Verde Volume 15 Issue 3 by Verde Magazine

The future of education Racing into tomorrow’s classroom (p. 17)

VERDE MAGAZINE • VOLUME 15, ISSUE 3 • FEBRUARY 2014

INDEX SHORT STUFF The Launch News

7 12

COVER d.School Media Arts Center Technology in Schools

17 20 22 24 26

Technology Saves Lives Teaching the EQ

CULTURE Oscar Predictions STEAM Review

30 33

FEATURES Chinese Homebuyers Rise of the Bitcoin NBOMe California Drought DREAM Act Procrastination This Land(e) is Your Land(e)

39 42 44 45 46 48 70

Ana Sofia Amieva-Wang

CLOSING UP SHOP Local dim sum restaurant Cho’s closes in March after 35 years. Check out the photo essay on p. 36

PERSPECTIVES Retouching Period Stigma Snapchat College Athletics

54 56 59 60

PROFILES Mr. Farrell Travis Chen Jacki Seymour Mr. Bloom Nancy Shepard

61 62 64 67 68

Ana Sofia Amieva Wang Ana Sofia Amieva-Wang

TEACHER TIME Paly biology teacher Ronnie Farrell and junior Alex Merkle-Raymond laugh together at tutorial. Read more about Farrell on p. 61

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ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET Paly senior Raul Arias tests out a Fitdesk, several of which will furnish the Media Arts Center, while modeling for Verde’s cover. Read more about the Center on p. 20

THE COVER

THE STAFF

Volume 15 • Issue 4 • February 2014 Photography by Ana Sofía Amieva-Wang Pictured on this issue’s cover is the nationally competing biker and Palo Alto High School senior Raul Arias. Poised on a Fitdesk, one of several innovations that will furnish Paly’s coming Media Arts Center, Arias models a fast-approaching change in education. But Fitdesks and iPhones merely graze the surface of education reform. The signs of major changes in education technology and philosophy are clear. See p. 17 for more.

Editors-in-chief Hollis Kool Noam Shemtov Managing Editor Jamie Allendorf Section Editors Samantha Dewees, Features & Profiles Will Queen, Perspectives Lande Watson, Culture News Editor Bryan Wong Business Manager Angela Xu Art Director Anthony Liu Photo Director Ana Sofia Amieva-Wang

Staff Writers Esme Ablaza Eliza Ackroyd Zofia Ahmad Jack Brook Miranda Cohn Katie Ebinger Lucy Fox Brigid Godfrey Alexandra Hsieh Michelle Li Anna Lu Zoe Lung Jasper McEvoy Joe Meyer Madison Mignola Brittany Nguyen Tira Oskoui Claire Priestley Kelly Shi Anand Srinivasan Siddharth Srinivasan Michelle Tang Adviser Paul Kandel

Ana Sofía Amieva-Wang

@VERDEMAGAZINE Publication Policy Verde, a feature magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Magazine Journalism class, is a designated open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. Verde is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost.

EDITORS’ NOTE

s it happens we are writing from a classroom in most ways unmarked by the changing times, a place the tone of which is set by commercial carpeting and fluorescent light fixtures that hug the ceiling and back issues of TIME Magazine stacked against one corner. Whiteboards hang on two walls; at the front stands a lectern. But even here — especially here — can be felt the signs of revolution. The way we think about learning is changing, and changing fast. It used to be that education treated technology as might a couple of baby boomer parents. The kids, it seemed, were losing interest, slipping into a world not accounted for in the “industrial age” classroom. But the central question was never one that concerned technology. The iPads had been ordered long before anything resembling even remotely revolutionary took hold. It was a question of changing ethos: How do we get the kids back? With a new Media Arts Center on the way and several other projects in the pipeline, we feel the time to look for answers could not be better. In her feature “ d.School“ (p. 17) staff writer Anna Lu travel’s to modern-day learning’s cutting edge: Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, where brains and beauty are brought to bear in training creative problem solvers. Training her eye even closer to home, Claire Priestley gives us a sneak peak of Palo Alto High School’s Media Arts Center in her story by the same title (p. 20). Emerging from the changing way we think about education is the suspicion that test scores and grades aren’t in fact the keys to success. And so we wonder how to teach the things that are. Staff writers Samantha Dewees and Bryan Wong explore the pedagogy of emotional intelligence in “IQ and EQ” (p. 26). Palo Alto’s stellar public education has long been a draw for home buyers, a phenomenon Jasper McEvoy deconstructs in “Real Estate Rush” (p. 39). The way we think about education is changing. But how do we get the kids back? The answer is yet to be found. But we’re looking— or at least someone is. — Hollis and Noam

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Letters to the Editors The staff welcomes letters to the editors but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity. Send all letters to verde-eics-13-14@googlegroups. com or to 50 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94301. All Verde stories are posted online and available for commenting at http://verdemagazine. com Advertising The staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience. For more information about advertising with Verde, please contact the Verde business manager Angela Xu at 650-796-2358 for more information. Printing & Distribution Services Verde is printed five times a year in October, November, February, April and May, by Fricke-Parks Press in Fremont, Calif. The Paly PTSA mails Verde to every student’s home. All Verde work is available at http://verdemagazine.com

COMMENT ON STORIES AT verdemagazine.com • Let us know what you think of our magazine. • Discuss topics with other readers. • Critique our coverage of events and news. • Help us serve the community with up-to-date facts and insights. • Help support our program with your donation at the Palo Alto High School webstore.

LONG DISTANCE Palo Alto High School senior Jacki Seymour prepares for a 124 mile race in Bhutan. Read further in “In Her Toe Shoes” (p. 64).

EDITORIAL ZUCKERBERG, OTHERS DESERVE COMMENDATION

hough only a freeway separates Palo Alto and East Palo Alto, there’s a stark socioeconomic divide, especially when it comes to healthcare. While affluent Palo Alto has multiple major medical centers — including the world class Stanford Hospital — as well as an assortment of other specialized care centers, East Palo Alto has historically been limited in its healthcare offerings. Since 2001, citizens of East Palo Alto have relied on Ravenswood Family Health Center, based out of portable buildings, for much of their mental, medical, and dental coverage. It’s good news to hear now that philanthropists and businesses are pledging donations to help fund a $29 million expansion project for the Ravenswood facilities. Twenty one million, six hundred thousand dollars have been raised so far, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s $5 million donation. The Verde staff commends the new Ravenswood center and the donors who have helped fund the expansion because the health center, with its up-to-date facilities, will bring benefits to East Palo Alto; as citizens of an independent city, East Palo Altans should have access to the resources necessary for future healthcare growth. In 2009, Mi Pueblo, a full-service grocery store franchise, came to East Palo Alto, generating over 100 jobs and providing citizens with affordable and local food. Similarly, the expansion of Ravenswood will allow the citizens to reap the advantages of employment growth and access to convenient neighborhood health care. The old medical center was already one of East Palo Alto’s largest employers for residents in the city, and the expansion will create even more jobs. There is a direct correlation between accessible and affordable health care and lowered school dropout rates according to the American Public Health Association. East Palo Alto students confront a 70-percent high school dropout rate, and improved health care will help to alleviate this. More students staying in schools means better educated citizens, better jobs, and overall improvement in the prosperity of East Palo Alto. Students from East Palo Alto are part of the PAUSD school system and therefore improving Ravenswood Health Center will tangibly improve their ability to learn which will carry over into the rest of the community.

H C N U 14

0 A 2 L February Photo

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RF NDO ALLE NG IE A M W A VA by J AMIE piled Com NA SOFIA A ph by

LAUNCH Upcoming Concerts OutKast

Schoolboy Q

Bombay Bicycle Club

The legendary Hip Hop duo is back! Big Boi and Andre 3000 are headlining a show at Coachella this year, and rumors are spreading that they may be working on a new album. He will be at Coachella Valley on April 11 and 18.

Known as the party animal of Los Angeles’ Hip Hop supergroup, Black Hippy, Schoolboy Q has told the world to expect his long awaited album “Oxymoron” on Feb. 25. His tour will be coming to the Bay Area on April 10.

This English Indie Rock band is coming out with a new album titled “So Long, See You Tomorrow.” They will also be in the Bay Area on April 20 at The Fillmore in San Francisco.

Text by Anand Srinivasan Photos by joe goldberg, mikel galicia, and Angus MAcrae

m i t a b r Ve INTERVIEW

NA LU HOP BY AN

“Saving Mr. Banks.”

AND PHOT

e t i r o v a f r u o y s a w t Wha ? 3 1 0 2 n i e i mov

sophomore Hannah Subega –8–

new Club Check-in Queer straight Alliance “QSA is a club to provide a safe place for discussion of LGBTQ+ issues and in general a friendly and accepting space... We want to create a safe environment at Paly where people feel comfortable supporting each other.” interview and Photo by Brigid Godfrey

“This is the End.”

junior Ricardo Huerta

“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”

freshman Dani Macuil –9–

— QSA President Jessica Feinberg “Rush.”

senior Jonathan Ziegler

ASB Answers “Instead of a seated dinner [for prom], we’ll have caterers serving very heavy hor d’oeuvres. So think little party foods that are easy to eat and walk around with, but [are] still filling and delicious.” — junior class president Claire Liu interview and Photos by Siddharth Srinivasan

Post-it art

Have a question for ASB? E-mail your question to verdelaunch@gmail.com and see if it gets picked to be in the next issue of Verde! Questions may be anonymous.

What do you look forward to second semester? compliled by angela xu

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Freshman Keith Richard Sarfe

February2014 Recipe

text and Photo by zoe lung

Feb. 14 was the Chinese Lantern Festival. During this time, it is traditional to light lanterns and eat a chinese dessert called tang yuan or yuan xiao. To celebrate this festival, here is a quick recipe to make tang yuan.

Ingredients 1 cup glutinous rice flour Â˝ tbsp sugar Â˝ cup water (optional) food coloring

Instructions 1. Add flour and sugar to a bowl, then slowly add water until flour can be shaped into small balls. If you want to add food coloring, make sure to add a few drops to the kneaded flour before shaping the tang yuan. 2. Boil a pot of water and put the tang yuan in when water is boiling. The tang yuan is fully cooked when they float to the top of the water. Make sure to take them out after they start floating and put in a separate bowl. Optional: Buy a jar of jiu niang, fermented rice, or red bean soup from a local asian store and enjoy with the tang yuan.

Sophomore Arianna Governatori

Junior Ken Chen

Senior Caroline Nore

News

TOP The Paly TEDx club meets at lunch in preparation for the talk. Bottom Andrew Lu, head of the Paly TEDx club, says that organizing such an event has been very helpful. “Running an event like this is a very good experience,” Lu says. “It teaches you how to work with people — you have to make sure others get things done on a deadline.” Photo by Ana Sofia Amieva-Wang

The (TEDx) talk of the town School to host “Future of x” event later this month Palo Alto High School will host a series of TEDx talks on Feb. 24 in the Haymarket Theater. With an over arching theme “the future of x”, the talk will feature 17 speakers, including four Paly students, and will be broken up into seven sessions with a limit of 100 attendees per session. “TEDx is an independently organized TED event,” said junior Andrew Lu, leader of the Paly TEDx club. “In Paly’s case it is student-run, which makes it more accessible to the general community.” Paly student speakers include senior Cathy Rong, junior Will Robertson, sophomore Sylvia Targ and Andrew Gibson. According to Lu, other notable speakers include Stanford professor Mark Jacobson, who will be giving a talk on green energy and Daniel Russell, a senior researcher at Google, who will be talking about how people’s brains function when

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they are searching the web “At this point, we are about to release a ticketing system,” Lu said. “It will allow individual students with preps to sign up to go to events. We don’t have the authority to excuse students from class, but teachers can sign up to take their classes [to the talks].” Along with an initial ASB budget of $8000, Paly TEDx has received monetary donations through sponsor Ventana Property Services. “I think it will be fun to share my ideas and hear what other people have to say,” sophomore speaker Sylvia Targ said. “Doing a TED talk is such a good way to share information. And since we’re in Palo Alto, we have a lot of great access to big names and companies. I’m looking forward to it because there will be lots of interesting speakers.” By Jack Brook

News

Catalog offers new course options for fall 2014 The Palo Alto High School catalog for 2014-2015 includes a variety of new courses academic year after a board meeting on Jan. 28. Highlighting the options are new blended course. According to Gunn teacher Brian Tuomy, blended courses allows students to meet with teachers face-toface weekly, and the course also combines convention and online teaching. AP music theory at Palo Alto High School was the only blended course this semester A notable new blended course is Getting in the Game, which introduces students to the multibillion dollar sports industry, according to Lucy Filppu, the teacher of the class. The course is partly focused on internships, Filppu said, and is open to all students who have an interest in sports. New classes beyond the blended courses include Early Childhood Development and Nanotechnology. According to Principal Kim Diorio, Early Childhood Development is a semester-long course led by Hilary McDaniel that involves both classroom instruction and practical experience working with preschool-aged and younger children, “Students will spend one day at Paly in the classroom with Hilary talking about a lot of the theories and concepts around childhood development and then spend two days in what we’re calling a ‘lab setting’,” Diorio said. “They’ll be going over to Greendell School and working under Sharon [Keplinger] and Hilary’s guidance in the classroom working directly with our young three-, four- and five-year-olds.” Nanotechnology will be taught in partnership with Foothill College: Lectures will be given on Paly campus, while equipment will be held at Foothill College, according to Robert Cormia, the Engineering and Nanoscience Instructor at Foothill College. By Michelle Li

SO CLOSE, BUT YET SO FAR The atrium of the Media Arts Center is still cluttered with construction material as the building nears completion. The estimated completion date and soft move-in of the building is set sometime after spring break with a grad opening in August. Photo by Bryan Wong

It’s about time: move-in to new buildings to happen soon Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson is expecting the new math and social sciences building and Media Arts Center at Palo Alto High School to be prepared for a move-in soon. The math and social sciences building will continue with a hard move-in, while the Media Arts Center is expected to open for a soft move-in after spring break. A soft move-in would mean a technology-less integration, where students would have to leave the new building to use computers in neighboring labs. The full grand opening is set sometime in August. “There is no official time yet,” Berkson said. “The classroom building will happen first and we are hoping that it will be ready after spring break.” Paly’s math and social studies departments will occupy the 20 classrooms in the two-story building once it’s completed. Berkson does not expect much inconvenience for transferring these classes to the new building.

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“Since both buildings are getting new furniture there will be less transition time needed,” Berkson said. “We will have to deal with teacher’s supplies, etc, but the actual move, in my opinion, will not be that big of a deal.” Berkson says that the Media Arts Center will be open around the same time. “For the Media Arts, we are hoping for the same time frame, but with the extensive amount of equipment, it is a bit more complex,” Berkson said. The classrooms and Media Arts Center will also have new furniture and technology. “It’s not just your typical desks anymore,” Berkson said. The buildings will have brand new chairs and computers to accommodate the different needs, according to Berkson. “It’s going to be more unbelievable than people think, and I think people are already thinking it’s going to be unbelievable,” Berkson said. By Zoe Lung

News

Career Month to bring in new speakers Career Month talks will take place in the Social Studies Resource Center and the English Resource Center from March 3 to March 14. The event, which is in its seventh year at Palo Alto High School, offers students an opportunity to learn about a diverse array of professions. According to Sharon Poore, parent chairperson of Career Month for the past four years, 19 guest speakers will be presenting about their jobs over the two-week span. “This is a pretty unique program and a pretty unique opportunity for our students,” Poore said. “We have a music producer, a chef, an environmental engineer, a doctor who lead one of the disaster relief trips to the Philippines. We have a very wide range of speakers.” While Career Month is completely free

for high schoolers, the event an expensive and time-taking process. “It does cost quite a bit of money to put on. We rely on parent donations and parents have been very generous in supporting this event,” Poore says. “We [also] put ads in some of the student publications. We tell the Palo Alto Weekly and we have posters and fliers.” As part of the publicity before the event begins, Career Month will receive a grand opening on Feb. 28 with help from Stanford students. “We are having the Stanford Solar Car Team come with their solar car,” Poore said. “We’re going to bring [the car] into the quad and everyone can come look at it. That’s new, just to make everyone aware of what’s happening.” By Jasper McEvoy

Experienced and prepared Paly parent and Career Month organizer Sharon Poore has been the parent chairperson for the past four years. Photo by Jasper McEvoy

Racking it up: New bike cages to arrive for two-wheelers New bike racks are coming to Palo Alto High School soon after the awarding of a new grant. According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, with the new bike racks, the campus will be able to accommodate about a hundred more bikes even though the bike racks outside the big gym will be removed. One set of bike racks will be inside a new cage east of the new Media Arts Center. The other will be outside to the north of the Tower Building, near the Haymarket Theater, Berkson said. BIKE RACKS A COMIN’ The bike racks are planned to be placed in the shaded area East of the new Media Arts Center highlighted above. Photo by Max Bernstein with The Paly Voice drone.

By the

NUMBERS

92%

of middle and high school students prefer learning on mobile devices p. 20

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By Miranda Cohn

88%

of expected California snow pack missing p. 45

News

Teachers to implement “Social Justice” track next year A new Social Justice-emphasizing pathway in which students take part in a project-based learning system embedded within their normal schedule will be offered next year at Palo Alto High School. The goal of this three-year pathway is to make education more meaningful and engaging for students. Instead of taking many different classes with many different groups of people, students in this track will learn with the same group of students and with the same teacher

Sayonara, adios, ciao, Big Gym A farewell event for the historic Palo Alto High School gym will occur on March 16 in the big gym, according to member of the event planning committee Jane Gee. “We see this a little as a memorial, but also as a celebration,” Gee said. “We want to preserve this history of this building.” The afternoon will have activities from noon to 4 p.m. “It’s going to be a little bit of everything,” Gee said. “There will be tours of the campus, food, old cars. We’ll have people in vintage costumes, and an oral history booth.” The oral history booth is open to any Paly alumnus who wishes to share a story of life at Paly or of the Big Gym. According to Gee, the event will be sponsored by Paly, the Alumni Association, the Palo Alto Weekly, the Palo Alto History Museum, and the City of Palo Alto. By Katie Ebinger

60%

of teen mothers don’t finish high school p. 50

each year (for pathway classes), according to Eric Bloom. Bloom said that the track will mainly focus on social studies and English. According to Bloom, students taking this track will be learning more through direct research. “Students will get chances to go to the source for information, rather than learning it from a book or through the teacher,” Bloom said. “Each unit, guest speakers are invited into the class, and each quarter, students go on field trips

to important places for training or field learning.” Bloom hopes that, by addressing problems unique to the Paly area, this track will give students experience with hands on help in their community. “We hope [students] become empowered to change their world for the better and enjoy the confidence that comes from realizing how capable they truly are,” Bloom said. By Zofia Ahmad

“Pride and Prejudice” to take stage in March

WHAT WITCHES? Senior Jonathan Mackris and Carly King takes part in the drama “Pride and Prejudice.” Photo by Rob Wilen

1.8

million immigrants affected by the Dream Act p. 46

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At the close of February and beginning of March this year, Palo Alto High School theater students will present an adaptation of “Pride And Prejudice,” a play based on the 1813 novel by Jane Austen, in the Haymarket Theater. Director Kathleen Woods said that the production presents unusual obstacles. “It is very challenging because it has a very particular style of behavior,” Woods says. “[There is a] British dialect … it’s a very complex piece … it must be tightly choreographed.” “Pride and Prejudice is a classic love story,” Woods says. “The message behind the story is really positive and told in a really fun way. … There’s humor and there’s dancing and there’s romance. The story is really lovely. … There is still so much you can identify with in the story.” Performances will be 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 28, March 1, 6, 7, and 8. By Samantha Deewes

U.S. deaths attributed to the drug NBOMe

p. 44

COVER | FEB 2014

D.SCHOOL

Text and photography by ANNA LU

STANFORD BRINGS EMPATHY & PROTOTYPING TO EDUCATION

TANFORD UNIVERSITY’S HASSO veloping costumer-oriented prototypes. At the d.school, students Plattner Institute of Design — known colloqui- don’t design products— they design experiences. As Roth describes, the heart of the d.school’s mission lies in ally as the d.school — offers its graduate students courses that advocate an approach to problem solv- solving real-world problems. Through its acclaimed program, Deing with people at its center. The d.school’s guiding sign for Extreme Affordability, often simplified to Extreme, it aims to do just that. In this two-quarter-long, multidisciplinary course, principle is simple: to ease lives. The d.school is at the leading edge of the “Empathy Revo- students enrolled in Extreme partner with nonprofit organizations lution,” a movement to improve education around the world by to develop projects that cater to the needs of the world’s poor. Stuforgoeing computer screens and spreadsheets to focus instead on dents visit developing countries and employ the d.thinking process to solve problems that their residents face, ending in products that the human experience. save lives. Inside the self-proclaimed Last year, Ian Connolly and “hub for innovators,” no neat Jeffrey Yang of the Miraclefeet team rows of desks are to be found. “The ‘d’ in d.school stands for created a brace that treats clubfoot, Students work instead in clusters, ‘design,’ but we’re not creating a common deformity that causes trained to face problems with designers; we’re creating design ankles to appear to have been rowhat founder David Kelley calls tated inward. Clubfoot affects more “design thinking.” thinkers.” than a million children in develop“We don’t just ask our stuing countries who, without the help dents to solve a problem, we ask — Bernard Roth, Academic Director of the Miraclefeet brace, may never them to define what the problem be able to walk, run, play or go to is,” says Bernard Roth, d.school school. co-founder and academic direcThe Miraclefeet brace now follows the legacy of many other tor. “The ‘d’ in d.school stands for ‘design,’ but it’s not really design that we teach here. We’re not creating designers; we’re creating d.school innovations that have met extreme success — ranging from a miniature pouch that prevents newborns from contracting design thinkers.” Design thinking, or d.thinking, incorporates elements of de- hypothermia and has already prevented 22,000 infant deaths to a sign and engineering to create a near formulaic approach to de- news-reading app that was acquired by LinkedIn for $90 million.

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COVER | FEB 2014

CLUBFOOT The clubfoot deformity affects more than one million children globally. Photo by Ian Connolly

d.Empathy A key component of d.thinking, Roth says, involves expanding beyond a “headconnection” in order to establish a “heartconnection” with the consumer, thus enabling students to identify and address the consumer’s desires. Call it empathy. Connolly and Yang, in searching for examples to base their prototype on, experienced this empathizing process first hand, as they traveled to developing communities in Brazil and placed themselves in the young children’s shoes — almost literally. “We talked to the parents, the physicians, and some of the kids [with club foot] that were old enough.” Connolly says. “That was really great because those were our real users, and their lifestyles and financial situations were nothing like the average person here in the US. We did a couple of home visits, and the neighborhoods in general weren’t really that nice. We heard stories here and there of a mother and child traveling on the bus for several hours to get to the clinic, and not have the means to afford the braces.” Connolly says that high-quality braces previously cost up-

duN Gra nd O I T A BOR notes a s COLLA ts use Post-It ea their id en ate stud ards to convey thers’. ho bo marker d build off eac n a , visually

FLAIR & d.thinkin FOCUS The g proce ss comp “flairing rises of ”t “focusin o expand creat ivit g” directio to define the p y then n. roject’s

INNOVATION Students at the d.school work in groups to design prototypes that tackle real-world problems.

These ET BRACE MIRACLEFE er clubfoot (upp braces correct Yang n. Photo by Jeff right) in childre

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wards of $500, and that lower-quality ones break every few days. Enter Miraclefeet brace, Connolly and Yang’s mission of which was to combine functionality with low cost. d.Prototyping The d.school encourages students to become active in problem solving — not just sitting around and debating, but working to get results. One way in which the d.school fosters this kind of collaboration is through the creation of prototypes. But, “don’t make them too precious,” Roth warns. With a prototyping room full of supply boxes stocked with pipe cleaners, scissors and neon Post-It notes, students are encouraged to use simple materials to model rough prototypes quickly. When Tania Anaissie, a d.school design researcher, was a graduate student, she was assigned to get people to eat healthy when their diet was at it’s worst: during periods of intoxication. Her initial prototype was nothing more than a wall-full of Post-Its directing drunk students toward a refrigerator stocked with carrots and hummus. “But the students didn’t bite,” she says. Even with the clearly healthier option in their line of sight, the students opted for quesadillas because they enjoyed the communal aspect of cooking, especially when drunk. While observing her subjects, Anaissie found that the trial-and-error process of prototyping became the most enriching part of the design experience. The project gave her a window into the psychology of students’ eating habits, leading her to completely rethink her approach. And it only cost her 10 minutes and a stack of Post-It notes. Similarly, when Connolly and Yang began building their initial prototypes, they used only simple materials, fashioning a shoe out of paper, a brace out of wood and the supporting structure out of foam core. “We made more than 30 prototypes,” Connolly says. “It’s funny because the final prototype that we landed on was pretty close to one of the first prototypes that we made…you think you know where you are going to end up, but you really end up somewhere else.” This year, Connolly and Yang have begun molding the final product, and plan to travel to clinics and test the products this March. Their goal is to produce 50,000 braces by the end of 2015.

K12 LAB applying d.thinking to primary education

HANDS-ON PROTOTYPING Miraclefeet brace co-founders Ian Connolly and Jeff Yang prepare for the product’s initial user testing. The Miraclefeet team prepares to produce 50,000 braces by the end of 2015. Photo by Lauren Wall “The beauty of Extreme is that it both educates people, and gets some stuff done that would be good to get done,” Roth says. “We focus on creating transformative learning experiences and, inevitably, the innovations follow.” The d.school’s culture of constant innovation is what spurs its students to find problems in the perceived status quo, to reject what others have begun to accept as the norm. According to Kelsey Dang, an undergraduate student majoring in product design, the Redesigning Theater team put on a spectacle of crazy shows in the d.school, creating a secret society with sword fighting and fire-blowing, to reshape how people think about theater. “Everyone loves theater,” Dang says. “But what hinders the experience is sitting in chairs, and being confined for hours. The Redesigning Theater team saw a problem and fixed it.” d.Ambiance Inside the two-story complex, every inch of the d.school is designed with a few key concepts in mind: mobility, collaboration, and flexibility. However, the d.school isn’t really a

“school.” It doesn’t hand out degrees. It has no lecture halls, no classrooms and no blackboards — none of the elements of the classroom as we know it. This way, Roth says, students learn through innovation, not memorization. “Our hallmark is flexibility,” he says. “When I teach a class, I may change the class’s physical set-up two or three times in a two-hour class so that there is a way to work in teams, with a lot of students putting up Post-Its and writing on markerboards.” The neon Post-Its have become a sort of physical mantra, encouraging collaboration by giving students the ability to add on to each other’s ideas and feed off of each other’s work. “Its no-commitment stick allows for mobility,” Anaissie says. The stools, Schmutte says, are purposefully designed to be slightly uncomfortable in order to get students moving, to get them engaged. That’s also why the tables have room only for four — four people, that is — not four laptops. The d.school’s very walls speak of collaboration, made only of shifting markerboards that slide past one another to open doorways. v

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Students start kindergarten with innate creativity, but seem to lose any semblance of it by the time they graduate from high school, says Bernard Roth d.school co-founder and academic director. He blames this phenomenon on the desks-in-rows model that so many schools still employ. The d.school hopes to match our 21st century classrooms to our 21st century world. The Stanford d.school’s K12 lab — a network of workshops for teachers and administrators — centers on helping schools use design thinking to re-think their approach to capturing students’ creativity. Through teacher workshops, the lab has helped kindergarten through high school teachers transform their classrooms into design-thinking shops where students take charge of their own learning. “Instead of teaching in a normal way, we move more towards a student-centered way, where students would be more responsible for driving what they do and learning what they need to learn to get their work done as opposed to... a set curriculum,” Roth says. “If you need information, you find it to satisfy your need.” By transforming the teaching experience from fact-based to projectbased, Roth believes students will become more engaged in the learning experience. So far it has worked. Tania Anaissie, design researcher and member of the d.teaching team, says second graders jumped three to four reading levels after simple tweaks that made the Harry Potter more enjoyable and interactive. “This is the kind of instilled thinking that schools need to achieve,” Roth says. “The way to look at this is not really as a replacement, but a kind of add-on.”

MAC e d i a

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NEW MEDIA ARTS CENTER BRINGS MODERNITY TO PALY

IGHT STREAMS THROUGH THE large glass windows, illuminating the pale palette of the building and broadening the expanse of the common room. Construction crews finished the exterior of the new Media Arts Center in January 2014. The center was imagined with the intention of spurring collaboration between — and providing technological advancement to — the numerous Palo Alto High School publications and media arts programs. The anticipation surrounding the building’s opening has culminated over the past six months leading up to a few pre-opening tours. “It [MAC] will really benefit the entire Paly community,” says Paly principal Kim Diorio. “While it’s built primarily for media arts programs, the overall vision is that everyone in the Paly community will benefit from the building.” The atrium, a large open space surrounded by classrooms and an encompassing balcony, will host future staff meetings and school dances. It is one of the most compelling components for the community, with seating for 150 to 200 people and a large viewing screen inspired by Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism’s First Amendment Forum. “I think there has been a lot of thought and forward thinking going into the building,” Diorio says. “It [the atrium] is going to be a real showcase for our school.”

According to Diorio, the state-of-the-art building that cost around $10 million and has taken three years to build will be supplied with newly purchased furniture. With the new building comes the need to equip the space with comodities, fixtures and technology. The furnishing includes everything from soft-seating, a well-mounted LCD screen with “writable glass” and even a 68foot digital ticker wrapping around the front of the building. “There’s a lot of design thinking involved in terms of creating learning spaces that really foster collaboration for our students,” Diorio says. The journalism classroom is known to be a place of teamwork, facilitating group activities where students from each section on a publication come together to develop, edit and publish each edition. To promote growth within the Paly journalism community in addition to classrooms, the MAC will use the surrounding inside balcony and the first floor’s open atrium. “In The Campanile aspect of journalism we really collaborate with our story ideas,” says Campanile senior staff writer Heather Strathearn. “Each person brings in a different paper full of news ideas, opinion ideas and lifestyle ideas and then we all bring them up and write them on the board.” Diorio says to increase student sharing, the MAC will have a joint kitchen café equipped with a stove, refrigerator, and microwave to facilitate meals for production nights. The kitchen will

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COVER | FEB 2014 Text by CLAIRE PRIESTLEY Graphic by DLM ARCHITECTURE Art by ANTHONY LIU

ATRIUM The centerpiece of the Media Arts Center providing a spacial meeting place in the middle of the building. To the left is the first floor floor plan and on the right the second floor plan.

open up a new environment for collaboration between the numer- two iPad Mini carts and three laptop carts. ous publications on the Paly campus. “As we bring in the technology into the building, it’s not going The MAC was designed around five main themes adopted to look like any other building on this campus,” Diorio says. from Chris O’Brien, a Mercury News reporter and publisher of Paul Kandell, beginning journalism teacher and adviser to The the Next Newsroom website: commuPaly Voice and Verde Magazine, has been cennity, collaboration, innovation, transtral in gathering ideas and organizing teachers parency and multi-platform publishing. and programs that will be in the building. Incoming English teachers plan to use “He worked with the Media Art Center “I think there has the set-up to increase collaboration boosters to make sure the furniture and the been a lot of thought among students in the hope of incorequipment is really state of the art and meetand forward-thinking porating the journalism dynamic into ing the needs of all the various programs,” their curriculums. going into the building. Diorio says. This overall theme of collaboraTwo unique features will be included: It [the atrium] is going tion will be achieved through the easy first, a time capsule asking students “What to be a real showcase mobility of the new desks and flexibilrepresents us now that would be interesting in for our school.” ity of the individual classrooms. the future?” and second, bathroom tiles etched — Kim Diorio, Paly Principal with unintentionally funny headlines from According to a study done in January and February of 2013 by Harris professional publications. Interactive, one of the world’s lead“It’s very forward-thinking,” Diorio says. ing market research firms, 92 percent of middle school and high “We are making sure the furniture is ergonomic and comfortable, schoolers prefer learning on mobile devices. This generation is the learning space and the environment has a good feel to it for growing up along with the fast-paced evolution of technology students and there is the ability to move the furniture so you can forcing the learning environment to evolve to include computers collaborate. It feels like a place where ideas are born and innovaand tablets. This new building will feature a bundle of desktops, tion is taking place.” v

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COVER | FEB 2014

TAKING OVER Technology is no longer just a presence at home; it has made its way into our schools as well.

BETTER UNPLUGGED WE NEED TO RETHINK THE WAY WE’RE USING TECH Text by ESME ABLAZA Photography by NICOLE COX

ERE IN THE HEART OF Silicon Valley, we are inundated with technology. We are the daughters, sons, nieces, nephews, cousins, granddaughters, grandsons and who knows what else of employees in STEM fields at tech giants such as Facebook, Apple, Google, and Hewlett-Packard. In our community, technology is a way of life. Things are no different at the educational level here in the Palo Alto Unified School District. In the past few years there has been a noticeable push for the implementation of more technology in our education system. According its mission statement, PAUSD is “dedicated to preparing youth for the challenges of living in a fastchanging world.” This “fast-changing world” refers to the technological revolution making its way into the classroom. While this philosophy could result in innovative reform in the classroom and more efficient methods of teaching, PAUSD, which embraces the technologically

dependent philosophy, has not yet effectively integrated technology into our education. Though the sentiment of the goal is exciting, our iPad carts are hindering the classroom dynamic rather than enhancing it. Students already spend a significant portion of time outside of school hours interacting with technology, whether they are using their phones and computers or watching television. This “fast-changing world” of technological symbiosis in schools might appear revolutionary to teachers. However, it feels natural for the ‘90s generation. The lives of students at Paly are already overwhelmed with technology. School hours are the perfect time for them to unplug their devices and interact with real live people. One of the best examples of unnecessary technology is the iPads. “It seems like we could use them a lot more and to a lot better benefit, but they always seem to have so many technical difficulties that I find myself trying to avoid using them,” Paly History teacher Alexander Davis says. Teachers regularly encounter technical difficulties

COVER | FEB 2014

with Paly’s iPad carts. This results in them being used only once or twice a month, which significantly lowers their cost-effectiveness. Informing teachers how to use technology is a key step in successfully integrating it into our education system. Teachers do have the option to take classes at the district office to learn how to use new technology that PAUSD acquires. The district’s efforts to guide teachers while they learn to use new technology is a promising step towards more effective integration of technology in our education system, and shows that we are on the right track. Old school The Waldorf School of the Peninsula, whose private high school campus is located in Mountain View, has a much different philosophy about technology than PAUSD. According to an article published by The New York Times in October of 2011, the Waldorf School does not allow its students to have any exposure to technology in the classroom until the eighth g rade.

Even the use of technology at home is discouraged. Students learn by engaging in creative activities such as art, drama, and music so as to strengthen their imaginations and capacities for thinking. While one of PAUSD’s main goals seems to be teaching students how to keep up with the latest technology, the Waldorf School is more focused on embracing the uniqueness of each student and teaching them how to interact with others. Pippa Le Cesne Byrne, a former Paly student who transferred from Paly to the Waldorf School mid-way through last year, believes her school’s limited use of technology and emphasis on the arts has impacted her education in a positive way. “It might seem that Waldorf is lacking something by not having the same technology, but that is not true at all,” Le Cesne Byrne says. “Waldorf has other ways of teaching that, in my opinion, are a lot more effective.” The right approach Vera Michalchik, Senior Associate Director for learning sciences and technology at the Center for Teaching and Learning at Stanford University, and former Director of Research on informal learning environments at SRI International, believes that technology can be successfully integrated into the classroom environment if it is used well. “[Technology] is really more about connecting people to ideas, resources, and other people,” Michalchik says. “A lot

of people think that just having technology means all problems are solved, and that’s not true. I think putting too much faith in just the fact of technology is not the right approach.” It would be beneficial to the learning environment at Paly if PAUSD used its wired classrooms in a different way. Rather than relying on iPads and apps to deliver content to students, technology should be used to help link students to resources that will allow them to explore topics in more depth. A good example of this is using technology for research instead of content delivery. Another good use for technology could be the use of digital platforms and databases to connect students to more resources and information. A sort of educational Pinterest, so to speak. Students could communicate with one another and explore what they are learning in more depth. A bad use of technology would be having a teacher rely on an app to teach a lesson to a class rather than teaching them the old-fashioned way: verbally. New methods of integrating technology in the classroom will help students strike a balance between living in our rapidly changing world while still remembering the value of human connections and individuality. v

COVER | FEB 2014

Internet SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE WEB DRAW PEOPLE TOGETHER INSTEAD OF FORCING THEM FURTHER APART

E’VE ALL HEARD IT, OR world to each other today more than at any time in the past. Far from keeping us from our friends, social media sites draw something similar: “You have better things to do with your time. Facebook’s sucking us closer together. They allow us to make friends based on shared your brains out! Get off your computer.” interests, not shared geography. We can write a story with someone Most adults seem to agree — spending ex- in England or get in an argument over which Star Trek movie is cessive amounts of time on the computer is, if not actively harm- the least scientifically accurate with someone in Brazil. Sites like ful, at least a waste of time. They’ll say that it’s “too passive” and Reddit and Instagram don’t divide us by geography — they tie us together regardless of culture. We are learning that we need to go spend time with our more about other people and their cultures friends. But they are missing out on than we ever have before, all with the help of some of the benefits that social media We are learning more the Internet. have given our society, and to us teens about other people We aren’t only learning about different culin particular, who are feeling backlash tures — we’re learning how to talk to people from parents and teachers about our and their cultures than from other cultures respectfully. Learning Internet usage. we ever have before, about different places around the world from The assumption that we do nothall with the help of the people who actually live in those places gives ing but gossip, bully and laze about internet. us a sense of reality and of closeness that a online is the source of a lot of this textbook can’t. Learning about people face-toantagonism. People argue that soface (well, profile-pic-to-profile-pic) instead cial media sites like Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook generate a disconnect from real people and of from a secondary source that doesn’t even include members of an apathetic view of human emotions and the world in gen- the demographic in question can really help teach us about differeral. However, this couldn’t be less true. The Internet and so- ent people and places. In addition to being better-connected with people, we are more cial media have thoroughly connected different parts of the

Kids are so unaware of world events.

You never spend any time with your friends.

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COVER | FEB 2014

Connection Text by MIRANDA COHN Art by ANTHONY LIU aware of world events than we have ever been before. News satu- tion can help us learn valuable collaboration skills, enabling us to rates almost every corner of the digital world. Links to news ar- work better with other people both online and in the real world. ticles from many different news sources with multiple viewpoints The Internet can also give us considerable emotional support circulate from Twitter to Tumblr to Facebook, along with analyses and comfort. We can find people who have gone through the same and arguments about the articles, followed by counter-arguments, things we’re going through and struggled with the same things all with sources to back them up. we’re struggling with. Though there are those places filled Online communities can provide an unwith extremists who won’t listen to anyprecedented amount of emotional support one else, there are also a number of places to people who desperately need it and gives where we can speak our minds and get fair us a chance to find answers to questions Online communities feedback. We have been given a unique that we wouldn’t feel comfortable asking in can provide an unopportunity to express ourselves and our real life. precedented amount views on almost anything and have rational Far from disconnecting the newer genof emotional support discussions about our opinions, allowing erations, social media and the Internet have us to see other viewpoints or clearly exto people who desper- tied us closer together. There are some bad press our own. We can learn how to argue parts of the Internet, but there are also ately need it. effectively while still keeping a cool head some bad parts of life. The Internet is just and how to find good sources that back one more form of communication. People up our claims, all while gaining a sense protest against social media, but people of independence and the ability to form our own opinions. Fo- protest against anything new and relatively unknown. New things rum sites in particular can offer a good place for us to talk about are almost universally protested and fought against, and that’s the both real-world issues like Obamacare and online issues like Net case here. Social media don’t separate us — it keeps us informed Neutrality and think up ways to fix them. This online coopera- and connected with the rest of the world. v

Get off the computer!

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COVER | FEB 2014

BALANCING THE IQ AND EQ

IS INTELLECTUAL GIFTEDNESS THE TRUE KEY TO SUCCESS? Text by SAMANTHA DEWEES and BRYAN WONG Photography by SAMANTHA DEWEES Art by ANTHONY LIU

T 3:15 P.M., A COLOSSUS OF exuberant students pours from the glass-paned doors of Synapse School in Menlo Park, Calif. Clad in brightly colored clothing and hefty backpacks, the students chat enthusiastically while teachers, parents and adult supervisors guide them out into the surrounding parking lot. The building they leave behind, although rather plain in exterior, is in actuality teeming with every color of the rainbow, split between two floors linked by mustard yellow staircases and decorated liberally with student artwork. This building, adjacent to the Riekes Center for Human Enhancement in Menlo Park, is home to Synapse School, a K-8 private school aiming to educate the intellectually gifted children of the Bay Area. But this school focuses on more than simply academic advancement; it has another goal in mind: teaching students about emotional intelligence, social-cultural values and the ability to comfortably and confidently find one’s niche in society. The importance of the EQ Today in the Silicon Valley, there appears to be an ever-increasing emphasis on intellectual prowess. From the get-go, students are encouraged to be competitive, battling for the highest SAT scores and admission to many of the most prestigious schools in the nation. Maybe this competitive culture stems from the highly educated and successful parent population of the Bay Area, many of whom place external pressures on their children not only to be hardworking but intellectually and academically advanced. Or maybe we simply have a profusion of naturally brilliant kids sprouting from this portion of the planet. Whatever the cause, we have to acknowledge that the standard of excellence has been raised—we can see it in the schedules of Palo Alto High School students, chock full of challenging classes; we can see it in the ferocious competition among SAT-takers and college applicants; and we can see it in the number of private schools that so many have chosen over the public school district, some aimed specifically to educate the “gifted” or intellectually advanced.

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COVER | FEB 2014 But this raises a critical question: what if intel“We teach our kids that empathy is an action lectual giftedness and academic achievement are over- word,” Rideout explains. “To empathize means valued? Is intellectual finesse the only key to success? you take action on what it is that you see.” According to an Aug. 2012 article published by Schools such as Synapse are said to assess the Palo Alto Weekly, the recent influx of private giftedness in a qualitative rather than quantitaschools for “gifted” students is due to a reduction in tive manner, which means, according to Madeline special services and opportunities for academically ad- Vann, the communications and admissions offivanced children in the public school district. Schools cer at Synapse, the school takes into account a such as Synapse School have sprung from the desire broader spectrum of intelligences rather than foto better educate bright kids on their paths to success. cusing on academic ability alone. But Synapse, rather than focusing solely on “Giftedness can manifest in so many differacademic advancement, strives ent ways,” Vann says. “We to broaden students’ EQ as do acknowledge multiple well, through a program intelligences and multiple EQ language is a called the “Six Seconds gifts.” Emotional Intelligence basis of our culture.” Shelley Van Zant, a Network.” Palo Alto resident and — Marsha Rideout, Emotional intelparent of two Synapse Synapse School ligence, defined as students, was most drawn the “ability to idento Synapse not because of tify, assess and control the emo- its catering towards intellectually gifted students tions of oneself, of others and but because of its social-emotional curriculum. of groups,” is, according to psy“They sort of cater to the individual,” Van chologist and Paly parent Su- Zant says. “We felt like the school would have san Esterly, just as important a lot to offer [as] we were specifically interested as intellectual intelligence, as in the social-emotional learning aspect with our a strong EQ helps to build youngest daughter … she has a difficult time regself-esteem, social skills, and ulating her emotions.” guides kids along the path Vann, the admissions officer at Synapse, to forming worthwhile rela- says the school follows a program known as tionships with those around “HEARTS,” or heat, engage, activate, reflect, them. transform and store. Throughout the school day, According to Marsha teachers implement these ideas into their lesson Rideout, the self-science plans, engaging students in hands-on projects and expert at Synapse, there are activities aimed to develop their emotional inteleight primary competen- ligence and social skills. cies taught at the school, In agreement with psychologist Esterly, Vann each emphasizing a differ- believes there is more to success as an individual ent area of the EQ, such than an impersonal intelligence quotient. as intrinsic motivation, “Emphasis on emotional intelligence couoptimism and empathy. pled with an intellectual IQ is such a part of your Synapse makes a point intelligence as a successful human being,” Vann of teaching all students says. “[They] fuel each other … you retain so a multitude of adjectives much more information when you are comfortto describe their emo- able in your learning environment.” tions, with the hope of Livia Polanyi, a counseling professor at Stanpromoting accuracy of ford University who works with gifted children, self-expression. focuses on appealing to the personal interests “The kids all have the of her students, as she believes that in order to same vocabulary that they can properly communicate with and educate a child, use,” Rideout says. “EQ lan- one must understand the way that child’s mind guage is a basis of our culture.” works—the way the child perceives and interprets At Synapse, students also learn the world around them. to recognize and understand their “I think you have to go to where the kid is; own and other students’ behavior in or- that’s where you start,” Polanyi says. “What is the der to improve communication and under- kid’s mind and life and where do the eyes light standing between themselves and their peers. up?”

“

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COVER | FEB 2014

SYNAPSE SCHOOL Student-painted posters decorate the exterior of Synapse School in Menlo Park, Calif.

However, as Polanyi notes, it is difficult to find an adequately supportive environment for gifted children to flourish. Van Zant feels the smaller class size and interactive teaching method practiced at Synapse provides students with such an environment. “They don’t teach memorization skills,” Van Zant explains. “They are teaching children how to think … the teaching is very much interactive [and] project-based.” Rideout and Vann explain that Synapse employs a method of teaching that provides students with real-world applications of the course material, as well as incorporating frequent hands-on activities to improve memory retention and encourage participation and cooperation. “We try to take EQ [and] make it concrete to the children,” Rideout says. “We have lessons integrated into the curriculum … concrete examples of how you apply EQ to the world.” To attend Synapse, a student must be evaluated through a procedure including an IQ test, student shadowing, parent-administration conferences, and teacher home visits. Vann explains that this process allows the school to assess a child’s intellectual and emotional abilities, as well as get an idea of whether he or she would be a proper fit for Synapse. “[Synapse kids] are bright, curious, engaged, and compassionate students,” she says. “Our mission is to educate future changemakers [and see] how they can positively impact the world.” Van Zant hopes the Palo Alto Unified School District will begin to implement some of the ideas practiced at schools like Synapse in the future. “I think there’s really a trend for all schools to start incorporating social-emotional learning into their curriculum,” she says. “Even the public schools are starting to incorporate this into their philosophy.” Despite the benefits of a small and more intimate learning environment that schools such as Synapse provide, Van Zant believes class size doesn’t need to be a factor when teaching emotional intelligence. “I think they could have a curriculum like Synapse has even

with bigger classes and I think it would be more beneficial to the students,” she says. Our School District Psychologist Esterly feels the competitive environment in the Palo Alto area and the emphasis on academic achievement can cause children to lose sight of their natural interests, leading to feelings of inadequacy and ignorance of certain interests. “Parents want to think of their kids as above average,” Esterly says.“[But] people ignore types of gifts that are more subtle. The best thing a parent can do for their child is to love and honor them exactly as they are.” Polanyi emphasizes the importance of educating children in an environment that is most appropriate for their own interests. “You can’t turn people into something that they’re not, but you can help them be where they want to be, and you can help them be proud and self-assured,” she says. Polanyi attributes the large population of bright students in this area to the intellect of the parents who choose to move here. “We have a very intelligent parent base who are highly educated, who are certainly producing a lot of highly gifted kids,” she says. However, she notes that this hyper-intelligent environment can have detrimental consequences for students who feel pressured to achieve at or beyond the level of their peers. “I think there is certainly a lot of pressure on these bright kids to shine in a population of other very bright kids,” Polanyi says. “The pressure to achieve when achievement is so narrowly defined, I can’t imagine that it isn’t corrosive.” Like Esterly, Polanyi feels that students shouldn’t be pressured into following societal norms—they should have the freedom to explore what they are naturally interested in, rather than feeling an obligation to conform. “Maybe you don’t have [a passion], maybe you just want to know what the world has to offer,” Polanyi says. “And that’s good enough.” v

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CULTURE | FEB 2014

our

OSCARS

AN INTRO TO THE ACADEMY AWARDS Text by CLAIRE PRIESTLEY and ELIZA ACKROYD Art by ANTHONY LIU

LLEN IS SET TO HOST THIS YEAR’S Academy Awards, and we can’t wait for her humor and skits. This year, “American Hustle” and “Gravity” have accumulated a whopping ten nominations and “12 Years a Slave” has nine, so they are bound to dominate the Oscar show. This group of Oscars is special because the nominees are equally matched, which will make the competition for an Academy Award especially riveting. Other top competitors include “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Nebraska” each with six nominations and “Her” with five nominations. The Oscars will air Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 7 p.m. Don’t miss the last awards show of the season! We are here to give you a preview on this year’s Academy Awards, show you some of the critics’ picks and who we think should win. v

Best supporting actress

Critics’ Pick: Lupita Nyong’o — “12 Years a Slave” Claire’s Pick: Jennifer Lawrence— “American Hustle” Jennifer Lawrence’s role in “American Hustle,” alongside Christian Bale, showcases her domestic insanity leading to deceitful and elusive behavior towards her husband. Her approach to the loneliness of being a housewife and her minor mishaps highlight her longing for companionship. Eliza’s Pick: Lupita Nyong’o — “12 Years a Slave” In “12 Years a Slave,” Lupita Nyong’o was the victim of very real and very common issues that slaves had to deal with, and her performance made it feel as if all of the horrors were actually happening to her. Even as a supporting actor, she was able to bring this character to the forefront of our sentiments.

Best Supporting Actor Critics’ Pick: Jared Leto — “Dallas Buyers Club” Claire’s Pick: Jared Leto — “Dallas Buyers Club” Jared Leto’s emotional issues throughout “Dallas Buyers Club” allowed the audience to relate to him and in turn relate to the struggles held by transgender people of the time. The wardrobe and makeup helped enhance his character and further engage the audience in Leto’s sowry tale in finding a way to prolong the life of AIDS patients. Eliza’s Pick: Jonah Hill — “Wolf of Wall Street” Of all the movies Jonah Hill has been in, “The Wolf of Wall Street” has to be his wildest yet. Hill brought just enough sass and sleaze to his portrayal of the character to make it infuriating and convincing, while still watchable. Not many would be able to pull off that ridiculous of a character and have us still keep watching, but Hill kept us enthralled until the very end.

Best Actress

Best Actor Critics’ Pick: Matthew McConaughey — “Dallas Buyers Club” Claire’s Pick: Matthew McConaughey — ”Dallas Buyers Club” If a guy gets that skinny for a role, he must really love the character, or the money. While acting is acting, Matthew McConaughey’s transformation to fit his role captured his tenacity to express this young man’s story. The gravity of his performance left the audience speechless as they silently marched out of the theater, their eyes opened to the misinformation surrounding AIDS during the ‘80s. Eliza’s Pick: Leonardo DiCaprio — “Wolf of Wall Street” As infuriating as his character Jordan Belfort was in “Wolf of Wall Street,” DiCaprio was able to play him exquisitely. Even throughout the tale of his illicit adventures, there was a sense of disappointment every time he was thwarted. Every bad decision, every hundred dollar bill he threw in the trash, drew us in even more. Although he’s lost the young and rebellious charm of “Titanic’s” Jack Dauson, DiCaprio’s time has finally come for him to win an Oscar.

Best Movie

Critics’ Pick: Cate Blanchett — “Blue Jasmine” Claire’s Pick: Judi Dench — “Philomena” The story of Philomena and her search for her son is an emotional tear jerker. In Judi Dench’s captivating role, she plays a timid, old woman in a pool of unrestricted access to information involving both public and private matters. While Dench may not be the leading contender in this category, her performance in this role is worthy of consideration. One can always root for the underdog because they might just pull through. Eliza’s Pick: Amy Adams — “American Hustle” Amy Adams was able to pull off the complexity of her character without over-dramatizing it. Her performance in “American Hustle” conveyed all the side-effects of a woman’s struggle with her identity in an accessible way. By hating herself and her identity, the idea that she could shed who she is, attracted her to Bale and to a life that revolves around conning others. Her performance is real and emotional — and her wardrobe is sure to evoke a response from the male audience as well.

Critics’ Pick: “12 Years a Slave” Claire’s Pick : “American Hustle” A movie starring a con man and a con woman with an unpredictable ending, “American Hustle” brings the audience to the edge of their seats. Christian Bale unwittingly falls in love with Amy Adams’ despite his marriage to Jennifer Lawrence. It seamlessly incorporates us into the action, and makes us part of their life. It kept us on the edge of our seats for the whole movie, and the ending did not disappoint. Eliza’s Pick: “Wolf of Wall Street” “Wolf of Wall Street” was a whirlwind of excessive sex, profanity, and drugs. Not to say it wasn’t entertaining; it just exhibited the extreme end of the affluent lifestyle in a severe way. The acquisition of money was easy and the actions on the trading floor and in the office were meant to be primal. This movie was the American Dream on steroids — and tackled the issue of the financial monsters on Wall Street in a way that appeals to those who are not attracted by more stale depictions, such as “Capitalism: A Love Story.”

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CULTURE | NOV 2013

STEAM Text and photography by ANGELA XU

HOUSE RESTAURANT OFF THE SILK ROAD OFFERS MODERN DIM SUM

TRAIGHT WOODEN PLANKS RUN FROM CEILING TO THE FLOOR, RESEMBLING wave-like patterns. Kitchens roar with red hot fires. Wooden bowls and white porcelain filled with food pass from toqueblanched chefs, to waiters dressed in formal black, to a sea of customers. Checking the piece of paper with the list of dishes that the customers ordered, the waiter lowers the wooden bowl to reveal still hot shrimp rolls with small tendrils of steam swirling off. Steam, the newly opened sister restaurant to Tai Pan, opened on University Avenue right across from Lytton Plaza on Feb. 6, 2013 introducing steamed dim sum to Palo Alto.

Steam takes inspiration from tea shops that served dim sum, a style of Chinese food that originated as a series of small snacks carted to resting tea drinkers, along the Silk Road. Taking in the relaxing ambience that those tea shops projected, Steam also adds a modern spin to its menu and decor. Steam keeps the traditional stamping of food items on the menu, in the form of simply marking out the order by making checks next to the desired dishes. Evident from the menu, Steam mixes tradition with contemporary, for example, serving the heavily traditional shrimp dumpling alongside the American originated “Mongolian beef.” This restaurant is in no way authentic, doing modernized ChineseAmerican food better than dim sum.

BEEF STEAL CUBES WITH MAGGI SAUCE ($14) This main dish is an example of Steam’s modern Chinese-American portion of its menu. The beef, cut into small chunks, tasted like miniature versions of well made tender steaks. The onions mixed into the dish offered a sweet and crunchy contrast to the beef. SINGAPOREAN RICE NOODLES ($10) This dish also reflects Steam’s modern Chinese-American theme. The noodles had a strong scent of curry and were mildly spicy. Although the dish was slightly powdery, this flaw was overshadowed by the succulent shrimp, arriving in numbers often hard to find at an affordable price.

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CULTURE | NOV 2013

STEAMING HOT Chefs work on main dishes, as dim sum cooks in steam in the back of the kitchen.

SHRIMP DUMPLINGS ($4.80) The shrimp dumplings, the trademark of a good dim sum restaurant, were disappointing. Although the shrimp was tender and sweet, the most important part of the shrimp roll, the skin, came off gummy, reminiscent of dim sum left out too long. SHANGHAI DUMPLINGS ($4.80) The Shanghai dumpling suffered the opposite problem of the shrimp; the skin was too thin and the filling too soft. The dumpling fell apart at the touch of a chopstick. However, the pillow-soft filling offered a refreshing taste of ginger. STEAMED BBQ PORK BUNS ($4.80) The steamed BBQ pork buns were surprisingly good, considering the difficulty of finding a balance of a fluffy bun and succulent meat bits. The buns were sweet and filling, covering up chunks of barbecued pork. The pork and bun complimented each other; the bland bun toned down the savory BBQ pork.

STEAMED BLACK SESAME BALLS ($4) The steamed black sesame balls ($4) were made of black sesame paste covered by soft mochi. The softness of the rice and the texture of the sweet and crunchy sesame seeds balanced each other. The peanut covering the rice added to the texture. SPONGE CAKE ($4) The sponge was sweet and dense, and at the same time fluffy, a tough combination of qualities to find in a sponge cake. Due to the density of this sponge cake, it can also be eaten as a mid-day snack.

Like every shop along University Avenue, the prices found at Steam are not cheap. However, in comparison to other restaurants in the area, along with the quality of the food, the dishes at Steam are worth the price. Steam may not be the traditional dim sum house of the year, however it offers hungry travelers of the University road a place to have a quick chat with close companions along with rejuvenating tea and tasty snacks. v

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 34 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

MEDIA ARTS BOOSTERS?

SIGN ME UP!

Join Media Arts Boosters! Paly’s exciting new Media Arts Building is expected to open its doors in Fall 2014 with a grand celebration to showcase our award-winning programs. Our multi-million dollar state-of-the-art building will house the Journalism, Photography, Graphic Design and Video Production programs. The mission of the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Boosters is to provide ongoing advisory and financial support for projects and innitiatives, and to encourage lasting relationships within the intllectual, media and business communities. We are currently recruiting parents, especially those interested in working on the grand opening or fundraising. Please contact MediaArtsBoosters@yahoo.com for more information, meeting dates, etc. And don’t forget to “like” us on Facebook! Search “Palo Alto High School Media Arts Boosters and like our page. Meetings are held in Paly’s English Resource Center at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month.

CLOSING 35-YEAR-OLD DIM SUM RESTAURANT CLOSES

Text and Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

H O Y U A N D H I S W I F E DA I S Y Y U R E C E N T LY announced the closing of Cho’s, their 35-year-old dim sum restaurant located on California Avenue in Palo Alto. The announcement came as a surprise to Cho’s loyal customers when a handwritten note was posted on the wall of the restaurant beneath the framed Chinese character for “good fortune”: “We lost the lease. The last day is 3/15/2014. Thanks Everyone for the Long Time Support! — Cho” The Yus told Verde were given a 60-day eviction notice by their landlord. According to the San Jose Mercury News, a petition has been started to save the family-owned restaurant. If evicted, Cho’s delicious dim sum and the Yus presence at the restaurant will be dearly missed by Palo Alto residents. v TOP RIGHT: Cho Yu serves potstickers and springrolls to hungry customers. BOTTOM CENTER: Cho Yu returns to the kitchen after wiping down restaurant tables. BOTTOM LEFT: A customer tastes Cho’s famous beef potstickers.

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Dr. Christine Ko Specializes in Orthokeratology

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The Real Estate Rush

FEATURES | FEB 2014

Foreign buyers flock to palo alto

Text by JASPER MCEVOY Illustrations by ANTHONY LIU

ALO ALTO IS THE CENTER OF THE world and technology. At least according to Kim Heng, head of marketing at DeLeon Realty. In Heng’s eyes, and in the eyes of the real estate world, the city has everything to offer: a robust education system, a world-class university, wealthy venture capitalists. The list goes on. Recently, however, Palo Alto seems to be appealing to an international crowd. Specifically, Chinese home buyers. “Palo Alto has first of all, beautiful weather and geographically it’s very convenient for Chinese to fly over – it’s just a direct flight,” Heng says. “And Stanford University is right here. Everyone [in China] knows Stanford University. Parents dream to send their kids to Stanford.” The influx of Chinese buyers in the area has some residents up in arms, complaining that their neighborhoods are being taken over by foreigners. According to Heng, the number of Chinese home buyers has increased by 15 percent in the past two years. This change can also be seen directly in the demographics in Palo Alto Unified School District schools over the past five years. According to the California Department of Education, Asian students made up only 26.8 percent of enrolled PAUSD students in

2008. By 2013, the number had risen to 32.8 percent, a six percent increase. According to Debra Cen, co-founder of the Palo Alto Chinese Parent Club, the change will present challenges to which the community must adapt. “The new immigrants may behave differently from the locals due to the culture difference and ignorance of American culture and local tradition,” Cen says. “Therefore, it is important for our community to reach out to help them to understand how American society works.” Nearly everyone is a foreigner in Palo Alto, themselves or their ancestors having immigrated to America at one point or another. In Cen’s opinion, the new wave of Chinese immigrants is no different than the scores of foreign groups who have preceded them. “American [society] is a society for equality,” Cen says. “The new immigrants [come] like older-generation immigrants came to pursue their American dream. They certainly should be treated like everyone else.” Understanding the Issue Immigrant groups are attracted to America for many different reasons. The Irish flooded New York’s shores in the late 1840s,

FEATURES | FEB 2014

fleeing the Potato Famine. Recently, Latin American immigrants prise. According to her, the market requires an have come north of the border seeking better jobs. One of the draws to the Silicon Valley area for Chinese buy- adjustment every eight to ers is the opportunity to invest. The recently booming Chinese 10 years. After housing economy, according to Heng, has produced nearly one million mil- prices fall, the prices are lionaires, many of whom look to buy foreign properties as a means adjusted and begin to rise again. of stabilizing their investments. According to Bowl“They like to diversify their risks, so buying real estate proping, the current surge in erty is the best way to do that,” Heng says. In addition, American real estate laws are more attractive, as prices we are seeing is the result of an adjustment they allow the buyer to own the land as well as the house. “The U.S. has a really complete real estate law,” Heng says. after the economic cri“[Chinese buyers] feel like they own the land. When you buy prop- sis of 2008, while higher prices themselves do not erty in China, you don’t own the land, the land is on a lease.” But the main pull of Palo Alto does not draw investors; in- boost the economy, the THE PLAYERS two go hand-in-hand. stead, it attracts families. Palo Alto Realtor Lan Liu “I don’t think that Bowling is an expert on the Palo “The reason [families] are attracted to this area is because, a lot of them, they want to send their kids to good schools,” says Lan you can say that rising Alto real estate market. Photo house prices courtesy of Lan Liu Bowling.ton Liu Bowling, a Palo Alto actually help realtor. “We have really the economy the best unified school – I think it would be more accurate to say that rising district in the area.” prices, like many other things, are an indicator that Palo Alto’s emer“The reason [families] the economy is strong,” Bowling says. “Prices will gence as a destination for are attracted to this area only rise when lots of people are working at good Chinese families seeking is because, a lot of them, paying jobs, when people’s belief in the future is posian American education they want to send their tive, and there are many people whose financial situfor their children can be kids to good schools. We ation is improving.” attributed to the quality While the growing economy improves the real of the Palo Alto Unified have the best unified estate business, it may pose a threat to lower-income School District. While school district in the area.” workers in Palo Alto looking to buy property. PAUSD schools are not — Lan Liu Bowling, Palo Alto “A serious downside exists for many people who as math-heavy as some Realtor cannot afford the higher prices, Bowling says. “This of China’s, they offer means that some of the most important people in a the students a more balcommunity, for example teachers, city employees, and anced education. “First off, they can learn English,” Heng says. “Also, they are service workers in the private sector cannot afford to own homes exposed to different ways of thinking. How open and forward- in the local community and must travel in from some distance. thinking this area is, it just helps them … In China, it’s more lean- This is a negative effect that should not be forgotten when people ing towards science and math and physics. Here, I think education say the economy is ‘strong’.” is more well-rounded.” Chinese Parent Club Assimilation into the Palo Alto community is no easy task for The Palo Alto Market The impact of foreign buyers on the housing market in Palo the new Chinese immigrants. Cen, along with other co-founder Alto has been significant. According to Bowling, the median price Amy Yang are both Chinese-born, but now reside full-time in Palo Alto. According to them many of the immigrants do not know of homes went up over 20 percent last year. “While foreign buyers have contributed to this increase they English and are unfamiliar with American culture, making integracertainly do not account for all of it,” Bowling says. “Palo Alto has tion into the Palo Alto community difficult. However, Cen and seen many such increases in times past and there have always been Yang believe that community efforts and programs can help these immigrants fit in. people who are willing to pay a higher price to live here.” “Because they are not educated here, they know very little To Bowling, the rise in the housing market comes as no sur-

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FEATURES | FEB 2014

about American culture,” Cen says. “We thought, ‘One way to keep “Honestly, from both of us, we feel like Palo Alto is not ready, Palo Alto culture and tradition is to educate and integrate them at least not prepared, for the new surge [of immigrants],” Yang into our community,’ so we started a parent club to educate them says. “The Chinese population is growing so fast.” on American culture.” Cen echoes her fears, underlining the need for action from the The Palo Alto Chinese Parent Club aims to give social and city and the school system. educational assistance to new Chinese parents in the area. One ma“There [has been] no city action...so Amy and I, we realize jor method for helping these parents become accustomed socially the urgency,” Cen says. “I think it’s very important for the schools, is to first help their children to socialize. for the city, to start some program to help integrate these people, “To new immigrant parents, changing because you cannot stop them. You’d their behavior and getting them to intebetter embrace them.” grate, the biggest motivator to do that is Cen and Yang do not believe, kids,” Cen says. “They will change their though, that this negatively changes the “It’s not like they don’t behavior, they will be motivated to pardynamic of the community. Instead, want to join the block ticipate in things. If they were told, ‘It’s they see the increasing number of imparty or they don’t want good for the kids,” they would do it. These migrants as a chance for Palo Alto to to be shaking hands with grow. are successful people. They want to be respected and they want to be accepted.” “I think you should look at it as the neighbors...They In particular, the Chinese Parent Club an opportunity, because these people want to mingle, but they hopes to improve the social skills of the come legally, and they came bringing are probably afraid.” new Chinese children coming to Palo Alto the money to the community,” Cen — Amy Yang, Palo Alto Chinese says. “Certainly, the sudden surge in schools, in hopes that they will in turn enParent Club Co-Founder numbers looks like it poses a threat courage their parents to step out of their comfort zones. of changing the demographic and the “We did a survey, now over 80 percent culture, and I think realizing that, we of parents, their No. 1 interest is how to help their kids develop so- should do something to bring these people into the community.” cial skills,” Cen says. “Chinese academically usually are pretty good; Through the club, the two have discovered that while these their parents know how to push them. But socially, the parents are immigrants are motivated to join the community, they are at the not so familiar with the culture here, so they don’t know how to same time apprehensive. help them develop social skills.” “It’s not like they don’t want to join the block party or they Both Cen and Yang believe that the programs such as theirs don’t want to be shaking hands with the neighbors,” Yang says. will have a positive impact on the rising number of immigrants “They just move here, it’s a new thing for them. They are still coming to Palo Alto. However, they fear that the city is not doing learning how to be social with Americans. It’s like the new kids on enough to accommodate the new Chinese and welcome them into Paly campus. The kids, they want to mingle, but they are probably the community. afraid.” v

THE PLAYERS Co-Founders Amy Yang (left) and Debra Cen (right) talk to club members at the Palo Alto Chinese Parent Club’s September picnic, held at Mitchell Park. Photo courtesy of Yunteng Huangt: Shelton Cai, Christopher Cerpa, Peter Nishimura, Wilson

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FEATURES | FEB 2014

THE RISE OF A CRYPTOCURRENCY WITH THE POTENTIAL TO GLOBALIZE Text by SIDDHARTH SRINIVASAN Art by ANTHONY LIU UYING A HOT CHOCOLATE THE cord. Enormous amounts of anonymity are what fuel the growth unconventional way, I approached the register and expansion of this virtual currency. Bitcoin was able to gain popularity by verifying transacat Palo Alto’s Coupa Cafe carrying no standard form of currency on me. Not a dollar bill nor tions without a central third party organization. The developers coin, a credit nor debit card; instead I sought solved this by creating a complex algorithm for which purchases to experiment with the latest technological hype are tracked by a “block chain.” People called miners produce the buzzing through Palo Alto. A fraction of a bitcoin, blockchain and verify transactions. A miner is given 25 bitcoins if one one hundredth to be exact, was all I carried in a “wallet” on he is the first to verify the transaction. Miners are rewarded for asmy phone. As I saw the price for my Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate sisting the network and this reward system is the method in which come up at the register, a lime green number followed right be- new bitcoins are introduced, says Google employee Mike Youseffmir, who developed a strong interest in Bitcoin in 2009. neath in bitcoins. Robert Sieh, a Palo Alto High School senior, was a miner three “That will be 19 thousandths of a bitcoin,” said the woman years ago. He mined for a three-month period and was rewarded standing behind the counter. I opened the blockchain application for the first time, entering with $100,000 profit on a $3000 investment. “The real costs were the electricity to run the code for Coupa Cafe and entering the .006 my computer programs, and the cost of buypayment. A miniature barcode popped up on my phone screen, which I held up for the reg“Bitcoin is to cash ing three computers with four graphics cards each,” Sieh says, reflecting on his investment. ister’s scanner to read. A satisfying beep alertas email is to paSieh found that mining was extremely reed me that my payment had been processed. per mail” warding in 2011 but he believes for the majority Within milliseconds, my payment had reached — Adrian D’Urso, of miners now, the expenses exceed the scant Coupa’s account. Although Coupa Cafe currently is one of Former Paly student reward. “You don’t want to be in your garage the few places that accept bitcoins, it reprewhen you are mining, because it is around 100 sents just the beginning Bitcoins propagate. In March of 2012, Gunn student Atanas Spasov purchased a degrees in there,” Sieh says. “Additionally, the systems are connumber of bitcoins for a mere $5 each. Since then, Spasov’s invest- stantly crashing, and need to be fixed.” The mining process consists of running code on a computer ment rose a staggering 19,000 percent as during Bitcoin’s meteoric rise from unknown currency to the world’s most frequently traded system. However, according to Sieh, the code is publicly available, cryptocurrency in that short space of time, as with the growth in making the process more straightforward. Sieh stated that the production of bitcoins will cease once accessibility and functionality came a rapid increase in price. Bitcoin was created in early 2009 by a developer under the there are 21 million coins produced, preventing inflation. Although many may express doubt in the currency’s ability to pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, who has since passed on his control of the project. According to multiple journalistic sources, succeed due to the lack of clarity about its structure and creation, Nakamoto’s identity is unknown but he holds billions of dollars Paly senior and Bitcoin investor Max Bernstein disagrees. “I like the anonymity and decentralization of Bitcoin,” Berworth of bitcoins. Unlike the currencies in our world today, Bitcoin has no ties with any country, has no known creator or opera- nstein says. Bernstein got involved in Bitcoin during his freshman year tor and can be exchanged and used without any easily accessible re-

May 2010 First real world transaction (Pizza)

Jan. 2009 Nakamoto starts Bitcoin

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Feb. 2011 value reaches $10

FEATURES | FEB 2014

and he saw the bitcoins he saw his investment at $450 a coin rise to nearly $950 a coin. Bitcoin’s colossal rise in popularity and value has resulted in a explosion of startups revolving around the new currency. Andres M. Antonopoulos, Bitcoin expert and entrepreneur, is currently involved in multiple projects involving uses of Bitcoin and believes that Bitcoin will continue to rise at this rapid rate. “The amazing power of Bitcoin is that you have to trust no one,” Antonopoulos says. Bitcoin is a decentralized currency, preventing it from being controlled by a particular government or organization. Additionally, the founder and creator of Bitcoin has no superior status as a user, Antonopoulos says that the creator has to play by the same rules as anybody else. After seeing Bitcoin rise to prominence over the course of the last couple years, Bernstein, Spasov, and Paly alumnus Adrian D’Urso hold unique perspectives on Bitcoin’s prospects for the future. According to Spasov, unlike regular currencies, the quantity of bitcoins does not expand or contract to demand. Spasov believes that the method in which the virtual currency functions is unlike that of a national currency. “Bitcoin’s supply will bounce around wildly, preventing it from becoming a global currency,” Spasov says. The National Bureau of Economic Research’s David Yermack echoes Spasov’s perspective in a graph, which he believes summarizes Bitcoin’s inability to succeed. The graph shows that in 2013, Bitcoin had a volatility rate seven times that

Sept. 2012 Bitcoin Foundation forms

of gold, and nearly 21 times that of the British pound. D’Urso shares a different perspective, believing that Bitcoin has the potential to spread across the globe. “Bitcoin is to cash like email is to mail,” D’Urso says. He added that Bitcoin will eventually succeed cash in the fashion that email forced paper mail out. Antonopoulous believes Bitcoin has the ability to make processes easier for nonprofits and schools. “Schools currently have all their payments for lunches and student fees through paper and check because Paypal or systems like that are too expensive,” Antonopoulos says. With Bitcoin, Nov. 2013 schools would be able to transfer their Record High payment system and would not pay the $1242 substantial 3.4 percent processing fee that Paypal charges. He says that Bitcoin has the potential to become more accessible Jan. 2014 and usable than the cash money we Money launuse today, similar to how email evendering arrest tually became the practical improvement over paper mail. Antonopoulos is a great believer in the potential of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to succeed, saying that in the future, even governments will adopt cryptocurrencies as their national currency, rather than trying to prevent their globalization. “Bitcoin is an invention,” Antonopoulos says. “It’s math, you cannot stop it. Stopping it would be like Skyrocketing trying to ban x2+6x+9.” v A timeline mapping Bitcoin’s growth since its creation in 2009 displays the price surge in 2013 as the Silk Road Oct. 2013 black market Silk Road shut scandal became down by FBI publicized.

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FEATURES | FEB 2014

NBOMe Recently banned research drug causes concern

Text by JOE MEYER

N 1991, ALEXANDER and Ann Shulgin published “Pihkal,” short for “Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved,” along with the chemical formulas and methods of manufacture for hundreds of new designer drugs. Since then, so-called “research chemicals” have taken off with a wild abandon, wriggling their way around drug enforcement laws and disguising themselves as everything from “legal weed” to bath salts. One of the more recently discovered research chemicals, NBOMe, has hit drug markets across the world in the last two years, killing at least 17 in America alone, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency, and prompting four major countries, including the U.S. and Russia, to outlaw it. NBOMe, a common, albeit relatively unknown research chemical drug, first hit the markets in 2010 via online vendors and has since risen in popularity across the world, with millions of doses manufactured each year according to the DEA. The drug is classified, according to Erowid, a non-profit organization dedicated to “documenting the complex relationship between humans and psychoactives,” as a psychedelic, a euphoriant and a stimulant, meaning that users of the drug may experience a heightening of the senses, intense feelings of euphoria, ego loss and hallucinations. Users may also experience nausea, paranoia, confusion and terror. NBOMe, being potent and cheap, represents a more cost-efficient LSD

substitute which is much simpler to make, and is commonly (and falsely) sold as LSD. One major problem is that if users believes their NBOMe to be LSD, they are more likely to overdose. While there is no confirmed case of a fatal LSD overdose in the drug’s 76-year history, according to Erowid, there have been at least 14 fatal NBOMe overdoses and three behavioral fatalities in America alone in less than two years, the DEA

“[NBOMe] flashbacks can be rather frightening.” — Kevin, Bay Area student user reports. On Nov. 15, the DEA used emergency scheduling powers to ban NBOMe, which had previously resided in a legal gray area in America. The DEA website states that, as of November, NBOMe is a Schedule I controlled substance. NBOMe is also illegal in Israel, Russia and the United Kingdom, according to their respective government websites. Very little professional research has been done on this substance, so the long-term effects on a user’s brain and body are yet unknown. “After using [NBOMe] excessively I have developed flashbacks,” says Kevin, a Bay Area high school student whose name has been changed to protect his identity. “[NBOMe] flashbacks

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are pretty intense, much more so than acid [LSD]. [NBOMe] flashbacks can be rather frightening.” Kevin, who estimates that he has used various NBOMe derivatives a total of 20 to 25 times, says that the NBOMe trip itself feels “dirtier” than an LSD trip. “The visuals are slightly more intense than LSD, however the residual psychedelia is much more noticeable,” Kevin says. Kevin says that he can feel NBOMe affecting him long after he comes down from the trip. “[NBOMe has] made me view the world differently,” he says. “Which can be good, and [NBOMe] has definitely made me more open to things and given me a better understanding of myself as a person. But it has also made me see the world in a darker light. Honestly, [NBOMe] has messed me up more than it has helped.” Since both drugs are generally packaged onto blotter paper, it can be difficult to distinguish LSD from NBOMe. The only reputedly effective method of differentiation, short of buying a test kit, is taste. Erowid states that while real LSD should have no taste at all, NBOMe tastes bitter and acidic and, upon initial contact, often produces a numbing sensation in the mouth. NBOMe no longer exists in a gray area in America; it is simply illegal. However, there remain countless chemicals on the gray market today that are being sold legally through head shops and online vendors across the world, most of which are poorly researched — and potentially quite dangerous. v

ALL DRIED UP T CALIFORNIA FACES THE WORST DROUGHT IN ITS HISTORY

Text, photography and art by KATIE EBINGER

HE END OF 2013 MARKED California’s driest year on record warning of potential trouble for both the city of Palo Alto and the state as a whole. With less water than ever, local governments are taking precautionary action to conserve. “[The] Sierra snowpack, which provides much of the water that fills our reservoirs… is currently eight to 14 percent of where it should be,” says Nicole Loomis, Palo Alto High School AP Environmental Science teacher. “The last two years have been very dry, and there has been a 10 percent decrease in annual average precipitation over the past 100-plus years.” According to Debra Katz, Palo Alto Utilities communications manager, cities such as San Francisco and Palo Alto, that rely on the water from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park have been asked to make 10% voluntary cutbacks. “The Santa Clara County Water District is asking everybody in Santa Clara County to reduce by 10 percent,” Katz says. For an added incentive, the city offers rebates to citizens who practice simple water saving techniques. Rebates are offered for

PLANT NATIVES In a statewide study by the Irvine Ranch Water District, 53 percent of domestic water is used for landscaping. Replacing lawns with native plants could save a substantial amount of water.

installing more efficient fixtures and replacing lawns with water efficient plants, according to Katz. In light of the drought, rebate amounts have risen. Katz stresses the importance of not reacting with panic to the drought. If the dryness persists for years, Palo Alto has a backup network of reservoirs and wells for use in an emergency. In addition, if drought rates or other restrictions are implemented in the future, they would not be based on current water use, so people should not hesitate to reduce water usage now. Despite the record dryness, restoration ecologist Kyra Engelberg, remains optimistic, speculating that this is only a cyclical drought. “It’s really tempting to blame climate change,” Engelberg says. “But in reality, as with many climate change issues, it’s really hard to link [local] weather patterns to a broader climate.” v ARASTRADERO The hillsides at Arastradero Preserve are usually an emerald green this time of year, but due to the lack of rain are now a golden brown (above).

WATER AT NIGHT

FIX LEAKS

If you do keep your lawn, make sure to water at night as a large part of the water is lost to evaporation during the heat of the day.

According to Katz, families could save $80 to $160 per month by fixing leaks. To locate leaks, Santa Clara County Water District professionals offer free audits.

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FEATURES | FEB 2014

The American

DREAM Act RACIE

LAW MAY ALLOW CHILD IMMIGRANTS TO STAY

RACIELA DELGADO, A SEQUOIA High School senior, recently applied to 13 universities and aspires to attend Santa Clara University and obtain a business degree. Delgado, like many of her peers is a hard-working student who somehow finds time to participate in peer mediation, babysitting, tutoring and fundraising events. Delgado, her single mother and her two sisters immigrated to this country illegally when Delgado was four years old. Now at age 18, Delgado and her family are under threat of deportation. For about 1.8 million young immigrants this situation might sound familiar. This is where the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, first proposed in 2001, comes in. The DREAM Act benefits people like Delgado who are under the age of 30 at the time the law passes (if it passes in federal legislature), have lived in the country for at least five years and immigrated before age 16. One must also have completed a high school education and have a clean criminal record.

Currently, Delgado and her family are in the process of deferred action which allows them to live in the US, to work and get drivers licenses while the DREAM act is under discussion. Though this is a step in the right direction, “deferred action is not permanent, meaning it can be terminated at any time,” Delgado says. This qualifies one for a conditional immigration status which lasts six years. To gain permanent residency one must graduate college or serve in the U.S. military and maintain a clean criminal record while paying their taxes. Once one has completed these qualifications they can follow the traditional route to citizenship. To some this may seem like an obvious step for a country of immigrants to take, and to others, it’s a step on to a battlefield gearing up for a war between those who have already fought for their American Dream and those who want a free ride. A look at the history and debates helps to explain why this topic remains in a deadlock of controversy.

The History

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The DREAM Act has been controversial since its beginning

FEATURES | FEB 2014 pers to those who would be eligible for the DREAM Act.

The Debate

CIE

Text by BRIGID GODFREY Art by ANTHONY LIU and KARINA CHAN as a Senate bill in 2001 brought to Congress by Republican Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). They proposed that immigrants who arrived as children and were current students should not be deported. The bill did not pass. “The goal was to allow students who had essentially grown up in the U.S. and who were able to contribute to our society — hence the college or military requirement as well as ‘good moral character’ — a path to becoming American citizens,” says Leslie Dorosin, executive director of the Grove Foundation (a non-profit founded by Intel co-founder Andy Grove), who has been studying the DREAM Act as part of her profession. The bill was reintroduced in different forms and with different proponents but voted down each time. By late 2012, 12 states had passed their own versions of the bill, generally focusing on tuition and financial aid for students attending state universities. Even though the law has yet to pass the Federal Congress, in mid-2012 the Obama administration issued an executive directive granting a reprieve from deportation and work authorization pa-

This bill and the message that it stands for has created strong opinions on both sides of the political spectrum. Opponents of the bill are concerned about illegal immigrants prospering at the detriment of legal citizens. Opponents have also expressed the fear that a large number of people have followed the process to naturalization and it’s unfair for illegal immigrants to jump ahead of them to the front of the line. In a recent email interview with Rebecka Schumann, Wall Street reporter, says she is “fully against the DREAM Act. As a legal U.S. citizen, one who fought their way to pay for four years of college due to the lack of support from financial aid, and the government … I feel it insulting to have to support other’s education when I did and still, to this day, struggle to pay for my own.” Townhall.com columnist Ira Mehlman writes, “The DREAM Act fulfills the parent’s principle reason for breaking the law in the first place.” He sites the idea that American will feel morally obligated to provide citizenship to all immigrants. On the other side of the argument, proponents say it will help our economy and immigrants helping immigrants it morally the right thing to do. The whitehouse.gov website sites a recent study conducted at The University of California at Los Angeles that students that would be impacted by the DREAM Act could add between $1.4 to $3.6 trillion in taxable income to the economy, depending on how many ultimately gain legal status. States, such as Maryland, are already seeing positive changes. In an article published on Jan. 28 in The Baltimore Sun reporters by Liz Bowie and Erica L. Green they say: “State education officials credited the passage of Maryland’s Dream Act ... as one of the factors for the 2.5 percentage point increase in the graduation rate for Hispanics.” Addressing the concern of increased illegal immigration, The Immigration Policy Center states that because “programs like the DREAM Act which have clear-cut off dates” there are offering no incentives for immigration. “We also need to consider that border patrol has increased so it almost impossible to enter illegally,” Delgado says. “But that’s not the importance of this. The importance is to fix this issue by allowing hard working students that are already here to have a secure future ahead of them and to help those families outside of the US to have the same opportunities that we have here.”

The Future What’s next for the DREAM Act? Although the DREAM Act is yet to become a law President Obama outlined Immigration reform as one of his top priorities in the 2014 State of the Union Address. He ends the section with: “So let’s get immigration reform done this year.” Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), however, recently said immigration reform is unlikely in 2014. On Jan. 30, Politico wrote that several Republican leaders have began laying out immigration policy before and after naturalization which may one day include some version of the DREAM Act. v

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PROCRASTI NATION TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA CULTURE SPUR LACK OF PRODUCTIVITY IN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Text by KELLY SHI Art by ANTHONY LIU

T 2 A.M., ELI WEITZMAN WAS ark says. “Technology makes it easier to have something readily seriously considering writing “YOLO” on his accessible to procrastinate with.” Today’s generation finds smart phones and computers more last English essay of sophomore year. “All the essays we’d do, I would kind of common than ever and when finally convinced to abandon the enwrite the night before, and it became this kind thralling activity of decomposing partial fractions, students enter of monthly thing,” says Weitzman, now a senior at Palo Alto High the deadly realm of the ProcrastiNation. The ProcrastiNation (a concept of my own devise) consists School. “It seemed to work every time for me — except for when of people who have succumbed to the lifestyle of daywe came up to the end of the year.” time web-surfing turned 3 a.m. bedtimes. Whether it Weitzman sat down to write the essay after dinbe Tumblr, YouTube, or Twitter — pick your poiner, but was distracted by Facebook and other “The son — the ProcrastiNation doesn’t judge. websites. With the temptation of a rapidly apmore you get But citizens of the ProcrastiNation must proaching summer break and waning motivadeal with the real world, where over-employtion to write the last essay of the year, after away with it [proment rates and competitive college accepfive hours of procrastination, Weitzman had crastination], the tances pressure students to be academically a choice: throw caution to the wind and folmore it prompts successful. This call for productivity is conlow Drake’s motto or spend time writing up a you to do it.” tinuously challenged by the advancement of passable essay. — Eli Weitzman, technology. Today’s generation is familiar with According to iOS news website 148Apps. Weitzman’s situation: with cat GIFs and social senior biz, as of Jan. 20, the Apple Application Store media sites only a click away, “I’ll do it later” bealone has 185,815 games available for download, or comes easier and easier to say. Rare is the student who 185,815 different ways to put off that AP U.S. History can resist the siren calls of the Internet in favor of comreading. With more smart devices entering the market, avoiding pleting his or her homework. Stanford Ph.D. student Daniel Newark has studied indecision homework has become easier than ever. Paly chemistry teacher Kelli Hagen has been teaching for and how it relates to procrastination. According to Newark, techmore than 20 years and has observed an evolution of procrastinanology has made procrastination easier than ever. “There have always been distractions and diversions and tion among students. “I think that the biggest change that I’ve seen since I’ve startthings that people could do if they wanted to procrastinate,” New-

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ed teaching to now, is social media and the way that it has kind of taken over [students’] lives,” Hagen says. With endless newsfeeds, instant messaging, and increasing ways to interact with others, social media websites serve as popular vehicles for procrastination. However, the procrastination is userdriven, as students initiate conversations and activity in order to avoid homework. This attitude generates a culture in which procrastination is not only accepted, but expected from peers. The pro-procrastination attitude could be the result of students wanting to feel better about themselves by dragging others into their productivity slump. It could also increase to the point of students expecting others to procrastinate in order to fit in. “It [the attitude] definitely makes it [procrastinating] feel more acceptable,” Weitzman says. “It’s just a social kind of thing, where everyone procrastinates, so it’s okay.” Newark believes the accepting attitude may even cause students to overemphasize procrastinating. “It [the attitude] might also lead people to exaggerate their procrastination if you feel you’re going to stress people out by talking about how much you worked,” Newark says. “You’re more inclined to pretend that you worked less.” If it is acceptance teens seek by encouraging procrastination among one another, they have succeeded. But meeting social expectations doesn’t necessarily relieve the resulting stress. “It’s a sap on time and energy,” Weitzman says. “I think it’s very easy to fall into a procrastination cycle. It starts with just, you know, ‘Oh I’ll do this a little bit later,’ ‘I’ll do this after dinner,’ and you’ll start getting more desperate and like, more extreme. So you start waking up early to do your homework, but then you’re too tired to do that. And the more you get away with it, the more it prompts you to do it.” Hagen believes students are capable of managing their work despite procrastination. “You guys [students] are savvy,” Hagen says. “You guys are able to figure it [social media] out and juggle it. But I think it comes at the cost of your sleep, which is very unfortunate because I would choose sleep over study. I would choose sleep over social media.” Weitzman and Hagen’s cycle theories are supported by science. It is natural to assume that along with a lack of sleep, procrastination also results in an increase of stress as students finish assignments closer and closer to their deadlines. Stanford speaker and psychologist Kelly McGonigal’s TED Talk,“How To Make Stress Your Friend,” provides reasoning that stress can lead to further procrastination. One of the most underappreciated concepts of the stress response, according to McGonigal, is that stress encourages social activity through the release of the stress hormone oxytocin.

According to McGonigal, oxytocin controls the brain’s social instincts and encourages activity that strengthens close relationships. It also enhances empathy and the will to help and support others. “When oxytocin is released in the stress response, it is motivating you to seek support,” McGonigal says in her TED talk. McGonigal’s claims provide a scientific basis for procrastination culture. If an effect of stress is socialization, then stress can lead to procrastination through social media. Whether for bad or good, oxytocin’s effects of increased empathy and will to support others may appear in the form of a never-ending procrastination cycle, in which participants use social media to make each other feel better about their lack of productivity while procrastinating, and then, encouraged by others’ acceptance, continue to procrastinate and make each other feel better. The home of these users? My very own ProcrastiNation. Sophomore Weitzman, at 2 a.m., is definitely a part of it. “I wrote a paragraph of summary, wrote #YOLO,” Weitzman says. “It worked out in the end, and I rewrote the essay.” But 2012 Weitzman didn’t know that, and those who are or will be in his position don’t have the guarantee of being able to rewrite an essay. Such is the nature of ProcrastiNation membership: simple to obtain, but the price? Well, you’ll pay it later. v

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Tough Choices LOCAL EVENTS IGNITE DISCUSSION ON ABORTION, SEX AND TEEN PREGNANCY Text by TIRA OSKOUI Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

N THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF the newly opened Planned Parenthood in Redwood City on a cold December day, a group of approximately 15 protesters sit silently in lawn chairs planted by the busy El Camino Real. Of varying ages, some in elementary school, they hold signs protesting the access to abortion that the new health care center promises. Palo Alto High School’s Gender Equality Club take to the adjacent sidewalk to counter-protest in support of Planned Parenthood. Teenage girls display their colorful signs to the road, chat among themselves and cheer for the cars that honk approval as they pass. While I was at the protest with the Paly Gender Equality Club in support of Planned Parenthood, the issues surrounding reproductive health care choices are complex and deserve close analysis from all angles. This article is part of my attempt to understand more about the subject and to share it with the Verde readership in the most objective way possible.

EQUALITY Senior Kelly Patterson protests with the Gender Equality Club against anti-abortion protesters at the new Planned Parenthood in Redwood City. Photo by Doug Watson

Laws, Planned Parenthood and Misconceptions Despite the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision and an array of state laws that invalidated all existing laws restricting abortion, debates, new laws and proposed laws concerning reproductive rights persist. Last October, California became the first state since Hawaii (2006) to pass a law expanding abortion access. The new legislation allows more medical personnel, such as nurse practitioners, midwives and physician assistants to perform first-trimester abortions. Sexually active teens may be concerned about finding access to abortion and contraception. With the recent opening of the Planned Parenthood in Redwood City, uninsured local teens who seek access to reproductive health care and assistance have a close place to go. When senior Kelly Patterson, co-president of the Gender Equality Club, encouraged club members to counter-protest the anti-abortion protesters, she had the emotions of Planned Parenthood’s patients in mind. “It’s hard for patients walking in [when protesters are outside],” Patterson says. “They need to know that there are also supporters.” The protest at Planned Parenthood motivated Patterson to continue actively supporting reproductive rights. “I was surprised by how many people drove by that were ac

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tually supporting the pro-life protesters,” Patterson says. “It just validated that we need to do more with it.” A Gallup poll in May 2013 found that 48 percent of American adults consider themselves “pro-life,” or anti-abortion, and 45 percent consider themselves “pro-choice,” or for the legality of abortion. According to Paly Living Skills teacher Letitia Burton, a common misconception about Planned Parenthood is that its primary service is access to contraceptives and abortion, not comprehensive family planning and health care. In reality, Planned Parenthood offers a variety of health care services in addition to abortion, including breast and cervical cancer screening, emergency contraception, counseling and ultrasounds. “With Planned Parenthood, people just see it in terms of birth control or pregnancy termination services, but really Planned Parenthood is a full-service health clinic where anyone can go to get anything for their health needs,” Burton says. While organizations dedicated to providing easily accessible reproductive health care like Planned Parenthood have proven effective for millions of women, according to developmental psychologist Dr. Nancy Brown, they can also cause misconceptions regarding reproductive rights. “A lot of teens with insurance go to Planned Parenthood because they don’t understand their state rights,” Brown says. “In the state of California, you [anyone over the age of 12] have the right to receive confidential reproductive health, emotional health and substance abuse services from your provider.” In other words, an insured teen can go to his or her normal physician and request confidential consulting and care that will not appear on his or her parent’s bill. Teens may find care from their own doctor more comforting and personal, and the doctor could also benefit by becoming aware that the teen is participating in potentially risky behavior and remembering to ensure that he or she receives the appropriate advice, vaccinations and medications. “We can prevent unplanned pregnancies,” Brown says. “Nobody needs to get pregnant. I think a lot of people get pregnant because they don’t understand that they have access to preventative care.” Prevention According to Guttmacher Institute, about half of American women will have an unplanned pregnancy in their lives, and about 40 percent of those will end in abortion. Abortion rates have dropped from 1.21 million abortions in 2008 to 1.06 million in 2011. In the decades since Roe v. Wade, although not the case in California, many states have made it mandatory for parents to grant permission to minors to get abortions unless excused by a judge. Brown worries about the dangers these laws may pose to some girls. “In my ideal world, every parent would be the type of parent you could approach with a problem as big as an unplanned pregnancy and trust that they will help you,” Brown says. “Kids would have a family they could go to. But if they don’t, we cannot have a law that says ‘Great, you’re 16. You’re pregnant. I’m going to call your parents now and – Oh, I’m really sorry, your dad is going to beat you; or you might get disowned; or thrown out of the house.’

HEALTH CENTER A new Planned Parenthood recently opened in Redwood City. It offers a variety of health care services, including abortion, breast and cervical cancer screening, emergency contraception, counseling and ultrasounds.

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BRYANNA Junior Bryanna Gonzalez gave birth to a baby boy named Christopher last December. Photos by Bryanna Gonzalez

We can’t have that. So in my ideal world, that would not be find out,” Gonzalez says. “It [the hardest part] was just trying to the law, but in the real world, we need it [California law allowing stay focused on school, and at the same time, taking care of myself minors to get abortions without parental consent].” and the baby.” While Brown recognizes potential dangers of forced permisThough Gonzalez did not consider abortion, she felt pressions from parents, she urges teens to try and be as open with sured from both sides in her decision to either keep the baby or their parents as possible because she believes open communication put it up for adoption. benefits the girl and her parents. “After someone told me that once I give up the baby, I’ll go “More parents would be more supportive than teenagers give into a deep depression, I decided to keep it,” Gonzalez says. them credit for,” Brown says. “Most would later agree that it’s betAlthough the father of her baby is no longer involved, Gonter that they know [their daughter is pregnant].” zalez’s family and close friends have remained supportive. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation is currently working on “In the end I was just getting all this support,” Gonzalez says. a new service on its website, entitled My Health Online, to allow “Before, I didn’t really have anybody to help me, until everybody teens to email their doctors asking assistance. They can request found out.” help in talking with their parents about abortion. The website’s creGonzalez says she is happy with her decision to keep the baby, ators hope that parents would more readily mainly due to the support she receives from accept conversation about a teen’s sexual her family with taking care of her child activity and health coming from a doctor. while she continues to attend school. It [the hardest part] The American Academy of Pediatrics While she feels that her experience is was just trying to stay an example that keeping a baby can work recommends that doctors provide graduatfocused on school, and out for some teens if they have sufficient ing high school senior girls with advance at the same time, tak- support, she supports all women having the prescriptions for birth control and emergency contraception for their post-high choice to do what they want with their preging care of myself and school lives. These women could then date nancy and baby. the baby. the prescription at the time they need the “It’s really their choice,” Gonzalez says. — junior Bryanna Gonzalez “They shouldn’t feel pressured to do things contraception, without having to search for a new doctor to prescribe it. that they do not want to do. It’s better to let them decide on what they think is best for them. It [abortion] Bryanna Gonzalez should be an option if they want it.” Paly junior Bryanna Gonzalez gave birth to a baby boy in December of 2013. Despite her situation, she still attends Paly and Different Situations, Different Stances tries to balance her life between school and her baby. Brown says that having a baby while in high school can nega“It’s been a struggle staying in school and not having people tively affect the welfare of both mother and child. According to

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48%

of American adults consider themselves “pro-life.”

60%

of teen mothers don’t finish high school.

Half

of American women will have an unplanned pregnancy.

Statistics from Gallup, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Guttmacher Institute. the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnan- tial consequences of sex. cy, only 40 percent of teen mothers finish high school, and their “Our society makes it really difficult to make that decision [to children typically enter kindergarten with lower levels of school start having sex] due to the double messages that our society gives readiness than children born to women in their twenties. about being sexual in movies, videos, music and TV programs,” “You should not pay a life consequence for five stupid min- Burton says. “There’s lots of sexuality, and it’s celebrating it. A lot utes [of unprotected sex],” Brown says. of what you see about teens and sexuality is sex without conseAlthough she supports Planned Parenthood for providing quences. People think, ‘Oh well, it’s just this once, it won’t happen contraceptives and affordable service, junior Kate Bredenberg is to me.’” against the current legality of abortions up to 24 weeks into the Brown highly recommends that people of all ages talk through pregnancy because she believes that once there is a heartbeat, typi- the potential consequences of sex with their partner to ensure that cally at about six weeks according to Mayo they are prepared with knowledge and supClinic, the fetus in the womb is a baby that port before they decide to start having sex. deserves the basic human right to live. “If you can’t talk, then you’re really not “It’s important that “At 24 weeks, the baby looks like a ready to have sex,” Brown says. “If sex is we recognize that not baby,” Bredenberg says. “It has hair on its easier than talk, then it’s the wrong relationevery woman who has ship. Your [a teen’s] executive functioning is head, and the face is formed.” Bredenberg supports the option of not fully developed. You really don’t have an abortion lives in a adoption for pregnant women who do not the ability to picture life ten years from perfect world where wish to keep their babies. now.” they can support the “You can do what you want with your Gonzalez offers advice to teens decidchild.” body, but if you choose to have sex and you ing to engage in sexual activity from her — senior Kelly Patterson personal experience with an unsupportive get pregnant [before you were ready], then that was your decision, and you messed up,” partner. Bredenberg says. “You shouldn’t punish your baby for that.” “Just be careful about who you’re with,” Gonzalez says. Patterson emphasizes the importance of differences in each woman’s individual situation in deciding whether abortion is the Sexual Education right choice for her. Brown’s solution to providing the necessary support and in“Everyone’s in different situations when they find out that formation for girls to make the right sexual decisions for themyou’re pregnant, and it [pregnancy] can really limit your options, selves is comprehensive sex education implemented throughout especially if you’re in high school and want to go to college instead a child’s life. of having a baby, or if you’re addicted to drugs, or if you’re going “Sexuality education should start when the kid is four,” Brown through severe depression already,” Patterson says. “It’s important says. “The more teenagers know, the less likely they are to have sex that we recognize that not every woman who has an abortion lives [before they’re ready].” in a perfect world where they can support the child.” Brown stresses that all adults in a child’s life should be availWhile junior Kelly Swanson is personally against abortion, she able to provide answers to children and teenagers alike regarding remains undecided on whether she feels that no women should get sexuality. the choice. “If they ask us an honest question, we ought to give them an “I can’t decide if people should get their own choice,” Swan- honest, factual answer,” Brown says. “Everywhere where people son says. “I personally would not have an abortion unless I was are, we should all be willing to talk, so that there’s no period stigma, raped, but other people might have other situations like that [mak- no bullying, no rape, no partner violence and no unplanned preging abortion an acceptable choice].” nancy… It [sexual education] shouldn’t be a class, it should be a Burton partially blames the media for ignorance of the poten- way of life.” v

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PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2014

Painting by DANGEROUSLY ERASING THE EVIDENCE OF THE MEDIA’S ALGORITHM FOR BEAUTY Text by TIRA OSKOUI Art by ANTHONY LIU

HEY TELL US THAT WE CAN NEVER be too skinny, that a woman’s true value depends on the circumference of her waist and that we can never be good enough. At first, the philosophy was to trim down the natural outline of our bodies; now, they are slyly painting layers back on. In nearly any modern magazine, a bombardment of skinny models and the work of editors and photographers compound to create as “skinny” an image as possible. We know these pictures: a child’s waist between a woman’s chest and hips, slender arms, separated thighs and mile-long legs all topped with a perfect commercial face. They are so much a part of our vocabulary — what we review in our head when we discuss beauty. People have long criticized the media for the distorted image of beauty it creates. It has thrust upon our society this unrealistic image that engraves itself in our minds, leaving an unhealthy idealization of beauty. The editing of pictures is nothing new to the beauty industry, but in recent years the effects of retouched pictures have compounded and awareness has grown, so we’ve seen open criticism of retouch practices. Several high-profile magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Healthy,

who were previously criticized for editing models’ curves away, are now facing the repercussions of their original editing practices. They have admitted to retouching emaciated models to make them appear healthier. “At the time, when we pored over the raw images, creating the appearance of smooth flesh over protruding ribs, softening the look of collarbones that stuck out like coat hangers, adding curves to flat bottoms and cleavage to pigeon chests, we felt we were doing the right thing,” wrote Leah Hardy, a former editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, in a recent exposé on the magazine’s editing practices published on Daily Mail Online. The media has created a spiraling cycle of negative body image — aspiring models starve themselves to be as skinny as the unrealistically edited models they see, eventually becoming so waif-like that they must be edited just to look alive. But more dangerous than the effects of this cycle on the modeling industry are those that plague on everyday people who are told time and time again to look like the images they see, particularly in a culture already addicted to critiquing women’s bodies. Released images of un-retouched models from various mag-

“At the time, when we pored over the raw images, creating the appearance of smooth flesh over protruding ribs, softening the look of collarbones that stuck out like coat hangers, adding curves to flat bottoms and cleavage to pigeon chests, we felt we were doing the right thing.” — Leah Hardy, former editor of Cosmopolitan

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PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2014

Numbers azines reveal the zombie-like horrors that life-threatening disorders cause — a fully exposed rib cage, hollow cheeks, limp hair and lifeless, pale skin, to which editors strategically added weight and glow, effectively bringing the girls to life and covering up the ugly reality of unhealthy eating habits. When a barrage of these images assault us daily, it is far too easy to fall into the false assumption that one can have a waist as thin as a child’s while also maintaining a glowing complexion, full hair and a soft, womanly shape. While the trend to have no curves at all is no longer in fashion, its replacement by the ideal of an unachievable body which combines the “good” aspects of skinniness with “womanly” curves is no better. It advocates a deeper hypocrisy and silenced nature of the true effects of unhealthy skinniness. According to a National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) survey, 40 to 60 percent of elementary school girls are “concerned” with their weight, and over 30 million Americans will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives. Our society fuels the alarming growth of these statistics by passively accepting the media’s presentation of dangerous images. Although we cannot control the practices of certain magazines, we can decide how we choose to view media that continuously presents frighteningly false portrayals of women’s bodies. Motions like “The Representation Project” and the recent Aerie lingerie advertisements displaying unretouched women are already working to shift the public consciousness toward the unjust portrayals of both genders in the media. The primary reason magazines feel the need to retouch photos is to sell copies. They present what they believe their readers find beautiful. We are the readers, and we can decide to become aware of our distorted perception of beauty and work to amend it. We deserve for magazines to make it clear and understand that they have influential power. They cannot keep ignoring their

With unified effort our culture can redefine “beautiful” to mean real confident women of all shapes, colors and sizes. failure to address their errors by continuing to patch the incredible damage they’ve caused. By avoiding media sources known to retouch women’s bodies and directing attention to fair portrayals of realistic and diverse women, we can send the message to companies searching for profit that we will no longer sit idly by when it comes to how our bodies are displayed. Although a long process, with unified effort our culture can redefine “beautiful” to fit real, confident women of all shapes, colors and sizes, not the layers of paint that editors first removed and then unapologetically added back on. v

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PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2014

CODE

RED

PEOPLE NEED TO ACCEPT PERIODS FOR WHAT THEY ARE Text by KELLY SHI Art by KARINA CHAN

NCE UPON A TIME, LITTLE RED Riding Hood was late crossing the red river. She’d opened Mother’s Nature gift in her leaky basement, only to unleash a bunch of Communists in the fun house, who later caused a murder scene at a red light. Meanwhile, Old Faithful erupted again because it was that time of the month. And Red Riding Hood was caught in the thick of it all, just because she’d wanted to visit her Aunt Flo to celebrate shark week. If any of these sound familiar, it’s probably because they’ve been used before by girls describing their periods. These ridiculous phrases have one purpose: to communicate the bleeding of the vagina. But why make it such a big deal? What is it about four tablespoons of blood that causes girls to hide behind Little Red’s cloak? “Period stigma” is not a common phrase. If one were to walk down the open-air hallways of Palo Alto High School, the periods mentioned would be of the scheduled or grammatical variety. Girls have created nicknames to discuss cramps and ravenous

appetites because of the stigma that society has placed on periods. Through the media and a lack of education, society has reduced menstruation, a monthly factor in the female existence, to an unnatural and fear-evoking phenomenon at the level of He Who Must Not Be Named. Although it is completely okay for a girl to keep the state of her vagina private, there is a difference between discretion so as to not offend one’s delicate sensibilities, and discretion in order to avoid the shame associated with a certain topic; enter the stigma. Said stigma begins at the ripe age of 10 where, during the fifth grade puberty lecture, boys and girls are split into two groups and explained their respective reproductive systems. The boys usually finish half an hour before the girls, and the reason behind this phenomenon is that the boys often don’t learn about periods at all. As girls sit inside a classroom and learn about the wings on a pad, the fifth grade boys, having finished with wet dreams and erections, often move on to play basketball outside without a care in the world. Most of the time, the only information boys receive about

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PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2014 vaginal bleeding is through conversations with others, the media tion continues through high school, where in science teacher Niand the seventh grade biology unit. As girls realize that their period cole Loomis’ freshman biology class, the various stages of pregis a “secret,” they begin to avoid mentioning it in conversations, nancy are revealed along with a review of the menstruation cycle. choosing to use nicknames instead. Although the teachers are willing to discuss other ideas, such as The stigma is further enforced by the media; Television ads society’s attitude towards periods, the curriculum does not require often use blue liquid while demonstrating how well sanitary prod- them to and the topics often remain undiscussed. ucts absorb fluid, planting the idea that natural blood seeping from Brown and Johnson, on the other hand, cover sanitary the uterus should be as clean as chlorinated water. products, bathroom anxiety and PMS. This, of course, is physically impossible, as girls have no conPMS, or Premenstrual Syndrome, is one of the most trol over the pH of their blood. Must the ads instead use menstrual misunderstood factor about periods. Like its name suggests, blood harvested from the groins of a female volunteer? No, but is the symptoms of PMS occur before the female begins to it so much to ask that the blue dye be changed to red? bleed, not during, and disappear about two days into the Continuing the trend of stigmatizing advertisements, in a period. Said symptoms include bloating, or the feeling campaign that is almost as offensive as a PMS joke, pad and tam- that one is more whale than human, constipation, feeling pon companies have begun marketing their products as “discreet.” gaseous, and of course, the mood swings. Tampax’s latest tampon design features a “discreet wrapper “She’s probably PMS’ing” is a common line exthat is softer and quieter” than that of their previous products. cusing female students, teachers, and parents for being Women’s bathroom lines around the world will be reduced as la- angry. This overused phrase negates a female’s anger, atdies no longer wait for the run of the faucet or the flush of a tributing it only to her hormones, and also negates whatever made toilet before tearing open a Tampax Radiant Compak Regular. Or her angry in the first place. at least that is what the online description implies. The comment makes the female’s response seem like an overBut why do these ladies desire the secrecy a quiet wrapper of- reaction, and contributes to the stereotype that women are confers? Why not embrace the loud crackle of plastic trolled by their emotions. The media often ripping at the seams? Why not encourage women portrays women as irrational characters to announce their stage in the menstrual cycle, to who act solely on their feelings and its imsit up straight and shout to their fellow compaage of a yelling, hysterical woman on her “We bully about triots, “I AM WOMAN. HEAR MY TAMPON period fits right into the prepared mold. things we keep hidWRAPPER RIP!” The lack of education at school and Health Educator Nancy Brown at Palo Alto the force of the media often leads young den and we’re afraid Medical Foundation says that the first step to degirls to believe that they are in the wrong of.” veloping period pride is education. and that they owe an apology to the source — Nancy Brown, Palo of their anger. “Kids should grow up knowing how their Alto Medical Foundation bodies work,” Brown says. “Boys should grow Thanks to the girls’ lack of menstrual health educator knowledge, not only do they have to deal up knowing how girls’ bodies work.” Every spring for the past four years, Brown with an on-and-off period that is common and co-worker Steve Johnson have visited the in middle-school girls, but in addition to seventh and eighth graders of Sacred Heart Middle School in waking up to the Japanese flag inked onto their sheets and asking Atherton. strangers for ibuprofen for what seems like a four-inch heel stuck “I tell the girls about what it’s like to be a seventh or eighth in their uterus, girls also face an undeserved sense of guilt for feelgrade boy and get an erection when you’re sitting in math class. ing and expressing their emotions. This guilt leads to a sense of ...We tell the boys all about periods,” Brown says. “They’re [the shame of their hormones and bodies, and as an extension, their girls] anxious about making a mess, somebody noticing their pad periods. in the back of their clothes.” “We bully about things we keep hidden and we’re afraid of,” The educational experience at Sacred Heart differs from the Brown says. “If everybody knows, it takes away that secrecy and Jordan Middle School sex unit where, according to science teacher the power that we give it over our bodies.” Lori Monahan, students learn only the Indeed, the period is not deserving of the shame it brings physical components of the women. Already, signs of the stigma are disappearing. Companies reproductive sys- like HelloFlo and Bodyform have released ads that tell “the truth” tems, memoriz- about periods, receiving mainly positive reviews. Girls now discuss ing the various periods with each other, and menstrual product companies have glands of the male begun including educational resources on their websites. member and the But blue liquid is still being poured onto pads, people still progress of eggs wince at any public mention of pads, PMS jokes are still prevalent, in female fallopian and it is to educational programs like Brown and Johnson’s that we tubes. look in hopes that one day, a girl in the crowded bathroom will sit The biological up straight, yell “I AM WOMAN,” and let her tampon wrapper take on sex educa- rip. v

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PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2014

SNAPCHAT FACEOFF WHY SNAPCHAT’S TEN SECONDS ARE MORE MEANINGFUL THAN A FACEBOOK TIMELINE

ORGET THE FUSS, THE DRAMA, THE commitment. There’s no need for anyone to Photoshop their profile picture to get a certain number of likes, the sure thought of sending a picture that won’t get into the wrong hands, or an opportunity for people to share their lives without seeming pretentious. Snapchat is the first social media network that emphasizes a lack of permanence, and that’s how I like it. I was skeptical of Snapchat when I first used it. I didn’t expect ten seconds to be nearly enough time to get anything done, much less communicate with friends. Facebook, on the other hand, has evolved from a social media website to a business venture with 500 million people. Those who choose to use Facebook, can stay in touch with people all over the world. These connections can help users stay informed on events both local and international. However, users may be pressured to maintain an online reputation, knowing their peers will view it. Facebook might be a flamboyant way of public expression, but everything posted leaves a trail. Forget mom and dad; Mr. College Scholarship admissions officer probably won’t appreciate beer pong skills. After all, we live in a world where everything can be saved, forwarded and end up in the wrong hands.

Text by ALEXANDRA HSIEH Art by KARINA CHAN

I understand that some people have a strong inclination to let the entire world know what they’re eating for dinner, to prove that they’re cosmopolitan enough to “check in” somewhere trendy, or to show anybody who happens to stumble on your Facebook page that they have two thousand friends that aren’t really their friends. But I’m sorry to say this – not everybody cares. One reason I like Snapchat is that it allows for fast communication in a more convenient and selective way. While it’s tempting to give life updates 24/7, the My Story feature allows for non-excessive diary-like posts where it’ll remain for only 24 hours. If people really do care, they will make the choice to view it. On Facebook, people skim over photos until they find something they care one iota about, then maybe like it or comment on it. As for Snapchat, users have to continuously hold their finger against the screen in order to view an image. Although the action isn’t difficult per se, it represents a more purposeful engagement. Facebook manifests into a user’s permanent personal history for all people to view. The bliss of snapchat lies in its fleeting nature. By getting rid of photos after ten seconds, it keeps communication in the present. With Snapchat, we’re living in the current moment, experiencing memories as they happen. v

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PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2014

THE PLIGHT OF THE

ATHLETE STUDENT ACADEMICS ARE IMPORTANT, EVEN FOR STAR ATHLETES Text by WILL QUEEN Art by ANTHONY LIU

OING TO COLLEGE IS SUPPOSED to be about getting a great education and preparing for the long-term future, right? Well, not always. CNN recently published a piece exposing the shockingly low academic performance of many student-athletes at major public universities. In the Jan. 15 article, “Some college athletes play like adults, read like fifth graders,” the belief that some universities do not stress academic success among their athletes was strengthened. “A lot of big time programs will do anything it takes to get certain players, even if it means that they don’t hold them up to the academic requirements that the rest of the school meets,” senior Andrew Frick said. Frick is a member of the Claremont McKenna football recruiting class of 2018. Prestigious universities are admitting individuals that would have little chance of entry if not for athletics. The desperation for athletic talent on the part of many big schools leads to the creation of special accommodations that allow academically challenged athletes to pass through rigorous classes and miss out on valuable educational opportunities. Football and basketball players at schools such as the University of North Carolina and Oklahoma State University are being cheated. According to the Wall Street Journal, the most common majors for athletes on BCS level teams are business, sociology and communications, majors not known for being overly rigorous. They are being given a free “education,” one that does not truly prepare them for the challenges they will face after their athletic careers have ended. Mary Willingham, a learning specialist at UNC Chapel Hill who runs a tutoring program for athletes, has seen athletes who have fallen through the cracks of the education system. Willingham studied the reading levels of 183 student-athletes. Sixty percent read at a level between fourth and eighth grade, and 10 percent read at a third grade level or below, she wrote. This sub-par performance is not limited to English. The na-

tional average on the ACT standardized test is a score of 20 out of 36. Many football and basketball players who attend major public universities score in the low teens, according to CNN. Universities need to implement more involved academic policies for student-athletes. If athletes do enter a university based off academic merit alone, they are on the right track. They study hard, and are building up a resume so they may be successful in life after sports. Athletes allowed to pursue their athletic careers at a higher level should be required to meet the academic standards met by the rest of their peers, or must visually strive to. In many other sports, or in Division III or less competitive programs, academics play a larger part in the lives of athletes because they know they are less likely to reach a professional level. They know there is life after sports. Serious efforts need to be made on the part of the university to help student-athletes improve academically. If necessary, athletes may need extensive tutoring and individual attention. If the university is willing to make an athlete the face of its athletic program, they owe it to them to give them a proper education. Many college athletes don’t reach the professional level. For the few that reach the professional level and become super-stars, the success only lasts so long. After they retire, many professional basketball and football players struggle to find new careers because they possess no marketable skills. They also struggle financially because they are unable to adjust their spending habits for usually smaller incomes. In 2009, Sports Illustrated published a story stating that, within two years of retirement, 78 percent of former NFL players are bankrupt or under financial stress. Within five years of retirement, 60 percent of former NBA players find themselves in the same situation. To ensure stable, successful futures for athletes after their athletic careers, the importance of academics needs to be reinforced, or we will continue the vicious cycle of leaving good, young adults without the skills to support themselves later in life. v

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Ronnie Farrell

Text by ESME ABLAZA and ELIZA ACKROYD Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

A GLIMPSE INTO ONE SCIENCE TEACHER’S TEEN YEARS

HIS IS THE FIRST IN a series of profiles on Paly teachers. In this edition, we talk with biology teacher Ronnie Farrell. He emigrated from Scotland to the U.S. as a teenager, and we asked him to give advice and to reminisce on his experiences in high school in America. v

Verde Magazine: Advice for students

VM: Most awkward moment

Ronnie Farrell: “I’d say there’s nothing for free. You’re going to get out whatever you put in. You put in hard work you’re going to get good results, you’re going to get rewards. I think that’s one of the great things about America, if you put in hard work you know, the rewards are there for you. If you don’t put in hard work, well, you’d better be really really good at something. You better have some kind of unique skill, because you’re going to have a struggle.”

RF: “I think it was like my first or second day. An eraser in Scotland is called a rubber, and I asked my teacher for a rubber in front of the class — and that was pretty awkward. The whole class kind of just gasped and I was like: ‘I made a mistake I need a rubber,’ and that didn’t help. And eventually, I figured that out and I never asked for a rubber again, at least from a teacher.”

VM: Advice for his teen self

ABOVE Farrell chills out on his pink motorcycle. BELOW Smartly dressed Farrell, on the right, poses with a friend.

RF:“Who needs girls? You know? If there was one thing that was just rough for me in high school it was I don’t think one girl ever looked at me. I think one who was blind actually turned away. It was pretty bad. So if I was to give myself some advice it would be ‘You know what, Ronnie, you’re going to do alright in your 20s, buddy. Hang in there.’”

VM: High School experience RF: “I wouldn’t say I loved it or hated it. It was definitely challenging, but I enjoyed it. I went to high school in east side San Jose when I first came here, and a lot of people say it was a tough high school to go to, but it was the only thing I knew. I had good friends, we had a good time. It was definitely challenging though.”

VM: Hardest thing as a teen RF: “Hardest thing for me as a teenager was when I came to America, and just going to a new school [in] a new country it was very, very difficult and I think one of the ways I got through it was with sports. I didn’t relate a lot to American culture when I came here but I was good at soccer and in the neighborhood I lived in there was a lot of soccer going on and that helped me fit in.” LEFT Farrell poses for a photo in his science room.

PROFILES | FEB 2014

The Star of the NFL A LOOK INTO SENIOR TRAVIS CHEN’S DEBATE CAREER Text by ALEXANDRA HSIEH Photo courtesy of TRAVIS CHEN

CCORDING TO JENNIE SAV- can enjoy my success and enjoy the material.” Despite starting his career in eighth grade, Chen continued to age, the director of speech and debate at Palo Alto High School, the qualities of a good de- pursue his debate career more seriously in high school, after some bater are few: balance, coachability, intellectual encouragement from Savage. “I remember seeing him when he was in eighth grade and he flexibility and, most importantly, drive. Senior Travis Chen has gained recognition in the National Circuit Debate just had this spirit about him,” Savage says. “I remember stopping him and saying: ‘When you come to Paly, I want you on my deworld for demonstrating bate team.’ And before you these qualities on the poknow it, I saw him walking dium. in the door and I was like: “Travis Chen can ‘Yes! I got Travis Chen!’” do 20 things at once, and Through spending he looks like he’s off in hundreds of hours of hard space,” Savage says. “But work cultivating his natural he gets back to you and talent for debate, Chen has he answers 20 of the continued on to be nationthings that you’ve said in ally ranked in the category order, completely strucof Lincoln-Douglas detured, and not only that, bate. he’s pushed it five steps “A lot goes into beyond. He’s one of a achieving the level of suckind.” cess that Travis has,” TorIn the January 2014 son says. “He is an incredVictory Briefs Tournaibly hard worker and very ment, a national tournaintelligent. ... I would also ment in Los Angeles, say that Travis is excepChen went home undetionally strong at recognizfeated in 12 debates. ing and articulating the way “As he has matured that different arguments Travis has developed deployed in a debate round stronger sensibilities relate to each other.” about the strength of Paly debaters particihis arguments and how For the Win Chen poses with coach and Paly alum Alex Carter after to deploy them strategi- winning a tournament. “The biggest thing with Travis is that he is very well- pate in the National Forencally,” says Adam Torson, rounded as a debater,” Carter says. “He doesn’t specialize in one type of sics League, also known as the NFL. The NFL usually the curriculum director argument over the other.” settles into two categories: at the Victory Briefs Inpersuasive and circuit. Perstitute. “As he faced better and better competition, his level of preparation ramped up ac- suasive debate looks to compel the judges through strong support and a solid thesis; circuit debate usually foregoes persuasion in facordingly.” Despite his involvement in cello, basketball, frisbee, running, vor of strategic thinking and argumentation, in which Chen speand ASB, Chen says that debate has been a large part of his life cializes. “I just really like going into a round and thinking of arguments from a young age. “In eighth grade I joined our debate club, and immediately I on the fly,” Chen says. “It emphasizes quick, analytical thinking, really enjoyed it,” Chen says. “It has just been something I’ve been and strategic choices, which I really like ... I feel like it just makes doing for a while since it’s something I’m relatively good at, so I me more educated in a form that I actually kind of enjoy.” v

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PROFILES | FEB 2014

IN HER TOE SHOES FIRST SHE’S HERE – THEN SHE’S 200 KILOMETERS AWAY Text and photography by LUCY FOX

FLAME OF RED HAIR FLIES behind her and her toe shoes pound on the dirt. Enveloped by the silence of trees and the setting sun, she closes out her 15-mile run with a racing heart. Palo Alto High School senior, avid runner and health advocate Jacki Seymour is training for a 200-kilometer (124.3mile) race, to take place in Bhutan this coming May. She will be the youngest runner ever to compete in the race, which she is running with her father. “Running gives me motivation to have a healthy lifestyle and do my best at school and be happy,” Jacki says. “When I’m stressed or have some sort of emotion and I go running and it just makes it all better.” Jacki has been running since she was seven years old, when her father, Stephen Seymour, had a heart attack. The doctors attributed it to his excessive weight, so Jacki and her father began running weekly races together with their San Francisco running club, Dolphin South End. “My quest to improve my health ended up providing us with a set schedule where we grew to be close and share more,” Stephen says. “I feel as though we understand one another better because we run together. Our relationship grew stronger and our interests more aligned through

running.” Now, Jacki runs a few miles in the mornings, but does most of her running at night. Her current training schedule for the race is to run 15 miles a day for two days in a row, then have a rest day. She has been running a marathon every other month since her first one when she was 15. “During the last few years, Jacki has gone from running a few miles on Sundays to building a lifestyle around health and fitness,” Stephen says. Her longest official race up to now was 50 kilometers, although she has run further independently. She ran on the Paly cross country team throughout high school, despite an injury through most of the season her senior year. “Running is definitely going to be a long-term thing,” Jacki says. “It’s … definitely a part of me.” According to Jacki, her father inspires her to persist with running. “When we started running, I had a dream that one day she would beat her dad in a race,” Stephen says. “This dream was realized during a 30-kilometer run not long ago. She kept the determination growing to improve her running abilities. This determination is something she extends to many important areas of her life.” The race in Bhutan is a stage race – a long-distance race

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PROFILES | FEB 2014

split over a series of days. According to Jacki, she has always wanted to do a stage race, although she wanted a lasting experience beyond simply an extremely long race. After speaking with long-distance runners in her running club, she settled on the race in Bhutan. “The options were through the desert or in Bhutan through the many different types of terrain,” Jacki says. “What really interested me was being able to experience another culture in such a unique way, doing what I love to do.” Global Limits organizes the race through Bhutan, a landlocked country abundant in forests and mountains, which lies below Tibet. To be accepted into the race, runners must undergo an application process, including an essay, age verifications – runners must be 18 – and confirmation of completion of previous long-distance races. According to Jacki, she is the youngest runner to qualify in the race’s history. Aside from running, race participants will be stretching, eating and sleeping together, Jacki says. Sleeping situations are either camping or sleeping in monasteries. “I’m sure that in Bhutan, all the people who run are going to be extremely interesting,” Jacki says. “Because it’s not every day that you meet someone who’s willing to run such a long endurance race.” v

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In Bloom

RESSED IN A COLORFUL Hawaiian shirt, jeans and Converse sneakers, Eric Bloom poses for the camera. He looks up and down, pretends to lecture the photographer, and throws his hands up in a ‘What did I do?’ gesture. Bloom, one of Paly’s longest-serving staff members, has recently been given an additional role as a Teacher on Special Assignment with an emphasis on improving the school culture and overall atmosphere. In the past, PAUSD has also used TOSAs for extra math and technology assistance. Bloom feels that his many years as a teacher make him a good fit for the TOSA role. “I have a pretty good rapport with students,” Bloom says. “I have a good rapport with the staff, I’ve been here for a long time, so I kind of know the players, the issues, I know what we’ve done in the past, what’s worked and what hasn’t, so I kind of bring that institutional memory into it.” Bloom says taking the TOSA role fit his educational background and satisfied his PAUSD ambitions. “I went to principal school . . . [and this job] kind of blends classroom and administrator together,” Bloom says. According to Bloom, the TOSA job was an opportunity he had been hoping for. “I’ve been interested in taking on an administrative role in the district for a couple years now,” Bloom says. “This was a position that opened up, [and Principal Kim] Diorio thought that I would

PROFILES | NOV 2013

PALY TEACHER SEEKS TO MAKE CULTURE MORE WELCOMING Text by ZOFIA AHMAD Photo by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

be well-suited for it so she encouraged me to apply for it.” Bloom hopes his wealth of experience as a teacher will prove helpful in his new role. “As a Teacher On a Special Assignment, my role is to become a little 40 percent administrator, like two-fifths of Ms. Diorio,” Bloom says. “Because of the way I perceive myself as a classroom teacher, I think I affect that already as a classroom teacher, so the role will be ‘easier.’” According to Bloom, his first objective is to reduce bullying, a problem that he says occurs throughout all levels of the school community. He would also like to improve student-teacher relationships. “I want students to know that they sometimes make teachers mad,” Bloom says. “And I want teachers to know that they sometimes make students mad … and that’s alright. But how do we make it so that it’s not corrosive to learning? ... That’s my big thing.” Bloom also identifies academic honesty as a major problem. As Paly’s current policy is under revision, Bloom would like get the input of students and parents to vet the revision process. “We want students to think about, ‘okay, if I get caught doing this cheating, what’s going to happen to me?’” Bloom says. “And so [we want] to have an understanding; ‘is that a reasonable consequence, does that make sense, is that going to prevent it cheating from happening again?’” Additionally, once the revision process is finished, Bloom wants to change the connotation of cheating so that “it’s not the penalty that prevents people from cheating; it’s the idea that they don’t think they should be doing it.” Aside from the bullying and academic honesty issues, Bloom would like to work directly with students and parents to improve openness of Paly’s atmosphere by forming a climate committee containing parents, teachers, and students. Overall, Bloom says he wants to focus on creating a more open and considerate environment. “We want people to feel more empathetic, more welcoming, more willing to have discussions,” Bloom says. v

EXPERIENCED Bloom, who has been working in the Paly Social Science department since 1998, currently teaches Economics and AP Macroeconomics. “I’ve been here a long time, so I have strong relationships with students and faculty and I have some tenure that gives me an institutional memory that’s not that common on this campus anymore,” Bloom says.

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PROFILES | FEB 2014

NANCY SHEPHERD PALO ALTO’S NEWLY ELECTED MAYOR ENTERS OFFICE Text by ANAND SRINIVASAN and MADISON MIGNOLA Photography by ANA SOFIA AMEIVA-WANG

herd explains why the City Council’s decisions may apLOVE THE PEOPLE,” NANCY pear to be inconsiderate of the people’s desires. Shepherd, the newly elected mayor of Palo Alto, “We have to do state regulations, and this year we’re says. going to be doing stuff that the community is going to On the 7th floor of Palo hate,” says Shepherd. “There is a lot of Alto City Hall, Shepherd gazes state regulation that is complicated and out of a large window overlooking the yet if we don’t comply it will devastate our city. Shepherd acknowledges the difficult community worse than if we ignored it.” task that is set before her. Additionally, Shepherd is focusing Having been a part of Palo Alto her efforts on the traffic and parking situcommunity service since the ’90s, Shepation in Palo Alto. With clogged streets, herd made her political debut running Shepherd hopes to clear the way for more for city council in 2009. All of her chilbikers and improve public transportation. dren went through the Palo Alto Unified “My primary interests are moving School District, and her daughter, Raforward with traffic and parking issues chael Kaci, is a Special Education teacher in neighborhoods next to our downtown here at Paly. After being elected on Jan. 6 communities,” Shepherd says. “This will of this year, Shepherd is now the mayor be accomplished using strategies which of Palo Alto. support other Palo Alto goals like sus“I find [Palo Alto] a very compelling tainability and reducing greenhouse gases and a great place to live,” Shepherd says. because the city hopes to implement new “That’s why one of my goals this year is shuttles, parking privileges for car-poolto reach out to the community ... to allow ers, and support for public transit comthem to relax. We hear you.” muters.” Shepherd acknowledges the divide Shepherd wants to extend the discusthat is growing in Palo Alto between sion to the community. In doing this she those who want to see it grow due to hopes to dispel tensions between the city it’s thriving technological advances and council and the citizens. those who wish to see white picket “I would like to try to reach out to fences and mom-and-pop shops versus OUR MAYOR Nancy Shepherd was the community to make sure that we can a booming tech industry. For Shepherd, elected as Palo Alto’s new mayor on Jan. 6, become more personable, so that we can attempting to balance these polar char- 2014. have a shared understanding of what’s acteristics is one of the more difficult going on, instead of a ‘us vs. them’ type of a setting, aspects of being mayor. which some like to think we have right now,” Shepherd “People who are drawn to Palo Alto as a place to says. live love supporting innovative sustainability opportuniAt the end of the day Shepherd wants to make Palo ties, the proximity between work and home life, a good Alto a better place and to do so collaboratively. educational experience at all levels and primarily the op“I think there’s a lot that the mayor does, but the portunities of having a high-quality of home life in the work really falls on everybody else,” Shepherd says. “It’s middle of a high-quality cultural experience,” Shepherd just: how can we share this vision and move it forward? says. ... It’s a privilege to serve on this council, it’s a privilege One of Shepherd’s objectives is to set policy that to serve this community.” effectively addresses California state regulations. Shep-

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PROFILES | FEB 2014 Though she expresses obvious passion for Palo Now that she has gone from community serviceAlto Shepherd’s story starts in Mill Valley, Marin County. woman to mayor, Shepherd’s workload has increased Shepherd grew up in Mill Valley during the time when it tremendously. Shepherd finds breaks from her job as was getting built up in the ’60-’70s. mayor through physical activity and spending time with In this time of city building along the West Coast, her family. California was taking crucial steps to be culturally more “I like taking walks and reminding myself what this equal to African Americans. is all about,” Shepherd says. “Playing with my grandchil“I attended an interracial high school dren, that sort of thing.” during the civil rights movement,” ShepKaci, Special Education teacher here herd says. “It was an exciting time, and I at Paly and daughter of Shepherd, speaks learned a lot about social justice and eqabout her mother’s achievements in being “It’s a privilege to uity.” elected mayor. serve on this council, While in high school, Shepherd was “I’m proud my mother takes her civic it’s a privilege to serve athletic and almost represented America in responsibility with grace and dignity,” Kaci this community.” the Olympics. says. “Life in the public eye is both time— Nancy Shepherd, consuming and thankless, but she has “I was a competitive swimmer and worked hard to make the 1968 Olympic triPalo Alto City mayor learned to take all hardships in stride and als in 100 yards freestyle, which I missed by continues to be a great role model for me, about a second,” Shepherd says. “I spent a lot of time my siblings, cousins, niece and nephew.” hiking the trails of Mt. Tam with my family and biking After completing her mayoral term, Shepherd’s all over the south Marin area.” plans for the future are to return to the community serWhen Shepherd finally moved to the Palo Alto she vice scene and continue to give back to Palo Alto. Shepbecame a part of the community service scene. She also herd’s dreams are to reinvent the way education gets dewas a part of Palo Altans for Government effectiveness. livered through the state of California. For now though “I started my volunteer career as an adult, working Shepherd’s goals are keenly set on the task before her. in the public schools, primarily,” Shepherd says. “2000 “My goals right now are to be the best mayor I can, to 2002 I was PTA council president, so I got to work [and] be the best city council member I can,” Shepherd with all of the schools.” says. v

UPPER LEFT Nancy Shepherd and her daughter, Rachael Kaci, rooting for the Giants. UPPER RIGHT Nancy Shepherd’s family lounges on their porch in Twaine Harte over the summer. BOTTOM LEFT Nancy Shepherd’s family and friends show up to support on the night she was elected mayor. (Photos provided by Nancy Shepherd)

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This Land(e) is Your Land(e) Text by LANDE WATSON Photo Illustration by ANTHONY LIU and ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

LOVE YOURSELF, JUST NOT TOO MUCH

Karina Chan

ESTERDAY I WATCHED A SHORT definition of beauty, they merely tweak it. These inspirational videos, or cleverly disguised advertisements, film titled “Selfie,” in which pairs of mothers and depend on virality for their success. They place the focus on an abdaughters discussed their physical insecurities stract idea of beauty that all women should aim to achieve, despite and then took selfies in order to better undertheir flaws, instead of loving themselves because they are beautiful stand their beauty. These selfies were hung in a in their own right. The women love themselves not because of gallery and people walked around putting sticky notes with comsome inner realization that they are uniquely beautiful, but rather pliments on the blown up photographs; One girl had “beautiful ,because a stranger told them they have nice arms. teeth,” another, “nice hair.” These women now understood their By attaching itself to an idea we all want to believe — that we true beauty, what you might call their “Real Beauty,” a term coined are beautiful — Dove benefits from an abundance of advertising by Dove toiletries, maker of the video. advantages. Instead of paying for airtime, women (and men) of I immediately imagined myself starring in this short film. Suball ages post and send these videos, creating a viral effect. Without dued, yet inspiring music would play in the background. People I fail, every time one of these videos comes out, my friends and didn’t know would tell me their favorite parts about my physical family excitedly send me the link, familiar with my interest in feappearance. And then, I too, would feel beautiful, ready to take on male empowerment and activism. My Facebook newsfeed fills up the world with my socially-approved exterior. with various posts of the video with captions ranging from “Check Advertising campaigns that capitalize on the idea of self-love it out!” to “This changed my life.” The distribution tactic used are frequently used by companies that actually make money off by Dove makes the advertisements feel less like, well …advertisewomen’s lack of confidence. The hypocritical marketing tactics that attempt to manipulate women into buying products are not ments, and more like short films truly aimed at affecting change. The great irony is that these videos do not actually want to afonly ridiculous, but actually reinforce ideas the very ideas of tradifect change. In its first video, the Dove Real Beauty campaign took tional beauty that they are supposedly trying to dispel. a photo of a normal woman and showed the process of photo The previously mentioned Dove “Real Beauty” campaign has altering that goes into creating a billboard. Dove does not want put out multiple short videos; some widespread examples include you to tear that billboard down; it wants you to think you look like the “Evolution of Beauty,” “Dove Real Beauty Sketches” and most it. The very core of the Real Beauty campaign is the idea of “being recently, its short film “Selfie.” beautiful,” physically, not internally. Confused by the conflicting messages in these supposedly emInstead of teaching women the importance of other adjectives powering videos, I went in search of an expert. Peggy Orenstein, like “intelligent” or “creative,” the campaign focuses on a convena journalist and author of books about female self-esteem and tional definition of beauty, because beauty sells. confidence gave me her take on the “Dove problem.” In the age of Buzzfeed and “This video will make you cry so Orenstein told me that while she sees some benefits to the vidhard you’ll punch yourself in eos, they still suggest that your the face,” we have to be careful physical appearance comes about who is sending the mesfirst. sages. If an oil company cre“They hadn’t changed the ated an uplifting video about idea that your appearance fish swimming in petroleum, is what is more important,” we would think twice before Orenstein says. “[The videos’ (now buy our pulling out a box of tissues message is] how you look is suskincare products) and clicking the share button. per super important but maybe We should be similarly cautious we can stretch it a little bit.” about the Dove campaign. v Instead of challenging the

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL

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