Wingspan Volume 1, Issue 1

Wingspan THE HIDDEN SILICON VALLEY

January 2015 Vol 1, Issue 1

congratulates

The Harker School Journalism Program, the Harker community, and the outstanding students, faculty, and parents on the launch of the new Wingspan Magazine. www.heritagefoundationpakistan.org

An Informative Resource For all Your Parental Needs!

PROMOTE YOUR EVENTS & SUMMER CAMPS through our Print & Online Magazine!

More info, call 408-964-8708 www.indiaparentmagazine.org

Congratulations to The Harker School Journalism Department for its new long-form magazine,

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Advertisement

Murals painted alongside the Anno Domini Gallery in San Jose. See Unveiling a Second Dimension to read about the local art scene.

FEATURED 14 Unveiling a Second Dimension Diving into the local underground art community.

20 The Gender Gap Why women are lost along the pipeline to tech careers.

34 From Blossoms to Buildings From orchards to Apple: the changing face of the Bay Area.

Wingspan Magazine

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CONTENTS

9 In a Nutshell A crash course in the latest Silicon Valley superfood trend.

10 Rise of the Technopolitician Tech entrepeneurs working with government, not against it.

28 Silence Exploring the void of the urban landscape.

40 Game On Video game addiction reaches international level.

46 Between Two Worlds Where wearable tech and highcouture fashion meet.

One of many murals painted alongside the walls of the Anno Domini Gallery in San Jose. See more on page 14.

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Cover design by Shay Lari-Hosain Table of contents photography by Jonathan Dai

Wingspan THE HARKER UPPER SCHOOL MAGAZINE

January 2015 | Vol 1, Issue 1

Editor-in-Chief Sindhu Ravuri Assistant Editor-in-Chief & Designer Shay Lari-Hosain Contributing Writers Sindhu Ravuri — Alyssa Amick — Sharanya Balaji — Vivek Bharadwaj — Jessica Chang Kacey Fang — Ashi Gautam — Priscilla Pan — Elisabeth Siegel — Meilan Steimle Contributing Photographers Shay Lari-Hosain — Jonathan Dai Adviser Ellen Austin Special Thanks Joshua Martinez, Upper School Art Teacher Website & Contact harkeraquila.com, harkerwingspan@gmail.com

The student-run wingspan is published four times a year by the Journalism program of The Harker Upper School, 500 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129.

Annual subscriptions are $30. Checks may be mailed to the address above and addressed to Wingspan Magazine, The Harker School.

Wingspan publishes in-depth news & feature reporting in an unbiased and professional manner and serves as a public forum for the students of The Harker School. Opinions and letters are the personal viewpoints of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Wingspan. All content decisions are made by student editors, and the content of Wingspan in no way reflects the official policy of The Harker School. The opinions expressed in this publication reflect those of the student writers and not the Harker board, administration, faculty or advisor.

Advertisements are accepted in Wingspan. However, Wingspan reserves the right to deny any ad. Letters to the Editor may be submitted to Manzanita 70 or emailed and must be signed, legible and concise. The staff reserves the right to edit letters to conform to style. Baseless accusations, insults, libelous statements, obscenities and/or letters which call for a disruption of the school day will not be considered for publication. Letters sent to Wingspan will be published at the discretion of the editorial staff.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without prior permission from publishers. Copyright © 2015 the Harker Journalism program. All rights reserved.

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Letter from the Editors January 2015

Welcome to the inaugural issue Students, faculty, and other fanatics of rich, eclectic journalism, allow us to introduce you to Wingspan — the newest addition to the Harker publication family.

Wingspan is the culmination of vivid storytelling by the Winged Post, Talon and Aquila.

We created Wingspan to offer the space for the vivid design and expansive photography necessary to do justice to complex issues. We ensure that every reader learns something new about their communities on the greater international stage.

From in-depth exposés on controversial topics to humorous columns, Wingspan offers written and visual work rooted in meaningful and relevant issues. Our contributors, all editors for their respective publications, have dedicated months of their time to intensive research and interviewing to craft their work.

This issue centers on a unique perspective of what lurks beneath the veneer of the Bay Area's tech-giant world.

Still unsure? Cast aside your doubts by digging into the first ever issue of Wingspan.

Your Wingspan Editors

SINDHU RAVURI '15

SHAY LARI-HOSAIN '16

Editor-in-Chief

Assistant Editor-in-Chief & Designer

Sindhu’s passion for journalism crystallized with her internship at the prestigious San Jose Mercury News’ Mosaic Program. Her training gave her field experience, and her article on child-sex trafficking received the internship's Merida Award for fearless reporting. Last summer she got into the Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill Journalism program and was highly appreciated by her advisers. Her piece “Seamy side of online dating” won the YoungScholars International Award under Creative Nonfiction. She was the only high-schooler to be invited to speak as a panelist at the 12th World Women’s Congress for her research on this topic. Previously, she served as the Business Editor (2012-2013) and Global Editor (2013-2014) of the Winged Post.

In addition to his role on Wingspan, Shay is the Design Editor of the Winged Post, having previously served as Asst. Design Editor. Shay has interviewed past and 2013 Nobel Laureates, author Khaled Hosseini and representatives from eBay, NASA, etc. His artwork, writing and design has received recognition from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the National Federation of Press Women and the National Scholastic Press Association. He worked as a graphic designer for Heritage Foundation Pakistan, an NGO that works on the ground in northern areas of the country to promote education. Shay is Harker Multimedia Club Co-President and runs for the track team. In his free time, he enjoys making art, playing guitar and piano with friends and running.

The Contributors

Alyssa Amick '15 Co-Editor-in-Chief of Aquila.

She is on the journalism honor roll, and she enjoys writing for the Sports section.

She was honored to interview Karen Korematsu and Mary Beth Tinker.

Sharanya Balaji '16 Multimedia Editor of Aquila.

She is a professional classical Indian dancer who uses her passion for the arts to teach programs for disadvantaged children. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and writing.

Vivek Bharadwaj '16 STEM Editor of the Winged Post. He feels journalism has been his outlet for creative storytelling for the past three years. While he dreams of joining a Varsity Foosball team, for now he swims and plays video games.

Jessica "Fred" Chang '15 Managing Editor of Talon.

Previously Student Life and Copy Editor. She is an avid food lover and is half of In a Nutshell, a food enterprise project to be found on Aquila, inanutshellfood.com and now Wingspan Magazine.

Jonathan Dai '16 Photo Editor of Talon.

This is his third year in the program. His favorite parts of journalism are photography and getting to know fellow staff members. In his free time, he enjoys exercising, shopping and drawing.

Kacey Fang '15 Managing Editor of the Winged Post. She has been part of the journalism program since her freshman year and served as Features Editor and Copy Editor previously.

Priscilla Pan '15 Features Editor of the Winged Post. She is cocreator of the food blog In a Nutshell and has been part of Journalism for the past two years, writing stories about features on gratitude to #Foodstagram pieces.

Ashi Gautam '16 Social Media Editor of Aquila.

She has been a part of the journalism program since her freshman year. Her favorite part of journalism is being able to voice her opinions through her reporting.

Elisabeth Siegel '16 News Editor of the Winged Post. In the past, she has been a copy editor and reporter. She is also coEditor-in-Chief of Harker's Eclectic Literary Magazine and volunteers for a domestic violence shelter.

Meilan Steimle '17 Opinion Editor of the Winged Post. She has yet to achieve any major accolades in Journalism, but she looks forward to learning about and exploring the vast Journalistic world in the coming years.

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Photographs by Shay Lari-Hosain

Editorial January 2015

A Glimpse into Silicon Valley As Obama emphasized in his State of the Union address last Tuesday, Silicon Valley is growing and creating jobs at its fastest pace ever since 1999.

But what has been abandoned on our path to becoming a technological ‘superpower’?

Silicon Valley, once known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight, lost its lush greenness and natural beauty with the growth of lucrative technological enterprises such as HP, Apple, Facebook and Google. With that, the Valley also lost arable land once dedicated to generations of family agriculture businesses and farms.

Now, according to Forbes, the top five careers in Silicon Valley are all related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) sectors.

Though STEM job expansion is vigorous, it overwhelmingly favors males. Politicians such as Democrat Ro Khanna are focusing on initiatives to put more female engineers in the technological industries, but the fact remains that the number of Computer Science degrees received by women today is less than a third of what it was in 1980.

The STEM gender gap is widening rather than narrowing.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Valley’s massive emphasis on technology-related items can lead to isolation. Gamer dens, such as Euphnet Cybercafe, are

Total square mileage of Silicon Valley, when defined as Santa Clara and San mateo and parts of Alameda and Santa Cruz

2.92

46,665 JOBS WERE CREATED LAST YEAR

million

THE TOTAL

POPULATION

OF SILICON VALLEY

36.4% of Silicon Valley residents are foreign-born

The lowest earning ethnic group earns

70% less than the highest earning group

VISION

1854

inhabited by avid players who would rather immerse themselves in the virtual worlds onscreen rather than interact with people inches from their headsets.

So what can we do to regain the pieces of Silicon Valley that are buried beneath computer screens?

First, appreciate what we have, along with an appreciation for what used to be. Rather than suppress our artistic proclivities, unleash them — as Cherri Lakey did when she started the Anno Domini Gallery in San Jose to revive independent art within her community.

Consider other options, as the Francia brothers did when they turned down multimillion dollar offers to preserve the Corn Palace in Sunnyvale.

Educationally, the tech sector needs to do better in encouraging young women to pursue careers in these fields, and to prepare them to be ready to take advantage of opportunities ahead, even when the outcome may be uncertain. As Ruchi Sanghvi, the first female engineer employed at Facebook, says (see page 27), “When you’re offered a seat on a rocketship, don’t ask which one, just take it.”

The home that we see sometimes seems like a rocketship. The escalating pace of our Silicon Valley high school lives brings opportunities like high-level science research with the pressures of performing. But in the end, we’re human, and the Valley is too.

MALES WITH A

+19,194

SV HAD 20 IPOS,

NET FOREIGN IMMIGRATION

OF 3 OVER 2012

BACHELOR’S DEGREE make 40-73% more than WOMEN AT THE SAME LEVEL

AN INCREASE

INCOME BETWEEN 2011 & 2012

in median household

DROPOUT RATE

TOTAL SOLAR CAPACITY

of CA IPOs

SOFTWARE REPRESENTED

CULTURED

46.5%

*

44% OF VC

INVESTMENT

listed in 2013

came from the Bay Area

83% HIGH SCHOOL

11% HS

189 megawatts

GRADUATION RATE

2.8% increase

OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

5.8% UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

AS OF NOVEMBER 2013

Source: Joint Venture Silicon Valley 2014 Index report

*

*Ankur Karwal (’16) and Will Park (’17) describe Silicon Valley in one word.

12.4% of U. S.

PATENTS CAME FROM THE VALLEY

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Meianderings January 2015

T

here may not be a song entitled “Welcome to Silicon Valley” in 1989, but there are still several new TV shows centered around it, like the aptly named “Silicon Valley” on HBO. The Internet is populated with dozens of articles entitled “You know you live in Silicon Valley if…” or “14 Things You Don’t Understand About Silicon Valley.”

But what is it really like to grow up in Silicon Valley? I decided to search the Interwebs for what people think are the hallmarks of the Valley lifestyle and debunk all the outlandish myths I find in the nooks of Buzzfeed and the crannies of Reddit. After all, Silicon Valley residents are more than just a series of tired generalizations.

MEILAN STEIMLE

Growing up in Silicon Valley.

(The real real story)

“The real estate prices are ridiculous.”

This one is actually true. Lucky guess. It’s only because we have awesome weather.

“You know multiple people who work at Google.”

Okay, this is true too. But these are just cursory details.

It’s not that hard to figure out that a lot of people who live near Google work there. I’m sure the rest of these are hilariously untrue.

“Half the cars on the road are hybrids.”

Pfft. More like half the cars on the road are electric.

Hybrids are so 2011.

“When people say ‘it’s freezing,’ they mean ‘it’s 60 degrees.’ ” Um, 60 degrees is freezing the last time I checked, and anyone who says otherwise has clearly never seen my wardrobe. What kind of stuff do they think we own?

Long johns? Parkas? Walls with insulation?

“Everyone is really into math and science.”

This isn’t even close to correct. The term ‘everyone’ doesn’t semantically account for the 13.7% of Harker students in the conservatory. Furthermore, the phrase ‘into math and science’ connotes free will, which excludes the 12.2% who partake in STEM due to parental or cultural pressures. If we factor in the margin of error created by the verbal uncertainty of ‘really,’ we can conclude that only 71.4% of Silicon Valley residents are ‘really into math and science.’ Get your facts

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Photograph by Shay Lari-Hosain. Right: Photograph by Jessica "Fred" Chang

straight, random Internet person.

“People talk like surfers, so you can expect calls of ‘dude’ and ‘dudette.’ ” Nobody says ‘dudette.’ What do they think this is, the ‘80s? That’s hella offensive, bro.

“People anticipate Apple releases more than new music releases.”

I may have watched some of the Apple keynotes live, but that doesn’t mean anything. I bet the next one will be completely off base.

“Everyone has clothing with tech company logos.” … Pass.

“People worship Chipotle.”

Oh, COME ON. These can’t possibly all be true. There has got to be AT LEAST ONE myth I can debunk! One! That’s all I want!

“Everyone says stuff is ‘gnarly.’ ” HA! Take that, Internet! I found one! This is wrong, wrong, WRONG. No one, not one person I know says ‘gnarly.’ I knew that arbitrary lists online could never define where I live. I am my own person, and Silicon Valley is more than just a list of clichés.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to my CS homework. f Meilan is the Opinion Editor of the Winged Post. Contact her at 17meilans@students.harker.org.

In a Nutshell January 2015

Superfood Trends 2 cups kale leaves 1 cup spinach leaves 1 apple of your choice (depending on the sweetness) 3 mini cucumbers (about ½ cup of cucumber) A squeeze of lemon

Bee pollen. Cacao nibs. Kale chips. $4 “artisan” toast slices with agave syrup and “small batch” nut butters. Juices in every shade of green.

Welcome to the health-conscious Silicon Valley’s superfood obsession.

by Jessica "Fred" Chang & Priscilla Pan

Tip: To reduce the bitterness and toughness of kale, coat with olive oil and massage to break down the leaves for a more tender, sweet experience.

Verdict: Adorable and perfect for photos, but undeniably impractical.

Juicing Introducing clean eating’s newest trend: juicing. Juice fruits and greens for concentrated doses of vitamins and antioxidants. It’s in bottles everywhere, but here’s why you should make your own. Its nutrients start deteriorating immediately after juicing because of how broken down the produce becomes, so drink up fast! But don’t forget to eat plenty of fiber from other sources.

Kale Oh, kale. Once merely a background garnish and now in the spotlight, this dark leafy green is packed with a long, long list of nutritional value. It’s definitely one of the healthiest and most versatile ingredients around.

Our serving suggestions? Make into a juice, toss in a salad or soup, or drizzle with olive oil and bake into kale chips.

Paper Straws These are literally straws made out of tightly-wrapped paper. They are undeniably cute, and have exploded (with the help of Pinterest) in popularity, but are they really practical? We did a test, and the bottom of the straw began to disintegrate after two glasses of juice.

Jessica is the Managing Editor of Talon and Priscilla is the Features Editor of the Winged Post. Check out more In a Nutshell on harkeraquila.com or inanutshellfood.com. Contact them at inanutshellfood@gmail.com.

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Rise of the Technopolitician

VOTE

WORDS BY Sindhu Ravuri Photographs by Shay Lari-Hosain

he was the last person who should have stood out. After all, he was just a “run of the mill” high school student. Cramped in the 15’-by-15’ headquarters of the Service Employees International Union in San Jose with nearly 30 community leaders, city council members and representatives of Congress, Felix Wu (‘15), a Junior Statesmen Foundation member, thought shaking hands with even one political figure at Mike Honda’s campaign rally would have been a dream come true. He got much more than he bargained for.

As Felix stepped towards the corner of the graywalled room, Michael Makoto “Mike” Honda, the U.S. Congressman representing Silicon Valley, greeted him with a smile. Not only did Felix and Honda discuss the progress of the campaign rally, but also Felix’s academic interests, and the evolution of Honda’s eyebrows over the years.

“He's not your ordinary politician. At public events, he's not looking for the next photo op or the next campaign donor to talk to — he seeks out regular people,” Felix said. “He tries his best to understand his constituents on a personal level.”

Having served seven terms in Congress, Honda, a former science teacher, has had a long track record for supporting youth endeavors. Back in 2008, he worked with then-Senator Barack Obama to introduce the Enhancing STEM Education Act, which helped streamline communication between different levels of government that have a say in the education system. Honda also pushed for increased funding for Pell Grants to make college more affordable. According to Mike Honda’s Student

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Advisory Council member Felix Wu, “that’s a track record other candidates for Congress lack.”

For Felix, that single interaction with Honda spoke for the Democratic interest in promoting youth interests, and represented the “ideal” attitude for political leaders who fostered innovation within the younger generation of Silicon Valley students.

“As one of only a few Silicon Valley members of Congress, Congressman Honda has constantly been an advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation,” Felix said. “He's been a champion for STEM education in our classrooms.”

Along with Silicon Valley’s transformation from an agricultural empire of orchards to a technological superpower, there’s been a shift in the political scene. Politically, Silicon Valley is going from a Republican stronghold to a Democratic one with Libertarian undercurrents, so much so that Obama makes whistle stops here on the way to this county. Specifically, the Valley’s Democratic margin increased from -4 to 50 percent in Bay Area between 1980 to 2012, according to Forbes.

Above: Former U. S. Department of Commerce Deputy Asst. Secretary Ro Khanna (D) talks about his initiatives to incorporate younger females into engineering and foster job development.

The leanings of the Valley’s young tech entrepreneurs are reflecting this political change. In the last decade, California’s libertarian followers increased by 20 percent, according to a Mercury News poll.

The evolving Democratic following in Silicon Valley stems from tech giants’ appreciation for the party’s innovationpromoting policies, and enforcement of a universal, STEMbased education, says former U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Assistant Secretary Ro Khanna, who also ran an unsuccessful yet highly-publicized bid against Mike Honda.

Unlike Democrats, Libertarians believe in minimal government, individual expansion, economic freedom, and private charity, as opposed to state welfare services.

“Libertarians promote a society that respects different religions and races, a society that is open to competing in a global economy that values the role of women and women leaders. That relationship is there,” he said. “Tech entrepreneurs understand that the government has played a critical role in the development of the Silicon Valley, in the investment of parks, in the investment in the National Science Foundation, in the investment in research that helped lead to the GPS and other innovative technology, so they understood that Silicon Valley is collaborative with technology. ” U.S. Democratic Congress member of San Jose, Zoe Lofgren attributes the Libertarian leaning of the Valley’s tech sector on

the party’s belief in a pluralistic society where those who are left behind economically can grab more opportunities for change.

“The Valley produces a variety of libertarianism that is firmly couched in strong liberal values – values like the right to privacy, the sanctity of equal opportunity, strong environmental stewardship, robust investment in education, technology, and more,” she said.

Khanna, a liberal Democrat, believes economic competitiveness originates in the classroom through an emphasis on STEM courses, and developed a plan to give grants to the 10 states who could best implement such a curriculum.

“Whether they want to be engineers or computer scientists or lawyers or doctors or artists or in the entertainment field, the ability to understand and have a proficiency with technology is

Free government would induce creativity, innovation, and economic development globally. critical to our 21st-century world,” Khanna said.

Though various young tech institutions support Republicans, according to Forbes, that is not to say that Republicans do not promote technology innovation through policy. In fact, several of their notions align with those of Democratic representatives such as Khanna, including gender equity in STEM-fields.

Milpitas mayor Jose Esteves, a Republican, believes in fostering a technology-centered environment, and as a result,

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Left: Though Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves (R), who served over twelve years, is a conservative, he believes in libertarianism's doctrines of innovation and global activism.

Right: The writer talks to Ro Khanna over brunch about why the goals of tech entrepreneurs and Democrats align.

is garnering an increased political following from the younger generation.

“Young people think independently regardless of what Democrats and Republicans think,” Esteves said. “They think of what’s best for their own. They should help grow the idea and invite more people to subscribe to it so that hopefully they will inject some good positive change in the philosophy and principles of public government.”

For him, the Libertarian principle of free government induces innovation and global economic growth.

“I don’t agree with imposing more taxes to people because the less money people have the slower the economy we will have,” he said.

Award-winning author of “Crossing the Generational Divide: Essential Skills for Managing the Modern Workforce” Robert Wendover agrees that tech entrepreneurs have more space for creative expression through Libertarian principles.

“Young tech entrepreneurs are very aware of the impact that governmental policy and regulations have on their ability to break new ground and create new products,” he said. “The challenges that Uber, Flyte and AirBnB are facing around the world are good examples of this. The more onerous the rules, the more those in nascent technologies will begin to embrace Libertarian principles.” f

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Rise of the Technopolitician

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not a single parking spot is open in the bustling downtown streets of San Jose in the afternoon, but turn onto South First, and it immediately seems less crowded. Here, it is calm and motionless. Follow this street for a few minutes, and you’ll approach a black wall with a grill gate door and Broadway-style marquee nine feet above. This is the Anno Domini Gallery — the hub of urban contemporary art, counterculture and subculture.

Past Anno Domini’s mini lobby lie 1,000 square feet of sheetrocked walls and two independent art displays, accompanied by smooth jazz music, dusty air and a chalky-paint odor. The shows’ juxtaposing themes — light yet dark, warm yet cold, graceful yet strong — highlight diversity in thought and individuality.

“We do not care if it’s a girl or guy, we do not care if they went to school or not, we do not care how old they are, we do not care how many years they have been doing this, their gallery experience, we do not care where they are from,” said Cherri Lakey, co-creator of the Anno Domini Gallery. “It is about their work.”

An artistic subculture, a “secondary” culture to Silicon Valley’s main technology-centric culture, is on the rise. A few years ago, San Jose’s South First street had a 60 percent vacancy rate, meaning that more than half of the buildings were empty, according to Curator and Director of Programs of Zero1 gallery, Jaime Austin. But now, says Austin, the San Jose Downtown Association reports that there are 12 galleries in downtown San Jose alone as opposed to the four galleries 10 years ago.

This artistic movement aims to create more platforms for

WORDS BY Sharanya Balaji Photographs by Jonathan Dai

budding artists, according to Lakey, leading to the creation of several art galleries and museums in Silicon Valley such as Zero1 (on the same street as Anno Domini), the San Jose Museum of Art, Institute of Contemporary Art, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, and the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara. Such organizations promote the art scene through events where local Bay Area artists exhibit their work alongside regional and national artists.

Many of the galleries located in and around South First Street have collaborated to provide the city with several opportunities to engage in the arts, such as South First Fridays Art Walk, which feature both the Zero1 and Anno Domini Gallery.

“We had more than 10,000 people last year that came here to see our space specifically from the Art Walk event,” Austin said.

Local artists fight for art, ignoring its status as a subculture rather than fully developed culture, simply because they just love what they do. According to Karen Kienzle, director of the Palo Alto Art Center, artists have a unique internal drive to create work despite their environmental challenges.

These strong passions were what inspired co-creators of the Anno Domini Gallery, Cherri Lakey and her husband Brian Eder.

Fifteen years ago, both Lakey and her husband Eder were coming home from another typical workday at a San Francisco pre-press house, checking the page dynamics of published pieces. While commuting on their usual route, Lakey noticed a droopy, tired man loom over with his hands clasped together,

Unveiling a

Second Dimension

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almost as if praying. He was painted across an abandoned shack directly to her right; he hadn’t been there the day before.

“I would look at that every day thinking, ‘That is so amazing,’ ” she said. “I didn’t know why it hit me like that, but it did.”

Twenty-four hours later, the painting disappeared, completely masked by beige squares. “How is that better than what was there yesterday?” Lakey couldn’t help but ask.

She decided to find the artist of this painting that had changed her life — Barry McGee, also known as “Twist”. And that’s where her immersion into the world of street art began. Not only did Lakey discover Andrew Schoultz, Margaret Kilgallen and Sirron Norris — her sources of inspiration — but she unveiled the artistic dimension lurking in Silicon Valley. “This I get. This I understand. This I really, really want to help further,” she said.

And so they created the Anno Domini Gallery in 2000. Lakey and her husband did not know how, when, or where. They just knew they had to do it. They had to contribute to the unnoticed artistic world surrounding their daily lives.

“We were not going to have all the money we needed, all the time we need, or the most perfect pristine track lighting,” said Lakey. “But we said, ‘Let’s just start’.”

According to Anno Domini’s creator Lakey, this hidden art underworld stems from the same basic ingredients that kick started the technological revolution of Silicon Valley — openness in thought, intense creativity and utmost confidence.

Nevertheless, it took its own time in finding its own niche.

“We used to go to a lot of city meetings in the late ‘90s and the early 2000s, and they would have these big vision plans for 2010 or 2020 or 2040, but art was never in those conversations. They would say, ‘Well, there are no artists that live here,’ ” Lakey said.

“So we decided we needed to show them. Every time we turn around there needed to be art. There needs to be artists, there needs to be poets, there needs to be musicians. Now, no one says that anymore. The perception has changed. If anything, the national conversation has become arts and creativity makes cities successful.”

Efforts to expand art’s communal presence have been in the works. The Urban Institute, an organization designed to address social and economic needs, recently created the Arts and Culture Indicators Project to stress an expansive communal art presence.

However, to Lakey, the artistic subculture will always remain a subculture — Silicon Valley’s second world.

The art scene in Silicon Valley has yet to attain a widespread following because of economic hindrances.

According to Kiezle, Silicon Valley has driven out many local artists either trying to get enough money to pay rent or find a large enough space for them to be able to experiment with their craft because of the Valley’s high standard of living due to its technological renown. In fact, according to Forbes, the top five careers in Silicon Valley are all related to STEM. Paul J. Gonzalez, a local mural artist in San Jose, has firsthand experience in this struggle. He found that the higher the expenses are, the more an individual is stripped of the opportunity of mastering their craft and getting more supplies.

“My biggest difficulty was learning about the ups and down with the economy and how it affects your business,” he said. “I was hit three times pretty hard by the wave of the economy. I had to rebuild my business twice from the ground up.”

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Unveiling a Second Dimension

Left: A part of the series of murals painted on South First Street behind the former theater which has now become the Anno Domini Gallery.

Right: Along the walls of the Anno Domini Gallery on South First street are a set of murals done by eight different artists in hopes to represent Silicon Valley's diverse culture.

Previous page: A Place in Mind,

by Jose Arenas, Mike Torchia, and Oscar Lopez, is located at a cross street of South First.

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Unveiling a Second Dimension

Silicon Valley limits the growth of local starving artists due to relatively small amounts of exhibition opportunities in comparison to the larger museums located in San Francisco.

As a result, fewer people buy the products of up-and-coming artists.

The art world still thrives despite these roadblocks, paving the route for growth of artists who would not make it in the larger art hubs like San Francisco, where nationally recognized artists are given primary importance.

“The pyramid of art is that only few are at the top and are internationally known artists and the next layer nationally known artists, and then the final layer of the state and regional artists,” said Harker Upper School Visual Arts Instructor Pilar Agüero-Esparza. “That last layer is the flavor here in Silicon Valley.”

Austin, curator of Zero1 gallery whose mission is to provide an intersection point of art and technology, shared AgüeroEsparza’s feelings. According to Austin, Silicon Valley is more an idea than a place. She feels that the innovation Silicon Valley is known for was not depicted accurately. More than 200 artists in Silicon Valley have contributed to Zero1 and recently Zero1 was responsible for having an exhibit named Seeking Silicon Valley that featured 24 artists from 11 countries. Through these efforts, Austin hopes to transform the “idea” of Silicon Valley into a concrete reality.

“Where do you go to see this creativity and innovation that the region is known for because reality is that a lot of it is kind of behind closed doors on these corporate technology campuses or places where the general public cannot see,” Austin said.

“The goal is to use the arts to bring those ideas of creativity and innovation out in the open and help create Silicon Valley become more of the place that we all imagine it to be.”

Similarly, some artists see technology as a mechanism for collaboration.

To Kiezle, a lot of new work involving technology is widely seen.

“I see artists embracing technology in their work,” Kiezle said.

“You have a whole new broad range of media that are available to artists now and a whole range of tools that they can use to express themselves.”

Austin feels that technology and arts are already highly integrated with film and photography. “I think that key thing to remember for artists is that technology is a tool that the artists are using to create their art and as it is becoming more ubiquitous, that is exciting because that means that more people can participate in that,” she said. The National Endowment of Arts reported that 75 percent of Americans use technology in some way to engage in the arts, and California had the greatest number in this category.

Despite all the effort that many art enthusiasts have made, the art scene in Silicon Valley is not seen as the main scene.

“I don’t think here arts will ever be the dominant thing or the scene,” said John Russell, Executive Vice President of SV Creates, an organization that hopes to foster a strong visibility

Left: A Technicality, a mural painted by Know Hope, on the set of murals along the wall of the Anno Domini Gallery was created in 2008 to show the existence of an art world.

and engagement in the arts. “It will always be complementary to the technology piece.”

Ms. Agüero-Esparza also believes that Silicon Valley will never be known as an “art mecca,” due to its close proximity to its big stepsister, San Francisco.

“When you think of art, you think of the city,” she said. “We are a lot bigger city than San Francisco but what do we call it?

We call it the city.”

San Francisco, home to more than thirty museums, steals the spotlight with its own artistic flair, as Austin mentioned. It has had an art culture right from its inception that ties back to rich history; it’s galleries have experienced the gold-fueled art boom in the late 1800s, withstood the 1906 earthquake, and outlasted both World Wars. In fact, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) attracts 600,000 visitors annually.

Furthermore, the deYoung Museum, the Palace of the Legion of Honor, and the Asian Art Museum all reside in San Francisco.

Since most of these institutions have been built based off private collections, either with inaugural funding or subsequent financial donations, they offer resources not available in Silicon Valley. For instance, the SFMoMA grew from 1,100 artworks and a purchase fund donated by a private collector Albert M. Bender in the late 1930s. The museum, 85 years later, continues to support its endeavors with this money, and with more recent collections.

Another hurdle presents itself through the segregated development of the subculture within individual ethnic groups, all independent of one another.

“We all go to the work together but then we all go home to our own narrow cultural ghettos,” said Carolyn Schuk, President and Founder of Santa Clara Performing Arts Foundation.

Schuk says publicity of such museums or events are still sticking inside the realm of its group. For example, Korean arts events still only get advertised in Korean media, while Indian events still only get advertised in Indian media. Here in Silicon Valley, it’s up to the art fanatic to find their way around, which is particularly difficult if they are not used to being a minority.

“Things do not really get seen unless someone really goes out of their way to try and find them,” Schuk said.

Despite all these difficulties, the artistic scene continues to survive. “It’s not a rebellion for the sake of rebellion,” said Lakey. “It’s universal law — there always has to be those that think differently, rise up to get their ideas out there and attract other people of like-mindedness.”

The Silicon Valley habitat spans many different personalities, stories and interests. Right from the “geeks” to the “streets.”

Silicon Valley has it all. Most of those in the scene agree that art is shadowed by the tech industry, but the movement continues to grow every single day. f

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his first Neural

lecture Networks, advanced topics computer science course that she has elected to take in her junior year.

for the

The idea of has with regard women dissuaded pursuing and positions fields: women bit along the

Seventeen pairs of eyes look down

again, beginning work on the first lines of code for the project. For the past semester, these 17 males have been Anika Mohindra’s (‘16) only classmates in Neural Networks.

“I remember when I walked in on the first day, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m the only girl in this class,’ and that made me a little nervous,” Anika said.

“I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, but it is a little disconcerting.

I feel like I should be okay with it, because

that's a subject I want to pursue. I know gender disparity is a problem, so letting it affect me makes me feel a little deficient.”

Aniexperience reflects a broader equity because biases that women in according to Daily article last June.

that from 2010 to 2011, less than 12 percent of bachelor’s degrees in computer science were given to women.

ka’s trend of gender in technology, of deep-rooted sit against the field, a Science from

The statistics are clear—the

S

a “pipeline” surfaced to how are being from degrees in technology are lost bit by pipeline from

early educato the industry The pipeline starts with early education.

At Harker, Anika has takvarious computer science courses, cluding AP Computer Science in freshman year.

“I remember in that time were only two girls in class, and I think class had around 18 students,” she said. “I was really surprised.”

The Upper School’s STEM departments, according to Head of Academics Jennifer Gargano, vary gen-

distribution. While science departments such as Biology and Chemistry are relatively equal, the courses following AP Computer Science are 60 to 70 percent male.

From the standpoint of Upper School Math-

tion e matitself. De- partment Anthony Silk, earlier enagement of women STEM might problem. en “I think the biggest get the kids interin- active early, and parents interested really right from her get-go, so they’ll be motivated,” he said.

Alumnus Katie Siegel (‘12, relation to writer) addressed the that some ics fact Chair are dissuaded from cour- in the tech world in the pipeline. in solve the “The big is that even take thing is to computer ested and whether or get the like it,” as well, “Nonthe really parents often dissuade pursuing STEM withizing.

For example,

girls was starting inearlier on er science suggested because computproblem would be girls don’t the very first A study titled science course not they she said. technical girls from in the out real- Genwhen I Attitudes,” pub-

choosing an troductory computclass, my parents I take the easiest class they thought er science too hard.”

“The Role of Parents and Teachers Development of der-Related Math a 2011 piece first

But there in a 2012 that U.S. Department of that Education’s Office for Civil Rights study, 30 percent of females took Algebra I in seventh or eighth grade compared to the 27 percent of males, while in AP mathematics classes like calculus and statistics, boys outnumgirls in bered by up to 10,000 der students.

The Long Road Up HE SITS DOWN IN the last open seat of the Neural Networks computer science class in Nichols Hall — middle table, back row. The tables

adjacent to her and the three in front each have two to three of her male classmates

clustered around them, immersed in code.

The male teacher walks around, answering occasional questions. »

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Photographs by Shay Lari-Hosain

WORDS BY Kacey Fang & Elisabeth Siegel

_ 21

these 11 boys had been Anika Mohindra’s (‘16) companions in the advanced topics course she took in the first semester of her junior year. A post-AP class, Neural Networks introduces students to artificial neural network technology and its applications.

“I remember when I walked in on the first day, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m the only girl in this class,’ and that made me a little nervous,” Anika said. “I know gender disparity is a problem, so letting it affect me makes me feel a little deficient.”

Computer Science (CS) Department Chair Dr. Eric Nelson taught the class the last time it was offered six years ago. With two degrees in physics, he has previously worked in corporate research environments and astronomical observatories. He said that the students’ choice of seating is voluntary, as he has no seating chart, and noted the strong gender discrepancy is not typical in Harker’s CS classes. “[Last] semester was unusual, [with] only one [girl] in each section,” he wrote in an email. “[This] semester a third of the class (out of 18) is girls. Each girl handles the situation differently. Some work alone, and others are highly interactive with the other members of the class.”

AP CS teacher Susan King, 62, similarly encourages students to find work partners on their own. In her observation, students tend to favor working with members of the same gender.

“We work in partners a lot, and I want people to be comfortable with their partner,” King said. “Have I observed females particularly getting isolated by a bunch of males? Yes, I have. I’ve observed it in a number of schools. It hasn’t happened in a class of mine at Harker.”

King received her Bachelor of Science degree in CS from Montana State University in 1975, at a time when 19.8 percent of such degrees were conferred to females, according to the National Center for Education (NCES).

“I certainly know what [being isolated] is like,” she said. “I was often the only female in math classes or CS classes.”

That was 40 years ago, but the disparity continues. Anika’s experience as the minority gender reflects a broader downward trend of gender equity in technology.

As increasing numbers of women earn degrees in business, biology, and physical sciences, the number of CS degrees received by women today is less than a third of what it was 30 years ago. In 2011, 18.2 percent of bachelor’s degrees in CS were given to women, compared to 37.1 percent in 1980, according to the NCES 2013 Digest of Education Statistics.

The term “pipeline” has become used throughout the industry with regard to how women become dissuaded from pursuing technology fields. Women are lost bit by bit through a pipeline that constricts as they move from early education through the subsequent years to employment age.

Harker positions itself as a “world-class institution” in the heart of Silicon Valley, the tech capital of the U. S. With 64 percent of last year’s female graduates self-reporting a plan to major in a STEM field, according to survey responses collected for The Winged Post’s college map, many already encounter or

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The Gender Gap

Right: Anika Mohindra ('16), a prospective engineer, shares her experiences as the only girl in the Neural Networks course.

The number of computer science degrees received by women today is a third of what it was in 1980.

will go on to face gender disparities within these fields as they move along the pipeline.

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL Nitya Mani’s (‘15) interest in STEM began at a young age, when her parents read her Richard Dawkins’ books on evolution. Love for math especially was a consistent part of her childhood. Since her years at Joaquin Miller Middle School in San Jose, she has done math research, taken a slew of advanced math and CS courses, and competed in math contests.

As Nitya puts it, she “grew up on the math team.”

For the past semester, Nitya, like Anika, had been the only female out of 13 in her advanced topics course in CS, Numerical Methods.

While most of the Upper School’s classes have balanced gender ratios, there is a male majority in advanced CS courses like the ones Nitya and Anika took.

According to Head of Academics Jennifer Gargano, enrollment in the Upper School’s science departments such as Biology and Chemistry are relatively equal, but the courses following AP CS are 60 to 70 percent male.

Nationwide, CollegeBoard has noticed a disparity between the genders in AP CS exams and a less severe one in AP Calculus BC exams. In 2013, 18.7 percent of AP CS test-takers and 40.5 percent of AP Calculus BC test-takers were female, according to the organization’s annual report.

“Historically there have been a disproportionate number of males taking AP Exams in CS A,” said Amy Wilkins, CollegeBoard’s social justice consultant, in an email interview.

“Last year alone nearly 300,000 students with the potential to succeed in an AP course did not take one.”

Parental views can hinder young girls from STEM classes

based on preconceived biases about whether girls can participate in the field.

Having grown up with a now 20 year-old brother, a 15 yearold brother, and a 10 year-old sister, Chandini Thakur (‘16) sees a different emphasis on STEM interests of males and females in her family. She plans on becoming a medical doctor, and her older brother studies computer engineering in college.

“My dad has already started working on getting my younger brother connected to people in engineering and not as much on my future career in the medical field,” she said. “It’s interesting to see that, because my sister’s already expressing an interest in engineering, and he’s not paying attention to that as much as he should be.”

As a teacher, Science Department Chair and former AP teacher Anita Chetty has learned to pay attention to classroom dynamics. She recalls differences in reactions to girls’ and boys’ classroom participation in her years as a student.

“If boys made a mistake, people laughed it off,” she said. “If you were a female, you felt as though if you made a mistake it was not going to be funny. It was like, ‘You’re dumb.’ ” Chetty’s interest in STEM led her to earn a B.S. in biology from the University of Calgary in Canada and two degrees in STEM education — a Bachelor of Engineering in education leadership at the University of Lethridge and a Master of Engineering in secondary science at the University of Portland.

As in Chetty’s observations, differences in attitudes towards disappointment divide students along gender lines. Her comments are rooted in research discussed in Dr. Diana Kastelic’s dissertation for the University of Denver, “Adolescent Girls’ Support for Voice in Education.” In her paper, Dr. Kastelic writes, “When boys fail, blame is placed on external factors, while success is attributable to ability. Surprisingly, girls’

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The Gender Gap

You get creepy comments.

Initially I blew them all off, and over time it starts to get heavier and heavier, and you just don’t want to deal with them anymore.

Emily Lakdawalla

Left: Anika in her usual spot in her period 8 Neural Networks class.

achievement is attributed to luck and hard work, and failure is blamed on lack of ability.”

Nitya refers to these and other subtle barriers against women pursuing STEM as “implicit discouragements.” She mentioned comments she received last summer from a Yale University professor alongside a male classmate. “[The Yale professor] told the guy about the opportunities, and then he told me that I should look at the pre-med department, because that would be a better place for me,” Nitya said. While the professor’s motive was anyone’s guess, Nitya said that hearing similar comments was commonplace and often disheartening.

“There’s a lot of things that people do to implicitly discourage you. Now, it’s not so much [from pursuing] STEM, but to discourage women from pursuing pure STEM fields.”

For women and other minorities entering STEM, microaggressions, such as the one Nitya faced, often result from unconscious bias.

FROM HIGH SCHOOL TO COLLEGE After graduating from high school and beginning a major in STEM fields at campuses across the country, demographics in classrooms grow increasingly worse for females as they proceed along the pipeline to college.

Biology major Samantha Hoffman (‘13) walks into the seminar room for her Computational and Mathematical Engineering (CME) class at Stanford University. What strikes her as odd is the composition of teaching assistants for the class.

“For both my CME classes, 100 percent of the TAs were male,” she said.

Hoffman, who plans to add a sub-concentration in neurobiology and a minor in creative writing, views the TA imbalance as an important issue to fix, due to female mentorship’s importance in encouraging female participation in STEM fields.

“The biggest problem is getting mentors, because without mentors, you can’t really get your advice. You can’t really get those connections to help you move forward in the industry,” Hoffman said.

As former Upper School Math Department Chair and Middle School division head, as well as a math teacher at other public and private schools, Head of Academics Jennifer Gargano stresses the importance of teachers as role models and guides.

Throughout her study of math education during college, she was encouraged by professors who assumed she would go on to earn a master’s degree, even before she had planned to.

“It’s the teachers that really have so much power in terms of turning students onto a course that they thought they may not have interest in, or keep them loving a subject, too,” she said. “I think it’s all about the teachers.”

But finding a mentor for women in the worlds of academia can prove challenging on campuses like Stanford, where only three out of 54 of the CS department’s full-time faculty members are women, as Wingspan discovered by counting the department’s faculty on its website directory.

COLLEGE AND BEYOND: MOVING TO THE BIG LEAGUE Females who earn STEM degrees are faced with job placement as the next, and often most difficult, hurdle. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s 2011 Executive Summary of Women in STEM, females held only 24 percent of all working positions in STEM fields, even though females hold 48 percent of all jobs.

The disparity leads to disparagement, according to Tess Rinearson, a software engineer at blogging platform Medium in San Francisco and an attendee at Battle of the Hacks 2014 at the venture capital firm Andressen Horowitz, a programming invitational representative of over 50 events promoting

innovation for college students.

“It’s something that people don’t want to talk about. It’s kind of the elephant in the room,” Rinearson said as one of five females out of 27 hackathon attendees in the room. “I’ve had lots of miscellaneous experiences where [I think,] ‘God, I wish there were more women in tech, because this behavior is unacceptable.’”

A Seattle native, Rinearson graduated from Lakeside High School and took classes at University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon before leaving college after a year to pursue a job at Medium.

Her experience as a 21 year-old female in the tech world has led her to describe the industry’s culture of microaggressions as “death by a thousand papercuts.”

Sometimes, the sexism can be much more direct. Last year, Rinearson experienced a more in-your-face example.

“I was supposed to be judging this hackathon. I talked to this team one-on-one, and I was really enthusiastic about this team’s hack,” she said. “As I walked away I heard one of them say, ‘She wants the d—,’ which is totally inappropriate.”

For women in careers that require an online presence, microaggressions often occur in the form of Internet harassment. Planetary geologist Emily Lakdawalla, who currently works as an editor and evangelist for The Planetary Society, an organization involved in advancing space exploration, discusses and promotes science through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

“When you’re on the Internet and you’re a female, you know it,” she said in a Skype interview. “It makes a difference. You get creepy comments. Initially I blew them all off, and over time it starts to get heavier and heavier, and you just don’t want to deal with them anymore.”

Writer and former physics student Eileen Pollack said combatting microaggressions that females bear while in a maledominated field will help increase the number of women in tech. Pollack, who in 1978 became one of the first two women to earn a Bachelor of Science in Physics degree at Yale, published “Why Are There Still So Few Women in Science?” in The New York Times Magazine in 2013. Later this year, she will publish her memoir, The Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys' Club.

“There are studies that say that women leave voluntarily because they want ‘people fields,’ and to this, I say, ‘There are no people in engineering?’” she said in a phone interview.

“Engineers and chemists and computer scientists work in teams. There’s an idea that women walk away from the fields voluntarily, and that’s nonsense. [They are] already struggling under so many burdens every day where they feel they don’t belong.”

Females leaving or being unable to enter tech positions is not just an issue of social fairness but also an issue that impacts earning potential over a lifetime. According to Forbes, the highest paying jobs for college graduates are in engineering, with a median starting pay of $53,400. Even in the workplace, females earn less than their male counterparts — a 2012 American Association of University Women report stated that on average, a female in engineering makes 88 percent of what a male does when both are one year out of college.

Valuations of startup companies are at an all-time high, according to Forbes, with nearly 40 startups worth more than $1 billion in 2013. However, according to a 2013 report from Pitchbook, a data provider for venture capitalist markets, only 13 percent of venture capital deals had at least one female cofounder.

Seed accelerators like Y Combinator in Mountain View provide seed funding in exchange for an equity share in a prospective startup. Company partner Kat Manalac said Y Combinator

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received 5,000 applications last year, but only around one in four of the companies had a female founder. In response, Y Combinator launched its first Female Founders Conference last March with 450 attendees, involving a host of female founders sharing their stories. The next one is slated for February.

“The big focus should be on how to get more women and people of color hired and in leadership positions at tech companies,” Manalac said in an email interview. “I’m encouraged because I’ve started to see a lot of smart people devoting their time to building solutions. The emphasis should be on action.”

STEPS AHEAD Nitya and Anika both see themselves moving forward in the male-dominated field, confident that things will change by the time they are in graduate school.

“I think that the only way to break the gender gap is to get in when you’re the minority gender,” Nitya said. “I feel fine, because there are going to be enough women around me. By the time that I get a Ph.D., there will be a lot of women with me, because I think it’s changing.”

As a senior next year, Anika plans to take Harker’s CS advanced topics courses Expert Systems and Computer Architecture, as well as the advanced mathematics topics courses Differential Equations 2 and Signals and Systems.

“I think within a decade, we’ll definitely have a lot more women in higher positions in STEM, and having those leaders as examples will provide yet another push for women to enter the fields,” she said.

Female alumni have gone on to success in STEM fields. Forbes’

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Right: Illustrations by Shay Lari-Hosain

Above: In period two Multivariable Calculus, four out of thirteen students in the class are female.

2014 “30 Under 30” list in science and health care featured Surbhi Sarna (‘03), who founded nVision Medical, a technology intended to improve ovarian cancer detection. Currently, several of the most prominent Bay Area tech companies are led by female Chief Executive Officers such as Susan Wojcicki of Youtube, Marissa Mayer of Yahoo!, and Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard. Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, and Marissa Mayer declined an interview with Wingspan.

At Harker, Gargano says she has explored some of the existing opportunities or initiative organizations that the Upper School currently has in order to improve any imbalance, including WiSTEM (Women in STEM). Improvement, according to her, is still on the agenda moving forward.

“I think we have a lot of really accomplished females in those areas. Why wouldn’t we want to push forward those efforts?”

Gargano said. “We can do better, and we should do better.”

Females already in the industry see hope for the future. Ruchi Sanghvi, who became the first female engineer at Facebook in 2005, helped develop the Newsfeed and Facebook Platform. She offers advice for females planning to enter tech fields to stand their ground but be ready for challenges.

“Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion. Don’t be afraid to ask for opportunities — raise your hand and ask for those opportunities,” she said. “When you’re offered a seat on a rocketship, don’t ask which one, just take it." f

» Check out the extended version of The Gender Gap on harkeraquila.com

By the Numbers

18.7% of AP CS testers were female, according to a 2013 CollegeBoard report

Percentages of women in Upper School classes (2014-2015)

THAT’S A 3.9% INCREASE IN A DECADE

42%

45%

AP Calculus BC

Post-AP electives

4 out of 17 on the board of venture capital firm Y Combinator are female THAT’S 23.5% FEMALE

38%

$

27%

AP Computer Science A*

18 out of 59 Harker Class of 2014 prospective engineering majors were female

Post-AP electives

Stanford University’s diversity deficit

Percentages of women in classes at Bay Area schools (2014-2015) In order: Gunn High School, Mission San Jose High School, Palo Alto High School

Faculty members:

Women

Men

Women

Men

100

Aeronautics Applied physics

80 Computer science

40

Mechanical engineering 20

Physics 10

20

30

40

50

60

70

AP Calculus BC

Mathematics

60 AP Computer Science A

Electrical engineering

*with Data Structures.

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SILENCE

A shay lari-hosain

rmed with meager confidence, I venture into a typical, gloomy night over an Eastside street. Flickering streetlamps faintly illuminate the road. Rows of dilapidated apartments line the desolate street, and I can just make out the contours of electrical wires in the sky above me. I have enough time for a brisk but cautious walk down this particular space, which is about to become the subject for some more artwork. For a moment, I can throw aside external thoughts and rid myself of stress.

Occasionally, lone, dim light fixtures interrupt the inky blackness, casting sickly, warm glows onto the asphalt.

Yet, shrouded in darkness, I feel reasonably secure, much more so than in the daytime. With the camera already primed and sitting atop, I unfold the compact travel tripod as I amble down the back alley. f/9, ASA 100. Not how one normally goes about night photography. Especially not in places I don’t fancy lingering around for a while. I fumble with the plastic remote — an instant later, the shutter opens with a distinct click that rings across the street. Another few seconds. The more time I spend here, the more I’ll get noticed. Waiting does give me valuable time for introspection.

Or it would, if I wasn’t so preoccupied with what I’m doing.

There’s nothing quite like long exposure night photography.

I’m describing one of my many attempts to capture and express ideas I’ve been infatuated with for quite a long time — from here to Oakland to halfway across the world in Karachi. Something about this space has been drawing me back time after time.

The shutter snaps shut, signaling the end of the exposure and wrenching me back into reality. A cool breeze picks up, the only other disturbance apart from the constant, throbbing murmur of the electric lights.

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Morning and evening, my lens points at the view, and my back is toward the skyscrapers, venture capital firms and tech giants

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Wandering through the landscape of abandoned surburbia,

and deserted cities.

Exploring spaces and the history of those spaces.

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Silence

All you have is a window

Previous spread: In my head, the sight of the photograph produces a electrical whine, a singular note, emitted by the lights.

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FROM BLOSSOMS TO BUILDINGS WORDS BY Alyssa Amick & Priscilla Pan Photographs by Shay Lari-Hosain

A

BLANKET OF WHITE enveloped miles of the valley that extended as far as her eyes could see. It was summer in the Valley of Heart's Delight — she just knew. The endless blossoms signaled the end of spring and the beginning of a season where she would excitedly pick cherries. »

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ten year-old kristin giammona, now the Harker Elementary School Division Head, frequently rode her bike down the lanes of cherry orchards in her Willow Glen, San Jose neighborhood in the 1970s. Year after year, though, she noticed more and more houses replacing the fruit trees, usurping the green, empty vastness of the Valley of Heart’s Delight, which would later be known as the Silicon Valley with them.

In 1919, fruit trees were planted in approximately 12 percent of Silicon Valley’s (then the Santa Clara Valley) 839,680 acres, according to the County of Santa Clara’s database.

Vineyards made up an additional 2,850 acres, says the History of Santa Clara County.

Also, with 18 canneries, this region, with abundant job opportunities and fertile land, was one of the the largest centers for American food production until the 1960s.

Socially and economically, Silicon Valley revolved around its agrarian roots. Growing up, Giammona relished in watching the seasons change through several different fruits and vegetables.

A San Jose native, Giammona hails from a long line of Silicon Valley food workers: her father was both a broker between farms and grocery stores as well as a canner, while her mother was one of many who tinned tomatoes at a cannery. In the summer, Giamonna was surrounded by families who sold cherries grown in their yards. Several small stands, run by cash businesses, worked around the timing of the seasons throughout the popular hubs in San Jose.

“If you wanted corn, you knew to go to Almaden Expressway,” Giammona said. “There were different areas you knew; In Los Gatos, there was a dairy farm, and I remember driving up this dirt road and we’d get fresh eggs.”

In 2014, though, picking fresh produce is a rarity in Silicon Valley, as the majority of arable land has been taken over by city developers and technology companies. Nevertheless, traces of the Valley’s agricultural past linger in residents’ memories and protected expanses of land, such as, recreational orchard

gardens scattered throughout the area.

Giammona’s mother, Dorothy Scarpace, recalls spending her childhood summers cutting and drying apricots with her sister.

“It was really a very wonderful area because everybody got to work in the canneries, and you only had to be 14 years old to work in them,” Scarpace said. “We could work in the summertime and then save our money for school to buy our own clothes and such.”

It didn’t end there, though. Giammona’s maternal grandfather worked for a trucking company, where he hauled tomatoes for the brand Contadina.

Like Scarpace, fellow San Jose native Mike Bassoni was raised during Silicon Valley’s agricultural times. Bassoni, Harker all-campus facilities manager, grew up in San Jose before urbanization.

“The houses across the street from me were the end of developed San Jose [in 1947],” he said. “From that point you could run through the orchards — prune orchards and apricot orchards primarily — all the way to Blossom Hill Road.”

The early 20th century had ushered in opportunities for fruit stand workers and food brokers. The canning industry was particularly prominent after the can manufacturing process became viable during World War I. Specifically, this procedural efficiency followed the creation of the assembly line and mechanization of factories. Tin cans filled with fruit grown in Silicon Valley soil lined supermarket shelves. People even emigrated both nationally and internationally to California to find jobs in the canning industry and to be farmers.

In 1905, Bassoni’s grandfather opened a grocery store four blocks from Japantown in downtown San Jose.

“Probably 12 or 14 of my family members all worked in the canneries,” he said. “My father drove the trucks, and his brother fixed the trucks. Many of my aunts worked on the assembly line.

You had to hand-process the fruit. You literally would have an army of people watching fruit go by and see if it was bruised, or

I used to be able to get on my bicycle and within about four, six pedal strokes, I could be out in the country.

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From blossoms to buildings

Above: Such large, scattered tracts of undeveloped farmland harken back to the time of the Valley of Heart's Delight.

Left: Andy's Orchard in Morgan Hill mainly grows cherries, apricots and peaches. The owner, Andy Mariani, says business has benefited from urbanization.

maybe have a worm in it. There was no other quality control.”

According to Bassoni, the canning industry is what made San Jose originally, so much so that the Bay Area’s economy was driven by it.

That is, until the technology revolution led Silicon Valley to what we know it as today dawned.

In 1938, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began work on a product that would eventually lead to the birth of Hewlett-Packard, the company behind the well-known HP computers. With this invention, they ignited a new tech age. Soon after came the hoard of renowned tech companies that now characterize Silicon Valley — Apple; Google; Facebook; Twitter, to name a few.

In addition, the population of San Jose city has swelled from about 30,000 during Bassoni’s childhood to over a million.

“In my lifetime, I’ve seen the population of San Jose double tenfold,” Bassoni said. “I used to be able to get on my bicycle and within about four, six pedal strokes, I could be out in the country; I could be out in orchards. You can’t do that anymore.

It’s hard to escape what your generation views as just norm. If you get to a high point and you look across the valley, you see structures.”

As business offices and homes went up, the orchards and trees came down.

The technology industry also displaced the Valley’s foodbased industries such as canneries, dislodging jobs that people had relied on. According to Giammona, families were unable to keep up with the times, as canning was the only life they knew.

“Because the food industry was such a big part of my family,

it was sad to see my dad’s business kind of drop off,” Giammona said. “The images of big [and] open trucks carrying tomatoes that [we’d] see all the time in the summer, just gone.”

With the disappearance of canneries, Scarpace believed that her children missed out on first hand insight into their roots.

“I felt badly about the canneries that had to move out of the area, because that left my children without the experience that I had [working] at cutting crops and picking prunes,” she said.

Giammona also felt that a distinct, natural beauty was replaced in the Valley when its vast land was supplanted by big companies, urbanization, and other industries which placed buildings in their stead.

“I think in some ways it’s kind of sad because the valley was so green and so beautiful, and all these buildings have been built upon soil that’s very fertile,” Giammona said. “I think we’ve really lost an agricultural area that was really important to California, and now you have to import things that you could have grown here. It’s just so overbuilt, and when you visit other areas like Italy and even other states, you see that they’ve preserved those areas, and we just really haven’t. You’re wasting all this beautiful soil on building buildings on top instead of putting the housing farther out or in different areas. It’s unfortunate it wasn’t thought out; how do you do both?”

An increasing resistance to the urbanization has recently gained momentum by local farmers and ranchers, many of whose families have stayed in Silicon Valley for generations in an attempt to revive the old agrarian culture of San Jose.

The family of Harker alumna Franny Thompson owns a cattle ranch, Rancho Yerba Buena, in Evergreen, San Jose. The

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Below: Harker all-campus facilities manager Mike Bassoni, whose Silicon Valley roots date back to the turn of the 20th century when his grandfather started a grocery store in downtown San Jose.

Right: Farmland in Coyote, a community situated between San Jose and Morgan Hill in Santa Clara Valley.

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From Blossoms to Buildings

property has belonged to the family for four generations, since 1910. Although originally a dairy, the family gradually added an orchard with apricots, prunes and walnuts. Today, it focuses on beef cattle.

“We feel proud that we get to help carry on the legacy of our family's ranch,” Thompson said. “Our family has a deep rooted history in the Santa Clara Valley because of our ranch, and there is definitely a sense of feeling connected to the past and looking towards the future, which is both interesting and exciting during this ever changing time in the area.”

Despite interest from developers for their land, the Thompson family chooses to keep the property. It remains as one of the few surviving ranches in the area.

Similarly, the Corn Palace, located in Sunnyvale, has been a landmark to locals since 1926.

The 20-acre food stand co-owned by brothers Ben and Joe Francia is frequently used by their children and grandchildren to grow corn, among other produce. Despite several multimillion dollar offers to buy the land and not to mention the townhouses and condominiums encroaching on their property, the brothers refuse to part with their family’s land.

Farmers and ranchers who do not sell their Silicon Valley land cultivate it through a distinct market niche of fruit stands, grocery store produce sections, and weekly farmer’s markets.

The Old Olson Cherry Orchard, located off Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale, continues to produce cherries to this day. For

four generations, the Olson family has worked in the orchards growing cherries, and for a short while apricots and prunes.

Though their fruit stand sits in the same location it did in 1899, it now shares the same parking lot space with a nearby Chipotle, Starbucks, and a new Trader Joe’s less than 100 yards away.

Some farmers, however, have taken advantage of the urbanization. Andy Mariani, owner of Andy’s Orchard in Morgan Hill, for instance, benefited from the recent trend to consume whole and artisanal foods by easing his orchard’s transition into the technological era.

“When you have agriculture near an urban area, [you have] a different outlook,” Mariani said in a phone interview. “[I grow fruit] that you can demand a higher price for instead of just growing commodities. I’m trying to grow fruit like my parents did, but I have the advantage that this whole [food] trend has come about.”

Several towns have also set aside parks and preserves to capture the beauty of what was nearly 100 years ago, and cities have started to preserve or replant orchards. The Los Altos library sits next to Apricot trees, and Sunnyvale has a Cherry Orchard Park.

Furthermore, programs urging citizens to return to growing some of their own produce, including Silicon Valley Grows, have sprung up. Silicon Valley Grows is a group started by six local libraries to “lend” seeds to members. They plant and grow the crop, collect the seeds after harvest, and return them to the library for others to use.

In an announcement of the program, the group elaborated on

the organization’s goals.

“By growing and saving heirloom seeds, home gardeners can help maintain diversity in the food supply, preserve our cultural heritage, and generate seeds for seed libraries,” wrote Silicon

I grow fruit. To me, that's an art — orchestrating the sun and the soil.

Valley Grows on the Santa Clara County Library website.

The cultivation of the memory of Silicon Valley’s agricultural days is manifested on the Harker campus, as well. The Class of 2014 recently gifted an orchard of apricot, apple, and citrus trees to the school in honor of Jason Berry, Upper School English teacher who passed away in 2013.

“The class gifted the Orchard Garden in honor of the South Bay’s agricultural roots,” said Christopher Nikoloff, Head of School, in a school-wide email. Now, students have the opportunity to sit on benches and enjoy the beauty that once filled almost all of the Valley.

Although the technology incubator of the Silicon Valley continues to expand, those who grew up from a different legacy remember a distinct connection to the land. “I grow fruit,” Mariani said. “To me that’s an art — orchestrat[ing] the sun and the soil, [watching] people bite into it and say, ‘That’s the best fruit I’ve ever tasted.’ Or a little kid tasting [the fruit], and he says, ‘This is better than candy.’ That’s very satisfying.” f

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Video game addiction reaches international level.

WORDS BY Vivek Bharadwaj Photographs by Shay Lari-Hosain

Game On.

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P

halanxes of window-shades block the early evening sunlight from entering the small, L-shaped front room of Sunnyvale’s Euphnet Cybercafe. Eerie blue rays from an array of screens invade a dark space filled with computers and gamers, projecting their halos onto rows of male faces staring back at the monitors arranged around the perimeter of the room. On the screens, images of fantastic places, from leafy green jungles to hellish lava-filled terrains, flash by focused pairs of eyes. Football commentary for a game between UCLA and Colorado State blares on hidden speakers, and a tackled Bruins player falls to the turf on the large projection screen overlooking the room. Nobody seems to take notice. All the players sport headsets as they lean forward in sleek leather and chrome office chairs.

They hover over dark brown wooden tables, tapping the keyboards with darkly silhouetted left hands, moving computer mouse in precise, almost imperceptible motions with their right. Rapid bursts of clicks overlay the din of the football commentator every second. Besides the yellow incandescent lamp mounted to illuminate the concession counter and a blue orb light that hangs from the ceiling, the players sit glued to their games in darkness.

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Game On.

Casual gaming, e-sport tournaments, and colossal online universes beckoning for conquest: welcome to the world of Silicon Valley gaming, where the once solitary activity of playing video games has been rapidly evolving into a social one.

In fact, a 2008 study by the Pew Research Center indicates that only 25 percent of game-playing teenagers play video games alone — visual interaction is rapidly evolving into the norm instead of the exception.

At Euphnet, gamers gather to play Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG’s), in which competitors from around the world explore a single online universe together. The cafe’s arsenal of powerful computers, each armed with high-end Intel processors and dedicated chips for processing graphics, draws players looking for faster, smoother gaming experiences than they might have with their own machines. Despite their immersion in the digital multiverse, Euphnet general manager Brian Cuerdon identifies these players as “casual gamers” who don’t compete for prize money.

“There definitely is a thriving community for e-sports,” Cuerdon said. “But the [gamers here] just come in to play with friends and just to kill time rather than playing for any league, tournament, or prize money. Weekends are very crowded, more [so] towards the evening time. We get a good amount of high school kids, but now it’s more 18 to 25 year olds that are playing now.”

Situated next to a quiet suburb, Euphnet, the only selfidentified cybercafe in the Bay Area, caters to local players looking for a casual experience. However, in organized e-sport tournaments, teams of serious players compete for thousands of dollars in prize money playing games such as League of Legends

Above: Eyes glued to their screens, players in the cafe's front room maneuver their avatars through the online multiverse.

Previous page: Three gamers play a game in a back room, while a third man watches a YouTube video.

(LoL) and World of Warcraft (WoW). Opposing players scattered across continents might never meet face-to-face, but gamers from the same team wouldn’t need to see each other either.

Instead, players can control their avatars from the comfort of their homes and with a few taps of their keyboards. One e-sport tournament organizer, the High School League (HSL), offers scholarships from a large prize pool to successful high school teams. “[Each year], we’re going to bring the best teams from the around the US, Canada… they’re going to fight each other online,” HSL assistant manager James Kozachuk said. “And from there, we actually call out top teams to Grand Del Mar in [San Diego], California to play for tons of scholarship money.”

In HSL’s 2013 League of Legends playoff tournament, 620 high school teams from across the nation played in a 3-round tournament for the chance to compete at San Diego. Only the finalist teams travelled to compete in person, and the company awarded $15,000 in college scholarships to the top four finishers.

"I first got involved with HSL when I heard one of my friends talking about making an official League of Legends team.

Usually, people play League just for fun, but it was interesting to think about how we could bring gaming to the next level," League of Legends player Anthony Luo (‘16) said.

Anthony stated that he practiced around four hours a week preparing for LoL competitions but eventually left the team in his junior year to focus on schoolwork.

“I definitely can't say that I finished all of my homework before playing League, and many times the practice conflicted with the times I reserved for homework,” Anthony said. “However, by constantly checking myself from playing too much, I was able

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Left: Situated next to a quiet Sunnyvale suburb, this cafe caters local, casual gamers.

With its array of powerful machines, the cafe attracts players looking for high graphics-rendering capabilities.

to move past these conflicts and maintain a healthy balance between school and my gaming in League.”

Calvin Kocienda (‘16) also competed in HSL, playing his first tournament in his freshman year. He described the competition environment as challenging but forgiving to newcomers.

“My feelings in the first thirty seconds [of an HSL match] were of real honest anxiety, because I knew that the people in the competition were likely a lot better than me,” he said, describing an HSL tournament he competed in two years ago. “But that just made me want to win even more. Overall, I knew I would have fun, win or loss.”

Some gamers have the opportunity to continue their careers in college. This year, Robert Morris University in Illinois became the first college to provide scholarships to League of Legends players.

The finalists of HSL’s gaming tournaments find an international audience for their skills when their matches are broadcast live on the Internet. Cuerdon stated that thousands of spectators watched the HSL’s San Diego finals on the live video game streaming site, Twitch.

“There’s a lot less people that are watching our contests than are watching the best [gamers] from around the world,” Cuerdon said, estimating that 1,000 to 5,000 spectators regularly view HSL broadcasts. Anthony stated that he watches replays and live streams of games on Twitch. “[The videos] are usually the most exciting moments of the game or the most interesting parts,” Anthony said. As both a member of the chess club and a gamer, Anthony compared

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Game On.

watching a video game to viewing a chess match.

With their collaboration-friendly gameplay and massive spectator presence, games such as LoL, WoW, and Minecraft have an integral interaction component as part of their playing experience. Dr. Romeo Vitelli believes that the role-playing aspect of these games allows players to step into the shoes of different characters. “[MMORPG’s] provide an opportunity to play a role very different from our real lives - a chance to escape from reality [and] the problems we might be experiencing,” Dr. Vitelli said.

“A chance to lead a different life, basically.”

Dr. Vitelli, a psychologist working in private practice in Toronto, emphasized the potential social benefits of video games in a February 2014 story published in Psychology Today.

In the piece, he describes how video games provide a setting to practice social skill such as cooperation.

“As computing power and memory capacity grow, software becomes more sophisticated; that allows greater [social] interaction,” Dr. Vitelli said. “As younger generations and more and more people become involved, I think we’ll see more video games… in broad, mass culture.”

Whether they’re challenging the mind or providing a means to attend college, video games have become more than pastimes for a few. They grace the Museum of Modern Art. At the intersection of the physical and virtual worlds, they are contests of skill. And they continue to dominate the lives of many Silicon Valley inhabitants. f

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Between Two Worlds January 2015

Exploring Silicon Valley innovation in the fashion industry.

MEILAN STEIMLE

P

aris, Milan, New York and…

Silicon Valley?

Silicon Valley has never been on anyone’s list of best dressed cities — how could it when tech company T-shirts outnumber collared tops, and Mark Zuckerberg has replaced the professional blazer with the oh-so elegant turtleneck?

But Silicon Valley is beginning to bridge the gap between fashion and engineering, both in the new methods of clothing distribution and the increasing aesthetics of wearable technology.

In the past two years, several startups have broken the traditional Silicon Valley mold of software engineering and focused on finding innovative ways to distribute clothing.

One such startup is Le Tote, a clothing rental system that gauges a woman’s style based on clothing she picks out of a database. For only 49 dollars each month, Le Tote sends its customers two accessories and three pieces of clothing to borrow, with a retail value of at least 200 dollars. The idea is that women can keep their

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Illustration by Meilan Steimle

wardrobes fresh by maintaining a constant flow of clothing, in and out of their wardrobe. However, customers have the option to purchase pieces they particularly like for 30-50% off the original price.

Another startup that takes a fresh approach to vending apparel is Twice, a company that standardizes secondhand shopping. Users who want to sell ship their clothes to Twice, where each garment is checked into a warehouse and immediately paid for. Twice then resells the garments online, increasing convenience and decreasing the risk of second hand shopping.

Calvin Young, one of the founders of Twice, grew up wearing secondhand clothes. He and co-founder Noah Ready-Cambell wanted to expand the opportunities for consumers to buy secondhand. “It seems like the kind of thing that should be more common than it is,” he said of buying and selling clothing secondhand.

“There are a lot of social and environmental benefits of it; it keeps clothes out of landfill and encourages reuse in general. It’s something we’re both very passionate about.”

Twice, which has previously only carried women’s apparel, will be opening a men’s section of the website sometime next month.

Silicon Valley is also taking a larger role in producing fashion. In the past year, the worlds of wearable technology and high fashion have grown significantly closer together.

Google recently released the “DVF | Made for Glass” collection, that “brings chic eyewear designs by iconic American fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg to the Glass Explorer Program,” according to the Google press release.

Google is not alone. Intel produced a luxury bracelet that “celebrates what can happen when beauty meets intelligence,” according to its product description on Intel’s website. MICA, which stands for My Intelligent Communications Accessory, combines a touchscreen for messages and alerts, among other features, with an elegant 18 Karat gold finish. Intel partnered with Open Ceremony to design the bracelet, which retails for $495.

Silicon Valley may not be a hotspot of the traditional fashion industry, but it still plays an active role in changing the way clothes are sold and used. f Meilan is the Opinion Editor of the Winged Post. Contact her at 17meilans@students.harker.org.

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