2023 Documentary Magazine Vol 3

FREESTYLE ACADEMY

Student Documentary Articles

Design by Luiza Rufeisen

Freestyle Academy proudly presents

2023 Documentary Articles

Junior students were challenged with:

For the Junior Documentary Project, students portray an intriguing person, group, place, idea, or issue, gathering primary and secondary research sources to develop a distinct perspective about their subject’s significance in the community and/or world. The research-based paper from English serves as the copy for the magazine articles in this publication. This unit emphasizes narrative-style journalism.

Students in Digital Media learned to use Adobe InDesign for article layout, Adobe Photoshop of image editing, and Adobe Illustrator for graphic design to produce these articles. Each student in Digital Media also produced a documentary website.

Film students additionally produced a Documentary Film. Animation students additionally produced an Animated Documentary. Design students additionally produced a Documentary Book.

All documentary productions can be viewed through https://freestyleacademy.rocks/documentaries

“How do you creatively and truthfully portray a significant person, group, place, idea, or issue in the community?”

Contributing Authors

Sabrina Barlow

ASTROBEE

By Sabrina Barlow

This little robot is paving the way for new technology and innovation leading towards changes in the way we imagine space travel.

In April 2019, I watched a rocket ignite and rumble into space. This rocket was special—it contained my dad’s robot. My family watched the launch together on a sunny afternoon and simultaneously cheered for the rocket and for my dad. After years of designing, building and testing, Astrobee was finally headed to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Astrobee project includes a duo of robots that are currently in the ISS. Their names are Bumble and Queen, and they are free-flying robots, acting as both a platform for science and helping out with astronaut chores. Their current focus is robotic caretaking, when robots like Astrobee assist astronauts with various tasks, independently maintain systems and address problems.

Astronaut time is valuable, and there won’t always be astronauts present on space stations to make sure everything is working properly. When that happens, robots like Astrobee will serve as the caretakers. Not much is known about the future of humans in space, but we do know that robots will be a big part of it. Astrobee is paving the way for new technology and innovation leading towards changes in what we imagine is possible in space travel.

The Launch of Astrobee

Astrobee is a series of robots which fly around inside the International Space Station and do various tasks. They use cameras to “see” their surroundings and compare these images with their internal map of the ISS. Using the features inside the ISS to localize themselves and navigate, they fly around with a fan-based propulsion system. With this mechanism, Astrobee can propel itself in any direction and rotate on any axis. Because of the microgravity environment in the ISS, Astrobee floats freely relative to its surroundings. Astrobees are cubeshaped, a foot in each dimension, with two propulsion

Astrobee B# in Granite Lab

modules on the sides and the main components in between, including spaces where different components can be attached. These are called payloads.

“Payload” is the nickname for any company that wants to test their technology in microgravity using Astrobee and its free-flying abilities. More specifically, the payload is the hardware component that the company designs and attaches onto the Astrobee to test their technology.

In addition to doing science and jobs for astronauts, Astrobee is easy to maintain by being able to take care of itself and recharge its own batteries. Like a space Roomba, Astrobee flies itself home to its dock, where it backs onto the charging module.

Astrobee Operations & Cooperations

NASA Ames labs help the Astrobee team and the companies they work with to test-run their procedures before they’re performed in space. Two Astrobees, identical to the ones on the ISS, live in the Granite Lab–nicknamed so because of the giant slab of granite which sits in the middle of the room. The table forms the base of a physical, life-size simulation of the ISS module. The two Astrobees here are B# and Melissa, nicknamed Wannabe. The granite slab serves as a reverse hockey table, where

the air comes out of the puck. Each Astrobee is on a carriage which has two canisters of CO2 gas. The air can be systematically released, downward onto the granite, to allow the robots to move around. This simulates a

frictionless environment. The physical simulation isn’t perfect, however. On Earth, we still have to obey the laws of gravity. In space, Astrobee can rotate on any axis, but in the lab, Astrobee can only move along one plane. On the body of Astrobee, there are three places called expansion bays where a guest user can plug in their hardware. Here, users can design a payload with their technology, adding on their components. There is no need to reinvent the wheel for companies who want to test in space. Jonathan Barlow, an engineer on the Astrobee team, says users “don’t really need or want to design their own robot. [They say], ‘You guys are already designing

“I think Astrobee will always be important in the sense that people are always going to want to test their things in space.”

-Barlow

Hangar One at NASA Ames

this robot. Let’s just design a reader to put on Astrobee.’”

What else is in store for these robots? Barlow says he believes Astrobee will continue to benefit us in different ways: “I think Astrobee will always be important in the sense that people are always going to want to test their things in space.” The Astrobee team hopes to work with a lot of different people and companies, and continue learning, improving and innovating.

All of these payloads are helping us figure out what we can do with something like Astrobee and this technology in the future. Astrobee plays a key role in furthering robotic caretaking.

Gateway to the Future

One program that is using Astrobee to look at robotic caretaking is ISAAC (Integrated System for Autonomous and Adaptive Caretaking). ISAAC’s goal is to limit human involvement in caretaking by connecting robots like Astrobee to the systems around it. ISAAC is using Astrobee to test and demonstrate this type of technology, and they’re all about robot teamwork. For example, they are working on having the two Astrobee bots coordinate with each other to complete a task. After a job is given to one robot, they communicate with each other to delegate certain parts, and update each other on their progress as they complete it.

ISAAC is also trying to increase teamwork between robots and the vehicle itself that they are serving. In a space station or other space vehicle, there are life support systems and monitors that maintain certain conditions. If there is ever an issue, humans have always been the ones to notice the difference in the readouts, identify the source of the problem, and fix it. ISAAC eliminates the human element by helping robots detect and address a problem. For example, if a theoretical sock got stuck on a vent, the various monitors would notice a change in air flow. Robots have the capability to remove the sock, but they wouldn’t know what the problem is or how to address it without some direction. ISAAC is the middleman here. It reads the data, notices the difference in air flow, and sends a robot such as Astrobee to find the source of the problem. Astrobee’s cameras pick up a sock blocking the vent. ISAAC then directs a robot to remove the sock, and the problem has been addressed. ISAAC helps integrate these robots with the vehicle systems that are already there, so that robots can address any issues without much human involvement.

Astrobee B# in Granite Lab

The technology and innovation we are learning from Astrobee and ISAAC is carrying on into the future of space exploration. Astrobee will be especially important in designing and testing new technology for an exciting new space program that will rely heavily on robotic caretaking.

Gateway, a part of the Artemis program, is the planned lunar space station and outpost orbiting the moon. There will only be humans on this space station for a few months out of the year, so for the rest of the time, maintaining Gateway will be up to caretaking robots like Astrobee.

Barlow says that Astrobee and ISAAC are going to be “in the near future a very important way to test potential technologies for future NASA space stations like Gateway.” Astrobee is an important part of preparing to go to the moon and developing the technology we’ll need for Gateway and further space exploration. Astrobee and ISAAC are showing the world that robots can fix problems and do repetitive, unpleasant, dangerous, or time-consuming tasks.

Maria Bualat, another engineer at NASA, is excited for the future. She says, “I think we’re proving that robotics has advanced enough that we can even start considering this… For me, that’s great because that’s exactly what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to get robots into actual human exploration missions.”

Barlow believes that both the ISS and Gateway provide unique learning opportunities as we continue progressing in the space industry and as humans (and

robots). “By facing the challenges, we push ourselves to learn more and do more… And I think that benefits us as humans because we are stretching our capabilities and having to design new things… I hope that continues. I think it’s a benefit for us to work together towards a common goal. If we didn’t have space exploration as a common goal, I don’t know what would fill that gap.”

Conclusion

One could argue that it has been many decades since human exploration in space made any significant progress. When we think of space travel, it often feels like something from the far-distant future. Gateway will be the first major human push beyond low orbit in more than 50 years. With Astrobee and ISAAC, we witness current projects demonstrating technologies that will be essential for Gateway’s long-term success. In this way, they change the way we imagine space travel. Humans are creating robots that can support them and their ingenuity in moving forward to the edges of their curiosity. As Bualat says, “there’s agreement in the agency that, yeah, robots have their part in human exploration. And I think what we’re doing… is trying to demonstrate that yes, robots can do these things.” Astrobee is an essential stepping stone in the path to successful space missions in the future, maintaining human presence farther into the reaches of space. Humans have limitations, but as we create robots that overcome these limitations, our possibilities become limitless. SB

Space Shuttle model at NASA Ames

About the Author

Sabrina Barlow is a current junior at Freestyle Academy. She loves traveling, and is the owner of a collection of NASA mission stickers she has obtained from various conferences she has attended with her dad, a NASA engineer. She lives with her family and houseplants under the shadow of NASA’s impressive wind tunnel in Mountain View, California. Sabrina doesn’t yet know what she wants to be when she grows up, but it definitely isn’t an astronaut.

Use the QR code to see Sabrina’s webpage, book, and learn more about Astrobee!

Sheer Hamam

The Sweet Shop: A Hidden Gem

The smell of freshly baked cookies and the sound of children laughing flows through the air at the intersection of Loucks and Los Altos Avenue, bringing a smile to everyone’s faces. At the entrance of the Sweet Shop, bright candy welcomes everyone who walks in. Indeed, when life gets dull, a candy shop can always make it sweeter. But that’s not all the Sweet Shop brings. Amidst the pandemic and its lasting effects, many small businesses faced the sad realism of getting shut down. Yet, throughout the immense challenges of the pandemic, the Sweet Shop remained an outlier thanks to its community. So how does a small candy store placed in the middle of a neighborhood foster such a welcoming environment that it allows them to endure. The Sweet Shop has been referred to as a “hidden gem” and is essentially everything that is rare in today’s current consumerism.

Sheer Hamam

Some Sweet History:

There has always been a business in this spot since the 1940s, and always some kind of food shop. In the late 1980s, it was FoodLand, a staple for anyone who wanted to grab a quick after-school snack such as a 25-cent candy bar. One of Food- Land’s frequent customers was a girl named Stacy Sullivan, a student of Terman Middle School and Gunn High School. After school, she'd hop on the bike path and ride a couple of miles to grab some candy or a drink before heading home. Foodland eventually shut down around 2000 and stood vacant and abandoned for years. One day, Sullivan, who still lives in the neighborhood, was walking by the abandoned building and thought, “Such a shame that it was let go.” So she decided to purchase the property and bring something back to the neighborhood. In her words, “give it an uplift”, recalls Sandra Collunga, the Sweet Shop’s manager., Although Colunga humbly refers to herself as “chief bottle washer and cook,” she has been part of the Sweet Shop since it was built. Eight months before the Shop opened its doors, Sullivan had hired Colunga as a consultant to help with the actual designs of the building, such as helping choose the lights and researching candy. “It was sort of like a mini start-up,” Colunga reflects.

The Regulars:

Satjiv Chahil, a day one regular of the Sweet Shop, recalls the conversion of FoodLand into the Sweet Shop: “It was wonderful when Stacy Sullivan bought it and restored it to perfection. And not only restored it, she reinvented it and made it kid-friendly.” The Sweet Shop is within walking distance from five schools, and over the years it has continuously donated 5% of its earnings back to the schools to support the community. A note on the tip jar at the

front counter reminds you that 5% of tips will go straight to local schools. Knowing her business is such a community center, Sandra has to take certain steps to ensure that the attitude and energy of the store remain joyful and welcoming. “I think one of the biggest things especially when hiring people is I tend to look for someone that would talk to a customer you know if you're maybe a little too shy or quiet then you're not going to have that connection with the customer so that's maybe where the employees play a role”, says Colunga. Traces of that attitude are everywhere in the shop. The employees who ring you up are often Mountain View or Los Altos High students and are on a first-name basis with some customers.

Sandra Colunga was monitoring the shop as usual when she noticed a familiar face sitting outside enjoying his froyo and watching the kids play. Colunga recalls, “He would come almost every day and so one day I walked up to him and said: Hi! I see you every day and I introduced myself, he introduced himself, and we became friends. And then he began to sit inside and get a coffee and lunch and that would end in him sitting there for 3 hours getting to know the employees”. That was how Sandra formed her lasting friendship with Harry Logan thirteen years ago. Logan inspired her because she felt that everybody should be like him. In Colunga’s view, “We’re unique in that way: we want you to stay and we want you to hang out”. Colunga’s point is that if a customer is sitting at the Sweet Shop and hanging out she wants them to stay as long as they want without feeling rushed to move out and make room for new customers. Colunga strives to add to both the culture of the neighborhood as well as forming special connections with each customer who walks in.

Collat School of Business states that, “Not only are local businesses import-

ant for creating a culture for the community, but they also build connections and relationships with the people” (“Small Businesses Impact on Communities”). By remembering a birthday or a dog’s name, Colunga takes the extra steps to form a relationship with a customer and seeks to do that with anyone who walks in. As a result of Colunga’s actions, Satjiv Chachil, senior vice president of global marketing at HP, Apple, Beats, and other well-known tech companies is now also a Sweet Shop regular. Chachil recalls his first thoughts walking through the Sweet Shop doors: “It can be captured in one word: Wow. And then the two words: how cool. And then, oh, this is so wonderful.” Chachil, who lives across the street from the shop, describes it as an extension of his own home. First, it became an extension to his kitchen as he made frequent visits for froyo and his personal favorite Apple Smoothie. Then it became an extension to his living room as he would spend hours conversing with his friends that he made through the shop, such as Harry, or with friends that he brought from all corners of the world. Chachil jokes, “all my guests who visit me, I see that they get a bed and breakfast, and the breakfast is always at the Sweet Shop”. Satjiv is very proud of the Sweet Shop and refers to it as a “meeting place.” He goes on to explain, “It’s a wonderful place. Not just for the local community, but whenever my friends from Germany, Japan, India, and anywhere send me a note, they ask me, how is it (the Sweet Shop)? They remember it very fondly. In airports, they have spots simply called “meeting places.” So when you go to find somebody, you go to the meeting place. The Sweet Shop is the meeting place for the global” (Chachil).

The shop’s first two regulars were Satjiv and Harry, who first met one another before the Sweet Shop, back when it was a cafe called Tea&Spice. They had met over a cappuccino and would see each other occasionally and converse over a cup of coffee. However, when Tea & Spice shut down Harry and Satjiv stopped seeing each other and it wasn’t until the Sweet Shop opened that the two reconnected and have been great pals ever since.

Harry just celebrated his 91st birthday at the Sweet Shop and was surrounded by his friends. Once the Covid Pandemic hit the Sweet Shop was forced to close its doors along with all other businesses until guidelines permitted them to open again. “Small business owners are also particularly adept at finding new ways of doing old things” (“The Importance of Small Businesses”). Colunga was quick to open a takeout window that was open for 4 hours a day and delivered the neighborhood their favorite candy in a safe way. Chahil recalls when the Sweet Shop had to close for 4 months: “The worst part of the COVID pandemic and all of us having to be isolated was that we missed each other so we couldn’t wait for it to open.” It reminded the entire neighborhood exactly why the shop was so special. According to Chahil, “The pandemic actually sort of magnified the importance of the Sweet Shop to the community”.

Convenience VS Community:

When it comes to the topic of convenience and the ability to order a drink online and be in and out of a store in less than 5 minutes, most of us will readily agree that it’s efficient and helpful. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether it’s worth giving up the community experience. Whereas some are convinced that not every business needs to build relationships with their customers, others maintain that small businesses that work to build the connection and construct a community are not to go unrecognized. Essentially, there is a reason why a Seven-Eleven is not taking the Sweet Shop’s spot in the neighborhood the shop demonstrated it was strong enough to endure the pandemic. Kristen Welsh administers the results from The Bentley-Gallup Force for Good Survey: “We found that 82% of Americans believe small businesses positively impact people’s lives” (Shopping Small Means Big Impact). This suggests that the efforts of the neighborhood working hard to keep the Sweet Shop a place in their community and lives were so it could continue to leave a positive impact.

ways” (“Benefits of Supporting Small Businesses”). Moreover, some of the earnings from the store go to support the local schools and act as a meeting spot with not just the people of all age groups of the community—and their dogs. “You meet not just the people, their family. You meet all the pets of the family. So there’s not many places like that,” asserts Chahil.

Conclusion:

When it comes to the topic of convenience and the ability to order a drink online and be in and out of a store in less than 5 minutes, most of us will readily agree that it’s efficient and helpful. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of if it’s worth giving up the community aspect. Whereas some are convinced that not every business needs to build relationships with their customers, others maintain that small businesses that work to build the connection and construct a community are not to go unrecognized. Essentially, there is a reason why a Seven-Eleven is not taking the Sweet Shops spot in the neighborhood, and that reason goes back to how the shop has been able to endure the pandemic of Covid. Kristen Welsh administers the results from The Bentley-Gallup Force for Good Survey: “We found that 82% of Americans believe small businesses positively impact people’s lives” (Shopping Small Means Big Impact). It’s up to no debate that the Sweet Shop brings indi viduals together in a way that no other place can. The difference between ordering at the register and not over a phone is that people are able to make face-to-face conversation and spark even the smallest connection, which can lead to making someone’s day better. “Yes, today’s social networks exist on the Internet. But the real social network is what happens in person”, says Chahil. The sweet shop builds and maintains their affiliation with the neighborhood by celebrating St Patrick’s Day, Christmas day, Valentines day, and birthdays with the community. Colunga goes the extra mile by decorating the shop with fresh flowers and decorations for each event to provide a welcoming atmosphere for new and returning customers. UAB believes, “From providing a hometown feel for localities to working hard to know their neighbors, these small companies do a lot to help others who live nearby in many different ways” (“Benefits of Supporting Small Businesses”). Moreover, some of the earnings from the store go to support the local schools and acts as a meeting spot with not just the people of all age groups of the community, but also of the dogs, of the community. “You meet not just the people, their family. You meet all the

Although their ice cream flavors may change every few months one thing that has remained consistent since the day they opened has been their drive and commitment to the community. Their engagement is what sets them apart from other local businesses. In the future years to come Colunga’s hopes for the Sweet Shop are that they continue to welcome more customers and hopefully become someone else’s new “hidden gem”. The neighbor hood shows their appreciation to the store by supporting it through challenging times and returning the com mitment to maintaining a welcoming and special atmosphere that keeps the Sweet Shops legacy alive.

The Sweet Shop brings individuals together in a way that no other place can. The difference between ordering at the register and not over a phone is that people are able to make face-to-face conversation and spark even the smallest connection, which can lead to making someone’s day better. “Yes, today’s social networks exist on the Internet. But the real social network is what happens in person”, says Chahil. The sweet shop builds and maintains their affiliation with the neighborhood by celebrating St Patrick’s Day, Christmas, Valentine’s, and birthdays with the community.

Colunga goes the extra mile by decorating the shop with fresh flowers and decorations for each event to provide a welcoming atmosphere for new and returning customers. UAB believes, “From providing a hometown feel for localities to working hard to know their neighbors, these small companies do a lot to help others who live nearby in many different

Although their ice cream flavors may change every few months, one thing that has remained consistent since the day the Sweet Shop opened has been their drive and commitment to the community. Their engagement is what sets them apart from other local businesses. In the years to come, Colunga’s hopes for the Sweet Shop are that they continue to welcome more customers and hopefully become someone else’s new “hidden gem”. The neighborhood shows its appreciation for the store by supporting it through challenging times. In turn, the Sweet Shop continues to maintain a welcoming atmosphere and fosters a unique experience that keeps its legacy alive.

Sheer Hamam is a Junior at Mountain View High School and is studying Design at Freestyle Academy. She lives in Mountain View with her family of 5 not including her loving dog Snoopy and sassy cat Windy. Outside of school, she enjoys spending time outdoors chasing sunsets with her friends and driving around listening to music. Sheer is also part of Mountain View’s Varsity Cheer team and is a member of multiple clubs which she is very passionate about. She hopes to go into the field of psychology and learn how to give back to the community with a lasting positive impact. Sheer thanks Freestyle for allowing her to grow her creative mindset and is excited for what’s to come in the future.

Sofa Vincent

Art therapy: Crochet

As you walk through the park, there on the bench sits a person crocheting. You notice the way they move their hands, pushing and pulling, interlocking the fibers. You continue walking and make one lap around. When you return, you can see how it has grown: hundreds of stitches form a single fabric. You continue walking and as you finish your second lap, they still sit there crocheting. They smile as they work, blissfully unaware of the world around them. On the road nearby, one driver honks at another, who responds by sticking his head out the open window to give a piece of his mind. Yet the crocheter doesn’t look up. Unphased, they continue working, focused and content.

While crochet may seem to be just a fun hobby at first glance,

it offers many overlooked benefits. In addition to being entertaining, it can also be useful in the management of many illnesses, both mental and physical.

Chapter 1: Mental Health

In “Crafting for Health,” Ashley Foster asserts that crafts like crocheting and knitting have been proven useful for helping combat anxiety and depression and have been commonly used as a form of art therapy by many rehab facilities and therapists. Repetitive motions tend to have a soothing effect which makes these crafts an effective creative outlet to help manage stress. High school student and crocheter Alessia Rella explains, “It’s repetitive, but it also takes a little bit of brain power, so you can’t just zone out,” which rings true for many other crafters. Even though it eventually becomes muscle memory, you still need to pay attention to other details which makes it a great distraction. “It was something to put your mind on and not think about all those other things that you don’t want to think about” (Rella). Setting aside a bit of time in your day for the things you enjoy is also important to avoid getting overwhelmed, which is exactly what college student Kali Goldwater does. “It makes me

happy because when I have all these responsibilities, just being able to sit down and crochet is my favorite. So I wish I had more time for it because I love it,” says Goldwater.

It was something to put your mind on and not think about all those other things that you don't want to think about

In addition to individual use, crafts like knitting and crocheting have been used in many therapeutic settings as it has shown to be useful for the management of many mental illnesses. “Therapeutic knitting has been connected to combatting depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, eating disorders, and chronic pain, proving that a wide variety of people could benefit from it” (“The Many Benefits of Knitting”).

Chapter 2: Chronic Pain and Illness

Child life specialist Ashley Boyd Wooten explored in her thesis the effect of textile arts on adolescents with chronic illnesses. She used knitting as a way for patients to pass time during hospitalizations. From this experiment, she concluded that it can be a “catalyst for positive emotions, relationship building, and sharing skills with others.”

In addition to its emotional benefits, crochet benefits physical health. One reason for this is the effect that stress and emotional wellbeing have on your body. There is a strong link between emotional and physical health. For many chronic illnesses, stress can be a cause of pain and flare-ups. This makes having good coping skills so much more important for people

with conditions like these. Art therapist Kayley Nelson explains the impact of using crochet for people with chronic pain. Nelson says that art therapy should be used “as a part of a multidisciplinary approach that functions in a complementary way to individuals’ medical treatment and medications.” People with chronic pain often end up isolated and art therapy can bring a sense of community and hope that they often lack. This can help bring people into a better emotional state which can make their symptoms more manageable.

that can facilitate improvements in other functional skills.” In addition, it also keeps your brain active, using both sides of your brain. According to the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, “craft activities, such as knitting, quilting, etc, were associated with decreased odds of having MCI[mild cognitive impairment].” (qtd. in Larson).

Crocheting also keeps your hands active by using repetitive motions. Occupational Therapist Cammie Larson shares the health benefits of knitting and encourages people to give it a try. Larson says that “Knitting promotes active finger and wrist movement, dexterity and fine motor coordination

catalyst for positive emotions, relationship building, and sharing skills with others

Crocheting is also a popular hobby for people with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. As someone with EDS, I have extremely hypermobile joints, especially in my fingers so crochet has helped build strength and coordination in my hands. Another thing people with EDS often struggle with is proprioception, the “perception or awareness of the position and movement of the body.” People struggling with proprioception may benefit from crocheting because it requires constant attention to the movement of their hands, grip, and tension. “Our proprioceptive systems help us detect and control the pressure that we feel and exert, in a variety of daily activities. With more control, we are able to be more intentional with our movements, our interactions with others, and the way we function throughout the day,” (“Fun Proprioceptive Activities”). Chicago Occupational Therapy, an organization focused on providing individual care for children states that activities including lifting, pushing, and

pulling can give proprioceptive input and bring more awareness and coordination.

Chapter 3: Harm Reduction and Accessibility

While crochet has many benefits, there are also some drawbacks Repetitive strain injuries(RSI) describe “pain felt in muscles, nerves, and tendons caused by repetitive actions and poor posture” (“Crochet Addiction and Other Extreme Sports” ). People who crochet for extended periods often experience RSI.

My neck hurts because I just lean over and my eyes get strained

These can be painful, put a pause on crocheting, and can also interfere with everyday activities. “My neck hurts because I just lean over and my eyes get strained from looking at the pattern for so long,” says Goldwater. However, some things can be done to prevent these issues. Being aware of keeping proper posture and lighting and taking frequent stretch breaks can all help make sure that you are crocheting healthily, in addition to many tools that can help prevent or manage these issues. Compression gloves, for example, can help alleviate pain, and swelling, and improve circulation. This makes it easier to crochet for longer periods without discomfort. Ergonomic hooks can also have a similar effect. The way you hold a hook has a huge impact on your joints so it is really important to find a hook that you can use comfortably.

Crocheting may also be made difficult due to disabilities, although there are ways to accommodate them. Many disabled people can get or make aids to help with the issues that come up. Many people with EDS use aids called ring splints. These reduce your hands to a normal range of motion to prevent hyperextension, which often occurs when holding objects like pencils or crochet hooks. Crochet content creator Hellen Zhou gives another example of the accommodations you can make to be able to crochet. She had a stroke nine years prior to her first attempt and lost the use of her right hand. When she found a video online of how to make a DIY aid, Zhou and

her parents learned. “My mom and dad had other plans to make it better. They’re actually engineers, mostly joking, but they thought of some really cool ways to make my adaptive crochet aid” (Zhou). Since then, she has become an influencer who shows people that you actually can crochet with one hand and possibly inspire people in similar situations to try the same.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, crocheting can be useful to help manage illnesses, stress, and pain, as well as stress from everyday life. If these benefits aren’t reason enough, crochet is also a very entertaining hobby. “My favorite part is being able to make things that I would buy for a lot of money because people can charge like $100. For example, clothes, cardigans, blankets, stuffed animals, and room decor. I love being able to make it myself, knowing that if I saw it in a store, I would be obsessed

with it too,” says Goldwater. Like every hobby, it can have a bit of a learning curve. But once you get the hang of it, it can be very enjoyable. “Everyone should learn to crochet. It is so much fun. It’s therapeutic. It’s mesmerizing. I didn’t give up and it just felt so rewarding being able to overcome that challenge and feeling proud of myself.”(Goldwater)

I didn't give up and it just felt so rewarding being able to overcome that challenge and feeling proud of myself.

Sofa Vincent is a junior at Mountain View High School. In their free time, they draw, paint, crochet, play water polo, and listen to music.

Sof ia Dominguez

Home Food

It’s an old apartment building, and she lives on the first floor. You can already smell it: the prickles of safety, of something good. She opens the door, and past the wire windows and the typical immigrant household lace curtain, you can hear the warm sizzle of her stove. Right there, in the border between her small kitchen and her smaller living room, Elsy lines up the many handmade cheese, zucchini or chicharrón pupusas ready to be cooked. For a moment, you feel like you’ve returned to a hominess you didn’t know you ached for.

Elsy’s is only one of many small home businesses hidden around Mountain View, California, that has popped up from the economic hardship of the COVID pandemic, catering to the taste buds of people willing to explore different flavors or to those who are nostalgic for them. Even though there has always been a demand for food from Latino countries—so much so that it seems to have become just as American as the stereotypical hamburger—people like Elsy still live hidden in the cracks of the city. Salvadoran immigrants, specifically, tend to experience more erasure because of the Mexican-dominant view of the word “immigrant” (Ochoa). Home food businesses like Elsy’s are a solution to this problem because they give voice and strength to the

Salvadoran community through sharing their culture and allowing access to socioeconomic security.

Historical Struggles

One of the most important aspects of this issue has to do with the history of Salvadoran food, and therefore Salvadoran migration, to the United States. From its roots, Salvadoran food history begins with the Pipil tribe, which are descendants of the Aztecs (Chan), who created the pupusa. This dish and its culture survived for centuries more, through Spanish conquerors and through the birth of the United States and its later involvement in Latin American countries.

But the emergence of Salvadoran identity in the United States would not begin until many decades later, when the Salvadoran Civil War began. As the violence exploded and the situation deteriorated, the Salvadoran Civil War succeeded in “catapulting the country from its proverbial obscurity into daily headline news” (Machuca). This would be the first time that Salvadorans’ lives became visible to a wide, unknowing US population, and this event would

last as the strongest connection to Salvadoran identity in the US. The effects of the violence and instability would continue to rupture people’s lives, and many had to gather the courage to escape to the United States. But here they were not granted freedom, either. The US began to put in place restrictions and legal barriers towards Salvadoran immigrants, rejecting their pleas of asylum with the justification that they were not refugees, but economic immigrants (Stanley). Many had no other choice but to stay without documentation, as their situation was of life and death.

And even already living in the US, Salvadoran-Americans would engage in a generational struggle with the hopes of improving their eco-

The story of Elsy and her business begins with her childhood in El Salvador. By watching and learning from her mother, Elsy inherited many of her country’s recipes, including the pupusa. When she arrived in Mountain View, the impact of Latino food in local supermarkets allowed her to keep her recipe’s authenticity. She began working in restaurants of different cuisines and served as a prep cook for many years.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Elsy watched with dread as “work started to go down: less hours, less and less hours.” Like so many people, she eventually had to stop working and was left with a household to feed and no income to support it. But one day, while talking to her friends about this problem, one of them said, “Elsy, your food is really good, why don’t you go and try to sell your food?”

Elsy’s window, from the inside

nomic status, picking up the pieces of their buried identity in a country that did not respect it. Some survived by pushing away their Salvadoran heritage and assimilating into a simpler American culture that is more palatable for the Anglo majority. Others rejected the American hegemony and instead built homes-away-from-home, encoding their heritage into restaurants and neighborhoods, converting their culture and food into a secret yet defiant stance. This history of pressure, struggles, and perseverance has grown everywhere from Los Angeles, to San Francisco, to Washington DC. And in Mountain View, Elsy, with her small home business story, has become a true reflection of the Salvadoran-American experience, of the ability to provide for herself and her family while acting as a powerful voice for her culture.

And so she did. With the help of her friends, family, and community, Elsy slowly began to spread the word of her business, and demand for her pupusas increased. Since the very beginning, every order which could vary from 10 to 100 pupusas has always been made solely by Elsy in her small kitchen, because she doesn’t earn enough to hire someone. Her business was part of a larger trend all around the Bay Area, especially “concentrated in communities like East Palo Alto where residents [were] hardest hit by the economic impacts of the pandemic, …[reflecting] the inequities of the shutdown” (Kadvany). These communities are generally made up of service or food workers who were laid off as soon as people began working from home and companies closed. And like so many others, pure necessity and talent isn’t all that Elsy began with: she also had a passion for cooking. Whenever she is asked about this passion, her eyes open wide, her arms excitedly gesturing: “Oh, I love cooking, I love exploring, I love trying to do this and that…seeing how it turns out, and every time I make it better… I really love making the pupusas and I like doing this business.” With this passion, these small entrepreneurs took the quarantine’s isolation, and the loss of financial support from companies, and instead turned it into an opportunity for longtime dreams to flourish.

Yet in joining this wave, Elsy and many others encountered new challenges when trying to navigate the legal side of these businesses. The legal path most of these businesses can follow is

through obtaining Cottage Food permits, according to Kadvany, and would allow them to sell “low risk” foods in home kitchens under the California Homemade Foods Act. But the fact that one permit costs $219 and the other $635 (plus additional fees when inspecting the business or paperwork), and the annual revenue caps that come along with these permits, are a strong deterrent for “legalizing” a business (Kadvany). As Elsy says, when having a home business in Mountain View, “you don’t earn much… only enough to cover basic necessities like rent, and that’s where all the money goes, in rent and bills.”

And there are still so many more barriers to getting a permit. Tania Alexandria O’Connor, a long-time community leader in Mountain View, has been involved in several organizations like Listos, building safety nets for low-income families and undocumented people. She breaks down this issue further: “What I understand is… it’s really easy to get a business permit, except when it comes to food. Because of health regulations, you need to have an industrial kitchen, and that industrial kitchen needs to be like, I don’t know, all stainless steel, it has to have like fire-controlling things…and none of that can be built in a house or in an apartment.” Additionally, the extremely high rent prices pose an additional barrier towards the idea of expanding home businesses into actual restaurants to be able to meet these requirements for a permit. And without a permit, O’Connor adds, one cannot apply for a loan from a bank.

What results from this is that it is much more difficult to become a brick and mortar restaurant that is validated, stable, and established in a community. Instead, people like Elsy must rely on word of mouth and personal connections to reach a small clientele that lives around their community, which can be more of a struggle when one doesn’t speak English very well, as Elsy does. It creates an environment where one is always careful to not run into any trouble, always fearful of being put in the spotlight. In this way, the suppression of immigrants is leaked into economic matters, not only social ones.

But the truth is that these issues don’t only affect aspiring business owners. These small businesses deeply affect all community members, as well, such that any obstacle to them is an obstacle to their community. It starts inside the home business’s family, because, as O’Connor describes, these small businesses allow the families that run them to become closer, which allows children or teenagers to experience and get involved in cultural rituals.

This involvement in cultural heritage expands to other families which Elsy serves, which, more specifically, is the Latino community around the Gabriela Mistral and Mariano Castro Elementary schools in Mountain View. Elsy’s pupusas and their non-spicy tomato sauce are tailored specially for the young children of the mothers that buy her pupusas. She is one of several Latino-owned businesses around this neighborhood, as O’Connor describes: a tax service that caters mostly to Spanish speaking immigrants, helping them integrate into US institutions; the Mexican-Salvadoran Jennifer’s Taqueria and its adjacent and strangely similarly named Jennifer’s Joyeria; and the Mexican bakery La

Imperial, which displays posters for local organizations or donation jars for struggling members of the community. This small ecosystem of Latino businesses is only accessible if one speaks Spanish, so people like Elsy can find support and a sense of belonging, and can become part of a strong network of understanding, Spanish-speaking, clients and connections. And for the wider community, the accessibility of diverse cultures and the ability to buy locally gives people cultural knowledge through connection with people of different backgrounds.

However, as long as small businesses are limited to the small social circles and neighborhoods they come from, these benefits become vulnerable.

And yet, Elsy continues to hold a special gratitude for the situation. When asked about the difficulties of owning a small business as an immigrant, she often downplays it, nonchalantly saying it “isn’t easy but it’s not that difficult.” She shakes her head and says, “Gracias a Dios”-thanks to God-”I feel like it hasn’t gone badly for me here at all in this country. That has gone well, I feel like I’m a good person, I have all I need here where I live, being where I am.” She doesn’t hold any insecurities or anxieties about her business, because she believes that “if I tell myself or want to do it, I feel like I can”.

Proud Cooking

This small neighborhood, situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, echoes the history of Salvadoran neighborhoods that also lives in places like Washington DC. In Ana Patricia Rodriguez’s article, “Becoming “Wachintonians”, she ultimately exposes the history of creative survival and strong identity of Salvadoran-Americans that is often hidden or devalued. She weaves this story into the context of the long-standing threat

of gentrification in ethnic neighborhoods of DC, which, much like the rent prices and the issue of business permits in Silicon Valley, would break up these communities. Of the Salvadoran-Americans that have fought against this, Rodriguez gives the example of Quique Avilés, a poet, performer, and cultural activist. He often writes in “English, Spanish, and Spanglish, about his own experiences and observations as a Salvadoran immigrant”. Rodriguez depicts Avilés’s public performances in a lively photograph, where he is accompanied by his friends in protesting through satire. The photograph has a casual, make-shift mood, and it shows a small crowd around him as it listens transfixed. This is quite similar to Elsy’s art of home-made pupusas. Although she differs by not taking a direct stand against racism or gentrification, by creating and owning her own business, and indeed simply by sharing her authentic way of life, she confronts the silence and false popular ideas about what a Salvadoran immigrant is. Her self-assured and confident tone is a special trait seeming to be shared by all immigrants with small businesses, but her particular sincerity is what sets her apart. It is woven in her pupusas: this special comfort, this strong voice of authenticity.

“What is something authentic to me…” she repeats the question, mulling it over for a few seconds, before her eyes widen and that sparkle begins again. She begins to wiggle her hands and snap them, as if trying to pull the words from the deepest parts of her mind. “Something authentic is something good…something that is authentic because it is unique, because it’s not a comparison, or-or a copy of something or of someone. That isn’t good. Something authentic is just me.” She giggles, embarrassed for complimenting herself so candidly, and then continues with a surer tone: “Like the pupusas that I make, I know that I prepared them, they come from myself. I know that I make them with all my heart, with all my power, with everything I like.” Her business is not simply a money making endeavor. It is much like an artwork or a piece of music: it comes purely from herself, like a purpose, like a mission. And when you see her with her big stove, with her bright plastic tablecloth, her flowery spatula, flipping and patting and filling the pupusas as if it were an old dance tune, one gets the feeling that it is more like destiny.

THE AUTHOR ABOUT

Sofia Dominguez is currently a junior at Freestyle Academy, and is a self-described “silly mess”. A Mexican made into an immigrant at around 1.5 years of age, she hopes to grow into someone that connects and empathizes with those who may have completely different lives than her.

She passionately loves genres of music from classical to J-Pop to 70’s-90’s rock, and in her free time one may find her struggling with a new piano piece or caring for her adorably round guinea pigs.

This is a cut-down version of the full article. To read the entire paper & access the Works Cited Page,

Scan this QR code

Or go to: freestyleacademy.rocks/~SofiaD/ documentary

Teo Teeter Rangel

Irma & David Alarcon

Latino American immigrants are the United States’ largest immigrant group and make up almost 20% of the total U.S. population are Latino. Despite the large population of Latinos in the U.S, many Americans know little about them and hold beliefs based on stereotypes rather than experience. Many Americans believe that these immigrants, especially those who are undocumented, contribute to worsening crime rates and are harmful to communities. Many others hold the belief that Latinos are taking the jobs that ‘belong’ to native-born Americans. Even those who support Latino immigration to the U.S, such as those who lean left on the political spectrum, are under the impression that Latinos take jobs that others don’t want and that we should appreciate them because they do undesirable work for us.

The reality is that immigrants from Latin America do not fit in any boxes or generalizations that we place them in. On the contrary, these individuals and families have impactful, unique, and far-reaching stories that have shaped many of the best aspects of our country. Irma Guadalupe Alarcon De Rangel and David Aristeo Rangel Guzman, a Mexican couple who have raised a family in the United States, have lived such a story—that of Latino immigrants from poor families in Tampico who are now living the American dream. They have reached educational heights and experienced success in the States, proving that the stereotypical Latino immigration narratives are completely false.

Irma & David Rangel’s story began at a middle school math competition. With many of Mexico’s brightest pre-teens present, they both placed highly. The couple remember the event clearly, though with different recollections of the placements. David said Irma finished in 3rd while he made 5th place, while in Irma’s memory she was able to make 5th place and David was ‘below that.’ However, despite developing fond memories of this event, they did not meet until several years later. Irma & David attended the same high school, where they gradually formed a relationship through academic competition. The two would constantly compete to one-up each other, striving to be the best at school.

They were also neighbors, with homes a short walk away from each other. In Mexico houses are always festive and filled with people from all over the community. It is customary for family members and other people in the neighborhood to walk into each other’s houses and gather at the table to talk or eat. After they leave, new neighbors come in to do the same. In this way Mexican households are their own communities, filled with different people all there to spend time together. Living near each other, Irma and David were able to see each other all the time, and made the most of the social opportunities to start forming a relationship.

In their Junior year of high school, during an educational trip to the city of Merida, they spent time together enjoying the beautiful city and delicious sea-food. During these shared experiences they finally realized their feelings for each other, and took the step to become boyfriend and girlfriend. A few years later, Irma was living in Monterrey with David while he attended the university Tecnologico de Monterrey. Meanwhile, Irma studied at the Tecnológico de Ciudad de Madero Tamaulipas. After five years as a couple, and nearing the end of their collegiate experience, the two decided to get married under the Catholic Church.

When David was nearing the end of his studies at Monterrey, he sought guidance from his professors about his future educationally. It had always been his intention to remain in Mexico and complete his education close to home. But many of his professors were graduates from a variety of American schools, and they recommended that David travel to the United States for graduate school. In particular, one professor had attended Stanford University and recommended that David do the same. This was the catalyst for their migration, and together Irma & David moved from Tampico to San Jose in order to attend the university. David remembers his professor’s message clearly, especially his recommendation “to come here to the United States to open my horizons.” In David’s words, “I didn’t know what that meant at the time, it took many years to figure out.”

Irma & David’s time in the U.S. was only intended to last the duration of graduate school, and afterwards they expected to return to their families in Mexico. But things did not go exactly as expected. By the time David had finished his education at Stanford and attained his Masters, he had several jobs lined up back home in Mexico. However, Mexico was undergoing a recession at this time, and one by one he received a call from each company saying unfortunately the position was no longer available. The couple decided to stay in the states for the time being, and fortunately David was able to quickly find a quality job in San Jose. This influenced them to stay a little longer, but the idea was still to return to Mexico once the economy improved. However, every event that passed and positive memories in the U.S. left Irma & David thinking, “okay, we will stay a little longer.” But the eventual decision to remain long-term was not for their benefit.

Upon their arrival in the U.S. Irma gave birth to their daughter Maria. Soon after they had two more daughters, Irmita & Veronica, and finally their youngest, ‘little David.’ Although they would travel to Mexico every summer, their kids grew up completely in the states, and while Irma & David continued expecting to eventually return to Mexico, their kids considered San Jose to be their home and didn’t know otherwise. Irma recalls a specific instance in which she realized her kids felt at home in the U.S. They were visiting family in Tampico during the summer, and the Olympics were taking place at this time. Their nephews all cheered, ‘Mexico, Mexico!’ But their children all watched and cheered ‘USA, USA!’ Irma and David had always appreciated the early education their children received in the states, and after realizing how much their kids connected to the U.S, they decided to stay long-term.

Irma and David never intended to raise their kids or even live in the United States at all. However, what they came to see is that the country fit their needs. They reached the decision that remaining in San Jose was the best thing to do for their children, and would be the most ideal way to continue their lives. There was a simplicity to the decision, and for them it was nothing out of the ordinary. Yet if you explained this to many Americans, they would be surprised. A Latino family, with a stable community to return to in Mexico, is staying in the U.S. because they’re doing well? Staying because of comfort not necessity? Unfortunately the is common belief regarding latino immigrants - Mexicans being the most common nationality among these - is that they either harm the country or harm themselves.

To think that a Mexican family is working important, technology-based jobs and at the same time making the best choice for themselves is foreign to many Americans. Many consider Mexican immigrants to all be uneducated and lower class, and unfortunately many Mexicans are treated in accordance with this belief. Mexicans are viewed as “alien and low status,” and are used as scapegoats and vents to blame for economic and social problems. This is enforced by legislation which makes it near impossible for many Mexicans to legally migrate into the country, which leaves them no choice but to illegally do so, providing other Americans with the idea that they are unlawful and dangerous. Mexican immigrants are consequently commonly discriminated against, especially in the education system, starting decades ago when the courts allowed segregation in the school system on the basis of language and migrant status. (Ortiz, Telles). And although this is reflected in education and economic disparities between Mexican immigrants and native-born Americans, - only 70% of recent migrants have completed highschool as compared to 90% of native-born Americans - many strongly value the pursuit of education. In recent years, the education level for Latino immigrants has risen significantly, with a 15% increase of Hispanic people with at least a Bachelor’s education among immigrants from 2010 to 2018. Moreover, many Mexicans migrate to the U.S. with the sole purpose of furthering their families education. Many parents, particularly mothers, migrate to the United States for work, and send a majority of their income home to support the education of their children. In addition, many more make the move as a family, viewing U.S. education as an opportunity for their children and themselves.

This was the experience of Irma & David, who initially immigrated to the U.S. in pursuit of education, and came to consider remaining in the country for the learning of their children. Both Irma & David were able to assume specialized jobs where they aided in the development of technology and progress, while making the necessary income to create a stable home environment where they could support their kids’ education financially and by not needing the completion of domestic tasks by way of their children, a common roadblock for Mexican immigrant families with the same goal. Along the way, the couple would meet many other Latino immigrants, none of whom had ever considered crime, and all of whom shared the same fear of being plagued by it themselves. David & Irma benefited their neighborhood, city, and country in a multitude of ways through their dedication to their communities, diligent efforts in their jobs and raising four children who would all grace the nation in their own ways. To Irma & David this story was natural, and they never acted believing they were creating new precedent or traveling an unpaved road. Their success was a result of their hard work and the efforts of their parents and everyone before them. Yet the prevailing belief among many Americans is that such an experience is outside of the norm, and many would be surprised to hear the accomplishments and comfort David and Irma have enjoyed.

Instead, a significant portion of Americans believe these migrants from Latino countries are unable to succeed. This belief, although not overtly negative and not inherently opposed to the action of Mexican immigration, questions the ability of Mexican immigrants and in doing so suggests they are incapable, unintelligent, or somehow just worse than their native-born American counterparts. A common belief that reflects this thinking is that Latino immigrants benefit the country at their own expense, assuming jobs and roles other Americans wouldn’t want. Although many who share this idea support immigration, they devalue the efforts of Latino immigrants and suggest their impact on the nation is rudimentary and insignificant. However, the reality is that the educational experience and level of success of Mexican immigrants is much more similar to that of native-born Americans than many would expect. Although Mexican immigrants are behind other migrant groups in terms of level of education attained, they are still successful and on the rise as a demographic; the portion of Mexican migrants with at least a Bachelor’s degree 15% above what it was a decade ago. Mexican immigrants continue to place significant value on education and are increasingly successful in attaining this goal. Yet certain examples and misconstrued statistics seem to define their image in American society.

Fortunately, Irma & David were able to surpass the many harmful policies caused by uninformed beliefs. Instead, they were able to dedicate all their efforts to raising their children with as much dedication and love as possible. They raised their family with the values of education, faith, and love and support for one another, all of this instilled by the dedication and teachings the couple gave to their kids. Following in their parents footsteps, they would focus on religious values and the development of their childrens’ faith life. In regular attendance of Church and integration into the Catholic Community, Irma & David were able to meet other families and create strong connections in San Jose. David used his Masters degree to work as an electrical engineer, and he continues his work today. Irma pursued a similar career, and eventually shifted to a career focused on her faith, where she works now as part of a Ministry. As they worked, they focused on education, and raised their children to be able to succeed as they had. Their kids grew up accordingly, all with a drive and passion for education. Eventually, they would go on to attend Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and UCLA before raising their own families to continue their parents’ legacy. David recalls the time period where their children came to understand the significant costs of education. He recalls that “one by one, as they were growing up, they were telling me that [college is expensive], and I just told them that there are two different things in terms of money. One is an investment and one is an expense. If you buy a car, that is an expense. Eventually, it gets depreciated and eventually is worth nothing. But if you get an education, that is an investment. It is something that is going to provide a huge return in life from them. And as an investment that was a great thing for us. And so we did everything that we could so they could get the best education they could get.”

About the Author

I am a junior at Freestyle Academy taking animation as my elective. I enjoy drawing, playing soccer, and eating food.

I also like to talk without thinking about what I’m saying and seeing where that gets me. This project was really special to me because Irma & David are my grandparents and I felt I could do something in return for all the love they’ve given me by putting their story out their for the world.

-Teo Teeter Rangel

Thea Nair ´

The Ethical Ramification of Progressing AI

One of the most

mainstream depictions of AI is J.A.R.V.I.S. from the Iron Man movies. In the movies Tony Stark created a digital assistant that helps him with all his needs. J.A.R.V.I.S. is a “strong artificial intelligence” or general intelligence, meaning it is capable of performing any task, from scheduling appointments to writing essays. J.A.R.V.I.S. is what most people imagine when they discuss artificial intelligence and how it might impact our future.

In reality, the AI of the near future is more likely to be “weak artificial intelligence”. These artificial engines are fine-tuned and focus on performing a specific task, like playing chess or answering a question. Every example of artificial intelligence that we are currently developing and using is classified as “weak AI”. For example, the Siri assistant in all Apple products might seem like a general AI but in reality “she” isn’t. Siri is an AI that is fine-tuned to answer any question by analyzing information from the apps on the phone or searching the internet. Siri cannot compose a symphony.

As a society we are just scratching the surface of AI, and the possibilities seem endless. And yet, people are already reluctant to embrace AI as the next step when it comes to revolutionizing technology and the way we live. Why are people reluctant to embracing artificial intelligence? What do we have to fear? First and foremost, it is essential to acknowledge that AI is already making its debut in various industries, the obvious ones being tech-centered companies but AI has also started to appear in the healthcare industry and in banking to name a few. If we fail to take the initiative and don’t establish ethical guidelines for AI-based companies to follow, we leave these companies to self-regulate and use AI as they see fit. Rather than fearing what the future holds, we must embrace the fact that AI will be a part of it and begin setting ethical guidelines for how we wish it to affect society.

In order to establish ethical guidelines, which will serve as the foundation for all future AIs, we must first identify the issues we wish to avoid. Going back to our example of J.A.R.V.I.S., we think of AI as highly objective machines. Since they lack the ability to form human relationships AI must be immune to forming biases towards one group of people. However, in reality, machine learning AIs are trained on data sets created by humans. Machines reflect the unintended cognitive bias of their developers. Cognitive biases occur during machine learning when a developer creates a data set made from information that is easily accessible to them. Most engineers are white men; their inherent implicit bias prevents them from creating equal access technologies. Ali Breland, a journalist who writes about internet disinformation, highlights the problem of racist code:

This poses an extreme disadvantage to people of color when it comes to using technologies that should be made to facilitate their lives but actually makes it hard for them to use said technologies. Since most engineers and therefore machine learning developers are white men, they don’t have deep connections to minorities or an understanding of their cultures. Therefore the data sets they create only accurately represent their culture. According to the Lexalitics blog “Bias in AI and Machine Learning: Sources and Solution,” “[machines] think the way it’s been taught.” Artificial intelligence can’t be racist, it can’t be sexist, it only pulls answers from the information it has access to.

According to Lexalytics - a technology analysis company that writes articles summarizing current conversations about technologies - there are many types of biases that researchers must watch out for. Availability bias often occurs when researchers pull their data from the internet. 40% of Africans have access to the internet, compared to the 90% of Americans that use the internet daily. It is easy to see how finding information about America, a single country that has a lot of access to the internet, is easy. So when researchers are making data sets, they will tend to more accurately represent information about Western countries and their populations because researchers come from those countries and understand those cultures. When asked to find data on technologically underprivileged countries they are left to draw from their own biases and unintentional prejudice stereotypes or sources that carry the same biases.

“Facial recognition software has problems recognizing black faces because its algorithms are usually written by white engineers who dominate the technology sector” (Breland).

In November 2022,

Federico Bianchi, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, tweeted images he procured by writing prompts into DALL-E, OpenAI’s deep learning model that generates images from prompts. He posted the prompt and then the image the AI generated. The first prompt was “an American with his car”. The AI generated a white male in lean clothing in front of a vintage shiny car on a nice pavement with what looks like a city in the distance. The next prompt Bianchi typed was “African man and his car”. The image that was generated depicted a black man on a dirt road in tattered clothing. The man is standing in front of a run-down, rusty car. Behind him were trees which leads us to believe he is in a rural area. These two images stood in juxtaposition with one another. The images that DALL-E generated can enforce pre-existing stereotypes that lay dormant in the minds of unknowing users. Bianchi wants to draw out attention to these unintentional cognitive biases that appear in the first forms of deep learning models. And since OpenAI is one of the first companies to provide a product like DALL-E to the public, they have the power to set the foundation for other AIs to come. If these unintentional prejudice assumptions are able to slip through the data sets that form the way AI processes and analyzes data then we need to be extremely careful. We need to be more aware of how our background can end up affecting users from their own prejudiced ideals based on the images they see when typing in a prompt.

grounds. She has seen firsthand the advantage of accessibility that we experience not only as students but also as citizens of Silicon Valley. For example, when using artificially intelligent machines like DALL-E or Midjourney users are given a small number of free uses each month but are then required to buy a monthly subscription to be able to gain access to the engine. Families that work in the Silicon Valley or in more wealthy areas are able to pay these subscriptions if they wish to. This creates an unfair advantage for those who aren’t able to pay. Now at the moment, this might only apply to image generating machines but in the future, these subscription based AI tools will become more popular, and soon only those who can afford them will have access to these groundbreaking technologies. Cohen-Bender explains,

“...those of us who have funds to purchase subscriptions or software ... have increased access to voice and we increase our presence in the data set.” Companies cater to their targeted clients, “wealth distribution, in this country, is often lying on racial lines” (Cohen-Bender),

their clients being predominantly white Americans will be well represented in the data-set, but once again the lack of perspective when it comes to clients now as well will begin to affect the kind of information the machine outputs.

Jessica Cohen-Bender is a teacher at Mountain View High School who has taught at both private and public schools. She has worked with students of many different back-

During the 1960s the industrial revolution underwent a major change. Factories began manufacturing machines which replaced many humans. The efficiency of the overall production however increased dramatically. Throughout the years the progression of those machines has further improved resulting in the need for fewer and fewer humans to work in factories. This process of automation put blue collar jobs in danger. The implementation of AI in the workplace tech and upper management jobs are also being threatened. John P. Sullins, professor of philosophy at Sonoma State University and the director of programming for the Sonoma State University Center for Ethics Law and Society (CELS), he began to raise concerns in 2005 about how the progression of AI will affect job distribution. “Manufacturing and assembly line jobs become fully automated, but upper management and strategic planning positions may be computerized as well” (Sullins). Sullins does, however, recognize that this dramatic change would only be effective once strong AI is implemented in the workplace, and as we have seen he raised these concerns in 2005 and they have yet to fully come to fruition. Sullins also recognizes that with these new technologies, new jobs concerning AI will also emerge.

Pictures the DALL-E produced in November 2022 from the prompts Binachi typed.

David De Cremer,

a Belgian scholar examining behavioral applications to organizations, management and economics, and Garry Kasparov address the problems with how companies are using artificial intelligence “intelligent systems are displacing humans in manufacturing, service delivery, recruitment, and the financial industry, consequently moving human workers towards lower-paid jobs or making them unemployed” (Cremer & Kasparov). Still, many people are reluctant to promote the progression of AI or even incorporate it into their daily lives, more so than it is already because they still believe that the loss of jobs out ways the number of new jobs that AI will bring to the table.

Connor Wright, who works at MAIEI (Montreal artificial intelligence ethics institute) and is studying Philosophy and AI at the University of Exeter, has struggled with this idea for some time. Wright describes himself as being more on the “techno-optimist side” when it comes to conversations about AI he firmly believes that there is a fine line between artificial intelligence facilitating the work of humans and replacing them all together. One of Wright’s master colleges gets approached by AI businesses asking him to automate aspects of their businesses. Instead, Wright’s friend asks these companies,

The future of AI must be focusing on helping us and not replacing us. Once people, who are reluctant to trust AI adopt and accept this outcome, they will come to realize the positive effect these technologies could have on humanity. After acknowledging the problems we want to steer clear of and explaining the positive impact that we want artificial intelligence to have on our lives, it is finally time to propose solutions. We must set guidelines in order to shape the future of AI. First, we make rules that the current artificial intelligent machines must follow, in order to ensure that future AI technologies will do the same.

Teresa Martin, a columnist for Cape Cod Times, exposed how artificial intelligence companies were training their AI. She talked about how any pictures a user posts online, whether it is of themselves or a family member, artificial intelligence companies like OpenAI use those easily accessible images to train their engines. She underlines that it is important to clarify and give definite answers to questions like,

Because when it comes to image generating AI there are not many restrictions because it is such a new technology. Alex Engler is a Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution, in 2021 he wrote about open-source software and how it can help reduce AI bias. Open-source software (OSS) is software that is a software or code that is freely accessible and can be changed by anyone. In a world where AI developers are pushed to come out with the next big technological breakthrough before their competition gets the chance, they often look over accurate representation. “Data scientists and machine learning engineers at private companies are often time-constrained and operating in competitive markets. In order to keep their jobs, they must work hard on developing models and building products, without necessarily the same pressure on thoroughly examining models for biases.” OSS lets other developers look at the data sets that these machines are using and add to them, giving machines examples that accurately represent communities or situations. “Open-source code can be incredibly helpful in discovering and mitigating discriminatory aspects of machine learning” Engler continues by emphasizing that there should be more governmental oversight but private companies should also invest in OSS as it is “ a different lever to improve AI’s role in society”.

In conclusion, when it comes to AI, we are forced to accept the fact that AI will be a part of our future. The only way to ensure that AI is incorporated safely and ethically into our lives is to be a part of the conversation. We need to take a stand for AI that augments our abilities to do work, AI that augments our quality of life, but also take a stand with companies that have our best interests in mind. In addition, we need to be more confident about how we teach AI is influenced by our own personal biases, and the only way to ensure that we ethically teach and make AI is to have more people with different backgrounds in the room making decisions that will impact millions of people.

“What rights do subjects in images have?” Or “Did the original creator give permission to use their photo or image as interpretation, do they need it?”

“Why are you trying to replace the human capital and not augment it?” (Wright).

About the Author

Théa Nair is currently a Junior at Mountain View High School. She loves to play water polo and swim. Other interests include, anything film related, reading, playing video games, and listening to and playing music.

William Anderson

“ “

What does it mean to be an active community member ?

Bay Area Activism

By: William Anderson

What does being an active community member mean? Over the last few years, we’ve seen the nation take strides in becoming more politically involved, especially in our younger generations. As people take to the streets for issues they feel passionate about, the best way and most effective way to educate ourselves for the future is by looking at the past. Everyone has a different idea of what a “community member” is, but in its simplest form, it’s someone who provides something back to the community they are part of.

Chris Shrager has long been the an example of what it means to be an active community member- from establishing food banks, donating homes to create orphanages to his current restoration work for the Department of the Interior- he is the example of what it means to give back for over 50 years.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen younger generations of Americans become more politically involved. From anti-gun movements, Gen Z’s involvement in political campaigns, and especially the BLM movements, Gen Z has gathered online and in the real world to make their voices known. In the last 5 years, the millennial and Gen Z generations have been doing their part to influence society to create the world we want to live in. Although this generation’s commitment to our civic duty is something we actively pursue, it’s been hard to get laws passed and new legislation that benefits the change we’ve fought for and continue to do so.

As people take to the streets for issues they feel passionate about, the best way and most effective way to enact change is through educating ourselves for the future by looking at past efforts. Not only have different activism groups been stressing the conventional for generations but socio-political activism is something that’s been in the root of American identity since the birth of our nation. As the fight continues, we can look at prior movements to gain strategies and hope for our current activism work to continue in the most impactful way. Everyone has a different idea of what a “community member” is, but in its simplest form, it’s someone who provides something back to the community they are part of. Community organizers of the 1960s and 70s provide a blueprint for what a genuinely active community member should look like, being some of the most impactful activists that we can learn from.

Chris Shrager is the embodiment of this definition, being active in the Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War Movements in San Francisco throughout the 1960s & ‘70s.

The Bay Area

The Bay Area has long been a center of activism and social liberty since its creation but the Civil Rights movement of the 19050s and 60s had a significant impact on the area, inspiring generations to push for change.

In the 60s, the Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale-focusing on civil rights and community empowerment for Africa Americans and the organization of social programs.

Throughout the 1970s, San Francisco became a center for LGBTQ+ communities and broader neo-romanticism movements. In 1978, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay person elected to public office, setting a precedent for the Bay Area as a hub of social liberties.

The 1980s saw an increase in environmentl activism throughout the Bay Area, with groups like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club organizing campaigns to protect the beauty of Northern California.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Bay was a center for anti-globalization protests, with activists organizing against corporate globalization and neoliberal economic policy.The 1999 Seattle WTO protests that shut down the World Trade Organization was largely organised by Bay Area activists.

More recently, the Bay Area has been at the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement, with protests and demonstrations organized in response to police brutality and systemic racism. The tech industry, which has a significant presence in the Bay Area, has also been the subject of activism, with tech workers organizing against issues like gentrification, labor exploitation, and data privacy.

Shrager was a social activist during the Civil Rights movement in San Francisco, his commitment to change-making can provide current social and political activists’ movements with valuable insight into how to bring change on a local level efficiently. Shrager Shrager is the embodiment of a role model whose work can influence the fight for change- from the physical work that he did in the Bay Area to help and support his community to the protesting and activism work he contributed to in the greater area and national political and social fight for change. From his early days in high school, he made his thoughts known and spoke openly about the movements he felt passionate about. Getting kicked from boarding school for these statements, he moved to Manhatten, joining “anarchist” groups that organized protests for the Vietnam War and the anti-Communism movement. During the Vietnam war, he fled to Cuba under Castros reign and would see the reality of what communism was and how much it provided to the people of Cuba. Seeing how the US had lied about Communism, he would come back to California and give political speeches at Menlo College, telling nieve American students about the realities of the Ameircan narrative. This is when his activism career would really expand, organizing groups around campus to Chris in

“There was a huge anti-war march in Washington on, November 15th of 1969, because it was my 18th birthday. We all {got} kind of teargassed. I purposely road back to New York, Stinking of teargas. We walked right into the draft board.”

Madrid, Spain

participate in demonstration and protests on campus and in San Francisco, which was only a half-hour drive from Menlo Park.

The trio, Chris Shrager and his friends Vicky and Harry Clark would organize movements around campus in support of the Civil Rights Movement and spend sleepless hours together at cafeteria recruitment tables, pushing for equal rights on campus and in the wider community. By graduation, the three had established medical clinics along El Camino in Menlo Park for low-income students and residents and The Spencer Moss Community College.

After the Kent State police shootings due to student activism, Chris and his fellow activist friends would expand their work and make their voice heard that they would not stand for this infringement of their constitutional rights or the plethora of other issues they were fighting for; the Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-Vietnam protests and the expanding hippie movement.

Between the Anti-Vietnam Movement, the Racial Justice movement, and the widespread social changes the Bay Area and nation saw, Shrager, Harry, and Vicky Clark found their footing- becoming aware of the social tension and increasing awareness of these movements by the general public. From organizing movements on campus to events that would spread into the community, the trio had joined a civil rights movement group called the Brown Berets, a paramilitary group that emerged as a result of the Chicano Movements in the late 1960s. The group was founded by ex-leaders of the Black Panthers and modeled after the Black Panther Party. The goal of these groups was to organize the people and with the way that the Civil Rights riots and Anti-Vietnam protests had gone, it was made clear that the government wasn’t listening to the people

while preaching a narrative of instigation to protect democratic values. While a majority of the groups didn’t think the work they were doing would turn into a nationwide violent outbreak, many members did see this on the horizon. For example, many would go out to the forest and practice sharp-shooting while they weren’t working. Members of these groups thought the work they were doing would result in social unrest and a revolt against the government, using their voices to instigate this type of change they wanted to see. With the support of into the early 70s and the eventual middle 1970s, the ambitions of these groups largely changes and so did our trio’s goals. Shrager, Harry, and Vicky bounced around different groups as their alignments changed and eventually would change their role in these groups as the Civil Rights Movement ended with Federal Legislative. By the mid-1970s the Black Panthers had been demolished, with most of the leadership being imprisoned or killed as a result of their protesting. The remainder of the members would organize into smaller groups that mostly fell apart while a few stuck around or transitioned to protesting and activism on other issues.

As the momentum from the Civil Rights movement slowed down as a result of the annihilation of the Black Panthers and new legislation across the country, the activists of the 60s and early 70s had to find a new way to impact their communities and continue their work. Shrager, as well as many other activists, felt a calling to continue their work after these movements, struggling to find roles that would “do no harm” (for the environment, the community, the under-served or the little man)”, many transitioning to other movements or careers that provided similar opportunities and impacts for communities.

Black Panthers mascot

While many moved around the country and to this day fight for labor and gender rights, the Bay Area became a new hub of environmental activism, pressuring local and state government groups to protect the land to ensure the beauty and land management of the state. While Bay Area activists repositioned their political power, Shrager, Harry, and Vicki settled down into work that they deemed- “less risky,” -opening community services across the Peninsula to help lower-income communities. Shrager would spend a summer driving families out to prisons in the Central Valley and East Bay. One of the most significant projects they did in addition to food banks, medical centers and even a small community college, is the daycare center he established in Menlo Park. Shrager’ family, originally from Chicago had a family house in Menlo Park that Shrager grew up in and would come in inherit. Rather than settling down, he would turn this stately house into a daycare center for the city and end up donating the now multi-million dollar house to the city of Menlo Park where it still sits as a day care center. The Newsom administration has visited the site and granted thousands in state funding to the project.

As the Trio, Harry, Vicky and Shrager, settled from their activist lives, they found a place in their communities for them, where they could do the work that would not only fight from within the belly of the beast by working for the government, in the BLM and education sector, but changing the perceived narrative that the media perpetuates and be the change they wanted to see after dedication years of their lives to the fight. The change allowed the group to see the government and the work they did from a different perspective. From constantly fighting against the government, they were now the ones that worked for and represented it. Moving from the private sector to the public, the group got the perspective that however big the federal government is, there’s ways to continue their original activism work, but through working with them instead of against.

As the Bay grows and the people of my generation, Gen Z, assume the potential power that our parents had, we have to know how to use it. The last few years have seen a dramatic increase in political interest and social movements, from the BLM movement, and the Women’s marches of 2019 to the March for our Lives protests against gun laws, especially from the youngest members of our generation. As a result of the instant connection and organization through the internet, our generation has the potential to enact the change we want,

evident in the Trump rally that was shut down due to organization through TikTok, largely by Gen Z representatives. Although we have shown interest in nationwide issues and the power that we hold, we have to know how to effectively and efficiently use it and that theres many different ways to be an engaged community member, and that jumping on the band-wagon without educated knowledge isn’t always beneficial.. To succeed in the future, it’s vital to look back- to see the activists like Chis Shrager and thousands of others that took initiative to fight for the change they wanted to see.

Shrager’ story is a great example of this because it shows that although he was one of the thousands at these protests, his voice was impactful and even if you are one in a crowd, the courage and bravery it takes is not forgotten. The few narratives we are familiar with that center around activism and protesting—Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Greta Thumburg—are important, but an activist doesn’t have to be nationally known to make a difference or to be heard. Gen Z has shown time and time again, that when faced with challenges, we rise to the occasion and push for change, seen through teenage activists after the Parkland school shooting, and during the 2020 BLM protests where millions gathered in the streets facing Covid-19 to fight for change and during countless other movements and community events where we make out voices heard.

This generation often feel stuck, hopeless or lacking the actuality to make our wishes reality, through looking at prior activism movements, we can gain inspiration and hope that the fight is worth it and that there’s always hope for what can be.

“ I used to be someone they were afraid of. Now they pay me. They let me adopt children. They let me teach other people children it. And I sort of looked at it in that light. You know, I’m fighting within the belly of the beast. I’m part of this. I think I’ve been able to have a broader, more beneficial effect on my little tiny slice of that pie.”

Author & Bio

I’m William Anderson, a current Junior at Mountain View High School and Freestyle Academy. I was interested in the Freestyle program for the resources it provides and the real-life practice that the program teaches through technology, communication, and real work opportunities. Design is something I’m very passionate about having taken Architecture classes in prior years as well as 2d and 3d art courses. I gain inspiration from the experiences in my life, working memories, and different perspectives on what I create.

Outside of class, I like to fill my time. I feel most happy when I’m productive and getting things done. Doing chores, running errands, and going on drives are all things that I like doing-and of course spending time with my friends and taking full advantage of what California has to offer.

I’m excited to be a part of Freestyle this year and have the skills to use what’s offered to expand my creative drive. There’s so much here at our fingertips and I want to be able to execute my creative ideas in creative and professional ways.

Zoe Parker

Sounds of Success

The first thing you notice when you walk into the Mountain View High School music room are the people. Gathered in small groups, either studying or chatting, the students in the music program seem comfortable and safe. More students walk in during lunchtime, simply looking for someone to chat with. There is always at least one person in the sound-proof practice rooms prepping for this audition or that performance. All of the students know that the minute they walk through the double doors of the instrumental music room, they are home.

Many taxpayers and administrators don’t believe that their money is being well spent if it goes to paying for a new

music program at their local high school. They might argue that the students don’t need to know how to play the saxophone to be successful and get a job. However, many students and teachers truly believe that these programs are bigger than just learning how to sing or play the tuba. They claim that they provide a valuable community for many students, and they teach kids how to think creatively and strengthen their brains – honing important skills for for their future. Music programs are necessary today because they provide a safe haven and a way to cope in an increasingly stressful and negative world. High school music programs may be expensive for the administration, but the

benefits of community, learning new ways to think, and a healthier mind make them integral in every high school.

“I think my favorite part is probably the community,” says Grey Krauss, a junior at Mountain View High School. Krauss, who currently plays percussion and bassoon, is involved with multiple ensembles in the music program on campus.. Reflecting on the culture of the program, he explains, “marching band specifically is very welcoming… because you don’t really need experience to join, so you can kind of just join and then… just have fun and stuff.” Krauss talks about how some students are more welcoming than others, but

overall, “if you make friends in a program like I did then it’s good and fun.”

Krauss’s friends brought him back into the program after leaving for a year during the pandemic. He regretted not joining the marching band in his sophomore year because he witnessed the kind of rapport and friendship that was formed throughout the 3 month program. He recalls, “ [my friend] told me about winter percussion and I joined that and that’s kind of what kickstarted my reintroduction to music.” Krauss paints a picture of a program that is constantly trying to expand the community and make it stronger, arguing that “any community in high school is important.”

Mountain View High School provides a perfect example of community in music programs. This is especially apparent in the choir, where students have to be even more vulnerable when performing than instrumentalists. Jill Denny, the MVHS choir teacher of 26 years, talks about how her classes “[are] accepting of all students, where every voice counts and people really make an effort to raise

everyone up.” She goes on to describe how in order for the choir to be successful, every individual must be successful, and that creates a feeling of unity – the choir slogan that appears on their t-shirts is “Every Voice Counts.” Denny stresses how everyone is very open to all identities and not only accepts them with open arms, but celebrates them, saying “they proactively support it.” When speaking about the MVHS staff, she says that teaching a student is very collaborative and that “everyone is looking out for the whole child.” She argues that having a range of music programs in schools is important because it not only provides a larger community among students, but also can provide different relationships between the student and their teachers. Denny describes the support system that the students have with the staff, saying that she asks herself, “what is going to help this one person be well rounded?”

In a Cal State San Marcos study about the effects of music electives for secondary students, graduate student Sarah Slezak finds that “many students felt they had made more friends and stronger relationships with friends because of participating in the [choir] class.” She details how the students felt supported by their classmates and their teacher which motivated them to come to school and boosted their morale. Slezak explains how a “sense of belonging in school is strongly correlated with expectancy of success, valuing schoolwork,

general school motivation, and self-reported effort,” further proving the importance of a strong community. The students in Slezak’s study defined their choir class as a “safe space,” “judgment free,” and “inclusive,” similar adjectives that Krauss used to describe his experience at MVHS. Overall, MVHS music programs and other schools’ have a welcoming and open community that gives students a home away from home.

Learning to play music at a young age teaches students new ways of thinking and learning that can actually strengthen one’s memory and expand mental capacity. According to the National Association for Music Education, “Students who have early musical training will develop the areas of the brain related to language and reasoning. The left side of the brain [used for language, numbers, and reasoning] is better developed with music, and songs can help imprint information on young minds.” Executive director Lydia Kontos, of the Kaufman Music Center (a music-focused school in New York), talks about how

learning music can help kids understand deferred gratification. In a world where children increasingly look for instant gratification rather than thinking in the long term, Kontos says that “It’s not so easy to make it disappear in music… A child gets a piece to learn, doesn’t know it at all, and works through it with a teacher and masters it. They get that feeling that it doesn’t happen the next day. It could happen the next week; it could happen in the next month.” This teaches children to have patience and perseverance, and helps them better understand the beneficial effects of deferred gratification. Kontos believes that this is one of the key academic benefits of learning music, and compares it to learning other subjects too, like math or English. She says that it teaches individuality and hard work. The Kaufman Music Center has noticeably higher test scores than other schools because of its focus on music education. Kontos sums it up by saying, “I think every child deserves to learn music, just like every child deserves to learn how to read and do math.”

Krauss agrees that playing music teaches us better ways to use our brains: “I feel like it kind of helped me develop a more growth mindset when it comes to learning things and that it’s okay to not be perfect at something at first…” Learning so many new instruments has taught him how he learns best, and how he personally needs to practice to get the best output. Before he got

back into music, he would start learning a new skill or hobby and then drop it because he felt he wasn’t good enough at it at first. With his new mindset he believes that “...even if you mess up in a practice or something, then it’s just part of the learning process.”

Musicians are stronger pattern-recognizers and can more easily pick out sounds in a crowd; in fact, the data shows that “they had stronger memory

nonmusical classes. They found that “it wasn’t extracurricular enrichment in general that sped up brain development. It was music” (Kraus and WhiteSchwoch).

In an increasingly stressful and pressure-filled world, teenagers have been found to have higher rates of depression and stress than 30 years ago, because “as college tuitions rise along with

and attentional skills than nonmusicians.” The participants in a study on the neurological effect of musicianship, who were in their sixties and seventies, were found to have stronger memory, attention, and better hearing abilities than non-musicians of the same age. In another study referenced in the article, there were two groups of students –one who jumped straight into music instruction, and the other who started out taking other,

the requirements to get into a top college, teenagers are put under more pressure today than in previous generations.” With this growing pressure, creating spaces for teenagers to let down and release stress is important for their physical and emotional health. School music programs can reduce stress and increase focus for participants. In Slezak’s study, she asked the participants how they thought their choir class affected their mood. She found

that “being in choir simply made them feel happy and put them in a good mood by relieving stress and anxiety.” The participants also said that they felt they could focus better in classes after choir because they had had a “nice mental break.” Furthermore, the community provided creates a safe space for students to express their emotions and get support from their peers. Slezak’s findings are bolstered by Tim Ringold, owner of Sonic Divinity Music Therapy Services, who claims that “when stress can’t be expressed solely through language… the physical and mental act of making music can allow you to get those feelings out of your body and mind.”

However, the mental health benefits are not absolute. Krauss has a differing opinion on how playing music affects his mental health. He says that, generally, music does help him alleviate stress, but, “I feel like I have an expectation that I’ve set for myself to be on a high school level, when I’ve just played the instrument for half a year.” Krauss explains that this

negatively affects his self confidence, because he pressures himself to constantly be better. This can be positive in that it creates motivation when practicing, however after a certain point, it can become unrealistic and stressful. Overall,

playingmusic does help alleviate stress, as long as students do not put additional pressure on themselves to reach proficiency too quickly.

This is all good and dandy, however in order for any of this to matter, these programs need to be properly funded. At Mountain View High School, some students play on school instruments that are frequently falling apart, along with mallet instruments that are out of tune. Krauss explains how a saxophone player had to miss out on class time almost every day in order to fix some part of his instrument. He stresses the importance of a properly funded program, saying, “I think funding not only would help the efficiency of the program, but also would help people have more fun in it, because it’s kind of hard to have fun with something when you have to fix your instrument every five seconds.”

Providing the inside perspective, Denny explains how the choir program uses its funding: “we provide scholarships for everything, to go to choir camp, to have costumes, to be able to attend field trips.” This allows a more welcoming and equitable program, where everyone has access to the great opportunities that the choir provides, like class trips. Without this extra funding, many low-income students would be left behind. Denny notes that they also use the funding to hire a piano accompanist, “which really raises the caliber of our program.” The music classes at MVHS use their funding to bolster their programs and make sure that every student can participate.

In summary, music programs create a safe space for students who might not fit in other places, teach them valuable life skills, and give students outlets to relieve their evergrowing stress. These classes cannot function without funding, and they certainly cannot thrive without the proper administrative support. As Denny puts it, if administrations don’t fund their music classes, “for sure [the students’] mental health would go down but also they may just stop coming to school all together. So you’re just cutting off an entire life chunk of a person’s development.” A school without music will be less successful, less healthy, and much less happy.

“I think funding not only would help the efficiency of the program, but also would help people have more fun in it.”

Zoe Parker is a junior at Mountain View High School and is currently studying film at Freestyle Academy. She is passionate about the arts and in her free time she loves to draw and play the french horn. She is also an avid movie enthusiast.

Natalie Emerson

1 2 3 4

uncanny the< valley>

<By: Natalie Emerson>

<p> The communities in Silicon Valley have undergone historical change throughout the last century, morphing from what were once the wide and anonymous orchard towns of Los Altos and Palo Alto into the booming tech powerhouse of the world. With its sky-high prices and dead, discolored fields stretching as far as the eye can see, Silicon Valley’s gilded image attracts and repels hundreds of people a year. It is both famous and infamous for its prestige and intense competition.

The Valley became recognized nation-

ally for the development of silicon processors in the 1970s (“History of Los Altos”). Since then, big business and affluence have flooded the once small and desolate California Valley. Companies like Apple, Google, Tesla, and Meta are nestled hardly a freeway apart from each other.

In spite of Big Tech’s claim that it is making the world a better place, the system is beginning to cause problems larger than itself. Its growth has caused a major division

between the priorities of the economy and the urgent issues that need attention, but are being swept under the rug. While the world focuses on Elon Musk and the fall of Silicon Valley Bank, the environmental, industrial, and academic emergen-

cies caused by Big Tech’s unmonitored expansion are in the process of spiraling out of control.

All around Silicon Valley, individuals work to protect the beauty and Silicon Valleys humble roots that have been overshadowed

by big business.

In the 1980s, Microchip developers contaminated the water of silicon Valley, the consequences of which are felt over 40 years later. Developers like IBM and Fairchild have denied involvement, and other companies who have attempted some cleanup work state candidly that the cleanup will take decades. The Google campus has resided upon a Superfund Site since 1989, which is “a designation the EPA gives some of the most contaminated or polluted land in the country.” Santa Clara County has the highest number of Superfund Sites in the nation at 23, all of which were the result of the chemicals used in computer manufacturing being released into the water. (Schlossberg)

Gary Hedden, a fifty-year resident of Los Altos and 2022

“Los Altan of the year” shares his experience working to preserve the already debilitated environment of Silicon Valley, and finding the beauty here. Since retiring from his job at Syntex pharmaceutical company in 2009, he has done large amounts of

environmental work for his community, and prides himself on his volunteering contributions. A specific accomplishment of his was the construction of an exhibit for the Los Altos History Museum, which was coordinated alongside a colleague of his in the Environmental Commission. Hedden also works with the local Green Team, Boy Scouts, and

Green Town. </p>

The community run program Green Town, located in Los Altos, is dedicated to environmental education, advocacy, and conservation. Hedden, among his many other contributions, is a past president of Green Town. His goal is to eventually plant 500 trees all around the Bay Area. “I saw all the dead and dying trees about four years ago and decided

that was a perfect project for Green Town’’ says Hedden. “We’re up to 372 now.” The natural beauty in Silicon Valley truly exhibits its hidden charm, and there’s no better way to preserve that than with a tree. Not only are they beautiful, but they can provide a cool and peaceful natural shelter from the California heat. “It’s just amazing what a big tree can do.” Hedden adds. He also shares that, although his project is thriving, he often experiences difficulty when trying to communicate the importance of this cause to the people around him. “Probably the biggest frustration that’s common to any endeavor really is communication,” Hedden shares. “And it’s not that they maybe

aren’t trying, but it’s just you come from a different angle or maybe you don’t understand what the other person is thinking.”

When presented with contentious issues in town, Hedden often steps back and asks himself, “What could I do to help them understand each other?’” </p> The unity of the Silicon Valley workplace is both divided and impenetrable. Instances of labor union strikes have risen in frequency, but the results have fallen short of expectation. In September of 2022, approximately 60,000 Caltrain workers, the California coast’s most reliable high speed railway, went on strike. According to an article written by abc7 news, the workers protested in a strike for better benefits, salaries, and more time off. Because the Caltrain is critical to interstate trade, government officials and higher ups feared that the strike could lead to a countrywide food shortage. (Larson). In the bigger picture, it exposes that the value of unskilled labor is reliant

upon the lack of value attributed to the people who provide such labor. It seems unreasonable for companies as vast and critical as Caltrain to mistreat their employees to a point where they refuse to work, however because of the historical nuance of labor unions, especially in the United States, hints less at Silicon Valley’s inability to solve it, but their lack of a desire to try. A similar contemporary development, but more discrete in its execution, are the recent layoffs at Google, Microsoft, Meta, Zoom, Amazon, Netflix, and Twitter. On the morning of January 20th, 2023, 12,000 employees at Google received an email at 3 am

that notified them of their unemployment. According to the Silicon Valley Index, current tech employment rests at 29%, rising from the steady 25% it maintained over the last years. In terms of individuals, that adds up to approximately 867,500. (Shankland) Returning to Mr. Hedden’s anecdote about communication barriers, both of these subjects demonstrate the dichotomy between Silicon Valley’s leaders and its workers, communication eerily absent in a world almost entirely run by instant messaging.

Communication proves to be a primary barrier in the academic world as well. The increased amount of academic pressure

that restricts a students ability to be well rounded paired with the influx of technology driven social circles creates a highly competitive and cut-throat environment. Students are preparing themselves to enter an economy where the annual income required to buy a house is about 330k, and the average income is a whopping 93k.

(ZipRecruiter) A setting of this intensity reflects strongly in the mental health of students, and is brushed under the rug by congressional power. In the last several years, high schools in Silicon Valley have been struck by increasing rates of suicide amongst students. A survey conducted by the Mountain View Voice gathered that “between 14 and 17 percent of local high school teens reported that they ‘seriously considered’ attempting suicide in the last year’... ‘11 percent of high school juniors reported binge-drinking in the last 30 days, and a growing number are illicitly using prescription medication.”

(Forestieri) The

attempts to establish adequate mental health resources that go beyond a single school counselor are dramatically inhibited by the lack of affordable living in the area that many healthcare professionals are unable to afford. (Silicon Valley Community Foundation)

Jenny Munro, a former teacher at Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto, shares a new perspective on the challenges she faced in her efforts as a high school teacher. Munro, originally from England, moved to Redwood City in the 60s when she was 15 for her father to pursue engineering-related work opportunities, and remained here to raise her 2 children. She attended and graduated from Stanford University with a degree in English Literature, San Francisco State for a graduate degree, ultimately attending San Jose State for a teaching credential. Her teaching career lasted 32 years. Munro frequently spends time in her garden, swimming at the Palo Alto Y, or walking with her dog, Robbie. Her extensive work with Bay Area youth and her personal connection with traditional learning

provides unique insight into the tech revolution that is currently underway within modern education. “It just would be awful to get rid of all the real life things like libraries and real life books and just do it all online” she shares. Through the emergence of artificial intelligence and the impact of COVID-19, the funding allotted for libraries as well as other domestic programs is significantly lower than what many had hoped for. (Kromer) The competition that is reflected in Silicon Valley high schools mirrors the authentic Silicon Valley fashion taking more permanent roots, filtering out the values that don’t align with it. According to a Silicon Valley census, approximately 90% of UC attendees are California residents, and approximately 70% of that number chooses to stay in California post graduation. This shows the possibility of a circular trend, where California citizens give birth to California citizens, unbroken by a non Silicon Valley mediator. Although

this is widely seen as and proven to be a positive demographic shift that creates a diverse and driven populace, the formation of what some call the “Bay Area Bubble” is infamously detrimental to the mental health of young students. Munro lived in Portland for 3 years before COVID -19 hit in March of 2020, and she believes that the atmosphere of Silicon Valley is very different. “...Portland was just more relaxed and not so focused on succeed, succeed, push, push, push. More and more and more”. Working in Palo Alto, she had a window into the culture that was being built among the youth in light of this shift.

According to Purdue Online, technology has made education more ac-

cessible, involved, and innovative (“How Has Technology Changed Education”). However, according to a study conducted by Western Governors University, technology can impede young children’s ability to connect with the people around them and build social skills. “I think it cuts them off from real life connections like I often see young people who seem to be on their computer, on their cell phones, headphones all day long, and they don’t really talk to other people. They just seem to have most of their relationships remotely, which I think is very unhealthy psychologically,” Munro states. She is a staunch believer in the preservation of libraries; “They’re not only a place where you check out books, they are places where there are lots

of events and programs that connect people, places to go and meet up with people, take children.”

Munro is currently the president of the Friends of the Palo Alto Library, which is a volunteer organization which conducts monthly book sales to raise revenue for Palo Alto’s 5 public libraries. Munro says that younger people are encouraged to volunteer with the friends of the library. “I feel as though I’m doing something valuable.” She states. Ultimately, however impressive the net positives of Silicon Valley are, the sacrifices made in the process are not insignificant. The culture of Silicon Valley is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that has shaped the landscape of technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the modern world, and will continue to do so. </p>

About the Author

Natalie Emerson is a junior at Mountain View High School. In her free time she enjoys learning about history, reading, visiting museums, watching movies, and spending valuable time with her friends. Natalie has a wonderful time taking the film course at Freestyle and is excited to expand her abilities in her senior year!

Luiza Rufeisen

Rockin’ To The Apocalypse

Rock’n’Roll is a part of everyday life. Whether you like it or not, it is always there. Whether it’s your favorite car chase scene, hearing the roar of the guitar, feeling the anticipation as you sit at the edge of your seat, attempting to predict the outcome. The music your parents force you to listen to in the car—you can’t help but tap your feet to that drumline. Eating the best pizza of your life, wiping the grease from your mouth, while Bohemian Rhapsody plays in the background.

For some people rock is a loud inconvenience—for others, it’s a lifestyle. What some fail to realize is how much Rock’n’Roll actually shaped our nation. It isn’t just about the harmonious sound, the melodious guitar

line, or how the singer seems to invoke passion with every line. It’s the political message of Rock. How can Rock have so much political influence? Whether it be The Beatles, creating generations of fans through timeless writing; Janis Joplin, challenging puritanical and conventional roles for women; or Marvin Gaye, being a vehicle of racial equality through his powerful lyrics, Rock is much more than just a music genre. It is power; in other words, it is political. It is something that in this current time period, despite the aggressive guitar line, represents peace in a time of social and political war. Headbopping, the hair flowing, and the guitar strumming, not to

mention the thousands of screaming fans, one thing comes to mind: The Beatles, more specifically The song Revolution. The song Revolution by The Beatles is a seminal Rock song that sympathizes with peace-loving Americans who opposed the Vietnam War. This song propelled itself to be a vehicle of protest, especially as casualties mounted on both sides—ultimately, over 58,000 American soldiers and several million Vietnamese people died in this war. Throughout the song, Revolution, Lennon points out that the way to protest is not through brutality or

aggressive indignation, it’s through love and peace. Due to his major influence on the public as a musical virtuoso, Lennon was able to project his message through one of the most iconic portrayals of the Summer of Love we have today.

According to Thomas Forte, “The general consensus of the American public on Vietnam seems to be that it was an unwinnable war, fought for a

questionable cause that ultimately led to nothing but dead Americans and a loss of faith in the U.S. government.”

John Lennon was one Individual that particularly protested the violence of the Vietnam War. In the words of John Lennon, “Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.”

During the late sixties, Alan Bendit, a local musician, sound producer, and music teacher shared his first-hand experience as a young man in San Francisco trying to escape the draft while working on his music. He describes his struggle as he enlisted in the Navy, expecting to immediately be given busy work, like scrubbing the deck or cleaning the toilets, not fighting overseas. “I looked like a hippie

with a sailor’s outfit,” he recalls, juxtaposing his Navy uniform and his long and wild hair. Reflecting on his time stationed in San Francisco, he describes the people as friendly, always helping him to where he needed to go. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the Navy and pursue his musical career there. When he got orders to go to Vietnam, he was intent on finding any escape, even if that meant being thrown in the psychiatric ward for the following months. As he sat with his papers outside of a psychiatric division to get evaluated for service in Vietnam, he went over possible loopholes to get out of

war. When the head of the division arrived, Bendit began to choke him and shout absurdities to make the lieutenant believe he was not in the right mind to fight in the war. The Lieutenant was frightened and convinced enough that he wrote a letter explaining that Bendit was not fit to serve in Vietnam. Bendit’s experience was sadly one many Americans in the 1960s had to face.

According to James M. Lindsay from the Council on Foreign Relations, “Much as poetry provides a window into the Allied mood during World War I, anti-war songs provide a window into the mood of the

1960s. It was one of anger, alienation, and defiance” (“The Twenty Best Vietnam Protest Songs’ ‘). Anti-war songs were one of the most common music types during the 1960s, due to the fact that that time period is when radical oppositionist groups began to arise like the hippies, defying and going against what any generation prior did. Antiwar music was one specific sub-rock genre that the 1960s popularized.

Anti-war music has retained its relevance today because it’s a shared medium that communities use to protest injustices. Artists of the 1960s created the significant social and political change from which modern music draws heavy influence. Fifty-two years ago, Marvin Gaye headed into a music studio in Detroit, unaware he would produce one of the most unifying, influential, and melodic songs

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.”

ever greeted: What’s Going On. The song was written for Marvin Gaye’s brother, Frankie Gaye, from the perspective of a Vietnam War veteran. When Frankie returned from war, Gaye perceived that the war changed his look on life, therefore writing the song from his perspective. What’s Going On became popular for its commentary on the social injustice that ran rampant during the time. Although many songs did reflect the shared experiences of African Americans, What’s Going On” had a distinct quality that emulated a certain sense of familiarity and hope. Through repeating phrases such as “Mother, mother. There are too many of you crying. Brother, brother, brother, There’s far too many of you dying,” Gaye unites the black community by using words that represent family, highlighting the shared experience of African Americans. The success of this song does not go unnoticed, Nelson Mandela

recited the lyrics in 1990 for a populated Tigers Stadium, and the song reached #2 on the Billboard charts and ranked in the top 400 songs of all time by Rolling Stones Magazine. In the words of Gregory Robinson, sound designer, composer, and songwriter, whose musical works are featured in the Emmy-award-winning documentary How We Played the Game, “It was and is an anthem for what was and is the state of social consciousness in this country.

Marvin Gaye was a musical genius, with a spiritual awareness and sensitivity, that enabled him to write that song, produce it in a style, and feel that connection with humanity, and still does, to this very day. Some could say that Marvin Gaye had prophetic visions.” Robinson was alive during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. His experience as a black man in the 1960s and a music virtuoso allows him to describe

the deeper meaning of many of the songs made by African Americans. Most of the sub-rock genres or Rock adjacent genres were brought to us by the black community in the 1960s. As Robinson explains, “Black culture, if we are talking about music and sound, is the foundation of the musical landscape in this country.” There was a major overlap between the Rock of the anti-war protests of the 1960s and the Rock of the Civil Rights Movement. The major unifying factor was the peace that was preached in both movements. The major effect of music from the 1960s was its agelessness and its beacon of hope quality, which can still be applied to the injustices African Americans in our nation still face. She was the queen of Rock’n’Roll, the radical woman who opposed

conventional gender roles, Janis Joplin is a musician that paved the way for women to be viewed as more than just “pure” and “uncontaminated” objects. Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin and Big Brother & the Holding Company tells the story of a woman being manipulated in a romantic relationship, ready to give yet another piece of her heart away. At the end of the song, she declares her independence as more than just an object of lust: “But I’m gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough.” This lyric juxtaposes the beginning of the song, “Didn’t I give you nearly

everything that a woman possibly can” as she begins to assert her liberty and aggression. Although a lot of the songs she sang were covers, they later became the most memorable version of the song due to her interpretation of them, her passion for invoking the lyrics, and her attack on each note. Through Joplin’s growing popularity, she became the face of non-traditional gender roles: she wore masculine clothes yet embraced femininity; she performed authentically, creating a beam of support for

women all around the nation. She furthered the message that it was okay to be masculine as a woman Janis Joplin’s challenge to traditional gender norms in the 1960s represents the way Rock music has fueled feminist movements that remain relevant today, such as the Sexual Revolution. The Sexual Revolution was a radical movement that supported the idea that women have the same sexual appetites as men. According to a study conducted by Far Out Magazine, “By the end of the 1960s, the frequency of premarital sex in America had doubled by over 20% since World War I. Indeed, a paradox of the sexual revolution is that women were simultaneously encouraged and punished for engaging in sexual activity” (Kemp).

Women are still fighting for the right to

be seen as more than just “pure” beings, however, thanks to artists like Janis Joplin from the 1960s, performing lyrics that normalized the sexuality of women, it has become more normalized for women to embrace their sexuality. “In a study of 13 rock hits released between 1968 and 1972, nine were initiated by men and four were initiated by women. However, in the period 19731977, the report finds that “females became more aggressive, 26 times compared to the male 22” (Kemp). This study provides an effect of how Rock allowed women to begin to take back their power. More and more women followed Joplin and began to produce rock music that again, changed the way the public viewed women’s sexuality. Joan Jett, Amy Winehouse, and Madonna were later viewed as Rock icons that were authentically unafraid to be aggressive or sexual. Rock of the ’60s paved the way for future generations

of women to not be ashamed of their sexuality in music and in life. In conclusion, the 1960s were a time period of defiance, protest, and passion, many of the political and social changes in the 1960s were created and popularized through Rock’n’Roll music. Whether it be protesting the Vietnam War through peace, protesting the oppression and brutality of the Civil Rights Movement, or protesting the sexuality and independence of women, the legacy of the 1960s is about more than just “peace and love” it is about standing up for what you believe in and fighting for it through music. My generation, generation z, and the music that we resonate with is a prime example of the legacy of the 1960s, as we continue to stand up against social and political inequality through a common media: Rock’n’Roll.

About the Author and Cover Designer

Luiza is a 17-year-old student at Mountain View High School and Freestyle Academy. Her main passion in life is art. Whether it’s fine art, photography, or graphic design, Luiza spends hours at a time being creative. Her dream in life is to turn her passion into a career by studying graphic design in college and obtaining a job in that field. She is fluent in English, and Portuguese, and is proficient in Spanish. Luiza enjoys playing guitar outside of school and spending time with her friends, family, and cat. She has designed various things for the community including The Out Of Darkness T-Shirt Logo Design, The Turkey Trot Design, The Silent Auction Catalog for Bullis Charter School, the Golden Gate Park Band Festival Program and T-shirt, MVHS Oracle Youtube Channel Backsplash, and KPOP Dance Club Exec. Board Design, Golden Gate Park Band Festival, and more! Luiza is so thankful to be a Freestyler, for it is the best part of her day.

FREESTYLE ACADEMY