THE DOWNSIDES

Suburbs, although a better option for many people to live in, present a number of disadvantages, some more apparent than others. The most apparent concern about suburbia is its major impact on the environment. There are many aspects to this, from the lack of trees to the omnipresence of asphalt. A vast majority of land area in a suburb is taken up by asphalt in unnecessarily-wide roads, and vast expanses of usually-empty parking lots. The dark asphalt pavement creates the effect of a heat sink, creating incredibly high surface temperatures in the summer months. This is especially problematic with the rise in climate change—leading to increased presence of heatstroke and other heat-related health issues. Further contributing to this problem of the heat sink is the lack of protection from this heat. Many suburban regions in the nation have little shade to protect residents, even in the slightest bit, from excessive heat. Trees play a major role in helping decrease high temperatures. According to National Geographic, “shading objects from solar rays can lower their surface temperature by up to 45 degrees Fahrenheit on a hot day.” Furthermore, cities have relatively taller buildings that help shade the streets below.

A major problem with suburbs is the lackluster public transportation system and its car-heavy infrastructure. Using WalkScore. com, we can find a rating for walkability and public transit. Fremont has aWalkScore of 50, and a TransitScore of 36. Meanwhile, San Francisco has a WalkScore of 89 and a TransitScore of 77. Although the suburbs might be a great place to go for a casual stroll, they are not so efficient for getting from point A to point B. Suburban infrastructure is so heavily dependent on cars to the point where walking is basically unfeasible, even for the closest restaurants or grocery stores. Suburban streets are unnecessarily wide, and that contributes to pedestrian fatalities. Another major aspect of suburbs are arterial roads, which are high-capacity roads within a suburb or city. In suburbs, arterial roads are very wide with few safe crossings for pedestrians. These can also be classified as “stroads,” which is a combination of a busy business-oriented street with a relatively high-speed road. An example would be the El Camino Real in the Peninsula, which stretches for 42 miles from Daly City to Santa Clara. The rapidly-growing suburbs of North Dallas, Texas, have a backbone of arterial roads (“stroads”) in a 1 mile by 1 mile grid, with the contents of that grid ranging from housing to strip malls and gas stations. Getting around on foot is almost impossible, and as urban centers across the country continue to grow like Dallas, this problem will further worsen. All the while, the usage of cars to get from A to B in the suburbs will directly contribute to climate change. According to the government of Canada, cars and other passenger vehicles account for approximately 21 percent of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, approximately 51 percent of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, and approximately 4 percent of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) emissions—all of which are harmful to both humans and our environment.

Despite all the problems that the suburbs might have, millions across the country call it their homes and love them. Also, suburban cities across the country are working on making their city a better place to live by improving public transit, increasing walkability, and rethinking their downtown areas. For example, Fremont has helped increase pedestrian safety in areas around its BART stations, and the suburbs of Boston have stellar walkability and transit, compared to the rest of the nation’s suburbs. Many suburban governments are implementing measures to help curb these issues, providing hope for a more sustainable future.

WHAT TEENAGERS DON’T UNDERSTAND: GETTING EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP

WHAT TEENAGERS DON’T UNDERSTAND: GETTING EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP

By Joleen P. and Julee J.

Joleen: My baby cousin sleeps fourteen hours a day. Toddlers sleep eleven hours for every 24 hours. When I was in elementary school, I was able to get at least nine hours of sleep every night, guaranteed. So why is it that I cannot get just seven hours of sleep? Seven! Since I am taking zero period this year, I must get up at 7 A.M. everyday to ensure that I am not late and risk losing my participation points in art. This means that I should sleep before 12 A.M., but somehow, that never happens successfully. In fact, now that I evaluate myself, I always end up going to bed around 12:30 A.M. or even 1 A.M. At first, I convinced myself that this was due to the tremendous amount of homework my teachers assign and the endless number of tests I need to study for. Now, I am not so sure this is the case. So last week, I decided to challenge myself by finishing all my homework and finish studying for all my APs before 11:30 P.M. to get at least seven hours of sleep. Surprisingly, I noticed that if I set a mental deadlines for all my assignments and continuously look at my clock, going to sleep at 11:30 P.M. was not impossible. For example, a sample idea of a schedule with appropriate deadlines might go like this:

5 P.M. - 6 P.M.: APES Lab

6:30 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.: Dinner (while watching Kdramas)

7:00 P.M. - 7:45 P.M.: Read the Plague

8:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M.: Study for Physics test

This mental schedule is extremely effective, but only if I remember to accomplish all my tasks by the end of the time allotted. Most importantly, I realized that procrastination will not lead me anywhere, so I might as well as complete the task as soon as possible (I know this sounds very cliché, but trust me, it works). I also constantly remind myself to take breaks and to reward myself when I accomplish a big task (similar to the famous Pomodoro technique!). Try these tips, and maybe you will find yourself getting an extra hour of sleep every night! XOXO, Gossip Jo.

Julee: Do you ever find yourself burning the midnight oil and sacrificing your precious sleep just to keep up with the avalanche of academic workload? As students, we all strive to juggle school and extracurricu - lar activities, but at what cost? Is it really worth compromising our sleep for a few extra hours of study time? Having tracked my academic journey from freshman to sophomore year, I have come to realize that we rarely have so much work that we cannot get at least seven hours of sleep. And if you don’t have early morning classes, catching up on some sleep becomes even easier. Sure, BASIS teachers can be demanding with their assignments, but taking AP classes in school actually makes our lives simpler. At public schools, students have to self-study AP courses on top of their regular homework. Yet, despite these added burdens, there are countless successful individuals who make sure to get a full eight hours of rest. So what’s preventing us from getting adequate sleep? Some may argue that procrastination is the main culprit, but there’s another factor that many of us tend to overlook. It’s the nagging feeling that while we snooze, our peers are working hard to better

STAFF: STAFF:

themselves. Although not everyone experiences this fear of missing out, it remains a pressing issue for some. I once found myself about to turn in early for the night, but then the thought of all the extra studying I could accomplish during that time struck me, and I quickly got back up to hit the books once more. However, let’s not forget that our bodies require rest. If we feel the urge to sleep, it’s because our bodies are already feeling the detrimental effects of a lack of sleep. It’s a cycle. Ignoring these signals can lead to a plethora of health issues, and is sacrificing our well-being truly worth better grades? In the grand scheme of things, what will matter most when we’re on our deathbed? It’s certainly not the extra points we scored on that one test or the amount of hours we spent cramming for an exam. What truly counts is our aggregate health and happiness. So let’s prioritize our well-being and make sure to get the rest our bodies crave.

Editors-in-Chief: Christopher Chen, Julee Jiang and Olivia Ma

Editors: Vera Lin, Alicia Peng, Anjali Prabhu, and Alan Xiao

Staff Writers: Aarna Kamath, Ada Costiniano, Alan Xiao, Alicia Peng, Amanda Wu, Amber Wong , Anjali Prabhu, Ariana Yi, Esha Bansiya, Heeya Das, Jay Thanki, Joleen Pan, Kaitlyn Liu, Katherine He, Kevin Weng, Krish Mangrolia, Oriana Deng, Ryan Li, Ryan Liu, Sachit Parekh, Sarah Wu, Sheil Mody, Shirley Fan, Thanisha Thambidurai, Vera Lin, Vincent Yang

Graphic Designers: Christopher Chen, Ada Costiniano

Thank you for reading the last Yellow Pages issue of this school year! We hope you enjoyed reading all of our publications! If you have any comments, suggestions, questions, or notice any mistakes in our newspaper, please contact bifyellowpages@gmail.com