December 2011

DECEMBER 2011

College Preparation How FAR is TOO FAR?

VOLUME 8 • ISSUE 1

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AS WELL AS: Academic pressure at Gunn, 8 American Jobs Act, 12 Are colleges really need blind? 14

THE CHARIOT

DEAR READERS, EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Zach Ameri Jean Wang COPY EDITOR Chloe Blanchard PUBLICITY Charles Liu TREASURER Christine Kyauk CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Drew Bent Helen Carefoot Sarah Dukes-Schlossberg Christina Hobbs Jesse Hoshizaki Eric Hu Cara Lai Ryan Lee Charles Liu Joseph Nicolls Catherine Nitta Eric Noh Sonal Prasad

Sincerely,

Zach Ameri & Jean Wang EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

The Chariot would like to thank the followign sponsors and patrons:

ABOUT US

FOUNDATION/GROUP SPONSORS Adoe Systems • Daughters of the American Revolution • Palo Alto Lions Club

The Chariot is intended to create and promote political discussion at Gunn and amke people aware of issues that matter. We ask that you respect all opinions which are reflected in our publication, and write letters to the editors if you wish to voice your opinion. The views expressed do not reflect that of The Chariot, but rather thse of the individual writers.

PATRONS ($100+) SPONSORS ($50-99) CONTRIBUTORS ($21-50)

The Chariot would also like to thank Advisor Marc Igler for his support.

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You are now holding in your hands the first issue of Volume 8 of The Chariot! With December coming to a close, many students are in college application frenzy, so we thought it would be suitable to shed some light on the whole process for our first publication of the year. It is to be expected that many of you may be very curious to see what our writers have to say about admissions, college preparation, and all the pressure that follows this process. Yet, as we all busily continue on this frenzied race to the finish line, The Chariot staff would like to remind you that the world is still turning every day, outside of our lives here in Palo Alto. 2011 represents a year of ends and new beginnings. We mourn the loss of the visionary Steve Jobs and sit in awe of the radical change underway in the Middle East after the death of Muammar Gaddafi. Things are coming to a close, which means only one thing — the inception of new era, along with all of its leaders, pioneers, and dictators. Remember as you scurry around Henry M. Gunn High School that you are part of something greater, and your obstacles may begin to feel surmountable. We hope this publication informs you and dispels some of the confusion surrounding college, and pushes you to form your own opinions on the issues.

Speaking of your own opinions, if you are interested in making your opinion heard or exploring your interests in journalism, we encourage you to join our staff as a writer, cartoonist, or layout personnel. We are especially looking for non-seniors who would lead The Chariot in future years and diversify the staff and readership of our publication. We also welcome the submission of comments, article ideas, and guest opinions. The Chariot is expanding beyond simply politics and students with passionate opinions on issues that relate to students, culture, or the world are highly encouraged to join.

The Chariot remains the only independent, free Gunn publication without advertisements that is completely run by students. We depend on your donations as well as those from the community organizations to continue our publication. Any donations are greatly appreciated, and more information can be found on our website, www.gunnchariot.com.

The Chariot was originally founded in 2001 as The Partisan Review by Gunn alumni Ilan Wurman (‘06), Channing Hancock (‘06), and Sarah McDermott (‘05).

Visit our website, www.gunnchariot.com if you wish to view any issues from previous years or for more information about us. Any questions, comments, suggestions, or requests to join can be sent to gunnchariot@gmail.com.

If you’d like to make a donation or subscribe, please send checks to: Marc Igler Re: The Gunn Chariot 780 Arastradero Road Palo Alto, CA 94306 Checks can be made out to Gunn High School with “The Chariot” on the memo.

DEC. 2011

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P = nRT/V Reflections on pressure from a high school senior

by Chloe Blanchard

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COLLEGE PREP:

HOW FAR IS TOO FAR?

Nothing wrong with getting ahead

PRO:

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for college is wide and varied. The various services that private college counselors provide typically include almost everything a student needs to present themselves as an excellent candidate to a college. This includes SAT/ACT preparation, essay writing and the bolstering of extracurricular activities. It makes sense for someone to want to reach their full potential as a student so that the college admissions ofZach Ameri ficers can review the entirety of the apEditor-in-Chief plicant and all of his or her achievements, and I consider the goals of this industry Time and time again students in Silicon to be admirable. However, there is a fine Valley are pressured to achieve, lead and line between helpful advice and setting a persevere academically. Yet with thousands student up to be something that he or she of students competing against one anoth- isn’t, which is precisely what is becoming er for so few openings at each college, how widespread today.

Palo Alto can students possibly Online reexpect to interest a colcently reportlege admissions offiHowever, there is a fine ed about a locer in the five minutes line between helpful cal business, that they review apadvice and setting a T h i n k Ta n k plications with? That Learning, just is the question many student up to be someacross from students and parents thing that he or she isn’t, Subway on worry about, and is the which is precisely what is El Camino, reason why the college becoming widespread designed to preparation industry judge a stuis going through extoday. dent based plosive growth. But on his or her the question to ask yourself is this: how far is too far when GPA and SAT and then offer a compreit comes to selling yourself as a potential hensive system to make the student as student at a university? I think that many viable of a candidate as possible for colstudents may be going too far, and that the leges he or she intends on applying to. soaring levels of competition are taking an The business creates impressive resumes for their clients by heavily aiding them in unhealthy turn.

Of course the spectrum of preparation pursuing goals that the students may not with the opportunity to receive assistance and guidance in the complex endeavor of applying to college.

CON: Going

too far

A PEEK INTO SOME OF THE COLLEGE PREP SERVICES

these businesses give students an unfair advantage due to the fact that they are privately owned and do charge a high price for said services, which hinder those with less funds who also wish to place themselves ahead in the academic competition, however, for those who are able to afford such assistance, there is no harm in placing oneself ahead of the others. There are also a variety of price options for students looking to receive different types of tutoring and preparation for various academic endeavors, for example, some students might opt for a private tutor in preparation for the SAT, while others who want to pay much less will choose the lesser priced classroom preparation option, both of which, in my opinion, will provide similar assistance.

I’m not saying that hiring a college counselor or an SAT tutor will suddenly guarantee you admission to every college on your list, nor will it ensure you that perfect score, but it will certainly provide some form of benefit, depending on how you utilize the service. When it comes to advantages, students with such aid may be put ahead of others, which is not a fair practice, however, when it comes to academic achievement, there should be no reason as to why students who have the means would not want to push themselves to perform at the highest level that they are able to, regardless of what others may say. The entirety of the college admissions process is not a completely equal system, thus, preparatory services are not put into place for the detriment of other students.

They simply offer those who are willing

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DEC. 2011

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7

THE CHARIOT

ACADEMIC PRESSURE Have you taken any SAT preparation courses?

Have you taken any ACT preparation courses?

75% 21%

8%

4

5

Average number of prep books used by upperclassmen

Average number of prep books purchased by upperclassmen 8

75%

College Self Counselor

Peers Parents

Why did you sign up for SAT/ACT preparation classes?

DEC. 2011

WWW.GUNNCHARIOT.COM

AND PREP AT GUNN* Average student stress (on a scale of 1-10)

6.4

Where does the majority of your stress come from?

99%

of students decide what college they apply to

Average number of colleges students apply to

11 DEC. Â 2011

3.4

hours spent on average on homework

*Numbers are the result of a survey conducted by The Chariot of 47 Gunn students.

9

WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN?

THE CHARIOT

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DEC. 2011

WWW.GUNNCHARIOT.COM

ERNIZING SCHOOLS CON: Right idea, wrong plan Joseph Nicolls Contributing Writer

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t has been a goal of almost every president to become known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;The President who Reformed Education.â&#x20AC;? Usually, however, they are ignorant to how the education system actually works. One example of such ignorance is in President Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new American Jobs Act, which plans to, as the White House Blog puts it, â&#x20AC;&#x153;put workers back on the job by rebuilding and modernizing schools across the country.â&#x20AC;?

Though crumbling infrastructure is one of the symptoms of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s terrible school system, it is not the cause. It does not need to be argued that change needs to take place in our school system.

It does. However, all this plan will do for education is provide a slightly better atmosphere for the students of America to fail in. Regardless of how many computer labs there are, whether or not the rooms are air-conditioned, or if the roof is falling apart, the problems will remain the

same. All this will do is increase the inFUHGLEOH GHĂ&#x20AC;FLW WKDW RXU FRXQWU\ LV DOUHDG\ facing and provide employment for the construction industry for a very limited period of time.

Some may argue that if the environment of the classroom is changed, then positive change will certainly follow.

These people should be directed toward the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rankings of World Education. Our country is worse at math than Slovenia, Hungary, Estonia and 21 other countries. Yet, are our classrooms worse than those in Slovenia? Certainly not. Our infrastructure is clearly not worse than those countries, so the problem with our education system must delve deeper.

We do not need to modernize our schools. We need to modernize our system. We have been using an old method of education, and we are being left in the dust. We need new methods of teaching, new teachers, and above all, reform. The methods we can use to solve our education system are numerous, risky, controYHUVLDO DQG FRXOG Ă&#x20AC;OO D ERRN %XW XQOLNH Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan, those methods will actually change our system, for better or for worse, without causing such a drain on our economy.

WHERE

IT Â IS now SEP. Â 8

Obama proposes American Jobs Act

OCT. Â 11

Senate blocks consideration of American Jobs Act Obama vows to break jobs plan into smaller, separate bills

OCT. Â 20

Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act of 2011 ($35 billion education stimulus) blocked in Senate

NOV. Â 3

Rebuild America Jobs Act ($50 billion for transportation infrastructure & $10 billion for National Infrastructure Bank) blocked in Senate

NOV. Â 10

VOW to Hire Heroes Act (includes tax incentives for hiring veterans) passes Senate, first piece of Jobs Act to pass Senate

NOV. Â 21

President  Barack  Obama  holds  a  copy  of  his  proposed  American  Jobs  Act  while  making  a  speech  in  the  Rose  Garden  of  the  White  House.  Photo  courtesy  of  the  Associated  Press.

DEC. Â 2011

Obama signs into law the VOW to Hire Heroes Act

13

THE CHARIOT

$OO DERXW money?

Jesse Hoshizaki Contributing Writer

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READY TO DITCH THE SAT? Drew Bent Contributing Writer

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