The Campanile
PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301
Palo Alto Senior High School
NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44
Since 1918
Vol. 93, No. 8
50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 • http://voice.paly.net/campanile
VIKING EDITORS
Magazine chooses new editors for 2011-2012
Friday, April 8, 2011
JOURNALISM PROGRAM WINS TOP NATIONAL
FIRST AMENDMENT AWARD By Lauren Wong Staff Writer
MARC HAVLIK/Campanile
“I am looking forward to working with the new and returning staff members and want to make sure the Viking experience is enjoyable.” PAGE A3
BREAKFAST EVENT ASB fundraiser for underclassmen
On March 14, Palo Alto High School was named one of three winners of the Journalism Education Association (JEA) First Amendment Press Freedom Award. The winners, which also included Kirkwood High School and Frances Howell North High School of Missouri, were chosen by JEA, the National Scholastic Press Association and the Quill and Scroll Society. “[The Press Freedom Award] is an award given out for a school that actively supports and honors the First Amendment through student media,” advisor to The Viking and co-advisor to InFocus Ellen Austin said. The award is sponsored by JEA, Columbia University’s Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the NSPA and the Quill and Scroll Society. The Paly journalism program decided to apply for the award at the very beginning of the 2010-11 school year. “There are two rounds in this award determination,” Austin said. “The first round is a preliminary round, and [the editors] and advisor of each publication at the school [have] to answer a series of questions about the level of scholastic press freedom at the school, about the level of training the students have about the First Amendment and their rights, etc. In our case it meant every publication, including Calliope, Madrono, [proof], Campy, InFocus, Voice, Verde and Viking.”
The Press Freedom Award is one of the many awards Paly publications have won this year. The Campanile and [proof] accepted CSPA Silver Crown Awards on March 19, while The Paly Voice was awarded a CSPA Gold
Erin Gruwell of Freedom Writers shows uncut documentary at Paly Staff Writer
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“The money raised will contribute to the freshmen and sophomore activity funds, which pay for underclassmen activities such as socials and dances.”
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ROBOTICS TEAM
Students learn from defeats, move forward
lauren wong/Campanile
“Despite the disappointing more recent performances at the San Jose Regional and San Diego Regional, overall the team has a history of success in its short time of existence.” PAGE A2
INSIDE
News...................................A1-A3 Opinion..........................A4-A5,A8 Spotlight.............................A6-A7 Sports................................A9-A12 Lifestyles...................................B1 Features...............................B2-B7 A&E...................................B8-B12
MARC HAVLIK/Campanile
Erin Gruwell offers students insight into a documentary. you’ll see who they were, why they changed, and more importantly, who they are today,” Gruwell said. “The idea of this film is to really start a dialogue so that when you leave the theater, when you leave the documentary today, hopefully you have questions... hopefully you’ll want to sit down with a friend and really talk about things.” Gruwell braced the audience for the film’s uncensored language and welcomed any feedback from the ‘test audience.’ She mentioned that the film will also include an epilogue that was not seen by the Paly audience. The documentary is due in September for public release. Gruwell,
See FREEDOM, Page A3
See PRESS, Page A3
Launer steps down as ASB advisor By Grace Harris Editor in Chief
Kindel Launer, the current student activities director, will resume her position in the Palo Alto High School English department next year, stepping down from her role in the student government program. After serving as Associated Student Body advisor for two years, Launer will not continue after this year. “Ms. Launer made a two year commitment to the ASB program two years ago and she’s done a remarkable job in transforming the program into something that’s sustainable and now it’s time for her to take the next step in her career and that is to go back to the English department and do her good work there,” Principal Phil Winston said. The ASB advisor position is now available and it is unclear whether a current Paly teacher will fill the vacancy or if the administration will hire someone from outside the Paly community.
By Hannah Totte Former Woodrow Wilson High School teacher Erin Gruwell, famed for inspiring hope for the future in her underprivileged and jaded students, visited Palo Alto High School’s Haymarket Theater on April 1 to speak to students from Paly and Oakland and show an unreleased documentary about Gruwell’s journey in Room 203. Eighth graders from St. Jarlath Elementary in Oakland joined Paly teachers, journalists and other observers for the first screening of the full-length film, FreedomWriters: Stories from an Undeclared War (Offline Edit) in front of a student audience. Gruwell explained her motivation for bringing the documentary to Paly as related to her belief in the success education can bring about. “This documentary is a love letter to teachers and to students,” Gruwell said in an introduction to the audience. “I truly believe that as teenagers, you guys know things that we as adults do not know.” The documentary uses real footage from Gruwell’s time in the classrooms, and strives to portray her students’ transformations through their eyes, with commentary from former students filmed in the present day. Although Gruwell’s story had been told in the Hollywood film Freedom Writers in 2007 starring Hilary Swank, the documentary presents a never-before-seen angle of the students’ metamorphosis from teenagers with violent gang tendencies and prejudice into supportive family members with drive and intellectual talent. “All of these students go to a place of telling their story, not censored, gritty, in your face, and
Crown Award. However, the Press Freedom Award is the only one awarded to the Paly journalism program as a whole. “This is one of those awards that symbolically means so much to me as a journalism
advisor,” Austin said. “This is a huge honor for Paly journalism and for Palo Alto High School. It says we are doing scholastic press the way we would hope it could be done in every state and every school in the country, that we’re operating in a climate of openness, that we’re operating in a climate of the ability of writing the stories that we believe in and being able to publish these stories without restraint.” Austin believes that the award essentially represents the manifestation of the critical thinking skills that Paly highly encourages, which gave the school the opportunity to be recognized as a nationally ranked journalism program. “I would hope that the Paly community in general would celebrate the fact that a high school like Paly is out at the forefront nationally in not only teaching critical thinking skills and having a questioning mind for our students, but also celebrating students when they actually put [to use] those skills,” Austin said. “We’re celebrating the actual implementation of that; that’s pretty powerful.” The plaques will be presented officially to the three schools at the JEA/NSPA convention in Anaheim, Calif. on April 14. Principal Phil Winston is currently planning an event to honor the numerous accomplishments of the entire Paly journalism
“It will be a posted vacancy so it will go through the same process all other openings go through,” Winston said. “My hope is that people will come forward if they do have an interest and then we’ll engage in a conversation. We’re going to go through the process and choose the best person for Paly.” Launer taught English at Paly for six years and has taught various classes throughout her time as student activities director. It is still undecided which classes she will teach next year, but in the past she has taught courses such as Humanities Honors and Critical Thinking 1 and 2. In the past six years, Paly has had three different student activities directors. Launer took over the position from Allison Mullins, who left after two years. There is no two year limit on the job, however, as Joann Vaars, Mullins’s predecessor, stayed in the post for four years. Launer chose not to comment on this story.
California State Universities plan to reduce total number of students, faculty members By Laura Cui Staff Writer
California State University plans to accept 10,000 fewer students next year, reduce spending in the chancellor’s office and decrease the number of faculty and staff members to accommodate a proposed $500-million cut in state funding. The Cal State administrators of the Board of Trustees in Long Beach met to reduce the amount of instructors and crowded classrooms among the system’s 23 campuses. By preventing 10,000 prospective applicants from enrolling at CSUs, the universities will save $60 million. Trustee William Hauck, the chairman of the university system’s Finance Committee calls it “the worst financial situation Cal State has ever faced,” pointing out that it will get worse if
Sacbee
Concerns over this large issue involve students having limited schooling options and mass unemployment. Governor Jerry Brown’s proposal of tax extensions is not approved by voters. This could lead to CSUs facing a $1-billion state funding reduction.
“Not only will students not get a meaningful college education,” president of the California
See CSU, Page A3
A&E
JANE EYRE RECEIVES A “NAIR” The classic romance portrays Eyre’s struggle with love and compromising her morals. Despite the subtle yet stirring plot filled with love and humor, the film ends on a disappointing note. fanpop
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FEATURES
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Susan heinselman/Campanile
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FEATURES
OPINION
5 Guys Burgers and Fries offer variety, but In-N-Out is a classic.
Policies that involve dances, transparency and budget need revision.
WE OUT TO IN-N-OUT TRAN$PARENT A$B
WATCH YO CELL’F
Contrary to popular belief, teachers have a right to take phones.
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NEWS
A2 • April 8, 2011
The Campanile
Local donors give through Partners in Education
NewsBriefs
Park created in East Palo Alto to improve community aesthetics
A collection of East Palo Alto city staff and community activists have put together an effort to clean up the land where a boat house currently stands and refurbish it into a new park. The Palo Alto Boat Works repair shop, which is located on Cooley Landing, has been closed for close to 20 years and the land has been sitting without use. Nine million dollars have been allotted for the development of the new park that will be placed on a man-made peninsula of incinerated garbage. The garbage has left the land and the nearby water contaminated with toxins that are undesirable for most parks where children will be playing. “The cleanup proposed is to cap most of the site with an average of two feet of clean soil to cover the contamination and protect the public,” Cooley Landing Project Manager Lily Lee said. This park is a step in the right direction for East Palo Alto. The 1975 California Quimby Act advises that there should be three to five acres of parkland for every 1,000 residents. This number is much lower than it needs to be and even with the construction of the new nine acre park East Palo Alto will still be 72 acres short of the minimum standard for the Quimby Act. The abandoned repair shop was evaluated by engineers and was deemed structurally sound. The project leaders have big ideas for the edifice and what they want it to bring to the community. “The building will be refurbished to become a community gathering place and a nature and history education center,” Lee said. The project will require a large amount of work to complete because of the current state of the park however the leaders are optimistic about their end result. The construction of the park is a relief to residents of East Palo Alto who have been waiting for an increase in park space in their city. “The number of parks in East Palo Alto compared to surrounding wealthier communities is dramatic,” Program Director Eron Sandler said. “I am speaking personally when I say it is an example of environmental injustice.” — Jordan Zenger
Senior Staff Writer
ASB breakfast event held to support underclassmen funds Underclassmen Associated Student Body representatives held a fundraiser for Palo Alto High School students and families on Saturday, April 2 in the student center from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Although primarily aimed at underclassmen, all of Paly was invited. Attendees were also asked to bring their friends and families with them. For 5 dollars guests enjoyed a selection of pancakes, coffee cake, coffee, fruit and orange juice. Most of the food items were donated from nearby retailers such as Trader Joe’s and Hobee’s, who provided pancake mix and coffee cake. Thanks to the donations, ASB predicts a slight profit was made despite the underwhelming attendance of 20 to 30 people according to Sophomore Class President Michael Wang. “Everything went well, and we expect to do it again,” Wang said. “The timing was what prevented students from coming.” Many students who participate in Paly music or robotics were unable to attend Saturday morning due to competitions. ASB felt they succeeded in advertising to students and getting the word out. However, next year they will implement a more aggressive approach and target the PTSA similar to the advertising plan for last year’s event in order to get the word out to parents, who are more likely to make plans to attend and “wake their kids up on a Saturday morning” according to Wang. The money raised will contribute to the freshman and sophomore activity funds, which pay for underclassmen activities such as socials and dances. Besides functioning as a fundraiser the breakfast was also planned to encourage school spirit within the underclassmen during prom season. While no events for underclassmen have been planned, Wang believes that a class social will be held during the fourth quarter for freshmen and sophomores. — Sarah Brown
Staff Writer
Paly clubs to host earth week activities at lunch on quad Palo Alto High School’s Earth Week, which will be celebrated from April 18 to the 22, will be featuring many exciting activities on each day of the week. Earth week will be put on by Paly’s Environmental Initiative Club and the Green Team who will be selling homemade recycled jewelry made by two Paly freshmen, Emily Semba and Aida Goma-Petit, whose profits will be contributed to building a community garden for a school in East Palo Alto. During each lunch there will be a different activity related to the environment for students to participate in. On Wednesday, there will be tie-dying at the quad. The cost will be $1 for students who supply their own t-shirts and $2 for those who would like to be provided with a shirt. There will also be a raffle held for prizes throughout the week with prizes awarded on Friday. “The raffle tickets will be slips of paper students write that will be their goal for being more eco-conscious this year,” junior Zoe Greene said. “The winners will be drawn live at lunch on Friday, April 22 on the senior deck, we’re working on getting prizes like shower water timers and bike accessories, the slips will be displayed across campus after the drawing of the prizes.” A Stanford professor might even come to speak about the environment during tutorial. However, these plans are tentative. Another possibility is a trivia game on one of the days in order to get food samples. “We also will be having an organically raised meat tasting or something of the sort on one of the days, I don’t know which one,” Greene said. “To get a sample you have to answer a trivia question about carbon footprints, how to be eco-friendly, etc.” Many of these activities are still in the works but will become more decided upon as the event nears. — Grace Keller
Staff Writer
UpcomingEvents
Apr. 11-15: Spring Break
Students and staff will have a week to relax.
Apr. 19-22: Earth Week Environmental Initiative hosts lunch activities.
Apr.22: Dropping class deadline Students must drop classes by this date.
Apr. 23: Prom Dance Junior and senior prom will be located at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.
District high schools to acquire $3.4 million for academic programs By Grace Fang Staff Writer
Partners in Education (PiE) granted $3.4 million to Palo Alto public schools on Tuesday, March 22 to aid instructors, counselors and the Palo Alto Unified District staff. The campaign ended on Jan. 30, with PiE reaching their fundraising goals during the final week of the campaign. Funds were raised in Palo Alto and are distributed directly to all elementary, middle and high schools in PAUSD. “Money is equitably distributed, as it is allocated to each school on a per-student basis,” PiE Vice President of Marketing and Communication Judy Logan said. “This year, elementary schools get $1.95 million, middle schools get $625,000 and high schools $825,000.” For the 2010-11 school year, PiE will provide more than $335,000 in flexible dollars for Palo Alto High School based on generous parent donations from the previous year, according to the PiE website. More than $825,000 will be given to Paly and Henry M. Gunn High School for student and teacher programs as well as counseling services that are available for students. “At Paly, PiE dollars were used to fund staffing for the Teacher Advisory program, Link Crew and additional counselor time in the College & Career Center,” PiE President Elaine Hahn said. Donations toward Link Crew will help greatly with welcoming incoming freshmen to Paly each year. The funds will support the annual freshman orientation before each school year as well as freshmen events like the Freshmen Tailgate. “We’re incredibly happy that PiE recognizes that we’re a significant part of the campus and that we are supported by the Palo Alto community,” Link Crew Leader and Choir Director Michael Najar said. “[Link Crew] feel that we play an important role in the school community by insuring that our freshmen are safe, happy and ready to begin their high school experience in a fun and supportive environment.” Paly’s principal Phil Winston will also allocate the money to other important school priorities, including tech monitoring and career technology electives. Almost 20 percent of the funds will be set aside for tech mentoring
and tech support, which are especially currently enrolled in district schools crucial during this year of the new donated 63 percent more this year district data system. than last year. These funds will help ensure that Local businesses corporations teachers can maximize their time have also contributed, which included spent on teaching and learning as well a 15 percent increase this year in coras facilitate the use of the new digital porate donations. transcript system with the University of “We did a direct mail campaign California school database, according to community members, people in to the PiE website. the school boundaries that do not Remaining funds will be reserved currently have children enrolled in for Career Technology Electives, in- PAUSD,” Logan said. “Donors have the cluding Biotechnology and an online opportunity to specify ‘elementary,’ Java class from Foothill College. ‘middle,’ ‘high’ or ‘unrestricted’ when PiE has fundraised most of the they give.” money by connecting with families Through the previous years, PiE in the PAUSD network as well as by has improved its fundraising techback-to school letters, challenge grants niques through faster communication and schoolwith the comwide donamunity, theretion days in “We feel grateful to live in a fore obtaining November. community that so clearly and more contribu“ A t strongly values public educators towards the schools, campaign. w e r a i s e d tion.” “Over the the money past six years, Judy Logan through we’ve discovered b a c k - t o - PiE Vice President of marketing the combination school letand communication of effective, wideters, chalspread commulenge grants, nications and and donation challenge grants days at each school,” Logan said. are most effective,” Logan said. “While Individual donations are also a they are not new techniques, we have huge part of the fundraising process. refined the timing and the commuIndividuals without children that are nications to make them work better.”
This year, the number of contributors has exceeded 4,000. Recently, the number of individual donors as well as the number of contributors overall have increased, which has greatly impacted PiE funds. “This year over 4000 donors gave to the PiE campaign,” Logan said. “We had a steady increase this year across schools in the district — both in number of donors and percentages of donating families.” PAUSD recently announced that it will be effected by state funding “fair share” cuts of at least $6.8 million in 2010-11, which will be continued in 2011-12. According to Logan, future cuts could be even larger due to the deficit facing California. Because of the recent recession and the district-wide budget cuts, schools, families and children depend on PiE even more to continue providing Palo Alto with top notch education and resources. “PiE’s support is needed more than ever to help bridge the gap, and provide our students with the high quality education expected by our community,” Logan said. “In the current state budget situation, PiE is a necessary organization, not a ‘niceto-have.’ The staff and programs that we fund would be in jeopardy if we were not able to reach our fundraising goals.” Fortunately, many families from the Palo Alto community have contributed to the campaign to help maintain safe and supportive learning environments in Palo Alto schools. PiE is thankful that Palo Alto has come together to help support public school education. “We feel grateful to live in a community that so clearly and strongly values public education,” Logan said. “The generosity of our donors are the reaction of a generous and thoughtful public to a bad state budget situation.” The PiE President herself knows of the significant impact of school programs on students through personal experience. However, Hahn acknowledges that they would not be available without the help and support from PiE contributors. “As a parent of a student who recently graduated from Paly, I know what a difference these programs can make for Paly students,” Hahn said. “Without the generosity of our donors, we wouldn’t be able to help fill these needs.”
Robotics team loses Sand Hill Challenge, stays optimistic By Ashley Shin Staff Writer
The Palo Alto High School’s robotics team, Team 8, continues to learn from their successes and mistakes during the 2011 season. Paly Robotics competed in the Sand Hill Challenge and the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) competition. The FIRST season runs from January to April. The time period to build a robot is from Jan. 8 to Feb. 22 and the regional competitions run through April. The team recently attended the San Jose Regional which took place from March 10 to March 12. The competition did not go as well as the team had hoped as the team struggled with their robot. “[The San Jose] Regional was tough for the team, since we were plagued with bugs occurring with the robot,” junior Build Captain Max Najork said. “We had various
components break, a couple of electronic issues caused us to lose a few matches, and we had to deal with our robot having problems connecting to the field.” Unfortunately, some troubles arose. “ [We] were prevented from connecting to the field in two matches, making us sit dead on the field as everybody else played.” Najork said. However, the team is already brainstorming on how to improve. “Instead of long quiet rides home each day, I was hearing very upbeat conversations about things like more efficient time management, developing more design training, organizing more machine certifications and so on,” team founder and adult leader Doug Bertain said. “This created an opportunity for our sponsors to give industry experience input like the establishment of team production control assignments, a quality management position, inven-
ASB
Lauren wong/campanile
From left to right, junior Max Najork and senior Simon Vurens work with sophomore Billy Rudiger on a robot in preparation for the competition. tory control duties, design verification sub-teams, etc.” Despite the more recent disappointing performances at the San Jose Regional and San Diego Regional, overall the team has a history of success . “Over the 15 years that we’ve been around, we’ve won
Updates
Palo Alto High School’s Associated Student Body organized Prom and activities for the underclassmen in the month of April. Coming up in late April is Palo Alto High School’s 2011 Junior and Senior Prom. It will be held at the Westin Saint Francis on April 23, located in the heart of San Francisco’s Union Square. For those students who have not purchased their tickets, they have increased in price by $30. Tickets now cost $125 with an ASB card, or $130 without. Check into the auditor’s office, the online store, or with ASB for further questions regarding prices. Students are welcome to bring out-of-school guests. However, a guest form, which can be found at the auditor’s office or on inClass under the Paly information tab, must be completed. It is now too late to turn in a “Perfect Table of 10” form, so the Prom Committee cannot guarantee students who did not turn their forms in on time will be able to sit at the tables they want at prom. “We cannot guarantee that the tables who turned their form in late for spots on the bus with the groups they requested,” Senior Class President Jack Smale said, “This process is very long, so we also want to reward those who made the deadline.” According to Smale, this year’s Prom has been taken up a notch, including “a DJ who will make a playlist that consists of songs Paly students suggested, a classy venue no one has seen before, and ideal location most people have for any prom.” —Charlotte Barry
Staff Writer
two FIRST Robotics Competition regional events, placing first out of over 60 other teams, and got to attend Nationals twice,” Najork said. The team is led by Paly sophomore Matthew Plant, senior Eamon Winden, junior Daniel Naymark and Najork who holds the leadership for
programming, public relations, animation and build respectively. The team is also led by several adults and alumni founder Bertain. “Over the years we’ve cycled like this quite a bit and in my experience, the year following a disappointing one is always a winner.” Bertain said.
School Board
The meeting held by the Palo Alto Unified School District School Board on March 22 covered the data received back from the Project Cornerstone survey, a new way to train teachers in every grade, approval of new books for English classes next year and many issues relating to Palo Alto’s financial status. Early in the school year, 5th, 7th, and 9th through 12th graders took a survey to see how the district is doing in making an emotionally and physiologically healthy student. “Some areas that showed high in the Developmental Assets Survey, were family support and commitment to learning,” Board member Melissa Baten Caswell said. The next issue was brought up by the Superintendent of Educational Services Ginni Davis, which was focused on how PAUSD can make sure the teacher staff is trained appropriately and have a good background to be able to teach. The new class created at Palo Alto High School, Escape Literature, recently had several books approved that students will read during the year. “The teachers came in to talk about their classes and why they have chosen these books,” Caswell said. “Their reasoning was thorough and as a result the Board approved the books.” The financial report of the PAUSD was turned in for its second and last update of the year. “We have to certify the county that we have enough money to cover our obligations,” Caswell said. “Due to the state budget cuts, we will probably have to use some of the money from a reserve we keep in order to avoid having to make cuts in the classrooms.” —Charlotte Barry
Staff Writer
NEWS
The Campanile
April 8, 2011 • A3
The Viking sports magazine selects next year’s editors in chief Juniors Nathan Norimoto and Emy Kelty chosen to lead publication for the 2011-12 school year By Nikki Whitson Staff Writer
Juniors Emy Kelty and Nathan Norimoto have been elected as next year’s editors-in-chief for Paly’s Viking sports magazine. Current editors Mary Albertolle, Will Glazier and George Brown will be graduating this year and hope that the new staff will carry on the prestige of the publication. They believe that the new members are excellent selections for the job. “I think that they’re going to be able to oversee the entire magazine [including] dealing with the new website, dealing with the print addition and putting out six good issues of The Viking,” Brown said. According to Brown, Norimoto and Kelty both have demonstrated exemplary journalism and leadership skills throughout their first year on The Viking. “They’re respected by their peers and they’ve done lots of really good work this year,” Brown said. “They’re two people who are really excited about The Viking-they love working on The Viking.” Norimoto strives to keep that reputation and work towards estab-
lishing another successful year for The Viking. “I am looking forward to working with the new and returning staff members and want to make sure The Viking experience is enjoyable for everyone,” Norimoto said. The Viking’s elaborate and sophisticated sports coverage is what first attracted him towards working for the publication. After just a year of writing as part of the staff, the expectations that the magazine lived up to eventually motivated him to run for editor. “I wanted to be editor to continue the standard for high school sports coverage that The Viking has set for the past four years,” Norimoto said. On the other hand, Kelty greatly admired the talent of the current editors which eventually motivated her to run. “I had a lot of fun this year working on the staff and I just wanted to become more involved in all aspects of it,” Kelty said. “I really like the editors this year and I wanted to be just like them.” The new editors will be put to the test next year when they will be expected to carry on The Viking’s
honorable credibility both on and off campus. “All I can really hope for is that they continue the legacy of TheViking, which is just to cover Paly sports the best way that they can-keeping up with the magazine and keeping up with the website,” Brown said. The current editors selected these two for the position based on their skills in management and teamworkan incredibly important element to be able to successfully run The Viking next year. “Overall I think that their biggest strengths are that they’re going to be really good leaders,” Brown said. “They’re going to be doing a lot of innovation now that they have the website to take care of.” Norimoto and Kelty have already set goals for next year to elevate the status of the publication, specifically online. “The Viking already has a strong writing and multimedia background, so that does not need much improvement,” Norimoto said. “Next year I would like to increase the content on the website and make sure that it is at a standard to compete amongst top websites at other high schools.”
The website has become the most exciting new project created by the staff and next year’s editors only hope to improve the website regarding online journalism. “We just want to keep up the expectation of the magazine and mainly just expand the website more as well as have a lot of fun,” Kelty said. They look forward to running next year’s edition of the magazine as well as interacting with all the new incoming members of The Viking. “I’m really excited about meeting the staff for next year, I think that will be really fun,” Kelty said. “I’m excited to work with the entire new leadership team.” Not only do the new editors hope the magazine will benefit from these changes, they also wish to acquire their own set of personal skills and achievements from taking on these new positions. “By being editor in chief I would like to better my leadership skills and become a more responsible person in the process,” Norimoto said. Simply by being surrounded by the atmosphere of the publication, the in-training editors have learned a great deal already.
Marc Havlik/Campanile
Juniors Emy Kelty and Nathan Norimoto will head Paly’s sports magazine, TheViking, for the incoming 2011-12 year. “I was selected last week for [the position of editor] and I’ve already learned so much,” Kelty said. “I’ve
had to come to Viking every night after sports and you learn so much about leadership just by being here .”
Paly receives press freedom award CSU’s suffer budget, faculty cuts PRESS, Continued from A1 program. “We are working on a school-wide celebration, and my hope is to do something at lunchtime,” Winston said. Austin hopes that the Paly journalism program will serve as a “beacon” for other schools around the country. “I hope that when our new media building opens, which ... is going to house such an outstanding program, [the plaque] will be the first thing that people see when they walk into that media building, so people see that this isn’t just a journalism thing,” Austin said. “This is a place where the First Amendment goes to work, and our kids take it so seriously.” Paly’s respect of the First Amendment and its application to student press and media rights was recognized by the JEA, a leading organization in the support of press rights for students as well as offering various activities to educate students. Paly will be receiving the award on April 14.
campus will be asked to reduce their budgets by a total of $281 million. This will be accomplished by reducing the amount of staff members to a minimum in which Faculty Association Lillian Taiz said. "But kids positions filled can be merged and including laying off who spent their whole high school career preparing part-time faculty. for college will find the door slammed in their faces." "It's sure to be pretty devastating," Taiz said. "There In contrast to what this fiscal year received of will be many people out of work, nearly $2.8 billion in state fundand in this economy, that's a ing, the $500-million cut would “It’s very sad, but it comes back nightmare.” be a reduction of about 18 perto what’s being funded through Additionally, during the meetcent, which is the equivalent ing on Tuesday, the trustees of the funding for more than Sacramento.” a report about how 85,000 prospective students Chris Chavez examined CSU’s faculty’s salary and benefits across California. President of the California State compared with 20 other public CSU has already dismissed 4,145 faculty members and Student Association and private universities across the country, such as Arizona State staff positions through layoffs in Phoenix to Tufts University in since the state's fiscal crisis Massachusetts. began in 2008. CSU faculty is paid far less on average compared to "It's very sad, but it comes back to what’s being other universities but their health benefits are far more funded through Sacramento.” Chris Chavez said, generous in comparison, according to the report by president of the California State Student Association Mercer Consulting. and a senior at Cal State Long Beach. As a conclusion, the report found that in order to Already in November, trustees had passed a 10 earn the equivalent amount paid to presidents at other percent tuition increase for the 2011-2012 school universities, CSU’s 23 presidents would have to earn 52% year. As a result, the $142 million revenue will be more in salary. On average, CSU presidents earn $292,830. used to help close the budget gap. Accordingly, each CSU, Continued from A1
Three schools awarded for support of press and media
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The JEA recognized Paly as one of the top schools that support student press and media.
Parents challenge school board for stress reduction on PAUSD students Teachers, administrators try to be more available for students in order to reduce tension and worry By Annabel Snow Staff Writer At a School Board Meeting on March 22, parents of students in the Palo Alto School system challenged the board of education to enforce a reduction of stress in local schools. The parents complained that the system has not done enough to ensure that stress is kept to a minimum, and that students are working an unhealthy amount according to a recent story in the Palo Alto Weekly. At Palo Alto High School, some students feel the pressure of such a competitive environment, and while the administration has tried to reduce the amount of stress at Paly this year, they could prioritize it more. “Relieving stress is definitely something that I feel like should be emphasized more in our school district because I don’t think dealing with stress is something that students know how to do in an effective and productive manner,” junior Lindsay Beisheim said. Although stress is difficult to avoid, changes this year at Paly have impacted some students positively. The new bell schedule, for example, gives students a chance to focus on a few classes instead of all of them at once, and spread out work efficiently. “I definitely feel that the bell schedule has helped relieve stress, I really like to be able to concentrate on fewer classes in one night because that really helps me retain information specific to he course,” Beisheim said. “If I have a test on one day and only three or four classes to think about rather than seven its a lot easier to focus on that one test or the homework for that one test.” Principal Phil Winston also feels that the bell schedule has benefited students.
“The bell schedule [has] various supporting structures: [a] late start, tutorial, early release on Tuesday, and according to the student bell schedule survey, students feel homework has been spread out which is making [school] easier to manage,” Winston said. Although teachers may sometimes seem unapproachable, students may be surprised to find that teachers are willing to take time to help them. “Sometimes you don’t want to approach [teachers], but they really are approachable and have helped me and it’s really nice to know that your teacher is on your side,” sophomore Genevieve Lucas-Conwell said. Winston is particularly approachable, according to some students. “I see [Winston] around campus all the time with a big smile on his face, and this year I have felt that his presence has uplifted the student body in a way that I haven’t seen it in my last few years at Paly,” Beisheim said. Winston finds this personal approach to be one of the best ways for teachers to make students feel valued and cared about individually. “Taking time during class to just talk, greeting students when they come into the classroom, [and attending] extracurricular events [shows students that teachers care],” Winston said. Along with the new environment this year, many Paly teachers have attempted to reduce stress, according to students, by organizing different test and project days and encouraging students by being personable and showing compassion. “I think getting outside help from your teacher and approaching them when no one else is around is really helpful, it definitely relieves a lot of stress and pressure and it’s just really nice,” Lucas-Conwell said.
Although helpful teachers and elements such as the new bell schedule seem to have been rather helpful to students, to some it is difficult to pinpoint who is responsible for relieving student stress. “I don’t think it’s any one person’s job to put emphasis on our mental and physical health,” Beisheim said. “It’d be great to encourage our peers, teachers, and administration to maintain a really happy and good environment.” Beisheim feels that the administration should teach students how to deal with stress effectively in order for them to relieve the stress in a healthy way. This could possibly prevent students from turning to outlets such as abusing drugs or alcohol, and perhaps allow students to deal with stress more productively, according to Beisheim. Besides the administration aiding students with stressful situations, according to Winston an abundance of stress can be avoided by simple communication and time management. “[Students should] have honest conversations with themselves and their families about how much they are scheduled,” Winston said. “Extracurriculars do have a direct impact on how much free time one has to complete their school work. Pay real attention to how much homework is in each class they register for before [students] register.” Although it may be difficult for the administration or school system to help each individual, students have a variety of resources available to them. “I think all schools do the best they can with what they have when dealing with students stress,” Winston said. “What is stressful for one student might not be for another. We have caring, flexible staff that are here for our students.”
Renowned teacher, Erin Gruwell, comes to Paly for documentary sneak peek FREEDOM, Continued from A1 her former students and others involved with the documentary hope to see the film progress from theatrical viewings to HBO or Showtime TV networks to schools. “In a perfect world, we would love this film to be in a movie theater where you could go in on a Friday night,” Gruwell said to her audience. “Documentaries have a very certain kind of niche. For this film to make its way into a movie theater, it’s going to have to take a grassroots route there.” The documentary takes the audience back to April 1992, where Gruwell first met her students as a first-year teacher. Newport Beach, where Gruwell resided, was an opposite lifestyle from that experienced by her students living in Long Beach. Inspired to make a difference, Gruwell dedicated herself to motivating her students by choosing curriculum that was engaging and relatable. “What [Gruwell] did, that was very clever, is showed us that not only did we feel similarly to each other, but we had a connection to the outside world,” Sonia Pineda, a former student of Room 203, said. Even from the teacher’s perspective, this process was innovative and rewarding. “They teach us to be robots and to teach to the test,” Gruwell said. “And from day one,
I learned from my students that you have to teach to them, not to a test. There is no one size fits all.” Initial hesitation from the students to share their personal lives with a teacher so outwardly different from them gave way to trust and understanding as the group bonded and began sharing their heart-wrenching stories through anonymous writing. Gruwell and this group of 150 students reevaluated expectations and stereotypes throughout freshman, sophomore, junior and senior year, overpowering conflict from the district and going against instilled family values by choosing to engage themselves in academics instead of street culture. These stories were eventually published by Knop Doubleday Publishing Group in the Freedom Writers Diary, a collection of anonymous personal experiences Gruwell had her students write down in their journals. Gruwell and her students then began traveling to hospitals, schools and juvenile halls to portray their individual changes and growth as a whole group. Michael Dimaggio, an old friend of Gruwell’s and fellow former Southern California high school teacher, watched the documentary at the Haymarket Theater, ultimately inspired and convinced of the power of Gruwell’s message, both from the film and from personal experience.
“[Gruwell] actually brought some of her emotional spot, and they can think, ‘Well that kids [to the school I taught at], and I had a person looks like me, that person talks like very similar situation with a lot of kids who me, and maybe if they could get out of it, I were written off, who didn’t think they should can get out of it.’” be successful,” Dimaggio said. “So she came Both Dimaggio and Gruwell emphasized in with a couple of her students, and it really that the adversity their students had to overhelped [my students] get an understanding come is not abnormal. that they weren’t alone in what they were going The documentary is emotional and through. It was a really positive, empower- persuasive, and tries to elicit comprehension ing moment for them of a serious problem to see kids that were a “Great change is always going in today’s adolescent year or two older that society. to be possible when young had gone through that “Generally, I think and made it through people stand up for themthe hopes for this and the other side.” anything like this is selves.” Today, the Freehow [to] raise awareErin Gruwell ness about real life and dom Writers and Gruwell still keep in touch, President of Freedom Writers what [are] the chalworking with the Freelenges of real life, not Foundation just [for] these kids but dom Writers Foundation to spread their [for] a lot of kids across message of equality, the country,” Dimaggio equal opportunity and the importance of said. “Our hope is if we can do one thing to believing in oneself. change one person’s thinking, or a couple “My hope for the documentary is that people’s thinking, around either being more it reaches as many students as possible,” tolerant [or] being more accepting, being Pineda said. “I remember very clearly feel- more understanding of differences, then that’s ing like I was the only person in the world a good thing that can come out of it.” feeling the way that I was feeling. Sometimes In contrast to the richer side of Palo Alto’s you get very isolated in your little bubble. I individualistic mentality, the distress the hope that the documentary can be an outlet teenagers of Long Beach experienced is very for some students that may be in that same different than the pressure for academic and
athletic success at Paly. This documentary, according to Gruwell, tries to bridge that gap by making the emotions of the film applicable to all viewers. Along with teaching viewers about the ability to change and grow with perseverance and support, the documentary rings true currently, as it shows the power and challenges of teaching, especially as more and more schools gear their curriculum towards raising test scores instead of involving students in their own learning. “When [teaching] the Holocaust, [when] you say a number like 12 million people died, that’s overwhelming,” Gruwell said. “Even if you don’t come from the same side of the street, for all of you that haven’t seen the same things that Maria has seen, or 149 others, hopefully it gives you a window into their world. Hopefully you’ll see things differently. Hopefully you have an insight that a rose is a rose is a rose, a kid is a kid is a kid, regardless of where they live, regardless of the color of their skin, regardless of making bad choices. Making bad choices does not make you a bad person, and I think that was the message we were trying to get across.” Although the message of the film is pure, Gruwell expects some pushback and controversy from critics. “By having our film come out at the time it’s going to, I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of controversy,” Gruwell said.
A4 • Friday, April 8, 2011
OPINION Editorials
Administration urged to install new drainage system Flooding causes delays, difficulties in cross-campus travel, insufficient space for sitting during lunch Palo Alto High School’s drainage system consistently fails to adequately drain any of the rainwater that falls several months throughout the year, resulting in massive puddles that make most areas around campus inaccessible or extremely difficult to navigate through, leading to a host of other issues. Areas on campus that become especially flooded include the walkway next to the library, the courtyard between the social studies building and the language building and the area behind the science building and student center. Even areas of the Embarcadero parking lot constantly become severely flooded. While parking in the morning or attempting to exit campus, students are forced to avoid obstacles including a large mass of water that forms in front of the 200 building and oncoming cars that splash water at students trying to get to class. The Palo Alto Unified School District needs to invest resources towards creating a viable, long term solution to this problem so that students and faculty members will no longer need to jump onto unstable, makeshift platforms to avoid getting drenched in water. Another problem that arises from the flooding is that many grassy areas on campus turn into mud-pits that limit students’ ability to not only navigate around campus, but to get to class on time unless dressed in the appropriate rain gear.
One possible reason for the muddy grass is that the pressure placed on the soil and the grass from being frequently walked on causes the roots to get displaced from the soil. The district should fence off these muddy areas during spring break, and as long as is needed after, so that the grass can have time to grow without being walked on. This strategy was successfully used in the beginning of the year to block off the grass near the portables. The flooding affects students’ ability to sit on the quad and under the library overhang during lunch, causing a crowd of students to take over the Social Studies Resource Center and English Resource Center in the library. While The Campanile appreciates the school’s decision to open the SSRC and ERC when the school is flooded, there is still not enough space for students to enjoy lunch in a dry area. Last year, the amount of flooding was so extensive that sandbags had to be placed around doors to prevent any flooding in classrooms. As millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on building new media, social studies and math buildings, PAUSD should continue the process of beautifying the campus and making it more accessible to students and staff by investing in a better draining system that could benefit the school for many generations to come.
The Campanile
Letters to the Editors Smartboards should be placed in all classrooms
Custom senior photos to be removed due to laziness
Palo Alto is an amazingly technologically advanced city, since it is located right in the middle of Silicon Valley. Palo Alto High School mostly reflects this: our teachers’ computers are more advanced than mine, and the library offers iPads. Which makes it strange that our classrooms seem to be stuck in the 1980s. Each classroom has either a blackboard, a whiteboard or both. Sometimes there are those spiffy little projectors. That’s the most technologically advanced teaching tools we are offered. The worst thing is that there is an alternative. Smartboards have gotten very popular—every classroom of some of PAUSD elementary schools has them, and many schools across the nation have implemented them. However, there are none at Paly other than the tiny one in the library. As someone who has attended a class with a smartboard, they’re immensely useful. The teacher can interact with the computer much easier. For example, applications can make graphing easier to teach and calculators are big. Also, everything written on the board can be saved and sent to students, making sure students don’t miss vital notes. In lieu of one more unnecessary iPad, Paly should begin implementing smartboards. It’s ridiculous that we haven’t.
During the last 3 years that I’ve advised the yearbook, the majority of seniors wait until the last minute or after the deadline to submit photos for the senior section. That level of procrastination and lack of effort speaks volumes about how “important” the tradition really is for most seniors. Many of those photos are the wrong size or resolution and the Madrono staff spends hundreds of hours problem-solving senior photos. Those hours take away valuable time to be covering current Paly events or designing great yearbook sections. What’s really “lame” is that only a few seniors sign up for the yearbook staff to put in the time and effort to work on the senior section. So Paly Seniors - if you say you care about the Senior section - we welcome your participation on the staff! The Senior section is as good as the staff that steps up to do the work. We changed the Senior portrait options because Seniors have not stepped up to do their part. Madono staff is excited about trying out a new system and hope that Seniors will step up and go to the portrait studios to get the portrait that they want. If we continue to find that Seniors do not respond to getting custom portraits done - then we will consider changing to the system that Gunn uses (and finds very successful) - Seniors all show up on a given day on campus and have a formal drape and a formal portrait. Paly Seniors - you decide!
—Ana Carano and Julia Lee, sophomores
—Margo Wixsom, Madrono Advisor
Prom Prep
Teachers should include relevant news in curriculum Students not informed, would benefit from incorporation of current events into classrooms For a story in the December issue of The Campanile, staff writer, Brian Benton administered a survey to Palo Alto High School students, testing their knowledge of several simple facts. One of the questions asked the name of the United States Supreme Court chief justice while another quizzed participants on the holiest city in the Islamic faith. Paly students scored terribly on both of these questions as well as the rest of the survey; a measly 14 percent of the Paly students surveyed answered John Roberts, and only 36 percent answered Mecca for the second question. For one of the best public high schools in the nation, with exceptional SAT scores, Paly students seem to know very little about current events. The Campanile feels that this is a relatively easy problem to fix. If teachers spent just a few minutes a week discussing current events or relating their subject to real world issues, the Paly community would be more informed and prepared to enter the world as knowledgeable adults. In addition to increasing Paly students’ level of interest in the world around them, teaching current events in class will also keep students engaged in their classes. Often, relating obscure concepts to tangible things will help students understand better as well as enjoy their classes more. For many students, sitting in class day after day, learning about seemingly useless material becomes
monotonous. Almost every Paly student can remember a time when they were sitting in a math or history class thinking, “Why am I learning this?” Framing the concepts with current events shows students the purpose of what they are learning. For example, in a government class, students should read about current political affairs and learn about the people that play a major role in national and international issues today. Not only does this lead to a deeper understanding of the material, but infusing current events into the curriculum creates more informed and active citizens. This is not just important in a government or U.S. history class, but should also be present in math and science classes. Mr. Lim’s Algebra 2/Trigonometry Honors class calculated the mathematics of tsunamis shortly after the tragedy in Japan. When students learn the math and science of the world around them, their understanding of the material and important events increase. While several Paly teachers do make an effort to integrate current events into their lesson plans, many do not. It is understandable that teachers have packed curriculums and have little time to waste, but teaching world issues is not wasteful. Although getting out of the “teaching to the test” mentality may be tough, relating class material to current events will help students understand concepts better and produce more informed young adults.
Parents must advise, not dominate college decisions Cartoon by William Lee
Allowing students to choose which college to attend proves beneficial, fair For seniors, the college process can be a very stressful and trying time. On top of completing their schoolwork, students must find ways to make themselves stand out from a vast number of equally qualified applicants through creative essays and impressive extracurriculars. Once students submit their applications, they must then endure months of waiting followed by the insecurity and self-doubt that comes along with hearing back from colleges in March and April. Even after all of the college letters have been received and opened, seniors are left with the overwhelming task of choosing the place where they will spend the next four years of their lives. What students do not need is the added stress of their parents trying to dictate which college they should attend. The Campanile feels that parents should not put pressure on their children to go to certain schools based on their ratings or reputations, and instead feel that students should have the choice and final say in attending the school that they feel fits them the best. Although parents pay tuition for their child to attend college, they are ideally spending their money so that their child will be happy and successful in whatever he or she chooses to pursue. If they have the student’s best interests at heart, they will allow them the independence to select a school that they feel fits their needs instead of
forcing them down a path that they will be unhappy in. This by no means implies that parents should have no say at all in their child’s decision -after all, they do have their child’s best interest in mind. However, there is a very fine line between suggesting certain colleges and actually implying that the child should go there. Instead of giving statement opinions such as “You should go to this school because of reasons one, two and three” or “I will only pay tuition if you choose to go to a private college,” parents should ask questions about what their child wants in a college and would want to pursue. For example, a parent could say, “From my point of view, you love city life. How would you feel about attending Boston University?” Parents can also share their own college experiences which would pose as useful parallels or even juxtapositions to what their child wants. For example, if a student is looking at large colleges, a parent could perhaps share his or her own experience at a small college and describe the merits of such an education. In the end, however, it should be the student’s decision as to where they would like to continue their education. Parents work hard to support their children through their development, but this is the time to separate personal goals from those of the student and give them the freedom that they need at this stage in their life.
The Campanile Editors in Chief
Nadav Gavrielov • Grace Harris • Rachel Mewes Madison Sevilla • Rachel Stober • Lillian Xie
Advisor
Esther Wojcicki
Sports Editors
Brunett John Brandon Nguyen Michael Augustine Charlotte Barry Brian Benton Maddie Berger Sam Blake Elizabeth Bowman Sarah Brown Josie Butler Meghan Byrd
News Editor William Lee
Spotlight Editor
Opinion Editor
Justin Choi
Noa Dagan
Lifestyles Editor Copy Editor Helen Chen
Mikey Abrams
Staff Writers Bailey Cassidy Jillian Chacon Clara Chang Electra Colevas Laura Cui Chayla Cummings Charlie Dulik Gracie Fang Sapir Frozenfar
Kirah Ingram Grace Keller Ben Krasnow Sasha Kuvyrdin Mayssen Labidi Alex Lin Layla Memar Andrea More Tobey Nelson-Gal
Letters to the Editors: Email all letters to editors to campanile.opinion@gmail.com. The Campanile welcomes and prints letters to the editors on a space-available basis. The Campanile reserves the right to edit submissions for length and content. The Campanile only publishes signed letters. Advertisements: Advertisements with The Campanile are printed with signed contracts.
Hannah Park Elena Pinsker Riki Rattner Rebecca Ruff Jack Scarpino Abha Sharma Wesley Shiau Ashley Shin Austin Smith
Annabel Snow Hannah Totte Ashley Swendseid Tanvi Varma Nikki Whitson Rachel Wilson Lauren Wong Jacob Zenger Jordan Zenger
Advertising Managers Camille Ezran Maya Krasnow
Photo Editor Marc Havlik
Photographers Susan Heinselman Alex Lin Riki Rattner Lauren Wong
For more information regarding advertisements in The Campanile and their size options and prices, please contact The Campanile Advertising Managers by email at campanile.ads@gmail.com. Note: It is the policy of The Campanile to refrain from publishing articles that misrepresent or alienate specific individuals within Paly and the greater Palo Alto community.
OPINION
The Campanile
Friday, April 8, 2011 • A5
ASB budgeting, dances, transparency reveal major issues
nadav gavrielov
The fundamental policies of the Associated Student Body (ASB) at Palo Alto High School are in dire need of revision. ASB needs to overhaul three core aspects of its day-today policies: its dance policy, its budgeting procedure and its overall transparency.
and even subsidizing the cost of printing in the library so that students do not have to pay for printing cards. Additionally, ASB should continue to subsidize part of the cost of Prom, keeping ticket prices under $100 for all students. ASB should continue to support club-held events such as Earth Week so that the events can be successful as well as enjoyable for all students. Though these events would take a lot of planning, ASB has held plenty of successful events in the past and would surely be able to find the time if attention was diverted from hosting dances. ASB’s choice to adopt a zero-based budgeting policy, a policy to spend a given amount of excess money by the end of the year, was a responsible decision. ASB should come up with specific uses for the excess money rather than allocating the money to general categories such as “student well-being.”
Dances
Paly and Henry M. Gunn High School are no more than four miles apart from each other. The two schools are very similar in many aspects, such as offering nearly identical courses. However, one huge difference has become apparent over the past couple of years — Gunn consistently holds more dances that have dramatically higher attendance rates. According to Gunn Student Activities Director Lisa Hall, Gunn holds six dances each year: the first dance of the year, Homecoming, Winter Dance, Sadie Hawkins, Prom and Spring Quad Dance. The smaller dances — those not including Prom and Homecoming — usually have between 600-700 attendees. Homecoming at Gunn has sold out over the last five years with 1200 attendees, and Prom has sold out as well with approximately 600650 attendees. This year, Paly has held three dances with attendance at 285 students for the Welcome Dance, 430 for Homecoming and 146 for Winter Formal. In the 2009-2010 school year, ASB officially held four dances. The Welcome Dance attracted 472 students, Homecoming had an attendance of 694 students and Prom had an attendance of 694 students. Winter Formal and Sadie Hawkins were either cancelled or not held. No number is officially available for the final dance of the year last year because attendance was so low that free admission was subsequently granted to students. According to Paly Auditor Julia Sing, ASB spent $3000 for the Winter Formal’s DJ service. Since only 146 students attended, ticket sales brought in $730. That means ASB lost $2270 on paying for the DJ service alone. Although the original stigma against Paly dances began with the introduction of breathalyzers at the end of the 2007-2008 school year, attendance rates have still not reached the levels of Gunn dances. Gunn dances have had an even stricter breathain my opinion
Transparency
lyzer policy which, up until recently, included breathalyzing students even as they exited the bathroom. It has become clear that the only way to salvage the Paly dances is to only host two to three dances a year for several years: the Welcome Dance, Homecoming and Prom. Hosting any other dances would be, and has been, a complete waste of ASB’s time and the student body’s money. Instead, ASB should focus on other non-dance events, such as hosting movie nights, more lunchtime events or even a second Spirit Week. The student body would accept the events, which would undoubtedly be more successful than a dance with dismal attendance.
Budgeting
Although the discovery of over $200,000 in ASB’s ‘rainy day account’ should be a warning signal to ASB, it should absolutely not be an excuse for ASB to go on any sort of spending spree. Instead, ASB should give back to the community by making mature and legitimate choices on spending. Minutes from the ASB summer meeting in mid-June, 2010 — before the excess was discovered — state that “ASB has a $47,000 budget [which] is a lot and needs to be spent.” This ambiguity on how to spend the money in a productive way that benefits every student on campus shows that ASB needs a clear direction on how to approach budgeting. ASB
should not spend money in the spur of the moment, especially when it has become clear that the excess is much higher than originally anticipated. The first and most profound way of doing this is by going back to the source of the excess — the inflated price of parking permits and ASB cards. Parking permits at Paly cost $100 for the entire year, much more than any local high school except Gunn. ASB should lower this excessive cost to students to no more than $30 for the upcoming school year. Though it is too late to fix the damage that has been inflicted on years of Paly students who have paid the high price, it is not too late to prevent this from happening to upcoming generations. Students who have bought ASB cards in the past have gotten discounts at dances. However, because all ticket prices this year — except for tickets for Prom — have cost $5 for everybody regardless of whether or not they have an ASB card, ASB cards have become obsolete and just another way for the ‘rainy day amount’ to increase. The minutes for the Jan. 6, 2011 ASB meeting list possible ideas on how to “spend student money.” While some of the examples are appropriate, such as school-sponsored lunches, many of the other ideas are preposterous: “giant viking statue,” “iPads for ASB and/or student body,” “new marquee for the quad” and even a “football field jumbotron.”
Also on this list is “student parking permit funding.” What ASB fails to understand is that there is no cost to maintaining the parking spots at Paly and that there is no need to “fund” parking permits. All that needs to be done is to lower the cost of parking permits. ASB should absolutely not go on a spending spree and avoid purchasing the items listed above. These items are not at all necessary for Paly and would be a complete and utter waste of the money that ASB has kept in the ‘rainy day fund’ over the years. ASB has recently begun working on remodeling the Student Center. Though the Student Center may be important for student life on campus, remodeling it could be a waste of student body money. This center remains closed for the majority of the day, and is only staffed before school and during brunch and lunch. Past efforts to revitalize the center, including installing TVs without cable, did not attract a large number of students. Instead, ASB should purchase a couple of lounge chairs for the Student Center and divert other resources planned for this project to other, more important causes. The time has come for ASB to understand what its excess money should truly be spent on. The money should be spent on holding more on-campus events
Although ASB must become more transparent, purchasing a silly and expensive marquee is no way to become more transparent. Gunn’s Student Executive Council (SEC), the equivalent of an Associated Student Body, maintains both an easy accessible website with minutes that are posted for all students to view and a Facebook page that is updated on a daily basis. Gunn students can track the ASB minutes for nearly every day that their SEC has met this year. As of March 29, the only minutes for Paly ASB meetings this year that are available online are for Aug. 23. It is outrageous that students need to go to the Student Activities Center and personally request a copy of the minutes. This fundamentally goes against the policy of ASB being accessible. ASB should continuously publish detailed minutes for every single ASB meeting to maintain complete transparency within the Paly community. Additionally, the most productive way of connecting with students and getting messages out to students in this day and age is through Facebook, just as Gunn’s SEC does. ASB needs to constantly update a Facebook account that students can ‘like’ to receive updates about what happens in ASB meetings each day and to provide feedback. Through this page, all Paly students will be able to see updates from ASB, special schedules, Paly related news and other important information. Minutes must be made available to all students. Students will cease viewing ASB as a legitimate voice of the student body until these changes are made to ASB policies.
Valuable teacher advisor system needs further improvement Teacher advisors (TAs) play a vital role in the high school experience of any Palo Alto High School student. These teachers meet with students periodically to discuss important matters and help students navigate through their high school years as well as make post high school plans. Teachers must apply and complete extensive training in order to be a part of the advisory probailey gram, meaning that every teacher cassidy advisor is highly qualified to guide students in decision making for in my opinion high school and beyond. Paly students are fortunate to have this type of support system in place, as it allows students to foster a close connection with an adult on campus. Although this system proves very advantageous for students, some improvements can be made in order to maximize the benefits that students receive from it. “It is beneficial that students have a teacher they can come to for help with academic or personal issues,” English teacher and Teacher Advisor Julia Taylor said. “It is like having one counselor for every 75 students as opposed to one counselor for every 600 students — three for 1800 students.” The advisory program teaches students many vital things that they must know throughout the college application process, and teacher advisers do an effective job of making sure that students understand these important pieces of information. “[Teacher Advisors] have standards that we must meet,” Taylor said. “When we did the college application presentation with the juniors, they took a pre-test before I gave them any information. Next week, we will take a post-test and evaluate what questions students are still not getting right. It’s an assessment of whether or not they were paying attention and if they know the things they need to know.” The type of personal connection between a student and a teacher that the system is designed to create can only happen effectively if a student knows the teacher
VERBATIM
well. Advisory meetings are sporadic and brief, rendering advisory time not conducive for students and teachers to get to know one another. Therefore, it is ideal that students take a class from their teacher advisor in order to have the opportunity to get to know the advisor better. Although the administration makes every effort for this to happen, it is sometimes impossible. To solve this problem, there should be an advisory or tutorial period set aside for students to meet with their advisers individually to chat and get to know one another. This would also benefit the advisors, as it would give them a more comprehensive view of each advisee and help them to write more informative letters of recommendation than they would have been able to write otherwise. “I would like to have an opportunity to set up individual meetings with [advisees],” Taylor said. “If there is a student that I never had in class, I don’t really know them unless they make an effort. It has to be a two-way street, and some students don’t make the effort on their own.” Additionally, in order for students and advisors to really get to know one another, it is ideal that students remain with the same advisor from 10th through 12th grade. Sometimes this is not possible when advisors must leave campus or stop being an advisor due to various circumstances. Junior Lauren Garland’s original teacher advisor took on an administrative position this school year and was therefore unable to devote time to advisory and advisees. Garland and her advisory peers were reassigned to new advisors without even knowing that this change would be taking place. This sort of change is bound to make students uneasy. “I got reassigned without know it, no warning that I was going to be reassigned or anything, just showed up junior year and surprise — I had a new TA whom I knew nothing about,” Garland said. “I was a little angry that I hadn’t been notified last year and had a chance to choose a new TA. Luckily, my new TA ended up being awesome, but it was unsettling in the beginning, because it just means that my new TA has a year less to learn stuff about me, and that could be bad considering she is writing a rec letter about my personality and academic strengths, and you can’t look at a transcript to get my personality.” Although this change turned out fine for Garland, it could potentially have adverse effects on a student who
Riki Rattner/Campanile
Julia Taylor, one of the teacher advisors at Palo Alto High School, explains the Viking Guide to one of her students. The teacher advisor system is a beneficial experience to students. had built a good rapport with their original advisor only to be reassigned to a new advisor that they may not necessarily achieve a good relationship with. To combat this problem, once an advisor takes on a new class of advisees, they should make every effort to advise that class through their graduation and not take on any new classes if they are unable to do so. Kaye Paugh, who retired last year but still comes to Paly for senior advisory to advise the senior class, her last remaining class of advisees, put this solution into practice. Granted, it is sometimes impossible for advisors to do this. In that situation, students should be given some say in who their new advisor will be, as it is likely that the student has a positive relationship with one of the many advisers for their grade. The administration should make every effort to place students with a new advisor that they connect with on a personal level. A flaw in the teacher advisor system is that students must choose the advisers that will stick with them for
the rest of their high school experience mid-way through freshman year. At this point, most students have not met any of the teacher advisors, who generally teach older grades, and all the student has to base their decision off of is a one-page handout with a short biography of each advisor. Due to limited information, students may choose an advisor who they do not relate well to on a personal level. A solution to this would be for the 10-12 grade advisors to spend an advisory period introducing themselves to the freshmen. Hearing the advisors speak would certainly guide students in this important decision. It is essential that students have an adult they can connect with and trust guiding them through the difficult, stressful college admissions process. For this reason, Paly should reevaluate some of the practices associated with the teacher advisor system and amend them in order to best serve all students.
What’s the best April Fool’s joke that you have heard?
Compiled by Riki Rattner, Alex Lin and Nikki Whitson
“The Stanford Daily posting ‘Luck is going to the Draft’”
“This girl telling her boyfriend she was pregnant”
“My friend glued coins to the ground”
“Asking someone to Prom as a joke”
“My brother and I drew a Hitler mustache on our Dad”
Shannon Scheel junior
Jack Anderson freshman
Michelle Friedlander sophomore
Peter Dennis junior
Sam Moses junior
A6 • April 8, 2011
S P O T L I G H T
The Campanile
The Aftermath OF THE DIS
Earthquake
Oklubi
The 8.9 magnitude earthquake, which has since been updated to a 9.0, caused fatal and devastating damage to thousands of roads and highways.
Tsunami
Efbayarea
The earthquake triggered a massive tsunami with waves as high as 77.4 feet. The monstrous waves swept cars, planes, buildings and tons of debris miles inland.
Guardian
Nuclear Meltdown
The worst nuclear meltdown since Chernobyl, the meltdown in Fukushima was caused by a failure in the cooling system triggered by the tsunami on March 11.
Death Toll
According to The N and over 16,000 peo
JAPAN DISA The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that aims to provide assistance in emergency situations. As expected, they were quick to respond to the emergency in Japan and they have taken the responsibility upon themselves to collect funds and supplies for disaster relief. Donating to the American Red Cross is as easy as texting REDCROSS to 90999. Doing so will simply donate $10 to the cause. The $10 is then added to the donor’s phone bill. Save the Children is a global organization that not only responds to emergency and disaster relief, but also works to help children cope with the aftermath of devastating situations. At Save the Children, ensuring that children all over the world are safe and happy is a priority. On average, 90 percent of expenditures benefit program services and the remaining 10 percent go to the organization’s fund raising and management funds.
On March 11, the world was hit by a tragic event that destroyed numerous cities and led to a loss of over 10,000 people, according to www.earthquakereport.com. Northeast Japan has suffered greatly since the 8.9 magnitude earthquake turned tsunami literally swept towns away and devastated hundreds of thousands. Luckily, an unyielding, united global effort rose immediately to help the Japanese piece their lives back together. Some of these very efforts are being made locally. Many organizations have made restoring Japan a top priority in the past few weeks and allow any amount of donations. Most allow both supply and monetary donations but according to various organizations, money is needed most at this time. “Logistically, it becomes too difficult to store, sort and then ship the items,” said Randall Thomas, spokesman for the Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia, in a Daily
Tim
do
on po
My family is completely fine, but “town that was hit the worst, and
AmeriCares is a nonprofit disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization that uses 98 percent of its donations to directly support emergency situations. The organization consists of multiple programs besides emergency response, such as Global Medical Assistance, which provides medicinal supplies and needs to over 40 countries. Founded in 1982, AmeriCares has provided more than $10 billion of aid to countries in need.
realize that a place you’re so familiar
Founded in 1865, the Salvation Army is a Christian relief organization that has had bases in Japan since 1895. The organization, which is backed entirely by donors, uses 100 percent of its tax-deductible donations to provide vital supplies such as food and water to disaster victims.
- Yoko Kanai sophomore
One Thousand Cranes for good luck
everythinglittlemiss In the Japanese culture, large numbers of origami cranes signify good fortune and long life. They are often gifted in thousands and are believed to be a powerful and benevolent charm.
Despite the individual and club efforts on campus, there has yet to be a unified school wide movement in support of disaster relief in Japan. In light of this, members of the Paly administration, with the support of Japanese teacher Tenuka Kamikiharam, is in the process of planning the Crane Project, a school wide effort to compile 10,000 paper origami cranes. “Cranes signify good luck,” Kamikihara said. “If we make ten thousand cranes, our dreams will come true.” Kamikihara’s Japanese classes will be folding cranes & encouraging other Paly students to do the same during and after Spring Break. The cranes will then be sent to studentsrebuild.org, who partners with the Bezos Family Foundation to send aid to Japan. In addition, the student body will come together on Monday, April 18th during lunch on the quad to fold origami cranes under the instruction of Kamikihara’s students. “Our goal is [to make] one thousand cranes ... at least,” Kamikihara said. “We can do it. A lot of students are going to bring cranes from home too.”
signify good luck. If we “ Cranes our dreams will come true. ”
The Campanile
SASTER
Boston
New York Times, the official death toll in Japan is as high as 11,600, ople are currently listed as missing. There may be some overlap.
Recovery
S P O T L I G H T
Online.wsj
Rescue workers make their way through the aftermath of the catastrophic events. Uninhabitable homes have been bulldozed. Damage reaches $300 billion.
ASTER RELIEF
mes article. “We can be much more efficient with cash onations.” Some relief organizations, such as Salvation Army and American Red Cross, have adopted a system of allowing people to make $10 donations by texting a certain code to a phone number; the money is then added to one’s cellphone bill. However, when it comes to giving money to these somewhat equivocal organizations, there is always a question of where the money will actually go — or if it will go anywhere towards the cause at all but the organization’s own piggy bank. The Campanile has picked a few trustworthy disaster relief organizations as well as a few on campus groups and clubs where, rest assured, ne’s donated money will be used as effectively as ossible and go where it is intended to go.
my grandma lives in the so it’s kind of shocking to with is basically destroyed.”
April 8, 2011 • A7
Text By Clara Chang, Lauren Wong and Justin Choi Staff Writer, Staff Writer, Spotlight Editor
Design By Justin Choi and Lauren Wong Spotlight Editor, Staff Writer
Efforts ON Campus Paly Sophomores take initiative Paly sophomore Yoko Kanai, who has family in the devastated area, felt especially inclined to help after the disaster occurred. “While [my family’s] perfectly fine, the town was horribly damaged,” Kanai said. “I wanted to do all I could to help rebuild the city.” The night of the earthquake, Kanai, along with sophomore Jacqueline Woo decided to make and sell $15 Japan relief T-shirts to numerous local schools besides Paly such as Prospect, Lynbrook, Monta Vista, Menlo, Henry M. Gunn, Cupertino, Mission San Jose and Irvington High Schools, through a Facebook event. From March 13 to 25, multiple representatives from the different schools helped carry out the hundreds of transactions and ensure that all the proceeds went straight to Global Giving, a nonprofit organization that has a funding goal of $4,000,000 for Japan. “We’ve already collected hundreds in profits and hopefully we’ll make more,” Kanai said. The shirts, which are v-necks and crew-necks with a wave in a red circle to emulate the Japanese flag, are now in the process of being printed through a custom design website and will be available for buyers by April 30.
Short Sleeve t-shirts will be available for $15.
Marc Havlik/The Campanile Sophomores Jacqueline Woo (left) and Yoko Kanai (right) are taking matters into their own hands.
V-neck (Girls)
Orders must be made and paid for by 3/25. Orders can be made on the Facebook event titled “T-Shirts for Tsunami Relief (Japan)”. Payments must be delivered to the organizers of the event.
Crew Neck (Boys/Unisex)
YCS/Youth Community Service Club
make ten thousand cranes,
”
- Teruko Kamikihara Japanese Teacher Courtesy of Hannah Mernyk
Captured in this photo are seniors Hannah Mernyk (left) and Irene Wang (right), the co-presidents of the Paly Youth Community Service Club.
Some Paly students are taking it into their own hands to help Japan. The Youth Community Service/ Interact Club on campus is doing so by selling “Help Japan” buttons for a dollar each to raise money for relief efforts. Co-President Hannah Mernyk said all proceeds are going to ShelterBox, an international organization that is currently working in Japan. “[ShelterBox] distributes boxes of essential survival equipment to places where there’s just been a natural disaster, or any other place in need,” Mernyk said. “To meet our $1000 goal for ShelterBox this year, we need about $350 more so we’re hoping that selling these buttons and getting donations will bring us close to that.” So far, YCS has only sold to Rotarians, members of the philanthropic organization, The Rotary Foundation, but the club is planning on selling buttons at school and Town and Country soon.
OPINION
A8 • Friday, April 8, 2011
The Campanile
Controversy over how to approach Libya has US in standstill
Despite growing violence in Libya, US has decreased its involvement President Barack Obama recently declared that the United States does not intend to send ground troops to intervene in Libya. Libya has been a concern to the United States and the United Nations since a vicious civil war erupted. The Libyan government headed by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi vowed to fight to mainsamblake tain stability, and a brutal civil war in my opinion has since raged in the country, killing thousands on both sides. Both the rebels and the government have declared that the Libyan people are on their side. The United Nations, led by the United States, recently declared Libya to be a no-fly zone. This essentially means that any airplanes Gaddafi sends into the sky will be shot down by NATO forces. The no-fly zone and multiple air strikes on Gaddafi’s military positions have clearly shown that any outside intervention will be on the side of the rebels. The United States has provided the majority of the supplies needed for the mission with over 100 American bombs being dropped compared to a minuscule two by the British government. So the question remains, what is the United States’ role in the Libyan civil war? The United States must intervene in Libya. The U.S. has already intervened in the Middle East and we need to help the Libyan people achieve a democratic government. After issuing a strong address to send no ground troops and turn the mission over to NATO, the Obama administration message remains unclear to the public. The real question remains: is it time for America to start sending ground troops into a third Muslim nation and essentially add a third war to the United State’s military agenda? The answer is complicated but clear. Yes, we should intervene in the Libyan conflict. Ever since Woodrow Wilson declared war on the central powers in the first World War, the United States has been on a mission to make the world safe for democracy. It would be fantastic if we could sit back and say Libya is not our fight and it is never going to be our fight, but the truth is the U.S. has already asserted itself in a global community. We have told the world that when actions occur we know are wrong, we will use the most powerful and modernized nation to stop it. The U.S. is a shining example of freedom and human rights. We have already asserted that we will try and spread our ideals to the Middle East so we cannot stop now. Continuing with the policies of the George W. Bush administration, the U.S. needs to continue “spreading the seeds of democracy.” Bush’s essential justification for going into Iraq was not simply that it would protect Americans at home but it would spread democracy to the Middle East. He believed that if one country was transformed from a tyranny to a democracy, the rest of the Muslim world would watch and be encouraged to spread democracy into their own communities. This idea has cost the taxpayers billions of hard earned dollars. America watched only a few weeks ago as the Egyptian people toppled their government through mass protest and social media. The Libyan people want democracy and, as the shining star of democracy, the U.S. saw the need to help them. It may not be superb timing but
it is the American peoples’ duty. The U.S. has a unique chance in Libya to show the world that we intervene for more than just our significant oil investments. In Iraq, America did crush a brutal dictator but we also intervened because of our significant interests in oil. Libya is our chance to send the world a new message that we as a country are willing to intervene on simply a moral basis. Looking back into recent history we can learn from our lack of action in the Rwandan genocide. In Rwanda, the United States chose not to intervene because there was no national interest in Rwanda. It was simply a far away country in crisis. No Americans were threatened so naturally the Clinton administration chose to stay on the sidelines. The world knows we made a mistake in Rwanda. Libya is our chance to show that the U.S. has changed. Libya is our chance to show that the U.S. is living in a global community and we are willing to help people simply because they need our help. The Obama administration needs to make its message clear. That message needs to be that the United states will intervene in the Libyan civil war. Hillary Clinton, the current Secretary of State said the Libyan civil war “cries would be, ‘why did the United States not do anything?’” The collective American conscience will implode with regret if we choose not to act. The people of Libya need American support and we have the power to assist them. The bottom line is that Americans are blessed. We are blessed with an incredibly powerful military and economy. Our foreign policy can change the world and it is time for America to look out for Libya. It will cost the taxpayers dearly but we have a responsibility to protect innocent civilians against tyrannical dictators.
PRO
The entire world has watched with shocked eyes as the turbulent atmosphere in the Middle East has led to multiple overthrows of oppressive regimes and international action. Most recently, the United States has intervened in the unstable country of Libya, with much scrutiny from Americans tanvivarma themselves. Similar feelings were felt in 2003, when President George in my opinion W. Bush invaded Iraq, on the basis that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Weapons have still not been found. Will Libya be Iraq all over again. Middle Eastern revolutions began with a Facebook page in Egypt, calling for reform from the government of ex-President Hosni Mubarak. Egyptian regimes have been overthrown in a matter of days, the most heavily watched being Libya. Although Mubarak eventually stepped down, Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi refuses to leave his position, causing British, French and American forces to intervene. On March 20, Britain, France and America launched an open air assault on the country, hoping to cripple Gaddafi’s air force to prevent any assaults on other countries, according to the New York Times. Operation Iraqi Freedom was a military campaign brought together by President Bush with the objective of removing weapons of mass destruction from Iraq, while also overthrowing the dictatorial government of Saddam Hussein. Weapons of mass destruction were never found
but Hussein was executed. Unnecessary intervention in Iraq mirrors the unnecessary intervention in Libya. Operation Iraqi Freedom was unsuccessful, maybe due to the false information that was provided was false, or simply because of economic reasons. Now that the objective of Operation Iraqi Freedom was proven false and incomplete, the time has come to bring back the troops. Libya should not become the new puzzle that the United States should attempt to solve. The invasion of Iraq was justified on a very ambiguous reason, and Libya is the same way. The country is not planning to attack the United States, and any attempt would be no match for the size and strength of our armed forces. The Iraq war is paid for by the taxpayers, and this debt is so deep that future generations will be paying for a failed invasion. The debt is already too hard to pay, so getting ourselves involved in Libya will make it even more difficult. Libya’s precarious state is enough reason for the United States not to involve itself. We are currently fighting two wars, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, and possibly this new one in Libya. Soon, our fingers will be in three pies attempting to restore order and democracy to “governmentally unstable” countries. The United States cannot expect to solve every single problem on the international stage. We are the image of democracy, but sometimes the issues facing the world are simply too large for us to handle ourselves. Several countries have the capacity to heal and solve their own problems without international effort. Egypt had the capacity, and is now a much happier country, and Libya eventually will also be relieved, but at this point, it is unnecessary for the U.S. to get involved. The United States did not intervene in Egypt; in fact, President Obama was strongly criticized for his lack of involvement. But the riots posed in Libya, along with the United Nations and various other countries’ involvement is only complicating the situation further, causing more pent up anger from Gaddafi, and a possible radical group to emerge. Instead of trying to cut down the insecurity in the country, it would be better to perhaps prepare the troops for a similar situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. If really necessary, then few troops should be deployed to ensure that the United States is taking interest in the situation, but the time has not come for violent action. The United States’ decision to invade should have waited for a humanitarian reason. American history is repetitive in that invasions are only done in the case of a threat to national security or economic reasons, and rarely because of the mistreatment of humans. Although the dictatorial government of Gaddafi is truly horrible, there are no murder squads and there are no major casualties. The best response is to wait to see how Gaddafi will react in the future to the international threats. If he steps down, then that is one less abusive person in power. If he insists on abusing his people, then we should step in because it is the right thing to do for the good of humanity, not because we do not want to spend money. Libya’s revolution is still fresh and there will be more progression, but internationalists decided to act much too soon. We do not want another Iraq. America does not need to be involved in another complicated war with no exit strategy.
CON
The New York Times
With the U.S. decreasing its involvement in Libya, rebel lines begin to fall apart and retreat following an assault of airstrikes and artillery fire as pro-Gaddafi forces retake Ras Lanufs.
Students casually post unsuitable material without proper censorship Uploading inappropriate, crude media can hinder future opportunities Alexandra Wallace, a third-year political science student at the University of California at Los Angeles posted what she thought was a harmless video of herself ranting about “the hordes of Asians meghanbyrd accepted into our school every year” in my opinion and how she was repulsed by what she sees as a lack of manners from this group of students. She eventually removed the video, but not before it had been copied and re-posted numerous times, turning the video into a viral phenomenon within hours. Within a week the video was receiving national attention. The chancellor of the university had to issue an apology, and the student also issued an apology, but due to the mass amount of hate mail that she was receiving, including death-threats, she chose to dropout of the prestigious school. The video caused her world to quickly crumble. As technology and the use of the Internet becomes more prevalent in our society, users need to be sure to think about what they post online. formspring youtube Over 51 percent of Americans are now on the social networking site Facebook. What In the case of Alexandra Wallace, her viral video prompted threatening emails. Through popular social networking sites such as Youtube, Facebook, many of these users either do not know, or Formspring and Twitter, people may find comfort in uploading highly personal material, unaware of how accessible it is to the global community. choose to ignore, is that what they post on the site can never be erased. This includes a good fit for the school. To an admissions Furthermore, many employers use Face- harassment, it is punishable under the law. According to Palo Alto High School Vice their comments, pictures, and videos, as well officer, a red cup is a red flag. book as a tool to further research job appli- Furthermore, sending hateful comments can Principal Jerry Berkson, if the bullying occurs as any media uploaded by friends. As many high schoolers can attest, there cants beyond what appears on their resumes. be both demoralizing and extremely hurtful at school during school hours or pertains to High school students in particular should seems to be a constant need for documentaA perfect interview may be worthless if to the users receiving them. a situation created at school, it is punishable exercise caution in tion of almost any sort the applicant’s Facebook does not reflect the Another website that uses anonymity by school authorities. using websites like of activity. values he or she may have presented. is Formspring. Anyone can post questions According to Berkson, although this Over 51 percent of Americans Facebook. Posting Many people enAnother aspect of social networking that or statements, anonymous or not, to users type of situation rarely escalates to more a mobile upload of are now on the social networkjoy posting pictures users tend to forget is online harassment. for them to answer publicly on one’s profile. than getting the student’s parents involved, yourself and a friend ing site Facebook. What many of almost anything, Posting a racial slur, direct threat or any other Although anonymous comments were it can result in suspension or more, if the bad playing beer pong which include the type of cryptic message can be considered a the website’s original purpose, Formspring behavior persists. at a party may seem of these users either do not usage of drugs and hate crime and is susceptible to punishment has transformed into a hub for hurtful mesBeing involved in any kind of online bulfunny at the time, know, or chose to ignore, is that alcohol. under federal law. sages. Both the author of the message or lying, whether intentionally malicious or not, however this action what they post on the site can Although this One common misconception is that question and the user responding to it should is immature, demeaning and unnecessary. can have long-term may make one feel applications available on Facebook such as take caution. Many times the recipient may As we all know, high school is stressful never be erased. consequences. “cool” at the time, “Honesty Box,” which allows users to send feel hurt, and in the heat of the moment post enough without getting bombarded with Underage drinkthe long-term con- “anonymous” comments to other users, are a response of equal malice to that of the one mean comments about what one wears, how ing is a misdemeanor sequences are quite truly anonymous. received. one speaks, or who one is friends with. according to the law. Posting a picture or severe. However, if a comment is considered Even if a post or picture upload does As the Paly community continues to be other evidence of any kind of illegal activity Besides damaging one’s reputation, this verbal abuse, police have the power to force not break the law, it can still be considered an active part of social networking and the is simply stated, stupid. documentation can have lasting effects on Facebook to track the user that sent it. This online bullying, which can be punished by online world, students should be careful what Many colleges now look at applicants’ relationships with family, friends and others means that although you may think that school administrations if they discover who they post, because one day all those photos Facebook pages to identify if they would be on Facebook. your comment is harmless, if considered is sending the messages. might just come back to haunt them.
SPORTS
The Campanile
Friday, April 8, 2011
SportsBriefs
Athletes strengthen teams by bonding
Badminton rebounds from first losses, hopes to rebuild team
Players enhance team chemistry through off-field rituals, activities
With recent wins against Santa Clara High School 17-13 and Los Gatos High School 13-2, the Palo Alto High School badminton team (2-3) has made a comeback, after its three initial losses against Cupertino, Fremont and Mountain View High School. “I feel like the team has really started to come together and develop a rhythm,” sophomore Michael Wang said. “As we are getting further into the season, a lot of our players are getting back into the groove of high school badminton.” Senior captain Kevin Kwan is very optimistic and sees potential for the team, especially after defeating Santa Clara and Los Gatos. Kwan blames the first three losses not on a comparative lack of strength or skill but solely on the absence of key varsity players during these games. “I feel that when we go against these schools again, we have a good chance of winning given that we have a full strength squad,” Kwan said. “We just beat Los Gatos pretty handily, and I think we can start to go on a streak on the rest of the season. We can definitely bounce back from these three initial losses.” The team’s first game against Cupertino on March 17 was especially challenging as the opposing team had just recently dropped down to the lower league. Paly lost to Cupertino 3-27 and fell to Fremont 9-21, but both the varsity and junior varsity boys’ doubles excelled with multiple wins against Fremont. The game against Mountain View on March 24 was especially close with a score of 14-16. “Many of our varsity matches went into three games, so the whole game [against Mountain View] overall was really close,” junior varsity singles and mixed player Linda Li said. “[Losing] is pretty sad since we were league champs last year. But it’s also kind of expected since most of our varsity graduated last year.” According to Co-Coach Stephanie Hsi, the team members’ flexibility and willingness to play any position that needs filling in has greatly benefited the team, especially when other players have been absent. Li and Wang both switched events last minute without complaint. “You have to be flexible enough to play what the team needs you to play,” Hsi said. “[Wang, Li] and all our freshman girls have been perfect examples of this. [They are] ready to take any challenge I pass to them, fantastic attitude.” Similar to Kwan, Hsi is not discouraged by any losses and finds each to be a learning experience. “Playing a challenging match lets you set the bar higher,” Hsi said.
—Clara Chang
Staff writer
Golf team record remains impressive despite minor setback The Palo Alto High School golf team (6-1-0) has kept a strong record, with only loss to Henry M. Gunn High School. On March 29, Paly played Cupertino High School in a three-way meet, which is when two teams compete against one other team. Gunn was the other school that competed against Cupertino. Paly had the best score out of the three schools even though Gunn beat Paly in the season. “I think that everyone was too stressed out when playing Gunn and that is why we lost our match against them,” Head Coach Doyle Knight said. “I know that we can beat Gunn. It is just a matter of relieving the stress and lowering pressure. We were so worried about losing that we did worse than what we can perform.” The driving force on the team is the freshmen, who compose half of the team. According to Knight they show great potential for future years. “I have six freshman on the team this year, including [freshman Sam Neithammer] who competes for the top spot on the team,” Knight said. “[Neithammer], [sophomore Grant Raffel], [senior Michael Yuan] and [senior Toby Weber] all hit about 38-39 and they all switch off for the top spot.” Other freshmen have also proven their spot on the team. “[Freshman Annie Chen] and [freshman Cathy Rong] both have done great with [Chen] coming up in the fifth and sixth spot regularly,” Knight said. The team, however, is missing one of their key players, senior Jon Callahan, because of a wrist injury. “To lose a senior is tough, but everyone has stepped up,” Knight said. “It is hard to make up for the experience that a senior has, but the freshmen have shown that they are capable.” “I think that we have a really good chance of going to and doing well in [the Central Coast Section (CCS)],” Knight said. “Everyone knows that the outcome is determined by how well each of them play, and if everyone does the best they can I am sure we will do well.” The team plays on April 20 against Mountain View High School at Shoreline and then has a tournament on April 25 at Walnut Creek.
—Jacob Zenger
Staff writer
Diving teams undefeated, all of girls’ varsity qualifies for CCS Many individual wins and achievements have continued to define the Palo Alto High School diving team’s strong spring season. The diving team has been busy with many different meets, including the dual meets against Los Gatos High School and Homestead High School, as well as Paly’s Invitational. At the Paly Invitational, the team had an overall successful day. Scores were up with sophomore Cole Plambeck breaking the school record set by Chris Dale in 1974. The meet was a great day for other Paly boy divers as both sophomore Alex Francis and senior Jordan Zenger qualified for Central Coast Section (CCS). The Lady Vikes also came up with many successes, as all varsity girls qualified for CCS. During the dual meet against Los Gatos, senior Grace Greenwood took first place for girls’ varsity while Plambeck took first for boys’ varsity. The following week at the dual meet against Homestead, Greenwood once again brought home the victory for girls’ varsity with a six dive score of 242.35. Plambeck continues the pattern as he won the diving for the varsity boys with a 6-dive score of 217.65. Paly’s diving team is currently 5-0 for the season. They look to continue their quest for League Titles on Friday, April 8 in a meet against Monta Vista High School.
—Laura Cui
Staff writer
COURTESY OF GRACIE CAIN
The Palo Alto High School girls’ varsity soccer team encourages bonding by hosting events where players connect beyond the soccer field. Paly team captains find having fun together can improve team relations.
By Layla Memar Staff Writer
This past school year, Palo Alto High School has achieved astounding success in the athletic department, with two state titles to its name. These accomplishments cannot be attributed to pure player skill alone, though. One key factor of Paly’s victories is team chemistry — the bond that holds players together and keeps them accountable for one another. The football team demonstrated just how powerful team unity can be in their CIF Division 1 State Championship game against the nationally ranked Centennial High School Huskies. Centennial entered the game with a 14-0 season, Paly with a 13-0. Skill-wise, the Vikings were the sure underdogs. By pouring their hearts out into the game and working as a team, the Vikings were able to finish with a 15-13 victory over the Huskies. “[Centennial] had a lot of really good players and a lot
of guys that are going [Division 1], but we were definitely closer and I think that definitely showed on the field,” senior cocaptain T.J. Braff said. This final game against Centennial was the pinnacle of their growth as a team. Braff remarked, however, that they became increasingly unified as the season went on, but did not start out with great chemistry. “Our very first game we played Burlingame, and that was probably our closest game [score-wise],” Braff said. “They were a pretty good team but we’ve definitely played a lot harder teams, and we just kind of improved each game and I feel like that’s why we did so well.” Braff, along with senior co-captains Christoph Bono, Will Glazier, Davante Adams, Kevin Anderson, Michael Cullen and Maurice Williams, tried to encourage team bonding on and off the field. “We would still be hanging out over the weekend and
stuff and that definitely played a huge role, especially in our defense,” Braff said. “Just kind of knowing how we all play and playing together was definitely a huge part of our success.” Though each player has his own way of getting in the zone before a game, the football team had a few ways of bringing everyone together. “As a team we would all go say a prayer in the middle of the field, so that was kind of our pre-game thing,” Braff said. While this is an example of on-the-field bonding, there are other rituals the team has off the field. “The one consistent thing everyone does is tap the picture of Travis [Brewer] in the locker room before we go out,” Bono said. While developing player skills is mostly an individual effort, developing player chemistry is a responsibility devoted solely to the team. With captains motivating the team and coaches checking
in with the players periodically and staying involved, the Vikings were able to have the successful, unified season that they did. Like the football team, Paly’s baseball team is striving to become closer in hopes that their unity will reflect in their games. The dynamics of baseball are very different than football, however; while team chemistry is equally important, it is shown in different ways. Nevertheless, it is the inter-player bond that brings a team together and allows for its success. “We have team dinners,” co-captain Bono said. “We’ve had probably five by now, normally once a week on Thursdays. We go out to dinner at Oasis [Bar and Grill] or Harry’s Hofbrau.” Teams outside of Paly have also realized the importance of team bonding. The San Diego Padres, for instance, have become very supportive of
“non-baseball team bonding,” which for them includes fishing tournaments, rap battles and free-throw contests, according to the New York Times Baseball Blog. These activities were designed to help players get comfortable with one another off the field, so their sense of togetherness could then be applied on the field. Another sport in which player chemistry proves essential is soccer. With a team consisting of players from all grades, the Paly girls’ soccer team knew team bonding would be a necessity. “We did have some new players which weren’t as integrated from the beginning, but I think we did a good job of bringing everybody in and our chemistry was very strong by the end of the season,” senior Co-Captain Ali Kershner said. Some ways the captains tried to incorporate team bonding into their season was by setting up pasta feeds and organizing team dress-up days. “Within pasta feeds we do things like interrogations — nothing serious — just asking them questions about their personal life,” Kershner said. “Everyone who’s new on the team has to go through interrogations, and we just basically strip them down, figuratively,” senior co-captain Gracie Marshall said. While having pasta feeds was the main reason for the team’s closeness, dressing up on game days was a way of publicly showing just how united they were. “A big part of our team chemistry is dressing up on game days,” Kershner said. “That’s a big way that we kind of show the whole campus that we’re together as one unit.” Marshall, who plays both soccer and softball at Paly, acknowledges the difference in dynamic and player chemistry between the two sports. “I think the emphasis of ‘team’ is definitely more important in soccer, just regarding knowing your players’ strengths and always knowing where they are on the field, because with softball things more set in stone regarding where they are on the field,” Marshall said. “[Player chemistry] is extremely important in all aspects of the game because the tighter you team is the more fluidly you’ll play,” Kershner said.
Track teams improve as season progresses Despite initial losses, track continues to succeed, motivated by Coach Fung By Wesley Shiau
managed to clutch first and second place in the two mile race. In a notable The Palo Alto High School track race, sophomore Josie Butler ran the team (1-2) continues to improve 800 meter and won first place. It was throughout the season as a result of the first race she has ever run in her life. “The Mountain View meet went daily practices and frequent meets. Paly started the season well in their first meet great,” Head Coach Jason Fung said. “We of the season against Los Altos High had our opportunity to win but we didn’t School, with boys’ varsity, frosh-soph capitalize with a couple of events that boys’ and girls’ junior varsity each de- we should of won. We let our chances feating their Los Altos counterparts by slip away when it came to the two mile. more than 20 points, and girls’ varsity Mountain View ran for a first and second place finish which put the meet losing to Los Altos by a score of 84-38. out of our reach. We Although should have a better s e n i o r Te a m run at it when it comes Captain Susan “We had our opportuto the league finals Heinselman was nity to win but we didn’t since we will have able to grab a some key returning dominating win capitalize with a couple athletes in a couple in the mile race of events that we should of weeks, but overall with a time of have won.” I was happy with the 5:35.95, a clear 12 seconds ahead Jason Fung performances.” Both the boys’ of the nearest Track Coach varsity and girls’ varrunner, the girls’ sity’s hard work startteam was unable ed to show as they to pull through performed well in for the win. “I won my race, which was pretty their dual meet against Lynbrook High exciting, but other than that, we were School. The girls won their first dual really short on girls,” Heinselman said. meet of the year with a score of 68-53 “At the time, most of the throwers were and boys’ winning with a score of 79-43. on the basketball team and not yet out Despite the heat, Paly started the day strong with a win in both the girls and on the team.” In their next meet, boys’ varsity lost boys 4x100 relay, where they established to track powerhouse Mountain View a solid lead out of the blocks and slowly High School with a score of 71-56, extended it until they finished with more however they managed to keep the than a second to spare. The boys’ team score close for the majority of the meet. consisted of senior Miles Anderson and Paly’s opportunity to win finally slipped juniors Tremaine Kirkman, Brian Benfrom their grasp when Mountain View ton and Morris Gates-Mouton, and the
Staff Writer
girls’ team consisted of freshman Pippa Raffel, junior Lydia Guo and seniors Helen Butler and Sydney Davis. “The heat was making everybody exhausted and we had all had a long week; however, all teams pulled decisive victories,” junior team captain Lydia Guo said. “The girls varsity 4x100 went really well as all our hand-offs went very smoothly. The distance teams were having some trouble with the heat but in the end they did pretty well.” Paly’s hurdles team proved to be strong when they managed to place at least one hurdler in the top three places in the majority of the races. Kirkman went on to contribute an additional 10 points by placing first in both the 100 meter and 200 meter races, narrowly beating fellow 4x100 member and team captain Anderson in the 100 meter. “I was hoping to [set a personal record]and break 11 today, but I think I worked myself up a little too much and didn’t really focus on the technical parts of the race so I had a pretty bad start,” Kirkman said. “I’m still happy that I won because I’ve never beaten Miles [Anderson] before, but I definitely think I could have done a lot better.” Although sophomore EJ Floreal, who won the 400 meter in the dual meet against Mountain View with a time of 51.27, was unable to race in the March 31 meet, Paly still managed to take the top three spots in the 400 meter, showing the team’s well distributed talent. “I planned to get off fast in the blocks, and coast around the 50 mark but make sure that I don’t get too be-
hind,” Gates-Mouton said. “And then around the 200 I’d pick it up a little bit, and when I hit the last 100 I’d sprint it out.” The Paly boy’s field team is strong this year with experienced throwers and talented jumpers. Practice has paid off for junior Tori Prati, placing first in shot put in the Los Altos and Lynbrook meets with a length of 43’04 and 44’07 respectively. In the same meets Prati placed first and four in the discuss toss with a length of 94’10 and 103’06 respectively. Sophomore jumper Victor Du continues to consistently place well in his events. So far Du has contributed more than 11 or more points in every dual meet so far. Du contributed his points in the Los Altos meet by placing first in the high jump with a height of 5’10.00, the long jump with a length of 20’01.00 and the triple jump with a length of 41’03.00, nearly 20 percent of Paly’s total points. Raffel also attributed 15 points to the girls’ team by placing first in three of her events with a time of 13.59 seconds in the 100 meter, the high jump with a height of 4’6, and the long jump with a jump of 15’10.25. Another standout performance came from sophomore Matan Geller, who placed third in the mile and managed to set a new personal record, despite fatigue due to the March 29 dual meet against Mountain View and unaccustomed heat, he finished with a time of 4:55.13. “I wasn’t supposed to go as hard as I went because of the Invitational on Saturday, but the heat definitely took its toll,” Geller said.
SPORTS
The Campanile
April 8, 2011• A11
Competitive rowing takes Bay Area by storm
SportsBriefs Softball tries to improve inconsistent record The Palo Alto High School varsity softball team has endured a season of ups and downs, but the team has still managed to keep spirits high. With an overall record of 2-2, the girls’ team has come together this season, embracing new players while striving to improve. With a weakness of starting games strongly and not finishing well, some games have not been played up to the team’s potential, such as the first game of the season against Los Altos High School. This game, ending with a score of 4-9, represented a poor start to the season, however in later games such as a recent game against Mountain View High School, the Vikings have finished with wins. Despite an improvement in the team’s record later in the season, a recent tournament ended poorly with a loss against Homestead High School with a score of 8-13. The game against Mountain View is considered one of the strongest games of the season. Paly was in the lead after a slow start with a run from senior Mariah Phillips who stole home from third during the fourth inning. Runs continued to flow in during the last few innings, ending with a score of 6-0. “I think it was our best performance in the season, we got really solid pitching from [senior] Grace Stafford,” Head Coach Tim Anderson said. “Our defense was sensational, they only had one hit and [Stafford] only struck out two but our defense did a great job.” With the strong defense and consistent pitching from Stafford, Paly defeated the Mountain View Spartans. The difficulty of scoring in the beginning caused the players to come together and pump themselves up to come out with a win. “I think they realized that the other day we started strong [but] didn’t finish strong, and today was different,” Anderson said. “We had an opportunity in the first two innings to score and we didn’t, and I think they realized there was a sense of urgency.” The team’s mental strength and ability to learn from previous mistakes have benefited it immensely. The spirit from each player on the field and in the dugout gave the girls the confidence they needed to pull out a win. “I think the intensity in the dugout [helped] from the beginning, it just escalated more and more as we started performing better so I think if we keep up that team morale that will be really good for our team,” Phillips said. Overall, the Vikings’ performance improved as the game went on, with help from the coaches’ and players’ enthusiasm. Unlike games earlier in the season, the team stepped it up and ultimately reached their full potential. “We definitely improved from our last couple games,” outfielder Emily Swanson said. “The last few games we have been psyching ourselves out mentally and not being able to play up to our full extent, but in this game we stepped up our intensity which kept increasing throughout the game.”
—Annabel Snow Staff Writer
Boys lacrosse hopes to improve during league The Palo Alto High School boys’ lacrosse team recovered from three loses with a significant win against Menlo School. “We started off really strong, then we had a three game slump but now I think we are back in our groove,” sophomore middie Walker Mees said. “I think we are ready to go out there and start winning a lot more games.” After three losses during the week of March 23, the boys’ lacrosse team pulled out a decisive 10-8 victory. “It was a big win, we needed to bounce back from our three game slide,” senior defenseman Cooper Levitan said. “It was a really big win for us. We played Menlo in last year’s semifinal playoffs and that was a really tough team that they had and it was really just a huge win for us. If we had lost this game we would have had to fight to get a good playoff seat and this really puts us in a good position going into the rest of the season.” The team hopes that this triumph can propel the team into more consistent success later in the season. “Hopefully it will be a big momentum builder,” Levitan said. “The defense played really well and the offense is getting their mojo back. Our rotation on offense needs to get a little bit cleaner and our two slides on defense have to be there. They were there for the second half of today but we need to have them 24/7.” The game against Menlo was in no way a cakewalk, as the Paly boys competed in back and forth offensive attacks with Menlo until finally creating a stable lead in the fourth quarter. “It was definitely a tough win, but we pulled it together in the fourth quarter,” Mees said. “We drew up a new offense and were able to throw a couple goals in there. We need to work on our hustle, if we out hustle every team we play we will win all of our games.” The game was almost lost in the first half, but due to stellar play senior goalie Josh Chin, the team was able to recover. “It feels great to get off of a three game slump,” senior Chin said. “What we need to build on is to take this win and just chew it, enjoy it but not think about it too much and focus on the rest of the season. We can’t just rely on this one win and feel on top of the world.”
—Sam Blake Staff Writer
Baseball experiences midseason comeback During the non-league season, the boys’ varsity baseball team struggled to defeat elite West Catholic teams like Saint Francis High School and Archbishop Mitty High School, but league has proved to be a different story. “We lost a couple in a row in non league but we bounced back from that and have done well ever since,” senior pitcher Graham Marchant said. Setting a league record of 7-1-0, the Vikings hope to make it all the way to the Central Coast Section championships. “We definitely have a good shot at winning CCS,” senior infielder and pitcher T.J. Braff said. So far, Los Gatos High School defeated the Vikings with a score of 7-5. Although the teams are relatively matched up in terms of talent, Palo Alto High School’s inconsistent play was not enough to defeat the Wildcats. “We had kind of a tough loss against Los Gatos.” Braff said. “They have a really good team and I don’t think that we played our best game and they did play their best game.” According to Marchant, the team has bonded throughout the season allowing for a more solid performance on the field. As the team progresses into the heart of spring season, the captains hope to unite the players, resulting in more promising results. “[Team chemistry] was pretty bad at the beginning of the season,” Marchant said. “We had a couple of team dinners and some team bonding stuff and now it has gotten better but we still need to work on that.”
—Jillian Chacon Staff Writer
Crew provides fresh college opportunities, new social scene By Mayssen Labidi Staff Writer
The sound of rushing water amidst focused synchronization is well known to the Palo Alto Rowing Club is a co-ed organization in which students from schools such as Palo Alto High School, Henry M. Gunn High School and Los Altos High School are involved. Crew, another name for the popular East Coast sport of rowing, has travelled to the West Coast, becoming rather popular in the Bay Area as well as within the Paly community. Many students from all four grades participate in this demanding and time-consuming sport. Three lanes are available to athletes who participate: novice, junior varsity and varsity. The two seasons available are head season, which is similar to cross country and contains six-hour races, and sprint season, which is similar to track and has two to three hour races. “I had been playing other sports like football and track but I wasn’t really enjoying them, so I thought I would try rowing,” junior Luke Prioleau said. “I have been around rowing all my life since a lot of people in my family have rowed: my grandfather rowed at Princeton [University], my uncle rowed on the [United States] national team, my dad rowed in high school and my cousin rowed at [University of California at Berkeley].” According to Prioleau, most rowers practice 15 hours per week, not including optional double days, and the duration of races varies depending on the season. Due to being a large time commitment, crew has caused many athletes to struggle with balancing social and academic lives; however, most learn to adapt to the conditions. “Balancing crew, a social life and school is definitely a big challenge,” Prioleau said. “I have to miss a lot of events with my friends because of how much time I spend at practice and regattas. It is also hard to balance it with school work because, not only does crew take up a lot of time, but it is also mentally and physically exhausting.” Although crew is a challenge, Prioleau does not believe it has negatively affected his social or academic life. Although the sport leaves one with a limited amount of freetime, after a while, the athletes adapt to the system and can accomplish all three aspects routinely. Junior Isabel White believes that it has drastically impacted her academic and social life. “Due to the 4 a.m. practices, I am left with little energy,” White said. “Therefore, I don’t succeed academically and I make up for my loss of sleep
courtesy of luke prioleau
Junior Luke Prioleau, fourth from left, and his team NorCal Crew cool down after a race in Redwood City. Crew has gained popularity in the West Coast despite its demanding schedule. during class.” Junior Crisca Papatheodorou, who joined crew as a freshman, says that she has “given up on any kind of social life” due to the demanding aspect of the sport. Although crew has had negative effects on some athletes, rowing competitively has created many new friendships for competing athletes. Crew requires a major amount of dedication and commitment, but to all three athletes it is an intriguing, satisfactory sport and differs greatly from any land sport. “What I love about crew is that it is unlike any other sport,” Prioleau said. “Nothing beats the satisfaction of a nice row on flat water or the intensity of a race day. Also, it is an outstanding way to stay in shape. Although not everyone realizes it, crew is really a full body workout: legs, arms, back, abs, and it is also a great cardio workout.” Papatheodorou is also captivated by the sport due to its calming atmosphere in the early mornings. “Crew is such an intriguing sport because it’s such a passive aggressive sport and it’s super underestimated,” Papatheodorou said. “I really like it because the water in the morning is gorgeous and every single morning you get to see the sunrise.” As athletes engage in this de-
manding sport, commitment is required in order to succeed. Full commitment and participation from every team member is obligatory in order to achieve a successful race, since teamwork can determine a race’s outcome. “The main similarity between rowing and other sports I have participated in is the importance of teamwork,” Prioleau said. “However, I think it takes teamwork to a whole new level because, unlike some other sports, you can’t get away with having a weak link in your boat. Rowing requires every person to be completely committed to showing up to practice every day and working as hard as they can. If just one person isn’t willing to give it their all, then that can just mess everything up.” The commitment required for these workouts, though intriguing, is exhausting. “Rowing is definitely the most difficult sport I have ever participated in mentally and physically,” Prioleau said. “I’ve done football hell week and double days and neither of those come close to being as painful as a hard rowing workout.” All three athletes consider possible futures involving crew after high school. To both White and Papatheodorou, if the sport will help them reach their dream college,
they will continue a career after high school. “If I were to continue crew in college, I would probably be a coxswain, the rower who encourages and signals the other rowers,” White said. “As of right now my main position is a bowseat.” On the other hand, Prioleau is already determined to follow the family tradition as a rower and has already visited colleges such as the University of Texas in January. “I am planning on continuing to row into college,” Prioleau said. “I have been talking to a couple college coaches and am starting to go on visits to the campuses and meet with the coaches and observe their practices.” Overall, crew demands vast amounts of time and effort in order to achieve success. The commitment exhausts the athletes both physically and mentally, therefore affecting their performances at school as well as their social lives. However, the sport has had a positive impact on athletes as well by creating new friendships and relationships for many. “Although crew requires a huge amount of work and commitment, the sport is so satisfying and really inspires me to reach out of my comfort zone and experience new things,” White said.
Boys’ varsity tennis unable to beat latest opponents By Electra Colevas
we prevailed,” Harader said. “It was a good win for us.” Unfortunately, due to recent rainy weather, the team’s second chance against Los Altos High School was postponed. Players have therefore not had the chance to redeem themselves after a 3-4 loss in the beginning of March. The early matches were tough for the team, which was disappointed after the losses. Many felt that hard work, dedicated focus and taking advantage of allotted practice time would be necessary to prevail in their next matches. “Our league was extremely tough, there were no easy wins,”senior Captain Chirag Krishna said. As the 2011 season approaches its end, the team is looking to redeem itself next year. With underclassmen gaining experience during this transitional year, even amidst gaps left by strong seniors who contribute greatly to this year’s team, players hope to be more prepared for the competition they will face in the future. “Fortunately we’ve always had a strong team and we don’t expect any less in the following year,” Harader said.
Staff Writer
Palo Alto High School’s varsity boys tennis team recovered after a loss to Monta Vista High School with a final score of 3-4. After a 5-2 victory the day before against Carlmont High School, the team faced a tough opponent and the result reflected the close match. The team’s March season has not been overwhelmingly successful, as the results have been spread across the board. The two matches against Lynbrook High School has proven the school to be a challenging competitor for the team. A match in mid-March yielded a 3-4 loss for Paly and again a week later, Paly lost with the same score. Although, like other Paly sports, the tennis team practices repeatedly throughout the week, consistency has not been an attribute of practice this season. A limited amount of time between matches has proved to be a hindrance to the team’s development, according to head coach Andy Harader. Without ample time to focus and prepare for upcoming competitions, the team has struggled to hone in on specific skills that need improving. “We don’t have too much time to practice in between games, but we need to train in order to get the ball up the net and put our volleys over,” Harader said. Earlier in the March season, the team faced off against Mountain View High School, an especially tough opponent. Contrary to the more recent performances,
marc havlik/campanile
Sophomore Thomas Kao slams the ball to his opponent cross court. Boys tennis has had a rough season so far, with most games resulting in losses. the team was then able to showcase their talent against more intense competitors. The doubles players preformed especially well and were victorious during the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League competition in March. Harader felt that despite the singles’ cumula-
tive loss, the team played well and put solid effort into their performance. Senior Andy Hammer and sophomore Mason Haverstock won 6-2, 6-1 in the third ranking, junior Justin Wang and sophomore Charlie Dulik won 6-3, 7-5, in the second ranking and
seniors Lucas Fodor and Scott Monismith battled for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, win at first doubles rank. Despite previous losses, these wins helped restore the team’s confidence, picking up spirit amidst a midseason slump. “Mountain View is not a bad team so I feel happy that
TENNIS Scores
vs. Carlmont March 28, W 5-2 @ Monta Vista Oct. 19, L 3-4
Upcoming games vs. Los Gatos April 19, 3:30 p.m. vs. Leigh March 20, 3:30 p.m.
SPORTS
A12 • April 8, 2011
Stop hating on ice skating!
The Campanile
Three-game win streak ends for girls’ lacrosse team
Squad falls to visiting Cleveland Heights, team now 5-0 in league By Hannah Park Staff Writer
brianbenton in my opinion When I was in seventh grade, I competed at the United States Junior National Figure Skating Championships. While at the competition, I was given a special skaters only T-shirt that I decided would be great to wear to school when I got back to California. I apparently was mistaken. What seemed to me like a great way to tell the world how great I was apparently just an invitation for everyone in my classes to make fun of me. Although I have since overcome this haunting memory, it seems that some of my fellow students are still stuck with their seventh grade immaturity and still see a problem with the fact that I skate. And that is why I am writing this — because figure skating is at least as much of a sport as baseball or football or any other of those activities where men (often overweight ones I might add) run around in tights. For those of you that are unaware, I have been figure skating for 11 years now, and with that have been receiving criticism about it for about seven (my kindergarten class didn’t seem to have any problem with my skating obsession). First, my skating apparel is no more tight or sparkly than any of the uniforms of the aforementioned “athletes.” I skate in black pants that admittedly are a bit stretchy and shimmer in the sunlight but are still quite masculine, and a T-shirt. That’s it. I do not get decked out in crystal and sequin-covered frocks like Will Ferrell in “Blades of Glory” and certainly do not wear tights or skirts. My skates are black and suede, and I must admit, quite “swaggy.” Second, skating has gotten me in incredibly good shape, much better than those world-class defensive linemen that are considered to be some of the best athletes in the world. Sure, I can’t bench press 400 pounds, or even 200, but I can do a double lutz that is two rotations, which I guess is kind of equal. And even if it’s not, I doubt any muscular football player could even make it around the ice once. Third, my skating workouts are just as hard as any other sport I have ever participated in. When skating, you are permanently moving, in a 45 degree Fahrenheit ice chamber, and occasionally get to jump up in the air and go crashing down onto a sheet of ice that is even harder than my abs. I must admit, my track workouts are tough, but nothing compares to doing back-to-back four minute long skating programs. Fourth, there is this myth that no boys figure skate, which for some reason makes it a sport for girls only and then because of that not a sport at all, but last time I checked, there are at least five guys who currently do or used to skate at Paly alone. In the entire Bay Area, there are tons more. I’m not going to pull out the overused skating defense mechanism of the fact that male skaters get to spend all day with girls, while other athletes are left with other guys, but that’s a benefit as well. And last but not least, we don’t complain. Our feet are covered in blisters, I honestly think my natural body temperature might be below 98 degrees because of the long hours I’ve spent in the cold, and morning practice is almost an obligation for skaters, but we deal with it. Nothing against our dear sports editor John Brunett and his recent “Wake and Lax” column, where he wrote of his morning lacrosse practices, but I can almost assure that skating ones are worse, yet I feel no need to write a “Wake and Skate” column. Why am I so optimistic about my early morning practices? Because they have taught me time management, responsibility and that staying up until 12 to work on homework leads to miserable workouts. Us skaters might not be the biggest or the strongest or the fastest (at least not off ice), but we’re athletes and we’re proud of it. I’ve done my fair share of sports, and skating is the hardest and most rewarding one of them all. So next time you decide to be a hater towards a skater, think twice, because I have a pair of skates in my car with a sharp pair of blades attached, and I’m ready to use them.
The Palo Alto High School girls’ varsity lacrosse team faced a loss in their most recent game against Cleveland Heights (19-7), a team from Ohio. Junior Kimmie Flather contributed four goals, helping to keep the girls motivated throughout the game. All the players came together on the field to challenge their out-of-state opponents. “[Senior] Gayle [Schumacher], the goalie, had some awesome saves and [sophomore] Nina Kelty had some really nice shots,” Flather said. “[Junior] Emy Kelty got the ball a lot on defense and saved a lot of drives. I think everyone really contributed, especially on attack and on defense.” Flather predicts her team will continue to improve throughout the season despite the early losses. The girls are on track to win leagues with a currently undefeated league record. “I think our season is starting to pick up but at the beginning we had a little downturn,” Flather said. “We’re doing a lot better now and we’re playing St. Francis this week which should be a really good game.” The girls are maintaining their winning streak within the league but are falling short against out-ofleague teams. At the start of the season, the Vikings faced defeat in their first two unofficial league games to Amador Valley High School and St. Francis High School in Sacramento. Their following games alternated between wins and losses resulting in an overall record of 3-4-0 at that point in the season. “I think overall the season is going well because we’re improving every game which I think is how you need to start measuring successes,” Head Coach Jamie Nesbitt said. “We’re starting to do better in the league and win by larger margins and we’ve definitely had numerous difficult teams to test us along the way. So I think the team’s done a pretty good job of learning from that and getting better at that.”
Marc HAVLIK/ Campanile
Senior Vivienne La and junior Emy Kelty faceoff against Los Gatos High School on March 29. The Lady Vikes were dominant on both offense and defense and won the game 13-10. In their third game against HenJust as the team started turning ry M. Gunn High School, the team the season around, they faced andefeated its crosstown rival 11-9. other defeat to Menlo High School (9Its first official 8). During the first league victory half of the game, “We’re starting to do betwas a positive the girls were bechange from ter in the league and win hind by a goal. The their previous by larger margins and girls tied in the losses. second half (4-4). Top play- we’ve definitely had nuLosing by just one ers senior Ra- merous difficult teams to goal overall, the chel Shaffer Paly girls fought a n d s o p h o - test us along the way.” hard against the m o re C h a rJamie Nesbitt Menlo Knights. lotte Biffar both Several different Head Coach players scored, scored three goals, leading demonstrating the team to vicsolid teamwork tory. The team overall displayed a among the Viking athletes. very high level of combined skills In dealing with the disappointand speed. ing losses, the girls are quick to get
back on their feet and continue to improve their skills for future games. “I think emotionally, obviously, they’re always tough [on themselves]” Nesbitt said. “You never want to lose. I think they’ve done a good job of seeing the positives and seeing what we can take from each game and so to help the team move on from losses. We really just focus on that and focus on what we can improve or maybe what the other team did that we can take away from that to do next time we play someone else.” The girls pulled through in their game against St. Francis, ending the game with a final score of 7-6. The team got a head start in the first half, leading by one goal. The second half was a draw for both teams (3-3).
Their next game against St. Ignatius added another loss to the Vikings record ending with a score of 19-3. Senior Gracie Cain, sophomore Nina Kelty and junior Kimmie Flather scored one goal each to bring the team to a total of three goals. “We push [losses] aside and look at what we did wrong and what we need to improve on and it also gets us pumped up for out next game,” Flather said. “If we didn’t play so well against someone that we could have played a lot better against then we know we need to work harder.” Defeating Pioneer High School (10-5), the girls dominated the field. Junior Kimmie Flather scored three goals, bringing the team to victory. Their game against Saratoga High School earned the team another unrecorded victory. The team won their next two games against Los Gatos (13-10) and Leland (13-8). The girls are looking to focus on specific skills to improve their overall playing. “We’re definitely working on trying to win the draws a lot more and settle and do our plays,” Flather said. Nesbitt encourages the girls to motivate themselves to really learn the skills and realize their potential. “I want them to learn for themselves and constantly be improving and prove to themselves that it’s in their power to control how much better they get everyday and how good they can be at the end of the season,” Nesbitt said.
Girls Scores vs. Leland March 31, W 13-8 vs. Cleveland Heights (Ohio) April 1, L 19-7 vs. St. Francis April 7, not reported
Upcoming games @ Gunn April 19, 7:30 p.m. @ Pioneer April 21, 4:30 p.m.
Boys’ swimming stays undefeated Girls’ swim team confident after Team record 5-0 after win over Homestead
beating rivals Mitty, St. Francis
By Tanvi Varma
By Hannah Totte
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Though it is only the beginning of the season, the boys’ varsity swimming team is pulling out on top. The Viking boys are moving on undefeated in the season with a 5-0 record and an undefeated league record of 2-0. The Vikings dominated in the Spring Invitational and their bi-meet against Los Altos High School and Menlo School, and continued their streak against Lynbrook High School, leaving them in the dust with a score of 113-67. Junior Byron Sanborn brought back double victories in the 200 Individual Medley and the 100 backstroke at the Lynbrook meet. Junior Rollin Lau also achieved a double win in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, setting a season best time of 5:40.08. Freshman Andrew Liang brought back a double win in the sprint 50 relay and the 100 freestyle. Although the Vikings started off their meet against Los Gatos High School solidly with a win in the 200 medley relay, the Vikings barely pulled out with a score of 98-88 against Los Gatos, securing their undefeated title in leagues. “They’ve done a really nice job, they’ve stepped up every time,” Coach Danny Dye said. “I’m really happy with how they’re training and how they’re swimming in the meets; there’s a lot of yardage.” Thus far, the Vikings have an immaculate record, but future meets will determine exactly how successful they will be this season, and how well they will do in the post-season. “If we get by this week with Monta Vista, we look pretty good for leagues,” Dye said. “For [Central Coast Sections] the team we always aspire to is Bellarmine [College Preparatory]. They’ve won 27 [championships] in a row, and it’s a big hill to climb.” Despite the challenge to beat Bellarmine, Dye is confident in the team’s capacity to do well. “We’ve got one of the most talented teams I’ve had in Palo Alto,” Dye said. “I’m positive we’ll be in the top three, the way we’re performing.” Lau, one of the most valuable swimmers on the team due to his consistent effort and performance in the meets, also agrees with Dye that placing in the top three at CCS is an achievable goal. Lau also believes that beating Monta Vista will be an exciting accomplishment this season. “They won leagues last year, so this is a big meet” Lau said. “Also, we don’t have [junior] Byron [Sanborn]. When we have him, we’ll beat them.” Swimming demands incredible commitment due to both morning and afternoon practices, and so far, the consistency with this year’s practice and the team’s effort bodes well for the boys’ swimming team. New underclassmen swimmers have also contributed to the success of the swimming season. “We have two new freshmen, Willie Lee and Andrew Liang,” Lau said.“Last year, we lost a couple seniors but in the end, we only benefited from the change.” Both Liang and Lee have been performing well, winning in both relays as well as individual events.
Marc HAVLIK/ Campanile
Andrew Liang (top) and Byron Sanborn (bottom) have swam strong this season. Lee gained a double win in the Homestead meet with a win in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 2:03.79, and the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.60. Liang accomplished a double win at the Lynbrook meet in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 21.72, and a time of 48.98 in the 100 Freestyle. “It’s a young team, and it bodes well for the future of the program,”Dye said. “We got two freshmen in, Lee and Liang, they’re doing really well, our sophomores are stepping up and doing really well, we got some good leadership out of the juniors and we got a couple seniors that are making their final stand.” Next, the boys will compete against Henry M. Gunn High School, at Gunn. As the season reaches its half, the postseason definitely seems possible.
Boys Swimming Scores
vs. Homestead April 1, W 134-48 @ Monta Vista April 8, not reported
Upcoming meets @ Gunn April 20, 3:30 p.m.
The girls’ varsity swimming team continued their winning streak last Friday, pulling ahead of Homestead High School 141-44. Coach Danny Dye attributes the team’s consistent success to the swimmers’ work ethic and concentration. While most of the team has swimming experience from the past, this year’s team is marked by strong leadership and dedication. “The kids have been training hard together, they’re pushing each other, and we have depth,” Dye said. “We have juniors, sophomores and freshmen that are all going to contribute. It’s just really a nice team.” The swimmers also came out on top during a close combination meet on Saturday, March 26, maintaining its status this season by outracing many of its competitors as it progresses into league season. “Swimming is a unique sport, it’s not always about close calls, it’s about getting in and doing your best,” Dye said. “For the girls, every single point counted, and in the meet against St. Francis every single person contributed. That’s what we need for people to understand what a team is. Our goal is to just have everybody stay focused.” A vigorous practice schedule and the return of noteworthy club swimmers, such as juniors Jasmine Tosky and Margaret Wenzlau and senior Sarah Liang, has boosted the team to exciting wins. “Every season is unique in its own, and as your student athletes grow, every year is different from freshman [year] to sophomore [year] to junior [year] to senior [year],” Dye said. “This will stand out as a special season, but just every season is one that I look at differently.” At the St. Francis meet three weeks ago, Paly was able to surpass rival Archbishop Mitty High School by one point, winning the meet 401-400. Small gains in various races, even if they did not amount to a first place finish, added the points that eventually closed the margin between the teams. “The meet went really well,” junior Skylar Dorosin said. “Saint Francis and Mitty are strong teams. Mitty is our top competition as they have beaten us at [the Central Coast Section playoffs] for the past two years by very small margins.” Dye attributed the win partly to the 400 medley relay, during which swimmers were able to catch up to competition and finish in fourth place.
Players also recognized the significance of this and other small victories throughout the meet. “The 400 medley relay was a key win for us,” Dorosin said. “We only beat Mitty by one point, so every win mattered. This meet was unique, as the team swam events and competed against strong teams, like Archbishop Mitty High School and St. Francis High School, that it does not usually include and compete against during the regular season. Only two athletes swam per event, but Tosky, Liang and junior Rachelle Holmgren came through with first and third place wins. “On Saturday we knew we were going to be challenged by Mitty as they have beaten us the last two years at CCS by very small margins,” Dorosin said. “We felt that if we could beat them here, we would be able to claim the title at CCS.” Although the March 26 meet proved to be challenging, the Palo Alto High School girls have also had chances to wipe out opposing teams, as they did during the Friday, March 26 meet versus league competition Los Gatos High School. The swimmers used the meet to tune up their technique and work on speed as they beat the Wildcats by a whopping 72 points. Even with the success, the Vikings know they have a lot to improve as the season progresses. “I think [we as a team are] most looking to improve the consistency of our swims,” junior Shannon Scheel said. “I know that some people fluctuate from meet to meet because we’re training on such a rigorous schedule that we’re trying to get our bodies to be ‘race tired,’ as our coach says. Nailing consistent times is definitely good because that means we’re keeping consistent speeds all through leagues and can drop more time going into CCS.”
Girls Swimming Scores
St. Francis Invitational March 26, W - 401 points vs. Homestead April 1, W 141-44 vs. Monta Vista April 8, not reported
Upcoming meets @ Gunn April 20, 3:30 p.m.
Life styles Friday, April 8 2011
Features • A&E • People
The Campanile
It’s surprisingly easy to be green
andreamore
in my opinion When one thinks about what they can do to help the environment on a grand scale, things like installing solar panels and switching to an Into the Wild lifestyle come to mind. While such actions are admirable, not everyone can go solar or end the relationship they have with their car. Because people are not usually conscious of the impact their every action has, the small things that impact the environment go unnoticed. All it takes is a few minor changes for the little things to enact change that would even make Thoreau proud. If there is one place on campus where actions majorly affect the environment, it is the bathroom. In particular, the library bathrooms offer a test of environmental consciousness. The test begins with the sinks. Rather than turning on the water and then applying soap, bathroom-goers should reverse the first two steps of washing hands. Often, students forget the third and most crucial step: turning off the water. According to Palo Alto Utilities, a leaky faucet can waste 100 gallons a day. If there is a leak (as is often the case in the library bathrooms) one should avoid being a bystander. It is simply unnecessary and inconsiderate to those who “have to go” later in the afternoon to use three paper towels to wash one’s hands. Unless one has abnormally large hands or has taken a makeshift shower in the sink, one paper towel should suffice. According to WorldWatch Institute, it takes 20 years for one paper towel to decompose. With landfills overflowing, students can be environmentally conscious simply by being sparing. “Going green” is not just thoughtful to the environment, it is logical. Studies show that bottled water is just as healthy as tap water. The only difference between the two is that according to the labels that will inevitably be tossed out after consumption, bottled water is more “natural” and “purer”. A poll conducted showed that nearly 60 percent of Paly students drink bottled water. If students invest a few dollars in a reusable water bottle, they will stop using so much trash. As spring weather begins to show its face more frequently at Paly, those who drive to school a on a regular basis could consider biking or walking to school. Fresh air, exercise and less spent on gas are just a few things that one can acquire from leaving the car at home some days. According to the Environmental Protective Agency, if one can stay off the road just two days a week, they can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,590 pounds per year. Going for a bike ride or a walk will leave one in a good mood which can only be enhanced by not having to deal with the Paly parking lot. Eating locally grown foods is one of the best gifts anyone can bestow on the environment. Strawberries whose label reads “grown in Mexico” or lychees that have been shipped from Asia mean more than just a long ride to the supermarket. Those thousands of miles some food is shipped leads to a big carbon footprint for a small box of fruit. Luckily for Paly students, Palo Alto has a farmer’s market on California Avenue that offers fresh bread, fish and pastries that are inexpensive. Eating locally has far less severe consequences for the environment than food that is shipped from great distances. When packaging food for lunches, sandwich bags should be substituted with reusable containers. While the bags may seem small, it takes 500 years for plastic to decompose according to studies conducted by The Ocean Conservatory Project. That means that every sandwich bag you have ever used is still around, most likely at a landfill, and will be for quite some time. Reusing products is wise, both monetarily and environmentally. Reducing one’s carbon footprint does not have to be time-consuming or costly. All it takes is a little bit of thought put into one’s actions that leave the environment like we found it. So, the next time the cashier asks “paper or plastic?”, you should respond with “neither, I brought a canvas bas.”
By Brian Benton Staff Writer
One Saturday each month, the Palo Alto High School parking lot is taken over by a sea of umbrella-covered booths and a swarm of shoppers, some of which are pulling bright red wagons and others who are weighed down with cloth shopping bags. Many people pass by the scene not paying much attention to the ruckus that is taking place, but those who decide to stop are going to be glad they did so. The commotion is the Palo Alto High School Music Boosters Flea Market, and is the perfect setting for a day of roaming around with a friend, doing a bit of shopping and admiring the uniqueness of the vendors and the wares they were selling. Flea markets, like this one held on the second Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., are like garage sales taken to the extreme. Dozens of people come together to sell everything from vintage clothing and homemade crafts to old computer parts and antique chairs. Hundreds more come to look at and buy some of the myriad of goods. Only at flea markets can you find a combination of merchandise from a thrift store, an antique shop and eBay all for sale in one place, and at incredibly low prices. Going to a market like this with hopes of finding an exact item or certain type of clothing can be a bit tough, but having a good time is practically guaranteed. The Palo Alto Flea Market is fairly small — no bigger than a football field with just one hundred vendors — but has a treasure trove of great finds. The market has a tight-knit, welcoming atmosphere, and boasts a surprisingly high ratio of quality items to overpriced junk. Homemade jewelry and small trinkets are among the best things that can be found at the Palo Alto Flea Market, along with the usual books, DVDs, CDs and things of that sort. Clothing, especially for women, like vintage coats and dresses and leather boots and jackets (usually less than half the price they would be new) are another highlight of the market, and because the prices are so low, shoppers have nothing to lose if they buy an out-there piece of clothing just to wear once or twice. One of the best booths to check out is a table of miniature bicycles crafted out of metal coat hangers and other recycled scraps. The bikes are a bit expensive — starting at $20 — but are a cool and one of a kind trinket to have at home or give as a gift.
FEATURES
This is just one of many great flea markets throughout the Bay Area. Most of the other markets also take place on Saturdays and most offer a unique selection of specialties and oddities that can only be found at that individual location. One of the biggest and most popular is the De Anza Flea Market, which takes place on the first Saturday of each month from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Cupertino in parking lots B and C at De Anza College. The market is huge, boasting over 700 vendors and thousands of shoppers each month. The booths are each about 10 feet by 10 feet, and feature everything from handmade animal themed beanies with ears ($15 originally, but on sale for $10) to vintage movie posters and even old film cells ($25 each). Two of the vendors are Loren and Liz Olk, who make “recycled and upcycled” license plate art. The couple collects old license plates, slices them up letter-by-letter, and then mounts the pieces on old planks of plywood or old skateboard decks, with the letters now spelling out words like “surf” and “sunshine.” “We’ve been doing really well [selling art] recently,” Loren said. “People like our art because they say the colors of our pieces make their homes pop.” The art, which ranges from small pieces that are about six inches by a foot to larger, two by four - foot pieces, sells for $20 to $50, depending on the size. Close by is John Fanning’s double-sized booth, where he sells used DVDs, CDs, records and books. His CD collection is especially impressive, ranging from modern music by bands like the Dandy Warhols to greatest hits albums by classic jazz and folk musicians. Like most vendors at the market, the items that Fanning brings to sell change each month, even though his booth is in the same place each time. “Weather permitting, I’m at the market every month,” Fanning said. “I’m usually in the same place, too. Sometimes I’m a bit [closer to the middle], but it’s always around here.” Fanning is one of many vendors who regularly can be found conversing with his costumers, whether it be about the different records he is selling, or just about the weather or how his week has been.
See MARKETS, Page B2
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FEATURES
Friday, April 8, 2011 • B2
Student group begins preparing for natural disaster CERT team trains high school students in responding to unforeseen emergencies By Michael Abrams Staff Writer
Imagine the Tower Building strewn across the Quad in thousands of pieces, the famed bell tower cut off and thrown to the opposite side of campus. With the campus completely flooded, it is almost impossible to exit classrooms and evacuate. Even for those classrooms that can evacuate, the large gym has completely collapsed, blocking the exit towards the football field. According to Palo Alto High School architectural plans, while almost all Paly buildings are up to earthquake codes mandated by the State of California, it is impossible to completely protect any building from damages due to a major natural disaster. Any of the above scenarios could potentially occur in a major natural disaster such as an earthquake or tsunami. While many structural reinforcements are not allotted on Paly’s current budget, according to City of Palo Alto Planning Department member Richard Mallonee, the city is working to better prepare Paly and Henry M. Gunn High School for a disaster by organizing the Community Emergency Response Team, which is also known as Team CERT. According to Mallonee, Team CERT will be Santa Clara County’s first effort to actively involve students themselves in the disasterplanning process. The team will be part of a state-wide effort to train interested teens to be a part of search and rescue operations in the event of the disaster. “It will be a way for students to be the eyes and ears for the faculty in the event of a large scale event like an earthquake,” Mallonee said. Currently in the event of a disaster such as a fire or earthquake, the primary response of the Paly administration team would be to gather students on the football field arranged into their fourth period classes. The field has always been a place of gathering for the entire school. In the event of a disaster affecting the football field itself, students would be diverted to either the baseball field or the front lacrosse field. According to Mallonee, the process of gathering all 2000 students and the faculty on the field and checking to make sure students are accounted for is a long, strenuous ordeal for faculty that is too large to be handled by such a small group of people. Having Team CERT on standby in the case of a disaster would allow the entire school to feel safer and more prepared, while also solving practical problems and, at its core, saving lives. “[Team CERT] would grab their helmets, put on their backpacks and go to different buildings and do damage assessments and
Bransonfirefighters
A CERT team performs a rescue mission to carry a man to safety after a disaster. They practice how to support an injured leg and neck and lift a person away from a disaster scene without injuring the victim any further. report back to the teachers so the school staff would get an idea about what’s going on on campus right away,” Mallonee said. According to the Team CERT planning team at the City of Palo Alto, each member of Team CERT would have a teacher coordinator that would link the student members of the team to the administrative response team. As a unit, Team CERT would help Paly in a variety of fields, from assisting individual people to assessing big picture problems during the disaster. Team members will be trained in several courses, including life search and rescue, disaster, medical response, triage response and incident command system (how to manage and lead a team). “Students [in CERT] would be able to assess a building, know what kind of building to go in and know what building to not
go in,” Mallonee said. “Students would be able to do basic first aid for the people who are not in need of an ambulance. They would help organize all of the students, telling them what to do or where to go.” In addition, students in Team CERT would gain necessary practice in how to engage their skills during an emergency by performing their same tasks in large events and in fire drills. Many students welcome additions like Team CERT that would better prepare Paly for a disaster. Some students feel that Paly currently does not do enough to educate and plan in the event of emergencies like earthquakes and fires. “I don’t feel like Paly is that prepared [for a disaster] but I’m not really sure what they would be able to do to be more prepared,”
junior Shawn Fotsch said. “For example, in an earthquake we’re told to go under our desks, which is ridiculous and somewhat humorous to watch because in a majority of classes there is no way anyone is going to fit under their desk.” According to Fotsch, older classrooms like those in the Tower Building have desks too small for students to fit underneath, which could pose a safety risk during an earthquake, when standard procedure is to block oneself from falling debris by crouching underneath a desk. Many other classrooms face the problems of having tiny desk areas. Other students consider Paly’s current fire drill schedule too sparsely spread out and so well-planned that students do not take the drills seriously. “The problem with the fire drills is that they’re scheduled, so we know ahead of time
when they’re going to be,” junior Elias Berezin said. “On the other hand, they can’t just screw a [class period] over.” Students like Berezin and Fotsch seem to feel conflicted between convenience, practicality and preparedness. However, students also question the reality of how much new efforts like Team CERT could truly make a difference in a real disaster. “I think some students that may be interested in the medical profession would want to participate to gain some kind of experience,” Fotsch said. “Realistically though, I think they could potentially help the administration, but I do not think they would be able to play that great a role if a natural disaster were to occur.” Even if the true effect of Team CERT is as limited as students predict, CERT organizers believe that the smallest effort to alleviate the entire burden of natural disaster preparedness could help staff members be less stressed. “Right now, most of the burden of assessing the situation and taking care of all the Palo Alto students falls on the staff, and that’s an awful lot to do,” Mallonee said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if there were 30 people to help the staff?” According to Mallonee, students also must take their own initiative to educate themselves about natural disasters and prepare themselves to take action if necessary beyond Team CERT and the administration mediated response. Due to Paly’s large, open campus, it would be logistically impossible for the school to account for every student, and as a result, students should prepare their own planned response. “Every family must have a plan,” Mallonee said. “ The school is legally responsible for the student at school, but once the student is off campus, the student would have to know what to do.” Mallonee believes that students should research and prepare for the most common natural disasters that could effect Palo Alto, including floods, fire, flu and potentially tornadoes. He believes that students should especially prepare for disasters occurring in the morning. “In my opinion, any time in the morning [would be the worst time], from the beginning of the school until noon, because there are more students there and more commuters there,” Mallonee said. “It’s mostly about how many people there are that could be affected.” According to Mallonee, Team CERT will begin organizing next year. CERT classes will begin in the next few weeks at Henry M. Gunn High School, however. The CERT committee plans to continue to help other local schools begin implementing the organization in their natural disaster plans. Beyond Team CERT, however, students at Paly will need to start realizing the limitations of the Paly staff in aiding every student in a large campus like that of Paly.
Local flea markets provide chances for selling, buying used goods
Different booths provide customers with many types of cheaper second hand items MARKETS, Cont. from B1
The market also includes a food court, so if customers get hungry from all the walking, shopping and talking “I missed this market about two months ago, and the that constitutes a visit to the De Anza Flea Market, a wide next time I came, people asked where I was last time,” variety of food is nearby. The foot court sells meals like hot dogs, lemonade, teriyaki bowls, shaved ice and churros. Fanning said. For more serious shoppers looking for more than On the other side of the stadium-sized market is Steven DeCarlo’s stall, one of a handful of booths that just a fun day outside, specialized art and antique fairs focuses on selling action figures, Lego pieces and Hot might be preferred. While they are more expensive, they are for the customers who are looking for individual and Wheels toy cars. DeCarlo’s booth stands out among the rest because intricate art pieces. The Stanford Treasure Market takes place one weekof its sheer size and large collection of pieces, especially the tiny Lego figurines neatly lined up in glass cases, as end a year, usually in March, and offers everything from small, handmade trinkets to valuable original paintings well as vintage and specialty pieces. A young boy and his mother approach the booth, and and large mounted animal heads. With such a wide variety DeCarlo instantly walks over to share a bit of knowledge of pieces, an art selection can be found for any occasion. All profits go to the Cantor Art Center. Unlike flea markets, about the car the boy is interested in. DeCarlo enthusiastically tells the boy that cars like the Treasure Market does not have vendors selling their the one he is holding have not been made for about eight own goods, but instead is a compilation of thousands of years, and that they are only available in a few stores, items donated to be sold. The market features books, the prices of which range one of which is DeCarlo’s shop, Kid In You Toys, located from $1 for a small cookbook up to $200 for a complete, in Saratoga. For the boy, the car may just be a new toy to play with, 14 book set of Victor Appleton’s Tom Swift series). Along but for DeCarlo, it’s a way to share his love of figurines with the mountains of books available are vintage clothing and purses, art and ceramics, glassware, silverware and collectibles with the world. “I’ve been coming [to the market] for as long as I can and furniture. Some of the items have high prices, but the quality remember,” DeCarlo said after the boy and his mother finished paying for the car. “I always encourage people is high as well, so it is up to the customer to decide if an to come [to my stall] often because what I’m selling is object is worth the splurge. “I decided to come [to the always changing and I’m always Treasure Market] at the last mingetting and bringing in new mer- “I missed this market about two chandise.” months ago, and the next time I ute,” shopper Lucy Rahport said. “It’s wonderful to see all the beautiDeCarlo’s toy booth is diful things that people have given rectly across from a couple selling came, people asked where I was away to sell.” “reggae wear and novelties,” who last time.” Although the audience atare playing “ No Woman, No Cry” John Fanning tracted by the Treasure market is by Bob Marley from a pair of black speakers. Adjacent is a garage flea market vendor older than most flea markets, there were also families and even a few sale-esque booth with a hodgestudents sprinkled throughout podge of video games, $5 shirts, the vast gym. pants and backpacks, among other things. “I love the Native American art,” Stanford student A few spaces down is a vendor with about 100 golf clubs for sale for about $10 each, who is next to a man Chris Stern said. “And all the old books. I bought three. selling handmade Mexican pottery and another who One was $2 and the other two were $1 each.” Volunteers are stationed at each table of the Treasure focuses on baseball hats and belts. This wide array of vendors is what makes the De Anza Flea Market worth Market to assist shoppers, help them pay and provide vast a visit. One first time visitor, Vivian Li, had no idea what insight and knowledge about the various items offered. to expect coming to the market, but was amazed at all As shoppers approach tables of merchandise, a volunteer stationed at the booth immediately comes to greet and that was for sale. “I bought an old doll house, which was the first thing assist them. The volunteers share information about the I’ve ever bought at a flea market,” Li said. “I’ve only been various items, facts about the market and even an occato one part of the market so far, and I’m sure I’ll find sional story about working or shopping at a flea market. They are ready and willing to help any shopper, or to just more to buy.”
brian benton/ campanile
The different booths around the flea market showcase the wide variety of objects available to the shoppers. Each booth is set up with an array of artsy, educational or intricate items. provide a little bit of entertainment. The passion that the Treasure Market volunteers and flea market vendors like Steve DeCarlo and Loren Olk have for their merchandise is one of the best parts of visiting a flea market. The vendors can always be found with smiles on their faces and are extremely helpful to the new shoppers at the flea market. They love what they do, know about what they are selling, and cannot wait to share stories and information with shoppers, even if the shopper does not buy anything.
The relaxed atmosphere makes any trip to the flea market a pleasurable one. With such a vast array of options for a customer, a nifty, useful or simply beautiful object can always be found at a flea market. The trinkets are always one-of-a-kind, and are interesting additions to a collection or a room. A trip to a flea market does not always end with a closet full of new clothes or a new book to read, but it does usually leave shoppers with smiles on their faces and the feeling of a day well spent.
FEATURES
The Campanile
April 8, 2011 • B3
In-class cell phone confiscations raise question of legality
Students wonder whether teachers are overstepping boundaries in taking away electronic devices By Charlie Dulik
“It just seemed negligent on the part of [my teacher].” Although teachers are guarIt seems to happen almost once a day. Maybe even once a class. A anteed the right to confiscate cell careless student is caught red-handed phones, extended seizure is somewhile texting or playing games on what of a controversial topic. The argument from the side of a cell phone by a teacher, more often than not mid-lecture or mid- a teacher includes in loco parentis, which is Latin for “in place of the discussion. Teachers have and can take a parents.” In loco parentis gives the public variety of different actions, including, but not limited to, confiscation, school authority to act instead of extended seizure and search of such parents once their child is dropped contraband items. Teachers take off at school, using its judgment as cell phones for a variety of different opposed to parents’. Teachers would argue that since reasons, including the lack of respect that usage demonstrates and the the statute in the student handbook does not specify a time period, in distraction of other class members. Many students are outraged, loco parentis gives them the right and feel that their rights are being to choose however long the time of violated and their maturity is being confiscation should be. However, some teachers, like questioned. “I think that teachers should let English teacher Kindel Launer, would students use cell phones and other rather not get involved with the time electronic devices in class, because frame of such punishments. “My class starts off with one in the end, it’s up to the student how much they want to learn,” sophomore chance.” Launer said. “If I see another phone, it gets confiscated. Matt Morton said. Then I give it to Mrs. Klein, and However, in almost all cases, teachers are well within their rights students can pick it up from her at lunch, brunch, after school — whento act as they often do. Under the subsection of “General ever they can find her.” Administrators could theoretiRules/Regulations” entitled “Prohibited on Paly Campus” in the student cally still use the student handbook handbook that was last updated on and in loco parentis to protect Sept. 7, 2010 by the new Winston whichever length of confiscation they administration, “Any electronic com- decide on — they could let students munication device (cell phones, etc.) pick up their phone after school, or that is judged to be disruptive may keep it until the end of the school year. However, students would argue be confiscated, at the discretion of that this violates their constitutional the teacher or other staff member.” Therefore, if the teacher decides right to protection against unreasonthat the usage of the cell phone inter- able seizure. The Fourth Amendment, which feres with the class, the teacher can bans unreasonable seizure, is pertilegally take away the phone. The statute does not cover how nent to governmental searches and long teachers are allowed to hold seizures, but not to those done by phones, which leads to some teach- parties who are not acting for a government. ers keepSi n c e ing some p u b l i c c e l l u l a r “I think that teacher should let school ofdevices for students use cell phones and other are extended electronic devices in class, because ficials agents of periods of in the end, it’s up to the student t h e g ov time. ernment, “ [ M y how much they want to learn.” the seizure teacher] Matt Morton of contratook away my phone sophomore band cellular devices and said I is legal, could get but the it back the next day, but the teacher didn’t have a class to teach the next prolonged holdings can not be justiblock day and didn’t show up to fied, because such devices are not school, so I had to get another teacher evidence for a criminal trial. Since there is no law or jurisdicfrom the department to get it for me,” sophomore Mason Haverstock said. tion permitting this extended seizure
Staff Writer
alex lin/campanile
Students who are caught with electronic devices during class may be subject to confiscation of the device by their teacher. Several teachers have gone as far as to search personal content within the device, violating students’ constitutional rights. other than an over-broad school statute, students could argue that extended confiscations violate the Fourth Amendment, because the extended length for the return of the property is an unreasonable seizure. The Fourth Amendment also applies for cases in which teachers have answered phones calls and read or answered text messages on students’ phones. “One time my phone went off in class and my teacher picked it up.” Morton said. “It was pretty embarrassing.” “I don’t think teachers should be allowed to do that.” Teachers are violating personal privacy and unlawfully searching personal content, without reasonable suspicion that the students are committing crimes. Unless a teacher or administrator can prove that there was reason-
able suspicion for confiscation, the content of a students’ phone cannot be read. However, with sexting, cyberbullying, cheating and countless other unlawful acts occurring rampantly in schools nowadays, teachers may feel more inclined to do so, since their main objective as teachers and state employees is to keep all of the students safe. Teachers and school administrators would argue that they are legally allowed to do any of these actions because students forfeit many constitutional rights when they step on to the school’s campus. All of these cases do not apply if a student is contacting parents during an emergency. Although an administrator or teacher may be skeptical at first, explaining the emergency would
almost guarantee the student will be given their cellular device back immediately. “I was called by my mom in class once, and it turned out I had to go home,” Haverstock said. “My teacher understood once I talked to her about it.” Cell phone legality is a very recent and nuanced issue that is still being heavily debated. Within the past two months, the attorney general of Virginia has proposed legislation aiming to legalize search and seizure of students’ cell phones at any time. Teachers and students have a hard time comprehending the opposing side’s reasoning. “Teachers won’t listen to student’s opinions,” Stewart said. “They think theirs are right and won’t consider mine.”
More often than not, a student would defend their right to unlimited cellular usage, whereas a teacher would protect a right to confiscate disruptive items. “I think I should regulate my own usage,” Ramkumar said. Teachers at Paly are 100 percent within their rights to confiscate a cell phone that they deem to be disrupting class, but their right to the length of seizure is very much debatable and unclear. It is still illegal in California for them to read or receive messages intended for students, without students’ permission. “I want my private things to stay private,” Haverstock said. “Right now, if I just have one right protected, I believe I should have more. But if the limited rights I have at school are being decreased, I just think that’s unfair.”
Sophomore hopes to attend alternative wilderness school in Vermont Tia Rabinovitz looks to unique form of schooling in order to broaden horizons, create opportunities By Kirah Ingram
themselves in hands-on, environmental activities while cooperating in intellectually stimulating education which causes students to reflect and look beyond common ideas in order to form their own. The school has students, teachers and other faculty members live symbiotically, which allows deeper relationships between the students and the adults. Sophomore Tia Rabinovitz recently applied for one of the 45 spots in this school next year during the spring semester, and is waiting to hear back from The Mountain School of Milton this spring. Her cousin, current junior at Stanford University, Galen McNeil, attended The Mountain School of Milton and was Rabinovitz’s main source of inspiration to apply in the first place. “My cousin Galen went to the Mountain School as a junior,” Rabinovitz said. “And when she came back, she had so many stories and good memories that I got really interested and
wanted to find out more about [the wilder“I’m interested in the Mountain School ness school].” because it’s a place so incredibly different Picture waking up in the middle of rural Although the way Rabinovitz’s cousin from Palo Alto,” Rabinovitz said. “I think it Vermont; there are chores to do, animals to talked about the would be really feed and even classes to attend. Each day there wilderness school interesting to go are different activities, directed at different mainly influenced “I think she’d make some great live on a farm for aspects of real life, with an overall focus and her decision to ap- friendships, she’d study really hard a semester with emphasis on teaching high school students ply to take part in a bunch of other and it would be an amazing experiabout themselves and about how their everythe school, Rabiyoung people. It day actions have an ever-lasting connection novitz was genu- ence. [This school] would be a great seems like the to the world around them. inely interested in opportunity to see the world from a type of thing that The Mountain School of Milton, located what the experireally make different perspective and to live at a can in Vershire, Vermont, is exactly this type ence could bring to you grow as a perof experience, a special type of wilderness her personally. She different pace and rhythm.” son, and teach school where high school students can apsees the wilderness Jonathan Rabinovitz you aJ olot.” ply to attend for one semester during their school as a way nathan Father Rabinovitz, Tia’s junior year. They learn simple things from to become more food preparation, to valuable life skills such independent and father, believes as mutual trust and how to put a community’s integrate herself that this school need over one’s own. into a different type of environment, with a is a perfect fit for his daughter. He contends The school’s mission is to provide prodifferent set of values in comparison to those that with this experience, Tia will be able to spective students the opportunity to engage in Palo Alto. open herself up to different perspectives of life outside of Palo Alto. “She would get to be part of a very tightknit community living on a farm in rural Vermont if she winds up going,” Jonathan Rabinovitz said. “[The school and the experience] would be quite different from Palo Alto. I think she’d make some great friendships, she’d study really hard and it would be an amazing experience. [This school] would be a great opportunity to see the world from a different perspective and to live at a different pace and rhythm.” J. Rabinovitz was initially concerned with the educational side of the wilderness school, but admires that there is such an emphasis on vigorous learning for the students who attend. “It is set up in such a way that it won’t be a significant disruption to her Paly education,” said Jonathan Rabinovitz. “Even though it’s a small school, it still offers the same sort of rigorous classes that she will be taking at [Paly] in the fall, so she would be able to finish her junior year without any problems. At the same time, the classes try to integrate the outdoors into the daily lessons and try to be experiential. It would be a different and exciting approach to the subjects.” Although most of Galen’s peers talked of the non-educational side of the wilderness school, she was still intrigued by the idea of being able to attend an outdoor school for an entire semester of high school. alex lin/campanile “People from my school went every seSophomore Tia Rabinovitz awaits the response of the highly selective school, The Mountain School of Milton, mester,” McNeil said. “My good friend, who in Vershire, Vermont and hopes to begin attending the outdoor academy at the beginning of her junior year. is two years older than me, went. So after
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she went and [said that she] loved it, I really wanted to go.” Even before McNeil attended The Mountain School of Milton, she was fascinated by the wilderness school because of all the different types of stories and experiences her friends talked about once back from their semester in Virginia. “I went to [an] all-girls school that was super claustrophobic, and I wanted to something new and exciting,” McNeil said. “I felt like it was an experience that [I] wouldn’t [normally choose] — that, I, as a city-bred person would never choose to live on a farm otherwise, so it was nice to [attend the wilderness school] in this very limited time period.” With all the talk of the school, McNeil was excited when she was finally accepted into the school and looked forward to the new things she would learn about herself and about how her actions affect the communities and the environment around her. Her favorite memory from the school was when she and two other students had to find their way back to the school, after being driven to an unknown location, with help from only a compass and a map. “They blind-folded us and then drove us 15 minutes away from campus,” McNeil said. “When we got out of the car we had a compass and a topography map and had to figure out from the general landscape where the school was and how to get back. Once we figured out where we were, we hiked back.” McNeil’s experience not only helped her become a more independent person, but the overall experience of the semester of schooling in Virginia helped her to realize her own potential. McNeil learned about herself and those around her while making lasting bonds with her classmates and even stronger friendships with the people around her. “I got a sense of self-reliance,” McNeil said. “It taught me how independent I could be. I also got out of it one of my best friends.” Rabinovitz, like her cousin, hopes to take from this experience as much as her cousin did, but also hopes to learn about the people she meets. “If I go, I hope to learn about people who come from really different backgrounds,” Rabinovitz said. “I think trying new things that are different can really change your perspective on life, and by doing that with 44 other smart, young students, you form a lot of really strong bonds.”
FEATURES
The Campanile
April 8, 2011 • B5
The Aisling Project demonstrates students’ musical passion, creativity Participation in band allows for self-expression through writing, performing songs By Layla Memar Staff Writer
What once began as three Palo Alto High School students’ hobby has now transformed into a passion that drives them in every aspect of their lives. The Aisling Project, a band founded by Paly juniors Gabe Wolf, Jake Vertin and Jacob Lauing, is a collaborative musical group that provides self-expression and fulfillment for the trio. “It’s hard to give us a label because we’re all so different and we come from different musical backgrounds,” Lauing said. The members’ varying talents bring versatility to the band, with Lauing as the bassist and lead drummer, Vertin as the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist and Wolf as a vocalist and lead guitarist. Wolf and Vertin have collaborated on music casually since elementary school, but only in high school did they start seriously producing music together. Near the end of their sophomore year, they started sending music to Lauing, and the group was created. “[Wolf and Vertin] really liked what I did so I joined the band at the end of sophomore year and we took off and started recording,” Lauing said. Wolf, Vertin and Lauing all decided that they wanted to be referred to as a project rather than a band because the word “project” was more representative of their collaborative and experimental nature. On a trip to Europe last summer, Vertin began discussing the topic of naming his band with his friends, one of whom suggested the Irish word “Aisling” which means “dream.” “I remember he sent me the text ‘The Aisling Project’ and I loved it immediately so we just went with that,” Lauing said. The Aisling Project rehearses at Wolf’s house in a room designated especially for them, where they write, practice and record their songs. The song writing process begins with Wolf and Vertin experimenting with several sounds, and then recording a rough copy of the song. Lauing then adds drums to the track, giving it structure. “The first song we wrote was at the end of freshman year, and that was ‘Welcome Home,’” Vertin said. “Then we sent it to Jacob and over time it changed into a much bigger song with Jacob’s additions.” Over time, The Aisling Project has developed into a self-described acoustic-rock band. “If you were to give it a label it would just be acoustic rock — but not the type of acoustic rock you’ve ever heard before,” Lauing said.
Marc Havlik/ Campanile
Juniors Gabe Wolf and Jake Vertin of The Aisling Project prepare for a performance at Paly. The band, composed of three juniors from Paly, wrote lyrics and produced songs for their album Little Moments, distributed March 1st. Though the group draws inspiration from various bands, they generate most of their ideas through their own individuality and personal creativity. “Inspiration just comes naturally,” Vertin said. “It’s something you have to cultivate and work on, but real inspiration comes from inside you.” On March 1, the group released hard copies of their first album, entitled Little Moments, a summation of many months of work. Each song is different and unique from the next. “I definitely don’t have a favorite song,” Vertin said. “I have a song for each mood I guess, but to say one is my favorite — it wouldn’t mean anything cause I love them all.” All of the members of The Aisling Project agree that they have no favorite song.
However, one track in particular stands out for Lauing. “I really like this song called “Gray,”” Lauing said. “Gray,” originally written by Vertin and Wolf, was one of the first songs they ever wrote together. According to Lauing, the song lacked pizazz but had potential. Rather than record the song right away, the trio decided that Lauing would work on developing it further. “I kind of thought about it and I really brainstormed and changed around the arrangements and played with some cool reverb effects,” Lauing said. The new and improved “Gray” is track eight on their album and one of Lauing’s accomplishments of which he is most proud.
Before releasing physical copies of Little Moments, The Aisling Project made its way to the iTunes music store. “There’s a ton of distribution websites online where you can just pay them a fee and they put it on the [iTunes] store for you,” Lauing said. “We use this website called TuneCore, and it worked well.” Recently, The Aisling Project began collaborating with Paly junior Alexandra Dwight, who has been involved in music her whole life. “I heard [The Aisling Project] play on the quad and I thought they were really good, like my style of music in a way, even though I haven’t really figured that out yet,” Dwight said. They sent Dwight instrumental versions of their songs which she plans to reshape.
“Ali’s going to write lyrics and hopefully we can let her sing over [the track],” Wolf said. Though Dwight has yet to begin the lyric writing process, she has listened to the instrumental and has high hopes for all of the songs on the album. Dwight, Vertin and Wolf are all members of Paly’s choir as well. The vocal training and musical knowledge they gain from the class has helped them in many aspects. “The nice thing about choir is that it’s basically like a free voice lesson everyday,” Vertin said. Dwight agrees that choir helps prepare her vocally, but she also believes that it helps shape her as an artist. “Singing classical music is actually really helpful for voice training,” Dwight said. “I think it would be difficult for me to just sing contemporary, sing pop without a classical background. Classical music helps to warm your voice up, so I’d say choir is super important.” Though all four artists would love to pursue musical careers, some worry about the challenges of this path. “It’s a really risky life as a musician, especially when you’re so young,” Lauing said. “We’ll see what happens in the next couple years.” Wolf and Vertin also acknowledge that continuing with music after high school will be a challenge. Vertin, however, is willing to put his life on hold for the pursuit of music. “I would easily choose to do music for a couple years instead of going to college and then I would just do [college] afterwards, but I understand that the likelihood isn’t that high,” Vertin said. “I’ll probably just end up going to college and have music on the side, but the dream for me is to do music full time.” Despite potential complications, Dwight, too is determined to follow her musical dreams. “I want to study music and I’m hoping to make it my career,” Dwight said. “I want to be a singer and write my own music, produce my own music, and have people listen to it.” Lauing, Vertin, Wolf and Dwight all share the belief that music is their passion. “It comes up in all aspects of our lives,” Wolf said. All four agree that music is one of the most influential forces in their lives, and one of the greatest influences of their characters. “I don’t want to do anything besides [music],” Dwight said. Samples of Dwight’s music is available on her Facebook page. The Aisling Project’s music is available by contacting a band member for a CD or on iTunes.
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FEATURES
April 8, 2011 • B6
High school senior to join U.S. Army after graduation Galen Jones will join military in hopes of acquiring valuable skills, discipline By Sasha Kuvyrdin
“It’s hard to explain why exactly I chose the army,” Jones said. “I [originally] wanted Most students at Palo Alto High School to enlist in infantry, which means either the envision their lives after graduation to be army or the marines.” However, Jones’ negative opinions of the filled with studying at college or working at a low paying job. Paly senior Galen Jones, marines caused him to make his final decision. “To be honest I don’t really like the whole however, is planning on taking an entirely different course of action after he graduates culture around the Marines, so I chose the in June. Jones plans on putting his educational army,” Jones said. Jones hopes that his time in the army will pursuits on hold and enlisting in the United help him grow personally and help him make States Army. Rarely thinking about the military be- the future decisions that will influence his life. Jones expects the physical and mental forehand, Jones started his summer like most challenge of the army to refine him not only other seniors, researching colleges. However, Jones soon came to the realiza- as a person but also as an adult. “I’m hoping to challenge and improve tion that none of the schools he was looking upon myself in the army,” Jones said. “I want at interested him. Jones soon realized that attending college to leave the army with a more defined purpose was not what he wanted to do at this stage of of what I want to do in life.” Jones believes that his time spent in the his life, and quickly began looking at possible army will not only teach him the attributes alternatives. “I realized I wasn’t ready to go to college,” needed to be successful in the army, but to Jones said. “I knew I would probably waste also be successful in all aspects of life. “I’ll learn a lot of different things in the most my college time and come out with a army,” Jones said. “But I’ll be taking the leslot less then I could have.” At first, the thought of joining the military sons I learn in training and discipline mostly was a completely new idea to Jones, who had into my daily life.” The decision to enlist in the army was never previously considered the option. “I never really thought about joining the met with a high level of surprise from both military until I talked to my great uncle who Jones’ family and his peers, who had little prior information about Jones’ decision. served time in the military,” Jones said. He admits that it was tough at first to tell The discussion with his great uncle was his parents because of the huge news. He was very influential for Jones. After starting to seriously consider join- afraid that they would not understand. “Though it was very difficult to tell them, ing the military, it did not take long for him my family responded to my decision surpristo realize that he wanted to enlist. “I began thinking about enlisting at the ingly well actually,” Jones said. Jones’ mother and father have had varyend of the summer and finally decided around ing reactions to the news, but after some the end of first quarter,” Jones said. time, they come Jones’ deto understand cision took a “I’m hoping to challenge and improve their son’s decilot of personal sion. introspection upon myself in the army...I want to Though about what he leave the army with a more defined purJones’s parents wanted to acmay not like his complish in his pose of what I want to do in life.” life and what Galen Jones decision, they have still come to he wanted to senior accept it, espedo after gradcially his father. uating h i g h “My dad school. “I chose to enlist in the military because claimed he wasn’t surprised, my mom was it will give me extremely valuable skills and pretty shocked,” Jones said. “My parents discipline that I can use for the rest of my hate my decision, but they have supported my choice.” life,” Jones said. Largely because of the very few Paly Out of the various U.S. military service branches that are available, Jones decided to students who decide to enlist in the United enlist in the army, though his reasons for this States Military, most of Jones’ peers have also been surprised by his decision. are not so clear-cut.
Senior Staff Writer
Marc Havlik/Campanile
Senior Galen Jones plans on taking a different path upon graduation. Unlike most Paly students, Jones is aiming to serve in the military after high school, hoping that he will become stronger not only physically but also mentally. “Almost everyone is surprised when I tell them about joining the army,” Jones said. “I don’t think I’m really a person who you would expect to go into the military so it’s understandable.” Jones’ friend senior Nabeel Sami expressed signs of disbelief when he first heard about Jones’ enlistment. The news came as a shock to Sami who had a hard time believing it. “I thought he would never survive the army,” Sami said. “He is kind of insane for taking that route.” Even though many have been stunned by Jones’s choice, he believes that most people have come to value his selection. “A lot of people think I’m joking [when I tell them],” Jones said. “However once they
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believe me, most people tend to really respect the decision.” Sami has taken a different viewpoint on matter after taking some time to understand it. “It’s undoubtedly a tough route to take,” Sami said. “But it’s clear that he cares a lot about his country since he decided to join, and I can respect that.” Even though he will take an unique course of action after graduation that is different from most Paly graduates, Jones still plans to obtain an education after his time in the army. “After exiting the army I plan on going to college,” Jones said. “I’ve already been accepted to a couple schools, so I’m hopefully going to be able to defer until I leave the army.” With his future now set on joining the U.S. Army, Jones understands that his life
after high school will be different than most Paly graduates. Jones is aiming on spending his time post high school in a more meaningful way than going with the traditional college route like most other high school graduates. He looks forward to a life changing experience that will eventually help him become stronger not only physically but mentally as well. His time in the military will undoubtedly come with a number of personal and physical sacrifices that will challenge Jones day in and day out. Nonetheless, Jones hopes that the sacrifices he will make in the army will help him establish himself as a stronger person and find a greater purpose in life.
A&E
The Campanile
Friday, April 8, 2011
Local nature reserves serve as excellent sites for outdoor recreation From picnics to backpacking, nature enthusiasts find beautiful sights only hours away from home By Rachel Stober Editor in Chief
Spring has finally sprung, and with sunshine comes many new activities. This year as the temperature climbs to a more comfortable level, instead of heading automatically to the pool, take advantage of the many beautiful and invigorating outdoor opportunities around the Bay Area. The close proximity, stunning views and cheap prices of these active adventures leave no excuse not to stray away from the swim club and into the “wild” of California.
Best Backpacking — Sunol Regional Wilderness
Located in the East Bay just beyond Fremont, Sunol Regional Wilderness is one the Bay Area’s best hidden gems. The park’s almost 7000 acres boast well-maintained trails and great camping destinations, making a backpacking trip in Sunol the perfect escape from the stress and pressure of Palo Alto. Although the park features a camping ground near the visitor center and a variety of enjoyable day hikes, grabbing a pack and making the trek to one of the seven designated backpacking campsites is rachel stober/campanile a much more authentic outdoor experience. Each site includes a table, a flat level area for a tent, access to fresh water, (though not drinking water) and a nearby outhouse, an absolutely breath taking view and a catchy name such as Star’s Rest Sky Camp and Hawk’s Nest. Only a five-mile hike from the visitor’s center, these sites are convenient, yet still isolated enough to capture the still silence away from the city and appreciate the epic scene of the rolling green hills. For more ambitious packers, these sites are the perfect first stop on the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, a 30-mile odyssey that kicks off in Fremont and ends with a swim in a lake by rolling hills near Livermore. One can day-hike portions of the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, or spend three days soaking up the entire scenic experience (a perfect spring warm-up for a summer pack trip in the Sierra). The trek begins with the walk up Fremont’s Mission Peak. Next, the trail crashes downhill into Sunol Regional Wilderness, then over Rose Peak and bigbasintentcabins rachelstober/campanile on to Lake Del Valle in Livermore. Sunol Regional Wilderness is only a 45-minute drive Left, top right: Sunol State park in Alameda County features an extensive network of trails and campsites spread out over 7000 acres for hikers from Palo Alto, and any true outdoors enthusiast should and campers. Bottom right: The tent cabins at Big Basin provide comfortable lodging, with enough room to accommodate the whole family. not deprive themselves of this gem of a backpack trail — mountains, streams, backcountry camping spots, waterfalls and gorgeous green hills — just across the provide tables,barbecues, water and plenty of space, but California. Nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Big Best Hike — Mission peak Bay. groups of over 25 people must have a permit. Picnickers Basin features 146 family campsites ($35 per night) at It is surprising how few Paly students know about To complete the rustic expemay also encounter an occasional four different campgrounds, each with a picnic table, Mission Peak. This outstanding weekend hike (or run, rience, this escape is a territory deer or even a mountain lion. fire ring, wooden storage cupboards, piped drinking for the cross-country type) hides in plain site across the categorized as “wilderness,” instead Only a five mile hike from the The sun is shining and the hills water and access to nearby restrooms and showers. Also Bay in Fremont. are waiting, so grab a picnic basket within walking distance is the Big Basin Redwood Store, visitor center, these sites are Mission Peak is clearly visible across the water from of “park.” and head out to the Foothills for a re- a historic concessionary that sells camping supplies, the Baylands; it is the mountain with the landslide scar Best Picnic — Foothills Park conveniant, yet still isolated freshing enjoyable lunch or dinner. food and drink prepared to order, souvenirs and some on its face. Looking for a sunnier and greener enough to capture the still About 40 minutes away from Palo Alto, the climb up Best Camping — Big Basin delicious ice cream. alternative to a regular lunch? Big Basin ads another unique option to the typical Mission Peak is substantial, but definitely not too chalRedwood State Park Then look no further, because of the distance from the city Although Foothills Park may camping experience: tent cabins. For the more pristine lenging for a beginning hiker. the convenience and beauty of and appreciate the epic scene The walk through bright green pastures takes about be the closest camping location, nature lovers, these wooden frames with canvas covering Foothills Park set the scene for the of the rolling green hills. the heavy crowds (most Friday can room eight people and removes the hassle of setting an hour. Hikers are likely to run into a few cows or horses perfect picnic. and Saturday night reservations up a regular tent. Group camp sites are also available, on their way up the peak, and once at the top, the view Less than 20 minutes away is fabulous. are booked two to four months in accommodating up to 100 people. from Palo Alto High School, FootOn a clear day, both the Transamerica Pyramid in Not to mention, Big Basin has some of the most goradvance, according to the City of Palo Alto website) and hills offers numerous spots to settle down with a packed lack of any real distance from civilization sometimes geous redwoods around. For those looking for a longer San Francisco and distant snow on the mountains of the lunch and some good company. hike, hikers can walk all the way to the Pacific Ocean on Sierra are visible. For example, the dock on Boronda Lake is a great place detracts from the park’s atmosphere. Along the way are several flat promontories, each the About an hour away from Palo Alto, however, rests the Skyline to the Sea Trail, passing some waterfalls on to enjoy a meal and soak up the sun. For those who want perfect spot for a picnic. Remember to bring some water. to lunch on a larger scale, there are seven picnic areas that Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the oldest state park in the way.
Jane Eyre captures audiences with its recent debut on the big screen
Movie portrays the journey of one young woman’s struggle, search for love in her life By Abha Sharma Staff Writer
Based on Charlotte Brontë’s timeless classic, Jane Eyre is a riveting tale of a young lonely woman who tires to escape her skewed life, and soon finds herself in love with a man who has a rather disconcerting past.
Jane Eyre Director: Cary Fukunaga Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Micheal Fassbender, Jamie Bell Running Time: 120 mins. Rating: PG13 The protagonist is portrayed as a quickwitted and sharp-tongued girl from the very beginning of the movie. As an orphan, she is ostracized by her aunt and three cousins, and then cast off to Lowood School for Girls. Even at this charitable institution, Eyre is an outsider, and she is all alone until she meets Helen, who becomes her dearest friend. Finally, when it seems that Eyre’s life will be filled with nothing but bitterness and sorrow, she is hired as a governess for Adele Varens, at the Rochester house. Although Eyre finds her new home comfortable and welcoming, she longs for some adventure and excitement in her life. Soon Eyre meets Edward Rochester, the ruggedly handsome although slightly arrogant and mysterious master of the Rochester home. In the past, many directors have tried to capture Brontë’s novel in film, during which the audience can feel the vicarious thrill of Jane’s invigorating life. Although, there have been a total of nine adaptations released before this one, Director Cary Fukunaga puts a creative spin on this old classic by telling the majority of Eyre’s tale in a flashback.
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Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska star as Edward Rochester and Jane Eyre, respectively, in director Cary Fukunaga’s movie version of the popular novel. Although the movie lacks a clear plot, the acting is outstanding. The movie begins at the climax of the story, with Eyre running away from her lover and her life at the Rochester home, after she learns the truth about Rochester’s dark secret. The movie progresses to show Eyre’s past, and then brings the audience back to her present. Filming the movie in the form of a flashback runs the risk of destroying the entire plot line, as well as confusing the audience, but Fukunaga pulls it off marvelously, craftily constricting the entire novel in a span of two hours and one minute. In addition to the creative technique in which the movie was
filmed, the actors did spectacular jobs of embodying their respective characters and bringing them to life. Mia Wasikowska, who plays Eyre, exudes a certain charisma, and effortlessly portrays a simple yet strong willed young woman who despite her difficult past has a powerful sense of self-respect and integrity. Michael Fassbender, who acts as Mr. Rochester, also depicts his character with irrefutable skill. It is intriguing to watch his character develop throughout the movie, as he changes
from a man with a biting sense of humor and, at a first glance, a rather cold heart, to someone who is madly in love but cannot seem to break the chains of his past and create a life worth living. In addition to being skilled individual actors Wasikowska and Fassbender have fabulous chemistry on screen and make a lovely couple . Filmed entirely in England, the movie has an extremely realistic feel to it, making viewers feel as if they had stepped right into the early 1900s.
With enormous houses and vast open fields, the setting is almost identical to what Brontë had imagined for her novel. Despite all this, Jane Eyre is not the kind of movie that everyone would enjoy watching. Although it has a strong conflict and an intense climax, the plot itself is rather subtle throughout the movie. The resolution to the conflict is not fully explained, seeing as Eyre remains struggling with herself. This is caused by the choice she must make between her love for Mr. Rochester and compromising her morals, or keeping the values she holds dear and leaving behind the love of her life. In addition to the confusing resolution of the conflict, there are several characters who are not fully elaborated on. John Eyre, Eyre’s paternal uncle, never actually appears in character in the movie but he is vaguely talked about. In spite of everything else, the overriding problem with this movie was the ending, which felt rather abrupt. It ruined the flow of the movie, which until that point was flowing extremely well, with one scene blending right into the next. It felt as if there was a part of the movie missing, like not reading the chapter right before the ending of the book, and skipping right to the epilogue. For viewers who have not read the book prior to watching the movie, the ending might be hard to understand. Although it is necessary to keep in mind that when a novel is turned into a movie there are inevitably going to be scenes that are taken out, those scenes should not be ones that are crucial to understanding the story line . Also there were several scenes that seemed unnecessary to the overall plot of the movie and are rather time consuming. While Jane Eyre cannot be called a sappy romance, it also cannot be listed as a heart pounding drama. Rather it seems to find itself nestled in between these two categories. Connoisseurs of Charlotte Bronte would find this to be worth their while, and overall if one knows what to expect the movie does not disappoint.
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B8 • April 8, 2011
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Foo Fighters, led by Dave Grohl, impress with new album Band returns to origins by focusing on classic rock ’n’ roll appearance, sound By Brian Benton Staff Writer
The past few months in the world of rock music have been a bit unusual. Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder has traded in his guitar for a ukulele, Jack White has officially left the White Stripes for bigger and better things in the form of a record store on wheels and the number one song on the iTunes rock chart is “The Story” by Brandi Carlile, which is not even rock. But thanks to the Foo Fighters, that hard, raw sound of rock and roll that we all love is still intact. Wasting Light, the newest album by the flannel-wearing, beard-bearing grunge five-piece will be released on Apr. 12, and is sure to impress. Wasting Light gets straight to the point, and starts off hard. “Bridge Burning,” the album’s first track, opens with pulsing guitar rhythms, adds stadium-ready drums and then welcomes Dave Grohl (the former drummer off grunge icons Nirvana) and his bomb of a voice. It is the kind of song that one might envision people starting a mosh-pit to, or driving too fast down a highway emblazoned with flames while listening to, but it is beautiful and raw at the same time. The Foo Fighters decided to include a third guitarist on Wasting Light, and the powerful, stadium ready sound of “Bridge Burning” makes it clear exactly why. The track is drenched in guitars, and simply explodes. While recording Wasting Light, Grohl promised the album would be “massive” and pure, rock goodness, and “Bridge Burning” is just that. Next comes the album’s lead single, “Rope,” one of the best songs on the 11-track masterpiece. “Rope” has the repetitive guitar riffs that constantly stop and start that made the Foo Fighters famous, but also an incredibly addictive chorus and a toe-tap inspiring beat. A little over three minutes into the track, the first of many screeching guitar solos on Wasting Light begins, that, when paired together with Grohl’s yelps that are peppered throughout the track, make it grungy, ragged and oh-so-catchy. “Dear Rosemary” is a slightly unmemorable dark love song with
strong guitar playing, but not much else. However, the plainness of “Dear Rosemary” is washed away with “White Limo,” the fourth track on the album and possibly one of the most metal-esque Foo Fighters songs ever released. Other than the “ugh” that Grohl starts the song out with, the lyrics are pretty incomprehensible. The words, that are really more just yells and screams than anything else, sound as distorted as Alice Glass’ in a Crystal Castles song. The video for “White Limo” features a mustached man (he is the lead singer of Motorhead, for all the music buffs out there) wearing a cowboy hat and smoking while recklessly driving an old white limousine. The car crashes into a man rollerblading in lime green shorts, the man is thrown into the back of the limo and by the end of the video the limousine has transformed into a party on wheels, complete with Grohl singing while wearing a Cops sweatshirt. What exactly the video is about and why all the people in it are dressed as they are is unclear, but it is the perfect accompaniment to a perfect song. The album slows down a bit with the next track, “Arlandria,” but not by much. “Arlandria” is incredibly danceable for a Foo Fighters song and shows off Grohl’s singing voice, as opposed to his screaming voice. Like “Rope,” “Arlandria” has the fast-slowfast-slow pattern that the Foo Fighters are known for, but stays unique with a chanting “Shame shame go away/ Come again another day” interlude to the chorus and a melodic sound. “These Days” is a power ballad, reminiscent of earlier Foo Fighter’s tracks “My Hero” and “Times Like These” combined with a bluesy, Black Keys sound. “Back and Forth” sounds like a poppy Nirvana, or an angry Bon Jovi — take your pick — and features yet another insanely chorus. “A Matter of Time” has a scratchy layer of guitars in the background, but is one of the album’s weaker tracks other than that. At track nine, “Miss the Misery,” is a gloomy, arena-ready anthem that chugs along at a medium-pace until it suddenly peaks at about a minute and a half in. The song has a well-
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By adding a third guitarist and returning to the band’s original sound, The Foo Fighters channel both contemporary and classic rock bands like the Black Keys and Nirvana. Wasting Light will be available on Apr. 12 on CD and digital download. crafted guitar solo near the end, and although a bit forgettable, is a strong song as a whole. And then, just when it looks like Wasting Light is yet another album that starts out strong but fades at the end, a beautiful piece of music called “I Should Have Known” comes on. As much like the Black Keys and Kings of Leon as “These Days” may have sounded, “I Should Have Known” blows it out of the water.
Wasting Light was released a few days early for listen only on the Foo Fighters official SoundCloud.com page. SoundCloud displays each song so listeners can see where and when it builds and gets louder, and “I Should Have Known” is essentially an entire track worth of building. It starts off with Grohl singing accompanied by a single, twangy guitar note, expands to a full sequence of guitar notes and by the
Wasting Light
Artist: The Foo Fighters Producer: Butch Vig
Lynne Mercer
end climaxes into a thunderous blast of rock. The track also features Nirvana co-founder Krist Novoselic on bass and accordion, perfecting the song’s bluesy sound. Wasting Light comes to an end with “Walk,” a song that, just like the album, seems to be over just as it is beginning. Grohl’s passionately belts out “I never wanna die!” which is exactly how Wasting Light will make a listener feel. Despite the dark sound, the song is uplifting and powerful. Wasting Light is music to sing along to, music to drive to and really just music to have a good time to. The album’s musical content can be listened to in almost any situation,
whether it be at home with headphones or out with friends. The album does not feature a signature slow jam like most Foo Fighters albums do, but it is perfectly fine without one. It is classic, Nirvana-esque, garage-y grunge (maybe because it was recorded in Grohl’s garage studio or maybe because it was produced by Butch Vig, who did Nirvana’s Nevermind) with a voice full of vigor and vitality, and guitars and drums that never stop giving. Wasting Light is not an angry album or a happy album. It is not a political album and is not trying to make a statement. It is just pure rock ‘n’ roll, and that is all it needs to be.
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April 8, 2011 • B9
College blogs provide insight into the admissions process
The Choice features useful information on several students’ experience with applications By Ben Krasnow
major ... along with a stellar [theatre] program and liberal arts education, The college process can be dewas too much to resist.” scribed in many ways: frustrating, “I think it’s useful information,” exciting and difficult, to describe Sandra Cernobori, one of the college a few. advisers for Palo Alto High School, These descriptions only scratch said. “It depends on what informathe surface of how tumultuous this tion you want and what you want to time is in every student’s life. With get out of it.” everybody (parents, friends, teachCernobori said that she often ers) wanting to give their input, it posts links to The Choice and other is often hard to decide whether the articles from college blogs on Paly’s source of information is correct. College and Career Center Facebook College blogs can also help a stupage about once per week. However, dent to make their decision. College The Choice is not the only blog on the blogs typically provide information Internet about college advice. about the college process through Another college blog can be posts on the website for the blog. found at collegeisyours.com. College Depending upon the site, a blog is Yours is run by Patrick O’Conner, can have multiple posts in one day who is the director of college or have weekly posts. One such blog counseling at Roeper School in is on the New York Times’ website, Birmingham, Michigan, and Social called The Choice. According to Science Department Chair at OakThe Choice’s introductory post, its land Community College in Auburn goal is “to demystify and illuminate Hills, Michigan. O’Conner also has an American rite of passage that 25 years of experience as a teacher typically occurs behind closed doors, and counselor. whether it’s the doors to the univerO’Conner typically posts a sity admissions office, or those of the weekly column about college advice. homes of the applicants themselves.” Most recently, O’Conner has been The Choice, like other blogs, feablogging about his experiences as tures news about colleges and advice parent, with his daughter due to about financial aid and scholarships. receive her college letters soon. One unique aspect to The Choice Another blog is Collegewise.com. are the stories from six seniors from Collegewise is an organization that Cherry Creek High in Colorado, who provides counseling services on the are blogging about their experiences East Coast to families. However, they during the college process. also have a blog on their website. Some of the more recent entries The posts are from counselors who on The Choice included a news story work for Collegewise, and they blog about the president of Collegeboard about information they learn or exstepping down in 2012, an article periences they have had. One recent about the economic piece in gopost was about most activities that ing to college having an increasing one can do during the summer which influence and an article by one of can make one appear interesting on Cherry Creek High seniors about a college resume. being asked where he was going to However, The Choice has the college at the optometrist. Most of most relevant and interesting inthe Cherry Creek High seniors have formation out of these three blogs. been blogging about either where The stories are written with they have been accepted to college the quality one expects when reador where ing the New they have York Times, decided to The Choice, like other blogs, and the site go to col- features news about colleges and runs well, lege. For unlike the example, advice about financial aid and Collegewise Avery Di- scholarships. site, which Ubaldo is plagued has chowith techsen to go nical probto the University of Michigan belems. One reason why The Choice cause the “possibility of a double is higher quality than these other
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The Choice features news articles that provide advice on the college admissions process to parents, students and advisors. The blog also follows a number of high school students who describe their experiences relating to a diverse demographic. blogs is because multiple authors post full length stories on the blog. While Jacques Steinberg is the main contributor to The Choice, other authors submit works as well. One recent article was by Eric Platt about a University of Delaware computer glitch that sent acceptance letters to 61 students who were supposed to go to the wait list or were rejected from the school. Another reason why The Choice is better than other websites is because it provides information that cannot be found by looking at other college
blogs or talking to counselors at Paly. The Choice provides data about admissions at specific colleges. For example, at American University this year, 7763 students were accepted out of 18,733 applicants, an acceptance rate of about 43 percent. The Choice also compared these numbers to the ones from 2010, which showed that American’s acceptance rate increased 2 percent from 2010. Furthermore, The Choice interchanges posts about personal experiences (mostly from the seniors at Cherry Creek High) with relevant
information. With admission decisions coming out in full swing, most posts on these blogs are about this exciting time in most high school seniors’ lives. The Choice is the only blog out of the three to offer this experience online, through the stories of the seniors of Cherry Creek High. Readers can either see what is in store for them once they reach senior year, remember their acceptance letters and the excitement that came with them or see how other seniors around the country are in the same process
that they themselves are currently going through. The Choice is the best college blog out of these three because it has multiple contributors, information that one cannot find anywhere else and personal stories from the Cherry Creek High School seniors that are funny and captivating. However, it truly does depend on what the reader wishes to get out of reading a college blog. If they are looking for statistics and stories from other seniors, then reading The Choice would be beneficial for them.
Wiz Khalifa releases debut, major label rap hip-hop album Rolling Papers appeals to mainstream audience, disappoints underground listeners By Bill Lee and Austin Smith News Editor and Senior Staff Writer
From underground cultural phenomenon to iconic superstar, Wiz Khalifa released his debut major label album Rolling Papers, launching him into a full-blown mainstream career. With billboard-topping hits like “Black and Yellow” hyping the album, Rolling Papers quickly brought on high anticipation among both mainstream and underground listeners. While the album’s tracks gained positive reception from consumers of popular media, it would seem that Khalifa’s career is headed for a new direction that does not include his original cult followers. Following the release of Deal or No Deal in 2009, Khalifa unveiled the mixtape Kush and Orange Juice. This release was the epitome of his style. Themed around marijuana and women, every track of the reggae-hip hop hybrid established Khalifa into his reputation as a slow paced, marijuana-smoking partier. This mixtape was especially appealing for Khalifa’s more underground audience, because of the album’s slow pace and grimy lyrics. From beginning to end, Rolling Papers is reminiscent of Khalifa’s second studio album, Deal or No Deal, in its catchy and melody-driven beats. Though some are turned off by the shallow subject matter of the album, those who are familiar with his style will not mind the Howfresh2 simple, feel good vibes Khalifa is known for. Wiz Khalifa’s new album fails to live up to his previous, less mainstream work. The combination of unoriginal, However, listeners who have long appreciated Khalifa’s earlier underground experishallow lyrics, a flat beat and his unappealing voice contribute to Rolling Paper’s overall unsuccessful release. mental samples like “The Kid Frankie” will most likely be disappointed by the big-label of Khalifa’s mixtape followers, after listening only one of many tracks on Rolling Papers With a chorus of Wiz Khalifa attempting production of Rolling Papers. to only a few tracks, it becomes clear that that aspire to be overplayed radio hits. “Fly to sing, it immediately displays the flaws of Generally, the beats are produced Rolling Papers feeds into the syrupy pop feel Solo,” produced by E. Dan, is quick to find its the album. originally as opposed that most mainstream way in the play list of any teenager addicted Khalifa is simply not good at singing, to Khalifa’s older style of rap artists depend on. to pop culture trends, as its bubbly acoustic and does not have the voice for it. Moreover, sampling. Khalifa’s originalmelodies make Khalifa sound more like B.O.B. the classic, hip hop beats strongly clash with Although appealing ity is thrown out for than a street-credited rap artist. his vocals. The combination simply does not Artist: Wiz Khalifa to more mainstream tracks like “Roll Up,” The album’s opening track, “When I’m work, despite the more mainstream feel it Producer: Stargate listeners, more experiwhich utilizes sugGone” precisely summarizes the rest of the provides. enced listeners will likely ary melodies backed album. Although a portion of the song stays “On My Level” leaked almost a month be disappointed by this by heavy synthesiztrue to Khalifa’s roots, the majority of it dis- before the release of Rolling Papers, is one choice. ers and corny chorus plays his new musical ambitions. of the best tracks on the album. With a deep Though Khalifa lines. On a positive note, the production of electronic beat, Khalifa keeps the singing to a stays true to his original hedonistic virtues While the track is one of the most popular the song is classic, trendy Wiz. With a subtle minimum and sticks to his old ways. It is clasof weed smoking, women and the good life hits on the album, those who expect another electronic beat combined with Khalifa’s rap- sic Wiz Khalifa, reminiscent of his Kush and that formed his identity as an artist, his new round of Kush & OJ are likely to find the ping, listeners are treated to a dose of classic Orange Juice days. “Hopes and Dreams”, the album aims to appeal to radio-listeners and stale producing of Stargate out of place and Wiz Khalifa. Unfortunately, the song quickly fifth track on the album, is also a rare sound. pop culture junkies. To the disappointment disappointing. Unfortunately, “Roll Up” is takes a turn for the worse. With a catchy guitar beat, Khalifa raps half of
Rolling Papers
the song and sings the other half. Surprisingly, the new singing style he has been trying to integrate into his sound finally pays off. Normally, Khalifa’s singing single-handedly ruins the song. In this case, however, it adds variety to the track, which pays off. “Wake Up,” which comes after “Hopes and Dreams,” is an oddity. The beat is uncharacteristically soft and smooth, and Khalifa unfortunately tries to integrate his singing vocals once again. The result is a very strange, uncharacteristic Khalifa song. Following “Wake Up” is “The Race,” one of the few successful songs on the album. A smooth yet complex beat coupled with his rapping provides yet another glimpse of Khalifa’s former style. “Star of the Show” is a stereo typically bad Khalifa song. The uninspired beat is much too flat, and Wiz Khalifa’s meaningless lyrics about smoking and drinking are all too familiar. “No Sleep” is a blatant representation of where Khalifa wants to go with his music. With a quite mainstream beat and boring lyrics about partying, it is clear that Khalifa was thinking about simply satisfying a mainstream audience. Finally, “Top Floor” and “Rooftops” conclude the album on a somewhat positive note. The two tracks have interesting, fresh beats and for the most part Khalifa succeeds on the rapping front. Unfortunately, both are worsened by Khalifa’s attempts at singing. Rolling Papers is a clear representation of where Wiz Khalifa wants to take his music career. Before its release, Khalifa was known as an underground rap icon who supplied consistently good hip-hop music, with themes strongly revolving around drug use and women. This was one of the most obvious reasons he grew so popular within the hip hop community. However, Rolling Papers represents his transition to a more mainstream audience, which will surely be detrimental to his career. Khalifa holds the assumption that others will find his singing appealing, and that adding his singing voice into his classic recipe for success would be a positive thing. However, the opposite is true — it will serve only to disappoint the entirety of his previous underground audience, while appealing to merely a few radio listeners.
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The Campanile
April 8,2011 • B10
Drive-in theater provides alternative to modern entertainment West Wind offers unique, improved drive-in experience for movie-goers By Josie Butler Staff Writer
Although drive-in movie theaters are seen as a dying trend to many, they are finally making a comeback, with new and improved drive-in features, such as offered by West Wind. Drive-in movie theaters across the country have offered movie goers an enjoyable and unique experience for over 70 years. Unfortunately, ever since the days of T Birds and Pink Ladies, these theaters have become increasingly hard to find. Although drive-ins are a dying trend and many choose to attend movie theaters instead of pursuing this experience, the drive-in movie theater found in San Jose has crowds of local people flooding into its gates to watch the newest cinema releases. West Wind Drive-In is a landmark movie theater which has kept its gates open for almost seven decades. Although over the years drive-in movies have decreased in popularity with teens, they are making a comeback. West Wind is located in a vast space of land in San Jose and shares the same land as the Public Markets. West Wind has also expanded with locations in Concord, Sacramento and Santa Barbara. Locations also include venues in well known cities in Nevada and Arizona such Las Vegas and Scottsdale. From sound to visual enhancements, West Wind has continued to improve the drive-in experience for the public. Once using speakers, or “squawk boxes,” now drive-ins such as West Wind offer sound through the FM radio system. This enables viewers to control the volume level in their car to the comfort of their choosing. The sound comes in completely clear and is not interrupted by the sound of other surrounding movies playing at the same time. West Wind has also perfected the drive-in movie experience by adding Technalight projections, creating a brighter and more visually appealing picture. Some may think that watching an outdoor movie might stop viewers from experiencing the full picture as
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Containing some of the largest screens in the industry, West Wind, a drive-in theater located in San Jose, continues to grow and expand its horizons. West Wind has locations in popular cities including Las Vegas and Santa Barbara, pictured above. the directors filmed it to be, however, this is not the case. The picture is clear and can be viewed easily from the comfort of a car. Another key component of the movie-going experience is the concessions. Movie-goers can enjoy a large variety of concessions from the theater’s snack bar located in the middle of the grounds. Viewers can choose from a variety of snacks from freshly popped Orville Redenbacher Popcorn to traditional Nathan’s Hot Dogs and an assortment of different candy brands. Food is not the only choice that movie goers have to make. With the West Wind’s large theater grounds, they have the ability to show up to four movies at a time on their four separate 65-foot screens.
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This offers a wide variety of different genres to choose from. The West Wind theater contains some of the largest screens in the industry, enabling viewers to see them at almost any vantage point. With its four screens, the West Wind theater shows four double features per night for the price of only one movie at a regular theater. Typically, the theater offers a double feature with PG ratings, one or two with PG-13 ratings and one with an R rating. This allows viewers of all ages to enjoy two age appropriate movies of their choice. Popular new releases are shown each week as in any regular movie theater. Movies such as Red Riding Hood, Battle: Los Angeles and Diary of a
Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules are just Thursdays, at which time the long a few of the newly released movies line of people eagerly waiting for that could be seen during the week tickets begins to assemble, however, of April 4-8. the first movie of the double feature From children to teens and adults starts at 7:45 p.m. as well, West Wind enables all audiDepending on the length of the ence members to view the movie of first movie, their choice. the proceedT h e Theaters such as West Wind are ing movie movies vary can begin by week in working hard to restore drive-in anywhere order to of- movie theaters to their former between 9:45 fer viewers a p.m. to 9:55 wide selec- glory in hopes that one day they p.m. tion of choic- might become the happening Howeves. er, the theater spots they once were for teens G e n is flexible, ale ra l l y, t h e in the 50s. lowing famidrive-in lies to leave opens at 6:45 after the first feature in case they do p.m. on Fridays through Saturdays not want to stay out late and watch and 7:15 p.m. Sundays through the whole movie.
Even though the theater offers a fun alternative to a regular movie theater, many of the same rules apply. At West WInd, things such as movie hopping and alcohol are not allowed. Even though there are restrictions, West Wind allows cell phones and talking during the movie as long as it does not distract other viewers. With the weather heating up and spring approaching fast, the West Wind drive-in is the perfect place to spend warm nights enjoying theater worthy movies. The drive-in is also extremely convenient, staying open rain or shine all year around. Although some might think that to enjoy this unique experience one might have to break the bank just to afford a ticket, this is not the case for West Wind. With its low fee of $6.95, everyone ages 12 and up can watch not just one, but two movies all for less than the price of one movie in a loud and crowded theater. Also, the price for a children’s ticket (ages five through 11) is just $1, while kids four and under get in for free. These affordable prices enable everyone, from families looking for a fun way to spend quality time together to teenagers just looking for a place to hang out with friends, to enjoy the simple pastime of a drive-in movie. The West Wind Drive-In not only shows regular movies, but it also has special nights such as Family Fun Night where the price to see a listed movie is just $4.25 per car. The drive-in also holds Customer Appreciation Nights on which viewers can watch one free, newly-released movie. With all of these great deals and loads of fun that accompany a night at the drive-in theater, it is a curiosity as to why so few high school students go or even know that there is one nearby. Theaters such as West Wind are working hard to restore drive-in movie theaters to their former glory in hopes that one day they might become the happening spots they once were for teens in the 50s. Although a dying trend, drive-in movies are making a comeback within modern society.
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The Campanile
April 8, 2011 • B11
Piazza’s, Whole Foods Market offer locally grown food Palo Alto grocery stores provide consumers with produce from community farms By Elena Pinsker Staff Writer
The average produce has to travel thousands of miles before it ends up on a grocery store shelf. According to research done at Iowa State University, the average carrot embarks on a 1383 mile journey before ever being sold to a hungry shopper. While many people do not think about how produce ends up on its shelf in the store, a fruit or vegetable’s journey has a big impact on the consumer. Locally grown produce is not only better for the environment, it is better for the consumer. How much fuel does it take to ship a load of carrots over 1000 miles? While this depends on the machine, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, it takes the average truck over 80 gallons of gas to transport those carrots from the farm on which they were grown to the grocery store where they are sold. Buying locally grown food saves around 75 gallons of gas from being emitted into the environment. Cleaner air means cleaner produce. Locally grown produce is much fresher, and more cost effective. While most of the produce looks fine on the shelf, it has been transported in cold storage facilities. Although it is still preserved and ready to be eaten when it arrives at the store, much of the nutrients have left the produce. Locally grown fruits and vegetables are extremely fresh and have skipped the steps required to transport food across the country. Because the produce is grown locally, the fruits and vegetables available are those that are abundant during that season. Because they are easy to grow, they are less expensive. On a tight schedule, it may be difficult to make an extra effort to eat locally grown food. Farmer’s Markets are often not an option during a busy week, and most students or working adults simply do not have the time to visit these places. But one can easily find locally grown produce at the grocery stores one visits on a regular basis.
Whole Foods
774 Emerson St. Palo Alto (650) 326-8676 Located in downtown Palo Alto, Whole Foods Market is a hub for California-grown produce. Near the entrance is a wide shelf consistently stocked to the brim with boxed berries. In early spring, blueberries and raspberries are ripe and in season. Going for $5 and $6, respectively, the organic fruits just need a quick wash before they are ready
to be enjoyed. Through the clear packaging, the perfect shoppers can see and choose the berries accordingly, and they are always sweet and juicy. Just next to the boxed berries lies an array of giant, red strawberries. Grown in Southern California, the strawberries at Whole Foods have a reputation for being the sweetest and juiciest berries around. While they do not last very long, they are so delectable that it is easy to finish the entire box in just a day. Going for $7 for an average of 15 berries, they are organically grown and a must-try at the grocery store. It is difficult to believe that such perfect-looking berries were grown without the use of pesticides, but the plaques above state that they are, in fact, organic. The boxes of Darling clementines, which are the perfect size to toss into a school lunch, are another wonderful choice when shopping for locally grown produce. Although they are not organic, each five pound crate of clementines, containing over 20 small fruits, sells for just $8. The thin, easily peel-able skin gives off a delicious aroma, matching that of the sweet and tangy fruit inside. They are grown in Fresno, California, and are a great addition to a grocery list. In a line of shelves sporadically sprayed by tiny hoses of water, the fresh and beautiful vegetables are another great choice for locally grown produce. While some of the fruit and vegetables, such as potatoes, grapefruits, mangoes and ginger, are grown in and shipped from as far away as Peru, the majority of the vegetables are California-grown. The organic Baby Bunch Carrots are bright orange and look just as good as they taste. For just $2 for a bunch of four or five long, thin carrots, these locally grown veggies glisten with fresh, cold water drops. They are crunchy, crisp and fresh, and are a wonderful, healthy choice. A staple in any salad, the Red Leaf Lettuce is bountiful along the shelves. Out of the thousands of leaves sitting on the shelves, none are visibly wilted. The array of lettuces at Whole Foods are constantly spritzed with cold water, leaving them fresh and appealing, and are a great beginning to a crisp and delicious salad. The bags are self-served and run for just $2 each.
Piazza’s
3922 Middlefield Rd. Palo Alto (650) 494-6317 A small, local market in South Palo Alto, Piazza’s is a family-owned, family-run grocery store selling all things local.
Elena Pinsker/campanile
Local grocer Whole Foods Market offers a wide variety of organic as well as non-organic produce. All produce sold at this particular store is grown locally, which increases the price in addition to boosting local economies. Less expensive than its competitors, Piazza’s market is dominated by a long, wide isle completely dedicated to its produce. The fruits and vegetables are all selfserved and look fresh, delicious and desirable. Unlike Whole Foods, Piazza’s sells a variety of locally-grown vegetables unavailable at other places. Better known for their major role in guacamole, Piazza’s avocados are ripe and look delicious. They are each grown in California and are the perfect firmness for guacamole, or make a great addition to a sandwich or salad. Although Mexico is best known for growing avocados, Piazza’s is stocked with a mountain
of the fruit, selling for $2.60 each. The vines of tomatoes waiting to be enjoyed are the cream of the crop of tomatoes. The California-grown tomatoes are a vibrant fresh red, each tomato impeccably grown, and the skin is free from marks or impurities. They are beautiful when sliced, and make a great addition to a sauce or sandwich. The cheapest option, at just $1 a piece, Piazza’s provides fresh and locally grown artichokes. While they are not organic, the beautiful, leafy bulbs look ready to be cooked and dipped in a fine sauce. They are a beautiful green and live up to what the sign says — they are fresh and absolutely delicious. The
store is, overall, a cheaper option than Whole Foods, and although some of the produce displayed is not as visually appealing as that of its counterpart, both are wonderful options when trying to eat locally. While sometimes eating locally grown produce may seem like a hassle, many local markets sell fruits and vegetables grown right next to home. They sell at a less expensive price than stores with produce that has been shipped across the country (or across the world). In addition, they support the local economy while providing fresh and delicious produce.
The CHEAPEST hot lunch in Town & Country! Get a slice of pizza and a drink for $5! Town & Country Village 855 El Camino Real Palo Alto, CA 94301
A&E
B12 • Friday, April 8, 2011
In-N-Out offers less show, more taste than Five Guys
Healthier, cheap products edge out larger, more expensive burgers By Jordan Zenger Staff Writer
While walking into Fremont’s Five Guys Burgers and Fries, signs boasting of the delicious burgers and low prices immediately bombard customers. Every wall is lined with signs of praise and the whole establishment has an air of haughtiness. When a customer walks into In-N-Out Burgers at Rengstorff Plaza, they notice there are no large letters advertising the quality of the burgers because they are confident of their superiority. In-N-Out trumps Five Guys in almost every aspect and does not need to show off. In-N-Out’s burgers taste better, are healthier and are all around more appetizing. They have the “secret sauce,” which gives the burger a unique taste that one can not find anywhere else. The burgers found at Five Guys are slightly larger, but this tiny size increase does not make up for their lack of taste. The only claim to fame that Five Guys has is their variety; They have a much wider selection of toppings and condiments to add to a burger allowing customers to create their own culinary masterpiece. Five Guys offers mayo, relish, onions, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onion, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, jalapeno, peppers, green peppers, A.1. steak sauce, barbecue sauce and hot sauce, which is quite an impressive list. On the other hand, In-N-Out offers lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, pickles, onions (grilled or raw), sauce or ketchup. These cover the essentials, but it is always nice to be able to branch out. Not all additions to the burgers are free. The best addition at Five Guys is bacon, but only if one is willing to add an extra $1.50 to their bill. Bacon adds a delicious flavor that is not available at In-N-Out. The next reason for In-N-Out’s supremacy over Five Guys is its french fries. The french fries at In-NOut are much more flavorful and less dry than those found at Five Guys. When biting into a french fry at Five Guys one can taste the grease that they were cooked in but the french fries from In-N-
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The Campanile
in
1900
This edition featuring
Aldis Petriceks with The Campanile’s own
Rachel Stober, Michael Augustine and Wesley Shiau
Aht.Seriouseats
Diabetesdaily
In-N-Out burgers and Five Guys both have impressive burgers, while Five Guys has twice as many drinks to serve, In-N-Out trumps Five Guys in price of burgers and fries and offers a highly coveted secret menu. Out, while still unhealthy, taste better. Another addition to the list of superior traits of In-N-Out
In-N-Out Burger 1159 North Rengstorff Mt. View, CA 94043
is the not-so-secret menu. InN-Out is famous for its “animal style” burger which adds grilled onions, pickles and more “secret sauce”dressing to the meal. One can also get a “protein burger” which replaces the burger’s buns with lettuce making the burger healthier. One can even get a “Flying Dutchman” which is two patties and two slices of cheese. Five
Guys has none of the special “secret menu” items that In-NOut has to offer. The crowning achievement of In-N-Out’s secret menu has to be their animal style french fries. These are not normal fries, as they take a normal order and melt a slice of cheese onto them. They then add grilled onions to the mix and then top it off with their special sauce. The result cannot be rivaled by any french fries served at Five Guys. Another strength to In-NOut’s menu is their milkshakes. They are made with real ice cream, resulting in a tasty sensation, much better than Five Guys. There is an obvious difference in prices between the two restaurants. When one leaves In-N-Out, one’s wallet is significantly larger than when one steps out of a Five Guys. A regular
cheeseburger at Five Guys runs for $3.39, which is more than one
Five Guys Burgers and Fries 43518 Christy Street Fremont, CA 94538
would pay for a double cheeseburger at In-N-Out. The french fries at Five guys can be three times as expensive as the ones at In-N-Out. All this for a taste that is not nearly as satisfying. The variety of beverages is one of the few aspects of a restaurant that is dominated by Five Guys Burgers and Fries. At In-N-Out, one can choose from
NIOS Week
Photos by Alex Lin and Marc Havlik Text by Hannah Park
Clubs organize unifying activities during Not in Our School Week. These events teach students to break stereotypes and accept others. Various lunchtime celebrations bring students together in this week of understanding the diverse world around us. Photos not only preserve a special moment in time but maintain a long term memory of new friendships and experiences. During this week of April, students connect with their inner selves as well as embrace their acquaintances.
around 10 different drinks. This number is dwarfed by the nearly 20 different drinks that are available at Five Guys. Five Guy’s selection of drinks is also much more diverse. They have almost every drink ranging from coffee, to Vault, to Dr. Pepper. Five Guys leaves boxes of complimentary peanuts for costumers to munch on while they are waiting for their food. This tasty snack can be a lifesaver as the food takes more than a few minutes depending on how busy they are. When it comes time to make a decision, the clear winner is In-N-Out, home of the DoubleDouble. Five Guys may have the variety, but ultimately what makes a burger restaurant is their burgers and Five Guys simply cannot match In-N-Out’s flavor.
The Campanile: So do you have any cool plans for spring break? Aldis Petriceks: Not really, maybe go to some basketball tournaments and then hang with my boy Wesley Shiau. TC: So we’ve heard you are a very aggressive person, who do you hate? AP: Who do I hate? Hmm, I hate Edrick [EJ] Floreal. TC: Why do u hate EJ? AP: Because ... I don’t know, I think he’s just a really touchy person like that. TC: So if you hate EJ, who do you love? AP: [Sophomore] Skyler Felt. I love Skyler; he’s probably the swaggiest guy I know. TC: So what’s the deal with you taking off your shirt in PE? AP: You know, I just feel that’s what people want to see. I did it once and brought it back by popular demand, and I don’t know but it just keeps coming. I don’t do it so much now, but it makes an appearance. TC: Talk about your varsity basketball experience as a sophomore. AP: Um, it was a good experience, I didn’t get a lot of playing time since a lot of seniors played my position, but I really think it will help for next year’s season. TC: Do you see a re-emergence of the Orange Hole? AP: Yeah for sure. I’ll probably change shoe colors, but the hole will still be there for sure. TC: Care to explain what the Orange Hole is? AP: The Orange Hole, like you know, a black hole. When the ball comes to me, I don’t pass it back to anyone, I just shoot it. And orange because of my beautiful orange basketball shoes. TC: So on JV basketball last year, there was an incident with you and some women’s underwear. Explain the thong incident. AP: Okay, the thong incident was an interesting one. I got some pressure from the then sophomores to put on a thong for the Gunn basketball quad night. I was very resistant at first, but after some physical threats and some pleading I eventually did put it on for all of warm-ups until I was told to take it off. TC: So why did you end up taking it off? AP: I didn’t wear it during the game because I didn’t like the fact that it might give me some unbearable wedgies. TC: Not because of the fact that it was a thong? AP: Nah, I didn’t have a problem with it being a thong, it was the wedgies. TC: What’s going on with you and [sophomore] Shelby [Knowles]? AP: You know that’s a difficult question. At this moment I’m not really sure what’s going on. You know we went out, but she’s not really into the whole girlfriend thing right now. TC: So is it a one way street? Is she not feeling you, are you not feeling it either, are you feeling it and she’s denying you — AP: No, no, no, no, it’s nothing like that, it’s just that at the moment I don’t think the time is right. TC: So basically you’re getting shut down? AP: No. It’s definitely not that at all. It’s definitely mutual. TC: Then how come you’re always with her spitting game? AP: Well that’s just what I do, I spit game. It’s the life I live. TC: So who else do you spit game at? AP: I’ve been accused of spitting game at people but it’s definitely not true. TC: Like who? AP: Such as my bro Nira Krasnow, but that’s definitely not true. I was accused of that a couple months back, but it’s not true. She’s my good friend. TC: Any other love life? I mean, that’s a little lacking in our opinion? Where’s the game? AP: The game? I play the game. I’ve been known to play the game. But not much going on. TC: Have any plans for summer? AP: Got a lot of basketball. I might go to Prague. You know, just chilling. TC: So if you could ask anyone to prom who would it be? AP: Shelby. TC: Alright, if you could pick five words to describe yourself, what would they be? AP: Random, weird, funny, awkward and — TC: Thong? AP: Yeah, thong. TC: If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be? AP: Let’s see, probably Pistol Pete Maravich. TC: Why? AP: For a time I was completely obsessed with him, and in my eyes he’s the best basketball player. I probably know everything about him. TC: So what’s the most interesting fact you know about Pistol Pete? AP: For two weeks, no, an entire month he ate nothing but vegetable juices and fruit. Or no, I don’t know, something like that. He went an entire month eating vegetable juices. TC: So basically he went on a diet? AP: Oh, no, no, no. Alright fine, he scored 44 points a game in college, with no three point line. TC: Okay, so any last words for Campanile? This is your chance to broadcast your thoughts to the entire student body. Or maybe, instead proclaim your love for a certain someone. AP: Um ... I have an undying love for Wesley Shiau. TC: Of course. Is it returned? WS: Yeah. TC: Okay, we’ve got a bromance.