The Oracle- February 2017

Gunn students get involved with politics.

Second semester senior plays sport for the first time.

PG. 15 FEATURES

PG. 17 SPORTS

Palo Alto Unified School District Henry M. Gunn High School 780 Arastradero Rd Palo Alto, CA 94306

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Friday, February 3, 2017 Volume 54, Issue 5

780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

A NEW HOPE FOR BUENA VISTA

Evalyn Li and Ayala Tzadikario Reporters In 2012, the owner of the Buena Vista Mobile Home, the Jisser family, submitted an application for the closure of the property. This past December, the Santa Clara County Superior Court rejected the application and the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara offered $36 million to buy it from the Jissers.

Amidst the four-year-long uncertainty of the future of Buena Vista, a conversation involving affordable housing, education and private property owners’ rights has surfaced. In 2015, the Jissers sued the City of Palo Alto after the city required the family to pay a relocation fees to residents. Throughout the process, Buena Vista advocates and residents voiced concern about preserving housing for the mobile park’s low-income residents and maintaining access to local schools for residents.

Executive Director of the Housing Authority Katherine Harasz says that the Housing Authority is a local independent government agency that recognizes that many families and individuals cannot afford the current rent or cost of buying of a home. “It’s important that everyone be in a home,” she said. “This requires dedicating public resources to subsidize either the rent someone would have to pay, or the cost of building the rental housing so that a provider can charge a rent that they can afford or, by the same token, create a housing resource that they can afford.”

Harasz attributes the need for affordable housing to the low supply of housing compared to the high number of jobs available. Far more people move here than there are housing opportunities available, so they agree to pay a higher rent, pushing out others’ offers. “Folks who don’t have a lot of salary power are literally outside without a home because they can’t afford the rent or they can’t compete in this rental market,” Harasz said.

According to community activist Winter Dellenbach, people don’t understand the importance and the contributions of the Buena Vista community. “The residents work hard, sometimes at multiple jobs, some at our schools and many here in Palo Alto,” Dellenbach said.

BUENA VISTA—p.3

Max Wang

School Board affirms sanctuary school status Maya Rapoport Reporter

During the Palo Alto Unified Board of Education meeting on Jan. 10, the Board unanimously approved a resolution affirming support of undocumented students and families and making Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) schools “sanctuary schools” for immigrants.

The resolution was approved two weeks before President Donald Trump signed executive orders to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants, begin construction of a wall on the US-Mexican border, in-

crease border patrol and reduce funding to “sanctuary” cities, such as San Francisco, which have adopted a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants by not prosecuting them for violating federal immigration laws. According to Palo Alto Online, there are an estimated 142,000 undocumented immigrants living in Santa Clara County. On Jan. 28, Trump also barred refugees from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia for the next 90 days and suspended the admission of all refugees for the next 120 days.

According to Board Member Melissa Baten-Caswell, she and

Board President Terry Godfrey drafted the resolution to clarify board policy regarding students’ citizenship status. “Schools should be a protected place and we should offer sanctuary to students and staff who feel they are being threatened,” Baten-Caswell said. “It gives our community direction on what our values are, and reinforces our policies.”

The resolution states that teachers and administration should not voluntarily give out any student information to immigration officers and instead send immigration enforcement directly to the superintendent.

Although this was an existing

policy in PAUSD, the resoluSuperintendent Dr. Max Mction emphasizes the district’s Gee believes the resolution is commitment to protecting and SANCTUARY—p.4 reassuring immigrant families.

“The purpose of the resolution is to set forth a very clear policy that the district will not cooperate with immigration enforcement beyond what we are required to by law,” B oa rd Vice President Ken10.2% of Santa Clara net h Dauber sa id . residents are The board wants to undocumented maintain a safe learning environment for students who are worried about their immigration status.

Public Policy Institute of California

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News

VTA route resolution calls for student, community input Cassie Bond Changing the Narrative Editor

The Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) recently released a new draft plan, changing the current 88 bus lines that provide public transport for students going to and from Gunn, as well as riders in Palo Alto who commute to places such as the Veterans Affairs hospital. Currently, there are three 88 buses: the 88, 88L and the 88M. Both the 88L and 88M are used for school days only and are ideal for students living near Middlefield, Waverly and Louis Street. The new draft plan would eliminate the 88L bus line and keep the 88 and 88M on school days.

VTA states that the planning was started in the spring of 2016 to increase ridership and cost efficiency. The VTA will review a revised plan in March and make a final decision on the draft in April.

Gunn Traffic Safety Representative Penny Ellson has been working on ways that students and community members can share their input on the plan. “In Palo Alto, the local 88L, 88M, 88 and 89 buses would be cut,” Ellson said. “The 88 will be replaced by a renumbered 288 bus with more limited hours and route coverage.”

Although the 88L will be cut and the buses will only run from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., it is not yet clear how these changes will affect students. “We really do need to learn a lot more about what students need,” Ellson said. “We don’t know if the current hours are serving students well, and we have never actually surveyed students to understand that, nor has VTA.” After the recent draft plan, a survey is now available for student input. Ellson also understands the importance of voicing one's

opinion on public transit. “One thing about transit is that if you don’t use it, you lose it,” Ellson said.

According to VTA Senior Project Manager Jay Tyre, the three 88 buses are currently one of the least productive routes in the VTA system, with lower ridership than other routes. “Out of the three [routes], the 88L is the lowest performing,” Tyre said. The route the 88L takes has sections with fewer citizens boarding, causing it to be less effective. “It starts on Louis and picks up people and then when it gets to Meadow, it is pretty full,” Tyre said. “But then not many people get on the unique portion that’s on Meadow.”

The buses will also be changed to three trips, with the bus only going southbound in the morning, and coming back in the afternoon headed northbound. VTA will be working with Palo Alto Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) figure out route preferences and timing.

Gunn PTSA Transit Coordinator Arthur Keller has been working with VTA to gain student input and relay comments. The reasons behind the draft plan also cover a larger encompassing goal of transit in the Bay Area.

“VTA is about to open up some extensions of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to the east side of San Jose and they are realigning the bus routes in order to better serve BART,” Keller said. As bus routes change to encourage BART access, it also gives VTA the opportunity to review their bus service. “They are having to focus more of their resources on those areas with higher usage and cutting areas with lower usage,” Keller said.

Keller sees that there are several disadvantages to the VTA draft plan. “Right now, the three busses are close to capacity, if not at capacity.” Keller said. “I am wondering

how that would work in terms of people who want to leave right after school or get to school right at the beginning.” Currently, the buses have roughly 90 students riding in the morning and 95 in the afternoon, which saves car trips on Arastradero during busy school hours. Along with the capacity posing a possible concern, the change in timing to only the early morning and late afternoon is also an issue, according to Keller.

However, Keller does appreciate that the VTA is reaching out to students. “It recognizes that transporting kids to and from high school is important which is something that the VTA has done, but never officially,” Keller said. Keller also emphasized that having multiple runs of the 88M will also be beneficial.

Another topic under discussion is possible price changes to the current busing fares. It has been eight years since VTA has modified their fares, so they recognize a need for a review. VTA Media Spokesperson Linh Hoang has been working on the current fare review for VTA. “We are considering a discounted youth figure and potentially a free one, but those are up for review and we are looking at all possibilities,” Hoang said.

Hoang also emphasized the importance for input from the community and comments for the VTA. “We know that we came up with a great draft plan, but we are looking to members of the community to make it better,” Hoang said.

Since these changes are still under discussion, it is necessary that students and citizens give their input into what they want to see modified by VTA. Senior Annie Chandra rides the bus almost every day of the week, and worries about the possible changes to the 88 bus line. One noticeable concern is

VTA Users 1. Submit your input to nextnetwork.vta.org/questions 2. Copy comments to the VTA Board at board.secretary@ vta.org 3. A student input survey can be found at http://tinyurl. com/gunn88bus The Board will review comments by Feb. 20, 2017.

Elizabeth Zu

the limited timing for the 88 bus. “I know that people have sports after school or may have to stay for a project where they aren’t done until five or six, and it would have been helpful to have the bus as a means of transportation,” Chandra said. Along with the time change, Chandra sees the benefits in frequently using a bus. “The bus is a great way to reduce traffic in the morning and it’s also a green way to get to school,” she said.

Office for Civil Rights sets steps for sexual harassment protocol Carolyn Kuimelis and Stephy Jackson Copy Editor and reporter

This December, the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) presented the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) with a proposed Resolution Agreement related to sexual harassment cases from previous years not handled according to district protocol. The agreement has not yet been signed, and the PAUSD Board of Education is working with OCR on clarifying the specifics of the Resolution Agreement.

Included in the agreement is a list of requirements for the district to follow regarding the previous sexual harassment cases and steps to take for future cases. The cases that the Resolution Agreement is based on were not properly investigated under Title IX, a civil law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational programs that receive federal funding. According to OCR, the school district did not diligently follow procedures or carry out investigations

the way they were supposed to. From 2011 to 2014, PAUSD received 12 complaints from OCR about its lack of adherence to Title IX law.

If signed, the proposed Resolution Agreement will ensure that PAUSD’s policies are in alignment with Title IX laws moving forward. “We need a better system of keeping these policies updated, and OCR is going to help us do that,” Superintendent Max McGee said. It will also require the district to turn over investigations of old sexual harassment cases and behavioral incident reports to OCR. The agreement will mandate that the district provide victims with counseling and allow them to retake exams given during the period of time when they were affected by sexual harassment.

Another potential outcome of the agreement is the anonymous tip line. Using this, students and staff will be able to report incidents of sexual harassment within their school. “I think [the tip line] will provide some important information about what the culture really is like, [and whether] this a pervasive problem or a one-off issue,” McGee said. “I think that’s important because if it is a cultural issue, it’s going to take more than policies and some training exercises to change it.”

Although the majority of Board members were supportive of the staff recommendation to substantially comply with the proposed Resolution Agreement, some Board members are concerned about entering into an open-ended agreement.

Board member Todd Collins brought up the issue of the need for clarification when it comes to specific terms and costs of the agreement.

“We wanted to be careful about any entering into open-ended agreements,” Collins said.

Another concern he has with the agreement is that if the Board and OCR allowed certain investigations on reports from 10 years ago or even later to be revisited, then the cost of such a program would be extremely expensive. “We wanted to get clarity with the agency about what that really looks like and to make sure that it wasn’t so prohibitively expensive that it would deliver on our main mission [to educate current students],” Collins said.

McGee has expressed his concern about the potential cost of such investigations and about

whether or not the district has enough time and resources to follow through with the scope of the investigations. Originally, he wanted to investigate cases only involving students still enrolled in PAUSD schools. However, the majority of the Board agreed that investigating past cases concerning graduated students is an important part of taking steps toward creating a district free of sexual harassment.

Board member Ken Dauber believes that there are two reasons why investigating previous cases is important. “One being that we still owe an obligation to those students, even if they’re former students, to help address whatever harms they suffered, which could involve academic adjustments, could involve support for therapy, counseling—those kinds of things,” he said. “I think just as importantly, we have an obligation to understand what happened in the past because many of the same practices and policies and staff who were involved in the past in whatever issues there might be are still here, and so until we really understand what has gone wrong, we can’t put ourselves in a position to fix it, and so I’m interested in learning more rather than less.”

Board member Melissa Baten-Caswell has been an active member of the Board in the resolution process and has spoken up about the need for clarification in the agreement.

“We need legal guidance to make sure that the language is tight enough that we are not opening up [the] district for liabilities that we won’t expect,” she said. Baten-Caswell was a Board member when another resolution agreement was passed, and from that experience, she learned that in order to follow through on an effective resolution agreement, it is imperative that a letter of findings is presented before the signing of the agreement. “Last time we did a negotiated resolution, they didn’t give us a letter of finding in advance," Baten-Caswell said. "After the specific agreement steps were agreed to, a letter of findings came forward that had some things that we did not expect and did not necessarily agree with. I’m just surprised that we are not learning from that.”

McGee echoed Baten-Caswell’s concern. “I’m a little concerned that OCR is not issuing a written letter of findings before we sign the Resolution Agreement because we are signing a document committing significant time and money based on verbal exchanges and not on anything from OCR written in black and white,” he said. “I would prefer to have clarity as to what exactly we are agreeing to rectify, but in this case, we need to trust that OCR will not change or add to what they shared with us over the course of several conversations.”

News THEORACLE 780 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 354-8238 www.gunnoracle.com

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Shagun Khare Managing Editors Matthew Hamilton Lena Ye News Jenna Marvet Helen Nguyen Samuel Tse Forum Anyi Cheng Deiana Hristov Janet Wang Features Stina Chang Prachi Kale Ariel Pan Centerfold Emma Chiao Mikaela Wayne Sports Grace Ding Paulo Frank Tim Sun Lifestyle Sabrina Chen Tone Lee Kaya van der Horst Changing the Narrative Cassie Bond Photo Editor Richard Yu Graphics Editor Elizabeth Zu

Staff Business/Circulation Matthew Oh Assistant Business/Circulation Jack Mallery Copy Editors Clara Kieschnick-Llamas Carolyn Kuimelis Oracle/TBN Liaison Elizabeth Chung

Friday, February 3, 2017

Residents optimistic about Buena Vista preservation

In her role, Argumedo works to provide to go out of business,” Stump said.

Longtime Buena Vista resident Mary Kear resources to low-income students such as a proAccording to Stump, part of the application says that the mostly blue-collar working resi- gramming class sponsored by a local technology approval requires the owner to pay mitigation dents of Buena Vista are just as important to company and programs aiding students in the payments, lessening the impacts of the closure the community as white-collar workers. “Most college application process. She connects her on- on residents. There was contention around the of the families in the park can’t afford a place going work to making education more equitable appraised value of mitigation payments which in Palo Alto so if the mobile home was shut and being able to build upon the foundation of led the residents to file a lawsuit against what down, it would have split up families. One half a Palo Alto education. “My hope would be that they deemed as too low of a payment amount. of the family would live here with this relative they can use education to level the playing field ”The City Council went through that process and one half of the family would live there with and ride out of their current economic status, and did approve the closure, not because the that relative.” but that takes a lot of planning and time,” she City Council is in favor of the closure but According to Dellenbach, Buena Vista resi- said. “I think that we are very fortunate to live because state and local law require them to be dents have more to offer than just their labor. in a community that values education and when impartial and to be fair and to allow the owner Buena Vista is the greatest source of racial diver- the community commits to education, the stu- to go out of business if the mitigation payments sity in Palo Alto. “There is a belief by many that dents benefit.” are paid,” she said. “The city’s position is that the Palo Alto is affluent, our homes are expensive In a three-way partnership to maintain the process was fair and the result was appropriate.” and we all live upscale lifestyles. In actuality, affordable housing, the City of Palo Alto and As to whether a conflict exists between the Palo Alto is more than that," Dellenbach said. the County of Santa Clara each will pay $14.5 private owner’s right to do as he like with his "We are a community with economic and ethin- million and the Housing Authority will pay property and the maintenance of affordable ic diversity, which sometimes gets overlooked. the rest using the leftover funds from Housing housing, Stump acknowledges tension exists, Buena Vista is a concentrated reminder of that Choice Voucher Program Section 8. “There’s but that the city is fair to the owner and is prodiversity and richness.” a memorandum of understanding, a formal viding help to the Housing Authority to buy the Other advocates approach the islot and keep the affordable housing. “In sue from an educational standpoint. our system, private individuals aren’t Vice President of Advocacy of the required to provide affordable housing, Parent Teacher Association (PTA) a function of government, which is the council and founder of the Buena collective: all of us and the community,” Vista Advocacy Committee Nancy she said. “I think that both goals can be Krop emphasized that the PTA was pursued at the same time.” founded as an advocacy group for Krop says that since the Housing all groups of students and that afAuthority is offering to buy at the fullfordable housing is in its domain. market value, the sale would benefit all “My premise was that preserving parties. “It’s a win-win,” she said. “He the mobile home park actually gets the full value of his property and benefitted all students, not just stuwe get to keep our neighbors.” dents residing in the mobile home Some people feel that it is not anyRichard Yu one’s place to decide what to do with park, and that diversity enriches the educational experience of all Longtime Buena Vista resident Bianca Fonseca takes a walk. private property other than the landstudents,” Krop said. “I really do owner. On the other hand, some people [believe that] preserving this mobile home park contract between the county, the city and the also sided with the residents who were unwilling is of critical importance to all our students.” housing authority for both the county and the to leave their homes. According to Secretary of PAUSD Director of Academic Support Judy city to make funds available for the housing the Buena Vista Residents Association Melodie Argumedo works closely with low-income authority to acquire the property,” Harasz said. Cheney, this situation has attracted interest due students all over the district and continues to In the application process of the closure of to the great amount of support for both sides. work closely with Buena Vista students at the the mobile home park, the City Council acts as “We are so thankful for all the help we have high school level. “I feel, and I don’t know if it’s both a judge in the application’s approval as well received,” Cheney said. “We know without this a marker being low-income necessarily, but they as a major financial supporter to the Housing help we would not be in a much better place bring perspectives that are not as prevalent in Authority’s potential acquisition of the property. today.” the more typical Palo Alto,” she said.

City Attorney Molly Stump says that the City If the Jissers accept the offer and the HousOne example of different perspectives Ar- Council supports maintaining Buena Vista as ing Authority acquires Buena Vista, Harasz gumedo refers to is that many students she affordable housing and facilitating keeping the says they plan to ensure every resident has a works with have part-time jobs. “I think that the current residents as an integral part of com- home and make improvements regarding inethic of getting a part-time job and learning life munity. “But there is a secondary issue which is frastructure to meet the Housing Authority’s skills is something they can provide to Palo Alto that the City Council had to sit as a judge in the standards. “We will reach out to the homestudents who sometimes do a lot of work to build owner’s application to close the park because he owners,” she said. “We intend to talk to the resumes but lack those real-life skills,” she said. wanted to go out of business and he has the right residents and figure out what their needs are.”

BUENA VISTA

INBOX

Oracle/SEC Liaison Shannon Yang Graphics Artists Sherry Chen Tiffany Chen Cheryl Kao Jackie Lou Jeffrey Yao Photographers Vibha Arun Max Wang Reporters Sohini Ashoke, Julia Cheunkarndee, Laurel Comiter, Eric Epstein, Jennifer Gao, Danielle Gee, Bridgette Gong, Joanna Huang, Joy Huang, Stephy Jackson, Liza Kolbasov, Evalyn Li, Megan Li, Yael Livneh, Ryan Manesh, Chelsie Park, Maya Rapoport, Caroline Ro, Janet Shea, Seungik Shin, Grace Tramack, Aleks Tycz, Ayala Tzadikario, Kristen Yee, Katie Zhang, Andrew Zhao Tech Editors Akansha Gupta Amanda Lee Adviser Kristy Blackburn

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— Letter from the Editor —

Titans and Titan families, The new year has been accompanied by many new changes and goals for The Oracle.

First and foremost, the recent presidential election and inauguration of President Donald Trump have revealed the importance of objective, honest news. Thus, our staff has streamlined and enhanced our fact-checking efforts to be more holistic and specific. We hope that this ensures that every time you open up our newspaper, you are reading information that

is interesting and important, and also accurate and reputable. Although the press is currently under attack by the current president’s administration, we intend to continue our roles as skeptics and truth-tellers, holding our paper to a high standard so as to hold up the integrity of journalism.

Second, this semester, 16 new reporters joined our staff. This means that we are able to produce more content for both our newspaper and online platforms. In February, each section will be producing online-exclusive content at our website, gunnoracle.com. In the following few months, we plan to produce even more weekly digital content both on our website and various social media platforms. I encourage you to stay updated on this engaging, fun and timely content by following us @gunnoracle on

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat.

With over 20 seniors leaving staff next year, we are also focused on preparing our junior staff to uphold the high caliber of quality at The Oracle as they take over next year. As we hold interviewing, writing and design workshops for our junior staff members, we hope you notice an improvement in the quality of stories and aesthetics in our paper.

Finally, as always, thank you for continuing to support and read our work. It has been an honor to serve as The Oracle’s Editor-in-Chief during first semester, and I can’t wait for my last with our incredible 2016-2017 staff. Here’s to the last hurrah.

Sincerely, Shagun Khare EIC '16-'17

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News

District to implement new web filtering program, Securly Samuel Tse and Jennifer Gao News Editor and Reporter

On Jan. 10, Securly, a new cloud-based web filtering system, was enabled on Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) school Chromebooks. Although the program was disabled the day after its initially-planned implementation date due to issues caused by the inability to log into personal email accounts, the district still plans to re-enable Securly onto school-distributed and owned devices in the near future, according to PAUSD Chief Technology Officer Derek Moore.

Securly is a Google Chrome browser extension that filters content that passes through the program. It can log various information such as web history and typed content to create data visualizations. Unlike other web filtering programs, Securly can filter not only keywords, but also content that is typed such as social media posts. “The way that the Securly program is written, it's not just a keyword filter," Moore said. "It relies on a natural language-processing algorithm to analyze the intent of the post. If you're using profanity, that's going to throw a flag.

If you're potentially bullying somebody using inappropriate language, that throws a flag."

In addition, several features of Chrome such as incognito and guest browsing will be disabled, as well as the ability to log into a personal email account. According to Moore, 50 to 80 websites are closely inspected for certain content, as well. "In order for [monitoring] to work, though, you have to be fully logged in; you have to be using your school-issued account on our school-issued device. If you're using the guest account, Securly doesn't work,” Moore said.

In order for the program to detect vulgar or obscene language while monitoring students’ activity, certain circumstances need to be in place. “The two conditions that have to exist for the filtering to be 100 percent effective for the Securly tool to function correctly, is that you have to be logged into the district account, whether that be staff or student, and you have to be using the district device,” Moore said. “Those two conditions have to exist for the entire Securly filtering software to function appropriately.”

Background information The initiative of implementing a new filtering system on Chromebooks was led

by parents, according to Moore. “This is the home, they can, but it’s designed to be for first situation for us as an organization where families and parents to make that decision,” we've allowed devices such as Chromebooks Ballard said. to go outside of our schools, and outside of While all Chromebooks will have Securly our networks,” Moore said. “We held a parent downloaded, parents have the choice to use night this fall to talk about the implementa- the program to monitor their student’s techtion of the program. One of the messages we nology use at home. heard loud and clear from the parents is that Technology Integration Teacher on 'it's fine that you’re giving devices, but you Special Assignment Christopher Bell emneed to help us figure out a way to manage phasized that the use of Securly is more for this when it's in our home.'” the parents as a new tool they can utilize.

Currently, across all PAUSD school cam- “The issue is, when Chromebooks leave the puses, web browsing is filtered and monitored campuses and go home, there's no way for by a program called iBoss Cybersecurity. parents to put on any filtering or monitoring Under the Federal Communications Com- services that they normally could if they had mission’s Children’s Internet Protection Act, purchased their own device,” Bell said. “As schools are required a district, we're not to filter or block really interested in internet access to using Securly for obscene content, us; it's an optional pornography, ontool for parents.” line gambling and According to other sites that are Bell, changing harmful to minors. current filtering A school’s internet practices is not a safety policy must priority for the disalso incorporate the trict. “If you look monitoring of the at PAUSD in genstudents’ internet eral, the amount access and provide of filtering that we opportunities for do is so small," he educating minors said. "We do believe about appropriate in having access to online behavior. things like YouTube Schools are and social media Photo courtesy of Derek Moore mandated to follow Pa r e n t s w i l l h a ve a d a s h b o a rd that can be used as this regulation if wh e re th e y ca n vi e w data su ch tools for learning. they are to receive as flagged content and top sites. We're not really infunding from the terested in changing federal Schools and Library Program, which that. With the implementation of Securly, it's ensures schools and libraries affordable rates going to stay the same. The only difference is for Internet access and telecommunications. [that] now, parents have the option to enforce These regulations do not apply at home, rules they already have for technology on the which is why the district has started to shift to Chromebooks that go home.” using Securly per parents' request, according With Securly, parents will be able to monto Assistant Principal Jack Ballard. Securly itor web activity on student-owned school gives parents the option to monitor their devices with the new web browsing data own student’s activity on school-distributed they will have access to, according to Moore.

Chromebooks when they are used outside “What the parents will see is all about cateof school campuses and have no connection gories and time spent on certain categories," with current on-campus filtering. In addi- Moore said. "Parents wanted to know ‘How tion, students will have to use their school-is- do I know how much time they're actually sued Google accounts on the Chromebooks. spending on their homework and how much “If [parents] want to do more monitoring time are they spending doing something and either allow or disallow certain sites at else?’ If you're on Schoology and Google and

appropriate academic sites, that's where that [kind of content] gets flagged and that's it."

Current status Presently, while still installed, Securly is not in full effect on school Chromebooks.

Features such as guest browsing are still allowed among other elements of Google Chrome. “Securly is currently functional, but the restrictions are enforced only if the two conditions mentioned are met. We intend to leave it this way for the remainder of the year and discuss plans for implementation next year,” Moore said.

Students can still log in to their personal accounts not verified by the district through guest browsing. “We did severely underestimate the amount of students using personal Google accounts for school work," Moore said. "That's one of the reasons why we backed off a little bit and re-enabled guest access on the Chromebooks. A major change like this is probably not a good idea in the middle of the school year. At some point moving forward, we would like to enforce these restrictions, but knowing that we're in the middle of the year, and there's already a lot of work in progress and existing in personal accounts, we think it's important to make sure the learning process is not disrupted.”

According to Superintendent Dr. Max McGee’s district weekly message online newsletter, parents can currently receive a weekly email that summarizes their child’s browsing details by request. In addition, parents will be able to log in to a portal that gives the ability to customize what is allowed on the device while at home, McGee wrote.

The district also plans to host a parent technology education event on Mar. 22 in partnership with Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that focuses on promoting safe consumption of media and technology. “We will have people come in and help and do things like role-playing and giving people tools and ways for parents to interact with teenagers about technology that they might understand or not understand depending on the family,” Ballard said. “So all of this is about empowering our families to be able to have technology integrated in school and in their homes and being able to manage it in a reasonable way.”

Board resolution advocates for undocumented students SANCTUARY

meaningful, especially after the recent executive orders focused on restricting immigrants. “It is important to let students and families know that we want to protect their rights and that every individual is important to us,” McGee said.

Principal Dr. Denise Herrmann fully supports the new resolution. “I do believe that every student who resides in Palo Alto should be educated regardless of their immigration status,” Herrmann said. “The more educated our whole community is, the more we’ll thrive.”

World Languages Instructional Supervisor Liz Matchett, who teaches classes to native Spanish speakers, expects that the resolution will make students feel safer at school.

“Hopefully it is something students can fall back on and [talk to] teachers or counselors knowing that they are not going to report them,” Matchett said. “It is super important for adolescents to have that stability [and] know that they are not living in isolation and they do not have to live in fear.”

According to freshman Juliette Manuele, undocumented students can sometimes be afraid to come to school. “I think [the resolution] is good because now everyone feels safer,” she said. Manuele hopes the resolution will motivate undocumented teenagers to come to school. “Some of my friends are illegal, so I feel better knowing that they [are safe]," Manuele said.

During the meeting, Board members debated using the word “sanctuary” in the resolution. Board members Ted Collins and Ken Dauber argued that the word “sanctuary” may have a broader meaning than intended and could exaggerate the power of the board. Although the district will fully support undocumented students, they must obey the law. “I am

concerned about over-promising to students and parents about what they can expect,” Dauber said during the board meeting.

After further debate, however, the board decided to inPercentage estimated Bay Area unauthorized immigrants by county

Data from Public Policy Institute of California

Jackie Lou

clude the word “sanctuary” in the resolution by writing that “PAUSD should be considered sanctuaries for students to the fullest extent allowed by law.” McGee believes including the word “sanctuary” conveys a powerful message. “Sanctuaries are symbols of safety. They are a place where one can find

comfort, and that is what we want for our schools,” McGee said.

Herrmann also felt using the word “sanctuary” made the statement clearer to those affected by the resolution. “I appreciate that their intent was to use the strongest language possible without putting any student or the district in jeopardy,” Herrmann said.

According to Dauber, the resolution is meant to ease students’ anxiety over their immigration status. Dauber believes worrying about status can have a significant impact on a student’s academic achievements and mental health. “I think it can be very stressful for students who are worried about [deportation] or whether immigration status is going to affect them in terms of college admissions and their careers,” Dauber said.

Board member Melissa Baten-Caswell agrees that if students are worrying about their immigration status, it can keep them from focusing on school work and leading a healthy life. “It may create anxiety and make it very hard to talk about it with trusted adults,” Baten-Caswell said.

Board members hope the resolution will encourage students and staff to confront discrimination. “This statement should empower students to stand up when they hear people being threatened,” Baten-Caswell said.

Herrmann encourages students to watch out for insensitive jokes or offensive statements and reach out to others. “Students should be really thoughtful about what they are saying and make people feel included,” Herrmann said.

McGee believes students should stay involved and speak up for what they believe in. “It is really important to be politically active,” McGee said. “To make an impact, you need to have a voice.”

Forum

Friday, February 3, 2017

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overbearing parents hurt students

Yao rey ff e J

extracurricular

Academic

social

Mikaela Wayne

Sabrina Chen

Andrew Zhao

When it comes to a student’s extracurriculars, overbearingparenting practices can have a significant negative impact on students. Resumé-padding is a practice used by many students that focuses on participating in extracurriculars that will put them in the best positions to impress college admissions officers. This practice is often encouraged by the parents, rather than an actual reflection of a student’s interests. This style of parenting can significantly hinder a student from discovering a passion.

While some may argue that deciding upon extracurriculars for the purposes of making a resumé more impressive is ultimately beneficial, it can lead students to spend four or more years participating in an activity they do not enjoy. It may be difficult for students to grow to love their activity, preventing them from pursuing activities and hobbies that they are genuinely interested and engaged in.

Another issue that arises with helicopter parenting and extracurricular activities is the amount of time expected by parents for students to participate in these activities.

Resumé-building extracurriculars can span from athletics to robotics, and many can be unreasonably time-consuming. Such intense activities can lead to excessive amounts of extra work on top of school work. In moderation, intensive extracurriculars are essential. But, with activities that are so time-consuming, students are forced to cut out other crucial aspects of their lives such as socializing and sleeping.

Helicopter parents care an immense amount for their children and their children’s future, but they often neglect the negative impacts they have on their students. Students often suffer too much pressure to succeed with too little time or a lack of passion. They put time and energy into activities simply for the purpose of padding their resumé, hindering their ability to enjoy and explore their personal interests.

It is important that students find confidence to try a new club or sport that interests them and to encourage their parents to try and understand the importance of succeeding in and enjoying extracurriculars. While parents may not believe it will appear as impressive on a resumé, it is a student’s personal achievement that is most important.

Behind many students at competitive high schools such as Gunn, there are helicopter parents who seem to control all aspects of their children’s lives, including academics. But while some could argue that helicopter parents have good intentions— that they do care about their children and their future—helicopter parenting is detrimental to the wellbeing and independence of students.

Helicopter parenting prevents students from making their own choices academically, as students are pressured to pursue a path that they may not have wanted to be on in the first place. Instead of asking questions out of one’s own curiosity, students raised by controlling parents do not have the freedom to mature and think about the world on their own. Furthermore, because memorization is an important skill for the purpose of attaining good grades, many students are forced to use their time reciting words and numbers. For example, many students spend hours memorizing vocabulary words and math formulas starting as early as elementary school. These students do not experience learning as a natural process, but rather as a mechanical and mundane task.

Additionally, students often feel obligated to take classes that require significant time and effort, regardless of whether they truly like or care about the subject. Combining pressure to earn an “A” along with a lack of motivation or love for the subject can cause a student to develop overwhelming and unnecessary stress in their academic life. For instance, even if a student is more passionate about the humanities, their helicopter parents’ carefully planned-out course loads can lead them to take challenging classes they aren’t interested in, focusing their efforts into STEM subjects instead. While it seems that in Silicon Valley most students are pressured to take challenging classes in the STEM fields, there are other students whose helicopter parents have pushed them the other way. Students who love and excel at math might be pressured to take AP Literature in an effort to become “well-rounded,” as well.

Children of helicopter parents may accomplish more academically, with higher GPAs and rigor of classes, due to the academic stimulation their parents provide. However, while helicopter parents generally have good intentions, there is a line that can be and is often crossed. At a school where receiving a “B” grade isn’t good enough for some families, less-than-perfect ACT scores are disappointing and taking more than one AP course in a year is ordinary, students already have enough pressure and stress academically. The last thing they need is restraint in their academic choices.

—Chen, a senior is a Lifestyle Editor

Part of the college admissions race is finding opportunities for students. Helicopter parents are parents who overcontrol their kids by making decisions on their kids’ behalf. They can sometimes interfere with their children’s social lives by monitoring their child’s social media and only permitting their child to befriend certain types of students. By interfering in social situations that the child could independently resolve, they prevent the child from making connections and friends without parental assistance.

In a 2014 study, helicopter parenting was linked with depression, general unhappiness in life and a need for guidance. Several questions where a “Yes” response indicated helicopter parenting include: “My mother monitors who I spend time with,” and “If I am having an issue with my roommate, my mother would try to intervene.” These two questions paint a general picture of helicopter parents as over-protecting of their children and unnecessarily monitoring their children’s conversations and friendships.

Consider a student bickering with his peers since they have differing political opinions: this is a common scenario that a student should be able to resolve if he is to preserve his friendships. However, a helicopter parent might intervene by talking to his peers directly about the arguments. Due to the intervention, the child is not only losing an opportunity to develop his social skills, but also becoming dependent on his parent to resolve social conflicts. The child thus becomes completely dependent on their parents for social guidance. When the child grows older, he will suffer underdeveloped social skills.

Monitoring their children is another way helicopter parents make their child more dependent on them. Helicopter parents monitor their children to make sure their life is going on as intended; they may even force their children to delete social media profiles. This way, students lose decision-making skills such as deciding whether a friend is a good influence.

For students dependent on helicopter parents, the best option is to tell their parents that they need independence in their social life. If the parents listen, they will stop meddling in the student’s life. Thus, students can develop social skills they will need later on in life.

—Wayne, a senior, is a Centerfold Editor.

—Zhao, a sophomore, is a reporter.

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WEALTHY COMMUNITIES ARE OBLIGATED TO AID REFUGEES Beyond just voting for Democratic candidates, which Palo Alto already does, Palo Altans should contact their elected representatives to ensure that they support legislation like Cory Booker’s “Protect America’s Families Act” which will criminalize the creation of any sort of immigrantSohini Ashoke and Matthew Hamilton based registry program that classifies people on the basis of their religion, race, age, gender, ethnicity, national origin, nationality or citizenship.

In the days after President Trump anEncouraging legislators to act through nounced his executive order banning people phone calls and letters only costs time, from seven predominantly Muslim counbut shows elected representatives that tries from entering America, Lyft antheir constituents want them to stand nounced a donation of $1 milup for refugees and oppose lion to the American Civil executive orders or legislaLiberties Union (ACLU) tion that hurts refugees. and Airbnb offered free The arguments housing to refugees that against admitting refuwere stopped at airports gees are that they bring with nowhere else to go. crime, but that accusaPalo Altans are unique tion is overwhelmingly in their privilege and in false. Many who argue their intellectual vitality, against admitting refugees, but they are not following the including President Trump, have example set by Lyft and Airbnb of pointed to the inf lux of refugees to putting those resources to use. Aside Germany and the supposed increase in from an occasional Facebook post, Palo crime that refugees brought as a reason Altans are not doing enough to help those why refugees should not be admitted to outside of Silicon Valley who are seeking the U.S. Upon examining the crime data refuge in areas like Palo Alto. Now more than published by Germany’s Federal Criminal ever, as executive actions signed by President Police Agency, however, it becomes clear that Trump limit the flow of refugees into the United the myth that refugees disproportionately commit States, people in Palo Alto must utilize their abilcrimes of any kind, including sexual assault, is false. ity to help those in desperate need of aid—specifically Between 2014 and 2015 the number of refugees increased refugees of oppressive regimes or nations ravaged by war. by 440 percent, but the number of crimes comPalo Alto is a place of incredible wealth, which should mitted by refugees only increased 79 percent. be shared. Cities like Palo Alto have more than enough Furthermore, only one percent of crimes Of 1,454 resources to meet the basic needs of their people. Access committed by refugees were classified as Syrian refugees to health care, publicly-funded education, sound infra- YOU, which recently visited Palo Alto, can sexual assaults. The narrative that refuresettled in structure and minimal violence are all things that Palo also help. I AM YOU is an organization gees bring crime with them is false, and Altans enjoy every day. According to 2016 U.S. Census that helps refugees in camps in Greece by not even alternative facts can support it.

California in 2016, Bureau data, 97.4 percent of Palo Altans older than 25 have setting up schools for children and adults, The final argument against admitnone went graduated high school, only four percent are without health and providing health care to refugees. A ting refugees is that they are a threat to to Palo Alto. insurance, the median household income is $136,519 and donation to an organization like the International security. Like the argument that only five percent live in poverty. While Palo Altans are able national Rescue Committee (IRC) would also refugees bring crime, this is also completely to enjoy these luxuries, many of the people seeking refuge help refugees. In one year the IRC helped 18,151 false. An analysis of Department of Justice data from countries like Syria and Iraq live in constant fear for refugees from East Asia resettle in the U.S. and 9,961 by the Cato Institute reveals that since 1975, three their lives and without access to necessities like food, shelter newly arrived refugees find resources in their new com- Americans have died because of a terrorist attack carand health care. Palo Altans need to put their resources munities. A donation to the ACLU, the organization that ried out by a refugee. To contextualize this number, the toward helping those who are not as fortunate initiated the court case that resulted in a stay on President chance of an American being killed in a terrorist attack to live in peaceful and prosperous areas.

Trump’s executive order, will ensure that the rights of carried out by a refugee is less than one out of 3.64 billion Despite all of the resources in Palo refugees are protected. If finding a place to house a on average per year. The threat of a terrorist attack being Alto, there has not been enough done refugee is too difficult for Palo Altans, donating carried out by a refugee is extraordinarily miniscule— “Palo to use them to help refugees. Acto these organizations can also help refugees. nearly negligible when it comes to the bigger picture.

Altans are cording to CBS Local, California Finally, supporting politicians who endorse Ultimately, wealthy communities are morally oblinot doing resettled 1,454 Syrian refugees durlegislation that allows refugees to come to the U.S. gated to provide aid to refugees because using available enough to help ing 2016, but not one went to Palo is a crucial way that Palo Altans can aid refugees. and ample resources to help people in crises is the right those outside Alto. Although the real estate prices President Trump’s executive order titled “Protec- thing to do. Disregarding the struggles of others while the valley.” of Palo Alto are high, neighboring tion Of The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Palo Altans relish in their privilege is selfish. If privileged communities Los Gatos and Walnut Into The United States” bans persons seeking refugee citizens started to share the amount of resources in wealth Creek were still able to settle seven and from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia bubbles with people who urgently need it, a lot more five refugees respectively. This lack of action is from entering the United States and puts in place an extreme pain and suffering would be alleviated from the world. inexcusable considering the amount of wealth in Palo Alto. vetting process that would make it more difficult to seek Hosting a refugee is not the only course of action for asylum in the U.S. To counter these actions, Palo Altans —Ashoke, a sophomore, is a reporter and those living in Palo Alto. Donating to a group like I AM should explicitly support legislation that helps reverse this.

Hamilton, a senior, is a Managing Editor.

Graphics by Elizabeth Zu

Friday, February 3, 2017

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Chromebook security good-intentioned but hasty to monitor their students' social media. For Glendale, the program proved helpful when it was able to save a life of a student considering suicide in 2014. Though this is an example of a success story, it’s still uncertain how effective schools have found monitoring student’s social media accounts, since they can’t monitor social media accounts that are set to private. Schools often find information that is only a confirmation of things they have already heard, or that they could have found easily through other means.

Additionally, as time progresses, students are getting savvier about setting privacy filters. This reduces the benefits of monitoring students. A survey conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center found that 40 percent of randomly selected students had set their MySpace profiles to private in 2006. By 2009, that number had increased to 85 percent of active teenage users on Facebook. Also, the growing use of apps such as Snapchat, where messages are more ephemeral in nature, make it more difficult for schools to track students' social media activity. Despite their good intentions, districts might be wasting both their money and time by implementing expensive programs to monitor students.

Another concern students share about social media

Akansha Gupta and Caroline Ro T h a n k s to t he i nt er ne t , t h i s generation has the world at its fingertips.

At the same time, the internet serves as a new tool for schools to monitor bullying, drug usage and self-harm amongst their students. The current tug-of-war between pr ivac y a nd secu r it y seems almost inevitable.

While additional monitori ng may be necessary, it’s important for the district to remain transparent about why they are increasing surveillance and how new restrictions will impact students.

The debate between security and monitoring has been discussed on global and national forums, but in January it took place at a local level. Last month,

occur. After all, how can people feel comfortable expressing themselves and search for deeper meaning when they’re worried about being watched? This is the premise of Georgetown University law professor Julie Cohen’s article “What Privacy is For.” According to Cohen, surveillance inhibits an individual's ability to develop an identity and inhibits creativity and progression. Adolescence is among the most crucial periods of an individuals’ life when it comes to discovering oneself and expressing one’s creativity. If Cohen is right, then it is important for schools to strike the right balance between privacy and monitoring; it’s better for schools to err closer to the side of too much privacy than too much monitoring.

Though we currently live in a world where schools using filters which block inappropriate sites is considered de rigueur, several people are made uncomfortable by their social media monitoring. Any changes of the monitoring system should be explained to students, parents and teachers because, according to a study by Dr. Antti Oulasvirta from Finland, transparency of intentions significantly decreases privacy concerns during internet surveillance. Only then should new policies on surveillance be implemented. It’ll also give those who truly distrust monitoring the option to use their own personal devices and avoid school surveillance.

—Gupta, a senior, is a Tech Editor and Ro, a sophomore, is a reporter.

Pa lo A lto Unif ied School Dist rict (PAUSD) introduced Securly, a cloud-

based web filtering service which places restrictions and security provisions on school-distributed Chromebooks.

Chrome’s incognito mode is disabled, strict filters are placed on hundreds of websites and students are forced to provide authentication every time they use a Chromebook.

For those who have come to regard Chromebooks as their personal computers, Securly brings up the question of whether students’ privacy is being invaded. Students need to remember that the Chromebooks are first and foremost school property. Thus, students are not entitled to any privacy on them. In fact, due to the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Gunn is obliged to place restrictions and filters on websites harmful to minors, such as those showing obscenity, pornography and violence.

The filters placed on the Chromebooks are not supposed to be any stricter than the ones on other school computers such as the ones in the library, the academic center and various classrooms. Furthermore, a system has been put in place for parents to enforce restrictions on their children’s technology usage after parents requested the option to be able to make decisions on their children’s internet usage at home—which is fair.

Some school districts take monitoring their students several steps further than PAUSD does. Glendale Unified, a school district in Southern California, pays Geo Listening

monitoring is that it suggests students can be punished by their school for what they do on their own time. In 2009, Douglas High School officials suspended a high school sophomore for threatening to shoot classmates on MySpace.

In this case, monitoring was obviously justified.

However, the boundaries between school-life and home-life become confusing when schools decide to punish students for posting pictures the school considers too racy, as Churubusco High School did in 2009 when they suspended two girls for posting pictures of themselves at a private party on social media. Unless the social media activity of students actively hurts the wellbeing of other individuals, schools should use discretion when deciding what to discipline students for when they are using the Chromebooks in their free time.

Privacy is also important for creativity and progress to

Graphics by Elizabeth Zu

Faces in the Crowd

Is individual privacy or community security more important?

“I value security over privacy because I feel that it is a good thing for the school to be able to see what we’re doing on our technology to keep us safe.”

" I think that students deserve privacy. If Gunn starts this new program, people are just going to stop using Gunn’s technology and wifi."

“Although it’s technically ok for them to track us due to the terms of agreement, I would definitely like it if they were more transparent with the students.”

“In this case, I value privacy. They shouldn't monitor everything; I couldn't look for a prom dress on my Chromebook because they blocked the word 'lace.'"

Preston Dankwah (9)

Moksha Arora (10)

Sean Lin (11)

Leila Tuma (12) —Complied by Jennifer Gao

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IMPLICATIONS, DETRIMENTS Political opinions should be formed by viewing all perspectives KristenYee and Shagun Khare On Nov. 8, a feeling of hope and excitement buzzed throughout campus as people proudly sported their “I’m With Her” buttons, t-shirts and even socks in support of Hillary Clinton. The few students who wore their “Make America Great Again” gear drew looks of judgements and sneers. If the world saw Palo Alto as a representation of America, Clinton was surely bound to be our 45th President of the United States.

For many, Palo Alto defines their American experience.

As born and bred Bay Area natives, residents often haven’t lived outside of the Bay Area, much less California. With the Bay Area being a Democratic stronghold, it then becomes inevitable that homogeneous political ideologies are passed down through generations, and it’s certainly no secret that in Palo Alto, liberalism is not only mainstream, but a sort of expectation. During the election, to figure out someone’s allegiance, the question was always, “Bernie or Hillary?” To ask “Trump or Hillary?” would be considered a joke.

According to the Santa Clara Registrar of Voters, over 70 percent of voters in Santa Clara County voted for Clinton; a mere 20 percent voted Republican.

But as Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on Jan. 20, Palo Alto’s bubble of liberalism was popped, and residents were faced with a shocking but simple truth: not everyone thinks like us. In fact, most Americans don’t think like us.

The “Silicon Valley Bubble” has led to a cycle of following the local political mainstream. Palo Altans’ tendency towards political homogeneity, however, is ultimately harmful because it

fosters an environment where legitimate opposing viewpoints are ignored, causing many to become intolerant of differing viewpoints and unaware of struggles people face in other communities.

In Palo Alto, students, particularly those at Gunn, lack healthy conversations about political issues. The root of the problem is the fact that students have a hard time accepting political views that differ from their own. Living in the Democrat-rich state of California, many students have been influenced to think a certain way, to believe a certain ideal and to maybe even shun other beliefs. Students will rant about political issues and take jabs at supporters of other political parties on social media platforms without any factual basis because they’ve only been taught one political view. At times, students will even resort to personal attacks to show distaste for another political view.

In turn, relations between people of differing political parties only worsen. A 2014 Pew study found that a quarter of Facebook users have blocked people because of political disagreements. Blocking another person because of a conflict over political views only causes the problem to worsen—there is no understanding, only blind actions driven by ignorance and a stubborn refusal to open one’s perspectives. Another Pew Survey from August 2016 found that nearly half of Clinton supporters don’t have any friends who support Trump, and 31 percent of Trump supporters don’t know anyone voting for Hillary. Instead of trying to create mutual understanding between both parties, people choose to surround themselves with people who have the same ideas and political views as a way of safeguarding themselves from views that are different.

This tendency creates a hostile, unsafe environment for people to share their own beliefs.

Palo Alto prides itself on its activism and progressivism, yet its “bubble” prevents liberals from realizing that middle-class conservatives who they claim to be their adversaries have actually been undergoing their own problems as well: a job market that is weeding them out, and unfulfilled promises from the very politicians they elected. It’s hypocritical for Palo Altans and liberals to expect conservatives to understand their struggles and needs when they are turning a blind eye to the other side’s struggles and needs as well. In order for Palo Altans and liberals in general to justify and further their ideologies, it is imperative to lend a listening ear so that those on the opposite

side will do the same.

While following the political mainstream may contribute to political homogeneity, it is by no means something to be chastised for. No one should feel pressured to change their beliefs just to deviate from the norm; people should choose their political view based on what their morals and beliefs are. At the same time, it is not okay to simply believe in popular opinion because that is the only view one has been exposed to. People should form their political views only after they look at all sides of the issue, and that starts with education. Schools should encourage discussions about pressing political issues in classes and support differences in the political views of students. Students should also take initiative and do their research on issues before making arguments, especially from reputable, unbiased news sources like BBC and C-SPAN. Although the election caused deep political divide, it is within our power to help heal it.

Because while on one side of the country, a Hispanic student is being told that she should be deported and sent back to her country, a white middle-class boy from the Rust Belt is barely scraping up enough money to buy his school lunch. It’s ultimately in our best interest to break free from our bubble—to practice the tolerance we preach, and mend the wounds we have inadvertently created.

—Yee, a sophomore, is a reporter and Khare, a senior, is the Editor-in-Chief.

“

in palo alto, 69% of voters are democrats while 28% are republican ao Cheryl K Statistic from San Jose Mercury News

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Friday, February 3, 2017

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OF POLITICAL CONFORMITY

Political tunnel vision results in bigotry, hypocrisy Seungik Shin According to the website City Stats, 70 percent of Palo Altans are liberal. Although Palo Altans claim to condemn discrimination and judgement, in being part of a liberal majority, many Palo Altans have inadvertently developed an intolerance of other ideas.

Palo Alto tends to shut out topics concerning different beliefs. Like many other American liberals, Palo Altans believe in free speech, but not everyone gets to express their beliefs. Sometimes, people are discouraged from even mentioning their religious views. By expressing their religious beliefs, they offend non-believers or those who find their religious views offensive; meanwhile, people are urged to listen carefully to those who attack their religions lest they risk appearing close-minded or bigoted.

Palo Altans have created, in our drive for “political correctness,” an elitist society that has made it permissible and even normal for people to censor others who have different views simply because they say things that are contrary to their own personal beliefs. For instance, after Trump was elected president, many Gunn students stormed to Facebook, posting statuses saying “You can unfriend me if you voted for

Trump,” or “If you voted for Trump, we can’t be friends.” These messages reflect a common mindset among Palo Altans: if someone isn’t liberal, “palo altan libthey are inherently a bad person. People who erals go against their posted these statuses or who share this beown stat “palo altan liberlief are often the very people who believe als go against their own statin acceptance of everyone, regardless of their ethnicity, race or sexuality. utes when Yet, when it comes to this particular political ideology, Palo Altan liberals go against their own statutes when it comes to anyone who might have a contrasting view to theirs. This is not only hypocritical, but also inhibits attempts to decrease partisanship and coming to a consensus in commonsense policy decisions.

Palo Altan ideals thus do not represent over rational a just and fair society; instead, their practices and indepenand actions attack their adversaries instead of dent judgment for maintaining the open mind many left-leaning coma given issue. Rather munity members tend to promote. After the recent than focusing solely on the election, there were mixed feelings among the na- issue at hand, Palo Altans often adopt the position, and Palo Alto was no exception. Messages asking tion of their party or political identity without Trump supporters to unfriend them demonstrated the serious consideration of the contrary positions. hate developed towards conservatives or anyone who It leaves the community with the inability to doesn’t agree with their views. consider other people’s points of view and Lastly, Palo Alto abuses political labels. When peo- discourages forward thinking. ple feel obligated to confine themselves to a specific All in all, despite Palo Alto’s liberal political label, they stop putting effort into listening stance and inclusiveness towards other to each other’s views and instead formulate ideolo- cultures and ethnicities, Palo Alto has gies based on the the rigid box of beliefs their political an intolerance when it comes to party keeps instead of on their own logic. For instance, conservatism—limiting the inmany Palo Altans tend to look down upon and misla- clusiveness it strives for and, bel Donald Trump supporters. People tend to think of ultimately, hurting others.

Trump supporters as definitively sexist, homophobic and racist. This mindset hinders one’s ability to engage —Shin, a sophomore, in thoughtful, constructive and educated discussion is a reporter. about national policy and other political issues. Political labeling promotes thoughtless decision-making

“palo altan liberals “palo their altan go against own statutes liberals go against whenown it comes to their statutes anyone who might when comes to have aitcontrastanyone who might ing view to havetheirs.” contrasting view

10

Features

Teachers share embarrassing, awkward dating stories Amy Anderson

Physical education teacher Amy Anderson will always remember an incident when she and her boyfriend, both 16 years old, decided to go to Easter brunch together at Charlie Brown’s in Redwood City, where their families would meet for the first time.

Anderson’s family had gotten food at the brunch buffet.

Anxious at the prospect of getting to know her boyfriend’s parents, Anderson’s whole body was trembling as she prepared to cut into her Belgian waffle. “I think because my hands were shaking and I was trying to control my hand I cut a little bit too aggressively into the waffle,” she said. “Instead of cutting the waffle, I flung it off of my plate and flung it with syrup and butter all over the floor of the restaurant.”

To the horrified Anderson, it felt like the whole restaurant stopped. Everyone’s head turned toward her direction and there was a loud, dramatic gasp. “Whether that happened or not, I don’t know,” she said. “But I felt my face turn bright red instantly.”

In the world of dating, one usually goes in without anyone or anything outlining the procedure for them. Social studies teacher Philip Lyons found himself in that world lost and confused. Lyons had been with his high school girlfriend for all of high school and was unfamiliar with the idea of dating after their breakup following graduation.

“The first date I went on, I didn’t even know what a date was,” Lyons said. “I hadn’t seen what a date was like other than in movies. In my mind, it was a really formal thing.”

Lyons and his date proceeded to dress up very elegantly and headed to a nearby fancy restaurant. “I put on a suit and tie, I put on cologne and extra gel in my hair,” Lyons said. “I [looked] like I was basically going to a job interview or wedding.”

Edward Corpuz

The problem, however, was that Lyons didn’t realize that that’s not something teenagers generally do. “At that age it’s kind of inappropriate to go to those establishments. The whole place was just filled with old people,” Lyons said. “I felt really uncomfortable; it wasn’t really a natural environment.”

Adding to Lyons’ discomfort, this was his first date with this girl and he didn’t know her at all. “I was sitting across from a stranger in a strange restaurant wearing strange clothes,” Lyons said. “I was feeling really, really awkward, not knowing what to say, and just the whole time, I was sweating and nervous.”

Unfortunately for Lyons, he could tell that his date was just as uncomfortable as he was.

“I think she felt the same as I was,” Lyons said. “She was the same age as me, and we were in a really artificial environment.”

After the date, Lyons was relieved that the night was

If you have ever been to a restaurant and mispronounced the name of the dish you were ordering, Broadcast and Video Production teacher Edward Corpuz knows how you feel. Corpuz still remembers a time back in his senior year of high school when he made that mistake while on a date.

Corpuz and his now-wife Noelia Sanchez, who were both 17 at the time, were out to dinner at a restaurant in Santa Clara before a Sadie’s dance. “Noelia asked me to Sadie’s and we were trying to get to know each other,” Corpuz said.“We went to this restaurant, and I confidently ordered the pollo [chicken] sandwich.” He thought it was pronounced “polo,” as in the sport played on horseback, but the word is pronounced “poy-yo.” “Noelia looked at me

Dating is a game of chance, and once in awhile a date won’t go as planned. For English teacher Jordan Wells, a friendly night out with a co-worker became a date she had not intended to go on.

“I didn’t really realize it was a date,” Wells said. “I thought we were just going to the movies as friends.” The date was fine up until the final 10 minutes. It was during one of the final action-packed scenes that things began to go south.

“All of a sudden I see out of the corner of my eye [his] arm stretching out as he tried to put his arm around me,” Wells said. “I was thinking to myself, maybe if I just sit here, it will go away.”

Thankfully, Anderson’s boyfriend’s parents responded in a gracious manner. “Actually, my boyfriend’s dad kind of helped me,” she said. “He went down and picked [the waffle] up and made some kind of joke about it to make me feel better, but I think I stayed quite red for the rest of brunch.”

The waffle incident quickly turned into an inside joke with her boyfriend’s family. “Every Easter after that, we joked about the waffle,” Anderson said. “Any time we had waffles, he’d make some joke about ‘Oh, be careful’ or ‘Keep that waffle on that plate,’ silly things like that. I don’t think I ate a waffle for the rest of our relationship without him making some sort of funny comment about the waffle ending up on the floor.”

Despite the debacle, Anderson and her boyfriend dated for seven years and still remain good friends. “When we broke up, we realized that we were sort of ready to move on in our lives, and it wasn’t a bad breakup,” she said.

Today, there’s a large disparity between how she felt then and how she feels now. “I was so overwhelmingly embarrassed and I was young. I was 16, and to me it felt like I ruined the whole entire brunch,” she said. “But it actually taught me to not be so nervous in these situations and eventually allowed me to realize that it’s okay when things like this happen, and you kind of just have to make light of it.”

—Written by Shannon Yang

over. “I could not wait to just drop her off back at her house. I wanted it to end so fast,” Lyons said.

“I never saw her again.

I was too embarrassed to call her back, so I just wanted to avoid her so I wouldn’t have to experience that shame again.”

Lyons made sure never to make the same mistake again going forward in dating. “That’s not what a date is. That’s what I thought it was from watching movies from the 1940s,” Lyons said. “After that, I would just do an activity with somebody like bike riding—do something that was a lot more normal for everyday people.”

Philip Lyons

—Written by Paulo Frank

with the ‘did you really just say that’ face,” Corpuz said. “I was really confident at the time and it is funny, because she remembers and tells everyone now about how cool I thought I was [with the pronunciation of the sandwich] when I really was not.”

Corpuz and Noelia met in middle school, went to the same high school, were in marching band together and even attended University of California Santa Barbara together. However, they never dated during their time in school. “We had our separate friend groups, but remained friends all through college,” Corpuz said. They reconnected after college when they both moved back to their hometown of San Jose. Through mutual friends, they got together, started dating and got married on Dec. 31, 2014 in New York City.

Although their Sadies date can been seen as a failure, Corpuz feels differently.

“The date was not a fail, it is about how you perceive it to be,” he said. To this day, Corpuz and Noelia still joke around about that one time back in high school when he mispronounced a pollo sandwich.

—Written by Danielle Gee

Unfortunately for Wells, her date failed to take the hint and continued his advances. “I wasn’t responding at all,” Wells said. “He tried to start kissing the side of my face and the whole time I was thinking, ‘I just wanted to watch the movie.’”

In an effort to rebuff her date’s attempts, Wells tried to draw his attention back to the movie.

“I said ‘let’s just watch the end of the movie,’” Wells said. “I had to tell him that in the middle of him trying to kiss me which was very, very awkward.”

After the movie ended, Wells was forced to confront the uncomfortable situation. “I had to explain to him

Jordan Wells

that I didn’t really know we were on a date,” Wells said.

“After that, he was all embarrassed and I was all embarrassed.”

Wells now remembers the date as a humorous event and can laugh at the uncomfortable situation. “That was a disaster date,” Wells said. “The saddest part of it all is I don’t remember the movie.”

—Written by Aleks Tycz Photos by Vibha Arun Graphics by Elizabeth Zu

11

Features

Friday, February 3, 2017

Choir-Staff Musical to take place at Paly Performing Arts Center Tim Sun Sports Editor

nitely going to be sad not ever being able to perform in Spangenberg again,” Jacoubowsky said. “My dad used to work here, so I’ve been to Spangenberg so many times, even before coming to Gunn.”

Golub also has sentimental attachments to Spangenberg, but he believes that the experience will be enjoyable no matter where the show takes place. “The most fun and important part about choir is just the people you’re performing with,” Golub said. “So regardless of where we perform, it’s always going to

be fun.”

With the show coming up, choir has been working hard to finish learning the dances and rehearse as a group. Last weekend, students went on an overnight retreat in Camp Jones Gulch to prepare for the show.

For sophomore Valerie Ruelas, this retreat is her favorite aspect of the experience. “It’s really fun to work with everybody on the retreat,” she said. “Even though the preparation can be stressful, everyone gets really close at the end.”

Jacoubowsky also enjoys the collective energy and mood as over 150 students put in hours of work toward a single show. “I just enjoy having the atmosphere of everyone being excited about something we all get to do together,” he said. “It’s really fun because we have tons of different dances and songs that we have to sing along to and choreograph.”

The title of the show is “And Then There Were Nuns,” and features Dorothy and Toto as they make their way to New York City to audition for a Broadway musical. Liberatore says the musical is full of laughs and urges students to watch. “It’s outrageously funny,” he said. “It’s two and a half hours of hilarious. [You will] definitely want to see what happens.”

Next week, students and staff will convene to perform the annual choir-staff musical to raise funds for the choir’s June concert tour in Ireland. The show will run three nights this year: Tuesday through Thursday from Feb. 7 to Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. Due to construction on Spangenberg Theatre, the musical is being held in Paly’s new Performing Arts Center.

The location change brings challenges such as transportation and communication, but choir director William Liberatore is excited about t he oppor t u n it y to per for m i n a different venue. “It’s physically difficult,” he said. “We have to figure out how to get over there to rehearse [and] we have to get the audience to understand to go there to see it, but to get to perform in such a beautiful, new space is nothing but cool.”

S en ior Mat t he w G olub i s a l s o looking forward to the opportunity to perform for dif ferent audience members. “Hopefully we’ll get some people from Paly there to support us,” he said. “Maybe we’ll be able to build some stronger community ties.”

In addition to forcing the choir to perform at Paly, the construction means that upperclassmen will no longer have any more performances Max Wang in Spa ngenberg. Ju nior Br yce JaTheatre teacher Jim Shelby, English teachers Justin Brown and Paul Duncoubowsky has spent many years in lap and math teacher Dave Deggeller run through a scene during a staff the theatre and knows he has finished his last show in the venue. “It’s defi- rehearsal as choir director William Liberatore accompanies them on piano.

Performances will be held Feb. 7-9, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 per student and $20 per adult; they are sold at the door, through the Gunn Student Activities Center or through an online link at www.gunnchoir.org.

Senior Priya Thomas becomes a National YoungArts finalist Liza Kolbasov Reporter Senior Priya Thomas joined the ranks of 167 finalists of the National YoungArts competition, making it into the top 8.67 percent of applicants receiving one of the nation’s highest honors for writing. She became one of over 20,000 alumni who have received this honor and is now eligible for special workshops, trips, scholarships and an opportunity to be nominated as Presidential Scholar of the Arts.

For Thomas, the award came as a surprise. “I didn’t really realize how prestigious the organization was, and I was definitely very surprised when I went there to see all these really talented people and authors,” she said.

As part of her award, Thomas recently attended the National YoungArts week in Miami, Florida, held from Jan. 8 to Jan. 15. There, she got a chance to meet published authors and guest artists and attend several workshops, such as ones focusing on writing, revision and interdisciplinary studies.

The finalists also had an opportunity to perform a twominute section of their writing for faculty and participants, as well as a chance to listen to performances in other disciplines.

Although the experience was intimidating at first, Thomas feels that she gained a lot from it. “I definitely felt overwhelmed by all the talent, but I’m really glad I went,” she said. “I met so many cool people, and they really emphasized the importance of generating material and writing consistently. You don’t have to feel inspired all the time, but you should still just keep at it.”

Thomas was given this honor for a novel that she has been working on in pieces since seventh grade.

The novel depicts the life of a girl with

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and is written as a set of memories from different periods of her life. It is loosely based on Thomas’ life. “The characters are all fictional,” Thomas said. “But the story is essentially mine.”

For Thomas, writing provides the opportunity to sort out the events of her life. “Writing has always been my way of processing my own life and things that are happening in it,” she said. She originally began to write several short stories on the subject, and during her time in Analysis of Writer’s Craft she decided to turn the stories into a longer body of work.

Writer’s Craft teacher Tarn Wilson served as the first reader for the novel.

Thomas’ story struck Wilson with its emotional power and sensory detail.

“Her writing is very emotionally honest, and she uses metaphors in very fresh ways that makes you feel an emotion that doesn’t really have a name,” she said. “She’s very brave in the emotional places that she’ll go with writing.”

Wilson also noted that Thomas’ writing stands out for its sophistication. “[It is] mature in the topics and the approach, and control of language, and… the subtlety of observation,” Wilson said.

Thomas enjoys writing because it plays to her natural strengths. She sees it as a tool to help her slow down and think through her feelings, something she enjoys doing. “Since I’m quiet, I can’t always say what I want to say on the spot,” Thomas said. “I like writing because it gives me the time to shape my words.”

Thomas has also been involved in several creative writing groups and currently serves as the editor-in-chief of Gunn’s literary magazine Pandora’s Box. Club advisor Paul Dunlap said that although Thomas did not originally apply for Editor-in-Chief, her involvement in the club as well as writing in general made her the best choice. “She was the one, because of her writing, because of her commitment, because of her consistency,” he said.

Thomas plans to continue writing throughout the rest of her life, although she is not sure whether or not she wishes to write professionally.

“I know it’ll always be something I do for myself, but I’m not sure if writing as a career might take the fun out of it,” she said. Regardless, she will continue writing as a way to express her emotions and make sense of the world around her.

Vibha Arun

Graphic by Sherry Chen

12

CENTE

Celebra Black History Mo nth is underceleb rated at Gunn Histor Eric Epstein

Since 1976, every Fe bruary in America has been officially de Month. Across the signated as Black H country, people take istory tim e to reflect on the co Americans have mad ntributions that Afri e to America. Studen cants are educated abou icans and about fam t the history of Africa ous African-Americ n Amerans’ contributions to Black History Month society. At Gunn, ho is not celebrated as wever, comprehensively as Black History Month it should be. Implem curriculum, as well enting a as having more scho Month events would ol-sponsored Black be highly beneficial History fo r th appreciate the heritag e Gunn community because it is importa e and history of Afri nt to can-Americans, and The obstacles that A address modern issue frican-American pe s. ople have overcome zen to acknowledge are imperative for ev . Oppression and di ery citiscrimination have be cans since they set fo en inflicted on Africa ot in America. Toda nAmeriy, the African-Amer science, movies, polit ican community cont ics, music, arts and ributes to countless other field immense strides of s with accomplishm progress made by th en ts. Such e A frican-American co ognized and celebra mmunity deserve to ted. be recDespite advancemen t, the way African-A mericans are treated ity, as discrimination is still a far cry from and racism are still ve equalry much alive. One so tion, as exposure to lution to this issue is and education abou educat minority groups co ultimately celebratio uld lead to acceptan n of the differences be ce of and tw ee issue that has been n racial groups. Raci receiving significant al tension is a nationw media coverage with ide lice actions especial in the last few years, ly have been in the and pospotlight. In 2002, th implemented a stope New York Police D and-frisk program th epartment at allowed officers to and search them fo stop any citizen they r contraband. Acco wanted rding to the New Yo 2002 through 2013, rk Civil Liberties U a staggering 51.8 perc nion, from ent of the civilians w American, which is ho were stopped wer much higher than th e Africane pe rcentage of AfricanCity at 25.5 percent.

Americans across N The stop-and-frisk pr ew York ogram was ruled un court in 2013, after constitutional by a sta the program was ac te district cu se d Hispanic citizens’ 14 of violating the city’s th Amendment right African-American an s. Another controve d ceived heavy media rsial police issue that coverage is police br has reutality. According to 935 Americans kille the Washington Post, d by police last year out of the , 24 percent of the vi Statistics such as thes ctims were Africane highlight the race-b A merican. ased discrimination United States. that continues to ex ist in the Being educated on m inority groups such as African-American sion and discriminat s is one way to redu ion in the United St ce tenates. African-Americ resented at Gunn. Ac an s ar e significantly underr cording to our scho ol profile only 2 perc epfies as African-Amer ent of the student bo ican. Holding Black dy id en History Month lesso tiperfect place to start ns and events at Gun education at a local n is the level.

Black History Mon th should offer an op portunity to celebra amongst the student te diversity and diffe body. As students, w rences e are especially priv a school that has su ileged and fortunate ch a wide array of ra to go to ces, ethnicities, cultu tory Month events w res and religions. Bl ould augment existin ac k Hisg events such as Not In Day and the Martin Our Schools Week, Luther King Jr. asse Unity mbly to help foster more comprehensiv the importance of di e observance of Blac versity. A k History Month w the African-Americ ould cultivate apprec an community and iation for also encourage the ce in the community. lebration of others’ di fferences —Epstein, a sophom ore, is a reporter.

History of Black

r G. Wood In 1912, Carte octorate deg to complete a d iversary c ann emancipation ry display. Th American histo and he w tory about black his the Negro of n Mis-Educatio Minister J Woodson and History in 1 Negro Life and istory, aim ican Life and H tory. To his have played in ntion to te at g event to brin is the we it February since t Abraham former presiden first p n The Associatio immediate and it was an s and eve attended lecture into citie started to move istory H To them, Negro ore and m , ed that follow ry Bulle the Negro Histo 0s, w During the 196 ed tend some colleges ex as Bl y ignated Februar hon y to the opportunit ea of ar y cans in ever aims F President procl lishes a theme. em This year, the th to s Association aim bu p, achievement ga t t gh ri fought for the forgo forced them to

ERFOLD

Friday, Feb 3, 2017

ating Black ry Month

re e v o c n u h t n o M k History Amanda Lee Tech Editor

d

in history ican-American fr A d n co se e 50th e th years later, at th andson became e re Th . ty si er Univ Afric gree at Harvard icago, Woodson created an others h h C celebration in the need to teac “The ed iz al re e h t, en and write Through this ev History Month ck la B rm fo p el went on to h Study of ociation for the mero.” ss A e th ed d n u d fo an-A Jesse E. Moorlan ociation for the Study of Afric ericans m ss A -A 1915, now the e role African th t u o ab s er eeklong th te o organized a w n io ming to educa at ci so as k of e goal, th the second wee se o ch o achieve this ey Th . ry ican histo ouglass and o African-Amer s of abolitionist Frederick D day eek of the birth k, ro History Wee eg N as 6 m Lincoln.

2 9 1 . ry clubs, event in Feb y formed histo icans tr n promoted the u co e th ss le acro -Amer e success. Peop s. After World War I, African r culture. n ei o ti th en held celebra ss championed la -c le d id m g . In the years owin es where the gr fect way to honor their legacy n started per odso y Week was the d to recognize the event. Wo . te ts ar d more cities st p teachers educate their studen ovement, hel ts M etin in 1937 to in the midst of the Civil Righ cially desas offi w when America month. President Gerald Ford ans to “seize a g Americ d the week into 76, encouragin ts of black Ameri9 1 in th n o M plishmen lack History the eglected accom n en ft ar since then, -o o ye to ry e ve E ” . nor th ry to ghout our his ociation estabendeavor throu History Month, and the Ass ck February as Bla The Black History.” e in s si ri C e “Th tory Month is schools and th me of Black His n underfunded urban public mericans who o put a spotlight rate the efforts of African-A hen society emo a time w ut also comm own schools in r ei th t il u b r o l to go to schoo o education.

Students define Black

13

History Month

Chelsie Park and Janet Wang Reporter and Forum Editor All eyes were fixed during the annual on senior Ebbie Banks as he captivat Martin Luther Kin ed the audience g Jr. ing his experience with his ancestry, pr Day assembly last Friday, revealejudice and self-co a spoken-word po nfide em how his ancestry an titled, “My Skin.” In the poem, Ban nce through ks emphasized d encounters with ra him today. Throug h this assembly an cism and discrimination impact d menced the recogn ition of Black Histo featured speakers, Gunn comry Month in February According to junior on campus.

C le o G oo dw in , Bl important for Afric an-Americans to ce ack History Month is extremely lebr their history. “Being a minority, there co ate black culture and embrace that Black History Month is the only tim mes a lot of challenges, and I feel to try and embrace e who they are withou that America allows black people t be Similarly, junior H udson Alexander be ing called out for it,” she said. is a time to remem lieves that Black H be istory Month Americans. “I thin r the past and to celebrate the prog ress of Africank it’s an important cele and really just a tim e to self-praise and bration of all the unsung heroes feel good about yo Senior Victoria Cra urself,” he said. yton believes that be acknowledged hi st or ic al fig ur es should not just during a specific m on all year round. “Th ere shouldn’t be a ce th, but they should be celebrated rtai Jr., Fredrick Dougl as or Malcolm X, bu n month for Martin Luther King t they should be re preciated everyday cognized and ap,” she said.

According to seni or Ruby Robinson, exists in the local African-American com pr Shoreline Amphith munity. A few months ago at a coun ejudice still eate try concert at rected the question, r, Robinson was shocked when a w hite teenager di“what’s a n- doing here?” at her. “I just in shock because I’ve had little thin turned around gs happen here an never been so blat d there, but it had antly shoved in m y face,” she said. “Y racism and prejud ou would expect ice to die with the ge nerations that had Because of incident slavery.” s lik e these, the Blac created to help all st udents find a safe pl k Student Union (BSU) club was ace to become educ rent events or just ated ex senior Tiazha Jack press their feelings, according to BSU about curson. “It’s not just ab co-president out a welcoming atmos phere where we ar race,” she said. “We make sure it’s e still learning and safe haven for ever having fun—it’s a yone.”

The BSU was prom appeared in the fo inent on campus in the 1960s and 19 llo according to adviso wing years. Five years ago, the club 70s, but disr Jessica Hexsel. To was restarted, planning to distribu celebrate the mon th, the BSU is te awareness ribbon a block party in co llaboration with St s throughout campus or organize anford Hexsel says that ev en though prejudic ’s BSU. sues, it is importan e t to be aware of the and division are still prevalent isdiversity among th ute to society and ose w hist our nation has com ory. “We [need to] remember the hist ho contribe from and that we ory and where are growing, even said. if it is slowly,” she

Graphics by Jeffrey Yao Photo illustration by Emma Chiao and Mikaela Wayne

14

Features

Students visit Washington D.C. to engage in politics Senior Sunnie Wang attends inauguration with Envision Stina Chang Features Editor

posite party. Wang met students with different political opinions from all over the country; this was an “eye-opening” trip for Wang. “I learned to appreciate After a long battle, the official ceremony finally other people’s opinions,” she said. “I just felt a lot arrived: on Jan. 20, Donald Trump took the oath calmer because, here, we say bad things about the of office and became [other] side, but when you the president of the are facing them, you can’t United States. Famisay such negative things to l ie s f rom a rou nd their faces. You realize that the country found they are human.” She added their way to attend that she listened to many Trump’s inauguradiverse people on the trip tion. Senior Sunnie and was able to make new Wa ng was a mong friends regardless of their those who attended, political views. arriving in WashingOn the day of the inauton D.C. on Jan. 18. guration, Wang and the Wang first attendrest of the program’s stued a program called dents stood in the crowd Envision at Stanford while President Trump was University over the being sworn into office. “It Courtesy of Sunnie Wang summer. Envision is Senior Sunnie Wang and her friends pose just felt so surreal,” she a camp that allows said. “At that moment, it for a photo at the presidential inauguration. high school students just felt so weird because I to gain insight into professional law. Afterward, wasn’t talking about it behind a screen, I was watchWang received an invitation from the camp for an ing it in person.” opportunity to attend the presidential inauguration.

On a lighter note, Wang also explained what “I wanted to witness history,” Wang said. “Hon- many people have been curious about: What was estly, I did not think [Trump as president] would the actual size of the crowd at the inauguration? be the outcome, so I was a little hesitant to go.” She According to Wang, the actual crowd size was about added that she is a “die-hard Hillary supporter.” the same as the picture comparison circulating on However, this four-day trip allowed her to find the internet. “It was very easy to get to the front,” common ground with people who support the op- she said. “A Camp Rock concert had more people.”

Senior Kevin Ji selected for Michelle Obama’s Educational Advisory Board don’t have that,” Ji said. “The idea would be that I bring up local celebrities so people see that their idols are also going to college, so it On Friday, Jan. 6, senior Kevin Ji went to would promote people to really realize that Washington D.C. to partake in a meeting college is a great option for them.” w it h ot her members of The term for the board Michelle Obama’s Better is two years, so current Make Room Student Advihigh school seniors will sory Board. have to create a new proBetter Make Room is an gram for the college they organization connected to attend next year. “Because the White House’s Reach they recruited so many Higher initiative. Its goal high school seniors, they is to encourage high school get double the amount of students to attend college branches across the naor other post-high school tion because they get the programs. For the Better previous high school and Make Room program, stuthe college,” Ji said. The dents on the board have to goal of the majority of come up with a long-term members is then to make educational program taisure that once students lored specifically to their have gotten into univercommunity by the beginsity, they graduate. ning of February.

Ji and a l l t he ot her Ji’s current advisor recmembers were also invited ognized him due to his Courtesy of the White House to Michelle Obama’s final local involvement in the Senior Kevin Ji and fellow educational advisory board members pose for speech as first lady. They community. “I do a lot of an official White House photo with former First Lady Michelle Obama. sat among celebrities and work here in education— media in the VIP section. specifically my Financial Literacy for Youth I haven’t lived in.”

“It was absolutely moving. She started crying, I program that seeks to promote financial Ji would also like to bring College Sign started crying, everybody started crying [and] literacy through a peer-peer model—and a Day—one of Michelle Obama’s more popular everyone started standing up,” he said. community leader recognized my work and Reach Higher programs—to the Bay Area.

Ji is extremely grateful for the opportunity. nominated me for this,” Ji said.

College Sign Day involves having students “I was speechless,” he said. “[It was] a once-inAt Gunn, Ji would like to focus on mini- dress up in their college gear and bringing in a-lifetime opportunity to be able to meet all of mizing the achievement gap and promoting local celebrities who have attended college. these crazy individuals that are just as passionpeer mentoring. However, he would like to “We have a really strong college culture here ate as I am. There are a lot of passionate people concentrate more on other schools in the where everyone wears their college-pride about what you’re interested in—you just have Bay Area. “I want to possibly start my own shirts, but a lot of other areas in the Bay Area to find that niche.”

Clara Kieschnick-Llamas Copy Editor

advisory board for this region because I, as a [lone] person, can’t understand the entire Bay Area,” he said. “Instead, I’d get students from different schools across the area to help me understand more about communities that

Graphic by Sherry Chen

15

Features

Friday, February 3, 2017

Q&A with senior Tim Chau, Instagram business owner The Oracle: How did your meme account begin?

Tim Chau: I didn’t just start with my account 3.14 (pi). I first created a meme account for the doge meme. I would spam other meme accounts with comments that imitated the doge language. After I reached 50,000 followers on that account, the doge meme started to die out, so I set out to create different meme accounts.

Now, I just own pi.

TO: What has been the best part of running a meme account?

TC: Running a meme account allowed me to discover what I’m interested in.

Since creating a meme account, I opened my own store and ran marketing campaigns with companies. These activities led me to discover me a [college] major I love—business. A great part of having this giant meme page is the revenue that comes with it. I can pay for my tuition for college. Along with my beloved cash, finding the memes that cater to the teenage demographic is just really entertaining. I also wrote fanfiction about Pepe the Frog. At its peak, the fanfiction account had over 30,000 followers on Instagram and thousands of active readers. Sadly, the account and my beautiful work of art was destroyed when a hacker came along.

TO: How have you used your account to inspire change?

TC: I raise awareness for certain causes that I care about like the refugee situations, mental health stigmas, social rights and the malicious things that politicians have done through posting memes, article headlines or videos. Personally, I have donated some of the profits that I earned through my online business to help the Syrian refugee crisis. I also created a video about the experience of a sextrafficking survivor and nonprofit founder and used my platform to spread awareness [about these issues].

TO: What are your future plans for your meme account?

TC: I plan on running my meme account in the future and collaborating with different brands. Hopefully, big companies like Nike and Adidas will come to recognize the amazing potential that comes with using memes and meme accounts to promote their products.

52 likes 47 MINUTES AGO

TO: What do you see in the future of marketing and entrepreneurship when it comes to social media?

TC: Already, social media is filled with marketing. Although not all of us see it, a large majority of posts contain some sort of sponsored product. An Instagram meme may contain a person wearing Nike or Puma apparel. A tweet by a popular account may be a movie trailer. Every little thing alters society’s tastes and preferences. With the movement away from traditional TV to social media, companies are starting to invest more in social media marketing.

—Compiled by Anyi Cheng

Photo by Vibha Arun Graphics by Sherry Chen and Elizabeth Zu

New classes for the 2017-18 year 2. Advance Authentic Research(AAR) AP Seminar 3. AP Computer Science Principles

4 . C h i ne s e Civilization and Culture

5. Multimedia Journalism 6. The Art of Visual Storytelling

7. Topics in Applied Mathematics

TO: What was the worst part about running an Instagram meme page?

TC: The worst part about running a meme page is seeing all the hate and animosity that are spread throughout the comments. There is a lot of hate speech and xenophobia that come with my political memes that bash on our current president. It’s sad to me that many of my followers are simply racist, sexist, homophobic; any type of discrimination—you name it, I got it. But I don’t really care that much because since they follow me, I can profit off of them.

Account: @3.1415926 Follower count: 2.5 M

View all 23 comments

1. Advance Authentic Research(AAR) AP Capstone Research

TO: What are the biggest problems you’ve faced since you gained popularity?

TC: I’ve been hacked a couple of times. In December 2014, this guy hacked [information about] my financ[es], home, school, family restaurant addresses, personal information li ke my mom’s Social Security number a nd more. He a lso had my password on Instagram and kept going in the account, and my Facebook was linked to the account.

After two weeks of struggling, I finally got him out of my account. However, the next year [on] the weekend before finals week, he came back and hacked me again.

This time, he hacked my five emails, Paypal and Instagram account. He also was able to lock my iPhone and Macbook through entering my iCloud ID and password. In April, I got my account back. This entire hacking thing is a mess!

8. Yoga and Mindfulness

For more information on each of the new classes, visit gunnoracle.com

Sports

16

Football vs fútbol: traditions, predictions Students share Super Bowl rituals

Champions League Picks

Caroline Ro Reporter

Every February, football fans nationwide turn their attentions to the Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the National Football League. The Super Bowl is viewed by more than 110 million Americans every year, making it one of America’s most watched televised events, with advertisement revenues exceeding several million dollars for a 30-second commercial. Its popularity has proved to be more than a money-making opportunity for television networks, however. Today, the Super Bowl has grown to become an integral symbol of American culture, as well as a means for striking up conversation, promoting social gatherings and forming new relationships.

For sophomore Meghna Singh, the Super Bowl is a family tradition, complete with its own superstitions and sentimentalities. From the clothes she wears to her spot on the couch, Singh will join her family once again this year to make sure that everything is in place for the victory of their favorite team, the New England Patriots. Above all, Singh finds that football is a way for her to create and maintain connections with fellow football fans. “If I notice [people] have Patriots gear on, I know it’s a topic of conversation I can have with them,” she said. Having moved to Palo Alto from Boston when she was 10 years old, Singh uses football as a way to reconnect with her hometown. “It’s also a connection that I’m able to have with other people who I meet,” Singh said. “I think the whole reason I’m so tied to football is because of memories themselves.”

Freshman Kylen Liu watches the Super Bowl every year with his friends, and has some lasting memories tied with past games. While he remembers all the fun he’s had throughout the years both watching and playing football, Liu recalls one year in particular when a friend made a bet on the winning team, threw a shoe at the screen and broke the television upon losing $50. If anything, it’s a testament to how much football means to him and his friends, he says.

Senior Diego Cruz has played football for all four years at Gunn, and also gets together with friends every year to watch and discuss the Super Bowl with pizza and snacks. To Cruz, football is more than just a sport; he has developed close friendships with his teammates since he began playing in sixth grade. “It’s like a second family to me,” he said. “It’s been a very memorable past four years.”

Super Bowl Predictions “The Patriots will win the Super Bowl with their number-one scoring defense in the league. They will shut down the Falcons’ run game, and will succeed in shutting down Julio Jones, as they did with star receiver Antonio Brown in the AFC championship.

Furthermore, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are playing for history: with a win, they will have the most Super Bowl wins by a quarterback and head coach, respectively. And finally, the Pats will be wearing their white jerseys to the game. 11 of the past 12 winners wore white to the Super Bowl.”

“The Falcons are going to beat the Patriots because Matt Ryan and the Falcons are having their best season so far. They outscored and beat two elite teams, the Seahawks and the Packers, in the post season 80-41. Matt Ryan also has the highest quarterback rating and has yet to throw an interception with 730 passing yards and seven touchdowns under his belt in the post-season. Also, there is no defensive back-safety combo on the Patriots that can lock up Julio Jones on defense.”

Photos by Max Wang and Richard Yu Graphics by Elizabeth Zu

“Barcelona has a great offensive starting lineup including Messi, Neymar and Suarez. Overall, they have many standout players all around the field. They’re also tied with Bayern Munich for how many Champions League wins they have had over the years.”

“I feel as if Arsenal has a chance at the Champions League this year because as of right now, we are on pace to score at least 82 points. Last year Leicester won with 81. To top it all off, our key players are healthy as of right now. We have the most attacking options. With players like Ozil and Sanchez in the front lines, there’s no reason we can’t win the Champions League. We also have a top-notch defense led by Mustafi and Koscielny.”

Soccer fans follow European league, describe favorite teams Jack Mallery Assistant Business Manager

In 2014, more than three billion people watched the World Cup in Brazil, and 34 million alone tuned in to the final when Germany played Argentina. Soccer is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that spans the globe and draws people together from different backgrounds and countries. The English Premier League broadcasts to 614 million homes, and Manchester United reported a yearly revenue of 513 million pounds. While soccer encompasses the globe, it also affects the lives of many Gunn students.

Junior Erik Johansson has supported Arsenal Football Club ever since he can remember. “When I lived in England, they were the closest team in the Premier League to me, so naturally I decided to support them,” Johansson said. Arsenal is currently sitting second in the Premier League table—the same place they finished the season in last year.

For years, Arsenal fans have been mocked for their failure to win major trophies such as the Champions League and the Premier League title. Its manager, Arsene Wenger, has been at Arsenal for 20 years, a Premier League record. Since 2005, Arsenal has finished fourth six times, creating the legend of fourth place finishes that people use to taunt their fans. “Fourth is a reasonable position, but Wenger hasn’t seemed to adapt over the years,” Johansson said. “Because of [Wenger’s] past successes, he’s deserved the amount of time he’s had, but I don’t know how much longer he should stay.” In addition to watching games to support his team, Johansson buys merchandise such as jerseys. “They are the best team in England, with the best style of football, which is possession counter attacking,” he said.

Johansson supports his team with a fervor only matched for his love of the team’s star striker, Olivier Giroud.

Senior Leo Lindo is a passionate supporter of his fifth-tier English team, York City Football Club. “I first got into watching soccer around 2011 and when I really started getting into it, I saw York City win the Football Association trophy final and the playoff final in consecutive weeks and that made me fall for the team,” Lindo said. To support his club, Lindo has bought merchandise such as a scarf from the 2012 season. Although they are a fifth-tier club, Lindo supports the team for its history of upsetting large teams.

“I love the history of the club,” Lindo said. “They knocked out Arsenal from the FA cup with a 3-1 win in 1985, but those were the glory days,” he said. Lindo looks forward to the time where York City will upset a major club like Arsenal again.

Junior Mitch Pi has supported Atletico Madrid for three years now, a team that plays in the top tier of Spanish soccer. Atletico Madrid won the Spanish league in 2014, upsetting Barcelona and Real Madrid on the final match of the season. “[Our manager] is a tactical genius and I really like their style of play and how they develop players over the years,” Pi said. Pi wears his Atletico jersey to school whenever he can to show his support for the team. As well as the Champions League, “Fernando Torres is the best player in the world,” Pi said. “I can’t wait until we win the Champions League with him.”

17 Second semester senior joins soccer team

Sports

Friday, February 3, 2017

Janet Shea Reporter

Unlike many seniors who choose to take second semester easy, senior Fred Reitman is taking advantage of his last opportunity to try a new sport in high school. Reitman originally tried out just to see if he could make the team, but is now a goalkeeper on the varsity soccer team.

Varsity soccer coach Kenneth Luis believes that most seniors join new sports for that final experience before leaving high school. “They see it as their last chance before college,” Luis wrote in an email. “Also, it may be their last chance to play a sport with a classmate before they go off in different directions.”

Reitman joined soccer to make use of his free time as a second semester senior. “I wanted something to take up my time in a fun way, something that would give me exercise—something that I could get myself into, so I chose soccer,” Reitman said.

During his first three years of high school, Reitman was part of the track and field team.

Now, his role as a goalie for the soccer team is a very different experience for him. “[Shot put] isn’t really an active sport—it’s a lot of standing around,” Reitman said. “Soccer’s definitely a lot more r u n-

n i ng a nd phy sic a l e xerc i s e .”

Reitman believes trust is an important element in a team sport, which is another difference from the other sports he’s competed in. “There is a lot more team bonding and trusting in each other, so that’s why I like it a lot,” Reitman said.

According to varsity soccer captain senior Sam Rothstein, Fred has been a great asset to the team. “The biggest thing Fred contributes is his work ethic and his good attitude,” Rothstein said. “Fred always comes to practice, and when he’s here, he always works hard and makes everyone feel happy. He’s always telling jokes and laughing with everyone, and he really keeps the team together.”

Although exciting, Luis warns seniors of the difficulties that may come when joining

a new sport. “It’s always fun to try something new,” Luis wrote. “However, if it’s a cut sport, it can be a difficult task. Most athletes on varsity sports teams have played their sport a long time and have a lot of experience.”

Although the first few weeks of soccer were difficult for Reitman, he has now settled in. “He didn’t really know us that well,” Rothstein said. “He joined the team two or three weeks into practice, but he caught on quickly and became a great goalie.”

Rothstein recommends that seniors join new sports. “I think that it’s a great idea to take the opportunity to try something you haven’t done in the past, and I really encourage any senior to not only try out for the soccer team, but to try out for any Gunn sport,” Rothstein said.

Photo courtesy of Fred Reitman

Senior Fred Reitman looks for open teammates after making a save, while senior Sam Rothstein runs downfield during a match against Monta Vista on Dec. 10.

Richard Yu

Fun, new sports to try C yc l i n G A new fitness craze, cycling, has taken over in recent years. Classes such as SoulCycle and Equinox have become a new popular form of working out for several reasons. Cycling has been shown to release bursts of endorphins, chemicals which reduce stress and anxiety. Cycling also strengthens your core and gives you an amazing leg

Da

nc

in

g

Dancing has grown in popularity, whether people are participating in dance competitions or trying out new moves to their favorite songs. With new dance routines popping up every few weeks, there is always something fresh to try. From ballroom dancing to hip-hop, there is a style of dance for everyone. One way to get started is to participate in Zumba.

Zumba classes are available at many fitness centers around the Bay and can be a f u n, easy way to get involved in dancing while listening to great music and getting an amazing full-body workout. Dancing can be done solo or with a group of your friends.

workout. It doesn’t matter what kind of shape you are in because cycling can be done at any speed and any intensity level.

Beyond classes, cycling is a mode of transportation and can save money and help the environment. The Bay Area is home to hundreds of miles of bike paths, making most places across the Bay easily accessible.

i Cl

m

n bi

g

c kWhether you choose to

R o do it inside or outside, rock

climbing is a fun and challenging workout that can be easily picked up. Outdoor climbing can give a new appreciation for what your surroundings look like from new heights, while indoor rock climbing can be a more relaxing way to exercise with friends and master the basics.

Climbing is a simple way to add adventure into your routine as well as give yourself a workout goal to achieve. Rock climbing g yms can be found throughout the Bay Area and outdoor climbing locations can be found in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

—Compiled by Laurel Comiter

Graphics by Cheryl Kao

18

Sports

WINTER SPORTS Shoot for ccs BOYS’ BASKETBALL

GIRLS’ SOCCER

The varsity boys’ basketball season has been one of hard work and dedication. According to MaxPreps, Gunn’s national rank has moved forward 792 spots, and their state rank has moved to 50.

This season has brought changes and transitions. “We lost our best player Alex Gil last year, so the hardest thing has been working together as one unit instead of relying on one person,” senior Josh Radin said.

Gunn’s win against Los Gatos marked one of the highlights of the season so far. “We had a rough start to the season, but we played Los Gatos who was supposed to be top of the league, and we had a huge sixth man at the game, but we beat them,” Radin said. “We played the best we had the entire season, and it was a ton of fun.”

Making meaningful bonds with teammates has been one of the best parts for many players. “We have a different dynamic of guys this year,” senior Jeff Lee said. “Everyone’s willing to sacrifice for the team and it’s pretty cool.”

The players are inspired by each other. “Alex Gil is one of my role models in this sport,” Radin said. “It wasn’t just that he was our leading scorer, but he came to practice everyday and worked extremely hard and set a great example, and really led the team both on and off the court.”

While their run in league has been successful, the team has goals for out-of-league play and continuing their season. “I’m looking forward to hopefully playing in the CCS [Central Coastal Sections] tournament if we can make it that far. That’s always a special and a good experience,” Lee said.

With eight wins and zero losses, the girls’ soccer team is currently undefeated and first in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic league. The team hopes to maintain that title and qualify for CCS for the fourth year in a row.

According to coach Juan Mayora, the team had a rough start but has progressed as the season has gone on. “At the beginning it was a little difficult, because I had to get to know them and they had to get to know me,” he said. “We tried to find the right formation and chemistry, but I’ve gotten good responses and I haven’t gotten any complaints.”

The Titans continue to grow and support each other. “There is not so much competition for playing time because we’re all very respectful of each other,” senior Inger Smuts said. “Everyone on the bench is super supportive and really happy for each other’s successes.”

In addition, being able to communicate effectively is a key asset during practices and games. “On the field, even if we’re yelling at each other, there’s nothing spiteful,” junior Ainsley Roh said. “We know everybody is always kind and supportive.”

To keep the team rolling, Mayora finds a balance when coaching. “Sometimes I have to be a little strong, but my main job is to motivate them and be positive,” he said.

According to Smuts, Mayora’s challenging program is necessary for the team to do its best. “He has really high expectations for us, but for me, it works really well because I know what I have to do to succeed,” Smuts said.

As the girls head into the second half of their season, the team is not only focused on keeping up its game, but also its morale. “It’s important to build the culture because you’re representing your school,” Mayora said. “I’m trying to bring back the spirit of being proud that you play for Gunn; you’re a Titan and do the best you can.”

Josh Radin (12)

Nicole Smith (9)

Georgia Hake (12)

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL The girls’ varsity basketball team has started its season with a 4-4 overall record and a 3-2 conference record. Co-captain senior Archer Olson is happy with the start the team has made, and believes the teams they have played have helped them improve drastically. “We played a lot of powerhouse teams in preseason—schools such as Pinewood and Mitty—who have won a lot of state championships in the past few years,” Olson said. “It’s been really good competition that can help us do better in league and CCS.” Co-captain senior Georgia Hake agreed that becoming league champions and winning CCS are their season objectives. “We decided we wanted to win CCS and hopefully be league champions of SCVAL [Santa Clara Valley Athletic League] and just try to have a really good season,” Hake said.

Overall, Olson and Hake love being on the team. Their favorite part is the heartfelt relationships they formed with their teammates. “We are all really good friends,” Hake said. “We are like one big family, and we enjoy spending time with each other.”

Benjamin Detering (10)

BOYS’ SOCCER This year, the boys’ varsity soccer team is looking to take the El Camino league title. Currently, they are 3-3-1 in league play and 6-5-2 overall.

“The season has been pretty good so far,” co-captain senior Leo Lindo said. “I definitely think we can improve in the second half of the season. I think one thing we need to improve on is staying focused for the entire 80 minutes.”

This is Lindo’s first season playing high school varsity soccer. He has enjoyed it thoroughly. “I met a lot of new people passionate about the same thing so it’s been a blast playing with them,” Lindo said.

Co-captain senior Sam Rothstein shares similar views. Despite the team’s strong start, Rothstein believes that the team has the potential to do even better. “Our team’s biggest strength is our work ethic,” Rothstein said. “I am always impressed how our team works on and off the field.”

With the first half of the season over, Rothstein is optimistic about the team’s future and the playoffs. “We have had a great season so far,” Rothstein said. “Ultimately, our goal is to win CCS.”

WRESTLING The wrestling team has had a strong start to team is confident. If the coach has a good sense of the year, going 4-0 in duals (1-0 in league), and humor, the team usually follows suit. So, I hope recently winning the San Ramon Invitational. they are all those things.”

“I did not know what Senior Raymond Wu ento expect because many of joys being part of the comour starters graduated last petitive environment while year, so we started with a also having fun. “We just large, but inexperienced try to get better as the season team,” coach Chris Horpel progresses, finish at or near said. “Winning our first the top of the SCVAL, and four dual meets and the hopefully get some of us to San Ramon Invitational CCS or States,” Wu said. was a great start—very “And of course, the camaraunexpected.” derie we have as a team is a Having been the wres- Sophomore Timmy Waymouth lot of fun.” tling coach for over a de- wrestles a teammate at practice.

With a promising season cade, Horpel tries to mainon the horizon, Horpel looks tain a fun atmosphere for his wrestlers. “I think to finish the season the way that they started. “We sports teams kind of take on the personality of have already exceeded many of my expectations,” the coach,” Horpel said. “If the coach is relaxed, Horpel said. “If we keep improving at the rate we the team is relaxed. If the coach is confident, the are, we will reach all of our goals.”

Home

game

calendar

Boys’ Soccer @ 3:30

Girls’ Soccer @ 6:00

Wrestling @ 5:30

Girls’ Soccer @ 6:00

Basketball G @ 6:15 B @ 7:45

Graphic by Sherry Chen Photos by Max Wang and Richard Yu

—Written by Emma Chiao, Bridgette Gong, Tone Lee, Ryan Manesh and Matt Oh

Sports

Friday, February 3, 2017

Staffer tries fitness app 8fit is a free workout app available on Android and Apple products that offers both personalized fitness and a variety of diet programs. My two weeks of experience with this app have been successful, as a result of the extra guidance from several helpful features exclusive to 8fit.

The first step to using it is creating an account and establishing a profile: you enter in basic information such as email, gender, goals, age, height and weight. The app will formulate a personal training program fit specifically for you and what you hope to achieve.

Coaching tips and motivation are offered through routine notifications, which can be extremely beneficial. One of the great things about 8fit is that it is personalized to fit you: your fitness level (determined on a scale of eight points through a brief set of questions), your exercise goals, weight goals, time and age.

A paid subscription is required for many of the more advanced features. 8fit Pro offers custom fitness programs with exercise routines, easy-to-prepare custom meal plans built to meet a desired calorie and nutrition range, a fitness tracker, interactive demos and workout tips. The app includes three distinct packages.

I used the basic package (free), which lacked most of those features but did have fitness guides, activity logs, target values for daily calorie intake and daily exercises derived from a goal.

This app took a couple days to implement into my day, but once that happened, I learned to enjoy incorporating exercise into my routine. I found it a great resource for workout tips, ideas and reminders. For me, the major role of this app was motivation because I Richard Yu didn’t stick to the exercise

plan exactly, but I did similar things. The constant reminders made me realize how enjoyable certain types of exercises were, such as cardio.

8fit is a useful workout app that is easy to navigate, full of options and offers several opportunities for interactive fitness. It is suitable to people of all ages and fitness levels.

A n impor ta nt t hing to remember is that this app is only guaranteed to work if it is meticulously followed by the user, so I would recommend 8fit to people who exercise regularly and are searching for a little extra guidance in establishing a workout, weight loss or diet plan. This is also great for people who want some extra motivation and help with sticking to their fitness plan. All in all, I would rate 8fit with four out of five stars. If you’re interested in fitness, give this app a try, and prepare to get your workout on.

—Written by Bridgette Gong

8Fit can be found on the App Store and Google Play Store

Pro Plan Fee: • $25 per 3 months • $60 per year

19

Junior finds motivation to exercise

Aleks Tycz Finding motivation to work out can be a difficult task.

Despite the benefits of exercise, we often create excuses to avoid the tiring work; we ultimately hurt ourselves in the process.

Through swimming, I learned to maintain a commitment to fitness and improved both my physical and mental health in the process.

The key to a successful workout routine is dedication. A predefined schedule and frequent establishment of internal goals help to enforce this. By allotting consistent and specific times to exercise, you can actively contribute to the building of a habit.

When your routine becomes a constant in your life, it becomes far easier to maintain.

Internal goals work best for self-motivated people and have the potential to be extremely beneficial. I have found that these work best when set as multiple goals of various time lengths.

Short-term goals can be easier and more results-oriented while long term goals are most beneficial to a process-based approach.

In addition, using others as a basis for comparison can be an effective form of motivation. The individual nature of swimming allows for the frequent use of this tactic with teammates at practice. By using others as benchmarks for performance, I find additional drive to stay committed, as it is a necessity for improvement. The pride from the resulting growth acts as yet another motivation to continue working hard.

There will inevitably be times where finding motivation to continue is hard. Whether suffering from a plateau or becoming overwhelmed with other commitments, I have found myself in this situation at times. However, the worst way to cope with that struggle is to break your commitment. Not only does this hurt your performance, but the negative mental impact can make the process of regaining motivation more difficult. Continuing to train through a period of difficulty helps you to grow as a person and strengthen your determination.

Swimming is an extremely positive part of my life and has helped me maintain a healthy lifestyle. By setting goals and using teammates as motivation, I have learned to build a commitment to fitness and develop a habit of exercise.

—Tycz, a junior, is a reporter.

Tips to keep workout resolutions Start smal l with your plans. Gradually increase the workout as you familiarize yourself with your new exercise plan. By starting small, you won’t be overwhelmed from the start and feel unmotivated to continue.

Find dedicated time to exercise. Create a schedule you can follow every week. By following a schedule, you get into the habit of getting out to exercise.

Find an exercise buddy.

It’s easier to keep and build habits when someone is depending on you to exercise with them.

Stay positive and never beat yourself up. Focus on what you did well and not what you did not do so well.

Graphics by Cheryl Kao and Elizabeth Zu

—Compiled by Samuel Tse

20

Lifestyle

The Oracle staffers embrace blind dates Helen's Story I didn’t mind putting myself out there, so when I agreed to go on this blind date, I was excited. Either the date goes well and I make a new friend, or the date is awkward and we avoid eye contact at school—I couldn’t lose.

To make the best of this night, I knew that I needed to be open-minded and ready for anything and anyone. My goal was to make it a positive night for the both of us.

I certainly didn’t want to make a bad first impression, so I showed up to Pizza My Heart early. As I settled into a corner booth, I began to get nervous. What if my blind date and I had

absolutely nothing in common? What if our conversation died and we sat in silence for the rest of dinner? Oh, the horror.

After being on the lookout for my date, junior Will Roth strolled in. After a minute of bouncing ideas off each other, we finally decided to go to Palo Alto Creamery for dinner. We were acquaintances but didn’t talk at school, so I started off by finding common ground. Will is a very sweet and easygoing guy, so it was a breeze to get the conversation going.

After grabbing a booth, ordering and waiting for our food, we started off by breaking the ice. Curating and keeping up the conversation kept me on my toes. We talked about how the basketball team was doing and brushed up on what our mutual friends were up to.

Aleks' Story When first confronted with the idea of a blind date, I was doubtful because I'm not immediately friendly with new people. I worried that I would have trouble going on a date with someone I didn't know at all. The potential of being matched with someone I didn’t click with was frightening, and I was doubtful of how fun the date would be. Although I was wary of the concept, I agreed to give it a try.

Prior to my date, I was extremely nervous.

Worst-case scenarios played through my head as I drove to my date. The thought of backing out was running through my mind. As I approached downtown, I knew the only way the date would be successful was if I just had

Janet's Story In the days before my blind date, I felt my anxiety kicking in. My only knowledge of blind dates had come from various bloggers depicting their horrible experiences of having a date with awful manners or one that ended up ditching and running away. I frantically texted friends who knew my date’s identity, but in the end, I decided to go into the date with no expectations.

After some last-minute planning on the day of, I was set to meet my date at 7:30 p.m. for dinner on University Avenue. This plan, however, quickly changed as I was notified that I had to pick my date up. My date was senior

Somewhere in the chatter and laughter, we became comfortable with each other. By the time our food came, we talked about ourselves with ease. Dinner went by quickly as we got to know each other better, and, before I knew it, an hour had already passed.

After an exciting but exhausting night, we parted ways, content with the good food and conversation. While the idea of spending a few hours on a date with an unfamiliar person may seem daunting and awkward, going on this blind date has defintely taught me that it’s healthy to be open to try new things and meet new people. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?

—Nguyen, a senior, is a News Editor.

fun with it. It was up to me to make or break the date.

Following an endless search for parking, I made my way to Pizza My Heart and immediately gravitated towards the most obscure booth I could find. After barricading myself behind the table, I waited for my date to arrive.

Several minutes later I noticed a girl I recognized from school waiting outside. I hesitantly left the safety of my booth and made my way towards the door. With several seconds of awkward eye contact and an exchange of names, our blind date began.

My date was senior Kiana Fong. She was immediately outgoing and successfully fostered conversation despite my obvious discomfort with the situation. We soon decided to explore downtown, opting out of the more conventional

Toko Dougherty—an acquaintance who I knew through mutual friends and from having math together the previous year. I heard that Toko was a sweet and outgoing guy, so I was optimistic about our date. When Toko got into the car, he was polite and courteous. The car ride wasn’t awkward, and I was thankful that conversation flowed easily right off the bat.

When we reached downtown Palo Alto, Toko and I decided to eat at Crepevine. Since the restaurant requires customers to order first, I was ready to pay for myself until Toko generously offered—a gesture that I found quite chivalrous.

We had some nice conversation throughout dinner and I felt pretty at ease. Things were all fine and dandy until the end of dinner, when we had

sit-down dinner. The decision created a more casual atmosphere and I quickly abandoned my previous reservations. As we walked down University Avenue, we stopped to browse several stores, discussing the terrifying soda flavors at Rocketfizz and the product diversity of Walgreens. Throughout the night, our conversation remained engaging and suffered no uncomfortable silences.

Contrary to my initial hesitation, I thorooughly enjoyed my date. Kiana was funny and attentive, so conversation flowed easily.

Although originally worried I would not click with my blind date, Kiana and I were able to quickly move past the slightly awkward beginning and have a great time together.

—Tycz, a junior, is a reporter.

to wait for a photographer to come capture the moment. While we were talking, Toko informed me that his friend, Jeff, was on his way so they could hang out afterwards. When Jeff arrived, so did some other people that I didn’t recognize. I noticed that they were darting out from behind the window to watch us. I wasn’t uncomfortable but instead thought, Uhh, what’s going on?! Since his friends were right outside the restaurant, we said bye at the table. I left Crepevine turning the other direction to avoid an awkward encounter with his friends.

Overall, I would say that my blind date was far from disastrous.

—Wang, a junior, is a Forum Editor.

Faces in the Crowd

Photos by Max Wang and Richard Yu

What is your favorite pick-up line?

“Are you wifi? Because I’m feeling a connection.”

“I’m learning about important dates in Contemporary History.

Want to be one of them?”

“Are you a meme? Because I’d steal you.”

Kat Hamady (9)

Ian Shin (10)

Naomi Rodriguez (11)

You got a band-aid? Because I just scraped myself falling for you.”

Keshav Nand (12) —Compiled by Jennifer Gao

Friday, February 3, 2017

21

NO

YES

Are relationships in high school worth it?

Elizabeth Chung Many adults discourage high school students from having relationships and use the immaturity of adolescence to support that argument. According to PubMed, the adolescent brain matures around the age of 24. Of course, we might end up making poor decisions because of the underdevelopment of our brains, but that shouldn’t be the reason to drive us away from experiencing the feeling of loving someone and being loved back.

Being in a relationship means you have someone to rely on. It’s like having a best friend, except on a more intimate level. During the process of getting to know each other, you will end up sharing secrets you never thought you would share. You feel comfortable being yourself because the person accepts you for who you are. Through this process, high schoolers can learn the importance of being true to oneself and loving oneself.

The synergy effects of dating are well-regarded among couples. Most of the time, high school students end up dating fellow high schoolers. This is a great advantage as they can see each other every day at school. They can study together for tests and help each other achieve their goals through intellectual and moral support. Yes, I can hear those sarcastic chuckles.

Of course sometimes you will end up getting distracted by that funny meme or that new game record your boyfriend got, but hey, everyone needs a break from time to time. Hanging out with one's boyfriend or girlfriend gives the brain a break from studying and can helps lower one's stress.

By spending time with each other, people in a relationship become a crucial part of each other’s daily lives. They will understand each other's hardships and feelings better than many others. Knowing there is someone who will support you all the way makes one feel stronger and more motivated.

Most high school relationships don’t last long because during high school, people don't date with marriage in mind. It's more like having experience and practice for when the time comes to really think about marriage and commit to a relationship. That's not to say that high school relationships shouldn’t be taken seriously. By all means, take them seriously. However, people can find comfort in knowing that they are not in a contract that will require judicial steps to break away from. If things don’t work out, it’s totally fine. You’re allowed to make mistakes.

Having a relationship isn't as easy as it is portrayed in movies. Not all people fall in love at first sight or succeed in pursuing their crush. Therefore, if two people end up in a relationship, they should value the experience. The value of relationships cannot be judged as worthy or unworthy because every relationship, good or bad, has a legacy. If you like someone and he or she likes you as well, why not give it a go? In the end, who knows if the guy in English class will be the one standing at the altar on your wedding day?

—Chung, a senior, is the Oracle-TBN Liaison.

Joanna Huang Numerous hit movies and songs revolve around the thrills of dating and young love. If they are reflective of reality, then every high schooler could expect declarations of love, elaborate promposals and a relationship that lasts forever. Pop culture, however, can be deceiving. High school relationships are no more idyllic than any other relationship—they require time and effort that high schoolers are often incapable of giving. Instead of dating, high school students should allow for personal development and focus on personal pursuits.

Neuroscience research reveals that the teenage brain is still developing. The frontal lobe, which controls judgement, is the last part of the brain to develop. High schoolers, therefore, are prone to impulsive decision-making. The dynamics of the relationship, or even the start of the relationship itself, can be based on shaky rationale. Furthermore, teenagers have biological limitations in regulating emotions, making breakups more emotionally damaging. Adolescents are more likely to handle this magnified heartbreak with drastic measures.

Dating in high school can also keep students from pursuing their ambitions. In the face of ambition, high school dating can become a tiresome time commitment and a distraction. It is true that a boyfriend or girlfriend can provide helpful encouragement, but steady, lifelong friendships with those you have known for years can provide a less volatile, emotional safety net for those who crave emotional connections but want to still focus on pursuing their dreams.

Furthermore, dating oftentimes hinders learning and creates peer pressure. Students may feel obligated to date and social pressure can cause relationships to be based on a casual attitude of “I like you, you like me... let’s date?” simply to be able to labeled as dating. While dating, social media connects couples 24/7, encouraging expectations to promptly receive or respond to messages instead of studying. Peers, not used to adult etiquette, may find entertainment in unashamedly pressuring their friends to go a certain direction. But, ultimately, after breaking up, small social circles and having the same classes can force people to constantly come in contact with someone they have an uncomfortable history with.

High school relationships are not necessary to complete the high school experience. In fact, teen dating can be time-consuming, distracting to personal and educational pursuits and involve much drama. According to The Huffington Post, less than two percent of marriages in North America are between high school sweethearts. If high school relationships were really meaningful, people would stay in them, but they often are not.

So, right now, your main focus should be you. It is hard enough taking care of yourself while adjusting to more responsibility. If you are looking to experience more than the sensationalism of pop culture, independently grow and dream to the fullest before you settle down.

—Huang, a junior, is a reporter.

Megan's Tips: How to get out of the friendzone Find some one-on-one time:

The easiest way to become closer with someone is to hold deeper conversations when it’s just the two of you. Jump at opportunities to do so, but don't constantly attempt to create them.

Search for compatibility:

Remove any rose-tinted glasses and really think about whether or not the two of you would make a good couple. Learn enough about them to be able to safely make this judgement, but make sure not to be creepy about it.

Obsession isn't a cute look on anybody.

Don’t be delusional:

Always keep in mind that whoever you’re chasing does not owe you anything. You aren’t having some practical joke being played on you by the cruel love gods. Use the time that you spend griping about being in the friendzone to figure out why you’re there in the first place.

Give them space:

This should go without saying, but it’s in your best interest to not come off as clingy and needy. Be your own person and live your life.

Treat the journey out of the friendzone as a sort of pet project instead of letting it consume your time and theirs.

Be patient:

Even though it might look bleak now, you have to realize that it can take some time and luck to break free from the platonic chains of the friendzone—so chill out. You can gently nudge the relationship in the general direction you want, but for the most part let things progress as naturally as possible.

Test the waters:

Check your friendzone status from time to time.

Be forward if you would like, but it’s really all up to you and how well you can handle (possible) rejection. At the same time, make sure you’re not asking too often, and please don’t take them out into a parking lot and demand, “Do you like me or nah?!"

Take a step back:

If your position in the friendzone hasn't budged, dig deep and ask yourself if all of this is genuinely worth it. Move on if you see that the other person is obviously not interested. Don't make life harder than it has to be by drawing your rejection out. You may not want to move on, but it's better than waiting indefinitely.

—Compiled by Megan Li

Graphics by Elizabeth Zu

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Lifestyle

Friendships without borders: Staffers Maintain contact KEEPING GLOBAL RELATIONSHIPS

Grace Ding Before Gunn, I never stayed at the same school for more than two years. I left the Bay Area when I was five and lived in Shanghai for three years. I later lived in Beijing for four years until coming to Palo Alto in eighth grade. Unfortunately, leaving schools or cities tended to mark the end of my friendships because I lacked the methods and motivation to keep in touch.

NURTURING OLD FRIENDSHIPS

Naina Murthy Prior to going into college, many people warned me about how hard it was going to be to maintain friendships from back home. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the extent of their words until I experienced it personally. I always told myself that I would make every effort to keep in touch with my friends, and in the beginning, it worked for me. But as time went on and schedules got busier, it got harder and harder to remain connected. I started to feel like I was losing so many of my friendships because I

The first instance in which I actively tried to stay in touch with friends was when I left my last school in Beijing at the end of seventh grade to come back to California.

Although I had only been at that school for two years, I felt attached enough to my friends there that I put more effort into maintaining them than I ever had before. In the first half of eighth grade, I regularly emailed and messaged several close friends. However, as time went on, those exchanges became less and less frequent, until the only consistent forms of communication left were Instagram likes, comments and sometimes birthday posts.

I’ve learned many lessons through these experiences, one of them being that it’s impossible to sustain all the friendships you initially might want

wasn’t putting in enough time. It was really easy for me to get busy and keep telling myself that I would eventually call my friend or respond to a text they sent me over five hours ago, but once I became more willing to put in the time and effort, I became more connected.

Being in a new environment can get really lonely, especially when you are surrounded by people you don’t know that well. I was so used to being around close friends, and it was hard to adjust. While it is just as important to live in the moment and enjoy everything college has to offer, it is still okay to rely on your friends from home. I think one of the mistakes I made last quarter was thinking I couldn’t reach out to them anymore. I realized that one of the best ways to stay in touch is reaching out when you’re not feeling great. It reassured me that the friendship was still the same and that I could rely on that friend no matter how far I

MAINTAINING CONTACT WITH COLLEGE FRIENDS

Grace Tramack

Jeffrey Yao

Remembering all of the great times with my college friends before they left—traveling to swim meets, going out to meals, cooking together and spending ridiculous amounts of time together—definitely makes me nostalgic, but it is easier to deal with than I originally thought it was going to be. Our friendship takes more effort to maintain than it used to, but after a few

to. However, there’s always hope that even if you don’t regularly talk to someone, it’ll still be natural to meet and catch up when you bump into each other.

It is also important to not feel bad or apologize excessively during times that you Courtesy of Grace Ding talk less. I used to Junior Grace Ding and her middle school do this frequently, friends in Beijing enjoy a warm, summer day. but I’ve grown more secure in my friendships and found only appreciate the times I do meet that I can go periods of time without up with them, but also how friends talking to a friend, but we’re still able can be such a positive part of my to pick up where we left off, no matter life despite not always being physithe long periods of time in between cally in it. conversations. For me, maintaining —Ding, a junior, is a Sports Editor. long-distance friends helps me not

Courtesy of Naina Murthy

Graduate Naina Murthy and her friends smile for the camera before graduation. was from him or her. I think the biggest thing people have to remember in college is that you can’t stop putting in the effort. When it comes down to it, the occasional Snapchat and Instagram is not going to be enough. You have to be willing to have conversations beyond social media. It is always easy to get busy and make excuses, but the best way to maintain friendships in college is by staying active in their lives and being

months of getting settled into life without them there all of the time, I still consider them some of my greatest friends.

I used to see my college friends at least twice a day for two to three hours—sometimes more if there was swim practice or if I had a class with them. We all had the same schedule, but now that most of us are in different time zones, it is much more difficult to maintain a strong relationship. However, with the help of Snapchat, FaceTime and text, I have been able to maintain friendships with most of my long-distance friends.

It was hard at first to try to find mutual availabilities to FaceTime or to actually text each other at the same time, but once I accepted that both of us were incredibly busy and had to go on with our lives, it somehow made it easier to not see them every day. If I’m

willing to make time to talk and hang out with them.

Ultimately, it is easy to get busy and make excuses, and friendships may change and some will fade. However, if you are willing to put in the effort by staying active in their lives, it will all pay off in the end.

—Murthy, an alumna, is a member of the Class of 2016.

lucky, I am able to FaceTime them once or twice a month, but I’ve found that it’s better than trying to talk to them constantly.

That way, our conversations last much longer and we have so much more to talk about.

I really value spending time with my college friends when they come home. We usually Courtesy of Grace Tramack go to breakfast after swim Sophomore Grace Tramack repractice, try making new connets with college friends. recipes for lunch or just hang out and talk. Either way, I a different chapter of their lives am sure to take tons of pictures, than me, but thankfully, they because I want to remember all of know that I still value all of our the great times we’ve had. unforgettable memories, and that Even though I don’t see my I’ll always be here to grab brunch long-distance friends every day, with them whenever they come I am still able to hang out with back. them and talk to them as if noth—Tramack, a sophomore, ing has changed. They may be in is a reporter.

Friday, February 3, 2017

23

Get the inside Soup: Staffers review Local Soup Stops Dohatsuten

Sweet Tomatoes

Whole Foods

Dohatsuten Japanese Tapas and Ramen is located in a small lot at 799 San Antonio Road. Although it is much smaller than a typical restaurant, the interior design and lighting create a comfortable, familiar vibe.

The first step was choosing a broth between salt, soy, miso, tonkotsu pork or vegetarian soy.

I decided to order their signature Dohatsuten Ramen with tonkotsu pork broth. The wait time for the food was only about 10 minutes.

At first glance, it looked like a simple bowl of ramen and soup, but upon closer inspection I noticed the specks of seaweed, carrots and scallion. The pork soup had a strong flavor but it wasn’t too overwhelming. The ramen noodles were chewy and f lavorless, a downside that was well balanced by the broth. Each spoon of soup and noodles was also accompanied by tender slices of meat. However, as I neared the bottom of my bowl, I did notice that the broth got spicier and spicier. It was clear that the whole meal’s flavor was dependent on the soup.

Overall, I would give it four out of five stars.

Even though the $10.95 meal was nothing special, the environment and quality of the food make it ideal for those who are looking to eat a simple meal with friends and family.

Upon walking into Sweet Tomatoes, I was instantly reminded of Fresh Choice—a childhood favorite of mine. Both are buffet-style restaurants that serve all-you-can-eat soup, pasta and salad for a relatively low price. With memories of Fresh Choice’s soup in my mind, I had high hopes for Sweet Tomatoes. Taking advantage of the all-you-can-eat style, I tried three kinds of soup: Yankee Clipper Clam Chowder, Deep Kettle House Chili and Seven Vegetable.

I was a little disappointed with the appearance: the soups looked chunky and questionable. I really wanted to like the soups, but unfortunately, the taste matched the appearance. The vegetable soup was mostly salty broth and onions, although I at least got what looked like a chunk of cauliflower. The clam chowder was extremely salty, and the chili was—you guessed it—salty, yet somehow watery at the same time.

Solely based on the soup, Sweet Tomatoes gets two out of five stars. They do, however, have a few things going for them. I’m a sucker for softserve ice cream, so the fact that they had that brought their score up from two to three stars.

Pro tip (I saw a small child do this, and I copied him): Use a soup bowl instead of a cone for the soft serve, and don’t skimp on the toppings.

Classic tomato soup can remind you of warm nights at home with your family or of roomtemperature tomato ketchup. Thankfully, Whole Foods has a good tomato soup for whenever you feel a craving for some orange liquid. The flavor was fresher than Gucci Mane, and although the soup was not aesthetically pleasing at all (with a reddish-orange oil that bothered the cultured eye), the price was hard to match. $3.99 for a small container plus some organic white bread wasn’t too bad. As far as service goes, it was Whole Foods and I served myself, so service was five out of five. The atmosphere was also very Whole Foodsesque: calming dark green and leaf-inspired decor with plenty of natural-looking wood is reminiscent of eating in one of those expensive refurbished barns in Central Valley. As well as tomato, there are tons of other options for soup like clam chowder and Mediterranean lentil; all are super tasty. Whole Foods has been a longtime cult favorite for healthy and quality foods—and the standard holds up. The soup was comfortably filling and incredibly easy to purchase. Overall rating is a solid three point five out of five. I highly recommend getting some more bread on the side—they offer small loaves and soup crackers for free, but I’m so extra, I bought my own loaf.

—Written by Emma Chiao

—Written by Carolyn Kuimelis

—Written by Yael Livneh

—Written by Joanna Huang

Graphics by Jackie Lou

24

LUNAR NEW YEAR MONGOLIA - TSAGAAN SAR •

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Tsagaan Sar is a three-day ceremony. On the first day, a typical Mongolian family will hold a family reunion at the home of the eldest male family member. When they greet their elders, Mongolians often grasp elbows to show support for them.

During Tsagaan Sar, every family prepares hundreds of traditional pastries containing steamed sheep, beef or lamb called buuz. Preparations for this can start many days in advance, and the buuz is frozen to save it for the holiday.

The day before Tsagaan Sar is called “Bituun,” which means “new moon.” People usually gather with their immediate family and have a large meal together. Tradition says that if one is hungry after the Bituun meal, they will be hungry for the rest of the next year.

VIETNAM - TET

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• Celebrations for Tet can last up to seven days and are prepared for days in advance.

• People believe what they do on the dawn of Tet will determine their fate for the whole year. Hence, people always smile and behave as nicely as they can in the hope for a better year.

Tet is the occasion for Vietnamese people to express their respect and remembrance for their ancestors.

They often redecorate the ancestral altar with fruits and votive paper, and conduct religious rituals.

During Tet, many Vietnamese people eat banh chung, or steamed square cake, which consists of glutinous rice, mung bean and pork wrapped in banana leaves. It is meant to symbolize the Earth and can last for several days at room temperature.

CAMBODIA - KHMER NEW YEAR

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Khmer New Year lasts for three days. On the first day of celebrations, Moha Sangkran, Cambodians welcome God’s angels by cleaning their houses and setting out incense, flowers, food and drink. The second day of celebrations, Vanabot, is marked by offering charity to the poor and gifts to relatives. On the third day, Leung Sakk, Cambodians wash idols of Lord Buddha with scented water, and children pay respect to their elders by washing their feet.

Cambodians also traditionally build a sand hill on the temple grounds, which they decorate with five religious flags, one on the top and four around the sides, to represent the Buddha’s five disciples.

CHINA - LANTERN FESTIVAL •

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The character “Fu,” meaning good fortune or happiness, is used to express people’s good wishes and yearning for the future, so many people paste it on gates or furniture during the Chinese New Year. Pasting the “Fu” upside down is also a popular custom among Chinese people.

Dragon and lion dances are performed in the streets.

Both animals are believed to bring good luck.

Much of the food eaten during the Chinese New Year have lucky phrases connected with them. For example, fish corresponds to the phrase “may the year bring prosperity.”

It is also a custom for elders to give children money in red envelopes.

KOREA - SEOLLAL

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The Korean New Year holidays last three days.

During the New Year festivities, it is common for adults to dress up in a colorful traditional costume called hanbok.

Tteokguk, a soup with thinly sliced rice cakes, is a traditional Korean dish that is customarily eaten for the New Year. The white rice cakes signify new beginnings; this soup is often eaten during birthdays as well. Some parents tell their children that they aren’t a year older until they eat tteokguk.

A recent tradition is the ringing of the historic Boshingak Bell. The bell was originally constructed in 1396 and is now only rung on Lunar New Year.

Another New Year’s Eve custom is playing Yutnori, a traditional board game involving stick-tossing.

—Compiled by Stina Chang and Ariel Pan Graphics by Sherry Chen and Cheryl Kao