HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT! Read on pg. 12
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ANTHRO
Palo Alto High School’s Social Activism Magazine
MISSION STATEMENT
The ultimate goal of Anthro Magazine, Paly’s social activism publication, is to create a platform and forum for students to express their opinions and voices. Social activism is bringing issues into the spotlight to spread awareness and create change in society. On this platform, we will promote unity, diversity and respect. As a publication, we aim to be inclusive but do not tolerate hate speech or the targeting of individuals. We hope to highlight issues that we see in our community, create a safe place to discuss these issues and make sure that student voices are heard.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Dear Readers,
Our last issue and the first issue of the year was released in October. We successfully distributed half of our copies, but unfortunately, the other half was accidentally put in the recycling bin and was recycled. We as the staff were, of course, devastated. Despite this, we decided to persevere and work hard on our next issue, this issue. We’re very excited to present our hard work and determination in our second issue of the year! As anyone living in the Bay Area would know, finding housing here is very difficult. In our cover story, Housing Is a Human Right, staff writers Karlene Salas and Gwyneth Wong explore and dive deep into the many aspects of the affordable housing crisis. After that, we have a gallery of the murals in the infamous Clarion Alley of San Francisco, with insightful artist interviews. Lastly, we have a powerful poem following the lockdown incidents in Palo Alto High School and around the world by guest writer Sky Croce. —Michaela Seah, Editor-in-chief
DECEMBER 2019 VOLUME 2 ISSUE 2 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michaela Seah MANAGING EDITORS Josephine Andersen Juliana Griswold BUSINESS MANAGER Gwyneth Wong DESIGN EDITOR Jacqueline Lai MARKETING DIRECTOR Karlene Salas PHOTO EDITOR Anya Lassila GUEST WRITERS Sky Croce Vienna Lee Lily DeAndre ADVISER Paul Kandell ON THE COVER Writers Karlene Salas and Gwyneth Wong explore the Bay Area housing Crisis in their story, “Housing is a Human Right.” Photo by Karlene Salas. Art by Michaela Seah
CONNECT
@anthro.magazine issuu.com/anthro.magazine anthromagazine.paly@gmail.com
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Contents 4
Murals in SF
6 SJP 7 Debatable 8 Parachute Kid 10 A Little Too Late
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Housing is a Human Right
16 Impencement 18
Investing in Education
20 Book Review 21 Roll Call
Publication Policy Anthro, a social activism magazine published by the students in Palo Alto High School magazine incubator class, is a designated open forum for student expression and discussion of issue of concern to its readership. Anthro has distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost.
Letters to the Editors The staff welcomes letters to the editors that reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy and obsenity. Send all letters to anthromagazine. paly@gmail.com or to 50 Embarcadero Road Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Advertising The staff publishes advertisements with signed contracts providing they are not deemed by the staff inappropriate for the magazine’s audience. For more information about advertising with Anthro, please email us at anthromagazine.paly@gmail.com or through our adviser at 650-329-3837 for more information.
Printing & Distribution Anthro is printed by aPrintis in Pleasanton, California. The Anthro staff will distribute copies around the Palo Alto High School campus. All Anthro work is available at anthromagazine.org.
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“My work is a joyful celebration of queer love... My hope is that my murals will make queer people feel seen, loved, and less alone. I also aim to present queer love in a bright, joyful way so that it can’t be equated with something evil or inappropriate. Queer people experience sweet romance just like people in heterosexual relationships and they deserve the same acknowledgment and celebration.” — Crystal Vievula Art featured at Clarion Alley
Street Artivism Design by ANYA LASSILA and KARLENE SALAS Photos by ANYA LASSILA Text by MICHAELA SEAH At the intersection of art and activism, anger, hope, and power inspire street murals of all kinds. Throughout human history, art has always been used as a form of self-expression and as a tool for change. Anthro interviewed street artists in San Francisco to get the story behind their inspiration and passion, and how they hope to create change through their art.
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San Francisco Mission District’s Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) is home to dozens of murals promoting compassion, respect, and social justice. The project was founded in 1992 with the focus of social inclusiveness and aesthetic variety. Murals at the site call attention to the truths and weaknesses of San Francisco and the world at large using profound symbolism and visuals as a force for change. Clarion Alley, though recently burdened by San Francisco’s growing gentrification, continues to be an inspiring example of the power of art in times of political turmoil and social injustice.
“Marina Perez [and I] are both partners and both discovered that we love painting large murals that are accessible to the people. ...All of our pieces are personal. We try to represent the way the neighborhood is, we wanted to bring some nature into the neighborhood. ...All of this is Aztec imagery. ...The moon goddess, the flowers, and the hummingbird, which represents the war god. Right now Marina is battling breast cancer, and, like the moon goddess, we are trying to put Marina back together.” — Elaine Chu
“Since 2000, I have used public murals and street art as a strategy for reaching large audiences to deliver social and political messaging... For the past 10+ years, much of my work has addressed the need for a fundamental shift from free-market Capitalism that puts profit before all else and negatively impacts the environment, health, and wellbeing of all... Much of my work is no longer in existence because it was never meant to be permanent. [This forces] the viewer, as well as myself, to let go of any expectations of its monetary worth. [Doing this] is integral to my practice—to challenging myself in ways that are always pushing me to evolve, including the creation of work that’s impermanent.” — Megan Wilson Art featured at Clarion Alley
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Text/design by ANYA LASSILA
Photos by JOSEPHINE ANDERSEN
FEARLESS FILMMAKERS: Sophomore students in Lizzie Dekraai’s SJP English class work on their movie treatments for their documentaries responding to this year’s CSPAN film project prompt: “What’s Your Vision for 2020?”
C-SPAN, Urban Planning, Top SJP Agenda
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What’s happening in the Social Justice Pathway
rapping up the first semester in the sixth year of the Social Justice Pathway, projects are now in full swing. The English and history project-based learning program has now hosted multiple guest speakers, gone on educational field trips, and completed various projects both in and out of the normal class curriculum. Speaking about what she hopes for students in the pathway, English teacher Lizzie DeKraai says “I hope that they [the students] feel empowered and realize that there are outcomes for their lives where they can be really successful and still create change to fight against injustice in our country and in our world.”
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What’s Happened?
Guest Speakers
Field Trips • Nov. 7 — Juniors visited the Muslim Community Association for a tour and presentation on issues that the Muslim community faces. • Nov. 19 — Sophomores visited the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to learn about the judicial branch. Projects Seniors • Urban Planing Project — Students participated in a highly structured simulation where they formed development teams and designed a building plan that meets a city’s needs while also turning a profit. Juniors • Artificial Consciousness — Students considered and defined consciousness in order to design any form of an artificial consciousness that would theoretically combat a social justice issue. • Religion Presentations — students chose a religion to research and present on. Sophomores • Class Constitution — The cohort created a class constitution, learning about the U.S. government and strengthening collaboration skills in the process. • CSPAN Project — students are making a documentary about what issue they want 2020 presidential candidates to address, responding to the CSPAN prompt: “What’s Your Vision for 2020?”
PAUSD School Board member Shounak Dharap talked about how the U.S. government works, going all the way down to the local level.
DECEMBER 2019
Holocaust survivor Ben Stern spoke a bout his experiences and the importance of maintaining compassion and empathy in dark moments. San Jose Museum of Art’s Art in the Dark presentation will come to the Social Justice Pathway to teach students about art in multiple mediums. (tentative)
What’s Up Next? Field Trips • Dec. 7 — Juniors will visit the Museum of Modern Art for their unit on aesthetics. Projects Juniors • Symposium Project — Students will be assigned either a social justice topic or a population to research and present with an interactive set-up at the annual SJP Symposium. Sophomores • Junk Coutre — Students will research the effects of colonialism on a certain country, come up with a metaphor to illustrate these effects, and design a dress embodying this metaphor.
Design by ANYA LASSILA
DEBATABLE:
CANCEL CANCEL CULTURE CULTURE CULTURE
This is Anthro Magazine's debatable, where Palo Alto High School students share their opposing views on an issue. This issue's topic is cancel culture, a form of boycotting of public figures, pronouncing them “cancelled.” This may involve them losing hundreds of followers, losing their revenue, or being pushed out of social or professional circles. Recently, the effectiveness and ethics of cancel culture have been questioned, so we asked some Paly students to weigh in. If you are interested in participating in our next debatable, contact anthromagazine.paly@gmail.com
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n a world where celebrities have the ability to influence their fans, cancel culture has given society a way to make a difference in the online community. Since social media is one of the only ways a follower can publicly disagree with an entertainer or influencer, the online trend of “canceling” someone has become more prevalent. The act of unfollowing an entertainer gives people a feeling of pride and power in knowing that they have taken a stand against something they don’t agree with. By canceling influencers, followers set an unspoken rule to act morally for others who’d like to remain or become popular in the future. However, being cancelled isn’t always permanent. By using their platform, influencers can work to redeem their reputation. An influencer who has recently been cancelled, but redeemed herself, is Summer Mckeen. The YouTuber with over two million subscribers had been advocating for kindness to her YouTube audience, as well as advising them not to vape. However, her private Instagram got leaked revealing controversial videos in which she was vaping, mocking her fans and making racist comments. This resulted in Mckeen receiving hateful comments from follow-
ers and flack from other influencers. Although she has since regained some of her audience, she was temporarily cancelled because of her actions. This shows that cancel culture doesn’t have to be permanent. A huge benefit of cancel culture is its immediacy. The followers have the power to end someone’s career in a period as short as 24 hours. Take the scandal that cost James Charles, an openly gay beauty influencer on YouTube, three million followers. His decline began after Tati Westbrook, a fellow beauty influencer, accused him of romantically pursuing openly straight men. Then a waiter that Charles had met at a party, released a YouTube video saying that they had hung out and kissed one night when he was confused about his sexual orientation. However, the waiter decided he was straight, which apparently upset Charles, who texted the waiter, “You’re not straight no matter how many times you tell yourself and I hope you figure that out sooner rather than later.” In the first 24 hours of this scandal, Charles lost around 3 million followers. The number of people who unfollowed Charles was so huge that he was deemed canceled. Overall, cancel culture proves to be beneficial to society as it promotes moral behavior and gives all influencers a warning to act virtuously if they desire to remain popular.
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urrounded by tech giants Facebook and Youtube, the 21st century is dubbed the social media age. With the growing companies’ popularity and influence, social media has become a staple in many teens’ lives, spreading the good and the bad to the world. Despite social media’s many benefits of connectivity, it also creates an issue of toxic culture. More specifically called cancel culture. It’s safe to say, not one person wants to wake up and find, due to a small mistake, the whole digital world has officially ended their reputation. Yes, it’s hard to deny that sometimes it’s funny to watch a YouTuber’s comments blow up and subscriber count fall, but the issue of cancel culture is much more than that. Online entertainers make a living off of followers and views and without those, likely their career could end. Many people also often connect the idea of cancel culture to activism. An article released by the New York Times also details the
By LILY DeANDRE
cons of cancel culture in an interview from the Obama Foundation Summit in 2019 with former President Barack Obama. “That’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change,” Obama said in the interview. “If all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get that far. That’s easy to do.”’ Obama sums it up precisely. Activism is not the same as cancel culture. Activists strive for change, more specifically positive change for the benefit of others. Cancel culture is the opposite, using a platform to take down others and to attack or boycott an idea or person. If we hope to create a world free from hate, calling others out is not the solution. Instead, we should fight for the ideals we believe in peacefully. Taking action by participating in marches is a form of activism and a way to express one’s point mildly, applicable to social media and in the real world. With social media a daily staple in our lives, it’s important to consider the line between activism and cancel culture and the idea of bringing about change in our world.
CON
By VIENNA LEE
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The PARACHUTE KID The untold tale of student immigrants 8
DECEMBER 2019
Text/Design by MICHAELA SEAH
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t’s 1979 in Los Angeles. You wake up in a quiet house, in a foreign land with an unfamiliar language. You take the bus, you buy groceries, alone. Your parents? A mere 7,000 miles away. This was the everyday life of my mother when she came to the US with her brother at the age of 13, from Hong Kong. “Parachute kids” such as my mom, are kids who have been dropped off in a foreign country while their parents stay in the home country. This phenomenon is far from dying out. In fact, the number of parachute kids only continues to grow. is especially relevant to the Chinese community and California, as a quarter of these parachute kids land in either Los Angeles or the Bay Area. According to the Los Angeles Times, the number of Chinese students in American middle and high schools has skyrocketed from 1,200 to 52,000 in the past decade, the percentage of Asians in Palo Alto High School alone went up from 27% to 37%. Although the reasons for becoming a parachute kid differ, a majority of them come in pursuit of the American education system, and hopefully a diploma from one of America’s top universities as reported by the New York Times and the South Morning China Post. As to be expected when children are left without their parents in a new environment, there is a sense of melancholy that not even a degree from a prestigious school could heal. My mother, a proud UCLA graduate can attest to that. Even though interviewing a relative for a feature goes against Journalism norms, I knew that my mom, as an ex-parachute kid, would have an intimate perspective on the issue. “It [was] pretty quiet at home.” my mom, Marian, told me. “Not scary, but quiet. So I just want to be with people. If not then I’ll turn on the TV so there is sound.” This deafening silence
was a constant reminder of vulnerability. “There’s no moral guidance. You see some of your friends trying to join gangs and you try not to do that. You try to find teachers or church counselors to guide what is right was wrong.” My mom’s unique experience of being a parachute kid had altered her life and continues to do so. “I lost that childhood that you’re supposed to have and that closeness that with your parents.” She says. Not all of the damages of neglection were mental. Because of the need to belong and the need for guidance, my mom said that falling into substance abuse and crime were all too common.
all the immigrants so you don’t feel so isolated in language,” she says. “We learned how to cook rice, clean dishes, boil water and we did homework together. We would hang out in the restaurant eating french fries, and we talked and we talked and talked until like maybe 4 a.m. Then, we’ll go to school at 7 a.m.” My mom is still close to her friends today, 30 years later. A lot has changed since my mom came to America. Current day parachute kids have access to apps that make it easier to stay in touch with family, and video tutorials that could help kids learn how to be independent. Nowadays, most parachute kids stay with a friend of a family, or if they aren’t so lucky, a stranger from the internet paid $1,000 a month to house the kid, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. My mom says, however, that there are some aspects of the experience that still endure today. “Parents want their kids to have a better future, but they neglected the psychological and mental development of the kids who are forced to assimilate into a foreign culture with no connections, [who are] relying on strangers or acquaintances,” says Seah. “Not all kids can survive. It’s painful to feel like you are neglected at such an early age. That vulnerability will affect your whole life.” She says. “Like how to rely on yourself and your self-confidence. Especially if you are here illegally, there’s a lot of things that you cannot share with other people and that’s a lot of stress for kids.” When asked if it was all worth it, her answer was honest. She doesn’t know if her life would be better or worse if she stayed in Hong Kong. However, she is certain of the impacts of the experience on her life and on the lives of the next generation of parachute kids.
“Not all kids can survive. It’s painful to feel like you are neglected at such an early age.”
—Marian Seah, an ex-parachute kid
“One of my friend’s parents owned a dry cleaning shop in Hong Kong. They could only come for half a year at a time, the other half they were not home. The brother got involved in drugs, alcohol, and also a lot of parties and a lot of gang recruitment,” she says. Despite all of the turmoil around her and within herself, my mom claims the experience did offer some benefits. She was lucky to have landed in an area with many other parachute kids, and they were able to create a community in the Chinese-speaking church. “We had a community of Mandarin and Cantonese-[speaking] people. There were a lot of them so we would gather with
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IT'S NOT
TOO LATE
The YouTube star's path to late night comedy
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atching "A Little Late with Lilly Singh," I am reminded of endless hours I spent scrolling through the YouTube profile of "iiSuperwomanii" looking for videos in 2015, in anticipation for her “12 Collabs of Christmas," where she invites celebrities to participate in her relatable holiday skits. Everytime I clicked on a video I was greeted by Singh with her signature “Wall of Happiness” in the background. Originally, Lilly Singh created this wall in 2012 as part of one of her first project challenges to her viewers called Project Positive. Behind Singh, a poster of Rosie the Riveter and other posters of inspirational feminist quotes can be seen, perpetuating the idea of a quirky, relatable and “woke” Singh. A YouTuber who garnered almost 15 million subscribers and 3 billion views, Singh is best known by her former channel screenname, "iiSuperwomanii". On Aug. 13, Singh announced on Instagram that she would be dropping her iconic screen name “iiSuperwomanii” and change it to solely “Lilly Singh.” She captioned a posted photo of herself stating how it has been “heartwarming and empowering” to hear people address her as Superwoman as it is a name she worked so hard to live up to. However as she has grown, she feels “even more empowered by the name Lilly” and feels that “Lilly has become an even bigger hero than Superwoman” in her life and it is time to “lay the cape to rest.” This was just as she was launching her new show, A Little Late with Lilly Singh on NBC. Singh’s most popular video content on YouTube comprises of her sketch comedy and celebrity collaborations, so her transition to latenight television seems only natural. In 2016, she played roles in movies "Ice Age: Collision Course" and "Bad Moms" and even released her feature documentary, "A Trip to Unicorn Island." She also started her #Girl Love campaign with the purpose of promoting education for girls with profits from sales of Rafiki bracelets made by women in Kenya. On March 28, 2017, she published her #1 New York Times Bestselling book How
to Be a Bawse: A Guide to Conquering Life. She even released her highly rated red liquid lipstick named after the term that she coined in her book, Bawse. According to her book, a Bawse is “a person who exudes confidence, reaches goals, gets hurt efficiently, and smiles genuinely because they've fought through it all and made it out the other side.” Her experience as a YouTuber and her contributions to the society as a public figure make her a candidate that is more than qualified to host a late night show. Whether it’s late at night and viewers are looking to watch their favorite comedians make witty jokes about current politics or if they want to see their favorite celebrities answering questions about their upcoming projects (movies, books, campaigns, etc.), late night comedy shows are a primary TV destination for late night comedy about political mishaps both to educate and entertain the public after a long day at work. Conventionally hosted by straight white men, the list of late night show hosts are not representative of the diversity in the U.S.. Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS are just two popular late night shows that comment on current topics and issues. But, being white men, many minorities might not relate to the issues that they discuss. A Little Late with Lilly Singh began airing on September 19, marking Singh’s official television debut as the first late-night show host to be a bisexual woman of color thereby breaking the norm of late night TV hosts. Like her male counterparts, Singh begins her show with the customary monologue and follows with celebrity interviews. Earning two stars on IMDb, Singh’s show has accumulated a range of different responses, many of which are negative. Many of these reviews refer to her first episode’s opening monologue in which her recurring punchline is that she is labeled in the media as a “bisexual woman of color, and even goes as far as stating that she should even change
"A YouTuber who garnered almost 15 million subscribers and 3 billion views, Singh is best known by her former channel screen name, 'iiSuperwomanii.'"
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LILLY SINGH
Text/design by JACQUELYN LAI Art by AMY YU
her show to “A Little Late with Bisexual Woman of Color.” Sure, this is a monumental moment in history, but Singh ensures that her first episode will be remembered as the disappointment of the associated communities. She preaches that she is progressive and that she is different. However, in this monologue, she repeats the same joke over and over again further disproving her message that she will bring a distinctive take to the world. Singh also calls out the white people of the audience saying that seeing “someone like her” hosting a TV show is “terrifying” and that they think that minorities will take their jobs, offending many in her audience, leading to many of her negative reviews. She feeds into the stereotype that minorities are coming for white people’s jobs, but her message is not delivered effectively. Through her show, Singh is given a platform to deep-dive into hard-hitting issues that are relevant now, but Singh rarely uses it to give her occasional commentary on societal matters she is interested in. Singh says that she wants to help pave the way for girls to accomplish their goals. As a woman of color, I feel that she could do a lot more to represent women of color other than her occasional relatable skit. Singh is in a unique position because she is a woman of color who is also part of the LGBT community. Therefore, her opinions on big issues like the current presidential administration would be representative of the female opinion which could differ from those from the sea of male late night hosts. Her monologues center around personal experiences and relies solely on their relatability to boost her joke’s delivery, rather than critical punch lines addressing important issues that she is passionate about like sexism, homophobia and racism. NBC asserts that her show will bring a unique perspective to latenight, even though it is merely an extension of her YouTube channel. Singh discusses the same topics through means that are hardly different from her usual content on her channel—opinionative sketches and monologues— but is broadcasting to a larger audience.
Her jokes aren’t groundbreaking, but she has a distinctive sense of humor as she is a millennial which can be shocking to an audience is likely more mature considering the time that her show airs (1:40 a.m. on weeknights). Although Singh’s show is not short of the occasional flaw, her success is impressive. Late night has needed a voice representing the women of the U.S. and this voice is embodied in Lilly Singh, a bisexual late night performer, entertainer, and representative of the colored and LGBT community whose origins and rise exemplify the need for more awareness of the views of unique, under-represented people in the United States.
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Photo by ANYA LASSILA
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Text/design by KARLENE SALAS and GWYNETH WONG
Exploring the depths of the Affordable Housing Crisis in the Bay Area Affordable Housing Crisis
The Bay Area. Home of numerous tech companies and innovations. These factors entice people to move to the Bay Area, but only a lucky few who have struck gold are able to stay. With Bay Area real estate prices on an exponential rise, many struggle to find affordable housing, especially those who don’t make more than six figures a year. California’s infamous reputation for its pricey houses is known to many. According to USA Today, nine out of 10 cities with the most expensive rent in the United States are located in California. In a report made by Edelman Trust Barometer, 76% of people in the Bay Area say cost and availability of housing are a problem and 62% say homelesssness is a very serious issue. Not surprisingly, living at the heart of innovation and technology comes at a price. According to Business Insider, San Francisco is the second most expensive place to live in the U.S. Its median house price is a skyrocketing $1.3 million, compared to the national housing price of $315,000. To afford the high price tag, the average household income in San Francisco is $96,677, double the national median household income. While a six-figure salary is plentiful in most cities, the addition of federal and state taxes and high rent in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley leave many on the brink of homelessness or with a wish to move elsewhere. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition there’s a supply gap of more than 157, 500 affordable and available units for low-income households in Santa Clara county alone as of 2017. Twothirds of these low-income households live in rental accommodations that they struggle to afford, leaving them one unexpected expense away from entering homelessness. “We’re headed to a future where the middle class won’t be able to raise families here, where restaurants increasingly will close because they can’t hire workers, where
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9 out of 10 most expensive cities to rent in the US are located in California — USA Today
2/3 of low income households live in rental accomodations they struggle to afford — National Low Income Housing Coalition
Photos by KARLENE SALAS
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teachers and police officers can’t live anywhere near where they work,” Scott Weiner, San Francisco State Senator, said in a USA Today article. “We need a much greater sense of urgency.” One solution to this crisis is to simply add more supply. McKinsey & Co. estimated in 2016 that the state would need close to 3.5 million more homes by the middle of the next decade. A recent analysis estimated that it would take until 2050 to meet this goal. A second solution is Assembly Bill 1482, proposed this year by the California legislature. The bill signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom limits rent control by imposing either a 5% or 10% annual cap above the rate of inflation on rent increases, as well preventing property owners from pursuing evictions without a government approved reason. Former President Jimmy Carter, who has been advocating for affordable housing rights said “I don’t see how a family can enjoy other human rights like freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to vote, if they live in a disreputable place of which they are ashamed and makes their family lower their standard of ethical and moral values.”
Technology, Stanford, and all things Palo Alto
Two of the world’s biggest tech companies – Apple and Hewlett - Packard–were founded in Silicon Valley out of a small garage. These companies became wildly successful and attracted other tech giants like Tesla and Twitter and numerous tech work-
ers across the country, effectively making the area today close to worth $2.8 trillion dollars. Although it is widely labeled for its cutting edge technology, big businesses, and startups, the untold reality is that the majority struggle with the high cost of living. From Feb. 23 to March 1, Blind, an anonymous community app, conducted a poll with 3,000 tech workers. The anonymous social network found that 70% of the people polled said they could not afford housing near their work. Although big tech companies like Google and Facebook offer incentives to prevent workers from being priced out, many still find that the hefty price tag that comes with housing in Silicon Valley is too steep. Like San Francisco, the city of Palo Alto located in the heart of Silicon Valley also shares the same housing and homelessness problems seen in San Francisco. According to Palo Alto Online published in July of 2019, the percentage of homeless people living in their vehicles has more than doubled in the past two years, accounting for 18% of the county’s unhoused population. The shocking statistic reveals that the housing affordability has made the city of Palo Alto increasingly economically segregated. As a result, many low-income workers in Palo Alto have been forced into less desirable cities like Belle Haven or East Palo Alto, which are seen as such because of high crime rates and poorer facilities, schools, etc. On Nov. 2016, Stanford University applied for a developmental general use permit, GUP, which would have increased
the severity of the housing crisis. According to Palo Alto Daily, the application planned to add 3.5 million square feet of academic space, 3,150 housing units, and 40,000 square feet of childcare facilities and other support spaces on the campus through 2035. The expansion would have allowed for more than 9,000 students and employees on campus. Although the City of Palo Alto approved the expansion, Stanford and The City of Palo Alto could not reach an agreement about how much more Stanford would have to pay to mitigate its effects on the community. SCoPE, Stanford Coalition for Planning an Equitable 2035, was a student-led activist group that planned to hold Stanford accountable in the planning process of the university’s campus development plans. On Oct. 22, SCoPE organized a rally which brought 150 students, 400 spectators and 140 speakers together to advocate the need for more housing and transportation services in Stanford’s controversial proposal. Some of the people who spoke were faculty of Stanford, Stanford students and members of the School District Board. On Nov. 2019, Stanford withdrew their GUP application, citing the county’s proposed traffic requirements and dispute with the county over a development agreement.
“We have taken this step with regret, but with a clear-eyed understanding of the challenges before us in achieving a successful long-term permit at this time,” Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne stated, recalling their request for a development agreement which will guarantee that the conditions of their permit will not change in exchange for community benefits. With Stanford’s pulling of the GUP, SCoPE no longer needed to exist. Shelby Parks of SCoPE said SCoPE did not see the withdrawal as a victory. “We do want to see Stanford go through with this project, just in a way that includes all members of our community and mechanisms to offset the negative impacts,” Parks said. “We’re disappointed that Stanford has halted the plan altogether, instead of trying to make the permit work for the stakeholders involved.” There are many factors playing into the development of the Bay Area housing crisis. The Bay Area has a reputation for offering a plethora of opportunity–with a cost. “A lot of people don’t look at housing as a human right, but it is,” Carter said, “To have a decent place to live is a basic human right.”
“We need a much greater sense of urgency.” — Scott Weiner, State Senator
As of 2017, Silicon Valley is a $2.8 trillion neighborhood — Business Insider
18% of the county’s homeless population live in their cars — Palo Alto Online
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ImPENCEment
What the vice president’s policies would do to our nation
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ince the announcement of his candidacy in 2015, President Donald Trump has told falsehoods to the American people and betrayed the Constitution time and time again, never receiving any repercussions. As of October, the President has made 13,435 misleading claims during his time in office, according to the Washington However, with the occurrence and recent leak of the Ukraine scandal, impeachment hearing and eventual removal has become a possible scenario, and with it, so does the possibility of Mike Pence becoming president. If Trump’s removal is successful, the role of president falls on current Vice President Mike Pence, according to Article two, Section one of the Constitution. If the American people were to receive this new leader, either now or during the elections of 2025, it is important to understand what the count r y will
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look like under the new circumstances. However, throughout Trump’s presidency, Mike Pence has remained in the shadows, showing little of his personal political advocacy which leaves the question of what exactly the government would look like, ultimately unanswered. “You look at [Pence] and the way he acts, the way he talks, and he seems like a normal politician,” Isabel Armstrong, President of Palo Alto High School’s Democrat’s Club, said. “He doesn’t tweet crazy things or he is just not as unique, for a lack of a better term, as Trump is.” Pence began his political career in 1988 running for the House of Representatives in Indiana. Although his political career got off to a rocky start, after being accused of using campaign funds for personal expenses in 1988 and running a negative campaign ad against his opponent in the 1990 House election, Pence was finally successful during the 2000 election. During his 12 years as a House Representative, he introduced 90 bills and resolutions, none of which became law. It was not until 2013 when Mike Pence became the Gov-
ernor of Indiana. By looking back at his politics during his time as Indiana’s Governor, Pence’s political and social ideology displays itself to be extremely religiously driven. During his incumbency, Pence advocated and successfully passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana. The bill’s purpose was to protect the free exercise of religion for individuals and coorporations, but also allowed for the discrimi-
“Pence’s political and social ideology displays itself to be extremely religiously driven.” nation against the LGBT community. This meant businesses in Indiana were legally permitted to turn down customers based on their sexual orientation. This bill also demonstrated the negative impact Pence had on at least one part of Indiana’s economy. After it was established it was met with mass criticism from around the country, which resulted in big corporations, such as Salesforce, reducing their spending in the state in protest, according to a Huffington Post article from 2016. The state ended up spending over $2 million on a public rela-
Text/design by JOSEPHINE ANDERSEN Art by AMY YU
IMPEACH NOW Hundreds gather in San Francisco’s Union Square to protest the current administration in the height of the President’s impeachment investigation. The nationwide organization Refuse Fascism is pushing for the immediate removal of President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence. “Our slogan says Trump and Pence must go, and we are very serious about that,” Barry Thornton, member of Refuse Fasism, said. Photos by Anya Lassila. tions firm to help rebuild its image. This kind of politics, if it is brought with Pence to his potential presidency, could be detrimental to the Constitution, especially when it comes to his religion. According to his critics, President Trump has ruled based on his own self-interest and presents himself as highly conservative, only to receive support from the Republican Party. This hypocrisy can be seen from the actions the president took before announcing his candidacy. In 1989, Trump co-hosted a pro-choice fundraiser at the Plaza Hotel in New York, but his opinion drastically changed in 2015 when, during the first Republican debate, he said being pro-life was something he was “very, very proud” of. Pence, however, is a is a religious zealot who wants his religion reflected through the law. Even during Trump’s presidential campaign, Pence was quoted proclaiming himself as “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order” during his acceptance of the Republican vice presidential nomination in 2016. This makes it clear that the vice president
has no interest in fighting for the separation of church and state, despite the Constitution’s restriction, according to an article from the civil rights non-profit organization Lambda Legal.
“There’s a fascist movement in this country, and a significant part of it which is not recognized is Christian fascism,” —Barry Thornton, member of Refuse Fascism
“There’s a fascist movement in this country, and a significant part of it which is not recognized is Christian fascism,” Barry Thornton, a member of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Refuse Fascism told Anthro, “hard core fundamentalists, who a lot of them have an explicit agenda of ending the
separation of church and state. Pence is in that camp.” Refuse Fascism, is a national organization pushing for the removal of the entire Trump administration, or as they call it, the Trump and Pence Regime, and have been active since the president’s inauguration in 2016. The group, who believe Trump and Pence to be fascist leaders, took to the streets in protest every Sunday for five weeks, beginning in October. The protests took place simultaneously, in multiple destinations around the country, including San Francisco. “Our slogan says Trump and Pence must go, and we are very serious about that,” Thornton said. “We mean more than simply Trump and Pence in that matter, there’s a whole bunch of really fascist people in the cabinet.” Although Pence, for many, would in no way be the optimal president for this country, his time spent hiding behind Trump has proven to benefit his appearance in the public eye. People might relax for a little bit and not be as aggressive,” Armstrong said. “Then, he might be able to achieve more action.”
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Investing in
E DUCA
Early childhood education and its implications for the future
ment, I think all the evidence is really clear that providing all children with quality preschool experience is going to be what saves us money in the long run,” McDaniel says. This return comes from the implications that going to preschool has. By attending preschool children are less likely to drop out of high school or get in trouble with the law, according to McDaniel. While some people can afford to send their children to PreSchool, it is not an economic reality for many American families. In 2017, center-based infant care was reported to cost more than college tuition in 28 states, according to Child n an ideal world, universal child care would Care Aware of America. give every child equal opportunity from birth. While On average, American couples are reported to spend all states in the US have their own education system, nearly 30% of their income to pay for child care, while single they all follow the basic model of K-12. However, this parents spend over 50%, according to the Organisation for model fails to recognize the most important years of a Economic Co-operation and Development, an intergovernchild’s development, from birth to age five. mental economic organization. Universal child care would fill this gap in the system. “There’s this notion that taking care of babies is easy, or From birth, all children that it doesn’t require a lot would have an opportuniof formal training or educaty to learn and grow in an tion because anyone can beenvironment that would come a parent, and so maybe foster development for all, the parent can stay home,” regardless of social status. McDaniel says. “While that Preschool has been would be lovely and ideal, shown to have many posithat’s not an economic retive impacts in a child’s life, ality for a lot of people, and according to Hilary Mcthen the choices that working -Hilary McDaniel, Early Childhood parents have to make about Daniel, Early Childhood Development teacher where to send their children Development teacher at Palo Alto High School. while they are at work be“Children who go to PreSchool are more likely to stay in come really difficult.” school, get good jobs [and] be successful,” McDaniel says. “It Child care costs are even deterring parents from having just has so many long-term benefits.” more children. According to the New York Times, 64% of These positive effects in a child’s life also pay off eco- American parents cite the high cost of child care as to why nomically. In a study done by American economist James they are having fewer children. Heckman, it was proven that investments in early childHowever, it’s not just the costs of child care. In preschool, hood education provide a 7% to 10% return. children are presented with their first opportunities to grow “If you’re talking about that type of return on invest- into successful people in a safe environment. By providing
I
“All the evidence is really clear that providing all children with quality preschool experience is going to be what saves us money in the long run.”
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Text/design by JULIANA GRISWOLD Art by AMY YU
AT I ON all children with certain educational standards that universal child care would, it ensures all children an equal start from the beginning of their life. Universal child care has become one of Democratic frontrunner Elizabeth Warren’s main policies. On her campaign website’s front page, Warren declares that “universal child care should be a fundamental right.” This bold statement is surprisingly not very radical. Developed nations worldwide have programs of universal child care in place. For example, Austria and Greece are just two countries where couples spend less than 4% of their income on child care due to government benefits and programs, according to the OECD. All that’s left is spreading the program across the United
States so everybody can reap the benefits. One way to encourage this possibility is endorsing Warren. Her campaign provides an outline for her Universal Child Care and Early Learning plan, a program that if implemented would provide free or affordable high-quality child care for all. Political opinions aside, the value of child care is undeniable, from economic to individual benefits. “What we need to realize as a society is that when everyone does better, it raises everyone up all together,” McDaniel says. “You do need to be concerned about the children who don’t have access to pay for it, because our society will be so much better when everyone has that opportunity [to child care].”
ECE Statistics Child care is more expensive than college in 28 states 64% of Americans cite high child care costs as to why they are having less kids Investments in early childhood education have a 7% to 10% return rate ANTHROMAGAZINE.ORG
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A Story of Endurance
Text/design by JOSEPHINE ANDERSEN
New memoir displays the journey of sexual assault survivor, Chanel Miller
F
or years, Chanel Miller was testified against Brett Kavanaugh in front of pressured to conceal her true iden- Congress during the hearings to confirm his tity out of fear from the humiliation placement as a U.S Supreme Court Justice. and shame society accompanies Blasey Ford's role in these hearings is referwith a survivor of sexual assault. Instead, enced by Miller to demonstrate the impact Miller used the pseudonym “Emily Doe” in speaking out can make. an attempt to separate her life from the trauMiller also references the #MeToo movematic events of her past. ment, which was most prevalent in 2017, It wasn’t until this September when Miller during the events of the book, relating it revealed her identity, publishing “Know My to the themes throughout the memoir. One Name,” a memoir displaying her emotional theme being the questions that are constantjourney during the events surrounding the ly asked of victim, many to defame them. assault and court case. Throughout “Know Miller references the questions that both the My Name,” Miller displays her endurance as defence attorney and her district attorney she takes her readers ask, none of which had through the story of any relation to the actual the reclaiming of her assault. identity. Do you usually drink? In 2016, two years Why were you at a colbefore the publishing lege party? Are you in a of her memoir, along relationship? These are with her identity, all examples of the quesBuzzfeed released the tions Miller, along with transcript of Miller’s countless victims, was victim-impact stateasked. ment, which she read In the case People vs. in the case hearing. Turner, the defendant Miller’s words went was charged on three viral, even receiving accounts of sexual aswords of encouragesault. Throughout her —Chanel Miller ment from Joe Biden, memoir, Miller speaks the vice president at in great detail about the the time, for the powerful message within her anxiety and distress she and her family expetext. rienced during the proceeding of the court “Know My Name,” along with Miller’s trials. During the sentencing hearing, using victim-impact statement, remind the indi- her pseudonym, Miller anonymously read a viduals who have had similar experiences victim-impact statement in court, recounting that they are not alone. The book encour- the assault and directly holding the defenages those readers to ignore the ignorant dant accountable for the emotional trauma. comments and isolation endorsed by those The case was notorious in the Bay Area who wish to belittle the atrocities forced onto due to the proximity of the crime on Stanthese people. ford campus, as well as local Judge Aaron Miller makes it clear that her memoir is Persky’s ruling. Despite the prosecutor’s reca resource for those who have experienced ommendation of six years, Persky decided similar traumatic events. She offers advice on only six months in county jail and three on finding something the individual is pas- years of probation for the conviction of three sionate about and using it for their healing counts of sexual assault. process, like she did with writing. For his ruling, Judge Persky received masToward the end of her memoir, Mill- sive backlash from community members, er speaks about the heroism of others who which led to a move for his recall in 2018. spoke about their assault, most significantly The vote resulted in a 60% vote to recall the Christine Blasey Ford. The Palo Alto resident judge and his eventual removal from office.
"This ugliness was something I never asked for, it was dropped on me, and for a long time I worried it made me ugly too."
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DECEMBER 2019
About the Author: Chanel Miller is a 27-year-old American author and Bay Area Native. Born and raised in Palo Alto, Miller lives in San Francisco. The author attended Gunn High School and later studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she graduated in 2014 with a degree in literature. Miller first gained popularity after the release of her victim-impact statement after she was sexually assaulted at a Stanford Fraternity party in 2015. The statement was published on Buzzfeed in 2017 and was read over 11 million times, sparking national conversation about the treatment of sexual assault cases and victims. In 2016, Miller received Glamour’s Woman of the Year award for the statement, however was unable to accept it due to still being under the pseudonym “Emily Doe.” In 2019. After the release of “Know My Name” and her identity, Miller was able to accept the award in person. Stanford University officials have recently announced that they will be placing a plaque displaying the words of Miller in the contemplative garden near the scene of the assault.
Text by SKY CROCE Design/Art by MICHAELA SEAH
Roll Call They line up. They sit down. Roll call. Name all.
Anne, bea, jane, me
Sam, Fay, Val, Bay,
Finn, wren, max, jen.
End. All here. All clear.
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