Issue 2: October 22, 2025 by The Campanile

New Ethnic Studies course sparks student re ection

In a ve-hour meeting last spring, the Palo Alto Uni ed School District Board of Education voted 3-2 to approve an ethnic studies class as a graduation requirement for the class of 2029. After months of controversy and heated board meetings where students, teachers and community members shared clashing perspectives and recommendations on the curriculum, the course is now a required rst-semester social studies class for freshmen.

Student perspectives on the e ectiveness of the class continue to vary.

Freshman James Trounce said he prefers the previous requirement for freshmen, a full year of World History, instead of the current requirement of one semester of Ethnic Studies and one condensed semester of World History.

“Ethnic Studies is useful to some degree, but it’s basically trying to convince us that racism is a bad thing, and we already know that,” Trounce said. “It’s not teaching me as much as, for example, my eighth grade world history, where we learned about the Revolution and the Civil War. Ethnic studies mostly focus on groups, not events. I’m not saying it’s completely useless to understand how these groups feel, but I don’t think that it’s as helpful as world history.”

Sophomore Vedant Paramesh, who opted to take the rst semester of Ethnic Studies last year as a part of its pilot program, disagrees. He said the class was far more engaging and thought-provoking than the second semester of World History, because of its cultural focus and project-based structure.

ere were numerous projects that were left open-ended for us to engage in whatever interested us,” Paramesh said. “For example, I was able to do a project based on people-of-color restaurant owners since I really enjoy cooking and got to learn a ton about their journeys and experiences that I wouldn’t have in a regular history class. My friends would complain about learning a lot about just Europe and the French Revolution, while we got to dive deeper into many of the bigger problems like race and sexuality in the US and how they have a ected how the country operates as a whole.”

And sophomore Sophie Stillger, who also took the course as a pilot last year, said she nds Ethnic Studies more engaging than any history class she has taken.

“I preferred Ethnic Studies over most of my previous history classes, as it was de nitely more engaging and interesting,” Stillger said. “I used to dread history in sixth through eighth grade; I didn’t like the subject and kind of felt like it was useless, but ninth grade Ethnic Studies made me have a new perspective on history class.”

Ethnic Studies teacher Christopher Farina said he thinks there is a misconception that learning about world history is minimized by a semester of required Ethnic Studies. Since Contemporary World History is taught sophomore year, students still ful ll the one-year requirement of world history, but they miss out on the excess semester.

“In some ways it absolutely takes away content from three semesters down to two, so you have got to make cuts,” Farina said. “But I think the trade o is we get a course like Ethnic Studies that lets them understand

their local histories and their own identities a lot better.

We think that’s worth it.”

Regardless of content, Sophomore Naia Tormala, also part of last year’s pilot group, said she thinks Ethnic Studies teachers created a strong sense of community in the class.

“A large focus at the beginning of the year was on getting to know each other and creating relationships,” Tormala said. “My teachers were amazing at teaching these subjects, and they made it very clear that it may sometimes be uncomfortable, but they were there for me.”

Ethnic Studies teacher Benjamin Bolanos also said the class approaches and discusses topics through an academic lens.

“We go into it with this mindset that we’re educators, and these are the concepts and realities that we face every day,” Bolanos said. “You can deny that race doesn’t exist because it does, and it has real e ects even

though it’s socially constructed. So those are things that we come at from an academic viewpoint and how to teach both sides of the story as well. We de nitely talk about those issues and in a safe environment, and we talk about the do’s and don’ts with some of these issues as well.”

Freshman Lenox Hancock said she enjoys her Ethnic Studies class and appreciates the opportunity to learn about di erent cultural perspectives, but nds the content somewhat repetitive and the projects stressful.

“It can be boring at times just because some of the stories are a little repetitive with similar narratives and themes of oppression,” Hancock said. “But at the same time, a lot of the grade is based on the projects we do, which can make it a little stressful. I wish there were some smaller assignments to help with that.”

Beyond the class itself, Trounce said he thinks the course should be optional, rather than a required graduation requirement.

“I think it should be voluntary because making it absolutely required is just a real bummer for people who actually want to learn world history,” Trounce said. But sophomore Alegria Dorigo said she was glad to have the option to take the Ethnic Studies class as part of the pilot test study.

“I wanted something di erent from the usual history class,” Dorigo said. “I thought it would be more interesting and connect more to real life.”

Ultimately, Paramesh said he is looking forward to the Ethnic Studies community growing. Paramesh said, “All of us (are) connected through this program we enjoy, and it will be continued for everyone in years to come.”

Zoya Prabhakar

Digital Managing Editor

Choir classes attended a master class hosted by vocal producer, director and coach Deke Sharon in the Performing Arts Center on Sept. 25. Sharon played an in uential role in popularizing contemporary a capella and is widely known for his work on the three “Pitch Perfect” lms.

Sharon said his visit to Paly was part of his lifelong mission to make music more accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. is is my life’s work, to spread harmony and get more people singing,” Sharon said. “I’m invited to coach all around the world, but rarely in the Bay Area. So I called Michael, because it’s such a great program down here.”

Choir teacher Michael Najar said it was incredibly valuable for students to learn directly from Sharon.

“He is without a question the father of contemporary acapella,” Najar said. “He started it sort of in the early ‘90s, and it’s become one of the biggest forms of American popular singing. Having him here is a top experience.”

Sharon stressed emotion should be a guide for every choir performance.

“ e most important thing is that music is emotional communication, and you’ve got to make that your North Star,” Sharon said. “Everything else, dynamics and phrasing and moving, will come from that.”

Junior Riddhi Bansal said the biggest thing they took away from the experience was the importance of being comfortable in themself, both on and o the stage.

e lesson I’m going to keep in my heart from this is to not make myself small for anyone anymore,” Bansal said. “Deke let me go to my full potential and to recognize myself and my talents and live up to that.”

Sharon said he was impressed by the groups that performed during his visit.

“ e quality of the education in Palo Alto, these phenomenal teachers, this great program are really world class,” Sharon said. “What impressed me the most is how good they are already in September. ey had no business being this good this early.” Ultimately, Najar said he was grateful for the opportunity to work with Sharon.

“(He taught) the joy and love of singing music and the passion that is required to communicate,” Najar said. “Deke puts passion (in a capella), and he has more energy than all of us combined.”

Alex Isayama & Philip Shen Lifestyle & Sci/Tech Editor & Sta Writer

Ethnic studies teacher Christopher Farina lectures in Ethnic Studies. Among the topics students discuss in the class are race and identity. “I really enjoy teaching Ethnic Studies; it’s a really fun and unique course,” Farina said. “It’s really challenging to teach in that it’s designed to be really speci c to the individuals who are in the course.”

ZOYA PRABHAKAR/THE CAMPANILE

PHILIP SHEN/THE CAMPANILE

Deke Sharon talks to choir members, explaining the importance of emotion in performance. Choir teacher Michael Najar called Sharon the father of contemporary a capella. “ is is my life’s work, to spread harmony and get more people singing,” Sharon said.

Snapshots that make a splash

Walking around the 2025 Singapore World Aquatics Championships’ media rooms, junior Dylan Fujita admires the variety of people working in the maze-like structure.

Arriving at the pool, Fujita photographs Leon Marchand as he breaks the 200 Individual Medley world record set by Michael Phelps in 2008.

“Everyone in the building knew what it meant,” Fujita said. “Everyone was going crazy and cheering. He broke it by nearly a full second and a half, which is just crazy for swimming. For me, it was just amazing to photograph Leon and even more crazy to watch him break such a strong record.” Fujita was o ered the chance to shoot at the Championships and use a Sony A1 ii, his dream camera, for free when Social Kick, a social media company, invited him to photograph the event.

“ is is arguably one of the best (cameras) in the world currently, and being able to use it free of charge is de nitely pretty cool,” Fujita said. “Everything about it is just quick and sharp, and I would de nitely use it anytime I get the chance.”

At the World Aquatic Championships, Fujita said he met many Olympic photographers, making the experience more memorable and providing inspiration for his own photography.

“I think it’s just cool being in that environment,” Fujita said. “It’s inspiring, and it’s de nitely cool to be doing that at such a young age.” Fujita said his photography journey began in his freshman Photo 1 class. e following summer, Fujita started taking photos of water sports such as swimming and water polo, stemming from his experience as a swimmer himself.

“I probably shoot around 1000 to 2000 for a session,” Fujita said. “ en, I take that down to around 60. And then from that, I like to take 20 or so, just ones I really like, and then edit those.”

As a sports photographer, Fujita said he aims to capture the full range and complexity emotions.

“I think (I like taking) more niche shots, whether it be teammates cheering on or relays,” Fujita said. “I think what most people try to capture is the person swimming, but they don’t really get the full picture.”

One of his subjects, junior Hannah Oh, who is on the girls varsity swim and dive team, said Fujita’s photography elevates the experience of her swimming.

“Being photographed by Dylan makes me feel like we’re more than a high school swim team and a club swim team,” Oh said. “It feels like I’m being photographed by an actual professional photographer, which I think most high school swimmers and club swimmers don’t get the chance to experience.”

Following his photography for high school water sports, Fujita began photographing swim meets for the University of California Berkeley in January of his sophomore year.

As he went to more meets, college students invited him to continue photographing college swim events like senior nights, for the University of California Berkeley and Stanford.

Later that year, the Atlantic Coast Conference director, Bailey Grossetti, invited him to travel to the Atlantic Coast Conference championships in North Carolina, as well as the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in Washington.

“It was awesome being with them,” Fujita said. “Meeting and then becoming friends with a lot of the athletes there is really special.”

Fujita said one of his role models is Jack Spitser, an entrepreneur and head photographer at SwimSwam, the largest swimming news organization in the world.

“His photos are elite,” Fujita said. “ ey show so much emotion (and are) very vibrant. He uses his background of swimming, college and all the work he puts in (to in#uence) his photos.”

Although Spitser lives in San Diego, Fujita said he feels lucky to have met him at his Stanford swim club.

“He (came) up to Stanford to shoot some stu with my swim club in 2022 or 2023,” Fujita said. “Being a part of my swim club, Alto, was really in#uential because it gave me all these connections.”

Soon after attending the NCAA championship in Washington, Fujita reached out to di erent swimming media organizations, which was necessary to obtain access to attend the swimming World Championships. One of the organizations was Social Kick, a podcast that does creative content on social media.

“Luckily enough, one of their head guys worked with my two head swimming coaches at my swim club, so they trusted me with that,” Fujita said.

According to Fujita, his favorite part of photography is the connections and relationships he has built. Fujita said one connection he made was with Destin Lasco, who graduated from UC Berkeley and competed at the World Championships this year.

“He pointed out that through the sport of swimming, you make all these relationships,” Fujita

said. “He was pointing out how he wouldn’t have known me if I didn’t do swimming or he didn’t do swimming.”

Although Fujita has gained opportunities to travel far for his photography, he said he faces challenges as a teen photographer.

“It’s hard to kind of get my name out there, but I think I’ve done a good job with trying to self advocate myself,” he said.

Despite this, Fujita said he mainly hopes people enjoy his photography.

“It’s hard doing something where you rely on people’s opinions on your work,” Fujita said. “It’s funny, because all the guys that I’ve sent my (pictures from the NCAA to), they really like them. But looking back on some of the shots, I actually don’t really like them. I’m able to just keep growing and getting better, but I really like that.”

Having received positive feedback on his work, Fujita said he intends to continue his journey.

“My perspective right now, since I’m young, and I currently do the sport of swimming, (is looking) up to the people who I’m photographing,” Fujita said. “I think it’s much di erent once I’m older, because then I’m either going to be the same age as these elite athletes or older than them. I’d love to just kind of give back to them and work with them.”

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ takes over pop culture

From igniting Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah arguments to reintroducing Taylor Swift to every playlist, “ e Summer I Turned Pretty” has become one of the most talked-about romantic dramas of the decade.

Based on Jenny Han’s bestselling coming-of-age trilogy, the Prime Video adaptation follows teenager Isabel “Belly” Conklin through romance, friendships and family at Cousins Beach.

Since premiering in 2022, the series has catapulted well beyond its intended teen audience and has sparked cross-platform conversation in a hyper-engaged fandom. Within its rst week, the show drew 25 million viewers worldwide on Prime Video. e nal season also hit No. 1 in more than 120 countries and became the platform’s most-watched series among women aged 18 to 34.

Sophomore Evan Gur said he noticed how quickly the program gained popularity.

“I wanted to check out the show because I saw how everyone at school was talking about it and all my friends were watching it too,” Gur said. “A bunch of my friends were sending me TikTok edits of the show, and those videos quickly took over my feed, so I felt like I had to watch it.” Polls, memes and edits invite constant participation, and arguments spill from comments into real life conversations. College sophomore Bella Nguyen said the show created a fanbase that shapes how viewers connect with one another.

“It seems like everyone at school and online takes sides,” Nguyen said. “It’s funny how invested people get in who’s the ‘right’ choice. I found myself joining in on Team Conrad vs. Team Jeremiah arguments to see what my friends thought.”

ose teams now function like micro-communities.

Online, fan edits dominate feeds on TikTok and Instagram, cementing the drama as a shared language.

Nguyen said the show’s popularity has taken over many everyday conversations across generations on topics like love and identity development.

“At this point, it feels like everyone is talking about it,” Nguyen said. “I can’t scroll through Instagram or TikTok without seeing a video about Team Conrad or Jeremiah. It’s like this show has the ability to take over everyone’s social life for months.”

is rampant conversation fueled by social media checks out. In just the month of September, nearly 200,000 posts using the hashtag # eSummerITurnedPretty on TikTok accumulated 2.9 billion views globally.

For some viewers, the impact can be more personal. Junior Peter Revenaugh said the storylines reframed how he navigates friendships.

“I now think more about how I interact with people and handle friendships after watching the show,” Revenaugh said. “It taught me that communicating through misunderstandings really helps.”

For Gur, the show had impacts beyond the storyline.

“After watching it, I started to be interested in things I had never thought I would have,” Gur said. “‘ e Summer I Turned Pretty’ in#uenced me especially with music. Since the show always played Taylor Swift songs, I now have added so many of her songs to my playlists. I never saw myself as a Taylor Swift type of guy, but here I am now.”

Gur’s experience mirrors a broader musical ripple e ect. In 2022, three years after Taylor Swift’s “Lover” album released, songs that were featured in “ e Summer I Turned Pretty” such as “Cruel Summer” and “ is Love” climbed into the Billboard Top 40. With nearly 4 million streams in the weeks after the premier of the show, the album climbed from Swift’s number four to number one most streamed album on Spotify. Collectively, Revenaugh said these various reactions point to something bigger. He said ‘ e Summer I Turned Pretty’ has become a shared cultural touchpoint that blends romance, nostalgia and a carefully curated soundtrack into a template for fans to talk, listen and relate to.

Revenaugh said, “It seems like everyone takes something from the show, whether it’s music, debates or even how you see yourself.”

Kane Do Sta Writer

Kira Tzeng Sta Writer

PHILIP SHEN/THE CAMPANILE

Junior Dylan Fujita shoots photos of water polo at the Paly pool on October 7. e Paly girls water polo team competed against against Los Gatos High School. “I know the TV broadcast doesn’t really capture this, but it’s (the picture is) of the three swimmers cheering the one swimmer on behind the starting block, which is really special” Fujita said.

Lifestyle

Kimmel suspension ignites debate

Millions of Americans opened their phones on Sept. 15 to see that Disney, the parent company of ABC, had inde nitely suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” because of comments Kimmel made on his show ve days after the assassination of podcaster and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” Kimmel said on his show.

Kimmel then showed Trump’s response to a reporter asking him how he was coping. Trump replied that he was doing “very good” before talking about creating a lavish $200 million ballroom at the White House. Kimmel joked this showed the “sixth stage of grief: ballroom construction.”

!e next day, Kimmel faced backlash on X, with Elon Musk calling him “disgusting” and Trump labeling his comments “horrible.” On Sept. 17, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, appointed by Trump, condemned Kimmel’s remarks and suggested possible repercussions for ABC, which airs “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Later that day, Nexstar, which owns 32 ABC stations, announced it would pull Kimmel’s show in response to Carr’s criticism. Following this, Disney suspended Kimmel’s show, but reversed the decision a week later. Nexstar has since resumed airing Kimmel’s show.

U.S. government teacher Ken Tinsley said Disney and ABC’s decision to suspend the show re ected nancial concerns more than moral ones.

“ !ey value the duciary

responsibility to their investors and the quarterly pro ts because they’re a business, not a charity,” Tinsley said. !e people they’re beholden to are the people who put money into their company who expect certain returns.”

Tinsley also said Disney’s suspension of Kimmel in response to FCC pressure infringed on Kimmel’s First Amendment rights, emphasizing the need for checks and balances from other branches of government.

“When Trump is doing these things, if we’re talking about balancing power, it’s up to the other branches to check and balance,” Tinsley said.

Junior Mayu Altekar-Okazaki, news Editor for !e Paly Voice, said Kimmel’s suspension was unacceptable.

“It raises a lot of questions about First Amendment rights and the freedom of the press and freedom of speech,” Altekar-Okazaki said.

!is sentiment seems to have been shared by the 1.7 million people who canceled their Disney+ subscriptions within ve days of Kimmel’s suspension.

!e American Civil Liberties Union also condemned Disney’s actions in an open letter signed by more than 400 people in the entertainment industry, including Selena Gomez, Sarah Jessica Parker and Billie Eilish.

And Tinsley said he struggled to see exactly what was so o$ensive about Kimmel’s monologue.

“I was looking at the Jimmy Kimmel stu$, and personally, I could not really nd the speci c thing that got him in trouble,” Tinsley said.

Altekar-Okazaki said Kimmel’s suspension, coming just two months after the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s “ !e Late Show,” also raises questions

about the future of the free press.

“ !is trend brings up concerns over what will happen with the free press in the future — whether there will be more limitations, and how far limitations will go,” Altekar-Okasaki said.”

Still, senior Kensie Pao, Editor-inChief of Verde Magazine and Agora Magazine, said student journalism remains well-protected.

“We do have very strong ed-codes around this topic, like Education Code 48907, which protects high school journalists,” Pao said.

Ed. Code 48907 is a California law that gives student journalists in California similar First Amendment protections to those in the professional media. Seventeen states have similar protections for student journalists.

Journalism advisor Brian Wilson said understanding press freedoms is an essential part of journalism education.

“ !inking about the freedom of the press and the First Amendment is a really valuable part of your education and the larger journalism community at Paly,” Wilson said. “Students should be able to feel like they can say things in their stories that somebody might disagree with.”

Ultimately, Wilson said a free press is vital to civic discourse.

Wilson said, “As a publication advisor, I want this country, and the people who are a part of it, to protect the speech they don’t agree with as much as the speech they do agree with.”

Alana Chun Sta Writer

Fashion vs. Function

As the morning ﬁve-minute bell rings, senior Ella Segev maneuvers around campus, watching students scramble around while carrying their school supplies. As she makes her way across campus, Segev notices the steady stream of students with backpacks sprinkled with the occasional canvas tote bag or Longchamp Le Pliage bag, just like her own, draped over someone’s shoulder.

is school year, carrying tote bags to school has become a trend across high school and college campuses, with many Paly students joining in.

While it may seem like tote bags have only recently dethroned the long reign of backpacks as the popular school bag, this trend isn’t new.

Since the Longchamp Le Pliage tote bag debuted in 1993, it has remained the peak of fashion — but it has only taken hold among Gen Z this year.

Junior Nava Schwarzbach, who owns a navy Longchamp, said the shift from backpacks to bags reﬂects growing professionalism on campus.

“I have deﬁnitely noticed a lot of people bringing bags instead of backpacks,” Schwarzbach said. “Bags are deﬁnitely associated with growing up and being a little bit older.”

At the same time, Schwarzbach said backpacks are better suited for heavier loads.

“If you’re not carrying around a ton of stuﬀ, it makes a lot of sense to have a bag,” Schwarzbach said. “On college campuses, in high schools, going to work, if you’re bringing a computer, if you’re taking public transportation, if you live somewhere like New York, backpacks are the way to go.”

Junior Ella Guhr agreed and said she prefers bags for their balance between fashion and functionality.

“People who bring bags, like tote bags or purses, I think it’s super cute,” Guhr said. “I really like how they make it a part of their outﬁt, and I think that it’s really cool to express yourself in that way.”

After Longchamp launched their Spring-Summer 2024 “Longchamp University” collection targeting younger audiences, many students began adopting the trend.

According to Vogue Australia, celebrities including Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Kendall Jenner and Elle Fanning have all been spotted carrying Longchamp bags, inspiring many others to follow the trend.

A Harper’s Bazaar article also said e RealReal’s “obsessions” for Longchamp totes have grown 235% over the last year, with purchases increasing by 17%.

Junior Cole Kristoﬀerson, who occasionally wore a tote bag to school freshman year, said the style can be a way to stand out.

“It’s creative, and it’s diﬀerent than a backpack,” Kristoﬀerson said. “I wore a tote bag to school freshman year. Not routinely, but I would forget my backpack, and then just rock a tote bag.”

Senior Ella Segev, who began bringing a navy Longchamp to school every day this year, said she prefers bags for their aesthetic appeal and organization.

“It makes me more organized and I think it’s cuter,” Segev said. “It’s just a whole diﬀerent feeling … It gives you a reason to like your outﬁt and to like coming to school.”

Segev said she appreciates the increased self-expression on campus, where students feel more freedom to showcase their personal style, and the fact that tote bags aren’t considered “weird” or “odd.”

“It gives us that opportunity and that option to wear a bag instead of a backpack, whereas other schools don’t have that option,” Segev said. “When people wear more

of it, others are more inclined and don’t feel the social pressure to have to wear a backpack.”

But freshman Liam Doll said backpacks remain the best option for daily use at school.

“I bring a backpack because it’s more useful than just a regular bag; it can hold more, and it’s easier to carry,” Doll said. “ ey could be more fashionable, but I think it’s totally impractical as opposed to a backpack.”

Schwarzbach said while bags are lightweight and stylish, they are not meant for heavy use and can break and cause back pain over time.

“Besides a physiological standpoint, most bags are not meant to be used as backpacks to carry around like that 24/7,” Schwarzbach said. “ e Longchamp bag will tear where the strap connects to the bag, and other bags will too, unless they’re really meant for that.”

Athletic trainer and sports medicine teacher Stacey Kofman said long-term use of one-shoulder bags can negatively impact your body and alignment.

“Only having a bag on one side can throw oﬀ your spine,” Kofman said. “It can throw oﬀ your shoulder. It

can throw oﬀ your alignment, and it can even throw oﬀ your hips. So it’s not great for you if you carry it on one side.”

Kofman said most people tend to carry their bags on one dominant shoulder, which can lead to health issues. She also said she uses backpacks for functionality, and encourages others to do the same to prevent future misalignment.

“If the weight is under 10 pounds, and it’s every couple of days, no big deal,” Kofman said. “But if you’re doing 10 to 15 pounds, and you’re using it only on one side every day, then there’s going to be a cumulative effect, and a backpack is a better option.”

According to a National Institutes of Health study, bags with unbalanced weight distribution, like oneshouldered tote bags, result in greater spinal stress, while backpacks produce the most limited impact. e study also advised against continual use of heavy onesided bags to prevent back pain.

In accordance with these ﬁndings, Kofman said that because backpacks are best at maintaining balanced

weight distribution, they will help ensure an upright posture.

“Bags that you can put on both shoulders are going to save you in the long run structurally, so anything that we can help ourselves with (is better) because we have a tendency to be more rounded in our shoulders,” Kofman said. “But, I can see where kids like the fashion of the newest trend.”

Ultimately, Schwarzbach said the choice depends on what students value most during the day.

“I think it’s a lot more versatile to bring a backpack — it makes a lot more sense,” Schwarzbach said. “If you like the look of bags, then they’re better. But from a standpoint of taking care of your body, bags are actually not good for you because the weight on one shoulder ends up so you have bad posture. So backpacks are physiologically better for you, but bags are just cuter.”

Veizades brings new perspective to music program

Room 109 buzzes with energy as Michael Veizades raises his baton, bringing the musicians of Palo Alto High School to attention. He taps the stand a couple times, and the loud chatter dies down. e newly hired co-director of Paly’s Instrumental Music program wastes no time getting to work. Veizades said music has been part of his life for as long as he can remember. From a young age, he took piano lessons and danced whenever his mother sang. It wasn’t until he joined his ﬁrst ensemble, however, that he realized how serious he was about music.

“I liked listening to music, and then in high school, it really ramped up to another level,” Veizades said. “I met some really close friends that I joined a band with, and I started just ﬁnding every opportunity to play music because I was like, ‘I enjoy doing this so much.’” Despite his passion, Veizades said he was hesitant to pursue music as a career. He spent his ﬁrst year at the University of California, Merced studying biology, but something was missing.

“I really enjoyed the medical ﬁeld, and I think I would have done something in pre-med,” Veizades said. “But I wanted the stability of a 9-to-5 job, but something where I could pursue my passion … and spend my whole day working on music.” Veizades said being a music educator isn’t just about teaching the notes on a page, but encouraging his students to share the same love he has for it.

“My job here is not just to teach music,” Veizades said. “I think it’s to prepare students for the next step. I want to see my students grow emotionally, as musicians, and just become kind people — people who care for each other and are aware of the world around them.”

Before coming to Paly, Veizades served as a student teacher at Monta Vista High School under John Gilchrist. After joining the Paly staﬀ, Veizades said his approach immediately clicked with Katie Gilchrist, John’s wife and the codirector of the instrumental music; she will soon go on maternity leave. “It’s very fun to work with him,” Gilchrist said. “It feels really nice to have a co-teacher who has the same goals for where the program is going

and how we want to treat our students. We have some diﬀerent strengths, and we’re able to use those to provide a better educational experience for students.”

ough their musical backgrounds diﬀer — Gilchrist is a wind player, while Veizades is a percussionist — Gilchrist said they are an eﬀective teaching duo.

“I might approach something from a fundamentals angle, while Mr. V. might focus more on musicality,” Gilchrist said. “He’s always thinking about how students interpret what they’re playing, which adds a really valuable layer to our classes.”

For Veizades, interpretation and critical thinking, rather than just doing what you’re told, are key to a successful performance.

“Product-based education is where the teacher deposits information: ‘Do this. Play it this way,’” Veizades said. “I really disagree with that. It doesn’t teach students how to be critical thinkers or how to make decisions.”

Instead, he said he favors a process-based music education that guides students toward their own conclusions.

“I like to ask my students, ‘What sounds better? Why does it sound better? What are we trying to accomplish with this?’” Veizades said. “ at way, they learn to think critically about the music they’re playing and what they want to communicate to an audience.”

And students have noticed the diﬀerence. Junior Asher Wong, who plays oboe and percussion, said Veizades’ teaching is unconventional but eﬀective.

“Mr. V. is a little more open with multiple perspectives,” Wong said. “He’s also more interactive. We’ll play games or do ear-training activities. It makes class more fun.”

Wong said he also appreciates Veizades’ openness to multiple interpretations of music.

“He has a better interpretation of the music than some other people, and it helps that he and Mrs. Gilchrist balance each other out,” Wong said.

Veizades said practical considerations drew him to Paly, along with students’ dedication.

“It’s a nice district that pays well and supports their teachers,” Veizades said. “ ere’s so much potential here. ere are so many talented and driven students, and I wanted to be part of shaping the next chapter at Paly.”

Even as an educator, Veizades said his musical journey is not complete. “I don’t think I’ll ever be 100% satisﬁed,” Veizades said. “My mentor used to say he was content, not satisﬁed, and I like that. I always want to be growing as a musician and educator. at’s one of the joys and maybe one of the frustrations of being a musician. ere’s always something

more to work on.”

Dalia Saal News & Opinion Editor

PHILIP SHEN/THE CAMPANILE

e new co-director of the Instrumental Music program, Michael Veizades, conducts the Halloween Concert. “I just started ﬁnding every opportunity to play music, because I was like, ‘I enjoy doing this so much,’” Veizades said. “I just wanted to do so many diﬀerent versions of this.”

DALIA SAAL/THE CAMPANILE

Matthew Hong Guest Writer

A Longchamp Le Pliage tote bag hangs over a student’s shoulder, one of the trending bags many Paly students are adopting this year. e trend of one-shoulder tote bags has grown on campus, even though experts warn they can contribute to posture problems and back strain over time. “It makes me more organized and I think it’s cuter,” senior Ella Segev said. “It’s just a whole diﬀerent feeling … It gives you a reason to like your outﬁt and to like coming to school.”

Fitness classes foster connections for students and teachers

Tucked between shops and restaurants at Town & Country, senior Maeva Herbert-Paz swings open a glass door, carrying a yoga mat. She’s heading to CorePower Yoga with her friends. Like many students, HerbertPaz takes workout classes — a rising

form of exercise among students and teachers alike.

Herbert-Paz began taking CorePower classes in the winter when she didn’t have many club sports practices and said they give her the freedom to choose both the diﬃculty and time of her workouts.

Workout classes such as yoga, Pilates, boxing and dance are popular ways for community members to exercise. And

Palo Alto

oﬀers many studios, including CorePower Yoga, e Bar Method, Barry’s, SoulCycle and Zohar Dance Company.

“When you do CorePower, you have to go because it’s a prepaid membership,” Herbert-Paz said. “I’ve taken a lot of my

friends on guest passes, and it’s a really good way to get in a workout and hang out with friends.”

BY EDEN (LISELLE) YOO

Over the summer, Herbert-Paz also enrolled in a course to become a certiﬁed CorePower Instructor.

“I spent 60 hours this summer doing in-person certiﬁcation, where I learned about yoga, philosophy, anatomy, weight and safety,” Herbert-Paz said. “I can’t teach yet, but when I’m 18, I can get a job there as an instructor.”

Junior Elena Salvatierra said she enjoys workout classes but now goes less frequently because of the high cost. According to the CorePower website, a single studio class costs $38, and an all-access monthly membership costs $299.

“I honestly, stopped going because of (the price), but every once and a while it’s worth it,” Salvatierra said. “I honestly got into swimming just because of the prices.”

Junior Jack January, who has been taking boxing classes since 2022, said boxing has helped him to gain strength and improve his performance for school wrestling.

“In boxing, you’re mostly working on yourself rather than working (with) the whole team,” January said. “Boxing is more focused on you, and you have the chance to actually train on what you feel you need more.”

January said he prefers boxing classes to team sports because they give him more ﬂexibility to workout in accordance to his schedule and athletic needs, allowing him to focus on individual progress.

The Funpanile

“It’s a really enjoyable sport, and it deﬁnitely showed me that sports (are) a lot more versatile than the sports I tried before,” January said. “I’ve loved boxing since the day I found it.” English teacher Mimi Park began taking ballet a year ago as a form of physical therapy after an ACL tear, but it is now one of her favorite athletic activities.

“When you go to these classes, and you go often enough, you start to see the same people over and over again, and that’s great because then you have a sense of community,” Park said. “We go out afterwards, and we just end up becoming really good friends.”

Salvatierra said she began taking CorePower classes because her mom did, but stayed because of the ﬂexibility within classes and endurance levels.

“I really like the heated (classes) — it makes you feel like you’re really working for something,” Savatierra said. “And it’s yoga, so I get to incorporate relaxation into it.”

Ultimately, Park said workout classes have made it easy to meet people and stay in shape.

e beauty of a lot of it is that you literally just walk in,” Park said. “You don’t have to have anything other than comfortable clothing that you can move around in and some courage.”

Leilani Chen Bussiness Manager

ART

PROGRESS TO PUSHBACK

Background

Following a decade of increased tolerance and protections for queer and gender-diverse communities, recent rhetoric and policy changes under President Donald Trump have contributed to a more hostile environment for LGBTQ+ individuals, creating more negative attitudes and fueling a rising level of hatred, prejudice and fear that a ects their daily lives, safety and well-being.

Political shifts

Mitchell Lunn, an Associate Dean for Research and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, who focuses on LGBTQ+ health disparities and health equity, said the LGBTQ+ community has made signi cant headway in recent years.

“In the past decade there’s been a lot of progress,” Lunn said. “We’ve seen … greater structural things or policy-related things that have helped the ght for equity and equality.”

At the same time, the United States has experienced a steady increase of anti-trans legislation. e number of anti-trans bills considered in legislatures nationwide has risen from 153 in 2021 to 701 in 2024. So far, in 2025, 1,000 bills that would negatively impact trans and gender non-conforming individuals are under consideration across the country, with number expected to grow. Lunn said these recent actions directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community hinder hardfought progress. e biggest things we’re seeing are a lot of the executive orders, things that are against gender ideology,” Lunn said. “ ese are trying really to erase the existence of transgender and gender diverse people, saying that their gender identity is invalid, and that gender doesn’t really exist at all.” Lunn said this leads to greater prejudice and discrimination.

“I think people are now more likely to be stigmatized or discriminated against because … the lters have been turned o e ectively, and people are saying things that are quite hurtful,” Lunn said. “We’re seeing that rhetoric and that narrative coming from some of the highest levels of government, which I think can be very hurtful for people.” is political rhetoric doesn’t only a ect people on the national level. Senior Dorian Luo, who uses they/them pronouns, said recent political changes have a ected the LGBTQ+ community in many aspects of their daily lives.

“It’s kind of taking away our rights to exist in public, like the bathroom bills and other stu like that,” Luo said. “But I think it’s part of a larger movement among conservatives, of a culture war against trans people, almost like painting us as the scapegoat to distract from larger issues.” Freshman Pine Paldi Bracho, who also uses they/them pronouns, said anti-LGBTQ+ views aren’t new but have been promoted by the Trump administration.

“( e government is) not really changing. It’s just kind of furthering,” Paldi Bracho said. “It’s polarizing, and the Trump administration is amplifying it for its own political gain.”

Lunn said one reason for this change is due to an increased resistance towards diversity, equity and inclusion e orts.

“A lot of it is a largely false narrative that people from diverse backgrounds are taking positions over other people because of their diversity, … because of their LGBTQ+ identity, which I actually think is not the case,” Lunn said.

However, Lunn said discrimination and marginalization is a common trend throughout history.

“For whatever reason, there’s always a group that gets picked on or bullied in the path to justice or liberation,” Lunn said. “We’ve seen that with a variety of other groups over time. ese groups get blamed for things, almost scapegoated. ere’s really no objective reason other than people might nd them to be di erent, and that di erence for whatever reason can be threatening to people when, in fact, (it) largely has little to no impact on most people’s lives.”

According to Lunn, this marginalization has been ampli ed as the federal government has begun removing or altering references to LGBTQ+ history. Recently, National Park Service websites mentioning the Stonewall Riots, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the Lavender Scare now only include contributions of gay, lesbian and

bisexual individuals, downplaying the roles of transgender and gender diverse groups. Other webpages educating the public on famous LGBTQ+ activists, monuments and events have also been deleted.

Paldi Bracho said these recent actions pursued by the Trump administration are intended to silence essential history.

“I think they’re erasing history, to prevent us from having role models and to further this notion that we’re new,” Bracho said. “But we’re not new. We’ve been around for thousands and thousands of years.” And Lunn said a history of resilience gives him hope.

“We’ve been around forever, and there’s no reason. Just because somebody says you’re unimportant doesn’t make an entire group of people disappear,” Lunn said. “And so I think this might be tough for the next couple years, with lots of struggles that feel like we’ve taken a couple steps backwards, but I think we have to stick to it in order to make the future better. And I’m quite con dent that that will happen, because that’s the way it’s happened for the past hundreds of years.”

Access to care

Changes to the LGBTQ+ community have not been con ned to terminology and rhetoric. Several federal actions have had a direct impact on transgender individuals’ ability to obtain medical care.

President Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 28 called “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.” e order states the U.S. will not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another,” and will “rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”

Currently, 27 states have banned gender-a rming care for those under 18. As of July 2025, 40.1% of transgender youth aged 13-17 live in these 27 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an American LGBTQ+ advocacy group.

A Bay Area family doctor who is involved in pediatric gender-a rming care but requested anonymity due to fear of retribution said the Trump administration’s actions against this care have changed the landscape.

“Since the administration started, the main di erence that I’ve seen is the amount of fear that people are experiencing in their daily lives,” she said. “Before, my conversations were centered around the patient experience … but now every single visit we have conversations about what the current administration is doing, what risks have come up … to decrease access to care and what we are going to do to try and help protect them.”

According to the doctor, the federal government’s attempts to end pediatric gender-a rming care has done more than strike fear in the transgender community.

“ ere’s just so much su ering on a daily basis and just intersectional despair,” she said. “I feel like the environment has just become consistently negative. Folks are expressing a lot of fear all the time in many of my patient visits. ere are tears from kids, families, as well as adults, just re%ecting on how they feel unsafe in their communities and how they feel targeted and persecuted. I think the emotional toll and the emotional stress is signi cant.”

e doctor said she was also frustrated that the government’s actions against gender-a rming care is based on belief rather than fact.

“I think that they are bogus,” she said. “I think they’re trying to legislate discrimination and intolerance. ey are basing their decisions not on science but on very conservative opinions.”

Gender dysphoria, the psychological distress experienced when a person’s gender identity does not align with their assigned sex at birth, is linked with increased rates of mental health concerns. Many experts say access to gender-a rming care at any age can signi cantly improve mental health.

A 2021 study done by researchers from the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ youths, surveyed nearly 12,000 transgender or non-binary individuals aged 13-24. e study found individuals who were using gender-a rming hormone therapy had lower odds of considering suicide and reported less recent depression compared to those who wanted care but did not receive it.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School surveyed nearly 28,000 transgender adults in the U.S. and also found consistent results of a lower rate of suicidal ideation when individuals received gender-a rming hormones at any time throughout their life.

Yet the conversation is not clear-cut. e Standards of Care outlined by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health recommends against hormone therapy before age 16 and suggests that surgery only be performed after age 18 and once the individual has lived in their desired gender role for at least two years.

Still, their recommendations are %exible and emphasize that decisions should be individualized and based on thorough medical, psychological and social factors.

While many experts and members of the transgender community support gender-a rming care for minors, some argue it should not be accessible for any minors.

Chloe Cole, a prominent “detransitioner,” has been a face of the movement against access to youth gender-a rming care. Cole was born female but transitioned to male and later received a mastectomy at 15. However, Cole said she felt uncomfortable in her male identity and detransitioned at age 16.

Like many opponents of gender-a rming care for minors, Cole has argued children are not ready to make gender-a rming care decisions for themselves. In a video posted on X, Cole said a combination of body image issues, sexual trauma and early puberty led her to transition.

“All of these things culminated in me misunderstanding myself and the way that I was made,” Cole said in the video.

Yet most people who receive gender-a rming care do not regret it.

A study done by researchers at the University of Princeton surveyed 220 youths who accessed gender-a rming care. At an average of around ve years after beginning hormone blockers and an average of around 3.4 years after beginning hormones, only 0.04% of participants reported regretting their decisions to receive treatment.

And in an analysis of 27 studies involving almost 8,000 teens and adults who had transgender surgeries, on average, only 1% expressed regret.

Why such vocal opposition to gender a rming care recently, then?

Honey Mahogany, a transgender drag queen, activist and politician from San Francisco said people may also oppose gender-a rming care because of fear and misinformation.

“We’re seeing this pushback against something that has actually been very well researched,” Mahogany said. “When you use a possible attack on your children as the start of a conversation, it makes people excited and animated, and it also makes them more susceptible to dangerous misinformation … You’re not looking at the facts as much. You’re reacting much more emotionally.”

Under the Trump administration, government actions, including investigations and subpoenas by the Department of Justice of doctors and medical facilities that provide transgender care, have created uncertainty.

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued a memorandum on April 22 instructing the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute providers of youth gender-a rming care “to the fullest extent possible.”

A few months later, on July 9, the Department of Justice announced it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to hospitals performing pediatric-gender a rming care.

ese government-issued subpoenas, the anonymous doctor said, have caused some hospitals to anticipatorily close their programs.

“We’re supposed to have protected information, and (the subpoenas) caused a lot of fear and a lot of programs to preemptively comply and close their programs in … fear of getting targeted,” she said.

More protections exist for transgender individuals in California than at the federal level though. In 2023, California passed the Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Intersex Inclusive Care Act, which protects Californians’ rights to gender-a rming care and prohibits the forced sharing of medical records from California health care providers and health care service plans in response to subpoenas or investigations from other states.

On Feb. 5, the California Department of Justice sent the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles a letter reminding the hospital of California laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender.

“California families seeking gender a rming care, and the doctors and sta who provide it, are protected under state laws,” the letter reads. “ e O ce of the Attorney General will continue to defend California law.”

However, on July 22, CHLA abruptly closed its gender-a rming care center, which was one of the oldest and most prominent healthcare facilities in the country. e hospital cited Trump’s executive order as the primary reason for its decision.

e decision marked another victory in the Trump administration’s battle to end gender-a rming care for those under 19.

“I think that it has been very disheartening to see such a large organization fancifully comply that way,” the doctor said.

She also said funding cuts could be devastating for many hospitals.

“We are de nitely at great risk because we are dependent on federal funding for our ability to care for the whole community,” she said. “(Public) health care providers (are) for a very large area, so it would be pretty profoundly destructive if our grant funding was taken away. In that case, we would have to stop (gender-a rming) care because we’re in charge of 30,000 people.”

Other prominent gender-a rming care centers, such as Kaiser Permanente and Stanford, have stopped o ering surgeries for those under 19, citing threats to funding.

“After careful review of the latest actions and directives from the federal government and following consultations with clinical leadership, including our multidisciplinary LGBTQ+ program and its providers, Stanford Medicine paused providing gender-related surgical procedures as part of our comprehensive range of medical services for LGBTQ+ patients under the age of 19, e ective June 2, 2025,” Stanford Medicine wrote in a statement.

e Campanile contacted multiple other gender-a rming care doctors and all declined interviews, citing fear of retribution from the federal government as their reason.

Stanford Hospital o cials also declined to comment but sent a statement to e Campanile that read, “Unfortunately, due to the intricate nature of gender-a rming care and recent federal developments, we cannot accommodate media requests on this subject at the moment.”

While government actions have inspired fear around the country, some states are ghting back.

Eight days after President Trump’s executive order, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha and 14 other attorneys general issued a statement in support of gender-afrming care on Feb. 5.

“Health care decisions should be made by patients, fami lies, and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms,” the statement said.

In addition, California Attor ney General Rob Bonta, 15 other states and the District of Co lumbia led a lawsuit on Aug. 1 targeting Trump’s executive order aiming to end pediatric gendera rming care. declared Trump’s executive orders banning care for individuals under the age of 19 to be unlawful and called for them to be “vacated in their entirety.” the lack of scienti up the executive order and says the lan guage “chemical and surgical mutilation” is o ensive and not medically recognized.

Changing social perceptions

According to a Gallup poll, 9.3% of Americans identify as LGBTQ,

For Surya Gannerkote, a senior at Palo Alto Middle College, obstacles have appeared in a di erent area of her life: chess.

Gannerkote was born intersex, meaning she has biological sex characteristics that are a combination of traits typically associated with male and female bodies. She has an “X” on her birth certi cate gender marker instead of “M” or “F.”

Earlier this year, Gannerkote said she was scheduled to %y to Orlando for a chess tournament, but she was unable to attend the event because of a Florida law allowing the detainment of transgender minors with gender markers other than “M” or “F” on their identifying documents.

“Not being able to go for the chess tournament because I wasn’t able to get my gender marker changed in time, that did take a big toll,” Gannerkote said. “ at was a big opportunity loss.”

A former PAUSD parent who moved out of the country with her family amid recent anti-LGBTQ+ government policies said these policies have intensi ed fear and uncertainty in her family.

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Anti-trans bills introduced in 2025 to date

fewer say there’s a “fair amount” of acceptance for people who are nonbinary (14%) or transgender (13%). With the sizable increase in the LGBTQ+ population and ongoing disparities in acceptance, teacher Aparna Sankararaman, who identi es as lesbian, said there has been an online shift in how the public views that group.

“I feel like I haven’t noticed the shift in in-person interactions like walking down the street with my wife,” Sankararaman said. “But I have de nitely seen a shift online on social media for di erent accounts, where I feel like people online are feeling a lot more empowered to dismiss the LGBTQ community and to sort of devalue our identities.”

Tony Bravo, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle who covers the LGBTQ+ community and who identi es as gay, said we are currently in a moment that presents many challenges to the LGBTQ+ community.

“I think our transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming community members are truly getting the worst of it right now,” Bravo said. “But I fear what is in store for the rest of us, especially around issues like employment, housing, other equal protections and speci cally marriage equality, as much as it scares me to admit that as somebody (who) is married. We’re in a moment where I think people are trying to suppress certain voices.”

Bravo said he has faced similar pressures in his own life, prior to his work at the Chronicle.

“Someone who was a well-intentioned person formerly in a leadership position in the Bay Area … said to me, ‘I really wish you wouldn’t just write about gay issues,’” Bravo said. “And I sort of thought to myself, nobody ever says, ‘I wish you wouldn’t just write about white people.’”

e parent requested anonymity, fearing for the safety of her transgender daughter.

“As a parent with a child who is in stealth mode where no one knows, it’s really hard to know who I can trust to tell about my child,” the parent said. “I rst always have to con rm with my child before I speak with any other adult. So that’s the dynamic for us, and I 100% respect her for that.”

e parent said anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from the Trump administration has raised questions about her “What does it mean medically, what does it mean socially?” the parent said. “How do other people deal with these ere’s a lot of issues with the government. For example, your passport cate. Or the medical nd a good therapist. You nd a good doctor.”

Gannerkote agrees and said the recent shifts are negatively impacting the everyday lives

“A lot of people are discouraged from becoming athletes, and it’s had a negative toll on the mental health of the community,” Gannerkote said. “Increased physical activity directly correlates to higher levels of mental health stability and just nitely taken its toll on us, because we’re discouraged from partaking in sports or in more And despite the debate about transgender athletes, Mahogany said it is unfair to assume an individual is

“It is so hard for anybody who’s trans to actually make cult decision to transition,” Mahogany said.

“It is so disruptive to people’s lives, their families. It involves a lot of pain … It’s unfortunate that we have seen this type of rhetoric that is ammatory, that is certainly very targeted and really used as a tool of division and of distraction.” Even in the face of di culty, Gannerkote said she thinks the LGBTQ+ community has reason to be hopeful.

“Being united, being strong together, and being able to provide an open space, a safe space for other people … I think if we stand together, we’ll be ne,” Gannerkote said. “We’ve faced worse things as a community before.”

Building on this sense of resilience, Mahogany said the community will ght back against the Trump administration’s attempt to categorize the LGBTQ+ community into narrow boxes.

“Trans people, drag queens, gay people, we see those boxes for what they are, which are things that are just completely made up and arti cial,” Mahogany said. “And, we don’t have to play in that box if we don’t want to. In fact, we actually choose to move out of that box and create our own box for ourselves. And oftentimes it is really fabulous and beautiful.” is act of de ance, Mahogany said, points to the admirable strength of the entire community.

“I often say there’s nothing more American than being trans, because to me, as someone who was born here but whose family came here seeking refuge from political persecution, America was supposed to be the land of the free, the home of the brave,” Mahogany said. “Who is freer and braver than somebody who’s willing to completely change their lives and live authentically as they want to live?”

STORY BY DASHEL CHUN, LUCAS LAI & MIRAI MATSUZAWA

ART BY ANGELIKA GERA

e artistry and the agony

Music blares above water as senior Ivana Angelova and her teammates twist upside down, legs pointed high above the surface. Every movement has to be perfectly timed, every kick precisely synchronized as the team pushes through the ﬁnal seconds of their Junior Olympics routine. en, just as they reach the formation, one swimmer resurfaces for air too early, costing the team crucial points at the 2021 competition in Arizona.

“One second can ruin everything,” Angelova, who has performed in synchronized swimming for over 10 years, said. “Judges score everything from start to ﬁnish, from the moment we walk on before the music starts until the second it ends. Performance, choreography, presentation — every second counts.” e pressure to perform through mistakes is something other artistic athletes recognize as well. Senior Sthavyashri Chaithanya, who has practiced Bharatanatyam, a form of classical Indian dance, for over 11 years, said dancing must appear eﬀortless despite exhaustion.

“People don’t feel your pain, but you have to keep smiling no matter what,” Chaithanya said. “Since you’re acting, since it’s storytelling, if you stop smiling even for a moment, the audience won’t want to see you because they won’t understand what you’re trying to portray.” Dance coach Alanna Williamson said storytelling is especially important in contemporary or lyrical dance routines.

“You’re really thinking about the lyricism of the song, the quality of the music and how it develops and progresses and tells its own story, and then you’re trying to create dancing that matches that,” Williamson said. However, Williamson said every performance has elements of storytelling, even if it doesn’t convey a complete plot, through movement, music and facial expressions.

“Facials, the way that a dancer uses their face as part of their dancing, really pull you in,” Williamson said. “It can change the mood and inform the audience how the dancer wants us to feel about their movement quality or about the choreography that they’re executing. eir face acts as the storytelling device in some ways.”

Angelova said the same exhausting performance demand exists underwater. Breath control isn’t just about endurance, she said, but about hiding the strain so the routine still looks ﬂawless.

“It’s not just holding your breath and sitting in place,” Angelova said. “You’re moving a lot, and it’s for over a minute, and it can be really hard to train that, especially when something goes wrong, and you get kicked. You may lose your breath, but you have to stay underwater until it’s time to come up and smile again.”

Competition preparation starts long before entering the pool, Angelova said, with every detail meticulously planned to maximize the team’s artistic impression score.

“It’s not only about our choreography,” she said. “It’s about our makeup, how well our hair looks, waking up earlier to do it, reapplying makeup when it comes off in the water — everything has to be perfect all the time.” e balance between performance and precision extends to figure skating as well. Junior Ananya Adya, who has trained in figure skating for 12 years, said judges expect more than just strong technique. Skaters are evaluated on posture, expression and overall presen-

tation — qualities that can make a performance stand out even when technical execution falters.

“In skating, it’s really important to present yourself gracefully — so we spend a lot of time on that to express that to the audience — but it’s also really important to look like a solid skater,” Adya said. “It’s a balance, but I probably spend a little more time working on the athletic side, making sure jumps are high and look impressive.”

Williamson said emotional expression or storytelling can sometimes leave a bigger impression than technical perfection.

“Sometimes in contemporary (dance), people have a really phenomenal performance and showmanship that they didn’t need to do any technical skills — maybe they can just walk at the audience and it’s captivating,” Williamson said.

“I have some dancers who are phenomenal performers, and they don’t have a lot of technical background, but they’re amazing to watch because they have innate movement quality.”

In Bharatanatyam, Chaithanya said performers are judged on how convincingly they embody stories of the gods and characters from Hindu mythology.

“Presence is deﬁnitely important,” Chaithanya said. “Most competitions are in groups, so judges will also judge groups and everyone has to be on beat.”

Due to the eﬀort required in appearance and execution, Williamson said she thinks dance is one of the hardest sports in the world.

“Not only is it horrendously athletic — the things we do as athletes are absolutely wild — but you also have to perform and look good doing it,” Williamson said. “In dance, you have to emotionally connect to what you’re doing, put it on your face and not look tired. e level of perfectionism that goes into this sport is outmatched.”

Still, Adya said, what makes a performance memorable isn’t perfect technique.

“I think it’s performing,” Adya said. “If you see a skater who’s really in love with the sport, that’s where the magic happens.”

ART BY ANGELIKA GERA

Annika Chu Print Managing Editor

From birdies to bold dreams

e sounds of sneakers squeaking and birdies snapping against rackets ﬁll the gym as cheers explode from the sidelines. In the middle of it all, sophomore Annie Meng wipes the beads of sweat from her forehead, getting ready for her next serve.

Meng, a Team USA badminton player with seven years of experience, ﬁrst started playing the sport with her family.

“I would play in my backyard when I was little,” Meng said. “One day my mom took me to the gym she played at and signed me up for training. He told me she signed me up because I had to learn to keep going after I would make a mistake.”

What began as a lesson in perseverance has turned into a lot more for Meng.

“One thing that keeps me motivated is the fact that I have to be better than I was before,” Meng said. “I continue to set high standards for myself.”

Although badminton matches are only 45 minutes, Meng said she trains intensively to compete at such a high level.

“A typical training session includes five main parts,” Meng said. “ e first part is to warm up, just to get blood flowing. e second is drills, including court patterns and shots, and gets everyone tired. e third part is physical. Everyone hates it because it’s just an hour of straight conditioning, but one of my favorite workouts is jump rope because I like to challenge myself to break my triples record. e fourth is skill, which includes technique and doesn’t require much movement but more focus. e last is weights, which my coach emphasizes the most.”

But Meng said balancing such a rigorous training schedule with school requires sacriﬁces.

“It is extremely hard to balance badminton with school and extracurriculars,” Meng said. “I find myself sacrificing sleep and hanging out with friends more often, but I hope to fix this with better time management.”

Meng said her most memorable match came from unlikely circumstances.

“Many people think I would say the time when I beat the first seed or when I got first in all three events , but those memories aren’t too special for me,” Meng said. “My most memorable match was from the first open regional tournament I played. I got absolutely destroyed 3-5. It was the first competitive match I played, and it ended pretty quickly.”

ese memories are important because she said they motivate her to progress faster.

“Since I (am) considered to have started playing badminton late, I was behind everyone else in my age group,” Meng said. “But as time went on and I started improving faster, I started to catch up and eventually got ahead.”

While playing competitive badminton has a multitude of challenges, Meng said her biggest struggle is handling pressure.

“Handling pressure is a big challenge,” Meng said. “I always get really nervous before my game, and it feels terrible. My hands get hot and sweaty. I can’t stop pacing around, and I can’t control my thoughts.”

Over time, Meng said she has found ways to gain more control over her emotions during intense competitions.

“One thing I like to do is always watch my opponents to get a general idea of what I will be expecting,” Meng said. “I found out I tend to do worse when I don’t have enough time to adapt, so knowing what I will be facing helps a lot. Another thing I like to do is talk to my friends. ey always have good points to tell me and also cheer for me when I play.”

Sophomore Camillia Wang — who competes in badminton with Meng — said she supports everyone, especially through tough times.

“I had just lost my doubles ﬁnals match, and felt extremely disappointed in myself,” Wang said. “Annie was there to reassure and comfort me. She supported me

when I felt down and gave me the conﬁdence I needed to not blame everything on myself.”

Sophomore Danny Hao, Meng’s teammate, agrees.

“Annie is not only a talented athlete with a strong heart but is also a genuine, kind person,” Hao said. “ e more I got to know her, the more I realized how warm she truly is. She’s a joy to be friends with.” Additionally, Hao recognizes Meng’s determination.

“On the badminton court, Annie shows her personality through her calmness and determination. Even after losing the ﬁrst

set, she never panics

Lunging forward, sophomore Annie Meng stretches to return a fast-ﬂying birdie. Meng represents Team USA at the World Performance Championships. With seven years of experience, she said she trains through ﬁve-part sessions — from conditioning to technique — to perform at such a high level. “One thing that keeps me motivated is the fact that I have to be better

Naveen predicts the winners in top 5 European soccer leagues

After an eventful soccer o season lled with back-to-back FIFA Club World Cup Matches, Europe’s major soccer leagues are kicking back into gear. Last year, my now-graduated predecessor, Rohan Bhatia, correctly predicted just one out of ve league-winners. After such a disappointing prediction, I’m here to redeem e Campanile’s image with my own (I hope) correct predictions of the top three nishers in each of the top ve European soccer leagues: the English Premier League, Spain’s LaLiga, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1.

Liverpool to take Premier League

I predict reigning English champions Liverpool will win back-to-back titles. After the rst six games of the season, Liverpool is currently in second place with 15 points. On top of that, Liverpool had what most would consider one of the most complete summer transfer windows, spending nearly £450 million, according to Sky Sports, in order to acquire star players including Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frim pong from Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike and, most importantly, Newcastle’s star striker Alexander Isak.

gish, and I don’t see them maintaining their second place.

Real Madrid to dominate LaLiga

Next up, in LaLiga, which had one of the closest races last year, I think Real Madrid will take home the trophy. Despite adding Kylian Mbappé last season, Real Madrid fell short to F.C. Barcelona last year, but their summer signings — Dean Huijsen, Trent AlexanderArnold and Alvaro Carreras — will help reinforce its defense. In addition, with Xabi Alonso now

So far, Liverpool leads the league in average possession rate and is tied for second in goals per match. In second place, I have Manchester City. Although many expect Arsenal to challenge them for the title, I don’t think the Gunners have what it takes to beat a healthy City side. Last season, City was riddled with injuries — most notably a ecting 2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri — which led them to a lackluster nish. But now, with Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku looking sharp, City’s attack is ring again. While Arsenal signed Victor Gyökeres, the winner of France Football’s Gerd Müller Trophy, he looks slug-

managing the team, Madrid’s tactical structure looks stronger.

Barcelona will nish second and Atlético Madrid third. Despite nishing rst last season, Barcelona’s summer transfers did not impress me compared to Ma- drid’s additions. Atlético, led by Julián Álvarez — second in LaLiga’s top scorer list — look strong, but they do not compare to Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Napoli should win Serie A

In Italy, Napoli should nish on top. Napoli has the second highest expected goals in Serie A, and they have added Kevin De Bruyne who will assist the team in nishing in rst place. In second, I have A.C. Milan, led by top scorer Christian

Pulisic and ranking second in touches inside the opponent’s box. Inter Milan will nish in third place. Inter Milan has the highest goals scored per match in the Serie A and has the second highest average possession rate. Although they currently sit fth in the table, they will turn it around.

Bayern München on top in Bundesliga

In Germany, Bayern München will easily take home the crown. So far this season, Harry Kane has been unstoppable and has already tallied 11 goals in the Bundesliga. Combined with Michael Olise and Luis Díaz’s playmaking, no other team stands a chance. In second place, I predict Borussia Dortmund. Although Borussia Dortmund is not level with Bayern Munchen, it is looking strong, especially after a 4-1 Champions League win against Athletic Club Bilbao. Finally, in third, I’m predicting Eintracht Frankfurt, who rank second in goals per match.. While its defense is not the strongest, its attack convinces me, and the team will be able to secure third place.

PSG is the only choice in Ligue 1

Finally, in France’s Ligue 1, there is only one team who could possibly win: Paris SaintGermain. Fresh o its rst Champions League title and with Ousmane Dembélé winning the Ballon d’Orr PSG, it is unstoppable. However, as we saw, Olympique Marseille just beat PSG, and I think they will come in second e team also just thrashed Ajax 4-0 in the Champions League, and have the man with the most goals and assists in Ligue 1, Mason Greenwood. Lyon will end up in third place — it ranks third for least goals conceded per match in Ligue 1 and rst in clean sheets. With this strong o ense and defense on both ends of the pitch, it will end in third place.

Final Predictions:

Premier League: Liverpool; LaLiga: Real Madrid; Serie A: Inter Mila; Bundesliga: Bayern München; Ligue 1: Paris Saint-Germain Ultimately, several teams are looking strong this year, and as we have seen time and time again in soccer, things always seem to have more twists and turns than one would expect.

Minor sports, major hearts

As the football team warms up under Friday Night Lights and packed stands at the Viking Stadium, junior cross country runner Ethan Varma laces up his Vapor ys as he nervously waits for the gun to go o at the Sunnyvale Baylands cross country course.

His 5k race draws no cheerleaders and no roaring crowd — just the sound of labored breathing and a few teammates cheering him on as he sprints the nal stretch of the brutal course.

For athletes like Varma, the lack of recognition is nothing new. Sports like cross country, rowing, swimming, golf, badminton and others are often dismissed as “lame” compared to more popular sports such as football and basketball.

As e Guardian notes, “Spectator sport is excruciatingly boring — like reality TV without the plotline.” Many people nd certain sports dull simply because they don’t have the drama or excitement of popular ones. But for those competing, the sport is just as intense and time consuming.

“I know a lot of people don’t like to run, but I don’t really care what other people think about my sport,” Varma said. “I don’t think (other people’s opinions) really a ect my motivation, because my motivation comes from within.”

Similarly, senior rower Dorin Flynn also said her motivation comes from seeing her own progress.

“I chose rowing because my dad did it,” Flynn said. “So I started it, and I think it’s really fun to push yourself and see how hard you can go.” Despite the lack of support, Varma said his motivation stems from the community around him.

“My freshman year, I met a lot of new people, and those people kind of motivated me to stick with the sport and push harder,” Varma said.

Varma also said misconceptions about cross country add to its reputation.

“A lot of people think that we just torture ourselves in our sport and don’t have any fun,” Varma said. “But there are a lot of moments on easy runs with my friends when I have a lot of fun (in) my sport, and there are days where I really enjoy practices.”

Varma said inherent di erences in the level of entertainment of each sport causes some to be less watched.

“I wouldn’t say cross country is a very entertaining sport, because there are more aspects in a game of football and basketball,” Varma said. “But with a cross country race, it’s just people running a three-mile course.”

In addition, Senior badminton player Harrison Lan said the popularity of certain sports can vary by country.

“If you look at Asia, badminton is much more popular than basketball and football,” Lan said. “It’s just not as popular here.”

Lan also said having more events surrounding games makes them more exciting to watch.

“(Football and basketball) are de nitely more exciting because there’s mascots, teams and live broadcasting, and there are big events throughout the year which are more known than badminton,” Lan said.

Although there are no student spirit events centered on cross country, Varma said if people actually went to a cross country meet, they would be surprised at how much attention it gets within the sports community.

“I don’t think people expect that at some of the big meets, there are thousands of people,” Varma said.

Amaya Bharadwaj Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Manager

Naveen Narayanaswami Sports Editor

ART BY ANGELIKA GERA

Junior Ethan Varma pushes through the nal stretch of his 5k race at the Sunnyvale Baylands cross country course. Although cross country draws fewer spectators than other sports, Varma trains intensely and races for personal ful llment and team camaraderie. “I don’t really care what other people think about my sport,” Varma said. “My motivation comes from within.”

MALCOLM SLANEY/USED WITH PERMISSION

Driving change

Ever since she was a little kid, senior Danica Chew has always been fascinated by football.

But since the sport has traditionally been male-dominated, she felt like she had no options to play. But that has changed. Flag football is now an o cial school sport and the Bay Area has its own professional team, which Chew said has given her more opportunities to connect with her family and their love of the game.

“Now that ag football is available for girls here, it’s really cool to be part of the sport,” Chew said. “Not only is it something that I have really enjoyed, I get to connect with other girls at school, and also my family members who also like football.”

Chew said she is excited about the options these new professional teams o er to girls.

“It opens up a lot of new opportunities,” Chew said. “I could potentially have a chance to play in college and professionally. is is an up and coming sport, and it could be like a huge opportunity to be part of this new professional sport.”

And it’s not just football that’s opening up new opportunities for women in sports. e Bay Area’s new WNBA team, e Golden State Valkyries, were founded in 2024 and started playing in the 2025 season. On its website, the Valkyries describe their commitment to advancing women’s sports in the Bay Area.

“Valkyries are a de ant symbol of the power of women,” the website says. “Fighting for community and connection, Valkyries represent the Bay Area spirit of unmatched progress and innovation.”

e Valkyries aren’t the only women’s sports team that has come to the area, however. e women’s soccer team, Bay FC, started playing in 2023, and the team has similarly emphasized its commitment to advancing women’s sports.

“ ere is unquestioned and active momentum for women’s sports right now, and Bay FC will feed that re by becoming the next iconic global sports franchise,” its website says.

Sophomore Kiana Siress, who plays as a defender for the girls varsity soccer team, said the increase in female sports in the Bay Area has inspired her.

e recent rise in women’s sports has motivated me in a positive way because it shows me, and any female or anyone in general, that you can start out with only a dream but turn it into something bigger if you really set your mind to it.” Siress said “As a school, we are now seeing what a di erence that can make for the women playing the sports at play.”

In addition to the Valkyries and Bay FC, the Bay Area will soon be home to e Golden State Storm, a football team in the women’s National Football Conference. First playing in 2026, the team said its goals are to bring professional women’s football to the Bay Area.

e Golden State Storm was created to elevate women and girls in football, and we’re on a mission to build a lasting dynasty rooted in equity, leadership, and opportunity,” e Storm’s website says.

e Storm’s mission is also re ective of the opportunities that Paly has provided to female athletes, according to ag football assistant coach Nancy Nguyen. She said representation of women in professional sports is valuable to young athletes who might not believe they can have an athletic career.

ey have crazy talent coming from di erent sports, and I’m always trying to encourage (the team) to take this sport as seriously as they can,” Nguyen said. “It’s going to be the Olympics in 2028. Just seeing that women are being taken more seriously in such a male dominant sport, I think it pushes the girls to want to set themselves up for success.”

Ultimately, Siress said this kind of representation allows female athletes to pursue their dreams.

e women playing professional sports all started out as normal people with a dream, just like everyone at play,” Siress said. “ at should motivate everyone that no dream is ever too big to achieve.”

Philip Shen Sta Writer

More than a break: Athletes nd purpose in the o season

Shoving his parkas and swim caps into the back of his closet, sophomore Jerrick Yong forgoes his gear as his o season begins. Replacing hours of strenuous practices with hours of mobile games, Yong values his o season as a time to de-stress.

One of the many bene cial factors of the o season is that it allows athletes to maintain their state of mind. Yong said frequent practices during the swim season can leave him overwhelmed.

“So when the o season comes, I like the time to de-stress and do things I like,” he said.

But for some athletes, the opposite is true. Kiara Fossati, who is a member of the girls freshman volleyball team, said the o season leaves her longing for the game.

“I like going to tournaments and seeing my friends from old teams,” Fossati said. “And I think o season is just when I don’t get to see them, so it’s not that fun for me.”

For others, like sophomore Luke Dymmel, a member of the boys varsity lacrosse team, o season is the prime time for development. It’s a time to improve and train in order to get ahead of the competition.

“I listened to this book when I was about 9 or 10 (that) talked about separation season,” Dymmel said. “ e best part is to get ahead of the competition. You just feel like you’re making so much more progress during the o season.” He said he spends his o season devoted to lacrosse.

“I actually play for a travel team called ADVNC,” Dymmel said. “We go to Colorado, we go down south, (to) Southern California … We go just all over the place, and we play against other teams nationally. When I’m not doing that, I’m outside. I’m shooting around. I’m hitting the wall.”

Senior Dominic Hernandez, though, spends the o season of one sport with a di erent Paly team.

“I’m a two sport athlete, so I do football and lacrosse,” Hernandez said. “During the football o season, I’ll be doing lacrosse, which really helps me with football because it can get me faster (and) helps coordinate my eyes and my hands.”

Senior Marley Shumaker, who is on girls varsity volleyball, uses her o season to spend time on something she doesn’t have time for during the season.

“I’ll go around all of Palo Alto and even other cities just to try new food,” Shumaker said. “My favorite is any Asian cuisine. I absolutely love sushi.”

While she treats herself to food around the Bay Area, Shumaker also takes time to work out in order to stay in shape for the upcoming season.

“During the summer, I was de nitely doing workouts every single day, every morning,” Shumaker said. “I think it’s really important to do some simple workouts to strengthen my legs because I’m a libero. My legs are very important. I want to get into doing more cardio, so (I can work) on my reaction time and agility.”

Sophomore Nico Resmini, a boys varsity volleyball player, also works out during his o season.

“During the o season, most of my free time is used for training, because you have to stay t before the season.” Resmini said. “Especially for volleyball, I do lots of heavy lifting during the o season. at’s when you build your strength in your muscles, and then during the season is when you build fast twitch in your muscles. So plyometrics and more exercise like that.”

Some athletes use their time to explore di erent facets of their sport. Fossati said she takes her time o to dive into beach volleyball.

“Beach (volleyball) is more for the side; I just do it for fun,” Fossati said. “I nd a random beach partner, and then we play beach together. Even though we usually don’t win the beach tournaments, it’s still really fun.” Resmini said he values this o period as a time to re ect and improve.

“I think the o season is a time to re ect on who you are as an athlete and what makes you good at what you’re good at in your sport,” Resmini said. “Each athlete is di erent and unique and has their own skills in their sport, so if you can think about what those are, you can focus on those things and become even better at those things. (You can) focus on the things that you’re not so good at and start improving on those too.”

Against an historically strong opponent, varsity girls eld hockey fell 1-0 to Archbishop Mitty in an Oct. 10 home game. Mitty’s lone goal came in the nal quarter. Head coach Yuki Togawa said the team prepared by focusing on its zone defense. is creates a strong barrier between the ball and the goal,” Togawa said. “During the game, I think we had a great press. We came up with the ball numerous times by doing the hard work early.”

Junior Charlotte Meyer said she saw improvement from the season’s previous matchup against Mitty.

“I feel really proud of our outcome,” Meyer said. “We really stayed true to our goals of shifting the press and running to the 50/50 balls.”

Senior captain Charlotte Barclay said the team’s focused practice paid o “I think our team played really well and came out with strong energy as well as success in double teams and block tackles,” Barclay said.

Beyond strategy, Togawa said she wanted the team to keep full e ort throughout the game.

e biggest thing I emphasized before the game was hustle,” Togawa said. “I was so proud of how our team came out, guns blazing, from minute one of the game. ey attacked every ball and redefended every time they lost it.”

While the narrow loss was a tough outcome, Barclay said the matchup provided valuable experience against a highcaliber opponent.

“Mitty is a really good team with a long standing successful program,” Barclay said. “Our team looks forward to playing them because they challenge us and are also a very respectful team.”

Looking ahead, Barclay said she’s focused on ending the season on a more positive note. Barclay said, “I’m looking forward to senior night next week and ending the season strong with all my friends.”

PHILLIP SHEN / THE CAMPANILE

LIANG/THE CAMPANILE Senior and co-captain Sarah ieman ghts for the ball against Archbiship Mittly on Oct. 10. e team worked hard to gain the ball back from Mitty whenever

Eden Yoo Sta Writer

Senior Danica Chew runs towards the endzone in a ag football match against MacDonald High School. California o cially sanctioned ag football as a high school sport in 2023. “Now that ag football is available for girls here, it’s really cool to be part of that sport,” Chew said.

Cosmic Clues

Every few months, a new headline ashes across screens: a mysterious signal or a strange molecule on a far away planet. e possibility of nding life beyond Earth feels closer than ever, and for a moment, people let themselves wonder: What if we’re not alone?

In July, a global team of astronomers discovered a third interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS. Harvard physicist Avi Loeb said in an article published in a Medium post the object could instead be a man-made object in disguise because it doesn’t resemble a typical comet.

“Insisting that 3I/ATLAS must be a comet is unwise because it does not exhibit a cometary tail, and its trajectory is ne-tuned to align with the orbital plane of the planets around the Sun,” Loeb said in the article.

“As of now, the glow of light ahead of 3I/ATLAS can be maintained for six months by the ablation of a millimeter-thick layer of dirt on the surface of a 20-kilometer object.”

However, this idea is facing skepticism from the broader scienti c community. Nicolas Lee, a Stanford senior lecturer of aeronautics and astronautics, said the evidence for Loeb’s hypothesis is lacking. “ ere hasn’t really been any evidence beyond just hypothesis, more wild guessing, that it’s anything other than just a rock,” Lee said.

Anton Ermakov, a Stanford assistant professor who specializes in aeronautics and astronautics, geophysics, and earth and planetary sciences, said while the object’s shape is unusual, interstellar comets are unlikely to be proof of extraterrestrial life.

“I don’t think there’s anything in the observations of the three interstellar objects observed so far that requires an explanation involving biological activity or life or aliens or alien technology.” Ermakov said.

However, in recent months, scientists have shifted their search for life away from interstellar objects, which are unlikely to be proof of life. Instead, they have focused on targets much closer to home: Mars and the icy moons in our solar system.

In September, NASA announced that its Perseverance rover had analyzed a Martian rock sample revealing a pattern of leopard spots.

“NASA’s recent discovery on Mars is one of the most compelling signs that life would have existed there,” Lee said.

He said the next major step for Mars exploration is sample collection.

“If we can get samples of Martian rock and bring it back to Earth, that would give us a huge opportunity to put it under a much better microscope,” Lee said.

e search for life, whether on Mars or elsewhere, is guided by the principle of following the water. e potential for past life on Mars exists since there’s evidence the planet once had liquid water.

Ermakov said this principle has led scientists to look beyond Mars to the icy moons of the outer solar system.

“(Europa and Enceladus) have liquid water, an energy source, and the rocky interior could have the chemical elements critical for life,” Ermakov said.

“ ese three necessary ingredients could be present in these ocean worlds.”

Lee said the future of exploring moons like Europa and Enceladus lies in new spacecraft designed to study them up close.

“NASA’s Juno mission is currently orbiting Jupiter and imaging Europa, while the European Space Agency’s JUICE mission is on its way to Jupiter for a dedicated study of Jupiter’s icy moons,” Lee said.

However, Lee said the search on Mars and the icy moons is built on the assumption life elsewhere will be like life on Earth, requiring water and a speci c chemistry.

“If life evolved completely separate from our form of life, our water-based DNA-based life, then we may completely miss it because our sensors are looking for the wrong thing,” Lee said.

For sophomore Oscar Varodayan, who’s interested in astrophysics, it’s the uncertainty that makes the search so compelling.

“I know it’s still a very nebulous eld,” Varodayan said. “What if there was never even life out there to begin with? But the thrill and idea that there could possibly be life beyond Earth is what makes me excited and interested in the eld.”

Given these challenges, Lee said progress is measured in small steps, not giant leaps.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a yes or no we have found life,” Lee said. “It’s probabilities, and it’s going to be ... we’ll have more and more mounting evidence that there’s likely life.”

Ermakov said this slow accumulation of evidence and possibilities means the question of whether or not there’s extraterrestrial life remains open.

“We’re closer than we have ever been, but we can still be in nitely far,” Ermakov said.

Public attention is often dominated by speculation, and Lee said this gap between scienti c probability and public excitement exposes a need to clarify what nding life actually means.

e rst thing that comes to my mind when I hear the word alien are the creepy green gures with big black eyes that I see on TV,” Varodayan said.

However, Lee said if life were to be found on Mars, it wouldn’t be as the media portrays it.

“When we say we found life on Mars, it’s not going to be little green aliens running around,” Lee said. It’s going to be like bacteria or microbes.”

Beyond the public attention, though, Lee said researchers face another obstacle: securing money.

“Funding is always a problem,” Lee said. “ e big problem is we all keep saying Mars is the ultimate goal, but it’s always going to cost too much to just go there.”

Lee said the lack of funding often forces di cult choices between di erent paths of exploration.

“We keep ghting over what the rst step should be,” Lee said. “Do we want to go back to the moon to try things out before going to Mars? If we go to the moon, do we want to land on the surface or do we just want to orbit it?”

But Ermakov said for students dreaming of work ing in space exploration, this uncertainty isn’t a reason to feel discouraged. Every unanswered question leaves room for the next generation to discover answers, and he said the key is to approach these challenges with a practical mindset.

“Don’t be scared about working on big complex projects, which when they overwhelming, and try to split them into many, many simpler tasks,” Ermakov said.

Lee also said STEM and physics-related clubs are a good way to get involved in high school by learning new skills and exploring potential majors.

“School clubs and teams are a really good oppor tunity for skill building,” Lee said. “Something like a FIRST Robotics team is the sort of thing that leads to competitions where you get to meet other people and see what college majors they’re applying to.”

Senior Kishor Rajmohan, co-captain of the Science Olympiad team said Scioly is how he got his start.

“I love Scioly, because there’s so many events. So as long as you’re interested in STEM, there’s going to be a topic that interests you,” Rajmohan said. “It’s what exposed me to astrophysics, and I’m forever grateful for that.”

Additionally, Ermakov said students interested in space science could even get started with a hands-on project.

“I would suggest buying a camera and a telescope to take images of the night sky and do some basic image processing,” Ermakov said. “In doing this, you kind of repeat the main steps of scienti instrument, you collect data, and then you try to analyze data ... It’s very similar to working with real data from space missions.”

Rajmohan said observing the sky on his own telescope as a kid is how his interest in astrophysics began.

“I got a telescope in high school,” Rajmohan said. “And when it’s a nice full moon, and the moon is very bright, it’s great to observe the moon. You can see a lot of comets and a lot of detail.”

Rajmohan said tele scopes don’t have to be fancy or expensive.

“You can get some

Cindy Liang Print Managing Editor

District adds steps to school Wi-Fi setup for increased security

To comply with new cybersecurity industry standards, students and faculty must now download a digital certi cate to connect to PAUSD Wi-Fi.

PAUSD’s Operations and Security Manager Ignacio Padilla said the district blocks certain malicious websites as required by the Children’s Internet Protection Act and tries to lter websites on an as-needed basis.

“Social media right now is being blocked more at the elementary level and the middle schools, not at the high school level,” Padilla said. “Because we understand that social media is also used for clubs and for other things that students use, we meet and talk about what needs to be blocked or unblocked, and then we do it that way.”

New Wi-Fi as better security

Padilla said the new digital certi cation will authenticate users and devices to provide better security for all devices.

“ e industry is moving through cert-based authentication, and that’s what our new network environment is required to do,” Padilla said. Senior Jerry Yan, president of Capstone Programming Club, said he was initially hesitant to use the PAUSD Wi-Fi because of the longer con guration download process.

“One month into the semester, I decided nally, ‘Well, I’m gonna give this a shot,’ and it still took me 30 minutes to understand how to use it and also teach other people how to use it,” Yan said. “Most other people just did not know how to log in, because it required a lot of intermingling with System Preferences and also downloading a whole con guration, which was a little invasive in some ways.”

Yan also said he thinks the district could make the Wi-Fi easier to access.

“I understand that PAUSD is currently trying to protect its Wi-Fi from people who are not in the school,” Yan said. “But if they can nd a solution that could rst kick out the step of having to download the con guration, that would be a great rst step.” But computer science and engineering teacher Kathryn Widen said the addition of downloading a con guration strengthens the Wi-Fi network’s security.

“It means that we know the devices on the network are attached to students, and it’s going to protect us from a random person joining our network and then trying to wreak havoc,” Widen said. “It also means that less hijinks can occur, like people connecting to the TVs.”

Still, Yan said he prefers the Wi-Fi setup PAUSD used in previous years. “You just clicked, ‘I consent to this con guration being added onto my computer,’” Yan said. “Downloading a whole con guration is just tedious,

and also downloading something itself has privacy risks because there could be malware from downloads.”

Despite student concerns, Padilla said there are no safety risks with downloading the Wi-Fi certi cation. He also said students and teachers wanting to improve their data privacy at school could do so by using strong passwords and making sure to log out of borrowed devices.

“If you don’t log out, and you leave your device open, somebody else can come in and use your account,” Padilla said. “Also, we recommend using the password manager. ere are a lot of tools out there that people can do searches for.”

And Widen said she recommends students avoid connecting to unsecure Wi-Fi networks in public spaces such as cafes and stores.

“If I’m in a situation where I’m using public Wi Fi, I’m not doing anything with any secure information,” Widen said. “So I’m not going to my bank account. I’m not buying anything online, because the problem with those public networks is anyone can set them up.”

While public networks pose security risks, Yan said the school Wi-Fi raises concerns around transparency and that the district should give students more information about the new Wi-Fi con guration.

“When you’re trying to log into the Wi-Fi, PAUSD should tell you that one, we are able to use information about where you browse to investigate into egregious actions on the internet, such as cyberbullying,” Yan said. “ ey can give some heads up that if you do something bad, there could be consequences.”

Who has access to student data?

Yan also said although data privacy is important, the district’s access to limited data from devices connected to the Wi-Fi network is necessary.

“Let’s say someone signs you up for a really bad website,” Yan said. “ ey can trace it back to your IP which I think itself is good for a school’s ability to protect and defend against bullying in general.”

Furthermore, Padilla said the district’s access to data is tightly controlled, and that they collect the IPs and activity of devices on speci c websites, but only three administrators have direct access to those logs.

“We only see them when somebody reports an issue to us,” Padilla said. “It could be an administrator or a teacher who goes to the administrator and reports to us that they would like to see the activity of what happened if they’re working on a case.”

District Recommends Chromebooks

Padilla also said the district recommends students use Chromebooks

at school because they have up-to-date safety tools and are designed for educational programs.

“ e Chromebooks that we have to provide are the high-end Chromebooks that have all the tools that you guys need to learn,” Padilla said. “Especially for testing, all the browsers work on Chromebooks better than any other device.”

Additionally, Padilla said Chromebooks are harder to hack than personal devices.

“We have had a couple students that have personal devices come and connect to the network, and then we see tra c that is going to bad websites,” Padilla said. “When we track it down, we nd out those computers had a virus without the user knowing.”

From a teacher’s perspective, Widen said she advises her students to use the computer they are most comfortable with.

“If your personal laptop is a machine you’re really comfortable using, that’s probably the best situation,” Widen said. “If you’re worried about something happening to your computer at school, use your Chromebook, because accidents can happen.”

Is ere Enough Education About Privacy?

Ultimately, Yan said the district should teach students more about data privacy, as more data is being sold to companies and used to train AI.

“I’ve had ve di erent scam calls coming in in the last week,” Yan said. “I think it is a big issue, and students need to understand more about it.” Padilla said, though, there are more resources available today than ever for students interested in internet safety and data privacy.

“When I was growing up, Google was not there,” Padilla said. “But now, with AI and Google and every other tool that you have online, I think students can learn a lot about technology and also about cybersecurity.” Regarding PAUSD speci cally, Padilla said the district can discuss adding more information on technology-related changes like the new Wi-Fi setup to the district’s website page on technology use.

“I’m going to talk to my team so we can have more about the Wi-Fi, and why you need to connect to the Wi-Fi now with the certi cation and explain that that’d be good to put there,” Padilla said.

Widen said although some students might not see the importance of protecting their internet activity and information, issues around data privacy will only increase as the world’s reliance on technology evolves.

“When you’re a teenager, you don’t necessarily have the life experience to understand the value of privacy, especially in a world where we see people get famous on Tiktok and by streaming video games,” Widen said. “So be aware that who has access to things that you do online can be really harmful for your future.”

really basic telescopes,” Rajmohan said. “As you start

Isabella Li Sta Writer

ART BY CINDY LIANG

Early consent education shouldn’t shy away from discussing sex

We don’t talk about sex enough. While it’s always been a taboo subject in religious, social and educational settings, and while we have begun to talk more about it, we still don’t talk enough about the foundational communication not just involved in sex but also in everyday interactions: consent.

Teaching a more in-depth consent education model in late elementary and middle school programs would give students the proper way to report and pursue necessary resources in the cases of sexual assault or harassment.

I remember encounters with consent education throughout elementary and middle school where kids would giggle about sugarcoated information. ese lessons would be something as simple as a “consent for kids” video playing in advisory, but I never felt like we were being told enough.

For elementary and middle schoolers consent was seen as a strange, foreign topic, and partially because at that age it was.

Consent was always taught in a way that seemed to prompt mocking. I remember my classmates saying things such as, “You need my consent to talk to me,” or, “You need consent to make me take this test.” Peers often took the topic of consent unseriously, and sometimes I felt like I should too. We were never taught that consent mattered as much as it does.

Although this frivolous behavior on the part of my peers may stem from immaturity, consent was not taught seriously enough because we never covered its importance in sexual situations. Yes, consent starts with basic communication, but it becomes essential in situations regarding our bodies.

In fourth grade I remember receiving the “puberty talk” in our classrooms. Many of the topics covered in the talk were things I had already talked about with my parents, including the importance of bodily autonomy. While I understand throwing in consent when bringing up the subject of our bodies, why are we waiting for puberty to talk about consent in sexual situations?

In addition, for many kids, the consent “puberty talk” was a lot of information encountered all at once. I think that consent can be a lost narrative when buried under the curiosity that comes with learning about puberty and growing up.

Consent needs to be taught in a way where students can focus solely on that topic and think deeply about the importance of it in all of their future interactions. When I was in middle school, I knew multiple classmates who experienced sexual assault and harassment in school by classmates or other people in their lives, sometimes adults. I felt helpless, because students were not receiving the adequate education needed to protect themselves, nor being taught how to report violations of their consent. Sometimes students would harass or hurt others, and they didn’t realize they were part of the problem, simply because they were never taught what they were doing was wrong. I have come to know survivors of child on child sexual assault in the district, which could have been mitigated or stopped if only we had talked about sexual boundaries early on. Because of those experiences, I have been teaching consent education to underclassmen at Paly through a student-run club, Responsive, Inclusive, Safe Environment (RISE) Student Task Force.

All of our RISE lessons are student-taught and created as is our recruitment and training of peer educators. is is not solely an issue we see here at Paly. Sexual violence has a ected people across the district, and RISE works alongside the Gunn Title IX club to deliver informative and e ective consent education lessons for all students at the two high schools. Over two Advisory periods, our student-designed consent and relationship education model focuses on learning how to build and respect boundaries –– starting with de nitions of consent, and sexual violence vocabulary. We also work through situations where students discuss in small groups what they would do in various sexual and non-sexual consent-based situations.

In the second Advisory period we launch into relationships. RISE thinks relationships — romantic or platonic — only work when consent and communication is involved. We

cover signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships and watch a short lm, followed by discussions.

Two years ago, the consent education model consisted of only just two lessons in P.E. classes during the season overlap between Winter and Spring sports, with the intention of teaching as many students as possible.

Unfortunately, RISE encountered a multitude of issues with teaching consent education in P.E. classes due to it being a distracting environment with many groups sharing the space. Teachers would sometimes change plans without notice, not show up to lessons, or we would nd out at the last minute that the gym was booked for other activities, making it more challenging to teach.

Since then, we have transitioned to smaller lessons in Freshman Advisory, using a new slideshow and survey system to collect data on the e ectiveness of the consent education program. While this consent education model works better, we are limited to only 100 minutes to teach extremely important lessons meant to last a lifetime.

Because of this short period of time, we must select the most important information instead of going more in depth in consent education, because we have no way of knowing if this is the rst or the last time a student will learn about the importance of consent and boundaries.

Consent education, however, is included in PAUSD high school curriculum. Currently, Paly students are required to take Living Skills, a semester-long course, o ered to sophomores through seniors. e class covers the basics of consent and provides the resources

students may need when lling out a Title IX or reporting sexual misconduct to authorities.

Despite Living Skills being an e ective class for teaching consent education, the information often comes too late to achieve its intended impact. By the time they take the class, many students have already encountered situations where consent education would have been essential. It is not uncommon for students to have their rst romantic or sexual experiences before they take Living Skills. It is too late for consent education to be taught only at the end of high school; it is essential knowledge that needs to come much earlier.

e district and curriculum experts should implement in-depth consent education in late elementary and middle schools so students receive consent education before they need to use it. By teaching consent, we teach communication and e ective boundaries.

Consent is not just about sex — it’s about knowing how to e ectively communicate and establish boundaries in all relationships. Yet sex remains the topic that is not talked about enough but where consent is the most important to have.

Con ict is the basis of growth. In a world full of polarized debates, political arguments, war and disagreements of all kinds, con ict is extremely prevalent. Oddly enough, the reaction to the word is generally quite negative overall, however surprisingly. Chapman University found in a study that the word “con ict” generally triggers more negative reactions than positive ones. As humans, we have a natural instinct to avoid con ict. But what if con ict isn’t actually the real problem? Con ict itself isn’t inherently destructive. Any time anybody has chosen not to conform to society, con ict has occurred and led to change. ese moments cause society to confront hard truths, leading to eventual social growth. For instance, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, she sparked con ict, which eventually led to societal aws being revealed, and eventually understood.

Con ict can be constructive, it just needs to be handled in the correct way.

Con ict is viewed in such a negative light because people approach it as a debate in which emotions guide our words, rather than seeing it as an opportunity to have an active conversation where both sides genuinely listen and understand the other. We listen to rebut, to argue, to prove our point. We speak over each other, or we don’t speak up at all. We either shy away from it or talk to simply talk. e existence of con ict isn’t harmful in and of itself: it’s the resistance to approaching it with empathy and understanding that is destructive. As high school students, almost everything we do is to learn. We are making good habits, learning during school, enriching ourselves with activities outside of school, making connections and building relationships. To achieve almost

anything, we learn from others. Naturally, as we develop, we are curious and seek collaboration. is is how we must approach con ict: Be open to hearing the other person’s side, show that you are actively listening, respond to their points and then add on what you want to bring up. Making sure that the other person feels understood and seen is a priority, and sometimes that might mean allowing tension without changing the subject, or just putting the conversation aside altogether. In the end, the most important part is truly hearing the other person out, and carefully listening to their perspectives. Our end goal should be a world where disagreements are celebrated. Con ict is the beginning of change, and as students we must facilitate discussion, con ict and growth. Con ict isn’t the enemy. Silence is.

So a Singer Sta Writer

Leilani Chen Business Manager

ARTBYLEILANICHEN

Settle con ict without violence

Recently, political activist and media personality

Charlie Kirk was shot dead while holding an open-mic event advocating for conservative political ideologies at Utah Valley University.

Love him or hate him, this tragedy reveals a problem rooted deeper than politics: our society’s growing inability to argue and settle con ict without resorting to violence.

Debate has been de ned as a respectful clash of ideas, not a clash of weapons. And right now, America has no shortage of ideological con ict. is makes it even more important for us to nd middle ground with our fellow citizens. But, when words fail, some turn to physical violence.

Political violence has become disturbingly common in the U.S. After the 2020 election, rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In 2022, 42-year-old David Wayne DePape broke into the home of then-House Speaker Representative Nancy Pelosi, attacking her husband with a hammer. Earlier this year, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman was shot and killed in her home.

But the truth is political violence proves the failure of argumentation. It’s what happens when we stop knowing how to persuade, how to reason or even how to listen. Shouting at someone to “shut up” or responding with violence isn’t a rebuttal.

In order to prevent future tragedies, we need to learn, or re-learn, how to disagree. To do so, let’s turn back to the basics of argumentation.

As a high-schooler who has participated in Lincoln-Douglass debate and has dabbled in Parliamentary debate, I’ve got a few lessons that might help (And I can safely tell you that losing an argument in front of a judge hurts much less than losing one with a baseball bat involved).

Step 1: Learn to listen

e worst form of debate is one where, rather than respectfully stating your opinion and listening to your opponents’, participants engage in a constant back-and-forth of useless defensive and one-sided perspectives. Many times, this leads to both parties presenting dueling monologues and interrupting, harsh shouting matches. A real, productive debate occurs when both sides listen to one another, not just in a polite manner, but in an attempt to truly understand the other person’s point of view. But doing so takes practice: I’ve forgotten to listen to my opponent while planning my next refutations countless times. But making a conscious decision to listen slows down the conversation, lowers emotional temperatures and makes debate more comfortable.

Step 2: Ask questions

Every form of both high school and political debate has some form of questioning period. ere’s a good reason why. Questioning dates back to the Classical Period (500 B.C.E - 400 C.E) and Socrates, who promoted the idea of dialect to maximize understanding in debate. Solutions are never found before a question is asked. A good answer always clari es misunderstandings and de nes a middle ground.

Questions also demonstrate a curiosity and willingness to understand instead of attack.

e epitome of bad questioning is the current state of U.S presidential debates. Not every question needs to be framed as a way to poke holes in opposing arguments. Rather, the intent should be to understand and clarify.

Step 3: Refute ideas, don’t use ad-hominem attacks

One of the worst habits our society has built is associating ideas with identity. e clash of ideas goes nowhere when it becomes a clash of Facebook insults. A good debate requires us to bring up arguments about an idea, not about an individual.

One of my most memorable debate rounds was discussing the wealth tax, where my opponent called me a “tax evader.” e judge gave me the win, not because my argument was awless, but because it’s di cult to convince someone that a high school kid is evading the IRS.

Step 4: Be open-minded

Being open-minded doesn’t require you to drop all your beliefs or adopt bad ones. It just means you are ready to learn something new from your opponent. Even if debates don’t end with resolution, it is important for both sides to take something away from a clash of ideas and understand their opponent’s reasoning. Participating in high school debate has allowed me to learn so many new things: I’ve learned about politics, critical thinking and crafting a well-thought argument (I’ve even learned how to keep a straight face when I get accused of a felony).

But ultimately, even though the words “debate” and “argument” have two di erent connotations, they aren’t too di erent from each other. Yes, both should be about exchanging ideas rather than trying to win a ght. But at the end of the day, it’s better to debate respectfully than resort to violence, and it’s far better for two people to leave unsatis ed than for two people to be hurt.

Jonathan Gu Sta Writer

Stop the homecoming hype fade

Crisp October air, spirited dancing and potential romance should be the representation of Homecoming. School dances are a historic tradition, evolving from formal ballroom waltzes to the rave-like jumping, mosh pits and frat icks that students indulge in today.

Yet as we get older, fewer students look forward to and attend the annual Homecoming dance. Why do freshmen have the most enthusiasm, attendance and participation while seniors are missing the action or bailing 30 minutes in? e greatest misconception older students have is that they have no control over how fun homecoming is.

In some ways, this phenomenon makes sense. It’s no secret to the incoming eighth graders that Paly’s spirit week is lled with fun, and this keeps freshmen excited for the rst dance of the year.

On top of this, middle school dances are more frequent, populous and socially ful lling. In middle school, the opportunity to gather socially with the entire grade was enticing. Middle schoolers seem to enjoy actually dancing at their dances more than high schoolers at homecoming.

Sure, middle schools are smaller and more close knit, making it less embarrassing or scary to dance with the other kids on the dance oor. And in middle school, the ability to stick to one’s own friend group while also oating around with acquaintances is made easier by the smaller school size.

Some upperclassmen may feel there are better ways to achieve the same social ful llment. Partying culture becomes more apparent as grades increase, and as students explore and are drawn towards substances, an afterparty might sound like more fun than the main homecoming dance.

In sophomore year, people still like to go to dances, but start to leave earlier for these after parties. Juniors and seniors also attend the dance but leave quickly ––some don’t show up at all. Others may attend after parties. At that point, I don’t understand

why people don’t just go to the dance. Afterparities are made more fun by the main event, so there’s no reason not to attend the dance.

Homecoming asking culture has also been on a decline. Traditionally, the fun of school dances has been the experience of asking or getting asked to go, dressing up, having fun with friends and most of all, dancing. e bottom line is, if people don’t go to the homecoming dance, it won’t be fun. No, Homecoming isn’t perfect. e ambiance and music could be improved. For instance, having it outdoors on the plaza allows people to group together and not dance which can prevent community. Last year, the line to get into the dance was especially infuriating and poorly organized. However, Homecoming deserves to be a strong Paly tradition. Why have an exuberant spirit week followed by (or in this year’s case, preceded by) a sad homecoming dance? I would like to remind students that Homecoming is what we make it. We only have one all-school dance the entire year, and people should be excited at the opportunity to dress up for one night.

Additionally, other schools have winter or semiformals, yet Paly only has two dances. Homecoming is one of the only chances for students –– especially underclassmen –– to dress up and have a dance.

Although juniors and seniors may have prom, the occasion, attire and ambiance is di erent. Prom is also eight months from when school starts, so we should take advantage of the opportunity to connect with our peers and celebrate our community at Homecoming. Our culture has made pre- and postevents more enticing than the real thing. Getting ready for pictures and partying after may be fun, but the spirit of tradition, school pride and potential romance can be made into a wholesome teenage years experience if we choose to appreciate it. Students have to take Homecoming back. No matter how much planning ASB, teachers and admin put into it, students show the power to show up with enthusiasm and make the dance fun.

Review: nding the best computer for students

If you ask 10 di erent students what the best laptop is, you’ll probably get 10 di erent answers. When it comes to choosing the perfect computer for school and everyday life, three names dominate the conversation: Chromebooks, Windows laptops and MacBooks — each with its own strengths and weaknesses. At Palo Alto High School, where students use technology for everything from Schoology assignments to creative projects, the choice can get confusing.

As someone who owns and regularly uses all three systems in and out of school, I’ve found that each excels in a speci c area: Windows laptops are best for heavyduty gaming and professional applications, Chromebooks for schoolwork and Macs for a balance of both. To gure out which is best for Paly students, I compared them across four key criteria: price, performance, quality and accessibility across devices.

Chromebook: Best for Schoolwork

Chromebooks are designed to do one thing extremely well: school. From a price standpoint, Chromebooks are unbeatable. ey cost the district far less than Macs or Windows laptops and are completely free for students. Lightweight, durable and nearly impossible to break, Chromebooks are built for classroom life. Teachers often require them for tests because of the built-in secure browser and the PAUSD Schoology kiosk app automatically downloaded on them.

For essays, slideshows and online Schoology quizzes, the Chromebook isn’t the ashiest, but it’s de nitely a reliable workhorse that gets the job done. However, the Chromebook’s simplicity is also its biggest limitation. Chrome OS can’t handle heavy applications like Adobe Photoshop or Premiere Pro, and school-issued devices block personal Google accounts, making it di cult to switch between school and personal work. Chromebooks are perfect for school, but not much else.

Windows: Best for Power Users and Gamers

On the opposite end of the spectrum are Windows laptops. From budget-friendly options to high-powered gaming rigs, Windows o ers the widest range of devices and price points. eir biggest advantage is performance. If you care about running the newest games at high settings or using professional software for 3D design, rendering or editing, Windows is the obvious choice. at said, Windows laptops can be somewhat inconsistent. Some models are sleek and fast, while others are bulky, heavy or prone to bugs. ey also don’t sync smoothly with Apple devices — meaning iPhone users miss out on features like iMessage syncing, AirDrop, and photo integration.

Overall, Windows laptops are perfect for gamers or students who need serious computing power, but they sacri ce the portability and polish of Macs.

MacBook: Best Overall

is is where the MacBook stands out: o ering the creative power of high-end Windows laptops while maintaining the portability and simplicity in everyday use of a Chromebook.

Apple’s M-series chips give Macs impressive speed and battery life, allowing them to handle dozens of tabs and applications without slowing down. Students in classes like journalism or video production will appreciate that Macs easily run Adobe applications such as Premiere Pro and Photoshop.

Additionally, one of the Mac’s strongest features is Apple’s ecosystem. Messages, les and photos all sync seamlessly across iPhones, iPads and all other Apple devices, and AirDrop makes transferring homework and projects between them quick and easy. e downsides? Price and lack of gaming ability. Macs cost signi cantly more than Chromebooks and many Windows laptops, and their game library is limited. Still, for students who prioritize performance, reliability and long-term value, the tradeo is worth it.

Final Verdict: e MacBook wins overall

If your only focus is writing essays and taking tests, the Chromebook is an excellent choice. If you’re a gamer or rely heavily on applications, go with Windows. But for students who want one computer that can handle schoolwork, creative projects and daily use, the MacBook is the clear winner.

While it’s pricier upfront, the MacBook can easily last through high school and college — making it not just a device, but a long-term investment.

Zoya Prabhakar Digital Managing Editor

Christopher Lee Sta Writer

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ART BY ANGELIKA GERA

LEILANI CHEN/THE CAMPANILE

California should vote yes on Prop. 50

Proposition protects democracy, holds Texas accountable for gerrymandering

California voters will decide the fate of Proposition 50, also known as the “Election Rigging Response Act,” on Nov. 4. Supporters of the ballot measure included Gov. Gavin Newsom and former president Barack Obama. !e proposition asks Californians to vote “yes” or “no” on redistricted congressional maps drawn by the state legislator for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. If approved, the proposition would go into e ect before the 2026 midterms and temporarily replace the 2021 maps drawn by the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission. California is currently one of eight states that uses independent redistricting commissions.

!e act was created in direct response to President Donald Trump’s encouragement of a power grab in Texas, where he encouraged the state to pass an unusual mid-decade redistricting act with the hope of obtaining $ve Republican seats in the House of Representatives during the 2026 midterm elections. Currently, there are 219 Republicans, 213 Democrats and three vacancies in the US House. Prop. 50 aims to add $ve Democrats to the House through the use of gerrymandering, or redistricting maps in a way that favors a certain political party.

!e Campanile supports Prop. 50 given the current political context, including Trump’s increasing use of authoritarian powers, threats to our democracy, and the proposition’s temporary nature. While we don’t condone gerrymandering as a general practice and recognize it is typically unethical, the extenuating circumstances that our democracy faces makes Prop. 50 a necessary and justi$ed response.

With Republicans controlling all three branches of government, there are virtually no checks and balances actively acting on the Trump administration, which has disregarded the fundamental rules of democracy. Actions like the mid-decade redistricting of Texas –– decided purely by the state legislature in an e ort to help Republicans gain even more

political power –– cannot go without a response.

!e Campanile supports Prop. 50 because it asks California voters for consent to implement the redistricting. In contrast, Texas passed its redistricting without voter input. Prop. 50 is also temporary, lasting only until after the 2030 elections. Because Trump has already shown his willingness to test the guardrails of our democracy, passing Prop. 50 is a necessity. By repeatedly challenging the outcomes of elections, inciting an attack on !e Capitol, ignoring court rulings, attempting to prosecute opponents, weakening anti-corruption measures, suppressing free speech and showing

absolute disregard for the rule of law, Trump has weakened the economy, rolled back protections for public health and the environment, and put healthcare and Social Security bene$ts at risk for millions of Americans. He has even repeatedly talked about running for president for an unconstitutional third term.

If Prop. 50 fails, Republicans will have a stronghold majority in Congress, and there will be little stopping Trump in his relentless pursuit of power. !e bill isn’t overstepping or trying to help Democrats gain an edge; on the contrary, it only neutralizes the gains that Republicans have made by redistricting Texas to gain seats.

!e Campanile acknowledges that Prop. 50 is an unconventional measure for California, a state often held up as a model for democratic values. Yet in the face of escalating threats to our democracy, California must respond with equally decisive action to safeguard the integrity of our system before it’s too late.

With Prop. 50’s temporary e ect and its placement on the ballot, it holds those in power accountable, protects democracy and prevents future costs, all while keeping California voters as the voice of change. If red states continue to try to jeopardize democracy, they should expect California to $ght back.

Kimmel’s suspension a threat to free speech

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC on Sept. 17 after making a joke about President Donald Trump’s response to right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s death, sparking a national debate over free speech and government in uence in the media.

Five days after Kirk was fatally shot on Sept. 10, Kimmel delivered a monologue criticizing what he called the “MAGA gang’s” attempts to distance themselves from the shooter. He later joked that Trump’s decision to discuss building a $200 million White House ballroom after Kirk’s death represented “the sixth stage of grief: construction.” After Kimmel’s remarks aired, the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, condemned Kimmel’s segment and publicly questioned whether ABC should face consequences.

Hours later, Nexstar Media Group – which owns 32 ABC a liates – announced it would pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its stations. !at evening, Disney, which owns ABC, suspended the show. !e public response was immediate. Within $ve days, 1.7 million subscribers cancelled their Disney+ memberships, and the American Civil Liberties Union released an open letter signed by

more than 400 actors and musicians condemning the suspension. With intense public pressure, Disney took back its decision a week later, and Nexstar resumed airing the program. !e Campanile thinks Kimmel’s suspension reveals a growing threat to free expression in the United States. Unlike a typical online outrage, this case was driven in part by pressure from the federal government. When a government agency in uences editorial decisions of private media companies, it undermines one of democracy’s core values, including our own as a nation: the right to speak freely. While some found his comments insensitive, Kimmel’s comments did not mock Kirk and fell within his constitutional right to free expression. !e suspension, seemingly prompted by political pressure from a federal agency, sets a concerning precedent in which government o cials appear to control decisions of private media companies. At its core, this incident is not about whether Kimmel went too far, but what role the government should play in regulating speech. !e First Amendment protects beliefs that challenge and provoke others, not just popular or comfortable ones. When the government forces media

companies to conform to political backlash, they don’t just disregard constitutional principles: they undermine the foundation of a free society.

Once the government begins to shape the boundaries of permissible speech, it sets a precedent of censorship. Student journalists in California, including those at Palo Alto High School, have similar rights to report freely on issues that matter to their communities. While California’s Education Code 48907 o ers strong protections, the broader political climate can in uence how freely student reporters feel they can speak, especially on sensitive stories. After all, if professional journalists can face suspension for political commentary, who is to say we won’t be targeted next? !e Campanile thinks a healthy democracy depends on protecting speech we disagree with just as much as speech we support. Freedom of expression is not a partisan privilege; it’s a civic necessity. Once the government begins to shape the boundaries of permissible speech, the precedent opens the door to censorship and self-censorship.

At a time when political polarization threatens open dialogue, defending press freedoms and the right to criticize the government is not a threat to society; on the contrary, it is imperative to maintaining a healthy democracy. Kimmel’s removal and reinstatement should serve as a reminder of our responsibility to safeguard free expression, as citizens or consumers. Without that vigilance, free speech risks becoming a privilege only for those who agree with the government, not a constitutional right for everyone.

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

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