The Mark October 2014 Vol. V Issue I

the MARK

Photography Elisabeth Holliday

staff

Editors-in-Chief

letter from the editors

Copy Editor

katie webb

news editor

Gabe Cohen, Francesca gilles, and sara solomon art editor

ian robinson-lambert

op-ed editor

Nina fox

molly kearnan a&e editor sabina vitale

staff writers

Caraline albro

sami andrew

sofia bergmann

ryan cole

kristin cwirla

sarah dairiki

tara fahimi

eliza fitz

kate flanagan

katie moffitt

theresa siri

joanna volrath

Katrina Wijaya

adviser: Betsy Snow

Welcome to The Mark’s first issue of Volume Five. This is a new year, with a new staff. The trajectory of the publication has shifted, towards what can best be described by one word: streamlined. We hope to apply this streamlining to all aspects of The Mark, including, but not limited to, the name of our publication. We feel that the dropping of the ubiquitous “M-A” capitalization is symbolic, as we aim to become a nationally recognized, cleaner magazine as a whole. Picking up where we left off last year, we hope to continue to tackle more timely issues, in a more focused, concise format. We hope to better develop our content and writing, presenting a stronger literary aspect. Furthermore, we hope to better organize the layout of the magazine, making it easier and more pleasant to navigate. With all of the chaos happening at M-A, between the redistricting, the new portables, and other changes, we hope to provide a consistency that students can always look forward to and rely on. Striving to set a new standard, we are excited to share with you the redesigned magazine, The Mark.

Enjoy!

Gabe, Francesca, and Sara

about the cover

Healthy food, it’s trending. What used to be a cupcake or frozen yogurt shop is now a juice company or an açai bowl joint. This issue, we are focusing on this shift in trends. Snack foods are no longer sugary and fattening, they are naturally flavored and slimming. However, the question remains: are people genuinely more concerned about their health, or do teens just want to Instagram pictures of themselves with freshly pressed juices? Our cover photo, by Nina Fox, displays one of these new trending foods, while a grouping of articles polls the student body, offers opinions, and features a poem.

Modern Day Protests editorial

Recently, protests have come to the forefront of news. In the U.S., the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the police shooting of teenager Michael Brown, shone a light on racial tension that still exists in much of our country. Residents of the town took to the streets in rage, grabbing the national spotlight. On an international scale, the Hong Kong protests took to the streets on Sept. 26. Angered by what they perceive as a violation of their rights, many young Hong Kong citizens came out after the Chinese government dictated that the 2017 elections in Hong Kong will be limited and somewhat regulated by the Communist Party.

There are some clear similarities between these two protests. First off, both emerged suddenly. Following either a shooting or a government announcement, protesters appeared in public spaces by the thousands almost immediately. Also, both movements are capturing the world’s attention, especially with the help of social media. Citizens of Ferguson captured insightful

images and quotes that major news outlets were unable to access. Understanding the power of social media in such movements, the Chinese government now attempts to turn off Hong Kong’s cell phone services and Internet access. Aware of this, the pro-democracy protesters are finding communication outlets that operate on only WiFi, such as Firechat, in preparation.

Furthermore, past protests in both regions have been met with strong, violent resistance. In the American South in the 1950s and 1960s, race protests and sit-ins experienced backlash from the police forces and white citizens of the towns in question. In Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, unarmed student protesters were met with government-sponsored, military intervention, as soldiers fired into the crowd

With similar protest backgrounds in both areas, it is interesting to note the differences in approach of these recent movements. In Ferguson, residents of the town, floored by the shooting, began by looting stores. In

China, thus far the student protesters are being described as incredibly polite and civilized. Not to say that the Ferguson protests were unnecessary and ineffective, but it is interesting to note these differences in approach. While the outraged Missouri residents took to the streets collectively, what is now known as the “Umbrella Revolution” in China appears to have no leader, or intention to become confrontational with police. These young protesters are well aware of the Tiananmen Square results, yet are protesting anyways, refusing to become lumped under the Chinese oppressive rule, from which they have been exempt of since China incorporated Hong Kong in 1997.

As both protests either still occur or come to a close, the lasting effects are somewhat unclear. Noting the differences in approach, comparing the results of these two protests once the dirt has settled may reveal which strategy is the most effective means of protest in the 21st century.

by the Editorial Board

high mark//low mark

bySofiaBergmann

IsraelPalestine

The crisis between Israel and Palestine dates back to the mid 1900s, and is more complex than there is room to explain. Long story short, the debate centers around land: how much the Palestinians lay claim to and how much the Israelis are willing to give up. Since the 1948 birth of the state of Israel, high tensions with Palestine have ravaged the well being of both societies. In addition to years of conflicts with Palestine, Israel has dealt with neighboring nations, including Lebanon and Egypt. In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a treaty which ended a 30 year dispute and established diplomatic and commercial relations that stand to this day. Moreover, in 1982, Israel launched an assault on the Palestinian Liberation Organization in Southern Lebanon, starting friction between Israel and Lebanon. In 1987, the Palestinians living on the West Bank and the Gaza strip began riots, or intifada, against the Israeli regime, which resulted in over 20,000 casualties.

Over the course of two decades, tensions increased between Israel and

Palestine, culminating in 2005 when the Israeli government began to evacuate the Gaza strip and other settlements in the West Bank leaving them in Palestinian hands. In 2006, Palestine held elections that resulted in the victory of Hamas (a militant Islamic organization), over Fatah, the secular faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization, despite Hamas having been declared a terrorist organization by the EU, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among others. Between 2006 and the present, tensions between Israel and Palestine have increased dramatically, creating a violent back-andforth of attack and retaliation between land annexation, suicide attacks inside Israel, civilian casualties in Gaza, and soldier capture. In spite of numerous attempts to promulgate peace talks, political strains have left both Israel and Palestine utterly stagnant.

As recently as last summer, quarrels between Israel and Palestine have splattered the headlines of American newspapers, bringing the anxiety surrounding these two countries to the

forefront of American politics. It began with the June 12, 2014 kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, who were subsequently murdered in the West Bank on June 30. Israeli speculators blamed Hamas for the deaths of the teens, which began the initial conflict. Immediately following the incident, several Israelis, suspected of kidnapping and murdering a Palestinian boy, were arrested. This incident escalated the issue further, bringing both countries to a boiling point.

When the world media became aware of the escalating conflict and began to cover the impending crisis, horrific explosions became commonplace in the public eye: Gaza launched rockets into Israel’s Iron Dome defense system, while Israel responded with air strikes into Gaza. Civilian and military casualties have occurred in great number in Gaza and Israel respectively thus far. Estimates show that since the conflict began this year, around 2,000 Palestinians, 64 Israeli soldiers, and six Israeli civilians have died. Until all the tunnels found from Gaza (some in Palestinian

civilian homes) into Israeli territory that were used by Hamas to launch attacks were destroyed, Israel claimed they would continue to launch airstrikes and military attacks into Gaza. On August 26, Israel and Hamas agreed to an open-ended ceasefire which was mediated by Egypt, and is still in effect. Despite the political leanings of various news sources, the issue is not black and white. Neither side wishes to kill civilians, though each side would claim that the other does. The scale of the conflict has gained international attention, but much of the strife occurs in the homes of the civilians. Hagar Jaitin, an Israeli and former Menlo Park resident who lives in Israel, describes her experience: “Few missiles got to the city where we live. The sirens to take cover went off about three times a day. Some days were quiet and we had hope that all of it was over, but then it started again. Sometimes we heard sirens at one or two a.m. It was pretty scary, there was no time to think; all I could do was wake my brother and hope for my family’s safety. At school, all year long, instead of fire and earthquake drills, we have bomb drills.” Despite these difficulties, Jaitin “can’t complain much, since there were people who had a tougher time than us [her family and community]. The Palestinians have it the worst...We Israelis had an advantage. We have something that is called Iron Dome. It calculates the angle of the Palestinian missiles and shoots something that detonates the missile in the air.” Jaitin essentially lives in a war zone; her commentary demonstrates the strains she and other Israelis feel under constant threat of attack.

inspiring, especially in Jerusalem where all different religions can come together. The culture is so rich.” The conflict isn’t the only thing that consumes Israel: the governmental precautions, coupled with the resiliency of the country as a whole prevent the citizenry from falling into discord. Maibach also explains that although the discrimination and prejudice is evident, many Israelis would rather live together in peace than remain constantly in fear of fights and attacks.

“ In the end, [Israel and Palestine] need to sit down and negotiate.

”

Closer to home, Menlo-Atherton senior Maddie Maibach, who spent the second semester of her junior year in Israel, describes the relationship among civilians as a “clear divide between Israelis and Palestinians...but you wouldn’t really see the conflict on the street.” She explains that the awareness of the situation prolongs tension, but the culture alone is “incredible and

Fuad Nijim, a Palestinian who lives in Silicon Valley but grew up in Palestine, reflects how his people view the crisis: “While [in Palestine], we experience all the checkpoints that the Palestinians have to go through, and wait for a long time, feeling humiliated and losing precious time that they should be spending at school or at work. We hear stories of Palestinians being detained and imprisoned for no reason, and with no way to defend themselves. This is really sad and it builds frustration and helplessness among the Palestinian youth.” Nijim believes that “the root issue is that when Israel was created, the Palestinians were pushed out of Palestine against their will. Ever since, they have been trying to reclaim their history and identity. This is really sad, because it was not necessary to push out the Palestinians.” He goes on to say that “both [Israelis and Palestinians] could have very easily lived together throughout all these years. The best solution is that the Palestinians have their own country on the West Bank in Gaza and in East Jerusalem, and that both sides stop seeing each other as enemies but as equals with one single future for both.” This is where Nijim and Jaitin see eye to eye: they both want peace for each other’s countries, despite the political rivalry between Israel and Palestine. This ide-

Photography Maddie Maibach

ology, if extended to the government, would hopefully help to mediate the conflict; however, neither government is willing to concede.

Amid the bloodshed, voices of unity and reason exist. The Parents Circle is one such voice. An organization open to Palestinian and Israeli parents who have lost children to the violence, The Parents Circle articulates the pain and suffering beyond the battlefield. Robi Damelin, an Israeli mother who lost her son to a Palestinian sniper in 2002, explained to NPR that “the media goes away...and the families are left alone with their pain and a heart that never mends.” Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian father whose daughter was killed by Israeli border police in 2007 also shared with NPR that “we just create more victims on both sides and we continue fighting each other. The power of Israel and the resistance of the Palestinian Hamas, it doesn’t work. In the end, we need to sit down and negotiate.”

“Both sides must see each other not as enemies, but as equals with a single future.

”

The losses and violence in both countries continues to threaten the balance of power in the Middle East and, on a smaller scale, detriments the populations of both Israel and Palestine. Despite the seemingly irreconcilable differences between the two countries, The experiences of the people on both sides, however, are overwhelmingly similar: while Hagar and her peers practices bomb drills and rely upon the Iron Dome, Fuad griefs for his people’s struggle to reclaim their identity and territory. It is necessary for Israel and Palestine to reconcile their differences. Otherwise, the two countries risk the destruction of each other from within.

Conclusively, the surplus of aggravated Israelis and Palestinians and their losses consume the culture of both countries. M-A student Maddie Maibach who lives in California can relate to Hagar who lives in Israel, as they both see this issue as a problem that can be fixed with cooperation and tolerance within communities with an ultimate goal. Despite the violence and casualties, the two countries will hopefully continue to strive for a solution.

CURRENT EVENTS:

menlo-atherton, the millenial generation, & the news

by Ian Robinson-Lambert

There is a growing concern in the world that teenagers - or really any member of the millennial generation - do not know enough about current events. There are various causes for this concern, the primary belief being that teens prize social media and entertainment over knowledge about the world. While this can be true for some, it certainly does not describe the generation as a whole. At MenloAtherton, there is certainly a range of knowledge about current events. If one were to graph students’ knowledge of news stories ranging from “never looking at the news” to “always looking at the news,” the graph would probably resemble a bell curve. Very few students purposely avoid looking at the news - since it is practically impossible to simply “ignore” everything that’s going on in the world - and very few obsessively follow every breaking news story. The majority of M-A students likely know a fair amount about what’s going on in the world - usually attributed to social media, although not necessarily - but do not make a point to check the news every day. The Mark was able to speak with a few students regarding how they look at the news and their opinions on the relevance of news among teenagers. Predictably, almost no stu-

"The primary belief... that teens prize social media and entertainment over knowledge about the world."

dents watch the news on television, instead preferring to look at stories online. “I watch the news occasionally on TV, but that’s a rare occurrence,” says M-A senior Morgan Corona. “I generally get my news from the New York Times and occasionally listen to it on the radio.” This is not surprising. With the amount of time spent doing homework or participating in sports, teenagers usually do not have the time to tune in every night for the news. Not to mention online news has the advantage of being instantaneous. If a news event happens at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Entertainment Weekly’s website will have a story online within the halfhour, whereas one would have to wait three hours to see the story announced on the evening news.

"Predictably, almost no students watch the news on television."

But what makes a story important or entertaining? What makes a story palatable for teenagers? “I think that news stories become more popular if they are interesting to the majority,” maintains senior Laila Volpe. “Oftentimes that seems to be celebrity news.” Corona agrees with Volpe’s assertion that news stories typically become popular based on their attractiveness to the target audience. “I think stories gain more hype the more they are publicized on social media, and the more accessible they are,” she affirms.

"I think that news stories become more popular if they are interesting to the majority."

It is clear that teenagers tend to pay more attention to stories that they find on social media than on news sites such as the Huffington Post or CNN. After all, Facebook is still the world’s largest social networking site, despite the rising popularity of sites and applications such as Instagram and Snapchat. “I look at the news on Facebook every day because it shows up in my news feed,” states senior Caroline Hodes. “I read anything that looks important or entertaining.”

Social media has gained a bit of a reputation for spawning vapid, shallow stories, but issues that are born on Facebook or Twitter can be extremely beneficial for raising mass awareness. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a perfect example of this: it was a movement created by and for Facebook users, and it was able to get celebrities and public figures involved as well as typical social media users. The challenge raised around $88.5 million for ALS research, a stunning comparison to the $2.6 million raised in 2013. “The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was so popular because so many celebrities participated in it,” asserts Hodes. In a different but still profound vein, Emma Watson recently spoke about feminism and gender inequality at the United Nations, almost instantly spawning the hashtag #HeForShe on Twitter and gaining hundreds of ce-

by the numbers

• There are one million links shared on Facebook every 20 minutes

• The average Facebook user has 130 friends

• Facebook has over one billion monthly active users

• Over 9,000 tweets appear on Twitter per second

• It takes five days for one billion new tweets to appear on Twitter

• 22 percent of teenagers log onto Facebook over 10 times a day

"Entertainment Weekly can have a story ready within the half hour...one would have to wait three hours to see the story on the evening news."

lebrity supporters. These stories show that when social media is pointed in the right direction, it can do a staggering amount of good. There are problems associated with it, of course, the most significant being that you have to make the movement attractive and palatable enough for large numbers of people to get interested. After all, very few current events have the enticing quality of the Ice Bucket Challenge. There is also the worry that people only read stories on Facebook because they are recommended by their friends; therefore, they end up only reading stories that pertain to them or their “circle.” Facebook also recommends news stories based on your profile; for example, someone who is very athletic would receive a lot of sports stories in their newsfeed, and

someone who plays the piano would receive the latest music news. Other sites take advantage of this as well: Gmail, for example, analyzes your emails and recommends sites based on what you’ve been talking about. While this is worrisome to some, the overall point is that teenagers do read the news. They may not read every story from every news site, and they may tend towards stories that seem attractive, but the idea that the millennial generation knows nothing about current events - and doesn’t want to know anything about them - is entirely false.

"Very few current events have the enticing quality of the Ice Bucket challenge."

Photography Colin Hug

Running Out Of Gas?

byKateFlanagan

Nearly half of a survey of 73 MenloAtherton students reported that they do not intend to get a driver’s license immediately after their 16th birthdays. However, this trend stretches far past the boundaries of M-A. According to the Federal Highway Administration and Census Bureau, only 28 percent of eligible teens possessed a license in 2010, compared to the 46 percent of eligible teens who carried one in 1983. Having a license used to be a keystone element that marked the transition into adulthood; has it now become just another mundane responsibility thrust upon teens?

“When I was little, I always assumed you would get your license the moment you had the capability to. And definitely as I’ve gotten to high school it’s kind of weird to see how many people haven’t done it yet. I know for a fact that both my parents got it on their birthdays,” shares an M-A sophomore, surprised by the number of unlicensed, but eligible students at M-A.

Although that sophomore plans on acquiring her license as soon as she turns 16, senior Matthew Vollrath still has not gotten his license after nearly two years of eligibility. “There was no particular reason for me to drive,” he states. With countless ways to stay in touch through social media and other forms of transportation, Vollrath, along with many other teens, concluded that having a car is not as important as it has been in the past. “You don’t need to physically go as many places... you can Skype people or things like that,” another student adds. The boom of social media provides teens with much easier forms of communication. Before the era of smartphones and computers, driving was the only

way to see another person, but now video chats and texting are taking the place of in-person conversations. These generational changes may be a factor in the reduction of teen drivers. When asked about obtaining his license, Brian Snyder, another senior at M-A, reveals, “I started a little late because I was lazy on getting my permit...[because] you had to go through the whole course thing and I was like, eh, that course looks boring.” Snyder’s unenthusiastic response to possessing a driver’s license mirrors the attitude that many students of this generation have developed. He continues by saying, “We’re probably as a generation lazier than other generations...[because] you know, phones, [and] social media.” Similar to many other M-A students, Snyder attributes the reduction of teen drivers to the increase of more effortless, facile means of communication. These new forms of communication suit the lazy demeanor of many students more than having a license would.

Driver’s education used to be a mandatory class taught in high school for any students planning on getting a license, but now teens must go to a separate driving school to take the course. Although this allows students to take more electives while in school, it also takes valuable time and energy away from them outside of school. Because the majority of teens surveyed label laziness as one of the main reasons they are hesitant to get a license, many are choosing not to have one rather than to spend time and energy outside of school to earn one. In addition to a modification in the driver’s education program, in 2006, a restriction was placed on drivers under the age of 18. The new law states

that “after you pass your driving test, you will be issued a provisional driver license. With your provisional driver license, you must be accompanied and supervised by a licensed parent, guardian or other licensed driver 25 years of age or older, or by a licensed or certified driving instructor when you: Transport passengers under 20 years of age at any time, for the first twelve months, or drive between 11 pm and 5 am for the first twelve months.” While getting a license still entails more freedom and responsibility than not having one, it does not allow as much independence as it has in the past. Before this law was implemented, teens could drive anyone at anytime. Now, those privileges have been revoked, decreasing both the desire and need for a license.

With fewer students possessing a driver’s license, the parking lot has been much emptier this year. However, most students just believe the emptiness of the parking lot correlates to the time of year it is. When asked about the sparsity of the parking lot, Snyder admits that it is more vacant, but also suggests that “the end of the year is usually more packed than the beginning of the year, because more people get their licenses’ throughout the year, so it could just be that.”

The new technology and lifestyle of this generation has significantly altered the priorities of teenagers. Today, many teens are opting out of possessing a driver’s license possibly due to easier communication better suited for their lives. As one student infers, “A while ago it would have been, ‘get your license or walk,’” but today, teens have a much broader array of ways to communicate, which all detract from the need to get a license.

in the bathroom

As the push for marriage equality increases nationally, lesser known lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues are also coming to light. In 2013, Assembly Bill 1266 (AB 1266) was signed into effect by California state governor, Jerry Brown. AB 1266 allows for transgender students to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, rather than their biological sex. The law specifically states that “a pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

The “use of facilities consistent with his or her gender identity” is where gender-neutral bathrooms becomes a legal necessity on California school campuses rather than merely a ‘nice thing’ to have. However, opponents of the bill are vocal in their dissent. They believe that sex is equivalent to gender, and that therefore the bill is fundamentally wrong, as it is inappropriate to have people of different genders using the same facilities on campus.

According to Liane Strub, the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club advisor for the past three years as well as the original founding advisor of GSA, there is a third option for schools in California: the gender-neutral bathroom. Strub claims that “one of the consistent concerns for a transgender student, this is someone who’s identified gender is different than their birth gender, that has been the problem of where to use

bathroom facilities because they don’t feel safe using the bathroom for their identified gender, nor do they feel comfortable going into the bathroom for their birth gender so the gender-neutral bathroom would be ideal.”

Gender-neutral bathrooms are precisely what the name would suggest: a bathroom whose users would need not comply to any one gender. Rather, any student on campus would be able to use the facility. These bathrooms can be either a single-use facility, or simply a regular stall-filled bathroom just as all of the other bathrooms on campus. Colleges such as New York University, Ohio University, and Washington State University have already added genderneutral bathrooms to their campuses. But not only college or university campuses have added such bathrooms. In our own school district, Sophia Olliver, former M-A teacher and current administrative vice principal of Sequoia High School, added two gender-neutral bathrooms to Sequoia’s campus as a summer project.

“As a summer project, I opted to create new signs for our entire campus; at that time, I determined it was the perfect opportunity to get genderneutral restroom signs for two of our restrooms and had the support of the administrative team,” Olliver said about the new restrooms on campus. “I absolutely think this addition is of great benefit to the student body as a whole!”

In regards to the potential for gender-neutral bathrooms on our own campus, it might seem inevitable given their presence on other campuses in our

district. Technically, M-A does have a gender-neutral bathroom already in the nurse’s office; however, as one of M-A’s GSA co-presidents Victoria Ellis said, it is not accessible between class periods and not obviously labeled.

“If you’re in the G-Wing, and your next class is the gym, and you have to go to the bathroom, you would have to go all the way to the nurse’s office and back, which is an incredibly far distance to cover,” Ellis said. “It’s like the entire campus, and that takes more than five minutes; you can’t do that in a passing period.”

Though the obvious answer to an inability to reach a bathroom under a tough time constraint might be to simply ‘hold it,’ it has been scientifically proven that constantly ‘holding it’ can cause medical issues such as urinary tract infections. As a result of these potential medical issues, adhering to AB 1266 by including more centrally located genderneutral bathrooms is a neccessity.

Simone Rick-Kennel, one of M-A’s administrative vice principals, states that the concept of actually incorporating gender-neutral facilities on campus is actively being discussed by the current construction committee. “New construction will give us the chance to incorporate gender-neutral restrooms where students can feel safe. [...] At this point, we are in the early planning stages, so I am not sure how many restrooms the project will allow for, but the committee definitely wanted to make sure they were part of the plans.”

by Kristin Cwirla

Illustration Rebecca Schena

the ILLUSION Shattering

by Katie Webb and Caraline Albro

Although most students in Menlo Park, Atherton, and the surrounding communities view their towns as generally safe areas, their preconceived ideas are being challenged by summer violence. In the past, Menlo Park and Palo Alto have been viewed as areas free of crime and violence, as the towns are very expensive, familyoriented communities. However, in the past few months, there have been numerous accounts of violence, ranging from armed robberies to shootings in large public areas. Daniel Larsen, Menlo-Atherton’s new school resource officer, deals with violence and preventative aspects within local schools. By taking steps to reduce violence within the community, Officer Larsen hopes to decrease the actual amount of crime in the future, yet has little control over the media aspect of violence awareness. As students and the community grow more aware of this shift in safety due to social media, many are now unsure of what their next step should be.

Despite these new accounts of violence, likely more prevalent now due to a rise in social media usage and the resulting ease with which information can quickly be spread across a community, many students at M-A remain unaware of the violence that has began to occur just minutes from their school, as they maintain a view of Menlo Park and Atherton as a safe haven from violence. Sophomore Dana Wilks implied that because “wealthy, influential people” live in the area, it creates the feeling that “you’re in a safe area,” even in potentially dangerous situations. Senior Emily Katz, who was aware of recent attacks, disagreed with this statement, but still shared that she thought that “the level of violence” in Menlo Park was not huge

compared to other neighboring regions. Although many maintain their beliefs in the safety of the area, others have had their beliefs shattered by events over the summer. On July 13, two teenagers were forced to hand over their wallets and phone after having a pistol pointed at them, just one mile from M-A’s campus. Only one day later, the same incident occurred on Hamilton Avenue in downtown Palo Alto, when a middle-aged man had a gun pointed at him until he gave up his valuables. While no shots were fired during either of these incidents, on Aug. 23, a Wiz Khalifa concert was interrupted with multiple gunshots, ultimately resulting in the death of a young man. These recent events suggest an increase in violence in the area, but this trend can likely be attributed to the increase in social media’s presence in everyone’s lives. Officer Larsen agreed, stating, “Now the information that we get is basically unlimited. And so I think people today are a lot more aware of what’s going on around them and the world in general. Five to ten years ago, when we didn’t have [cell phones], crime would just happen and be over and done with.” Now, with people almost constantly attached to their smartphones and checking their social media sites, information is able to spread more quickly and increase people’s awareness of the crime surrounding them. The employment of Larsen as M-A’s school resource officer has little to do with the level of violence around M-A, but instead is attributed to funding within the district. He remarks, “A lot of it has to do with funding. We’re lucky that we live in an area where we have a good budget, and things are starting to improve and get better so we’re able to open up some of

these specialty positions and get school resource officers out there.”

While the crime in the Bay Area is not statistically increasing, the rise of social media is making students more aware, changing their views on the supposed sheltered community of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

While many students were unaware of the violence around them, some students have experienced it rsthand.

Sophomore River

Weston shares his story.

I left my house to go see some friends downtown [Menlo Park]. I got on my bike, left my house, went down Bay Road and two guys were behind me on bikes. I turned onto Ringwood Avenue, and as soon as I turned, one guy comes up to me to check me out and as soon as I know it, the other person comes up to me and asks me for my money then starts to use profanity and there was even an unknown object behind his back that he was reaching for.

Although Weston managed to leave the situation unharmed, this event raises awareness of the danger that could occur.

TENURE

Has It Outlived It’s Usefulness?

It takes an average school teacher only three years to obtain tenure, although the effects can last a lifetime. Currently, there are three separate lawsuits- two in New York and one in California- filed by unhappy parents challenging teacher tenure. Tenure is a title given to a teacher or employee suggesting that his or her position is permanent. Two unrelated groups of parents in New York each filed a lawsuit in just this past month alone challenging state laws that govern how and when a teacher can be given tenure. Additionally, another lawsuit was filed by a group of parents, this time in Los Angeles, California concerning the quality of their children’s education. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the laws regarding public school teacher tenure left some students with “grossly ineffective” teachers, which violates the California Constitution. Clearly tenure is a pressing matter for parents and teachers, but what about the students?

but kept their job due to tenure. The fact that tenure upsets 75 percent of students demonstrates the immense relevance of tenure in the lives of M-A students.

One student who was interviewed had a personal connection with tenure and described it as “a clearly corrupt system.” She shared her experiences with a previous teacher by saying, “I had to get a tutor because of him… and I am still suffering from the consequences of having such an unqualified teacher today.” Clearly frustrated, she went on to say that this teacher “had tenure so they [the administration] couldn’t do anything.” Although this teacher was unqualified in this student’s opinion, he had a safety net with tenure. As a result, the student’s academic career was put on the line, forcing her to suffer the consequences. The student concluded her interview by saying, “I understand that a teacher can’t please everyone, but that simply wasn’t the case in this situation.” To many students, there is a clear difference between a student not liking a teacher and a teacher not giving a student the proper

education he or she deserves. This student describes how tenure seems to be protecting teachers of both kinds, including the ones who don’t deserve to be there. Seeming to sum up the thoughts of many of his or her peers, one student stated, “I don’t really see the point of tenure. I mean, if a teacher is qualified and a good teacher, then they should keep their job because of their teaching ability.”

It seems as though the majority of students here at M-A are not huge fans of tenure, but one might ask, what do they know? The grandfather of two M-A students, Jerry Davis, spent 34 years as a teacher and principal in the Bay Area public school system and was able to share his opinions and personal experiences with tenure. Davis said that during his career, he “always had to work with teachers who weren’t good teachers, and wished they didn’t have tenure for that reason. The students deserved someone better in their place.” When asked what his opinion of tenure in general was, he responded, “I’m really against it. Every year that you work for the school should benefit it, and if you

Out of 90 Menlo-Atherton students surveyed, 68 reported that at least one of their previous teachers was, in their opinion, not qualified to teach, by Joanna Vollrath

WNew Beginnings

ith the arrival of the new school year, slight modifications have been added to Menlo-Atherton’s curriculum, and these changes have not gone unnoticed. The portables, which have taken over a large portion of the blacktop, are the most noticeable change; however, there are many minor ones as well.

One such change would be the PSAT. A test exclusively for the sophomores and juniors, the exam has recently been switched from its original date on a Saturday to a Wednesday morning at M-A. When questioned about this date change, many students appeared to be hopeful, glad that they will no longer have to wake up early on a Saturday morning to be stuck in a room for three or four hours. Other students were also relieved, as their typical Saturdays consist of homework along with extracurriculars. “Saturdays there are cross country meets, and the particular Saturday the PSAT would have been on is the same day as homecoming, so that would be a lot in one day,” said junior Madeleine Baier, further emphasizing the possible reasons for the exam’s new placement on a weekday. Because the PSAT had always been on the weekend, it is questionable whether this will continue for years to come. However, this

switch has occurred for the benefit of the students, and we must embrace the change and accept it for the future.

One of the most controversial changes made this year would have to be the switch from Infinite Campus to School Loop. In the first week of school, a wide variety of teachers revealed to

“These changes have not gone unnoticed.

”

their students that M-A was making the switch to School Loop, something that took many students by surprise. According to Steve Lippi, the reasoning behind the switch was due to the fact that “Infinite Campus wasn’t a good tool to provide communication to students and parents” and that because of all the training and time that has gone into School Loop, he believes that “[School Loop] will be here awhile.” Despite the change, many students logged onto the website, and found School Loop to be in some ways more beneficial than Infinite Campus. “The benefits are the constant

emails [School Loop] sends, as I’m getting accustomed to using my school email,” claimed senior Emmett Lee. School Loop does have its perks, as teachers are able to mark test dates on the calendar along with posting daily homework updates and grades for their students to see. On the flipside, some students see School Loop as a tool that takes time to adapt to. Junior Caroline Sobek feels that using both School Loop and Infinite Campus can be a bit overwhelming at times, and she believes that “in order to successfully transition to School Loop, there should be no use of Infinite Campus at all.”

The changes with the PSAT testing date along with the transition to School Loop are just some of the adjustments M-A has been experiencing as of this year. There are many more that are currently underway, one being the portables, and it is likely M-A will continue to make slight modifications as the years go by. These changes are focused on improving how the school functions along with providing a better environment for the increasing number of incoming students each year. With these modifications, M-A will continue to prosper and adapt to any more changes made in the future.

by Sarah Dairiki

“The only thing that has stood out to me is that the halls are 3 times more crowded.” Molly Davis

Weigh

“I don’t think that there will be any problems that will come from these modifications.”

Emmett Lee

“School Loop is better; teachers can post homework and we can download it directly.”

Diana Bojorquez

“[School Loop] is a better interface for communicating with students.” Caroline Sobek

Vintage Vintage

Vintage Photography

Afterlight, a digital photo can be edited to look like it was taken with film. When technology for photography is at its highest, why are the old techniques preferred?

It’s true that photographs look different when they are taken on film rather than taken digitally, but that cannot be the only reason. From a photographer’s perspective, it is more of a challenge to photograph in film. Taking a good photograph in film can feel more satisfying for the photographer.

Some people can attain a vintage effect without the effort of film photography, which contributes even more to the hipster paradox. People are using new technology to make photographs look old. This phenomenon relates back to the overall retro revival going on in society. Whether a photograph is taken with film, digitally, or edited to look like film, the look is undeniably “cool.”

by Nina Fox

Music and the way we listen to it is constantly evolving. From record players, to CDs, to iPods, different generations have different methods of listening to music that seem natural to them. We are currently living in the electronic age, in which everything revolves around technology. Contemporary music reflects this motif, making electronic beats and techno sounds extremely popular. But what about those of us who are stuck in the past? Indie music is becoming extremely popular among ‘alternative’ teenagers. This tendency to listen to classic rock evokes curiosity about its origins

Vinyl Revival

and how the music is supposed to truly sound. While Flume and LMFAO sound best through Apple headphones, an iPod may not be the way to go when listening to Pink Floyd or the Kinks.

Although convenience and affordability have large roles in teen decision making, often trendiness overrides them. From cuffed jeans to alternative music, ‘hipsters’ are very ‘in’ at the moment. So is vinyl only making a comeback because of the trends associated with it? Or is the experience truly different? “Part of it is the ambiance it creates: the crackle of the record mixed with the vintage aesthetic of the turntable throws me back into a different era. The era of true rock’n’roll,” said Menlo-Atherton senior Morgan Corona. For those of us who feel we missed out by being born in the electronic age, vinyl is a way to keep the 60s and 70s attitude towards music alive, truly appreciating the music and everything that comes with it. “Listening to vinyl is more of an experience than just hitting play on a phone or computer,” M-A junior Ben

Hickman remarked. Vinyl is one of the only remaining ways to experience the rebelliousness and freedom of the 60s and 70s through an authentic mechanism. Another possible explanation for the return of the record player is the desire to listen to music through the originally intended medium. Music produced in the 1960s and 1970s was intended to be heard on vinyl, while music produced in the 2000s and 2010s is intended to be heard on a CD or iPod. “In my opinion, music through a record player has a fuller sound. The vibrations come straight off the records and aren’t compressed like MP3s,” M-A senior Matt Baszucki commented. Listening to music through a turntable produces a fundamentally different sound that complements classic rock perfectly. While to some vinyl may just be the latest resurging trend, to others it is a completely different way to appreciate music. Although it may be tedious and expensive, for many of us it is completely worth it.

by Sabina Vitale

Book Reviews

by Molly Kearnan

Austenland The Night Circus

“Austenland” follows the Austen-themed adventure of Jane Hayes, a 30-something year old graphic designer living in a cramped New York apartment who is growing tired of the monotonous routine of her life. After her late great-aunt bestows onto Jane a three-week trip to Austenland in her will, Jane apprehensively accepts it and subsequently finds herself completely immersed in all things Austen, historic frocks and aloof, side-burned men included.

Although I have only read a few Jane Austen books (and, okay, maybe seen some of the movies too), I found myself relating to awkward, loveable Jane Hayes as she journeys to the elusive ‘Austenland’ in an attempt to end her Darcy-obsession once and for all. Do not be fooled, my faithful reader, this book is not merely an Austen tribute, but also an utterly enjoyable story in its own right. The characters are comedically ridiculous while the romances are dreamlike yet familiar. This short novel is a fun read for all you Austen-freaks out there and it is sure to leave you longing for your own Mr. Darcy (even more than you already were).

Set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “The Night Circus” is the story of a revolutionary, mysterious circus and all of its eccentric inhabitants. At the heart of the plot is a competition between two illusionists who eventually fall in love, completely unaware that only one will survive.

This bewitching novel is almost lyrical in its writing. It draws you in within the first couple lines, with its unusual use of the second person- mind you, most of the book is written in third person, but the sparing use of second person involves the reader in the story, making it all the more enticing. “Night Circus” is not only a story of star-crossed lovers, but a story of magic in its most sophisticated form, following the lives of a multitude of characters, all connected by the circus. The story jumps back and forth in time, with the exact date at the heading of each chapter, making the plot all the more intriguing.

Alternative Awakening

The face of pop is changing. While mainstream music seems to remain steadily on its course of artificial instruments with four-bar verses, pop music, the music that many people listen to on their own— popular, not just sensational—is evolving. Less formulaic and manufactured songs are replacing the techno-based, vapid, stereotypical mainstream song. Real instruments are replacing synthesizers, and artists are using fewer effects on their voices and branching out from the typical pop song structure. It is becoming music whose content challenges the status quo, and its growing popularity may well be considered an alternative and indie music revival.

The way in which this style of pop music is being recorded is changing too, and regressing back to the style of the 60s. Artists like Mumford and Sons, The Black Keys, and other indie or alternative bands are recording songs in fewer takes. “These more folksy and raw-

sounding artists are just saying ‘go,’ hitting ‘record,’ and playing over one take to capture the feel of the take, whereas I read something that said mainstream artists like Rihanna will record the same word fifty times until it’s perfect, then autotune it,” says aspiring indie rock artist Charles Arthur. “I was talking to a guy at a party at my old house in Denver, and he said he was in a band. He told me, ‘Yeah, you know, we have a banjo, guitar, and sometimes a cello that sits in,’ and I was thinking ‘What the heck?’ It was the Jeremiah, the drummer for The Lumineers before they were famous.”

Who could have imagined the band with a mandolin, glockenspiel, upright bass, and

Photography Toria Ellis

Photography Abraham Hernandez

Former Bear Going Bare Former Bear

Photography Nina Fox

Blends Aç

Blends Açai Bowls

It seems as though the ever-increasing health fad has invaded the Bay Area, and with it comes a delicious notion.

“There’s nothing really like [Bare Bowls] in downtown Palo Alto and it’s kind of a new concept [to the Bay Area],” said Sarah Lipps, a Menlo-Atherton graduate and one of the co-founders of the café. She and her business partner and friend, Bridget Corson, have taken their shared love of healthy eating and passion for sharing their food to open Bare Bowls, an açai bowl café that is set to open later this fall. Its enigmatic presence at health-related events around Menlo Park, Redwood City, and Palo Alto has only contributed to the buzz as the grand opening draws nearer.

Bare Bowls’ menu will include a variety of açai bowls, a Brazilian specialty, as well as chia pudding, flavored oatmeal, and smoothies. “[Bridget and I] are going for a really cool vibe in the store that I haven’t really noticed

in much of downtown Palo Alto in the past,” Lipps said. After spending time abroad in Argentina together during college, Lipps and Corson found themselves immersed in South American food and culture, which includes açai bowls in great number. Aside from introducing açai to Palo Alto, Bare Bowls’ presence will become a contributing factor to the increasing imprint of the health trend in downtown Palo Alto, joining the ranks of Sprout Café, Fraîche Yogurt, and Lyfe Kitchen.

Deliciousness aside, açai bowls are a healthful, vegan alternative to the banal yogurt parfaits often found on the breakfast table. “[Açai] is super high in antioxidants; that’s kind of what it’s known for,” Corson said of the berry. “It’s also naturally sugar-free… It’s very strange for a fruit not to have any sugar in it.” Lipps added, “It’s also high in healthy fats, like Omega Three and Six.” Despite the sugar-free nature of the berry, Corson and Lipps plan to supplement the bowl with ingredients like

honey and freshly made nut milk. In addition, bowls are often topped with fruit, granola, and specialty ingredients like cacao nibs, chia seeds, and nut butters.

“We love them. We crave them. We eat them all the time. After events, people will tell me that they crave our bowls, which is a good sign for our business,” reasoned Lipps. “We like them because you can have them as meals, like for breakfast or lunch, and it’s more substantial than juice.” Bare Bowls fills the demand for a healthy alternative to the current array of breakfast and lunch cafés—Lipps and Corson are optimistic for the future of the café: “We think that people will be excited.”

by Francesca Gilles

Visit Bare Bowls!

Coming this Novemeber to 530 Emerson Street in downtown Palo Alto.

Açai bowls deserve a

Veggies for Life

Health and good eating habits have risen in popularity, especially among those acquainted with places such as Pressed Juicery and Sprout Café. There has been speculation about whether or not the recent trend towards healthy eating is simply a fad or a lasting industry. Only a few years ago, ice cream places such as Baskin Robbins or Cold Stone Creamery were typical after-school haunts. Later, a new frozen treat called frozen yogurt, or “froyo,” topped the markets, led by Fraîche, Pinkberry, and others. Now, juice bars are in, as exemplified by Pressed Juicery and Nekter Juice Bar in Palo Alto. The pattern shows an obvious inclination towards healthier and healthier choices. Senior Amara Trabosh mentions that it’s “great that people are being more food-conscious” and paying attention to their eating habits. Not only do places such as Pressed Juicery offer an innovative method to consume fruits and vegetables, they help convince people to eat them with more frequency. However, they also run the risk of fooling their customers into believing that they are doing enough to lead a healthy lifestyle. Simply drinking such juices does not compensate for a lack of exercise and regular fruit and vegetable servings. The juices remove the skin and pulp that carry many critical nutrients and fibers. However, many people supplement healthy eating with exercise such as walking, jogging, or running at the Dish, Windy Hill, or a gym. Others turn to diets, healthier recipes, or a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Some just stick to a normal diet without any particular effort towards eating healthier. Trabosh shared her own method for eating healthily: “I don’t really go to the super healthy places. I eat healthy from normal restaurants which is essentially just as good.” Regardless of what strategy is pursued, health has become a prominent

issue at the forefront of the public’s mind. However, many of the restaurants or shops that offer organic and healthy choices run on the expensive side. While this repels some customers, it also attracts young, affluent, and health-conscious consumers. In addition to high prices, many people find that the products offered do not appeal to their taste buds. Louise Mathevon, a senior, states that she is unlikely to go to places that solely sell organic products until they offer “some new thing that actually tastes good” but is still “super healthy.”

The media also plays a large role in the recent health trends. The juice cleanse, closely tied to juice bars, is well advertised in celebrity magazines that feature celebrity diets. Such stars inspire and influence people to follow healthier habits. Similarly, the health trend could be influenced by peer pressure or the idea of eating healthy itself. Since juice bars, diets, and other fads are currently popular, many people follow the health trend for the sake of following the trend, or they do so since their friends are doing it. In addition, media coverage of obesity, TV shows like “The Biggest Loser”, and prominent health campaigns such as Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” influence people into obsessing over health. With increased awareness of poor eating habits and their consequences, the topic of health seems to be a lasting concern. However, specific healthy food places are potentially fads and nothing more due to their expensive prices and their selective audience. Senior Misato Muraoka shares her belief that “in a while, people will be over this healthy phase and will be onto the new product.” However, until the next fad comes along, or until health food becomes a staple industry, organic foods and restaurants don’t look like they are going anywhere.

Photography Katie Webb and Katrina Wijaya

What Doesn't Kale You Makes You Stronger

by Caraline Albro

Kale, quinoa, okra, chia

The health food fad is such a bad idea

Brown rice, beans, beets, and broccoli

The never ending monotony...

Diets, cleanses, crazes, give me a break

Becoming a vegetarian is a missed steak

Health food trends are such a joke

Please stop drinking raw egg yolk

Zero calorie, low sodium, dairy free

I just want to go on a candy spree!

I scan the shelves of the health food store

Gummy bear vitamins are all I live for

Twinkies and a chocolate kiss

The joy of endless calories is all I miss

Bountiful butter and bread

The health food craze is everything I dread

If I followed all the trends I would be non fat, no carbs, dairy free, vegan, sugarless, and let's face it that's just not for me

Speaking for the Living From Inside A Shell

by Anonymous

This is high school.

Don’t get me wrong - it’s great.

I have great friends. I have great teachers. I have great classes. So why am I not happy?

Every day, when my alarm rings at 6:00 in the morning, most of the time I’m already awake because I can’t fall asleep.

Every day, when my alarm rings, I have to gather the strength to get out of bed, even though I really don’t want to, because I’m depressed.

Every day, after I’ve stumbled out of bed after lying there for thirty minutes, I force myself to pick the clothes I should wear instead of just going to school in pajamas.

Every day, after I get dressed, I have to convince myself over breakfast that I have to go to school, and that it’s the place to be right now.

Every day in the morning, I ride to school, and I build my shell around me.

My shell is the side of me that people want to see.

My shell is the part of me that I want people to see, so I don’t burden them with my sadness.

My shell is funny, personable, outgoing, friendly, and so casual it physically hurts me to use it.

My shell surrounds me every day, and I can’t begin to take it off for even one second until I start to ride home.

A few days ago in Life Skills we had to do skits on depression.

I played the depressed person, and when we started the skit, I took off my shell.

I let people see who I am on the inside, even if only for a minute.

I let them see inside my shell, and as we finished, as I wrapped my shell back around me, I saw two members of the audience wiping tears from their eyes.

They found me at lunch, and said, “You played the depressed person really well.”

I said something like, “I just had a friend who was depressed.”

And I smiled and pretended everything was okay, even though it wasn’t.

It’s never okay with me.

It’s not a joke.

Depression is real, and it’s here.

Unlike some people, I don’t speak for those who are lost to us.

I don’t speak for the dead.

I speak for the living.

Photography Blanca Vina Patino

Photography Elisabeth Holliday

Art Claire Baszucki

Painting Kathryn Mohr

Photography Jackie Lopez

The Menlo-Atherton music program has been building on past successes, with this year’s highlight being the orchestra’s invitation to play at Carnegie Hall. The program has been attracting a larger pool, most likely because of the achievement and reputation that they have earned in the past few years. M-A has four bands and an orchestra, which grew by 50 percent this year. “Things are going well with the program,” Kent Kurrus, the band and orchestra instructor, comments on the growth of his program. “I’d like to assume it’s because they like me.” These young musicians have quite the track record and rightfully so, as they are a part of one of the best music programs in the area.

The band and orchestra ensembles have been checking off their travel bucket list. Two years ago, the orchestra travelled to Anaheim and performed in the World Heritage Music Festival, where they earned a gold medal. Last spring they went to Chicago’s Festival of Gold, “the next level up,” says Kurrus, and again brought home the gold, making M-A proud. Their outstanding and unique performance in this show led to their audition for an invitation to the National Band and Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City. They sent in a tape of their incredible performance in Chicago and were accepted to the prestigious invitation-only event on their first try. The festival takes only the top section of elite ensembles in the nation and “will most likely be the highlight of most of our lives as musicians,” remarks Annabel Yau, a sophomore playing the violin in the orchestra. “To know that we are talented enough to perform in one of the most prestigious concert halls in the world is beyond incredible. This experience is probably the best thing that could ever happen to our orchestra. As for our futures as musicians, it will be the driving force of our motivation. After Carnegie Hall, we will probably hunger for the experience again and will work to try to perform at more big venues.”

venue and in front of important people. And it’s Carnegie Hall, it’s one of the most famous venues in the world.” While in the city, the M-A orchestra plans to do some sightseeing, visit the Statue of Liberty, and go to a Broadway musical. When asked what Jacquemet looks forward to, he replied with, “The city definitely. And the fact that we get to see a Broadway musical and meet a bunch of people outside the state of California.” Yet, “the main focus will be at the festival, hearing other groups,” explains Kurrus and hopefully meeting and learning from other ensembles. Until then, the orchestra will be showcasing their talent and fundraising in order to make this a reality.

Carnegie Hall or Bust

by Katie Moffitt

On top of all this, the music program still has fun. To add to these crazy adventures, Advanced Jazz Band III is planning to take the “Rock the Boat” cruise from Long Beach, California to Mexico and “rocking the boat” at this show at sea. All groups have travel to look forward to and opportunities to “improve over the course of the year,” according to Yau. There are many ways to support this once in a lifetime opportunity. One way is to attend the 31st annual Big Band Dance, one of the music program’s biggest fundraisers, which raised almost $18,000 last year. The show features M-A’s various ensembles as they play pieces from all different genres, meanwhile students, parents, and community members enjoy the wide range of musical talent. In years past, professional Stanford Ballroom dancers and members from Cheryl Burke’s, a “Dancing with the Stars” professional, dance studio have attended the dance. They have taught dance moves to the attendees and got everyone up on the dance floor. Band boosters helps with some of the funding but the rest is up to students who hold concerts with charged admission throughout the year.

The festival is April 2 through 5 and will most likely be 30 to 40 of the most prestigious bands and orchestras in the country. According to Ryan Jacquemet, a senior trombone player, also going on the trip, “It will be nice to get experience playing in a professional

Listen for announcements about upcoming concerts and especially, the Big Band Dance, and come out and support your fellow bears while they prepare for New York City. “After Carnegie Hall, I don’t know what I’m going to do. How do you top that?” remarks Kurrus.

Photography Ryan Jaquemet

d e a n i e

“B

eing female, it’s different because I do everything the boys do but it’s more intense.”

Richardean “Deanie” Taufoou is Menlo-Atherton’s only female campus aid, which means that the duty of enforcing dress code falls to her.

Taufoou claims that “they don’t quite understand there’s no harm meant by it, it’s just part of my job.”

She emphasizes that other than this lack of understanding, she enjoys her job “because I get to know everybody.”

After moving from her hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii, Taufoou came to M-A because it was one of the schools that her four sons

considered attending. Although her sons ultimately decided on another school, Taufoo began working at M-A in the food service 20 years ago and has worked here ever since.

She shares that the “best feeling of all is when [students] graduate and they see me outside of work and they tell me, ‘Deanie, I should have listened to you.’ You know that’s when they really care and I know that they did hear me but didn’t listen.”

Although Taufoou acknowledges that “M-A has really greatly improved since I started,” she admits that what she would “really like to see is… to bridge the gap.”

by Molly Kearnan

Viewpoint

The why Measure M is a mistake for Menlo Park

It’s official: the no-growth campaign in Menlo Park has reared its head yet again in a misguided attempt to stagnate development. Measure M, a Menlo Park ballot initiative set to appear in the November election, is a mistake. An amendment to the 2012 El Camino Real/Downtown Specific Plan, it will serve to significantly limit development along El Camino, thus bringing growth in Menlo Park to a screeching halt.

The Downtown Specific Plan, adopted in July 2012, outlines limitations and regulations for the development on city-owned property, and focuses heavily on El Camino Real. This measure provides for a certain amount of “common outdoor open space,” which, according to the Specific Plan, is “Usable outdoor space commonly accessible to all residents and users of the building for the purpose of passive or active recreation.” At this point in time, the regulations are fairly lax: buildings shall not exceed a height of 60 feet, with a limit of 680 units of office space and 475,000 square feet of mixed use space. Measure M plans to tighten them. What does this mean? Basically, Measure M proponents want to limit development, to keep the eyesores on El Camino (have you ever seen the vacant, overgrown car dealerships by Big 5 and Staples? Those are what supporters of Measure M are fighting to keep), and to maintain the charade that Menlo Park is

by Francesca Gilles

a small town. This is unfair for a variety of reasons. The first and simplest reason is that growth in Menlo Park is overwhelmingly beneficial, yet Measure M is fighting tooth and nail against it, while supporters use flimsy excuses to justify their points of view. Patti Fry, one of the faces of Save Menlo, the Measure M support group, told the San

Francisco Chronicle that the development plans put forth by Stanford and the Greenheart Group on El Camino are detrimental, as the expectation for development is that they “Will be higher density, but [should] be respectful to the community.” Fry and Save Menlo also want to “avoid urbanization.” The lawn

signs that have sprouted in the yards of no-growthers proclaim that if Measure M does not pass, El Camino will be fraught with traffic and that Menlo Park’s small town vibe will be destroyed by the evils of growth. The flaw? Menlo Park is not a small town. It’s a city with a population of almost 33,000 people that lays a stone’s throw from one of the largest and most renowned universities in the world. Facebook headquarters is within our city limits, not to mention the concentration of venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road, with Google, Apple, and Tesla headquartered just outside. Menlo Park is home to some of the best public schools in the Bay Area, Menlo-Atherton included, that are so desirable that young families are fighting to have the privilege of living here. The No on M campaign, known as Menlo Park Deserves Better, has its mission in its name: Menlo Park deserves better than the current state of stagnation, and better than what Measure M can offer. Despite the barrage of Yes on M material that Menlo Park accepts, the logical conclusion is to vote it down. So, Save Menlo, do not lie to the voters by saying the Menlo Park is a small town. Do not lie to the voters through fear-mongering. Do not lie to the voters by telling them that John Arrillaga and the Greenheart Group intend to turn Menlo Park into a gridlocked hell hole. Because change always wins, and the platform of Save Menlo detriments the future of Menlo Park.

The ever-increasing bias of the media in explaining important issues

by Gabe Cohen

Following recent events, such as the Ferguson, Missouri protests, in which citizens took to the streets after the police shooting of the unarmed 18-year-old black teenager Michael Brown, and the ISIS beheadings, where the terrorist group has now beheaded multiple American journalists, a great deal of attention has been drawn to not only the events themselves, but the coverage of the events and the treatment of the journalists. As journalists are being kidnapped and publicly murdered overseas, it is unclear how we are supposed to receive truthful information. When taking on very sensitive and controversial issues, modern day media has a tendency to come off as opinionated. It is becomingly increasingly clear that finding an objective report of really any event is truly difficult.

The coverage of the recent Ferguson protests garnered almost as much attention as the actual events themselves. The facts of the story are that an unarmed black teenager was shot after Officer Darren Wilson attempted to speak to Brown, was met with some form of resistance, and felt, as he claims, threatened enough to fire, hitting the teen with six fatal shots. As if the event itself is not awful enough, the media coverage of the shooting and protests that ensued made the situation far worse. Conservative news outlets such as Fox initially seemed hesitant to focus on the clear racial differences in play. The predominately black town is run by a predominantly white police force and governing body, in what is one of the most racially divided areas in the United States today. Therefore, the white officer shooting the unarmed black teen sparked immediate tension, as it should. The real problem with news coverage in this case comes down to these conservative outlets’ refusal to admit

the evident racial aspect of the story. In this type of community, with these types of demographics, it is irresponsible to not at least acknowledge race as a factor, nonetheless denounce the possibility. Fox News chose to take the side

that race in fact was not involved in any sense, and that had Michael Brown been white, the same situation would have occurred. Moreover, Fox questioned the fact that black-on-black gang violence occurs every day, so why does this situation deserve any more coverage than that? Racial aspects aside, this is an even more irresponsible commentary. Insinuating that police officers should be held to the same standard as professional criminals is simply misguided. In addition, the idea that this story should not be given the attention it deserves, as this horrendous white-officer-shoots-unarmed-black-person incident continually repeats itself, is similarly upsetting. Not to say that liberal media outlets are

without fault, as much of the attention on networks such as CNN ceased to cover the event itself, and instead focused on what they perceived as poor coverage of the event by opposing stations.

With this in mind, since it does appear to be so difficult to find objective reports, it proves similarly difficult to learn the basic, unbiased facts of an event. If you go to CNN, stories are dripping with liberal twists. If you go to Fox, you’re undoubtedly receiving a conservative view. This leads us into the effect of the recent ongoing terrorist threat in the Middle East towards journalists, where instead of receiving biased news, journalism is oppressed with brute force.

While not necessarily the exhaustive conclusion, as more and more journalists are either captured and held for ransom or publicly beheaded, these events raise the question of whether the information coming from such areas will decline in quality. Granted, the United States is currently counteracting the ISIS organization, but the lasting threat of violence may hurt the integrity of journalism in the region. Considering this area of the world is such a hot spot for news, it is disconcerting that media outlets may be hesitant to send as many reporters to cover certain events, or even freelance journalists will be less likely to make the trip, or cover a story in its entirety.

When pondering the role of the 21st century journalist, it is hard to find a complete answer. As major organizations take control of the news that the majority of us see, it is clear that we are unlikely to find unbiased reports. Moreover, the threat of violence may drive journalists to either not cover a story, or not cover a story as it should be covered, and this is frightening as to the future of news coverage.

Photography Sofia Bergman

Sketch Olivia Tai

Boys all set for new team

With the discussion of boys volleyball becoming increasingly serious, a new sport could make an appearance at Menlo-Atherton in Spring 2015.

At an informational lunchtime meeting in athletic director Steven Kryger’s room on Sept. 9, girls volleyball coach Ron Whitmill talked to interested students about the program, emphasizing that the team was not just for fun and would require just as much dedication as any other M-A sport.

“You’d have to be committed to the sport. Between practices and games it’s normally five days a week. It’s a full schedule and that’s something you guys have to be willing to commit to if you want to play,” Whitmill said.

He made it clear that starting a new team would not be easy, but would be worth the effort. “I’m not gonna lie, the first couple years it’s definitely a little bit more work to get the whole program off the ground. The good thing is you leave that legacy behind you.”

Additionally, Whitmill stressed the importance of committing to school as well as volleyball. “When you leave class early for matches, you still have to make up the work. It’s basically extra work that you guys have to do. We don’t want your grades dropping because of sports. You can’t compromise school.”

One of the largest barriers that he foresees for the team is coming up with money to cover the costs of jerseys and tournament fees for another sports program. “There’s no money provided by the school or athletic department for boys volleyball. As a first year team, it’s going to require a little

bit more commitment from you guys to come up with the money.”

Still Whitmill was sure to emphasize that anyone is welcome on the team. “No one will be excluded because they can’t afford it, but just understand that there is some responsibility there for the players; they have to come up with things if there is no funding.”

Not wanting to make it seem as if the program will be impossible to start, he was sure to highlight the potential of the program. “The only thing that’s non-negotiable is the commitment from students. Once we have that, moving forward there’s nothing that can really stop the program from happening and being successful.”

Anticipating potential conflicts, Kryger assured those at the meeting that the athletic department was in favor of forming a team, and that badminton has agreed to work with boys volleyball to share the gyms.

Although Whitmill will not coach the boys volleyball team, he is helping out with the process of explaining the program to students and gauging interest before the athletic departments commits to seeking out a coach. “Before the school and administration is willing to move forward with the program, we have to show that there’s a commitment and an interest from the students.”

To get a sense of how many people will try out, interested students were invited to two open gym sessions where anyone was welcome to come and play. About fifteen people showed up to the first open gym, which would be enough to field a team, but there are concerns that many of them may already play a different spring sport. On Friday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. in Ayers Gym, there will be a meeting for parents to learn more about the commitment that the program will require from their children and from them.

by Ryan Cole

Anyone who is truly interested in playing boys volleyball but could not come to the open gyms, or anyone who has questions should email Vicki Knapp at vknapp@gmail.com.

Photography Katie Webb

CiCi Bellis sports

CiCi Bellis, a 15-year-old girl from Atherton, made history as the youngest woman to win a tennis match at the US Open since 1996 when she beat Dominika Cibulkova on Aug. 26.

Bellis, who also grew up in the Bay Area, is now homeschooled because of the frequent travel that her blossoming tennis career demands.

Entering her first-round match, few people thought she had a chance to upset Dominika Cibulkova, ranked thirteenth in the world by the WTA. Cibulkova was the runner-up of the 2014 Australian Open in January and won the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford in 2013. It is quite possible that Bellis was the only one who truly believed she could win.

“Believing was the No. 1 thing that I had to do today,” she said in a press conference following her 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory. “Just go out there and believe that you can win; if you don’t believe, you’re going to lose.”

Once athletes win money at the professional level, they officially becomes professional and can no longer participate in lower-level competitions. So when Bellis was offered $60,000 in prize money for making it to the second round of the US Open, she chose not to accept it, allowing her to retain her amateur status and be able to potentially play collegiate tennis.

Her surprising victory immediately gained her recognition from major news and sports media. That night, ESPN’s SportsCenter ran

highlights from her match and clips from her press conference. In that postmatch press conference, she discussed her rise to fame in classic teenager fashion.

“On Twitter, I have almost 8,000 followers,’’ she said. “I had 300 before. On Instagram I think I got like 3,000 more, almost 4,000. I was at 1,200 I think.’’

But increased awareness of the Atherton native extended far beyond social media. While her first match was in a small stadium with limited seating and was not originally planned to be televised, her second round contest was in a much larger arena and was broadcast live to a national audience on ESPN2.

Although she ended up falling short of another upset in her second round match, she remained gracious in defeat.

“This whole experience has been unbelievable, like mind-blowing. It’s been crazy, the best couple of days of my life,” Bellis said, thanking the crowd for the support in an on-court interview after her second-round loss.

Following the tournament, she climbed nearly 800 spots in the WTA rankings, jumping from 1208 to 431.

Because she lives here in Atherton, her success resonated especially strongly with tennis players at Menlo-Atherton. M-A tennis coach Tom Sorenson told his team about her victory at practice that afternoon, encouraging them to keep pushing the limits to improve their game.

The number one singles player on the boys tennis team, junior Reed Fratt, actually knows her personally. They met playing at several of the same junior tennis tournaments across Northern California and started practicing together from time to time.

“I’d probably say my record in matches against her is about five [wins] and 30 [losses],” Fratt speculates, an impressive feat against such an accomplished young tennis player as Bellis.

From playing against her, Fratt knew better than most that she had the potential to succeed at a high level. “I actually had a prediction a year ago that she would make it big by the 2015 US Open. She just beat my prediction by a year.”

Seeing such a young local tennis player achieve a dream of hers has undoubtedly inspired others to continue pursuing their goals of playing tennis beyond high school.

“It definitely motivated me to train harder and see that I can raise the goals for myself and try to reach higher levels of tennis,” Fratt said, echoing the new-found feelings of young tennis players across the country.

With Bellis’s success coming right on the heels of African-American, female pitcher Mo’ne Davis making history at the Little League World Series, young athletes, especially young girls, should feel that, with hard work, they too can succeed at levels normally dominated by athletes of a different age or gender.

Local teenage tennis phenom takes the sports world by storm by Ryan Cole

Does Practice Make Perfect?

Practice, practice, practice is the motto for Menlo-Atherton sports teams during the fall. Football from 3:30 to 7:00, volleyball from 3:30 to 6:30, and water polo from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. are a few of the most time consuming and draining sports practices. Students are leaving class early multiple times each week for games and have relatively little time when they have to get home, forcing them to go straight to doing their homework.

“Having super long practices lets us get better as a team,” states junior Abraham Hernandez about the 3.5-hour-long football practices. This mentality that long practices are beneficial to the team as a whole has been stressed by players of fall sports teams. Volleyball practices are 2.5 hours long and players such as senior Devin Joos and senior Kaitlin Tavarez think it is the perfect amount of time. “Every minute of practice is beneficial. If it does go over, it is because we are doing personalized work,” states Joos.

Although having longer practices may help the team get better, a huge concern that affects almost all student athletes is that they do not have as much time to complete their school work. The common assumption is playing a sport can negatively affect grades because students are often leaving class early and not getting home to start their homework until late. However, athletes, such as water polo player Renee Butler, counter the stereotype and think that while practice “definitely takes a lot of time, it keeps [her] from procrastinating because [she] has a limited amount of time to do [her] homework.” This rings true for Tavarez too, who feels that her teammates “are less focused after the season when we don’t know what to do with ourselves.”

Athletes know that when they sign up for a sport they are going to be committing a large portion of their time and energy. It is often better to have more things going on because you do not have the free time to procrastinate.

Ken Lancaster, a writer for ESPN, surveyed college athletes and concluded that student athletes can get their work done because they have only a limited amount of time to work. “This gives student-athletes a special ability to focus, even if it is only because they have to in order to survive. Many athletes also learn superior study habits and timemanagement out of necessity as well.” As athletes get further into the season, their motivation to do well is at an all time high with CCS and state championships within reach. Cross country is a very time consuming and physically demanding sport, but seniors Nicolas Plume and Adam Scandlyn believe that “with how close [their] team has come to going to state,” that they “have the motivation to keep competing as [they] get closer in the end of the season.” The long practices and late nights of studying are well worth it for these athletes and others who have put in the work to get as close as they are to winning a championship.

by Sami Andrew

Fantasy football is all the rage during the fall, as everyone is glued to their phones and computers, updating their ESPN and Yahoo pages. Oftentimes, as teenagers eagerly update their lineups, it can interfere with their schoolwork. However, the next time that you are caught in such an act, reflect on my personal experience, so that maybe you too can show a teacher the academic relevance of such fantasy sports.

In economics class we had a period to study for an upcoming test, which eventually turned into a period of trading fantasy football players and comparing talents. Our teacher, Candace Bolles, questioned our activity, wondering how it related to economics. However, I quickly reassured her that fantasy football does have academic value.

Fantasy football could be considered a look into the world of business for high school students. There is no doubt that it parallels financial business. Trading players is very similar to buying and selling stocks, or working with businesses. Students have to research the opportunity costs and benefits of making a trade or starting a player. There is high demand for players such as Peyton Manning or LeSean McCoy, yet there is only a small supply of those elite players. There are tradeoffs for each move you make and the goal is to find the equilibrium point between good moves and bad moves.There is high risk going for a weaker player, but sometimes the sleepers are well worth it.

So next time a teacher complains about how students are spending too much time on fantasy football and not enough on school work, just remember there is value in fantasy football and that it is helping students learn business strategies and how to take risks.

by Sami Andrew

Photography Tania Miranda

NIFTY NAILS

Vampire nails

ARE YOUR NAILS TOO SIMPLE? DO YOU WANT NIFTY NAILS? START WITH CLEAN NAILS AND APPLY A BASE COAT. THEN, APPLY 1 TO 2 COATS OF YOUR BACKGROUND POLISH. NOW YOU’RE READY TO choose one of the styles

by Katrina Wijaya

Bear Paws Be Like Rawr

Take something with a rounded tip, like a bobby pin, and dab it into a dark polish. Dab 3 main blobs close together and try to avoid making them too lumpy since they will take a longer time to dry. Now, dab five smaller blobs on the top side of the paw you made earlier. When you do so, try to drag the polish upward a bit. With a toothpick, dip the tip in the nail polish and make the claws. Once your nail polish has fully dried, apply your topcoat.

Once you’ve created your canvas, take something with a rounded tip and dab it in your red polish. Make 2-3 blobs at varying lengths down the nail and lightly drag the polish upwards. Take the red nail polish and paint the top of the nails in a wavy line, connecting the lines you made earlier. Once nails have fully dried, apply your topcoat.

Tricks:

- Couple this with your Halloween costume.

- Add a couple random red dots in the empty spaces on the nail.

Tips:

- Good idea to have nail polish remover and cotton swabs in case you screw up.

- It’s okay to get some polish on your skin, it’ll come off when you wash your hands.

- Ask for help when doing nails on your dominant hand!

THEM BOXES BE EDGY

Before the polish dries, remove the tape. Let nails dry and apply top coat.

Once background is dry, put on 3 pieces of scotch tape to form rectangles. Let them hang off the

Paint the different rectangles however you wish.

The Mark, a feature magazine published by the students in Menlo-Atherton High School’s Journalism class, is an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to its readership. The Mark is distributed to its readers and the student body at no cost. The staff welcomes letters to the editor, but reserves the right to edit all submissions for length, grammar, potential libel, invasion of privacy, and obscenity. Submissions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of all M-A students or the staff of The Mark. Send all submissions to submittothemark@gmail.com.

Photography Theresa Siri