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The Campanile

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

Palo Alto Senior High School

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PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44

Since 1918

Vol. XCIV, No. 2

50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 • http://voice.paly.net/campanile

Friday, October 28, 2011

Classes show their colors, battle for Spirit Week title Students display their school pride during week of October 24

New web program 31 seniors named National Merit Semifinalists helps staff evaluate 114 total receive recognition for exceptional PSAT scores class assignments

By Alvin Kim Staff Writer

By Hannah Totte Editor-in-Chief

Palo Alto High School Principal Phil Winston introduced a new web program to department heads, counselors, the administration and members of the Education Council Board that is designed to help evaluate the amount and validity of assignments. Winston hopes that this application, Rjenda, will encourage a schoolwide conversation about the pressures, amount and effectiveness of homework, projects and other assignments at Paly.

Rjenda’s mission, according to its website, is to “manage student workload and stress.” The site enables teachers to input every assignment they assign online, and then syncs the information it receives to create a calendar showing the amount of schoolwork by due date per student. Teachers and administrators can then analyze this information, displayed in a calendar form, and gage how much work students have on any given day, week or month.

“We need to look at, as a community, the quality of the assignments that our students do, the projects, the timing of it, and how much,” Winston said. “[Determine] quantity, quality, and then go from there.”

Rjenda’s features also include the ability to input students’ extracurricular activities, and allows a student to do a time-demand analysis, where they can observe what their teacher’s opinion is regarding the time a student should allot for a particular assignment.

“You can put in students’ activities, field trips, things that they had going on outside of school, and [staff] could see on a calendar where the pressure systems [are],” English teacher Julia Taylor said.

With students expressing concern about the amount of homework they are expected to complete over certain time periods, Winston decided that an assessment of how effective and timely assignments are is necessary.

After receiving the results of the pilot bell schedule survey last year, the administration was able to use the information the surveys elicited to consider the time students spent on homework.

“The pilot bell schedule last year gave us some tremendous insight as to what students’ lives really look like,” Winston said. “Often times we make assumptions

See HOMEWORK, Page A3

31 students from the Palo Alto High School class of 2012 were chosen as National Merit Semifinalists as a result of the excellent scores they obtained in the PSAT taken last year, according to Ann Deggelman, co-coordinator of the Teacher Advisor program.

Deggelman said that the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) commended 83 other seniors for also obtaining high PSAT scores.

Deggelman said that NMSC chooses 16,000 students nationwide to continue in the National Merit Scholarship competition as Semifinalists.

California students require an index score of 221 or above to qualify for the competition. There are different required index scores for each state.

Students who were commended by NMSC received lower scores on the PSAT than those who were named Semifinalists, Deggelman said.

“National Merit Commended Scholars are the students that achieved higher than a 202 index score, but less than the 221, so they do not continue on in the competition, but do receive recognition as a Commended Scholar,” Deggelman said.

According to Deggelman, last year there were only 27 Semifinalists compared to this year’s 31, and last year there were only 48 students commended compared to this year’s 83. The total number of students both commended and awarded as Semifinalists this year makes up almost 25 percent of the class, which consists of 473 students.

Kevin Skelly, the Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent, said he did not know the exact reason for the increase in the overall amount of students being honored, but he was happy about the students’ success.

“I think it’s wonderful that we have so many students [who received recognition],” Skelly said.

“We have so many extraordinary students here in Palo Alto.”

The NMSC website also says that students who are named Semifinalists are chosen on a state representational basis. To advance to become a Finalist, students need to have a record of high academic performance and also undergo an application process that includes a recommenda-

See PSAT, Page A3

Marijuana dispensaries placed on Palo Alto 2012 ballot

Community to vote on initiative regarding legal purchase of medical marijuana

By Yasna Haghdoost Staff Writer

The City Council voted on Oct. 4 to put an ordinance that would legalize medical marijuana dispensaries in Palo Alto on the Nov. 2012 ballot.

Last June, Thomas Gale Moore, former Ronald Reagan adviser and senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institute sponsored a petition with the help of his wife in order to submit an initiative that would include three marijuana dispensaries in different locations in Palo Alto.

If passed, the ordinance would allow terminally ill individuals with a medical prescription to legally purchase marijuana from said dispensaries.

However, the initiative does have restrictions regarding time and place: dispensaries would not be allowed near schools, day care centers, libraries or residential zones

and would operate only from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Moore supports marijuana legalization, seeing as tobacco and alcohol are already permissible.

“Prohibition doesn’t work and leads to violence,” Moore said. “Marijuana is less harmful than either tobacco or alcohol.”

4,859 signatures on the petition were validated, which exceeded the 4,356-signature minimum required for a ballot initiative.

The Council had the option of adopting the initiative, proposing changes or placing it on the ballot.

After hearing ten testimonies from speakers who supported the ordinance, the Council unanimously decided to put the initiative on the ballot, although Vice Mayor Yiaway Yeh and Councilwoman Gail Price were absent. Moore however, criticizes the council’s decision to put the initiative on the ballot.

“It would have been cheaper to just adopt the initiative,” Moore said. “The council members did not have the courage to approve the licensing of medical marijuana.”

While the state of California legalized medical marijuana dispensaries under Proposition 215 in 1996, many cities responded by banning them. In 1997, Palo Alto passed

an ordinance that made marijuana illegal within its zoning districts, effectively meaning the entire city.

However, the petitioners argue that medical marijuana is not only a humane sedative for terminally ill patients, but also a source of revenue which would include $10,000

See MARIJUANA, Page A3

Traditional Rube Goldberg physics project in revision for future Paly junior classes

By Bailey Cassidy Features Editor

COURTESY OF JUSTIN WANG

Senior Fede Clerici examines his Rube Goldberg project. Some students have complained that the project is a source of stress.

INSIDE News...................................A1-A3 Opinion..........................A4-A8 Spotlight...................................A6-A7 Sports..............................A9-A11 Lifestyles...................................B1 Features.............................B2-B8 A&E...............................B9-B14

The Palo Alto High School Science Department will revise the traditional Rube Goldberg project for this year’s physics curriculum in an effort to ameliorate student stress.

“I wouldn’t say the project has been cancelled,” physics teacher Josh Bloom said. “Instead, we have been looking at how to revise it.”

Students must build a machine that would perform energy transforma-

tions in order to ultimately complete a task. It has been part of Paly’s physics curriculum for many years.

“The Rube Goldberg project was a commitment and took a ton of effort,” senior Christina Christiansen said. “Scheduling time for everyone to get together at once was complicated.

It was stressful in too many ways. ” Even students who have not done this project feel it would be stressful.

“I saw a group last year who took sledgehammers

and promptly destroyed their project after they got it back,” current physics student Brian Chen said.

“Creating such a machine sounds daunting, no matter what the teachers say.”

Bloom feels the project can be a beneficial learning experience until it becomes too stressful, and the experience is no longer positive.

“I think any exercise that challenges you to think, be creative and apply your understanding is a good thing,” Bloom said. “Designing and building Ru-

be Goldberg machines provides a unique challenge to be creative and make something really fun. However, building such a machine takes time and patience and effort to get it working properly. If that is so much of a demand on students that the project is no longer enjoyable to do, then that is not a good thing.”

Bloom adds that the Science Department is discussing ways to amend the assignment.

“We have been discussing doing a version of the

project that requires less time and construction work outside of the classroom, but still encourages the thinking, creativity and analysis of the original version,” Bloom said.

Bloom is happy to consider revising the project in order to better serve his students.

“It is clear that the original project was a source of stress for many students,” Bloom said. “I am happy to consider revising the project so that it is less stressful for students.”

NEWS

PASA GOES TO SINGAPORE

COURTESY OF BYRON SANBORN

Local Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics swimmers will travel to Singapore this October till November for 2011 FINA World Cup PAGE A2

ANDREW_D_HURLEY/CREATIVE COMMONS

OPINION

LOGAN MENDENHALL/CAMPANILE

ADAM MANSOUR/CAMPANILE

RAISE YOUR VOICE

DRIVING SCHOOLED

A&E

SPORTS

Musicians should use their influence to sing with purpose.

Students share driving school experiences, comparing their thoughts.

Kirah Ingram finds out what it takes to play water polo.

PAGE A5

WHOA-PO PAGE B13

PAGE A9

NEWS

A2 • October 28, 2011

NewsBriefs

Recent report shows increase in sexual assaults at Stanford Stanford University released the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report for 2011 on Sept. 27, which stated that “sexual crimes increased significantly from 2009 to 2010,” according to The Stanford Daily.

Featured in the report is the university’s sexual assault policy. It states that no sexual assault of any manner is tolerated by the university, including conduct by university students off campus.

“The [Annual Security and Fire Safety Report] describes “forcible sexual offenses” as “any sexual act directed against another person, forcibly or against that person’s will,” according to The Stanford Daily.

Since 2008 and 2009 the number of cases reported has more than doubled. In both 2008 and 2009, ten cases were reported each year. Last year, 21 sexual assault cases were reported.

According to The Stanford Daily article, forcible rape also saw an increase in cases reports in 2010 from 2009.

There were 13 reports in 2010 compared to the five reported in 2009. Many of the assaults occurred in the student residences.

The university encourages students to seek help postassault by offering a number of outlets for students to seek guidance. In addition, Stanford provides sexual assault prevention programs.

—Chayla Cummings

Senior Staff Writer

Town & Country donates sales to breast cancer research On Monday Oct. 10, Palo Alto’s Town and Country Village donated ten percent of sales to the (BBC) organization in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Town and Country Village participated in this event in 2008 and decided that they wanted to do it again this year. All stores in Town and Country Village will donate ten percent of the money to the BCC which is a San Francisco based organization that provides help to recently diagnosed breast cancer patients.

Many students spend money at Town and Country Village during the week and most likely supported the charity on Monday without even knowing it.

“I probably spend around three to ten dollars a week at Town and Country,” junior Noam Hurwitz said.

Many of the students that had recently found out about Town and Country Village’s efforts were glad that the shopping center was giving back.

“I think that it is a laudable effort on the part of Town and Country,” junior Jacob Sinton said. “It is so heartwarming to see such a tremendous gesture of care, love and giving back right here in our community.”

Both Town and Country customers and employees were happy with the day’s charity. Though the exact amount of money raised has not yet been released, Town and Country employees said that they made a significant amount of money was made.

—Ben Cook

Staff Writer

Teresa Noyola named candidate for Class Award Teresa Noyola, Paly class of 2008 graduate and Stanford senior, is a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School (CLASS) Award, an award given annually that acknowledges student-athletes contributions to their team, community and school.

Noyola was consistently a standout player throughout her soccer career at Paly. During her senior Paly soccer season (2007-2008), she scored eighteen goals and had seven assists.

“I’ve never seen a female soccer player like her,” former Paly Varsity Coach Ernesto Cruz said. “I think she’s going to be one of the most famous players in the world.”

Teresa’s love for the game pushed her to reach the highest level of soccer.

“The field is where I can be my most uninhibited self. I love the moments spent with teammates, and the great moments of big games,” Noyola said.

Between offers from University of North Carolina, Duke University, Stanford University and University of California at Los Angeles, Noyola decided to play for Stanford University. Noyola qualified alongside nine other finalists for the 2011 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Even though it is Noyola’s last year playing for Stanford, she plans to continue playing soccer.

“I would like to play professional soccer, wherever the opportunity arises,” Noyola said. “Also, I hope to forge a starting spot on the Mexican National Team, hopefully for the upcoming Olympics and beyond.”

The winner of the Lowe’s CLASS Award will be chosen by fan vote, and will be announced on Nov. 14. Fans can vote at www.seniorCLASSaward.com.

—Jordan Smith

Staff Writer

PASA to participate in World Cup in November

Aquatics team travels to Singapore to participate in swim competition

By Eric Wang Staff Writer

The Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics team is traveling to Singapore in November to compete in the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) World Cup. Participants will be missing a week of school, Oct. 31 and ending on Nov. 6.

The actual competition will take place on Nov. 4 and Nov. 5. A total of thirteen swimmers will make the trip.

Paly students attending the meet include seniors Byron Sanborn and Jasmine Tosky, along with sophomores Andrew Liang and Willy Lee. Sanborn is excited to go on the trip, as he had a similar experience last year in Berlin and Moscow.

“I missed a week of last year to go to the Berlin and Moscow stops and it was one of the best trips of my life, so this is kind of a no-brainer for me,” Sanborn said. “I’ve already missed a lot of school for college trips this year but it’ll still be worth it.”

PASA head coach Tony Batis explained that the main reason that the team attends these World Cup trips is international swimming experience.

“We went to Berlin and Moscow last year for this same reason, and I am more confident in their abilities this time around,” Batis said. “It’s not a scored competition, but it will help prepare us for our Winter National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.”

Some students, like Paly junior Eren Kiris, opted to stay in Palo Alto to avoid missing class.

The football team will take on Mountain View High School at Paly for the Homecoming game.

Oct. 29: Homecoming

Homecoming will take place in the big gym at 7:30 p.m. The theme is semi-formal white-out.

Nov. 5: SAT

The SAT will take place at Henry M. Gunn High School. Testing begins at 8 a.m.

Nov. 12: Stanford Football

Stanford plays Oregon in a highly anticipated game. Both are ranked in the top 10 in BCS.

Nov. 18: Turkey Trot

Students and faculty celebrate the annual Thanksgiving fall feast.

Nov. 23-25: Holiday

Paly will enjoy a five day weekend in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday.

“It’s mostly the people who paid and have time to go, because it involves missing one week of school,” Kiris said.

To qualify for the World Cup trip, students attended the Summer Junior Nationals.

“It’s a summer meet, basically the highest level 18-and-under meet in the country,” Sanborn said. “Beyond that is Summer Nationals at which people of all ages compete, including Olympians.”

A few PASA swimmers were also hand-picked

by Batis to make the trip, as exceptions.

FINA is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee for administrating competition in aquatic sports.

They hold a world tour of meets every year in various locations such as Dubai, Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, Singapore, Stockholm and Berlin.

The meet is for professional swimmers and there are monetary prizes for the top three places as well as for high points.

“It’s $1,500 for first, $1,000 for second, and $500 for third in every event, and high point wins $100,000 for accumulated points from all the stops,” Sanborn said. “We just go to Singapore to experience international swimming, because National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules say that even if we were to place we can’t accept money.”

The PASA team will also be traveling to Atlanta, Georgia to compete in another tournament, the Winter National Championships on December 1.

COURTESY OF BYRON SANBORN

Byron Sanborn will swim in the Federation Internationale de Natation World Cup next week.

Paly debate team begins year with tournament victories Debate looks to make many improvements in the upcoming season

By Jacob Zenger and Ben Hawthorne Staff Writers

Palo Alto High School’s debate team recently had a pair of debaters go undefeated at the Coast Forensics League tournament last week, won a “bid” to the Tournament of Champions at the St. Marks tournament last weekend, won the Harker tournament novice division and sent two debaters to double octafinals at the Yale tournament.

“This has been a great start to the year,” Jenny Savage, Paly’s speech and debate coach said. It’s only halfway through October, and we have a wild card and a bid.”

A “wild card” refers to a debater who went undefeated, and a “bid” refers to a certificate that a debater can get by reaching a certain round at a number of tournaments around the country.

Obtaining two bids allows one to attend the Tournament of Champions, the debate national championships.

Last weekend, sophomore Travis Chen got a bid by reaching the octafinal, or elimination round before quarterfinal, round at the St. Marks Invitational in Dallas, Texas.

“I’m happy about getting a bid, I didn’t really expect it,” Chen said.

St. Marks is considered a “circuit” tournament since it features debaters from around the nation. It is considered by many to be one of

the hardest tournaments in the nation.

“Travis will certainly get another bid,” Savage said. “He is capable of getting a bid at any tournament.

He is an extremely adaptable debater.”

Paly debate also performed well at the Coast Forensics League (CFL) tournament. CFL is a smaller tournament, because it only features debaters from around the Bay Area. Seniors Nassim Fedel and Gregory Dunn went undefeated in Public Forum debate, which is a style of debate where debaters compete in pairs.

Paly added its public forum team last year.

“I think we got some pretty good results seeing as the team is really new,” Dunn said. “The strong results validate the amount of work we did. It shows that Paly’s public forum team is a force to be contended with.”

At the Harker tournament in San Jose, junior Jared Filseth and sophomore Anish Haris won the tournament in the novice division. They both made it to the final round, and since tournament rules prevented two debaters from the same school from debating each other, they both won. Filseth also received the second speaker award, meaning he was the second most persuasive debater there.

“Paly’s debate team has many extremely good debaters,” Haris said. “Our coaches have been very

LOGAN MENDENHALL/THE CAMPANILE

The Paly debate team practices their arguments in preparation for upcoming tournaments and competitions. The team looks to improve every week. helpful and have been helping us prepare and get better at debating.

Everyone is supportive of everyone else on the team, which makes the team stronger. The season will most likely be really good for Paly Debate.”

Junior Allen Zheng also did well at Harker, reaching double-octafinals in varsity.

“We got a chance to test the waters, so to speak, and figured out where we are in comparison to the competition,” Zheng said.

However, there were a few issues Zheng felt could have been fixed.

“We definitely should have done more preparation, since that is a huge factor in performance,”

Zheng said. “If you look at all of the biggest debate schools, part of the reason why they are so successful is the amount of preparation they have.”

The team also succeeded at the Yale tournament. Senior Alex Carter and sophomore Travis Chen reached the double-octafinals round in varsity, which is the round that comes before octafinals. According to Savage, Carter also took fifth place in varsity.

Sophomore Sidhanth Venkatasubramaniam also did well at the tournament, reaching elimination rounds as well.

“All three of our debaters got to elimination rounds, you can’t ask for more than that,” Savage said.

Staff Development Day held to encourage collaboration among teachers

By Ben Hawthorne Staff Writer

Palo Alto High School teachers attended a Staff Development Day on Oct. 17 to hold team building activities and get help with altering lesson plans to next year’s calendar. According to principal Phil Winston, the event was “a success.”

“There [were] team building activities in the morning, then the department heads [did] department presentations and then

UpcomingEvents

Oct. 28: Homecoming Game

The Campanile

there [were] collaboration and presentations centered around WASC in departments,” Winston said.

WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) is a group that accredits West Coast colleges.

The meeting focused mostly on better use of resources and time, although much of it focused on training teachers to address health issues. “[We] trained in how to respond to medical emer-

ASB

gencies — diabetic, seizure, using an epi pen — Focus on Success and Avid presentation, what resources staff will need, [and] sharing out summer professional development,” Winston said.

Many staff members attended teaching seminars over the summer, and some of the focuses of the meeting was sharing tips learned at these seminars. The main focus of the meeting was to help teachers adopt their

Updates

lesson plans for next year, when school will start earlier and finals will occur before winter break. “[The day was] centered around the calendar for next year, since teachers need time to figure out how to adjust their lesson plans and such to the new schedule,” Winston said.

Overall staff reaction was positive.

“The Staff Development Day was fine. We reviewed the stuff we had to review

regarding health, which was useful,” history teacher Jack Bungarden said.

Berkson said the timing of the day had no relation to Columbus Day. “There are only so many days off per year, and different holidays affect different numbers groups more than others, such as the Jewish holidays that affect [our] Jewish population here at Paly, so we had to make a trade-off,” Berkson said.

School Board

The Associated Student Body (ASB) decided to make this year’s Homecoming Dance free after a unanimous vote. The dance is on Oct. 29 at 7:00 p.m., and each grade will be given spirit points for attendance.

ASB President Uma Veerappan says she is also planning new ASB committees this year.

“We’re going to take a vote on which committees we’d like to start up,” Veerappan said. “Each committee will be in charge of a different large task. [They are] going to have to do with our goal of increasing ASB transparency and having more of a role on campus.”

ASB’s goals this year are increasing ASB transparency and interactions within the student body. Veerappan said that groups like the fundraising committee will foster the latter goal, while ASB’s new social media networks will satisfy the first.

“Some of the committees would include a fundraising committee, a renovation committee, a prom subsidies committee, a ‘swag’ committee, and possibly a communications committee,” Veerappan said.

ASB is also introducing the ASB Post, a student-run publication that aims to “increase student awareness about ASB activities,” according to Veerappan.

ASB will also be using SurveyMonkey, an online questionnaire service, in order to get direct student input on the needs of the student body.

Matt Hall, the new ASB advisor, said that ASB has already started planning the second semester dance. They are considering either the traditional Winter Formal or a Sadie Hawkins dance.

On Oct. 18 the School Board met to discuss a subject brought up in previous meetings. Because elementary school enrollment has been steadily increasing over recent years, the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) discussed purchasing the land at 525 San Antonio Road.

The 2.6 acres of land, combined with adjacent property that is already owned by the district, would total 7.6 acres, and would be enough land to build a new elementary school to accommodate the recent increase in student body size, should the district decide to use it for that.

“To have this much land become available, all in one place and adjacent to land we already own, is remarkable and very exciting,” Board President Melissa Baten-Caswell said in an interview last month with Palo Alto Patch.

After the Oct. 18 closed session, the School Board is still planning to purchase the land. No final decisions have been announced, but according to the Palo Alto Online, the district is “on track” to buy the land.

“At this point it appears we're moving forward," Superintendent Kevin Skelly said to Palo Alto Online. “Until [the deal] closes, things can happen, but we're fairly confident it will close.”

Meanwhile, SomerHill Homes has been eyeing the land, intending to use it to build a “ten-home development,” according to the Palo Alto Online.

The School Board is still discussing whether or not they will purchase the land, and further decisions will be made at their next meeting on Oct. 25.

—Elena Pinsker

Technology Editor

—Elena Pinsker Technology Editor

NEWS

The Campanile

October 28, 2011 • A3

Dream Act offers financial aid for undocumented students

Governor Jerry Brown signs legislation allowing immigrants to attend college

By Annabel Snow Editor-in-Chief

On Oct. 8, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the second half of a two-part law referred to as the “Dream Act,” giving illegal immigrant college students the opportunity to access financial aid funded by the state.

According to a recent article published by Yahoo!

News, only New Mexico and Texas allow illegal immigrants this right. The article also noted that the measure caused controversy over whether public funds should be used to help illegal immigrants, especially during a time when California is facing large budget cuts in education and significant tuition increases at colleges and universities.

“I hope that if nothing else this increases awareness among the population that there is aid available, and therefore [undocumented students] would come and ask how to pursue it,” Palo Alto High School college adviser Sandra Cernobori said.

Though the act has caused controversy throughout California, Cernobori noted a possible positive aspect of it, considering the illegal immigrants who may have a disadvantage academically.

“This really helps students who are not academically prepared enough to go to one of these schools, and typically they are schools that have lots of money and are very selective,” Cernobori said.

While aid and California grants can now be used at both public and private schools, some private schools in the state have previously allowed undocumented students to attend their institutions.

The existing issue however, according to Cernobori, is that those schools tend to be more selective and therefore may not be accessible for a large amount of undocumented students. According to Alejandro Delgadillo, the associate director of admissions at the University of California, Merced, there are approximately 25,000 illegal immigrants that graduate high school each year in California, but only about 2,000 to 3,000 of them actually consider ap-

plying to the University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) systems. However, Delgadillo hopes that the act will alter the fate of these students.

“Now a lot more of the students who are eligible for admissions are going to go ahead and apply to four year universities and know that there is a means to help them out financially,” Delgadillo said.

Prior to the signing of the act, California (Cal) grants and financial aid opportunities were offered from college systems within California. However, the students targeted for such aid had not satisfied

the requirements for such prestigious schools, resulting in a lack of disadvantaged students applying to those schools.

“The actuality of the Cal grant was that it was always intended for low income students and not enough of those students were qualified for the UC’s or CSU’s, so there was money there, it just wasn’t being allocated because not enough low income students were applying,” Delgadillo said.

The topic of these students in particular may not be as familiar to the Palo Alto community, considering the lack of undocumented students to our knowledge.

New program evaluates value of homework HOMEWORK, Continued from A1

about what your life is like as a student without checking those, and I think that this community is ready for a conversation around what your life really looks like as a student.”

As students add AP classes and create a rigorous academic schedule on top of extracurricular activities, teachers and staff are sometimes unaware of the time spent dedicated to homework.

Students who are taking three AP classes are technically experiencing a workload similar to that of a college student, according to Winston.

“If you’re a student and you’re taking three AP classes, you are essentially a full time college freshman in a high school environment,” Winston said. “What we do is we still require you to take five classes. I’m suggesting that maybe that’s something we take a look at. If you could meet your graduation requirements, your transcript, all your A-G requirements, then maybe we need to take a look at that.”

Senior Isabel Obrien, for example, is taking four AP classes this year.

“I honestly would expect and want my AP classes to be as

challenging as they are, but I often feel that the challenge is only from managing the work load, not actually from the content,” Obrien said. “Homework is definitely a stressor and is easily the number one reason for high school sleep debt. I definitely think that if teachers had a more wholistic view of their students, they’d realize that we have a ton on our plates.”

Winston’s goal for Rjenda includes this concept. If teachers and staff can evaluate the student as a whole, he says, they could gain a more coherent understanding of the life and pressures of a student.

“Part of what happens in education is that people want us to be data driven,” Winston said.

“Eventually I’d like to have a conversation with students about how long it actually takes people to do their homework. Then you can start to get at stress reduction. I’m not suggesting that homework is the stressor, but unless homework is valuable, it is a stressor.”

A student advisory group could also be assembled to further expound on students’ perspectives, Winston said. Students can provide insight into the effectiveness of assignments as they determine

how prevalent they are in students’ academic goals.

“Though [in] most cases it proves to be insufficient preparation for many tests due to their higher degree of difficulty, I’m able to wrap my head around concepts that might have been ambiguous during class,” senior Aaron Bajor said.

Rjenda’s effectiveness at accurately depicting a student’s academic life will depend on the teaching staff. The program could enable teachers to view project deadlines and test dates of other departments, making it easier for teachers to see how their units develop compared to those in subjects they are not acquainted with. Since teachers are responsible for logging into Rjenda and updating the calendars with their assignments, the program will only run successfully and show viable data if every teacher uses the program.

“There are a lot of programs out there right now that help schools organize their information and details, [but] every time [teachers] get information about a new one, it’s just really hard because the entire education system moves very slowly and each program has pros and cons to it,” Taylor said.

Marijuana initiative vote approaching

“[Negative consequences may inMARIJUANA, Continued from A1 clude] violation of federal law,” Espifor a dispensary permit as well as a four nosa said. “People are using a drug that some medical experts argue is percent tax.

They point to San Jose’s similar ordi- harmful; some argue that legalizanance, which resulted $290,000 revenue tion would increase crime and other in the first month, as well as statistics harmful social factors.”

Espinosa also added that he, unshowing that one half of the nation’s oncologists would prescribe marijuana if it like Moore, has “no idea” whether the initiative will pass in the 2012 elecwere legalized.

“Those people who have conditions tion.

Moore and his wife favor the legalthat leave them in pain and find that marijuana helps reduce the pain would ization of all drugs; although they do benefit,” Moore said. “The city of Palo not use marijuana, they believe that Alto would also gain from taxing and li- the war on drugs has been a complete failure and that legalization is the censing the sale of marijuana.”

Mayor Sid Espinosa echoes Moore’s only effective way of alleviating the problems faced worldwide. sentiments regarding possible benefits.

“I am for legalizing all drugs,” “People who believe this drug is a medicine that they need to be healthy Moore said. “The war on drugs is devwould have close and regulated access,” astating Mexico and central America and it is funding the Taliban in AfEspinosa said.

Espinosa also emphasizes the abili- ghanistan. Portugal and the Netherlands have in efty to regulate fect decriminalized marijuana and its poten- “People who believe this drug drugs. Their legistial to bring is a medicine that they need to lation has not rerevenue. be healthy would have close and sulted in a significant increase in drug “The city use but has reduced would have regulated access.” crime.” some control Sid Espinosa Espinosa, on the over the local sale of this Mayor of Palo Alto other hand, does not support the legalizadrug, [which tion of other drugs, will bring] either in Palo Alto or throughout the revenue for the city,” Espinosa said.

Moore does not anticipate any nega- rest of the country.

“There is little public benefit and tive consequences from legalizing medical marijuana and remains confident the potential for great harm,” he said.

When asked whether he would that the initiative will pass in the 2012 consider using prescription medical election. “[The people of Palo Alto] have voted marijuana if it were legalized, Espiin the past to legalize marijuana total- nosa, not surprisingly, said no.

“I don’t tend to answer ‘what if’ ly, so I expect they will vote in favor,” questions as there are usually too Moore said.

Espinosa, however, believes that the many extenuating factors,” Espinolegalization of marijuana may have its sa said. “I have never used marijuana and can’t imagine that changing.” own set of setbacks.

Although efforts to implement more technologically-based programs, such as Infinite Campus and Schoology, have assisted student-to-teacher communication and understanding this school year, introducing another program that involves more training and familiarity may present problems with how quickly it will be put to use. “[As adults], we have to first understand the power of [Rjenda],” Winston said.

Because of these variables, it may take up to two years for Rjenda to be fully up and running, according to Winston.

He first introduced the program at the end of last year to the department heads, the Education Council Board and the administrators, with a basic training at the beginning of this year.

Winston hopes that by first encouraging a few staff members to use its features, interest for Rjenda will spread throughout the adults on campus.

“It’s going to take time to build up energy,” Winston said. “I don’t believe in telling people what to do, I believe in showing people the potential of something, and then letting it go from there. You get a lot more movement that way, I think.”

However, these students do exist in schools in the area, according to Cernobori.

“At present, we haven’t had any experience with [undocumented students], there are high schools not far from here that have many so we might have some,” Cernobori said.

While some have argued that the effect on college applications and tuition will be visible, according to Cernobori there may be little to no impact on students applying to college when it comes to those elements. However, controversy may still exist over the issue of whether undocumented students deserve aid while citizens may not receive any.

“Tuition and fees are determined by the institution, financial aid is going to help fund the cost of attendance, but I don’t see it making an impact,” Cernobori said. “In terms of the college application process there aren’t really any negative aspects, depending on how you come down on this issue someone would argue that an undocumented student is now getting a Cal grant while a citizen is not.”

According to Delgadillo, there is a much larger issue that the Dream Act alone cannot solve for undocumented college graduates.

“The California Dream Act doesn’t solve the overall situation for [undocumented students], in regards when they graduate from college it doesn’t allow them to actually in many cases use their education because they still lack the documentation that they need to go into careers,” Delgadillo said.

Despite the potential for an unfavorable fate due to a lack of documentation, many Californians remain positive about the opportunities these students will receive from the act. Even in the Palo Alto community, where there is a lack of undocumented students, there is help available from the administration, according to Cernobori.

“I hope that students who are undocumented are comfortable enough sharing that information with us so we can help steer them to the best of our ability,” Cernobori said.

PSAT honors 114 students PSAT, Continued from A1

Competition valuable because of the scholarships involved, but it tion process that includes a rec- also allows colleges to begin to ommendation by either the prin- note prospective students’ successes. cipal or a school official.

“It’s like any other distinc“Students fill out a comprehensive application,” Deggelman tion,” Deggelman said. “It’s said. “There [are essays] about something else that you’ve parents’ education, goals in col- achieved. Colleges look at test scores. For you to [distinguish lege.” yourself] among Commended stua large number of dents cannot con“For you to [disstudents, that’s tinue in the compesomething to say.” tition but some are tinguish yourAlong with the chosen for avail- self] among a National Merit able scholarships Scholarship comgiven by other cor- large number of petition there are porations and busi- students, that’s like the nesses. These are something to say.” programs National Achieveamong other scholment Scholarship arships awarded to Anne Deggelman Program and the those students who Teacher Advisor National Hispanic score well and reco-coordinator Recognition Proceive notice. This gram that honor can be beneficial for students, especially those who specific students.

“The National Achievement might otherwise struggle with Scholarship is for black Ameripaying for college “Corporate scholarships will can students,” Deggelman said. be awarded April 18, the $2,500 “1,600 semifinalists will comNational Merit Scholarships on pete for $2,500 awards that will May 2 and individual college be announced February 24. The sponsored scholarships on May National Hispanic Recognition 23 and July 9,” Deggelman said. program is recognition for stu“Corporate scholarships can be dents who have identified themselves as Hispanic and scored more lucrative.”

Not only is the National Merit well on their PSATs.”

Overcrowding problems arise in local animal shelters

“Empty Our Shelters” program enacted to increase adoptions of pets

By Beth Yan Staff Writer

Due to the record-breaking number of homeless pets in the Silicon Valley area, local shelters are participating in a program to push for the adoption of some of these animals.

During the first two weeks of October, the “Empty Our Shelters” program drastically lowered adoption fees, hoping to entice people to adopt from rescue centers, such as October is the American Humane Association’s Adopt-A-Dog Month. Reduced costs range anywhere from half off the normal price to a flat rate of ten dollars to a ‘name your own price’ policy.

The six shelters taking part in the program are part of a South Bay coalition that includes the San Jose Animal Care Center, Humane Society of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto Animal Services, Town Cats, Santa Clara County Animal Shelter and the Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority. Julie St. Gregory works at the San Jose Animal Care Center, the largest animal shelter on the West Coast and is a large part of the ‘Empty Our Shelters’ program.

“We all try to help each other when we’re full,” St. Gregory said. “We’re very full right now so we got together to do a big promotion to try and get animals out of all of our shelters.”

The overflow problem could be diminished greatly if potential owners adopted animals from shelters as opposed to private breeders. Such breeders are also often rather costly.

“Only about 17 percent of the population goes to a shelter to get their pet,” St. Gregory said. “All the rest of the people, if they’re getting a pet, go some place else. They go to a breeder, a pet store, or a friend so there’s only a very small per-

RIKIRATTNER/CAMPANILE

With the “Empty Our Shelters” program dogs like these will hopefully be adopted.

In local shelters there has been an overflow of homeless animals that need homes. cent of people who go to a shelter to get their pets.”

Palo Alto community member Jean Hsia works at a local cat rescue group called Peninsula CatWorks. She explained that some people prefer breeders to shelters when searching for a pet because of external characteristics and appearances.

“There are many animals being euthanized each year and yet people still go to breeders for superficial reasons, such as they just want a nice-looking dog or they want some designer animal,” Hsia said. “You could find a perfectly good dog or cat at the local shelter.”

St. Gregory agrees that many people are concerned more about pedigree rath-

er than personality. This type of attitude, though, leaves many animals homeless.

“Why do people get Coach handbags?” St. Gregory said. “It’s a designer thing. You know, ‘Oh I want a Maltese, or I want a Yorkie.’ We get those in but we don’t get those in all the time. People sometimes pick an animal based on a status they’re looking for rather than just a pet, somebody to have as a companion and to take care of.”

Junior Claire Marchon has adopted pets from local shelters in the past.

“People should adopt animals because they can bring so much joy and humans benefit a lot from them,” Marchon said.

See full story on palyvoice.com/campanile

A4 • Friday, October 28, 2011

OPINION

Editorials

Steve Jobs’ legacy will live on in Palo Alto, throughout world It seemed almost unreal Steve Jobs’ death was announced on the afternoon of Oct. 5, just a matter of hours after the announcement of the iPhone 4S and weeks after his resignation as CEO of Apple.

Jobs was a visionary and creative genius, a “poet of the computer world” as NPR called him, and a symbol of Palo Alto and the Silicon Valley. The loss of Jobs does not mean the end of Apple. The company may have lost its founder, but it in no way will lose its magic.

The Campanile did not feel that we could express all that Jobs meant to the world by ourselves, so we sent an open call for personal responses from members of the Palo Alto High School community. a

“I don’t think many people realize what Steve Jobs did for us. He came up with the idea of having fonts on computers, he is responsible for the graphical user interface that all computers have today, he invented the world’s most popular smartphone and portable music device and much more. He started Pixar, a production company that produced movies for us to enjoy and cherish as children. But on a deeper level, he shaped what we now call the “Silicon Valley” into a concentrated hub of technological advancement. Apple changed what people have come to expect from their technology. His charisma, leadership and vision changed the world for the better.”

— Albert Chen, Paly Class of 2010

“I look back and remember the technological leap that has occurred in this decade, much of which can be attributed to Apple and the innovation of Steve Jobs. Although I never personally met Steve, I feel like I lost a family friend, and clearly remember the times I used to trick-or-treat at his house, or when I saved my money I had earned from working in the yard for a summer and bought an iPod touch in 2008.”

— Henry Tucher, junior a

“I still remember reading about a brand new touch-screen phone to be released, to be called the iPhone in 5th grade. I was amazed that such a device could exist. On top of that, the touch screen technology has been improved and expanded to all types of other gadgets.

Jobs changed the world of computers too, from the first personal computer to my OSX Leopard, a computer with so many amazing features and qualities, I forget what my life was like without it. And most relevantly for me, Jobs changed the world of music. iPod’s and iTunes are the source of almost all of my music, that I can bring with me wherever, whenever.

Steve Jobs made it possible for me to communicate with my friends wherever I am, wherever they are. He made it possible not just for me to do so much, but also for the world. Thank you Steve Jobs.”

— Angela Stern, sophomore

Letters to the Editors

Communication between school, students is improving

harmless, especially because copying can be caught using Turnitin.com. Helping other students with math problems increases both students’ understanding of the subject and saves time for teachers who would otherwise be the ones explaining.

Especially recently, as students have began using the Internet more and more as a way to discuss and find information, Paly’s administration needs to add more clarification as to what exactly is considered cheating.

The Campanile wishes to stress that cheating is in no way acceptable. Integrity of intellectual property is necessary in a school environment, but when a student is at a disadvantage and is falling behind, there is no reason for him or her not to use any resources in his or her reach. There is a difference between true cheating, which does occur; to discourage any of this behavior, including copying test answers and recycling essays, teachers should strongly discourage this behavior in each class at the beginning of the school year to remind students of the consequences of cheating. The Campanile thinks many teachers have began cracking down on beneficial collaboration, though, because the line between collaborating and cheating is not clear enough.

Can students scan notes and upload them to the Internet for others to read? Can they share ideas for English essays, such as important quotes or symbols? Can they split up translating a text in a foreign language to increase understanding. Either the administration or teachers need to answer these questions and so many more.

Teacher Advisors should provide concise information earlier

The Campanile feels that the information provided to students, especially seniors, is untimely and too scattered in areas where information could preferably be more brief and to the point. Although the Teacher Advisor system has the potential to be a helpful resource, many advisory periods are spent reviewing information that is all-around helpful but often not needed to help students with the educational or college process. To make the TA system as informative yet efficient as possible, TAs should emphasize and pass out certain information, especially concerning college, sooner rather than later. Additionally, English classes should begin to focus on the college essay process in junior year rather than senior year.

First, The Campanile feels that TAs do not put enough emphasis on standardized testing and the college application process as early as they should.

It would be more beneficial if TAs began to talk about both the importance and the options for taking the SAT and ACT starting in sophomore year versus the beginning of junior year, especially considering that most students must spend at least two months taking the ACT, SAT or SAT II Subject Tests. Much of what is currently reviewed during advisory is common sense, such as the junior year advisory “Eating the Frog” time management exercise. Although this can be helpful, time management should be a freshman year topic, not a junior year topic. Instead, it would be much more helpful if, rather than shedding light on prioritizing, TAs should instead focused on standardized testing and the college process during sophomore and junior year because these are ultimately more important and immediate concerns.

Especially considering that many students begin researching or visiting schools at the beginning of their junior year, going over an average timeline of the application process and reviewing what most colleges require of students, not just the academic

requirements for California State Universities and University of California schools, will enable students to be more proactive in the college process.

A senior advisory was held in mid-October concerning Early Action and Early Decision applications. However, the information provided during this advisory was untimely and essentially pointless because Paly’s transcript request deadline for applying early was Oct. 3, the week before.

By the end of junior year, students should be informed of all the deadlines and forms necessary for applying to college, then given a checklist of these deadlines and forms at the beginning of senior year versus the lengthy packet that was handed out instead. When they are dealing with the immediate stress of applications, students do not want to have to read through a six-page packet when the same information could be provided in a more concise format. Although a multiple-page packet is definitely helpful as it provides all the information one needs to know, TAs should also provide one additional, easy-to-read page that students can take a quick glance at rather than having to pore through paragraphs for the one deadline and information about the type of packet they need to prepare in order to meet the deadline. Students want information quickly with a list that provides information all on one easy-to-read page; for example, an application checklist. Not only would a briefer format of the same information, say a one-page handout, make putting together packets much easier for students, it would also limit the amount of confusion students may stumble upon during this whole process.

The Campanile believes the TA system to be very beneficial to students, but if information were provided earlier in one’s high school career, this would limit confusion and leave students better informed during the application and standardized testing processes in junior and senior year.

Driving rule unnecessary, harmful to new drivers

I was pleased to see that one of the goals for this year’s ASB was to improve communication.

As someone who people look to for information it’s nice to have another official channel to point to when people have questions about student activities. One of the essential problems of our information age is that there is a lot of information available but it’s often hard to know where and when to look. Students should continue to use every channel available to them to stay informed about Paly activities and schedules including the large amount of information posted on Paly. net. The new Google Calendar is especially helpful as it lists everything from who has Advisory to where to watch volleyball. The printed bulletin is always available in the Library if students miss InFocus. For information about the Library and to read tidbits about a wide variety of interesting topics “Like” the Palo Alto High School Library Facebook page or follow @palylibrary on Twitter. As the Paly student body continues to grow, it’s important to stay connected and be informed about all the wild (lots of togas in the library today) and wonderful things going on at 50 Embarcadero Road.

I was pleased to see Olivia Cornfield’s article, “New driver’s license law should be abolished” (i.e. the law that drivers under 18 must have their licenses for a year before driving anyone under 20), in the previous Campanile issue.

I will take this opportunity to tell a story about myself. When I got my license around age 17, I had been driving frequently to practice for the test. For most of the year after that, I had little occasion to drive myself or anyone else because of this restriction, and there was a period of a few months during which I didn’t drive at all. When the year was almost up and I started driving again in earnest, I can tell you that I was rusty and unconfident, certainly a worse driver than I had been when I got my license. I can also tell you that, had I instead been allowed to drive friends around, I would have done so frequently, accumulating experience and becoming a much better driver; in fact, this is exactly what happened after the year was up, but meanwhile I had spent a few more weeks on the road as a novice driver. So much for keeping anyone safe.

—John Boyle, former Paly student

—Rachel Kellerman, Paly librarian

See paly.voice for full letter

News to Know

World Tweets compiled by Gavin Chan and Charlie Dulik

The biggest stories of the past four weeks

Teachers should encourage collaboration between students

Cheating has, for years, been an issue at Palo Alto High School and hundreds, if not thousands, of other schools around the world. However, the Campanile thinks that Paly’s teachers need to reclarify what cheating is, and explain it to their students to avoid confusion.

For example, although Paly’s Academic Honesty Policy does not directly include “collaborating,” some teachers consider it a form of cheating. Collaboration, to the student, includes things like sharing notes, discussing ideas for essays or projects or looking at (but not copying) work of student’s who already took a class for inspiration.

In fact, according to a 1993 study done by the UC Bekeley, “students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than” any other type of learning or studying.

Instead of leaving students to fall behind when they need extra help, teachers should encourage collaborating. If a student misses a day of school, they should be encouraged to not only copy another student’s notes, but also discuss ideas that the student missed. If, for any reason, a teacher would rather have their students struggle to try to find missed information without other students’ assistance, they should clarify this at the beginning of the year, not after a student is “caught” collaborating.

Collaboration can also push students to question and analyze their peers’ thinking. Since discussion is encouraged inside the classroom, discussion outside of the classroom should be encouraged as well. Sharing ideas for papers and essays is

The Campanile

5 3

6 2 7 1 4

1) @BarackObama: President Obama: “Today, I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of this year.”

2) @nytimes: Qaddafi Is Dead, Libyan Officials Say 3) @HuffingtonPost: At Zuccotti Park, conflict arises among occupiers #OWS 4) @WashingtonPost: #Libya’s new leaders say they will make Islamic Sharia law main source of legislation 5) @HuffingtonPost: WikiLeaks could shut down, founder says 6) @nytimes: Moderate Islamist Party Claims Victory in Tunisia 7) @AJEnglish: Scores killed as quake rocks Turkey

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Michael Abrams • Brian Benton • Kirah Ingram Annabel Snow • Hannah Totte • Lauren Wong

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Spotlight Editor

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Sports Editors

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OPINION

The Campanile

October 28, 2011 • A5

Musicians should refocus lyrics to have meaning,value 92 percent of songs about love, artists should instead use fame to positively influence others

El General is a 22-yearold rapper from Tunisia.

Last year, he was virtually unknown, even in the small world of Tunisian rap. On Nov. brianbenton 7, 2010, he in my opinion uploaded a shaky recording of one of his songs to Facebook. This was the same way he had always publicized his music, because political music like El General’s was blocked by the government at the time. Unlike his prior songs though, this one, entitled “Rais Lebled,” (roughly “Head of the State”) went viral.

The song, a four-minute long condemnation of then Tunisian ruler Ben Ali’s 30-year reign, calls out the nation’s brutal police force and the government’s alleged kleptocracy. Heavy hitting and powerful, the rap soon became the anthem for the Tunisian revolution that came just weeks after. According to some, “Rais Lebled,” may have had an equally large a role in the revolution as Mohammed Bouazizi’s self-immolation.

Music can have a huge influence on what we think and how we view the world, especially now that it is so easily accessible and transferable via social networking and Youtube. Still, few artists are taking advantage of the prodigious influence they have.

If El General, a musician with little to no following was able to have such a large role in a national revolution, there is no doubt that musicians with millions of followers worldwide could do the same.

In 2009, over 90 percent of the 174 songs that made it on to the Billboard Top 100 charts were focused on relationships and sex, according to a study conducted by the SUNY Albany Department of Psychology. These artists could have been singing to raise awareness about any number of issues facing us: the failing global economy, immigration reform,

poverty, war or protecting reproductive rights as Roe v. Wade is being chipped away at, just to name a few.

Instead, artists write about how they have a feeling that “tonight’s going to be a good night” and that “[they are] sexy and [they] know it.”

To make matters worse, hidden in the catchy rhythms of dozens of those sex-related songs are lyrics that are homophobic, misogynistic and simply offensive.

A 2003 study done by the American Psychological Association (APA) said “music has become more aggressive… over the decades,” with “metal and rap music” as the biggest offenders.

Tyler, the Creator, the quote-unquote mastermind behind hip hop collective Odd Future, has 28 million views on Youtube for his song “Yonkers.” The rapper, despite being repeatedly called out for the inclusion of gay slurs and scenes of violence against women in his lyrics, is still played worldwide. When asked about the use of slurs, the rapper said that he simply uses the word f****t “as an adjective for stupid [things]” and that his “gay fans [don’t] take it [as] offensive.”

Or do they? Sara Quin of the Canadian rock band Tegan and Sara, recently called out Tyler, the Creator for his “sickening rhetoric.” In a May blog post entitled “A Call For Change,” the openly gay singer spoke out against homophobic and misogynistic musicians “repulsive and irresponsible” lyrics, as well as the “journalists [that] defend, excuse and congratulate” them. The eloquent and powerful blog post, despite some initial press coverage, has since fallen out of the limelight, while Tyler, the Creator is only getting more of it.

Spin Magazine published a disturbing report on the recent emergence of homophobia in genres other than rap. The article included anecdotes from openly gay musicians from all realms of the music world about the hate they have received simply for writing songs about homosexuality and gay rights or just for being openly gay.

Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij came out just prior to the release of “Diplomat’s Son,” a song he wrote that

features gay subject matter. He says that he is glad he was able to come out, but wishes more musicians used music as a way to fight homophobia.

“I think that [music is] a means of combating homophobia and I think it’s an effective one,” Batmanglij said in an interview with Spin Magazine.

Music, like all art, is a form of expression. Artists should be commended for expressing themselves, not attacked.

Political statements in music are at an all time low. The aforementioned musicians’, as well as artists like Lady Gaga and Robyn’s, promotion of equal rights are a start, but so much more can be done.

Even politically themed festivals, such as Al Gore’s “Live Earth” and Bill Clinton’s “A Decade of Difference” are not raising the awareness they could be. According to the Wall Street Journal, broadcasts of Live Earth had some 19 million viewers in America, but how many of those viewers actually went out and did something because of the event?

Artists spoke about the importance of climate awareness between songs, as did Gore and the event’s other presenters, but few artists took it into their own hands to use the event as a way to debut new music promoting global climate awareness.

The lack of politics in music has been clear over the past month as thousands of Americans have taken to the streets as part of the nationwide Occupy Wall Street protests. Although the Occupy protests are not yet as large as notable past demonstrations, such as the Vietnam protests of the 1960s and 70s, no big-name musicians have stepped up to provide a song supporting the protesters.

Jeff Magnum, vocalist of the rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, performed at an event on Oct. 5 and other musicians like Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, and rappers Talib Kweli and Mos Def have since done the same, but the soundtrack to Occupy Wall Street has primarily been drum circles and acoustic guitars.

Protesters have used past songs for encouragement (the Beastie Boys’

“No sleep ‘til Brooklyn” was played as protesters gathered on the Brooklyn Bridge), but no artists have done what Bob Dylan and Joan Baez did during in the 1960s and 70s and written a song that could be a used to gain momentum at the protests.

As disappointing as it is that so few big-name musicians choose to write about topics that are valuable, some have at least used their celebrity to support and raise money for awareness.

Foster the People, known for their summer-sensation “Pumped Up Kicks,” has teamed up with community service venture The Do Good Bus and are organizing community service events in each of the cities they visit on their current tour, as well as trading signed memorabilia for charity donations. Hopefully, the band will use their new celebrity and take this community spirit into the lyrics of their next hit. If a new song is anywhere near as catchy as “Pumped Up Kicks,” it could raise even more awareness.

K’naan, the Somalian rapper behind the World Cup theme song “Wavin’ Flag,” has not only released music raising awareness of the violent Civil War in Somalia, but also performed at humani-

tarian benefit concerts, both in America and abroad, and has recently returned to his war-torn homeland to do even more good.

There are, no doubt, musicians who do use their music for good. There are countless lesser-known musicians who sing about relevant topics and presumably do have an influence on their listeners. Still, the fact that 92 percent of the most popular songs in America are just about the musicians love lives and desire to have sex is simply depressing.

Starting a campaign to raise awareness or donating to a relevant cause is a small and important step, but a musician who proves commitment to a purpose through lyrics or even just writes about others as opposed to themselves, can be even more meaningful.

Unlike so many great promoters of peace, social-justice and equality, many musicians are blessed with the fact that millions of people already are listening to their songs. With that much influence, it only seems logical that they would choose to write about something worthwhile. After all, in the words of the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven, “music can change the world.”

See palyvoice.com for full story

NBA season facing lockout due to lack of compromise on new agreement

Fight over expired collective bargaining agreement creates excess tension between players, owners Day 115 of the NBA lockout and yet again we come across owners and players arguing in the situation room for over seven to eight hours and not getting one thing done. Both sides maintain their stances about not giving an inch to the other, which in turn brandonbyer cancels out any possible in my opinion progress that could have been made. Fans are getting restless over already having to deal with an over 100 day NFL lockout that finally got consummated back in August. The owners are to blame for this situation which seems like no resolution is near. Can this NBA lockout get more ridiculous than it already is?

The collective bargaining agreement or (CBA) expired this summer and now the NBA is at a standoff between the owners led by commissioner David Stern. On the other side, representing the Player’s Union is President Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers along with advisor to the Player’s Union Billy Hunter. The issue comes down to revenue sharing and how it can split so that both sides get a fair share of the money. The owners and Player’s Union have met on numerous occasions prior to the lockout and now during the lockout are stating that each side wants a new deal .

Both the players and the owners make trillions of dollars. Owners have their fortune 500 companies along with ownership of their teams, and the players have mega contracts with millions and trillions of dollars in incentives and bonuses. Yet, they still are fighting for more control over the revenue sharing.

In the past CBA, the players received 57 percent of all revenue, which includes concessions, advertising, merchandise sales, etc., while the owners only received 43 percent of all revenue. That is a

VERBATIM

CREATIVE COMMONS

The notorious NBA teams, the Warriors and the Sixers, face off in a close game. If owners and players can not come to an agreement, fans will be unable to experience the excitement of tough games such as this.

14 percent disparity and when you are talking how much money is involved in the NBA, it creates a large gap.

The owners this off-season were determined to find a figure much more representative than 43 percent. The players on the other hand want to hold their advantage on the owners that they’ve held in the past CBA to make sure they guarantee themselves a fair deal. Coming full circle leads to the exact point we are at today, a stalemate that doesn’t seem like it will end soon.

It is important to note that both of the sides are looking out for their own well-being and trying to gain financial security for however long they extend the new CBA when they get a deal done. But, it is

the way they go about it and what both sides are demanding that is hindering the process of making a deal. The owners are trying to get this deal to be more fair, so in turn the players proposed to drop from 57 percent to 53 percent revenue split. The players conceded 4 percent out of their 57 percent to try and make this revenue share more balanced.

The owners stated that the four percent decrease is not good enough for them, they also want an advantage in their favor of at least 51-49 percent. David Stern has repeatedly said that he wants a deal done so that the NBA can get back up and running again, so I do not understand why the owners wouldn’t call for a 50-50 split of the revenue sharing.

The players should participate in this deal as well because it gives each side equal control over the money. My solution to this whole fiasco: just share. The owners and players are acting like stubborn kids trying to get the best thing for themselves only. Since the owners are making billions and trillions of dollars already, they should be the side that makes the best attempt at a fair and even split at 50-50. Yet, there is still one major group left out of all of this — the NBA fans — those who really drive the league, and without them, the NBA would cease to exist.

Last year the NBA spiked up in popularity, the most since the Michael Jordan era. According to USA Today’s Michael Heistand, Turner Network Television (TNT) went up 150 percent in viewers, while ESPN’s coverage of the NBA increased to 59 percent. These numbers are staggering in comparison to what they were in the past five to ten years.

The NBA has put itself in jeopardy because of this lockout giving fans reason to stop supporting an association that cannot work together or function properly as a unit. The main question being asked in the Bay Area and all other 31 NBA cities during the lockout: Will the fans come back to basketball?

In the Bay Area, history tells us the fans will return. Warriors fans remember the “We Believe” team of 2007 that knocked out the top seeded Mavericks in first round of the NBA playoffs. Nowadays the Warriors aren’t making the playoffs, yet the fan support is off the charts. The Warriors were ranked at tenth in attendance last season, the second best of any non-playoff team last year.

If the NBA could get a deal done we would not need to worry about all the drama of the first two weeks of the season being cancelled. Meetings between the two sides are scheduled in the coming weeks and months until a deal is reached. Until that time though, the basketball will not be bouncing any time soon. David Stern spoke with ESPN over the weekend saying if there’s no deal by Tuesday Oct. 25, the entire NBA season could be in flux.

What is your favorite Halloween tradition?

Compiled by Meghan Byrd and Alex Lin

“Trick or treating with my Roadrunner teammates.”

Israel Hakim senior

“I don’t like Halloween. I just like to party.”

Key’Chaundre Hill senior

“I like to jump out of bushes and scare children.”

Julia Saul sophomore

“Egging and teepee-ing people.”

Larry Allen junior

“Every year I help my family make a Halloween village.”

Shannon Scheel senior

October 28, 2011 • A7

SPOTLIGHT

The Campanile

The 99 Per Imagine living in a society where the poor are oppressed by a ruling elite whose interests pervade every aspect of society, from news media to government. Imagine that the ruling elite only consists of a tiny portion of the population of the country, yet their needs are met over those of the majority of the citizens. Imagine that the regular citizens are no longer protected by their government representatives because the elites have bought out the politicians’ interests. Imagine a society purposely and knowingly perpetuating economic inequalities that lead to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Although this may sound like the premise for the next Robin Hood reboot or the setting of a dystopian novel, this is in fact mirrors the world that many feel they are living in.

As such, after a call to arms from the non-profit anti-consumerist Canadian magazine Adbusters and an endorsement from “Anonymous,” a group which uses computer hacking as a means of political protest, “Occupy Wall Street” was created, giving those disenfranchised citizens of the world a larger stage to voice their frustrations.

The movement began on Sept. 17 in New York City when nearly 1,000 people gathered on Wall Street under the mantra of “we are the 99 percent” to protest, among other things, corporate greed and money in politics.

The “Occupy” movement, which consists of protesters camping out at locations and others joining at various times for protests, quickly spread and eventually landed in the Bay Area, where San Francisco, Palo Alto and Oakland have joined protests with over 900 cities worldwide, according to occupytogether.org.

The Occupy protests in San Francisco and Palo Alto are the epitome of the two main types of protest - those in large cities and those in smaller ones.

First, San Francisco’s protests are much more similar to the protests occurring in cities like New York, Boston and Philadelphia, and consist of mainly young protesters, whereas Palo Alto features an older set of protesters.

“In the ‘60s I was anti-war, pro-civil rights, pro-women’s rights—I thought I fought this 45 years ago, but where am I now?” Palo Alto protester Larry Mitchell said.

Another distinction between the rally sizes is the types of protest in each city. Whereas most traditional movements occur in large rallies, the main event of the Occupy protests is the occupation of cities, where protesters camp out in front of major institutions or in local parks.

The main encampments for the protest may seem chaotic to outsiders, yet protesters are aware of their method of organization. While sleeping bags, poster supplies and food may seem randomly cluttered to some, the protesters have actually organized the various types of necessities into areas that are run by different coordinators.

In addition to these camps, larger cities also hold supplementary events, like the “Global March for Democracy” event held worldwide on Oct. 15.

San Francisco and most major cities run their protests in this style. Smaller cities like Palo Alto do not have encampments, but rather opt for more frequent rallies and events.

These events are generally run through meetup.com, which is an example of the plethora of social media like Twitter and Facebook being used by protesters to organize their movement without leadership.

A similarity for all branches of “Occupy,” large and small, is that they each have General Assembly, a directly democratic process used to organize the protests. General Assembly occurs each morning in San Francisco and every Tuesday night in Palo Alto, and is a time when all important decisions are made by a group consensus.

Protesters uses this time to include all factions of the movement in the decision making process. However, the fact that there are so many individual interests has led many outsiders to question what “Occupy” is really about.

In its simplest terms, “Occupy Wall Street” and its affiliates are protests against corporate greed, economic inequality and political ineptitude. “[This is a movement about] telling the truth,” Mitchell said. “We want people to know that current tax rates for the rich and the large inequality between big corporations and the bottom is just now intolerable.”

Protesters also believe that these issues are cause for many people to join the movement.

“For the average individual like me, it’s getting really scary,” Antonio, a protester outside of the Bank of America on El Camino, said. “That fear is creating a sense of empowerment to the point where I feel like I have to come out here and lend myself to these groups.”

However, with no central leadership and no main organizing force, the movement has taken on many different issues, which many supporters fear is increasing inefficiency and burdening the movement. Nevertheless, the diverse beliefs remain unified under the slogan “we are the 99 percent,” which even some protesters disagree with.

“I disagree with the 99 percent idea, because as my sign says, we are all the one hundred percent,” Josh, a senior at Stanford said. “I can see that the movement has energy behind it because people are angry, and maybe we need that, but in the end, I don’t think that anger is going to solve something, because we need the one percent to cooperate, to say ‘okay, we will compromise.’”

Though the main protests remain about such topics as economic disparity, corporate greed and money in politics, at any given time a faction of the movement may also be advocating a nearly unrelated position, like health care or peace in the Middle East.

At a recent protest on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco, a speaker named “Jacob” highlighted inequalities in the current economic system, but was then followed by a speaker named “Magic” who spoke about Christopher Columbus unfairly taking land from Native Americans.

Happenings like these have lead many people to question if there really is a main force driving the movement, or if it is just made up of people who wish to protest anything they can.

Contrary to this belief, each protester has a specific cause that ties into a greater, more broad tenet of the movement.

“I think that our democracy has been corrupted by big money, rich corporations donating money to politicians,” Bob, a protester outside of the Bank of America on El Camino said. “The politicians tend to make laws that will benefit the rich and the corporations, and I think that has to stop. I think the rich should be paying a lot more than they are.”

Other protesters provide alternative, yet still relatively prominent reasons for the movement.

“If there is a main issue, it’s the inability for government to represent the majority of the people,” Antonio said. “The political class in this country represent a very small sliver of society, namely the rich and powerful.”

There are some who attend the protest out of agreement with the broader strokes but not necessarily the specifics.

“There are so many issues,” a child care provider who described herself as mini-

The Campanile

SPOTLIGHT

rcent

Text and photos by Charles Dulik Layout by Madeline Berger, Chrissie Cheng and William Kershner

mally employed and soon to be homeless said. “You look at every aspect of society and it’s been infiltrated by the corporations.”

Protesters’ lack of cohesive specificity on issues has become a main criticism. One protester can be holding a sign chastising lack of taxes on the uber-rich and another can be yelling about ending foreign wars or conspiracy theories within the government. These ideas connect little more than fitting under the same umbrella of protest. As such, many have criticized “Occupy” as not being centrally focused enough to succeed on goals. However, the Occupiers themselves tend to disagree.

“I think [having many issues] helps,” an anonymous female protester outside of Bank of America said. “If [protesters] feel like there’s one goal, one agenda, then it makes you in some ways dependent on that thing.”

Other protesters go further, and say that the enormous breadth of issues is not only feasible for a movement, but that the array even furthers the movement.

“I think [the diversity] was a danger when the movement was too small, in its first few days, but now that it’s grown, it’s past the point that it would just fly apart and not be cohesive – now it’s a strength because it can attract more people,” Josh said. “Maybe some of us disagree about specific policies, but there are more of us here because of that lack of focus. That view point is tempered by other protesters, who feel that the movement could be improved by being streamlined.

“It’s a simple message,” Bob said. “We have to be careful not to bring in too many extra issues.”

Protesters also compare the movement’s lack of focus to that of its most similar American counterpart, the Tea Party, which was able to accomplish much with a varied group of beliefs.

“Where were the people saying that the Tea Party [lacked focus]?” Josh said. “How many things did they disagree on? Why are [people] criticizing Occupy Wall Street for that but they never mentioned it about the Tea Party?”

Critics point out that the goals of movement could be almost impossible to fulfill as a whole because although the movement agrees major changes need to occur, there is an enormous variety of suggestions and demands as to which specific changes need to be made. Each protester seems to add their two cents, creating a conglomerate of similar sentiment from a bevy of distinct solutions.

“Restore the regulations we had before Reagan came into power,” Mitchell said, stating his specific fix for current economic woes. “We had finance campaign laws that he destroyed. If you got them back you wouldn’t have this situation at all.”

Other protesters lack a specific goal that they are working towards. Instead, they believe that overall, all-encompassing change is a necessity. However, they are careful to draw a distinction between the goal of change and the political slogan of President Obama.

“Like any movement, what we all want is change,” Antonio said. “And I’m not talking about some political slogan like ‘change’ or ‘hope’ — I’m talking about concrete change — getting to a point where we are in a different place progressively.”

Even though its most comparable counterpart in terms of being a grassroots movement channeling the emotions of the people is the Tea Party, protesters back away from that comparison.

“I get a sense that this is more all encompassing,” Antonio said. “This is a lot larger, more of a sense of the pulse of the country — people from all walks of life, of color, of class, are coming together and saying ‘look, there’s something very wrong here.’”

Despite protester resistance, the movement has faced attempts to be co-opted by many members of the left as a liberal response to the conservative Tea Party.

Many signs held by protesters in San Francisco respond to this in simple terms, stating that “this movement will not be co-opted.”

Regardless, liberal Bay Area representatives like Representative Anna Eshoo and San Francisco mayorial Candidate John Avalos have thrown their weight behind the movement. Avalos is even often seen protesting alongside occupiers.

Another main distinction between the two movements is treatment by the police. Whereas the Tea Party never had large issues with them, “Occupy” protesters have struggled against large numbers of arrests and hostility from local police departments.

In larger cities like New York, police brutality is rampant and often caught on video. Many videos display the incongruities between polite and respectful, yet assertive police and ones that mace innocent civilians demonstrating their rights to free speech. In Oakland, protesters were confronted with tear gas, sound cannons and rubber bullets when they refused to move at police request. In San Francisco, as of Oct. 17 the police had arrested 17 protesters in total, and have forced their encampment to move two times and nearly a third.

The San Francisco Police Department declined to comment on this issue.

In addition, much of the major media has ignored the movement or dismissed it. A sign prominently displayed at the official encampment in San Francisco responds to this by quoting philosopher Arthur Schopenhuer’s saying that “All truth goes through three steps: First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as selfevident.”

It is clear that despite these adverse conditions, the “Occupy” movement continues to grow and to capture public support. However, how the movement will transfer that into actual legislative change is another issue.

While some, like Mitchell, propose specific plans, other protesters espouse the idea that any change would be positive.

“If the government started doing things that the majority of the people actually wanted, then I would consider this a success,” Josh said.

More prominent Occupiers have stated views that their job is not to propose all the solutions, but merely to highlight the problems with current times.

“It is not always the job of people shouting outside impressive buildings to solve problems,” author and “Occupy” supporter Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) said. “It is often the job of the people inside, who have paper, pens, desks, and an impressive view.”

Overall, “Occupy Wall Street” is as diverse as it is energetic. The movement has support behind it but it also has factors pulling it apart. Whether it will succeed in changing legislation or not remains a mystery, but the fact that “Occupy” is changing the world’s current political climate is undeniable, and in the end, that is one of the most fundamentally important aspects of the movement.

“Put simply, we all hope that there will be some sort of reverberations in Washington and throughout the country,” Antonio said.

October 28, 2011 • A8

OPINION

A8 • October 28, 2011

The Campanile

European Union countries paralyzing world economy Foreign nations rely on others for financial help, affecting global system

Recently, Greece asked for a second bailout, which shocked the world, instilling fear created by the contagion effect.

Europe fears that with the crashing economies of the PIwesleyshiau IGS (Portugal, in my opinion Ireland, Italy and Greece), the economies of the other countries will slowly follow suit.

Europe’s economy is in tatters and it seems there is no good solution to the problem. The governments of failing economies have simply borrowed too much money, and do not have the resources to pay back.

The total bailout for these countries is currently 280 billion, a relatively small amount as the European Financial Security Fund has a bailout fund that totals to around 440 billion Euros, but if Italy, the third largest issuer of government debt in the world goes under as well, then there may be a very good chance the fund doesn’t have what it takes to save Italy.

If Italy needs a bailout, Europe will follow suit and with the world’s extremely integrated economy, the USA will too.

Collectively, the European Union is America’s largest trading partner and as a result, exports to the EU could suffer if the Euro depreciates under the dollar.

The two core EU countries, France The increasing debt of European Union countries Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain forces them to borrow money from and Germany, wish to maintain a certain others, such as France and Germany. PIIGS have borrowed too much and are unable to pay back, harming the world economy. level of EU unity so they are pushing for a bailout of these countries; however, cit- bailout in time to save the failing econo- out the PIIGS, then any bank that owns in 1991, the Japanese bailed out many mies. One would think the governments the debt of these countries will go bust. of the major companies and hoped that izens of these countries are unhappy.

Why should they spend their hard of the EU 17 would act quickly, but con- It will basically be Lehman all over again the economy would pick up back again, earned money to bail out a country that sider the actions of the American govern- except instead of a single bank, multiple but for 20 years, their economy has been in slow decline. This is exactly what will countries will be involved. cannot collect its own taxes and has an ment.

With failing economies, govern- happen if the EU 17 continues to bail out The United States government could early retirement age of 57?

France and Germany would essential- barely agree to bailout our own country ments must contract their fiscal spend- countries like the PIIGS. The PIIGS are like a terminal cancer ly be paying for Greece’s public pension due to differing opinions among the Re- ing. When the banks don’t get the monpublican and ey they are expecting from the countries, and if we don’t cut them out then the rest benefits while siDemocratic par- they have to go to other sources for mon- of the world will go with them. multaneously If we don’t cut off this cancer then it ey, and in many cases they go to compaties. working to sup- “I really don’t think Europe can will slowly spread to the rest of the world How can one nies to recall their loans. port themselves. get out of its mess. They don’t have When the companies return too much slowly killing us all. We can treat it as expect 17 difFrance and Ger- the ability to tax everyone. Yes ferent countries money, inevitably they have to lay off much as we want, but at the end of the many and other private contribu- they can through printing a trillion to cooperate in employees and with the threat of a layoff day, the cancer will kill us. The only way tors need to pay of euros, but its meaningless in the time to stop the in the distance, people are less likely to to save ourselves is by amputating our arm. contagion ef- spend money. for Greece. end. It’s a bottomless pit.”

That would be the quickest solution.

Since consumers are getting laid off fect?

According to a Recently Eu- because of the inability of countries to Cut off the PIIGS and refuse to bail them report given on David Szupak October 21 “to Director of the Fixed Income Department ropean finance pay off their debt and banks are spend- out, and even though it would devastate ministers came ing less because of their uncertainty the world, we would be able to rebound get the debt down close to agree- about their country’s economy and gov- and recover. further would reRiots would fill the streets of the ing on how to ernments are contracting fiscal spendquire a larger private sector contribution” of at least 60 recapitalize the region banks, but fell ing to compensate for their budget defi- world like the riots currently happening cit, money doesn’t flow and the economy in Greece and the world will go down in percent to reduce debt below 110 percent short on a final plan. flames.

Ongoing debate continues as they grinds to a halt. of GDP by 2020.

But only for a period. Eventually the This road the Europeans are following So the question not only becomes can consider different options to boost the the EFSF can bail out the PIIGS, but al- debt bailout and halt the contagious debt is one that Japan followed in 1991. After world would rebuild itself and recover. so whether or not the EU 17 can agree to crisis. But if the governments do not bail the Japanese asset price bubble popped The other solution is bailout. If we bail-

out the PIIGS, we are only delaying the inevitable.

Their economies would eventually fail again, which Greece proved with its request for a second bailout and the world would be slowly dragged down with the PIIGS. There is also the problem of moral hazard: if the EU 17 bails out the PIIGS, what is keeping the other European countries from acting as the PIIGS did, under the impression that the EU 17 will bail them out as well.

What it essentially comes down to is whether or not the EU 17 is willing to make the hard choice to cut off the PIIGS. Are the PIIGS going to go down slowly, or go down quickly? There is no obvious correct choice, the only thing currently obvious is that we’re going down whether we like it or not.

“I really don’t think Europe can out of its mess. They don’t have the ability to tax everyone. Yes they can through printing a trillion of euros, but its meaningless in the end. It is a bottomless pit,” Director of Nomura’s Fixed Income Department David Szcupak said.

The consequences of Europe’s economic dilemma is not clear, but what is clear is that no one will be immune.

America was faced with a similar situation in the late 1990s when Asia had its economic crisis, but then America was experiencing a strong and accelerating economy and as a result was not greatly affected.

Now, rather than strengthening, the US economy is as weak as its ever been even without Europe’s problems.

President Obama’s economic policies have not been effective and coupled with Europe’s economic problems, economic recovery will prove increasingly difficult.

This in turn affects education, as California’s economic recovery slows alongside the United States’.

This results in budget cuts that could greatly affect some of the state’s largest school districts.

Revenue since the start of the year fell $705 billion below projection, but since the supposed extra $4 billion dollars of tax revenue is no longer likely to occur, schools are in a pinch.

Several solutions have been proposed, such as having districts shortening the school year or firing non teaching staff.

But the extremity of the situation was seen through a letter signed by the California School Boards Association to the governor that said, “steps necessary to avoid insolvency, including the one-time ability to either lay off teachers and increase class sizes or impose mandatory furloughs.”

The effects of the European’s economic crisis will be felt on every level of society by every country in the world.

Year rule for teen drivers unreasonable Litter around campus inappropriate

Licensed citizens under 18 should not have restrictions

Paly students need to pick up trash for cleaner school

Each year, thousands of adolescents under the age of 18 receive their license in California. Amidst all of the excitement of passing the state driving standards, new drivers will find a small sticker in the right hand corner of their temporary paper driver’s license stating the following: oliviacornfield “If you are under 18 years in my opinion of age: For a period of 12 months, you may not transport passengers under age 20 unless you are accompanied by a parent, guardian, instructor or licensed driver over the age of 25. Violation of either restriction can result in a fine and/or community service.”

This law was first implemented on Jan. 1, 2006 and since then has set an unreasonable standard for young drivers.

Possibly the most compelling reason to reconsider the fundamental wisdom of restricting passenger number for new drivers is that the law may simply result in having drivers of older ages, specifically 18- and 19-year-olds, with substantially less experience.

Having new drivers of older ages increases danger because drivers over 18-years-old do not have a curfew and obtain more freedom, therefore causing more risk to others on the road.

According to Scott V. Masten of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Research and Development Branch in Sacramento, while the number of fatalities among 16- and 17-year-old drivers have decreased since 2006, the fatality rate among 18 and 19 year old drivers has increased.

Moreover, according to the California DMV, the rate of 16-year-olds licensed to drive unsupervised fell from 23% in 1997 to 14% by 2007. As a result, there are more novices on the roads at ages 18 and 19.

Another important issue centers around the difficulties of enforcing the law. Compliance with the law is essentially voluntary as the police are not permitted to stop a car for the sole purpose of determining whether the driver is in violation of the restrictions.

As a result, a substantial percentage of teen drivers routinely violate the law as the likelihood of being caught is remote.

“If I’m a careful driver, there is no reason I should get pulled over,” an anonymous junior said.

However, if a sensible time period restricting the numbers of passengers new drivers are able to

“Tragedy of the Com- one’s littering or lack of help makes a difference if mons.” All students who 1899 students are doing the same thing. are taking or have already Perhaps if students took on the roles of the janitaken the required Eco- tors, they would be a bit more considerate about nomics course at Palo Al- how Paly is treated. Students have clearly been to High School are familiar taking the tolerant custodians for granted. with this term, which refers While littering is an issue, trashing the bathto the disappointing lack of rooms is unnecessary and sometimes even appallrespect and courtesy people ing. give to public areas they do Perhaps the spit wads, soggy toilet paper clumps not feel personally respon- in the sink and lack of flushing in student bathclarachang sible for. rooms are why staff have personal, locked bathin my opinion However, based on the rooms. litter, bathroom graffiti and When it comes to a place where every student toilet paper spit wads that have accumulated on has to inevitably go every day, one would believe campus after only a month of school, it is clear that that the bathrooms would be respectfully maineither not enough students understand this con- tained in the hopes of creating a decent experience cept, or many students choose to ignore it. for everyone.

How the school campus is already trashed afHowever, this is not the case in many Paly bathter merely a month of school is a mystery, given all rooms, where students never know what they may the trash cans made available find on the other side of the around campus and the years stall door besides the obscene most high school students have This is the students’ school, graffiti which, of course, is alhad to mature and become and consequently, the ways present. courteous people.

Students need to realize how students’ responsibility to Most Paly students range their unnecessary actions affect from 14 to 18 years old. If at keep it clean. them. this point students still do not Although they may not be feel obligated to put trash where it belongs or flush personally held responsible for what they do bea toilet after using it, this is a tragedy indeed. hind closed stalls and doors, students should unDespite the numerous trashcans that are scat- derstand how extraordinarily unpleasant they are tered around the school, litter still manages to making a trip to the bathroom for others just by dominate Paly’s campus. Paired with the yellow refusing to take the extra second to push the slim, quad, it is not a great look. silver bar above the toilet. This is called “flushing.”

Students need to realize the impact of leaving Picking up trash and putting it where it belongs their trash around the school, as well as acknowl- will undoubtedly benefit everyone. edge the benefit of helping to pick litter up, no matIf one misses the long shot into the trash can ter who littered in the first place. from 10 feet away, it is important not to leave it This is the students’ school, and consequently, there for the janitors. the students’ responsibility to keep it clean. StuIt is unfair to expect them to pick up all the dents may not feel obligated to keep the campus mess students leave behind, especially when stuclean for numerous reasons. dents refuse to even use common courtesy.

First, they may not feel a personal connection to Respecting the bathrooms will ultimately lead the campus grounds that they ironically walk on to a happier student body as well. every single day.

Students should not be dreading to enter the After all, they are there for a mere eight hours of bathrooms, so a more considerate and accommothe day and possibly not even by choice. dating attitude from everybody is necessary to Why should they bend over backwards to main- keep these places clean. tain these grounds? Well, because more than 50 In order to prevent the Paly campus from bepercent of each student’s day is spent on campus, ing a victim of the “Tragedy of the Commons,” stutherefore, school is practically a home away from dents must act as responsible and respectful citihome. zens of the campus.

Students also may not feel like their status out Realizing that every student has an obligation of 1900 others is significant. Although one may feel to maintain and respect the school is the first step; inconsequential among such a large population, the rest should come naturally.

KATE APOSTOLOU/CAMPANILE

Drivers under the age of 18 cannot drive teenagers, harming the environment and limiting experience. have in their cars, such as six months, were to be applied, teens would be much more likely to follow the law.

“The one year rule is ridiculous and daunting,” junior Nora Rosati said. “The 6 month would be more plausible and if I were ever to get my license I’d probably follow it.”

One of the main reasons behind the year rule is that teenagers under 18 years of age are trained to drive in optimal situations and do not have the experience to safely manage dangerous driving conditions and difficult situations.

It is believed that a year of driving alone gives teens the sufficient to improve their driving skills.

However, many teens can obtain the necessary exposure to the road and become competent drivers within less than a year.

A period of six months would represent a compromise wherein teens could gain valuable experience in a relatively protected environment, yet still gain necessary experience to be highly skilled drivers by the time the restrictions are lifted.

Six months provides teens with an appropriate period of time to develop their driving experience.

For full story, visit http://palyvoice.net/campanile

S P ORT S

The Campanile

The Campanile’s own Kirah Ingram attempts water polo Girls’ varsity lacrosse player steps off the field, jumps into the pool

By Kirah Ingram Editor-in-Chief

“The first thing [to do at] water polo is to get your cap on,” varsity girls’ water polo coach Spencer Dornin, said.

Yes, that was a challenge and the first problem I ran into before even getting into the pool. Let’s just say that big hair and swim caps do not mix very well.

I apologize for being so abrupt, but it is time for a quick history lesson.

As many people know, water polo is a growing sport and is becoming widely known around the world as a mix between swimming and an intense contact sport, but what most people argue, and are still confused about, are the origins of water polo.

Some argue that the sport stems from rugby, but others believe the sport was adapted from polo. Obviously, these two land sports are quite different from each other. One is atop horses and the other involves rolling around in mud and smashing heads with opponents.

Polo is more of a non-contact sport played with long-handled mallets, whereas rugby is a full-contact sport, with emphasis on full-contact, played with bare hands and more of a footballshaped ball.

I would also like to add that water polo has come a long way since its origin in the late 1800s. Originally, “scoring a goal” involved placing the ball under swimming garments and sneakily swimming underwater to the opposite side of the pool and slamming the ball onto the pool deck.

Today, as many people would assume, rules like this are not used any longer and involve many more complexities that cannot be completely and thoroughly explained in a tiny sports feature.

Now, let’s get back to that swim cap.

You may be wondering why I would even try putting on a swim cap in the first place. The fact of the matter is, I was interested in taking part in one lowkey water polo practice.

The reason? Maybe it was just for fun, or possibly to embarrass myself?

Partially yes to both, but mainly because I was up for a challenge, a challenge I kind of foresaw myself failing miserably at.

I’d like to make one more thing clear: I did not survive this water polo practice. At all.

I am not a water person, I am a terrible swimmer and I have no place on a swim or water polo team, ever. One could venture to say that I am almost aquaphobic, but that is not important.

What is important is that even before going into this practice, I knew water polo was going to be difficult, mostly because it was, and still is, entirely new to me. Water polo, to say the least, is really not like any other sport available to Palo Alto High School athletes.

Although water polo takes place in the pool, just like regular swimming, this sport requires constant movement, constant attention to surroundings and constant floating.

Floating is another aspect of water sports that I have trouble with, and another challenge I had to overcome. I tend to sink, because unlike everyone else in the world, I am not buoyant. Nevertheless, I went to this practice with open arms, an open mind and a water polo suit two sizes too small.

I originally thought it would be great to see what it would be like practicing with the varsity girls’ water polo team, but soon realized that swimming was my downfall. Before even making contact with the water polo balls, it was time for warm-ups, which meant swimming over 20 laps. This was probably nothing for an athlete conditioned and strong in swimming, but for me it was hard. I swam 6 of those warm-up laps, and yes, that was the extent of my water polo career.

I could have stayed in the pool after warm-ups, but I was extremely tired and decided to stop distracting the team with my swim cap that would not stay on and my constant slew of questions about what the coach was asking of the team. I definitely do not speak swim.

After the failed warm-ups, I got out of the pool and decided to take notes on what the team was doing. Honestly, my note-taking abilities are great, but not as interesting as a full report about a person with no previous experience making a fool out of themselves in a pool while a whole, really intense water polo team watches.

ADAM MANSOUR/CAMPANILE

(From left) JV Girls’ Water Polo practices their shots before playing crosstown rival Gunn High School. Varsity Girls huddle before their last home game of the season.

However, note-taking or not, I did learn that this sport is not a joke. Water polo is a sport which involves the entire body. Just like swimming, water polo incorporates almost every muscle of the body, which must constantly stay in motion in order to stay afloat. And to assure one stays afloat, one must constantly tread water.

Now, I have only one question: if you’re not involved in water polo, how would you feel after doing that for almost two entire hours? Exhausted, I presume.

Not only does water polo involve the constant circular-esque movement of the legs, it also involves the ability to get one’s upper body out of the water in order to have a better shot on goal, to pass and to block shots and passes.

I can not even imagine the amount of leg strength needed for this. Mostly because I have a lack thereof while in the water and because getting one’s body half way out of the water without the help of any outside sources, say like a pool wall, is extremely hard for me to fathom.

Besides the use of the legs, imagine what those arms have to go through.

They are beaten, battered, scratched and kicked. Like I said before, water polo is a full-contact sport. Players are allowed to grab on to each other and keep

their hands on their opponents as long as no obvious harm is caused.

The ability to tread water, pass a ball, ads play offense or defense all while remaining afloat seems like a lot to do for one goal.

But, isn’t that why we play sports? To win? To be carried out of the pool and be deemed by our peers as “champions?”

Honestly, the answer is yes.

We all take part in activities and sports that we know we will excel at because we all love the thrill of the win and the feeling of success. No matter what sport or other activity we decide to play or take part in, we do so with the goal of greatness.

Although I never really gave water polo a shot, I know one thing for sure — the girls and boys who play are passionate, driven and know what they are doing (unlike me, of course). They are focused and sincere in how they play and react, both on and off the field. No matter what anyone says, water polo is tough to play, and pure devotion is key.

All in all, my experience with the team was positive. The girls and their coach were warm and welcoming, and although I did not stay in the pool for more than five minutes, I witnessed a whole lot. It is apparent that these girls put their whole hearts into becoming better athletes.

Competitive clubs provide opportunities for refining skills, improving routines

By Sophie Parker Staff Writer

COURTESY OF MARLENE WELLS

The Palo Alto High School cheer team won first in a competition in Vallejo on Oct. 9. They will compete in Las Vegas in February. skills in a routine while being stared down by the judging panel watching every move. “[Paly competition cheer] saw our work truly pay off when we got first place at our first cheer competition of this year in Vallejo on Oct. 9,” Schlegel said. “We hope to continue to work just as hard and come together to do well at nationals in Las Vegas in February.”

Junior Hannah Tumminaro has been cheering since second grade. She shares the experience of previously being a member of an all-star team as well as currently being a member of both the Paly high school spirit squad and the Paly competition team.

“With high school cheer there are a lot of things that go with the team,” Tumminaro said. “You have to work on team bonding and represent your school as a whole, while at the same time you have to know a lot more routines for new halftimes almost every week and learn about 60 sideline cheers to perform during the games.

In competition you are on stage for two and a half minutes and whatever the judges see, that’s what you get scored on.”

The Truth Behind Soccer Moms

kellystern

Cheerleaders utilize club teams to gain exposure, compete

The team steps onto the floor amidst loud voices cheering them on. The individual team members take their places and freeze like store mannequins. The music starts and the team comes to life, moving as one, with all members in tight, matching uniforms of vivid colors with its team name embroidered across the front.

Girls are flying left and right to the beat of the music blasting from the speakers. The judges watch intently, marking every misstep and success. The audience stands spellbound once the music stops before bursting into applause.

Welcome to the world of competitive cheerleading.

Most spectators think of cheer as a world simply full of half-time routines and sideline cheers at the football games providing a positive presence for both football players and fans. This is only half of the cheer world. Competition cheer is a whole different story.

The difference between a high school spirit squad and competition cheer might be confusing to some. Palo Alto High School senior Kiki Schlegel is a member of the Palo Alto High School spirit squad, the Paly competition cheer team and Nor-Cal Elite All-Stars, an all-star cheer team at a private gym. She has been cheering since seventh grade and can easily see the difference among all of her cheer teams.

“High school cheer was mainly formed to cheer on the sports like football and basketball, but competition cheer is an extension of a high school spirit squad with the competitive aspect,” Schlegel said. “However, all-star cheer is just for competition. All you do is make a competition routine and compete with it at competitions.”

Competition cheer is similar to sports like gymnastics, figure skating, diving and dance, where an individual or a team perform their most advanced

Friday, October 28, 2011

The routines and requirements are different for every division in competition cheer so high school cheer and all-star cheer have different guidelines to follow. The teams have to include the correct techniques in their routines as well possess the ability to perform it flawlessly.

“High school routines will usually include a minute of [yelling a] cheer with a minute and a half of a dance routine to music,” Schlegel said. “An allstar routine will have two and a half minutes of music with the team performing a dance, stunts, jumps and tumbling.”

One difference between an all-star cheer team and a high school level competitive cheer team is the focus. High school competitive teams have competitions to practice for, with so much anxiety and anticipation counting down until the day; something shared with every member of a competition team.

High school spirit teams also have to practice for halftime performances and perfect their cheers. However, all-star teams spend all their energy on perfecting their single routine used all year long.

“On our all-star team, we are tually classified a contact sport. really focused on success and I feel we work just as hard, winning,” Schlegel said. “Our or even harder, than any othgoal for the team is to go unde- er sport. It is just a different feated this year.” type of athletic activity so peoEven though both Paly cheer ple don’t understand why we and all-star teams compete, should be considered a sport.”

Schlegel and Tumminaro noHaving a competition team ticed a difference in the way at a high school or being a part their teammates act toward one of an all-star team out of school and other. makes people look through a “With high school cheer different lens at the sport and teams, a lot of high school dra- see what it truly takes to be a ma carries into cheer practice, cheerleader. but with all-star cheer prac“I think when we have a comtice, we all come from differ- petition team and have a nument areas so we don’t have ma- ber one title with the team, the ny problems with each other,” school has a lot more respect for Schlegel said. us, whereas, when they see us On the other hand, Tum- at a football game, they don’t minaro noted her opinion about really know what we are all the effects of competition with- about,” Tumminaro said. in her teammates on an all-star Guillory is just beginning team. to learn the ways of coaching “With any other sport in cheer, however, after being on a high school, there are a bunch cheer and gymnastics team for of cliques but we all work to- many years, she knows the regether as a whole,” Tumminaro quirements of a team in order said. “In all-stars, there is a lot to succeed and strives to make more pressure and a lot of the the Paly cheer team successful people push you to work hard at this year. all times.”

“Competitive cheer helps to Micheala Guillory, one of the show people that cheer truly coaches of the Paly competition is a sport,” Guillory said. “Esteam, has been cheering for pecially coming from my backyears and became cheer coach ground, as an athlete. Before this year.

I was a cheerleader, I didn’t “I think Paly cheer works re- think cheer was a sport at all. ally hard and they all want to However, after joining both be very successful,” Guillory college and competition cheer said. “It is always teams, I realized nice to coach girls cheer is a sport who actually want “It is always nice like anything to train to be bet- to coach girls who else and takes ter as a team. Be- actually want to just as much efcause of them, I fort in order to am glad I am still train to be better as succeed.” able to be in the a team.”

All cheer cheer world, as a teams hope for Micheala Guillory connection, unicoach.”

Cheerleading coach ty and teamCheerleaders are constantly work in order to trying to advocate succeed. for cheer becoming a real sport Competition cheerleaders in other people’s eyes and in aspire to perform the best they the high school sports leagues. have ever before working their They see cheerleading in the hardest as a team. same category of sports as gymThis team sport of cheerleadnastics, diving, dance, or any ing on any level takes practice, other judged sport. teamwork and athletic abili“I definitely consider cheer a ty in order to be the best team sport,” Schlegel said. It was ac- possible.

As an athlete, you find a lot to complain about in your sport. Referees making bad calls, crazy coaches and people on the other team being excessively obnoxious. But there is one thing that trumps all of these.

Parents.

Now, I’m not talking about all parents. I love the supportive cheers coming from all of our proud Paly parents watching the games.

But the coaching from the bleachers? Not so much. It drowns out the voice of the coach, who actually knows what the players are supposed to be doing. To you, yes, maybe it looks like that girl should take a shot at the goal.

But in the eyes of someone more experienced, there might be a passing opportunity that would lead to a better shot.

This is a common mistake for people to make, including players on the bench. It’s easy to get into a game and to yell out commands instead of looking for the smartest plays.

Parent spectators coaching from their seats can be annoying, but when this action is juxtaposed with other parent-spectator “crimes,” it becomes an innocent mistake on a long list of shocking behaviors some parents exhibit during games.

As an athlete myself, I have seen (and been subject to) far too many parents getting overly-immersed in their kids sports games. Do I even need to tell you how silly it looks for a grown adult to yell at a thirteen-year-old playing soccer? There are also parents who think everything is a foul, and that the referee has done them some great injustice by not calling a it. You tap a girl and suddenly it’s “Referee! She’s shoving my daughter!” And they continue to yell, overlooking that their precious daughter has been viciously digging her elbows into your side for the first half of the game.

Or there’s the hyped-up parent who decides to be obnoxious. In a recent water polo game, we had a parent from the opposing team screaming “WHO’S UP NOW?” when his team scored a goal on the previously tied game. There have been many a soccer game where parents have brought cowbells, vuvuzuelas and jars of pennies that they would ring, blow, and shake after their team scored a goal.

Possibly the worst thing in a game is hearing parents insult other players, while boasting about their own child constantly.

Last year at a friend’s soccer game, I sat next to a mother who spent half of the game bragging about her child’s talents (on and off the soccer field) to other parents and spent the rest of the game criticizing other players. However, her criticisms were not only limited to the boys’ playing techniques. She repeatedly made fun of a certain player’s voice, something irrelevant to the game. She would also criticize plays that were beneficial to her team, or even the team’s goalie being loud during the game.

Actual players know that vocal goalies are helpful. Goalies can see the entire field, so they will often have a better perspective of what’s going on then the other players on the field. Even though she clearly knew very little about how to play soccer, this woman continued to criticize the actions and attributes of players until the game ended. While there is nothing wrong with being proud of a son, no one wants to hear a grown woman insult teenage boys.

I understand the fanaticism over sports. I know how exciting it is to watch your favorite player score the winning goal or see a goalie make an excellent block. Unfortunately, some people seem to take their sports obsessions to the extreme.

Obnoxious fans of professional sports are frequent news-items and have done everything from engaging in fights over sports teams’ losses to yelling graphic insults at the fans of opposing teams, who sometimes have young children with them.

This being said, I don’t mean to discourage any of the Paly parents who are fans. We love all the support you guys give us at our games.

In fact, having been on a soccer team guilty of having a parent who brought a cowbell to games, let me tell you guys that Paly parents rock. They are one of the most respectful and wonderful groups of parent fans I have ever seen.

Thank you all so much for your support and dedication.

SPORTS

The Campanile

October 28, 2011• A10

Students join climbing trend in Bay Area

SportsBriefs Cross country teams compete at Cal Poly meet, aim for States The Palo Alto High School cross country team attended the prestigious Cal Poly Invitational meet on Oct. 15 at Cuesta College, where the top seven runners competed.

The runners left with pride after doing well and coming one step closer to Central Coast Section Finals. “[Freshman] Katie Foug is leading our team right now,” junior Nora Rosati said. “[Junior] Chika Kasahara is a close second and [sophomore] Audrey DeBruine stepped it up a lot this season as well. Overall we have a really committed team and we’re training hard and shooting to make States.”

The girls’ varsity captains, Rosati and senior Torie Nielsen, are learning how to work together and with the team in order to push their teammates to work hard and stay focused.

“The job Torie and I have as captains is to try and bring the team together and keep everyone motivated while still having fun,” Rosati said.

The boys’ varsity cross country team also attended the Cal Poly Invitational but were mostly upset with the outcome. Senior Nikolai Solgaard lead the boys.

“The boys’ team did all right,” Solgaard said. “I think we could have done better but we had worked out pretty hard the week before and the trip was kind of tiring. However, I personally did not feel well the day of the race so I thought I could have done better under normal circumstances.”

Solgaard hopes to push his team to work hard for States and can see the team doing well if it puts all its effort into States, as well as working hard in the local meets to prepare. “[The] season is going well, and the team is really starting to come together as a team now, we’re definitely much better than last year,” Solgaard said. “I think we will qualify for CCS but it’s not for sure.”

—Sophie Parker and Logan Mendenhall Staff Writers

Varsity boys’ water polo team excels in Roche Tournament With the season in full swing, the Palo Alto High School varsity boys’ water polo team is ranked second in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL), with a league record of 6-1 and an overall record of 9-3.

At the Roche Tournament the Paly boys started out with a tough game against Menlo-Atherton High School resulting in a close loss of 5-7.

The boys began to impress in their third game against Valley Christian High School with a win of 13-6.

This victory was followed by another victory in a tough game against La Jolla High School with an end score of 13-12.

Next came another big win against Serra High School with a score of 11-5. Thanks to junior Bret Pinsker, the high scorer of the game, and senior goalie Daniel Armitano, who had six saves, the Vikings were assured victory.

This win was followed by another victory against Monta Vista High School with a score of 10-9. In the end the Vikings came out with a weekend record of 4-1.

One week later, the boys lost to their Los Altos High School rivals, ending with a score of 8-9, knocking the Paly boys down to second in the league.

Even though the boys have a strong record so far, they are still second to Los Altos, which has a record of 2-0. So far, Los Altos is the only league team Paly has lost to.

The Paly boys have a chance to gain the number one spot in the league if they stay focused and keep winning games.

After the disappointment of the Los Altos game there was a turn for the better with a three-game win streak against Henry M. Gunn High School (12-10), Homestead High School (21-1) and Los Gatos High School (13-4) In their second game against Menlo-Atherton on Oct. 7, the Paly boys lost 7-9. In this game, the goals were evenly distributed with four players scoring goals. Even though Armitano was able to make six saves, Menlo-Atherton still got nine goals past him.

Coach Giovanni Napolitano named Armitano the most valuable player of the week due to his spectacular saves during the previous games.

—Caroline Martignetti and Julia Poppy Staff Writers

Girls’ water polo team prepare for playoffs after rocky season Palo Alto High School girls’ water polo continues on their inconsistent streak, holding a league record of 3-4.

Paly was defeated by Los Altos High School in a midseason game, falling to the Eagles 5-9. Senior goalie Eve Higgins ended the game with eight blocks.

The loss to Los Altos was frustrating especially because there were numerous close shots throughout the game.

The Lady Vikes recently defeated Los Gatos High School by a slim margin in Paly waters, with a final score of 9-8. Senior Shannon Scheel started each quarter on a positive note by winning all of the sprints.

The tension mounted as the game remained tied at the end of the first and second quarters.

The Vikings’ defense strengthened in the fourth quarter, allowing senior Hannah Park to shoot the final goal, bringing Paly to a win by one point.

Paly fell to crosstown rival Henry M. Gunn High School on September 29, 4-12.

The Vikings then crushed Homestead High School on Oct. 4, with a final score of 14-5.

Continuing their dominance into the next week, Paly went on to defeat Monta Vista High School, 14-2.

On Oct. 25, the team lost to Los Altos, 3-6, ending their four-game win streak.

Several of the team’s key players graduated last year, compelling this year’s team captains Shannon Scheel and Skylar Dorosin to rely on the skills of younger players to help carry the team.

“We’re trying to get all the fundamentals down and get everyone working to where they need to go,” Scheel said.

“Only [six] of us have played club [water polo], which is only half the team. The experience gap is pretty large, and we’re [working] to shrink that.”

The Lady Vikes will enter the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League Finals on Nov. 1 at Saint Francis High School.

—Anna Norimoto and Beth Yan Staff Writers

Athletes explore unconventional, challenging sport

By Kyle Stewart Staff Writer

Rock climbing is a sport that can be either extreme or recreational. The goal of rock climbing is to reach an endpoint or a predetermined destination without falling.

It is generally thought to have originated within the last quarter of the 19th century in many parts of Europe. Throughout the years rock climbing has gradually evolved into a competitive athletic activity.

Although rock climbing has grown massively throughout the world, not many students at Palo Alto High School have had the opportunity to attempt this intense sport.

Junior Sean Harvey is one of the few at Paly who rock climb.

“My dad has been climbing since the ‘70’s so I was basically born into it,” Harvey said.

According to Harvey, when it comes to rock climbing it is both a physical and mental feat to reach one’s destination.

“It’s physically tough because it’s a challenge and a workout, but it’s also a mental game because you have to be confident in your gear, yourself and forget about how high up you are,” Harvey said.

Rock climbing is a sport that gives the body a complete workout.

“It works out the muscles in your entire body, plus it’s also an aerobic workout like running,” Harvey said.

When it comes to rock climbing, it is necessary to have the proper gear. A climber will need a rope, harness, carabiner, helmet and other small safety devices.

In addition to the usual gear, climbers tend to wear shoes that are smaller than usual.

“Most people wear shoes that are one or two sizes smaller than their actual feet so that they can get better grip when they climb,” senior Bradford Thorne, who has been climbing since he was six, said.

Even though rock climbing may seem simple, it is not; there is a great amount of skill required.

COURTESY OF BRADFORD THORNE

Avid rock climber Bradford Thorne, senior, climbs Half Dome at Yosemite National Park.

Recreational places such as Planet Granite offer indoor rock climbing in San Francisco.

“There’s a lot of technique, it takes a long time to get into it and it varies, everything changes depending on what kind of rock climbing you do,” Thorne said.

Although most rock climbing is difficult, there is still a recreational side.

Planet Granite, located in Sunnyvale, Belmont and San Francisco offers indoor rock climbing for beginners all the way up to experts.

Planet Granite offers climbing walls ranging from easy to difficult so that anyone who has a desire to rock climb can do so. Harvey often goes to Planet Granite to work on his technique, or to just climb.

“If you just want to have a fun time with your friends and are just messing around then Planet Granite is the place to go because most walls are easy but there are still hard walls to scale there,” Harvey said.

In addition to Planite Granite there is also Twist-

er’s Gym, which offers more difficult walls than Planite Granite does.

Kids of all ages can climb in a rock climbing gym but when it comes to the outdoor aspect of climbing, the task becomes more difficult.

“I’d recommend taking classes at an indoor climbing place to learn basic rope skills and because they have climbing routes that range from easy to hard,” Harvey said.

The indoor rock climbing gyms are utilized for recreational purposes for beginners and practice for experts, who bring their real talent to the outdoor walls when they have the time.

Once the indoor walls have been mastered, climbers typically move to outdoor walls such as Castle Rock, located along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

“It’s a lot easier to start on the indoor walls rath-

er than the outdoor walls,” Harvey said. “The indoor walls offer much easier courses compared to outdoor walls where everything is the real deal.”

Castle Rock offers miles of outdoor climbing for all ranges of skill, from beginners learning the ropes to experienced climbers looking for a challenge.

“Castle Rock is great because it offers some easy and difficult walls, and it is outdoors so that is pretty chill; it’s hard to find outdoor places around the Bay Area,” Harvey said.

Rock climbing is a sport that is becoming more popular. For those who want to experience the real deal, Yosemite is probably the place in California.

“Without a doubt Yosemite is where some of the most intense climbing in the world happens,” Harvey said. “It’s probably my favorite place to climb.”

The most historic wall to climb in the world is Half

Dome, located in Yosemite, and many people do not succeed in completing the 4,733-foot vertical wall trek.

Yosemite does have some of the most intense climbing in the world, but ultimately offers walls for any type of climber.

“Yosemite is wonderful, they have huge walls but they have almost everything there,” Thorne said.”

They have anything from beginner walls all the way to difficult walls.”

Rock climbing is growing rapidly and becoming a more common exercise outlet.

“It’s becoming more accessible and the protection is becoming cheaper,” Thorne said. “Rock climbing is especially growing in Silicon Valley because it’s becoming more accessible here.”

However, rock climbing is not only a growing sport because of its accessibility.

It is also a growing sport because of the intensity of the workout.

“The amount of exercise you get from rock climbing is outrageous, it is an instant way to get yourself fit into shape,” Harvey said.

“Rock climbing is definitely a sport everyone should try at least once. It is challenging yet a fun and really great way to get a full-body workout” Overall, people can rock climb as a leisure activity or they can step up their game to a higher level and rock climb as an intense sport. Either way, everyone should go out and try rock climbing.

Girls’ tennis team grapples with inexperience

Varsity squad struggles without seniors’ leadership

By Elizabeth Bowman and Emily Rosenthal Staff Writers

The Palo Alto High School girls’ varsity tennis team lost their match 3-4 against Mountain View High School on Oct. 13, making their overall record for the season 8-9. The team played Mountain View earlier in the season and won 4-3.

After losing nine seniors this year, the team struggled in the beginning of the season. They had lost many experienced players, but recently have picked up the pace.

“There is a lot of inexperience on the team and it’s just one of those years where you win some and you lose some,” Coach Andy Harader said. “We were one and five before we even got started this season so it has actually been a good comeback since that time, but it’s rebuilding.”

There is now only one senior on the team, co-captain Amy Ke. In addition only four of the players were returning varsity players.

“It’s just that we had only four returning players so we’re really rebuilding a team,” Harader said. “We had to get eight new players, so it’s tough when you have to do that.”

However, the girls’ team is visibly improving and is looking forward to a good season.

“We’ve gotten a lot stronger since the beginning, I can see a lot of improvement in the players,” Harader said.

For the most part, the girls’ team lacks highly competitive varsity experience.

“This year a lot of the [junior varsity team] came up [to varsity] so they’re doing better now,” Ke said.

The team still remains optimistic for the remainder of the season. According to Aahli Budhiraja, many of the main issues at the beginning was the uncertainty of the lineup, which has now been resolved.

“We mixed around with the line-up and there were a lot of new people, but we finally got the right lineup and I think it will really help us for the next few years,” sophomore singles player Budhiraja said.

CHARLOTTE BARRY/CAMPANILE

Junior Katy Abbott plays in a match on October 13 at home against Mountain View. The girls’ team won 4-3, making their overall record 8-9. The girls have been struggling after nine seniors graduated.

The players are also feeling confident about how they work together.

“There are some freshmen but they’ve [the new players] really settled in, it’s a really nice team,” Budhiraja said.

Co-captain junior Sammy Solomon voiced her opinion on the team’s dynamic as well.

“Everyone gets along really well and I think the doubles players have really bonded and they work well together,” Solomon said. “Our singles players have really good technique on their shots; they can pull out the wins.”

However, one thing both captains feel the team needs to work on tiebreaker sets.

“We need to improve on our third set records, it’s a different mentality going into the first set,” Solomon said. “We all need to take our time and really think about what we can do in the set and not rush through it.”

Ke agreed, adding that while they are equal to other teams skill-wise, they need to concentrate on the mental component of the game.

“I think mentally we have to be stronger, because it’s really a mental game,” Ke said. “We’re tying a lot but losing the third set so we just have to be stronger. We really support each other and that’s really good. Everyone was cheering at the last game.”

SPORTS

The Campanile

October 28, 2011• A11

Volleyball state champions defend title, win last six games

A Growing Sport

Shutting out opponents, Paly volleyball continues its winning streak

By Kyle Stewart and Olivia Cole Staff Writers

After a disappointing loss to Saint Francis High School on Sept. 26, Palo Alto High School bounced back nicely by winning the past six matches in a row, including rival Los Gatos High School.

“I think the key to our win streak is our hard work and great team chemistry,” junior Haley Owens said.

Paly bounced back fluently after losing to Saint Francis. Their next opponent was Los Gatos High School, Paly’s rival. The Los Gatos game was a test to see if the Lady Vikes had the character to bounce back from a tough loss.

Paly demolished Los Gatos in three straight games. Paly won the first game 25-21, then took over in the second game defeating Los Gatos 25-21 and held off the Wildcats in the last game 25-22. This match brought Paly’s 2011 record to 15-3. More importantly, this game was key to Paly because Los Gatos was the only team Paly lost to last year.

“It felt pretty good beating Los Gatos, especially because that’s the one team we lost to last year so we really wanted to come out strong and knew that they were going to put up a good fight,” juLOGAN MENDENHALL/CAMPANILE nior Shelby Knowles said.

After beating Los Gatos, Paly Senior Melanie Wade spikes the ball into two Gunn blockers during the home game against Gunn. Paly beat Gunn 3-0, and has stepped into cruise control, defeating won their past six matches without dropping a single game. The Vikes plan to use their energy against Los Gatos on Nov. 1st.

Los Altos High School in straight games “Our team chemistry has helped us as well. put the dagger down in the third game “The state championship is still our bond better as a whole, if there are con- goal, we now know what our fullest poThis game was a crucial test because whooping Monta Vista 25-10.

Paly came off with a huge win against “After beating Monta Vista we real- flicts on a team it will show on the court tential is from last season so we are Los Gatos, but they didn’t let the Los ized how dangerous our team had be- but I think our team is unique in a way working even harder to reach it,” OwGatos win get to their heads in the fol- come and that if we keep winning we’ll that everyone is supportive of each other ens said. lowing game against Los Altos. keep on having the momentum which and we all like each other,” Owens said.

Sustaining their winning streak, PaPaly was in control of the Los Altos will help our case in winning,” Owens ly dominated Los Altos for the second game the entire time, winning the first said. game 25-17, the second game 25-18 and Paly continued to roll after the Mon- time this season, winning the match afthey polished Los Altos off in the third ta Vista pounding. They handled Home- ter only three games.

Paly reached 25 in the first game game by making a closing statement stead with ease beating them in 3 Recent Scores beating Los Altos 25-16. straight games. Paly won 25-16 in the with Los Altos still trailing at 15. Even After Paly struggled first game, 25-13 in the further behind in the second game, Los vs. Los Altos on defense for a while, game and closed Altos only reached 12 by the time Pa“I think the key to our second they finally straightened the match by taking the ly hit 25 and won. Finally, in the final Oct. 20, W 3-0 game, Paly finished out the match with out some of their defen- win streak is our hard last game 25-18. vs.

Monte Vista sive problems.

The Lady Vikes beat a score of 25-17. work and great team Paly is now determined to finish “We work a lot on deMountain View High Oct. 25, W 3-0 fense during every prac- chemistry.”

School in three straight league undefeated. vs. Mountain View “After our loss to Saint Francis we tice because that is probgames with scores 25Haley Owens Oct. 27, not reported ably what needs the most 19, 25-15 and 25-11. The kind of changed our whole mind-set junior work,” Knowles said.

Viking’s game plan was and decided we would go undefeated in “We do still have kinks to stop Mountain View’s league and not only that, but we would but we’ve improved a lot of things over key player Brittney Howard and they beat every team in league in three games Upcoming Games and this mind-set is making us come out the course of all of our practices.” did just that.

After a successful outing against Los “The key to the game was stopping strong for every team,” Knowles said. @ Los Gatos The Lady Vikes have a long road Altos, Paly kept their momentum flow- [Howard] who is their big outsider, but it Nov. 1, 6:45 p.m. ing by annihilating Monta Vista High was mainly just worrying about our side ahead but they have the talent and work School in straight games once again. and serving tough and trying to make as ethic to capture back to back state titles. vs. Gunn Paly came storming out of the gates tak- few mistakes as possible,” Knowles said. Paly’s main goal is still to remain state Nov. 3, 6:45 p.m. ing the first game 25-18. They cruised As the season continues, the Lady champions and keep up with their momentum. in the second game winning 25-16, and Vikes grow closer to each other.

VOLLEYBALL

Loss to Los Gatos puts Vikings out of first place in football league

Despite tough loss, Paly’s expectations remain high for rest of the season

By James Foug and Wesley Shiau Staff Writers

After an early season loss to Archbishop Mitty High School, the Palo Alto High School varsity football team proved successful in its two recent games against Homestead High School and Wilcox High School despite a recent loss to Los Gatos High School.

The Vikings played Homestead High School on Sept. 30 and came out on top with a score of 29-13.

Homestead recovered an opening kickoff fumble by Paly and then a few plays later the Mustangs scored a touchdown giving them a lead of 7-0. But the Vikings responded when senior running back B.J. Boyd scored off of the next kick off with an 83 yard run tying the game.

Coupled with the ensuing two point conversion, the Vikings quickly took the lead 8-7.

“I’m very happy that we got better and improved in the second half,” Vikings head coach Earl Hansen said. “Each play we were getting better on offense and defense. We started playing more physical and with more enthusiasm in the second half. They did not score in the second half and that was our goal.”

The Vikings went on to score another seven points when sophomore quarterback Keller Chryst hit Boyd off of a 26 yard pass increasing Paly’s lead to 15-7.

“Homestead was real physical and they ran the ball a lot,” senior Tory Prati said. “Wilcox runs that veer-option and they will running the ball a lot too.

We will watch film and have a good week of practice and get ready to bring it to them.”

In their next game, Paly played Wilcox High School and dominated them almost the entire game, defeating the Chargers 42-13. Despite Wilcox tak-

LOGAN MENDENHALL/CAMPANILE

Wide-receiver Jayshawn Mouton catches a 97-yard pass from quarterback Keller Chryst. Paly defeated Saratoga 41-9 bringing their record to 4-2. Paly plans to use their momentum in Friday’s home game. ing the lead early on an 60 yard pass, and the other off of a 48 touchdown pass from Wilcox yard pass. “[Boyd] played a great game quarterback Andrew Aguilar to wide-receiver Keenan Gates. against Wilcox,” junior center However, the Vikings were able Spencer Drazovich said. “He is to keep their confidence in part a great athlete and he knows due to a 80 yard kickoff return how to use his blocks and avoid for a touchdown by senior B.J. tackles.”

The score did not change in Boyd. the third quarJust a few ter, but two minutes later, minutes into senior running “We can still win the final quarback Morris league. We just have G a t e s - M o u t o n to work hard and keep ter junior Jayshawn Gatesscored on a 56 Mouton caught yard touchdown winning and play well a 41-yard run extending leading up to CCS” touchdown the Vikings lead.

Ozzy Braff pass from In the second quarter, Pasenior Chryst. With 6:45 minutes ly scored three touchdowns without retaliation left in the game, Wilcox manending the half ahead 35-7. Se- aged to put up another seven nior running back Dre Hill ran points after a successful 40 for a 69 yard touchdown, while yard pass.

“I think the defensive line Boyd scored two additional touchdowns, one off of a 36 yard played really well in shutting

down the Wilcox run game,” Drazovich said. “They helped us a lot in winning the game.”

The following week, Paly played Los Gatos High School.

On the first defensive play of the game, senior tight end and linebacker Austin Braff re-aggravated his ankle limiting him the rest of the game. After B.J. Boyd caught a touchdown pass from Keller Chryst to tie the game at 14 in the fourth quarter, Paly had forced Los Gatos to into a fourth down situation. But after a roughing the punter penalty, giving the Wildcats a first down, Los Gatos completed a 39 yard pass to the Paly ten yard line setting up a game winning 24 yard field goal.

These two schools have had close intense games in the past always competing for the top spot in league. However, the Wildcats now move into first place of the De-Anza division of

the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League with a record of 5-01 overall and 2-0-1 in league.

Paly moves to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in league.

Even though Paly has now lost two games, including one in league, there is still high expectation for the rest of the season and also CCS playoffs.

Another State Championship appearance is highly unlikely but right now Paly has their sights on winning league.

“We can still win league,” Braff said. “We just have to work hard and keep winning and play well leading up to CCS [playoffs].”

Paly got back on track last Friday night at Saratoga when Paly dominated the Falcons 41-9. Paly went up 28-0 to start the game in the first quarter. Paly scored two more times including a 70 yard touchdown by Dre Hill. Chryst finished with four touchdown passes and was mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle for his elite performance. After Los Gatos dropped a crucial game to Milpitas, Paly now ties Los Gatos for first place in league. However, the Wildcats hold the tiebreaker of head to head. Paly next plays Mountain View this Friday night at home.

FOOTBALL Recent Scores vs. Los Gatos Oct. 14, L 14-17 vs. Saratoga Oct. 21, W 41-9 Upcoming Games vs. Los Altos Nov. 4, 7:30p.m. @ Milpitas

brianbenton If Paly publications are known for having too many of a particular type of story, it would likely be pieces on why different “sports” actually are sports. We’ve had articles on dance, NASCAR, figure skating (I found that one to be especially well-argued), hacky-sacking and now cheerleading. Well ladies and gentlemen, I see no reason to part from this growing tradition, so here’s another: professional facial hair growing or, as fans of the sport call it, bearding.

Let me explain how the sport works. As Phil Olsen, captain of Beard Team USA put it, bearding revolves around “growing, cultivating and styling facial hair.” Competitors compete in certain categories — freestyle sideburns, Salvador Dali-style and of course, full beard natural, to name a few — and are judged in characteristics like length, historical significance and color.

The popularity of the sport, along with the competitors’ hair, grew immensely during Whisker Wars, a TV show on IFC (International Film Channel) that followed the Beard Team USA’s run on the 2011 competitive circuit.

There’s a saying in bearding that goes: “A man doesn’t grow a beard.

A beard grows a man.” That’s what American sports need right about now — a bit of inspiration and a bit of shear entertainment! The NBA is in a lockout, my fantasy football team is off to a solid 1-5 start and soccer is soccer.

The biggest argument against bearding as a sport is that anyone can grow a beard, so bearding requires no talent. Well, first of all, most women can’t grow facial hair, so that cuts out half of potential athletes (although they still could compete if they like, thanks to Title IX!).

Most freshmen can’t grow facial hair, so that eliminates another chunk of potential athletes.

Take away people whose significant others don’t like stubble and Barack Obama, who in 2006 said he “can’t grow facial hair,” and you’re left with a very limited number of possible elite competitors. Even I, someone with a huge desire to join in on the sport, physically can’t. Yet. The sport also requires more of a time commitment than any of those silly little ball games. Bearders must work for years to get their facial hair in competition form and hours each week to keep it up to par.

You think two hours in the weight room is tough? Imagine two hours of combing out knots or trimming split ends. So you can bench 250? Real cool. But can you style proper Three Musketeers inspired whiskers? I doubt it.

Bearding not only requires talent, but charisma as well. LeBron James is arguably the most popular basketball player in America, partially for his skill but also simply because he is, both literally and metaphorically, a baller. James’ combination of swagger and personality are an anomaly in the world of traditional American sports. Kris Humphries’ bland personality, recently revealed on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, is more in line with the majority of athletes. Kris, bless your heart, but you make Lamar Odom look like charming.

Bearding is full of these LeBron James-esque athletes, though. Jack Passion, the two-time full beard natural world champion known for his fiery beard and even more fiery personality once said that “everyone has hobbies, and my hobby is winning.”

Elmar Weisser, winner of the 2011 World Beard and Mustache Championship Best in Show, has shaped his beard into a reindeer, a bicycle and the flag of his homeland of Norway. These men, not Kobe Bryant, not Derek Jeter and not even Brian Wilson, are what America wants in its athletes!

We need bearding to bring us back to what sports once were! We need real heroes! We need “Viking tries growing a beard!” We need ASB to go into their secret ‘stache of excess money and start a Paly Bearding Club. We need people to stop calling the stars of the Lion King Mufasa and Simba, but instead their real names, Moustacha and Simbeard!

We need little boys, and even girls, to go up to their bearded fathers and say, “Dad, one day I want a beard just like you!”

Forget asking if we’re ready for some football, because I mustache you a much more important question and no, I absolutely can’t shave it for later! ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BEARDING?

Lifest yles The Campanile

Features • A&E • People

Friday, October 28, 2011• B1

Byrd’s Eye View

meghanbyrd Hey Paly!

This is a new column where I will be discussing important issues that need addressing in the Paly community.

For my first topic I picked something that seemed simply unavoidable: under-dressed students. Now I know this topic may seem jaded since it seems that it’s been the talk of the town lately, but to my utter disbelief some new faces on campus (and even worse, some who have been here for three years) have clearly missed the memo.

First, let’s lay out some ground rules.

1. If I can see more than a half inch of your stomach, it has to go.

The only appropriate time to rock a crop is restricted to seniors dressing up for 90s Day during Spirit Week.

2. Let’s save the body-con dresses for Illusions, shall we ladies?

3. Short shorts are all right as long as they’re covering more than just the bare minimum, which is not the case with many pairs worn by Paly girls.

4. The student body does not, I repeat, DOES NOT need to see your lacy black bra hanging out while walking around on campus, and neither do administrators nor teachers.

5. Absolutely no high heels. Does this one even need explaining?

6. There’s this article of clothing called an undershirt that you should wear under a see-through shirt. Use it.

7. BE CLASSY! As much as it pains me to say it, I feel like half the outfits girls choose to wear to school I wouldn’t even dream of wearing out on a weekend night.

Now I do not consider myself an expert 0, but I do like to dress for the occasion. This means that if I’m going to school, I’ll be wearing jeans, a sweater, maybe a dress or my absolute favorites: the must-have yoga pants (cropped or full-length, they are equally wonderful).

I usually like to look put together, less so for my peers than for the confidence it gives me when I’m in the classroom. Dressing appropriately allows me to concentrate on my schoolwork, and respect myself.

Exposing outfits can raise two problems: 1. If you’re constantly worrying about your shirt being too low, it will be hard to focus in class. Even worse, if you need to readjust your position every two minutes to avoid people seeing up your excessively short skirt, it will pose as a distraction to you and your fellow classmates.

2. If you’re like me, wearing an excessively revealing outfit means that it’s hard to take both yourself and your education seriously.

I know, this may sound stupid and maybe a little annoying, but trust me, wearing comfy, classy clothes makes learning so much better.

On a broader scale, remember that you’re at school to learn. That means that no, you should not be pulling out your miniature hair straightener in the middle of class.

Equally as embarrassing is brushing your lovely locks during a boring lecture. Even worse: putting on gobs of makeup in the bathroom during brunch or passing period. C’mon now, I know we’re better than that.

One last piece of advice. If you would feel awkward wearing the outfit in front of an employer, family member or other adult, then it’s probably not a good idea to wear to school.

As Paly students, we are extremely blessed that we go to a school that treats its students with respect and gives them responsibility that many other high schoolers would kill for.

Having a barely existing dress code is one of them, and abusing this tradition taints the reputation of the school and the smart, capable student who go here.

So, freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors too, let’s clean it up and make sure that everyone is putting their best (dressed) foot forward.

By Charlotte Barry and Marie Ezran Staff Writers

A line of sugar-high children extending to the sidewalk, a joyful pirate handing out candy from a cauldron, amazed crowds gathering around the collection of illuminated pumpkins and flashing photography define a typical Halloween night at Bryan Long’s house.

Long, a Palo Alto resident and parent, does not just decorate his house with a few spiderwebs and lay out a bowl of candy for Halloween.

Instead, he spends hours preparing for the holiday, perfecting his main attraction: carved pumpkins. Not the typical triangle and circle cutout carvings, but instead a collection of intricately etched pumpkins designed with a common theme. Halloween has always been one of Long’s favorite holidays because of the creativity it entails and his memories of trick-or-treating while growing up.

“I had fond memories of Halloween from trick-or-treating when I was a kid so I sort of got back to it,” Long said.

When Long moved to his current home in 2003, he was inspired by his neighbor’s elaborate Halloween decorations. Motivated by his neighbor’s example, Long decided to decorate his house for the event and carve the traditional pumpkins, but in an untraditional way.

“I wanted to do interesting pumpkins, so I looked on the Internet,” Long said. “I saw this [pumpkin] of Nemo, the fish and it was one of those fancier carvings that you did not carve all the way through.”

Long’s pumpkins elicited an enthusiastic reaction from the children who could immediately recognize the iconic fish, so he decided to continue carving pumpkins using this special process.

“Each year I just starting doing [these types of carvings] more and more and each year I got a little more ambitious,” Long said.

Long begins to think about a theme for the pumpkin display throughout the year but does not start the actual process until a week prior to Halloween. After buying pumpkins at a local farm stand, he begins by cleaning out the insides of the pumpkins, a process called gutting.

“About a week before Halloween, I start gutting them because that is the hardest part on my hands,” Long said.

Long created a toolbox specifically for carving that is filled with tools used for different steps throughout the project. Many of the commercial instruments he bought were poor quality or broke easily, so he decided to make his own using various steel blades and paint scrapers.

A few days before Halloween, Long begins the intense carving.

“The day before Halloween is set aside [for carving],” Long said. “It is a 16 hour day, morning to night. Just me, my bottle of red wine and my tools.”

Long uses a black and white photograph as a model for the design of his pumpkins.

“I enhance the contrast [of the photo] so that I have fewer shades of grey,” Long said. “I really want to get it down to four levels of grey.”

Each shade represents how much deeper Long will have to carve in the pumpkin to create the three dimensional image. This technique can be seen when Long carved President Barack Obama in 2008.

“When you are doing a particular person, you don’t have leeway,” Long said. “It has to look like them.”

For the darker part of the pumpkin, like Obama’s hair, Long kept the skin of the pumpkin but scratched little lines in it with a sharp tool to create the movement and texture of his hair. He then wanted a medium shade, for parts of the neck and under the eyebrows, so Long peeled off the skin of the pumpkin but left it fairly thick.

To highlight the face and create more contrast, he scraped closer and closer from the inside to the outside of the pumpkin. Lastly, for the parts that are really bright, like Obama’s teeth, he cut all the way through the pumpkin so that the light can shine through still making sure that the light source cannot be seen.

“I don’t use candles,” Long said. “I use fluorescent light bulbs which are brighter.”

A&E

Another part of Long’s project encompasses the display of the pumpkins in front of his house to enhance the theme and create a Halloween atmosphere. For example, last year, Long was inspired by Native American culture and art to create a totem pole by stacking six large pumpkins but the set-up for the totem pole alone took a few days.

“This was the most elaborate I ever got,” Long said. “I had to mount 2-by-4s into the cement in the ground to create the pole because I did not want it falling on any kids. There was a little wooden platform attached by the 2-by-4 pole underneath each pumpkin to provide the rest.”

Another year, Long created a bamboo structure decorated with spider webs to hang his pumpkins. This was one of his favorite years because he was able to carve imaginative scary faces without being restricted by a certain perfect design or look.

“The fun thing about faces that are not a particular person is that I don’t have to work from a picture,” Long said. “If I screw up and make it distorted, that’s okay because they are supposed to be roguish, grotesque looking people anyway.”

The amount of time and energy Long spends carving on the pumpkins and Halloween as a whole has resulted in huge success throughout the years. Not only do the carved pumpkins appeal to those of younger age, but they also appeal to adults and teenagers who are amazed by the detailed work and beauty.

Long’s neighbor and Palo Alto High School junior Shaheen Essabhoy, whose favorite theme was the Obama election, enjoys the elaborate design and the overall incorporation of the pumpkins with the decoration of the house.

“They are beautifully crafted,” Essabhoy said. “It’s cool how he makes the theme around it.”

Although Long does most of the project on his own, his wife, Tobi Bruce, helps out on Halloween night and loves seeing the community come together while admiring his artwork.

“I pass out candy or sit [on the porch] with Bryan and other family members because it such a spectacle event,” Bruce said. “There are so many people that come and it is really fascinating to watch the people look at his pumpkins.”

Throughout the years Long has enjoyed carving the pumpkins and creating a popular Halloween event, but this has not happened without an enormous time commitment and effort on his part. The amount of work Long spends on these projects worries him with the little time he has to give this year.

First, having Halloween on a Monday night is not ideal for him and second, although Long appreciates the attention, he is overwhelmed with the amount of people that come outside his house every year.

“Last year there were about 2,500 trick-or-treaters coming to our door,” Long said. “It would be nice if we could tone it down a bit [because] it has become such a big event.”

This upcoming Halloween, Long does not want to do anything major but he is still thinking about several possible ideas.

“It is really going to come down to the week before [Halloween],” Long said. “I may do a portrait of my father, which would be a nice tribute or maybe a portrait of Steve Jobs.”

Regardless of his uncertain plans for this Halloween, both Long and Bruce appreciate the recognition he has received from the community throughout the years and the joy it has created.

“I think [the] coolest part is the community spirit,” Bruce said. “It just seems like what Bryan does [makes] our house such a central focus for the community for Halloween and it’s just re-

FEATURES

A&E

The Campanile

Calling it Quits

F E AT U R E S

Friday, October 28, 2011

Locals, visitors alike amazed by world’s largest corn maze

By Chrissie Cheng Staff Writer

charliedulik On Oct. 4, 2011, I deleted my Facebook account. Cue audience gasp. How could one expect to live in the social media age without the giant itself, right?

To put this obviously monumental decision in context, I first must explain the reasoning that went into my account deactivation, and yes, technically I only deactivated my account, but that is only because all-mighty Facebook has decreed that I cannot delete my account. I’m serious. Well, maybe not entirely.

Too many hours spent watching Breaking Bad have lead me to believe that the best simile for this phenomenon is that Facebook is like a mean drug dealer — it never really lets you quit.

But I digress. When I first began contemplating this life-altering decision, I drew up a Pros and Cons list (not to be confused with “Prose and Cons,” the burgeoning beat poetry/underground hip hop group that I created 30 seconds ago after thinking of what a great pun that would be).

On the positive side, the ‘Book offers an increased social life (much to my parents’ chagrin). help with schoolwork in the form of support groups (the term “support group” makes the whole drug analogy way too easy to make) and a place where I could learn the birthday of every single person I’ve ever met (witty comment in parenthesis).

The Cons-ervative (hold your applause until the end of the column) side contained more in depth reasons.

First, Facebook wasted hours upon hours of my time. There are those to whom Facebook can be used in moderation. I am not one of those people.

Leading historians believe that once again my popularity proved itself to be my Achilles heel. With so many hordes of peers all clamoring for my Internet attention, I was tragically forced into spending hours communicating and social networking.

Next, as a teenage boy, it is a biological necessity to go through a rebellious phase (I think I read that in my freshmen biology textbook. Side note, I call things that do not exist my freshmen biology textbook), so deleting my Facebook has brought me a leather jacket and a bad attitude away from being James Dean.

Finally, I have found myself in agreement with the notion that the conformity and dependence that Facebook has nurtured from its users is easily equitable to that of Big Brother, though I must state that being enslaved by an indulgence is much closer to Huxley’s dystopian writing than Orwell’s.

In the end, I chose to have more free time and a superior attitude over increased communication with friends and some help on school assignments, and truth be told I feel so superior already (although knowing that my Dad and Grandpa are now more socially connected online than I is a tad depressing).

When asked why I left Facebook, not being of a palaverous nature, I have been known to respond with the blunt answer (the drug allegory is still going hard), “Because [expletive] Facebook, that’s why.”

So far a grand total of zero people have questioned me further than that.

Literally every single person I have talked to have decided that was an acceptable reason.

However, my account did not stay down for long. About a week and a half after my initial deactivation, I received a smug email from Facebook gloating that my account had been reactivated.

Whether this was the work of a Hal from 2001: A Space Odysseylike Facebook machine or a doting friend who could not stand social networking without me, I do not know.

Whoever you are, know this: I refuse to give up so soon. If you really need me, I can be contacted by carrier pigeon.

The one drawback I see myself running into without Facebook is that I no longer have the ability to answer the question that has been nagging at me for the better part of the last two years. That is, what in the heck is Farmville?

It is that lovely time of the year when the summer leaves get crunchy and crackle, pumpkins are carved with crazy designs, scarecrows and gigantic spider webs cover front yards and we all somewhat overdose on candy.

But nothing can beat the simple bliss of being stuck in a corn maze, with nothing but the sight of 11 feet high corn for 45 acres.

No getting out, no crying for help, no one to hear you, only the dried up corn to laugh at your puzzled and anxious face for a good sum of two hours.

In Dixon, California, Cool Patch Pumpkins is known for growing the biggest corn maze in the world. Pictured in the 2007 and 2009 Guinness Book of World Records, families come to visit the special pumpkin patch during fall to enjoy the fun and attractions, and inevitably get lost inside the gigantic corn maze.

Founded by Matt and Mark Cooley, the two brothers started the idea of their intricate corn maze back in 2000 when they were interested in selling pumpkins for Halloween.

When attracting customers to buy pumpkins turned out to be more difficult than expected, the Cooley brothers decided to take a different approach on selling their pumpkins, and instead built something that would wow the customers by growing a corn maze.

As their success of a corn maze career began to take shift, the Cooley brothers decided that each year they would try to outdo their last maze, making it either larger, trickier, and better than before.

Mark Cooley designs the mind-boggling maze on Excel and the Cooley Brothers have their friends and family come to help and make the corn grow in their creative designs.

Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., guests are able to try out the well-known maze themselves with a very puzzling map in hand for an admission fee of $10 for adults and $8 for children.

Guiding maze-takers to the exit of the maze, the corn maze map also leads guests to three platforms throughout the maze to let guests see what the maze looks like from the top.

CHRISSIE CHENG/CAMPANILE

On the Cool Patch Pumpkin website are GPS coordinates for those interested in finding the landmarks in a more direct way. Especially during evening hours, many guests may get a little worried when trying to figure out the maze, with it’s dark and mysterious surroundings.

Anxious guests can give their phone number to Cool Patch Pumpkin guards, who they can keep in contact with during their journey. After 6 PM, however, guests under the age of 18 cannot go through without a guardian.

Not only do the Cooley brothers grow and cut their own corn, they also produce a variety of pumpkins. Growing tens of thousands of pumpkins, the Cool Pumpkin Patch grows dozens of different types (the Cinderella, Magic Lantern, Flying Saucer, Goose Bumps and Indian Corn Bloody Butcher to name a few). Ranging from 50 cents to $50 dollars, families are provided with wooden wagons to carry home their own special pumpkin as a souvenir from the Cool Pumpkin Patch.

Also available to purchase are 3 dollar hay rides, during which families are able to ride along on the back of trucks to enjoy the sweet fall breeze and hayride smell. A kids zone is sectioned off for children to climb on a straw mountain, play around inside a tipi village and swim in the well-known corn bath pool (but beware — there is no lifeguard on duty).

Pedal karts for the family are also available in the kids zone, for family-fun entertainment.

And the kid zone wouldn’t be

complete without it’s own child sized corn maze for them to get lost in.

And just when you think the ultimate pumpkin patch experience is over, the Cool Patch Pumpkin farm sells delicious food and drinks for guests to munch on during their extravaganza. With their tri-tip sandwiches, candies and variety of drinks, the Cooley brothers also offer guests plenty of refreshments.

Throughout the season, Cool Patch Pumpkins hosts events for guests to take a part in.

The Scarecrow contest gives scarecrow-makers the chance to win cash that adds up to thousands of dollars with the ultimate prize of 5000 dollars, and are displayed throughout the farm.

At the end of every year, the Cool Pumpkin Patch also has an annual smashing of the pumpkin.

In 2010, the brothers choose their heaviest pumpkin, weighing 1000 pounds, to smash a beat up a Volkswagen beetle.

This year, the Cooley brothers grew an 800-pound pumpkin, which was even feature on the Channel 31 news.

The Cool Patch Pumpkin farm is a unique and thrilling place for huge parties to enjoy or even for a couple to enjoy.

With the ultimate corn maze and numerous attractions, the Cool Patch Pumpkins is the place to celebrate the beauty and harvest of the fall season, as the holidays approach.

You will be able to cross off “succeeding the biggest corn maze in the world” off your bucket list.

CHRISSIE CHENG/CAMPANILE

Visitors enter the mysterious maze with their maps ready for a two hour adventure surrounded by eleven feet high corn crops.

California’s Great America hosts special Halloween Haunt

Visitors attend yearly horror night event held at Santa Clara’s amusement park

By Olivia Cole Staff Writer

Outside the parking lot of California’s Great America, spooky theme music can be heard in a distant echo, preparing guests for the night ahead. Once inside the gates of the park, zombies, witches, ghosts and other creepy figures wander the paths, on the lookout for their next victim. A man with blood dripping from his mouth holds a running chain saw in his hands and chases after one poor visitor. They disappear behind a lighted square where a defenseless person writhes in an electric chair, screaming and thrashing around.

Out of nowhere, a disturbing clown slides into the crowd, followed by a loud rattle that goes off like a firecracker. People run, and while checking over their shoulder to make sure the clown didn’t follow, a zombie jumps out and moans, sending the guests running away faster.

Up ahead, three seemingly living corpses perform for a group of spectators, using barrels and trash cans as drums in a brief music show. All around guests run in search of a secure area, that does not exist in the realm of the living dead.

Behind this creepy chaos, visitors scream on rollercoasters and other thrill rides like “The Demon,” “Drop Zone” and “The Grizzly.”

The Halloween Haunt at California’s Great America is a real-life horror movie, just waiting for brave souls who dare to enter this living nightmare.

The Haunt is equipped with six mazes, three “scare zones,” five stage shows and one themed attraction. The “CarnEvil” maze, for example, is full of eerie clowns that lurk around every corner, while “the Gauntlet” scare zone is crawling with “tortured souls” just looking for their next victim. While all the attractions intimidate visitors, each one has its own theme and original, chilling elements.

The “Toy Factory” maze, waiting for guests at the back of the park, is elabo-

rately set up with room after room of toys and decorations in every nook. One room has dolls’ heads hanging from the ceiling while another houses a supposedly young boy trapped and screaming behind a glass wall. People dressed as dolls and other toy-themed characters wait for a guest to round each corner so they can scream and send their victim running to the next room to repeat the cycle.

Farther up in the park, the “Slaughterhouse Annihilation” Maze generates screams that can be heard from 100 feet away. Each room in the maze is furnished with an abundance of meat-related items.

Behind every wall waits a bloody figure holding a massive knife or pounding on the walls, while visitors jump at the loud bangs.

The haunted attractions set up throughout the park are not the only aspects of the Haunt that are meant to panic visitors; the 15,000 square feet of Great America is transformed into a complete scare scene. The tunnels and walkways in the park are flooded with spooky fog and creepy figures run around targeting innocent guests.

The creators of the Halloween Haunt definitely made an impression on junior Marco Vienna, who went to the Haunt this year for the first time.

“The greatest part about it was definitely the people running around chasing people and startling you,” Vienna said.

“Also riding the rides at night was really cool.”

Visitors to the park in previous years have also found the Halloween Haunt to be petrifying. Sophomore Aida Goma Petit still remembers her time at the Haunt as a true fright night.

“I was so scared,” Goma Petit said.

“Before I went I was excited because people told me it was really fun, but when I got there I almost peed my pants! I remember the ‘CornStalkers’ maze was really scary...These scarecrows would pop out of nowhere and get in your face and

GREAT AMERICA/CREATIVE COMMONS

Special events and activities welcome attendees at the entrance of California’s Great America Halloween Haunt. Vampires and witches set mysterious and spooky moods. you’d just be trying so hard to get out of there.”

Raul Rehnborg, vice-president and general manager of Great America, commented on the park’s goals for Halloween Haunt 2011.

“Each year we strive to improve on this amazing event, and this year is no different with the addition of the new shows and re-theming of the maze and scare zone, Halloween Haunt has become the premier Halloween event in the Bay area,” Rehnborg said. “No one can hear you screaming, if they are screaming too.”

Four new additions complete the Haunt for 2011: the “Slaughterhouse Annihilation” maze, the “Dead Man’s Cove Forsaken Souls” scare zone, the “Blood Drums” show and the “Zombies Gone Viral” show.

Great America also has Halloween covered for children 12 and under. For families who are not interested in a terrifying,

sinister Halloween experience, Snoopy’s Costume Party is a far more timid version of the Haunt that runs during the daytime on October weekends.

“Planet Snoopy,” the children’s area in the park, is transformed into “Planet Spooky,” equipped with less-threatening rides perfect for younger children. The “Peanuts” themed area is less intimidating than the Haunt, and much more focused on lighthearted fun for the entire family.

For those who are looking for a scare this Halloween, the Haunt costs $41.99 (general admission). Deals are available when purchasing multiple tickets at a time, or if the buyer has a season pass to the park.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the park. The Halloween Haunt takes place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night from 7 p.m. to midnight and ends Sunday, Oct. 30th.

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F E AT U R E S

October 28, 2011 • B3

China 2.0 conference discusses country’s economic growth Speakers analyze connection between economy boom and innovation

By Michael Abrams Editor-In-Chief

The week of Sept. 26 was plagued with trouble across America. For the first time since its inception, the Occupy Wall Street movement had broken ground and the world was hearing of its fury.

By mid-week the stock market had taken another characteristic dip, the type of dip that Americans have reluctantly been forced to accept as yet another disappointment in the worn fabric of the free world’s economy.

Yet beyond the earth-shattering echoes of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the ever-alarming graph of the week’s stock trading — approaching a turn for the red — something different was happening in Palo Alto.

While the huddled masses of Occupy Wall Street continued to grow in size and stock traders hastily dodged the angry tide in New York City, the Santa Ana winds had blown something unexpected to the Stanford campus. A large stream of Chinese businesspeople, mostly young students and techies in their 20s and 30s, filed into a broad auditorium, where they were greeted with smiles and excited laughter. It was on this day, while thousands of Americans might have walked by this ode to our economy with contempt, the delighted members of the “Transforming Media & Commerce: China 2.0” conference looked onward with charmed smiles.

Although domestically America may be known unequivocally for its uncompromising value of freedom, in China that idea is debatable. While factories closed and corporations struggled in America during the last decade, China experienced unprecedented economic growth. China was the place where cities could grow in a night, where companies could blossom in a week, and where production could flourish at a second to second rate. Could it really be true that in this already dominating superpower, internet had only been introduced 17 years ago?

Stanford University and the Institute of High Energy Physics in Beijing worked together in 1994 to introduce public internet access to China. According to a study done by Stanford University, China now has two times the number of internet users as does the U.S. And China is only growing. As the Chinese financial climate is increasingly affected by the digitization of the economy, researchers at Stanford predict that the world will turn to China in the next few decades to search for the same promise of profit that lured the world to America for the past two centuries. It is China’s game now.

The Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE), a research team that explores the growth of innovation in the leading regions of the world, is dedicated to understanding the China of today and of tomorrow. China 2.0, one of SPRIE’s newest projects, examines how China’s economy is changing rapidly as a result of technological advances. SPRIE held a conference on Sept. 30 at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business to share the results of the China 2.0 research conducted in the past year and to set up a forum for Chinese business leaders to analyze China’s economic expansion.

“We’re trying to understand this constellation, as the Chinese frontiers are coming together as a new single frontier,” China 2.0 Senior Advisor Duncan Clark said. “This type of structure facilitates greater potential. Every business wants to see where they are in that node.”

A node is a connection for capital, a crucial link in the Chinese tech sector that builds an ever-

both the Chinese and American market. How does this innovation manifest itself in China? That remains debatable, even for Chinese businesspeople struggling in the global marketplace on a daily basis. Yet for Jian Shuo Wang, the founder and CEO of online classifieds website Baixing.com, focus is key.

Other Chinese innovators, however, adamantly disagreed with Wang. Nick Yang, the co-founder of NASDAQ listed KongZhong, smiled happily at Wang while excitedly explaining to the crowd that the key to success is precisely the opposite of workoriented focus. Above all, Yang stressed one factor: speed. And in such a competitive, dramatically changing marketplace as China’s, these problems abound.

Ranging from managing a simple “comment” feature on Wang’s website to simply outworking the competition, problems to innovation are unsettling to entrepreneurs. With hard work, however, innovation in China remains rewarding, according to Demopoulos.

“China is going to be the greatest story of the next 500 years,” Demopoulos said. “China will be SPRIE/CREATIVE COMMONS a part of your project today, your next project, and definitely our third. It’s very important to start your China 2.0 is one of the Stanford Program on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s new projects.

China adventure today.”

Despite the economic crash taking place in the United States, China’s business and economy are thriving.

Even in the volatile Chinese market, the siren call of hope that hard work can truly pay off strengthening constellation. Nodes can be compa- result of purely internal growth, there are deeper has been propagated in part by the skyrocketing nies, places or even people: people like Tim Chang, roots to this trend according to Kwan. For the past dreams of one man: Jack Ma. Ask any Chinese enthe Managing Director of the Mayfield Fund, Paul ten years, as the American technology sector has trepreneur who Jack Ma is, and they will gush over Kwan, managing director of Morgan Stanley, Da- exploded in conjunction with growth in China, the Ma’s catapulting climb to the top of China’s online vid Chao, the co-founder and Managing Partner of Chinese government has systematically blocked market. His story is everywhere in China, just as DCM and Richard Lim, the Managing Director and these blooming American companies from influenc- his website, Taobao, is everywhere. co-founder of GSR Ventures. These businessmen ing China’s market. Facebook and Google’s debated He is the man who dared to compete with eBay are part of an elite new class of e-commerce inves- presence emerged as two of the most well known and build what is now known in America the “eBay tors trained at Stanford, and operating in China, examples of the Chinese government’s anger, but of China.” The keynote speaker at the China 2.0 who have capitalized on the Chinese frontier by us- beyond such high-profile cases China continues to conference, Ma explained how his story began modencourage domestic growth by halting internation- estly. ing the “constellation” to their advantage.

These venture capitalists represent a neo-rich al expansion inward.

“I was rejected by so many venture capitalists “No U.S. company in history has ever entered [in America, but] I went back to China selling the movement in China, an emerging wealthy class that reaps tremendous profit by prowling the ex- China and stayed there,” Chang said.

American dream,” Ma said.

As China pushes forward from the investment ploding Chinese market for hints of successful tech According to Ma, his success is attributed to relycompanies in which to invest. Hancock gathered standpoint, however, a key facet of China’s expan- ing on a “back to China, back to basics” perspective. the four men together at the China 2.0 conference sion is the growth of technological innovation. A Whenever his Alibaba Corporation’s profits fell, Ma group of well known Chito discuss their investment strategies. examined how localizing “We have PC and mobile expansion going on nese entrepreneurs spoke management to a smaller quicker than in the U.S.,” Chao said. “Facebook is together at the conference, scale and keeping manage“We’re trying to understand this late to the game, and Android has already explod- sharing with the crowd ment only in China could constellation, as the Chinese their experiences with runed.” improve success.

While Americans were just setting up their first ning internet startups in While Ma emphasized frontiers are coming together as a Facebook accounts, selling their first used iPods on China. The founder of Chimany of the other undernew single frontier.” eBay and trying to figure out what a little game na’s largest travel website lying topics of the China Duncan Clark 2.0 conference, including called “FarmVille” was, China had already seen it Qunar, Fritz Demopouall. Most Americans have never heard of companies los, explained that the Chigreater collaboration beChina 2.0 Senior Advisor like Moonbasa, Vana, Qunar and Renren, yet these nese start-up market is cuttween the U.S. and China were the booming online social networking busi- throat. in investment opportuni“Creating wealth in China is not easy,” Demo- ties, and using the internet to harvest “constellanesses that captivated the Chinese market long before American teens were enthralled by Myspace poulos said. “It’s a bleeding market.” tions” better linking the U.S. and China, members Qunar, although functionally similar to U.S. of the conference were left wondering how a rocky and adults made connections with LinkedIn. Yet as China propels itself forward with a seemingly sites like Kayak and Expedia, has changed the game past — especially with respect to Ma — would influendless supply of innovation, competition in Silicon of the travel industry fundamentally. While Amer- ence this dynamic.

Valley begins to question: where is all this capital ican companies such as Facebook and Google are “You talked about how you had no [venture capdiscouraged from movement towards China’s mar- italists] support when you were in Silicon Valley, coming from?

According to Kwan, the answer is all about per- ket, massive tech conglomerates are encouraged by but there was one person here who did help you,” ception. While the U.S. judges China based off its the Chinese government to seek profits in the inter- one member of the conference said, referring to Ya“huge market, high growth and high quantity” im- national market by preparing for IPOs in the U.S. hoo! founder Jerry Yang’s ongoing support of Aliage, this phenomenon is merely a reflection of Chi- after development in China. Innovation, therefore, baba. “In fact, he invested over $1 billion in your na’s true capacity. Instead, late stage investing is is much more crucial in the Chinese market than company.” the key element to China’s expansion as it plays the American market, Demopoulos explained.

Five minutes later, Ma announced that he has Barred from penetration into China, America’s concrete plans to purchase Yahoo! in its entirety off of China’s expanding infrastructure, innovation technological innovators enjoy a comparatively this year. and “intensity.”

Although Chinese investors are quick to empha- smaller competition effect, while Chinese innova“We are interested in getting the whole,” Ma size that China’s economy has strengthened as a tors are left fighting to compete for dominance on said. “The China piece is already ours.”

Student violence forum raises awareness about teen dating issues

Committee increases student involvement, combats unhealthy relationships

By Maddie Berger

Vice Chair, working with Los Altos High School senior Gabi Hamlett, who is the We have seen it on TV, in movies and Executive Chair.

The other members of the committee in books, yet for many people at Palo Alto High School teen domestic violence represent Menlo School, Archbishop Mitseems foreign and impossible and is not ty High School, Homestead High School, a subject usually spoken about. Howev- Castilleja School and Kehillah Jewish er, even though we may not see it, do- High School.

The committee’s main focus has remestic violence can infiltrate any comcently been helping to organize the anmunity.

A recent survey of schools found there nual domestic violence forum at Santa were an estimated 4,000 incidents of Clara Valley Medical Center, which took rape or other types of sexual assault in place Oct. 6.

The forum attempted to raise awarepublic schools across the country annuness about teen domestic dating violence. ally.

“This year’s focus was on teen dating The study also shows that one third violence, so that’s why of high school students it was appropriate to have been or will be inmake a teen commitvolved in an abusive “High school students tee,” Koseff said. “We relationship during often picture relationto do preliminary their lives. ship abuse as a boyfriend had research to underAccording to Glamstand what is was that our Magazine, 24 per- physically hurting his was going on at the focent of women do not girlfriend. And while rum and advertise it.” speak up about their About 100 people abusive relationships, this might be the case attended the two-hourand www.domesticvio- in many relationships, long conference, which lencestatistics.org says there are so many other featured three speakthat a woman is abused forms of abuse.” ers: pediatrician Tonya every nine seconds.

Despite these overGabi Hamlett Chaffee, MD, MPH; whelming statistics, Teen Domestic Violence lawyer Crisanne Hayoung adults in the Committee Executive Chair zen and senior Arian Dehnow from Mouncommunity may not tain View High School. know the extent to The conference room at the medical which domestic violence affects women.

Raising awareness is the first important center was crowded, with people crowdstep towards combating domestic vio- ing the walls and sitting on the floor.

“It was awesome how many people lence.

Spreading knowledge of the issue is came,” Koseff said. “It was a huge succrucial in combating and ultimately end- cess.”

While Chaffee explained a doctor’s ing it.

This year, eight students from the role in assessing and addressing adoSanta Clara country have decided to do lescent relationship abuse, Hazen discussed the legal side of the issue, such as just that.

The teen domestic violence commit- the legal implications of teen dating viotee was formed in partnership with the lence and the importance of understandGynecology and Pediatrics departments ing domestic violence laws.

Dehnow said Hazen shared the often at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, which sponsored the project. Palo Alto overlooked teen perspective on topic of High School senior Chloe Koseff is the domestic violence.

Spotlight Editor

“One of the things that [the third speaker] touched on is that we don’t even consider teen dating violence an issue, and just think of it as something that is in the movies, but what was addressed a lot was how common it is, not just physical abuse but psychological abuse, especially in social media,” Koseff said.

Koseff says that schools in the area are not spending enough time informing their students about teen dating violence.

“I don’t remember it being touched on at all in living skills and I think that teen dating violence is more of a possibility at [Paly] than pregnancy or hard drugs,” Koseff said.

Similarly, Hamlett does not know of any extensive coverage of the topic at Los Altos High School.

“I haven’t had any education on healthy relationships and dating violence at high schools,” Hamlett said. “I haven’t taken health at school yet, however, most of the students I have spoken to have said the education on the subject is either minimal or non existent. Many students take health online so they don’t really get the personalized education on what a healthy relationship is.”

The committee is taking a break now, but will soon start working again to bring what they learned at the forum back to their school campuses.

“Part of spreading awareness was talking to school papers [about the forum], and inviting principals and superintendents,” Koseff said.

None of the Palo Alto Unified School District members attended the forum, although the Mountain View-Los Altos Unified School District superintendent did. Despite this absence, Koseff hopes Paly will support the committee’s efforts in their next project.

“February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month,” Koseff said.

“The goal is to organize teen forums at schools during that time.”

Yet from what the committee has gathered in the past few months, it has

have a lot of work to do to get students to open their eyes to the issue.

“I believe that teen violence is an extremely foreign concept to many students,” Hamlett said. “High school students often picture relationship abuse as a boyfriend physically hurting his girlfriend. And while this might be the case in many relationships, there are so many other forms of abuse; for example, emotional abuse.”

By hosting events on school campuses around the county, the committee also hopes to dispel the stereotypes many teens have about dating abuse.

“There is almost a double standard that girls are the only victims in relationship violence,” Hamlett said. “However studies have shown that victims of intimate partner violence are actually 50 percent females and 50 percent males. In addition, relationship violence is equally present in same sex relationships as it is in heterosexual relationships. I feel that having speakers who are experts on speaking to high school students come to schools would make a huge impact on students, and make a huge step in bringing awareness to [the] issue.”

B4 • October 28, 2011

F E AT U R E S

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Figment.com allows young adults to publish writing online

Forum provides platform to receive literary feedback from diverse group of readers

By Sidhanth Venkatasubramaniam Guest Writer

When New Yorker staff writer Dana Goodyear visited Japan in 2008, she was inspired by how the youth there utilized their cell phones.

Instead of spending hours texting friends or using Facebook on their smartphones, Japanese teenagers were using their phones to write and publish full-length books that were hundreds of pages in length and generating tens of millions of hits on the Internet. With fresh inspiration from her observations in Japan, Goodyear not only wrote an article in the New Yorker about the phenomenon, but also decided, along with fellow writer Jacob Lewis, to launch a website to facilitate a similar reading and writing immersion experience among American teens. And so, Figment (www. figment.com) was born.

Figment is an online forum that provides a platform to enable teen writers to share their poems, short stories, novels and dramas. In order to submit their writing, forum members can choose to either use the web interface that Figment provides or upload their text files in standard .doc or .rtf formats.

Once published, the authors can set the privacy settings for their submissions. Stories can either be assigned a “Private” setting where they are visible only to those who have the password, which is chosen by the author and a link to the submission, or a “Public” mode that is viewable to all.

However, the most beneficial aspect of the Figment community goes beyond the convenience to share and build a portfolio of one’s publications.

According to Figment’s Chief Educational Programmer Katie Robbins, it is the discussions that the stories spark via the comment and feedback tools that are truly enriching for the readers and writers.

“What sets Figment apart is the kind of feedback and responses one gets to their work,” Robbins said. “We have teachers, college professors, actors and other students all commenting, so your work is exposed to a very diverse audience, providing for the best possible writing experience. We hold each other’s hands through the writing process. As such, you are getting quality assistance as you write your novels.”

Figment has several distinguished members, such as English professors and even popular authors like Nicholas Sparks who publish writing tips on the website to help budding writers in the process of crafting their own novels.

Readers use the “Comment” option to provide brief general feedback on the overall quality of the piece or on very specific aspects of it, such as diction, characterization or plot development.

Figment also has a “Review” option for longer appraisals or critiques of novels. If a user finds a piece particularly appealing, they also have the option to “Heart” it.

The home page provides a dashboard of stories with the most hearts, as well as the most recent-

ly published and reviewed stories. Although any- es ranging from cash rewards in the thousands to one can view published stories, membership is re- iPads to autographed books.

In addition to providing resources to help teens quired to publish stories, comment, review or rate.

Figment also has other uniquely helpful fea- write their own novels, Figment complements its writing tools with a number of reading suggestures offer as well.

For those who have difficulty finding the in- tions for avid readers.

In fact, Figment’s primary spiration for their writing, source of revenue comes from Figment provides writing the previews of mainstream prompts through a random “We have teachers, college novels targeted at teens, dissentence generator that pulls professors, actors, and other played on the site in the form the first line from teen books students all commenting, of a recommended reading published online, along with list. a brief description of the con- so your work is exposed to a Furthermore, Figment text. very diverse audience, providprovides personalized genre “This helps users get their ing for the best possible writrecommendations for regisfeet wet, as well as start to tered writers based on trends analyze some of the common ing experience. ” user behavior on the fotopics and themes in teen Katie Robbins in rum. novels,” Robbins said.

Chief Educational Programmer “Figment’s suggested list Figment also provides adattempts to read the mind of ditional incentives to write by hosting frequent competitions based on themes users by analyzing their works and the kind of redrawn from current events, both in the literary ception that they have got in order to generation community and the real world, which offers priz- the best suggestions possible,” Robbins said.

Figment’s features as an online community for writers also extend to personal blogs which allow users to write about and review books that they have been reading, as well as provide a forum for discussions regarding writing trends, current events or upcoming novels.

Figment has now been around for ten or so months, and boasts around 62,000 users even though it is still in its beta release.

Although Figment currently only targets individual teen users, it is exploring the possibility of integrating with classroom activities and becoming part of creative writing curriculum in schools.

“I honestly believe that the peer-editing and feedback, opportunities that Figment offers, along with the rich forums for literary and other discussion, makes this a perfect 21st century tool for classrooms to use,” Robbins said. “Right now we’re exploring how to make things fit into a school setting.”

By offering such a rich suite of features for teen writers, Figment has paved the way for the growth of the online writing community, and will continue to grow as a social reading and writing website.

F E AT U R E S

The Campanile

October 28, 2011 • B5

Zimride starts green carpooling network across country Company uses social networking to promote environmental friendly practice

By Anna McGarrigle Staff Wrtier

Palo Alto is home to two successful movements of the 21st century: social networking and the green movement.

Zimride combines the two, creating a car ride sharing community where users connect online via Facebook.

“We had millions of automobiles, and millions of individuals, but they weren’t going with each other,” co-founder of Zimride John Zimmer said.

According to Zimmer, one of the motivations behind creating Zimride was the fact that the average car had approximately one person riding in it.

“How could we change the incredibly inefficient system that we have?” Zimmer said.

With nearly one car on the road for every resident of the state of California, there had to be a solution for the staggering number of empty seats in California vehicles, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles “With so many people going to the same place at the same time, we realized that people might ride together if they had a way to match up,” Zimride National Account Manager Curtis Rogers said.

The answer came when co-founder Logan Green saw the ride sharing system used in Zimbabwe with mini-van taxis due to a lack of efficient public transport, inspiring Green to bring it back to the United States.

Green met Zimmer through a mutual friend, and the two decided to launch a project to organize ride sharing.

“We hit it off and decided to roll out a program together, taking the best ideas from both of us,” Zimmer said.

Green had decided on the name Zimride, after his Zimbabwe trip, prior to meeting Zimmer.

Facebook’s new platform at this time allowed users to see pictures and names of other users, creating a system that builds trust.

“What we realized was that if we could combine social networks with the idea of carpooling, that would allow people to feel comfortable sharing rides with each other,” Zimmer said.

They introduced the new company, Zimride, in 2007, launching a localized community for ride sharing through Facebook.

“Originally a Facebook application, Zimride now lets users sign-in using Facebook so they can upload the profile picture and show networks,” Rogers said.

Zimride works with drivers and passengers through private and public networks.

Members of private networks, which exist at universities and corporations, offer a ride share community open only to proven members of that group. However the public network is open to everyone.Once users log on, they can either post the price for a seat in their car or search for an open seat near to their departure and destination. Then, users can look up prospective drivers or passengers on Facebook.

“We encourage people to meet before their ride to get to each other,” Rogers said.

Selling an otherwise empty seat in one’s car is beneficial financially and environmentally.

“Drivers can sell their empty seats on commutes or road trips, and passengers can find a ride much cheaper than traditional travel methods,” Rogers said.

Zimride has expanded from the original two founders to a team of 18 in their San Francisco offices. The company works with 125 partners and counting in universities and corporations across the country.

Since its start, additional funding has allowed the company to expand.

“Zimride also received funding from the Facebook Fund, which supports Facebook related start-ups,” Rogers said.

This allowed the company to go from a project to a full company.

“It was a great boost to validate that our idea is a business that people can believe in and get behind,” Zimmer said.

By using Facebook to connect and look at mutual friends and interests, a prospective driver or passenger can see who they will be carpooling before the ride.

“Seeing mutual [Facebook] friends is a great way to connect with another person before sharing a ride,” Rogers said.

Zimride has established itself at major universities across the country in closed networks.

“College campuses are known for having parking issues and lots of students don’t have vehicles,” Rogers said.

“These factors, combined with a network that is private to only the university creates a great atmosphere for ride sharing.”

From Stanford University to University of Colorado at Boulder to Dart-

mouth College, Zimride connects students and faculty.

“Users appreciate the privacy of a private network and are quick to join when we launch,” Rogers said. “We then execute a strategic marketing plan to create a critical mass of users posting rides.”

In addition to private networks, Zimride has thrived in its public network.

“The public network uses Facebook for authentication and focuses on longer, one-time trips,” Rogers said. “The public network will be used for specific routes, currently focused on San Francisco to Los Angeles.”

The public network is open to everyone with a Facebook account, although utilized by a more youthful population.

“Zimriders are typically young and tech savvy,” Rogers said. “Younger users typically use Zimride for longer road trips and older users use it more for commuting carpools.

The Zimride bus is the newest addition to the company’s ever-growing network. Users can buy a seat on the bus, which travels between San Francisco, Berkeley and UCLA. The cost is

$30 per seat each way. Safety is a priority in ride sharing, and Zimride takes precautions to establish a trustworthy community for its users.

“We encourage people to only take rides they are comfortable with,” Rogers said. “Zimride offers different levels of security, including private networks, Facebook functionality with seeing mutual friends, and users can see feedback left by previous ride share partners, similar to eBay.” Ride sharing has also brought people together after their trip.

“Zimride has lots of great stories of friendships that started by sharing a ride,” Rogers said.

Zimride strives to make a positive impact on the environment.

In addition to being convenient, the company aims to cut down on fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions with ride sharing.

The market for ride sharing has grown with the technology boom of Silicon Valley.

Companies such as ZipCar and Carpool World have emerged along with Zimride.

“The competitive nature of this area is a great motivator,” Rogers said.

However, Zimride is focused on a different type of initiative.

“Most of the ‘green’ start-ups focus more on technology while Zimride is more about social innovation,” Rogers said. “We can make just as significant of an impact with the existing technology available. No one project or company is going to solve the environmental issues we face today, so we are happy to see any progress.”

This has also set Zimride apart from other startups.

“Our program has become more and more dependent on the social aspects and that’s one of the big things that sets us apart from others,” Zimmer said.

Zimride aims to help drivers all across the country save money and keep unnecessary cars off the roads.

“The vast majority of vehicles are single occupancy, making the empty seats in cars an underutilized resource,” Rogers said.

With over 350,000 users to date, Zimride hopes to continue expanding with “fun surprises” according to Zimmer.

Middle college provides alternative educational opportunity Students satisfied with different schooling options offered at Foothill College

By Mayssen Labidi Sports Editor

For some students, traditional high schools do not mesh well with their personal abilities and characteristics, leading them to search for alternate options.

Many schools such as Foothill Middle College or San Mateo Middle College have created such programs, enabling those students to fulfill their educational needs without having to attend a traditional four-year high school.

Foothill Middle College, located at the Foothill College campus in Los Altos Hills, is a program strictly for juniors and seniors aspiring to finish their last years of high school at a more independent school.

At the end of last school year, a few Palo Alto High School sophomores decided to make the change to Foothill College, a school with a new and different atmosphere.

Sergey Smirnov, an active member of Paly’s robotics team, made the decision to switch to Foothill Middle College primarily due to the flexibility of his schedule and the vast amount of computer science courses available.

“I wanted to have a schedule that would adapt to me rather than a rigid bell schedule,” Smirnov said According to Smirnov, there is a bigger computer science section at Foothill Middle College than at Paly, where only basic level java classes are offered to students.

Some other factors for Smirnov’s switch were that the classes taken at Foothill Middle College are much quicker, and he also felt the ability to retake classes was much more discreet and accessible than those of a traditional high school.

However, the largest reason for his switch was the immense catalog of classes given to Middle College students.

“The entire Foothill catalog is available to students, which is significantly bigger than the Paly one,” Smirnov said. “Also, [there is] probably a fairer grading system and credits that are transferable to any University of California or California State University.”

Although Smirnov is excited to have access to intriguing courses such as computer science and video production, he will also miss his friends and the Paly atmosphere.

“What I’ll miss most [about] Paly is seeing my friends every day from class to class and during lunches,” Smirnov said. “But I can visit during lunches. And seeing my friends doesn’t necessarily have to be at school either.”

However, Smirnov will still linger in the Paly community by actively participating in the robotics team as the team’s resident webmaster. According to Max Najork, senior robotics team captain, other

CHRISSIE CHENG/CAMPANILE

Students take high school classes at Foothill Middle college located on the college’s campus. This alternative to high school offers a unique set of classes and flexible schedules in addition to a college level curriculum. team members in the past have chosen to do the same and the move was easy for the team to adapt to. However, Najork also believes Smirnov’s change of schools will not affect his dedication to the team.

“He may have less time when his classes actually start, but from what I’ve heard, kids attending Foothill spend less time taking classes there than they would spend at Paly,” Najork said. “I don’t think he’ll have any trouble spending as much, if not more time with the team.”

Although switching schools may seem drastic, Smirnov’s parents support him greatly and he is comfortable socially, since he knows friends from

Mountain View High School who have also decided to swap schools as well.

Similar to Smirnov, Brooke Alexander, an incoming junior at Foothill Middle College, decided to transfer out of Paly due to her lack of interest in many mandatory classes and the abundance of possibilities and classes available at Foothill middle college.

However, her switch was also due to her wanting to be more independent and prepare herself for the college experience.

“I’m more of an independent person and having the independence of a college student is a lot of re-

sponsibility but I’m definitely up to the challenge,” Alexander said.

According to Alexander, the process of being admitted to middle college was spread over a span of months, however it was still fairly simple.

“First there was a informational meeting at Paly, and then there was a mandatory meeting at Foothill where everyone turns in there application and other forms,” Alexander said. “Some people got called for an interview, or even two, for myself however the next time I heard from them was the letter in the mail saying I had gotten accepted and in the next couple of weeks I had chosen all my classes.”

Before attending Middle College orientation, Alexander went to Yosemite with 15 other middle college students, both juniors and seniors. She felt this experience was a good way to connect with other incoming students.

“We all spent five days together out in the nature and I can definitely say we all got very close, closer then I ever got with most Paly kids after two years,”Alexander said.

After coming back from the trip, Alexander prepared herself for a two-week orientation at Foothill College dedicated to understanding both Foothill College and Middle College.

“At the college orientation we [take] a required class that all college students are required to take,” Alexander said. “It is a three day class that teaches us how to be successful and tells us all about campus clubs, and other campus related activities. For middle college orientation we [focus] on bonding and getting to know each other before the school year.”

Alexander is excited to begin a fresh, new school with close friends Caroline Vericat and Anna Rogge, who have also switched to Middle College, as well as new people she met on her Yosemite trip.

Although some students transfer to Foothill Middle College for the abundance of available courses, others do so due to uneasy experiences at a previous school.

Dana Donnelly, an incoming junior at Foothill Middle College, decided to make the switch due to her discomfort at Paly.

“I was motivated to move to middle college [due to] my dissatisfaction with the way I fit in at Paly in a social aspect,” Donnelly said. “Because of my school related social anxieties, I found it hard to go to school and my poor attendance took a toll on my academics.”

Donnelly believes middle college will also focus on helping her fulfill her own individual needs.

“Hopefully, Middle college will provide me with a more independent environment in which I have more say in how I prioritize,” Donnelly said. “Ideally I would like to be able to focus on academics without having to worry about petty high school drama.”

B6 • October 28, 2011

F E AT U R E S

The Campanile

2011 graduates face new, exciting challenges in college life

College, gap years give four Paly graduates new perspectives after living in Palo Alto

By Isabel Benetar Staff Writer

At Palo Alto High School, sports, homework and sleep get us so wrapped up in our routines that it is hard to remember that any other way of life exists. Getting out of bed at 10:30 a.m. on a Monday morning seems like a foreign reality. However, as we struggle to stay awake in first period, many of last year’s seniors are on in whole different stage.

For most Paly upperclassmen, college is a huge focus right now. While trying to get recruited or scrambling to get a high enough GPA for a dream school, it is easy to forget the group of students who is already there.

Kevin Anderson helped Paly with the unforgettable state championship last year and now he is playing Division I football at Stanford University.

According to Anderson, there is a big difference between being on a high school team and a college football team is the time commitment.

“At Paly we would have four practices a week and a game on Friday,” Anderson said. “At Stanford we have five practices a week, four workouts and a game.”

Overall, he spends double the hours on the sport each day. On top of this athletic commitment, he also dedicates time to his studies.

“I compare the classes to that of a typical AP class at Paly,” Anderson said.

“They are not too bad and all of the professors are really awesome. You definitely have a lot more freedom, but you also have a lot more responsibility.”

Anderson was less optimistic about the food at Stanford, though.

“It is not bad at all, it can get a little monotonous but there is a lot of variety so you can mix it up when you need to,” Anderson said.

If he got the opportunity to go back one year, he would not choose his school differently.

“I would definitely pick Stanford,” he said. “Between the football, the school and the social life, I would not change a thing.”

Helen Butler also spends a huge amount of time on the field with her soccer team at Virginia Tech University.

Butler played varsity soccer at Paly, but says that her experience with college soccer is very different.

“It’s on a completely different level,” Butler said. “You have to be completely and totally committed to your team.”

Butler also made the comparison between playing a sport for fun versus playing the sport to win in college.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF BEN MORAG, KEVIN ANDERSON, LORI KRAKIRIAN, HELEN BUTLER

Clockwise from top left: Ben Morag, Kevin Anderson, Lori Krakirian and Helen Butler are four Paly graduates that have taken on fresh challenges after leaving Paly. Morag took a gap year in Israel, while Butler plays soccer at Virginia Tech, for example.

“It’s all about working hard and getting the result,” Butler said.

Although soccer is a big part of her college life, her academic life and social life are undoubtedly a key part to her college experience.

According to Butler, the key to getting work done in college is self-discipline.

“It’s hard in a different way,” Butler said. “You have more free time, so it’s all about time management. If you don’t put in the work, come test time you’ll suffer.”

As for the social life, college can be very different than high school when have free time.

“It’s harder to make friends, because every day I meet someone new,” Butler said. “You definitely have to put yourself out there more.”

Food is another component at Virginia Tech which Butler enjoys.

“Virginia Tech is known for their food,” Butler said. “You have to control

yourself a little more. I can totally see how people [come] up with the ‘freshman fifteen.’”

Lori Krakirian stayed fairly close to home, choosing to attend the University of California, Berkeley.

Even though she is not too removed geographically, according to Krakirian, the close distance has its benefits.

“I got sick in the beginning of the year, and it was nice to be able to recuperate at home,” she said. “Plus, Berkeley is such a different city than Palo Alto and you can go home as much or little as you want.”

Although UC Berkeley is closer than Virginia Tech, the academics are not too different from what Butler described.

“There is more reading and more material covered, but it’s not much harder than Paly’s APs,” she said.

A major difference to high school is class sizes and its effect on classes.

“The lectures aren’t at all hands on,” Krakirian said. “You do a reading and then the lectures just solidify what you’ve read. The classes are up to six or seven hundred people so there’s not a lot of professor-student interaction.”

When asked about food, Krakirian’s reaction was similar to Butler’s.

“You kind of go crazy over the buffet at first,” Krakirian said. “But then admitted that she has gotten tired of it.

Krakirian sounded more enthusiastic about the school’s social life.

“The community is super open,” Krakirian said. “Where the groups at Paly were kind of cliquey, here you can hang out with NCAA athletes and people who work in the science lab in one group and it’s not weird. You get to meet people from all different backgrounds.”

In addition to the people, she emphasized how much she appreciates having so much new independence.

“It’s nice not having to answer to anyone,” Krakirian said.

She added that in college you don’t have to limit yourself to doing a single activity outside of school like many high school students do with sports.

“You get the opportunity to get involved with a lot of different types of extracurriculars,” Krakirian said.

Although in Palo Alto it seems like college is the obvious next step after high school, a few graduates like Ben Morag take a gap year before college.

Instead of going straight from one school to the next, Ben realized that he wanted to take some time to learn more about himself by going back to Israel, the country where he was born. Morag is in a ten-month intensive program at Kibbutz-Shoval.

“For me it is to understand and appreciate the land I was born in,” Morag said. “But for most Israelis this program would be preparation for going into a leadership position in the nation’s army.”

There they attend lectures, lessons and do volunteer work. He also goes to leadership courses and learns about management, philosophy and community service.

“Every day is a life lesson,” Morag said. Morag found this program through his brother.

Although he looked into many options, Morag eventually came back to this one and decided it was what he wanted to do.

“I didn’t feel like I had to rush to go to college,” he said. “Growing up in Palo Alto you get a bubbled perspective and I wanted something new.”

He has met people from all over the world and has gotten the chance to learn more about himself. Immersing himself in a new culture has provided him with opportunity to find more about himself.

“It’s giving me the answers to what kind of person I want to be,” Morag said.

“I used to slack off a little bit but now I’ve learned to take life by the helm.”

According to Morag, taking a gap year is an exciting alternative option. “[I believe in it] 100 percent. You have to start mapping out your life so it’s important to do something in a completely new environment,” Morag said.

Some students will decide on their path based on sports, academics, or not having a passion to base anything on.

No matter what, all students should try to be like Morag and “take life by the helm.”

After graduating high school, all students can look forward to many intriguing opportunities.

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The Campanile

F E AT U R E S

October 28th, 2011 • B7

Students employ creative methods to finance college dreams Unusual scholarship programs supply funding for future school tuition

By Kate Apostolou Staff Writer

Public four-year colleges for in-state students cost an average of $20,339 per year according to the College Board. That equates to about 100 cheap seats in a World Series game, 30 pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes, or ten tickets for a week on a large cruise to the Caribbean. The out-of-state cost climbs to $32,329 per year, enough money to buy a new BMW. The cost of a private, non-profit four-year college towers at a monstrous $40,476 per year, enough money to feed an average person for 30 years.

College is expensive. Now, with the poor economy and recent budget cuts to California’s public education system, college finances can be especially overwhelming. However, paying for a quality education is still entirely possible regardless of students’ academic achievements.

High prices can become affordable when looking for creative solutions. Ever heard of The Million Dollar Homepage? Back in 2005, Alex Tew, a student from Wiltshire, England, raised one million dollars toward his university tuition simply by creating a website. As Tew explains on his site, the homepage displayed a grid of one million pixels, which he sold to advertisers for one dollar each. The pixel-blocks contained small images promoting a brand or product, and when hovering the cursor over the image, a slogan would pop up along with a URL linking to the company’s website. In Tew’s FAQ section of The Million Dollar Homepage, he explains how he came up with the ingenious idea.

“It was a muggy summer’s night late in August, the time around midnight, and there I was, lying on my bed with a note pad, brainstorming ideas to make money for [university],” Tew said. “I think I’m quite a creative person, so I wanted to come up with an idea that was unique and would hopefully capture people’s imagination, but with the whole purpose of making money. No point being shy about it! I think we Brits can sometimes be too shy about money. Well bugger that, I do not want to be a broke student!”

Other students have taken creative approaches to paying for their tuition as well, according to the blog, Simple Tuition. In 2004, Jason Hopkins paid for his living expenses at the Art Institute of Chicago by disco dancing in the street. After watching Saturday Night Fever, Hopkins learned John Travolta’s moves and showed them off in public, raising $10,000 a year.

In an even more eccentric approach, students at Lindenwood University in Missouri paid their tuition with pigs and cows. They used the school’s program called Pork for Tuition which allowed students with financial needs to pay with livestock that would eventually become cafeteria meat.

In a more practical manner, two students at the University of Colorado helped clean up after parties with their business called Hangover Helpers.

In addition, they offered breakfast burritos and Gatorade to the party attendees for a total of $15 a person. However, some struggling students may have trouble thinking of innovative ways to raise money.

Luckily, they can look to a variety of resources such as finaid.org to find unusual scholarships. For example, the website lists that if a high school se-

seeking scholarships must fill out application forms and send in letters of recommendation.

Other personal characteristics worthy of scholarships include having a strange last name, being a twin or triplet, being a vegetarian, being left-handed, being red-headed or having asthma.

These specific requirements can appear biased, and Koseff disapproves of the scholarships which cater to specific genetic traits.

“I feel like you need to work for any merits that you’re given, so if you’re given merits based how you were born, that’s just not fair,” Koseff said.

Koseff sees many of the characteristic-basedscholarships as useless and wasteful. She specifically noted one listed on the UC application for Jewish orphans studying aeronautical engineering. “[The scholarship] was there four years ago when my brother was doing his apps, and it’s still there now when I’m doing my apps, and it just tells you that money is never going to be spent on anybody,” Koseff said. “There is never going to be a Jewish orphan who wants to study aeronautical science applying to the UCs. So why does this scholarship even exist when it could go to someone who actually needs the money instead of sitting in this fund forever?”

Isabel Obrien, another college-bound Paly senior, agrees that many of these scholarships create unfair and unrealistic expectations. Because of Obrien’s heritage and religion, she cannot apply for KATE APOSTOLOU/CAMPANILE certain scholarships such as one that specifically Chloe Koseff and Isabel Obrien demonstrate ideas high school students are using to minimize debt grants money to Catholics with the last name Zolp.

“I would love to have my last name be Zolp, but from college. Mastery of duck calling and Klingon are two of many ways to qualify for a scholarship. not everyone can have that,” Obrien said.

In addition to these unique opportunities, stunior has a special talent in duck calling, they can reStill, Obrien sees some value in scholarships ceive a scholarship from participating in the Chick dents talented in fashion design and in manipulat- based on inherent characteristics. & Sophie Major Memorial Scholarship Duck Call- ing duct tape can earn money by creating attire out “The only scholarships that I agree with that ing Contest. The students must use four specific of unconventional material and wearing it to their are based on what you are born into are the twin or duck calls within 90 seconds and follow the rules school prom. triplet ones because sometimes it’s really hard for a “This scholarship is a good one in my opinion be- family financially to address the needs of triplets or of the World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest. The grand prize winner receives a large sum of cause you have to earn it,” Koseff said. “It shows twins that are going to college,” Obrien said. $2,000, and the contestant in last place loses noth- your creativity, and it shows your craftsmanship.

Obrien and Koseff both agree that scholarships It shows something about who you are as a student should primarily reward student effort including ing because enrollment is completely free.

Other skills that can help students earn scholar- and as an artist, and I think that is fair.” hard work and ingenuity.

Many of these scholarships may seem strange ships include golf caddying, knitting, creative writ“If you show enough creativity in what you do to ing, poker playing, and knowing Klingon (the lan- because of the odd skills involved, but there are still make your scholarship worth the judge’s time, then guage of a fictional warrior race in the television more bizarre scholarships solely based on personal it’s an awesome way to get money,” Obrien said. “If traits. Unusually tall students can apply for schol- you have talent, show it.” show Star Trek).

As a student in the middle of the college applica- arships prior to the Tall Clubs International ConLuckily, there are many opportunities for stution process, Paly senior Chloe Koseff understands vention. dents to showcase their The annual conthe importance of financial aid. She supports scholabilities and raise money arships that reward students’ creativity and hard vention grants money “If you show enough creativity in what toward college. to graduating seniors work.

At the same time, stuyou do to make your scholarship worth dents “For the Klingon scholarship, [the applicants] over the height of six may need to think probably spent ten years learning this language,” feet and two inches if the judge’s time, then it’s an awesome creatively to obtain suffiKoseff said. “So if they’re going to be rewarded for male and over five feet way to get money.” cient financial aid whether their hard work, then I’m all for that. If I had spent and ten inches if fethrough individual efforts Isabel Obrien or with the help of scholarten years of my life learning Klingon and then got male.

These scholarships a scholarship, I would be ecstatic.” Some other odd senior ships. scholarships benefit students with talent in less reach up to $1,000. ExAs a starting point, traditional sports such as marble shooting, skate- tremely short students Koseff recommends that also have the opportunity to receive special aid if students research scholarships which recognize and boarding and bowling.

“I like the unusual sports [scholarships] because they qualify for all the prerequisites. encourage the use of unique talents.

Little People of America grants scholarships prithey give sports stars who don’t get credit at their “I think that if you have some unusual talent school or who aren’t recruited [for college] a chance marily to students diagnosed with dwarfism. How- that someone is going to recognize, definitely look to get recognized for their sport and get money for ever, relatives of dwarfs, disabled students and into it,” Koseff said. “College is expensive and every non-disabled students can also receive aid. People dollar counts.” college,” Koseff said.

Students hiring costly academic assistance outside of school

Optional schools provide alternative courses and tutoring at students convenience

By Nira Krasnow ic help, some tutors play a greater role in Staff Writer the lives of their students.

Castilleja’s yearly tuition: $25,000.

“There’s a certain amount of trust Menlo School’s yearly tuition: $34,900. that is developed,” Beck said. “I was Palo Alto High School’s tuition: $0. pretty good friends with everyone I Many students choose to pay the worked with.” equivalent of a year at a private univerThere is undoubtedly a large number sity to attend one of the numerous pri- of Paly students who use tutors which vate high schools in the Bay Area, but at leads some to question whether it is Palo Alto High School there is no admis- an unfair advantage for those who are sion fee for a top-notch education. able to pay for this high-priced academUnfortunately, this does not mean ic help. that education at a public school comes “Being tutored outside of school is priwithout a charge. marily a good thing since it helps stuWith the constant pressure to succeed dents understand difficult material betand the vigorous curriculum that Paly ter,” senior David Lim said. “What is demands, an increasing number of stu- unfortunate is that some families have dents are looking to private tutors and the means to pay for a private tutor outside classes to assist in the education while others do not.” process.

The high number of students paying Junior Josh Oh has had a tutor for for outside help also brings up the questhe past two years. He finds it to be of tion why some are choosing costly tutors immense help in his classes. over the free ones that are available in “Last year I got tutored in math and Paly’s Academic Resource Center (ARC). chemistry,” Oh said. “I only get tutored “ARC tutors are not as helpful,” juonce a week but last year I got tutored nior Chelsea Chen said. three times a week. It is very helpful. I Oh has similar views on the subject. jumped from a B to an A in two weeks “Professional tutors have a higher and I [felt] like I [had] a better grasp of degree of education [than those in the the material in class.”

ARC],” Oh said.

Oh uses a private tutor who specialIn addition to tutoring, many Paly izes in chemistry. Since his tutor is a re- students are seeking outside help by entired scientist, Oh pays for the high level rolling in organizations that support one of expertise that he provides costing for on one teaching. dollars per session. Although many stuThe School for Independent Learners dents do pay close to one hundred dol- (SIL) is an organization located in Los lars for a one hour session with a profes- Altos that many Paly students are cursional tutor, many opt to use students at rently enrolled in. nearby universities instead, which tends “We have somewhere between 15 and to be a cheaper option.

20 Paly students right now,” the Direc“I know a lot of kids who get tutored tor of SIL, Ashley Sarver, said.

by Stanford students which is cheapThe price of taking a private class er than most othranges greatly er tutors,” sophodepending on more Jake Dagan “What is unfortunate is that some the student. said.

“Students families have the means to pay for a Megan Beck, a pay by the hour Stanford graduate private tutor while others do not.” as opposed and tutor of sevDavid Lim to the semesen years, charges senior ter,” Beck said. $40 to $50 dollars “The range for for a one hour tua course is typtoring session. Over the last few years, ically between 400 [dollars] and a few Beck has instructed 25 Paly students. thousand, although we do offer less exAt one point in her tutoring career, Beck pensive independent study options.” was teaching 15 Paly students concurAccording to Sarver, there are numerrently. Although many students view ous reasons for students to shell out adtheir tutors as solely a source of academ- ditional fees for a class outside of school.

ADAM MANSOUR/CAMPANILE

A Paly tutor demonstrates the steps in a problem to a fellow student in the Academic Resource Center. Despite the best efforts of ARC helpers, students still say that the support of hired professional tutors is superior when it comes to academic assistance.

“The most common reason [to enroll] is to take a class that doesn’t fit in the day,” Sarver said. “The student might really want to take a class that doesn’t fit in [his or her] schedule. We also have 28 [advanced placement] courses that schools might not offer. Another reason aside from curriculum is [that our program] is self paced so students can go slower or at a quicker pace. We also individualize [content and assessments] so that if students have particular interests we can accommodate them. The program also is mastery based so students can continue to learn a topic or concept until they master it.”

Many Paly students take advantage of this opportunity in order to achieve higher marks in their classes.

“I took chemistry at SIL because I had a hard time in the Paly chemistry class,” junior Genevieve Lucas Conwell said. “It was really cool because it’s kind of like tutoring but you get graded on it and it’s an automatic A. I learned so much more [at SIL] then I did here [at Paly].”

Outside classes provide students with a great selection of courses, and provide students extra help in various academic areas. But despite the many legitimate

reasons for enrolling in these courses, some students do not view it as a fair education tool. In this case, some may view the enrollment in outside classes as an unfair way to buy a higher grade in a class.

“Last year when I took chemistry, a lot of people decided to take chemistry outside of school for no academic reason and received an A which is unfair for the people who had to work hard for an A at Paly,” Rosati said. “In a way it’s like buying an A.” There are also some Paly teachers who are against students taking outside courses. Paly math teacher and instructional supervisor, Radu Toma, feels as though the detriments of taking these classes outweigh any advantages.

“First of all, it’s much more convenient [to take classes on campus] than to drag yourself somewhere else,” Toma said. “Secondly, the amount of money that some of the schools are charging for courses that are free at Paly is ridiculous. Thirdly, in subjects like in math, where the curriculum is sequential, each of our courses prepares students for the next one in our sequence. Once a student breaks that sequence by taking a course

outside of it, it becomes very difficult to return to that sequence and be successful.”

Controversy aside, there are some circumstances in which having an alternative to standard classes is extremely beneficial. “It’s good to have some options outside the school [to take classes],” Toma said. “There are some students who have special scenarios. [For example] there are kids who fall behind because of sickness. It’s nice for people to have a place to go.”

According to Toma, the classes are beneficial to those who leave in the middle of the school year and wish to remain on track for the future, as well as for those who want to take summer classes.

Overall, many teachers feel that the enrollment in outside courses in order to receive extra high school credits is unnecessary and excessively expensive for most students.

“I’m not against taking classes outside of school,” Toma said. “I just believe that for 95 percent of the students it makes little sense to throw money in the garbage taking less rigorous courses outside the district, when they can get a solid education at Paly for free.”

B8 • October 28, 2011

F E AT U R E S

The Campanile

“Food porn” blogs feature creative photos of delectable dishes

Online bloggers introduce followers to exciting new cuisines through pictures

By Layla Memar News Editor

With the countless distractions in the world today, Palo Alto High School students, and presumably all students alike, struggle with the concept of staying on task. Procrastination is a disease everyone suffers from, and a handicap everyone possesses. While procrastination is in no way condoned, it is undoubtedly acknowledged. The Internet is a powerful force that has the ability to draw people in, despite whatever important task they have at hand.

One of the most dangerous, yet fulfilling aspects of the Internet is the world of “food porn.”

Food Porn Daily foodporndaily.com Amanda Simpson

Quite possibly the most famous food porn website, Food Porn Daily has more than established itself in the Paly student community.

The site was started by Amanda Simpson from What We’re Eating (whatwereeating.com), and is run with the help of contributions from the community, according to foodporndaily.com.

This site offers users numerous pictures of delightful varieties ranging from basic desserts to succulent savory selections. The user interface and web design is simple, and is what sets Food Porn Daily apart from other food blogs.

Once one has typed in the URL, the hard work is done. The mouth watering image of an exquisite eat fills up the computer screen, and one click is all it takes to move on to another picture and see what the site has next in store. The slogan of the site says it all: “click, drool, repeat.”

As Food Porn Daily junkies know, the site is updated daily. However, those who check it regularly will find that although they get to see a few new dishes a day, most are repeats from the days before.

So, Food Porn Daily gives the user the option to view and upload images displayed in a sequential manner or in a random one, in order to keep things interesting.

Users who are bored of seeing the same images they saw the day before can select the “random” button and soon they will be presented with pictures of food from months or years prior that they likely have not seen before.

Once one enters Food Porn Daily’s world of delectables such as lemon tequila dark chocolate ganache truffles with preserved lemon crisps, marinated calamari steak on ciabatta bread with manchego, marinara and roasted asparagus or beef tenderloin and meatball pho with bean sprouts and cilantro, there is no going back.

Also featured on the website are small excerpts from a larger Food Porn Daily Cookbook, in which

recipes for the many of the enticing images seen on the web are given.

Aran Goyaga Food Styling and Photography arangoyaga.com Aran Goyaga

A subset of a larger food blog titled Canelle et Vanille (canelle-vanille.blogspot.com), Aran Goyoga Food Styling and Photography offers tasteful images of natural and organic-looking dishes, in addition to many images of handpicked fruits and vegetables.

The refreshing page design paired with the crisp, clean food images offer a calming sensory experience for viewers.

Goyoga grew up in a family of pastry chefs and artists and currently works as a freelance food writer, stylist and photographer, according to arangoyoga.com.

Though Goyoga’s food portfolio only consists of 32 images, which is much less than that of Food Porn Daily offers, the images she does post are striking and very appealing, and are well worth viewing.

Goyoga uses color choice, placement and design to enhance the already impressive qualities of her food. Goyoga herself does most of the photography, unless otherwise noted.

Only Nature: Food Porn onlynaturefoodporn.com Kok-Loong Wong Started in October of 2009 by Kok-Loong Wong, Only Nature: Food Porn is a food blog that aims to share Wong’s own palatable creations with the rest of the world. Wong began cooking at the age of ten, influenced by her grandmother.

Wong created the blog to document all the various foods she cooks for friends and family, but she also hopes to show how “simple, affordable ingredients can be easily transformed into delicious and beautiful dishes for daily meals,” according to onlynaturefoodporn.com.

The layout of the website is simple, neat and aesthetically pleasing.

On the home page lie large, pleasing photographs of various foods and desserts, each one of which is followed by a personal anecdote, and the recipe for that particular food or desert.

Wong has been updating her page every few days or so for the last two years, which provides viewers with a plethora of images to scan through.

Wong’s posts by category, which lends much needed structure to the blog.

ARTISAN SWEETS/FOOD PORN DAILY

Clockwise from left: A shaved ice drink with blueberries by Artisan Sweets. Calamari steak on ciabatta with manchengo, marinara, and asparagus by Food Porn Daily. A lemon chocolate ganache by Food Porn Daily.

Some of the categories include “Desserts,” “Experiments in Colour,” “Quickies” and “The Taste of Asia.”

While Wong’s blog has many basic recipes, such as recipes for sourdough bread and egg yolk pasta, her blog offers recipes for many unique edibles as well.

Among her more unique and original recipes are her kiwi meringue tarts, her squid ink risotto with turmeric calamari and her sweet potato jelly.

Wong’s blog is perfect for people who not only love to indulge in food porn, but also want to be able to recreate what they have seen.

Artisan Sweets artisansweets.wordpress.com Ashley Rodriguez Another, less famous food blog is Artisan Sweets.

Started by mother Ashley E. Rodriguez in 2006, Artisan Sweets began as a page for her baking business.

Motherhood, however, became Rodriguez’s immediate priority, so she had to put her budding business on hold.

This did not prevent her from blogging about food, though. Rodriguez’s aim is to teach people baking techniques as well as inspire them to try new things.

Artisan Sweets’ home page consists of concise blogs by Rodriguez, accompanied with photographs of some artistically created sugary treats.

Rodriguez regards her blog as “a sweet journey through artistically crafted desserts,” according to artisansweets.wordpress.com.

One major downside of Artisan Sweets, however, is that the site is not easily navigable.

Often the reader will click on links that secretly lead to other food blogs or links to recipes off-site, which can often cause some serious confusion.

Artisan Sweets seems to be connected to another food blog titled Not Without Salt (notwithoutsalt. com). This website also offers a selection of recipes.

Though Artisan Sweets and Not Without Salt may not have the same capabilities as Food Porn Daily, they serve as good resources for food lovers.

Unfortunately, Artisan Sweets and Not Without Salt are further hurt by the fact that almost every post is little more than a photo and a link to the other site, which can become frustrating after a few minutes of browsing. The rather corny style of writing often found on the blogs is also a downside.

A&E

The Campanile

Friday, October 28, 2011

Tesla Motors introduces new electric sports sedan

Palo Alto based car company releases widely anticipated Model S

Stop Hatin’ on Facebook

By Will Kershner Staff Writer

Early in October, thousands of people traveled from all over the world to attend the Tesla Motors Model S test drive event at the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California.

A small family from Australia waited in line with a seemingly endless group of spectators silhouetted by the shade for a chance to get in a 45 second test ride in Tesla’s new sports sedan. Once they got past the first gate check, there was another line before they were even able to see the vehicles.

They got a quick look at the sleek aerodynamic design before they were seated in the car. As the ride began, all eyes were trained on the 17-inch display that took up the entire control panel of the dashboard.

The amazing thing about this electric four door is that there is no gasoline engine.

This means there is not an overwhelmingly massive block of weight pushing and pulling at the car during every turn.

After experiencing turns and stops with ease, it soon becomes clear why it is necessary to put down a deposit before taking a test run.

The next section, the driver says, will be a simulation of merging onto the highway.

It almost feels as if the passengers are blasting into hyperspace with the acceleration of the car.

Going from zero to 60 in 5.6 seconds without feeling any gear shifts and vibrations under the seats makes for a magical experience. The sedan virtually glides across the ground smoothing out bumps and transporting its riders safely to the end of the course.

It has been just over 45 seconds now, and the group is being told to get out of the car. As they reluctantly

jakekerman

grumble and make their way to the exit ramp, facilitators watching over the test ride feel no sympathy.

All the supervisor can do is urge the groups along, as he will be accompanying over a thousand groups over the next two days. Five days of nonstop rides for potential customers can only give a basic idea of how awesome Tesla’s new vehicle will be.

“When do you think the last time that BMW or Mercedes opened up their factory and let people do whatever they want to do — it doesn’t happen,” Vice President George Blankenship said.

Tesla Motors prides itself on its level of accessibility and openness with its customers. The company tries to work with and help the people who want to donate and support their company.

During this event they opened up their entire factory to their customers and their curiosity without any media restrictions.

Following the Tesla Roadster, the Model S sedan will be on market in fall of 2012.

This 100 percent electric automobile with zero tailpipe emissions capitalizes on the possibilities of an electric vehicle.

WILL KERSHNER/CAMPANILE

One of Tesla’s main missions is to provide accessibility and family support for their cars.

California residents have an advantage, as there will be free electric charging stations all along the West Coast.

The best part about the Model S’s charging ability is the charge time. A full charge can be completed in 45 minutes. The sedan will be able to travel 300 miles before needing to plug in again.

There will be 230 and 160 mile versions of the Model S as well. In addition, there is a possibility for further miles beyond the prescribed number as the Model S has the ability to generate power from the car’s breaking.

Visually, the Model S is an extremely dynamic and sleek car. With no large engine needed, it is designed to sit extremely low to the ground and support an aerodynamic shape. The grill was replaced with a screen to decrease drag and the door handles form fit to the car when not in use for decreased wind resistance.

The Tesla Model S is a surprisingly spacious and large car with two seats in the back and even a front trunk.

The empty space in the front may leave skeptics wondering where the battery source is kept.

The unique design of the Model S hides the energy sources layered on top of each

From top: Tesla unveils the new Model S, an electric sedan, to investors. This car provides luxury, performance and style, all in a sleek design.

The environmentally friendly sedan will be available in early 2013. It contains two trunks, due to the lack of an internal combustion engine.

other within the chassis of the car.

The centerpiece of the Model S is its smooth and flat battery, which lies under the floor of the car. Modules of lithium-ion cells are assembled into a tray pan and placed below the seats also helping the car with its low center of gravity.

The Model S is to be released fall of 2012 and pricing varies for the three versions but starts at $50,000 for the smallest electric version.

Free purchases at their dealership will begin in 2013.

Model S is the next step in the growing Tesla family and a great one at that. Tesla’s innovations will set the bar for all new electric cars to come.

Zumba offers new, energizing approach to exercise Latin-inspired alternative workout gains popularity in the Bay Area

SIMON SHOETERS/CREATIVE COMMONS

Women work out at a Zumba class, where dance and aerobic elements are combined to create an exhilarating new way to exercise. Zumba’s growing popularity has brought the workout to several gyms in Palo Alto.

By Emily Tran Staff Writer

When people enter a fitness studio, they hear Shakira’s “Waka Waka” blasting through the speakers and see people of all ages shaking their glutes to Latin-based dance moves, but they might be confused about whether they are about to work out or are going to attend a dance party.

Well, it’s time to stop running on the treadmills at the gym. Put away the yoga mats and welcome a different type of workout: welcome Zumba.

Alberto Perez, the founder of Zumba, created this hot workout in Miami, Florida in 2001. This energizing workout allows people to dance their calories away, build up confidence and exercise without ever feeling intimidated or judged.

Zumba first began as a home fitness DVD series, and after gaining popularity, Zumba classes began to be in demand.

According to its website, http://www.zumba.com, this successful Latin-inspired dance-fitness class has expanded to over 125 countries, 12 million people and classes to over 110,000 locations.

Zumba’s exhilarating workout has also gained popularity in the Peninsula. Palo Alto residents can find this cardio workout program at a number of locations throughout the Bay, such as the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center (JCC) and Uforia Studios.

THE JCC Located in South Palo Alto on 3921 Fabian Way, this community center’s new fitness facility offers Zumba classes daily, ranging from the early morning to evenings on its hardwood floored gym courts.

Inside, about 30-40 people of all age groups, from children to senior citizens, follow along to easy yet energizing dance moves from their gleeful and buff Zumba instructor, who dances on top of a platform in the front of the class, singing along to the music.

In one hour, the instructor dances the class through six songs, from Michael Franti’s “Say Hey (I Love You)” to Shakira’s belly dancing music. The instructor engages with the class and occasionally circulates through the sea of dancing people to get every participant moving off their feet. Some instructors even show off moves at the end of the song by doing the splits and tumbling tricks to get the whole class pumped and excited.

Junior Chelsea Chen attended her first Zumba class at the JCC and thought that the class was overall entertaining.

“It was definitely an interesting experience,” Chen said. “The instructor was very friendly and outgoing. The ran around and engaged the class and even sang along to the songs. It was fun but at the same time a workout. At the end I was exhausted, but I would definitely go again.”

By the end of the class, everyone’s legs are tired and their bodies are sweaty. But everyone leave with a smile on her face, excited to come back to the next Zumba class.

While the JCC offers great Zumba classes, the only downside in participating in a class at this center is that it is not open the entire public. In order to attend, a person must either be a member of the JCC or obtain a guest pass from a current JCC member.

UFORIA What once used to be a church, Uforia has transformed a historic Downtown Palo Alto building into a bustling fitness studio while still conserving the church’s stained glass windows and the building’s exterior.

Newly opened in February of 2011 on 819 Ramona Street, this workout studio has attracted many Palo Alto residents for their cycling classes and hula hooping classes. But, they are most known for their Zumba classes, offered daily at their studios.

While rustic on the outside, the inside of the gym has a modern and welcoming feel with two studios, a children’s playroom and changing rooms in its bathrooms.

As a new client, the first class is free. Each additional class is $16 with student identification and $20 for adults. The gym also offers special packaging deals for members.

Held in their main studios, the class is quite small with around 15 participants per session. Inside, the room resembles a dance studio as the front wall is lined with mirrors and the side of the room has ballet bars against the wall.

While Zumba classes usually practice to Latin beats, Uforia’s classes dance to more pop and R&B styles, where participants feel as if they are in one of Beyonce’s dance rehearsals.

The class begins with a quick warm-up to Justin Bieber’s “Somebody To Love,” dances on to Ciara’s fast paced “Gimme Dat,” and ends with slow yogalike stretches to Chris Brown’s “With You.” Most of the time, only women attend the Zumba classes at Uforia. They all show off their dance moves while learning new moves from the instructor at the head of the class, dancing and giving instructions through her microphone headset, occasionally singing along to the music, motivating the class.

After class, Uforia’s staff offers each participant a small bite of fresh fruit and a towel to freshen up, leaving customers to feel the benefits of a great workout.

Even though Uforia’s Zumba classes are a great calorie-burning workout, some are not willing to attend a class for such a pricey cost.

Junior Soo Song attended a Zumba session at Uforia and loved the class, but is hesitant on whether or not she’ll be coming back.

“I loved the class, especially my instructor Asya, who was doing backflips and making sure everyone was dancing and pumped the whole time,” Song said. “I would go again if the classes weren’t so expensive. I’m already a member of the YMCA and it offers Zumba class too, so Uforia is a little too pricey for me. I know that a lot of my friends who have tried Uforia feel the same way, that Uforia is great but on the expensive side for students.”

No matter where people attend Zumba classes, the workout is always fun and inspires groups of all ages to come together with one common interest ­– dancing.

“Zumba is so amazing,” Song said. “I could even say it’s changed my life. I’ve always loved running, but just going on the treadmill all the time is really boring. I try to go [to Zumba] whenever I can and I get excited even talking about it because it’s so much fun.”

Every time Facebook surprises users with a new layout, the statuses start to pile up. Most of them go along these lines: “Eeewww! The new Facebook sucks!”

“I can’t even figure out how to log out.”

“Can’t we just go back to the way it was?!”

Subscribers generally backlash fiercely to any adjustments made to the layout of Facebook.

There are even entire groups online dedicated to trashing updates made by the world’s most popular social network.

So when Facebook unveils it’s new “Timeline” profile later this month, many people will take to the chat rooms with cries of outrage and vengeance.

I will admit, until recently, I was one of those people.

I used to dread the days when Mark and his buddies at Facebook headquarters would use black magic to transform my perfectly arranged news feed into a pile of squabble unreadable to any reasonable soul.

I despised seeing changes to what I thought was already a perfect system, incapable of being improved upon by any measure.

Most people, myself included, like familiarity and routine, and coming home to the same Facebook layout each day after school is a tiny little security blanket in my otherwise unpredictable life.

Earlier this week, I was surfing the web and read an article that detailed how to update Facebook profiles before they officially become available to the public later this year. I engaged in a fierce inner battle for the next ten minutes on whether to make the change. While the current Facebook format was surely up to my expectations, I decided I would live on the edge.

Throwing caution to the wind, I decided to take action before the inevitable disgust of an automatic profile refurbishing in a few weeks and go for it.

After finishing the various steps listed on a tech blog to make the transition, I clicked on the link to my profile. What I then saw took my breath away.

Timeline is nothing like Facebook users have ever seen before, and this is no minor profile facelift.

With two major columns separating the profile page instead of one, the entire dynamic is completely new and refreshed.

Almost immediately, I tried to find a way to switch back to the current layout, my comfort zone and safe haven. Unable to find a way to do so, I buckled down and forced myself to explore the page with an open mind.

And after only five minutes of looking around, I said to myself, “This is freaking awesome.”

Quite frankly, Timeline is the best thing that has ever happened to Facebook.

Timeline’s design is aesthetically pleasing, not something I could have said about former Facebook layouts. The entire display is much more geometric, with boxes of all different proportions clothing the page’s landscape.

What makes Timeline so dynamic is the way it shares information from your past Facebook exploits.

On the current profile, it’s a huge pain to go back even a month to see your activity online.

Now, in ten seconds you can scroll down to your first Facebook post ever. (It’s true, I timed myself).

Think of Timeline as a virtual scrapbook, a record of your everyday life and all it’s happenings.

Potentially, Timeline could end up telling your entire life story.

Facebook will now keep track of your failures, successes, emotions, and memories better than ever before.

This is the most ambitious attempt to virtually connect people around the world in human history.

Timeline recalls your greatest online moments and posts those instead of an average everyday update.

For example, the post stating you made the soccer team will appear over your post commenting on how awful that sandwich your mom made you for lunch was.

Timeline can actually differentiate between those two statuses; it’s that smart.

The algorithm that Facebook has come up with must be complicated beyond belief. Also, you can adjust your Timeline to show all the moments and memories that you want other people to see.

It is inevitable that when the new profile updates itself on your page in a few weeks, you will despise it. Like before, you will start cursing out Facebook and their inability to not change a good thing.

But trust me, Mark Zuckerberg knows what he’s doing. There’s a reason he’s worth ten billion dollars and we are not; he knows what we like best, even before we do ourselves.

As an online community, we should stop defacing Facebook and trust that they know what they’re doing. Because, honestly, they always do.

Timeline is truly a great addition to the social network legacy, and will keep Facebook in the front seat for the foreseeable future.

When it comes to social networks, when it’s all said and done, like every other Facebook update, you’ll wonder why it wasn’t always this way.

A&E

The Campanile

October 28, 2011 • B10

Palo Alto International Film Festival celebrates film history

Community members, students, artists gather to enjoy variety of movies

By Gina Scarpino and Kate Apostolou Staff Writers

Over 130 years ago, the concept of film was born, not in Hollywood, not in New York, but right here in Palo Alto. In 1878, Leland Stanford decided to settle the debate over whether all four hooves of a galloping horse ever leave the ground at once. He hired a Victorian photographer who set up a line of cameras to take photographs of the horse in motion—a cutting edge technique at the time.

The combination of these pictures, which proved that the hooves do in fact leave the ground simultaneously, inadvertently created the very first motion picture.

So why has Palo Alto not placed a higher emphasis on this incredible invention? Luckily, this year for the first time ever, Palo Alto celebrated with its own film festival, a successful event featuring international films and fascinating workshops.

Devyani Kamdar, the executive director of the Palo Alto International Film Festival (PAIFF), created a unique event by celebrating both art and technology.

Taking place in the heart of Silicon Valley, PAIFF’s emphasis on technology seemed entirely appropriate.

“The goal for our film festival was to create a community that promotes collaboration and innovation by bringing together the artists and technologists, the innovators and masters of the technologies that are changing media,” Kamdar said. “The ways that stories are made and told are being changed drastically by the technologies that are developed in this area.”

The festival began with an outdoor screening of the documentary Life in a Day, the epitome of modern media in storytelling. In the film, producer Ridley Scott creates a beautiful time capsule out of videos posted to YouTube on July 24, 2010.

The diverse compilation of clips aims to show what it meant to be alive that day, while touching on subjects such as love, fear, violence, death and birth.

Page One, another riveting documentary shown at the festival, centers on the future of the newspaper business and specifically takes place at the New York Times.

KATE APOSTOLOU/CAMPANILE

The audience anticipates a classic film at the Palo Alto International Film Festival in downtown Palo Alto last weekend. A large variety of films including the Cave of Forgotten Dreams, a three-dimensional German documentary directed by Werner Herzog, were featured there.

The film raises questions about the economic sustainability of print media because of the growing prominence of the Internet.

With highlights on significant journalistic achievements, debates between passionate writers and coverage of controversial investigations, Page One makes the audience fear a world without rigorous journalism like that of America’s most venerable newspaper.

Also focusing on current media trends, Miss Representation illuminates the negative messages surrounding women in American culture.

Teenage girls along with successful female actors and politicians discuss through a series of interviews how women are valued for their sexuality and beauty rather than intelligence or success.

While the film includes alarming statistics that show how female misrepresentation clearly

has a negative impact, more personal and specific stories would have made the film stronger.

Miss Representation won the Audience Favorite Award at the festival, meaning that it received the highest ratings from viewers.

When collecting votes, PAIFF approached the system differently than most other festivals.

“Being a technology film festival, we wanted to try a new kind of voting system that was not only green but also innovative,” Kamdar said. “Most film festivals either give you paper and a pencil to rate the films, or they have you tear a corner with the number on it that represents your vote for the film. Instead, we did [the voting] with texting.”

However, people occasionally got confused and frustrated with the texting system and either did not vote or had to ask for help.

Kamdar agrees the innovative system needs improvement.

“What we found was that the films oriented more towards

younger people tended to have more people rating them,” Kamdar said. “So we realized we have to educate our community about how to feel comfortable using this new text voting system.”

The festival also included many other outstanding films such as the moving documentary Bombay Beach.

Directed by Alma Har’el, the film takes place in a town called Bombay Beach on the shore of the Salton Sea. Har’el followed the lives of a boy with bipolar disorder, an elderly man who once worked in oil fields and an African-American teenager who moved to Bombay Beach to get away from gang violence in Los Angeles.

The documentary highlights the sad aspects of Bombay Beach.

As an international festival, there was also a handful of foreign films. Cave of Forgotten Dreams, a German documentary directed by Werner Herzog, takes viewers on a three-dimension-

al journey through the ChauvetPont-d’Arc cave in France, which houses the oldest art created by man.

Herzog and his team of four paleontologists and art historians guide the audience through the cave with just one light source and a small video camera to capture its inner beauty, which is not currently open for public viewing.

He shows 32,000-year-old paleolithic masterpieces of horses, bison and rhinos that were painted into the contours of the cave.

The film’s beautiful artwork and captivating use of 3D lead to two sold out viewings of the documentary.

Along with the films, the PAIFF team also put together a speaker series that took place at the Talenthouse in downtown Palo Alto.

The series featured speakers like Paul Debevec, a virtual cinematographer for movies like Spider-Man 2 and Avatar, and other

interesting innovators and industry leaders.

“The speaker series offers a phenomenal educational opportunity for people interested in what is going on in the world of media, in these changes and how they affect the younger people in the industry,” Kamdar said.

“It gives them an opportunity to meet and hear from the leaders and most talented people in the industry as well as the people working on cutting edge ideas and products that you haven’t even heard of yet.”

Despite successful films and presentations, the festival faced technical difficulties.

The projectors and sound were not always cued up and ready to go when the movies were supposed to start.

At most movie showings, the PAIFF introductory short would not project onto the screen, or it would show up but have no sound.

The festival staff saw this as a problem as well.

“One lesson that’s on the bottom end is that we need more technical guys on staff,” Kamdar said.

Luckily, PAIFF will have a chance to improve next year as Kamdar plans to hold another festival. She envisions additional changes such as getting more student involvement in the festival.

This year students had a chance to submit shorts and attend special workshops geared toward youth and teens.

“Next year I want to get the local schools even more involved,” Kamdar said. “I’d like to get more student submissions because the submissions we got were amazing and were really fun to see.

Maybe we can even get some kids involved in the juries in selecting the winning films.”

Still, many students attended the festival this year and found their voice in the shorts program or just enjoyed watching movies.

“I’m really proud that we have something for everyone,” Kamdar said.

The film festival provided a diverse range of films that created a festive and exciting atmosphere. Futhermore, it united people in the celebration of the art of filmmaking and appreciation for the birth of a new form of art. After all, there is no better place to celebrate than in Palo Alto, the home of it all.

Apple presents new iPhone 4S, updated operating system iOS5 Next generation device offers iCloud technology, more improved features

By Jake Kerman Staff Writer

People in and out of the tech world alike focused intensively on Apple in recent weeks.

However, sentiments around Silicon Valley’s leading tech company were not related to the unveiling of the revamped iPhone 4S, but rather the death of Apple’s beloved founder and CEO Steve Jobs.

The passing of a figure that the world loved for all the right reasons kept the release of Apple’s fifth generation mobile device behind the curtain a bit.

Those loyal to Jobs continue to focus on the company many still call his, and most specifically its newest product.

At first glance, the 4S looks extremely similar to it’s predecessor. The body structure is nearly the same, and no new buttons have found their way onto the exterior.

Consumers may save some cash by using their old iPhone 4 cases due to nearly uniform dimensions between the two devices. Some customers may be disappointed by the unveiling of a device that, frankly, looks identical to the one in their pocket.

Thankfully, Apple has shown us in the past that what’s inside a device, not out, really makes or breaks it.

If updated looks alone made a mobile device great, other mobile manufacturers like Samsung or HTC would be leading the market right now. And of course, Apple sure has added a plethora of new features to knock its Apple fans off of their feet.

Apple’s biggest change is the new A5 dual core chip that now rests inside the heart of the iPhone.

With two times more power and graphics that are seven times faster, the A5 chip runs apps quickly and more seamlessly on the 4S. Games look and run smoother on the screen, with noticeably improved speed.

The short pause that iPhone 4 experi-

enced when opening programs no longer exists on the 4S. There is one downside to all this improved performance, however. Many are starting to claim that the 4S battery life has not improved, a change that had occurred on all previous models.

Despite Apple’s claims that the phone runs faster and longer, tech experts are unanimously disclaiming the latter.

A great new addition to the iPhone is “Siri,” an artificial assistant Apple created that allows iPhone owners to control most aspects of the device by voice command.

The interface is strikingly intelligent; from graphing parabolic equations to sending text messages, Siri can do it all on your command.

The technology understands stutters along with everyday slang, although Siri does struggle a bit with background noise.

Communication with the phone can be in running conversation as well, not just choppy commands.

With a level of comprehension unseen in other intelligence assistants on today’s market, Siri’s even smart enough to be that imaginary girlfriend in order to impress all your buds.

Also new to the table is iPhone’s updated operating system, iOS 5. Available for download on all Apple devices except for the original iPhone 3 and first and second generation iPod touches. iOS 5 has the 4S running 73 percent faster than the 4, according to Apple.

The new “Notification Center” not only organizes all the phone’s notifications in one place, but also makes responding to messages on all social platforms much timelier. iMessage is a completely revamped platform that will make text-happy teens very pleased. iPhone users will be able to send each other videos and pictures, as well as gain access to unlimited messaging through a WiFi network.

Also noteworthy from iOS 5 is an improved 8 mega pixel camera, which for too long has been a source of griping from Apple consumers.

The new camera captures video in full 1080 pixels, and editing software for photos is now built right into the phone.

Safari has received a face lift as well.

It now displays articles without advertisements and can save pages for later viewing, with the help of its Reading List feature.

A decade ago, iTunes changed the role that entertainment played on a computer. Now, Apple has set itself apart in the data sharing revolution once more

with the new iCloud technology and other applications for the iPhone.

Thanks to iCloud, data can be downloaded or revised on one device and it will immediately update on another.

For example, you could download a new album with iTunes on a computer, and your iPhone will simultaneously download the music as well.

In a nutshell, iCloud allows the iPhone to be completely computer independent for all phases and parts of the high-tech device.

With iCloud, the computer is now unnecessary because it has so many new applications to offer.

Looking at the iPhone 4S, there is not radical new design, a larger display, or even 4G coverage.

While that may upset some consumers, Apple has actually taken a great leap forward with the 4S not only financially but economically as well.

They took the world’s greatest phone and stayed within it’s boundaries while making improvements.

The end result is a familiar mobile device that is twice as good as the former iPhone.

Once consumers get their hands on the 4S, they will forget all about the much fabled iPhone 5, at least for now.

A&E

The Campanile

October 28, 2011 • B11

Autumn season brings new mouthwatering goodies to restaurants Eateries serve pumpkin yogurt, pre-made pies, delicious pancakes, potato soup

By Julia Poppy Staff Writer

On the first day of fall, the weather is just cool enough to pull out your warm cozy jacket and caramel-colored boots.

As you walk to school, the icy wind brushes your cheek and runs through your hair. The trees are beautiful colors of crimson and flaming orange, peppered here and there with a few green straggling leaves.

Now that it is officially fall, it is time to replace your flowy floral skirt with your favorite jeans and nix those flip flops for boots.

It is time to pull out your hats, holiday spirit — for Thanksgiving is only a month away — and… forks.

The changing winds of fall do not just sweep in colder weather, but delicious food as well. Everywhere one looks there is a new pumpkin-flavored dish or warm apple cider brewing.

Autumn brings with it the most delicious comfort food, and with Thanksgiving approaching quickly, the race for the best fall dish is under way, along with mounting anticipation for arguably the best meal of the year.

Some fall foods are less than spectacular, but how are you to know which ones are? Well, do not worry, here are some basic guidelines about what This article includes what is new and improved around town and the can not go wrong fall comfort food dishes.

Prepare to throw on your stretchy pants and rub your belly because it is finally time to eat.

This year, there are some rather delectable new fall foods on different local restaurant menus.

One highlight is Fraiche’s pumpkin yogurt. In one word, it is delectable. The creamy, smooth texture combined with the lovely pumpkin taste are a match made in heaven.

Unlike other less-than-fabulous pumpkin ice creams, Fraiche’s yogurt actually tastes like pumpkin pie filling. This is definitely a fall food hit.

To grab a cup of the pumpkin flavor, visit Fraiche on any day but Wednesday and Sunday because those are the only days Fraiche does not sell the pumpkin flavor.

The pumpkin Fraiche costs the same as the other flavors served at the yogurt store, starting at $2.95 for a “nano” size.

Another new fall restaurant to try is LYFE Kitchen.

With reasonable prices and delicious food it is a great place for students to dine.

The Kitchen boasts healthy options that actually taste good.These choices range from breakfast to lunch to dinner and even desserts.

One dish you should be sure to try is the Chocolate Volcano Cake ($3.99). This warm, chocolatey plate of sheer deliciousness consists of a spongy cake fresh from the oven, topped with a natural chocolate sauce that will have you licking the plate.

This may seem like a contradictory dish for such a healthy restaurant to serve, but it is only 304 calories, which is sure to make your “granola” friends

smile. LYFE Kitchen’s soulwarming comfort food like volcano cake is an excellent option for those cold, cloudy autumn days.

Another place to visit in Palo Alto is Saint Michael’s Alley, but this time you may want to go with your parents as it is pricier than LYFE Kitchen.

Famous for their Sunday brunch (make sure to call in advance for a reservation), Saint Michael’s Alley is California comfort food at its best.

With delicious pancakes and waffles, as well as warm gnocchi and lamb, there is truly no dish that is poorly made.

If you are not ready to venture off the beaten path, then look no further than your typical fall food staples. Apple and pumpkin pie are always wonderful options, and if you have the time, you can make your own.

If you simply do not have the gumption to whip up some crust, then just stop by your local supermarket and pick some up at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Safeway, or your local supermarket.

While restaurant and premade pies are fine, they can not hold a candle to a homemade, fresh-from-the-oven pie.

There are numerous recipes online, but the ones that are sure to please can be found on Martha Stewart’s website (www. marthastewart.com) or in Fanny Farmer’s Cookbook, which can be bought on Amazon starting at $7.87.

Homemade whipped cream turns any drab pie into a delicious delight. Buy some whipping cream, vanilla extract and sugar, pour it in a bowl and whip until you reach your desired whipped cream thickness.

Feel free to dollop the whipped cream on all your favorite pies, crisps, cobblers or crepes.

Another no-fail fall treat is the delicious pumpkin muffin.

Keeping with the autumn theme, pumpkin muffins are always a splendid choice.

YAEL PALMON/CAMPANILE

Fraiche’s pumpkin yogurt leaves a pleasurable, refreashing and savory taste after each spoonful. For added indulgence this healthy frozen snack is topped with crushed graham crackers and appetizing brownie bits.

Two local places to buy mix for muffins are Sprinkles and Williams-Sonoma at the Stanford Shopping Center.

While Sprinkles is known for their pre-made cupcakes, their pumpkin mix with cream cheese frosting will put any cupcake you have ever had to shame.

If you are feeling unusually adventurous, try some experimenting. Some favorite add-ins are pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips.

Yet another delectable sweet treat is the cinnamon roll. Nothing beats the smell of these cinnamon delights, especially when they are eaten pipping hot. A classic addition to this fall food is sugary icing, which will surely leave you licking your fingers.

Again, remember these lovely baked goods are simply the best when made fresh. Simplyrecipes. com is a good place to visit to find these kinds of recipes.

Steering away from the sugary delights, there are many other healthy fall foods that you should still be sure to try.

One such healthy fall food option is soup. Some homemade favorites are corn chowder, chili, and mixed vegetable soup.

Making soup may not be one of your top priorities, so do not feel guilty for going out and buying pre-made soup. Campbell’s Soup is always a crowd pleaser, especially their Chicken Noodle Soup.

However, do not forget about the lovely fruit and vegetable soups out there like pumpkin,

pea, sweet potato and tomato.

(For a more filling meal, Try and accompany these thick, warm delights with a panini or grilled cheese.)

Sweet potato soup is the perfect food for cold fall nights, especially when topped with yogurt and corn. Make sure to visit Martha Stewart’s website for a delicious soup recipe.

Fall is also a great time to cook beets, carrots, beans or potatoes.

These side dishes are wonderful along with a protein or pasta dish.

When you are getting ready for Autumn, try some comforting seasonal food. Trying some of these foods recommended for fall will surely brighten your cloudiest and chilliest fall days.

Compiled list of reasonable cars includes best options for new drivers Selected cars with great gas mileages are affordable, reliable, have best values available SUBARU OUTBACK

By Michael Wang and Matthew Morton

Designed with practicality in mind, this car is a perfect for those with active lifestyles.

Whether it is a trip to the store or a vacation to Tahoe, Subaru’s surefooted symmetrical all-wheel drive keeps you in control through mud, snow, and rain; it also provides more than enough room for all your gear and friends to fit comfortably.

Its 170 horsepower, flat-four engine is best paired with a continuously variable transmission, like the Cube‚ as it makes for a smoother and more reliable ride.

The Outback boasts great fuel economy for its class, with ratings up to 29 mpg. But if you really want to experience the Outback in its element, you have to ditch the beaten path.

Once you get onto dirt or gravel roads, its high ground clearance, low center of gravity and stiff structure let the Outback handle harsh terrain better than many any other cars.

Its standard flat-four engine links beautifully with the electronic control systems to climb slippery slopes that few others could scale. There is close to nothing that nature could dish out that the Outback could not handle. A true built-to-be-used car, the Outback is a must for any outdoorsman.

Along with a well-deserved reputation for durability, it delivers adequate acceleration and a very roomy, comfortable ride along with copious amounts of space for gear.

If you are a frequent camper, hiker, or hit the snowy slopes of Kirkwood every winter, the Outback is the car for you. You can find 2008 to 2010 model Outbacks under $15,000.

Staff Writers

Everyone remembers their first solo drive, with the apprehension of being perched behind the ominous black controls of a two-ton, modern-day stallion that seemed ready to leap forward at the tap of a foot and a twist of the reins.

Everyone remembers the powerful rumbling of the engine as it sat ready to unleash raw horsepower upon the unsuspecting pavement, ready to drive as fast as we wanted without mom screaming and crying hysterically in the passenger seat.

It is a major milestone, a symbolic and important time, when the magical little card, made not of plastic, but of hopes, dreams, joy and wonder ends its agonizing six-month journey and finally ends up in your wallet.

In that card lies the power to travel in a beast of steel and rubber, to cover great distances in the blink of an eye and leave only a fading rumble in your wake.

You can go anywhere, do anything, just so long as you get home by 11. The only question that remains is, what will you be driving?

Honestly, most teenagers will start with an old, smelly, beaten up car that has been around since Reagan was President. But never fear–there will come a day when you will get to replace it.

Maybe that day will be in a few months, or maybe in a few years. But regardless of when that day comes, you’ll need help.

Picking out a new car is a stressful experience, but often times it is also a necessary one, because no one wants to be stuck driving a minivan from the 20th century.

Spending four to five figures is no laughing matter either, so it is prudent that one does some research before deciding on a car.

Powertrain, horsepower, fuel economy, and durability are all factors that should be considered when selecting a car, but it is not always easy to get the right info.

Regardless of your situation, the brains at TheCampanile have managed to compile a list of great first cars for the new driver.

Each of these cars are affordable, reliable, and are among the best values you can get for your money. And remember - every one of these cars can be found for less than $15,000.

FORD MUSTANG

You may be scratching your head right now.

To many, a Mustang is synonymous with a sports car. And what type of parent would buy their kid a sports car for their first car? Exactly. So before you brazenly go running to Mom and Dad asking for a Mustang because The Campanile told you so, here are some facts to help your case.

For starters, the 2005-2009 model mustang boasts a 5 star overall crash safety rating.

In excellent condition, used fifth generation Mustangs sell for about $15,000 from dealerships, which can still be negotiated from there. Sporting a 4.0 liter V6 engine, the Mustang pumps out 210

VOLKSWAGEN GTI

Clockwise from top left, NAVETS/CREATIVE COMMONS, ADAM MONSOUR/CAMPANILE, ADAM MONSOUR/CAMPANILE

The Nissan Cube (top left), Subaru Outback (top right), Ford Mustang (bottom) offer great gas mileages, necesssary safety features, affordable prices, and the polished facade first time drivers always try to find. horsepower through the rear wheels, which allows for sportier handling and doughnuts (not recommended).

All Mustangs come standard with a six speaker sound system with an auxiliary jack for iPods for when you want to blast some music as you cruise.

The current Mustang, first of the new American throwback pony cars, has a distinctively classic style very reminiscent of the lauded 65 model Mustang, which was the first car to have received the esteemed Tiffany Gold Medal of Excellence for design.

Its muscular edges and powerful looks set a high bar, and every one of its 210 horses are ready to gallop.

NISSAN CUBE

Looking for something unique but practical? The Nissan Cube is just that. Featuring asymmetrical wraparound windows and shag carpeting, this car sports a variety of useful and unique features that many other cars cannot compete with.

Coolness in a box‚ this distinctive urban vehicle is bound to attract some curious looks from pedes-

trians, as its quintessential Tokyo chic is not something that often finds its way into car designs.

With comfortable seating for five, this spacious car has ample trunk space for baggage and sports equipment. The trunk door opens to the side, which makes transporting cargo a breeze.

Visibility is another plus for the Cube. Its wraparound rear window makes for great visibility, which is perfect for getting in and out of those tricky parking spots.

This unique car is continuously variable transmission (CVT) and compact size makes for a great 30/28 mpg fuel economy.

The Cube offers an economical ride for those who are looking for something more unique in a car.

Cubes in excellent condition and with low mileages can be found through local dealerships at under $15,000.

These cars are commonly packaged with nonstandard options like keyless entry, side curtain airbags and sporty bucket seats which make the Cube one of the best combinations of pricestyle on the market to some.

If you need an automobile that is not only fun to drive, but also very sensible, the GTI is the right car for you. Its spunky styling and compact frame make it a great car for the city, and its spacious hatchback design makes for a generous amount of cargo room.

It’s no slowpoke either. It may not look like much, but with 200 horsepower and 207 lb-feet of torque, the GTI can hit sixty miles per hour in 6.8 seconds. Comfortable cloth bucket seats and 18” alloy wheels complete the sporty, powerful, and altogether practical package. Its safety figures are top notch, boasting a five star rating overall in IIHS crash tests.

While its performance figures are nothing to sneeze at, its true selling point is its driveability.

Its taught and precise German suspension makes a plush yet responsive ride that comes to life on the highway. Around the city, its precise handling and impressive acceleration mean you will always have a fun drive, no matter where you plan to go.

Overall, if you want a classy, sporty, and practical ride, the GTI is second to none. This seemingly innocuous hatchback can outrace many other cars, seeing as its turbocharged four-cylinder really packs a punch.

It’s fun to drive, has tons of cargo space and is reasonably priced. If all that can’t convince your parents, its five star safety rating will.

A&E

B12 • October 28, 2011

The Campanile

Popular bands make way to Bay Area for last performances of year

Upcoming concert season provides wide variety of genres that appeal to many music lovers

By Gina Scarpino Staff Writer

Music plays a big part in teenage culture, and attending concerts turns music into something more special than listening to one’s iPod. With a wide variety of music tastes and concert venues, the Bay Area always looks forward to seeing new artists perform their favorite tunes.

It does not matter if one is a fan of poppunk, rap, indie or sugar-coated pop; there is a band for everyone touring this season that will love to see fans, new or old.

KATY PERRY

Candy-coated pop queen Katy Perry is making her second stop in the Bay Area on her “California Dreams” tour this year.

Perry played in San Jose in August and performed for a full house; now, she is coming back to give the East Bay a taste of her cherry chapstick.

Her sophomore album Teenage Dream (released in August 2010) debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The album included hits like “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream” and “Firework.”

Perry broke records with one of her most recent singles, “E.T.,” which spent 52 days in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Perry is bringing her high-energy show to the Oracle Arena in Oakland on Monday, Nov. 21 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets will range from $49.85 to $64.35.

JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST

Hip-hop and rap legends Jay-Z and Kanye West recently released their CD collaboration titled Watch The Throne and are embarking on their “Watch The Throne” tour early this winter.

Jay-Z and West started working on their epic collaboration album, full of orchestral and progressive rock influences, in Nov. 2010.

The album exhibits themes of power, fame, politics and materialism, with lyrics that display a darker side to both of the artists’ talent.

The music and lyrical content are fairly similar to West’s most recent album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which received rave reviews.

Songs from the album like “H-A-M” and “Otis” scored spots on the Billboard Hot 100 list. Since the album dropped on Aug. 8, the album has gone platinum and sold 930 thousand copies in the United States.

Jay-Z and West are making a stop at HP Pavilion in San Jose on Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets will range from $70.25 to $272.25.

PhotoBrangwyn/creative commons

matthewmiggz/creative commons

Lunchbox LP/creative commons

somethingmarissacrez/creative commons

The fall and winter concert schedule includes a variety of artists. Mac Miller (left) will perform Nov. 8 at The Fillmore, Simple Plan (top right) will perform Oct. 29 at the Regency Ballroom, Katy Perry (bottom left) will perform Nov. 21 at Oracle Arena and Jack’s Mannequin (bottom right)will perform Nov. 7 at the Regency Ballroom.

SIMPLE PLAN

Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan is going to be playing a show in San Francisco which is one of their first stops on their current “Get Your Heart On” tour that begins Oct. 28 in Los Angeles.

It is one of the band’s first headlining tours since 2008, and will promote their newest album, Get Your Heart On, which was released in June 2011.

The band’s new album is packed with many upbeat dance jams, which will compliment their older, more punk-rock ballad tunes.

With supporting bands like Forever The Sickest Kids, The Cab and Marianas Trench, it should be a fun night filled with music to dance to.

A portion from the profit of each ticket is going to be donated to the Simple Plan Foundation, which focuses on addressing topics such as teen drunk driving and other adolescent-related issues.

Simple Plan is playing at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on Oct. 29 at 8:00 p.m., and tickets will cost $26.

Thanksgiving Floral Centerpieces

Paly flower moms, Katherine Glazier and Theresa Anderson will create a beautiful floral centerpiece for your Thanksgiving celebration.

Send your check for $55.00 by November 12th Payable to Theresa Anderson 71 Morton Way, Palo Alto, 94303 Centerpieces will be delivered to your home on Tuesday, November 22nd Questions: Kglazier@sbcglobal.net

You are on the brink of your future.

I can help you find your path to purpose ...and college admissions success.

Marci Reichelstein Certified College Admissions Advisor www.compasstocollege.org

MAC MILLER

Rapper Mac Miller is planning on making a stop in San Francisco early this November on his “Blue Slide Park” tour.

Prior to being known as Mac Miller, he was known as EZ Mac and released his first solo EP (extended play), But Mackin’ Ain’t Easy in 2007. Before Miller started his solo career, he was part of a rap group named The Ill Spoken with fellow Pittsburgh rapper, Beedie.

The Pittsburgh native has been working his way up in the rap community since Dec. 2010 with hits such as “Donald Trump” and “Knock Knock.”

Miller, whose real name is Malcolm McCormick, first started releasing mix tapes in 2009, which lead to him getting signed to Rostrum Records later that year.

Miller released four singles and one EP in the past year and is heading on tour to promote his debut album, Blue Slide Park, which is set to drop on Nov. 8.

He will be playing at The Fillmore on Nov. 1 at 8:00 p.m., and tickets will cost $29.50.

THE KOOKS

The Kooks, an indie rock band from Brighton, East Sussex, England, are stopping in San Francisco as they make their way around the country one last time before the new year. The four British boys are out promoting their new CD, Junk of The Heart, which was released earlier this year.

After signing to Virgin Records in a short three months after forming, The Kooks broke into mainstream music with their debut album, Inside In/Inside Out in 2006.

The album was an instant success and achieved quadruple platinum in the UK within a year. The album also received a platinum record in Australia and a double platinum in Ireland.

The week of its release, Junk of The Heart was 68 on Billboards hot 100 chart.

Two singles have come off of Junk of The Heart, “Junk of The Heart (Happy)” and “Is It Me,” both upbeat and fun indie rock tracks.

The four Brits will be joined by the band Yawn out on tour. The Kooks are playing at The Fillmore in San Francisco on Dec. 13 at 8:00 p.m. and tickets will cost $40.50.

JACK’S MANNEQUIN

The Orange County alternative rock band Jack’s Mannequin is planning to make its second-to-last stop on its tour in San Francisco early next month.

Jacks’s Mannequin started as a side project for Andrew McMahon, who was in the group Something Corporate at the time.

In 2003, McMahon recorded a song called “Locked Doors” that had a sound that was too different for Something Corporate, and from there Jack’s Mannequin was born.

McMahon and his crew broke into the alternative music scene in 2005 with their debut album, Everything In Transit, which had “Dark Blue” and “The Mixed Tape,” two of their more well known songs on it.

They released a new album earlier this month titled People and Things, with the current single being “My Racing Thoughts.”

This fall they are gaining support out on tour from Lady Danville. The four southern California guys will be bringing their mellow alternative tunes to the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on Nov. 7 at 7:00 p.m. and tickets will cost $28.50.

Have an opinion?

Send in your letter to the editor to us campanile.opinion@ gmail.com

C

A&E

The Campanile

October 28, 2011 • B13

Fashionable rain gear helps students stay dry in stormy weather

Local clothing stores provide variety of waterproof clothes, accessories

By Michael Augustine and Jillian Chacon

Sports Editor and Senior Staff Writer

For some people, the rainy season is just an excuse to wear a sweatshirt, their favorite pair of pants and rain boots. Others feel that the rainy season really cramps their style.

However, with all of Palo Alto High School turning into Lake Paly, major changes in style are required to survive the next few months.

There are several options to consider when making one’s early-morning or late-night decision about what to wear for the upcoming school day.

For girls, the first decision to be made in this process while choosing rain gear is deciding which pants to wear.

On a cold rainy day most would want to stay home, watch TV, drink hot chocolate and eat Top Ramen in a pair of comfy sweats.

The best way to feel the same way at school is to wear sweats, ideally yoga pants in black or grey.

For some of the best-quality yoga pants in town, visit Lululemon on University Avenue.

Although the prices range from $74 to $108, the pants last for a long time, provide support for curvy girls and are often reversible, essentially giving customers two pairs of pants for the price of one.

A less-pricey substitute for Lululemon pants are Gap’s gBalance pants.

Gap yoga pants, which are $39.96, also provide support and classy looks. Unfortunately, there are not as many color options compared to Lululemon’s and none are reversible.

Of course a pair of jeans is always an adequate option.

For the other half of the population, jeans are a much simpler solution. Unless one is extremely confident in his ability to pull off the poncho-pants look, guys usually can just stick with jeans or other long pants.

Jeans offer a good amount of protection from the water, but once soaked they do not dry for a while. That said, jeans do not interfere with one’s usual “swagger,” and still prepare one for the rain.

The next step in gearing up for a rainy day is choosing the jacket. For the days it rains cats and dogs, a sweatshirt is not going to cut it, but neither will a poncho.

One must be smart in making these types of decisions. For example, going with a heavy ski jacket is definitely not the right choice.

Since winter in Palo Alto stays at a mild temperature there is never an ex-

RIKI RATTNER/CAMPANILE

Nordstrom is one of the retail outlets that offers rain apparel such as rain boots and jackets. Popular footwear choices include Hunter Rain Boots, Chooka Rain Boots and Sperry Top-Siders Men’s Authentic Boat Shoes, all of which come in different colors. tended period filled with rainstorms, so there is no need to buy a thick, warm and puffy jacket. Instead one should invest in a waterproof windbreaker, offered at many stores in the area.

At Paly, the North Face Venture Jacket is very popular. The jacket costs $99-$119 for the men’s version and $99 for the women’s version. These jackets are offered in a wide variety of colors including purple, teal, white, maroon, forest green and black. The jacket is made of nylon and HyVent® DT EC, which is a new material made to be more ecofriendly.

This waterproof and breathable jacket has a stylish look and is very functional. The Venture Jacket can be bought online or in stores at The North Face, REI or Nordstrom.

Students can find relief from the combination of mild rain and cool tempera-

ture by layering clothing. This way they get the best of both worlds.

“If it’s a cold rainy day you rock the sweatshirt under the nylon jackets,” senior Jacob Lauing said.

Footwear is crucial given the nature of the Paly quad, parking lots, and other various puddle abysses.

Equipping oneself with the right apparel for one’s feet can be the difference between a good day in the rain and a miserable day lamenting over wet and ruined shoes.

Without a doubt, rain boots are the way to go when it comes to girls’ footwear for the rainy season. Fortunately, there is an abundance of different styles, colors and patterns available.

Chooka Rain boots are affordable, cute, offered in a variety of colors and patterns and sold at several different stores in the area, including Nordstrom.

Varied options, healthy choices increase appeal of downtown Yoppi Yogurt shop

By Ashley Shin Senior Staff Writer

Yoppi Yogurt in downtown Palo Alto is the latest shop to participate in the current frozen yogurt trend. The store is located on University Avenue in what was previously Red Mango’s location.

Upon first walking into Yoppi Yogurt, one will notice that the decorations clash. The walls are painted in a combination of pastel colors of yellow, light green and orange. The side of the wall with the dry toppings includes animated characters that appear to be frozen yogurt people with swirled heads.

However, the design on this wall seems more appropriate for a nursery than for a professional business. At night, the wall behind the cash register lights up with a couple of colorful lights.

This is especially contradictory because one side of the store gives off a childish feel while the ALEX LIN/CAMPANILE other gives off a nightclub-like efHealthy frozen yogurt, numerous toppings, and gelato choices enable fect.

The frozen yogurt is self-serve Yoppi Yogurt to differentiate itself from the similar, local competition. with several easy-to-operate maYoppi emphasizes the health chines. However, the machines nilla flavor is clearly there yet are rather drippy when one first is not overwhelming, and tastes factor of their frozen yogurt. less artificial than other vanilla Based on a 2,000-calorie diet, pulls down the lever. each serving of half a cup of their The yogurt is priced by weight yogurts.

There are two separate coun- yogurt has only 100 calories (zeat the register at 45 cents per ounce. The flavors change every ters for toppings, one specifically ro calories from fat), zero grams Tuesday and consist of options for the refrigerated toppings clos- of total fat and zero milligrams of er to the reg- cholesterol. such as CoYoppi serves not only frozen ister, and one conut, Pomefor the dry top- yogurt, but also a variety of gegranate Tart, lato, a less tart, equally sweet pings.

Cappuccino, YOPPI YOGURT S t r a n g e l y , alternative. The flavors include French Vanilla 429 University Avenue Yoppi was lack- Cookie Dough, Cafe Mocha and and Yoppi Siging in berries. several others. nature Tart.

Palo Alto, CA 94301 The gelato is priced by size. A The toppings The Yoppi $3.25-$5.25 include differ- small costs $3.25, a medium $4.25 Signature Tart ent candies and and a large $5.25. A cone is an adtastes similar cereals such as ditional charge of 50 cents and to other claswww.facebook.com/pages/Yoppi-Yogurt-Palo-Alto/ sour gummy each topping is 45 cents. Sizesic tart flavors, worms, butter- wise, the yogurt appears to be a and does not fly gummies, better deal. stand out.

Despite the cheesy appearThe Yellow Cake Batter tastes Reese’s Pieces, chocolate rocks too artificial and sweet for a fro- and jelly beans. Yoppi also of- ance, Yoppi Yogurt manages to fers strawberry, honey, caramel, distinguish itself from the numerzen yogurt flavor.

On the other hand, French Va- chocolate and white chocolate ous other frozen yogurt stores in nilla has the perfect amount of sauces to pour over one’s yogurt Palo Alto with health-consciousness and gelato options. vanilla taste mixed in. The va- creation.

The prices range from approximately $40-$90.

No one can go wrong with the second option, Hunter Rain Boots. Although they are a bit pricey, ranging from $90$250, they come in more than ten different colors.

For guys there is not too much variety across the board, but just because men do not fret over which pair of decorated rain boots to wear the next day does not mean there are not smart options for what to protect one’s feet with.

On rainy days the right shoes can definitely make a difference. Durability of those sneakers is always sought-after and stepping in a few puddles is the perfect way to ruin Air Force Ones or Vans.

“I throw on a pair of shoes that isn’t as nice as my normal set to make sure [my nice shoes] don’t get messed up,” Lauing said.

For those men looking to survive puddles, Sperry Top-Siders can provide adequate foot wear. For fashion purists the traditional boat shoe also provides a suitable option.

The Sperry Top-Siders Men’s Authentic Boat Shoe is priced at $75 and comes in a myriad of colors.

These shoes come in brown leather with a red-and-black plaid wool patch, all-navy leather and the always-classy amaretto dark leather.

These stylish options are equipped with a rubber sole and durable water-resistant leather that provide some protection from puddles.

These shoes are a 100 percent classy look and can give men the right durability as they face the weather gods. They can be purchased online on the Sperry Top-Siders website, at Nordstrom or online at Zappos.

Finally, the make-or-break tool that everyone needs to escape the drenched afternoons (no, not an old Campanile, Verde or Viking magazine): the umbrella.

Often overlooked, the umbrella can save or completely ruin an afternoon by providing premium shelter to an individual and adding a colorful touch to one’s outfit. Now that the benefits of this tool are clear, here is some advice on where one can get the best umbrellas.

Traditional, plain umbrellas can be bought almost anywhere at an affordable price.

Assuming one does not have an umbrella stored in the closet, it is possible to buy the Rainbow Super Mini Umbrella for $10.99 at the nearest CVS. This compact option takes up little space when not in use but still provides adequate protection from the rain.

Anyone can get an ordinary umbrella to protect him or herself from the rain, but you can be the one to get a unique umbrella and really stand out. Amazon offers many unusual novelty umbrellas at a range of prices.

Medieval enthusiasts can buy a fullsize umbrella with a saber or sword handle for $22.95 and $31.34, respectively.

The Party Sun Shade Hat may not be as functional, as it acts as both a hat and umbrella, but its cheap price on Amazon ($6.99) and quirky multicolored spiral design is an alternative option to that some might want to check out.

As Paly approaches Palo Alto’s potentially dreaded rain season, hopefully students are provided with the right options to defend themselves from anything from mist to storm, but always in a fashionable manner.

Driver’s education classes excel

Different schools provide range of prices, location

By Logan Mendenhall Staff Writer

Many students aim to drive by the time they graduate, but they need to undergo an arduous process beforehand. Attending driving school is an essential step in the process of getting a license. The Bay Area offers a wide variety of driver education options to tailor to different students’ needs. Stanford Driving School, Deluxe Driving School, and Bay Cities Driving School are just a few of the driving schools that Palo Alto students choose to attend.

Stanford Driving School is known for its curriculum and safety programs. Many students agreed that Stanford is a good choice.

“Stanford was overall a good choice because their online course was fairly easy and didn’t really take 30 hours,” junior Paul Stefanski said.

The school offers many sessions throughout the year that teach students about safety.

“The instructor made us put on blurry glasses and try to walk in a straight line to simulate how a person walks and sees when they are drunk,” junior Simon Fox said.

One setback students described was that Stanford has many instructors who tend to be boring.

Students also said that some instructors use unorthodox methods in to get their points across.

“One time an instructor slammed on his brake because my hands weren’t on 10 and two,” Stefanski said.

Another possible setback of attending Stanford Driving School can be the high cost.

“Their driving classes were a little expensive considering they were only two hours,” Paul Stefanski said.

Deluxe Driving School is a cheaper driving school that many students use in the Bay Area.

According to deluxedrivingschool.com, the price for three two hour lessons is $270 whereas Stanford charges $355.

“Deluxe Driving School was cheaper but the money saved was not worth it,” an anonymous source said. “My instructor was late to every single one of my lessons, and even forgot about one.”

The instructors for Deluxe Driving School have gone through a background check and are safe drivers, according to deluxedrivingschool.com.

However, although they may be safe, they are not necessarily good teachers.

“My instructor focused more on telling me about her life than on helping my driving; I failed my first test,” the source said.

Deluxe Driving School also has non-refundable fees, according to deluxedrivingschool.com. However, it is possible to use one of its cars for an additional $150 in order to be more comfortable taking the test.

Bay Cities Driving School is another school that students can attend in order to prepare themselves for the license test.

“I liked it a lot, the lady was really cool and they don’t pick people up at the end of your lesson like in Stanford Driving,” junior Walker Mees said.

According to baycitiesdrivingschool.com the instructors do not pick students up from school and they give private lessons only.

Lessons include parallel parking and freeway driving as well as the normal driving lessons given by other schools.

“They took me on a bunch of practice courses where I would be taking my test, which really helped prepare me,” Mees said.

Bay Cities Driving School also offers many lesson for adults and senior citizens as shown on their website. It offers training every day of the week and supplies you with DMV test preparation.

Another alternative students use to prepare themselves for the license test is obtaining a private tutor.

“I had a private tutor and it was really good except my instructor was a little awkward and stepped on his brake a lot,” senior Matt Lam said.

“Overall, I was prepared for the test and only missed three points.”

Private tutoring is an effective but costly way to learn and prepare for the test. It also has the benefit of a less rigid schedule, so students can easily find a time to meet with their teachers. It costs $450 for three sessions compared to Stanford’s $355.

While private tutoring is the most expensive, it allows students a more personalized experience and intensive teaching. It also allows students to choose their teacher.

All of the options provide a plethora of choices, and students should be able to easily find a driving school that works best for them. The different options can meet any students’ needs, be it a lower price or more personalized attention.

- - - - Driving Schools - - - Stanford Driving

Bay Cities Driving

Deluxe Driving

Private Tutoring

Palo Alto $355 for 6 hours

Bay Area $270 for 6 hours

Bay Area $368 for 6 hours

Anywhere $450 for 6 hours

A&E

B14 • October 28, 2011

French-Korean bakery opens in downtown Palo Alto

Paris Baguette provides affordable food, comfortable atmosphere

By Laura Cui

Senior Staff Writer

1

With its flashy blue decor that can be seen from blocks away, it is hard to miss Paris Baguette, the recently opened bakery and newest addition to downtown Palo Alto, located on the corner of University Avenue and Waverley Street. The market is a perfect combination of environments with its sit-down cafe and its bakery with affordable freshly-made bread, among other take-home goods.

The distinctive color scheme that appears outside the bakery is consistent with the modern decor inside. The cafe is very spacious with abundant seating both inside and outdoors. The walls and ceilings are lined with mirrors, giving off a light vibe. The quilted seats inside keep the atmosphere classy with an aura of cleanliness.

The international chain bakery, based in Korea, made its debut in Palo Alto on Sept. 30. A top competitor in the Korean bakery market, Paris Baguette has over 2,950 stores in Asia. Now, it is starting to make its name in the United States with about 15 stores operating throughout the country.

The Palo Alto bakery is managed

by Toby Yi and Ted Kim, who were previously managers of the Santa Clara location. It is one of the only Asian bakeries on University AveRIKI RATTNER/CAMPANILE nue, adding to the diverse character of downtown Palo Alto.

A bright vibrant blue sign on the corner of University Avenue and Waverley Street marks the spot of Paris Baguette, At the front of the bakery, there where French-Korean baked goods are sold. The radiant decor throughout the new bakery creates a welcoming feel. are trays and tongs to grab the array of assorted pastries with. Down one’s craving with its croissant glazed Tuna Salad, Egg Salad, Cranberry bigger and more elaborately decoratthe aisle, samples of featured pas- with mocha-flavored syrup. Saltier Chicken, Ham and Cheese and Veg- ed than the one in Santa Clara. Howtries are exhibited on the counter. treats that are more filling for the gie. The salad options are Cobb, Tu- ever, due to the recent opening, the There are dozens of different pastries stomach include the sausage pastry na, Oriental Chicken and Santa Fe downtown Palo Alto cafe has not yet to choose from, including the typical ($2.95), which is essentially a hot dog Chicken. On the drinks menu, the come out with all of its items, such as croissants and cream pastries as well covered in cheese in a croissant, simi- Chai Latte ($3.50) is creamy and has the shaved ice.

Palo Alto High School senior Young as lesser-known ones such as conch lar to a pig-in-a-blanket. The bakery a savory flavor. Everything is priced pies. Prices for these pastries range also offers the traditional chocolate reasonably and makes Paris Baguette Kuk Lee has been to both branches from $1.50 to $5 per pastry. Paris Ba- croissant along with cinnamon rolls a good place to go out for brunch or for of Paris Baguette, but is more famila light lunch. The workers, following iar with the one in Santa Clara. He guette offers a great opportunity to and churros.

In addition to pastries, the cafe the Paris theme by dressing in striped commends the French-themed bakery try the variety of pastries offered at also offers salad, fruit cups and cold shirts and black berets, will wrap up mixed with a taste of Korean culture. these affordable prices.

“I think it’s a great store that sandwiches as the pastries into boxes if one chooses Among the asshows a different culture and taste in more substan- to bring them home. sortment of cream Along with the selection of soft terms of food and design,” Lee said. tial options. The pastries, the DanPARIS BAGUETTE chilled sand- drinks to choose from, the cafe also of- “The best thing I like to get there is ish Cream Cheese 383 University Ave. wiches come in fers a hot drink menu serving coffee, the shaved ice because it’s something pastry ($2.50) is four small por- cappuccino and espresso, among oth- that I can share with friends. It has Palo Alto , CA 94301 a simple yet satlots of fruits and it tastes good on hot tions and are er options. isfying treat. The $1.50-$7.50 Although the decor adds a formal days.” freshly made. sweet custard comDowntown Palo Alto’s Paris BaAll the pastries touch to the cafe, the atmosphere is plements the surare baked daily still very relaxing for customers. Free guette is progressively adding more rounding glazed from the kitch- WiFi connection is available in the ca- items to its menu as it adjusts to its danish.

Choices http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paris-Baguette en in the back fe for those who choose to bring their new location, making the bakery a include a variety of perfect place to hang out with friends where transpar- laptops along. fruit-flavored danThe cafe is a very interactive envi- or even go on a casual date. The wide ent mirrors alishes such as the raspberry cream cheese and the blue- low customers to watch how the chefs ronment concurrent with the bustling variety of pastries and drinks availambiance of downtown Palo Alto. Al- able helps create the appealing atmoprepare the pastries and bread. berry cream cheese pastries.

The selection of cold sandwiches though the Paris Baguette in Palo sphere that the venue brings to UniIf one is partial to coffee flavor, the mocha pastry ($2.50) will satisfy include the Turkey Avocado Wrap, Alto opened recently, the storefront is versity Avenue.

iHope Photos by Alex Lin Text by Isabel Benatar Throughout his lifetime, Steve Jobs inspired the world with his creativity. The technology he created is used every day in all aspects of our lives. His innovative thinking and tenacity set an example that all Palo Alto High School students can follow. He showed everyone that no matter what one’s passion is, one should pursue it until the end. These photos were taken outside of his Palo Alto home after his death, they show the amount of love and respect this community has towards this visionary leader.

The Campanile

in

1950

This edition featuring

Molly Zebker

with The Campanile’s own

Maddie Berger and Wesley Shiau The Campanile: Let’s talk more about that face Molly.

MZ: (laughs) The Jenna Marbles face?

TC: Yeah do it! You do it so well.

MZ: (laughs again) No, it’s really embarrassing.

TC: What do you want people to feel when they see that face?

MZ: I don’t want them to feel like they have to throw up with that face.

TC: But will they?

MZ: Most likely yes.

TC: Let’s talk about your obsession with Mary Kate and Ashley. When did it start?

MZ: So from a young age, I was probably in the womb with my friend [Chloe Koseff].

TC: You were in the womb? What does that even mean?

MZ: Yeah, like before we were born, when we were fetuses.

TC: Oh, yes (still confused) MZ: We just developed this love for Mary Kate and Ashley because they’re twins and we’re twins and they’re just really good at everything they do so that just defines our lives. And their movies are really good.

TC: Isn’t there one where they go to London and get kidnapped or something?

MZ: Mhm, but they get out of it.

TC: What is your favorite thing to act out in charades?

MZ: You know, underwater charades is my favorite. I just like shimmying underwater, I don’t like acting out anything.

TC: Who taught you how to shimmy?

MZ: I taught Margaret Wenzlau how to shimmy.

TC: You must be an expert. What’s your favorite word?

MZ: Either “spanks” or “chump.”

TC: So when you say spank you to someone, do you want them to spank you?

MZ: Yes, I do actually.

TC: Where did the nickname Moles come from?

MZ: Okay, so during swim practice it’s really hard to go to the bathroom so you just have to hold it in right? So one of my teammates had to go to the bathroom really badly one day so she got out and she went. So then I asked her where are you going? And she said ‘I got a little mole in the hole.’

And I guess that’s where it started.

TC: Any names?

MZ: It was Paige Devine.

TC: Would you say “mole in the hole” is a frequent event during swim meets?

MZ: Oh yeah, all the time.

TC: Does it hinder your swimming speed?

MZ: Actually when you have to go, you swim faster. Then you jump out of the pool and go to the bathroom.

TC: This is getting really graphic.

MZ: Well I could go into more details if you want.

TC: It’s okay. So who is your favorite male swimmer? Who works the Speedo the best?

MZ: Ooh, I was told to say Byron Sanborn.

TC: But is that who you actually think is the best?

MZ: Yes, but we’re not really good friends so I don’t think I should really be saying this.

TC: What about second place? Who has the best booty in a Speedo?

MZ: Rollin Lau. TC: Ohh easily!

MZ: Stumps!

TC: Where did the nickname Stumps for Rollin come from?

MZ: Well I like the word “stumps” also and I just wanted to call someone “stumps” and Rollin was there. Stumps McRollz.

TC: Why do you think that these boys have such big booties in their Speedos?

MZ: Well they just work out their butts and their glutes so much doing squats and wall sits.

TC: Tell us about Jersey Shore.

MZ: As soon as I turn 21, I’m road tripping there.

TC: Who’s your favorite guido?

MZ: Easily Pauly D because he’s really sexy and has a really good haircut.

TC: What are your thoughts on Snooki?

MZ: She’s disgusting and I want to vomit every time I look at her.

TC: So it must be hard to watch this show.

MZ: Yeah but I get through it.

TC: What’s your favorite Jersey Shore phrase?

MZ: T-shirt time, as said by Pauly D. Every Thursday night.