Issue 8: May 21, 2025

The Campanile

CLASS DISMISSED

The Primary School, a tuition-free private school that serves K-8 students from low-income families in East Palo Alto and the East Bay, announced it will shut down at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

e Primary School is funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic organization established and owned by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan. e school rst opened in 2016 as a collaborative e ort between Chan and Meredith Liu, who was the school’s principal until 2023. Liu died in April of that year. According to the Primary School’s website, its purpose is to “close the achievement gap” for communities ected by systemic racism and marginalizae Primary School nor CZI provided an explanation for the school’s closure; however, the foundation says it will invest $50 million in the coming years in East Palo Alto, Belle Haven and East Bay Communities. CZI’s stated goal is to invest 99 percent of the couple’s wealth from their Facebook shares over “Immediate support will include: Investments in 529 education savings plans for all our students to support their future learning (and) transition specialists and support for families as they navigate the transition to new schools,” e Primary School said in a e school provided healthcare and other support services to students, and worked closely with parents to help kids succeed. East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio Lopez grew up in the city and went to the school in the ‘90s in the same building that now houses e Primary School. He said the decision to close the school broke trust that had been previously established between CZI and families.

“You really build the hopes of a community,” Lopez said. “We’re in the shadow of Silicon Valley, of Stanford, and so naturally there’s a bit of distrust that people have (towards philanthropic e orts). I think after a while, ( e Primary School) really won hearts and minds. It really felt, for a while, that they were etched in the community, and so I think there was a real sense of optimism and excitement and real pleasure in seeing a partner like Dr. Priscilla Chan—and that kind of name and backing and money—helping to really be bold when it comes to the education of our kids. And so, when that went awry with the Teresa Prado, a parent of a current student at e Primary School, said the news came as a shock and with a sense of deep disappointment. She said she is worried students will struggle to transition to new schools.

ey’re not thinking about how this a ects the kids psychologically,” Prado e Campanile in an interview conducted in Spanish. “(Students are) in classrooms where they feel safe, where they’re listened to. And little kids don’t ey just hear that it’s closing, and they’ve ey’ve adjusted to this school, and they’re happy here. It’s not easy for a child to adjust to a new place.”

Prado said part of what is particularly frustrating to her is the closure feels so abrupt, and she said she wishes CZI would ey should at least let the kids who are already here at the school graduate before closing it,” Prado said. “She just sent word that ey didn’t give any notice. And the thing is, not a single child has graduated from here since the school has Representatives of CZI and Ravenswood Superintendent Gina Sudaria declined interview requests for this story. Chan and Zuckerberg did not

As a result of the closure, Ravenswood School District will absorb over 400 Primary School students, 58% of

whom have IEPs or receive specialized support. However, it will not receive more funding from the state for this extra enrollment because it operates on a basic aid model and is primarily funded by property taxes. is means that the already limited resources will be stretched increasingly thin.

East Palo Alto Vice Mayor Mark Dinan acknowledged that while CZI has been generous regarding other community needs in the city, he said the e ects of the school closure will be felt signi cantly.

“It’s incredibly disruptive,” Dinan said. “I can imagine a lot of kids having trouble with the transition. e Primary School is an employer here in East Palo Alto, and I personally know ve or six people who work there. Not only will you have kids (facing disruption), but you also have a lot of teachers, administrators and support sta looking for work as well.”

Lopez said education holds symbolic signi cance to the city, making the closure even more painful for the community.

“My parents came to this country because they wanted a better life for their kids,” Lopez said. “And how do you get a better life? You go to school. ere's a lot of di erent industries that (CZI) could have gotten involved in, but you pick such an emotional, symbolic one like education, right? And you know, when you think about the abandonment that is being enacted … that's pretty cruel.”

Lopez also said the community deserves more communication and transparency regarding the closure.

“I think the way they went about it was really messed up,” Lopez said. “I mean, I think the courtesy of a phone call when you’re going to re somebody … or when you’re going to break up with somebody (is a bare minimum). It’s like, ‘So, what were we to you?’ It’s really a heartbreaking thing. I’m tired of seeing our mothers crying on NBC because of broken promises.”

Prado and other parents said the sting of the school closure might be lessened if Chan, who used to visit the school, came again to listen to parents’ concerns.

“At rst, Dr. Chan came in-person and showed her face,” Prado said. “And now that she wants to close the school, she hasn’t come to say anything personally to us. Maybe things have changed, but we still want her to come to see for herself. We would invite her to come to the school — come to the parent co ee, and listen to us. But she doesn’t show up.”

According to Lopez, this announcement is part of a larger pattern of wealthy individuals disrespecting the community.

“It’s like we’re being treated like a guinea pig,” Lopez said. “It’s like we’re just an experiment for innovation. I’m sick and tired of it. We don’t want the moon in the sky. We just want opportunity. We want a fair shot in this game, in this society.”

But even in the face of hardship, Lopez said he knows the East Palo Alto community will recover.

“East Palo Alto has always been a resilient city,” Lopez said. “We weathered many, many storms of all kinds in history. I don’t want to end with despair or a sense we’re doomed, because we’re not. We have a great school district. We have a wonderful superintendent. We have a wonderful board. I have no doubt that we’re going to be OK, and I want people to know that we're strong, and that our children are brilliant and beautiful and bright.”

Board of Education passes renewal of parcel tax

District o cials discussed plans to pursue a renewal of the parcel tax, used to fund programs and services in the district, at the May 13 meeting. e current tax, passed in November 2020, was set at a at fee of $836 per parcel for six years with a 2% increase each year, according to PAUSD’s BoardDocs. Voters approved that tax with a 77.4% approval, and it was projected to raise $16 million.

According to Team CivX’s Charles Heath, an independent consultant for the district, the parcel tax requires 66.7% of voters to approve it and may be used by the district for any purpose.

“Some of the laws that are unique are that the state law requires that parcel taxes be uniformly applied for all parcels,” Heath said. “You can’t have one set (of taxes) for residential parcels and (another set for) commercial parcels.” While the parcel tax rates require uniformity, Heath said PAUSD has given exemptions.

“( ere are exemptions) for either senior citizens or low-income homeowners and homeowners with disabilities to avoid being a burden on those with limited incomes,” Heath said.

With the measure in mind, Board President Shana Segal said that some board members were unsure about their role in supporting it.

“For four out of ve of us, this would be our rst time going through the parcel tax,” Segal said.

Board Vice President Shounak Dharap is the only member who was on the board when the last parcel tax was approved s. Dharap said since board members are not employees of the district, their role will be to advocate for the parcel tax with more exibility than district employees. Dharap said, “In 2020, all the board members took it upon themselves to advocate (for the parcel tax) and be a part of a committee just like they were running a re-election campaign.”

Julian Hong Senior Sta Writer

ART BY CHERIANNE YOON

Harvard funding freeze risks research

The Trump administration announced a $2.2 billion freeze on Harvard University’s federal funding on April 14, a move that has disrupted major research e orts, triggered layo s and cut academic resources across multiple departments.

e freeze has jeopardized ongoing research across multiple elds, halting projects in medical science, engineering and the social sciences, and has additionally led to layo s, reduced Ph.D. opportunities and cancelled o ce leases for the health and sciences departments.

While Harvard holds the largest university endowment in the US – of over $50 billion according to CNN – the university relies on federal grants and tuition to cover two-thirds of its operating budget.

Nearly half of e Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s budget in 2025 relies on federal funding. is funding went towards both research expenses and maintaining the facilities and administration needed to support their work.

Sophomore and president of the Cultural Health and Equity Club Jaslynn Lee said the freeze will have broader consequences, even beyond Harvard.

“With research, we can develop new treatments and cures for diseases, improve healthcare (and) create new innovations,” Lee said. “By Harvard having to halt their medical research, it stops them from being able to perform what can be critical research. But this also doesn’t just a ect Harvard. It a ects communities around us. If there is a removal of funding for more institutions, it delays our progress in reaching our full potential. It can widen health disparities that depend most on these breakthroughs and push back life-saving discoveries.”

According to Harvard’s website, because of these cuts, research on cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative illnesses, infectious diseases and organ transplantation is now in jeopardy. Some projects, including those studying radiation exposure, ALS diagnostics and tuberculosis treatment, have already shut down.

Chemistry and Marine Biology teacher Margaret Deng agrees and said Harvard funding cuts a ect research across a wide range of elds, not just medicine.

“Even other studies that aren’t medicine-related are also extremely important,” Deng said. “For example, wild res –– if you know the science behind them, then you know how to prevent them. We need to be a more science-oriented country. Look at Japan, look at Korea. ey are so high-tech because they put so much money into science and researching.”

Senior Max Beach, however, supports the freeze and said it pushes Harvard to rely on its own resources.

“Harvard is sitting on over $50 billion of endowment,” Beach said. “I don’t think there’s any reason that taxpayers should keep up with subsidizing the wealthiest university on planet earth. By pulling the federal funds, it forces Harvard to spend their own money, (curbing) the cycle of tuition in ation and extreme ideological bloat which goes on at Harvard. If Harvard truly believes in a free market, (they) can live by it. Cutting the federal dollars reminds Harvard that nonpro t isn’t a license to drain the treasury.”

Former Santa Clara County Republican Party

Chairman Shane Patrick Connolly said that while the funding freeze in response to the controversy at Harvard is broad, it may become more targeted if applied to other universities in the future.

“ e administration’s approach initially was like putting on a blanket freeze,” Connolly said. “But once they get a lay of the land, they’re able to iterate to a more targeted approach to reduce the de cit. For example, they could speci cally cut junk research.”

e funding cuts could also limit Harvard’s academic programs. According to CNN, Departments that rely heavily on federal funding may reduce course o erings, hiring and support services. CNN also said graduate students, particularly in research elds, could lose critical opportunities.

According to the Harvard Gazette, While Harvard’s endowment may provide temporary relief, the longterm e ects of the frozen funding are uncertain, and experts say similar cuts could reach other universities. For students hoping to enter science or research elds, the freeze hits close to home.

Senior Angela Rao said these cuts will a ect all undergraduate opportunities.

“Going in as a STEM major, the biggest impact would be less research opportunities,” Rao said. “Professors have less freedom to hire just anyone and fully explore trial and error in their work because they have limited resources and increasing pressure to produce real results. More broadly, students also won’t be able to explore as much because a lot of clubs and educational programs are initiated by students and actively supported by institutions.”

Rao isn’t the only student concerned

about the broader implications of the freeze. Senior Keerath Pujji said she worries about a potential decline in the quality of education if more institutions are affected.

“Many public schools will have to cut down on hiring additional faculty, which would mean larger classes and less guidance for students going to public colleges,” Pujji said.

e freeze stems from Harvard’s public rejection of a federal letter outlining demands Harvard would have to follow to maintain its government funding. e demands include changes in governance, leadership, hiring, admissions, student programs and disciplinary policy. e Trump Administration justi ed these demands by citing Harvard’s lack of action toward antisemitism on campus. University o cials argue the freeze infringes on Harvard’s independence and violates due process protections.

Connolly said Harvard may be using sta layo s as a strategic response to the funding freeze, which could back re and taint Harvard’s image.

“Instead of taking a little bit of money out from their endowment, they laid o people which I think is just a political tactic to try to put pressure back on the government to give them the money,” Connolly said.

ere are already large alumni donors who’ve stopped donating because of what was happening to Jewish students on campus.”

e immediate trigger for the freeze was Harvard’s public rejection of an April 11 letter sent by Sean Keveney, the acting general counsel of the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

Senior Samantha Fan said the lack of resources can delay advancements that bene t education, and ultimately, society at large.

“Less funding means less research projects for students to participate in and gain the experience that they need to enter a career focused on research,” Fan said. “Not only this, it could also mean the complete removal of certain Ph.D. programs within the colleges as they simply do not have the funds for it.”

Although the White House later admitted the letter was mistakenly sent, according to the New York Post, the Trump administration is still going along with the freeze, claiming Harvard failed to engage seriously with the concerns raised.

In response, Harvard led a lawsuit against the White House on April 17, calling the funding freeze unlawful –– especially given the mistaken letter and unclear demands. e university also argued the measures would interfere with its academic freedom. e case is set to be heard on July 21, and until then, Harvard will remain without the frozen funds until then –– unless the administration reverses its decision.

Looking forward, the court’s decision could ripple across the higher education landscape.

“It will have some impact on other universities,” Connolly said. “It’ll determine how much the government can intervene in universities.”

Cindy Liang Print Managing Editor

Six celebrity women made history aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. On April 14 they became the rst all-female, non-solo civilian crew to experience zero gravity.

e 11-minute suborbital ight included celebrities from a range of industries: pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, lm producer Kerianne Flynn, activist Amanda Nguyen, aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, and pilot and journalist Lauren Sánchez, who is also engaged to Amazon and Blue Origin founder Je Bezos.

Junior Kishor Rajmohan, president of the Astronomy Club and an aspiring aerospace engineer, said the public attention surrounding the celebrity passengers could help spark a broader awareness about space ight.

“ e buzz, especially about a pop star going into space, is really helpful in getting a lot of people to start focusing on space ight and start believing that what NASA’s doing is actually important and this is part of the future,” Rajmohan said “ is is a big part of the advertising we need to do and the marketing we need to do around space and space ight — talking about how important this is and encouraging people to support it.”

In a show of air, Sánchez partnered with designers from the fashion brand Monse to design custom space suits for the ight. e tailored blue suits featured optional ared leggings and practical storage pockets, optimizing both function and fashion.

is mission follows only one other all-female space ight: Soviet Valentina Tereshkova’s historic solo voyage in 1963. Rajmohan said he hopes this uniquely all-female ight will inspire more women and girls to be interested in space.

Bloom said he recognizes the criticism of these ights handing billionaires like Elon Musk and Je Bezos more money — NASA’s mission doesn’t cover commercial space ight, so all space tourism falls on private companies. However, Bloom said this increase in space tourism also provides bene ts.

“I think as human beings, we have an innate drive to explore and experience something new,” Bloom said in an email. “But more so, we have a drive to expand our perspective and see and feel more deeply a largely picture of which we are all apart and to which we all belong … I deeply believe that perspective is in many respects our salvation as a species, and if more of us have the opportunity to gain it, the better o we all are.”

And Rajmohan said the environmental impact of these commercialized space ights is so insigni cant, critics should instead be focusing on the normalized activities exacerbating climate change.

“ ere are more pressing environmental issues than the few people getting to experience space ight,” Rajmohan said. “ is isn’t something we’re doing randomly. is is integral to what we’re going to do in the future.”

Simone D’Amico, Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford, agrees.

As more celebrities potentially make their debut in zerogravity, the future accessibility of civilian space tourism still hangs in the air, with many wondering when they will get their chance. D’Amico said the growth of commercial ights will come just as he had always anticipated, yet it will decrease the rare and special aspects of space.

“We are experiencing a so-called democratization of space, where space becomes more accessible to people who are not professionally trained astronauts and require only a few days of training, especially for suborbital ights,,” D’Amico said. “I am one of the people with a dream of space ight and scienti c inquiry: satisfying the curiosity of humankind exploration and answering fundamental questions which inevitably bring us to space and to expanding humankind to space.”

“Blue Origin is really making history with this all-women crew and commercialized space ight,” Rajmohan said.

However, the mission was not without controversy. Critics declared the ight as a publicity stunt, pointing to the exclusivity of the wealthy celebrities onboard and the ight’s negative environmental impact.

Physics and Astrophysics teacher Josh Bloom said private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin have sparked a new rush of commercial, rather than political, space travel.

“At this point, ights like these have largely become publicity stunts with little scienti c value,” Bloom said in an email to e Campanile. “Instead, it is demonstrating that we’ve gotten to the point where we can send relatively untrained, non-professional passengers into space and return them safely to Earth.”

“At this moment, suborbital ights by Blue Origin are done on such a small scale that the environmental impact is not a matter of concern at all,” D’Amico said. “When this scales up, and we’re talking about 1 million people (going to space) in a shorter time frame, that’s a completely di erent scale and then we have to be careful about assessing the environmental impact of this kind of ight.”

In addition, D’Amico said increased commercial ights could lead to valuable research on the physiological and psychological e ects of space ight.

“From a science perspective, this will obviously become extremely important when more and more data is collected for a long amount of time, because we need to understand how bones, how muscle, how the heart, how our organs, how our brain, how they react to a long exposure to space and what can we do to make this feasible for human space ight,” D’Amico said. “One of the impacts of this commercialization of space ight is to have more research in that direction.”

D’Amico also said he cautions against treating space as an in nite resource and hopes harsher guidelines and behavioral standards will be enforced in space.

“Many people don’t recognize that we are having an environmental impact on space due to the rapid proliferation of satellites, similar to our oceans and atmosphere,” D’Amico said. “In the same way, we should not be allowed to simply pollute space — it is extremely dangerous and can jeopardize access to space for generations to come.”

Despite the current brevity of these ights — barely passing the Kármán line, the boundary at 100 kilometers separating Earth’s atmosphere from space — D’Amico, Rajmohan and Bloom said they would gladly accept the opportunity to experience space and the famed overview e ect, a cognitive shift experienced after observing Earth from space. e overview e ect is that special e ect that astronauts feel when they see the Earth, the full disc, they see the curvature of the earth, and they see themselves as outside of the planet,” D’Amico said. “ ere is a psychological e ect of unifying, observing the Earth from outside and how fragile and special it is.” D’Amico said the overview e ect is even more impactful when one spends a longer period of time viewing the Earth from outside space. He thinks commercial ights will shift more toward orbital ights, where the ight has enough velocity to actually orbit around the Earth making full circles, rather than the more accessible suborbital ights which make a parabola-shaped arc up to zero-gravity and then back down. Looking ahead, experts say commercial space travel could help prepare humanity for a time when life beyond Earth becomes necessary. Rajmohan said these advancements, despite the backlash, have great importance.

“Space is really part of the future,” Rajmohan said. “What Blue Origin is doing with commercialization and making (commercial space ight) more accessible … is very interesting and is going to be very impactful.”

ART BY ANGELIKA GERA

Texas approves school voucher program

The Texas Senate approved a $1 billion universal private school voucher program on April 24 after the Texas House of Representatives voted to approve it on April 17. Once Gov. Greg Abbott signs Senate Bill 2, as he is expected to do, the plan will go into e ect at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.

is program will provide a yearly voucher of $10,000 to each student and up to $30,000 more for students with disabilities. It would also give $2,000 a year for home-schooled children. ese funds can be used for private school tuition and educational costs such as textbooks and virtual learning programs. e voucher program would be capped at $1 billion this year but could cost more than $4.5 billion by 2030.

If demand exceeds funding, priority for the money will go to children with disabilities and those from low-income and middle-class households who were previously enrolled in public schools.

State Senator Brandon Creighton, the Republican education committee chair who sponsored the legislation, along with other supporters of the bill, have branded it “school choice,” have said that parents should not have to keep their children in public schools they believe are unsafe or provide below-standard academics.

“Passing this bill sends a message to all of Texas,” Creighton said. “It tells the next generation of Texas leaders (that) your path should t your purpose, your path should t what’s best for you and your family, and your ambition will always be greater than any system or any institution.”

History teacher Katya Villalobos said that school vouchers have a long history in both the U.S. and in other countries.

“Early vouchers began after the Civil War in New England,” Villalobos wrote in an email to the Campanile. “ ese programs were created to provide education (to) rural areas where there were no public schools. After World War II is when vouchers started to be argued for (in the U.S.) because of the disparity in public school funding.”

If a voucher system were to be passed, Villalobos said the Blaine Amendment in California currently prevents government funds from going to private or religious schools. However, in 2020, Espinoza v. Montana tested Montana’s Blaine Amendment, and the Supreme Court ruled that the Blaine Amendment was unconstitutional, so Blaine Amendments around the country no longer hold ground.

Many opponents of the Texas bill argue it will not bene t the children who need it most. In 2024, the Brookings Institution analyzed data from Arizona’s universal Education Savings Accounts, a form of school choice that allows parents to use government money to attend private schools, similar to the voucher approved in Texas.

ey found that areas with the lowest poverty rates had nearly 80 ESA participants per 1,000 students eligible, while areas with the highest poverty rate had fewer than 25 ESA participants per 1,000 students eligible.

Some critics also say the voucher money will be used by those already enrolled in private schools, rather than low-income families who might not be able to a ord private school tuition.

Data from universal private school vouchers in other states supports this trend. In Florida, after courts lifted voucher eligibility restrictions in 2023, Step Up for Students –– a nonpro t in charge of administering most of the state-backed vouchers –– reported that of the 122,895 students enrolled on these scholarships for the rst time, 69% were already attending private schools.

Librarian Sima omas worries about a similar trend in Texas.

“My fear … is that the most vulnerable and the most needy students are going to be the most underserved in this new system, and maybe even more underserved than they already are,” omas said. In addition, some fear the cost of private school will still be too high even with the voucher money, not bringing private school within the reach of students with the greatest need.

According to Private School Review, the average tuition among K-12 private schools in Texas is $11,050. e average cost for tuition at private elementary schools is $10,729 and the average cost of tuition at secondary schools is $12,161.

omas said private schools will likely raise tuition because vouchers will subsidize the expense.

“If everybody has that money, isn’t that going to bump up the cost?” omas said. “Why couldn’t schools make tuition $10,000 higher?”

Researchers at Princeton University have found that some private schools in states with similar school choice programs have raised tuition costs after the programs are put into place, as omas predicted. Data was collected primarily from Iowa, a state with universal school choice. In Iowa schools, they found tuition increased on average from 21% to 25% when the state o ered ESAs to all students.

omas also said she wonders what will happen to public school funding.

“What happens to the public schools?” omas said. “Are they going to be defunded and (are) the services that parents and families rely on going to be cut back?”

A teacher, who requested anonymity because of potential political or religious backlash, said the already sub-optimal funding of public schools will be further aggravated by the voucher.

“All it will end up doing is turning it into a situation where the private and charter schools will be that much more elite, and the public schools will turn into these leftover-type places,” the teacher said. “ at’s really unfortunate because I know in a lot of areas, even in California, the public schools are hurting for money as it is, and that’s just going to further that problem.”

Some critics also say school choice programs blur the line of separation of church and state, as 71% of private schools in Texas are religious, and during the 2021-22 school year, 77% of national private school K-12 students attended a religiously-a liated school.

Villalobos said although separation of church and state comes into question, the Supreme Court’s previous decisions make this issue more nuanced.

“On the surface this seems to violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,” Villalobos wrote, referring to Constitutional language that encodes a separation of church and state.

“However, the Supreme Court has upheld vouchers beginning in 2002 as long as they do not advance or endorse religion. In addition, recent court rulings have upheld vouchers for religious institutions under equal treatment under the First Amendment.”

In this era of a U.S. Supreme Court 6-3 conservative supermajority, religion in education has had a run of wins. On April 30, the Supreme Court heard arguments

for a case in which Oklahoma could potentially use government money to fund America’s rst religious charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. e school would teach a curriculum infused with Catholic teachings.

Additionally, in 2024, the Texas Board of Education voted to approve a Bible-infused curriculum for kindergarten through fth grade, and schools received $60 per student if they used the curriculum.

However, the anonymous teacher thinks the separation of church and state is not the biggest issue with this voucher.

“Half of our government slogans talk about ‘In God We Trust,’ and it’s on our money,” the teacher said. “It’s always been a little bit of a gray area, (but) I de nitely don’t see that as the major issue as much as the (funding being taken away from public schools).”

Ultimately, omas said only time will tell whether passing the voucher was the right decision.

omas said, “It will be interesting to see, with this ve years from now, what the state of schools will look like compared to what they look like now.”

Lucas Lai Sports Editor

Federal court reinstates Associated Press after White House ban

A federal court restored the Associated Press’s full access to presidential events in an April 8 ruling that said the government cannot punish news organizations for Constitutionally protected speech.

e Trump Administration initially banned the AP from the White House for not referring to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America after President Trump signed an executive order declaring the name change.

Junior Ava Knapp, an editor-in-chief of e Paly Voice, said the AP case shows how easily those in power can challenge press freedoms.

“Even if we feel far removed from the huge political aspect of these major corporations limiting bigger publications, it’s almost a symbolic view of the freedom of the press,” Knapp said. “AP News is being limited by this higher power, and that’s hurting their First Amendment rights, and it’s something that we need to be aware and cautious of when continuing to report in these times.” Knapp said freedom of the press is also essential to student-journalists, as it allows them to exercise their First Amendment rights by reporting authentically and truthfully.

Senior Alma Bendavid, the former editor-in-chief of Verde Magazine, praised Paly’s uncensored student publications and said the AP’s case shows the importance of protecting all opinions.

“Whether it’s something as miniscule as a word change, you’re still allowed to have di erent conventions,” Bendavid said.

“ e AP makes the conventions for lots of press, but you’re allowed to have di erent opinions, and you shouldn’t be censored for that, and

you should still have the freedom to write what you want and publish what you want.”

Additionally, Bendavid said the ruling demonstrates the importance of the judicial system.

“It proves why we have three branches of government and why we have protections on our free speech, so that one person can’t throw an entire super-respectable, prestigious press out for a name change,” Bendavid said.

Bendavid also said the case shows the system of checks and balances in the American government.

“ e AP is a very well-respected press, and seeing the case — seeing them push back against the White House policies, and then the White House ban them, and then getting their spot back — is a good example of the way that a free press should be protected,” Bendavid said.

And English teacher Alanna Williamson said this ruling didn’t surprise her.

“It makes complete sense because it’s literally in the Constitution — freedom of the press,” Williamson said.

“If you’re going to give certain people access, you have to give everyone access.” Knapp agrees and said the case o ers hope to student-journalists by showing checks and balances still exist to protect democratic values.

“It shows that the resilience that AP News has in not caving into what the Trump administration was having them do does pay o ,” Knapp said. “ ere’s always going to be a struggle for journalists to get in there and be in the room, but winning and getting back into that position that they are in now is just proof that the ght is worth it.”

However, Williamson said she’s unsure whether this ruling will hold due to ongoing chaos and what she perceives as a lack of respect for judicial decisions under the Trump administration.

“In previous eras of our democracy, I would have been like, at’s great’ because that means that they’re protected, and we have freedom of press, and something is there to check and balance the bias of the news and media that we consume,” Williamson said. “Now I just have zero faith.” Knapp said the ruling does the opposite for her, reinforcing her belief that the justice system can still function to uphold essential rights, even during the current political climate.

“It gives us hope that it’s not going to be so terrible in the next couple of years, and that there are still people who will ght for First Amendment rights and the ability for people to report on what they witness and what they nd as true,” Knapp said.

Knapp said AP’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s name change strengthens their credibility and shows their commitment to journalistic values.

“By refusing to do that, AP News shows to everyone else that ‘We’re not just going to compromise our beliefs because of what someone of higher power is telling us to do,’” Knapp said. “And by doing that, it keeps their reputation intact. So after the four years are over, they won’t have compromised, and that makes them even a more reliable source.”

e Trump administration is appealing the judge’s ruling and instead of fully reinstating the AP, the administration downgraded all wire services, which include the AP, Bloomberg News and Reuters, from guaranteed press pool status. Despite this, Williamson said the case holds great importance.

“I would assume a lot of kids who are in journalism potentially want to pursue that as a career,” Williamson said. “And so that’s going to in uence you. If you see that you are doing something and it’s really restricted, that might make you either not want to do it anymore because it’s frustrating — like, what’s the point? Or it might make you actually want to ght harder against it, and that fuels your desire to want to be part of that arena and eld of perfection.”

Annika Chu Print Managing Editor

ART BY CYNTHIA HUANG

Say what?

Slang like “cap” mean someone is lying, while “giving” means evoking a particular feeling or vibe. According to Grammarly, slang is an “informal language that can be regional or develop from communities and subcultures. It can take the form of a single word or a phrase.” Linguistics Club President Meghana Konduri said she uses slang often to connect with people around her.

“Every generation has its own words and feelings to express,” Konduri said. “Some words I use are ‘cap’ or ‘giving,’ and it’s just easier to express what I’m feeling to other people because they’re going to understand it. Since my family is not from America, and I’m the rst generation here, it de nitely helps me to connect with people that are my age.” According to MultiLingual, 80% of respondents use slang, with 22% saying they use it in every conversation. AP Language and Compo-

sition teacher Keith Tocci said slang is especially prevalent when speaking to familiar groups of people.

“When I think of slang, I think about language that people use in a non-normative way of expressing an idea,” Tocci said.

“To a certain degree, slang can be used to have speci c connotative meanings. It’s a common way of communicating — sometimes it’s just so within the group and natural that it’s invisible. It works in such a way that it draws boundaries in or out of groups.”

Tocci also said slang is also deeply involved in personal expression.

“Slang is lling in a vacuum for a space where a word doesn’t exist, or a space where a word doesn’t have the emotional connotation that you need,” Tocci said. “So, slang is language that is meeting the real needs of people as they use language.”

And AP Language and Composition teacher Alanna Williamson said slang plays a central role in how people express their identity.

“ e way you talk is a huge part of the way you present yourself to the world,” Williamson said. “Let’s say you’re visiting another country. ey have completely di erent slang than what we might have, so that identity change is di erent. It means things are di erent culturally, and it also prevents you potentially from relating to people if you don’t understand the slang.”

Tocci said slang from his youth continues to be a part of his identity.

“I still use slang from when I was growing up,” Tocci said. “And in my region, which is Massachusetts, that (slang is) just in there, it’s in me, so sometimes it comes out especially when I’m talking to the people in that group.”

Likewise, Konduri said current slang re ects Gen Z’s culture of virality.

“A core part of the Gen Z identity is having the internet at our disposal,” Konduri said. “Most of our slang nowadays is very short-lived, derived from an online trend, but it spreads really fast and becomes our regular language. e internet connects people all across the world, so, slang often becomes more like a worldwide thing, rather than just being based country-wise or region-wise.”

Williamson also said much of Gen Z slang comes from existing cultural pockets.

“‘It’s giving,’ for example, is not actually new or ‘slay’ or any of those things that Gen Z has taken from LGBTQ plus cultures — that’s actually drag culture,” Williamson said. “ ey have taken it, and it has changed and evolved through time. It started in this smaller pocket and smaller culture. And now it’s more accessible.”

Tocci said this evolution of slang isn’t new — even Shakespeare used it.

“(Shakespeare is) actually early modern English — that’s what he was writing in when spelling was still kind of unstable,” Tocci said. “He was willing to bring into his writing both unique words he came up with himself and also words that were very much grounded in the way people talked to each other in that time, in that place. It’s funny because when we look at Shakespeare now, so much of the work that makes it inaccessible is because that language is often grounded in the context, including the slang, of that time period.”

Ultimately, Tocci said slang re ects the constant evolution of language.

“One de nition of a language that I really love is that ‘a language is just a dialect with a military behind it,’” Tocci said.“Language is always evolving through dialects — variations on languages — but an o cial language is just the language with political backing, and it’s part of the system.”

With new slang, Konduri said it should be accepted rather than rejected.

“If I said a whole sentence in slang, there would be people who speak English well and don’t understand what I’m saying,” Konduri said. “So if something causes a language to change to an unrecognizable degree, then it de nitely should be considered part of our language.”

Regardless of personal opinions, Tocci said validating slang is essential to inclusive communication.

“Acknowledging slang is important because (it’s how) people speak,” Tocci said. “As communicators, if we try to invalidate slang, if we try to minimize it, that can actually be harmful to helping people feel like they’re being heard.”

Cynthia Huang Senior Sta Writer

Senior elimination fosters connections, new format improves e ciency, fun

“You’re out!” ese words have been uttered hundreds of times in the past few weeks by victorious senior elimination hunters standing over their fallen targets, who had no more lives, no more second chances and no more beach ball.

Senior elimination is a yearly tradition where the senior class attempts to tag randomly selected classmates with small, colorful beach balls. At the start, seniors can stay safe by simply holding their ball — but as the game progresses, the safety conditions become gradually more di cult to ful ll.

Senior President Kennedy Do said the game is a great way to for students to expand their social network.

“You don’t know who your target is going to be,” Do said. “It’s a great way to meet new people and talk to people you probably wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Senior Aavriti Kataria said the game challenged her to strategize with friends.

“Yesterday we tried to get him during lunch, but he got suspicious,” Kataria said. “ ere’s just been planning about what classes he has and when he is most vulnerable. We have a lot of mutual friends, so they tell us everything.”

While previous years have had manually assigned targets, this year’s organizers

used an app called Splashin to coordinate targets.

“It’s more e cient this way,” Do said. ere’s less room for error, and you’re able to upload physical videos to see the eliminations happen.”

For many seniors like Do, elimination has been a long-anticipated experience. Do said she has watched the games since freshman year.

“It’s always been fun to watch,” Do said. “Actually being able to lead the events and participate has been so fun.”

Senior William Tu said he looked forward to senior elimination throughout the school year.

“It’s a fun game that almost everyone plays every year,” Tu said. “Both of my siblings who graduated played so I thought it’d be fun to play too, especially because it’s a very important part of senior year.”

Tu said his advice to future players would be to prepare for the unexpected.

“You should expect anyone to have you,” Tu said. “Never let your guard down no matter how much you believe no one’s going to be there.”

Lea Kwan Senior Sta Writer

Lifestyle

Street-art mural attempts to unite campus

Brilliant green paint lled the wall each day for months as senior Ivan Sandler meticulously pieced together a mural with the writing “Sko Vikes.” Designed with Paly green block letters and cartoonish spraypainting robots, the new mural, located across from the science building, aims to promote unity and collaboration. After eight hours, the mural was completed during the last week of April.

Sandler said this project has been in the works for quite some time.

“I started street art when I was abroad in Barcelona for a summer, and I got really into it,” Sandler said. “I thought it’d be cool to bring it to Palo Alto, so I started by asking the city if I could do a mural for them, and after they said no, I went to (Principal Brent) Kline. en, after some convincing, I gave it a go.”

Art teacher Sue La Fetra said the process of approving student murals on campus has evolved to become more formal.

“All the art teachers got to see his proposal before and see if there were any objections to it,” La Fetra said. “ e murals that we want to see need to be done by someone who knows how and has aesthetic qualities to do them. e murals should be visually pleasing and have a message that we want to communicate to the larger community.”

Kline said the approval process in this case was straightforward as Sandler showed both commitment and talent.

“Ivan created the Paly values ‘Learn, Connect, Respect’ banners across the school,” Kline said. “Getting to know him through that work and seeing his portfolio, (this idea) looked really cool. He really wanted to do a project like this, and so I supported it throughout.”

Sandler said the mural’s message is one of community and collaboration.

“It depicts four characters working on it, which is kind of ironic, because I had some of my friends helping out, and it was a very collaborative pro-

cess,” Sandler said. “Also, the design is supposed to re ect the oat building that is held in that same area.”

Kline also said this mural symbolizes unity, and he is proud of how it turned out.

“I think art’s always great to look at, and it’s artwork that represents our school,” Kline said. “If you look at the picture, it represents people working together on a project. So for all those reasons, I think it’s a good thing.”

Sandler said the mural encourages students to unite in multiple ways.

“What makes me speci cally into street art is that it’s very social and collaborative,” Sandler said. “While I’m painting, people walk by and talk to me. Instead of being in my room late at night just drawing for hours on end, I’m out in the daylight with the sun out, having a good time, listening to music and hanging out with friends. It’s just a more relaxed, fun style.”

Palo Alto Public Art Program Director Elise DeMarzo said she has seen other Palo Alto murals bring the community together much like Sandler’s.

“We’ve seen a huge impact on public murals in the community, and the new ones that (the public art program) did on California Avenue,” DeMarzo said. “ e community really loves the outreach, meeting the artists and giving them feedback about what might be appropriate and special. While the artists were out there painting, we saw the same people who would come day after day, sometimes leaving little thank you notes for the artist or bringing them co ee. People really appreciated the care and attention and getting to see the work being painted.”

La Fetra said the uni cation of the art can be the trickiest for any artist.

“Probably the most di cult part (for murals) is the fact that it’s a huge area, and it needs to be uni ed,” La Fetra said. “You need to go in with a really clear plan of exactly what you’re doingIt frequently is a smaller drawing or painting that you’re trying to expand. So getting that expanded and

getting the colors right and everything, it’s a big challenge, especially if you have more than one individual doing it, because people tend to have a certain style. Trying to unify the style throughout the whole mural is di cult.”

Nevertheless, La Fetra said murals are unlike any other artform when executed well.

“It’s di erent than putting art inside a museum or even inside a gallery where not everyone is seeing it,” La Fetra said. “ at is the amazing thing about murals. Everyone sees it, even if they don’t necessarily don’t think of themselves as someone who’s into art.”

DeMarzo agrees, emphasizing the rising popularity of murals in the Palo Alto community and beyond.

“Murals have seen quite an upsurge in popularity in the last several years everywhere, not just in Palo Alto,” DeMarzo said. “I think that the accessibility and also the fact that they’re not as expensive as fabricating and creating sculpture, for instance. So murals are a less expensive way to bring public art to public space, and it’s very accessible to a wide range of styles and expressions.”

And La Fetra said she has already seen the joy Sandler’s mural brings to the school community.

“I think it brightens people’s days to see something like that,” La Fetra said. “I mean, the ‘Sko Vikes’ is de nitely a great message, and it’s done humorously. It provides a positive atmosphere for students to be in.”

Every morning before heading out the door, sophomore Hiro Kenehan cracks eggs into a pan as the smell of toasted bread lls the kitchen. He as sembles his avocado toast, pulls a juice out of the fridge and sits down at the kitchen table.

is all-too familiar routine is what helps Kenehan, like many others, start his day o strong.

“When I get a full meal in the morning, I feel like it leads to better performance in the classroom and in sports,” Kenehan said.

Breakfast is often referred to as the most important meal of the day. It serves as the main source of nutrients after going without them for several hours overnight.

According to the National Institute of Health, breakfast boosts metabolism, provides enough nutrients to start the day and should make up 16% of total caloric intake. Yet, nearly one in four Americans skip breakfast every day. If breakfast is so important, then why do so many people skip it?

Jemimah Chan, a registered dietician and nutritionist at Bay Area Nutrition, said three main social and cultural patterns contribute to the decline of breakfast: dieting trends like intermittent fasting, weight stigma or body image, and peer pressure.

ere’s societal pressure to achieve or maintain a certain weight or body type, which can in uence eating habits, especially among young people,” Chan said. “When friends or peers skip breakfast, snacks or lunch at school, it can create a social norm, in uencing others to adopt similar eating patterns as a way to feel accepted or t in socially.”

Chan also said the impact of skipping breakfast on one’s health can vary among age groups.

“Teens and young adults are particularly vulnerable because their bodies and brains are still developing,” Chan said. “Skipping meals regularly at this age can have a more pronounced impact on energy levels, mood and concentration compared to adults.

Another demographic that views breakfast di erently is athletes. Freshman Ethan Blanding, a dedicated lacrosse player who doesn’t regularly eat breakfast, said he recognizes a huge change in energy when he does.

“When you have breakfast, you give your body nutrients to last until lunch,” Blanding said. “But if you don’t have breakfast, you are behind on the nutrient levels the entire day. is could change performance during the game or recovery after the game.”

Chan said exercise places stress on the body, increasing the energy needs not only for the activity itself but also for recovery afterward.

“Active teens who skip meals will often feel the physical and mental drain more quickly because their bodies require consistent fuel to perform athletically and academically,” Chan said.

Additionally, the rise of grab-and-go food has changed breakfast culture signi cantly. A report by Credence Research projects the breakfast food market will grow from $465 million in 2024 to $636 million by 2032, re ecting an annual growth rate of 4%. e report also shows increased consumer demand for convenient, healthy and on-the-go breakfast options, particularly among busy professionals and health-conscious individuals, is driving this growth.

As a result, fewer people sit down for meals. Since morning routines are crammed with school, commutes or meetings, many have little room for a full meal. In the end, Kenehan said participating in this grab-and-go culture is better than nothing.

“Even if you don’t have a lot of time, grabbing a rice cake or some juice is a good way to start your day and put something in your body to keep you going until lunch,” Kenehan said.

Similarly, Chan said people struggling to make time or who don’t have an appetite for breakfast should nd practical ways to ease into a routine.

“One of the hardest part of breakfast is deciding what to eat — especially when you’re tired or rushed,” Chan said. “Preparing something ahead of time, like overnight oats, a smoothie or a snack-style breakfast, can take the pressure o , making mornings less stressful.”

KAITLYN GONZALEZ-ARCEO / USED WITH PERMISSION

Senior designer and painter Ivan Sandler stands proudly in front of his completed stunning Sko Vikes mural. “What makes me speci cally into street art is that it’s very social and collaborative,” Sandler said. “It’s just a more relaxed, kind of fun style.”

Mirai Matsuzawa News/Opinion Editor

Zoya Prabhakar Digital Managing Editor

Lifestyle

Pamilya’s food off ers home away from home

Walking into Pamilya feels like accidentally wandering into a family reunion you didn’t know you were invited to, but are very, very glad you came to anyway. At least that’s what happened to two Chinese boys walking into a small restaurant tucked in the back of a Redwood City strip mall, trying modern Filipino comfort food for the first time. Be it from the inviting interior decor or the laughs of the cooks in the back, Pamilya — aptly named after the Tagalog word for “family” — welcomed this renowned Campanile reviewer duo with open arms. e restaurant blends the beauty of the Filipino tropics with a sleek, modern interior design. e space is small and cozy, and it’s flooded with natural light that’s amplified by the white marble tables. e walls are filled with murals of green tropical plants and landscapes, while basket-woven light fixtures hang between rows

of leafy vines on the ceiling. A neon-pink cursive sign reading “Good Vibes, Good Food” glows on the back wall, giving the feel of a breezy summer AirBnB resort. Ordering happens at the counter, where you choose between three different entree sizes, each offering a combination of bases, entrees and toppings: one entree serving ($17.99), one entree and a side ($19.95) and two entrees and a side ($24.00). Bases include rice, noodles and vegetables, while entrees range from Filipino barbecue to seafood. While writing awesome columns is our expertise, pronouncing the dishes was not — luckily for us, the staff were friendly and more than willing to put up with our horrendous attempts at doing so.

Drinks

We started with a mango calamansi boba — a staple of the average Bay Area teenage diet. At $6.75, the drink is similarly priced to bobas from other spots in the bay, but its taste was a refreshing departure from the typical sugar-laden boba. Made without milk, the freshness of the mango came through strong, and a hint of mint helped emphasize the drink’s tanginess. Small mango-flavored pearls sat at the bottom of the drink, less chewy than traditional tapioca but still rounding out the drink. 7/10

Entrees

We couldn’t skip the Filipino classic: chicken adobo. e meat was slow-cooked to the point of falling apart, simmered in a vinegary, garlicky sauce with deep soy undertones. A hint of acid added sour notes, balanced by a

slight sweetness that rounded out the flavor to create a cohesive savoriness. Topped with green onions, the dish had just the right crunch. While we don’t have a Lola (Filipino grandma) to use as a baseline, we suspect this adobo holds up. 8/10

In contrast, the Manila chicken barbecue, served on skewers, featured an umami, sugary glaze reminiscent of Chinese char siu. e chicken was incredibly tender, and the accompanying garlic-vinegar delightfully offsets the glaze’s intense sweetness. For roasted meat lovers, this one’s a must. 9/10

Bases

First up was the pancit canton: thick, sauce-coated noodles mixed with a variety of vegetables. A Filipino take on Chinese lo mein — Chinese immigrants introduced noodles to the Philippines — this version was noticeably more garlicky than its Chinese counterpart. Pickled toppings, including cucumber, red onion and papaya, added a crunchy, acidic contrast to the rich noodles. While flavorful, the garlic taste was overpowering, especially since many other components of the meal also leaned heavily on garlic. 6/10

e sotanghon, made with glass noodles in a soybased sauce, was a lighter alternative. e semi-translucent noodles are an acquired taste due to their bouncy, gelatinous texture, but the dish’s delicate sauce and accompanying peas and carrots provided a subtle contrast that balanced the richness of the heavier entrees. 8/10

Sides

Displayed on the heated shelf, the lumpia were impossible to resist. Lumpia are a type of spring roll, introduced by early Hokkien immigrants from China. Lightly fried and stuffed with pork and vegetables, the lumpia needed the agre dulce — sweet-and-sour dipping sauce — to combat some of the dryness. Similarly, the chicken empanadas had a flaky exterior, though with so many layers, it ended up tasting quite mealy. Despite the thick crust, the sweet-savory chicken fill-

ing won us over. We only wished both came in larger portions. 7.5/10

Dessert

We didn’t believe we’d have room for dessert, but the $7.25 Sweet Shelby — a banana bread pudding — was too tempting to resist. With chunks of banana in the pudding, the sweet and creamy banana flavor packed a punch. Coated with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream, the dessert had a unique temperature contrast between these components and the warm pudding. Similar to other classic desserts with a side of ice cream, the smooth texture paired nicely with the density of the bread pudding. 9/10

Final oughts

With powerful sweet, sour and savory flavors in each base, side and entree, Pamilya creates a cohesive food experience that tastes somehow both exciting and familiar. e staff waved and the scent followed us as we stepped out of the restaurant, closing the chapter on our series of columns with a meal that reminded us why we fell in love with writing food reviews in the first place. 10/10

Address: 756 Woodside Rd, Redwood City, CA

Holden Lee

Senior Staff Writer

Lucas Yuan

Senior Staff Writer

ART BY C H NOOYENNAIRE

LUCAS YUAN/THE CAMPANILE

Exposed to ThE BLUR

The House of Representatives passed the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act on April 28, authored by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), co-led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and backed by First Lady Melania Trump.

sive pornography use can result in either extreme sensitization or desensitization to sexual stimulation.

“People have what are called problematic pornography pat terns — who view it so much that they either got caught at work

porn use, said he was exposed to pornography at 8 years old when a friend showed him.

92.5%

“It’s de nitely a problem to watch such things at a young age because you are exposed to a lot of mature ideas that can snowball into bigger problems during teen years,” the senior said. “ ankfully, I’ve been aware of this, and I don’t think I’ve had problems with porn, but I have normalized a lot of the content which a lot of others around me haven’t.”

From a Campanile survey of 68 students on April 23.

of what relation ships might be and what sex might be,” Mann said. “ understand that it’s not real (but) that it might help navigate that space in a way that maybe other trusted adults are not trusted enough to be let in.”

e anonymous male senior said he felt similarly.

In a survey conducted by e Campanile on April 23, among those who have watched or read pornography, more than 25% said they were rst exposed at 12 years old. More than 92% of the students reported they were exposed to pornographic material under 15 years old.

Julia Fraumeni-McBride, a researcher of problematic pornography use, said these results are common.

“Adolescents are often rst exposed to pornography out of curiosity, peer in uence or accidentally through pop-ups or social media links,” Fraumeni-McBride said. “Algorithms may also push sexual content to youth without their intent pursuit of the content. In the more upsetting cases, teens can be exposed to pornography in uninvited, predatory approaches.”

Compulsive behavior

Megan Maas, an assistant professor in Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University, said compul-

“Porn has shaped my expectations because I have more crazy ideas when it comes to sex now that I’ve seen a lot,” the senior said. “A lot of people expect sex to be an amazing thing, but it takes time and patience — especially for timers. It’s never really going to get like porn. If it does, or you want to get like porn, then that could have other consequences.”

Misconceptions

Justine Fonte, a health and sexuality educa tor, said beyond a ecting interpersonal rela tionships, pornography can also in uence how viewers of pornography perceive themselves.

“I think that there are standards of attrac tiveness that are depicted in porn that a lot of young people think are the gold standard,

Media report, a majority of teens who have viewed pornography have seen content that depicts stereotypes of at least one racial group. Mann said from a young age, humans become sensitive to stereotypes of people in the media who share their identity.

“When you see people of your same racial and ethnic background and they’re depicted in stereotypical ways, if they’re more likely to be in pornographic content that includes violence (and) rape, it can shift the way that you begin to understand what is safe, especially within your community.” Mann said. “ e more you see somebody like you, the more likely you are to identify with that person and therefore potentially see that as normative behavior even when it’s not.”

Some studies even show a correlation between frequent porn use and aggressive sexual attitudes, according to Fraumeni-McBride.

“ is isn’t true for all users, especially not at said. “But when young people internalize harmful content, it can in ence how they treat or expect to be treated in relationships, no di ent than social media has clearly demonstrated (with) girls and body image.”

But Nicole Prause, a neuroscientist at UCLA who specializes in sexual behavior, said earlier studies suggesting pornography pro motes violence could not be replicated in more recent research.

“Someone who already has (violent) beliefs is probably seeking out the violent content, and that doesn’t help,” Prause said. “But if I take someone who has no intention of assault ing someone, I can show them violent porn all day, and they’re like, at’s just not my value,’ so that’s not going to change (their attitudes).”

For adults, according to a 2024 study on pornography consumption in di erent demographics, 78% of men and 44% of women reported consuming pornography in the past month. However, Carl omas, a pastor and founder of Live Free Ministries, a nonpro t organization aimed at addressing problematic pornography use, said the gap between male and female pornography use is more likely due to di

86.9%

as somebody who experiences like a physical sexual assault, in terms of anxiety (and) depression,” Maas said. “Some people even have thoughts of suicide or PTSD symptomatology because there’s such a lack of control, and it feels like such a violation.”

Pornography literacy

According to the Common Sense report, 47% of teens reported learning a lot about sex from a guardian or trusted adult, while 27% reported learning from pornography. Despite this substantial di erence, only 43% of teens reported having conversations about pornography

During these conversations, Knowlton said it is crucial for adults to address sex and pornography without promoting feelings of shame.

“Whether you’re a teenager or an adult, betrayal can absolutely mess with your ability to feel safe,” Knowlton said. “If you don’t have a space to process it, if you’re taught shame-based concepts like, ‘ at’s right. at’s wrong,’ it can cause some pretty signi cant wounds that can impact your ability to connect to people in a healthy way as you get older.”

At Paly, Early Childhood Development teacher Hilary McDaniel y covered in her curriculum because it is an important part of childhood development.

“I do have an (Advanced Authentic Research) student from a couple years ago who did her whole project on it,” McDaniel said. “I thought her project was really compelling … , which led to me educating myself. But even our district did not want her to interview people who were asking certain questions because they didn’t feel like that was an appropriate subject for her to be asking about.”

Emphasizing the signi cance of addressing pornography in home and at school, Fraumeni-McBride said combatting the pornography issue requires open and comfortable conversations with teens rather than fear-based lectures.

“Pornography is not going away, but how we teach young people to understand, critique and re ect on it will determine its impact on their wellbeing,” Fraumeni-McBride said. “It starts with the adults, who often have had none of these kinds of conversations, (being) uncomfortable -- this lack of education (and) their own issues with pornography use.”

Developing solutions

Like the parent and school conversations, the best way to combat problematic pornography use, Mann said, is to openly communicate with others.

“Children certainly can and should have the agency to feel that they can have these conversations with folks,” Mann said. “I think it’s about nding the right adult that you feel you can have these conversations with. Now that’s much easier said than done, because the reality is, a lot of teens live in communities where they can’t have those kinds of open conversations.”

However, Maas said an abstinence-based approach to pornography consumption can be counterproductive.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks who then develop a lot of shame and go underground with their porn use,” Maas said. “I wouldn’t recommend (porn), particularly to adolescents, but it’s worse to hide it and to form secrecy and shame around it.”

omas said treating compulsive pornography use like a harmful habit will not eliminate the issue long-term.

From a Campanile survey of 83 students on April 23.

“Porn is a symptom of a deeper problem — the emotional regulation, anxiety we’re walking around with, trauma from our childhood,” omas said. “So if we deal with the little issue, but we don’t want to deal with the big issue, what will happen is most likely, you’ll either relapse down the road, or you’ll just swap it out with some other coping mechanisms. We won the war with porn, but now you’re gambling, or now you’re overeating, and it’s a shallow victory.”

To solve the root issue, omas said addressing pornography use from a mental health perspective is crucial.

“Our (method) is, let’s help you become a more holistic, healthy and mentally healthier person,” omas said. “If we take care of that stu and then we also address the substance issue, like the chemical, the biochemical stu at the same time, hopefully we’re going to come out on the other end with a healthier individual all around.”

omas also said religion can be used as a resource to combat problematic pornography use.

“Faith is good (from) a mental health perspective, and it all works together in our opinion,” omas said. “So God created us a certain way; he gives us recommendations. It just so happens that from a biological, psychological perspective, those recommendations actually work.”

For teens struggling with porn use, Maas recommends lling time with non-screen activities or changing phone-screens to grayscale to reduce engagement.

“One of the things we recommend is that you don’t have devices in your room overnight,” Maas said. “If you think, ‘Oh, I don’t want to look at porn anymore,’ sometimes that can almost feed it -- make that even more attractive. Do what you can to focus on screen-free activities with your family, your friends, getting into stu so that your brain can start getting pleasure from those other experiences that (are) going to help you reorient or balance.”

But ultimately, Mann said talking about pornography is the rst step to addressing its usage and impact in society.

“Pornography is not intended for kids under 18,” Mann said. “We know that broadly, but we also know that kids under 18 are accessing pornography at really high rates and starting at really young ages. ese kinds of conversations around what are healthy sexual experiences should be happening at pretty young ages in developmentally appropriate ways and continuing as children continue to get older so that they know they have a trusted person to turn to. To chalk them all up as like taboo concepts misses an opportunity for connection and for growth.”

Outnumbered, not outplayed

Rain poured down under the blinding stadium lights as junior Lara Saslow jogged onto the eld for the last-minute kicko . It was the semi nal round of the football playo s, and the team was down 35-42 when the head coach called her in. Despite this being her rst kicko in a game, he trusted her with this high-stakes play — in a sport where she’s the only girl on the roster.

e kick wasn’t perfect, but it landed where it needed to. For Saslow, it was a moment of pride — one which reminded her she had earned her place on the team.

But Saslow said that moment of pride doesn’t erase the constant pressure that comes with being the only girl on the team.

“I just wish there was less pressure, and it could be more of a normal thing,” Saslow said. “I just wish I didn’t have to feel like I had to prove myself, and I could just play a sport that I enjoyed without feeling like everyone’s looking at me or waiting for me to mess up and worrying about making sure I don’t mess up because that’ll make me look bad and even just create a bad reputation for girls in general who play maledominated sports.”

In recent years, there’s been a signi cant surge in the participation of girls and athletes from diverse racial backgrounds in sports, breaking down gender and racial barriers. According to the Aspen Institute State of Play 2023, the participation rate of girls in sports is the highest since 2013, and participation among Asian youth increased to 42% in 2022, up from 35% in 2019, which marks the highest rate for Asian youth participation in sports since at least 2012. ese trends re ect the growing inclusivity in sports, aligning with the trends at Paly.

Boys volleyball cruised past MacDonald 3-0 and secured the league title during senior night on April 30. e win extends the team’s perfect 13-0 league record.

Senior and co-captain Arun Tamura said he loved the atmosphere of the gym on senior night and the support he received.

“I was really happy about how we all played,” Tamura said. “I’m super grateful for everyone who came out — my family, my friends, and even my middle school (and) elementary school teacher came, which was really sick.”

As the team prepares for CCS playo s, head coach Darryl Chan said the game provided an opportunity for the team to try out new tactics.

“It was just good to see the players drilling together,” Chan said. “We’ve been working on a lot of di erent plays, and this was a game to tune up for playo s.” Tamura said the team will continue to focus on their in-game mentality.

“CCS will have better competition, and we’re all super hyped for that,” Tamura said. “But I think we need to maintain a high level of energy and focus.” e end of the season brings a bittersweet moment for the team as they watch their seniors play at home for the last time. When the current seniors graduate, Chan said he will miss their energy and leadership.

“ ey were such great leaders — not just the best players on the team, but they were (also) helping to set up, tear down,” Chan said. “ ey were super helpful, really encouraging to the younger players on the team as well as the JV (team). I’ve watched these seniors develop over the years, and I’ll de nitely miss them.”

Junior Tarika Pillay, who is from South Africa and on the eld hockey team, said people tend to form rst impressions in a speci c order — and her race is often one of the rst things they notice.

“For me, they notice a girl, and then they’ll notice the color of my skin, and then they’ll notice the accent I have if I haven’t talked to them before because I have a vaguely British accent,” Pillay said. “People get kind of confused. Sometimes they ask me questions about my religion and culture and not in an o ensive way, in a genuinely curious way. And I think it just changes the way that people perceive me.”

Saslow said perceptions like these initially caused concerns before her rst football practice.

“I was de nitely terri ed to go to that rst practice,” Saslow said. “Just scared of being weaker, slower and just not tting in socially, but I don’t think that really ever stopped me. It just made it harder along the way, but I don’t think I ever really thought of that as a reason to stop.”

Being the only girl on the team, Saslow said she had to overcome that initial fear of not tting in or being accepted by her teammates.

“I felt like I had to prove myself to the team and the coaches and even myself, and I de nitely stressed about that a lot,” Saslow said. “I was like, ‘If I mess up, I’m literally showing all the guys on the team why girls shouldn’t play because they’re bad.’ at’s what I would think when I would mess up. And I just had to make sure that I was not proving that to them.”

Saslow said this was di cult.

e most annoying and frustrating thing about playing is the fact that I feel like I have to make up for being a bit smaller and lighter than other teammates,”

Saslow said. “And I feel it’s hard to keep up sometimes just because of how our bodies are built di erently. at’s de nitely been a challenge — just feeling like I have to keep up physically.”

As one of the few Indian-Americans on the basketball team, sophomore Tanmay Adya said he often stands out, and sometimes people are surprised to nd out that he plays basketball.

“Sometimes there are some comments that are like, ‘Oh, shouldn’t you be studying or something,’ but they don’t really stick with me because they’re just my friends and joking around,” Adya said.

Saslow has had similar experiences.

“Most of the time they don’t even realize I’m a girl until we’re saying, ‘Good game’ at the end,” Saslow said. “But there’s been some comments, like someone yelled, ‘Oh, it’s Bella and the Bulldogs’ once … It’s a fairly unusual thing. It doesn’t really bother me — it’s just a normal reaction.”

One way Adya has dealt with prejudice is to look up to other players.

“I don’t really care that much about it, but I look up to di erent people when playing sports of di erent cultures because there are not as many of my zown culture who play basketball or sports,” Adya said.

Similarly, Pillay said there are not many eld hockey players from South Africa. However, she said

Badminton

this doesn’t bother her because appearances aren’t important in sports.

“I’m aware of it, but it doesn’t a ect me in any way, because I know that it doesn’t matter,” Pillay said. “Sports are far more important about what you give in rather than what you look like. As athletes, if you are discriminating against someone because of what they look like, who they are, what gender they are, then it’s stupid because the only thing that ever matters, whether that’s in a team sport or whether that’s in an individual sport, is that you give it your all, you try your best and that you actually want to be there. And that is the only thing that matters as athletes.”

Annika Chu Print Managing Editor

team defeats

Gunn on senior night

As the nal matches wrapped up and the nets came down on April 15, the badminton team left the gym after a hard-fought 18-12 senior night victory over its crosstown rival, Gunn.

Senior and co-captain Andrew Li said his focus during the match was to enjoy the moment.

“Coming into the game, I just wanted to have a good game on my senior night,” Li said. “I told myself, ‘Just don’t give up. Just play my best badminton.’”

Head coach Gabriel Fossati-Bellani said the timing of the match, immediately after spring break, presented a challenge.

is is the rst match (back from the break), and everyone came back really rusty,” Fossati-Bellani said. “But I think everyone was in high spirits because of it being senior night, and that’s what pushed us through to the win.”

Senior and co-captain Sarah Kobayashi said what she will miss most about Paly badminton is the sense of connection within the team.

“I really enjoyed being part of this team,” Kobayashi said. “I think it’s really nice to con-

nect with younger students (because high school sports) is one of the only places where you can do that.”

Fossati-Bellani said seeing the seniors grow over their four years in the program has been especially meaningful.

“Some have been playing since freshman year, when they were still playing with masks,” Fossati-Bellani said. “It’s nice to see this team make it all the way to the end.”

As a senior set to graduate in two months, Li said he encourages his younger teammates to appreciate their time on the team.

“Four years may sound like a lot, but it really goes by in the blink of an eye,” Li said. “Take it slow and don’t take anything for granted. Play hard, work hard, win, lose — it doesn’t matter. Just have fun.”

Senior Arun Tamura celebrates with his teammates after winning a point. “CCS will have better competition, and we’re all super hyped for that,” Tamura said. “But I think we need to maintain a high level of energy and focus.”

LUCAS YUAN/THE CAMPANILE

LUCA VOSTREJS/THE CAMPANILE

Lucas Yuan Senior Sta Writer

Lucas Yuan

Senior Sta Writer

Senior Marcus Ling encourages his teammates during the badminton senior night win against Gunn on April 15. Senior co-captain Sarah Kobayashi said she enjoyed being part of the team over the course of high school. “I really enjoyed being part of this team,” Kobayashi said. “I think it’s really nice to connect with younger students (because high school sports) is one of the only places where you can do that.”

ART BY CYNTHIA HUANG

Seniors face big decisions about continuing sports

Senior Romy Kiessling powers through another track workout, sweat dripping down her forehead from the heat and the mile-long warmup she just completed. As her heartbeat increases and fatigue kicks in, she reminds herself that these moments are limited — soon, her time with the track team will end as she prepares to take a gap year to travel after high school.

As seniors approach the very end of their time in high school, they face the vital decision of whether they will continue their sport or not.

Kiessling said she hopes to use her gap year as a chance to explore new opportunities.

“In sports, (my goal is to) probably just stay in shape, and then personally, just to do something new — get away from Palo Alto and home, see new things and just have new experiences,” Kiessling said.

Although she plans to keep running, Kiessling said competitive athletics won’t be a priority.

“I definitely want to keep running just for fun on my own and just go on some easy runs, maybe with my friends during the summer,” Kiessling said. “But I definitely won’t do as much as I’m doing right now, I just (want) to stay in shape.”

In contrast, senior Kinga Czajkowska is preparing to run track and cross country at the Division I level at Cornell University. Czajkowska said she couldn’t imagine leaving the sports behind.

“I really love the spirit of being on a team and the experiences of going to meets, competing and improving, and I want to continue that, especially because I feel like I have a lot more in the tank,” Czajkowska said.

Senior Kanghee Cho, who has committed to playing Division I baseball at Brown University, also said the team environment is a major factor in continuing his sport at the next level.

“It’s fun to be good at something, and doing it at a level where everyone else is very good too is very enticing,” Cho said.

Similarly, senior Ryan Kim, who will be attending the University of California, Berkeley in the fall, said he wants to keep running after high school, even if it is not at the Division I level.

“I really love the sport,” Kim said.

“Even if I don’t run D1, I can always run on a club team or join intramural sports.

Even if I don’t run on the team, I can still run competitively, which is really fun, and I really enjoy the team aspect of running.

However, Kim said this won’t be easy

During my time on e Campanile, I’ve witnessed Four Editorial Boards come and go. I’ve written stories, designed pages and crafted headlines for 20 cycles. roughout this time on staff, one of my favorite parts was the prediction column we ran in the sports section. I’ve made quite a few takes, and it’s time to go over them one by one; the wins, the losses, and the embarrassments.

In September 2023, I predicted Manchester City would run away with the Premier League, followed by Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle. Other than Liverpool, who finished that season fifth with Man United in their place, that top four is spot on. I’ll take the early win. Prediction: 8/10.

at November, former Sports Editor Neel Sharma and I took on the early NBA playoff predictions. W, in which we had the Warriors and Bucks facing off in the finals after beating the Nuggets and Celtics, respectively. at was a miss and a half. e Warriors finished 10th and failed to advance past the Play-In. e only correct pick was saying the Celtics would make it to the Eastern Conference finals. But we can’t even take too much credit there because they went on to win it all. Let’s move on. Prediction: 2/10.

In February 2024, after a few months of marinating on September’s prediction, Manchester City was looking hot in England. Sports Editor Naveen Narayanswami and I took a look at that year’s European competition, the Champions League, and decided that City was fit to win that as well. ey ended up getting knocked out in the quarterfinals by the eventual winners, Real Madrid. In our prediction, we gave Madrid second in the power rankings. It was nothing more than unfortunate that Madrid met Manchester so early in the knockout rounds. Overall, some bad luck and some bad picks. Prediction: 5/10.

Apparently, I decided I was on a hot streak with soccer, and took a look at the UEFA European Championship in the summer of 2024., in which I predicted France would beat England in the finals — a very basic prediction at the time. England did make it to the finals, ahead of strong Portugal and Netherlands teams. France fell to Spain in the semifinals, though, before Spain beat England in an incredible final. I did namecheck Spain as a dark horse, so I’ll take that silver lining.

Prediction: 6.5/10

After returning from the summer break, in October, I noticed my Premier League predictions were pretty good — if you only look at the top four — so I

due to the difficulties he will experience adapting to the new college environment.

“One of the biggest challenges I’m going to face is not really having anywhere to run,” Kim said. “(Our cross country team) run like six to eight miles a day, and at Berkeley, unless you drive (somewhere else) for 20 minutes, you can’t run for over half a mile without running into a stop sign, which really sucks.”

Czajkowska also said the transition to a more demanding training schedule might be difficult.

“ ere’s going to be more work, but there’s going to be a lot more experiences and potential for improvement,” Czajkowska said. “(We will) have more competitive meets and it will be a lot more intense than high school’s been.”

Cho said he is looking forward to having teammates to train with in his college journey.

“I’ll have more unstructured time to practice on my own or study and go out,” Cho said. “(I’ll have) my teammates, and if I want to go hit with them, I don’t need to schedule anything.”

Reflecting on her own journey, Czajkowska said she encourages younger athletes not to limit themselves in the recruiting process.

leaned into it, looking at the top four in more European leagues. I predicted another Manchester City Premier League Title, Real Madrid in LaLiga, Bayern Munich in Bundesliga, Inter Milan in Serie A, and Paris SaintGermain in Ligue 1. So far, I’m two for five, but I’m praying for some late retribution. PSG and Bayern were already crowned champions, with Liverpool taking the Premier League title this year. Serie A and LaLiga are still up for grabs, but Inter Milan is three points behind Napoli and Real Madrid is slipping behind Barcelona with a handful of games left. Prediction: 6/10

In the next cycle, I took a look at one of my favorite sports: Major League Baseball, where I predicted a Phillies win over the Yankees in the World Series. My American League prediction was spot on — but to be fair, the Yankees are an easy shout. Perhaps out of hope, I said the Dodgers would choke. Of course, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman made me eat my words. e Phillies were the real chokers, as they got crushed by the Mets. Aaron Judge was looking more like Aaron Pudge in the World Series as the Dodgers took the series in five.

Prediction: 5/10.

After the last few team-up predictions ended in failure, Photo Editor Rahul Shetty and I were determined to get the NFL right. We were 100% correct with the important seeds, calling the AFC’s Chiefs winning the first seed and the Bills snagging second, and the Lions winning the NFC’s first seed with the Eagles winning the second. However, we predicted the Chiefs and the Lions to meet in the Super Bowl. e Lions lost to the Commanders early, and the Eagles won the Super Bowl for the NFC. Could be better, could be worse. Prediction: 7/10 en, with one redemption in the books, I had to come back to the NBA. is time, I didn’t predict who would win. Only who would make the playoffs and their seeds. While the playoffs are currently unfolding, I can take a look at the bracket and say I went seven for eight in both the East and the West. I didn’t foresee the Clippers making the playoffs over the Mavericks, nor the Pistons making it over the Hawks, but it’s still a strong prediction. Prediction: 9/10

“A lot of people are too scared to reach out to schools that they don’t think they (can get recruited to) — especially people who might be winning a ton of meets,” Czajkowska said. “It doesn’t hurt to send an email, fill out a lot of forms, be brave, go to as many meets as you can and take every opportunity as it comes.”

Cho echoed this sentiment and said he would also motivate young athletes not to put barriers on themselves.

“Don’t limit yourself to Division 1 athletics, and school doesn’t matter if you’re good enough at your sport,” Cho said.

Kim thinks staying connected to memories and support systems can help athletes stay motivated through tough times.

“A piece of advice I’d give is (try to remember) all the fond memories you have of your sport in high school,” Kim said. “It’s really nice having people support you on the side, and thinking about how your friends and family will continue to support you — even if you don’t (play) D1 — motivates me to keep going.”

Amaya Bharadwaj Staff Writer

en, moving out of my comfort zone, I predicted that Justin Gaethje would beat Dan Hooker by TKO and Alex Pereira would KO Magomed Ankaelev in the Ultimate Fighting Championship 313. Hooker ended up dropping out, but Gaethje did beat substitute Rafael Fizief. So, half a win? at’s the only bright spot as Ankaelev outmatched Pereira in the Main Card. Additionally, both wins were by decision. Prediction: 4/10

In March, I of course had to take a look at March Madness. On this one, I was expecting a horrid result, as that is just the nature of March Madness, but it was worse than I thought. Albeit my picks of Kansas, Michigan State, Duke and Tennessee in the Final Four were logical ones, somehow every one seed made the Final Four. I blame NIL, because in March Madness, all the high seeds doing well is more rare than at least one falling short. My bracket was ranked horribly; around three millionth out of all the brackets. 3/10. en, in April, after realizing my NBA Playoff Picture was a great prediction, I had to take a crack at the awards. I called Cade Cunningham as the Comeback Player of the Year, Stephon Castle as the Rookie of the Year, Draymond Green as Defensive Player of the Year and Nikola Jokić as the Most Valuable Player. Once again, predictions solely based on what I hoped would happen. And what actually happened was very different. Castle was the ROTY, but that was an easy shout after Jared McCain’s injury. Cunningham was a finalist, but the Most Improved Player was Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels. A fair shout. Evan Mobley beat out Green for DPOY, while Green instead won the Hustle Award. Also known as the “here, damn” award.

Prediction: 4/10 e Campanile has been the fondest experience from my high school times. But over the years, I’ve only amounted to reporting the facts and butchering the forecasts. If nothing else, I’ve proven I’m consistent — just not in accuracy.

is NBA season has felt like a fever dream. LeBron, 40, is still dunking on 25-year-olds like it’s 2016 all over again. Nico Harrison is shredding the Mavericks’ chance at a championship by disassembling their roster and Jimmy is saving the Warriors by being the best Robin to Steph’s Batman. But all that regular season chaos is a thing of the past. Now it’s time for the main event: the 2025 NBA Playoffs. With tensions rising, the question remains: will Shai Gilgeous Alexander carry Oklahoma City under to world champion status by shooting free throws, or will Nikola Jokic carry on his historic season all the way to the Larry O’Brien trophy?

e Oklahoma City under (68–14) are no longer the future — they’re now. ey blew through the Memphis Grizzlies in Round 1, sweeping them up in four games through a dominant performance from Jalen Williams and Shai.

OKC turned up the heat by proving their drive and strength on offense, and they will get a cooldown of more than a week before taking on an athletic freak in Nikola Jokic. OKC will barely take the seven-game win over the Nuggets.

On the other side of the bracket, Anthony Edwards is somehow becoming every fan’s favorite player, even though he successfully retired Lebron and swept Luka and Bronny in only five games, sending the Lakers to Cancun. e Timberwolves meet the Warriors next — yes, the Golden State Warriors, who pulled off a classic Game 7 victory over the Houston Rockets. is is despite the fact three of their starting five consist of the 49ers new defensive back Draymond Green who is incapable of not committing a technical foul once a game; Quinten Post who looks like he’s trying to play for the other team; and Pat Spencer, an athlete so good at Lacrosse, he decided to shoot his shot in the NBA. It will be another close series for the Warriors, but in the end, experience will benefit them over the Timberwolves, leading to the Warriors winning in six games. at leads to a Western Conference Finals clash between the under and Golden State. Butler and Curry will trade 40-point games, but the under’s ball movement and bench scoring will prove too much for the Warriors to handle. In a very entertaining seven-game series, the under will move on to the Finals.

In the East, the Boston Celtics (62–20) started the playoffs by beating the Miami Heat in five games. e Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown appeared to be focused, and Kristaps Porziņģis returned just in time to stretch the floor. e Celtics will move on to face the New York Knicks, who beat up the Joel Embiid-less Sixers in six games on the strength of Jalen Brunson’s 31.5 points per game and game-saving heroics.

But the Celtics are another beast altogether. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White will guard the three-point line, keeping it secure, and with Porziņģis healthy off the bench, Boston will overwhelm New York in five games. Brunson will fight hard, putting up Steph-like shots — but it won’t matter with the Celtics roster depth.

Elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers survived a wild seven-game struggle with the Bulls in Round 1 but will lose steam against the upstart Indiana Pacers. Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard will lead the Indiana Pacers to a Game One upset in Cleveland against the Cavaliers, and with Darius Garland still out, the Pacers will ride their momentum and wellbalanced scoring to win the series in six games.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana’s fairy tale season will end at midnight. Boston’s maturity, defense and shooting will overwhelm the young Pacers, who will steal one game on the back of Haliburton’s explosive ability to get to the bucket and put up stepback threes — but the Celtics will shut it out in five and come back into the Finals with a serious amount of momentum.

And so, we’re left with two teams on opposite sides of the NBA spectrum — Boston, the battle-hardened favorite, and Oklahoma City, the fearless newcomers. It’s a showdown between the league’s best defense and its most exciting offense, between Tatum’s long-awaited coronation and SGA’s breakout on the biggest stage.

Expect a war of styles, seven games of chess disguised as basketball. Experience will prevail over youth. Jayson Tatum will finally hold aloft the Larry O’Brien trophy and become the MVP, cementing himself in Celtics legacy.

AMAYA BHARADWAJ/THE CAMPANILE

Rohan Bhatia Senior Staff Writer

Rahul Shetty Senior Staff Writer

Senior Kinga Czajkowska runs on the track. “I really love the spirit of being on a team and the experiences of going to meets, competing and improving, and I want to continue that, especially because I feel like I have a lot more in the tank,” she said. Czajkowska has committed to run track and cross country at Cornell.

Lacrosse takes senior night

Onsenior night, boys lacrosse team launched a crucial three-game win streak with a 5–3 victory over Hillsdale — the first of three must-win games to clinch a playoff berth.

Head Coach Ed Hattler said clinching the top seed in Division II was especially meaningful this year, considering the difficulties the team has faced.

“We’ve had more adversity this season in terms of injuries,” Hattler said. “We haven’t had one game where we’ve had all of our starters the whole season.”

Hattler also said that although the seniors have been instrumental to their success, their overconfidence nearly cost them the win.

“ e seniors are the backbone of the team — they have been playing for many years here, and

we wouldn’t believe we were where we are without them,” Hattler said. “But our seniors did not come into senior night with the best attitude. ey were cocky and overconfident. at is how you see upsets happen… Still, we showed a lot of grit, fight and ended up pulling that out. Still, I would like to see us knock a team out early.”

Senior Oliver Chancellor agreed and said the team has a bad habit of playing haughtily.

“Before the game, we were talking about how we’re all gonna be switching positions in the fourth quarter, and we’re all gonna be messing around,” Chancellor said. “ at mindset going into the game is what really hurts us. People weren’t hustling after ground balls. e team wasn’t playing as a team, but as individuals. at could be seen in

the result — we should have blown that team out, but we didn’t because of our attitude going into the game, because of our mindset. at’s something we’ve been struggling with because we play down to teams, even though we have the skill to be really, really good.”

With 15 seniors, many of whom have played together since freshman year, the team has a uniquely tight-knit bond. However, Chancellor said that in addition to strengthening their chemistry, their close relationship has also enabled their conceit.

“A lot of the seniors on the team are friends, and we’ve all been playing since our freshman year together, which really helps with team chemistry and holding people accountable,” Chancellor said. “You’ll always hold your friends more account-

able than a teammate, but at the same time, the fact that there are a lot of friends in the team, can kind of lead to people messing around at times and not taking things as seriously because it’s seen as a social event rather than practice.

All in all, Chancellor said he is grateful for his team’s camaraderie.

Chancellor said, “Overall, becoming really close over the last four years has helped the team and made lacrosse a very memorable experience for me.”

Alec Bonnard Senior Staff Writer

Tuning In

Tick, tick, tick — the metronome maintains a steady rhythm of 120 beats per minute as sophomore Rasia Yu crams for tomorrow’s Science Olympiad competition. Yu finds the in cessant beeping of the metronome in the corner of the room gives her just enough pressure to keep working. As the proximity of final exams begins to dawn on Paly, students cram through the night with tried-and-true study methods like studying with friends, stay ing in a quiet library or listening to music.

Music is often seen as beneficial for focus and concentration; however, for students like Yu, research on the topic takes a more nuanced stance. According to a study of college students published in the Journal of Cognition, lyrical music hinders verbal memory, visual memory, and reading comprehension.

“Sometimes, you don’t want lyrics,” Yu said. “You don’t want sound. You don’t want different notes, so I lock myself in a room for a few hours, just with a metronome and my study materials.” But for casual studying, Yu said listening to ambient music helps her focus and avoid distractions.

“If you’re feeling sad, you could put on rain ambient music, and it just puts you into a calm mood for studying and that (calm) mindset,” Yu said. “Or if you’re feeling a bit more relaxed or ener getic, you could put on ambient sounds of nature or wind and trees that are rustling.”

Meanwhile, sophomore Ishaan Juyal said he uses headphones to listen to ambient music, which helps him navigate the stressful environment of school.

“Whenever I walk around school, sometimes it’s uncomfort ably quiet, or everyone is talking and (being) annoying,” Juyal said. “With headphones, I’m still in my little school environment, but I can at least stay back in this more quiet, relaxed world.” Students also find other non-lyrical mediums to improve their focus or simply just to relax. Yu, for instance, listens to horror music from video games.

“But it’s not the scary type of horror,” Yu said. “It’s more of the existential we’re-all-going-to-die eerie (type).”

Similarly, Juyal said he used to listen to “Arachnophobia,” a track from the horror game “Omori.”

“It’s ambient, slowed down and really creepy,” Juyal said. “It’s a track that’s played when the main

Chan

DANIEL ROBERTS/USED WITH PERMISSION

A rendering of James Webb Telescope, which detects biosignatures on K2-18B. “Different wavelengths of light are absorbed by whatever is in the atmosphere,” Rajmohan said. “Based on what wavelengths...are absorbed, you can see what’s in the atmosphere.”

A team of astronomers from the University of Cambridge published new evidence of potential signs of life on an ocean planet 124 light-years from Earth called K218B on April 18, in what some scientists are calling the best evidence of extraterrestrial life humanity has discovered thus far.

e scientists reported the presence of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide; on Earth, it is only created by life. If this discovery is true, it represents the first time a biosignature, or indication of biological presence, has ever been found on a habitable planet.

President of the Astronomy Club Kishor Rajmohan said biosignatures can be a strong indicator of life.

“If you haven’t actually observed life, but you’ve observed something that indicates life, what are the chances that that thing happened without life being there?” Rajmohan said. “Biosignatures are probably close to the top of that probability list.” He also said astronomers can see the atmospheric composition of distant planets by detecting light that has passed through the exoplanet’s atmosphere before reaching Earth.

“When (light) passes through the atmosphere, different wavelengths of light are absorbed by

whatever is in the atmosphere,” Rajmohan said. “Based on what wavelengths of light are absorbed, you can see what’s in the atmosphere.” e team of astronomers first reported traces of dimethyl sulfide on K2-18B in 2023. In 2024, they got another chance to view the planet using the James Webb Telescope, and found an even stronger signal of dimethyl sulfide and another compound called dimethyl disulfide, suggesting the planet’s oceans are full of algae. Despite the promising data, however, discussion within the scientific community has raised questions about the legitimacy and significance of these findings. Researcher Jake Taylor from the University of Oxford conducted another research study in which he found there was too much interfering noise for a conclusive result.

Additionally, Laura Kreidberg from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy told NPR that scientists make certain assumptions throughout the research process, which can impact the results of the research. If the signal exists, it should show up regardless of researchers’ assumptions.

Additionally, Christopher Glein from the Southwest Research Institute posted a paper

on April 13 that suggested K218B might not be a habitable planet. It may instead have a scorching hydrogen atmosphere and magma oceans.

Astrophysics teacher Joshua Bloom said while these discoveries are exciting, it may be a long time before any conclusions can be drawn.

“( e discoveries) are only one piece of a larger body of evidence required to prove that life is not unique to Earth,” Bloom said “We are a long way from being able to see direct evidence of life on other planets. But we do now have the tools to discover indirect evidence of life.” Bloom also said further evidence would be needed to corroborate these findings. “ is most recent discovery is exciting since it is something we would expect to see if something biological were present on this distant planet,” Bloom said. “But there might be other explanations. What we need is more than one piece of evidence that, when taken together, makes it extremely unlikely there is any other explanation that could explain all those observations (other) than the presence of life.”

In August of 2024, the Atherton Police Department arrested a person suspected of stealing a car using the town’s automated license plate reader cameras. Similar reports have become common in the Bay Area as police departments say ALPR cameras help reduce crime and traffic accidents.

Christine Sellers, a Los Altos resident, said she supports ALPR cameras because they give cities a united front to help combat crime surges.

“I’m really happy about it, quite frankly,” Sellers said. “I know the Town of Campbell, when they implemented these cameras, saw a reduction of 80% in crime. And if other towns around you are implementing these cameras, and your town doesn’t, the criminals are all going to your town. It’s a little bit of an arms race, so I’m delighted that Los Altos has done this.”

One popular type of ALPR camera is the Flock camera, designed to photos of the license plates of passing vehicles. ese photos are stored for up to 30 days before they are automatically deleted from the department’s database.

e Palo Alto Police Department has already installed 31 cameras across various high-traffic areas, intersections, and entry and exit points. Cameras have also been installed in high-crime neighborhoods, but only temporarily, due to privacy concerns.

ese motion-activated cameras not only store the captured images in a law enforcement database but also create a log of license plate numbers that match active “hotlists,” which list the license plate numbers of stolen cars in addition to any suspected persons of interest.

In the last 30 days, 787,801 cars were detected with 2,393 hotlist hits, according to Flock Safety for Palo Alto.

Senior Abby Wolf said this system seems beneficial.

“I think it’s nice that the Palo Alto Police are being proactive about crime in neighborhoods while respecting the privacy of the residents by only putting up cameras when necessary,” Wolf said.

Jeff Taylor, a detective sergeant for the Atherton police department, said installing Flock systems led to a significant drop in property crimes in his community.

“To date, we have 51 Flock cameras in Atherton,” Taylor said. “It was determined early on in a demonstration at another agency that Flock helped the agency investigate crimes by providing objective evidence. Over the course of two to three years after our cameras were installed, we saw a decrease in burglaries by over 50%.”

Wolf said the cameras make her feel safer, especially in high-traffic locations in Palo Alto.

“Considering traffic control, I think these cameras are a good idea because the Bay Area already has heavy traffic and everyone has someplace to be,” Wolf said. “ ere are many accidents and crashes, so knowing how many people are going in and going out could be beneficial.”

While some have privacy concerns related to the use of license plate readers, Wolf said the cameras are not an invasion of privacy as long as the city is transparent about their placement.

“I think that if the city informs residents that this is happening, then people will be more careful,” Wolf said.

“If people are coming from somewhere else in California and don’t exactly know, then that could feel like a breach of their privacy. As long as Palo Alto informs the public about the cameras around town, the issue of privacy will be lessened.”

Sellers agreed but said within the police department, restrictions on who has access to this information are crucial.

e police department does have an obligation to limit what you know,” Sellers said. “But it shouldn’t be the type of thing where any police officer can go in and look at the data. I think there needs to be somebody who’s designated and has been trained in privacy, and that a limited number of people at the police department should be able to access this data.”

However the Palo Alto Police Department has already accounted for these concerns by agreeing to the regulations of California Civil Code §1798.90.5, et seq., and the City’s Surveillance Technology ordinance, Palo Alto Municipal Code §2.30.620, et seq. ey also only provide access to this data to properly trained police officers who have a legitimate law enforcement need. To provide an extra level of security the city’s ALPR data is transmitted in an encrypted format and stored by Flock Safety, the company that supplied the ALPR cameras, and the data is only accessible through a secure web-based platform according to Flock Safety for Palo Alto. Sellers also said it is unreasonable to expect privacy when in public spaces.

“I know that is a concern for some people, but my attitude is, if you’re out in public, literally anyone can see your license plate or take a picture of you or see you walking around. You already have no privacy if you’re out in public,” Sellers said.

“So to me, I think it’s absolutely fine if the (plate) is captured, it’s available anyway, and when you’re in public, why should you have an expectation of privacy?”

However, Palo Alto police have not released information regarding the location of cameras due to concerns that it could compromise efforts to fight crime.

“As the ALPR cameras are a law enforcement investigative tool, the Police Department does not provide their locations,” the department’s website said. “If criminals are made aware of the location of the devices in advance, they could take measures to avoid detection by the system.”

For Sellers, though, the expansion of these cameras is vital for crime reduction throughout the Peninsula.

“Criminals are still active, and they weigh the percentage chance whether or not they feel like they’re going to get caught versus what they have to gain,” Sellers said. “And I think (these cameras) tipped the scales towards them being more likely to get caught, acting as an effective deterrent. So my goal is that we keep deterring crime as much as possible with these cameras.”

Isabelle Carlsen Senior Staff Writer

Rohan Bhatia Senior Staff Writer

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ETHAN CHAN & CHERIANNE YOON

Ethan

Lifestyle, Sci/Tech Editor

Palo Alto needs more third spaces

As graduation nears, I’ve been re ecting on the memories I’ve made with friends — and how limited our options have been outside of school. It’s easy to be content hanging out at friends’ houses or attending end-of-year senior events, but it’s a bittersweet time that encourages deeper re ection on how I spend time with the people I care about most.

Looking back at the past four years of high school, I realize most of my memories were made through serious e ort, because there just aren’t many places for young people to go. Most of my closest friendships were made through school sports, not activities in our town.

e reality is there’s a serious lack of third spaces — places beyond school and work — in Palo Alto. Outside of co ee shops and restaurants, I can’t think of many options. Where is our local bowling alley?

Mini-golf, dart-throwing bars or even arcades? In Palo Alto, if you’re not studying or buying food, you often feel the need to leave the city limits to nd fun things to do with friends, just to create new memories that aren’t related to school.

In the 1980s, American sociologist Ray Oldenburg developed the notion of a “third place,” a space for informal, free social interaction, which is essential to democracy.

According to the University of Chicago, third spaces help build community by giving people reasons to come together. ey connect groups with similar interests and increase revenue for cities by boosting foot tra c and attracting more consumers.

Beyond providing more spaces for friends to hang out and creating local communities, third spaces can reduce driving and make Palo Alto a city where more activities are accessible.

Before I got my driver’s license, having fun was much more di cult because everything worth doing was out of reach by bike.

In a time when, according to the American Physiatry Association, 30% of adults report feeling lonely and teens su er from a lack

of social engagement, creating more third spaces could help strengthen community bonds.

However, Palo Alto has faced challenges with local businesses not having enough customers or interest, with vacancy rates near 15%, according to the Palo Alto Daily Post. Part of this stems from a tough business environment, but according to Councilmember George Lu, regulations also play a large role in limiting growth.

For instance, when the Aquarius eater sought to sell beer, it faced a 14-month permitting process. Overregulation from the city can become burdensome for businesses, discouraging innovation and making new planning di cult.

Other cities o er a model for success.

Detroit revitalized its (admittedly larger) downtown by turning it into a gathering place with open plazas

and events, while Berkeley has closed streets to increase foot tra c, similar to Palo Alto’s California Avenue. is idea could be extended to our downtown, where street parking is already hard to nd. Instead of busy streets lled with cars, the city could close some streets to make them more pedestrian-friendly and encourage walkable commerce.

Palo Alto should also be more open to higher-density housing and relax height restrictions on residential buildings downtown to encourage more residents there, making local businesses more economically viable.

Yet, we can do more to ensure our city remains vibrant for years to come. Palo Alto could adopt an approach that leads to more outdoor spaces, more

teen-friendly areas and more public events geared toward high school students beyond those put on by the Teen Advisory Board. As a student about to leave for college, I know I won’t fully bene t from these changes if they are implemented, but that doesn’t make them any less important to me. High school students deserve a walkable, livable city full of events worth attending where third spaces can encourage community building. We need to enhance Palo Alto’s community by supporting measures that make the city more accessible on foot or bike, increase local businesses and allow more residents to explore our beautiful city.

Julian Hong Senior Sta Writer

JULIAN HONG/THE CAMPANILE

Stop using gas-powered leaf blowers to clear your yard

Chances are, you’ve had the pleasure of listening to the soothing tune of a two-stroke leaf blower wake you up. If not, you’ve certainly heard complaints from a neighbor or read an angry thread on Nextdoor.

While gas-powered leaf blowers are effective at cleaning yards, their noise and air pollution have sparked a debate that has polarized neighbors.

In a movement to “Make America Rake

Again,” over 100 cities have banned gaspowered blowers nationwide, and the use of the ubiquitous autumnal apparatus has begun to fall. Palo Alto is one of those cities, having banned leaf blowers in residential neighborhoods since 2005.

Following difficulties enforcing the ban, Palo Alto increased fines for violators, made it easier to issue citations and amended the ban to hold homeowners accountable for violations rather than just the gas-powered leaf blower operators.

Palo Alto’s commitment to eradicating gas-powered leaf blowers makes sense.

Environmentally, lawn equipment is at the forefront of the U.S.’s air pollution. Twostroke leaf blowers, the most common type, do not have catalytic converters.

As a result, they only burn two-thirds of their oil and gas mix for fuel, with the rest being emitted as toxic fumes. Some generate 23 times the carbon dioxide and 300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons than a Ford F-150 Raptor, according to the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Each year, leaf blowers in the U.S. emit more carbon dioxide than all of Los Angeles.

Aside from the contamination of our air, operators are exposed to hazardous amounts of carbon monoxide and particulate matter, according to the California Air Resources Board.

Leaf blower operators are also more prone to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular issues and certain cancers, according to Change.org.

Also, many operators are unable to wear masks — which only partially inhibit the inhalation of pollutants — due to the high costs of replacing masks and the difficulty of breathing with them on during strenuous work. Given the many health risks, home-

owners, who can typically finance electric alternatives more easily, have a responsibility to help finance cleaner equipment for the workers they employ.

Not only do they pollute our air, but given the auditory nuisance of gas-powered leaf blowers, we can rarely enjoy the natural sounds of Palo Alto. e distinct, piercing two-stroke roar, whose low frequency helps it penetrate walls and violate World Health Organization noise standards up to three football fields away, overpowers the sound of wind rustling leaves or birds singing.

An easy solution would be to simply stop using leaf blowers. Leaf blowers strip away the natural mulch that protects plant roots, retains moisture and enriches the soil, leaving gardens and green spaces more vulnerable to drought and degradation. is disruption also harms beneficial insects and pollinators that rely on fallen leaves for shelter. Leaves also add color and texture to our otherwise barren and overly manicured roads and yards. Even if you are set on clearing your driveway or front yard with a blower, Palo Alto is unlike leafy East Coast cities in that a simple rake suffices to clean up one’s yard scraps.

I get it, though. Realistically, people care more about saving time than about saving the microhabitats of insects. Even if you refuse to rake or “leave the leaves” and are set on leaf blowing, electric alternatives are an easy replacement.

Electric alternatives are already superior to their gas-powered counterparts, and year by year the disparity increases, according to Consumer Reports –– an independent company that unbiasedly tests products.

While gas-powered barely edges electric in sweeping and loosening, electric leaf blowers are clear winners in terms of vacuuming, handling and noise. e most common excuse used by homeowners to justify gaspowered leaf blowers is also one of the most invalid excuses.

While prices between the two are similar, additional costs of retrofitting a truck or buying new batteries must be taken into account when converting to electric. However, technological advancements are steadily tipping the cost balance in favor of electric options. Additionally, the California Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project offers vouchers to slash prices to

gas-powered

match or even beat the cost of gas-powered equipment.

Given that the ban on gas-powered blowers in Palo Alto has existed for 20 years, and that the city has subsidized and educated the community as well as enacted and changed laws to best support electric leaf blowers, it’s time people make the change. It won’t get much easier than this, and the reasons to change are abundant. e city

should be commended for all it has done to promote cleaner yardwork and other cities should look to Palo Alto as an exemplar in their adaptive efforts to combat disruptive, gas-powered leaf blowers.

To learn more, look to www.cityofpaloalto.org/leafblowers, to find informational pamphlets on local and state-wide resources. For those who are hesitant to make the switch — do it. For the sake of the air, the soil, the sanity and sleep of your neighbors,

Education should stop forcing students into restrictive paths

Filling out my college applications last semester, I felt as though I was being forced to fit myself into a box — to either be a code-spitting machine or the artsy nerd who always doodles on the margins of notebooks.

As a survivor of college application season, I’ve come to recognize how much society loves labels: whether it be zodiac signs, MBTI personality tests or love languages, our education system is no exception. Ever since I can remember, society has pitted the arts and sciences against each other — the arts don’t impart valuable knowledge and lack practical real-world skills, while STEM is devoid of any creativity or self-expression. is conflict is especially prevalent in high school, where a limited number of class slots and a truckload of required courses force students to specialize early. It becomes natural to choose classes that either belong in the humanities or sciences category and consistently only take classes in that category for four years throughout high school. More than that, students often feel they need to “pick a side” for a higher GPA

and opportunities to take APs, ultimately flattening their curiosity and potential. e overwhelming need to get into a prestigious university can override the desire to explore opportunities in areas that actually pique their interest, which — ironically — contradicts what colleges like to preach to their applicants. is pressure grows even stronger when the time to write college applications comes around, and colleges expect students to select a major that aligns with their resume and application essays.

Students who aim to be “well-rounded” over specializing in a specific area may not have much to talk about or struggle with choosing one topic.

Colleges often encourage passion, curiosity and versatility, but their admission system can instead hinder students who want to explore interdisciplinary options.

Even if students have the opportunity to switch majors and explore different interests in college, it’s not a guarantee that an English major will be able to switch into a computer science major due to school policy or competitiveness. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find

the real world is more flexible. Careers like graphic design, architecture and UX/UI are prime examples of how arts and sciences can be blended. Many careers require a mix of technical skill and creative expression, and reward a diverse skillset.

It’s important to encourage students to both explore the humanities and STEM, regardless of what career path or major they may choose, because both subjects have important skills to offer. e arts can nurture creativity while the sciences can boost analytical thinking, and the combination allows us to be more wellrounded and empathetic.

By forcing students to either be an arts person or a STEM person, we rob them of more fulfilling educational opportunities and hinder their journey to discover their sense of self. Schools should encourage exploration and curiosity to the fullest, building systems that support students as people, not just careers.

and the health of your community and landscaper — sacrifice either the expenses of going electric or the comfort of having a manicured driveway.

Alec Bonnard Senior Staff Writer

ALEC BONNARD/THE CAMPANILE Cherianne Yoon Senior Staff Writer

Electric leaf blowers like the one in this photo should be everyone’s preferred choice, according to Campanile writer Alec Bonnard. Bonnard also cites the harmful effects of

blowers on those who operate them as another reason to switch from gas to electric.

Closure of e Primary School betrays mission, East Palo Alto community

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative owes an explanation for its abrupt decision

The Primary School, a tuitionfree private school located in East Palo Alto, will close its doors at the end of the 2025-26 school year. e school was founded in 2016 by pediatrician and philanthropist Priscilla Chan – along with her husband, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg – as part of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

e school’s stated mission is “integrating health care, education and family support” to serve low-income families in a holistic, communitybased model and CZI initially said it was created with the intention of demonstrating how to support diverse communities of children and families in public school systems.

As a result of the closure, more than 400 students will have to move to schools in the Ravenswood City School District.

To o set the impact, CZI announced it would contribute $50 million toward education savings plans, parent engagement, early childhood programs and health care services for the transitioning families.

While this nancial commitment is signi cant, e Campanile strongly condemns the abrupt and unexplained closure of e Primary School.

Although for nine years the school did support low-income families in East Palo Alto, its closure will harm these same communities more than if CZI hadn’t started the school in the rst place. For a school founded on the belief that supporting the whole child requires long-term commitment, ending operations with minimal notice and no justi cation undermines the very values it once upheld.

e rst line of e Primary School’s “Who We Are” states “We believe that raising a child is a team e ort,” and e Campanile could not agree more. is school was established to provide a network of parents, educators, pediatricians and mental health providers –– something all kids should have. However, by stripping away this supportive “team e ort” and the school built up over nine years, e Primary School is abandoning the families it was created to serve. ese kids –– almost half of whom have Individualized Education Plans, and many of whom are comfortable and

adjusted in their school community –– will now be forced to enter a new unfamiliar environment without the same level of individualized support. Additionally, the decision was made with little to no transparency. In the press release announcing the decision, no reason was given for the closure; only that it was a “very difcult” decision.

While CZI’s $50 million investment into the Ravenswood School District is a signi cant amount of money, a donation alone does not solve issues of systemic racism, marginalization of communities and disparities in education — and that’s why e Primary School was so unique. It was designed to take care of the whole child, to support entire families and to integrate healthcare and social-emotional learning into

education so students could reach above socioeconomic barriers. To strip away these opportunities without explanation is a serious betrayal to the families impacted on the behalf of CZI.

Zuckerberg has a net worth of over $200 billion and currently stands as the third richest person in the world. e Campanile understands private business owners have the right to choose how they spend their money. However, when these decisions harm other’s lives, an appropriate justi cation is required. e wealthy are not obligated to give. But when billionaires initiate systems of support that families come to rely on, abruptly withdrawing this support is unconscionable. e decision to close this school not only hurts families; it tells them

ART BY ANGELIKA GERA

that their futures were conditional, experimental and dispensable.

It’s sickening to know students who live mere miles away, surrounded by Silicon Valley’s immense wealth, can be abruptly abandoned because a philanthropic organization suddenly choses to withdraw its support with no explanation.

Despite its dissolution, let’s not forget the core values of e Primary School –– that raising a child requires a team –– and work with the Palo Alto community to provide overdue nancial aid for lower-income education in East Palo Alto

If CZI truly believes that raising a child requires a team, then it bears the responsibility of staying in the game long enough to win.

Harvard funding freeze acts as a blatant attack on academic freedom

e Trump administration sent a letter to Harvard on April 11 outlining a list of demands in exchange for the continuation of federal funding for the university.

ese demands included reforms to governance and leadership, viewpoint diversity audits, external antisemitism audits, merit-based hiring and admissions, the end of certain Palestinian clubs, additional screenings for international students, a ban on face masks, changes to student disciplinary policies and the elimination of DEI policies,.

e letter also said the government could revoke $9 billion in contracts and grants if the university did not comply.

After university leadership rejected these orders, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University, cutting o funding for research e orts and halting medical projects. e federal government emphasized antisemitism on campus as its justi cation for the freeze.

In response, Harvard led a lawsuit to halt the freeze, citing violations of the First Amendment and the statutory provisions of Title VI in the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race,

color or national origin in programs receiving federal nancial assistance.

On May 14, the Trump administration announced the removal of an additional $450 million a day after Harvard’s president pushed back against allegations of extreme liberalism and antisemitism.

A universitywide survey revealed that 80% of Muslim students and 67% of Jewish students reported feeling uncomfortable expressing their opinions on campus. And 92% of Muslim respondents and 61% of Jewish respondents said they thought they would face academic or professional penalties for expressing their political views at Harvard.

e Campanile agrees discrimination should be prevented at education institutions like Harvard. However, punitive funding cuts are not the solution. Instead of reducing

discrimination on campus, these cuts harm valuable research projects and prevent universities from providing the highest quality education to their students.

It’s important to note that the Trump administration’s demands did not acknowledge other kinds of bias, like Islamophobia, which indicates its proposed measures were not created to protect all viewpoints on campus. It’s also worth noting the bulk of the Trump administration’s demands were not related to antisemitism.

is mismatch between the federal government’s justi cation and actual policies leads e Campanile to think these funding cuts are politically motivated. Instead of a genuine e ort to address antisemitism

in higher education, the Trump administration is pressuring educational institutions to align with the administration’s political agenda.

Although the federal government should have a say in institutions it funds, there is a signi cant di erence between enforcing accountability and using nancial leverage to force a partisan agenda.

Instead of cutting funding, the government and universities can minimize discrimination by implementing mandated classes on civil discourse and teaching students how to disagree respectfully.

Educational institutions should also implement more transparent non-discrimination or anti-harassment policies and establish systems for reporting hate.

If the government hopes to promote meaningful progress in reducing discrimination, it needs genuine policy aimed at improving student safety instead of political posturing that does not create real change.

Harvard, and all educational institutions, deserve to remain spaces protected from government overreach. In the Trump administration’s attempt to consolidate political power, academic freedom should not be the sacri ce.

The Campanile

Adviser Rodney Satterthwaite

Letters to the Editors: Email all letters to editors to palycampanile@gmail.com. e Campanile prints letters on a space-available basis. We reserve the right to edit submissions. e Campanile only prints signed letters. Advertisements: Advertisements with e Campanile are printed with signed contracts. For more information regarding advertisements or sponsors in e Campanile and their size options and prices, please contact e Campanile by email at palycampanile@gmail.com.

TEXT BY RAHUL SHETTY

Digital Managing Editor Zoya Prabhakar