Verde Volume 26 Issue 1

School board, pg. 16

Kamala Harris, pg. 20

V. Crossroads

Youth vote, pg. 24

VERDE MAGAZINE

OCTOBER 2024 Volume 26 Issue 1

ON THE COVER

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand back to back in a digital drawing by artist Sasha Kapadia. With a pivotal election ahead, the cover symbolizes the stark contrast between the candidates’ political ideologies and leadership styles. The title, “Crossroads,” signifies the importance of this election: we may end up with our first female president, one that has created a lot of buzz around politics recently, or we may reelect one of the most controversial presidents America has seen. It’s up to the public to decide.

Publication policy

Verde Magazine, a news and features magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Magazine Journalism class, is a designated open forum for student expression and 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 verde.eics@gmail.com or 50 Embarcadero Rd Palo Alto, CA 94301.

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 our business manager at verdebusiness5@ gmail.com.

Printing & distribution

Verde is printed five times a year in September, November, February, April and May by Folger Graphics in Hayward, California. The Paly Parent Teacher Student Association mails Verde to every student’s home. All Verde work is available at verdemagazine.com

Editors-in-Chief

Alma Bendavid

Lia Cardwell

Lizzy Williams

Managing Editors Vit Do

Divya Gandhi

Cate Graney

Features Editors

Chloe Huang Kensie Pao

Profiles Editor

Sophie Mies

Culture Editor

Maya Rajbhandari

Perspectives

Editors

Eva Chang

Zachary Crystal

News Editor

Niaz Alasti

Launch Editor

Lilia Kuzmicheva

Editorials Editor

Andrew Kassel

Business Manager Maya Rajbhandari

Statistician

Jaron Leung

Photo Director

Lara Saslow

Webmaster

Ethan Zhang

Staff Writers

Nathalia Arias

Stefan Eriksson

Otto Kiss Meyerfreund

Ryan Saket

Lilo Sayag

Yardenne Sternheim

Julie Yang

Adviser

Paul Kandell

issue

FROM THE EDITORS THE FUTURE IS NOW

As we open the first issue of Verde’s 26th volume, we find ourselves at a crossroads in history, shaped by the upcoming presidential election. As shown by our cover, by artist Sasha Kapadia, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, stand back-toback, highlighting their polarizing opinions across various topics.

Both candidates are covered extensively throughout the media, and this edition of Verde is no exception. In the culture story “Campaigns and coconuts,” features editor Kensie Pao and staff writer Yardenne Sternheim investigate the social media campaigns of both candidates and the noticeable impact that Gen-Z trends have had on political campaigns. In an opinion piece, “A strange selection,” perspectives editor Zachary Crystal describes Harris’ route to the nomination as undemocratic.

Local politics also take the spotlight, with news editor Niaz

Alasti and perspectives editor Zachary Crystal covering the District 16 congressional race between Sam Liccardo and Evan Low. In “Meeting the candidates,” written by assistant sports editor Stefan Erikson and profiles editor Sophie Mies, readers can learn about the Palo Alto Unified School District’s Board of Education candidates, their priorities, what led them to Palo Alto and more.

This election is unprecedented, with the first woman of color to run for president and the first convicted felon to run for president. However, this time is not just defined by politics, as trailblazers shape the Palo Alto community. In “A new way to ball” by launch editor Lilia Kuzmicheva and staff writer Julie Yang, Palo Alto High School’s athletic program features its first ever girls flag football team.

As we contemplate the eventful elections ahead, it’s apparent that the future is now, and we play a key role in shaping it.

the verdicts Voting: A civic duty

VOTING GIVES VOICES TO the voiceless. However, this hasn’t always been the case. Throughout our democracy, voting has been restricted for marginalized groups. For example women were only given the right in 1920. But even with various voting barriers lifted, many Americans today choose not to exercise this right.

According to the US Elections Project, in 2020, roughly 33% of eligible voters did not vote in the presidential election. Even though this was the highest turnout since 1900, it pales in comparison to other countries. For example, Uruguay, Turkey, Peru, Indonesia, Philippines, Argentina and Sweden, which have rates of over 80%, according to Pew Research Center.

Important platform issues such as the economy, climate change, abortion rights, immigration and gun control can all be impacted by your vote in both federal and statewide elections. In California, some notable propositions include Proposition 32, which allows an increase in the minimum wage and Proposition 3, which reaffirms the right for same-sex couples to marry.

From 2010 to 2022 the average turnout rate of eligible voters in primaries was an astonishingly low rate of 18.45%, ac-

cording to the Bipartisan Policy Center. This exemplifies a common belief among some eligible voters that their vote is insignificant.

However, individual voters can have an immense impact on the outcome of an election. This year, three of the candidates who ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for District 16 (which includes Palo Alto) were going to advance to the November runoff because of a tie. Joe Simitian and Evan Low tied for second at exactly 30,249 votes each. A recount resulted in Low winning with just a five-vote margin over Simitian. This shows that each and every vote does matter.

In California, there are two methods of voting: mail-in ballots and voting in person. To become a registered voter in California you can visit registertovote.ca.gov and fill out the required information. You may also pre-register to vote in future elections if you are 16 or 17. All active California registered voters will receive a mail-in ballot for the November election, or you can also visit voting centers in person, which will be opening on Oct. 26.

If you are 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, you are able to influence one of the most powerful nations in the world by voting. We believe that voting is a civic duty that every citizen should exercise. v

Trump’s education policies hurt students, teachers

FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump is the first convicted felon to run for president. The irony is, under the 14th Amendment, felons in many states cannot vote, sometimes even after their sentence is up.

As a staff, we have different political opinions, values and candidate preferences. However, after an anonymous political survey of our class, we unanimously agreed that we do not want to see Trump as president again.

Trump does not have the best interests

of students and teachers in mind. According to his campaign website, he has plans to cut teacher tenure and replace it with “Merit Pay,” a program that would reward arbitrarily named “good” teachers and punish “bad” ones according to his own definitions. He hopes to limit what can be taught, by banning critical race theory and socalled “inappropriate content” in schools. According to his campaign website, Trump also hopes to roll back the Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX, the federal law that prevents sex-based discrimination

in schools that receive federal funding, and protects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination. He has even promised so far as completely closing the Department of Education, according to CNN.

Regardless of Trump’s track record as a politician, his election would bring about a new era of public education in which recent advancements in discrimination protection, more equitable school funding and teachers’ rights will be rolled back, affecting students, teachers, and parents across the country. v

Art by RIVER WU

Design by ANDREW KASSEL

Applauding Paly’s school day SAT

ACCORDING TO THE College Board Newsroom, nearly 2 million people took the SAT in 2023, a sign that the race to get into top colleges is as competitive as ever.

Despite many universities becoming test-optional in recent years, the SAT is still a substantial part of the college application process. Demand for taking the SAT has been increasing as college admissions competition increases, especially limited testing locations.

Verde applauds Palo Alto High School for hosting the SAT so students have equal opportunities to take the test, and encourages other high schools to follow Paly’s lead.

According to an article from U.S. News, despite 80% of U.S. universities being test-optional or test-blind, more and more elite universities are reinstating the SAT as part of their admissions require-

ments. This includes schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth University and Yale University.

Elite universities like these, along with public schools in states like Texas, Florida, and Georgia that require SAT scores can prompt students to feel like it is essential to take the SAT until they achieve a good enough score to submit to one of these universities. Many colleges also consider the highest scores from each section across multiple test dates through a process called superscoring. This is another incentive for students to take multiple tests.

Increasing demand for this test has made it difficult to find a seat at a testing center and has prompted some people to travel far to take the SAT.

Menlo-Atherton junior Alessandra Hartwig and Menlo School senior Lily Nye both flew to Los Angeles to take the SAT

because there were no seats close by.

“The Bay Area is so competitive, so everyone is always trying to have a spot, … because everyone wants to have an SAT score to submit,” Nye said.

This issue, however, is remedied when schools host SAT sessions, providing students with the chance to take the SAT without having to travel.

According to assistant principal LaDonna Butler, when Paly hosts the SAT, it offers the test for free for any students on the free and reduced lunch plans.

The more tests schools are able to host, the more equal the opportunities can be made for all.

“We are trying to as much as possible provide opportunities and access to all students,” Butler said. “Regardless of what your background … or your financial disposition is.” v

launch ASB Answers

with Palo Alto High School’s sophomore class president

Katie Kim:

Q: How are you preparing for Spirit Week?

A: The sophomore officers and I have been working hard on float designs, material orders, mixing music for our class dance and posters for publicity and cheers.

Q: Is ASB holding any new events this year?

A: I am continuing the tradition of the Sundae Social that I led for the Class of 2027 last year. I am also looking forward to expanding our class events and overall ASB events, such as cake decorating, potential movie nights and intramural sports tournaments.

verdoodle:

Verde’s 2024

Fall playlist

Scan this code to listen:

Art by Sophia Kelly

Photo by Katie Kim

Text, design and photos by LILIA

KUZMICHEVA

What’s in Mr. Lupoli’s office?

1. A desk name plate he was given by a former student as a joke.

“I appreciate that people understand that the reason I became a teacher is that I was able to forego these things and live my life helping young people learn, though I don’t judge people pursuing money and fame because there’s a lot of value there, too.”

Verbatim:

Q:

what are your opinions on the new attendance system?

2. A painting he was given by a student (Class of 2020) who combined her interest in art and science.

“She was an excellent science student but also an excellent artist, so when she graduated I asked if she would be willing to give me any of her work because I loved it so much and she gifted me this one.”

“It can be more convenient because sometimes my teachers mark me absent when I’m tardy, but with this system that doesn’t happen.”

— Isaac Gonzalez, sophomore

“I hate it because if there’s a line of people waiting to check in outside, you’re gonna have to wait, and if you sign in past the bell, you might get marked tardy.”

— Dorin Flynn, junior

“It’s a good idea in theory, but it’s hard to squeeze in on time. The old attendance system was fine, though.”

— Jennifer Yang, sophomore

news

Poll finds students back Harris for president

THE UNITED STATES presidential election will take place on Nov. 5, between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and some students have strong opinions on the race.

Verde Magazine polled 182 Palo Alto High School students from Sept. 23 to 25. According to the poll, 59.9% of respondents support Harris while 15.9% support Trump and 10% prefer neither/none.

Throughout the country, young voters see Harris in a more positive light than both former democratic candidate Joe Biden or Trump, according to an Axios/Generation Lab poll conducted in July 2024. 45% of 18-34 year olds hold a favorable view of Harris, while just 33% hold a favorable view of Biden and 34% for Trump.

The results of these polls don’t surprise AP U.S. History teacher Katya Villalobos.

They [young people] also seem to be

not only supporting Kamala Harris … they seem to be much more enthusiastic about the choice," Villalobos said.

10% of respondents in the Verde poll say they don't prefer either candidate. Villalobos chalks this up to disengaged and single-issue voters.

“It could be that this group of people just aren’t interested in the election,” Villalobos said. “The other possibility is, it could be [that] they want to look at specific issues, because you also have these voters that vote on very limited issues as opposed to the overall candidate.”

Junior Duncan Sego believes the two candidates should try to appeal more to young voters.

“To connect with young people, I think they [Trump and Harris] should genuinely listen to them,” Sego said. “College students protested for months last year

across the campuses of the country in support of Palestine, and nothing happened. Clearly the politicians are not listening to the [young] people in those regards.”

Sophomore Arman Aditya Basu is undecided between the two candidates.

“[Kamala Harris] is a better candidate than Joe Biden, yes, than Donald Trump? I don’t know," Basu said. “I think Trump is a liar, a cheater and I don’t agree with some of the things he stands for. Meanwhile, Harris … might be a little too progressive.”

Sego also thinks that Harris is an improvement over Biden in some areas, but not in others.

“Between Harris and Biden the largest difference is physical ability," Sego said. "People do not have faith that Biden can effectively lead for another four years."

by JARON LEUNG

LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE A Paly student watches the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Sept. 10. “To connect with young people, I think they [the presidential candidates] should genuinely listen to them,” junior Duncan Sego said. Photo: Kensie Pao

Edited and designed by NIAZ ALASTI

Liccardo, Low to face off in November election

SAM LICCARDO AND EVAN LOW

will face off in November to succeed the 16th congressional district. The current congresswoman, Anna Eshoo, has held the seat since 1993, and her successor could very well do the same, making this election extremely consequential.

The two candidates share similar views on topics important to Bay Area residents, such as climate change. Liccardo's book “Sam’s Plan” outlined his plan for climate change.

“We've got to stop drilling, and we've got to stop subsidizing the drilling,” Liccardo said.

Low’s deputy campaign manager Lam Nguyen outlined Low’s climate change goals.

“Evan [Low] … is also pushing for 2045 carbon neutrality in the state of California," Nguyen said.

homelessness in the Bay Area.

"At the time, one group called EHC … really helped me understand a lot about homelessness," Liccardo said. "That ultimately propelled my interest in that space.”

Both candidates have previous experience in government: Liccardo was the mayor of San Jose from 2015 to 2023, and Low has been a representative in the California State Assembly since 2014.

The competition was whittled down to two candidates following a recount between Low and County Supervisor Joe Simitian, in which Low won by a margin of five votes.

Both candidates ultimately want to listen to and serve the people.

“What can Congress do to lower costs, and how can Congress help build more housing?” Deputy campaign manager for Liccardo Gil Rubenstein said. “So those are two very big issues. We're hearing a lot of voters are concerned about climate change."

Low has highlighted his support for universal healthcare and LGBTQ rights. Conversely, Liccardo has placed a much larger emphasis on his plans to combat by NIAZ ALASTI and ZACHARY

District considers cell phone restrictions

AN UPDATE FROM Palo Alto Unified School District’s Superintendent Don Austin on Aug. 23 stated that the district will discuss and consider next steps regarding smart phone policies in schools across the district.

In late August, California legislators passed a bill, known as the Phone-Free School Act, requiring every school district, charter school and county office of education to develop a policy limiting the use of smartphones by July 1, 2026.

Currently, the district plans to continue its current approach to phone policy — fully restricting cell phones in middle schools and allowing teachers to restrict cell phones in high schools, even without a blanket policy. The district chief technology officer Derek Moore wrote that there are "no changes currently proposed to any existing operating procedures." Palo Alto

High School English Teacher Lizzie DeKraai said she would support an official policy that would not allow phones out during class. She also mentioned that it's becoming more common for teachers to collect students' phones at the start of class.

“The research is clear, even having a phone out on my desk flipped upside down is still limiting my focus and my ability to process and retain information,” DeKraai said.

Junior Harrison Lan said he feels that it should be the student’s decision whether to use cell phones during work time and opposes a full cell phone ban in classes.

“It’s a good way to contact parents if an emergency really happens,” Lan said. “If you take away phones, it’s just less safe for students.”

by CHLOE HUANG

CRYSTAL

PHONES AWAY Senior Sarina Grewal puts her phone away before the start of class. “Phones aren’t distracting anyone but yourself,” junior Harrison Lan said. Photo: Niaz Alasti

PATH TO CONGRESS — Representatives of both campaigns attended NorCal Media Day on Sept. 28. “They both, at some core level, have the same values,” Low's deputy campaign manager Lam Nguyen said. Photos: Niaz Alasti

STANDING UP, SPEAKING OUT Hoover third grader Rupali Rao speaks to the Palo Alto school board on Sept. 10 about her experiences with all gender restrooms at Hoover Elementary. “A boy has punched me in the stomach and spit on me,” Rupali Rao said. “I really do not feel comfortable in an all-gender restroom.” Photo: Niaz Alasti

Decision made on Hoover all-gender bathrooms debacle

HOOVER PRINCIPAL Nikole Manou sent out an email stating that the all-gendered bathrooms at the school will become gender specific bathrooms.

Previously, Superintendent Don Austin sent out a statement explaining the Hoover bathrooms design.

“Our design principles allow for flexibility, meaning restrooms can be designated as either gender-neutral or gender-specific based on the needs of each school community,” Austin said.

The Hoover parents' reaction to this has been mostly positive, after fighting for both gender specific and gender neutral restrooms since Sept. 8, when they started a petition that has since gained 1,312 signatures as of Oct. 2.

“It felt like the first time they were actually giving clear information about the

Gym closes, school looks to support athletes

PALO ALTO HIGH School is restricting weight room access to only student-athletes visiting during their team practices, leaving other students without easy and free access to a gym.

Senior Jacob Kinsky said he and many others depend on the weight room for exercise and socializing.

“Between the spring of my freshman year and winter of my sophomore year, I was in there every day as much as I could,” Kinsky said. “By the end of it, I was a lot more confident about myself and happier.”

In response to the student concerns, Athletic Director, Jennifer Crane explained the decision behind these restrictions.

"It's [the weight room] is also a learning space on campus, just like the Performing Arts Center, just like the library, just like classrooms," Crane said. "After school, all of those facilities are shut down to students unless they have appropriate supervision."

Crane explains that she doesn't see

it as a weight room closure, but as reallocating resources to better serve student athletes.

“We’ve reallocated our resources within Paly athletics for our coaching stipends to support our student athletes,” Crane said. “I see it as an opportunity for our student athletes to rise to the next level of competition by receiving appropriate strength and conditioning.”

Kinsky is trying to reopen the weight room for everyone by getting over 1100 students to sign the petition, as of Sept. 27.

“About 99% of the kids I've asked to sign my petition say yes,” Kinsky said. “They’re genuinely enthusiastic about the idea of reopening the gym."

Kinsky said it is still unclear how this decision will affect students.

“The weight room was a place where I could escape the pressures of school and life,” Kinsky said. “When I learned it was closed, I felt like it was somewhat personal, like I had been wronged.”

by LILO SAYAG

next steps,” Hoover parent Hiral Parekh said.

Parents and students voiced their concerns at a school board meeting on Sept. 10.

“My kids are saying that they don’t feel comfortable enough to use the [all-gender] restroom [at Greendale],” Parekh said.

Sonali Rao, a fifth grader at Hoover, also expressed concerns at the board meeting.

“You should be able to have your own space.” Rao said.

Hoover parents have formed a group of about 90 members called Hoover's Children's Choice.

“I think parents do plan to stay extremely engaged because we don't have confidence in what is going to happen next,” Parekh said.

by DIVYA GANDHI

ID scanners replace roll call

ANEW DIGITAL attendance system at Palo Alto High School is receiving mixed opinions from students and staff. According to a Schoology post by Kristine Ludemann, an Academic Technology Specialist, the goal of the system is to make attendance more efficient and the school more secure.

The system includes bathroom passes, where if a student leaves class for more than seven minutes, the teacher will be notified.

Samuel Howles-Banerji, a Paly chemistry teacher, said he has dealt with fewer attendance corrections since the beginning of this school year.

“I think that there’s greater student accountability for their attendance,” Howles-Banerji said.

Some, like sophomore Caroline Lee, said they feel the system is unreliable.

“I’ve seen a lot of students forget to check in, so that’s also problematic,” Lee said.

Despite its flaws, some teachers appreciate the system.

“I have enjoyed the system, I figured out how to use it well for my classes,” Howles-Banerji said.

by JULIE YANG

Students unable to park on El Camino

BIKE LANES WILL BE added to El Camino Real, replacing many student parking spaces near Palo Alto High School.

Currently, the parking spaces on El Camino in front of Paly are closed, restricting students' access to parking in front of the school. The Palo Alto City Council passed the Caltrans bike lanes project on June 18. The proposal includes wider bike lanes, narrower vehicle lanes and restrictions on right turns on red lights along El Camino Real at 17 locations, including at Churchill Avenue. Caltrans predicts the bike lanes will be implemented by next fall.

Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson says that Paly will need to come up with a way to accommodate students without a parking permit.

"You can't park in the community over there [near Paly], because you [need] to have permits,” Berkson said. “So that is an issue we might have to address moving forward.”

Berkson mentioned that one idea is to give priority for parking permits to students who live a certain distance away from school.

Senior Lucy Griffin, who drives to school every day, discussed both perspectives of the new project.

“I think it will be really great for bikers and it will reduce the emissions from cars, and it will make cars drive a little slower on El Camino, so I think it’ll be good for safety,” Griffin said. “But there’s also the negative aspect to it where it will make it harder for people to park their car.”

by RYAN SAKET

CLUB CONNECTIONS A Paly student signs up for Agora Magazine, a foreign policy magazine club. Junior Meryem Orazova enjoyed exploring all 143 clubs that are being offered this year. “I think it’s really cool seeing all these amazing clubs,” Orazova said. “They’re very creative and a lot of them are super niche which is interesting to see.” Photo: Kensie Pao

Spirit Week changes this year

for the dressing up,” Stier said. Photo: Vit Do

FOR THE FIRST TIME, Paly is introducing a night rally during Spirit Week, which will occur over a a four-day week due to scheduling issues.

This year, Spirit Week will span from Oct. 11 to 19, with celebrations starting early on the Friday before with the “green and white” theme that would typically take place on the last day of Spirit Week.

“It's just going to be like a regular Spirit Week, but the only thing is that it'll start on Friday the 11th,” Spirit Commissioner Arabella Guinle said. “We'll have our regular rallies at lunchtime, and float building on the Monday that we don't have school, so you can still participate and do stuff for Spirit Week on that Monday.”

According to ASB President Julian Hong, although the week selected was not preferable due to the staff development day on Monday, many factors played into the determined date.

“It's a bit of an adjusted Spirit Week because it's hard to find a day where there's a home football game and there's no religious holidays,” Hong said.

According to Guinle, the night rally will occur in the Paly Big Gym from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15, with a neon theme for dress-up.

“We're gonna do two or three games, and we're gonna have cheer and dance perform,” Guinle said. “I think it'll be a really fun addition.”

Despite the changes, new students, such as freshman Ana Stier, are still looking forward to dressing up and experiencing Paly Spirit Week.

“I hope it's going to be different [from middle school], because in the past we had Spirit Weeks, but it wasn't as enforced,” Stier said. “I think it's something a lot of freshmen and obviously, every grade is looking forward to.”

SHOWING SPIRIT Freshmen Ana Stier, Nieve Teetzel and Le Do (left to right) practice their class spirit dance on the Lax Field. “I feel like I'm excited for everything [about Spirit Week], but I'm probably most excited

New tutoring center open for students

PALO ALTO HIGH School's new tutoring center has been available for student use in the Tower Learning Center since the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.

The program is still in development, but students are able to get help starting at 8 a.m., and tutors are eligible to earn service hours. After renovations were made over the 2023-2024 school year, the TLC replaced the old library of the Tower Building, with added seating and privacy dividers.

Junior Yoray Chen says that the new location of the center is an improvement from the previous site.

“The previous tutoring center was really crowded and noisy because the portables were small, and it was difficult to concentrate,” Chen said. “When I walked past [the new center], there were high ceilings, more lighting and the seating was more spread out so there is more room.”

YJ Lee, a math teacher who

is working to build the TLC program, says that the program has expanded beyond traditional peer tutoring.

“It [the program] is different from peer tutoring because peer tutoring is focused more on content,” Lee said. “We want [the new program] to focus not only on content, but also the root cause … because the end goal is that instead of tutors being a crutch or a lifeline, students will be able to pick up on certain skills.”

Lee also says that the program is looking to bring in adult volunteers who can help students taking difficult classes.

“As the levels get higher, it’s harder to find tutors,” Lee said. “We want to bring in adults because of this, but also so that students are able to see the bigger picture."

Lee said she hopes that as the year progresses, more students will take advantage of the center’s resources.

“There’s no shame in asking for help,” Lee said.

by EVA CHANG

Schools around the district undergo renovations

THE DISTRICT HAS branded this summer and school year as the “busiest summer yet,” with a focus on revamping almost every school in the district.

Out of all the elementary schools in the Palo Alto Unified School District being renovated, Hoover Elementary’s remodeling, from the ground-up, has been the most extreme.

District Director of Facilities and Construction Eric Holm said that a full remodel of Hoover was necessary to replace the old campus for a better functioning school for students and teachers.

“[Replacements include] complete utility infrastructure replacement … air conditioning and additional space needs,” Holm said.

Construction at Hoover was delayed due to a fire at Cubberley Community Center. The campus is now expected to reopen in December of 2025 according to Holm. One major change slated to happen on Hoover’s campus is the addition of multiple story buildings, providing more space for classrooms. Palo Verde Ele-

mentary School was previously one of the schools in the district that underwent construction, and classes were moved temporarily to Cubberley.

Jennifer Aza Allan, a fifth grade teacher at Palo Verde, previously taught in a portable before the renovations, but is now in a permanent building.

"I was used to the space, but it really did feel heavy and dark,” Aza Allan said. “So coming into a new spot … it [the new classroom] felt nice and welcoming.”

Recently, Palo Alto High School has undergone renovations of the Tower Building, finishing the project in spring 2024, but no new projects are planned for Paly in the near future.

“We are pretty much done until another bond comes out, which if there would be one it is likely a few years away,” Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said.

by YARDENNE STERNHEIM

SERENE STUDY SPACE In the Tower Learning Center, Paly junior Ellie Yi finishes up work for her classes. “It [the center] is so relaxing,” Yi said. “I TA there and I like the ambience.” Photo: Lara Saslow

Text by STEFAN ERIKSSON

FIVE COMPETITORS IN SCHOOL BOARD RACE

THIS NOVEMBER, THREE candidates have the opportunity to join the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education. With board President Jesse Ladomirak and board members Jennifer DiBrienza and Todd Collins’ terms expiring this year, candidates Alison Kamhi, Josh Salcman, Chris

Colohan, Nicole Chiu-Wang and Rowena Chiu are competing for three seats.

In a survey conducted on the week of Sept. 23, 183 Palo Alto High School students of different grades were asked which candidates they preferred for Palo Alto Board of Education. Of the 183 students, 61% of students were unsure of who they

ALISON KAMHI

Evan Low:

Alison Kamhi has been connected with Palo Alto since 1999, when she attended Stanford University, and has been heavily involved with the Palo Alto Unified School District since her two children have been attending PAUSD schools for the past six years. With her background as an immigrant rights attorney and lawyer, Kamhi believes that her skills and policy background make her qualified to join the Board of Education.

“I work at the country level, the state level, the national level, and through that work, I’ve learned that all changes start local,” Kamhi said. “I can think of nothing more impactful than working right here in our communities to serve our students and families.”

Starting her legal career after attending Harvard Law School, Kamhi has represented kids, and spent the last 15 years advocating for children.

would vote for, and of the remaining respondents, Rowena Chiu had the highest number of votes compared to any other candidate. With interviews of each candidate and citing of their websites, we have compiled short biographies of each candidate, including their background, priorities and endorsements. v

“I’m the only candidate that has ever represented kids or has done policy work to strengthen laws to protect youth and families, so I think I bring that skill set and see this campaign as an extension of that work I’m already doing,” Kamhi said.

During her time as an Escondido Elementary School parent, she joined the Palo Alto Parent Teacher Association, where she is currently the co-chair for gun violence prevention.

According to Kamhi’s campaign website, one of her main priorities is children’s safety, including bike safety, mental health services and gun violence prevention.

Along with safety, one of her other priorities is building community trust between the board and the community so that families are able to understand the reasons for decisions.

“One of the things that I’m interested in doing is ‘Community Trust,’” Kamhi said. “[I’m] really trying to make sure that we’re having open communication between the board and parents and community members. [So] that any decisions that are made are communicated clearly and transparently, and that parents feel like they have input.”

So far, Kamhi has been endorsed by Palo Alto mayor Greer Stone, former Palo Alto mayors Greg Scharff and Nancy Shepherd.

Josh salcman

Josh Salcman started his career in technology. After getting his master’s degree for industrial design at Pratt Institute, he worked in product design strategy for several years.

He then decided to combine youth education with his skills in technology, and co-founded an education technology company that helped students learn math and science.

After working in technology for several years, his career took a turn, and he found himself becoming a full-time parent.

“My youngest of three children was diagnosed with hearing loss as a two-year-old, so that put me on a road that I was unfamiliar with,” Salcman said. “At that point, I became a full time parent so that I could figure out the best way to support him, and this made me very interested in how different children and different students are in terms of their needs.”

Because of his experience as a father, Salcman started to devote himself to volunteering for PAUSD, including being the fundraising leader and treasurer for Nixon Elementary School’s PTA board and the PTA board representative for special education and inclusion, according to Salcman’s campaign website.

Rowena chiu

Well-known for being Harvey Weinstein’s former assistant and an advocate for the “#MeToo” movement, Rowena Chiu is redirecting her career to local politics. Chiu has taken a non-linear career path, starting in the film industry, going to both business and law school, then going into the field of management consulting. This has all led her to Palo Alto with her four kids, who attend PAUSD schools.

During her time as a PAUSD parent, Chiu has been involved in the district, being PTA president of Ohlone Elementary School and the board president at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School’s Connections Program. With four kids in the district, one of Chiu’s biggest priorities is differentiated education and the access to choice programs.

One of Salcman’s priorities is to continue the academic excellence of PAUSD, while ensuring the district pays attention to academically struggling students.

With these priorities, Salcman also recognizes the importance of mental health in the Palo Alto schools and how this connects to making a personalized experience for every student.

“When we talk about the balance between academics and mental health, there’s a lot of interconnectedness between these different topics,” Salcman said. “What we really need to try to do all together as a community is figure out, ideally, how to change the conversation from being one that sometimes feels like a ‘zero sum situation’ to trying to make space for meeting every student where they’re at and trying to help every student thrive in terms of what’s best for them and what they need.”

Salcman has been endorsed by Mayor Greer Stone, Vice Mayor Ed Lauing, and former Mayor Lydia Kou.

“Success doesn’t necessarily look like high academic grades, a stellar career as a doctor, lawyer or in Silicon Valley, a software engineer, but

there is a life kind of outside just one way to success,” Chiu said. “If you want to take an alternative path, I think that that should also be encouraged and I just believe that passion should be encouraged in many different fields, not just one field.”

As a prospective member of the school board, Chiu strives to build trust between the board and parents. As a parent at PAUSD, she understands the frustration between other parents and the board.

“What is frustrating for many people in the district, parents, students, teachers, is whenever they have an issue with a way that something is decided, it is contingent upon the board to really provide an adequate answer to some of the decision making,” Chiu said.

Chiu believes that when communities are able to build trust, parents, teachers, students and the board are able to compromise to find a solution to different problems.

“If you come to a point where you’re suing the district, there’s been a radical breakdown in communication, trust and transparency,” Chiu said. “I really hope to create, [and] build back an environment where we’re working together and we’re not working against one another.”

Chiu is endorsed by Mayor Greer Stone, former Mayor Lydia Kou and Santa Clara Supervisor Susan Ellenberg.

chris colohan

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with a PhD in computer science, Chris Colohan began his career at Google working as a software engineer and an engineering manager for 10 years.

Colohan said he believes his work as an engineering manager makes him qualified to manage the school district.

“The job of the school board is to provide oversight to the district and to manage the superintendent,” Colohan said. “I’m going to try and create a stable, supportive environment where teachers can thrive to the benefit of all of the students in our district.

Additionally, Colohan has worked on Greene Middle School’s and Duveneck Elementary School’s PTA boards and also served as a representative of Palo Alto Partners in Education. As mentioned by his website, he has a deep passion for education and teaching. He believes that having high quality staff is a recipe for success.

“Great teachers ... have a huge impact on our kids. And so the way to attract, train and retain great teachers is by having high quality management that really needs to know how to support great teachers,” Colohan said.

Colohan has been a PTA treasurer for five years, and

nicole chiu-wang

Before Nicole Chiu-Wang became a tech entrepreneur, a business owner and a mother of two, she double majored in Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at University of California, Irvine. After graduating, she went to law school at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Chiu-Wang went on to practice law and later founded her own startup, Boon + Gable, which was bought out by Google where she went on to work for four and a half years.

Chiu-Wang ran for school board in 2022 and lost. Shortly thereafter, she joined DreamCatchers, a non-profit organization aiming to close the opportunity and achievement gap facing low income middle schoolers, and became an official board member.

dealing with economics is an additional skill that he plans to bring to the school board.

“I really believe that anyone in the community who wants to understand what the district is doing should be able to without putting too much effort into it [and] actually understand why a decision was made and what it was based on,” Colohan said.

One of Colohan’s priorities is bolstering student literacy across PAUSD.

“One place where I want to make a change is something that is actually already somewhat in motion, which is in the past few years, the school board has been pushing on an issue called the every students reads initiative,” Colohan said. “They [the school board] had data which showed that a large number of students were not getting sufficient reading skills coming out of elementary schools.”

Colohan’s endorsements include former congresswoman Anna Eshoo and California Assemblymember Evan Low.

children going to PAUSD schools ,she says she deeply cares about the future of the district

“I want to do the work to make our district empower all of our students,” Chiu-Wang said. “There are things that we do that are great and they’re site specific, and we should talk about how we can expand those things.”

Palo Alto is widely known for the pressure and stress that is put onto students. Chiu-Wang said change is needed to help address these problems.

“We need to be investing in early childhood education, because that ... will help close the opportunity gap much earlier,” Chiu-Wang said. “There’s a lot we need to do to change our culture regarding pressure and stress.”

As the executive director of DreamCatchers, she said that she sees the district through the eyes of her 200 middle school students and 200 high school volunteers, not only through the eyes of her two children.

Six months later, she became the executive director at DreamCatchers, left her job at Google and has been in this role for about a year.

As a resident of Palo Alto and with

“I am in touch with all the different levels of our school district, which I think is so important for a school board that is in charge of making decisions for students,” ChiuWang said.

Chiu-Wang has been endorsed by former congresswoman Anna Eshoo, California State Assemblyman Marc Berman and Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg.

HARRIS’ UNDEMOCRATIC AND UNAVOIDABLE

WHOA, BIDEN droppedout!” My mom exclaimed one evening after checking her phone as we were walking down the street.

Even though I expected President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race following his presidential debate against former President Donald Trump, when he eventually did drop out, it was a shock. Something so unprecedented had happened, but it was swept under the rug almost immediately as Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Even before the delegates had made their decision, people seemed to understand that Harris would

be the one to replace Biden. I had heard whispers of other potential candidates, but many — including myself — were confident of Harris’ eventual nomination.

To secure a party’s nomination, candidates typically compete in state elections, known as primaries and caucuses, to secure delegates. These delegates then vote at their party’s national convention. The candidate who wins the most delegate votes becomes the party’s nominee, and can then move on to the general election.

Throughout American history, the method of nominating a party’s candidate has evolved, expanding the decision to more voters.

According to Reuters, delegates and nominees were originally chosen by party leaders, but this has changed. Newer party rules have shifted power away from the party leaders to the people. However, for the upcoming elections, these democratic changes did not hold.

After Biden’s late dropout, the delegates who had initially been pledged to Biden were free to support whichever candidate they wanted, and they chose Harris without going through primary state elections.

ROUTE TO THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION

Given the timing of Biden’s dropout, there was not enough time to redo primaries and campaign for the nomination. According to Stanford political science professor David Brady, the Democratic party leaders considered other ways to replace Biden.

“They wanted them to get together a sort of small primary and put together [Josh] Shapiro and Harris and a couple others, and then have them debate and have them [the delegates] vote at the convention,” Brady said. “I think reason prevailed, and [Nancy] Pelosi and others made the argument that that was not going to work because it would be too divisive.”

“The Democrats have the right to do what they did. It’s a little unusual, but then, if they had kept Biden they would have lost.”

— DAVID BRADY, Stanford political science professor

The Associated Press, prior to Harris’ nomination, “about 8 in 10 Democrats say they would be somewhat or very satisfied if Harris became the Democratic nominee for president.” As Biden’s running mate, she was also the logical replacement for Biden, but it still doesn’t mean her selection was completely democratic.

plicitly nominate.

Another problem with Harris’ nomination was the lack of competition she faced. If Biden had dropped out before the primaries, there could have been significant opposition, and a different nominee. Biden’s late dropout prevented other politicians from getting a share of the spotlight.

The majority of the blame for such an unprecedented scenario should be placed on Biden and his advisers, who decided to run for a second term despite indications during his 2020 presidential campaign that he would be a transitional figure.

Though other options, such as a drawn out debate, may have been more divisive, when the nominee was chosen by the delegates, it irritated me that the typical nomination process wasn’t followed.

Brady said the process of selecting Harris after Biden’s dropout was sensible despite being unprecedented.

“The Democrats have the right to do what they did,” Brady said. “It’s a little unusual, but then, if they had kept Biden, they would have lost, and that was the primary consideration of parties. They want to win.”

The Democratic Party leaders had to quickly find a replacement, and the delegates selected a candidate that represents the Democratic Party.

According to a survey conducted by

Even if the Democrats have the right to do what they did, and chose the best replacement, a dangerous precedent may have been set for how nominees are chosen in the future. If a nominated candidate can be pressured to drop out by a party’s leaders if expected to lose, the purpose of the modern-day primary system is defeated.

“Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,” Biden said in a campaign rally in 2020 as he spoke about leading America into the future.

Something so unprecedented had happened, but it was swept under the rug almost immediately.

Harris’ selection by these unbound delegates ignores the long-term party reforms that allowed our nomination process to become more democratic. Harris’ selection was undemocratic because she wasn’t chosen by “the people.”

She became the Democratic nominee without passing through the gauntlet of primaries.

As a result, Democrats are now being represented by a candidate they did not ex-

Instead of ushering in a new era of youth in politics, which is severely lacking in our government, Biden chose to campaign for a second term, stagnating potential progress. He was already the oldest president in United States history, and he should have realized that at 81 years old, his time had passed.

In the end, while I am not happy with how she was selected, I do believe that Harris is a better option than Biden and was the best replacement to help bring the Democratic Party forward.

In a perfect world, Biden would have dropped out sooner, but that’s not the reality we live in. Instead, we should look to the future and see if there are better ways to replace candidates who have dropped out. v

Text by KENSIE PAO and YARDENNE STERNHEIM

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS USED IN POLITICS

YOU THINK YOU just fell out of a coconut tree?”

This question has become a viral catch phrase by presidential candidate Kamala Harris on social media, quickly gaining traction as a meme across social media platforms like TikTok.

Immediately after President Joe Biden stepped down from the 2024 election, Vice President Harris campaigned for the Democratic Party and was official-

idential candidate. It didn’t take long for Harris to receive a considerable amount of support on social media.

Using platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter), Harris’s campaign and media team created a brand called Kamala Headquarters, or Kamala HQ, which is her social ates content promoting her political platform. However, this content is not the same as seen in typical political campaigning: it is bright, loud and borrows heavily from pop singer Charli XCX and TikTok

Paly history teacher Katya Villalobos said that she thinks “brat” is a woman who is a strong leader, empowered, confident and speaks her mind.

“Most of the news I get from the election campaign is honestly the meme accounts.”

— SARINA GREWAL, Paly senior

Additionally, ever since Harris’s nomination, fans have edited her speeches and distinctive laugh into popular songs. Using these audio clips, fans have attached compilations of edited clips of Harris to make social media content.

“I listened to the album when it came out and I’ve also been seeing all the memes about how Kamala herself is ‘brat,’” Paly senior Sarina Grewal said. “That’s pretty entertaining … [Kamala HQ] made a deep cut of Trump saying dumb stuff … I thought that was the funniest thing they posted.”

Charli XCX’s electro pop album

“brat,” released in June, sparked the phenomenon of “brat summer” which represents a carefree, bold and “party girl” lifestyle.

The idea of “brat” has recently become tied into Harris’s campaign. On X, Charli XCX proclaimed “Kamala is brat.” Since then, Harris has used this to her advantage and embraced the label of “brat” on her X account. On the Kamala HQ account, the header was changed to the same color and font as the “brat”

While this may seem like an unprofessional way to campaign, many believe the strategy of using trends to captivate specific audiences is effective.

“Pop culture expression is definitely a good way to get people aware of who the political candidates are and aware of the need to vote,” Grewal said. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily a good way to directly get [the youth] to go to the polls, but it definitely helps raise awareness of political candidates and political issues.”

Villalobos said the strategy Harris has taken toward campaigning is clever in targeting the young voter audience.

“It’s ingenious of her team,” Villalobos said. “Whoever her campaign workers are, they are using almost every avenue of social media because she needs to get a large percentage of the 18 to 30-year-old voting block.”

This method has proven to captivate the youth generation, as many receive their news through media platforms.

“Most of the news I get from the election campaign is honestly like the meme accounts that post memes about them,” Grewal said. “A lot come from Kamala HQ, and a lot from just random TikTok accounts that are posting reac tions to what they’re doing.”

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in the 2020 election, 51% of youth (ages 18-24) voted, making them the age group with the lowest voter turn out.

Villalobos said if Harris gets the youth vote, hopefully there will be in creased voter turnout.

“She needs to receive … a majority, plus 3% over the general population,” Villalobos said. “Every vote, I mean liter ally every vote, counts.”

In contrast, it is not just traditionally left-wing parties who are using social me dia campaigning tactics to target youth voters on the internet. Former president Trump has tried to leverage connections with social media influencers to reach male dominant audiences.

Paly senior Alec Bonnard said that he has seen the Republican Party use public figures, specifically social media influencers, to campaign to the youth.

“Trump is using Adin Ross, or Nelk Boys, and all these young influencers that are mainly on social media, and that helps him hit his demographic,” Bonnard said.

According to the New York Times, there is a large gender disparity in pol itics, with women leaning left and men leaning right. The Trump campaign has

been trying to reach a demographic of voters they call the “bro vote.” This category consists of 18-to-29-year-old males that have traditionally been regarded as “unreliable or unreachable,” meaning lower voter turnout.

To encourage the “bro vote,” the Nelk Boys, a group of men owning a YouTube channel and entertainment company, have played golf with Trump and have hosted him on their podcast twice.

Additionally, on Sept. 13, TikTok influencer Bryce Hall joined Trump onstage at a campaign event.

So far, using influencers and taking advantage of social media trends, have all been tactics to gain the youth vote.

Bonnard said this is due to their susceptiblity to social media influenence that there will be more of a social media presence of political campaigns.

“The youth vote is easy to sway,” Bonnard said. “I think that because it’s easy to sway, they’re trying to exploit that and make the most of it ... there will be more of a social media presence and campaigns will be more and more on social media.” v

KAMALA IS “BRAT”— A student holds a phone showing Harris’s X page, Kamala HQ, in the “brat” album’s bright green colors. “It’s [brat] a woman who is empowered, who is confident, and basically speaks her mind,” Villalobos said. Photo by Kensie Pao

ALL ABOARD (TOP) – Two passengers enter a train after the door opens during a stop. “People have been excited about this for a long time,” said Dan Lieberman, public information officer for the San Mateo County Transit District.

NEXT STOP (BOTTOM) – A new electric train arrives at the Palo Alto Caltrain station. “It’s a very much needed update,” Palo Alto High School history teacher Kenneth Tinsley said.

CONSTRUCTING CALTRAIN TRAIN SERVICE BEGINS NEW ELECTRIC ERA

PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL

history teacher Kenneth Tinsley used to wait as the train passed by his classroom, putting his class on hold from the noise produced by the train.

“I’d be talking, and then I’d stop and wait for the train to pass, because … look at that, right there,” Tinsley said, gesturing at a passing by train.

This was a common occurrence for teachers whose classrooms were near the train tracks. But now, Tinsley said he doesn’t worry when the trains pass by his classroom is much quieter.

This newfound quiet teaching environment is a result of Caltrain’s new fleet of electric engine powered trains, which have replaced the old diesel ones. The trains have been eagerly awaited.

really clean, they’re modern looking and much quieter and quicker,” Pillay said. “I went all the way to San Francisco on a new electric train, and it was … a good experience, it was quick and efficient.”

These new trains were the result of the Caltrain Electrification project, which started July 2017 and was completed in April of this year. It costed upwards of $2 billion.

Dan Lieberman, public information officer for the San Mateo County Transit District, said it was time for the train to be updated.

“Our riders needed a more modernized system,” Lieberman said. “Our old fleet was, well, the old fleet, and it was due for an overhaul.”

Tinsley agrees with this sentiment.

“Considering we haven’t done an improvement to Caltrain since the ‘90s, I would say that’s probably good money spent.”

— KENNETH TINSLEY, Paly history teacher

“I’m just hearing the metal gliding along the tracks, I’m not hearing the engine,” Tinsley said. “They’re so much quieter than what we had with the diesel engine.”

On Aug. 11, Caltrain launched the new trains, replacing most of the diesel powered trains that were previously in use. According to the Caltrain website, these new trains are faster, feature better onboard amenities and are quieter than their predecessors.

Paly junior Tarika Pillay said the new trains are much superior to the old models.

“The new ones [trains] are

“You don’t want to be riding in a 40 year old [train] car, right?” He said.

Other reasons for introducing the new electrified fleet include the environmental benefits and small upgrades, like free on-board Wi-Fi, charging stations and nicer bathrooms.

However, according to Lieberman, the biggest change is the increased frequency of the trains. On Sept. 21, Caltrain implemented a new schedule, increasing how often the trains run.

“If you look at pretty much any survey of transit users in any system in the world, … they want increased frequency and increased reliability,” Lieberman said. “Under the new schedule that launches on ... [Sept.] 21 we’re going to be seeing trains every half hour on weekends up from every hour.”

Pillay said she thinks that the increased frequency of the trains is a valuable improvement.

“It’s really annoying if you [want to] go somewhere, and the next train is coming in like an hour,” Pillay said, “It doesn’t

feel like you have to wait forever to use the train, and it’s much more convenient.”

While updating the infrastructure went smoothly for the most part, it still had some challenges.

“Construction for this project took place on a live rail yard, a 51-mile rail corridor that actively had trains moving through it the whole time … it’s a real logistical challenge,” Lieberman said. “Construction is complicated work in and of itself. When you add a train going through the work site on a semi-regular basis, that really bumps that up.”

In the future, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which is in charge of Caltrain, hopes to expand the electrification project to the southernmost parts of Caltrain, down to Gilroy.

Overall, the Caltrain Electrification Project has been met with a positive response from passengers, including Tinsley, who takes the train to school.

“Considering we haven’t done an improvement to Caltrain since the ‘90s, I would say that’s probably good money spent,” Tinsley said.

Lieberman concurs.

“Everyone seems really happy with what they say,” Lieberman said. “Now that we’re on the other side of it … well, it’s hard to look at it and say that it wasn’t all worth it.” Photos

What’s Coming Next

The electrification project isn’t the end of the upgrades that are coming to Caltrain. According to the High Speed Rail Alliance, the improved infrastructure built during the project is also going to be used for California High Speed Rail, the high speed rail project that will connect most of California. It has not begun construction yet in the Bay Area.

Additionally, the City of Palo Alto has been considering renovating the Churchill Ave. train crossing. They have looked at closing Churchill entirely and adding a pedestrian underpass, or creating a partial underpass while keeping Churchill open, and raising Caltrain above the crossing entirely. v

ENDing ENCAMPMENTS

NEW ORDER TACKLES UNHOUSED CRISIS

NEARLY HALF OF THE country’s homeless population could be found in California in 2022, according to the Senate Housing Committee.

Since then, California has seen a 5.8% increase in its homeless population, according to The San Francisco Standard.

To combat this, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on July 25 that allows state officials to regulate homeless encampments.

According to CalMatters, notices are issued at least 48 hours prior to removal, after which people can be ticketed and forced to relocate.

This order was in response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling to overturn the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Supreme Court stated that fining or arresting people to prevent them from sleeping in public spaces does not violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause under the Eighth Amendment.

When officers clear out encampments, homeless people with two warnings can now be charged with a misdemeanor even if there is no shelter space available.

So far, there is no plan to support people who cannot secure shelter beds, and according to Associated Press News, these individuals will likely return to previous encampments.

To prevent this, Palo Alto Mayor Greer Stone said he believes that cities need better coordination with one another.

“This is an issue that doesn’t have borders,” Stone said. “If one city is taking a very harsh stance, then members of the unhoused community may be forced to move to a neighboring community. It’s critical to make sure that we’re not just moving people around to neighboring cities because one city is heavily enforcing [the order] and one is not.”

Misdemeanors can be found on criminal records, making it harder for those arrested to get jobs.

Organizations such as WeHOPE, a nonprofit working to combat homelessness and recidivism in the Bay Area, are helping homeless people clear their criminal records.

“Nonprofits like ours try to help people get their records expunged so that they don’t have all these frivolous charges padding their records,” Alicia Garcia, the chief operating officer at WeHOPE, said. “It [a bad record] makes it more difficult for them [homeless people] to get a job, to get housing and to live a productive life. If we begin arresting people for … things that are not really crimes at all, it’s going to … make life more unstable for them.”

“Criminalizing homelessness and putting up a penalty or a fine for being unhoused … is not going to address the problem,” Stone said. “If you can’t afford the fine, you’re not going to pay the fine. Now we’re going to throw people in jail because they can’t afford rent.”

However, many people in Palo Alto are in support of the executive order.

In a Nextdoor poll of Palo Alto residents conducted by City Council member Greg Tanaka, 61%, or 182 of the 299 respondents are in favor of clearing encampments.

Though previous action has been taken to mitigate the effects of California’s homeless crisis, including the construction of new shelters and welfare programs, little progress has been observed.

“ If there's not a sufficient place ... for people to go ... people will either come back [to the same location], or they will go somewhere not far away.”

— ALICIA GARCIA, Chief Operating Officer at WeHOPE

There has been an increase of roughly 10,000 homeless people between 2022 and 2023, according to the California State Auditor. This new order has been a controversial directive implemented under Newsom’s administration and some are still unsure of whether these new policies will see any meaningful change.

Stone reiterated this sentiment, saying that he believes that making people feel like homelessness is a crime is not a solution.

“We're dealing with the symptoms versus the cause,” Tanaka said. “When people say homelessness, they … usually think it’s one issue when it's actually several different issues … people think of it as a purely economic issue which it's not.”

Source: Greg Tanaka's Nextdoor poll of 299 people

Newsom also revealed that the order has a goal of supporting people who have relocated, with measures such as setting up transitional housing and services.

In a statement made on July 25, Newsom said “This executive order directs state agencies to … address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them.”

Though individual cities can decide whether or not this support is provided, some do not believe that larger cities like San Francisco have the necessary organization to address this issue properly.

tional housing for its residents.

One development is Palo Alto Homekey, located on San Antonio Road, which will be used as transitional housing for homeless people.

“ It [the homeless problem] is one of the most challenging public policies that our state is trying to wrestle.”

The City of Palo Alto has also invested in expanding a secure parking lot on Geng Road, which is managed by Move Mountain View, an organization dedicated to reducing the problem of homelessness. The lot currently has 12 parking spaces available, but the city is looking to add an additional 10 spaces so the lot can serve more people.

— GREER STONE, mayor of Palo Alto

“If there’s not a sufficient place … for people to go … people will either come back [to the same location], or they will go somewhere not far away,” Garcia said. “You’ll just have new encampments pop up.”

Stone said that it is too soon to tell if the policy will be implemented in Palo Alto, but the City of Palo Alto is also working to create more affordable and transi-

“It [the homelessness problem] is

one of the most challenging public policies that our state is trying to wrestle,” Stone said. “One of the nice things about being in a city like Palo Alto is that we’ll never completely solve the unhoused problem, but because our numbers are relatively low, programs like this can really go a long way in addressing this crisis.” v

GIRLS FLAG FOOTBALL MAKES ITS DEBUT

ARCHER SHERRY, a sophomore flag football player on Palo Alto High School’s team, runs through a field of girls, cones and flags, jerking away so that her flag is just out of reach from her opponent. With a football in hand, she sprints her way out of the drill, into the cheers of her teammates rooting her on.

She is one of few girls that are given the opportunity to play a similar game to the fan favorite sport, football, that mainly involves boys.

“

Traditional American football is offered at almost every high school in the Bay Area, attracting huge crowds of students who cheer on players at every touchdown. This year, Paly, along with many other local schools like Los Gatos High School, Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, Menlo School and Castilleja School, have decided to add girls flag foot-

ball to its roster of fall sports.

I think the new addition of the sport is great, especially for girls.”

— LOLLEINI VEHIKTE, senior flag football player at Sacred Heart Preparatory High School

Not only is flag football becoming popular throughout many schools in California, according to the Olympics website, the sport will be making its first appearance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. As the sport gains popularity, the differences in the rules compared to traditional football foster inclusivity for many girls seeking to play football, without the dangerous risks tackle

football can bring.

Similar to traditional football, flag football has the same positions like quarterback and wide receiver. The goal is to carry the ball to the opposing end zone to score a touchdown. The main difference between tackle and flag football is that flag is a no-contatct sport — defenders pull opposing players’ flags located on a belted strap around their waist. This allows for safer gameplay, but makes it just as exciting.

Only one girl at Paly is currently on the tackle football team. The uneven gender distribution may discourage many other girls from joining. However, there was interest in creating a girls flag football team, with many girls excited to get involved.

Lolleini Vehikte, a senior flag football player at Sacred Heart Prep, said she believes adding flag football promotes equality, and inspires girls to participate.

“I think the new addition of the sport is great, especially for girls,” Vehikte said. “Considering that football is a popular sport played by boys amongst most high schools, it’s important to recognize the potential that girls have in playing this sport as well.”

Vehikte says she believes that flag football also promotes women’s involvement in sports.

““The goal would be to spark more acknowledgement within the womens’ sports department, encouraging students to come watch us play and cheer us on,” Vehikte said.

have, so can the girls,” Arbitaylo said.

At Paly, the varsity flag football team is coached by track and field coach Bradford Exantus.

Even though the girls have a wide variety of abilities, there will not be a junior varsity team this year due to the low amount of players.

Although they reached a sufficient number of players for a team, it is unpredictable who will continue to play, so the team is preparing to face some difficulties.

“Everyone can be out, we could lose players, but we do have 20 plus people on the roster, so we’re gonna have to mix around,” Exantus said.

As the season progresses, Paly players have a lot to look for- ward to and accomplish.

I feel like [having] both sports [football and flag football] begins to create equality in the abilities both sports have, and begins to show that any sports guys can have, so can the girls.”

“I think the goal for this season is to play our best so we gain popularity by either social media or Paly magazines, and start having more and more girls interested in it and hopefully by next year have two teams,” Sherry said.

— EMMANUELA ARBITAYLO, senior flag football player at Los Gatos High School

Similarly, Emmanuella Arbitaylo, a senior flag football player at Los Gatos High School, said she feels that the sport can be an outlet for girls to display their skills that they wouldn’t have been able to without it.

“I feel like [having] both sports [football and flag football] begins to create equality in the abilities both sports have, and begin to show that any sports guys can

Regardless, the players are excited for the debut season of the sport and they plan to make it a memorable one.

Throughout the season, they’ve already played three games, with their next game being away against Los Altos High School on Oct. 14.

“Honestly, I’m glad it’s a sport, it’s very fun and I like the girls,” Paly sophomore Hakiti Pongi said. “We’re not just a team, it’s my family.” v

and one of the firsts on a high school flag football team in California.”

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN — Junior Kailia Leming dashes across the football field during practice. “It’s super fun being one of the first girls on Paly’s flag football team,

Photo: Julie Yang

Missing the Target

EAST PALO ALTO STORE ANNOUNCES CLOSING

CUSTOMERS FLOW IN AND out of East Palo Alto’s Target on a Saturday afternoon, carrying white and red plastic bags in their hands. The afternoon shoppers appear to be enjoying the good weather. However, inside the store, aside from a row of clearance products at the front, shelves are almost completely empty as employees shuffle around the store, removing the last items from displays.

In August, Target announced that it would be permanently closing its East Palo Alto location on Sept. 28, according

to ABC News. The store, with its on-site pharmacy, has been a go-to place for its surrounding communities since its opening at the Ravenswood Shopping Center in 2017.

Residents from East Palo Alto and other neighboring towns are now uncertain of where they are going to get their basic necessities like medication, as this leaves only two other pharmacies in East Palo Alto: Ravenswood Family Health Network and Drews Center Pharmacy. These pharmacies can be hard to access as Ravenswood Family Health Network is in the nothernmost part of the city and does not appear on Google Maps under a search for pharmacies.

According to East Palo Alto City Council Member Ruben Abrica, the building that currently houses Target is privately owned, meaning the city Text

had little power in preventing the closure. Abrica said that the closure of the Target’s will be particularly impactful to pharmacy goers.

“The pharmacy is definitely a big loss,” Abrica said. “We only have one other one that’s been there for a long time … it’s gonna impact people’s accessibility.”

East Palo Alto’s other pharmacy, Drew Center Pharmacy, is a family owned business located at 2242 University Ave. According to Abrica, this pharmacy is smaller than Target’s. It is expected to receive an influx of patients, so many will be forced to go to pharmacies in neighboring cities.

Target has responded by posting a sign on the entrance doors saying that the suggested alternative pharmacy is in downtown Palo Alto on University Ave. This might only be a 2.4-mile drive from the original location, but for some, that distance could be a barrier, making them unable to pick up their medication.

Palo Alto High School senior Brianna Meza’s family relied on Target’s pharmacy.

“I would walk with my grandma to Target some days after school and we would go pick up her medicine,” Meza said.

Meza said her family is impacted by the pharmacy’s closure and her grandma doesn’t have a set plan for her medication when Target closes.

“Honestly I don’t even think she’s aware that it’s closing,” Meza said. “My mom is in charge of getting her medication ... I think my mom will figure it out … I don’t know.”

According to KRON4 News, Target said the closure is due to “prolonged underperformance” and the slow industry decline in people shopping at bigbox stores. According to Abrica, another factor is that inflation has caused prices to rise too far to be purchased by East Palo Alto’s low-income community, causing a decline in sales and more theft. However the closure’s impact will be widespread due to Target’s central location providing a convenient place for many residents to shop.

Meza said. “If I was missing something when I’m baking, Target was right around the corner. … Where am I going to go now? The closest [other] Targets are really far.”

“Having the Target right here in your backyard speaks volumes.”

— ANTHONY JOHNSON, EPA resident

According to Palo Alto Online, many areas of East Palo Alto are considered food deserts, defined as areas where people have limited access to healthy and affordable foods. Target closing exacerbates this problem as it is closing one of the only three stores that sell produce to its approximately 28,000 residents.

in East Palo Alto makes it convenient for residents to shop.

“Having the Target right here in your backyard speaks volumes,” Johnson said.

“For certain people, it meant not having to drive far or even having it within walking distance. My house is right behind the shopping center, so I could walk there.”

Johnson said he is hopeful that a new store will move in, but said that Target will be missed among residents.

“It’s just been hard to swallow that these big corporations are going to come to the community, and they can just go ahead and forecast their own exit,” Johnson said. v

“Target’s right next to my house. … I would always go there to get everything,”

Anthony Johnson, a resident of East Palo Alto and president of its local Little League said he goes to Target to buy drinks his players, as well as groceries for his family. Johnson said having a store like Target

AFTERNOON SHOPPING — Target employee

Jonathan Ibarra pushes a shopping cart. ““It’s unfortunate to see it close,” Ibarra said. “It’s a change that will impact both employees and customers.” Photo: Lara Saslow

ALTERNATIVE PARENT

STARTS NEW SPORTS PROGRAM

STUDENTS BEGIN TO trickle into Mitchell Park on their bikes and on foot on a Thursday afternoon at around 3:30 p.m.. On the field between Jane Lanthrop Stanford Middle School and the Mitchell Park playground, cross country coach Tom Haxton has his athletes start their warm-up drills. While talking with their friends, the kids participate in team stretches before running a warm-up lap around the park.

These kids are on the front lines of a battle over middle school sports, where Haxton has challenged the status quo of the long-established city-organized middle school sports program.

Haxton, the parent of a JLS student, founded the Palo Alto Middle School Athletics Community Organization (PAMSACO) in 2024 subsequent to having a negative experience with the already existing middle school athletics program.

After a year of coaching cross country and track at JLS, both sports run by the city’s Palo Alto Middle School Athletics Program (MSA), Haxton started questioning and criticizing MSA’s way of spending money on youth sports.

“Each family pays the $335 for the kids to participate,” Haxton said. “[I] didn’t know where that money was going.”

After getting information on the city’s budget, Haxton was able to find out where the registration fee money was going.

“They’re spending 65% of the registration fees to compensate city employees, the same city employees that weren’t supporting [MSA] very much,” Haxton said.

Haxton said that he thought that there was no solution to the problem, until he realized that he could start his own program.

“Four [parent volunteers] had a conversation and realized maybe there’s another route where we could keep doing the day to day stuff we’re doing, and then also take on the additional responsibility of collecting registration fees, and then we could reinvest it back into the program.”

This is when Haxton started PAMSACO. The coaching staff currently consists of Haxton, two other Palo Alto parents and two recent college graduates that both ran cross country and track in college.

The city’s athletics program was offering $20 to $25 an hour, however Haxton said he believes this is not sufficient.

“It’s really not enough to incentivize someone to coach small batches who wouldn’t be doing it otherwise,” Haxton said. “We’re able to offer $50 an hour.”

Haxton said that he sees his program improving the district’s middle school athletics in one of three ways.

“Other teams could join ours, or the city could look at our program and copy some of our successful practices that we prototype, or the school district could see that and use

Text by RYAN SAKET and LARA SASLOW

Photos by LARA SASLOW

ATHLETICS

this contrast as a motivation for stepping in and taking more active role and developing a better program themselves,” Haxton said.

Kristen O’Kane, director of community services for the City of Palo Alto, said that Haxton’s scope is very narrow, as he’s only looking at cross country and track for JLS, while MSA is all PAUSD middle schools and a variety of sports.

“Mr. Haxton was involved in the program for one year,” O’Kane said. “It was an unusual year where the coaches were all volunteers, so based on last year we’ve already improved the program. This year, we have hired 3 experienced coaches and an athletic director who is on JLS faculty in the P.E. program.”

O’Kane said she offered to work with Haxton to prevent the cross-country community from getting divided.

“We always strive to make improvements and have invited Mr. Haxton to participate in improving our program,” O’Kane said. “Unfortunately, the creation of a second team claiming to represent

JLS has only caused confusion for the students and parents. We would prefer that we could have one team instead of dividing the community.”

Haxton said that the city is trying to compete with his team.

“For the first time in three years, at least, they’re apparently trying to recruit coaches and create a separate team,” Haxton said. “The only reason that team has any traction is because they’re withholding this ability for our team to compete in the league meets.”

Haxton’s team currently has 62 student athletes enrolled. As for the city, Haxton said that fewer students are currently enrolled.

“The city claims they have over 20 [students] but it’ll be interesting to see how many actually practice,” Haxton said.

Arjan Mann, a seventh grader at JLS and a PAMSACO member, said Haxton’s impact on him was the reason he decided to join PAMSACO instead of the traditional JLS cross-country team.

“Last year, this team and coach Tom

[Haxton] were the traditional cross country team. This year they wouldn’t let coach Tom be the coach,” Mann said. “I really enjoyed being coached by him, because he really challenged us, so I decided to join his team.”

Haxton said that his biggest priority is getting access to the league meets so that his athletes can compete. He said that he was told by the district that he needs to take it up with the city.

“I think the next step is to petition the school board and the city council,” Haxton said. v

FOR FUN (middle) —

ALL SMILES (left) — PAMSACO founder Tom Haxton grins at the camera during a practice at Mitchell Park.

RUNNING

Members of the PAMSACO cross country team take a lap around Mitchell Park during their practice.

MOTIVATIONAL MOMENT (right) — Tom Haxton speaks to one of his athletes during a break from running.

Text by JARON LEUNG and ETHAN ZHANG

Athletic Arrivals

NEW COACHES BRING NEW SKILLS TO STAFF

ANEW SCHOOL YEAR means a new sports seasons, and oftentimes, new coaches. This year, numerous sports coaches have joined and are new to the Palo Alto High School athletics department, with each bringing a new approach to coaching with them to Paly students.

Varsity soccer coach Luiz Lodino, a seasoned soccer veteran who’s played both at the collegiate level in the United States and professionally back in his home country

Paige Hsieh

of Brazil, ushers to the Paly boys’ varsity soccer team an unrelenting passion for improvement.

Varsity cheer coach Helene Gurewitz, a high school cheerleader who cheered in college at Berkeley, continues to pursue her sport in adulthood at Cheer San Francisco. She adopts a dual-personality approach to coaching, one that’s equal parts strict and compassionate.

Finally, JV field hockey coach Paige Hsieh, a newcomer to the sport who’s never

JV field hockey coach Paige Hsieh had an unconventional path to coaching. According to Hsieh, she has minimal experience with the sport of field hockey.

“I was primarily a soccer player,” Hsieh said. “I played right wing.”

Hsieh previously helped with the Paly soccer and track and field teams.

“I was just like a helper,” Hsieh said. “I was technically an assistant coach, but watching them [the soccer and track coaches] has definitely helped me.”

Hsieh said that many of the skills she learned in soccer helped her in coaching field hockey.

“A lot of it, honestly, for JV level, is field positioning,” Hsieh said. “A lot of the field positioning translates from soccer.”

Despite this, Hsieh says she is still learning more about coaching field hockey.

“Obviously a lot of the stick stuff is probably the stuff that I’m just the least knowledgeable about,” Hsieh said. “I have learned more about all the stick skills, just from the athletic director and the head varsity coach, and so I’m able to use some of that knowledge.”

According to Paly sophomore and JV field hockey player Laila Joshi, Hsieh brings knowledge from her soccer career to the field hockey team.

“I think she has a lot of knowledge from coaching soccer prior,”

played field hockey before, wields her previous knowledge of soccer, which she’s played for her entire life, showing that while different sports vary in playstyle, they may still hold a common ground tactically.

While the coaches may come from vastly different backgrounds, have incredibly different approaches to coaching, and coach entrely different sports with different rules and skill sets, all the three coaches share one objective — mentoring Paly’s latest athletic talent. v

Joshi said. “When Paige is alone, I think that she really has to make the most of her skills that she has.”

Hsieh says her goals for the team go beyond winning.

“I’m less focused on wins. What I want is to have a strong, connected team,” Hsieh said. “One of my favorite things about field hockey is we always do affirmations at the end of the game, so they get to shout out their friends or teammates who they feel like have done a good job or did something that they want to commend.”

Photo courtesy of Paige Hsieh.

Luiz Lodino

Luiz Lodino, Paly’s new boys’ varsity soccer coach, exempli fies Paly athletics’ devotion to continuous improvement.

Born and raised in Brazil, Lodino began playing soccer at 5 years old, facing future stars like Lucas Moura and Casemiro on the youth stage.

At 21 years old, after playing professionally in Brazil, Lodino came to America to play for Cowley College in Kansas before transferring the following year to Menlo College.

As a coach, Lodino has mentored Stanford Strikers Soccer Club, an after school club team for local youth, as well as the Los Altos and Mountain View high school soccer teams.

Paly sophomore and boys’ varsity soccer player Koji Silver berg Shirota, who’s trained under Lodino extensively outside of school for the Stanford Strikers, said Lodino’s optimistic mental ity is one of his key coaching attributes.

“He never dwells on losses,” Shirota said. “After losing, he will immediately start taking initiative to help us improve.”

According to Lodino, one of the reasons he chose to coach at Paly is because of the school’s support of athletes.

“The facilities, the structure, the staffing, all the support the school gives to the student athletes — that’s amazing,” Lodino sWWaid.

“I just want to give opportunities for more players to keep

It didn’t take long for varsity cheer coach Helene Gurewitz to fall in love with Paly.

“I found Paly through a Facebook post,” Gurewitz said. “Once I interviewed, I knew it was a great place to be.”

Gurewitz chose coaching because she said she felt it was more fulfilling compared to other jobs.

“I’m thrilled to be back in the coaching sphere after working with labor unions, tech recruitment, and human resources,” Gurewitz said.

“They don’t have the same energy coaching does.”

Gurewitz grew up in Long Beach, where she was on the varsity cheer team all four years of high school, before cheering at the University of California, Berkeley for both the competition and sideline

developing their skills and use high school to develop their games.”

by

Ethan Zhang

Photo

Helene Gurewitz

teams. She now cheers with Cheer San Francisco, an adult, all-volunteer charity organization that cheerleads to raise funds for people with medical conditions.

Gurewitz said her first experience coaching was in high school, coaching the middle school cheer team.

“I absolutely loved the impact I made and the energy of the team,” Gurewitz said.

Gurewitz said she has been impressed with her team’s work ethic so far this season.

“Tryouts are usually in spring and we didn’t hold them until the first week of school, so we are running behind,” Gurewitz said. “I’ve communicated this to the team and they’ve been stellar at stepping up.”

Paly varsity cheerleader Cailey Quita finds Gurewitz’s coaching style both endearing and, but when needed, firm.

“She knows when she should push us, and she always pushes us to the best of our abilities,” Quita said.

Gurewitz’s goals for the team don’t just focus on athletic performance, however.

“I strive to have a team full of people that anyone at Paly can strike up a conversation with and walk away feeling a bit better than they did before,” Gurewitz said.

Photo courtesy of Helene Gurewitz.

Photos by KENSIE PAO

Art by DIVYA GANDHI

KITTY RESCUE OPENS AT STANFORD MALL

AMID A BUSTLING shopping mall, a crowd gathers, eagerly peering through windows. Behind the glass, kittens roam freely, with toys and food bowls scattered on the floor.

In June, Mini Cat Town opened a new location at Stanford Shopping Center, the largest of five locations in the Bay Area. Claudia Romero, the lead animal care associate at the Stanford location, said that the main mission of Mini Cat Town is to rescue newborn kittens from overflowing shelters and nonprofit rescues and to nurture them until they are adopted.

According to Romero, Mini Cat Town has a unique, community-focused approach to kitten adoption. Visitors are charged $15 for a 30-minute session to play with kittens, with the option to adopt them.

“A lot of people will go to a shelter, you're seeing them through the glass door and stuff — there's not a lot of wiggle room

to play with them,” Romero said. “Some places will have that area where you can take them out and play with them. We allow them to just rule the whole space, so it gives them freedom.”

Mini Cat Town was founded in 2015 by three sisters who discovered a passion for rescuing homeless cats at the young age of five. Growing up in San Jose, Calif., Thi, Thoa and Tram Bui lived in a neighborhood filled with undomesticated stray cats.

“We would use our allowance to buy Friskies, the dry cat food boxes from 7-Eleven, whenever we could to feed them,” Thoa Bui said. “We would also feed them with our own food, like any Costco chicken or canned tuna that we would have. That's really where it all started.”

Bui said that this process stops the cycle of stray cats breeding, which helps mitigate overpopulation.

“I remember being paid $8 an hour, plus tip, then we would use that money to pay for their surgeries,” Thoa Bui said. “At the end of high school, between my sisters and I, we fixed over 100 feral cats in the neighborhood and we essentially eliminated the problem.”

Throughout college, the sisters continued fostering kittens and posting their rescuing work on social media.

“In 2018, we did [rescued] 80 kittens out of our own home,” Thoa Bui said.

“ We allow them [cats] to rule the whole space, so it gives them freedom."

— CLAUDIA ROMERO, lead animal care associate

As the sisters grew up, they realized that there had been an increase in cats breeding, which led to an influx of stray kittens. So, in high school, they worked at their local Baskin-Robbins to raise money to put their neighborhood cats through the trap-neuter-release process.

In the TNR program, undomesticated cats are trapped and neutered before being released back into the community. Thoa

“The following year, there was just so much stuff at our house because people donated so much. We were raising these kittens and holding meetings in our house. It was just getting out of hand, social media was growing fast.”

The sisters needed a larger place to keep up with this rapid expansion. So, in 2019, Mini Cat Town opened its first location in East Ridge Shopping Center in San Jose. Since Mini Cat Town would be in an unconventional public area, the sisters decided for visitors to share the space with the

cats, instead of in indvidual rooms.

“A lot of other shelters or rescues don't have our floor, essentially, where you can come to pay to play with them and socialize and then create that bond,” Romero said.

The kittens at Mini Cat Town are all rescued from other Bay Area counties' animal shelters, nonprofits, rescues and other programs that trap kittens.

Once released onto the floor of a Mini Cat Town location, most kittens adapt quickly to human interaction and get used to other cats.

“This place, this job, it's definitely very soul-filling and rewarding.”

“A lot of the shelters are over mass capacity, so that's where we come into to help,” Romero said. “We mainly go for kill shelters … we try to get them [kittens] before they get euthanized.”

— CLAUDIA ROMERO, lead animal care associate

“With this [open space], it just helps them [cats], so they're not anxious,” Romero said. “That's one thing that a lot of people have noticed about us, there's no space like this where you can just come in and sit and hang out with cats.”

The kittens at Mini Cat Town are all rescued from other Bay Area animal shelters, nonprofits and other programs that trap kittens.

joy?” Fitzpatrick said. “I think this is one of the best things you can do for your mental health.”

As an employee, Romero also benefits from bonds with the kittens.

“We baby the new cats, we make them our own,” Romero said. “What I like to say is, we're here for them, they're not here for us.”

v

A CARING COMPANION (LEFT) — Claudia Romero, the lead animal care associate at Mini Cat Town, snuggles a kitten. “You can get mad at a person, but you can’t get mad at an animal," Romero said.

SLEEPY SNUGGLES (MIDDLE LEFT ) —

At kill shelters, animals get euthanized if they are not adopted. According to a 2023 report by the Humane Society of the United States, 70% of cats living in shelters were euthanized.

When a kitten first arrives at Mini Cat Town, it initially goes through the foster program, then the TNR process.

“They’ll get an adequate weight and age, and then they go through the whole medical process,” Romero said. “They get neutered, vaccinated, microchips, and once they’re good to go, they get released in any of our five locations.”

“A lot of the shelters are over mass capacity, so that's where we come into to help,” Romero said. “We mainly go for kill shelters … we try to get them [kittens] before they get euthanized.”

At kill shelters, animals get euthanized if they are not adopted. Mini Cat Town’s mission is to limit the number of euthanized cats by rescuing them from kill shelters.

“This place, this job, it’s definitely very soul-filling and rewarding,” Romero said.

Kara Fitzpatrick, a regular visitor, agrees.

“I mean, are you not just filled with

Two kittens cuddle in their soft kitten beds while taking a midday nap. “They get socialized, used to other cats as well," Romero said. "They are very environmental creatures."

PEEK-A-BOO (MIDDLE RIGHT) — A kitten guards its toy while playing in a cat tunnel, hiding from a Mini Cat Town visitor. "I love cats, but there's nothing that creates as much oxytocin as a kitten," customer Kara Fitzpatrick said.

CURIOUS CLIMBER (RIGHT) — A kitten prepares to climb a cat tower. "We allow them to just rule the whole space," Romero said. "So it gives them freedom."

THE SMELL OF BUTTERED popcorn fills the air as the theater lights dim. A crowd of women, girls and a few couples lean forward in anticipation, giggling through corny moments on screen. The atmosphere is warm and a cliché love story seems to be unfolding perfectly.

Then the male lead hits his wife across the face, and the theater goes silent.

“In August, Colleen Hoover’s bestselling romance novel “It Ends With Us” was adapted into a major film. The book has sold over ten million copies and was on the bestseller list for 169 weeks.

sometimes good people do bad things.’”

Ryle isn’t automatically portrayed as a villain, because readers and viewers are meant to fall in love with him just as Lily did, so that they are just as shocked when his abusive behavior begins.

“I think if you’re in a situation like that, it’s very confusing, so I think that’s what they try to do with the violence,” Gabriella Ribera, a junior at Woodside High School said.

However, the concern arises when readers fail to grasp that just because Ryle is portrayed as charming and attractive, that does not excuse or normalize his later behavior. For more impressionable fans, critics worry that Hoover’s writing could inadvertently normalize abusive behavior.

I found [“It Ends With Us”] deeply problematic around the way it treated domestic violence.”

— SIMA THOMAS, Palo Alto High School Librarian

But behind a neatly wrapped romance novel lies a controversy about how viewers consume stories about abuse.

“It Ends With Us” follows the story of Lily Bloom, a young woman who meets Ryle Kincaid. The two of them fall in love and get married, but the relationship soon turns toxic after Ryle physically abuses her.

Hoover was originally a self published author, and despite her enormous fan base, there’s a noticeable divide in discussions about her work. Fans praise her books for being well written, and engaging. On the other hand, Hoover’s novels have been highly criticized for washing over and glamorizing sensitive topics.

“I ordered some of her books on Amazon and I skimmed them,” Palo Alto High School librarian Sima Thomas said. “Especially the one that is becoming a movie, “It Ends With Us,” I found deeply problematic around the way it treated domestic violence and abuse. There is this line at the end of the book, after she [Lily] has a daughter with the guy who was abusive. She [Lily] was like ‘Well,

THE COLLEEN HOOVER CONFLICT IT ENDS WITH US

Aside from the handling of sensitive subject matter, a big critique of the movie is that it fell short in comparison to the book.

“The ending seemed to close up so tightly on the story,” Leigh Russo, a woman at the theater, said. “There was something that didn’t feel authentic about the ending.”

Even with the two hour run time, the movie felt rushed from the moment Lily and Ryle met. Many fans of the book say that the movie left out crucial moments, like scenes between Lily and Atlas Corrigan, her first love from high school, who she reconnects with while married to Ryle.

“I recommend [the movie] for people who haven’t read the book,” Paly sophomore Luana Sassaki said. “It doesn’t focus much on Lily’s childhood and on her connection with Atlas. And also how hard it was for her to raise her daughter, but still need to have a connection [with Ryle].”

Throughout both the movie and book, Lily struggles to leave Ryle, forgiving him multiple times until she gives birth to their daughter. After she gives birth, she tells her daughter that the cycle of abuse “ends with us,” and asks Ryle for a divorce.

Despite being one of the most emotional scenes in the book, the acting throughout this scene in the movie fails to capture that same feeling, as the acting feels inauthentic.

“I feel like something that impacted me from the book that I didn’t feel much impact from the movie was how kind of hard it is to be in that abusive relation ship,” Sassaki said. “Also how emotion ally draining it can be, because you’ll still love and want to be with that person.”

The disconnect between the book and film highlights how challenging it can be for the media to capture the full complexity of serious issues, due to time restraints or in order to make stories more marketable.

“A lot of things that go through Hollywood, there’s like a blanket tossed over a lot of important topics, and especially in the case of abusive re lationships,” Paly sophomore Anja Co vert said. “Showing an accurate portrayal of how complex they are is really import ant to the viewer because it really does send a message to the people watch ing it.”

Lily and Ryle’s relationship captures the confusion and un certainty people in toxic rela tionships experience, which can help readers and viewers who find themselves in similar situations. It also shows how hard it can be to get out of an abusive relationship.

“From the outside you would think if someone abuses you, you leave,” Ribera said. “It should be easy, but that’s not always the case. If you have a child with someone it’s kind of a big deal to leave them because then you’re raising them without their parent.”

Even though the movie adaptation of “It Ends With Us” could have been ex ecuted better, its portrayal of abuse still serves a valuable purpose for modeling what healthy relationships should not look like.

“It creates important conversations, and it’s a topic that teens and young adults maybe don’t discuss enough, be cause dating violence exists in teenage relationships too, and is serious,” Thomas said. “So if this book gets that conversation going then that’s positive.”

Text by MAYA RAJBHANDARI and JULIE YANG, Art by TERESA WANG

BYE

MOVING FROM BRAZIL TO U.S. BRAZIL BYE

THE FIRST NIGHT I SLEPT

in California after moving here from Brazil, I closed my eyes, and to my surprise, I heard nothing. In São Paulo, the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere, the sounds at night were hectic. Every time I would close my eyes to sleep, I would hear hundreds of car horns, planes, helicopters, sirens and people yelling. Much like the rest of my life in Brazil, the sounds of the night were filled with chaos.

This summer, I visited my home city. This was the third year in a row that I had the opportunity to return to where I am from and connect with all my family,

there, I also had the opportunity to visit my friend’s farmhouse outside the city, which I haven’t visited since I moved away.

On the flight back, though, I realized that for the first time since I started visiting Brazil as a non-resident, I didn’t want to move back. Sure, I had an amazing time there, but for the first time, it felt like I had more to live for in the United States.

friends and culture since I moved away over five years ago.

Like all my other trips there, I had a fantastic time. Going to Brazil after living here in California is very shocking because of my different routine. Many of the things I can do here are extremely hard to do in Brazil because of safety problems — simple things like going out alone in the street or staying out late are difficult because you constantly need to worry about being the victim of a crime. Yet, despite these setbacks, going out with my friends, seeing all of my extended family, and hanging out in places like the malls and schools I grew up in still makes me feel like I never left. While

Initially, I was very excited to move to the U.S. Despite the seemingly endless downsides to the move, like losing all my friends, I was excited for new opportunities to enjoy things like safety and freedom that were so much worse where I lived in Brazil than they are here.

On top of that, my parents were also fed up with the stressful, fast-paced lifestyle that São Paulo demanded. They constantly felt that we were missing out on something and that they couldn’t have a good worklife balance. Every weekend, we would have to find a balance between traveling with friends, spending time with family, going out to dinners and still having downtime.

However, this excitement didn’t last long. Much of the past five years of my life, after the move, were spent reminiscing on

all the conversations, laughs and moments I had with my friends back home. For some reason, unlike the rest of my family, I took a very long time to adapt to life in the U.S., especially socially. From the beginning of seventh grade when I moved here all the way to the beginning of junior year, the only thing I had on my mind was returning to Brazil.

The first two years of my life in the U.S. were only worsened because of the pandemic, which made it much harder for me to make new friends because everyone was stuck at home. I only had around one semester of real in-person school at Greene Middle School before “Zoom school” began.

Still, even after the pandemic ended and classes went back to normal, I struggled to find the same level of social satisfaction in the U.S. as I used to have back in Brazil. Throughout my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I was able to make new friends, but I still felt like everyone who was important and mattered to me in my life was in Brazil.

Every summer, when I would visit Brazil, I would have amazing experiences. Though I was only there for around a month each time, it really felt like I was getting back the time I had lost living in the U.S. At the end of every trip, I always left with an uneasy feeling, knowing that I was returning to a place where I would be much less happy.

Finally, towards the start of my junior year, I realized that if I were to truly enjoy all the benefits that the U.S. has to offer at a level where I would want to continue living here, then I would have to make a conscious effort to actually meet new people that I like.

So, for the first few weeks of my junior year, I made that effort. I was constantly making conversation with people who were in my new classes. During lunch, I began

sitting and talking to a new group of people.

Overall, this was a very scary period in my life because I knew that this would probably dictate how much I would enjoy my junior and senior years of high school. On top of that, I was scared because I didn’t know whether new people would like me or not. Still, I knew how important it was that I made this effort, and thankfully, it paid off.

Today, despite all the fantastic times I have had in Brazil with my friends and family, I am glad that I am living in the U.S. I will never forget all the experiences I had when I lived there, and I will always be glad to visit Brazil every summer, but I now understand that nothing in life is permanent, and sometimes, it’s best to let go and move on. v

BIRTHDAY BOY (right) — My parents, my sister and I pose for a picture at my seventh birthday party, in Brazil. This was a very memorable day for me because it was the first party I had at an event house, where I got to invite all of my friends.

Text by OTTO KISS

Photos by ELLEN KISS

SCHOOL STYLE (left) — I posed for a goofy picture in St. Paul’s School uniform, the British private school which I attended for over a decade of my life in Brazil, before moving here.

LIVIN’ IN THE

HOW OTHERS’ VIEWS OF CALIFORNIA CHANGED MINE

“

MOM, WHEN I WAS little I thought everyone was from California!” I heard my little brother say last weekend. I agreed. It is hard to picture myself or other people living outside of California because I have lived here all my life.

Not everyone from California is a Hollywood star, a surfer or a billionaire.

When my cousins came to visit from Texas last summer, I asked them what they do for fun. They said things like fixing trucks, working, hunting, fishing and going to the gym. Out of curiosity, I asked them if they went to the beach often. Of course they said “no” because the closest beach to them is about four hours away. I felt dumb realizing that I thought everyone just had a beach close to them, and I reflected on how fortunate I am to live in a place that does.

I have always been surrounded by California’s rich culture, identity, landmarks and attractions that bring all types of people here. According to the International

Trade Administration, California is ranked third for most visited states in the country. When my cousins were in town, I wanted to share the California experience with them. We did day trips to Santa Cruz and San Francisco, as well as smaller things like eating at In-N-Out and going on a hike at Huddart Park.

During my summer travels abroad, many people found it intriguing when I mentioned I was from Califor Their minds automatically jumped to the stereotyp ical California experience of beaches, sun and famous people. They usually asked, “Oh, are you from LA?” or just enthusiastically named a place in California like “Hollywood!”

I would think to myself “is that all they think about Californians? That we all live in LA? There is more to us than that.”

Not everyone from California is a Holly wood star, a surfer or a billionaire. There are ordi nary people here, too, in a population of around 40 mil lion people. Yet a question my cousins ask me every time they vis it is “Have you met someone famous yet?” And everytime I reply with: “No, I live in the Bay Area, not Hollywood. Fa

mous people don’t just walk around here.” That said, even if there are not famous people roaming around, there is still an intense sense of inventive possibility that you could be the next person to make it big.

It can be hard not to brag about LA and Hollywood as they have big influenc-

When I was younger, I thought the same as outsiders: California is the best place to live because we get all the great weather and all the cool places. But as I get older and I learn more about its flaws — things like homeless encampments — I question if I am quite so proud of being from California.

Every place is going to have it’s positives and negtives.

As much as I love living in California, I’ve realized it definitely comes with its downsides. Being the most expensive state to live in, according to CNBC, is no joke for the families and communities living here. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 34% of Californians have seriously considered leaving the state because of high housing costs.”

The cost of living in California — especially around metropolitan areas like Palo Alto — continues to rise. In the same communities that some dream of visiting, many of the local residents live paycheck to paycheck just trying to make ends meet.

While the Bay Area is known for be-

ing a hub of innovation filled with major tech companies like Apple, Meta, Tesla and Google it is also known for its high cost of living. According to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute the Bay Area economic success is outpacing wages earned making living comfortably more and more difficult.

Every place is going to have its positives and negatives, but living in a state that is so positively publicized in movies like “The Social Network” and “Clueless” can make it hard to think about the negatives. I love going to the beach, hiking and sightseeing, late nights at In-N-Out and high school football games. I love calling San Francisco “the city,” and saying “no yeah” and “yeah no” (and yes, they have different meanings). I love not pronouncing my t’s and saying “hella.” Even with the negatives, California is still where I was born and raised. And I have a sense of pride when I say “Yes! I am from the Golden State.” v

Palo Alto Unified School District

Palo Alto High School

50 Embarcadero Road

Palo Alto, CA, 94301