Verde Volume 16 Issue 2 by Verde Magazine

THE NEXT STEP First generation college students and their pursuit of higher education Page 34

VERDE MAGAZINE • VOLUME 16, ISSUE 2 • DECEMBER 2014

Verde

December 2014 Volume 16 Issue 2 23

Inside

7 The Launch 13 News

Profiles 17 20 22 23

Ann Miura-Ko Ellis Obrien Maya McAuliffe Scott Reese

Cover 34

First Generation College

Features 24 26 27 31 40 42 44 48 50

Bob Schneeveis Mid Peninsula Sports Women in Corporate America Paly Clubs College Infographic My Health Online Non Binary Gender Adult Night School Social Justice Pathway

Culture 53 55 56 58 60 62

Happy Donut Tech Cafe Chinatown Anderson Collection Buddhist Temple Gambino Music Review

Perspectives 65 67 68 69 70

Cultural Appropriation Skinny Shaming Parent Surveillance Disease Awareness Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s What Shi Said

On the cover Jaime Torres holds a photo of his son, Jose, after he graduated from Palo Alto High School. Jaime never had the opportunity to go to college, but since he came to America he has worked at a dry cleaner shop for 20 years to provide for his family. Also present on the cover is Paly Outreach Specialist Crystal Laguna, who played an important role in helping Jose become the first in his family to enroll in college. This meta-image illustrates the hard work of first generation families and the support which Paly offers to students to help them take a big next step in their futures. Photo by Ana Sofia Amieva-Wang.

From the Editors

stories untold

“

IVE VOICE TO THE VOICELESS.” With each issue of Verde, we strive to honor this overarching guideline set by the Society of Professional Journalists. Although our Palo Alto community prides itself on awareness and acceptance, it is far too easy to turn a blind eye to the privileges that many of us take for granted. In this issue, we highlight several underappreciated groups and individuals who live without some of the opportunities that many of us on Verde have. We so often focus our concern on gaining acceptance to top colleges that we forget that for many, simply graduating high school and going to any college is neither an expectation nor a given. A surprising number of Palo Alto High School students are the first in their families to pursue higher education, which provides the opportunity for upward mobility. Their achievements and enduring drive to succeed inspire us to be more appreciative of the advantages we previously ignored. These students and their support teams of parents, teachers and counselors are the true superheroes of the education system. Jack Brook and Siddharth Srinivasan uncover and explore these stories in “The First in their Families” (p. 34). Another underappreciated privilege is that of being cisgender (self-identifying with the gender correlated to one’s biological sex). Gender can no longer be defined as binary; rather, it is a fluid spectrum. People who identify somewhere in the middle often feel left out of a culture that frequently places great emphasis and judgment on gender expression. Brigid Godfrey and Gabi Rossner tell the stories of non-binary students at Paly in “They/Them, Singular” (p. 44). The theme of privilege correlated to gender continues in “Women, Incorporated” (p. 27) by Anna Nakai and Elana Rebitzer, a story which looks at struggles women face in male-dominated corporate America. Anna Lu tells the business woman success story of Paly grad and venture capitalist Ann Miura-Ko in “World Class Investments” (p. 17). People call us the “controversial” publication when in fact, we only aim to shine light on issues not typically in the public eye. The voiceless deserve a voice; it is crucial that their stories are told. — Bryan, Jack, Jasper and Tira

Editors-in-Chief Jack Brook Jasper McEvoy Tira Oskoui Bryan Wong Managing Editors Lucy Fox Brigid Godfrey Design Editor Claire Priestley Features Editor Eliza Ackroyd Perspectives Editor Kelly Shi Culture Editor Anand Srinivasan Launch Editor Esmé Ablaza News Editors Anna Lu Siddharth Srinivasan Business Managers Zofia Ahmad Alexandra Hsieh Art Director Anthony Liu Artist Karina Chan Photo Director Ana Sofia Amieva-Wang Staff Writers Emma Goldsmith Emilie Ma Natalie Maemura Joe Meyer Madison Mignola Christian Miley Anna Nakai Ansley Queen Elana Rebitzer Ryan Reed Gabriela Rossner Rachel Van Gelder James Wang Bethany Wong Caroline Young Roy Zawadzki Adviser Paul Kandell

VERDE MAGAZINE

@VERDEMAGAZINE Information 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. 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 veics-1415@ 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 Zofia Ahmad and Alexandra Hsieh at 650-796-2358 for more information. Printing & Distribution 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

EDITORIALS

UNIFORMITY NEEDED IN COURSES “My teacher grades us like college students...” “My teacher grades us on effort!”

y Liu

Art by Anthon

HIS MONTH, SUPERINTENDENT MAX McGee and school board members announced that a primary goal for the Palo Alto Unified School District is to decrease district-wide disparity within courses. To fulfill the district’s goals of providing consistent, high-quality and fair education, McGee hopes to balance teacher autonomy and consistency. According to McGee, the proposed solution is three-fold: identify the root of the problem, raise awareness about it and develop a collaborative solution within the district. Verde commends the district on its decision to tackle class disparity and hopes that McGee’s proposal will work to establish more fairness in courses across the district, thereby increasing student satisfaction with their classes and teachers. The problem of class disparity stems from a lack of communication. In many classes, teachers create their own standards and procedures since there is no specific, uniform curriculum. Were teachers to collaborate to design a single set of standards they should meet, classes taught by different teachers would align more in curriculum, assignments and grading policy, increasing fairness for students. To achieve the first step of McGee’s solution by identifying the root of the problem, the district contracted an independent firm called Hanover Research Group to collect district-wide data for first semester grades. According to McGee, the group will look

at the syllabus and grade distribution across classes and gather its own data from students, teachers and instructional supervisors from each department. The district has started moving toward its goals by educating teachers about the issue. According to McGee, Palo Alto High School Principal Kim Diorio recently asked school faculty to read “Grading Smarter, Not Harder” by Myron Dueck, a book explaining the importance of collaborative and uniform grading procedures. However, the problem does not occur in all courses. For example, in the Advanced Placement Psychology course at Paly, both teachers follow the same agenda on a day-by-day basis, use the same 8-point rubric system and grade large assignments together to make sure their standards align. In general, the teachers report that students seem enthusiastic about the uniform nature of the course. Despite the overall positivity of decreasing class disparity, there are downsides to such mandated conformity. Most significantly, teachers’ freedom and creativity would be limited. For some teachers, diverging from standard teaching styles and class curricula leads to more stimulating learning experiences for their students. Still, in most cases, the benefits of low class disparity outweigh these losses. Hopefully, with the recent efforts by the district and the support of the Palo Alto community, PAUSD courses will soon achieve fairness and uniformity. 5

EDITORIALS TENURE EVALUATION NEEDS REFORM

Art by Anthony Liu

“Here’s your report card for this quarter, teacher.”

OS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT Judge Rolf M. Treu ruled in June that teacher tenure laws deprive students of their education rights and violate their civil rights, sparking discussion of the effectiveness of current tenure policies. Palo Alto Unified School District’s current policies state that new teachers either gain tenure or are fired after a period of two years, during which they undergo evaluations and reviews by the instructional supervisor of their department. Additionally, teachers are laid off in order of seniority; the most recent teacher hired will be the first laid off, regardless of teaching quality. Verde believes that although teachers should be able to count on a certain amount of job security, a teacher who detrimentally affects the education of his or her students or fails to teach effectively should not be able to depend on the system for support simply due to seniority. Not only is two years an insufficient amount of time to accurately and fairly judge a teacher’s abilities, but there is a clear lack of student representation when it comes to making these long-term decisions. Student input should be a critical part of the evaluation process. While current evaluators may add a professional perspective, student input is necessary to provide a holistic review of the teacher since students are most directly affected by a teacher’s methods and quality. 6

Currently, teachers are notified before an observational evaluation so that they can provide the supervisor with context for the lesson plan. We believe that teachers should not be notified prior to the evaluation and should be expected to provide context after the observed lesson. These candid observations should accompany student evaluations in being major considerations when laying teachers off and awarding tenure, not just seniority. Still, it must be noted that the overall standard of teaching and education in PAUSD is far above the average in California. This year, Newsweek ranked Palo Alto High School as 56th in the nation based on achievement scores and college readiness. In contrast, in early 2014, Education Week ranked California as 40th nationally in public school system quality. Clearly, there is a huge disparity between education quality in our district and the rest of the state, much to the credit of our many amazing teachers. There are many factors other than a few bad teachers remaining employed that must be considered to help close this gap, but we believe that one way to start is to ensure that teaching is rewarded on a more quality-based level. While Verde acknowledges and greatly appreciates the hard work and dedication of the teachers within PAUSD, tenure policy should include more careful observational evaluations and student input to give students across California the high quality education that all students deserve.

Please join the

Stanford Creative Writing Program for readings with acclaimed contemporary writers

Louise Glück

Wednesday, January 21st, 8pm, Cemex Auditorium

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Louise Glück is a former Poet Laureate of the United States and the author of a dozen widely acclaimed books. She is the 2015 Mohr Visiting Poet.

Joyce Carol Oates

Wednesday, February 11th, 8pm, Cemex Auditorium Joyce Carol Oates has published more than 40 novels, along with many collections of short stories, poetry and nonfiction. The National Book Award is just one of her many honors. She is the 2015 Stein Visiting Writer.

For event information and to subscribe to our email list, visit creativewriting.stanford.edu

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Launch

Compiled by ESME ABLAZA

‘Tis the season IN DEFENSE OF UNWANTED HOLIDAY PRESENTS

SOCKS

Scoff now, but you’ll be wishing you had this cozy clothing staple come winter. Your desire for toasty feet will outweigh any residual shame in wearing value pack products. Not to mention that socks are by far the easiest articles of clothing to lose. No matter what your bulging dresser drawers may claim, you can never have too many socks.

COAL

Coal is a limited resource. Anybody who gives you coal for the holidays is probably rich, Santa or a rich Santa. Either way, you can take the coal and sell it to the government. If you don’t, Congress will probably go to war for it anyway.

GIFT CARDS

Though they are often labeled as an easy way out, the gift card’s reputation as a present without thought is incredibly undeserved. Instead of receiving an item you’d inevitably return, you are now gifted with the freedom to buy whatever you’d like from a certain store within a certain price range. And if you don’t have any interest in the store’s products, gift cards are the perfect present to recycle for next year’s holiday season.

Verbatim:

Text by KELLY SHI

Is there a social stigma regarding Ebola?

“

All you hear in class is about Ebola. Even if someone coughs, people automatically yell, ‘Ebola!’” — freshman Alexa Morales

“

I believe others have created a social stigma surrounding those who have contracted Ebola, especially one against doctors who are trying their best to find a cure.” — sophomore Michel Ange Siaba

ASB Answers What are asb's new plans regarding Clubs this semester? “Each [ASB] officer is going to visit a couple of clubs and sit in on a lunch meeting. We are going to try and do this once a semester to make sure that the clubs we charter are staying on track.”

— Reid Walters, ASB Vice President

Photography and reporting by SIDDHARTH SRINIVASAN

This is Happiness

Photography and reporting by BRIGID GODFREY

What do paly students like to order from happy donuts? “Glazed donuts.”

“Chocolate glaze.”

— senior Chris Hinstorff

freshman — Derek Gubbens

“Homer Simpson.”

“Sprinkles.”

— senior Cairo Kim

— junior Matt O’Reilly

Is it a growing issue?

“

Ebola isn’t as contagious as people think. People make over-generalizations about what they don’t know.” — junior Ivy Li

Photography and reporting by NATALIE MAEMURA

“

I think it’s definitely becoming a more known topic because of the outbreak. It’s interesting to see how a lot of the talk about it is not taking it seriously.” — senior Chris Hinstorff

New Club Check-in aviation club “We watch movies that have to do with aircraft and discuss topics relevant to flying. We also have flight instructors and pilots come in to speak. I, the president, and Theo Zaharias, the vice president, are both pilots so students who attend our club will see the real world of aviation.”

— Paige Hansen, president of Aviation Club Photography and reporting by ANAND SRINIVASAN

iPhone Photography student photographers utilize smartphone technology

Photo by NICOLE BERRY

Photo by NICOLE COX

Teacher Tweets

Reporting by ANNA LU

Launch “Take a book, return a book” These “mini-libraries” around town are part of a worldwide movement by Little Free Library. They are entirely self-sufficient, running on contributions from the community. According to its website, the goal of this movement is to “promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide.” Check out the website at http://littlefreelibrary.org/ to locate a little-library near your home. Text and photography by ROY ZAWADSKI

Gum Etiquette

Text by ANSLEY QUEEN

A GUIDE TO CHEWING GUM: DECEPTION AND DISPOSAL Step 1: Deceive

Step 2: Dispose

We have all been that person who feels like a jerk because they don’t want to give up their gum to a stranger or even a close friend. You pull out your gum, excited to break the monotony of whatever block period is dragging on. Reaching into your backpack in itself can attract the vultures. There are two options: be a jerk or give it up. My solution: come prepared. Always bring an extra empty pack of gum so that when people ask you can support the excuse, “It was the last piece,” with evidence.

Do you spit your gum out into the trash can, or do you politely drop it into the trash? There is no clear-cut right way to do it. However, for people with long hair, spitting your gum into the trash cans becomes much more complicated. There have been many victims of disposals gone wrong where gum misfires and tangles itself into your hair. On the other side, you can take the gum out of your mouth but risk multiple chances to spread germs to yourself and others. Overall caution is advised. Reporting by EMILIE MA

NEWS

PAUSD braces for change Members of the Palo Alto Unified School District community are anticipating big changes following the election of two new school board members. On Nov. 13, Ken Dauber and Terry Godfrey secured two of the five seats on the district’s school board. In the past two years, the changes in principal, superintendent and school board members have called for new agendas to be aired. According to Dauber, the district will seek to minimize the disparity of difficulty levels between teachers of the same course and re-examine the homework policy. These changes are part of a studentcentered approach that emphasizes their social and emotional well-being. “The phrase that I repeated during the campaign many times was ‘putting students first,’” Dauber said. “I think that’s really the key to paying attention to the right things.” This year, the district hired a private firm, the Hanover Research Group, to collect data regarding the difficulty level of classes, according to Superintendent Max McGee. He expects the data collection process to conclude in the spring. “Right now, we hear stories from the students and the parents but we don’t have any real data for it,” McGee said. “We’re not going to evaluate teachers or point fingers, but we want to identify what the problem is so that we can reach a solution.” McGee’s proposed solution is to develop a collaborative solution that increases consistency without creating uniformity. “I think the best way to do it is through a faculty group that is empowered toward

SCHOOL BOARD Newly elected school board member Ken Dauber thanks his campaign supporters during a dinner at his house. Photo by Siddharth Srinivasan solving this problem,” McGee said. “She [Palo Alto High School Principal Kim Diorio] just asked the faculty to read this book called “Grading Smarter, Not Harder.” It talks about, for example, how you handle late papers because everyone handles them differently. ... These are the kinds of decisions that need to be made by an inclusive, collaborative group.” McGee believes that the collaborative approach will also encourage teachers to follow district policies. Currently, the main concern is not that of the policies themselves, but how the district can ensure that teachers are following them. “Believe it or not, the homework pol-

icy says seven to 10 hours a week, not a day,” McGee said. According to Dauber, the district is also considering larger projects such as changes in scheduling for middle and high school students to avoid work pile-ups. U.S. History teacher David Rapaport says the solution is a testing calendar that allots dates for tests according to subject. “I miss our testing calendar,” Rapaport said. “What we want to avoid is students having four tests on a 1-3-5-7 day. We used to have that in place, but when we went to the block schedule, that was abandoned.” BY ANNA LU

Cal Ave construction inconveniences businesses Local business on California Avenue are expressing their objections to the $6.9 million construction project following a 25 percent decrease in sales. The construction is said to have disrupted consumer flow along the street. Business owners on California Ave. have objected to the changes, saying the project was started without giving business owners

sufficient time to adjust to the change in consumer patterns. Business owners have found the construction noise particularly inconvenient. “The noise ... is a little jarring sometimes for the dogs,” says Denice Souza, a groomer at Alexander’s Dog Grooming, located off of California Ave. “There are problems with parking ...[There’s] the usual

lunch time-dinner crowd, but it seems to be a lot worse.” Prior to beginning construction, the City of Palo Alto sent an outreach survey out to businesses on California Avenue, and gathered a 17.8 percent response rate from a total of 228 businesses. BY ELIZA ACKROYD 13

NEWS

Cancer Club runs gift drive Palo Alto High School’s Next Generation for Cancer Club will organize a gift drive for patients at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. According to club president Hannah Zhang, the gift drive will be complete by the beginning of December. Zhang plans to donate individual gift bags for each patient. “We are preparing little kits…[with] magazines, origami, little puzzles and a construction paper heart with a message,” Zhang said. Next Generation for Cancer Club welcomes donations of magazines. Any students interested in donating should attend the club, meeting in room 1701 every Wednesday BY RYAN REED

Tower Building to host seasonal Fiery Arts Sale Palo Alto High School will host the seasonal Fiery Arts Sale in the main hall of the Tower Building from Dec. 5 to Dec. 6. According to art teacher Steve Ferrera, who is in charge of the event, this year’s Fiery Arts Sale will include a variety of items previously unavailable in the fall sale, such as candy canes, tree ornaments and reindeers. All items sold will be created by students, and the proceeds will help benefit the Fiery Arts program at Paly. “Prices will range from $5 to $200 so there really is something for everyone,” Ferrera said. “We will also have a fair amount of discounted items which should make great holiday gifts.” BY EMILIE MA 14

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Senior Huda Navaid, founder and editor-in-chief of Haven, regulates and updates the publication’s online blog. Photo by Caroline Young.

New online publication seeks to create safe haven Palo Alto High School’s newest student publication, Haven, will debut in print next semester according to its editor-in-chief. According Senior Huda Navaid, Haven was founded to create a safe, intellectual “haven” for writers to freely express themselves. “I feel like often time[s] … [writers] have this viewpoint, but they feel like they can’t fully express it because … they feel like they’re going to be judged by the Paly community for their viewpoint,” Navaid said. “Haven wants to combat that by encouraging people to be themselves when they write while keeping a balance between being [themselves] and saying something that’s blatantly offensive to someone else.” At the moment, the publication is available exclusively online but will expand to include an in-print magazine next semester. Navaid says that the in-print magazine will consist of in-depth articles, stories, poems, creative writing and prose. Second semester will also be the debut of Haven’s com-

edy-news show that will present satirical versions of both world and Paly news in a way that’s more accessible to Paly students. “Because we have so much on our plate … [students] don’t have time to read,” Navaid said. “So I wanted to give those people the opportunity to see the news in a way that’s simple, easy for them to understand and speaks to their community.” Currently, members of the group may publish with permission onto Haven’s online blog, which launched last month and contains creative writing, foreign affairs, opinions and economics. Haven hopes to become an official club soon and is in the process of securing a teacher adviser. The current Haven blog can be found online at palyhaven.wordpress.com. Students interested in joining the publication can also contact Navaid at paly.haven@ gmail.com.

BY CAROLINE YOUNG

NEWS

Committee to deal with ongoing achievment gap The Minority Achievement and Talent Development Advisory Committee will meet for the first time on Dec. 2 at the school district office, according to Superintendent Max McGee. The committee is set up to deal with the long- standing achievement gap in Palo Alto Unified School District. “Our purpose is to develop a set of strategic actionable recommendations … that will assure that our underrepresented minority students, our students from socio economically disadvantaged … families will have access to programs, practices, services that they need to develop their fullest intellectual, creative and social potential,” McGee said. The committee plans to look at data and practices implemented by other schools across the nation to meet its objectives, as well as hold open forums to allow commu-

nity members to voice their opinions. “We’re going to ask people to come give us testimony and tell us their stories and learn from what people in the community have to say,” McGee said. This will be the first time that PAUSD will focus on reducing the achievement gap across all schools and groups. “It [the achievement gap] starts early, and I really want to emphasize this is not a high school problem, this is a systemwide issue,” McGee said. “At any single elementary school there’s not a large number of kids from socioeconomically disadvantaged families … so it’s really not until students get to the upper levels that this problem becomes visible [and] if you’re not paying attention to these issues early on it just compounds.” The committee will consist of several different groups of people, including four

Newly elected council members push for sensible zoning plan With the election of four predominantly residentialist council members, the city council will see an increased push for a plan for organizing of Palo Alto’s high-density infrastructure. Recently, residentialists have raised the issue of further housing development after opposing development on Maybell Avenue and an increase in office spaces, especially along North California Aveune. “Palo Alto has about three percent of the county’s housing, but nine percent of its jobs,” councilman Eric Filseth said. “First, it means a lot of people [are] commuting, because they work here but don’t live here. This leads to traffic and parking problems, and not surprisingly, Palo Alto

now has the worst inbound commutes in the county.” Office development also raises other concerns that impact the quality of life Palo Altans currently enjoy. “The pace has been so rapid recently we are not growing our infrastructure to keep pace,” DuBois said. “For example the Parks and Rec commission recently found that Palo Alto has fallen behind the amount of park space it wants to have per citizen.” Starting next year, the recently elected city council members, Karen Holman, Greg Scharff, Tom DuBois and Eric Filseth, will take office. BY KARINA CHAN

students, two from Paly and two from Gunn, alumni, parents, community members and faculty and staff members. According to McGee, there are four representatives of each group. McGee hopes to have the recommendations done by April 2015, so that the school districts can implement changes to the curriculum and programs for next school year. McGee has worked on the problem of the achievement gap in other posts and has high hopes for the committee. “I think it is probably some of the most important work that we’ll do all year in the school district,” McGee said. “Frankly I think it might have the opportunity to inform ideally some state and perhaps even federal policies and practice but you know let’s focus on Palo Alto first.” BY ANNA NAKAI

Verde Vortex

Verde’s issue from 10 years ago highlights the update of the nutrition policy for the school cafeteria in the cover story titled “food fight.” 15

NEWS

Library seeks teen volunteers The Mitchell Park Library’s grand opening will be Dec. 6 kicking of five weeks of programs for local communities. According to RuthAnn Garcia, manager of the Mitchell Park Library, the first week will have a teen theme, followed by senior, multicultural, children’s and technology themes in the following weeks The library staff hopes to connect with local teens by providing opportunities for students to get involved. “We’re hopefully going to revitalize our teen advisory board,” Garcia said. “[The teen advisory board members] will help us make real decisions, visualise what programs [they] want to see, and suggest what collections they think the library should have.” The Mitchell Park Library also aims to accommodate high school students’ studying needs by incorporating group study MITCHELL PARK LIBRARY The new library’s contemporary design consists of rooms and a program to help high school green roofs and large windows to be environmentally friendly. Photo by James Wang students through finals week. “We will be working very closely with wellness programs during finals week to it’s modern, it’s clean, it’s sleek. The library the teen center to provide extended hours give [students] a chance to relax.” is certainly going to be a real destination Garcia is optimistic about its future. here at the library and the teen center for place for the city.” “I’m really excited to see people’s rehigh school students who are studying for finals,” Garcia said. “We will also do some actions,” Garcia said. “The library is fun, BY JAMES WANG

Theater to perform in Play in a Day event Palo Alto High School’s theater department will host its annual Play in a Day on Dec. 19 and 20. “There is going to be a meeting with everyone participating on Dec. 19 after finals, where actors and playwrights find out the secret theme, and everyone gets divided up into groups,” said producer, senior Hannah Nguyen. “Before 8 a.m. the next

2.4%

of Fortune 500 CEOs are women p. 27

morning, they have to write a five to 10 minute play based on the theme.” According to theater teacher Kathleen Woods, the next day will be spent rehearsing, putting together props and costumes and arranging lighting cues on stage. On Saturday, the plays will be performed at the Haymarket Theater. The event is open to everybody, according to

first gen students accepted into 4-year college last year p. 34

146

Woods. “Play in a Day is a really low commitment way to get involved with theater and experience all of the fun of theater in a single day,” Nguyen said. To sign up, contact Woods or Nguyen for more information.

Paly students applied to UCSD p. 40

BY ELANA REBITZER

of Paly students don’t identify within the gender binary p. 44

PROFILES | DEC 2014

WORLD CLASS INVESTMENTS

THE MOST POWERFUL WOMAN IN STARTUPS

Text by ANNA LU Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG and ANNA LU

EARLY TWO DECADES ago, when Ann MiuraKo was still a student at Palo Alto High School, her dad gave her a piece of advice: No matter what you do, be world class at it. Now 37 and married with three kids, Miura-Ko is world class in every sense; Forbes calls her the “Most Powerful Woman in Startups.” As a venture capitalist, Miura-Ko reviews about 150 pitches a week for such cutting edge innovations as a metal box that she says was intended to be a next-generation toaster oven. Where the entrepreneur should have included a typed business plan, he instead provided a handwritten letter and just in case the box got lost in the mail, he sent it to her five more times. Today, Miura-Ko funds big data analytics and e-commerce companies. Her job: to distinguish the Twitters from the toaster

ovens and invest accordingly. After graduating from Paly in 1994, Miura-Ko studied electrical engineering at Yale University before earning her Ph.D. in computer programming at Stanford. There, she taught an entrepreneurship course with industry luminaries as mentors, one of whom was well-established venture capitalist Mike Maples, Jr. In 2008, Miura-Ko approached Maples seeking advice for creating a startup. Already in the process of starting his second investment firm, Maples offered to bring her in. Together, the two co-founded Floodgate — now one of the most influential venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, having taken early stakes in well-known startups such as Twitter, ridesharing company Lyft and online retailer ModCloth. “We get to work with the entrepreneurs before they get jaded and before everyone else believes in them,” Miura-Ko

says. “I focus on that moment of inception to baby-nursing that company up to the point where it’s a teenager, and then we hand it off to the larger mega-fund.” Before Floodgate was a $75 million investment firm, in the days of the toaster oven pitches, employees without corporate titles would describe themselves as “rockstars.” Miura-Ko, on the other hand, opted for the title “ninja assassin.” “My brother and I were so obsessed with ninjas that he dressed up as a ninja 10 years in a row for Halloween,” MiuraKo says. “I always thought, ‘If I want to be something, I don’t want to be a rockstar, I want to be a ninja assassin.’” The entrepreneur, like the ninja assassin, must have more than just intelligence: she must also be tenacious, world class and passionate. Through a series of seemingly unrelated incidents, Miura-Ko managed to develop all three of these traits. 17

PROFILES | DEC 2014 A Test of Tenacity Miura-Ko, by her own admission, is known for her mix of perseverance and stubbornness. In her college application essay, she called it tenacity. “Even in high school, I was someone who didn’t give up very easily and someone who didn’t take other people’s opinions into account,” she says. “That’s probably my fatal flaw, but it’s also a strong asset.” In her sleepless, seven-course high school years, Miura-Ko learned that success is a result of hard work. Her senior year, she won the culminating high school speech and debate tournament, the Tournament of Champions, making her a billboard for high school success. However, she almost quit the activity altogether sophomore year. Her parents believed that coming from an immigrant household that spoke only Japanese disadvantaged her in the speech and debate community. These concerns, combined with her initial lack of success, led her to question her prospect in the activity. “My freshman and sophomore year, I was terrible at it. I was losing all the time,” she says. “My parents actually sat me down and told me, ‘If you’re only going to do two activities and one is a massive failure, that’s a problem. You’re not going to get into college in that equation.’” Her parents gave her an ultimatum. If she didn’t succeed within the first few months of junior year, she would have to quit and re-allocate her time towards other “more productive” activities. Her gut instincts told her otherwise. The summer before junior year, Miura-Ko spent almost every day in Stanford’s libraries intensively researching and practicing for the upcoming debate season; she prepared for all 10 of the possible topics, even though only three would be chosen. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘If I can just prepare myself to extent where I’ve out-prepared everyone, and I walk into a debate round having already won 90 percent of that round before it has even begun, then the odds are that I’ll actually do pretty well,” Miura-Ko says. She uses the same mindset to this day. She acts on her instinct and sticks to her gut. More often than not, her tenacity pays off. 18

holding a similar conversation. The photos World Class Opportunities Miura-Ko had a high bar set at an early still sit, side by side, in her office to this day. “When you work your tail off and you age. Her father, a literal rocket scientist, constantly reminded her to adopt a world try to be world class at the most mundane class work ethic, no matter how seemingly tasks, world class opportunities are provided,” Miura-Ko says. insignificant the assign“It may not hapment. pen in the way you “I would turn in a envisioned. It may calculus assignment, and my dad would say, ‘Is that When you work your not even happen the time frame a world class effort?’” tail off and you try to be in that you believed Miura-Ko says. “I used to get really tired of that world class at the most it would happen in, question.” mundane tasks, world but those opportunities pop up.” In college, as part of That moment her work study program, class opportunities are changed the trajecMiura-Ko worked in the provided.” tory of her career dean of engineering’s path. Her entire office. It was a simple, life, she thought boring job: photocopyshe was going to ing. Once again, her dad become a research scientist. Coming from reminded her to be world class. “I said, ‘Oh dad, it’s nothing to be a family of mechanical engineers, her bigworld class at. It’s photocopying,’” Miura- gest rebellion was majoring in electrical Ko says. “He said, ‘Still, you should think engineering, but witnessing Platt’s savvy about it,’ so I remember sitting in front of decision-making led her to develop an inthe photocopying machine and thinking terest in business as well. about what it meant to be world class at that.” The Art of Entrepreneurship She approached the situation from After graduating from Yale and begina new angle, treating every task as a chal- ning her Ph.D. program at Stanford, Miuralenge. Instead of just pressing the start but- Ko approached Mike Maples Jr. for advice ton, she aligned the pages perfectly and ad- in creating a startup. As a venture capitalist, justed the color balance. She photocopied Maples worked fervently with entrepreso that there were no errors and became neurs, so he let her shadow him to observe the fastest photocopier that the dean had the early stages of entrepreneurship. Durever seen. ing this process, he found that her instincts Noting her work ethic, the dean asked about developing startups were shockingly her to give a special guest of his a tour of accurate and realized that her engineering the Yale campus. On the tour, the guest background combined with his expertise in asked about her plans for spring break and venture capital would make them the pershe told him that she would be going back fect team, so he offered her a job position. home to Palo Alto, mildly embarrassed that There was a catch: She had to start immeher most productive plans consisted of diately. visiting her parents. Surprisingly, he also A risky decision at the time, Miuraworked in Palo Alto so he offered her an Ko joined Maples in founding Floodgate, opportunity to shadow him for a week. He pushing her Ph.D. program into the backjust so happened to be Lew Platt, the CEO ground. of Hewlett Packard. “We started Floodgate perhaps with During Miura-Ko’s week at HP head- the worst timing ever, in 2008 with the fiquarters, Bill Gates also stopped by to nancial crisis,” she says. “I was still a year make an announcement. After the extern- from competing the Ph.D., I had a daughship, Platt sent her two pictures: the first of ter who was a year and a half, and I was her sitting in a chair talking to Platt, the sec- pregnant with my second child. You can ond of Bill Gates sitting in the exact chair just imagine the confluence of events that

“

PROFILES | DEC 2014 was the craziness that became the start of 2009.” Amidst the craziness, her passion for nurturing entrepreneurs made the challenges seem insignificant. “The most amazing part of my job is that I get to see the inception of so many different kinds of ideas,” Miura-Ko says. “As you see your companies become successful, having that history with the founder where no one else believed but we believed is a really good feeling.” Miura-Ko says her tenacity and world class work ethic are the reasons for her success both in debate and in venture capital, but her initial motivation itself was inseparable from her passion. She believes that finding your own story and your own voice is the most important thing that you can do in your high school years. “As we live in an environment where you’re surrounded by high-achievers, the definition of what it means to be highachieving becomes set in everyone’s mind,” she says. “As a result of that, it’s really hard to find your own place, but if you’re here because your parents told you to be here, you shouldn’t be here. You should go find the thing that when you wake up in the morning you can’t wait to do. That could be gardening, photography, movie-making or playing the piano. It doesn’t have to be research at Stanford.” In her field, Miura-Ko sees the romanticized view of entrepreneurship lead individuals to start companies that they lack authentic passion for. She knows from experience that there’s nothing romantic in working 100-hour weeks without knowing whether the product will be a success. “The way in which entrepreneurship is perceived has changed. It’s now considered to be a legitimate career path — there’s even an entrepreneur barbie,” she says. “Everyone is always thinking about becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg, but people forget that it’s better to be employee No. 100 at a growing Facebook than employee No. 1 at a mobile app company that goes nowhere. Your time is the most important asset that you have. If you’re not spending every minute of that time on a really important problem, you’re wasting your most precious asset.” v

ANN MIURA-KO A Paly graduate of 1994, Ann Miura-Ko is now co-founding partner of $75 million investment firm Floodgate. 19

PROFILES | DEC 2014

Text by LUCY FOX and NATALIE MAEMURA; Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

ELLIS OBRIEN ON AIR WEATHER FORECASTER TAKES SCHOOL BY STORM

LLIS OBRIEN WAS A CROWD FAVORITE from the moment he began his career as one of InFocus’s two weather forecasters. Known for his high-pitched “Good morning, Paly!” and corny weather puns, he produces laughter in every fourth period classroom. We sat down to ask him a few questions. v Tell us a little about your position. Ellis Obrien: I’m [a] weatherman on InFocus. I create graphics, and I sign women’s breasts, and I read the weather live on air each day. What are the best parts about the job? EO: Besides the obvious popularity boost that I get on campus, I really feel like it’s given me a good career path. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life, but now I think being a meteorologist is the thing for me. Obviously, the job does come with perks; yes, I do get into every party because I am the weatherman. Other than that, I would say … I mean, I have an A+ in the class; that pretty much speaks for itself. I don’t like to brag too much, kind of let the resumé do the talking, but I am consistently flagged down on campus and told I’m the highlight of the show. What has been your biggest area of improvement so far this year? EO: My biggest area of improvement was my ability with Photoshop and the graphics. I can now make approximately two graphics in 11 minutes, and I know what you’re thinking, ‘That’s impossible, you’re a stud,’ but yes, I can do it. The ladies love it.” How do you prepare to go on air? EO: I throw a few air punches. I try to think of the jokes during the period. I’m thinking of puns, trying to think of a few funny things to do, and then five minutes before I’m throwing air punches, then doing my jumps, and then I’m just ready to go — in the zone. 20

What goes through your mind when you’re reporting? EO: Normally, I’m trying to remember what I thought of. It’s kind of improvised, so I’m trying t o think of what I’m going to say next. I’m trying not to stumble or stutter on my words, and then when a joke’s coming up, I get a little nervous, a little anxious, try to slow down, make the joke and move on to reporting the weather. Do you ever fear failure in your position as weather forecaster? EO: I’m a little scared of failure. Like right now, it’s pretty sunny, and I told them there would be storms today, so I’m feeling a little bad. I mean, what if someone wore a rain jacket to school and now they’re in the sun feeling like a fool? I mean, I don’t know what to say. This one’s pretty embarrassing. My first real error. Tell us about Paul Hoeprich [InFocus adviser]. EO: He’s a great guy. Really love the man. He’s funny. He is the joker, cares about improving the news. He’s like a Ron Burgundy — doesn’t quite have the looks, but has the attitude and the passion for the news. What drives you in life? EO: My prius.

Nadine Priestley Photography nadine.priestley@gmail.com

650.868.0977

nadinepriestley.com

PROFILES | DEC 2014

THROUGH

jumping HOOPS

Text and Photography by MADISON MIGNOLA

STUDENT ACHIEVES AERIALIST DREAM

ALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR MAYA McAuliffe has just recently been admitted to Les Aerielles, a professional aerialist team. Her passion started during a family trip to a ClubMed resort in Ixtapa, Mexico. Four-year-old McAuliffe enrolled in one of the flying trapeze programs for the younger kids staying at the resort. “I actually have memories of it, of being with all the little kids, and they were all crying,” McAuliffe says. “No one else wanted to go, so I would just go and kept going again and again, and I had the best time.” After that, McAuliffe didn’t interact with any sort of circus apparatus until another trip to ClubMed at age 11. “After that I just fell in love,” McAuliffe says. “I almost started crying because [the performance] was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.” She quit Irish dancing and put everything into becoming an aerialist. After being placed in two specialty acts for each of the programs she did over the course of two summers, McAuliffe felt ready to try out for Les Aerielles. During the fall of eighth grade, she auditioned for the team and she was told by the coach, Janene Davis, that she was nowhere near the skill level of all the other girls on her team. McAuliffe was not defeated — she was determined. She took seven months of Chinese acrobatics and aerial classes in order to train herself for her second audition, but her efforts only led to another rejection. “Again, I’m nowhere near,” McAuliffe says. “I just feel humiliated when I’m training with them. They’re just so much better than me, and I’m just so insanely weak.” The rejection turned into more motivation for her to continue with her training. However, during the training, she noticed a pain in her wrist, which turned out to be a ganglion cyst. After the minor surgery to remove the cyst, McAuliffe endured months of recovery and physical therapy. Around a year and a half had passed since the injury when McAuliffe decided to go back into aerial training. Many of her friends and family were skeptical of her desire to continue, but McAuliffe’s mother, Janet Wiener, supported her throughout the journey. “I’m pleased that she kept working,” Wiener says. “I was impressed that she didn’t give up and went back to training as soon as she could.” McAuliffe did not want to continue to focus on whether or not she was good enough for Les Aerielles; she wanted to focus on regaining the confidence with aerial that she had once before. After a few months time, she was told by one of her trainers that she should try out for Les Aerielles again. Skeptical, McAuliffe didn’t agree. Regardless, her trainer contacted Davis and convinced her to come watch one of McAuliffe’s trapeze classes. 22

After the class ended, Davis called McAuliffe over and stated that she wanted to give her another shot. McAuliffe began training with the team twice a month as a trial before officially making the team. “By the end [of the first practice], I’m just like a soggy mess; I’m like a puddle,” McAuliffe says. “I was like, ‘I don’t care, I’m going to give this everything I’ve got.’” Since the beginning of eighth grade, becoming a part of the team had been something McAuliffe dreamed of. By the end of junior year, McAuliffe no longer dreamt about it, she was there; she achieved her aerial dream. “I got to perform for the first time with Les Aerielles,” McAuliffe says. “I couldn’t stop smiling when I was up there. It was one of the best moments of my life.” v

A PIECE OF REESE

PROFILES | DEC 2014

A MAN, HIS BIKE AND HIS MUSTACHE Text by JOE MEYER and SIDDHARTH SRINIVASAN Photography by ANA SOFÍA AMIEVA-WANG

LIKE AUSTIN POWERS Scott Reese is a man of intrigue, though perhaps not internationally. A Palo Alto High School campus supervisor, he is often seen patrolling campus on his bike with walkie talkie in hand. Verde sat down with Reese, now in his 24th year as a campus supervisor at Paly, to discuss his life and his views, while debunking some of the rumors surrounding his bike and well-kept mustache. v On acquiring the campus supervisor position at Paly ... SR: I’ve lived here in the South Bay my whole life. I got this job through Earl Hansen. I started coaching football here at that time, and shortly after I got the campus supervisor job, which I have had for 24 years. I also was the assistant to the athletic director for six or seven years. After farting around for a while at Foothill College, I worked at my dad’s plumbing company and had a few accidents there. What sent me out of there [the plumbing company] was a fall from two stories. I survived, [but] I had some damaged ribs and a knee problem. It seemed like I was getting hurt all the time. On identifying campus intruders ... SR: I usually like to look through the old [Paly] yearbooks and picture books. … Of course, I don’t know every kids’ name, but I try to remember as many faces as I can, and I do it with facial recognition. Here and there I make a mistake and embarrass myself with students; I think I don’t recognize them and it turns out they are indeed from Paly. … When I do pick out someone who isn’t from Paly, they are usually quite surprised.

On his relationship with the student body ... SR: I used to have stronger relationships with kids when I was working with them in the athletic department. When I was here for when James Franco came for the Media Arts Center Grand Opening, I ran into two different students that I used to know. It was nice to see them and all, but the way they react to seeing me ... I remember how close I was with them back when they were in high school. Nobody really knows much about me [now], or what my duties are. On The evolution of Palo Alto ... SR: During the time I grew up here, Palo Alto was more of a middle class town. You had more affluent kids that came from downtown Palo Alto, and then at Gunn the [wealthy] kids were from Los Altos Hills. You knew that they were [affluent] based on the kind of cars that they drove, just like how it is here nowadays. Palo Alto nowadays has become, at times, and with certain people and students, ‘Entitled Town’ — everybody feels that they are entitled to certain things. But there are many kids who don’t act this way who are balanced and easier going about life and don’t feel that they are better than everybody else. On his defining mustache ... SR: It’s funny you bring that up. I had it in high school, and I’ve only cut it off twice

in my life. Both times my wife said, “Put it back on!” In high school it wasn’t as long. ... I started the long thing in the ‘80s, when I was a Yankees fan. I liked Goose Gossage and Thurman Munson on the Yankees. Goose Gossage had this type of full moustache on, and I just went with it and I kept it. On his bike ... SR: My first year, I walked, and there were a few times when I had to run for whatever it was, medical emergencies, across campus. I was breathing hard, and I thought to myself, “I don’t know how long I can do this for,” so then I asked if I could use a bike, and the admin said yes, so I brought my own bike. I’ve gone through three bikes so far during my time here as campus supervisor. It [the bike] is quieter and a little easier to get around the hallways. I don’t like golf carts; if I wanted to be in a golf cart, I’d go play golf. 23

Text and Photography by JAMES WANG

PROFILES | DEC 2014

NUTS, BOLTS AND BURNOUTS

A PALO ALTAN’S JOURNEY TO IMPROVE ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION

OB SCHNEEVEIS, PALO Alto maker extraordinaire, paces around one of his latest creations, enthusiastically drawing attention to the intricacies in his design. The subject of his admiration, a polymer and precision ground aluminum motorcycle, stands proudly above the sea of tools in Schneeveis’s workshop. Although electrically powered, the handmade speed demon is a force to be reckoned with. “This is a 130-mile-an-hour machine,” Schneeveis says, grinning as he affectionately rests his hand atop his motorcycle. “Zero-to-60 in under four seconds.” Schneeveis’s custom motorcycle is a testament to his extensive fabrication experience and age-old desire for excitement. “My goal in life when I was your age was to get as much air-fuel mixture into an engine as fast as possible and to get it out the other end with efficiency being no concern whatsoever,” Schneeveis says, recalling his adolescent experiences with homemade race vehicles. 24

Since then, Schneeveis, now 69-yearsold, has pushed and continues to push the envelope. With the same vigor that inspired his high school racing career, Schneeveis has shifted his focus from going fast to going green, pioneering the world of homebrewed electric transportation. In an age when Priuses zoom around every street corner, an electric vehicle may not seem particularly out of the ordinary, yet Schneeveis brings a new take on the technology. Applying creative and often unorthodox methods to his designs, Schneeveis has created an exciting world of innovation far removed from the underwhelming image often associated with electric vehicles and environmentalism. “15 years ago, I got thinking along the lines of, ‘If wheels are so damn good, how come you don’t see them in nature?’” Schneeveis says, describing his opinion of current transportation technology. “If you’re a Darwin kind of guy, you know that if it’s not good then it’s not going to last. And we’ve got everything but wheels. If you’re along the creationism line, God

doesn’t build garbage, and God didn’t put a wheel on a damn thing.” Consistent with his unique vision of transportation, Schneeveis has created an array of walking electric vehicles, including a six-legged horse and a chariot driven by a humanoid robot. Schneeveis’s unique background has contributed to his visionary character, which finds its roots in his childhood struggles and past occupations. Growing up, Schneeveis lived in a poor, rural town in central Wisconsin and spent his days working in his dad’s auto-shop. “My dad, well, I didn’t really consider him a father figure,” Schneeveis says. “He was a boss. He taught me to weld when I was about eight years old, and when I was 12, I could weld overhead and do vertical stick welds.” Schneeveis also led a difficult academic life. As a dyslexic highschooler in the ‘60s, a period during which dyslexia was not yet recognized as a learning disability, Schneeveis found it difficult to apply himself. “The only reason I ever got out of

STREAMLINED (far left) Aluminum and lightweight polymer compose the body of Schneeveis’s motorcycle, a vehicle capable of traveling over 120 miles an hour. Despite its fair share of races and wheelies, the motorcyle is still in great shape.

HANDMADE (above left) The precision of Schneeveis’s handmade aluminum parts rivals that of automated manufacturing. Using only a handmill, bandsaw and other analogoue tools, Schneeveis’s fabricating skills are to be admired.

CRUISING (above right) Gliding over the pavement, Schneeveis rides on a wheeled platform he built for a circus act. Constructed over two decades ago, Schneeveis’s creation still runs like a charm, navigating the streets of Palo Alto with ease.

high school was because no teacher ever Today, though able to retire, Schneeveis is wanted to see me around again,” Schneev- employed as a Science and Engineering Aseis says. “I couldn’t even fill out an applica- sociate in Stanford’s neurology department, tion to get into university, so the state sent where he invents and fabricates precision me off to a two year equiptment for neutrade school to learn rology studies. to be a machinist.” “Are you familiar After high school, with the size of a fruit life threw yet another My goal in life when I was fly?” Schneeveis says, surprise at Schneev- your age was to get as much prefacing some of his eis. at Stanford. “A air-fuel mixture into an en- work “We had wonfruit fly needs to sit derful opportuni- gine as fast as possible” with its head leaned ties offered to us, as — Bob shneeveis over and the back of kids getting out of its skull opened up so high school: an allwe can look into the expense-paid-trip to back of its brain with far away, exotic lands,” Schneeveis says. a two-photon laser microscope … That’s “Vietnam.” what I do; I work in the land of the little.” Despite losing time to the Vietnam War Schneeveis’s technical knowledge and struggling with his dyslexia, Schneev- gained from his unique occupations has eis led an impressive career. After flying translated to his remarkable electric vea rescue helicopter for the United States hicles. All hand-crafted, Schneeveis’s creCoast Guard, he worked on motion simu- ations range from the elegant to a robotic lation systems for guided missiles and later George Bush. However, while his vehicles at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. vary in appearance, they are all products of

the same underlying philosophy: preserving the environment and inspiring creation in others. “I worked for a while making things that would kill people — war equipment,” Schneeveis says. “I finally had my fill with it and went into medical research. Took a cut in pay — don’t regret it. Do something that you think is good for you and for the country as a whole. Enlightening, uplifting projects that stress your creativity, your resourcefulness, to the limit.” Consistent with his making philosophy, Schneeveis has worked for years to innovate in the electric vehicle industry. Striving to bring the convoluted but rewarding world of alternative transportation to the individual’s domain, Schneeveis continues to work relentlessly at his goals. “Spend some time with your eyes closed, kicking back and dreaming of what you would like to create,” Schneeveis says. “If it doesn’t work, don’t get discouraged. After a while, you’re going to run out of things that don’t work. If you don’t give up.” v

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FEATURES | DEC 2014 Text by ROY ZAWADZKI Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

A Different kind of Game Day

SPORTS BROADCASTING GIVES TEENS DIRECTION

Y EYES ARE TRAINED ON MY 15 pound camera’s viewfinder, looking for the perfect shot. As I steady it to a huddle of Palo Alto High School football players, I suddenly hear in my left ear, “Ready camera two, take camera two.” A red light pops up on top of my viewfinder; my work is on air. I slowly pan to the left, following the players to the line of scrimmage. After pausing for a few seconds, the red light ceases as I hear, “Ready camera one, take camera one.” I am one of a dozen of teens involved in the Mid Peninsula Media Center’s Sports Broadcasting Program which broadcasts high school sports games live to thousands of viewers around the world. Standing on the top row of the Paly bleachers, wearing my headphones, I listen to the director — I am his eyes and ears. Whatever he tells me to do, I do. In the production truck parked behind the stadium, the director stands looking at multiple camera feeds. The action never stops. The process of broadcasting a live sports game requires synergy between the director, cameras, technical crew and announcers, all of whom are elementary, middle and high school students. Chuck Alley, the leader of the MPMC’s sports broadcasting program, stands in the back of the production truck. While Alley gives advice when needed, he generally lets the students run the show. The MPMC is one of a handful of video studios around the U.S. to offer students the ability to learn sports broadcasting hands-on with professional equipment. “Normally, students don’t actually get their hands on 26

professional equipment until college,” Alley says. “The more hands-on application, the faster you will learn the basic skills and be successful in the [broadcast media] industry.” Paly junior Brian Sotnick is an active participant in the MPMC program and recommends it to any student looking to experience what it is like to broadcast a live show. “It’s an amazing opportunity that [ages] 12 to 14 teens are given the ability to produce a great show,” Sotnick says. “This is a very rare opportunity for students.” In fall 2012, the MPMC began offering students the ability to broadcast high school sports games for community service hours. In fall 2013, they started broadcasting games live on Comcast channel 28 and on their website. “Anyone in the world can now watch their nephews and grandchildren play sports,” Alley says. “I have had so many people come up to me during the games and thank us for streaming these games live.” Students, including Chapman University senior and Paly alumnus Wesley Rapaport, have also taken advantage of the program to jump start their careers in sports broadcasting. “The Media Center is a unique place in the sense that people come in with a wide variety of knowledge and learning levels,” Rapaport says. “In some of my professional work with Comcast or at my internships, people are expected to be at the highest level. [MPMC] has given me the opportunity to develop my leadership skills.” When I’m behind the camera there is no greater feeling of satisfaction than hearing that my shot is on air. I know that each image I film positively contributes the local community, and it is for this reason that I keep coming back to Viking Stadium each Friday night for the Paly football games. v

FEATURES | DEC 2014

Women, incorporated

EXPLORING CORPORATE AMERICA’S GENDER GAP Text by ANNA NAKAI and ELANA REBITZER Art by KARINA CHAN

EFORE LAST SUMMER, Palo Alto High School junior Emma Wagstaff had never considered going into the field of technology or becoming a software engineer. Now, a few months later, she already has an internship with IDEO, a Palo Alto based company which designs and develops apps for children. Her life was changed last summer when she, along with 19 other girls, spent seven weeks at an intensive programming course on Facebook’s campus through a non-profit called Girls Who Code. “Growing up, girls aren’t told that they can do whatever they want,” Wagstaff says. “That’s something they need to hear, because if you don’t believe it yourself, other people won’t either.” Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, established the organization in 2012 to raise young women’s interest in technology. “As the tech industry grows faster and faster, I couldn’t stand watching women on the sidelines of innovation — we should be leading the movement,” Saujani says. “We’re building the movement to inspire, educate and equip girls with the computing

skills [for] 21st century opportunities. Our the sexual harassment office at Stanford ultimate goal is to achieve gender parity in University. “Any gender discrimination [is] [technology].” very rarely overt.” Right now, companies are not close The lack of women in high ranking to that parity. Although women comprise positions may cause part of this salary gap. 46.9 percent of the labor force, only 16 An April 2014 study by Harvard University percent of board members and 2.4 percent found that high paying jobs are also more of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies likely to pay women less money than men. are women, according to a 2012 study by Sometimes women feel that their Catalyst Research Center. This disparity bosses do not give them responsibilities between men and women is particularly equal to those of their male counterparts noticeable in recent diversity statistics from with similar resumés. Jillian McNerney, rotech companies like Google, which report- botics team manager at SRI International, ed in May 2014 experienced this that 70 percent of sort of discriminaits whole staff are “Growing up, girls aren’t told tion after she left the men and only 17 that they can do whatever U.S. military, where percent of its staff she managed 160 members who they want.” people through a work directly with — Junior emma wagstaff deployment in Iraq. technology are Upon entering the women. On Oct. 9, corporate world, she Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella publicly stat- noticed that she had more management exed that women should not ask their bosses perience than her peers, but was not given for raises and should instead simply rely on higher level jobs. good karma for promotion. Although he “I felt like the role I was put into, the later retracted and apologized for his state- position I was given and the salary I was ment, it still sparked controversy. given, in hindsight, was a lower responsibilThough several companies have ity and lower salary than I should have relaunched programs to close the gender ceived,” McNerney says. “Maybe there was gap, such as Girls Who Code and Google’s or wasn’t a gender bias thing, but I always Made With Code initiative, a website that wondered if I were a male, with the same seeks to expose younger girls to coding and kind of background, if I would have been female role models in the technology area, given more responsibility and thought of the troubling disparity between the gen- as able to take on more management reders, particularly at the high management sponsibility.” level, still remains. However, male dominance in companies is not the only reason for pay inequity. The Workforce Dilemma Andrews believes that women in corporate According to an April 2014 study by America also bear responsibility for the exPew Research Center, women make signifi- istence of any gender gap. cantly less than men — around 84 cents for “Women do it [discriminate based on every dollar that a man working a similar gender] too, it’s just we don’t understand job makes, a gap that narrows to 93 cents how we’ve been acculturated to think this for every dollar if the woman is unmarried. way,” Andrews says. “When the salary dis“There’s a huge disparity in salaries be- parities happen, when the opportunities are tween the women and men, and it’s all very not given, it’s not something that people subtle,” says Nan Andrews, the director of are willfully doing.”

National Legislation about Women in Corporate America 1963 - Equal Pay Act

passed, following civil rights protests and feminist movements. It outlawed pay inequity based solely on gender. 28

1996 - Bill Clinton de-

clares National Pay Inequity Awareness Day to mark the number of extra days a woman has to work to match a man’s salary

2009 - Lilly Ledbetter Fair

Pay Act is passed in Congress following a discrimination lawsuit. The act allows women to file for discrimination years after it happens.

2012-2014 - Fair Pay

Acts are introduced in the Senate and House but fall short of the 2/3 vote necessary every year.

FEATURES | DEC 2014 These ingrained biases against women in high-powered jobs are often hard to prove. Rarely do two people have the same level of education, the same level of experience, and do exactly the same amount of work. This makes exactly identical jobs hard to find, and thus it is hard to prove that women make less than men for doing the same amount of work. Data cannot explain whether women are paid less on an individual basis or simply not given much representation in the higher-paying positions, but overall, women do make less money than men. “The lack of transparency of wages and flexibility in schedules and bias in leadership and perception all contribute to the gap,” junior William Zhou says. “In general, I don’t think that there’s one biggest issue that women face in corporate America, but instead a group of issues that create the inequality that we see in today.”

allowing women to file a pay discrimination suit long past the initial act of discrimination. The National Women’s Law Center reports that although the U.S. has still not achieved complete parity with regards to gendered salaries, the 84 cents a woman gets today for doing the same job that pays a man a dollar would have garnered her closer to 60 cents in the ’60s. In addition to salary increases, more companies have become aware that they hire less women than men and are working to rectify it. “From the company perspective ... if you’re in a management position and you have objectives to meet ... how do you hire at a certain rate and force a distribution of gender [or] ethnicity?” says Jaime Tenedorio, the vice president of engineering at Scanadu, a biomedical engineering startup company. “It’s really hard. To be fair, there are companies that do bend over backwards to try and do that.” Accomplishments One company that has tried to inAlthough gender disparity remains an crease the diversity in its hiring is Google. issue in the American workforce today, the In 2013, Google had half of its employees government and individual companies have take workshops to learn about any uncontaken many steps scious biases they toward eliminating have that might be the salary gap. Not “I always wondered if I were impacting their hirall of these steps ing decisions. a male ... if I would have been are new and revoAnother aspect lutionary; in 1963, given more responsibility.” that companies have the U.S. Congress — jillian mcnerney improved upon is passed the Equal flexibility in allowing Pay Act, which all working adults to states that employers cannot use gender balance their home and work lives. Womas a reason for giving two different people en have traditionally been responsible for different wages. In 2009, Lilly Ledbetter, keeping the home and raising the family, a former employee at Goodyear Tire and which makes it hard for them to balance Rubber Co., filed a case against the com- working high-profile, full time jobs. pany after she discovered that she was paid “I’ve seen a lot of companies in Silicon significantly less than her male peers but Valley take an approach to really make sure was denied a hearing by the Supreme Court that family is first and that man or woman, on the basis that she would have had to you feel like you have the resources and file her claim within 180 days of her first time needed to focus on family,” McNerpaycheck. Congress swiftly passed the Lilly ney says. “It creates an environment where Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to rectify the issue, you feel very comfortable asking for time

Gender Equality Initiatives in the Workforce Made with Code A website established in 2014 by Google, designed to give young girls opportunities to code.

Diversity Reports Google, Yahoo and more companies released diversity statistics and increased efforts to solve the disparity.

Girls Who Code A summer institute designed to immerse high school girls in coding for seven weeks.

off and you feel comfortable asking for personal or family issues without feeling like there’s repercussions [to your career].” For example, companies like Google and Yahoo have begun offering both maternity and paternity leave, as opposed to just maternity leave. This means that the both parents are now also able to focus on their family, allowing the mother to spend more time at her job than before. The Next Steps Since the passage of the Equal Pay Act and the creation of many programs to eradicate the gender gap, much progress has been made, but the salary gap persists and women are still less likely to be hired for high level positions than men. Although the Lilly Ledbetter Act represented a large step toward gender equality, Congress has not passed many other bills which would help women in the workforce, nor has it signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Treaty. This treaty, adopted by the U.N. in 1979, seeks to end discrimination against women on an international level. “187 nations have ratified CEDAW, and the U.S. is one of only seven that has not,” says Glennia Campbell, a lawyer and political activist. “If companies are serious about ending gender discrimination, they would stop supporting people in Congress who oppose the Equal Pay Act and CEDAW.” Another important concern to gender equality advocates is the lack of women in

FEATURES | DEC 2014 technology, as it is a relatively young port from your own sex as well,” says juindustry. nior Minyoung Kim, the co-president of “1.4 million jobs are going to be open Paly’s Entrepreneur Club. “They [women] in the tech fields by 2020, but at current also have [to face] competition between rates, just three percent of them will be women, so when there are women in highfilled by women,” Saujani says. er positions, there will be other women In fact, between the 1980s and 2012, who are jealous.” the percent of female computer science In addition, companies and schools majors actually decreased from 37 per- can encourage and enable women to purcent to 18 percent, according to the Na- sue careers in technology and management. tional Center for Women & Information By the time they graduate college, there are Technology. While less women major and already more men than women who have choose to work in such fields, there are still majored in computer science and are availcandidates who are qualified for the job but able to work in technology. not getting hired, Andrews explains. Ad“We need to get more younger women ditionally, women interested in these suffer from a lack “I’d like to see some focus issues so they will of support in an start in the pipeline on identifying rewards that environment that early,” Andrews caters solely to male are skewed towards being says. “You don’t colleagues. meaningful to the majority of start in college; “It is an advanthat’s too late.” tage for a woman women.” The lack of if she can be fear— diane greene, women in the techless and substantive industry can cofounder of vmware nology in her chosen area, originate as early as but sometimes the primary school if environment is not completely hospitable girls do not view math and science as subto that,” says Diane Greene, a cofounder jects they can succeed at. of VMWare and board member of Google, “Girls are more likely to say, ‘Oh, I Intuit and MIT. “When it is not, both men can’t do math,’ or ‘I’m not good at [it],’” and women can help by identifying and says Paly grad Ayelet Bitton, a software ensurfacing the specific issues. I’d like to see gineer at Quora. “Everytime I hear a girl some focus on identifying rewards that are say that, it just breaks my heart, because skewed towards being meaningful to the it’s just not true ... Providing opportunities majority of women.” for girls who are in middle school and high According to Andrews, this environ- school, younger and older, is really imporment must be established by a whole com- tant.” pany effort. Women may also be intimidated by a “It has to come from the top down,” future of working around gender discrimiAndrews says. “It has to come from the nation and stereotypes, and may choose to president or the CEO. Employees [need to] go into other, lower paying fields where keep getting messages, from the top, about they will not be treated as minorities, inaddiversity in the workplace and how they vertently contributing to the gender gap in value more women [in their company].” corporate America. Because there are less women who do “In the technology area, I think it manage to reach high level positions, com- starts actually not only in college but in petition may form between women who high school,” Tenedorio says. “Girls are … are fighting to break through the invisible socialized to not be as good at [or] think “glass ceiling” above them that prevents they’re [not] as good at math and science. them from achieving the same success men I think that ... [women] are way underrepdo. If women believe that there is only one resented [in] the portion of the applicant spot for a woman in high-level positions in pool to college that is female.” their company, they may try to damage the Female role models in the corporate other woman’s chances in order to increase world may inspire young women to also their own. pursue their own paths to career success. If “One important thing is getting sup- young women are not presented with role 30

models in the corporate world, they may not know of their own corporate potential and be discouraged from certain fields. “I grew up in a family full of female engineers, so I was never under the impression that only men were engineers,” Bitton says. McNerney says that veteran women in corporate America can come forward to influence young women to believe that life in the workforce can be better than they may perceive it to be. “It [life in the workforce] is fightable; it’s fun; it’s amazing,” McNerney says. “I think we as older generations need to break those perceptions by acting on the things that we say are important. If gender equality in the workforce is important, we should be practicing that and taking steps towards closing that gap.” v

Data from Pew Research Center, Catalyst Research Center, Google Website, Center for Women & Information Technology Infographic created using infogr.am

FEATURES | DEC 2014

VERDE GOES CLUBBING

DANCERS, PLAYERS AND ASSASSINS UNVEILED

Text by ANAND SRINIVASAN and CAROLINE YOUNG Photo Illustrations by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG, ANAND SRINIVASAN and ANTHONY LIU

FTER A RIGID EVALUATION PROCESS involving meticulous scoping of Palo Alto High School’s club list, Verde chose three of Paly’s most unique clubs to investigate. To uncover this intelligence, we infiltrated the inner circle of Paly’s greatest assassins, observed the unending battle of man versus gravity through dance and witnessed the astonishing methods of training monsters to the level of fearsome battle gods. v Assassin’s Guild “Laura, how do you achieve assassination?” asks Joey Kellison-Linn, Palo Alto High School sophomore and president of the Paly Assassin’s Guild. “That’s a great question, Joey,” says club member and recent champion Laura ‘Wizard’ Sieh. “This is how the ‘Wizard’ does it. She is like a snake, and she slowly creeps towards her target, and then when the target least expects it — hiss, rattle, pow — then she attacks!” The Assassin’s Guild, founded last year by Kellison-Linn after he heard about the idea on the Internet, already contains 28 members; Kellison-Linn believes that these numbers will continue to grow. Using a self-created computer program, Kellison-Linn assigns each participant a specific target — another member — to “assassinate” in the game. The weapon? Clothespins. “You have to clip [your target] … with a clothespin somewhere on their clothing without them noticing,” Kellison-Linn says. “[Then] they’re out of the game, and then who their target was becomes your target.” Although the club technically has Wednesday meetings, it does not usually meet as a collective group. Instead, members participate through the game, relying on their assassin stealth to strike and stay alive. Games typically last for a week or two, and continue until only one player remains “alive,” or if the final two participants either do not know each other or take too long to attack. When a game is in play, the only safe time is during class. “Before school, after school, at lunch, at brunch, [during] passing periods, even — anytime, anywhere, it’s fair game,” Kellison-Linn says. This leads to many opportunities for members to dispose of their targets, although targets are not left without defenses. “You can defend yourself by just putting your hands up defensively, and then that blocks a kill,” Kellison-Linn says. Sieh adds that this is why anonymity to the target is nec 31

FEATURES | DEC 2014 essary for survivial. The anonymous, ongoing nature of the game and the frequently switching targets require members to think quickly and always stay on their guard. Kellison-Linn recalls a typical game. “There was one time my target … [and] the person who was targeting me … teamed up to have my target lure me out,” KellisonLinn says. “My assassin just got me straight up, [but] of course what my target didn’t realize is that … the person who was my assassin [was] now assassinating the person who was my target and so he immediately just killed my target as well, so that didn’t work out very well.” Hip Hop Dance Club The distinctive kicks and snares of boom bap hip hop tracks reverberate around the spacious dance studio while five figures follow the beckoning call of the beats — moving their feet, arms, and bodies in unison with the music. Founded earlier this year by sophomore Xander Koo, the Hip Hop Dance Club meets every Wednesday and also coordinates meetings outside of school. Koo and the other members (about 10) have been working hard to expand their club and solidify its place in Paly’s culture. The club hopes to make its presence known on campus and is already planning to perform on the quad in addition to working on a collaborative project with Paly Bhangra Club. However, at this point, Koo and the other members are still focusing on their foundational dance skills. During meetings, members meet in the dance studio to practice, and Koo patiently coaches the others 32

through specific moves. “Left elbow here,” Koo says, as he attempts to guide senior Alex Hsu through a hip hop move known as ‘the baby freeze.’ “And then right elbow here on your side. And then lean into it.” Koo bends his arms to lower himself to the ground, putting his weight on his hands and the right side of his face. Hsu watches before attempting again. One of Koo’s close friends introduced Koo to hip hop when he was in sixth grade. Afterwards, Koo began to teach himself via Youtube videos, starting with “popping,” or what some people may call “robot dance.” Around eighth grade, Koo transitioned into b-boying and breakdance, which require more floorwork than other types of dance. Although dancing incorperates many parts of the body, Koo says that the forearm muscle is one of the most important to build up since it increases stability and decreases the chance of falling. Though he has a slight build, Koo has been working to bulk up so as to improve his hip hop stamina. “My entire family is the bookworm type,” Koo says. “So because of that my genes aren’t really optimal for anything athletic, so just keeping myself physically fit is sort of an issue. I’ve been trying to improve my physical state so I can do more things and I guess just be able to have more fun. I do a lot of bodyweight things, like I do a lot of pushups and situps, and sometimes I go to the park and do pull-ups at the bars.” Koo had to train extensively to learn one of the hardest moves for him, the “air baby.” “Basically, you have one hand on the ground, you balance one knee on your elbow and then you just like suspend it in the air,” Koo says. “[It] took me around six months to learn, like actively trying it every day, and then when I got it I felt really happy.” Koo can still do the move, which he credits to constant practice, and encourages other members of the club to also work on their moves at home. “I feel like it’s just building up ... the key to everything is just practice,” Koo says. “I mean, you won’t be able to reach your max potential unless you practice your hardest.”

FEATURES | DEC 2014 Pokémon Club Zack Gibson, a sophomore and member of the Pokémon Club, pulls two folded slips of glossy paper out of his backpack and hands them to sophomores Eric Nueman and Claudio Malagrino, president and vice president of the Pokémon Club. “I have some gifts for you two,” he says. “Here you go, demos to the new game.” Nueman and Malagrino fall into a frenzied display of excitement and unadulterated gleefulness as the realization hits that new Pokémon gameplay is within their grasp. Nueman hands Gibson the orange Izzie soft-drink sitting on Nueman’s desk. “How did you get these? ” Nueman asks. “You deserved more than an Izzie.” “You deserved a win against Eric in a battle,” Malagrino says. Founded by Nueman and Malagrino, the Pokémon Club serves as a hub for fellow Pokémon aficionados to meet and take on their peers in competitive matches during Thursday lunches in Media Arts Center room 103. There are currently around 30 active members, and on average around 15 members attend club meetings each Thursday. Members are welcome to bring Pokémon cards, but the club mainly focuses on digital fights. Players bring their own electronic games to play on handheld consoles, or use laptops if they do not have their own, pitting their virtual Pokémon against each other in high-level combat. For prospective members, fear not — most experienced players are willing to offer wisdom, sometimes even trading Pokémon and offering each other tips and advice. Gibson is one such seasoned veteran — his Pokémon journey started back when he still had training wheels on his bike. “I’ve been learning the ways of Pokémon since I was five,” Gibson says. “Pokémon is a way of bonding with the game — you bond with the characters. You bond with your Pokémon, and if you see them faint, then it’s kind of heart-

breaking sometimes. It’s very sickening. It’s hard not to be emotional.” Sophomore Nicholas Campen, another avid member, remarks how his favorite part of the club involves strategizing and then fighting against Nueman. “I always end up losing,” Campen says. “You’ve got to study his team, figure out a way to beat it, but then still end up losing.” Nueman goes more in depth on the precise and often time consuming practice of conditioning one’s Pokémon to be fit for competitive battle. “To get your Pokémon to level 100 — the level for competitive play — takes quite a lot of time,” Nueman says. “To be ready for competitive play, you need to do IV breeding and EV training. What those do is raise your stats, IV being when the Pokémon is hatched, and EV’s when you’re training them. So if you have a combination of both of them at the top then they’ll be at the best stats that they can be ready for competitive play. All of this can take hours at a time … sometimes 200 hours for people starting from level one.” The Pokémon Club holds tournaments occasionally, giving members who invest the time and effort into creating their perfect dream teams a chance to show off their hard work. Nueman recalls a particularly close matchup during a tournament. “I think there was one [tournament matchup] last year,” Nueman says. “It was a double battle, which is two people versus two people — each person brings three Pokémon to the team, and then they join together to make six, and you have two out on the field. That brought a lot of suspense because it was just back and forth on who was doing the most damage to who, and it went pretty much down to the wire on that match.” Despite the inevitable tension of tournament play, club members still remain positive and cooperative. “One of the things Pokémon Club can do [is] you meet with some others, you trade Pokémon [and] battle them if you want — it’s really fun” Campen says.

LOOKING BACK At the dry cleaning shop where he works, Jaime Torres holds up a photo of him and his son, Jose, taken shortly after last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Class of 2014 graduated. Jose is the first in his family to graduate high school and enroll in a four-year college.

COVER | DEC 2014

The First in their Families

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT Text by JACK BROOK and SIDDHARTH SRINIVASAN Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG and JACK BROOK

HERE’S A REASON why Jaime Torres arrives at the Holiday Cleaners in Midtown Palo Alto at 4 a.m. each morning when the stars are still out and the parking lot is empty. There’s a reason why he’s worked this shift at the dry cleaning store for the past 20 years, and no, it’s not just for the sake of the hard work he learned to value back home in Michoacan, Mexico — where he started harvesting corn at age five, leading him to drop out after fifth grade to help put food on the table. It’s not just for the $1,500 he sends back to his parents and inlaws each month. Jaime will tell you that he enjoys his work and likes being able to contribute to the community, but it takes something deeper for a man to do what he and his wife Josefina have done these past decades. If you ask him why — why does he really do it? — he’ll stop sorting through the dirty dress shirts, set down his detergent, and look you right in the eye. “Para mi hijo,” he will say. For my son. Jaime has six kids, (the oldest is now 42) and five were raised by his ex-wife back in Mexico, all dropping out of high school to work, just like their father had. Yet when Jaime came to America, met Josefina and had his last son, Jose, he knew things could be different. He knew it when the El Carmelo Elementary principal took him aside and told him that his son was smart and

could go to college. “You have to be the one,” Jaime told Jose. “You have to get good grades and show your brothers and sisters.” Friends and family would make passing comments — “He can’t do it, getting into college is too hard, and you wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway.” Why should they have believed otherwise? Their families had tried and failed. From their perspectives, college simply wasn’t a realistic possibility. Jaime ignored them: “With sacrifice and effort, mi hijo, we will always reach our goal.” So the years passed, as Jose managed his school work and kept his grades strong until finally it was senior year and college applications loomed ahead. It was a difficult time for Jaime and Josefina, who didn’t know English well enough to navigate the complicated application process. But their son, with the help of the college advisers at Palo Alto High School, was able to successfully apply, writing his essay about how his first visit to Mexico had opened his eyes to the poverty his parents grew up in. That spring, the acceptance letters started coming in, one from Saint Mary’s, another from UCSB, then Fresno State, with Jaime even more excited than his son at each acceptance — eight in total. When Redlands, a small liberal arts school in San Bernardino, offered a $27,000 scholarship, Jose decided to commit, becoming the first in his family to enroll in college. 35

COVER | DEC 2014

ERIANA DAVIS ‘15

LENNYN CASTILLO ‘15

LISA ROGGE ‘15

Why College Matters In the 21st century, it has become increasingly necessary for first generation students like Jose Torres to take the next step by applying to a four-year college. This fact has not been lost on the Paly administration, which has been working to ensure that all first generation students at Paly have the means and resources available to continue their education after high school. For the under-privileged in particular, college makes a big difference. A 2013 study by the College Board revealed that for students coming from families in the bottom 20 percent of the income bracket, 90 percent move out of this bracket after earning a bachelor’s degree compared to only 50 percent without a degree. There is still a substantial number of students in the education system today who come from families without a college background. The College Board reported in 2011 that more than one-third of 5- to 17year olds in the U.S. are students who could potentially be the first in their families to go to college. The upturn of going to college is now estimated to be $500,000, meaning that college graduates will ultimately earn an average of half a million more than those without a degree, even when tuition and student debt are factored in. But what does all this mean on a more personal level?

For Eriana Davis, college means the chance to have a career and not just a job. The chance to be part of a sorority and live in a dorm. The chance to do something that her mother, who had her first of five children at 16, could not. For Adrian Guzman, it means providing closure to the question his parents always ask him: Would you rather be working in labor until you’re 60 or working behind a desk with an air conditioner? For Lisa Rogge, a degree means the ability to raise her kids with more opportunities than she had. For all of the 50 first generation students at Paly — approximately 10 percent of the senior class — going to college provides a chance at upward mobility for themselves and their families.

helps to guide them through the college application process. While advisories, in which the teacher meets with their class of 20 to 30 students, occur almost every other Thursday during the second semester of junior year, they taper off significantly in senior year, arguably the time when they are needed the most. Recognizing that this is not enough guidance for many first generation students, Cernobori and Erber have organized an informal first generation group which meets every two to four weeks to provide students with more hands-on support. “It’s a self-referral process,” Cernobori says. “We’ve identified them and their parents and they are choosing whether or not to come.”

The Support Network Sandra Cernobori and Alice Erber are the only two college advisers at Paly, in charge of helping a total of about 1,000 upperclassmen apply to college. For many, the two serve merely as consultants, but they often provide the backbone of support for first generation students during the college application process, serving as their core source of information. Starting sophomore year, each Paly student is assigned a teacher adviser who

The First Generation Group On a recent Thursday lunchtime meeting in the library, Cernobori and Erber prepare to review the process of applying for the Educational Opportunity Program, designed to improve access at California State Universities for low income and “educationally disadvantaged” students. Applying for an EOP isn’t easy because it’s more or less the equivalent of another college application, requiring essays, online forms and even interviews. Today there is a record high of 17

COVER | DEC 2014

ADRIAN GUZMAN ‘16

MIKAYLA WALTON ‘15

THERESA DELAGADILLO ‘15

students. Even though she sends out both emails and text reminders, Cernobori says usually only 10 show up. However, since the group is informal, there is nothing she can do. After everyone has settled down with the pizza provided by the counselors, Cernobori begins addressing the students: “Show of hands, how many of you have at least started a UC or CSU app?” she asks. Most hands go up. “How many of you do not have a finalized college list?” she continues. No hands this time. “Be honest.” Senior Lisa Rogge cautiously raises her hand. “I might take take a few off,” she says. Now, more students raise their hands. “Finalizing the list really needs to get done,” Cernobori says. “It needs to be done by next week. I encourage you to track the deadlines. Colleges that have a Jan. 1 deadline — the cover sheet [notifying the administration to send out transcripts] is due Monday. I don’t want you panicking, but there is a sense of urgency.” The students nod. “Today there is no senior advisory,” Cernobori says. “But I’ll be in the computer lab helping people. If you don’t know what you’re doing, come by and we can do it together.” However, despite the best efforts of the college advisers, they are unable to help

all the first generation students. “I’m like a teacher that teaches five periods a day,” Cernobori says, referring to her daily appointments with students and the work that goes into coordinating college visits. “[The first generation group] is not part of my job description.” Other schools, including crosstown high school Gunn, have a guidance counselor devoted solely to first generation students, a resource Paly lacks. Cernobori says that she would like to see a special advisory system put in place to better assist first generation students, though she acknowledges that it should still be optional.

UCLA and later received a Master’s degree in teaching from San Jose State University. Now, she works as an Outreach Specialist at Paly. As a native Spanish speaker, she provides a crucial link between Paly counselors and Latino parents in hosting “Latino Parent information nights.” “I want to be there for [first generation] students so that if they hear something negative, I can tell them, ‘You don’t need to follow that,’” Laguna says. “There is nothing wrong with aiming higher than you think you might be able to get to.”

The Outreach Specialist Crystal Laguna never met with her high school guidance counselor. By her own admission, she was one of the students who fell through the cracks and only found out she was eligible to graduate the day before the ceremony. In community college, counselors told her, “College isn’t for everybody, don’t aim so high.” Being a first generation student and not knowing anyone else who went to college, Laguna figured they knew what they are talking about — maybe she wasn’t the “college type.” Yet she continued her education, went on to graduate cum laude from

Choosing Community College Cernobori says that over 80 percent of Paly students go straight to a four-year university after high school. Although community college can be a viable option for the remaining 20 percent, Cernobori argues that a disheartening number of students in community college don’t ever end up transferring or completing their degree. Some students look toward community college without considering a four-year university. When this appears to be the case, Cernobori and Erber ask them if they are willing to reconsider. Many times, a student simply doesn’t realize they are qualified to attend a four-year university, but for others, like senior Gloria Guzman, there are more complex reasons behind the decision to en37

COVER | DEC 2014

COLLEGE ADVICE Seniors Jaime Martinez,Yamilet Garcia and Stephanie Estrada listen intently at a First Gen meeting.

roll in a community college. “I was focusing on what other people wanted for me as opposed to what I wanted,” Guzman says. “Everyone thinks that a four-year university is best, but I want to pursue a different path.” Since being baptized two year’s ago as a Jehovah’s Witness, Guzman has dedicated her life to serving God. She planned on attending a four-year university until last summer, when she began to question her motives and concluded that she didn’t want to be in a secular place where she might lose her faith. There were other factors leading to Guzman’s decision. Her mother never talked about college until recently, after she realized that a high school diploma was not enough in today’s job market. Still, she never pushed her daughter to try hard in school and didn’t mind Cs on report cards, though Guzman did, and would tell her mother: “I’m not a C student.” With her father out of the picture and her mother indifferent about academics, Guzman has become the support network for herself and for her younger brother and sister. She is the one who emails her brother’s teachers to make sure he is attending class and completing his work; she is the one who helps her sister decide which activities to sign up for; she is the one who 3840

makes sure they both have friends who are positive influences so that they will continue to emphasize education in their lives. “I can’t leave my family,” Guzman says. “My mom takes care of the financial part, but I’m the one who grades my brother’s essays. I’m the one who tutors him in history and biology.” Money is also a concern. Guzman knows many adults who went to a fouryear university but no longer work in the field they majored in, and she worries that paying for a degree in something she might not use later is too much of a risk to take. With all of these factors to take into account, Guzman plans to enroll in a nursing program at De Anza College but remains optimistic about eventually transferring to a four-year university. “The amount of people who transfer [out of community college] is very low, but that is for people who are just exploring,” Guzman says. “I feel like I, on the other hand, know what I want to do.” What the District is Doing to Help In addition to the resources provided through the College and Career Center, the Advancement Via Individual Determination program has been put into place to serve as a resource for first generation students and those “in the academic middle”

from the moment they set foot in Paly to the moment they graduate. The Paly administration sought to revamp AVID by starting fresh this year and putting veteran teacher Elizabeth Mueller in charge. With the backing of the principal and guidance department, AVID has grown from a class of 19 students to 35 students, the majority of whom are freshmen, in part because of active recruiting from Palo Alto Unified School District middle schools last year. Mueller says she hopes to grow the number of students for future freshman classes while continuing to work with the Class of 2018 for all four years. As the number of students in AVID increases, Principal Kim Diorio says she wants to provide individual laptops for those in AVID. Diorio also plans to make Laguna a counselor specifically for the AVID students. Opening Doors to a Better Future Clarissa Valencia’s father dropped out of a local high school to support his family, and Valencia’s mother left school as a senior after she became pregnant. Her mother, a preschool teacher, fought to keep Valencia in the PAUSD, even when they lived in Hayward for a time. Now a senior, Valencia lives in a one bedroom apartment in Palo Alto with her mother, sister, stepfather and two stepsiblings.

COVER | DEC 2014

FIRST GEN STUDENTS Seniors Lennyn Castillo and Clarissa Valencia relax with Valencia’s cousin, junior Cristal Valencia.

Valencia figured that she would just go to community college after high school, but one-on-one meetings with Erber during junior year changed her mind. Now she goes to essay writing workshops and participates actively in the first generation group. “The college and career counselors opened the door [to a four-year college] for me,” Valencia says. Of her first generation friends, Valencia adds: “I know two other people who are motivated and doing the Common Application and going to the college workshops, but everyone else — though they are smart and capable — I feel they’re just not reaching out. It’s kind of a two-way thing where Ms. Cernobori and Ms. Erber will reach out and you have to meet them halfway also.” Other resources exist for those who are willing to put in the effort, including East Palo Alto’s College Track program and the Foundation for a College Education. Still, it’s ultimately up to the students themselves to make use of these resources. Out of all her friends, Valencia is the only one still going to the first generation meetings. She says that even though many first generation students have the opportunity to go to a UC or CSU, they don’t feel the need to go anywhere beyond community college because their parents and siblings never went further than high school.

“I don’t think you can force someone to want something,” Valencia says. Valencia has inspired others in her family to also seek a college education. “I have a cousin who is two years younger than me,” she says. “I was telling him I was working on my applications already, and he was really excited. He told his mom, ‘Clarissa’s going to be the first girl to graduate high school and go to college, and I’m going to be the first boy.’” Setting the tone for the rest of the family is important: When Valencia was younger, she recalls her aunt and uncle making a bet that she would get pregnant before she was 16, as has happened with many other women in the family. But against expectations, Valencia has avoided following that path and is on track to enroll in a four-year college. “Everyone I know that didn’t go to college, they are not living ideally,” Valencia says. “They are either depending on a spouse, or they don’t have any stable place to be, or they are living with their parents. To have a career, you have to go to college.” We Stand on the Shoulders of Giants There are certain times in a person’s life when they have the opportunity to transcend the moment through their actions. For Jose Torres, this moment was his

high school graduation. That day, he gave a speech to the crowd of hundreds gathered to watch the Class of 2014 receive its diplomas. Sometimes, not even the most eloquent of words can do full justice to the underlying emotions that they carry, yet Jose attempted to sum up 20 years of sacrifice by his parents in just one sentence. We stand on the shoulders of giants. For Jaime, seeing his son on the podium was the greatest satisfaction he’d ever felt in his life, and for Josefina, “su corazón no quedaba dentro del pecho de la emocion” — her heart swelled with emotion. Every good teacher wants to make a profound difference in the life of a student, and Laguna, Cernobori and the others had done just that for Jose. I want to thank all the teachers and staff who believed in me and encouraged me to always do better ... With their help, and the help of the staff in the college and career center, I am going to college. If you were there that May afternoon, you would have remembered Jose’s speech as the one that drew the standing ovation and brought the speaker to tears as he spoke the concluding lines, addressed to his parents: A thousand thank yous for all that you have given me and all that you will give me in the future. Without you I would not be where I am now, and I would not be the man I am today. Te amo mama. Te amo papa. v 39

Compiled by CLAIRE PRIESTLEY and KELLY SHI Art by KARINA CHAN and ANTHONY LIU

COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE

APPLICATION STATISTICS FROM THE CLASS OF 2015 Below are the Class of 2015’s 50 most applied-to colleges, according to cover sheets submitted to the Palo Alto High School Guidance Office by Oct. 24, 2014.

‘15’s top 5o 1. University of California, San Diego (146) 2. University of California, Los Angeles (140) 3. University of California, Davis (136) 4. University of California, Berkeley (123) 5. University of California, Santa Barbara (122) 6. University of California, Irvine (96) 7. University of California, Santa Cruz (96) 8. University of Michigan (95) 9. University of Southern California (89) 10. California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo (85) 11. University of Washington (64) 12. Stanford University (61) 13. Northwestern University (50) 14. Loyola Marymount University (49) 15. Washington University in St. Louis (49) 16. Chapman University (43)

17. University of California, Riverside (43) 18. San Diego State University (39) 19. University of Colorado Boulder (39) 20. Boston University (38) 21. Tufts University (38) 22. New York University (37) 23. University of Oregon (37) 24. Carnegie Mellon University (36) 25. Santa Clara University (34) 26. Brown University (32) 27. Boston College (31) 28. The University of Arizona (30) 29. University of Illinois at Urbana-Cham paign (30) 30. Columbia University (29) 31. Northeastern University (29) 32. University of Wisconsin, Madison (29) 33. University of San Diego (27)

34. Yale University (27) 35. California State University, Long Beach (26) 36. Cornell University (26) 37. University of Pennsylvania (26) 38. Princeton University (25) 39. San Jose State University (25) 40. Claremont McKenna College (24) 41. Occidental College (24) 42. Dartmouth College (23) 43. Duke University (22) 44. Purdue University (22) 45. Sonoma State University (21) 46. University of California, Merced (21) 47. University of Chicago (21) 48. University of Puget Sound (21) 49. University of Redlands (21) 50. University of Denver (20)

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU TAKEN The student poll results collected for this issue are from a survey administered in Palo Alto High School senior English classes in October and November 2014. Four English classes were randomly selected, and 50 responses were collected. The surveys were completed online, and responses were anonymous. With 95 percent confidence, the results for the questions related to this story are accurate within a margin of error of 3.26 percent to 11.55 percent. “Most popular” test percentages were calculated amoung Paly seniors who took at least one AP or SAT Subject Test, respectively.

1 ee ing f Test mber of ACT U n age Aver taken s e tim

$54 x 1

Um es ta ber ken

of tim

$54 THE ACT? 1

$52.5 x 2 oAvesrat Testing fee age n

27%

THE sat? $1o5 1

33%

17%

29%

42%

10%

TOP 5 MOST popular ADVANCED PLACEMENT TESTs AT PALY PSYCHOLOGY

39%

BIOLOGY

ECONOMICS

39%

ENVIRoNMENTAL SCIENCE

32%

LITERATURE

32%

top 5 MOST popular SAT SUBJECT TESTs AT PALY

MATH 2

CHEMISTRY

8o%

43%

U.S. HISTORY

41%

SPANISH

PHYSICS

2o%

FEATURES | DEC 2014

NEW WINDOW FOR

PALO ALTO MEDICAL FOUNDATION PROMOTES

IGHT BEFORE THEY HAD SEX, THE BOY Alicia was with told her that he disliked using condoms. He persuaded her that protection was unnecessary. Later, she worried that she might be pregnant. Alicia, a Palo Alto High School student whose name has been changed to protect her identity, scheduled an appointment with Planned Parenthood. With Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s new teen capabilities on My Health Online, teens in situations like Alicia’s have another option for protecting their health and privacy. For many years, PAMF has been pointing teens in the direction of Planned Parenthood for birth control and other reproductive health-related issues. In the past, PAMF could not guarantee privacy for teens concerned about parent snooping. The September launch of new capabilities on My Health Online aims to ensure the health and protection of adolescent patients. My Health Online allows teens in situations similar to Alicia’s to receive confidential medical care without the fear of their parents finding out before they are ready to tell them. My Health Online aims to maintain a complete database of medical information for patients all in one place. This is important because it allows doctors to make fully informed decisions. For

example, if a teen took birth control or Plan B pills from Planned Parenthood, a doctor night not know about it. This can lead to serious consequences. A better alternative — which PAMF now provides — is to give teens the same privacy Planned Parenthood offers while keeping their medical records all in one place. Previously, My Health Online was only available to adults for scheduling appointments, reviewing medical records and contacting their doctors. Parents could always control all of these features for their children (under the age of 12) through their own My Health Online account. PAMF’s new feature on its website allows teens to contact doctors directly and have power over their own medical records — to which parents lose access when a child turns 12. Parents can still email and make appointments for the teen with his or her primary doctor, but not access other parts of the medical record. According to California state law, anyone over 12 can access their own medical treatment or consultation for anything related to reproductive health, substance abuse counseling or outpatient emotional health. Unlike many other online health care programs, My Health Online can be accessed by teens without the consent of their parents once a teen is authorized by a parent and sets up an account.

FEATURES | DEC 2014 Text by LUCY FOX and RACHEL VAN GELDER Art by ANTHONY LIU

TEEN HEALTHCARE

TEEN INDEPENDENCE THROUGH NEW SERVICE “In some communities, 12-year-olds may be sexually active,” says Dr. Nancy Brown, the PAMF Education Projects Manager. “They can have really, really, really dysfunctional families and need that protection at 12, so that’s the reason state law protects accounts after the age of 12, so that parents couldn’t see it.” With this new feature, teens are encouraged to sign up for their own My Health Online account once they reach the age of 12. Their account gives them access to all of the features that were previously only accessible by their parents. Though it is key that the site protects teens’ privacy, Brown believes it is also important to help teens transition to adult health care as well as learn to handle things such as scheduling doctor appointments when they get to college. “I think what’s really more important is that most teens don’t do anything about their own medical condition,” Brown says. “Most of you, your parents make your appointments, we [your parents] keep up on your vaccinations, we pay your bills, we communicate with doctors, we know all of that.” Alicia also thinks the site could help teens take charge of their own health care. “Personally with me, I’m not very independent when it comes to things like that [medical care],” Alicia says. “My mom sets my

doctor appointments, and I go with her, and we all sit in a room, and they talk to my mom and then my mom talks to me when really, I’m hearing what everyone is saying.” The site is designed to create more efficient communication between teens and their doctors. Now, teens can directly message their doctor about anything. “Most importantly, I’ve been struck by how many youth[s] are asking for medical advice,” Brown says. Brown emphasizes that PAMF urges teens to communicate with their parents but ultimately, it is the child’s decision. “We are not trying to encourage teens to not talk to their parents,” Brown says. “I think every parent in the world would rather know what’s going on than not know what’s going on, and most of our doctors will even help you tell them.” Alicia feels that the new My Health Online feature could ease the transition parents must make as their children grow up. “I feel like all parents, to some extent, are really uncomfortable with the idea of their kids having sex,” Alicia says. “I feel like my parents personally are still in denial about the fact that I’m almost an adult, and so I feel like this PAMF [feature] would probably be really helpful to me if something bad happened and I needed help but wasn’t comfortable talking to my parents about it.” v

COMMUNICATION A worried teen girl consults her doctor about a pregnancy test via My Health Online. This is one example of how PAMF’s new online features can be used. 43

FEATURES | DEC 2014

They/them, singular EXPLORING GENDER OUTSIDE OF THE BINARY Text by BRIGID GODFREY and GABI ROSSNER Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA WANG and BRIGID GODFREY

“

THINK THE BIGGEST thing about my gender is that 98 percent of people in this school don’t even know it exists,” says Riley, a Palo Alto High School student whose name has been changed along with other student sources for this story. Riley identifies as gender fluid and thus represents several different genders through personal expression. Riley uses they/them pronouns to refer to themself singularly, as they feel that the genderless term best reflects their identity. Throughout the rest of the article, some other sources refer to themselves this way, while others use gendered pronouns. Although this might be confusing to some readers, we chose to use

our sources preferred pronouns out of respect for them. Riley, like other students interviewed in this story, does not identify within the gender binary. In other words, they do not feel comfortable identifying solely as male or female; non-binary people can feel they are both genders, neither or a mixture of the two. Some terms they use to describe themselves are genderqueer, non-binary, agender and gender fluid. “It’s possible to identify as nonbinary, meaning I don’t feel exclusively like a male or a female, meaning I feel like a little bit of both, or meaning I move fluidly between those,” says Jenn Burleton, the executive director of the TransActive Gender Center, a nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon, which works with gender nonconforming youth. A Western Association of Schools and Colleges survey administered anonymously to 1,727 Paly students at the beginning of this school year reported 33 students who did not identify as either a girl or a boy when given the options of boy, girl and other, although Paly Principal Kim Diorio estimates the actual number of students is probably higher when those who didn’t take the survey are taken into account. Seemingly small steps like surveys that validate gender identities outside of the binary make many non-binary students feel like they are finally getting recognition after a history of being disregarded, they say. Facilities that validate iden“GIRL CLOTHES” A model shows off their “girl clothes.” Many genderqueer people struggle with wanting to wear gendered clothing.

tity represent a new era that some say is a new and needed civil rights issue. PRONOUNS Non-binary pronouns are a prominent issue for people who don’t identify within the binary. On Facebook, agender Paly student Cameron’s pronouns are they/ them, and they often get comments on photos or statuses pointing out how funny it is that Facebook is saying they are plural. Cameron also faces issues in their classes. “When my teacher is like, ‘Okay ladies and gentleman, you can do this,’ I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, not for me,’” Cameron says. On the issue of teachers using incorrect pronouns, Diorio hopes education and patience will help teachers adapt. “I think it’s really important that teachers just keep trying,” Diorio says. “It’s okay to make a mistake once; we all learn from our mistakes. If it keeps happening, then I think there’s a bigger issue.” A common reason some people do not use they/them pronouns is because they feel they are grammatically incorrect. Cameron thinks of the argument of grammar as an unjustified excuse, saying the only way to ingrain the pronouns is to just use them. “Lots of stuff in English isn’t grammatically correct, and we say it anyway,” Cameron says. “Language is adaptable and changing and never set … Shakespeare used singular they pronouns, and so did Ms. [Jane] Austen.” Burleton confirms the idea of language being adaptable. “Language is a living thing; language evolves,” Burleton says. “There’s

FEATURES | DEC 2014 all kind of words that this country takes for common use. They/them can be singular or plural … we’ll adapt to that.” Furthermore, Burleton says that the complaint over grammar is in fact not about grammar, but about the kids’ identities. “What I say to people like that [who don’t respect pronoun preferences] is, ‘Really? We’re going to go to war over

“

“Kids that don’t conform [to gender norms] are bullied, harassed, abused [and] rejected.” — jenn burleton, transactive gender center grammar versus decency and respect?’” Burleton says. STRUGGLES Like others who differ from societal norms, non-binary kids often struggle with bullying and being misunderstood by their peers. Taylor, an agender Paly student, is not very open about their gender identity, because they feel as though the culture at Paly creates an unsafe environment for non-binary students. “I feel like there is a risk of that [violence] happening to people,” Taylor says. “I definitely do think that there is an opportunity for them to be bullied.” Echoing Taylor’s sentiment, Morgan, a Paly student who describes himself as a genderfluid trans guy, does not readily reveal his gender identity for fear of harassment. “I don’t feel like I could come out to my friends as a trans guy because I don’t feel like they’d understand it,” Morgan says. “I wouldn’t

come out to my gay friends because … they wouldn’t get it. I don’t want to come out to someone and then just get shut down. It’s my biggest fear.” Taylor feels that a lot of improvement is necessary to make Paly a safe space. “On a scale of one to 10 [of how accepting Paly is of non-binary genders], it’s like two, maybe a 1.75,” Taylor says. “Although yes, there are sects of people [that have made me comfortable], ... I [have] never felt accepted when expressing myself in an ‘out of the ordinary’ manner.” Burleton confirms that non-binary students are often bullied because of their gender identity. The TransActive Gender Center, which works with over 400 families, deals with this issue daily,

according to Burleton. “Kids that don’t conform [to gender norms] are bullied, harassed, abused [and] rejected by their families and other adults, across the board,” Burleton says. “Gender non-conforming kids are on [the] same trajectory as gender conforming kids; they just want to fit in.” Four percent of Paly students identify outside of the binary or are questioning their gender identity. According to a survey conducted in Paly English classes, 28.2 percent of Paly students report that they do not understand some gender identities. One of the situations that Taylor faces at Paly is when they wear dresses to school and receives mixed reactions because they are perceived as being male. Although some people are very supportive of them, Taylor still has experienced people expressing outright disgust at their clothing. “The moment you see a guy in a skirt, it’s like China’s invaded

JUXTAPOSED A model wears clothing that is genderally considered boy clothing while also showing off their traditionally feminine earrings and nail polish. 45

FEATURES | DEC 2014 the U.S.,” Taylor says. Burleton explains that the stigma Taylor faces when wearing a dress and being perceived as a guy comes from deep rooted cultural sexism. “Feminine behavior is not tolerated because it is someone born into the ‘first class’ acting like a ‘second class’ citizen, which is a threat to the patriarchy and misogyny,” Burleton says. “My generation has done a really bad job of promoting supportive environments for kids who are different.” BATHROOMS Non-binary students often struggle with gendered facilities, seeing as they do not identify as either male or female and everyday these students have to make a decision about what bathroom

to use. “There are other people who don’t know me who do give me trouble about [using the opposite sex’s bathroom],” Taylor says. “But honestly, I kind of try to skirt the issue by not using the bathrooms at school at all.” A gender neutral bathroom is legally required to protect non-binary students as it falls under AB 1266, which requires schools to provide facilities consistent with students’ gender identity. The amendment, titled Assembly Bill 1266, went into effect Jan. 1 across California, permitting students to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her [or their] gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” Diorio has been very mindful of the law in supervising construction. “As we do construction with our new buildings, I want to make sure we have more unisex bathrooms for students, and making sure that we have a unisex locker facility in the new gym,” Diorio says. The new gym, which is scheduled to begin construction in December 2014, will include a unisex locker room, as well as male and female lockers. In addition, several single stall unisex BOUND A model wears a chest binder, which allows people to flatten their chests.

bathrooms will be included in the new athletic facilities, according to Diorio. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE One of Burleton’s main jobs at the TransActive Gender Center is to travel to different schools and educate administrations on how to best support non-

“

“We probably need to do a better job on this campus with educating adults ... around all of the LGBTQ [issues],” — Kim diorio, paly principal

binary students. To Burleton, the key to change is for each member of the administration to change on a personal level. “The first thing the administration can do is to educate themselves and question themselves and their own cisgender privilege,” Burleton says. “If you think you’re going to create a safe environment by first telling students without telling yourselves, you’re wrong. You have to question yourself from the top down.” Education about gender identity and other lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer issues is vital for Paly right now, according to Diorio. “There’s an educational component that goes with it in terms of making sure teachers understand,” Diorio says. “Once you provide that education and that awareness, they [teachers] are able to empathize.” Diorio says the most important step Paly must take is school-wide education in order to create a better and safer community. “We probably need to do a better job on this campus with educating adults on this campus around all of the LGBTQ [issues],” Diorio says. “It’s that building empathy piece. ... As a community, we need to do a better job so that people can understand the different points of view and really be aware and mindful.” v

FEATURES | DEC 2014 CAMERON For Cameron, who identifies as agender, gender is more of a social construct than anything else. One of the obstacles that deters Cameron from coming out is the scrutiny. “I don’t want them to ask weird questions,” Cameron says. “I’d just be like, ‘Maybe you should just Google this?’”

TAYLOR “It seems that even if I do talk about it, most people don’t understand or recognize being agender.” Taylor says. They struggle with showing their gender. “Masculinity is the ‘norm,’ so I struggle with how do I tastefully start being more feminine?” Taylor says.

MORGAN Although Morgan is a self-described “pansexual trans guy” and uses he/him pronouns, he still identifies as genderqueer. “I’m currently kind of fluid,” Morgan says. “As in there’s some days where I wish I was a girl ... or if it’s me wanting to be more masculine for that day. It’s different for every person.”

RILEY Riley identifies as gender fluid. After asking a teacher at their old school to use the pronouns they prefer, the teacher got angry. “My teacher, he thought it [using a gender neutral pronoun] was ridiculous,” Riley says. “It made me cry. He started poking at my sex; he was really bent on me staying female.”

The student poll results collected for this issue are from a survey administered in Palo Alto High School English classes in October and November 2014. Twelve English classes were randomly selected, and 223 responses were collected. The surveys were completed online, and responses were anonymous. With 95 percent confidence, the results for the questions related to this story are accurate within a margin of error of 1 percent to 6 percent. The infographic was made using Piktochart.

ALEX Alex uses feminine pronouns but hasn’t yet decided on which gender she truly identifies with and is comfortable expressing. “For me, one of the big life questions is do I identify as female because that’s what I identify as or because that’s what I was assigned at birth, and I haven’t explored other options,” Alex says. 47

FEATURES | DEC 2014

the evening shift THE UNREPORTED STORIES OF ADULT SCHOOL

HEN NIGHT SWEEPS OVER PALO Alto High School, orange-tinged lights in the breezeways illuminate figures with backpacks, much like the school’s inhabitants during the day. However, these students come to Paly after a long day of work to learn English. Adults call out to their friends and sit at the picnic benches near the quad as they wait for classroom doors to open. Palo Alto Adult School has taken over. The 200s English building might house fluent English speakers during the day, but at night, non-native speakers sit in desks for their English as a Second Language classes. California financially supports seven ESL classes: pre-literacy through advanced low classes that students can attend for free. If students test out of the Advanced Low class, they can take English enrichment classes at PAAS for an average of $7 an hour. ESL Intermediate Low class While the class officially begins at 6:30 p.m., students continue to trickle into the classroom for the next half hour. Tardiness does not appear to be a significant issue. In this ESL Intermediate Low level class, teacher Charlotte Palmer reminds the students to spit out their gum and put away their smartphones, just like the high 46

Text by ALEXANDRA HSIEH and BETHANY WONG Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG school teachers here during the day. “It is difficult to keep a group of 30 adults ... stimulated and motivated for three hours at the end of a long work day,” says Palmer, who has taught at PAAS since 1983. Workbook in hand, student Julio Aguirre, 43, slides into a desk where he can get a clear view of the whiteboard. His friend sits down in the desk behind him and offers Aguirre a handful of multicolored candies, which he accepts. In six months, Aguirre has easily integrated himself into the ESL program at PAAS. Originally from Mexico, he spends his days working as a chef in a French and Italian restaurant in downtown Mountain View. Both his day job and his night classes bring him closer to reaching his goal, to receive his chef ’s certification and open a restaurant of his own in the next five years. To Aguirre’s left sits Natalia Tesova, 37, a PAAS student since August. Four years ago, Tesova and her family moved from Russia to New York City after her husband found a job opportunity in the U.S. While in New York, Tesova enrolled in her first beginner ESL class. When she moved to California last year, her desire to

FEATURES | DEC 2014 improve her English carried over as well. “I want to learn English because I am uncomfortable when talking with people,” Tesova says. “I would like to speak English easily.” ESL Advanced Low class “Skin Cream Gives Better Heart Flow,” reads one of the suspicious advertisements that students in the Advanced Low class, the highest level free ESL class, evaluate in groups. This exercise enables students to avoid potential scams in advertisements they might encounter on a daily basis. At the back of the room, four students discuss a web advertisement for land on the moon on sale for $29.99. One of them, Sol Morales, 32, excitedly brings her iPad up to the document camera in the front of the classroom, so others can look at the example of false advertising. Morales, who moved from Mexico last year, appreciates the diversity of cultures in the class: 23 students representing 14 nationalities. Morales feels comfortable practicing her English here because she knows that everyone else might feel just as uncomfortable as she does. “You can come practice your English, and [people] don’t hesitate to make mistakes,” Morales says. Across the room, Oleg Solop, 34, studies the advertisements with his group. Solop moved from Russia only a year ago, but he takes ESL in hopes of eventually earning his green card for permanent residence. “Here, it is more stable — in jobs, in life,” says Solop, who works in informational technology. “I think each day my English improves. It will help me with my job and help me understand.”

ABOVE PAAS student Daria Skrementova participates in a group activity about reading suspicious advertisements. LEFT Students Leonel Carranza, Elvia Pérez and Jose Diaz sit together in preparation for the start of their ESL class.

Ladder to Success Transitions class Stutes says. “There are small things, like understanding appropriate “I want to learn how to write my resumé, do interviews, get a work attire ... a lot of what I do is teaching cultural knowledge.” job,” says Valentina Longhino, 33. “Here, you can make more conOne of the other students in the class, Natalia Solis, 26, moved nections easily — there are more possibilities.” from Chile a year and a half ago. She started PAAS in March 2013, Longhino moved from Argentina two years ago when her shortly after moving to the U.S. Solis initially enrolled in several inhusband came to get his Ph.D. at Stanford. She received her termediate ESL classes and then joined the ELLS Transitions class. master’s degree in fine arts from a Buenos Aires university and Solis quit her part-time job at Learnika recently, having previnow makes her living by creating acrylic and oil paintings. As she ously tutored Spanish and math. She aspires to get a job involving searches for opportunities to further her art her major, biotechnology engineering. career, she currently teaches Spanish and art “I want to do some clinical research,” says at Learnika, a Palo Alto business that proSolis. “But in Chile, the science field is pretty vides Spanish immersion and tutoring enrich- You can come practice small.” ment opportunities for students. According to your English and [people] Through the ELLS Transitions class, stuLonghino, selling paintings in the Bay Area is dents like Solis and Longhino are learning to easier than in Argentina because people here don’t hesitate to make expand their personal networks. Not only will have the financial means to purchase them. mistakes.” they communicate better with people they “It’s more difficult in Argentina for paint—SOL morales, PAAS Student meet, but they will utilize their networks to ers,” Longhino says. “It’s hard to find people further their professional opportunities. there who are willing to spend money “You need connections all the time,” for [paintings].” Longhino says. “When there is someone imIn the English Learners Ladder to Success Transitions class, portant, you need to know how to talk to them.” students improve their interview skills, perfect their resumés, pracThree hours later, the students place their workbooks inside tice using computers and learn to communicate in a professional their bags before walking out under the still dimly glowing orange setting. lights. As they make their way to the parking lot, night finally con“After taking this class, they’re more accustomed in under- sumes the campus, silencing it until the morning when students standing American workplace customs,” teacher Elizabeth Bales- arrive yet again. v

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FEATURES | DEC 2014

STUDENT COLLABORATION Sophomores Jack Fitton, Jordan Schilling, Ayah Chakamkchi and Quinn Knoblock prepare for a presentation in their Social Justice Pathway history class.

a look at the new pathway SOCIAL JUSTICE OPTION EMPHASIZES EMPATHY

IGHT IN THE MIDDLE of an English class discussion, Palo Alto High School sophomore Sarah Sundermeyer stood up and left. Her teacher, Ms. Angell, was talking about the power dynamic which led to the Chilean Coup of 1973 when Sundermeyer realized that much like the Chileans struggled against a dictator, she, as a mere student, was living under the authority of her teachers. She felt obligated to show up at school every day because the administration kept track of her attendance and her teachers had control over her grades. In an attempt to challenge the power dynamic in the classroom in the same way the Chilean people historically overthrew their president, Sundermeyer ignored the astonished stares of her classmates and teacher and walked out the door. Three other students stood up to follow her. Most high school students would not dare to get up and leave in the middle of class without permission. However, slightly different rules apply in Sundermeyer’s English class, part of Paly’s new Social Justice 50

Pathway. In the SJP, founding teachers Erin Angell and Eric Bloom encourage their 30 students to draw real life applications from the lessons in class. The structure of the SJP creates a great deal of trust between students and their teachers, offering students the opportunity to approach assignments with outside-of-the-box mentalities. The pathway also aims to provide students with the skills to impact social change in a meaningful way. An idea is born For years, teachers at Paly had noticed a need for academic options where students could develop a sense of purpose in their education. Bloom and Angell wanted to create a program that would allow students to become assets to their community rather than just fulfilling a graduation requirement or adding another line to their transcripts. Two years ago, the Palo Alto Unified School District asked teachers to submit proposals for innovative programs that were unlike any the district already had. “[The district] wanted out-of-thebox,” Bloom says. “They wanted us to

Text by RACHEL VAN GELDER and BETHANY WONG Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVAWANG come up with ideas that didn’t have the constraints of traditional classroom experiences or high school experience[s].” In response, Angell and Bloom gathered a group of excited teachers, then brainstormed and submitted a proposal. From the earliest stages, the SJP excited Paly principal Kim Diorio. “I personally was the type of student who would have really loved this pathway,” Diorio says. “I think it really ties learning into what’s going on in the world around us — looking at current events and history, decisions people have made over the course of time, social justice, and social responsibility. In a sense, it makes the learning more relevant.” After receiving one of four district grants, Bloom and Angell explored existing alternative programs around the Bay Area and attended conferences to further improve their proposal. The two traveled

FEATURES | DEC 2014 to Massachusetts to learn about the School Within a School program at Brookline High School. SWS provides 120 10th through 12th grade students with a more democratic environment and allows them to form closer relationships with their teachers. “School Within a School goes way back to the ’70s, and it was about empowering students to have more voice in the construction of curriculum,” Bloom says. “It really resonated [with us].” Angell and Bloom were particularly inspired by the SWS’s concept of student empowerment and student voice in the classroom. When creating the pathway, they looked to incorporate this idea into their curriculum. The pathway, currently in its inaugural year, the pathway comprises two classes that fulfill sophomore graduation requirements: a combined English 10 and 10 Accelerated class taught by Angell and a Contemporary World History/U.S. Government course taught by Bloom. The two will continue to teach this year’s first cohort of students in their English and social studies classes for three years, from sophomore through senior year. Each year, two more teachers will join the pathway; at full capacity, there will be six SJP teachers. Some Paly teachers have already expressed interest in joining the pathway after witnessing the enthusiasm of Angell and Bloom. Inside the classroom The pathway allows the teachers more freedom to teach concepts in ways that fit the needs and interests of their students. For instance, instead of teaching U.S. Government first semester like all other sophomore history teachers, Bloom’s class took Contemporary World History in the fall. “The students are given more control over what they learn and their education,” says SJP sophomore Jason Pollak. “It’s really just a heightened experience that’s better than other classes I’ve been in.” At its core, the SJP highlights a unique element of trust. Students who have chosen the pathway commit to three years with the same teachers and classmates without really knowing what they were getting into. As it is a new option this year, current students could not ask upperclassmen about the pathway experience; instead, they put their trust in Angell and Bloom. Additionally, students who opted into

PRESENTATIONS Sophomores Dorian Johnson, Nadia Leinhos, Layla Solatan, and Tiaira Witherspoon give a presentation on Iranian History to their class. the pathway tend to enjoy the alternative approach to learning and also value the act of giving back to the community through

“

[Bloom and Angell] help us learn from anything. They almost say, ‘We want you to fail because then you’ll learn.”

— Sophomore Jason Pollak

the service that they are required to do while in the pathway. “I think that a lot of teenagers don’t contribute much to their society,” Pollak says. “It’s easier to make a good positive change through ... the service and the social justice activities that are in the pathway.” To connect academia to the broader world, the SJP exposes students to a range of social justice issues during their sophomore year. During their junior year, Bloom and Angell will help students find internships with various organizations that have contacted them. Students will select an organization that addresses the issue that most compels them and will spend 10 hours per semester working there. Ideally, the internship will allow students to witness the work of people who seek to combat so-

cial injustice on a daily basis such as lawyers and human right advocates. “Students won’t only be able to learn about [the] issue of their interest but more importantly, they’re going to be able to see how people get it done — watching what other people are doing, having a network, how they go about their day to day business of helping, and remedying those injustices that they see,” Angell says. Once senior year arrives, the SJP will culminate in a year-long Capstone Project, where students choose an area of social justice in which to invest their time and energy. The project is meant to help students put together all of the information they have learned throughout their time in the pathway by conducting a graduate school-style research project in their area of interest. The parallels between the English and history curriculum further the SJP goal of finding purpose in serving the community. The collaboration between Bloom and Angell makes the teachers’ jobs easier and enhances the students’ learning; the natural connections drawn between novels in English and lessons in history provide a nearly seamless transition between the classes. For instance, while studying Chilean history in Bloom’s class, students in Angell’s class read “The House of Spirits,” a novel tracing historical events similar to those of the Chilean coup. Angell can focus on the literary aspects of the book 51

FEATURES | DEC 2014

TEACHER STUDENT INTERACTIONS Social Justice Pathway sophomores Nadia Leinhos and Sarah Sundermeyer receive input from history teacher Eric Bloom. because she knows Bloom will explain the novel’s historical setting in his class. To compare the student experience inside and outside the pathway, the SJP teachers sent SJP sophomore Jordan Schilling to standard sophomore English and U.S. government classes for two block periods. Afterwards, Schilling wrote a reflection of his observations and described his SJP learning as more gratifying. “Typically, when I leave a classroom I ask myself, ‘Am I satisfied? Will what I just learned benefit me in the future?’” Schilling wrote in his reflection. “The answer is normally ‘no;’ however, ever since I started the Social Justice Pathway, the answer has been ‘yes.’” Within their respective classes, Bloom and Angell have implemented an alternative grading system which assesses assignments using the words emerging, competent, proficient or mastery. For shorter, lesser valued 52

assignments such as homework or reflection pieces, students earn full credit for completion. However, the adjective attributed to the quality of work identifies which skills students should improve upon. “It makes you want to work harder for that ‘mastery’ or for that ‘proficient’ because it seems more personal,” Sundermeyer says. “It’s always something to strive for. They want you to not be worried about your grade as much as what you’re learning and how much you’re putting into it.” Many students find that this creates a less competitive environment and a place where students feel more comfortable to fail and learn from their mistakes. “What the teachers are trying to do is take us away from this Palo Alto view that grades are the only things that matter,” Pollak says. “They help us learn from anything. They almost say, ‘We want you to fail because then you’ll learn.’”

Embracing the new In an attempt to create a more collaborative environment, the SJP includes a significant amount of group work. SJP sophomore Nicole Li recalls a recent time when students worked together on their English essays. Unlike in Li’s freshman English class, Angell asks students to share their essays with each other, so they can build off of each others’ ideas. Li feels that receiving feedback from her classmates enhances her writing process. Students in the pathway feel that the collaboration leads to closer interactions between students. “I wouldn’t have become friends with [many of my classmates] outside of class,” Li says. “Being in the same class with them, now we have a combined purpose.” The classroom environment of the pathway also incorporates different teaching and learning methods. Unlike other English classes at Paly, students are given the chance to direct the class by planning and teaching a lesson. During these “SJ takeovers,” four students use a 90-minute block period to educate their class on a specific social justice issue from the English novel. “The focus is teaching things like literary devices but teaching them through the lens of social justice,” Angell says. Students generally enjoy teaching and learning from their peers. “Teachers don’t often do this because they don’t trust their students enough to create a good lesson and to really use their time well,” Sundermeyer says. “But [when students] get passionate about something, they can make a really good lesson about it, and they can get the rest of the class excited as well.” In fact, through the sophomore curriculum, students have already begun exploring social justice issues such as food justice or socioeconomic class discrimination. With social justice implemented in the curriculum, students gain a better overall understanding of what it means to participate in a community, whether it be in the classroom or on a local or global scale. “They want us to start thinking about other people and developing a kind of mindset to help people, not just notice that they are there,” Li says. “It’s more of an empathetic point of view. We can’t just live our lives in apathy anymore.” v

HAPPY DONUTS

CATERING TO PALO ALTO’S SWEET TOOTH Text by CHRISTIAN MILEY and RYAN REED Photography by ANA SOFÍA AMIEVA-WANG and CLAIRE PRIESTLEY

DONUTS Captions are an important thing to remember when doing design, ok.

CULTURE | DEC 2014 OUTINELY MOCKED as gluttonous and unhealthy, the stereotype of the American diet has its fair share of misconceptions. However, many of us in the land of

“The diversity in people you see here is really eye-catching... I’ve seen everyone from families to the homeless. [Happy donuts] is certainly a place for everyone.” — Stanford student YJ Cho opportunity undeniably use our freedom to indulge in one type of junk food in particular: donuts. From old-fashioned to chocolate glazed with rainbow sprinkles, these pastries are irresistible to anyone looking to fill their stomach with sweet, empty calories — that is to say, the majority of Americans. In Palo Alto, the most well-known do-

nut shop is Happy Donuts, sitting on El Camino Real near Baja Fresh. Happy Donuts, a popular café for high schoolers and Stanford students, is one of only two Palo Alto culinary establishments open 24 hours, alongside the Subway on University Avenue. Happy Donuts’ constant availability attracts a wider demographic of customers, including insomniacs, students cramming for the next day’s exam and odd nocturnal characters looking for a bite to eat. Even though it’s on a busy street, Happy Donuts is difficult to miss. Its striking exterior, painted in a unique shade of maroon, stands out amongst the various shops running along the street. No matter the hour of day, vari-

I just arrived in palo alto this summer, so i only come every two weeks or so, usually just to study. I love how happy donuts is open 24 hours; it’s very accessible. — Stanford student YJ Cho

ous characters are likely to be seen inside the shop, ranging from oft-seen Stanford students to homeless people looking to grab a sweet bite. Although Happy Donuts is an extremely popular hotspot for students and adults alike, many customers dealt with a minor scare in early June when the then-management announced that they would be shutting down their Palo Alto branch. However, new management was found within a week, and Happy Donuts lives on, much to the delight of Palo Altans of all ages. Since then, Happy Donuts has maintained its reputation as a 24-hour hotspot for anyone looking for a tasty treat and study hub at any hour of the day. v

I come here twice a week, usually to play games or to study. It’s really convenient that happy donuts is open 24 hours. It’s really quiet [as well], that’s probably my favorite part. — Stanford student Christian Medina

CULTURE | DEC 2014

Old home, new café TECH CAFÉ TO OPEN IN DOWNTOWN PA

Text by CAROLINE YOUNG and ROY ZAWADZKI Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

OLD VS. NEW The current facade of the building at 456 University Avenue stands on the left while the concept art for the future tech café is on the right. The tech café is planning to open sometime in January of 2015. Concept Art provided by SAP SE.

HE REMNANTS OF THE BUILDING’S past lives lay around the facade: a forlorn “Borders” sign leans upside-down against the wall, and an even older marquee labeled “Varsity” protrudes from the University Avenue facade. In spite of these clues of former incarnations, the building at 456 University Ave. remains quiet. Often thought of as the resting place for the Borders bookstore and Varsity Theater, this building will not remain empty for much longer. Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing, a Germany-based software company, is sponsoring the construction of HanaHaus, a new public tech café. The goal of the café is to stimulate growth and development of new ideas in Silicon Valley by offering a creative space for collaboration as well as a help desk available to anyone via reservation. “We are planning to create a tech bar or help desk where we will bring in experts in [for] design thinking or user interface design,” says Sanjay Shirole, leader of the Startup Focus section of SAP. “People would be able to speak with these experts and get professional level assistance.” Café-goers may bring their laptops to work with their peers and enjoy drinks provided by Blue Bottle Coffee Company.According to Monica Powers from Made PR, a company that handles Blue Bottle Coffee’s public relations, the café will also include meeting rooms and a designated speaker and special event area, all part of a plan to give café-goers a community experience.

“We are trying to define the tech café experience … to create a public café where everyone can come in and sit down and talk and buy their coffee,” says Shirole. According to the building’s owner, Charles J. Keenan, the project aims to reflect a traditional workshop similar to those found in Italy during the Renaissance. “[In] 16th century Florence … the young artisans would come into the studio and watch the older artisans working, and people would bump into each other with ideas and techniques,” Keenan says. “This [HanaHaus] is supposed to be sort of a meeting place where people will gather and ideas will flourish.” Preserving the performing roots of the theater, HanaHaus also plans to have successful individuals such as CEOs or venture capitalists speak on the auditorium stage, according to Shirole. Before SAP and Keenan started the construction in the Varsity Theater’s old home, the project needed to be approved by Palo Alto’s Historic Resources Board. Steve Staiger, a historian from the Palo Alto Historical Association, says that despite the various transformations from theater to bookstore to café, the building has not changed but instead simply kept up with the times. “It’s not like you’re saying, ‘Well, we’re going from old fashioned to new,” says Staiger. “I think it was new then to new now ... this is a place that people are going to hang out, which is what you do in a theater, right? You’re going to interact with your friends, [and] you’re going to have a good experience.” v 55

5 things to do in

Chinatown

HINATOWN HAS ATTRACTED TOURISTS and residents alike for decades to engage in an experience characteristic for its densely populated streets, authentic food and rich Chinese heritage. Although it makes up a sizable portion of San Francisco, this part of the city, in the northeastern section of San Francisco, often gets

1 2 56

GOLDEN GATE FORTUNE COOKIE FACTORY HANG AH TEA ROOM

Text and Photography by ELIZA ACKROYD

passed over in favor of other districts. A trip to Chinatown can fill just an hour or an entire day, a testament to the variety of activities it has to offer, ranging from food to outdoor activities. Although street parking is hard to find, parking garages are readily available — paying is definitely worth it. Keep reading to discover five of the many gems Chinatown has to offer. v Hidden in the Ross Alleyway, this factory allows for a close-up look on how fortune cookies are made. Visitors receive a complementary reject cookie, which is a flat round cookie that didn’t make it to full cookie-hood. Available for purchase at the factory are bags of reject fortune cookies (chocolate and regular alike), normal fortune cookies and chocolate fortune cookies. Fortune cookies are made by taking the circular fresh baked dough, putting a fortune in the middle and folding the cookie on a metal rod into the classic shape we all recognize. It is then hung on a rack where it stays until it hardens and can retain the shape. If you’re looking for a more formal place to eat, the Hang Ah Tea Room — advertised as the first dim sum restaurant to open in the United States — is located right in the heart of Chinatown at 1 Pagoda Place and offers a tasty sit-down meal. A great option for lunch and dinner, you can purchase tea and a wide variety of food such as pot stickers, lotus buns and bok choy. Staying true to the name, they serve delicious tea.

FORTUNE COOKIE HEAVEN (left) A woman, who works at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory makes fortunes using one of the many machines in the room. PACKED AWAY (below) The packaging station for the factory, where a man uses the scooper to package the cookies. GATE (facing page)The Chinatown Gate on Grant Ave. and Bush St.

PORTSMOUTH SQUARE

In a playground and square right above a central parking garage and located on Walter U Lum Place, many older residents congregate to play traditional Chinese board games, and families bring small children to play. It’s a place where residents and tourists alike can come to spend time together and enjoy San Francisco’s weather. A statue of the Goddess of Democracy is installed next to the playground, a gift from the San Francisco Goddess of Democracy Statue Project.

RED BLOSSOM TEA CO.

This store allows people to come in and choose from a wide variety of tea leaves that range from white and green to black tea, harvested from all over the world, found on 831 Grant Ave. It’s pricey, but they allow you to sit down for a sample brew of tea made with all of their instruments, instructing you on the best brewing technique. The instruments are handmade and designed to optimally brew tea. A sample brew is recommended because it allows you to taste the tea before purchasing it.

good mong kok bakery

This bakery, located at 1039 Stockton St., offers food such as red bean and pork buns from behind a counter. Located on Stockton street, this bakery is very informal and inexpensive. The delicious food is generally offered in small portions, like individual pastries and breads, which do not constitute a full meal. Unfortunately, there is no seating at Good Mong Kok, so you need to move before you can eat.

CULTURE | DEC 2014

THE ANDERSON COLLECTION

A NEW ADDITION TO STANFORD UNIVERSITY Text and Photography by ELIZA ACKROYD

GEOMETRIC ARRANGEMENT OF GLASS and concrete sits in a grassy field at the end of a stone pathway. Stepping through glass doors, cleanly cut white stone walls and floor welcome you into an information area. Low-rise stairs on the far right-hand side of the room gradually deposit you into a softly lit room and to the middle of one of the most important privately owned collections of contemporary art in the world. Unmistakably modern, this impressive building previews the work it showcases inside: the Anderson Art Collection, now being shown next to the Cantor Arts Museum on Stanford campus. The Anderson Collection consists of 121 modern and contemporary art pieces collected by Harry and Mary Margaret Anderson over the past 50 years. The Andersons donated their collection to Stanford for the benefit of the students and all who wish to come see it. They dedicated much of their life to the task of thoroughly researching modern art and seeking out culturally important pieces from California and the rest of the country. According to Norma Schlossman, a docent at the Cantor Arts Center for 15 years and a tour guide of the collection, the Andersons had no background in art when they began to collect paintings after a 58

trip to France. The trip was the first time they were exposed to the art world, and since then they have taken numerous classes and read many books on the subjects of post World War II art and art collecting. When they came back to their home in Menlo Park, they began looking at contemporary artists in California, which started their earliest collection. “They started looking around in their own backyard, and that’s when they discovered Bay Area figurativism,” Schlossman says. “One thing they said was they both have to appreciate it.” To house the art, Stanford University constructed a permanent building adjacent to the Cantor Arts Center, a state-of-the-art establishment which echoes in every stone the modernist theme that dominates the collection. The first floor’s outermost rooms are encased in glass walls, with the second floor protruding slightly over the first. It is the newest addition to the Stanford Arts District along Palm Drive, strengthening the university’s initiative to promote the arts on its campus, according to the Anderson Collection’s website. The 33,000-square-foot building was designed by Richard Olcott and Timothy Artung, the same team that designed the recent Bing Concert Hall across the street from the Anderson Collection on Palm Drive.

CULTURE | DEC 2014 FIGURE #8 (Left) A woman looks at Franz Kilne’s “Figure #8” in the second floor gallery. GLASS CUBE (Bottom Left) Participants of the tour admire Larry Bell’s “Glass Cube”. OCEAN PARK #60 (Bottom Right) Richard Diebenkorn’s “Ocean Park #60” shown in the second floor gallery. BARRIER (Top Right) Norma Schlossman discusses Vija Clemmin’s “Barrier” on the hour long tour of the collection.

The main gallery is situated on the second floor, accessible from the main staircase in the entrance hall. Natural light diffuses throughout the room through the ceiling, allowing the pieces to be viewed through a neutral setting, focusing attention on the art itself. The collection features three dimensional art as well. Henry Anderson decided to donate the art to the university because his old company Saga Foods developed a connection with Stanford after it spent years catering food to the campus. “Eventually they established the headquarters [of Saga Foods] in Menlo [Park], [and] they got affiliated with Stanford through that food distribution,” says Michael Estolano, a volunteer at the Anderson Collection’s front desk. “One of the art history professors here at Stanford was an adviser for them [the Andersons], told them which artwork to get, etcetera, so that’s how they established ties here at Stanford.” Albert Elsen, an art history professor at Stanford who taught Anderson, was a crucial influence to their collecting and advised them throughout the process. He helped them build a significant collection that features many pieces from artists from all over the country.

According to Schlossman, the tours of the Anderson Collection highlights the pieces that are culturally important — the ones that people expect to see and which are the most famous. Schlossman tries to emphasize works that especially reflect on the Anderson’s main focuses: ingenuity, creativity and craftsmanship. For instance, “Barrier,” a painting by Vija Clemins, incorporates several mediums into one work of art by basing a painting off a photograph of the sky. There is no evidence of brush strokes, thereby removing the artist’s physical presence in the piece due to the several layers of slightly translucent black paint. These layers also affect the white dots, or stars, giving each a unique shade. Another piece is Robert Irwin’s “Untitled,” consisting of a convex acrylic half sphere raised above a white wall. Irwin sought to create a piece with no edges, accomplished by painting the outside of the sphere with the same shade of paint as the wall. In different lighting, different edges are detectable to the eyes. This is an important use of the function of the construction of the building, where natural light changes as the day progresses, therefore changing how the piece looks. In all, every piece complements the collection, adding to a priceless assortment of art. v 59

CULTURE | DEC 2014

Palo Alto Buddhist Temple CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF COMMUNION Text and Photography by ALEXANDRA HSIEH and MADISON MIGNOLA Art by ANTHONY LIU

A MO AMIDA BUDDHA. The Palo Alto Buddhist Temple was built in 1954, but Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Buddhist community has been meeting since 1914. The Temple celebrated their 100 year anniversary just over a month ago. People take their seats and begin to meditate as the Reverend rings the prayer bell. As everyone sits still, the reverberations echo through the room. As the echoes fade, the emptiness of the room is filled by the scent of sandalwood as children walk up to the altar in front of the families and offer incense to the effigy of the Buddha. The entire room begins to chant, lifting the tone of their voice on every off syllable, almost like a question. Attendees at the Temple cite Buddhism as a way for them to cope with the otherwise brisk pace of life. Their unison, even when the chants transition into songs from the Dharma School Service Book, reveals the beauty and strength of the community at the temple. The Temple has regular services every Sunday morning. All are welcome. The crowd finishes their chant and offers one last silent prayer: Na Mo Amida Buddha. I am one with the Buddha. v

CULTURE | DEC 2014

INCENSE (top left) smoke rises as incense is burned. Incense is used as an offering to the Buddha. PRAYER BEADS (top right) Carl Yanari, a member who has attended the temple for three generations, prays at the altar. LION (bottom) The lion figurine, perched on top of a censer, is believed to have protective qualities. BUDDHA (left page) A statue of the Buddha sits next to the entrance of the temple.

CULTURE | DEC 2014

The “A” Review

Rating:

Childish Gambino — STN MTN & Kauai Text by ANAND SRINIVASAN Art by ANTHONY LIU

ONALD GLOVER, known as Childish Gambino on the music scene, is something of a modern day Renaissance man, having received awards for his writing on the TV show “30 Rock,” acted on another show “Community,” performed stand-up on Comedy Central and most recently, declared his main objective in life to be a rap artist. The release of his double EP is not the first time Gambino has rapped; in fact, his rap career has been long and arduous in many regards. His first successful mixtape, “Culdesac” (2010), received critical acclaim, and later, his project titled “EP” (2011) gained him recognition from Jay-Z. But his debut album “Camp” (2011) became notorious for its low score of 1.6 out of 10 by review site “Pitchfork.” He then tried to overhaul his entire image of making “indie hip hop/nerd rap,” (rap centered around pop-culture references) by releasing the mixtape “ROYALTY.” This featured some of hip hop’s greatest icons such as Bun B, the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and Ghostface Killah, thus legitimizing Gambino as a true rap artist. Since then, Gambino has continued to take steps to solidify his place in hip hop with his most commercially successful release yet,

“Because the Internet,” and now, nearly 10 months later, “STN MTN/Kauai.” Featuring DJ Drama on the beats, “STN MTN,” a free mixtape, came out on Oct. 2 on various free music sites, and “Kauai,” an EP, was released on Oct. 3 via his label, Glassnote. (Note: EP stands for “Extended Play” and is essentially a mid-length album). One of the most significant facets of this double-EP-mixtape is that one half is entirely rap while the other is pop/R&B. Gambino’s decision to separate what he usually melds together on his projects leads to a confounding question: Doesn’t this resemble OutKast’s ‘Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below? “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” a dual album released by rappers Big Boi and André 3000 in 2003, is credited as the best-selling hip hop album ever, one of two rap albums to win the Best Album of the Year Grammy award. Despite these great accolades, only one half of the project is rap. On “The Love Below,” André is praised for his experimental and eclectic approach to blending multiple genres,

6.5

such as jazz, electro-funk and soul, as well as crafting the hit single “Hey Ya.” Gambino has made it known in his music and in multiple interviews that he has always been a huge fan of Outkast and the southern rap scene. However, he emphasizes that he feels a lack of acceptance by the South despite having grown up there, seemingly be-

cause people don’t perceive him as “black enough” due to his aforementioned attempts at nerd rap, as opposed to more traditional forms of hip hop, such as gangsta rap. On the free mixtape, Gambino shows his southern pride by not only titling it “STN MTN” (as in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where he was raised) but also by paying respect to numerous southern rappers by sampling their beats. From the ample references to southern rap lore (ex: “I’m Dopalicious like Spottie Ottie” — a song by OutKast), to the album structure resembling OutKast’s 2003 magnum opus, it is plain to see that Gambino’s main goal is to establish his connection to the south. Now, the sentiment is great, and I completely support his desire to redefine himself, but in the case of “STN MTN,” Gambino’s lyrical abilities often fall short, thus weakening his message considerably, since you would expect him to be showing off his best rhymes. In multiple cases his lyrics are oversimplified, his subject matter is repetitive, and he relies most of the time on Lil’ Wayne-esque simile raps. He does show his comedic and intellectual side occasionally with some witty punch-lines like “Money is in my jeans [genes], best believe that it’s passed down [hand-me-downs];” however, this is lost in a sea of cringe-worthy content, like “more green than a spaceship” and “flow so cold watch them haters get asthma.” Gambino’s southern cadence on the mic provides a silver lining at certain points, which appropriately adds to his intentions of making a southern-themed mixtape. His charisma, confidence and overall energy, truth be told, is rather infectious as well. On the EP portion,

though, Gambino does a 180-degree turn and displays a different side of his musical personality. As the title may suggest, “Kauai” showcases a more toned down Gambino and immerses its listeners in feelgood vibes — imagine playing beach volleyball on the sandy shores of Kauai with your friends while the waves crash in the background and the sun warms your backs. On “Kauai,” Gambino does what André 3000 did on “The Love Below” by prioritizing melody and chorus over actual rapping. That is as far as the comparison can go unfortunately, because Gambino’s lyrical content takes a turn for the worst, referencing “love” in almost every song and consisting largely of non-substantiating and vapid content. Sonically, the EP bubbles with poppy choruses, R&B and hip hop inspired production, and soulful vocals. In fact, the chorus of the song “Pop Thieves” continuously repeats the phrase “feel good,” almost hinting at the fact that this is nothing more than that — feel-good music. Beat wise, this EP actually has some great songs, like “Poke,” featuring Gambino’s cousin, Steve G Lover III. The production combines punchy drums and looped echoing high notes to accompany the hand percussions, progressively turning into a faster-paced beat with choir-esque background vocals provided by Gambino himself. Overall, this is an ambitious undertaking by Gambino, but in the end, he does not deliver as much as I had hoped. However, it seems that Gambino himself has no regrets about this release, for he opens “STN MTN” with a skit about him dreaming about his idealized world, and then at the very end of the tape, he says, “And then I woke up,” implying that everything that happened in between was him living out his dreams and finding happiness through music. v

The “A” LIST (best new albums)

8.5 Flying Lotus - “You’re Dead!” Released on Flying Lotus’ birthday, Oct. 7, this hip hop-infused jazz release is a nice change for the Los Angeles producer, as he compiles myriad sounds and textures for his short but electrifying soundscape of an album, “You’re Dead!” Flylo, like with many of his previous projects, follows the blueprint laid down by the late, great, legendary producer J-Dilla and structures his album with a barrage of short one-to-twominute-long songs that cohesively blend together. Keeping this in mind, your best music experience is to just sit back with a nice pair of headphones and play the 38-minute album from beginning to end.

8.O Alt-J - “This Is All Yours” This polarizing group first shocked the world with its debut album “An Awesome Wave” for its spastic, eccentric take on indie pop, garnering incredibly high praise as well as severe criticism. With “This Is All Yours,” the group seems to calm down quite a bit, employing a number of slow paced ballads and not nearly as many idiosyncratic, stimulating pieces. While this change may upset previous AltJ fans, “This is All Yours” still contains beautifully crafted songs, just with more grand and epic musical themes.

9.O Run The Jewels - “RTJ 2” “I’m the foulest, no need for evaluations,” growls El-P on the third track of “Run The Jewels 2,” leaked for free on Oct. 24. Killer Mike, a 39-year-old Atlanta rapper, and El-P, a 39-year-old New York MC and producer, teamed up a year ago and created what has been hailed as the best rap duo since OutKast. After releasing one of the grimiest, explosive albums of 2013, this year the two one-up their last project with an even more offensive, more musically ground-breaking rap album. RTJ2 consists of nonstop braggadocio bars that would put to shame even Jay Z or Kanye West, horrifying yet creative and playfully explicit storytelling that you might find in an early Earl Sweatshirt or Tyler the Creator mixtape, and a contemporary style that is even more innovative than half of the new young artists out today. 63

To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.

Check us out on

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PERSPECTIVES | DEC 2014

TAKING WITHOUT THINKING

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IN THE MEDIA AND OUR SCHOOL Text by EMMA GOLDSMITH and NATALIE MAEMURA Art by KARINA CHAN

OU’VE SEEN IT on the Internet, at sports games, in magazines and sometimes even on Palo Alto High School’s quad — girls wearing kimono “cardigans” and moccasins whilst twerking to the latest of Iggy. Or maybe when you are sprawled across your flat screen on game day, where spirited fans copy their mascot and don Native American headdresses. The term for this insensitive use of traditional symbols is cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is the adoption of elements from a culture. While this may seem innocent, those who appropriate typically ignore and dismiss the historical significance of the culture they are taking. Regrettably, this spreads a false image of a culture. If people want to emulate a culture, they should put forth the effort to learn about it. Cultural appropriation pervades our everyday life because it is done unconsciously, and is simply a physical manifestation of ignorance. “I see it everyday [at school]: students trying to pick up bits of other cultures without knowing much about them,” Paly junior Clare Kemmerer says. Even at the seemingly affluent and educated community we have created at Paly, people still ignorantly and thoughtlessly seize aspects of a culture. The issue of cultural appropriation has become relevant

following the junior class’s fiery Spirit Week debate concerning the potential theme of “El Dorado.” The theme would have featured the “City of Gold” and South American-themed costumes. While some juniors argued that it would bring creative spirit to their class, others declared it ignorant to use the Mayan, Aztec and overall tribal cultures as a theme. This seemingly large rift within our own community transpired because we live in a multicultural and ethnically diverse community, which causes an individual’s identity to be affected by cultures that are not their own. The worst offenders when it comes to cultural appropriation often stage their attempts of worldliness on social media. When celebrities and icons take aspects of other cultures and do not appear to make any effort to learn about that culture or experience it, they thereby support this ignorant behavior. As a direct influence on the younger generation, they encourage the adoption of cultural appropriation even more. Take, for instance, the “Harlem Shake,” a Youtube dance meme that starts with a masked person silently dancing in an ordinary environment. Once the music reaches its climax, the scene shifts to everyone present dancing in outrageously silly costumes. Perceived as funny and entertaining, this dance sensation made its way across the Internet. Regretfully, those who participated in such videos did not seem to realize 65

PERSPECTIVES | DEC 2014 the historical background of the Harlem Shake. Harlem Shake originated from an Ethiopian dance move called Eskista that was introduced to Harlem, New York in 1981 by city resident “Al B.” The “Harlem Shake” is just one of many examples of people’s ignorance leading to the deplorable exploitation of a culture. In addition to social media, many popular artists incorporate cultural appropriation in their work, leading society to become more receptive towards this issue. The “queen of cultural appropriation,” Katy Perry, has been slammed for her Japanese-inspired “geisha” performances and music videos. Musician Iggy Azalea has recently gained popularity and

her dichotomy between her soft Australian voice she uses in interviews and her attempt at a rapper’s “black accent” has

“The beauty of [cultural appropriation] is that it can be used as a learning opportunity — if you don’t know something about a culture and you accidentally offend someone from the said culture, you can learn from it.” — Junior Ariya Momeny caused controversy. This phenomenon of the “black accent” is so prevalent in our community that the term “blaccent” has been coined. Cultural appropriation has even infiltrated America’s favorite sport, football. The Washington Redskins are yet another example of famous figures that indirectly lead to cultural appropriation. The term “Redskins” itself is a racial slur for Native Americans which dates back

to English colonists settling in the New World. This was a brutal time for Natives because many colonists took over their land and forcibly pushed the Natives out of their territory, creating a tense relationship between the two communities. When “Redskin” fans dress up as their mascot, the football fans are perpetuating derogatory stereotypes about Native Americans and incorrect usages of Native American apparel. However, a sliver of hope can be gleaned from cultural appropriation. Depending on the open-mindedness of those who appropriate, some can choose to learn from their ignorant mistakes. Junior Ariya Momeny, who had previously advocated for the theme of “El Dorado,” believes that cultural appropriation can be a method used to discover insight into new cultures. “The beauty of [cultural appropriation] is that it can be used as a learning opportunity — if you do not know something about a culture and you accidentally offend someone from the said culture, you can learn from it,” junior Ariya Momeny says. We leave you with this final thought: ignorant cultural appropriation is an issue of insensitivity — it indirectly shows contempt for the other culture and is hurtful to the members of a culture who have their heritage ripped away from them. Everyone’s culture should be taken into consideration with deep respect before anyone takes anything from it. We only hope that all of us can realize this, learn from our mistakes and not repeat them. v

Cultural appropriation: the adoption of elements from a different culture.

PERSPECTIVES | DEC 2014 Text by RYAN REED Art by KARINA CHAN

Big mother is watching you

PARENTAL SURVEILLANCE TAKES TOLL ON TEENS

T THE BEGINNING OF MY SOPHOMORE year, I discovered that my parents had been reading my text messages. Although I knew it was because they cared about my well-being, finding out that my own parents had seen my messages I’d shared in confidence with my own friends devastated me. I was upset, uncomfortable and I vehemently insisted that what they did was wrong and unjustifiable. Unfortunately, this experience is not unique to me; many teenagers have experienced the same invasion of privacy by their own parents. For as long as anyone can remember, parents have been on their kids’ backs, keeping an overly close eye on their activity. Especially in such a high-pressure environment like Palo Alto, many students feel a constant parental eye over their shoulder. Such a state of mind is unhealthy for teens, as it inhibits our comfort in speaking freely. The most common method of supposed “spying” is fitting for the tech-dependent culture we now live in: parents reading their teenager’s interactions on social media, be it through Facebook, text messages or other forms of communication. This kind of strategy is ultimately efficient in the sense that it gives parents a sense of security in knowing their son’s or daughter’s every move. However, I can’t help but sympathize for the other teenagers who deal with this kind of behavior. No one wants for their privacy to be infringed upon. Ask any teenager if they feel comfortable with their own parents looking over the messages they shared in a private discussion. I, for one, certainly don’t. The chances of any teen willingly accepting such invasive behavior are less likely than Rand Paul endorsing the NSA. The justification of many parents is typically one

of two excuses — each argued by a different type of parent. Let’s say one parent claims something along the lines of, “Reading my kid’s texts is an infringement on their privacy, yes, but it’s only necessary!” A second parent, on the other hand, would likely say, “If my teen isn’t doing anything bad, why should they be worried about me reading their texts?” Teenagers are not necessarily “doing anything bad;” we just have issues that we prefer our parents don’t know about. The claim that an invasion of privacy could be considered “necessary” is subject to wide debate. However, if a parent is going to excuse their actions by claiming them as necessary, they had better have a very compelling reason. If there’s a shocking lack of trust in the relationship between parent and child, or a recent incident which sparked a parent’s worry, then it is quite justifiable for a parent to monitor their teenager’s social activity. After all, parental intervention can save teenagers from potentially dangerous or unhealthy situations such as drug and alcohol abuse. While the parent claiming their actions to be “necessary” may have an argument that holds true in special circumstances, the second parent’s feeble excuse is laughable. It doesn’t matter if the teenager has anything to hide. Teenagers — or anyone, for that matter — send text messages under the belief that such conversations are private, not public. There are many teens who are not engaging in what parents deem to be “bad,” yet still have very personal, private matters that they want to keep to themselves and their peers. I don’t want my parents knowing about my sexual activity, an issue I may have with a friend, or my angry thoughts after that bad fight I just got into with them and I’m fairly sure that I’m not alone in thinking that. Our parents don’t appreciate the NSA’s surveillance, so why should they make the same argument against us? Although there are some rare benefits to parental surveillance, this kind of action should be used as a last resort. Instead of reacting to and controlling a teenager’s behavior by invading their privacy, parents should learn to step back and give their kid some breathing space. Because parental surveillance can give their child a sense of perpetual persecution, they are inhibiting their child’s sense of freedom to express their thoughts. True, every teenager is going to mess up once in a while — that’s to be expected. But an overbearing, nosy authority figure can make anyone lose their sense of security and therefore individuality. v 67

PERSPECTIVES | DEC 2014 Text by ELANA REBITZER Art by ANTHONY LIU

AWARE OF OUR AWARENESS

WE MUST DIRECT FOCUS TO CAUSES IN NEED

HROUGHOUT THE YEAR, PALO ALTO High School students frequently come together to show school spirit and support one another. Whether it is Spirit Week profile picture changes or whiteouts at home football games, the sense of community within Paly is hard to miss. This year during October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Paly’s Associated Student Body decided to harness our school’s unity to help raise awareness for the disease by selling pink shirts and hosting a tailgate before a football game. However, due to legal restrictions, no money could go to breast cancer research charities. ASB defended its choice to sell the shirts by claiming that these events raised awareness nonetheless and that any funds raised would go to helping the Paly community. Had ASB fundraised for a less well-known disease, increasing awareness would have been an effective action; the first step to combating social issues is raising and promoting awareness about them. Yet breast cancer is a disease that people often promote, so its causes and effects are already known. Once a disease has reached such a level of awareness, talking about it will no longer have an effect. To enact positive change, people should donate money to try to cure well-known diseases. If they still want to spread awareness, they should focus on a lesser-known disease. Unfortunately, it is easier to get people to pin a pink ribbon on their shirt and walk around “raising awareness” than it is to get people to promote unknown issues or donate money. While fundraisers may find it challenging to bring other diseases into the spotlight, it is not impossible. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, was an example this summer of a lesser known disease receiving attention. As people tagged their friends in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, awareness about the disease spread, showing that it is possible to promote less well known diseases. Though the challenge caused a relatively unknown disease to take center stage, the hype only lasted for a few weeks. As soon

as they completed the Ice Bucket Challenge, people went back to ignoring ALS. Despite this, the challenge still raised thousands of dollars and brought a relatively unknown disease into the public eye. Other diseases like swine flu have also undergone this pattern, but breast cancer is one disease which does not fade from our awareness despite receiving considerable donations and attention. Although breast cancer is a serious condition, there are other diseases with similarly widespread impacts which deserve to have as much promotion. According to the Bonnie J. Addario Foundation, lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the U.S., causing 27 percent of all cancer deaths. Such a high death percentage should warrant at least as much exposure as breast cancer receives. However, out of breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and ovarian cancer, lung cancer recieves the least funding, reports the Bonnie J. Addario Foundation. These differences in donations stem from disease-related stigmas. With lung cancer, there is a widespread belief that many people who have the disease were or are smokers. Regardless of the credibility of this stigma, focusing on saving patients’ lives should be the priority, not chastising them for their actions pre-diagnosis. Unfortunately, people carry their prejudices with them at all times, including when giving to charity, and this creates the donation discrepancy. Of course, it is always beneficial to support causes you care about. Do not hesitate to proudly wear your pink ribbons in October. However, November (Lung Cancer Awareness Month) should have been equally full of its clear ribbons and all other awareness months should also garner the same amount of promotion for their diseases. Raising awareness for a cause that needs support is a beneficial action and people should not stop. The next step is to take that awareness and turn it into funds while also raising awareness for other diseases that are just as in need. When you find yourself pinning on a pink ribbon or copy-pasting another Facebook status about awareness, consider picking a less well known and funded disease to call attention to. v

Text by ESME ABLAZA Photo illustration by ESME ABLAZA, ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG and KARINA CHAN

THe SKINNYon SKINNYshaming ALL FORMS OF BODY-SHAMING NEED TO STOP

LASH BACK TO SEVENTH grade. I step outside of my Spanish 1A classroom and into the packed hallway. I’m about to escape to lunch when all of a sudden I hear a high-pitched voice in a mock-Southern accent drawling behind me: “That skinny ass in them skinny jeans.” It takes a moment for me to register that the voice is referring to me. I turn around. An eighth grade boy looms over me, a smirk plastered across his acne-ridden face. I stand there for a second, my heart pounding, until I turn on my heel and walk away as fast I can. I don’t wear skinny jeans for the rest of the week. Right now, the body acceptance movement is all the rage. Celebrities, magazines, Tumblr pages and teenagers are spreading the message that girls should love themselves for who they are and not what size jeans they wear. At this point, everyone knows better than to call someone fat. I mean, who hasn’t read Jennifer Lawrence’s quote, “In Hollywood, I’m obese,” or heard Meghan Trainor’s hit “All About that Bass,” in which she strikes a blow for curvaceous women everywhere with her line, “I’m bringing booty back”? But what about my (admittedly pintsized) booty? It, along with the rear ends of countless other women (“fat” and “skinny” alike), is also far from the 21st century ideal of belonging to someone tall and slender but also curvy. Why am I not allowed to charge into the body-image war alongside my full-figured friends? I thought this whole thing was about everyone loving and accepting everyone else, but all of a sudden Nicki Minaj is screaming, “F--- those skinny bitches,” and I’m paralyzed all over again with that same selfconscious fear I felt in the hallway back in seventh grade. What is a “skinny bitch” like me to do? People know that it is wrong to body-shame larger women, but hardly anyone is aware of the condescending com-

ments aimed at the people on the other side of the body-image spectrum: the “tooskinny-and-not-curvy-enough” or “boyishlooking” girls, otherwise known as another group of people who don’t measure up to society’s ideal. It is time for the world to understand that body shaming, no matter what type of body one is debasing, is unacceptable. The “perfect” body is unattainable to most people, resulting in those with different shapes and sizes feeling inadequate. Despite this, smaller people’s insecurities are often invalidated. In the past, I have been encouraged to take other people’s comments about my body as a compliment. In a Sept. 2014 article published by the Yale Herald, Rachel Baker claims that skinny-shaming is myth. According to her, “There are a series of societal benefits and advantages that come with being skinny.” The main “societal benefits” cited include the “lack of character judgments” placed on skinny people due to their bodies and society’s assumptions that a skinny body type is “normal,” sexually attractive and healthy.

As a 5-foot-2-inch and lighter-thanaverage girl, I do not enjoy a single one of these “privileges” and the same goes for many other people with smaller body types. I receive incessant comments about my body from adults and my peers in addition to unwarranted questions about my weight and eating habits, which lead me to believe that others find my body type abnormal. As for sexually desirable, are boys and men not pressured on the daily to find curvaceous, Beyoncé-esque women sexy? I beg anyone who has ever heard a boy say, “Damn, I’d tap that nonexistent ass,” to step forward. Feeling unsure where to start when discussing the topic of sex appeal in relation to less “well-endowed” women, I consulted with my fellow svelte friend and Palo Alto High School junior Zoë Limbrick. “For the longest time I was convinced no boy would ever like me unless he had a fetish for green beans,” Limbrick says. Due to constant commentary on the bodies of smaller women and society’s definition of the ideal body, it is clear that skinny-shaming does exist. Besides, even if the privileges Baker mentions were enjoyed by every skinny person in the universe, how could we ever bring ourselves to condone the shaming of anyone, no matter their body type? “When your friends and adults are always reminding you of how much smaller you are, you feel smaller in a very emotional space,” Limbrick says. “Like you don’t have the right to take up any space because you’re smaller.” We need to take a step back and look at what we’re doing. We have created a culture where no one wins. If you are too big, you are ridiculed. If you are too small, you are expected to deal with constant negative comments aimed at your body. We must remember our original goal: to foster body acceptance of everyone, no matter their size, in order to end body shaming once and for all. v

PERSPECTIVES | DEC 2014 Text by KELLY SHI Art by ANTHONY LIU

“WELL, THAT WAS FAST”

(THAT’S WHAT SHI SAID)

S A TECH SAVVY TEENAGER WITH HER finger on the pulse of the latest news and trends on the Internet, I lead a busy and important life. Since joining the vast network of social media, I have called for the arrest of Joseph Kony, worried for the livelihood of approximately 200 kidnapped girls, seen countless bare midriffs exposed in the name of ALS and lobbied for the incarceration of Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, all from the comfort of my own home. Each wave of activism is accompanied by a surge of identical profile pictures swamping my newsfeed, lasting for about two weeks before the images revert back to saturated smiling faces. Oftentimes, people will eagerly support a cause, throwing their virtual selves into the thick of the hashtags and meaningful statuses, but will then desert the issue before a solution even begins to emerge from the dust of the media blitz. In the same way that goldfish can, according to urban legend, only pay attention to something for three seconds before their short-term memory times out, it seems that people are only capable of caring about a social justice issue for as long as it’s in vogue before the topic is left to die in the cold like an inadequate Spartan baby. This sort of behavior doesn’t always stem from a lack of sympathy; most people don’t even realize the nature of their short-term activism. The blitz and split pattern is common among those with privilege, who often don’t have to deal with the direct consequences of the issue they are fighting for. They pat themselves on the back and bask in the

glow of their recently posted heartfelt status, priding themselves on stepping up, caring about others and making a capitalD Difference. While the victims of a problem are fighting and screaming their throats hoarse at demonstrations day after day, those unaffected have A EDI the luxury M L of giving IA N C O and taking HE N SPA S T away their AS NTIO FISH H support on a E S LD ATT A GO COME whim. The short OF EN IT ISM attention span H IV T W C isn’t necessarA TO ily anybody’s fault. There are too many things wrong with the world for an individual to be able to focus on every single one; it’s physically impossible to lead searches for the lost Malaysian airplane while simultaneously helping Emma Sulkowicz drag her dorm bed around Columbia and travelling around the world curing Ebola on a bike to stop global warming. Instead, people must recognize the underlying issues that serve as the cause of each recent event. They should realize that racism is not dead in America like we sometimes pretend, and that sexism is an issue that women face every day. They can be mindful of illnesses that don’t often make headlines, and they can remember that there are people in the world grieving for those whose livelihoods are currently at stake. While it’s ridiculous to expect people to take direct action in every single social justice issue, if we could all just take the time to examine each event, the resulting awareness can help prevent further incidents of intolerance. It’s only natural for everyone to switch interests and focus on other topics — so long as we don’t completely forget the issue we’re moving on from. The key to making short-term activism count lies in remaining aware of issues that other people may face and being ready to defend and support them when the time comes. When big events make the news, what’s most important is not the sudden spike of passion and public outcry but the long lasting awareness and support afterwards. v

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