1858, after cricketer H.H Stephenson took three consecutive wickets, fans presented him a hat symbolizing their reverence. From then, the term “hat trick” quickly extended to praise those who achieve three consecutive feats in various sports. Much like Stephenson, the girls golf team, drifting above the top of its league and asserting absolute dominance over its opponents, is already on the road to their third hat trick of victories. With an 8-0 record, smashing opponents has become a weekly routine. Undefeated throughout the season, the girls punched their ticket to the Central Coast Section (CCS) Championships with ease. The team crushed its opponents in a three-way match against Gunn High School and Lynbrook High School, 198-228231, on Oct. 5 at the Palo Alto Hills Golf and Country Club. However, because of damaged conditions on the green, team members were unsatisfied with their performance. “We were happy because we won, but all of us definitely could have played better,” sophomore

shut off the opportunity to play on a course at all. Despite the difficulties, members tried to put in their maximum effort to prepare for the CCS championships, according to junior Jasmine Choi. “We have a golf simulator in the gym,” Choi said. “Some girls go down there and practice sometimes.” Besides causing cancelled practices, the wildfire smoke also prevented the girls from playing actual games.

Besides causing cancelled practices, the wildfire smoke also prevented the girls from playing actual games.

DOYLE KNIGHT/USED WITH PERMISSION

Sophomore golf player Katherine Sung tees up on the driving range. Priya Bakshi said. “The condition was awful, and it was quite hard to play on [the damaged green] which made it a lot harder to play this time around.” The team has faced many similar obstacles this season.

First, members cannot use their practice course, which is still under construction, until the next month, so the girls had to find their own practice individually. Additionally, smoke from the wildfires north of San Francisco

“Our match against Saratoga yesterday got cancelled due to the smoke from the Napa fires, and I’m not sure when we will reschedule it,” senior captain Stephanie Yu said. “ We have only two league matches before the league season is over.” However, the last two games will have no effect on the team’s entrance into CCS. According to Bakshi, even if the girls lose the next two matches, they are beyond the reach of any of the opponents.

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

SPORTS SPREAD

TEXT AND DESIGN BY

The Athlete

GRACIE KITAYAMA

The talented few who will ply

his season is a stressful one for seniors, who are dealing with college collective few at Paly, their fall semester looks different than that of an mitted to or are deciding on a university where they plan to play their prestigious universities in order to explore their options. Though some may crit students have all put hours of work into their sports, and many say t

How do you train?

Why that college?

Ally Scheve: “I have been playing soccer since age four and started club soccer at age 10. We practice as a team three days a week, and then a lot of the team does outside strengthening once a week. Then, we have one or two games a weekend.”

Susanna Limb: “I’ve always wanted to go to this school, so when I got an oﬀer, I took it right away. I also really like the overall environment and their sports facilities. I’ve gotten multiple emails from other colleges, but their academics were really bad, so I didn’t pursue anything with them”

Emily Tomz: “I started playing soccer when I was around 5 years old, and I joined a club team when I was eight. My club team practices three to four times a week with one or two games on the weekends, if not a tournament or showcase. Paly soccer practices or plays games every weekday, sometimes including Saturday practices.”

Ally Scheve: “Swarthmore for me was great fit because it allows me to continue to play soccer competitively, and it is a good school for me academically. I had looked at other D3 schools, and I got contacted after tournaments from some D1 and D2 schools. They didn’t really align with what I wanted out of a school academically.”

Julianna Roth: “I have been playing volleyball since sixth grade, and I have been playing pretty competitively for four years. Playing on varsity, we play five days a week, lift once a week and usually have two games [a week]. During club season we would practice three times a week, lift once a week and when we would have tournaments, we would play both days on the weekends and sometimes an extra day. I also train on my own. I run and lift by myself.” Zoe Lusk: “I have been doing club swimming since I was 10, [I have been] swimming in general since I was four. I practice eight to nine times a week for about 21 hours total every week.”

I also train on my own. I run and lift by myself.

Julianna Roth

Julianna Roth: “I have been in contact with lots of other coaches and schools, and have had oﬀers from a few other colleges. I chose Grinnell because I decided it was the school I wanted to go to even if I did not play volleyball. It was really important to me to find a school where I could be happy regardless if I played a sport or not, and when I visited Grinnell, I could just see myself fitting in. I loved the environment, the high rigor of academics, and with the culture Grinnell promotes, [I can] see myself fitting in. I loved the environment, the high rigor of academics, and the culture Grinnell promotes. I was really excited about the idea of playing at Grinnell because the volleyball program has a new coach and is currently in a rebuilding stage. I loved the idea of coming in, making an impact right away and playing with the purpose of improving program. I felt like playing at Grinnell I would be playing with a purpose, not just to play, and that really excited me.” Emily Tomz: “The Claremont Colleges were actually the first schools I ever visited, and the women’s soccer coach has always been so incredibly nice. The team atmosphere is wonderful. The school is amazing, and everything felt right when I finally decided that Pomona is the place I want to be.”

The team atmosphere is wonderful. The school is amazing, and everything felt right.

Athlete Susanna Limb

Sch

Chelsea Fan

Carnegie Unive

Juliana Roth

Grinnell

Ally Scheve

Swarthmor

Emily Tomz

Pomona

Jake Varner

Azusa P Unive

Max Jung Goldberg

Univer San D

Zoe Lusk

Duke Un

Sergi Mata

Ahmed Ali

Emily Tomz

ART MARIE

The Campanile

Friday, October 20, 2017

SPORTS SPREAD

TEXT AND DESIGN BY

e Application

KIRAN MISNER

y their athletic trade in college

e applications and school work, and prepping for Spirit Week. However, for a n average high school senior. Several senior athletes at Paly have already comrespective sport. In that group, even fewer seniors have turned down spots at ticize athletes for having what looks like an objectively easier senior year, these they are eager to see where they will go and what they will do next.

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Baseball

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T BY DAVIS

Swimming Golf Golf

What was the application process like for you?

What advice do you have for younger players?

Zoe Lusk: “Before my recruit trip, my GPA and test scores get approved by admissions. I turned in my application to Duke as a regular decision application before my trip. I had already done it over the summer. When I decided to commit to Duke, the coaches told the admissions office to go over my application. Once I was approved by admissions, I received a likely letter, which pretty much means I am accepted into the school unless I commit a felony. Then I moved up my application to early decision and should get in officially whenever the early decision stuff comes out.”

Ahmed Ali: Just reach out as much as possible and play in as many nationally-ranked events as possible. Reach out to schools early by emailing and visiting them and also build good relationships with the coaches

Emily Tomz: “My commitment to apply early to Pomona means that I will apply early decision, which is binding. The soccer coach then will support my application as it goes through the admissions process. In the summer, I got a positive pre-read from Pomona admissions. Based on my transcript, test scores and senior year class schedule, it looked to them that I would get in if I were to apply early. They still can’t oﬃcially guarantee admission, but I’m hoping that everything will go as planned.” Julianna Roth: “I have been talking to the Grinnell coach since last spring and went and visited the school last April. I did a tour and information session, met the coach, and had lunch with some players. The coach had come seen me play at a tournament, and I sent him a lot of clips and information about my team. I also spoke to him on the phone a few times. This fall, I went back to the school, stayed overnight and did a whole oﬃcial recruiting visit. I had an amazing time and fell in love with the program and school. After I visited another school for volleyball, I decided Grinnell was the right place for me. I called the coach, told him I wanted to commit to the team and apply early decision. I have been working on my application for Grinnell and should be able to submit it really soon. There is no real guarantee that I will get in because Grinnell is a highly selective school, but I feel pretty confident that I have a good shot.”

There is no real guarantee that I will get in because Grinnell is a highly selective school, but I feel pretty confident that I have a good shot.

Julianna Roth

Max Jung Goldberg: “They are not going to recruit kids who are just good ball players. It’s really easy for a coach to say this kid is a good baserunner, this kid can hit the ball really far and so on. It’s really hard to find a kid who is going to have a unique and really special attitude that he can bring to the team, that will make him competitive on and oﬀ the field. It’s not necessarily just about being super talented. When you get to the next level, everyone has talent. It’s about the guys who have it between the ears and be able to control their emotions, body language and overall the way they carry themselves. It’s never just about you. It’s about pushing your teammates, pushing yourself. There are 35 guys on the roster and you need to realize that each night, there is going to be a new guy to step up, a group eﬀort. The biggest takeaway that [younger players] should get from this is, in order succeed there are two things you need to know: be relentless in your grind and be selfless.”

In order to compete at a really high level, be relentless in your grind and be selfless.

Max Jung-Goldberg

Friday, October 20, 2017

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SPORTS

Opinion: Bryce Love deserves this year's Heisman Trophy Stanford student Bryce Love should win the Heisman Trophy because of his stellar performance for the Cardinal this season goes all the way back to 1982, when Stanford quarterback John Elway finished second to Herschel Walker in the Heisman vote.

“Bryce Love should win the Heisman because he’s averaging over 200 rush yards per game, leading college football. He’s averaging over 10 yards per carry and he’s putting the whole Stanford football team on his back.” Marvin Zou

PHOTO BY ECHO73/CC-BY-SA-3.0

The 1966 Heisman Trophy, with its signature man clutching a football with his hand raised to block players, was awarded to Steve Spurrier.

By Leyton Ho & Ujwal Srivastava Staff Writers

ho’s your daddy? Love is,” the announcer shouts in a nationally televised football game against University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as running back Bryce Love races for the end zone. Wearing number 20 for the Stanford Cardinal football team, Bryce Love is a phenom. Leading the nation with 1,240 rushing yards, Love is quietly creeping into the conversation of Heisman Trophy favorites. The Heisman Trophy is award-

ed annually to the best collegiate football player, as determined by a group of 870 media professionals from six regions of the country who cover college football on a weekly basis, 58 former Heisman Trophy winners and an additional fan vote, totalling 929 potential ballots. While Love was not considered as a preseason favorite for the Heisman, his record-breaking games have caught the attention of the nation. Despite the odds stacked against him, Love is producing insane numbers, forcing analysts to acknowledge his candidacy. In addition to averaging 10.5

rush yards per carry, Love is the fastest Stanford player to reach the 1,000 rushing yard mark. In fact, his rushing total through the first five games this season (1,088 yards), was the fourth greatest of all time in the history of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football. Love’s game is built around his patience and ability to break away from defenders, leading to big plays. According to SBNation, Love has 59 runs of 20 or more yards, out of which 13 are for 50 or more yards. Moreover, Love leads the nation in forced missed tackles and is fourth in yards after contact.

However, despite his qualifications, there remains one big hurdle in Love’s path to the Heisman: his location. During the past decade of college football, Stanford football players have been unable to crack the glass ceiling to win the Heisman trophy. This failure is epitomized by three straight second-place finishes in voting from 2009-11: Toby Gerhart (running back) in 2009, and Andrew Luck (quarterback) in 2010 and 2011. Furthermore, Christian McCaffrey (running back) was the runner-up in 2015, continuing a string of second-place finishes for Stanford. However, this trend

While the winners in these years were deserving, the system seems to be inherently biased against Stanford players. The East Coast is three hours ahead of the West Coast, and as a result, East Coast voters are generally sleeping when Stanford plays. On the contrary, West Coast voters watch all games, resulting in East Coast players having a leg up in the Heisman vote. This year, the Heisman favorite for media outlets is Penn State running back Saquon Barkley. The star of the third-ranked and undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions, Barkley has electrified the nation with video game jukes, hurdles and jump cuts. He is heralded by Nation Football League (NFL) scouts, and is in line to be a top five pick in next year’s NFL draft. Despite the success of his team and his obvious talent, Barkley has barely accumulated half of Love’s

rushing yards, and is averaging 6.4 yards per carry, as opposed to Love’s 10.5 yards per carry. Sure, Barkley’s team is better, but the Heisman recognizes the best individual player in the nation, an honor that should belong to Bryce Love. He is carrying the Cardinal to victory week in and week out by wearing down defenses and racking up yards. “Bryce Love should win the Heisman because he’s averaging over 200 rush yards per game, leading college football,” said Paly junior Marvin Zou. “He’s averaging over 10 yards per carry and he’s putting the whole Stanford football team on his back. Without him, Stanford would have lost many of the games they won.” The numbers clearly support Love, and his surge in Heisman watch rankings reflects the growing appreciation the media has of his 2017-18 campaign. He is definitely well deserving of Heisman consideration, and the award should be his to lose during the second half of the season.

In addition to averaging 10.5 rush yards per carry, Love is the fastest Stanford player to reach the 1,000 rushing yard mark. Bryce Love is the latest case study in West Coast Heisman bias. Will Love be the Stanford player of the 2000s that finally breaks into the elite ranks of Heisman winners, or will he fall short and prey to the West Coast bias?

Perry Center Gym attracts diverse weightlifting community Paly's new and improved weightlifting room entices a group of dedicated fans, who have started lifting regularly

JONATHAN STOSCHEK/THE CAMPANILE

Sophomore Ethan O'Reilly acts as the spotter for a friend at the bench press in Paly's weightlifting room. Sophomore Declan King, a frequenter of the weightlifting room, waits for his turn on the bench press.

By Eric He

Senior Staff Writer

nter the Perry Center Gym on any given day, and you are sure to find a crowd of students, non-athletes and athletes working out together. From water polo to golf, most, if not all, of the sports teams participate in group workouts, strengthening their muscles to improve performance. However, weightlifting is not solely utilized to refine one’s skill. Many lift to improve their experience in hobbies, others to stay fit and active and others even to lift competitively. “I actually was in crew and volleyball before I started lifting,” said senior Gabby Bernas, a competitive weightlifter. “My feet had started to hurt a lot and so my dad started strength training me. We bought a lot of equipment. Although I stopped [crew and volleyball], I continued to lift.” Lifting is an important part of living a healthy and active

lifestyle. It exercises muscles one would not normally use in everyday life, ones that are important in sustaining a healthy mind and body structure. Bernas is also the president of Barbell Club, which is involved in spreading the word of weightlifting and physical fitness. “For people who aren’t involved in any sports, lifting is a good way to keep your body moving, your blood flowing or to take a break from studying, especially since it only takes an hour of your day,” Bernas said. “I went to college tours and I found out they had weightlifting clubs, and I realized Paly didn’t have one so I thought maybe I could start one.” Bernas leads a rather active life, with an even more strenuous workout routine. For four days in a week, Bernas lifts. She takes two days to work on her sprints, and takes one day off to rest. Through lifting, Bernas has learned the importance of a consuming a balanced diet. She also stresses the

significance of proper rest. “I’ve had times where I haven’t gotten enough sleep and my legs hurt because they couldn’t fully recover,” Bernas said. In terms of diet and nutrition, Bernas said she sticks to a low carb, no sugar regimen. Rather than eating sugars, Bernas prefers to consume protein, especially after a workout. Although Bernas started weightlifting through competitive sports, she now lifts competitively, and urges others to hit the gym as well. “I really want for weightlifting to have more awareness,” Bernas said. “I like that there's an environment where everyone else is lifting, but it can definitely grow.” Unlike Bernas, senior Andrew Huang started lifting because of his hobby, surfing. “I heard there was a weight room at Paly that was open for students, and you could use it whenever it was open, so I started going there,” Huang said.

Although considered by many a recreational activity, surfing requires a lot of physical fitness and athleticism.

“I really want for weightlifting to have more awareness. I like that there's an environment where everyone else is lifting, but it can definitely grow.” Gabby Bernas “Most of the effort you put into surfing is upper body — like paddling out, duck diving and catching waves," Huang said. Huang uses weightlifting to strengthen his upper body and help him improve on surfing. “It’s really strenuous on the

upper body so I work out mainly my back and shoulders,” Huang said. Although Huang has been surfing for a while, he has only recently started lifting. “I went very occasionally second semester sophomore year, but I started going more junior year.” Huang said. “I started surfing more junior year, and I realized that if I wanted to get better [at surfing] I needed to get stronger.” For diet and nutrition, Huang said he mainly pays attention to his protein intake. “I keep track of how much I eat,” Huang said. “Mostly protein, that I eat every day. I know I should be watching other stuff too. Protein doesn’t really do much without other stuff in the right proportions.” Regarding his lifting schedule, Huang said lifts up to three times a week. In order to motivate himself, he sets up a small, personal goal each time he lifts. “If I’m pulling some certain

weight, I’ll try to increase it by a little bit, see if I can do that,” Huang said. Junior Dion Li is also a regular at the weightlifting room who initially joined for wrestling. "I really liked the practice of weightlifting, it allows you to take your mind off of school and everything else," Li said. Li also does his weightlifting in complement with jujitsu so he can give his body the ultimate physical experience he desires. Yet despite Li's hard working spirit, he is smart about his exercising. Li prioritizes his happiness over physical fitness so as to not lose his motivation for lifting. However his priorities were not always in order. "When I first started, I had a goal of going every single day, which I realized was super unrealistic," Li said. "Now I go whenever I feel like it, like three times a week. At first I had a set schedule, but now I work out whatever I want or need to do."

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

SPORTS

NBA 2K18 exceeds expectations with innovative features

The updated game brings greater immersion and lifelike graphics, while including modern and all-time throwback teams the ‘07-’08 Celtics and the Showtime Lakers, allowing fans to experience the gameplay of many NBA greats such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal.

“I think that 2K18 is probably the best and most improved sports game out because it lets you explore the ingame city.” Daniel Rabello

KIRAN MISNER / THE CAMPANILE

The NBA 2K18 game disc box pictured next to a DualShock 4 wireless controller, used with the PS4, one of the consoles in which enthusiasts can enjoy the new game on.

By Navid Najmabadi Staff Writer

ational Basketball Association (NBA) 2K18 has caught the attention of many fans as the highest-rated annual sports game of the decade. From allowing users to create a player to playing with current NBA players and teams, NBA 2K18 provides a range of modes to compete with friends, family and online opponents. This year’s edition of the game has retained all the modes from previous years, including My Career, My League and My Park, where you create a character and live life as an NBA player. “I think that 2K18 is prob-

ably the best and most improved sports game out because it lets you explore the in-game city,” said junior Daniel Rabello. “For My Player, instead of just clicking some buttons to buy accessories for your character, you can actually walk to the literal store in the game, making it more realistic and visually appealing.” Every year, the gameplay and graphics are driven up a notch. This year, the developers have enhanced them even further through the addition of more commentary, refined tattoos on players, newlytrending hairstyles, improvement of muscle tone and of making shooting forms for each player more realistic. Through these amendments, it’s safe to say that NBA 2K18 may be one of the

greatest sports games ever.

“2K is a great game that builds a community where everyone wants to beat their friends so they play more and more to get better.” Stan De Martel

“I really enjoy playing the NBA 2K series in general,” said junior Gerzain Gutierrez. “This year it looks amazing with the new Nike uniforms and shoes that they have incorporated. I like the My Career mode the best, and

how they made it an open world where you’re automatically placed online, because it reduces loading times. It’s also great how you can go to the store and buy clothes or go to the barbershop to get a haircut and keep up with real-life trends in a virtual game. I think that my character is probably the flyest one.” Many students have preordered the game to build up their players and gain advantages over each other. The popularity of the game continues to rise as the developers add more detailed content. The competition level is so high among students that some are even spending an absurd amount of money to compete with their peers and add attributes to their

character when playing in modes such as My Park, where a player can team up with friends and challenge opponents in a threeversus-three pickup match. “2K is a great game that builds a community where everyone wants to beat their friends so they play more and more to get better,” said junior Stan De Martel. The game also includes consistently updated team rosters; for example, when cover athlete Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics and superstar Carmelo Anthony landed in Oklahoma City, the roster adjustment was made within a day. Not only is the game up-to-date with all the current teams, but all-time throwback teams are also integrated such as the ‘96-’97 Chicago Bulls,

NHL players excluded from Olympics

This addition is a fun twist to the game because gamers worldwide can test out how Michael Jordan’s famed 1995-96 Bulls would fare against the modernday powerhouse, the Golden State Warriors. “The new feature of throwback teams is interesting because it lets you play with the all-time greats of a franchise and allows us to get a glimpse of how older squads played since the gameplay is so realistic,” Rabello said. As the year progresses, players’ ratings will either increase or decrease based on the way they have been performing throughout the NBA season, which is yet another great addition. Fans can also play with the new rookies in the league. Top picks Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz and Jayson Tatum, whose average rating was the highest 2K has ever made among rookies. “It’s cool how new rookies are introduced, as it provides more players that you can play with,” said junior Marvin Zou. “Nobody wants to see the same athletes participating every year. There are so many players that you may have supported in college and now you get the chance to use them.”

Poor air quality delays practices

Poor timing, injuries and high costs deter NHL from participating in the games

Eruption of wildfires impact Paly athletes By Raj Lele

Senior Staff Writer

n light of the recent wildfires that struck Northern California, several of Paly’s fall sports teams were forced to cancel practices and games due to the poor air quality drifting into the Peninsula. Because league playoffs are on the horizon, teams are starting their preparation by increasing practices, and the wildfire has only delayed this prep work. For example, the varsity water polo team was not able to practice or play over the course of the last week because Principal Kim Diorio announced that games would be canceled.

PHOTO BY S.YUME / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Canadian men’s ice hockey team celebrates winning the gold medal in overtime against the United States in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

By Eric Li

Sports Editor

n the 2012 Olympics, Team Canada scored the game-winning overtime goal to win the Olympic gold for men’s hockey. Dubbed the “golden goal,” Sidney Crosby immortalized himself in Olympic history by scoring the final goal in quite possibly the most memorable hockey game since the sport’s incorporation into the Winter Olympics over 100 years ago. However, despite the lastminute heroics and worldwide appeal of Crosby, the Canadian star may be left off the Olympic roster next year. Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had approved the use of professional hockey players to play in the Winter Olympics in 1887, it wasn’t until 1998 when the National Hockey League (NHL) finally allowed its players to represent their countries on the greatest sporting stage in the world. Much like in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the ability for countries to send professional athletes provided a burst of talent in the Olympic tournament, allowing a boom in popularity with the highly-skilled showmanship of professionals replacing the runof-the-mill amateurs.

During the years leading up to the allowance of non-ameteur athletes into the league, Olympic hockey was dominated by countries that forbade players to play in international leagues for the sake for winning gold, with the most notable being the USSR (Soviet Union), who won six golds in seven Olympics.

Due to the nature of its sudden-death games, the tournament can emulate the chaos and excitement seen in the National Football League (NFL) playoffs and March Madness. The main conflict for the Olympics and the NHL is that the Winter Olympics lie right in the middle of the professional hockey season. Typically, the NHL removes the all-star game and shortens the amount of days per games players get to compensate for the large break due to this event. However, squeezing a number of days in an already tight schedule results in not enough resting time for players in the season, ending up in higher risk of

injury. Also, players have to miss more games if they are injured due to there being more games in less time. Another conflict is that traditionally, players who play in the Olympics are paid by both the IOC as well as the International Ice Hockey Federation during this period. Estimated costs are calculated to be multiple millions of dollars in order to overcome sending around 150 players to a foreign country, on top of paying the players’ salary and housing. Players that go to the Olympics are typically stars who choose to play additional games in the Olympics. The NHL worries that many of its star players will have a higher chance of getting injured in the Olympics in addition to regular season play. With more star players gone to injuries, fans have less incentive to come watch the game, as their favorite athletes may not be able to play. This negatively impacts the league, resulting in less revenue for the league and athletes, imperative in certain small-market teams that struggle with revenue even without an Olympic schedule. Many players who do not play for great NHL teams, such as New York Islanders captain John Tavares, have campaigned for the allowance of players in the Olympic tournament. Players

who are on teams that won’t make the playoffs lust for something to play for, and the Olympics can give them just that. In addition, Olympic hockey is deceptively more competitive than its results show. Due to the nature of its sudden-death games, the tournament can emulate the chaos and excitement seen in the National Football League (NFL) playoffs and March Madness. Providing fans with the chance to see their favorite Olympic players is another key piece in this agreement. Hockey has been long regarded as among the most popular winter sports, and with the NHL already growing at a rapid rate, interest in hockey at the Olympics has reached an all time high. “Watching hockey players compete for their country is always fun,” senior and hockey enthusiast Maxwell Harrenstien said. “It brings an added level of entertainment.” Olympic hockey will not only boost the amount of Winter Olympic viewers, but will also raise regional pride for the respective teams during that time period. As a once-every-four-years opportunity, the NHL should try its hardest to add players into the Olympic mix, not only for the fans, but also for the players and the organization themselves.

“I was told by the coach that practice was canceled Thursday morning.” Bridget Li

Varsity water polo player Will Parmeter said the boys water polo team responded well to the situation, despite being out of the water for a few days, because they had the opportunity to work on different skill sets. “The wildfire had a positive and negative affect on our practice last week,” Parmeter said, “It was negative because we couldn’t get into the pool for six days, which caused some of us to get out of shape. It was positive because it was the first time this season that we lifted weights as a team and watched film on what we can improve on outside of the pool.” According to Parmeter, he and several other seniors said they would benefit immensely by watching film to figure out the weaknesses of their opponents. “All of us seniors thought that it would be a good idea to watch film if we couldn’t practice because it would be indoors and we’d be able to get an advantage on our opponents,” Parmeter said. “Also, during these film sessions, we figured out that we need to try to be more physical in games early, so we can take our opponents out of the game mentally.” In addition, the wildfire has allowed the team to bond differently level. Parmeter said the time outside the pool allowed them to

talk strategy and more on a personal level. “There was just more talk while not in the pool practicing,” Parmeter said. “Because we were indoors lifting weights, we could actually talk about [gameplans] and how we were all feeling going into the playoffs. It also let us get to know each other better.” Unlike the boys varsity water polo team, the girls varsity tennis team wasn’t affected to the degree that their games were canceled. According to junior tennis player Bridget Li, the team was notified by their coach, Andy Harader, on Oct. 12 (Thursday) that only practice would be canceled. “I was told by the coach that practice was canceled Thursday morning,” Li said. “None of our games were affected because we happened to not have a game that Thursday anyway.” The team didn’t replace the practice with anything that would improve their gameplay. “We didn’t do anything indoors,” Li said. “We just didn’t have practice, so that meant no bonding.”

“The wildfire had a positive and negative affect on our practice last week.” Will Parmeter

Outside of Paly sports, professional Bay Area sports teams have fundraised to support victims outside of the wildfire. The Golden State Warriors, Oakland A’s, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Sharks and San Jose Earthquakes all combined to raise $450,000 that will be donated to relief efforts in the North Bay. According to CBS Sports, Golden State Warriors President Rick Welts said that the wellbeing of the victims is more important than any rivalry between the teams. “The North Bay is a large part of our Warriors family and we’re devastated by what they’re enduring at this time,” Welts said. “We are joining forces with the rest of our sports community to help relief efforts and encourage any fans who are able to help by donating as well.”

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Campanile

SPORTS PUNISHMENTS IN FANTASY FOOTBALL TEXT & DESIGN BY VIVIAN FENG

DESIGN BY : LUCY NEMEROV

Students inflict consequences for last-place league contestants to cultivate competition and raise stakes

bout a third of the way through the National Football League (NFL) season, Fantasy Football League contestants are beginning to see their rankings settle within their respective leagues. One of the leagues with the highest stakes is the National Fantasy Football Championship Platinum league, where contestants pay $20,000 to enter and run the risk of either losing it all or winning the grand prize of $170,000. Although these high-stakes leagues exist, most people play for fun and set lower wagers, or bet with non-monetary punishments. Lower stakes can incentivize people who have less experience with Fantasy Leagues or people who do not want to risk losing their money to play. Some Paly leagues have followed the trend to motivate their contestants with a last-place punishment that is beyond the loss of the entry fee. After the 2016 Fantasy Football season, USA Today reported that 68 percent of leagues had a punishment for last place finishers, ranging from drinking a gross concoction to running “The Beer Mile” to getting a tattoo of the winner’s choice. In the infamous “Beer Mile” a contestant has to run a mile after drinking four consecutive 12 oz. cans of beer; the penalty for vomiting before the end of the mile is the addition of an extra quarter of a mile.

“The Milk Mile” punishment is a play-off of the “Beer Mile” punishment for contestants who are not of legal drinking age yet, and is popular among underage leagues. Many who play in Paly leagues are familiar with this punishment.

that league, I didn’t have to do the punishment,” Strathearn said. “The punishment was running the [Stanford] Dish wearing a Speedo and holding up a sign of the winner’s choice.” Despite that, he said his hopes of winning have not faltered. “Even though in the past years my team has not performed as I would like, I believe that this year is a turnaround year for me,” Strathearn said. “Having a punishment motivates me.” Senior Benner Mullin is also in a league with friends that awards the winner $200 but allows the whole team to choose the punishment for the person who places last in the league. Mullin said this motivates the contestants who have rankings too low to win to remain competitive so they too can join in determining the punishment for lastplace. Considering M u l lin does not have a good chance of winning anymore, avoiding the last place punishment is the main factor encouraging him to stay involved. “Having money for the winner ensures that everyone tries the whole season,” Mullin said. “Having a pun-

“ punishments help motivate contes-

tants to stay competitive during the season, it serves the unforeseen purpose of finishing off the season on a more silly and more memorable note. money is not required to bring out the competitive nature of the fantasy football. “You have to finish drinking a gallon of milk and run a mile afterwards,” junior Ryan Strathearn said. “You get a time limit to finish the mile,” Strathearn is in a league of classmates who decided on both a monetary award for the winner and the ability to choose what the last place player has to wear to school for one day. “If an individual loses the league, they should be punished for their lack of skill and thus will be motivated to do better next year,” Strathearn said. Strathearn said he has played fantasy football for “as long as he can remember,” but has not won a league. “In previous leagues, I’ve finished last place, but since I came late to

ART BY MARIE DAVIS

”

“ While

ishment for the loser makes sure that the people with worse records don’t just give up.” While many leagues have tangible prizes and punishments, other students say money is not required to bring out the competitive nature of the fantasy football. For these students, shame is a big enough punishment. Junior Tejas Shete is playing in two leagues this year, one with family and one with friends. Shete said he has won half of the leagues he has competed in within the past four years and has not seen the need for a large wager. “[This year] I have a $5 wager with a friend to see who has the best record,” Shete said. “Bragging rights is a prize worth winning and a punishment you don’t want to face.” T w o o t h e r leagues at Paly also do not have punishments for the loser: the Sports Literature English classes and the math departm e n t teachers. Junior Zach Baumgarten is in a league with his Sports Literature class where they do not have a

“ Lower

punishment, and is in a league with friends where their punishment is the Milk Mile. Baumgarten said there are pros and cons of having a punishment in leagues.

stakes can incentivize people who have less experience with Fantasy Leagues or people who do not want to risk losing their money to play.

many leagues have tangible prizes and punishments, other students say money is not required to bring out the competitive nature of the fantasy football. For those students, shame is a big enough punishment.

”

“I feel like naturally if you have a punishment that people will take it more seriously because they don’t want to lose,” Baumgarten said. “With that being said, the reason to have a punishment is so the rest of the league can watch their friend do a silly task. And since I don’t know everyone in my Sports Literature class that well, I wouldn’t want to see them punished to the same extent. It wouldn’t be as funny.” According to the Paly students interviewed, although punishments help motivate contestants to stay competitive during the season, it also serves the unforeseen purpose of finishing off the season on a lighthearted and more memorable note. Although there are only two more months for contestants to battle for first (and not last), league contestants have not given up and remain optimistic for their teams. Strathearn said, “It’s hard to stay optimistic when I haven’t won three years in a row, but I like to take it game-by-game, and improve my team in any way I can.”