Issue 7: April 1, 2022

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NEWS

LIFESTYLE

SPORTS

City electrical grid updated to meet regulations. A3

Teen dramas normalize abusive relationships. B4

Sports betting illegal. C3

Campus updates: band, theatre and career speakers. A2

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Reactions vary toward mask mandates ending. B1

VALERIE CHU/THE CAMPANILE

Friday, April 1, 2022

The Campanile

Vol. CIV, No. 7

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

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U.S. POSTAGE

PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44

Senior Staff Writer

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Student homework, grading policy survey results released Maya Singer

News & Opinion Editor PAUSD released the results of a survey on the district's homework policy to the public the March 22 board meeting. The survey is meant to measure the effectiveness of a new district-wide homework and testing policy.

Board policy says homework, long-term projects and summative or graded assessments cannot be due or occur on a seven-period Monday, and teachers cannot assign tests or longterm assignments due the week after a break.

"Students in their ninth-grade year may reasonably expect average homework loads not to exceed 1.5 hours per night or seven hours per week,” the board policy states. “Similarly, twelfth grade students can expect loads not to exceed two hours per night or ten hours per week. Students who choose to enroll in Advanced Placement, Honors, or accelerated courses should expect higher homework loads, but not to exceed three hours per night or 15 hours per week.”

Homework policy continues on A2

KAREN HICKEY/USED WITH PERMISSION

Former Athletic Director and varsity football coach Nelson Gifford paces down the sideline during the team's 41-14 loss to Junipero Serra High School on Sept. 3. Gifford was the varsity football coach for four years before stepping down this week.

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Maya Singer

News & Opinion Editor

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elson Gifford resigned as head football coach Tuesday, after being let go from his position as athletic director last Thursday.

Gifford, who joined Paly’s coaching staff in 2018, led the football team through four seasons with a record of 24-16. After serving three years as athletic director, Gifford will return to the classroom as a special education teacher next school year.

The district has begun the recruiting and hiring process for the positions of Athletic Director and Head Football Coach, according to an email from Assistant Principal LaDonna Butler who is the principal in charge of overseeing the athletic department.

2022-23 ASB elected officers announced ASB elections have come to a close, and results have come out for ASB officers for the 2022-2023 year.

Junior Ashley Meyer will be the ASB President, along with junior Felicia Lee as ASB Vice President.

Junior Megha Madhabhushi will hold the Secretary position, and junior Vivian Trach will be the ASB Treasurer.

For the Class of 2023, current junior Ashley Hung will lead as senior president and junior Natalie Karel as senior vice president.

Current sophomores leading the Class of 2024 are Sophia Kim as junior

NONPROFIT ORG

Colleen Wang

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Science & Tech Editor

PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301

More plantbased school lunches available

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Parker Wang

Baseball season starts off strong, star players rise to occasion. C1

president and Mike Song as junior vice president. Current freshmen Julian Hong and Linden Wang will lead the Class of 2025 as sophomore president and vice president, respectively.

Compared to previous years, there was a sharp decline in the number of candidates running for positions for the next school year.

Meyer said she has been through a few elections at Paly and this year was the first time she had no competitors.

“It was a much less stressful campaign week for me than for other candidates, but I still did put up some posters around campus, posted on Instagram and also reached out to a few people throughout the school,” Meyer said.

Similar to Meyer, Trach said she also had no one running against her.

“My campaigning process was pretty simple and most of my campaigning was online,” Trach said.

For campaigning, students typically plan out creative themes and mottos to use.

Trach said she used a theme similar to a Spotify album cover, and used covers about money since she was running for ASB Treasurer.

Lee said when she began running, she didn’t know who she was running against.

“I thought I at least had the chance of winning as I tend to do my elections in a unique, funny and weird way,” Lee said.

Read more about the elections at www.thecampanile.org

“We would like to thank Nelson Gifford, who has served in both positions, for the contributions he has made to Palo Alto High School, the athletics program and students,” Butler said.

The Sports Student Association, which works directly with the athletic director and gives input on budgets, funding and school climate, had not been notified of Gifford’s removal or resignation until contacted by a Campanile reporter. No one from that organization wanted to be interviewed on the record for this story.

Gifford did not respond to interview requests about his resignation but he told The Mercury News, "It was time to go in a different direction.

Unfortunately there wasn’t an alignment of values.”

For a deeper look at historical issues within the athletic department and the perspectives of Gifford, athletes and parents, see pages A4-5.

In response to a petition signed by over 300 students, PAUSD implemented a pilot program starting March 9 to offer more plant-based school lunch options through a bimonthly specialty bar.

Junior Morgan Greenlaw, one of the students who started the petition, said the hope is the school will offer more options for students’ dietary needs and provide healthier meal options.

“At the beginning, it was a movement that not many people were part of, so it was critical for us to have support before we spoke with Nutrition Services,” Greenlaw said.

Junior Carlota Blanco, another student involved in the movement, said students advocating for more plantbased lunches used various methods to drum up support for their cause.

“We were reaching out to students on campus walking around us, and reaching out to the librarians, who posted it on Schoology,” Blanco said.

Through the students’ efforts, they began working with Nutrition Services to coordinate a new program, and Greenlaw praised the responsiveness of Nutrition Services.

“Nutrition Services has been very willing to adapt based on the feedback that we've given them,” Greenlaw said.

Blanco agreed and and said she hopes plant-based meals will be more widely available as a lunch option.

“I'm very proud of all the work the campaign has done and how (the administration) has collaborated with us, and I hope that it can transition into something more going up,” Blanco said.

Greenlaw said the program will provide accessibility for students with different dietary and cultural needs.

“We’re just trying to figure out how to best make sure that everybody can get the meal that they want,” Greenlaw said.

Blanco said this pilot program can offer options for students looking for healthier, less resource-consuming lunches and urges students to use the specialty bar in order for it to become a recurring option.

She said, “We’re not trying to put pressure on students to feel vegan or to be vegan, but just to help them understand this can help the climate and animals, and it's pretty easy — all you have to do is get in line for the (specialty) bar.”

Editor’s note: One of the petition organizers is Margot Blanco, a staff writer on The Campanile.

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ANUSHE IRANI/USED WITH PERMISSION

Campus supervisor Ernesto Cruz died last Saturday from a heart attack. He was 55 years old. In this photo from November 2021, Cruz sits in the golf cart he used to ride around campus. “Almost every Hispanic person knew Ernesto and they all loved him,” senior Diego Diaz said. “He made everyone feel extremely included and extremely welcomed and was someone that was really genuine in everything he said."

A full story about Ernesto Cruz's life is on A3

The Campanile

Friday, April 1, 2022

A2

News

VALERIE CHU/THE CAMPANILE

JULIANA SONNEVELD AND GREGORY BRAIL/USED WITH PERMISSION

Campus hosts music, theater performances, career speakers Bands, orchestra play in Pops Concert

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eaturing the school’s orchestra, bands and jazz bands, the music department held its annual Pops Concert on March 18, for the first time in three years.

The performance, held in the Peery Center for students, parents and staff, focused on popular music, differentiating it from the ensembles’ typical classical performances.

Songs played included film medleys such as “Bond … James Bond” and familiar songs such as “Fireflies.” Band and orchestra director Jeffrey Willner said the concert’s music was selected to make the concert more fun and engaging for the audience.

“We play things that are in a lighter classical vein, or something like a medley of Motown hits,” Willner said. “We try to do as much current music as we can, but also just things that people like to hear, or that your parents will recognize.”

The event was held in a decorated Peery Center for a crowd of 400, a larger audience than other most other Paly music events.

“The goal is always to have a nice event for the community, and not just a concert, but something with a little bit of a party atmosphere,” Willner said. “It’s a concert that’s really festive with fun music that moves pretty quickly.”

Due to health concerns related to COVID-19, the typically adjoined Swing Dance was not held for the third year in a row.

“When we began the preparation for it a few months ago, there was no way that we could have felt

comfortable having it be a swing dance,” Willner said.

In lieu of the dance, the groups performed more songs than in other concerts, including songs performed by small groups and collaborations between different ensembles.

Junior band member and trumpeter Nico Shieh said this concert is one-of-a-kind because it is one of the few times the school's instrumental groups all perform at the same event.

“It’s nice that we have the band, orchestra and everyone else playing together,” Shieh said. “People should take the whole thing in, because this only happens once a year.”

Theater performs "Peter and the Starcatcher" Under hanging rope ladders and around a series of wooden platforms built to resemble the deck of a ship, Paly Theatre concluded its spring play, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” on March 20.

After three months of rehearsal and five show dates, cast and crew members described the play as a success.

“The premise is it’s kind of a prequel to Peter Pan,” senior Naomi Wagner said. “It tells the story of how Peter Pan arrives at Neverland Island and also how some other things in the Peter Pan universe came to be, like Captain Hook’s hand and things like that.

It's very silly, it’s quite comedic, it’s written by Rick Ellis.”

Senior Ameer Ali, who played Black Stache, the soon-to-be Captain Hook, said he enjoyed being able to get back on stage in-per-

son, where he and the other actors could play off each other.

“It’s been really fun to be back working with all the other actors and also the hair and makeup and costume people and the technicians and everything,” Ali said. “The feeling of community throughout the rehearsal process has been nice because we had a year away from that.”

Junior Katel Fong, a lighting designer and the house manager for the show, said she enjoyed seeing the production come together as the different theater departments combined to reveal the storyline. Fong also said the play required more lighting cues and designs compared to the fall play, “The Illusion.”

“There’s magic, there’s flying,” Fong said. “There are things in there that would require a lot of creative unconventional designs, including lighting designs."

Fong said despite the challenges of transitioning from being the stage manager for “The Illusion” to being a lighting designer for this full, indoor show, she enjoyed seeing how her work turned out on stage.

Speakers visit for Career Week presentations After a week of guest speakers and hundreds of student attendees, the annual Career Speakers Series concluded on March 25.

Junior Allison Dayton, the president of the Career Speaker

Series committee, said the goal of the series is to give students the opportunity to learn about possible careers by inviting guest speakers working in a variety of jobs.

“I decided to get involved because I thought it'd be really cool to meet professional individuals and expand my knowledge of potential career choices,” Dayton said. “There's a lot of people where you read their job description and you're like, ‘That’s really cool.

You can get paid for this?’ … So I’ve reached out to a lot of cool people.”

Sophomore Saumya Kundu, who invited panelists from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and broadcast journalist Janelle Wang to talk at the Speaker Series, said she was excited for her peers to get to see the people she helped bring into the event.

“Meeting the speakers was really cool, Kundu said. “I got to introduce the Women in STEM panel, and they were really amazing, and just hearing their talks really inspired me.’’

Career Speaker Series parent volunteer Ellen Kissmeyerfreund agreed.

“I enjoyed a lot of the questions that (the students) made and the content that the speakers shared,”

Kissmeyerfreund said.

“And I liked the way the organizers brought in people from different industries, apart from what is obvious — they brought creative industries, they brought environmental speakers — all the subjects that are so important, so new, so applicable.”

Kevin Brown, an executive recruiter with CBPartners who helps large enterprise companies hire employees across all levels, said he was excited to be a guest speaker for the series and to share his experiences, especially since he himself graduated from Paly in 2010. “(I) definitely wanted to highlight the fact that as a student, you're not a finished product,” Brown said. “I mean, I’m walking proof of that. Most people I went to high school with probably didn’t have the highest hopes for me or my career. So you’re not finished; it doesn’t stop here.”

Valerie Chu & Ajay Venkatraman

Managing Editors

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FROM THE COVER

7AB'%()-5/#'(1(&$"0+'#4#$(59'"+$%0.;&(#'+(*'/0#"$"0+#9' !"#$%"&$'%()"(*#'+(*',%-."+,'/01"&"(# -.5"+"#$%-$(#'A(+"0%'31"5"+-$"0+9'0$6(%'&1-##C*".('()(+$# Freshman who responded to on exams since the policy was the survey reported an average implemented. of 97 minutes of homework “I think it is because with no daily, while seniors, over 75% of incentive to do homework and whom reported taking at least no penalties, less students do one AP or Honors course, were it, and they complete less of it well under the homework policy on average,” Bloom said. “That limits at 119 minutes of homemeans students are less prepared work daily. for their tests.”

According to the survey Sophomore Kyle Chang said results, 71% of high schools most of his teachers don't have reported having homework due homework due on Monday, but on a seven-period day, and 30% he said they do seem to pile on reported having graded assessthe work during other days. ments due on “They just seven-period double the days. homework for 23#/(&"-114'"+'54'60+0%#' Tuesday or While consensus among Wednesday,” teachers around -+.'78'&1-##(#9'$(-&6(%#'*"11' Chang said. the new homeI definitely -##",+'$(#$#'0%'/%0:(&$#' “But work policies have projects or may be hard to right after .;('%",6$'-<$(%'=%(->?@ tests come by, Ecobreaks. I even nomics teacher have a big test !"#"$%&'()* Eric Bloom said really soon after he found a way spring break to assign an effective amount of ends.” homework without too much Senior Mihir Gupta said blowback for volume. while he doesn’t receive home“The idea is that I give 20-25 work on Mondays either, his minutes in class for students to teachers don’t always follow the do work,” Bloom said. “If that policy when it comes to breaks. work time is not used, then stu“Especially in my honors and dents will have a lot more home- AP classes, teachers will aswork. I don’t assign homework sign tests or projects due right due on Mondays, but there’s after break,” Gupta said. “Not also the idea that if I assign it on the class immediately after the Thursday, you just do it Thursday break, but pretty often the next night and then the work won’t class. Then you have just a little pile up.” time to study or have to use your Bloom said the new policies break to study.” haven’t affected his teaching or homework assignments but have Maya Singer affected achievement on exams with students doing more poorly News & Opinion Editor

Instead of last year’s voting system where each student logged into a voting portal with their student ID number, ASB introduced a rank choice voting system this year along with new class senator positions and planned class bonding events, including the return of Senior Elimination.

ASB sent individual emails to all student in order to implement the new voting system. Students received an email that included a link to the voting platform and a page that contained the voting statements, photos and speeches of the candidates.

“The new voting system that we're using actually isn't going to make significant changes just given that there aren’t a lot of candidates running,” ASB President Johannah Seah said. “(This is) because rank choice voting only works with two plus candidates as opposed to just two candidates, which is the case for most positions.”

Next year, ASB will add two new positions, called class senators, for each grade level. Seah said these positions are an attempt to have greater representation of the student body.

“Our whole ideology is based upon student representation,” Seah said.

“But when we have mostly appointed officers, it just doesn't match up. So we want to have an opportunity for more elected officers.”

Another motivation for the new positions is the hopes of increasing class autonomy and efficiency.

“The idea is that classes — president, vice president and two senators — along with a potential class adviser, which is an adult or teacher, can meet independently and approve their own money and events without having to get involved with the entire student body,” Seah said.

Beyond assisting in Spirit Week

AJAY VENKATRAMAN/THE CAMPANILE

Senior Ronak Monga works while holding his Elimination beach ball. The senior-only game is organized by ASB. "So far it’s been quite successful,” senior president Mathew Signorello-Katz said. “We’re coordinating the rules of the game and will be offering a prize to the ... winner.”

activities, the two class senators will be responsible for secretary, treasurer and fundraising duties. They will also have responsibilities on the Student Advisory Board of appointed officers and help with communication with administration and adults.

ASB offered a number of class events, including an ice cream sandwich social for juniors on March 24.

“We wanted to create an opportunity for our peers to socialize, and since people love food, we hoped people would enjoy an ice cream sandwich social,” junior class president Ashley Hung said.

Hung said ASB hopes to hold similar class bonding events before the end of the year.

"We have a few more bonding events planned for the rest of the year which I’m super excited about, and I think people will love,” Hung said.

“Generally, the most important part

about class bonding events is that people have fun, so I look forward to planning these events and seeing everyone’s reactions.”

ASB also started Senior Elimination on March 18, an annual event where seniors use inflatable minibeach balls to try to tag out other students designated as their target.

Senior class president Mathew Signorello-Katz said he is happy with the way the event has played out so far.

“Senior Elimination planning started back in February, and so far it’s been quite successful,” SignorelloKatz said. “We’re coordinating the rules of the game, updating records to determine who has been eliminated and will be offering a prize to the senior elimination winner.”

Cayden Gu

Newsletter Editor

Friday, April 1, 2022

The Campanile

FROM THE COVER

A3

News

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KAREN HICKEY/USED WITH PERMISSION

In an effort to accommodate electrification work, Caltrain started modifing its usual weekday trains schedule on March 14. The Baby Bullet, an express service that runs between San Jose and San Francisco, will not operate regularly until April.

Glenn Hendricks, the Santa Clara county representative on the Caltrain Board of Directors said Caltrain officials have discussed two schedule changes. The first one is increasing the number of trains to 112 per day by the end of the pandemic.

“But right now, the priority is the second change concerning the transition from diesel trains to electric trains (as it) requires installation for the poles and overhead electrical lines along with work on crossings and control systems,” Hendricks said.

In order to make space on the track for where this work can be done throughout the week, temporary changes were made to train schedules.

While the Caltrain Board of Directors makes policy and gives financial and longterm vision direction, it lacks operational authority.

Hendricks said he and the other representatives on the board work together to define the budget policies and direction for how Caltrain should move forward, especially during the pandemic.

AP Environmental Science teacher Nicole Loomis said limiting access to public transportation during the transition to electrification will likely mean more cars on the road, which can increase air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, which dangerously combine with UV rays from the sun.

“This can lead to production of secondary pollutants in the afternoon, such as photochemical smog and tropospheric ozone –– at least it’s not a permanent change,” Loomis said.

Sophomore Esther Chung said the schedule shift would mildly affect her as she usually travels with her sister and friends to San Francisco or closer places like Redwood City.

It not only gives her a sense of freedom, but it also saves her parents time.

“I normally take the train on the weekends and find that it is an efficient way of transportation, especially if you cannot drive,” she said.

Biology teacher Tara Vereyken said she relies on the Caltrain for her commute to and from San Francisco, which is a route that will partially be shut down.

“Fortunately, the schedule change is not significant enough to disrupt my (daily routine) as the stations that I use are really high volume and are rather consistent,” Vereyken said.

ANUSHE IRANI/USED WITH PERMISSION

Campus supervisor Ernesto Cruz sits in his golf cart in November of 2021 and poses for a photo with the 2016-17 girls varsity soccer team. “As an introductory person to the Paly soccer community, there couldn’t have been a better person for me to start with looking up to,” senior Olivia Milne said.

Remembering Ernesto

Valerie Chu

Managing Editor

W

hen senior Diego Diaz waited at the Embarcadero crosswalk, he would often spot a familiar figure –– campus supervisor Ernesto Cruz.

As they shared some chocolate from Trader Joe’s, they discussed just about everything from Cruz’s new car to Diaz’s school workload, exchanging jokes and stories. “(Cruz) was just the sunshine in everyone’s mornings and everyone’s day,” Diaz said. “He would always say hello, ask me about my day.

I’d ask him about his.

And it’s just those little interactions — him wishing me a good day, me wishing him a great day — that would be really special. It’s one of those simple things that you’re going to remember from high school.”

Cruz died on March 19 from a heart attack, a death that shocked those who knew him in his roles as a campus supervisor, a soccer coach, a friendly figure and a person who brightened up everyone’s day.

Although senior Olivia Milne has had many soccer coaches, she said Cruz stood out as someone who was kind, supportive and positive in a way that always made her feel comfortable as a freshman on the varsity girls soccer team.

“As an introductory person to the Paly soccer community, there couldn’t have been a better person for me to start with looking up to,” Milne said. “I’m so lucky to have had him as my first coach. And since then, my coaches have been great, but I think that he really just

leaves a happy, positive imprint on every situation that he comes into.”

She said even though Cruz stopped coaching Paly girls soccer after her freshman year, he stayed in touch with her. Milne said Cruz always showed up to the varsity girls soccer morning practices this year to cheer on the team before he went to conduct the morning drop-off line. Milne said she also remembers talking to Cruz two weeks ago, when she was driving to school, and he commented on the unique stickers on her car.

“The fact that he would stop and have a conversation with me about something he saw on my car just captures the presence that he held at Paly,” Milne said. “(He) just made the whole school a more welcoming and happy place.”

Diaz said while Cruz was known around campus for his warm personality, jokes, golf cart and soccer, he also made a big difference to the Paly Hispanic community.

“Especially at Paly, there’s not a lot of representation toward the Hispanic community and he was one of the biggest,” Diaz said. “I think that almost every Hispanic person knew Ernesto and they all loved him. He made everyone feel extremely included and extremely welcomed, and was someone that was really genuine in everything he said. He was probably one of the nicest people you could ever talk to on campus.”

Senior Kat Thomsen, who was also on the varsity soccer team as a freshman, said Cruz always took the time to check in whenever he saw her around school.

“I always saw him at school when I was stressed about classes or grades, and he would always stop and talk with me,” Thomsen said.

“He reminded me about what was important

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— the relationships we have with other people and the connections we make.”

Diaz said he admired how Cruz not only worked hard to improve the school, but also the lives of young people in his home country of El Salvador, to whom he donated soccer equipment, clothes and balls. Diaz said he thinks Cruz — who came to the United States at age 19, took multiple English language classes and dealt with his own challenges of fitting into the Paly community — always took it upon himself to make all students feel welcome.

“He made everyone feel like family,” Diaz said. “And I think that that’s something that really did stick around, especially with the LatinX community. It was just that everyone thought of him as … this big father figure at Paly … He was someone that smiled so genuinely that it really did make you feel warm and happy inside, and that’s something that’s really going to be missed at Paly. I think that Paly’s not going to be the same without him riding around on his bike or his golf cart anymore.”

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Jerry Xia

Newsletter Editor Facing limited grid capacity and aging infrastructure, Palo Alto’s Utility Advisory Commission is pushing to modernize the city’s electric grid to meet the city’s electrification and emission reduction goals.

Much of Palo Alto’s electric distribution system was built nearly 80 years ago and is not compatible with modern electricity consumption, Palo Alto’s assistant director of Utility Resource Management Jonathan Abendschein said.

“The system that was built back then is built for homes with relatively light electric needs,” Abendschein said. “So not much air conditioning and with the expectation that you’re using natural gas for heating, water, heating and cooking.”

Additionally, City Council member Greg Tanaka said the above-ground transmission lines and numerous trees around the city can cause power outages, which adds maintenance costs to the city’s budget.

“A lot of trees grow into power lines, and we spend an order of money actually fixing or trimming trees,” Tanaka said. “It’s a bit of a challenge. We actually have a plan where we’re supposed to underground all of our electric poles, but it’s not there yet.”

Tanaka also said the city’s electric lines are often unable to transmit enough electric power to residents during peak demand hours in the evening.

“While we may purchase (our power)

from different places, it still comes over the same line,” Tanaka said. “When it’s too hot, our suppliers are worried about overload. When the power lines get too hot, they start to sag, so (the suppliers) have to stop. You have to throttle the power, otherwise you can get forest fires.”

At its March 7 meeting the Palo Alto City Council agreed to prioritize grid upgrades over the next few years. Although no specific plans have been made, the Palo Alto Utility Advisory Commission has begun studies to determine the best way to implement these upgrades, Abendschein said.

“We’re just starting off, and it will definitely require some engineering analysis and some consultant studies, but we’re trying to consider as many innovative ideas as we can,” Abendschein said. “We’re looking at things like Right-Sizing panels, solar and batteries and smart electric panels to see how they can contribute.”

Mayor Pat Burt said one of the city’s major goals is replacing all aging transformers with new models capable of delivering higher voltage to homes to encourage electrification.

“When a home wants to electrify right now, the city has to first replace that (neighborhood’s) transformer, which is often an old transformer nearing the end of its life anyway, with a larger transformer to be able to handle that home’s electric needs,” Burt said. “Right now we’re doing that piecemeal. What we’re looking at now is how we can allow a lot of homes to be electrified while we’re upgrading the whole system over the next decade.”

Tanaka said while the city council has electrification goals, other priorities take more of the city’s budget, leaving little money for infrastructure upgrades.

“What happens is a lot of our city budgets is consumed by small stuff,” Tanaka said. “For instance, we’re building a new public safety building. We have power outages, so we could have used the money that we spent on the police building to underground our power lines. I voted against spending money on the police building just because I felt like we could use the money on more critical infrastructure like our power lines.”

Replacing transformers and upgrading the entire grid could also cost the city as much as $150 million, Burt said. Despite the potential large costs in the city budget, sophomore Spencer Wu said he supports spending on grid electrification.

“It’s going to definitely be a necessary expenditure eventually,” Wu said. “Wiring from the 1950s is not going to hold up forever, and I feel like changing it now, instead of later, when something really bad happens, is better.”

Despite Tanaka’s concerns, Abendschein said electrification would be a major step to combat climate change.

“We really need to tackle our transportation and building emissions, and that means electrification,” Abendschein said.

“It means electrifying appliances. It means helping people make the switch to electric vehicles, and that’s what we’re going to need to do to be able to achieve those really ambitious goals that we need to achieve to control worldwide climate change.”

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The Campanile

Friday, April 1, 2022

A4

Spotlight

The

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elson Gifford resigned as head football coach on Tuesday. This resignation follows Gifford being let go from his position as athletic director last Thursday. Gifford, a 1999 Paly graduate, was the head football coach for four years and athletic director for three years.

During his tenure as athletic director, he made numerous changes, some controversial. One such change was Gifford’s decision to transfer the control of athletic department funding from the Sports Boosters to ASB. While Gifford said the decision was meant to increase transparency and accountability about how athletic funds were spent, Sports Boosters officials and student-athletes said this decision had the opposite effect, leading to a conflict of interest on Gifford’s part and negatively affecting many sports.

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Jeanne Marzano, who was the Sports Boosters treasurer from 2017 to 2019, said Sports Boosters used to be responsible for preparing the entire athletic department budget and overseeing all expenses that went through the department.

“Any requests and needs to buy things all went through us for approval, and then we dispersed the money,” Marzano said. “We tracked all the donations and were responsible for giving all the donors their texts and letters and such. And lastly, we did oversee all the tax compliance stuff, so filing for the tax returns.”

When Gifford became the athletic director in 2019, all donations and ticket sales still went into the Sports Boosters account.

But Gifford said that concerned him. He said a public school’s athletic department should not give money raised through a school group to a third party organization like Sports Boosters.

“What I found out is that ticket sales belong to ASB, because donations belong to ASB,” Gifford said. “I wanted to make sure that the donation transition was done legally, so that’s what I ended up doing.”

In the fall of 2020, Gifford said he suggested to Paly administration that the athletic department account be moved from Sports Boosters to ASB. Gifford said Adam Paulson, the principal at the time, approved the change.

After working with Sports Boosters, Principal Brent Kline and Tom Keating –– who was an assistant principal at the time and is now the Palo Alto Adult School principal –– Gifford said the account transition was finalized in the spring of 2021. In justifying this decision, Gifford said an ASB account in-

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creases school oversight since transactions have to be approved by the ASB treasurer, the ASB bookkeeper and school administrators. Kline declined to be interviewed for this story.In justifying this decision, Gifford said an ASB account increases school oversight since transactions have to be approved by the ASB treasurer, the ASB bookkeeper and school administrators.

However, Cindy Liu, who was ASB treasurer during the 2020-2021 school year said her role in signing checks was mostly a formality.

“I felt like it wasn’t really my place to say no or reject those checks,” Liu said. “I thought there was a system in the athletic department that checked whether those were valid purchases, so I just signed off on most of them without doubting it too much.”

Steve Gallagher, who started as Director of Student Activities this school year, said he was concerned to hear this and said there should be better communication between students and administrators.

“I can see it being an intimidating situation,” Gallagher said. “I’d hope the student will at least be able to talk to me or someone if they have concerns about this, because you are representing the students. I think we can always improve on things, but it goes both ways.”

Gifford said another reason he wanted to move financial control of the athletic department to ASB is coaches and players can directly access an ASB account which they couldn’t do easily with the Sports Boosters.

“Coaches can log in and check their account balances,” Gifford said. “I actually met with the girls tennis team two days ago to talk about ordering for the fall, and they asked how much money was in their account. I logged in, pulled it up, and showed them their balance. And that’s the other piece of it too, which is probably the most critical piece, that now students can be a lot more involved in that process.”

Gifford also said Sports Boosters should be involved in the athletic department.

He said a relationship with Sports Boosters is important because the organization hosts critical social events like the annual Christmas Tree Lot, raising money necessary to fund the department.

“There’s things that the boosters can do and focus on that we can’t do as a department,” Gifford said. “The big parties or connections involving parents, all of that stuff is critical to a healthy athletic department.”

Kristen Andersen, Paly Sports Boosters President said she hopes the next athletic director will bring a fresh perspective to the department.

“We do have too much turnover, but maybe this is an opportunity for the district to put someone in that position that doesn’t have a conflict of interest,” Andersen said. “I think in general, in this district, we delegate a lot of authority to the sites. And I think that is a mistake.”

L$'M*,/5(,$(%1)"/%("#,%'%( -'$+'"(+,%.",0,$#/,)$( .)$.'"$%( While student athletes and their parents have raised concerns about equity and transparency within the athletic department, Gifford said with increased student oversight, the athletics funding is more transparent.

“I meet with the principal, students and coaches to help them develop a budget and plan going into the year,” Gifford said.

Gifford’s critics, though, say while fan-favorite sports like football and boys baseball consistently have large rosters, sports like softball have comparably smaller teams.

And while fundraising and donations to teams is partly dependent on the affluence of the athletes’ families who donate, the number of athletes on a team contributes to how much money they can fundraise. This means teams with historically small teams have a smaller chance at fundraising money for necessities.

Gifford said this pattern of inequalities between

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Senior quarterback Danny Peters prepares to throw a football wearing brand new gear. Junior outfielder Leiticia Seeger runs to get on base with numbers taped on the back of a T-shirt. The girls softball team had to wear these makeshift jerseys for the 2021 spring season.

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The Campanile

Friday, April 1, 2022

Spotlight

fumble

A5

($/&')5#2%'"#%(/%.)1',#/6.,%'#+'./%($(&%')/-'1),7'#+'%$)/&")$(/,8 girls and boys sports is not just a Paly problem.

“What you have in baseball is centuries of a male hierarchy,” Gifford said. “Women just started playing organized sport in the advent of Title IX, so the history of women in athletics is a very short one. In comparison to male sports, you can see a reflection of the way they’re supported in attendance and participation levels. So, we’re not just talking about trying to overcome something that’s here in Palo Alto.

We’re talking about something that is a societal issue.”

But some athletes and coaches think the athletic department hasn’t done enough to fight these inequities. A senior softball athlete, who agreed to be interviewed only if her name wasn’t used because she is worried about how her opinions could affect her college application process, said the softball team had a new coach in the 2020-2021 season and the coach was not told he was responsible for ordering new jerseys before the season started.

As a result, the softball team did not receive jerseys on time for the season and had to resort to alternatives.

“When we finally got them, there weren’t even enough for the whole team,” the senior said. “So throughout the entire season, we would have to tape numbers on our backs.

It was a waste of time and just ridiculous.”

Citing COVID-19 shipping delays and supply chain issues, Gifford said the late delivery of softball uniforms was out of his control.

“The uniforms were ordered, and they arrived late,” Gifford said. “And that was really unfortunate. Luckily, we were able to get the uniforms out for the team and made sure that they had them.”

The senior, however, said the softball team did not receive its uniforms until the last few games and repeatedly wearing duct-taped uniforms made her feel disparaged, both on and off the field.

“It was honestly embarrassing because we’d be playing against these teams, and they would just think we’re some kind of a joke because we would have to tape numbers on our back,” the senior said. “(This) would never happen to any sport like baseball, basketball — any of the overfunded sports.”

Senior softball athlete Madhu Ramkumar also said the team had to borrow and reuse uniforms among teammates throughout the season.

“When the jerseys with the numbers came, we did not have enough for every girl,” Ramkumar said. “So the girls that were playing took the jerseys, and the girls that didn’t play had to give their jerseys, so we were all sharing jerseys.”

Gifford said students can independently fundraise money for their team if they aren’t happy with athletic department funding and any excess money from accounts does not overflow to other teams’ accounts. He also said the athletic department has a flex account to fill funding gaps.

“We have additional funds for either equipment needs, uniform needs or whatever that is,” Gifford said. “So we do have the ability to be able to support programs. That being said, none of our programs in the history of the athletic department have not been able to meet that threshold.”

For the anonymous senior, though, her experiences left her feeling that female athletes are treated poorly compared to male athletes. In fact, she said many female athletes don’t want to talk to adults in the athletic department about their concerns because they think they won’t be taken seriously.

“Every time we’ve reached out to our athletic department about funding and other issues, they’ve just made excuses for why we’re underfunded, but don’t actually tell us the reason why,” the senior said. “And so (the softball team) thinks, if we were to file a Title IX complaint, it wouldn’t be taken seriously.”

PAUSD Title IX Coordinator Kelly Gallagher said she could not comment on the senior’s concerns and suggested reporters reach out to Director of Secondary Education Kathie Laurence, who Gallagher said handles the athletic department. Laurence initially agreed to an interview but didn’t respond to a follow up request about scheduling the interview.

While sex discrimination exists on a continuim, Susan Stark, an attorney with Nesenoff & Miltenberg, a law firm specializing in Title IX matters, said sex discrimination is used as an umbrella term to define subsets such as stalking, assault and dating violence. While these forms of discrimination are presently commonly-known Title IX violations, Title IX originally was passed to combat sex discrimination in athletics.

“The genesis of the Title IX statute was rooted in sports because it was addressed to prohibit discrimination based on sex in any educational program of any institution receiving federal funding,” Stark said. “It was to bring equality in women’s sports.”

Now known as separate cheer and dance teams, former Spirit Squad coach Hilary McDaniel said there is a history of inequitable treatment from the athletic department which she experienced when she was a coach. McDaniel said while she single-handedly coached around 60 cheerleaders and dancers, she received the same stipend that a junior varsity field hockey coach receives in the 20212022 school year.

“When I went to ask for help, the response was to just do less,” McDaniel said. “That’s not an option. I have other commitments; I have a family, and I did have young children at the time, and their response was that I just had to make sacrifices.”

After she received what she said was a lack

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(3='-6'#$%'-9%&6.30%0'*:-&#*;@ !"#"$%#&'(')"*#+('#,-./00(10/$)+ of an adequate response from the athletic department, McDaniel said she decided to resign in 2017. After parents were outraged at the way she was treated, though, McDaniel said the district supplemented her stipends to reflect three positions instead of one.

Even though none of the administrators who handled this situation are still employed at PAUSD, McDaniel said the district’s non-compliance related to issues of gender equity in athletics is still present.

“I think what’s unfortunate is that it just seems to be a pattern,” McDaniel said. “It never rises high enough for people to really care until there’s something like this.”

Even though the coach stipends were eventually altered, McDaniel said inequities such as the ones she confronted should be addressed in a more urgent manner.

“The response that I was getting at the time still seems to be highly unresponsive, like, ‘Oh, change takes time,’” McDaniel said. “But it only takes time if we don’t make it a priority. If there’s a glaring example of (inequity), then we have to make the time.”

@)"0'"(N/?2'/,.(O,"'./)"(6,P)"+(#,0'+(/)(,$.2*+'( %/*+'$/4(1#"'$/(,$1*/(,$(&*$+,$-(1").'%%'% When Gifford moved athletic funds from Sports Boosters into ASB, he also created the Paly Sports Student Association. The PSSA, a student club that Gifford said was meant to increase student engagement in the athletic department has also led to parents and students questioning Gifford’s style of management, funding decisions and budget transparency. While managing the change, Gifford said it’s important students have input, oversight and involvement into how athletic department money is spent.

“Students can look over the budget, and we have students that actually sign off on checks,” Gifford said. “It’s important since the account is in ASB that the students have a say in budgeting. We’re trying to create a system where we have a regular interface between athletic administration and then the rest of the student body.”

Although PSSA members oversee the Athletic Department budget and can sign checks, PSSA co-president senior Ben Szeto said his club’s role in budgeting is often forgotten, and that Gifford sometimes authorized spending without consulting club members. For instance, Szeto said Gifford paid students to livestream football games in the fall without approval from the PSSA. “There were questions about whether he could pay students, and we didn’t sign off on that,” Szeto said. “The students ended up getting paid, some $500 dollars a student, but we weren’t sure whether he could do that.”

Junior Asa Deggeller who helped livestream games for Gifford said he wasn’t aware of any of the behind-the-scenes conflict between Gifford and PSSA when he and other students agreed to help. Deggeller also said students who helped livestream games eventually did get paid, but it took about four months for the payments to happen and Assistant Principal LaDonna Butler, who is the administrator who oversees athletics, had to get involved. Athletes from multiple sports have also expressed concerns about the athletic department’s transparency with students, especially regarding where the money from donations and fundraisers go.

“I think there’s just a really big lack of transparency between the people donating the money and where the money’s going. It’s like a big black hole,” junior Elizabeth Fetter, who participates in track, cross country and swimming said. “The girls (on the track team) got new uniforms after 10 years of having the same old uniform, and that’s one of the only things we have to pay for. Paly owns a track, so we don’t have to rent a track space or anything, so we just don’t know where our money is going when we donate it.”

Gifford said the athletic department is transparent and that any questions student athletes have about spending should be directed to their coaches first. Since an athletic director manages distribution of funds, stipends and team expenditures, Fetter said an athletic director should not coach.

“I think it’s a conflict of interest if he’s the coach of a team and managing funding and resource allocation for all sports,” Fetter said. “It seems like that team would get more of the resources because he wants what’s best for that team.”

Gifford, however, said being a coach and an athletic director are two jobs that he performed separately. There is no state or district policy preventing an athletic director from coaching. And former athletic director and current PE teacher Jason Fung, who coached track while he was Paly’s athletic director in 2014, said having the two positions at the same time does not have to be a problem.

“There can be a conflict of interest, but it’s not necessarily something that’s happening when it comes to Coach Gifford,” Fung said.

Although Gifford is no longer the athletic director, he sees this conflict as a catalyst to encourage more communication between students and the district.

“We learn in sport that we have to face obstacles we know are going to be tough, but we have to overcome that fear,” Gifford said. “If someone has a problem with the uniform, a coach or harassment, we need to know about these things. That’s the only way we can address it. I realized that’s not part of the school culture, but it needs to be.”

BY MARGOT BLANCO, DINU DESHPANDE & TIFFANY HE

The Campanile

Friday, April 1, 2022

A6

Opinion

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Aidan Seto

Senior Staff Writer

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or decades, the SAT has been one of the standard entrance tests for American universities. However, many test-takers, parents and academics have criticized the exam for its equity concerning rural and international students, as well as the way it is administered.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all colleges have made the SAT optional, with some schools, including the UCs, going test-blind, meaning they won’t consider test scores in the applica-

tion process at all. However, the recent changes the CollegeBoard has made to the SAT will result in an improved test-taker experience and encourage future students to opt in.

The CollegeBoard recently announced starting in 2023 for international students and 2024 for U.S. students, a digital version of the SAT will be administered. While the test will be proctored in person and taken in a classroom, it will be administered online.

This new format will also be adaptive, meaning it adjusts questions based on a student’s answers. The test will also be shorter – two

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For more than two years, we have masked and sheltered in place, waiting and dreaming of a new normal.

But as time went on, hope of returning to normal faded.

It’s clear the pandemic has changed the landscape of the world in many ways, and it will undoubtedly have effects that reverberate for years to come.

However, on March 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the indoor mask mandate for the state of California.

Soon after, Paly followed Santa Clara County’s optional indoor mask policy and lifted the school indoor mask mandate on March 14, though the use of masks is still officially encouraged.

I welcome these changes as a sign that people are preparing to get back to some semblance of normalcy and abandon some of the nonsensical rules and regulations put in place in the name of public safety.

For example, some weeks ago, well before the mask mandate was lifted, I went to a restaurant with some friends.

While we waited just outside the door for everyone to arrive, none of us had masks on.

When the last member of our party arrived, we donned our masks for about 30 seconds as we walked into the restaurant and sat down at a table.

As soon as the water arrived, the

masks came off and didn’t go back on for the remainder of the evening.

Can anyone really say that those 30 seconds of masking did anything at all to keep us safe?

Moreover, if indoor dining –– an environment of extreme proximity where people around the table are ingesting food and drink –– was allowed sans mask, then why are we compelled to wear masks while shopping or inside classrooms?

If someone wants to wear a mask, that is, of course, their prerogative. But making school-aged children wear masks indoors, taking into account the coronavirus has a milder effect on children, makes no sense.

Children 5 and above are, and have been, eligible to receive vaccines and may still wear masks if they so choose, but it is long past time that the choice was at least given to us.

However, even though I think the decision came late, I am glad that our state government is finally being sensible.

In the last few days of class, I have enjoyed not having my glasses fogged up every time I breathe.

And, I have noticed interesting trends as far as the proportion of people who are wearing masks versus those who choose not to.

On the first day of school after the mandate was relaxed, I hardly saw anyone who wasn’t wearing a mask.

On the second day, I saw a few more, and on the third day, even more.

My prediction is that this trend will continue, and I am will be glad, and still feel safe, if it does.

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hours instead of three – and lengthy passages with multiple related questions will be replaced by shorter passages paired with a single question each.

The SAT will also move away from two separate no-calculator and calculator math sections, condensing them into a single calculator math section. This simplifies the test and will help students feel more comfortable, encouraging them to study for and take the SAT. More students will have a better chance The digitalization of the SAT will make it easier for testing centers, leading to a smoother testing experience for students. Previously, one compromised test could invalidate the tests of other students in the same classroom due to concerns regarding answer sharing. But now, due to each test form being unique to the student, cheating by sharing answers will be virtually impossible.

Administrators will also no longer have to deal with the logistical difficulties of transporting and organizing test booklets and answer sheets. This means testing centers can be set up with relative ease on short notice, which will alleviate complications stemming from canceled tests.

The simpler format of the test will reduce student stress, making studying less cumbersome. The question formats will be less intimidating too, and will allow the SAT to provide a more accurate representation of a student’s academic level.

The new format of the SAT increases the number of test centers, reduces problems caused by administrative accidents and allows for scores to be distributed in mere days.

The reformed SAT is a step in the right direction for standardized testing and the college application process, making SAT testing more straightforward for everyone. While the SAT still faces the major issue of being biased toward students of a higher socioeconomic status and ultimately giving them a major advantage in college admissions, these changes will bring about positive changes and show promise for the future of the SAT.

Friday, April 1, 2022

The Campanile

A7

Opinion

Affordable transportation: the answer to Silicon Valley’s housing crisis

I

n an effort to keep the walled garden we call Palo Alto a nice neighborhood of single-family homes, our city has become a primary contributor to a massive socioeconomic crisis unfolding in Silicon Valley. For years, Palo Alto’s promises to increase affordable housing units such as apartments and condos have rung hollow.

Lucy Li

Staff Writer

While Silicon Valley’s employment has boomed, it has outpaced the number of homes available, leaving a limited number of houses with sky-high price tags averaging well over $1 million, an average that burdens over 90% of residents here.

That means a tiny fraction of the Bay Area makes enough to afford a home. In fact, in 2013, the top 1% of households in San Francisco earned $3.6 million on average, 44 times the average income of the bottom 99%.

As two vastly different groups compete to buy a limited number of houses in the same area, lower-income earners are ultimately forced to play a game they are destined to lose.

Ceramics and glass sculpture teacher Steve Ferrera said he lives in Berkeley and has to commute around three hours or more each day to get to and from school.

Unfortunately, Ferrera is not the exception but the rule. He is emblematic of the massive divide between those who profited from the Silicon Valley boom — and everybody else.

To add insult to inconvenience, most of these displaced employees don’t have an easy way back into the area to continue working.

Long commutes into the Bay mean expenses add up quickly. For Ferrera, $100 of gas lasts him less than a week.

The Bay Area needs to increase affordable transportation to reconnect people back to the communities they belong in.

Making Bay Area Rapid Transit free and building more stations is a key first step in redressing the

inequality and impossible cost of living in the Bay Area.

Right now, the public transit system is failing commuters. A lack of BART stations connecting major cities such as Berkeley, Redwood City and Mountain View cuts off any possibility of a seamless or efficient commute.

“I tried it one year,” Ferrera said. “But where I live, I have to drive to BART, and then BART takes me to the train, and then the train drops me off there.”

That’s why a 2017 report found that 75% of Bay Area commuters drive to work, and only 28% of new office developments are accessible by regional transit.

While increasing the physical accessibility of public transit is crucial, improving its financial accessibility is what would make it most appealing to workers.

As gas prices hit record highs and traffic density rises back to pre-pandemic levels, the amount of money and time spent commuting to a job from an affordable home has begun to nullify the purpose of living in an inexpensive neighborhood.

Current BART fares only exacerbate this problem, as a one-

way trip from Berkeley to Palo Alto can cost up to $20. In just one month, relying on BART services to get to and from work would cost a teacher like Ferrera a whopping $840 — more than double the amount he is currently spending.

Slashing fares low enough to outcompete the costs of personal transportation would reestablish the primary benefit of residing outside of Silicon Valley’s bubble: reasonable living expenses.

For a progressive, affluent city like Palo Alto that prides itself in its innovation and scholarship, it is unacceptable to continue to turn a blind eye to the socioeconomic barriers that face the figures who serve our community: our teachers, our firefighters, our service workers — our people.

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As for why the increase has been so drastic, Russian President Vladimir Putin is a prime suspect.

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Because of sanctions from the RussoUkraine war, crude oil prices have risen significantly. In the U.S., about 56% of the expenses of gas stations are from crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and thus gasoline prices have spiked.

President Joe Biden’s fluctuating approval rating is inversely correlated almost precisely with the price of gas, according to the think tank Data for Progress.

However, many people ignore the positive side effects of this increase.

When driving by a gas pump in the last few weeks, the price may have alarmed you enough to consider driving slightly less. Why? To save on gas.

If that’s true, you aren’t the only one.

Survey data from AAA in February found 59% of Americans said they would change their driving habits if gas prices reached $4 a gallon. Obviously, prices in California have been over $4 for quite some time, but the sentiment is consistent: gas prices are at a level where Americans are being forced to change their behavior.

So, as gas prices skyrocket, maybe you’re seriously considering buying an electric car or making an effort to bike more. Maybe you’re carpooling or walking to school. Whatever you’re doing, it almost definitely means using less gas, which means less carbon emissions.

The bottom line is this — one of the best ways to change people’s behavior is

to make their current lifestyles expensive.

Putin already did his part, but it’s very possible gas prices will go down eventually. In response, the US government should make an effort to keep gas prices at around $6 a gallon by imposing higher taxes at the pump.

This is a perfect opportunity for the government to take climate action by shifting the way Americans use transportation. The revenue generated from the higher taxes should be used to improve roadway infrastructure, expand public transportation, and subsidize clean energy to make options like electric vehicles and solar power more affordable.

One caveat to this plan is the effect high gas prices will have on lower-income Americans who need to use a car for work and everyday life. Changing your lifestyle isn’t too consequential if you have the means to do so, but those who don’t are left out. The best solution to this problem is to exempt some people from the tax, either directly or through vouchers, which will still create funding for climate initiatives.

Even though high gas prices are inconvenient, the actual cost of gas is much higher, coming at the price of our planet.

Without bold climate initiatives, we’re going to have to pay that price, whether we like it or not.

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Ben Antonow

News & Opinion Editor

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The Campanile

Friday, April 1, 2022

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ART BY AJAY VENKATRAMAN

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n an attempt to solve the disparity in academic performance between white and Asian students and students of color, staff members are discussing the possibility of altering the secondary school grading system.

Among the ideas discussed are a grading scale that would eliminate D and F grades, replacing them with a “No Mark” which would not affect a student’s grade point average. Also under consideration is mandating the minimum score on any assignment be 50%, meaning that all work that scores below the threshold, in addition to missing work, would earn half credit.

While The Campanile thinks there is significant academic inequity within PAUSD, we think policies like these will not solve the problem. They may allow more students to pass classes and receive higher grades, but this does bridge the achievement gap.

Instead, PAUSD should enforce policies such as mandatory extended time on tests, no penalties for late work and mandatory multiple attempts on tests and projects. This approach would better place an emphasis on student learning.

More emphasis should also be placed on training teachers to make personal connections with students, including mandatory check-ins and in-person meetings with struggling students.

As part of staff professional development this year, Principal Brent Kline is having all staff members read parts of Joe Feldman’s book “Grading for Equity,” which analyzes grading data from

Centennial College Prep, a school with a majority of students living below the poverty line.

In three different sixth grade English classes at Centennial, the median grade for one was an A, for another a B and for another a C. While students in each class had similar standardized test scores and attendance, the classes with the lower grades included subjective scores on items unrelated to learning, such as homework cleanliness. These inconsistent and non-academic grades resulted in inequitable grading, according to the book.

So while PAUSD ought to create a uniform grading framework which prioritizes student learning above all else, this priority needs to be balanced with making a grade mean something A larger number of students might pass their classes if a 50% grading floor were implemented, but many students who get a passing grade may not have learned enough of the class content, impairing students' success in subsequent classes. Eliminating D and F grades is another idea that may seem good on the face of it but likely won’t play out as intended. Last year, due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and online learning, California allowed secondary students to replace A-D grades with “pass” grades.

Yet, many colleges regard a pass as the same as a D. Removing Ds and Fs may have the same effect, devaluing the C grade for students seeking a higher education.

The Campanile praises PAUSD and the Paly staff for having difficult discussions regarding grades and student learning, but we urge the following approach. Instead of a 50% floor for assignments and eliminating D and F grades, a more equitable grading policy would mandate extended time on tests for all students, putting student understanding of class material above an arbitrary time limit. Just because a student completes a test faster does not mean they have learned more.

Making a “No penalties for late work” policy mandatory would allow students to complete schoolwork at their own pace. This would also be beneficial for secondary school students who have extracurricular commitments.

Mandating teachers allow all students multiple attempts on tests and assignments would give everyone a chance to learn from their mistakes, which enhances the education process for everyone.

Finally, emphasizing a teacher's personal connections with struggling students would improve their interest in the class. Rather than helping fix the achievement gap, ideas like a 50% floor for assignments and removing Ds and Fs only conceal the disparities in a PAUSD education. However with extra time and multiple retakes on tests and assignments and an emphasis on a personal connection between teachers and students, PAUSD can narrow the achievement gap instead of putting a Band-Aid on it.

!"#$%&'#()*+",$-.+/0120#3+(.1,"*+')+)4/#$*)* In response to a successful, student-organized petition advocating for more plant-based lunches, Paly has begun offering a bi-weekly specialty bar including meat and vegan options for meals such as customizable burritos and taco bowls.

Though this effort is a step in the right direction, The Campanile urges PAUSD to continue offering the specialty bar beyond its pilot program and start adding more plantbased meals to everyday brunch and lunch options to accommodate all students’ dietary needs.

While the cafeteria currently offers daily vegetarian options, it offers vegan alternatives less frequently. Nutrition Services Director Alva Spence told The Campanile that the PAUSD Nutrition Team is aiming to increase plant-based meals through the specialty bar but not in the daily cafeteria cycle. So what about students with restricted diets who depend on daily free cafeteria lunches?

An voluntary, online Google Form survey conducted by The Campanilie showed that out of 337 students who responded, nearly a third have specialized diets, ranging from pescatarian to vegan. And not everyone from that group can buy their own lunch from Town & Country on days when vegan options aren’t available from the school.

The Universal Meals Program provides free, nutritionally adequate breakfasts and lunches to all Californian students, but without a steady supply of vegan offerings, free meals are inaccessible to those with diets restricted by dietary, religious, cultural or personal needs.

And with California’s severe, ongoing drought and the planet’s accelerating global warming crisis, the environmental impact of adding more plant-based meals is worth considering as well. The Environmental Working Group states that if everyone in the U.S. were to eat neither meat nor cheese for one

day a week, it would have the same environmental impact as taking 7.6 million cars off the road. And a study published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the meat and dairy industry uses a third of Earth’s fresh water.

Spence also told The Campanile the cafeteria will operate on a tighter budget next year. Considering that — in addition to rising food costs — serving more plant-based meals could be cost-effective and further aid in providing more meals for more students.

In 2013, The Oakland Unified School District participated in a pilot program over a two-year period where it increased its purchases of fruits, vegetables and legumes by 10%, decreased its purchases of animal products by nearly 30% and sourced its meat from organically and humanely raised, spent dairy cows. In doing so, it saved $42,000, reduced its carbon footprint by 14% and reduced its water use by nearly 7%. OUSD proves that more plant-based items on cafeteria menus can be both cost-efficient and environmentally friendly.

The Los Angeles Unified School District began a similar vegan pilot program in 2017, and Florida’s Fort Walton Beach High School has already been offering daily vegan cafeteria options since 2018. As a renowned school district in the center of America’s hub of innovation, PAUSD should follow suit and join the pursuit of positive change for scholastic meal services, and positive change starts with our own school’s practices.

Dietary restrictions, including plant-based diets, aren’t just a biweekly commitment — they are lifestyles that the district must make accommodations for to make school meals accessible to students of all demographics. Only then can we make the Universal Meals Program truly universal.

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BY JOY XU

Editors-in-Chief Gina Bae • Gianna Brogley • Jack Galetti Braden Leung • Austin Xiang News & Opinion Editors Ben Antonow Maya Singer

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 Justin Gu Rachel Feinstein

Newsletter Editors Cayden Gu Jerry Xia

Business Manager Charlotte Hallenbeck

Graphics Lead Wallie Butler

Staff Writers Poppy Barclay Erik Feng Hannah Singer Nikie Behal Tiffany He Shamsheer Singh Margot Blanco Christie Hong Cole Sturino Lillian Clark Lucy Li Shiki Toyama Dinu Deshpande Ali Minhas Colleen Wang Shantanu Deshpande Ken Ogata Brianna Zhou Eric Fan Aidan Seto Illustrators & Photographers

James Churchley Alexandra Ma

Philip Churchley Grace Muma

Rachel Lee Kyle Park

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 misrepresent or alienate specific individuals within the Palo Alto community. The Campanile would like to thank the PTSA for supporting the mailing of our newspaper.

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.

Friday, April 1, 2022

Lifestyle

Maskless at last

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6-7(-'&%#1&*/-'83%$-7(-'& .29*(,$%(/-&719$%1 Elizabeth Fetter

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Guest Writer

Social Media Manager

We all know the debate over which publication takes the top spot is almost as longstanding as the archaic questions: “What is the meaning of life?” And “Does God exist?” But really, the answer couldn’t be clearer.

I mean, Campy might have the coolest exposé stores, the fastest publication cycle (How short is it now? Two weeks? Three days? One hour?), and the best name for their editors-inchief (who came up with Theeds, anyway?), but do they have instantaneous post-game sports coverage? (Follow us on Twitter @vikingsportsmag.) What about an iconic intro section replete with the most difficult word searches you’ll ever find (so hard, in fact, that some words are actually missing)?

And what about the other publications?

Sure, Madrono might have the best final product (whatever, they have all year to work on one edition; who cares if it is the one thing I look forward to in the spring? And yeah, I have all the senior quotes memorized and live to flip through senior superlatives).

And C-Mag might have the best merch (that’s expected, right? They get all the art geniuses). Their art last issue was jaw-dropping, but hello? Do either of them cover real-time sports at Paly? Do either of them have a barcode on the sleeve of their sweatshirt? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Oh, and Verde. What are they known for again? Is it being an intricate blend of design, reporting and real-time news? Maybe. Or is it their classroom beanbags? That sounds more familiar. They definitely have the best in-class seating (who would have thought brown lumps you can lie on and a pedaling desk could be so entertaining?).

And there are other publications: Voice, Ink, InFocus, Proof, KPLY and Anthro. Reminiscent of FDR’s alphabet soup. What are they supposed to do again? (I know a lot of effort goes into them; it’s not their fault the budget is too small and nobody knows their production cycle).

But everything else aside, you’re probably thinking, so what is the best Paly publication?

The truth is that I find each group brings something special to our school community.

Each publication does something that others don’t: Campy somehow manages to create an incredibly detailed newspaper with amazing speed. Madrono puts out a practically professional yearbook every year. C-Mag has wonderful art and design. Verde blends everything into an entertaining magazine that highlights personal stories, and the smaller publications fill in the gaps of what’s missing.

But Viking centers on athletic achievements at school and beyond. There is clearly only one best publication. And I couldn’t be happier to be on it.

T

mask. I get here at 6:45 (a.m.), and the place has been empty for 10 hours.”

Launer said students’ maturity has stood out to her the most during the transition away from masks.

“I’ve really appreciated how it doesn’t appear to me that students are harassing each other,” Launer said.

“I was wor-

he first school day after the district-wide mask mandate officially ended on March 11, junior Meena Narayanaswami said some students immediately jumped at the opportunity to finally take their masks off indoors.

“I was honestly pretty surprised by how many people weren’t wearing masks in my class,” Narayanaswami said. “Maybe around half the class wasn’t wearing a mask, and my teacher was also not wearing a mask. It was an interesting change to see.”

While Narayanaswami plans to continue wearing a mask in her classes, she said she still feels safe with people removing theirs.

“The fact that everybody for the most part at Paly is vaccinated and staying safe generally makes me feel more comfortable with the fact people aren’t wearing their masks,” Narayanaswami said.

In the height of the pandemic, many students and staff saw maskless life as the distant future. Now, that future arrived; with the mandate lifted, students have the freedom to decide what is best for their personal health and comfort.

However, sophomore Aneesh Tiwari said most of the students and RACHEL FEINSTEIN/THE CAMPANILE teachers in his classes are still opting to wear masks.

“Almost all my teachers are wearing their masks,” Tiwari said. “Maybe there are a few people in each class who aren’t, but I think the majority definitely are still wearing the masks.”

Spanish teacher Trevor Crowell said social conformity seems to be influencing students’ decisions.

“Sometimes a student will come in without a mask and see they’re the only one and ask for a mask,” he said.

English teacher Kindel Launer said she decides whether or not to wear a mask based on how much she is exposed to risk.

RA “You have to pull together how many D EN exposures you’ve had,” she said. “When I LE UN get here in the morning, and no one’s in G /T the (Media Arts Center), I’m not wearing a H

ried about that, but it seems like people are making their own choices, and that their own choices are good.”

JT BARD/THE CAMPANILE

Senior Sebastian Accetta works in the library while unmasked. Palo Alto Unified School District ended its mask mandate on March 11.

E KEN OG ATA/THE CAMPANIL

B

Fetter is a staff writer on Viking Magazine. To see the other submissions in our column contest, visit www.thecampanile.org. Stay tuned for future contests and events.

The Campanile

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89$(*-"-&+%.)#&5:-)(%*+,0"5()*+,%-(0$0+4,*-&;()$0(..,0(.)+%)7+,%5)/+#(%) After deleting all the social media platforms from her phone in the winter of 2020, sophomore Clare Antonow reopened TikTok only to be greeted by videos focused around being “that girl.” But, who is “that girl” and how can someone be her?

On paper, the “that girl” trend on Instagram and TikTok is centered around how to be your best self, both mentally and physically. To social media, this means polished hair, workout sets and juice cleanses.

While the trend may have started as an effort to inspire others to live a more healthy life, it has quickly turned into a new set of unrealis-

ART

BY HANNAH SIN

R GE

tic expectations, Antonow said.

“The trend started out motivating people to try a new book or maybe make a green juice, but it developed into people changing their lifestyles to try and fit into a perfect unattainable persona,” Antonow said. “(The) majority of the top TikToks are filmed in pristine white apartments with aesthetic food, clothes, lighting and perfect visuals. It’s incredibly curated.”

Stanford Social Media Lab researcher Angela Lee said there is a discernible pattern in these types of curated, idealistic lifestyle trends.

“I think it’s a really interesting (trend) because I feel like it’s a repackaging of a lot of pretty wellestablished trends in terms of idealized lifestyles, maybe because I’m a little bit older, so I’ve seen it come and go,” Lee said.

However, Lee said this trend is not only an older trend being reinvented but also an incorporation of different aspects of a modern-day ideal.

“It is also really interesting because while it does have the idealization of beauty and appearance, it is also about work and career at the same time, which is an interesting mix to me,” Lee said.

While Antonow said the trend’s initial intent was positive – a way to motivate people to be a better version of themselves – it has morphed into an unrealistic standard which can be dangerous.

“It’s what ‘that girl’ would do or how ‘that girl’ would live her life, and doesn’t accurately represent the day-to-day lives of anyone, not even the creators of the videos,” Antonow said.

This fake ideal, Lee said, can have direct and indirect effects.

“I think there’s a very obvious thing that parents are very worried about which is direct effects,” Lee said. “For example, I see this video about dressing a certain way, there-

fore, I’m going to go buy this thing, and I’m going to dress that way.”

But in the case of the “that girl” trend, it seems to be more about reshaping values and living styles, Lee said.

“In the case of the ‘that girl’ trend, I think what makes it so interesting to me, is it’s really not about saying, ‘Hey, you need to go wear this thing or dress this way,’” Lee said. “But it’s more about creating a sense of what should you value, what should you be trying to prioritize in your life?’ And maybe that’s aesthetic.

Maybe that’s something else, or maybe it’s this super intense work kind of mentality… it shapes your ideals, which then causes people to change their own behaviors in pursuit of those ideals.”

Antonow said she is concerned about the implications this trend may have, especially on young girls using social media.

“I think about how young girls using TikTok are now and can’t even

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KEN OGATA/TH E CAMPANILE

imagine how affected my 6th-grade self would be by these trends,” Antonow said. “The influence it would have would be unbelievable, and that’s really scary to think about.”

Fortunately, there are ways for people to avoid this content to enhance their own well-being, Lee said. She said young social media users should know some important tactics in order to avoid negative feelings arising from the content they see.

“The first thing I think is doing that reflective step: checking how it makes you feel while you’re browsing,” Lee said. “Asking ‘Is this making me happy? Is this making me feel bad?’”

Another, more technical approach would be to capitalize on the features these apps offer, Lee said.

“The algorithm is learning from your engagement, and it’s responding to you,” Lee said. “You have the option to block or unfollow content that you don’t like. So I actually really encourage people to spring clean your feed every once in a while.”

Lillian Clark Staff Writer

Friday, April 1, 2022

The Campanile

Lifestyle

B2

GRACE PARK/USED WITH PERMISSION

Best Buddies club members meet for lunch. “You’ll find that oftentimes in schools, (students with IDD) are separated because they require different educations or different resources,” California Best Buddies Program Supervisor Melissa Cagney said. “So Best Buddies really unites the special education and general education populations at schools to have social inclusion.”

Best Buddies promotes inclusivity, raises neurodiversity awareness

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ophomore Juan Pinto-Saldana sits down with his classmates for lunch, unwraps his sandwich and waits for the rest of the Best Buddies club members to arrive. After the bell, students pour in from their 6th period class, sit down and strike up a conversation about their day or what they have to eat.

This lunch get-together is the biweekly meeting for Best Buddies, a club that pairs neurotypical students with students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Buddies meet to eat, talk and do activities at these lunchtime meetings and are encouraged to make plans together after school hours.

The Best Buddies club is only one part of the larger Best Buddies organization, an international nonprofit that has branches around the globe.

California Best Buddies Program Supervisor Melissa Cagney said the Best Buddies mission is to promote inclusivity and societal normalization of people with IDD and create a space where people with IDD can build strong relationships with other people.

“You’ll find that oftentimes in schools, (students with IDD) are separated because they require different educations or

different resources,” Cagney said. “So Best Buddies really unites the special education and general education populations at schools to have social inclusion.”

Special Education teacher Grace Park said the meaningful relationships the club creates foster growth and joy for her students.

“Spending time (with) and listening to people means the world to them,” Park said. “It’s an amazing feeling when someone wants to hear you out or to spend time with you, so it’s priceless for both my students, who are (special education) students, and the other students here at Paly to learn from each other and build on with each other’s time together.”

Pinto-Saldana, a member of Best Buddies, said he loves being part of the club.

“I really enjoy Best Buddies,” PintoSaldana said. “I like talking to all my new friends and eating lunch with them.”

Senior Rani Rambo also said that she enjoys the club because of the time she gets to spend with her fellow members.

“I like to hang out with Sophia, my buddy — and my (other) friends too,” Rambo said.

Cagney also said other than the oneto-one friendships created through school clubs, Best Buddies has other programs for people with IDD, some of which extend into adult life and help people with IDD navigate finding a job and building community without the support that they may have had when they were younger.

“Our four programs — one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development and inclusive living — create opportunities for people with IDD,” Cagney said.

Through each of these programs, Best Buddies equips people with knowledge on how to accommodate, understand and communicate with people with IDD through spreading disability awareness, Cagney said.

“In our one-to-one friendship program, we get people as young as elementary schoolers that have never heard

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of many disabilities,” Cagney said. “So we’re teaching societal norms from the very beginning on how to be inclusive to individuals with disabilities early on, so that when they get older, they’re not startled and don’t know the language to use or how to behave around individuals with IDD.” Cagney said even today, too much stigma exists surrounding IDD and people with IDD, so promoting awareness and education about the subject are important in debunking the misconceptions that students may have.

“I think the word disability — a lot of people see it as a bad word, but that encompasses so much,” Cagney said. “So specifically at Best Buddies, we focus on intellectual and developmental disabilities. That can range from autism to cerebral palsy to Down syndrome. Not all disabilities are physical or visible, and people are capable of much more than they’ve been giving credit for.”

Park said that bringing awareness to IDD fosters community and a deeper connection to others with a disability and creates a much-needed societal normalization of having IDD. “It’s OK that they do things differently,” Park said. “It’s important for others to understand that their differences are not bad differences, but differences that we can also do our best to help if we know more about.”

!"#$"%&'()*"'+,-.,/0'12"34'53"4*'-,6"'1/'478"3*"31'9:.4;'*7.,/$<"4' =:,44$='=1.$='>116'=*,3,=-"34;'?$4,881$/-4'%$-*'4*,::1%'"/?$/@ Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” breathes new life into the celebrated caped crusader — a character that’s been done time and time again. “The Batman” not only presents a refreshing spin on the comic book character but also on superhero movies as a whole.

The most notable aspect of this film is its storytelling; while it’s not exactly groundbreaking, it differs from the usual “good guy beats up a bunch of bad guys” routine by focusing predominantly on the detective side of Batman. Reeves takes inspiration from the detective thrillers of director David Fincher, borrowing a lot of elements from Fincher’s “Zodiac” and “Se7en.”

What makes this film shine is the tremendous performances of Robert Pattinson and Paul Dano, who play ART BY WALLIE BUTLER

Batman and the Riddler respectively.

After another fantastic performance

by Pattinson, the time has come for people to stop referring to him as the “Twilight guy.”

Pattinson blends into the character of Bruce Wayne but strays from past Bruce Wayne portrayals by Ben Affleck or Christian Bale. Instead of the virtuous, well-kept Bruce in past movies, Pattinson plays a rugged, unstable Bruce who listens to Nirvana on repeat.

Pattinson’s Batman is flawed; he isn’t a super strong fighter or a genius detective. Instead, Pattinson portrays Batman as who he actually is: an out-of-touch rich kid with good intentions.

The little flaws in Pattinson’s Batman make his character more human, including the hints he misses, his recklessness and even his slight fear of heights.

Pattinson’s unique portrayal shines a light on how absurd the concept of Batman is. After all, isn’t it a little silly to see a rich guy run around in a costume beating up teenage delinquents while referring to himself as “vengeance”?

And Dano’s performance makes this film truly special. After playing an awkward nerd in “There Will Be Blood” and an awkward nerd in

“Prisoners,” Dano reprises a role that he plays perfectly: an awkward nerd.

The Riddler, who serves as the main antagonist of the film, isn’t a typical villain you’d see in a superhero movie. He has no high-tech villain weapons, no mechanical suits and no creepy lair. Dano’s Riddler is more akin to a deranged person you’d find on the internet — or more aptly, a 4chan user.

In fact, Dano’s Riddler is inspired by the dangerous individuals who lurk on the internet; those who feel forgotten and aspire to take vengeance on the society that has wronged them. Instead of futuristic weaponry, the Riddler uses presentday technology — online forums, social media, and yes, Twitch streams — to spread his own hateful rhetoric.

Dano’s fantastic portrayal of the Riddler illustrates the film’s strongest and most fleshed out themes.

The Riddler shows the dangers of the internet and its capacity to allow feelings of hate and revenge to fester.

In the context of QAnon and the Capitol Riots from a year ago, Dano’s Riddler feels like a character who could actually exist.

“The Batman” is dark — not just thematically, but literally. Under director Reeves and cinematographer Greig Frasier’s supervision, the movie

is practically shrouded in darkness, which, while it fits the character of Batman, makes a lot of scenes difficult to see and tell apart. Each scene looks similar, making it hard to remember a lot of the visual elements.

However, the instances where light is used as a contrast to darkness, including the use of flares, muzzle flashes and explosions, is expertly done. Unfortunately, these scenes are few and far between.

After three hours of a lot of great stuff, though, the ending felt shallow, with Pattinson’s Batman monologuing the theme of the movie, which boils down to: vengeance is bad.

The film also ends with a preview of another infamous Batman antagonist, hinting at a sequel. This felt out of place, since the movie spent the preceding three hours distancing itself from its superhero movie peers, only to copy the end-credits teaser that’s included in every Marvel movie.

While “The Batman” has its flaws, they are mostly overshadowed by the aspects it gets right. It’s fun to see a Batman movie bring a new and refreshing take on the superhero genre.

Ken Ogata Staff Writer

Friday, April 1, 2022

The Campanile

B3

Lifestyle

Prom dress styles change across decades

P

rom is a highly anticipated event for many high school students. Althoughthe event remains generally unchanged, prom dress styles have shifted over the years according to fashion trends of the time.

This can even be seen in American media, from the daunting pale dress worn by Carrie (1976) to the flowing tulle gowns worn in “Footloose” (1984), to the embroidered red dress worn in “Ladybird” (2017).

When Paly alumni Paloma Tracy attended junior prom in 2014, she said her dress was quite different from today’s fashion.

“I remember solid pastel colors with sequins or embroidery on the best to be common,” Tracy said.

“Strapless also was probably the most common among my friends.”

In a photograph picturing Tracy and her friends, the girls are lined up in a matching pose with their hand on their hips, making a rainbow line of pastel colors, from pink to purple.

The dresses were strapless with fitted bodices and a-line skirts. With the exception of one, the girls all had solid colored dresses that appeared to be made of a viscose like material.

“I think lots of people bought their dresses online,” Tracy said. “People’s dresses and hair were so similar.”

As far as hairstyles of her time went, Tracy said most girls ledft their hair down with side-parted long, loose curls.

While working at Paly for nearly two decades, Childhood Development teacher Hilary McDaniel says she has seen a wide range of high school fashion at prom.

McDaniel says she has seen everything from over-the-top dress up to jeans and a T-shirt.

“More recently, I’ve seen people in more sophisticated dresses, maybe something I wouldn’t have been allowed to wear as a teenager,” McDaniel said.

“Where I grew up in southern California, you tried to fit a mold.”

Growing up in California as a teenager, McDaniel said she remembers defining fashion trends of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

“There definitely was an ‘80s trend for scrunchies and tiered skirts,” McDaniel said. “I remember matching outfits with your date was really popular, like my date and I wore a dress and tie that matched.”

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In subsequent decades though, McDaniel said these markers have become less distinct.

“Starting in my early teaching career, dresses were always long, and that definitely changed,” McDaniel said. “I’ve recently seen more cocktail dresses which technically are more semi-formal.”

And McDaniel said she thinks the increased accessibility of online shopping has created at least some of this shift.

“The hard thing about it is you have to order it and try it on, so I’ve seen a big increase in the preplanning of the dress,” McDaniel said. “The talk about the dress starts months before.”

Junior Sonia Hussein agrees and said online dress shoppers can have trouble finding the size they need.

“I’ve found dresses I like online, but they’re usually sold out in my size,” Hussein said.

However, Hussein said she still prefers ordering online because it is more convenient.

“I know some of my friends have ordered some dresses from this brand, Windsor,” Hussein said. “And that brand is exclusively online.”

Because of increased online shopping, McDaniel said independent brick and mortar shops have struggled to keep up with the changing consumer culture.

“Being an independent retailer that has affordable clothing, I mean, how can you compete?” McDaniel said.

Despite this, alumni Julia Persson, a freshman at UC Santa Cruz who graduated in 2020 said their are positives to online prom dress shopping.

“I think it has added even more options for people,” Persson said.

“If you can’t find what you want at a store, you can probably find it online.”

Persson also said she assumes online prom shopping is so popular for highschool students because of the affordability of it.

“One click and you’re basically done shopping,” Persson said. “You just sit in your bed and save hours of your time although it does take away from the shopping experience,” Persson said.

No matter the shopping culture, McDaniel said she remains impressed with one thing during her time at Paly: diversity of taste.

“What I think is so interesting about Paly is all the different styles,” McDaniel said. “There’s a huge variety, and it all seems to be welcomed.”

Shiki Toyama Staff Writer

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Each day after school, sophomore Hannah Huang returns to her Chinese American household where the distinct tones of “Chinglish,” a distinctive mix of the Chinese and English language, drift throughout the home. Switching between cultures and languages to connect with all the people in her life has become the norm for Huang.

“Even though I have lived in the Bay Area for my whole life, my parents –– who are first generation immigrants from Taiwan –– spoke to me in Mandarin when I was a baby but since they’ve lived here for a while now, they weave in some English,” Huang said.

Huang is one of many students, who find themselves in between two or more cultures, yearning for any sense of belonging in both. Students who grow up with immigrant parents say they often feel a perpetual struggle to not only fit in with American social standards but also maintain strong ties to their parents’ home country.

Huang said at school she speaks English even with friends fluent in Mandarin but at home, she talks to her parents in Mandarin. She said this divide between her two identities can often hinder healthy communication, forcing her to find ways to bridge the gap.

“I don’t necessarily see it as two cultures because it’s impossible for me to just be Chinese or just be American,” Huang said. “Instead, I see myself in between cultures, (and) I accept both at the same time.”

Although the U.S. has been idealized for centuries as a melting pot full of different and new opportunities, it’s become more evident than ever in recent years that the nation also hosts a rigid racial divide.

History and Ethnic Studies teacher Justin Cronin said some young people may rebel against their culture in order to receive approval.

“They adhere tightly to their family’s culture (in order) to maintain security in a world they do not understand,” he said.

In this way, students can be criticized for drifting away from their roots and called out for being too whitewashed, a derogatory way to describe someone in a minority group who has intentionally or unintentionally assimilated to Eurocentric standards.

Sophomore Betsabe Acosta said she speaks Spanish with her parents –– immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador –– and has experienced other people in her culture denouncing her for playing into the assimilation, even when she never noticed it herself.

“But after reflecting, maybe I do have a different way of speaking (when I am) in East Palo Alto compared to school, and it’s almost like code switching (based on) my surroundings,” Acosta said.

And Huang said students of first generation immigrants may face serious issues like racism and social isolation for being too immersed in their foreign lifestyles.

“There were definitely moments when I was a lot younger that classmates would say some insensitive things regarding the more Chinese parts of me, but now that we’re all older everyone is better at respecting each other,” Huang said.

From Acosta’s perspective, she said she is constantly seen as part of a stereotype in a predominantly white institution. There are several harmful prejudices against people of color, especially when others are unfamiliar with diverse cultures.

“I think that’s why I try to fit into the community more so I can prove them wrong,” Acosta said.

Ultimately, Huang said that although she cannot imagine living in a completely Chinese society, she feels grateful to be in an environment where she can still connect to her heritage, which has shaped her as a person.

“I like to think that I’m getting the best of both worlds so now my values are a blend of both cultures’ best views,” Huang said.

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Lifestyle Editor The afternoon sun shines brightly onto the hot sand as the beach wind ruffles senior Madhu Ramkumar’s hair.

As she bathes in the sunlight, she wonders what she would have been doing in her PRIME class right now, if she had gone. Then, the sound of the seagulls cawing above and the waves crashing onto the shore sent her back to the Santa Cruz beach where she had retreated to.

“I wouldn’t say my case of senioritis is bad,” Ramkumar said. “But I’m definitely going out more and just more relaxed.”

Senioritis is a colloquial term used to describe the decreased motivation that students have towards school as they near graduation. This lack of motivation can be seen amongst many seniors.

Senioritis can be seen in many differ-

ent forms. For senior Micaiah Acosta, it is spending more downtime for herself rather than studying time towards school.

“I watch shows every night now, it’s so great,” Acosta said. “I used to never be able to watch TV on the weekdays because of either homework or tests, but now Netflix has become a part of my nighttime routine.”

For other students like Ramkumar, it is spending more time with friends and family.

“I’ve been hanging out with friends on weekdays regularly now,” Ramkumar said.

“We just chill and do whatever.”

According to senior Reilly Bruff, parents, too, are becoming more relaxed during the second semester of this year.

“My parents have definitely become a lot more lenient with my curfew lately, and also have been giving me more space about my grades and handling my own academics,” Bruff said.

However, with less devotion towards school and attaining higher scores, many

students are seeing a decline in their grades.

“It’s senior year,” Bruff said. “A couple missing assignments are tanking my grades but I’ll get them back in before graduation for sure.”

Despite this, students are finding ways to combat senioritis,by personal means.

“I like to exercise when I feel burned out,” senior Nicholas Shinghal said. “It’s a healthy break from homework and it gives my brain a wakeup call.”

After a long four years of high school, Class of 2022 is finally getting ready to wrap up high school. Although senioritis and the lack of academic motivation has affected many students some Shinghal said she might look back at her time at Paly as a positive experience.

“I’m so excited for graduation,” Shinghal said. “I think I might miss Paly.”

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The Campanile

Friday, April 1, 2022

Lif style

Teen dramas risk normalizing abusive relationships in students

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While television is not necessarily violence through healthy relationship supposed to be an accurate representaeducation. tion of real life, it does have an influence “The goal for these shows is to hook on developing minds Paly Wellness Cen- you and keep you watching, which usuter Outreach Worker Whitney Aquino ally involves heightening the drama and said. As dramas such as “Gossip Girl” unhealthy behaviors shown — many and “Euphoria” have gained popularity, shows rely on manipulation, sabotage, their influence in depicting teen relation- intensity and volatility to keep people ships has also grown. clicking to the next episode,” Riolo said.

While these shows are not accurate The HBO show “Euphoria” depicts portrayals of real relationships, aspects the life of teenagers struggling with variof them cause students to romanous hardships and portrays an example ticize and relate with unhealthy of a toxic, emotionally abusive relabehaviors. tionship between main characters “Our investment in their Nate and Maddy. lives is something that we “We see a lot of seek to find comparison volatility in Nate’s to, or we seek to identify with those people at times, and when we see those behaviors playing out, we might start to identify,” Aquino said.

Sheridan Riolo, the Engagement Manager for the One Love Foundation, agrees and said many of these shows depict relationships that portray unrealistic expectations, perpetrating unhealthy relationships and dating practices.

One Love FoundaR LE tion is an organiUT IE B ALL zation formed to ART BY W combat domestic

relationships with just about everyone in Euphoria,” Riolo said. “He acts on anger in an unpredictable way that threatens and intimidates other people in order to maintain control over them.”

Senior Kirtana Romfh said while the unrealistic expectations these two characters set are harmful, it is the romanization of an abusive relationship she finds more concerning.

“This is definitely perpetuated by social media,” Romfh said.

“While most people acknowledge that Maddy and Nate from the show ‘Euphoria’ are in an abusive relationship, videos on apps like TikTok romanticize their relationship, discussing their looks or positive qualities.”

The romanticization of a couple like this takes away from the seriousness of the issue of emotional or physical abuse and perpetuates a toxic standard that excuses problematic behavior for attractive people, Romfh said.

“This can lead to glossing over the raw truth which is that their relationship portrays unhealthy, abusive behaviors,” she said.

Similar dynamics are present in another teen favorite, the 2006 “Gossip Girl’’ series. Social media users have called out main characters Chuck and Blair for displaying a toxic, manipulative relationship.

“Chuck and Blair are constantly manipulating one another to get what they want, often in the name of love,” Riolo said.

This type of television relationship can cause impressionable viewers to

consider excusing harmful actions as gestures of their partner’s love and devotion, Aquino said.

“It definitely creates an illusion that you have to fight really hard for everything, or that if (your relationship) is not as passionate as a relationship you may be watching on TV, then maybe it’s not love,” Aquino said.

Since relationship education is not taught in schools the way sex education is, Riolo says this gives teens only a few outlets to learn from: parents, peers and the medias.

“The third option requires the least vulnerability and potential awkwardness, and the characters portrayed often represent a desirable lifestyle in some way, which is why a lot of people turn to the media to learn,” she said.

As for what teenagers can do to avoid being influenced by the inaccurate portrayals of high school relationships on TV, Riolo said reflection and introspection are key.

“I think it’s all about media literacy.

People being able to reflect on and dissect the messages the media is feeding them,” Riolo said. “That’s where learning comes, as well as the ability to differentiate between fiction and real-life –– being able to watch a scene from ‘Euphoria’ and think, ‘Sure this is entertaining, but what Nate is doing is unhealthy.’”

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The Crossword 26 Feeding frenzy foundation

11 Traveled, as a 50-Across

28 Glue... or a rhyme for “glue”

12 Hosp. areas

29 Not bright

13 Religious rift

30 Loathsome

18 Crude shelter

32 What rains in Spain

19 Delivery docs

37 Chekov’s first play

24 100 cts.

39 Place of the Beatles’ return

25 2016 Olympics site

41 One of Two Cities

26 Cook-off bowlful

42 Scam online, suspiciously

27 Mayhem

45 Suffix for robot or gymnast

28 Newsom, to a resident of

46 Chop (off )

41-Across

48 Focus for many a bodybuilder

31 Many a prank victim today

50 Maritime marauders

33 Visual app component: Abbr.

54 “No ___ luck!”

34 Navy letters

55 Stories that can be tall or short

35 Campfire leftovers

58 Distant friends

38 2009 film with a flying house

61 One in an unfamiliar place

44 It’s easy, to the Jackson 5

64 Worry, as a guitarist?

47 New Guinea native

65 ___ Grey (tea type)

48 “Pride and Prejudice” author

66 News item

49 Tees and button-downs

67 Type of list

50 Italian green sauce

68 Genetic messengers

51 Prefix before penta-

69 Delivers, as a text

52 Hydroxyl compounds 53 Cover letters?

Down

54 “12 Years a ___”

1 Numbers to crunch

55 President famously trapped in

2 Most summer coffee orders

PUZZLE BY RONAK MONGA AND NEIL RATHI

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56 Big do

4 Suggest, e.g. as a TV show

57 Fibbed

5 Picture of health?

59 Stuns to silence

6 Expensive Cruise

62 ___ the ramparts we watched 63 Conclusion

1 French perfume brand

15 Ancient book form

20 “Free” in “Land of the Free”

7 Slowly, for a composer

5 Shakespeare’s world (or Globe)

16 Dealer’s foe, slangily

21 Pet store rodent

8 Chromosomal hand-me-downs

10 Applications

17 ... and you feed him for a

23 41-Across time zone

9 Crowd scene actor

24 Words following natural or PR

10 Not suitable

14 Moorland measure

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3 Large long-armed primate

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Friday, April 1, 2022

The Campanile

Sports

SLUGGING

STARS

Junior Sam Papp throws a pitch in a game against Cupertino High School on March 25.

“Our pitchers have done a really good job of just keeping the game simple,” senior shortstop Xavier Esquer said.

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tarting the season 11-1 and 6-0 in the De Anza division, the varsity baseball team has succeeded because of its confident mentality, senior outfielder Zach Hayward said.

“We’ve gone into every game with a good game plan, and we’ve done a good job of executing that as far as knowing what we want to do at the plate and then also having our pitchers be consistent and throw strikes,” Hayward said. “We’re pretty confident as long as we stick to our game plan, we’re going to be a tough team to beat, no matter who our opponent is.”

Senior shortstop Xavier Esquer said the team’s good chemistry off the field has also helped its performance on the baseball diamond.

“Individually, I feed off the team (and) our team has really good team chemistry, so we know when we’re playing games that if someone messes up, there’ll be someone there to pick you up,” Esquer said. “And just knowing that allows you to play more carefree, so

you’re able to just relax and play better and become the best player you can be.”

With five shutouts already this year, the team’s pitching has been both strong and reliable, Esquer said. He said the starting pitchers, bullpen and defense work well together.

“Our pitchers understand that the guys behind them are going to help them out as best they can so they can just trust them and just not necessarily feel like they have to strike out everyone,” Esquer said. “We (have a) really strong defense so we can pick up our pitchers, but our pitchers have also done a really good job of just keeping the game simple, like not running the pitch count up.”

Senior pitcher and third baseman Danny Peters said a strong lineup from top to bottom has helped on the offensive side of the ball.

“We have some of the top players in the country, and they are great leaders for all the younger kids,” Peters said. “A lot of kids I know on the team — like the sophomores — they all look up to the big kids, like (senior outfielder) Henry Bolte and Esquer. So they all started working so much harder, which is all due to Bolte’s credit and Xavier’s stuff.”

Despite the team’s success, Hayward said the season has not been all smooth sailing.

He said the team struggled to maintain a competitive atmosphere in the beginning of the year when it lost its first and only game to 8-2 Valley Christian.

“Sometimes our energy will slack off — in the beginning of the year, we were really flat,” Hayward said. “And for us, it’s all about the energy. It’s not just the nine guys in the field.

Everybody in the dugout can really make an impact on the game just with their energy, cheering on the teammates and just being locked in.”

The team will participate in the nationally recognized Boras Baseball Classic Tournament in Sacramento from April 11 to April 14, where it will face off against the top teams from high schools from all around California. Aside

from this tournament, Esquer said the team also looks forward to its highly-anticipated matchups against 8-4 Serra on April 2, while Peters said he is excited to play in the two-game series against Los Gatos later this month.

While Esquer said the goal of all the players on the team is ultimately to win CCS and the state championship, the team is doing its best to power through the regular competition season.

“Obviously, the goal is to win,” Esquer said. “If we lose one here or there, it’s not the end of the world, but obviously we’re doing everything in our power to make that not happen, and I trust our guys that it won’t happen.”

Austin Xiang

Editor-in-Chief

Senior pitcher and third baseman Danny Peters slides for a base in a March 25 game against Cupertino High School.

“We have some of the top players in the country, and they are great leaders for all the younger kids,” Peters said.

AUSTIN XIANG/THE CAMPANILE

Class of ‘21 alumni succeed in college sports !"#$%&'%(#$) Hannah Singer Staff Writer

In a game against the Oregon Ducks on March 5, University of California at Santa Barbara infielder and Paly alumnus Zander Darby broke a fourth-inning scoreless tie, pushing his first collegiate homer over the left-field fence. Three innings later, Darby did it again.

Darby, a freshman on the UCSB baseball team, played junior varsity baseball at Paly for one year and varsity baseball for three years.

Darby said a perk of playing a sport at the collegiate level is being able to build strong relationships with everyone on the team.

“At the college level, you get to live and hang out with (your teammates) all the time, and you get to spend time playing a sport you love,” Darby said.

Paly alumnus Aaron Kim specializes in high jump on the mens track and field team at the University of California, Los Angeles.

When Kim attended Paly, he was on the junior varsity and varsity track and field team each for two years. Kim said UCLA’s track and field team is similar to his high school team.

“Everybody on the team likes to have fun,” Kim said. “Everybody’s there to work hard, but everybody knows how to have a good time and enjoy themselves.”

Kim said the main difference between sports at Paly and at UCLA are the tournaments and competitions.

“The meets we attend are a lot more structured and organized, and the rules are a little bit more strict,” Kim said. “And the competition is just so much greater (because) you’re competing against some of the best athletes in the nation.”

For Darby, the main difference between playing a sport at Paly versus a college like UCSB is how the coaches treat individual athletes on the team and whether or not the coaches pay attention to outside responsibilities. “(In high school), the coaches cater towards your homework,” Darby said. “But (in college) you have to put your team first and figure out ways if you’re taking hard classes ... to get it done on your own time.”

Darby also said playing a sport in high school is much less stressful than playing a sport at a collegiate level, let alone at the Division I level.

“High school athletics are primarily about enjoying the sport,” Darby said. “Obviously you want to get better too, but it’s not as demanding as Division I.” While the jump from high school sports to college sports is substantial, Darby said Paly helped prepare him for the academic rigor of college, which has helped him balance his work between sports and academics.

“I learned really good study habits, and I learned how to build relationships with teachers really well at Paly, (both of which have) helped me here at UCSB,” Darby said.

Kim said the coaching he received at Paly assisted in developing

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UCSB infielder and Paly alumnus Zander Darby fields a ground ball during a game against the Oregon Ducks. “At the college level, you get to hang out with (your teammates) all the time, and you get to spend time playing a sport you love,” Darby said.

him into a better athlete and student and prepared him for collegiate sports.

“As a collegiate athlete himself, (my Paly coach) gave me a lot of really good advice and made some necessary changes to my training program that he felt would best prepare me to compete at this level,” Kim said. “I wouldn’t be here without his help and the help of the other coaches.”

Kim said there are some important criteria Paly athletes should think about when deciding whether or not they want to pursue competitive sports at a collegiate and post collegiate level.

“The first thing is that you really have to enjoy every aspect of (the sport),” Kim said. “You have to enjoy going to the gym and working out, working hard on and off the field and making sure that you are taking care of yourself mentally and physically.”

Darby said Paly athletes should know that getting to the next level in competitive sports is not easy, but that they should put in the work and effort if they know it’s what they want.

“If you have future aspirations of getting to the next level, it doesn’t come free,” Darby said. “You’re going to have to earn it.”

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!"#$%1&2,"$$' !"#"$%&'#()"*& Paly vs. Menlo Atherton 3/24, L, 14-6 Paly vs. Los Altos 3/22, W, 14-10

The Campanile

Friday, April 1, 2022

C2

Sports

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Joc Comes Home

n a December rainstorm, the unranked 2010 Paly varsity football team pulled a shocking upset over the nation’s fifth-ranked Centennial Huskies from Corona to capture the California Division I football title.

Despite a 2-2 start, senior captain Rachel Ellisen said she is optimistic about the girls lacrosse team’s potential this year.

“I was super proud of the team because a majority of them are new sophomores,” Ellisen said. “We’re getting better with each game.”

During practices, Ellisen said that the team is learning new skills and improving its technique.

“We still have a long way to go in terms of stick work just like the fundamentals of lacrosse, but I think everybody is working super hard and picking things up super quickly,” Ellisen said.

Ellisen said the team’s ability to learn and improve at an impressive pace is derived from its ability to take criticism.

The team’s scores also reflect improvement, she said, from a 11-3 loss to Mountain View loss for its first game, to a 11-10 victory over Menlo School in a more recent game.

With more practice, Ellisen said the team is capable of a win against rival Los Gatos in its upcoming game on April 25, a team it lost to 13-0 on March 23.

“If we play them again, and if we play our hearts out and bring the energy, I think we can definitely come out with a win,” Ellisen said.

Co-captain and senior Reilly Bruff also said this year’s team is closer than previous year’s teams were.

“The way we all support and uplift each other is unmatched by other seasons,” Bruff said. “I feel more comfortable and confident playing this year.”

In terms of technical improvements, Bruff said the team has been practicing passing and catching against a wall, and Ellisen said if the team continues to improve at its current rate, she is confident more wins will follow.

“I think what we do have is energy and like passion and a real drive to want to win and want to work our hardest,” Ellisen said. “I see that especially with the sophomores and the newer players, so I think that we can be as good as we’ve been in the past.”

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Zack Silver Sports Editor

JAY VE NT RA KA MA N

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Shiki Toyama

drafted by the Packers in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft. Marburg said in the years since, Adams has shown his true talent and will only improve with his move to the Raiders.

“Adams is a really good player,” SEBASTIAN ACCETTA/USED WITH PERMISSION he said. “It’s This batting cage sits in the backyard of Joc Pederson’s childhood great to see home on Alannah Court in Palo Alto. Pederson, a 2010 Paly graduanother Paly ate, signed a 1-year, $6 million deal with the San Francisco Giants. alum get paid.” have most of their fanbase in Oakland, While the Raiders moved and after their time in Los Angeles they’re from Oakland to Las Vegas in 2020, very much a California team.”

Marburg said in many ways, the Raiders De Feo agrees. remain part of the “I still think of the Raiders as a Bay local community.

Area team, even though they’re in Las “Even though Vegas,” De Feo said. they’re in Vegas With athletes such as Adams, Pederson now, it still feels and former NBA guard Jeremy Lin, Paly like they’re has produced a substantial crop of profescoming home. sional athletes. De Feo, who plays catcher They still for the varsity baseball team, said this is because of an athletic culture that drives its players forward.

“We have a winning culture at Paly,” he said. “When you get with the right group of guys at the right time, it motivates you to be even better than you currently are. It’s really cool seeing someone who went to your high school playing at the highest level.

It feels like it could be anyone, so why not you?”

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Senior Stella Donahue looks to pass the ball against Menlo School on March 2.

In hindsight, two names stick out from Paly’s roster: senior wide receiver Joc Pederson and junior wide receiver Davante Adams. Playing second and third fiddle to receiver Maurice Williams, who led the team in both touchdown receptions, Pederson and Adams would go on to stardom in pro sports. And over a three-day span in mid-March, both took a step closer to home.

Pederson, who signed a contract to play baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers out of high school and has won back-to-back World Series with the Dodgers in 2020 and the Atlanta Braves in 2021, inked a 1-year, $6 million dollar contract with the San Francisco Giants on March 16.

Junior Oliver Marburg said he’s happy about seeing Pederson sign with the Giants.

“I think it’s really cool to see a Paly alum come and play for the Giants,” Marburg said. “In San Francisco, I can actually see him play and root for him. I think it was inevitable that he was going to come back at some point, so I’m happy that it’s at a time when the Giants are in position to win a world series” Senior Dominic De Feo said he looks forward to seeing Pederson play at Oracle Park too.

“Joc is a really exciting guy to watch, and it’ll be so cool to see him in person,” De Feo said.

Two days after Pederson’s signing, the Green Bay Packers traded Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders. Adams played college football for two years at Fresno State before being

3*.#)0"4*#5*1/&%/.0*1/%&%/#.55$*&6"/+&710"15&'/+$*/"(&*4*1/%8&),,)#/.1"/"*% For neurodivergent sophomore Maia McQuarrie, there are few chances to exercise and participate in team sports at school. Unlike many students where sports is a given part of their life, McQuarrie and her mom say schools need to do more to meet the needs of people like her.

Neurodivergence refers to those who process information and behave in a way that differs from the norms of a particular culture, like Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD, and Gunn adaptive P.E. Teacher Angel Sheridan said this difference in perception can be one of the reasons neurodivergent individuals can struggle in P.E. classes and on sports teams.

“Sometimes it’s the motor skills — like they can’t keep up with learning certain skills with their peers; it can take an extra, longer time to learn those skills. Those skills can be like throwing or catching,” Sheridan said. “Sometimes, P.E. can be too sensory overwhelming. It’s outside. There’s a lot of people. It’s really noisy, and things are moving fast … sometimes, just keeping up with all of those can be difficult.”

Girls basketball coach Scott Peters said another reason it can be difficult for neurodivergent students to join teams is because of the sports culture at Paly.

“Our athletics system is very

competitive. So, that might not be the right format,” Peters said.

But even outside of school, opportunities are limited. McQuarrie’s mother, Janne-Linn Oftedal, said neurodivergent students find it difficult to participate in regular club sports, so they have to seek out non-school programs, which are often hard to find.

“There’s a lovely group called the Special Olympics, which is a great international group that arranges sports in both big events — like national events, state events, international events — but also on

local levels,” Oftedal said. “They do basketball, all those kinds of things for those who can join … They also have Green Giant soccer in the fall, which is awesome, and they beat Stanford’s men’s soccer team every year … That being said, there are too few options.”

Oftendal said the creation of additional programs within schools, such as a parallel team that runs in conjunction with a non-neurodivergent team could allow neurodivergent students to participate directly within the team and would help students like her daughter.

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McQuarrie agreed, and said it would help her make connections with other students too. “(I want) more people to join it … more friends to do the sports with,” she said.

Despite the lack of opportunities, Sheridan said volunteers and teachers like her have been trying to provide more experiences for neurodivergent students.

“A football coach (at Gunn) got together with a special education teacher, and the football player would have lunch with the special education students. And then they would play football with them and teach them football at lunchtime. They ended up having (the neurodivergent students) run out the tunnel with them and a couple of big football games,” Sheridan said. “I think they even did a mini game one day at lunch with everybody.”

Still, Oftedal said she is frustrated with the current system. She said it’s the slow pace of change, and it’s inflexibility when it comes to accommodating neurodivergent students, and there is much more to be done to make them feel included.

“We’re trying,” Oftedal said, “but there’s always resistance because the culture of winning is bigger than the culture of inclusion.”

Eric Fan

Senior Staff Writer

Friday, April 1, 2022

The Campanile

C3

Sports

!""#$%"&'()*+'& ,#++-.$&%++*%/+'& '+01#.+&%01-#./# Brianna Zhou Staff Writer

CHARLOTTE HALLENBECK/THE CAMPANILE

Senior Maia Johnsson paces her way through the 1600m against Los Gatos on March 3 while senior Diego Diaz sprints towards the finish line in the 800m. The varsity track team holds a 2-1 league record, and underclassmen have been one key to the team’s success, junior captain Hillary Studdert said.

Track and field team starts off strong, sets sights on leagues, CCS Charlotte Hallenbeck Business Manager

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eginning to ramp up its training in preparation for upcoming invitational and post-season meets, the varsity track and field team holds a 2-2 league record.

“We’re really excited to race at the Stanford Invitational and Arcadia Invitational in the upcoming weeks, and then, of course, all focus will shift towards the postseason after that,” junior captain Hillary Studdert said. “I am really excited to see how everyone does at these meets because of the hard work everyone has been putting in during practices.”

While the girls team is led by Studdert and other upperclassmen, underclassmen have been crucial to the team at league meets.

“A few of the freshmen and sophomore girls have really stepped up this season and are performing really well,” Studdert said. “I am really proud of them and the team and how things have been going.”

Similarly, the boys team has also seen the impact of having strong underclassmen.

“A lot of kids who got into running this year — freshmen — have been super dedicated during cross country and came over to track with this really great mindset of helping out the team, being competitive and winning,” senior captain Diego Diaz said. “I think it really shows during our meets.”

In fact, Diaz said the boys team is the most talented team Paly has seen in a long time.

Diaz said runners like junior Cameron Phillips and junior Kelvin Moresi have been assets to the team through their commitment and hard work.

“Moresi has worked really hard over the last three years of track and cross country and this year. His work has really shown,” Diaz said.

“He’s been an incredible person to run with, and he works really hard, which is really admirable and translates a lot to the younger runners because they see that hard work and want to follow his lead.”

While the team can be serious and determined at times, the team’s atmosphere as fun and lighthearted.

“I think that this year especially, the team has been closer than it ever has been before,” Diaz said. “This atmosphere is really showing at

meets, invitationals and in our relays, which is really great to see.”

0/123(1)&4#5*&*"&'(#6&7"1&!!8 With only two events in each meet, the hurdlers are looking at every league meet and practice as an opportunity to improve and build strength, coach Carl Florant said.

“Every meet is more of a workout because we’re really focusing on trying to peak for CCS and the ultimate state meet,” Florant said. “As far as invitationals and regular meets, I am not real big on that, but I see that as a stepping stone for them to better themselves and to hopefully believe in themselves more and more each time so that by the time we get to the bigger meets, that won’t be a question, and it’ll already be ingrained.”

As a Paly alumni and school record holder in the 110 meter hurdles, Florant said he is using his experience to work on the team’s mechanics, especially with multiple underclassmen joining his team this season.

While Florant’s efforts to train the hurdlers began with pre-season training, he said he’s being forced to alleviate the effects of shin splints that have impacted almost the entire group of hurdlers.

“It gets a little frustrating, but we’re trying to work through that by mitigating the amount of stress we’re putting on everyone’s shins by working out on the infield,” Florant said. “Hopefully, by the time we get to SCVALS and CCS, we’ll be tapering off so that everybody will feel a lot fresher and feel their best. ”

9%1"4-5:&*(#+&:(*)&5(4&$"#$% Under the instruction of a new coach, Elsbeth Padia, the throwing team has been able to improve significantly more this season than previous years, captain and junior Terra Majors said.

“Individually, we’ve all improved because we have someone who can be there with us to correct little things,” Majors said. “Before we could’ve only thrown once a week, but now we can throw four times a week.”

While Padia may coach, she is also a star on the track herself. She started sprinting for masters at the age of 60, but shifted her focus

to throwing — shot put, discus, and javelin — when her knees gave out.

As for the throwing team’s structure, it comprises a mix of under and upperclassmen.

“That’s what’s really nice about throwing — it can be your passion or you might be just starting out and there will always be a place for you,” Majors said.

Despite the differences in age among the throwers, Majors said the team is close with one another which she finds enjoyable.

“We have a little section to ourselves because throwing is on the other side of the field and there’s not a lot of us,” Majors said. “We also come together when we laugh with each other at all the runners who pass by us while we’re spinning in circles.”

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While the record would indicate a successful first half of the season, coach Michael Davidson said his team is not at its full potential due to injuries and a lack of commitment.

“People want to do a bunch of other different sports — trying to do this and that — it’s taking its toll because their bodies can’t handle it,” Davidson said. “They’re also just not here, and the times that they aren’t training, the opportunities for them to get better and grow aren’t there.”

This pattern of inconsistent attendance and injuries is common on a team with 208 participants, Davidson said.

“I think the distance crew is in a good space because a lot of them come from cross country,” Davidson said. “A lot of the injuries we have now, we saw in the earlier parts of cross country, so when they come back, they’re taking care of themselves and nurturing themselves back to their full potential.”

Davidson said he hopes to prevent any more injuries while also upping the intensity of the workouts going forward.

“My goal is the same every year: for the kids to maximize their ability, to be at their best both physically and mentally when it comes to racing and to qualify as many kids as possible to get to the next round,” Davidson said. “Workouts will get harder, more aggressive, but there will also be more rest in between. The challenge we also face is that kids come and work hard, but they don’t get the rest their bodies need and they end up getting hurt — it’s a balancing act every year.”

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Trying to improve its record after starting off the season 1-3 in league play, the boys lacrosse team is also dealing with injuries and players leaving the team.

Coach DJ Shelton said the team is young compared to previous years because he was forced to bring up freshmen and sophomores after losing players early in the season.

“We have a good senior leadership group and our captains are really good guys, so we’re banking on that because with a young team it usually takes them an extra few weeks to get the swing of things at the varsity level,” Shelton said.

While having a team of younger players doesn’t necessarily help, Shelton said he is excited for future seasons because of the upcoming talent.

“Our frosh-soph team is looking solid too, so we’re definitely looking good for the future,” Shelton said.

The team’s three losses came against teams with winning records: Los Altos (3-2), Menlo

Atherton (4-1) and Los Gatos (4-0). However, Shelton said he is confident in the team’s ability, so his goal going forward is to execute on games that the team is supposed to win.

“We’ve lost to some teams that we know we can beat, so the second time we play them, we would like to make sure that we actually execute on that,” Shelton said. “We just lost to (Menlo-Atherton), and I think we didn’t play our best game. If we had, it would’ve been a very competitive match-up.”

Captain and senior Greg Laursen said he is particularly looking forward to playing Los Gatos this season.

“It’s always a fun matchup,” Laursen said.

“But right now, I am just enjoying every practice and every game.”

As for the team’s environment, Laursen said it’s consistently positive which will play to its advantage going into the remainder of the season.

“I think that it’ll show itself over time and as the season continues,” Laursen said. “I hope we get better and that we’ll do well by the end of the season.”

AUSTIN XIANG/THE CAMPANILE

Junior Tomer Horovitz runs from two opposing players in his team’s most recent matchup against Los Gatos.

The lacrosse team has started the season 1-3.

As a Paly junior reloads his phone in anticipation, as he waits to see the results of a basketball game he is watching, but he’s not just watching this game as a fan. He has money riding on the outcome too.

For many students like this junior, ports betting can be a source of entertainment between friends, but sports gambling can also lead to addiction is illegal for those under 18. This junior asked not to be named because he knows what he is doing against the law.

But whether it’s legal for minors or not, sports betting within the Paly community continues to grow.

And even though California is not among the 31 states that have legalized gambling on sports, that hasn’t stopped people from doing it anyway.

Critics, though, say gambling can lead to addiction and can lead to corruption and rigged games.

Psychology teacher Christopher Farina said gambling is addictive because when someone wins a bet, their body releases dopamine.

Farina also said a gambling addiction is a form of operant conditioning called a variable ratio schedule, meaning behaviors are reinforced unpredictably.

“This results in gamblers wondering if next time is going to be the big payout, and so they continue to gamble,” Farina said.

The junior sports gambler interviewed for this article says he thinks sports betting should be legalized and said he sees sports betting different from normal gambling where someone might be pulling a handle on a slot machine or playing roulette. Sports betting is less about random chance, he said.

“You can be more informed on the decisions you make, and that makes it not quite gambling,” he said.

Regardless of the type of betting, Farina said there are ways to prevent gambling from becoming problematic.

“If you go into gambling with the mindset of ‘I have a $50 gambling allowance for this event,’ then you’re treating the $50 just like you would for any other experience – you’re spending the money for the fun and entertainment of gambling, and you’re going in expecting to lose your money eventually,” Farina said.

Simply shifting mindsets can change the effects, he said.

“If you’ve budgeted for it, and you stay in your budget, it’s like spending money at a restaurant, video game or on any other form of entertainment,” Farina said.

The junior agrees and said while he enjoys betting on sports including his favorite teams, he does not bet on a large scale, nor does he use his own money.

“I use this app (which) supplies you with around five cents every two to three hours, and it stops giving money after you hit $5 in your account,” the junior said. “I’ve made some money but nothing significant.”

The junior also said sports betting is a unique form of entertainment since he can rely on prior knowledge of the teams or players that he’s betting on.

“You can use your knowledge on something you’re very passionate about and try to make money doing it,” the junior said.

But Farina said any kind of gambling can lead to long-terms problem, especially when someone has lost the ability to regulate themself.

He said, “It’s detrimental when a person can no longer control their gambling behavior, at which point it can be diagnosed as a psychological disorder.”

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The Campanile

Science Tech

Friday, April 1, 2022

TikToks impact perception of ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War

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krainian TikToker Valeria Shashenok walks through her neighborhood with her camera, capturing collapsed buildings, smashed windows, pieces of debris strewn about and a look of dejection plastered on her face for the world to see.

Despite these devastating circumstances, Shashenok’s dark humor peeks through with a caption on one of her posts that reads, “Putin I wait (for) u in Chernihiv,” followed by four smiley-heart emojis.

Less than two months ago, Shashenok was just a 20-year-old Ukrainian photographer, posting the behindthe-scenes of her recent photography shoots for her friends to see.

To many of her followers, like senior Lily Lochhead, the combination of Shashenok’s relatability and humor make her videos both familiar and eye-opening.

Lochhead, whose grandparents lived in both Ukraine and Russia, said Shashenok’s videos are valuable because they are a primary, candid view of the war.

“With these videos, we’re able to not just rely on news sources and the government to tell us what’s going on,” Lochhead said. “We can actually see (the war) with our own eyes, which gives us the ability to interpret the war for ourselves instead of blindly following news sources that sometimes have false information.”

Shashenok said in an interview with CNN reporter Pamela Brown that many of her friends fled Ukraine at the start of the war, but Shashenok took shelter with her mother, father and dog in an underground bunker in northern Ukraine for several weeks. On March 14, Shashenok posted on her TikTok that she had safely evacuated to Poland.

In the same interview with CNN, Shashenok also said it is her duty to debunk fake news from Russia by providing an unfiltered lens into reality and hold Putin responsible for the havoc he has wreaked on her country.

“I feel it’s like my mission to show people how it looks in real life. That it’s real life, and I’m here,” Shashenok said to CNN. AP US History teacher John Bungarden said TikToks like Shashenok’s are critical to the world’s view of the war because they show Ukrainians’ strength against Russia.

“The Russians expected, from all that’s been reported, for Ukrainians to collapse quickly, but they haven’t,” Bungarden said. “It’s certainly because of Ukrainians’ courage. (It shows) heroic leadership, something we can appreciate.”

Despite the benefit social media provides as an uncensored insight into the war, fake news videos, including government paid Kremlin propaganda, have been circulating on TikTok. To add to this problem, Russia recently passed a “fake news” law, making it a crime to publish any news about Russia’s military hostilities that differ from accounts from its Military of Defense. This law would mean only govern-

ment-approved videos could be published on social media platforms such as TikTok. To combat this issue, TikTok suspended live streaming and video uploads from Russia, following Meta, Twitter and YouTube’s lead.

“Our highest priority is the safety of our employees and our users, and in light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend live streaming and new content to our video service in Russia while we review the safety implications of this law,” TikTok said in a statement.

Though TikTok’s ban has helped reduce uploaded misinformation from the Russian government, it is still prevalent on the app. Bungarden said one of his main problems with social media platforms is that they let dishonest and dangerous videos live on forever, not only on TikTok, but all social media platforms. “(Social media platforms are) there to make money,” Bungarden said. “The people who are in the position to at least somewhat mitigate its effect either can’t do it or won’t do it because to do it is to interrupt their business model. So the lies get to live on.”

Though social media platforms may not mitigate misinformation, Bungarden said social media users can prevent their susceptibility to fake news by fact checking everything they read.

“When you see something that confirms what you believe or when you see something that confirms the other guys are evil, be skeptical and see its confirmation,” Bungarden said.

Besides spreading fake news, Lochhead said dishonest and violent videos can be difficult for many Ukrainians — including herself — to see. Lochhead said she understands humor can be a valuable coping mechanism, but people whose lives aren’t being directly affected by the war should be conscientious about how their humorous videos come across to ensure they aren’t being offensive and hurtful.

“We should be careful about what we post because it can be really traumatizing for a lot of people,” Lochhead said.

“People’s stories are so much more complex than what we see on the internet. A lot of times they’re sacrificing much more than we realize.”

While the spread of misinformation is an unavoidable risk, Lochhead said the benefit of seeing what’s actually going on in Ukraine outweighs this risk of fake news.

“At the cost of misinformation, (social media) is worth it because we learn so much more about what’s really going on,” Lochhead said. “We just have to be able to filter (misinformation) out.”

Rachel Feinstein

Social Media Manager

ART BY GRACE MUMA

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Newsletter Editor The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently approved the deployment of gene-edited mosquitos to four California counties, not including Santa Clara County. If approved by the California Department of Public Health, the release will happen this summer, potentially releasing billions of modified insects over a two-year period to decrease the population of the Aedes aegypti mosquito in order to prevent the spread of diseases.

According to the California Department of Public Health, after first being detected in 2013, Aedes aegypti have spread to 23 California counties as far north as Sacramento and as far south as San Diego. Santa Clara Vector Control Community Resource Specialist Beverley Perez said the mosquito has not yet spread to Santa Clara.

“There is a chance that it could be introduced to Santa Clara County in the near future, as it has spread quite rapidly in California,” Perez said.

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UK-based biotechnology company Oxitec, which researches gene-edited insects to assist in insect control, developed the Aedes aegypti species. Rajeev Vaidyanathan, Director of US Operations for Oxitec, said the modified Aedes aegypti utilizes a self-limiting gene technology that controls the size of the population by preventing female mosquitoes from growing past the larvae stage.

“The gene causes lethality in the larvae of females. When all the eggs hatch, all the female larvae die, but the male larvae develop, and when they mate with local invasive females, they pass the gene to the female, whose female progeny die,” Vaidyanathan said. “Thus, you cut the population by eliminating one half the larvae, and that continues for generations.”

Vaidyanathan also said Aedes aegypti have unique characteristics that make them dangerous to humans, creating a need for the deployment of the gene-editing technology.

“Aedes aegypti is an invasive species in most of the world, certainly in North and South America and all of Asia,” Vaidyanathan said. “It’s unique among mosquitoes in that it is inti-

mately associated with humans and prefers feeding on humans. It also has a very narrow flight radius which means it will also stay within 200 feet of where it was born, and it thrives in small sources of stagnant water such as clay pots.”

If approved by a state regulating body, the project would be deployed at the Delta Mosquito and Vector Control District in Visalia. Dr. Mustapha Debboun, General Manager of the Delta MVCD, said he supports the new project.

“With mosquito and vector-borne diseases a growing concern in California, we see Oxitec’s technology as an important additional option to control the invasive Aedes aegypti mosquito,” Debboun said. “We look forward to working in partnership with Oxitec and have been impressed with results from their previous projects.”

Debboun also said Oxitec will deploying the genetically modified mosquitoes, not Delta MVCD directly.

“The project is not ours. It belongs to Oxitec; we are just collaborating with them,” Debboun said.

“We will be providing them with some data about where the populations are, and they will be collecting their own data.”

However, many residents fear that the largely untested technology could have devastating impacts on the California ecosystem. Dana Perls, Food and Technology Program Manager at Friends of the Earth, said genetically modified mosquitoes such as Oxitec’s Aedes aegypti have unknown environmental effects.

“Scientists have found genetic material from (gene-edited) mosquitoes in wild populations at significant levels, which means (geneedited) mosquitoes are not sterile,” Perls said. “(Gene-edited) mosquitoes could result in far more health and environmental problems than they would solve.”

And Perls said she thinks there are numerous problems involved with the upcoming release.

“This would be the first (geneedited) vector released in California and essentially with no independent review, no appropriate regulations and no testing for human impacts,” Perls said. “All of this has been tested by a biotech company well known for secrecy.”

But Debboun said the project has already been approved by the EPA. “This is just negativity, people being sensational. I follow science and what the regulatory organization approves,” Debboun said. “If they approve it, who are you and me to say that we shouldn’t do it? If we listen to everyone, then that isn’t science.”

Still, Perls isn’t convinced.

“The EPA is a highly problematic agency because it is subject to company influence, and part of the problem is that our regulations are incredibly out-of-date,” Perls said.

Despite the concerns of environmental groups, if the Oxitec project succeeds with the Delta MVCD, Perez said Santa Clara may consider implementing a similar release as part of its arsenal against mosquito-borne diseases. “(Oxitec mosquitoes) would definitely be something worth looking into,” Perez said.

“We would have to see the results from counties that are implementing it currently.”