Issue 7, 3/3/2017

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. XCIX, No. 7

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

Friday, March 3, 2017

Proposed bill threatens student tech privacy Career Month

Assembly Bill 165 would allow school administrations to search messages and photos

speaker series in full swing ASHLEY ZHANG

NEWS AND OPINION EDITOR

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Proposed legislature would enable public school administrators to seize and search a student's personal electronic device without needing a formal justification or warrant.

PAARTH SHARMA

STAFF WRITER

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new California state legislature bill that aims to allow school administrations to demand that students hand over any personal electronic devices without a warrant has recently generated immense controversy. Assembly Bill 165, introduced by Assembly Rep. Jim Cooper (D – Elk Grove), would allow school employees to seize any student’s cell phone, laptop or digital music player and view its contents, including private messages, photos and social media accounts.

The bill’s exact intentions are simply to remove any application of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) at any public educational institution.

“I would definitely feel violated if one of my teachers were to take my computer and look through everything on there."

Daniel Logan Junior The ECPA “prohibits a government entity, as defined, from compelling the production of, or access to,

California students file lawsuits against Trump

electronic communication information or electronic device information, as defined, without a search warrant."

As a result, Bill 165 would allow authorities at a school to take and search any student’s electronic device “on the spot," an idea that worries many of its opponents.

Dissenters of the bill add that the bill itself is unconstitutional and a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which states that people have the right to prevent government seizure or search of themselves or their property without a warrant.

In this case, those against the bill claim that it would force students to

turn over certain kinds of property to officials, making it a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment.

“This would give staff far too much power, and some teachers are sure to abuse it,” said junior Daniel Logan. “I would definitely feel violated if one of my teachers were to take my computer and look through everything on there.”

However, supporters of the bill argue that it would allow for schools to combat the prevalent issue of cyberbullying much more effectively. Since the bill would allow for school offiBILL 165

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or the ninth time in Palo Alto High School history, the annual Career Month will be held from Feb. 28 to March 9 during lunch in the English Writing Center and Library Conference Room.

The two-week speaker series will feature an array of presentations by professionals working in fields ranging from art to Indian dance to civil engineering. Like previous years, pizza and burrito lunches will be provided for the first 250 students in attendance every day.

“Our goal is to ​provide students an opportunity to explore different jobs, and learn about the journeys of successful adults and what their experiences were like when they were our age and in college,” said Stella Wan, President of the Career Month club.

“Our goal is also to encourage students to pursue what ​intrigues​them, and to give them an in-person connection with adults who have found fulfilment in their work.”

In October, the six-person Career Month committee began to plan for the event. However, as the previous year’s team consisted of all seniors and just one sophomore member, the new team operated with minimal guidance.

“All the students who organized this event last year graduated and I was the only one left,” Wan said. “[Former Paly Career Advisor and Community Service Coordinator] Ms. [Christina] Owen also does not CAREER MONTH

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Choir and staff perform at Pops Concert

Faculty addition to choir festivities brings community together

Suit alleges Trump violated Constitution EDAN SNEH

STAFF WRITER

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hree college students in California have joined the dozens of other people filing lawsuits against President Donald Trump in the two months he has held office by challenging his ban on immigrants from seven Muslimmajority countries.

The three students have accused Trump of violating the Constitution of the United States and of discrimination, citing that his Jan. 27 ban specifically targets a group of people based on their ethnicity. The students, a freshman at Stanford with a student visa, a 23-year-old student at University of California (UC) San Diego and an anonymous student from the UC Berkeley, are suing through the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) organization.

"Mr. Trump's constitutional violations are immediate and serious, so we were forced to take legal action."

Noah Bookbinder Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington The situation began when the Stanford student, Hadil Al-Mowafak, was unable to visit her husband in Yemen due to Trump's immigration ban. The executive order banned citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from enter-

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ing the United States for 90 days. The Royal Bank, a multinational financial service company, has estimated that this ban would outlaw roughly 218 million people, the total population of the seven countries. However, in the case of Al-Mowafak and many more, the ban affected people living in the United States today.

The student from UC Berkeley has decided to remain anonymous, but claims that Trump’s new order has jeopardized his or her job offer from a successful Silicon Valley company. This student has also identified that they carry the F-1 visa common among all three of the students.

This is not the first time Trump has possibly violated the Constitution, as evidenced by dozens of lawsuits.

“It was our hope that President Trump would take the necessary steps to avoid violating the U.S. Constitution before he took office," said Noah Bookbinder, the Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "He did not. His constitutional violations are immediate and serious, so we were forced to take legal action.”

The controversy over the immigration ban centers on whether it is religious discrimination, or a conflict between nations. The suits claims: “The federal government has made it clear that it intends to favor Christian immigrants over Muslims.”

The White House claims that the TRUMP

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OPINION

PETER GOLD/THE CAMPANILE

Senior Jason Pollak performs a solo in front of a packed crowd of students, parents and staff members as choir members look on.

CHARLOTTE CHENG

STAFF WRITER

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alo Alto High School’s choirs performed their annual Pops Concert in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Feb. 14 and 15. The concert, following the theme of “Sounds Like Teen Spirit,” featured songs from the ‘90s, including hits by the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and Boyz II Men.

For the first time ever, Paly’s choir program partnered with the Rise Together Foundation.

Held under the supervision of Paly’s choir teachers, Michael Najar

LIFESTYLE

ELAINE THOMPSON/FAIR USE

Lies and lead poisoning

Impact of travel ban at Paly

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The national effect of a series of cover-ups and lies in Flint, Mich.

Profiles on citizens with ties to countries on the banned list.

and Brittney Kerby, the concert was performed by all of the choir groups at Paly: the concert choir, Madrigals, Spectrum Choir and all five acapella groups.

For the first time ever, Paly’s choir program partnered with the Rise Together Foundation, a nonprofit that helps “high achieving and lowincome students that are college bound,” according to Paly principal Kim Diorio.

The foundation was founded by Laura Marcus-Bricca, a special education teacher at Paly, and its goal is to “provide mentoring and financial assistance to low income Palo Alto High School students,” as stated on their website.

ARIEL SKELLEY/CREATIVE COMMONS LICESNSED

In the past 17 years, the Pops Concert only featured Paly students.

This year, however, some Paly teachers were introduced into the program.

Hoping to attract more attendees by adding a teacher performance, the Pops Concert also held an auction outside of the auditorium. A percent of the proceeds earned by the concert and auction went to the Rise Together Foundation and the rest went to the Choir program at Paly.

Choir president Taylor Duncan expressed her content with the new addition to the Pops Concert.

“Having teachers perform was great because they got to see what we POPS CONCERT

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CREW/CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSED

SPOTLIGHT

SPORTS

An inside look at how affirmative action impacts Paly students.

Cutting edge equipment is often unnecessary for proper training.

Affirmative Action policies Flashy gear, dull skills

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The Campanile

Friday, March 3, 2017

A2 NEWS TO KNOW

NEWS Santa Clara opens teen inpatient unit Inpatient hospital beds open to help treat local teenagers dealing with mental illness TRISTAN WANG

STAFF WRITER

CHRIS PIZZELLO/CREATIVE COMMONS

@SteveHarvey Good morning everybody! Went to sleep early last night. So... what I miss? #Oscars

@CNN Apple, Microsoft, and PayPal are joining the legal fight for transgender rights.

@POLITICO George W. Bush breaks with @realDonaldTrump, calls media ‘indispensable to democracy’.

@TheNewYorkTimes Journalists from The New York Times, CNN and Politico were barred from attending a White House briefing.

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ith the opening of a new psychiatric hospital in San Jose teenagers in mental health crises now have access to inpatient hospital beds within county borders.

However, efforts to provide more comprehensive services are still ongoing.

On Feb. 7, an agreement with San Jose Behavioral Health (SJBH) was unanimously approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, making a 17-bed inpatient psychiatric unit available by August 2017.

The beds will be open to 14-to17-year-old patients on commercial insurance, as well as those who are unsponsored and uninsured.

For many, the agreement is a crucial and overdue fix to a shortcoming in the Santa Clara medical system.

A report from the Board of Supervisors shows that an average of 20 adolescents each day receive inpatient psychiatric care outside county borders; some are hospitalized in farflung facilities in San Francisco, Fremont, Vallejo and even Sacramento.

Prior to the agreement, the closest

VERONICA WEBER/FAIR USE

Hallways like these line the newly opened Santa Clara teen inpatient unit in San Jose.

available beds to a Palo Alto teenager would be at Mills-Peninsula Health Services in San Mateo.

The agreement with SJBH was not the first attempt to provide hospitalized care for county teens in crisis.

A preceding Request for Proposal (RFP) issued jointly by nonprofit EMQ Families First and the Alameda-based Telecare Corporation for an adolescent unit for similar purposes, was closed by the Board on Jan. 10.

The closure occurred because appropriate budget requirements were not met, which forced the Board to close

it.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who brought into question the scarcity of hospital beds for teens in crisis within county borders as early as May 2015, and has been at the forefront of the effort ever since, expressed that the partnership with San Jose Behavioral Health is “a good start” but only a part of the comprehensive solution he would like to see.

Simitian is currently conversing with several local health care providers, including Palo Alto's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Moun-

tain View's El Camino Hospital and Kaiser Permanente, who responded to a Request for Information (RFI) in April 2016 and submitted a joint preliminary proposal to provide an 18bed facility for 12-to-17-year-olds at the even closer El Camino campus in Mountain View.

"I think what it's going to take is a collaborative model that is a little more creative than the contracting process ordinarily accommodates," Simitian said. “[But] if we see this as a shared responsibility, I think anything is possible.”

Meanwhile, the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors are also expressing concerns about the variety of services SJBH will provide.

A request has been made to provide a list of all medical services the new facility will offer. Among the discrepancies are concerns about teenagers who may require both physical and mental care when hospitalized.

Another concern is the fact that SJBH was the sole bidder who provided a proposal to the country’s request.

Efforts are being undertaken by the Board to assess if other potential agencies exist that can offer needy adolescents a cheaper and more expansive suite of services.

Uber faces scrutiny after alignment with Trump Twitter users threaten to #DeleteUber after recent J.F.K. airport surge-pricing scandal BYRON ZHANG

STAFF WRITER NASA-JPL/CREATIVE COMMONS

@NASA Our latest discovery: 7 Earth-size planets orbiting a red dwarf star. Lifeless rocks or ... ? We’re studying them.

@washingtonpost Sessions spoke twice in 2016 with Russian ambassador. He didn't disclose this at confirmation hearing to become AG.

@CalvinHarris Slide ft. Frank Ocean & Migos is out everywhere now.

@HuffingtonPost Soccer fans’ racist ‘monkey chants’ causes Brazilian star to leave game in tears.

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n Jan. 28, popular ride sharing app Uber turned off surge pricing at John F. Kennedy airport during a protest against Trump’s new policy on banning refugees from seven Middle Eastern countries, including Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya.

Many view this action as a method to capitalize on the taxi strike because the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is an advisor to Trump’s strategy and policy forum.

After the incident, a Twitter hashtag, #DeleteUber, quickly gained popularity, causing 200,000 people delete their Uber accounts.

At first glance, the incident seemed to bring negative impacts to Uber. However, Uber not only ultimately emerged unharmed, but actually profited from the scandal.

According to Similar Web, a program that analyzes website traffic data, the number of visitors to the Uber website increased significantly over the past few months.

In December, in the “Computer and Electronics” category, Uber was the 82nd most visited, but when the

DAN TAYLOR/CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSED

Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick has recently generated controversy for becoming an advisor to Trump's strategy and policy forum.

surge pricing incident happened, the ranking went up to 12th place.

“I would delete Uber because I don’t want to contribute anything to Trump.''

Jeseop Hwang Sophomore Perhaps in an attempt to capitalize on Uber’s negative publicity, rival ridesharing company Lyft announced

ASB hosts throwback dance at the Mitchell Park Community Center High schoolers celebrate middle school with a nostalgic dance UMA CHOUDHURY

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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Isabel Black Social Commissioner rowing down from a lot of different potential themes and it was our favorite,” said Isabel Black, senior co-Social Commissioner. “We just

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NO SCHOOL-LOCAL HOLIDAY Don’t question it.

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DAYLIGHT SAVINGS BEGINS The latest reason why you're missing sleep.

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PALY SERVICE DAY (FLEX DAY) Give back to the community or catch up on the Bachelor. We won’t judge.

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ST. PATRICK DAY As far as pubs go, Campy is our favorite.

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START OF ASB ELECTIONS The one-party system at its finest.

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Sophomore Thomas Colburn and junior Ben Pederson pose at the throwback dance.

thought that it would be so fun to reminisce on our middle school days.”

Along with middle school songs, ASB also provided free ice cream tacos. “The ice cream sandwiches were so good it made my taste buds go boom boom pow,” said senior Tommy Smale.

The turnout to the dance was also a pleasing surprise to both ASB and students.

“The dance went well," said JoaoGabriel Carvalho De Pina, senior and co-Social Commissioner. "It was a good throwback to the middle school days. The turnout actually exceeded my expectations and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The best part was the dance of course but the ice cream tacos were definitely superb as well.”

don’t want to contribute anything to Trump,” said sophomore Jeseop Hwang. “I have many different options other than Uber, such as Lyft, so deleting Uber wouldn’t affect me.”

Others do not feel that it is worth the hassle to switch services.

“Although I am not a Trump supporter, I just don’t want to switch around,” alumna Annie Peng ('16) said. “I am already used to using Uber, so switching and adapting to Lyft would be hard for me.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

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aly’s Associated Student Body (ASB) held their annual Winter Dance at the Mitchell Park Community Center on Feb. 23.

After last year’s “Highlight the Night” theme, this year the theme was "Middle School Throwbacks," with only 2000s music played at the event.

The songs played at the dance included, "I Gotta Feeling," "Sexyback," "Gold Digger" and "Crank That (Soulja Boy)."

“We chose it when we were nar-

"We chose it when we were narrowing down from a lot of different potential themes and it was our favorite."

that they will donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). As a result, Lyft's downloads have increased rapidly.

Sensor Tower, a website collecting data on phone application downloads, shows that more people downloaded Lyft than Uber on Jan. 29. However, Uber's app downloads surged past Lyft’s by Feb. 1.

Some Paly students are opposed to Uber after this incident.

“I would delete Uber because I

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Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

NEWS A3 Students weigh in on grades 2017 Pops concert AVI TACHNA-FRAM

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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n the latest debate surrounding weighted grade point averages (GPAs), Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) officials convened at Palo Alto High School to hear student opinion on the charged issue.

The hour-long forum hosted in the Media Arts Center (MAC) on Feb. 6 by PAUSD Superintendent Max McGee was an attempt to gather student input before the Board of Education made a concrete decision about long-term grade reporting practices by its self-imposed April 1 deadline.

Around 20 students attended the forum, though some arrived late or left early.

A poll taken of the students in attendance found that 67 percent of students at the forum favored reporting both weighted and unweighted (Grade Point Averages) GPA on transcripts. This support is unsurprising considering that many in support

of weighted grades primarily saw this method as a way to increase scholarship chances.

“If [Principal Kim Diorio] is willing to call in, write letters and appeal [scholarship decisions] and if 100 percent of the time they give that scholarship, I am willing to give up weighted GPAs, but if she is unwilling and can’t or she fails once there’s always the worry that that kid can’t go to college,” said junior Hannah Itzkowtiz.

Students on the other side of the issue denounced weighted GPAs as a useless, stress-inducing practice.

“When I was applying to the [University of California schools] there was a little section that tells you whether you are in the top nine percent of the senior class; it doesn’t affect your admissions because Paly students generally have a lot higher grades than [in] other schools, but it was still a source of stress for me when my GPA was not enough to qualify me for that nine percent,” said senior Laura Sieh.

However, when polled, only 36

percent of students present thought that weighted GPA would increase stress and 55 percent thought it would have no affect at all on stress.

30 percent of those polled feared that weighting grades would discourage students from taking electives: “The reason that my GPA was lower than other students was not because I didn’t do well in courses,” Sieh said. “I had all A’s during [sophomore and junior year] but it was because I took courses like journalism and theater, which are courses that have been influential to my development as a person and I think disincentivizing [students from taking non-weighted classes] would be a big mistake.”

The other 70 percent polled felt that students are more intrinsically motivated and will continue to take classes that interest them, not ones that simply offer a GPA boost.

“It disappoints me when people assume that those people taking would-be weighted courses are taking them for the points, and not for the sake of learning,” said junior Chloe Hong.

claim to be the target of Trump’s travel ban. This is not a totally random accusation since, as Trump said during his presidential campaign in December of 2015: “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States

can figure out what the hell is going on!”

It will not be easy for a few students to win a legal battle against the president of the United States, but more than 60 lawsuits have been filed against Trump in the two months since he became president.

PETER GOLD/THE CAMPANILE

Sophomore Jessica Weissman performs solo on stage alongside other choir students.

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do and it was fun being on stage with them,” Duncan said. “It was also great because the proceeds of this concert are going to such a great cause.”

Sam Guernsey, a junior and member of the Spectrum choir, sang “No

Scrubs/No Diggity” mashup with her group. She was amazed by how well her first concert went.

“My favorite part was watching everyone who had a solo,” Guernsey said. “During choir, you usually just hear people singing in a group and it was really special to see all the soloists.”

Californians suing Trump for immigration ban Planning Career Month CONTINUED FROM A1

ban is simply targeting seven different nations, but many see the ban having different implications. The seven nations commonly share a population majority who identify with the Islamic religion, which the students

Bill 165 risks infringement on student privacy CONTINUED FROM A1

officials, including administrators, teachers, and campus police, to take and search student’s electronic devices, they would be allowed to view messages that could potentially be used to cyber bully another

student. Consequently, students would cyberbully one another less, which would result in the eradication of cyberbullying as it is today.

Of particular concern to many is the impact the bill could have on student journalism programs, especially if these publications were to criticize

school authorities. Many believe that students responsible for writing such stories or articles run the risk of having their personal devices searched.

“It may not even be used directly, but it definitely could be used to control the student population,” said junior Cooper Kim.

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work at Paly anymore, so we had no guidance from teachers. It seemed really, really hard to make it happen again from my point of view.”

However, once a team of organizers — comprised of juniors Tilak Misner, Stella Wan and Jerry Yang and sophomores Yue Shi, Ashley Wang and Maggie Yan — was formed their preparation progressed with few complications.

“I decided to recruit my team and talked with the administrators about making it happen again,” Wan said.

“My team was able to help me invite speakers and publicize this event, and the administrators were supportive and helped me solve a lot of problems [such as] food.”

As for the speakers, the commit-

tee looked to find a group of diverse professionals in both STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and humanities fields.

“We first brainstormed different fields and people we know who work in those fields and we reached out to them for more information,” Wan said. “Then, we emailed Paly Link and asked for suggestions.”

Paly students across all grade levels are excited to hear from another set of engaging speakers in a broad range of careers.

“The speakers are always really informative, and it's a good opportunity to broaden your horizons about postPaly options,” junior Frances Zhuang said. “It has always been really fun to hear from those great people working in different fields, and I cannot wait to hear those speakers this year.”

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

A4 NEWS Trump issues threat to stymie Community concerned federal funding to California with Devos’s policies Sacramento stands in resistance and will sue the administration

GAGE SKIDMORE/FAIR USE

Trump promises to cut funding from California if they don’t comply with immigration regulations by creating a sanctuary state.

JACQUES MANJARREZ

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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rump has threatened to withhold federal funding if California becomes a sanctuary state. During a televised interview with Bill O’Reilly, President Donald Trump expressed his concern for Californian independence, calling the Californian situation “out of control.”

“If we have to, we’ll defund,” Trump said. “We give tremendous amounts of money to California.

California in many ways is out of control, as you know.”

“We are a nation of immigrants and a land of laws. We must be the ‘guardians of our democracy’ that President Obama urged us all to be in his farewell address.”

Dennis Herrara

San Francisco City Attorney The movement to convert California into a sanctuary state, which was kickstarted by State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, was approved by the State Senate committee on May 30.

The bill was created in opposition to the Commander-in-Chief ’s controversial stance on immigration, which has been viewed by many as prejudiced and cowardly.

By making California a sanctuary stat, state officers would be prohib-

ited from working alongside immigration officers in the searching for undocumented immigrants.

Although some Californian cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento have already adopted sanctuary-like policies, there are still many Californian cities that remain susceptible to the presidential authority. Trump has already signed a bill that would pull federal funding from a few vulnerable sanctuary cities.

The City of San Francisco has taken it upon themselves to sue the Trump administration for this, citing it as unconstitutional and un-American.

“That is why we must stand up and oppose it,” said Dennis Herrera, City Attorney of San Francisco.

“We are a nation of immigrants and a land of laws. We must be the ‘guardians of our democracy’ that President Obama urged us all to be in his farewell address.”

Herrera emphasized the need for people to stand up against a president that she believes has violated the Constitution.

“This lawsuit is not a step I take lightly,” Herrar said. “But it is one that is necessary to defend the people of this city, this state and this country from the wild overreach of a president whose words and actions have thus far shown little respect for our Constitution or the rule of law.”

This perception is shared by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, as well as

Californian Governor Jerry Brown, who has regularly vocalized his distaste for some of the Commanderin-Chief ’s propositions.

Some Californians believe that this sanctuary policy is the match spark for the CalExit bonfire, and are exploring the possibility of absolute secession from the union of the United States of America.

“If we have to, we’ll defund. We give tremendous amounts of money to California. California in many ways is out of control, as you know.”

Donald Trump President “I think it’s ridiculous,” Trump said, reiterating his opposition to sanctuary cities, which he said “breed crime.”

Trump has signed an executive order in his first week in office that threatened to withhold federal funding for cities that fail to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Although some states, the state of California included among them, give more to the federal government then they get.

Some Californians believe that this is the catalyst for the secession of California from the union.

If Trump pulls federal funding, California could well manage to become financially independent.

PEYTON WANG

STAFF WRITER

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his past year has been full of political surprises. Donald Trump pulled off an unexpected presidential election victory, the inaugural turnout attracted a tremendous amount of controversy and the Senate recently confirmed Betsy DeVos as the 11th U.S. Secretary of Education due to a historic tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President Mike Pence.

DeVos, a Michigan billionaire, philanthropist and activist, has never held elected office and continues to face unprecedented opposition in the Senate after receiving more “no” votes than previous nominees for her position.

Before DeVos’s confirmation, she chaired the American Federation for Children (AFC), an organization that promotes the system of school choice, which allows public funds to be allocated to non-public school programs. Some of these programs include charter, private, religious and home-based schools. Charter schools are often privately operated but located within a public school district.

Often, students are issued “vouchers” that enable them to transfer to one of those schools by bringing with them their proportionate share of funding from their public school district.

Over the course of the past two decades, DeVos focused her efforts in her home state of Michigan, where some of the worst-performing schools in the nation are located.

Although Michigan spends $1 billion on charter schools each year, their accountability and academic progress has yielded abysmal results.

In a 2015 Corruption Risk Report Card from the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), Michigan’s accountability laws and government transparency received a failing grade and the lowest score in the nation.

Despite these disappointing results, last November, President Donald J. Trump proposed a $20 billion federally funded voucher education plan and nominated DeVos as the Secretary of Education.

Brian Wilson, a Paly journalism teacher, recounts the hardships he faced throughout his 18 years of teaching in Michigan.

“Public schools face a budget crunch every year, and it seems to be getting worse,” Wilson said. “Most teachers haven’t received any substantial raise in the last decade, and most are actually making less money now than they were 10 years ago.”

According to Wilson, one of biggest problems with charter schools is that they close when they become unprofitable.

“When schools are turned into a profit-making industry, there is little incentive for the people in charge to keep them open when they aren’t making money,” Wilson said. “Charter programs, in some cases, are open one day and closed the next, leaving students in the lurch. Since there is no government oversight, these are schools that don’t really have to show any progress or level of success.”

Max McGee, superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD), hopes to see DeVos invest the majority of her time in public education instead of placing an emphasis on charter or private schools.

“Secretary DeVos would be welladvised to spend some time in public schools, identifying what is working well and replicating those practices rather than trying to privatize public schools,” McGee said. “There’s plenty of high-poverty, high-performing school districts that have closed the achievement gap, so let’s learn from these districts rather than assume privatization is just the way to go.”

Additionally, DeVos, a devout Christian, has financially supported

Christian schools through donations and vouchers.

If DeVos attempts to integrate a nationwide Christian agenda, McGee strongly believes that the courts will evaluate the constitutional validity of her actions.

“America was founded on the freedom of religion, freedom of speech [and] freedom of the press, so I think anything that will interfere with [these principles] will certainly be subject to judicial review,” McGee said.

“When schools are turned into a profit-making industry, there is little incentive for the people in charge to keep them open when they aren’t making money,”

Brian Wilson Journalism Teacher Board of Education member Todd Collins believes that PAUSD’s financial condition may not necessarily be affected by DeVos’ policies. It’s not clear how her policies will translate into federal funding of schools.

Currently, the district only receives 1.6 percent of its annual revenue, or $3.6 million from the federal government, compared to $166 million collected from local property taxes.

“If the federal government does change the way it funds schools like Palo Alto, then we will have a choice,” Collins said. “I think [our control over the curriculum] will depend on what our fiscal situation is at the time and how onerous whatever they’re asking us to do might be. While there are certain things that may impact us, in general, I think things will be much more the same than they are different.”

Head of Castilleja School Nanci Kauffman believes that school choice has its benefits and flaws.

“Let me start by saying that there is good intention behind funding school choice in order to make excellent schools accessible to all families,” Kauffman said. “The problem with the plan, however, is that ultimately, we have a responsibility to fully fund our public schools. Many believe that like vouchers, charter schools will divert money away from our public schools.”

While Palo Alto maybe one of the last areas directly affected by DeVos’s policies, Wilson believes that school districts should continue to sustain public schools.

“I think every school district in the country has a vested interest in making sure that the public school system is supported and kept viable,” Wilson said. “Schools in lower-income areas will be immediately impacted if there is a concerted effort to encourage parents to take their students elsewhere.”

Following DeVos’ nomination, Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie proposed a bill to eliminate the Department of Education.

McGee and Collins do not support this legislation.

“While education in the United States is largely regulated at the state level, the federal Department of Education has an incredibly important role in setting standards and guiding the very wide variety of school districts we have in the country in the right direction,” Collins said.

Wilson thinks that a variety of school systems can coexist without much conflict, as private schools and public institutions have existed in harmony for a long time.

“Ninety percent of American kids are educated via the public school system, but another tenth of our students are already in a different system,” Wilson said. “Many charter schools, at least in California, are successful and provide a good alternative for segments of the population. We shouldn’t be afraid to get better, but it needs to be done the right way.”

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

OPINION A5 Political knowledge inspires action in young citizens

NOAH BAUM

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STAFF WRITER

fter the presidential election results hit America, protesters took to the streets of Oregon to demonstrate their opposition to President Donald Trump. Of the protesters the police arrested, 60 percent had not voted, according to the New York Daily News.

In 2016, about 50 percent of the millennial population, who make up the 19 to 35 demographic, cast a ballot for the presidential election, contrasting sharply with the silent generation's (age 72 and older) voter turnout of 72 percent. Given these statistics, it seems that millennials, the future of America, are alarmingly uninvolved in politics; that needs to change if our democracy is to function properly.

Younger voters had the opportunity to sway the entire presidential election but were too uninformed about political issues, which deterred their desire to act.

The lack of involvement in politics by young voters was apparent in the 2016 presidential election. Those aged 18 to 29 voted largely for Demo-

cratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who clinched 55 percent of the young vote.

Meanwhile, Trump received only 37 percent of the young vote and was carried by older ballot-punchers.

Younger voters had the opportunity to sway the entire presidential election but were too uninformed about political issues, which deterred their desire to act. A survey done in 2012 by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) including 4,483 Americans ages 18 to 24 found that 51.2 percent of young Americans thought the federal government spent more on foreign aid than social services when in fact the government spends significantly more on social services.

Additionally, around one quarter of those surveyed were poorly informed about issues specific to the 2016 presidential campaign and most of the non-voting individuals were also uninformed about politics. CIRCLE’s survey suggests that those who are uninformed are not so keen to vote.

What happens when young people pass up opportunities to get politically involved? Our democracy no longer represents all Americans. When one person chooses not to vote, someone else will make your decisions for you and there is no guarantee they will

make the wiser choice.

Ironically, millennials are the ones who are going to experience the brunt of the changes made in America, yet they are doing very little to influence these changes. This is why not being involved in politics as a young person is ultimately self-destructive.

Despite the alarming nature of the situation at hand, young people have actually shown to be more resilient in the face of political disagreements than their adult counterparts, according to The Washington Post. For adults, face-to-face political disagreements are shown to lower political participation while young people are not affected by direct confrontation.

According to the Pew Research Center, millennials also have a lower level of social trust than any other past generation, with only 19 percent agreeing that “most people can be trusted.” A 2015 Harvard Youth poll found that only 37 percent of young people (ages 18 to 29) claimed to trust the President. This level of distrust in people could also be the reason why youth are so uninvolved in politics.

Some argue that America’s democracy is running its course and if a demographic chooses not to get involved in politics, it is simply preference.

However, it seems to be the other way

around. A good democracy does not mean choosing to stay home instead of voting. A good democracy consists of widespread voter participation.

Some Americans might think their vote doesn’t matter, but the infamous 2000 presidential election shows that is not true. George W. Bush won Florida by an incredibly small 537 votes over Al Gore. Florida’s then 25 electoral votes could have put either candidate over the winning threshold. The 2000 election serves as an important reminder that major decisions sometimes come down to a small number of votes.

You can influence the political climate even if you are not eligible to vote by attending Palo Alto Unified School District board meetings or contacting your local representative about issues that matter to you. What is important is that you are making an effort to stay informed.

Young people need to check the news and stay updated on decisions being made in America. Most of the decisions politicians are deciding in the years to come will become changes that we will have to live with for the rest of our lives, so it is best to know what they entail. Being involved and informed is what democracy needs to function, and it is the responsibility of young people to do exactly that.

not educated on our nation’s system and values that we hold today, and are encouraged to think of how to improve the system and make a difference, the government can quickly descend into a state of turmoil.

This lack of a proper national education in civics has been occurring for many years. According to the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on civics in 2010, only 24 percent of 12th-graders performed proficiently or above on an assessment created to test their knowledge of civics.

In 2011, federal funding for Civics and Social Studies classes were blocked, only making matters worse.

Out of Americans as a whole, twothirds cannot even name the three branches of government, according to a recent study performed at the University of Pennsylvania, something that is taught on the very first day of the U.S. Government class at Paly.

U.S. government, the semesterlong class required for 10th graders, has a median grade of A- according to Paly Input club. The high test scores of Paly students contrast sharply when compared to the rest of the nation and their scores on NAEP tests. This is caused by the community support

of Palo Alto schools and passionate teachers who want to inform students about their country and their rights, sentiments that should be adopted across the nation.

“I think [U.S. Government] is the first time that students have really thought about it [the government] as a system and how it really works,” said Caitlin Evans, U.S. Government teacher. “Students also sort of realize the rights that they have and the rights that they don’t have.”

If other schools had the right amount of funding and devoted time to improving their civics classes like Paly does, it could affect decisions the country makes for itself. First, with more funding for Civics, other schools can hire more passionate teachers who can implement interesting applications to civics that can better improve the student’s knowledge of their country and make them excited to learn. Then, for example, the newly civics-educated citizens will be able to realize, and help others realize for example, that Trump is not treating people who make up the Judiciary Branch with respect as shown when he condemned them for their decision to put an end to his “Muslim Ban,” even though they hold an equal amount of

power to the Executive Branch due to the checks and balances system. Being able to understand this makes them more knowledgeable about the characteristics of their leaders that they want in power rather than making voting based on other characteristics that have little correlation with their ability to work respectfully with the rest of the government. However, this is just one example of how knowledge of civics can shape our country and values. A civics education is what ensures that we check our government so that we can all stay prosperous.

Government courses deserve more emphasis in schools

RIYA KUMAR

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STAFF WRITER

ducation has been an effective solution for many pressing global issues. Wildlife activists use it to limit the hunting and extinction of endangered animals, parents use it to help their children accept those with different backgrounds and ideologies and religious groups use it to remove any misconceptions concerning their beliefs. Since schools do not utilize the power of education as a tool for improving our democracy, as shown by statistics from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and the University of Pennsylvania has proved schools across the country are doing poorly in Civics courses, Paly’s value in civics, a part of U.S. Government should be used as a model.

U.S. Government classes like the ones at Palo Alto High School need more attention in building effective courses and funding in order to properly educate students so that they can make more informed choices for their country. Our country is run by the idea of a republic, where people’s voices are a vital part of moving it forward.

Therefore, if citizens themselves are

Our country is run by the idea of a republic, where people's voices are a vital part of moving it forward.

It is not too late to move our democracy in the right direction. More funding needs to be put into social science departments all across the country, and the government and students alike need to treat U.S. Government as important as other subjects. By copying Paly's attention to U.S. Government, we can help our citizens participate in democracy fully equipped to make the correct decisions for our country.

The Campanile

Friday, March 3, 2017

A6

OPINION

Disproving the misconceptions of mental illness VIVIAN FENG "

T

STAFF WRITER

here was a man who grew up with little but formed his own future," said sophomore Lia Salvatierra. "He graduated from Georgetown University, then got accepted by the Stanford Business School but turned down the offer to join a local startup by the name of eBay. He married, had three daughters, worked so hard and always strove for new ideas and innovations. This man was the smartest person I knew.

He was my father, and he had a mental illness.”

In our town, where the negative impacts of stigma are too familiar, we still seem to confuse courageous confessions with solicitous forthrightness, and devolve conversations about mental health. Considering the prevalence of mental illnesses, discussions about one’s mental health should be normalized and encouraged.

“Many people feel ashamed to share their disease with friends and family,” Salvatierra said.

Salvatierra started the Let’s Bring Change to Mind (LBC2M) club at Paly, which is a club that educates Palo Altans about the effects of stigma against mental illnesses. The club hosts events to help raise awareness of mental health in the community.

According to the Center of Disease Control, one in four adults in the U.S. suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder. The varying traits and challenges different individuals with the same mental illness experience confuses the public and causes them to make incorrect assumptions. Despite common signs and signals, mental illness is different for every person. This is the vicious cycle in which stigma — a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance — festers.

"Mental illness is a brain disease. It is your body’s issue, and you need to treat it exactly like a physical disease."

The stigma around mental illness makes patients feel shackled by their silence and fear of social repercussions.

Many medical professionals confess that they are worried about the social repercussions for their patients who choose to share their struggles with mental illness.

When it comes to physical health,

society positively encourages individuals to prioritize recovery. However, with mental health, the urgency to recover or get diagnosed is not as prevalent. They are both illnesses that deserve equal priority.

Despite the staggering evidence and rhetoric aimed at helping people understand mental illnesses, many people still seem to think that being diagnosed with a mental illness is something that is in their control.

There seems to be a common misconception that mental illness is a choice, that patients can just “shake it off ” or “look on the bright side.” It can be hard to distinguish between passing emotions and a diagnosable mental health issue.

“This is the most commonly misunderstood aspect,” Salvatierra said.

“Yes, there are things that may affect your mental health like sleep, and large life events. But mental illness is a brain disease. It is your body’s issue, and you need to treat it exactly like a physical disease. No one wants diabetes, and no one wants depression.”

John F. Greden, M.D., Executive Director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center, explained in a Huffington Post article that the lack of understanding and knowledge about mental illness results in unempathetic criticisms.

Due to this stigma around having a mental illness, patients are less likely

to seek professional help. According to JAMA Internal Medicine, less than 30 percent of patients with depression actually seek treatment.

“Because emotions are something that everyone deals with, it can be hard to accept the difference between emotions and a diagnosable mental health issue,” Salvatierra said. “It goes back to the misconception that mental health is in the control of the patient.”

Paly psychology teacher Chris Farina believes that recent advances in medicine, which have allowed people to see the physical underpinnings beneath mental illness, have helped the public see the similarities between mental and physical illnesses. The general public is more comfortable with physical illnesses because there is a tangible issue that can be modified in order to recover.

“Mental illness is a relatively new field compared to traditional illnesses,” Farina said. “We are only now able to understand the brain.”

Farina believes that when we can better establish the underpinnings of mental illness, there will be less stigma associated with those that have a mental illness. The more people understand what is causing mental illnesses, the more empathetic they will likely be.

“It’s not ghosts or demons, it’s serotonin and dopamine,” Farina said.

Though society is making progress in accepting the legitimacy of mental

illness, patients have come across another obstacle: their mental illnesses becoming a label of their identity.

“People will say that ‘you have a cold,’ ‘not you’re a cold person.’ A cold is not your identity," Farina said. " Adversely, we say ‘you’re a depressed person,’ as if it is something that extends across time. If you're currently suffering from depression, you're a person that has depression at this moment.

It is hard for people to differentiate a person's diagnoses from sense of self.”

The media paints mental illness to be distant and scary. Movies and books often showcase characters with mental illnesses as insane. In the recent horror movie, "Split," a character who had multiple personality disorder is portrayed as inhuman, a so-called “beast.” When only the extreme cases of mental illnesses are highlighted in media, it creates a generalization that everyone with a mental illness must be extremely unstable. Such a depiction promotes an unsafe and biased view of mental illnesses as being unnatural and terrifying.

Particularly in a town where the effects of untreated mental illness permeates, we should lead by example and emphasize the importance of holding mental health to the same standard that we hold to physical health.

Stop the stigma, end the silence and start a conversation about mental health.

change.

For example, the Women’s March held on Jan. 21 brought millions of people across the country together to protest being denied fundamental rights. Yet The Washington Post reported that men were “slow to show support” for the march. Without men — who make up half of the American population — on board for movements such as these, it will be much harder to make sure that women can get the rights that they deserve.

Additionally, just a few days after the record-setting Women’s March, in a room full of mostly-white men, President Trump signed an executive order defunding aid given to organizations that perform abortions. The executive order, despite being the President’s idea, was supported by much of Congress. This shows that without the support of men and more generally, the majority, striving for equality will become an idea of the past.

Furthermore, the neglect of causes promoting equality, whether that be women’s rights or rights for racial minorities, is quite frankly anti-American and contradictory to the values that the Founding Fathers built this country upon. In the 1770s, the first colonists settled in America in the pursuit of religious freedom. It was these colonists that set the basic foundations for our country. Values of justice and tolerance are what our Constitution was built on. As the main profiteers of these values, it is the moral obligation of the white male majority to help promote the same cause that they wanted just a few centuries ago: equality.

The reality we face in this country today is that the privileged man will often be the decision maker, whether that be on a small scale such as the decisions in a business (not a single woman made the Forbes Top 10 Richest People in America) or on a larger scale, such as our country. They have

received the benefit of the doubt in countless of court cases — Brock Turner’s three month sentence for rape compared to sentences of black people which were statistically 3000 percent longer for the same crime is just one example of many.

Men with privilege must support social justice movements KIRAN MISNER

SPORTS EDITOR s a privileged male living in one of the wealthiest areas in the nation, the actions that the Donald Trump administration will take will affect me minimally, if at all. Yet when I consider how my peers of different ethnicities, economic situations or genders might be impacted by these same actions, I feel a rush of fear coarse through me. With both a Republican president and majority Republican Congress, factions of our government are beginning to attack the freedoms and rights of racial and social minorities in America. To continue to be able to call ourselves a country where “all are equal under the law,” majorities and those who will likely face less persecution must stand up and call for action to be made.

Today’s diverse America is composed of nearly 320 million people.

50.8 percent of Americans are women, and minorities make up 37.2 percent of the American population. So, putting these two statistics together, the white male makes up only 31 percent of the population. Yet in Congress, out of the 535 members representing their states in the Senate and the House of Representatives, only 104 are female.

As a result, men control roughly 80 percent of our government’s legislative branch.

Furthermore, the 115th Congress lacks the same diversity present in the American public. 67.3 percent of congressmen are of Caucasian descent, meaning that there is disproportionate cultural and ethnic representation within Congress to American citizens.

Simply put, it is the white man who will decide the fate of our country for at least the next eight years. They will pass the bills that will control the laws of our country. Because they have so much power, they are the only ones who will be able to create tangible

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Without men — who make up half of the American population — on board for movements such as these, it will be much harder to make sure that women can get the rights that they deserve.

In a world where they have been blessed with countless advantages based on their race and gender, a decision that no one could control, the privileged have an unprecendented opportunity to support their fellow citizens in the pursuit of a stronger, more tolerant America.

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

OPINION

Flint water crisis an example of government failure

PAARTH SHARMA

A

STAFF WRITER

nationally important water crisis occurred in 2013 after the city of Flint, Mich. opted to use the nearby Flint River as a water source, a move that was touted as saving the city five million dollars over two years.

But within months of the switch, fecal coliform bacteria was found in the water. The city’s response was simply to ignore these claims and continue to tell residents their water was safe to drink. As public concern increased, authorities recommended that residents boil their water, topped off by a promise to increase levels of chlorine, a disinfectant, in the water.

Another month passed by and General Motors, Flint’s largest employer, stopped using public water due to the excess chlorine corroding engine parts. The city continued to ignore the quality of the water and maintained the water was safe to drink.

Not much more time passed before city residents began to complain of the metallic taste of the water and strange sicknesses. Unsurprisingly, the chlorine had corroded away at lead pipes, which

resulted in lead from the pipes leaching into the water. Public officials continued to ignore and undermine the issue, with some even offering to drink Flint water.

The crisis has yet to be solved.

Lead and trihalomethane, a known carcinogen, still contaminate the water at levels nearly five times the acceptable limit. The tale of Flint, however, does not stop at the city or even state lines.

This story has become strangely familiar to the American voter — today’s governments often forgets its duties when caught in the crossfire of too much political gridlock.

Today, the normalcy of the career politician means that re-election, rather than serving the community, has become a top priority.

Allegiances along party lines mean that speaking out against the party inevitably spells the end of a politician’s career. As a result, the politician does the sensible thing for his career, which sadly means becoming a puppet to the wills of party leadership, a process shown by the disappearance of the vast majority of unique or moderate viewpoints and an increase in “identity politics” which, rather than allowing one to choose a party based on beliefs, tell voters to choose beliefs

based on a party.

Nowadays, there are only two possible political views. Any side that admits defeat or failure will surely lose the election to the opposition.

The resulting fear of political failure manifests itself in a very disturbing fashion — the inability to admit or claim one’s own failures or shortcomings. In Flint, this meant Governor Snyder’s dismissal of the public’s claims of lead and carcinogens in the water. In Washington, it meant White House press secretary Sean Spicer lying about the number of people who appeared at President Trump’s inauguration.

In California, this means the state GOP sending emails leading those concerned with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to an anti-ACA propaganda website.

In this new model of government, nobody wins, a fact that is still painfully evident in Flint, where the city remains without a source of clean water. Had the city taken the blame and switched back to Detroit water when bacteria were found in excessive amounts, the entire Flint water crisis would have been avoided and thousands of lives would have been saved.

The inability of an administra-

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tion to accept any failure whatsoever ultimately results in the lack of the administration to fix the issue. Sadly, many of these issues are problems that involve the basic needs of many residents, an obligatory resource that should be provided by our government.

The first step in fixing any problem is to admit that it exists. If our government simply closes its ears and pretends problems don’t exist, we stand at a very scary crossroads. Governments that deceive the people and hide information are notorious for heading down the path to violence and totalitarianism. 20 years before the Stalin regime caused the deaths of nearly 20 million Russians, government officials created a special office meant specially for spreading disinformation and lies throughout the Russian public. We must stand up to government disinformation as it is today to prevent the same fate.

Unfortunately, the spreading of falsehoods is something that we as a nation must stand up to. Lies and rumors, disguised as truth, are something that affect all of us in our individual lives. If we accept this behavior at the federal level, we not only condone but practically invite this behavior not only into state governments but into our mayor’s offices, our city councils, and our school boards. The impact this will make will be monumental and will fundamentally change our nation as a whole.

The resulting fear of political failure manifests itself in a very disturbing fashion — the inability to admit or claim one’s own failures or shortcomings.

If our government continues down this path, the story of Flint will cease to be a rarity — it will become commonplace. We will be forced not to reject lies and dishonesty, but to embrace it. The result will be a world where truth and falsehood blur and nobody can discern one from the other – a world of “alternative facts.”

Trump’s unorthodox relationship with Russia causes tension

JOANNA FALLA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

W

ith the first few weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency passing by, there have been a lot of unpredicted changes that have caused many Americans to pick sides. Whether the sides are liberal versus conservative or whether or not building a wall at the border is a good idea, America has very clearly been divided since Trump took his place in the Oval Office.

The American people have still been left unanswered after wondering what Trump’s true intentions are with creating ties with a known corrupt and defunct government system From the continuation of the Dakota Access Pipeline to the immigration ban targeting Muslims, President Trump is making waves in his first days in office, but there may be more

controversy to come surrounding his foreign policy . Trump’s relationship with Russia has been widely criticized, and rumors regarding Putin’s true intentions on forming an alliance with the United States. ; it has been confirmed that Russia had a significant role in getting Trump into the White House. Trump has invested millions in Russia previously for a potential Trump Tower in Moscow and Trump Vodka ad campaign. Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, was also investigated by the FBI for having suspicious ties with Russia and taking millions of dollars in investments from pro-Russia clients in Ukraine.

Trump’s technique in dealing with Russia has raised a lot of eyebrows, causing international distress and straining relationships with longtime allies. Trump is obviously not networking with suspiciously active nations for the betterment of the people and world peace, but, creating a professional bond with Russia could

be a good idea. For decades, America and Russia have struggled to have a friendly relationship. Since the Cold War, tension around nuclear weapons has increased, especially with the recent election. Regardless of whether or not the majority of Americans agree with Russian policy, the foreign nation is a large political and nuclear power in the world. Thus becoming enemies with such a large force could be hugely detrimental to the U.S. and possibly other nations.

Trump may have unorthodox ties to other powerful nations, but he has given some ideas that can be implemented with the newly-formed connection with Russia. One of his more thought-out promises includes the extension of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia. Officially starting in 2011 under former President Obama, the START was a deal with the Russian Federation to reduce the number of nuclear arms until 2021, but it has been replaced several times by differ-

ent START variables in order to solidify the regulations of nuclear arms for future generations. The American people have still been left unanswered after wondering what Trump’s true intentions are with creating ties with a known corrupt and defunct government system, but there is still hope that he may make a good decision.

Historically, Russia has not shown the best intentions for America, and will probably continue to keep many controversies under wraps to avoid any more international scrutiny. Regardless of who is in power, there needs to be a change in the current relationship. Americans may not be able to trust them, but creating a working connection with the nation with the second-highest quantity of nuclear arms does not seem like a bad idea.

What is important to remember is that the American people will be able to show what the majority believes, so as long as we keep ties with allies and carefully create new ones the world will be able to trust each other more.

The Campanile

Friday, March 3, 2017

A8

EDITORIALS

English curriculum needs modification to remain relevant

S

tatistically speaking, majoring in English is a terrible economic decision for college students. This is mainly because skills learned in English class are difficult to apply to a well-paying job outside of college. At the same time, however, many argue that the skills learned in English classes are applicable to a wide range of topics, facilitate creative and critical thinking skills and enable success in a variety of careers not directly related to the major. Despite these supposed benefits, skills learned in English class are not rewarded well in the work force.

Based on 2014 data collected via the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average first-year income of English major graduates is $36,000 per year. This is $14,000 less than the average college graduate and still $5,000 less than the average annual income for the nation. Considering only 32 percent of U.S. citizens over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s, or four-year, degree, it is apparently more effective to skip college and head straight into the labor force, accumulating work experience while English majors accumulate large student loans.

We would like to make it clear

that annual income is not the only measure of success, but it is a factor to consider for Palo Alto High School students about to receive acceptance letters from colleges. Certainly where a student chooses to go is important, but his/her major choice can impact the next four years as well as the postcollege career.

It appears to us that the English pathway in both high school and college is flawed, as even substantial education in this field does not provide skills that society values. This lack of value is exemplified in the unusually low first-year income. Moreover, the unemployment rate for English major holders is unusually high according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — 7.5 percent unemployment compared to 4.5 percent overall for all college majors. This unemployment percentage is notably higher than other liberal arts majors such as performing arts, art history and philosophy which have unemployment rates of 6.0, 5.1 and 4.3 percent respectively.

The careers most directly correlated with English majors are some form of teaching, editing or translating position. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, all three of these careers are either growing slower than the national average for all jobs, or, in the case of editing, declining.

Yet, there is still hope. A salary

prediction tool called Payscale states that several positions often held by English majors, such as marketing director, web-content manager, technical writer and account manager, often earn wages above the national average, and are expected to grow faster than average in the coming years.

English teacher Mimi Park believes that high school English is evolving to encompass more usable skills.

“If you think about the implementation of Common Core and where English in high schools is moving, in Palo Alto we are moving towards more real life writing skills,” Park said.

“This is includes informational writing, research writing and argumentative writing. I would think these are all valid skills in any occupation.”

Moreover, Park highlights the problems concerning millennials in the workforce, and points toward English as a way to remedy these problems through education.

“The big problems in the workforce are the lack of attention to detail and interpersonal ability,” Park said. “I think the big ideas that English teaches is the ability to see outside yourself and work effectively with others.”

Finally, studying English is often a rich and rewarding experience that teaches people more about themselves and helps them to understand the world they live in.

However, students also need to understand that they are at a realistic disadvantage in the workforce if they specialize only in high school and college English courses. As evidenced by the average low income of first-year English-major graduates, employers are currently unwilling to pay for the skills taught in high school and college.

Even the aforementioned higher paying careers that English majors often occupy require some sort of further technical expertise or management skills. While English may help develop the critical thinking needed to solve complex problems, this skill alone is insufficient to be competitive in the workforce against people who have studied more sought-after topics such as computer science or business administration.

Instead of waiting for the curriculum to change, students need to take their education into their own hands and study more relevant topics in addition to their passion. A basic understanding of computer programming or web development is necessary for the higher-paying positions that English majors often occupy. By combining technical skills with English studies, students have a diverse set of capabilities and a much better chance of securing a job after college and going on to lead successful careers doing what they love.

Include student input when granting tenure

H

ow long is enough to prove a lifetime of dedication? For teachers at Palo Alto High School, the answer is three years.

Currently the school’s tenure system works like this: teachers work until they are either awarded a permanent job (this trial period can last for up to three years) or dismissed from Paly staff.

The decision to grant tenure is controlled by Paly’s administration and hinges on the opinions of select faculty members.

Democratization is an essential component of American life. From workplace employee surveys to town hall meetings, there is a check and balance for nearly every power structure in our nation. This setup is unique to the United States, which we at The Campanile both acknowledge and are thankful for. Yet there remain exceptions. Paly’s tenure system is one of them.

Teachers are trained to instruct the student body, and so we see it as only fair that the student body play a part in evaluating the people whose job it is to evaluate them.

The Campanile disapproves of the current tenure selection method because of the lack of student input involved in making decisions of such magnitude. Teachers are trained to instruct the student body, and so we see it as only fair that the student body play a part in evaluating the people whose job it is to evaluate them.

It would make everybody’s lives easier if the student-teacher satisfaction rate were 100 percent. Even 90 percent or 80 percent. But as it

stands, the rating is 70 percent according to Ratemyteacher.com, the Yelp of student-teacher relationships. Though the site is an imperfect reflection of teacher performance, it does hold relevance — have a look if you disagree.

There should be more opportunities for students to offer quantitative data, such as ratings of teachers’ skills on a 1-10 or other numerical scale.

To remedy the lack of influence that Paly students hold over the tenure process, The Campanile encourages administrators to standardize the anonymous student reports on teachers’ performance in the classroom.

There should be more opportunities for students to offer quantitative data, such as ratings of teachers’ skills on a 1-10 or other numerical scale.

By implementing this system, administrators will be able to more reasonably determine which teachers are effective and which ones are ineffective at academic instruction based directly on student input. Administrators should also provide evidence that student feedback on teachers’ performance held influence over the tenuring process. The other component of our proposed plan is taking parent complaints into account when making the decision to give out tenure. If a teacher provokes outcry from multiple households, it should raise a red flag.

Because students are significantly affected by the quality of their teachers’ classroom instruction, The Campanile believes that democratizing the tenure process would be a step in the right direction.

MARCH’S TOP TEN LIST Top Ten Ways to Secure a Prom Date 10) Promise to make them Theed 9) Pay them

8) Buy them a JUUL pod 7) Leave them on read

6) Hit up your exes in March

“Unbeknownst to both the public and to the Academy, the intended winner was the lesser-known ‘Moon-Fight’.”

The Campanile Editors-in-Chief Peter Maroulis • Jacky Moore • Kai Oda Ethan Teo • Jessica Wong Online Editor-in-Chief David Tayeri News and Opinion Editors Sam Yun Ashley Zhang

3) Threaten to rescind them from college 2) Blow the asking with vape art

1) Take them to the middle school throwback dance -KATE DEANDRE, ELI GWIN-KERR & PAARTH SHARMA

Lifestyle Editors Eli Gwin-Kerr Annalise Wang

Sports Editors Cole Hechtman Kiran Misner

Multimedia Editor Mads McCluskey

Business Manager Bethany Shiang

Staff Writers Maya Bailey Noah Baum Ben Beisheim Yael Ben-Shachar Josh Brigel Ethan Bundy Charlotte Cheng Uma Choudury Philip Ericsson

Joanna Falla Vivian Feng Mary Fetter Mackenzie Glassford Renee Hoh Maya Homan Edward Kim Grace Kitayama Raj Lele Eric Li

Photographers

Charlotte Cheng Maya Homan Gracie Kitayama

5) Casually mention your PSAT score 4) Tell them your IAC grade

Managing Editor Alice Zhao

Gillian Robins Jordan Schilling Peyton Wang

Advisors Esther Wojcicki

Rodney Satterthwaite

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We reserve the right to edit submissions.

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LIFES YLE

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

2017 Academy Awards

Unique views on polarizing ban

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“I feel like a scapegoat to a small extent.” hana kay senior This initial ban was met with backlash from many in the form of protests and lawsuits — the ban was quickly repealed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The president is currently rewriting the ban in a way which he believes will render the efforts of unelected officials, such as judges, to overturn the temporary ban, useless. According to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, the new version of the ban will not bar dual citizens or green card holders from entering the United States, but will include the same seven countries.

The topic has been widely reported on by the mainstream media, but for many Palo Alto High School students, it may be difficult to identify with the different people who could be directly or indirectly affected by Trump’s intended temporary ban. In order to better inform those who fall in this group, The Campanile has collected a set of interviews with several Paly students and a Paly staff member with connections to the country of Iran. There is a strong Iranian presence at Paly and in the Bay Area which often goes unnoticed. While the opinions of these individuals do not necessar-

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Teachers on Teacher’s Pets

Design by Ashley Zhang & Alice On

Text and Design by Niklas Risano o matter which side of the political spectrum you find yourself on, it is clear that the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States has polarized our nation. This profound division between opposing parties has continued throughout Trump’s first month in office, during which he has kept busy delivering on many key campaign promises.

Among the most controversial is the President’s now-defunct immigration ban, which includes the Middle Eastern countries of Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Iran. The Trump administration initially placed a 90-day halt on all immigration from these selected countries, excluding U.S. citizens but including all non-citizens and even green card holders.

This year’s Oscar nominations included more diversity than prior shows.

ily represent the opinions of all affected Americans, they provide a unique perspective on this controversial topic.

Hana KAy Hana Kay is a senior at Paly whose parents both immigrated from Iran to the U.S. when they were 18 years old, during the Iranian revolution.

Neither spoke proficient English upon arrival, but now, they are “virtually indistinguishable from any other American” according to Kay. Despite her parents’ successful assimilation, Kay emphasized that her ties to Iranian culture are still strong. She celebrates Persian holidays, has visited Iran and learned Farsi before English.

Kay’s connection to the country is strong, and her perspective on the ban is largely influenced by her roots.

“I don’t believe that [a] ban makes Americans more safe...even if this immigration ban was in place before 9/11, the attacks would not have been prevented,” Kay said.

As for Trump’s rumored alterations to the ban, Kay insists that they will not change her opinion on the matter. Kay also feels that such a ban would make her less accepted in America.

“I feel like a scapegoat to a small extent,” Kay said.

Overall, Kay has a similar perspective to many Palo Altans, but her personal connection intensifies her stance.

“I understand and feel the repercussions of the situation a lot more,” Kay said.

Shahram Tayyebi Shahram Tayyebi is a senior at Paly who also has connections to Iran.

“My dad is from [a town] outside of Shiraz,” Tayyebi said. “Lots of his immediate family still lives there.”

According to Tayyebi, his father frequently visits to take care of his parents, and to help family members obtain educations. Tayyebi’s view on the ban’s effect on safety in the United States is that it has little effect.

“While terrorism is an issue, the actual proportion of Middle Easterners who commit acts [of terror] is very small,” Tayyebi said.

Ta ye b b i believes that security issues could be solved through implementing increased airport security rather than a blanket immigration ban.

“A small increase in security could help a lot,” Tayyebi said.

Overall, despite the proposed ban Tayebi feels very comfortable in his home town and the Bay Area in general, but admits that he is overall somewhat uncomfortable with the proposal.

“To not feel comfortable in my own country’s policy is never a good sign,” he said.

John Tayeri

John Tayeri is a sophomore at Paly with cultural ties to Iran through his father, uncle and grandparents, who all immigrated to the United States several decades ago.

Before Tayeri visited Iran for the first time, he was anxious in a way reminiscent to those who support the immigration ban.

“People in general make the Middle East sound like a constant war zone where all the people are unfriendly,” Tayeri said. “To my surprise, everyone in Iran was so nice to me and my family.”

Through this experience, Tayeri exemplifies the idea that people fear things they do not know, and when they take the time to understand they can oftentimes be pleasantly surprised. Tayeri, although starkly against the immigration ban, believes that the more broad issue in the Middle East is the government.

“The people may be nice, but other aspects like corrupt governments and terrorism make working class citizens look bad,” Tayeri said.

Overall, Tayeri believes the ban simply harms innocent peoples more than it excludes negative influences.

In his own words, “It keeps incoming families with dreams out of America.”

While Tayeri acknowledges that the there may be Muslim terrorists, he insists that this cannot dictate foreign policy.

Shahram Mostarshed Shahram Mostarshed, a firstyear Physics teacher at Paly,

has not lived in Iran in over 40 years, but continues to speak Farsi with his parents and celebrates Persian holidays such as the Persian new year in order to maintain his connection to Iranian culture.

His views on the immigration ban are extremely straightforward, and mostly align with those of the left wing. His first objection is that the ban is baseless.

“There is zero evidence that anyone from [the] proposed banned countries have ever committed any act of terrorism in America,” Mostarshed said.

Mostarshed believes this alone is enough to reject the premise of the ban, but also believes that President Trump’s motivation for the ban is problematic.

“The President stated that he’s looking for a way to ban Muslims, which is unconstitutional,” Mostarshed said.

Unlike some of the other Iranians featured, Mothershed believes his views on the ban, not his heritage, have the largest effect on his treatment in certain less liberal areas.

“[bans] keep families with dreams out.”

John Tayeri Sophomore “I am just about as unwelcome in Trump country as any other liberal,” Mostarshed said.

Despite the current turmoil between Iran and the U.S., he is optimistic that relations will improve in the long term.

“Iran is the only non-Arab country in the Middle East besides Israel whose population is overwhelmingly pro-American,” Mostarshed said.

Each of the interviewees made it clear that they did not support the implementation of a temporary immigration ban. These opinions, although unique in perspective, ultimately reflect of the liberal agenda and the majority of Palo Alto identically. Although the future of the immigration ban is unclear, it will surely face some opposition.

ALICE ZHAO

MANAGING EDITOR

From raising their hands after every question to just being complete suckups, “teacher’s pets” come in all forms.

The Class of 2017’s winners of the infamous “Teacher’s Pet” senior poll are none other than Noah Galper and Andrea O’Riordan. The Campanile investigates what their former teachers have to say about their students’ given title and the behavior which led to the label.

Mr. Bolaños: Noah sometimes just didn’t pay attention in class — like he would ask something and everyone in the room would be like, ‘Noah that was just answered!’ He never brought me an apple, never got me coffee, but he would compliment me; I never bought it though. Sometimes, during the period, he starts to rustle with Jared Stanley. Like, what are you guys doing? He’s willing to take a position that may not be popular — even though he almost got jumped a couple of times.

Noah: Mr. Bolaños is my man. I bet he was pretty shocked to hear that I won this, since I really liked to stir the pot in his class. There were a lot of kids in my Sociology class that were very single-minded about their beliefs. Full disclosure, Jared Stanley was the one harassing me.

Ms. Chute: For the past 18 months, Andrea has sent me little emails and left me little notes about mathematically related things, but I don’t think it’s to get on my good side. What I really like about Andrea, and to some extent Noah too, is that learning things is fun for them. She feels like an old soul, in a great way. Andrea is a true intellectual. She probably will cry [when she reads this honestly.]

Andrea: Wow. I don’t know what to say. I am so profoundly moved, and I did cry, just so you know. Ms. Chute is an amazing, inspiring woman.

Ms. Chute: When I think of Noah, I feel like the classroom was fundamentally not the same if he was absent. [If I were Noah’s boss], I would hire him knowing that I had someone who was gonna throw it back at me if things didn’t work. He is not a ‘yes’ man.

Noah: I’ve always loved Ms. Chute, but I never really felt like I did anything to suck up to her. Frankly, I’ve never thought of myself as a teacher’s pet. I speak my mind in class, and I think some perceive it as sucking up to the teacher.

Ms. Klein: I’m not at all surprised that Andrea won Teacher’s Pet. She just goes above and beyond in everything that she does. My joke with her is that she should rebel more. I don’t want to make fun of one of my favorite students... that would be mean spirited. Wait no, all my students are my favorite.

Andrea: Ms. Klein has helped me at Paly more than I can say — from kicking my butt in sophomore English, to keeping me sane my junior year, to giving me general life advice this year.

I’ll try to rebel more...

SPOTLIGHT

The controversy over Affirmative Action

The Campanile takes a look at the controversial policy of Affirmative Action, the problems it poses for the Asian American population, and its failure to truly address the socioeconomically disadvantaged.

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Kanye and Jay-Z’s Feud

Alameda Flea Market

Paly ceramics program

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The Throne has split in two, and the pieces are flying apart.

Tips and tricks to navigate the largest flea market in California.

This art form has inspired many students of different abilities.

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

B2 LIFESTYLE Students to participate in Cinequest film festival Two Paly seniors to showcase passion of filmaking through short film depicting daily high school struggles MAYA BAILEY

can get involved by simply creating.

Dai began by taking the film production class that Paly offers.

“It was a neat experience,” Dai said. “If you take it seriously, and if you have the interest and passion for it, you can really do something here at Paly that most students can’t anywhere else.”

STAFF WRITER

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ne of the top discovery film festivals in the United States, Cinequest, an annual independent event held in San Jose and Redwood City, highlights the work of new and existing filmmakers and the film technologies that affect filmmaking, exhibition and distribution. Additionally, a variety of professional actors and directors submit their projects to Cinequest.

According to Palo Alto High School senior John Dai, for many of those who submit films to this festival, entry marks an important points in their timelines as filmmakers.

More importantly, he said, participation in the festival marks the start of future success in many filmmakers’ lives. This has also been true for the 40 Paly students who participated in James Franco’s film class, producing “Metamorphosis: Junior Year,” which will also be featured at Cinequest.

“I started making YouTube videos, and I started to become more ambitious. I upped my game slowly over the years. ’’

Alec Cohen-Schisler Paly Senior Two graduating seniors have such an opportunity at this year’s Cinequest. Seniors Alec Cohen-Schisler and Dai met in their Video Production course, and collaborated together to submit their film which was inspired by “We Real Cool,” a contemporary poem by Gwendolyn Brooks.

“It was a very contemporary poem at the time it was written, but we wanted to put a modern twist on the

The moral of the film is to not descend into a downward spiral which could lead to dire consequences.

COURTESY OF JOHN DAI & ALEC COHEN-SCHISLER

John Dai stars in the short film “We Real Cool” set in Paly and places near Palo Alto based on a poem written about teenage life.

poem, so Alec and I brought our own understandings and visions of the poem to life through film,” Dai said.

“We Real Cool” focuses on the daily struggle of today’s teenagers and how they cope with day-to-day issues. It is a story highlighting that the majority of people who make false assumptions about others but in reality never really know what’s going on with them at home and with that we should care for each other.

The film centers around the lives of two nearly opposite high school students. Dai and Cohen-Schisler both agree that as the film progresses viewers see that while the two characters live different lives on the outside, their daily struggles present some similarities. Ultimately, because of their similar struggles, they meet in an unexpected way. The moral of

the film is to avoid getting caught up in vice. The creators hope that after watching the film, their peers reflect on their lives and that in the long run, the film will help viewers think critically before they act.

The road to the film was not easy for the young filmmakers. At the time, Dai, production manager senior Ryan Mitra and Cohen-Schisler were swamped with schoolwork and college apps.

“While I was playing football, John was producing music, and Ryan was doing orchestra performances on the weekends,” Cohen-Schisler said.

It was hard to fit it into our schedules.”

The film was also submitted to the San Francisco International Film Festival, which the pair are still waiting to hear back from. It won a Gold

Key from the Scholastic Art and Writing Festival and may be screened at the White House.

The young artists were both introduced to filmmaking in different ways. For Cohen-Schisler, one of the only students at Paly to apply only to film schools for his post-high school plans, his journey began when his mom bought him a Flip camera for Hanukkah in 2009.

“It was the best gift I ever received,” Cohen-Schisler said. “I started making YouTube videos, and I started to become more ambitious. I gradually upped my game slowly over the years. Then in sophomore year I realized it was something I wanted to potentially make a living out of.”

Paly offers some video production courses, with more to come in the next coming school year, so students

have friends that we hang out with because they are fun to be around. I’m just not sure that these people will always be there when I need them.

Hypothetical: If I become moody and insecure, will my friends start ignoring me? Some background information: Have I ever asked my friends this? No. Will I ever talk to them about my insecurities? Probably not. I’m just wondering what your thoughts on the authenticity of high school friendships are. I’m hoping it will help me to choose my relationships more wisely in the future.

that means, because you have to define what is genuine in a relationship and what is not. Here are some things that I believe genuine relationships contain, and hopefully you will find something that resonates with your definition of genuine.

this person.

These are the people that you should be spending your time with, and really getting to know on a deeper level.

— FOREVER ALONE

ANNALISE WANG

LIFESTYLE EDITOR

DEAR ANNALISE, Valentine’s Day is fast approaching (though it will be over by the time you answer this question). Spoiler alert: I will not have a date. I’m totally fine with that, but the nature of this special day caused me to evaluate the relationships that I have with my friends and family. My question is this: how does one create meaningful relationships with others? We all

DEAR FOREVER ALONE, Spoiler alert: you’re not forever alone. It already sounds that you have many people you can surround yourself with — though they may not all be genuine — so maybe I can help you change that. We all seek relationships because we each need meaning in one form or another — and what you seek in one relationship can differ from the next.

You’re currently looking for some companions that are ”genuine” to you. I say that in quotation marks because it’s entirely subjective what

Depth Having a genuine relationship can mean connecting on deep levels with other people. Finding depth in another person’s character can be tough, because too often, people put up an exterior that is more superficial than we are at our core.

There’s nothing wrong with superficial relationships, they just can sometimes be unsatisfying because you may never really discover the depth of the person you are talking to if all you talk about are TV shows or impersonal gossip.

There’s a depth to each person’s character that is usually never revealed unless they’re able to be vulnerable and open with you. And that’s not something that you can force, it develops if you spend your time with people that you just click with - maybe you have something in common like a belief, sense of humor or shared experience, but whatever it is, if you simply enjoy being around

Purpose Sometimes what we find most genuine are relationships that give us a purpose: they make us want to become better people, in some sense of the word. They give us a cause to change for the better, push us to do things that we like and/or help us develop interests and passions. They help us see some sort of goal, abstract or tangible. To find people that give you purpose, try seeking them in your extracurriculars: projects, sports, hobbies, etc. They’ll be the person to push you to excel at this certain thing you pursue, since they’re here with you and can relate to your interests.

Kindness Pure kindness can be the most genuine thing in some relationships.

It sometimes seems like kindness is vanishing, as it’s hard to find when most people are seeming very selfish and to be having their own one-trackminds. It’s worse in high school, when a lot of your relationships are based on ease, fun and convenience - it can

Both agree that modern film-making is not difficult. They say technology helps but a vision and a story are what is most important. If you want to get into filmmaking, you can experience it by practicing telling your stories through video. Students can also learn a variety of lessons via the YouTube world. For example, “Film Riot” taught Cohen-Schisler “pretty much everything I [he] know[s].”

This year at Cinequest, both seniors hope to take full opportunity of the “all-access” that comes with a laminated badge including a QR code that can get them VIP access.

According to Cohen-Schisler, the festival has incredible Virtual Reality learning opportunities as well as a potential attendance from James Franco. There will be film screenings featuring figures like Oscar Isaac, a Guatemalan-American actor, and renowned English actor Christian Bale.

The festival will take place from Feb. 28 through March 12 but anyone can purchase tickets for March 11 and 12 when “We Real Cool” will be screened. Those who cannot make the showing can watch the short film on Cohen-Schisler’s YouTube channel Alecman123. be uncommon to find someone who is there for you, in your corner and offering emotional support. Kindness is almost never random, so stumbling upon it can seem rare. This will be rare your entire life, as it’s human nature to pursue the most simplistic path towards any goal, and authentic kindness is anything but simple. You can start with trying to be kind to yourself - taking care of yourself and your needs, before taking care of others, and then try to be kind to others.

When you do this, the other person will more likely than not reciprocate kindness and doors can be opened for meaningful relationships.

All in all, genuine relationships are relationships that are meaningful to you. Whatever you find meaning in, whether it be something I mentioned above or something entirely different - pursue it. It’s what is important to you, not what other people think. I truly hope that your friends would be there for you through your ups and downs - because if they can’t handle you when you’re at your worst, they don’t deserve you at your best.

That turns into draining you and using you, when relationships are meant Continued on thecampanile.org

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

LIFESTYLE

Summer volunteering opportunities Students volunteer in local communities and abroad, gain fulfilling experiences

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Jay Z and Kanye’s feud

RENEE HOH

STAFF WRITER

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onths in advance, students start to plan how they will spend their summer. Some travel to a tropical location for a few days in the sun, while others relax at home for a long awaited stay-cation.

However, not all students are simply relaxing during their summer break— many of them participate in summer volunteer work. Like vacations, volunteer work can take place overseas or in a local community.

Junior Gabrielle Bernas volunteered in South America with Amigos, a non-profit program that prepares high school students for travel to a Latin-American country, where they create a sustainable project for the community as well as run educational camps for the children all while engaging in intercultural exchange.

Bernas herself went to Madriz, Nicaragua and helped reconstruct a broken down “community house,” which is used to hold meetings and acts as a classroom for children. Bernas, who had never spent much time away from her family or overseas, describes her experience as life changing.

“In a foreign country, people that have different values that will teach you different things and help you appreciate the things you might take for granted.“

Gabrielle Bernas Junior “This experience changed my perspective,” Bernas said. “You get to see how other people around the world live their lives and it’s so different to how a high school student here lives [in Palo Alto]. Their education is different: the amount of times they go to class and even how they get to class is different. You get to see what they need what their necessities are compared to back home.”

Amigos Training Director Zachary Sorenson emphasizes cultural ex-

ELI GWIN-KERR

LIFESTYLE EDITOR

EDWARD KIM

STAFF WRITER

GABRIELLE BERNAS/USED WITH PERMISSION

Gabrielle Bernas spent her summer living with a host family in Madriz, Nicaragua as a volunteer for the summer program Amigos.

ploration as equally important as the students’ volunteer work.

“The unique part of Amigos is that participants spend six or eight weeks in their host communities, not as a large group but in partnerships of two or three people,” Sorenson said.

“As a result, they really get to know their communities and host families.”

Another summer, Bernas volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula in Redwood City to educate low-income youth in her local community. However, comparing her experience abroad to local volunteer work seems almost unfair.

“In the local community you get to meet more people may you see everyday but, in a foreign country, people that have different values that will teach you different things and help you appreciate the things you might take for granted,” Bernas said. “I liked being abroad, and there were no downsides to my experience at all.”

Global Vision International (GVI) brought junior May Leng to Pokhara, Nepal, where she spent three weeks volunteering. Leng emphasized the cultural aspects of her trip to the small farm town in Nepal.

Aside from rebuilding and cleaning classrooms at a Nepalese boarding

school, GVI gave students an opportunity to truly experience the native lifestyle.

“It’s about learning about Nepalese culture, meeting the people and eating their food. There’s one week dedicated to a trek in the Annapurna mountain range,” Leng said. “We hiked in the depths on the mountains and we lived in shacks after each day of hiking.”

On the other hand, junior Rachel Hu has volunteered and worked for Palo Alto’s Foothills Summer Camp, which is centered around the Palo Altan outdoors. “[I was] a counselor in training for the first two years and we help the counselors for the camps and I enjoyed it so much I applied to be a paid counselor last year, ” Hu said.

The activities at the summer camp differ drastically from those of the summer programs abroad.

“There’s different age groups,” Hu said. “The younger kids do more arts and crafts whereas the older age groups go up the Foothills and hike, play games, make food, and canoe.”

Hu has never gone on a volunteer trip abroad but thinks it is a great opportunity as long as it is done for the right intentions.

“If you just go on these trips [abroad] just to put it on your college applications, that’s not really worth it,” Hu said. “It depends what you get out of the experiences; however, you don’t have to go super far to find what you’re looking for.”

Hu feels although she did not travel to a third world country to help out, the Foothills Summer Camp is still a convenient way to contribute to her community.

“The commute is really easy,” Hu said. “It’s at Lucie Stern Community Center which is five minutes away from where I live and there’s a designated bus that goes up to the foothills everyday.”

Hu also noted that volunteering locally had little to no expenses, especially compared to volunteering abroad, which can run up to or over $5,000. However, some programs, such as Amigos, offer need-based financial aid to participants. Additionally, it helps all participants fundraise to offset a significant portion of the cost, according to Sorenson.

Consider both abroad and local programs on your hunt for a summer activity because a fulfilling summer experience can be found both miles away and in your local community.

Guerilla marketing reshapes advertisement From the Super Bowl to the Oval Office, novel ad campaigns give rise to questions

DIGITAL SPY/CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSED

An ad campaign for 84 Lumber aired during Super Bowl weekend featured a mother and daughter seeking a better future in the U.S.

GRACE KITAYAMA

STAFF WRITER

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his year’s Super Bowl showcased more than the National Football League’s (NFL) most anticipated game of the year.

The highly-viewed sporting event also displayed some heavily political undertones, touching on immigration, gender equality and diversity.

However, some of the most popular commercials were not even shown during the Super Bowl, but on business websites in the hours following it.

Over the years, businesses have created other ways to take advantage of the Super Bowl as a means of gaining an audience for their product.

According to Forbes, a 30-second slot for a commercial during the Super Bowl sold for about $4 million — equivalent to approximately $133,333.33 per second of air time.

This price tag is not one that all companies can so easily afford.

Over the years, businesses have

created other ways to take advantage of the Super Bowl as a means of gaining an audience for their product.

Companies can do this by creating intentionally controversial or racy commercials, and then posting them online instead of purchasing the expensive airtime.

For every multimillion dollar ad getting a slot in the primetime advertising space, there is a listicle floating around the internet with the links to several commercials deemed “too controversial” to be shown during the sporting event.

These garner millions of views online for practically no cost.

This form of advertisement is known as guerilla marketing, an advertising strategy concept designed for businesses to promote their products or services in an unconventional, yet often, highly effective manner that reaches a larger audience with a limited budget.

However, this strategy can mislead viewers by using controversial topics to increase a company’s reach in order simply sell its product.

An example of this is displayed in the controversial 84 Lumber ad that

only ran part of its advertisement during the actual game.

Later, it showcased the entire, five-minute commercial featuring an immigrant mother and daughter traveling from Mexico to the American border on its websites.

“We do not condone illegal immigration. The journey of the mother and daughter symbolizes grit, dedication and sacrifice.

These are characteristics that we look for in our people at 84 Lumber.“

84 Lumber The sentiments of the advertisement were heavily disputed due to President Donald Trump’s statement that he plans to build a wall on the border of Mexico and the United States.

“I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me — and I’ll build them very inexpensively,” Trump said during a campaign speech in 2015. “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico

pay for that wall. Mark my words.”

Some thought the commercial to be offensive in promoting illegal immigration, while others supported the welcoming message that the advertisement gave.

According to a comment the company made on their Facebook page, the intent of the commercial was not to promote illegal immigration, but rather to highlight the qualities of the American spirit.

“We do not condone illegal immigration,” 84 Lumber wrote in its statement online. “The journey of the mother and daughter symbolizes grit, dedication and sacrifice. [These are] characteristics that we look for in our people at 84 Lumber. President Trump has previously said there should be a ‘big beautiful door in the wall so that people can come into this country legally.’ We couldn’t agree more.”

This form of advertisement is known as guerilla marketing, an advertising strategy concept designed for businesses to promote their products or services in an unconventional, yet often, highly effective manner that reaches a larger audience with a limited budget.

Regardless of what the intentions of the commercial were, on their own website and without spending extra money, so many people viewed the banned commercial, that 84 Lumber’s website temporarily crashed.

Reportedly, the ad was rejected by Fox for being too controversial. This only further increased the commercial’s popularity.

So while large companies may cough up millions for their short time slot among many Super Bowl commercials, the game has also revolutionized guerrilla marketing; through the online and televised world.

*Jigga/Hov= Jay Z || Ye/Yeezy= Kanye 2001: Jay Z discovers Kanye, taking the young yet animated producer onto his “Isso Hova” track. Hov signs Kanye on, making sure to keep his “beats in-house.”

2002: Jay Z and Beyonce begin their official relationship, after Jay Z is featured on “Bonnie and Clyde”.

2005: Z and Kanye collaborate on “Diamonds of Sierra Leone,” a feature on Kanye’s “Late Registration” album.

2008: Jay Z and Beyonce tie the knot.

2009: Yeezy runs on stage during Taylor Swift’s Best Female Video award to announce that “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.”

2011: Jay Z and Kanye join forces for “Watch the Throne”, a collaborative album that debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

Together, Hov and Yeezy earned seven Grammy nominations.

2012: Kanye and Kim Kardashian begin dating after Kim’s divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries. At the 2012 BET awards, Beyonce and Hov cold-shoulder Kim, making things awkward for everyone.

2012: Meek Mill signs with Roc Nation, Jay Z’s producer label (this will be important later).

2013: Yeezy disses Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie,” which coincidentally has a [pretty killer] verse from his “buddy” Hov. 2013: Jigga and Beyonce blow off invites to the Carter’s baby shower for North West. Beyonce said she would rather be at home playing Connect-4 with Blue Ivy than celebrating North’s birth.

2014: Hova declines an invitation to be Yeezy’s best man at his wedding, citing that he didn’t want Ivy appearing on the “Keeping up with the Kardashians” TV show. Yeezy ignores Hova’s request to cancel the show, leading to Queen Bey and Hova skipping the wedding altogether. Beyonce later posts pictures of her at the Hamptons, confirming the rumors. In return, Yeezy asserts that he “doesn’t care” about whether his best friend showed up.

2015: Drake begins to feud with Meek Mill after Meek accuses Drake of having a ghostwriter write his music. Drake releases “Charged Up” and “Back to Back” in response to Meek’s accusations. By all intents and purposes, Meek Mill never responds, taking a massive loss.

2016: Since Meek signed with Hov’s Roc Nation nearly half a decade earlier, Hov sides with his own artist, alienating Drake, who in turn removes Hov’s lines from his single “Pop Style.”

2016: The divide between Jay Z and Kanye deepens through what Kanye calls “Apple Tidal bullsh*t” at a concert. Purportedly, Drake’s deal with Apple and the subsequent politics behind Tidal’s sale to Apple forced Kanye off “Pop Style,” too. Kanye blames Jay Z, who owns Tidal and facilitated the buyout to Apple.

2016: Kim Kardashian is robbed at gunpoint in Paris, prompting a several month stint out of the public limelight. Reportedly, Jay Z and Beyonce never visit their “friend” after the traumatic incident, provoking more anger from the Yeezus.

2016: Kanye stops his concert in Seattle on his The Life of Pablo Tour to rant about Jay Z’s behavior.

Yeezy rejects the possibility of the future “Watch the Throne 2” album, the potential follow up to their first album together.

2017-present: Jay Z’s daughter Blue Ivy and Kanye’s daughter North West have yet to have a playdate, furthering drama between the two.

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

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SPOTLIGHT

Painting diversity on t

A National dilemma: affirmative action struggles to reconci

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he issue of race in higher education has spearheaded a polarizing debate that still permeates college admissions today.

Affirmative action, a concept that would ideally eliminate racial barriers in the workforce and give people of color increased opportunities, has been the center of many College Confidential forum posts, a topic of dinnertable discussions, and a recurring issue in court cases nationwide.

Among minority students interviewed at Paly, many agree that affirmative action is important and helpful to them, but they understand that it raises questions about how to find the right balance between diversity and merit in college admissions, and even how merit should be defined.

fied minorities” per 100 students admitted in an attempt to address the longstanding underrepresentation of minority students in the medical field. Allan Bakke, a white man who had applied twice to the University of California Medical School at Davis, was rejected both times despite having better numerical qualifications than all the minority students accepted in both applications. Thus, the fundamental question was born: Does the consideration of race in the college admissions process violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause and the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bakke and simultaneously extended rights to minority groups through affirmative action. While the medical school was instruct-

UC Davis Racial Demographics in 1977

The History of Affirmative Action

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lthough affirmative action, in principle, relates to both higher education and the workforce, the role of race in college admissions is a recurring thought that many place in the back of their minds. Affirmative action is, according to FiveThirtyEight.com, a tool to “encourage universities to use an applicant’s race as an admissions factor in order to increase racial diversity on campus.” In essence, it is there to prevent colleges from taking high-achieving students from a sole racial group.

Dating back to 1961, affirmative action programs were introduced to American universities by President John F. Kennedy in order to combat rampant racial discrimination.

It was then enforced by President Lyndon B. Johnson who dubbed it as “the next stage for the battle of Civil Rights.” By creating affirmative action, the government hoped to level the playing field in job opportunities and college admissions for individuals of all backgrounds.

Since then, affirmative action has experienced a long history of legal support. The first case came in the form of Regents of the University of California v.

Bakke. At the time, the school mandated a minimum quota to accept 16 “quali-

ed to admit Bakke due to a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., the deciding vote in the case, contended that using race as a criteria in the admissions process of higher education is constitutionally permissible only if there is no specific quota of admittees imposed on a certain race.

Another prominent decision came during the case of Fisher v. University of Texas.

In 1997, a Texas legislature declared that the University of Texas must accept all high school seniors represented in the top 10 percent of their graduating class, leaving the remainder of the available spots would be evenly up for contention among the rest of the applicant pool. However, after conducting studies analyzing the racial makeup of those accepted compared to the rest of the state, the university decided to include race as a factor in evaluating its applicants who do not fall in the category of top 10 percent students.

Abigail N. Fisher, who failed to make the 10 percent criteria and was ultimately denied entry to the university in 2008, believed that race was an unfair factor in her consideration and subsequent rejection. Fisher claimed that using race as a factor in the admis-

sions process violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The opposing argument claimed that a carefully supervised evaluation of race was meant to increase diversity of the student population. Due to the precedent set by Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the decision went in favor of the University of Texas.

The Lack of An Ideal

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ithin the Palo Alto community, students are cognizant of the impact that affirmative action has on their lives, especially for minorities.

“Going back to its initial intent, affirmative action has allowed for greater diversity within the student population of universities, adequately fulfilling the purpose it was set out to do,” said junior Miguel Moreno. “I believe that affirmative action has had quite a big impact on the U.S. by definitely increasing diversity throughout the years but also becoming a topic of distress for many in the country.”

However, while acknowledging the merits of affirmative action, students also understand that problems arise when those in the minority population fail to reap its benefits.

“Personally, I think the fact that Asians are hurt by affirmative action makes no sense and goes against the reasons why it was created,” said senior Nicholas Camarena. “Asians were not historically at the top of society and were often discriminated against.”

The most difficult aspect of finding a solution for this issue comes down to fairly weighing diversity in colleges against merit.

“It is hard to find the perfect balance because society is always changing,” Camarena said. “If colleges weigh merit too heavily, then minorities, who tend to be poorer, will struggle to work their way out of poverty. If colleges weigh diversity too heavily, at some point they will be undermining the academic strength of the school.”

Still others believe that the gap intended to be bridged by affirmative action is inadvertently widened by assumptions made about the opaque procedure of college admissions.

“From a culture that has been riddled with segregation and discrimination, it’s hard to flip

“IT IS HARD TO FIND THE PERFECT BALANCE BECAUSE SOCIETY IS ALWAYS CHANGING.” Nicholas camarena

Text and Design by Sam Yun and Edward Kim

a switch and suddenly become equal,” said senior Candace Wang. “Though the government tries their best through programs like affirmative action, these ideas often lead to problems that hurt more than they help; students are antagonized because others may underestimate their achievement and overestimate the role in which race played in the admissions process.”

Moreno also believes that affirmative action creates a false pretense that minority students get accepted to institutions purely because of their race.

“People may think that because of this, underrepreUnited Sta sented minorities don’t have Demograph to work hard during their high school years, which then causes discord among applicants and others,” Moreno said.

THe Impact on Asian Americans

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arvard University cites a class makeup of 12.6 percent Hispanic, 13.7 percent African American, 22.1 percent Asian, 2.6 percent Native American and 49 percent Caucasian for the Class of 2020.

When compared to the ethnic makeup of America, which, according to the 2010 census, has roughly 63.7 percent Caucasian, 12.2 percent African American, 16.3 percent Hispanic and 4.6 percent Asian, some striking numbers pop out. First, the population of African Americans and Hispanics, historically labeled underrepresented minorities, roughly mirrors that of Harvard. However, there is a disproportionate amount of Asians selected: 22 percent to 5 percent, a nearly fivefold difference. It is clear that affirmative action has worked to keep some of the numbers fair, but this still fails to explain the abundance of Asians in post-secondary education.

Using the example of Harvard, the number of Asians is about the number of Hispanics and African Americans combined, at 22.1 percent for Asians and 22.8

The Campanile

Friday, March 3, 2017

SPOTLIGHT

B5

the college canvas

ile a balance between merit and diversity in universities

percent for both races combined. From the data given, it looks like all is right with admissions at Harvard University. If X percent of applications are a certain race, then X percent of total admittees will be from that race. However, there lies a problem much deeper than what the numbers show.

In 2005, a study by Princeton University came under public scrutiny. The study claimed that the average Asian-American applicant must score 140 points higher than an identical average white applicant on the 1600 point SAT to be considered equal in the eyes of admissions officers. ates Racial several groups for hics in 2017 Outraged, Asian-Americans immediately formed to protect what they called “fairness of equal education opportunities.”

Most notably, the Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) pursues equality in the form of civil rights complaints, asking the Department of Education and Justice to investigate admissions at notable colleges, namely Yale University, Brown University and Dartmouth College, all of which are part of the Ivy League. The coalition, which represents more than 135 smaller organizations with the same mission, claims that these admission committees discriminate unfairly against Asian Americans. They argue that the officers there have implicit racial quotas to fill, and to do so they reject Asian American applicants who are equally or more qualified than their white or minority counterparts.

The Students For Fair Admissions (SFFA), another coalition protesting college admissions on racial grounds, asserts that although the amount of Asian Americans in America has skyrocketed since the 1990s, the proportion admitted into high-tier univer-

sities has just about plateaued. Edward Blum, the president of SFFA, also supports the idea of fulfilling “quotas” that are not necessarily explicitly set by the administration. “[Studies suggest] that Harvard and the other Ivies have a hard-fast, intractable quota limiting the number of Asians that they will expect,” Blum says.

To use a “control variable” in college admissions, these groups took a look at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), often ranked as one of the top universities in the nation, in Pasadena, Calif. They point out that at Caltech — which does not use “holistic admissions” but instead bases admissions solely on academic rigor — the proportion of Asian Americans has nearly doubled in the 20 years since 1992, going from 25 percent to 43 percent. Furthermore, the University of California system shows evidence of an abundance of qualified Asians. Despite making up just 15 percent of the state’s population, Asian Americans are a plurality in the UC system, at 35 percent.

Although the Asian race is often viewed as a “model minority,” senior Josh Code paints the example of an oft underrepresented population within Asia.

“The percentage of Southeast Asian Americans without high school diplomas is staggering,” Code said. “Under the current policy of affirmative action, however, these minorities are further disadvantaged by the system because they will be compared to East Asian ethnic groups like Chinese, Korean and Japanese.”

Wang and an anonymous Paly senior both expressed that affirmative action, while functioning as an idealistic method to bridge the representation gap among minority students with the rest of the population, negatively impacts their personal college admission chances.

“As an Asian student, it seems to have turned the tables against me… I think there may be perhaps a less efficient but more effective way to approach this issue of diversity and equality in places like college admissions,” Wang said.

“the percentage of southeast asian americans without high school diplomas is staggering.” josh code

“Personally, I think affirmative action has affected me negatively… however that’s my personal selfish view,” the anonymous senior said. “From the perspective of society, I understand the justifications behind it. However, in my opinion, [admissions] should be meritbased; otherwise you’re just rewarding people for being born a certain race.”

Holistic admissions, which takes into account not just test scores, but also a student’s “well-roundedness,” and “fit” into a campus, is the method of choice at most elite institutions not named Caltech. Instead of solely focusing on test scores such as APs, SATs and the ACT, or on an applicant’s grade point average (GPA), these institutions take what an applicant does outside of school into consideration.

Labeled as “extracurriculars,” these are the ac-

Rather than giving low-income students who have to work long hours after school and sacrifice other valuable extracurricular opportunities, affirmative action is more likely to give middle-class Hispanic students who live comfortable lifestyles a significant step up in admission to universities. Thus, colleges should consider income-based affirmative action as an alternative to race-based affirmative action.

Even staunch supporters of affirmative action like Moreno note these flaws within the system.

“There’s more of a likelihood that someone who’s a minority live in underserved neighborhoods rather than those who are not minorities,” Moreno said.

Ideally, income-based affirmative ac-

UC Davis Racial Demographics in 2017

tivities that a student can describe in the 10 slots on the Common Application, explaining what he/she does outside the classroom. However, holistic admissions take more than what a student can control into consideration: It also takes into consideration race, which births the problems Asian Americans see today.

Addressing socioeconomic differences

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ith all this controversy, one must think: Why did we go to all this trouble in the first place? The answer lies in the honorable value of creating equality and opportunity for those who cannot have it.

But affirmative action may be missing the mark in this regard. Studies from the Jack Kent Cooke foundation report that students from the bottom quartile, or 25 percent, of socioeconomic statuses only make up 3 percent of the population at highly selective and elite universities. It appears that affirmative action, designed to help those without opportunity finally have a start in their lives, doesn’t accurately tackle the root of the problem.

tion would take away unnecessary support for middle- to upper-class minorities who are wrongly perceived as “disadvantaged.”

The overwhelming majority of low-income students have to work to support their family, or at the very least have little to no time to pursue extracurricular passions that are so important in holistic admissions. College already places enough strain on low-income families with tuition costs. To alleviate this stress and debt, a student graduating from an esteemed institution would have the best opportunity to eventually pay back the support his family gave him.

Students like Moreno still acknowledge some successes within affirmative action, even though it is riddled with challenges. “[It] really is as an ideal policy,” Moreno said. “[Affirmative action gives] underrepresented minorities the chance to go to college who have the academic merit just as exceptional as other students.”

Affirmative action, with all its flaws, is merely an attempt by the government to make sure everyone receives equal opportunity. It is a temporary fix for a complicated problem. Even if it misses its goal, the action is still an honorable endeavor at equality. Although it appears to be a fringe thought in the status quo, perhaps an improved alternative would be to pursue income-based affirmative action to encourage a true diversity of thought and background.

Design By Jacques Manjarrez

Friday, March 3, 2017

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LIFESTYLE

Flea market features unique antique trinkets Romance The Alameda Point Antiques Fair hosts more than 800 booths, all selling exclusive items

horoscope for March

JORDAN QUIGLEY

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

KATE DEANDRE

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

SHANNON ZHAO/THE CAMPANILE

The Alameda Flea Market features a wide variety of vintage products. Attendees under the age of 15 receive free admission while general admission tickets sell for $15 a person.

SHANNON ZHAO

STAFF WRITER

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n the first Sunday of every month, more than 12,000 vendors and shoppers gather at the peninsula of Alameda for the largest flea market in Northern California. The Alameda Point Antiques Faire hosts more than 800 dealer booths filled with exotic treasures such as vintage dining sets, rusty locks and freaky porcelain dolls. This antiques fair holds true to its title: all items sold must be at least 20 years old.

Vendees can expect to find a wide selection of vintage home decorations, clothing, furniture, jewelry, art, pottery, books, records and collectibles varying in price from $100$700.

With thousands of bits and bobs to scavenge through, it is hard to

avoid shopper’s fatigue. Here is a compilation of tips and tricks that will allow you to score a total win at the Alameda Flea Market.

afraid to bargain a price that you are not truly pleased with. Worry not, most vendors are flexible with their pricing.

What to do Have a goal: head into the fair with an idea of what you are looking for. If there is something specific, know the market value of the item(s) to avoid paying a higher price than what something is worth.

Shop booths: if you are unsure about an item, write down the booth number so you can come back to it when you have made up your mind.

However, know that the item is fair game to other shoppers once you have set it down.

Bargain hard: oftentimes, vendors will try to sell their highest bid to vendees, even if it may be unreasonable.

Know your budget and do not be

What to pack Cash: bring small bills and change, as some booths only take cash.

Water: It is important to stay hydrated when you are walking for hours under the sun.

Quick snacks: although there are plenty of food trucks lined up along the sides of the market, trail mix and energy bars will come in handy when you are busy hopping from booth to booth.

Measuring tape (with measurements)—if you plan on buying furniture.

What to wear Layers: located by the water, the venue is very cold in the morning.

However, later on as the sun comes out, it can get pretty toasty. Dress in layers so you can adjust to the weather throughout the day.

Comfortable shoes: by the end of your shopping adventure, your feet will be begging for a massage.

Wear appropriate walking shoes to avoid having to forcibly cut your market trip short because you cannot walk any further.

Other important facts Admission prices start at $15 per person in the first hour and a half of the fair’s opening and drop to $5 after 9 a.m.

Entrance to the fair is not allowed after 3 p.m.

Admission is free for all children under 15 years of age with a parent —underclassmen, make sure to get to the flea market for free while you still can!

Aesthetic food and dessert trends gain popularity Popular trends for this year include donuts, rolled ice cream and elaborate milkshakes GRACE KITAYAMA

STAFF WRITER

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hile the popularity surrounding cronuts and deconstructed foods has hopefully come to an end, a new wave of sweet, wholesome and aesthetically appealing foods are gaining popularity and beginning to take their place.

So, what trendy new snacks can we expect to see more of in 2017?

Recently, tasty food fads have been generated due to their availability, health benefits, celebrity promotion or aesthetic presentation. Consumers want food that not only tastes good, but looks and makes them feel good.

Lately, restaurants and bakeries have taken their run-of-the-mill snacks to a whole new level. The explosion in both the diversity and quantity of doughnuts available makes them the replacement of the early 2000s cupcakes in the realm of handheld dessert items.

Recently, tasty food fads have been generated due to their availability, health benefits, celebrity promotion or aesthetic presentation. Consumers want food that not only tastes good, but looks and makes them feel good.

With shops and bakeries marketing their own twists on the classic doughnut in cities like Portland, New York and San Francisco, doughnuts have taken the U.S. by storm. Shops like Psycho Donuts in San Francisco and Voodoo Donuts in Portland specialize in over-accessorized, extravagant doughnuts. Psycho Donuts’ Cereal Killer Donut is covered in rainbow colored cereals and their Jasonut is based off of the Friday the 13th character and complete with a powdered sugar portrait of the char-

KAI ODA/THE CAMPANILE

Rolled ice cream, a Thai twist on the classic treat, is a popular dessert trend this year. One common location is Icicles in San Jose.

acter on top. Regardless of what you chose, the shops have become tourist attractions that foodies and Instagrammers alike will rapidly rush into line for.

The [donut] shops have become tourist attractions that foodies and Instagrammers alike will rapidly rush into line for.

Doughnuts are not the only dessert that has had its 2017 revamp. Ice cream has gotten its own upgrade as well. Gone are the days when frozen yogurt was the newest trend that tricked our health-conscientious

minds into thinking that it was in some way better for us than ice cream.

Now, the frozen dessert has gotten a makeover and taken a different form entirely. Thai ice cream has become a fashionable way to consume the treat.

It is made by freezing the ice cream on a metal plate and then scraping the dessert into rolls before serving with toppings such as condensed milk, chocolate sauce, almonds and mochi.

In the theme of new and upgraded desserts, “freak shakes” or milkshakes that are dressed in candy and other fun treats have also recently gained popularity. Locally, the Shakedown in

San Francisco specializes in extreme milkshakes with unique flavors, such as the Strawberry Shortcake Shake that comes with mini strawberry shortcakes in the drink. With multiple satisfying and cheap delicious options, these shakes have revolutionized simple snacking.

Food trends, much like fashion trends easily fade in and out of fashion. So the newest snack trend may have gone in and out of style before you get the chance to try it.

Regardless of whether you get to try the newest trendy, tasty treat, you can look forward to aesthetic and delicious food.

Capricorn Romance might blossom for you, but most likely it will not. There are plenty of ways for you to get over the romantic slump you have fallen into.

Instead of eating alone eat dinner with your family! Instead of romantically walking along the beach with your bae, walk in the sand with your siblings. Who needs an s.o.?

Aquarius A partner is just over the horizon for you. Don’t feel too silly about having a gushy date with your new beau.

When your friend asks how your date went, don’t be afraid to brag about how you flew in a hot air balloon over a blue sky. You basically had a date straight from a romance novel, while they were sitting at home reading “The Notebook.”

Pisces With your birthday quickly approaching, make sure to treat yoself!

However, nobody needs to know that you’re the one doing all the wonderful deeds for yourself. Send some flowers and chocolates to your workplace to make it seem like you have a secret admirer.

Aries Romance is not in the cards for you this year... Sorry. If you have been a member of loner squad for awhile then you should get used to it. Not to fear however! There are so many articles about “How to be the Only Single One in your Friend Group” or “The Stages of Being Single.”

Taurus Food will be a great source of comfort for you this year when no potential mates come into your life.

There is always In-N-Out where you can binge on burgers. Don’t forget to take an “artsy” picture of your burger with fries in that red tray for that aesthetic.

Gemini You may be at a crossroads. Should I go out or stay in? There is something to be said about trying your hardest, especially if you are looking for a special someone. Sometimes trying isn’t good enough and you need to give up before you embarrass yourself further.

There is always next year!

Cancer You are used to feeling alone, but don’t worry—nothing is going to change! Consistency is a solid pattern for you, so it’s good that you will continue to be alone for awhile. Therapists always tell people that a stable, healthy pattern is a good thing in life.

Leo There is nothing wrong with daydreaming about someone special, just make sure that you know that it isn’t real. Everybody knows that the boyfriend from Canada is fake, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dream about him anyways.

Virgo You are not liked by many, so inanimate objects may be a good substitute for you. Virgo, you are one to like cuddling; however, you have nobody to cuddle with. Body pillows have become quite popular, so they may be a good replacement.

Libra I hear cats are a good source of comfort for lonely, sad people. Don’t worry though! There are many other animals to comfort you if a cat is too “crazy cat lady.” To have even more satisfaction, you can get a whole bunch of pets and chill with them at home. While you’re at it, why not just rent a zoo? Go big or go home am I right?

Scorpio Telling your friends that you are going on a romantic trip with your s.o. is obviously a lie, but who needs to know that? Anyway, going with your sister and her family instead is just as romantic, right? What could be more fun than watching your sister’s baby while she goes on a romantic walk with her husband?

Sagittarius Someone special is coming to you soon. For now, curling up on the couch and watching “The Bachelor” is a good option. Better yet, apply to be a bachelor or bachelorette! It can a confidence boost as well as a way to spend all your money on clothes.

The Campanile

Friday, March 3, 2017

LIFESTYLE

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Academy Awards earn praise for promoting diversity #OscarsSoWhite did not make a comeback at this year’s more racially-diverse awards ceremony

tunity and the space for black actors to shine.

One of the surprising nominated films is “Moonlight.” It was fairly unadvertised in comparison to its competitors, and has a cast of relatively unknown actors. The subject matter of the movie makes it a daring choice. That a deep meditation on black masculinity, one that hinges on its protagonist’s discovery of his sexuality, earned a total of eight Oscar nominations. It is a testament to voters and Oscar watchers for keeping the film and topic in mind and in conversation. A more obscure movie needs all the exposure it can get.

MACKENZIE GLASSFORD

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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fter the 2015 Academy Awards, hardly anyone was talking about the winners.

Much of the public conversation centered around the fact that the major categories were noticeably absent of people of color, sparking the creation of the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

Unfortunately, in 2016, although the hashtag did not make a major resurface, the lack of minority recognition did.

The Academy deserves some recognition and credit for their effort to honor the creative works of all its contributors.

However, it would be naive for America to think that #OscarsSoWhite is over.

For years, the Academy has featured a noticeably white nominee list.

In 2015 and 2016, the lack of diversity sparked public outrage. Thankfully, 2017 will not be the third year for this to continue.

This year’s Oscar nominations feature a list of nominees that are remarkably diverse, and it matches the all-time record for the most racially diverse Oscar lineup, seen in 2007.

For best actor, Denzel Washington is nominated for his role in “Fences,” while Ruth Negga is nominated in the best actress category for “Loving.” The best supporting actors and actresses categories featured an additional four African American nominees.

Not only were more minority actors nominated this year, but the smaller categories are also much

While this is an important year for people of color and is a positive change, it does not fix #OscarsSoWhite.

LIVEMINT/CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSED

The director and writer Barry Jenkin, holds up his Oscar award after winning best picture for his drama film “Moonlight”.

more representative of people of color. This is only the second year in history that a minority producer has been nominated, with Kimberly Seward up for her film “Manchester by the Sea.” The diverse nominations earned praise from the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA).

“The African American Film Critics Association is totally thrilled with the record-breaking number of nominations earned this year by actors and other creative artists of color,” said AAFCA President Gil Robertson IV. “AAFCA applauds the Academy’s efforts and we hope that their progress continues to reflect America’s rich diversity.”

The Academy definitely deserves some recognition and credit for their effort to honor the creative works of

all its contributors.

However, it would be naive for America to think that #OscarsSoWhite is over. Academy voters did not come together the past two years and conspire to exclude minorities from the awards circuit. Similarly, they did not come together this year to all agree on voting for a large number of people of color.

“The African American Film Critics Association is totally thrilled with the record-breaking number of nominations earned this year by actors and other creative artists of color.”

Gil Robertson IV AAFCA President The difference this year stems from two factors: the obvious one is

that there were simply more Oscar friendly movies featuring people of color this year. The second, and more important, reason is that the media and voters are thinking differently about what type of movies are Oscar worthy.

“Fences” and “Hidden Figures,” both with multiple nominations in the major acting categories, could be considered Oscar bait in their own way. “Fences” is a remake of a loved Tony-winning classic, including what many consider to be the best performance of the year at its center.

“Hidden Figures” was a major box office hit, and plays on themes of female and minority empowerment.

Both movies were similar in theme and genre to past nominations while at the same time giving the oppor-

The numerous nominations for “Fences,” “Hidden Figures,” “Moonlight” and the drama “Lion” should send an obvious signal that movies about and by people of color are worth producing, promoting and honoring.

While this is an important year for people of color and indicates a step toward positive change, it does not fix #OscarsSoWhite. Next year’s nominees could very easily exclude people of color once again. One year of diverse nominees does not, and should not, make up for decades of ignoring the work of minorities.

The key is to change the way we think about Oscar movies. Progress requires both excitement about the present and ambition for the future.

That’s why deeming #OscarsSoWhite over is such a mistake: It is not about fixing things now. It is about changing things for good.

Second LEGO-style movie delights with stunning animations

More than just a children’s film, ‘The LEGO’ Batman Movie’ explores complex issues of isolation and loss NICHOLAS MELVIN

STAFF WRITER

KESI SOUNDARARAJAN

STAFF WRITER

Nicholas Melvin: When my fellow Staff Writer Kesi and I proposed our story idea to the Editors-in-Chief of The Campanile, the general idea was that we would write contrasting viewpoints about “Lego Batman” — Kesi predicted it would be a masterful work of cinematography and I expected many shortcomings. However, after watching the flick, I could not come up with more than one negative aspect of the movie. After using the restroom (thank you Coca Cola) I mistakenly entered the wrong auditorium and found myself watching “50 Shades Darker,” which I have been advised not to discuss in any further detail.

In short, “Lego Batman” is set to rule the “box” office for weeks to come. Standing as the funniest Batman-centered movie in history, there are few negative words with which one could use to describe the movie.

The movie started with a dark screen and the soothing voice of Will Arnett, who portrayed Batman, explaining that all important movies started with a dark screen. It then jumps straight into conflict, showing the Joker’s (Zach Galifianakis) genius plan to send the city of Gotham to its doom. To anyone familiar with the work of the Joker, this plot seems rather familiar. Yet director Chris McKay, along with the help of writers Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern and John Whittington, have found a new way to depict the duo, showing the Joker as a vulnerable foil to the stonecold Batman. Throughout the rest of the film, Batman struggles to defeat a fear that is even deeper than his fear of “snake clowns”: his fear of losing those he loves.

At the beginning, this fear is a non-issue, as Batman has formed a wall, keeping people out to ensure that he does not have to go through losing them. But as the movie goes on, more and more Legos slip through the cracks in the wall and into his heart. This creates a dilemma for Batman: how to best keep those he cares for out of danger.

Despite the stellar plot line and

WARNER ANIMATION GROUP/CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSED

Actors Will Arnett, voice of Batman, and Zach Galifianakis, voice of The Joker, portray the classic superhero-supervillain duo with an animated and comical twist.

action-packed fight scenes, the best aspect of this movie, in stark contrast to other Batman movies, is the comedic aspect. From playful satire to innuendos and visual gags, “Lego Batman” had it all, never leaving the crowd without something to chuckle about.

Lego blocks do not stretch, they instead build upon themselves, growing taller and taller, forming a tower of incomparable perfection.

When I first heard they were making a sequel to the “Lego Movie,” I was concerned that they may be stretching the genre a little bit too thin. But in fact, Lego blocks do not stretch, they instead build upon themselves, growing taller and taller, forming a tower of incomparable perfection. “Lego Batman” confirmed the fact that Legos make everything better, and opened the door to a whole world of Lego based movies that are, hopefully, soon to come.

Kesi Soundararajan: The term “instant classic” has become a profoundly banal description for movie magic. Yet there are some cases in which there is truly no other way to accurately portray the amount of prowess and power that has been encapsulated in the 65-foot screens

that have become an escape for many.

“Lego Batman” is an example of such a piece, a classic among not just movies, but of all forms of art.

Most of the time with true classics, the work is without fame in the time that the creator walks the Earth.

For painters this is often the reality, as the works of El Greco, Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, while household names today, were disregarded until long after death grasped their flimsy souls. However, in today’s world of constant connection, Chris McKay never faced any of these issues. His work was instantly seen for what it is: a grace to society and an existential break from the grim reality that consumes so many.

Upon first viewing, my fellow staff writer Nicholas Melvin and I thought the “Lego Batman” movie to be merely a run-of-the-mill humorous Batman-Lego concoction, but upon further review, I now see the true genius behind the scenes.

The beginning of the film depicts the Lego Batman as a savage, driven purely by animal instinct — his id is in full force, ruling over every decision he makes. He saves the city but seeks only to please himself in doing so, giving no regard to his sympathetic villain, the Joker. Lego Batman goes so far as to tell the Joker that he does not care about him, leading to the main conflict of the film.

It is because of his id driven actions

that later in the film, Lego Batman is forced to develop his ego and realize the importance of rationalizing societal values with his own instinctually savage nature.

Lego Batman’s ascension to being driven by his superego near the end of the film is best exemplified in one of the final scenes of the film. Lego Batman makes a promise to another character in the film, and while he could have easily ignored that promise as he would normally have, he decides to honor it. Lego Batman has adapted to be driven by morals and ethics, choosing to honor a promise despite it being perhaps superfluous.

Alongside marvelous character development, McKay is also able to provide the audience with a powerful social message sure to inspire many impressionable young viewers. McKay warns the audience of the potential pitfalls of the 21st century world in a scene after Lego Batman finishes a long day of work saving Gotham city once again from one of the Joker’s shenanigans. Instead of partying the night away, he comes home, talks to his “puter” (voiced by Apple’s Siri), heats up a microwave dinner and watches a romantic comedy.

While many may see this as an innocent scene, the more discerning viewer will be able to find a deeper message than meets the eye. McKay is making a striking commentary on society’s love for technology, and it’s

resulting loneliness. Much like many young adults and millennials, Lego Batman would rather talk to Siri and watch Netflix in isolation than go out to interact with others.

Finally, the cinematography in this film was an innovative take on the medium. I admit, even I at first was thrown off by the blocky characters, and thought it to be lazy animation (I mean even the 1966 Batman had more realistic looking people – you’d think we could do better in 2017).

Through his use of psychology and profound social messages, McKay is able to turn a seemingly light-hearted children’s movie into one of 2017’s grittiest and most profound films.

However, one must realize that it is more than just a product placement for Lego building blocks or laziness, the blocky figures are a device McKay uses to symbolize the soul of humanity and its “rough edges” so to speak.

Looking back on the film as a whole, “The LEGO Batman Movie” appears to be a solid film with a lot to say. Through his use of psychology and profound social messages, McKay is able to turn a seemingly-light hearted children’s movie into one of 2017’s grittiest and most profound films.

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

LIFESTYLE

B8 Text & Design by Allison Wu

The Art of Ceramics

Design by Nicholas Melvin & Peter Gold

Paly student artists chisel and construct a variety of ceramic creations

A colorful array of student-made clay sculptures, vases, bowls, masks, busts and figurines is showcased in the art room. round the year 24,000 B.C., ancient humans discovered the revolutionary combination of clay and kiln. This groundbreaking innovation carved the path for many remarkable creations, such as prehistoric Mesopotamian vases, delicate Japanese porc e l a i n dishware and the indestructible Chinese Terracotta Army.

Although these works of clay art include a wide spectrum of styles and uses, they are most often categorized under a single term: ceramics. Ceramics is a very unique art form in which clay is shaped to construct a multitude of threedimensional objects, ranging from housewares to artistic masterpieces.

“Ceramics is a very physical discipline and it’s very tactile; your main tools are your hands and you get dirty,” said Steve Ferrera, Palo Alto High School ceramics teacher.

“There are a lot of directions you can go with the medium because it exists in many different states — from slip, where it’s like a heavy cream, to bone-dry, where it’s like carving a soft stone.”

Much like how sculptors Michelangelo and Pablo Picasso care-

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fully chiseled their way into history with their magnificent sculptures, numerous Paly students spend countless hours in and out of class perfecting their own clay creations through Paly’s expansive ceramics program. Students enrolled in the program enjoy the abundance of the school’s resources and expand their creativity and skillsets through the completion of a wide range of ceramic assignments.

“The main goal [of the program] is for kids to learn the processes and develop the skill sets that a ceramic artist uses,” Ferrera said. “Students will have enough mastery of the pottery wheel where they can make cups and bowls with a trimmed foot and sculptures that are somewhat complex in construction and concept.”

The extensive sculpting process takes up to a month to fully complete. Artists begin by using wet clay to shape a rough construction of the final project. Then, they fire it in the kiln, an oven that is heated at around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

After firing their sculptures for the first time, the students wait for the now-firm clay to cool and proceed to glaze, paint and decorate their creations. They then fire the clay in the

Ceramics attracts numerous students because of its appeal to artists of different skillsets and creative abilities. Virtually anyone with the right mindset is able to partake in this art form.

kiln for a second time; the scorching heat of the oven hardens the glaze, making it look shiny, smooth and ready for display. Students are then free to take their creations home and showcase them for their own enjoyment.

To many, ceramics may seem like an intimidating art form, with its long process and use of high temperatures.

However, ceramics attracts numerous students because of its appeal to artists of different skillsets and creative abilities. Virtually anyone with the right mindset is able to partake in this art form.

“You’re basically playing with mud, so it’s fun,” Ferrera said. “But it also involves patience, planning and discipline, so it’s an opportunity to build skills while having fun. There’s a comfort zone for everyone. You can be precise and meticulous or loose and spontaneous.”

According to sophomore Lucy Volino, who is currently enrolled in “Ceramics/Sculpture” at Paly, there are two main projects used to create different types of ceramics: pottery wheel projects and sculpture-based projects.

Pottery wheel projects, in which students are aided by revolving machines to shape their sculptures, produce more practical creations that can be used daily. Ceramic creations constructed using this technique are usually not very intricate, but rather more smooth in texture and simple in shape. “[In pottery wheel projects], we’re

supposed to make things like bowls, cups or things that are pot-shaped on a rotating wheel,” Volino said. “These are often more symmetrical and are more consistent.”

With sculpture-based projects, however, students can be more creative and liberal with the shapes, consistency and complexities of their creations. These types of projects usually generate more detailed designs that are displayed as art forms rather than used as household items.

“Our most recent [sculpturebased] project was an assignment on a bust or a head from a character from a story or a book or a movie that we liked,” Volino said. “I did Tintin.”

Students can specialize in the art of ceramics by enrolling in “Cer amics/S culpture,” which is a prerequisite for “Advanced Sculpture.” The “Ceramics/ Sculpture” class introduces students to the basics of ceramics by helping them ease into the sculpting process and expanding their skillsets.

“As students become more confident in their ability, I think a lot inspiration grows out of this,” Ferrera said. “They begin to see what’s possible, and their work becomes more complex.”

Although techniques used to cre-

ate ceramic products are not exceptionally difficult, students often experience hardships while constructing their pieces. For example, sculptures may crack if they are dried improperly, or explode in the kiln if there are air bubbles in the clay.

“Something that can be hard is if you add a lot of detail and then you glaze it; you can find that the glaze covers all the detail you just worked on, because the glaze can often fill in little spaces,” Volino said.

Nonetheless, the ceramics classes offer many students an outlet to forgo the stress of conventional core classes and focus their attention on shaping and perfecting their sculptures and other artistic creations.

Most importantly, ceramics allows students to revel in the magnificence of their own creations and witness tangible results of their hard work.

“I like continuing with ceramics [as] I keep learning more and accumulate more knowledge, and I have definitely seen my pieces improve,” Volino said. “It’s fun to see a piece that just started out as some wet clay turn into something shiny and pretty that you can put in your house.”

Most importantly, ceramics allows students to revel in the magnificence of their own creations and witness tangible results of their hard work.

The Campanile

Friday, March 3, 2017 UNCONVENTIONAL SPORTS

Beyond the baseball diamond and the football field, there are fields and gyms where unknown sports are thriving.

SPORTS

PAGE C6

TRADEOFFS OF TURF Studies show that turf may have links to cancer

ATHLETE OF THE

MONTH

This edition featuring:

Emily Tomz with The Campanile’s own

Ashley Zhang

TEXT AND DESIGN BY MAYA HOMAN DESIGN BY KIRAN MISNER AND GRACE KITAYAMA

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risk to athletes who play on turf fields.

However, research suggests that the turf t’s everywhere. It sticks to your gym shirt, “I don’t [believe that turf causes cancer],” fibers might not even be the most dangerslides into crevices in your shoes and said P.E. teacher Jason Fung. “There’s so ous part of the field: the little black balls unembeds itself in your socks. Athletes run many kids, so many places in so many parts derneath the turf fibers are. Amy Griffin, a over it, skid across it and even inhale it. It’s of the world that play on this stuff, and what’s former American soccer player and current turf, a synthetic material that covers more the percentage of kids that actually have that assistant coach of the women’s soccer team than 12,000 athletic fields in the United cancer, right? I think more at University of Washington States. Turf has become popular for its (UW), became one of the “I think more tests need tests need to be done. I just durability, low maintenance and cost-effecdon’t quite know if it’s a dimore outspoken advocates tiveness. The rubber crumbs have spread like against turf fields when she to be done. I just don’t rect link yet.” wildfire across the country, and have been Despite the studies cited noticed that some teamused in playgrounds. But as the number of quite know if it’s a by turf manufacturers, many mates and players under her turf fields grows, so do concerns about the direct link yet.” scientists are calling for admanagement at UW had risks they pose. ditional research and followbeen diagnosed with cancer.

First invented in the 1960s, turf fields up studies, as the effects of Many of her players suffered seemed like the perfect solution to some Jason Fung the chemicals in the rubber from an array of blood cancommon problems caused by grass fields; P.E. Teacher crumbs are slow-acting and cers including leukemia and the synthetic alternatives were more durable, tend to develop over time. Many existing lymphoma. Griffin began compiling a list of easier to maintain, saved water and didn’t restudies also focused on the effects of turf on athletes who had contracted cancer in 2014, quire harmful pesticides. Teams could play the air surrounding synthetic fields. While and since then the list has grown to include in almost all weather conditions without this area of research is important, it is not a more than 200 people. 150 of the players on destroying their playing fields; injuries like completely accurate assessment of the risks her list played soccer, and 95 of the soccer scrapes and cuts were considerably reduced turf fields pose to those that use them, as players were goalkeepers. because athletes were not slipping in mud. athletes who are scraping themselves on turf “Goalkeepers get [rubber crumbs] in their Recycled tires mimicked the role of dirt and and inhaling the rubber particles are exposed sides, hips [and] elbows [as helped keep the rubber out to much higher levels of the chemicals than well as] abrasions from slidof landfills. those who are standing in the vicinity of a ing on the stuff,” said Griffin Although it had many turf field. in an interview with CNN. advantages that had not “Turf costs less and is easier to play on “So if they have an open been used before, turf was than a lot of grass fields, but they also are a sore, not only the black dots never truly flawless. Early lot more dangerous to play on regarding slide but the dust particles that models, known as “Chemtackling and goalkeeper diving,” said junior you can't even see when the Grass” or “AstroTurf,” made and varsity soccer player Emily Tomz. “Gettire crumb breaks down so harder surfaces than grass ting turf burns and finding turf in my hair small get in there. I'm sure fields, leading to a surge after I play soccer is kind of the usual.” you eat it and inhale it. Just of joint injuries and other Palo Alto High School, among other atin a 10-minute warm up, our problems among athletes. tributes, is known for its excellent athletic keepers will hit the ground Additionally, a Center for program. Both the varsity and junior varsity anywhere from 50 to 100 Disease Control report soccer and lacrosse teams practice over 10 times.” from 2013 found that older hours a week on turf fields. The football team While there is still not a models of turf made of nytrains on Astroturf fields every fall, and P.E. clear consensus on the effects lon or nylon/polyethylene Emily Tomz classes do warm ups on the synthetic grass. of playing on turf, the Envifibers contained troubling Though there are definite benefits to using amounts of lead. Other junior and varsity soccer player ronmental Protection Agenturf, there is still an enormous amount of risk cy has identified carcinogens health concerns stemming and uncertainty for the athletes. It’s time to like mercury, arsenic and benzene inside the from older models of turf include zinc poiask ourselves whether the trade-off is worth tire crumbs. However, many manufacturers of soning, respiratory problems for asthmatics it. the turf cite statistics that show no increased and toxic runoff from the lead paint.

“Turf costs less and is easier to play on than a lot of grass fields, but they also are a lot more dangerous to play on regarding slide tackling and goalkeeper diving.”

The Campanile: What position do you play and how long have you been on varsity?

Emily Tomz: I play center mid and outside mid sometimes. I’ve been on varsity since my freshman year along with three other freshmen who made it.

TC: How long have you been playing soccer and what got you interested?

ET: I’ve been playing soccer since I was around five, [and I’ve been] in club since third grade. It was just the sport that I stuck with, you know after your parents put you in a bunch of sports when you were young. I liked the team aspect of it.

TC: Did you always play in the same position?

ET: When I was little, I started out as a goalie and now I play center mid.

TC: What do you enjoy most about soccer?

ET: I really enjoy the interaction between the different grade levels and the different leadership positions that upperclassmen can take because that’s the sort of grade interaction you don’t get with club soccer.

TC: What’s your least favorite thing about soccer?

ET: Practices sometimes go longer than expected so you need to plan around that, but I just love the team.

I love Paly soccer so much.

TC: Do you have a player that you look up to on the team?

ET: I really look up to all the seniors on the current team, but I especially looked up to Livi Musil when I was a freshman. She graduated, but she had so much spirit for the Paly team.

I didn’t get to see her play while I was here because she was injured but she just had the spirit and the drive and she was always really positive.

TC: How was the season this year?

ET: It was a great season. It was really awesome. The several ties were a bummer and that cost us a league because we lost by only one point for league. It was just a really great group of girls and I feel like we really bonded this year and the seniors are amazing and I’m really sad to see them go.

TC: Do you have plans to play soccer in the future?

ET: It’s my goal to play soccer in college but we’ll see where that takes me right now.

TC: What hopes and goals do you have for the team next year?

ET: Just to keep up this high standard of playing and each year, we look forward to trying to first beat Mountain View, win league and then make it to CCS and hopefully win CCS. We accomplished one of those goals this year — beating Mountain View — but each year we look forward to trying to accomplish all three of them.

SPORTS

The rise of the Chinese Super League

In recent months, the Chinese Super League has bought world-class players for insane amounts of money, attracting popularity and support to the formerly unsuccessful and corrupt league.

ESPN/FAIR USE

PAGES C4-C5

SWIMMING WORLD/FAIR USE

Stanford Swimmers

Two of Palyís best swimmers have committed to swim at Stanford.

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SPORTS ILLUSTRATED/CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSED

NIKE/CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSED

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Excess gear in tech sports

PAGE C7

PAGE C8

Itís time for the magazine to end its sexist portrayal of women.

Emphasis on accessories is starting to out value training.

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

SPORTS

C2

Soccer ends season with unfortunate result

VIKING REPORT BOYS BASKETBALL RECENT SCORES

Paly vs. Milpitas 2/17, W, 74-54 Paly vs. Independence 2/25, W, 84-60 Paly vs. Cupertino 3/1

GIRLS BASKETBALL RECENT SCORES

Paly vs. Saratoga 2/17, W, 61-37 Paly vs. Wilcox 2/25, W, 64-31 Paly vs. Silver Creek 3/1, W, 53-39

GIRLS SOCCER RECENT SCORES

Paly vs. Santa Clara 2/7, W, 6-0 Paly vs. Los Gatos 2/11, W, 1-0 Paly vs. Fremont 2/14, W, 5-0 Paly vs. Menlo Atherton 2/25, L, 3-0

Girls soccer finishes fantastic season with disappointing loss against Menlo Atherton EHECATL RIVERA

STAFF WRITER

“

W

e Are the Champions” is a song written by the British rock band Queen, first released on their 1977 album News of the World. It is one of Queen’s most popular songs, and one of rock’s most recognizable anthems. While weak in comparison, the song represents the girls varsity soccer team’s legendary feats. As the band rocked stages across the globe, the girls have rocked the pitch, wiping the floor with the majority of their competitors.

The girls finished an outstanding season, remaining undefeated in the league with a record of 14 wins, zero losses and four ties. At the end of the season the girls ranked eighth in the state and 18th in the nation. Yet the girls were knocked out of the Central Coast Section (CCS) tournament in their first match.

Fueled by the adrenaline from having destroyed their biggest competitor in their league, the girls headed into the last few games of the season with magnificent optimism.

They ended the season with three more wins against Santa Clara, Los Gatos and Fremont. Like the British rock band, the girls blew the audience away, dominating Santa Clara with an convincing 6-0 win.

Two goals were scored by senior Talia Malchin, one more by freshman Sofie Vogel and freshman Chloe

KAI ODA/THE CAMPANILE

San Jose State University commit Lauola Amanoni passes the ball down the field past Los Gatos defender in a narrow 1-0 win at home.

Japic scored three.

Goalkeeper Clara Luehrs also exhibited an outstanding game with a total of three saves.

“Overall, [Menlo-Atherton] came out with more competitiveness and they seemed to want the win more.’’

Caroline Furrier Sophomore The girls bussed down to their match against Los Gatos. The score was closer than the one against Santa Clara, yet the team was still able to nip a 1-0 win. The lone goal was scored by junior Emily Tomz. With the win, the girls advanced with their

13-0 record.

The final match of the season against Fremont High School arrived with great anticipation.

The game against Fremont nearly replicated the score against Santa Clara as the girls smashed the visiting team with a margin of 5-0.

Goals were scored by seniors Reilly Filter and Natalie Maloney, sophomore Caroline Furrier and freshman Chloe Japic.

As the final match of the league, the girls walked off the pitch sporting an undefeated 14-0 record. After soaking in the spoils of three victories, the girls headed into the CCS tournament with high hopes.

“Prior to the CCS match against

MA, we had a lot of confidence as we had beaten them 5-0 before,” said sophomore Caroline Furrier.

Unfortunately, the girls were unable to score a goal and faced a terrible vanquishment: a 3-0 loss. Although the team had a great record throughout the season, the girls were not able to work together and make cohesive plays.

“Overall, [Menlo-Atherton] came out with more competitiveness and they seemed to want the win more,” Furrier said.

The match was a bittersweet note to end on but it did not demonstrate the girls highest potential and does not reflect the girls outstanding performance throughout the season.

Basketball finishes season with top seed Boys basketball looks to address weaknesses in preparation for final CCS playoff push NIKLAS RISANO

BOYS SOCCER RECENT SCORES

Paly vs. Los Gatos 2/9, W, 2-0 Paly vs. Monta Vista 2/14, W, 6-0 Paly vs. Santa Clara 2/15, W, 5-0 Paly vs. Menlo-Atherton 2/22, L, 1-1

WRESTLING RECENT SCORES

Web. Law. Tournament 12/10, 10th of 48 Paly vs. Los Altos 1/19, W Mid Cals 1/28, 32nd of 87 SCVAL Championships 2/10-11

BOYS LAX RECENT SCORES

Paly vs. Mitty 2/24, W, 15-9 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly vs. Bella Vista 3/3, 6 p.m.

GIRLS LAX RECENT SCORES

Paly vs. Monta Vista 3/1 UPCOMING GAMES

Paly vs. Los Altos 3/3, 7 p.m.

TRACK AND FIELD UPCOMING MEETS

Paly vs. Los Altos 3/9, 3:15 p.m.

Paly vs. Lynbrook 3/14, 3:15 p.m

STAFF WRITER

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fter finishing the season with a 20-4 record, and as the top seed of SCVAL, the Vikes faced Independence High School in the first round of the CCS playoffs.

Paly dismantled Independence by a score of 84-60, securing their position in the semi-finals against Cupertino high school.

In Paly’s first meeting against Cupertino on Jan. 20 they bested the Pioneers 48-39 in a low scoring but comfortable victory for the Vikes.

In the second meeting of the two on Feb. 2, Paly once again beat them by a score of 55-34.

Based on the previous two matchups the Vikes expect to emerge from the semi-final matchup victorious and in a tough CCS finals matchup against either Los Gatos or Piedmont Hills High School, the second and third seeds of the tournament respectively.

“I definitely see us having a deep run in the playoffs,” said junior Bryant Jefferson. “Hopefully we make it to State.”

By any measure, the season has been an immense success. All across the board, players have stepped up and played to their full potential, and the result has been impressive. Even in the Vikes’ few losses, they showed they can hang with any team.

The few teams who have managed to beat the Vikes did so by narrow

KAI ODA/THE CAMPANILE

Junior guard Spencer Rojahn looks to pass the ball in recent home win against Cupertino. The boys then went on to win the game 48-39.

margins in hard fought games that often went into over-time periods.

Possibly the only area for concern this season areas of temporary lapses in performance. Just after clinching the league title, Paly lost to Menlo Atherton High School in a game that on most nights would have gone to the boys.

Whether the reason for their loss was due to an immature response to clinching the title or simply due to an off-night of shooting is unclear, but nonetheless, Vikes fans likely saw

flashbacks of last years first round playoff exit.

In order to avoid a similar situation the Vikings have been putting in quality practice between games, and ensuring that they do not fall into a state of complacency with their success up until now.

“We definitely have turned up the intensity in practice and changed our mindset throughout the season,” Jefferson said.

They have continued week in and week out to play their signature style

of up-tempo, aggressive basketball, and the results have been very impressive. If they are able to keep the pedal to the metal against Cupertino and their finals opponent, fans should not be surprised if Paly ends up advancing to the State Championship.

At this point, it seems as if the Vikings have everything they want to achieve right in front of them. They just have to ensure that they do not get in their own way with sloppy play and a lack of intensity after a long and successful season.

Paly wrestling dominates competition Vikes led by Clark, Goyal and Aguilar, find success at SCVALs and qualify wrestlers for CCS PAARTH SHARMA

STAFF WRITER

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chieving a level of athletic success unprecedented since the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls, the Palo Alto High School wrestling team exploded at the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) championships, with a horde of wrestlers qualifying for the upcoming Central Coast Section (CCS) tournament.

The Paly wrestling team, which finished last in the league a year ago, improved to sixth place out of 13 participating teams, marking a significant improvement as a result of more experience as well as increased participation, especially among underclassmen who will be leading the team during future wrestling seasons to come.

The team, which appears to be a approaching its peak as a force on the wrestling mat, has exhibited an intensity and drive that few opposing teams have been able to figure out.

The team’s success this season included junior Elliot Clark who has consistently performed well all season, as well as star seniors Seth Goyal and Sara Aguilar, who are two of Paly’s most talented wrestlers in recent history.

Aguilar, who has had one of the most illustrious girls wrestling careers in Paly history, qualified for the State championship for the third year in a row by way of a monumental win at the CCS championship.

Goyal and Clark, alongside fellow wrestlers Callum Day-Ham, Andy Wang, Calvin Grewal, Aidan Gans and Alex Daw, all qualified for the prestigious CCS championship by

winning their respective bouts.

Perhaps the most interesting facet of the team’s success has been the younger wrestlers. Wang and Daw are both sophomores, while Gans is a freshman.

On top of that, there is a huge variety in weight classes this year, with Day-Ham competing at a weight of 113 pounds, and Daw competing at 220 pounds.

Aguilar, who has had one of the most illustrious girls wrestling careers in Paly history, qualified for the State championship for a third year in a row.

The team, fresh off of a successful season, is a strong contender to finish first in the championship next year as its young core gets more time to

develop both physically and mentally on the mat.

This apparant rise of younger athletes among the Paly wrestling team is far from the only novelty impacting the team.

Beginning next year, the team will have access to a state-of-the-art wrestling facility built specially for the team located within the multimillion dollar gyms currently being built.

“I am so excited to see the new wrestling facility,” said junior Bryan Tsang. “I would love to see the new gym and how it will allow us to improve next year.”

As a whole, the team aims to improve its record in the league and finish first as its younger stars develop throughout their time at Paly, bringing with them the next era of Paly wrestling.

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

SPORTS

C3

Girls basketball maintains streak Boys soccer fails to Great chemistry and talent among team is potent combination for success advance in sectionals

Team falls to Menlo-Atherton in CCS tournament PHILIP ERICSSON

STAFF WRITER

T

he boys varsity soccer team played its first and last game in the Central Coast Section (CCS) tournament on Feb. 22. The team was in great form coming in, but lost an exceptionally close game in a penalty shootout after tying 1-1 with Menlo-Atherton High School after full and extra time.

Palo Alto and Menlo-Atherton were tied after 100 minutes of quality play by both teams. The first half of the game was scoreless, but Paly scored the first point on the board after just a few minutes in the second half. Senior Yahli Malchin crossed a perfect ball to senior Michel-Ange Siaba, who headed the ball into the back of the net.

Menlo-Atherton came back and KAI ODA/THE CAMPANILE scored a goal later in the half. Despite Senior center Nora Danie drives to the hoop in a 63-41 thrashing where the Vikings were in the driver’s seat for the entirety of the game. plenty of chances for each team in quickly as possible in the season. This success. the first and second extra time periGRACIE KITAYAMA “The best part of the season has ods, the game remained 1-1. Menwould ensure a prosperous season.

STAFF WRITER “Our biggest goal this year was to been going undefeated in league,” lo-Atherton freshman goalkeeper t comes as no surprise that the peak in February,” said senior Lauren Koyama said. “We did this my sopho- Charlie McKay came up huge in the Palo Alto High School girls bas- Koyama. “I think that doing really more year, and it was great to be able penalty shootout as Menlo-Atherketball team has maintained an well in league has given us the mo- to do it again. In addition, we have ton won 5-3 on penalties. Despite a 11 game winning streak. From the mentum to perform well in playoffs. I gone 8-0 against Gunn our entire valiant effort, the Vikings are out of beginning of the season, the Vikes know that the six seniors on the team high school career, so that was really CCS after only one game. have proved they are a force to be want to go as far as possible in play- fun too.”

“The game against Menlo-AtherThe girls entered the Central ton was very disappointing for us, offs and hopefully states.” reckoned with.

Though the team needs to work Coast Section (CCS) playoffs on Feb. because even though we were the Much of their success this season can be attributed to the team’s chem- on certain skills, senior Maya Lathi is 25 in a game against Wilcox High lower seeded team, we played like the istry and respect for each other. Se- proud of how far the squad has come. School. They emerged victorious, set- much better side,” said junior Matt “I’m really proud of how our team ting a hopeful precedent for the rest Knowles. “We played with a lot more nior Skylar Burris believes that the team is great at relying on each other has played this season and how much of the tournament. intensity and confidence than them “I think we have the potential to and were unfortunate not to get a few we’ve improved,” Lathi said. “[Howto stay strong.

“Our greatest strength is our abil- ever] we need to work on our defen- win the CCS title and hopefully we more goals, so we definitely have a ity to lean on each other and stay sive communication. Our greatest can win a game in NorCals,” Lathi lot of positives that we can take away mentally tough,” Burris said. “If we’re strength is probably in our offense said. “The team will be losing a lot in from the loss.” down or the game’s close, we always [with our] great shooters and great terms of bodies, but I have confidence Leading up to CCS, on Feb. 2, the that the team next year will do well team played at home versus Homefind a way to rally together and pull drivers.”

The season has been particularly with the returning players. The best stead and lost in a very close game away with a victory.”

The goal for the team this year strong for senior Lauren Koyama part of this season has been going which ended in a 0-1 defeat. The Viwas to improve their team chemistry who is proud of both her personal undefeated in league and getting to kings fought hard but were unable to and reach the peak of their skills as achievements and the team’s overall know a ton of new players.” put the ball into the back of the net.

I

The Vikings would have benefitted from picking up points against a good team like Homestead to climb up the rankings, but were unfortunately unable to.

However, the team gained momentum the next few games as they obliterated their opponents. The Vikings played at home versus Los Gatos on Feb. 9 and turned their losing form around in a great performance which ended in a 2-0 win.

But their best performances were still to come. After a few days of rest, the team had a game away at Monta Vista in which the Vikes defeated their opponents 6-0, and the next day won again away at Santa Clara 5-0. Within the span of 24 hours, the team had scored an aggregate of 11 goals in two of their best performances of the season.

Overall, the Vikings’ season had been filled with ups and downs. The team started off with very solid performances, but suffered a mid-season slump as they lost and tied several matches which saw them fall down the league rankings.

This turned around towards the later stages of the season, resulting in the Vikings making it to CCS with a chance to go far, but they unfortunately were unable to overcome Menlo-Atherton’s solid performance and down the Bears.

“Despite the underwhelming end of the season, I was really happy with the manner in which we wrapped up the season,” said senior Neil Verwillow. “We started winning our league games and got the results that we needed to advance into CCS. A bit of a fluke honestly that we didn’t do better in the league, considering that we had the second most goals for and second least against, but I was definitely pleased with the effort as always, couldn’t have asked for anything else from the guys.”

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

SOCCER IN CHINA

C4

e s n e i h C e h t f o e s i R

Text and Design by Philip Ericsson uch to the chagrin of the world, European athletic clubs have dominated football (known as soccer in America), since becoming the “Beautiful Game” after the 19th century. Ranging from the $3.2 billion worth of Manchester United, F.C. Barcelona’s 69 domestic titles, the Galácticos of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich’s five Champion’s League trophies, European club teams have long been seen as the most competitive, displaying the best quality of football.

The world’s two greatest players: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, along with former greats like Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho, all cemented their legacies in Europe. Today, however, the world of soccer is changing.

Modern players are more tempted by financial incentives and are willing to sacrifice their legacies for extravagant wages. The recent rise of the Chinese Super League (CSL) demonstrates a new era of football and the ever-changing landscape of the football world.

The Chinese are attempting to rapidly build a high-quality football league by spending large quantities of money. However, it is unlikely that a

M

league will succeed without sufficient role players and lower leagues, despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars.

The CSL is the top tier of professional football competition in China, and was very recently founded in 2004. It originally consisted of 12 teams, but has since expanded to include 16 teams. Guangzhou F.C. Evergrande are the current champions of the league and have the most titles in the short history of the CSL with six in the last 13 years. The top ten Chinese Super League teams are worth an estimated $198 million and generate an estimated $28 million each year in revenue.

However, the public’s support of the CSL was nonexistent just a few years ago. The league’s inaugural season was plagued with controversy because scandals of match-fixing and gambling were uncovered. This resulted in loss of interest in the game domestically, low attendance among fans and significant financial losses for the teams and the association as a whole. In 2006, the league had plans to expand to 16 teams, but Sichuan Guancheng withdrew before the start of the season. Likewise, in 2007, the league tried to expand again, but

Shanghai United’s owner Zhu Jun The actions of the Chinese govbought a major share in local rival ernment against corruption within Shanghai Shenhua and merged the the league resulted in the tide turntwo teams, again leaving the league ing in favor of the league. The antione team short of their goal of 16. corruption movement has visibly And yet again, in 2008, the sea- improved the image of the CSL, and son started with 16 teams but after with increased attendance along with a match, Wuhan withdrew from the more funds, bigger clubs in China league to protest punishments from started investing in foreign talents to the Chinese Football Association continue the league’s development.

(CFA). Finally, in 2010, the league The investment in foreign talents was beset by scandals going all the is what has turned the heads of footway up to the governing body of ball fans and professionals around the football in the nation, the CFA. world. Some of the earliest players Its failure to from Europe to expand made it have joined the The actions of the difficult for the CSL in 2012 inleague to gain clude the likes of Chinese Government advertisement former Chelsea resulted in the tide money and forwards Didier grow the game turning for the top flight Drogba, Nicoas a whole in las Anelka and of football in China.”

China. AddiDemba Ba, fortionally, it was mer Barcelona harder to attract fans because most midfielder Seydou Keita and former of the teams were located on the east Borussia Dortmund forward Lucas coast of China.

Barrios. Demba Ba’s transfer fee was As a result, the Chinese govern- listed at $15.7 million, and he is esment took nationwide action against timated to be making around $3.7 football gambling, match-fixing and million each year. Similarly Didier corruption. Additionally, the former Drogba was making $300,000 a week CFA vice presidents Xie Yalong, Nan while playing for Shanghai Shenhua.

Yong and Yang Yimin were arrested. All of the players listed were at the

“

latter stages of their careers, and were most likely looking for a big payday before departing football completely.

Even though many of the players were approaching the ends of their careers, their talents were considerably greater than that of the other players in the league.

“The other players would just stare in wide-eyed amazement at some of our moves, what we did in practice and how we played within a team,” Drogba said after speaking to a local news reporter after having completed his first training session for his new Chinese.

Along with players signed around this time, the league also focused on signing top-flight managers from around the world. The former England boss, Sven-Göran Eriksson, was one of the first managers to make the leap. He managed Guangzhou R&F in his first few years, but is now the manager of Shanghai. Luiz Felipe Scolari is another top notch manager in China who is widely known for having managed the Brazilian national team. Many accomplished managers made separate moves to China, for example, after being sacked at Manchester City, the former Real Madrid boss and Premier

2004

2007

2010

The Chinese Super League (CSL) forms with 12 teams.

The league tries to expand again, but Shanghai United's owner purchases local rival Shanghai Shenhua and combines the two teams.

The league suffers from corruption scandals going all the way up to the governing body of football in the nation.

The league plans to expand to 16 teams, but Sichuan Guancheng withdraws prior to the start of the season.

2006

The season starts with 16 teams, but Wuhan Guanggu withdraws from the league, protesting CFA punishments.

2008

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Friday, March 3, 2017

SOCCER IN CHINA

C5

e Super L eagu e

Design by Alice On, Peyton Wang and Eric Li League winning manager Manuel Pellegrini moved to the Chinese club Hebei China Fortune.

The sums of money paid for players and managers alike was unexpected, but the world of football would be completely shocked for what was to come.

In 2015, the winter transfer window of China topped the Premier League in money spent on transfers, even though the current television deal for the Premier League alone is worth over $5 billion (not including any other sponsorship).

The CSL spent a total of $296 million during the winter transfer market, over $100 million more than what their counterparts in England spent. The Chinese spent considerable amounts of money on European talents like Alex Teixeira, who signed for Jiangsu Suning for $49 million from Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian League. He was a great talent expected to be making a move to Premier League giants Liverpool, but instead chose to commit to China.

The signing of Ramires from Chelsea F.C. for $31.3 million was perhaps even more controversial than the Teixeira signing considering that he was a large part in one of the big-

gest teams in all of Europe in Chelsea one of the best strikers in the world who had just won the title in the Pre- as he scored 58 goals for Manchesmier League. ter City in 113 appearances and 39 In the coming transfer markets goals in 66 appearances for JuvenChinese teams signed top European tus, but made a move away from his players. Jackson Martinez, who was home country of Argentina for one once seen as the best up and com- final payday at the age of 33. He is ing striker in the world, signed for now the world’s highest paid player, Guangzhou Evergrande from Atlé- earning an insane $760,000 per week. tico Madrid for a staggering fee of This sum is more than twice the sal$45.8 million. Gervinho also moved ary of both Cristiano Ronaldo and to China from Roma for around Lionel Messi. $20 million. Fredy Guarin from InThe most surprising signings were ter Milan would also move to the yet to come, however. In the most reChinese club Shanghai Shenhua for cent transfer window, the spending of $14.5 million. the Chinese changed slightly. In the Yet the clubs of these players past, people had become acquainted are not the only ones making the to them spending their money on money, as all of talent which these players have was no longer The jaw-dropping signed ridiculous fit for Europe, rise of the CSL has contracts. Former and was comPSG player Ezeing to the ends astonished fans and quiel Lavezzi also of their careers. professionals around moved to China.

This all changed One of the in 2017. the world.” most well known The most signings in the Chinese Super staggering transfer was that of OsLeague includes Carlos Tevez. Tevez, car from Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG who has played for both Manches- for over $75 million. Oscar is only ter clubs, Boca Juniors and Juventus, 25 years of age, was a regular starter signed for the Chinese club Shanghai with Chelsea and had a spot on the Shenhua. Tevez was once regarded as Brazilian national team, one of the

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team and a top club like Juventus,” Witsel said in an interview with Goal. “But on the other there was a crucial offer for my family that I couldn't turn down. Maybe one day in the future our paths will meet.”

The jaw-dropping rise of the CSL has astonished fans and professionals around the world. They are now a league which is gaining both attention and popularity.

However, it remains to be seen whether money can really buy the quality needed to convert the CSL into become a quality league. It will not be enough for the league to simply buy players at the ends of their careers. It will also not be enough for each team to have one or two of these players. For the CSL to truly succeed in the world of football, they will need to establish a culture in their homeland. They will need to set up a youth system which will bring constant talents to the teams.

The CSL has risen unlike any other league ever before in the history of not only football, but sports in general. There is a future of uncertainty ahead of the league as a whole, but right now the future is looking bright for what only a few years ago was a league plagued with corruption prob-

2015

2017

The CSL tops the spending of the Premier League in the winter transfer window, purchasing Alex Teixiera and Ramires.

The CSL makes their most surprising signings yet as they purchase Oscar, a superstar player for Chelsea, and Juventus target Axel Witsel.

The CSL starts investing in foreign talents as they purchase Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka from Chelsea.

2012

“

most successful football teams in the world. The reason why this transfer was so unusual is because Oscar could have started on any team in the world. He the talent to be great, but the financial incentives were simply too much for him to give up. He will be making insane amounts of money, but will also be playing in a league with far less overall talent than any other league in Europe.

Similarly, Axel Witsel from Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia moved to Tianjin Quanjian in China. Axel Witsel could have made a move to Juventus in Italy, one of the biggest clubs in the world. Many will ask if he didn’t seek to be loved by the fans, or to play on a stage which every football fan ever would do nearly anything to be a part of? There is a very simple answer to this yet again.

For others, the prospect of being able to support their families was too great to turn down.

Witsel is currently on a contract which makes him one of the highest paid players in the world, making around $320,000 a week. Witsel explained his move in a comment with the Italian publication Tuttosport.

“It was a very difficult decision because on one hand there was a great

The Chinese continue their heavy spending as they sign high-profile players like Jackson Martinez, Fredy Guarin and Carlos Tevez.

2016

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

C6 Students to continue swimming careers at Stanford Nationally ranked swimmers Grace Zhao and Alex Liang choose the Cardinal over other top universities JOSH BRIGEL

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

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onning a Stanford University hoodie and backpack, senior Alex Liang enters the library after school, preparing to begin his homework at a time when most students head home for the day. Nearby, senior Grace Zhao quickly solves problems from her calculus textbook, knowing that; in a short time she will have to leave for practice. Both students swim for Palo Alto High School and will be headed to Stanford University next year as members of the swim team.

At a young age, neither of the swimmers started out seriously. As a result, few thought that the two would have been able to rise to such a high level.

“My parents actually had to throw me into the pool because I did not want to go into the water,” Liang said. “It started out as being able to not drown.”

Zhao was also hesitant to fully commit to the sport, and only began swimming competitively at age 12, while other swimmers had already attracted the attention of college recruiters.

Swimming for both their club, Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics (PASA), and the school team is very time consuming, according to Zhao.

“Usually a normal week is nine practices a week,” Zhao said. “20plus hours at the pool; three morning practices.”

Liang agrees that the rigorous practice schedule not only affects time for socializing and relaxing, but also caused him to focus even more on his academics for recruiting.

“It definitely takes a toll on your social life,” Liang said. “[The] end of my junior year I really focused on my academics.”

According to Liang, he began to get recruited around sophomore year — and for Zhao, it was junior year.

When Zhao received her first email from a coach in junior year, she realized that college swimming could become a reality.

“That’s when I realized I actually had a shot,” Zhao said. “I improved even more last season. It became a really viable possibility.”

Being recruited by multiple schools, both swimmers had to narrow down their offers from Pac-12 schools, Ivy League schools and others.

“I was considering Stanford, Cal, Texas, Northwestern and Princeton; I finally narrowed it down to Stanford,” Liang said. “One, my brother was there. Two, they [have] a really good swim program.”

“My parents actually had to throw me into the pool because I did not want to go into the water. It started out as being able to not drown.''

Alex Liang Senior Both Zhao and Liang agreed that factors besides proximity and athletics were important in their decision but also the outstanding academics offered. For Zhao, the decision was between schools such as Cal, Stanford and Harvard.

“I think it was just the right fit for me,” Zhao said. “I was looking at other schools too and you’re going to hear a lot of people going to Stanford saying this, but it actually is the best combination of academics and athletics.”

According to Stanford’s admissions website, their acceptance rate is 4.8 percent, putting it among the most selective universities in the world.

Stanford has also won the Director’s Cup, given to the best overall college in sports, 22 out of a possible 23 times, making it the most successful college in sports of the past 25 years. The Car-

PETER GOLD/THE CAMPANILE

Stanford University's Diving Podium Center will be a second home to both Alex Liang and Grace Zhao, two seniors attending Stanford in the fall.

dinals have won the collegiate swimming and diving championship eight times and have attracted athletes such as Olympians Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel in recent years.

To this point, both Zhao and Liang are very accomplished in their careers. Both won events at the state championship meet and were invited to the 2016 Olympic trials. Zhao holds records in junior national competitions, which she set in 2015. Liang set two state records in his junior year and also swam against his older brother in Omaha, Nebraska for the Olympic trials.

Alex quickly recollected of his

most memorable swimming moment.

“For high school swimming, it would be 2016 states,” Liang said.

“And [Olympic] trials definitely.”

“Olympics seem a little far away but you never know what’s going to happen in four years.''

Grace Zhao Senior Depending on what the future holds, both have a shot of not only being successful college swimmers, but also Olympians.

“Olympics seem a little far away but you never know what’s going to happen in four years,” Zhao said. “So I’m not going to say no to it.”

Despite their competitiveness, the two love all types of swimming and can never know how far it will take them in life.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Liang said.

“I don’t have a set stopping point so whenever I stop having fun I’ll stop swimming.”

There is no doubt they will have many fans cheering for them across the street next year. Both are ready for whatever challengers they encounter next in their swimming careers.

Paly teachers band together to form dance crew Faculty members combine varying ranges of dance experience to perform complex, rehearsed routines MARY FETTER

STAFF WRITER

I

t was the final day of Spirit Week 2016. From dress-up days to spirit dances performed by each grades, the week had lived up to its name. But there was one more surprise waiting for everyone.

At the end of the lunch rally, hip hop music began to play from the speakers surrounding the field. Seven staff members walked onto the track, lined up in formation and launched into powerful, graceful moves that would have impressed Beyonce. The students went wild — screaming and shouting and clapping their hands.

“Everyone was losing their minds pretty much,” said Student Activities Director Matt Hall. “They were chanting… before the end of the dance.”

“We’d been dancing in the dance room. That is different. It’s a different floor, it’s a different feel.''

Matt Hall Japanese and ASB Teacher The staff dance team is run by Hall, teacher by day and dancing wonder come Spirit Week. Hall and Paly dance teacher Alana Williamson began practicing the routine all the way back in July of 2016. When school started in August, they began to hold regular practices on Tuesdays at lunch. The team, open to all staff members who wanted to join, includes Hall, Williamson, English teacher Melissa Laptalo, Physical Education teacher Alyssa Bond, Principal Kim Diorio, History teacher Hilary McDaniel and Special Education teacher Korynne Headley.

For the Spirit Week routine Hall organized the practices, found a dance video he liked and taught the moves to the rest of the team.

“[Latin Ballroom] is a totally different genre than what we were doing. I don’t have training in hip hop really so that was a little out of my element.''

Marissa Laptalo Teacher NOAH YUEN/ USED WITH PERMISSION

Paly Teachers Matt Hall, Melissa Laptalo and Alanna Williamson hit the dab with the staff dance team during a surprise dance for Paly students at the end of Spirit Week 2016.

The video he found is a song by artist Panjabi MC, choreographed by Anze Skrube “I found the video online and I just thought it was such good choreography,” Hall said. “It also met the requirement of being short. We didn’t want a ten-minute video.”

The group practiced once a week at lunch for two months leading up to their Spirit Week performance in October. They then added one longer after school practice with the entire team right before Spirit Week to get used to the track.

“We’d been dancing in the dance room,” Hall said. “That's different.

It’s a different floor, it’s a different feel.”

At the lunch rally on the final Friday of Spirit Week, all seven staff members performed. During the af-

ter-school rally, Hall, Bond and Laptalo spontaneously performed their same routine, receiving cheers and applause from students and community members in the bleachers.

“People were busy, doing other things and people asked us at the last minute, spur of the moment,” Hall said, “We just did it.”

Hall has been dancing since he was in eighth grade. He joined break dance teams in high school, as well as dance teams in college. There, Hall mostly danced hip hop with the teams, whereas high school was more focused on break dancing, as well as some hip hop.

“I’ve been a B-Boy for thirty-plus years now,” Hall said.

Throughout his dance career, he never received professional training or lessons of any kind. All of his

dance is self taught, learnt from videos or from dancing with others.

Hall has experience teaching dance to people from different backgrounds with a variety of skill levels and experience. Williamson coaches the Paly dance team, which is mostly lyrical and jazz dancing. Laptalo comes from a Latin Ballroom background. “[Latin Ballroom] is a totally different genre than what we were doing,” Laptalo said. “I don’t have training in hip hop really so that was a little out of my element.”

Regardless of the prior experience of the team members, “Everyone was practicing on their own,” Hall said.

“Everyone had video of the choreography.” All the hard work and practice paid off and the performance was a success.

Even students were impressed by their staff members’ abilities. Few students were aware of the team's existence, or that teachers could actually dance.

“My students in my classes were really sweet and they all seemed really surprised which was surprising to me,” Laptalo said. “I feel like I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I have a dance background.”

As for a performance for next year, the Paly staff dance team is already making plans.

The details are top secret, but it looks certain that another routine will take place.

“Everyone’s inspired and excited to do it,” Laptalo said. “It was really fun and I liked showing another side of myself to my students. That was neat and I want to do it again.”

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Campanile

SPORTS

C7

NFL commissioner doles out disruptive punishments Roger Goodell inconsistent in distribution of consequences, franchises feel the burn of major public scandals RAJ LELE

STAFF WRITER

O

n Feb. 5, the New England Patriots earned their fifth Super Bowl title in franchise history by narrowly defeating the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34-28 in what could be known as the greatest comeback and Super Bowl of all time.

However, their road to this year’s Super Bowl was wrought with adversity.

Just before the start of training camp, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had given up his fight against National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell in the infamous “Deflategate” incident. The NFL’s investigation into Deflategate found that it was “more probable than not” that Brady was aware of deflation of game balls.

Because Brady accepted the penalty, he was not able to practice with the team for the first four weeks of the regular season. The Patriots fared well without Touchdown Tommy and posted a 3-1 record with backup quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett under center; the Patriots and their fanbase were visibly upset that their quarterback had been the victim of a witch hunt.

Pete Jensen, Brady’s baseball coach at Serra High School in San Mateo, CA, felt that the NFL wanted to take a shot at the Patriots because it was fed up with their success.

“I think the whole thing is the NFL’s move to get even with the Patriots,” Jensen said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with Tom. I think it was a move by Goodell and the

NFL organization to say ‘we’re going to get even with the Patriots for [their four titles in the past fourteen seasons].’”

Goodell’s punishment for Brady was changed from being tied to deflating footballs to him not providing his cell phone. The NFL told him at the beginning of the investigation that he would not be required to show.

For what the league did to [Tom Brady] — what Roger Goodell constantly lied about — is beyond reprehensible, as far as I’m concerned.

Tom Brady Sr. Father of Tom Brady Brady’s father, Tom Brady Sr., felt that the league had been relentless to punish Brady because it did not have evidence of Brady’s wrongdoing and had to lie to get out of the matter it had brought up.

“For what the league did to [Tom Brady] — what Roger Goodell constantly lied about — is beyond reprehensible, as far as I’m concerned,” Brady Sr. said.

Brady’s father is referring to many occasions during the Deflategate investigations and following court hearings where Goodell and his team had claimed that Brady had been tied to the Deflategate scandal but could not prove it, so they changed their case to a technicality where the commissioner can make whatever decision he feels is appropriate.

Jensen believes that Goodell felt

that Brady was vulnerable, and that Deflategate was the perfect time to demonstrate his power.

“Tommy was the easy scapegoat,” Jensen said. “Best player [on the team]. Best player in the game, maybe. So, he was kind of an easy target. I think there’s a huge underlying thing that doesn’t have anything to do with him.”

Goodell’s punishment of a four game suspension issued to Brady, a $1 million fine to the New England Patriots, a loss of a first round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and a fourth round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft was unprecedented by any commissioner in NFL history.

It seems to be that Goodell constantly tries to inhibit successful teams. Take, for example, the New Orleans Saints. In the 2009 season, the Saints won the Super Bowl over the Indianapolis Colts. For the next few seasons, the Saints continued their success and made it to the playoffs after posting potent records.

As a result, the NFL tried as hard as they could to stop the Saints from continuing to dominate the league.

Towards the end of the 2011 NFL season, the Saints were riding high into the playoffs, and after being tipped off by a player who requested to be unnamed, the NFL initiated an investigation on “Bountygate,” which alleged that the New Orleans Saints had paid players to intentionally harm opposing players.

The conclusion of Bountygate suggested that there was, indeed, a bounty system in New Orleans through evidence of audio tapes and

a fund within the Saints’ organization that raised $50,000. Consequently, the Saints were penalized with, at the time, the highest fine in NFL history.

According to Sean Wagner-McGough of CBS Sports, “[Head coach Sean Payton] was forced to sit out a season of coaching, general manager Mickey Loomis missed eight games, assistant coaches were suspended, the team was fined $500,000 and it also lost a second-round draft pick.” Additionally, four Saints players were affected by Goodell’s draconian ruling: Jonathan Vilma was out for the entire season, Anthony Hargrove was suspended for eight games, Will Smith for four games and Scott Fujita for three games.

Tommy was the easy scapegoat.

Best player [on the team]. Best player in the game, maybe. So he was kind of an easy target,’’ Jensen said. ‘‘I think there’s a huge underlying thing that doesn’t have anything to do with him.

Due to the suspensions of players and coaches and losses of draft picks, the Saints ultimately had lost out on a ticket to the playoffs, and ended the season with a dismal 7-9 record. Yet Goodell is significantly quieter when weaker teams break the rules.

In the 2016 season, New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo had used walkie-talkies to communicate to his players and assistants during a game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The NFL’s rules do not allow the use

of two-way headsets, so the walkietalkie the Giants were using was, in fact, illegal. Because of the penalty, the Giants were fined $200,000, and its fourth round draft pick was lowered to the end of the round.

Mike Florio of NBC Sports said “The [Giants] will pay a $150,000 fine, McAdoo will pay a $50,000 fine, and the team’s fourth-round pick will move to the bottom of the round, after all compensatory picks have been made. There’s one caveat: The selection will drop by no more than 12 picks.”

Unlike Bountygate or Deflategate, where the evidence suggested the teams had broken rules, the Giants had clearly broken the NFL’s rules — McAdoo was caught using a walkietalkie — and their punishment was simply a slap on the wrist because no players or coaches were forced to take a leave of absence.

The Giants, a team that had not made the playoffs for three seasons, broke a rule which the NFL had evidence of, and “Roger the Dodger” simply decided to fine them with no effect that was potentially disastrous to their season.

On the contrary, he made the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints the victim of serious punishments that he likes to use on powerful teams and affected their seasons in major ways. Team chemistry was distracted — allegations affected the way the team had to prepare for the upcoming season.

In the words of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, “Envy and jealousy are incurable diseases.”

Sports Illustrated remains stagnant Novel sports on the rise Swimsuit editions devalue female athletic achievements in sports Recreational activities gaining popularity ERIC LI

STAFF WRITER

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SPORTS ILLUSTRATED/FAIR USE

Sports Illustrated’s iconic swimsuit edition features models in skimpy outfits; many consider it lude objectification of women.

MADS MCCLUSKEY

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

MACKENZIE GLASSFORD

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

E

very week, 30 million of Sports Illustrated’s faithful subscribers catch up on the latest sports news in their weekly print edition or the online edition, of the self proclaimed “foremost authority” and “most respected voice” in sports journalism. And every February, those 30 million views soar to 70 million, joined by 250 million more online users, for the annual recordbreaking event known as the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. It manages to make headlines every year for its racy photos of supermodels in revealing swimwear, but it is time it started making headlines for its misogyny and objectification of women instead. While it is true that Sports Illustrated is one of the most respected sports magazines in the country, its attention is focused almost solely on male athletes. In the past 17 years, only 2.5 percent of their covers have starred a female athlete. The only time women ever see the spotlight in the Sports Illustrated world is in its swimsuit edition, and most of those women are models, not athletes. The most notable athlete to grace a swimsuit edition cover was Ronda Rousey, a successful UFC fighter. However, she was featured in nothing but body paint, and the issue made no mention of her athletic career.

The magazine’s swimsuit edition has a long history of sexualizing female athletes and undermining their successful careers. It is insulting that half of the nation’s top athletes are almost never mentioned in one of the world’s leading sports magazines, save for one month a year when they all happen to be almost naked. Sports Illustrated purports to be “about sports and the human spirit that makes us who we are,” but if that is really their goal, then they should be able to make space for female athletes, even when they are not posing in their bikinis.

The magazine’s swimsuit edition has a long history of sexualizing female athletes and undermining their successful careers.

One of the most popular critiques surrounding the swimsuit edition is it’s clear objectification of all the models in the issue, which features nothing but women posing on sandy beaches in a bikini, and sometimes less than that. The magazine claims to be empowering women by giving them the public space to embrace and express their sexuality, but it is common knowledge that the overwhelming majority of the issue’s buyers are not looking for smart, independent, achieved women. By showing all these women in overly revealing attire, and making no mention of the type of people they are or the kind of work they do, Sports Illustrated is saying that none of the featured

models are worth anything more than what they show in a swimsuit. Even Playboy has banned nudity from its pages, but Sports Illustrated seems to be moving in the opposite direction.

In a time where women do not earn equal pay, being sexually proactive is challenging when objectified women are a flip of a page or a click of a button away. The pages of the Sports Illustrated magazine emphasize the size of their breasts or waist, rather than their athletic ability.

Recently, it has been commended for its efforts to show “real” women, with more realistic body types. In 2016, Ashley Graham became the first plus size model to be featured on the cover. It is true that this was a progressive move, and Sports Illustrated deserves some of that credit.

But regardless of what size clothes a woman might wear, the objectification of a woman is, and always will be, wrong. While the effort they made to be more inclusive should definitely be appreciated, it is not enough.

What Sports Illustrated really needs to do is stop producing the swimsuit edition and focus more on female athletes in its regular monthly editions. As the most popular sports magazine in the country, Sports Illustrated has a lot of influence and should use that power to lead the charge in embracing and respecting more female athletes. Women athletes and readers deserve better from a magazine that could choose to counter the objectification of women rather than glorify it.

eyond the baseball diamond and the football gridiron, there are fields and gyms where sports you may never have heard of are thriving. Players wearing large plastic bubbles play bubble soccer, kickers in sepak takraw play volleyball without their hands and ballers shoot each other with paintballs.

These unusual sports have found a way to thrive by spreading through social media, generating countless likes and views for the sports. In addition, they help publicize rules and strategies, which develops the game.

Online retailers are able to send sporting equipment across the world, meeting the needs of new sports.

Joe Jackiewicz, co-founder of Stratus Bubble Soccer, said that his business would not have survived the competitive entertainment market without digital advertising.

“People buy into their interests,” Jackiewicz said. “Not everyone is interested in football, soccer and baseball and I think the internet allows them to find the perfect hobby for them.”

With social media, unknown sports can go viral in a matter of seconds. Take paintball, a sport where players shoot each other with compressed paint in a mock battlefield.

The sport, which started in the 1980s as a survival game, has now developed an international player base, with leagues across the world. According to Statista.com, more than 3 million people played paintball in 2015 in the United States alone.

“Paintball has done a great job of growing,” Jackiewicz said. “It serves as a model to the whole [unusual sports] industry as a whole.”

Like many unusual sports, paintball provides a haven for those not as interested in more common sports. It allows for another way for players to express their competitiveness.

“There is a lot more adrenaline in paintball compared to other sports,” said junior Nigel Chen. “I had a lot of fun playing [paintball].”

But it is hard for a sport to reach the success of paintball. Most sports are bogged down by operating costs, lack of organized leagues and commitments from players. Sports are a business to consumer company, meaning that they sell a product or service directly to their customers. Because of this, the only way a sport can increase

their revenue is through buying more equipment and larger fields to accommodate more participants.

“For a business to consumer company, it takes a long time for it to grow,” Jackiewicz said. “The main way that we can grow our business is by buying more customers.”

Another concern for these sports is lack of proper safety protocols due to lack of development of the game, thus increasing the risk of injury. Players who participate in sports like Broomball, a sport played on ice without skates, experience dangerous falls on a normal basis. Even sports like bubble soccer, a sport that seems harmless, could result in numerous lower-body injuries due to lack of protection there.

“When you play any sport, you are always in risk of injury,” Jackiewicz said. “To make sure we reduce the amount of injuries, we make sure to pick the best [soccer] fields. We make sure participants know the danger of the sport and they wear the proper footwear.”

As sports develop, like paintball, they form professional teams and leagues. NXL Paintball, the world’s largest paintball league, has over 250 professional teams that compete for a total pot bonus of more than $45,000. This growth leads to more clear guidelines on safety, developing safer rules and making more protective equipment.

Many unusual sports are still stuck as a form of show business rather than high-intensity competitions. Frequently, participants are inherently hindered in their ability to be the best they can be.

Enforcing physical limitations on each player allows for an egalitarian playing field due to the lowered skill ceiling, which enables each player to participate, thus differing from a typical sport where the best players dominate.

Yet this is not necessarily bad.

Drifting away from modern competitiveness and leaning towards a mantra of fun has been beneficial to many sports, including Bubble Soccer.

These sports are able to provide an “all can play’’ mentality, a stark contrast to the win-first mentality of mainstream sports today, such as football and basketball.

“The whole point of Bubble Soccer is so that everyone can have fun,” Jackiewicz said. “It’s much easier to play defense against Messi when he’s in a bubble.”

The Campanile

Friday, March 3, 2017

SPORTS

C8

All Geared Up And Nowhere To Go The Campanile takes a look at the excess athletic gear among students and their minor effect on amateur and professional athletes

Fitbit Alta Fitness Wristband $130

Nike Pro Hyperstrong Compression Shorts $55 Adizero Prime Sprint Spikes $212

T

he majority of Paly athletes are without a doubt au courant when it comes to the latest athletic gear, whether it be a new pair of running shoes, new tennis rackets or the latest Fitbit. While athletic apparel and gear/equipment can often be practical during training and performance, it is not what will propel an athlete to victory.

The professional sporting world has consistently put an emphasis on genetics and training when it comes to developing a world class athlete.

Yet amongst teens, there seems to be more stress on the importance of athletic gear. As opposed to the amateur sportsman, a professional who is solely working on perfecting their serve placement or shaving seconds off their 400-meter time has found athletic gear increasingly beneficial.

Despite this, the athletic apparel industry alone is booming and is expected to generate an annual revenue $184 billion by 2020.

Let’s consider compression clothing. In the past few years, compression gear sales have increased exponentially. According to Statista, sales of compression gear increased by approximately 170 percent from 2008 to 2010. The industry is bringing in copious amounts of money with the increased demand, leaving many wondering if the apparel will actually make them a better athlete.

Researchers from Australia and the U.S. have studied the effects of compression shorts on running speed and have concluded that compression apparel does not deliver more endurance or speed to the wearer.

That is not to say that compression apparel is impractical in other situations. For runners and cyclists, compression shorts and pants have proven to increase blood circulation in the lower legs. Doctors often prescribe such apparel to people with blood circulation issues. Similarly, compression gear can be extremely beneficial to professionals who train for hours on end.

In addition to their “performance benefits,” the athletic gear industry frequently attempts to appeal to the buyer aesthetically. A common misconception is that if you feel good, you play good. Yet motivation by athletic gear has time and time again been discredited by various studies.

Another athletic product that can be taken into consideration is the fitness tracker. Athletes worldwide can be seen sporting the watch-like device. Fitness trackers have received praise for their great motivation, pushing many to exercise. Although ubiquitous, studies have revealed that they may not work as well as they are advertised to.

“I know I’m not supposed to but sometimes I look at my watch and I

realize that I’m going faster than I can sustain for the next however many miles so then I do [slow down],” said junior Maya Akkaraju. “I think that’s one of the disadvantages of the watch, because maybe if I didn’t pull back then I would be able to keep up, maybe just mentally I am restricting myself.”

data collected from Statista

A year-long study published by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology revealed that fitness trackers may not be as motivating as many say. The study featured 800 people who were paid a small sum of money to get moving and exercising. Some wore

Fitbits and others did not. Initially, the money seemed to work. Then, for the last six months, all inducements were dropped. At this point, it was up to the athletes to keep wearing the Fitbit (40 percent had stopped using them within the first 6 months). By the end of the study, only 10 percent of the group was still wearing their Fitbits. The study concluded that the trackers were not nearly as motivating as many say they are.

For professional athletes, wearable gadgets are becoming increasingly common in the stages of training.

Gadgets help athletes track useful information and it is crucial for pros to use whatever cutting edge technology is available to them in order to keep up with the increasingly competitive community of athletes. Professional athletes use fitness trackers to measure heart rate, fatigue, sleep, body temperature and movement. Athletes use the trackers to make small but pivotal changes in their training.

“There are some runs you want to be able to know how you feel, a run for example where your coach says I need you to go 100 percent or 70 percent and that is entirely about how you feel and how much effort you are putting into it,” Akkaraju said. “In runs like these, it’s important to separate your run from your watch.”

In addition, Paly athletes are able connect their watches on a website

called Strava. Strava acts as a social media for runners, allowing athletes to compare statistics with each other.

Gadgets such as athletic watches have proved effective for many Paly athletes. They utilize data collected by the device track improvement and performance. While handy, Paly track and field coaches have asked runners not to use the watches. Coaches would prefer for athletes to be able to pace themselves and to be able to gauge how fast they are running without a device. Using the data from the watches helps athletes in some cases because it helps them to better assess the difficulty of the run but after a certain point, one must be able to run on their own without the aid of the watches. In many cases, the tracker can throttle a runner back even when they should be pushing beyond what your mind or watch tells them.

For an athlete of any sport, it is important to not focus solely on flashy gear but rather on training.

This is especially true for amateur athletes who are not working on infinitesimally small adjustments in their training. For the common athlete, the emphasis should be on training as hard and as often as possible and training without the aid of fitness trackers. While the gear is useful in many occasions, it is unnecessary and does not work to motivate as much as they are believed to.