The Oracle September 2019

Students speak about mental wellness

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

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THEORACLE Henry M. Gunn High School

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Friday, September 13, 2019

Volume 57, Issue 1

780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Proposed Ethnic Studies graduation requirement inspires conversation, debate Annika Bereny Centerfold Editor On August 22, the bill to make Ethnic Studies a graduation requirement was delayed in the state leg islat ure.

Citing the

Annika Bereny Centerfold Editor

huge controversy around the bill, its author, California dialogue among all of the interested parties around it, Sate assembly member Jose Medina, has opted to put it not a debate,” she said. “And, the difference between the on the “two year plan,” postponing the vote on the bill two is that, in a debate, there's a winner and a loser, but without killing it. in dialogue, you're seeking to understand.”

The bill had been involved in a whirlwind of controSchool Board Representative senior Claire Cheng versy with many different ethnic groups, some protest- also strongly opposes an Ethnic Studies graduation ing the fact that it does not cover the plights of their requirement, and all other graduation requirements the minority group more inclusively and in-depth. Pro- district may try to impose. “Anytime we add a graduaIsrael groups, for example, claim that the plan shows tion requirement, we are taking away the freedom for the Israel-Palestine conflict in a one-sided manner. students to choose to explore what they are passionate Other critics are upset at the bill’s seemingly left-leaning about,” Cheng said. “The [government] is making the nature, with terms like “Hxrstory” and “Cisheteropa- unilateral assumption that the subject will benefit all triarchy” in the curriculum glossary. students more than another class students chose for Medina, the assembly member representing themselves will. I don’t think the` [school district] knows Riverside who authored the bill, released a us better than we know ourselves.” statement on his decision to delay the bill.

The course would most likely come as a semester“It is not a question of whether the subject long course in senior year, probably at the expense of itself is necessary, but rather, how do we the psychology classes. “From a logistical scheduling ensure the curriculum is comprehensive, standpoint, it adds to the complexity, and it would make rigorous and inclusive enough?” he wrote. that part of my job harder,” Patrick said. “But, from the “This underscores the importance of ta k ing t he t ime "I think the biggest thing that has to happen is there has to be a good necessar y to en- dialogue among all of the interested parties around it, not a debate." sure we get the cur-Principal Kathleen Laurence ricul u m right.” social studies teacher standpoint, it’s really important O n e i n f i v e C a l i f o r n i a for kids to have experience with this.” schools offer Ethnic Studies Ethnic Studies wouldn’t immediately be a mandatory as a class. At Gunn, the course class, though. There would be a timeline for Gunn to has been offered for a long have the course up and running. “They would also tell time, yet has not run for 12-15 us by when we would have to have it in our schools as a years due to lack of student inter- graduation requirement,” said Laurence. “A lot of times, est. According to the Gunn course what they’ll do is they’ll pass the bill and say it’s for the catalogue, Ethnic Studies operates graduating class four years later.” from the consideration of profound This requirement would also need more teachers impact that race and racism have and continue for Ethnic Studies. “We'd need a staffing increase for to have on culture and society. Ethnic Studies aims to it, which is one of those interesting things about state focus on themes of social justice, social change and mandates, ” said Patrick, “The state can require this, but social responsibility, using California as a microcosm they don't provide any additional funding, so you have of the country. It raises the essential question—what is to hire teachers to teach that course.” Due to the bill’s the role of racism in the American experience? delay, the issue of finding teachers has been postponed.

Social Studies Department Instructional Lead Jeff “Like a lot of things that are done at the state level, we Patrick says that, with the lack of students taking Eth- just kind of take a wait-and-see attitude,” said Patrick. nic Studies, the curriculum has been spread throughWhile the bill is currently at a standstill, it will cerout many other classes. The most notable example is tainly be back in the future, and for students passionate Contemporary World History, which sophomores take about the issue, Cheng advises they attend a board meetfor one semester. “If we knew that subjects were being ing. “An opportunity I find very important that not a lot covered in other classes, then that allows us to focus of students know about is open forums.” At open forums, on the first couple things that we had to drop from the held at the beginning of school board meetings, anyone curriculum,” Patrick said, “It would also bring in some in the district—students, teachers and other community other topics that we haven’t covered in the past.” members—is welcome to give a speech for two or three Principal Kathleen Laurence urges interested stu- minutes on an issue they feel strongly about that isn't dents to sign up for the class. “I think that it's good for placed on the agenda. “Student voice matters,” Cheng students to have some flexibility to be able to try things said. “If you are persistent about the change you want that they may not have known about,” Laurence said. to see, have support from a large group of students and “I encourage students to take it. It makes me sad that have good rationale behind your opinion. The board will it doesn’t run because we have a lot of really cool social take it seriously.” studies classes that students don’t choose to take.” Addressing the bill as a whole, she stresses the importance of civility for Ethnic Studies debates. “I think the biggest thing that has to happen is there has to be a good

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News

Students, staff attend ‘safe and welcoming schools day’ Nikki Suzani Features Editor

On Aug. 30, students and staff participated in Safe and Welcoming Schools Day, which not only helped them acclimate to school culture and settle back into the school year, but also had them follow updated safety drills.

During the day, students participated in multiple activities ranging from lessons covering digital citizenship to proper evacuation skills. Students learned how to reduce their digital footprint and how to respect others online, including only posting pictures of others with their consent and treating everyone respectfully.

One of the safety drills not covered during that day was the fire drill, which students had to deal with multiple times before Aug. 30 due to the malfunction of the new fire alarm system. “We have a new fire alarm system that was previously installed. However, old infrastructure is matched up with a new fire alarm system, which is creating some issues and problems,” Assistant Principal Pier Angeli La Place said. “The fire alarm company has been out multiple times, including before school, to try to make it work. The principal has sent an email out to district leadership, so it’s on everybody’s radar that it’s something that has to be attended to.”

La Place wanted to furthur compliment all the students and staff for following through with evacuation procedures and being cooperative while the administration figures out the issues.

Although many students have expressed frustration with the system, La Place highlighted the importance of

treating each instance as if it was an actual fire. “What I can say is that for each one of those an alarm did trigger, showing on the panel that there was a potential fire and whenever that happens, we are legally bound to evacuate the building because we can’t make an assumption,” she said. “The message we want to get out is that we still have to take them very seriously.”

Last year, fire drills oftentimes got very chaotic and it was difficult for administration to properly communicate evacuation procedures. However, various changes have been implemented this year. “There have been some changes in terms of asking students to line up in alphabetical order and asking them to sit, which are procedures that were hopefully explained during the minimum day,” La Place said. “What we found is that our attendancetaking practices could really use improvement. There are over 2,000 students that attend Gunn and 400 adults on campus. That’s 2,400 people we are trying to account for and keep safe out on the field. The longer it takes us to take attendance and the more chaotic [the drill] is, the more unsafe it gets.”

As a result, during the fire drill this year, students have been instructed to walk to the field, find their B period teacher and then sit down in alphabetical order on the track. “The intention is that teachers should be able to spot who is absent without having to shout out as many names, making attendance go much [more quickly],” La Place said. “One of our staff members did use that process and she said that she was able to take attendance in less than a minute. The sitting down is because as people have

pointed out, unfortunately there could be a circumstance where I’m using that sound system to say ‘we all have to leave the field’ and now there’s some potential concern. I don’t know that staff have heard that direction if everyone is standing, because our students are the size of adults.

If the students are sitting and I have to give directions, I know that it has been heard by staff members and adults that can help the students stay safe if I start seeing just those people move.”

“What we found is that our attendancetaking practices could really use improvement.”

—Assistant Principal Pier Angeli La Place Students also have to deal with the presence of the new building, which had been under construction up until the end of last year. During the Run, Hide, Defend drill, students in the new building were also able to learn how to barricade those doors and the best places to be to stay away from windows. “The new building has added to the places from which people would be evacuating and [ the difficulty of] getting us all out to the field,” La Place said.

The ultimate goal of Safe and Welcoming Schools Day, according to La Place, was to ensure that students remain protected and understand the proper procedures in case of an emergency.

Melissa Ding Photo Courtesy of Joshua Mei Left: Math teacher Chris Karas talks to students about safe behavior. Right: Students play Quiplash with Psychology teacher Warren Collier during a break in activites.

District plans to implement standards-based grading Devon Lee Sports Editor As a part of The Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Promise, the district aims to fully implement standards-based grading (SBG) into Gunn’s education by the fall of 2022.

The PAUSD Promise is a document created by the Board of Education to outline the future of the district.

“This guiding document is designed to clearly, concisely and coherently outline our critical priority areas, provide space to explore our aspirations and determine metrics to monitor our progress,” according to The PAUSD Promise website.

Discussions about SBG began in a three-day professional learning and event centered around assessment called PA-YOU!-SD in June of last year. According to Principal Kathleen Laurence, the plan is still in its infancy. “We’re working on our backward planning from fall of 2022 in each department and professional learning community,” Laurence said. “There will be some overarching kind of way we do it, with nuances for different subject areas, certainly, but we aren’t there yet. We haven’t designed it.”

SBG is a system of education that focuses on assessing a student’s ability to demonstrate learning. One of its main goals is to allow students to be aware of what they have learned and what they need to work on. This principle is reflected in its grading scale.

Every assignment is graded on a one to four point scale; the scores are then used to determine the grade for a bucket score. Bucket scores are calculated from the scores that appear most often and most recently in that category. The overall grade is also calculated in the same manner—based on the bucket scores.

Since curriculum becomes increasingly difficult as the year progresses, assignments toward the end of the year are weighted heavier. “[Assignments] at the end are always weighted more than those at the beginning because the things that are meeting the standard by the end of the semester are much more difficult than the things that meet the standard at the beginning of the semester,” said Science Department Instructional Lead Laurie Pennington.

One drawback of the current system is that overall grades do not always accurately represent a student’s understanding of the material. Since grades are calculated in broad categories, there is a degree of ambiguity. “If you are a student who maybe doesn’t do their homework but aces all their tasks, you might earn a B,” Pennington said. “If you are a student who does all your homework and doesn’t do as well on the test, you might also earn a B. Have we measured the same things? No.” Another key principle of SBG is that students have the ability to show their understanding throughout the course of the semester. One drawback of the current education system is that it doesn’t allow for students to demonstrate learning after they have been tested. “The thing that should be the variable is the time, not the learning,” Laurence said. “And in the traditional system, the learning is the variable and the time is set.” Under the new SBG plan, students will be able to remediate assignments.

Currently, SBG has been incorporated into all lower lane, first year chemistry classes at Gunn. As one of the first courses to implement SBG into their curriculum Pennington believes that SBG will have success. “I was reading about the great things that could come from it and because I really personally care about student learning, it’s been something that I’ve really tried to learn and work

toward,” she said. “I think that yes it’s [SBG] possible and yes, I think it can work in every single class.”

The overarching purpose of SBG is to help students understand what they’re learning and how to do so in an effective manner at their own pace, with the goal of preparing them for the future. “By the time students get to college, they’re going to know how they learn, what they need to do, where they need to buckle down and where they can let go a little bit,” Pennington said. “All those different things, I think, can come from standards-based work. So, the ultimate goal is learning better learning and where students can learn on their own, and learning for learnings sake, not for the grade sake.”

Jamie Wang

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

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Liza Kolbasov Managing Editors Jennifer Gao Ryan Li News Elisa Moraes-Liu Angela Wong Forum Jessica Wang Joshua Yang Features Madison Nguyen Nikki Suzani Centerfold Annika Bereny Calvin Cai

Friday, September 13, 2019

Language Department updates academic standards, practices Madison Nguyen Features editor

languages through interpretive, interpersonal and presentational communication. Grammar The bell ringtlanguage classes begin. Stu- and vocabulary will be the base of student dents crowd into the computer lab and begin learning and usedas a tool for communication. preparing for their upcoming listening assess- “The idea is that if you got dropped into another ment. In other classrooms, they begin class with country, no one is going to run up to you and a writing assessment or simply interact with give you a worksheet that says, ‘Fill out these their fellow language learners. words’ because it’s not a real-world activity,” Since 2016, World Language Instructional Matchett said. “The standards and the frameLead Liz Matchett has been working with many work continually say, ‘What are real-world tasks other teachers and administrators across the that students will eventually have to do in the state of California to improve the framework of language?’ and that is what and how we should the California language department standard. be teaching in the language classrooms.”

If approved, the standards will be published While the lengthy process requires approval and implemented into by many administraall California high tors, the frameschools sometime in work was finished “We need to be testing what students can 2021. on Aug. 2 and is actually do with a language, what kind of T he C a l i for n ia being incorpocommunication they can have.”

Department of Edurated at Gunn. cation (CDE) pubWhile the frame—Instructional Lead Liz Matchett lished the standards work, if passed, in Jan. 2019, but the will shape how framework is still in the process of being language is taught in California for the next ten approved by the state. While the standards years, new standards have already been impleoutline what students have to learn, such as mented into Gunn’s world language classrooms grammar and vocabulary, the framework also since last school year. Thus, there will be a shift explains how students should learn. According in CDE standards, but this won’t have a large imto Matchett, the framework consists of learning pact on how language is already taught at Gunn

due to the fact that these standards and practices are already being used. Historically, there has been a large emphasis on grammar rules and vocabulary, but the CDE is now shifting the focus to how these rules can be applied to everyday conversations. “Some places in California only teach grammar and vocabulary, and that’s all they test,” she said. “We need to be testing what students can actually do with a language, what kind of communication they can have.”

Because of this, Matchett places an emphasis on how teachers phrase their learning objectives.

“Instead of a teacher saying ‘Today, we’re going to learn the subjunctive,’ they should say, ‘Today, we’re going to learn how to get recommendations, here are some contexts to why we would give recommendations to people,’” she said.

An issue world language teachers face is that some students don't see the importance of language classes. However, Matchet emhasizes that learning a language allows for a better understanding of culture and connection with more people—something that will grow and prosper with the new updated standard and framework.

“Learning a language isn’t something that is just sitting by itself,” she said. “Sometimes, people think about why you need to know a language.

It’s because the world keeps becoming a smaller place the more global we become.”

Sports Devon Lee Ryan Manesh Lifestyle Charlie Bush Kate Mallery Online Sophia Stern Photo Editor Melissa Ding Graphics Editor Grace Liu

INBOX

Staff Business/Circulation Ryan Manesh

The Oracle strongly encourages and prints signed Letters to the Editor and Comments. Comments are generally shorter responses, while Letters are longer pieces of writing.

Assistant Business/ Circulation Genna Bishop

Reporters Shannon Lin Adviser Kristy Blackburn

Letters and Comments may be edited to meet space requirements and the writer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Please include your name, grade and contact information should you choose to write one.

Letter from the Editor

Graphics Artists Shannon Lin Audrey Tseng Jamie Wang Jocelyn Wang Photographers Mia Knezevic Sophia Lu Wendy Xiong

Audrey Tseng

Dear Titans,

I’m so happy to be able to share with you the first issue of The Oracle for the 2019-2020 school year! What you’re holding in your hands is a month’s worth of hard work and planning of our staff, and we hope we’ve been able to meet our goal of bringing you relevant content you’ll be interested in reading and discussing with your peers.

With every issue we produce, our goal is to share a variety of stories, covering every group on campus. From dynamic sports coverage to creative profiles and features, we hope to showcase the variety of the Gunn community. One of the best parts of being on The Oracle is hearing your stories—our students and staff are amazing individuals, each with a story to tell, and we hope to be the means of sharing them. Along with continuing monthly coverage, we want to bring stories to you throughout the month through various mediums.

As a staff, we make it our first priority to cover the stories that need to be told—we don’t want to shy away from hard topics. We hope to make our content relevant to the student body and to be unique and creative with both our writing and our layouts. It’s important to us to take risks with our creations. Hopefully, these

risks will be worth it, and you’ll find our content and layouts to be captivating.

Ultimately, our greatest goal is to keep the Gunn community informed. We welcome any feedback that will help us improve.

As the voice of our community, we hope to remain engaged with you. Of course, we are always open to more story ideas, so please reach out with any topics you think are worth covering.

If you’re interested in further exploring journalism yourself, I invite you to consider joining our staff! We’re always excited to have new voices in our paper, and with the pathway of journalism classes, from beginning to honors, you’ll have the ability to expand your skills, whether it be as a reporter or as a photographer or graphics artist.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing students and staff flipping through our paper after distribution every month, discussing stories. Seeing The Oracle popping up on desks in class and articles clipped up in classrooms or overhearing arguments about stories during lunch makes the late nights putting together layouts, the large amounts of cold Costco pizza consumed and the inky fingers from distributing papers all worth it. I hope our coverage continues to find its way into your conversations and thoughts throughout the year, and that the hard work our staff puts into putting the paper together shines through.

Thank you, Liza Kolbasov EIC ’19-’20

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EDITORIAL: The Opinion of The Oracle Lowering voting age in school board elections to 16 would promote student voice, engagement This summer, the non-profit orga- everyone is represented, students can said decisions. Allowing students to nization “Vote16 Palo Alto” launched a only hope to truly be represented if they vote at 16 will ensure that they have campaign calling for the voting age in have a vote to back themselves up with. a voice in electing their representalocal school board elections to be lowAllowing students to vote in school tives. As a result, students may be more ered to 16. The petition comes as teen- board elections will also serve as a good likely to come to meetings, make their agers in Palo Alto—as in most other educational opportunity, encouraging voices heard and feel more confident cities across the nation—cannot vote continued attention to government is- that what they say will be implemented. in any elections, school board races sues. If students are taught early on In spite of these benefits, many have included. Yet, cities have recently piv- that their voices matter, they are less expressed concerns about this proposal, oted to changing this precedent: three likely to be apathetic in the future. A citing teenage immaturity and suscepMaryland cities have allowed 16- and major reason why people choose not to tibility to the influence of parents and 17-year-olds to vote in vote is that they believe teachers. However, at 16, most Palo all local elections. In their votes won’t make Alto students have either taken or are The decisions addition, a law passed a difference. According in the process of taking a United States last year in Berkeley made by the school to a study conducted by Government course, which provides allowed 16-year-olds the Pew Research Cen- the necessary knowledge to participate board first and to vote in school board ter, 15 percent of regis- in elections. In addition, as demonelections. There is a tered voters who did not strated by a study published by the US foremost impact judicial precedent for vote in 2016 cited voter National Library of Medicine, 16-yearstudents. this: the 1970 Oregon apathy as their primary olds are, in fact, as able and motivated v. Mitchell Supreme reason for not voting. to participate in elections as older citiCourt decision ruled Although voter turnout zens. Although their opinions may be that the federal government cannot for younger voters (18 to 29 years old) is swayed by those around them, this isregulate voting age on the local and already increasing nationally—from 20- sue is not exclusive to students—people state level. Thus, it has become in- 39 percent from 2014 midterms to 2018 of all ages can be influenced by those creasingly clear that the voting age for midterms, according to the US census— they look up to. Ensuring that teachers school board elections in Palo Alto must participation remains low, particularly do not seek to sway the votes of their be lowered to 16. Doing so will pri- in midterm and students is a much oritize student voice, encourage long- local elections. more effective solu16-year-olds are, in term civic engagement and increase Emphasizing the tion to this issue in investment in school board issues. importance of civic the long term. Some fact, as able and Lowering the voting age ensures engagement at all also argue that allowmotivated to that student opinions are taken into ac- levels of governing more forums and count in school board decisions. Since ment can help participate in elections spaces for students currently only adults can vote, their raise these numto contribute their as older citizens. voices and ideas are dramatically pri- bers. In addition, opinions would be oritized over those of students; parents students who are an easier and equally are doubtless important stakeholders encouraged to vote in school board elec- effective method of incorporating stuin their children’s educations, but the tions from a young age are also more dent voice. However, a vote carries decisions made by the school board likely to feel comfortable research- weight that spoken opinions do not, first and foremost impact students. Al- ing candidate platforms and analyz- and allowing students to vote will give though students do have the ability to ing issues in future national elections. them assurance that their opinions weigh in on issues by speaking at school Thus, allowing 16-year-olds to vote will be taken into account in a way board meetings, this informative role in school board elections will be a that forums, by their nature, cannot. has less weight than a vote does. Simi- small change that will provide a stepIn order to ensure that adequate larly, since the Student Executive Coun- ping stone to future civic engagement. weight is placed on student voices cil (SEC) school board representative is Finally, allowing students to vote at in the district, as well as encourage a non-voting member of the board, stu- 16 will increase investment in school investment in future elections and dent representation through SEC car- board issues. Although some school present school board issues, it is imries less weight. Indeed, there has been board issues such as weighted grade perative that Palo Alto allows 16-yeara long history of student-led movements point average, zero period and the com- olds to vote in school board elections. striving to change this: for example, the puter science requirement have received 2017 petition to increase transparency attention from students, others remain with Gunn’s shifting bell schedule ex- relatively unknown. Since students are plicitly stated that “this petition seeks ultimately the ones most strongly afto address the seeming refusal of the fected by school board decisions, they administration to solicit significant should have the highest levels student voice.” The most effective so- of interest in lution to bolster student opinion, then, is to allow the students to represent themselves through their vote. Just as national elections must offer the vote to all groups of people to ensure that

—Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the staff (assenting: 20; dissenting: 1; abstaining: 0)

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“Yes. If the voting age is lowered, then people who still have time in high school will get to impact what happens at the schools.”

Alex Andrei (9)

“Yes. You don’t get enough student input if it is not 16.”

Neha Muthiah (10)

“No; some restrictions shouldn’t be toggled with. Teenagers haven’t experienced a lot and don’t have the ability to reinforce rules.”

Eileen Guo (11)

“Yes, of course. We’re the ones that benefit the most from the decisions they make, and we know what is best for our schools.”

Vardaan Shah (12) —Compiled by Charlie Bush Graphics by Shannon Lin Photos by Sophia Lu

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Friday, September 13, 2019

analysis of Standards-Based GradinG reveals advantages

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Standards-based grading creates confusing assessment system

Elisa Moraes-Liu Angela Wong

—Wong, a junior, is a News Editor.

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Throughout the beginning of the school year and the schedule-change frenzy that accompanies it, certain questions are often heard in the hallways at Gunn: “Is this teacher an easy or hard grader?” “Which classes are easy A’s?” While these topics of conversation are common at a high school with rigorous academics, they hint at an unsettling trend: the prioritization of a letter grade and pursuit of academic perfection has promoted an unhealthy view of what “learning” and “success” means.

In recent years, educators have introduced and analyzed a myriad of ways that students learn best, with a common theme emerging: the most effective learning occurs when students receive immediate and specific feedback. Standards-based grading (SBG) prioritizes academic growth and may prove to be a viable alternative to traditional grading systems.

Implementing SBG in Gunn classes will help students reach their highest potential by fostering a growth mindset toward their academic achievement, encouraging teachers to provide meaningful feedback and aligning classroom instruction and assessments with relevant standards. In time, this grading scale will redefine how learning is measured, challenging the traditional grading system’s all-or-nothing approach to academic success.

The history of SBG, also known as proficiency-based learning or competency-based learning, traces back to 1956, beginning with educational philosopher Benjamin Bloom’s discussions of student development of “higher-order thinking skills.” In an attempt to reform education, individual learning standards came to define “proficiency.” This grading system uses a one to four scale that reflects students’ increasing mastery of a subject. Since the general goal is an understanding of essential knowledge, students failing to meet “proficiency” standards are not marked with a permanent F;” rather, they receive additional instruction and one-on-one academic support from their teacher.

Nonetheless, SBG’s recent arrival in various science classes has received conflicted responses, some of which are quick to disregard its benefits. Adopting a completely different grading scale at Gunn will, like most new concepts, cause confusion and require time for students and teachers alike to adjust. However, students should bear the end vision of SBG in mind: to create a grading system that benefits every student’s learning style and preferences. If Gunn can give SBG the chance to integrate into classrooms, its advantages will follow.

Aligning Gunn courses with SBG sets an educational precedent about success and learning. In 2009, the Marzano Research Laboratory conducted a comprehensive review of instructional strategies and found that scoring scales and a focus on student progress (both of which are pillars to SBG’s function) improved students’ performances. In addition, it found positive correlation between feedback and additional instruction and achievement.

SBG also encourages teachers to take an active role in supporting students. Science classes with SBG require teachers to provide frequent, in-depth feedback on all assignments and tests. This allows students to specifically target areas that need improvement. Teachers then provide opportunities for revision, including having students complete worksheets on difficult topics or meeting to discuss study habits. This cycle of feedback encourages teachers to be more invested in their students. It creates a classroom environment that allows for mistakes without the fear of a permanent failing grade. When students take ownership of their learning, they adopt a growth mindset that values constructive feedback and long-term improvement.

Classes adopting an SBG scale will have to align with specific learning targets. Students can then study more efficiently and stay on-track with the curriculum. Assessment rubrics will correlate to these targets, allowing students to determine which areas need improvement. The one-to-four grading scale easily measures gradual progress. In time, SBG may cause classes to correlate what is tested to what has been learned in class, thereby creating a well-organized curriculum.

Roughly 63 years later, Bloom’s research into the distinguished types of human cognition—thinking, learning and understanding—continues to shape teaching. SBG redefines how students approach academic success, which may be exactly the shift in mindset that Gunn needs.

Audrey

After completing two courses that utilize standardsbased grading (SBG), I am still unsure how the grading system works. Unable to track my grades, I’ve spent my nights attempting to decipher a spreadsheet containing tiny numbers to see if I have an F or an A and my Flex times in my chemistry teacher’s classroom just to find out my current grade.

The SBG system relies on grading based on numbers from a scale of one to four instead of traditional percentage grading. The system is formatted so that your latest work carries the most weight so that an F you got in January could be turned into an A if you simply did better on a recent test. This system, however, is confusing and places an enormous amount of weight on final exams instead of on earlier tests and quizzes. Due to the strong emphasis on final scores, standards-based grading does not allow students to properly demonstrate their effort throughout the class because students are unable to have their grades reflect the work they have done through projects or smaller tests throughout the year.

If we move to a system of school-wide standardsbased grading, finals season will prove to be even more stressful. After all, a student could enter finals week with A’s in all of their classes, having worked hard throughout the year and understood the content, and end up with Cs after having performed poorly on a certain section on each test. With standards-based grading, it is not enough to understand most of the content; instead, students have to understand everything perfectly in order to achieve an A in the class. In an ideal world, we would all be able to understand every aspect of a subject such as chemistry.

However, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and our grades should allow us to show that our aptitudes outnumber our weak areas.

The current implementation of standards-based grading also places too much emphasis on arbitrary categories such as “community” or “life skills.” These categories rely on the teacher’s personal, subjective evaluation, rather than numerical values. While they are important, these categories should not be weighed the same as academic categories. In an SBG class, the expectation is a three in each category in order to receive an A in the class, with varied grading categories ranging from educational practices to life skills. Through this system, a physics class can give the category of “life skills” the same weight as that of the physics content category. In a class, your grade should be determined by your tangible work rather than the teacher’s opinions about your ability to interact with other students.

Throughout the entirety of our academic career, we have been introduced to a numerical grading system that relies on numbers to determine a final percentage. Yet in our current system, we have sporadic SBG classes that disrupt the traditional pathways we’ve become used to.

SBG does, however, have its benefits. Being able to retake tests allows for improvement to your grade, and the system makes sure you pay attention to every aspect of the subject. However, many of these benefits are only “benefits” on paper: while you can retake tests, the majority of your grade ultimately rests on your performance on the final, which you cannot retake.

Even if you have consistently retaken tests throughout the year and maintained an average of a three or four (which equate to an A), having a B average on the final would ultimately result in the grade of a B. If we continue to use the SBG system, it needs reform.

Students should have a way to easily calculate their grades in order to identify areas they need to improve in. SBG should also be “standardized” throughout all classes, and teachers should strictly follow procedures in order to avoid confusion. Lastly, the traditional system of finals cannot be applied to this alternative version of grading. Teachers must look toward alternate ways to assess students’ performances at the end of the year that better fit the format of standards-based grading.

—Moraes-Liu, a senior, is a News Editor.

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Features

S c ho ol c ommuni t y s t r i v e s t o imp r o v e

mental health, wellbeing Quick tips to help maintain wellness

Enjoy Music

Drink Hot Tea

One of the easiest ways to feel relaxed amid the stress of the school day is to sit back, put headphones in and listen to music until all of your problems fall to the back of your mind. Beyond just listening, playing music and having an outlet to creatively express oneself allows you to take a break from the real world and do something fun and innovative, boosting your confidence levels.

Research has even shown that playing music results in lower levels of the hormone cortisol, meaning that music has scientifically been proven to lower stress.

Having a cup of tea, the quintessential “selfcare” drink, is one of the easiest ways to reduce anxiety. A wonderful hot drink, especially in the winter, tea is a tasty beverage that actually has scientific benefits. Before you buy tea bags, make sure to do research about the types, because the benefits of tea can include anything from relaxing muscles to reducing anxiety, depending on the ingredients.

Self-help Books Not only can books provide an escape from reality by letting you get lost within a story, there are many selfhelp books that are useful for maintaining wellness.

A few that English teacher Tarn Wilson recommends include “The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook,” which helps readers overcome mental struggles, and “How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and rise above Social Anxiety,” which deals with anxiety-specific challenges.

— Compiled by Nikki Suzani Graphics by Jamie Wang

Senior Phebe Cox advocates for menta l health reform through work in organizations Senior Phebe Cox is usually reserved in tone, but when she begins talking about her frustration with not being able to do anything to change the perception of mental health at Gunn, her voice picks up urgency and pace. “I felt like I saw so much stuff going down at our school and I felt so out of control,” she said. “I needed to feel like I was doing something or I was working for something that would change lives.”

For the past two years, Cox has been turning her frustration into advocacy through the Allcove and Bring Change to Mind organizations, both causes furthering mental health awareness and support in the community.

Allcove, a Stanford initiative headed by Cox’s youth advisory group, works to provide mental health resources for teens by establishing a network of community centers across the United States (U.S.). “There’s a program called Headspace in Australia, and it provides free mental health care for youth ages 12 to 25,” she said.

“Stanford decided that they wanted to start one in the U.S. I’ve gotten to be a part of the process of starting that. So we have Allcove now.”

Indeed, Cox has been a part of Allcove since the organization was founded. “Initially it was very baseline—we had to figure out a name and get all the legal logistics out of the way,” she said.

Since then, the organization has come a long way.

“A year ago, one of my friends from the Youth Advisory Group did a testimony and we all wrote testimonies to get $19 million from Santa Clara County,” Cox said.

“Two months ago, I got to go to the state capital and give a testimony on how I’ve dealt with mental health and why it’s important that the government recognizes the

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Fall 2009: Gunn students, along with advisor Paul Dunlap, start the Reach Out Care Know (ROCK) club to raise awareness about mental health while creating an inclusive school environment.

fact that we need funding for mental and physical health care for youth.”

Cox also serves as the president of Gunn’s Bring Change to Mind club, which works to destigmatize mental health among friends. “If you influence your circle you can actually change a lot of people’s lives,” she said.

“That’s why I wanted to join Bring Change to Mind and

be president.”

During her time in the club, Cox has been exposed to a multitude of different experiences. “[Bring Change to Mind] is a nationwide program, so there’s a lot of big events they have,” she said. “Last year, there was a Bring Change to Mind conference at Twitter headquarters. Everyone just talked about things we did, [which] boosted morale within the community.”

And while Cox has certainly been at the forefront of mental health advocacy, she herself has struggled with similar issues in the past. “I got diagnosed with depression sophomore year, which was a very big struggle for me,” she said. “Especially coming from a background with living with psychiatrist [parents], it was very much like, what makes my struggle worse than other people’s and why do I get to call myself depressed?”

With the help of her therapist, Cox shifted her mindset. “It’s been easier since I got into therapy and [I’m] being more open about it,” she said. “Then I started wanting to change the system—I saw a lot of problems in the way mental health is treated.”

As for her advice to students struggling with their mental health, Cox keeps it simple. “You’re not crazy, you’re not stupid and you’re not exaggerating what you’re feeling,” she said. “What you’re feeling is completely valid. And you should reach out for help.

Everyday, I might struggle, but things will get better in the end.”

—Written by Joshua Yang

Timeline of Campus Initiatives

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Fall 2011: The Sources of Strength program is adopted at Gunn, creating a group of students who pledge to be resources for their community and connect peers to trusted adults in times of crisis.

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Fall 2016: Gunn opens the first Wellness Center near the Bat Cave with a mission of providing resources to students struggling with mental health issues.

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Features

Friday, September 13, 2019

English teacher Tarn Wilson shares coping skills, advice on building a wellness toolbox From journaling to yoga to reading, English teacher Tarn Wilson has accumulated a toolbox full of skills to help her deal with mental health challenges.

She has been dealing with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, a condition characterized by excessive and persistent anxiety and worry that interferes with daily life, from a young age. “I know a lot of Gunn students struggle with [this] as well,” she said. “I think I’ve struggled with it for my whole life, but didn’t get a diagnosis until just recently.”

Wilson picked up several strategies to improve her wellness. “I would just write and know that I felt better. I would exercise and know that I felt better. Then, I would sleep and I felt better,” she said.

“So that was just sort of learning on my own, I think.”

Going to therapy has also helped Wilson deal with challenges throughout the entirety of her life. Although she initially reached out to a therapist during a crisis situation, she later discovered that therapy helps in all situations. “It’s something that’s good maintenance for your whole life, even when things are going well,” she said.

Wilson also emphasized the importance, for her, of knowing how to say no and take time for herself. Although she now struggles less with saying no to

things she doesn’t want to do, she still believes it can be difficult to have to prioritize different things that she enjoys. “The hardest thing is knowing that I can’t do everything that I want to do, I can’t fit it all in, and that I need downtime,” she said.

She has learned to change her approach to situations in order to avoid fueling anxious thoughts, such as by avoiding perfectionism and asking for help when she needs it. “I always felt pretty proud of being self sufficient when I was younger, she said. “As I got older, I realized how important it is to have a team of people that support you and that you support.”

Wilson also pointed out the importance of allowing yourself to feel all emotions, even ones that are uncomfortable. Although positivity is important, repressing negative emotions ultimately creates worse situations. “Embrace your sad feelings and don’t be afraid of them,” Wilson said. “I think being afraid of sad feelings then creates more anxiety. You’re pushing them away, they bubble up, you’re scared of them, it creates more anxiety.” She also focused on the value of self-compassion and being gentle with oneself.

Wilson hopes that students remember that they are not alone and that others are going through similar experiences. “It can feel like it’s only happening to you, that there’s something wrong with you and that you’re broken in some way. But you’re not,” she said. “There are lots of people who have similar struggles and paths.”

—Written by Liza Kolbasov

Junior Madeline Siu f inds comfor t in for m i n g i nter p er sona l r elat ion sh ips Journaling and verbalizing her emotions has helped junior Madeline Siu cope with mental health issues.

Since first grade, at the time of her parents’ divorce, Siu has attended therapy. She has struggled with depression throughout the majority of her high school years and has used her experiences to discover effective ways to cope.

One of her approaches is to avoid dwelling on negative emotions. “When I sit in my room and I have to think and I need time to myself, it doesn’t help because you get caught up in your own thoughts and sometimes it can go to a pretty dangerous place,” she said. “There’s days where you feel really good and days where you feel really bad and you get down. You can tend to ruminate on a lot of the same thoughts, but it’s just trying your best to find different ways of not letting that super dark part affect you.”

Siu recognizes the importance of acknowledging negative thoughts instead of shunning them entirely. “It’s important to acknowledge those feelings, but if you have to distract yourself from them for some time, like [by] spending time with your friends or just talking to someone else about it, that’s better than just sitting and putting your earbuds in and staring at the wall,” she said.

She has found that talking to friends and journaling are effective practices that help her stay positive. “I think that probably the most helpful thing for me is journaling and then talking to a friend,” she said. “Because getting everything that you have in your head out and, even if you’re just texting a friend about it, just putting it into

words and sending it off in a way is not really you accepting it, but just pulling everything together as to how you feel.”

As someone who deals with depression, Siu sometimes struggles to find the initative to take action. Capitalizing on little pieces of motivation has helped Siu accomplish what she needs to get done. “Trying to get myself to find whatever little grain of motivation I have and just take it and go for it [is helpful],” she said.

Siu’s journey is ongoing, but she still maintains a positive outlook on her progress thus far. “Of course there’s still moments in which it feels like I’m being brought back down again,” she said. “But I feel like overall I’m definitely doing better than I was before. So it’s kind of good to know that even the small pieces of progress are still progress.”

Siu firmly believes that there is always someone out there going through the same issues as you are. “It’s really true because there’s so many other people, every day, people just even at Gunn that you’re walking past that go through a lot of the same stuff,” she said. “People are open to help, even if you might not feel open to it. It’s just a matter of building trust.”

—Written by Devon Lee

to support student wellness

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Fall 2017: The school pioneers the Social Emotional Literacy and Functionality program, teaching lessons tailored towards improving students’ interpersonal relationships and focusing on social -emotional skills.

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Fall 2019: The Wellness Center relocates to the new P building, with a larger lobby space, more staff members and more private rooms for one-on-one therapy.

Find the wellness center story at this QR code or at gunnoracle.com

—Compiled by Nikki Suzani Photoillustrations by Shannon Lin, Grace Liu, Audrey Tseng and Wendy Xiong

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Cente

Fact The Chemist’s War of Prohibition About three years prior to Prohibition, manufacturers of industrial alcohol started mixing dangerous chemicals into their drinks. But from 1926-1933, the government pushed them to use stronger poisons in an attempt to discourage people from consuming alcohol. However, it did not stop drinking and 10,000 people died as a result. After many years of investigation, people realized that the government was behind all the deaths. New York City medical examiner Charles Norris was the first to publicly accuse the government by holding a formal press conference to address the issue, stating, “United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible.”

This event was given the nickname “The Chemist’s War of Prohibition.” It remains one of the strangest and most deadly decisions in American law-enforcement history.

Operation Mockingbird “Operation Mockingbird” was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation during the Cold War that enlisted hundreds of journalists to publish government propaganda and fake news. Over 400 journalists were recruited by the CIA to manipulate the public’s opinion. The agency also spied on the press by wire tapping phones and observing offices. It started to promote the ideas of the government and undermine communist ideas. In 1977, Rolling Stone ran an article titled “The CIA and the Media,” written

by Carl Bernstein. Bernstein said in the article that the CIA “has secretly bankrolled numerous foreign press services, periodicals and newspapers— both English and foreign language—which provided excellent cover for CIA operatives.” In the 1970’s the the United States Senate set up the Church Committee to investigate probable abuse by the CIA. Although there were never any real charges brought against them, classified documents proving these acts were released to the public. Because of the investigation, the CIA no longer works in paid or contractual relationships with journalists.

The Moon Landing Soon after the first person stepped foot onto the Moon in 1969, claims arose from various people around the world that the “giant leap for mankind” had been faked, a hoax to put the Americans ahead of the Soviets in the space race. However, this claim was quickly proven false. Accusers claimed that in the first picture of the astronauts on the moon, the flag was waving as if there was wind in space. The explanation behind this was that the flag is not an ordinary flag. Several rods within the flag were used to create the look of rippling movement. They created this because, evidently, a regular flag would not look very appealing as it would just hang down due to the lack of wind. Accusers also claimed that in the picture, you could not see the stars. However, this is easily explained by the simple mechanics of cameras and lighting.

The exposure on the astronaut’s camera was too short to capture the bright white space suits and the Moon’s surface while also capturing the comparatively dimmer stars in the background. So, when Neil Armstrong uttered those famous words, the horizon of the solar system really was surrounding him.

—Compiled by Genna Bishop

Why are people drawn to

For the past century, skeptics and theorists have been ques people to believe in things that oppose the normalities of soci infiltrated our everyday lives and gained popularity in the past theories, many of which are unreasonable, so mainstream in p It’s a pretty normal thing to want to stand out. Everyone want do this is through unusual beliefs and ideas. This is an importan towards the realm of conspiracy theories—they want to be uniq sense that people would become attracted to out-of-the-ordinar of Psychology Today also said that this explanation can only b unknown by most. Bigger conspiracy theories become too mai Another major reason why conspiracy theories have grown in lar conspiracy theories’ roots are found in anti-government att supposed aliens being held in Area 51. All of these clearly demo negative feelings towards the government. This anti-governmen theories prevalent in the United Kingdom, for example, specu assasination to the secret that Prince Charles is a vampire. Ev large number of followers, demonstrating how people from ar than Americans. One cause of this is the widespread popularity it easier for people to be pulled in by anti-government theories Many people also feel anger and disgust toward certain hist and place them elsewhere. This allows people to cope with trag third party, according to authors from the School of Psychology they try to change these feelings quickly in order to rationalize serve as a sort of coping mechanism. They validate otherwise i the believers to relieve their emotions and place the blame onto confidence, as they think of themselves as the only ones smart can have a positive effect on a person’s self-image, helping them The impact that conspiracy theories have on the world is ins people will hop onto the bandwagon and all of the sudden people Such an example is the vaccine argument, which originated fr fact, turning into a movement in which many people latched o scientifically proven wrong. The sheer popularity and ubiquity ments and the differing beliefs, exponentially increasing the num theories, the more impact those theories will have on others a serve as a magnet, attracting, in some cases, millions of peopl play a major role in society, politics and the everyday lives of p

Conspiracy theories are often based on misinformation, so to ba

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erfold

Friday, September 13, 2019

Theory Area 51 The United States Air Force facility used for military testing and training, commonly known as Area 51, was recently popularized online after a Facebook campaign to raid it on Sept. 20, 2019, to “see them aliens” was posted. For many years, people have wondered what is inside the highly classified government facility.

Some have suggested top secret government information or even aliens are stored there. Although the Facebook campaign started as a joke, over two million people have signed up to attend. The government has stated that they are taking precautions in case anyone decides to follow through with the event.

Bigfoot

o conspiracy theories?

stioning the reality of certain events, attempting to persuade iety. Coined as conspiracy theories, these superstitions have t few decades with the help of the internet. But why are these pop culture nowadays? ts to be unique or different in some way. One really easy way to nt reason why people gravitate away from common perception que. With this urge to be a distinct individual, it would make ry viewpoints and ideas. However, psychologist Romeo Vitelli be applied when the conspiracy theory is still underground, nstream and are no longer out of the ordinary. n popularity is the desire for rebellion. Many of the most poputitudes, from the supposed faking of the Moon landing to the onstrate how people from across the nation have some sort of nt theorizing is present in other countries as well. Conspiracy ulate about everything from the cover-up of Princess Diana’s ven if these theories seem far-fetched, they still have a fairly round the world are no less attracted to conspiracy theories y of opposition toward a government’s authority, which makes s. torical events, wanting to unload these internalized feelings gic events and instead direct their negative attitudes toward a y at the University of Kent. When people feel unsafe or scared, their fears or wants. Because of this, conspiracy theories can irrational feelings by placing the blame onto others, allowing o some third party. The theories also help with the believers’ t enough to know the real truth. Overall, conspiracy theories m cope with sadness and impacting their ego. sane; every once in a while a new theory will appear, loads of e’s world views are changing and politics are being influenced. rom small-scale theories that challenged what was known as onto the belief that vaccines cause autism, though it has been y of conspiracy theories is spreading awareness of the argumber of believers. The more people are attracted to conspiracy and on the world. And because there are so many factors that le towards these theories, it seems like they will continue to eople across the world.

The mystery of Bigfoot can trace its roots back to northern California in 1958, when loggers discovered mysteriously large footprints in the woods. Since then, Bigfoot has become a character in pop culture. Many movies and books have been written about the myth of Bigfoot, some of which painted him as a dangerous creature while others gave him a softer side and portrayed him as misunderstood and kind. People have reported sightings of Bigfoot and told tales of the creature that lurks in the woods and could come and take hikers or campers. While Bigfoot has never been clearly seen, the creature has taken on a life as an icon in American culture and the center of many stories.

JFK Assasination The general consensus of facts surrounding the assasination of President John F. Kennedy was that he was shot two times by Lee Harvey Oswald in the back of his head while riding in his motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. However, some people disagree. There is a theory that there was a second shooter involved in the killing that hid on the grassy knoll of the Deacon Plaza, close to where the shooting took place. Theorists believe that noise heard on the recording was a third and fourth shot, despite a special panel saying it was just background noise. Oswald was also assassinated shortly after being arrested, leading theorists to claim that it was a cover-up. Many of the theories have never been proven, yet debates remain 56 years later.

—Compiled by Sophia Stern

—Written by Charlie Bush

attle that, check out snopes.com to separate fact from fiction.

Photos by Melissa Ding and Sophia Lu Graphics by Shannon Lin

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Features

Senior Vincent Lomeland completes first novel Senior Vincent Lomeland was only eight years old when they first dreamed of becoming a writer. Every now and then, they would jot down fragments of an ambiguous story’s plot and fractions of a character’s life—a young and naive, but active, attempt to begin their writing career. Little did Lomeland know that around ten years later, these seemingly unconnected blurbs of ideas would lead to their first novel: “Doctor Secretion.”

A cautionary tale with a tint of tragedy and a dash of science fiction, the story takes place in an unspecified American town in the mid-1900s. The main character, Arlo Faustus, is a 22-year-old university graduate with a keen knack for science. Described as the “persona of a metaphorical doctor,” he leaves his university with a sense of obligation to preserve internal and external beauty of life, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. He soon becomes overwhelmed with a persistent desire to travel back to the past and to the times he feels are truly important.

However, Faustus’ dreams of preserving temporary qualities of life soon go astray.

During the early stages of his experiment, his goals—and the means of achieving them— are well-meaning. He writes stories and tries to “correct” people, but eventually begins to abduct his subjects and create his own world where his imagination turns into reality. “[Faustus has] a sudden realization that his writing makes no changes outside of his own ‘world’ on the page. No matter how much he writes, his subjects still become depraved through experienc-

”He loses his morality and does terrible things. But, does that make him a bad person?” es outside of Faustus’ control,” Lomeland said. “Thus, he must be the one to control them.”

Throughout the later stages of the story, Faustus glorifies children and all of their innocence, for most of them are yet to be corrupted by society. With his own wonderful memories of childhood as a source of motivation, he finds the embodiment of youth and innocence, as well as a visual model for the world he wants to create, in children.

Throughout his quest, readers will encounter a myriad of personas that Faustus uses to identify different parts of himself. He is a prince on one occasion, based on a compliment he was previously given. On another, he is a woman and feels a yearning to be a wife. He slowly brings these pieces of himself to life and becomes the story’s hero and villain. “I want [readers] to feel sympathy and even pity for him, because he had decent intentions in the beginning,” Lomeland said. “He loses his morality and does terrible things.

But, does that make him a terrible person?”

“Doctor Secretion” takes place on a relatively wide scale of settings. The novel begins slowly, with Faustus commuting between his home and his university, where he meets his teacher, Mr. Majors, and Doctor Herr Geschoss. As his plan unfolds further into the story, his subjects, like child Felix Sexton, begin to appear, and readers find themselves traveling back in time with Faustus as he relives his past and creates his own space and time-zone. In roughly 80,000 words, Lomeland hopes readers will take one lesson with them: time marches on for a reason. “You can’t keep going back. The past was meant to happen in the past, and you’re supposed to move forward,” Lomeland said. “We can’t live in a world where we’re trying to move backward.”

Lomeland began writing “Doctor Secretion” in June, but the path that led them to write their first novel began much earlier. While “Doctor Secretion” is a purely fictitious novel, the inspiration behind it is derived from Lomeland’s personal experiences of fear of the unknown, which are comparable to the fears Faustus grapples with. “I sometimes don’t want to move forward,” Lomeland said. “I want to preserve myself in the moment and not keep going on into a future that I don’t know [anything] about.”

Another source of inspiration for Lomeland’s novel is their therapeutic relationship with writing. “I’ll take a small piece of my day, maybe if I feel upset or hopeless, and I’ll begin writing,” they said.

While completing a first novel may seem daunting to young writers, Lomeland’s selfdiscipline, productivity and—most importantly—their natural devotion to writing led to an efficient writing schedule over the summer. They made writing a daily habit by setting targets; originally, Lomeland aimed to write a minimum of 1,000 words per day, but they soon went over the limit and wrote over 5,000 words a day. Looking back, they believe that their technique, while it wasn’t the most easy-going, led to a completed novel by the beginning of the school year. “I’m productive to a fault. I overworked myself completely, and I didn’t take care of myself,” Lomeland said. “But, I put myself in my work. There’s a quote about you bleeding onto the page as you’re writing, and that’s what I did. I lived through my writing and created a world that I wanted to be in.”

“Bleeding” onto the page as they wrote, Lomeland found their novel to be a helpful outlet for pouring out their personal experiences and feelings. “During the bits that were based on emotional parts of my life, I found myself in tears as I wrote because it was a therapeutic process. It was hurting me to write it, but it was in a good way,” Lomeland said. “It was my creative transcendence, apotheosis and climax just on the page. It was me visualizing how I felt, almost in a psychodynamic approach.”

For any young writers having difficulty staying productive, Lomeland suggests focusing on discipline. “As long as you’re productive and you can use your willpower toward [writing], it’s something you can do. But, if it’s something that you aren’t completely interested in, or you really don’t want to go all the way with it, I don’t think it’s possible to finish a novel.”

While Lomeland’s dedication led them to a completed novel, they still had to endure writing complications. “There was one chapter that I completely took out and had to start over because it made no sense in the context of the book,” they said. “So, I did take out some parts of my book, but it was just cleaning things up for the most part.”

Lomeland also faced the crippling concern that all writers face: writer’s block. “If you write in chapters, you can work on something completely different that happens earlier or later in the book from the spot that you’re currently working on,” they said. “It gives you more opportunities to keep writing.”

Lomeland, whose preferred genre of writing is fiction, believes a certain degree of individuality is essential for turning their imaginings into words on a page. “Trying to write something completely fictional is uncanny. You’re trying to create something realistic, but [often] you separate it from your

“It was my creative transcenMelissa Ding

dence, apotheosis and climax just

reality so much where the on the page. It was me visualizing readers can’t envision it,” Lomeland said. “You need how I felt, almost in a psychodynamic to have at least some portion of [your story] in realapproach.” ity, so it’s something we can all relate to.”

Lomeland is unsure if they want to self-publish. A major source of their hesitation to publish was from a perceived lack of public interest. “I thought, if I self-published, I wouldn’t hit a very large amount of people. So, I wouldn’t get as many people reading it and it wouldn’t have very much promotion.”

Lomeland advises any prospective readers of “Doctor Secretion,” if the novel becomes published in the near future, to dig into the story without any preconceived notions of what the pages may entail. “I believe in a blind experience,” they said. “I want them to just feel the raw power.”

—Written by Angela Wong

Graphics by Shannon Lin and Audrey Tsien

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Lifestyle

Friday, September 13, 2019

HIGH SCHOOL SURVIVAL GUIDE

The class of 2020 shares their advice for freshmen

Ryan Manesh Coming towards the beginning of my senior year and the end of my high school experience, I have had time to reflect on the many things I have learned and wish I knew when I was younger. My high school experience, like that of many, has been an emotional rollercoaster. I have had countless good and bad times, memories I wish I could forget and some I wish I could relive every day. Throughout all these experiences, here are some tips and tricks I have learned: 1. Sleep is essential. I, like most people, have a bad habit of pushing things to the last minute. I have had many nights where I am torn between studying for an extra hour or getting an extra hour of sleep. After trying both, I highly recommend the extra hour of sleep. I have seen many peers perform worse on tests due to sleep deprivation. The later you sleep, the less information you retain from studying. It is very important to prioritize your own mental and physical health over an assignment or test.

2. Get to know people. Establishing connections or friendships is crucial to your high school experience. Freshman year is the best time to set up the groundwork for meeting people because people come from many different schools and most people are open to meeting others. Freshman year is also the time when many people come in with blank slates, so it’s a good idea to try to meet people without outside opinions clouding your perception of them.

3. Not everyone’s going to be as nice as you want them to be, and that’s fine. You’re not going to be friends with everyone, and that’s completely normal. It is much more important to focus on yourself without caring about what others think of you.

4. Find a group of friends who make you happy. It is important to find a group of friends who offer you a balance of friendship and fun, while also offering support and help both academically and mentally. A good group of friends can completely change your confidence and the way you view yourself, which is exceedingly important due to how much teenagers’ perceptions of themselves change throughout their lives. Having a close group of friends offers you an extra backbone to rely on.

5. Try not to run to class. The only thing that can distinguish someone as a freshman more is neon yellow Nike Elite clothing. If you’re going to be tardy, just take the tardy; the embarrassment of running from the freshman quad to the science building is not worth it.

In the end, it’s important to remember that your high school life will be filled with lots of highs and lots of lows, and even though at times it seems overwhelming, it’s completely possible to get through it by focusing on the right things.

—Manesh, a senior, is a Sports Editor

SENIOR FACES IN THE CROWD

What is one important piece of advice you would like to give to a freshman?

“Sleep as much as you can.”

Cathy Hou

“Get organized! If you don’t like the school planners in the Student Activities Office, use an electronic planner like Todoist! They easily allow you to plan out your day and sort the homework/projects you need to get done.”

Ethan Shaotran

“Get connected and do everything you have the slightest interest in.

Don’t worry about friends or other people’s opinion.”

Erin Vetter

"Show up to class and join SEC!"

Daniel Chung Graphics by Jamie Wang Photos by Calvin Cai, Sophia Lu and Wendy Xiong

12 FINDING THE PERFECT BOOK HOW TO PICK UP A GOOD BOOK FOR YOU

Lifestyle

Joshua Yang's Book Reviews

Joshua Yang

11/22/63 | Stephen King

Nikki Suzani

Stepping into the library can be a daunting experience: the sudden blast of air conditioner, the musty smell of unopened novels and the everlasting silence is enough to overwhelm anyone. Inexperienced readers are the easiest to spot. They wander aimlessly through the bookshelves, reading summary after summary in anticipation of the perfect story. Still, nothing captures their attention.

Importantly, they never venture beyond the covers of the novel, instead getting lost in paragraphs of text on the back covers and eventually going home with empty arms.

What they fail to understand is that discovering a book is about the journey, not the conclusion. Hopefully, this article can help serve as a guide for all readers, young and old, for locating ‘their’ book.

Let’s start by dispelling a common myth about reading. The number one rule of reading is that there is no perfect book. Repeat after me. There is no perfect book. Every writer’s style has its respective flaws, every novel has its plot holes and every character has their own glaring issues. As a book enthusiast who reads hundreds of stories a year, I have yet to find the perfect tale. That, however, is not a reason to stop reading. Just like romantic partners, being able to recognize the problems in a story is an important part of falling in love with it. Starting from that mindset makes it a thousand times easier to find a book that’s right for you.

And where do you start? The same place you’d start for a fantasy football draft: the internet. Using it, and other resources, identify three key things.

First, what genre of book are you looking for? Are you fascinated with the inner workings of a murderer, or perhaps the fantastical adventures of teenage rebels? If you’ve thought of it, it probably exists. Remember, this doesn’t have to be set in stone; it is only an idea to direct you in the general direction of where to go. In fact, simply deciding between nonfiction or fiction is a good start.

Second, have you read any books in this genre? Goodreads is an excellent website that provides recommendations based off of novels you have previously enjoyed. Friends are great resources as well, especially if they share similar interests. Make a list and ask them if they know any similar stories; this can be a double-win involving both a conversation starter and a way to find new books.

Then, compile all of these recommendations into a Google document you can reference at any time.

Third, what style and length would be ideal for you? Along that same vein, how many books are you willing to read? If you’re interested in stories that deal with the com-

plex emotions of a character and focus on one person’s journey, you might be looking for something with a first person point-of-view.

Maybe your only free time is two hours on the weekends, so you don’t have the ability to sink your teeth into a 600-page novel.

Create realistic expectations that you know you can achieve.

Next, head to the library. Don’t be intimidated by the librarians, as they are here to help. If you cannot find any good recommendations online, don’t worry. Librarians are incredible resources—they hold thousands of books worth of information in their heads and are willing to expend it all to help you find the novel for you. Use the online systems and your library card to not only locate the books that you want, but also to place holds on those that the library don’t currently have.

When you locate one of your book recommendations, stay in that aisle for a little bit.

Browse some of the other books by the same author. Plus, if you’re in the nonfiction section, the books are grouped by their subject matter, so you can search for more relevant books you’d be interested in reading. Even if a book isn’t perfect, pick it up and put it in your bag. You never know what a read-through might reveal that the back cover didn’t.

And there’s a really important point: never constrain yourself to one or two books. Even if you only want to read through one full book, it might take reading 50 pages of four books to find the fifth one that’s finally good enough. The greatest pitfall that new readers fall into is deciding that the summary of a book is enough to judge a whole story. Don’t judge a book by its front cover, but the same rule applies to its back cover. Pick up as many as you can. If you go home with one to two books, you’ve failed the mission. Remember, no books are perfect, but everyone has their own preference as to which imperfections they can tolerate. If you bog yourself down and the book becomes dry, no alternatives means you have nothing else to read until you finally return it.

Finally, please return books. The library is a wonderful place for everyone. It’s entirely free and holds a vast collection of knowledge that benefits many people. Not returning books gives you a pile of fines, but also prevents future readers from enjoying them.

Remember, books don’t disappear when they are returned to the library. You can always go back and read them thousands of times.

When you’re not reading that book, let another reader take the reins and fall in love, just the way you did.

—Suzani, a junior, is a Features Editor.

Shannon Lin

“11/22/63” hardly fits into the genre Stephen K ing is most well-known for, yet this long, winding, sci-fi-historical mashup nevertheless showcases King as a versatile author capable of writing more than just horror fiction. “11/22/63” is first framed as a time travel story with an extremely simple premise: high school English teacher Jake Epping must travel to the date of President Kennedy’s assassination and

prevent it from occurring.

However, it is soon apparent that the bulk of the novel is dedicated to the years Epping lives through before 1963.

Indeed, at times, the grim plot to avert the Kennedy assassination is almost completely ignored for a story brimming w it h hear t felt drama and charm. It’s at those moments that “11/22/63” truly shines.

A Farewell to Arms | Ernest Hemingway The last words of Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” are plain and simple: “After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.”

Outwardly, the words seem sloppy and poorly strung together with superfluous “ands” in defiance of conventional grammar. Yet by the end of all five sections of the novel, the final sentence resonates deeply and profoundly. In a way,

the simplicity of Hemingway’s prose, especially in “A Farewell to Arms,” forms the appeal of this novel, which details the romance of an American ambulance driver and a British nurse in the Italian front of World War I. The emotional weight of the novel, combined with Hemingway’s prosaic descriptions of war, creates a beautifully gut-wrenching story.

The Alchemist | Paulo Coehlo If the criteria to be considered a great work of literature is to be subtle yet complex, focused yet nuanced, “The Alchemist,” a novel by Paulo Coehlo, barely qualifies. The characters are simplistic, the language never overreaching; the plot, about a shepherd named Santiago in search of buried treasure, moves along at a steady, untroubled pace.

Yet the true appeal of the novel lies in its deeply allegorical na-

ture: central to Coehlo’s theme is a belief in the fulfillment of each person’s true purpose, a motif carried forth throughout the course of Santiago’s journey. The philosophical arguments made are admittedly laid bare for all to grasp, but maybe that’s the point: the accessible, easily understood nature of this novel is an accomplishment in and of itself.

When Breath Becomes Air | Paul Kalanithi “When Breath Becomes Air” is the memoir of a brilliant doctor who is on the cusp of achieving all his dreams when he is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The memoir is a poignant reflection on the life of Dr. Paul Kalanthi. Part of it is autobiographical, yet interspersed throughout are philosophical musings and literary scraps collected from Kalanthi’s favorite authors. “When Breath Becomes Air,” then, isn’t

a narrative of three decades of a life so much as it is a struggle to perfectly encapsulate one man’s philosophy about life and death in his final moments. Yes, this novel is heartbreaking and tears flow freely, but a certain solace is found in being able to understand Paul Kalanthi’s world, if for just a second. After all, that’s his legacy.

Of Mice and Men | John Steinbeck Don’t be fooled by Steinbeck’s deceptively thin novella: “Of Mice and Men” possesses deep insights into human nature and a devastating yet all too inevitable ending. The story, which is set in California during the Great Depression, focuses on two migrant ranch hands, George and Lennie, who travel from in search of labor. George and Lennie have a seemingly impossible dream of purchasing their own land

and dictating the course of their lives, yet a growing sense of dread develops as it becomes increasingly clear that their dream will never come to fruition. Indeed, the climax is entirely possible to anticipate, making it all the more heartbreaking.

—Yang, a junior, is a Forum Editor.

Sports

Friday, September 13, 2019

13

YES! Program Teaches students to Unwind, reduces stress Whether you’ve experienced the famous “soooo-hum’s” firsthand or peeked in on the freshmen taking a nap by candlelight, you probably know of the Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES!) program. For the past five years, the Physical Education Department has incorporated the YES! program into its classes. Founded in 2008, this program identifies itself as a social-emotional learning initiative working to promote healthy lifestyles in youth through breathing techniques, exercises and assorted mini-lessons, according to their website.

So far, the YES! program continues to positively impact its participants. “I think the YES! program really helped me,” freshman Veer Ruparel said.

“It’s a really good way to relax yourself, not just when you’re under stress, but when you’re busy or have a lot of work to do.”

Since the program has received positive feedback, little has changed from its original curriculum. This year, physical education teacher Amy Anderson reports high participation and morale. “I honestly never tire of the overall calm, positive energy that is in the room,” she said. “It’s really a beautiful process, in my opinion. Everyone has been 100 percent all in, very focused and very committed.”

As the school year progresses, the goal is for students to utilize their newfound relaxation techniques, including straw breaths, victory breaths and sky breaths. “You always have your breath with you,” Bay Area YES! program director Priya Mayureshwar said. “You can use it anytime that you feel stress, whether you’re taking a test or playing sports. Some kids even report using it before performances or before giving a speech.”

Grace Liu

The YES! program’s routine checkups reduce student stress during key weeks, such as before exams. According to Anderson, some eager sophomores have already asked about their next YES! program follow-up. Anderson also suggests that teachers allot a few minutes for some relaxing breathing before stressful assignments.

Relaxation is key for the YES! program; in fact, a crowd favorite of the program is the rest time it provides. While high school life can often be hectic with weekly homework and exams, participants of YES! enjoy a quiet space to breathe and, for some, catch some Z’s.

For some high school students, the extra sleep is greatly appreciated. “I usually have trouble getting enough sleep at night,” freshman Jasmine Fan said. “Nap time has really helped me.”

Beyond refreshing naps, the magic of the YES! program is its lasting accessibility. Although YES! techniques are mainly taught to incoming freshmen, all students can continue to practice them, even after high school. “It really teaches lifelong tools that our students can have in their toolboxes, in terms of how to promote peace and calm and manage stress and anxiety, not just now in these formative teenage years, but throughout college and ultimately for the rest of their lives,” Anderson said.

As such, the YES! program continues to improve students’ lives. “My favorite part is when kids tell me how they’re using the techniques to sleep better, or cope better with whatever anxiety and stress they’re feeling,” Mayureshwar said.

It’s been five years of “soooo-hum’s,” and, hopefully, there will be many more. “Keep doing this,” Ruparel said. “A lot of people like it, and it’s a really good way to de-stress yourself.”

—Written by Jessica Wang

Photo-illustration by Melissa Ding and Grace Liu

14

Sports

Fall Sports welcome new faces, approach the season with optimisim Cross Country Meeting after school every day on the track since early August, cross country is now getting ready for thei upcoming season. “We have a pretty strong team this year, so we might make it to states,” captain Sophie Alexis said.

Alexis was able to identify some goals for herself and the team. “I really want to get a personal record in at least one of the courses because, for most of them, I haven’t gotten one since freshman year, which is sad,” she said. “For the team, I just want everyone to bond by the end of the season.”

Alexis also believes she can use her leadership role in the team to help even the youngest members feel included. “I’m a captain, so we’re in charge of warm-ups, but also getting to know the team members,” she said. “My favorite part of a meet is cheering for the other members and I hope that I’ve done well at that so far.”

Alexis wants to encourage people to join the teams. “Just join cross country,” she said. “Know that it’s really going to hurt at first and it’s going to be really hard, and expect that, because it’s basically inevitable.

I promise it will get better.”

Girls Golf Coming back from a 6-3 season record last year, the girls golf season started with a loss against Valley Christian High School, followed by a win against Monta Vista High School. Head coach Christopher Redfield says he is looking forward to seeing how the team performs through the rest of the season. “We have a good, solid group that played last year and is coming back,” he said.

Senior Cynthia Dharmawan is optimistic about the upcoming season, hoping to help her team qualify for Central Coast Section (CCS) this year. “A lot of our team members got better over the summer and last season,” she said. According to Dharmawan, the team’s returning and new golfers are looking forward to an exciting season.

Senior Isabella Yu agrees, citing the importance of teamwork and camaraderie. “If we get into CCS, we get in as a team,” she said.

Girls Tennis The girls tennis team is starting off the season strong. Even with fewer players this year, the team’s spirit is still high. The team hopes to work on mastering fundamentals skills and connecting more challenging techniques. They are also hoping for some new faces because they are always looking to bring more people onto the team.

Junior Anna Deka encourages people to join.“It’s tiring and it’s a time commitment, but it also teaches you time management,” she said. “I feel like tennis really helped me grow as a student and as a person. Doing any sport really takes a lot out of you, but once you get into a routine, it’s really not that bad!”

The team had their first match against Los Altos on Sept. 3. After a strong effort, the varsity team lost 2-5 and JV lost 1-6. “The girls teams are tough because we play in a very, very strong league,” head coach Jim Gorman said. “We have a very strong team, and we’d be first or second in almost any other league. We have some great players and they have a lot of fun. They improve a lot, so it’s really great.”

Gorman loves the sport, and is looking for new people to join the team. “We always need more girls on the team,” he said. “So get your rackets up, practice more and come out and join us!”

Photo Courtesy of Tia Chang

To read sports updates on Girls volleyball and football, check out our website at gunnoracle.com

Sports

Friday, September 13, 2019

15

Photo Courtesy of Joseph Safa

Boys Water Polo The boys varsity water polo team has been preparing hard for their upcoming season. They started the season by winning 17-4 against Half Moon Bay before losing 12-8 to Willow Glen. The team has been optimistic about their upcoming season.

The team is captained by seniors Devan Singh and Batu Buyukbezci, who are hopeful for the future of the team. “With the team that has been practicing and playing together, things team has also been practicing hard throughout the offseason. “Starting on the first day of school we had an hour of practice before school and two hours in the afternoon, so it’s been pretty intense,” Singh said.

Buyukbezci also emphasized having an audience to perform in front of. “Just come out to the games,” he said.

“They’re going to be super fun now that we have a really good team.”

Cheer The cheer team has been heavily conditioning and practicing their chants, routines and stunts for the last few weeks, getting ready to participate in competitions and raise school spirit.

Senior Zoë Lo has been on the cheer team since her freshman year, and is looking forward to this being her best year yet. “I hope to see lots of school spirit, especially from the class of 2020,” she said. “My other goals for the team are to share a close bond, bring lots of excitement to games and of course have fun!”

The team is looking to elevate their routines and improve their athleticism. “This year we’re going to focus on better stunting tricks,” sophomore Lucia Acosta said. “I’m really excited for the Night Rally and the Homecoming Game.” This year, Acosta hopes to become more flexible and improve her jumping skills.

Cheer team coach Jazmyn Turner says she plans to improve the team’s stunting and jumping this season. “What I really want to work on with the team this season is their ability to do more advanced skills,” she said. She is also excited to work with all the new additions to the team. “I’m really excited about the new talent,” Turner said. “I have a lot of freshmen and they have a lot of raw talent that I’m excited to explore.”

The cheer team will be cheering on the sidelines of football and basketball games in the winter.

You can also watch them perform at the Night Rally during Homecoming week.

Girls Water Polo Girls varsity water polo is back and ready to bring their best this season. With a central goal of winning league championships and making it to Central Coast Sections (CCS) this year, both coach Chris Ford and co-team senior Isobel Taylor are ready to lead their team to victory.

Taylor and fellow co-captain senior Cooper McKenna continue to lead their team in-and-out of the pool, and are ready to bring that same intensity to games. “I’m enjoying being a team captain and all of the responsibility and leadership that comes with it,” Taylor said. “We have a really good group of girls who have been working really hard, which is nice to see. The intensity is there, and we’re ready for this season and ready to win.”

Ford strives for success, ensuring that fun is always a priority. “I expect everyone to work hard at every practice and give everything they have at every game,” he said.

“Water polo can be tough sport, but it’s a great sport and the best sport I know out there. I want them to have fun.”

Ford’s last piece of advice for every girl playing water polo this season, whether varsity or junior varsity, is one that perfectly entails the realities of the sport. “Just go out and get nasty,” he said.

Photos by Mia Knezvic —Written by Annika Bereny, Genna Bishop, Calvin Cai, Ryan Li, Madison Nguyen and Nikki Suzani

16

Lifestyle

Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime?

Three of the biggest streaming services compete for viewership

With many popular shows, and over 139 million users, Netflix has established itself as the forerunner of the streaming industry. Compared to other services, Netflix’s price, content and design make it the best streaming platform.

For just $13 a month, the standard plan allows users to stream Netflix ad-free on up to two devices at a time; for users who only need one device, the cost is a mere $9, also ad-free. In contrast, Hulu’s adfree plan costs $12 to stream on one device, and you have to pay extra if you want access to more shows.

Amazon Prime Video also costs $13, but it only provides access to a select few of its movies, also restricted to one device. In terms of price, Netflix dominates its competition, proving to be the most inexpensive streaming platform.

As for content, Netflix originals, which have created a lot of buzz, can only be accessed on the platform: from the quintessential romantic comedy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” to the ever-popular series “Stranger Things,” Netflix originals

distinguish themselves from those of their competitors. Also, “13 Reasons Why” was one of the first shows to bring suicide to the front of media attention. While it wasn’t perfect, it sparked an important discussion that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. All of these and more highlight the ingenuity and innovation that all Netflix shows possess; that’s why the number of users for Hulu and Prime pale in comparison to Netflix.

Finally, Netflix’s design is by far the best; it’s easy to navigate and visually appealing. The option to create multiple users, search movies or shows by category and browse trending content is very useful. Netflix also makes sharing an account simple for families and friends, assuring that recommendations are specially tailored to you.

The choice is clear. Based on its price, variety of shows and beautiful design, Netflix is the uncontested holder of the title for best streaming platform.

By now, we all know that Amazon has essentially taken over the world.

Many rely on shipments of practically everything from this multi-billion dollar company. However, when we think of Amazon, we often neglect to pay attention to their Prime Video service; it provides an easy-to-use, affordable streaming service with a great variety of content.

Conveniently, Prime Video is located on the Amazon website, which makes it is easy to shift between shopping and streaming. You can add items to your cart while catching up on your favorite shows.

Prime Video also has a great variety of shows, offering a wider selection than Netflix or Hulu. With Prime Video, you may also buy or rent additional films at your leisure.

While this might seem like a turn off to many, it gives you access to exclusive shows. With Netflix, you can only watch shows they already provide. With Prime Video, however, you can get that new episode of “The Bachelor” as soon as it releases to

keep up with English teacher Mark Hernandez’s references.

On Prime Video, you can also adjust your subscription. While Netflix only has basic plan options, Prime Video allows you to add live television and a variety of channels like HBO to your subscription.

Unlike other services, Prime does not put as much emphasis on its own original productions. While some may see this as a sign that Prime Video isn’t creative, it really means that Amazon is too busy running the world’s biggest online market and has no need to create another Noah Centineo movie. On Prime Video, you can log on and watch “Suits” without being bombarded with suggestions to watch “Stranger Things.”

So, if you are tired of seeing yet another season of “13 Reasons Why” or “Riverdale,” it’s time you end your Netflix subscription and join the world of Amazon—the superior service.

—Written by Nikki Suzani

g

n Wan

Jocely

As more people decide to get rid of cable in favor of online streaming, it raises the question: Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu? Hulu is definitively the best service due to its cheap pricing and large collection of content.

The most basic Hulu plan is $6per month for access to all of Hulu’s content with ads, while the most basic Netflix and Prime Video plans are both $9. The price does go up if a customer wants to add to their plan—the standard Hulu plan is $12, and for Netflix and Prime, it costs $13. Hulu is still cheaper either way.

Another perk of Hulu that Netflix does not offer is their live TV plan; while it is the most expensive plan of all three streaming services, it allows users to watch over 60 cable channels and includes a DVR with 50 hours of storage. The live TV plan is a better alternative to cable and still allows customers to watch the news, sports and more. Channels like HBO can also be added, which can further enhance one's experience with the service.

On Netflix, users have to wait for the entire season of a show to be completed before it becomes available on the site. Hulu, however, uploads episodes the day after they air, which makes it easier for viewers to keep up with shows in real time. Hulu tends to air shows that are popular in the moment, while Netflix and Prime Video oftentimes upload after the hype has died down. For example, “Love Island” blew up last summer.

Hulu exclusively streamed the show, which aired a new episode every day.

By uploading episodes right after they air, Hulu helps viewers avoid spoilers and engage in conversation about the shows. Not only does Hulu have many new movies, it also has a large selection of older movies that would cost money to rent or buy in other places.

Hulu is the best streaming option because of its pricing, plan customization, collection of content, shows and quick episode turnover rate.

—Written by Sophia Stern

138 students surveyed through Facebook —Compiled by Charlie Bush and Kate Mallery

—Written by Elisa Moraes-Liu

Jamie Wang

Title graphics by Grace Liu Background by Jocelyn Wang