Verde Volume 12 Issue 2

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palo alto high school volume 12 edition 2

PALO

ALTO

BIKE CITY pg. 35

Palo Alto’s already bike-friendly, but could it get even friendlier?

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ours: Monday through Saturday 11:00 am - 5:30 pm (except holidays)

ddress: 3281 East Bayshore Road Palo Alto, CA 94303-3213

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INDEX VOLUME 12 • EDITION 2 • PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL

NEWS Briefing 8 Compiled by Ally Messick and Manon

FEATURES

von Kaenel

44

Losing Pounds for Pointe

46

Tutorial Survival Guide

48

Animation Education

50

Religion Unwrapped

52

The Secret Life of the Cookie

54

From Artist to Addict

55

by Margaret Kadifa and Maytal Mark

PERSPECTIVES Cartoon: Voting 17

by Ava Dordi What is Wrong With Education?

Can We Sink the Pirate Ship?

by Scott Kleckner and Jackson Miley

Amanda Groziak

by Max Cohen and Ally Messick

42

by Jacqueline Friduss

THE LAUNCH Short Features 14 Compiled by Anabel Homnack and

Pro/Con: UrbanPlan

Photo Essay: Signs of Learning

by Camille Couchon

by Mira Khanna

18

by Camille Couchon and Jessica Madej

20

by Alex Lenail

by Emma Tucher

PROFILES

by Elise Bruguera

A Love for Romance Languages

24

On a Mission

26

THE WATCH Hark! Recipes!

62

by Maytal Mark

Riding a Wave

30

Holiday Hangouts

64

Bluegrass in Their Blood

32

Hot for Hot Chocolate

66

Festive Films

68

True Life: I’m writing a novel

70

by Allen Wu

by Elise Bruguera

by Emily Efland and Manon von Kaenel

by Emily Kellison-Linn and Elizabeth Silva

Bike City

by Gadi Cohen and Sarah Jacobs

COVER 36

by Caroline Ebinger

by Allison Chang

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM Bike City (pg. 55), Hot for Hot Chocolate (pg.

66), Losing Pounds for Pointe (pg.

46)

by Ava Dordi and Margaret Kadifa

by Allen Wu

december

3

cover

by yelena kasianova

Follow Verde on Twitter at twitter.com/verdemagazine Our tweets can’t be beat!

V

volume 12 edition 1

verdeexcerpts

“A Jewish quote for most every holiday: ‘They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat.’”

Page 52

Paly Freshman Hillel Zand “Religion Unwrapped”

“69% of students reported having illegally downloaded content from the Internet”

Page 44

“Can we Sink the Pirate Ship?”

“I am a walking, living miracle. I don’t take life for granted”

Page 55

“The whole goal of a bike plan is to identify programs & projects, prioritize them, and extend the bike network beyond what it is.”

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS “Do Paly Dances Have a Future?”

I think the breathalzyer and strict rules work better at Gunn dances than Paly ones because our students have accepted that the rules are just for their safety and are not trying to take anything away from the dances. Being drunk at dances does not provide good experiences for other kids and once people start dancing and enjoying themselves, they hardly notice the ‘teacher watching’ that so many kids complain about. Our dance attendance went down too but the rules do not limit our fun because the majority of the kids know the rules are there for a good reason. Alcohol doesn’t do anyone any good and the schools are right to take strict measures to ban it. Students have to focus on the positives and continue to have fun at the dances.

— “gunnstudent” “Debunked: There are Mo Republican Students at Paly” I think it was a cool idea to write a story on the republican minority at Paly, but its a bit much to say, “There’s no denying it. Just look at the numbers: Republicans make up more than a quarter of our student body,” when the survey sample was only of 116 Paly students and we have 1900 students at Paly.

— “student”

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Amy Wolfrom “From Addict to Artist”

Chief Transportation Officer Jamie Rodriguez “Bike City”

Page 35

“I didn’t know I was anorexic. It didn’t make sense to me. If I was eating whenever I was hungry, why would I be anorexic?”

Page 46

Anonymous Paly Student “Julia” “Losing Pounds for Pointe”

“We were looking for her for about eight hours until we finally received a report that they had found her body in a different search area.””

Page 54

Paly senior Margot Gerould “On a Mission”

verde

volume 12 edition 2 december 2010

from the editors

Staff List Editors-in-Chief Max Cohen Sonali Sastry Camille von Kaenel Ally Messick Manon von Kaenel Managing Editors Margaret Kadifa Sarah Jacobs Business Managers Emily Efland Emma Tucher

W

inter brings rain to Palo Alto, flooding the Palo Alto High School campus and creating an outburst of colorful raincoats. Despite the rain, however, some brave Paly students continue to bike to school in the mornings. They showcase Paly’s dedication to two-wheeled transportation - on average, forty percent of the student body bikes to school every day. Written by Gadi Cohen and Sarah Jacobs, our cover story, Bike City, examines new city initiatives to transform Palo Alto into one of the four most bike-friendly cities in the nation. Combining statistics and interviews with important community leaders, they take a look at how the city fell back . Check it out on page 55.

Another powerful article which we debated placing on the cover is “From Addict to Artist” (page 55), by Anabel Homnack.

Former Paly student Amy Wolfrom’s story, of successfully overcoming her drug addiction to become a make-up artist, shows the importance of thanking any and all support systems, from friends to family to counseling services, this holiday season.

Our Paly peers are getting noticeably more excited every day that is closer to winter break. In preparation for the coming winter months, we decided to expand our “The Watch” feature, which provides a sampling of cultural events. Reviews of holiday recipes (page 62), Bay Area destinations for a stay-at-home break (page 64), different hot chocolates in town (page 66), and classic holiday movies (page 68) make this a perfect guide to the winter months.

In Verde, the whole staff even participated in a taste-testing panel for the best hot chocolate powders - find the results on page 69.

Interspersed with rain storms, hot chocolate parties and other winter festivities, this production cycle went by quickly. We want to thank our dedicated staff for cooperating with the transition between editor teams. Also, of course, we want to thank our readers.

Enjoy the holidays, and enjoy this second issue of Verde.

— Camille, Sonali, & Max

Short Features Editors Amanda Groziak Anabel Homnack Online Editors Allison Chang Mira Khanna Social Media Editor Bella Hernandez

Art Director Yelena Kasianova Photographer Jaqueline Friduss Cartoonist Ava Dordi Staff Elise Bruguera Gadi Cohen Camille Couchon Caroline Ebinger Sarah Jacobs Margaret Kadifa Emilia Kellison-Linn Scott Kleckner Alex Lenail Jessica Madej Maytal Mark Jackson Miley Elizabeth Silva Zach Stanton-Savitz Allen Wu 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 verdeds-10-11@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 Emily Efland and Emma Tucher 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 student’s home. All verde work is archived — and available for commenting at http://voice.paly.net/verde.

december

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[ OPINION ]

staff verdict City Should Follow Through on Biking Plans

P

alo Alto is already one of the most bike-friendly places in the country, and may even soon be a platinumlevel bike city, the highest level bestowed on cities by the League of American Bicyclists. However, Verde feels that Palo Alto has been lagging in recent years in its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and set an example for other cities.

Since the city drafted the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan in 2003, little progress has been made in the quest to turn Palo Alto into “bike-topia”. Recently, however, funds have become available and city officials felt that it was time to reshape the plan.

Verde supports the city’s recent efforts to make the city more connected.

However, the city has come up against resistance from drivers and other residents. Some feel that the new bike improvements will exacerbate traffic problems and take focus off of other projects. For example, when the city completed the Arastradero traffic calming project that cut the number of lanes from two in each direction to only one in August 2010 in an attempt to calm traffic and make room for bikes, some residents complained of increased congestion and unnecessary chaos. Similar concerns have been raised against the California Avenue Project, which

also plans to narrow the street from four to two lanes, adding more diagonal parking and creating space for bikes. Other residents have reservations about the hefty price tag.

Despite these concerns, the city should make these changes a priority, due to the environmental, medical and social benefits of biking. A community’s efforts to increase the number of bikers can take cars off the road and in-so-doing reduce carbon emissions. Instead of sitting in a car or bus, biking to school or work is a healthy way to get exercise. Biking improvements will also enhance the city’s aesthetic atmosphere, creating a more sustainable, active and conscious city.

The efforts of the city to become more bike-friendly are both laudable and important to the progress of the community as an example of green infrastructure. Considering today’s economic climate, the furor over global warming and the record high prices of gas, it has never been more important to be mindful of the environment and our impact on the world. Although the problems our society faces are global, and it may seem daunting to try to change big-picture issues through our own individual actions, no change can ever occur unless we take the first step towards ultimate bike-friendliness. v

Students Should Use ACS On-Campus Counseling

I

f you’re struggling with academic stress, issues with your parents or friends, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, or substance abuse and need someone to talk to, Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS) provides on-campus counseling free of charge right at Palo Alto High School.

Verde commends ACS’s efforts to provide an outlet for students to express their problems. If our peers are struggling with any issue, we recommend they seek help at ACS. According to Aarika Riddle, the Program and Marketing Director, ACS has seen a 60 percent increase in students and families this year. ACS has already completed 379 sessions with 144 students and families this year.

ACS has an annual budget of $1.2 million. It’s funded by the City of Palo Alto as well as Menlo Park, PAUSD, and various other school districts that it works with. Our school district and community allocates funds so students should utilize these free services conveniently provided on our campus.

One of ACS’s main goals is to reach more students on campus. In order to do so, Verde suggests that they take a bigger presence on campus. They could do so by hosting lunchtime events on the quad like music or a rally. They could also have representatives come into advisory in the beginning of the school year to

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spread awareness about the counseling resources.

“Our goals for ACS are to continue helping teens and families in our local schools and in the community,” Riddle says Though there is often a stigma attached with seeking counseling, ACS is working to eliminate this stigma.

“We want to continue to raise awareness about our programs and do what we can to break down the stigma associated with taking care of your emotional and mental health,” Riddle says.

Students don’t have to seek help for themselves; they can also go into ACS to seek help for their friends. The service is strictly confidential and completely free. On-Campus Counseling (OCC) offers individual, family, and group counseling. Students should make use of this free and confidential service on our campus.

If you or someone you know is struggling with an issue and needs help, ACS is here. Paly’s on-campus Site Director is Amoreena Berg (650) 833-4244. She is available during school Monday through Friday. v — Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Verde staff

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

december

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Briefing

NEWS THE LATEST AND GREATEST

Winston welcomes intramural sports

This Paly sports field could soon host a variety of intramural sports.

Starting next semester, the Paly administration will work in conjunction with the local YMCA to bring intramural sports to Paly students.

According to Paly principal Phil Winston, the school will conduct sport games for students together with the YMCA during lunch three days a week.

He is hoping to get the project running by second semester of this year.

“We are at the beginning stage of

planning, but I am confident we can lift this off the ground by second semester,” Winston said.

These days, Winston can be seen walking the quad, surveying students about possible intramural sports.

“Our hope is to poll the students on what sports they would be interested in,” he said. “Then [we will] build the program around student’s input.”

ASB Sports Commissioner Emma

gadi cohen

Lenke thought of the idea for instituting intramurals at Paly after attending an elaborate Quidditch game at Jordan Middle School this past summer.

“I’m hoping that [intramural Quidditch games] will become a possibility,” Lenke said.

She also hopes to help institute a traditional dodgeball tournament, among other possible intramural games. text by gadi cohen

Green team energizes energy conservation in classes sonali sastry

The Green Team listens to Resource Efficiency Team volunteer Bret Anderson during a recent meeting.

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verde magazine

Following a survey that showed students were shivering in class, the Paly Green Team is planning to collaborate with the Palo Alto Unified School District maintenance department to figure out how to regulate classroom temperature and lower energy use.

“Almost everyone noted that it was too cold in classrooms when the weather was warm and too warm in classrooms when the weather was cold,” Green Team Vice President Emily Benatar says. The Green Team surveyed approximately 275 students on Nov. 17, according to Green Team President Sarah Berry. Their results show that nearly 72 percent thought that the rooms were either too hot or too cold.

“So our goal is simply to try to find a comfortable temperature for classrooms and maintain it at that level,” Benatar

says. “Paly’s energy consumption is fairly high compared to other Palo Alto school’s levels, so we thought that reducing the amount of AC would be a good way to cut down on energy usage.”

The Green Team held a meeting with Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, Resource Efficiency Team volunteer Bret Anderson and others to discuss possible improvements. Their plan, according to Anderson, is to analyze energy use with help from the maintenance department, and get more feedback from Paly students and teachers, to figure out how to lower energy use. “That’s about the plan for now,” Anderson says, “but if this goes well we will continue with other projects like programs to keep appliances and equipment off when not in use,” among other things. text by zachary stanton-savitz

jacqueline friduss

Students take advantage of the ARC’s resources to study together.

The Academic Resource Center will now be open one half-hour extra after school on Mondays and Wednesdays, according to ARC cocoordinator Noel Beitler.

The Parent Teacher Student Association funded the extra time for the ARC to remain open.

Previously, the ARC was only open until 4:30 p.m., and adding the extra half-hour should benefit students, allowing them more time to study and make-up work.

“It’s great because I can tutor people longer and possibly take two tests after school,” said senior Ryan Rasti. text by mira khanna

Palo Alto High School’s Head Custodian Hok Ky will retire this month. Ky has been working at Paly for almost thirty years. His last day at Paly will be Dec. 17, according to Ky. Ky is well-loved by all the students and staff at Paly.

“Hok is one of the best people I’ve ever worked with,” Librarian Rachel Kellerman said. “Whenever anything comes up, he is always available, and he gives 100% to help the students of this school.”

Students wishing to write Ky a note thanking him for his hard work can leave it in the yellow box at the library front desk. The notes will be delivered to Ky before his departure.

text by emily kellison-linn

Paly parent and artist Michael Tompert will showcase his art show, 12LVE, at Town & Country Village until spring 2011. The owner of the store BRIM offered Tompert so showcase his collection in the back of the store. The work will be there until March and anyone is welcome to view the gallery after eleven.

12LVE, Tompert’s debut collection, will feature his digital fine art pieces, created using media like Adobe Photoshop and other photography and/or scanography tools. After an opening ceremony on Dec. 12, the gallery will be open to any interested viewers.

Digital fine art allows Tompert to express himself through the technologies of his medium. Photography and scanography combine to produce large scale works with microscopic detail, according to Tompert.

“Even a high digital camera cannot capture the detail that I wanted show,” Tompert says. “Digital photos are generated on the computers. These pictures

Senior Alina Tompert hopes all the best for her dad’s art show, 12LVE.

are then scanned and than composited.”

Tompert feels that it is important for students to view art.

“Art makes you think,” Tompert says.

“Visuals are very powerful. They can persuade and influence people strongly.”

The photographs in the collection are very high quality and expensive to produce. “People look and so many images every day, and my point was to question the quality [of the photographs] instead of the quantity.” text by manon von kaenel and ally messick

Last chance for lasting memories caroline ebinger

After 30 years, custodian to retire

gives Town and Country the gift of art manon von kaenel

Extra time for extra help

Yearbook advisor Margo Wixsom shows off the yearbooks from the last two years.

The final deadline to order the 201011 Palo Alto High School yearbook is Jan. 15, according to Margo Wixsom, the yearbook advisor.

Yearbooks can be ordered online at the Paly WebStore or at the auditor’s office in the Tower Building for $75.

“You must order a yearbook by Jan. 15th or else you can’t get one,” yearbook advisor Margo Wixsom said.

Wixsom says that due to a new ordering policy, no extra yearbooks will be published, so to get a yearbook, students absolutely must order by this date.

According to Wixsom, only about 600 yearbooks have been sold as of Dec. 1, while the average number of annual sales is 1,300. Students who do not remember if they have ordered a yearbook can ask at the auditor’s office. text by caroline ebinger december

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[ NEWS ]

He’s not your average Joe: Senator Joe Simitian called an “Outstanding Legislator” bill was inspired by two Palo Alto teachers, Diana Argenti and Natalie Bivas. The bill requires that children be at least 5 years old before Sept. 1 in order to attend their first year of Kindergarten.

Gov. Schwarzenegger called the bill “a landmark accomplishment for early childhood developmental education in California” and congratulated Simitian “for his steadfast dedication to California’s students.”

Paly senior Samara Trilling interned in Simitian’s office her sophomore year.

Trilling was glad to hear the news and spoke highly of Simitian’s efforts as a legislator.

“I’m certainly not surprised [that he won],” Trilling says. “In general, Joe is one of those remarkable representatives who is exceptionally good at governing. He’s a down-to-earth community member and an incredibly hard-working legislator.”

Buying trees to support sports

New lights for Paly

The sports boosters are sponsoring a Christmas tree lot for the second year in the Paly parking lot.

The tree lot is open Monday-Friday 4 p.m. — 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. — 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. — 6 p.m. The last day is Dec. 20.

The trees come from a nursery in Oregon, and vary in cost from $25 to $180, depending on the type and size of the tree.

“The trees actually are better trees and we do take good care of them and we give good service and the cause is good,” said Nick Peterson. text by elizabeth silva

Following a city-wide trend, the exterior lights at Palo Alto High School will be replaced with more efficient light emitting diodide lights during upcoming construction, according to PAUSD. Paly currently has high pressure sodium lights. The district has already upgraded some interior lighting to more efficient bulbs.

According to Ron Smith, PAUSD facility project manager, the district plans to make this change at both Paly and Gunn High School.

“It is our hope to change out all exterior lighting to high efficiency lighting units,” Smith said.

By the

NUMBERS

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manon von kaenel

courtesy of simitian’s office

California State Sen. Joe Simitian state’s education system, and for his work has been named, “Outstanding Legisla- behind the Open Enrollment Act. tor of the Year” for 2010 by the California “[Receiving the award] was very School Boards Associagratifying,” Simitian says. tion. Simitian, a Demo“Students and schools crat, represents Califorhave been at the top of nia’s 11th district, which my list for a long time, comprises Palo Alto and going back to my days cities across San Mateo on the Palo Alto School and Santa Clara. Paly Board. The award I restudents may recognize ceived reflects those inJoe Simitian’s name, as terests and my days on his local office is right the school board.” across the street in Town According to his and Country, near the own website, Simitian’s Cheese House. signature accomplishCalifornia State Senator Joe Simitian received ment in the last year Simitian’s office is in Town & this recognition for his was the passage of his Country Village. continuing work in pro“Kindergarten Readiness viding adequate funding Act,” which was signed for K-12 education, his legislation to de- into law last fall by former Gov. Arnold velop a statewide data system to provide Schwarzenegger. accountability and effectiveness in the According to Simitian’s office, the

The tree lot is located in the school parking lot next to El Camino and Embarcadero.

40

percent of Paly students who bike to school on an average day, approximately

text by scott kleckner

text by amanda groziak

500

students attend the California School for the Deaf in Fremont

JJ&F: same food, different owners sarah jacobs

JJ&F Market, a neighborhood grocery store, has changed owners, but loyal customers hope to continue shopping for groceries here.

Local students in search of a sandwich for lunch may encounter a very different JJ&F Market in future.

JJ&F Market, which has been a neighborhood favorite since before 1950, providing basic food staples alongside delicious deli sandwiches, is under new ownership. The store will keep the same name.

In November, the cousins who owned the store announced that the store was going out of business.

“Between this terrible economy, and

the new shopping habits, we can no longer compete,” John, Dennis and Lloyd Garcia announced in a public letter.

Longtime patrons of JJ&F Market hope the new owner will not change the store’s atmosphere or range of products. Many say they prefer neighborhood stores over chains.

“Bigger stores don’t necessarily cater to the individual,” Paly parent and loyal JJ&F Market customer Sarah Kurtz said.

“They cater to the bottom line. Safeway

has things that an anonymous audience would buy, but they can’t tailor their products to the community.”

The switch occurred on Dec. 1 and went smoothly, according to the stand-in for the new manager, Henry Herro. “[The transition] happened a little fast, but it went well,” Herro said. “Right now it’s just crazy. Hectic – getting adjusted. New store, new problems, new beginnings, we’re just trying to get adjusted.” text by sarah jacobs

The great debate: will Paly continue to Tournament of Champions? allen wu

Senior Lucas Chan placed second at the Silver and Black International in Utah, earning himself a place in the Tournament of Champions.

69

percent of Paly students report having pirated content from the Internet

Palo Alto High School’s debate team excelled in the Silver and Black Invitational, held on Dec. 2-4 at Alta High School, in Utah.

Nine debaters attended the national debating tournament, seven of whom attended the Lincoln-Douglas division, in which one-on-one debates typically revolve around ethical issues. Juniors Alex Lenail and Greg Dunn competed in the Policy division, where they won three and lost four in the preliminary round.

Of the seven who competed in the Lincoln-Douglas division, three cleared. “[Clearing] means they made it past

17

the preliminary round and into the final 32-man tournament,” said senior Lucas Chan. “That’s a big deal.”

Chan, one of the three, placed second in the tournament. The other two, junior Alex Carter and freshman Travis Chen, both placed in the top eight.

These three earned an invitation to the Tournament of Champions.

“The Tournament of Champions is the biggest, most prestigious debate tourney in the country,” Chan said.

“It’s going to be held in Kentucky, some time in May.” text by allen wu

the age of the girl senior Margot Gerould’s search and rescue team found dead

12

percent of Paly students who are Jewish october

11

[ NEWS ]

Briefs from The Paly Voice mark havlik

Board votes 5-0 to pass rollover calendar schedule Amid disagreement over a pre-finals schedule, the Palo Alto Unified School District’s Board of Education voted 5-0 for a rollover calendar with post-break finals for the 20112012 school year, but pushed back the vote on the contentious 2012-2013 calendar for next February’s agenda.

Read the full story by Lucas Chan and Alex Carter at http://voice.paly.net/node/25508

‘Ideal’ Performing Arts Center millions over budget

Paly senior Pierre Bourbonnais and his Gunn opponent face off at a school board meeting. The School Board voted to push back the final vote on the post-break finals until the 2012-2013 school year.

Art teachers and members of the Palo Alto High School community are considering a combination of downsizing and fundraising for the school’s soon-to-be-built Performing Arts Center after receiving a big shock this semester — their ideal building is millions over budget.

Read the full story, by Hannah Kim, at http:// voice.paly.net/node/25401

Now coming to East Palo Alto: new sport fields The new East Palo Alto community sports field will undergo construction starting in the spring of next year and will be funded and planned by the Rich May Foundation, according to the foundation’s executive director, Tami McMillan.

The East Palo Alto Planning Commission approved the conditional use permit, allowing the foundation to go forward with building plans, on Nov. 22 in a 4 to 1 vote.

This was on the condition that the applicants submit a traffic study one year after the field is completed, and implement changes recommended by the study, according to Planning Director Brad Tarr.

The field is being built in honor of Richard May, an East Palo Alto police officer who was shot and killed by a gang member while on duty in early 2005.

“We wanted something in the community to remember him,” said Tami

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McMillan, May’s sister and an executive director for the Foundation. “It [the project] just kind of came about.”

The Rich May Foundation is building the field on what is now an empty lot on Bay Road behind the St. Francis of Assisi Church, which granted the land to the foundation for this purpose.

The foundation has been working on the project for four years, starting shortly after May’s death.

The community, various youth programs, and the César Chávez Academy, a Ravenswood School District middle school located adjacent to the lot, will have access to the field.

In general, the public opinion on the field is favorable.

“Community support was heavily weighted toward support of the field due to the limited facilities available locally and also in order to honor fallen Officer May,” Tarr said.

The field does face some opposition from the chairwoman of the East Palo Alto Planning Commission Renee Glover Chantler, and the president of the Ravenswood School District Board of Education Sharifa Wilson. They believe that the new field will exacerbate traffic on Bay Road, according to Palo Alto Online. When reached by telephone, Chantler refused to comment on the situation. Wilson could not be reached for comment.

However, McMillan believes that the field would actually mitigate traffic on Bay Road instead of worsen it. She says that currently, people slow down on the street to drop of kids at the church, lot, or school, but the field would have a drop-off area which could fix the problem.

McMillan says that with the support of the City Council, and the lack of any appeal, the field will definitely be built.

text by elise bruguera

Art Center helps sculpt an ecofriendly and cultural world

A North Carolina artist will begin to construct a large sculpture in front of the Palo Alto Art Center on Jan. 10.

Patrick Dougherty, the artist constructing the sculpture, is the “nation’s most important environmental artist,” according to Signe Mayerfield, a board member at the Art Center. Dougherty

text by ava dordi

Researcher uncovers famous Paly poet A local teacher visited the Paly Library on Dec. 7 to research information about Lou Welch, famous beat poet who attended Paly, worked on The Campanile newspaper, and graduated in 1944. Welch was connected with other famous poets such as Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsberg.

Tom Mayock, who lives and teaches in Oakland, has been tracking Welch though old newspapers, yearbooks, and personal accounts. He first heard Welch’s poetry recited by his college professor.

“I’ve been reading his poetry since in college,” Mayock said. “I know a fair amount about him just by reading the works that exist, but after a while I realize there are a lot of things that are not known generally about him especially his childhood.”

Welch attended Jordan Middle School and then moved on to Paly. After graduating, he moved away from Palo Alto and never came back.

“He was the kind of person who just kept moving on,” Mayock said. “He wasn’t that interested in his own past the way I am,” Mayock said. “I think it’s really

fascinating to me [to] just pick a single subject and try to find out everything you could know about it. It could be Lou Welch, it could be another poet, it could be anyone. If you try to find out everything that you could possibly know about that person it can take you into history.” text by amanda groziak

Teacher Tom Mayock looks through old copies of The Campanile newspaper in search of articles by poet Lou Welch.

ally messick

Sculpture in the Parklands In County Offaly, Ireland, Photo: James Fraher

Artist James Fraher poses next to a sculpture similar to the one he will build at the Palo Alto Art Center.

works only with sustainable materials.

The outdoor sculpture will be constructed entirely of willow. After one year, it will be dismantled and the willow will be recycled.

The sculpture will be built over the course of two weeks.

Eager to educate others about the process of sculpture making, Dougherty encourages passers-by to approach and talk to him while he works on the sculpture.

The installation will be 16 feet high and 30 feet wide. Mayerfield believes that the installation will serve as a “great point of interest” for the community.

[Dougherty’s] work is so different and so wonderful,” Mayerfield says.

“It’s going to be awesome.”

Say ‘hola!’ to new technology

Document cameras play a pivotal role in language classrooms.

The World Languages Department will buy new document cameras to enhance learning in language classrooms.

According to Spanish teacher and Instructional Supervisor Kevin Duffy, four of the cameras have already arrived and are in use, while four more are expected to arrive in January.

“They [the document cameras] allow you to use old-fashioned resources in a different way,” Duffy said.

The document cameras capture an image of whatever is placed below them on the desk, and project this image onto the projector screen.

Duffy said that the cameras are a perfect fit for the language department because of the complexity of objects that must be shown in class. “[With the document cameras] you can show a student’s work [on the screen] and learn from it,” Duffy said. Accent marks are tricky to reproduce using other means.” Duffy also pointed out that the cameras are useful for languages with different writing systems, such as Japanese.

Duffy hopes to use the cameras to display real-life objects from foreign countries — including stamps, coins, pictures, pamphlets, and art.

The cameras were paid for using a $2400 Viking Grant to the Language Department, according to Karen Ersted, Chair of the Parent Teacher Student Association Grants Department. Viking Grants are given out to teacher applicants twice a year to “enhance their classroom programs and support school-wide goals,” according to the PTSA website. text by emily kellison-linn december

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THELAUNCH 5 QUESTIONS WITH ALEX CARTER Junior Alex Carter, third speaker winner at the Alta Silver and Black Invitational, is the new vice-president of the Paly Debate Team.

When and how did you get interested in debate?

I joined the eighth grade Jordan Middle School Debate Club that was being run at the time by a Paly senior and I just immediately thought it was awesome.

What has been your biggest accomplishment so far? This year I won a Saint Francis invitational at Saint Francis High School. It was a pretty competitive tournament just about as competitive a pool as a lot of national tournaments so I was pretty pumped about that.

What did you argue about? We were talking about nuclear weapons. The topic was resolved state aught not to have nuclear weapons.

How’s the debate team doing overall this year? We have

SHORT STUFF

This inexpensive restaurant on University Ave. serves mini burgers, soup, and salad all day long.

Number of flatscreen TVs at the bar Amount of antibiotics and hormones in their food

Percent of sales that go to charity

photo by GADI COHEN

INSIDE THE ROOM OF

English Teacher Kari Snell 1

4

2

3

5

been hugely successful. I was afraid that we would not be as hugely successful because we lost some of our greatest debaters.

What does the future hold? I think we can send one debater to ToC [Tournament of Champions].

photo by AMANDA GROZIAK

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1. Boxes from Snell’s husband’s 4. Snell sitting comfortably at

gym. “I wanted it to be in my her desk. She expects a child classroom for student motiva- sometime in the next year. tion,” Snell says.

5. A heart-shaped rice 2. Snell on her wedding day. krispie treat given to Snell last year during teacher’s 3. Snell’s thank you letters given to her by former students. appreciation week.

TOP 5:

THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2011

11/11/11 Students and others alike are

Top 5 chosen by Verde staff.

NO MORE SATIIs FOR UCs

looking forward to the date of the decade: six ones on one day is sure to bring luck!

PORTAL 2

SILVA.

Justin Robinson, tJUNIOR “Dragon from Dragon Tales because they are magical, they fly and I want to meet them.”

Anthony Villanueva, tSOPHOMORE “Tricycle because I would look so cool while riding one and everyone would admire me.”

It’s hard to overstate our anticipation.

Portal 2 promises more of the same unique gameplay and an expanded storyline that is sure to distract you from your schoolwork.

U.S. TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ

HARRY POTTER 7

PART 2 The long awaited final installment of the multi-million dollar Harry Potter series will arrive in July, concluding the seventh book.

IDEAL TRANSPORTATION Photos by ELIZABETH

Mrs. Kellerman u “Solar powered bicycle that I can use to exercise or when I am lazy I just turn on the solar powered motor which is of course non polluting and I don’t have to pedal. Also, I would like it to be pink.”

photo by Sarah Jacobs

photo by pingnews.com on Flickr

OUR

Armani Johnson, JUNIOR u “Hover car that can transform into a submarine that can go into volcanoes and shoot haters with lasers ‘cause I’m gonna be in the ocean swimming with the pigeons or maybe in the sky flying with the fishes cause my world is different like Dwayne Wade.”

Staci Fung, tSOPHOMORE “Jet packs because they are just awesome.”

photo by jaymacweb on Flickr december

15

Watch Out For anabel homnack's Next

Dance

Coming Soon in January

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PERSPECTIVES School Democracy Text and art by AVA DORDI

CARTOON: VOTING PRO CON URBANPLAN WHAT’S GOING ON WITH EDUCATION?

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[ PERSPECTIVES ]

Pro/Con: UrbanPlan Editors Ally Messick and Max Cohen go head-to-head to debate the controversial Economics project photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

E

very year, seniors in Economics class dedicate an entire month to a special project called UrbanPlan. This realistic project requires students to split into small groups and create a development plan for an imaginary district. Using Lego blocks and a map of the district, the students must create a plan that fulfills various requirements and then present their plan to a panel of real-life urban developers.

PRO: Max Cohen

CON: Ally Messick

M: First thing, playing with Lego rules.

A: Yes, playing Legos is fun --if you are a four year –old boy. But in econ class, I

felt that the legos were a huge distraction, which made many students in the class lose focus.

M: The Lego is just a small, but incredibly, fun part of the project. UrbanPlan gives

students the opportunity to learn all types of great skills they wouldn’t be able to learn in a normal school project. These include learning how to meet specific requirements of a certain job or role, working and compromising with peers, developing city areas, and more.

A

: While I did learn a few skills from this project, I felt that the flaws of the project outweighed the benefits. I felt that the project requirements were really unclear and I was unsure to what the purpose of the project was and how it related to econ. For example, I felt that some of the roles like neighborhood liaison, city liaison, and marketing director had very little do do with economics. Furthermore, while I know this can happen with any project, I was a put in a group with mostly boys who insisted that our group name be “Hugh Jass Inc.”

M: Well, I can only assume your bitterness comes from the city council not choosing

your proposal as the best one. Obviously, this is due to the immaturity of your group’s name. Maybe you were too busy making ridiculous and childish jokes to notice the connection UrbanPlan has to economics. Students must work to balance decisions to raise enough money for the city and enough for the development team.

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A: I agree, but we had already learned they key concepts of the project in previous

units such as what “trade-offs” and “opportunity costs” are, so I felt that the project was just an unnecessary review of those terms.

M: What are we doing in school if we aren’t here to develop skills for

the future? UrbanPlan gave students an opportunity to use the information they had learned about the economics and apply it in a real situation.

A

: I learned a lot more from Mrs. Whitson teaching in the classroom, and I think there was a disconnect between the company that made this project, the “city council” that came in to judge the projects, and Mrs. Winston teaching the project.

M: Disconnect? The only disconnect is between you and understanding this

project. I see a clear correlation between what we learned from our teachers and what we did in UrbanPlan. Open your eyes Al.

A

: I think that a lot of people felt that we spent way too much time on the project.

We spent about three weeks on the project, when in reality I think most people could have accomplished the project in one to two weeks. Additionally, the adults brought in to help us with our projects only succeeded in making us unsure about our proposals.

M: As if ! The adult participants of UrbanPlan are what make it a unique and effective project. Name another time when professionals were brought in to help you in education from first-hand experience. Their expertise in urban planning rules.

A: Rules? That’s another thing. The guidelines were unclear. It seemed that nothing a group did

was good enough for the city council. When a group decided to put in a homeless shelter in the city the city council would sa y it was not a good idea, and when a group decided not to put in a homeless shelter, they would ask “Where will the homeless go?”

You could never win.

M: Never win? Speak for yourself. I know a handsome, young student who did win this project. He and his group members demonstrated to the city council that their proposal was successful. I’ll miss UrbanPlan.

A: . I am happy that we are going back to the real world of learning, and putting

the scarring memories of Hugh Jass behind me.

M: Ally, your Hugh Jass was always behind you.

December 2010

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[ PERSPECTIVES ]

What’s Going On With Education?

Documentary ‘Waiting for Superman’ sheds light on the problems with our education system Text by ALEX LENAIL Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

E

ducation has been a big focus of politicians coming out of the midterm elections. Incumbents and their adversaries have spoken about fixing education, but it’s not always clear what that means. At Palo Alto High School, these issues can feel a little distant sometimes. What is going on with education?

Waiting for Superman is a documentary that sheds light on these issues. Created by Davis Guggenheim, who gained fame from An Inconvenient Truth, the film follows five children’s experiences with the American education system.

The U.S. used to be one of the top nations in the world in terms of education. Now we’re ranked 33rd in reading and not much better in Math or Science. Nations like Korea and Finland have left the U.S. in the dust.

Our schools were top-notch in the 70s, but since then, our scores have flat-lined, even as the amount of money we’re pouring into our system has doubled. We spend more money on students now than any other nation in the world, but our scores are declining rapidly relative to those nations. They’re moving forward, but we aren’t.

The Issues Tenure was first created to protect college professors from being fired over political or religious affiliations. It took years to gain tenure, and then the case was reviewed by a board, and most cases were not approved. What began as an exception became a tradition. After two years of teaching at a public school without any serious misconduct and a few evaluations, teachers are awarded tenure, and a guarantee of the job for the rest of their lives.

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The documentary posits that some teachers have a mentality that once they have tenure, the job belongs to them, that they have a right to it. Reformers say this is totally wrong, that they should have to engage in regular tests to see whether they should have the privilege of teaching students. 1 in 57 doctors lose their medical licenses, and 1 in 97 lawyers lose their legal licenses. But only 1 in 2,500 teaches will lose their credentials.

According to the film, that a good teacher can cover up to 150 percent of the material they are meant to teach, but a bad teacher can cover as little as 50 percent. In the U.S., a teacher will get paid the same whether their students learn or not.

The documentary advocates a delicate nuance: teachers are great, but unions are not. Teaching is a terribly difficult profession. And on top of that, it is severely underpaid. Teachers band together because they are infantilized and their Herculean efforts are usually not well enough recognized. However these unions safeguard the bad teachers just as much as the good teachers and enable them to keep their jobs and harm generations of kids.

Researchers calculated that if you removed the bottom 10% of teachers and replaced them with average (50th percentile) teachers, the US would move to up and replace Finland as best educating system in the world.

Let’s Get Local The documentary then takes a twist and focuses on Woodside High. This school is just down the road, in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Despite our academic successes in the 70s, we had absolutely no global competition. No one could challenge our economic strength, let alone our educative power.

SCARY STUFF These statistics obtained from both the film and outside sources demonstrate the desperate state of our education system.

The film states that our schools were designed then to send the top 20 percent to a four year college to have professional jobs, the next 20 percent was meant for skills work, like shopkeepers, secretaries, or mechanics, and the bottom 60 percent was meant for farming or factory work, a system which worked at the time. But now, with China and Brazil as major economic powers, those bottom 60 percent are completely obsolete. With cheaper labor from other nations, the US’s economy slowly shifted from one of manufacturing to one of innovation. America was no longer going to export goods. It would export ideas.

Woodside has changed little since the 70s. Sure, it has some new buildings, shiny new computers, and new whiteboards, but its mission is still the same. It is still designed to produce the same percentages of students prepared for each set of jobs. It has maintained the practice of laneing, setting people on different tracks. Instead of expecting the best of each and every student, keeping them all at the same standard, the school lanes kids very early on, and makes it difficult for them to switch. The students in lower lanes are held to lower standards, learn less, and are not prepared to fill the jobs they need to fill.

The schools haven’t changed but the world around them has.

If you don’t go to college, you’re kind of screwed in America, and America is kind of screwed too.

In 2008, Bill Gates decided the problem was so egregious, he testified in front of Congress and demanded legislative action.

He said that an economy sustained by innovation would inevitably collapse on itself without the foundation of a powerhouse education system. He had projected that by 2025, 123 million American jobs will be high tech, high pay, but that by then only 50 million Americans will be able to fill those jobs. The rest of those spots would be filled by foreigners.

Radical Reform An overhaul has never been more crucial, yet it has never seemed farther away. The problems have clear solutions: tenure needs to be re-evaluated, and laneing needs to be rethought. The reforms are clear and necessary. The problem is politicians don’t want to reform the system. They feel it is not as important as other issues.

President Obama has made an effort, but this has not been enough. His program “Race to the Top” incents reform by granting funding to states who get results, but so far only a few states have made any notable effort, a state which California is not.

We need a change. Schools need to be a place where teachers provide an environment where all students can take charge of their learning, not just the top lanes. The future of the nation depends on it. v december

21

last chance 2 purchase yearbooks you MUST order and pay for a yearbook

by January 10th

if you want a copy of the 2011 MADRONO the theme is a secret – but it is AWESOME! get your order in 2DAY go online to the paly webstore @ www.paly.net

DON’T miss out! this year we will NOT order extra books for purchase in June – so this REALLY is your last chance – DO IT 2day :)

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PROFILES

A SECOND HOME Junior Matias Scarafia (left), from Argentina, and senior Riccardo BLUEGRASS Molly Tuttle plays the Monti (right) from Italy their expebanjo.

She belongs to adiscuss family of talentriences livingmusicians away from- home in “Three ed bluegrass see “Bluegrass Countries, One” Campus” in Their Blood, page 32.

A LOVE FOR ROMANCE LANGUAGES ON A MISSION RIDING A WAVE BLUEGRASS IN THEIR BLOOD

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photography photographybybyJACQUELINE JACQUELINEFRIDUSS FRIDUSS december

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[ PROFILES ]

A Love For Romance Languages One student splits her time between two language classes in the same period.

Text by ALLEN WU Photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

I

t is Wednesday afternoon, in Car- order in which she shows up at her classes. la Guerard’s fifth period French “As long as I’m in one of the two 4 AP class, and Palo Alto High classes, I don’t get cuts or anything,” School senior Sam Banks glances Banks says. at the clock—it reads 1:00 p.m., While selecting her classes for se45 minutes into the block period. She nior year, Banks was disappointed to learn quickly packs her stuff, briefly speaks that both languages’ AP classes occupied to her teacher, and exits the room, done the same time slot. She did not initially with the class for explore the idea of the day. She does taking both simulnot go home; intaneously, instead stead, she walks to investigating out-ofher Spanish 5 AP school opportunities class, where she will to pursue her second spend the rest of language. the period.

“I was actually Annually, sevtrying to figure out eral Paly students if I could take one of opt to take more the classes outside of than one foreign school, so I looked language in the into the school of — SENIOR SAM BANKS same year. Banks, independent learnhowever, is unique ers and stuff like in taking two Advanced Placement lan- that,” Banks says. “So I had to talk to Mr. guage classes during the same period. She [ Joseph] Vericat, and he suggested that I is the only Paly student currently taking share [class time].” two classes in the same period.

Kevin Duffy, Instructional SuperviDuring seven-period days, she sor of the World Language Department, chooses which class to attend and dur- explained how he, Banks, and her teachers ing block days she splits her time between worked out a solution.

“We tried to find a solution to her CHANGING CLASSES Banks walks to her them. She spends roughly 45 minutes in each classroom, but is free to choose the problem, and I talked to her, and both her next class mid-period.

“It’s always fun when you can completely flabbergast people,”

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AP SPANISH Banks in Josep Vericat’s Spanish class shortly before she departs for French.

French and Spanish teachers,” Duffy says.

“We decided that if Sam was okay with it, then it was okay.”

He does not, however, believe this system of sharing classes should be used by more students.

“It’s really a worst-case scenario when there’s only one period of a class that meets at the same time as another singleton [a class offered only during one class period],” Duffy says. “I think it might barely work with two language classes, but I couldn’t imagine, for instance, a language class and an advanced science class. The reality is, students have to make tough choices sometimes, and can’t always take everything they’d like to when schedule conflicts occur.”

Learning two languages simultaneously is incredibly difficult. However, Banks explained, understanding one language can help greatly when she is learning another one.

“There are times when I sit down and I’m trying to think of something in one language, and a different word will come out in the other language because they’re so similar,” Banks says.

Banks’ first word was in French, the language of her nanny. She forgot what French she knew when she moved away from her nanny as a child, and began

learning Spanish instead. She did not pick up French again until sophomore year, but its similarity to Spanish helped her catch up quickly.

“When I got into French 1, knowing the Spanish helped so much,” Banks says.

“That’s why I was able to skip over French 2 so easily.”

She is also learning Dutch, making her an impressive polyglot with four languages under her belt. Not content to stop there, she plans on learning more languages in college.

Banks hopes to attend George Washington University, because of its strong international program.

Her plan is to study abroad.

She intends to learn Russian and Italian after high school, and is considering a career that will allow her to make use of her linguistic skills and immerse herself in foreign cultures. “[Working as] a diplomat or something fun like that would be incredible,” Banks says.

“It’s always fun when you can completely flabbergast people by whipping out something crazy that they weren’t expecting,” Banks says. “It’s something I’m really good at, and I really enjoy speaking [languages].” v

CATCHING UP Banks quickly goes through the material she missed december

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[ PROFILES ]

On a Mission Text by ELISE BRUGUERA and JACKSON MILEY Photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

DOWN TO DETAILS Margot Gerould’s search and rescue technique includes looking for traces as small as scraps of clothing.

She is a part of and board member for the California Explorer Search and Rescue organization, a program that trains youth.

One Paly student’s experience with a search and rescue team

T

he team could hear the waves crashing on the windy Marin beach 100 feet below the cliffs. Margot Gerould recalls using a machete to hack her way through the head-high poison oak and scrutinizing the ground for scraps of clothing or any other signs of the missing 17-year-old girl. The girl had been partying on the beach with her friends the night before, and it was up to the California Explorer Search and Rescue team members, including Palo Alto High School senior Gerould, to find her.

As a volunteer and board member for this non-profit organization, nicknamed CalESAR, Gerould says she is always prepared to drop everything to serve in

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a search and rescue mission anywhere in California, though usually in the Bay Area.

The search for the Marin teen was one of the few that ended badly.

“We were looking for her for about eight hours until we finally received a report that they had found her body in a different search area,” Gerould says. “I saw when they [the missing girl’s friends and family] all found out that she had died and it was definitely a difficult moment.”

However, most of the missions end quickly and happily, Gerould says. The searches tend to be for lost children and Alzheimer’s patients, missions that succeed in a few hours.

The program consists of about 50 active volunteers, ages 15 to 20, with many adults serving as advisers. It began in 1969 as part of the Boy Scouts of America, and is now also associated with the California Emergency Management Agency, according to the CalESAR website.

As a “mutual-aid” team, CalESAR is summoned when smaller, local teams are unsuccessful on a search, Gerould says.

They get called sporadically, but searches happen about once every six weeks.

“They [regional teams] will call our one commander and then he’ll call all of us,” she explains. “I’ll get a text message or an email saying I have to be at a certain place at a certain time — the next morning, as soon as possible, whatever.”

These volunteers must be ready to respond at all times.

“Calls can come in the middle of the night, they can come in the middle of a math test, [and] they can come in the middle of a birthday party,” Gerould says.

The searchers usually have between one and eight hours to find a ride and arrive at the meeting location, Gerould says.

“We’re supposed to be ‘SAR [search and rescue]-ready’ at all times, meaning that our backpacks are packed, our uniforms are washed, and we’re ready to go,” Gerould says.

Searchers for the program can call a “status line” to receive more information and instructions or leave a message with their availability.

Gerould has become accustomed to these procedures after joining CalESAR about a year and a half ago with her friend, Kate Paladin from Castilleja. Training with other new members prepared her to aid people who are lost, in danger, or in need of medical care, ranging from Alzheimer’s patients to injured hikers, and certified her in CPR and first aid.

“Training weekends happen about

BADGED Gerould’s extensive training allows her to lead teams and participate in overnight searches.

once a month and give us an opportunity to perfect old skills and learn new ones,” Gerould says.

These include navigation skills, rope skills, first aid, outdoor survival skills, and other SAR skills.

“We learn how to search for people, what methods we can use, and how to lead a team of searchers,” Gerould says.

“I can do pretty much everything that an EMT [Emergency Medical Technician] does except give out medications.”

Along with this medical aspect of the program, it was the outdoor experience that initially attracted Margot.

“We [my family and I] are all big campers and hikers, so this is kind of a natural next step,” she says. “My family is behind me 100 percent on this.”

Gerould and other volunteers may also, however, encounter risks while on the job. For example, Gerould once sprained her ankle during training, she says.

“The two guys I was with immediately wrapped me up and gave me lots and lots of ibuprofen and I walked the rest of the way down the three miles,” she says.

Gerould says there are no better people to be with than her team if any injury needs treating. Paladin agrees.

“We always go out on searches and trainings with radios, and we try to have someone with advanced medical training on each deployed team,” Paladin says.

“If there ever is an emergency, I know my team members and I will be in good hands.”

The composition of each team, however, is not definite; the searchers are divided into teams the day of the search.

Often, Gerould says, she is placed on a team of complete strangers.

“That’s one of the coolest things about search and rescue,” she says. “You never know who will be able to respond to a search, and, therefore, you never know who you’re working with. I meet new people all the time.”

Gerould looks forward to meeting

“Calls can come in the middle of the night, they can come in the middle of a math test, [and] they can come in the middle of a birthday party.”

— PALY SENIOR MARGOT GEROULD even more new people on another team when she goes to college. However, since every college has different training requirements, she will have to adjust. She is thinking of working with a student-run EMT service.

Gerould hopes that other Paly students are interested in this way of serving the community. The CalESAR organization welcomes new members and both Gerould and Paladin strongly recommend it.

“Adults treat me as their equal and as a board member and trainer, I have been given great responsibility that is both daunting and thrilling,” Paladin says.

Gerould agrees.

“It’s been a really great experience and it’s been one that’s really helped me grow a lot,” Gerould says. “It allows teenagers to be really, really mature, which is a great thing.” v december

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[ PROFILES ]

Riding a Wave Three students battle wind and water through competitive sailing.

Text by MANON VON KAENEL and EMILY EFLAND Photography courtesy of MICHAEL DAY Art by EMILY EFLAND

R

egatta. Windward mark.

Starboard. Jib. Mast. Rudder and tiller. To many students, these words mean nothing, but to senior Sarah Berry and freshmen Rachel Day and Quitterie Collignon, these words come to life every weekend, when they practice sailing.

These girls are members of the Peninsula Youth Sailing Foundation, a competitive sailing club affiliated with the Sequoia Yacht Club in Redwood City. With one to three regattas (competitions) every month in locations ranging from the San Francisco Bay to Southern California, and weekly practices that run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., sailing is time-consuming but very rewarding, according to Berry, Day, and Collignon.

“It’s not a sport that you see people doing everyday,” Collignon says. “You have to be very committed in order to get better.”

All three agree that the unique sport provides a balance of fun, intensity, and physical activity.

“There is so much to learn and many different boats to sail from,” Day says.

“Sailing is a physical sport and at the same time a mental sport — especially when we are racing, we get the intensity of soccer or basketball, but at the same time you have to think about the wind, current, angles of the waves, course, and what other boats are

REGATTA Day and Collignon race towards the finish line during a race in San Francisco Bay.

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doing with respect to you.” after attending numerous sailing camps Day got involved with sailing when and hearing enthusiastic recommendaher sister, Paly 2010 graduate Jacqueline tions from Day and others.

Day, who also sailed competitively, in“I think one of the best sailing expespired her to try it out. The younger Day riences I’ve had was the first day I joined has been sailing competitively since 2008. the team — as soon as I got off the dock, “I chose this sport because my sis- the boat capsized and I fell straight into ter was already on the water,” she the team and she says. seemed to enjoy it, After this and I went to many wet start, Colsailing camps during “When we are racing, we lignon soon elementary school get the intensity of soclearned to masand middle school,” ter the various cer or basketball, but at she says. navigational and Berry also got the same time you have technical skills into sailing bethat sailing recause of her family; to think about the wind, quires. In addishe has been sail- current, angles of the tion to undering since her fastanding how ther taught her as waves, course, and what the boat works, a young girl. When other boats are doing sailors must she first joined the also be aware of competitive league with respect to you.” their surround— FRESHMAN RACHEL DAY last year, she was atings, developing tracted to the new strategies decommunity sailing pending on the provided. direction of the “Sailing provided lots of new and wind. interesting people,” Berry says. “It was a “In light wind, you want to do nice totally different sport and I wanted to try big curves,” Berry says. “In heavy wind, something new.” you need the boat to be completely flat, Collignon joined the club last year, and so you’re hiking out and leaning out

to keep the boat flat to go faster. Your sails also need to be in the right places.”

Berry, Day and Collignon learn these techniques and others during practice, and apply them during regattas. During regattas, teams of usually two people — a skipper, who controls the direction of the boat using the rudder, tiller and main sail, and a crew member, who is in charge of keeping other controls in place and maintaining the boat balanced — race against other clubs. Another type of regatta is the team regatta, when two boats from one team race together against other teams. “[In this case], we try to strategize to both get ahead, so you help each other by creating diversions like blocking other boats,” Berry explains. “If someone is in first place, and the other boat is in last place, the first-place boat will create a diversion to help the other boat because the average score between the two boats is the team score.”

Despite the strong commitment that the sport requires and the discomfort of sailing in poor weather, Berry, Day, and Collignon highly enjoy the unique community sailing provides and encourage any interested students to try it.

“The best part about sailing is being out on the bay,” Berry says. “[Also] being on the water, and being with friends.” v

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[ PROFILES ]

Bluegrass in Their Blood The Tuttle teens’ musical talent runs in the family Text by ELIZABETH SILVA and EMILY KELLISON-LINN Photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

H

“This is a pull quote. This is a pull quote.”

— SONALI SASTRY

BLUEGRASS STAR Molly Tuttle excels at guitar and banjo, and sings with a mature voice

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er voice is enough to give anyone chills — of the good kind. The carefree motion of Molly Tuttle’s hand on her banjo, moving in rhythm with the strumming of her father and younger brothers, could make an observer believe that the family has been playing together for fifty years.

But Molly is only 17 years old, and her brothers, Sully and Michael Tuttle, are 15 and 13. Molly is a Foothill Middle College senior, and Sully is a Palo Alto High School freshman.

Along with their father, Jack Tuttle, the children have played concerts and folk music festivals nationwide. The awed murmur of the crowd is enough to demonstrate that the family’s talent is extraordinary.

Jack himself grew up in a house full of music, plays several instruments, and teaches banjo and guitar for a living; as a result, his children have been surrounded by music for their entire lives.

“They grew up hearing their dad play constantly, because he’s taught music for so many years,” Maureen Roddy, the Tuttle children’s mother, says. “I just found a little card to Jack when Molly was a baby.

It had some of her first words on it, and one of them was guee-tah.”

Molly experimented with several instruments before settling on the guitar at the age of eight. She now plays both guitar and banjo, and also sings vocals.

Her two younger brothers began playing bluegrass soon after, Sully taking up guitar and Michael choosing mandolin.

“I always went to where my dad teaches [at Griffin Stringed Instru-

“The children grew up hearing their dad play constantly... One of Molly’s first words was guee-tah.”

— MAUREEN RODDY, mother of Molly, Sully, and Michael Tuttle

ments]… and there were a lot of instruments there,” Michael says. “I kind of played the strings a little bit, and I decided on mandolin because they [Molly and Sully] both played guitar.”

“He wanted to have something different [to solidify his place in the musical family],” Maureen explains.

Having their father as their teacher offers a huge advantage to the children when practicing and learning to play.

“My dad showed me a lot of stuff, and it was really helpful, because if I forgot a song, I’d just see him the next day, and he could teach it to me,” Molly says.

Maureen agrees with the benefit of learning music from a family member.

“They’re lucky because they have a dad to play with,” Maureen says. “He can just come home, and sit on the couch with them. It makes it a lot more fun when a parent plays with you.”

Recording the Music Despite playing bluegrass together for many years, the Tuttles had never released a CD of songs together — that is, until this fall.

They were scheduled to play at the Strawberry Music Festival, a huge roots music festival held twice a year in Yosemite, but realized that, unlike most groups, they had no CD to sell at the show.

“I would’ve felt bad showing up to this massive festival with no CD to sell, when people had been asking us about it for a while,” Molly says. “So we just felt that it was the right time.”

They gathered up all of their half-recorded demos and song ideas and entered the studio.

The result, titled Introducing the Tuttles With A.J. Lee, features 12 tracks of the Tuttles’ collaboration with a 12-year-old bluegrass musician named A.J. Lee. The songs on the CD come from a wide range of sources. Two of them are original compositions, one written by Molly and another by her father. The album combines old bluegrass classics with more contemporary music, and even includes a song by Bob Dylan.

“We try to find songs that are more rare, so people haven’t heard them a thousand times,” Molly says.

Live Energy A major part of the family’s experience playing music is performing at bluegrass festivals. A typical festival has an attendance of about 5,000 people, and each band has about 45 minutes to play, Jack says. However, the real magic of these festivals, happens offstage. Jamming, where musicians sit together and freely improvise music, is the family’s favorite part of bluegrass festivals.

“Jamming is huge in bluegrass,” Molly says. “Everyone jams all the time. You go to a festival and you’re just jamming all night. People stay up all night. It’s kind of crazy.”

Everybody can play together, Molly explains, because bluegrass has such a huge repertoire of songs that almost everybody knows. “There’s not that many chords,” Molly says.

“It’s really hard to get really good at december

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FOUR INSTRUMENTS, ONE SONG The Tuttles spend hours before each performance working out arrangements and harmonies for every song to showcase each of their instruments it, but it’s easy to be a beginner and just jam with people and make friends and play music with other people.”

Every member of the family enjoys the unique bluegrass community.

“As a parent, there’s not that many places where parents will go and feel like their kids are safe,” Maureen says. “But the festivals feel safe. That’s the unusual thing about bluegrass. In rock, you don’t really see families camping together, playing rock all night, with their kids.”

Though the family plays most of their shows in Northern California, they occasionally travel to make an appearance. Molly and Jack travel to Nashville, Tenn., every year for a bluegrass festival, and over the years, the family has also performed in Missouri, Illinois, and Washington state.

“There’s a festival where some people take the train up to Seattle... and they play bluegrass music all the while,” Maureen says. “Then they stay up all night in this hotel and play bluegrass.”

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Looking to the Future Next year, the Tuttles are looking forward to playing a fuller schedule of shows, as they now have a booking agent to schedule performances for them.

In the longer term, each of the children looks forward to a different musical future.

Molly is not sure where she will go in the next few years. She is considering taking a gap year or a gap semester to spend more time playing music, and then heading to college. But one thing is certain.

“I want to try and pursue music,” Molly says. “I want to go to a music school.”

Sully and Michael are not sure whether they want to play music professionally when they are older. However, all three children agree on the fun of playing music as a hobby.

“You definitely need discipline so you’re working on hard stuff and getting better, but it’s important to have fun,” Molly says. v

Introducing the Tuttles with A.J. Lee: A Look at the Album Listening to the Tuttle family play and sing was a new experience for me. Having never met a high school student that listens to “Bluegrass,” I didn’t even know the genre existed.

It was very impressive to know and listen to teens my age and younger play this type of music so well.

I really enjoyed how Molly and A.J.’s voices are so perfect for this kind of music. Their CD sounded identical to their live performance.

One of my favorite songs on this album is “Red Rose Bouquet,” because it has very pretty lyrics. The song tells a story of a couple from when their courtship begins to after her husband passes away before they start their family because of a sickness. The song has a very calming tune. I would definitely recommend this album to everyone.

Bike City cover:

A VIKING GOES BIKING Paly Principal Phil Winston takes a student’s bike for a whirl around campus for Verde.

Steering Palo Alto’s pioneering spirit back on the path

Text and art by GADI COHEN and SARAH JACOBS

T

hey come in droves.

When the signal turns green, the race begins.

One after another, students cross Alma Street in an unsynchronized mass, some bikes swerving to a weak start, others zipping ahead of the crowd. >>>

Palo Alto’s golden wheels keep turning.

But when will they turn Platinum?

>>> On this morning, Palo Alto High

School sophomore Ethan Cohen pushes ahead of the swarm.

“I bike to school every day,” Cohen says. “I don’t drive, so biking is easiest for me.”

Cohen is one of more than 700 Paly students who routinely bike to school, according to a 2010 bike count obtained through the Green Team, Paly’s environmental club. If Palo Alto’s city council has its way, more students, parents and other residents will soon be biking: The city government plans on making a bid to become the fourth “Platinum” bike city in the United States.

In May 2003, Palo Alto became Golden. That year, the League of American Bicyclists, whose self-proclaimed mission is “to promote ... a bicycle-friendly America,” bestowed Palo Alto with the prestigious Gold-level status that places it among the most bike-friendly communities in America. As of September of 2010, only 10 cities in the country had received the Gold-level status. This hard-won award recognizes the bicycle education and infrastructure initiatives that are unique to Palo Alto, including the Safe Routes to School Task Force, the city’s many bicycle amenities and the “compelling” fact that more than 45 percent of Palo Alto middle-school students biked to school in 2009, according to the League.

But since the city received the award, some individuals — including city officials — believe that the city has not done enough in recent

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years to encourage more residents to bike.

“Many people in Palo Alto have the notion that we’re a pioneering city,” said one official who asked not to be identified. “The problem is that we’ve been resting. Other cities that have started their bike plans later are now using more advanced technology than we are.”

But now, top officials claim that the city is back to its former fervor. Among the components of the plan are ideas to bring the latest technologies to the bike network, calm traffic in strategic locations and improve bike paths throughout the city.

Besides the Gold level, the League can bestow Bronze, Silver and Platinum levels on cities it deems bicycle-friendly.

Platinum, the highest level possible, has only been granted to three U.S. cities so far: Davis, Calif., Boulder, Colo., and Portland, Ore. Will Palo Alto be the fourth?

that he says could drastically change the way Palo Alto residents live.

Espinosa says the city’s main priority is to update the Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan drafted by the city in the early 2000s.

“The whole goal of a bike plan is to identify programs and projects, prioritize them, and extend the bike network beyond what it is,” says Jaime Rodriguez, the city’s Chief Transportation Official. “We identify the best practices and trends that we can adopt as city policies and then deploy them as part of design of new streets or part of bike-specific projects.”

This “master plan,” as Espinosa calls it, laid out a highly-researched and structured process that is taking years to implement.

“Not a lot of other cities have one with the same depth,” Espinosa says, referring to the plan.

Rodriguez, part of whose job is to direct the evolution of the city’s bike plan, says it’s typical for bike plans to be updated about every five years, though it has

The Master Plan Palo Alto’s Vice Mayor Sidney Espinosa is one of the many community leaders trying to revamp Palo Alto’s biking policies, a complex 1972 and exciting First Bicycle process Master Plan

1981

First segment of Bryant Bike Blvd.

been more than seven years since the plan was created. Both Rodriguez and Espinosa believe that the current plan is highly outdated.

Recently, city grants have become available, and the city decided to put the plan back on the table.

“We have new projects that we are going to want to add in that are based around the new and best practices and trends in bicycle design,” Rodriguez says.

“That’s the sort of thing you want to capture in the bike plan.”

Many of the city’s plans originated in a design conference, led by transportation specialist Ian Moore from Alta Planning + Design on Sept. 30., in which he showcased ideas for bike policies and programs from Portland, New York City and other cities to jump-start the revision process.

Connecting the city Espinosa says the city has to tackle one fundamental question before it can update the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan effectively: How can Palo Alto make bik-

1994

Safe Routes to School program begins

2003

City adopts Bike Plan

“Other cities that have started their bike plans later are now using more advanced technology than we are.”

—Palo Alto Planning Department Officer

ing more accessible to its residents?

The answer? Give them a reason to bike, according to Espinosa. He thinks that making the city better connected for cyclists would give more residents an opportunity to bike to their work or school.

“We’d identify and prioritize common trails that would benefit both pedestrians and bikes,” Rodriguez says. “We’d

2003

Selected Gold-level community

2007

American League of Cyclists renews Gold level

look for projects that would make transportation safer within Palo Alto, such as the strategic use of technology.”

One of the main problems with the master plan is a disparity between the east-west and north-south bike networks, according to Espinosa. The north-south network is parallel to Middlefield and includes Bryant Street, which contains what some call the first bike boulevard in the country; the east-west pathway, on the other hand, consists primarily of the foothills-baylands corridor. Espinosa thinks that the city’s east-west bicycle connections don’t measure up to the bike boulevards and paths that run from north to south.

“When you look at a map of the city, there are creeks that run from the foothills to the baylands,” Espinosa explains.

“They are paved on both sides — the whole creek is paved — and the [Santa Clara] Water District owns those. Some cities have negotiated for one of the sides along the creeks to be landscaped with bike paths, benches, lighting and other things.”

While Mountain View cyclists can enjoy the Stevens Creek Trail and Sunnyvale cyclists have the Calabazas Creek Trail, Palo Alto’s east-west creeks still lack bike paths. Now, however, Palo Alto is looking into the logistics of duplicating these cities’ efforts, according to Espinosa.

Sharing is caring, for the environment But Palo Alto is also seeking examples for bicycle initiatives outside the bay. Together with four other cit-

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The Main Players

Revolutionizing Palo Alto’s bike policies.

Their roles:

Sidney Espinosa Vice mayor

Espinosa can make influential decisions about the Bike Plan and other proposals to improve the city’s bike-friendliness. He is one of the city leaders trying to push new biking policies into law.

In their own “If you really want to prioritize biking, how words:

do you do that? How do you think about it in terms of street design? How do you balance it with car traffic? How do you work with the policies and laws?”

ies — San Francisco, San Jose, Mountain View and Redwood City — Palo Alto is participating in California’s first regional bike-sharing program that will attempt to emulate successful bike-sharing initiatives from global cities such as Paris, Barcelona and Montreal.

“When you look around the world, there are a lot of different models for bikesharing,” Espinosa says. “Some are renting bikes, some are borrowing bikes, some are co-opting them. In big cities, there are huge bike-sharing programs, where you could take out a bike like something out of a vending machine.”

With the help of multi-million dollar grants from several Bay Area organizations like the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Bay Area Quality Management District, the Valley Transportation Authority plans to launch a bike-sharing program in 2012, accord-

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ing to Rodriguez. Bay Area residents who don’t own bicycles will be able to check out a publicly-owned bicycle for a small fee and use it to commute short distances.

Some of the details for the program are already planned, according to Rodriguez. Participants who purchase a bikesharing account will be able to check out a bicycle with a prepaid card or credit card; if they return the bike to any station in the system within a half-hour, their commute will have been free of charge.

As part of the VTA’s project, the city is slated to receive 100 bicycles and an as-yet undefined number of bike-sharing stations. Those stations will probably be constructed at the California Avenue CalTrain station, the University Avenue CalTrain station and some other locations downtown, according to Rodriguez.

“Though most people here have bikes and a lot of people aren’t necessarily look-

Jaime Rodriguez Chief transportation officer

Jaime Rodriguez manages the city’s transportation infrastructure. As part of his job, Rodriguez is pushing for plans that cater to both bicyclists and car-drivers.

“It’s been important to our city coun-

cil to have bicycle projects and extend the bicycle network and that’s why we’ve been able to implement so many projects.”

ing to rent a bike, there are some places that have traction for them,” Espinosa says. “A potential commute is for people coming in from San Francisco off of the CalTrain at HP [Hewlet Packard] in the research park.”

Another potential location is Stanford, where there is growing demand among the university’s students to travel short distances between different parts of the campus, according to Espinosa.

Bike-friendly roads Though revising the Bike and Pedestrian Plan remains the most important part of the upcoming bike improvements in Palo Alto, there are many other ongoing plans that the city thinks will improve cyclists’ commute.

According to the City of Palo Alto website, meetings will be held in early 2011 to discuss the California Avenue

Ellen Fletcher

Anonymous

Former city

council member

Planning and Community Environment Employee

Before joining the city council in the late 1970s, Fletcher was responsible for the construction of bike lanes on Cowper Street and for the Wilkie Way bike and pedestrian bridge. As a council member in the 1980s, she helped construct the underpass under Highway 101 in South Palo Alto, adopt new bike parking requirements and create the Bryant Street Bicycle Blvd., which is named after her. These days, at 82 years old, Fletcher’s main method of transportation is still biking.

This source has worked closely with city leaders to improve biking policies. A strong proponent of biking, the employee believes that the city should listen to biking advocates and strengthen initiatives that improve cyclists’ experience.

“[We need to] get support from community members and re-

“For decades and decades, really since the

cruit supporters to take an active role in letter writing and attending meetings of the Planning Commission.”

Streetscape Plan, which will try to make California Avenue and the surrounding area more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, specifically by narrowing the street to two lanes instead of four.

But the city has already tried something along those lines to mixed reviews on Arastradero Road — which connects Gunn, Terman Middle School and Jane L. Stanford Middle School, among others — when it narrowed the street from four to three lanes in late August.

Residents debated the Arastradero redesign during a Nov. 17 presentation held by Rodriguez, in which he introduced new “traffic calming” projects like the California Avenue Streetscape Plan.

According to an anonymous official who attended that meeting, some residents frustrated by the frenzied traffic on Arastradero used statements that seemed “derogatory” and “ignorant” towards those

1920s, our whole transportation system was shaped around our personal mobility and a trashing of the biking system.”

residents and city officials who supported biking improvements.

One thing there is no debate about: Any new plans that the city puts forward will be controversial in one way or another. Car drivers and cyclists will always have something to argue about and the city will always try to accommodate both, even if its recent attention to bike improvements suggests otherwise.

Rodriguez says that he will continue working to institute bike improvements in the upcoming months along with other city officials. He has already started planning a presentation about the plan that will occur next June.

Looking down the road The traffic signal turns red. A lone biker slows down at the edge of the intersection to allow a noisy slew of cars to pass in front of him.

In as few as two or three years, this sentence could be written differently: The bike signal turns red as the biker slows his bicycle—which he rented from a bikesharing station on California Avenue— along the green bike pathway to the box painted on the road. Cyclists come to a stop all around him; they represent only a small fraction of the thousands of Palo Alto students who bike to school every day through clearly-marked bike boulevards and specially-designed, separated bike paths.

When the signal turns green again, the biker pushes ahead towards the other side of Alma, pedals spinning furiously against the slight incline and through the swarm of students that surrounds him.

The drivers wait patiently for the Churchill signal to turn red, so that their own would turn green. Sometimes, they wonder if their green light will ever come.

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Although this vignette describes a vastly different Palo Alto than the one that exists today, the city will continue to strive for excellence in bicycle safety, ease of transportation and a pioneering spirit in bike policy.

“There’s always more that can be done to make bicycling safer and more attractive,” says Ellen Fletcher, the former Palo Alto vice mayor and one of the most prominent biking advocates in the country; the Bryant Bike Boulevard was

The Biking Bug:

T

named in honor of her decades-long effort to streamline Palo Alto’s bike policy.

“Just consider what’s spent to accommodate motor vehicles. The aim in the far future is to accommodate bicycling even more than accommodating cars.” v

How biking exploded at Paly and in Palo Alto

he number of students and 15 who bike to school, which was 1 per- places to ride. Palo Alto is very good at other residents in the area cent in 2001, according to the to the Na- making it safe for bikes; there are generalwho bike is on the rise, ac- tional Household Travel Survey. Paly’s is ly enough bike lanes everywhere you go.” cording to Palo Alto’s vice 40 percent. mayor Sidney Espinosa Why bike?

“I love biking around town,” says and to the Paly Green Team, which helps Tyler Spreng, an avid cyclist who fell in The importance the city places on conduct yearly bike counts at Palo Alto love with biking during a three-week bik- biking is justified.

High School and Henry M. Gunn High ing trip through Nova Scotia in summer Ruth Steinberg M.D., a physician at School. In the last six years alone, the 2009. “I love all my bike lanes here be- the Palo Alto Medical Foundation with a number of Paly students who bike has cause I feel really claustrophobic on side- fellowship in Sports Medicine, has been grown by more than 150 percent, from walks — plus, a lot of the drivers seem to biking to work for over 20 years.

289 bikes counted in 2004 to 749 count- respect the bikers.”

“It improves your blood flow, it keeps ed in 2010; the number of Gunn students Fausto Couz, the manager of Bike your blood pressure low, it improves your who bike has followed a nearly identical Connection in Palo Alto, cites the prox- mental health because it causes the release path, from 254 bikes to 671. imity of Stanford and the safety of Palo of endorphins, [and] it keeps your weight “Schools are ramping up their pro- Alto streets to explain the bike culture. low,” Steinberg says. “You should exercise grams,” Espinosa says. “It’s laudable, fan“It’s a really friendly riding area,” almost every day.” tastic really, that schools are prioritizing Fausto says. “I think that’s mainly due to Increasing the number of highbiking. Environmentalism is a growing the area. And in addition there are a lot of school students who walk and bike to trend across the country, particularly here school could put a ceiling on the increasin the bay area. It means people are geting incidence rates of childhood obesity, ting out of their cars and onto their bikes.” diabetes and asthma, according to the Paly pursues many programs to enUnited States Department of Health and courage students’ biking habits. Most reHuman Services. cently, Paly administrators installed new Paly senior Emily Benatar, a mem= 100 students bike racks in the beginning of the school ber of the Paly Green Team, says biking year, allowing more cyclists to convebenefits the environment by decreasniently park their bikes at school.

289 ing the number of cars on the road.

254 2004 Although the prevalence of In doing so, biking can “decrease car273 308 2005 biking is largely taken for bon dioxide emissions and global granted in Silicon Valley, warming, chemicals in runoff, 447 377 2006 Paly students really are noise pollution, and smog.”

490 433 2007 exceptional when Another benefit to 600 520 2008 compared to the student biking: Parents national average 633 2009 582 are now more pro-bikof students ing than ever, 2010 between the 671 741 according to ages of 5 and *Paly Green Team bike count, conducted annually by the PTSA Espinosa. v

How many students bike to school?* Gunn

Paly

Traffic Safety Representatives Robin Love and Carol Anderson *Paly Green Team bike count

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Photography for “Bike City” by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS, SARAH JACOBS, GADI COHEN and MANON VON KAENEL

FEATURES

IN UNISON Paly’s Dance Team practices. See Losing Pounds for Pointe (page 46) to read about how some dancers struggle with body image issues.

SIGNS OF LEARNING 42 CAN WE SINK THE PIRATE 44 SHIP? LOSING POUNDS FOR POINTE 46 TUTORIAL SURVIVAL GUIDE 48 ANIMATION EDUCATION 50 RELIGION UNWRAPPED 52 THE SECRET LIFE OF THE 54 COOKIE FROM ADDICT TO ARTIST 55 DEBUNKED: 15 MINUTE MYTH 59

Photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

[ PHOTO ESSAY]

Signs of Learning My experience shadowing a student at California School for the Deaf Text and photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

O

n Monday, Nov. 29, I went to school with Anna Krutikova, a student at California School for the Deaf in Fremont. Krutikova is a high school senior and editor-in-chief of the yearbook. The school has 500 students, both deaf and hard-of-hearing, ranging from kindergartners through high schoolers. Students come from all over Northern California — many, including Krutikova, stay overnight during the week and return home on weekends. Like Palo Alto High School, School for the Deaf has a block schedule at the high school level. I accompanied Krutikova to the four classes she had that day: Math, Biotechnology, AP English, and Chemistry.

ABOVE: The front of Fremont’s California School for the Deaf.

LEFT: Anna Krutikova in biotechnology class.

BELOW: Krutikova’s classmates bond during math class. (opposite page) TOP LEFT: The “NaNoWriMo Board” in Krutikova’s English class displays the number of words in each student’s novel and each student’s goal for the month.

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MIDDLE LEFT: A student signs in biotechnology class during a discussion about the pros and cons of using gambling to teach math in school.

BELOW: Krutikova signs to a classmate during math class.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Krutikova’s math teacher, Anna Woodburg, teaches logs.

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[ FEATURES ]

Can We Sink the Pirate Ship?

You wouldn’t steal a car and you wouldn’t steal a TV, but most Paly students would pirate online Text by SCOTT KLECKNER and JACKSON MILEY Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

J

im, a Palo Alto High School junior whose name has been changed, hunches over his computer screen, his atten-

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tion divided between the many windows he has open. But Jim isn’t checking Facebook or watching YouTube; instead, he’s on The Pirate Bay, one of many sites, which permit Internet piracy. Jim has been pirating since the beginning of his fresh-

man year. Like many others before him, Jim says he was turned away from legally acquiring things online by just how easy and cheap piracy is.

The recent developments of filesharing websites cast doubt on the future of piracy. Limewire, a popular music-sharing site, went down in late October of this year after a long and protracted lawsuit. The Pirate Bay, the largest BitTorrent web site, is still embroiled in a lawsuit for its infringement of copyright.

According to Merriam-Webster Online, piracy is both an act of robbery on the high seas and the unauthorized distribution or copying of copyrighted material online. And, as the ways in which content can be distributed become easier, piracy has become more prevalent over the last decade, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s website [RIAA]. According to a Verde survey of 318 Paly students conducted in Nov. 2010, 69 percent of students reported having illegally downloaded content from the Internet.

But why break the law?

And how to stop it?

The prospects aren’t good for putting an end to piracy at Paly. 84 percent of Paly students do not think it is possible to stop piracy, and the allure is very great to many students.

“I think people pirate stuff because they’re not stealing a physical object,” junior Max Najork says. “This allows them to distance themselves psychologically from the concept of theft, something that I’m guessing most Paly students wouldn’t do.”

But there may be hope for relieving some of the costs resulting from piracy.

According to the Verde survey, 64 percent of Paly students believe that lower prices would make piracy less appealing.

“No one really wants to pay $60 for one video game. Getting it for free is just too easy,” an anonymous Paly junior says. “I think more people would buy products if they were reasonably-priced.

No one is intentionally trying to hurt the companies. They just can’t afford things and want prices to be reasonable.”

The survey results suggest that an effective way to combat piracy would be to price content more “reasonably.”

People aren’t likely to pay for something they feel is a rip-off when there is a far easier alternative at hand. However, if prices for Internet content were reduced, people might feel less hostile towards the “overpricing companies.”

Despite charging less for content, the increase in prospective buyers would probably increase profits overall.

Jake Vertin, a member of the Paly student band “The Aisling Project,” shares his views about piracy’s effect on the music industry.

“It [piracy] hurts everything in the music industry, which includes artists, record labels, and anything that has to do with making money,” Jake says.

The RIAA states on its website that “the illegal downloading of music is just as wrong as shoplifting from a local convenience store – and the impact on those who create music and bring it to fans is equally devastating.” It concedes, however, that “there will always be a degree of piracy on the Internet. It’s not realistic to wipe it out entirely but instead to bring it to a level of manageable control so a legitimate marketplace can really flourish.” v

The Pirates’ Booty According to the Institute for Policy Innovation, an independent research group specializing in intellectual property rights concludes that global music piracy causes around...

$12.5 billion dollars of economic losses every year

71,060 U.S. jobs lost $2.7 billion in lost workers’ earnings

$422 million in lost tax revenues

$291 million in lost personal income taxes

$131 million in lost corporate income and production taxes

Paly Pirates by the Numbers*

46% of students think piracy is a problem

84% of students think piracy can’t be stopped

46% of freshmen have pirated

69% of sophomores have pirated

75% of juniors have pirated 84% of seniors have pirated *according to a Verde survey of 318 students

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[ FEATURES ]

Losing Pounds for Pointe

Students grapple with the pressures of dance Text by MAYTAL MARK and MARGARET KADIFA Photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

“I

didn’t know I was anorexic. It didn’t make sense to me. If I was eating whenever I was hungry, why would I be anorexic?”

Palo Alto High School student Julia, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, attends classes at Dance Connection in addition to other dance teams and is one of many dancers who struggles with body image and a subsequent eating disorder.

The national percentage of women in their teens and twenties suffering from eating disorders is rising. It may be as high as 15 percent, despite increased awareness, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.

Anorexia has the highest rate of mortality of any mental illness, according to the National Eating Disorders Asso-

ciation. Forty percent of newly identified cases of anorexia are girls aged 15-19.

In dance studios across the country, many say, the problem is particularly acute.

“Specific sports that can create risk for developing an eating disorder include dance,” says William Walters, a help line supervisor for National Eating Disorders.

“Aesthetic sports focus on appearance and on the individual rather than on the entire team.”

Though an unrelated medication was the cause of Julia’s weight loss, dance contributed to her distorted body image.

“I’d go a couple of days without eating, and dancing six hours a day didn’t help,” Julia says. “I had no idea I looked so sick.”

Julia is not the only Paly dancer to struggle with body image.

“You look 10 pounds heavier on stage,” says senior Nicole Wein, a dancer for Menlo Park Academy of Dance. “[Being thinner makes a dancer look] more graceful, delicate, and pretty.”

Paly Dance Team member, Olivia Maggi, a sophomore, agrees.

“I struggle with it [maintaining healthy body image] every day,” Maggi says. “I always find myself wanting to be skinnier.”

This pressure to be thin made Julia proud of her weight loss.

PALY DANCE TEAM Paly dance team members “People would try to Isabel O’Brien and Natalie Brock rehearse for the hint at it [my unhealthy apteam’s performance at the next football game. pearance] and say ‘you’re re-

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“Aesthetic sports focus on appearance and on the individual rather than the entire team.”

— WILLIAM WALTERS, helpline advisor for National Eating Disorders.

ally, really skinny’ and I would take it as a compliment,” Julia says.

In competitions, the judges’ scrutiny of dancers creates a harsh environment.

“A judge will tell you straight up that you didn’t do well in the competition because you are chubby,” Julia says. “It hurts when they [the judges] tell you you’re fat.

It sucks but you’ve got to let it go.”

Dance teachers maintain high standards in order help their students build successful careers. Weight is an important factor in getting jobs as a dancer, according to Wein.

“To be a professional ballerina you need to have a certain waist measurement; you need to have a certain everything down to the size of your feet,” Julia says.

Because professional dancers who are not capable of being thin enough lose their spots in dance companies, high school coaches often tell dancers to lose as many as five pounds in two weeks, according to Wein.

“It’s harder for bigger dancers to get jobs,” O’Brien says. “There is a lot of com-

petition in high levels to be the best.”

However, Wein says that losing weight can actually harm a dancer’s performance. If this is the case, dancers can be kicked out. “[A fellow dancer] thought she would become a better dancer if she became skinnier,” Wein says. “It [her diet] actually made her a worse dancer because it gave her less energy.”

Many dancers have faced this conflict. Two years ago, Julia stopped dancing and taking the medication that suppressed her appetite, and she gained 30 pounds.

“I freaked out. I wanted to be that skinny again,” Julia says. “It sucks to go back [to dance] and feel like suddenly you’ve gotten fat. It was rough seeing these girls that were still skinny and I didn’t look like that.”

Julia views dance as an escape, which can pose a relapse risk.

“If you’re really hungry, it [dance] is an escape from that, but you could connect it again with ‘I don’t have to eat,’” Julia says. “I’ve seen girls get healthy and then go back to a week-long intensive and relapse.”

Dance studios do try to educate their dancers about body image and healthy diet. Dance Connection does not emphasize dancing as a career, and hosts nutrition classes, according to O’Brien.

Kimiko Soldati, a 2004 Olympic diver who suffered from bulimia for 10 years released a personal statement for the National Eating Disorder Association advising coaches to encourage communication with and between athletes.

“Validate your female athletes’ feelings,” Soldati says. “Enlist team leaders

DANCE CLASS Students practice ballet at L’Ecole de Danse at the Cubberly Community Center in Palo Alto

to create a healthy eating environment so athletes aren’t competing to see who can eat the least.”

If an athlete does need to lose weight he or she should use a sports nutritionist, according to Soldati.

The National Eating Disorder Association recommends setting realistic goals for weight loss and emphasizing that there are other important factors for success in sports besides weight.

Dancers must also learn to take criticism to succeed in a competitive field.

“Studies have shown that artists are often riddled with self doubt,” Kate Thomas, the director of The School at Steps Dance School in New York City, writes in a personal statement. “Help your dancers learn healthy coping skills.”

One way to alleviate the pressure on the individual dancer is to focus on the team as a whole.

“I emphasize what we need to do

to make the dance look good as a whole team,” says Tami Burton, the Performing Company director of Palo Alto’s Dance Connection.

Burton feels that her studio aims to help students enjoy dance regardless of body type.

“If a student is willing to learn to dance then I will embrace that student,” Burton says. “Physically looking good has and never will be a goal of ours.” v HELP The National Eating Disorders Association Hotline: 800-931-2237 Adolescent Counseling Services: Youth Crisis Helpline: 1-800843-5200 Teenage Health Resource Line: 1-888-771-TEEN december

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The Tutorial Survival Guide Your personal guide on where to go for Tutorial.

Text by CAMILLE COUCHON Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

T

he bell rings at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday at Palo Alto High School signifying the end of sixth period and the beginning of passing period before Tutorial. For those of us who have work to make up, this is the call of opportunity; for others it just feels like a complete waste of time. As much as some of us would want to go home, we can’t. We’re left with that one question: where to go during tutorial?

Most Interesting Room 301

If you’re up for a change of routine and a little brain tug this is the place to go. AP Psychology teacher Melinda Mattes often offers TED talks via the internet that include an interesting discussion. Be sure to look at her board for the tutorial plan of the week ahead.

Most Creative

Choir (Room 110) At this location, music can be heard and everyone can sing. If you’re lucky, you may arrive on a treat day. But remember that once you’re in, you’re in to sing.

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Most Freshmen Supportive Room 307

The first year of high school tends to be the most confusing, so for all you freshmen out there that need a little help and support, this is the room for you! Benjamin Bolanos, who only teaches freshmen, is there to try and make that transition from middle school to high school as easy as possible. If you need the help, this is where to go.

Most Things to Do Library

A nice and quiet environment, the library allows students to do whatever they need to finish homework or just relax and read a good book. One can hop onto a computer or just quietly study.

Because only 80 people are allowed there, make sure to secure a pass in advance.

Most Useful

Academic Resource Center (ARC) Most practical place on campus if you need to make up a test or a quiz. Remember to sign up though since Spots are limited to nine, so stop by and write down your name beforehand.

Another option is to sign up for tutoring.

Most Active Option Gym

If sitting in a desk for another hour or so isn’t your cup of tea, then you should take a run to the gym.

Different sports are offered every week and it makes for a great opportunity to just play games and challenge your friends. It never gets boring since a different game is played every week, so be sure to head out to the gym for some fun exercise.

Most Zen

Dance Studio Just like the gym class, dance offers a wide open classroom space. The Dance Studio is a nice room to relax, stretch or just hangout with friends. Perfect place to go if you’re taking dance and are in need of some make

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Animation Education New animation class fuses art and technology Text by MIRA KHANNA Art by AVA DORDI Photography by MIRA KHANNA and JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

B

ased purely on its exterior, the small brown portable nestled away in one of the Palo Alto High School district offices does not evoke much excitement. However, on Tuesday afternoons after school, the drab building comes to life as students inside create and explore 3-D objects on their computer screens.

This is no ordinary Paly art class; this i s animation class.

Senior Colin Marchon attends this animation class offered to high school students in the Palo Alto Unified School District who are interested in learning about combining art and technology. The class is taught by veteran animator Patricia Hannaway, former senior character

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FUN WITH FLOUR SACKS Teacher Patricia Hannaway (above) shows her students how animators must be able to convey different emotions using simple objects such as flour sacks (below). animator at Aardman Animations, whose resume includes work on Lord of the Rings, Shrek and Mulan.

This is the first year that Paly has held an animation class. Students cannot yet receive art credit for taking it; Hannaway, however, who taught both internationally and in the Stanford University undergraduate program, encourages more students to sign up and hopes to make it either a credit class in the future.

Hannaway decided to create this class in part because of the many budget cuts to art programs around the country.

“I also felt the need to foster more creative and innovative thinking for the future, because I want to share my joy of the medium, and inform students of opportunities beyond doctor, lawyer, banker,” Hannaway says.

“Also, I have been saddened to hear

of the stress and harried schedules of our high school students, and want to let kids know there are other ways to make a living in the future.”

Marchon chose to take the class after a family friend mentioned it. Because he is currently president of the Paly filmmaking club and has a strong background in film, Marchon was drawn to animation.

“I decided to take it because I think it could broaden my perception on the filmmaking industry, and could teach me things about making animated movies,” Marchon says. “There is so much about animation that people don’t know.”

Senior Laura Rossiter agrees, and cites several reasons why she enjoys animation.

“Not all of us are good artists, but that is not really what matters in the class,” Rossiter says.

EAGER TO ANIMATE Senior Colin Marchon experiments creating and manipulating cubes using Autodesk Maya, a software program that has been used for work on full-length films such as Avatar.

“The point is to be able to show the action. Animation is interesting because it is so different than other types of art like painting or filmmaking.”

So far, students have learned how to build and color objects and break them up into different components, which can then move separately.

They learn how to do all of this using Autodesk Maya, an program which is used to create full-length detailed motion pictures such as Avatar.

“I’m learning a lot about the grueling process of making animated short films and features,” Marchon says. “It’s very challenging. You have to be an excellent filmmaker and an amazing artist, and most of all you have to be extremely patient. A twenty-second bare bones 3D character animation takes a professional

eight full-length days to animate and an amateur a few months.”

To create the class, Hannaway, as a member of the Cubberley Artists Group, contacted leaders in the school district and discussed her resume and her ideas about art and technology in the community.

“Too often, people think of either art or technology as separate things, and there are so many interesting ways of combining them to create and explore new art forms and ideas,” Hannaway says.

“This type of collaboration is the foundation of innovative thinking.”

Hannaway also spread the word to the district by speaking at a Public Lecture Series at

the Art Center through a program called Artspeak. Roxane Mehta, founder of this program, also attended, and informed several teachers in the school district to explore interest in animation, according to Hannaway.

Hannaway encourages students interested in animation to join her Facebook Group, called “Palo Alto Animators: Animated Life.” She firmly believes in high school students learning about animation, and looks forward to the remainder of this school year.

“Animation is the art of slowing down and the art of appreciating the idiosyncratic,” Hannaway says.

“As a teen, the pull to try and fit in and be accepted is enormous; animation celebrates our differences.” v december

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Religion Unwrapped

Traditions behind the wrapping paper Text by CAMILLE COUCHON and JESSICA MADEJ Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

T

here is more to this holiday season than decorations and commercialized beliefs.

Palo Alto High School students take us deeper into their holidays: Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism, showing us that there is more to the gift of religion, than the wrapping paper that covers it.

Buddhism

Little children merrily walk down the aisle of the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple. The children carry bright oranges, cookies, and other foods. They pass the items on to the temple leaders. Anna Morimoto, a Paly sophomore, brightens as she describes Bodhi day.

“Its really cute, ” explains Morimoto, “The little kindergartners and 1st graders bring up oranges and apples and flowers and incense.”

Each year on Dec. 8, Buddhists celebrate the day in 596 BC when the Buddha lay beneath the

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leaves of a Bodhi tree and reached enlightenment.

During this holiday, Buddhists gather at the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple to celebrate by conducting a formal, celebratory service.

“We lead the chanting and we all have to give a Dharma talk,” Morimoto explains, “this year we are talking about how Buddhism has helped us or how it has enlightened us.”

After the service is over, children from K-12 attend Dharma, which is Sunday School. During the week, students attend the Buddhist youth group called “Junior YBA (Youth Buddhist Association).”

Morimoto says that Buddhism is generally an open religion.

“My family celebrates Easter and Christmas, all the other holidays, and stuff,” Morimoto says, “There’s not a set of holidays that you have to practice.”

On Bodhi day, followers celebrate by meditating or indulging in traditional tea, cake and spiritual readings. This day is supposed to be a time for followers to

reflect upon their actions, reflect upon life, and take responsibility for their lives.

Christianity

The fingers on the piano flow up and down, like a wave in the ocean. Friends and family are gathered around, cheerfully singing Christmas songs.

Christina Christiansen, a junior whose mother is a pastor at a local church, shares her thoughts about Christmas.

“We like to celebrate Christmas and go to morning church service or evening church service,” Christiansen says, “But Christmas has changed and evolved into more of an American tradition then a religious holiday” Christmas, which is celebrated on Dec. 25, is the day that Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This time is spent reading from the Bible and spending time with one another. Often, churches have special gatherings and performances. Music is a large part of this celebration, with traditional songs being played, sung and often heard on the radio.

Presents are often exchanged in remembrance of the gift that was given: Baby Jesus.

Azad Balabanian is a junior whose father is a pastor in an Armenian church.

Balabanian comments that his family celebrates two Christmases, once on Dec. 25 and once on the Armenian Christmas day, Jan. 6.

The one major difference between the two Christmases is that “in Lebanon,

12% of the Paly students identify as Jewish 1.7% of Americans identify as Jewish

on Christmas Eve, all the people gather up and go caroling at midnight.” This tradition is called “Avedoom” and it means something along the lines of “spreading the good news.”

At midnight you “basically knock on the church members doors and you sing to them and then you also give them a present,” Balabanian says. “Its like a very nice tradition that people always do.”

Judaism

Warmth spreads through the room like fire, as family members gathered around the Menorah sing.

Hillel Zand, a freshman at Paly, explains Hanukkah.

“Hanukkah tells the story of Mattathias Maccabee and his five sons revolting against the Greeks who ruled their land.” Zand says. “This was after the destruction of the Second Temple and practicing Judaism was officially outlawed.

When Mattathias died, his son Judah finished the war against King Antiouchus and the Greek army. To celebrate their victory, Judah created the festival of Hanukkah and put a menorah inside the new temple. They needed olive oil to light the menorah, but they only had enough for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days.”

This Jewish holiday is symbolically known for the menorah and the eight candles. In Hebrew, “Hanukkah” means “dedication.”

“Today, Hanukkah is celebrated by

24% of the Paly students identify as Christian 78.5% of Americans identify as Christian

Paly statistics from a random sampling of 324 students (evenly distributed in all four grades).

Other statistics according to the CIA The World Factbook, “People: United States”

lighting a menorah at night and adding one candle for each day,” Zand says. “There is also the shamash candle (literally translated into “helper”) used every night that is used to light the candles, therefore it is not lit straight from a match. The newest candle is lit first each night, and the oldest one being lighted last.”

When it comes to gifts, Zand explains his family’s view.

“In my opinion, Hanukkah has evolved from a holiday celebrating a Jewish story into a Chiristmas-y modernized holiday,” Zand says. “Over time, some parents have started to give their kids presents and some even one for each night. My parents don’t give me presents on Hanukkah (besides a little gelt) because they believe it defeats the purpose of what a holiday really is.”

Some of Zand’s favorites are latkes and sufganiyot. According to Zand, “Latkes are fried potato pancakes that are cooked in olive oil (the oil used in the Hanukkah story). A meal with friends and family is usually prepared with latkes being the main dish.”

“Sufganiyot are jelly-filled donuts,” Zand says, “a Hanukkah delicacy eaten for dessert.”

“A Jewish quote for most every holiday: ‘They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat,’” Zand says. “The story is always of hardship and perseverance and is always celebrated with friends and family and a big feast.”

Happy holidays! v

3% of the Paly student body identifies as Buddhist

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The Secret Life of the Cookie Uncovering the truth behind Paly’s Student Center Cookie.

Text by EMMA TUCHER Art by YELENA KASIANOVA

T

he ringing bell announces the start of brunch. Kids rush into the Student Center and line up. They peruse the menu, some eventually choosing the warm, chocolatey cookie, famous throughout campus. Each day, the Student Center produces 100 cookies, and most days they sell out, according to PAUSD employee Mercy Fun. However, students often wonder about the cookie’s size, ingredients and origin. Though the cookie has been a long-time mystery to Paly students, Verde is here to find out the truth about this student favorite.

does not bake the cookies from scratch.

Instead, they are purchased from Masterpiece Cookie. Masterpiece Cookies provides cookies dough to schools across Northern California as well as to supermarkets, hotels, casinos, and restaurants.

According to the company’s website, its mission is to provide gourmet and premium frozen cookie dough.

For the health conscious among you, according to the website, the cookie is made without preservatives or additives.

It contains no partially hydrogenated oils or transfat and is made with a combination of butter and NTF Palm Margarine.

The Process Each day at 8 a.m., Fun arrives at the Student Center and bakes seven cookie trays to make a total of 100 cookies. The cookies are pre-packaged in 3-inch diameter dough balls. This is how Fun achieves the large cookies. She bakes each batch for 10 to 14 minutes.

“We make about 100 cookies each day,” Fun says. “These cookies are used during both brunch and lunch.”

Student Love Walking around campus, students carrying the white-and-red paper bags are a common sight. When asked why, students agree that it is the cookies’ size, consistency and affordability. “[I love the cookies] because I like their sweet sticky taste in my mouth,” sophomore Charlie Dulik says.

Junior Scotty McComas likes the Student Center cookies “because the outside is chewy and hard but then the middle is so soft and yummy.”

Junior Shannon Scheel likes them for

The Cookie The Student Center staff, however,

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their delicious taste as well as their affordability. “[The cookies are] delicious,” Scheel says. “And they are cheap, only one dollar.”

Senior Lori Krakirian identifies the cookie as a Paly tradition.

“Ever since I was a freshman, the cookie has been a staple of Paly food,” Krakirian says. “A tradition that has actually lasted.” v Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size: 1 oz. (28g) Servings per Container: 43 Amount Per Serving Calories 120 Total Fat 6g Saturated Fat 3.0g Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 10mg Sodium 65mg Total Carbohydrate 17g Sugars 10g Protein 1g *According to the Masterpiece Cookies Website *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

From

Addict

Artist to

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A former drug addict’s story of struggle to finding success and sobriety.

Text by ANABEL HOMNACK Photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS, DONNA MEE, PAULA KIRKLAND and PAUL GALINDO

S

eeing Amy smiling and laughing, a successful makeup artist, no one would suspect how she remembers having shortness of breath, a pain in her chest, lightheadedness eventually collapsing onto the floor of a friends’ home four years ago.

A Palo Alto High School sophomore at the time, she was experiencing an overdose from a handful of prescription pills drug— Straterra used to treat attentiondeficit hyper activity disorder— and 3.5 grams of cocaine.

“I remember having shortness of

breath, a pain in my chest, and I was completely light headed, I collapsed on the floor at one point” This was one of many episodes.

Sometime Amy didn’t end up in the hospital but at one point she was there almost every week.

Her drug use led to eating disorders, two heart attacks at the age of 17 and 18, more than 11 overdoses. In high school, Amy was both a water polo player and swimmer, but because of her health she had to stop participating in both sports.

Eventually Amy even dropped out of high school at the beginning of her junior year.

“I wish I could have stayed in school, gone

“It came to the point where I lost myself, everyone I loved and everything I wanted in life, it took a few times in rehab to finally let go.”

— AMY WOLFROM 56

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to class and done well, but I couldn’t handle the drama, I couldn’t handle me, I was too sick,” Amy says.

However, today Amy is able to reflect on her troubled past and appreciate her strength to put an end to her addiction.

“I am a walking, living miracle. I don’t take life for granted.” Amy says. “I feel my feelings, I own them, and I let go of them. I have learned to love myself unconditionally and know that at the end of the night, all I have is myself.”

Amy is 21 now and two years sober, seeking to make a positive change in the world and by all accounts is a marvel of the recovery movement. She has worked hard to follow her passion for cosmetology and become a free-lance make up artist. She shares her experience of strength and hope with others by participating in motivational speeches, speaking with newcomers, serving on a host committee and taking on service commitments at meetings. She is secretary of a organization affiliated with the 12-step program. An inspiration for others, she visits high schools, rehabilitation centers and hospitals of where her recovery took place.

Amy describes her addictive past, which sprouted from her drinking at age 14.

“The main reasons I started to drink were to get outside myself and all the pain I had buried inside me,” Amy says. “Also being a freshman I knew many seniors and saw what they were doing and just joined in.”

She continued drinking through her sophomore year because she could not deal with emotions of anger and sadness.

According to Amy’s dad, Rick Wolfrom, Amy’s behavior began to change when she reached puberty. She was constantly talking about suicide, her father

says and was later hospitalized. Following her hospitalization, she was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“We knew that the real Amy was still there underneath it all, but we rarely saw her,” Rick says. “As parents we didn’t know how to treat her. In a sense we lowered our standards and were happy each day she survived.”

“It came to the point where I lost myself, everyone I loved and everything I wanted in life, it took a few times in rehab to finally let go,” Amy says.

Amy’s drug use also caused many health problems. She was a regular patient at the hospital due to overdoses. After her heart attack in 2006, she experienced a second heart attack from a mixture of cocaine and crystal Methamphetamine; the doctors did an MRI on her heart with an end diagnosis of two months to live if she continued using.

“The more she used [drugs] the greater the resultant anxiety and a larger dose of drugs was needed to dull the pain,” Rick says. “She was finally hospitalized with heart problems, as a result of

photography by Paula Kirkland

drug abuse. I know that she tried to cope without drugs, but her attempts were unsuccessful.”

Amy was in denial about her problem for a long time; at the time she thought she was in control, but today she recognizes her addiction.

“I am an addict.” Amy says. “I suffer from the disease of addiction, it started

with horror movies as a kid, and just progressed into drugs, I lived to use and used to live eventually.”

She finally admitted she had a problem right after her 18th birthday. Trying to stop using drugs on her own, she stayed sober for a week but relapsed when she was in Southern California visiting a friend.

“I knew I had a problem and couldn’t do it on my own, or at least didn’t know how to,” Amy says.

At the age of 18, Amy discovered Adolescent Counseling Services [ACS], an agency that provides assessment, therapy and education for teens struggling with substance issues.

“It [ACS] was a safe place, and I believe that it definitely gave my parents insight to the disease of addiction, and family group sessions brought us closer together,” Amy says. She had been through 28-day rehab clinics before finding out about this local counseling service.

“ACS was a godsend,” Rick says.

“First of all it really involves the parents, and is geared toward teens. I can’t speak

photography by Donna Mee

photography by Paul Galindo

“Drinking, partying and doing drugs may seem cool, but you start to lose yourself slowly.”

— AMY WOLFROM

left FROM ADDICT TO ARTIST Amy does make up for a friends wedding center REBUILDING HER LIFE Amy poses with introduction cosmetology class right DRUGS AREN’T FREE, BUT HUGS ARE Amy offers free hugs at a 12 Step convention december

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“I feel like she is an intelligent person who is no longer using me to vent about her life or our parents. She now seems to actually care, and when she was using she didn’t really care about others.”

— KATIE WOLFROM

to her individual therapy sessions, but I believe they helped her.”

According to Rick, the ACS family sessions improved family communication at home. Through this time together Amy’s parents learned how to talk to Amy, not lecture her. By educating her family to the world in which a teen addict lives the parent-only sessions were eye-opening, Amy’s older sister Katie Wolfrom explains that ACS opened up Amy’s eyes to the benefits of 12 step meetings, which gave her an ability to find a support system among fellow addicts in recovery.

“From what I remember she would go to individual counseling sessions, group counseling sessions and family counseling sessions.” Katie says. “I think that being around teens with similar problems as her helped her get in the right frame of mind to get clean and stay clean. I also think that the therapy with our parents was the best thing for all of them.”

Today Amy advises teenagers to stay away from drugs and alcohol.

“Drinking, partying and doing drugs may seem cool, but you start too lose yourself slowly,” Amy says.

“You need to be careful. You’re too young, you’re taking in poison and killing your

photography by Paula Kirkland

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body slowly.”

By practicing the principles of recovery in all areas of her life, Amy has come to know and understand what brings out the best in her. Today Amy says she is able to look at the patterns from her past, and change any character defects or shortcomings she has.

“I know how to look down the road at my options when a situation arises and take the right road that is going to lead me in a better direction,” Amy says.

“Now that Amy is clean we can have conversations about everything.” Katie says. “Her life, my life, our parents, sports, politics. I feel like she is an intelligent person who is no longer using me to vent about her life or our parents. She now seems to actually care, and when she was using she didn’t really care about others.”

After all of her struggles, Amy says she has learned to forgive herself and cherish every moment of life. Amy received her General Education Degree, become a free-lance make-up artist, works as the front end customer service cashier at Whole Foods and has been clean of drugs and alcohol for over two years. Her many hobbies, which include cooking, watching movies and watching sports, help her stay clean. 21 years old she does know that alcohol and drugs will be around, but has learned that they aren’t for her and won’t benefit her life.

“My sobriety has completely changed my life and given me the freedom from active addiction,” Amy says. “I have grown to be comfortable in my own skin, to love myself and make my dreams a reality.” v

: d e k n u b dPaely’s 15 minute Myth Text by SCOTT KLECKNER Art by AVA DORDI

W

e have all been there before: standing outside a classroom waiting for the teacher to show up and wondering how much longer to wait. Eventually, 15 minutes go by and the teacher has yet to show up. The urge to use the mystical rule that students may skip class if the teacher does not show up after 15 minutes becomes an exciting excuse to take advantage of an early lunch and overpowers our better judgement. Teachers commonly admit that when they do show up, maybe even 16 minutes late, they find only a handful of cautious students outside their classroom.

Jerry Berkson, Palo Alto High School Assistant Principal, sets the record straight.

“The [15 minute] rule does not exist and has never been verified from an official source,” Berkson says. “We are legally responsible for students and their actions

at all times. Students should find one of the administrators [instead of leaving class].”

Although neither listed in the Paly Student Handbook, nor in the official rules, nor commonly verified by any member of the administration. 58 percent of Paly students asked in a Verde survey say they believe that the 15 minute rule does exist and 76 percent say that they would leave class if a Paly teacher did not show up after 15 minutes.

Deanna Chute, a veteran teacher of Paly’s math department, explained what she would do if she showed up 15 minutes late and found that her class had left.

“I would be disappointed, but I would not give cuts,” Chute says. “The responsible thing [for students] to do is try and find out what happened to me. If you had a job and your boss didn’t show up on time, you wouldn’t leave. Why would it be different for school?”

Sophomore Alex Van Der Veen ex-

plains why he and fellow classmates may feel confused about the rule.

“I’ve heard some people say it’s true and some people say it’s not,” Van Der Veen says. “I’m not sure what to believe, but if the teacher doesn’t show up you shouldn’t have to stand outside all period.”

Junior Corso Rosati agrees.

“Student’s time could be better spent if we were allowed to leave class,” Rosati says. “We could go do our work instead of waiting [for the teacher].”

Similarly, junior Victoria Tse mentions the irony in waiting for a teacher to show up to their own class.

“We [the students] have to show up on time or else we get a tardy,” Tse says.

“Their job is to show up on time so they can give them to us.”

Some day in the future, a representative of the Paly administration might bring the 15 minute rule into the fold and make it official. But until then, the 15 minute myth is officially busted. v

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Lunch Dinner at our new location 140 Homer Ave

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Brunch Private Functions at The Annex 806 Emerson St

THE WATCH compiled by ZACHARY STANTON-SAVITZ art by YELENA KASIANOVA and AVA DORDI

RECIPES

LOCATIONS

The holidays are a time for food, family and fun. Students shared their favorite holiday recipes with Verde. Entertain your family and guests with these fun and easy holiday foods.

By Maytal Mark Page 62

HOT CHOCOLATE If your winter break plans will keep you in the San Francisco Bay Area — whether with your immediate family, your friends, or your entire extended family — your vacation can be just as exciting as an exotic trip. Countless activities unique to the Bay Area will allow you to take full advantage of the season and your two weeks off.

By Caroline Ebinger Page 64

MOVIES

It is a crisp winter day, with a biting wind sweeping the frost-covered field at Palo Alto High School. Small icicles hang from the portables, and students lock their bikes with gloved fingers and scarves in hand. With such chilly days becoming common, students and faculty can still find comfort in the warmth of a classic, delicious drink: hot chocolate.

Verde evaluates hot chocolates in cafés around Palo Alto as well as those found in packaged, powdered form in local supermarkets.

By Allison Chang Page 66

The holidays offer a perfect time to relax, eat some popcorn, curl up on the couch with a fuzzy blanket and watch movies. We viewed a variety of classic and modern holiday films, from It’s a Wonderful Life to Love Actually. The list included animated features as well as live-action films.

We picked some of the best ones and labeled them according to their strengths.

By Ava Dordi and Margaret Kadifa Page 68

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[ THE WATCH ]

Hark! Recipes!

Students share their holiday desserts

By MAYTAL MARK Photography by JAQUELINE FRIDUSS, GRACE BARRY and RENEL SUN

1 Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie Cranberry Squares (not pictured) Katie Ebinger (‘13) Emma Miller (‘12) Ingredients: * 1 (3 1/2 to 4-oz) fine-quality 60% to 70% cacao bittersweet chocolate bar, finely chopped * Pastry dough (or a pie shell) * 2 cups pecan halves (7 ounces), toasted and cooled * 3 large eggs * 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar * 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract * 1/4 teaspoon salt * 3/4 cup light corn syrup Instructions: 1. If making the pie crust: Roll out dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin.

Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2inch overhang. Fold overhang under and press against rim of pie plate, then crimp decoratively.

2. Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

3. Break chocolate and melt in a metal bowl set over barely simmering water, stirring. Remove from heat.

4. Spread chocolate in bottom of pie shell with back of spoon and let it set, then cover with pecans.

5. Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl, then whisk in corn syrup and pour over pecans.

6. Bake pie until filling is puffed and crust is golden, 50 to 60 minutes. (If pie is browning too fast after 30 minutes, loosely tent with tinfoil.) Cool pie on a rack to warm or room temperature.

7. Grab a can of whipped cream and serve up this delicious, family food for your loved ones.

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Ingredients: *1 ½ cups sugar *2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries *2 eggs *½ cup chopped pecans *1 ½ sticks unsalted butter *1 ½ cups flour *1 tsp almond extract *2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries *1 ½ cups flour *½ cup chopped pecans Instructions: 1.Grease a 9” square baking pan.

2. Mix sugar and eggs. Add butter and mix. Add almond extract and mix. Add flour and mix.

3. Use a spoon to mix in the cranberries and pecans.

4. Spread evenly in the pan.

5. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

2 Aunt Spuddie’s Holly Wreaths Grace Barry (‘12)

Ingredients: * 30 marshmallows * 1/2 cup unsalted butter * 1 tsp vanilla * 1 1/2 tsp green food coloring * 4 cups corn flakes * 2 tbsp cinnamon “red hots” Instructions: 1. Melt marshmallows and butter in a double boiler 2. Stir well, add vanilla and food coloring, then add cornflakes 3. Using two buttered spoons, drop golf ball size clumps onto wax paper. Quickly form into wreaths. Decorate with three red hot candies to look like holly berries.

3 Vegan Cacao Cake Renel Sun (‘11) Ingredients: * 3 cups all purpose (or cake) flour * 1/2 cup dutch process cacao power (3/4 cup for extra dark) * 2 tsp baking powder * 2 tsp baking soda * 1/2 tsp salt

* 1 1/2 cup agave nectar * 2/3 cup vegetable oil (or olive oil or canola oil) * 2 cups almond/soy milk (or water) * 2 tsp vanilla extract * 2 tsp almond extract * 1 egg (optional) * 1 tbsp white (or apple cider) vinegar

Instructions: 1. Preheat oven 350 degrees 2. Large bowl: Mix all together: flour, cacao power (3/4 cup for extra dark), baking powder, baking soda, salt 3. Medium bowl: Combine/stir: agave nectar, vegetable oil (or olive oil or canola oil), almond/soy milk (or water), vanilla extract, almond extract, egg 4. Gradually pour liquid mixture into flour mixture while stirring until well combined.

5. Grease cake pan(s) 6. Right before pouring into cake pan, add vinegar 7. Thoroughly mix one last time then immediately distribute into cake pan(s).

8. Place in oven for 25-30 minutes for cake, 20 minutes for cupcakes Note: Do not make cake over 3 inches in height; middle may not cook through

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[ THE WATCH ]

Holiday Hangouts

How to enhance your winter break at home Text and Photography by CAROLINE EBINGER

BEST TRIP WITH EXTENDED FAMILY If your family is coming to town and wants to visit San Francisco, you can satisfy their wishes as well as your own on this holiday tour of the city. After the usual stops at the Painted Ladies houses and Lombard Street, check out the Festival of Lights at Fisherman’s Wharf, where bright lights and holiday decorations offer a unique way to experience the Wharf. Next, drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and up Mount Tamalpais for a spectacular view of the city. If it is getting close to sunset, drive down to Fort Baker on the opposite side of Highway 101. It’s a photographer’s favorite spot, and allows for a great view of the bridge from below.

BEST ONLY-IN-WINTER OPPORTUNITY Though Muir Woods National Monument offers year-round casual hikes to view the state’s spectacular redwood trees, on Dec. 22 — the winter solstice — the park offers unique activities.

From 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., visitors can enjoy delightful winter activities and a lighted walk around the park in honor of the year’s longest night. Some activities, such as making a “Solstice Crown,” start at 3:00 p.m. At 5:30 you can participate in other activities such as singing around a campfire. Dress warmly and do not forget a flashlight and a mug for hot chocolate.

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COOLEST WILDLIFE LOCATION Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz is home to tide pools and a beautiful sunset, but from mid-October to mid-February, it is home to something else as well. If you follow nature trails, five minutes from the parking lot, on a sunny day you are likely see a group of migrating South American monarch butterflies resting in the branches of the Eucalyptus trees. The number of these orange and black butterflies varies from year to year, but this year there are about 1500 in the trees each day. Be sure to check them out!

BEST “I’M PRETENDING IT’S STILL SUMMER” OUTING If you’re looking for a location where the experience is the same in winter and summer, Bean Hollow State Beach may be the place for you. About an hour’s drive from Palo Alto, Bean Hollow is home to extensive tide pools. From the parking lot, you can cross the beach and scramble over the bluff to the pools.

There are starfish of several colors, hermit crabs, sea anemones, sea urchins and other tide pool creatures. If you arrive too close to high tide, you can enjoy a two-mile round-trip walk to Pebble Beach from the same parking lot while you are waiting for the tide to recede.

The Arroyo de los Frijoles Trail is often more crowded than the beach itself, but you can see many harbor seals from the trail.

BEST EUROPEAN CULTURE TRIP

Until Jan. 19, you can experience a European wonder at San Francisco’s de Young Museum. The museum is hosting many of the Musée d’Orsay’s finest pieces while the French museum is being renovated. The Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay exhibition is a truly unique experience; the de Young is the only museum to have ever hosted this exhibition in North America.

Tickets are $11, if you are under 18, $21, if you are 18 or older, and $18, if you are 65 or older, and can be purchased online. Be sure to buy them in advance, as the museum will be crowded.

BEST OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD OPPORTUNITY

Pinnacles National Park, two hours south of Palo Alto, offers a unique opportunity for hiking and climbing. Winter brings cooler and more bearable temperatures than those of the summer. Eroded, red volcanic rock formations, which naturally moved north from Los Angeles on the Pacific Plate, comprise the moon-like landscape. At the Pinnacles, you can hike around the park on various trails, find waterfalls, explore caves by flashlight, rock climb, and even camp.

BEST HIKE FOR WINTER RAIN

Soaked by rain during winter, Sunol Regional Wilderness offers a variety of hikes for all different experience levels only 45 minutes from Palo Alto. Hiking through the cow gates, along the trails, and past the herds of cows yields a spectacular view of the Bay and surrounding hills and mountains. This is the perfect time of year to visit because much of the trail does not have shade, so it is harsh in the summer months. Small ponds and creeks that fill up during this season offer additional exploration opportunities. Once you finish your cow-adventure, you will wind up at Little Yosemite Falls. These falls, the main attraction of the park, also fill with more water during the winter and allow for a beautiful finish to your long hike.

BEST HOLIDAY DISPLAY

If you are looking for more holiday decorations than Palo Alto’s Christmas Tree Lane can offer, visit Los Gatos’ Fantasy of Lights at Vasona Lake County Park. For $15 you can drive through 1.5 miles of holiday decorations ranging from Christmas trees and Santa hats to lighted-up dinosaurs. This attraction is the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit. v

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[ THE WATCH ]

Hot For Hot Chocolate

Verde reviews this season’s best hot chocolate

Text and Photography by ALLISON CHANG

I

t is a crisp winter day, with a biting wind sweeping the frost-covered field at Palo Alto High School.

Small icicles hang from the portables, and students lock their bikes with gloved fingers and scarves in hand. With such chilly days becoming common, students and faculty can still find comfort in the warmth of a classic, delicious drink: hot chocolate. Verde evaluates hot chocolates in cafés around Palo Alto as well as those found in packaged, powdered form in local supermarkets. A panel of 25 Verde staffers was assembled to rate each powdered brand based on consistency, taste, and price. All ratings were taken out of a maximum score of 5 points.

IN CAFES

Coupa Café 538 Ramona St Coupa Café offers the Abuela and Spicy Mayan hot chocolates, both of which are unique and delicious. The Abuela hot chocolate is made with the deep flavors of Venezuelan bittersweet chocolate, while the Spicy Mayan hot chocolate infuses a delicate, exotic balance of spices, cayenne peppers, pasilla and cinnamon, and with Venezuelan chocolate in an 8 ounce cup. Both are slightly pricey, especially for the quantity given; the Abuela hot chocolate is $3.50, and the Spicy Mayan hot chocolate is $3.60.

Starbucks Café 2000 El Camino Real

Starbucks Café may be the average student’s go-to coffee shop, but their hot chocolate is slightly disappointing. Sold for

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$2.45, the regular hot chocolate is made with steamed milk and vanilla or mocha flavored syrups. It is then topped with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle. Though it is enjoyable upon first taste, it becomes grainy and extremely sweet at the bottom of the cup. Starbucks also provides seasonal hot chocolate, including their Peppermint Mocha hot chocolate, White hot chocolate, and their Salted Caramel hot chocolate.

Douce France 855 El Camino Real Douce France serves a single type of hot chocolate in a 16 ounce cup for $2.50. The chocolate flavor is clearly present and there is no unpleasant aftertaste, but the beverage can taste somewhat dilute. Though the beverage is made in a timely manner, the café is almost always crowded during school hours.

Peet’s Coffee and Tea 77 Town & Country Village

A hot spot for chocolate lovers everywhere, Peet’s serves a plethora of different hot chocolates, including a White Mocha hot chocolate, and a Peppermint hot chocolate. Their menu is flexible; Peet’s will make “any hot cocoa combination you want” according to Peet’s employee Darren Skonsby. Their regular hot chocolate is reasonably priced at $2.75, with a choice of sweetened whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle.

STORE BOUGHT Nestle Rich Milk Chocolate

Taste rating: 3.59 Consistency rating: 3.28 Smell rating: 3.22 Calories per serving: 80 Price: $7.29

Nestle Fat Free

Taste rating: 3.39 Consistency rating: 3.28 Smell rating: 2.96 Calories per serving: 20 Price: $3.19

Safeway’s Hot Cocoa

Taste rating: 2.78 Consistency rating: 3.82 Smell rating: 3.19 Calories per serving: 110 Price: $2.69

Trader Joe’s Conacado Taste rating: 1.35 Consistency rating: 1.90 Smell rating: 1.61 Calories per serving: 70 Price: $4.99 Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate

Taste rating: 3.00 Consistency rating: 2.82 Smell rating: 3.19 Calories per serving: 138 Price: $2.99 Nesquik 25% less sugar

Taste rating: 1.09 Consistency rating: 1.25 Smell rating: 1.90 Calories per serving: 60 Price: $3.99

Philz Coffee 3191 Middlefield Rd Nestled in a quaint corner, Philz Coffee serves their hot chocolate specialty with the option of whipped cream. Upon first taste, it seems similar to a powder based, store bought brand, but with a silkier consistency. A 16 ounce cup is only $2.50; however, its watered down taste is less satisfying.

Mayfield Bakery and Café 855 El Camino Real Mayfield’s rich hot chocolate couples the best in taste and price. For $3.00, its thick consistency and chocolate base make a tempting combination for cold winter mornings. The drink is topped with a milky foam and is served with a single, large cinnamon or peppermint-flavored marshmallow for those with a sweet tooth. Despite these qualities, the amount of chocolate used as well as the overall temperature of the drink can vary markedly depending on the employee who makes the beverage.

Additionally, making it is relatively time consuming; Mayfield may not be the best place for those on tight schedules. v

AN ART Coupa Café serves hot chocolate with creative cream designs like these. Here, a bunny rabbit tops this beverage.

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[ THE WATCH ]

Festive Films

Holiday movies to watch over this year’s winter break

By MARGARET KADIFA and AVA DORDI Art by AVA DORDI

THE TRADITIONAL WINTER HOLIDAY MOVIE It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), directed by Frank Capra, is the quintessential holiday movie. Although part of the movie takes place on Christmas Eve, it is about the universal sense of community that holidays inspire. It is a must-watch if only to hear the classic line, “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings” and to understand the numerous references to the film in today’s pop culture, from Friends to Up. The film features classic actors such as James Stewart, who plays the protagonist, and Donna Reed, who plays his wife.

The movie centers around significant experiences in George Bailey’s (Stewart) life, from the time he saved his brother’s life to his wedding day. While the film begins optimistically, the tone quickly becomes bleak as George is unable to fulfill his ambitions of travelling. The film may be depressing at times, but its uplifting ending redeems it.

It’s a Wonderful Life’s themes of togetherness, compassion and love make it perfect to watch with friends and family alike.

SURPRISINGLY PROFOUND

BEST TO WATCH ALONE

One might not expect to be tearing up at the end of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843) directed by Brian Henson.

However, the film’s heartwarming message and upbeat songs make it surprisingly meaningful.

By effectively conveying heartbreak and emotional turmoil, the lead actor Michael Caine delivers a stellar performance as the villain Scrooge. Miss Piggy (Frank Oz) provides comic relief as Emily Cratchit.

The viewer might anticipate only laughter from his or her beloved muppets, but will finish the film with a deeper understanding of the importance of generosity and community while laughing and singing along.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), directed by Bill Melendez, is the best film to watch on a Saturday night when you have nothing to do. Even if your friends have forsaken you for more exciting plans, at least you’re better off than Charlie Brown. This 25 minute TV special features the entire Peanuts gang, including Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Lucy.

Highlights include Snoopy dancing and Lucy’s 5 cent psychological advice. At first glance, Charlie Brown appears to be merely a simple children’s program, but it delves into the issue of the over-commercialization of Christmas. A Charlie Brown Christmas is replayed several times on ABC throughout the holiday season and is a must-watch.

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BEST TO WATCH ON AN AIRPLANE Love Actually (2003), written and directed by Richard Curtis, is the perfect movie to watch on a long airplane ride, as both the beginning and the end feature pivotal scenes in airports. Love Actually features an all-star cast, including Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley and Colin Firth. The basic premise of the movie is that love comes in all different shapes and sizes and is present everywhere definitely an instant mood booster. The film starts five weeks before Christmas, following the lives of many interconnected characters.

Love Actually defies many stereotypes of romantic comedies, as it addresses some serious issues and appeals to both men and women. The humor ranges from slapstick to sophisticated, including children dressed up as crustaceans for their school nativity play and witty dialogue. In just two hours, it gives the viewer a taste of love in its many forms as well as a healthy dose of holiday spirit.

BEST TO WATCH WITH FAMILY

MOST HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Home Alone (1990), directed by Chris Columbus, embodies every child’s worst nightmare: being left alone during the holidays while the rest of the family is on vacation. This film incorporates suspense and chaos. Hilarity ensues when two bumbling robbers attempt to break into a house and a boy celebrates his new-found freedom of having the house to himself. His antics induce laughter in adults and children alike. The sequels (Home Alone 2, 3 and 4), however, do not live up to their predecessor’s standard.

Home Alone will remind your parents how much they love you, while simultaneously advising them not to leave you stranded over the holidays.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947), directed

by George Seaton, reminds viewers of what it feels like to have a childhood belief in Christmas magic. The film’s protagonist Susan (Natalie Wood), learns to believe in holiday miracles after meeting the real Santa Claus. Through Susan’s journey, the viewer learns the limitations of common sense and the importance of imagination.

A cast of endearing characters, including a skeptical Susan, along with many humorous moments (such as Santa being put on trial for insanity) make this movie a wonderful holiday film for the whole family. Even though the film is more than 60 years old, the message of Christmas joy it offers is timeless. v

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[ TRUE LIFE ]

True Life: I am writing a novel How I’m creating fiction while in high school Text by ALLEN WU Photography by JACQUELINE FRIDUSS

I

wrote four books in second grade This accomplishment I started working on my novel on Nov 1 and I hope to commight have been prodigal if my classmates had not done so plete it and find a publisher before the end of the school year. as well, and if my masterpieces had not been made of lami- It’s an ambitious project, but I have a story to tell, and I want to nated paper, sloppy crayon drawings, and about five words per share it with the world. When I was younger I read constantly, page. I enjoyed the creative process, but I did not discover my and I remember the wonder of reading thrilling, exciting novels interest in writing until a few years later. during class and past my bedtime. Though I have less time now, I realized how much I enjoyed creative writing in sixth I still enjoy reading more than anything else, and I want to tell grade, when I wrote a story stories to the next generation, about a caveman for my soso they can experience that cial studies class. I remember thrill too. thinking that writing creatively Most professional writers was like playing a video game, strive for word quotas of 1000 except that in writing the expewords per day, and I do my best riences I create can be anything to meet this goal each day. The I can imagine. writing is fairly intensive and I think that as children, we time-consuming on top of juall liked to play creative games nior year academics, but I save of imagination, and I never time in my afternoons and eveoutgrew those games; when I nings by writing in a notebook write, I feel as though I’m getor just brainstorming whenever ting to know my own characI have time at school. ters better, and as though I’m I hope to complete my first guiding them through the difdraft before February, but that ficult situations in which I put won’t be anything close to the them. finished product. Quality and My first real writing chalcoherency are not major conlenge in high school, National cerns in the first draft, and all Novel Writing Month, is an that’s important is that I get annual challenge open to anymy ideas down, and establish a one to try to write a 50,000solid plot. word novel in the time span of NOTEBOOK WRITING Working at school helps me reach my After that I’ll rewrite the November. NaNoWriMo has word quota, so I have less to do when I get home. novel at least two or three times, no rules and no prizes, but it’s a fixing any errors and awkward tremendous opportunity for fledgling writers to gain experience patches and making the story as perfect as possible. I’ll show and overcome insecurities about quality. the completed drafts to my friends and family, who have already I learned about the challenge shortly after I started high been a tremendous help to me, and I’ll consider their suggestions school, and completed the challenge during my freshman and when typing up the final manuscript. The editing process will sophomore years, but decided against it this year—attempting it most likely take longer than the writing, and after that I’ll still a third time would be like repeating a driving test: I’ve already have to find an agent and a publisher. proven to myself that I’m capable, so it’s time I got on the road.

I’ll check back in with you next year, Paly — if I don’t go It’s time to write a real novel with more than five words per page. down in flames, my book might be on shelves by then. v

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

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