The Oracle (May 2006) by The Oracle

GRT season overview The Oracle takes a look at the Gunn Robotics Team’s successful year PAGE 2

Volume 42 Issue 7

Forum

Reevaluating the teacher evaluations

Spring Fling events calendar A record of the events you need to know about for Spring Fling PAGE 3

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

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

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Comedy of Errors a festival of firsts

End of the school year critiques not taken seriously by staff, students PAGE 4 Features

Departing staff Gunn says goodbye to six staff members PAGE 7 Centerfold

Dieting dangers Weighing in on popular diets and their many risks PAGES 8-9 Entertainment

Getting ready for the summer The best swimsuits for under $20 PAGE 12 Sports

Spring season wrap-up A look at Gunn’s spring teams’ records PAGE 14

Christopher Wu

Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors is Gunn’s ﬁrst production to be set outdoors. It also marked the ﬁrst time that all the lead female and male roles were played by students of the opposite gender and that a dog was onstage during the show.

New physics class to start next year Michelle Fang Features Editor

Next year, a new science course will be added to the list of the many classes offered at Gunn. This new AP Physics B class is an alternative to the AP Physics C class, and will allow students to learn physics on a general level. The original AP Physics C class is open to students who have taken or are taking AP Calculus BC, while the AP Physics B class will be open to students in the Algebra 2 and Trigonometry level. Currently, science teacher Bill Dunbar teaches AP Physics C. Physics teachers decided to initiate this new idea after careful consideration of students’ situations. “We see that there are many students with advanced math skills that could really excel in an AP Physics course, but are not in BC Calculus and therefore are not currently given the opportunity to take AP Physics C,” science teacher Claudia Winkler said. Because the AP Physics C class offers only a narrow range of topPHYSICS—p. 3

Club raises funds via dancing Stéphanie Keller-Busque News Editor

As students dance the night away on the quad at Dancing Without Borders on June 2, they will not only be celebrating the end of Spring Fling, but they will also be helping the Youth Community Service Club (YCS) raise money for Doctors Without Borders. YCS will be hosting Dancing Without Borders, their annual end of the school year fundraiser. Senior club president Jonathan Cheung says it is the biggest event they hold all year. “[Dancing Without Borders] is our trademark event,” Cheung said. “A lot of the fundraising goes into this event to pay for things like the deejay since it’s our biggest money maker in the end.” The club gives all the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization that provides free, high-quality medical care to victims of violence and disease around the world. Last year’s dance raised a total of $4,125 for Doctors Without Borders after paying expenses. Club adviser Diane Ichikawa hopes YCS will reach the $5,000 goal at this year’s Dancing Without Borders. “A lot of students have asked about the name of the dance,” Ichikawa said. “While it describes the outdoor setting of the dance, it also is a nod to Doctors Without Borders. Several of the club leaders and I have explained this to people, so perhaps they in turn will tell their friends and they’ll go to the dance to support such a great cause.” Senior dance commissioner Natalie Kirkish agrees with Ichikawa and hopes that many students will come to the dance to support YCS. “I think it’s great that students can help contribute by coming

to the dance,” Kirkish said. “A lot of students think community service is boring and don’t donate money, but now they can help and have fun at the same time. It’s deﬁnitely a win-win situation.” Ichikawa says YCS is excited about the dance. “Who wouldn’t want to go to have fun knowing that they’re also helping so many more people in the process?” Ichikawa said.

Christopher Wu

Youth Community Service Club publicizes Dancing Without Borders across campus.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ◆

The Oracle ◆ 2

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Robotics team takes FIRST GRT looks back on year of recovery, success Thomas Bao

Centerfold Editor

he Gunn Robotics team (GRT) participated at the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) competition, winning awards at both the regional and national levels.

At the Silicon Valley Regional held from March 16 to 18, GRT won the Xerox Creativity award, the Woody Flower’s award, which is given to a teacher or adviser of the team, and the prestigious Chairman’s award, which is awarded to the team that best embodies the purpose and goal of FIRST. At the National Championship Event held at the George Dome in Atlanta, Georgia from April 27 to 29, the animation team won the Autodesk Visualization Grand Prize. For this year’s robotics competition, students had to design a robot to play a game. This year’s game for robotics,

called “Aim High,” was a three-on-three game where teams used their robots to push or shoot balls through goals on a rectangular field. At each side of the field was a ramp with two rectangular goals at the corners and an elevated hoop. Teams were awarded three points for each ball launched through the hoop and one point for a ball scored in a side goal. Teams were also awarded points for parking robots on their ramp at the end of the game—five points for one robot, 10 for two robots and 25 for three robots. For this year’s animation competition, students had to create an animation in response to a prompt. This year’s prompt was “Ideas Realized—The process of visualizing what you hope to achieve by being part of FIRST.” Senior Daniela Buchman was pleased with the robotics team’s performance at regionals. “We did well [at regionals], [our robot] made semifinals,” Buchman said. “We lost to this year’s and previous year’s winners.” However, despite its success at the

regional level, the team did not reach the semiﬁnals at the national level. “We had some bad alliance partners,” Buchman said. “But we were enough of a threat for other teams to focus on us during the [beginning of the match].” Senior animation team leader Isaac Wilson was also pleased with his team’s work, an animation of a pencil drawing transforming into the steel beam of a house and ending with a red wagon blasting off into space. “The video was a red wagon, the kind you rode when you were ﬁve years old and then rockets popped out,” Wilson said. “It’s every kid’s dream.” GRT adviser Bill Dunbar is proud of his students’ work. “Their robot was really good,” Dunbar said. “It was fast and reliable, and it is a beautiful machine. The animation was the best student-produced computer animation in the United States.” Buchman considers the season a success. “I am thrilled with the team and we had a great year,” Buchman said.

Photo courtesy of Gunn Robotics Team

Left: A wagon rockets off to space. Above: Junior Zak Weiler works on the robot.

New LAH school district disputed Sasha Guttentag Associate Centerfold Editor

Residents of Los Altos Hills have begun speaking up about their displeasure with the absence of a school district in their city. Los Altos Hills parents currently send their children to one of two districts— Mountain-View Los Altos School District (MVLA) or Palo Alto Uniﬁed School District (PAUSD). The parents are hoping to create a whole new school district in the city, which would require all new classroom equipment as well as administrators. These parents have been holding many meetings to resurrect the old schools in Los Altos Hills, which have been abandoned for three years. These meetings sparked legal matters when a member of the Palo Alto Chair Board questioned whether it was legal for residents to belong to two independent school districts. Parents claim that sending their children to schools in other cities impacts the children negatively, and they hope public school systems will be a part of their city once again. If schools do open up in Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto schools will be greatly affected. PAUSD and MVLA will each lose up to $6.2 million in tax money as well as hundreds of students. Some Gunn students living in Los Altos Hills oppose the proposed new schools. “I think it’s good that residents here go to schools in Palo Alto,” freshman Los Altos Hills resident Cosmo Sung said. “We get the opportunity to meet new people of different backgrounds.” Gunn faculty members agree that the institution of a new district will be hurtful to Los Altos Hills students. “It will hurt them more than us,” social studies teacher Rich DiGiacomo said. “They’ll lose the resources that a bigger school offers.” Other staff members have doubts regarding the time until the new district opens up, and the percentage of residents that are actually against the proposal of having a new school district. “I think it’s a long ways away,” Principal Noreen Likins said. “There is a sizable proportion of people in Los Altos Hills that oppose the idea of a new school district.”

Physics class provides alternative ■ PHYSICS, from page 1

ics such as mechanics and electricity and magnetism, teachers thought it was suitable to offer students a class that introduces a variety of classical physics including mechanics, optics, thermodynamics, ﬂuids, nuclear physics, electricity and magnetism. The class will give students a better and broader perspective toward this type of science. Students may think that the AP Physics B course

is a newly created class, however, the course has been taught in the past and is a standard part of the science curriculum. It is taught nationally and based on the College Board AP Physics B syllabus. Therefore, students who will take this course next year will also take the AP test near the end of the year. Gunn students interested in taking this class next year may see Winkler or science Instructional Supervisor Lettie Weinmann for more information.

Date

Brunch

Lunch

How to dress up

Wednesday, May 31

Balloon shave (quad)

Rock ‘n’ Roll rally Traditional airbands (Spangenberg)

After school powderpuff football game (ﬁeld) Guys—pink Girls—blue

Thursday, June 1

Cheeto darts (quad)

Crutch races (quad)

Staff vs. students Students—70s disco Staff—2006

Friday, June 2

Giant twister game (quad)

Belly ﬂop and diving contests (pool)

Gunn pride—red and black

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ◆

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Students show support for Darfur peace at rally Caroline Hodge Forum Editor

Christopher Wu

Amnesty International Club sells t-shirts to support relief for the genocide.

On April 30, approximately 15 Gunn students headed to San Francisco to attend a rally urging President Bush and Congress to help end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The rally was part of the nationwide Day of Conscience for Darfur, sponsored by Our Pledge, a coalition of local human rights and religious organizations. Some 5,000 protestors turned out for the rally in San Francisco, with an additional 75,000 attending similar events across the United States. The majority of the students came with either Gunn’s Amnesty International Club or Congregation Beth Am, a local synagogue. Junior Amnesty International club president Mike Lee felt that the experience opened club members’

eyes to the sheer scale of individuals concerned about the issue. “I think it was a good experience that helped to make people more aware of the whole situation,” he said. “[Seeing so many people there] gave a sense of unity.” The day began with a silent vigil, as participants held hands across the entire length of the Golden Gate Bridge, pausing for a moment of silence. The group then walked to Crissy Field via the Coastal Trail to hear governmental ofﬁcials, activists and Darfurians alike speak about the situation. Senior Iliana Berkowitz, who attended the rally with her Jewish youth group, pointed to Oakland representative Barbara Lee as the most moving speaker. “She brought this enthusiasm to the table that no other speaker had before her,” Berkowitz said. “She stressed how we can help

Luncheon honors teachers, volunteers

and how important it is to get involved.” Sophomore Shani Chabansky, another rally attendant, felt especially ardent about stopping the genocide because of her Jewish heritage. “What I loved was that all the Jewish people who came were even more supportive of the cause because they know how the Darfurians feel and how atrocious genocide is,” Chabansky said. Six days after the protests, the U.N. signed a peace accord with Darfur rebels. The under funded African Union troops will transfer authority to U.N. peacekeeping troops by the end of September. Despite the accord, thousands still remain in refugee camps, often without sufﬁcient food. In fact, the U.N. World Food Program has been forced to cut rations in Darfur to 1,000 calories per day, due to lack of funding.

STAR testing sees changes

Vivien Tsao

Andrea Yung

Associate News Editor

Associate Forum Editor

On May 25, Gunn held its annual Recognition and Awards Luncheon. Administrators, teachers and Gunn volunteers gathered in the gym to participate in the festivities. This event celebrated the accomplishments and contributions to Gunn made by community volunteers. “[The Recognition and Awards Luncheon was held] to honor the volunteers who have put extra effort to make the environment at Gunn better,” event chair Lisa Flores-Wolfert said. The Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), which planned the event, provided attendees with lunch in the Gunn gym as well as a slideshow depicting volunteers. Donations of ﬂowers and various other décor donated by the community adorned the walls and tables around the room. While serving as a general thank you event for all Gunn volunteers, the Recognition and Awards Luncheon also called attention to some who have made tremendous differences to Gunn High. “The PTSA has a set of honorary services awards that are given to volunteers

Classes were suspended on May 9 and 11 to allow students to take the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) tests. California must comply with the school accountability testing mandates that are required for states that wish to receive federal funding. The amount of federal funding Gunn receives under the No Child Left Behind Act is inﬂuenced by Gunn’s STAR test results. The federal government also reserves the right to interfere with the running of the school if progress targets are not met, so it is crucial that all students do their best on the STAR tests. “It means we can continue to operate as we are without interference, and that we can continue receiving money, and the individual students can receive endorsements on diplomas if [students] do well on STAR tests,” Principal Noreen Likins said. This year’s STAR testing

Christopher Wu

English teacher Diane Ichikawa enjoys lunch with fellow teachers. The luncheon was organized by the PTSA. at Gunn, as well as staff, community organizations and people who have made contributions to the Gunn community,” incoming PTSA executive vice-president Darise Koo said. Nominations for these awards are required beforehand, and a nomination does not necessarily affect an award. “Anyone can nominate someone for an award, and [the PTSA] has a committee that looks over the nominations and selects the people based on merit and contribution,” Koo said. This year, around 80 volunteers

and Gunn staff members were awarded for their work at Gunn. Among the honorees was English teacher Tarn Wilson, who was recognized for her work regarding Focus on Success. “I was surprised and honored to receive the award,” Wilson said. “It’s nice to be recognized for work you thought was invisible. Also, from something [English teacher Angela] Dellaporta said, it’s humbling because you know there are so many other teachers and staff members who should be up there with you.”

Staff departures impact campus Gunn will lose several veteran staff members this fall, and preparations have been underway to find their replacements. Staff leaving permanently The social studies department will lose Robert Kelly, Anne Thomas and Sam Picture. Thomas will be teaching at Foothill High School in Pleasanton and Kelly in either Merced or Mariposa. Kelly will be replaced by Christopher Johnson who has taught U.S. history for eight years at Pioneer High School in San Jose. Even with these teachers leaving, Fredrich believes that the department will manage to cope. “We’ve had so much turnover,” Fredrich said. “It’s not desirable, but we’re getting used to it.” In addition, two English teachers—Carol Kuiper and Karen Oppenheim —will say goodbye to Gunn. Kuiper is retiring and Oppenheim is moving to Fresno. The rest of the English schedule, however, will suffer little change. “Everyone teaches freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors,” Dunlap said. Nonetheless, the English department is in the process of finding replacements for departing teachers.. The guidance department will lose two counselors—Susy Drake and Dennis Tinsley. Two final replacement candidates have been chosen by Principal

Noreen Likins, guidance counselor Jovi Johnston and Assistant Principal Anne-Marie Balzano. Staff on temporary leave In addition to teachers leaving Gunn for good, various teachers plan to take a temporary leave of absence. English teacher Matt Struckmeyer will be teaching at Dunn School, a boarding school near Santa Barbara. Struckmeyer had planned to teach the Bible as Literature English elective next year, but it has been suspended. “It’s not necessarily gone for good, but I’m afraid there isn’t anyone to teach it next year,” English Instructional Supervisor Paul Dunlap said. Math teachers Rachel Dion and Sarah Kastelic, Spanish teacher Norma Barba-Medina, English teacher Ginny Moyer, social studies teacher Alice McCraley and art teacher Allison Rockwell will be on maternity leave, while theater director Jim Shelby will be taking a year off in Italy with his family. —Compiled by Michelle Fang, Jill Fu, Gea Kang, Michelle Lee, Meilin Luh and Alex Tom

In Features: Proﬁles on six of the departing staff members —p. 7

schedule was shorter than that of last year because many students last year finished before time was up. “We asked permission to make the test’s duration shorter, since many students didn’t need the time allocated,” Likins said. The school also organized a raffle for sophomores who took the test to reward them for doing their part for the school. “We thought it would be motivating to them, and let them know we appreciated their efforts,” Dean of Students Kim Cowell said. “For the tenth graders, it was really about coming in on Tuesday afternoon. Not only do they have to do more STAR testing, but they also had to do CAHSEE.” Sophomore Adrian Austin believes that the raffle motivated students to participate. “I think they did a pretty good job of getting people to stay, because I know a lot of people who used to leave afterwards or get their parents to exempt them,” Austin said. Results will be out next fall when the new school year begins.

4 ◆ The Oracle ◆

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

ORUM◆

Evaluations warrant reevaluation

Both teachers’, students’ effort needed I

t’s that time of the year again— teachers prepare final grades and students frantically scramble to turn in missing assignments. Somewhere in the midst of the end-of-the-year hubbub, most teachers pass out some sort of end-of-the-year evaluation form. While these evaluations have the potential to greatly aid teachers in course development, the majority of teachers, students and Instructional Supervisors do not take these evaluations seriously enough to cause them to have much impact on either the structure or policies of classes. Firstly, teachers should always allow students to write these evaluations on the computer because by the end of the year, many teachers can recognize their students’ handwriting. Many students fear that teachers will be adversely influenced by critical comments and as a result, they tend to write only positive and even obsequious comments. Ensuring confidentiality is the first step in getting students to give their true opinions about the class. Further, teachers must give students adequate time to thoughtfully fill out the evaluations. Not only will this improve the quality of feedback teachers receive, it will also show students that teachers actually care about their comments. Students too need to put more effort into these assessments. Many suggest implausible changes to classes, such as eliminating vocabulary practice from English

Sasha Guttentag Associate Centerfold Editor

Julius Tarng

classes. Others don’t give any written feedback at all, solely checking the “agree” or “disagree” boxes that accompany a list of statements. Getting comprehensive student input about policies that can actually be changed is essential if teachers are to alter their classes to be more accommodating. Teachers also need to look over evaluations promptly and then hold informal discussions in class to tell students about what changes they can or cannot make. Afterwards, they can open the conversation up

to debate. This would help reduce some students’ animosity towards teachers who employ some seemingly arbitrary policies that students disapprove of. If students know a teacher’s rationale behind a certain policy, they will be less likely to disseminate harmful rumors about a teacher to future students. Lastly, Instructional Supervisors should take more care in reading evaluations and discussing them with teachers. While supervisors periodically observe teachers, they see teachers from a very different

The Opinion of The Oracle

perspective than do students and cannot always judge whether or not a teacher is effective. Students see teachers every day and are thus in a better position to assess their teaching strategies and level of dedication. Consequently, the following year, supervisors should make sure that teachers actually change policies that their students found ineffective. Writing and reviewing teacher evaluations has become just another end-of-the-year ritual that isn’t taken seriously by any party. Teachers, students and supervisors are all responsible for improving classes and should therefore put in the necessary time and effort into end-of-the-year evaluations in order to make this happen.

Honors classes a necessary medium

Level of social studies lanes in need of reform

Nathaniel Eisen Features Editor When choosing which social studies classes to take in required subjects junior and senior years, Gunn students must often choose between the boring, easy tedium of a regular class and the frenetic, work-intensive tedium of an AP class. The social studies department should resolve this dilemma by offering advanced or honors classes or grades. In contrast, freshmen and sophomores can only take social studies classes of one level of difﬁculty. They should be able to challenge themselves by taking advanced

Correction:

Semester living skills class a burden

World History, Contemporary World History and United States Government. An advanced class could move faster and provide students with opportunities to connect with history and government. Students would have the time, interest and necessary community to do interactive simulations like organizing a new nation after a colonizing power has left or writing an amendment to reform government processes. Juniors and seniors must take either regular or AP United States history (APUSH) to graduate. The problem with AP classes, which culminate in a standardized test in early May, is that teachers have a month less in which to teach the subject material and often feel required to teach to the test, leaving little time for class discussions, let alone interactive projects. According to social studies teacher Robert Kelly, who has

taught both AP and regular history, the AP curriculum is more comprehensive than the regular. “I try to teach generally the same kind of themes and ideas, but it’s more breadth than depth in the AP class,” Kelly said. “You can get a lot more depth in a regular U.S. history class.” Junior Alex Chang, who started the year in APUSH before switching to regular history after a few weeks, has not been satisﬁed with either. “In the U.S. history class the topics are interesting but a little repetitive, but APUSH was just ridiculously fast,” Chang said. Chang is interested enough by his regular class that he often researches topics in a more in-depth fashion outside of class. This is the kind of research for which U.S. history teacher Nora Browne offers extra credit. Browne sees offering honors credit for this out of school work as a possibility.

April issue Vol. 42, issue 6

n Art teacher Deanna Messinger’s comment that “The NAHS students have handled all of the arrangements...” should have been printed in “Artists society holds art show” (p.2), not in “Participate in stopping hate” (p.15).

“I’m more for the honors option in a regular class than an honors class,” Browne said. “I think it’s more beneficial to keep kids untracked.” Instructional supervisor John Fredrich agrees. “We’re pretty committed to heterogeneity in the social studies department,” he said. I rarely received the supposed benefits of heterogeneity in the classroom my freshman and sophomore years. This general lack of benefits is why I support an honors option in a regular class. Such an advanced option or section would motivate freshmen and sophomores. A curriculum of difficulty between those of regular and APUSH would draw students who like history but don’t want the unremitting pressure of having a month less in which to learn more material. These options would edify the students with both the breadth and the depth. And hopefully there would be some time for cool projects.

We want you! The Oracle regrets past errors and invites readers to correct any in the future by contacting a staff member or by sending an email to gunnoracle@yahoo.com.

Write us with your thoughts on The Oracle’s coverage or any other issues you care about. We’d love to hear from you. E-mail us at gunnoracle@yahoo.com.

LET T THE ERS TO EDIT OR!

Starting next year, the administration is making students make time somewhere during their eight semesters of high school to take a semester-long living skills class. Formerly, the course was taught in four weeks, two weeks in freshman science classes and two weeks in P.E. A semester-long course that is not only required but only offers credits solely towards graduation? This is not a fair deal for students or teachers. The new system the administration has proposed is both ludicrous and pointless. Students who have already mapped out their schedules with year-long classes are in for no treat. Students will have to lay aside a class in order to make room for a semester-long course that can be taught easily in much less time and offers zero vocational education or arts credit. One year of both vocational education and arts is necessary to graduate, along with two full years of a foreign language. Adding in this course just puts more restrictions on what classes students can take. High school should be a time to experiment, to ﬁnd what you’re interested and take as many different kinds of classes as possible. Each requirement the administration imposes makes that task harder and harder. All of the information which has been taught in the classes pertained to information the students were learning. It makes sense to teach CPR and emergency care in P.E. classes because physical injuries occur most frequently during physical activity. In science class, the sex education portion of the living skills class was previously incorporated into the class lessons, as were alcohol and drug education. The sex education part of the course is very relevant to science that freshman are learning, especially now that freshmen take biology in their first year. Also, the information on drugs and alcohol deals a lot with the effects they have on the body. Both of these subjects have been touched on during separate parts of the entire year. This cruel and unusual new requirement is doing nothing for the class of 2010, aside from ripping valuable class space away from them.

5 ◆ The Oracle ◆

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

ORUM◆

The Oracle 780 Arastradero Rd Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 354-8238 http://charlotte.pausd.org/oracle

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief Gea Kang

Managing

Lauren Krensky, Dan Li

News

Stéphanie Keller-Busque, Alex Lee, Vivien Tsao (associate)

Forum

Caroline Hodge, Shiv Kachru, Andrea Yung (associate)

Features

Nathaniel Eisen, Michelle Fang, Jonathan Gu (associate)

Centerfold

Thomas Bao, Sasha Guttentag (associate)

Entertainment

Ana Kostioukova, Stephen Salazar, Alex Rasgon (associate)

Sports

Eric Johnston, Adrienne Nguyen, Libby Craig (associate)

Photography

Jennifer Lim, Christopher Wu

Graphics

Julius Tarng

Technical Dan Li Staff

Business

Nina Nielepko

Circulation

Meilin Luh, Alex Tom

Reporters

Jill Fu, Dezmon Hunter, Moses Lai, Michelle Lee

Adviser

Kristy Garcia

The Oracle is published by and for the students of Henry M. Gunn Senior High School. The unsigned editorials that appear in this publication represent the majority opinion of the editorial staff and The Oracle's commitment to promoting students' rights. The Oracle strongly encourages and prints signed Letters to the Editor. Please include your name, grade and contact information should you choose to write one. Letters may be edited to meet space requirements and the writer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the content. Letters to the editor and ideas for coverage may be sent to gunnoracle@yahoo.com. These letters and ideas need not be from current students. The Oracle publishes 10 issues annually. Subscriptions are $40/year.

Andrea Yung Associate Forum Editor

ummer vacation is ﬁnally here—the perfect opportunity to relax and have fun. Students should not forget, however, that summer break is also the best time to seize valuable opportunities to experience something new. Students feel the pressure to excel academically t h roug hout the yea r— e v e n during the summ e r time. However, summer can also be a time to look beyond traditional school-year academics. It can be abound with unique and valuable experiences—students have only to search for them. With so much free time on their hands during summer break, students should at least try to make their time productive. True, summer vacation is the time to relax, but students must remember that they will be returning to school in two months’ time. If they toss away the skills they use in school, they will be caught unprepared upon resuming their academic schedules when school starts. There are plenty of windows to open dur ing the summer that students cannot access during the school year. Students should take the chance to learn something they are curious about or have never before had the time for in school. They can apply to summer programs at colleges across the nation or to summer camps specializing in certain areas of study. For instance, the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science has many classes on subjects ranging from physics to medicine. For those who stubbornly refuse to sit in classrooms in summer school, there are internships available in many career lines, giving teens the opportunity to work alongside professors, engineers and other professionals. Students between ages 14 and 17 with a work permit can also ﬁnd jobs and learn to manage money themselves. Not only do these internships provide students with brain food during the summer, they can help them in the future. Any work experience can greatly assist them in future

Should summer vacation be an extension of the school year or a break from academic pressure?

job-hunting. Furthermore, extra perks include more recommendation sources and the possibility of being credited in published studies if they work diligently with their professors. Staying at home may seem

ummer is a time for recuperating and relaxing after nine months of hard work in school.

a great idea at first, but eventually, it gets really boring. How many days can you honestly spend sleeping for 18 hours a day? Flipping channels and going to the movies becomes redundant after the first few weeks, and you may even find yourself putting on the pounds. You might even wish you were back in school. Lazing around all summer puts teens in a drowsy state induced by lack of physical and mental exercise, thus further decreasing productivity. Looking for summer opportunities might prove difficult, but there are many helpful sources that can aid students in their searches. The College and Career Center has plenty of information about jobs, summer inter nships and camps

even more intensive studies and academic activities. Counselors, parents and teachers force students into ﬁlling their summers with time-consuming summer internships, classes and jobs. Often, students feel no choice but to add further stress to their lives in the summer in order enrich their college applications. With AP classes, SATs and several hours of homework a night, students already have enough to busy themselves with during the school year. After all this time and effort, there really is no need to work that hard during the summer. Too many activities in the summer can drastically lower students’ morale and make them feel that all they have time for is work

available to teenagers. Tar ng The internet has Julius also made jobsearching much easier—entering “summer jobs for teens” brings up 15,900,000 results. Take the chance to dive into something new this summer. This way, when school resumes in the fall, you will have something to brag about to you friends.

However, many students feel that the little time they are given to take a break from school should be used for

a n d nothing else. In fact, depression and grief can result from the stress inflicted and lack of time to relax and enjoy oneself. In no way should students stop working hard. Instead, they should try to ﬁnd an ideal balance between work and enjoyment. Students can work hard during the school year so that

Stephen Salazar Entertainment Editor they can have a more pleasant experience during the summer. Being bombarded with too many activities in the summer becomes excessive given the already enormous workload during the school year. Summer classes are an unpleasant part of students’ lives not just because they are during their supposed break, but also because they are much more difﬁcult than normal school year classes. S u m m e r courses h ave t o c ove r a n e qu a l amount of material in a much shorter span of time, making them more stressful. For example, a geometry course in the summer will cover a semester’s worth of study in a six-week period, greatly increasing the difficulty of tests, homework load and class work. What is surprising to see is that some students actually look forward to the extra work and time they put in for their summer activities, jeopardizing their time of relaxation with burdensome and time-consuming activities. Students need to realize that their entire lives do not have to be dedicated to hard work, especially this early in their lives. Students should be able to use their summer time wisely and enjoy their break with less strenuous activities. There is a long break for a reason, so that students can mentally rest themselves before another long school year. Going camping, to the beach or even to a foreign country are just a few simple yet exciting activities students should take time to enjoy during the summer. With their whole lives ahead of them to work, students should utilize the time they have now to enjoy their summer vacation. In the future these students will regret what time they gave up as an adolescent and though they may have gotten into a slightly better college because of their “necessary” activities in the summer, what they lost was worth far more than what they gained. When these high school students grow up, they might look back at their youth and see how much time they spent working over how little time they spent having fun. No one can have their youth back, so students need to savor it now.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ◆

Gas prices help environment While the majority of Gunn students able to drive groan about exorbitantly high gas prices, these increasing prices are actually good news for our environment and the economy. The United States enjoys some of the cheapest gasoline in the Western world. In Europe, average gas prices range between $5 and $6 per gallon, while American gas prices have just begun to rise above $3 per gallon. Furthermore, the average American drives twice as many miles per year as the average European. Americans need a reality check, and rising gas prices are the perfect vehicle to curb our proﬂigate gas-guzzling habits. Higher gas prices have forced an increasing number of Americans to take public transportation, bike, carpool and just drive less, greatly reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Because vehicles are responsible for approximately 20 percent of emissions in the United States, this decrease in gasoline usage will help to mitigate global warming, a paramount problem that greatly threatens our planet. Rising gas prices have also triggered greater interest in alternatively fueled vehicles. Some of these cars exist already, most notably hybrids and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), both of which run on a combination of gasoline and batteries. These cars can be two, three or even four times as efﬁcient as conventional vehicles and require much

less gas. Rising prices are the catalyst to an explosion of interest in the hybrid market, which will drive prices down. These vehicles hold the potential to save

Caroline Hodge Forum Editor Americans thousands dollars each year and prevent millions of tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Furthermore, an increased interest in alternatively fueled vehicles will help our economy in the future, when oil may no longer be available to fuel cars. Oil is a ﬁnite resource, and although it will never run out, it will eventually become so expensive that it will be cease to be a feasible source of fuel for automobiles. It is only appropriate that we begin to address this issue now rather than later, while we still have the option to gradually transition from gasoline-powered vehicles into alternatively fueled ones. Although gas prices may strain Americans’ pockets right now, the increased costs of driving will rev up the market for more fuel-efﬁcient cars, which will be more economically and environmentally prudent than our current automobiles.

The Oracle ◆ 6

ORUM◆

Dollar-draining hurts economy Rising oil prices threaten to implode the American economy. The unrestrained increase of oil prices hurt businesses and increase the trade deﬁcit, caus-

Thomas Bao Centerfold Editor ing foreign investors to unload dollar-denominated investments. Eventually, this will lead to the downfall of the American economy that Alan Greenspan warned us of in 2004, at the start of the oil price surge. If oil prices are not decreased, the American economy will collapse and millions will ﬁnd themselves jobless. Rising oil prices have always hurt American businesses through increased transportation and shipping costs. In addition, they discourage consumer spending. Wal-Mart, for example, has been at a steady decline since 2004 when the oil prices surged, causing decreased revenue and share prices to drop by 25 percent. In response, the company has had to lay off millions of employees. As American businesses suffer, foreign investors will lose interest in dollar-denominated investments. Adding to this effect

is the increasing national trade deficit caused by rising oil prices. Oil, unlike other commodities, is imported from refineries located outside the country. So essentially, money that is spent on oil is siphoned out of the American economy, increasing our national trade deficit. Furthermore, rising oil prices have caused inflation. In the United States, a 4.2 percent increase in energy costs increased the Consumer Price Index by 0.6 percent, compared to 0.2 percent in September 2005. As American companies suffer and the trade deficit balloons, foreign investors will shy away from American investments, causing foreigners to unload U.S. stocks and bonds, sending their prices plunging and interest rates soaring, leading to a nationwide recession. If rising oil prices are not lessened, the American economy will be thrown into a state of disarray. However, our government has been unable to pass any legislation to help ease this problem because of pressure from the population for immediate relief. This has resulted in several tax refunds of inconsequential amounts to the American consumer that have neither stimulated the economy, nor lessened the trade deficit and revenue loss for businesses. Congress cannot keep sidestepping this problem, it must deal with oil prices directly through subsidization, not tax refunds. —Additional reporting by Eric Johnston

Bottled water merely tap water with fancy label

Disposable plastic bottles wasteful, unnecessary in Palo Alto

Nina Nielepko Business Manager Many of us drink bottled water on a regular basis. However, although it is convenient and much healthier than soda, bottled water is more expensive, more harmful to the environment and no safer than Palo Alto’s tap water. Still, in 2004, Americans drank almost 49 billion

bottles of water and spent more than seven billion dollars on it. Bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water, at least in Palo Alto. The Palo Alto Utilities website states that in 2004, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission conducted over 137,000 tests to assure the safety of our drinking water. In addition, Palo Alto itself conducted thousands of quality tests which closely monitored the pH, temperature, chlorine and chloramine residue, conductivity, color and cloudiness of the water. Bottled water may be safer than tap water in some parts of the country, but not in Palo Alto.

In fact, about 40 percent of bottled water is tap water that has been “purified” at processing plants. If people are concerned about the quality of their water, they should buy water filters to attach to their faucets at home rather than wasting money on pre-filtered water. Both Aquafina and Dasani, the two leading brands of bottled water in the United States, are just expensive tap water with fancy words on the labels. Aquafina is tap water which is filtered at plants in the United States and Canada. Dasani is a self-proclaimed “purified water enhanced with minerals.” In fact, according to Reuters, anything that

doesn’t say “source” or “spring” on the label is simply tap water. Bottled water is also destroying our environment. Transporting bottled water thousands of miles wastes exorbitant amounts of fuel. Crystal Geyser water can come from as far away as New Hampshire, while Fiji water comes from islands all the way in the South Pacific. The use of plastic also causes environmental harm, being a petroleum product. Even recycling plastic bottles requires a great deal of energy. Considering all the negative aspects of drinking bottled water, students should look into alternatives.

There are many reusable bottles on the market and are available at a variety of venues. These bottles are much more durable and attractive than disposable water bottles. Furthermore, you only pay for the bottle once. If you are concerned about the quality of tap water, you can buy a ﬁlter and purify your water before ﬁlling up the bottle. Let’s face it: bottled water is merely tap water masquerading in a fancy bottle. There is absolutely no need to waste our resources to fund the manufacture of these environmentally unsound products. Please, think next time you take a sip—bottled water it not so hip.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ◆

Dennis Tinsley After 20 years as one of 5 guidance counselors, Dennis Tinsley is one of the most experienced on the staff. “It sometimes feels that we are being counseled as well because he has so much experience and wisdom,” fellow guidance counselor Susy Drake said. Further, Tinsley is known as a friendly counselor. “I really enjoy sharing his ofﬁce and working with him,” counselor Jeffrey Yang said. “His attitude toward students and staff is always professional, helpful and friendly.” Tinsley is proud when his students go to college and is glad to know that he helped in a small way. “The best part of the job is seeing a student blossom into a young adult and seeing them mature,” Tinsley said. Tinsley’s departure is not unexpected. He has been gradually reducing his workload over the last few years, working only part time this year. “For the last 53 of the last 55 years I have been either going to school or working at a school,” Tinsley said. “You know when it is time to step aside and let someone with more energy take over. Tinsley hopes to do many of the things he has been unable to do while working. An avid traveler, he will be going to Italy this summer. Tinsley also likes gardening, antiquing and remodeling his house. Tinsley summed up what he hoped to do in his retirement in one sentence: “to do anything I want, whenever I want.”

EATURES◆

Carol Kuiper

English teacher Carol Kuiper will retire to spend more time in politics and social action issues, as well as with her family. She has always been an activist. Soon after marriage, she was involved in her church, Head Start, the League of Women Voters, and the Women’s Movement. “American society was changing rapidly, and I was fortunate to be a young woman with the time and energy to contribute to social change,” Kuiper said. She has beneﬁted the local community by serving on the Los Altos Elementary School Board for eight years, being an active member in the Santa Clara School Board Association, by lobbying in Sacramento for school reforms and being an active Girl Scout leader. After her children grew up, Kuiper found work at Gunn. “As my years of volunteer activism closed, a wonderful new career opened as I returned to my ﬁrst love as a classroom teacher,” Kuiper said. Over the years, Kuiper has done much to improve the Gunn community. She revamped the Film Appreciation curriculum, created pilot materials for the women’s literature elective, instituted a multicultural literature class, and guided the journalism program for nine years. She has been at Gunn for 21 years, and has enjoyed the rewards of the vocation. “I will miss the daily interactions with students, helping them learn, discover their potential, and deepen their compassion as they take their places in the world,” Kuiper said. “I will also miss wonderful colleagues.” Kuiper has a lot in store for her retirement. First on Kuiper’s retirement agenda is travelling to the Mediterranean this summer. She also plans on revisiting Ashland, Oregon, Australia, China and the Middle East. Kuiper also wants to keep working in politics and for social justice in the world at large, as well as to spend more time with her family.

Susy Drake

After 19 years of calling Gunn her home, guidance counselor Susy Drake is leaving in hopes of spend ing more time with her new family. Even after leaving Gunn, Drake plans to maintain an active schedule and to come back once a week to ease the transition for her replacement. “I plan to work part time in a knitting store and volunteer at San Lorenzo Valley High School,” Drake said. “I also hope to play more tennis.” In her career at Gunn, Drake has spent 13 years as a counselor and six as a college coordinator. The most important and enjoyable part of her job is seeing the impact she makes on her students’ lives. “Seeing students achieve their goal and transform work ethic and watching them mature are some of the biggest awards of this job,” Drake said. Thinking back on her years at Gunn, Drake says that she will miss Gunn at the moments it became a family. “The different times Gunn drew together as a family are those that I will miss most,” Drake said. “Such as the staff student musicals, the Loma Prieta earthquake, 9/11 and when the art building caught on ﬁre.” Drake herself will be missed by the staff and students as she retires. “She is one of the most compassionate, caring, student-centered people I have ever met,” Vice Principal Anne-Marie Balzano said.

Matt Struckmeyer

Karen Oppenheim English teacher Karen Oppenheim decided to move to Fresno earlier this school year after her husband received a promotion. She plans to focus on spending more time with her family, particularly her young daughter Zia. “Hopefully, I will spend a lot more time with my amazing two-and-a-halfyear-old daughter, Zia,” Oppenheim said. Oppenheim plans to do other things as well. “However, I also know that I need at least 15 hours a week for myself, so I will probably get some kind of job,” Oppenheim said. “I’ve thought about teaching parttime, tutoring, substitute teaching, diversity consulting, student teacher training and working as an administrative assistant.” During her years at Gunn, Oppenheim has contributed much to the school community. “Not only is she a wonderful teacher, but she was involved in the Not in Our School anti-hate campaign, Camp Anytown/ Everytown, Facing History and Ourselves, another diversity program, and she is the Gay-Straight Alliance club adviser,” Principal Noreen Likins said. English Instructional Supervisor Paul Dunlap agrees that Oppenheim has been more to the English department than just a teacher. “Just as we can’t replace our friends, we can’t replace Ms. Oppenheim,” Dunlap said. According to Oppenheim, her decision to leave Gunn was difﬁcult for her to make because of her affection for Gunn. “Deciding to move to Fresno was probably the hardest decision of my life,” Oppenheim said. “Teaching is so closely connected with my identity—who I am and what I’m about—and Gunn is the ultimate job for me. It is the reason I wake up excited in the morning. And between the Gunn students and staff, I always feel completely at home here.” However, she believes the decision was for the best. “But there is only one thing that comes before my job—it is my family,” Oppenheim said. “They are a permanent ﬁrst priority.”

The Oracle ◆ 7

Robert Kelly

About two months ago, social studies teacher Kelly and his wife decided to move in August to Mariposa—where his wife’s family lives—located between Merced and Yosemite. They have been thinking about it for a couple of years, and their nine-month-old son, Conor, ﬁnally made them take action. “We live in San Francisco on the third ﬂoor so there aren’t any yards,” Kelly said. “My son’s going to be walking soon, and he’s going to need a place to run around.” Once settled there, Kelly hopes to continue teaching U.S. history and psychology at a local high school. Although he has taught various social studies classes, coached football and participated in the Close Up trips to Washington, D.C., Kelly’s legacy lies with his seven-year commitment to AP U.S. History (APUSH). In Kelly’s mind, APUSH aims to teach students how to learn for and teach themselves. “The goal is to take the skills beyond the class, such as organizing, thinking on your feet and dealing with massive amounts of information,” Kelly said. According to social studies Instructional Supervisor John Fredrich, Kelly certainly has left his mark on the class. “[APUSH] is a challenging course, and we’re all very happy that [Kelly] has been willing to teach it,” Fredrich said. “He needs to be congratulated for doing such a good While expressing regret about Kelly’s upcoming departure, Fredrich is supportive of Kelly’s decision. “Mariposa’s gain is our loss,” Fredrich said. “But he’s got a good thing to go to. When you’re a younger guy starting a family, you’ve got to go where the opportunities are.” Despite his excitement to start a new life breathing fresh air in the mountains, Kelly feels that Gunn will always have a special place in his heart. “What I’ll miss most are the intensity and the really high expectations—although they can be a double-edged sword—as well as Gunn’s amazing literacy,” he said.

English teacher Matt Struckmeyer, on leave from Gunn to teach at Dunn School, is moving to the boarding school because with his home right on campus, Struckmeyer will be able to teach near his daughter. Another benefit to moving, according to Struckmeyer, is the new opportunities it presents Erin, his wife. “[T]his is a great chance for her to establish her high school teaching credentials and put us on similar career paths,” he said. Unfortunately, the move means that Struckmeyer must abandon many projects, including Bible as Literature. “The hardest part of this decision for me is leaving people and projects at Gunn that I hold dear,” Struckmeyer said. “Having designed the Bible as Lit course, it’s a great disappointment not getting the chance to teach it.” Struckmeyer has also been deeply involved with the Garden Club. “I’ve worked so hard over the past two years to rejuvenate it that it seems a shame to leave just as it nears completion,” he said. “But I am very happy for the students who will capably run and expand it, including a new produce stand in the fall.” Struckmeyer already has new plans, however, for his return. “I’ve already spoken to Ms. Likins about a gardening and cooking course I’d love to teach if or when we return,” he said. “It would be very hands-on and teach students about how to live healthier, more ecologically sound lives.” In a Gunn without a Struckmeyer, a unique blend of traits will be distinctly absent. “The best thing about working with Mr. Struckmeyer is that he challenges and inspires students and teachers alike to be the best they can be,” English teacher Mark Hernandez said. “He is admirably honest, and is marked by integrity that is more than refreshing. He’s also as dynamic a man as I know.”

—Compiled by Moses Lai, Alex Tom, Michelle Lee, Gea Kang and Jill Fu

8 ◆ The Oracle ◆

CENTE

WEIGHING in on Atkins melts fat with fat The Atkins diet

The Atkins diet swept across America as one of the easiest ways to lose weight, after Dr. Robert Atkins published his book, Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. Dropping calories became simple when Dr. Atkins described how a low-carb diet consisting The Atkins of meat, diet swept cream, across oils and America fats would as onehelp of the theeasiest body.ways to lose weight, afterAccording Dr. Robert to Dr. Atkins Atkins, published carbohydrates his book, are Dr. digested Atkin’s quickly, New leaving Diet Revolution. the body Dropping hungry forcalories more food became in a simple shorterwhen periodDr. ofAtkins time. described how a low-carb diet consisting The dietofconsists meat, cream, of two oils parts. and Infats the “induction” would helpphase, the body. which lasts two weeks, dieters According limit their to Dr. carbohydrate Atkins, carbohydrates intake to fewer arethan digested 20 grams quickly, a dayleaving (one Nutrigrain the body hungry bar hasfor 26more grams). foodThis in a shorter is followed period byofthe time. “maintenance” Carbohydrates phase givewhere energy dieters faster than eat carbohydrates proteins, so the inbody moderation does not (less feelthan hungry 90 grams as quickly a day). with the Atkins diet. The Although diet consists the dietofdoes two parts. produce In results, the “induction” it is often phase, debated which about lasts how twohealthy weeks, dieters the dietlimit is fortheir the carbohydrate body. Health is intake moretothan fewer just than about 20 grams weight,a and day the (oneAtkins Nutrigrain diet bar failshas to 26 address grams). other This health is followed concerns. by the “maintenance” phase where dieters eat carbohydrates in moderation (less than 90 grams a day). —Eric Johnston Although the diet does produce results, it is often debated about how healthy the diet is for the body.

DRASTIC M

When diets b

Alex To CIRCULATION

Beware of diet pill dangers

The Atkins diet swept across America as one of the easiest ways to lose weight, after Dr. Robert Atkins published his book, Dr. Atkin’s New Diet Revolution. Dropping calories became simple when Dr. Atkins described how a low-carb diet consisting of meat, cream, oils and fats would help the body. According to Dr. Atkins, carbohydrates are digested quickly, leaving the body hungry for more food in a shorter period of time. Carbohydrates give energy faster than proteins, so the body does not feel hungry as quickly with the Atkins diet. The diet consists of two parts. In the “induction” phase, which lasts two weeks, dieters limit their carbohydrate intake to fewer than 20 grams a day (one Nutrigrain bar has 26 grams). This is followed by the “maintenance” phase where dieters eat carbohydrates in moderation (less than 90 grams a day). Although the diet does produce results, it is often debated about how healthy the Diet pills, supplements, anorectic drugs and other weight loss medications will not melt away fat and solve weight problems. Anti-obesity drugs operate through suppressing one’s appetite, increasing the body’s metabolism or a combination of the two. Some pills, such as Dexadrine or Fen-Phen, carry a strong risk of high blood pressure, palpitations, dependency or insomnia. Diet pills like Dexadrine contain dangerous amphetamines that have effects similar to drugs such as speed and cocaine. A new study from researchers at Yale University found that pills like Dexadrine and Acutrim may increase the odds of having a stroke 16-fold. Most weight loss trials show that diet pills offer, at best, short-term support. A report by the National Institutes of Health found that virtually 100 percent of the people who took Fen-Phen put back all the weight they lost when they stopped. This only proves that people should adopt healthy habits instead of turning to hazardous diet pills. —Adrienne Nguyen

We live in a world where the “ideal imag In reality, a lot of teenagers do not need to d emphasizes this “thinspiration” idea through role models. This idea hits teenagers especial ways to alter their body image. Disastrous p drop unwanted weight, which may lead to se “Most people think they can usually lose General Hospital’s nutritionist Cam-Tu Tran s to healthily sustain a person’s body activity A common dieting misconception is that by body will burn up fat reserves to compensate ing to Tran, the amount of fat burned due to Instead, not eating enough food makes a pers the body responds to the decreasing calori ketones, a chemical agent used to burn store bodily functions by burning muscle tissues i dangerous and may be fatal in some cases. A base amount of daily energy needed, the bod energy is hard to come by. Therefore, the ne up even more calories in an attempt to resto slow down the weight loss process and begin Because the idea that “thin is beautiful” is dieting is another growing problem. Fad diets among others, usually involve the use of “sp regulation on what kinds of food to eat. Fad d provide desired results. However, these effe typically diets that can be sustained for long change the bad habits that caused the overw dieters often begin a vicious cycle of “weigh fad dieting and rapid weight gain after the d usually suffer from low self-esteem, depress The common consensus among doctors is sary amount of calories while exercising on a source of weight a person would want to lose According to Tran, being aware of what o because most drinks are packed with extra c teenagers should develop a healthy eating pa and vegetables daily, eating less food more o full. Many doctors also advise teenagers to st as many fad diets, as they may become very a damages than beneﬁts in the long run.

diet

The Atkins

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ◆ 9

ERFOLD◆

MEASURES

become dire

om MANAGER

ge” of a person often clashes with reality. diet or lose weight. However, our culture television, glossy magazines and popular lly hard and pushes them to ﬁnd different problems arise when teens try to diet and evere diet disorders. weight by dieting alone,” San Francisco said. The base amount of calories needed is approximately 2000 calories per day. y decreasing the daily calorie intake, the for the decreased caloric intake. Accordo lack of caloric intake alone is minimal. son feel weak throughout the day because ie intake by withholding the release of ed fat. As a result, the body sustains its instead of stored fat, which is extremely Also, when a person takes in less than the dy is tricked into thinking that food and ext time that person eats, the body picks ore its normal balance, conserve energy, n storing fat. s so ubiquitous in our modern society, fad s, such as the South Beach or Atkins diet, pecial” shakes, dieting pills and/or strict diets are so appealing because they easily ects do not last because fad diets are not periods of time and do not help a person weight condition to begin with. The fad ht cycling,” a cycle of weight loss during diet. After the fad dieting failure, people sion and other psychological effects. s to eat enough food to acquire the necesa regular basis so that the stored fat—the e—is burned. one drinks is also crucial to any diet plan calories and sugars. She also advises that attern, which includes eating lots of fruits often and stopping eating when one feels tay away from “prepackaged” diets, such addictive and will most likely cause more

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Starving for crash diets?

Libby Craig Associate Sports Editor Crash dieting is the harmful alternative to simply living a healthy lifestyle. Who would want to give up that luscious chocolate sundae or buttery bowl of popcorn? Instead, many girls will often turn to crash diets, temporarily starving themselves just before a special event such as bikini season. However, crash dieting is unhealthy and ineffective. The diet may initially seem successful as the body loses a few pounds in water weight, but muscle mass is also broken down, which inevitably slows the metabolism, resulting in fewer calories burned. This means that when crash dieters go back to their usual eating habits, they will gain the weight back and typically end up weighing more than they did in the beginning, because of their slowed metabolism. Crash diets are more prevalent among high school girls, who are four times more likely to diet than boys according to the National Eating Disorder Association, yet they are not the only ones dieting. Often

high school boys practice extreme dieting for athletic reasons. Take a male wrestler, for example. They are constantly watching their weight during the season in order to be at the high end of a certain weight class. Though crash dieting is not encouraged or allowed in the Gunn wrestling program, “a large number do it anyway,” an anonymous Gunn wrestler said. Skipping dinner the night prior to a match or eating only lettuce for half a week before a meet are some of the techniques used to lose that extra pound. During the hour between weighin and the match, there is a trend in which wrestlers stock up on food and gain energy right before they compete. However, wrestlers will ﬁnd themselves exhausted more often than not. This is because the vital energy necessary to fuel an athlete does not come in the minutes before a meet, but rather from the previous day. Not only does crash dieting negatively affect performance, but University of Iowa doctors also found that high school wrestlers on diets ended up with a metabolic rate 15 percent lower than the wrestlers who did not diet. This makes it harder for the dieting wrestlers to burn calories, and ultimately makes them less ﬁt as the season comes to a close. Whether the motivation is about body image or athletic competition, crash dieting is unhealthy for both males and females alike.

—Graphics by Julius Tarng

10 ◆ The Oracle ◆

Youth show off work at exhibit Meilin Luh Circulation Manager

The Youth Art Exhibition at the Palo Alto Center, which began May 14 and runs until June 4, features an array of artwork by students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The colorful artwork and inventive sculptures send bright messages to young artists. The opening reception on May 17 included presentations of the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation Graduating Senior Awards and Public Art Commission Purchase Awards. Among the many talented students who had their art featured at the exhibition were around 30 Gunn students. Award winners included juniors Julia Levoy and Lucy Li. Senior Cooper Elliot was the only high school student to have his work displayed in the Palo Alto city collection. Elliot, currently enrolled in the ceramic sculpture class, created a giraffe sculpture out of driftwood. “I enjoy working with different materials,” he said. Every year the Palo Alto Art Commission picks two or three pieces from the youth art exhibition for display in the Palo Alto art collection. The commission bought the chosen art pieces with a savings bond and then showed the pieces around the city. Art teacher Deanna Messinger, though not a member of the art commission, helps choose pieces to be exhibited at the art center. “I’m like a curator,” Messinger said. “I start out with a stack of artwork. I bring these chosen from there to the Art Center, and with the others we see which ones work best together for the exhibit.” Besides the award presentation on opening night, a hands-on art workshop for high school students was offered for free to preregisters. Micky Hebart runs the workshops, ranging from painting to ceramic sculpture, at the art center. “The relationship between the cultural center and schools are extremely supportive,” Hebart said. “The workshops have gone on for more than 15 years, and the exhibitions at least 30 years. Everyone is extremely supportive.” The annual youth art event is in conjunction with Cultural Kaleidescope, which is a program that partners elementary schools of the Palo Alto Uniﬁed School District and Ravenwood School District. These exhibitions are completely funded by outside sponsors, such as Adobe Systems and the Bead Shop.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

EATURES◆

Students delve into mysteries Philosophy Club offers weekly discussions Stephen Salazar Entertainment Editor

The Gunn Philosophy Club is a sophisticated attempt to solve and discuss mysteries of the universe through questions. These simple yet compelling questions can have infinite answers through different discussions. Students interested in contemplating the mysteries of the universe meet every Wednesday at lunch in L-15. St udents usua l ly begin the meeting by posing a question about social structures, life cycles or any other factor of the world that still inspires contemplation. At the May 17 meeting, the question posed was: “If I were to bring in 28 donuts for 28 people and divvy them up the same way resources are divided amongst different countries in the real world, you would get the following—one person would receive nine donuts, two people would each receive ﬁve, two others would each receive four, six people would each receive half of a donut and eight people would each receive onefourth of a donut. The remaining nine of you would either receive what crumbs are left or nothing. What factors would contribute to the way the donuts were divided up?” The factors club members discussed included biological, geo-

Julius Tarng

graphic and hereditary advantages over another. Club members also discussed the factor of survival of the fittest, and how those who received less were not fit to survive as long as others. Group members interjected about the traits that people carry over one another to have an advantage when it comes to attaining necessary resources. English teacher Angela Dellaporta is the adviser of the club and started it when she first began her career at Gunn. “I started the club in association with my class,” Dellaporta said. “Students that didn’t get into the class would join the club and still partake in philosophical discussions.” The club has been going strong

for five years and counting, yet it’s always still looking for new members. “We want to get more organized, and hopefully encompass more students and inﬂuence a larger part of the student body,” sophomore club member Noah Azerin said. The Philosophy Club has a lot to offer students who participate in meetings. There is a vast array of subjects covered during the discussions creating several interesting ideas. One will leave the meeting every week looking at the world in a different way. “Many of the things that [students] discuss I haven’t even thought about yet,” Dellaporta said. “I’m really glad to see such bright and innovative students.

Faces in the Crowd: Mother’s Day

What did you do for your mom on her special day? Shaane Syed (12) “We surprised her by having my sister ﬂy home from college for the weekend and going to San Francisco for a Mother’s Day brunch, which had been a yearly tradition until my sister left, so we kind of rekindled that.”

Will Agramonte (11) “I recited a Spanish mother’s day poem and gave her a sewing box along with a hand-made card that said, ‘Dear Mother, we love you every day of the year...this is just the day we admit it.’ I feel that this one day of super kindness totally makes up for me being bad the rest of the year.”

Kristen Maher (10) “I performed a dance for her because she loves to watch me dance, and I also gave her a hand massage with the lotions I bought her.”

Cosmo Sung (9) “I gave my mom a big hug in the morning, washed her car in the middle of the day and took her out for authentic Chinese food later that night.” —Compiled by Libby Craig

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ◆

topten

things to do before school gets out

10. Hang around the quad because you’re not going to be there for awhile. 9. Take funny pictures the last day of school to remind you of your friends. 8. Plan a road trip the first weekend and live it up like a true Titan. 7. Grab a Jamba Juice on a hot day with your friends who are going away for the summer. 6. Go shopping for a cool bathing suit and a sexy pair of aviators. 5. Hit the weight room and get a nice tan before catching some waves at the beach. 4. Gather up your friends and have a huge water fight. 3. Study like no other trying to get a good grade on your final. 2. Tell your crush that you’ve liked since Homecoming that you guys should hang out this summer. 1. Get your yearbook signed by all of your senior friends and wish them well. —Dezmon Hunter

summer concerts

preview

June 27 @ 7 p.m.: Counting Crows and The Goo Goo Dolls—Shoreline Amphitheater July 1 @ 9 a.m.: Ozzfest 2006—Shoreline Amphitheater July 8 @ 7 p.m.: Nine Inch Nails with Bauhas and Peaches—Shoreline Amphitheater July 17 @ 9 p.m.: Calexico with the Black Heart Procession—Fillmore June 18 @ 7 p.m.: Snow Patrol—Warfield July 22 @ 9 p.m.: Taking Back Sunday—Arco Arena

The Oracle ◆ 11

EATURETAINMENT◆

Concert choir ventures to Italy Stéphanie Keller-Busque News Editor

Ciao, America! is what over 99 students from Gunn’s concert choir will say on June 21 as they leave for their 12-day trip to Italy. The trip consists of both a performance and historical tour with participation in the Amadeus Festival in honor of Mozart and his great inﬂuence on the world of music. Concert choir director Bill Liberatore has prepared his students for the trip by teaching them Mozart’s famous Grand Mass in C minor. The students will participate in a High Mass performance in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, one of the largest Christian churches, as well as at various locations in Italy for their solo concerts and those for the Amadeus Festival. Liberatore eagerly awaits the trip. “It’s a very unique experience to be in Europe and sing where there’s so much art and culture,” Liberatore said. “To participate artistically when we go there and to connect with people like that will be very special.” Principal Noreen Likins is extremely pleased that the concert choir will be performing in Italy and strongly supports their

Photo courtesy of Bill Liberatore

The Gunn choir performs during last year’s trip to Canada. In late June, the concert choir will travel and sing throughout Italy. trip. “Very few people have the opportunity to perform in the Sistine Chapel and I am sure this is something every one of them will remember and talk about for the rest of their lives,” Likins said. “Providing an opportunity for students to see and learn about other countries and other cultures really enhances their education.” Sophomore Stephanie Hoffman anticipates the trip with much enthusiasm. “It will be an entirely different audience than in America,” Hoffman said. “We’re working with a guest conductor so that

Local summer events • Teen Summer Reading Program: Youth entering grades 6 to 12 can sign up for this program. When your goal is reached, you will receive a free paperback book, a certificate, a coupon for a free Round Table pizza and other prizes. All teens who complete the program will receive a free raffle ticket to win an iPod shuffle. Those who submit a book review will receive an additional prize. For more information, go on www.cityofpaloalto.org/library. • Meet Luke, CSI K-9: Agent Jean Brady from the Palo Alto Police Department and Luke, her full-blooded Bloodhound, will demonstrate tracking techniques use to locate people or crime evidence. June 19, Mitchell Park Field, 7 p.m. • Relay for Life Menlo Park: This project is a twenty-four hour event that seeks to raise awareness regarding cancer and money for cancer research and the development of useful medications through pre-event fundraising. Aug. 12 to 13. For more info, email Emily. McNaughton@cancer.org. • Conflict and Art: This is an exhibition of artistic expressions of the harsh realities of conflict around the world. June 7 through Aug. 27. Stanford Cantor Arts Center. —Compiled by Vivien Tsao

will be a challenge. It’s always a unique experience to work with different people and it will be fun to experience it all with friends from Gunn.” To raise money for ﬁnancial assistance for students who could not afford the trip, the choir held several concerts throughout the year and sold CDs of their Christmas Gospel. As they wait for the day of their departure, the choir continues to practice, perfecting their Italian pronunciation and dreaming of Italia.

Keep busy over the summer Procrastinators still have time to make the most of their summer. Here are a few ideas if you’re stuck on what to do: • Go to summer school: The Palo Alto Unified School District, community college and private schools, such as St. Francis, all offer summer classes. • Get a job: Summer camps are a great way to work easy hours and make money. Paramount’s Great America also needs employees for the summer. Try to get a job that interests you, rather than one that pays the most. • Help the community: No matter what you are good at, there are ways to feel good about yourself by doing community service. Read for the blind, go on walks with blind patients or help the environment. Contact information is available in the College and Career Center. • Enter contests: There are essay contests for every topic from literature to physics. Go to www.fastweb. com to receive information.

—Compiled by Eric Johnston

Summer blockbusters show promise

Cars Release Date: June 9 Pixar films will animate another adventure set in the world of car racing. Lightning McQueen, an ambitious rookie race car is en route to the Piston Cup Championship where McQueen will compete against two seasoned veterans. However, McQueen meets a few characters along the way that help him realize that racing is not all about finishing first.

Superman Returns Release Date: June 28 This greatly anticipated movie carries on the Superman saga as the Man of Steel, played by Brandon Routh, returns to Earth after being absent for several years. Lois Lane, Superman’s love interest and co-worker, appears to have moved on without him. He must deal with his emotions and face an old enemy to save the world from catastrophic destruction.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Release Date: July 7 Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow in a wild adventure against the supernatural. Captain Jack owes a debt to Davey Jones, captain of the Flying Dutchman and ruler of the deep ocean. Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann are caught up in Jack’s plight. If Jack does not settle this debt, he will serve his afterlife in eternal damnation.

Miami Vice Release Date: July 28 Jamie Foxx plays Ricardo Tubbs and Colin Farrell plays Sonny Crockett. Both are undercover narcotics agents in the rich and ﬁlthy underground world of Miami. Tubbs and Crockett get tangled in a web of romance, justice and greed. Miami Vice is an update to the 1980s TV series of the same name, including the cheesy hairdos and the ‘80s music.

Snakes on a Plane Release Date: August 18 Samuel L. Jackson plays a professional assassin on a packed passenger airplane over the Pacific Ocean, unleashing a multitiude of lethal snakes while trying to kill a witness in protective custody. The immense interest in the film prompted New Line studios to refilm several scenes to rerate it from a PG-13 rating to an R rating. —Compiled by Jonathan Gu

12 ◆ The Oracle ◆

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

NTERTAINMENT◆

Price: $19.99 Style: Vintage Store: Ross

Graphics by Julius Tarng

ool side summer fashion doesn’t have to be expensive to be chic. The Oracle investigates the best swim attire for guys and gals under $20 to welcome summer.

Price: $17.99 Style: Tropical Store: Target

Price: $17.99 Style: Sporty Store: Target

Price: $16.99 Style: Sporty Store: Ross

Price: $20 Style: Girly Store: Ross

Price: $17.99 Style: Preppy Store: Target

—Modeling by Nicole Monica & John Barley —Compiled by Lauren Krensky

Ana Kostioukova Entertainment Editor

Negative reviews from the Los Angeles Times and New York Times didn’t keep the crowds from pouring into the theaters for the greatly anticipated The Da Vinci Code. Ron Howard’s adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel made $244 million worldwide in its first weekend in the box office. The story unravels as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (played by Tom Hanks) is giving a lecture in Paris and is suddenly contacted by Inspector Fache (played by Jean Reno) about the murder in the Louvre. When Langdon arrives at the seen of the crime, he sees the late curator of the Louvre, Jacques Sauniere (played by Jean-Pierre Mariell), lying naked on the floor in the position of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man. However, the mystery becomes more complicated as Langdon discovers that Sauniere left clues on his body and on barquet floors of the museum in his own blood. The cryptic messages lead him to Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), a French policewoman who shared a past with the dead man. Not only does Neveu help Langdon discover further clues in the museum one of which is a key to a high-security bank account in Paris, but she also helps him escape from the French police which have Langdon as the prime suspect in the curator’s murder. This adventure leads from Paris to London, as they soon discover that the French police are not the only ones

hunting after them and the precious secret they are about to uncover, a secret big enough to shake the foundations of Christianity. Ron Howard does a good job in making the movie progress without losing the audience in the history of the Knights of Templar and Mary Magdalene. Not taking in account the beginning scene in the lecture hall, the movie closely follows the book; this is a nice change from recent directors who take liberties when adapting books to film, such as Mike Newell with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.The movie and the book are unique in that they are based on real facts but with a fictional story line. However, recently Dan Brown has been under attack by historians about the many inaccuracies in his book. This movie may not be the best for people who are deeply religious or ancient history buffs, but it is an entertaining film, that offers an alternative to the role of Jesus Christ in the Christian religion. Anyone can enjoy this movie with a little stretch of the imagination.

◆

Features & Forum Editors

The Gunndance film festival is returning to Gunn June 1st to June 3rd, and promises to be an exiting event for all. Held by returning hosts senior Michael Parikh and junior Noel Carey, the festival will feature nearly 20 new films, along with some sequels from past festivals. “So far we’ve been getting a really great turnout from both new and returning directors, so the festival is going to be great,” Parikh said. “We’re gong to have a lot of fun videos about love, drama, humor, and even some animation ones.” Along with co-hosting the festival with Parikh for the second year, Carey has produced two brand new films for this year’s festival. His first title, “Working Title Volume 2,” is the sequel to his widely popular film from last year’s festival, “Working Title.” “Working Title,” which was a comedy sketch with many different plotlines, was voted best film in the film festival last year, and was included in last year’s video yearbook. Carey was helped in filming by senior Will Mardsen and senior Pancho Morris, students at Mountain View High. “We decided to make a sequel because the last one did well, and we had

some more ideas for a second one,” Carey said. Carey’s second film, entitled “Wifflementary,” is a humorous documentary based off two of Morris’ Mountain View High friends, who are very serious about wiffleball. “Pancho’s friends are really good at wiffleball, and he thought it would be a good idea to make a funny documentary about it,” Carey said. Although the film was not directed by Carey, he has a lead role in the film. Sophomore Dan Neumann will submit “Nerdbusters,” a documentary in the style of “Cops,” on the “nerd” stereotype, co-written and directed with fellow sophomore Alex Rasgon. “We want our movie to show that there is much more to “nerds” than most people think, and hope to bring down the stereotypical walls that thrive in every school,” Neumann said. To achieve this, Neumann filmed several of his and Rasgon’s friends from Homestead High school, whom he said are well suited to their roles. “We’re already a bunch of nerds, so we have the characters down,” Neumann said. He filmed his friends playing video games and occasionally beating the tar out of each other. The filming was arduous—20-30 hours of filming with only two hours of rest (not including sleep.) This is a different film than the movie that Neumann and Rasgon originally intended to enter (“The Greening of Life,” which was featured in the

March issue of The Oracle), therefore they are still working hard. Neumann hopes to have the movie effectively edited by Gunndance in order to take advantage of what he believes is the unique capacity of ﬁlm to move audiences. “We decided to enter Gunndance so that we could bring new ideas to people’s minds in a form of communication they understand easily,” Neumann said. “[Film] is showing the audience real life situations that aren’t in real life, so they’re getting a different perspective on them.” Gunn students will absorb many different perspectives from the festival. Perhaps they will be inspired to play whifﬂeball or track down nerds afterwards.

Showtimes n n n

June 1st @ 7:30 June 2nd @ 3:30 June 3rd @7:30

Location: Little Theater

Graphics by Julius Tarng

Gossard

Nathaniel Eisen & Shiv Kachru

The Oracle ◆ 13

NTERTAINMENT◆

Kristina

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Meilin Luh Circulation Manager

English teacher Kristina Gossard is writing her way into fame and fortune. Having gone to the Tribeca Film Festival in New York just this month, she has signed a contract for an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. But that’s not all. For the past several years Gossard has managed to sell around ﬁve of her scripts to producers. Just recently one of her scripts was sold to Paramount Pictures and entered pre-production.“I can have private conversations about the general ideas of the script, but not with the public,” Gossard said. The script, the story of two boxing brothers who followed the same path of drug abuse into jail, was co-written with her uncle, Eric Johnson. “He’s the biggest inspiration in my life, and my biggest cheerleader too,” Gossard said. “He’s always been really encouraging.” Having no children, Johnson has become very close to Gossard. “Kristina is like a daughter to me,” Johnson said “Ever since she was a little girl, I knew she was going to do great things. What I see is her uncanny ability to make a story pop off of a page—her writing is so vivid, detailed, and realistic that it really draws the reader in right away.” Gossard grew up in a family that was oriented around the entertainment industry. Trying to prevent herself from getting into the business, Gossard did not start script writing until college, when she took a class about it. “I tried very hard to resist it because I don’t like the whole Hollywood lifestyle,” Gossard said. Balancing teaching and writing can be an extremely hard task. “Sometimes I stretch myself too thin and I work all the time,” Gossard said. “It’s not a bad thing because it’s what I love to do.”

Fandango Pizza features music Nathaniel Eisen Features Editor

Alex Rasgon Associate Entertainment Editor

One of the greatest advancements the internet has brought us has been an effective method of communication. Youtube.com enhances that by making thousands of videos accessible to the public with just a few clicks. Youtube.com’s primary purpose is to allow users to upload personal videos and broadcast them to the world. The videos range from home movies to episodes of hit TV shows, such as Lost and South Park.

Youtube.com’s legality was put under question recently because all of the videos they have are free. They were sued by NBC for posting the “Lazy Sunday” music video clip, but the clip was taken down immediately. Youtube.com also dodges legal issues by not allowing their clips to be downloaded (they are only streamed). A video will not be forced off Youtube.com for being explicit, unless it is sexually explicit or demonstrates drug use. Youtube. com is a great site to check out, and it is totally free, making media more accessible than it ever was before.

Musicians assemble at Fandango Pizza at the corner of Middlefield Road and Loma Verde Avenue several nights every week to play three kinds of music, and high school students are more than welcome to come play or listen. “Whoever likes music, this is a good place to be,” owner Tom Kamali said. On every other Monday you can hear Old timey American music, on every Tuesday Celtic music, and on every Wednesday, Bluegrass music. I had the opportunity to attend the Old timey and bluegrass jams. Every other Monday: Old timey American music Old timey American music is of British, Celtic and Scottish influence, and was created in the 18th century all across America. It was intended as dance music, with simple, pretty tunes, and the musicians at Fandango hold true to this heritage. The musicians play instruments including the fiddle, mandolin, claw hammer banjo. I found the music calming and beautiful as the tunes contained several repetitions of melodious sequences.

Christopher Wu

Wednesday night’s feature Bluegrass musicians that pick their way into the audience’s hearts. Mandolin player Mike Maurier thinks that less experienced musicians can deﬁnitely participate in the Monday jam. “Old-timey music is really good for beginners and intermediates,” Maurier said. Fiddler and Ukalele player Ann Whitesell enjoys the sense of history in the old-timey tunes. “Some of these tunes go so far back that I just feel a continuity to the old time players,” she said. Wednesdays: Bluegrass Bluegrass music evolved from

Old timey music in the 1940s. According to Maurier, the main differences between Bluegrass and Old timey are that “bluegrass music involves Scruggs-style banjo picking, more mandolin chop-playing, three-part harmonies, and solos (or “breaks”) by musicians and singers.” During bluegrass jams at Fandango, musicians often play the guitar, banjo and mandolin. One can easily get lost in the acoustic music, whether by playing, or sitting and nodding with a smile.

14 ◆ The Oracle ◆

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

PORTS◆

Swimming

Lacrosse

The swim team had a good season overall and finished with a 5-1 record for both varsity boys and girls. Their only losses were to Palo Alto. The boys finished sixth while the girls finished tenth in the league. The team has many great players, seniors Michael Wong and Matt Prior, junior Mark Prior and sophomore Casey Barnes-Waychus, who led the team to multiple victories. The team is relying on incoming and returning swimmers for next year’s season. “Our goals for next season are to get better,” Head Coach Mark Hernandez said. “Everyone on the team needs to do better.”

The lacrosse team ﬁnished with a 6-7 record and placed sixth in leagues. The team lost 15 seniors last year, and as a result had many players that had never played before. The beginning of the season was challenging as players worked on the basics, such as throwing and catching. However, as the season progressed, the team showed improvement, winning its last four games. The team is excited and hopeful for next season. “The most exciting thing about next year is that we are only losing one senior,” Head Coach Kim Pepper said. “The girls are eager to improve their record next year.”

Gymnastics

Baseball

The gymnastics team has had a nearly spotless record this year, with its only defeat coming from Saint Francis on April 27. Junior Kaylyn Reyes and sophomore Miranda Der were the undaunted leaders of the team during the season and placed ﬁrst in almost every event they competed in this season. Further, the regular season ended on a high note for the Titans with their victory over Cupertino at an away meet. They ended their season placing third in CCS. The team looks to stay high in CCS rankings for next year, led by Reyes and Der.

The baseball team finished 8-10 in De Anza League play and 12-14 overall. The team held a second place tie with Palo Alto in league play, although the Titans defeated the Vikings two out of three times this season. The efforts of senior Brent Gardiner, juniors Sam Zipperstein and Alex Zeglin and sophomore Kyle Einfalt were key to Gunn’s success. With outstanding plays from junior Tucker Laurence, the Titans made it to the finals of the CCS playoffs after defeating North Monterey in the first round 7-4, Cappuchino in the quarterfinals 2-0 and Soquel in the semifinals 1-0.

Badminton

The badminton team did well this season and placed fourth in the league. “We did a bit better than last year and we had a very young team,” Head Coach Marc Tsukakoshi said. “Considering the overall average grade of the team, I think we did quite a bit better last year.” Due to the large number of underclassmen on the team this year there will be a minimal impact from departing seniors. Next season, many of the key players will be incoming upperclassmen. “We are doing very well to be able to challenge [opposing schools] in the upper division,” Tsukakoshi said.

Softball

Track & Field

The girls’ softball team had a good season and placed ﬁfth in the league, rising one rank compared to last year. Though the team has had the same record as last year, it has been playing harder opponents this year. Its record was 3-9 in the league and 8-13 overall. The team will lose only two seniors next season and is looking forward to gaining four to ﬁve new players. “Overall it was very enjoyable and had a very competitive,” Head Coach Dave Jost said. “We had a lot of very close games and the girls did fantastic.”

Track & Field has had success this year not only in dual meets, but also from its individual performers. Senior Chris Yu had an amazing season, reaching the CCS finals and jumping 22 feet 9.5 inches. The relay team had a tremendous year, reaching the CCS finals ranked fourth, and is looking to keep up this fierce competitiveness next year. Several promising sprinters such as junior Curtis Liang and sophomore Gaurav Shirole will be returning next year. —Compiled by Stephen Salazar and Moses Lai

Photos by Christopher Wu and Jennifer Lim

Gymnast vaults into first at CCS Sasha Guttentag Assoc. Centerfold Editor

A crucial member of the Gunn gymnastics team, junior Kaylyn Reyes started gymnastics as a toddler and is now a level 10 gymnast, the level preceding that of Olympic athletes. Having started with one class a week, she now practices five days a week at Airborne Gym in Santa Clara. With at least 26 hours of practice time each week, the time commitment is very demanding. However, the time factor has been somewhat beneficial to Reyes because it has forced her to keep focused during school and finish all her homework on time. Although Reyes competes in all of the events offered, her favorite is floor, which is the most complicated event, according to teammate sophomore Miranda Der. Reyes excels in other events as well, and has been accredited as the first girl to get a 10.0 on bars in the history of CCS. Since joining the Gunn gymnastics team, Reyes has accumulated many awards. Freshman year, she went through her season unde-

Photo courtesy of the Reyes family

Junior Kaylyn Reyes practices gymnastics for at least 26 hours every week at Airborne Gym in Santa Clara. feated, winning States, Regionals and Western Nationals as well as CCS. In addition, she placed second in CCS as a sophomore and qualified for Regionals this year. She returned home from Leagues and CCS this year with a first place overall, with combined scores from bars, beam, floor and vault. Members of the Gunn team respect and admire Reyes’s dedication to the sport. “Kaylyn not only contributes awesome scores and outstanding routines, but she also has a great attitude,” Der said. “She’s really good at lightening the mood, and everybody loves watch-

ing her compete because she’s really graceful and makes everything look easy.” “Kaylyn is always very happy, easygoing and very nice to all the other girls,” Gunn gymnastics coach Amy Chasteen said. For Reyes, gymnastics has not always been a painless hobby. She now has tendonitis in her knee from continuous practice. Despite this, Reyes plans on continuing gymnastics in college. “The best part is the feeling you get after you’re done competing to know that all your hard work has finally paid off,” she said.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ◆

PORTS◆

The Oracle ◆ 15

New squad has good reason to cheer Cheerleaders hopeful for next year despite coach departure Libby Craig Associate Sports Editor

The long-anticipated lights will not be the only new sensation on the football field this fall—expect a freshly spirited, promising new cheerleading squad on the sidelines. After three days to learn two game chants, a jump sequence, a basic cheer and one long dance, the cheerleaders went into the final tryout day. A panel made up of graduating cheerleaders and staff that had cheer or dance background assessed the girls’ leadership qualities, work ethic, attitude and skill in cheering and dancing. Sixteen girls, half returning and half new, ultimately made the cut. “I think the new team has an extreme amount of potential, more than ever before,” former coach Anne Thomas said. Returning girls are ready for favorable change with the 2006-2007 team. “It is definitely going to be different next year because we have new people with different skills,” freshman returning cheerleader Julie Ming said. Next year’s team will have tumblers, diversifying the teams’s talents. Although there are eight new girls on the team, most have solid cheerleading experience. Five girls from JLS Middle School’s strong cheerleading team will join the group. “I’m excited to cheer with some of my old teammates and some people I just met,” incoming cheerleader and current JLS eighth grader Caroline Mercer said. “I get the im-

pression that they work hard and work well together as a team.” Having younger girls on the team is beneﬁcial not only because of their skill, but also to keep cheer customs alive. “We have more underclassmen on the team, which is great because they can carry on Gunn traditions as seniors leave,” junior returning cheerleader Becca Maldonado said. The cheerleaders’ only time off is during the month of May, because a few pre-season practices are held in June and training and preparations will start in full force during July. At these practices, the girls elect two captains by a popular vote and start learning chants, game cheers and stunts. In August, the team will also attend a week-long cheer camp put on by the United Spirit Association at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “Every minute is scheduled with attending workshops and intense cheering, dancing and stunting in the hot summer weather,” Maldonado said. Next year, the cheerleaders will be performing at every varsity football game, basketball game and rally, as they did this year. “This coming season I would really like our team to implement new and creative ideas to get the crowd on their feet and cheering with us,” Maldonado said. In addition, the team may attend a big competition, which it has never done before. “It’s deﬁnitely possible for the squad to compete next spring because I think they have the ability, but it’s really up to the coach because it’s a lot to prepare for,” Thomas said. Unfortunately, Thomas will be moving

Jennifer Lim

Next year’s cheerleading squad consists of 16 members, including eight new members, ﬁve of which are incoming freshmen. to the East Bay this fall and will no longer coach or teach at Gunn. “It’s going to be hard because each coach has her own style of teaching and we’ve gotten used to the way Ms. Thomas runs things,” Ming said. “She really knew what she was doing, and we don’t really know what to be prepared for next year, but I hope our next coach will be just as good.” The search for a new coach is underway, and is determined by the administration, not by Thomas or the team. As for mascot Timmy the Titan, the tryout

process is unique. An informational meeting will be held in late May in which each candidate is asked to prepare a short routine. They will perform on the quad at lunch in early June and the two with the best crowd reaction will become next year’s mascot. The cheerleaders have high hopes as they approach next year. “Having cheered at Gunn since my freshman year, every year seems to get better,” Maldonado said. “This season of cheerleading is going to be really successful because we not only have new talent, but also dedication and commitment.”

16 ◆ The Oracle ◆

Energy bars lack nutritional value

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

PORTS◆

Countless energy bars adorn vending machines and grocery store shelves. What sets them apart from each other? The Oracle takes an in-depth look at four popular energy bars.

Alex Lee News Editor Energy bars are among the worst things that you can eat. Some of them are nothing more than candy bars masquerading in a “healthy” disguise. Companies try to conceal the lack of nutrition in their products with phrases like “the complete nutritional food bar” (Balance Bar) or “Fuel for Optimum Performance” (Powerbar). But when you get right down to it, energy bars contain nothing more than a lot of sugar, fat, fiber and a small amount of protein. To create a niche for a new bar in a dog-eatdog marketplace, each manufacturer needs a new twist. Names like Ironman and Steel sell, but they are no longer enough. Viactiv and Luna bars target women. Clif and Boulder go the natural route. And Think! promises to boost your brain power with herbs and vitamins. There are a few ingredients that you should look out for in an energy bar. The Food and Drug Administration requires all ingredients on a bar to be listed in order of quantity used. If refined sugars are the first or second ingredient, it is not a good choice. Refined sugars like sucrose, corn syrup, brown rice syrup and chocolate are frequently found high on this list. Another ingredient to watch out for is saturated fat, which can cause heart disease and cancer. Many energy bars use hydrogenated oils and tropical oils such as coconut oil or palm kernel oil, which are rich sources of saturated fat. For example, an average Powerbar consists of brown rice syrup, whole oats, rice crisps (milled rice, sugar, salt, barley malt), evaporated cane juice syrup, roasted soy beans and a chocolatey coating (sugar, fractionated palm kernel oil, alkalized cocoa). Two out of the top five of these ingredients are sugars: brown rice syrup and evaporated cane juice syrup. Eating this means that you will get a quick sugar high followed by a sugar crash. Another ingredient is the arteryclogging fractionated palm kernel oil. Only the oats and the soybeans provide any natural nutrition to speak of, in the form of protein. Powerbar supplements this lack of nutrition by adding a host of artificial vitamins. In addition, there is nothing magical about the 40-30-30 carbohydrate, protein, fat philosophy that most energy bars like to follow. One popular brand of 40-30-30 bar listed soy protein as the first ingredient, corn syrup as the second and fractionated palm kernel oil as the third. Instead of a miraculous combination of nutrients, what you are really eating here is a lot of sugar and saturated fat. Most of the ingredients in an energy bar are anything but natural and provide no nutrition. The highly processed milk and soy protein, high-fructose corn syrup, oils, vitamins and minerals are anything but an ideal food. Missing are the vegetables, beans, low-fat diary and other real foods that can cut the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke. The energy bar phenomenon capitalizes on a real human need for a convenient, nutrition-dense concentrated food that keeps well, provides energy and tastes good. Such foods do indeed exist—and they aren’t what you see under that energy bar wrapper.

Graphics by Julius Tarng —Compiled by Adrienne Nguyen and Caroline Hodge

Make your own natural alternative to manufactured bars Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, melted or oil 8 large egg whites, beaten 3/4 cup whole-wheat ﬂour

1/4 cup wheat germ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup dry milk powder 3/4 cup rolled oats

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan. 2. Beat eggs and oil together. 3. Sift together dry ingredients except fruit. Add ﬂour to eggs, combine, then stir in remaining ingredients. 4. Spread evenly in pan, bake 30 minutes—they are still soft when done. 5. Cool, cut into 24 pieces, wrap in foil and freeze. Enjoy!

1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 cups chopped dried fruit 2 1/2 cups nuts, chopped

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 1 bar Calories: 221 Fat: 9.5 g Cholesterol: 5 mg Potassium: 355 mg