Verde Volume 16 Issue 3 by Verde Magazine

END OF THE ROAD FOR BUENA VISTA? Page 37

VERDE MAGAZINE • VOLUME 16, ISSUE 3 • FEBRUARY 2015

Verde

February 2015 Volume 16 Issue 3 51

Inside

8 The Launch 13 News

Culture 18 20 22 24 26 27 28

The A Review Tout Sweet Best Burritos Oscars Poetry Slam Second Semester Seniors Mission District

Features 31 34 36 37 42 47 51 55 58 61 63

Emergency Vet Serial Gap Year Buena Vista Gender in Education Nut Allergies Foothill Bachelor’s Degree Low Income Coding Improv AltSchool Stage Tech

Profiles 44 60 64

Diya Rao Angell Creighton

Perspectives 67 68 69 70

Block Schedules Responding to Tragedy Secret Studying That’s What Shi Said

On the cover Citlali, a six-year-old girl from Buena Vista Mobile Home Park scooters home to the trailer where she lives. Like all of the park residents, Citlali’s future remains uncertain. The city council of Palo Alto will play a crucial role in determining the fate of Citlali and the park in the months to come. At the moment, it appears that the residents will lose their homes without having viable plan in place for their housing relocation. Verde investigated the legal battle and moral dilemma surrounding the local mobile home park’s undecided future. Photo by Ana-Sofia Amieva Wang. Photo Illustration by Bryan Wong.

From the Editors

OPPORTUNITY

PPORTUNITY. IN THIS SINGLE WORD are many meanings, each with a story. For Diya Rao, a Palo Alto High School junior with Autism Spectrum Disorder, opportunity means attending Paly with teachers and peers who care about her education and well-being (page 44). For students in Foothill’s dental hygiene program, opportunity means the ability to earn a bachelor’s degree in community college, allowing them to create new lives for themselves (page 51). For local low-income students taking newly offered free computer science classes, opportunity means a chance at careers that will propel them into the future job market (page 55). For Buena Vista Mobile Home Park’s residents, opportunity used to mean affordable housing in Palo Alto, a city central to a growing economy and incredible public education. However, for these same residents, opportunity could very well be taken away from them (page 37). It seems many in our city are unaware of the injustice of the forced relocation of these residents. It’s easy to turn a blind eye to places like Buena Vista, but we must work to cherish and hold on to these essential aspects of our community. We share our home of Palo Alto with the residents, many of whom are children or have lived here for decades. We must not forget their impacts or ignore their pleas for fair compensation that will allow them to continue sharing the benefits of the Bay Area. Read more about Verde’s stance on this issue in the editorial (page 6). We must also work to care for ourselves and our fellow peers, especially in light of recent tragedies. As spring approaches, along with the chaos of testing and Prom, try to find the opportunity to pause and reflect. Try to look past your personal bubble to realize and empathize with all members of our community. At the same time, learn to be mindful of your own mental and physical health, and please seek help if you need it. Crisis numbers can be found on page 13. We say seek out opportunities for yourself to learn and grow. Stand up when there’s injustice. Don’t shy away from sharing your voice or encouraging others to speak their own. Hold on to each other. Whether it’s compassion toward Buena Vista’s residents, your stressed-out friend or yourself, let’s work together to create a culture of sympathy and open dialogue. — 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 Kai Gallagher 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 Folger Graphics in Hayward, Calif. The Paly PTSA mails Verde to every student’s home. All Verde work is available at http://verdemagazine.com

EDITORIALS COURSE SELECTION CULTURE NEEDS WORK

T’S NO SECRET THAT MANY Palo Alto students are stressed. While parents, friends and extracurriculars contribute to student stress, academics are often at the core of this problem. In light of recent tragedies and a growing discourse on mental health, many in our community have amplified academics’ role in student stress. Some parents and Palo Alto Unified School District faculty members have even proposed ideas involving limits on the number of Advanced Placement and Honors classes that a student can take in a given year. Simultaneously, others, mainly parents and student peers, push high schoolers to take more difficult classes than they can handle. Verde believes that restricting high schoolers’ freedom in choosing challenging courses is not a solution conducive to reducing student stress. In fact, stress is only augmented when pressure to not take these courses is combined with pressure from others to take them. The Palo Alto community should instead tackle stress with solutions focused on helping students make educated course decisions and reducing social tension rather than restraining or forcing academic ambition. When it comes to selecting Advanced Placement and Honors courses, students’ choices tend to stem from a desire to stretch their minds. It’s true that some choose these classes solely to please parents and colleges, but few would sign up for an AP-filled schedule if they had no interest in learning the in-depth content. No student should be forced to sit for a semester or whole year in a class they find uninteresting and boring just to appeal to a facade of lowered stress. At the same time, not every student thrives in an AP classroom, and that’s okay. Regardless of whether a student wants to take advanced courses, the decision should be left up to them. The dichotomy between pressure from peers and parents to take hard classes and the growing push back

“Take more APs! Everyone else manages it.”

“No more APs! You’ll be too stressed.”

Art by Anthony Liu

from administrators results in a lose-lose situation and increased student stress. Ambitious, motivated students should be allowed to dive deep into the subjects that interest them, and students who prefer non-AP courses should be equally encouraged in their intellectual pursuits. So much of a student’s school life — their teachers, grades and college acceptances — is out of their control. Handpicking a course schedule is an invaluable act of taking control over their own academics. Though some students misjudge how many difficult classes they can handle, this is all part of the process of learning independence. Course selection teaches students responsibility and planning skills. If choices are limited or forced, yet another facet of the academic experience will be removed from students’ control. Verde commends the administration’s proposed ideas to reduce student stress, such as homework-free nights, lowered class disparity and more flexible test and homework scheduling. In addition to these ideas and in replacement of limits on

course selection, PAUSD should provide an improved system to help students assemble their class schedules. The course catalogue should be expanded to include veteran student testimonies, difficulty ratings, more accurate estimates of homework hours, example assignments and class agendas. Such information could be compiled into an online database that could be contributed to by students and teachers each year, allowing prospective students to gauge a more realistic view of each class’s difficulty and to make more informed course decisions. Lastly, our community should work together to create a happier environment in which academics do not cause social tension. Students and parents, do not pressure others into taking difficult courses; just because you may be able to handle them, doesn’t mean they can or should. Instead of worrying about other people’s classes, grades and future colleges, let’s focus on shaping our school into an environment that encourages intellectual curiosity and engagement rather than uppercase letters on a piece of paper. 5

EDITORIALS BUENA VISTA NEEDS FAIR COMPENSATION

N APRIL, THE PALO ALTO City Council will be reviewing an appeal of the closure of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park. The city council approved the request for an appeal in January, the final step in a threeyear process. As it stands now, the owner of the park has been required by state and local law to create a Relocation Impact Report to detail the compensation he will provide for residents. The compensation and relocation plan has been approved by the city and a hearing officer, and the upcoming appeal represents the final chance for the RIR to be revised before it goes into effect. Verde believes that the RIR does not fairly compensate the residents of Buena Vista for the loss of their homes and community. The current relocation plan does not adequately provide for “comparable housing” within 35 miles of the park, a serious problem for the 400 residents living in Buena Vista who are primarily a population of low to very low income, mostly Latino people. Without the park, which is hundreds of dollars cheaper than any other living space in the city, many of these families could end up homeless. Currently, the residents are receiving compensation based on the current value of their homes. Many of the trailers, originally containing one bedroom, have been altered to increase living space. However, as most of these alterations have not been formally approved by the owner and are thus considered illegal, they are not factored into the rent subsidy (though they are included in the appraisal). Since most Buena Vista families will be dependent on the owner’s subsidy, they will not be able to afford any housing other than a studio apartment. According to the residents and their lawyers, the owner has turned a blind eye on these alterations in the past and is now attempting to use this to his advantage. The residents should receive compensation based not on the number of original, 6

Art by Anthony Liu

manufactured bedrooms in their mobile homes but based on family size. Verde acknowledges that while the City of Palo Alto has put in place important procedures to attempt to ensure fairness for both the residents and the owner, these measures have not yielded the necessary results. In many ways, Palo Alto is doing something quite cruel to the residents, much more cruel than if they’d never been allowed to live here in the first place. It has given the residents access to wonderful opportunities like the education system. Now, after decades of allowing these residents to become integrated into the community,

Palo Alto is forcing them out without even offering a real, viable solution for their relocation. Undoubtedly, the owner has a right to shut down his private property, but if he cannot be depended upon to provide fair compensation, then the city council, as the appeal’s arbitrator, must take it upon themselves to do everything within their power to ensure the residents are able to stay nearby permanently. Verde implores the city of Palo Alto to seek out any possible solution which would allow the residents to remain in the park while also providing the owner with fair compensation.

NADINE PRIESTLEY PHOTOGRAPHY 650.868.0977 nadine.priestley@gmail.com

LAUNCH

Compiled by ESME ABLAZA

PENCIL PREDATORS Introducing BYOP: bring your own blue pen, for the sake of those too nice to refuse requests to “borrow” a writing utensil. Oh? You don’t think borrowing pens is so bad? My young, sweet, naive grasshopper, your oblivion is pathetic. How have you possibly gone this long in the utensil-lending business without incident? Allow me to introduce you to various manifestations of the pen-stealing perpetrator. v

MY PENCIL’S KEEPER:

These finagling thieves will sincerely promise to return your tool at the end of the period, only to run out the door as soon as the bell rings. When confronted, they will claim that they “totally forgot” or “didn’t bring the right binder to school today.” Keepers have been known to maintain such acts for up to three weeks, expecting you, the lender, to give up eventually, if only for the sake of maintaining social norms. The key to regaining your lost property is perseverance and a love of confrontations.

Verbatim:

Text by KELLY SHI

PICKY STICKLERS:

Although many would assume requesters to act in a humble and meek manner, Picky Sticklers will not only ask to borrow a pencil; they will subtly grimace at your generously proffered utensil and will request a specific writing implement. Whether it’s the color of the wood finish or the freshly sharpened point that they have taken a liking to, it is clear that they are unaware of their breach in the unspoken etiquette between borrower and lender.

THE UNCONSCIOUS WRECKER: The UW ma-

nipulates the writing tool while seemingly engaged in another activity. Whether they’re chewing on a plastic cap or pressing too hard, these harbingers of destruction ruin every pen or pencil you place in their negligent care. Eventually, you will end up amending the previous terms of your verbal agreement and allow this villain to permanently keep your pen, a weapon that is, as the saying goes, no longer worthy of comparison to a sword. If you find the Verde Man in this issue, email verdebusiness@gmail.com with the name of the story it is in. First five people get a prize!

what are your thoughts on obama's proposal

“

The problem is that it’s gonna take a lot of money to give people two years of free education for community colleges.” — freshman Nigel Chen

“

It seems like a great idea because this means I can get as much education as everybody else.” — sophomore Nadia Leinhos

ASB Answers WHAT DOES ASB HOPE TO ACHIEVE BY HOSTING A SADIE HAWKINS DANCE? “The reason we are calling it a Sadie’s is by popular demand, and also just to push one more time that it’s time for gender roles to change, and this is one way we may empower the students to do that.”

— Maya Ben-Efraim, Senior Class President

Photography and reporting by CAROLINE YOUNG

FURRY FRIENDS

Photography and reporting by NATALIE MAEMURA

Paly students come clean about their normally out-of-the-spotlight companions. “[STUFFED ANIMALS] ARE THE LEAST JUDGEMENTAL FRIENDS A GIRL COULD HAVE.”

“I STARTED BRINGING MY OWN STUFFED ANIMAL TO SCHOOL TO DESTRESS.”

junior Tiffany Tsay

“MY STUFFED ANIMAL IS STUFFED WITH LOVE.”

junior Michelle Holland

junior Alby Leng

Photography and reporting by ELANA REBITZER

TO OFFER OFFER TWO TWO FREE FREE YEARS YEARS OF OF COMMUNITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE? COLLEGE? TO

“

We should have government-sponsored programs that help ethnic minorities and students who do not have the money to go to regular college.” — junior Zach Kirk

“

Students would benefit from having two years of free education in order to boost their chances of doing well in the workforce.” — senior Huda Navaid

New Club Check-in MAKEX CLUB “Right now, MakeX Club is building a near-space weather balloon to set a world record for highest paper airplane dropped. MakeX Club makes really cool stuff at our place in Cubberly, and we’re always looking for more Paly students to join.”

— junior Nathan Kau, MakeX Club President Photography and reporting by EMILIE MA

ORGANIZATION TIPS The “New year, new me!” Instagram post renders meaningless without putting forth actual effort to be a better you this year. Second semester juniors (and others), don’t despair! Here are some helpful tips, tested out by yours truly, to keep your life and work organized for the rest of the semester. v 1. There is no shame in bEing a mom and using a detailed planner. Writing your tasks down is like really great insurance. You pay a teeny bit of time now to protect yourself later. Make organizing more fun by designating a different color for each class. Not only does it make writing things down look cooler, but also aids you in visually discerning all the tasks you have to do that day. If you’re feeling indulgent, stickers are a good idea too (haters gonna hate and ain’ters gonna ain’t, but you are NEVER too old for stickers).

Text and photography by KARINA CHAN

2. Stay Hydrated! You are a student, not a cactus. Dehydration makes you fatigued, gives you bad skin and causes headaches. Staying hydrated decreases your need for coffee and therefore saves you from the caffeine crash after. Not only can you bring a reusable water bottle to school, but you can also label it using tape at certain levels to set goals for yourself during the day. Keep it on your desk during class so you can remind yourself to drink a certain amount of water. 3. Multi-subject folders are indeed bae. MSFs keep all of your loose papers in one place and prevent you from lazily shoving every subject into the black hole of your backpack. When you have one folder for all of your subjects, everything is in one place, so you avoid the issue of accidentally bringing the wrong folder to class.

Teacher Tweets

LAUNCH

FEATURED ART

Reporting by ZOFIA AHMAD

“GODDESS OF OIL” By senior flora liu artist’s note: “The Goddess of Oil appears sad and troubled. Often referred as “black gold,” she is beloved by humans, who use her extensively in industries, creating a huge amount of pollution. Much wildlife is still threatened by the BP Oil Spill of 2010. The Goddess of Oil is missing home because she cannot return back underground anymore.” Calling all Paly artists! To have your artwork featured in the next issue of Verde, email your submissions to verdelaunch1415@gmail.com.

PROM ASKING advice With the promenade coming up, many people have been coming up to me with fear in their eyes, pleading, “Please Kai! Come down from Mount Olympus and lend us your strength! Especially in the prom asking department, a kingdom in which tales of you are spoken far and wide!” Fear no more — I have compiled some tips to ensure that your prom goes off without a hitch. v 1. Please don’t make a big sign with terrible puns. As someone with a one-syllable name, I have weathered these puns my entire life. It hurts every time. 2. No one is above a little playful Facebook stalking. Wow! You just happen to be into Nepalese throat singing just like he is! What a wonderful coincidence! 3. Be sure that your target will say yes. ‘Nuff said.

Text by KAI GALLAGHER

4. Don’t hesitate to ask just because your friends aren’t going. If no one else goes, blow the dance off and get a big burrito with your date. Refer to the article on page 22 about the best burritos in Palo Alto! 5. Dudes are simple. Give them food and they will sign their souls off to Satan. Take advantage of this. 6. Don’t be one of those people who freaks out when other people have dresses that bear a passing resemblance to yours. As a guy, seeing girls do this is akin to watching two penguins feverishly comparing feathers. 7. Be sure you know someone before you ask them out. If you can’t swim, don’t jump in. 8. Remember that if you don’t have fun at prom, you will never, ever have another opportunity in your life to be this happy again. (But the burrito is a close second). Reporting by LUCY FOX and ESME ABLAZA

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NEWS

Gunn group seeks changes

Controversial Save the 2008 campaign pushes for stress reduction A Henry M. Gunn High School sophomore and former teacher are pushing for improvements in Gunn’s school climate through their campaign, Save the 2008. The campaign’s main goals or “six steps” include downsizing classes, monitoring the amount of time spent on homework, keeping course loads under control, reducing the number of grade reports sent home and ending Gunn’s cheating culture by prohibiting cell phone usage during school hours. Sophomore Martha Cabot and English teacher Marc Vincenti teamed up after Cabot posted a Youtube video calling for change to Gunn’s stressful academic environment last November.

“Marc saw it [the video], and he reached out to me,” Cabot said. “We had mutual feelings about what we could do. And from there we started the campaign.” As of now, the campaign has not yet affected school policies “I feel that the school board isn’t doing much,” Cabot said. “I know things take time, but we’d like to see … someone take action.” The campaign is not just up against the board. As Cabot puts it, there is “lots of eye-rolling” from her fellow Gunn students, but Cabot agrees with the opposition that Gunn is not at fault. “We’re in no way trying to hurt Gunn or blame Gunn, because there’s no need

for blame at all,” Cabot said. “We just want to see change, which is not happening right now. I’m proud to be able to say I’m doing something, or trying to implement some kind of change.” Cabot has already recieved suggestions from other students that include implementing a homeroom system in addition to a block schedule. Her past experiences in schools that instituted block schedules gives her confidence that it will better connect the community. “You’d grow up with the same students and teacher, who’d mentor you throughout all for years of school,” Cabot said. BY ESME ABLAZA

Palo Alto opens nation’s first inclusive playground The Magical Bridge Playground, the nation’s first fully-accessible and fully-inclusive park designed for visitors of all abilities, will open in Mitchell Park in March. “We are most likely going to do the official opening on a Friday” said Jill Asher, a spokesperson for the playground. “On Saturday, we are going to be bringing in entertainers every few hours to perform. ... Some of them will be singers, some will be story tellers, so we’ll have a whole weekend of activities.” The playground’s goal is to create a safe and fun space for people of all ages, physical abilities and cognitive abilities. To accomplish this, the park is fully accessible and has multiple “zones” with different activities. “It [the playground] is safe for children and adults that are in wheelchairs,” Asher said. “For the visually impaired, it is very clear where openings are.” Palo Alto parent Olenka Villarreal, whose daughter had developmental disabilities, came up with the concept and received city funding for it when she discovered that swinging and other vesicular movements

MAGICAL BRIDGE Mitchell Park’s Magical Bridge Playground seeks to bridge play opportunities between able and disabled children. Photo by Bethany Wong can be beneficial for many children whose disabilities prevent them from using swings in traditional playgrounds. The park has taken measures to ensure that children and adults with autism and sensory integration issues will not be overloaded as they would at a typical park.

According to Magical Bridge Playground website, some of these measures include retreat zones, therapeutic swings and socially inclusive spaces to ensure that no bullying will occur at the park. BY ELANA REBITZER 13

NEWS New mayor calls for teen involvement Palo Alto’s newly elected mayor hopes to open communications between teen community members and the mayor’s office. “What the council does affects everyone,” Mayor Karen Holman said. “You [teenagers] are all going to be our future leaders.” Holman encourages Palo Alto teens to speak at council meetings, contact staff and petition issues that should be addressed so that they can become involved and have just as much sway within the community as adults. “Come to the mayor’s office and we’ll have a conversation,” Holman said. “I’ll meet you at a coffee shop. If there is something you want to talk about that involves the city, I’ll keep the line of communication open.” BY EMMA GOLDSMITH

Mitchell Park hosts events for teens Mitchell Park’s Teen Center will host a trivia contest for its first Teen Night on Feb. 27. According to Amal Aziz, Palo Alto’s Recreation Coordinator for Youth and Teens, the teen center will be open until 8 p.m. every day and will hold workshops and activities such as culinary classes and dance classes. The Teen Center will offer facilities including an air hockey table, Xboxes, a kitchen and televisions. “[A] Palo Alto Teen Membership is just $25 for the whole year, and grants you free or discounted access to special workshops and events, as well as free use of [the center’s] teen facilities,” Aziz said. BY EMILIE MA 14

SHOW AND TELL Journalism advisor Esther Wojcicki (left) describes the writing and review process of her book, “Moonshots in Education,” to her students juniors Stephanie Cong (middle) and Aiva Petriceks (right). Photo by Anna Lu

Journalism adviser writes book on blended learning Palo alto High School journalism teacher Esther Wojcicki will deliver a keynote on her new book about blended learning at a national teacher’s convention on March 14. Wojcicki, who co-wrote the book “Moonshots in Education” with educational specialist Lance Izumi, advocates for a blended learning classroom environment where students have a larger say in their assignments according to their individual interests. “It really upsets me to see so many students working really hard in classes while not being aware why they have to study that particular subject,” Wojcicki said. “My goal is to change the culture of the classroom so that students are more in control of their learning and they have some options.” Wojcicki says that her English and journalism classes provide an ideal for what blended learning should look like and has confidence that her approach will help

students in all subject areas. “People have asked me if it works for low-income kids,” Wojcicki said. “My answer is, ‘Can you tell me one human being on this planet who doesn’t want to be free, who does not want to be respected and have some independence? If you find me that human being then maybe I will say that person doesn’t need it.” She believes that the education system’s outdated mindset needs to change to reflect technological advancements. “The education system in America is dominated by a philosophy that was created at the end of the 1800s to breed factory workers,” Wojcicki said. “In a factory, people have to do the same horrible job repeatedly, but in today’s world, we need people who think.” According to her, the title’s “moonshots” represent the difficulty of convincing teachers to change the current classroom culture.” BY ANNA LU

NEWS NEWS NEWS

State legislature to propose mandate on youth vaccinations Following multiple cases of measles in the state of California, two state legislators are leading the movement to remove the personal and religious belief clause that allows parents not to vaccinate their children. According to the California Senate, Senator Ben Allen and Senator Richard Pan announced plans to prioritize this bill after over 99 reported cases of measles in California. According to a state legislative staffer, a formal bill must be proposed by Feb. 27 in order to be refered to a policy committee. While state-wide rates of non vaccinated students sit at around 10 percent according to a study released by the State of California, rates in the Palo Alto Unified School District fall between zero percent at Duveneck Elementary School to nine

percent at Walter Hays Elementary School. Following two detected cases of measles in the Santa Clara county, the Palo Alto Unified School District is taking precautionary measures in order to ensure the safety of its students in the upcoming months. According to Tabitha Kappeler Hurley, PAUSD’s communications coordinator, students without vaccinations may be asked to sit out certain activities in order to protect the health of the other students. “We want to make parents aware of this information in order to catch cases early,” Kappeler Hurley said. Kappeler Hurley also recommended that parents ensure their children are upto-date on vaccinations and boosters to reduce disease risk.

$685 the average price of rent in Buena Vista per month. page 37

times more often that boys speak in class than girls page 42

BY SIDDHARTH SRINIVASAN

ASB to host formal Sadie’s This year’s Palo Alto High School winter dance will take place on Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the small gym and dance room. Tasi will be the disk jockey for the 2015 winter Sadie’s formal dance. Paly’s Associated Student Body will be providing donuts since the deep fried churros were overwhelmingly successful during Homecoming. The theme, Sadie Hawkins, has not been used over the past couple years, and ASB members believe this will be a fun change of pace. ASB social commissioner Cezanne Lane has not yet decided whether she will be holding an asking contest since this year’s Homecoming asking competition was less successful than last year’s. The press release from ASB emphasized that this dance is all-inclusive, and although the dance title promotes girls asking boys, they want everyone to feel comfortable asking anyone they wish to.

BY THE NUMBERS

“As a body, we recognize the progress society has made since the origination of Sadie’s as well as the growing conversation related to gender roles and gender identity,” ASB’s press release said. The Sadie Hawkins theme originates from the late 1930s and therefore has a multitude of out-of-date practices that ASB has taken into consideration while deciding on the theme. “There are some older ideas that come with it,” Lane said. “Sadie’s itself is not just suggesting that a girl can ask a guy. We just want to encourage all of the student body to ask anyone.” This will be Paly’s last dance in the small gym since the gyms are planned to be torn down next fall. Tickets are available online at the Paly webstore and are also being sold on the Quad.

20 times cheaper to attend Foothill’s dental hygiene program compared to private universities page 51

If you or someone you know is suffering from depression or anxiety, contact: Academic Counseling Services: 1-650-833-4244 24/7 Teen Crisis Hotline: 1-888-247-7717 SCC Suicide Crisis Hotline: 1-855-278-4204

BY CLAIRE PRIESTLEY 15

NEWS

Bike routes to improve student safety After the adoption of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan in 2012, the City Council of Palo Alto will begin discussing the implementation of bike boulevards to improve bicyclist safety, according to City Councilman Marc Berman. Maybell and Churchill Avenue will be the locations of first boulevards. “Both of these roads have considerable student bicycle traffic,” Berman said. “We [the city] want to make these routes safer and more convenient for Palo Alto’s students to be able to bike to school.” These boulevards will improve bicyclist safety by integrating both traffic control and increased amenities for bicyclists. For example, the city will restrict parking on Castilleja and Churchill during certain hours as well as improve intersections like El Camino and Churchill. Following these first two bike boulevards, the City of Palo Alto plans to implement similar safety improvements all throughout Palo Alto. The completion date of all these boulevards, however, is yet to be decided. “We want to make sure that we conduct maximum outreach to the community

HELPING THE FLOW Due to high congestion at the Churchill entrance to Paly, the city will be adding bike lanes and flashing warning signs. Diagram by Sandis Design so that everyone has an opportunity to participate in the process,” Berman said. “We intend to take on a few bike boulevards at a time.” Parent and student participation will be a huge factor in the implementation of

these boulevards, according to Berman. To stay up to date on the progress as well as view all the ongoing bicycle boulevard projects, visit http://paloaltobike. fehrandpeers.net. BY ROY ZAWADSKI

Distinguished professionals to speak at career month Palo Alto High School’s seventh annual career month will feature an array of speakers in March. According to planning committee member Jeanette Wong, students can look forward to seeing Dr. Zuckerburg, a for-

mer dentist and father of Facebook C.E.O. Mark Zuckerburg, and Jaime Waydo from Google’s self-driving car program. Waydo plans to bring in a full-size self-driving car and run a demonstration. “We hope students gain exposure to

diverse areas and encourage students to explore new interests,” Wong said. To see the full list of speakers and dates, refer to the calendar below. BY SIDDHARTH SRINIVASAN

CULTURE | FEB 2015

The “A” Review

Rating:

Lupe Fiasco — Tetsuo & Youth Text by ANAND SRINIVASAN Art by KARINA CHAN

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OU’RE WITNESSING the last kicks of a dying horse,” Lupe Fiasco joked with “Billboard” journalist Thomas Golianopoulos in an interview days before the release of Lupe’s fifth and last studio album with Atlantic Records, titled “Tetsuo & Youth” (released Jan. 20). “It’s an interesting album because it’s a transition,” continued Lupe as he imparted how his diminishing presence in pop culture has had an impact on his newest hiphop record. “I’m not as relevant as I was before ... I think I had my peak and now I am coming down in relevancy. It’s not a sad thing for me. I don’t want to be relevant today. I don’t want to be the go-to guy for the club song or to speak on all the dumb s*** that’s going around. I’m happy being that somewhat sophisticated, overly deep, weird guy making powerful music.” From this statement, it may seem like Lupe has somewhat given up on his career. However, to assume that like Lupe’s relevancy, his music is also making its “last kicks,” would be dead wrong. As stated earlier, Lupe’s newest album is indeed a career “transition,” and he reflects this in the music through recurring themes of change and progression in the seemingly regressing world of hip-hop culture. Most conspicuous of these attempts are the periodically spaced interludes, as well as the intro and outro, each named after one of the four seasons. The intro is “Summer,” the interludes are “Fall” and “Winter,” and the outro is “Spring.” These tracks divide the album into three parts. Adding to the complexity of the album are the nuanced, stylistic differences from “season” to “season” as they relate to increasing levels of severity of subject material, as well as the loss of innocence of the narrator, presumably the youthful Lupe. Also notable are the ongoing shifts in lyrical delivery as they coincide with hip-hop’s 18

historic progression as a genre. Lupe starts initially with the old-school style of prioritizing word-play and flow over all else and then slowly transitions to the more popularized deliveries of contemporary rapping by the end.

“

I don’t want to be the goto guy for the club song or to speak on all the dumb s*** that’s going around. ” — Lupe Fiasco

a nearly nine-minute verse devoid of any remnants of a chorus, which shows off not only his proficiency as an MC, but also his genius lyricism and wordsmithing. For example, Lupe foreshadows the concept of his album with the lines, “First part of a party, that I throw in parts (in reference to the three part aspect of his album’s composition) / One minute you’re playing pool (swimming ‘pools’ are often associated with “Summer”), next minute you’re throwing darts (in the “Winter” section Lupe addresses many dark topics like gang warfare and violence) / But that’s what you do with a party that you throw in bars.” Another highlight from the “Summer” section is the fourth track, “Dots and Lines,” which incorporates violins and a rather playful harmonica, and uses references to mathematics, geometry, and the sciences to describe philosophical concepts, convey truths in everyday life and touch upon religion.

With this album, Lupe has made it clear that he’s all about change, which honestly comes as a great relief when looking back at his last two albums, notorious for consisting of his most subpar and “dumbed down” material since his debut. With this newest release, not only does Lupe reestablish why many came to love him in the first place, but he solidifies his place as one of Fall the best to ever touch the mic. Summer This album starts off beautifully with the intro track, “Summer,” which conveys warmth and innocence while setting the tone for the “Summer” portion of the album. There is a pleasant, watery ukulele underscoring the sounds of laughing children playing in a pool, accompanied by soaring strings and the delicate plucking of a violin. The songs that follow this intro and essentially fall within the “Summer” section of the album all share a similar whimsical and childlike tone, either through the sonic aesthetic or the subject matter. The track “Mural” has an especially serene, old-school instrumental with some angelic vocals and a winding piano loop. Additionally, it exhibits one of Lupe’s most impressive lyrical performances to date:

As one would expect, the interlude track, “Fall,” signifies the beginning of a stylistically different section, themed after everything that fall represents. In “Fall” we have a cautiously thumping, deep bass line, some melancholy violins that also feel a bit foreshadowing and the not-as pronounced sounds of children playing, this time in autumn leaves.

CULTURE | FEB 2015 “Prisoner 1 & 2” follows this interlude with what can be perceived as the moment of lost innocence in the album. Here Lupe raps about the different perspectives of “prisoners,” first that of an inmate, then a prisoner from Guantanamo Bay, and finally a prison guard, with an incredibly

passionate delivery and some of the most intense instrumentals in the whole album. From that track on until the end of the section, there are a number of progressively sobering songs that sound considerably more mellow. The rest of the “Fall” section is like Lupe metaphorically falling from his idyllic world of youth and comfort and picking up the pieces of what he once thought to be true. Winter The “Winter” section is naturally the darkest part of the album, as well as where we see the slightest glimmers of hope. This portion screams of anger, distress, agitation and sorrow, as is made apparent from interlude track, “Winter,” with its dissipating, dissonant grinding of strings as well as the aimlessly dwindling violins that help create a desolate and deranged tone. After, we have a nearly 10-minute

posse-cut where Lupe and a number of underground MCs rap from a ghetto-centric frame of mind, detailing their struggles, hardships and triumphs, all over one of the grimiest instrumentals on the project. Then, in the song “Deliver,” Lupe illustrates the bleakness inherent in the hood, utilizing the extended metaphor of a pizza delivery boy refusing to drive into “not-safe-zones” for fear of a violent entanglement, a drug transaction or exposure to other illicit activities. The “pizza” in this case represents “cheese” and “bread,” both slang terms for money in rap, and essentially poses the statement that the hood is deprived of the opportunity to prosper financially because of the institutionally unfair system that traps people into unlawful lifestyles. Afterwards, we get “Madonna,” a meaningful ode to mothers raising children in the hood. While detailing the struggles mothers face in warding off the harmful influences that could ruin their childrens’ lives, Lupe makes biblical allusions to the Virgin Mary and her attempts to protect Jesus from his persecution. Spring “Proceed to the next level” jabs Lupe on “They.Resurrect.Over.New,” in a fashion similar to the pinball arm noises heard in the skit at the beginning of the song. What does this all mean? Well, considering that (a) this comes before the outro of the album titled “Spring,” (b) the song thematically is about advancing forward in a videogame, and (c) the song title itself includes the words “Resurrect” and “New,” I’m willing to bet this track has something to do with the rebirth of Lupe, whether it be through his music or his career. Or maybe both. As we know from his interview with “Billboard,” Lupe is relinquishing his spotlight and at the same time promising us more “deep,” “powerful” music — as he called it, a “transition.” Well, honestly the man has hit his mark, because I can’t think of anything that has come out within the last couple of years that could compete with this monster of an album. “People change like the seasons,” as the saying goes, and in Lupe’s case, this change of pace is suiting him surprisingly well. v 19

CULTURE | FEB 2015

THE SWEET SPOT

Text by ANNA NAKAI and CAROLINE YOUNG Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG and CAROLINE YOUNG

TOUT SWEET PATISSERIE COMES TO PALO ALTO

EARTS ON A STRING CHOCOLATE AND orange shortbread cookies hang in bunches from the branches of a small tree growing from a container holding tri-color sugar. Maui Wowie Dog treats, consisting mainly of carrots, bacon and peanut butter sit on a shelf amongst rows and rows of goods. Rainbow macaron pyramids decorate the white walls of the store, which gives the appearance of a blank canvas splashed with colorful paint. Nestled between Sushi House and Belcampo Meat Co. at Town and Country Village is Tout Sweet Patisserie, a new pastry shop offering a variety of colorful — in both sight and taste — desserts. Every morning, the pristine white store owned by Yigit Pura, Meme Pederson and Janet Griggs receives new desserts created by Pura, a resident of San Francisco and the winner of the first season of “Top Chef: Just Desserts.” Genna Verderame, a Tout Sweet Patisserie employee who has worked in the store for around three weeks, notes how Pura’s presence seems to diffuse through his desserts into the shop. “I think it’s just amazing how much goes into each and every one of them [the desserts],” Verderame says. “There’s so much care and so much thought that went into everything, and you can really feel it just when you walk in by looking at all the colors and 20

all the packaging.” Pastries are made 24 hours a day in a bakery in San Francisco, where Pura teaches helpers how to make his creations. Pura spends a significant amount of time in the kitchens as well, where pastries such as macarons take four or more days to make. Palo Alto store manager Brandi Davis explains the long process that goes into making a macaron: Three containers of eggs are separated and left to sit before being made into the shells, which also have to sit. A baker makes the filling and hands it off to others who fill the shells and send them off as finished macarons. New pastries are sent each day to the Palo Alto location, the second of the Tout Sweet Patisserie chain. “It’s not like you make one item start-to-finish every day,” Davis says. “You do steps on everything until it all comes together at the end so that everything is as fresh as it can possibly be when it gets delivered to the stores.” Verderame describes how Pura infuses his own ideas into traditional desserts, using his Tesla flavor as an example. “It’s [the Tesla flavor is] like a passion fruit mixture, and it’s supposed to create a sense of the electricity in your mouth,” Verderame says. “Overall, he [Pura] just kind of puts a spin on traditional desserts and makes them his own.” For another example, take the Hot Lips cake, shaped in a pair of bright red lips eponymous to its name. The unique items of the

patisserie seem to draw customers into the shop. “You’re happy coming in here and buying sweets,” says Meme Pederson, one of the three owners. “I like talking to people about our pastries … what we do is different than, you know, I think a lot of patisseries, or a lot of pastry shops, like, you know, the hot lips — I don’t think anybody else is selling those. So they [customers] want to know what’s in it, [and] what it tastes like.” Palo Alto High School senior Kylie Wilson appreciates the friendly employees at Tout Sweet, who draw in the customers just as much as the actual desserts. “She’s [Pederson] really nice, and she’s always like, ‘Oh, look at this, you might really like this,’ and they have samples,” Wilson says. “The first time I wasn’t planning on buying anything, but TOUT SWEET (Upper left) Employee Brandi Davis packages a box full of pastries.

she was so nice [that] I bought something.” Wilson ate a Guittard Chocolate Chunk cookie at her first visit and was surprised by the balancing act of flavors. “I normally hate chocolate with salt, but the salt wasn’t overdone,” Wilson says. “The edges were crispy, and it was really thin, but it was also soft at the same time, and it was a good size for the price.” If customers happen to come across Tout Sweet Patisserie, they will not be disappointed. The brightly colored pastries foreshadow a bright palate. “I ended up just falling in love with it right when I walked in,” employee Verderame says. v

Maui 2.0 Verrine ($4.75) This dessert is a confection of layered parfaits with a thick bottom layer of passionfruit and mango gelee, which adds a nice tangy note to the overall dessert. The main part is a coconut tapioca layer, a sweet but strangely textured combination that detracts from the overall fusion of flavors. The two flavors are topped with a small piece of slightly dry flourless coconut cake and sweet caramelized pineapples.

CULTURE | FEB 2015 Macarons ($1.85/macaron) Tout Sweet Patisserie offers a variety of macarons in all colors and flavors. They consist of two sweet macaron shells complemented by a sweet, smooth ganache in a wide variety of bold flavors.

Mille-crepe ($6.75/slice) Made with bruleed sugar, vanilla bean and orange flower-scented custard, this one-ofa-kind dessert is sprinkled with sugar and blowtorched right before it is served. It is creamier and heavier than your average crepe, with more than eight layers of crepes and custard, which makes it hard to eat in one piece. The crepe is not bland, but it is also neither sweet nor savory.

Fifth Element ($7) Tout Sweet ($6.50) This cake, which Yigit Pura used to win Top Chef, is very rich and a must try for chocolate lovers. The layer of liquid chocolate on top makes the whole cake very satisfying, and while the flourless dessert could be a little more moist, once again it is not as noticeable due to the ample amount of chocolate mousse layers.

A vanilla bean cake with white chocolate mousse on top that resembles an ice cream scoop, it is sprayed with cocoa butter and garnished with a raspberry. As the eater delves deeper into the center, they will find a nice surprise of raspberry cream. The crispy pearls add flavor and a subtle texture to the piece, which is sweet and sits smoothly on the tongue. The cake is a little dry, and the raspberry is a little sour, but the combination of the white chocolate and raspberry mousse conceals the dry cake and compliments it nicely to produce a deft blending of flavors. 21 21

Text by ANSLEY QUEEN and RYAN REED Photography by CLAIRE PRIESTLEY and RYAN REED

Best Burritos EXPLORING BURRITOS AROUND THE BAY AREA

LULUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S This taqueria at Town and Country Village lies across the street from Palo Alto High School and is a popular choice among students.

OR MANY, CALIFORNIA IS WELL-KNOWN as the state with the best Mexican food. Palo Alto and its surrounding communities have more than their fair share of delicious comida north of the border. We are lucky to have an abundance of wonderful

restaurants serving the excellent, Tex-Mex fast food known as a burrito. In fact, there are so many delicious burritos nearby, it is often hard to choose which one is the best. Luckily for you, Verde went out and found the five best local places to grab a burrito. v

Karlitas

Biting in, the first thing that caught my attention was the tortilla: it was much thinner than any other I had eaten before. I enjoyed this because it allowed the other flavors to take the stage. However, next I was hit with a strong onion flavor, which overwhelmed the burrito. Every other ingredient was perfectly proportioned and cooked, except the onions, which completely overpowered my palate. 22

final Rating:

7.5 1O

CULTURE | FEB 2015

Chipotle

At Chipotle, the servers make your food as you watch, in a sort of “assembly line” process. Depending on the worker who rolls your burrito, you may come upon a fat, thick burrito or a longer, thinner one. However, the quality always remains the same. Although its beans are quite normal tasting, Chipotle’s cilantro rice has a unique taste that adds a tang to the general flavor of the burrito. There are only a few selections of salsa, a fault that somewhat detracts from the otherwise wide range of ingredients. Although there was not a grand selection, each type of salsa was delicious and well-prepared. However, my favorite part of the experience came at the end of the burrito-making process. Although it costs an extra $1.50, Chipotle’s guacamole is some of the best I’ve ever come upon at a Mexican restaurant. It is creamy yet thick, while simultaneously packed with flavor. A Chipotle burrito is always excellent, but for me, the guacamole is the finishing touch on an already exceptional meal.

Lulu’s

I got a barbacoa burrito with refried beans, cheese and Lulu’s orange rice, one of Lulu’s many available combinations presented by their Paly special, a discount reserved for only Palo Alto High School students. For $6.50, one may buy a burrito filled with beans, meat and rice of their choice. The barbacoa was incredibly juicy and satisfying. The rice was prepared perfectly in line with the heat of the other ingredients. Lulu’s has a wide selection of salsas, and one will likely find whatever they are looking for. However, the guacamole was far thinner than I hoped. On the whole, a Lulu’s burrito is not only delicious, but also one of the best deals for a student lunch at Town and Country Village.

8 1O

9 1O

Como Està

Entering Como Esta Taqueria, the first thing you hear and see is the sizzling of the grill and the welcoming smile of the employee behind the counter. Having watched its assembly, I had high expectations for my burrito, but found that they had not taken full advantage of the girth of the tortilla and had gone a little light on the actual contents: meat, rice and beans. Still, the meat was juicy and in perfect proportion to the amount of rice and beans. The somewhat lacking contents were well-mixed; I wasn’t switching between one bite of rice and one bite of beans, but rather a perfect harmony of the two. I added pico de gallo to my burrito, enhancing its overall freshness.

8 1O

Sancho’s

Sancho’s is suitable for burrito lovers in both takeout and eat-in situations, as there is quieter seating in the back of the restaurant which allows for the take-out area to be relatively uncrowded. After a short wait, I was given a chicken burrito. My first bite was disappointing, as a mouthful of tortilla usually is, but as soon as I broke through this initial layer, the burrito redeemed itself. The juicy chicken was in no short supply; they evaded this fatal flaw of even the most outstanding restaurants. The next hurdle was the beans, and Sancho’s nailed it, striking a perfect balance between juicy but not dripping. Overall, this was an easy-to-eat burrito that left me full but still craving another.

9.5 1O 23

CULTURE | FEB 2015

AND THE

OSCAR GOES TO...

VERDE’S PICKS FOR THE 2015 ACADEMY AWARDS Text by NATALIE MAEMURA and CHRISTIAN MILEY Art by ANTHONY LIU

HE YEAR OF 2014 CONSISTED OF MANY buckets of popcorn, numerous slurpees, countless hot dogs and of course, a number of outstanding new movies. Following a lengthy discussion, we chose our ideal winners for the annual Academy Awards, which will take place on Feb. 22. This year, actor Neil Patrick Harris, most famous for his comedic role as Barney Stinson on the television show “How I Met Your Mother,” will host the 87th awards ceremony. Grab your favorite movie snacks, pull out your On-Demand movie wish list and get ready to read our highly professional assessments about which movies are deserving of Oscar awards. v Best Picture: “Boyhood” — Directed by Richard Linklater “Boyhood” follows the life of Mason Evans Jr., played by Ellar Coltrane, from his childhood to the start of college. There is no change of actors or elaborate use of makeup to fake the process of aging. Instead, the movie was filmed in short increments over the course of 12 years with a script that was adapted to suit the changes in the actors and the world. There is nothing forced about the life of the protagonist: he copes with his divorced parents’ strained relationship, dyes his hair strange colors as a teenager, experiments with drugs and goes through an awkward relationship that ultimately ends badly. He makes mistakes, learns important life lessons and mentally grows up. While the subject matter is not extravagant or even particularly exciting, the characters are all believable and three-dimensional, and it is engrossing to watch the characters as they change dramatically over the course of the movie. Watching “Boyhood” is like watching real life unfold before 24

your eyes. Regardless of whether it wins Best Picture, “Boyhood” deserves to go down in film history as an extraordinarily ambitious and risky undertaking that successfully came together as an exceptional film. Best Director: Wes Anderson — “The Grand Budapest Hotel” The directing style in the eccentric movie, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is unlike that of any other movie of 2014. The movie follows a hotel concierge’s attempt to disprove murder allegations levied against him, with the help of a lobby boy Zero Moustafa. Director Wes Anderson complements with his animated form of filming: he films scenes with symmetrical backgrounds, numerous yet brief camera angles specifically of conversations and with many moving action scenes such as when a person attempts to escape the police. This unconventional style combined with his vibrant color palette and unique setting designs adds a quirky yet engaging ambience that takes “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to a distinct level of directing. Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne — “Theory of Everything” In the film “The Theory of Everything,” Eddie Redmayne portrays world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking. This biographical movie highlights Hawking’s development and battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and the resulting effects it has on his personal life. Redmayne gives justice to Hawking’s difficult struggles by showing the slow evolution of Hawking’s disease and knowledge; the audience witnesses the birth of the disease as Redmayne begins to unknowingly drag his

CULTURE | FEB 2015 feet while walking across the Oxford campus, the emotional reveal of the ALS to Hawking and his eventual success as a published physicist and speech-decayed author. Redmayne is able to manipulate his body and his speech as if he truly has ALS and is slowly deteriorating in health. This amazing, one-of-a-kind performance truly deserves him the award of Best Actor of 2014. Best Actress: Rosamund Pike — “Gone Girl” “Gone Girl” is a mystery thriller that follows the disappearance of Amy, played by Rosamund Pike. Amy is a complicated character that is difficult to bring to life in a believable way, but over the course of the film, Pike manages to portray her as sympathetic, attractive, funny, scary and extremely creepy — sometimes all at once. Pike’s adaptability is impressive, managing to keep Amy feeling like a cohesive character despite the large shifts in the audience’s perception of her. Pike’s performance is the driving force behind the movie’s plot and what grips the viewer, pulling them in and allowing the twists and turns of the snaky plot to feel even more disorienting and captivating. Although Neil Patrick Harris, who also starred in Gone Girl and whose character had a lessthan-pleasant encounter with Amy, may be rightfully afraid of handing the award for Best Actress to Pike. The Academy should show no such qualms about bestowing the award upon her (from a safe distance). Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons — “Whiplash” The drama film “Whiplash” takes the everyday story of a mean teacher to an unforgettable level as J.K. Simmons portrays an evil and sadistic teacher who preys on his students. “Whiplash” follows the dream of a young aspiring jazz drummer, played by Miles Teller, and the events that result from having Simmon as a teacher and mentor. Simmons further develops his supporting role by creating an aura of fear with his demeaning style of teaching. Simmons verbally and sometimes even physically abuses his students in order to lead them to success; it is his frightening character who drives his students to either become the best musicians they can be or become scarred from their experiences with him, driving some to their death. The Academy ought to give Simmons the award for “Best Supporting Actor” for his ability to act as such a forceful and cruel person. Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette — “Boyhood” Boyhood is a movie filled to the brim with brilliant performances, but one that stands out especially well is that of Patricia Arquette, who plays Olivia, the mother of the young boy. As the mother and primary caretaker of the protagonist, Arquette’s role in the film is extremely important, at times feeling more like the main character than Mason himself. Olivia begins as a struggling, young, single mother of two, and over the course of the movie she manages to get a degree and become a teacher while still taking care of her kids. But Arquette does not portray her character as a flawless deity of mothering; she struggles and makes her share of mistakes. The short, segmented way the movie is filmed can sometimes make it hard to delve deeply into the characters thoughts, but Arquette’s phenomenal performance manages to convey Olivia’s feelings and states of mind perfectly. Arquette’s performance is an incredible one, and deserves the ultimate recognition: a small, gold statuette of a nude man holding a sword. 25

CULTURE | FEB 2015

Point

B Poetry Slam

LOCAL POETRY SLAM INSPIRES TEENS

Text and Photography by MADISON MIGNOLA

T THE LUCIE STERN CENTER IN PALO Alto, finger snaps emanate through the small space as Palo Alto High School sophomore Claire Eberhart walks up to one of the two microphones standing at the front of the room and begins to speak. The twinkly lights that hang from the ceiling set a dim lighting as students begin to settle into their seats on the floor or on a comfy bean bag. Soft music plays in the background, providing a calm ambiance in the room. “Point B” is the name of the teen poetry slam that Eberhart and fellow Paly sophomore Teddie Stewart started together. Their inspiration for the name came from Sarah Kay’s poem, “Point B.” “You find poetry in really weird places,” Eberhart says. “People you never expected to write poetry, they just write these amazing things, and no one really had an outlet in Palo Alto where they could share their poetry.” Having noticed this absence of places where local teens could go to express themselves through spoken word poetry, Eberhart created the event through the Teen Arts Council. Inspired by her own love for poetry, Eberhart only hoped that inspiration could carry out to more of her peers and other students around the area. “When I read a poem, I just want to say it to other people,” Eberhart says. “I’m so excited that I just want other people to feel the way that I do about the words on the page.” As the event carried on, more hands rose into the air as more students became inspired by the words and people around them. To lighten the mood, Eberhart and Stewart would tell poetry puns between acts. Many students decided to read on the spot using the big book of poems that Eberhart and Stewart provided for the

“I was a little nervous [to perform], but because the atmosphere was so calm, everyone was very respectful and appreciative,” Baker says. “I wasn’t as nervous as I could’ve been.” The night ended with a round of snapping as Eberhart and Stewart closed the event. The next Point B is expected to happen sometime in March with hopes of even more to come. “Every single person affected me that night,” Eberhart says. “Every single individual. It was just happiness and passion and love.” v

“You find poetry in really weird places” — Claire Eberhart, sophomore event. A range of poems were read, in additon to several songs that were spoken. Shel Silverstein was a popular choice, and many were inspired when Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” was spoken instead of sung. Some people became very emotional while reading their work , and a few audience members even fell to tears. There was nothing but support that night when many of the teens went up to read some of their own original pieces. Paly junior Clara Baker performed two original poems that night. 26

POINT B Eberhart and Stewart read the poem that inspired the name of the event.

Text by EMILIE MA and RYAN REED Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

How to spot a #sss THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF SENIORITIS

ITH COLLEGE APPS COMPLETED AND ONLY THREE MONTHS UNTIL GRADUATION, it’s finally time for seniors to transition into the role they’ve been anticipating for their entire high school careers: that of a Second Semester Senior (SSS). Easily recognizable by their sweats, college gear and lack of presence in class, Second Semester Seniors breeze across school in all sorts of attire. Verde invited seniors Charles Yu and Sharissa Holopainen to help us easily identify the common SSS. v

bedhead

It’s a common sight to see a SSS with a severe case of bedhead — either from sleeping in too late, losing care in their appearance or a wild weekend.

Hoodies

Many Second Semester Seniors are simply riding out the rest of the year and do not care to dress up in elaborate outfits. Rather, a simple hoodie has become a staple for many SSS.

repping the Camo

Seniors love to represent their class, and there is no better way to do so than by wearing camoflauge.

COLLEGE GEAR

Second Semester Seniors love to represent their potential colleges and are likely to be seen around school advertising such places. Good luck to all seniors on getting into their top schools!

LEGGINGS

sweatpants

In accordance with the SSS “comfort over style” mantra, sweatpants are often sported around campus by those who look like they have just rolled out of bed.

Far past the phase of aiming to impress people by wearing fancy clothes, a comfortable pair of leggings is preferred over expensive jeans for many Second Semester Seniors.

FLIP-FLOPS

Flip-flops are a necessary convenience for many Second Semester Seniors who can’t be bothered with socks. 27

M I S S Text by ELIZA ACKROYD, LUCY FOX and CLAIRE PRIESTLEY Photography by CLAIRE PRIESTLEY

LOUNGING San Franciscans use the expansive greens of Dolores Park to enjoy a leisurely respite from their hectic lives.

HE SAN FRANCISCO MISSION DISTRICT encompasses an area recognized for its long-standing Hispanic community. In more recent years, hipsters have gravitated toward this historic district, creating a unique mixture of cultures that has come to characterize the neighborhood. Full of iconic attractions such as the first Philz Coffee shop, Mission Dolores and many delicious eateries, the Mission is well worth paying a visit. A number of our suggestions lie within the one-block radius of 18th Street and Dolores Street and are great places to begin an exploration of this incredible district. v 28

TARTINE BAKERY Coming in, you must accept the fact that you will be standing in line for a good 10 to 20 minutes. However, the iconic bakery is well worth the wait. Delicious options abound, from the light and fluffy ham and nettle quiche to the flaky morning buns made from fresh croissant dough. The bakery offers both indoor and outdoor seating, and the tables have a high turnover rate despite being filled consistently throughout the day. Tartineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s communal tables provide a low-key and inviting atmosphere, but if you prefer take out, the food can be easily enjoyed at nearby Dolores Park.

I ON ! La taqueria The quintessence of the Mission District, La Taqueria attracts customers from all over the area craving “the best tacos and burritos in the whole world,” as the sign outside claims. Long bench tables packed with customers fill the open space, with the ordering counter along one side of the store. The Latino vibe of Mission Street resonates throughout this taqueria, and their hefty tacos are filled with meat, beans and pico de gallo salsa. For a small price you can add avocado, cheese and sour cream. It is important to note that they accept cash only, but they supply an ATM in the back.

Mission Dolores Missing those fourth grade field trips to historic missions? Well, you are in the right place — a three-block trek from Dolores Park will take you right to the footsteps of one of San Francisco’s oldest buildings, one which survived the 1906 earthquake. Stained glass and adorned ceilings characterize the chapels, and outside visitors can explore a garden and a serene graveyard. A trip to Mission Dolores is not for everyone, though. Though its $3 admission fee is affordable, it does not offer much entertainment other than a little slice of history.

philz cOFFEE At the intersection of 24th Street and Folsom, you can find the coffee you know and love in its original location. Every inch of wall and ceiling is covered with murals; white, fluffy clouds dominate most of the back wall, and a starry sky twinkles above the baristas. Ordering can be a little hectic, but the experience is worth it. The classic Mint Mojito has never tasted so good. Custom choose your roast — dark, medium or light — to match your caffeine craving. Make sure to check out this Philz location filled to the brim with Mission hipsters and coffee aficionados.

Dolores park Bring a picnic blanket to sit on while you enjoy a cone of delicious ice cream from the Bi-Rite Creamery or the baked goods from Tartine Bakery, for Dolores Park is within walking distance of both. Although part of the park is currently under renovation, the City of San Francisco hopes to have it ready in time for the beginning of summer 2015. Despite the construction, Dolores Park still offers acres of grassy terrain. Also open for use is a large playground, equipped with several slides, a swing set, a climbing wall and a rope bridge.

ICE CREAM A single scoop of Bi-Rite Creamery’s best-selling ice cream, salted caramel. Bi-Rite Creamery is one of the best ice cream options in the city, and their classic salted caramel is unbelievably smooth. At peak hours — mid-afternoon and late evening — the creamery has lines out the door and around the block, but patience is a virtue when waiting your turn for a scoop of this ice cream. QUICHE A slice of Tartine bakery’s freshly baked ham and nettle quiche. 29

Voted Best Pizza

Daily News Readers’ Choice 2005

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FEATURES | FEB 2015 JUST ADD COFFEE Mocha, a miniature Australian shepherd, was brought into the clinic for chocolate toxicity ingestion. After treatment, she rests between the examination tables, waiting to be cleared for release.

Text and Photography by ELIZA ACKROYD and CAROLINE YOUNG

WHEN RUFF TIMES CALL A DAY IN SOUTH PENINSULA EMERGENCY CLINIC

OSHI THE SIAMESE CAT SITS CALMLY within his carrier, blinking his large brown eyes. This is the first time he’s seen his owner in several days, and Yoshi looks up at him with curiosity as if unused to the sight. Black mesh blocks a clear view of his “dad,” so he pokes his head through the top of the bag. A newly placed IV tube pokes out of the side pocket, tucked in after an instructive demonstration on its usage. Yoshi’s eyes travel back and forth between the doctor and his owner, their hands simultaneously brushing his fur as they discuss the details of the cat’s discharge from the clinic. Yoshi closes his eyes in a moment of feline contentedness. Yoshi has chronic renal failure — he has lost some function in his kidneys. For the past few nights, he has resided in and received treatments from the South Peninsula Emergency Veterinary Clinic. He’s going home now, but he will have to continue to receive treatment in the form of IV fluids for the next several weeks and will most likely receive some form of treatment for the rest of his life.

It is unlikely he will ever fully recover due to his old age. The veterinary team at the clinic includes veterinary technicians, general practitioners and specialists. Veterinary technicians, essentially nurses, cannot prescribe any medication or operate without supervision — that’s where the general practitioners come in. They perform standard operations and prescribe the proper medication, among other responsibilities. Veterinary technicians spend the most time with the patients, monitoring their recovery and administering medication. However, when cases require more specific attention, specialists can be brought in to assist the general practitioner. There are several specialists on-call that are ready to be brought in should the need arise. We observed these processes and daily ups and downs that the team and animals go through at the South Peninsula Emergency Veterinary Clinic on 3045 Middlefield Rd., where cases can consist of everything from trauma, such as injuries sustained due to a car crash, to illnesses, such as kidney disease. The emergency clinic helps patients who have problems that require immediate medical 31

GENTLE CARE (Left) Sky the cat looks up at Flewelling after her examination. HEALED (Middle) Mocha the dog rests after Flewelling and Habershon treat her for chocolate ingestion. X-RAY ROOM (Right) Young and Yoffe dicuss the results of Sky’s X-rays.

attention during hours when their regular veterinarian is not avail- pausing at the cat’s bladder and noting that it is empty. She goes able (6 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays, and all weekends and holidays). down further to feel the cat’s kidneys in her hands. For time-sensitive cases, this service is critical: conditions such as Yoffe turns her attention to Betty and John. She suspects that toxicity ingestion or urinary obstructions in male cats can be lethal the cat has a bladder infection and prescribes antibiotics, instructwithin a matter of hours. ing Betty and John on the proper way to administer them. It is 9:15 a.m., right after the start of the 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. shift Cases like this are fairly standard for the clinic. Betty and John of another long day at the clinic. For the moment, the clinic re- have been coming here for all of their pet needs, as they have a mains quiet on a balmy Sunday morning in January as veterinarians variety of animals including dogs, cats and fish. prepare themselves for the unknown future cases. “We had no where else to take them,” Betty says. “What I like “It’s exciting working in an emergency clinic,” says Bonnie about them [the clinic] — they’re not cheap, but they’re honest.” Yoffe, a general practitioner for 30 years and a relief vet who fills The price of medical care, which can range from $95 to sevin for other veterinarians at the clinic. “You feel really good know- eral thousand dollars, can be an obstacle to treatment. Young has ing you can help people, even if helping them confronted this problem several times. is to make the decision to put [the animals] to “[It’s a] very positive … experience [when] “It’s euphoric when you have sleep ... But otherwise, [you’re] saving a life besending them [clients] home they have a smile cause either the animal was traumatized, or fell an animal that really is criti- on their face, hence we have a smile on our out of a second story window, or hit by a car.” cal and you’re not sure … face,” Young says. “But [when] … the owners At 9:40 a.m., the waiting room is quiet. if they’re going to make it want something done — they came here for a Soon after, Betty and John Basile, an elderly no matter what you do, and reason, and they’re hoping that we can provide pair, walk in through the door with Betty caryou’re able to save them.” relief, but they simply can’t afford it and they rying an animal carrier that softly but condon’t know what to do … We pretty much run — bonnie yoffe, this business with our heart, but [it] ... has to sistently meows. They walk up to the front general practitioner survive.” desk to check-in their pet: Kitty Kitty, a black, short-haired female cat around 2-years-old. For a short while, the clinic is once again They are led into an examination room silent — but this is the calm before the storm. with Kitty Kitty, who is given a physical by Larry Young, a vet- Another phone call comes in warning about a dog’s suspected erinary technician. His hands travel from her ears to her tail, feel- chocolate ingestion. This enables the vets to begin preparation for ing the cat’s curves and bumps. Kitty Kitty attempts to bolt a few the procedure and to find the necessary tools ahead of time. times, unused to a stranger’s hands, but Young holds on gently but The bell chimes, announcing the arrival of more patients: a firmly. plump cat named Sky with a sensitive left hind leg and a dog with “It’s okay, I’m not all that bad,” Young says softly. chocolate poisoning. He measures her heartbeat with a stethoscope, and then he The dog, Mocha, a miniature Australian shepherd, is soon puts her on a small white scale to weigh her. After this preliminary placed between the two examinations tables. It is around 10:50 assessment, Kitty Kitty is checked by Yoffe. Using a “head-to-tail” a.m. Fastened to a hook near the bottom of the left examination technique to ensure a comprehensive examination, Yoffe gently table, Mocha’s rainbow leash matches the assortment of colorful, squeezes the cat as she runs her hands down Kitty Kitty’s body, empty chocolate wrappers in a Ziploc bag of evidence. There is 32

also a cardboard ingredients label noting the chocolate content, which Yoffe notes was very dark. Darker chocolate is more toxic. Mocha shakes, in part from fear of a foreign place and in part from the caffeinated chocolate. Her hind legs quiver, moving so fast that they seem to vibrate. Her eyes, one blue and one brown, follow the technicians around the room as they arrange the tools necessary to treat her. Meanwhile, Sky lies on her right side on the examination table, hindlegs held close to her body while veterinary technician Karen Flewelling holds her head and Young examines her posterior. After an inspection, Young prepares to administer an X-ray on Sky, donning a protective layer before taking the cat into the X-ray room. Veterinary technician Crystal Habershon kneels beside Mocha and holds the dog’s right front leg in her hand, squirting alcohol from a bottle onto Mocha’s leg to bring out the vein. She injects apomorphine, an agent that will induce vomiting, through a needle. After its contents are emptied, Habershon efficiently discards of it and places a large basin in front of Mocha, expectantly waiting for what is to come. A minute goes by, nothing. Another, still nothing. Habershon and Flewelling inject her with more apomorphine to increase the dosage and try once again to expel the chocolate from Mocha’s body. This time, drool dribbles out of her mouth before Mocha jerks her head forward, convulsing, until in one fluid motion she empties the contents of her stomach into the sterile basin. Then again. And again. When she is finished, she looks up at the technicians with her eyebrows pressed together, a mixture of shame and discontent on her face. They remove the basin, now filled with a sizable amount of half digested chocolate, and Mocha begins once again to shift restlessly, a nervous energy still coursing through her. When the door to the waiting area opens, her ears perk up and she tilts her head side to side, listening intently for a familiar voice. As vets pass, Mocha receives an occasional pat and encouraging word. She accepts them gladly, panting heavily after her ordeal. Yoffe jokes about the fragrant chocolate aroma that now fills the room as she takes the basin to show Mocha’s owner. After be-

ing fed several syringes worth of ToxiBan, a black goop that will help post-toxin ingestion recovery, Mocha is free to go, discharged about an hour after her admittance. In the X-ray room, Flewelling looks at the X-ray of Sky and points out injuries that could be an indication of arthritis, a condition accelerated by her obesity. They hypothesize that Sky had fallen off of a piece of furniture, and the impact normally sustainable by a healthy cat was too much for Sky. The clinic receives plenty of cases such as Sky’s and Mocha’s, but also receives a number of more serious cases that require drastic action. One possible move, euthanasia, is a crucial and sad part of working at the South Peninsula Clinic. This aspect of the clinic often evokes an emotional response from both doctor and owner. “One of the hardest things of my job is to do euthanizations because even though you don’t know the patient or even the person ... it’s still hard, and after doing it for as long as I have, I’m still very compassionate about it, and I guess if I didn’t then ... I wouldn’t be in this field anymore,” Habershon says. For Flewelling, the saddest cases are those that no amount of work can salvage. “[When] you work very hard on them [the animals], and they get to a plateau, … and then they just drop,” Flewelling says. “Those are the ones that upset me the most because we put in all that work and then the animal — they just give up. You see it in their face.” Though some cases are irretrievable, miracles can happen. “It’s euphoric when you have an animal that really is critical and you’re not sure … if they’re going to make it no matter what you do, and you’re able to save them,” Yoffe says. “That’s a real high.” At 12:48 p.m., the examination room is once again empty. Habershon munches on chips. The technicians note the smell of something burning in the air, and Larry briskly walks in to rescue his slightly burnt toast. The team relaxes in the quiet lull before the next wave. v 33

FEATURES | FEB 2015

N 1999, A HIGH SCHOOL senior named Adnan Syed was arrested and sentenced to life in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee. While many of his family and friends never believed that he committed the crime, the jury pronounced him guilty, and Syed spent the next 15 years of his life behind bars. In late 2014, Syed became the subject of international attention through the podcast “Serial.” Hosted by inves-

tigative journalist and “This American Life” producer Sarah Koenig, “Serial” examines every aspect of Syed’s case in an attempt to finally prove his innocence — or confirm his guilt. The podcast’s 12 episodes, each between 30 and 60 minutes long, explore Syed’s relationship with his exgirlfriend and other possible suspects as Koenig reexamines the facts of the murder. The episodes are fast-paced and detail-heavy, but Koenig relays them conversationally, and she always ends on a cliffhanger. The first episode of the podcast debuted on the popular radio program “This American Life” on National Public Radio. From there, word about the podcast spread like wildfire. The details of this case make the story even more intriguing. Six weeks after Lee went missing, her body was discovered, and detectives began pressing high schoolers for evidence. Syed, who to this day maintains his innocence, claims that he cannot remember exactly what he was doing because it was an insignificant day to him. The prosecution’s case hinged on Syed’s friend’s testimony. Jay, whose last name is not disclosed in the podcast, turned Syed in, but inconsistencies arise in his story with every retelling. Koenig presents both sides

of the story, allowing listeners to draw their own conclusions. The podcast can be addicting, something Palo Alto High School teacher Steven Foug experienced firsthand over Thanksgiving break, when his sister told him about “Serial.” “I listened to seven episodes in a row,” Foug says. “I could only do things like fold laundry or something totally mindless in the background so I could focus [on the podcast].” Foug wanted someone at work to talk with about “Serial,” so he introduced it to Paly psychology teacher Melinda Mattes. Mattes finds the show’s relation to psychology fascinating. “Serial” opens with Koenig asking listeners to think back to what they were doing weeks ago. Because memory is imperfect, and it took so long to record official statements, nobody’s story is fully reliable. “What I loved about it is you’ve got a reporter — not a psychologist — talking about memory in a very real way, ” Mattes says. “[It] is exactly what we talked about in AP Psych[ology].” Because the story is so dramatic, it can be hard to remember that the case and people being studied are real, not works of fiction. “I think if it were just a story, I’d have a real opinion, about like, he’s totally guilty or he’s totally innocent,” Mattes says. “[But] there are real emotions, and real events, and somebody’s really dead, and some guy has really spent 15 years in prison.” One of the things

FEATURES | FEB 2015 Text by LUCY FOX and ELANA REBITZER Art by ANTHONY LIU

THE PODCAST THAT CAPTURED THE ATTENTION OF MILLIONS that intrigues us most about “Serial” is that it feels like watching TV, yet it is told only through audio. So it is more flexible than TV — you can listen to it while multi-tasking. Koenig uses the audio format to investigate the separate pieces of the case and the trial. “Something about it was built perfectly for that spoken word performance of it,” Foug says. “It was built for audio. I would not have watched it as intently on TV, I don’t think. Or read it as much. The way she [Koenig] delivered it was really good.” Mattes also appreciates the spoken word form of “Serial.” “I love words conjuring up images instead of it being thrown at you,” Mattes says. The second season is set to start sometime in 2015. This podcast format holds potential for future storytelling. “The great gift of audio storytelling is that it does a wonderful job of creating intimacy,” says Josh Hoyt, a Stanford senior who works with the Stanford Storytelling project. “It can feel like your friend

is talking just to you.” Perhaps because of their ability to use each second of the podcast exactly as they choose, each episode remains fast-paced and enticing, even as they approach an hour long, and iTunes has stated that every episode has captivated upwards of a million listeners. “Serial” has capitalized on the current transitional period of media in which people are turning away from television sets in favor of more portable forms. In an age where it seems like everybody only has the attention span for a six second vine, “Serial,” with its ability to fully captivate its audience, can act

as a model for future media. Listeners can stream “Serial” for free on iTunes or on the podcast’s website. v

FEATURES | FEB 2015

Text by BRIGID GODFREY Photography Coutrsey of PATRICK SKELLY

A YEAR BETWEEN

PALO ALTO GRADS TALK GAP YEARS

OST OF US SEE OUR PATHS AS PRE-DETERMINED. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, THEN MIDDLE school, then high school and then on to college. But others choose to go against the status quo, leading them to a year of learning and adventure. A gap year is generally considered to be a year after high school and before college that students take to explore their interests or decompress. Read on to hear the comments of several Palo Alto Unified School District alumni who chose to take a gap year. v

Adventuring

“While traveling [in India], I was a complete stranger in most of the settings and it ended [up] being my greatest opportunity. It was an opportunity to be someone different every few days and to explore different viewpoints and perspectives.” — Samuel Kelley, Palo Alto High School ‘14

Working

“I am teaching voice, piano and guitar lessons at the Riekes Center. ... I am also supporting myself, living in an apartment in Redwood City. ... Living on my own has taught me how to manage my finances and my time well.” — Chloe Zilliac, Palo Alto High School ‘14

Traveling

“I worked in Alaska selling tours this summer to make money to travel, then I went to Sri Lanka and ... traveled around to Thailand, Singapore and Dubai.” — Patrick Skelly, Henry M. Gunn High School ‘14 BANGKOK Patrick Skelly and his friend Bobby Vithanage hang out at a skybar in Thailand.

COVER | FEB 2015

Letter from Buena Vista WHEN LEGALITY AND MORALITY CONFLICT IN THE CLOSURE OF A MOBILE HOME PA R K Text by JACK BROOK and ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

ONSIDER THE DANDELION. Starting as a seed wedged between a crack in the cement sidewalk it slowly reaches upwards, out into the light to become a flower. The dandelion defies the odds. In a place where it is not supposed to exist, where it is not watered and often trampled down by our feet, it still manages to grow — thrive even. Some may call it a weed, but others see the beauty in it. For a dandelion is beautiful, especially one that flourishes in the concrete jungle of urban development. We’ve all blown the top off of a dandelion and watched the little seeds float away in a gentle wind, but do we ever stop to wonder where they’ll end up? Buena Vista Mobile Home Park, a stone’s throw west of El Camino Real, is Palo Alto’s dandelion in the sidewalk. There are 117 homes in the 60-year-old park — the only one of its kind in the city — providing the rare opportunity of affordable housing for its 400 residents. Though the families are low-income,

they have still managed to carve out a life for themselves in the heart of Silicon Valley, getting by on a rent of $685 a month in a city where even a studio apartment rents for well over $1000. These are people like Mamá Luz, a 61-year-old Mexican woman who married at 14 and doesn’t speak English, who can’t read and lost the toes on her left foot to diabetes but still manages take care of her six grandchildren and retain a weathered sense of optimism through it all. She collects cans to help pay the bills each month because her daughter can’t make enough working minimum wage late nights at Jack-in-the-Box. These are people like Jennifer Guzman, a seventh grader at Terman Middle School who wants to become a teacher and is part of three generations that have found a way to stay together in the mobile home park. She’s spent many school nights staying up late to listen to the city council discuss Buena Vista but never complains; she wants to support her fam-

ily, and besides, it is comforting to know that many others are offering their support as well. And these are people like Rosa, whose name has been changed, a woman with an engineering degree from San Jose State but no social security number, who works in cleaning and lives just a few trailers down from her sister. She is an immigration reform activist and hopes to qualify for an engineering job one day, but she has put that on hold for now. She can only fight one battle at a time. For three years, Tim and Joe Jisser, the owners of Buena Vista, have expressed interest in redeveloping their property, which could double in value if they are able to shut down the park. To close the park, they were required by the city of Palo Alto to follow the guidelines of a special ordinance and prepare a Relocation Impact Report. This report is crucial, as it outlines the compensation the residents will receive and where they will be able to relocate to. A mobile home is, in reality, not very mobile. It is difficult and dangerous to move one, 37

COVER | FEB 2015

TRADICIONES On Sundays, Mamá Luz and her husband Cirilo, put up portraits in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. their homes going to the landfill, not to a new mobile home park. In theory, the substance of the RIR should provide these residents — as well as those who do seek to transfer their mobile homes — with enough compensation to find “comparable housing” within a 35-mile radius of Buena Vista. Over the past few years, it has been the city of Palo Alto’s job to determine whether the RIR meets the standards set forth by the ordinance. After five attempts, the owners’ RIR proposal was deemed complete by the city last January. “However, ‘complete’ doesn’t mean we are satisfied with the substance of it,” city attorney Molly Stump says. “As a practical matter, it [the RIR] is not adequate to sustain these families. Is it fair? That’s more complicated, since it involves the owners’ right to go out of business. It requires a judgment of how to balance these rights and interests.” The hearing officer whose job it was to make that judgment approved the closure and the RIR last fall, stating that he based his decision on evidence and analysis and not on 3840

sympathy. There will be an appeal in late April, but unless the residents can reach a deal with the owners, the end will likely be inevitable and the residents forced to move. The owners, as everyone involved in the case will admit, have a legal right to shut down the mobile home park that they own. The residents of Buena Vista have the misfortune of owning the homes they sleep in but not the land they live on. Now it all comes down to the Palo Alto City Council. It is the entity that will be presiding over the appeal, essentially acting in the role of impartial judge. The city council represents the last chance for the residents of Buena Vista to receive the fair compensation the law requires so that they will be able to move into “comparable housing.” The question the city must grapple with between now and April is how to define fair compensation and “comparable housing” when every apartment within 35 miles of Buena Vista costs 30 times more than the value of a Buena Vista home. Even more importantly, in a city where real estate values are increasing exponentially, the council

must attempt to keep one of the last bastions of affordable housing alive. Changing the Conversation Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian doesn’t believe the end is inevitable. He wants people to stop acting like it’s a foregone conclusion and shift the conversation to how to save the park. “No matter how robust the compensation plan may be, it is hard to imagine where and how these folks can relocate,” Simitian says. “To me it raises the question: relocate to where?” The park residents offered the owners $14.5 million (raised from state grants and charities) to purchase the park last year. They rejected it. The market value in Palo Alto for a property like Buena Vista — 4.5 acres — is twice that amount, if not more. Simitian remembers a time when things were different. He grew up in Palo Alto in the ‘60s and his father, on a teacher’s salary, could still afford to buy a

COVER | FEB 2015 house there. Some of his best friends in high school were the sons of automechanics and custodians, also able to live in the area, where they all went to school with Bill Hewlett’s daughter. It wasn’t considered unusual. In the hopes of preserving Palo Alto’s diversity, Simitian has found a way to inject a surge of energy into Buena Vista and give the residents renewed hope. In the last decade, Simitian has spent a dozen years in legislature as a state senator, but before that, in 2000, he was the county supervisor. When Stanford University wished to expand, it was required to establish an affordable housing fund that Simitian helped create. On Jan. 27, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, in response to Simitian’s request, allocated $8 million from this fund for the residents, which could very well serve as a catalyst leading other organizations to pledge funds. But the residents still need to come up with another $8 million before they will meet the minimum fair market value and, even then, it’s ultimately the owners’ call whether or not they want to sell. A Door for Mamá Luz On a cool Saturday afternoon in January, a group of Buena Vista residents carry tools, wood and metal sheets in and out of trailer number 25. Several men measure and cut wood and metal and arrange it around the rim of the trailer. Children run around, scolded every now and then. The men speak in Spanish, making jokes as they work. This is where Mamá Luz lives. Up until today, she has not had a door on the front of her house, a Pace Arrow Motorhome with a kitchen and living room on the side. The management has not permitted Mama Luz to put on a door, despite her three building proposals. This has invited people to try and break in — Mamá Luz caught a thief just the other day. At night, the cold creeps through and Mamá Luz sends her grandchildren to sleep in their Uncle’s home in Mountain View. Still, she says that it is better than living under a bridge and most certainly better than life in Mexico, where she grew up. “In Mexico we had to walk barefoot, here at least we can find shoes,” she says. In the legal hurricane surrounding Buena Vista, Mamá Luz and her family remain in the eye of the storm. She is aware of what is happening, but feels, like most

COMUNIDAD Citlali (5), Heidi (4) and Cynthia (3) share conchas (Mexican sweet bread) and tortilla chips at a party for Buena Vista’s residents. residents, that there is not much she can do other than to keep living her life. She picks up her cans, making about $5 a day. She takes care of Ernesto, the three-monthold. She hangs up her portraits of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Sundays. Today, she is adding a door. Simitian’s $8 million proposal has given the community some tentative hope. Perhaps they will be allowed to stay in their homes, and although Mamá Luz and other residents are hesitant to put too much work into their trailers with the future of the park still up in the air, they feel that this time Simitian’s plan could be the answer they have all been waiting for. Regardless, they must still search for a Plan B. When asked for Doña Luz, one of the men yells for the woman of the house, to come out. Barefoot besides her black socks, limping a little, comes Mamá Luz. By her side is a woman in a blue and orange paisley robe. The men are neighbors, Mamá Luz explains, and this is Amanda Serrano, one of her close friends. Today everyone is here to help put up a barrier against the cold. “We take care of each other,” Serrano says, almost defensively. Like family, adds Mamá Luz. From behind the stacks of metal sheeting, Serrano picks up a stack of folded housing applications. “We went to visit apartments on Alma street,” Serrano explains. “But the waiting list is long.” Like many of the places Mamá Luz, Serrano and other Buena Vista resi-

dents have visited, the Alma street apartments seem unattainable. “They only have studio apartments, and they only want couples or families with one kid,” Serrano says. Not to mention the requirement of a stable job that earns at least $2,000 a month. Many residents, like Serrano, who has a mechanical heart, are unable to work a full-time job due to health reasons. While Serrano and her boyfriend, Arturo Saucedo, have a little bit more flexibility as a family of two, most of the trailer parks residents simply won’t qualify for low income housing anywhere else. For people like Mamá Luz, with three generations to support, and unreliable income from selling bottles, these housing options are completely out of reach. When asked where she plans to go if the closure is finalized, Serrano shakes her head. “We will be homeless,” she says. It is that simple. But Simitian’s plan still stands as a glimmer of hope, and for the meantime it has boosted morale enough to invest in a door to keep out the cold. Where Will They Go? Perhaps the most illuminating moment in this contentious issue occurred during the May hearings in the cross examination of David Richman, a Housing Relocation Specialist from Autotemp, the city-appointed relocation services company. Sue Mulrich, an attorney for the Western Center on 39

COVER | FEB 2015

FAMILIA Mamá Luz holds Ernesto, her 3-month-old grandson while her 18-month-old granddaughter shows off her dance moves. Law and Poverty, cross-examined Richman. She noted that, as reported by the RIR, the average appraissal value of a home in Buena Vista is $18,000, on top of the start-up costs, which are approximately $4,000 and will be provided by the owners. Richman admitted that for any residents seeking to move to another park, in addition to the mitigation from the appraisal, they would still need to spend at least $20,000 to purchase a new mobile home. This extra $20,000 (and potentially as high as $50,000) is not covered by the owner. Many residents will not move into another mobile home park, and Mulrich pressed Richman as to what he had in mind for these residents. Mulrich: “Can you tell me what segment of the housing market could provide rentals for the current homeowners in the park at their current level of [rent at Buena Vista]? Is there any?” Richman: “Could any of the residents rent an apartment for $685?” Mulrich: “Find one to rent.” Richman: “In the Bay Area? Probably not.” Mulrich: “So what’s going to happen? It’s your job to find them relocation, you’re going to relocate them, is that correct?” Richman: “We [Autotemp] provide ad40

visory assistance to relocate, yes.” Mulrich: “Okay, so if you have somebody from this park who wants to move to an apartment in the Bay Area at relatively the rent they are paying now, there is no such thing, is that what I’ve understood you to have said?” Richman: “That is correct.” If Richman, the very person appointed by the city of Palo Alto to assist the residents in finding comparable housing, cannot come up with even a single place where the residents could realistically afford to relocate to, then what is to become of them? At this moment, the question has yet to be answered. The City Offers One Last Chance At the City Council meeting on Jan. 12 to determine whether or not to allow the residents an appeal, there were scores of Buena Vista residents and many supporters from outside the park. The residents passed out yellow stickers saying “Keep B.V. Residents in P.A.” and quieting the little children they’d brought with them. The lawyers presented their arguments, before opening the floor to the public. 26 citizens went up that night, mostly non-residents, and each one adamantly argued that the residents should be allowed to appeal.

Ruth Lowy, a neighbor of the Buena Vista residents, expressed her disbelief at the cavalier manner in which Margaret Nanda, the owner’s lawyer, spoke of the park’s closure as “going out of business.” “This is not a department store, this is not a pharmacy, this a community of people,” she said. “You need to weigh and balance dollars with people’s lives.” By the time Nanda came up at the end to make her final points, one couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for her. “As perhaps the most unpopular person in the room other than Mr. Jisser…” she began her concluding speech, before going on to explain how the hearings were open to the public, transcripts of the hearing would be provided to the city council and that many people in the room had not read or understood the decision that had been handed down. “It is a very carefully decided opinion,” she said. Afterwards, Nanda was approached to hear her side things. Over the past three years she’s been quoted in all manner of publications, from Mercury News to NPR, and hardly any of the stories have portrayed her positively. She is tired. She is agitated. “I’ve never known a reporter to take both sides,” she said. “I’ve never known a reporter who has read up on the issue or

COVER | FEB 2015 actually comprehended it. With all due respect, I decline.” The Residents Make Their Last Stand The weekend before Simitian’s proposal is passed, the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park Association is hosting a thank you potluck for the park’s residents. As guests arrive, Erica Escalante, the president of the Association, hands them blank index cards and a pen. Others pass around clipboards and collect signatures to show support of Simitian’s proposal. Eventually, when 30 people have gathered around, Escalante stands up to address the small crowd. First in English, then in Spanish, she says that the notecards are for any questions or concerns the residents might have about Simitian’s proposal and the closing of the park. “I don’t want these blank,” Escalante says. “We want to answer your questions.” Escalante first moved to Buena Vista when she was 11. She went through the local schools, and after college came back to start a family. Naturally shy, she was reluctant at first to take charge of the association when it started three years ago, but she knew it would be important to have a leader who was bilingual. Now 29, she works at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation while also caring for her son. Leading the association is another full time job. After three years of speaking at City Council meetings, protests and interviews, she stands a seasoned veteran and leader in the park. She is also one of the main reasons why Buena Vista has not yet closed, having contacted various law foundations and gaining legal protection for the park’s residents. (A mobile home park in Sunnyvale, was recently shut down by Nanda in large part because its residents were not organized). The association is currently a private non-profit, meaning it is limited in who it can receive money from. However, Escalante and the others are working to have the association become a public non-profit, which would allow it to seek donations from individuals and local companies (the residents are already talking about soliciting

funds from Facebook and Google). Escalante reads a card, asking what will happen to the kids and school if the residents are forced to leave. Melodie Cheney, the association secretary, nearly jumps out of her seat to answer the question. “The superintendent [of Palo Alto Unified School District] said that as long as the parents can get their kids to the school they can stay through high school,” Cheney tells the group. “Though they have to be enrolled already.” Much of the rest of the meeting is devoted to figuring out how to boost morale and raise the attendance of association meetings. According to Escalante, 95 percent of the 400 residents over 18 are part of the association, which represents them legally, yet there are only 30 people here. By the time the meeting ends it is very cold and very dark out, but the residents are optimistic. They have $8 million coming their way. And, at least for those who come to the meetings, they have each other. Life Goes On As legal battles rage and proposals come to pass, the park itself goes unnoticed. Here in Buena Vista, on a Friday in the late afternoon, Jacqueline Chavez is practicing for her Quinceañera, her traditional 15th birthday celebration. Mexican folk songs play from the speakers propped up on a chair. Chavez’s mother, who works

as a nanny, hired a dance teacher, and once a week for the past month, Chavez and her friends have been learning a traditional dance. With the party only a few weeks away, they now know the steps well as they practice through the afternoon, their teacher counting the rhythm of the music, uno... dos ... tres, their parents and others watching from doorways. After the dance rehearsal, Citlali, Mamá Luz’s five-year-old granddaughter, rides up on her scooter, the dollar in her hand flapping every time she pushes a foot off the ground. She stops in front of Chavez’s house and requests two bags of cheetos which she exchanges for the dollar. At Mamá Luz’s home, Amanda is over again helping paint the walls of the trailer burgundy red. The new reinforcements have helped to keep out the cold, allowing the kids to stay at night. Commuters drive by, barely noticing the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park sign on their way home from work, or perhaps acknowledging it momentarily from the news. Lawyers and relocation experts dispute over the monetary value of a home and an education. Palo Alto residents stress the need for diversity in their community. Yet behind the Valero gas station on El Camino, in the eye of the storm, with Mexican music blasting and red paint on the walls, life goes on, regardless of what tomorrow may bring. V

BAILANDO (DANCING) Jacqueline Chavez and her cousin practice the traditional Mexicán dance they will preform at her Quinceañera.

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FEATURES | FEB 2015 Text by GABI ROSSNER Additional Reporting by ELANA REBITZER Photo Illustration by ANTHONY LIU and GABI ROSSNER

different can be equal THE IMPACTS OF GENDER BIASES IN EDUCATION

OOKIE MONSTER IS A familiar figure in many people’s childhoods. He’s big, he’s blue and he eats a lot of cookies. However, a recent change to the Sesame Street dynamic has caused quite an uproar among loyal fans: Cookie Monster now has to eat veggies before he can indulge in those delicious cookies. Now that Cookie Monster doesn’t gorge himself on dessert first, he’s actually teaching kids about an important asset (besides the value of veggies): executive functioning skills. Cookie Monster serves as a role model for young children, especially boys, who struggle with impulse control, by teaching them skills like patience, empathy and delayed gratification. Both boys and girls are disadvantaged by the current education system through stereotypes educators hold about gender. Cookie Monster may teach young boys, but throughout their education, girls earn higher grades than boys in all subjects and age groups, according to a 2013 study from The Journal of Human Resources. The study also concluded that teachers rewarded a more stereotypically “feminine” attitude toward school — such as sitting still or being more attentive — through higher grades. Despite these advantages, girls face difficulties of their own in the educational system. A study 42

conducted by Allyson Jule, a Professor of Education at Trinity Western University, in 2004 found that boys talked nine times more than girls did in the classroom and were encouraged to do so by their teachers. Extrapolating outward from the classroom, this muting hindered girls’ chances of success in the business world. Ultimately, stereotyping gender in education hurts both boys and girls, albeit in very different ways. Boys’ Challenges To Palo Alto High School history teacher Benjamin Bolanos, the difference between how genders are educated is apparent. “The question is how do we raise our boys and how do we raise our girls as parents, and then when we get to the educational system, it seems to me that the educational system is set up for girls more,” Bolanos says. This difference manifests itself in the number of high schoolers who suc-

cessfully graduate. According to a 2006 report by the Manhattan Institute, 72 percent of girls in the United States graduate high school, as opposed to only 65 percent of boys. This gap increases in post-secondary education. In 2010, 36 percent of 25-yearold women had graduated from college, but only 27 percent of men the same age had, according to research by Inside HigherEd. Bolanos says this disparity stems from the ways kids are treated in their early childhood, specifically regarding how they are taught to act and express their emotions. “Girls are taught at a more early age to process things better and to elaborate and express their feelings,” Bolanos says. “We do not do a good job with that [emotional education] with boys, and so ... it is hard for them to express an opinion, or it is hard for them to sit still.” Bolanos’ sentiments are echoed by a 2013 study from The Journal of Human Resources. The study found that across 5,800 elementary schoolers, girls performed better than boys, which the author attributed to differences in “noncognitive skills” such as attentiveness, persistence, eagerness to learn and the ability to sit still and work independently. After calculating test scores and emotional skills, the researchers concluded that young girls display a more developed “attitude toward learning” expressed through actions like sitting skill or being more engaged in the classroom. However, the study concluded that the bigger issue was not the difference between the boys and girls themselves, but the way teachers rewarded their different behavior. Bolanos remembers that his preEQUALITY IN EDUCATION Maryam Lucia Attai, a PhD student at Stanford, explains structural inequalities in schools.

FEATURES | FEB 2015 dispositions about boys and education were something he had to be mindful of when he started teaching. “I think I had this perception that girls were better at school than boys,” Bolanos says. “They [boys] tend to get more negative commentary about their behavior, which they internalize and then behave in the way they’re expected to behave. It’s a cycle.” As a solution, the study by The Journal of Human Resources suggests that developing non-cognitive skills for boys would fix this problem. For example, schools could create alternative methods of instruction in order to more effectively teach boys who have different non-cognitive skill sets than girls. Michael Levine, a member of the Senior Team of Sesame Street, which works on helping to educate young children through television, agrees with the findings of the study. One of the ways Levine combats this cycle is by teaching boys to do things that will help them in education — like the act of sitting still — at an early age. This is where characters like Cookie Monster, who now has to practice delayed gratification, come in. “Sesame Street can help, we think,” Levine says. “Sesame is … increasingly the new literacy. It is learning how to ask a question; it is learning how to control yourself so that you will delay your gratification, which is a very important skill that children need to learn to succeed. It has always been important for us to create the muppets … as strong and important role models.” SESAME STREET Michael Levine, a member of the Sesame Street Senior Team, poses with Cookie Monster, a hit character from the show.

Girls’ Issues While many aspects of the educational system privilege girls over boys, there is one dimension in which girls are not given equal treatment: having their voices heard. Compared to boys, girls are given far fewer opportunities to talk and share their opinions. In her study, Dr. Jule concluded that because women are silenced in the classroom, they learn to be silent in the public sphere. Maryam Lucia Attai, a PhD student at Stanford University focusing on developmental and psychological science and minoring in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, says the issue stems from societal ideals that are pushed on women from a young age, starting with childhood compliments and culminating into the ideal of a perfect woman that girls strive to be. “A lot of women are taught from a young age to let others

speak — to be polite — and there is … the ‘attractive female who’s quiet’ … figure that lingers in every woman’s mind,” Attai says. A woman who lives up to these submissive stereotypes will not be prepared for success in wider society. In her studies, Attai has focused on the issue of “symbolic violence,” a concept presented by the philosopher Bordeaux that applies to the post-school struggles of women. “Symbolic violence is this idea that your environment tells you what you are capable of or not in a very implicit way,” Attai says. “If you are a young female walking toward your administrator’s office, and your administrator is a male, and all the pictures on the wall leading up to the office of all the previous principals who have always been males, what does that tell you about your potential to be a leader?” With Paly’s female-heavy administration, especially Principal Kim Diorio, Bolanos feels that the school is doing a good job of creating positive female role models for students and increasing emotional awareness on campus. Attai agrees, noting the positive impact mutual respect can have in bridging gender differences in education. “I feel teaching people how to be respectful of others is also at the core of this whole situation,” Attai says. “I think we don’t teach values like respect in an explicit way, and we don’t promote those cultures universally.” v

ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS WITH BEST BUDDIES Text by ANAND SRINIVASAN and BETHANY WONG Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG and ANAND SRINIVASAN

“

E LOVE DIYA” can mean a number of different things. In the plainest sense, it can describe the unwavering, unconditional love of a family toward their child. In another vein, it can refer to the whole community or “village” that has raised the child. And in a more expansive view, it can exhibit the slowly progressing nationwide acceptance and awareness of one of most prevalent disabilities today — Autism Spectrum Disorder. At Palo Alto High School, one of the communities encircling people with ASD is the Best Buddies club. A chapter of the international Best Buddies organization, the club pairs students in the special education program like junior Diya Rao with other Paly students, known as the peer buddies. Peer buddies meet their buddies regularly on campus and also attend monthly events with them. Diya’s peer buddy this school year, senior Olivia Vort, first became friends with Diya at Jordan Middle School, but the two continued to hang out at Paly. Vort says that being in Best Buddies not only means eating lunch together during bi-monthly club meetings, but also involves spending time together outside of school. Diya and Vort frequently walk their dogs together, go to movies, eat Chipotle or frozen yogurt and attend local Indian culture events. “Oliva Vort is my best buddy this year,” Diya says. “She is an amazing friend because she keeps her word about having lunch when she has time for me and is very

nice and takes all her time to spend with me during weekends.” During one such lunchtime hangout, Diya and Vort cheerfully chat about Diya’s upcoming birthday, her new rain boots and their matching water bottles. Then Diya shows off her Bollywood dance moves, pounding the ground with her feet and clapping, all the while letting out little bursts of laughter as Vort smiles back reassuringly. Best Buddies cultivates an environment where Diya can not only spend time with people but where Paly students can also learn how to interact with those who have different abilities. “Overall, I think it’s helped me become more patient and realize that this is who she is,” Vort says. “I’ve learned not to talk down to people who may be different from me ... and to really learn to communicate with her at the same level that I would any of my friends.” Throughout the evolution of their friendship, Vort has witnessed Diya growing more comfortable in social situations. “She’ll walk across the quad now, come sit on the senior deck with me and eat lunch,” Vort says. “I can tell that she feels extremely included, and that makes me feel so happy inside to know that she feels she’s one of us. ... I just think it’s so awesome that she’s come that far.” Meet Diya However, Diya has not always been as confident in social situations as she is today. She started life a little bit differently

than most. Born 16 weeks premature and weighing only one pound in comparison to the average weight of eight, her life was a struggle even from the first moment. Instead of being released after a couple days, she was kept hospitalized for four months before she was finally deemed fit to go home. “She was a trooper,” says Priya Rao, Diya’s mother. “She kind of shocked all the doctors because at every point we thought we were going to lose her.” During the first year of her life, Diya struggled due to her delayed development. Although Priya did not know it at the time, Diya’s difficulties were the result of ASD. At age five, Diya’s preschool days came to a close, and her parents were faced with the question of what was next for their daughter. Thinking that a private school would provide her with one-on-one attention in small classrooms, Priya enrolled her daughter at Carden Day School in San Jose. But in the mainstream environment of Carden, Diya often felt overwhelmed. Her parents decided to enroll her at Charles Armstrong, a Belmont private school, which is primarily for kids with Developmental Delay (when a student does not meet the developmental milestones expected of them based on their age). Unfortunately, Diya’s learning problems did not go away, but rather continued to grow — she repeated the first grade, and when she finally reached fifth, the school told Priya that their services could no longer support Diya, and she was going to have to find another school. It was then that they again

FEATURES | FEB 2015 sought the input of doctors at Stanford. “We went back for more testing, and that’s when they told us she was on the autism spectrum,” Priya says. “Socially she needed support, and she had slowly started to develop some anxiety issues.”

SMOOTHIE BUSINESS Diya Rao makes smoothies with her fellow classmates in special education teacher Erika Magagna’s classroom.

Autism Spectrum Disorder Diya’s social anxiety and difficulty with communication are common behaviors of ASD. According to Janet Fox, a former Gunn High School special education teacher and a current lecturer for Notre Dame de Namur University’s special education credential program, each person may display different symptoms, but common characteristics among people with ASD are that they may struggle with picking up social cues and that they have difficulty interpreting language. Dr. Lisa Simpson, an assistant professor in special education at San Jose State University, describes ASD as a neurological disorder. “There’s a malfunction in the brain that makes individuals with autism’s brains work differently than you and I,” Simpson says. “We don’t know exactly what that is yet, and how it manifests varies from person to person. It’s not anything that you can see or touch or take a blood test for. Some of our other developmental disabilities you can actually identify with a blood type or a chromosome, but we don’t know that yet with autism, so we identify that by a set of characteristics.” It was because of Diya’s ASD diagnosis, her lack of social support and her anxiety that Priya decided to try public school so that Diya could finally get an Individualized Education Program. Public schools are obligated to provide a free and appropriate education for all students, and an IEP is a legally binding, federally mandated education plan for individuals with disabilities. The teacher, psychologist, speech and language pathologist, behaviorist and parents form the team that discusses a plan that will suit the student’s education needs. The student, based on what the team believes she needs, will be given access to all that her school can provide. Private schools are not obligated to do this. The PAUSD Difference When they lived in San Jose, the Rao family had heard about the lack of available

FEATURES | FEB 2015

TWINNING Diya Rao and Olivia Vort show off matching water bottles during a lunchtime hangout.

funding for special education in the San Jose Unified School District. As a result, they moved to Palo Alto, so Diya could enroll in the Palo Alto Unified School District, an event that marked a turning point in her life. Diya was finally receiving the support she needed from her teachers, her curriculum, her school and her community. “Palo Alto School District was amazing,” Priya says. “They were able to actually see her strengths and integrate her into mainstream education like [physical education] and social studies and classes that interested her. It was a huge success.” Diya began her new life in the PAUSD at Jordan Middle School in the special education program. Although she has struggled with communication throughout her life, the special education program was well-equipped to help Diya overcome her weakness. “She was slowly beginning to speak up,” Priya says. “Even though she was friendly, she was very, very shy — it would take you several meetings with her for her to even say one sentence, even though she had the vocabulary. She would just smile or giggle, and there’s only that much of smiling or giggling that people understand.” With time, being in a secure classroom environment with support from teachers and aides who are trained in special education has helped Diya learn to speak for herself. Additionally, according to her mother, Diya’s anxiety levels have decreased. 46

At one time it seemed like there was little hope in Diya’s situation, but once she graduated from Jordan and started at Paly, she rose above her autism. At Paly, Diya joined the PAUSD Futures Program where students are explicitly taught skills to help them integrate into the high school social environment, as well as professional and vocational skills to help them navigate the outside world. With the help of special education teacher Erika Magagna, Diya has begun to uncover the social, talkative personality beneath her “disability.” Educating People with ASD Because people with ASD learn differently than people who develop typically, teachers may need to change their classroom teaching styles in order to best meet their students’ needs. For instance, students with ASD appreciate a predictable, structured schedule. “I think knowing what to expect helps them feel comfortable [and] helps them just relax,” Magagna says. “The unknown can stress them out.” For example, during their 4th period class, Magagna’s students run a smoothie business out of the kitchen in room 409. Working in pairs, they follow recipes to blend fresh fruit and vegetable smoothies, make hot chocolate and serve glasses of strawberry lemonade. When they personally deliver smoothies to students in specific

classes, the money exchange allows them to practice their math skills in a way that could be applicable in the future. The students follow a schedule outlined on a bright orange pie chart. Seeing the plan in a visual manner with certain amounts of time allotted for the jobs of blending smoothies, bringing smoothies to classes and cleaning the kitchen provides a sense of security for the students. Depending on the severity of their autism, some students can look forward to educational and vocational opportunities after high school. A small percentage will graduate and go to college, but the majority will move on to what is known as postsecondary. At the post-secondary level of the Futures program, students continue to identify their strengths and learn to transfer these abilities to their academic and vocational lives. Post-secondary programs entail a combination of taking classes at community college and continued vocational training as students try out different job tasks that match their strengths. As of right now Diya does not know what she wants to do when she leaves the sanctuary of classroom 409, as well as when she stops her regular lunch dates with Vort. What she does know is she will miss being a part of the Paly community, especially Best Buddies. “Best Buddies will always be amazing for me,” Diya says. v

FEATURES | FEB 2015 Text by SIDDHARTH SRINIVASAN and BETHANY WONG Photography by ANA SOFÍA AMIEVA-WANG and BETHANY WONG

ALLERGIES GONE nuts WHEN YOUR SCHOOL SNACKS BECOME LETHAL

ANY STUDENTS joke that finals week is a real killer, but for Scott, this phrase took a new meaning. Scott, a Palo Alto High School freshman whose name has been changed to protect his identity, recalls finishing his first period exam and walking onto the quad, only to see tables lining the quad filled with packets of nuts being doled out by the Parent Teacher Student Association. Because Scott has a life-threatening peanut allergy, his mind shifted from thinking about the next period’s final to stressing about thousands of peanuts circulating the campus. “I saw tables on the Quad full of nuts,

and I immediately felt unsafe,” Scott says. He entered his third period final not only preoccupied by the test, but also by the possibility of coming into contact with a peanut. For Scott, an action as simple as touching a single nut and then rubbing his eyes can cause irritation. In the most extreme case, if Scott were to eat a food containing peanuts, his allergy could potentially escalate into a fatal reaction. “I didn’t see anybody eating them in my class, but I knew people might have had them in their pockets,” Scott says. Scott recalls eventually being able to focus on his final, but the thought of a potential allergic reaction worried him more than usual. He phoned his mother,

who after contacting the administration, assured him that the situation had been taken care of. However, when Scott returned to school the following day, the popular peanut filled trail mix packets were still being distributed. “I just had to keep a safe distance from my friends that week,” Scott says. Scott cannot recall the first time he came into contact with a peanut and discovered his allergy. Neither can he remember the last time he paid a visit to the hospital for an allergic reaction; however, this does not lighten the situation. Allergic reactions are known to increase in severity each time, and for Scott, there is no knowing whether the next one could be fatal. Guessing the severity of the next reaction is a game that 47

FEATURES | FEB 2015

neither Scott nor his parents are keen on playing, so they diligently ensure that Scott stays aware of the peanuts that might be in his surroundings throughout the school day. “Scott does not go any place without an epi pen on him,” his mother says. “Not to the park, the movie, not even on a walk around the block where I know zero food would be. Even though they are about $150 a piece, I keep them in my purse, in his backpacks, by the back door ... it’s just a way of life,” says his mother, referring to the epinephrine auto-injector used to quell severe allergic reactions almost instantly. Scott was likely not the only Paly student with a nut allergy who felt anxious when he saw the snacks being distributed around the campus during finals week. Peanuts are one of the most common food allergies, and as the number of people with food allergies rises, the school administration will have a problem to tackle.

THE PROTOCOL IN A NUTSHELL Concerned about about their son’s safety on campus, Scott’s parents had already approached Palo Alto Unified School District staff members several weeks prior to finals week to ensure that all students with anaphylaxis felt comfortable at school. Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening whole-body reaction that occurs when a person is exposed to a chemical that causes an allergic reaction. Food allergies are typically known to trigger anaphylaxis, and common symptoms include difficulty breathing, hives, wheezing, skin redness and swelling of the face. PAUSD created a district-wide protocol to protect students like Scott who have a risk for anaphylaxis two weeks before trail mix packets containing peanuts were handed out during finals week. However, only 48

district staff received information about the creation of the protocol. Within its guidelines, the protocol states that teachers must provide two weeks notice to parents before nuts are brought to class. The protocol does not and cannot explicitly extend to groups like the PTSA who are unassociated with the school. “If this miscommunication [with the PSTA] had not happened then, then it would have happened at some point between the protocol and who receives that protocol,” Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson says. “We are working on ways to communicate with people on the fringe.”

Beyond Paly, many new policies have been put into place on a state and national level in response to fatalities triggered by nut allergies. A new California law implemented this year requires school districts to stock EpiPens, which can be administered to any student, staff member or person on campus in the event of a potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. According to Berkson, even before this bill was signed, the health office in the Tower Building was stocked with a supply of EpiPens. ENSURING A SAFE CAMPUS Nut allergies particularly concern the safety of Paly students. On the Paly campus, about 40 students have reported a nut

allergy requiring an EpiPen, reports health technician Jennifer Kleckner. As a direct result of the protocol, the administration continues to implement measures to promote the safety of students with anaphylactic reaction such as encouraging teachers to wipe down desks to prevent contamination and creating signs to designate classrooms as “peanutfree zones.” Scott’s English teacher, Kari Snell, recognizes the importance of making a classroom a safe environment for a student with a nut allergy. “It terrifies me to think that someone would have some sort of allergic reaction,” Snell says. “I don’t want to be in that situation ... but I want to take personal responvsibility because I am the one who has the student.” However, even if a teacher makes an effort to keep the classroom clean using wipes, problems may arise due to the use of shared surfaces such as laptops. A 2013 study published by the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology shows that peanut residue can linger on a surface for at least 110 days if no cleaning occurs. On the other hand, cleansing the keyboard proves a challenge because excessive moisture could damage a laptop’s hardware. If teachers allow students to eat in class, they will have to vigilantly watch what foods students are eating, and students will have to avoid eating foods containing nuts or traces of nuts in class. While Snell wishes to help students with allergies, she also lets her students eat in class. She believes that food provides fuel necessary for 90-minute block periods, and allows eating in class as long as students clean up after themselves and do not cause a distraction. However, she runs the risk of unknowingly allowing nut products into her classroom. “We can’t tackle everything, but we can do the things that are in our control,”

Snell says. THE STUDENT PERSPECTIVE In general, the life of a high school student with a nut allergy starkly contrasts his or her elementary and middle school experiences. In elementary school, Scott says people knew to keep the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches away from him, and the peanut-free tables provided a guaranteed safety zone. However, in high school it is now Scott’s own responsibility — not that of his parents or the school — to monitor his allergy. Scott has to be extra careful about what his classmates are eating because it is more difficult for his teachers to control what enters and exits the classroom. Besides the students’ friends and the administration, most people do not know about their allergies. According to Joshua Cheng, a junior with a peanut allergy, classmates sometimes eat food containing nuts in his classes. “People that don’t know me that well aren’t aware of it or of its severity,” Cheng says. “Usually I just try to stay away from them. I don’t usually say anything. I just have to avoid getting too near to them because the smell of it can be very intense for me.” Even though nuts may not appear to have been in a food or on a table, the lasting presence of peanut proteins is a concern. Scott and others with peanut allergies must be wary of cross-contamination — when two foods come in contact and their proteins mix on a shared surface such as a restaurant cutting board. At the same time, teens represent an age group of people with a high risk of experiencing a severe life-threatening reaction after consuming a food containing an allergen, according to Julie, the mother of two food allergic students. “They’re out at a party; they’re not paying attention to what they’re eating,” Julie says. “Maybe they’re thinking a food looks safe. Maybe they are drinking too much, and they eat something that’s not safe. Maybe they have had too much to drink to even realize, ‘I’m having an allergic reaction. I have to get medication.’ It’s definitely a very dangerous [time], the teenage years.”

visit to El Camino Hospital in Mountain View as part of a research study associated with the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research at Stanford University. As a voluntary participant in one of the eight studies directed by Dr. Kari Nadeau, Scott receives an increased dosage of peanuts during each visit in hopes that this technique will eventually desensitize him to peanuts and lower his risk of allergic reactions. Currently, Scott’s daily dosage of peanuts is two a day, albeit in powder form. For a kid who, six months ago, would suffer a severe allergic reaction when coming into contact with even peanut particles, two peanuts a day represents great progress. Yet his progress did not come without sacrifice. “At first, it’s hard because you can throw up; the nuts don’t sit well in the stomach,” Scott says. Nadeau’s research has revolutionized allergy study in recent years because it can treat up to five food allergens. According to Gerri O’Riordan, the center’s chief operating officer, the center has had some promising results in the first phase of its multi food allergy research, but more research is needed to show safety and efficacy before it can become an FDA approved standard treatment. In the meantime, Scott and others with nut allergies must continue to be vigilant about their surroundings whether they are at school or out and about as they engage in their busy social lives. Allergies will remain a hard nut to crack, but hopefully doing well on his finals will be Scott’s only concern during spring semester finals. v

FEATURES | FEB 2015

EPIPENS The health office houses a supply of epinephrine auto-injectors which can provide relief from allergic reactions. Statistics from the Paly Nurse and the Center for Diseason control and prevention

million people in the United States report allergies to peanuts and tree nuts

students at Paly have nut allergies that require an epipen

THE SEARCH FOR A CURE Every two weeks, Scott pays a 49

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ITH HER ELDEST brother more than 14 years her senior, Amy Brown is the youngest of eight. The second youngest, Dana, received an exercise science degree but decided that motherhood was a more pressing concern, so she gave up her dream of becoming a doctor and now works at Hollister. Of Amy’s other six siblings, one is in jail, one owns an oil company in North Dakota, one works in education, one owns a “landscaping” service that’s really just a small-scale lawn mowing business and one is estranged. The last one, Amy has forgotten about. Unlike her seven siblings, Amy plans on getting a masters degree in education after obtaining her bachelor’s degree from Foothill Community College; she is on track to become the first in her family with a master’s degree.

In high school, Amy had a dose of apathy and a low GPA, which combined put her on the verge of dropping out. Yet a dental hygiene course that she took to fulfill her high school vocational credits managed to change the trajectory of her career path. The applicable job skills that she received seemed infinitely more profitable than the fruitless memorization that her other courses demanded. She decided not to drop out of high school, and after graduating became a dental assistant at a local office. Her dream: to teach dentistry. Now, Amy is the youngest of the 24 students enrolled in Foothill’s elite dental hygiene program, and for the first time in 57 years, Amy and her peers will be awarded a bachelor’s degree. This makes Foothill’s dental hygiene program one of only 15 programs statewide that offer community college students

a bachelor’s degree. For Jessica Alban, who already completed four years of schooling at Foothill and San Jose State University, a bachelor’s degree gives her the opportunity to work in sales or marketing at Colgate instead of being confined to assisting in a dental clinic. For Ivan Ferrer, who joined the military as a medical equipment technician straight out of high school because he didn’t want to face “real life,” a bachelor’s degree promises job security. For Navdeep Chohan, who formerly practiced dentistry in Sweden and England but whose degree was not recognized in the United States, a bachelor’s degree gives her the certification that she needs to practice once more. For Amy, a bachelor’s degree makes her eligible to apply for her masters in education two years sooner than she thought, and for $30,000 less. 51

community college Bachelor’s degrees California’s 13 DEGREES ______________

Fall 2015

Do community colleges offer bachelor’s degrees?

Closing the Income Gap Until now, the 112 community colleges in California have only offered two-year programs with associate’s degrees, while private and public universities offer fouryear programs with bachelor’s degrees. On Jan. 1, Senate Bill 850 allowed 15 community colleges in California to award bachelor’s degrees in fields such as dental hygiene and automotive technology as part of a pilot program. This bill makes California the 22nd state to grant community college students a bachelor’s degree. According to Market Watch, the effect of a bachelor’s degree on an employee’s life is monumental: The average worker with an associate’s degree and little experience makes an annual salary of $37,100 compared to $46,900 for someone with a bachelor’s degree, a 26 percent difference. But fast-forward ten years down the road and that gap widens to $30,000, a difference of more than 50 percent. The bill, initially signed in August, accepted applications by recommendation of each district’s chancellor last fall. Hoping to open up new job opportunities, Phyllis Spragge, the director of Foothill’s dental hygiene program, applied to be part of the 52

= yes = no

pilot program. “We have many students that will be the first in their family to go to college or may be new to this country,” Spragge says. “Our students earn so many units while they’re in the program that they’re already at a bachelor’s degree level by the time they graduate. … When this opportunity came around, we thought, ‘This is perfect.’” Foothill’s program is more than just a convenience; it’s revolutionary. In dental hygiene, an associate’s degrees only permits prospective employees to work as dental assistants, while a bachelor’s degree allows them to work in sales, marketing, general education or research. “Most hygienists make around $450 a day,” Spragge says. “If you work full-time, that’s around $100,000 a year.” According to national data reported by NBC, a six-figure salary puts these students in the top 20 percentile of Americans. What’s more, only three private schools in California — University of the Pacific, University of Southern California and Loma Linda University — offer bachelor’s degrees for dental hygiene programs, costing students $40,000 to $70,000 per year. Universities of California and Califor-

Health management equine industry respiratory care dental hygiene industrial automation airframe tech interaction design automotive tech dental hygiene mortuary science occupational studies emergency services bio-manufacturing

nia State Universities don’t offer majors in fields like dental hygiene at all. At $10,000 for all four years, Foothill’s dental hygiene program is 20 times cheaper, without sacrificing the quality. In 2005, Foothill’s dental hygiene program was ranked second out of the 250 programs in the nation, and in its 50 years, the program has maintained a 100 percent pass rate on the board certification exam. For this reason, Amy calls Foothill the “Stanford of dental hygiene.” The Stanford of Dental Hygiene On a Monday afternoon, the 24 students in Foothill’s dental hygiene program work in the training clinic in groups of three. One student lies down in the reclining chair, pretending to be the patient, while another practices her hand-eye coordination, making the maneuvers necessary to fix a simulated cavity on the first person’s tooth. The last student assesses the second one’s work and gives them a grade for their performance. Then they switch positions, and repeat. On Tuesdays, they practice on real patients, working to improve their motor skills almost every afternoon in the clinic—

COLLABORATION Second-year student Amy Brown (right) tutors first-year student AnnMarie Teehan (left) who operates on Ivan Ferrer (bottom).

by the time they graduate, they’ll have over 1000 hours of experience. In the mornings, they go from classroom to classroom, attending lectures on subjects ranging from dental radiology to dental community health. Brenda Hanning, director of Foothill’s respiratory therapy program, attests to the difficulty of all of Foothill’s Allied Health programs. “Students who have completed their bachelor’s at [UC] Davis or [UC] Berkeley come in and they go, ‘Oh my god, this is so hard,’” Hanning says. “It’s a different approach. When you go to school, even for a bachelor’s, you often take classes, and you focus on that class, you pass, and you forget about it —the classes aren’t linked — but our program is comprehensive. For two years, you have to build on what you learned from day one.” When Foothill Trumps Universities Sometimes a university education is not enough. Many students who already have a bachelor’s degree attend Foothill’s dental hygiene program, as the abstract nature of their university education makes them unable to secure job opportunities. “What happens with programs like

respiratory therapy and dental hygiene is that students major in biology, pre-med or kinesiology, and then they can’t get a job, or the only job they can get pays minimum wage,” Hanning says. “They’re trying to get physical therapy jobs, but instead they find themselves working at a 24 Hour Fitness for minimum wage after completing their bachelor’s.” On the surface, Foothill’s dentistry program provides students with a launching pad for their professional endeavors. But to the students, the program’s most redeeming quality is the bond that it creates with their classmates and professors — a sense of community that can last more than 20 years. Unlike public universities that allow students to create a customized schedule through over 200 courses, the 24 students in Foothill’s dental hygiene program attend clinics and lectures with the same group throughout both years. Spragge, who graduated from the program herself more than 20 years ago, is now a living testimony to Foothill’s lasting impact, still sharing a connection to many of her students who she refers to as “family.” If you ask her, she’ll list their names

FEATURES | FEB 2015

and occupations off the top of her head. Like Spragge, Amy’s other professors, one of whom is editor of a well-established journal, teach not to make ends meet, but because they love the profession — rather than mindlessly reciting information from the textbook, they tell engaging stories about their experiences in the field, inspiring the students to succeed. Finishing the Unfinished When Spragge announced that the dental hygiene students would be receiving a bachelor’s degree, Pam Piccione, 48, broke down crying. In 1984, as she saw her two older brothers struggle with student loans, Piccione chose to drop out of Foothill College, believing that opting to work full-time was the “successful, mature” decision. Last year, Piccione returned to Foothill after having children, the youngest of whom is still in elementary school. A bachelor’s degree for her means a chance to serve as a role model for her young children and finish the unfinished. “I have wanted a degree all of these years,” Piccione says. “Now, the opportunity is knocking at my front door.” v 53

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GREAT MINDS AT CAMPUS SPEAKER SERIES EVENT presented by the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Center

STEVEN CHU Former United States Secretary Of Energy 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics

Where: Palo Alto High School Media Arts Center When: Wednesday, February 25 2015, 7:00 PM Tickets: $10 (adult); $5 (student) Go to: paly-macgmac-chu.eventbrite.com

Text by ANNA NAKAI and JAMES WANG Photography by ANNA NAKAI

WALKING among his students, Shadi Barhoumi aims to promote community through individual attention rather than group lectures.

CATCHING THE TRAIN TO SUCCESS TEACHING LOW INCOME STUDENTS TO CODE

ATE ON A THURSDAY night, light and enthusiasm spill from a room where clusters of students sit with shiny laptops as Shadi Barhoumi paces the front of the room, emphatically illustrating his lecture about Javascript with various hand gestures. “If I search ‘nice people at Stanford,’ Javascript takes that and uses it to search a sort of local database,” Barhoumi explains to his class at Streetcode Academy, a nonprofit that seeks to bring computer programming opportunities to East Palo Alto. He opens up a Google browser and hovers uncertainly over the search bar. “If I search …” “Pizza!” yells one student. “Thanks, just blanked out,” Barhoumi replies. Barhoumi, a Stanford sophomore who has been passionate about teaching computer science since his high school years, has worked as a coding instructor at Phoenix Academy in East Palo Alto and as a founder and instructor at Code Camp last summer. Today, as a cofounder of StreetCode Academy, Barhoumi continues in his effort to inspire passion in programming. Driven by the profound importance of computing

in modern society, as well as his desire to create a healthy academic environment for East Palo Alto students, Barhoumi is one of many educators trying to secure the future of computer science in the next generation. Despite the importance of computing in all aspects of life, and the efforts of those like Barhoumi, computer science surprisingly suffers from a lack of qualified workers. According to Code.org, there will be over a million more jobs created in computer science than people ready to work in the field over the next 10 years. Computer science is the only field out of science, technology, engineering and math where the number of participants has decreased

over the last 20 years, down to 19 percent from 25 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Part of the problem lies in the secondary education system. Only five percent of all high schools offer Advanced Placement Computer Science and, in 2010, only 14,517 students took the AP exam as opposed to the 194,784 students who took the AP BC Calculus exam. This lack of computer programming classes at schools disproportionately affects those with lower incomes who are unable to afford private programming classes and therefore have no opportunities to learn how to program computers while in high school. In the Bay Area, however, programs

College Board, 2014

FEATURES | FEB 2015 and Javascript. Samuel Vasquez, a Paly junior and East Palo Alto resident, is one of these students. “I did not take the class at Paly because I thought that it would be hard, but my point of view has changed because I now know more, and it is not as hard as I thought it would be,” Vasquez says. The classes are part of the school district’s effort to reduce the achievement gap and provide more opportunities to all students. “The goal is for students in our district who may not have opportunities to access [computer programming classes] because of affordability issues outside of school,” PAUSD Superintendent Max McGee says. “We decided this would be a perfect fit with our initiative around minority achievement and talent development.” The classes run for 10 weeks, with one two-hour class every Wednesday. They are LEARNING TO CODE Paly senior Chris Garcia (right) works on a Javascript taught by Palantir software engineers at module at Palantir with the help of fellow student Garrett Lew (left). their headquarters, and they focus on using have sprung up to combat this inequity. and a sense of family,” Barhoumi says.“The computers to solve problems. Although both Palo Alto High School and whole idea of what we are doing is that we “The most important thing I wanted Henry M. Gunn High School have com- want to provide students with the structure the students to get out of the course was a puter science programs, the Palo Alto Uni- and support that they didn’t have previ- sense of what digital literacy means,” says fied School District partnered with Palan- ously. ... We have unconditional love and Ari Gesher, a senior software engineer at tir, a local, private software company earlier support for each other.” Palantir and the main teacher of the classthis year, to create a free 10-week-long seStreetCode, run by computer-savvy es. “Digital literacy is a slightly larger topic ries of classes on computer programming volunteers, offers courses such as Comput- than just knowing how to code. It’s about open to minority and low income high er Science Fundamentals, which meets in knowing how to use computers to solve school students. Other nonprofits, such as the afternoon, and Barhoumi encourages problems.” StreetCode Academy, cater to students not students to attend According to fortunate enough to have other computer hackathons — codthe Palantir engiscience opportunities. ing problem-solving “We want to provide students neers who superThese programs teach students how competitions — on with the structure and supvise the classes, to use computers effectively, ensuring that the weekends. Barthey differ from the next generation of leaders can ride the houmi’s favorite part port that they didn’t have the courses taught tides of computer science to success. about the group is previously.” at the PAUSD high their enthusiasm. since the — Shadi Barhoumi schools “It’s a self seclasses at Palantir StreetCode Academy focus mainly on At StreetCode Academy, located on a lecting group, this is quiet street in East Palo Alto in what used not public school,” Barhoumi says. “They teaching the practical applications of codto be a dilapidated school, students learn show up if they want to ... because they ing. “It’s a much more theoretical approach fundamental computer science skills. The showed up, they are interested in learning rather than a sort of craft approach about mission, as stated by Barhoumi, is to em- how to code.” how you actually go about the practical aspower East Palo Alto residents through pects of coding,” Gesher says. classes and internships. The Academy was Palantir Classes Wednesday after school, in a secure Additionally, the individualized apbrought to life this year when Barhoumi and cofounder Rafael Cosman teamed up building in downtown Palo Alto, 14 PAUSD proach taken at Palantir makes it easier for with local nonprofit Live in Peace to ex- students sit at an array of tables, engrossed students of different skill levels to learn at tend their summer coding camp into a year- in the code on their computer screens. their own pace. There is a hushed atmosphere about the “One thing that I like from the class round opportunity. “The most important thing at Street- room, and clicking permeates the air as stu- is that you can go at your own pace so the Code is that we want a sense of community dents explore applications of HTML, CSS class is not too fast or too slow and if any56

FEATURES | FEB 2015 one gets stuck, the teachers can help them,” Vasquez says. “I like the teachers … and I also feel confident that I can ask them anything and they will know the answer.” The first 10-week pilot program has been completed, but Palantir and the school district are planning on expanding the program and continuing it later this school year or next year. They plan to make the classes larger and Palantir is working to incorporate student feedback to improve the student experience, according to Mehdi Alhassani, the supervisor of the classes at Palantir. McGee reports that the classes have been successful, and he hopes to continue offering the opportunity to PAUSD students. He hopes that the classes could spark an interest in pursuing computer science as a career, an impact that could potentially be life-changing for many of the students. “From what the students tell me, they’ve been really successful,” McGee says. “It’s not only what they learned, but also just seeing Palantir and software engineering as a career opportunity. I mean, they really feel like a part of and connected to Palantir.” For Vasquez, the classes have opened up new fields and opportunities. “I have learned many skills when it comes to computer science, and also, I have learned the work that it takes to create software,” Vasquez says. “I am considering this as a career, and I plan to take more classes to teach me more about this because this is a good skill to have.” Importance of Computer Science The field of computer science is rapidly expanding to include industries that combine computer science with other fields, adding to the growing necessity of learning computer skills for the future job market. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer science jobs will make up over half of the job openings in STEM by 2020. These jobs are exceedingly well-paid, but unfortunately, few minorites, women, or low income students major in Computer Science in college. One of the main problems may be that they are exposed less to the field as children. “[At an event] an engineer … talked about how a lot of women take computer science courses in college as an elective or

when it’s too late to really focus on that and they wish they would have and I think that’s perfect for some of our students,” says Judy Argumedo, head of PAUSD’s Categorical programs and the Voluntary Transfer Program. “If you get in a class right now, you may really like it and be motivated to take it.” In fact, only 22 percent of Paly students know how to program computers even though 38 percent have taken a computer science class either at Paly or elsewhere. In contrast, 42 percent say they want to learn how to code and 20 percent aren’t sure. According to McGee, he hopes to expand the computer science program so that students are able to learn these skills earlier. “I have recommended that we formally incorporate computer science into the curriculum in grade seven,” McGee says. “Primarily as an elective but at least students have the option to take it from grade seven through 12.” Computer science is growing increasingly important as technology becomes widespread in every aspect of life. “Computers are billions or trillions times more powerful than human thought … for the things they are good at,” Gesher says. “If there is any way to leverage the power of computers to solve your problem, you are going to outstrip anyone else who tries to do it any other way. … As we find new ways to apply software to old problems or sometimes to new problems, it’s completely transformative.” Being able to use computers can help people regardless of whether or not they become computer programmers, according to Alhassani. For example, computer programming can be combined with science, statistics, psychology or other fields

of study. “Not everyone who takes this class is going to be a coder down the road,” Alhassani says. “But just to have the knowledge of how code works is in itself useful. We have a lot of people at Palantir who are not coders, but they know how it works, and they are able to have good jobs because of that.” Gesher echoes this thought and argues that in fact, digital literacy, or the ability to leverage computers to find solutions, will be absolutely necessary for those who want good jobs in the future. “We are seeing this with the growing wealth divide,” Gesher says. “If you can get on one side of the divide where you are a knowledge worker and you can make these powerful machines do things in the world, your opportunities are manifest. And if you don’t, your job is basically to do things that the robots can’t do well.” Gesher believes that proficiency in programming, while important, is only a part of digital literacy. While being able to manipulate computers magnifies a person’s processing capability, innovation can only be achieved through exploring and hybridizing different fields with computer science. “When we talk about people being left behind, it’s not necessarily that you have to learn how to code, its that you have to understand that this is the way that computers are an incredible amplifier of human effort,” Gesher says. “And if you know how to assemble or design those solutions, then you’re riding the train, to use an industrial revolution analogy. If you’re not, then you’re watching the train go by.” v The student poll results collected for this issue are from a survey administered in Palo Alto High School English classes in January and February. Eight English classes were randomly selected, and 156 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 4.91 percent to 6.51 percent.

CODE ACADEMY Paly juniors Miguel Angel Cardenas (left) and Samuel Vasquez (right) hard at work learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

IMPROV I

INTRODUCING NEW COMEDYSPORTZ TEAM T’S 8:30 P.M. ON A COLD FRIDAY NIGHT. A small audience has gathered in the Haymarket Theater, settling in the plush seats, waiting for the ComedySportz show to begin. The referee blows his whistle, and on cue, the players run by the aisles and take the stage, their infectious energy eliciting cheers from the crowd. Afterwards, there’s a moment of held breath as the audience silently waits for what is to come. After all, Palo Alto High School’s improv troupe is about to hold their very first comedy match, and no one has prepared any lines. “You need to be willing to put yourself out there and not have the audience laugh at everything you say,” says sophomore Andrea O’ Riordan, a member of Paly’s improv troupe. “And that’s really … terrifying. But if you can get through that, chances are that people will laugh.” Improvisational theater, known as improv, is a form of theater in which actors create scenes on the spot. It can be a bit intimidating — even more intimidating if you’re playing it competitively, like a sport. ComedySportz is an organization that has competitive improv leagues all over the nation. While a typical improv show involves creating a scene on stage, ComedySportz takes it to the next level: making it a tournament. Two teams compete for points or laughs by improvising scenes, games and jokes based off of the audience’s suggestions. The referee blows his whistle to end intermission after halftime. Nobody is really sure what the score is, but the blue team appears to have the edge as they come in skipping down the aisle and up the stage. On the other side, the red team walks in, heads hanging down, fingers wiping fake tears and concealing smiles as they dramatically trudge down the aisle. “There’s two ways to learn improv,” says referee Scott Schroder, a member of the San Jose ComedySportz troupe. “You can take classes, or you can climb up on stage and just do it.” This “just do it” mentality was precisely how Paly’s improv troupe became involved in ComedySportz. “It has been absolutely student-driven … and that might have been why it took so long for it to happen,” says Kathleen Woods, head of the theater department. Senior Chris Hinstorff had been a part of Paly theater since his junior year and was encouraged to explore the ComedySportz organization after attending a Thespian Leadership meeting. Although the improv troupe was created a few years before, Hinstorff has helped the group evolve into a high school ComedySportz troupe, the first in PAUSD according 58

to Woods. Their first competitive performance, on Jan. 20, marked the beginning of what they hope to be a regular occurrence. The troupe practices Wednesdays during lunch in the Haymarket, when they play improv games such as Celebrity “Pun”-ishment, in which the troupe takes a celebrity’s name and tries to make as many puns out of it as possible. Team practices are essential for the improv troupe, where the quality of their performance depends on the chemistry between the members. According to O’Riordan, improv is all about collaboration. “There’s kind of a slogan of improv in general, which is ‘Yes, and?” O’Riordan says. “You never want to stop the scene if a person in the scene with you goes ‘no’ and shuts down the question. … You never want to make it difficult for the other person to make the next move.” Improvisation requires one to prepare for the ups and downs of comedy. Sometimes the actors connect to the audience, but many times what they believe to be funny is unamusing to the audience. In this sort of situation the improvisationalist has to try something different. Naturally, it takes a certain amount of bravery to do improv. Many members of the troupe find themselves overcome by nerves and have learned to push through in order to reap the rewards of performing. “I was so nervous the entire week leading up to the ComedySportz show,” O’Riordan says. “I considered not doing it but that would have been really disappointing. ... It’s really scary. What makes it scary is that there’s not really a way you can prepare for it — it’s just on the spot … I’m really used to preparing for things. I don’t know if there’s really a way to get over your nerves than just going out and performing.” Humor is all about the individuals unique perspectives. Personally, blue team sophomore Joey Kellison-Linn has

LIFE

Text by CLAIRE PRIESTLEY and ALEX HSIEH Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

ON THE SPOT The improv troupe members improvise a story when called on by the referee. pondered furiously over how far he is personally willing to take humor and what he feels is appropriate to joke about, but at this moment in time he remains undecided. “On one hand I think humor is one of the best things in the world and I would want to make jokes about everything if I could,” Kellison-Linn says. “But on the other hand I don’t really have the right to decide what things can be joked about because I’m a straight, white male who grew up in Palo Alto … I’m part of zero minorities, basically, of any kind, so I don’t really get to say if people really shouldn’t get offended at some joke. That’s not really my call, unfortunately.” Improv does not come easily to everyone every day of the week. A good portion of the troupe regularly experiences off days. Despite the odd bad joke that elicits an audience eye roll, the experience generally builds confidence in the performers.

“It’s definitely a place you can de-stress,” O’Riordan says. “There’s a vibe in improv troupe that makes you want to be there, that makes you feel a part of something. I don’t know if I have the words to describe it, but there’s something special about improv troupe. And all you have to do to feel that is … join.” As the competition winds down on stage it is important to remember that improv is all about getting a good laugh and supporting local up-and-coming artists. “It is all about the fun,” sophomore Jason Pollak says. “No one really leaves the improv troupe or ComedySportz event saying, ‘Wow, that was really profound.’ But they never leave saying, ‘Man, that was bad.’ Everyone always leaves with a smile on their face. They may not think something is profound, but they will be more affected, in my experience, from something that made them laugh.” v 59

PROFILES | FEB 2015

THE CLASS MADE IN HEAV EN ESCAPE TO THE WORLD OF TEACHER ERIN ANGELL Text by KARINA CHAN and EMILIE MA Photography by KARINA CHAN

ART OF THE APPEAL OF ESCAPE LITERATURE lies in the fact that students can read science fiction novels that allow them to escape the monotony of every day life. Another part of the appeal, though, is the teacher herself: Erin Angell. With fiery red hair and a matching personality, Angell is as much a source of excitement as the books she assigns. v Describe yourself in three words. Erin Angell: Tenacious, energetic, loyal. Tell us about your cows. EA: My cows! Ok, so I have two cows. They currently live at my dad’s because my dad has some property and a barn and things like that. My cows’ names are Freckles and Biscuit, and they’re about six months old. They’re adorable. We put Santa hats on them for the holidays, and they’re just delightful animals. I love them. They’re so sweet, and I can’t say enough about them. What was the last TV show you watched? EA: [shouting] “True Detective.” Love “True Detective.” You get in that moment of, “Do I DVR it and wait and stockpile?” Because that’s how much I love it. ... You get to the end of one of them and you're like, “NOOO,” and you have to watch the next one. But then you have to exert self-discipline where you don't watch it, [and] you have to wait for it to accrue. What is your biggest pet peeve? EA: No water left in the percolator! What is your favorite book? EA: I would say right now my favorite book is “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy. It blows your mind. You stop read-

ing it, and you think, “Well, that happened.” It’s surreal. I stopped reading it because I finished it, and I just kept going back to it. I laid in bed, and I literally could not go to sleep. ... It was just one of those things where you try to go to sleep but your eyes just keep opening, but it wasn't because I wasn't tired, it was because of this book. I had this feeling ... that I've never had before, it was just this pervasive presence. Describe your style. EA: My style ... like clothes? Casual. You can never be certain when the zombie apocalypse will strike. Wear sneakers. How has being a redhead benefited you in life? EA: If you're ginger, they’re expecting that you're going to bring the sass, right? So because they expect that of you, it gives you permission to be that way. They might not expect that of other people ... but with redheads they can just roll with it, and so I feel like that gives me some sass. People also are very fascinated with red hair when I travel, particularly if I travel some place where there aren't a lot of redheads. They’re very interested and curious, and I get people complimenting me and they're friendly and they want to know, “How did you do that?” and, “Is that your real hair?” and I’m like, “Yes,” and they’re like, “Ah, you're so lucky,” and it’s just, how do you get tired of someone saying you're lucky? What would you tell your high school self if you had the chance? EA: I would tell myself that my hard work was going to pay off, and worrying never extended anybody’s life another minute.

Text by EMMA GOLDMITH and ZOFIA AHMAD Photography by ANA-SOFIA AMIEVA WANG and EMMA GOLDSMITH

FEATURES | FEB 2015

BEHIND THE SCENES

THE MANY FACES OF STAGE TECH

HROUGH THE HUMID, stagnant air, tangible excitement builds while actors and actresses rush to don their dancing shoes before joining the rest of the cast stretching on the stage of Palo Alto High School’s Haymarket Theater. Behind the on-stage commotion, if you dare to venture behind the thick velvet curtains, a new world unveils itself. Drifting in and out of peripheral vision, power cords trail behind colorful skirts and equally colorful hair bobs up and down behind huge sheets of plywood. Playful banter bounces back and forth between students, but they don’t let comfort lead to distraction. A sea of students hurries back and forth wielding paintbrushes, wrenches and armfuls of costumes. At the outermost boundary of the stage, a wooden staircase leads to two landings. Students flow up both flights carrying heavy equipment. To the right lies the storage area for old props, dubbed “Azkaban.” A vast pulley system reaches up to the ceiling, controlling the curtains and lights below. The signature “Ethan Cohen ‘13” is painted in dripping blue paint next to a vertical ladder made out of pipes. Controlling this metropolis of cords and equipment are the stage techs: a group of Paly students charged with the creation of a fictional world for every Paly Theater production — from the hectic opening night to the bittersweet closing. “Stage techs definitely pride themselves in being the invisible hand that makes all onstage magic happen,” senior stage manager Hannah Nguyen says. “Techies bond over their love and passion for theater, and everyone definitely feels like a part of a really spectacular community.” In stage tech, organization is key since students must be silently orchestrated behind the curtains. Students are divided into groups: stage, sound, hair and makeup,

light, build, props, costumes and scenes. “Paly Theater is a really different experience than whatever the middle school did before, so all freshmen are encouraged to explore all different aspects,” Nguyen says. Underclassmen rotate from crew to crew to hone their skills, while upperclassmen stay within their chosen niche. This system enables each student to graduate with knowledge of all the different aspects of stage tech outside the area they specialize in. Mostly student-run, stage tech teaches students the skills necessary to put a show together. “It’s generally the upperclassmen’s duty to teach the underclassmen, and thus the cycle continues as a new generation comes in,” says sound crew member and sophomore Edward Park. Working on the production everyday unifies the techies and creates a tight-knit community. “There’s something about working toward making something together that really builds community,” says senior lighting supervisor Katherine Craig. The easy banter and laughter between stage techies after school is the type of comfortable group dynamic that one doesn’t find every day. “Just as a sports team, the techies ourselves are a team and more so a family,” Park says. The stage tech community’s bonds go beyond the stage’s parameters. “Theater has given me a common ground with a truly wonderful group of people who have become my second family,” says junior Charlotte Moffat, a stage manager. Ultimately, Stage Tech brings an unlikely group of students together across genders, ages and grades. “It’s brought me people that I have laughed with, cried with and shared unforgettable memories with,” Nguyen says. v

ABOVE Freshmen Peter King works to create the sets for the the upcoming theater production, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” BELOW Junior Claire Kemmerer reviews makeup designs for actors. 61

FEATURES | FEB 2015

A NEW STYLE OF EDUCaTION TECH-BASED SCHOOL TO OPEN IN PALO ALTO FOR 2015 SCHOOL YEAR

Text by RACHEL VAN GELDER and ROY ZAWADZKI Photography by ROY ZAWADZKI Art by ANTHONY LIU

MICRO-SCHOOLS AltSchool’s multiple schools are connected through an online platform, including the one coming to Palo Alto. 62 62

T 930 EMERSON ST. IN Palo Alto sits an old car shop with peeling green and white paint on its paneled walls. Soon, this worn building will be turned into a private, tech-based school that represents the possible future of education. AltSchool, a fledgling private education group, is taking steps toward the future by changing the definition of school itself. Instead of being one location where all students go to learn, AltSchool is connecting all of their locations across the Bay Area through an online platform which combines personalized learning with a “micro-school model.” This small-school model allows for more intimacy and personalized learning between student and teacher without sacrificing classroom capacity. AltSchool will offer 80 spots for students from kindergarten through eighth grade, where they will learn technology usage and be exposed to new teaching and learning styles. “In addition to the micro-school model, part of our focus is on personalized, whole child learning,” says AltSchool head of marketing Deborah Kelson. “We are developing a technology platform that teachers can use for personalized learning for each student.” Part of AltSchool’s personalized learning style allows teachers to create assignments and lessons for individual children based on their interests in various topics. Students can also move up a grade level whenever they are ready, rather than at a given point in time. According to Palo Alto High School climate teacher on special assignment Eric Bloom, it would be difficult to create a learning style

FEATURES | FEB 2015 focused around individuals at Paly. “Private schools get to choose their students, and those students pay a lot of money to have the kind of open and flexible kind of curriculum that AltSchool offers,” Bloom says. “And an eight- or 10-to-one student ratio is simply impossible in a public school setting.” To make sure that they are prepared for high school and college, AltSchool aims to develop “T-shaped” students, according to Kelson. The idea of a “T-shaped” student is the basis of AltSchool’s teaching platform. The horizontal part of the T represents the variety of topics taught, whereas the vertical part represents the depth of knowledge that students at AltSchool acquire. “Most high schools and colleges, they are looking for students that have a really broad base of knowledge but also can go deep in a particularly passionate topic,” Kelson says. By combining the elements of the Common Core and other state requirements, AltSchool creates a system that gives students BUILDING LOCATION Occupied by a car shop, this locathe autonomy and flexibility they need to grow as learners. tion will soon be turned into Palo Alto’s first AltSchool, which is In what AltSchool calls “playlists,” teachers are able to as- due to open for the 2015 school year. sign basic tasks to the students such as activities in algebra or time However, AltSchool may be the right fit for parents who want management as well as assignments on a specialized topic that a student chooses. If the child wants to change his or her focus a rigorous, standards-based education that is personalized with a topic, they can do so by taking advantage of AltSchool’s innova- focus on experimental and project-based learning. “Our choice of AltSchool specifically had the most to do with tive online feedback system, which offers a continuous feedback a concierge approach to education,” Pacchini says. “Our child is cycle between the teacher, parent and student. “Online is fantastic,” says Laura Pacchini, an AltSchool par- very strong in certain areas and needs encouragement in others, ent. “It is stable, intuitive and has a clean and attractive user inter- which is nicely handled at AltSchool.” Along with students, teachers have also viewed this as an opface.” Furthermore, the online platform allows for the student to portunity to be a part of a change in education. “What attracts a wide range of teachers to easily switch between teachers and still have AltSchool is the autonomy that they get within the same personalized experience throughout their classroom,” Kelson says. “They are given their time at AltSchool. the tools they need to succeed and the ability “When students move on to a new teacher, all of the knowledge of the student’s work Our child is very strong to tailor learning based on their students’ inover the year is traditionally lost,” Kelson says. in certain areas and terests and needs.” Jamie Stewart, a member of AltSchool’s “Whereas through all of the documentation, the next teacher has the benefit of [having] all needs encouragement in Education Team, emphasizes the values which the information about the child and can con- others which is nicely AltSchool stands by as more than academics, as an all-encompassing learning experitinue to provide personalized education.” handled at altschool.” but ence that will ready the child for their long life As the student progresses through — Laura Pacchini ahead of them. AltSchool, a “learner portrait” is created “We are setting students up to be sucwhich combines all of their work and develcessful with not only the academic challenges opment. that they may be faced with after they leave “When [the student] graduates to go to high school, there is a lot of great knowledge captured about the AltSchool, but also [with] the challenges of navigating an everevolving world,” Stewart says. “Our goal is for AltSchool students child,” Kelson says. With this new method of schooling, parents must make a to leave with both an exceptional base of academic skills and also huge decision regarding the style of education they want to pursue a deep understanding of their own passions, strengths and chalfor their children. Since the curriculum constantly changes due to lenges.” For students like Pacchini’s child, AltSchool has inspired him the feedback that AltSchool implements on a regular basis, parents will often have to proceed not knowing exactly what their child to be excited about learning, school and the challenges that lie ahead of him. will be doing each year. “Our child has been at AltSchool since the beginning of this “It is a leap of faith in some ways for a family to go to a new school,” Kelson says. “For families to want a more traditional year,” Pacchini says. “Prior to this year, he [my child] dreaded goschool, at this point in our growth, this may not be the perfect fit ing to school. After the initial adjustment to a new envrionment, he is confident, happy and a very well-adjusted social being.” v for them.”

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PROFILE | FEB 2015

Creighton’s

World

IF YOU HAVE A FIRE IN YOUR HEART HE’LL MAKE IT AN INFERNO Text and Photography by JACK BROOK

HERE IS A PLACE at Palo Alto High School where most students will never once venture in their four years — a place most may not even know exists. Behind the upholstery room, with its torn couches and hanging sheets and drapes, lies the domain of Braumon Creighton, the new head wrestling coach. For all its lack of glory, this strip of mat — what constitutes the wrestling room at Paly — has become something of an autocracy. Here, a suggestion is a demand and a question is always rhetorical. There is a pecking order, and everyone knows who the top dog is. Like a pastor, Creighton preaches in a loud, clear voice that is neither rushed nor hurried but fills up the room to make its point. He pauses every few words, speaking with supreme self-confidence and moving in the rhythm and swagger of a champion athlete. His sermon, as always, is on wrestling. “In my day we used to talk a lot about fights,” he tells the dozen or so sweaty young men and women seated 64

in front of him during a rare break in the drills. “But there was always one guy that people would say, ‘Oh, don’t fight him, he goes psycho. He goes crazy.’” “Well guess what? Going crazy means nothing in wrestling. It won’t help you.” He looks around at each wrestler to make sure they understand. “Position will dominate action,” he continues. “If he’s on top of me, and he’s got two hands on my wrists, it doesn’t matter how much action I do … he has me. You gotta fight for position. You can’t just spazz out. You gotta fight smart.” By this point, the wrestlers are well through the exercises — the lunges, backwards push-ups, forward rolls, hand stand rolls, quad jumps, push-ups (they’d better be real ones) — and now have moved on to their drills. They begin to shuffle and dodge and dive, each in their own world, a group of shifting atoms moving around Creighton’s nucleus as he stands in the center of the mat and observes. Creighton pays particular attention to his two stars, senior James Giac-

cia and sophomore Seth Goyal. Creighton watches Giaccia for a moment before shaking his head and sighing deeply. “You don’t have what I have,” he says. “You’re going to get tortured next year [in college wrestling].” Soon, the wrestlers are on to harder moves, trying to master the “high crotch,” and there is the constant dull percussion of bodies slamming into mat. Creighton tells the team they need more tenacity, that the drills are going too slowly. Some of the wrestlers are having trouble with the move, and Creighton offers several corrections which are not implemented effectively. Finally, he takes a kid aside. “Do you want to develop a skill, or do you want to get your ass kicked?” he asks. “Develop a skill.” “Good, ‘cause I’m not just saying this for my health,” Creighton tells him. He watches the kid attempt the move again and nods ever so slightly. “Better.” The Making of a Wrestler Creighton grew up in Nebraska, his

CUPERTINO DUAL New Head Wrestling Coach Braumon Creighton observes intently from the sidelines during Paly’s match against Cupertino.

father a former college wrestler who channeled his unfulfilled dreams into his son. Creighton quite literally had wrestling thrust upon him from birth, as family gatherings inevitably ended with everyone heading down to the basement to watch him and his cousins wrestle. He won his very first match in kindergarten, against an opponent two years older, and didn’t lose once until fourth grade. He still remembers the name of the second grader who beat him, David Kilgaard, and he would continue to follow Kilgaard’s wrestling career. Creighton left that match devastated. He didn’t step on the mat again for three years. In high school, Creighton lacked self assurance in his own abilities, despite having more wrestling experience than most. There was a fear that crept in each time he took to the mat — the fear of losing, yes, but the fear of winning too, because then he would have to win more. It was the fear of failed expectations and humiliation synonymous with the name Kilgaard, a fear neither Creighton’s father nor coach could alleviate. Only his mother, who

knew him best, realized what he needed. During Creighton’s junior year, he was forced to skip part of the season for a shoulder surgery, and in this time she gave him a book which changed his life. “Mental Toughness Training for Sports” flipped a switch for Creighton. The kid who used to pray he would get in a car accident on his way to practice now found himself able to control the fear. Before, he had held back, afraid to try his very, very hardest because if he did that and still failed then what would that say about him? He learned that he would need to let go of being good to become great. Around this time, his father took him to see the National Championships, and Creighton watched in awe at the gladiator-like glory to which the wrestlers took to the mat. This was a new stage of wrestling, and he felt for the first time a desire taking shape within him. He began to take mental preparation as seriously as physical fitness, visualizing his pins before a match even began. By senior year, he was untouchable, going 35 - 0 and claiming the state championship,

which led to offers from several schools. He chose University of Nebraska, Omaha, to wrestle Division II and vowed to become the winningest wrestler the school had ever known. Four All-American years and two national championships later he didn’t quite make his goal, but came close — the second winningest in school history. There are only two options for a graduating college wrestler — the Olympics or coaching. Creighton chose the latter. For the past eight years he has taught as a middle school physical education teacher, where he seeks to recruit and train prospective wrestlers. Now, after two years of simultaneously assistant coaching for Paly, he is in the driver’s seat, right where he wants to be. The Cupertino Dual “Nobody’s trying to half nelson and tear your arm off in lacrosse. Nobody’s trying to squeeze your guts out. Nobody’s trying to destroy you,” Creighton tells me before the match. “That’s why we’re so intense.” Creighton looks unusually dapper before the Cupertino dual, Paly’s third of the 65

GET PUMPED Creighton motivates a Varsity wrestler before a match. don’t have to practice five days a week for two and a half hours a day to do that.” “I spend more time with you guys than I do with my own children,” Creighton concludes. “Am I wasting my time?” When Creighton puts a kid on the mat, it’s his reputation and the school’s reputation on the line. The wrestlers can’t ever forget that fact.

season, having ditched his wrestling attire of sweats for a collared shirt, ironed black pants and his national championship ring. He is optimistic as he addresses the team. “Each of you is better prepared now than you ever have been,” he says. “I think we could easily go out and win every match.” But the Paly squad is already down 12 to zero before the dual has even started because they do not have a full team and have thus had to forfeit two weight classes. In a dual, each wrestler’s match can earn or lose points for the whole team. A pin is six points. A technical fall, in which the wrestler substantially outscores an opponent in terms of takedowns and moves, is five points. Lastly, a basic win (simply outscoring an opponent) is three points. The JV team sets the tone for the match to come. The first two are pinned in quick succession and the third wrestler puts up a fight but eventually succumbs to the mat. “It’s like they’ve got magnets on their backs,” an assistant says to Creighton. Goyal and Giaccia start off the varsity matches for Paly and both gain pins easily. Creighton is pleased — the school superintendent is watching. But things go downhill from there. “Don’t you get pinned,” Creighton shouts at the third varsity wrestler. “Up to your feet, up to your feet!” Creighton is leaning over, almost pantomiming the moves as if to will the kid to victory. But eventually the wrestler is pinned. The rest of the matches follow more or less in the same manner, with a lone win somewhere along the line. These sorts of matches can be frustrat66

ing for Creighton. At Paly, most wrestlers on the team are in their first or second year, and a disproportionate number are freshmen. “It’s almost not fair to put a firstyear varsity freshman against a fouryear senior,” Creighton says. “You can be strong and fast and athletic, but you need to understand the techniques. It’s like learning a foreign language.” By the end of the Cupertino dual, Creighton has sunk into his seat and left the shouting to his assistants. It’s the last match of the night, but Paly has already lost the dual. Freshman Richie Islas, who cut 10 pounds in just a couple days to make this weight, comes on to the mat. Within seconds, Ritchie swoops in for the high crotch. He’s vicious, swatting and pouncing with an energy that has evaded the rest of the team all night, and soon he’s got his opponent in his arms, picking him and slamming him into the mat. Creighton jumps to his feet. He is bouncing from side to side again, cheering Ritchie on ‘till the inevitable pin comes. “That was the best performance of the whole match. The whole match,” he tells Ritchie, giving him a slap on the head. Nevertheless, back in the wrestling room, Creighton is furious. The team gathers around, battered, sweaty and, save the four who won, mostly humiliated. “I worry about you guys,” Creighton says. “Not having enough pride in yourself. You let some other person just take you down and put you on your back and pin you like you’re nothing. Like you’re nothing. Like you don’t work out, like you don’t train. Why even come to practice? You

Miracle Match at Gunn The Paly wrestling team had lost every dual of the season as it headed across town to take on Gunn, a school with a full line-up of wrestlers, each in their third or fourth year, many trained in middle school by Creighton. Due to forfeits, Paly came into the match already down by 18 points, the equivalent of three pins. Yet something must’ve been in the air that evening, Gunn’s senior night no less. It became apparent that the match would not be going as anticipated after a Paly freshman, TJ Murray, who had not won all year, threw down his opponent, a senior, and managed to stay on top for the rest of the match. Three points for Paly. A few matches later, a JV wrestler, Calvin Grewall, who had moved up to fill in for the normal Varsity starter, pancaked his opponent and got the pin. Gunn 18, Paly 14. The next three Paly wrestlers pinned their matches and suddenly it was 32 to 18, Paly. Junior Emil Wolfgram prepared to clinch the dual with his 160 pound weight class match. After the Cupertino loss, Creighton had told him his performance was “pathetic.” I love you and I will give you the shirt off my back, Creighton had said, but you can’t ever do that again. You’ve got to wrestle. Wolfgram went on to score takedown after takedown, getting the technical win to seal victory for Paly. The win over Gunn may have been an improbable one, but perhaps in the future it will not be. Creighton knew how to turn himself into a champion, and he knows how to do that for others. Recently, the two girls on the team, junior Sarah Aguilar and senior Alexa Austin, won the Central Coast Section Championships. “It’s just another dual meet, it’s just back to the process,” Creighton says, of the Gunn match. “It’s just back to the process of conditioning, of learning to be a wrestler. It’s just another notch in the belt.” v

PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2015

Text by NATALIE MAEMURA Photography by EMMA GOLDSMITH

CEASE THE C-DAY

EVERY DAY SHOULD HAVE A BLOCK SCHEDULE

T IS MONDAY MORNING, and I arrive just in time to the first of my seven classes for the day. Sitting in my chair, I glance at the clock as the first few minutes of the period fly by. Within a blink of an eye, I hear the electronic tone of the school bell signaling the end of the class. Wait, what happened? How did time pass so quickly? Much to my displeasure, the teacher asks us to stay a few more minutes during the passing period, attempting to finish the lesson. Shoving my notes together and throwing my binders into my backpack, I sprint across campus to get to my next class on time, ready to repeat this same tiresome process all over again. When the school week begins with a seven period day, students start the week with a bad attitude. C-days are stressful and tiring, with seven periods in almost eight straight hours — it is class after class, different subjects every hour, and loads of homework due each time. When I reach seventh period, I don’t even want to look at anything academic, let alone focus on learning. Once I get home after a long school day, I am so physically and mentally drained that it’s almost impossible for me to do homework. As discussed in the administration’s Jan. 30 letter addressed to the Palo Alto High School community, the Paly administration plans to “take small steps to reduce stress,” which could include eliminating Cday schedules. To achieve a greater impact in our educational and personal experience, the administration should expedite the idea of a schedule without C-days. In addition to reducing stress, having more block periods (90-minute long classes) will encourage productivity and a better learning environment; if we have the opportunity to benefit student’s mental health and to increase the amount of learning time, we should take it as soon as possible.

When it comes to efficient learning, block periods are superior to C-day periods because 50 minutes are far too short to absorb and process information. While C-days may not seem that bad initially, I find that classes after brunch and lunch

C-DAYS The average high schooler on a C-day carries around twice their weight in binders and books from class to class.

are harder to settle into. Many students often take about five minutes to calm down from adrenaline rushes that they get during breaks, and then waste another five minutes spacing out in anticipation of the end of class. During 90-minute periods, not only do we have more time to make up for our poor attention span, but students are also able to settle into the class and thus actively learn more. Block periods are better for a student’s educational achievement, which is shown by many education analyses, including David Stader’s “Block Scheduling in Small High Schools: Perceptions from the Field.” A block schedule for the entire week means only three to four classes per day, which reduces a student’s nightly workload. This translates to more time for studying, extracurriculars and most importantly, R&R (rest and recuperation). While the work assigned is still equal to that of Cdays, block days offer a flexible after school life. Although eliminating C-days may change the balance of our weekly schedule, we can alternate between even and odd schedules on Mondays. This means that one week would start with odd blocks, and the next Monday would start with even blocks. Each Monday would then be followed by the usual block schedule we already have. Therefore, two school weeks would have an equal balance of classes. C-days are very unpopular with the Paly community. They create pressure, make students and teachers feel rushed and most harmfully, lead to unnecessary stress. Now that the administration is considering the end of C-days, I believe that Paly is taking a big step in the right direction, and that it would be an important and positive change for us as a community. I can only hope that the changes will begin by the new school year. But for now, as I cram seven binders into my backpack, I tell myself that I must shoulder on. v 67

how “we’re all in this together”

A LOOK INTO HOW SOCIETY RESPONDS TO SUICIDE

Art and text by KARINA CHAN “

HY DIDN’T YOU CHANGE YOUR profile picture?” A girl asked me. I could hear the subtext behind her words: “Why don’t you care about the people who died from suicide?” I do. A lot. I also worry that some of our inclinations cause short-term and long-term risks. While it may not always be apparent, the way a community responds to suicide has shown to impact efforts needed to prevent future suicides. Here’s what I hope we can think about: First, as students we need to be responsible in how we react, especially on social media, to provide the safest environment for the community. According to the American Association of Suicidology, studies have found that media coverage which explicitly describes the suicide method, uses dramatic headlines or images or glamorizes a death will increase the likelihood of suicide in vulnerable individuals. Posts and profile pictures that even inadvertently glorify suicide are dangerous. While the practice may seem to promote unity during a time of need, it often does not explain to others how you’re trying to help. Profile picture changes can also reduce the severity of suicide to a temporary issue that can be dismissed by the click of a button, when it is actually an issue of monumental importance. We also need to be careful not to turn those who died into martyrs by changing our profile pictures to images of the deceased. Posting statuses claiming that we did not know them but that they were great people suggests suicide is a viable action for those who have suicidal thoughts by implying that they will achieve notoriety through death. Second, students can productively contribute to the health of the community in other ways. Personally reaching out to friends should be a permanent, consistent habit in the community rather than one only expressed after tragedy. By making this act of caring part of our social habit, we can create a lasting positive impact. I know that I would appreciate anybody who takes the time to talk 68

to me about his or her issues. Third, while it is easy to point at the school district or teachers for student stress, we should not blame or villainize them. “While some in the community are quick to blame academic stress as a causal factor, it has not been a contributing factor to recent deaths,” stated Superintendent Max McGee in his Feb. 3 “Max Mail” letter to the Palo Alto community. Even so, the district has shown intent to do its part in making the students’ environment as healthy as it can. McGee’s letter to staff on Feb. 4 listed both short- and long-term solutions to reducing stress, including lessening of homework over the five-day break; flexibility with students who need to reschedule or more time on tests; a refined approval process for Advanced Placement courses, requiring a parent-faculty meeting; mindfulness training, and many more solutions. Parents and families also have a hand in shaping our community’s attitude. Suicidal and depressing thoughts can come from sources outside the home and school, so it is incorrect and dangerous to assume that a loving family environment removes a child from any risk of depression and suicidal thoughts. Nobody should aggressively inquire for details of names, ethnicities or specificities of suicide cases. It can be insensitive to people who were very close to or the family of the deceased. However, it would greatly benefit your child to let them know that you are a resource they can talk to if they need to relieve their feelings. While we cannot generalize the cause for every suicide since each case is different, creating a supportive and caring environment is contributive to improving the overall emotional and mental health of students. I hope that we can change the way that we respond to suicides so that we can make the most positive impact in our community. We really are in this together. v If you or someone else you know needs help, please seek help from a professional or adult, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1 (800) 273-8255. The hotline is open to calls 24 hours 7 days a week.

PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2015 Text by ANSLEY QUEEN Photography by ANA SOFIA AMIEVA-WANG

Stuck between a rock & a hard class IT’S OKAY TO ADMIT THAT YOU ARE IN TOO DEEP

S A STUDENT AT PALO ALTO HIGH school, I spend a grand total of one hour doing my Advanced Placement U.S. History, Math and Honors English homework. I am able to maintain my 4.0 GPA while excelling at my extracurriculars, and still have time on the side to hang out with friends. Wait a minute. Now, I’m no expert, but I feel comfortable saying that this is mathematically impossible. How do I do it then? There’s the catch: I don’t. Like many other Paly students, I have caught myself grossly under-exaggerating the amount of effort it takes for me to get the grades I want. There’s no reason to waste our limited time and energy creating this facade. Most of us would say it’s much “cooler” to be a hard worker who perseveres and gets good grades, no matter how much time it may take, but come on. Such a fantasy is unrealistically optimistic on the battlefield of high school. So, as students, we resort to abiding by our teenage impulses that tell us it’s “cool” to overachieve, and that you’re smarter if you get good grades with as little effort as possible. But this system is flawed, and leads to unrealistic expectations for students. It’s time to realize that “coolness” has no relation to our academic strengths and weaknesses; we need to change our attitude towards effort and be honest about our struggles. As high schoolers, we are emotionally wired to be insecure and may resort to lying to fit in. A moment will come in math class, when my pal asks how long the homework took me — a brief moment of panic ensues for the mathematically uninclined. When confronted by such a situation, we students respond based on our instinctual need for acceptance, but forget that such a decision is hopelessly guided by the confused beliefs of the teenage psyche. I go with 45 minutes over the honest three hours. Why? I know how long the assignment should have taken, and shudder when I compare it to my own experience. If I tell the truth, it’ll be painfully obvious that I am struggling — that I’m not reaching Paly “standards.” But I have come to realize nobody cares whether homework takes you 15 minutes or five hours. I don’t owe anyone a single thing, and creating insurmountable

expectations for myself only leads to exhaustion. I learned this lesson the hard way first semester in my Physics class. After one week, I could already tell that I was in trouble, but I refused to admit it to anyone and kept grinding through the assignments. The first test came up, and I studied for hours, but even after my hard work, I could’ve predicted the unfavorable outcome. I was stubborn and in denial about my situation; the entire semester, I pretended that physics was a breeze. My friends and parents only knew what I told them, and my grade suffered terribly from my unwillingness to ask for help. When preparations for the final exam were underway, the pressure was on to prove everything I had been claiming all semester. After cracking open my textbook and beginning my review, one thing became painfully apparent: I had completely screwed myself over. After asking for extra time because I knew I would need it, I ended up going into the final 40 minutes early and was still the last to finish in my class, using the entire two hours. The experience was humiliating, and was not worth the extra hours of cramming. Please learn from my painful mistakes: Be honest and get help when you need it. Paly’s ultra-competitive environment fosters an unwillingness to seek help. It’s a competition of intelligence, quantified by who can master a certain topic in the least amount of time. However, the speed by which we absorb information is completely subjective to every person’s strengths and weaknesses. An assignment that takes me one hour may take someone else three hours, or vice versa. So instead of staying up all night trying to make it through one paper or worksheet, ask a friend or teacher for help, and for once, actually get a good night’s rest. Your self worth has nothing to do with the amount of time you spend taking APUSH notes. v

PERSPECTIVES | FEB 2015

Text by KELLY SHI Art by KARINA CHAN

“PICS, OR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN”

(THAT’S WHAT SHI SAID)

LTHOUGH I WOULD NEVER CONSIDER myself the most proactive of personalities, even I have begun compiling the essential second semester staple — my Prom To-Do List is already overflowing with tasks of the utmost importance: • Find shoes — tall heels, but not too tall because I don’t want to tower above everyone else. Ask around to see what height heels everyone else is wearing, then figure out the height of everyone surveyed, calculate the average height with heels and make sure I am within one standard deviation of it. • Decide whether I want to post my dress on the Prom Dresses 2015 Facebook group. How much do I care if someone wears the same dress as me? What if my dress doesn’t get enough likes? Consider reserving all other sizes of my dress on Rent the Runway just in case somebody else decides they want it. • Target and confirm Prom escort. See: list of viable candidates made in August, narrowed down throughout the year based on personality, height and unfortunate haircuts. • Convince parents that bringing bankruptcy upon the family for a single night of dressing up is worth it. • Convince myself that spending all this time and energy on one night is worth it. Despite my to-do list’s title, my Prom experience will barely be affected by the completion of these tasks. My obsession with matching heights is irrelevant on a darkened dance floor that is only occasionally illuminated by pulsing strobe lights. I couldn’t care less about wearing the same dress as a stranger, and I don’t need a date for me to have a good time — after all, the Macarena is a one-person dance.

Indeed, it would probably make more sense to call the second semester staple a Pre-Prom To-Do List. Consider the photography sessions that occur two hours before the buses load, where friends gather at a predetermined house for the debut of their outfit and date. Combine such an annual tradition with the fact that I am living in an age when every single moment of my life is documented on social media, and my premature obsession begins to make sense. If my Prom photos are going on the World Wide “Internet is forever” Web for all several hundred of my Facebook friends to see, you can bet your boutonniere that I’ll hunt down someone who’s willing to wear a suit, if only so they can hold my waist at a 45-degree angle in the middle of somebody’s vibrant backyard. Our all-consuming stress and anxiety is not, as many would assume, geared towards the night of Prom itself; the insane amount of preparation and passive aggressive posts on social media stem from our desire to look perfect in the pictures taken at Pre-Prom meet-ups. We create a Facebook group dedicated to posting pictures of our dresses to avoid instances of “Who Wore It Better,” when really, everybody is already wearing the same long, chiffon dress with a sweetheart neckline in different pastel colors and varying levels of reflective plastic. Although we enjoy telling each other to embrace individuality, at the heart of our pre-Prom panic lies the need to conform, to wear a dress that’s different but not too different, to have a person to exchange botanic accessories with and to ensure that we don’t teeter too tall above our friends’ heads in our fancy shoes. High schoolers’ obsession with their image on social media has managed to turn a fun, stress-relieving dance into an event that, for many students, calls for a flurry of preparation and undeserved anxiety. Every year, a number of high school students present a stunning display of misprioritization when they sacrifice their sleep, sanity and dignity in a singleminded effort to reign victorious in an online photo contest judged by their peers. Our need to record everything on social media has combined with Prom’s twice-in-a-high-school-career opportunity to dress in formal attire, and, together, the two have given birth to a social culture in which conformity rules and individuality drools. We need to collectively step back from the Internet, acknowledge that it is not a good thing to reach our social peaks during a high school dance and treat Prom for what it is: a single night of dressing up and dancing with your best friends to Top 40 music without any sense of shame. v

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

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