Issue 7

PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301 NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

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The Campanile

Vol. XCV, No.7

50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 • www.palycampanile.org

Monday, March 18, 2013

Library scheduled for renovations starting in 2014

Emily Rosenthal News editor

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he library is scheduled to undergo renovations that will expand the size of the library by at least 20 percent. Construction is set to begin in June 2014 and is predicted to finish August 2015.

Librarians Rachel Kellerman and Deborah Henry have been working with an architect on the design.The updated design will be two stories and have a new floor plan, in order to better utilize the existing space and provide a more welcoming The first floor of the library will contain a reading space for students, study areas, computer labs, the Student Activities

Office (SAO) and new bathrooms that have entrances connected to the quad. There will also be rooms where students can meet to work and discuss projects or class work with other students. The second floor of the library would consist of archives and a conference room.

“We’re going to have a mezzanine that has our archive collection of our

yearbooks,” Kellerman said.

During construction the library will be relocated to the 300 building, which currently houses the Social Studies department. By that time the Social Studies department will have already moved into the new building that is currently being built for them.

In addition to more student work areas, the proposed library will have

HArassment case SETTLED The Palo Alto Unified School District proceeds with regulations set by the Resolution Agreement signed after violating antidiscrimination laws.

School board revising homework policy

New regulations could limit homework load in the hopes of alleviating student stress.

Stephenie zheng

claire liu

Staff writer

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he Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) works to resolve a civil rights issue after violating federal anti-discrimination laws in a middle school bullying case involving discrimination on the basis of disability, according to Superintendent Kevin Skelly.

In Dec. 2012, the district received a report from the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stating that a complaint was filed against PAUSD for failing to “respond appropriately and effectively to notice of the harassment;” however, the district is not responsible for the bullying of the middle school student.

This student, part of an individualized education program, received special education due to a speech and language impairment, which affected the student’s social interactions and ability to interpret social cues.

During the student’s enrollment, other students bullied said student, calling the student “stupid,” “slow” and “annoying” and stating that the student tended to say “weird” things.

Other students avoided contact with the student; many of the conflict resolutions between the student and other students resulted

rooms for the College and Career Center. The administration and Guidance Office staff will also have offices in the complex. The Associated Student Body (ASB) will continue to have space in the library.

“The idea is to bring the student services like counseling and guidance down here where the students are.” are,” Kellerman said.

staff writer

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complaint procedures. The school lacked a structured approach in interviewing students, with no designated staff member or administrator assigned to investigate.

The school failed to compile information about the harassment reports or analyze whether the harassment was based on disability, thus creating a hostile environment.

alo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) school board members proposed a series of revisions to their districtwide homework policy, which they initially voted on last year.

The policy lists various goals and requirements for the district, such as providing restrictions on weekly hours of homework teachers are allowed to assign. For example, high school students are to be assigned at most 10 hours of homework a week, but students enrolled in more rigorous courses should expect a larger load.

At a meeting held on Tuesday, Feb. 26, members discussed altering previous requirements created for PAUSD schools.

The board is now reconsidering various regulations they originally settled upon. For example, the policy previously required teachers to accept make up work after an unexcused absence; however, the new revision would allow teachers to make individual decisions regarding make up work.

The board also proposed editing another requirement. In the first policy, it stated that teachers ought to “avoid punitive treatment of late homework.” Now, members hope to remove that statement, and instead “make allowances when

See HARASSMENT, A3

See HOMEWORK, A3

Hillel Zand/ The Campanile

PAUSD Superintendent Kevin Skelly (top) and board member Melissa Baten-Caswell (bottom right) speak at a school board meeting on March 12. The district is resolving a civil rights case involving a bullied middle school student.

in a mutual agreement to stay away.

In Jan. 2011, the harassed student was depressed and anxious, and was afraid to go back to school. As per doctor advice, the family chose to keep the student at home to avoid being bullied until the district assigned the student to a new school.

A month later, the family declined the district-offered counseling and pursued outside private counseling.

“None of the teaching staff at the

School could definitively recall having been asked by District or School administrators if they knew anything about the Student being bullied,” the OCR report stated.

Neither the staff nor the administrators received training pertaining to harassment based on disability.

In addition, the middle and high school handbooks do not reference disability-based harassment in both the harassment policy or the

Devine, Marinkovich vie for student government presidency yasna haghdoost editor-in-chief

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ith only one week until the Associated Student Body (ASB)’s election week, the entire campus is bracing itself to be bludgeoned by a barrage of CVS candy as candidates vying for coveted leadership positions feverishly make their rounds with students, wooing, begging and appealing to the voters’ sweet tooths.

Among the various candidates, juniors Parker Devine and Kate Marinkovich are competing for the position of ASB President. Both candidates boast prior experience within ASB, and as incoming seniors, they hope to win the opportunity to lead the student government and the school itself through the 2013-2014 school year.

Parker Devine Former freshman class vice president Parker Devine is running on a campaign similar to that of Marinkovich in hoping to create a more cohesive Paly community, but with a stronger emphasis on bonding activities for underclassmen and upperclassmen.

“I’m really going to try and merge the student body together more,” Devine said. “I’m going to try and start activities that will help seniors get to know freshmen or juniors get to know freshmen. I barely know any of the freshman class and it’s important for the school to know each other and have a sense of community.”

Devine also stressed the importance of ASB’s investment in school activities.

“Just to have more quad activities, like even music in the quad draws more people,” Devine said. “But also

continuing to try and improve school events, like dances and such, and try and get more people to go to them.”

However, Devine remained vague on how he would increase the attendance for Paly dances.

See DEVINE, A3 Kate Marinkovich Current junior class vice president Kate Marinkovich is running with the hopes to enhance the relationship between ASB and the rest of the Paly community by making ASB more “approachable.”

“I think this year we did a much better job at publicizing ASB, but I think a lot of people don’t really know that we’re here and that we’re involved in so many activities that we are,” Marinkovich said. “I don’t think people realize that they can come ask us to do things for them and talk to us

COURTESY OF BECCA ALTHOFF

ASB presidential candidates, Parker Devine (left) and Kate Marinkovich (above), will begin campaigning in one week during Paly’s election week. adam mansour/ The Campanile

whenever they need to and whenever they need help.”

Marinkovich feels that the Friday activities that ASB has put on this

year, like music performances, have created a more tight-knit community.

courtesy of cbs atlanta

Jenny lee silver/creative commons

See MARINKOVICH, A3

INSIDE News.....................................A1-A5 Spotlight...............................A6-A7 ASB Post......................................A8 Opinion............................A9-A12 Lifestyle....................................B1 Student Life............................B2-B4 Music..................................B5-B6 Education...................................B7 Community.................................B8 Sports...................................C1-C8

Spotlight Campanile Photo Contest The Campanile’s annual photo contest is here! We received the best of the best and now you can find out who took home the grand prize. A6-A7

Sports

FEATURES

It’s March and the tournament is just around the corner. See our predictions. C4-C5

Find out different views on pornography within the Paly student body. B4

Madness is Here!

Paly & Porn

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

A2 NEWS NEWS TO KNOW

Paly Rocks performs on quad

Catholic church (england wales)/flickr

@cnnbrk Pope Francis named, firsts: named for St. Francis of Assisi, from Latin America, Jesuit @TheAtlanticWire U.N. passes resolution condemning North Korea’s latest nuclear test; bans all further missile and nuclear tests @unicefturk A baby that was born with HIV appears to have been “functionally cured” through treatment @ABC Venezuelan Leader Hugo Chavez Dead at 58 @nytimes Senator Rand Paul leads a nearly 13hour filibuster of the nominee to lead the C.I.A.

hillel zand/the campanile

Paly Rocks performed a variety of songs, including “Little Black Submarines” by the The Black Keys.

angela stern staff writer

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he Paly Rocks Club performed on the quad during lunch on Mar. 8. The student-run club collaborated with the singing duo juniors Remi Wolf and Chloe Zilliac for this on-campus concert.

The Paly Rocks club is new to Paly this year and is led by seniors Ben May and Andrew Solway.

“I think as a club we did really, really well,” May said.

Students crowded the quad to listen to them perform a 30-minute set list. Wolf and Zilliac joined the band for two songs, then the band performed five more on their own.

“I just had a great time being up there and sharing the music with Paly,” Solway said. “We felt so supported that all of those people came out today. We had a great time.”

The club had been planning for the concert for two months; however, they were not nervous performing in front of their peers.

“I was really just looking forward to letting [Paly students] hear the stuff we’ve been working on,” Solway said. “I had a great time, and I hope that they did too.”

Juniors Remi Wolf and Chloe Zilliac have been rising in fame within the Palo Alto community this school year and have performed at several locations nearby.

“We signed up for their club in the beginning of the year, and then Andrew contacted us and asked us if we wanted to perform with them, so we said ‘sure,’” Wolf said.

The duo and the band met up during lunches to practice performing together before the concert.

Wolf and Zilliac have been performing mainly in restaurants and cafés recently, and thought that playing at school was a different kind of experience.

“It’s a lot of fun getting to see all of your friends in the audience cheering you on,” Zilliac said.

The duo mentioned that they are considering performing either alone or with their band, The Extracts, sometime this year at Paly and

maybe with Paly Rocks again. Paly Rocks also looks forward to future performances possibly together in the quad.

“We love Remi and Chloe,” Solway said. “They are an outstanding duo, and we’re so glad we got to do a song with them.”

Paly Rocks is scheduled to perform another lunchtime concert next month during Not in Our School Week.

The quad was filled with an audience of students and teachers who seemed to enjoy the performance.

Senior Chandler Mok was in the crowd and was a big fan of the performance.

“I thought [the music] was really good,” Mok said. “Not many people play that kind of music anymore. It was refreshing.”

If people are interested in finding out more about the club, they can visit the band’s facebook page at facebook.com/PalyRocks, or they can swing by room 309 during lunch and ask the members questions.

“It’s really not that hard to miss,” May said. “You’ll hear us.”

Palo Alto awaits overdue database for Geographic Information System albert lee staff writer

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he Palo Alto Public Art Commission and artist Sam Yates may be close to reaching an agreement on the delivery of a database of 120,000 photos that Yates took of 17,729 Palo Alto properties, nearly five years after the database was originally presented to the city. In response to the event, several Palo Alto citizens criticized the project for its length, which spanned 10 years as well as its cost of $75,000.

Elise DeMarzo, the staff liaison for the Public Art Commission, which met Feb. 21, said she is hopeful that by the time the commission meets again on Mar. 21, Yates will have delivered the database to them.

The Commission is still waiting for Yates to provide a database promised in a written agreement made in 2006 with David Lewin, the Chair of the Public Art Commission. Though the Commission still owes Yates $7,000, the Commission has decided to hold that money until Yates returns the database.

The database could be entered into the Geographic Information System (GIS) to be used by police officers and firefighters who could theoretically pull up what a home looks like before going to apprehend a criminal or extinguish a fire, Palo Alto Fire Chief Ruben Grijalva said to the Palo Alto Weekly.

Brian George, a member of the Palo Alto Historical Association remarks about Yates’ delay.

“Sam [Yates] has given a number of reasons for not providing the

database ranging from ‘needing to watermark the photos’ to ‘needing time to blur out people’s face’ to, recently, his concerns for how the city might use the photos,’” George said in a letter to the Commission.

Yates first presented the database on Aug. 5, 2008 to Mayor Klein in a public presentation on the Color of Palo Alto. Yates had found four colors representing Palo Alto, including the Mode of Means, Mean of Means, Mean of Modes and Mode of Modes.

After the presentation, Yates took the database back to “tweak a few things” and never returned the database, according to the Commission.

Yates then moved from Palo Alto to Los Angeles, taking all the data with him. City Attorney Grant Kolling sent a letter to the artist on Mar. 23, 2012 to request the database.

Yates agreed to return it by May 1 but became concerned about the distribution of images. The last communication with Yates was last August, when Yates, who had moved to Toronto, reported he intended to focus all his attention to the project. Recent emails to Yates have gone unanswered.

Aside from the delay, some Palo Alto residents have criticized the $75,000 used to fund the project, which is much larger than the original $10,000 commission.

At the time, the Color of Palo Alto project received much praise. Allison Arieff, a past columnist of the New York Times, complimented the project for not being based on “perceived resale value.” Yates’s work also received an award from Dwell Magazine, and in his 2008 presentation of the Color of Palo Alto, Yates received a standing ovation.

Shivonne logan staff writer

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ayor Gregory Scharff addressed Palo Alto’s goals for the coming year in the annual State of the City speech at the Tesla Motor Headquarters on Feb. 27.

Scharff primarily focused on defining his priorities for the coming year as: “the future of downtown and California Avenue: urban design, transportation, parking and livability; infrastructure strategy and funding; and technology and the connected city.” Scharff also emphasized the importance of green energy and technology for the city in the coming year.

“Palo Alto is one of the greenest cities in America,” Scharff said.

Palo Alto city council member and former mayor Pat Burt attended the event and spoke positively about the address. “[Scharff’s] speech was detailed and had an ambitious schedule for the city for the year,” Burt said.

“The priorities are generally pretty well aligned with the council.”

Other topics Scharff touched on included sidewalks, Palo Alto’s resources, protection against flooding and the Cubberley Community Center.

“This year we’re looking at finalizing what we’re going to do in trying to solve the backlog of our infrastructure issues,” Burt said. “Innovation in technology is also something that would be a real interest.”

The council will be working to resolve issues with parking and traffic. They have begun extending retail protection in the downtown area and are looking into creating an Arts and Innovation District.

Scharff has been a leading figure during his time on Palo Alto’s city council. “[Scharff]’s been a strong voice and leader on the council since he arrived,” Burt said. “He’s been a leader in fiscal reforms and utility matters.”

The mayor made it clear he intends to create change and advocate progress in the upcoming year.

“We are not waiting for the future to make progress, for this is the year of the future, and the future is now,” Scharff said.

sid venkatasubramaniam staff Writer

ASB has finalized plans for Paly Prom (slated at the Metreon on Saturday, Apr. 27), and tickets to the event are now available for purchase.

ASB has also made plans to open up a new Student Center in the SSRC, which will be available to students after spring break.

Additionally, ASB has been working on coordinating a senior gift project for the city of Palo Alto, which entails repainting a viking in the Embarcadero underpass and passing down the project for future graduating classes to improve upon.

The project is referred to as the “Senior Wall,” and the design efforts are currently being spearheaded by Lisie Sabbag and Claire Marchon, who will present the designs to the Palo Alto City Council on Mar. 21.

Finally, the ASB elections for the 2013-2014 year are coming up, and voting will take place Mar. 27, 28 and 29.

School Board Update Jordan smith

senior staff Writer

The Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) School Board held its most recent meeting on March 8, 2013.

The main topic of focus this year is to renew the efficiency plan that has been in use since 2008. The strategic plan is used as a guideline for how staff workers can be most efficient and helpful to schools and students.

Before collaborating on the 20082012 strategic plan, the school board gathered data from staff members through a survey in order to create the most helpful guidelines. The board plans on giving a similar survey to staff workers this year in order to create another set of compatible guidelines to the Palo Alto schools.

This survey will cover a broad range of topics and concerns often raised in the Palo Alto community dealing with education and students.

In addition to the survey, the school board will be interviewing a wide range of groups, which include board members, administrators, teachers, parents, students and community organizations.

The school board hopes to use the input from the community to improve upon four main pillars of education: academic excellence and learning, staff development, budget trends and infrastructure, and governance communication.

The new strategic plan will be nearing completion by late March and early April.

UPCOMING EVENTs

NEWS BRIEFS

Mayor Scharff presents plans for upcoming year in State of the City address

ASB Update

Girls’ soccer team disqualified from CCS irene ezran staff writer

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he Paly girls’ varsity soccer team was disqualified from the CCS tournament on Feb. 21 because a player was deemed ineligible due to late paperwork.

In late January, freshman player Jacey Pederson, a member of the U.S. Under-17 National Team, participated in a national training camp. According to California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) had to fill out paperwork for Pederson in order for her to participate in CCS. However, the USSF filled out the paperwork late, and the CIF thus considered Pederson ineligible to play in the CCS tournament.

After a coach from an opposing team reported the error, the CIF disqualified the entire Paly soccer team from the tournament.

“When Mr. Winston first told us we would have to forfeit the rest of CCS, everyone was shocked that the punishment was being installed on the whole team,” Pederson said.

Mar

Career month speakers

Mar

ASB ELECTIONS

Mar

ONE ACTS

Apr

SPRING BREAK

Apr

STAR TESTING

18 25 27 1

15

Curious about careers? Stop by the ERC or SSRC to hear from local professionals.

Vote for your 2013-2014 ASB Officials online starting today!

It’s your one chance to audition for Paly One Acts.

Party hard like James Franco in Spring Breakers.

Shoot for the moon! If you fail at least you’ll land in the stars.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

NEWS

Administration addresses parking issues

Courtesy of Grant shorin

A recent increase in parking tickets received by students bring attention to previously ignored parking issues.

Elizabeth Bowman Business manager

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any students have noticed slips appearing on their windshields—parking ticket, pay $46.

With increasing student enrollment and campus construction, parking availability is becoming an issue. The administration has decided to increase parking rule enforcement, out of heightened safety concerns.

“It really made me think after the school shootings in Connecticut, are we doing everything to keep kids safe and making sure we know who’s coming onto campus?” Assistant Principal Kimberly Diorio said. “If we’re not actively monitoring our parking lots, we’re not actively doing a good job.”

The administration is working harder to make sure visitors check in and get a parking permit.

“Some of that has to do with school safety issues, really knowing

who’s on our campus and who’s in our parking lots,” Diorio said. “We need to know that the cars in our lots belong to the students and staff here.”

The police are visiting the campus more often, and between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. they come to check whether people are parking correctly.

“The staff always park in the student parking that is closest to the gyms,” senior Brian Chen said. I have never seen a single staff member park in the staff parking areas.

Some students are frustrated when staff park in student areas, limiting students’ parking options.

“Staff members can park anywhere, but students can only park in student parking spots,” senior Michelle Friedlander said. “This is completely understandable because staff members should have priority for parking over students; however, if staff parking spots are open, staff members should park there because student parking in the Churchill lot is very limited.”

Another major issue for students is the signage in parking lots. Chen, who received a parking ticket, believes the staff spots were unclearly marked.

“From where I parked my car, I could only see the faintest outline of the staff parking sign, and even then, I could not read the individual words,” Chen said. “There are no spray paintings of ‘Staff” on [several] parking spots, [that] are surrounded on all sides by student parking. I did not see any spray-paint indicator of ‘Staff,’ I assumed it was student parking.”

The administration is currently working to improve clarity of parking signage.

“We worked with the district maintenance department to increase the number of signs and improve some of the painting although we still have a few spots that need to be finished up,” Diorio said.

As enrollment increases by 100 students every year, parking availability will likely decrease.

The administration is looking into converting the space in front of the big gym into a staff parking area.

“We’re trying to make [that area] a designated staff parking area so we can put some staff in that section, then that would free up a few more spaces [for students],” Diorio said.

“Some kids will use [the area] casually to pick up hoops but it’s really not used for [Physical Education] class.”

Parking in the Churchill lot is very tight, and many students complain about getting tickets because they weren’t able to get a spot or they parked illegally.

“We keep telling them and redirecting them that they should give themselves more time to get here a little earlier so they can park in the [El Camino parking lot] no problem,” Diorio said. “There’s plenty of open spots, even when we had the Christmas Tree lot. There were at least 20 open spots when the Christmas Tree lot was here.”

Those who cannot find space in the Churchill lot park in the Southgate neighborhood. This lack of parking spots poses a problem because with narrow streets and cars parked on both sides, it is hard to maneuver through the streets.

“We’re getting complaints from residents when [students park in neighborhood areas],” Diorio said.

“Those neighbors have been very vocal about the issue and wanting us to be more proactive and telling kids not to park there. I had a couple of students come down yesterday who had a resident who left a couple of notes on their car saying that the administration does not want you parking here.”

Diorio is willing to work with students to alleviate the parking problem.

“I think students need to do a better job of planning, giving themselves that five minutes extra time,” Diorio said. “If anybody has any ideas or suggestions, we’re open to them.”

A3

Senior gift determined to be Viking mural Charlotte Barry Marie Ezran senior staff writers

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aly’s senior class officers and Associated Student Body (ASB) are finalizing the plans for the senior class gift, according to senior class president Michael Wang.

The gift will be a painted mural on the Embarcadero Road underpass that will display the viking mascot along with other painted decorations.

“We are planning to renovate the Embarcadero tunnel and start something the senior wall where each class will add a viking to the tunnel until we run out of space and each senior class will be responsible for the upkeep of the mural,” Stabinsky said.

Seniors Lisie Sabag and Claire Marchon will be the main designers and artists of the mural along with some guidance from ASB. They will also be contacting other senior artists to help paint the mural.

“It will feature a viking, the name ‘Class of 2013’ and some cool stencil art,” Marchon said.

According to Wang, they had originally planned to help refurbish the North California tunnel by painting the mural there, but it was too far off campus and this idea was not a feasible idea.

“Since we thought we already had Mr. Winston on board and the mayor and the public works people, we decided to go with the Embarcadero tunnel,” Wang said.

According to Stabinsky, ASB has not finalized the price yet however they have the money allocated on the senior account for the class gift.

ASB hopes to have the mural done in early May, with the help of a few senior artists along with the rest of the senior class.

Tentative changes for Harassment issue resolved in court homework policy begin District follows the resolution agreement to prevent future disability-based harassment.

HOMEWORK, continued from A1 circumstances affect a student’s ability to complete the work on time.”

Additionally, the original homework policy stated that project-based assignments should not require group meetings outside class. Now, the proposed revisions state that the projects should not require group meetings that “result in unreasonable demands on time.”

School board member Melissa Baten-Caswell explains that the revisions suggested on Tuesday’s meetings were proposed to help students and prevent teachers from feeling as though they were confined to a strict homework policy. She also explained how the proposed revision to allow for “punitive treatment of late homework” has caused disagreement within the board.

“Many parents are not happy at all with the idea of that specific possible change,” Baten-Caswell said. “There will definitely be more discussion.”

Baten-Caswell said that none of the proposals will be final until a few meetings into the future.

However, when changes are being made, the board will not lose sight of the vision of the original homework policy.

“The main goal of the policy is to make homework effective and impactful,” Baten-Caswell said. “We want to reduce busy work and make sure whatever is being assigned to students is truly worth their time.

Although we might be making minor revisions in the future, this overall goal will not be lost.”

Baten-Caswell also encourages students to look for the policy on the district website.

“Students should definitely find and read the school board’s policy,” Baten-Caswell said. “It will help them understand our goals for the district.”

However, from many students’ perspectives in Palo Alto schools, these new alterations may not hold great significance. Some feel as though the policy was never truly

adopted to begin with, making the current changes feel irrelevant.

“In my math class, kids receive a 0/10 on their math homework if they turn it in a day late and didn’t get an extension granted the day before,” Paly sophomore Emma Chiu said.

“It’s been like this the whole year, so even when the policy was supposed to be in action, it wasn’t.”

Edut Birger, a sophomore at Gunn High School, said that she has “never heard of this policy.” She believes this is a problem because it creates a situation in which students are indifferent about recent policy changes.

“If the district wants to create an effective homework policy, they need to take care of it — make sure it’s consistent and well-enforced,” Birger said. “Otherwise these recent edits don’t really matter anyway.”

Birger, however, says that had the original policy made a noticeable impact with her school work in the first place, she would be frustrated with the recent changes.

“They just make the policy more irrelevant and less helpful to students with large amounts of homework,” Birger said.

Junior Zach Rizk believes such changes in the policy are somewhat reasonable.

“We attend Palo Alto High and are known for our academic rigor,” Rizk said. “It’s not totally unreasonable for teachers to refuse to accept late work. I can’t say I’m bothered by it because I’ve always lived by the rule of getting work in on time or being penalized.”

Rizk also expressed how the school board’s homework policy has never been a topic of conversation.

“I can’t recall any teachers following those guidelines assigned, all my teachers throughout high school have provided consequences for late work,” Rizk said. “If this was in action, I don’t think [the changes] would affect me because turning in late work is just a bad habit and teachers accepting late work aren’t helping to prepare their students for their futures in education and work.”

HARASSMENT, continued from A1 “School officials showed a lack of understanding that harassment of a student based on behaviors that are the product of a disability is a matter of discrimination, and a lack of understanding of what constitutes a hostile environment,” the report stated.

After investigation, the OCR concluded that the district violated two anti-discrimination laws preventing disability-based discrimination by the district, a public, federal-funded program, for failing to respond appropriately. According to the report, the district and school officials received notice of the disability-related harassment as early as Nov. 2010.

The school district, under these laws, is required to provide students with a “nondiscriminatory educational environment” as harassment could hinder the student’s abilities.

The report also stated that the “OCR evaluates the appropriateness of the responsive action by assessing whether it was prompt, thorough, and effective.” The response must

work to stop the harassment, alleviate the “hostile environment,” address the effects the harassed student experienced and take steps to prevent the harassment from occurring again.

Following the OCR report, Skelly signed a resolution agreement, without admitting to any violation of law, in order to take steps to voluntarily resolve the issues as well as establish protocols for future reference.

School officials showed a lack of understanding that harassment of a student based on behaviors that are the product of a disability is a matter of discrimination US Department of Education, OCR

The Resolution Agreement requires that the district hold an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting to evaluate and identify the student’s disabilities, develop a reasonable protocol for dealing with allegations of harassment, create a guidance memorandum including District policies prohibiting disability-based discrimination, add in “disability” to the complaint procedures and harassment policy in the

handbook and provide training on disability-based harassment. During this process, the district will be monitored by the OCR, having to provide documentation by certain deadlines.

The District chose to work on its own training agenda and is submitting the agenda to the OCR for approval. In the spring, all school administrators must attend the “mandatory training on disability-based harassment.” The administrators will then train teachers during the first three months of the school year. “[The administration] should investigate [the report of harassment] and work through what they should do in difficult disciplinary cases,” Skelly said. “They should interview those people involved. They check on the veracity of it. If there are disciplinary consequences, they do that.

They do a whole bunch of different pieces to try to change behavior. They also look out for the person who is bullied and counsel the person who is bullying.”

The administrators at the school site will remain the primary person to report harassment.

“In a lot of schools, if [a student] has a problems, [he or she] goes to see the principal, and that will be contained in there,” Skelly said.

Devine backs Marinkovich wishes to class bonding enhance sense of community DEVINE, Continued from Page A1

MARINKOVICH, Continued from A1

“Just try and publicize them more to get more people to come,” Devine said.

Devine believes the music performances were beneficial investments.

“Some of the things that ASB has been doing this year that have been really effective, like having concerts after school,” Devine said.

And similar to Marinkovich, Devine wishes to put the ASB budget surplus into good use by channeling it towards funding for student activities.

“I think I would try and put [the surplus] into more student activities and try to get the money directly to help students,” Devine.

“We’ve had really positive feedback from what we’ve been doing on Fridays at lunch,” Marinkovich said.

“I’d like to do more things like that to make our school feel like a community and that everybody’s here together.”

However, Marinkovich did not state any specific communitybuilding activities that she would implement to that end.

“I think that at the beginning of the year, the ASB president and vice president need to have a [conversation] with each class rep and just talk about what they have for plans for their class.”

Marinkovich also addressed ASB’s budget surplus, stating her approval of ASB’s recent expenditures on lawn chairs.

“Stop spending arbitrarily and start spending on things students want to have [such as lawn chairs],” Marinkovich said. “That’s what I think ASB needs to focus on.”

And finally, addressing notoriously dismal dance attendance, Marinkovich remains optimistic in seeing a change in Paly culture.

“We had a lot of attendance for homecoming this year. I think it could even be bigger next year,” Marinkovich said. “Based on that, dances could return to the Paly culture...The right publicity will bring people back to dances.”

Monday, March 18, 2013

A4

The Campanile

NEWS

Robotics team prepares for regionals

Ahmed Awadallah/The Campanile

The Paly robotics team has high hopes for the regional competition that will take place at the end of March. To the right is one of the three robots that the team designed.

will mendenhall staff writer

A

fter having made it all the way to nationals last year, the robotics team looks to approach regionals with the same zeal that earned them a spot in the national robotics competition last year.

Welding, sawing, wiring, and coding are all but some of the various skills used in the robotics club at Paly.

The competition for regionals will be

held from March 20 to 23. The team has designed, built and funded a complex robot that is to compete in this year’s regionals competition.

“We have built a robot that can shoot frisbees and climb up 90 inch tall metal pyramid,” junior Eric Najork said.

Regionals for robotics combines teams of three robots which have to complete several tasks as a team.

Usually, teams will have two larger robots and a third smaller robot carried on the back of the larger ones.

With such a large task looming,

the team has chosen to divide and conquer.

“This year we have prepared for regionals by working in three separate teams,” Najork said. “The Build Team builds the physical robot. The Programming Team writes the code that gets run on the robot., and the Public Relations team raises the money necessary to go to the competitions, build the robot and much more.”

Since the robotics team is considered a Paly club, it has to raise all of its own funds to buy the entry costs

for competitions. Another way the robotics team raises funds is through Robotics is an excellent extracurricular that gives students the opportunity to work as engineers.

Eric Najork Junior

corporate sponsors. Boeing is one of the sponsors that helps the robotics team purchase all the expensive

equipment needed to compete. Many students tirelessly devote their time to being on the robotics team, however, they feel that the rewards are well worth the effort they put in.

“The reason why I am interested in robotics is because it is an excellent extracurricular that gives students the opportunity to work as engineers in order to tackle a problem,” Najork said. “This is very similar to the way professional engineering companies work.”

The team hopes to win regionals and move on to nationals.

English department Girls’ wrestling gains popularity in local high schools to standardize grading jensen hsiao

Josefin Kenrick

staff writer

staff writer

W

restling, considered by many as the “toughest” sport, is often stereotyped as a male sport, but a recent rise in the accomplishments of female athletes competing in matches proves otherwise.

This past season, females from numerous states claimed state titles all around the country. One of these girls is Henry M. Gunn High School (Gunn) junior Cadence Lee, who holds the California state title for the 103 pound league. Lee is the third athlete in Gunn history to win a state championship.

This past season Paly had one female wrestler, sophomore Alexa Austin, while Gunn had four girls including Lee.

[Girls’ wrestling is] definitely growing extremely quickly. I’ve seen the level of competition improve dramatically.

Cadence Lee Gunn Junior

“[Girls’ wrestling is] definitely growing extremely quickly,” Lee said.

“I’ve seen the level of competition improve dramatically from just my freshman year.”

S

Courtesy of wrestlegirl.com

Female junior wrestler Cadence Lee pins down her opponent for the win.

While girl’s wrestling is growing in size, it is still not big enough to have its own league or even its own team at schools its own team.

“For now, it’s all still co-ed,” Lee said. “Personally, I think it’s great. I prefer wrestling with boys because I find it more challenging, and it’s a great way to keep my condition at the top level. I think, eventually, girls will have to wrestle just girls.”

Girls like Lee are defying the stereotype that girls cannot wrestle at the same level as guys.

“I feel like there is the stereotype that the boys are probably a lot stronger than the girls, which isn’t always true,” Lee said. “I think people respect female wrestlers for being able to go out there against the boys, even if they’re seen as the underdog.”

Obviously, Lee is not the underdog on the mat; she plans to compete next year in the hopes of holding her state title.

“I’m really happy about [winning states],” Lee said. “But I have to stay focused and aim even higher for the future.”

Although the number of female wrestlers has grown exponentially over the past years, many people are still not aware that high school girls can wrestle competitively on boys’ teams.

“I didn’t even know [female wrestlers] existed until recently,” junior Paul Bienaime said. “I know that [girls in wrestling] are more prominent than people think they are, and I know that they compete with boys, which I think is pretty cool.”

tarting from the beginning of the 2012 school year, the members of the English Department have tried to align and standardize their essay grading system. Upcoming workshops are helping them further their progress, according to English Department Instructional Supervisor Shirley Tokheim.

Although the process started over six months ago, the English Department is not done with their alignment of essay grading and classes. Aligning the essay grading system is a way for teachers to ensure that their classes are graded fairly and equally across the board.

“I often will show some [American Lit Honors] papers to the other teacher, and she will read it, and we will grade it together,” Tokheim said.

After complaints from the student body about unfair grading, Tokheim and the other English teachers have been working on fixing the system and creating fair, standardized classes.

“We give similar assignments, we give similar number of assignments [and] we are similar in the number of essays we grade,” Tokheim said.

However, alignment of grading can take a long time, and there are many different ways do it.

“It’s complicated,” Tokheim said.

“We have increased our focus this year, it’ll happen over the summer.”

In an attempt to align their classes, Tokheim and other English teachers are attending workshops about teaching, such as developing techniques to help students analyze literature.

“We have another professional development day coming up in March, and [we] will do further alignment [there],” Tokheim said.

“It’s a big process and takes a lot of conversations and a lot of time, so we are extremely busy, and our primary work is teaching English.”

There are lots of different ways we can work on being better aligned and it takes a period of time.

Shirley Tokheim English Department Supervisor

Along with essay grading, English teachers work together during collaboration time, have monthly department meetings, and Tokheim sends out department emails on a regular basis in order to continue to meet California’s standards for English classes.

California standards for English classes include writing, speaking, listening and reading comprehension standards that the English Department is trying to incorporate more fully into their curriculum.

“You will have a similar experience no matter who your teacher is,” Tokheim said. “It is a big process.”

The Campanile

Monday, March 18, 2013

NEWS

Students plagued by academic stress

A5

Charlotte Barry/The campanile

High-strung students flock to the Academic Resource Center to finish last minute studying for upcoming tests.

Sid Venkatasubramanian sTAFF wRITER

I

t is 7:00 p.m. After three grueling hours of homework problems for Analysis Honors and Physics 1A, Junior ChiaHan Song settles down at his desk to finish editing the passage analysis he has due at midnight for American Literature. 12:00 a.m. Song starts studying 40 pages worth of textbook material for the AP Biology quiz he has the following day. At 3:00 a.m., he finally goes to bed.

Stress seems to be omnipresent in the lives of nearly every student.

Somehow, in spite of the years of indoctrination on the virtues of note-taking and time management integrated into almost every postelementary school class in PAUSD, the average student’s high school life is marked by a frantic rush to manage SAT preparation, piano practice, Stanford internships and schoolwork into a single jam-packed schedule.

For many, the years of stress, often brought about by the distant promise for a better college placement, can push Paly students to the verge

of breakdown. According to Mark, a senior at Paly whose name was changed to maintain anonymity, the relentless onslaught of academic and extracurricular obligations brought him many times to the brink of a mental breakdown. After four grueling years at Paly, many students such as Mark question the futility of challenging oneself in such a manner and

Professionals in their thirties and forties— physicians, lawyers, academics, business people and others - sometimes give the impression that they are dazed survivors of some bewildering life-long boot-camp.

William Fitzsimmons Harvard Dean of Admission

whether it was worth the damage to their health and spirits.

“Throughout my junior year, I barely had a few moments each day when I wasn’t bogged down by the work due in the coming week and

what it would take to get through it,” he said. “Every now and then, I can’t help but wonder whether it would have mattered to get to a top20 college versus a top-50 college and whether the scars of energy supplements and 5-hour energies left on my body will make a difference in the long run.”

Despite this reality, some students have found the rigor that they faced during their time at Paly invaluable during their college journey. Their time at Paly has provided them with the skills to effectively deal with more challenging material while still remaining level headed.

“Although my course-load is significantly more challenging than that of some of my college peers, the stress that I feel on a day-to-day basis is a fraction of that which I dealt daily at Paly,” Paly Class of 2012 alumnus Akshay Mata, now a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, said. “The nonstop rigor and challenge that Paly classes provided gave me the work ethic and time management skills to sail through my post-secondary study.”

The sad reality, however, is the fact that a growing number of students

are left “burnt out,” or completely incapable to enjoy their post-secondary education experience due to the mental and physical limitations that they encountered while combating an unhealthy amount of stress.

In his widely acclaimed and cited article Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation, Harvard Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons argues that the obsession to gain acceptance to an elite university that is preying on the youth of today comes to the detriment of true enrichment in one’s teenage years.

“Sports, music, dance, and other recreational activities used to provide a welcome break, a time to relax and unwind [but] no more: training for college scholarships—or professional contracts—begins early, even in grammar school,” Fitzsimmons writes. “By high school, the pressure intensifies, students start to specialize in one activity even to the exclusion of other pursuits in their life... [and] academic demands also ratchet up, supported by special tutors and the beginning of SAT prep in middle school.”

Fitzsimmons ultimately concludes that the irrational rush to

take every AP class and participate in every extracurricular activity available. Oftentimes this leaves students unable to appreciate the college experience which they had worked so hard to earn.

“Professionals in their thirties and forties—physicians, lawyers, academics, doctors, business people and others - sometimes give the impression that they are dazed survivors of some bewildering life-long boot-camp,” he writes. “Often [professionals] say they missed their youth entirely, never living in the present, always pursuing some ill-defined future goal.”

Although stress has the potential to serve as a motivator in regulated amounts, the overdose that the college rat race drowns students and traps them in a vicious cycle of lowself confidence and an inability to get even basic work down in their every day life.

“Regardless of what others say about being stimulated by stress, when I’m experiencing it, I can see no benefit at all,” junior Max Bernstein said. “I’m not particularly motivated by it; in fact I probably just end up procrastinating more.”

Junior and senior entrepreneurs Abundant summer to speak at Career Month job opportunities Beth Yan

technology editor

A

Courtesy of ipoduplink

On their YouTube channel, D’Urso and Kellison-Lin explain various jailbreaking methods to viewers.

Galen byrd Staff writer

S

enior Adrian D’Urso and junior Freddy Kellison-Linn started their YouTube channel iPod Uplink out of hobby in 2009, never thinking that it would amass such a large following. Since then, they have become teen entrepreneurs, running one of the Internet’s most popular tutorial websites for jailbreaking. The two will share their experiences and learnings on March 29 as the first students to speak at Paly’s career month.

Jailbreaknation.com and their YouTube channel, youtube.com/ ipoduplink, provide Apple news and rumors, along with tutorials on how to jailbreak your iPhone or iPod easily.

Jailbreaking is a software that removes the restrictions that Apple puts on its devices. For example, a jailbroken device can download some applications that are not on the Apple app store. Additionally, it enables one

to add themes or customizations to their iPhones.

Jailbreak Nation has become one of the most popular tutorial sites for jailbreaking, though it started as just a fun hobby.

“The idea expanded upon our YouTube channel in which we started for fun to help people,” D’Urso said.

“Jailbreak Nation started as a supplement site to our videos, which eventually grew more popular than the channel itself.”

Once the site and YouTube channel became popular, D’Urso and Kellison-Linn realized they had a potential business and started to sell advertisements to make money.

With almost 700 videos, the iPod Uplink YouTube account has accumulated over 100 million views and has amassed over 430 thousand subscribers and 250 thousand likes on Facebook.

“Entrepreneurship is as valid of a career as any, so we hope that other Paly students could be inspired in something they want to pursue, either

while in school, or after” KellisonLinn said Although only high school students, D’Urso and Kellison-Linn have faced many of the same difficulties that any other entrepreneur would encounter. They have even hired lawyers, accountants, and filed taxes.

Along with all their success D’Urso and Kellison-Linn have faced some challenges that have helped them grow and create a better business.

“We have experienced a wide range of problems, from site outages to disagreements, but we haven’t met one that we were not able to overcome” Kellison-Linn said.

As the popularity grew, their focus shifted from a small scale website and YouTube account into a business.

More time was being spent on adding advertisements, maintaining the site and administrational work.

As career month approaches, it is encouraged to take advantage of the lunchtime presentations, which can open another door to a previously unknown career interest.

s the second semester of the school year is well under way, students may be begin to think about summer plans. For many who would like to earn some extra spending money or experience the realities of the workforce, the summer is a great time to take on a job.

Meri Gyves leads the Education Through Work Experience and the Exploratory Experience classes at Paly. The Exploratory Experience class is an elective that allows students to explore possible career paths through volunteer work in the community. The Work Experience class teaches students how to procure and manage a paying job. Both classes qualify for career/vocational education credits, which are necessary to fulfil before a student can graduate.

Gyves highly recommends taking on a job, as it teaches students social skills while allowing them to discern what career path they may be interested in pursuing in the future.

“Summer jobs, or any job, whether its a volunteer job, an internship— paid or unpaid—or a regular paid position gives students experience in working with other people—and all sorts of types of people,” Gyves said.

“You're always learning in every situation. You're also learning as to what kind of job you may want in the future and what you don't want to do. So every experience is a good experience.”

Senior Eva Din worked last summer as a children’s camp counselor and enjoyed the freedom and social interaction the job provided her.

“I really liked having a summer job because it made me feel really independent,” Din said. “I like the summer to relax but it felt good to be a little productive and do something besides school for once. It was really rewarding because I got to

choose to work somewhere where I truly enjoyed spending time at. I got to meet a lot of new people and have more experience.”

Before applying, students who hope to find a summer job need to thoroughly research the organizations and companies that they are interested in working for.

“You need to really research the job—get on Google—and figure out ‘what does this job entail?’” Gyves said. “Don’t go in without doing your homework. You wouldn’t walk into a test without studying. You need to study the job.”

Despite clichés about not judging a book by its cover, making a good initial impression through proper manners and dress can make an enormous difference.

“First impressions will be the lasting impression,” Gyves said. “You can be a smart person, you can be the smartest person in the room. You’re not going to get the job if you don’t have some etiquette. I ’m teaching etiquette this year in class. If you don’t have some etiquette and manners, they do not care how smart you are.”

While the thorough preparation necessary to secure a summer job may seem daunting, many feel the benefits of working make it worth the effort at the end.

“I think other people should get jobs because it’s fun trying something new and interacting with people and of course making money in the process,” Din said. “The pros are that I met a lot of new people and interacted a lot with kids which is something I want to do in the future. I made a lot of friends and I learned a lot of new things and I felt like a leader.”

Gyves agrees that taking on a job offers many benefits. She also advises taking on a job that the student is passionate about in order to get the most out of the experience.

“Do something that you love to do,” Gyves said. “Do your passion.”

Monday, March 18, 2013

A6

The Campanile

SPOTLIGHT

[landscape] first place : “Above”

by Cathy rong, [junior]

second place : “Untitled"

by catherine Yu, [freshman]

third place : “Sunrise”

by Ana sofia Amieva wang [sophomore]

f i r s t p l a c e

[the annual]

CAMPANILE PH f i r s t p l a c e

[portrait]

first place : “Untitled” by matan geller [senior] second place : “Untitled" by scotty bara [senior] third place : “Feminine Machine” by vivian laurence [junior]

The Campanile

Monday, March 18, 2013

SPOTLIGHT

A7

[miscellaneous] first place : Untitled by masha andreyeva [senior] second place : “Sick Tree Pic” by quinn rockwell [senior] third place : “Chasm in the Rock” by ethan markowitz [freshman]

f i r s t p l a c e

HOTO CONTEST f i r s t p l a c e

the Campanile would like to thank those who submitted to this year’s photo contest. the winning photos were chosen by the Campanile’s photography editors, Adam mansour and gina scarpino. design by chrissie cheng & emily semba

[still life] first place : “Untitled”

by josh madej, [senior]

second place : “Flowers in the Window" by josie butler [senior]

third place : “Untitled” by samir kothari [freshman]

The Campanile

A8

Monday, March 18, 2013

SPONSORED PAGE

THE ASB POST

The Official Newsletter of the Palo Alto High School Associated Student Body ASB’s theme this year is “Integration and Inclusion.” Our main goals this year are to: a) increase ASB’s involvement in all student activities and b) ensure that the student body always knows what ASB is doing. We hope to achieve these goals by boosting publicity and making it more effective. We want to strengthen the communication with the student body and enact more ASB events and activities on campus geared towards improving student life. For anyone seeking the latest updates about ASB, make sure to visit our website (https://sites.google.com/site/pahsasb/), Facebook page (https:// www.facebook.com/#!/palyasb), and Twitter account (https://twitter.com/palyasb). ASB wants to remind students that anyone can approach an ASB officer, email Mr. Hall, request a private appointment with ASB or drop in suggestions through Formspring (http://www.formspring.me/PalyASB) and our ASB Comments box outside the SAO.

PROM

Events

Get ready for a blast at Prom 2013, which will take place on April 27! This year’s prom will be held at San Francisco’s beautiful Metreon, an event space that features a dazzling view of the city skyline.

The night’s theme is “When the Lights Go Down in the City” and there will be lots of food, photo booths and activities available for everyone. We will also be using the same event DJ as last year.

For many months, our upperclassmen officers have been channeling their energy and creativity into organizing this event. All you need to do is remember the following: Early bird prices end on April 7! Tickets until then are $100 with an ASB card and $110 without. From the April 8 to the 19, ticket prices will rise to $110 with an ASB card and $120 without.

Guest forms and tickets (set at $120) must be bought at the Auditor’s office.

Make sure to buy your own tickets as soon as possible on the Paly Web Store!

All images courtesy of creative commons

After months of research and planning, ASB secured the Metreon as the official Prom location.

A unique and modern event space, the venue’s main attraction is its open balcony rooftop, which will provide students with an unparalleled view of the San Francisco skyline.

ELECTIONS

For the first time, ASB will hold online voting for this year’s officer elections later this month.

All 9th, 10th, and 11th graders will be able to access the website using their student ID numbers, names and birth dates, so keep an eye out for the link to the website.

Election week for ASB officers—ranging from class to executive positions—will take place from March 25th to 29th. Candidates will have the opportunity to campaign throughout the week.

For more information on the candidate bios and platforms, visit the ASB website on Paly. net or the Paly ASB Facebok page. Your voice is important, so make sure to cast your votes for next year’s officers!

Application packets for appointed positions, such as Spirit Commissioner, Multicultural Commissioner and School Board Representative, will be available in the SAO after spring break in early April.

Courtesy of Matthew Hall

This is the login page that all freshmen, sophomores and juniors that wish to vote will be prompted with. TallySpace also gives ASB access to the IP address from which each vote is sent in, allowing any voter fraud to be identified and eliminated immediately.

MISCELLANEOUS

courtesy of palo alto high school ASB

Left: Social studies teacher Grant Blackburn jams out on the senior deck during Paly Rocks’ lunchtime performance, which continued ASB’s goals of providing live music at school and music on the quad at lunch. Right: ASB members Owen Dulik, Emma Ketchum and Bria Vicenti sell Valgrams to students. Due to Valgram’s popularity, they will return next year.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

OPINION

Introducing Teacher 2.0 Teacher 2.0 is a newly constructed prototype that will enable teachers to be more efficient and organized.

Jake Kerman

Timely Grading

Teacher 2.0, with its massive processing power, can grade papers on the spot and have them up on Infinite Campus with a single command.

Speed pleases students, who always like to know exactly where they stand grade-wise in their respective courses.

Admittedly, it feels like a disconnect exists between students and staff on what makes a great teacher. To being the sides closer together, no raging or provision of horror stories is required.

Opinion Editor

H

ere at Palo Alto High, we students enjoy griping about staff members.

Even more importantly, we like to do it often.

“God, Teacher X has graded none of our work!”

“He doesn’t even teach the material that’s on our tests!”

“I should have gone to private school... At least they can fire their teachers.”

While a portion of this trashing can be justified, most of it is not.

This school is filled with some of the best educators in the country, and kids who attend this school live in a bubble.

Paly students do not know the horrors of a truly terrible education that can occur in other school districts around the country.

Also, venting from students the unavoidable side effect in a school with such high-achieving kids who possess parents with equally demanding standards.

Admittedly, it feels like a disconnect exists between students and staff on what makes a great teacher. To bring the sides closer together, no raging or provision of horror stories is required.

Rather, all eyes should focus onto my newly constructed Teacher 2.0, the prototype of an educator that all other high school instructors should aspire to. This article will describe the newer components that make up.

Teacher 2.0, and how those upgrades make 2.0 superior to the old model, Teacher 1.0.

Teacher 1.0 was programmed to believe that students worry solely about the difficulty of material, and the due dates of those assignments.

While students do worry about these factors, an arguably larger amount of stress is currently directed towards fretting over gradebooks that have not been updated in three-plus weeks.

The reason this factor seems even more stressful to students is that, unlike studying for hard material, they do not have any control over teachers returning assignments.

Teacher 1.0 may not realize this and only updates grades three to four times in huge chunks over the course of a semester.

One teacher that currently emulates Teacher 2.0 in this regard is chemistry whiz Carolina Sylvestri.

Generally adored by her students, Sylvestri has an amazing ability to speed through grading. More often than not, test grades will already be posted online by the time that students are walking out of class.

Organization

Now that Teacher 2.0 has been updated with a new file-saving system, it is more organized than ever.

Students can give Teacher 2.0 homework that was due during an absence, and it immediately places the assignment in a file where it will not be forgotten.

Also, with the aforementioned improved processing power, Teacher 2.0 does not crash and lose assignments, in effect forgetting

that the assignments were ever handed in.

Teacher 1.0, while initially receptive of the handing in of late work, will then file the assignment into overstuffed files, which are prone to crashing. If the assignment is lucky enough to later be retrieved, time consuming reboot will take place, which slows the grading process.

At Paly, calculus teacher David Peters does a great job of impersonating Teacher 2.0 when it comes to organization. All work and tests are handed back without fail. He is also extremely receptive to a rare error and makes the change quickly, which eases any stress on students.

Availability

Teacher 1.0 does a good job making itself available to students with the capabilities that it possesses.

These include assistance before and after school, along with during tutorial and potential preps.

However, as virtual communication has continued to expand, Teacher 1.0 does not have the capability to upgrade to current student needs.

Thankfully, Teacher 2.0 is ahead of the curve. With fully integrated Facebook and email capabilities, communication with students is merely a click away. Furthermore, added speed to processors allow 2.0 to check these resources with regularity (two to three times a day), even after sundown.

Ellen Austin of the English department does a great job of acting similarly to Teacher 2.0 in this regard by staying connected with students.

She is wired in on both Facebook and e-mail.

Nevertheless, Teacher 1.0 has been a good educator for the last decade or so. It always cared about the students it taught, knew the material being instructed and was programmed to possess a general love for education.

If the real teachers of Paly can implement the new features that Teacher 2.0 received to their own individual arsenals, this school will continue to be a model for high school education for years to come.

That is, until the day when Teacher 3.0 becomes available to the general public.

Fear of failure hinders personal growth of students Students need to change their outlook on failure in order to learn from the experience.

shivonne logan staff writer

M

ake your own mistakes.

Yeah, right. Parents, teachers and coaches have drilled this idea into our heads over and over again. But in practice, it’s more easily said than done.

It’s hard to make your own mistakes when you’ve got someone analyzing everything you do. Not just one person, either—college admissions officers, teachers, tiger parents.

We all feel them watching over our shoulders. So every grade just has to be excellent, and there’s no room for even the tiniest misstep.

Maybe that’s Palo Alto, or maybe that’s the way it works around the U.S. Regardless, it’s not going to help students in the future.

Companies are looking for new employees who are able to learn from their failure, rather than let failure set them back.

Paly students seem to fear failure and what it means for our futures, so we bend over backwards to avoid it. We are stuck in what is commonly known as a fixed mindset: we

fear making mistakes, and often are unable to grow as a result.

“Competition is so fierce at Paly because of our school’s reputation,” junior Cathy Rong said. “Paly makes it seem like each student has to be known for something, whether it’s academics, sports or theatrical talent.”

It’s easy to see why everyone is so adverse to failure. A failed test could result in a lower grade, and a social mistake could result in drama.

This negative attitude towards even the slightest failure is not going to help us in the long run.

“I think that without having the full range of experience from success to failure, students can not really experience the entire range of behaviors that we have to exhibit when certain situations confront us,” history teacher David Rapaport said.

Just look at historical figures and the beginning of many companies.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt lost a vice presidential election before he became one of the most respected presidents in U.S. history.

Steve Jobs had to leave Apple before he could return and rise with it to success.

As Bill Gates once put it, “It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”

Our anti-failure culture must change and bend to suit the way students learn the best. If we are always “successful” in school, we might get the grades we want, but we won’t learn how to deal with difficult situations.

Failure allows us to develop a variety of different skills, including quick thinking, flexibility, perseverance and many more skills that will

prove invaluable when we are given the opportunity to leave our mark on the world.

Without real world experiences and these important abilities, we won’t be prepared to face the job market that revolves around entrepreneurs with such qualities.

It’s common for an unsatisfactory grade or a missed soccer goal to be discouraging. But what’s important is not the mistake, or even the grade.

It’s what you learn from it and how you recover.

This negative attitude towards even the slightest failure is not going to help us in the long run.

If you do badly on one math test, but realize how best to study and work hard, you are sure to improve on the next one. And the next one after that, if you keep up the effort.

“When I do horribly on a test, it motivates me even more to do better on the next one, so I can catch up effectively,” Rong said.

It’s important to realize that one tiny failure is not, in fact, the end of the world.

A bad grade on one test won’t change which colleges you get into, and getting an answer wrong in class doesn’t mean you’re stupid. It means you’re learning. Isn’t that what we’re at school to do?

“Do I want students to be taught how to fail?” Rapaport said. “No. I want students to learn from bad experience so a) they won’t repeat it b) they’ll avoid it or c) they’ll learn a technique to extract the most from the experience.”

A9

Local teachers deserve their high salaries

Maya Kitayama staff writer

T

eachers do not enter the educational field expecting to receive large incomes and reap huge monetary benefits. Teaching is a profession that is entirely focused on the improvement of someone else, arguably a selfless job. Therefore, a school district that has the capability of supporting its teaching staff to a higher degree should be revered and appreciated, not condemned. According to the US Census Bureau, the average classroom teacher salary totaled at $54,220 in 2011.

However, a recent list of the average Palo Alto teacher salary published by the Daily Post revealed that in the past year, teachers made an average of $86,036, far surpassing the average held by the rest of the nation.

Daily Post Associate Editor Jeramy Gordon reported that the district spent a total of $129.4 million in total to pay for the 1,610 employees, 798 of which are teachers, currently working for PAUSD. Furthermore, teachers and district employees have the opportunity to accumulate pay raises and extra benefits for a multi-

tude of reasons.

Gordon reported that despite the failure for the district to provide employees with any base-salary raises in the past five years, employees can still acquire raises through what is called the “step and column,” a grid that takes into account both years working for the district, and an employee’s educational level.

However, Gordon failed to recognize the merits to the system in question, nor did he compliment the district’s attempts to pay staff members salaries that far surpass the national margin.

The article portrays the PAUSD employees as very well-off, implanted

in a system that continues to provide greater benefits as teachers further their work in the district. The headline topping the first part of the listed employee salaries states “75 PA teachers make $100,000+.” The listings, along with the short article that was printed as well, give off the idea that the large group of teachers making over $100,000 is a big issue that the public ought to know about.

However, the question remains of why this information is something that needs to be revealed to the public. What is the need for showing that the district spends a large portion of the budget on their own employees?

To cause controversy? To suggest that taxpayers funnel their money elsewhere?

It is apparent that the community surrounding the PAUSD district is in full support of financing and promoting education. 77.59 percent of citizens in Palo Alto voted in favor of the $378 million Strong Schools Bond.

Even the establishment of Partners in Education (PiE) suggests that Palo Alto citizens are supportive of PAUSD and its educational system.

Just in the past week, the organization donated $4.9 million to the school board, an indication of PiE’s success, along with the enthusiastic willingness by parents and other citizens to donate to the educational purpose.

To come back to the original point, in a community where education is highly valued and openly supported, it makes perfect sense that the teachers employed within that community should reap the benefits of working in such a supportive town.

Teachers will always remain part of the core that keeps a school together, and will continue to be the support system that encourages the students.

A city that prides itself on its educational system and instills the mindset of college preparedness into the minds of the youth it encompasses should also pride itself on its ability to fund teachers.

Teachers that are helping to shape, and foster the younger generation deserve the very best benefits the district, and the community have to offer.

Monday, March 18, 2013

A10

The Campanile

OPINION

Coding course must be required for graduation

leslie wan staff writer

H

ere we are in 2013, all depending on technology to bank, for information, and none of us knows how to read and write code,” Black Eyed Peas member will.i.am., who is currently taking coding classes, said in an interview with Code.org.

Many of the unfilled jobs in the world require coding or an aspect of it in the jobs. Coding is merely just typing a keyboard into a program and creating an object, phrase or program.

Coding is mainly self-taught and does require some instruction to learn, but it will not only help you later in life, but also empower you to create and make the computer do commands that you have never thought it could before such as painting and designing a web page.

Many people have shied away from this mystic computer language, believing that this computer language is reserved for future engineers.

Although computer programming sounds tedious and impossible to learn for some, coding can open up numerous jobs and offerings. In other words, coding is a valuable skill that allows students to do and create almost anything with a keyboard.

In fact, coding can help with almost any field of study or course in college, high school and jobs. According to Code.org, many may go unfilled because only one in ten high schools teach students how to code. Coding

Jensen hsiao/ the campanile

After school junior Freddy Kellison-Linn codes a program to satisfy his curiosity about computers and technology.

needs to be a graduation requirement so that students can stay competitive in the modern job market.

Paly computer programming teacher and robotics advisor Chris Kuszmaul believes that the job market demands an expertise in computational thinking.

“Anything that glows, anything electronic, is run by code in some level,” Kuszmaul said. “One person has to write that code, for a machine, a car or a part in manufacturing. All of these things require coding.”

As stated previously, people can apply coding to practically any field of study. For example, junior Kavya Ramakrishnan, who learned basic code in freshman and sophomore year, applied her coding skills to a few of her courses. “[Coding] has helped me understand and develop principles I have learned in my math and physics

classes,” Ramakrishnan said. “It has helped me develop problem solving and logic skills.”

According to a study by the University of Illinois, three of the “Best Jobs in America” include IT Project Manager, computer/ network security consultant, and software developer, require experience in code.

The number one job on their list is an online employee, but many jobs go unfilled because nobody has the skill of coding to fill the job.

“You are immediately ruling out one in three jobs of all kinds if you don’t have coding skills,” Kuszmaul said.

Ramakrishnan agrees with Kuszmaul that coding will help many people find successful jobs if they learn how to code.

“Students should learn how to code as early on as possible, because it allows students to develop skill

sets that they would be able to use in many other careers as well, and financially, computer science majors tend to make more money than those who major in other fields,” Ramakrishnan said.

Living in Silicon Valley, with big name companies such as Facebook, Microsoft and Google nearby, students will easily find internships and job opportunities within these companies.

“Our policy is literally to find as many talented engineers as we can,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said to an interview with Code.org.

“There are just not enough people who are trained and have these skills today.”

Moreover, coding is not very difficult to learn. Most of the learning requires basic guidance and some understanding of math to learn. Coding is a skill that can be

developed to create and design more advanced objects and formulas. One does not need much skill to make the computer obey certain commands or much time to learn how to code.

“I don’t think that it is hard to pick up on, but a fundamental knowledge of basic math and physics concepts is necessary in order to advance,” Ramakrishnan said. “Problem solving skills are also required, as well as abstract thinking in many cases.”

In addition, the administration believes that it is possible and anyone is welcomed to propose the course as a graduation requirement for future students. However, Assistant Principal Kathie Laurence believes that some students do not like coding, and that they have a variety of different courses to choose from.

“There are many things you can do without knowing how to code,” Laurence said. “The course would fall under the category of Career Tech Ed, giving students the option of taking the course.”

In contrast, the course can be implemented into a graduation requirement if enough students express interest, a teacher is willing to teach the course, and that the school board approves it. Although the discussion for making coding into a graduation requirement may take several years, coding should be made into a graduation requirement to prepare students for college and future jobs.

Coding allows students to obtain qualities that will help them in their careers, guarantee success in college, and create innovative skills to use in the future. It is not strenuous or tedious as some may think, and with the right attitude and mind set, students can turn coding into hobbies to become the next entrepreneurs and innovative engineers of our generation.

To quote will.i.am, “Great coders are today’s rock stars. That’s it.”

ARC should provide more support for students in rigorous lanes

JUlia Kwasnick Staff Writer

J

unior John is in the highest junior math course at Paly, Analysis. A few weeks ago, after failing one of his math tests, John, whose name has been changed to protect his anonymity, decided to go to the Academic Resource Center (ARC) in search of a math tutor. Unfortunately, John was unable to be paired with a tutor able to help with his high-level material, and was forced to pay for a tutor outside of school.

Many students in the upper lanes of classes are experiencing similar problems as John, as there seems to be a dearth of help available for highlevel math students at Paly. Paly should provide more options for

students in high-level classes seeking extra help by implementing optional study groups.

“I really wanted to be tutored but no one in the ARC could tutor me so I had to get a tutor outside of school,” John said.

At Paly, grades are of utmost importance, leading to students searching for ways to improve their grades before the next progress report comes out.

The ARC is a resource for Paly students to either tutor other students or be tutored.

The ARC should have a study group feature for the Paly students who are unable to find a tutor who can adequately teach them their subject matter, but still need help in the subject. These groups would essentially create a place for students to receive help outside of the classroom, allowing them to receive assistance through discussion and debate with fellow students.

These are necessary because, to a potential tutor, even if the potential tutee is in the highest class lane of a year below, there is a lot of pressure on the tutor.

Students who require high-lane tutoring are obviously concerned

about, and want to improve, their grades.

This makes it a fellow student’s job to teach them the material in an rigorous and accelerated class, a task few students want to take on.

“Although I am in an AP Calculus class, I was slightly uncomfortable tutoring a student in [Analysis,] a lane arguably a half step down from mine,” senior Ben Wexler said. “I

I was uncomfortable because just taking a math class does not make you perfect at the math level of that class and [I] did not want to let a student down if I did not know the answer to a problem.

Ben Wexler Senior

was uncomfortable because just taking a math class does not make you perfect at the math level of that class and [I] did not want to let a student down if I did not know the answer to a problem.”

When it comes to finding a tutor, sophomore Emma Chiu agreed that

it is a difficult task for even an underclassman in rigorous classes.

“When my teacher gave me a list of Paly students who are available for teaching they were all kids in BC [Calculus], and all of them were too busy [to tutor],” Chiu said. “It’s really hard to find available seniors.”

For upperclassmen in the highest lanes, it is even more difficult to find tutoring assistance. This essentially forces upperclassmen to fend for themselves grade-wise.

“I think the ARC does a really nice job of offering help to mostly underclassmen, but when it come to those who need help in higher grades or higher lanes, there are fewer people who can or are willing to tutor,” junior Karina Goot said.

By allowing students to sign up for study groups, students that could not originally get help would have a new sources of educational support.

However, study groups could potentially be a waste of time, and therefore, the success of them would depend on what their group-members made of them.

“I think study groups could work if there is a limit on the amount of people, but they also have the potential to get distracted or off track,” Goot said.

Many people want to have study groups (which have been proven effective in many cases, as suggested by their prevalence at most colleges), but do not have the motivation or resources to create a structured group that meets regularly.

I think the ARC does a really nice job of offering help to mostly underclassmen, but when it come to those who need help in higher grades or higher lanes, there are fewer people who can or are willing to tutor Karina Goot Junior

However, study groups made through the ARC would address these problems.

The ARC would be an ideal place for study groups to meet, and groups could sign up to meet on a regular basis.

Study groups created through the ARC could be the solution to students in high class lanes that cannot find a tutor that can teach them the material that they are trying to learn.

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Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

OPINION A11

Cheer should be Overly difficult exams reduce student confidence known as real sport

Ziv Schwartz staff writer

A

fter taking a test, there is nothing worse than thinking, “When did we ever learn that?” Difficult tests that go beyond what students have learned in class and practiced in homework have multiple benefits, allowing students to fully comprehend the concepts they are learning.

However, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages as excruciating exams are extremely detrimental to students’ confidence as well as their GPAs. The argument regarding the difficulty of tests can go on and on.

The solution is making tests challenging while straightforward, of course, all to a certain extent.

If a student is graded on things that are not explicitly stated on the exam then that crosses the line from challenging to unfair.

Students across Paly have opposing views as to the advantages and disadvantages of difficult tests.

Senior Alon Cohen believes that while especially challenging tests are more rewarding to take, the ultimate price of maintaining a good grade outweighs everything else.

“Ideally, I can succeed taking the more challenging tests,” Cohen said. “Assuming the test does not ask questions that I find near impossible, I do prefer a challenging test, however, sustaining a good grade in a class is a high priority and the ultimate concern.”

Other Paly students, like freshman Arjun Vasudevan, do not see the relevance of being tested on material that exceeds the course level and that was often not explicitly taught by the teachers.

“I prefer tests that provide the straightforward material covered in class,” Vasudevan said. “The tests give me a clear insight into whether or not I know the material.”

This issue of overly challenging exams is especially prevalent in the highest lanes of math, specifically,

the Analysis Honors course. Suzanne Antink, one of two Analysis teachers, finds that tests that incorporate difficult problems allow students to think critically and apply the knowledge they learned in class.

“I don’t think of my tests as difficult, but I do hope they are thought-provoking,” Antink said.

“I think that students should have a good mix of problems similar to what they see in the homework­—­more of the applications—type, so they have a good feel for the use of the work.

Then, I think the students should try out some of the ideas that they’re using in a new way—and see how the concepts unfold—maybe surprise them and make them smile. I like students to have the opportunity to pull ideas together on their own which a [challenging] test ensures.”

Antink believes that easy tests are a waste of students time, as they do not push students’ mental boundaries Assuming the test does not ask questions that I find near impossible, I do prefer a challenging test, however, sustaining a good grade is the ultimate concern.

Alon Cohen Senior

nor do they demonstrate a student’s true comprehension of concepts learned in class.

“The balance is tough—no one wants a test that’s so challenging that students become disheartened,” Antink said. “On the other hand, no one wants a test that’s too easy—that’s boring and a waste of time—[however] asking a couple of questions that cause students to push their

understanding or connect ideas that they may not have connected before, is interesting. I hate to waste student time­—I want them to enjoy the test and showcase both their problem solving skills and their ability to communicate their thoughts.”

The concept of wasting student time is an argument that not many teachers provide as a rationalization for hard tests; however, it is not of high importance to some students who prefer a high grade to a challenging exam.

This issue does not only affect Paly, but also Henry M. Gunn High School (Gunn).

Many students at Gunn hold congruous views to those of Paly students.

Gunn junior Roy Shadmon holds firm opposing views regarding tests that contain material not gone over in class.

“I’d prefer straightforward tests, even though next to no teachers offer them,” Shadmon said. “Either you know the material or you don’t. You should not be expected to go one step further each time because what you’ve learned in class should be more than enough to show that you’ve mastered the material.”

Students should never have to find themselves wasting time thinking whether the answer they provided is sufficient for the teacher.

Tests should be completely transparent, where students know how many points problems are worth, etc., in order to ensure that there are no hidden opportunities for teachers to dock their students.

The solution of a middle route is possible as tests can be both challenging and straightforward, giving students, and teachers, the best of both worlds.

news editor

I

n an attempt to provide students with more frequently-updated grades, teachers have been required to send out progress grade reports since the beginning of the 2012-13 school year.

Although the change was instituted in order to reduce the stress that comes from teachers updating students’ grades inconsistently, the

sports editor

I

s cheer a sport? This question comes up constantly within the discussion of high school students. But what’s the truth?

To start, the definition of sport is “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess as well as a competitive nature.” Some people believe it is not a sport as it is not competitive..

That being said, it takes an incredible amount of physical prowess to be a cheerleader, and there is a whole side to it that many people don’t see: the competitive cheerleading aspect.

There is no reason cheerleading should not be considered a sport.

It takes work, practice, talent and perseverance just like any other sport does.

Since I have done cheer for four years now I can say it is very tiring and takes lots of work.

I’m glad Paly has taken steps towards considering cheer as a sport and giving all of us cheerleaders a prep period.

For three minutes you’re engaging every muscle in your body and your brain to throw yourself into five back flips, lift another human being into the air and remember and execute all the diverse dance moves.

Tia Rabinovitz Senior

Charlotte Barry/The Campanile

Tests should assess material students have learned in class. Difficult tests have a negative impact on confidence and student-efficiency .

Progress checks raise stress levels

Elena Pinsker

Sophie Parker

flaws in the system actually allow students’ and parents’ stress levels to rise.

It can often be stressful for many students to be unaware of their grade in a class. Some teachers rarely update grades on Infinite Campus, while others only alert students of their progress when quarter grades are due. It is commendable of the school to attempt to relieve students of this uncertainty and stress. Progress reports seem to be the only way to do so, as they force teachers to update grades in the middle of the quarter, however, because progress reports are sent home halfway into the first quarter of each semester, there are often not enough points in a teacher’s grade book to accurately reflect a student’s progress.

By the middle of the first and third quarter, many classes have only taken one test, meaning their entire class grade, at least for the time being, is dependent on that performance. One poor performance that may not matter by the end of the semester can inaccurately reflect a

student’s progress, yet teachers are forced to report this “worrying” grade to parents.

This subsequently increases the level of students’ stress, which defeats the purpose entirely of sending home progress reports.

Students and their parents are forced to look at an incomplete and inaccurate representation of a student’s performance in class, and many students become stressed that their parents will see their temporarily-low grades in a class.

Progress reports can be a good idea if a student is actually struggling in a class—it can be a useful tool in alerting a student’s parents that he or she needs extra help or attention in a class—but many students are not in need of such help and progress reports actually work against the goal set when instituting them.

What many parents don’t realize is that, for the most part, progress reports do not matter. They are similar to quarter grades in that they do not affect a student’s grade point.

However, cheerleading is considered a club and does not get funded by sports boosters, so it takes a lot of extra work for cheerleaders to fundraise for competitions and uniforms.

It makes sense why back in the 1990’s cheerleading was not considered a sport because it was simply an activity where a group of girls would get together and support the boys playing sports; however, now this activity has evolved into much more, developing a competition aspect where the athletes are judged on performance.

Additionally, ice skating and horseback riding are sports and they are also judged by judges and consist

of a routine either with a partner or a group. If these are considered sports, then cheerleading should be a sport as well.

Even though cheerleaders are judged by someone else to determine which team is the best, that doesn’t defeat the purpose of a sports team because there is still a winner in every situation.

According to “LiveScience,” cheerleading is the most dangerous women’s sport in the world.

The article states that in the past 25 years, cheerleading has taken account for 65.1 percent of all sports injuries among high school females, and not twisted ankles, but serious or fatal injuries.

In the last 25 years, 103 athletes have died from a sports injury and 67 of these people were cheerleaders. If these numbers don’t prove that cheerleading is a sport, they do prove that cheerleading is the most dangerous physical activity one can do, and it requires a lot of stunts that can cause very intense injuries.

People who are denying that cheer is a sport should come participate in our practice and see what type of difficult activities we do everyday because the people who say cheerleading is not a sport, are the people who do not cheer themselves.

“To a typical Paly sports fan I can understand why it may seem that cheer isn’t a sport, because all they see is sideline cheers that involve nothing but some clapping and yelling,” senior cheerleader Tia Rabinovitz said. “What they don’t see is our competitions.”

Cheerleading does not only consist of cheering at a big crowd of people and trying to get them to yell back. It’s much more than that.

A cheerleader needs to be able to stunt, tumble, cheer, dance and memorize a routine to compete with against up to ten other teams in every division.

“A competition-level cheerleading routine is three minutes of uninterrupted stunting, tumbling and dancing—and you have to smile the whole time,” Rabinovitz said. “That means that for three minutes you’re engaging every muscle in your body and your brain to throw yourself into five back flips, lift another human being into the air and remember and execute all the diverse dance moves.

The routine combines gymnastics and dance, and brings in it’s own gravitydefying tricks.”

Most importantly, a cheerleader needs to have a certain attitude in order to succeed.

Cheerleaders need to have dedication, perseverance and a love for cheer in order to fulfill one’s full potential.

Cheer, therefore, must be acknowledged as a sport and if one does not believe this then one should try joining a cheer team and see for his or herself.

Sophie Parker/The Campanile

Members of the cheer team perform at the recent nationals competition in Las Vegas. Cheer is physically taxing and requires hours of practice.

Monday, March 18, 2013

A12

The Campanile

EDITORIALS

PAUSD should have resolved disabilitybased harassment prior to federal report

A

few months prior, in December 2012, the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) received a report from the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR). This report stated that the district has violated federal anti-discrimination laws in its failure to respond “appropriately and effectively” in dealing with the harassment of a student based on the student’s disability.

Immediately after receiving the report, Superintendent Kevin Skelly signed the Resolution Agreement, voluntarily resolving the current issues and establishing procedures to prepare for future repeats of this complaint. The Campanile applauds Skelly for responding quickly and efficiently in dealing with the federal violation and following the protocol of the Resolution Agreement, but believes that the district should have handled the harassment issue before the case had to reach the OCR. Prior to the federal complaint, PAUSD had received notice of the disability-based harassment of this student

as early as Nov. 2010, giving the district a considerable amount of time to resolve the issue, which it failed to do.

The PAUSD was unprepared to deal with disability-based harassment, having no protocol to deal with this type of harassment. All three middle school handbooks do not explicitly view disability-based harassment as harassment. The handbook includes physical, verbal, social, racial and sexual bullying as forms of discrimination, none of which include disability, which it should. The district also failed to train administrators and school staff to deal disability-based harassment. As part of the agreement, the district must run a “mandatory training on disability-based harassment” for all school administrators, which it should have implemented a long time ago.

Beyond the district’s lack of preparation, the district also failed to react and deal with this case effectively, not providing the student with a “nondiscriminatory educational environment.” The school did not even analyze whether the harassment was

A

I

n a marked change from past years, voting in Associated Student Body (ASB) elections will now be held online through TallySpace, a survey website.

Additionally, students will be able to vote at any time of day for the entire week, as opposed to previous practice, of voting for three days during lunch. Through this change, ASB hopes voter turnout will increase from the dismal 20-30 percent.This move is an obvious boon to the system. However, ASB seems to forget its other duty of providing speeches, which were discontinued two years ago. No longer do students have an unbiased forum to hear candidates make their case. A voting system that will lead to a rise in student involvement can only be effective if there is an equal rise in information available to voters. By making it easier to vote while taking away critical outlets for students to learn about each candidate, ASB is reducing elections from a battle of who will be better, to who is better known.

As of now, students rely only on the posters, fliers and the Facebook presence of candidates.

Advertisements that focus on catching the eye are now the sole source of knowledge about candidates. A straightforward forum for voters to learn about candidates is a necessity.

Whether it be speeches, debates, or town hall discussions, ASB must create opportunities for voters to be easily be able to compare candidates based on merit of experience and ideas, not merit of campaigning.

Campaign speeches were dropped due to low voter turnout. Regardless of low attendance, it is the student government’s obligation to be an arbiter of fairness. Precedent shows that low attendance has never stopped ASB from persevering, as seen with past events like the Mytonomy signup day of 2012, Pancake Breakfast, after school bands on the quad and every dance of the last four years.

While displaying short candidate statements on the official ASB Facebook page and on the voting website helps voter knowledge, there is no substitute for the substantive discussions that ASB sponsored events would provide. These events could be streamed online or recorded for the ASB Facebook.The Campanile and ASB agree that elected candidates should speak for a larger portion of the student body. Making it easier for students to vote was a much-needed innovation, but if students are voting without reason, the innovation’s positive effects are rendered moot and elected candidates are still not speaking best for the maximum amount of the student body.

10) “But you’re an underclassman. You’re not supposed to say ‘no.’”

9) “I just got a call from my doctor. STD-free baby!”

8) “They say that twelfth time’s the charm...”

7) “You’re the least ugly chick who might go with me, sooooo...”

6) “I asked your mom, and she says it’s OK.” 5) “I already bought you a ticket!”

4) “I just really have this obsession with chunky girls.”

3) “I’ll write this English essay for you...”

2) “I haven’t gotten some in a VERY long time.”

1) “Your sister said no, so this was the next-best option.”

-JAKE KERMAN Disclaimer: The person who authored this list is terrible with the opposite sex. Use this advice at your own discretion.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Got something on your mind?

Submit a letter to the editor at campanile.opinion@gmail.com

COMIC OF THE MONTH

As benefactors of living in a location where students’ 1st Amendment rights are upheld, the Campanile would like to strongly support student journalists in any incident where there exists a threat of their rights being taken away.

The journalists of the Oracle were justified on writing stories about the often controversial issue of sex.

Parents need to know what students think. Publications exist to tell the truth. Whether it is by seeking student opinions or keeping others accountable, student journalists give their perspective on society. Sex is undeniably part of society. The students were simply covering a topic which is timely and important to the high school community, regardless of approval from parents.

The Campanile acknowledges that sex can be an uncomfortable topic that each family approaches differently. However, students have the right to write about issues of importance to them. If the Mountain View administration had gained the right to censor topics about sex, it could have been a significant step toward censoring other controversial material.

Censorship could potentially increase and could invade other schools and easily spread throughout the California, depriving students of their important First Amendment rights

ASB elections in need of more substantive forum

Worst Things To Say When Asking Someone To Prom

based on disability, and failed to compile information on the harassment reports. The school did not react appropriately, and the district did not take proper actions.

The district should have investigated the case itself and then take immediate steps in relieving the student of the student’s harassment. In addition, the district showed a lack of understanding to the student, offering the student social skills training as opposed to taking disciplinary action towards the harassing students. Even more unacceptable, the school administrators and the district did not ask the teachers at the school if they knew of the disability-based harassment of the student.

Overall, the district failed to take action to prevent further harassment of the student. The Campanile finds this inaction unacceptable and inconsiderate on both the part of the school as well as the district.

The district should have dealt with the issue before the student had to be pulled out of school let alone receive the OCR report.

The Campanile supports Mountain View’s Oracle nother student-run publication exists less than ten miles away from Palo Alto High School. Journalists from this publication, Mountain View High School’s Oracle, have recently been subjected to criticism due to several printed stories which delved into the sex habits of students. A number of concerned parents clamored for more control from adults, deeming this content inappropriate for the student body.

However, Mountain View-Los Altos District Board decided to not make any changes.

The Campanile would like to commend the student journalists of the Oracle for standing strong for their rights. We also commend the Mountain View-Los Altos District Board for siding with the students on the incident.

California is one of seven states in which there exists laws overriding the Hazelwood School District v.

Kuhlmeier decision, which stated that administration holds the right to censor school publications. One of these laws, California Education Code Section 48907, states that student editors hold the right of “assigning and editing the news, editorial, and feature content of their publications” in addition to the right of freedom of the press unless the material is “obscene, libelous or slanderous”

MARCH’S TOP TEN LIST

Fairly self-explanatory.

The Campanile Editors-in-Chief Kate Apostolou • Charlie Dulik• Yasna Haghdoost Alvin Kim • Nira Krasnow • Michael Wang News Editors Elena Pinsker Emily Rosenthal

Opinion Editor Jake Kerman

Spotlight Editor Chrissie Cheng

Lifestyle Editor Anna McGarrigle

Business Managers Ben Hawthorne Elizabeth Bowman

Art Director Kate Apostolou

Features Editor Grace Fang

Sports Editors Logan Mendenhall Sophie Parker

A&E Editor Emily Tran

Technology Editors Wesley Shiau Beth Yan

Graphic Artist Bryant Field

Copy Editor Charlotte Barry

Photography Editors Adam Mansour Gina Scarpino

Social Media Editor Julia Poppy Cartoonists Alexander Jenson Eric Wang

Staff Writers Joshua Arfin Charlotte Barry Brandon Byer Galen Byrd Rachel Cui Ryan Deslauriers Samuel Dodson Irene Ezran Marie Ezran James Foug Bowen Gerould

Jensen Hsiao Josefin Kenrick William Kershner Maya Kitayama Julia Kwasnick Albert Lee Emily Lee Claire Liu Shivonne Logan Kian McHugh Will Mendenhall Jack Paladin

Ahmed Awadallah Charlotte Barry Chrissie Cheng

Perri Pond Gina Scarpino Ziv Schwartz Emily Semba Blake Smith Jordan Smith Angela Stern Kelly Stern Kyle Stewart Heather Strathearn Daniel Tachna-Fram Alex Taussig

Photographers Andrew Choi Jensen Hsiao Adam Mansour Anna McGarrigle

Sidhanth Venkatasubramaniam Leslie Wan Rachel Wilson Michelle Yin John Young Hillel Zand Jacob Zenger Lily Zhang Stephenie Zhang Jonathan Ziegler Alvina Zou

Gina Scarpino Emily Tran Hillel Zand

Advisor Esther Wojcicki Letters to the Editors: Email all letters to editors to campanile.opinion@gmail.com.

The Campanile prints letters on a space-available basis.

We reserve the right to edit submissions.

The Campanile only prints signed letters.

Advertisements: Advertisements with The Campanile are printed with signed contracts.

For more information regarding advertisements in The Campanile and their size options and prices, please contact The Campanile Business Managers by email at campanile.ads@gmail.com.

Note: It is the policy of the Campanile to refrain from printing articles that misrepresent or alienate specific individuals within the Palo Alto community.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

LIFEST YLE

Steam Dim sum by lily zhang b8

The

Fashion Makes The Man

Fashion, traditionally a woman’s domain, holds a s u b t l e but momentus place in the lives of men.

Although few young men admit it, most do in fact care about how they look. As for those few men that do not, good luck with the single life at age forty. Men choose their fashion based on their lifestyle, and for the most part they fall into four different fashion trends.

These trends in male fashion include The Athlete, The Hipster, The Gentleman, and The Lazy Boy.

Text by William Mendenhall Design by Anna McGarrigle

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e all know those people that look like they just rolled out of bed and honestly look like a homeless man. But what The Lazy Boy gives up in looks, he makes up for in coziness. Comfort is the name of the game when it comes to being lazy, and men that follow this lifestyle can always be seen in a hoodie and sweats. What makes The Lazy Boy stand out among men though is once again in the shoes. Muggs, or in other words man uggs, can always be seen on the feet of these lazy few. This allows for a man to achieve maximum coziness. The Lazy Boy’s favorite store? Goodwill.

hen it comes to The Athlete it all starts with the shorts. This is the type of man who will wear sport shorts every day of the year. Come winter time, when most people are bundled up in cozy jackets and long pants, The Athlete will gloriously brave the cold by wearing those all too familiar sport shorts. To add to the look, men like this will usually be seen in a plain t-shirt or spice it up with shirt from their favorite sports. The finishing touch comes with the shoes. Without fail The Athlete will wear basketball high tops with style. This man must be prepared to play a pickup game of basketball at all times, even during math class. The Athlete’s favorite store? Nike.

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he Hipster’s clothing is an ever changing fashion statement. His fashion is truly impossible to characterize because, by tomorrow, a hipster’s style may completely change because something became “too mainstream”. But alas, there are a few elements to the hipster look that have become embedded in the lifestyle. To start, a true hipster needs some classy glasses.

Then add in skinny jeans, mismatched clothing, an unshaven face and you have yourself The Hipster. The Hipster’s favorite store? Any thrift shop.

hen it comes to dressing like a gentleman it all comes down to one word: class. The Gentleman can always be seen in a nice button down shirt with a pair of khaki pants. There is always the choice of an optional sweater and a fancy watch to keep track of his busy schedule. But what The Gentleman look hinges upon are the shoes. No gentleman is complete without a pair of Sperrys. A gentleman must always be prepared to sail the high seas of class at any given moment. The Gentleman’s favorite store? J-Crew.

INSIDE

All you need is...

Music see pages B5-B6

Parent Bands by Ziv Schwartz Student Musicians by Michelle Yin Spring Concerts by Emily Semba Paly Freestylers by Kyle Stewart Music Platforms by Anna McGarrigle

Beatle-insania

Yasna Haghdoost

There are three things in the world that can be really, really tough: being a closeted gay, a closeted atheist or a closeted Beatles-hater. Today, I will summon the testicular fortitude to tackle the last, but certainly not least contentious, of these issues.

It’s really quite simple. When I listen to The Beatles, my endocrine system stubbornly refuses to release the dopamine and serotonin associated with happiness and enjoyment.

However, when presented with this simple biological explanation, I’ve encountered perplexed stares of disgust generally reserved for active members of the Aryan Brotherhood.

Then of course, it is implied that I have no taste in music, which begs the question: what, exactly, is taste?

Personally, I’ve never loved The Beatles, as their music always struck me as too mellow. Throughout a music history ranging from The Rolling Stones to Beethoven, my favorite musical artists have always been crazy, tortured, misunderstood, severely self-destructive and completely psycho. It was out of their complete and utter madness that some of the most wild and brilliant music was produced. Beethoven’s lifelong struggle with bipolar disorder is reflected in his often erratic and ferocious symphonies and sonatas. Queen’s heart-wrenching “The Show Must Go On” was performed at a time when lead singer Freddie Mercury (a closeted bisexual) was dying of AIDs. And it might be unwise for a Middle Eastern girl from a Muslim family to confess that her favorite guilty pleasure songs are such low-brow 70s and 80s hits as “TNT” and “Shoot to Thrill.” I might also add that if Amy Winehouse didn’t battle with severe substance abuse and manic depression, she would never have performed such hits as “Rehab” or “Back to Black.” Instead, she would have sung about, oh I don’t know, strawberry fields and yellow submarines (zing!).

Of course, many contend that some of the Beatles’ seemingly innocent songs were written during their “psychedelic phase,” thereby rendering them fascinating to listen to. However, it’s interesting that the British band repeatedly denied allegations that their music was influenced by psychedelics, which leads to the question: Why the hell would any self-respecting artist deny the use of drugs? John Lennon claimed that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was inspired by his younger daughter’s drawing, as opposed to LSD. Now, if someone had asked Rolling Stones guitarist and notorious wild child Keith Richards if he had been tripping acid, he would have denied the charges on account of the fact that he was otherwise preoccupied shooting heroin and snorting cocaine at the same time.

My point is this: The Beatles are too prissy for my taste. But that’s just my taste. Music is a very subjective and personal experience. I respect others’ unswerving love for the British band whose music doesn’t thrum at my heartstrings. But what disturbs me most is The Beatles’ rabid and religious following that is unprecedented in modern music history. When I was photographed burning a printout of The Beatles’ poster (pictured above), I was given looks of horror and disgust like that which I had never encountered. Similar reactions can be incited elsewhere in the world by burning pictures of the prophet Mohammad.

Let us not forget that treating an individual’s personal and harmless opinion as heresy is distinctly unAmerican. Almost as un-American as The Beatles themselves.

(I jest, I jest)

Monday, March 18, 2013

B2

The Campanile

STUDENT LIFE

Prom dress sites often misprepresent products Sophie Parker Sports editor

A

s the prom stress begins to ramp up, many girls opt to search online for their dresses due to the larger variety and often cheaper options that the Internet provides.

There are many websites a person can chose from; however, the dilemma is choosing a valid, legitimate website, that produces excellent quality dresses while avoiding the scams.

Aside from the department stores such as Nordstroms and Bloomingdale’s, many girls look for sites with more unique dresses by searching “prom dresses” on Google.

There are sites called “promgirl,” “fabulousparty,” “fabhomecomingdress” and more.

These websites have a visually appealing layout to them and offer many dresses in all colors that appear When she got it in the mail, nearly a month later, the fabric was cheap and overall just not good quality.

DaVaughn Dillahunty Senior

to be fashionable, high-quality and cheap. Some may say they these websites are too good to be true.

Unfortunately, they would be right. To start, all the websites mentioned above appear to have the exact same layout online.

Courtesey of Promgirl.com

Many sites for buying prom dresses have shown a discrepancy between the image shown on the site and the actual product the customer receives.

They sell the same dresses, little variety, but mostly offering the same designs on different sites.

The dresses are so affordable because the China-based companies remake designer dresses with cheaper, low-quality material. The dresses often appear much differently on these websites than they actually look in reality. In addition, they can take more than a month to arrive once

ordered, causing stress for girls the closer prom gets.

“Last year my friend bought a prom dress from ‘fabpromdresses’ and on the site it appears to be really nice,” senior DaVaughn Dillahunty said.

“When she got it in the mail, nearly a month later, the fabric was cheap and overall just not good quality.”

Dillahunty’s friend, along with many other girls learned their mistake

last year and did not order dresses from these sites for this year’s prom.

However, this year more than last, many girls have posted in the Paly Prom Dress Facebook group dresses from these sites.

So, later this month these people will discover if the sites are indeed flawed or if their dresses even come on time. On the site it says it takes four to six weeks for the dresses to

get shipped. The time it takes for the dresses to come is already a red flag for many people.While it is difficult to find a unique dress, it is even more difficult to find a reliable website to purchase one from.

Based on many experiences, it is better to order from a well-known website or go into a store and buy it in person to be sure the dress is a perfect fit.

Looking back: Paly’s most notable senior pranks

While flipping a car on the quad was almost crossing the line between good-humored and damaging pranks, one prank at Gunn went way over that line. In 1994, three students blew up a water fountain in the middle of school.

Jack Paladin STaff Writer

T

he tradition of senior pranks has existed at Paly for years as a way for the graduating students to perform final acts of often good-humored defiance before the end of their high school careers.

Ranging anywhere from saran wrapping the principal’s car to putting a shark in the swimming pool, these pranks give seniors a chance to do something noteworthy in their last days of school.

While most pranks are in good intention, other pranks have been taken one step too far.

There acts have created issues for both the school and the students involved.

Throughout Paly’s long history, many pranks have been performed but only some are noteworthy enough to mention.

One of the most undeniably common pranks at Paly is streaking. For an entire week, dubbed Streak Week

by Paly students, the seniors relieve stress by running through the quad in the nude.

Students often use masks to conceal their identities fromt he administration.

Student steakers have also been known to throw objects into the crowds of onlookers or spray silly string into the air even sometimes hitting teachers with the string.

There has been much debate over the punishment students deserve if caught streaking. The administration

The crime cost the school district around $3,000 which under California law meant that the student would either be charged a $10,000 fine or a year in prison.

eric wang/ the campanile

is unsure of how to deal with students who are caught because they do not want to hurt their chances with college acceptance or their futures, but they also feel that there is a need for punishment.

Aside from streaking, there have been many other harmless pranks at Paly that have really shown the spirit of the senior classes.

In 1977, a group of students who named themselves the Michelob Gang placed hundreds of beer bottles on the roofs of various buildings throughout the school.

One year students took all the books off the shelves in the library, causing huge amounts of work for the librarians and other Paly staff members, putting a shark in the pool and filling the pool with old tires.

One of the most infamous pranks at Paly came in 2007. A student took his car into the quad, flipped it onto its top, vandalized it with graffiti, removed the wheels and hood and scratched out evidence that it was his car.

After an investigation by the police the student was found and

he willingly admitted to the crime.

However, this crime is an example of a detrimental prank as it cost both the school and the student various punishments.

The crime cost the school district around $3,000 which under California law meant that the student would either be charged a $10,000 fine or a year in jail.

In the end, the administration did not press charges and the student only spent a few hours in prison.

He graduated on time that year with the rest of his class.

Two students were severely injured with burns and many others who had been leisurely strolling around received minor injuries.

The students admitted to the prank but said that they were only trying to create a cloud of smoke.

The students were arrested for their prank and were not allowed to graduate with the class. This year there has been a buzz in the air about what pranks the senior class will perform.

While there is no way to tell what the final decision will be if there even is a prank, it is almost guaranteed that there will be streakers in the last few weeks of school.

After working so hard for four years, students are finally given the opportunity to show their true colors and provide some entertainment for other students.

Now one can only wait to see what the future of Paly pranks has in store for the Paly community.

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Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

STYLE

B3

Boys (or daring girls): here’s a guide to help you snatch away the date of your dreams.

spotlight during the second semester––prom. T h is hig t takes the n e v e e hly a , on ith months of stress, as girls scout out the perfect y w l s e a m nt P o c dress At v en t e l e . t P a a r d o r m i e i h a t s and ics k a i c n e k g a t o s e o a s t s l o a n g d y i s k e b ipat hich luc otential date to this gala. L just around oys et’s hop ecide w re a few ways to ask your p d o t e she the a try , so here says r y es corne .

emily tran A&E Editor

beth yan

classy most un is by t e y t, s le The simp sk a girl to prom ebook a to t or Fac way her a tex is technically g n ti o o sh . While th message

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gets the job done, try to put at least some effort in it. This is not a suggested route, but it is still an option.

Another acceptable but highly unrecommended way of asking a girl to prom is to slip her a note

during class when the teacher isn’t looking. So to all the guys who were planning to do this in the middle of math class, please reconsider.

Note: Even if the girl is already your girlfriend, it is never advisable to just casually pop the question.

The standard option is to ask the

!

Super

even spell out “Prom” on the top.

Bonus points if the dessert is homemade (by you, not your mom).

Set up tealight candles outside your potential date’s home, spelling out “Prom”. Make sure it’s dark enough so the flames of each candle prominently show the spelling, but beware

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technology editor

During a Friday lunch, go to the senior deck and take the microphone from the sound system.

Proceed to sing “Check Yes Juliet,” “Hey Juliet” or a song of equal merit.

Once you have finished your performance, ask your potential date to prom!

Awesome

girl (or guy) with a bouquet of flowers. If you want to make this more special, opt for nice flowers from a local florist rather than the cellophane-wrapped ones from CVS. If you want to amp a bouquet of flowers up a notch, try pairing the flowers with baked goods, such as brownies or a cake, and maybe

One day, leave your crush a partridge in a pear tree. On the next day, leave her two turtle doves. On the third day, leave her three french hens and so forth. On the twelfth day, leave her a note saying “You make me happier than a kid on Christmas day. Will you go to prom with me?”

Radical Leave your crush a puzzle piece in every class. At the day’s end, she puts the puzzle together and sees a map of Paly campus. Following the treasure map, she finds you at the treasure site. She may be initially confused, as the quad will be empty, but then a flash mob dances to the song “You Belong with Me” and you emerge at the end of the song with a bouquet of flowers.

Monday, March 18, 2013

B4

The Campanile

student Life

Shoplifting: the students’ view Josefin Kenrick Staff writer

Subjects’ names have been changed to protect their identities.

S

tudents from Paly like to portray themselves as smart, responsible and caring members of society, however, there is another side to the student body: the shoplifting side.

Instead of purchasing their food or clothing, these students simply take it from the store, without paying.

“I do it when I don’t have cash on me but am in need of something or want something,” junior Randy said.

“I usually took lighters, Red Bull, chips, candy.”

Shoplifting can involve big or expensive items, but usually it includes smaller items such as chapstick, small food and nail polish. “[I take things] when I don’t have enough money to pay for things,” anonymous sophomore Betsy said.

“Just like small things like food, chapstick or earrings.”

Because Paly is conveniently situated across the street from Town and

I take things when I don’t have enough money to pay for things. Just like small things like food, chapstick or earrings Betsy Sophomore

Country, CVS and Trader Joe’s feel a negative effect on their business.

“One time I stole three big bags of chips, two Red Bulls and a packet of candy,” Randy said. “This was back when you were allowed to wear your backpack into the store.”

Betsy usually shoplifts about once a week, taking small things like chocolate from Trader Joe’s.

“At Trader Joe’s you just pick it up and kind of walk out like no one says anything,” Betsy said.

However, these businesses have caught on and take precautions against shoplifters. For example, CVS employed a new policy a few years ago that requires high school students to drop off their backpack at the front of the store.

Although this may seem bothersome to certain students, it is one of the measures that CVS takes to avoid losing money.

Other things that students steal include clothing, although it can be more difficult and takes a more skilled shoplifter.

“I’ve taken a shirt before from [Urban Outfitters],” Betsy said. “You put it on under your clothes, just take a bunch of clothes, and [the workers] usually don’t notice.”

Shoplifting, however, can lead to trouble and has serious consequences.

For example, petty theft in California can be punishable by a $1,000 fine or up to six months in jail.

On top of that comes a moral price and the possibility of being banned from a store, such as Trader Joe’s.

“I got arrested once while shoplifting in Yosemite National Park,” Randy said.

Betsy was caught shoplifting once also, but it was by her mom and not the store she stole from.

“She noticed I was wearing a ring that I hadn’t bought, and she made me take it back,” Betsy said. “I didn’t return it though. I was grounded for a week.”

Some people may use shoplifting as a way to get an adrenaline rush, but most people, , such as Kaily, do it because it saves money on the smaller things.

“I mean, who hasn’t slipped a lighter from CVS every once in a

JENSEN HSIAO/The Campanile

Students find a new way to save money by stuffing their pockets with food items at local stores.

while?” Kaily said. “I don’t usually take anything else though.”

Others, like Betsy, can sometimes find it hard to control their shoplifting instincts.

“Once I was having an anxiety attack and I went into [Urban Outfitters] and just took a bunch of random objects,” Betsy said, “It’s good to have money on hand in case

you get caught, you need to stay composed but at the same time look like you are freaking out, this will make them sympathize with you.”

Shoplifting is found by some to be a way to cope with stress and anxiety, giving the shoplifter an adrenaline rush and perpetuating the habit of stealing from stores. This adrenaline pushes thieves to continue stealing

“After my Urban Outfitters panic attack I kept going in there,” Betsy said.

It is also important to remember where one is when shoplifting, as the environment and the employees watching can make or break a “successful” trip.

CVS and Trader Joe’s declined to comment for this story.

Undressing the pornography taboo HILLEL ZAND STAFF WRITER

T

he three stereotypes of the teenage lifestyle (sex, drugs and alcohol) have a cousin:

porn.

Often hushed under the table, pornography has long been considered a taboo subject. Although sexually explicit materials are not new, the onslaught of technology, and the new advancement of the Internet, in recent decades has made accessing porn easier than ever before.

“Porn has become very institutionalized, and sex has relatively become more meaningless and casual,” sophomore Chloe Fishman said. “I think that less girls watch porn than guys because girls tend to be more emotionally attached to sex and the deep bond it can create between two partners.”

Junior Andrew Sternfield feels that his first exposure to porn was slightly belated by male standards, but was encouraged to try it by his friends.

“I was in seventh grade [when I first saw porn],” Sternfield said. “I actually started a little late.”

According to Family Safe Media, the average age of first exposure to Internet pornography for children is 11 years old. The largest consumer group of online porn is the 12-17 age group and 90 percent of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online, most often while doing homework.

“Even if you’re not masturbating to [porn], it’s kind of an intriguing subject,” junior Kate Marinkovich said. “Especially for someone who isn’t sexually active. That’s a very teenage thing to be interested in sex.

[But] by watching other people [have sex]... I feel like it takes away that part of [sex] that’s supposed to make it secretive.”

Marinkovich was 15 when a friend first exposed her to porn, showing her “everything from BBW [Big Beautiful Woman] to anime porn.”

Although she does not watch porn on a regular basis, Marinkovich does not view porn as gross and “usually watch[es] it when it’s funny.”

However, Marinkovich finds a sharp distinction between boys’ experiences with porn and those that girls have.

“I think guys have been watching porn for way longer than [girls] have,” Marinkovich said. “I remember in our 8th grade D.C. trip when the guys were taking turns [masturbating] with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.”

“I don’t think porn is [stigmatized] amongst high school boys,” said junior Nate, who wishes to remain anonymous. “Older people and women frown upon it because it shows disrespect for sex, I guess.”

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Nate was also first exposed to porn in seventh grade and estimates that “100 percent of guys” view porn at least once a week.

Fishman believes that although girls watch porn less than boys, “more girls watch porn more than people think because girls think about sex more than people openly acknowledge.” Marinkovich echoed Fishsman’s stance, offering that even porn is less talked about amongst girls, it may be just as prevalent as it is among boys.

According to CovenantEyes, an Internet accountability and filtering website, 60 percent of girls are first exposed to pornography before the age of 18. Furthermore, 70 percent of women keep their online porn experiences a secret even though one out of every three visitors to porn sites is a female.

Nate and Sternfield both say that porn may have even helped their

respective relationships, but Fishman believes that porn can become a problem in relationships if it is not handled the right way by both partners.

“Usually, if guys keep it to themselves, girls don’t mind,” Fishman said. “But if a girl’s boyfriend is watching it, she’d probably be a little upset.”

Despite the constant controversy that surrounds the porn industry, its influence on society cannot be ignored. Internet pornography generates more than $12 billion dollars in revenue, which is larger than the annual revenues of ABC, NBC and CBS combined. The industry has also changed the way consumers access the web, spearheading technological advances such as streaming content, live chats and pop-up windows.

Student experiences with porn differ from person to person; nevertheless, the porn debate seems to be ever-present.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

MUSIC

Students practice range of musical talents

B5

SHORELINE CONCERTS

Michelle Yin

Emily semba

staff writer

staff writer

In case you didn’t already have enough to look forward to this summer—beautiful California weather, beach trips, and, most importantly, the lack of schoolwork—the schedule for summer Shoreline Amphitheater concerts has recently been released, with as great of a lineup as ever.

To help you decide which events to attend, check out this list of the upcoming artists touring the Mountain View stage.

W

hether it is hip hop, reggae, jazz, country or even classical, music circulates throughout our entire student body.

In fact, our very school is brimming with a sea full of talented students who engage and compose eclectic styles of music.

Among these students are DJs including sophomores Luke Schroder, Jesse Krohn and Will Kast.

“There’s no other feeling like giving a huge group of people a great time,” Krohn said. “Just the sight of dropping a song and watching the whole room start bouncing is enough of a reason.”

Krohn’s interest in electronic dance music (EDM) and DJing began in eighth grade after Schroder introduced it to him. Since then, Krohn has partnered up with Kast, and they have performed at many paid events including the Paly Choir semi-formal this past year and a middle school dance held by the Palo Alto Teen Arts Council.

I really enjoy playing solos because it gives me a chance to show off my personal musical interpretation and inspire beginner musicians.

Joshua Oh Senior

When the two perform, their primary concern is entertainment, so they try to incorporate mostly popular hip hop and pop music, but they do try to incorporate some EDM— their preferred genre for mixing tracks.

“I make sure to play a few of my favorite songs that maybe not everyone will know because I believe it is important to try to introduce people to something they have never heard before, although I try not to overdo it,” Kast said.

Schroder on the other hand mainly mixes EDM and has gained acclaim from remix competitions.

MAY

11

COurtesy of el camino youth symphony

Senior Joshua Oh performs Weber’s Concertino in E Flat Major, Mvt. 1 in the El Camino Youth Symphony Holiday Concert on Dec. 9, 2012 at the California Theatre. He was chosen to solo after winning the Concerto Competition.

All three talented DJs agree that the most valuable part of DJing is obtaining the ability to control the behavior of an entire mass of people through their original music tracks.

“I personally love DJing because it allow you to sculpt a night,” Krohn said. “I would have to say that the best part is seeing how crazy people who ordinarily are super reserved can get.”

Also, in an entirely different style of music, among our own student body there exists a somewhat unrecognized group of talented classical musicians many of whom, are a part of a competitive musical world which comes with similar intensities like that which are related to DJing competitions.

In order to attain prominence and win competitions, these musicians fervently practice daily for hours on end to constantly improve qualities such as clarity, tone, musicality, rhythm and maintain finger memory.

Current principal clarinet for El Camino Youth Symphony (ECYS), senior Joshua Oh practices at least two hours every day, and this has paid off since he has won the Korean American Music Supporters Association competition this past year. Oh also won the ECYS annual solo competition allowing him the

opportunity to solo with the senior symphony.

“When I was first starting to learn music, I would hear little solos in movie themes and that would inspire and motivate me to practice a lot so that one day I would be able to play in a recording studio for a Hollywood blockbuster film,” Oh said. “I really enjoy playing solos because it gives me a chance to show off my personal musical interpretation and inspire beginner musicians.”

Recently, Oh’s performance of Weber’s clarinet concerto No. 2 in E flat Major with the ECYS senior symphony marked his biggest achievement in his musical career.

“I was so nervous that I actually felt sick until the five minutes before my performance,” Oh said. “Even though my emotions were scattered all over the place going into the performance, when I got on stage, I saw all my friends and family gathered to watch me perform and that helped me gain my sanity back and allowed me regain musical confidence and enjoy making music and let my muscle memory guide me.”

In addition to competitive solo work, many of these musicians including Oh also often participate in intense youth orchestras in the bay area outside of school including Palo

Alto Chamber Orchestra (PACO), San Francisco Youth Orchestra (SFSYO), California Youth Symphony (CYS) and ECYS. “The sense of community you gain from being a member of an orchestra or quartet is amazing,” junior PACO violinist Megan Rohrer said. “You become such a tight group and not only does it help build musical skills, but you also gain strong personal relationships with other members.”

Though burdened with the amount of work from junior year, Rohrer still sets aside at least two hours day to practice and refine her musical skills.

Recently, her ensemble formed with fellow members of PACO placed third at the United States Open Music Competition.

“I have grown such a great appreciation for classical music over the years,” Rohrer said. “Being a violinist makes me feel unique.”

Music ensembles allow classical musicians the relief from the competitiveness of the music and simply enjoy the work of classical composers.

“My favorite part of the music world is being exposed to all the great works of classical composers and being able to just pick up a famous piece like Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 and sight read it just for the enjoyment,” Oh said.

Local parents ‘rock out’ in garage bands Ziv schwartz staff writer

W

hen one hears loud, booming music coming from inside a garage, one would normally expect the typical group of teenagers rocking out in full force. However, Palo Alto bands are not only comprised of teenagers but also parents who use these groups as a way to rekindle their love and passion for music.

From the Walter Hays Wildcats to the Tennyson Seven to Pinocchio Knows Rock Band (PKRB), Palo Alto is teeming with parent bands.

Here the Baby Boomers have found a new outlet—garage band rock.

For these parents, music is a form in which they could express themselves and simply put have fun.

Pinocchio Knows Rock Band (PKRB), a parent band of five people, got its name back when the members were in college and thought it would be a clever name for a band, according to band member and lead guitarist Bill Queen, father of Paly junior Will Queen.

“The bandmates have spread around the East Coast since the days when we played for a living,” Queen said. “We play mostly original music, usually in a bar, for audiences of around 200 to 400 people, with a mix of old fans and people interested in seeing a new band. We played a charity benefit last year that sold around a thousand tickets.”

The band first formed when its members were in college and wanted to pursue rock as a career.

“Earlier on, I wanted to be a rock musician, full time,” Queen said.

“Now I just enjoy playing music I write with my good friends who also happen to be [in] the band. Getting to play in front of audiences is a bonus.”

COURTESY OF BILL QUEEN

Bill Queen, father of junior Will Queen, plays garage band rock with his parent band of five people Pinocchio Knows Rock Band.

PKRB has members that play the typical rock band instruments, such as guitar, bass, vocals and drums. The band likes to play mostly rock music.

In general, music provides an outlet for parents to play the music they grew up listening to and enjoy while balancing their work and family lives.

“I love playing music, especially original music,” Queen said. “Music is full of emotion. I love R&B and influenced rock music. I appreciate most musical genres, but that’s what I really enjoy playing.”

Still, the parent bands do hold onto some of their childhood as it highly influences what they do now.

“My uncle took me to see ‘The Kids Are Alright,’ the Who documentary/concert movie from the 70s when I was thirteen,” Queen said.

“It was one of the first stadium theaters, in New York, and they had a big, loud PA setup. I loved music, but I knew right then that’s what I wanted to do. I got home and started learning how to play on a really awful

guitar lying around the house. It took me seven or eight months playing five hours a day for my parents to buy me a decent guitar.”

Earlier on, I wanted to be a rock musician, full time.

Now I just enjoy playing music I write with my good friends who also happen to be [in] the band. Getting to play in front of audiences is a bonus.

Bill Queen Father of junior Will Queen

There is no question parents provide themselves an outlet in which they can be social and do what they like, but since parents have children, there usually is some sort of embarrassment involved in the practice.

“At times it does get a bit embarrassing,” Will Queen said. “However,

I think it is pretty cool that my dad is in a band.”

Other parent band icon in the elementary school community, the Walter Hays Wildcats, has been a Palo Alto staple for the past 14 years. Starting all the way back in 1999, the Wildcats have played for countless charities and have raised over $250,000 through Partners in Education, PiE. The band consists of six members, all of whom are parents of Walter Hays alumni.

“I joined shortly after the founding members formed the band in 2000,” lead vocalist and guitarist Jeff Scheel said, father of junior Connor Scheel.

“The first gig I played in [the band] knew nine songs. Now we know over 150 songs and can play for over four hours.”

Differing from PKRB, the Wildcats mostly play for charity and fundraising events all over the Palo Alto community.

“Our most successful gigs are those where someone throws a private party for us to play and they make a large donation to their favorite charity,” Scheel said. “We’ve played at over 50 venues. Most recently, we played at Club Fox in Redwood City in the fall.”

Without a doubt, music is one of the few ways in which today’s parents can truly let go of work and family stress and simply focus on having a good time with their peers and enjoy playing music.

“I enjoy most the community and the opportunity to play new songs,” Scheel said. “My favorite moment was jumping off the stage to do a scissor kick at the Palo Alto Black & White Ball in a kilt and later that night winning Best Band for the evening.”

One can expect to see these bands continuing to rock on for years to come and to continue enjoying what they love to do.

MIRANDA LAMBERT Starting Price: $40 Biggest Hit(s): “Over You,” “Fastest Girl In Town” This country superstar is known for being the “toughest girl in country music,” singing fiery songs of revenge on inadequate boyfriends.

JUN

9

TIM McGraw Opening Acts: Brantley Gilbert, Love and Theft Starting Price: $44 Biggest Hit(s): “One Of Those Nights,” “Truck Yeah” Tim McGraw became the most popular male country singer of the 90s because of his modern revamping of classic country.

JUN

22

VANS WARPED TOUR Starting Price: $40 Top Artists: Sleeping With Sirens, Forever the Sickest Kids, Hawthorne Heights, Motion City Soundtrack, Never Shout Never, Man Overboard, The Summer Set This all-day indie punk rock festival features a range of artists and attractions, including a half-pipe.

JUN

30

ROCKSTAR ENERGY MAYHEM FESTIVAL Starting Price: $37 Top Artists: (TBA on March 18) The Mayhem Festival is a hardrock event that showcases a wide range of artists, spanning thrash metal, death core and death metal.

AUG

9

LUKE BRYAN Opening Acts: Thompson Square, Florida-Georgia Line Starting Price: $65 Biggest Hit(s): “Drunk On You,” “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” Luke Bryan’s light-hearted, upbeat style and down-to-earth personality draws an overwhelming crowd.

AUG

22

BRAD PAISLEY Opening Acts: Chris Young, Lee Brice Starting Price: $36 Biggest Hit(s): “Remind Me (Duet with Carrie Underwood)” Brad Paisley’s creative, witty lyrics are often tinged with humor, including two-liners such as, “Don’t worry babe I’ve got your back/ and I’ve also got your front.”

All prices as of 3/2/13.

Monday, March 18, 2013

B6

The Campanile

MUSIC

Online music streaming services unlock many new sources for avid music listeners Spotify, Mog, 8tracks and Rdio all offer similar features and are priced comparably.

However, they have their individual traits that make them unique in their own ways.

8tracks

While other platforms involve complicated subscriptions and pestering commercials, 8tracks has stayed faithful to the idea of simple, free radio. To find a mix without even logging in, users input a mood or genre, then select one of the suggested playlists.

If signed in, one can create, publish and share mixes for free, which is as close to making mix tapes as we will ever see again. Discovering new music is easy on 8tracks when users can easily connect with others, albeit strangers, who share the same musical taste.

While not as complex as other platforms, 8tracks remains a faithful radio standby.

AnnA McGarrigle Lifestyle Editor

T

he mystical entity we call the Internet is a treasure trove of information, images, videos and especially music.

Recently, popularized music streaming platforms have embedded music into our social profiles on Facebook and other sites.

With applications like Spotify and 8tracks, people now have opportunities to listen to music whenever and wherever they desire.

Here is a guide to the best music platforms out there.

Rdio

Spotify

Perhaps the most popular platform available, Spotify provides unlimited access to nearly every song ever released at three price levels: Free desktop use with advertisements, Unlimited uninterrupted desktop use ($4.99/month) and Premium uninterrupted mobile use ($9.99/month).

The simple interface displays friends’ activity (if connected to Facebook), while they can likewise view what artists and playlists you are listening to.

Premium users can sync playlists across devices and listen offline, making it valuable in the car or at the gym.

The ability for users to send songs or subscribe to friends’ customized playlists with a click makes Spotify stand out from other services. Also, other music applications run synergistically with Spotify.

For example, the application “Bandsintown Concerts” compiles concert information on when your favorite artists are coming to town.

The “Tunigo” application offers an array of specialty playlists, varying by moods and genre, while “Pitchfork” reviews the latest and greatest new music.

But like most of these other streaming platforms, Spotify fails to offer original songs by classic artists such as The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, and even certain modern

artists like Spector have refused to sell their rights to Spotify.

Mog

Mog is another music player that offers free music and radio streaming, plus other paid perks with an upgrade. The free option with Mog operates right from your web browser.

Users must “earn free music” by inviting friends, or else upgrade to the Basic level ($4.99/month) which provides unlimited desktop listening, or the Primo level ($9.99/

month) for unlimited mobile and desktop listening. Users can create and share playlists, add songs to their “Favorites” list, and discover new music similarly to Spotify, but the outstanding difference between the two services is that Mog can operate conveniently via web browser, while Spotify subscribers must download the application onto their computer or mobile phone. However, the fact that Mog is much less popular and, therefore, has a smaller user network than Spotify makes it far less useful.

Initially, Rdio accomplished most of the same features as every other music platform, but just at a higher price. Now that Rdio is priced at the exact same level as Spotify and Mog, its social network has become much more valuable.

While Spotify and Mog operate based on the user’s network of Facebook friends, Rdio operates on its own social network in addition to its Facebook and Twitter connections. Users can actively interact with others who share similar music interests in order to discover new artists.

Rdio also works seamlessly with nearly every application on the market, from your mobile phone (even you Blackberry users!) to your home stereo system through Roku or Sonos.

Rdio’s sleek, white web interface also adds to its dynamic appeal.

Rdio is a great alternative to other subscription services, but at the moment its smaller user network makes it less popular than its competitors.

Freestyle rapping grows amongst senior students Kyle Stewart

Senior Staff Writer

R

ecently, freestyle rap has caught the eye of some Paly students in a less serious manner than those who freestyle and rap for a career. Freestyle rap is the art of taking an instrumental beat and voicing improvised lyrics to that beat.

Freestyling is believed to have originated in the late 1970s on the East Coast hip hop scene.

Many modern rappers began their careers with freestyling in their local towns and entering organized rap battles to gain name recognition.

The key is confidence.

Just keep going if you mess up or if it doesn’t rhyme. Chances are you come back strong with a good line.

David Anhalt Senior

Some students at Paly are discovering freestyling, an entertaining creative outlet to practice with friends.

“I think it all started when my friends and I, particularly [seniors] Sean Harvey and Walker Mees, would listen to some instrumental beats and just say a few lines for fun,” senior Weston Preising said. “As time progressed, we got better and better, and it’s become something to pass the time when we are bored. It’s all about

having fun when you’re freestyling, not necessarily how good the actual verses are.”

The environment among freestylers at Paly tends to be relaxed, with students building off each other’s raps and ideas rather than competing against one another.

According to senior Sean Harvey, topic choice is key when it comes to improvising good raps.

“The key to flowing is relaxing and focusing your lines on a certain topic or topics, so that you have a reservoir of lines coming your way,” Harvey said.

Senior David Anhalt advises freestyle attempters to have confidence in their skills and to keep rapping, no matter what happens.

“The key is confidence,” Anhalt said. “Just keep going if you mess up or if it doesn’t rhyme. Chances are you come back strong with a good line. Honestly, no one has perfect flow or consistency rhyming when it’s off the dome, so just keep the beat and continue freestyling and you’ll sound good.”

Exposing oneself to rap music is a great way to obtain a better understanding of the techniques professional musicians use to create their beats and lyrics.

Aspiring freestyle rappers may listen to lots of different kinds of music to experience a wide range of techniques and sound. “[Listening to rap music] helps you to understand various stylistic techniques that you may not have heard before,” Preising said.

Jensen hsiao/The Campanile

Senior David Anhalt freestyle raps on the quad after school to relieve the stress and tension of the long school day. Anhalts considers freestyle rap as an art form and practices often with his friends.

“Listening to rap does help because you can see other rapper’s [freestyle] techniques and mix and match them to create your own personal style that you like,” senior Walker Mees said.

Although listening to rap music is a great way to enhance your freestyling ability, the best way to improve is

by continuously practicing in front of other people.

“Anyone can freestyle [rap] with a little practice and some positive feedback,” Anhalt said. “Just remember to keep practicing because you can always hear yourself get better over time.”

On a last note, in a sense freestyling relates to poetry; anyone can do it. It is just a matter of how deep a certain individual chooses to dive into his or her respective work. The sky is the limit when you can use the entire English language as a tool box to communicate your message.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

COMMUNITY

B7

Local bookstores offer varied environments, inventory Julia Poppy Social Media Editor

P

alo Alto is facing a dearth of bookstores. After the closing of Borders in 2011, Palo Alto lost its only large book selling retailer and now relies on three independently owned bookstores, Books Inc., Bell’s Books and Know Knew Books as well as Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park and the Stanford University Bookstore.

Books Inc.

Located across the street from Paly in Town & Country Village, Books Inc. provides an excellent variety of bestselling and obscure books considering the small space it occupies. Bookshelves carry novels, how-to guides and nonfiction books.

The people who work at the store are friendly and well-read. The book reviews written by staff members, which are taped around the store, guide customers to new and exciting reads. A solid, independent bookstore, Books Inc. offers weekly events, such as the 4th Tuesday Book Club.

Books Inc. is open Sunday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Bell’s Books

Located in downtown Palo Alto, Bell’s Books has been around for 75 years. Often overlooked, this old fashioned bookstore sits right next to University Avenue; however, it manages to keep its family-owned, independent bookstore charm.

Bookshelves filled with a plethora of novels tower over the shopper. The register sits on a large desk in the middle of the grand store and baskets filled with old postcards and pictures line the walls. Open six days a week, Bell’s Books is open Monday through Thursday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30

Anna McgarriGle/The Campanile

On the right, local bookstore Books Inc. offers all sorts of books ranging from classical novels to college prep books and AP study guides. On the right, bookstore Bell’s Books is a family-owned bookstore that features many Palo Alto-specific books.

p.m., Friday 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Know Knew Books

Know Knew Books on California Avenue describes itself as “an independent seller of used books, comics, CDs, records, DVDs, toys, art, and all sorts of other groovy stuff.” This bookstore has undergone a renovation and now has a “newer, brighter, and airier layout.” Also, this bookstore has several events planned for the 2013 year, including readings and special events. Know Knew Books is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Kepler’s Books

For those with access to a car, Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park has a fantastic assortment of all types of books. Not only is it located right next to an amazing café, Café Borone, but also the size and variety of books Kepler’s provides makes it one of the best bookstores around.

Kepler’s book selection ranges from mystery novels, classic literature, to do-it-yourself guides. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and always has a few personal recommendations up their sleeves. In addition, Kepler’s always has great events, for example the Kepler’s Book Swap, where local citizens come together, enjoy some

food and drink and swap books with other avid readers. Kepler’s is open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Stanford University Bookstore

Although slightly more expensive than other bookstores in the area, the Stanford University Bookstore is a great place to go for non-fiction books and bestsellers. The store caters to college students so it is a good place to check out if you are searching for research or test prep books. If you know what you are looking for, it is a good idea to call in advance since the bookstore doesn’t usually carry many copies of one book. The Stanford Bookstore also sells schools supplies,

apparel and computer equipment. It is open Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

While Palo Alto may only have three bookstores, Bell’s Books, Books Inc. and Know Knew Books do a decent job at providing the average book-lover with a variety of books, ranging from rare novels to textbooks on molecular gastronomy. Above all, the city of Palo Alto is a great place for a bookworm. All of the bookstores in the area offer different, unique books that range from a variety of topics and can accommodate any type of reader in the area.

Monday, March 18, 2013

B8

The Campanile

CULTURE

Steam offers Asian fusion, dim sum options LILY Zhang staff writer

D

owntown Palo Alto’s University Avenue has lacked options for foodies seeking to fulfill their dim sum cravings; that is until the recent addition of Steam, a restaurant featuring Taiwanese-Cantonese fusion cuisine with delicious dim sum options.

Now occupying the previous site of Mediterranean Wraps, Steam made its debut on Feb. 6.

Created by the owners of Taipan, another Chinese dim sum restaurant also in downtown Palo Alto, Steam has a similar look and taste, with a few adjustments to the menu and ambiance of the restaurant.

The restaurant has an indoor and outdoor patio which allows a small seating of 48 people. Its style takes on a sleek and contemporary look that is very well suited for downtown Palo Alto.

The menu has a small section of about 10 different varieties of dim sum, along with a larger fare of Hong Kong cuisine.

Some widely known dim sum, such as the Shanghai dumpling, har gow, bean curd shrimp roll, steamed barbeque pork bun, along with many others ($3) are served in reasonable sizes, although the portions are slightly smaller than usual Chinese dim sum restaurants.

Although the other dim sum dishes are good, the bean curd shrimp roll is a dish that really stood out.

The dish is prepared a little differently from other dim sum places due to its more round appearance, but the bean curd wrapped around shrimp and veggies is fried to perfection.

The sweet and sour sauce it came with adds even more flavor, making the dish one of the restaurant’s best.

Besides the dim sum, the other Cantonese style dishes are prepared adequately, especially the Chef’s special-braised beef noodle soup ($8).

The broth has a distinct and flavorful taste, as well as extremely tender braised beef.

1

in

2000

This edition featuring

Molly Kraus with The Campanile’s own Josefin Kenrick and Jensen Hsiao

The beef noodle soup ($8) has tender beef, fresh vegetables and a rich broth, but the noodles are nothing special.

However, the noodles are only average, with a slight similarity to that of instant ramen noodle. The string bean vegetarian ($5) and the fish filet with mushrooms in a clay pot ($10) are decently prepared, but the fish, although tender, is a little on the salty side. Drinks include water, tea ($2), coffee ($2) and the regular fountain sodas ($1.50) as well as a variety of wines ($6) and beer ($3$3.50). Overall, the restaurant has a pleasant environment.

A bar facing the open kitchen allows diners to witness the chefs cooking. However, the restaurant can be a bit crowded and hard to navigate, and Steam is also very busy during the lunch hour and in the evening. The staff is friendly and the restaurant is great for romantic dates as well as family friendly outings.

Steam 209 University Avenue Price: $$

lily zhang/the campanile

The crispy outside on the bean curd shrimp roll ($3) encases a well prepared interior of shrimp and veggies accompanied by a tangy sauce.

Colorful murals bring flare to Palo Alto

Gina Scarpino/The Campanile

The Campanile: How do you like Paly?

Molly Kraus: I kinda expected it to be ghetto and crazy or really Asian but it’s a little bit of both.

It’s a good mix.

TC: List three words to describe yourself.

MK: Three words to describe myself: sexual, fantastic, glorious.

TC: How about you give us some background. How are you sexual?

MK: No it’s kinda just ‘cause everyone else is jealous, I use my sexuality to scare people.

TC: How are you fantastic?

MK: How am I not fantastic?

TC: You need to support these three claims.

MK: Sexual because I walk really funny and attract attention and my knees hit each other.

Fantastic probably just because I’m a god and everyone looks up to me.

TC: What’s the most attractive feature on a male?

MK: Definitely a goatee.

TC: If I was a male and I wanted to date somebody, what advice would you give me?

MK: Rub their nipples. It’s a great way to attract someone.

TC: What are the different social groups?

MK: There’s a b**** clique of the boys and the low calorie snacks group for girls.

TC: Which group are you in?

MK: I consider myself a part of the b**** clique.

TC: Are you a good student?

MK: I’m in the really really smart classes.

TC: Like what?

MK: None of them.

TC: What do you want to be when you grow up?

MK: Something fantastic.

TC: Do you want to minor in MILF? MK: How wealthy will my husband be?

TC: Tell me something new about you that you haven’t said yet.

MK: Devious.

TC: No, a sentence.

MK: A sentence? But those are really hard to formulate!

TC: Try a haiku.

MK: Trees are really cool, um I have two hands on body, seniors are losers yeah okay.

TC: That’s not a haiku. Do your hips lie?

MK: Yes, all the time. I don’t know, they don’t really have mouths; they don’t tell the truth.

TC: Tell us about the boys at Paly.

MK: I don’t know what happened to the freshman gene pool but they’re just... boys have cooties and it’s really inappropriate to be seen with them in public.

They’re corruptive and only want to get into your pants.

TC: You’re not wearing pants right now, you’re wearing a skirt. What about that?

MK: I have invisible pants.

TC: Do boys have invisible pants?

MK: Boys don’t want to have invisible pants, girls need invisible pants, to protect themselves from corruptiveness.

TC: How have you been corrupted?

MK: I heard there was something called Streak Week, that’s gross I don’t really want to see a bunch of d***s running around.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

SPORTS

On a roll Girls’ lacrosse continues their league winning streak. see C2

There is more to kickboxing than just mere exercise; it relieves stress and builds up emotion.

Hannah Tumminaro Senior see C7

In the Zone

Adam Mansour/The Campanile

The Mental Side of the Game

Many athletes focus on enhancing their physical capabilities, but neglect preparing themselves adequately. This approach to training ultimately results in suboptimal performance and frustration Blake sMith staff writer

W

hile physical requirements vary from sport to sport, mental preparedness does not. How does an athlete block out the self-doubt, nerves and negative thoughts? They do so by being “in the zone.” An athlete that is “in the zone” performs well regardless of outside influences and focuses without trying to focus.

Many sports psychologists have formulated different methods to getting in the zone. Timothy Gallwey, author of The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance, says that most young athletes constantly coach themselves while they play. This loads their brain with many ideas to focus on and leads to sub-par performances. Athletes who are able to regularly get in the zone will find themselves able to beat opponents that they used to lose to. The victories achieved through the zone positively affect confidence leading to further accomplishments.

While getting in the zone is an important part of sports there is

another psychological aspect with just as much importance. This aspect requires an athlete to let go of judgements. Judgement in athletics means assigning positive or negative reactions to an event. For example, if a tennis player screams at himself and throws his racquet due to a missed volley he will have assigned negative judgement to a certain event. Another example is if a baseball pitcher strikes out the best player on the opposing team and says, “Wow that was great.”

Both of these judgements can negatively impact an athlete. The act of judgement provokes a thinking process thus preventing the athlete from getting in the zone.

Coaches of all sports encounter athletes who can get in the zone and refrain from assigning positive and negative feedback but lack motivation to perform to their full ability.

There is a third step to becoming the mentally perfect athlete. This third step involves goals and how without a goal, athletes are aimless in what they are trying to achieve.

Athletes that can get in “the zone” can perform to the best of their ability without the mental variables that are constantly changing in a dynamic setting such as self-doubt, nerves and negative thoughts. These variables have the unfortunate capacity to pull an athlete’s mind off track both during practice and in game.

Jacey Pederson is a freshman on varsity soccer, and thus, has the pressure to perform well from her team, family and grade.

Bracket Busters This is madness!

However, when she jogs out onto the soccer field, she is focused on the upcoming game, despite the cheering of the crowd and the sound of the referee’s whistle blaring in her ears.

How do Pederson and countless other Paly athletes maintain their “cool” when faced with the ultimate pressure of playing a sport?

To Pederson, it is a combination of listening to music, envisioning the game ahead and eating correctly in order to allow her to reach this ideal state of mind.

“I listen to music and envision myself on the field making high-quality plays before the game,” Pederson said. “I also eat correctly at an appropriate time before the game.”

While getting focused channeling one’s mental efforts is an important prerequisite for success in any sport, it is also important to keep a cool head.

“If I’m not in the zone it usually results in my not being at the top of my game,” varsity lacrosse player James Harrison said. “This leads to my being harder on myself because of not doing things well.”

To girls’ varsity tennis player Aashli Budhiraja, not being in “the zone” is essentially a death sentence.

“Being in the zone is really important in tennis matches because the game is 99 percent mental,” Budhiraja said “When I’m not focused, I forget the gameplan, rush points and ultimately lose.”

Mental preparedness helps athletes learn and improve from past mistakes. When they have the ability

to reflect prior to practices and games, they are able to understand what they need to change for the future.

“I also try to process and mull over the mistakes that my teammates and Before a match, I listen to my pump-up playlist and I try to get everything else out of my head in order to keep my mind blank. I don’t talk to anyone and I just try to stay calm and focused.”

Aashli Budhiraja, Junior

I have made in past games and how we can rectify them moving forward,” Harrison said.

In this way, athletes can improve both their personal style of play and that of their team as an entity. With out being mentally prepared, athletes do not have this opportunity to easily improve and hone their skills.

The results of players on the team not being in “the zone” is essentially a waste of a game. People do not play to their full potential, leading to the game not being played as well.

“When we are not focused, we tend to play poorly and commit ourselves to lots of errors,” Harrison said.

“These errors lead lower team morale and spirit, which generally makes it harder for us to effectively possess the ball and keep winning the game within our contro, power and even ability.”

INSIDE Lacrosse

Madness? This is

Senior stars win games for Vikings

college

Returning players spearhead offensive

basketball!

efforts. C6

C5

In order for a team to play well together, every player has to be focused. For varsity football player Andrew Frick, each game is an enormous, complicated, puzzle that will not be run or completed with fluidity without the help of each player. Each player on a team should completely mentally prepare before the game in order to make the game played by the team to its full potential.

“I get mentally prepared by focusing on the game ahead and the individual role that I play in the overarching strategy that defines our chemistry on the field,” Frick said.

To Frick, it is a player’s responsibility to effectively concentrate and be in the proper state of mind prior to the game.

“I try not to let anything affect my focus going into the game, since that makes it harder for me to concentrate and clearly visualize my individual goals in my head and clearly conceptualize what I need to do,” Frick said.

In team sports, every player on the team is playing for the common goal of winning.

The necessity to perform and excel is a major reason that team athletes have pre-game rituals that help them to mentally prepare themselves for their upcoming games. When an entire team is in “the zone,” they are playing to the best of their ability as an entity.

Thus, being mentally prepared is integral to success in single-player to team sports and is a requirement to showcase one’s skills properly.

TRACK

Wait up for us!

Paly track leaves their opponents in the dust.

C6

Baseball

Fighting to the last at-bat Baseball team comes down to the line in a nail-biting finish. C7

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

C2 SPORTS

Boys’ varsity basketball comes short of CCS title

jensen hsiao/The Campanile

Clockwise from top left: Senior Aubrey Dawkins dribbles the ball past a Los Gatos player towards the basket. Senior Aubrey Dawkins dodges another Los Gatos opponent and gets ready to shoot from the side. Junior Keller Chryst makes a shot and scores two points for the Vikings against Los Gatos.

Brandon Byer Senior Staff Writer

Jensen Hsiao Staff Writer

A

three-game-skid to end the season halted the Vikings hopes of a CCS title last Wednesday as the varsity boys’ basketball team lost 35-25 to De La Salle High School who was led by Arizona commit Elliott Pitts. Paly was held to just five points in the first half as their offense was slowed by the swarming defense of De La Salle.

“I think more than anything it was passiveness that killed us,” senior Aldis Petriceks said. “We did miss shots, and they do play great defense,

but if we had moved the ball better and especially had been more aggressive, that game could have been ours without a doubt.”

The Paly basketball team ended a great overall season with a three game losing streak, losing to Archbishop Riordan and Soquel High School in CCS games prior to the loss to De La Salle.

“It’s always disappointing to take losses like that,” Petriceks said. “It was tough, but I think we are aware of the great season we had[and] plus the difficulty of playing without our starting center, so we kept our heads up for sure.”

Overall, Paly ended the season going 23-4 going 12-0 in league. This team did not lose a game for a little more than two months and proved

its dominance against its league counterparts.

“We battled very hard and played [a few] very tough teams,” junior guard Clark Schmutz said. “So, although we were disappointed that we lost, we still left it all out on the court.”

Paly got to their astounding record with the help of solid performances every night by its senior players, who carried this team both on and off the court.

Seniors Aubrey Dawkins and Aldis Petriceks maintained their performance all throughout the basketball season.

They were assisted by seniors Mathias Schmutz, Scotty Peery, Eilon Tzur, Kenny Jones and junior Keller Chryst.

Dawkins averaged a team high of 18.8 points per game (PPG) and was the second highest rebounder on the team with 7.0 rebounds per game (RPG).

To say Dawkins exploded onto the scene in terms of his consistency all year is a fair assessment of his season as he took the reins of being the on-court leader for Paly.

Not to be overshadowed, Petriceks also displayed great consistency in all of his performances this season.

He averaged 12.7 PPG as he and Dawkins were the only ones to average double figures over the whole season. Looking ahead to next year’s team, six seniors will have graduated, when includes four of its top five scorers. Junior Keller Chryst’s development as a post scorer will be very

important to 2013-14 team as it will need him to increase his point production which was at 6.9 PPG. Chryst also did lead the team in rebounds at 7.2 RPG which is a very good average for a junior.

As he continues to build on what he has accomplished on the defensive glass, he will also be key for Paly’s success for the basketball season next year.

Returning players that will be joining Chryst for the next basketball season in the rotation as of now include juniors Clark Schmutz, Noah Phillips, C.J. Patterson and sophomore Kevin Mullin.

“The roster looks solid [for next season], and our main goal is to win the [De Anza] league again,” Junior Clark Schmutz said.

Boys’ tennis hopes to Girls’ lacrosse improves techniques improve from last year to continue winning streak Bowen Gerould Jensen Hsiao staff Writer

T

he Paly boys’ tennis team looks to improve from its weak CCS finish last year by going even further in the upcoming season.

“I think that the team this year has a lot of chemistry and everyone is good,” junior Aditya Mahadevan said.

Senior teammate Mikael Lassoy echoed Mahadevan’s opinion of the team.

Making CCS and winning a few SCVAL matches would be my goal. I am excited to see how things turn out.

Mason Haverstock Senior Co-Captain

“We are going to do pretty well this year as a team,” Lassoy said.

With the loss of a star player Nicky Hu, who currently plays tennis at Harvard University, the team members thought they would be struggling to cover the void; however, the team started off the season with a convincing 7-0 win against non-league opponent Aragon High school. Unfortunately, the team its league open against Los Gatos 3-4, but it showed promise, as the team kept the scores close until the end of the match.

Senior co-captain Mason Haverstock is confident that the team has the skill level to compete successfully.

“So far this year we’ve been doing exceptionally,” Haverstock said. “The returning players are all looking better, and we have a few new players who are looking solid this year.”

The team took the first two days of March to travel, down to the annual California Boys Tennis Classic tournament in Fresno to take on a variety of teams from around the state in round robin format.

The tournament consisted of over 100 teams, ranging from Division I all the way to Division VIII They started off with a loss, falling 0-7 to the strong Menlo team before bouncing back to rout Archbishop Mitty 6-1.

Paly continued its strong streak against Viewpoint High School with another close 4-3 match.

Paly finished up the weekend with a disappointing 2-5 loss before finishing the tournament in 10th place overall.

For the rest of the season, Haverstock looks forward to setting and meeting other challenging goals, including making the CCS tournament.

The team and coach looks forward to hopeful wins against other schools that can bring it to the CCS tournaments in the near future.

“Making CCS and winning a few SCVAL matches would be my goal,” Haverstock said. “I am excited to see how things turn out.”

emily lee

Maya Kitayama Staff Writer

T

wo wins and high spirits mark the beginning of a promising season for girls’ varsity lacrosse. The Vikings defeated opponent Menlo-Atherton on March 8 with a final score of 17-4, adding another win to their league record thus far.

The team defeated Oak Ridge the prior week, which resulted in a final score of 15-3.

Junior Kristen DeStefano commends her team’s unity and play during the last two games.

“I think the team did awesome,” DeStefano said. “We connected all of our passes and the transition in the midfield was very crisp.”

Senior Genevieve Lucas-Conwell also praises her team’s performance.

“We had great team effort, got the ball moving on transition a lot,” Lucas-Conwell said. “Our defense was great at just getting the ball back to the midfield and then back on to the attack; it was almost like the field got shorter.”

Lucas-Conwell lauds the unconventional strategies that Menlo-Atherton implemented during the game, noting that the win did not come without a few challenges.

“Our opponents, Menlo-Atherton, had a great run,” Lucas-Conwell said.

“Their defense was on us, they did a great job on getting their ball back,

Andrew Choi/The Campanile

Junior Annemarie Drez runs past a Burlingame player to attempt to score a goal on the opposite side of the field.

and they definitely had a different team atmosphere, which changed up how we play.”

The team hopes to continue on with their winning streak with new offensive plays and improved communication in their games and practices.

“We are going to be working mostly on the plays that our coach has made on offense, and also just working on getting the ball on the draw,” Lucas-Conwell said.

Senior captain Nina Kelty trusts in the team’s ability to succeed.

“Although there is always room for improvement, [but] I think we have been playing really well as a team these first few games,” Kelty said. “I believe this is our year. Our team is meshing really well on and off the field which is such a great feeling!

I think this will be our year to win SCVALs.” The team’s home games are on Thursday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 19, against Saratoga and Gunn. Both games will begin at 7 p.m.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

SPORTS C3

Thinking with my head: how concussions changed my life

Hillel Zand StaFF Writer

W

hat’s more important: the next year and a half or the rest of my life?

That is the question that I asked myself after having been diagnosed with my fourth concussion in early February. By no means was I a great lacrosse player, but rather, I was just a living example of how misfortune can happen to anyone.

Having had accidentally led with my head when making a check during lacrosse practice, I felt a burst of pressure gushing into my head, followed by an expected headache. I told my coach what had happened after practice and was surprised by his immediate concern.

“Let me know immediately if you have any problems doing homework or the pain gets worse,” he had said.

My mom showed the same concern and immediately took me to the doctor, whereupon I was diagnosed with a concussion. Thinking that the worst was behind me, I eagerly awaited the day where I could return to the team— even if I was a lowly “scrubstitute.”

Leading up to my return, however, I began to discover an unwritten code in sports. Concussions seem to be stigmatized in the Paly community, and probably in high schools across the country. Why? Because admitting you have a concussion is a sign of weakness. It means that you can’t handle getting shoved around. There is nothing physically preventing you from playing, as opposed to having a sprain or a fracture, so the only logical explanation that your teammates come up with for your injury is that you must be a wimp.

Especially in boys’ sports, concussions seem to be looked down upon

even more. I felt like I had done something wrong when I explained to a few of my teammates why I could not practice for a couple of weeks.

“Oh, I see...” some would say. It seemed like some were trying to mask their embarrassment for me.

I was surprised to find from Harold, a junior on Paly’s football team whose name has been changed to protect his identity, that his coaches shy away from addressing concussions. In a sport where athletes are the most prone to getting concussions, especially among running backs and linebackers, coaches should be more open and encourage players to report any signs of head trauma.

“Coaches don’t talk about players getting concussions that much,” Harold said. “It’s not like something that’s discussed. It’s kind of just unwritten.”

Harold says he has sustained three or four concussions from playing football but has only reported one to his coaches.

We, as teenagers, do not like to admit defeat. This is probably why there is a stigma surrounding concussions, and we often initially shrug off the “invisible injury.” It seems as though high school athletes consider breaking a collarbone to be worse than any sort of head trauma.

After the immediate symptoms subsided, I thought I would be ready to return. But I wasn’t. While normally I consider myself fairly articulate and thoughtful. After the concussion, I had trouble (and still have trouble) putting my thoughts into speech and was experiencing lapses in short-term memory. I simply could not concentrate, so I began to reconsider my future in lacrosse.

I have never been a great athlete, and I will be the first to admit that.

But giving up the remaining organized sport I played was a tough decision. How would I explain it to my friends? Would they react the same way some of my teammates did? That was what frightened me the most. I felt like I was letting go of a part of my masculinity. Then I

courtesy of sportscardforum.com

These scans show the brain activity generated during a simple subtraction problem in concussed and normal subjects. The increased brain activity in concussed subjects shows that the concussed brain is less efficient at the same simple task. According to two recent studies, the highest concussion rates are in high school athletics.

realized that if I quit my lacrosse career, I would be making the best decision of my life. The next one and a half years of playing lacrosse would have been a great experience, I’m sure of that, but what was more important was my brain and the decades ahead of me.

We all know that the words “teenagers” and “foresight” are not synonymous. Throw in a concussion and our judgement can be even worse.

High school athletes should report even the slightest bit of cerebral discomfort because, as my parents put it, you can’t replace your brain.

Although doctors do not yet know the number of concussions that warrants an end to playing a sport, this does not mean we cannot be the experts of our own bodies. I knew I was not acting like myself, and I feared having permanent cognitive damage should I continue playing.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that 1.6 to 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur each year. Why such a broad range?

Because often as little as 10 percent of all concussions go unreported and undiagnosed. The Sports Concussion Institute reports that 47 percent of all athletes do not report any symptoms after having been concussed.

The debate over concussions has resurfaced in recent years with former National Football League players revealing the lack of education and surrounding concussions in the league, similar to Harold’s experience.

However, data leads some to argue that head traumas are even more prevalent in girls’ sports. Studies suggest that female athletes are twice as likely to sustain a concussion than their male counterparts, especially in girls’ soccer. Approximately 50 percent of girls’ soccer players sustain

concussions, usually from heading the ball since the speed of a soccer ball being headed by a player can reach 70 miles per hour.

Harold acknowledges that there is an innate difference between a male athlete sustaining a concussion and female athlete.

“Guys don’t want to stop playing because they want to help the team,” Harold said. “I think girls would report [getting a concussion] immediately.”

In order to destigmatize concussions, for boys and girls alike, we must nurture a supportive environment for those who have sustained concussions so that more athletes will speak out and report head traumas.

Just because an injury is not visible does not mean it does not exist.

Admitting defeat when concussed is okay. Because no matter where the injury lies, an injury is still an injury.

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Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

C4 MARCH MADNESS Louisville Louisville was an early season championship favorite, led by guards Russ Smith and Peyton Siva. After a rocky beginning of their Big East schedule, the Cardinals have started to gain some momentum entering March. Louisville reached the final four last year before falling to Kentucky and return many of the same players as last year’s squad.

They have the top ranked defense in the country, with five athletic starters including forwards Chane Behanan and Gorgui Dieng who can run in transition. Louisville is a team than can go on runs and build momentum quickly and can quickly heat up in the tournament just like they did a year ago.

Bracket Br

Tips and

The Contenders

1 2

Have all 1 and 2 seeds at least in the sweet sixteen. Do not let your bracket become ruined before the first weekend is over.

Do not put all number one seeds in the final four. Only one time in history have all number one seeds made the final four, in 2008.

3

Pick at least one 11 or 12 seed to win in the first round. It has been a long time since at least one 11 or 12 seed did not win a first round game. A long time.

4

Whoever wins the Big East Tournament should be at least in your sweet sixteen. The last four Big East Conference Tournament winners have all reached the elite eight at the very least.

5

Do not pick a team lower than a three seed (4,5,6...) to win the championship. Not since 1997 has a four seed or higher won the national championship.

Courtesy of sports.chronicles.blogs

Duke Duke has not lost a game this year with its full lineup. Led by star guard Seth Curry and powerful post Mason Plumlee, Duke has the potential to win it all.

All five of Duke’s starters have scored at least 25 points in one game this year proving they have many options to dominate offensively. Just a week ago did Duke come back to full strength with Ryan Kelly recovering from a severe foot injury that plagued Duke throughout January and February. With the emergence of Kelly and after his stellar performance in his first game back against Miami, Duke looks as if they are firing on all cylinders. After the debacle last year when the Blue Devils lost to 15 seed Lehigh in the first round just a year ago, look for Coach Krzyzewski and his players to redeem themselves this time around with a deep tournament run.

The Mid Belmont

Michigan The Wolverines are led by Trey Burke along with counterpart Tim Hardaway Jr. combining to be the best guard combo in the nation leading a team who has one of the best turnover margins in the country. Burke has led a consistent offense all season along with newcomers in freshmen Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary. Like Hulls of Indiana, Stauskas is a reliable three point threat shooting at about 50% from deep. Glenn Robinson III, can shoot the three and rebound with efficiency but mainly is an athletic forward who can finish in transition. With great production from its guards all season long, the key for the Wolverines is whether their big men McGary, Jordan Morgan and Jon Horford can measure up to the task of keeping their offense not as dependant on guard play.

Belmont is led by guards Ian C points per game. The Bruins fin accounting for only two losses with good offenses, as does Bel age nationally and score about 7

Creighton

Creighton is led by All American Doug McDermo per game. Creighton is one of the best shooting te McDermott and teammates Grant Gibbs and Ethan W and a impressive 42% from three point range.

Indiana Indiana may come into the tournament as the top favorite and rightfully so. They boast arguably the nation’s top offense led by Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller.

Indiana has the pieces of a championship team with a dominant post in Zeller, a three point sharpshooter in Jordan Hulls, an athletic playmaker in Oladipo along with a deep bench led by Will Sheehey. Indiana fell in the sweet sixteen last year because of a lack of a skilled point guard but freshmen Yogi Ferrell has showcased his talents in his first season for the Hoosiers. Indiana has the look of a championship team excelling in all areas of the game as they score, defend and rebound the basketball extremely well. All of Indiana’s few losses have come to only unranked opponents, showing that they let down a little in less important games. However, in games against elite teams, Indiana has stepped up and played its best basketball when it matters most.

Valparaiso

Led by forwards Ryan Broekhoff a shooting team ranking sixth in th from three. The Crusaders have a d minutes a game, nine of whom sho and have the ability to continue th

Courtesy of gannettcdn.com

The Campanile

Monday, March 13,2013

MARCH MADNESS

reakdown James Foug

Senior Staff Writer

d Tricks 6 7 8 9 10

Put at least one double digit seed in the sweet sixteen. There have only been two occasions since 1985 where a double digit seed has not made the sweet sixteen.

Even though Kentucky won the championship as the overall No. 1 seed last year, these teams have combined for only four final fours and two championships in the last nine years.

C5

Kansas There is no doubt that Kansas has an endless supply of star power, but they have not consistently played well as a team showing a lack of chemistry, especially on the offensive side of the floor. Led by possible number overall NBA draft pick Ben McLemore, the Jayhawks have picked up steam in March after losing three straight games at the beginning of February as their only three conference losses. Kansas presents itself as a contender with a excellent center in shot blocking Jeff Withey and with McLemore, Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford scoring at a high rate. However, at times Kansas has struggled as a team as they scored only four points in the first fifteen minutes against TCU, who is last in their Big 12 conference. Kansas has the talent without a doubt, but after a long season, there has been ups and downs of on-court chemistry.

The Pretenders

If stuck between picking a match-up.

Consider the important elements of game location, team experience and team momentum.

Pick games based on your bracket pool’s point system. If upset points are rewarded, then why not take a few extra chances. If upset points are not granted, then edge on the conservative side of things.

Keep yourself in the hunt by staying away from picking too many upsets. If you have a low seed going far, say the elite eight, they can easily lose in the first round and screw your bracket over on the first day.

d Majors

Georgetown While Georgetown is leading the Big East, the Hoyas are too dependent on Otto Porter Jr. While Porter Jr is a candidate for player of the year, players around him like Nate Lubick and Markel Starks have to step up and support the offense. With a loss late in the season to a lower-tier team in Villanova, Georgetown appears to heading in the wring direction. To win the national championship, you need to win six straight games, and the only way Georgetown does that is if Otto Porter Jr plays six straight great games. But that has not happened all season.

Courtesy of KEsports.com

Gonzaga While Gonzaga has only lost twice all season, they have played a weak schedule in the West Coast Conference. The Zags are led by All American forward Kelly Olynyk along with shooter Kevin Pangos and complementary forward Elias Harris. Gonzaga is possibly the most consistent team in the country but their “A” game is not near the level of an “A” game by the teams listed as contenders. Their potential is limited, and history points to the fact that teams dependent on their big man tend not to succeed in the tournament. Due to a weak regular season schedule, Gonzaga is not battle tested for the tournament and they do not contain the athleticism of past championship teams. Look for Gonzaga to win a few games but fall when the competition is elevated, something they have not seen all season.

Clark and Kerron Johnson who combine for about 32 nished on top of a competitive Ohio-Valley Conference in conference. Teams that can create upsets are teams lmont. The Bruins have the 4th best field goal percent78 points per game.

ott who averages about 24 points eams in the whole country led by Wragge. The Jays shoot above 50%

o

and Kevin Van Wijk, Valparaiso like Creighton is a great he country in field goal percentage and can also stroke it deep team rotating nine guys who each play more than 10 oot over 40%. Valparaiso has won 10 of their last 11 games hat success in the NCAA tournament.

Courtesy of media.cmgdigital.com

Miami Miami at times has looked like the best team in the country. However, the Hurricanes seemed to have peaked in early February, and just lost to a mediocre Georgia Tech team at home. Behind the likes of Shane Larkin, Durand Scott and Kenny Kadji, Miami has the potential to make a deep tournament run. There’s no way to tell which Miami team will show up. The one in January who beat Duke by 27 points in January, or the one who lost to Wake Forest by 15 points, or Georgia Tech at home, who are eleventh and ninth respectively in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami is not the most of consistent teams, and when you have to play well in six straight games to win a national title, it may be tough for the Hurricanes to do so.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

C6 SPORTS

Badminton looks to improve from last season Claire liu

galen byrd STAFF writers

T

he badminton season starts on March 19 with its first match against Homestead High School. The team is confident that the season will go well. Players even think that the team has a shot at being first in the league.

After tryouts, around 20 cuts had to be made. The team now has 60 members, split evenly between varsity and JV, according to senior captain Oliver Wang.

So far, the practices have been centered on technique not physical ability, so the freshmen have had opportunities to greatly improve their technique.

“I have seen a lot of improvement in the freshmen so I am excited to see how good they can get,” Wang said.

The team has a new coach, Wesley Hsie, a first year coach at Paly. Hsie instituted a policy that for every practice missed, a mile must be run to make up for it. Some team members have complained about the new rule and a few have been cut from the team for missing too many practices and not running.

Adam mansour/the campanile

Senior captain Oliver Wang serves the shuttlecock during practice. The team hopes to improve from last season under new head coach Wesley Hsieh.

Track team starts strong during first meet Shivonne Logan

Emily semba STAFF writers

P

aly’s first track meet against Saratoga High School last Thursday, March 7, was a promising start for the Viking runners. The Vikings beat Saratoga High by a large margin, which was an exciting way to start the season.

The meet was considered a success by many runners.

“We all ran well as a group under the conditions of the weather but also all the relays got good handoffs,” senior and team captain Matt Tolbert said.

Although the season is off to a good start, some runners are skeptical that the team will live up to last year’s successes.

“I think we will have success this year, maybe not as much as last year,” Tall said. “We have a lot of areas where we can improve and hopefully we can do that.”

Junior runner Jackson Hansen also hopes to see the track team improve this season. With numerous strong runners on the team, Hansen believes

that the team has the potential to grow from last year’s successes.

“The competition we have within the team means that we are all going to push each other really hard this year,” Hansen said. “Hopefully we can all make a lot of progress from last year.”

We all ran well as a group under the conditions of the weather but also all the relays got good handoffs.

Matt Tolbert Senior

The season has begun with a series of changes, with many old faces gone on the team, a vast number of freshman runners and several new coaches.

New coaches this season include distance coach Kelsey Felley and the jumping coach who coached previously for Paly track. The team has not yet found a hurdles coach to replace LaVonna Floreal, who moved to Kentucky after last season along with her son, track star EJ Floreal.

In addition, the jumping team has been unable to train as usual this season since the jumping pit was destroyed during bleacher construction. Because of this, Paly’s home

Jenson Hsiao/The campanile

Junior Jackson Hansen leads the 800 meter race during the 2012 season. Jackson has high hopes for this season.

meets are to be held at other locations for a major part of the season.

A new jumping pit is planned to be dug in May. Despite the changes, senior Tia Rabinovitz, who is new to the track

team, is excited to see what the track team has to offer.

“I’m really excited to see the improvement this season,” Rabinovitz said. “I can already tell there are so many techniques I had no idea existed

in track. It’s fun to get to be a part of a new [Paly athletic team].”

The next meet is an away meet on March 21 against Mountain View High School, who some consider to be Paly’s toughest competition.

Boys’ lacrosse continues successful season Ziv Schwartz

Julia Kwasnick STAFF writers

T

he Paly boys’ lacrosse team started their season off with a bang, winning their first two games against Archbishop Mitty High School and Carmel High School. In their home opener, the Vikings annihilated the Mitty Monarchs, winning impressively with a final score of 15-3. Senior attackman Jonny Glazier and senior middle Skyler Anderson led the Vikings with a combined total of 11 goals.

Head coach Craig Conover was impressed with the way the home opener went.

“The first game went well,” Conover said. “[The team] had a little trouble at the beginning, it was a really close game for the first couple of quarters. It was first game jitters, but then we got settled down and started taking it to them.”

Despite the dominant win, the Vikings have a handful of tasks to work on for their future games, according to Conover.

“Our defense was pretty phenomenal,” Conover said. “[Defensemen] Will Dwight, Scotty Bara and James Harrison really shut down [the Monarchs]. Our offense was a little shaky as far as just executing the plays properly but we have some pretty good shooters who got the job done.”

The Vikings’ following game down in Carmel turned out to be a close

Senior Skyler Anderson runs past a defender in a game against Sequoia High School during their recent 4-3 victory.

shootout between two high caliber offenses.

“It was a rough game,” junior midfielder Jordan Gans said. “[The game] should have been a blowout but we didn’t execute.”

Junior midfielder Zach Rizk held similar views to those of Gans.

“This game showed what this team is really about,” Rizk said. “I don’t

think that at any point in the game did either team eclipse a two goal lead, but nonetheless the team as a whole fought a very physical game to earn a well deserved victory.”

Moving forward, both the captains and head coach have high aspirations for the next couple games.

“I’d rank us around number three in the league,” Conover said. “We’re

always around the top four and hoping to get to number one when it’s all said and done.”

Similarly, junior captain James Harrison believes that with more focus and determination, the Vikings can reach the championship once again.

“I believe that our guys are on the same page on the field and that we are

Andrew choi/the campanile

working together as a unit to get the job done,” Harrison said. “I think we will need to work on our fundamentals and sharpen them up because we have seemed to not think about them during the game causing us to turn over the ball a lot.”

The team plays Sacred Heart Prep next Monday after suffering a loss to Burlingame in which they lost by one.

Monday, May 18, 2013

The Campanile

SPORTS C7

Kickboxing provides new dynamic exercise routines

Alvina zou Staff writer

H

eart racing, sweat pouring, music blasting.

Many students struggle with finding the exact way to motivate themselves to exercise.

For many, cardio kickboxing has become recently a new form of exercise and fitness. Kickboxing is common for students at Paly as they spend time each week taking cardio kickboxing classes at Studio Kicks in Palo Alto.

“I started kickboxing because I wanted to participate in an engaging exercise that was both a really good workout and super upbeat,” senior Jennifer Lai said. “Having an instructor who constantly keeps the energy high is really motivating. It is really different from other sports because it is basically a blast of cardio that works your entire body which is awesome because once I’m done I feel super refreshed and energized.”

Studio Kicks provides four different level classes that each last forty-five minutes for students. Each cardio kickboxing class depends on one’s level. The four classes focus on cardio kickboxing, cardio bag, power kickboxing and power impact/thai pads.

While the beginner classes are geared towards strengthening cardiovascular levels, the advanced classes focus on proper form and technique.

By learning proper form and technique, kickboxing can improve body tone, strength and endurance as well as a stronger mentality.

“There is more to kickboxing than just exercise, it relieves stress and builds up emotion,” senior Hannah Tumminaro said. “I get bored

exercising at a gym or going on a run.

Kickboxing keeps me focused and in shape. It’s not like the gym where you have to drag yourself there to work, I am always excited to go. For me, it’s like exercise therapy. It’s also incredibly fun. It’s badass.”

Studio Kick’s is open every day of the week and provides various classes from mornings classes on weekends to both morning and afternoon classes on weekdays.

“I generally go to classes in the evening on weekends and in the morning on the weekends,” Lai said, “The music we listen to is pretty much upbeat like Scream and Shout by will.i.am and other fun remixes that really pump the spirit up.”

Six-time Chinese martial arts world champion Richard Braden started the program to teach the dynamic sport and to allow all to experience martial arts as well as experience fitness in a different way.

When I kickbox, I tend to find myself so into the music and workout that I don’t even notice how tired I am.

Jennifer Lai Senior

From martial arts to cardio kickboxing classes, the family fitness training center offers many different types of classes for children and adults ages four and up.

“I started [cardio kickboxing] because one of my friends suggested it and because I had to stop doing kendo since my dojo is really far,” senior Yoori Kim said. “I’ve been doing different types of martial arts for a long time and thought it would be interesting to try kickboxing.”

anna mcgarrigle/the campanile

Seniors Jennifer Lai and Clara Lee sharpen their kickboxing skills during a session at the local Studio Kicks for enjoyment and exercise. The studio offers four different level classes with each lasting forty-five minutes.

While some students enjoy other forms of exercise, many students prefer kickboxing.

“The reason I chose kickboxing as opposed to alternative exercises like running is for a couple of reasons,” Lai said. “One of them is that kickboxing is really a full body workout—you feel it in your abs, legs, arms, everywhere —whereas running seems more limited. Another reason why I love kickboxing is because it is so much more interesting in comparison to running. When I kickbox, I tend to find myself so into the music

and workout that I don’t even notice how tired I am.”

With their interest in kickboxing, students have branched out to many similar sports and exercises that share a similar focus and technique.

“I intend on continuing kickboxing in the future by attending classes especially since it is becoming such a popular type of cardio, a lot of gyms and fitness centers do offer these classes,” Lai said. “I also will probably branch to zumba which is [also] really upbeat but rather than incorporating all these kicks and punches

that kickboxing has, it’s more similar to like an upbeat dance routine.”

Kickboxing has took on a more prominent role in many students’ lives. For many, it gradually turned into an enjoyable hobby and sport.

“I will absolutely keep exercise a priority in my future,” Tumminaro said, “In college I hope to pursue my love for yoga and get certified to teach bikram. As far as kickboxing goes, I could never stop. I plan to continue taking kickboxing classes for fun and exercise. My gloves are absolutely coming with me to college.”

Varsity baseball improves season record Swim team encounters defeat in early season

ANDREW CHOI/THE CAMPANILE

Junior Danny Erlich winds up a fastball in an attempt to strike out the opposing batter.

Brandon byer senior staff writer

P

aly baseball went 1-1 in their latest two games as they lost the back end of their two games series against Homestead High School, but came back on Saturday to defeat non-league opponent Tracy High School on the road in an 11 inning marathon.

Against Homestead, both teams couldn’t get their offenses rolling, but Paly was only able to get four total hits in the game.

Paly only allowed one run themselves, as this game turned into a pitcher’s duel for the entire six innings. But in the end, due to the lack offense the Vikings lost 1-0.

In their victory against Tracy, freshman starter Riley Schoeben started and pitched seven innings allowing only two runs, while junior Chris Smith came out of the bullpen to pitch four shutout innings to preserve the Paly victory by a final score of 4-2.

“It’s an honor to be even on the team being so young [as a freshman],” Schoeben said. “Playing up has given me a greater competitive attitude, so every outing I feel like I have something to prove.”

Paly was able to pull away from Tracy thanks to senior right fielder Isaac Feldstein who went 2 for 5 with a triple, and senior Austin Poore, also had two hits.

Back against Maria Carillo High School, thanks to the late heroics of senior centerfielder James Foug the Vikings won in walk-off fashion as a two out base hit to left field sealed the second win of the season for the Paly.

“That walk-off victory was huge for us,” senior shortstop Michael Strong said. “Aside from the fact that it gives us a big win, it helps our team confidence [in that] we believe in the fact we can be great.”

Hits were hard to come by for both teams as senior starting pitcher Rohit Ramkumar threw six strong innings striking out three and surrendering only one walk. Junior Chris Smith also threw one inning of shutout baseball to preserve the victory.

“I knew we had plenty of fight left in us,” senior first baseman Rowan Thompson said. “After they walked me to leadoff the inning, everyone’s confidence picked up, and we were able to execute and scrap for two runs to win the game.”

A while back, Paly was able to pick up their first win of the season

over Evergreen Valley High School with a final score of 8-2.

The pitching staff did their job holding down the opposing team to less than two runs in back-to-back games, which have both translated into victories.

“Our pitching staff works as a whole,” junior starting pitcher Danny Erlich said. “Especially since we are shorter on arms than we have been in the past, [so] if one guy is struggling it affects the rest of us, and pushes us to work on things and improve [as a group].”

Seniors Isaac Feldstein, James Foug, Michael Strong and junior Bowen Gerould all had two hits apiece for the Vikings to lead the offensive attack, while senior Rohit Ramkumar and freshman Riley Schoeben allowed only two unearned runs in the win.

Paly’s tough non-league schedule to start their first three games of the season gave this team some great opportunities to face-off against some of the more talented and fundamentally sound baseball teams in northern California to start their schedule for the 2013 season.

The non-league slate is one of the toughest that Paly has had in quite a few seasons which will help to prepare them for CCS when that time comes around in mid-May. “We needed to play some good, competitive teams because it will tremendously benefit us when we start playing our league opponents over the coming weeks,” Erlich said.

“Once we get to CCS those three teams will be the top teams to beat in the playoffs so it gave us a look at them and showed us what we need to improve on.”

Paly’s league schedule will commence over the next few weeks with a home-and-home series with schools like Homestead High School and Saratoga with some non-league interspersed between the league games.

Some notable non-league opponents that Paly has yet to play include both Campolindo High School and Bellarmine High School which will occur in early April.

“The schedule we have is fine,” Strong said. “It’s interesting playing the same team twice in a row because you get to know each other, so it gets a little more intense.”

ANDREW CHOI/THE CAMPANILE

Senior Eren Kiris works on his butterfly stroke during swim practice.

michelle yin staff writer

B

oth the varsity boys and girls swim teams have started their season off strong, earning victories at their first two meets, but losing their most recent one in the midst of some controversy.

Despite this loss, both teams have hopeful outlooks for the rest of the season.

In the pre-league meet against Menlo and Menlo-Atherton, both teams managed to stroke their way to success, despite the absence of key swimmers including juniors Andrew Liang and Willy Lee from the boys’ team and junior Jayna Wittenbrink from the girls’ team who were representing PASA (Palo Alto Swim Aquatics) in a national club meet in Austin, Tx. According to senior Chelsea Chen and junior Andrew Watson, both teams easily won despite an error in the scoreboard, causing official time records to be lost.

“For our first meet I thought we swam really well especially since some of us non-club swimmers are just getting back into shape,” Chen said.

“Overall, it was a great team bonding experience as we cheered everyone on and encouraged each other to perform the best we could.”

Based on the performance, the girls’ team will likely have another easy Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) championship win, and earn its 12th consecutive title.

The boys’ team is also very impressed with its meet performance,

especially since its members were not confident going into the meet without their key swimmers.

“We surprisingly destroyed both Menlo and Menlo-Atherton,” Watson said. “I think that this meet is a very good setting stone for how we are going to do in the rest of the season.”

However, in a surprising turn for the worse, both teams lost to Monta Vista on March 7 though team members feel as if this meet will not be reflective of the outcomes for the rest of the meets.

“It was an extremely unfair meet because the other team was tapered and shaven, and we just went there cold and swam,” Watson said. “Also, the fire alarm went off, which was extremely distracting.”

According to Watson, the reason for these unexpected losses is that the Monta Vista teams had prepared for a recent regional meet by shaving and tapering, which allowed the swimmers to be more aerodynamic and have more energy.

Another reason for the loss is that the diving team scores also accounted for the total swim team scores in the Monta Vista meet and junior Christian Lantzch suffered an intensive injury when his chin hit the board during an attempted backflip.

He got out of the pool with copious amounts of blood streaming down from his split chin and was immediately rushed to the hospital to receive stitches.

Despite the losses, team leaders such as Lee and Liang both performed extremely well and placed first in all of their events.

C Friday, March 18, 2013

The Campanile

C8 SPORTS

Team captains play integral part in team chemistry

Audrey Debruine Junior Track & Field

Matt Tolbert Senior Track & Field

Justin Zhang Senior Track & Field

Julia Farino Senior Girls’ Lacrosse

Rohit Ramkumar Senior Baseball

Walker Mees Senior Boys’ Lacrosse

Oliver Wang Senior Badminton

Austin Leung Junior Tennis

Mason Haverstock Senior Tennis

Adam Mansour/The Campanile

bowen gerould staff writer

T

he success of every team rides on two separate but very important components. The more obvious necessity is cooperation among the players towards a universal goal. In order to unify the team however, there is usually need for a team captain to lead the team on the journey to this universal goal.

The captain is usually chosen one of two ways; either their skill set and ability gains respect and propels them above the rest, or their natural leadership as a person distinguishes them.

The choosing of captains is no different for Paly sports, which are always contenders to win league titles in part due to the leadership of certain individuals.

A high scoring captain like lacrosse’s Jonny Glazier, who netted nine goals against Woodside High School, is crucial to the team’s success because often times it is their contribution that ultimately leads to the victory.

“I became captain junior year,” Glazier said. “In my opinion it was because I’ve been one of our highest scorers and I’ve been playing the game for a while, so I guess it would make sense to be a captain.”

The other possibility is assuming the role as a spiritual leader, mentally preparing the team during pre-game.

They are responsible for the little things like leading the stretches or invigorating the team during rough times in games. Though these leaders may not the most skilled, they bring out the best in their teammates around them.

Walker Mees, another senior captain of the lacrosse team, feels that he was selected more for his spiritual drive than necessarily his skill set as a player.

“There are definitely players who have way more talent than me but I like to think that I have the most heart,” Mees said. “I think I was chosen as a captain because of my work ethic and intensity.”

However, Mees is one of the few members of the team who has decided to pursue the sport past the high school level and will play in college in the years to come.

Other teams lucked out by having leaders who have both the spiritual component as well as the skills and capabilities which make for a good captain, helping the team become an even tighter knit, more family-like unit.

Senior Bret Pinsker thinks that the water polo team has this kind of leadership, part of the reason that the team is so successful.

“It is definitely a mix of both,” Pinsker said. “What made the water polo captains good this year was that we were all good team leaders at practice and could back the leadership role we took on with our skill.”

Another view on this leadership position is expressed by current captains who believe that the position is primarily saved for the seasoned veteran seniors who have been on the team longest and have the most experience in the setting of high school sports.

Senior and tennis team co-captain Mason Haverstock believes that him becoming captain was predominantly a seniority and performance-based title handed out by coach Andy

Harader to some of the standout players.

“Captain is generally reserved for seniors or stand out leaders on the team,” Haverstock said. “This year it was Austin Leung and me chosen as captains by coach Andy Harader.”

However, Haverstock sees everyone on the team as individuals contributing to the overall goal and no one person is the difference maker on the team.

“We are really just a team,” Haverstock said. “The older kids help the younger ones, but for the most part we all know what we’re doing.”

It is clear that tennis, more of an individual sport, puts less importance on the necessity of leadership, but for many team sports, the position of team captain is an integral part of the success and functionality of the team as a whole.