Verde Volume 14 Issue 2

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volum e

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The double lives of PAUSD’s illegal students p.16

INDEX SHORT STUFF The Launch News

7 12

COVER Across the Lines

16

CULTURE Owl City Review British Invasion Asian Eye Surgery Hot Cocoa Review White Rappers Boosted Longboards

21 22 26 28 30 32

FEATURES The Homeless Teacher Recommendations Fringe Classes Photo Essay: The Crucible The Repair Café

36 40 44 46 48 50

Jack Brook

Daniela Ivey

PERSPECTIVES What the Candidates Never Said A Defense of the Death Penalty Waiting to Get Licensed Minority Recruitment Comments on English Essays Snark Attack

53 54 56 57 59 70

PROFILES Ana Sofía Wang Craig Bark

62 66

Noam Shemtov

CRUISING faces mild controversy with new powered longboards.

Read more about Boosted Boards on page 32.

BREAKING THE LAW out-of-district students attend PAUSD. Read more about students who attend PAUSD schools illegally on page 16.

EDITORIALS REFUNDING PARKING PERMITS

P

alo Alto High School’s Associated Student Body is reduc- primary mode of transportation to and from school. ing the price of parking permits from $100 per year to $40, Currently, many students without parking permits park at the after having discussed the issue of student parking and Town and Country parking lot, or on side streets near Churchill the effects this will have on Avenue, inconveniencing residents and ASB’s budget. businesses. This decision may allow Students will also be able these students to park in Paly’s parking to receive refunds for previously lot instead.

It is important that students purchased permits by requesting The lowered price of parking will have parking that is both acthem through the Auditor’s office. hopefully reduce the number of stucessible and affordable, since Rebates will then be mailed to students who park on campus without a for many Paly students, drivdents’ houses. parking permit on display. This will ening is the primary mode of Verde supports the decision sure that all cars parked on Paly’s camof lowering the price to park on pus do in fact belong there, and increase transportation to and from campus, as well as the decision to the security of the school. school. reimburse those students who have Verde commends ASB for their efalready paid the previous, higher fective decision making, and the staff price. It is important that students have parking that is both ac- looks forward to seeing the organization continue to create such cessible and affordable, since for many Paly students, driving is the favorable policies.

THE COVER PAUSD works hard to combat students illegally attending its schools, an effort which we chose to dramatize by creating a faux evidence board for our cover. Different elements, such as the picture of the student biking home, symbolize similar efforts to track falsified addresses or see where students really return after the school day ends.

Design and Photoshop

by Evelyn Wang Photography by Charu Srivastava

THE STAFF Volume 14 Issue 2

Editors-in-chief Ana Carano Sharon Tseng Evelyn Wang Managing Editors Katy Abbott, Features & Profiles Spencer Carlson, Design Savannah Cordova, Perspectives Benjamin May, Technology Jacqueline Woo, The Launch Melissa Wen, Culture News Editors Sharon Cohen Angela Xu Business Manager Elisa Rerolle Copy Editor Noam Shemtov

Photographers Charu Srivastava, Photo Director Katherine Price Illustrators Diana Connolly, Art Director Jamie Allendorf Hanako Gallagher Hollie Kool Staff Writers Jamie Allendorf Ben Cook Samantha Dewees Katie Ebinger Hanako Gallagher Daniela Ivey Carly King Hollie Kool Olivia Koyama Leah Medoff Will Queen Soo Song Henry Tucher

CONTACT US VERDE MAGAZINE

@VERDEMAGAZINE Publication Policy Verde, a feature magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School’s Magazine Journalism class, is a designated open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership.

Verde is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost.

REMI & CHLOE are juniors who will be performing at Angelica Bell’s Theatre.

Read more about Remi and Chloe on page 13.

Noam Shemtov

COMMENDING C MAG

P

alo Alto High School’s student-led newspaper, The Campanile, recently published a new arts and entertainment supplementary magazine called C Magazine. C Magazine, a 20-page, fullcolor magazine, is distributed alongside The Campanile.

Verde commends The Campanile for its work and its ability to produce and publish through a format lesser known by The Campanile staff.

The work shown in C Magazine was exemplary, as usual, with intriguing and vibrant text perfect for an arts and entertainment section. Many members of Verde enjoyed the “DIY” section by Anna McGarrigle as well as the Cathy Rong feature story by Pauline Na and Nikki Freyermuth.

The layout was also an eye-catching use of the glossy format. We especially appreciated the simple but striking story, “Macaroon Madness,” written by Bella Graves. Overall, the color schemes and font choices made the magazine easy to read and pleasing to view as a layout. All stories were well-written and Verde loves the design.

Verde is impressed by C Magazine’s interesting text, displays and layout throughout all of C Magazine. We believe C Magazine will become another polished and respected work from Paly students and look forward to the next issue.

Letters to the Editors The staff welcomes letters to the editors but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obscenity. Send all letters to verde-eics-12-13@googlegroups. com or to 50 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94301. All Verde stories are posted online and available for commenting at http://palyvoice.com/ verde.

Advertising The staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience.

For more information about advertising with Verde, please contact the Verde business manager Elisa Rerolle at 650-329-3837 for more information.

Printing & Distribution Services Verde is printed six times a year in October, December, February, April, and May, by Fricke-Parks Press in Fremont, Calif. The Paly PTSA mails Verde to every student’s home. All Verde work is available at http:// palyvoice.com/verde.

COMMENT ON STORIES AT verde.palyvoice.com • Let us know what you think of our magazine.

• Discuss topics with other readers.

• Critique our coverage of events and news.

• Help us serve the community with up-to-date facts and insights.

CRUCIBLE ACTRESS Emma Levine Sporer has her makeup applied in preparation for her role. See a photo essay of“The Crucible” behind the scenes on page 46.

F

FROM THE EDITORS

or many of you, going to school in the Palo Alto Unified School District is something you do every day without a second thought. Each morning, you wake up, eat breakfast and drive/ walk/bike/rickshaw the five, 10 or 15 blocks to Paly. For the next seven hours, home is never more than 20 minutes away. If you’re a freshman, maybe Mom brings you your forgotten 3rd period homework during brunch. If you’re a senior, maybe you take a detour to Verde Cafe for a much-needed PMT before driving straight home every 7th prep.

For the most part, you’ve grown up and gone to school without even thinking about how many miles you are from the Paly border. You’ve never had to lie about where you live.

But for some students, this is not the case at all.

For a fraction of the PAUSD population, lying about where they live is just a part of their everyday routine. If they forget anything, they just have to deal with it, because home is simply too far away. If they have a prep, they can’t go home because someone might be following them. They are the out-of-district students who have illegally enrolled in PAUSD just to receive the quality education the rest of you take for granted.

Every day, these students embark on a quest for academic excellence that could end in expulsion at any moment. Although Palo Altans seem to reward all other displays of effort, this one is not tolerated. Here’s why: Our nationally ranked school district is largely funded out-of-pocket and PAUSD residents pay extra to attend. For many Palo Alto residents, the basic laws of fairness dictate that people who don’t make these payments shouldn’t also reap the rewards.

Verde’s cover story explores the many facets of this issue, from the district losing money in the five digit range per every scofflaw to the district officer following students home from school to the illegally enrolled students being asked by their parents to lie since the first day they arrived.

In “Across the Lines” (p. 16), Jamie Allendorf and Noam Shemtov talk to both the students who attend PAUSD schools illegally and the man whose job is to catch them.

We explore other border crossings in this issue. Katie Ebinger looks at the crossing of national borders with Ana Sofia Wang’s founding of a nonprofit that teaches Indonesian children about their local rainforests in “Restoring Rainforests” (p. 62). Meanwhile, Hollie Kool checks out a new group of people crossing the lines of traditional rap with “That’s a Rap” (p. 30).

For something completely different, Soo Song reveals what teachers really think when you ask them for rec letters in “More Than Just a Letter” (p. 40). And if you were starting to worry that Stanford hadn’t produced any new, amazing technology recently, Daniela Ivey’s story, “Rolling into the Future” (p. 32) showcases a new electric longboard.

On a final note, Verde wants to welcome new photographer Katherine Price who, incidentally, graced last issue’s cover with her very patriotic lips. We hope she continues to wow the Paly community with both her modeling and photography skills.

– Ana, Sharon and Evelyn Charu Srivastava

Fall is coming to Paly! In the garden by the English building, flowers bloom, signalling a positive start to this new season.

THE

Launch

Compilation and Photo Illustrations by JACQUELINE WOO Photography by HANAKO GALLAGHER and JACQUELINE WOO

Check out a great fall recipe! Page 8. >>

THE

Launch Ingredients

Fall Recipes

apple makes 8 mini apples) • Butterscotch or peanut chips • Chopped nuts, nonpareils, sprinkles, shredded coconut (optional) • Small paper candy cups

With the holidays coming up, it’s a good time to make something crunchy and tasty. Here’s a quick recipe for

• 4-inch lollipop sticks • Melon baller • Granny Smith Apples (one

Instructions

1) Cut the lollipop sticks in half at an angle. (The pointy end will go into the apple pieces easier.)

2) With the melon baller, scoop little balls out of the apple. Each ball should have a section of apple peel.

Miniature Caramel Apples

3) Push half of a lollipop stick into the peel of each ball. Pat the apple pieces dry.

4) Melt the chips according to the package directions.

5) Dip and swirl the mini apples in the melted chips, then roll the apples in nuts, sprinkles, nonpareils or coconut, if desired.

6) Place the mini apples in paper candy cups to set.

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Bite-sized versions of the fall fair treat, these tiny “caramel” apples are a great party snack.

Recipe from Spoonful (spoonful.com)

ASBAnswers:

How much of an improvement was this year’s Spirit Week?

“Transparency was definitely a lot better this year. We posted all scores online every day after the rally and we also made sure that the judges were equally divided amongst the grades. We had a new company this year do Homecoming for us, [so] we had a new DJ and entertainment company. They were really good [and] easy to communicate with. [And concerning] Homecoming, the difference this year is that you didn’t get spirit points for Homecoming.”

— Spirit Week commissioner EMMA KETCHUM Have a question for ASB? Email your question to verdelaunch@gmail.com and see if it gets picked to be in the next issue of Verde! Questions may be anonymous.

Find the Verde V-Man

Be one of the first five Paly students to find the hidden Verde V-Man somewhere in this issue and come to room 213 to claim your prize!

Photo Contest

Last issue, The Launch hosted a contest to find a photo for its banner. We are continuing this contest for the next edition, so email your photographs to verdelaunch@gmail.com by Dec. 1, 2012.

ADVERTISEMENTS

WHAT to WEAR

the typical student’s guide to dressing a bit sharper for fall

Text and Photography by SPENCER CARLSON Consultation with PALY FASHION CLUB

The Muted Collared Shirt

The Scarf

adds a formal note to the outfit. For a more casual look, wear a T-shirt or roll up the cuffs over your sweater sleeves.

is a great layer to remove if the day warms up, and is available across a wide range of styles and prices — look for one of medium weight for fall.

The Denim Jacket/Shirt

adds a mildly utilitarian edge to your outfit. Denim’s historical use in work clothes says that you aren’t afraid of doing things yourself.

The Zip-Collared Sweater

keeps you warm and comfortable while adding some seasonal colors to your outfit.

The Summer Dress

can be worn with a belt, dark tights or leggings, and a denim top to make it work for autumn.

Dark Wash Jeans

create a casual but sophisticated look. Wear a brown leather belt to incorporate fall colors and keep your pants off the ground.

The Boots

Brown Leather Shoes

are essential fall footwear.

Either brown or black boots ground your autumn outfit to the season.

H

umans have a way of projecting the inevitable circumstances of their lives onto the parts they control. This is especially evident in fall fashion.

Just as fall marks a transition period between the long days of summer and the long nights of winter, fall fashion occupies a middle phase between two extremes.

And, like in many other areas, when moderation is achieved, something great

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are a classy alternative to the basic student shoes, but if you don’t like them, nothing is wrong with Vans or Sperrys. emerges.

Fall in Palo Alto means layers; what keeps you warm on cold mornings will surely be too hot for the toasty afternoons.

The good news about layers is that with just a few basic staples, you can create many different and attractive outfits.

Fall is a great time to start wearing dark, muted hues like earth tones (moss green and various browns), and harvest colors (burnt orange, deep red and plum).

These colors are a great way to transition your outfits from the bright and playful tones of summer, to the dark and serious styles of winter.Always remember that new clothing only brings out the best parts of your personality if you love the way you look. Don’t wear something because I say it looks good; wear it because you like it.

That said, this season’s fashion crisis to avoid is plaid on plaid. Just please don’t do it. v

QUIZ-:What Hipster Stereotype are You?

Answer the questions and add up the points to find out what kind of hipster you are! Text by Noam Shemtov

1

My tumblr page • Is my pride and joy, a tasteful mix of muppets singing songs and accessible poetry. I often use it as my platform on which I complain about made up ADD and sleep apnea. (5 points) • I might understand the appeal if I could access it from the neolithic stone tablet I use instead of a computer. (10) • What better place to share my favorite of our generational iconography: bleeding eyeballs and exposed knee-caps? Where else would I figure out how to stud my own leather? (15)

2

After the first presidential debate • I posted a ridiculous, partisan status that used words like, “Trotskyism,” “however” and “Plutocratic.” I was attacked by a healthy mix of infuriated pseudopoliticals and ambivalent friends and strangers who rightly shunned me. (5) • Why is this all about social networking? Is this what we’ve come to? Sorry, I can’t hear your response over the Jefferson Airplane CD I just bought from a homeless man’s Ebay account. (10) • I guess I’m just an anarchist, which is pretty rad. So it’s all the same to me. (15)

3

On Spirit Week • I was a moderate participant, did just enough to pass the bar unless the day elicited the opportunity for some great, hyperintellectual pun-making. I shamelessly submitted cheers that hardly rhymed, I mean, what rhymes with “Congenital Arrithmea?” For that matter, what rhymes with “Orange?” (5) • I was a full on participant, I incorporated shirts with oversized cat, mustache and wolf patterning into my ridiculously intricate outfits. I took selfies only to upload Instagram-filtered results to every social media platform known to (wo)man. The caption read something along the ironic lines of, “Txt it!” (10) • It’s a fascist holiday; I’m not sure how and I couldn’t justify it through my whip-it induced haze if I did, but it is. I hate capitalism. (15)

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down again once I’ve found something smart to put in my “Favorite quotes” box on Facebook. I’m overly nostalgic about Judy Blume and can quote liberal punditbloggers Mormon propaganda allegations against all my favorite Stephenie Meyer novels, but between friends, I haven’t read a book since “Holes” and I know it. (10) • Unabashedly read Derrida in the middle of class. Nothing curls my toes like a big, fat, juicy new word — and I just love the way I sound quoting “anything Thoreau.”

(5) • So obsessed with finding anti-egalitarian, anti-marijuana, pro-“the man” connotations that I am confined to Satanic cult literature and the sob stories of teen identity crises. (15)

5

On Books • Whenever someone asks, or complains about reading “American Political Tradition” in class, I respond, “I mean, I actually really like reading!” And in theory I do. Every once in a blue moon, I pick up some American classics, and then put them

On my iPod • I mean, Taylor Swift’s new album just came out. (10) • From “Scenes of Childhood” to experimental jazz, I say I like everything “good.”

Actually, I like everything fancy that came before The Beatles ruined music forever.

(5) • Come on man, Kurt Cobain just died, like, 10 years ago. Not cool. (15)

If you scored between...

25 and 45

You are the hyper-intellectual, false-glasses-wearing, skinny-leg-having hipster that haunts the streets of San Francisco’s Mission district and the halls of Palo Alto High School. You make our lives miserable in your attempts at out-witting the world, but, ostensibly, we’re impressed.

45 and 65

You’re probably the only person who would deign to take this quiz. For that, and little else, we appreciate you. Congratulations on making it to page 11 of Verde. You probably aren’t too pleased with this turn of events, but you know that those hours that you think you spend doing English homework are spent on Hulu plus (Why would you do that to your bank account?) watching “New Girl” and fishtailing your hair.

65 and 75

You are the gore-grind anarchist hipster who wanders through the world asking such important metaphysical questions as “Why?” and “What?” It never really ceases to amaze you that the whole world is just a projection of society. Is that, like, a catch 22?

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NEWS

Local pack condemns Scouts decision The leaders of Palo Alto Cub Scout pack 6 plan to issue a resolution later this month directly opposing the Boy Scouts of America’s decision to expel gay California teenager Ryan Andresen from its ranks.

“We believe that now, more than ever, our boys need to hear the clear and simple message that Scouting does not discriminate,” read a preliminary draft of the resolution. “We cannot condone a Scouting program, with all its unparalleled opportunities for training and character building, that rejects an outstanding young man like Ryan Andresen.”

The resolution aims to both prevent Andresen’s case from happening to any local Boy scouts and condemn the BSA for its actions.

“We call on Pacific Skyline Council to help us meet the aims of our chartering organization and our consciences and end this policy of discrimination,” the resolution draft read.

Earlier this month, the BSA expelled and denied Andresen, a Moraga, Calif. teen, his Eagle Scout Honor after the organization found out he was gay and had refused to check the box that would say he had a “Duty to God.” Boy Scouts of America executive John Fenoglio released a statement saying that Andresen did not meet “Scouting’s membership standard on sexual orientation” and revoked Andresen’s BSA membership.

“It is wrong,” read the resolution draft about this decision. “It is immoral.”

Pack 6 Webelos II den leader Evan Lurie said that although the exact wording of the resolution will change, the general message will remain the same.

“The national organization knows

By the

NUMBERS 12

CUB SCOUTS Boy Scouts of Palo Alto Cub Scout pack 6 fold an American flag. Leaders of this pack will soon issue a resolution in response to the expulsion of Ryan Andersen.

that Scouting is a hands-on endeavor and requires strong local leadership,” he said.

“Scouting’s structure is thus decentralized to foster strong local leadership. By not speaking up to [the] national [organization], our district [organization] and [local] council are failing to support their obligations to us.”

Although local chapters are supposed to self-govern, according to the BSA charter, there is a central entity that takes control whenever scouts apply to become Eagle Scouts. Pack 6’s resolution will put it in direct conflict with the national BSA, Lurie said.

“We believe we have been let down [by the national BSA],” the resolution draft read. “The Boy Scouts of America has failed to keep its promise to support us.”

Although the resolution will be re-

0 $36 nd sa u o h t

Estimated amount the Palo Alto School District saves by expelling students who live out-of-district pg. 16-20

leased later this month, Pack 6 was already in legal conflict with the national BSA. According to Lurie, the City of Palo Alto passed ordinance No. 4795 forbidding any entity who is renting a public space from discriminating against sexual orientation.

As Pack 6 rents space from the Palo Verde Elementary School, which is owned by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the pack must abide by this ordinance.

Lurie said the resolution intends to question the morality, not the legality, of the BSA membership’s standards, adding that since the national Boy Scouts of America is a private organization, it is within its legal right to set its own membership standards established by Supreme Court case Boy Scouts of America v. Dale.

Text by Evelyn Wang, photo courtesy of Evan Lurie and Pack 6

13.5

%

Of eyelid surgeries out of all surgeries worldwide, according to the ISAPS pg. 26-27

Remi and Chloe to perform at Angelica’s Theater

SINGING AROUND Remi and Chloe practice their music. The two juniors will perform together at Angelica’s Bell Theatre and Bistro on Nov. 8.

Palo Alto High School’s musical duo, juniors Remi Wolfe and Chloe Zilliac, will be playing a concert at Angelica’s Bell Theatre & Bistro in Redwood City, beginning at 8 p.m. on Nov. 8.

The Palo Alto High School juniors booked the venue at an open mic audition at Angelica’s.

Remi and Chloe will be performing a two-set show, one with a full band and one in their classic, guitar-andvocals format.

The set list for the concert includes original songs by the duo, and their spins on other artists’ work.

“We play a combination of classic rock, bop and topof-the-charts with an acoustic spin,” Wolfe said.

The duo is influenced by artists ranging from Stevie Wonder, to The Beatles, to Nirvana, and they try to emulate and honor these artists’ work with soulful vocal harmonies.

“What sets Remi and Chloe apart is our friendship,” Zilliac said.

The two hope to take their music beyond the realm of its current high school celebrity.

“We are always trying to improve, and we are always looking forward to reaping the rewards of that process,” Zilliac said.

“We are considering going to college for music, but it’s all just speculation at this point,” Wolfe said.

Text and photo by Noam Shemtov

Administration introduces regular Saturday tutorials to offer additional assistance to struggling students Teachers and administration of Palo Alto High School tentatively plan to organize more Saturday tutorials to help students who are either struggling or want extra help.

The school held a trial tutorial from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, where teacher volunteers were present to help students.

“We mainly focused on students who were struggling in classes... we tried to pinpoint those students and asked them to be there,” said Craig Tuana, Paly dean of students.

According to Tuana, approximately 40 students and six volunteer teachers from

5 2 $

Cost of buying a rescore on an AP exam pg. 70

various departments attended.

“I think the students appreciated it,” Tuana said. “It went better than anticipated because we had no idea how many students were going to come.”

Tuana said the positive feedback from parents and students, along with student interest in tutoring their peers, provides encouragement to hold at least another Saturday tutorial sometime this semester.

“What surprised me was that there were people from all courses — from Spanish one to Spanish five AP,” Spanish teacher Josep Vericat, one of the six volunteers said. “I think it worked quite well.”

Ideally, the administration would hold

2# .6

Horsepower that the Boosted Board motors can push you with pg. 32-33

a Saturday tutorial once a month. However, logistics would make this difficult, according to Tuana.

“One challenge is staffing it to make sure it is beneficial to students,” he said.

Last year, the administration offered a special tutorial for those with low grades on Tuesdays, targeting similar students that may attend the tutorials on Saturday. Paly hopes to restart these shortly.

Although the next Saturday tutorial date has not been announced, the administration plans to choose the date before first semester ends, hoping to expand the amount of resources for students.

Text by Hollie Kool

40:4

6

Length of Owl City’s new album,“The Midsummer Station” in minutes pg. 21 13

Palo Alto mayor to relocate to Nashville Palo Alto Mayor Yiaway Yeh will not be seeking reelection for the coming term, and will move away from Palo Alto to Nashville, Tennessee in 2013.

This big move was inspired by Yeh’s wife, who accepted a job offer to be a professor at Vanderbilt University’s Department of Political Science.

In an interview with Andrew Chen, Yeh said that “I don’t know exactly what I’m going to be doing, but I know it’s go-

ing to be a merging of these public-private relationships and approaches... There are some opportunities I’m considering in Tennessee that ultimately will allow me to explore this.”

After five years serving on City Council as Palo Alto’s second-youngest mayor ever, Yeh has made an impact on Palo Alto that will not be forgotten, even as he moves cross-country.

“I don’t know exactly what I’m going to be doing, but I know it’s going to be a merging of these public-private relationships and approaches.”

­— Yiaway Yeh, Palo Alto mayor

Text by Carly King

CHARGE TOWARDS THE FUTURE Students from PAUSD run speedily down the street. On Nov. 13. a decision will be made as to whether a new elementary school will be added to the district.

School board discusses new elementary school A community advisory committee on Nov. 13 will finalize the process for gathering community input on choosing a location for a new elementary school in the Palo Alto Unified School District.

The committee plans to decide on timing and location of the school by next April. Currently, the two sites being considered include the “Garland” site on California Avenue located next to Jordan Middle School and a recently acquired site at 525 San Antonio Road.

The committee will create a list of

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relevant factors affecting the decision after looking at enrollment growth and where most students are situated. It will consider how the sites are being used currently, and what the current value of the sites is to students and the district, according to school board president Camille Townsend.

The decision to form a new elementary school is largely due to the recent growth trend which rose by 2 percent, while this past year it rose 1 percent.

“We routinely meet with our demographers and our City of Palo Alto and Stan-

ford housing experts to determine what future growth may look like,” Townsend said. “We have to update our projections routinely in order to stay abreast of new developments.”

The upcoming session will finalize the elementary planning values and assumptions. Consideration will be given to plans for an additional middle school as well.

The next demographer’s report will be presented at the subsequent School Board Study session on Dec. 18.

Text and photo by Daniela Ivey

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COVER

C

AROLYN RECALLS the first time she broke the law.

She was in the third grade, sitting in the Walter Hays administration office, filling out paperwork with a false address. Her mother had told her it was the right thing to do, but as she scrawled the address, Carolyn remembers feeling as if she was hiding behind the address’ meaningless characters — numbers and letters that spoke nothing of home. The same numbers and letters that kept Carolyn on the right side of the 8-mile divide between her and a better education.

“I felt like I was stuck [between] what my mother was telling me to do and what the truth was,” Carolyn says.

Carolyn’s case is far from uncommon.

She is just one of many out-of-district students who breach the law daily, faking their addresses so they can attend Palo Alto’s public schools.

These students, whose names have been changed to protect their identities,

16

cost the district upwards of $12,000 a year per-student according to residency officer Roberto Antonio River.

Carolyn and others in her situation are at the center of a phenomenon that exposes Palo Alto Unified School District as the victim of its own success.

Defining the Issue The district actively pursues nonresident students through a search carried out over two randomly chosen grade levels each year by the district’s residency officer, who was hired as part of a 2007 crackdown on out-of-district students.

This crackdown came about after the number of students dismissed from the district on the basis of residency violations nearly doubled between 2006 and 2007.

This increase coincided with the enactment of a supplementary parcel tax that meant district families would be paying more than ever before for schools according to a 2007 article in Palo Alto Online.

By the district’s estimation, around 30

such students have been dismissed from the school district annually since the 20062007 academic year, effectively saving the district an approximated $360,000. To these students, however, PAUSD’s stringent residence policy means the threat of having to leave friends and education behind.

“It [is] really hard,” says Kate, whose parents have sent her to Palo Alto schools since elementary school under the borrowed address of a relative. “Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t be here.”

Kate’s parents’ decision to illegally enroll her in Palo Alto schools has dictated the shape of her social life and drawn a very clear line between her sense of “house” and of “home.”

Kate remembers waking up at 5 a.m. every day for school, each morning receiving her mother’s reprimand to keep the secret of her residency between her parents and the relative under whose address they are registered.

“Ever since elementary school my

Across the Lines STUDENTS FROM NEARBY DISTRICTS ILLEGALLY ATTEND PAUSD SCHOOLS BY REGISTERING UNDER ILLEGITIMATE ADDRESSES

Text by JAMIE ALLENDORF and NOAM SHEMTOV Photo Illustrations by NOAM SHEMTOV

mom constantly told me, ‘Don’t forget: est friends. The betrayal of one friend has don’t tell anyone you don’t live in Palo stayed with Kate ever since.

“I didn’t want to keep lying,” Kate Alto,’” Kate says. “My mom said she could says. “One of my friends knew that I didn’t go to jail to get me to keep the secret.”

Kate’s attendance of PAUSD schools live [in Palo Alto] and she told me that we has caused some tension between her and couldn’t be friends anymore because I had lied to her. It was just so strange to me.” her family.

Kate’s family “I want to accepts the pressure be more indeof secrecy as a sacripendent, which fice made for a highis hard because “Ever since elementary er quality education, I have to rely school my mom told a sacrifice that, for on my parents me ‘Don’t forget: don’t better or for worse, for transportatell anyone you don’t has defined Kate’s tion, keeping my live in Palo Alto.” sense of belonging home life a secret.” Kate says. ­— Kate, non-resident student to a community that sometimes pushes “I notice that I her to her limits. am straying away “I think I’ve from my family members, but I feel like I owe them a lot.” gotten a better education,” Kate says, fidgHiding her domestic life from her eting nervously with the keychains on her friends also took its toll on Kate, who bag. “The school work here is so hard that broke her promise to her mother in mid- sometimes I feel like I just can’t deal with it. dle school and told her secret to her clos- Sometimes I think it would have been bet-

ter if I had just gone to school in [my city of residence].”

Even so, Palo Alto was the place where Kate’s childhood unfolded. It was where she learned to read, made her first and closest friends, the place where she illegally grew up.

“I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to leave,” Kate says.

One day, she came close to finding out.

“We almost got caught once... they sent someone [to the house] when I was in elementary school,” Kate says.

Although nothing came of the investigation, to Kate, it represents the very tangible threat of being evicted from the setting of her childhood. To the man who knocked on her door demanding proof of her residency, however, Kate’s near-expulsion was just one of around 100 contacts by the district every year.

Combating the Problem River receives an accusation of illegitimate residency approximately once every

17

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT Out-of-district students attend school hoping that the truth about their residency is never found.

day. These tips most often come in the families he investigates. The way River sees form of bounced-back mail from an illegit it, he’s not punishing the criminal, but the -imate address, a tip from an online source crime. or over a phone call via an anonymous resi“We investigate parents and not studency hotline [(650) 329-3700 ext. 7385]. dents,” River says. “What affects me is that River, like the families of the students it [the population involved in residency he investigates, took the job of residency violation] is not poor, it’s not rich, it’s evofficer with the interests of his family at erybody. [Residency violations] cross all heart and in mind. the different socioeconomic levels. I have “I took the job for health benefits,” to retain a level of professional objectivsays River, sitting ity. I cannot create in his district ofresults, I can only fice chair. “I have uncover facts.” a young family.

River begins “We investigate parIt was interesting investigations of ents and not students” suspected violato work with the school district, and ­—Roberto Antonio River, tors with a check it’s been very reresidency PAUSD residency officer on warding.” documentation, To River, the background and reward in his job is serving the interests of address legitimacy. He proceeds with his young families like his own, the PAUSD search using the physical paperwork of the residents. family in question and through several gov“[Disenrolling non-resident students] ernment databases to which PAUSD subdoes a very good service to the school dis- scribes. When these first steps give way to trict and its taxpayers,” River says. more serious suspicion, River takes further Even though he finds it difficult, River action. says he has to distance himself from any “At [the] high school level, it’s almost sympathy he feels for the students and impossible to be able to pick a student out

18

of a crowd [so]... we implement one of two different field contacts,” River says.

These contacts include a “residency check,” in which an official identifies himself with a photo ID and PAUSD business card, asking to see a visual of the student as proof of their residency. Investigations are unannounced in order to preserve their candidness.

The other field contact involves a significantly more thorough observation.

“At times, we observe a student from an address to school, from school to an address,” River says. “This is basically watching the house, see[ing] who’s coming and going and mak[ing] observations.”

River only implements the “observation” approach in his toughest cases.

“I think PAUSD’s methods are extremely invasive,” Carolyn says. “By following a student home, they are crossing a boundary that separates the student’s public and private lives.”

Despite this view, Carolyn does believe it is well within the district’s rights to investigate suspected students using less extreme methods and remove them from the district. River’s observations aren’t limited to the field.

“I’ll find information on Google, on LinkedIn, on Facebook,” River says. “Not only do parents have their Facebooks, students have their Facebooks. I can identify through pictures off of Facebook. I can get parents’ employment information off of LinkedIn.” House or Home For students like Kate, the district’s stance on residency is much more than public policy. To her and other out-of-district students like Jessica, it represents the idea of equal opportunity, opportunity that they believe should be made universally attainable.

“A good education should be available to everyone,” Jessica says.

Not everybody shares her opinion — especially in PAUSD. Unlike its neighbors, PAUSD is a basic-aid district, which means that it gets a vast majority of its funding not from the state, but through local property tax revenue and grants from parent-run organizations like Partners in Education and the Parent Teacher Association.

Growing numbers of enrolled students have brought the issue of residency violation into the arena of serious district

concerns.

The more students enrolled in district schools, the more likely it becomes that the quality of education will decrease, causing Palo Alto taxpayers to pay close attention to residency violations as a method of quality control, ensuring the highest return per tax dollar.

“Our schools are overcrowded as it is and we really don’t have the capacity for students who live outside the district,” says Diana Walsh, a concerned parent and former member of PiE. “Our classrooms are packed to the gill and overflowing.”

Jessica’s parents, however, were not thinking about education in terms of interdistrict tax return when they lied for her to attend PAUSD. “My parents just wanted me to have a good education and the same opportunities as kids here,” Jessica says. “They’ve sacrificed a lot to get me those opportunities.”

Many Palo Altans feel that Jessica’s parents’ concern is not a legitimate one.

“The kids [who attend PAUSD illegally] are in a really tough place because their parents have convinced them that this is the best place for them when, in fact, they can get a good education in many places,”

Walsh says.

The district focuses on the quality of its children’s education, which is being funded out-of-pocket. The families of Kate, Jessica and Carolyn see no rationale for why they shouldn’t reap the same benefits and opportunities for their children.

The issue of district residency has extended beyond the bounds of economic dogma, and not just for out-of-district families. Some parents say that it not only detracts from legal residents’ educations, but also from the moral education of the student perpetrators as well.

“I’m horrified to think that parents teach their kids that it’s okay to steal to get ahead,” Walsh says. “To me, that’s appalling.”

For Kate, the issue is not political. It goes beyond questions of “stealing” taxpayers’ money and the morality of vigilante socialism in a capitalist system where the taxpayer’s dollar is everything. To Kate, her address is just a collection of meaningless numbers and letters that allows her to remain within the boundaries of the place she calls home.

“I just sleep in San Jose and come back,” Kate says. “Palo Alto is my home.” v

WRONG SIDE OF THE FENCE Students across district lines face a conflict regarding the quality of their education.

19

CULTURE

OWL CITY: THE MIDSUMMER STATION THE BRITISH ARE COMING CUTTING A FINE LINE SOME LIKE IT HOT THAT’S A RAP ROLLING INTO THE FUTURE

21 22 26 28 30 32

Photo courtesy of Boosted Boards

CULTURE

IS ADAM YOUNG’S NEWEST ALBUM POP OR FLOP? Text and Photo illustration by BENJAMIN MAY

W

HEN ADAM Young, also known as Owl City, released his third long-play album, “The Midsummer Station,” through the label Universal Republic on Aug. 21, he strayed from his previously solo style and worked with other musicians, such as Blink-182, +44 bassist Mark Hoppus and “Call Me Maybe” pop-star Carly Ray Jepsen. “The Midsummer Station” got some things right, but lacks a substantial message or tone to the songs. Music should have a meaning to it, not be noises coming together.

Although the 40:46-minute album is too short, the real problem with the album is that it lacks the unity an album should have. (That’s the result of the digital age.

Nobody buys albums as a whole anymore.)

However, “The Midsummer Station” does do a lot of things well. I commend Young for moving away from his older albums, which sounded like average music coming out of Young’s garage. (I am not a fan of mallet tones for an entire song.)

Still, I crave a deep end to the sound, which is lacking in this album. I happily accept the bassline added to some of the songs in “The Midsummer Station.”

“Dreams and Disasters” is an example of a song missing a bassline. Although I’m not really digging the auto-tuning, that’s Young’s signature, most apparent in his 2009 hit “Fireflies.” The chorus is pretty catchy, but that is rather expected of a pop song.

“The Midsummer Station” has a lot of songs that sound quite similar. Fortunately, the fourth song, “Dementia,” has a fresh, new taste. The pop-punk energy and tempo should be Young’s new sound for Owl City. The drums in this are spot on.

Bullseye. Bingo. Nail on the head. The best song of this album. The other songs in the album lack the same finesse and depth of “Dementia.”

The featured single, “Good Time” is catchy. With Carly Ray Jepsen and Young, I’m pretty sure that this was the production process: have catchy tune with notoriously catchy artists and then make a lot of profit. “Good Time” peaked at No. 1 in the “Hot 100” Billboard chart. A good song

for pop, but not the best in the album. It has a catchy melody, although it doesn’t feel refined. I’m not the biggest fan of repetitive choruses.

Fortunately, we go to the next song, “Embers.” “Dementia” must’ve inspired Young to do more songs in this genre. This song veers away from traditional pop, creating a deeper, enriched sound.

The final song of the album is “Take it All Away.” Imagine a full stadium of people swaying their lighters at a Bon Jovi concert. That’s the tone of “Take it All Away.”

A 80s song trapped in the wrong album.

Oh boy. A somewhat mediocre end to an otherwise decent album.

What’s the result?

“The Midsummer Station” makes me feel like Young threw a bunch of songs to the wall to see what would stick. But he still kept those songs that didn’t stick and put them into the album. Next time, I hope Young will write more songs in the poppunk genre with other musicians as those were the winners of “The Midsummer Station.” v

21

CULTURE

THE BRITISH A A LOOK INTO THE RISE OF BRITISH CULTURE IN AMERICA Text by JAMIE ALLENDORF Art by DIANA CONNOLLY

W

HAT DO PAUL REVERE AND hormonal teenage girls from the 1960s have in common? They both led the warning call for the incoming British (granted the former did so during the Revolutionary War, while the latter was screeching for what we have all come to know as the the Fab Four). In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the original British Invasion, let’s look at what appears to be the second coming of these tea-drinking, football loving, Absolutely Fabulous (look it up) British fiends.

The First Wave I’m not talking about the War of Independence, I’m referring to the wave of British bands that invaded our soil in the early 1960s.

These bands, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who, ruined the purity of the American youth and forever changed the music industry.

22

“When we call it the British Invasion, it’s interesting because we were the creators of it as well,” Palo Alto High School sociology teacher Benjamin Bolanos says. “We actually influenced them and they’re giving something back, so they take something that we created and change and give it back to us.”

Anglophilimania It’s been 50 years since the first wave of the British stormed our shores, but it seems that the American love affair with our European brethren just won’t go away.

Maybe it’s the royal family, which has received a lot of attention, or maybe there’s a deeper connection between our two nations than a dashing ginger prince who can’t seem to remember to put his trousers on.

“It’s easy to transfer different types of values, musically and through the media, because we have common history,” Bolanos says. “When you talk about American history, it’s hard not to talk about British history.”

British influence Bands like The Beatles invaded our shores in the 1960s during the British Invasion. Today, One Direction is gaining popularity in the U.S.

H ARE COMING band that has found celebrity in the U.S. Yet another British boyThe Revival of the Boy Band It’s been a long time since a British boy band reached such band, The Wanted, peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100 with their single “Glad You Came.” great heights in the minds of American teenage girls. We all know about Take Over of the Airwaves the group that has managed to squeeze Boy bands are not the only musicians that its way onto the American music radar: “It’s easy to transhave gained traction in the U.S., but bands One Direction, the only reason I get up fer different types of including the Arctic Monkeys and Mumford in the morning. (How else would I know and Sons have also been able to gain stardom that I’m beautiful?) values, musically and across the pond.

The growing popularity of One through the media, The Arctic Monkeys’ fourth album “Suck Direction seems to have proliferated in because we have a It and See” reached No. 14 on the Billboard the past couple months. Recently, they common history.”

200 in June 2011 and Mumford and Sons secgraced the cover of Seventeen maga­— Benjamin Bolanos, Paly ond album released earlier this year, “Babel,” zine, a privilege usually reserved only for females. sociology teacher peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Female artists, most notably Adele, have One Direction’s single, “Live While also broken through the American market.

We’re Young” debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, but they’re not the only British One of the most recognizable and popular British artists to arrive

23

in the past years, Adele has gained widespread fame throughout the globe. Her second album “21” produced hit singles such as “Rolling in the Deep” and “Rumour Has It.” The record also earned her a Grammy for album of the year in 2012.

Another emerging female artist from the U.K., Ellie Goulding, recently released her second album after her debut reached No. 142 on the Billboard 200. After appearing on SNL in May 2011, her debut album “Lights” re-entered Billboard 200 and reached No. 76.

only on BBC America and specifically targets viewers in the States.

“The one-two punch of our returning hit series ‘Doctor Who’ and our first original drama ‘Copper’ combined to set a new weekend ratings record and deliver our most watched telecasts in our history,” Perry Simon, General Manager of Channels at BBC Worldwide America, says in an interview with BBC America. “Taken together with our most-ever Emmy nominations and our increased distribution, it feels like BBC America is clearly a network on the move.” v

Doctor Who? It’s not just music that has invaded our soil, but one peculiar doctor has also found a stronghold. “Doctor Who” chronicles the adventures of the Doctor, a time lord, who has the ability to travel through space and time. The program first aired in the 1960s, but was revived in 2005.

“Doctor Who” has become a growing phenomenon in the U.S. along with other BBC programs like “Sherlock” and “Downton Abbey.” These shows often provide abstract plot lines and relief from the average American sitcom or game show.

“We share similar interests in what type of shows we watch,” Bolanos says. “Also part of the reason that British television has become more popular, I feel, is that British shows are much more sophisticated, there’s more depth to it compared to some American shows.”

As for the Doctor, he seems to be enjoying his increasing success stateside. According to the Telegraph, the premiere of the seventh season in the U.S. drew around 1.56 million viewers, smashing previous records ratings for the show.

“American television usually consists of reality TV, but with ‘Doctor Who’ there is a huge demographic from young generations to older ones, and on top of that, it’s been going on since the 60s,” says “Doctor Who” fan and Palo Alto High School junior Abigail Schmidt. “It has a plot so it’s not just reality TV, but intellectual as well.”

British television managers seem to be acutely aware of their skyrocketing success with the American populace. “Doctor Who” is followed by “CopTo the TARDIS Short for “Time and Relative Dimension in per,” a show that airs Space,” the TARDIS is an old police call box that allows the Doc-

24

tor to travel through time and space to save the world from peril.

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OPENING THE WORLD OF ASIAN EYELID SURGERY Text by DANIELA IVEY and EVELYN WANG Photo Illustration by CHARU SRIVASTAVA

D

oes the painful

monotony of your palpebral dermis make you squirm? Does the siren call of the crease beckon to you day and night, mocking you?

Haunting you? Simply put, do you hate your smooth, fold-less eyelid? Well, hate no more. All you have to do is follow these steps: First, remove a section of your eyelid and trim your orbicularis muscle. After that, carve out your orbital septum. If you’re feeling particularly fancy, you can also snip off just a smidgen of your orbital fat. Finally, suture the skin to the levator aponeurosis, tie off the sutures and tada, you’re all done! You should be up and ready to see in a matter of hours. Just don’t forget your other eye.

Double-eyelid surgery, otherwise known as Asian blepharoplasty, is the No. 1 cosmetic surgery in Asia, according to a 2012 report by ABC News. It’s so popular, in fact, that in South Korea there are entire blocks devoted to the plastic surgeons who are paid to create a crease in monolids (eyelids that were born without a natural fold) that make eyes bigger and rounder.

This trend has spread to the United States, becoming the most popular ethnicityspecific surgical procedure among Asian Americans according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

According to a 2001 Salon magazine article, the trend first took off in the 1970s.

Back then, the artificial crease was made very high up on the lid, creating an unnatural, alien-like appearance that probably was not out of place in the Disco Era. Then, as the times calmed down and became much more au naturel, the crease slowly

26

descended until it became the subtle fold it is today.

According to Bay Area plastic surgeon Chase Lay, the surgery ranges from from $1,500 to $4,000, depending on the venue and procedure. For those who can’t afford the surgery, there’s always eye putty (a fast-drying serum that sticks the skin together to create a temporary, artificial fold) or natural conditioning (a painless process by which Asians use toothpicks or other implements to train their eyelids to form the desired crease).

The U.S. Census of 2010 counted 17.3 million Asian-Americans living in the United States. 50 percent of them were born with a monolid, or an eyelid without a crease, according to PlasticSurgery.com, but this number is dwindling as more and more Asians opt for a one-hour-long surgery that helps them conform to a strict standard of beauty.

Victoria Kyone, a Palo Alto High School junior, plans to get the surgery as soon as she turns 18.

“Everyone wants bigger eyes,” Kyone says. “They just look a lot better. People are constantly telling me how small my eyes are and it gets annoying.”

In Asia, the pressure to get the surgery is even bigger. Senior Julia Lee says Asians are constantly bombarded with the message that a double eyelid is prettier, more youthful or even necessary for success.

“Just watching Korean dramas and staying close to the Korean pop culture have given me plenty of messages that double eyelids are more attractive than single eyelids,” Lee says. “Everyone makes a big deal out of big eyes and all the actresses in Korea must have double eyelids to pass in terms of their looks.”

Most Asian celebrities have big, double-lidded eyes, and those who don’t are often hard pressed for fame. Woo Eun Mi, a contestant on Korean-Pop competition “Superstar K2” (similar to “American Idol”), was cut for having monolids and a “friendly” (translation: plain) face. Later, after she debuted with her album “Please,” she went through the double-eyelid surgery, purportedly for “a change in my [her] looks and abilities.”

And it isn’t just the media. Peers and parents also pressure Asians into getting the surgery.

“[My mom] got hers done when she was a teenager,” junior Ellen Song says.

“Her mom took her to an unlicensed doctor and it was done pretty quickly. She lived in Korea and everyone was getting it. If I decide to get the surgery, she’ll help me make it happen.”

Even the parents who don’t pressure their children into getting surgery readily accept it as a possibility.

“My parents would never pressure me into getting surgery for my looks, but they are also fine with getting something as small and quick as double-eyelid surgery,” Lee says. “I don’t need the surgery but I don’t have prominent double eyelids either, so my grandmother used to tell me not to worry about my eyes because I can get a quick surgery when I’m older.”

Some like Kyone, in fact, don’t consider the procedure “plastic surgery” in the

“The eyelid surgery is okay. It’s just putting in a stitch, that’s it!” ­— Victoria Kyone, junior

sense that a nose job or a face lift would be.

“I don’t think it’s okay to get intense surgeries like shaving down your jaw bone or a nose job, where you actually have to alter bone and cartilege structure,” Kyone says. “But the eyelid surgery is okay. It’s just putting in a stitch, that’s it!”

Roy Hong, a plastic surgeon at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, spent a year in Korea after medical school but has worked mainly in the U.S. He says the widespread acceptance of eyelid surgery in the Asian community isn’t any different from our culture’s acceptance of other plastic surgeries.

“In Western culture, it is just as common to have surgeries such as breast augmentation,” Hong says.

According to Hong, plastic surgery is becoming a status symbol everywhere, but particularly in Asia.

“Cosmetic surgery is much more mainstream,” he says. “In Asia and Korea even more so, they wear cosmetic surgery

as a badge of honor.”

In fact, plastic surgery in general is so popular that in both Asia and America, patients can be as young as high school students, with their parents gladly playing the dues.

“In Korea, [most] patients are in college,” Hong says. “[But there are] even high school students whose parents buy the surgery. In my New York training, I saw the same trend with nose jobs.”

Not all Asians agree with the pressure to get the eyelid surgery.

“It sounds painful and expensive, and what do I get out of it?” senior Christina Chen says. “Not a lot. The cost-benefit analysis just doesn’t add up in favor of it.”

The controversy doesn’t stop there. A common misconception is that Asians get the eyelid surgery to look more Caucasian.

“In a world where Western culture dominates, in which even people in Asian countries look up to the Western style of living, double eyelids are seen as a source of beauty,” Chen says. “That’s kind of ridiculous, I think.”

Carrie Chang, a critic of the eyelid surgery, even founded a now defunct magazine called Monolid as protest against what she says is a racist surgery.

“The surgery is trying to get rid of something that is so distinctly ethnic,” Chang says in an interview with Salon.

“They’re not trying to wipe out a race but a racial characteristic. Asians are becoming pro-assimilation and monolid is a buzzword for yellow power and not being ashamed of it.”

According to Hong, however, most Asians now opt for a low, subtle crease to look more like other Asians and consider the higher, “Caucasian” crease of earlier decades to be ugly.

“I think 20 years ago eyelid surgery among other surgeries was used to try to Westernize,” Hong says. “Asia or Korea was a third world country. Everything America was cool.”

But Hong says that now, the eyelid surgery coexists with the monolid as a symbol of Asian pride.

“The Asian culture has a tendency to always want to exceed in everything, and now that includes beauty,” he says. “I don’t think Asian people want to look Western anymore. They have their own idea of beauty and are not afraid to strive for it. V

t i e k i l e m o S

T O H

BEST HOT CHOCOLATES IN PALO ALTO, JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Text by CARLY KING Photography by CARLY KING and CATHY RONG Art by JAMIE ALLENDORF

H

OT CHOCOLATE. Hot cocoa. Chocolat chaud. Chocolate caliente. A classic winter treat, brought back every year with candy canes and gingerbread houses.

There are endless different types and flavors. Milk and chocolate syrup in the microwave, Swiss Miss packets with mini marshmallows, Trader Joe’s bitter “sipping chocolate”, the famous Serendipity frozen hot chocolate, Nutella hot chocolate, melted chocolate, cinnamon hot chocolate, and chocolate tea... you get the idea.

With so much variety, it can be hard to choose just one drink on a cold winter day, especially in Palo Alto, where it seems like there’s a café on every corner, each offering a new hot chocolate variety. Even frozen yogurt places like Fraîche offer their own version of hot chocolate.

After going on a hot cocoa tour through Palo Alto and consuming thousands of calories of steaming cocoa, we ranked the top five best specialty hot chocolates in Palo Alto. v

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1

Coupa Cafe

538 Ramona Street, Palo Alto What to Get: Chuao Hot Chocolate

Coupa Cafe is a lesser-known venue, tucked away on Ramona with a location on Stanford Campus. It has gained recognition among Paly students with its beloved Chuao Hot Chocolates. The Abuela hot chocolate is thick and creamy, but not so milky that it outweighs the cocoa taste, which is very authentic and not as artificial as Peet’s or Starbucks’ plain hot chocolates — you won’t find an icky chocolate coating at the bottom of your cup! The cinnamon flavor offers a different twist unlike the other usual seasonal flavors of caramel, pumpkin or peppermint. Both flavors are sure to please.

2

Mayfield

110 Town & Country, Palo Alto What to Get: Hot Cocoa & Marshmallow

Streams of Paly students flow in and out of Mayfield every day at lunch, especially during the colder months, cramming the warm, delicious-smelling store full of backpacks and rainboots. Best known and adored for the French Demi Baguette at a record price of $1.35, Mayfield also prides itself on its acclaimed hot chocolate. It’s definitely a higher quality than at-home instant cocoa, which often ends up with a bottom coated in grainy chocolate. It stays consistently creamy and sweet the whole way through. What makes it perfect is the homemade marshmallow, which melts as you drink and adds another shock of sweetness to the drink — unless you give in and eat the whole thing first.

3

Douce France

104 Town & Country, Palo Alto

What to Get: Chocolat Chaud

Douce France is perfect for Parisian-stye baked goods (Douce macaroons are delicious and all of their sandwiches are made in authentic French baguette style.) Cakes and other desserts are rich, much like the Chocolat Chaud (hot chocolate). Topped with whipped cream, the hot chocolate is a classic choice that is very creamy, keeping it from being too strong or too sweet. The shaved chocolate on top as well as the high-quality ingredients and rich chocolate make it extra-sweet.

4

MAYFIELD The complimentary marshmallow melts as you drink your hot chocolate.

5

COUPA Their Chuao hot chocolates feature designs drawn in the foam.

Starbucks

2000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

What to get: Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Venturing away from your usual Starbucks order can be intimidating, especially with the daunting menu. Each winter brings back autumnnal drink options. If you’re not in the mood for a regular cocoa, or maybe a peppermint mocha, the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate is a delicious option. The regular hot chocolate can be a bit too strong, and tastes coffee-flavored, but the Salted Caramel has a unique flavor not offered at most other cafés. Although salt and chocolate is a recognized flavor combination, it is rarely made into hot chocolate. The caramel adds a sweetness that can be a little much for one of the larger sizes, but for a sweet morning pick-me-up, the Tall size is perfect.

Powder Hot Cocoa

The Nurse’s Office, Paly Campus

What to Get: Hot chocolate packet While hot chocolate at Town and Country can run anywhere from $3 to $5, the rainy season brings packets of hot cocoa powder and styrofoam cups to the nurse’s office, where a cup of instant hot chocolate costs 25 cents. Water is pre-boiled, and it’s a definite steal — even the Academic Resource Center hot chocolate with marshmallows costs a dollar. Although Town and Country might have higher quality, richer options, it’s hard to go wrong with a steaming hot cup of cocoa in the morning, especially without the hassle of going across the street and waiting in long lines.

SWISS MISS Just add hot milk or water for instant cocoa on the go.

29

CULTURE

that's a

Aer

EXPLORING Popular song: “Feel I Bring” THE BEATS OF This reggae-inspired, alternative-style rapping and UNCONVENTIONAL singing duo from Wayland, Mass., is gradually making a name for itself across the nation. 18-year-olds David von MeAND UPCOMING RAP ring, who mainly sings, and Carter Schultz, the rapper, combine genres, tempos, subject matter and harmonies to create an unText by HOLLIE KOOL and expectedly cohesive and different sound. This “fresh Aer moveARTISTS SAMANTHA DEWEES ment” is upbeat, relaxing and evokes summer-y and beachy musical imagery. Although the majority of their songs relate to drugs, girls and alcohol, Aer sometimes refreshingly veers from these aggressive themes and vouch for lessons on how to live life instead.

“Songbird,” from the album The Bright Side, offers a critique of cynicism of the world, emphasizing positive attitudes for future generations instead. Von Mering and Schultz vary the traditional rap scene by incorporating guitar-reliant melodies and using background vocals to set the beat. The only complaint: the acoustic parts can sound very similar in some of the songs.

rhythm: 4 voice: 4.5 lyrics: 4

30

catchiness: 5 originality: 5 song variety: 4

Iggy Azalea Popular song: “My World ”

Iggy Azalea, primarily known for being the first female rapper featured in the hip hop magazine XXL, is a 22-year-old breakout Australian rapper and model. Azalea recently released her EP, Trap Gold. Her music mainly features electronically reliant beats, and as a result it all sounds the same. Azalea begins with repetitive claps, pops and booms, followed by fast-paced rap in a whiny twang. She does not integrate her unique Australian accent, and instead imitates the style of generic rap, pursuing an exaggerated and overly soulful tone. The majority of Azalea’s songs feature the same resonating drones of synthesizers and faux snare drum, with equally as laughable lyrics and titles (“Murda Bizness,” for example). Overall, Azalea’s songs are captivating for the first few seconds with a strong beat, yet ultimately fail to impress with her repetitive lyrics and fake street-cred.

rhythm: 2 voice: 1 lyrics: 2

catchiness: 2 originality: 2.5 song variety: 1

A

OnCue

STEADILY POUNDING SYNTHESIZED beat. Fade in a resonating bass line and a twanging guitar riff. Next comes the anticipated moment: crisp words firing at breakneck speed into the ears of Popular song: “Feel Tall” the listener. Commence the head bobbing and the “chillaxing” frown. That’s rap.

Brooklyn rapper and singer Brenton Duvall, Vanilla Ice’s 1989 hit “Ice Ice Baby” paved the way for or “Cuey,” has a wide variety of sound, combining a growing subsection of this genre: white rap. The boundaries rap, hip-hop and pop with an alternative feel. His more of rap are being pushed every day, with women and various thoughtful and sophisticated content criticizes the topnationalities making names for themselves in the originally ics discussed in his fellow rappers’ lyrics. For example, he African-American based industry. White rappers like Hoodie starts “Feel Tall” with the lyrics “I’m cool with Katy Perry Allen, G-Eazy, Macklemore and of course, Eminem are eshooks in my cannabis verses/ Long as y’all open up your walpecially claiming the spotlight. We present to you a review of lets and purses.” Though he has not been signed by a record a few unorthodox and emerging white-rap artists in various label, Cuey has released many mixtapes and is quickly rising criteria ranging from one to five, one being intolerable and in popularity. Cuey provides contrasting bridges that are singfive being fantastic. v ing-based and choruses that are a refreshing break from the concentrated, fast-paced rap of most artists. However, his slightly lispy rap style becomes banal at times, and might not appeal to everyone.

Despot Popular song: “Crap Artists”

rhythm: 3.5 voice: 3.5 lyrics: 4

catchiness: 4 originality: 4 song variety: 4.5

As one of the lesser-recognized rappers out there, Despot, otherwise known as Alec Reinstein, from Queens, N.Y., merges mainstream rap with fresh lyrics and varied beats. Although he has collaborated with relatively more famous groups like Ratatat, Despot’s own work is far from traditional. Despot mixes up his backbone of strong beats with interesting pauses and superb flow. His music evokes a feeling of toughness through intriguing, empowering lyrics. While his beats may be attention grabbing at first, his songs can become repetitive and monotonous. His bold New York accent adds character to his image, but can also be distracting. Additionally, the beats and synthesizers drown out his rap, forcing him to Popular song: “Google Female Rapper” yell over the music. Even though Reinstein has been in the rap and music scene for a while, he does not have The spiritual content of Kellee Maize’s songs sets her many released or professionally recorded songs, and apart from traditional rappers. Maize, a Pennsylvanian artist deserves much more credit and attention for his who is the No. 1 female rapper on Amazon, mixes traditional personal twist on conventional rap. rap with unconventional background music and beats. Maize takes the creative route with lyrical choices deeper than expletive rhythm: 4 catchiness: 3.5 and drug-ridden frat rap. Although her distinctive tone differentivoice: 4 originality: 3.5 ates herself from other rappers, her music sounds a bit gimmicky lyrics: 3.5 song variety: 3.5 and preachy. It is too obvious that she is trying to stray from the clichés of sex and partying by opting for the environment, third eyes, yoga and extraterrestrial dimensions. Unfortunately, her songs drone on for too long, and the originally fresh beat and background effects lose their luster.

Kellee Maize

rhythm: 3 voice: 3.5 lyrics: 3.5

catchiness: 3 originality: 4 song variety: 4 31

FEATURES

Rolling into the Future ELECTRIC LONGBOARD TO BE RELEASED IN MARCH

Text by DANIELA IVEY Photography by DANIELA IVEY and as credited

CRUISING ALONG Paly sophomore Alyssa Takahashi rides her longboard around campus

32

N

EXT UP IN THE media ring... Weighing in at a whopping 12 pounds and measuring an astounding 45 inches long. Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please: It is the transportation of the future.

Of course, the term “transportation of the future” has been thrown around quite a bit. Take the Segway — it’s hard to believe that such an awkward-looking vehicle (a constant target for shameless mall cop jokes) was once venerated as technologically savvy enough to slowly roll us into a new era.

And yet, according to rave reviews, and the outstanding support of the public, this time is different. This time, you can zoom up hills with two brushless motors, perform an aerial kickflip and whiz past traffic, all while maintaining a 20-mph speed for up to six miles. The new Boosted Board, an electric longboard, promises all this and more.

The concept of an electric longboard is nothing new; the idea has been tried and tried again for years now, with brands such as Altered and Exkate.

When you think about it, the coinage itself

doesn’t even take much thought. handling or feel while carving.”

Yet as we have seen time and again, And the icing on the cake? If prethe genius of inventing lies in taking a ordered on their website (boostedboards. great-yet-obvious idea and molding it com), it can arrive at your doorstep as early into a more convenient, spiffy-looking as March. and compact form. This, people, is what Some Palo Alto High School students, makes the big bucks, and Stanford en- however, express concern over tarnishing gineering students Sanjay Dastoor, Matt originality in the re-invented longboard.

Tran and John Ulmen have done just this “I think the concept of it is cool, but by creating the Boosted Board. the whole point and feel to it is ruined,” So what exactly did they do to earn sophomore longboarder Alyssa Takahashi such appraising reviews and support? says. “Longboards are for days when the “John Ulmen, one of the co-found- tide is too low, but you still want to have ers, designed the the free feeling of first prototype,” being on a wave; Dastoor says. “He there are so many “Longboards are for was looking for a simple perfections days when the tide is way to get around ruined.” campus and realTakahashi extoo low, but you still ized that the elecpresses concern want to have the free tric skateboards over the fitness facfeeling of being on a that were currently tor as well. wave.” on the market used “I think creat­— Alyssa Takahashi, junior ing an electric board previous-generation motors and would spread the batteries, and he laziness that already thought he could make one that was lighter exists in our society to the longboarding and faster.” community, probably making them fatter Lighter and faster indeed. According too,” she says. to the Boosted Board website, snazzy new Junior Kyle Fisher says he has been features include motors that can push you loyal to the longboard since he knew what with 2.6-horsepower, regenerative braking the word loyal meant. However, he finds used to recharge the battery while moving, the improvements refreshing. lithium batteries which can be recharged “I don’t think it’s ruining the originalin two hours, fueling six miles of use, and ity of the longboard,” Fisher says. “I think to top it all off, what makes us couch po- it’s taking the concept to new levels and tato Americans drool with happiness: an making it more useful.” advanced wireless controller. Really, it’s Nevertheless, Fisher has concerns straight out of a Star Trek episode. Want over pricing. At $1,200, this is one expenmore? sive longboard.

For all the energy-conscious out there “It’ll go down, or else people like me worried about carbon footprints, don’t get won’t be able to afford them,” Fisher says. your hemp panties in a twist. If the board “A huge market would be cut out.” is charged once a day, the total electricity Coming to the rescue, of course, are usage amounts to less than $5 a year for the founders, who express their focus on more than 2000 miles of use. lowering the overall price.

New additions aside, inventors say the “We are looking to raise money so original longboard concept has not been that we can scale this up and bring our thrown away. manufacturing cost down so that we can “John tried as hard as possible not to make a profit,” Dastoor says. mess with the great qualities of the long“We have big plans for where we’re board, like the flexible deck and the feel taking both our longboard design and our of the trucks,” Dastoor says. “So the trans- lightweight drivetrain technology, but I formation was minimal, only adding four can’t talk about them yet,” he says with a pounds of weight and not changing the smile. v

The Pieces

Regenerative braking Energy is extracted from the parts, and then braked, stored and reused

Handheld control Wii-style wireless controller comes with each board

20 mph motors Double the power to go up to 20 mph for 6 miles

Scan the QR code to view Boosted Board videos.

Photos courtesy of BOOSTED BOARDS

FEATURES

OUT OF HOUSE BUT NOT HOME MORE THAN JUST A LETTER BEHIND THE SCENES STRETCHING THE TRADITIONAL REPAIR CAFE A FILM FESTIVAL’S FAVORITE TEENAGER Photo by ANGELA XU

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A SAFE HAVEN The Opportunity Center helps those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

OUT OF HOUSE BUT NOT HOME

WITH HOMELESSNESS RATES ON THE RISE, DISPLACED PALO ALTANS SEEK SHELTER FROM LOCAL CENTERS Text by KATIE EBINGER with additional reporting by SAVANNAH CORDOVA Photography by HANAKO GALLAGHER and SAVANNAH CORDOVA

I

T IS 9 P.M. ON A THURSDAY NIGHT. Most places in Palo Alto have closed up shop, but the All Saints Church on Waverley and Hamilton is just opening its doors. A small group of people congregates outside, waiting for the church doors to open.

“How about those Giants?” one man remarks from the semidarkness.

“Yeah, we really had a great season,” I reply.

He chuckles and sits down on a bench outside the church’s entryway. I continue past him and into the building, which has been converted into the Hotel de Zink homeless shelter for the night.

The scent of roast beef and mashed potatoes warms me as I step inside from the rainy night. Several volunteers set up mattresses on the floor, preparing for the guests who will eat dinner and spend the night.

A woman in a bright pink sweatshirt approaches me and inquires about my presence. We have a pleasant conversation about the weather before I speak with a staff member on duty named Chris Driscoll, who works for InnVision Shelter Network [IVSN], which recently incorporated the Hotel de Zink program in order to maximize the effectiveness of both agendas.

“Every month, we have 12 churches in the community that volunteer, and every month for 30 days or so, we live on their grounds,” Driscoll says of Hotel de Zink. “At 9 p.m. we open up…

We usually have about 15 guests. We are never below 13 or 12.”

The InnVision Shelter Network extends help to homeless and at-risk people across the Bay Area via programs like Hotel de Zink.

According to IVSN’s website, the network aims to help homeless families and individuals across Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Peninsula by providing financial and residential security and means of getting back into the working world.

Kelty Spencer, the communications director for the InnVision Shelter Network, explains the purpose of the newly merged organizations in her own words. “[The mission of] IVSN is to help homeless individuals and families gain permanent housing and become self-sufficient,” Spencer says. “We serve 20,000 clients just in the Bay Area. So we now provide services for homeless and at-risk individuals, in San Mateo County and Santa Clara County.”

According to a report filed last September by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the unhoused population in the U.S. could increase by nearly 75,000 in just three years. Fortunately,

IVSN and Hotel de Zink provide guests with plenty of resources to get back on their feet.

Cynthia, one such guest, relates her positive experiences while staying at the shelter. She has been a lodger at Hotel de Zink for the past three weeks and is grateful for the food and quarters she has received.

“It’s a roof over my head,” Cynthia, whose last name has been withheld to protect her identity, says. “It takes a lot of the stress off.” Cynthia has been homeless since April, after the death of her husband left her grief-stricken and with nowhere to go.

When the pain of her husband’s recent death became unbearable, she began drinking, which led her to end her search for an apartment and resort to life on the street.

“I started drinking, which is not a good thing,” Cynthia says.

“No, that’s never a good thing.”

Cynthia is disabled and, after a fall she took a few months ago, is now blind in one eye as well. Finding work has proven difficult, even with the help of her case manager, whom she “You have to help meets with every yourself, but they week at the Oppordo push you in that tunity Center, a salmon-colored building direction, and that’s that provides ameniextremely importies and counseling tant.” services to homeless ­— Jeff Talley, Palo Alto Palo Altans.

Downtown Streets Team Together, Cynthia and her case member manager work to find Cynthia a stable source of income, and she has recently resumed her search for an apartment. In spite of her difficult circumstances, Cynthia remains cheerful. Over the course of our conversation, she laughs at her own self-deprecating remarks and even manages to work up a smile when talking about some of the hardest times in her life.

“Nothing is going to get me down,” Cynthia says, “I may be homeless, but nothing is going to get me down.”

In her temporary home at the All Saints Church, Cynthia and her fellow guests come into the church at 9 p.m. sharp for a meal and place to sleep.

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MULTITASKING Sally Cadigan, an IVSN volunteer, talks about Hotel de Zink while preparing food for the night’s guests.

“We open up, they get a good meal [and] they sleep,” Driscoll fortune has not been easy. says. [At] 6 a.m. we wake up, we do chores, we make sure every“I started losing hope,” Talley says. “Once you get on the thing is clean. They make themselves a meal for the day… We streets, it’s hard to get off. I fell down a couple times, [but DST] always try to keep the refrigerator stocked so they can pack a bag didn’t give up on me.” for the day.”

Talley praises organizations in Palo Alto that tackle homelessAnother organization collaborating with IVSN is the Down- ness. His friends in other cities receive little to no support in their town Streets Team [DST], which works to combat homelessness fights against homelessness. by restoring confidence in individuals and giving them work clean“Other places don’t care,” Talley says. “Palo Alto takes it on ing up the streets of cities around the Bay Area. with a reality.”

Jeff Talley, a formerly homeless man who has been in permaAnd DST does not help unconditionally — the program ennent housing since 2008, shares the story of his past and how he courages all of its participants to put in their fair share of effort. became involved with DST. “You have to help yourself, but they do Prior to joining DST, Talley drifted push you in that direction, and that’s extremely in and out of homelessness for 10 years. important,” Talley says.

“It’s a roof over my Holding a long-term job proved challengIt’s not all hard work and desperation, head… it takes a lot ing because of his undiagnosed bipolar though, especially for those involved in IVSN. disorder.

“I haven’t had any bad nights,” one of the stress off.”

“I didn’t know why I had [a] probwoman says of Hotel de Zink. “And since I’m ­— Cynthia, a regular guest lem,” Talley says. “Joining the Streets homeless, I have more time to enjoy the little of Hotel de Zink Team was a big improvement. It helped things… like sunrises and sunsets.” with psychiatrists and psychologists.”

For those who want to help out, SpenHe explains that the high success rate of DST can be attrib- cer urges teen involvement with the homeless community. Indeed, uted not only to its help with food and shelter, but also because it with the ever-increasing population of those being successfully creates a sense of accountability and greater self-assurance among served by IVSN and Hotel de Zink, the programs would love any members. Talley says, after being on the streets for a while, “it’s of the help they can get. hard to become responsible for your actions.”

“I know some high schools can kind of find working with the At the Opportunity Center, where Talley works, he has more homeless population kind of intimidating… but it is a really remanageable hours, which helps keep his anxiety in check. Talley warding experience,” Spencer says. “There’s so much they can do, has lived in an apartment above the Opportunity Center since so they really shouldn’t be intimidated at all. If they have any inter2008. Although he’s back on his feet these days, his path to good est in volunteering, we can find a way to incorporate them.” v

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FEATURES

MORE THAN JUST A

LETTER

TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS TAKE TIME AND CHARACTER Text by SOO SONG Photography by CHARU SRIVASTAVA You don’t want to be that one kid. It’s October, the Early Decision deadline is a week away, and you still haven’t asked a teacher for a recommendation letter.

If you could do it again (or if you’re a junior just about to start), where does the quest for good — if not stellar — rec letters begin?

In one place: relationships.

The Gamed Relationship Paradox For students like James, who does not wish to be identified by his real name, relationships with certain teachers have never come naturally.

“I tried to form good relationships with teachers, [but it] didn’t always work out,” he says. “I wouldn’t say [my relationship] is fake, but I am TA’ing for both my rec writers, so I wouldn’t know,” he says. To stay on the safe side, James decided to take both Teaching Practicum and an elective taught by one of his rec writers.

Actions by students like James reflect the pressure to “game” relationships and the recletter process, something that teachers like Humanities and English teacher Lucy Filppu firmly oppose.

“I’m starting to feel like some students just suck up to you,” Filppu says.

“But they have their whole lives to build those kind of fake relationships, and I’m not interested.”

Like many teachers, she believes that people cannot build genuine relationships on the expectation of what they may bring you.

“Some students need to learn the art of relationships,” Filppu says. “Which means you’re just you, present, and enjoying the class.”

But even with the best of intentions, it’s difficult to distinguish between fake and genuine connections.

“That’s really hard: How do you plan for

40

authenticity?” English teacher and upper“When I was trying to think of teachclassmen teacher adviser Erin Angell says. ers to request for a rec letter, I thought “There’s something of the classes in that’s almost counterwhich I asked the intuitive about saying most questions ‘Let’s try to game reand participated “There’s something lationships.’” the most in class,” that’s almost For others, the senior Yoko Kadistinction between counterintuitive about nai says. “Those picking teachers and teachers tend to saying ‘Let’s try to “grooming” them for be the ones who game relationships.’” a rec has rarely been know me best as a ­— Erin Angell, student.” of concern.

English teacher and “I don’t think For classes it’s so much the that don’t have as upperclassmen teacher students gaming the much built-in dissystem, as much the cussion, however, reality of what they have to do to get into getting the teacher to know you well can college,” math teacher Kathy Bowers says. be harder.

“Teenagers are teenagers. I don’t know if AP Chemistry teacher Carolina Sylthe teenage brain can think that far ahead vestri believes that these personal relationand be that manipulative in a year.” ships should be partly initiated by teachers, Many students develop these genuine so that they can find out more about each relationships with teachers through their student. effort, in-class participation, and enthusi“For me as a teacher, it is always asm about the subject. one of my objectives to get into a good,

positive teacher relationship with each student,” Sylvestri says. “I enjoy doing it.”

A letter doesn’t equal good letters

When it comes to solid letters of recommendation, character matters more than grades.

Recommendation letters may seem easier to attain when you have solid grades consistently or participate actively.

But will having lower grades or staying quiet in class hurt your chances of a good letter?

For the most part, teachers say no.

According to Filppu, the way kids treat others, the attitudes they bring, and the insight they offer in class say much more than an “A.” “If you’re a B student or maybe you’ve had some errors, don’t ever think you can’t ask a teacher for letters,” Filppu says. “It’s my pleasure to write letters for kids who maybe don’t have stellar transcripts, but have been good people, been respectful, and have brought a ton into the Paly community.”

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times signal how much effort a student puts into the class, teachers say they look beyond it when writing recommendations.

“There are students who are smart ­— that’s a given — but what beyond that allows me to distinguish them?” says AP United States History teacher and upperclassmen TA John Bungarden. “That’s what you look for.”

To teachers like Sylvestri, this kind of insight also doesn’t have to come from speaking up in class.

She regards being quiet or discussing the subject with the teacher privately to be just as valuable as actively participating in class discussions.

“I’ve learned over the years to respect the silence of some of my students because the ‘quiet type’ is a very interesting type,” Sylvestri says. “I try to figure out ‘they’re quiet but…’ The ‘but’ is also important.

There is a lot of value to silence.”

An anonymous teacher suggests that quiet or struggling students initiate a conversation with the teacher and figure out a situation that works for them.

“If they feel uncomfortable participating in class or working in class with someone, they should have a conversation with the teacher,” she says. “A teacher can’t read a student’s mind. The more a student can be open, the more the teacher can help.”

She agrees that low grades should not deter students from asking for a letter, as long as it’s clear that the student tried his best.

With all teachers, it’s clear that grades do not guarantee a great letter of recommendation.

“If you take up space in the class, but don’t bring anything, why should I write you a letter?” Filppu says. “You didn’t add to our community. They are about your character, not necessarily about your academic performance.”

Does everyone get a yes?

While asking for a letter can take less than five minutes for students, writing the actual recommendation can take hours or days.

“The biggest issue with the recs is that they take a lot of time,” Bowers says. “I don’t put a cap or say no, but I can fully understand why other teachers would, just like I can understand why students need them.”

Bowers says she really “feels for the

42

students in the process,” and wants to help opt to finish during the summer, fall holidays or free periods. as much as possible.

“You can take a ‘buy back day’ when She took on 60 letters of recommendation last year, including 30 as an adviser you stay home and write,” Angell says. “But you’ll probably get and 30 as a teachthrough, at most, er. six letters, which On average, isn’t much when each of her let“There are students you’re writing 20.” ters require three who are smart ­— that’s T headminishours to write. a given — but what tration has recently But to some, tried to honor anything over 30 beyond that allows me teachers who write recommendations to distinguish them?” is outrageous. ­— John Bungarden, more letters, giving “I do conthose who take on AP U.S. History teacher 30 or more a couple sider it a huge labor of love,” Filof days off to work. ppu says. “I don’t However, most template-ize the whole thing. To look up advisers still place a limit on the number of the student’s stuff, to look up the student’s people they will write for. papers, and think back on what I can say “I cap typically at 20 because I’m also a about them — each letter can take a lot TA,” Angell says. “ I just can’t do an infinite of time.” number. I will not write a letter of rec if it The time cuts into time usually invest- will not be a glowing letter of rec.” ed in family, outside obligations or lesson Bungarden, who doesn’t cap, offers a plans for regular classes. different perspective.

Without hours carved out in their days “At this school, you get really good to complete all the letters, most teachers students who have college ambitions,” he

“If you take up space in the class, but don’t bring anything, why should I write you a letter? They are about your character, not necessarily your academic performance.” ­— Lucy Filppu, Humanities teacher

says. “Part of the deal is you’re called upon to write more letters. But if I was a younger teacher with other responsibilities and wrote rec letters outside of everything else, I would understand it’s time taken away from the rest of your life.”

For some students, however, such limits are far from desirable.

“I would like for them to not have caps, but that’s completely from a student’s perspective,” senior Thomas Zhao says. “I know that some teachers who have reputations for writing good letters of recommendation do not have caps on the amount of letters that they write and are able to finish them all.”

With the issue of turning down students, another question also pops up: Do teachers ever say no because the student isn’t “qualified?”

The response is mixed; some teachers only take a couple of requests every year, while others refuse to write letters that are simply mediocre or neutral.

“If I can’t write [the student] a letter of recommendation that’s going to be really positive, then I encourage them to go find somebody else,” Angell says.

Many students see this policy as beneficial and justifiable.

“If a teacher doesn’t think he can write a student a good rec letter based on lack of information or bad impression, then the teacher would be doing a disservice to the student by [writing a letter and] jeopardizing his chances of getting in,” Kanai says.

But teachers like Bowers recognize the challenges students have finding and asking teachers for recs.

“I’ll write for any kid who needs one,” she says. “I’m not going to base it on an arbitrary number that I write, or how well I know the kid.”

Sylvestri offers similar thoughts.

“If they ask me, I will do it,” she says.

“I’m thrilled to do it. To me, to be a part of their steps to college, I feel honored.”

Be real: advice from the writers Whether you know it or not, teachers notice the little things.

“Be very conscious of how you treat others and your teacher,” Filppu says.

“Don’t think we’re always watching you, but I’m very observant and I see a good kid a mile away. Even if they’re sloppy, or

ridiculous or fail a quiz — who cares?”

Angell advises students to ask someone who has either seen them excel academically, or someone they have genuinely clicked with.

“You should pick a teacher who, at minimum, you feel like you did some really good academic work for,” she says, emphasizing the importance of participation and edification of other students in class. “The other is [one] you feel you’ve made a personal connection with.”

Timing, which some seniors have struggled with, is also key.

“Everyone says it, but ask early!”

Zhao says. “Colleges can see your academic strength from your transcript, and they want to know what kind of person and student you are, so ask teachers who know you and the kind of student that you are and who will speak highly of you.”

In the end, three important pieces of advice stick: Be real. Find someone who will be enthusiastic about you. And finally, don’t worry about getting a “bad” rec letter.

“What we try to do in a letter is highlight the stuff that’s good,” Bungarden says. “There’s always something.” v

43

FEATURES

STRETCHING THE TRADI CLASSES AT PALY YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT Text by SAMANTHA DEWEES Photography by CHARU SRIVASTAVA

E

ACH YEAR AT THE start of spring, Palo Alto High School students are faced with the important decision of choosing their classes for the coming year. Paly’s wide range of electives allows for much creatitivity in laying out a new schedule. Aside from conventional courses, Paly offers a variety of unusual classes, including Foreign Policy, Stage Technology, Music Theory, American Sign Language and Multivariable Calculus. Here is a breakdown of a few unique courses students might not know about.

Foreign Policy Foreign Policy, a single-semester history elective, focuses on American foreign policy and international relations. Taught

by Adam Yonkers, this class covers topics

44

such as foreign aid, international trade and present-day foreign policy dilemmas.

Jessica Feinberg, a junior, finds the class fascinating.

“I’ve always been really interested in history and politics, and since Foreign Policy is the combination of both it seemed like the perfect class to take,” Feinberg says.

Junior Alice Read agrees. She appreciates the class’ focus on current events.

“I love that we study current political issues, as opposed to other history classes, where the problem happened and was resolved hundreds of years ago,” Read says.

“It makes it easier to relate to the events and be more interested in the outcome, since they can affect us personally.”

Senior Elena Pinsker also enjoys the relevance of what she is learning.

“Unlike some other classes, I’ve never

once questioned why we learn what we learn because it is directly applicable to what is happening in politics and what is in the news right now,” Pinsker says.

According to Pinsker, Read, and Feinberg, the workload for Foreign Policy is generally manageable, and for anyone interested in politics or history, it is a great class to take.

“It’s a very conversational-style class with a lot of talking back and forth, which I think is a really fun style of learning,” Pinsker says.

Stage Tech Stage Technology, an after-school elective held on Mondays in the theater, is supervised by Paly’s theater director, Kathleen Woods.

Students are only required to attend the class once a week for two hours, but

BACKSTAGE Sophomore Katherine Craig works hard in the theatre workshop in preparation for Paly’s fall play, “The Crucible.”

ITIONAL they have the option droppping in and working in the theatre whenever it is open.

Additionally, students can repeat this class every year.

Henry Wilen, a junior, has participated backstage in the Paly theater since his freshman year. Wilen works mostly in stage lighting and enjoys contributing to the shows.

“I really love the creative outlet it allows,” Wilen says. “I do a lot of light design, so I get to analyze the script for a show, come up with a series of looks in my head, and then work to realize the design.”

Junior Caroline Johnson says that Stage Tech has provided her with a way to express her creativity and socialize with others of similar interests.

“I found a productive outlet for my creativity in theater, and I found the people who do it to be rather agreeable with my

personality,” Johnson says.

Stage Tech, according to Wilen, doesn’t often have graded assignments, and one can decide how much work they would like to put into the class.

“The workload completely depends on how involved you want to be,” Wilen says.

Johnson enjoys the sense of responsibility the class has to offer.

“I like how creative it is, and how selfmotivated it is,” Johnson says. “You can work hard and go far, or just do it for passive fun.”

Wilen believes Stage Tech to be a great class for anyone interested in theater, art, design, or technology.

“It’s very fulfilling, and anybody who is vaguely technically minded would enjoy it,” Wilen says. “There is always something oddly therapeutic about taking out some power tools and reminding a piece of wood of its place in the world.”

AP Music Theory AP Music Theory, taught by Michael Najar, is designed for students who have some experience in music and are interested in expanding their knowledge. This class focuses on topics including reading music, chord structure, ear training and harmonies.

Cayla Wanderman-Milne, a junior who plays clarinet in the Paly band, enjoys AP Music Theory. She mentions that an up-side of the class is that it doesn’t have a big workload.

“The class definitely just focuses on learning about and experiencing music, not being hard for the sake of being hard,” Wanderman-Milne says.

Wanderman-Milne notes that AP Music theory is a good class for anyone who is interested in music, especially those in band or choir. She says that the class is “absolutely worth taking.”

American Sign Language American Sign Language, or ASL, is a language course taught by Magdalena Rivera and offered as an alternative to auditory language classes at Paly.

Junior Sophia Howard, who has been taking ASL since her freshman year, can attest to the power of learning a new way to express oneself.

“I liked the idea of expressing words

without using speech,” Howard says. “I also work outside of school with kids with special needs, and often times the kids have a hard time formulating words and ASL is a useful alternative for communication.”

According to Howard, ASL is a heavily interactive class. A classroom activity she enjoys that makes use of ASL’s opportunity for interaction involves choosing a song to sign.

“Everyone gets to pick a song to translate and then you sign your song to the class and try to keep to beat and use proper notation,” she explains.

Howard recommends ASL for anyone who is interested in acting or studying a non-spoken language.

“I think it is a great alternative to a spoken language and is worth trying,” Howard says. “I especially think that it is great for people who like to act or are in theater, because you are mostly acting during class. And you must use a lot of facial expressions in order to communicate the information.”

Multivariable Calculus Multivariable Calculus, a new class added to the math department this year, serves as an on-campus option for students who have completed BC Calculus, the highest-level math class that Paly previously offered.

Taught by Judy Choy, Multivariable Calculus is held everyday during zero period, and is available for both Paly and Gunn students.

Junior Grace Lin, who took BC Calculus as a freshman, had to commute to Stanford for advanced math classes last year and is pleased with Paly’s decision to add a new course.

“I think it’s a great decision,” Lin says.

“It is easier for most students than commuting to Stanford.”

According to Lin, there were about 15 post-BC Calculus students involved in the Stanford math program last year, and this number has been expanding for the past few years.

“There were an increasing number of post-BC students, and before, they were able to either take AP Stats, take Stanford math, or community college classes,” Lin says. “But this year, there were enough students to open a post-BC class at Paly for Paly and Gunn students.” v

45

Behind the scenes ACTORS, TECH CREW AND MAKEUP ARTISTS AT WORK Text and Photography by CHARU SRIVASTAVA

P

ALTO HIGHschool theater students are enacting Arthur Miller’s Tony Award winning American classic, “The Crucible,” this week. The play depicts the conflicts during The Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Mass. Although the play required hours of practice from the actors, many unsung heroes back-stage also played their own role in making this event a success.

They devoted time on the weekends and before the actors arrived, painting the stage, building sets, sorting out props and costumes and more.

“There would be no show without techs,” says Paige Esterly, an actor and techie. “There would only be actors standing on the street with no costumes, props, sets or makeup. It just isn’t a show [without the techs].”

The last performance of “The Crucible” is at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 9 in the Haymarket Theater. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. v

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LEFT: Junior Caroline Johnson paints a sign for opening night.

ABOVE: Juniors Isaac Benque and Freddy Kellison-Linn drill part of a set.

TOP RIGHT: Junior Aaron Slipper performs during rehersals.

RIGHT: Senior Leah Bleich dances on stage.

BELOW: Makeup artist Chris Mahle transforms senior Emma Levine Sporer into a maiden of the 19th century.

47

FEATURES

FIXING THE COMMUNITY ONE ITEM AT A TIME Text and Photography by ANGELA XU

C

ONCEALED IN THE back of the Palo Alto Museum of American Heritage, a new non-profit organization advertises its presence with a sign labeled “Repair Café” on the sidewalk in front.

“Toss it? No way!” the sign says.

Repair Café is a place of resurrections, a hospital for broken items and a haven for the owners who have no idea how to fix them.

Peter Skinner, the organizer for Repair Café, oversaw the first Repair Café meeting on Oct. 14. Regular hours have not yet been officially declared.

“It depends really on demand, on availability of space and on what sort of interest there is in the community for doing this kind of thing,” Skinner says.

The next local Repair Café will open in February of next year.

People carry in broken household items to a registration table where their names, addresses and items are recorded.

Then they join the queue of bewildered yet hopeful visitors.

The concept of Palo Alto’s Repair Café began in May of this year when Skinner read an article on a group in Amster-

48

dam, also called “the Repair Café,” whose “I decided I would try to come over main goal was to help people repair basic and see what I could do to help people household items fix bikes and other with the aid of volthings,” Kabat says. unteers.

“My [specialty] is “I read this arbicycles. I really ticle and I thought, enjoy trying to help Palo Alto needs one more people enjoy of these,” Skinner their bike riding so says over the roar I like helping keep of a newly-repaired their bikes running lawn mower. “I well.” looked around and I Similar to tried to find someKabat, the volthing like it. I spent unteers of Repair a couple of months Café range from putting this organieveryday people zation together, colwho just want to lecting volunteers help the commuand finding space.” nity to experienced Skinner, along handymen like the with his friends, Bob volunteers from Wenzlau and John Palo Alto Ace WHEEL TIME WORKING Eaton, started the Hardware.

Volunteer Tom Kabat fixes a organization.

According to bike at the Repair Café.

A volunteer, Skinner, Ace proTom Kabat, came vides staff and in after Repair Café supplies. They also contacted him in a mass email that was helped Skinner obtain the location Repair sent to locate potential volunteers.

Café currently occupies.

UNITED STATES MUNICIPAL SOLID GARBAGE YIELD AMOUNT

232 million tons in 2000

32.2% 15.7%

The larger goal of facilitating repairs, according to Skinner, is to encourage individuals to repair their broken items themselves without requiring assistance from anyone else.

“Part of this exercise is getting people comfortable with the notion of tackling that fix-it problem instead of saying, you know, I can’t do that, I don’t know how to start, I’m just going to throw it away and buy something new,” Skinner says.

Jo Ann Arneson, a client who has benefited from Repair Café’s philosophy, brought in an Asian lamp that had broken four months ago by falling over.

“I didn’t know where to take it, and I don’t have any friends that are handy,” Arneson says.

Another person in need of aid was Vidur Apparao, who brought in a broken laptop bag along with his two young children. He hoped to teach the next generation something about repairing rather than replacing.

“I wanted to expose them to the idea of being able to fix things rather than throw things away. I think kids today especially don’t necessarily see that,” Apparao says.

“I really hope that they understand that if things don’t work, they don’t automatically

250 million tons in 2010

Thrown away containers and packaging Durable goods (furniture, home appliances and electronics)

30.3% 19.6%

This data was collected by the Environmental Protection Agency which evaluated the amount of trash collected in 2000 and 2010.

have to buy new things to replace them,” get shoved to the side and thrown away.”

Skinner also hopes that Repair Café Kabat, the bike volunteer says. “That saves energy and cuts down on greenhouse gas will help change a common approach to emissions. Especially to the extent where what he sees as abandoning focus on big we are fixing nice benign technologies like universal problems. bicycles and hand “I have this phitools and things losophy that we’re in like that are polluan era where there’s no “I wanted to expose tion savers.” appetite for big public them [my children] In the event policies to solve our to the idea of bethat an item canbig social and environing able to fix things not be fixed, Remental problems and pair Café helps the that the way we have to rather than throw owner figure out do it is we have to rely things away. I think the safest way to on a lot of local activkids today especially dispose of their ity,” Skinner says. don’t necessarily see item.

“This is a small that.”

“If somebody group of people workhas something we ing in a small universe ­ — Vidur Apparao, trying to fix a small Repair Café client can’t fix, we send them to the Grepart of the problem, enWaste table and but if we can do this and succeed, and it grows, we can [then] [they’ll] help tell them how best to dispose start nibbling away at [a] part of the prob- of it,” Skinner says.

As the day ends and volunteers busily lem.”

In addition to keeping appliances out finish their repairs, a bright beacon of light appears at a table. A volunteer steps back of the landfills, Repair Café also aims to and holds out a symbol of Repair Cafe’s cut down pollution and energy use.

“Repair Café is helping fix things to mission, Arneson’s fixed lamp, glowing keep them out of the landfills so we don’t brightly. v

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A FILM FESTIVAL’S

FAVORITE TEENAGER

AN ASPIRING FILMMAKER’S WORK WITH THE LOCAL FILM FESTIVAL Text by CLAIRE LIU Photography by CLAIRE LIU and SHARON TSENG Design by SHARON TSENG

A

matte black lens zooms in and out, swiftly and strategically turning in all directions. The camera captures film directors, the modern environment at Palo Alto’s Talenthouse and the fascinated expressions of Palo Alto International Film Festival spectators.

Behind the camera is Palo Alto High School sophomore, Jack Brook. Brook is an aspiring teenage filmmaker, who is described as a “creative storyteller” with “organic passion” by his mother.

He has always enjoyed writing, watching good movies and creating humorous videos for his classes. In recent years, a curiosity for more sophisticated film-making, yet another medium for him to channel his creative energy, began to develop.

While taking video production courses at Palo Alto High

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School with Ron Williamson, Brook’s skill and grasp of film-making concepts began quickly strengthening.

“Jack is a very creative kid whose work is not only comprehensive, but often above and beyond what is asked for,” Williamson says. “He is someone who is genuinely interested in the subject of film, not just a student looking to complete an assignment and pass the class.” Brook is a “true risk-taker” and very familiar with conceptual techniques, allowing him to “experiment with film at higher and more sophisticated levels,” Williamson adds.

By taking initiative, proving his deep interest and maintaining consistent work ethic, Brook has landed himself a gig in which he is quickly advancing his filmmaking skills. After a summer spent on the Palo Alto International Film Festival’s Youth Jury, watching and selecting youth films for the event, Brook decided to

BEHIND THE CAMERA (left) Brook sets up an interview with Brian Knappenberger, director of “We Are Legion: The Story of The Hacktivists.” dive deeper with community film opportunities. After contacting PAIFF staff, he was given the opportunity to continue his participation during the actual festival.

On the last day of the PAIFF, Brook is swamped with events and interviews to film.

Around his neck, Brook wears an official press badge dangling off a cloth lanyard. This gives him full access to all events — VIP parties and movie showings. He totes around two large black bags, containing the video camera and tripod lent to him through an internship with the Media Center. In exchange for equipment, Jack will share all his PAIFF footage with the Media Center.

“I’ve learned to keep an open mind and think about the future,” Brook says. “I choose opportunities that interest me but will actually teach me about the industry. I’m hoping that after this I’ll still be able to stay involved, maybe even get an internship with the organization.”

The film festival provides Brook not only inside access, but also helpful connections and the chance to explore advanced filmmaking.

“I get to film interviews and behind-the-scenes pieces,” Brook says. “I’m meeting incredible people.”

Just two days prior, Brook grabbed Dennis Muren, winner of eight Visual Effects Oscar awards and the special effects artist of “E.T.,” to ask a few questions for his behind the scenes interview.

This was during the PAIFF’s 30th anniversary showing of “E.T.” “Crazy things like that teach me good interviewing skills and how to maintain calm even when talking to these famous people,” Brook says, as he leads the way from the Aquarius Theatre to Talenthouse on High Street.

Talenthouse, an employment agency for up-and-coming artists of all kinds, is hosting a PAIFF talk that is open to the public. Seated up front is a panel of film industry professionals: Josh Stern, the director of “Jobs” (a film on Steve Jobs) and San Francisco film commissioners. They discuss the concepts of the film and the reasoning behind filming in the Bay Area.

While the crowd listens and the filmmakers speak, Brook, the only teenager in the building, begins his work. He unzips his bags, sets up his camera and prepares his tripod to begin filming. His eyes wander back and forth, taking in the scene and considering all his options. Brook looks to a flat area, a modern design cut into the walls that rests almost as high as the ceiling.

“I’m thinking I should set my Go-Pro camera up there,” Brook says. “I’ll be able to film the whole scene from up top. This talk will eventually end, and then I’ll capture the next and the one after that. Then, there will be a party that I’ll be able to film too.”

His ideas don’t stop there. Brook spots Brian Knappenberger, director of “We Are Legion: The Story of The Hacktivists,” a film shown the previous evening.

“I’m going to try and interview him,” Brook says, quickly gathering his equipment. “Hopefully he’ll say yes. That’d be pretty

cool.”

Moments later, Brook and Knappenberger are socializing in front of Talenthouse. Brook moves the camera and hands him a microphone. Brook asks Knappenberger questions, even gently guiding him during the interview. One could say Brook is directing a director, and successfully doing so.

“Thanks for the interview, I hope you have a great rest of the film festival,” Brook says to Knappenberger as they wrap up.

Brook packs his equipment and prepares to head out, when a woman rushes over.

“You should stay for another 25 minutes,” she says. “Does that work for you? We want you to interview the panel when this event is over.”

Brook accepts this duty and quickly rushes out to tell his grandma to pick him up later.

“Participating with the festival can be pretty stressful because it’s time consuming and I really want to do a good job with what they ask of me,” Brook says. “But I know it’s worth it. I get the chance to work with a film event in a community that celebrates science and innovation. I really feel like I’m in the right place at the right time. I want this to be a big part of my life for the next few years.”

An adult volunteer turns and grins.

“When Jack went to get his camera and tripod, I told that director [Brian Knappenberger], ‘This kid is just the nicest boy ever,’” she says. “Isn’t he so creative? He is too sweet. The teens this year are so refreshing and professional. I’m totally impressed.”

PAIFF staff member, Alf Seccombe, says the festival hopes to accelerate efforts in the democratization of film, for the world and for specifically young people. They carry this goal out by providing activities for local teenagers, the jury and press team — both of which Brook participates in.

“Youth are the filmmakers of the future,” Seccombe says, looking towards Brook. “They are uninhibited and take risks. They are the ones who dare to challenge art. Therefore, they are the ones who truly define it.” v Editor’s note: This story origionally appeared on the Paly Voice. The writer is a Beginning Journalism student.

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PERSPECTIVES

WHAT THE CANDIDATES NEVER SAID AN EYE FOR AN EYE WAITING ON WHEELS THE MINORITY SCAPEGOAT DOG ATE MY GRADEBOOK Photo by SHARON COHEN

53 54 56 57 59

S

PERSPECTIVES

IDK

WHAT THE CANDIDATES NEVER SAID Text by SPENCER CARLSON Art by DIANA CONNOLLY

I

DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY we expect our Presidential candidates to have all the answers. As a nation, we do not have all the answers, and yet we demand that these men produce fail-safe solutions to every problem facing the nation.

As this political season comes to a close, one can’t help but suspect that such intelligent men know better than to speak in absolutes. One of these men will have to respond to some of the most monumentous new issues and information of our time, such as climate change, an evolving format for war and shifting geopolitical alliances, but we only ask them about existing issues. We do not get to see their individual decision-making processes.

This is all wrong. America needs to know that the President of this country can effectively make a decision. America needs someone who will evaluate the facts, who will listen to as many arguments as he or she can access and who will then make a qualified and prudent decision independently of his or her party’s demands. America needs debates in which the candidates are asked questions to which he or she must respond, “Based on my current knowledge, I don’t know, but here’s how I would decide.”

By forcing candidates to explain their personal reasoning process on the spot, we would be able to elect great individuals instead of finely tuned party platforms. We would also be able to rest assured that our President will react in the best possible way to new information in a crisis. In defense of Mitt Romney, I do want a candidate who is not afraid to change his or her stance. However, I also want a candidate who changes his or her mind based on that crucial new information, not as a pandering tactic obviously advised by his party.

In the words of former President Bush, “I am the decider.” We need to make sure that our decider is someone who decides well. v

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PERSPECTIVES

LETHAL INJECTION The most common method of execution today, lethal injection is used in all states that use the death penalty as well as Washington D.C., and has been used 1,337 times since 1976.

AN EYE FOR AN EYE AN ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF THE DEATH PENALTY Text by WILL QUEEN Art by HANAKO GALLAGHER

O

NLY A FEW DAYS ago, the State of California voted on Prop. 34, and the future of the death penalty in California was decided.

If the proposition has passed, the death penalty will no longer be legal in California.

This would hurt the justice system because the benefits of the death penalty outweigh any of its problems. While some say it is inhumane and brutal, the death penalty removes terrible people from the earth, people who do not deserve to live because of what they have done.

According to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, 3,170 people were on death row in our nation as of April 1.

On a national scale, the death penalty was illegal for a time. It was abolished in 1972, but was legalized again in 1976.

33 of the 50 states in the United States still actively use the death penalty to punish the most heinous criminals. California has about 12 percent of our country’s population, yet it has 23 percent of our country’s death row inmates.

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Legal methods in the United States vary greatly, including lethal injection (the most widely and prolifically used method), electrocution, gas chamber, hanging or firing squad. The only method legal in California is lethal injection.

One of the several arguments against the death penalty has to do with racism.

Racism in the death penalty is still a legitimate issue, especially in a racially diverse state like California. Stanford Law School professor John Donohue studied discriminatory bias in Connecticut capital cases between 1973 and 2007, and found that minorities who kill Caucasians are three times more likely to get the death penalty than Caucasians who kill Caucasians, and six times more likely to get the death penalty than minorities who kill minorities.

Despite the specificity of the study to Connecticut, it serves as a powerful example. The death penalty has not always been completely fair.

The issue of discrimination in the legal system as a whole is very difficult to tackle, but improvements can always be

made. The sentence of the death penalty should only be given in complete disregard of the race of the defendant so that people don’t receive harsher punishments for the same crimes just because of the color of their skin. It is very important to reform the death penalty because it has the ability to provide immediate justice and closure to the people who have been affected by the murder.

The death of the perpetrator can represent a horrifying period of the victim’s loved ones’ lives coming to a close. They no longer have to live knowing that the person who caused them so much pain is still breathing.

With the possibility of being sentenced to death, it seems that people would be less willing to take part in activities that could result in them losing their life. A rational, relatively mentally sane person might consider the consequences of their actions.

It may not be a total deterrent, but if it prevents even a single person from taking someone’s life, it is worth it.

Some may argue that the death penalty

is more favorable than life in prison for convicted murderers because they don’t have to spend time in prison, and for that reason it should be outlawed.

“They deserve to pay for what they’ve done rather than taking the easy way out,” Palo Alto High School senior Kayli Debacker says.

Other students also argue that it is an unconstitutional punishment. “[The death penalty] is a cruel and unusual punishment, and the Constitution doesn’t allow cruel and unusual punishments,” junior Matt Yang says.

The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that nobody shall be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.

However, the methods of the death penalty are not particularly unusual, and all methods in use today are designed to provide a swift or painless of a death as possible, although there is no way of actually knowing.

In recent years, the main focus of this humanity debate has been the use of lethal injection, the method in use in California.

It was used in 1982 in Texas. The process in the past couple years has involved a three drug cocktail, made of an anesthetic, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

Some argue that being put under intense anesthesia and paralysis could cause the prisoner suffering and terror.

But last year, a different type of drug was introduced in Ohio. Instead of a threedrug cocktail, it involves only one drug, a large dose of anesthetic that shuts down the body.

Supporters of Prop. 34 use the costs of the executions as an argument as well. Since 1976, California has executed 13 people, at a cost of $308 million a prisoner, which is an unacceptable number. With reform, the cost issues could be resolved.

A large amount of money in each execution is spent in legal battles. The lengthy process of appeals should not be held against the idea of the death penalty. The current system, not the idea, needs reform.

Opponents of Prop. 34 offer a partial solution to the insane costs. They say that the usage of a single drug as well as discontinuing a policy of only one death row inmate in a cell at San Quentin State Prison, which causes overcrowding, will help.

These changes will save a sizable amount

“I believe that the death penalty should only be in place if there is sure and irrefutable DNA evidence that the accused killer has committed a murder in which he was intending to kill the victim and planned before the murder.”

— Mason Call, junior of money.

Another argument against the death penalty is that innocent people have been executed wrongly.

The story of Carlos Deluna is a perfect example of this. In 1989, Deluna was supposedly wrongly executed by the State of Texas for the fatal stabbing of a gas station clerk in Corpus Cristi in 1983. Immediately after the stabbing, Deluna, an uneducated, Hispanic man, was arrested.

According to Ray Suarez, an investigative journalist for PBS News, in an interview with PBS NewsHour, Deluna maintained his innocence throughout. He claimed the actual murderer was a man named Carlos Hernandez, who looked similar to Deluna and lived in a nearby neighborhood. The police claimed this “Carlos Hernandez” did not exist.

In spring 2012, Columbia Law School professor James Leibman published a review, the “Human Rights Law Review,” that presented a strong case for Deluna’s innocence.

According to a Huffington Post article

by Michael Mcl:aughlin summarizing Leibman’s report, Leibman cited sloppy police work as what led to Deluna’s execution. In short, the execution of an innocent man could have been easily prevented if proper police procedure had been followed.

A solution to this frightening problem is to only implement the death penalty when the prosecutors have definitive evidence that the defendant is the actual killer.

There needs to be a rigourous list of requirements that people fulfill in order to be executed. If there are any inconsistencies, then they cannot execute the person.

At most, they will be sentenced to life in prison.

“I believe that the death penalty should only be in place if there is sure and irrefutable DNA evidence that the accused killer has committed a murder in which he was intending to kill the victim and planned before the murder,” says junior Mason Call.

If we have positive evidence that the suspect in question is the killer, what is the issue with removing a terrible person from the planet?

If we do not have the evidence, then we can’t go through with the execution until the evidence is presented. A person can be released from jail, but cannot be brought back from the dead. v

THE GALLOWS This method of hanging is still legal in two states in the United States: New Hampshire andWashington. It has been used three times since 1976.

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PERSPECTIVES

WAITING ON WHEELS

WHY GETTING YOUR LICENSE AT 18, NOT 16, MAKES SENSE Text by LEAH MEDOFF Photography by SHARON COHEN

M

ANY OF US DReam of the day we turn 16 because that is when we can finally drive.

Although many get their license that day, there is also a large portion of people who wait until they turn 18 to get their license because it makes sense for them.

I am waiting because I can get everywhere by biking, I don’t want to deal with the hassles of the one year rule and I don’t have time to learn to drive.

This is the case for many other teens as well. Their time is taken up by school and extracurriculars, leaving little opportunity for learning to drive.

“I am going back and forth between Palo Alto and San Francisco, plus I have homework, so I don’t have much time to learn to drive,” junior Elijah Waxman says.

Extracurriculars are important to many Paly students. As a result, getting

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one’s license is pushed back because there is not enough time to do everything and driving is the last thing on one’s mind.

In Palo Alto, it is easy to get to most places by bike. Although biking may not be the most convenient mode of transportation, it will take you where you need to go. Palo Alto cyclists can bike on sidewalks and there are bike lanes almost everywhere around Palo Alto. There are even special bike paths that cars are not allowed to go on.

Even if I did get my license, I would not have a car to drive because my parents use their cars and don’t see the point in buying me a car.

For many teens, this is also the case.

They feel that getting their licenses doesn’t make sense because they will rarely be able to use them. Having a car goes hand in hand with having your license because without one, you have essentially no use for your license.

It is also safer to get your license later.

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the traffic accident rates for 16 to 19-year-olds are higher than those for any other age group. Unsafe speeds and lack of skill contribute to these high rates.

According to the law, you can get your license immediately when you are 18. You don’t need to get a permit and instead can go straight to getting your license. This eliminates the 6-month wait period that teenagers face.

Getting your license at 18 also means that you don’t have to wait a year to drive minors. One of the reasons most teens want to get their licenses is so they can drive their friends. This gives them the freedom to go anywhere they want without having to rely on parents for rides. But the one year rule completely defeats this purpose for many teens. “[Waiting] gives you more time to focus on the pressing matters in school and outside of school,” Waxman says. v

THE MINORITY SCAPEGOAT Text and Photography by OLIVIA KOYAMA Art by JAMIE ALLENDORF

WHY COLLEGE APPLICANTS SHOULD STOP BLAMING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR THEIR SCHOOL REJECTION

PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS exposure to other teenagers of different backgrounds allows them to understand other cultures and experience a diverse learning environment. Many colleges strive for this type of mixed atmosphere.

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I

identity just to get ahead of their peers applying for college, n the midst of the Affordable Care schools don’t just classify people based on race. Diversity proAct and gay marriage parades, a case has been taken to grams are much more complex and involve a number of factors. the Supreme Court by college student Abigail Noel FishMinority recruitment college programs exist at colleges across er, who claims that she wasn’t admitted into the Univerthe country. Harvard University’s Minority Recruitment program sity of Texas because she is white. But why would she was founded to help encourage minoribe discriminated against if in ties to consider applying to its presti1996, the university abolished gious college. all affirmative actions policies?

“We look to form a class that is di“I know that there are certain Such cases show that affirmaverse in talents, interests, backgrounds tive action has just become an benefits of being one [ethnicity] and experiences,” Ortiz says. “We find excuse for students to explain over the other, but I don’t want to that students learn just as much, if not their college rejection. select the one with the advantage more, from each other, as they do from It is important for stujust to give me an advantage.” their wonderful professors.” dents to accept that affirmaColleges have seen the positive

— Ahmed Amr Awadallah, junior tive action is a vague process effects of these programs and despite that will continue to affect the harsh backlash, will continue to use their college admission prothem.

These programs increase the interest of a diverse populacess and is impossible to eliminate completely. Students need to tion of students.

Colleges have made an educated decision to focus on the factors of their applications they can improve. keep the program.

Although public schools in California have terminated their

Affirmative action greatly influences students’ college affirmative action policies, even University of California presicareers, and will continue to affect their adult lives as well. Theodent Mark Yudof agrees that the lack of minority recruitment dore Hodapp is the Director of Education and Diversity at the has had a “dramatic adverse effect” on the diversity of universiAmerican Physical Society and a professor of physics at Hamties in California, according to CBS San Francisco. The stigma of line University in Minnesota. He has affirmative action’s influence recognized patterns in race and career on college admissions makes choice and wants to bring more people students wary when it comes to of different perspectives into his field filling out college applications “Different people bring their of physics. and filling in testing bubbles. background, their knowledge and “Valuing this diversity helps all Palo Alto High School student learners, as it recognizes pathways that Ahmed Amr Awadallah is a their perspective to inform projcan be more effective,” Hodapp says. perfect example of a student ects. ” “Different people bring their backfacing inner conflict with the

— Theodore Hodapp, Hamline ground, their knowledge and their perbubbles on the PSAT. University professor spective to inform projects.”

“I could be considered So it is time to face the facts. Eduwhite because I am from the cational institutes have decided that the caucus region of Europe, but I am also from Saudi Arabia which positive aspects of minority recruitment outweigh the negative, would make me Arabian,” Awadallah says. “But there usually is adverse response from students.

Colleges are always going to no Arabian section so it’s just ‘other.’ There is African and techniwant to have a diverse student body and race is the easiest way cally Egypt is in Africa so I really don’t know what to put down to recruit through paper.

American society recognizes the advanbecause I technically qualify for three different bubbles.” tages of having a diverse academic environment and will The competitive college admissions process influences many continue to strive for one.

Naïve students of multiple ethnic backgrounds to consider the bubble students who decide to use minorthat would allow for the most admission advantages. Regardless, ity students as a scapegoat for their other students still have sincere intentions. rejection need to welcome the “I know that there are certain benefits of being one [ethnicreality of the situation and foity] over the other, but I don’t want to select the one with the cus on developing the compoadvantage just to give me an advantage.” says Awadallah. “I want nents of their applications to put down the one I actually am.” they can control. v However, even if some students feel the need to fake their

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Adebook

PERSPECTIVES

Dog ate my gr

IN THE FACE OF BIGGER CLASS SIZES, STUDENTS SHOULD TAKE INITIATIVE IN THE FIGHT FOR LOST ESSAY FEEDBACK Text and Photo illustration by MELISSA WEN

F

ROM THE LOOKS OF MY ENGLISH essay grades last semester, you might think that I’m a literary genius. One 100 percent after another, because apparently, I’ve never written anything short of perfect.

Although I’d like to claim the title of essay writing prodigy, I must also acknowledge that many of my classmates received the same strings of perfect scores. So the logical conclusion seems to be that we, collectively, are the second coming of Shakespeare.

Watch out Harvard, here we come — right?

Maybe for a select few of us. As for me, I’m probably not that special. In fact, I never got back any comments on my allegedly perfect essays.

This experience isn’t limited to a single teacher or a single class, or even me. I’m sure we’ve all had at least one major essay that either disappeared or came back with a letter on top and not a word of explanation.

Feedback is crucial. Students can’t learn from mistakes that don’t get pointed out, and essay commentary constitutes valuable one-on-one student-teacher communication.

But, according to Palo Alto High School English teacher and instructional supervisor Shirley Tokheim, teachers don’t have the capacity to grade every essay in the wake of a growing student body and dwindling budget.

Teachers might need a smaller workload, but students also need to look at the feedback they do get more seriously and take the necessary initiative to obtain it when their teacher doesn’t give it to them. “[Teachers are] definitely overburdened with the higher class sizes. I would say that’s the biggest impact on our department in the past couple of years,” Tokheim says.

After crunching some numbers, the difficulty does seem immense. Assuming a teacher has five classes, a jump from 25 to 30 students per class takes the essay load from 60 to a whopping 90.

One solution seems to be to assign fewer essays. Teachers always tell students not to overwork themselves, so shouldn’t they take their own advice?

Tokheim says, however, that she can’t always cut down on assignments.

Her American Classics 11H class has a rig-

orous curriculum that requires a lot of writing from students.

So, a better solution seems to be to cut class sizes so that teachers have fewer essays to grade. But since this isn’t immediately possible, students should do their best to adapt.

In fact, the bigger problem might be that students don’t value feedback as much as they should. A couple years ago, English teacher Kevin Sharp conducted a survey asking students to rank the importance of grade, summative comments at the end of an essay and line edits in the body of the essay.

He says that he found most students only cared about the grades, and few even bothered to look at the line edits. English teacher Kirk Hinton confirms this problem, saying that only about 20 percent of his students proactively seek feedback.

From what Hinton and Sharp say, it seems that students themselves might be contributing to their own deprivation of feedback. After all, if students don’t pay attention to comments, why should teachers waste their ink?

I’ll admit that I’m not any better than the average grade-obsessed student. The truth is, though, stewing over the less-than100-percents I’ve gotten has made me a better writer. Thus, I urge students to prioritize constructive criticism over constructing a perfect GPA. In a perfect classroom, this means simply paying attention to comments regardless of what grade the essay earned. Unfortunately, class sizes might never shrink down to what they used to be. The ultimate solution to the case of the disappearing essay is for the student to play Sherlock Holmes and seek out feedback him or herself.

It might seem like a lot of effort. But the benefits outweigh the one drawback. Seeking out feedback at tutorial or after school will give students the help they deserve without overburdening the teacher.

Additionally, if students want to be on top, whether now or in the future, taking initiative is crucial. Even if teachers could give us unlimited attention, future professors and employers certainly won’t. As active learners, we should view the potential for input from smart, educated adults as an opportunity to be seized. So speak up and fight for your feedback.

The alternative, as Shakespeare says, is silence. v

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PALY STUDENT WORKS TO BOOST ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS Text by KATIE EBINGER Pictures courtesy of ANA SOFÍA WANG and LUCY LOONG Photo illustration by KATHERINE PRICE

A

EXPLORING Ana Sofía explores Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo, Indonesia with Geris, a 13-year-old participant in ASRI Kids.

LEARNING Era, a participant in ASRI Kids, learns about the feasibility of restoring the environment.

NA SOFÍA WANG EXperienced a life changing moment while hiking in a remote Indonesian rainforest with kids from a nearby village.

“We heard the faster kids up ahead, it sounded like they had stopped,” Ana Sofía, a Palo Alto High School sophomore recalls. “[A] tree was there, or some of it, the stump was huge, almost 12 feet across... Directly in front were more trees piled on top of each other and around them, other trees standing.”

The tree was over 300 years old, the oldest in the park, and it had been cut down.

“Seeing the tree changed all of our lives, mine, the kids, the other volunteers,” Ana Sofía says. “It was horrifying to think that this tree that had stood there for 300 years could be cut down in 20 minutes.”

Two summers ago, Ana Sofía and her sister, Lucia, currently a sixth grader, founded an organization in Indonesia after observing the necessity of environmental initiative and the perils of forgetting the earth’s needs. Alam Sehat Lestari [ASRI] Kids, the program they started, educates the children of Sukandana, Indonesia, about the importance of wildlife conservation. In Indonesian, “alam sehat lestari” means “healthy and everlasting nature.”

Through classroom activities and interactive means, ASRI Kids educates children of Indonesian villages that border Tanjung Puting National Park about the necessity of conserving their natural resources.

According to ASRI and Health in Harmony, partner organizations that ASRI kids stemmed from, protection of the rainforest is vital as the health of the environment is directly linked to the health of people.

To expose the local children to their surroundings, ASRI Kids takes field trips to nearby parks and experiences firsthand the environment they have become invested in protecting.

Over the summer, for the final trip, a few kids from the program were selected to visit the national park with Ana Sofía and Lucia.

“Of the 30 kids who came daily to the classes, we got 20 written essays from kids who wanted to go on the trip to the national park,” Ana Sofía says. “Of those 20, we had to narrow it down to the 11 kids we finally brought.”

Ana Sofía and her sister developed the idea for ASRI Kids while spending the summer with their mother in Indonesia two summers ago when their mother volunteered as a doctor for ASRI. Ana Sofía and Lucia originally worked with the main ASRI program. “[ASRI] is associated with a conservation program that includes an organic farm, where I thought Ana Sofía and Lucia could participate while I worked as a doctor,” Ewen Wang, Ana Sofía’s mother, says.

At first, Ana Sofía was reluctant to spend the

63

CREATING Memet and Yon make kertas, or recycled paper. They pause to pose behind a screen used to make the paper. summer, away from friends, in a country halfway around the world. Her opinion changed, however, when she and her family “started hanging out with the people.” She loved being with the kids despite the language barrier.

“Without speaking each others’ languages, after two or three weeks, somehow, all the kids would gather at the porch of our little house and mime their way through jokes and games and go for walks in the forest,” Ewen says.

After connecting with the local children during their first summer in Indonesia, Ana Sofía and Lucia wanted to do something to help educate the kids about the environment they live in.

According to Ewen, experiencing a different, less privileged world spurred the creation of ASRI Kids.

“What inspired ASRI kids was realizing that as foreigners, we were very privileged to be able to experience the wonders of the rainforest, while the local people did not have the means to learn about or visit the national park near their village,” Ewen says.

Ana Sofía explains the steps she and her sister took in creating the organization.

“As soon as we got to an airport with Wi-Fi, we wrote an email to the co-founders of Health in Harmony, Kinari Webb and Hotlin Ompusungu, pitching them our new idea to have a project [that] incorporated conservation with education,” Ana Sofía says.

Once the founders supported the idea, the girls began assembling the project.

“From there on, we did the fundraising from home: emails

64

to friends and family, selling cards and photographs,” Ana Sofía says. “Every month we would report how much money we had fundraised.”

Even now, Ana Sofía touches base with the program regularly.

“Every afternoon, I answer emails and [I spend] a few hours on the weekend [working for ASRI Kids],” Ana Sofía says.

But the time spent has been a small price to pay, according to Ana Sofía, who considers herself lucky to have such an experience.

“The whole experience has had an amazing impact on my life and I am incredibly grateful for it,” says Ana Sofía. “This trip really made me realize how lucky I am to have that opportunity and to be able to make a difference in people’s lives.”

Ana Sofía reflects on what the experience has taught her about the privileged life she leads.

“It made me realize that we take for granted the amazing education we have,” Ana Sofía says. “My hope is that this program not only impacts my life but also the lives of the children of [Sukandana] and that they are able to make decisions about protecting their rainforest in the future.”

Ewen remarks on the changes she has seen in her daughters since the founding of ASRI Kids.

“I think Ana Sofía and Lucia are more confident in their abilities, but more importantly it is a project that enabled them to give back to a community across the world that embraced them,” Ewen says. v

PROFILES

F

GOING THE EXTRA MILE Mr. Bark tries to add to his curriculum to make it relevant and interesting to his students.

TRANSFERRING

FROM COMPTON NEW PALY ENGLISH TEACHER REFLECTS ON PAST EXPERIENCES Text by BEN COOK Art and Photos by HANAKO GALLAGHER

N

“

O MATTER WHO WALKS TH- dent to pursue an education despite bearing the heavy burden of a broken environment. Often, students who live in impoverished rough that door, they are my student,” Palo conditions are subject to gang violence, or struggle to maintain a Alto High School English teacher Craig Bark says as a multitude of underclassmen home. Bark paid attention to this and worked to make the classroom a warmer place; his efforts were rewarded when he voted stream out of his classroom, most having “most inspirational teacher” by his students in 2005. just achieved a greater understanding of

From his experiences, Bark has found that he cannot alHarper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” ways depend on his students to walk into During his 17 years of teaching in class bright-eyed and bushy tailed. But with Los Angeles public schools, surrounded by patience and empathy he reaches out and gang influence and poverty, Bark has developed a tenacious empathy for students, “‘I need to understand makes sure that he can develop a close, open relationship. enabling him to share and understand stuhow to get you to “I need to understand how to get you dent problems both inside and out of the learn, in order to do to learn. In order to do that, we need to classroom. that, we need to figure figure out a way for us to both work to“An issue is an issue for a teen,” Bark gether,” Bark says. He believes that perout a way for both of says. “It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or sonal interaction and a friendship are mapoor, students still have problems.” us to work together.”

A desire to expand his teaching reper­— Craig Bark, English jor components when inspiring a student to learn. toire, alongside a extreme distaste for Los teacher But, many students in Bark’s classes in Angeles traffic, sparked Bark to start a new Compton came from broken homes. Kids chapter in his life. Bark began teaching as and teens would miss school in order to care for younger siblings, a long-term substitute for Paly English classes during the fall of 2011 and currently teaches freshmen and sophomore English and regularily struggled with the absence of their parents. Drugs, homicides, and unemployment took precedence over school. With courses full time. Although he currently dons the Viking helmet, so many conflicted students, Bark found that if he wanted to teach his experiences teaching in Southern California continues to play anything, he would have to take the extra step to reach out to an important part in his personal philosophy.

When teaching in the Compton area, Bark repeatedly ob- them.

Bark learned how to approach teens’ crises with compassion served students rise above their personal circumstances. and offer solutions whenever possible. Teen pregnancy was com“Most students want to do well,” Bark says.

At an eastern L.A. high school, it is not uncommon for a stu- mon in impoverished areas in East L.A. The problem became so

67

great that the school enacted a “heavy duty” living skills class, far more extreme than the Paly requirement, that mentored teens on how to become a parent and provided them with the tools necessary for rearing a child while maintaining an education.

Bark says he was impressed by the students’ ability to tell themselves: “I’m now held accountable and I’ll get behind this.

I’m not a kid anymore.” Bark respected the school’s ability to notice a common problem among its students and take action instead of ignoring it and letting students fall through the holes.

Through this, Bark has learned to pay attention to students with certain stresses that negatively impact their ability to pay attention in class.

But most students still showed a strong drive to make something of themselves. Regardless of deterring forces, students showed resilience by persisting with their skill development. At Bark’s particular school, 52 percent of the students’ parents did not graduate from high school and only 5 percent of parents graduated from college, but that hasn’t discouraged the students from trying.

With hands-on skills offered through electives, students showed tenacity in developing their craft in hopes of preparing themselves for the future regardless of whether or not they sought college. Instead of the achievement competition that Bark refers to as a “GPA race,” students are motivated to polish their skills that they know will be necessary for the near future.

“People can do a lot with their hands and minds,” Bark says.

With this knowledge, he encourages students to find a passion for something that they can carry with them and apply throughout

68

their life. He noticed that a lot of students were attracted to the school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program.

The program ensured both a college education and a sustainable career options. Encouraging and facilitating students to work towards a promising and tangible future became a major ideal of Bark’s. Bark felt strongly about inspiring his students to visualize an attainable future. With an elaborate school traveling program, Bark led excursions with his students which further encouraged them to expand their goals.

“Traveling was an incentive that got many different students to learn,” Bark says.

At Paly, Bark understands that students perform better when they are working towards future goals and tries to express this by offering relevance in the material he teaches. In addition, he strongly advocates his students to approach him and engage in informal discussion about class topics.

Immersed in the middle ground between struggle and success, Bark did not teach as a mentor or friend, instead he became these things. Students were able to form attachment and trust in their teacher. At Paly, Bark employs the same ideals of compassion and guidance.

“To students, I’ll say, ‘Hey, you can lie to my face or you can trust me but I won’t let you fail,’” Bark says. “Let’s figure out your problem, you can tell me what’s going on, you can let me help you.’” v SOCAL TO NORCAL Craig Bark is now a Paly English teacher after 17 years at Eastern Los Angeles public schools.

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STOP CONFIDING IN COLLEGE CONFIDENTIAL

I

“

RECEIVED A 2400 ON THE SAT THE first time I took it. I helped a team of researchers find the cure for the AIDS virus, was nominated by President Barack Obama for a Nobel Peace Prize and have accumulated 10,000 community service hours. But I’m still not sure if I’m going to get into my top schools, what with college being so competitive. What are my chances?”

If a comment like this appeared in a normal conversation, I’d probably have trouble coping with the realization that I haven’t even met Obama (although that doesn’t stop him from trying to hit me up for money via email) and might give up on college all together.

But if the exact same question shows up on College Confidential, the college-advice-based site, suddenly every reader becomes an eager beaver, willing to offer “legitimate” advice, and the response to that “chance me” post looks more like this: “I guess your stats are pretty good, but your extracurriculars look a little bit weak. I would say that Super-selective University is a reach — but don’t worry! I’m sure you’ll get in somewhere!”

College Confidential, which started in 2001 to offer more accessible information to anxious teenagers, claims on its homepage to have “the world’s largest college forum.” It provides everything from advice on how to ace the SAT to the horror story of the poor schmuck who forgot which school was interviewing him.

Log on to any discussion board and you’ll find genuinely helpful answers lurking among the trolls and wannabe experts. But these accurate responses can be difficult to find on College Confidential.

The competitiveness and general insecurity of many users make them more inclined to judge others in compensation for their own perceived flaws, contributing to a misinformed, needy environment in which bad news and inaccuracies spread faster than the Ebola virus.

The average CC user claims to have more competitive scores and extracurriculars than the typical student. This inflates the statistics posted on College Confidential, making readers worry that they may not get into college because they do not seem to match up with other users, even though those applicants do not truly represent the norm.

As user “koala717” says in CC’s College Ad-

70

Text and Art by KATY ABBOTT Photography by CHARU SRIVASTAVA

missions forum, “Keep in mind that our perspective is quite distorted since this forum is filled with overachievers.”

Urban Dictionary users go a step further, calling College Confidential “a place for trolls who want to make everyone feel bad with bogus accomplishments.”

Additionally, many posts come from parents wishing to brag about their children or soothe their hurt egos. They boast about the scores or acceptances that their “dd” (code for “darling daughter”) receive, prideful comments which discourage students who feel they do not measure up to these wunderkinds.

One particularly disturbing trend comes in the form of the “Successful AP rescore stories” thread, in which students post about spending $25 on a multiple choice rescore. When one user asked if she should rescore because she received a four, someone pointed out that College Board, as incompetent as it can be, doesn’t make the kind of mistakes that turns a five into a four. But one rational comment in a sea of misleading posts, most of which urge students to go for the rescore and report on their experience, makes for a pretty poor track record.

These rescore stories are, in fact, rarely successful. But such is the power of the College Confidential community: commenters can convince others to shell out five Lincolns because of the dubious advice of someone claiming to be their “ally.”

To assume that College Confidential provides community support is misguided; other users do not always have your best interests at heart. And as much as the site may seem to be an anxietyreliever, it often compounds the college-search stress.

We should focus instead on using the reputable materials available to us, like college counselors, parents and other sources, rather than trying to soothe our egos by asking every user with a pulse what they think about our chances at a particular college.

At the very least, we should receive online advice with plenty of skepticism, knowing that the advice we get will probably be less helpful than suggestions solicited from one’s greatgreat-grandmother or a stranger on the street. v

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