Verde Volume 11 Issue 4 by Verde Magazine

verde

palo alto high school volume 11 edition 4

WHO WE ARE PALY IN STATISTICS

what we believe • how we spend • what we speak • how we live

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INDEX VOLUME 11 • EDITION 4 • PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL

Briefing

Compiled by Sophie Cornfield and Whitney Drazovich

FEATURES CONTD. 36 By Emily Efland

NEWS 8

Continuing Tradition

A Secret Menu For TestTaking

THE LAUNCH Short Features 13 Compiled by Natalie Lin and Silvia

By Allison Chang

COVER Paly by the Numbers 39 By Margaret Kadifa, Camille von Kaenel

Maraboli

Where the Floods Flood By Max Cohen

and Manon von Kaenel

PERSPECTIVES Lost in Translation 20 By Emily Efland An Electricity Emergency

By Max Cohen and Zachary Stanton-Savitz

Wake up Call

22 GLOBAL Two-Time Reality Check 24 By Sonali Sastry By Emma Tucher

Inked

Groove and Give

Hope for Haiti

By Emily James By Ally Messick By Ally Messick

FEATURES 32

Spring into Color By Mira Khanna

The Science of Beauty

By Asha Albuquerque and Anabel Homnack

CULTURE Breakfast of Champions

More Than Just Meat

Call of Doody

Wicked Web Series

Express Yourself

The Cost of Prom

Smingus Dyngus

Race to Nowhere

En Garde

Trading Calculus for Crayons

By Emma Tucher

TOP Meat from Pampas restaurant in Downtown Palo Alto in “More Than Just Meat” (pg. 48.) BOTTOM Staff writer Sonali Sastry reflects on her trips to India and Ecuador in “Two-Time Reality Check” (pg. 24.)

By Camille von Kaenel

By Whitney Drazovich and Sophie Cornfield By Mira Khanna

By Bella Hernandez

By Ryan Flanagan and Silvia Maraboli By Jessica Madej

By Amanda Groziak By Sarah Jacobs

By Ryan Flanagan

cover

by sarah henderson and max cohen

Follow Verde on twitter. Go to twitter.com/verdemagazine volume 11 edition 3 LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

verdeexcerpts “The children had seen countless volunteers pass through the gates of the home; even so, they ran to us, beaming with smiles.”

Page 24

Sonali Sastry “Two-Time Reality Check”

“They live in camps, in streets, amid the rubble and amongst the buildings it fell from.”

Doctor from Doctors Without Borders Larry Bruguera “Hope for Haiti”

Page 30 “When 5 is Fire Engine Red” It is important that more people become aware that others do not experience the world the same way, and that their experiences, although statistically rare, are not “strange”, “bizarre” or a sign of mental illness. I think that the fact that a high-school paper is covering this in detail (and that one of the teachers there is talking about this in her classroom!) is important and I am very glad to see it! —Edward Hubbard “Going Rogue” Awesome review. I loved the book, too. Thanks for sharing your poignant thoughts. I hope many young people will investigate Sarah Palin for themselves, discover her true record, and refuse to let the media dictate their thinking. —Nicole Coulter I really enjoyed reading your article. I agree with you. I admire Palin for her love for God, family, country and her willingness to fight. —Deema Yousef “Arrive Alive” Hi, We have a new Web site for Safe Rides, and it is free. It will organize all of your scheduling and dispatching among many other things. It is being used by Safe Rides of Westport, CT. You may go to saferidesus.com and create a group. You may call it “Safe Rides of Palo Alto CA”. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email us. Thanks, Isaac Levi The Safe Rides US Team —Isaac Levi Note: Comments submitted on our stories at http://voice.paly. net/Verde 4

APRIL 2010

“It is not realistic to aspire to look like the media’s representation of beauty.”

Social Sciences Instructional Supervisor Eric Bloom “Science of Beauty”

Page 35

“Some customers come back now and say they remember me [when I was little] delivering the check and asking how their meal was.”

Page 36

Justin Youngyunpitpatkul “Continuing the Tradition”

“The recipes I write focus on simplicity to bring out the natural flavors in food.”

Page 48

Pampas Co-Head Chef Nicole Baverso “More than Just Meat”

CORRECTIONS In edition 3, in our news story “Parcelling out your money so your kids will be smart”, we published the incorrect numbers for the parcel tax proposition. We sincerely apologize and regret our mistake.

verde

volume 11 edition 4 april 2010

from the editors

Staff List Editors-in-Chief Caroline Wang Amanda Young

n January, the Verde staff reviewed a Knight Case Study offered by the Journalism School at Columbia University. It revealed how Time magazine editors planned and executed their Oct. 30, 2006, cover story, a breakdown of the U.S. population through graphics and numbers. At the time, the U.S. population was just breaching 300 billion people for the first time, and Time revealed the demographics and breakdown of the average American. Similar to the growing national population, Palo Alto High School’s population is also growing at a rapid rate. Inspired by Time’s unique approach to the story, Verde staff members decided to take on the challenge of compiling statistics that reflected aspects of the typical Paly students, everything from what religion we practice to what sports we prefer to watch. Margaret Kadifa and Camille and Manon von Kaenel, with the help of other Verde writers, conducted a survey with 324 students, from two social studies classes in each grade. They organized and designed the results into two full spreads of graphics, creating the first-ever completely visual cover story for Verde magazine. Do not miss these pages; the numbers may surprise you (pg. 39.) Our photographer Sarah Henderson shot the photos for the cover image of a Viking helmet collage. Once again, inspired by past Time magazine covers, specifically its health care cover, which was released on April 5, 2010, we wanted to make a collage of our own. Verde staff brought in objects that represent Paly students and some of the statistics in the cover story and Henderson then took photos of each object individually and layered them for the collage. Besides the cover package, we have also added a special global section (pg. 23) for this issue. In light of the recent natural disasters occurring around the world, Verde features students and parents that have signed on to help people in less developed countries. Signing off on this issue, we admit, is bittersweet. While it feels good to finish the magazine and send it off to the printer, it is also our last edition as editors-in-chief. We’ve had a blast working with the staff, but it’s time to announce our amazing, new editorial board. The future of Verde lies in the hands of editors-in-chief Max Cohen, Ally Messick, Sonali Sastry, Manon von Kaenel and Camille von Kaenel and managing editors Margaret Kadifa and Sarah Jacobs. We have complete faith in them that they will do a great job running the magazine. So for the last time, we’re inviting you to this new edition of Verde. Read and enjoy! — Amanda and Caroline

Managing Editors Sophie Cornfield Whitney Drazovich Business Managers Sarah Jacobs Harry Nordlinger Design Manager Emily James Short Features Editors Natalie Lin Silvia Maraboli Online Editors Asha Albuquerque Manon von Kaenel Social Media Editor Max Cohen Art Director Yelena Kasianova

Photographer Sarah Henderson Cartoonist Harry Nordlinger Staff Allison Chang Emily Efland Kianna Evans Ryan Flanagan Amanda Groziak Bella Hernandez Anabel Homnack Margaret Kadifa Mira Khanna Jessica Madej Ally Messick Sonali Sastry Zachary Stanton-Savitz Emma Tucher Mary Vericat Camille von Kaenel

Adviser Paul Kandell

Verde Palo Alto High School 50 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94301 650-329-3837 pkandell@pausd.org Letters to the Editor Verde, a feature magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Magazine Journalism class, is an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. Verde is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. The staff welcomes letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity. Send all letters to verdeeds0910@googlegroups.com Advertising The staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience. For more information about advertising with Verde, please contact the Verde business managers Sarah Jacob and Harry Nordlinger by e-mail at verde.biz.paly@gmail.com or call 650-329-3837 for more information. Printing & Distribution Services Verde is printed five times a year in October, December, February, April and June by Fricke-Parks Press in Fremont, California. The Paly PTSA mails Verde to every students’ home.

VERDE MAGAZINE

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EDITORIAL

staff verdict Rejection wall promotes community and catharsis

lthough the administration has decided to prohibit students from posting their rejection letters on the wall of the English Resource Center this year in order to limit student stress, Verde believes that the wall is a positive and unifying force for the school community and should be endorsed by the administration for years to come. The wall is one of the few remaining senior traditions left and many students look forward to its appearance year after year. The rejection wall has many positive benefits for each grade. For freshmen and sophomores, the wall hints at the college admissions process that they will have to face in the future. We believe that the wall’s message demonstrates that while no one is immune to failure, it is how one handles life’s rejections and perseveres with strength, fortitude and high spirits that really matters. Also, for juniors, the wall is a gentle reminder about how one must be realistic in deciding which colleges to pursue and that even if one does not attain that coveted admissions letter to that elite Ivy League school, one’s life is far from over. After a strenuous stress-filled and often depressing application process, the rejection wall allows seniors an opportunity to realize

that they are not the only ones to face rejection and the wall provides a sense of cathartic relief. The wall unifies students to the same level, as nearly everyone has experienced rejection in one form or another. When students rip down the wall together, it is a visual climax and symbolic end to months of application anxiety. Some students even enjoy a chance to make light of the stressful process and write fake rejection letters from Hogwarts and Forks, an act that provides humorous relief for the school as a whole. In addition, we believe that the administration must adopt a consistent message regarding the college admissions process towards the student body. The Campanile annually publishes a map listing the name of every senior and the college he/she will be attending. While it is understandable that seniors deserve the right to be proud of their future plans in a public forum, the school is adhering to a double standard by simultaneously allowing the Campanile map to continue but refusing to let ASB organize the rejection wall. Verde endorses an annual rejection wall as it is offers a positive impact on every member of the school and is a powerful conclusion to the college admissions process. v

Everytown for everyone?

ike the rejection wall, many Paly students find comfort and support by attending Camp Everytown. For years, peers from all different grades have attended a weekend away together, learning various exercises designed to promote a message of acceptance and unity that transcends cultures and ethnic boundaries. While the Verde staff understands that it is unrealistic for all students to attend Everytown, we would like to suggest changes so that a greater student body can be involved in these important social lessons. First, the organization and advertisement of Camp Everytown needs to be drastically improved. Many students, especially new students, are unaware of the purpose of the trip and how to become involved. Students generally hear about Everytown through word of mouth, which cannot always be accurate. Verde suggests that students who participated in previous years give short presentations on their experience with Everytown, and how they can become involved. This year, students knew so little about the camp and the general application that there was a low number of applications. Although seniors were initially prohibited from attending the camp, that restriction was actually later repealed. However, many seniors did not hear the news in time, and therefore missed their

opportunity to attend the camp. Many students had been waiting to attend the trip senior year and were very dissapointed about missing their chance. Another problem with the camp is that those who do not attend the camp feel even more distant from the students who do attend, leading to a greater feeling of separation on campus. When students come back from Everytown, they immediately wear their T-shirts, have an inclusive lunch meeting, and laugh and talk about their trip. Students who did not attend the camp quickly formulate an “us vs. them” mentality. Students would be more responsive to the lessons that were taught at the camp if they did not feel unwelcome or secluded. Verde recommends that instead of camp-attendees recreating their experience at Everytown by wearing Everytown T-shirts or organizing Everytown meetings, they should immediately join the Unity Club or other club that all students can participate in. This way all students can learn and grow from the lessons taught at the camp. By improving these minor issues, Verde feels that Camp Everytown will be more effective in spreading its message of unity and reaching a greater number of students. v — Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Verde staff VERDE MAGAZINE

NEWS THE LATEST AND GREATEST

Campus commits to four-day block schedule

Principal Jacqueline McEvoy and assistant principal Jerry Berkson leave the Educational Council meeting.

Taking into account the input of a student survey posted on Inclass and a teacher vote, the Education Council has voted to recommend a four-day block for the 2010-2011 school year, according to assistant principal Jerry Berkson. This one-year pilot will feature a constant 8:15 a.m. start time and a weekly period called a tutorial period, according to secretary to the principal Carolyn Benfield. According to Berkson, the tutorial session will be a weekly period in which students will be able to meet with their teachers and ask questions. Berkson is pleased by this new schedule, as he believes it will allieviate stress. “This new bell schedule means fewer transitions during the school day, more class time for in depth information instruction and easier time management for students and teachers,” Berkson said. “I am happy with the new direction.” To view the prospective bell schedules, including the four-day block schedule recomended by the education council, go to paly.net and click on “bell schedule concepts.” text by sophie cornfield photography by whitney drazovich

APRIL 2010

Cubberley possible as third high school School board member Dana Tom says he and his fellow board members are the possibility of reopening the current Cubberley Community Center as a third, but smaller, high school to serve Palo Alto. This would be a way to accommodate rising enrollment in the district, one of Tom’s main concerns. “I think it’s an option we have to keep on the table,” Tom told a Beginning Journalism class earlier this month. However, he added that Cubberley could not function as a full size high school, in order to prevent the downsizing of other schools too dramatically. “Unless we saw growth continuing to the point where we could support three full [high school] campuses, it wouldn’t make sense,” he said. Rather, Cubberley would act as smaller specialty school, geared

perhaps towards music and arts, or towards math and science. School sizes is one of Tom’s and the school board’s main concerns at the moment, given the current battles over high-density housing construction in the district. Gunn and Paly already have nearly 2,000 students each. “One question is, ‘How big is too big?’” Tom said. “It’s hard to get a sense of community if students feel that they’re just of a large number.” At the same time, Tom recognizes that the school has a duty to provide resources and education to every student in the district, regardless of the number. “If more housing is built and more students come in [to the district], we’ll cheerfully accept them and educate them as well as we can.” text by emilia kellison-linn

iPad release sparks debate In the days following the release of Apple’s new responsive touch screen device, the iPad, Paly students have had mixed reactions to the new product. Junior Alina Tompert, whose father purchased an iPad, enjoys the book application, the high-resolution screen and the convenient size, with a width of 1.5 inches and a weight of 1.5 pounds. “The online books are cool,” Tompert said. “When I visit colleges in New York, I will use the iPad. It’s an easy way to show my [art] portfolio to colleges.” The iPad has many features including a larger touchscreen for better viewing of photos, videos, Internet and maps according to the Apple Web site. Some Paly students, including sophomore Kevin Kannappan, do not understand what functions the iPad has that the iPod lacks. “It looks like another thing that Apple is coming out with that I don’t really care about,” Kannappan said. “I don’t see the point with the iPad.” “It would be awkward to carry this tablet thing around,” junior Lori Krakirian said. “I don’t know what you’re supposed to do with it.” Apple released the iPad on April 3rd and with over 300,000 sales in one day. Prices start at $499, according to the Apple Web site. text by margaret kadifa

Briefing Earth Day prompts plethora of festive events In celebration of Earth Day 2010, we have compiled events to help all of us create a sustainable environment. From one person to the entire community, it’s easy to make a difference. For an updated and full list with details and contact information, visit www. cityofpaloalto.org/earthday or call (650) 329-2100.

Sunday

Tuesday

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

Thursday

Saturday

The GREENLIGHT Earth Day Film Festival

1:30 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers

7 p.m., Cubberley Auditorium

California Ave. Farmers Market and Earth Day Fair

Council Meeting dedicated to environmental issues

8 a.m. – 1 p.m., California Ave.

7 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers

Green Start on Your Home

7 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers

Earth Day!

Earth Day Hike at the Baylands 5 p.m., FREE!

Designing Water-Efficient Landscaping

“Eco-Flicks”

7:30 p.m., Lucie Stern Community Center Ballroom

Water Quality Control Plant Tour 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., Regional WQC Plant (limited space)

text by camille von kaenel graphics by yelena kasianova

You are what you eat?

Green team challenges Paly

Starting Jan. 1 2011, we will no longer be able to sip our Peet’s freddos guilt-free, oblivious of the 420 calories they contain. Chain restaurants nationwide will be required to post calorie counts of their dishes, according to a new national healthcare bill passed March 23. Chain restaurants include any restaurant with 20 or more locations and food in vending machines. The intent behind this new law is to encourage Americans to understand just how many calories they are eating by making calorie information easily accessible. This law was first implemented in New York in 2008 and similar laws have been used in other locations. Though the law has received some positive reactions from the health community, some Paly students are still skeptical. “In terms of health standards, it is a good idea,” junior Laura Rossiter said. “But it will make people feel self-conscious and want to starve themselves more.” Some menu items will not be required to have calories displayed, including specialties on the menu for less than 60 days.

In honor of Earth Day, the Palo Alto Green Team will promote the Drive Less Challenge during the week of April 19-23. To participate in the challenge, students and parents can record their use of alternative methods of transportation, including buses, carpools, bikes or trains. The Web site www.drivelesschallenge.com promises to grant

text by margaret kadifa

prizes for using less energy. “We’re hoping to do this at Paly,” junior Green Team member Sarah Berry said. Additionally, the city will host a variety of events for Earth Day, such as an Earth Day panel with Mayor Pat Burt and various service projects in the surrounding parks. text by camille von kaenel

Two proms, one day Paly’s prom and Gunn’s prom are both scheduled for April 24 due to AP testing and the date of spring break. Student Activities Director Kindel Launer, stresses that weather is also a factor in pushing back the date. Still, Launer is confident that atten-

dance will be strong. “I can’t imagine anyone not attending prom this year because the prom committee has put a lot of time and effort into making prom exciting for everyone,” Launer said. However, students are concerned about both proms being

scheduled on the same day. “Last year a lot of people from Gunn came to Paly’s prom and vise versa,” senior Tommy Ziperovich says. “But this year they won’t be able to, so we will probably lose a lot of attendance.” text by natalie lin

VERDE MAGAZINE

Briefing

Youth Community Service pin points service opportunity Palo Alto High School’s Youth Community Service club is selling pins for one dollar each in an effort to raise awareness and to provide aid to victims of the Haiti earthquake. “All our buttons are hand drawn and hand made by the members in YCS,” said club copresident sophomore Hannah Kim. “Most of the buttons have ‘Help Haiti’ or other related designs on them.” Students can buy buttons every Tuesday at lunch in room 101 from now through the end of the school year. For $2, students will be allowed to design their own pins. “For right now, we’ve made about 100 buttons for Haiti, and our goal is to first receive donations for those through selling them at Paly and also outside of Paly,” Kim said. The donations received will go towards the Enoch Choi Foundation, an organization founded by Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Enoch Choi. The foundation sends medical professionals in short-term deployments for disaster medical relief. “I think that we will be able to reach our goal and sell all our buttons,” Kim said. text by allison chang

By the

NUMBERS

APRIL 2010

Diddams no longer Palo Alto party plug The familiar green awning that used to shade the windows of Diddams party store in Downtown Palo Alto now only shades a “for lease” sign. Diddams, which has been selling various party necessities at 215 Hamilton Ave. since 1990, closed on March 27, ironically on the store’s 20th anniversary. Before closing, Diddams sold the majority of its remaining merchandise at half-price. Paly students who have been shopping at Diddams for years for Halloween and Spirit Week staples will have

to turn to other sources. Some will make the trek to one of Diddams’ other six stores. “I used to go there [to Diddams] all the time,” freshman Colin Kelly said. “It’s really too bad. I mean, where do you go for party stuff other than Diddams?” Owner Steve Diddams said the close was due to the end of the company’s lease. According to Diddams, business is difficult in downtown Palo Alto. Other stores in the area have been closing as well. text by sarah jacobs

Want money? Submit to Calliope The deadline for Calliope’s, Paly’s literary and arts magazine, contest is April 25. Students of all grades may submit their short stories or poetry by email to calliope. paly@gmail.com or to English teacher Kevin Sharp’s room, 202. Winners in each category will receive cash prizes for up to $50. The winners will be notified by late May, according to adviser Kevin Sharp.

“The judges are local writers, whom I’ve been working with for years,” Sharp said. Though past Calliope magazines have printed contest winners, there will not be a spring Calliope this year, Sharp said. Instead, winners will receive certificates and prizes in a special ceremony. Additionally, the winter issue of Calliope is on sale in room 203 for $4.

Calliope adviser Kevin Sharp text by camille von kaenel

Health care reform to benefit young adults New health care allows students to stay on their parents’ insurance until after college graduation. Young adults ages 19 to 29 represent a third of the uninsured, according to data analyzed by Kaiser. But those numbers could change with the health care bill signed into law by President Obama on March 23 — provision from the new law will require insurers to provide coverage for children until age 26. “Lots of young adults aren’t really settled in before that time [age 26] to get their own

This edition of “By the Numbers” focuses on numbers from our cover story, “Paly by the numbers”. To see more statistics on Paly students, turn to page 39.

insurance,” said Paly parent and doctor Kim Harvey. The transition from having insurance covered by parents and having to purchase insurance through college or an employer has been difficult for some students; 30 percent end up with no insurance at all. “It [the health reform] makes it much easier for me,” said George Kadifa, a Paly alumni and freshman at University of California at Berkeley. “There are options available at school, but they are not as good as what I get from my parents.” text by manon von kaenel

percent of girls like “Harry Potter” more than “Twilight” or “Lord of the Rings”

Briefing Police praise new texting tip line

The Palo Alto Police Department’s anonymous tip program, TipNow, is in its second successful month, according to Officer Scott Savage. The program allows people to send anonymous tips to the police through text messages and emails. TipNow was instigated in February to supplement the police department’s anonymous tip number. The text program’s address, paloalto@ tipnow.org, accepts SMS and MMS text messages and emails. “The real benefit with this program is that it accepts the standard text messages that so many people already send every day,” Savage said. According to Savage, the program ensures that the texter will be fully anonymous. While the anonymous tip line will remain in effect, the department says TipNow transforms anonymous tip-receiving methods. text by emily efland

District invests in InClass replacement Next year, a student information system students, teachers, doctors, siblings, and called Infinite Campus will be imple- such. mented in PAUSD schools, replacing an “You can have one item connected outdated system. Infinite Campus has to many things in a relational database,” many elements similar to InClass: Black- Dunkin said. “The more integrated the sysboard Connect calls home tems are, the easier they are to for absences, Cruncher is use.” a data warehouse and InAdditionally, students fosnap tracks parental apwill gain access to a calendar provals. of class assignments online, The current 15-yeartest scores, notes from teachold system no longer ers and grades. To keep this works on some computers, vital information safe, the according to Ann Dunkin, system will have high protecthe district’s director of Director of Technology Ann tion rated at the Department technology. When PAUSD Dunkin is excited for the of Defense level, according to officials realized that they new system. Dunkin. needed a newer system, Currently, a select group they picked Infinite Campus because of its of PAUSD employees are enrolled in an amalgamation of different tools and tasks, Infinite Campus course to learn how the according to Dunkin. system works. The plan is to train all the Teachers and parents will have a sin- teachers with a half-day course, with the gle username instead of the multiple login aid of assigned teacher coaches. names for InClass. The network of connecInfinite Campus is scheduled to be tions will work somewhat like a Web with fully implemented by the first week of Aubranches indicating relationships among gust. text and photo by amanda groziak

Find your calling at the community service fair Students will be able to find out information on a variety of community service opportunities at the annual Palo Alto High School community service fair. The fair will take place on April 28 at lunch in the quad. Christina Owen, coordinator of community service at Paly, is in charge of the event, which she says will have approximately 20 participating organizations. “The fair is an opportunity for students to have face-to-face contact with representatives,” Owen said. “It can [also] help students by exposing them to op-

portunities they might not have thought about.” Paly clubs focused on community service will also participate in the event alongside other organizations. “If you’re interested in something in particular, you can talk to the people and see if they have opportunities [based on your interests],” Owen said. Students who will miss the event can find more information about community service on the Paly community service bulletin board in the office, on Naviance or on the community service link found on www.paly.net.

Christina Owens is organizing the annual community service fair. text by manon von kaenel

percent of boys like “Lord of the Rings” better than “Harry Potter” or “Twilight”

percent brush their teeth twice a day

1810

total student population

VERDE MAGAZINE

Briefing

Click, shoot, win! Palo Alto Weekly hosts annual photo contest The winning and finalist photographs from the 19th Annual Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest will be exhibited at the Palo Alto Art Center from June 8 to June 28 according to Palo Alto Online. Palo Alto High School junior Michelle Chung entered the contest this year with her photo “Taiwan Alleyway.” This year will be Chung’s second year entering the contest. Her photo was taken in a town in Yilan, Taiwan, and shows off traditional Chinese culture, according to Chung. “I wanted to enter that specific photo because I liked the composition and the old-style black and white photography,” said Chung. “I also felt that the mysterious edge, the mist and its contrast with the sharp edges of the brick made it a strong photo.” Chung believes she has a better chance in the contest this year as opposed to last year. “I felt really rushed sophomore year because I just learned about the contest two days before it was due, so I just printed the first photo I felt was somewhat good for the contest,” Chung said. “I feel like that my photographs have gotten stronger because I’ve brought my camera around more and used it more than before, because most good photography is really snapping a bunch of photos and choosing the one that actually doesn’t look horrible.” The deadline for the contest was April 2. First place winners in the Youth categories will win a $100 cash prize, and first place winners in the Adult categories will win a $250 cash prize in addition to a $100 gift certificate to University Art and a one-year membership to the Palo Alto Art Center.

Junior Michelle Chung entered this photo, “Taiwan Alleyway”, in the Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest. text by mira khanna

No smoking? No joking, says new ordinance Smokers: prepare to say goodbye to those sunny days spent smoking on beaches and at parks. On March 22, the California State Assembly passed a bill that, if signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, would impose a new tobacco-smoking ordinance in state beaches and parks, according to the bill’s text. Last year, on May 14, the state Senate voted 21-14 to pass the law, and State Sen. Joe Simitian voted in favor of the bill, according to Keith Weissglass from Simitian’s Palo Alto office. “This bill would make it an infraction for a person to smoke, as defined, a pipe, cigar or cigarette on a state coastal beach or in a unit of the state park system,” the bill’s text said. Similar to the statewide movement, the Menlo Park city council approved an ordinance on March 2 that just awaits a second hearing in May before smoking is outlawed in public spaces around the city, according to 12

APRIL 2010

Menlo Park Mayor Richard Cline. “[The smoking ordinance] outlaws smoking in public areas,” Cline said. “It also outlaws smoking in private places that are common areas such as pools or lobbies of condo and apartment complexes.” As of now, Menlo Park forbids smoking inside any businesses, including restaurants, and prohibits smoking at places where children are present. If the Menlo Park bill passes, the Menlo Park restrictions will be stricter than Palo Alto’s. Palo Alto attempted to outlaw smoking in 2008 in parks and open spaces, but the Parks and Recreation Commission voted to not pass the law. According to Cline, the movement in Menlo Park to pass the law was proposed by agitated citizens living in multi-tenant buildings. Although the city does not have a formal plan for informing citizens about the

ordinance, Cline said, “Police will enforce [the law in] public areas, but not the private common areas” and violators of the law would be charged with fines. However, the city has run into some protest of the law, and Cline notes concerns about private rights violations and the role of government in citizens’ lives. Cline expresses support of the law. “Parks and areas where children gather should be protected to the full extent,” Cline said. The mayor’s support of the initiative is in sync with the most of the general opinion in Menlo Park. One anonymous comment on the Palo Alto Online story about the smoking ordinance, states: “Applaud Menlo Park for its effort to enact the smoking ordinance. I appreciate the degree of difficulty in the project and understand the need to take the necessary time to clean up any potential problem.” text by max cohen

THE LAUNCH

verde’s short features

WOULD YOU RATHER With ... Sophomore ANNA AVNEY Senior CONOR NEY

INSIDE THE ROOM OF

English Teacher KAYE PAUGH

go to prom with Mr. Geller

C A

go bald for a year get a tattoo on your face wear a swimsuit to prom eat McDonald’s for a year

1 3

wear stilettos to school spend your spring break on the Jersey Shore lose an arm marry Marilyn Manson

1. The popcorn machine Paugh’s senior advisees gave to her when they were sophomores.

2. This map of Palo Alto is a favorite among Paugh’s students. “[They] like to look at it in their spare time,” she says. 3. Paugh’s reel and clapboard on display. 4. The many films in Paugh’s film closet; students can “rent” these anytime. 5. Paugh in her classroom with her seashell, a gift from a former student.

OVER HEARD

CA CA CA A

C A

go to prom with Mr. Leonard dye your hair rainbow for a year get a septum piercing wear onesie pajamas to prom eat tofu for a year

A C

wear your momma’s loafers to school

spend your spring break in Cabo lose a leg

marry Cher

never get married at all

have to marry the first person that walks into the room

never be able to eat any form of bread

never be able to eat any form of sugar

come to school naked

be stuck in high school forever

only be able to watch the Sci-Fi channel

come to school in a wedding gown be a senior citizen (80+) forever only be able to watch the Disney channel

“I had a dream that I hit Tiger Woods with my car. I “Why does decided not to slow down.” “He was wearing nobody know what chow “He gives As to every single person and like super high socks and short mein is?” then they do crappily on the tests.” shorts.”

“What’s up? Did you make ketchup fruitcakes?”

VERDE MAGAZINE

THE LAUNCH

Y L A Ppeaks What is your definition of beauty? S

ALYSSA MOORE, SOPHOMORE u “Someone who is kind. Normal looking, something like the majority. Not rare.”

t ABBEY KINNAMAN, FRESHMAN “Someone who is proud of who they are and is confident.”

5 QUESTIONS WITH NITTAI MALCHIN

Junior Nittai Malchin will be traveling to Port-au-Prince, Haiti during spring break to work with Prodev, an organization that works to educate youth in Haiti. He will help out and teach at 14 schools for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. 1) WHAT SORT OF WORK WILL YOU BE DOING IN HAITI? I’m going to be working at makeshift schools most of the time. I’ll be teaching the kids how to use computers and other things like that which they aren’t normally exposed to. Also I’ll be playing some soccer with them. 2) WHY ARE YOU CHOOSING TO GO TO HAITI OVER SPRING BREAK? This trip allows me to help out with a cause that I feel passionately about, as the kids over there are just like any other kids who need an education and need to have fun. The recent earthquake has dramatically affected their lives for the worst, and being in Palo Alto and living such a privileged and comfortable life, I feel like it’s our duty to help in any way that we can. Also, I think I’ll be able to learn a lot and have some great experiences during this trip as I get exposed to a whole new environment and way of life — it can put some things into perspective for me. Finally, I’ll be able to educate others about the importance of helping out over there and maybe inspire people to make an effort to help out. 3) TELL ME ABOUT THE SCHOOL THAT PALY MIGHT ADOPT. This is still just an idea that I have but I’m hoping that Paly can fundraise enough money to support the building of a school [in Haiti] and the salaries of some teachers there, so that the kids will be able to receive a proper education. Eventually I’d like for it to branch out to other local schools and kind of create a network of schools in Haiti. 4) WHAT PROCESS DID YOU GO THROUGH TO SET UP THIS TRIP? My idea, however, was to make a real difference in person over there in a unique way. So I tailored my own trip basically with some help from people on the ground in Haiti. Because Haiti is so devastated right now, there isn’t really anything organized, so it took me two or three months to find a way to get there and set up so that I’d be able to really help. 5) WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE FOR THIS TRIP AND WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER A SUCCESS? Even before the earthquake, unfortunately, the education system in Haiti had many problems and faults. My hope is to help them not only in immediate relief and rebuilding efforts, but to find a way to help Haiti create a sustainable and successful system. My plan is to make this a long-term project and eventually go back to Haiti (maybe over the summer) after raising more money and seeing what’s really needed. CHECK OUT MALCHIN’S ONLINE BLOG ABOUT THE TRIP AT ONELOVEADVOCATES.ORG

APRIL 2010

KATHY HIMMELBERGER, MATH TEACHER q “There are different kinds of beauty. My definition is having a natural glow.”

PARTH RELAN, SENIOR u “How you look compared to others. How you dress, how confident you are. It is very subjective.”

LARRY ALLEN, FRESHMAN u “Good face. There are people who everyone agrees are attractive like Megan Fox.

Cartoon By Harry Nordlinger

1. TWIN LAKES BEACH IN SANTA CRUZ — What could be better than spending a sunny day at the beach?

2. PLAN A PICNIC — Pack together your favorite snack foods, grab a checkered blanket and relax under the sun.

3. A CONCERT AT SHORELINE — With a lineup of great artists coming this season, the amphitheater is a perfect place for a summer-night outing.

4. FOUNTAIN HOPPING — A fun and unique way to cool off on a hot day.

5. GO TO A GIANTS GAME — Take the train up with a

650 529 4701 4294 El Camino Real Los Altos, CA 94022 Monday-Saturday 10-6 www.styleandform.com

group of friends to root for the home team.

VERDE MAGAZINE

THE LAUNCH

T I T S O P ART

Verde asked Paly students to draw what Paly should do for Earth Day.

h s, 11t

illiam mas W

Tho

, 11th

anda ivian L

th Tony Hsu, 12

0th

a Crisc

u, 1 doro o e h t a

Pap

, 10th Costina Papatheodorou

EARTHQUAKES The destruction and loss brought about by temblors in Haiti, Chile and Mexico have been more than devastating.

PROM DRESS PAGE This Facebook group has caused needless drama and has not been very effective in preventing people from buying the same dresses. 16

APRIL 2010

NIOS WEEK This event has brought students together during lunch through great activities, music and performances. PROM While most upperclassmen are excited to attend, many are not thrilled about the buses and pricey ticket costs.

NEW BELL SCHEDULE The proposed four day block schedule has created an uproar around the Palo Alto community.

GREEN WEEK Being environmentally friendly is always good for karma.

Where the Floods Flood

THE LAUNCH

Text and Map by MAX COHEN Photography by MARC HAVLIK

ith recent flooding on campus, students are charting new paths across camps during passing periods. From the puddles in the parking lot to the flooding outside the library, rain provides serious obstacles for those without rain boots. In fact, the increase in rain fall has affected the entire Bay Area. According to the National Weather Service Climate Report, the San Francisco Airport and Oakland Airport both experienced more precipitation in January than usual. Verde shows where rain seems to collect the most and where students can go to get away from the downpour. v

Room 213 Robotics Room

STUDENT CENTER

Library Quad Green = Dry places to find shelter form the rain Blue = The darker the shade, the deeper the puddle

Student Center VERDE MAGAZINE

Norzin Collections 486 University Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94301 650.566.8424 Fine Jewelry Fashion Accessories Handicrafts

Cindyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Flowers and Gifts 10% off

for Paly students * Flowers for all occasions * Large variety of fresh flowers and gifts * Order your corsages and boutonnieres and get a Paly discount 558 Santa Cruz Ave Menlo Park CA 94025 (650) 321 4864 www.cindysflowersandgifts.com

ervices:

animal adoptions low-cost neuter and vaccination clinic volunteer opportunities pet supplies

hone: (650) 496-5971 eb ite: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/ pol/animal_services.asp

PERSPECTIVES

LOST IN TRANSLATION 20 WAKE UP CALL 22 AN ELECTRICITY EMERGENCY 21

PROVING THE POINT

Cartoon By Harry Nordlinger

PERSPECTIVE

Lost in Translation Lack of district language requirement fosters insularity Text by EMILY EFLAND Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

y family and I stepped off of the trail in Costa Rica, secondary as a requirement.” brushing pine needles and dirt off of our clothes. Our In other European countries, such as Switzerland, students hiking guide motioned us over to the side of the road. begin learning foreign languages in elementary school as well. “Adios!” our guide exclaimed. “Thank you for coming on the “The requirements for a foreign language are different in each nature hike. I hope you all enjoyed your adventure.” [Swiss] state depending on the language spoken in that state,” says “Grazi,” my mother answered as I hid my face in shame and Paly mom Nicole von Kaenel, a Swiss native from the Frenchwhispered to her that she had spoken in Italian. I silently thanked speaking region of Switzerland. “In our state [Neuchatel], and I myself that by learning Spanish I had avoided making such an think it’s not the only state like this, children start to learn German embarassing mistake. in third grade and then English in sixth grade.” I don’t expect to actually become fluent in Spanish by the In contrast, while some Paly students begin learning languages time I graduate from Palo Alto High in middle school, many do not start School, but I recognize that learning until high school. Learning a language a language in high school is more is much easier at a younger age. about experiencing other cultures and “Although it’s not always too late to languages for the first time. And yet, learn a foreign language, it is recomthis exposure to new cultures is vital to mended to start early,” says Language the development of one’s character and Studies Institute director Jonothan Xu. knowledge. Surprisingly, not all students “You don’t have the luxury, energy or at Paly experience this exposure because the time to dedicate to learning a lanPaly has no language requirement. guage as you grow older.” According to the Paly handbook, The gap between Paly’s language the University of California and requirements and international California State University have a language requirements already places two-year foreign language admission Paly students behind their peers in requirement, so most Paly students end other parts of the world. Studying a up taking a language anyway. But two language for at least three years will years is far from enough time to master increase knowledge of international a language. cultures. By the end of my first two years of “Hopefully, [learning a language] a language, I had learned two tenses also creates some interest, a more open and a limited vocabulary, but nothing mind and more tolerance towards those that allowed me to put more than a few cultures, people and traditions,” Alonso FOREIGN TONGUES A three-year language words into sentences. Communicating says. requirement will give students an appreciation with someone who spoke Spanish Not only do students become more of foreign cultures. faster than the over-exaggerated insular when they limit exposure to recordings teachers use for listening exercises would have been a languages, but they also lack knowledge of the many cultures in disaster. Students need at least three years of a language to be able the United States. to communicate effectively, and unless Paly institutes a three-year “[By learning a language] you will enjoy and appreciate your language requirement, only a few of its students will be remotely own and other cultures,” Xu says. “America is a melting pot with fluent in foreign languages. many immigrants and different cultures.” This language deficiency carries out into the broader world. In short, learning a foreign language increases one’s overall According to a 2005 U.S. Senate resolution, although 52 percent understanding by providing insight into other cultures as well as of the world’s population is bilingual, only 9 percent of Americans one’s own. However, this increase in understanding can only be know a second language. achieved through an adequate language requirement. For this “In Spain, the education plan is very different,” says Paly Spanish reason, Paly should require every student to take a language for at teacher Pilar Alonso. “Students are exposed to a second language least three years. It will be a valuable step towards increasing the by kindergarten, and take it all the way from primary school to cultural understanding of the entire student body. v 20

APRIL 2010

PERSPECTIVE

Wake Up Call One athlete’s rant against the institution of morning practice Text by EMMA TUCHER Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

eep! Beep! Beep! It’s 5:45 a.m. and I roll over and slap my lost roughly two hours of sleep. alarm, cursing myself for joining varsity sports. I jump out “I catch up on sleep during class, literally, I have snoring and of bed and wiggle into a swimsuit, and then grab my swim drooling status,” senior varsity swimmer Ian Schubert says. bag and an energy bar. Coaches, athletes and sports coordinators agree that the As I pedal through the Palo Alto streets, jealous of all of my negative effect of double days is the lack of sleep. sleeping neighbors, I encounter few cars. Together my teammate “Morning practices mainly start affecting performance if you and I roll through the quiet streets. We arrive on the bright pool don’t get enough sleep the next night,” varsity senior captain deck filled with girls removing the thick blue tarps and hop into Ashley Reese says. the freezing pool for an hour and a half of The first practice is too short to really be swimming-induced pain. After practice, we effective, especially for water polo, when half sprint into the locker room to shower. We of the practice is spent warming up. At 6 a.m. congregrate around the mirrors, putting on it is hard for some atheltes to perform at their mascara and brushing hair, pushing each best. other out of the way. We grab bagels and “All athletes are different. Some perform sprint to our first period class. Welcome to just fine at 6 a.m., while others can’t perform the life of a varsity water polo athlete. until 6 p.m.,” Paly sports trainer Stacey At Palo Alto High School, boys’ and girls’ Koffman says. swimming and water polo have morning After an entire school day, exhausting in practice. According to boys’ and girls’ swim and of itself, attending yet another practice is coach Kate Heddleston, JV swimming excruciating. The afternoon workout is thus recently instigated a morning practice to affected by the morning workout. increase attendance and allow athletes to “It [morning practice] zaps me of any and make up practices they have missed. Both all motivation during the afternoon, in and teams arrive bright and early at 5:45 a.m. — out of the water,” Schubert says. when the sky is still black and the street is If there was only one practice, it would empty of cars. The teams do a combination be more effective. Athletes would have the of dry land, swimming and drills in order to energy to put full effort into it. improve their skills. Practice typically ends “I felt super worn-out after mornings and at 7:20 a.m., allowing the athletes time to always had a lethargic afternoon workout,” shower, eat breakfast and change. The varsity Paly water polo junior Lori Krakirian says. swim team holds morning practice three “Mornings made me less motivated in times a week and water polo holds practice afternoon practice, and I felt like I would be twice a week. However, with all of these working harder if I wasn’t so exhausted.” Student athletes early morning practices, one must ask, does DOUBLE DAYS Paly students lead busy lives, between this really improve athleticism? The grueling suffer academically and athletically schoolwork, athletics, homework, classes, SAT morning and afternoon double day practices from two daily practices. prep, family engagements and friends. From make high performance in athletics and first hand experience, I know how difficult it academics difficult for many athletes. is to stay awake in the later periods of the day. After afternoon Later that day, it’s sixth period, and as my teacher discusses practice, it is 10 times more difficult to motivate myself to tackle Plato and Socrates I begin to drift asleep. My head hits the desk the endless amount of homework. and with the loud sound of the bell I jolt awake. I head to my next “I am more tired at night and I feel the need to get to bed class and sit down at my desk trying to concentrate. I rub my eyes, earlier so I have less time to work on my homework,” sophomore which are burning from chlorine, and squint to try to write down varsity swimmer Rachel Verschel says. the notes on the board. When the final bell rings, I grab my swim Paly track and field as well as basketball have held morning bag and head to yet another practice. I slog my way through giving practices; however they no longer hold double days. Since morning half effort in sprints and scrimmage, unable to concentrate. My practice does not increase performance, and makes high academic other teammates and I commiserate about how tired we are. performance difficult, the aquatics program should abolish its During class, it is much more difficult to concentrate having morning practice program. v VERDE MAGAZINE

PERSPECTIVE

An Electricity Emergency Consequences of and solutions to a potential prolonged blackout Text by MAX COHEN and ZACH STANTON-SAVITZ Art by YELENA KASIANOVA Photography by MARC HAVLIK

n Thursday, Feb. 18, food spoiled in Palo Alto refrig- Perishable food should not be kept above 40 degrees for more than erators, teachers in the city’s schools used candles to il- two hours, according to the Red Cross Web site. The organization luminate their classrooms, and businesses reported losing also recommends buying some coolers, and stocking up on shelfbetween $8,000 and $10,000, according to the San Jose Mercury stable foods, like powdered milk. News. This all occurred after a small plane hit two of PG&E power More importantly than what individuals can do though, is lines, killing three Tesla executives and plunging Palo Alto into what Palo Alto’s schools, and the city itself, can do to prepare for or darkness for approximately 12 hours, according to the City of prevent a blackout. An obvious thing that a city can do, according Palo Alto Utilities Department. to Wein, is to install back-up The blackout brought to light, generators. But there may be among other things, the vulother solutions that would give nerability of the city’s and Palo us more protection. Alto High School’s disaster For example, Palo Alto preparedness. High School could also prepare The blackout acted as a for an electric disaster by crewarning; although the plane ating procedures for teachers crash occurred two months ago, to follow in the case of a black this is earthquake territory, and out, and by making sure every due to our location on the San teacher knows what to do. Andreas Fault, preparation for Teachers could prepare for any future blackout is vital. a blackout by creating secondPalo Alto is quite depenary lesson plans, having backdent on electricity. People, as up materials to teach the class well as businesses, rely heavthat do not require any electricily on phones and computers. ity, and storing lanterns to illuClearly, a prolonged blackout minate classrooms. would be severely damaging “We needed to be more in Palo Alto. Solutions should patient for we could not use the be found and implemented to projector or CD player, but stuprepare for such an incidenct. dents were very cooperative,” BLACKOUT AT PALY Palo Alto High School students had to Not only are solutions for insaid Paly Spanish teacher Pilar cope with a blackout on Feb. 18 that disrupted classes and interdividuals needed, but solutions Alonso in an e-mail, also pointfered with the usual school day routine. for Paly, and for the city of Palo ing out that she was forced to Alto, must be found. postpone a quiz. According to operations research analyst Anne Wein of the Palo Alto’s electrical system employs fuses, and other such United States Geological Survey, a projected earthquake in the precautions to prevent widespread blackouts, according to Patrick area could cause around $106 billion in damage. Businesses could Valath, electric engineering manager of Palo Alto utilities. Howlose another possible $100 billion due to lost business. ever, due to the close proximity of the power lines to each other, the She says that a blackout could last for weeks. According to Feb. 18 plane crash hit two of three lines that transport Palo Alto’s Wein, recovery of power could take longer in some places that are power, which are both outside the city. If PG&E, the company less accessible. that provides Palo Alto with its energy, moved the lines to different Wein’s work at the USGS focuses primarily on the economic places, then only one line could be affected at a time and damage to impact of earthquakes, and less on how individuals would be af- one line would be a minor incident. fected. Overall, Palo Alto is vulnerable to blackouts and if the city However, there are precautions that people can take to prepare does not implement new solutions to ready itself for the future, it for blackouts such as keeping flashlights and back-up batteries. could encounter some serious electrical trouble. v 22

APRIL 2010

GLOBAL IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

WORLD OF WONDERS In this special global section, Verde staff members reflect on exploring new cultures outside the U.S, as featured in Two-Time Reality Check (pg. 24.) Art by HARRY NORDLINGER and YELENA KASIANOVA

TWO-TIME REALITY CHECK INKED GROOVE AND GIVE HOPE FOR HAITI

24 26 28 30

GLOBAL

Two-Time Reality Check

1 1

How volunteering trips to India and Ecuador changed my perspective on life in Palo Alto Text and Photography by SONALI SASTRY

s the gate to SEAM Children’s Home opened, I watched as ebullient children ran up to us, eager to meet the new team of three. Stephen, our team leader and host, introduced us to the children. My dad, Leslie — a Canadian woman — and I had traveled to Chennai, India, to volunteer with Global Volunteers, a Minnesota-based volunteering agency. The children had seen countless volunteers pass through the gates of the home; even so, they ran to us, beaming with smiles. I pulled out my camera and watched as the children’s attention rapidly shifted toward the device. They began to rattle off sentences in the local language of Tamil, an unfamiliar one to me. I was 14 and spending a month of my summer before sophomore year in India.

The previous day, my dad and I had left the comforts of my grandparents’ home in Bangalore, India, for a father-daughter bonding experience we had never had before. My dad had wanted me to realize that not everyone is alike with respect to economic background. I spent the weekdays in two locations. In the mornings I worked at Assisi Illam, a day care and orphanage, teaching the alphabet and basic numbers to children between the ages of two and five. Fortunately, the language barrier between the nuns in charge of the school and me did not prove much of a problem, although hand gestures came in handy most of the time. The afternoons, on the other hand, greatly tested my confidence as I was assigned to teach English grammar to four nuns-in-training. Ironically, the women addressed me as “maam” even though

they were five to six years older than me. Although daunting at first, I gradually began to enjoy the role of a teacher as I organized lesson plans for my students every night. As a result of my experience in Chennai, I had the desire to revisit the following summer. Yet less than two months later, the demands of high school again became my topmost priority and center of focus. I remember my dad occasionally bringing up the country of Ecuador as the idea of summer vacation loomed overhead. Neither of us had been to South America before and my dad’s final decision for us to volunteer there proved to be a second remarkable experience. Our experience in Ecuador, also with Global Volunteers, was quite different from that in India as our team consisted of 14 eclectic people. Spending two weeks

8 8 8

APRIL 2010

in a day care center for young children, I rediscovered my passion for working with children. Like the kids in India, children came from impoverished families. I was also given a chance to experience Latin American culture at its best and immediately fell in love with the music, traditions and food. My most vivid memory is of Emilio, a three-year-old boy who rarely took the time to smile or even talk. After two weeks of joking and playing around with him, I noticed that he began to let out a few giggles towards the end of the two weeks. After saying my final goodbyes to Emilio and the rest of the children, Edith, our team leader, told me a heart breaking story about Emilio. Edith said his shyness was a result of a car crash his parents were involved in. His mother had rarely spoken to Emilio or smiled since his father had

died in the crash. Upon hearing this, I felt so much better about my time spent with Emilio as it proved to be rewarding for both of us. Many people think of volunteering abroad as a life-changing experience. In my case, I realize that I have returned to my regular life. Yet there is no doubt that my two experiences abroad gave me personal insight that has made me more aware of my lifestyle as a blessed one. As a result, I discovered my passion for teaching and enjoyment of Latin American and Indian cultures. I realized that across the world we all hold common goals. Between the novices and the Ecuadorian children, I understood that though we differ in economic background, we all strive for a good lifestyle and education. Volunteering opened my eyes to this, and I hope to continue helping oth-

1. My dad, Leslie and me with children at SEAM 2. A girl at SEAM folds clothes, a daily routine set aside for girls 3.Sitting with four of the girls at SEAM, just after they received new toys. 4. Three children enjoy a watermelon snack 5. Edith talks with the children on a park outing 6. Emilio stares into the camera without a smile 7. Our full Global Volunteers team 8. Leslie and I prepare lesson plans for the next day 9. The market outside the daycare center 10. Standing with my four tutees after a lesson

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6 4

(Photos 1-3, 8, 10 in India; Photos 4-7, 9 in Ecuador) VERDE MAGAZINE

GLOBAL

lay on my side on the cold, leather chair beside her with half my shirt off, furiously chewing my sleeve as Wakako sanitized the needle. She rubbed a glob of brown gunk about five inches under my armpit around the stenciled design that would soon be permanent. My left arm rested uselessly atop my head to accommodate her handiwork. Finally, she lowered the needle to my skin and asked me a question. “Are you sure about this?” I gritted my teeth and told her I’d never been surer of anything. This was true; I was getting tattooed to commemorate a six-week summer trip to Morocco. I went with a group of 11 other high school students; three returned Peace Corps volunteers served as our instructors. The program sponsoring our trip, Where There Be Dragons, prides itself on providing in-depth, often extremely challenging trips in developing countries. I knew my time abroad wasn’t exactly going to be a vacation, but I didn’t know that the difficulties I’d experience would change me for the better, and ultimately prompt me to get a tattoo. Morocco is a weird place. Everything — from the 18 variations on “how are you” to the five cubes of sugar in every shot glass of tea — feels downright alien to the average American teen. Perhaps this is why, after four weeks of living and traveling around the country, I didn’t even bat an eye at the creepy van that was supposed to take us from the city of Zagora to the Sahara desert. By now I was used to all of Morocco’s oddities, or so I thought. I should have 26

APRIL 2010

run back toward the taxi depot across the street and caught the nearest ride north, but I didn’t. After the long and dramatic process of planning our trip into the desert, my group and I wanted nothing more than to rest for the next three hours. And that’s what I though we’d get, despite the fact that everyone was being herded into an old minivan that looked like the kind of vehicle our parents referred to when they told us never to get into a stranger’s car. Despite all of these warning signs, I snagged a seat by the window and resolved to catch up on some much needed sleep. About an hour later, I found myself slowly cracking my eyelids open and feeling an inexplicable discomfort creep over me. The windows of the van were completely caked with flecks of desert sand, and it seemed that the number of passengers on our voyage had increased dramatically since we’d left Zagora. In addition to the 14 people in my group, four more locals had decided to hitch a ride. But it wasn’t the crowded conditions that brought about my sudden sense of discomfort. I began to realize with panic that my stomach hurt, badly. Everyone else in my group had gotten some form of food poisoning that I’d managed to avoid, but as the feeling of two wrenches twisting in my abdomen intensified, I became convinced that I was about to get really, really sick. A few minutes passed. I couldn’t move, so I just sat very quietly in my seat, hoping that we’d reach our destination soon. We were headed for the backwater town of M’Hamid, the last outpost of Moroccan

civilization before the vast expanse of the Sahara. It can’t be more than 20 minutes away, I thought, but I had to know for sure. Timidly, I opened my mouth, cringing at the pain the movement brought me, and asked, “Does anyone know how much longer until we’re there?” I hoped for a favorable answer. Instead, someone checked their watch. “About an hour,” was all I got. Now, I’m not proud of what happened after this. Thinking back to the rest of the ride makes me shudder with shame because of the way I acted. But the gut-wrenching, twisted pain in my stomach caused me to regress back to age five. As soon as I found out that I’d be trapped inside the stuffy, air-circulation free van for the next 60 minutes, I began to cry like an angry toddler on an airplane. My group sat wideeyed around me at first, not knowing how to react. “What’s the matter?” someone asked incredulously. All I managed to utter through my sobs was, “My … stomach … hurts … really … bad!” Everyone’s incredulity immediately turned to nurture, because everyone but me knew what it felt like to get sick in

Morocco. By some cruel twist of fate, the very thing that I had hoped to avoid found me. Even the most comforting of back rubs didn’t help me through the next hour. Finally, tall slivers of date palms appeared in the distance. I felt like a desert nomad finally reaching an oasis after days without water: ecstatic. The closer we got to our hotel, the more anxious I became to taste fresh air. When I finally got out of the van my stomach didn’t stop hurting, but those first few breaths of the outdoors immediately made me feel a little better. Our hotel was on the sandblasted outskirts of M’Hamid. For eight dirhams (Moroccan dollars), our group was permitted to set up tents in its dusty courtyard and explore its grounds during the day. Although we only needed to stay in M’Hamid for one night, our hotel would serve as our base for finding and hiring a camel trekking guide service and navigating the treacherous waters of the Sahara tourism market. The merchants of this desert outpost were notorious for ripping off travelers, and our mission was to avoid falling for their traps. In my incapacitated state, I wasn’t permitted to take part in the search for the perfect camel trek service, but my group approached the task with ferocity. I sat in the lobby, occasionally convulsing from the pain that rolled through my gut. Every five minutes, the owner of our hotel came inside and asked if I was going to throw up all over his ornate cushions, even after I repeatedly insisted that I wouldn’t. If you haven’t already guessed this, M’Hamid is hot. Actually, scratch that, Morocco is hot. But M’Hamid is something else. This

WHERE IN THE WORLD Morocco is located in Africa on the Northwest corner of the continent. This story takes place in the arid Southern province of Ouarzazate near the Algerian border and the Sahara Desert.

heat transformed the lobby situation from unsavory to intolerable. No matter how much cold water I poured onto myself, I felt like the hot air was wrapping its tentacles around my entire body and suffocating me. I’d never known it was possible to drip with sweat. For the next four hours, I sat looking like an escaped mental patient while trying to negotiate with the hotel owner for a fan. By the time he finally gave into my pleas, night had fallen and my group had arrived at two different ideas regarding our impending trek. Option one was to use the service provided by our hotel. Option two was a slightly more expensive independent organization that appeared to have better food. We left the grounds of our hotel and argued all the way through dinner about which camel trek would be better. Insults were thrown across the table and things quickly got personal. After four weeks of traveling together, our patience with each other had begun to wear thin. Every negative thought that had been held in was suddenly released. By the end of the night, our group was in shambles, but a decision had been made. We’d be traveling with the independent trekking service. Everyone thought that all of the dissenters had conceded, but when we returned to our campsite, the hotel owner presented us with one more roadblock. In addition to being extremely paranoid about people vomiting in his lobby, we discovered that he was adamant that whoever stayed on the grounds of his hotel would also use his camel trek service. My instructors began to argue with him in rapid, indistinguishable Arabic. Their voices grew louder and louder, finally culminating in an English outburst by the hotel owner. “She,” he shouted, pointing at me, “will DIE in the desert!” Everyone froze in stunned silence. “Get out of my hotel,” he

spat, slamming the door in our faces. After hours of planning and anguish and illness and argument, we found ourselves homeless on the streets of M’Hamid. If you’d told me at that moment that merely 72 hours later, I’d be counting shooting stars and eating fresh watermelon, I wouldn’t have believed you. Even then, I had a hard time comprehending how far everyone had come in just a couple days. My group had started a drum circle atop one of the sand dunes with a few of our camel trek guides, playing everything from Blink-182 to traditional Moroccan jams. The star-speckled sky had turned navy blue, and it lay draped over the mountains of sand like a quilt. We all had as much fruit as we could eat, and I didn’t even mind the sticky juice that ran down my chin. I kept seeing shooting stars out of the corners of my eyes, but I didn’t frantically make wishes like I would have at home. For the first time in a long time, I felt truly content. So what does any of this have to do with getting a tattoo? Well, I got “wanderlust,” or the love of travel, tattooed onto my body because of experiences like these. I will always be grateful for everything traveling through Morocco taught me; I owe everything to these lessons because they made me stronger than I ever thought I could be. Being sick and homeless in a sketchy desert town sounds like the kind of experience you’d want to forget, but I want to commemorate my struggles along with my triumphs. Nothing will ever replace the way comfort feels after the most uncomfortable experiences. The hardest parts of traveling are what make the best parts so great, and this Sahara excursion was certainly no exception. This tattoo represents every aspect of my travels in Morocco as well as all of my future journeys, because as soon as I got home last summer, I found myself with an incurable itch to wander again. v VERDE MAGAZINE

GLOBAL

ve and Give

How we can achieve our own SuperProm Text by ALLY MESSICK Photography by ALLY MESSICK and JUNE AFSHAR Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

am not an optimist, humanitarian, a preacher or a glass-half-full-kindof gal. When I hear about global disasters or genocide in other parts of the world, I generally bury myself further in my Palo Alto bubble, close my eyes, shake it off and focus on my next math test. I, like most people, like to have control of the situation. Bringing up a grade? Not a problem. Helping a sick friend? Easy. But when I ponder crises in other parts of the word, I become overwhelmed. It’s hard to believe that I, a junior in high school, can actually help people in another country. And yet, I do not have to turn my head far to find people attempting to make a difference in other parts of the world. On March 19, seniors at Cupertino High School won the nationwide Dell SuperProm Contest, which awarded the school a prom valued at $100,000. The school won the contest because of the time and energy the seniors dedicated toward the Kenya Dream Project — a project designed to donate more than $100,000 to upgrade facilities at a school in Kenya. Cupertino High School has fundraised for the Kenya Dream Project for the past four years by selling T-shirts, and hosting numerous fundraisers, according to senior Lisa Nguyen. Now that Dell will cover all of Cupertino’s prom expenses, the student body can donate the money from ticket sales to the project, helping the students reach their goal of $100,000. Nguyen, like most other Cupertino seniors, joined the Kenya Dream Project during her freshman year. “I’ve been an active member, attending 28

APRIL 2010

KEEPIN’ IT TRASHY (left to right) Seniors Emily Fowler and Cassie Prioleau saved money at homecoming by making dresses out of trashbags. They fit right in with juniors Grace Marshall and Mary Albertolle. and helping most of the events,” Nguyen says. “The Kenya Dream Project has really changed our high school.” As winners of the contest, the students were awarded a very extravagant prom. But for Nguyen and her fellow classmates, that was not the main gift she received. “What’s more important than the prom is that we were able to get a lot of media attention, which is what we’ve been trying to do since we started the project,” Nguyen says. “Dell’s SuperProm allowed us

to get the word of the Kenya Dream Project out, and more people are being inspired by our project.” According to Nguyen, the students originally wanted to donate the $100,000 prize to the Kenya project, but that action was prohibited under contest rules; however, the students have still found ways to use their prom to help the school in Kenya. “As an alternative, we are using our prom bids to raise money for the Kenya Dream Project,” Nguyen says. “A part of

“Dell’s SuperProm allowed us to get the word of the Kenya Dream Project out, and more people are being inspired by our project.” — CUPERTINO HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR LISA NGUYEN

the ticket money will go towards the project, which will greatly help our cause.” After hearing about the generosity of Cupertino High, I started to wonder about our own prom: can prom be more than a dance with sweaty people and mediocre food, but an opportunity to help people in another part of the world? Last year at Paly, the administration changed certain prom traditions: a group bus replaced a glamorous limo, and the administration breathalyzed students. The student body felt rattled by these minor changes and condemned the administration for its decisions. Yet when all was said and done, many students realized that taking a bus to prom did not cause the catastrophe that they had imagined. Senior Emily Fowler believes that prom buses did not negatively affect her prom experience. “A lot of people were really mad about it [taking a bus] but I still had a lot of fun and you can fit more of your friends on a bus anyway,” Fowler says. Senior Malaika Drebin agrees with Fowler. “It was more about just being there and having fun,” Drebin says. “The fact that we did not have a limo wasn’t a big deal.” Traditions changed and students still had a good time. Could Paly students also refrain from more expensive traditions, maybe at the cost of helping someone else? If 100 Paly girls bought $50 dresses instead of $100 dresses, we could raise $5,000 to send much needed school supplies to a Kenyan school. Math, unlike my brilliant sense of humor, is not one of my strong suits, and even I can see how quickly the numbers add up.

This year, Fowler and eight of her friends did not buy dresses for homecoming, but instead wore trash bags. Yes, trash bags, in all different colors and designs. I was one of few attendees at that dance and immediately noticed the group of girls. Ironically, they did not look trashy at all. The girls’ creative and unique idea for dresses was impressive “One of my friends saw pictures of some girls from another school wearing them [the trash bags] and we thought they were pretty cool looking,” Fowler says. “We wanted to do something fun so we thought homecoming would be the perfect time to try them out.” Fowler says that wearing the trash bags did not dampen her dancing experience. “It was cool to save money,” she says. “And we got to make the dresses together as a group.” At prom, ASB could host a competition to award the most creative dress. Perhaps then, girls will strive to wear an original hand-made outfit instead of an expensive store-bought one. ASB could also award a prom queen and king based on who had raised the most money. Instead of hiring a professional DJ, Paly could ask a student group or band to volunteer to play music. Instead of fancy food, we could have take-out or a potluck, and many restaurants may be willing to donate food in honor of a good cause. There is a limitless number of ways that we could take money we would have spent on certain frivolities and help an organization of our choosing. Nguyen agrees that high school students should use their prom to help other

charity organizations. “Other schools can use prom to help other countries by making part of their prom bids go towards a nonprofit organization,” Nguyen says. “Whether it’s $5, $50 or $100, it will help out the charity, since so many people will attend.” Paly students are extremely motivated and capable, and we could definitely make a difference if we actually tried. How do we want to be remembered? Can we be like Cupertino High, the class that will always be known for helping Kenya? It is up to our generation to question traditions and carve paths for ourselves. Maybe traditions like a store-bought corsage are not really necessary. Could a hand-picked flower work just as well? We could instead take that money and help some kids in high school receive a better science building. Or if the student body agreed, we could help a local organization. When it comes down to it, the type of food and other little details will not be what make or break your night. What is important is the time you spend celebrating with your friends and date. And maybe helping others will be that one last touch that makes your night one to remember. v

Dance and donate? Attend a dance on May 29 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. All profits will support Kenya Dream. For more information visit www.Kenyadream. com. VERDE MAGAZINE

GLOBAL

Hope for Haiti Paly parent reports back on earthquake catastrophe Text by ALLY MESSICK Photography Courtesy of LAR BRUGUERA

ictims of the devastating Jan. 13 earthquake in Haiti try to avoid the rain as they gather their belongings under tarps, in makeshift shelters, or for the lucky ones, in tents, according to Lar Bruguera, a doctor at Kaiser Permanente. Bruguera, father of Palo Alto High School sophomore Elise Bruguera, just returned home from a two-week volunteer trip to Haiti. The people of Haiti have not recovered from their catastrophe, which killed an estimated 230,000, injured more than 300,000 people and displaced a million people from their homes, according to Brigitta Bokor, a spokesperson for Relief International, a nonprofit organization that helps problems in third world countries “They live in camps, in streets, amid the rubble and amongst the buildings it fell from,” Bruguera says. “Few live indoors as there are few buildings that are safe. Most are concrete and are damaged beyond repair in Port au Prince.” The people of Haiti still experience aftershocks, making recovery even more difficult. “Aftershocks are audible as the earth grinds and the rubble settles,” Bruguera says. “As one aftershock occurs, the fearful populace cries out, alerting you in case you didn’t feel or hear it.” The heavy rain that has begun due to the spring monsoon season also has created more problems. “The people of Haiti have great patience with their challenging circumstance,” Bruguera says. “I heard one man say, ‘you just have to accept it’, when talking about dealing with the heavy rainfall.” During his trip, Bruguera lived and worked in a tent, but had the possibility of relocating if the rain became too severe. “Haitians have few such options,” Bruguera says. “Those that slept indoors during 30

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dry season now prefer a tent. That way they to our aid.” won’t have to run out into the rain in their According to Bruguera, the Haitians pajamas when there’s an aftershock.” face an array of problems other then lack Bruguera worked at a clinic in Carre- of medical supplies four, a district in central Port-au-Prince. He “Many people had lost their jobs as inmade his trip through Relief International. stitutions, society and businesses were disAlthough the earthquake happened rupted,” Bruguera says. “There was intermore than three months ago, Haitians mittent electrical power, not enough water still are in need of care. and few garbage pickups. People “Bones may not have healed cleaned and picked up rubble in the right place and sanitation by hand. There’s a great need is a major problem,” Bokor says. for heavy equipment, but I saw The lack of a sewage system, only two pieces in two weeks.” access to clean water and poor Bruguera observed that sanitation drives the spread the dire situation is unlikely of communicable diseases to improve soon. such as malaria and “This crisis seems that it dengue, according to will last for years, more than Bokor. the prolonged recovery from “Due to the lack [Hurricane] Katrina,” Bruof sanitation, people guera says. “There are probare dying from simlems of corruption and graft, ple wounds,” Bruthreats of abduction and guera says. “I also crime and few resources in saw long lines of people waiting an extremely difficult envifor medical care and children ronment.” complaining of hunger pains.” Although Bruguera enBruguera aided the Haijoyed helping the Haitian peotians to the best of his ability, ple, he was also happy to return considering the lack of medical to his family. supplies. “I have to admit it was a re“Many seemed to have a lief to leave,” Bruguera says. “It is cold or the flu but it was hard to a stressful place to live and work. tell whether they were coming People are still in shock and I felt down with malaria because tests some of that myself. It was clear that were not available yet,” Bruguera relief workers also suffered. says. “Pregnant mothers were Bruguera encourages more people anemic and had no vitamins. to volunteer to help the crisis in Haiti. Many adults had high blood pres“There is an awful lot of sure and diabetes but could not af- Dr.Who? work to be done in Haiti over ford the medications they needed. Paly parent Lar the next decade,” Bruguera says. We were able to give out a month’s Bruguera spent “Anyone who wants to can make worth to tide them over, but what two weeks volun- a difference by working with do they do then? They are helpless teering in Haiti. worthwhile organizations.” v

FEATURES

SPRING INTO COLOR 32 THE SCIENCE OF BEAUTY 34 CONTINUING THE TRADITION 36 A SECRET MENU FOR TEST TAKING 38

GOING BENEATH THE SURFACE

SPRING FESTIVITY In “Spring into Color” (pg. 32) Bay Area residents celebrate the Indian spring festival of Holi.

FEATURE

Spring into Color Students participate in a traditionally Hindu holiday Text by MIRA KHANNA Photography by SARAH HENDERSON

alo Alto High School junior Tobey Nelson-Gal remembers his first Holi, two years ago. He walked past the gates to Stanford’s Sandhill Fields and instantly received colorful pats on the back by a throng of people bearing buckets of brightly-colored powder. He and his friends proceeded to throw, smear and otherwise cover themselves and those around them with fistfuls of color powder. Fast-paced Indian music filled the air. After a while, Nelson-Gal and his friends took a break from all of the activity to watch some Indian dancing. After getting some food, he eased his way past the swarms of Indians. As he waited, Nelson-Gal noticed the contrast between his own fair skin and that of the average Holi attendee. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is a Hindu spring festival, primarily celebrated in India. Holi celebrates the burning of Holika, who in Vaishnava theology, is the sister of King Hiranyakashipu, who attempts to murder his son for praying to Lord Vishnu instead of Hiranyakashipu. This year Nelson-Gal attended Asha for Education’s Holi on March 27, a celebration held annually at Stanford University since 1999. Now a junior, Nelson-Gal has attended the event for three years in a row. Holi is one of a number of traditionally religious holidays to gain popularity and assimilate into modern American culture. However, according to a 2007 study done by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, only 20 percent of people from the ages of 18-29 make up the U.S. religious landscape, 32

APRIL 2010

PASSIONS FOR POWDER This year’s Holi festival at Stanford University had more than 5,000 attendees, according to Asha Holi’s Web site. meaning that only 20 percent associate themselves with a religion. The same study also found that 18 percent of people from the ages of 18-29 have switched from being affiliated to unaffiliated with a religion. Despite the trend of more youth drifting from their original religions, holidays such as Holi continue to attract numerous nonHindu participants. Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, senior associate dean for religious life at Stanford University, finds this trend understandable.

“It has become more acceptable to be religiously identified and to speak loudly out of a religious perspective, at the same time that fewer people claim to be religious adherents,” Karlin-Neumann says. Nelson-Gal does not consider himself a religious adherent, but nonetheless enjoys celebrating Holi with his friends. “I heard about it [Stanford’s Holi Festival] through my friend Shivani Rustagi, a junior at Henry M. Gunn High School, who invited me to come with her and a few other friends,” Nelson-Gal says.

“After hearing about how wild and crazy it was, I just had to go.” According to Asha’s Web site, the Stanford Holi festival has increased in size from about 1,000 attendees in 2001 to about 5,000 in 2010. One of Nelson-Gal’s friends, Gunn junior Sam Rusoff, heard about the festival from the same friend, and thoroughly enjoyed attending it. However, Rusoff instantly noticed a difference between himself and the other participants. “The first time I went, I was the 800-pound gorilla in the room because I wore all white, and being white, I was quickly attacked until I had color all over and in my hair,” Rusoff says. “I was probably one of 35 other white people in the whole event.” However, comparing last year’s Holi to the one hosted in 2007, Rusoff has noticed a growing trend of non-Hindus attending the festival. “The second time I went, it seemed a little more mixed, as if other people were inviting their friends of different ethnicities,” Rusoff says. Nelson-Gal also noted a difference between last year’s festival to those of previous years. “It’s really diverse, even though it’s hard to tell ethnicity sometimes when people are covered with so much colorful powder,” Nelson-Gal says. Rusoff believes that Holi’s growth in popularity in the Bay Area is not because of the size of the Hindu population, but rather because of the nature of the festival itself. “Holi, being such a simple and fun festival, is easily enjoyed anywhere,” Rusoff says. “While it does take some organization to order the huge amount of colored powder, anyone of any age can run around and have fun. I would say that the only thing keeping a person from participating in and enjoying Holi would be if they were lazy.” Karlin-Neumann provides insight into a possibility for why the traditionally religious holiday has now become so popular. “Spirituality has become a code word for the desire for connection and community, and there is a conflation of religious underpinnings and cultural ideas,” Karlin-Neumann says. Both Rusoff and Nelson-Gal have enjoyed their experiences with Holi. “I really enjoyed going and am glad that I found out when I did so that I could

BUCKET MAN On March 27 at Asha’s Holi celebration at Stanford University, participants threw handfuls of brightly colored powder at each other. come back for the next year and the year after,” Rusoff says. “Not only is there great Indian music, great dancing and nice people who make the festival really fun, but there is also really yummy Indian food.” “Every time I attend Holi I’m extremely surprised at how much fun I have throwing colored powder,” Nelson-Gal says. “It not only is a fun time to hang out with friends and dance to some cool Indian beats, but it’s a great time to just feel like a little kid again, with no cares in the world but getting hit by a huge cloud of purple dust.”

Both Nelson-Gal and Rusoff believe the reason the festival is so enjoyable to those not part of the religion is that the festival brings people together. The increasing trend of celebrating religious holidays has propagated not only at Paly, but across the Palo Alto community as well. Karlin-Neumann agrees. “We are a more culturally diverse nation than we once were and we celebrate diversity; therefore we celebrate once unknown holidays,” Karlin-Neumann says. v VERDE MAGAZINE

FEATURE

The Science of

Beauty

What does it mean to be attractive?

Face: 21% Face: 33%

Eyes: 27% Smile: 27%

Eyes: 7% Smile: 7%

Shoulders: 2%

Arms 2%

Chest: 33%

Abs 15% Butt 8%

Butt: 20%

BEHIND THE BARBIES We surveyed 50 students from all four grades anonymously and asked them what physical traits they believed were most important in men and women.

Beauty across the ages

APRIL 2010

Text by ASHA ALBUQUERQUE and ANABEL HOMNACK Photography by SARAH HENDERSON Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

elen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships, sparked a whole war due to her beautiful appearance. But what about her made her so beautiful? And for today’s Helens, the men and women that grace the magazine covers of the world, is there a science behind their attractive features and to what extent is their beauty universal? With these questions in mind, Verde decided to investigate the science of attractiveness. From the evolutionary biology of traits that guarantee reproductive success to the mathematical ratios behind the most pleasing facial ratios, we delved into solving the age-old question of what is beauty, and is it truly in the eye of the beholder? The Golden Rule The Golden Ratio, otherwise known as 1.618 or to be more precise, (1+√5)/2, is the core behind aesthetically pleasing traits in nature, art, architecture and even the human body throughout the world, according to math teacher Suzanne Antink.

Greece Classical Period 600 BC– 400 BC

Ancient Egypt Old Kingdom 2686 BC–2134 BC

India Vedic Period 1500 BC –500 BC

Antink says the ratio was discovered when people began noticing that the most pleasing proportions to the eye all happened to be 1.618. “The Greeks went crazy when they discovered that even the proportions of the Parthanon were the same as the golden ratio,” Antink says. “From the windows to the height and distance between the pillars; it was all 1.618.” According to David Narain, professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago, the ratio has specific applicability to the beauty behind certain human faces. Given a face in which the width of the mouth and the nose have a ratio of 1.618, Narain says this face is more aesthetically pleasing than faces that are less proportional. Antink says that the golden ratio is found in almost every aspect of nature from the rings in pineapples to peacock feathers, and even the bones in a human hand. According to Antink, some people who believe in God believe the golden ratio is evidence of a divine master design. They think that the fact that the ratio is so prevalent in nature is proof that some divine being was involved. “The ratio is found in the most minute sequences and is even in the length of strands of DNA,” Antink says. Helen of Troy, one of the most beautiful women in Greek history, likely possessed a face that exhibited the golden ratio, as she lived in a period in which the ratio was embedded in Greek culture and art. The ratio 1.618 is the aesthetic ideal and is found in art across different cultures and different times. In some ways, beauty is not subjective as faces that correspond to the

ratio are universally prized and valued as beautiful, according to research done by the University of Texas at Austin.

THE PERFECT FACE We manipulated facial attributes from six students to compose a relatively proportional face. Plastic surgeon Stephen Marquardt developed the digital mask above based on the golden ratio. No human face ever matches the mask exactly as no one is perfectly proportional. The Hip-Waist Ratio The elegant hourglass figure of the female body has been idealized in history perhaps for as long as humans have existed. But is that simply a subjective human preference or is there a scientific reason

The Media and Beauty Societal definitions of beauty are very much influenced by the media. According to Bloom, the media images are manipulated and show only a narrow spectrum of body types. “It is not realistic to aspire to look like the media’s representation of beauty,” Bloom says. “It is not an accurate representation of the average American woman.” The media tends to focus on beauty in terms of physical attributes of women. However, in terms of men, Bloom believes that broad shoulders, big chests and strong arms are some of the characteristics that are most physically appealing due to the fact that they have an evolutionary advantage. In conclusion, many of the traits that society values as beautiful have a basis in science. The golden rule, hip-waist ratio and the media impact ones perceptions greatly. Thus, beauty is not as subjective as one might think. v

United States Modern 1990–2010

Japan Edo Period: Geisha 1600–1868

Europe Renaissance: 1350–1600

behind why small waists and wide hips are considered beautiful? Apparently, there is. According to the science journal Nature, a high hip-waist ratio can contribute to diabetes, obesity, heart disease and a shorter life span. Social Studies Instructional Supervisor, Eric Bloom, believes that a low hip-waist ratio has had an evolutionary advantage. “In history, women with wide hips were considered beautiful as they were healthy and had high fertility,” Bloom says. “A man would be attracted to these women as he would want to produce kids and spread his genes in order to biologically be successful.”

United States Flapper Era 1920s

VERDE VERDEMAGAZINE MAGAZINE

FEATURE

Continuing the Tradition

Paly junior helps his family’s Thai restaurant maintain a stable customer base Text and Photography by EMILY EFLAND

tepping into the Thai restaurant Siam Royal in downtown Palo Alto, one notices the enticing smells of spicy curry, steaming chicken and fried noodles. The beige walls are decorated with a mixture of Thai art and sculptures adorn the room. Apart from the several adult servers, a highschool-aged boy appears in the background, behind the cashier: Palo Alto High School junior Justin Youngyunpipatkul. When he was two years old, Youngyunpipatkul had his first job delivering checks to customers at Siam Royal, his family’s Thai restaurant. Youngyunpipatkul would walk up to the table, reach to hand the customers their check, and ask them if 36

APRIL 2010

they enjoyed their meal. Now, 15 years later, Youngyunpipatkul still helps out in the restaurant, running the cashier, taking phone orders, making drinks and running the dishwasher. “Some customers come back now and say they remember me [when I was little] delivering the check and asking how their meal was,” Youngyunpipatkul says. Youngyunpipatkul’s parents opened the restaurant in 1993, the year Youngyunpipatkul was born. The longest-lasting Thai restuarant in downtown Palo Alto, Siam Royal has managed to keep its customer base through the years despite the influx of Thai restaurants. The customers feel as fondly for Siam

Royal as does its founder, Youngyunpipatkul’s father. “It was my husband’s life dream to open a restaurant,” says Youngyunpipatkul’s mother, Chutima Vasa. Vasa and her husband were both born in Bangkok, Thailand, and moved to the U.S. in 1986 to join their families. They brought original family recipes, but adjusted them slightly for Siam Royal’s menu. “Most of the dishes [we serve] were already popular in other Thai restaurants in the U.S., but we also added some dishes that were childhood favorites back in Thailand,” Vasa says. “The food [we serve] is milder and the flavors are not as strong as the flavors in Thailand because some of

< < TRADITIONAL DECORATIONS Siam Royal’s paintings and sculptures add to the calm atmosphere.

ON THE JOB > > Youngyunpipatkul answers a take-out order phone call.

< < DEDICATED SON Youngyunpipatkul helps his family at Siam Royal, his family’s restaurant, every weekend.

the ingredients used in Thailand are not available here.” One dish that was one of Vasa’s childhood favorites is drunken noodle, which consists of pan-fried noodles with vegetables, garlic, chili and basil. Vasa and her husband spend all day working at the restaurant, and after school, Youngyunpipatkul goes straight to the restaurant instead of returning home. He heads to a room above the dining area of the restaurant until 10 p.m., when his parents close the restaurant. The room contains a computer for Youngyunpipatkul to do his homework, and an office for his mother. “I do my homework and other things any normal teenager would do in their own house there [above the restaurant],” Youngyunpipatkul says. “The only difference is that it is much noisier, and when it does get noisy I have to check downstairs to see if they [my parents] need my help.” Despite the busy lifestyle, Youngyunpipatkul and his parents manage to run their lives smoothly. Youngyunpipatkul says he cannot imagine living without Siam Royal. “I’ve lived in the restaurant my whole life,” Youngyunpipatkul says. “I’m not used to anything else.” Youngyunpipatkul recognizes many returning customers, especially Paly students,

from observing the restaurant every day. “This one guy always orders a soup and an iced tea,” Youngyunpipatkul says. “Another woman comes in with her husband and orders lettuce and rice wraps.” Youngyunpipatkul and his family eat their meals at the restaurant in between working. They order their dinner from the chef, just like customers at the restaurant. “I generally just order one dish off the menu to make it easier on the chef, and that way I can get back to work on my homework,” Youngyunpipatkul says. “Sometimes I get a little creative.” Youngyunpipatkul’s favorite dishes are Pad See Ew, a wide noodle dish with meat and broccoli, and Pad Thai, a noodle dish with thin noodles, meat and tofu. “Some of the dishes I know how to cook, but only the simpler ones, the ones I like to eat,” Youngyunpipatkul says. Youngyunpipatkul’s parents’ wide variety of responsibilities leaves them very tired at the end of the day. Both Vasa and her husband work at the restaurant full-time, 15 hours a day for seven days a week. Youngyunpipatkul says that he cannot imagine himself coming back after high school to work in the restaurant, or starting a restaurant of his own. “Running a restaurant is really tiring, and my parents work every day,” Youngyun-

pipatkul says. “They keep on telling me they’re going to close one day either when I’m in college or out of it.” Youngyunpipatkul views his parents in a different light while working with them in the restaurant. “In the heat of the moment, it [our relationship] kind of gets blurred,” Youngyunpipatkul says. “They [my parents] tell me what to do, but they don’t really treat me like another employee.” According to Youngyunpipatkul, his friendship with the other employees resembles a student-teacher relationship. Youngyunpipatkul says that interacting with the other employees, as well as customers, gives him patience as well as work experience. Helping at the restaurant has taught him the perseverance work requires. “It’s taught me to think about money and how I spend it,” Youngyunpipatkul says. “You really shouldn’t be spending money on worthless things.” Spending so much time at the restaurant also gives Youngyunpipatkul an understanding of Thai food that he may not have achieved otherwise. “Because we spend so much time at the restaurant, we don’t have that much time for Thai religion,” Youngyunpipatkul says. “But I am more in touch with the food.” v VERDE MAGAZINE

FEATURE

A Secret Menu for Test Taking

Improving your test score one bite at a time Text by ALLISON CHANG Photography by ALLISON CHANG and SARAH HENDERSON

dmit it. We’ve all been there, racing the clock at midnight, frantically trying to shove as much knowledge as we can into our brains before that dreaded test tomorrow morning. As our brain capacity seems to diminish, we finally render studying futile, and head to bed. However, the next day, we are greeted with sluggishness and a lack of focus, wishing we had slept earlier the night before. Sleep deprivation among high school students may be a lost cause, but a healthy breakfast may not be quite as far fetched. Turns out, experts have a recommended menu of test-taking foods proven to maximize brain activity and increase concentration. Here is a compilation of breakfast do’s and don’ts that will hopefully help you out on that next test.

LEFT TO RIGHT Blueberry muffins contain antioxidants and complex carbohydrates which relax and power brain tissue; omega-3 found in salmon and fish oil tablets help maintain brain capacity; eggs are composed of proteins and B vitamins that improve memory; caffeine in small doses contributes to an increase in short-term memory and produce quicker reaction rates. Salmon A study published in the April 2007 edition of Journal of Neuroscience found that the fatty acid omega-3 contained in salmon prevents memory loss and improves mood. Omega-3 is primarily found in oil from fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines and trout. “People who eat lots of omega-3s maintain brain capacity, concentration and alertness much better,” writes author Elizabeth Somer in her novel, 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet. Salmon contains not only omega-3, but also vitamin B, and the mineral selenium, both energizing and proven to improve mood. But because salmon may be too time consuming to prepare in the morning, fish oil tablets and walnuts are good replacements for those on a tight schedule. Caffeine Caffeine is a popular stimulant among high school students, and has been shown to increase short-term memory and produce 38

APRIL 2010

faster brain reactions. However, be cautious while consuming caffeinated drinks before a test, as their beneficial effects are often short-lived. “One or two cups [of coffee] can improve alertness and brain power temporarily,” Somer says. “But if you keep going back for cup and after cup, you’ll be too rattled to think clearly. If you’re fueling your day with caffeine, it exacerbates the problems and adds to fatigue. It’s definitely a double-edged sword.” Eggs Eggs are fortified with protein and will be broken down by the body to produce dopamine and norpinephrine, two neurotransmitters associated with alertness and mental agility. “Eggs yolks are also rich in choline, which is a B vitamin that may help improve memory,” says Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s dietian Dana McCabe. Nutritious substitutes for eggs include other high-protein foods such as cottage cheese and low-fat yogurt.

Blueberry Muffins Blueberry muffins contain blueberries, fruits packed with antioxidants, agents which protect the body and keep it alert. “Antioxidants can help blood flow to the brain and increase brain function,” McCabe says. According to McCabe, blueberry muffins are a also great source for complex carbohydrates. Although carbohydrates often receive negative connotations, complex carbohydrates can actually benefit brain function by feeding cells glucose, a sugar used to power brain tissue. Complex carbohydrates are digested at a slower rate than simple carbohydrates (those found in candy and soft drinks) because they contain fiber. This way, they can provide a steady stream of energy which can last throughout the day and keep you satiated. They also produce seratonin, a neurotransmitter which will calm jitters and help the body relax. Make sure to eat with moderation; too many carbohydrates can cause drowsiness, and make you fall asleep. v

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Paly by the Numbers 40

THE FOCUS

his year is Census year â&#x20AC;&#x201D; when the U.S. Census attempts to count every single person in the United States to create an accurate picture of population demographics and concentration. In honor of this massive governmental project, Verde took a glimpse into the statistics for our own community: Paly. On top of assembling statistics from the front office, the Paly Green Team, and the Department of Education, we sent out a survey to 324 students (equally split between high and low Social Studies lanes and between all four grades) to get a picture of Paly students' spending and eating habits and personal preferences. Going over the surveys allowed us to notice some tendencies, but also showed us the sheer diversity of Paly. Most students, if they spoke a language other than English, spoke Spanish or Mandarin. However, we encountered students who spoke from Norwegian to Swiss German to Burmese. Similarly, most students identified with either no religion or with Christianity, but we found people identifying with religions as diverse as Zoroastrianism or Taoism. We hoped to highlight both the trends and uniqueness of Paly students in our engaging, all-visual story. Enjoy! v Text and Photography by MARGARET KADIFA, CAMILLE VON KAENEL and MANON VON KAENEL Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

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paly by the numbers

TH E BA SI C S : STU D EN TS. . . WHAT DO WE SPEAK?

WHAT RACE ARE WE? Paly 3% other

Most common languages...

12% multiple or no response

7% French

20% Asian

56% white

29% Other 5% black 6% Hispanic

31% Spanish

6% Japanese

California

3% multiple or no 5% other response 8% Asian

27% Mandarin

7% black 28% white

30% of Paly speaks at least two languages

49% Hispanic

HOW RELIGIOUS ARE WE? Paly students identify as...

Of the most identified-with religions...

No religion 29% Atheist 12% Agnostic 5% Protestant 4% Catholic 10% Mormon 2% Unspecified Christian 18%

57%

of those who identified as Christian regularly practice

Jewish 12%

45%

Muslim 1.5%

of those who identified as Jewish regularly practice

Hindu 1.5% Buddhist 3% Other 2%

in words

‘‘

What is your favorite feature of Paly?

Late-start Thursdays first semester.”

APRIL 2010

‘‘

Axel Mansoor, senior

The sense of community.”

‘‘

Veronica Dao, junior

The spirit — how they help you feel better about being stressed.” Jordan Smith, freshman

‘‘

27%

of Paly regularly practices a (any) religion

The lacrosse turf field becuase we have a new field to play on.” Elizabeth Silva, sophomore

. .. A N D TH E SCHOOL

HOW GREEN IS PALY? Half of the 48% of students use 2,500 pages a car (driven by friends, parents or the student) to get to school

436

HOW BIG IS PALY?

seniors

107 teachers

of paper printed in the library printers every week stay in the printer, according to librarian Rachel Kellerman.

414 juniors

482

sophomores The Paly campus is the size of

33.5 football fields

$60,000

or 10% of the total yearly utilities bill could be saved if Paly were more conscious of lighting, air conditioning and water usage, according to district officials

‘‘

The sports after school, and the magazines.”

Walfroy Desbans, junior

‘‘

freshman

Paly offers AP classes in over 15 topics, from AP Studio Art to AP Chemistry

‘‘

The open campus because it lets you have more freedom.”

Sophia Sholtz, freshman

478

Probably the open quad area. I think that’s really nice.”

Alyssa Gallegos, senior

‘‘

The MRC because it is comfortable.”

Nathan Pinsker, junior VERDE MAGAZINE

paly by the numbers

COVER

MO NE Y

SPENDING vs. Saving

What would the Paly population do with $100 of gift money within the next 5 months?

54%

46%

would save

would spend

Every month, out of one dollar, each paly student spends, on average...

11 cents

80% 75%

of Paly girls would rather be rich than famous

on car expenses

25 cents

on clothes and accessories

Did you know?

19 cents

on Town and Country

of Paly guys would rather be rich than famous.

On average, we own...

12 shoes (girls)

15 cents

on books and other school expenses

9 cents 10 cents

on movies

on music

on gifts

‘‘

in words

APRIL 2010

‘‘

if you won a million dollars, what would you do with it and why?

I would hire an incredibly knowledgeable investment banker to invest it.”

Josh Rapperport, junior

11 cents

I would buy a mansion and have fun parties.”

Natalie Gauthier, senior

I would give it to an orphanage because I am a nice person.”

Ben Lin, sophomore

5 shoes (boys)

‘‘

I’d spend it on making a robot unicorn.”

Eyra Dordi, freshman

H E ALT H 56% of students believe maintaining

a healthy, balanced diet is very or extremely important

19% 8%

of Paly girls are on a diet to lose weight

Breakfast: 76% Lunch: 96% Dinner: 97% Snacks: 87%

On an average day, students eat...

of Paly guys are on a diet to lose weight

On average, Paly students sleep less than their previous year

21 minutes

Paly’s most popular breakfast food is

BREAD CEREAL (boys)

(girls)

We sleep 7 h

ounces of water every day

9 min

u every night

17.83

rs ou

s te

Students drink an average of

Students prefer to watch... 18% 17%

13%

Every week, Paly girls spend an average of

1 2

‘‘

in words

‘‘

8.7 10

Paly has

42 sports teams

‘‘

Every week, Paly guys spend an average of

hours on excercise

‘‘

hours on excercise

if you had to eat just one food for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Pasta because it is hard to get sick of pasta.”

Emily Hain, freshman

Potstickers because I would never get tired of them.” Clint Fletcher, sophomore

Chocolate because I couldn’t live without chocolate.”

Monjira Biswas, junior

Fish and chips with tartar sauce because it has got it all.” Wes Hollingsworth, senior VERDE MAGAZINE

369 Lytton Ave Palo Alto, CA 94301 (650) 462-5903 Open 7 days a week

2009 Winner of “Best Indian Restaurant” in Palo Alto Buy 1 entree and get the 2nd one

1/2 OFF

with coupon (Dinner only)

• Family-owned and operated • Catering, take-out, patio seating • Offers online ordering services www.jantaindianrestaurant.com www.seamlessweb.com www.campus food.com

Service, Results, Respect & Referrals Serving the communities neighborhoods of of Palo Los Altos, Alto, Los Los Altos, Altos Hills, Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Cupertino I am personally committed to your success in selling or finding your dream home!

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CULTURE THINGS YOU CAN BRAG ABOUT KNOWING

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS 46 MORE THAN JUST MEAT 48 CALL OF DOODY 50 WICKED WEB SERIES 52 EXPRESS YOURSELF 56 THE COST OF PROM 54 SMINGUS DYNGUS 58 RACE TO NOWHERE 59 EN GARDE 60

POISED PERFECTION Paly junior Noah Berman fences at Stanford Fencing Association as a nationally ranked fencer, and is featured in En Garde! (pg. 60.)

CULTURE

Breakfast of Champions Local coffee shops provide varied breakfast experiences Text by EMMA TUCHER Photography courtesy of CHRIS TUCHER and SARAH HENDERSON Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

ungry students seeking a cozy place to enjoy pancakes on a Sunday morning while pouring over piles of novels, essays and textbooks will delight in three of Palo Alto’s finest cafes. Cafes offer diverse menus, ambiances, clienteles and locales. Downtown Palo Alto is host to a plethora of cafes that range in specialty from gelato to Mediterranean wraps to designer coffee drinks. The coffee cups below the name of the cafes are grades of the overall food and vibe of the cafe. The more coffee cups, the better the cafe.

Coupa Café

538 Ramona Street

It’s 9 a.m. on a Sunday and Coupa Café, tucked into Ramona Street in downtown Palo Alto, is full. Dim lights, woodbeamed ceilings, and a mixture of mustard yellow and ruby red colored walls give the cafe a trendy feeling. Patrons sit at intimate tables, cluster on comfy couches and perch on cozy alcoves. Filled with middle-aged men and women reading their newspapers, students typing furiously on laptops and children enjoying breakfast with their parents, Coupa offers patrons a cozy breakfast place with friendly service and original dishes. The Venezuelan owners of the cafe 46

APRIL 2010

infuse traditional culture into their setting. They have brought their locale to their cafe with traditional dishes, native chocolates and decor. Coupa caters to breakfast and lunch eaters, offering crowd-pleasing American pancakes and waffles, but also typical Venezuelan dishes including arepas and empanadas. Coffee drinkers will be pleased by Coupa’s original blends. Coupa advertises on its menu that it works with 18 different coffee bean farms in Caracas to roast beans. The beans then travel to California, providing drinkers with a taste of Venezuela. Coupa offers a variety of designer coffee drinks, such as a caramel macchiato ($4), a nutty raspberry ($4.50) or a coupa frappe ($4.50). They also offer coffees unique to Coupa, such as the very popular marrón ($3.10), a strong aromatic coffee, or the guayoyo ($2.50), a Venezuelan style Americano. The most popular drink is the traditional hot “chuao” chocolate ($3.90), which is spicy hot chocolate. Coupa also offers teas, soft drinks and juices. Breakfast diners will delight in the array of options that Coupa offers. The fluffy waffles and pancakes are delicious. The traditional buttermilk pancakes or waffles ($7.50-$9.50) can be topped with bananas, strawberries, Nutella, dulce de leche and chocolate chips. The menu’s Venezuelan specialties set it apart. The popular reina pepiada ($6.95) is a healthy Venezuelan style chicken salad with mayonnaise and avocado. The empanada mechada ($6.50) is the most popular

dish. This homemade Venezuelan shredded beef stew, which is served with typical Venezuelan sauces, compliment the exotic taste of the stew. The Venezuelan dishes are perfect for people who want to break out of their pancake- or waffle-eating rut. Coupa also offers a variety of savory and sweet crepes. The Coupa Café ($7.50) is a delicious nutella, banana, walnuts, sugar and cinnamon crepe. The strazza ($7.25) is a traditional crepe with strawberries, nutella and whipped cream. For a saltier snack, the grilled eggplant crepe ($7.95) offers parmesan cheese, tomatoes, pesto and eggplant. Coupa Café’s trendy location, unique menu, tasty drinks and variety make it the most appealing cafe in the Palo Alto area.

Café Del Doge

419 University Ave.

Enter Café Del Doge, on University Avenue next to Red Mango and across from Lulu Lemon, and you are transported from suburban Palo Alto to Venice, Italy. Ten feet black-and-white photos of Venetian streets, architecture, citizens and the Grand Canal hang from the walls while Italian films with English subtitles play up front. At this cafe, lots of energy goes into the presentation of exotic drinks, delicate pastries and chic surroundings. The cafe is long, narrow and intimate with dim lighting, a bright red, mustard

LEFT Servers take orders and make coffee at Café Del Doge CENTER The most popular dish at University Café, the breakfast burrito, and an American coffee RIGHT Coupa Café’s cozy fireplace and reading nooks

yellow and rich brown color scheme and upper level seating. The cafe does not offer a traditional breakfast menu of pancakes or French toast, but instead, behind a glass counter, is an array of pastries. Croissants, biscottis, scones and cake tantalize the customers as they wait in line. Up front, in the seating area, students, parents and coworkers circle around little tables chatting, reading or typing away while sipping at intricate coffee drinks. Ornate green plants, a long dark counter and new age jazz music add to the trendy vibe. A lot of attention is put into the details at the Del Doge. There is an artistic flourish in the presentation of the designer drinks. Although the lattes, cappuccinos and espressos are their most popular drinks, Del Doge offers a plethora of exotic drinks. The most interesting drinks are the cremino ($3.75) and the giacometto ($4.25). The cremino is a shot of espresso with white chocolate, dark chocolate and caramel sauce topped with whipped cream. The giacometto, the most complex drink, is served in a martini glass. It is a single shot of espresso with chocolate on the rim, accompanied with froth milk and topped off with hazelnuts. At Del Doge, the main focus is coffee. However the homemade pastries such as the traditional ($2.50), chocolate and vanilla cream croissants ($2.75) and a small variety of honey lavender, raisin, honey hazlenut and pistachio biscottis and but-

ter cookies ($0.50) are also offered. If you are seeking a sit-down breakfast, this is not the cafe for you. Del Doge is best for a social coffee with friends or family and for coffee drinkers with a diverse palate and adventurous taste buds. Don’t let the exotic, difficult-to-pronounce name intimidate you; Del Doge offers a new and tasty experience.

University Café

271 University Ave.

With a simple American breakfast menu, University Café, next door to Round Table Pizza, is perfect for a hearty breakfast on a weekend morning. Unlike the cozy and dimly lit Coupa and Del Doge, University Café is spacious and brightly lit with a 40-foot ceiling and large, French glass windows inviting sunlight to seep through. The cafe offers coffee, smoothies, soft drinks and fruit juices. The classic fruit smoothie ($4.60) is comprised of nonfat yogurt, fruit (such as strawberries and bananas) and fruit juice. Displayed prominently in the dining area is a large coffee grinding machine. Every two weeks at 4 a.m., the employees roast their own coffee so that patrons can enjoy sipping freshlybrewed coffee. Diners looking for a heavier meal can

enjoy a variety of the traditional American breakfast items: French toast, buttermilk pancakes, croissants or eggs. The brioche French toast ($8) is made with thick brioche bread, topped with cinnamon and sugar with a side of seasonal fresh fruit. The current seasonal fruits are tangerines, bananas and kiwis. The cafe offers the traditional buttermilk pancakes ($8), three pancakes that are accompanied with fresh fruit and warm syrup. University Café offers many egg options including a variety of omelettes, scrambles and egg benedicts. The most popular breakfast item is the breakfast burrito ($10). A tortilla wraps around scrambled eggs, chorizo sausage bits, bacon, tomatoes, guacamole, potatoes and cheese. Diners surrounding me were quite satisfied with this tasty dish. If a patron wants a traditional breakfast meal, sample the variety of traditional breakfast options offered by University, by ordering the well-priced traditional platters ($11). Come hungry before diving into these dishes. University Café is decorated with large ornate mirrors, tall bamboo plants and color paintings that depict scenery. The bright lights and spacious room beckon passerbys from the outside streets. Although there is a variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner choices, the general appearance and atmosphere of the cafe is more pleasing than the menu. v VERDE MAGAZINE

CULTURE

More Than Just Meat Pampas offers an interesting glimpse at the cuisine and culture of South American meat Text and Photography by CAMILLE VON KAENEL

ttention: all meat lovers be warned! The restaurant Pampas will provide a good time, a finer appreciation of Brazilian culture and a meateating orgy — guaranteed. Pampas blends the rustic authenticity of Brazilian churrasco, the Brazilian gauchos’, or cowboys, tradition of making meat, and Palo Alto sophistication, providing a unique culinary and cultural experience for all. The Pampas themselves are the fertile and vast plains of Argentina and Brazil, where cattle and cowboys roam, and the restaurant attempts to offer a taste of that. 48

APRIL 2010

“I create dishes based on traditional fare with a modern and creative presentation,” says Nicole Baverso, Pampas’s co-head chef. “The recipes I write focus on simplicity to bring out the natural flavors in food.” Baverso has written and re-written Pampas’s lunch, lounge and dinner menus to try to highlight the freshness and the flavor of food. Tradition, modernity, simplicity and flavor characterize the food offered at Pampas, from the meat to the side bar. Pampas’s rodizio service, offered only at dinner, makes it an interesting restaurant. For $44, diners can sample the myriad of meats proposed by the servers, called passadores. They walk among the diners with meats on spikes and slice the meats tableside, according to diners’ preferences for different types of meat. The rodizio also includes unlimited access to the side bar, which brims with seasonal vegetables, artisan cheese, fresh salads and other Brazilian accompaniments. The side bar offers a good option for vegetarians, who can have unlimited access

to the side bar for $27. Pampas also proposes a menu of appetizers, entrees and seafood for those who want something other than the rodizio. Worth noting are the spinach and herb balls for their freshness and crunchiness as well as the sweetly flavorful coconut mashed potatoes. The meal starts with a few small appetizers. The pao de quejo, or cheese bread, is definitely worth a try because of its light airiness and crispy texture. Once diners turn a little sign on their table to green, passadores soon start to approach them. The cordeiro, or leg of lamb, is deliciously tender, hinting of garlic and mint. Another well-prepared meat is the picanha, or top sirloin with rock salt and olive oil. The tenderloin with parmesan, or vedalho con quejo, also hints of slow and tender roasting. Servers sometimes offer a balsamic vinegar sauce to accompany the meat; take it! It is sweetly salty and adds flavor to the meat. If possible, try to leave some space for dessert. Servers propose and slice abacaxi,

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT A passador slices lamb for diners; the crunchy and airy pao de quejo, or cheese bread; a server slices tenderloin table side; the sidebar with coconut mashed potatoes, salad, Argentinian cheese and a carrot dish, among others. DOTS AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF STORY Every table has one of these circular signs, which signals servers when diners want to eat. When diners are ready to start their dinner, they turn this sign to green to allow passadores, or servers, to approach them and propose different types of meats. When they have finished, they simply turn it over to red.

or slow roasted pineapple, tableside, just like the meat. The pineapple is refreshingly unacidic and sweet, offering a great end to the meal. If desired, diners can also order desserts à la carte, from passion fruit mousse to coconut flan to chocolate torte. Not only does the food exemplify sophistication, but the interior also reflects the restaurant’s message of rusticity, Palo Alto style. Red brick walls, a metallic bar and a mezzanine offer an edgy yet comfortable ambiance. “We retained only the brick walls [from the past restaurant’s interior], and remodeled the structure to cater to Silicon Valley clientele,” Baverso says. “Pampas’ tri-level design now features contemporary décor, as well as private dining spaces, and A/V capabilities.” The tables are set against the walls in close proximity with each other, which does uncomfortably increase the noise of the restaurant. Live jazz music, offered on the weekends, and animated chatter give the restaurant a very lively atmosphere. Almost

too lively — the servers’ often mumbled meat proposals got lost in the chatter and music. In fact, the servers seem distant and impersonal, moving swiftly among the diners without much conversation. Their efficiency also seems irregular, bombarding customers with meat at the beginning of meals but becoming more and more rare as the evening wears on. “Pampas’ layout and dining concept easily cater to small and large parties alike,” Baverso says. Family outings and friendly gatherings occupy the noisy middle level. The upper mezzanine hosts parties, while the quiet lower level hosts business meetings. Though a favorite for business people, Pampas also offers a perfect setting for a variety of occasions, from a casual outing among friends to a romantic date. All of the people who come to Pampas, however, share one thing: a cultural curiosity and a willingness to taste new types of food.

Since its opening by Tim and Masumi Reynders in April 2008, the whole Pampas staff has certainly succeeded in creating an interesting cultural dining experience, despite the occasional overwhelming noise and the irregular and impersonal service. Though the restaurant almost distorted the authenticity of the traditional churrascaria to fit the wishes of Palo Alto sophisticates, the restaurant still offers a fun glimpse into South American culture. And, of course, there’s the meat, always the meat — slow-roasted to perfection and in unlimited supply. Prepare your stomachs. v

VERDE MAGAZINE

CULTURE

Call OF

Text by WHITNEY DRAZOVICH and SOPHIE CORNFIELD Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

y d o Do

Verde rates four popular school bathrooms

t happens to everyone. You’re sitting in class and suddenly you have to go. However, while opening the door to the bathroom, the smell floods your nose, and you see wads of paper towels covering the floor. There is no toilet paper in the stalls. You are stuck between a rock and a hard place and your bursting bladder cannot wait. You have no choice but to endure the foul conditions. Fortunately for you, Verde is here to help. We’ve done the dirty work (no pun intended) and compiled everything you need to know to successfully navigate the treacherous world of the Paly bathrooms. v

Art Building Unquestionably, the bathrooms by the art building are the most foul. Shoved into a dank corner of the building, there is little light and a musty odor, which is probably because of the muddy floors. The boys’ bathrooms do not even have mirrors. The coup de gras? Throughout our research, these bathrooms — both boys’ and girls’ — were regularly out of soap.

APRIL 2010

Science Building The best and the brightest of Paly bathrooms, the bathrooms in the science building were built most recently. Their relative youth ensured an abundance of stalls (six) and an open and welllighted design. The automatic sinks and hand dryers are an eco-friendly touch. Plus, because they are further away, there is rarely a line.

Library The oldest of the bathrooms inspected, these facilities get a constant run of activity from students in the library, Academic Resource Center and surrounding buildings. Yellow walls, dirty ceilings and no mirrors in male bathrooms make the age apparent. Graffiti is most prevalent in this bathroom. We do not recommend these bathrooms overall, especially for those eco-friendly students. This is the only bathroom that has not installed hand dryers, and paper towels are usually strewn throughout, overflowing the trash can.

Math Building On the outskirts of Paly campus, the math building has the second best bathrooms on campus. Due to a lack of activity throughout the day, these stalls stay clean and pristine. Toilet paper, seat covers and feminine necessities are supplied in high quantities. The odor is near perfect. Our only complaint stems from the condition of the floor in both male and female bathrooms. Hair, a mystery liquid and some toilet paper inhabit the corners and areas underneath sinks. We do not advise wearing flip-flops or open-toed sandals.

Student HORROR Story: “I was sitting there and when I looked down I saw a puddle of blood. I followed the trail of blood all the way across the bathroom to the trashcan ... I really hope that it was a nose bleed.” — Senior Vedika Ahuja VERDE MAGAZINE

CULTURE

Wicked Web Series Online show “The Guild” offers an incredible viewing experience Text by MIRA KHANNA Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

hat happens when you combine a bald leader, a negligent mother, a high school misfit, a caustic teenager, a love-struck man and an overly neurotic woman? Absolute genius. I never would have thought that I would be hooked on a Web series about gamers. I do not game, and never have. The thought of spending hours of my life in front of a computer screen attempting to kill dragons, or whatever gamers do, was, and still is, a foreign idea. However, I had not yet seen the captivating online show “The Guild,” which has just completed its third season. Written by and starring Felicia Day, “The Guild” is a wonderfully satisfying change from the typical television sitcom. The dramatic rise in the number of mini-series signals a revolution in the viewing of modern day television. Web series are influencing computer-users worldwide, and have numerous advantages because of their convenient accessibility. Due to its utter brilliance, “The Guild” has garnered over 25 million viewers worldwide, according to its Web site. Leading the pack of these Web series stars is Day, most commonly known for her role in the online musical tragicomedy short film “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” in which she costarred with Neil Patrick Harris in 2008. The rather unconventional plotline of “The Guild” centers on the lives of six gamers who play an unnamed massively multiplayer online game, known more 52

APRIL 2010

commonly as an MMO, and who are members of the local guild The Knights of Good. The show begins its first season with Cyd Sherman, known by her screen name Codex, being rejected by her psychologist for failing to work towards losing her online gaming addiction. Codex also deals with the problem of fellow guild-member Sujan Balakrishnan Goldberg (played by Sandeep Parikh), known by his screen name Zaboo, when he turns up at her doorstep after misinterpreting an in-game conversation with Codex as flirting. At a loss of what to do, the slightly erratic Codex arranges for the guild to meet and discuss the Zaboo problem. From that point on, various subplots and clever dialogue ensure that the viewer never loses interest. Despite its premise, the show does not solely focus on the players’ gaming. As I am largely ignorant of gamer jargon and could not stand watching a show where I would need to “Google” a gaming term every two minutes, I was extremely glad to not have to deal with this. Instead, the emphasis is placed on the outside lives of each member, such as Clara’s (played by Robin Thorsen) dealings with her clueless husband and neglected children. Another interesting character is Herman Holden (played by Jeff Lewis), known as Vork, the guild manager who lives off of his deceased grandfather’s continuing social security checks and steals his senile neighbor’s shed and Wi-fi. Overall, “The Guild” boasts a wide variety of characters from different ages and backgrounds, and as

they increasingly connect with one another, their interactions provide everything a good show needs: hilarious jokes, romance and above all else witty repartee. As a Web series, “The Guild” boasts several advantages that normal television shows lack. Usually running from half an hour to an hour, many normal television shows are simply too long to enjoy during a hectic school week, leaving them to wait unwatched until the weekend or a more opportune time. Each episode of “The Guild” runs about three to seven minutes long, making it the perfect length for a school night. The brevity of each episode also leaves the viewer starving for more. In addition to the show itself, “The Guild” also created a music video featuring all of the characters dressed up as their in-

THE KNIGHTS OF GOOD Members of “The Guild” drawn as their in-game characters.

game characters, called avatars. The music video, “Do you want to date my avatar?”, reveals that the characters in “The Guild” not only boast acting talent, but singing talent as well. As a Web series, at first “The Guild” was relatively unknown, and the actors funded the entire first season directly from their own pockets, according to “The Guild’s” Web site. For the next season, Day set up a Paypal button for viewers to donate money to keep the show alive. Much to viewers’ delight, they managed to sustain the show until sponsors like Xbox provided funding. “The Guild” is one of the first Web series of its kind to have found a successful source for funding and sustain production. This year, “The Guild” completed its third season, and should return next year,

according to the show’s Web site. The show releases a new episode every Tuesday, and all three of the seasons are available for free viewing on Youtube, MSN Video and Xbox Live. “The Guild” has now expanded on its current franchise with a comic strip. The idea was first conceived at the 2008 ComicCon in San Diego when the senior editor at the comic company Dark Horse, Scott Allie, noticed the brilliance of the show and thought it had potential as a comic, according to a Dark Horse Comics press release on July 24. The 32-page comic was released on March 24, and sells for $3.50. The initial comics created will be part of a three-issue mini-series, and penned entirely by Day. Artist Jim Rugg will illustrate the comic, and the first issue

is available in two covers, drawn by Cary Nord and Georges Jeanty, according to an article published on Wow.com. The comic will be new material that features the gamers’ actual in-game environment, which the show has never explored. Readers will also learn about the origins of the Knights of Good, and about Codex’s life before gaming. Overall, “The Guild” is an excellent source of entertainment and perfect for the average student’s everyday weeknight. The most recent season culminated in a beautiful and satisfying finale, which only heightened my adoration for the show. I hardly manage to do it justice, but let it suffice to say that “The Guild” is everything I ever wanted in a Web series and so very much more. v VERDE MAGAZINE

CULTURE

Express Yourself A review of the best vlogs on YouTube

The Shaytards

Sxephil

Rating: Subscribers: 372,988

Rating: Subscribers: 1,027,356

Contradictory to other YouTube vlog channels that follow the life of one person, “The Shaytards” is a vlog about an entire family from Venice Beach, Calif. Shay Carl, the father, allows the YouTube community to be a part of his family for a few minutes a day by sharing experiences that range from his daughters’ first words to swimming in the largest bowl of spaghetti ever made. The vlog began as a challenge Carl set for himself to vlog consistently for a year, and has become extremely successful on YouTube, moving his channel up to the 18th most-subscribed comedy channel and the 44th most-subscribed channel of all time. The family’s sudden rise to YouTube fame has to do with the fact that viewers are able to find common ground with each member of the family. It is refreshing to see an extroverted, likeable family like that of the Shaytards, appear on the most-subscribed list of YouTube.

Philip DeFranco, also known as “Sxephil,” a Web celebrity from Venice Beach, Calif. proves that a show does not need to be aired on TV to be considered a “show.” In his four-day-a-week production, he talks about the one topic that concerns the average American the most: celebrity news. His vlogs are considerably informative but I recently began to lose interest in DeFranco’s vlogs because he has lost his originality and has resorted to mimicking the styles of other YouTubers such as Ray William Johnson, another vlogger. Other than recording his celebrity news show and his vlog, DeFranco is also a part of “Like Totally Awesome,” which is, as he puts it, “short reviews of video games/movies/tech and any videos that fit into the geek within us all.” Both of DeFranco’s shows have given him the position of the seventh mostsubscribed vlogger on YouTube, despite his unoriginality.

APRIL 2010

’ll admit it: I’m hooked on vlogs, maybe even addicted, to these online video journals. These vlogs are similar yet different from reality shows. Reality TV shows often feature wealthy individuals who thrive from drama to boost their popularity. However, vlogs contain raw footage of ordinary people, allowing viewers to see daily fragments of the vloggers lives. The authenticity of the vlogs instantly caught my attention and has given the vloggers significant fame on Youtube, shown by the massive number of subscribers, as of April 6 . Here are a few of my favorite YouTube vlogs that I hope you will enjoy. v

Text by BELLA HERNANDEZ Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

BreakingNYC

WhataDayDerek

Rating: Subscribers: 320,298

Rating: Subscribers: 202,361

“BreakingNYC” is a vlog that documents the day-today life of Ray William Johnson, creator of a popular Web show, “Equals Three,” as he adjusts to living in New York City with his gay roommate, Will, and the occasional visits of Tessa, Will’s cousin. Johnson’s vlogs are inconsistent and often feature him playing video games or washing dishes, which are unentertaining. In comparison to Shay Carl’s or Philip DeFranco’s vlogs, Johnson does not have the aid of adorable children or scandalous celebrities to spice up his vlogs. Thus, he makes do with what he has: several game consoles. Although Johnson’s vlogs are not as compelling as other vloggers, “Breaking NYC” has made it to the 59th most subscribed channel because of Johnson’s devoted fans who are eager to be a part of his ordinary life as he plows through college and becomes accustomed to the fast-paced lifestyle of New York City.

These may be some of the most poorly made vlogs I follow, but due to the fact that Derek is not only extremely attractive but also hilarious, I continue to rate, comment and favorite loyally. Basically, in every vlog you will catch a glimpse of Derek hanging out with some girl, riding a bike, or drinking Red Bull with friends. His vlogs have been successful because teenage girls swoon over his good looks, and the fact that he is willing to attend prom with anyone living nearby. With only 44 videos on YouTube, Derek has become the 41st most-subscribed comedian on YouTube. This is not particularly impressive, considering he has been a part of YouTube for two years and it demonstrates the little amount of effort he puts into his channel. If not for his good looks and the fact that he is a good friend of other YouTube Web stars, Derek would not be as successful as he is today on subscription charts.

VERDE MAGAZINE

CULTURE

Â˘

The ost of Prom The dollars and cents of high schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s special night

Text by RYAN FLANAGAN and SILVIA MARABOLI Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

THE HAIR

THE MAKE-UP

average senior girl: $50.17 average junior girl: $53.08 national average: $98.00

average senior girl: $37.75 average junior girl: $27.50 national average: $75.00

THE ACCESSORIES

THE DRESS

average senior girl: $37.39 average junior girl: $38.75 national average: $65.00

average senior girl: $194.80 average junior girl: $189.91 national average: $250.00

Who is picking up the tab at Paly? 56

APRIL 2010

% students covering own costs senior girls: 33% senior guys: 29% junior girls: 39% junior guys: 50%

% with parents covering costs senior girls: 87% senior guys: 87% junior girls: 83% junior guys: 88%

% paying for own ticket senior girls: 89% senior guys: 89% junior girls: 70% junior guys: 97%

pring is finally here, and it seems like everyone is talking about one thing: prom. So we set out to determine just how much Paly students spend on this rite of passage. Our data was compiled from an anonymous survey given by the Verde staff to 215 Paly upperclassmen from assorted Social Science classes. National statistics are from 2005 and can be found at the DeBora Rachelle Teen Prom Statistics Web site. The results? Very surprising: Paly students, on average, spend less than other students nationally on many aspects of prom. Take a look:

THE FLOWERS average senior girl: $30.22 average senior guy: $17.44 average junior girl: $26.67 average junior guy: $20.83 national average:

$25.00

THE TUX average senior guy: $118.86 average junior guy: $137.75 national average: $150.00

THE SHOES average senior girl: $61.55 average senior guy: $67.11 average junior girl: $62.25

$62.50 $40.00

average junior guy: national average:

% paying for dateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ticket senior girls: 2% senior guys: 41% junior girls: 7% junior guys: 40%

% students that think prom tickets priced appropriately senior girls: 33% senior guys: 30% junior girls: 39% junior guys: 38%

% getting financial support from Paly senior girls: 9% senior guys: 5% junior girls: 7% junior guys: 3%

VERDE MAGAZINE

CULTURE

Smingus Dyngus Polish holidays make a splash

Text by JESSICA MADEJ Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

magine walking over to a sink and pouring yourself a cup full of water. Then, you walk over to your teacher and splash the water onto their face. Not many people would do this, so it sounds crazy, right? Not if you are in Poland. One of the more fun and interesting Polish holidays is Smingus Dyngus, celebrated on the first Monday after Easter Sunday every year. In Poland this holiday is more commonly known as “lany poniedziałek” or “wet Monday.” The objective of this holiday is simple: pour water on others or be poured upon. Family, friends and strangers are all participants. There is some dispute as to when Smingus Dyngus began, but many historians believe that it dates back to 966 A.D. and has long been associated with the baptism of Prince Mieszko I. Tradition has it that Prince Mieszko I and his court were baptized on this day. This is an important folk celebration because the sprinkling of water signifies the first king of Poland bringing Christianity, more specifically, Catholicism, into the country. The pouring of water is a symbol of being cleansed of evils and illnesses, and is meant to be a blessing to those who get wet. Centuries later, this holiday became a way for farm boys to attract a girl’s attention by throwing water on them or lightly hitting their legs with twigs or pussy willows. It is said that the more water poured on a girl, the more popular she is. The following day is when girls are allowed to get their revenge. Because I am Polish, this holiday is a great excuse to throw my brother in the pool, or to bring out the waterhose when my parents are coming home. I remember the time that my siblings and I woke up early so that we could surprise my parents. We moved slowly down the hall, trying to avoid creaks in the wooden floor and attempting to keep the water in the pitcher. I was holding the bucket, standing next to my brother, while we both stared at my father’s face, debating whether our mother should also be victim to the water that we held. I took the bucket and gently started turning it. Slowly, the water built up along the edge, about to pour out. But, at the last second, I turned the bucket upright. My father ended up receiving a sprinkle of water on his face instead of a bucket full that would have 58

APRIL 2010

soaked him and my parent’s bed. Every year, to some degree I receive a splashing. I’ve been in the pool before, but some years all I have is a little hose water on me. These stories are no comparison to the stories I have heard from my parents, grandparents and Polish friends. My grandmother, Lidia, once told me a story about what happened to her and my grandfather, Jozef, when they were taking the tram home. On this particular day my grandmother was wearing a brand new hat and a new coat. She and Jozef were casually looking out the window when the tram stopped at a station. The doors opened and some teenage boys with buckets of water ran onto the tram. They ran down the aisle, soaking everything in their way. My grandmother’s belongings just so happened to be in the way, so the hat, the coat and my grandparents were soaked. I have never actually been in Poland during this holiday, but I watch Polish news and have seen some of the creative ways people find to pour water. I have seen footage that involves dozens of strangers pouring water on each other, with some people standing on their balconies and pouring water onto the heads of people passing by. Others stand on the sides of streets and pour water on cars that are driving by. This tradition can be a bit chaotic, maybe even dangerous. Indeed, recently a few people have abused this holiday by pouring boiling water onto others or thoroughly soaking strangers in perfume, instead of water. For the most part, this holiday is a light-hearted, fun day to pour water on everyone, even if some celebrate this holiday to the extreme. It would be interesting to see what would happen if this holiday were celebrated in America. Smingus Dyngus would probably turn into a commercial business, like Valentine’s Day, focused on the consumer and where their money could be spent. Sometimes the commercialization of holidays takes away the enjoyment of them. Sure, in Poland there are a few things you may need to buy for this holiday, like water pistols or water balloons. But there are no Smingus Dyngus greeting cards. Holidays are about being with people who are important to you, taking a day off and doing something that you do not experience everyday, like pouring a bucket of water on your teacher. v

N ow No Race to Nowhere hhee r e re

CULTURE

Documentary reveals problems in American education Text by AMANDA GROZIAK Image Courtesy of REEL LINK FILMS

documentary titled “Race to Nowhere” may appear on the shelves of local movie rental and retail stores soon. Whether you’re a high school student, parent, teacher or college admissions officer, you should see it. The documentary delves into the intrinsic problems in America’s educational system. More specifically, the movie focuses on school stress, teen depression, teen drug use and suicide. “Race to Nowhere,” by Bay Area documentarian Viki Abeles, has quickly gained national attention. The movie won awards at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Sonoma International Film Festival, and the Independent Film Festival. The film premiered in 2009 and has been showing at small screenings around the country. While the filming techniques appear professional, it is the touchy subject which the documentary brings to light that provides the reason for the movie’s place in the national spotlight. Recently, national concern for teen stress has grown. A quick search on The New York Times for “college admissions” yields more than 10,000 results for the past 30 days. As part of the Palo Alto community, we have become hypersensitive to the subject and its ramifications. The obsession with college applications is visible in a myriad of high schools in America. “Race to Nowhere” brings forth this issue and explores the effects of school stress. Building a college resumé has increasingly gotten out of control with students stacking up APs and hours of community service and extracurriculars. Students in the film comment extensively on this issue. Abeles’ children appear in her film, but her middle daughter is the one who draws

SCHOOL STRESS The film explores school stress at the high school level. the most attention from the camera. Although only in seventh grade, she admits to battling with depression. After being reminded of how many more years of school she has, her response to her mom, Abeles, elicits some gasps from the audience. “That’s why I don’t want to live anymore,” she says. The film goes further in depth as to the origins of student stress and how it can be fixed. A high school English teacher who appears in the film says that some kids were disadvantaged because the classroom culture differs from their own. She comments on the fact that some students are not used to taking tests. She also hints that the school’s administation has not been understanding of her concerns on the type of education the students receive. Suddenly, her voice trips. While the tears stream down her face, she

talks about how her students are penalized because they are not used to the specific culture the school cultivates. One psychologist argues that instead of the school curriculum and the style of teaching, student stress ultimately originates from parents. “We’re all caught up in it,” she says. “We’re all afraid that our kid isn’t going to do as well as we did.” She says parents as well as kids feel the pressure of homework. Instead of helping their kids, parents become panicked as well and add to the pressure by asking their kids what homework they have. Another student interviewed in the film, Isaiah, agrees that the stress comes from parents. “The stress definitely first comes from home,” Isaiah says. “As and Bs are what my parents expect.” One student confesses to pulling an all-nighter in order to finish her work. She says that her parents made her go to bed, but she woke up again and stayed up until morning to finish her work. “You feel bad about yourself,” she says. “You feel guilty if you don’t do your homework.” In 2001, a professor at Duke University found that little or no relationship between amount of homework and performance exists, suggesting that stressing homework is actually not beneficial for students. This movie brings to light important issues relevant to the current situation in American education. Viewing this documentary is important for raising awareness and taking steps to change the current situation. v Editor’s Note: If you’d like to see Race to Nowhere, look for it soon on PBS or on DVD. VERDE MAGAZINE

CULTURE

ALL SUITED UP Berman prepares to fence in his protective helmet and an electric vest with a padded front to guard against injury from an opponent’s foil Text and Photography by SARAH JACOBS Photography Courtesy of Stuart Berman

’ll admit it — I was picturing Mr. Darcy when I met junior Noah Berman for the first time. I imagined the ruffled white shirt, the high boots, the sideburns. It wasn’t that he’d sounded medieval when I talked to him on the phone, and I hadn’t noticed any extraneous thees or thous, but nevertheless Berman’s choice of sport had visions of castles and carriages dancing through my head. Berman is a fencer. When I met him, however, I was impressed not by any old-fashioned affectations but by his devotion to the sport. The first time we met, he was pulling off his padded white face guard to talk to me. He was sweating from the sparring practice, so he wiped his face with hands callused from long years of wielding metal foils. Berman is one of the few Palo Alto High School students who fence competitively, despite the sport’s obscurity and the lack of readily available funding. Only 150,000 people in the United States fence, according to Time Magazine. Berman says he is currently ranked 25th on the national fencing registry, and is considered a B on the fencing ranking system from E to A, with A being the best. Berman started fencing for the first time at the end of fifth grade. He says he was prompted to try it by family and friends, but

APRIL 2010

quickly fell in love with the sport. “I love everything about it [fencing],” Berman says. Berman says that most people he tells about his sport don’t really know much about it. Like me, they associate fencing with vague antiquity. “I’ve never actually seen anyone do it [fence],” Paly junior Alicia Galliano says. “I’ve only ever seen it in movies.” Sophomore Maddy Dahn agrees. “Fencing is pretty uncommon,” Dahn says. “It’s one of those sports you don’t really hear about.” Fencing is antique, to say the least; swordfighting as a sport originated first in ancient Egypt, according to the Amarillo Competitive Fencing Association. Today however, fencing is a highly complex and technologically advanced sport. There are three types of blades, each with different rules that go along with it: foil, epee and sabre. The foil, the type that Berman uses, is a light thrusting blade used by the fencer to gain points by poking the opponent in the chest, shoulders and back. The epee is a heavier blade, and is not restricted to any area of the body. When fighting with the sabre, a cutting and thrusting weapon, the competitors can only aim above the hips. A whole new technology has arisen out of

FROM LEFT Berman practices his sparring with an opponent; Stanford Fencing’s equipment room houses several dozens of foils, epees and sabres; Berman competes in front of a table of judges during the summer Nationals in 2008; Berman takes off his helmet for a breather in between matches at the 2008 Nationals (the last two photos are courtesy of Stuart Berman)

the difficulty of judging whether the foil and sabre hit the opponent, and whether the hits occur in the acceptable areas. It can be hard for the judges to tell, especially as fencing is a high-speed sport. Now, most fencers use tip-depressing weapons when in competition that register when a hit has taken place. In the Olympics, a complex system of electronics is used to ensure the judging is fair. As Berman practices in the fencing facility in the basement of Stanford University’s athletic building, a long retractable cord attaches his foil handle to the floor at the end of the lane in which he spars with his opponent. When his foil touches his opponent’s electrical vest upon making a hit, the electrical circuit is completed and the cord carries the information to the scoreboard where the standings are visible. Berman practices four to five times a week, with grueling all-day tournaments generally about once every other week. He belongs to the Stanford Fencing Association, but also occasionally practices at other clubs around the Bay Area. After high school, Berman says he would like to continue fencing in college, with his top choice being Stanford University. Although colleges have been known to recruit fencers, there are generally less athletic scholarships awarded to applicants who fence. Fencing does not have the same financial potential as other sports, according to Berman. In fact, Stanford announced last April that its fencing program musto be selfsupporting by Spring 2010 due to current economic conditions. In other words, Stanford is cutting off funding for the program.

The fencing community formed The Save Stanford Fencing committee in response, and is attempting to raise enough money to keep the program running. Meanwhile, Berman and the other fencers continue to enjoy the use of the Stanford facilities to practice for their

“From the time he was two years old every stick was a sword. When friends came over he wanted to have duels with them. He even had his own toy sword collection.”

— STUART BERMAN, NOAH’S FATHER

tournaments and competitions. In February of this year, Berman participated in the Junior Olympics and says he finished 64th out of about 220 competitors. “Although it’s not as good as I wanted to do, it was still pretty good,” Berman says of the outcome of this year’s Junior Olympics. Berman also competes in Nationals, which occurs annually in the summer. Berman says that although he would love to participate in the Olympics, very few actually get a chance to compete. Only the top 25 fencers in the world even have a hope of qualifying for the Olympics, and some

countries are not even represented, according to Berman. “[Fencing is] an up-and-coming sport,” Berman says. “You can see that the number of kids [who fence] is starting to increase. It’s not that big yet, but it has the potential to get very big.” The United States Fencing Association membership statistics rose from only 9,228 in 1995 to 20,405 in 2004 according to the USFA Web site — an increase of over 100 percent. Fencing is still relatively uncommon in the U.S. in comparison with other countries like Russia, however, according to Time. “People find it interesting that I do a sport that isn’t in the mainstream,” Berman says. Although fencing attire involves heavy padding and a facemask and is generally not considered dangerous, Berman says injuries are known to happen as the scar on his chest attests. Berman says he got it when his opponent’s foil tip broke, and the jagged edge cut through his pads and gashed his chest. He didn’t need stitches, but he says it took a long time to heal. Despite injury, funding shortages, and the reactions of people like me who aren’t familiar with fencing, Berman remains committed to his sport. He says he will continue to fence as long as he can. He has always been drawn to it. “From the time he was two years old every stick was a sword,” Berman’s father Stuart Berman says. “When friends came over he wanted to have duels with them. He even had his own toy sword collection.” v VERDE MAGAZINE

RYAN’S RULES

Trading Calculus for CrayEven with high school graduation around the corner, I want to go back to elementary school Text by RYAN FLANAGAN Photography by SARAH HENDERSON and DINA FLANAGAN

ow in the second semester of my senior year, I am is friends with everyone, or at the very least, everybody is nice to mere weeks away from graduation and the end of everyone. The academics might force students to push themselves, my academic career (college not included). Looking but work never crosses the line to become stressful. I miss that. back over the 17 years I have spent in the Palo Alto Honestly, I don’t know anyone in high school or middle school who Unified School District, doesn’t miss that. one thought stands out to me: I should have I don’t even know how to describe the stayed in elementary school. jealousy I feel watching these fourth graders Seriously, though. as they build electromagnets and learn about I have a prep first and third periods, so the Gold Rush. Maybe it’s because for them, I don’t need to get to school on Wednesdays school is still fun, just like school used to until 12:40. (I said I was a second semester be fun for me. I wish that I still felt excited senior.) So instead of sleeping in and wasting waking up every morning, and that learning half of the day, I have begun volunteering didn’t feel like such a chore sometimes. every week in the fourth grade class that my This is not meant to just be me ranting, mother teaches. And it has been awesome. and I apologize if I seem a little heated. At first I thought I was just feeling nostalgic, Despite my whining, I do understand why but the more time I spent there, the more high school isn’t always as much fun as the I realized that elementary school is just old days. More information gets squeezed better. into the curriculum each year and the course When you’re young, all you can think material is more difficult, so it makes sense about is growing up, being a big kid. But the that we have less time for arts and crafts. And truth is, being a big kid is overrated. I mean, maybe playing with base 10 blocks won’t are the things I can do now that I’m older help me understand calculus as successfully really that great? Sure, I can drive now, stay as they helped with multiplication tables out late without parental supervision and see so many years ago. That said, can’t we find R-rated movies. Has any of that truly made THE GOOD OLD DAYS If only we could a balance, some kind of happy medium me happier? between the two? go back to the days of fingerpainting On the other hand, stepping into an I think that balance is more than elementary school classroom is like a breath possible: It is necessary. High schools need of fresh air. Compared to high school, everything there is so, well, to understand that the best thing about elementary school was the colorful. All of the walls are plastered with students’ work and fun- lack of pressure. filled art projects made from paper mache and tempera paint. Desks Here at Paly, anyone can testify to the enormous pressure arranged into table groups replace the sterile rows common in older placed on students to succeed. My question is: Why do we do this to classes. The room has its own library in the corner, complete with ourselves? Did we try any less back in the day? No. But we did have comfy chairs and books that are actually enjoyable to read. It all comes the time to balance out schoolwork with extracurriculars and some together to create an environment that is welcoming and homey. You much-needed downtime. So let’s all take a lesson from our younger don’t find many of that kind of classroom past fifth grade. counterparts, take a step back and breathe. If the Paly community Beyond aesthetics, a safe, comfortable vibe is felt in every aspect makes a real effort, we can find the middle ground between naptime of elementary school. In elementary school, life is simpler. Everybody and calculus. v 62

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