Issue 2: Oct. 6, 2021

Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2021

The Campanile

NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE

PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44

www.thecampanile.org

Palo Alto High School, 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Vol. CIV, No. 2

PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301

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Sophomore Alisha Chang receives a COVID-19 test. The district's partnership with Predecine allows these tests are offered for free to students and staff every Wednesday before and after school. Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said he has been tested at Paly’s testing site and found the process simple and straightforward.

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District offers weekly COVID-19 tests on campus for students, staff

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W

hen junior Kieran Zajac decided to get an on-campus COVID-19 test, he said he was happy with the convenience of having access to a test at school, but he expressed frustration with how long it took to receive the results.

“I went on the first day the center opened outside the tower building and there were only a couple of other students who I saw getting tested,” Zajac said. “But after a week I saw more and more kids lining up. I usually go during brunch since the line is shorter, and it’s close to my classes.”

However, Zajac said he did have an issue with getting his test results once.

“I was told that I was going to be emailed within 48 hours but after waiting for four days, my parents got an email saying that my test was lost in the system,” Zajac said.

Now available for all students and staff, COVID-19 testing takes place on campus every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Quad.

Students and staff have to make an appointment to get tested using a QR code that Principal Brent Kline sends in his weekly emails. Signups are also available on the PAUSD website.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results get emailed directly to the tested staff members or to the parent or guardian of the tested student. The cost for the testing is billed to the individual’s insurance company. If the person being tested does not have insurance, California will reimburse them.

Board of education member Jennifer DiBrienza said every school in the district is practicing surveillance testing by offering regular testing of everyone whether or not they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.

“Having surveillance testing gives everyone some peace of mind that the existence of (COVID-19) on campus is very low,” DiBrienza said.

“That (way) we are in a better position to catch an outbreak earlier because there are a lot more people going through this testing.”

Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said he has been tested at Paly’s testing site and found the process simple and straightforward.

“It was easy,” Berkson said. “I got to (test) myself for the first four out of five times, and this past time they did it for me.”

Visit PAUSD’s website, paly.net, for more information on testing and the COVID-19 data in the district.

Lillian Clark

Staff Writer

‘Devious lick’ trend reaches Paly

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Cayden Gu

Staff Writer

The TikTok “devious lick” trend has led to multiple cases of vandalism and theft on campus.

The trend, which started in early August, encourages students to steal items from classrooms and bathrooms and then display and rate them on TikTok. AP Psychology teacher Melinda Mattes said anything, including criminal activity, can spread through TikTok. “When people see a lot of other people doing certain things, that trend becomes normalized and makes it seem like a joke,” Mattes said.

Custodian Albert Balcita said he also recognized the influence social media has had on the recent rise in vandalism.

“I've been doing this for 24 years, and I've never seen this

much graffiti,” Balcita said.

“Someone just has to see the trend on TikTok or social media, and it catches on just like that.”

In an email sent to Greene Middle School families, administrators said the challenge consists of three tiers.

“A low grade swipe includes toilet paper rolls, class pets and other classmates’ shoes,” the email said. “Mid-tier thieves will go after parking signs, school laptops and desk chairs.”

According to the email, “toptier swipes” can include security cameras and entire filing cabinets, referred to as “nefarious, diabolical and god-forsaken licks.”

“It’s really popular in 10th grade,” a sophomore, who agreed to be interviewed only if his name wasn’t used, said. “I think the craziest ones (at Paly) were a toaster, a fire extinguisher and a lamp.”

‘Devious lick’ continues on A2

Jerry Xia

DANILO BIANCHI/USED WITH PERMISSION

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PAUSD to not follow LA Unified School District in vaccine mandate Staff Writer

Students influenced by the ‘"devious licks" TikTok trend vandalized the boys 800s building bathroom.

CHRISTIE HONG/THE CAMPANILE

The Los Angeles Unified School District mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for students aged 12 and older on Sept. 9, setting a precedent for the rest of the country. But unless ordered by the state, PAUSD will not follow suit.

Superintendent Don Austin said the Board of Education has given him authority to make the decision, but it will not be discussed in a board meeting.

The 10th Amendment dictates that decisions made around public schools’ health policies are delegated to the state. In this specific case, California has given individual districts jurisdiction over vaccine mandates.

However, Austin said the precedent Los Angeles has set may not be applicable to every district in California.

“It’s a massive urban school district

and not a place that we look to for best practices because the districts are just so different,” Austin said.

According to Austin, PAUSD has experienced significantly more COVID-19 cases than PAUSD, making a vaccine mandate less urgent.

“We’ve had an extraordinarily low number of cases and little to no spread,” Austin said. “We’ve also been open longer with more students than any school in our entire region, so I’m very happy with where we’re at right now.”

Austin said he is willing to abide by federal or state orders if they mandated vaccinations for school districts but is not comfortable with administering that mandate himself.

“I’m not a medical doctor, and if the state mandates it, then that's fine,” Austin said. “I have no problem with the district complying with a state mandate, but I think it’s inappropriate for me to tell somebody what they need to put in their body.”

Paly alum, AJ tutor arrested, charged with arson in connection to Fawn Fire Maya Singer

News & Opinion Editor

MARCUS KAUFFMAN/UNSPLASH

Smoke from the Fawn Fire moves across the road just north of Redding.

Shasta County Law Enforcement arrested a Palo Alto woman and Paly alumnus Thursday for allegedly starting the Fawn Fire north of Redding, Calif.

The suspected arsonist, Alexandra Souverneva, graduated from Paly in 2009 and tutored Palo Alto students in chemistry and biology through AJ Tutoring after getting a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences and Forestry from the California Institute of Technology in 2012. She was charged with arson to wildland with an enhancement due to the declared state of emergency in California

because of drought conditions, Shasta County police reports said.

The wildfire started Wednesday in a remote canyon only accessible through JF Shea and Mountain Gate Quarries. A statement by Shasta County Cal Fire said the fire has burned over 8,500 acres with 35% contained as of Sept. 26 and that more than 4,000 people who live near the fire have been evacuated.

On Wednesday, quarry employees reported seeing a white adult woman trespassing and said she was acting irrationally. At 8 p.m., police reports say Souverneva walked out of the brush around the fire, dehydrated and seeking medical attention.

Shasta County firefighters removed Souverneva from the fire line, examining and treating

her. Shasta County Law Enforcement Officers then interviewed her and arrested her on a charge of arson to wildlife.

Souverneva worked for AJ Tutoring, where she taught a group of seniors, including senior Hannah Ramrakhiani during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramrakhiani said she was shocked to hear of the charges against Souverneva.

“She is so smart and such a good chemistry tutor, and she was always so nice and calm,” Ramrakhiani said.

Souverneva did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on this story, and representatives from AJ Tutoring did not immediately respond to calls or an email seeking comment on this story.

The Campanile

Friday, October 1, 2021

A2

News

ASB planning spirit week, homecoming

Ken Ogata Staff Writer

!"#$#%&'(()&*+,&-*+./(, Since ASB is prohibited from holding events indoors, senior class president Matthew Signorello-Katz said it has been difficult to adapt Spirit Week to a COVID-19 setting.

“We’ve done our best to brainstorm and refocus different games and ideas meant for indoor rallies that cannot currently exist according to district guidelines,” Signorello-Katz said. “It’s a different take on Spirit Week that we’ve never explored before — we still have a lot of the stuff that people know and love, and new things that should make this year’s Spirit Week fun and unique.”

Current plans have Spirit Week outdoors, with schoolwide activities from Oct. 11 through Oct. 16. SignorelloKatz said ASB plans to host a variety of activities like tug of war, Paly trivia, dodgeball, teacher dances and relay races.

This year’s Spirit Week themes feature Construction Workers for freshmen, Red Carpet for sophomores, Yellow Submarine for juniors and Jungle for seniors.

Float building begins the weekend before Spirit Week, on Oct. 9 and 10.

012(-12#./&3+.-(&14%,#3( The Homecoming Dance will also be outside this year on Saturday, Oct. 16 from 7 to 10 p.m. in the courtyard across the Performing Arts Center, according to Signorello-Katz.

He said ASB hopes to transform the courtyard into a lively gathering area.

“We have a lot of cool stuff planned,” he said. “We’re going to have a big lighting design and more decorations planned to convert the boring school hallways into a proper Homecoming Dance location.”

5$((&2(.,%$4+6&"$134-%, Ahead of a proposed state law that would require all California public schools and colleges to stock women and gender-neutral bathrooms with free menstrual products, ASB is working with PAUSD to provide Paly students with free menstrual products immediately.

Signorello-Katz also said he hopes the proposed state legislation will motivate his organization and the district to act more quickly.

“The hope is that we will be able to get more of a push from the district,” Signorello-Katz said. “Because if not, they’d be in violation of the law.”

Significant progress has already been made, he said, with bathrooms in the Media Arts Center, Performing Arts Center and both gyms already stocked with free menstrual products.

5$(,*2(.&17-($,&(6(-%(3 Newly elected freshman vice president Kennedy Do said she wants to work with ASB to foster a fun environment for the school.

“I would like to contribute by doing a lot of new and fun school activities to promote the social aspect of school, especially because it’s so different now with COVID,” Do said. “We definitely want to listen to all of the students’ voices and create activities based on their interests.”

Do is one of three new officers for the freshmen class in addition to president Julian Hong and Site Council representative Celina Lee. Lee said ASB is working to organize more student activities that were unavailable during online learning. “(We) definitely need to work on planning activities that will make people want to interact more since we need to work on socialization,” Lee said.

GIANNA BROGLEY/THE CAMPANILE

In order to promote more positive interactions with the city’s homeless populsation, the Palo Alto City Council has brought back a resource called the police utility team. Councilman Greg Tanaka said, “The most important thing is that we have to understand the causes of homelessness. Part of it is economic, and we have to have more jobs and low-income housing.

Another issue is drug abuse, and domestic violence plays a role as well. Each of these causes need to be addressed.”

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Zack Silver Sports Editor

T

he Palo Alto City Council has directed staff to create a plan to form a police utility team for interactions with the city’s homeless population.

Police, rather than social workers, are usually deployed in cases when there is a public safety concern or when a homeless person is in immediate danger, Palo Alto police department officer James Reifschneider said.

“A police officer is better for welfare checks because they’re already in the field,” Reifschneider said. “They can quickly determine if there’s a medical emergency or a mental health crisis.”

Leah Lampley, a worker at a low-income housing facility, said the PAPD is a valuable resource in confrontational situations, especially with the homeless.

“When I can’t deal with an indi-

vidual on my own, I need backup,” Lampley said. “(Police) have crisis intervention training, and they can encourage with their authority and presence.”

City Councilman Greg Tanaka said increased homelessness in Palo Alto, as well as the stabbing of a Paly sophomore who was downtown during the school day during her prep period, led the council to take this action to ensure public safety.

Tanaka also said this is not a blanket move to use a police officer in all situations regarding homelessness.

“You want to send the right person at the right time,” Tanaka said. “If a house is burning down, you want to call the fire department. A lot of the time, the police are expected to do everything, and that’s really hard.”

Lampley said social workers are more effective in some situations.

“Do I think a case worker would be useful?” Lampley said. “Yes, I do.

If we have the budget for it, let’s do it.”

But Jasper, a Palo Alto man who didn’t give his last name and who recently received housing through a government program after being homeless for eight years, said he found police unhelpful in many situations.

“They tend to just tell people to move. They say, ‘You can’t sleep here,’” Jasper said. “Eventually you run out of places to sleep that preserve your sanity.”

Jasper also said resources available for the homeless are slim and he only uses them in emergencies., such as extremely cold nights.

“There’s a shelter in Sunnyvale, but it’s only open during the winter, and you have to be out by 6 a.m.,” Jasper said.“You have to sleep on your shoes because people will steal them, but at least it’s there.”

While the council does not yet have a long-term plan to combat homelessness, Tanaka said they’re working on it.

“The most important thing is that we have to understand the causes of homelessness,” Tanaka said. “Part of it is economic, and we have to have more jobs and lowincome housing. Another issue is drug abuse, and domestic violence plays a role as well. Each of these causes need to be addressed.”

One strategy which the city plans to implement, Reifschneider said, is the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team. This team would be composed of mental health clinicians for mental breakdowns as well as police officers for safety issues.

Tanaka said that homelessness is a problem that needs to be addressed.

“Having people live on the street is not a humane thing,” Tanaka said. “We have to have more jobs and low-income housing.” !"#$%&'#("$%#)%*+#+,"$-%+.#/-+-,0 !"#$%&'%()*#+,-./$%!#.,-0/(#12/

FROM THE COVER

!"#$%&'()*%+,-)./#01)/#('*.()%0)(.&*#0)(+2&&*)3/&3#/.45)$6016*%(7 !"$,&$#*/(1)"2(34 Most of the vandalism at Paly appears to be low-grade. Along with vanishing soap dispensers and mirrors, students have taken random objects from classrooms.

“I took a hole puncher from my teacher,” the sophomore said. “Taking random stuff has just been a fun thing to do with friends.”

But students haven’t only been swiping items from teachers.

“I’d like my favorite pencil back,” freshman Declan Baker said. “I would say (the ‘devious lick’ challenge) is probably not for the best.”

Senior Grace Muma said she agrees.

“I think it can be kind of amusing when it’s small things,” Muma said.

“But there’s a lot of stuff being stolen that is super expensive or hard to replace, which I don’t think is OK.” Balcita said the recent increase in damage and graffiti has taken a lot of time and effort to clean.

“We’re using tons and tons of chemicals just to get it off the wall,” Balcita said. “We’re doing our best as a custodial crew to keep things clean in a timely manner, but it’s just so hard because now it’s everywhere.”

On top of their normal responsibilities, custodian Marco Valencia said the vandalism adds more work to an already spread-thin custodial staff.

“There are two setups — one in the MAC and one in PAC — and then the football game,” Valencia said. “We already have three things going on, and now we have graffiti to clean off, and that’s taking even more time.”

Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said there are people monitoring the school’s security system to try to prevent more damage from the trend.

“All the cameras work in the school now, so it’ll make it easier for us to track who’s going in and out of the bathrooms in order to catch them,” Berkson said.

Berkson said anyone caught participating in the trend will face serious consequences.

“It will go on your record and could be suspendable,” Berkson said.

“Under certain circumstances, it could even affect your extracurriculars.”

While the custodial staff continues to work to clean up the damage and keep the campus presentable,

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NIKHIL MAJETI/USED WITH PERMISSION

A mirror in the math and history bathroom was stolen as part of the ‘devious lick’ trend. “All the cameras work in the school now, so it’ll make it easier for us to track who’s going in and out of the bathrooms in order to catch them,” Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson said.

they said they hope students realize the importance of holding each other accountable and the need for the trend to stop.

“This is your guys’ school,” Balcita said. “We get paid to do this stuff, but if the next time you want to go to the bathroom, and you can’t because some idiot clogged it up, you need to talk to your buddy, because at the end of the day, this is your school.”

Campus Supervisor Carl Hubenthal said he agrees that this trend needs to stop.

“I think the best way to get it to stop is for people to understand that they’re really just hurting their own school rather than thinking they’re getting one over on somebody,” Hubenthal said. “They’re taking opportunities away from their fellow students.”

The Campanile

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

News

A3

Palo Alto still recovering from pandemic fallout

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GIANNA BROGLEY/THE CAMPANILE

Signs block University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto. The street is slated to reopen to vehicles soon to help Palo Alto recover from its current economic slump.

Colleen Wang Staff Writer

F

ollowing the closure of longtime businesses such as the CineArts theatre and Mayfield Bakery, Palo Alto is grappling with the lack of tax revenue from local businesses because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Businesses have been fighting to stay afloat since the start of the pandemic and the accommodations they had to make for social distancing restrictions and health regulations. In addition, many potential customers chose not to dine out because of fears of catching the virus.

Businesses that remained open continue to have lower incomes than before the pandemic despite efforts to adapt, creating a dramatic drop in tax revenue for the city.

Michael Kelly, manager of Howie’s Pizza in Town and Country, said his business experienced a massive decrease in revenue during the pandemic.

“During the initial shutdown, we were worried about our workers, and we were only operating with three staff members,” Kelly said. “We saw down to probably about 15% of what we usually do, which lasted for about the first six weeks or so.”

City Council member Greg Tanaka said the drop in tax revenue

has primarily has to do with the changing demographics of Palo Alto customers.

“Palo Alto used to double during the day; we had all these people come into our cities who eat at our restaurants, shop at our place and stay in our hotels,” Tanaka said. “A lot of people who work in Palo Alto are in professional, white-collar jobs that can be done over Zoom, and so unfortunately, because all these workers have not come back to the office yet, a lot of the revenue associated with them being in our city (is lost).”

Economics teacher Debbie Whitson said some businesses were able to adapt more easily to the pandemic.

“Lots of stores like small retail boutiques and workout places closed; that’s just the fact of no demand,” Whitson said. “But other businesses have thrived, like the startup world, which (can be done) remotely and is still going strong.”

Meanwhile, Tanaka said he has pushed for measures to help struggling businesses, including small business grants, streamlining COVID-19 regulations and providing more avenues for feedback from businesses.

One decision Tanaka said the council made to help businesses during the pandemic was to vote to close commercial streets like

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GIANNA BROGLEY/THE CAMPANILE

Councilmember Greg Tanaka said reopening downtown streets should bring more customers to businesses that have struggled from the city’s street closures.

California Avenue and University Avenue to vehicle traffic, allowing for more outdoor dining space for restaurants. However, the City Council voted on Sept. 17 to reopen University Avenue to help retailers who suffered from decreased accessibility to their business.

“The closure was oriented to push the foot traffic to the center of the street versus the sidewalks, so the foot traffic is away from the retailers,” Tanaka said. “Also, the retailers have historically been much more kind of drive-to versus just walk-by type of traffic.”

Tanaka said he will be watching to see whether the effects of reopening University Avenue boost economic activity in the city.

Regardless of how the University Avenue reopening plays out, with decreased revenue from sales tax, the City Council needs to answer questions about how to allocate the shrinking budget of Palo Alto.

“Their decision could impact the recreation facilities and infrastruc-

ture of the city,” Whitson said.

“Either there’s no income for the city and therefore you cut services or you figure out how to get money in,” she said.

Tanaka said one of the best ways for the city to shrink its costs is through changing its administrative structure.

“We’re top-heavy, and we have a fairly large city manager office relative to our city size,” Tanaka said. “So the way to balance the budget for the city is to have fewer administrators and managers and pay more individual contributors — the people who are actually doing the work.”

Whatever direction the city council decides to go, Whitson said she is hopeful for a swift economic recovery for Palo Alto.

“I think a lot is going to turn around, and I think we’re learning to live with the virus,” Whitson said. “Some people get very inspired by figuring out what to do, so I have no doubt we’ll move forward.”

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The Palo Alto City Council unanimously voted on Sept. 13 to reopen University Avenue to vehicle traffic by Oct. 15 but keep California Avenue and Ramona Street closed to traffic for the foreseeable future.

At the start of the pandemic, many restaurants moved to outdoor dining in accordance with state mandates and CDC recommendations. In an effort to support these restaurants, the city council closed parts of downtown in the spring of 2020, including University Avenue, California Avenue and Ramona Street, allowing restaurants to expand their seating outdoors.

Councilmember Greer Stone said though it successfully helped restaurants operate during pandemic lockdown, this decision upset many retail store owners with shops on the closed streets, as they felt it reduced the amount of business they received.

“Some retail shops downtown that also have locations in Stanford Shopping Center — just down the street — are doing far better in sales than the ones on University Avenue that were subjected to the closure,” Stone said. “Opening the streets back up to traffic in time for the upcoming holiday season will hopefully give a nice boost to the retail businesses.”

Pizza My Heart supervisor Samantha Gauzman said Pizza My Heart, located on University Avenue, will not be drastically affected by this change since it has pre-existing outdoor seating areas that do not occupy the street. Gauzman said, however, that many of its neighboring restaurants will be negatively affected by the decision.

“I think cars coming onto the road is ineffective for a lot of the businesses around us,” Gauzman said. “They like it with the streets closed because outdoor dining is great for business.

One of the restaurants right across from us, Steam, wanted to start a petition to not open the streets again.”

Stone said the city council was divided on whether or not to open the downtown streets, with some members pushing for the immediate reopening of downtown and others, like Stone, seeking to extend the closure for a few more months.

“Councilmember (Alison) Cormack and I wished to have the streets open until at least November, but we lost that motion,” Stone said. “It would have allowed for us to extend the outdoor closure to help our restaurants and the community, as well as also help us get through the Delta (Variant).”

Stone said to accommodate both sides, the city council decided on a compromise of reopening only University Avenue to vehicle traffic while keeping other downtown streets like California Avenue and Ramona Street blocked off to cars.

“It was an appropriate compromise,” Stone said. “It allows us to balance the needs and interests of our retail stores and restaurants on University Avenue.”

Sophomore Kyle Lehman said reopening downtown will make eating out more unpleasant.

“Not everyone is comfortable with indoor dining right now during the pandemic,” Lehman said. “While it would be nice to take a drive down there, it is even better to just enjoy some food.”

!"#$%&'(#)*('&+*#&,-'.&"))("/&0**)/1$.'&2"/3&")4&5() 8#03&*#/6%+-..0*"#$%.&.9&)/%)0*%#-%/0((-)#%:41-%;1#-%<&&=1$%>-1"34$%?0*3 Over 1500 supporters of the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund gathered at the Baylands on Friday, Sept. 17 for Palo Alto’s annual Moonlight Walk and Run. The event raises money for The Palo Alto Weekly Holiday fund at the Palo Alto Baylands last Saturday.

Participants could do a 5K Walk or Run, 10K Run or a Half Marathon. A virtual option was also available for those who couldn’t attend in person.

Many cross country athletes took part in the event including senior Kenji Tella who took first place in the 5k run and senior John Miller who took second.

Junior Eoin O’Connell won the 10k. Before the race Miller said he was excited for the event.

“I think it’s a really good opportunity to run a fast 5K and to just have a ton of fun,” he said. “I’ve heard that it’s a lot of fun, and I mean, it’s another opportunity to shake out my legs and get used to digging deep for a race (for) the upcoming cross country season. So, it’s kind of a good, pre-race race.”

Senior Diego Diaz attended the Moonlight Walk and Run for the first time for the opportunity to race but also for the opportunity to give back to the community.

“It is the first time I’ve at-

tended,” Diaz said. “I am very excited. I’m signed up to do the 5K. I signed up to run competitively, but we’ll see. It’s for charity, so everyone is doing a good thing out here.”

Gunn senior Josey Albrecht said the event is something he tries to do every year.

“I’ve been coming here for a long time, practically half my life,” Albrecht said. “So it’s a big thing for tradition. I’m a stickler for tradition, and I love seeing the sunset on the baseball field.

It’s a really cathartic experience.”

Kyla Schwarzbach Media Editor

KYLA SCHWARZBACH/THE CAMPANILE

Residents, including a number of students, participate in the 37th annual Moonlight Walk and Run at the Baylands. The event raises money for the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Campanile

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unior Noah Boyarsky (he/him) said students often view his transition snide comments, especially from people in large groups. to being nonbinary as something he decided on a whim.

“They would share what my name was before I changed it, which is “I think a lot of people who don’t have experience with this just asnot something you should ever do for a transgender person,” Boyarsky sume that one day I woke up and I was like, ‘I want to be a boy,’ (so) I said. “If you know what their name was before, you shouldn’t say it.” was like, ‘OK, let’s do that,’” Boyarsky joked.

According to a junior (he/him) who agreed to be interviewed only if But the gender discovery process was gradual and deliberate for his name wasn’t used, Boyarsky isn’t the only person who has had others Boyarsky and many people who do not identify as cisgender. Boyarsky, react negatively to their transition. who is transgender, said he started asking people to use they/them pro“I think people in Palo Alto think that they are nouns three years ago when he changed his name, before settling on he/ very liberal, that they’re super progressive,” the junior him pronouns about one year later. said. “And what I’ve noticed is there’s a big shift “It took years of gender therapy and talking to my parents to when you come out and you realize that most make sure I knew all the effects of the medical choices I was people aren’t as liberal or progressive as they making,” Boyarsky said. “I established my goals with think they are.” my medical team, and then finally I got prescribed This junior said when he came out as testosterone in June this year, which I think was transgender, he had friends whose parents I think the biggest around three years after I came out for the did not want their kids to hang out with issue that we face first time.” him anymore. He said even in classes where But for junior Harvey Vostrejs (he/ there are discussions about discrimination in the trans community they), the process of discovery started in marginalized communities, the topic of is the fact that people are later. Over quarantine, Vostrejs began to gender identity rarely comes up. reconsider his gender identity, eventually “People don’t want to learn the proper not educated...

People are determining that he was transgender and terminology because they’re like, ‘It’s such a just kind of like, ‘I’ve never genderqueer. small population, why does it matter?’ — I “I started to be like, ‘Hmm, maybe I see that a lot in Palo Alto and at Paly,” the heard about this so why do don’t want to be a girl. This feels wrong,’” junior said. “They’re not aware that they’re I need to learn?’

Vostrejs said. “So I started talking with saying harmful or offensive things. And some people, and they started using difwhen you tell them, they don’t register it, and ferent names and pronouns for me to see they don’t feel the need to change.” which ones fit. I eventually settled on Harvey Senior Madeleine Kelly (they/them) said not taking because that one fit best. It was like trying on a someone’s gender identity seriously can lead to disrepair of pants, and you’re like, ‘Yes, these fit!’” spect toward non-cisgender people.

For junior Rigel Cierniak (they/them), the “I think the older students, the upperclassmen, have been around coming out process was less experimental and more different types of people long enough that they’re pretty good about internally reflective. They knew they were not cisgenbeing respectful,” Kelly said. “But you do get some of the people coming der for three years before they decided to fully socially from middle school who make jokes like ‘My pronouns are nor/mal or transition and eventually come out as transgender. attack/helicopter.’”

“I had been identifying as gender fluid, as nonbinary, with my internet friends and close real-life friends,” Cierniak said. “But it eventually came to a point where, during quarantine, I realized that having these two identities was not something I could do anymore. So it took me until 2021 to come out to my parents and everyone else at school.”

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Student support systems

Being noncisgender at Paly Freshman Ryan Dyer (they/them) said students have been largely accepting of their gender identity and are willing to learn and remember their pronouns.

“Even my really close friends were always really nice and even to this day, I feel like myself,” Dyer said. “Every time they would mess up my pronouns, they would be like, ‘Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Vostrejs, who came out several weeks ago, said he has also received only positive reactions from friends, family and classmates, who immediately used his name and pronouns.

“The moment I told people, they immediately switched,” Vostrejs said. “It was amazing. It was like a switch flipped, and everyone did it, even people who barely know me. It was the best thing. It made me feel so accepted.”

Boyarsky said he has had a positive experience expressing his gender t school as well and was appreciative of the support he received from friends and teachers.

“I was worried that there would be negative reactions to my transition decision,” Boyarsky said. “(But) most students and every teacher I talked to has been very willing to use the name or pronouns I wanted.”

Every once in a while, though, Boyarsky said he would get some

In her time working in Paly’s Wellness Center as one of its Outreach Workers, Whitney Aquino (she/her) has had the opportunity to interact with students who come to her with all kinds of needs, from those who are looking to take a break from classes to those who want to access mental health services.

“The coming out process sometimes never ends,” Aquino said. “And that can be stressful, so learning how to manage stress in general — not just with coming out but with navigating a lot of other situations — is important.”

For students who want a safe and supportive environment within campus, the Wellness Center isn’t the only place they can go. QSA, the Queer Straight Alliance club, offers opportunities for students to have open discussions about gender and identity topics, ask questions anonymously to the club leaders or watch movies and eat lunch together.

“I’ve noticed that there tends to be a lack of a safe space where people can be themselves, express themselves and talk to other people like them,” Reed (he/him), the president of QSA, said. “So I just want to create that space where people can feel comfortable to just be themselves without having to worry about judgment.” Reed asked that he only be identified by his first name for this article.

QSA adviser and social sciences teacher Eric Bloom (he/him) said the club allows students to interact with others like themselves in a way that creates a forum for learning about identity.

“There’s kind of that hidden curriculum that allows kids to learn how to navigate the world as a non-conforming person,” Bloom said. “That

space also allows for deeper conversation also things like how to discuss these issu And Vostrejs, the vice-president of Q social media is an especially useful tool t cisgender.

“Social media is a great way for quee times in certain places, queer kids don’t munity — they can’t be out; they can’t a help,” Vostrejs said. “And the internet al to come together and meet people and k they’re not alone.”

Aquino said the sense of acceptance on social media can be especially helpful for non-cisgender teens by showing them there is more to being a teen than the negative mental health statistics ofte presented about them.

“I think that when we live our authen tic lives and our authentic truths, and ca share that, that gives other people perm sion to then be authentic and share that of themselves as well,” Aquino said. “Jus being seen and seeing yourself and othe people on social media, and seeing your story in those stories — I think that tha be amazing and validating.”

Improving the school environm

The California Healthy Kids Survey which surveyed 71% of the class of 2023 rent PAUSD juniors did not identify as One of the ways Paly aims to educate gender population is through a unit on g which all PAUSD students need to grad Joanna Hubenthal (she/her) said a prim students who have not had a lot of inter transgender students about what it mea challenges non-cisgender people face.

“Our hope (is) that we can help give ing,” Hubenthal said. “People who aren’t gender may not be able to empathize wi give them exposure to the concepts.“ The anonymous junior quoted earlier transgender and nonbinary people can b school a more inviting space.

“I think the biggest issue that we face fact that people are not educated,” the ju to explain it, they’re just kind of like, ‘I’v do I need to learn?’ But when you finally lifesaving.”

Bloom, who has taught at Paly for 24 education on the subject of gender stem nary genders that has only recently fade Paly when he first started teaching was nary students.

“Twenty-four years ago, gender perfo said. “If you didn’t fit into either gender, tions. There was both active and passive Bloom said he thinks Paly and PAUS safe school environment for non-cisgen “There’s been an ebb and flow based trend is that the school is getting more a those ideals,” Bloom said. “For example,

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

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Sp tlight

der norms

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“(Most older students) are pretty good about being respectful. But you do get some of the people coming from middle school who make jokes like ‘My pronouns are nor/mal or attack/helicopter.’”

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n about feelings and love, and ues with parents.”

QSA, said for kids who are queer, that can normalize being non-

kids for being gay or nonbinary. In fact, it’s the opposite, where we see that, and we’re angered by it.”

Ana Reyes (she/her), the PAUSD Coordinator of Student Support and head of the district’s LGBTQ+ Council, said PAUSD has focused on making campuses er kids to bond because a lot of increasingly friendly and accommodating for nonhave a comcisgender students. ask for “It is definitely our first priority to make sure llows them that anyone can use the facilities they need,” know that Reyes said. “Right now there are only two elementary schools without gender neutral The moment I bathrooms in the district, and all middle told people... It and high schools have them.”

While that may be the case, Kelly was like a switch flipped n said there are only a few gender neutral and everyone did it, even en bathrooms easily availability to them at Paly, such as the ones in the Student Center people who barely know nand the gym. The others stay locked or are me.

It was the best thing. an relatively unknown, such as the ones in the misMAC and the library. Due to the inaccesIt made me feel t sibility of gender-neutral bathrooms, Kelly so accepted. st said they try to avoid using them while at er school. r “It’s actually a reason that I, as well as a few at can other trans friends, don’t really drink water while at school,” Kelly said. “If you drink water, you have to use the bathroom, which is always an inconvenience. If you’re in math class and need to use the bathroom, you’ll have to go all the way across campus, and then (your) teacher is like, ‘Where have you been for the past 10 minutes?’”

PAUSD also allows students to change their registered name regardless of whether they have done so legally. Reyes said the district hopes to allow for even more freedom of expression in official school registration.

“We’re also working with (Infinite Campus) to be able to include from the 2019-20 school year, pronouns and some other accessibility features,” Reyes said. “Right now 3, found that close to 6% of curyou can put in a nickname. It’s a start, but it’s not enough yet.” cisgender.

Hubenthal, the Living Skills teacher, said another important step in e students about its non-cisthe process of improving Paly’s environment for non-cisgender people is gender studies in Living Skills, to address ignorance and hate on a personal level, including correcting duate. Living Skills teacher careless statements and using accurate pronouns and names. mary goal of the unit is to inform “The more we get used to hearing the right language, the easier it is raction with nonbinary and for us to use it,” Hubenthal said. “Having people in their lives who use ans to be non-cisgender and the the right language can significantly reduce teens’ struggles.”

For Vostrejs, the work Paly has already done to be supportive of his students a better understandtransition has helped him feel comfortable with his gender. ’t close to people who are trans“Honestly, I’m happy with how I am right now,” Vostrejs said. ith them as easily, so we want to “Maybe one day I’ll want to get top surgery, but for now I’m happy with binding. I have no interest in going on testosterone or anything, and I’m r said educating students about just happy with who I am.” be a crucial step in making

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“Sometimes when I’m hanging out with my friends, and my mom corrects them (about pronouns), it makes me feel great (to know) that my parents really care for me.”

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Wednesday October 6, 2021

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A6

Opinion

Asian representation in cinema more harmful than helpful !"#$%&$'()*+,-&.",+,/-*&,/0$*+&*+%,%"+-.%*&$'&/++%1.+&+"&2%&$'03)*$#%

ART BY MEYA GAO

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ART BY JAMES CHURCHLEY

Christie Hong Staff Writer

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s a young child who loved going to movie theaters with my friends and family, I always wondered why no one on the big screen looked like me. Fitting in was something I desired, yet it was only possible if I kept my culture hidden and assimilated to the characters in the film. I had a nagging suspicion my Asian features prevented me from achieving social acceptance and happiness, two things I equated in my mind without even realizing it.

The derogatory words the actors used in those same movies surrounded me as I grew up as part of a minority in the suburbs of both New York and California. The racist jokes and stereotypes continued off the screens –– what society consumed through cinema reflected how they treated me and others like me.

Although Asian American representation in western films has grown, it’s counterproductive.

The new era of inclusion further exacerbates issues like hypersexualization, fetishization, stereotypes and plain old racism.

Hollywood has been casting white actors in caricatured Asian roles since the 1960s, a memorable example being white actor Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of I. Y. Yunioshi in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Not only did he practice yellowface by using heavy makeup to transform

himself into a bespectacled, buck-toothed nerd, but he also enforced racist stereotypes, stumbling over his words and speaking in an exaggerated Japanese accent.

More recent examples like “Crazy Rich Asians” and even “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which came out on Sept. 3, display the lack of growth in the movie industry.

Instead of fighting racist tropes, they repackage them. In these two films, the vast majority of the cast is Asian American, yet more representation doesn’t mean it’s accurate or even helpful.

That’s because for movies to make it to the other side of Hollywood, they have to jump through several hoops. By the time a film gets to the box office, it is already processed through the lens of whiteness. All of the characters hold a specific set of attributes that seem copy and pasted onto each actor.

“Crazy Rich Asians” furthers the narrative of the corrupted Singapoerean rich who are unfeeling, selfish, greedy and looking for their own success. In “Shang-Chi,” the sting of parental pressure and disappointment cause the audience to believe all Asian parents are more like tigers than humans, a dangerous idea that can damage young children’s perception of their own family.

These movies are more about assimilating than fearlessly expressing your own identity. Instead of inspiring minorities, they push them deeper into the hole at the bottom of the melting pot.

I vividly remember several moments of

myself sitting in a theater, my cheeks heating up as I focused my eyes on the glaringly bright screen. Perhaps it’s because I’ve experienced discrimination in my own life that I can’t help but notice microagressions in film. I took the blows to my own self esteem because I thought those comments were targeted towards me, and in a way, they were.

When my friends saw Peter Parker’s nerdy Asian best friend, a science and tech prodigy in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” they asked if I was related to him. When the characters in “Mean Girls” described the different cliques at the lunch tables, two of them being the nerdy Asians and the cool Asians, I wondered how I could be part of the latter or better yet, distance myself from both groups in the first place.

It seems like whenever Asian Americans are included in film as part of a so-called diversity project, they are there to be the butt of insensitive, cruel jokes. In a popular holiday special of “The Office,” two Asian waitresses serve Michael Scott, the protagonist in the well-known series. To tell them apart, Scott marks one of their arms with a Sharpie as if to say that’s the only way he can identify them. Often, their own lines fuel internalized racism and reinforce the idea that people of the same color can insult each other without being offensive — that is, if they have any lines. According to a study done by the University of Southern California, only 13% of films released in 2019 had an Asian or Pacific Islander character with a full range of human emotions.

If not placed strategically in a film for a racist joke, Asian Americans, particularly women, are hypersexualized. Nearly 25% of the roles given to Asian American females feature nudity or sexual attire. While other female actors have to deal with the same issue, it’s far worse for women of color because of fetishization.

Asian characters are also often depicted as having exaggerated accents and squinted eyes traced with black eyeliner to make their eyes appear smaller for “accuracy.” At the same time, some directors try to erase the Asian culture entirely, concealing the story of immigration and the life they left behind — the characters who are supposedly first generation immigrants speak perfect English and are not connected to their roots.

The continuous creation of these warped characters not only affects the general public’s perception of Asian Americans, but it also seeps into our own local communities. The recent rise of Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, like the incident at Fuki Sushi, has polluted Palo Alto.

Students should spread awareness about the entertainment industry’s mistakes as a first step in taking down this issue, giving hope to young children like the girl I once was years ago, frightened and uncertain of what being Asian meant to influential media.

Filling out college applications is a daunting process. With every page, we are seemingly confronted with deciding what we want to do with the rest of our lives. Each click on the Common Application website feels like a defining decision, but do any of us really know what we want to do for the rest of our life?

While many high schoolers feel the pressure to say they know what their future is going to look like, they don’t need to.

One of the most important things to realize when applying to colleges is they all understand that high schoolers can be impulsive and dumb. Colleges don’t expect you and your underdeveloped frontal lobe to plan ahead 30 years from now.

This is why a majority of colleges allow students to wait until the end of their sophomore year of college to declare their major. To the class of 2022: if you choose to go to a four-year college, you still have two more years to even declare a major. Take that time to explore new fields of study, pick up new hobbies and figure out what interests you.

College is a place to learn more about yourself. In the next two years, you may find your current intended major is not something you want to pursue as a career. Maybe in these next two years, you'll realize you want to become an artist instead of a marine biologist.

You likely have not experienced enough in life to know what career you want to pursue, and colleges do not expect you to have figured out what you want to study from a handful of high school classes.

Even if you think you know what you want to do, there’s a strong likelihood your career plan will look different in two years. You probably don’t know enough about yourself yet to be sure about your future.

College is the perfect opportunity to figure out what you want to do. Your parents might already have a career in mind for you, but it’s important to recognize it’s your decision, not theirs.

You might be pressured to major in a subject with a high-paying starting salary, but are you passionate about it?

Remember you only have one shot at life, so do what lets you achieve your maximum potential — do what makes you happy.

For this college application season, don’t be afraid to apply undeclared. You don’t need to know what you want to do yet, and colleges don’t expect you to know either. If you’re still stuck on the intended major drop-down box on your Common Application, relax. None of us know what we’re going to do with our lives yet, and that’s A-OK.

ART BY MEYA GAO

The Campanile

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Opinion

A7

PRIME needs improvement

!"#"$%&'()* +',-$.'$/0012.$ !"#$%$&'()'*(&+&,*-."+/($%0+/)12+345$/$.$'67+8(49-4%167+1*%:4%$4%14+*8+;-'*($). /))$345&/6$ ,14(511% Dinu Deshpande Staff Writer

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and it’s time to stop experimenting with systems that don’t work. We need to go back to the Tutorial system we used in the 2018-19 school year and keep it that way.

Under this system, students weren’t required to sign up for a class days in advance but still had the option to secure a spot with a specific teacher if they wanted to. If students didn’t have a teacher they needed to see, they could spontaneously choose somewhere with friends, sign in and work together.

Allowing students the choice of which teachers they need to see during PRIME is key to cementing understanding of important concepts and helping students succeed.

The current system of PRIME, if tweaked in the right ways, could provide the time and space for that deep learning to happen. The way it is now is hurting students more than it is helping them, and with all of its issues, something needs to be done to change it.

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This combination of PRIME failures forces students to cram for tests, barely comprehending the material and then forgetting all of it after the test. It does not support learning or student achievement and limits teacher-student interaction, ultimately resulting in a not only ineffective but detrimental use of time for students.

PRIME supporters say the signup system and rigid rules around students being in one class during PRIME are necessary so students don’t cut or leave early. The problem with this argument is that it’s trading the potential usefulness of PRIME for making sure a small minority of students don’t break the rules. A small group of students making bad choices should not control everyone else’s education.

Paly has changed the process for Flex/ Tutorial/PRIME every year for the past four,

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utorial during the 2018-19 school year was a useful period where students could see teachers twice a week and ask questions about class content and homework. PRIME, its replacement this school year, occurs once a week on Wednesday and has similar potential. But the way it has been implemented so far makes it a timefiller apparently put in place so students receive the required number of state-required instructional minutes. With its rigid structure and futile auto-scheduling system, what has the potential to be a useful resource to students has instead become a waste of time.

One of the biggest problems with PRIME is its inflexibility. I must decide which teacher to see by Monday, meaning if during class on Tuesday or Wednesday I have questions for another teacher, I have to wait until the following Wednesday to ask them.

I had a math quiz on a Tuesday and struggled with some of the questions. But since I had already signed up to

see a different teacher and couldn’t change my PRIME location after Monday, a week went by before I was able to ask my math teacher those questions.

Another problem with the current PRIME system is it is only scheduled for once a week. PRIME has the potential to help students gain a better understanding of course material, but 50 minutes a week is just not enough time to do so, especially since in any given class, there are several students in line to talk with the teacher.

This means each student only gets a few, unpredictable minutes a week with a teacher one-on-one.

This problem is exacerbated by the fact that students can only go to one class per PRIME period; if your choice for PRIME has a lot of students in it, you are stuck in that room and may not even be able to talk to the teacher during the period. If students were able to move between classes during PRIME, we would be able to optimize the time we spend with a teacher.

Greek life promotes discrimination, exclusivity Brianna Zhou Staff Writer

The first fraternity system was founded in 1755 at the College of William and Mary as an exclusive secret society for students to gather outside of the classroom. While no longer secret, fraternities have maintained their exclusivity, now taking pride in it along with their sister system, sororities.

However, Greek life has changed drastically since its founding, with sororities and fraternities now adopting hierarchical systems that glamorize conformity instead of academic achievement.

At a first glance, joining a sorority or fraternity seems like a great way to surround yourself with people who share similar values and ideals. But Greek life is problematic.

It exacerbates discrimination on the basis of race, sex and socioeconomic class, and encourages sexual violence and misogyny. Systemic reforms should have been made to this system years ago.

Greek life has always lacked diversity. White students make up over 70% of all members. And unsurprisingly, Greek life at the University of Alabama is one of the most problematic in the country. One African American student in this system was salutatorian of her class and graduated with a 4.3 GPA. She didn’t receive a single bid for any of the 16 most prestigious sororities on campus. She never stood a chance against her white competition, no matter how perfect her candidacy.

On top of this, socioeconomic class and membership fees prove to be another factor to making Greek life more exclusive. A study by Princeton University concluded that 95% of the members of college sororities or fraternities came from the wealthiest quarter of America. Only 5% came from lower to middle class families.

This creates an even greater divide on campuses, by only having the richest, most privileged members in Greek life. In addition to their social power, they also have the ability to use costs as a filter to separate those on different levels of the socioeconomic ladder. Possibly the the most well-known issue with Greek life is the rape culture and obscenely high numbers of

sexual assault cases within fraternities. Fraternity members are 300% more likely to rape members of the opposite sex, and sorority members are 74% more likely to experience sexual assault on campus compared to women who are not in sororities. This issue springs from the reality that fraternity culture is closely intertwined with toxic masculinity and alcohol and drug abuse, while hazing challenges encourage members to spiral into a continuous cycle of lewd behavior, such as hosting sex contests.

Members of Cornell University’s Zeta Beta Tau, for example, were encouraged to have sexual intercourse with as many unsuspecting women as possible, and the heavier the woman, the more points they would receive. This was dubbed the “pig roast” in reference to the women's weights.

Fraternities act as a place for men to denigrate marginalized communities, and the “rich white guy stereotype” really shines through.

Those involved in Greek life continue to see the benefits even after graduation. Various studies and research have established that Greek life alumni go on to receive significantly more opportunities in terms of careers and social networks. It has been found that 76% of U.S. senators and 85% of Supreme Court justices since 1910 have been alumni of fraternities and sororities. Greek life ensures that the rich stay rich, and the poor stay poor.

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Fortunately, the problematic nature of Greek life has started to surface, and the number of students joining fraternities and sororities has decreased significantly.

At Vanderbilt University, the percentage of women in sororities has gone from 55.9% in 2013, to 35% in 2019. And in some places students have introduced petitions to ban Greek life altogether on campuses. For example, “Abolish Greek Life” is a movement that was started to ban sororities and fraternities, and has gained popularity at multiple universities.

It may seem like Greek life and its toxicity and exclusivity is an insignificant problem in comparison to other issues within the U.S. However, Greek life is only furthering a grander issue by using and promoting injustice, which is exactly what this country was founded on.

University students, which includes Greek life alumni, feed directly to society, where many alumni will go into jobs regarding politics, business and economics, where they will inherently have the power to shape our society, therefore continuing the endless and vicious cycle of racial and socioeconomic disparity.

Abolishing Greek life would be a step in the right direction, but it’s easier said than done because there are still plenty of people who want to be a part of Greek life and well-connected alumni who will do anything to keep the system alive.

But if Greek life is going to survive on college campuses, major reforms are necessary, and those in power must work to eliminate systemic issues such as racism, classism and rape culture by fighting the establishment that was built upon discrimination.

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Ben Antonow

News & Opinion Editor

After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan for two reasons: to kill Osama Bin Laden and to overthrow the Taliban. While the latter happened quickly, the U.S. then had the responsibility to set up a new Afghan government to try to prevent the formation of new terrorist organizations within its borders.

In the 20 years the US spent helping stabilize the new Afghan government, our own actions fostered the revival of the Taliban.

In an attempt to maintain security for those working to build infrastructure in Afghanistan, the U.S. engaged in airstrikes targeted at insurgent groups, mostly in the rural areas of the country. These airstrikes, however, killed many innocent civilians. According to Brown University, rates of civilian casualties from U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan increased by more than 600% from 2014 to 2019. In these rural areas, support for the Taliban grew, mostly out of hatred toward the US military. The Taliban continued to gain footing throughout Afghanistan and eventually made its way to the capital, Kabul, where the US-supported government fell after the US military withdrew from the region.

There is widespread fear that the Taliban will invoke some form of Islamic law that was in place during its pre-9/11 reign in Afghanistan.

One concern is the further oppression of Afghan women, who already have been restricted by the Taliban from going to school and working some jobs. Life is changing for the worse for much of the Afghan population, and naturally, many of them want to leave the country. However, many nations don’t have the means to accept these refugees and even fewer want them.

Take the U.S., for example.

According to a poll done by CBS, Over 81% of Americans said the U.S. should support Afghans who worked with U.S. troops and officials in recent years. President Joe Biden also just announced an increase in the refugee cap from 62,500 to 125,000, which all seems good until you look a little beyond the number.

Due to policies implemented under former President Donald Trump, the bureaucratic infrastructure necessary for admitting refugees into the U.S. is not robust enough to process 125,000 refugees in a year.

In fact, only about 7,500 official refugees have settled in the U.S. since Biden became president. If the current administration doesn’t take steps to ensure we have a functional system for letting in refugees, it doesn’t matter how high the refugee cap is — the 88,000 Afghans seeking asylum in the U.S. are going to have to undergo a long, inefficient process.

Because of our responsibility for the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the U.S. ought ART BY JIMMY MILLER to expand the system for letting refugees into our country and fund similar efforts in other countries accepting refugees.

In the case of Afghanistan, most refugees are fleeing to surrounding countries like Pakistan and Iran, both of which are reluctant to accept more immigrants because they simply don’t have the means to do so.

What the U.S. can do, however, is pledge more money to non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan to avoid a humanitarian crisis.

As of Sept. 24, the U.S. had pledged only $64 million in aid to NGOs. To put that in perspective, we spent about $300 million each day fighting the war in Afghanistan over the last two decades.

It’s clear the U.S. could do more to solve a problem we created. We are responsible for the oncoming refugee crisis, and it’s up to us to make sure Afghan refugees get asylum.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Campanile

A8

Editorials Editors-in-Chief Gina Bae • Gianna Brogley • Jack Galetti Braden Leung • Austin Xiang so close...

News & Opinion Editors Ben Antonow Maya Singer

Managing Editors Valerie Chu Ajay Venkatraman

Sports Editors Lauren Chung Zack Silver

Lifestyle Editors Anaya Bhatt Joy Xu

Media Editor Kyla Schwarzbach

Science & Tech Editor Parker Wang

are we there yet?

this is gonna be a while...

Business Manager Charlotte Hallenbeck

ART BY BRADEN LEUNG

PAUSD school reopening successful !"#$%"&$'#()*+,!-./(012#3%1#(2%1(4556(73$(82"$($"01#(&29(71(:%57;102$"&(

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ith the school year now well underway, The Campanile praises PAUSD for facilitating a safe return to campus and appreciates the numerous measures in place to keep both students and faculty safe, including a mandatory mask requirement inside, ample airflow by means of open windows and doors as well as air purifiers and adequate spacing within classrooms.

Of special note, The Campanile praises PAUSD for providing free, on-campus testing to all students and staff and mandating weekly testing for unvaccinated faculty, measures that ensure the safety of the district’s campuses.

In an arrangement with Predecine Labs, PAUSD offers weekly COVID-19 testing at every school in the district, highlighting the value PAUSD places on the safety of students and faculty.

By guaranteeing everyone equal access to COVID-19 testing, the district fosters not only a safe community but an equal one, helping families whose access to COVID-19 testing outside of school may be limited.

Some students have expressed concerns with the testing, saying only offering tests only on one day a week makes for an inefficient process. And it's true wait times

can be long, but students who show symptoms and students may have to wait almost a week before receiving a test and then even longer to receive the results.

The two types of tests offered on campus are take-home and PCR tests, both of which come with their own share of faults.

Take-home tests can be inaccurate, forcing students to take a secondary test, while PCR tests can take weeks to provide a result.

While the intention behind the district’s testing is admirable, the execution falls short in numerous ways.

PAUSD should offer testing on every campus on more days and exercise more transparency in the time it will take to receive test results.

Students who are aware of when testing is available and how long they could have to spend at home waiting for the results may be more prepared to look elsewhere for COVID-19 tests or, at the very least, will be able to plan accordingly with their teachers to make up missed assignments, lessons and exams.

On the basis of safety, however, one undeniably measure is noticeably missing from the district’s long list of precautions — a mandated COVID-19 vaccine.

Superintendent Don Austin told The Campanile earlier this month that he “thinks it’s inappropriate to tell somebody what

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they need to put in their body,” but PAUSD, and school districts across the nation, are no stranger to mandating immunizations for their students. According to Contra Costa Health Services, California law requires all students attending state schools, both public and private, to have polio, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps and chickenpox vaccines, among others, before entering kindergarten.

Students must then receive another round of immunizations before entering seventh grade, begging the question, why, now, in the middle of an ongoing pandemic, does the district draw the line for a vaccine requirement?

Religious and medical exemptions aside, what argument is there against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate? The Delta variant and breakthrough cases are on the rise, the California Department of Public Health has reported drastic increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and four public school districts in California have already mandated a COVID-19 vaccine.

As a community, Paly is only as safe as the most careless of its students and faculty. Unvaccinated individuals pose a threat to both themselves and the people around them, and even with the numerous safety measures the district has in place, COVID-19 still can and will spread given the chance.

PAUSD has set precedents and led by example time after time. The Campanile urges the district to continue to do so by implementing a district-wide vaccine mandate for all students and staff.

With safety in mind, it is clear that such a mandate is not only a wise decision, but the safe one.

!"##$%&'()*+"$,-)*$.."/')-&01/1%')21%-1/)&-1%'&'&1* From sports to healthcare to simply existing, transgender the 2019-2020 school year reported harassment based on and nonbinary people have always faced discrimination. And gender identity. though newfound visibility and support in the media may It is shameful as a district to not be able to provide every make it seem as if the U.S. has made progress in its attitude student an education with the guarantee of safety on our camtoward gender issues, it’s evident after an objective look at the puses, and we all should be more actively striving for change. so-called progress we’ve made that the non-cisgender commuThe Campanile supports and stands with the trans and nity has continued to suffer. nonbinary community; the entire Paly community should too.

The U.S. has taken a huge step back in terms of LGBTQ+ In these times of hate, ignorance and fear-mongering, we legislation in 2021, with the enactment of more anti-LGall have a responsibility to speak out and protect the rights and BTQ+ bills into law than any other year. safety of our non-cisgender classmates More than 250 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have and community members. Respecting been introduced in state legislatures — peoples’ gender identities is essential in over 100 of which target non-cisgender creating a safe school environment for If you need support: rights. every student, and we urge students to Thus, it comes as no surprise that the educate themselves on the subject of genTrans Lifeline: (877) 565-8860 Center for American Process reported der identities and other LGBTQ+ topics, The Trevor Project: (866) 488-7386 more than one in three LGBTQ+ Ameribe more aware of gendered language and Adolescent Counseling Services: cans and more than three in five transmicroaggressions and stand up for trans gender Americans have faced discriminapeers when they feel unsafe. http://www.acs-teens.org/what-we-do/ tion in 2020, with younger generations We are making an effort to include outlet/ reporting more discrimination than older more trans and nonbinary voices in our generations. publication by interviewing more nonDespite Palo Alto’s left-leaning envicisgender sources, and trans and nonbironment, homophobia, transphobia and nary students always have a platform for discrimination still resides in our community and manifests publication through guest columns in our paper. Interested in hate incidents like the anti-trans posters plastered around students should email theeds22@googlegroups.com. In adMitchell Park in 2018 and hate crimes like the assaults against dition, our Spotlight this issue covers the topic of student LGBTQ+ victims in our surrounding area in 2020. gender identity. We are Palo Alto High School’s newspaper, Though many of the trans and nonbinary students interand we cannot represent our student body without including viewed in this issue’s Spotlight said their PAUSD schools have and supporting the non-cisgender community on our campus been primarily accommodating, it’s apparent there is still room and in our community. for improvement for our district in creating a safe space for Let’s bring gender identity harassment incidents down to people of all gender identities. where they should be — zero.

Eight out of the 96 PAUSD Title IX complaints filed in Read more on A4

Nikhil Behal Margot Blanco Lillian Clark Dinu Deshpande Shantanu Deshpande Eric Fan Rachel Feinstein

Staff Writers

Erik Feng Cayden Gu Justin Gu Lucas Guan Tiffany He Christie Hong Ali Minhas

Ken Ogata Aidan Seto Cole Sturino Shiki Toyama Colleen Wang Jerry Xia Brianna Zhou

Illustrators & Photographers

JT Bard Wallie Butler

James Churchley Phillip Churchley

Meya Gao

Anushe Irani Jimmy Miller

Adviser Rodney Satterthwaite Letters to the Editors: Email all letters to editors to theeds22@googlegroups.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 or sponsors 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. The Campanile would like to thank the PTSA for supporting the mailing of our newspaper.

Our Vision Statement: The Campanile has upheld the highest standard of student journalism for the last century by engaging the community through various mediums of storytelling.

Our coverage of news, culture and athletics aims to represent the diverse perspectives of our student body.

OCTOBER’S TOP TEN LIST The Top Ten Things to Look Forward to During Spirit Week !"

Watching some combination of the same ten people play the games

#

The freshmen not cheering and getting booed

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Lurking near the free food at float building to avoid rolling tissue paper

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Watching the spirit week dances fall apart at the seams

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Trying to read the tiny words on the spirit chant posters

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Last-minute digging in your parents’ closet for costumes

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Watching your crush dance with someone else at homecoming

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Jumping around people on the bleachers like a parkour course

*

Blasting "Mo Bamba" on the senior deck as an homage

!

Acting surprised when the seniors win Spirit Week

BY BENJAMIN ANTONOW & COLLEEN WANG

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

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The Campanile

Lifestyle

Flea market now open

!"#$%&'()%*%)+"%#(*+,*-)./*0&#$1*,%2-)(+%&*/&3*4,%*+%'/(1*'#(+%"5)#+(* Rachel Feinstein Staff Writer

A KYLA SCHWARZBACH/THE CAMPANILE

Kyla Schwarzbach & Anaya Bhatt

Media manager & Lifestyle editor

Although students might know Carl Hubenthal as “the guy on the bike,” there’s more to him than that. Hubenthal has been a Campus Supervisor for seven years ever since a friend of his asked him to cover a couple of his shifts one day.

“I said I’d give it a shot, and I’ve been here ever since then,” Hubenthal said.

He said he is responsible for ensuring the campus is secure and under control.

“I’m here to make sure we don’t get off-campus people coming on during school hours, that we don’t have people getting into fights and that we try to get people to class on time,” Hubenthal said. “I also help with any kind of medical and police issues.”

But Hubenthal hasn’t always been a campus supervisor. Before getting a job at Paly, Hubenthal said he worked in the entertainment industry.

“I used to do voice overs for cartoons and commercials,” Hubenthal said. “I did Shakespeare acting in college, and then I got an agent up in the city and did mostly voices for video games.”

Hubenthal said he went on to work as a general contractor until he had to stop because of health concerns.

“I had some mysterious health problems and went through a period of about six years not knowing what was wrong.” Hubenthal said.

“I ended up staying home. I couldn’t physically do (my) job, and I was sort of like a house-husband. I was with the kids doing all the cleaning and cooking and baking.”

Hubenthal said his life motto is taken from his favorite childhood cartoon.

“I like the Bugs Bunny motto from when I was a kid: ‘Don’t take life too seriously. Nobody gets out alive,’” Hubenthal said. “It can be a little dark, but it’s reminding you that you might as well have a little bit of fun and not take things so seriously.”

fter over a year-long hiatus due to COVID-19, the Paly Flea Market is back in the Embarcadero parking lot on the second Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The flea market funds music trips and new instruments, band and orchestra director Jeff Willner said.

“The way we make money is we sell spaces,” Willner said. “Each single booth has two parking spaces for $25.”

Phillis Smith, a former Paly parent, started the Paly Flea Market in 1989 when her daughter was in the band, and has been running it since.

She said vendor rates have remained the same since the beginning, making the Flea Market a reasonably priced place for people to sell their wares.

She also said some vendors have been in the same space for years and qualify for a discounted senior rate.

Willner said the Flea Market is essential for the music program because of a lack of school funding.

“The school only covers about 10-15% of our expenses,” Willner said. “Music at Paly would look a lot different without the Flea Market.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Willner said the music department relied on donations, which were sufficient because of spending cuts on large equipment and field trips.

“We were getting good donations, but we weren’t buying tubas or things like that,” Willner said. “That’s (why) we need the money from the flea market.”

Because COVID-19 is still prevalent, Smith said the Flea Market is taking precautions like requiring proper mask use and that all vendors be vaccinated.

Willner said the Sept. 11 flea market — the first since the pandemic — was a monumental success.

“I was glad that a lot of the vendors that have been

RACHEL FEINSTEIN/THE CAMPANILE

Vendor Betty Whitsitt shows off her unique display of vintage and thrifted rings to senior Eva Salvatierra at the flea market reopening. The Flea Market is a major fundraiser for band and orchestra since band director Jeff Wilner said the district only covers 10-15% of the group’s expenses.

doing it for decades came back to to celebrate the reopening. support us,” Willner said.

“We want this to be an event that Jack Harsignifies what rington, a longit’s all about: time vendor who students sells collectable learning and •The grand reopening of the flea coins and paper making mumarket is Oct. 9.

Sign up to become money, said he sic,” Willner a vendor by calling (650)-324-FLEA is glad to be said. back because he Willner missed the interalso said it’s •Visit the Paly Flea Market’s Faceactions with his important to customers during get new peobook page @palyfleamarket for the the closure. ple involved latest updates “At my age, because you can either sit shoppers and at home and do vendors were •Stay connected with Paly Band and nothing, or you dwindling Orchestra at palyband.com can get out, enjoy before COpeople and keep VID-19 due your mind busy,” to a lack of Harrington said. advertising.

The next Marty Flea Market on Oct. 9 will include Higgins, who sells family memoraperformances from the band, bilia, said more people should come jazz band and orchestra to the Flea Market because of what they will find. From antiques to collectables to clothes to plants, she said there is something for everyone.

“You never know what treasures you’re going to find that are going to become part of your life and part of your family’s life,”

Higgins said.

Julian Gomez, who has been coming to the Flea Market since his son joined the band in 2008, said he has many memories of exchanging stories and interests with vendors over the years, including a man who sold World War II history books.

“We spent 25 minutes just talking about historic airplanes,” Gomez said.

In addition to selling vendor stalls, band and orchestra students run the concession stands to raise additional funds in exchange for volunteer hours.

Junior flutist Celeste Maino said she volunteered at many Flea Markets during her freshman year and is excited to help out at them again.

“Concession stands are a fun way to meet people and talk to people in band that you play with,” Maino said.

Maino also said the Flea Market is a good balance between sales and community.

“It’s a nice way for Paly to interact with the rest of the community while also bringing in funds,” Maino said.

Willner added that even though the purpose of the flea market is to make money, it’s also about having fun and bringing people together.

“When we do something and everybody’s had a good time, you feel good about it,” Willner said.

RACHEL FEINSTEIN/THE CAMPANILE

Annual Clay and Glass Festival returns in-person Margot Blanco Staff Writer

MARGOT BLANCO/THE CAMPANILE

Iver Hennig displays his pieces to sell. “It’s much easier to sell in person and let people look and feel it,” he said.

The annual Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival returned to the Palo Alto Art Center from Sept. 11-12 after a virtual showing last year.

The festival featured over 100 juried artists from the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California.

The ACGA was founded in 1945, originally named the Association of San Francisco Potters. It now consists of over 300 members.

The organization hosted the first Clay and Glass Festival in 1993, marking 2021 as the 28th anniversary. The festival works to provide venues for artists to display and sell their work to the public.

Iver Hennig, a ceramics teacher at Santa Cruz High School, presented his ceramic sculptures at the festival on Sunday, Sept. 12.

Iver said that compared to last year’s virtual festival, selling in person is easier and provides a better experience for both the customers and sellers.

“You can’t sell the work as easily online because it’s so hard to ship,” Iver said. “It’s much

easier to sell in person and let people look and feel it.”

Stained glass artist Nancy Zajda said she has presented her work at the festival for over 40 years.

Zajda said that she also prefers the inperson showing for the connection she makes between her clients.

“I love talking to people [and] having the light show through the glass,” Zajda said.

While Zajda’s business is now successful and she is able to fulfill her clients’ wishes, Zajda said it wasn’t always this way.

In the beginning years of her career, Zajda said she worked in a smaller studio in which she couldn’t store her display of stained glass, so she had to set up the panels all over her house.

Although it was arduous work, she was then able to realize the ever-giving beauty of her art.

“I got the experience forever, what it’s like to live with the color changes, just to live in the beauty,” Zajda said. “And so I know when somebody either commissions one of these pieces or buys one of these pieces, it’s not just the thing, it’s going to be a living experience

for them as the light changes throughout the day.”

Ceramic artist Laurie Hennig, Iver Hennig’s mother, also presented at the festival. As Zajda works to provide a beautiful experience in her clients’ homes, Laurie said that she aims to spread a message.

“I want to remind people whenever possible about the environment and the creatures that we share the planet with,” Laurie said.

Laurie is based in Boulder Creek, where last year’s wildfires reached a block away from her studio.

Laurie said that she intends for her art to influence environmental concerns in her community.

“I think that it speaks for people and it says something for them that they’re feeling in their hearts,” Laurie said.

Agreeing with the other artists, Laurie said that she prefers the in-person showing because she enjoys interacting with the people and the artists.

“I’m really glad to get out and see some familiar faces of people I know and see the other art,” Laurie said. “I needed to get back and I feel pretty safe.”

The Campanile

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Lifestyle

B2

Consumer ethics affect shopping habits

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hether it’s for food or clothing, junior Milena Rodriguez said she always looks at the labels of the various brands she buys, hoping to find one indicating its ethical background. Her weekly trips to the Sunday farmer’s market on California Avenue, for example, provide a variety of fresh fruits and veggies that come from local farms and businesses.

ART BY BR AD EN

“My family buys almost all of our fruits and veggies from the farmers market on California Avenue, Rodriguez said. “It’s local and they don't have to drive an extremely long way to get here, so we’re reducing our carbon footprint.”

Shopping locally like Rodriguez does is just one of the ways ethical consumerism — a broad label of social and environmental activism that influences where and how consumers buy products — manifests.

Through mindful purchases, these consumers say they are encouraging ethical practices on the part of the businesses where they choose to spend their money.

One of the business sectors most known for its ethical practices — or lack thereof — is the fashion industry.

Many clothing companies use non-biodegradable fabrics and child labor, among other unethical practies.

Because of this, Rodriguez said she would rather purchase from ethical companies rather than other fashion brands with little to no environmental visibility.

“Before I order something, I’ll check to see if they say anything about how they manufacture their products or if the material they use is sustainable,” Rodriguez said. “I’m OK with having fewer clothes if it means the clothes last longer and aren’t made in sweatshop factories with child labor or slavery.”

Junior Payton Anderson also said the workplace that produces her clothes — especially if it is outside of the U.S. — is an important factor in her choice of companies to purchase from.

“I think a really big issue is the underpayment and exploitation of third-world countries,” Anderson said.

“Their resources and laborers are greatly abused because there's not strict labor laws like there are in the U.S.” Agricultural

G UN LE

businesses can be even more demanding and unethical. Because of this, many people opt for fair trade products or purchase from locally-owned farms and businesses.

One local fair trade business is run by the volunteer team at the First Congregational Church of Palo Alto. FCCPA is a part of Equal Exchange, a for-profit Fairtrade cooperative that strives to build economically just partnerships between farmers and consumers. Volunteer Nancy Peterson and her team take farm products to the tables of their buyers, all qualitycontrolled by Equal Exchange.

Peterson said her experience with selling fair trade products has helped her to make more environmentally sound food purchases.

“I've been buying as much organic and local things as I can and that helps because often there is alignment there,” Peterson said. “There's no absolute guarantee about all of the businesses’ practices, but I can have a lot more confidence that way.”

When COVID-19 hit, many consumers switched from purchasing clothes inperson to online, giving them greater accessibility to clothing, especially those who shopped at fast-fashion, low-price stores such as Shein and Forever 21.

But Anderson said this accessibility perpetuates the mentality that the best, most efficient way to purchase clothes is through fashion brands that sell them at low prices. Instead, she said her first choice is to buy responsibly in a way that is environmentally conscious.

“I

try to shop second hand as best as I can, and I try to upcycle a lot of my old clothes or give other people a lot of my old clothes,” Anderson said.

One company many consumers cannot get away from, however, is Amazon. Amazon is known for its Prime two-day shipping and its warehouses filled with everything a consumer can think of.

However, Amazon has also come under fire for its unethical practices in the workplace and its mistreatment of its workers. Despite these concerns, it remains a popular site that many feel guilty for shopping at but one they find difficult to give up.

“They have literally anything you could want on Amazon, and for really cheap, too,” Rodriguez said. “That's the thing — instead of having to actively seek out another way of buying something you could just go on Amazon and buy it.”

Low prices of products are often the selling point for many consumers, rather than the environmental impact of their purchases, and those in worse economic situations are especially susceptible, especially since ethically-sourced products are often more expensive.

“Money plays a huge part in ethical consumerism because some people don't have the money to shop at companies that cost more,” Anderson said. “Another big problem is that people automatically think, ‘I don't have the money to buy items from this company,’ but end up going to use that same amount of money to buy more items that aren't going to last as long.”

Peterson said that her customers are willing to pay for her products because they know the sourcing behind them. However, without this visibility, Peterson said there would not be as much business as there is now.

“Part of ethical consumerism is just getting people's attention,” Peterson said. “Another part of it is deciding that you're willing to pay more for things but part of it is just massive visibility. So it's consumer action, but it's also broad visibility through the media and through the financial markets and investors.”

The media becomes a huge factor when considering demand and trends, especially with clothing. It then becomes a cycle of supply and demand that neither side can resolve.

“A huge thing that's pushing the supply and demand from these companies is not just the customers, but it's the media trends and microtrends,” Anderson said. “I think companies have a huge role in it, but customers also have a role in it because they're buying the stuff.”

Even though it may seem like a grueling task, Anderson said everyone can do something to become a more ethical consumer. She said educating yourself is an easy, first step.

“Be aware of what you're consuming,” she said. “Part of ethical consumerism is knowing what you're consuming, knowing what you're supporting and when you're perpetuating the supply and demand cycle.”

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Tiffany He Staff Writer

:%/4*013;'<*7%'=#>$'*$5'?#-$0/&'(/12%+'2,*$.%5'&#-/')-$2,'()*$+@ Students have started to face a predicament. With Gov. Gavin Newsom’s universal school meal program offering free meals and with what many say are rising food prices at Town and Country, how do people find an affordable, healthy, tasty lunch? Students and staff had a lot to say on this issue, and here is a representative sample of their responses. Compiled by Eric Fan “I remember when (Village) Cheese House was $1 for bread and then $1 for dip. But now that (Village) Cheese House is closed, I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

“Because of the price increases in a lot of these shops, I've been having to bring lunch from home a couple of days a week, which takes time to prepare in the morning, so I have to wake up earlier.”

— Diego Diaz (‘22)

— Nikhil Majeti (‘22)

“It’s just caused me to not get as much or not get lunch entirely. I think the having to wait in line for (cafeteria) food that isn’t really the best but also isn’t the worst just isn’t worth the time.”

— Isaiah Wotring (‘24)

“I would say that I actually buy lunch more this year because I don’t have as much time to make it, but I am definitely aware of how much money I spend on lunch this year.”

“If the prices are a little bit higher, we’re still going to go because it’s not our daily habit. When we go to a special occasion, we’re willing to pay more for Gotts Burgers, or go get Asian Box. It’s an inelastic demand.”

— Grace Corrigan (‘23)

— Debbie Whitson, teacher

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Campanile

Lifestyle

B3

The battle of the albums: ‘Donda’ vs. ‘Certified Lover Boy’ U

nless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you’ve probably heard people talk about “Donda” or “Certified Lover Boy.’’ “Donda,” the latest album by American rapper Kanye West released in late August has contended Canadian rapper Drake’s album, “Certified Lover Boy,” released in early September, for spots on the September Billboard charts.

For the last decade, Drake and West have been in a love-hate relationship that has leaned towards hate in recent years. What started as friendly competition between artists escalated when Drake accused Kanye of telling fellow rapper Pusha T about Drake’s secret child Adonis with former adult film star Sophie Brussaux.

A month prior to the release of Drake’s album Scorpion where he first officially announces his child, Pusha T released a Drake diss track titled “The Story of Adidon” accusing Drake of being a deadbeat dad.

Drake argued that since Kanye had access to Drake’s song “March 14” on Scorpion, where he raps about his child, before the official release, Kanye was the one who told Pusha T. Kanye denied it all.

Since then, tensions have run high

between the two rappers, reigniting this last month as fans speculated Kanye was waiting for Drake to drop his album first before dropping his own, in an effort to garner more attention than Drake.

With both albums having dropped within a few days of each other, naturally, fans and critics alike have been quick to compare.

Senior Sophie Pardehpoosh says she preferred Donda to CLB. “I thought that CLB had a lot of the songs that sounded the same as each other and the same as his other albums,” she said, “ I wasn’t blown away by either, but I thought that Donda was at least something different that (I haven’t) heard before.”

Senior Henry Oliveria, a fellow Donda advocate, says he thinks Drake is repetitive while Kanye experiments with more variety.

“I haven’t been much of a Drake fan since 6th grade, and I only recently got back into him,” Oliveria said.

“Kanye, I’ve never not liked, and I thought Donda was good.”

Senior Ryan Lykken, though, said Drake is a better artist with a better album.

“In my opinion I would choose Drake over Kanye any day.

Drake has always been my favorite rapper since I started listening to that kind of music. I think he has the

ART BY WALLIE BU

biggest impact in the music industry as he always sells out stadiums and mass amounts of albums,” he said. “I mainly love Drake because of his flow when he raps. His voice matches all his beats, and they are mostly really hype songs or really chill songs. I can always be in the mood for a Drake song” But for some students like senior Nikhil Majeti, Kanye is and always has been a better artist than Drake.

Majeti said, “I think that Kanye could be Jesus reincarnated.”

Anaya Bhatt

Lifestyle Editor

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Anime: a world of art, culture, entertainment

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Anime, a form of Japanese animation, has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment among teenagers.

Popular anime TV-shows include “Dorameon,” “Pokemon,” and “Detective Conan,” as well as more modern shows like “Attack on Titan” and “Jujitsu Kaisen.”

Anime is particularly popular among Paly students. Paly even has a manga club, where anime graphic novels are discussed.

“I think most anime watchers are either like me, who just kept on watching since childhood, or recently got into it because there are some amazing anime that have come out over the past few years,” senior Yurack Jung said. “Other than that, I think it’s just preference, like how some people rather

listen to rap, while some people prefer pop.”

Though Anime is widely regarded as a form of entertainment, it is rarely referred to as a form of art.

But art teacher Tracey Atkinson disagrees.

“I do think it is a form of art for the artists who originally drew it,” Atkinson said. “I think that anime is a good starting place for someone who wants to look at it and see how anime artists came up with the concept. I think students should jump from that and make original content.”

Jung said there is also a large cultural element to Anime.

“I would say it is mostly a cultural thing, even though anime has large audiences in many difAR TB Y

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ferent cultures, because the plots and the connections to real life appeals more to the Asian culture than other cultures,” Jung said.

“Many Koreans watch anime because it’s what we grew up with.”

Jung said he thinks one of the main attractions to anime as opposed to other shows are the unique visuals.

“I think the biggest thing that separates anime from other content is the art and the exaggeration,” Jung said. “For example, most of the characters have big, sparkling eyes, have unrealistic superpowers and awakenings, and all the villains have super long speeches in fights, unlike in cartoons like Marvel or DC Comics.”

And while senior April Wu said some anime might not be appropriate for younger students, it’s worth exploring this type of animation based on a student’s own maturity and comfort level.

“Like any other industry, for every stellar production, there’s a few productions that are less so,” Wu said. “I think 10 to 11-yearolds can explore anime, but it’s hard to avoid the aspects of anime that aren’t as kid-friendly. As with anything, you can tailor your own experience, and with its growing popularity, I hope everyone finds something to enjoy in the breadth that it offers.”

Ali Minhas

Senior Staff

!"#$%&'(#)$*#+,)A political satire Maya Singer

News & Opinion Editor

Texas lawmakers passed a bill banning abortions past six weeks on Sept. 1, directly contradicting the 1973 landmark Supreme Court case, Roe v.

Wade. This law makes Texas the most restrictive state when it comes to abortions.

The Texas law allows private citizens, including out-of-state residents, to sue anyone who performs an abortion at or after six weeks of pregnancy or “aids and abets” the procedure. If they win the lawsuit, they are entitled to $10,000 and legal fees.

In a challenge to this law, a San Antonio physician provided an abortion on Sept. 6 to a woman still in her first trimester but past the six week mark.

Twelve days later, he published an oped in The Washington Post opposing the Texas law and admitting he had broken it. Since then, two people have sued, both disbarred lawyers.

One of these lawyers is from Oklahoma and describes himself as a “disbarred and disgraced” lawyer in his case report, flouting the fact he is not pro-life. He later revealed to the Associated Press he merely wanted to vindicate the law. The second is a man from Illinois, who described himself as a “pro-choice plaintiff.”

So, not exactly the results the antiabortion mobs were hoping for. Then again, I’m not sure what they were thinking. Apparently not that there would be American Civil Liberties Union plants. Or that the majority of the United States would not be OK with not only an open violation of Supreme Court precedent but a blatant move to oppress women.

Many abortion-rights activists warned of a Wild West situation, where vigilantes would sue anyone involved in the abortion process to claim their $10,000 check.

Luckily, Texan contrarianism runs so deep, citizens have decided to clean themselves up once and for all.

As far as Texans are concerned, taking lives with bullets is totally fine.

Guns. No permits. No background checks. Wallet, check. Keys, check.

Mask, trash. Gun, in purse. Check.

Vaccines, never.

In addition, The Lone Star’s Governor Greg “I shoot reporters” Abbott decided the best use of his funds was to create a wall of police cars across the miles-long border between Texas and Mexico, the one Haitian immigrants have been streaming across to seek asylum and shelter while war and natural disasters rage through their country.

I bet Abbott convinced his officers by telling them their trip to the border was a muchearned ranch, river-side vacation. Look at the beautiful Rio Grande, he coaxed.

You can barely even see the thousands of starving immigrants. And all those horsies.

It’s time to play cowboy.

Round ‘em up, fellers.

Abbott’s goal seems to be to keep as many people as possible from ever going near Texas. With nomask mandates and anti-vaccination propaganda, he proudly showcases the petri dish of diseases and illnesses his state has to offer. And if you look into his bathroom, you’ll find ones from down south.

Speaking of Mexico, Cancun’s favorite senator is continuing to wage a war on women. Senator Ted Cruz has moved from throwing his wife and daughters under the bus to cutting down on their rights.

In reality, Cruz spews what his constituents want him to. He revealed recently his stance on abortion is singlehandedly keeping his campaign alive.

In other news, Florida governor Ron DeSantis says he thinks he might follow Texas’s lead and endorse an anti-abortion bill similar to the one the Supreme Court approved.

“I’ll have to think about it, and that might take some time,” DeSantis said.

“It’s something I haven’t done in years.”

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The Campanile Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Wednesday, October 6, 2021 The Campanile

Lifestyle

The Met Gala: a lexicon of fashion !"#$%&'()*+,')-.#)/#0-1),+"0-)2++%0)+3)-.#)'&(.-

A

fter more than two years, the Met Gala made its long-awaited return on Sept. 13. This annual celebration of fashion is a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, which picks a new theme each year for its exhibition.

This year’s theme, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” is part one of the Met’s two-part exhibition celebrating American fashion, which opened in the Anna Wintour Costume Center on Sept. 18.

A-list celebrity guests flooded the red carpet with looks that embodied their perspective on American fashion while others seemed to ignore the theme.

This is supposed to be a colossal fashion event where guests are expected to go all out and wear unique pieces, but just like with every Met Gala, this year’s looks were a mixed bag. Many played it safe and went with promlike looks that adhere to traditional formal styles, while others tried to step out of their comfort zone and make a statement.

One look seemingly designed to ignite dialogue came from Met Gala veteran Kim Kardashian. The reality star wore a head-to-toe, all-black Balenciaga ensemble designed by creative director Demna Gvasilia that covered up every inch of skin on her body including her face and left only a ponytail of $10,000 worth of hair extensions exposed.

Kardashian is known for having flashy and on-theme Met Gala looks, which is why it was a shock to not see her face. Her fashion choice served as a bold statement, one meant to provoke viewers.

Kardashian has beenvocal in the past about her experiences as a victim of body-shaming on the internet, and her look seemed like a response to her critics. Often told to cover up, Kardashian did just that. Kardashian’s look was a clear winner and stood out from the rest.

Similarly, Frank Ocean’s unique ensemble was a focus of conversation in the fashion community.

In a rare public appearance, the singer strolled through the red carpet wearing a three-piece, black suede suit from Prada, a hat embellished with the words “Dreamcore” a riff on the animation studio DreamWorks a necklace from his own jewelry line and in his arms, a life-sized green animatronic baby.

Ocean’s appearance looked like an homage to the whimsical nature of American cinema, which could explain the animatronic baby and the hat. And although his presence and look were unexpected, Ocean brought a breath of fresh air into an event that, for the most part, lacked creativity.

Ocean flipped the expectations of attire at formal events. You don’t need to be wearing a suit and tie to look sophisticated; showcasing your own creativity, style, and confidence is what should be required for highfashion events.

The night ended with the long-awaited appearance of the world’s most stylish couple, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, who arrived “fashionably” late.

Rihanna donned a dramatic all-black cape-gown from Balenciaga, also designed by Gvasilia, as well as a black beanie over a diamond hairpiece, matching her necklace.

The look was contrasted by Rocky’s ensemble, which

consisted of many bright colors. The rapper draped himself in a large multicolored quilt from Los Angeles-based brand ERL, with a suit underneath, also from ERL. The piece seemed to be in reference to the significance of quilts in American history, which have represented heritage, unity, resourcefulness, and creativity.

Clothing choices at these events should be meticulous, personal, and outside of the box. Rocky did just that while looking great, which now seems like a lost art.

This of course went over the heads of most onlineobsessed commentators, who quickly ran off to make the next meme or viral tweet, instead of actually thinking about the rapper’s intentions.

Since what most online users consider to be the fashion these days are the latest trends, it shouldn’t come as a shock that these same people don’t understand that fashion actually has a history.

While a quilt isn’t the most jaw-dropping or headline-worthy piece, an appreciation of Rocky’s intentions served as a reward for those who found themselves willing to dig deeper than the surface level of the look.

And isn’t that what fashion should be?

It’s a medium where anyone’s voice and creativity can be amplified while doing what all art should do: make people think.

Nikie Behal Staff Writer

ART BY WALLIE BUTLER

!"#$%#&'()#&&"#(&'*+,)&-.)"*/.)*0)1(&'*+#/).23."'.+(.4)'+)".#/'&5 6.7'.8,)9:9;)<=$'('>.)=?$#>@) 4-5*#'-01)6"+3#00&+'$20)#762$&')-.#)8+6&'(1)"#0-+"$-&9#)#:#8-0)+3)8+'05;&'()*&0-5"/&'();#*&$)+'2&'# A.&&.")&-#+)9:;B)*"'C'+#/ Shiki Toyama Staff Writer

If unhappiness was a choice, would anyone ever choose it? The answer may seem obvious, but when psychology teacher Christopher Farina asked himself this question, he said the answer wasn’t so simple.

“The issue is that it’s hard to experience happiness without having some understanding of unhappiness,” he said.

“Happiness is something you experience in relation to unhappiness,” Farina said.

“If you are familiar with what unhap-

ART BY BRADEN LEUNG

piness feels like, it can make you more grateful for experiencing happiness, and vice versa.”

The popularity of fictional trauma in movies, books and other media has risen significantly in recent years, with movies like the “Joker” directed by Todd Phillips becoming widely acclaimed and books like “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara going viral on Tik Tok. Paly alum Paloma Tracy said it could be attributed to the lack of such trauma in people’s everyday lives. Tracy, who studied public health at the University of Michigan, said her classes she has taken in her major have led her to believe attraction toward second hand trauma is caused by the rising comfortability of life for some groups.

“Now that some groups of people are safer and more comfortable in their homes compared to the past when people lived shorter, harsher lives, they may need to seek out trauma from the media to fill a trauma void,” Tracy said.

Farina agrees and said seeing fake trauma without actually experiencing it allows people to have something that guarantees to be worse than reality, and provides a warning to see what the worst could be.

“Fictional trauma allows you to have some exposure to what living through something devastating would be like, without actually having the repercussions,” Farina said. “I can walk away from that book, and I’m back to my life.”

But junior Lauren Saleh said she appreciates fictional trauma for the way it helps her deal with her own issues.

“Weirdly enough, I’ve actually found myself gravitating towards books or movies that remind me of my traumatic events,” Saleh said. “I think I subconsciously want to get over triggers I’ve maintained in the past.”

In fact, Saleh said that traumatic media can be a source of comfort for her.

“I feel like it desensitizes me, like maybe if I keep watching or reading things for long enough, I will get over my trauma,” Saleh said.

When asked about her favorite sources of comfort, Saleh mentioned the novel “Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides as an example.

The 1993 debut novel is about the fates of the Lisbon sisters, told through the lens of a group of boys who live in their neighborhood. Although the group of boys are originally obsessing over the five sisters, the book reflects the struggle the sisters endured which caused their mysterious death.

“The book brought up the topic of depression and suicide that girls can get from the stress of always trying to fit the beauty standard,” Saleh said. “It made me feel better that I wasn’t the only one who felt the pressure.”

Like Farina said, people aren’t attracted to the emotional brutality of fictional trauma. Rather, fictional trauma helps people find an ultimate sense of peace either through distinguishing between feelings of happiness and unhappiness, or as a source of relatable comfort.

“People may take for granted what the feeling of unhappiness does for their happiness,” Farina said. “But in reality, it’s a balance between the two.”

Shantanu Deshpande Staff Writer

This summer’s new hit, “The Suicide Squad,” is an action-fest with everything from hilarious fight scenes to surprisingly emotional interactions between the characters.

The movie is a soft reboot of the 2016 movie “Suicide Squad,” bringing back a large chunk of the cast while essentially throwing all the events of the original movie out the window.

With a clean slate, director James Gunn is free to essentially do his thing, as he did with Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.” This lets the movie do what it was meant to do – kill characters, have evil villains that don’t boil down to papiér-maché copies of Dr. Evil and, above all, take risks.

Where the previous movie essentially came down to a group of characters being in the same general area for 90 minutes and hoped to create bonds that way, the 2021 edition manages to create real connections between the characters, leading to a situation where the audience can acknowledge the absurdity of the movie while still caring about those involved.

The plot is patently absurd — a group of convicts with

anomalous superpowers are sent to steal something.

However, it’s ridiculous enough that you know not to take it too seriously, even though there are real emotional moments throughout the film.

Gunn does his best work addressing the individual characters — a challenge that the cast rises to in style. Sylvester Stallone plays a sharkman learning about friendship in a way that makes you root for him, while John Cena’s Peacemaker, a man who fights brutally in the name of peace, is a hilarious addition (and also somewhat worrisome if you look at him as an allegory). And Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn gets the opportunity to portray an actual fleshed-out character rather than the eye candy she was in the first film.

While the movie has gratuitous blood and profanity that seems excessive, it also highlights the confusion prevalent between in DC’s cinematic universe. Where the Marvel movies are muchbeloved, the DCEU seems more like a chaotic mix of storytelling styles and tones.

Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” does justice to the potential of its premise. As a risky but well-done entry into the superhero genre, “The Suicide Squad” is a rare gem worth a watch.

!

The Campanile

Sports

"#$#%&'(')#*'+$#),'-)'&./$+&'0',(+('()(12&-&3'42'()(125-)6'&+(+-&+-7&8'+#(9&' ($#'(:1#'+/'6(-)'('7/9.#+-+-;#'(,;()+(6#'(),'#)"()7#'.1(2#$'.#$</$9()7#3 The sports analytics craze has trickled down to high school sports. The Paly girls volleyball team uses visual maps of hitting tendencies and various ratings to identify areas for improvement as well as plan for upcoming opponents.

However, coach Chris Crader acknowledges that there needs to be a balance between examining the numbers and playing as a player. While he keeps track of many statistics and tendencies, he limits how much he shares with the team heading into a match.

“I don’t want to give them too much information where they’ve just got to go play. Don’t want to overload them, but you want to give them a few things,” Crader said.

While professional and college teams can utilize equipment costing tens of thousands of dollars to collect and analyze data, high school teams do not have the same budget. Instead, Crader says his team’s data is collected manually through programs like Data Volley and Hudl Assist. Both tools require people, either the assistant coach or freelance coders respectively, to watch the game videos and link statistics to those videos. As a result, his analytics have all been retrospective or predictive.

“We don’t have a lot of real time,” Crader said.

“That’s a thought of something that could be the next level.”

Although it is hard to pinpoint exactly how much of an edge the analytics provide, he says it does make a difference.

“Good high school players definitely have tendencies, have favorite shots and have weaknesses,” Crader said. “So the more aware you can be of them, I think it helps your team win a point here, win a point there, and maybe that makes a difference in winning a set, maybe that makes a difference in winning a match.

Justin Gu

Staff Writer

A GIN E BA

The San Francisco Giants, who missed the Major League Baseball playoffs last season, currently hold the winningest record in the league this season.

Three years into his tenure as the President of Baseball Operations for the team, Farhan Zaidi has revolutionized the team by following and analyzing the numbers, a process called sports analytics.

Hunter Satterthwaite, the Director of Baseball Operations and Data Analytics at the University of Michigan, defines sports analytics as “using numbers in order to improve team and personal performance.”

The utilization of data is a growing trend in the sports world, with the global sports analytics market expected to grow at 21.8% each year over the next seven years. Satterthwaite says the majority of teams, especially in professional sports, already utilize analytics, and it has become a fundamental part of sports.

“Most teams have figured out the correct way to optimize pretty much everything from free agency to player performance,” he said. “And so it’s more of a detriment to an organ ization if you don’t use it, as opposed to [an advantage] if you do use it.”

Satterthwaite adds that analyzing data is more reliable than taking an eye-test on players.

“With using the data, you can get raw, concrete, unbiased numbers on them and on how they perform, so you are grading out players without biases,” he said. “That data is just more concrete.”

AP Statistics teacher Scott Friedland, who is an avid San Francisco Giants fan, has embraced sports analytics.

“As a statistics teacher, I enjoy it,” Friedland said. “I’ve always thought it’s cool, all the ways that general managers now are looking for that competitive edge. And they’re using statistics to get that competitive edge.”

He attributes the Giants’ success to the organization’s consonance in regards to having a datadriven mentality, pointing out the commitment Zaidi made towards appointing analytics-minded Gabe Kapler to be the team’s manager.

“What was really insightful was [Zaidi] putting people in place that shared his vision, so it’s a consistent vision across the organization,” Friedland said.

He also believes that sports analytics is an exceptional way for students to familiarize themselves with statistics.

“I think sports can be a wonderful and accessible jumping-off point for student projects because the barrier to entry to understanding what’s happening isn’t huge,” Friedland said.

BY ART

STATS

IN

SPORTS

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Girls golf undefeated Football overcomes injuries, early losses !"#$%&"'%'(%)(*"%+,'-%."/0"1'%234%/"1(/5

Tiffany He Staff Writer

Starting strong with seven wins and zero losses, the girls golf team retains their confidence after a shortened season last year.

Varsity captain Lauren Sung said the previous wins helped improve her mindset.

“Just knowing that we can be in the 185 to 190 (stroke) shooting range, I feel that we are definitely big competitors, and going into the offseason especially, we’re excited,” Sung said.

Sung also said she does not expect to fall behind in their league, coming from the previous victories.

“If all of us blow up, that’s pretty much the only way that the other team could win,” Sung said. “So, I mean I’m feeling pretty confident going into it and it’s more fun for us because our league is not very competitive.”

Now, Sung said the team looks onward to tougher opponents in future tournaments and games.

“Lynbrook is looking to be our toughest competitor, but with that said, we’re still like 20 to 30 strokes ahead of them,” Sung said. “So it’s not a big worry, but we have to make sure our top players are going to show up that day and make sure that we take that match seriously.”

Varsity coach Doyle Knight said the team is working to improve their weaknesses, one of which is lag putting — a long putt that is usually ten feet or longer.

“You want to at least get up close, and we were either coming up really short or hitting it really far,” Knight said. “But now, they’re narrowing it down so they’re reducing the mistakes and errors in their scores.”

Knight said the girls plan to keep their skills up when it comes time to play against one of their top competitors, Valley Christian, in CCS. “I’m looking forward to that challenge at CCS and playing with them, so we’ll see what happens,” Knight said. “And then after that, it’s just trying to keep moving on and getting back to the state tournament.”

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COLE STURINO/THE CAMPANILE

Junior runningback Jack Newman evades a defender while rushing toward the end zone in a 63 - 13 win over Santa Clara. “I think there has been a lot of standout performances this season and those happen because the team plays well together,” senior Jordan Fakatou said.

Cole Sturino

Senior Staff Writer Right before winning the team’s third game against the Santa Clara Bruins, senior and offensive lineman/ defensive end Jordan Fakatou said despite the team’s rocky start, he looked forward to the rest of the season.

“I think those (first two) were good games for us because they were very challenging and made us compete at a higher level,” Fakatou said. “I think that there have been a lot of standout performances this season and those

happen because the team plays well together.”

Fakatou also said the team’s individual roles meshing together are a key reason behind its recent success.

Offense, defense and special teams are gelling into one unit.

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes, but we analyze them, fix them,and move on,” Fakatou said. “Our coaches are great. They analyze film, make a game plan and help coach us to be the best players we can be. Everyone does their part on the team, and we can’t be successful if one person slacks.”

Senior captain and running back

Josh Butler said while he is disappointed by his own injury, he is impressed with the team’s ability to succeed.

“They are doing great and amazing,” Butler said. “It just hurts trying to be a captain while not on the field. Notable performances are everybody really. And being a running back, I have to give credit to the O-line because they are really starting to come together.”

Despite the team’s initial losses, Butler said he feels optimistic about the season ahead.

“The best game is the next game,” he said “We just try to pick up the win and move on to the next one.”

The Campanile

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

C2

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Sports

Colleen Wang Staff Writer

After starting the season with a record of 1-7 for the girls water polo team and 3-3 for the boys, both teams say they are optimistic for improvement and success in the rest of the season.

Senior Damon Schultz said that the season was going well for boys’ water polo so far.

One memorable match for him was against Los Altos, which ended in a close victory for the Vikings.

“We won (with) Julian Chow scoring two goals in overtime. It was a great game,” Schultz said.

Junior Grace Gormley said she has noticed the growth of her team over the season’s course.

“Our team has definitely gotten a lot stronger, and we’ve seen a lot of improvement, and hopefully we’re gonna see a lot more throughout this season,” she said.

Girls’ varsity water polo coach Deke Rowell said his team is getting stronger with every practice and game.

“We lost to a team by six points three weeks ago in August, and then we played them recently and lost in overtime by a goal, so I felt like there was more consistent play and improvement,” Rowell said.

Both teams say they have high hopes for qualifying for the Central Coast Section this year.

“We want to try and finish in the automatic qualifying spot for CCS,” Rowell said.

“Last year, with COVID-19, we didn’t have any playoffs, so reintroducing some of these younger players to CCS and to the playoffs, and how fun it can be, is a great experience.”

Schultz said he looks forward to the rest of the season and playing more games.

“We’re just ready to get fully into our season,” Schultz said.

ERIC FAN/THE CAMPANILE

Four students play spikeball on the quad during lunch. They are practicing for their next tournament game coming up. “So far, I would say the Spikeball tournament has been successful,” ASB Sports Commissioner Tony Jeon said. “There’s also been a decently large crowd showing up to our games.”

ASB holds Spikeball tournament J unior Cameron Phillips smacks the ball down onto the net as the sun beats down on him and his teammate. As the Spikeball rally continues onward, the spectating crowd around him witnesses him score a point for his team, CPS. “So far, the games are great,” Phillips said. “I get to display my Spikeball skills by competing at a high level in front of a crowd; it is a little intense, but friendly competition (makes it) more fun.”

The ongoing ASB Spikeball tournament, led by senior and ASB Sports Commissioner Tony Jeon, started on Sept.

15 and will end by Oct. 6.

Jeon said all games except the semifinals and finals require friendly serves, and the first team to get 11 points wins. Players cannot substitute other people, and failure to show up is a forfeit out of respect for the opposing team.

Games take place every Wednesday and Friday on the quad; however, as the tournament continues, Jeon said this timeline may change since games are go-

ing faster than he had initially anticipated.

“So far, I would say the Spikeball tournament has been successful,” Jeon said.

“There’s also been a decently large crowd showing up to our games, mostly friends showing up to cheer players on.”

Senior Palo Silva said he has watched several games and enjoys the spirited nature of the tournament.

“Sometimes the games get a little intense, and the crowd circles around the players, but that’s what is fun about it,” Silva said.

Despite its successes, Jeon said the tournament had to overcome some initial bumps.

He said controversy existed over the appropriateness of team names, and the competition had to continue with only three Spikeball nets instead of the expected four. Phillips said he noticed

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PHOTO BY COLLEEN WANG

Junior varsity boys water polo player and junior Trey Collins passes to a teammate. Both the boys and girls team say they are working to be more consistent in their approach to matches.

Girls tennis victorious against Homestead 5"-.&,&678&#)9(#2:&',#%"-*&.(3)%&-(&9(0-"0/)&-(&+),-&.";.7#,0<"0;&-),1% Rachel Feinstein Staff Writer After securing its fourth victory of the season against Homestead, the girls tennis team hopes to continue its winning streak as it faces tougher teams. But Coach Andy Harader and senior varsity player Iris Li both said the win against Homestead wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Li won her match against Homestead’s Bebel Yen 6–4, 5–7 and, 10–6.

“I was not expecting a close match today, but I’m so glad that I pulled out the win,” Li said.

Harader said several of the team’s matches against Homestead were close, but they finished strong with a score of 6–1.

“We were behind in a couple of our doubles matches,” Harader said. “They pulled it out by the skin of their teeth, which was really wonderful to see.”

Harader said Li lost to Yen last year, so he’s glad she was able to come out on top this time around. Li attributes her victory to focus, which allowed her to stick to her fundamentals and avoid rushing each point.

“I really took my time today between points and thought about my mistakes,” Li said.

“Normally, I just want to get every point over with as fast as possible.”

Li also said she’s been incorporating new techniques to make her matches more interesting.

“I tried coming into the net more today,” Li said.

Throughout the rest of the season, Li said she wants to continue her focused mentality and flexible technique because it will help her with her placement and ultimately help her win more matches.

The team’s record is currently 4-1, but Harader said they still have many decisive matches left, plus a big tournament in October.

Harader said he knows the rest of the season

this disorganization but still thinks the tournament is going well.

“There was some sort of confusion in the beginning of the tournament,” Phillips said. “I think they can definitely work on that in the future, but it was still pretty well-planned.”

Silva and Jeon both said Spikeball has been a great way to spend their time during lunch, and since recently appointed the role of ASB Sports Commissioner, Jeon said he had always wanted to plan a Spikeball tournament.

“After a tough time in our lives due to the pandemic, providing students with a source of happiness and a reminder of the student experience at Paly is a very important responsibility for me,” Jeon said. “Allowing students from all grades to participate and create their teams and team names promotes inclusivity, creativity and light competition between students leading into Spirit Week.”

Joy Xu

Lifestyle Editor

!"#$%&'($$)*+,$$&-.#"')%& ,-&-(/#0,1)0-&2)%3"-)& "04/#")% Erik Feng Staff Writer

PHOTO BY RACHEL FEINSTEIN

Senior varsity girls tennis player Diana Narancic gets ready to return a serve. The varsity team has started the season 4-1.

is going to be challenging, but he believes in the team’s potential.

“We can go all the way this year,” Harader said. “I’m working towards that goal, and I know the girls are too.”

Despite suffering several injuries, the girls varsity volleyball team beats Notre Dame High School 3-1 in a key victory.

Setter Sophie Mies credits the team’s endurance as the main reason for their win on Sept. 18 thanks to endurance preparation.

“We were getting ready to play a lot of games,” Mies said.

Going into the tournament, varsity coach Chris Crader said there were quite a few team injuries occurring.

“We had a couple people that got injured a couple weeks ago, and we had two people get injured Wednesday (before the match),” Crader said. “But we’re fighting through it.”

The team suffered two sprained ankles, a bum knee, a concussion, an elbow injury, and a broken finger.

Crader said the team injuries did not impact the team’s performance, however, with the team winning 3 out of its 4 games against high ranked teams.

Crader said he is proud of the team’s performance.

“The goal is to play awesome,” Crader said. “And the girls played awesome.”

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Campanile

Sports

C3

?*#",%@,A#"( !""#$%&& !"#$%& Varsity: 3-2 !"#"'()*#$%"+) Paly vs. Carlmont 9/18, W, 36-14 Paly vs. Santa Clara 9/23, W, 63-13

!'(&)*+",-(. !"#$%& Varsity: 3-2 !"#"'()*#$%"+) Paly vs. Valley Christian 9/16, W, 1-0 Paly vs. Saint Francis 9/21, L, 0-3

/'0&1*2"&&(.$%&& COLE STURINO/THE CAMPANILE

The Paly football team gears up for a field goal during Thursday’s 63-13 victory against the Santa Clara Bruins. CCS Commissioner David Grissom attributes the change in day to a lack of referees. “The shortage of referees will be an ongoing issue for a while, until we’re able to recruit more and more officials,” Grissom said.

Football moved to Thursdays

!"#$%& Varsity: 11-6 !"#"'()*#$%"+) Paly vs. Marin Academy 9/18, W, 2-0

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Paly vs. Branson 9/18, L, 0-2

much stress on the system of officials. They cannot manage it. It’s too large for them.”

According to Grissom, Thursday night football games might become the new normal until the situation is resolved.

“The shortage of referees will be an ongoing issue for a while, until we’re able to recruit more and more officials,” Grissom said. “Paly will likely see more Thursday night games in the future.”

McFarland said for many players, the change to Thursday has raised concerns about the team dynamic.

“Our team is really tight, and we love hanging out after games on Fridays to celebrate our wins,” McFarland said. “But because the past few games have been on a Thursday, we can’t really celebrate as hard as before because we all have school the next day.”

McFarland said a big part of the change in energy is the lack of fans in the bleachers.

“Not a lot of people come to the Thursday games, which is understandable,” McFarland said. “I definitely see there’s a lot less hype about football games on Thursdays.”

Paly vs. Mountain View 9/22, L, 1-3

Lauren Chung Sports Editor

The bright beam of the Friday night lights, the roar of the crowd and the Paly fight song are all part of what makes Friday night football games special to senior Sawyer McFarland. But a shortage of referees means that Paly’s last two home games have been played on a Thursday night instead.

Due to a shortage of referees in the Central Coast Section on Friday nights, many schools, including Paly, have had to change their games to Thursdays, according to CCS Commissioner David Grissom.

“The lack of officials has been an issue we have been seeing for a while,” Grissom said.

“Now, with the pandemic, we’ve got even less people because many are concerned for their health, as most of our officials are in their 50s or 60s.”

Grissom said the culture of Friday night lights adds to the stress of needed referees.

Many high schools, such as Mountain View High School and Los Altos High School, in addition to Paly, have recently installed lights on their football field, allowing games to be played at night. However, this adds to the demand of referees on Friday nights.

“Everyone wants to play games on Friday nights — it’s more fun under the bright lights, school spirit goes up — there’s a ton of reasons,” Grissom said. “But the reality is, there is too

Paly vs. Gunn 9/21, W, 3-1

However, McFarland says this doesn’t change his attitude and approach to the game.

“The change in day doesn’t really matter to me,” McFarland said. “Football is football whether there’s a crowd or not. I’m staying focused on doing whatever I need to do to help my team win.”

For many students like junior Cameron Toland, the change in day impacts the atmosphere and culture of the games.

“Ever since I was a freshman, I’ve really enjoyed going to Friday night football games mostly because they were on Fridays,” Toland said. “The energy is just so good on a Friday night — you’re not worried about school or homework the next day. I can’t say it’s quite the same with football games on Thursdays.”

However, cheerleader Dani Santos said it is enjoyable to watch the game from the stands with her friends regardless of the day.

“We usually don’t have to cheer at Thursday night games, so I get to sit with my friends which is really nice,” Santos said. “It’s definitely a much different perspective than when I’m cheering.”

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Lowell Invitational 9/11, W

Featuring a strong performance from four individuals, both the Paly boys and girls cross country teams had top-5 finishes at the first Santa Clara Valley Athletic League meet this season.

The boys varsity team won the meet, with sophomore Grant Morgenfeld and junior Eion O’Connell leading the team. The two runners placed second and third in the meet, respectively.

Meanwhile, the girls varsity team placed

Sophomore Grant Morgenfeld smiles after a long practice. Team members regularly run 5-6 miles.

fifth. They were led by juniors Elizabeth Fetter, who placed second, and Hillary Studdert, who placed fifth.

“On the men’s side we have a lot of depth, and on the women’s we have some strong returners along with a pretty big group of new freshmen and sophomores,” Fetter said.

Cross country runner Diego Diaz said the boys team fosters a strong competitive spirit.

“The atmosphere at practice is great right now. We have a lot of enthusiastic freshmen and sophomores who I think can really contribute to the team,” he said. “Sophomore Grant Morgenfeld has been a great addition to the team as both a runner and a teammate. He is going to be a really great asset to the team.”

Head coach Michael Davidson said the team certainly has a common objective.

“It’s always kind of the same goal, to do well in our league meet, do well in our section and qualify as many kids as possible to the state meet,” Davidson said.

And Diaz said the team expects to perform well this year.

“We have a very good chance of making states this year — probably the best chance we have had in the past few years,” Diaz said.

“Our team is ready right now, and we have a really deep team. Our varsity is top-notch right now, and we have a lot of hard-working kids.”

Paly vs. Gunn 9/21, L, 1-2 Paly vs. Mountain View 9/22, W, 2-1

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Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Campanile

Science & Tech

Students critique new iPhone 13 Aidan Seto

Senior Staff Writer

CHARLOTTE HALLENBECK/THE CAMPANILE

A customer shops for clothes at Blue Bin Vintage, a popular consignment clothing store in Palo Alto. Industry practices that harm the environment have made consumers more conscious and favor sustainable clothes shopping, including second-hand solutions. “There’s so much waste in the fashion and luxury industry when people are either throwing things out or discarding them in ways that there wasn’t an actual outlet for,” RealReal owner Caitlyn Reyes said.

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ne week after moving from Sweden to California, junior like land, plants, soil, energy, water are carefully used,” Hadzic and Paly ECO president Lea Hadzic walked out of said. “Also (making sure) we source renewable energy –– wind her house and was greeted by a blazing, orange sun and and solar –– at every stage. At the end of the life cycle of a prodthe smell of campfires. This moment was the first time she had uct, it’s important to maximize the way you recycle and reuse so experienced wildfires within 100 miles of her home, let alone an it becomes more sustainable.” entire season of them.

Fast fashion, though, is characterized by the mass production The bad air quality, coupled with having to stay inside for her of affordable, low quality, disposable clothing. safety, compelled Hadzic to do more research on climate change “With fast fashion, there is both the environmental and social and the environment. Since this moment last year, she has taken economic aspect,” Hadzic said. “Fast fashion uses a method of initiative to help the environment by leading Paly’s only environrapidly producing clothing in very high volumes. Producers are mental club and changing her shopping habits. trying to reach the demands of consumer patterns all over the “I’ve tried to cut back on online shopping, and I try to buy world, which often leads to overproduction. It is also known for things in-store and recycled materials instead,” Hadzic said. “I replicating trends with the use of low quality materials to be at a want to emphasize the importance of individual action and how price that’s more accessible.” much of an impact it actually can have.”

Fast fashion is popular and continues to thrive in the fashion Fashion industry profits grew steadily in industry because of its accessible prices. But Hadzic said con2019 at a rate of 4%, according to the sumers actually save money by purchasing more sustainable McKinsey Global Fashion Index. clothing.

Although this growth is celebrated “The initial acquisition cost is definitely lower with within the industry, every aspect fast fashion,” Hadzic said. “But if you think about it, of fashion takes a toll on the you can’t use the item for very long, so you throw it Earth, AP Environmental out and buy a new item. Overtime, if you buy someScience teacher Alicia Szething that is more sustainable, better quality, you bert said. get to keep it over a much longer period of time.”

“There’s a lot of pollution Hadzic said it is important shoppers become at every step –– the producmore aware of their shopping habits through ing, the making and finally research to minimize their impact on the environyou purchasing it,” she said. ment. of greenhouse gas emisOne way clothing creates “Cut back on online shopping. Skip the expepollution is through the use dited delivery at checkout. Go to your local stores sions in the United States of plastics in fabric production. instead of online,” Hadzic said. “And if you’re shopcome from transportation These plastics are broken down ping online, only purchase US produced items because throughout the production process transportation is a big part of it.” and form into microplastics.

Another solution to minimizing shopping’s impact on “Microplastics are problematic bethe environment is by purchasing second hand items. The Realcause they’re present in our bloodstream, our Real in downtown Palo Alto is a consignment store first founded water, our food systems and our soils,” Szebert said. “Plastics are online 10 years ago. It now has 18 retail locations across the an unnatural substance that are going to affect how our organs country and its manager, Caitlyn Reyes, attributes the company’s function. The body of any animal that is eating plastic doesn’t growth to the push for environmentalism. know how to process it because it’s an unnatural substance, so it “I think there’s a couple different reasons now for why people doesn’t pass through the system naturally.” are shopping resale and a big portion of that is people’s enviIn addition to microplastics, the fashion industry’s use of ronmental insights, the fact that they’re more aware of (climate chemicals to create properties such as flame retardancy or wrinkle change) as far as sustainability goes and people’s care for the resistance harms the environment by polluting water sources. environment,” Reyes said.

“Dyes and chemicals stay in the fabric and get washed into This awareness has ultimately led to a business model where the environment through many iterations of the manufacturing consignment –– using a third-party to sell items –– is more comprocess,” Szebert said. “Also, while you are doing laundry, you are mon, especially online. Within this market, clothwashing them out into natural systems, which is damaging ing can be used somewhere else, especially if and problematic.” these items still hold their value, instead of While the industry is polluting the atmosphere and being thrown away completely. water, it also creates an abundance of waste which piles “People are recycling these items up in landfills. In 2018, the United States produced 17 because they are giving these goods a million tons of textile waste, according to the Envisecond life to live, and it’ll continue ronmental Protection Agency. on,” Reyes said. “There’s so much waste “The (industry is) doing all these interesting things in the fashion and luxury industry million tons of textile waste which are creating some cool types of fabrics, but if it’s when people are either throwing things produced in the United an unnatural product and isn’t being recycled, it’s endout or discarding them in ways that States in 2018 ing up in landfills and won’t biodegrade versus natural there wasn’t an actual outlet for, but now substances,” Szebert said. we’re giving a new life to these goods.”

With the rise of online shopping’s popularity, the transOne of The RealReal’s main values is portation of clothing is becoming more of a problem too, Hadzic sustainability, Reyes said. On top of providing a said. Transportation accounts for 29% of the United States’ service where consumers can purchase clothing while being envigreenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA, making it the ronmentally conscious, it has also made a promise to be sustainprimary source of these emissions. able in its operations.

“Online shopping has the reputation of being –– and it is –– “We were one of the first to go carbon neutral and hold to the an easy, hassle-free shopping experience,” Hadzic said. “But it’s goal of making sure our company is sustainable,” Reyes said. “We really taking a toll on the environment because the transportation hold to this promise in more than just recycling of luxury goods, aspect is creating a disproportionate amount of emissions and has but as far as our packaging and things go –– making sure our a huge impact on the environment.” materials are recyclable and the dustbags that we package in.”

With the push to minimize the fashion industry’s negative Purchasing clothing and fashion items from stores like The impact on the environment, sustainable clothing has become a RealReal is a step in the right direction to minimize your shopcommon topic of conversation. ping habits impact on the environment, Reyes said.

“Sustainability focuses on improving all the stages of a prodShe said, “Even if you’re getting started because of wanting uct’s life cycle from making the design to producing the actual to get into luxury goods or even just getting rid of some things, product to the transportation, storage and marketing –– every(consigning and buying second hand) are great ways to not be thing till the final sale of the product,” Hadzic said. wasteful and be more mindful about how you shop.”

Hadzic also said when producing sustainable fashion, companies should be aware of the resources used to make the final Charlotte Hallenbeck product, especially if they’re natural and finite.

Business Manager “It’s really important that it’s efficient and natural resources

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16.9

Every year, senior Rachel Salinas awaits the official iPhone reveal, anticipating possible new features Apple might implement.

This year is no exception, as she closely followed updates on Apple’s new iPhone 13, released on Sept. 24.

Salinas owns an iPhone 12 mini from the iPhone’s previous series, released almost a year ago.

While she said it is a great piece of technology, it has its downsides, and many iPhone owners like Salinas are looking for an upgrade.

For over a decade, tech giant Apple has dominated the smartphone market, especially in the United States. Their innovative designs and high-tech features placed the iPhone at the forefront of the smartphone industry.

“Phones are a major part of many student’s lives, so a lot of them definitely pay attention to the specifications of the new phones,” senior Thea Enache said.

Apple’s iPhone 13 boasts a faster chip, better battery life, faster display refresh rate, more camera capabilities and the option for a whopping one terabyte of storage.

The price ranges from $700 to $1,600, depending on if a customer opts for the Regular, Mini, Pro, Pro Max and also varies depending on the amount of storage built into the phone.

Salinas said the improved battery life is probably the most alluring addition in the new model.

“The battery makes the iPhone 13 last 2.5 hours longer than the 12, which is quite a bit,” Salinas said. “I use my phone a lot, and my iPhone 12 mini tends to run out of battery pretty quickly.”

As usual, Apple’s upgrades to the camera also help draw attention from customers, junior Max Schrage said.

“A revamped and more detailed camera will allow for more convenient and highquality photos, which a lot of people value in a phone,” Schrage said.

And the one terabyte of storage in the Pro model has never been seen before in an iPhone.

Enache said she thinks this feature is not worth the extra price, as most students will not need that much storage.

“I feel like they are kind of overdoing themselves; no applications or other things take up that much space on a phone,” Enache said. “I have 64 gigabytes of storage and have never had a problem with storage space.”

Schrage said the other improvements are handy and are a nice addition, but there is nothing quite special enough about the iPhone 13 that warrants the hefty price tag.

“It seems like they just made minor upgrades to the previous models, such as improving the screen and camera,” Schrage said. “I wouldn’t buy it unless my phone had issues or I just had extra money lying around to spend.”

Enache said she wouldn’t buy the iPhone 13.

“Even if you need a replacement phone, nothing about the iPhone 13 is worth paying hundreds of dollars more than buying a cheaper iPhone 11 or 12, which is essentially the same thing anyway,” Enache said.

Even so, some people will still purchase the iPhone 13 for the upgrades it provides.

For these people, Schrage said buying on release may not be the best option.

“I think most people should wait until they sell for a lesser price in a few months, as iPhones are overpriced when they first come out for relatively minuscule improvements,” Schrage said.

Salinas agrees.

“Nothing seems to be too different from the iPhone 12, so it would just be a waste of money for most people,” Salinas said.

“People who have an older phone can afford to buy it for a few upgrades, but overall it’s just not the revolutionary phone that would warrant paying such a high price.”

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