Palo Alto Unified School District Henry M. Gunn High School 780 Arastradero Rd Palo Alto, CA 94306
Check out this issue’s crossword puzzle on movie trivia!
PG. 21 Lifestyle
NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. Postage
PA I D
Permit #44 Palo Alto, Calif.
Check out our website! gunnoracle.com
Teachers, students adjust to delay in new technology Chris Lee Reporter Math teacher Daniel Hahn tries his best to work around the limitations of his broken SMART Board. “My [SMART] board does not write,” he said. “I can’t use the pens, and the projection image is very blurry. I only use one of the lights in my room, along with larger fonts, so that the board is a little easier to see.” As the lifespan of SMART Boards installed throughout campus comes to an end, many teachers have experienced similar difficulties with their classroom technology. According to Educational Technology Coordinator Jackie Smith, SMART Boards were first installed at Gunn in 2012. “SMART Boards only last about six or seven years,” she said. “We then start to see a lot of them fail with issues like we’re experiencing now. The more you interact with a display, the more likely it is to break.” Plans to replace the aging technology began to take shape in 2019. “A project was started, and there was a pilot of new classroom instructional technology,” Smith said. “A few teachers piloted new technology and came up with recommended replacements.” These recommendations included 85-inch non-interactive displays, iPads and wireless document cameras. Although the initial timeline called for these recommendations to be installed over the course of two years, COVID-19 delayed the upgrades, exacerbating existing classroom technology issues. “[During distance learning], the projectors sat unused and probably collected a lot of dust,” Smith said. “We didn’t necessarily know the state of some of the projectors until teachers came back in August and really started using them.” In response, the district ordered 100 new displays, which were slated to arrive in Dec. 2021. However, the delivery of key components such as the sound system was delayed, limiting the number of units that could actually be installed. “We can’t finish 71 classrooms until we get the components for the sound system,” Smith said. “We are at the mercy of the global supply chain issues that everybody is facing.” As of now, three classrooms have been fitted with the new technology, with more slated to be installed in the spring and fall of 2022. During this delayed transition, site technology technicians have been limited in terms of the solutions they can provide. “If the device itself is fine and we just need to do something like change the bulb, Tech shortage—p.2 Yoochan An
Math tutor arrest sheds light on power imbalance in relationships Annika Bereny Lifestyle Editor This story contains discussion of topics that may be triggering, such as sexual assault and harassment. On Aug. 25, 2020, former math tutor and Palo Alto resident Mark Hodes was arrested by the Palo Alto Police Department after two girls that he had tutored came forward with accounts that he had molested them. Since then, Hodes has been charged with 55 counts of lewd and lascivious acts with children, and a total of 17 girls have come forward to share their experiences. Although he will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars, the lasting effect of his actions will linger in Palo Alto for years to come. One survivor of Hodes, a senior who has asked to remain unidentified, recounts going to Hodes for help during their sophomore year and experiencing inappropriate behavior. “I noticed little things that he did that made me feel weird and uncomfortable,” they said. “They were so subtle that I thought maybe he was just a touchy person
or didn’t understand personal space. He was in his 70s, and lots of old guys who mean no harm do weird things sometimes.”
“In relationships with a significant age difference, such as between a kid and an adult, it’s easy for there to be an imbalance of power because of the respect that is supposed to come with being older than someone else.”
—Senior Dana Souter
Encouraged by the improvement in their academics, the student continued going to the sessions until they became distressing. “During the short period that had already passed, my math grade improved because of his help,” they said. “[My family and I] decided that I should keep getting help from him. Every session became progressively more uncomfortable, though, and he did things that were clearly inappropriate, so I quit.” The senior’s story, though, isn’t uncommon; in reality, it’s emblematic of the larger issue of abuse of power dy-
namics in society—a topic that has recently gravitated into the mainstream with frequent conversations on grooming, or creating predatory relationships with children that leave them vulnerable to exploitation and sexual abuse. Title IX Club co-president senior Dana Souter focuses the club’s lessons on topics like these during their bimonthly meetings. These meetings aim to teach students how to create policies to protect survivors of sexual harassment and violence. “In relationships with a significant age difference, such as between a kid and an adult, it’s easy for there to be an imbalance of power because of the respect that is supposed to come with being older than someone else,” Souter said. According to Souter, the academic pressure in Palo Alto can often make students feel as if they are stuck in uncomfortable situations. “Especially with the area we live in, there’s so much pressure to get these amazing grades,” she said. “If something can negatively impact your ability to succeed academically, you want to do everything you can to avoid that.” Every year, Gunn staff must go through a series of training courses on subjects such as mandated reporting, Abuse of power—p.2