The Coat of Arms
Volume 44, Number 7
Menlo School, Atherton, California
Thursday, May 17, 2018
serving Menlo's upper school since 1973
Students react to possible Persky recall Professor Dauber, former Judge Cordell debate possible recall of Judge Persky by SAMANTHA STEVENS
In Martin Hall on April 19 and 23, students heard from two opposing opinions on the recall campaign for Judge Aaron Persky. Persky was the judge who sentenced Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail and three years of probation after Turner was convicted of three felony counts of sexual assault. After hearing from both the anti-recall and pro-recall sides of the argument, many students formulated their own opinions on the issue and altered their previous conceptions. Firstly, it is important to know that the recall of a judge is extremely rare; this will be the first judicial recall to reach the ballot in 86 years, according to The Mercury News. Voters will decide on the possible recall of Judge Persky via the Santa Clara County ballot in June of 2018. Professor Michele Dauber of Stanford University, who spoke on Thurs. April 19, is the leader of the recall campaign, and believes that Judge Persky deserves to be removed as a judge due to five lenient rulings in favor of privileged sexual assaulters. On the other hand, former Judge LaDoris Cordell spoke on Mon. April 23, and believes that the potential recall of Judge Persky is a “threat to judicial independence,” because judges are supposed to be protected from the pressures of popular opinion. The five controversial cases that Dauber mentioned are the Brock Turner rape case, Robert Chain’s four-day sentencing for
Professor Dauber speaks at Martin Hall. Photo Courtesy of Pete Zivkov.
possession of child pornography, two separate cases of basing football players’ sentencing on their athletic schedule and the “De Anza Gang Rape.” The 2007 De Anza rape investigation was based on a police inquiry about the sexual assault of a minor by eight De Anza College baseball players. This case originally did not pertain to Persky. It was reviewed by Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr in 2007, not Judge Persky, and no charges were filed, despite having three witnesses testify to the sexual assault. In 2011, the victim took the case to civil court in hopes of receiving monetary compensation, when Judge Persky became involved. Persky was criticized for allowing suggestive photos of the victim to be used as evidence against her, along with preventing other victims from testifying. Ultimately, the victim lost her case. Dauber, and the rest of the recall campaign, feels that the “De Anza Gang Rape,” along with the other four controversial cases, are sufficient reasons to recall Persky. Judge Cordell, who is in opposi-
Judge Cordell speaks at Martin Hall. Photo Courtesy by Pete Zivkov.
tion of the recall effort, went on to break-down each of the five cases in detail, which senior Xavier Dickinson appreciated as an audience member. “Those [five] cases are the basis of what Dauber uses as the argument for the recall, but Cordell debunked all of those arguments by showing the audience the facts instead of interpretation,” Dickinson said. Dickinson only attended Cordell’s talk, and agrees with her stance on keeping Persky as a sitting judge. Sophomore Josh Poulos also felt that Professor Dauber presented her evidence against Judge Persky with a skewed bias. “Judge Cordell went through each case one by one and pulled out the fallacies and proved [Dauber’s] case invalid through concrete evidence and research.” Before attending either of the talks, Poulos did not feel knowledgeable enough to choose a side, but ended up siding with opposition of the recall campaign after hearing both opinions. Dauber argues that Judge Persky, who was captain of the lacrosse team at Stanford University, has a repeated bias in favor of privi-
leged athletes and/or white males. Sophomore Page Wolfenden, who initially and continues to believe that Persky should be recalled after attending both presentations, acknowledged that she valued learning from the opposing side, even though she doesn’t agree with Judge Cordell. “I thought that Judge Cordell made some good points. I still stand on the recall, but it definitely made me listen to the other side’s voice a little more,” Wolfenden said. A major point made by Cordell to counter the recall campaign was that these five cases that Dauber highlighted are “only 1% of one quarter of his cases,” meaning that his error in the Brock Turner case is not a pattern. Freshman Avery Lee felt that the amount of attention given to the Brock Turner case by Professor Dauber was adequate, and actually felt that Judge Cordell should have addressed it more. “[Judge Cordell] didn’t really bring up the Brock Turner case which was kind of confusing for me. [...] That [is] a major part of why Judge Persky [is potentially] being recalled, and I feel like she kind of avoided it,” Lee said. After attending both presentations, sophomore Kendall Weingart agrees with Professor Dauber on recalling Persky, though she acknowledges that it could be possible for judges to appeal to public opinion out of fear of being recalled. “I still think that Judge Persky is corrupt and I think that he should be recalled,” Weingart said. Professor Dauber stressed that by giving light sentencing for sex crimes and violence against women, Persky is not deterring others from committing these crimes. By removing Persky, she believes that an important warning will be given to other possible sexual assaulters and judges that these crimes cannot be tolerated. Check out a longer article at coa.menloschool.org.
Change in political discourse on campus by JACOB HALABE
In recent years, many people around the country have noticed a shift in the national political dialogue. In 2017, a study conducted by the Pew Research Center found that the average ideological gap between members of differing political parties has increased by 21% since 1994. Over the past few years, politics have become increasingly polarizing and divisive. The same issues that have plagued the national political debate have also, to a certain extent, made their way into the political discourse of Menlo School. This change in the way students think and feel about politics can be seen in many ways across campus. For example, on Feb. 14 during lunch time, several messages were written in chalk on the upper school quad. The chalk had been put out by the Happiness Club, in an activity intended for students to write about what they love. However, some students used the open-ended nature of the activity to air controversial opinions. Among the messages were notes such as “Menlo preaches Communism” and “Sister Spit preaches obesity” (Sister Spit was a group of assembly speakers some derided as very liberal). In such a divided political atmosphere, people at Menlo and around the country have felt the need to make their opinions heard, no matter the reactions of others. “What you see at the national level, particularly polarized,
somewhat cynical, disagreeing on basic facts [...] has, to a certain extent, seeped into our discourse [at Menlo],” Upper School Director John Schafer said. On March 23, as part of the third-quarter assembly theme of diversity and inclusion, moderate-conservative speaker Lanhee Chen came to Menlo for a political Q&A session. Chen was brought in to provide some opinions not often expressed at Menlo. “We’d like to get more [than] two sides of the same view to model for students that you can disagree without being disagreeable; you can make different points and be totally civil,” Schafer said. Chen’s talk at Menlo was the culmination of a running project by the administration to bring in more right-leaning figures to speak at assembly. Within the past few years, there has been a greater student demand for diverse political viewpoints. “I don’t think five years ago a kid would have been like, ‘Ms. Chen, we need to get a conservative speaker,’” Dean of Student Life Programs Cathy Chen said. There are many theories as to the cause of the change in both Menlo and the nation’s political discourse. “What we see now is some of the most polarized, ‘us vs. them’ [dialogue], and I think that really has to do with the media. No one’s going to vote for a candidate who says, ‘Hey, I don’t think the other side’s actually that bad,’” junior Jake Martin said. Martin is a vocal conser-
AHEAD May 22 - 25: Finals Week The week starts off with Math and English on Monday, then Elective and History on Tuesday, Elective and Science on Thursday, and World Language and Make-ups on Friday. Study hard!
May 18: Film Festival Menlo's student film festival will feature movies made in both Intro and Advanced Moviemaking classes.
May 18: Student Directed Shows
After the film festival, head over to the student directed shows in Florence Moore Auditorium. Various students direct and act in these shows.
June 4: Day on the Green After May Term, Day on the Green will take place on the quad to enjoy the sun and honor the seniors. Don't forget to pick up your yearbook, there is one waiting for each student.
Photo of the Issue
vative on campus and was recently elected Secretary-Treasurer on student council. Others blame the election of President Trump for the country’s current political situation. “I think that because of the election of Donald Trump, and how it’s affected [..] the national conversation about politics, it’s affected our community,” Ms. Chen said. “We live in a really divisive time.” Still, Martin remains optimistic about the direction of the political relations at Menlo. “[This is] something that’s going to happen no matter where you go. When you try and have a political discussion, you’re either going to be labeled as ‘snowflake who can’t handle the truth’ or a racist. [...] What I’ve seen about Menlo is people are capable of a higher level of critical thinking,” Martin said.
Chalk written on the quad on Feb. 14, 2018. The large pink writing states, "Protect First Amendment Rights." Staff photo by Abby Wolfenden.
Junior Ben Lasky from a movie by Landon Smith, Marc Velton-Lomelin and Will Crandall. The movie will be featured in the Menlo Film Festival Friday, May 18 at 7 p.m. in Martin Hall. Photo courtesy of Smith, Velton-Lomelin and Crandall.
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