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NEWS
Remembering teacher, friend Radu Toma. A2
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SPORTS
“Best Bagel in U.S.” coming to T&C. B4
Despite no school team, gymnasts thrive. C3
Russian, Ukranian students shocked, concerned by Putin’s invasion. B1
Traditional Baccalaureate canceled. A3
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LIFESTYLE
EVELINE BAESU/USED WITH PERMISSION
Wrestling team dominates. C1
Monday, March 7, 2022
The Campanile
Vol. CIV, No. 6
Palo Alto High School, 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Black Student Union, library celebrate Black History Month
NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44
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Zack Silver Sports Editor
To unite the school’s Black population, the Black Student Union has hosted multiple events throughout February and into early March, club president Maia Johnsson said. Black History Month, a time to celebrate Black achivements and honor Black people’s role in American history, has taken place every February since 1976. “At BSU, we’re trying to get the Black community at Paly to engage with each other and the school,” Johnsson said. The club has hosted several speakers at its Wednesday meetings, including Black politician Ajwang Rading, who is running for Congress in California’s 16th district, which includes Palo Alto. “We got to learn about what it’s like for a Black man to run for Congress and get their name out there,” Johnsson said. “I think that it’s really important that people learn who people are before they get biased by how they look.” In addition to the speakers, the club asked students to celebrate the last day of Black History Month by having freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors wear green, yellow, black and red, respectively, to show solidarity. Johnsson also said she embraces Black History Month as an opportunity to teach people about the struggles the Black community has and is still going through to gain freedom and equal rights. Black History Month continues on A4
PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301
KEN OGATA/THE CAMPANILE
Senior Max Barthelemy works while masked during his AP Macroeconomics class. Students will no longer be required to wear masks in classrooms after March 11. “It feels like it might be too early to remove indoor restrictions completely,” Barthelemy said.
Erik Feng Staff Writer
D
ue to Santa Clara County’s seven-day rolling average of 501 positive COVID-19 cases on Feb. 24, the indoor mask mandate set by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department expired a week later. A few days later, Gov. Gavin Newsom also announced that the mask mandate for schools would be
lifted after March 11 with PAUSD and Santa Clara County Public Health Director Sarah Cody both saying they will follow the governor’s lead and not require students or teachers to wear masks. “While indoor masking in public spaces will no longer be required, it still makes sense to do,” Cody said. “Wearing a mask is part of working together to protect others, especially the most vulnerable among us.” Cody said she was happy with the County's case count of 327 and
Antisemitic flyers distributed around local neighborhoods Maya Singer & Hannah Singer News & Opinion Editor, Staff Writer
Antisemitic flyers were distributed throughout Palo Alto neighborhoods on Feb. 22, listing hate-based COVID-19 misinformation. The flyers listed various federal officials and healthcare professionals and their titles, identifying them as Jewish and blaming them for the COVID-19 pandemic. Encased in plastic bags and weighed down with rice to protect them from the elements, these flyers were thrown into the front sections of private properties and homes in Palo Alto, a Palo Alto Police Department press release said. Police classified the distribution of these flyers as a hate incident. “These types of acts are a reminder to all of us that hate crimes and hate incidents are serious and are taken seriously by the personnel of the Palo Alto Police Department,” Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen said. “We will continue to review information as it becomes available to determine if criminal charges needs to be brought forward to the District Attorney for review.” While the flyers did not appear to target specific individuals, a PAPD press release said they do raise concerns about further hate incidents.
In response to the flyers, Palo Alto Mayor Patrick Burt said the city is strengthened by its diversity. “We call on all of us to stand together in support of our neighbors and our community values,” Burt said. “Together, we can overpower individuals who would try to undermine our goodwill.” Jeff Schwarz, the Mitzvah Director and a teacher at the Jewish Congregation Kol Emeth said he was disappointed by the antisemitic language in the flyers, but not entirely surprised. “It seems that, sadly, antisemitism is always there,” Schwarz said. “But when you see a swastika on a building or something similar, it just hits you right in the heart. We know (antisemitism) is always there, but you don’t really believe it until you see something like this.” While self-identifying Jews only make up less than 2% of the population in the United States, more than 60% of faith-based hate crimes logged are against Jews, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In 2019, the number of logged antisemitic attacks increased by 12% from the last year, up to more than 2,100, the ADL said. Senior Dana Toussieh, who is Jewish, said she was shocked when she learned about the distribution of these pamphlets in Palo Alto, even though she has noticed the increase in antisemitism nationally. Antisemitism Story continues on A4
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said it had reached sustained and encouraging numbers. Newsom announced in a press release Feb. 28 that California, Washington and Oregon would shift to recommending masks, instead of requiring them, except for high transmission settings. “After March 11, in schools and child care facilities, masks will not be required but will be strongly recommended,” Newsom said. “Masks will still be required for everyone in high transmission settings.”
Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon and Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington gave similar announcements, saying they would move forward slowly and carefully. The seven-day rolling average of 501 positive cases is below the threshold of 550 new cases the county required to lift the indoor mask mandate. Cody said in a press release she is confident it is safe to lift the indoor mask mandate now that this metric is met. Assistant Librarian Deborah Henry said she agreed with the decision. “I would say it’s about time for people that would like to shed their masks,” Henry said. Junior Joshua Wilde, though, said he disagrees with the county’s preparation to lift the mandate. “Once you lift the mask mandate, (cases are) going to go back up,” Wilde said. “It’s not very smart to do that.” Wilde also isn’t planning to shed his mask indoors, though he is comfortable with going mask-free outdoors. “I will still wear a mask in class,” Wilde said. “But outside of the class, I’ll be fine taking it off.” Despite her excitement about the mandate lift, Henry said she will likely continue to wear a mask. “I will continue wearing the mask a little longer,” Henry said. “But I think it would be fine for other people.” Henry said the choice of wearing a mask should ultimately be up to the individual. “Some people wore masks before COVID-19,” Henry said. “I think it’s kind of a personal decision.”
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HANNAH SINGER/THE CAMPANILE
Stanford students rally outside Dinkelspiel Auditorium as former Vice President Mike Pence addresses the Stanford College Republicans. Protestors outside said Pence displayed hatred towards many aspects of their identities during his “How to Save America From the Woke Left” speech. “The fact that we have someone that stands for such hate coming to speak at this school is a bad look for Stanford,” one protestor said.
Pence Protest full story on A5
Paly to add new math, English, music classes Christie Hong Staff Writer
To align with an updated state curriculum and in response to student feedback, Paly will have a variety of new courses to choose from for next year including ones in mathematics, language arts and performing arts. Associate Superintendent Sharon Ofek said she has worked with the math department to create a new data science class involving the application of data analysis and sampling through project based lessons and units. Ofek said following the successful completion of Geometry and Algebra 2, juniors and seniors can develop their writing and communication skills by way of data interpretation in the data science class.
“The number of courses proposed vary from year to year with factors to consider like the release of state frameworks, shifts in interest and expressed interest from staff or students,” Ofek said. Another new offering next year is American Literature, a semester-long course offered to upperclassmen for focused study on the influence of diverse cultures and identities in American literature. English Instructional Leader Shirley Tokheim said the English department has not offered a new course for several years, and American Literature used to be a required semester of English for all eleventh graders. Tokheim said some of the English teachers eagerly support the return of this course because they think it will be a way to explore important issues in American culture. New classes continues on A5
The Campanile
Monday, March 7, 2022
A2
News
EVELINE BAESU/USED WITH PERMISSION
These photos of Radu Toma show the evolution of his changing life, his long-time friend Eveline Baesu said. “He was such a crazy guy in his youth only to became the most responsible teacher and father,” Baesu said.
Remembering Radu
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Social Media Manager
R
adu Toma, a former Paly math teacher who retired at the end of the 2020-2021 school year, died on Feb. 13 at the age of 60. Toma grew up in Romania in a family of teachers. His father was a political science teacher and the principal at Andrei Șaguna National College, one of the top secondary schools in the country, and his mother taught the Romanian language. Eveline Baesu, a professor of engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said she appreciated her nearly 40-year-long friendship with Toma. She said they met in 1983 while studying at the University of Bucharest. “He is the kind of guy that if you just say you need something, he’ll call you, and he’ll talk to you, and he’ll be funny about it,” she said. “Absolutely a model of friendship.” Toma immigrated to the U.S. in 1992 as a political refugee following the Romanian Revolution. Baesu said Toma’s math education in Romania shaped his teaching style at Paly. “He was tough because the teaching of mathematics in Romania was an extremely serious business and is taught way harder
than it is here in the United States,” she said. Baesu also said Toma preferred working with students directly, as opposed to speaking to parents, because his youthful past made it easy for him to connect with his students. “He had a wild youth, and then when he came to the United States, responsibility finally hit him,” Baesu said. “He became a very responsible professor and mentor, precisely because he knew what it means to be young and reckless.” However, Toma never lost his ability to have fun. “He could put up a mean party. He really knew how to do that from the beginning to the end, and all of his parties were also about dancing,” Baesu said. “Some of the American parties are about standing up with a plate and talking, but no, that was not Radu.” Beyond parties, Toma also loved to travel. Baesu said Toma had an “anthropological curiosity” about the places he would visit. “Traveling for him was not just, ‘I’m going to go and see.’ No, he was researching it,” she said. “He would take tours in cultural immersion in that place. He would read about the culture, he would read about the places.” Toma started working in Paly’s math department in 1994. In his 27 years of teaching, he left a lasting impression on all those he worked with, including math teacher and former department Instructional Leader Scott Friedland.
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Toma vacationed at Fort San Lorenzo in Colón, Panama, in 2017.
“He has been a friend and mentor to me the entire time I’ve been at Paly,” Friedland said. “I always felt like we were two sides of the same coin, and even when we didn’t agree, we could each fight really passionately for our position and then put it behind us.” Friedland also said Toma had a unique ability to step up and be a leader. “I lasted two years as (Instructional Leader) before I resigned –– he made it nine years,” Friedland said. “He also replaced a genuine legend at the department, so when nobody else wanted to, he stepped up, and he did it very well for three cycles.” To Toma’s former students, one thing that still stands out was his sense of humor. “Even during the pandemic, when everything was online, he tried to make jokes and keep the class lighthearted,” junior Andrew Xue said. Senior Josh Butler, who had Toma as his geometry teacher his freshman year, said Toma helped pioneer his interest in math because Toma showed he believed in him. Their friendly relationship made him easy to joke with, Butler said. “After our first test, he came up to me and said, ‘Wow, I guess football players can get A’s in math,’” he said. Even after retiring, Toma continued to support his students. He helped tutor Butler for AP Calculus AB for much of the first semester, which Butler said was his favorite memory with Toma. “I was previously struggling in the class, so we put a lot of work into (studying) the new chapter,” Butler said. “When I got my grade back and it was higher than any previous score, I showed him, and that was a special moment we shared.” Toma’s impact extended across the world. He was involved with Unbound, a nonprofit sponsorship organization aiding education for families in poverty.
Toma stayed at a resort in Tahiti in January 2020.
“He sponsored kids for the past 20 years and wanted to be more involved and visit those countries, contribute and give to charity to build schools,” Baesu said. “It was very, very dear to his heart.” Toma’s dedication to his students is what Friedland said defined Toma as a teacher. Under his coaching, the Paly Math Club won first place in the COMAP International Mathematical Modeling Challenge in 2015 and the quadrennial International Congress of Mathematical Education in 2016. “He was an incredible mathematician that also had a real passion for communicating with students and inspiring them to pursue mathematics at the highest level,” Friedland said. “Remembering the extent to which he dedicated his life to helping students and teachers is something I’ll hold on to forever.” Toma’s memorial service took place on March 4 at Alta Mesa Funeral Home and Chapel.
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Toma holds a sea turtle at the Cayman Turtle Center in May 2013.
!"#$%&'(()*$)+)(,-$./0$#&'12$34-,/05$6/(,78$9/+)$:))28$&//2-$./0;'0*$,/$%0/< Recognizing Black History Throughout February, ASB highlighted influential Black historical figures for Black History Month on its Instagram account, @palyasb. President of Black Student Union club Maia Johnson said she thought ASB’s Black History Month Instagram posts were informative, but she wishes ASB had collaborated with BSU more. “I don’t think they made an effort to include Black students, but seeing the posts was a nice surprise, showing that they don’t need to be pushed by Black students to make something like that,” Johnson said.
Prom planning underway Working around COVID-19 restrictions and budget constraints, ASB has begun planning prom. In a YouTube video released in late January, ASB announced prom
will be held on May 14 at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. ASB President Johannah Seah said ASB wanted to reveal the prom location at a school rally, but the plan got canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Nevertheless, Seah said she is happy the announcement was exciting. “The Prom Reveal Committee filmed a three-minute prom reveal video as well as a bunch of accompanying videos counting down the days until the reveal to help build suspense,” Seah said. Junior Sophie Tu said she liked how ASB revealed prom because it felt very inclusive but also mysterious. “It just felt like something everyone could participate in,” Tu said. “I like how (the video) had people talking to each other and asking what they think prom is about.” Seah also said while ASB is still developing the theme, activities and
logistics of prom, its primary focus is to make the event as accessible as possible to all upperclassmen. “We’re trying to figure out how to make prom prices as low as we can,” Seah said. “Everything is just so expensive with bus prices and everything.”
Changes to Love Week In addition to the Prom reveal rally getting called off due to rising cases of the Omicron variant, Seah said ASB faced other cancelations unrelated to COVID-19, including Love Week’s Matchomatics being called off due to Title IX concerns. Matchomatics is an activity where students fill out a quiz and then get matched with other students in the school who have similar answers, showing their compatibility. Because administration canceled Matchomatics, Seah said ASB had to think outside the box for this
year’s Love Week, which occurred during the first full week of February. “We had to be a bit more creative and think of other ways to bring more fun to Love Week,” Seah said. “We have some new events such as mural making where people can get paper hearts and write something on them and then an ASB member compiles them into a mural.” While Love Week looked different this year, Seah said she is glad ASB could carry on the tradition because of how important it is to Paly students. “It’s a very supportive and encouraging event that spreads a lot of love and happiness,” Seah said. “It’s a little more chill than Spirit Week, but it’s still a nice way to have an involved week of activities.”
think about the best ways to use its limited funds for the remainder of the school year. “Because we had so many activities in the beginning of the school year, we have a little less money as opposed to the first half of the school year,” Seah said. “We just have to figure out the best way to allocate that money.” Seah said most of ASB’s budget will go towards making Prom as memorable and special as possible, but it still hopes to add budgetfriendly events. “Second semester events are definitely a little bit more low-key, as we’re really focused on prom,” Seah said. “We’re probably going to have more chill and low-level events as opposed to large rallies.”
Future plans in the works Though COVID-19 restrictions are lifting, Seah said ASB has to
Rachel Feinstein
Social Media Manager
Monday, March 7, 2022
The Campanile
News
A3 !"#$%&'()$*$*'+&*,"-*&'.&/0' &1,/-2*'3"'4/-3/'(%/)/'("5-36 Parker Wang
Science & Tech Editor
PEYTON WANG/USED WITH PERMISSION
Members of the Class of 2018 throw their caps in the air after their Baccalaureate ceremony on May 27, 2018. Former Palo Alto High School Principal Sandra Pearson said Baccalaureate has been a tradition presumably since Paly opened. “It was a chance for family and friends to come together and celebrate seniors, but also look forward to the future in an optimistic and inspirational way,” Pearson said.
Baccalaureate canceled despite parent appeal to uphold tradition
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Social Media Manager, Managing Editor
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iting insufficient funds, unavailable event space and a lack of support for a decades-old tradition, administrators have canceled Baccalaureate even though many students and members of the Parent Network Committee hope to see it continue in some form. Usually taking place on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend and featuring a variety of student talent, including performances from the concert choir and student dancers, Baccalaureate has also featured speakers such as Steve Jobs, former Principal Sandra Peason said. Pearson, who was the principal at Paly from 1987 to 1994 and again from 2002 to 2004, said Baccalaureate has been a tradition likely since the school opened, making it an invaluable way to pay tribute to graduating seniors and prepare them for what’s to come. “It was a chance for family and friends to come together and celebrate seniors but also to look forward to the future in an optimistic and inspirational way,” Pearson said. Due to COVID-19, the last Baccalaureate was in 2019. Since the pandemic forced the cancelation of Baccalaureate for two years, Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said this is a perfect opportunity to change what he said is the event’s old-fashioned format. “If we’re going to make some changes, this is the right time to do it because we haven’t had it the last few years,” Berkson said. But senior Jo-Ann Morkner, who par-
ticipated in the choir’s Baccalaureate performance in 2019 as a freshman, said she appreciated it as another way for seniors to celebrate their time at Paly. She also said the event made her more hopeful for her future. “As a freshman, hearing speakers and awards being presented was really inspirational,” Morkner said. Berkson, though, said part of the reason Paly administration canceled Baccalaureate was because they felt it was too secluded from the rest of the school. Instead, Berkson said administrators are going to try to incorporate guest speakers and other aspects of Baccalaureate into this year’s graduation ceremony. “(Principal Kline) would like to have it where other students have the ability to see (the guest speakers) so they have something to strive for or look forward to,” Berkson said. Berkson also said having to pay for both Baccalaureate and graduation may not be worth the cost. “We get an allocation of $23,000 a year from the district,” Berkson said. “When you fill in all the graduation festivities, and then you fill in Baccalaureate, you’re talking about going over $20,000 for a one-hour event, when we can incorporate (Baccalaureate) in so many other ways.” And Parent Network Coordinator Nana Chancellor said the budget for events like Baccalaureate is even more constrained this year than before COVID-19 because the money for Baccalaureate came from facility rental income from outside vendors and schools that no longer exists. “Obviously during COVID-19, that hasn’t happened as much, so there’s been a smaller income stream from where the Baccalaureate money used to come from,” Chancellor said. Choir director Michael Najar, who has
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been at Paly since 2003, said while he enjoyed choir being a featured part of Baccalaureate, he is not beholden to it and is glad to see some changes happening. “There’s plenty of other opportunities for (choir) to celebrate the seniors, which we want to do, and we will continue to do that at any venue that will allow us to,” Najar said. Though budget is a concern, former Parent Network Coordinator Liz Jones, who had a role in planning the Baccalaureate that was canceled in 2020, said the event is a time to create and capture lasting memories — a goal that’s not possible to achieve at graduation because of how hectic everything is. “At graduation, you’re lucky if you manage to catch (the graduates) for a couple of minutes after the ceremony,” Jones said. “It’s generally kind of a quick kiss and a not very good picture in the middle of a crowd of people, and then they’re rushing off to change and go to the grad party.” Chancellor said another drawback to canceling Baccalaureate is that it is more accessible for parents and siblings who live out of town because it takes place on the weekend while graduation is always on a Wednesday. “Graduation being on a Wednesday makes it hard for family members and older siblings who are away at college to participate,” Chancellor said. “On the weekend before, it’s more conducive to out-of-town visitors to come.” Even if adminstrators cancel the event, Chancellor said the Parent Network Committee hopes to find a a place to hold its own version of Baccalaureate on June 1, before graduation. The Flint Center, which used to host the event, closed in 2019 so Chancellor said her group is looking for a new venue. Berkson, though, said he thinks most people won’t miss the event once it’s gone. “I don’t think (canceling Baccalaureate) is going to be this tragic thing that students aren’t going to be able to get over,” Berkson said. “Most (students) have never even seen a Paly Baccalaureate.” However, Pearson said she would be upset if Baccalaureate did not occur this year because of how significant it is to Paly’s history. “Once a tradition is lost, it’s generally gone. You don’t go back,” Pearson said. “I know Paly alums who are in their 70s or 80s and remember their Baccalaureate. It saddens me that it might be lost for future seniors.”
To help provide more support for county residents in crisis, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted in early February to expand its Mobile Crisis Response Team program to Santa Clara’s North County. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of the expansion to the North part of the County, which includes Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos and other regions under District 5. In the Mobile Crisis Response Team program, clinicians connect county residents experiencing a mental health emergency with medical or social services. District 5 County Supervisor Joe Simitian originally proposed the expansion. Sandra Hernandez, the Behavioral Health Division Director of Santa Clara County said the location of the extended part of the Mobile Crisis Response Team has not been fully determined yet. “We want it to hopefully be in a location that’s going to be easy to better relate the Palo Alto to Cupertino area, somewhere in that general vicinity,” Hernandez said. Hernandez said her group is working on hiring clinicians who are willing to do mobile crisis-related work which she said is challenging.She said they have interviewed five people and hope to fill the vacant positions in some of the San Jose areas first. “Most clinicians would prefer Monday through Friday when finding a position, but this is not one of those positions,” Hernandez said. “You’re asking people to work unusual days and hours. We will respond at 2 in the morning if that’s what we need to do.” Hernandez said three additional clinicians would bring the total to 20 in the county. Currently the MCRT has three clinicians in the Southern part of the County. The remaining 14 clinicians cover the rest of the County, with most of them in the San Jose area since that is where most of the mobile crisis activity occurs, Hernandez said. “We have the staff in the south county and just looking at our staff there, their response times to people in that area are a lot quicker because (our staff ) are already there,” Hernandez said. People who are in crisis and are in need of services can call the response team or visit the nearest location. A press release from Santa Clara County said the expansion of the Mobile Crisis Response Team will allow people to be able to reach out for help more quickly with more access to medical and social services. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Mobile Crisis Response Team received around 5,000 calls, 1,600 more than the previous year. “Not everyone who reaches out to us receives a lot of services, and sometimes they just may need to be reconnected to their previous provider, need to get back on their medication, need to make some choices about getting into rehab for drugs and alcohol, or needing respite time away from the family,” Hernandez said. Hernandez also said the Mobile Crisis Teams can assist those in crisis by allowing them a place to cool off while members of the team help assess and determine what an individual needs. She also said response times are important because the team wanst people in crisis to know help is on the way. “The challenge is that we have to send a clinician, maybe even from San Jose, so we’re dealing with traffic now,” Hernandez said. Simitian said in the County press release that having behavioral health clinicians and other professionals available to help people in crisis not only provides a more complete and appropriate response, but it also allows law enforcement to focus on other community needs. The detailed plan to carry out the Mobile Crisis Response Team expansion will be discussed at the April 19 county board of supervisors meeting.
FROM THE COVER
A*9+$+-()'(+,$/!*&B')(9&$(!:&'*-!B.'$!(,!'**!$&C!%.'--&Reaching beyond the core subject classes, Symphony Orchestra will become an honors course for students who are willing to pursue music in an 8th period class. This would give them the opportunity to focus on technical skill development and explore music theory in depth. Director of Instrumental Music Jeffrey Willner said he wants students to have a full symphony experience including all band and orchestra instruments.
“They’re essentially doing different repertoire, different music,” Willner said. “So let’s say you’re a violinist in this class –– you’re going to hear other instruments that you’ve never practiced with before.” Willner said he doesn’t know if the class will run next year because it depends on how many students sign up. The course requires a prerequisites before joining, including auditions and applications in the spring from those who have played in a PAUSD
orchestra or band for at least one year. And since the course is designed to move at an advanced pace for honors credit, Willner said students must have at least four years of experience with their instrument. Willner said students must also be concurrently enrolled in the Band or Orchestra course during the school day to be a part of the course. Freshman Kate Xia said the addition of new classes could be beneficial for those who are
particularly invested in a topic or want to try out different subjects. “Seeing a course about a subject I really enjoyed would be very exciting for me because I would have the opportunity to pursue it more in depth and also (find) a tight community of people with similar interests,” Xia said. “I’m sure other students would feel the same way about these additional courses.”
ART BY RACHEL LEE
The Campanile
Monday, March 7, 2022
A4
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ontinuing a four-year struggle to determine the future of the neighborhood, Palo Alto City Council approved an alternative vision for North Ventura in a 5-2 vote at its Jan. 10 meeting. Councilmembers Alison Cormack and Greg Tanaka casted the dissenting votes. The city plans call for North Ventura, roughly bounded by Page Mill Road, El Camino Real, Lambert Avenue and the Caltrain tracks in Palo Alto, to become a transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood. In March 2018, Palo Alto City Council appointed the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan Working Group to make recommendations towards addressing the neighborhood’s housing challenges and community desires. The NVCAP Working Group consists of 11 appointed citizens along with representatives from various city planning commissions. The City of Palo Alto 2030 Comprehensive Plan set a vision for preserving the California Avenue business district, including surrounding areas such as North Ventura. “The (NVCAP) plan should describe a vision for the future of the North Ventura area as a walkable neighborhood with multifamily housing, ground floor retail, a public park, creek improvements and an interconnected street grid,” the plan reads. “It should guide the development of the California Avenue area as a well-designed mixed-use district with diverse land uses and a network of pedestrian-oriented streets.” However, the project, which was projected to be completed by the summer of 2020, has dragged on with debates over future housing density, zoning and funding. Rebecca Sanders, moderator for the Ventura Neighborhood Association, said she and other NVCAP Working Group members felt that the city was pushing for a plan that the group didn’t agree with. “Many members created their own (separate) proposals because there was a sense that the city was not reflecting the wishes of the Working Group,” Sanders said. One of the primary focuses of the Working Group has been to increase the amount of parks in the vicinity of North Ventura. “It’s been pretty unanimous from the Working Group that parks are a pretty top goal,” NVCAP Assistant Director Rachael Tanner said. However, the city has made limited efforts towards granting additional park space. Angela Dellaporta, a member of the NVCAP Working Group, said that the city is biased towards how much park space is in each neighborhood. “The city is planning to allocate 1.6 acres of park space per 1000 residents in Ventura, but the recommended amount in Palo Alto’s Comprehensive Plan is four acres per 1000 residents, so we would only be getting 30% to 35%,” Dellaporta said. “Why is that OK? It doesn’t feel equitable. It feels wrong to reduce the green park area in the least wealthy neighborhood in Palo Alto.” Another cause of concern to the Working Group is that the city is not doing enough to enforce zoning policies. Currently, the North Ventura neighborhood is zoned for a mixture of single-family and multiple-family residences, office buildings and service commercial space. However, the city has done little to act upon these zoning ordinances, allowing companies
to continue building office space instead of residences. Keith Reckhahl, a member of the NVCAP Working Group as well as part of the Planning and Transportation Commission and Parks and Recreation Commission, said the city should do a better job implementing zoning requirements. “Considering the rule in planning is to zone for what you want to build, we should be changing the zoning to reflect the desires for this area,” Reckhahl said. “That includes a lot of housing, some parks and perhaps a school, but without proper zoning, these things are unlikely to occur.” To address housing concerns, the city considered some alternatives such as building various high rise condominiums, but the majority of the Working Group rejected such high-density plans. Dellaporta said the Working Group is aware of the housing crisis yet cautious towards preserving the current community spirit. “All of us are really concerned about the housing inequities in our area and how many people are homeless,” Dellaporta said. “It’s a housing crisis. And yet at the same time, we didn’t feel it would be right to change the whole feeling of the neighborhood by building these very tall buildings.” At the Jan 10. meeting, City Council voted to accept a proposal to construct hundreds of new housing units, 15% of which would be marked as affordable. Sanders said these new housing units will do little to address the housing crisis. “A family of three would need to earn at least $136,150 annually to qualify for this housing, so the proposal will do nothing to help graduate students, teachers and day care employees whom we want to live and stay in our community,” Sanders said. Although the city has cited concerns over budget as reasons for the inability to construct affordable housing and more parks, Dellaporta said that there are many potential solutions City Council can adopt. “It’s so frustrating because City Council could afford to buy the land for affordable housing and for park space if they just instituted a business tax,” Dellaporta said. As the NVCAP Working Group and City Council continue to deliberate the future of the North Ventura neighborhood, Reckhdahl recognizes that there will still be more conflicts. “The Working Group had high hopes for transforming this area into a cohesive livable neighborhood,” Reckhdahl said. “The council is working in the right direction, but meeting expectations still will be very challenging.”
Cayden Gu
Newsletter Editor
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FROM THE COVER
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“There’s definitely been an increase in antisemitism lately nationally and abroad, although until recently I was lucky enough to not really feel it here in the Bay Area,” Toussieh said. “I just thought that in our Palo Alto, with its reputation for technology and being informed, would not suffer from misinformation campaigns.” Toussieh attributes the increase in antisemitism to multiple factors. “In the past few years we’ve seen (antisemitic sentiment) worsen, and I think that political and ideological polarization when it comes to major issues like the Israeli-Palestinian crisis worsens the perception of Jews,” Toussieh said. “There is no separation between Zionism and Judaism, and people feel they can be antisemitic and just call it a political belief.” Toussieh said she thinks the recent events in Palo Alto follow a historic precedent when it comes to scapegoating Jews.
“I want people to know that it took a lot of work for Black people to get where they are today,” Johnsson said. Johnson said Black History Month also raises awareness about lesser known civil rights leaders. “Everyone knows about people like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, but there are so many more people, like Ajwang Rading, who are still working for Black recognition around the world,” Johnsson said. Johnsson also said Black history is important in a continuing struggle for equality. “Where we are right now is not enough,” Johnsson said. “It’s a neverending struggle to get the rights and reparations we need.” Librarian Sima Thomas said she wanted to use Black History Month
“There is so much misinformation protected by free speech,” Toussieh said, “Some of it (is) even spread by politicians and people in power. It’s important to become educated on scapegoating as a trend through history — in the past two years alone with COVID-19, the blame has been shifted around to different groups, starting with the Chinese community and now with us.” Schwarz said this incident in Palo Alto reminds him that battling prejudice is like fighting a war. “I think this saying really applies: 'They came for the socialists and I didn’t stand up. They came for the political rivals and I didn’t stand up. By the time they came for me, there was no one to stand up. They had taken everyone,'” Schwarz said. “We need to be vigilant at all times, and we need to fight for peace, for equality. For everyone. And not because we’re thinking about ourselves, but because it is the right thing to do.”
to show off the library’s diverse collection of Black authors and works. “I want this library to be a place where all students at Paly can come in and find themselves,” Thomas said. “People want to see that their experience is worth being put in media.” During February, Thomas set up a display of both nonfiction and fiction books by Black authors and books that featured Black characters. Thomas said diverse books not only encourage new perspectives but are tools for introspection. “Books are windows and mirrors,” Thomas said. “(We want to have) books that allow you to see through a window into someone else’s life, but more importantly, to find books in a library that mirror your own lives back to you.”
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Thomas said that only certain identities are often represented in the media, and she worries that underrepresented groups struggle to find books that provide such a mirror. “If you fall into an identity more represented by mainstream society, your identity is reflected back to you all the time in TV shows, books and media,” Thomas said. “If you’re not in that group, and I think all of us have parts of us that are different in some ways, I want to have books and covers to show people that ‘characters can look like me.” Growing up Iranian-American, Thomas said she recalls searching for protagonists she could identify with, only to see Iranians cast as villains. Thomas said she hopes Black History Month is one part of a broader effort to expose students to a diverse range of books. “We don’t want to only have Black books one month,” Thomas said. “Books with Black authors and Black characters are relevant all year, and we try to always have a diverse group of authors in our collection.”
Monday, March 7, 2022
The Campanile
News
A5
HANNAH SINGER/THE CAMPANILE
Student activists protested outside of Stanford’s Dinkelspiel Auditorium where former Vice President Mike Pence spoke at his “How to Save America from the Woke Left” event. Though sold out, the event upset many who thought what Pence stands for did not align with the values of the university. “(Stanford is an) institution that is supposed to be better than the world, that is supposed to be standing for equanimity, the rights of all people and the rights for science and that is supposed to contribute to society in a meaningful way,” one protester said. “The fact that we have someone that stands for such hate coming to speak at this school is a bad look for Stanford.”
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ctivists rallied outside Stanford’s Dinkelspiel Auditorium on Feb. 17 to protest former Vice President Mike Pence’s speech to a sold-out crowd. Two hours before the event, protesters gathered a block away from the auditorium to make signs reading “No one is illegal,” “Buzz off Bigots,” “Save our immigrant parents” and “Hatred isn’t very Christian of you, Mike.” Stanford College Republicans spokesman and sophomore Walker Stewart said Pence was invited to speak to spread the message of conservatism that is often missing from the classroom. “It’s just bringing conservative thoughts to campus and giving students of all political stripes the ability to hear his point of view,” Stewart said. “We’re not all going to agree on every little issue, so it’s important to try to engage with people who see the world a little bit differently than you do.” Stanford junior Jessica Femenias said Stanford’s hosting of Pence is problematic in many ways. “(It) is a tacit legitimization of his opinions and ideologies that are harmful for so much of the student body,” Femenias said. And protest organizer and Stanford freshman Ritwik Tati criticized the motives of the student organization hosting Pence, the Stanford College Republicans. “(The SCR) knows nothing more than to spread hate to individuals and groups under the guise of political freedom,” Tati said. “(Mike Pence speaking) on campus is just an extension of that hate.”
Stanford sophomore Alexa Gutierrez said Pence has vocally opposed aspects of her identity throughout his political career. “I don’t think it’s what Stanford stands for, and I don’t think Stanford should allow it,” Gutierrez said. “I’m an immigrant; I’m a Latina; I’m gay — what hasn’t he said?” Stanford freshman Isabella Pistaferri said her opposition to Pence speaking stems from the comments he’s made towards the LGBTQ+ community and the immigration policy he supported. “As a country that was founded on values of supposed equality and a country that’s obviously trying to progressively turn better every year, I feel like he was just a huge setback,” Pistaferri said. “I don’t think that he’s a good representation of values that I would want to put forward, and the fact that he is a representation of values that some people at this school would want to put forward is kind of embarrassing.” Throughout the event, protesters shouted “Shame on you” and “Hate should not be taught here,” while others condemned Stanford for hosting the former Vice President. “(Stanford is an) institution that is supposed to be better than the world, that is supposed to be standing for equanimity, the rights of all people and the rights for science and that is supposed to contribute to society in a meaningful way,” said one protester who asked to remain anonymous. “The fact that we have someone that stands for such hate coming to speak at this school is a bad look for Stanford.”
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HANNAH SINGER/THE CAMPANILE
Students rallied both before and throughout Pence’s speech, protesting the policies he enacted in office and the beliefs he embodies. The former Vice President was initially denied the opportunity to speak at Stanford, but the decision was overruled by the Stanford Constitutional Council earlier this year.
The SCR was initially denied funding for the Pence event from the Associated Students of Stanford University, but after filing a case to the ASSU Constitutional Council, the SCR’s motion was approved and they were granted funding for the event. Stewart said although there were protesters at the event, they didn’t distract those who wanted to listen to what Pence had to say.
“The protests didn’t really disrupt the event,” Stewart said. “We’d call it a smashing success. The auditorium was packed to the brim and many people had a great experience.”
Hannah Singer
Staff Writer
;'4+2*)%)/%('2+$%5,/-%*.%<=>??%@A%B$,6$1$C%2.5$,8,'52')$%'53*++*/.+ Ben Antonow
News & Opinion Editor
TOM GALETTI/USED WITH PERMISSION
An empty campus: UC Berkeley will see a decrease in almost a third of its undergraduate admissions next fall as the result of a lawsuit brought by Save Berkeley’s Neighborhood. The lawsuit says the school’s population adversely affects the surrounding environment of the city. “We would like the University to sign a legally binding agreement that they will only increase enrollment by the amount of housing that they build,” the SBN’s president Phil Bokovoy said.
A lawsuit won by Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods, a community organization that is concerned with the increase in homelessness as a result of UC Berkeley’s housing practices will cause the University to cut undergraduate admission by at least 5,100 students for the incoming freshman class. Cal informed applicants via email, saying the news was “incredibly disappointing” and a “dire situation for prospective students and our campus.” The ruling became official when the California Supreme Court upheld the decision by rejecting an appeal from the University on Thursday, March 3. Phil Bokovoy, the president of Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods, said the University has mismanaged its budget for years and increased student enrollment without providing adequate housing. Bokovoy said the organization filed the suit because it felt the University was making a ridiculous claim in suggesting that adding 11,000 students to the city of Berkeley would have no effects on the surrounding environment. “We would like the University to sign a legally binding agreement that they will only increase enrollment by the amount of housing that they build,” Bokovoy said. Bokovoy said the city’s housing shortage is a result of the University’s financial troubles, including overspending on what he calls
a “white elephant football stadium,” which he said doesn’t generate enough revenue to cover the interest on the loan for the stadium. “What (Cal) has done to try to escape their financial problems is they’ve tried to force those costs on to the community, instead of figuring out how they can bear those costs themselves,” Bokovoy said. The court case found that there was a strong correlation between Cal’s increase in enrollment and the 33% increase in Berkeley’s homeless population from 2015-2019. Without a proportionate increase in housing, more students lived in places previously occupied by Berkeley’s lower-income residents, forcing many of them onto the street. As a result, the court announced that the University will have to drastically reduce enrollment. Paly College Counselor Janet Cochrane said she believes this dispute could have a negative effect on college admissions for the class of 2022’, both through Berkeley’s restrictions and the ripple effect it could have on other colleges. “Students who would normally have gotten into Berkeley are now not getting in, and then may be more likely to go to one of the other UCs that they get into,” Cochrane said. Kirtana Romfh, a senior and UC Berkeley applicant, said she was initially disappointed at the news. “There are rumors that there isn’t enough housing for current students, much less a whole new applicant pool,” Romfh said. “So in some ways, I kind of understand where it’s coming from, but as an applicant, it’s frustrating because it affects my chances of admission at a school I really want to go to.”
The Campanile
Monday, March 7, 2022
A6
News
World History courses should improve coverage of non-European countries !"##$%&'()"*+',)$#(),-.$#+&/,"#$"/&)-+,(*$0,..$1,2"$#+&/"*+#$1'"-+"'$&*/"'#+-*/,*1$(3$1.(4-.$"2"*+#
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2002 National Geographic survey showed that only 17% This problem extends outside of the history department, as well. of 18-24 year olds in the U.S. could find Afghanistan on Not a single English course examines literature from outside of a map. Twenty years later, this ignorance of international the U.S. or England, despite over 57 other countries with Engissues on the part of young people remains prevalent. Just last lish as an official language. Most music classes focus entirely on year, national security advisor Jake Sullivan considered our lack of 17th-18th century European music written by white men, with knowledge on global affairs a “national security problem.” songs from other cultures left as an afterthought. And many The root of this problem is clear — a lack of art students never get to learn the techniques and education about history and cultures outside styles traditional to Latin American, Africa, the the U.S. and Western Europe exists even Middle East and Asia. at Paly, a school that prides itself on As the world becomes more interconits liberal values and diverse student nected, it’s clear this lack of education backgrounds. about cultures outside of Europe and One place this is clear is in North America is a disservice to Paly required history courses. In fact, students. Beyond that, this euromost students typically only centric curriculum pushes a toxic receive one semester of world narrative: that non-Euro American history (Contemporary World cultures and histories are somehow History), and the “world” hisless important, less relevant or less tory class students take in 9th civilized than their European and grade focuses almost entirely North American counterparts. It on European history. teaches students that people As important as European from other countries are -3)45678)9%*0)-.$'):&)",%);&:"%$)!"*"%')<-#.$) history is to underunrelatable, and that standing and there’s nothing to learn =&$)>3?,*&:'"*&)-&)*)?.-@%()*<<-0$:&?)"-)*) contextualizing from their rich history 7AA7)B*":-&*.)C%-?0*D,:<)'"#$9E) our current and customs. world and U.S. The problem has an easy fix, heritage, to call though. Offer AP World History a class focused on a and AP Human Geography like so many Ar t b continent containing 10% other schools as an alternative to AP United y Ajay Venkatraman of the global population a “world” history class is States History or as a senior elective. Give students ignorant of the history and cultures of billions of other of color a chance to learn more about their own ethnicities people. Even within the Contemporary World History class most through classes on Latin American, Native American, Asian and students take their sophomore year, the curriculum studies foreign African history. In terms of source material, more courses should history through a European lens, focusing largely on how Eurofollow suit with Choir, which only had two out of their 14 fall pean imperialism and interventionism affected other countries. concert selections as pieces sourced from the classical 17th/18th Even if a Paly student wanted to learn more world history century European male composers. outside of these required classes, they would have an exceptionally With these changes to the curriculum, our knowledge of the hard time doing so. Out of the nine social studies electives listed unique and complex civilizations around the world will be as varon the 2022-2023 Paly course catalog, only two of them even ied as the diverse Paly student population that represents them. attempt to examine non-western history and culture, and both of them still look at the world through an American perspective. U.S. Foreign Policy Honors examines American stances and policy on geopolitical issues, while Ethnic Studies focuses on the history of Eric Fan people of color in America without really taking a closer look at Senior Staff Writer the cultures of their homelands.
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Senior Staff Writer
Wearing masks in schools will become optional on March 14. Due to high case counts and the nature of school environment, students should continue wearing masks to protect themselves and others. We said farewell to the virtual thumbs up, internet errors and anxiety-inducing mute button of Zoom in August of 2021 by reinstating in-person learning. This allowed students to see their friends and enjoy the feeling of being back in school. It felt normal, except that we had to wear masks over our faces to protect ourselves and others from the novel coronavirus. Now Santa Clara County and PAUSD have both lifted their indoor mask mandates. But despite changing COVID-19 restrictions — such as the six-foot social distancing rule being reduced to three feet — wearing masks inside has remained a constant, and despite the new county and school rule, I encourage students and staff to continue wearing masks for everyone’s safety. When the pandemic first hit in 2020, people began to contract the virus at rapid rates, accounting for the largest number of deaths due to a pandemic since the Spanish Flu in 1918. Schools across the country were shut down in March 2020 and remained shut down until 2021. Countless restaurants and businesses closed, leaving their employees desperately hunting for new jobs. A major reason for the severity of the effects of COVID-19 is the portion of our population that refuses to wear masks. In particular, former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters were
adamant there was no need to wear masks and that COVID-19 was a hoax. Of course, many of these same people soon contracted the virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is medically proven that wearing face masks can protect you and others from COVID-19. And according to a study done by UC Davis, masks can reduce the chances of contracting the virus by 65%. When a COVID-19 vaccine became available for students, it was certainly a step in the right direction. However, a vaccine does not automatically make someone immune to the virus. The CDC said that because vaccines do not provide 100% immunity, there is still a chance of breakthrough infections among the vaccinated. Vaccines do not make people invincible, they just do the exact same thing that masks do: reduce our chances of contracting the virus. Not being able to come to school for a year and a half was painful for me and countless other students. We felt isolated and alone. So naturally when we returned to school, we attempted to socialize with our friends again and help each other return to a sense of normalcy. Sadly though, we cannot fully return to normalcy until this virus is over. And this virus is far from over. While we may not need to wear masks outdoors, I will most certainly wear a mask indoors at all times because it means I can protect myself and others from the virus. This virus is here to stay. The pandemic will probably end but the virus will most likely still be around. We have to recognize that if we can sacrifice just a small amount of comfort, we can keep ourselves and others safe. The choice is obvious. Mask up.
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Monday, March 7, 2022
The Campanile
Opinion
P
A7
Dear male writers ...
lease learn how to write women. And no, that doesn’t mean throwing in a demure love interest in a story for your epic hero. Learn how to write compelling, three-dimensional women whose main characteristics are not their physical attributes and whose hopes and dreams are not hopelessly entwined with that of their macho love interest.
Please learn how to write real women. The first thing to do is to stop typing and reread the passages describing the last woman you wrote. Have you ever met a woman who went for a run with her hair down? A woman who slept in and woke up with a full face of makeup (without smears) or didn’t smell horrible after a harsh workout or near-death experience? Have you ever met a woman? Maybe start by talking to one. Consider asking a woman to read over your most recent work, specifically providing feedback about female characters. Accept that maybe you need help. The Bechdel Test –– a measure of the representation of women in fiction –– is a good place to start. Emphasis on a good place to start. The test stipulates that to pass the Bechdel Test, a work of fiction must have: 1) At least (emphasis on at least) two women characters, 2) these characters must talk to each other, and 3) this discussion must be about something other than a man (men are ranked low on the official list of stimulating conversation topics women enjoy. Sorry to burst any bubbles). I would like to add a few additional suggestions for my version of this test, something I like to call The Schwarzbach Test (which is of course, the bare minimum). Do not start your description of a female character with her
physical appearance or refer to her only in conjunction with a male character. Additionally, male writers, why is there such overt sexualization of women in novels and films? It is immediately apparent when a movie is directed by a man from the amount of emphasis put on a female character’s physical appearance, typically through excessive nudity. Think “Euphoria” or Princess Leia’s skimpy slave get-up in Star Wars. If you’re looking for ways to avoid creating media which caters to the male-gaze, watch more female-directed movies for inspiration, such as “Jennifer’s Body” or “Booksmart” which subvert societal expectations regarding women’s looks and the expectations set around their bodies. So you might be asking why you should write good female characters? Well, they represent about 51% of the population, aka 51% of your possible customers, and women aren’t just necessary for representation’s sake. Women are interesting. They are complex, and given proper plots and set-up, make for wonderful heroes. Case in point, Hermione Granger. Now I know you might argue that since you are a man, you can only write about the nuances of the male experience, but let’s look at Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” It was assumed by many at the time the novel was published (and even today) that a woman could not have
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written such a masterpiece centered on male characters, showing that it is possible to write characters of another gender in a way which is authentic and relatable. Women have been doing it for centuries. This isn’t to say that female authors always write wonderful women or that male authors are inherently unable to write female characters, but the examples of exemplary women written by men are few and far between. In a 2017 essay, Catherine Weingarten suggested an exercise for playwrights to improve their writing of female characters. Her advice: Think about a woman you know and write down five specific, non-physical characteristics about her. Then go and write a short story or play about her. Your female character doesn’t need to wield a sword or be the chosen one to be well-written. She just requires depth. Author’s note: While I know there are genders other than male and female and that nonbinary people also suffer from a severe lack of proper (or any) representation in works of literature and art, this opinion piece focuses on male-identifying writers and how they write about female-identifying characters.
Kyla Schwarzbach
Art & Photo Manager
ART BY WALLIE BUTLER
!"#$%&'$"()%*+%#,"-'#%./%0.1./-%23.((& 4$#'+5%6,#"5+%&"77$5#&%#5,/&%5.-'#& On nights where boredom felt inescapable, my friends and I would occasionally drive to the top of a parking structure to enjoy the view. When we would finally decide to leave, we continued our routine of rolling down all of the windows and blasting music while we zoomed down the spiral path of the parking lot. We would shift back and forth from pressing the accelerator pedal and the break, while we descended towards the street. One night, I was trying to slow down to turn a corner, only to find that the car was accelerating. It was a few mere seconds, but it was scary nonetheless. After searching the internet later that night, I found a blog suggesting that I check if my brake pads were still intact. If the brake pads were too thin, they said, the car wouldn’t be able to come to a complete stop as quickly. As high schoolers, many of us acquire our licenses through a five-minute drive in silence with a DMV worker. Knowing how to change a tire, check on the brake pads, or put chains on wheels to avoid skidding are skills are assumed to be acquired later on. To learn these skills properly, the Living Skills course should include a unit about basic knowledge related to cars in emergency situations. From taking the Living Skills course last year, I got my CPR certification and I learned how to give CPR in emer-
gency situations, but I was never taught how to avoid accidents in the first place. Because ⅓ of all teenage deaths are caused by car accidents according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it is vital for students to know how to avoid danger. Living Skills is intended to equip students with the fundamental knowledge to help them transition from childhood to becoming a well-informed adult, meaning that learning the basics on managing a car would fit perfectly into the curriculum. The class could spend one week learning how to change a tire, put chains on a tire and check brake pads in case they need to be replaced. Looking back, it was a good thing that my brakes stopped working that night. It was only after that evening that I even considered checking on the thinned braking pads. My friends and I were lucky to avoid real danger, but that is not guaranteed to all. While it is important to learn how to react in emergency situations, Living Skills should teach how to best avoid these situations in the first place.
Shiki Toyama
Staff Writer
ART BY GINA BAE
Ken Ogata
Senior Staff Writer
As of late, the United States has not made any progress in advancing transgender rights in legislature — in fact, we’re going backwards. In late February, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed state health agencies in his state to classify prescribing hormonal and pubertysuppressing treatments to transgender youth as child abuse. In fact, a majority of conservatives like Abbott reject transgenderism entirely; according to a survey by Pew Research in 2017, 80% of conservatives said gender is based on what an individual is assigned at birth. From the common arguments of “basic biology” to “facts don’t care about your feelings,” a quick scroll through conservative forums displays the irrational prejudices that conservatives in the U.S. hold against those who change their sex. However, it’s not just reactionaries such as Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson leading the offensive against trans people — it’s also left-leaning celebrities like J.K. Rowling and Dave Chappelle, as well as selective LGBTQ+ activists who push for “dropping the T.” These critics often label transgenderism as unnatural. But what constitutes natural? The purest form of nature can be found in wild animals untouched by humans and our political agendas. If we follow this interpretation of nature, it becomes easy to poke holes in the “transgenderism is unnatural” argument due to the multiple examples of wild animals who change their sex during their lifespan. It’s in Mother Nature’s backyard where we find substantial evidence for the validity of transgenderism.
Take for instance the clownfish, one of many species that exhibits a reproductive strategy known as sequential hermaphroditism. While never mentioned in “Finding Nemo,” clownfish have the ability to change their sex from male to female. According to a study by the APEC Climate Center in South Korea, while clownfish are born male, they possess both male and female reproductive organs. Schools of clownfish are female-dominated, with the largest of the bunch being the female clownfish. If the largest female dies, the largest male rapidly switches its sex from male to female and assumes the role of the main female. This switch is also accompanied with behavioral changes, such as increased aggression. Other animals that can switch sexes include bearded dragons, sea snails and even some lions who possess both female and male physical characteristics. But is it fair to label clownfish and lions as transgender? Not exactly. For starters, the concept of gender doesn’t exist to them at all. There are no gender stereotypes or set expectations for male and female animals in nature, because gender is a social construct — an unnatural idea established by humans. Diving deeper into biology can poke even more holes into the flimsy criticisms of transgenderism. In reality, sex is not binary; there isn’t a certain female brain or a male brain. A study by the University of Barcelona found that there were certain structural differences between the brains of transgendered and cisgendered individuals. Coupled with the fact that every human being possessing differing levels of sex-related hormones, it’s hard to stand by the argument that there are only two genders. And with how arbitrary the concept of gender is, it’s no surprise that some human beings feel uncomfortable in the sex they were born into. A complete rejection of transgenderism makes it hard to appreciate the fluidity of sex in nature, and instead validates the artifical boundaries of gender.
The Campanile
Monday, March 7, 2022
A8
Editorials
"HONORING SENIORS WITH A PRE-GRAD CEREMONY? PREPOSTEROUS!!"
CARTOON BY AJAY VENKATRAMAN
Baccalaureate should proceed
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aced with limited funds, support and space, administrators are considering canceling Baccalaureate, Paly’s pre-graduation celebration for outgoing seniors and their families, for the third year in a row. The Campanile urges administrators not to follow through on this decision and to instead hold Baccalaureate this year, not only as a celebration for a class that has learned and succeeded through one of the most challenging high school careers in the past century, but also as a way to reinstate the long-valued and beloved tradition. After almost a year and half learning remotely and another navigating the uncertainty and countless safety concerns of COVID-19 in person, this year’s graduating seniors have more than earned a joyous, proper sendoff. While the end-of-year graduation parties and
graduation ceremony itself provide a strong sense of closure, Baccalaureate offers a unique chance for students and families to connect and experience a more informal, intimate farewell. That said, The Campanile recognizes the real concerns over hosting Baccalaureate this year, namely, the lack of a venue and sufficient funds. However, with the spirit of Baccalaureate being that of entertainment, inspiration and memory, even a Paly-hosted event featuring student performances — such as the concert choir or dance team, which have historically performed — would capture its underlying essence. What’s more, while Paly administrators said they would try to include students from more grade levels should they hold Baccalaureate, it is important to remember that at its core, Baccalaureate is a
senior celebration. With budgetary concerns in mind, limiting the event’s availability to the traditional senior-only crowd could help bring down or eliminate some of its cost. Reinstating Baccalaureate would also reestablish the decades-long tradition Paly seniors lost in 2020 and 2021. Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, restoring the traditions we gave up throughout it could help spread a sense of hope for future classes, and Baccalaureate is not only a significant but feasible place to start. The challenges Baccalaureate planners and administrators face in organizing the event are significant, but The Campanile hopes all those involved in making the decision will make the effort to proceed with Baccalaureate for the benefit of both the current and future senior classes.
!"#$%&'())*+,,+,'-+$%(.'/+(.%/'0*1,+,'%/*"#2/' 3"41.+'!*1,1,'5+,6"$,+'7+(-8'-"*+'-+(,#*+,'$++)+) In response to rising rates of anxiety and depression during the pandemic, Santa Clara County expanded its Mobile Crisis Response Team to the North County/West Valley region, which includes Palo Alto. In 2021, the program received 5,098 crisis calls, a 49.72% increase from 2020, which saw 3,405 calls. The frequency of calls is correlated with spikes in COVID-19 cases, indicating that the pandemic was a large factor in mental health crises. Even as COVID-19 case counts begin to subside, The Campanile recognizes that mental health remains as crucial as ever. Given the toxic and cutthroat academic environment at Paly as well as the devastating effects of the pandemic, raising awareness for mental health and providing support for those who need it is of utmost importance. The Campanile praises the county’s swift response to its increasing number of mental health crises in recent years through its addition of four new staff members to the MCRT who will address crisis situations in the District 5 area of the county. While the four members will help decrease response times of the MCRT, an additional four members may not be enough to immediately address the wide-ranging mental health issues of each individual.
Current response times for the MCRT are approximately 17 to 22 minutes, due to vacancies in the program. Sandra Hernandez, the Behavioral Health Division Director at Santa Clara County, estimated that the response time would be around 11 to 12 minutes with the additional staff members. However, even 11 minutes is too long of a wait for a person in a mental health crisis. While those experiencing a mental health crisis can dial 911 and have police respond within minutes, police are not often trained to handle mental health situations. According to USA Today, those who have mental health issues are 16 times more likely to be killed by police than those who don’t. As such, the county should make the effort to increase the number of staff members not only for the North County/ West Valley region, but for the whole county. While each additional MCRT staff member is paid on average $154,952 annually, even if one life is saved, every penny will have been worth the cost. While the county’s efforts at addressing the mental health crisis is commendable, The Campanile thinks the county can further its efforts through increasing the number of staff members in the MCRT in order to better serve the needs of all of its residents.
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Managing Editors Valerie Chu Ajay Venkatraman
Sports Editors Lauren Chung Zack Silver
Lifestyle Editors Anaya Bhatt Joy Xu
Art & Photo Manager Kyla Schwarzbach
Science & Tech Editor Parker Wang
Social Media Managers Rachel Feinstein Justin Gu
Newsletter Editors Cayden Gu Jerry Xia
Business Manager Charlotte Hallenbeck
Graphics Lead Wallie Butler
Poppy Barclay Margot Blanco Lillian Clark Dinu Deshpande Shantanu Deshpande Eric Fan
Staff Writers Erik Feng Tiffany He Christie Hong Ali Minhas Ken Ogata Aidan Seto
Hannah Singer Shamsheer Singh Cole Sturino Shiki Toyama Colleen Wang Brianna Zhou
Illustrators & Photographers Grace Muma James Churchley Meya Gao Alison Xiong Philip Churchley Rachel Lee Alexandra Ma
Adviser Rodney Satterthwaite Letters to the Editors: Email all letters to editors to theeds22@googlegroups.com. The Campanile prints letters on a space-available basis. We reserve the right to edit submissions. The Campanile only prints signed letters. Advertisements: Advertisements with The Campanile are printed with signed contracts. For more information regarding advertisements or sponsors in The Campanile and their size options and prices, please contact The Campanile Business Managers by email at campanile.ads@gmail.com. Note: It is the policy of The Campanile to refrain from printing articles that are libelous, obscene or disrupt the substantial operation of the school day. The Campanile would like to thank the PTSA for supporting the mailing of our newspaper. Our Vision Statement: The Campanile has upheld the highest standard of student journalism for the last century by engaging the community through various mediums of storytelling. Our coverage of news, culture and athletics aims to represent the diverse perspectives of our student body.
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News & Opinion Editors Ben Antonow Maya Singer
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Editors-in-Chief Gina Bae • Gianna Brogley • Jack Galetti Braden Leung • Austin Xiang
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Monday, March 7, 2022
The Campanile
Lifestyle
Ukrainian-Russian conflict impacts students’ families, livelihoods !@7'%&8A#$)*;
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ussia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, one on a level not seen since World War II. For Russian American and Ukrainian American students, the consequences are more than changes to news feeds and the effects of economic policies still rippling through the global economy — this invasion is deeply personal. Students affected by Ukraine crisis In Russian American senior Sasha Boudtchenko’s most recent conversation with her mother, the invasion of Ukraine was the main topic. “My mom (spent summers in Ukraine) and my grandma grew up there, and they know the places that are being bombed right now,” Boudtchenko said. “It’s part of their childhood, so I just can’t even imagine how difficult it is for them to hear of those places being just completely destroyed. For me, it’s been difficult knowing that we have family over there that’s caught up in this.” For Ukrainian American sophomore Katya Oks, the consequences of the invasion pose a constant worry for her family. “To be frank, the threat of an invasion does not mean anything good for my family and I, especially if it turns violent,” Oks wrote in an email. “The majority of my family still lives in Ukraine … So we’re all hoping that they will stay safe, and that things become peaceful and that we will be able to see them in-person soon after not seeing them for three years.” Senior Madison Abbassi said she has relatives living in both Russia and Ukraine, and !"#$%&'(%)*+, her mom is -''.%/)0123* still in contact with 4.#5).6%*78* friends from her 5'%789'%:8&)3; childhood city of #9'$%*7'$' Odessa, which *78*+,%18267* was once 2<%).%*7),=> part of the Soviet Union but is currently under attack as part of Ukraine. “A lot of my family might have a cousin who is Russian and a cousin who is Ukrainian, so it very much is kind of a war within families,” Abbassi said. “And in a lot of areas, people have grown up very close to each other and think of each other as brothers. So I think it’s been a huge shock to our family, and we’re all hoping that peace will work out and there isn’t too much damage and not too much of a cost in terms of lives as the war continues.” Senior Lily Lochhead, whose grandparents lived in both Ukraine and Russia, and whose cousin was adopted from Odessa several years ago, said the consequences of the invasion have deeply affected her and her family. “It’s really hard because for some people, it may just be, ‘Oh, all of these cities have been invaded or bombed,’” Lochhead said. “But for my family, it’s people we know. Some of our friends and my cousin’s birth family members — we don’t know if they’re alright. And we’ve heard news that people have died in the war, (people) that we know.”
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U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine James Ellis, a former commander in the U.S. Navy stationed in Europe and an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, said the invasion of Ukraine challenges what people think of as the global order, and he said he is afraid of the implications a divided Europe could mean to world affairs. “It’s a very dramatic change in the world’s situation,” Ellis said. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is tragic and shocking. It’s an unprovoked attack against a sovereign nation, which we haven’t seen in decades and in some ways reveals a face not of the entire Russian people, but certainly their leadership and President Putin.” In a recent press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration supports the Ukrainian people and has provided humanitarian aid and security assistance. However, she said Biden will not send U.S. troops to fight in Ukraine because he will not put the country in a position of fighting a war with Russia.
U.S. Foreign Policy teacher John Bungarden said the level of involvement the U.S. currently has in the conflict — placing sanctions, providing aid, sending weapons, repositioning U.S. troops in NATO countries adjacent to Ukraine — is ideal for U.S. interests. “Equating involvement with troops on the ground is dangerous because it creates the possibility of American forces fighting Russian forces,” Bungarden said. “And that’s a dangerous point. If you’re attempting to not escalate to some other place, the fact that Putin kind of waved at the fact they’re a nuclear power is interesting. It’s a reminder that the danger is greater if we put guys on the same battlefield as the Russians.” Abbassi said in terms of U.S. foreign policy, she understands Biden’s decision to not send U.S. troops to Ukraine. “I saw there was a speech that Putin gave where he kind of threatened nuclear war, and I think that brings the stakes of this conflict to a level that’s much higher than a lot of previous wars,” Abbassi said. “So I think I agree with the U.S. policy to impose sanctions and hope that that eventually undermines the value of the ruble and causes Russia to kind of back down a little bit too because of economic crises. I think that’s our best path forward.”
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Consequences of the invasion
country with a more powerful military. “If you look online, there are images of people just carrying signs with street names and walking it miles away, so they can just confuse the troops,” Abbassi said. “And I think it’s that level of resourcefulness in the face of war that’s really powerful.”
Tenth grade history teacher Cait Drewes said she was talking with her neighbor, a Ukrainian immigrant from Donetsk, when he said something that caught her attention. “He was saying the vast majority of people in (the Reporting contributed by Shamsheer Singh Donetsk) area are not interested in liberation; they’re not separatists, they’re interested in staying as part of Ukraine,” Drewes said. “But (he said) Russia has actually moved a lot of people into that area over !"#$%&'()*+" many decades. They’ve been moving ethnic Russians !"#$%&&"'(#)*'+,-,+-$#,-#(.,$#/',$,$#0"%#/+-#1"-+(2#("# into that area, and then claiming they want to be part 3,'2/(425,267#+#-"-&'"8(#$&"-$"'$.,&#"'9+-,:+(,"-#;"'*,-9# of Russia.” ("#&'"<,1,-9#=21,/+5#/+'2#+-1#'25,26#6"'#(."$2#+>2/(217#+(# For Drewes, this represents one of the many .((&$?@@;;;A1,'2/('25,26A"'9@2=2'92-/0@%*'+,-2B/',$,$@# nuances of the invasion, and further revealed the complicated and tangled histories and cultures of Ukraine and Russia. Boudtchenko, who has ethnically-Russian family Valerie Chu members living in Ukraine, said the conflict should be viewed primarily as a politically-motivated situaManaging Editor tion. “It’s not black and white,” Boudtchenko said. “Russian people live in Ukraine. Ukrainian people live in Russia. People are mixed. Like my family — I’m not Ukrainian, but I have Ukrainian family, and we’re still all related. So it’s very intertwined. It’s very difficult. And it’s important to remember that it’s not as simple as Russians versus Ukrainians.” Lochhead said her grandparents, who lived in Russia for two years and are still in contact with many people there, said most Russians are not in support of the invasion of Ukraine, a statement which Russian protests against the invasion have demonstrated. Bungarden said these protestors mirror some of the most notable examples of collective bravery shown throughout history. “Thousands of people have walked onto the streets of Russian cities,” Bungarden said. “To do that in an authoritarian state — that’s courage. That’s courage at an everyday level, just people who said, ‘Screw it.’ And by virtue of their body being in place, stand as a rebuke to the regime. It’s not a cost free action — and they know it.” Abbassi said she has been following the conflict and hearing from her mother about the invasion of Ukraine, and is moved by the ways Ukrainian citizens came together to stand against a VALERIE CHU/THE CAMPANILE
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The Campanile
B2
Monday, March 7, 2022
Lifestyle
!"#$$%$&'()*+&+'&*#,%& -'.%&$*'.+&/.%#0$ Erik Feng Staff Writer
My teachers always ask, “Do you understand what I just said?” I hate this phrase. Not because it is objectively terrible but because it is often followed by a classwide silence permeated with the guilty sense of lying. Saying, “No, I dozed off for the last five minutes wondering if I really am a Nigerian prince,” makes me sound like an idiot, which I’m not (obviously). However, the problem is not with the sentence but what happens before it. Through personal experience, I’ve realized teachers often ramble about a subject they’re passionate about. The teacher’s good intentions in asking this question are there. My concentration isn’t. This issue has nothing to do with teachers, though. It’s the result of a flawed school system that treats teenagers as robots who can concentrate in class for hours at a time. Not even the math game 2048 can get me through more than an hour of geometry before an inevitable descent into pondering whether giving someone a supplement is twice as good as complimenting them. Ninety-minute-long classes are hard. Sitting for that long is fatiguing, making concentration even more difficult. Schoolwork is bound to be less efficient with students constantly fidgeting, focusing more on their comfort than on how many books Johnny can buy if he has seven cents less than Mary, who has four cents. However, breaks during class are a simple yet effective way to retain students’ attention span. A short, five-minute recess is enough to clear the mind and start afresh. No matter what happens during a break, both the teacher and students can focus better after, making it a win-win situation for everyone. When students are forced to concentrate for up to 90-minutes per period, schools should require small breaks during classes to retain student engagement. It benefits both the students and the teachers and will minimize the problem of daydreaming and students being side-
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Sundance Film Festival showcases excellent films, shorts !"#$%&'()*+,
Nikie Behal Staff Writer
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he Sundance Film Festival — a breeding ground for independent cinema — was a fully virtual event for the second straight year. The festival was supposed to return to its home in Park City, Utah, with a hybrid model to allow audiences to experience the films both in-person and online. But after the rise of the Omicron variant, the festival canceled its in-person festivities and went fully virtual. Nonetheless, the virtual Sundance was a massive success. As someone who attended the previous virtual rendition of the festival, the experience this year was much more seamless. Following a Q&A, the festival invited those watching to continue discussing the film with fellow audience members and the stars of the movie in the Metaverse. In what Sundance calls the New Frontier, the VRcompatible experience allowed the audience to design their own avatar and attend virtual after-parties where they can join live chat rooms to mingle and network with fellow festival goers. But what stood out in this year’s festival was the excellent slate of feature films, documentaries and shorts. Here are my top picks from this year’s selection of films.
Visionary South Korean filmmaker Kogonada makes his second Sundance appearance with “After Yang,” a soft sci-fi film starring Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith and Haley Lu Richardson. The film comes to Sundance after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last July. The film follows a married couple in a future world who have adopted a Chinese child. In order to educate their young daughter, Mika, about her Chinese heritage, her father (Farrell) decides to purchase a lifelike android named Yang from a company that specializes in giving adopted Chinese children an older, robotic sibling. Mika and Yang form an unbreakable bond, which comes to a screeching halt when Yang malfunctions. The rest of the film follows Mika’s father, a tea shop owner, trying to fix Yang, as well as discovering his secret second life. This film has a massive heart. It’s a much more optimistic look at the rise of artificial intelligence, one that is centered on a pure brother-sister relationship. “After Yang” is one of the most sentimental and excellently crafted science fiction films in recent memory that beautifully explores artificial intelligence and racial identity. It will be released by A24 in theaters and will stream on Showtime starting March 4.
!-%%*.(/012'"'3)*4%'5&678+4, More than two decades in the making, Chike Ozah and Coodie Simmons’ three-part documentary chronicling the rise to fame of rapper, producer, designer and fashion icon, Kanye West, had its world premiere at the
festival, with all three parts set to debut on Netflix in February. Act I, “Vision,” documents West’s big break, his ambition for greatness and his place in the large and ever-growing Chicago hip-hop scene. The film starts with narration from Simmons, explaining how he first encountered West and how he spent the next 20 years of his life documenting the career and life of the rapper. “Jeen-Yuhs” takes an unusual approach to the documentary format, telling the story and the perspective of the filmmaker before discussing the subject of the film. This format is surprisingly effective, as the film explores the friendship between West and Simmons and adds an extra layer of narrative to an already solid product. “Vision” follows West after his first major producing credit, Jay-Z’s “H To The Izzo,” and his desire to be more than just a producer — more specifically, his desire to get signed to Dame Dash’s Roc-A-Fella Records, the label that housed Jay-Z himself. After not getting a deal after “Izzo,” West took matters into his own hands. In an incredible scene with intimate footage, West ambushes the New York City Roc-A-Fella offices to play a demo of his debut album hoping to be offered a deal. This extreme tactic does not immediately result in a deal but shows the amount of ambition and confidence West had from an early age. The future installments of this trilogy will surely explore where those traits got him, for better and for worse. “Jeen-Yuhs” is an origin story of one of the most polarizing pop culture figures of all time, and delivers astonishing, fly-on-the-wall footage of key moments that made West into who he is.
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2020 SXSW winner Cooper Raiff writes, directs and stars in his second feature film, “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” which had its world premiere at Sundance and was received warmly by festival goers. The film won the audience-voted U.S. Audience Award and was subsequently snapped up by Apple TV for a whopping $15 million. Raiff, at just 23-years-old, plays a recent college graduate living with his parents and unsure of his future. Without a real job, he starts accompanying his middle school-age brother to his classmates’ Bar Mitzvahs, where he unknowingly becomes the life of the party. After one party, he is approached by some of the moms at the school who want to pay him to be a “party-starter,” essentially a hype man for local Bar Mitzvahs. While on the job, he forges a friendship with a mom named Domino, played by Dakota Johnson, and her daughter. The rest of the film serves as a triple coming-of-age story. Raiff ’s character is figuring out who he is, Johnson’s character is figuring out the future for her family and the kids in the movie, like any 13-year-olds, are also coming of age. “Cha Cha Real Smooth” is thoughtful, funny and features some amazing performances by both adults and children. Raiff, at his young age, continues to show why he is leading the next generation of independent film. In a time when having a large, indoor film festival is near-impossible, Sundance reinvented how a festival can be experienced, while also making it more accessible to global audiences than ever.
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KYLA SCHWARZBACH/THE CAMPANILE
Pink Carnation Couture unveils its spring clothing line at their storefront. “We basically sell what is trendy at the time,” employee and junior Lily DeAndre said.
Fashion boutique Pink Carnation opened a location in Town and Country Village in November, but unlike previous temporary pop-up locations in the Bay Area, owners Edwin Carrillo and Amber Barrera said they hope their shop in Town and Country becomes permanent. “We started doing pop-ups in other areas, mainly in Morgan Hill and San Jose,” Carrillo said. “At farmers’ markets, they had small areas where you could set up and sell your stuff. That’s how we started, and we were able to get this store and move into a more semi-permanent location.” Carillo said their contract with Town and Country is a short-term lease, meaning that they can stay open at this location for six months and reevaluate then about whether or not to extend the lease. “We think we are going to extend it,” Carrillo said. “Because of COVID-19, some of the sales have been low, especially in January. But it’s starting to pick up, and based on the sales we had in December, we think we are going to extend it and at least do a one-year lease.” Carrillo said sales patterns can unpredictable due to the short amount of time the store has been in business. “They change drastically,” Carrillo said. “I don’t think we have actually found a trend of how the sales are going so far. But the reality is that they are stable.”
Pink Carnation made adjustments to its products and marketing once the owners noticed a change in demographics between Palo Alto and their previous locations. Originally, this was supposed to target people in their mid-20s, but when we moved in, we noticed the demographics here were very different, so we started targeting a younger market,” Carrillo said. “At this point, we’re probably looking into high school students and shoppers in their late 20s.” In order to market clothing and products to this younger group, employee and junior Lily DeAndre said the store keeps up on what’s popular through the Internet. “We basically sell what’s trendy at the time,” DeAndre said. “We do research on Pinterest and a lot on popular social media, such as Instagram and TikTok.” DeAndre began working at Pink Carnation in December, and she said she has enjoyed working closely with the owners of a small business. “The owners are amazing,” DeAndre said. “They started it from the ground up, which is really impressive.”
Brianna Zhou Staff Writer
Monday, March 7, 2022
The Campanile
B3
Lifestyle
Being real with BeReal: new social media app promotes authenticity A
fter a long day of school, senior Sophia Baginskis finally gets in her car, makes the long trek out of the parking lot to her bed and settles in to do what most teenagers do — peruse social media. As Baginskis taps through Instagram and Snapchat stories, she opens a new app that has recently made its way on to her social media roster: BeReal.
BeReal, a new social media app, quite literally encourages its users to “be real” with their friends, allowing them to show their authentic selves. Once a day at a random time, the app will send a notification informing users that it is time to BeReal. Once users click on the app, they have a two-minute window to take two photos with both the front and back cameras and share what they are doing. The app markets itself as “a new and unique way to discover who your friends are in their daily life.” Baginskis said she downloaded the app in mid-January and has enjoyed its features ever since. “I downloaded BeReal because a couple of my other friends that I was on a trip with at the time downloaded it, and I thought it would be a fun way to see what we were all doing at the same time of the day,” Baginskis said. Senior Ryan Lykken said he downloaded the app from a friend’s suggestion as well, saying he enjoys the app because of how it differs from other forms of social media he uses. “You are able to see people from all around the world’s BeRe-
als on the discovery page,” Lykken said. “Also, the app only is used about once a day, maybe twice at most, which is good for most people because it does not become addicting.” Baginskis said she likes the app because it helps keep her connected with friends who may not be close by. “A lot of my friends in college have BeReal which can be kind of fun because I don’t see them that frequently or hear from them that frequently,” Baginskis said. “So I like getting their BeReal updates and seeing a glimpse of their lives in college.” Baginskis also said the app allows her to be more authentic than other forms of social media. “I keep my BeReal circle a lot smaller than I do on other social media platforms. And that allows me to be more open with what I post so I would post stuff that isn’t really curated. Whereas on Instagram, I usually think about the picture I’m gonna post before I post it,” Baginskis said. Sophomore Ellie Roth agrees and said BeReal is a more genuine environment. “I feel that BeReal allows me to be more authentic on social media because instead of seeing curated photos like on Instagram
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that set unhealthy standards for how I should aspire to look like or be like, on BeReal everyone is posting things spontaneously, and usually about normal everyday activities,” Roth said. Roth said she also finds the app’s random daily notifications refreshing. “The posts aren’t as curated since the app gives you a time limit when you take the daily photo,” Roth said. “It’s almost like they’re training us to be more casual and real with our posts, which might seem invasive, but I honestly think it’s necessary.” In addition, Roth said she enjoys the culture cultivated by BeReal. Roth said, “BeReal makes social media casual, which in a society that is so entranced about media to an unhealthy extent, is a really great breath of fresh air. Overall, I think it’s a fun app, and I really like the concept.”
Anaya Bhatt Lifestyle Editor
ART BY MEYA GAO
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The Campanile
Lifestyle
Monday, March 7, 2022
BEN ANTONOW/THE CAMPANILE
Top: Boichik Bagels’ sign at the Berkeley location. Left: The Classic, a toasted everything bagel loaded with lox, chive cream cheese, tomato, red onion and capers, earned positive reviews from Campanile staff members because of the perfect combination of flavors and textures.
Boichik Bagels Review: There are no(w) good bagels coming to Town and Country
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News & Opinion Editor
W
hen New York Times food critic Tejal Rao bravely proclaimed “the best bagels are in California” in a review of Berkeley’s Bochik Bagels, New Yorkers were mortified. Soonto-be Mayor Eric Adams promptly tweeted “Yeah, absolutely not.” Senior and ex-New Yorker Sebastian Bonnard felt similarly to Adams. “I was shocked,” Bonnard said. “It just doesn’t feel right that the best bagel is in Berkeley, California.” So when I heard Boichik Bagels
was opening its second location at Town and Country this spring, I decided I had to try them myself. I brought along three other Campanile staff members to help me make a bagel pilgrimage to Boichik’s Berkeley storefront on Saturday morning in February. We arrived around 9:15 a.m., and there already was a line around the block. However, it moved quickly, and our bagels were in hand about 15 minutes after getting in line. There was no indoor or outdoor seating, so we ate our bagels in the neighborhood nearby. We first sampled The Classic ($15.50): lox with chive cream cheese, tomato, red onion and capers
on a toasted everything bagel. The bagel was topped with heaping proportions of melt-in-your-mouth salmon. The lox, probably the best I’ve ever had, was sliced into bitesized slivers, keeping the bagel intact as we ate. Although the healthy serving of lox was great, the amount of capers was excessive and their the saltiness was so overwhelming that I almost couldn’t taste the delightful sweetness of the bagel which was perfectly chewy, not too dense, and far more than just a vessel for the toppings. We tried a few other bagel flavors as well. The cinnamon raisin was a marvelous surprise and paired with Boichik’s plain whipped cream
cheese, its perfect sweetness made it the best cinnamon raisin bagel I had ever tasted. The plain, sesame seed and everything bagels were all excellent, but the cinnamon raisin was my a standout. New York purists and bagel connoisseurs may disagree, but Boichik’s Bagels convinced me of one thing: there is not a significant difference between a pretty good bagel and the best bagel in the country. If you are expecting an out-of-body experience when you visit Boichik, set your expectations lower. That said, the food was exceptional. We also tried the Daily Special ($6.50): cucumbers, sprouts, and cream cheese on a sesame bagel. All
of us agreed the sandwich was significantly greater than the sum of its parts, but mostly because the sesame bagel was pretty perfect. Boichik also brews Mother Tongue coffee, which makes for an excellent iced coffee. Overall, our experience was positive. While we went to Boichik in Berkeley hoping for a life-changing experience, we left slightly disappointed, but that was only because our expectations were too high. The bagels are superb. Whether they are the best in the country is difficult for me to say, but they are the best bagels I have ever had. Paly, you’re in for a treat. Rating: 4.5/5 stars
The Crossword 26 ‘Berries and cream’ was a viral one, for TikTok 28 *New answers? 32 Curvy character 35 Delhi dress 36 Haydn’s hotel room 38 College cadet org. 40 Whitens 43 Stuff you might be stuffed up with 44 Sentry 46 Former king of the court, Arthur 48 Dreaded number for many a student 49 *Those in favor of farm machinery 53 Average pumpkin spice enjoyer 54 Obama or Cicero, for two 58 Dundee Dweller 60 Great Pyramid site 63 Tree for 24-Across 64 Boring, much like this clue 66 *Removes writing? 68 They’re seen by seers 69 Colorful part of the eye 70 Number of lives, for a cat 71 Dwarf planet beyond Pluto 72 Layer of paint 73 The “Eat” of Never Eat Soggy Waffles
Down
PUZZLE BY NEIL RATHI AND RONAK MONGA
Across 1 Chase or Fargo 5 Many a Moroccan 9 Aerosol powered paint 14 “Rock-____, baby . . .”
15 Sets of points, to a mathematician 16 Sports spot 17 *Center sharers? 19 Substantive, as beef
20 Tea serving, for a Brit 21 Remainder 23 Forensic detectives, briefly 24 She turned Arachne into a spider and Medusa into a gorgon
1 Chew follower [RRAWWARRGHH] 2 Around a round? 3 Naiad or dryad 4 Oliver Wood, for Gryffindor 5 ____ Ababwa (Genie’s creation) 6 Sound heard from Katy Perry, or T-rex 7 Teen’s breakout
8 Guinea-______ 9 Paly dancer Yamashita 10 The Ring, to Gollum 11 It follows claim and evidence 12 Prefix with “virus” and “freeze” 13 Huzzahs 18 Copenhagen Natives 22 He was inaugurated at nine and died at 19 25 “Stat!” 27 Prefix with “appear” and “like” 29 British singer Rita 30 Floral purple hue 31 Halt! 32 Bit of work 33 Introductory course? 34 Right at sea 37 Traveller’s letters 39 Like much of the Adriatic coast 41 Suffix with “smart” or “dig” 42 Command to fly 45 Booze blues 47 Flub 50 Oil drilling structure 51 Opposite of 53-Across 52 Like seawater, or tears 55 Fibula’s friend 56 “Bake Off” fixtures 57 Start over 58 Places where the cucumbers aren’t eaten 59 What you’re reading right now Organic org. 61 Ten minus ten 62 Home to the Urals and Himalayas 65 Snowden’s former employer, in brief 67 Windy city hrs. !"#$%&'#()*+#,%%-.+#+"/0(*"1+2#3*+*(4 !"#$%&'%()*#+,-./0,*1!),(0/
Monday, March 7, 2022
The Campanile
Sports
WINNING BY PINNING
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he varsity wrestling team competed at the CIF state championship on Feb. 26, with seniors Ella Jauregui and Cade Creighton both placing, making them the first Paly wrestlers to do so since 2007, according to Coach Jonathan Kessler. “(Ella’s) the highest placement out of the girls,” Kessler said. “Seeing Cade on the podium was great.” Kessler said he wrestled since high school, and began coaching the team during the 2015-16 season. “The end of the season tournaments (like CCS and the state championships) are always, always, always memorable,” Kessler said. “Ella making it to the state finals was awesome for the program.” Jauregui placed second after beating the top wrestler in the nation. She began wrestling with Kessler in eighth grade. Jauregui said wrestling and training has helped her grow, both when competing and in academics. “I 100% believe (wrestling) has helped me grow even outside of the sport,” Jauregui said. “I’ve learned so much about discipline and what it takes to commit to a goal and see it through. The most important thing I've gotten from this preparation is a level of comfort and confidence, even when I'm nervous. Reassuring myself that I have done everything in my power to prepare and I am ready to compete is a feeling I've worked hard to achieve.” Senior Cade Creighton placed fifth in his bracket and has been wrestling for 10 years, both for and outside of Paly. “I definitely think wrestling played a giant role in my life,” Creighton said. “I put in so many hours into this sport and because of that I got to see so many places and wrestle so many amazing athletes. Wrestling made me strong, helped me learn how to fight and made me a more capable person.” Felter said wrestling contributed to his growth on and off the mat too. “I’m thankful to have chosen such a unique and different sport since it’s taught me lessons that I didn’t come across in other sports growing up,” Fel-
ter said. “It’s taught me how to handle winning, but more importantly it has taught me how to lose.” Creighton encourages prospective wrestlers to join the team and offered some advice. “Remember that everyone starts at the same place, and anyone can learn as fast as they want to,” Creighton said. “Wrestling is the most difficult sport in this school, and those who want to push themselves will be very proud of the results.” Felter seconds Creighton and strongly recommends those interested to give the sport a try. “Just show up,” Felter said. “It takes a lot of courage to try out such a different sport, and no one is going to blame you if you come in and decide it’s not for you.”
Kyla Schwarzbach Media Manager
CELESTE BATES/USED WITH PERMISSION
!"#$%&'()$*'&%+,'-./*0%&1"#'&%'.#"(0.%1/#,-2 Girls basketball closes 7(%#"%-'(1#(%6*1#3'-*8."/."-%'.($*&.$#*"#9#(2#*%,".2),*'&&#)-&*:".-38-$%'() out season in first round of States Junior Anthony Chiu flips open his laptop and clicks on a link in his Chrome bookmarks bar. As the site loads, numerous pop-up ads and redirects appear, followed by a list of in-progress soccer, football and tennis matches, each with a link leading to an illegally pirated stream of the live event. The illegal broadcasting of pirated sports streams, also known as cord cutting, lets people bypass paid subscription services like ESPN, Netflix or Hulu to access live sports content for free. The practice has grown increasingly popular among Paly students like Chiu, with the most common sports pirated being those with the highest viewership fees. “The most prevalent (pirated) sports would be the sports that are most protected, like football and basketball,” Chiu said. “The Olympics are nationally televised and available everywhere for free, so there wouldn’t be any pirating of that because everyone can watch it. (For) things that are more protected, like boxing, where you have to pay 50 bucks for every match you want to watch, people are more willing to pirate.” Chiu said despite the risks, he pirates football and tennis streams on a weekly basis to avoid purchasing an expensive ESPN live subscription. Junior Asa Deggeller said because pirating sports streams is more convenient and saves money, the practice is common. “I think a lot of people don't have access to cable TV, and pirating is an easy way to access the sports stream,” Deggeller said. “I don't think anyone wants to actually buy just one game or buy a subscription because they usually cost a large amount of money.” Physical education teacher and football fan Jason Fung said while he doesn’t know of anyone from his generation who pirates sports, he understands the motives behind illegal streams.
Charlotte Hallenbeck Business Manager
ART BY WALLIE BUTLER
“I haven’t really ever experienced that side of things, but I can only imagine it happens more often than not with the amount of money these (streaming) companies make and these organizations make,” Fung said. “Dana White had a big UFC fight this weekend, and I’m sure people are streaming it somewhere and not paying for it.” Fung said while piracy may seem harmless, the practice can hurt legitimate sports entertainment companies and reduce broadcasting companies’ revenue by offering a free alternative to consumers. “People are trying to make money out there and you’re trying to go against them making money,” Fung said, “Using UFC as an example, if you want to watch it, and you are interested, you’ve got to pay money, right? It’s not like you can go to a UFC fight live and walk in for free, so I think (piracy is) wrong.” According to the market analysis firm Ampere Analysis, the sports entertainment industry has seen a $28.3 billion loss in 2021 with 51% of sports fans surveyed
reporting that they pirate sports content at least once a month. Chiu said he understands the harms of piracy but said it has a net positive impact for making sports easier to access for a large audience while only reducing the profits of large corporations by a small fraction. “The proportion of people who pirate to the proportion of people who stream normally is very low,” Chiu said. “For people who don't consistently watch a sport, it’s just a lot easier, and it doesn’t cost money. Pirating has really only become a thing since the Internet has become a lot more convenient.” Deggeller agrees. “The sports companies and the television networks are making enough money on their own,” Deggeller said. “I don’t think (piracy is) affecting their business negatively. I don’t think we should want to make it legal, but I don’t think we should go after it, just turn a blind eye.”
Jerry Xia
Newsletter Editor
After an eventful and memorable season, the varsity girls basketball team closed out its season Tuesday night with a 58-46 loss versus Cardinal Newman in the first round of the CIF State Championships. “We came out and it was a very physical game,” coach Scott Peters said. “It was a dog fight and they got up on us early. We fought back in the third quarter and by the start of the fourth, we had cut the lead all the way down to two.” Despite the loss, Peters is proud of the players for putting forth all their effort until the final buzzer. “We could’ve easily folded up because we were on the road,” he said. “They had a really nice crowd that was loud — a great high school atmosphere — but we fought back.” Peters' pride for the team extends beyond the game versus Newman. “I am mostly proud of this team because the girls — even those who might’ve not played a lot — consistently supported the team,” Peters said. “There was great team chemistry and I think we had a lot of memorable moments throughout the season that made it a fun year.” Senior Thea Enache also recognized the fun team environment. “The freshmen would always stay after practice to shoot and get a bunch of reps in — running through things hundreds of times until they got it right,” Enache said. “You don’t usually see that energy from freshmen, but everyone on the team was comfortable, assertive and worked hard to be the best version of themselves.” While the season didn’t end on a high note, the SCVAL De Anza league championship title made it one to remember. “Our coach was telling us that the other coaches were saying that there was no way for us to win league because (Los) Gatos had an average roster height of six feet and Homestead had some heavy hitters also, but we won league,” Enache said. “We had a pretty decent record, worked really well as a team and had a fun season. I am really thankful that I got to play.”
The Campanile
Monday, March 7, 2022
C2
Sports
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Managing Editor
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After reaching the CCS Division Two quarterfinals, the girls varsity soccer team finished off its season with a 1-1 tie going into overtime and a 4-3 loss in the penalty kick round against Piedmont High School. “It’s never fun to lose in penalty kicks, but I thought our last game we played really well,” senior and cocaptain Kat Thomsen said. “I think it was the best game of the season. So even though we lost it, I was really happy ending the season on that game.” Thomsen said by taking what it learned in practice and applying that on the field, the team reached its goal of playing in CCS and winning season games against rivals like Gunn. “When you’re on the field (in a sport) like soccer, there are no timeouts or anything like that,” Thomsen said. “It’s really about the players having to communicate in the middle of the situation, the middle of the game. And it’s really about the players bringing what they learned from practice into the game.” Junior and center midfielder Payton Anderson said she and her teammates focused on strengthening communication and forming close bonds with each other throughout the season, something she thinks they succeeded at despite the challenges they faced at the beginning of the season. “At the beginning of the season, Omicron was still a big issue,” Anderson said. “We did have team bonding activities, and we’d have pasta feeds, so we definitely bonded as a team at the beginning. But then because of Omicron, all those activities were shut down. So we tried to have team lunches at school, and we dressed up on a lot of the home game days to try and rally team spirit and support each other.” Senior co-captain and forward Brighid Baker said staying motivated and focused was a challenge for the team, but it was something they pushed through together. “We had practice every morning at 7 a.m., which is very tiring and hard to wake up for,” Baker said. “I go into practice being so tired and in the worst mood, and then as soon as we start practicing or start playing, everyone’s mood picks up, and you can really tell. We just start the day off a little bit better.” Thomsen said she thinks the closeness of the team made the season especially successful. “It’s hard in such a short amount of time to get everybody to speak the same language, (to) just play well together as a team,” Thomsen said. “That was a struggle at first, just because we have so many good players individually. But once we got to know each other better and we started playing more games, we started to really play as a team, and that’s when you win games.”
Boys basketball defeated in controversial loss to Everett Alvarez
D
espite winning SCVAL’s De Anza League with a 10-2 league record, the boys varsity basketball team fell to Everett Alvarez 63-61 in CCS Quarterfinals to close out the season. The ending of the final game sparked controversy after the referees disallowed a game-tying shot. With 0.2 seconds remaining, senior Nikhil Majeti tipped a missed layup back in to even the score. The team’s coach, Jeff LaMere, said the referee said the clock wasn’t properly working and thus didn’t count the shot. “Certainly, that was very disappointing to the team, but it’s something that we don’t have control over,” LaMere said. “We did the best we could with the circumstances, and it’s one of those things that we talked about in the locker room afterwards: there’s often things in life that
are out of your control and you do the best that you can but you have to move forward in the end.” Similar to how the team handled its final game, it was also forced to overcome nine COVID-19 cases and injuries this season. LaMere said the team was ultimately able to make the most out of the situation with multiple players rising to the spotlight. “We ended up with numerous players sitting out of games because of illness so it was exciting to see different players step up in different parts of the season and have their moments,” LaMere said. Captain and senior Sebastian Chancellor attributes his teammates stepping forward to its camaraderie. The togetherness of the team was especially evident when it played its final league game against Los Altos and won 49-43 to become league champions.
“Going into our last (regular season) game, our coach told us to leave our signature on the season, so we went in with the mindset that we were going to leave it all out on the court,” Chancellor said. “Our word that we used the most throughout the season was ‘together’ and we definitely carried that idea throughout the game.” Chancellor said the team’s will to win never wavered despite the season’s ending “There were a lot of life lessons that came with this season and a lot of adversity that was unanticipated that I think we handled really well,” Chancellor said. “It was definitely a tough way to end, but I am proud of all the things we accomplished.”
Charlotte Hallenbeck Business Manager
Eileen Gu soars over Olympic backlash !"#$%&"'(')*+,"-./%(0."-(12)*+.,&(34%%5'")2%('6.%47(8,)(94%,(&,".:%(;.2%%&(<# Joy Xu
Lifestyle Editor Familiar with the Bay Area community, 18-year-old Eileen Gu has taken the Winter Olympic sporting world by storm, dominating her skiing events, the Women’s Big Air, Women’s Halfpipe and Women’s Slopestyle. This year, Gu won two gold medals (Big Air and Halfpipe) while also adding a silver medal (Slopestyle) to her Olympic resume. Despite being born and raised a short drive from Palo Alto, Gu decided to dive into her familial roots and represent her mother’s native country, China in the Olympics. This decision has been met with controversy as Gu has faced racial and gender prejudices that have partly been derived from this choice. “I’ve found it alarming that on top of all the misogynistic and racist comments that would disappointingly naturally be directed at Eileen, she receives more hate for a choice that she made,” senior Anika Chang said. “Instead, we should appreciate that we have a young skier our age who will continually compete for the years to come.” As far as approaching the obstacles that have been thrown at Gu has persevered and proven to the world that no matter the scale
of attempts to affect her negatively, she will continue to strive and display her talents to the rest of the world, senior Aidan Do said. “It’s admirable how Gu is able to hold her head high through negative situations,” Do said, “especially since the Asian community has been receiving more hate in the past couple of years. Although I don’t like how she’s not competing for the United States, Gu is successfully proving that she’s a role model who is able to put hate to rest.” In addition Gu’s overcoming negativity directed towards her, her increasing popularity as a prominent young Olympic skier has grabbed the attention of many near her hometown including junior Ayush Singh. “I think it’s really cool how she’s lived so close to us as she’s grown up in San Francisco,” Singh said. “With such a major athlete represent-
ing events against the top-level competition, it’s inspiring to see a member of the Bay Area community flourish and achieve her goals.” With the Bay Area often known for other major American sports like football, basketball, baseball and hockey rather than producing top-tier winter athletes, Gu has cemented her status as a
distinguished athlete who resides within our community, Chang said. “The craziest thing about her is that she’ll be attending Stanford, which is literally just across the street from our school,” Chang said. “Having someone who will continue establishing a position at the top of her sport a crosswalk away is really awe-inspiring.”
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Monday, March 7, 2022
The Campanile
Sports
C3
Skating the world by storm !"#$%&'()*+&%(,'-*.('-/00/1'(2/%+'30/(&04'*('+5&'60472"3('3/7&'+/'*'30/(& Colleen Wang
Chen said another issue is the physical stress of the sport. Because skaters with smaller and younger bodies have an advanSenior Staff Writer tage in doing jumps, this can contribute to eating disorders and unnecessary stress for growing bodies. enior and figure skating fan Claire Chen watches the 2022 There may even be pressure to dope, like what happened to Winter Olympics with bated breath as Japanese figure skater Valieva, the first woman to land a quadruple jump and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu begins his in the Olympics. Valieva, a 15-year-old, tested free skate and prepares to attempt a quadruple axel, the one jump positive for the banned heart drug and endurance in figure skating that has never been landed before. enhancer trimetazidine during the 2022 Winter He turns forward and jumps, spinning a few times Olympics, yet still competed in the women’s probefore he lands and falls, eventually earning gram, a decision that caused uproar in the figure fourth place at the end of the competiskating community. tion. Cummings said she was upset by the decision Later, as Chen looks through because it gave Valieva an unfair advantage over the detailed score breakdown, her competitors. she realized that although “I was blown away by (Valieva), and I know Hanyu’s quad axel jump was that I and other girls who figure skate look under-rotated, it was the first up to her,” Cummings said. “To find out she’s quad axel to not be downtaking drugs is really disappointing because it graded to a triple axel — kind of takes away her influence as an athlete, meaning his attempt was the as the most important part of being an athclosest anyone has gotten to lete is to inspire other younger athletes.” successfully jumping the Chen said the doping was not only Vaquad axel. lieva’s responsibility, but the responsibility For Chen, figure of the adults around her as well. skating is worth “This is a very sensitive case, because it following for many deals with not only a minor, but the entire reasons, including system that caused the minor to be the skaters’ athletic placed in a vulnerable position that and artistic skills, she is in now,” Chen said. as the 2022 Winter Although figure skating has its Olympics in China recently flaws, the sport still attracts viewers showcased. and skaters alike, including Chen Senior figure skater Lauand Cummings. ra Lengre said she began Cummings says her own figure ice skating in kinderskating experience engarten after passing hances her viewing by the local ice rink of figure skating. Winter Lodge and “I probably have becoming interested in the a bit more respect spins and tricks. and appreciation “You’re on ice, so when you skate, it feels for figure skaters just because I can very smooth, and I liked that (feeling),” Lengre said. understand how hard the things they Sophia Cummings, a senior and figure skater do are,” Cummings said. “If a skater just since preschool, said she decided to start watching barely lands a jump, I know how much figure skating competitions for inspiration. muscle that took, and since I have “I really looked up to this Korean figure skater also performed, I know how stressed named Yuna Kim,” Cummings said. “She was a huge they are, which makes it a lot more role model for me growing up, and I would just always entertaining and impressive for me to read books about Olympic figure skating.” watch.” However, Cummings said figure skating has its dark Lengre agrees and said sides, including the doping scandal of Kamila Valieva experiencing figure skating from the Russian Olympic Committee in the 2022 firsthand allows her to better Olympics. understand its difficulty. Scoring in figure skating can get complicated. “I used to think, ‘Oh, I Judges evaluate skaters on their techniques, such could probably do that spin as jumps, spins and step sequences, and their or jump,’” Lengre said. “But ability to execute them, as well as their overall when you do it yourself, you realpresentation of the performance. ize just how complicated it is.” ART BY ALEXANDRA MA Chen said the lack of structured and objecThough a lot of attention tive scoring can be harmful. has recently been placed on “(Figure skating) isn’t a timed sport where you either break figure skating due to the the record or you don’t, or you either get the fastest time or you Olympics and its dopdon’t,” Chen said. “It’s something where, because of the subjectiving scandal, Cummings ity and everything that happens behind closed doors, it’s difficult said she hopes for more to keep transparent.” consistent awareness of the sport. Chen said she enjoys watching figure skating not because of “People kind of forget about figure skating until the Olympics its physical prowess, but also for its artistry and performance. roll around,” Cummings said. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me “You can’t just do the jumps or just have the physical strength they don’t really consider it a sport, and it’s frustrating to know and ability to do certain things — you have to also know how to that figure skating doesn’t get all the appreciation and recognition interpret music and know how to put on a show,” Chen said. that it really deserves.”
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EMILY YAO/USED WITH PERMISSION
The boys soccer team huddles on the field after its 2-1 victory against Gunn High School on Feb. 16.
5(*&%&(''/1%/,6&% &.1(,#%(7/1-))%&/-&(,% 8".$%9")'(:%)(&& Charlotte Hallenbeck Business Manager
Despite a season where the team placed third in the SCVAL De Anza League, the boys varsity soccer team closed out its season with a 2-0 loss to Wilcox. Captain and senior Jaron Majors said the team earned its third place finish through ending games strong, particularly in a 2-1 victory against Gunn during Senior Night after having tied Gunn 0-0 earlier in the season. “It was pretty amazing,” Majors said. “Winning during senior night with the last-minute goal off a corner kick will always be the most memorable moment of the season for me.” Coach Rusty Millard, though, said he thinks the win over Gunn is a reason for the season ending too soon. “(Our loss against) Wilcox in the playoffs was a tough one for us,” Millard said. “We had just beaten our cross-town rival on Senior Night three nights prior, so we were coming off such a high. To try and rally the group after that was as difficult as it could’ve been. We shouldn’t have been overconfident.” While the game and season did not end in the team’s favor, Millard said there were moments in the season-ending loss to Wilcox worth celebrating. “We stayed true to who we are as a team by playing collectively, keeping the ball on the ground, playing quick and linking up with each other to make combinations,” Millard said. “The boys did just that, and we competed to the very last second which, for me, is a major positive from the game because we were refusing to give in.” And Majors said the team always supported each other through the highs and lows. “We knew each other pretty well, and we had a lot of fun playing together,” Majors said. “The team was close-knit and everyone enjoyed each other’s presence.” Millard said he guarantees the team will continue to succeed, especially considering his returning lineup. “We have an amazing team coming back next year — the junior class is very talented which is super exciting,” Millard said. “The doubt that other teams might’ve had about Palo Alto is no longer. They should know they have to bring their best against us because we’re ready, and we’re up for the challenge. Paly soccer is back.”
!"#$%&'$(()%#*+,-&."'&%./-+&%/,'(01-#/%2/#",,/1&3%4-'/%)(#"&."'-)%"&&0/& Poppy Barclay Staff Writer
Junior Lauren Levine walks onto the gymnastics floor. She waits for the music to start, then begins her routine, finishing with a flourish. Her routine is one of many she practiced for her after-school gymnastics club. While Levine has competed on her club team for the past nine years, many high schools in the Bay Area have a school gymnastics team that gives its students a chance to try out the difficult sport without as much pressure or experience. Junior Anika Wahi, the captain of Wilcox’s threeperson gymnastics team in Santa Clara, loves being on the team, but said there are also many struggles that come with maintaining the team at her school, especially getting quality equipment and finding enough people to join the team. “My school doesn’t have a very big gymnastics team and doesn’t have equipment. So we practice at Cupertino High School with three other high schools,” she said. “But Cupertino also does not have the best gymnastics equipment as a public school, so our floor is the wrestling mat.” Wahi also said the limited equipment at Cupertino is old and of poor quality, and Garry DeGuzman, the coach for the multischolastic team, agrees. “The equipment is definitely sound, as far as safety goes. It’s just that it could be better. It’s
just a little bit older and more used,” DeGuzman said. Despite the challenges that having and maintaining a high school team has, Levine and club gymnast freshman Svina Narang said there are enough benefits to having a gymnastics team to make it worth it. For one, Narang said a club team is typically too hard and intimidating to join as a high schooler. “Many people (on a club team) would have been doing it their whole lives so (someone starting in high school) might feel behind,” Narang said. “Club would be a lot more training, hours wise, and it would be a lot more intense.” For schools offering a high school-level recreational team, starting gymnastics at an older age would be easier, Narang said. As opposed to club gymnastics, a high school team wouldn’t need its gymnasts to compete at levels that can only be reached with years of practice. “People who haven’t ever done it can try it, even if they don’t want to (compete at a high level),” Narang said. Levine adds that having a school team is also a good way to get more kids who don’t want to join a club team to try the otherwise niche sport. “It might be nice to meet more people at school who do gymnastics because there’s only a couple that I know,” Levine said. “It could get other people to try the sport who wouldn’t try otherwise, because it’s really hard to start when you’re older.”
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KAREN HICKEY/USED WITH PERMISSION
Jenna Hickey from Twisters Gymnastics performs at the 2021 regionals competition.
Narang and Levine both said they enjoy the pressure and difficulty of competing for a club team. However, a lot of people looking to try the sport, particularly as high schoolers, are likely interested in something more relaxed that allows more time for doing homework and spending time with friends, Narang said. “It’s a lot more chill than a club environment because they’re able to do not as difficult skills and it’s more fun,” Narang said. “It’s less training so you can have more outside time.” Both Narang and Levine said they would
sign up for the school team if Paly offered it, mainly to be part of the school sports community and meet new people. Narang said she wouldn’t quit her club team to join the school one, but rather compete for both. “I think they should bring (Paly’s team) back,” Narang said, referring to the team that Palo Alto and Gunn High School shared until 2014. “I would definitely join. Maybe I wouldn’t practice as much with high school and more just with my own gym, but I would still compete.”
The Campanile
Monday, March 7, 2022
C4
Science & Tech
Life360 sparks privacy issues !""#$%&'%('(#&)#"*)&'+&#,-.$/0#1&*-$%1#&*21&3#+*'-&'1#($1+)%&'%&
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n a night out, junior Mckenna Rausch opens her phone and swipes through her apps until she comes across a purple icon. A map showing the location of little moving avatars — her family members — lights up her screen. Life360, an app founded in San Francisco, is used by many students like Rausch and her parents for location tracking. The app allows users to create circles of people who can track one another, with permission, for safety purposes, specifically among family members. Junior Grace Corrigan said her family uses the app as a safety precaution, and though she said she does not mind its tracking features, she said the app has the potential to be an invasion of privacy if used obsessively. “It’s helpful if it is used as a (safety precaution) and parents are not constantly asking you about it,” Corrigan said. “But I think that it can be an invasion of privacy if parents are constantly looking at it and questioning what you are doing.” Rausch said she has experienced tracking with this app in her own family, something she said is frustrating as it leaves little room to gain trust in a parent-child relationship. “It can be helpful if I’m in a bad situation and my parents need to find me, but it’s turned into something my parents use at all times,” Rausch said. “It takes away
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the opportunity to gain trust with your parents about letting them know where you are.” Corrigan said if she were a parent, she would use an app like Life360 purely in emergency situations, preserving trust while still ensuring the safety of her family. “Ultimately, it is best to trust your child,” Corrigan said. “I would not check it unless I thought my child was in danger.” While the app can be used as a safety precaution, there are ways around Life360’s tracking. Rausch said users can pause their location, which stops others from being able to see where someone is. She said she has used this feature because she felt uncomfortable knowing the app would have access to information about her location. “I have paused my location not because I necessarily want to hide what I’m doing, but more because it makes me feel uncomfortable that I could be tracked on my every move,” Rausch said. Sophomore Ella Bishop said she does not think of tracking apps as an invasion of privacy when used by high school students. “I think at our age it’s less an invasion of privacy and more a safety feature, but I can understand how as you get older it may feel more invading,” Bishop said. Rausch agrees and said the app can be used in noninvasive ways. For instance, she said she has a circle on Life360 with her friends and is able to use the app to find where to meet people. Rausch said, “Only a few of my friends can track me, and I don’t mind that they can because it’s mostly used just to see where to meet people.” So while some see Life360 as an invasion of privacy, others say its purpose as a safety precaution used by parents means it’s not all bad. Bishop said, “For the most part I do feel OK with my parents having my location because in some sort of emergency it could be life-saving.”
Lillian Clark Staff Writer
>1&*?$1$&'**&#$@');+$ 4-#,$1$&-)4$31< Eric Fan
Senior Staff Writer
Although an average grain of table salt is only 0.03 centimeters in length, its effects on your body and your food’s flavor can be gargantuan. The human body needs around 500 milligrams of salt per day in order to perform vital functions such as contracting muscles, creating nerve impulses and keeping the ratio of water to minerals at a homeostatic level. Because of the importance of salt and the scarcity of it in unprocessed foods, humans have evolved to savor and seek out the mineral, and saltiness has become one of our five basic tastes. However, salt can do so much more than just increase the level of saltiness in a dish; it can magnify the strength of other flavors as well. An extremely important property of salt is its ability to activate osmosis within water-rich foods. Through osmosis, where water moves from a high water potential area (the food) to a low water potential area (the area where salt is applied), flavors become intensified as the water which dilutes the flavors decreases. Salt can also manipulate our taste buds into changing our perception of how a food tastes. According to Science Focus, “individual (taste buds) actually respond to several tastes each, at different levels of sensitivity.” This means one flavor can interfere with the taste of other flavors, and salt is no exception. Salt, in low concentrations, lowers bitterness and enhances sweet, sour and umami, while suppressing sweetness and increasing savoriness at higher concentrations. As such, sprinkling a bit of salt on a tomato will increase its depth of flavor, allowing the sour, sweet and savory notes to pop out, while a large amount of salt on a steak will help it taste more meaty. Despite all the benefits to flavor, it would be wise to not add too much. An excess of salt will raise blood pressure, which in turn damages heart health. It seems that, when it comes to salt — from the size of each crystal to the amount added to a dish — a little goes a long way.
A#*1(#5,#$&18);+$;18,#,$#B;'*#/#)*0$2',1@@-')*/#)* 4)."-%051#1&)+6#&2.7/'1#-1#%'8#-29.'%&'(#*'-/$&0#&'+:%)/)90#$%&*)(2+'(#&)#"27/$+ Shares of Meta stock dropped over 26% in early February, the largest single-day drop for the company formerly known as Facebook. This drove down the value of the company by more than $230 billion. So what caused such a sudden drop in value? Economics teacher Debbie Whitson said it could be due to Meta’s slowing growth. “The shock that made it fall initially was an earnings report that suggested they were not growing new accounts,” Whitson said. “So their earnings were increasing still, just at a decreasing rate. It was a suggestion that it was hard to get new customers to get onto Facebook.” Whitson said Meta’s competitors might be another reason for the dramatic fall in its stock price. “(There) was just more competition, and I think TikTok is probably the biggest one that’s stealing eyeballs from Facebook,” Whitson said. While companies have differing behaviors in the face of value drops like this, Whitson said most companies follow a similar pattern. “There can be some heads that roll in terms of reorganizing executives, if there’s a sense that you either need a scapegoat or you find a weak link that wasn’t pulling their weight,” Whitson
said. “If the company feels like it’s still on sound footing, and the price drops, they might be buying back shares just to hold shares on their own because the price has dropped.” Meta, however, will pretty much stay the same for now, according to a product management employee who agreed to be interviewed only if their name wasn’t used, as they weren’t authorized to talk to the media. “I’m not aware of any significant changes,” the employee said. “I don’t think the company reacts to the market like that. We believe in the vision. We believe in the mission, and we believe in the long term. It’s unfortunate that the market reacted the way that it did, but it doesn’t mean that we’re wrong and somebody else is right.” Senior Cannon Kissane, who is an investor in several tech companies such as Meta, said the stock market drop won’t affect him in the long run. “I hold Index funds and ETFs. Meta is a tiny percentage of those,” Kissane said. “If Facebook wants to plummet 50% tomorrow, that’s fine with me.” Despite some investors doubting Meta’s future, the Meta employee said they think the company will continue to grow. “But it’s ridiculously profitable, right? I don’t think we’re measuring the company based on the next quarter’s earnings report,” they said. “This is like a multi-decade or even longer perspective, and we have always, and will continue to be building for the future.”
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Cole Sturino
Senior Staff Writer