Oracle Dec

780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Volume 51, Issue 4 Friday, December 6, 2013

http://gunnoracle.com/

Henry M. Gunn High School

THEORACLE

Palo Alto Unified School District

Henry M. Gunn High School

780 Arastradero Rd Palo Alto, CA 94306

PG. 20ENTERTAINMENT

NON-PROFIT ORGU.S. Postage

P A I DPermit #44

Palo Alto, Calif.

PG. 8FEATURES

PG. 15SPORTS

»58 Number of senior pop poll categories in final yearbook tally

Number of days until the end of the first semester 4 Number of videos released in 2013 as

part of the TBN- Oracle joint venture

The Oracle debates juice cleanse dieting.

City of Palo Alto displays new light structure.

The Oracle displays do-it-yourself holiday baskets.

Shawna ChenReporter

Recently, California adopted the new Com-mon Core State Standards (CCSS) presented by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers in an effort to align the English and math core standards in school districts across the United States. CCSS outlines the English and math ca-pabilities students in each district will develop in order to prepare students for college and em-ployment. Adjusting to CCSS will be an ongo-ing process for the next few years at Gunn, ac-cording to Assistant Principal of Guidance Tom Jacoubowsky. Core implementation will begin this school year but full testing implementation will be held off until the 2014-2015 school year. “[We’ll] be taking a look at the common core standards, at what the teachers are required to be teaching and then aligning their curriculum to that,” Jacoubowsky said. “It’s good to have this look at education in such a way that en-sures the quality of education is benchmarked and measured throughout.”

According to the Common Core website, focus will shift toward analyzing non-fiction, as well as teaching writing, speaking and listen-ing. Building on academic vocabulary, critical reading and literacy will also be a responsibility shared by all teachers. In math, CCSS concen-trates on developing reasoning and problem-solving skills so that students can integrate a deeper understanding of the conceptual top-ics at each grade level. Standardized testing will also change under CCSS, with California transitioning from the former Standardized Re-porting and Testing, known as the STAR test, to the computerized Smarter Balanced Assess-ments (SBA). The SBA will assess a student’s capabilities by the number of questions he or she answers correctly and will adjust by provid-ing more challenging questions as the student continues.

Jacoubowsky, however, does not believe CCSS will change much of Gunn’s curriculum. “Honestly, I think Gunn is so far ahead,” he said.

CCSS—p.3

By the numbers

On Nov. 5, Palo Alto voters shot down Measure D, a pro-posal put on the ballot in an effort to to rezone the empty lot on Maybell Avenue in order to build affordable senior hous-ing. In the weeks prior to voting, the measure was highly publicized across the community; Gunn students experi-enced campaigning first hand, seeing picketers line up on Arastradero.

The Housing Corporation (THC) was responsible for pro-posing and funding the project and its campaign. Established in 1970, THC has constructed 20 low-income household units ever since its founding. According to Executive Direc-tor Candice Gonzalez, Measure D was the first time in the history of the corporation that voters were involved with a senior housing project. “The city council had a unanimous nine-to-zero approval for our project in June 2013,” Gonzalez said. “But after the opposition initiated a referendum it went on the November ballot.”

There was noticeable opposition to the measure. Palo Al-tans to Preserve Neighborhood Zoning was one of the pri-mary adversaries to the Maybell project. In an interview on KALW radio, group representative Joe Hirsch expressed his concern regarding traffic in the area. “We have four neigh-borhood schools,” he said. “About 4000 students come to this site everyday.” He worries about the traffic Measure D will bring to Arastradero, an already congested road.

Gonzalez, however, believed that the opposition MEASURE D—p.4

Leon CheongForum Editor

California adopts new education standards

Photos courtesy of Butch Garcia

Girls’water poloplaces second inCCS

WATERPOLO—p.16

Measure D rezoning proposal fails to receive Palo Alto voters’ approval

14

News

NEWS BITESAnnual Turkey Feast returns for 39th year, raises over $5000

New bullying reporting policies partially approved by district

City approves infrastructure plansLawrence ChenNews Editor

Two plans to improve the In-ternet throughout Palo Alto have been approved by the City Coun-cil with a 7-0 vote. The first plan is to expand Palo Alto’s 41-mile “dark fiber” ring to the entirety of the city. This will give both resid ents and businesses access to In-ternet speeds of over 100 megabits per second. The second plan is to install a complementary master plan for a city-w i d e wire-l e s s sys-tem t hat would p r o v i d e the public with WiFi Internet access. After this is implement-ed throughout the city, Palo Alto Unified School Dis-trict will also adopt the plan. “We, too, will eventually go all-fiber in the district and at Gunn, probably sooner rather than later,” Principal Katya Villalobos said. “It’s the in-frastructure we need and the Inter-net age probably isn’t going away. It obviously is one of the most im-portant technological innovations of the past 30 years.”

Earlier this year, the City Coun-cil unanimously brought up “tech-

nology and the connected city” as one of its top annual priorities and put the citywide fiber program at the top of the to-do list. Vil-lalobos thinks that fiber will have few drawbacks. “I think it’s really important and I’m glad that Palo Alto has gone fiber,” Villalobos said. “We are in Silicon Valley so it makes perfect sense to me why we

would want that type of infrastruc-ture to support not only our indus-try but our community. It allows for greater speed and access to information and obviously, from an education standpoint, we are very fortunate that our community has afforded technology in our

schools.” The committee tasked to research the program predict-ed that the newest fiber master plan would cost anywhere from $100,000 to $350,000 depend-ing on how much environmental review needs to be administered on the city. The city’s dark-fiber reserve will provide funds for the project and as of last summer, it had a balance of $15.3 million.

Meanwhile, the wireless plan for the city is estimated

to cost roughly $3 million to $5

million to install the

program c i t y -

w i d e . T h e wire-

l e s s system

would piggyback well on the fiber

plan as the WiFi can benefit from the high-

speed Internet that fiber provides.

Both plans were passed easily as plans have been in place since 2008. In 2008, Palo Alto signed to design and build a citywide fiber system, but construction stopped in 2009 when insufficient funding collapsed the operation. Previ-ously, the city has also applied for federal grants for project funds and for Google’s citywide fiber program that ultimately ended up with Kansas City, Kansas.

2

After working with state and federal entities for the past 11 months, Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) has obtained partial approval for new bullying policies and complaint proce-dures. The old policies have been a large source of complaints for parents since last December, when an investigation by the Office for Civil Rights highlighted several flaws in Terman Middle School’s policy regarding bullying complaints.

PAUSD Superintendent Dr. Kevin Skelly hopes that the new policies create a more standardized method of dealing with com-plaints and reacting to bullying issues. “The goal of the policies is to be clear with families and kids, so they know how to address bullying issues in the future,” Skelly said.

According to Principal Katya Villalobos, in the new policies, students facing “protected” bullying issues, such as discrimina-tion based on race, gender, religion and sexual orientation, will be assisted with first-tier protection. Reports of the event will be sent to a district compliance officer through a Uniform Complaint Procedure (UCP). The UCP will then handle the students’ cases based on federally regulated procedures.

Conversely, students dealing with non-protected bullying is-sues, or bullying issues that have no clear intent, will receive less protection. Their complaints will be handled through the school. Principals receiving those grievances are to notify parents and begin an investigation as soon as possible. There is, however, no requirement for the school to talk with students involved.

Although the new approach will change the way bullying cases will be handled by administrators, they do not change the process for students and parents who are reporting bullying issues. “These policies help us from a legalistic perspective,” Skelly said. “However, students and parents will still have to report all issues to teachers and administration, like they do now.”

Pooja Belur

Advisory Board takes up Toys for Kids programKush DubeyReporter

The Teen Advisory Board (TAB) will take on Toys for Kids, a program which provides underprivileged kids with toys in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, after the retire-ment of original director Rob Steele. TAB plans to maintain the program’s fundamental structure, while adding mecha-nisms to increase the number of donations the program receives. According to TAB co-president Aren Raising-hani, TAB will set up donation bins in local schools and police and fire departments, and it will request that lo-cal organizations and business donate dur-ing the holiday season, while raising aware-ness. “We plan to mar-ket this drive more ef-fectively than it’s been marketed in the past: we plan to use social media, posters, flyers and word of mouth so that many people become aware of the drive and we obtain numerous donations,” he said.

TAB Advisor Jessica Lewis is Steele’s colleague in the Community Services Department of Palo Alto, and she hopes to supplement the program’s methods after many years of success under Steele. “[Toys for Kids has] been around for 31 years and the program overall is well-orga-nized, so we want to maintain the same efficiency the pro-gram had during its existence, but still to shoot to exceed the number of toys that are provided,” she said. In addi-tion, Lewis believes the board’s influence among youth is another factor that will contribute to exceeding a goal of distributing 2000 toys. “Because we are the Teen Advisory Board, our members are able to connect with the youth, so we hope to see an increase in youth donation,” she said.

According to Raisinghani, TAB will reach out to mul-tiple organizations affiliated with the youth to inform a new generation of donors. “Teen influence is important,” he said. “In order to maximize our donations, it’s important to get teens involved, as teens can donate, influence their

peers to donate or influence the adults in their lives to do-nate.”

TAB decided to take on the responsibility because of its commitment to serve Palo Alto. According to Lewis, TAB focuses on further enhancing the community by serving as links between teens and the community and implement-ing programs for the youth division of Palo Alto. “Part of our mission is service to the community of Palo Alto, so it seemed like a good fit,” she said. “We need a home for this incredible program that’s been around for a long time,

because it really impacts kids in the Bay Area.” Accord-ing to Raisinghani, TAB was given the job because of its reliability and effec-tiveness. “Mr. Steele is passing the pro-gram over to our board, as he feels that TAB is a good organization to pick

up the cause and to help expand the program to further [the program’s] success,” he said.

Raisinghani also believes that dedicating the board to a wider scope of activities will positively impact TAB. “Not only will our members be able to lead a drive to make a positive impact on underprivileged children, but the drive also further legitimizes our organization and further ex-pands our influence,” he said.

Steele started the Toys for Kids program in 1982, mod-eling it after the Toys for Tots program founded by the Marines. However, Steele felt that the donations from Toys for Tots drives mainly went to children part of larger, more recognized organizations instead of benefiting children in smaller, local organizations. He founded Toys for Kids to give children in these smaller communities gifts for the holiday season.

Raisinghani encourages students at Gunn to donate as many toys as possible to help the underprivileged chil-dren in Palo Alto. “We want to continue this program and its success over the years, so that we can continue putting smiles on the faces of children,” he said.

THEORACLE

On Nov. 21, Gunn had its annual Turkey Feast. Started in 1974 by former Director of Student Activities Dan Sarouchan, the Turkey Feast allows students to share and enjoy an American tradition. “It’s the only time I get to have Thanksgiving food so I’m going to be really sad next year,” senior Anh -Tram Bui said.

Students had all the essentials for a turkey meal, thanks to the labor of 150 volunteers and many donations, which included 60 turkeys, 25 gallons of gravy, 100 pounds of mashed potatoes, 60 pounds of salad, over 100 pounds of stuffing and over 200 pies. This year, parent Donna Pioppi coordinated the Turkey Feast for her fourth and final year. “I love the Turkey Feast,” Pioppi said. “I really like to do this because when you guys are happy, it’s all worth it.”

Students and staff, as usual, enjoyed the food. “It was great,” senior Nicole Cahlander said. “I enjoyed the stuffing; it stuffed me full. The gravy was groovy, the turkey was gobblin’, and the mashed potatoes were smashing.”

Shireen Ahsan

“Not only will our members be able to lead a drive to make a positive impact on underprivileged children, but the drive also further legitimizes our organization and further expands our influence.” Teen Advisory Board co-president Aren Rasinghani

Jasmine Garnett

News 3 Friday, December 6, 2013

The Oracle strongly encourages and prints signed Letters to the Editor and Comments. Comments are generally shorter responses, while

letters are longer pieces of writing.

Please include your name, grade and contact information should you choose to write one.

Letters and Comments may be edited to meet space requirements and the writer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Letters to the Editor and Comments and ideas for coverage may be sent to [email protected] or posted on our Facebook page.

These letters need not be from current students.

INBOX

Editor-in-ChiefCatalina Zhao

Managing EditorsMitch Donat

Lucy Oyer

NewsCooper AspegrenLawrence Chen

Nabeel Chollampat

ForumBen Atlas

Leon CheongKlaire Tan

FeaturesRebecca AlgerChaewon Lee

Danielle Yacobson

CenterfoldRachel Lew

Stephanie Zhang

SportsPooja BelurAlvin Wang

Erica Watkins

EntertainmentSam Acker

Misheel EnkhbatNoa Livneh

PhotoAudey Shen

GraphicsJasmine Garnett

THEORACLE780 Arastradero Rd.Palo Alto, CA 94306

(650) 354-8238www.gunnoracle.com

Editorial Board

Staff

CopyAnuva Ganapathi

Kavya PadmanabhanTim Wang

TechLisa Hao

Roy Shadmon

Business/CirculationErica Lee

Shireen Ahsan (Asst.)Matt Niksa (Asst.)Regina Tran (Asst.)

PhotographersStephanie KimAnthony Tran

Graphics ArtistsPaige AndersonAlexandra Gong

Anton OyungAllison PaleyCarolyn Zhou

Dave Zhu

ReportersElinor Aspegren, Lena

Campbell, Shawna Chen, Ian Cramer,

Aayush Dubey, Kush Dubey, Yuki Klotz-

Burwell, Esther Kozakevich, Emily Kvitko, Christine

Lin, Alex Man, Naina Murthy, Arjun Sahdev,

Henry Siu, Justin Wenig

AdviserKristy Blackburn

Gunn implements Common Core curriculum standards

I would like to see teacher editorials or funny stories from when they were in high school.

—Jayshree Sarathy, 12

I would like to see an article on dating ad-vice for hopeless romantics.

—Danny-Tyler Downer, 12

I would like to see more controversial top-ics regarding our school.

—Rishi Iyer, 12

The Oracle is nice because it lets the stu-dents know what’s happening at school.

—Kiley Lin, 11

It was very interesting, I liked the article on electronic music.

—Chloe Sorensen, 9

I liked how the details for every section were relevant and they never went off-topic.

—Saad Khadbai, 11

I would like to see more Instagram food grams or just other Instagram kind of stuff. That was really interactive.

—Jerri Zhang, 10

I thought the layouts were very creative and welcoming.

—Caroline Hu, 12

I always like seeing survey results and per-sonal profiles. Those are the most interesting to me, and the Entertainment section.

—Lindsay Maggioncalda, 10

The article I definitely enjoyed the most was the “You know you are on the ___ team when...” because, dear God, it is funny.

—Ensay Kim, 12

The comic is a fantastic new addition.—Drew Brownlee, 12

The best part about this issue was the ran-dom acts of kindness page because it made me feel like lighting a nice pumpkin spice candle on a cold winter day.

—Anubhav Jaiswal, 12

I enjoyed reading William Copeland’s vio-lin story, and I liked the coffee theme.

—Christine Chen, 11

November 8, 2013

I liked the focus on all types of music, as well as the very thorough article on col-lege apps. The everyday acts of kindness was something I never thought about, so I thought it was a perfect addition to the issue.

—Katherine Berry, 12

I’d like to see a story about the pro’s and con’s of taking a gap year.

—Monica Liu, 12

I really liked all of the visuals and pic-tures but especially the honesty about Ms. Sanderson, since it needed to be talked about.

—Quinn Anderson, 10

CCSS—p.1“Much of [CCSS] we are already doing in many areas.” But Jacoubowsky also notes the benefits that will be obtained statewide as a result of implementation. “We have an excellent education system here in Palo Alto [but] some school districts don’t,” he said. “Hopefully Common Core will align everything, not just within a state but within other states, too.”

On the other hand, Jacoubowsky does foresee a possible drop in standardized test scores in the first few years of implementing the SBA. “It’s going to be a differ-ent testing experience for the stu-dents,” he said. “So if there used to be 70 percent that scored advanced [on the STAR test], it may dip down to 50 percent on the [SBA].” But aside from the new standard-ized tests, Jacoubowsky does not perceive a major difference with-in Gunn classrooms. “As far as the actual instruction, the preparation that kids are going to get, and as far as things such as SAT scores, where kids are going to college, none of that is going to change,” he said.

According to math Instructional Super-visor (I.S.) Kathy Hawes, departments have been collaborating to improve the quality of education across the boards. “Right now, I’m working with the other I.S.’s to lay out a plan on how to transition into the new pro-gram so that students aren’t overwhelmed, so that we begin incorporating the key components of the standards,” Hawes said. “We’re taking our broad understanding [of the standards] and trickling it down to units, and from the units, trickling down to lessons.” In math, eight new mathemati-cal practice standards have been added to

the curriculum. “[They] will hopefully im-prove our instruction to incorporate more in-depth investigation, real-world applica-tions and making math seem more relevant to students,” she said.

Trigonometry and algebra will not un-dergo drastic changes, and while the ap-proach to geometry will alter, the big-gest change will arrive with the return of

statistics and probability as a mathemat-ics course. “When you think about most people, statistics and probability are prob-ably the most useful mathematics that they learn,” Hawes said. “So it’s a real positive that [they’re] being emphasized in the stan-dards.” However, the absence of revised CCSS textbooks will be problematic. “Until the textbooks are written, it’s going to be challenging to really implement [the new standards],” Hawes said.

The new standards will also encourage teacher cooperation in developing student skills as a team. “It’s not just English that’s [teaching] the [English Language Arts] standards,” Hawes said. “Science will be supporting technical writing, [and] social studies will be supporting research-based writing.” Mathematics such as measure-

ment and precision will also play a larger role in science, Hawes said.

To junior Grant Fong, the new standards are a shift from teaching the subject to teaching necessary life skills. “That’s an im-portant stance to take,” he said. “I personal-ly think in most cases the studying abilities and life skills are more important than the actual subject.” However, Fong feels that

standardized testing will eventu-ally become obsolete. “There’s no real way they can test these skills in a standardized way,” he said. “In this case, [standardized tests] are basically useless.” Even though Fong acknowledges the academic rigor at Gunn, he believes stu-dents will ultimately benefit from CCSS. “The new core curriculum focuses on teaching skills such as how to work with a partner, how to research and how to formulate your own opinions,” he said. “In

the long term, those skills and those abili-ties matter much, much more than the ac-tual subject.”

While Gunn and California undergo CCSS changes, Fong hopes a balance can be reached in melding the current curricu-lum with new core standards. “I think we just need to focus on looking at both and not necessarily giving them equal weight but seeing the values in both,” he said. “But I think most Gunn students will actu-ally like these changes because it makes the classroom more engaging and interesting.” Jacoubowsky, too, understands the signifi-cance of what CCSS will bring to the table but remains confident in students’ abilities to adapt. “We’ve been excellent before, we’re excellent now,” he said. “We’ll continue to be excellent.”

“The new core curriculum focuses on teach-ing skills such as how to work with a part-ner, how to research and how to formulate your own opinions. In the long term, those skills and those abilities matter much, much more than the actual subject.”

—junior Grant Fong

The Oracle is a 2013 NSPA Pacemaker Award winner.

MEASURE D—p.4exaggerated the effects that Measure D would have had on the city.

“Sadly, the referendum became about all of de-velopment in Palo Alto rather than focusing on our much-needed affordable senior housing project,” she said. According to Gonzalez, the project’s adversaries’ primary ar-gument that it would have ad-versely affected traffic was wrong. “We did a traffic study and found that the project would have had an insig-nificant impact on the neigh-borhood,” she said. “In fact, out of all the realistic proj-ects, affordable senior housing would have the lowest impact in traffic, parking and schools. Some opposition who criticized the traffic study used outdated in-formation from 1995.”

Out of Palo Alto’s 65,000 residents, only 11,000 ended up voting. THC discovered that they may have been an uninformed, vo-cal minority. “We have been hearing that many people voted based on a lot of misinformation,” Gonzalez said.

Hirsch stressed the importance of considering the slippery slope that might come with passing a law like Measure D. “Almost any new develop-ment that comes along now is under what they call

‘planned community zoning,’” he said on KALW. He remarked that site regulations that have pro-tected our community for decades could be wiped clean and would start with negotiations between the city and the developers.

Even though the fate of Measure D has been decided and set final, some citi-

zens remain in uncertainty. “20 percent of seniors in

Palo Alto are living at or near the poverty

limit,” Gonzalez said. “We have

over 500 se-niors on the waiting list of our only other se-nior site. It takes at least five years to get a unit there, and

by then most have moved

away or pass away. After re-

tirement, they can’t afford to live

in expensive Palo Alto homes.”

Ultimately, Gonzalez re-marked that she felt disappointed. “We

were supposed to be a progressive, open commu-nity, but we turned our backs on needy seniors,” she said. Now, THC will have to push for other projects. “The land will have to be sold to pay back all of our lenders,” Gonzalez said. THC is continu-ing to pursue its goal of securing affordable hous-ing for senior citizens.

News4

The Oracle, TBN launch collaborative journalism projectMitch Donat

Managing Editor

The Oracle and the Titan Broadcast Network (TBN) will be collaborating on future projects and stories in the form of a joint venture project. According to broadcast teacher Edward Corpuz, both programs have wanted to do this for quite awhile. “I’ve been working with [The Oracle adviser Kristy] Blackburn for the past seven years,” he said. “In our conversations, we always mentioned how what The Oracle and TBN do is very similar; we’re both journalists. I thought it would be a great opportunity for students to experience interdis-ciplinary work.”

At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, the first collaborative effort as part of the joint venture was launched, with all of the graduating seniors featured in the senior issue of The Oracle also featured in short videos created by TBN. The latest video was on the Gunn Orchestra and its trip to Chicago, news which had a corresponding story in the November issue of The Oracle.

Other projects in production include videos pro-moting The Oracle’s new Aurasma capabilities and a video corresponding to the college app stress story of the November issue of The Oracle.

While broadcast and print journalism are very dif-ferent, they can both supplement each other, accord-ing to Corpuz. “The Oracle has the ability to have a lot more detail and research,” he said. “For broadcast journalism, the detail isn’t there, but it does provide

the audio and visuals needed to tell a story; it gives us another angle.”

According to The Oracle News Editor Cooper Aspe-gren, to make the collaboration smooth, the videos will all be featured on specific TBN segments. “We’re air-ing these videos in correspondence with the segments on TBN,” he said. “For example, we will screen the or-chestra video on ‘The Lifestyle’ show and an Auras-ma promotion will more likely than not be aired on ‘Tech.’” Aspegren said one of the goals is to have the framework of published The Oracle stories correspond to the framework of TBN’s daily broadcast.

According to Aspegren, while the concept is simple in theory, actually making a joint program is difficult. “We’re trying to c o m m u n i c a t e with each other in a more effective fashion and make a streamlined ef-fort so that it isn’t too complicated to work between staffs,” he said. “This is more challenging than it sounds.”

Another difficulty Aspegren mentioned is figuring out which videos are relevant to air on TBN. “That’s the tricky part,” he said. “TBN has high standards for the kinds of videos that can be presented, so not just

any video can air.” Corpuz believes some of this coordination difficulty is due to the difference in schedule, as TBN meets during zero period and The Oracle meets during F period.

Additionally, there is a small over-lap of students who participate in both campus journalism organizations. One of these students involved in both TBN and The Oracle is reporter and TBN Sports anchor senior Lena Campbell. She thinks that while TBN and The Oracle are both journalism programs and similar in

many ways, it is still challenging to find a way to com-municate between them both. “Both programs [TBN and The Oracle] have their own way of doing things,” she said. “Trying to know and work with both of them is definitely challenging.”

While some aspects of the joint venture are chal-lenging, Campbell is still excited for the opportunity it presents to members of both the TBN staff and The Oracle staff. “It’s a better way to experience journal-ism in the real world,” she said. “Today, journalism is blending all the different aspects of it together, includ-ing video, print and more.”

One of the goals of the joint venture is to have promotional videos before each issue of The Oracle

releases. This mea-sure, according to Aspegren, is to get students excited for the release of the following issue. “Of-tentimes, students are surprised when we distribute that brunch,” Aspegren said. “We want to change that for the future, so that we

feel like we’re more connected to the entire student body.”

According to Blackburn, both TBN and The Oracle applied for the Out of the Box grant in 2013 to cre-ate a multimedia journalism program. This grant pro-gram was designed to help encourage interdisciplinary classes or programs on school campuses. Although the grant was not awarded to TBN or The Oracle, Black-burn and Corpuz decided to see what progress they could make with a joint venture.

Just beginning to take its stride, the joint collabora-tion looks promising for the future of Gunn journal-ism. “I don’t think that we have a specific goal or The Oracle has a specific goal here,” Corpuz said. “It’s not going to make TBN or The Oracle better individually, but as a collaborative it will make the journalism pro-gram at Gunn stronger.”

Christine Linreporter

Four teachers are participating in Stanford’s Massive On-line Open Course (MOOC), a program devoted to helping students develop better and more informational conversa-tions with peers.

According to math teacher Megan Stauffer, the MOOC’s Constructive Classroom Conversations course, which in-volves more than 6000 students, is a course for teachers that focuses on creating classroom conversations that allow stu-dents to gain more academically. “Student-to-student learn-ing is especially crucial so that students can gain knowledge via conversations with peers, and so that they can become experts together by learning together,” Stauffer said.

According to math Instructional Supervisor Kathy Hawes, past studies have shown that students who explain concepts to peers are generally more successful at retain-ing information. “Students often don’t know how to get involved in class, but if they just build up concepts and an-swers collaboratively, they can gain a lot more from every lesson,” Hawes said.

Math teacher Michael Bautista added that in small class-es, the potential for great conversations is particularly per-vasive. “We hope that this course will help teachers learn new strategies to help students develop productive conver-sation skills within the classroom,” Bautista said. “In math, we’ll emphasize that the process of discussing a problem with peers is a valuable part of the overall learning experi-ence.”

The Stanford MOOC has educators around the nation record classroom conversations, which are then transcribed and analyzed. According to Stauffer, the results provide ed-ucators with valuable information as classroom interaction is not usually perceived on such a detailed level. Bautista adds that the data is then used to give feedback to educa-tors so that they can continually improve their classroom curriculums.

For more information regarding the course, visit https://novoed.com/common-core.

Teachers participate in Stanford Massive Online Open Course

Palo Alto voters deny additional senior housing

“ We’re trying to communicate with each other in a more effective fashion and make a streamlined effort so that it isn’t too complicated to work between staffs. This is more challenging than it sounds.”

—The Oracle News Editor Cooper Aspegren

Measure D proposed to extend senior housing to the above lot. A

ntho

ny T

ran

Candidate hype meaningless

I don’t care about Chris Christie, and I don’t care about Hillary Clinton—at least not right now. And unless either the gover-nor of New Jersey or the former Secretary of State is involved in something of national relevance, political pundits shouldn’t care either. Yet for months now, cable news networks have shown an alarming interest in the possibility of a Christie vs. Clinton matchup in the 2016 presidential election.

It’s an understandable (though not quite noble) concept: pit two of the most well-known politicians in the country against each other and you’ll see your viewing numbers skyrocket from those you’d see by reporting the boring, “normal” news. Despite my credentials (being caught up on “The Newsroom”), I’m not the author-ity on integrity in broadcast journalism, but it’s clear that networks are at fault for sacrificing timely and relevant stories in order to boost their ratings. International spying allegations, tropical storms in the Pacific Islands and Obamacare are just a few issues that are more relevant and worthy of coverage; such stories should outweigh predictions of an election that is still three long years off.

Moreover, networks are shining a (pre-sumably) unwanted spotlight on said candi-dates. For example, a recent TIME magazine cover portrayed Gov. Christie’s shadow with the headline “The Elephant in the Room.” While a clever use of the GOP mascot, the headline also proved remarkably insensitive toward the governor—a negative byprod-uct of intense media scrutiny. Of course, media coverage is an occupational hazard, but politicians’ words are also now being scrutinized for possible “hints” of a presi-dential run. Instead of analyzing politicians’ actions for their merit, outlets unnecessar-ily try to portray their rhetoric for cheap and easy news. This false extrapolation is not only obnoxious but also representative of another possible breach in journalistic integrity.

Networks are not only failing to cover more relevant topics but promoting un-reliable information as well: presidential predictions this early simply have no way of being accurate. After the 2004 reelection of President George W. Bush, media outlets widely speculated that the 2008 race would feature New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton, then a New York Senator. As we all know, this clash of the titans never came to fruition. Similarly, who knows who will be running in 2016? It could be Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, or even everyone’s favorite candidates, Anthony Weiner and Herman Cain. Whatever the outcome may be, the prospective candidacies are almost certain to f luctuate in the next three years, so the media would be better off avoiding the enterprise entirely.

Early political predictions represent, in my opinion, an alarming misstep in current television journalism. The trend is also only perpetuated: when shows boost ratings by way of long-range presidential predictions, other shows have no choice but to follow suit, creating a vicious cycle of uncertain reporting and media irrelevancy.

—Chollampat, a senior, is a

News Editor.

Forum 5Friday, December 6, 2013

Think back to your eighth-grade self, posting your first “selfie.” Back then, you probably didn’t antici-pate your friends digging it up four years later just to heckle your amateur duck face and crooked peace sign.

However, under the re-cent California SB 568 bill, the eighth-grade you can rest easy. Otherwise known as the “social media eraser bill,” SB 568 was passed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October and gives teens the ability to delete their social media indiscretions with the click of a button. While this law comes as a holy grail to those students who partied a little too hard last New Year’s, the advantages that it provides are nothing more than what websites like Facebook al-

ready offer. In addition, this law unintentionally high-lights the stereotype of the reckless teen without en-couraging teenagers to take responsibility for their mis-haps and hinders their devel-opment into accountable and liable citizens.

While the law has good intentions, it lacks substance and a set of teeth to enforce true protection for teens. On social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, users are already given the abil-ity to delete former posts. The only advantage that this law provides is that it allows teenagers to select certain years and events in their so-cial media history and delete them. However, it does not protect them from infor-mation and content posted by another user. Therefore, prominent problems that this bill means to target, such as cyberbullying and embar-rassing posts, are left un-touched.

This law fails to acknowl-edge that leniency does not

lead to responsibility. Giving teens a “clear history” but-ton does not show that in-discretions have bad conse-quences for young adults. If armed with the mindset that they can simply delete inap-propriate content on their profiles, teenagers will not take caution when deciding what content is appropriate to share with the public. In the absence of looming con-sequences, teenagers will not stop making reckless and im-pulsive decisions. This will only encourage teenagers to post more compromising information under the secu-rity that they can later delete it. The problem that arises is that while the content it-self can be deleted, people’s memories of it cannot be deleted; between the time of posting and the time of re-moval, any number of people can view or save the post.

Not only does this law send a message to teenagers that actions don’t have conse-quences, but it also overlooks the fact that teenagers today

may not be as rash as many may think. In a recent study conducted by Pew Internet, 60 percent of teen Facebook users keep their profiles pri-vate, and most report high levels of confidence in their abilities to manage their set-tings. In addition, 70 percent of teens are Facebook friends with their parents. While there are highly publicized anomalies that contradict this data, this law comes off as redundant given the over-all social media responsibil-ity of teenagers. In addition, this law underestimates the responsibility that many teenagers actually have and exhibit. This seemingly trivi-al lack of trust has the poten-tial to become extremely det-rimental if teenagers do not believe that their authorities have confidence in them. Teenagers today should be given the responsibility to learn the sensitive nature of social media.

—Zhang, a senior, is a Centerfold Editor.

Newly passed social media eraser law ineffective

Stephanie Zhang

“Most likely to…”—the three most awaited words for first semester seniors.

The pop polls are arguably the most anticipated sections of a yearbook and are often the cause of much drama. With a class of 483 students and only about 35 categories available, there’s bound to be both pride and disappoint-ment—whether it is winning a category you aren’t proud of or not winning anything at all. No matter what the results are, chatter and gossip always ac-company the voting process and convert the exercise into more of a pageant than a yearbook tradition. Pop polls should be a lighthearted way to remember your high-school personality, but instead they have turned into a competition that is taken too seriously.

In October, pop poll nomination forms are distributed to the graduat-ing senior class. There are polls for just about every category—from “Most At-tractive” and “Most Desirable” to “Most Unique” and “Worst Driver.” More than the polls themselves, it is the drama and the gossip associated with the voting that get students into a frenzy; just about every student wants to be nominated for something—regardless of the connota-tion or implication of the category. It certainly helps that no negative catego-ries are allowed, and even questionable categories are inserted only in the spirit of fun and entertainment. The entire process provides for an atmosphere of lighthearted humor and anticipation; it also allows senior class members to bond and build some memories for the future.

Unfortunately, often times a “herd” mentality sets in: students vote for a particular person for a category simply

because everyone else is doing it, and the frenzy feeds on itself. As a result, the polls are not an accurate representation of any person’s fit for a category. Instead, they are a popularity contest; the people most heard and seen around campus tend to walk away with the votes.

Making the pop poll process anony-mous would greatly help. The voting form currently requires students to put their names on it so the yearbook staff gets to see who voted for whom. This often hin-ders people from voting for whom they actually want to vote and instead forces them to feel obligated to vote for whom they are “expected” to vote.

Ultimately, though, pop polls need to be taken for what they really are: a lighthearted attempt made by seniors to blow off some steam as they deal with AP classes and college applications. It is im-portant not to take the polls too seriously or to get too caught up in the implications of the polls. Seniors must remember to keep their priorities straight. After all, I’d look at it this way: it is much better to win “You’re Accepted” at the college of your choice than it is to win any pop poll category at this school.

—Ganapathi, a senior, is a Copy Editor.

Pop polls create overly competitive attitude

Nabeel Chollampat

Anuva Ganapathi

Paige Anderson

6 THEORACLE

bamacareOn Oct. 1, the federal health insurance exchange was launched through healthcare.gov, spark-ing controversy after the website experienced a series of technical problems. In light of the issue’s national importance, The Oracle staffers give their opinions on the legislation’s merit.

Forum

Ever since it was passed in 2010, Obam-acare has brought forth many differing opin-ions in the United States. Open enroll-ment for t he hea lt h ex-changes in Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, opened on Oct. 1. Although there have been questions over the effectiveness of Obamacare, it is a bill that is

meant to help Americans and further progress in our country. Obam-

acare has positive qualities, such as the accessibi l-

ity and affordability of healthcare, which

many overlook. O b a m a c a r e

does not create h e a l t h i n s u r-ance; it just reg-u lates pr ivate he a l t h i nsu r-ance. In other words, it helps to increase the qua l ity, a f ford-

ability and avail-abi l it y of pr ivate

i nsu r a nce . B efore Obamacare was passed,

it was harder for most people to get private insur-

ance. Now, everyone is able to do just that. In addition, it improves

t h e q u a l -ity of Medicare and Children’s Medicaid. For example, Obamacare closes the “donut hole” that caused senior citizens to not be able to afford their prescriptions. According to healthcare.gov, the “donut hole” is the drug coverage limit where seniors have to pay out-of-pocket expenses for their prescriptions. Now senior citizens will also be able to go to wellness visits without being charged.

The point of universal healthcare is to open up the accessibility of health insurance, reducing the amount of disease and suffering that takes place in our coun-try. There are 44 million people who are not covered by insurance right now. With Obamacare, those 44 million people will be given healthcare that they can afford. According to healthcare.gov, people can get lower costs on coverage and will be notified if they’re eligible for a plan with lower costs. In addition, each plan is required to offer essential health benefits, like doctors’ visits, preventative care, hospitalization and prescriptions. By making Obamacare a reality, we have taken a step to get the uninsured on a healthcare plan. Because it is required, people have different options that they may choose from.

Over half of uninsured Americans can get free or low-cost health insurance. Unemployed people earn-ing an income of $15,000 or lower annually are now eligible for healthcare coverage under Medicare. In addition, Medicaid is now extended to those who earn 133 percent of the federal poverty level. There are other options for people who cannot afford health insurance. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 81 per-cent of all individual policy-holders will be eligible for

income-based insurance subsidies. Obamacare

is helping people who cannot afford to pay

for insurance to still be able to be covered under

the plan; depending on an indi-vidual’s income, they may be able to get lower costs on deductibles, copayments and coinsurance. They may also be eligible for Medicare.

One of the key benefits of the Affordable Care Act is that people with pre-existing conditions will still be able to join a healthcare plan. An insurance company will not be able to turn you down or charge you more money because of the illness that you have. According to healthcare.gov, once you have insurance, the plan can’t refuse to cover treatment for pre-existing condi-tions. Even if you have had a pre-existing condition in the past and were turned down, insurance companies are mandated to keep you under a plan.

Finally, young adults can stay on their parents’ healthcare plans until age 26. One in three young adults are uninsured, so by being able to stay on their parents’ plan, they will be able to be covered.

Yes, Obamacare may not be perfect. Many users have been struggling to understand the website, but there are several other websites created just to help you navigate through the Obamacare website. After the Nov. 30 deadline, the website will start to work as planned. Although there were a few glitches in the beginning, everything is going back on track, helping to create a “covered” America.

—Padmanabhan, a senior, is a Copy Editor

PRO

What is your opinion on Obamacare?

“Obamacare is a good idea, but it was over rushed and not well

thought out.”

Lauren Shotts (9)

“I think that it is a step in the right direction because people need a safety net that allows them to be

taken care of.”Andrew Ku

(10)

“Ideally, Obamacare is great. How-ever, it’s costing jobs and causing

people to lose their previous plans.”

Nitya Kasturi (11)

“As long as all people in the US are required to contribute to get

care and all are able to get care as needed, it will be a good thing.”

Steve Ames(Physical Education)

Faces in the Crowd

—Compiled by Elinor Aspegren

The initial attrac-tiveness of Obam-acare is indisputable. Healthcare for unin-sured Americans, higher insurance policy standards, bet- t e r coverage for individuals w i t h pre-existing conditions and an online mar-ketplace that offers a quick, easy way to browse policies are all features that the new healthcare system boasts. In March 2010, the government passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to enact these additions.

Given what the ACA promises to accomplish, it sounds almost too good to be true. This, unfortunately, may not be far from the truth. Recent reports on the ACA have revealed a host of problems during its rocky implementa-tion. Though its goals are well-intentioned, the pathway to realizing them involves costs that are not worth the switch to Obamacare.

Firstly, the fact that health insurance has moved to an online marketplace (healthcare.gov) raises concerns about data security. Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) published an article categorizing healthcare.gov as a “web portal where personal information such as medical records, tax and financial information, criminal background and im-migration status will be shared and transmitted between agencies, including the IRS, HHS, the Department of Jus-tice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration as well as state governments.” Since citizens agree to post their private information as part of the enrollment process, these details can be shared more efficiently through the Internet, and citizens have no way of knowing what they will be used for. Released tax information, for example, could make citizens easy targets for tax discrimination. Overall, the online system allows greater potential for abuse of personal information.

However, citizens wary of Obamacare’s drawbacks will not be forced to pay for insurance. What they will have to pay is the individual mandate. This monthly fine amounts to about eight percent of the monthly cost for a typical insurance policy, arguably not a high enough cost to stop people from wanting to remain uninsured. The incentive to purchase healthcare is further diluted with the ACA’s policy that insurance policies cannot be denied to any customer, even if he or she suffers from a

pre-existing condition that will cost the insurer more than the coverage price. Citizens thus feel no pressure to buy healthcare as a preventative measure because they can reduce expenses by purchasing coverage later. Insurance operates on the principle that consumers will buy it as a pre-emptive strategy. The insurance provider can only cover future emergencies using revenue from healthy customers who pay monthly fees. If many citizens sign up for Obamacare only after they become severely ill or injured, the number of healthy individuals in the pool of consumers will decrease. This phenomenon, known as adverse selection, will cost the insurance companies enough to make them increase insurance prices—failing to meet the “affordable” aspect of ACA—or simply go out of business.

Furthermore, the high-quality insurance promised by the ACA may be unachievable. With adverse selection in mind, if the expected millions of Americans do not enroll in the online marketplace, insurance companies will be forced to raise prices or lower quality. ACA guidelines mandate the dissolution of insurance policies that fail to offer “10 essential benefits” which include outpatient care, better prescription drug coverage and hospital-ization. If enforced, the guidelines clearly will benefit the uninsured. However, given the current situation, insurance companies may not have enough money to provide quality care, rendering the ACA’s “10 benefits” a superfluous formality.

Rushed decisions by the Obama administration have only exacerbated this problem. Poor communication between White House officials and the designers of healthcare.gov (CGI Federal and QSSI) led to the web-site’s premature opening and subsequent failure. As a result, only six people were able to sign up on the first day of healthcare.gov’s release. Media reports such as articles detailing the lack of doctors willing to work under Obam-acare’s low-paying system paint Obamacare as a failure, an impression which could draw away potential buyers.

Moreover, when President Obama first introduced the ACA, he addressed concerns from already insured citizens: “If you like your current plan, you can keep it.” Starting September, however, hundreds of thousands of Americans have received notices that their policies

have been canceled due to the same healthcare law. Pressured

by ensuing outrage, Obama told the public in the same week that he would keep his

original promise. In his haste to attract consumers, he instead

presented an image of inefficiency and insincerity, depressing demand and public support for Obamacare.

Despite the ACA’s flaws, the Obama administration has adamantly insisted against repealing the law. Perhaps supporters of the law wish to see the time, money and effort spent constructing Obamacare to be put to use, at least until it is fully implemented in 2014. If the low de-mand for Obamacare is not addressed, howev- e r , keeping the law in place may eventu-ally cause the government to lose even more money. To prevent this, the gov-ernment must con-tinue efforts to in-crease the number enrolled, a feat which could be accomplished b y l o o s e n -ing imposed eligibility stan-dards.

In using one piece of legisla-tion to overhaul an entire health-care system in such a short period of time, the government has taken on an endeavor so enormous that flaws are almost guaranteed. Though the Obama administration and lawmak-ers are currently taking steps to treat the effects of these issues, the search for the true cure for Obamacare’s ail-ments continues.

—Lew, a senior, is a Centerfold Editor.

7Friday, December 6, 2013

W hat is Obamacare?

—Compiled by Ben Atlas

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), colloquially known as “Obamacare,” is a legislative overhaul of United States’ health insurance.

a.) Sets up state-by-state health exchanges through the website healthcare.gov with the goalof allowing competitive pricing by insurers.

Mandates individuals to either purchase insurance policies that include more comprehensivecoverage or pay a fine.

b.) Shifts 15 to 20 million more people into Medicaid, a government insurance program for thepoor, by increasing the maximum income allowed.

c.) Forces insurance companies to sell insurance to consumers regardless of pre-existing medical conditions.

d.) Provides subsidies to individuals in a certain income bracket so that they can more easily afford insurance. Levies new taxes to help fund subsidies, including one on medical devices.

e.) Sets up an “Independent Payment Advisory Board” to decide how much doctors can chargefor various treatments with the goal of cutting costs.

Forum

CON

8THEORACLE

The Oracle: Who or what got you started?Lydia Sun: I kind of just remember always drawing, just ever since I was little. I never really got started. I guess I was just always just doing it. My first earliest memory of drawing something was in preschool. This girl came up to me and asked me to draw a castle, and that’s the first thing I remember about draw-ing.

TO: What is your medium/style?LS: I draw mostly with colored pencils. I’ve never been into the whole exploring other mediums—not to sound like I am not open. I’m not a big fan of watercolors. Watercolors are just not my thing. I’ve done a couple of things with pencils, markers—I love mark-ers—and I think I did oil pastel at one point. I’ve used charcoal before but I’m not a fan of it because it’s kind of messy.

TO: Do you want to continue art in the future?LS: Definitely as a hobby or as something to do in my free time. But I don’t think I’m look-ing for it as a job. I’m in the middle of a lot of stuff. So it is definitely something I can always fall back on when there’s nothing else to do or when I’m feeling creative.

TO: What do you want people to feel when they see your art?LS: I want them to feel impressed, obviously, and hopefully inspired. If someone else sees your work and says, “Wow, that’s so awesome,” I don’t want them to put themselves down and say, “I feel bad about myself now.” I want them to say, “Wow, I wish I could do that and maybe I can do something like that to this level.”

TO: What’s your favorite part about draw-ing?LS: I think it’s the finished result and being able to look at it and say “wow.” That’s pretty cool. And being able to see all your work put together.

TO: Why do you chose to do art?LS: It’s just what I like to do. I’m not like the other person who does other hobbies. It’s just something I grew up with.

TO: Do you have any advice for beginners?LS: Mess around. Not everyone is confined to one style like I am. Experiment with new things and don’t be afraid to look at other people’s drawings and get ideas from them. Be inspired and have an open mind.

TO: Do you have a common theme you typi-cally stick with?LS: Well, when I was little, I had this weird theme where I would make three-layered cakes with houses on it. And I drew like so many of those. I think what I like to draw the most is my dream stuff, like my dream house. A little bit later, I think in middle school and onwards, I got a little more into copying things, like having a flower in front of me and drawing that. That’s fun because at the end you can compare how real it looks. That part is fun, but what I enjoy the most is drawing things from imagination.

Q&A sophomore Lydia Sun

Audey Shen— Compiled by Naina Murthy

Aurora light sculpture unveiled at Palo Alto City Hall Standing 30 feet tall with 4200 copper leaves

and over 45000 LED lights, a tree sculpture now brightens up the Palo Alto City Hall King Plaza. This modern, metal weeping willow, named Aurora, will adorn the plaza for a whole year, thanks to two young Palo Alto residents, Julia and Sam Hirschman, ages nine and eleven respectively, and their dad, Harry Hirschman.

Not only is Aurora grand and robust, but it is also interactive and environmentally friendly. Visitors can use the free network named “au-rora” to control the different designs and colors of the zero-emission electricity powered lights for about 30 seconds a turn. Aurora lights up in a variety of colors, from rainbow to white. The tree looks the best at night, when its lights illuminate King Plaza in front of the towering City Hall. Aurora will also become solar pow-ered by the end of the year, making it even more energy efficient.

“Aurora is about the youth,” Mayor Gregory Scharff said in his speech during the Aurora Lighting Event on Nov. 16. Aurora was both inspired by and brought to Palo Alto by youth. The artist, Charles Gadeken, drew inspiration from his daughter to create Aurora. “I wanted to make something a little more friendly and the idea was to try to make the most appealing thing I could for my three-year-old daughter,” Gadeken said. “This idea of making the ultimate fairy tree was kind of where I was going with this one.”

In 2011, Aurora was featured in Burning Man, an art exhibit in Nevada, which is where Harry and his wife first saw it. Almost right after the parents returned home, Aurora captured Julia’s and Sam’s attention. “Our dad was just flipping through all the pictures he had taken when Aurora caught our eye,” Sam said.

The children loved the exhibition, especially

the tree. They asked their parents if it was pos-sible to bring it to Palo Alto because it did not have a permanent home yet.

Almost immediately, the Hirschmans knew City Hall was where Aurora should stay. “The backdrop of City Hall and the sculpture—they match perfectly,” Julia said.

Getting Aurora to City Hall would be more than a two-year process. First, the kids asked their peers to sign a petition to bring the sculp-ture to Palo Alto. “All the people that we asked to sign the petition [signed it],” Julia said. “A lot of the time they were really involved.” After getting the petition signed, the family pitched the idea to Palo Alto Arts Commissioners who gave them a spot in one of its public meetings. In the meeting, the Arts Commissioners ap-proved it, but with a condition. “The condition was that we raise the money on our own,” Harry said. The city has helped out with some of the fees, but the main bulk of funds depends on both the Hirschmans and Gadeken. “The city has waived fees and has covered fees for us but they aren’t contributing any money directing to the art itself,” Harry said. The family needed to fundraise $35,000 to provide for all of the different needs Aurora has to make it publicly safe, weather-proof and more environmentally sustainable.

By the end of the campaign on Nov. 26, more than enough money had been donated to keep the sculpture alive, allowing Julia and Sam’s dream come true. Julia and Sam’s persistent involvement in the project is an inspiration to older and younger generations alike. “It kind of inverts the normal relationship of things. And then it creates a great experience for these younger kids,” Harry said, remarking on his kids’ accomplishments. Now anyone can visit City Hall and enjoy the dazzling Aurora because of the inspiration of these two children and the generosity of Palo Altans.

Artist of the Month:

Lisa HaoTech Editor

Anthony Tran

Anthony TranAbove: The interactive sculpture, Aurora, shines in front of city hall. Bottom: The branches of the tree are actually zero-emission electricity-powered lights.

Features

9Features Friday, December 6, 2013

NaNoWriMo. These letters are short for National Novel Writing Month, an unof-ficial, Internet-based writing “contest” that takes place each November. The whole idea of NaNoWriMo is disarmingly simple: turn out a 50,000 word novel in a month. Considering this and the fact that I couldn’t exactly get very far participating in Movember, I decided to take up the NaNoWriMo challenge last month.

Now, writing isn’t unfamiliar to me, and I’ll even admit that I’ve attempted to write a novel before. However, it was only a week into November when I correctly predicted that I wouldn’t be getting very far in this contest.

Starting from day one, I ran into obstacle after obstacle. In early November, I gullibly started off the challenge with a blank docu-ment and a good cup of tea. However, two sen-tences in, one of two things would happen. One, I would quickly realize both sentences were completely worthless and then spend the next hour editing. Second, I would tell myself, “that’s pretty good stuff,” run off to take a break and then return three hours later to cold tea. I realized that I wasn’t getting anywhere be-cause I didn’t have any idea where I was going.

This introduced my second issue: creating a plot. There were so many possibilities that I wasn’t satisfied with any of them. One day, I’d be telling myself that “thoughtful, dysfunc-tional family” would be the story direction to go with. The next day, I’d be dreaming up new realms with cities I could name after myself. In the end, I decided just to run with all of them. I would write the stories I wanted and see which I liked the best. It’s now December. The contest is over. And I’m left with three dif-ferent stories that are each only 5,000 words.

Now, my clearly unsuccessful experience with NaNoWriMo may make the whole chal-lenge appear to be hopelessly impossible. My failure wasn’t due to any issues with NaNoW-riMo. The organizers set up the whole challenge quite well. When I signed up in late October, NaNoWriMo provided me with a medley of resources—updates, tips and a calendar out-lining how to reasonably split up the 50,000 word quota—and forums to help discuss my novel-writing were always available. In fact, the whole process is so well-organized that the challenge of writing more than 50,000 words in a month actually seems feasible.

However, I will caution all future NaNoW-riMo participants to make sure their November has enough time for the challenge. Better yet, wait until high school is over. There’s no more effective motivation to not write than dead-lines for tests, projects and essays. In addition, NaNoWriMo participants definitely shouldn’t be expecting a publish-worthy novel to be pro-duced in the span of November. Rather, partici-pants should look upon the contest as an experi-ence to familiarize themselves with consistent writing (around 1,667 words a day). It’s much better to lower your standards and head into the challenge just seeing what you can do. If you ex-pect a decent novel to come out of NaNoWriMo (like I did), you’ll just end up with random, half-written drafts that won’t live past November.

—Tan, a junior, is a Forum Editor.

Klaire Tan

Drew Bent creates iPhone application

Torsten Wendl’s truck runs on veggies

Not many high school students can say that they have devel-oped an iOS app, but senior Drew Bent can. In seventh grade, the entrepreneur began an iPhone app development business, and he has created several apps since his middle school days. His apps include X-Ball, Imoticon and Pocket Game of Life. Most recently, Bent began creating AnyMeal, an app for people with dietary restrictions.

Over the summer, Bent attended an internship program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he met Michael Matias from Tel-Aviv. While talking, the two realized that both their families face dietary restrictions that made it difficult to eat out. They decided to create an app that could help guide people who had dietary restrictions such as gluten-free, vegan or lactose-free. “We both sat down and quickly designed an iPhone app with not only the restaurants, but individual dishes that [someone] can eat,” Bent said.

Many restaurants that Bent has contacted are aware of the growing population facing dietary restrictions. However, most have no way of publicizing the necessary information. To fill this void, Bent and his coworkers have had to individually con-tact every restaurant and ask for all of the essential nutritional information. Though the process is time-consuming, Bent also believes that it has been extremely rewarding. “I’m not going to lie, it’s been tough. I have school, I have sleep, I have AnyMeal, and [I] can really only do two of them,” Bent said. “However, what I have noticed is that I have no issues with working on the app, because I like it so much.”

Currently, AnyMeal has around 200 restaurants in its data-base, all of which are in the Bay Area. Each restaurant it features has three to four gluten-free or vegan dishes as well as options for other restrictions. The range is growing quickly, and Bent hopes to eventually make the app usable nationwide. His end goal is for a person to walk into any restaurant and with the click of a button, know exactly what they can eat. Bent hopes to eliminate any feelings of limitation a person with a restricted diet may have. “Our motto is AnyMeal, any diet, anywhere,” Bent said.

The app is currently in beta phase. It was recently submitted to the App store and is under review. According to Bent, the app is going to be completely free to guarantee that everyone has access to the information. Bent hopes to launch the full version by the end of December.

Everyone is always complaining about gas prices going up, but very few people actually do something about it. Senior Torsten Wendl started making his own biodiesel fuel about two-and-a-half years ago and has turned the process into a hobby.

Wendl started off without any prior knowledge of the product or its making. “Diesel prices were going up, and I heard some people talking about a process to make it yourself,” he said. “I browsed YouTube, searched up some things on Google and started doing it.”

Of course, the process is not quite as easy as pouring vegetable oil from the grocery store into the gas tank. The hard-est part, according to Wendl, is getting the vegetable oil that is necessary to make

the biodiesel. Wendl gets the vegetable oil through a contract with a restaurant that gives Wendl waste oil it doesn’t need. Although Wendl has the contract, getting it was difficult, since major gas companies do not want freelancers like Wendl mak-ing their own diesel.

Besides securing vegetable oil, the process itself is also pretty complicated. Wendl and his friend, senior Neil Marvin, however, have it down to a science. “After getting the waste vegetable oil from res-taurants, we use an elaborate processing machine that adds methanol and sodium hydroxide to make biodiesel, which can then be used to fuel any diesel powered car,” Marvin says. “Each batch takes two days to complete and we do about two batches a week equating to 80 gallons of product.”

According to Wendl, making his own biodiesel provides many benefits.

There is the obvious and most important one, which is that it is a lot cheaper than pump diesel. “The diesel we make reduces particulates from emission by about 35 percent,” Wendl said.

Not only does the handmade biodiesel have positive effects on the car, but it also helps Wendl make some extra money. Although he does not plan on making the biodiesel on a commercial level, he is able to make some money off of it by selling it to a few regular customers as well as to construction sites. He is also able to sell some of the vegetable oil he gets from his contract.

After two-and-a-half years, making biodiesel has become somewhat of a recreational activity. “Making my own fuel has become a hobby of mine,” Wendl said. “I’m constantly striving to improve the quality of biodiesel and the power of my truck.”

Unique ventures let creativity run wild

Pooja BelurSports Editor

Audey Shen

Esther KozakevichReporter

Writing novels is not for everyone

Top: Senior Drew Bent shows off his application on his iPhone. Bottom: “AnyMeal” accomodates a variety of diets.

Courtesy of Drew Bent

Senior Torsten Wendl’s biodiesel-fueled Ford pickup truck stands out in the school’s student parking lot.Stephanie Kim

10 Centerfold

Erica Lee

Business Manager

Hey you! Yes, you! Stop! Darling, I know you are busy—we

all are—but you need to hear me out. Your face—oh goodness —

needs work. I am not saying you are not beautiful but you are just too

tired and busy to make yourself look as gorgeous as can be. Fortunately, I

have the solution to your problems! It’s quick and simple, and it will make

you glow and shine brighter than the sun.

Nobody has time to wake up and do her makeup in the morning any-

more. I call this product the Happy Makeup Face Mask: it is a mask that

already has all the makeup placed on it. Put on the mask and shake your

head a bit, just to make sure the makeup gets on your face, and then take it

off! It only takes 20 seconds. It’s that simple. Your face will be perfection.

I can see it already: you walking down the street with everyone staring

and complimenting you—you will love it. They will wonder where you got

such beauty.Supplies are limited. The mask is being offered now for only $99.99. What

a great deal! Buy yours today before it is too late. Your face will thank us later.

Warning: Mask may cause suffocation and death. If you die, you cannot

sue us—you have been warned. Allergic reactions from the makeup may

arise. One mask fits all. If your face does not fit, do not blame us; blame your

face. If you have been drinking or are currently pregnant please consult a

doctor before buying. Happy Makeup Face Mask time!

Justin Wenig

Reporter

There are so many animal imitation accessories on the market today, including hats,

gloves, shoes and more, but HumAnimal Ears are going to make the other products irr-

elephant. If you thought that your tiger hat was cool, just wait until you’re listening to a con-

versation between a pair of rhinos—one of the unique features offered by HumAnimal Ears.

HumAnimal Ears come in packages that cost $20 and are wrapped elegantly in plas-

tic. Most of the time, buyers will get a set of dog, cat or other common animal ears. But

sometimes, if they’re lucky, they may get a pair of Komodo dragon or aardvark ears.

These ears aren’t only going to attract people by their stylish looks. They also allow one to hear

what animals are saying in English.

Some examples of the uses of HumAnimal Ears:

• Your dog keeps barking while you’re doing your homework. Put on your dog-ears so you

can hear if it’s hungry or if it j

ust keeps barking at its own reflection.

• Your mom suddenly becomes a walrus. Put on your walrus ears so you can take care of

her and figure out how this happened.

• The movie “Planet of the Apes” becomes reality. Put on some ape ears and become a spy

to save the human race.

Now that you are convinced, I hope you’ll see HumAnimal Ears are anything but boaring.

Everyone otter get them.

The Oracle staffers propose an

d review

product inventions

humanimal

ears

Happy M

akeup

Face M

ask

Graphics by Allison Paley and Paige Anderson Product

Proposal

Produc

t

Propos

al

11Friday, December 6, 2013Centerfold

Arjun Sahdev

Reporter

Everybody considers the dog to be man’s best friend. However, sitting on my couch one night, I decided to challenge that adage.

As I wondered what animal could be more loyal, energetic and lovable than a dog, an infomercial captured my attention: Perfect

Polly the Parakeet for $9.99. Polly was a parakeet that chirped and flapped its wings whenever it detected motion. I im

agined how

hilarious yet pestering this electronic “best friend” would be, so I decided to cast aside my fears and pick up the phone. Sirens went

off in my head as I dialed the number, warning me of the consequences of purchasing Polly. I ignored them.

Little did I know that when I opened the box, it would contain my deepest, darkest nightmare. Polly’s fake eyes stared deep into

my soul, and I could tell my adventurous take on this infomercial was a mistake. I could not visualize any benefits this insane bird

could offer. I could call myself a pirate, but Halloween was last month. Only one option was left: put the batteries in the bird and

let it come to life.

My Saturday evening consisted of playing with the fake bird. This sounds pretty bad given that others were enjoying the company

of friends or family. Watching the bird bask in its freedom and shake its ta

il feathers with gusto grew tiring. The bird had a tendency

to chirp boisterously, but it was not as annoying as I originally thought it w

ould be. I did not have to deal with cleaning its drop-

pings and could turn it on or off using a switch. These are great features for people who are not ready to cope with the multitude of

responsibilities that come with a living household pet. Th

is bird could teach people who want pets the burden as well as the compan-

ionship that pets bring. Polly could be the perfect household pet for those unable to clean but who are lonely and in need of a friend.

In conclusion, Perfect Polly the Parakeet was far from perfect, but I eventually understood the good intentions of its use through-

out our time together. Although I am not the biggest fan of infomercials, I was too quick to judge. Polly is a great friend when

one is in need.

We have all seen the creators of The Magic Bullet ex-

plain on TV how amazing it is, but we all wonder deep down

inside: does it really work? Before buying the blender after my old

one stopped being able to blend ice, I doubted the blender’s perfor-

mance. I wondered: could that blender really crush large pieces of ice?

Could it make sorbet? Could the blender’s cup be put in the microwave

and dishwasher? I found that the answer to that is: yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. It’s an

amazing blender. You can create an amazing, thick, no-chunk smoothie

or milkshake in 30 seconds, or a perfect chunky salsa in 15 seconds. There

is a pulse blending option along with a continuous blending option, which

makes it perfect if you want to control the thickness of the drink. Along

with blending salsa, the Magic Bullet can grind coffee beans, chop onions

and garlic and create a delicious non-alcoholic cocktail at any party.

The cups provided with the Bullet can be put in the microwave making

it easier for you to heat and blend ingredients together. It also leaves fewer

dishes to be cleaned. Lastly, the blender is fairly small in size, making it

easy to find room to store it.

The Oracle staffers propose an

d review

product inventions

Magic

Perfect Polly

humanimal

ears

Graphics by Allison Paley and Paige Anderson

Product

Revie

w

ProductReview

Roy ShadmonTech Editor

Bullet

Like many of his peers, senior Neel Guha joined a study group on Facebook for the class Chemistry Honors his sophomore year. How-ever, the study group did not just help him with the science course; it sparked the research project that ultimately earned him status as a 2013 Siemens Competition semifinalist.

According to Guha, the helpfulness of the Facebook group influenced him to ex-plore the possibility of programming an au-tomatic search engine for specific contexts, such as a high school course. “The group . . . offer[ed] a forum for classmates to help each other and share resources related to the course,” he said. “I began to think of how such study groups on social networks could be leveraged for students. More broadly, I wanted to build a tool that would better enable students to utilize the wealth of the web as filtered by the group.”

The finalized project’s goal was to allevi-ate the problems that students and others face while researching on the Internet. These problems include irrelevant results,

results targeted at the wrong audience and results from non-authoritative sources. Guha’s final product was able to correctly identify sites useful for research 85 percent of the time when tested with searches focus-ing on Advanced Placement United States History material and medical information for doctors. Side-by-side evaluations with Google also showed that history teachers and doctors preferred information from Guha’s search engine over information from Google 90 percent of the time.

Guha started researching how to pro-gram his search engine the summer after taking Chemistry Honors, and he decided to enter the Siemens Competition later on.

“I have friends who had participated in previous years and I’d already done the research, so I thought I might as well try,” he said.

Though Guha’s original intent was to utilize social networks, such as Face-book, to create specialized

search engines, the idea ultimately turned out to be unfeasible. “The biggest challenges were when my methods didn’t quite achieve the results I’d hoped for,” he said. “I’d then have to go back and rethink the way I was approaching the problem.” Nevertheless, Guha continued his research and was able to successfully create his search engine.

Overall, Guha described the project as being “a great learning experience.” “I had a lot of fun and I had the opportunity to think, design and iterate different versions of a solution to a problem,” he said. “After doing it, I know I’d like to continue doing computer science research.”

12 THEORACLE Features

This year, senior Julia Chang was named a semi-finalist in the Siemens competition for her research report, titled “Improve-ment of Cleft Palate Repair: Molecular Mechanisms Surrounding Facial Growth.” For Chang, the daughter of two doctors, science has always been a topic of interest. “I love knowing just the ‘how’ of things,” she said. “It’s why I like biology so much.” Her interest soon grew into a passion and she began conducting research in laboratories around the area.

Supervised by lab mentor Jingtao Li, Chang began studying regenerative medicine and craniofacial morphogen-esis at a laboratory in the Stanford Department of Surgery. The research that led to Chang’s success cen-ters around children born without hard palates at the top of the mouth. Cleft palate is a facial defect that can be fixed by repair surgery, allowing children to speak. But surgery disrupts the growth of the area and often leaves children with a retruded maxilla, or upper jawbone. To discover what causes this growth inhibition, Chang examined bone and cartilage formation. “Our paper really focuses on making a difference in

these people’s lives,” Chang said. “They don’t really get the chance to fix the retruded maxilla and this causes speech aberrations.”

In her study, Chang followed the develop-ment of the midpalatal suture, a growth site of the maxilla, in mice during the embry-onic period as well as the early stages of life. According to the executive summary of her report, she soon “discovered that cartilage formation precedes that of bone and that the fate of cells responsible for sutural growth is determined before birth.” She conducted simulations of cleft palate repair surgery and thus observed the post-surgery healing process of the mid-palatal suture. “We found that cell death increases after surgery, the

teeth become misaligned, and the suture becomes narrower,” she stated in her executive summary. “Maxillary bone growth appears to be stunted after surgery, similar to the growth inhibition ob-served in human patients.”

With her findings, Chang believes that treatments can be refined to prevent growth arrest of the maxilla through manipulation of genes involved in suture development.

Laboratory research has become a regu-lar part of Chang’s life. “I want to be a doctor, so getting to do research about surgery is a really great opportunity,” she said.

The solution to the problems presented in her report may be far off, but Chang believes that her paper stood out because it is an effort to improve lives. “It does something to help people,” she said. “And that’s why I want to go into science, to help people.”

This year, sophomore Jason Huang received the semi-finalist award for the Siemens competition. He and Palo Alto High School junior Joseph Chang were recognized for their work in the field of computer science by cracking the code to improve the way computer scientists rec-ognize characteristics in chain softwares.

Huang and Chang were inspired to sim-plify the material they were learning in their high-school math classes, including prime number schemes and sequences, through a computer program. They compiled nu-merous algorithms and computed lines of code in order to consolidate these fundamental ideas into relatable forms. Accord-ing to Huang, computer scientists and analysts would benefit by using this refined method to simplify the way people see values and develop them. “Binary trees are used to code for any on-line chess games,” he said. “It is also used as a more efficient way if you want to find a specific number in a list of numbers and can also be used to code for social network-ing sites.”

The two partners started their project in January of this year, and they worked on a regular basis throughout the summer. Huang believes their adequate preparation and dedication contributed to the overall quality of their project and their ultimate success in the Siemens competition. “To-gether we first scheduled times to work, which helped us use our talents in a more efficient way,” Huang said.

In addition, Huang thinks that their effort was also an important factor in their success. “Even though we were pretty relaxed while we were working, it was still extremely challenging,” he said. “My

partner and I put in a lot of time and work and we are pretty glad to see that it paid off with the semi-finalist spot.”

Because of the complex-ity of the project, Huang and Chang broke their time up by first creating a

solution for organizing data schemes. They then figured out how to input it through computer language. “Often times we found ourselves working with a lot of scratch paper because we couldn’t just mentally come up with an answer,” he said. “We would plot data trees and try to determine which nodes of the tree had a certain value.”

Huang hopes to carry on with this project and seek new opportunities in the upcoming years in the fields of science and math. “I plan to participate in more science competitions in my high school years to keep challenging myself and exceed [in] my academic potential,” he said.

Senior Emily Wang recently won the status of Siemens regional finalist for her research project on fluorescent proteins and the benefits they present in medicine.

Wang has been interested in science for as long as she can remember. “I’ve always been really curious,” Wang said. “I have always been asking questions.”

Wang has been participating and com-peting in science fairs since elementary school. In her first science fair, she noticed that many people at her elementary school suffered from bad eyesight. As a result, she decided that she wanted to create a robot that would improve the way kids read. “By paying attention to all the problems in society, I’ve found that there’s so much to learn and many different ways we can help out,” Wang said.

In Wang’s freshman year, she found out about the Siemens Competition. “I’ve always been really passionate about science research,” Wang said.

To enter the competition, Wang engi-neered fluorescent proteins and ended up creating the brightest monomeric fluores-cent protein known to scientists to date. “I developed a bright fluorescent protein that essentially illuminates disease pathways, allowing researchers to see small biological changes at a molecular level,” Wang said. “For my project, I constructed libraries of protein mutants through random and site-directed mutagenesis. Then, I screened the libraries for enhanced photostability,

brightness, and performance in FRET-based calcium biosensors.”

Now that Wang has made it into the next stage of the Siemens Competition, she is continuing to work on her research with even more ambition. “I am trying to develop a red fluorescent protein to compliment the green protein so they can work together in biosensors,” she said.

Wang worked with Doctor Jun Chu and Professor Michael Lin from the Stanford University Department of Bioengineering. According to Wang, Lin provided her with what she needed for her research, whether it was materials or advice. “I was really lucky to have such a supportive mentor and profes-

sor,” Wang said. Wang also founded the

Research Science and In-vention Club, which aims to make research more available to students. “I started the research club so any student can have the opportunity to experience

the research and invention process,” Wang said. “We help mentor students through different science and engineering competi-tions.”

According to Wang, she does not plan to stop at the Siemens competition and would like to do bioengineering in her future.

The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology aims to recognize students for outstanding research projects on science conducted during high school. The competition is funded by the Siemens Foundation and administered by the College Board.

On Oct. 18, 2013, the names of the semifinalists and regional finalists, which included four Gunn students, were released. On December 10, 2013, the individual and team finalists will be no-tified and given scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.

Senior Neel GuhaSearch Engine

Sophomore Jason HuangSimplifying Computer Science

Senior Emily WangFluorescent Proteins

Senior Julia ChangRegenerative Medicine

—Chaewon Lee

—Shawna Chen

—Erica Watkins

—Kush Dubey

Junior magician duo mystifies with card tricksEmily KvitkoReporter

“I want you to take this card, memorize the face, letter, number, color, suit, appear-ance,” junior Luke Chui said as he began a card trick. “One, two, three.” In the blink of an eye, junior Victor Kao pulled out the jack of hearts from his wallet. Through their prac-tice, the boys invented their own signature trick: the KaoChui.

Kao first encountered card tricks on the streets of China. “I saw a street performer, became really interested and bought some tricks and gadgets,” he said. Although he took a break from the hobby when he started freshman year, he re-turned to it this past summer.

Newer to t he trade, Chui picked up a deck of cards over this past summer in be-tween shifts at work. “I just did some magic,” he said.

By performing together all of the time, the two have built on their friendship and partnership. They hold practices in the library and Academic Center after school. They also sometimes pop out t h e i r cards in class and during breaks. “I get the deck out at lunch for special performances some-times,” Chui said.

According to the boys, training is the key to success. “Prac-tice a lot,” Kao said. “Any-one can do it, really, all it takes is practice.” In fact, they rehearse for an hour every day.

Advocating creativity and consistency, Chui and Kao keep their secrets hidden. “We can’t reveal the tricks or else it’s not magic anymore,” Chui said. On the flip slide, Kao is willing to share his ideas with a few mem-bers of the card-magic world. “I only reveal secrets to an aspiring performer,” he said. “But I never reveal to someone who wants to know just for the sake of knowing.”

On their list of tricks-to-learn is magic that will take your speech away, literally. “We want to learn more advanced micromagic—cool stuff like that,” Chui said. “Magic that happens so quickly no one can notice it; it’s so discreet.” Kao, however, also loves where he is now with his cards. “I want to just keep doing what I’m doing: performing for every-one, learning new techniques, and creating my own,” Kao said.

Fifty-two individual cards, 13 values, four suits and two colors make up a standard

deck of cards: the key imple-ment for the KaoChui stunt.

“Card magic is the best kind of magic, because with just a simple deck of cards, there are un-limited possibilities,”

Kao said. Both boys believe that

this type of magic contributes to pleasure, stress-relief and education. “It’s fun, it’s re-laxing and it teaches a person patience and discipline,” Chui said. “Card magic has a nice soft touch to it with lots of finesse.”

When they perform tricks, the boys witness many un-

expected and interesting reactions. “Most times, people just start laugh-ing and cracking up,”

Kao said. Chui used his talent to

take a novel approach to ask-ing someone to Homecoming. He composed a card trick and presented it to her. Luckily, his idea was a huge success. “She had a huge smile on her face,” he said.

The boys’ peers are always fascinated by their magic. “I’m usually shocked, and then really confused,” junior Savannah Klein said. “It’s really entertaining.” Though she sees their tricks weekly, Klein continues to be impressed. “I never know how they do it,” she said.

Kao ultimately sees performing magic tricks as a way to bring joy to others. “To the spectators, [magic is] something that’s un-real, something that shouldn’t be possible,” he said. “ It gives them hope. As long as I can just make them happy, you know, that’s the point of magic, right?”

13Features Friday, December 6, 2013

Junior Victor Kao shuffles his cards, letting them fall from one hand into the other.

Junior Luke Chui lays out a deck of cards on the table to perform a magic trick.

Anthony Tran

Anthony Tran

“

Senior Tejas Kannan dribbles the ball down the field to dodge his opponents.

Goals for the season: “Even though we lost some amazing athletes from last year, we have strong underclass-men this year,” senior Cadence Lee said. “I think we’ll do pretty well this season.”

Senior Camille Shrager focuses on kicking the ball across to a teammate.

I love cheering on my team-mates at tournaments and meets. The wrestling envi-ronment is so supportive.

—senior Cadence Lee

“We can focus less on scores and more on improving our skills, gaining confidence and having fun on the field.—senior Ming Ming Liu

Winter sports kick off strongSports14 THEORACLE

Senior Cadence Lee pins her teammate on to the ground during practice.

Memorable Moment: “Scoring my first goal,” senior Ming Ming Liu said. “Many times, I came very close by hitting the goal post, but then dur-ing one scrimmage my sophomore year, I finally scored and I jumped in the air; I was so excited.”

Goals for the season: “This year I think we’re going to play really well,” senior Paco Covarrubias said. “We only lost two seniors so we have a lot of team chemistry already. We have great players returning from last year and JV has provided us with some solid play-ers. We’re looking to improve and do well in the El Camino League.”

A s s i s t a n tW r e s t l i n g

Dennis Chan

1. Went to the Rhode Island School of Design.2. Wrestled with Wales College as an assistant coach.3. Is a freelance sculptor.4. Majored in illustration.5. Graduated from Gunn in 2008.

Boys

’ Soc

cer

Gir

ls’ S

occe

r

Stephanie Kim

Memorable moment: “Winning CCS was the best memory from last year,” senior Lena Bacon said. “It was a great feeling because people were doubting us. It was great knowing that our hard work paid off.”

Girls’ Basketball

Memorable moment: “I really like our coach this year; he teaches us a lot about life lessons,” senior Nabeil Kizilbash said. “Once, he talked about his friend in prison; that was probably one of our most interesting practices. I’m looking forward to a fun season this year.”

Audey Shen

Anthony Tran

Stephanie Kim

Stephanie Kim

V a r s i t yBasketball

1. Favorite food is steak.2. Favorite place to visit is Southern France.3. Hobbies include basketball and golf.4. Was born in Washington.5. Likes to dance hip-hop.

Brandynn Williams

I was proud of how the team played together in our first game against Saratoga, which we won. I hope that it only gets better from here.—senior Paco Covarrubias

“

New Coaches

Freshman Georgia Hake drives past the opponent’s defenses to go for a layup. Senior Alejandro Navarro attempts a jump shot during an after school practice in the gym

Stephanie Kim

Anthony Tran

Wre

stlin

g

Boys’ Basketball

—Compiled by Misheel Enkhbat, Alex Man and Alvin Wang

15Sports Friday, December 6, 2013

“Diet” is no longer a four-letter-word. In-stead, dieting has become a fad commercialized on reality TV shows like “The Real Housewives” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” where an episode rarely goes by without the mention of body image or losing weight. Social media is no better, with sites like Tumblr promoting images of girls with dangerously thin bodies and tips on losing weight quick. The latest trend has been a juice cleanse, a regimen in which the dieter will only drink juice specified by his or her dieting plan for an extended period of time. This type of weight loss is not only impractical in the long run, but dangerous to one’s health, mind and body, especially for an athlete.

The myth of the juice cleanse is to rid the body of toxins and built-up waste that accumulates over time. Many cleanse recipes call for different portions of various fruits and vegetables for each meal throughout the day for a certain period of time. For example, the Lemonade Cleanse calls for the dieter to only drink a recipe of lemonade

mixed with a cay-enne pepper spice for a week.

Undoubtedly, a week drink-ing pure juice will show a difference on the scale, but as soon as an individual begins to return back to his or her old eating habits, the weight will return, often with an additional few pounds. From a biological perspective, if someone goes without subsistent food for a long period of time, when the person starts to eat again, the body will go into “shock” mode and start to stock up on all the food it can get. The person’s metabolism has been deprived of “real” food for so long that it starts working slower and processing the food less efficiently.

For an athlete, sustaining a consistent weight is crucial. Not only do many sports favor a cer-tain body mass, but the athlete must be aware of his or her body at all times. On a juice cleanse, the body is going through a drastic change and being deprived of its normal food intake, a situ-ation that can cause serious consequences when engaging in strenuous physical activity.

Furthermore, a serious athlete must have a consistent intake of protein to build and repair

muscle. Healthy

f a t s a nd c a r b s a r e necessary to

have the ener-gy, both men-

tal and physical, to perform de-

manding exercise. Although some juice

cleanses may advocate that their regimen incorporates all these elements

into their recipes, it is highly unlikely that the portion will be healthy or large enough for ath-letes. The lack of these necessary ingredients in an athlete's diet will only decrease his athletic abilities and leave him tired and hungry.

Some sports, like dance or gymnastics, often require their participants to lose weight in or-der to reach their full potential. Many resort to drastic diets, now including juice cleanses. It is important to realize, however, that this method of weight loss is not sustainable or healthy. Eat-ing disorders arise after athletes make a drastic change in diet and lead to many other health and psychological implications. While “juicing” in itself may be beneficial when supplemented with regular meals throughout the day, cutting out all other food will leave athletes weak and un-focused. Juices can provide a nutritious source of vitamins and nutrients, but it cannot replace other major elements of a person’s daily diet.

—Yacobson, a junior, is a Features Editor

Juice cleansing, a dieting fad, has become a unique way for both guys and girls to cleanse their system of toxins. Juice cleanses can range from a few days to several weeks and are gov-erned by only one rule: no solid foods. Instead, you are limited to naturally produced juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A juice cleanse may be more appealing to someone who is overweight or would like to incorporate more vegetables into their daily life, but I believe the juice cleanse is also a worthwhile diet for athletes to try.

For starters, any athlete knows that getting equal servings from each layer of the food pyramid is essential to living a healthy, en-ergetic lifestyle. During their sports’ season, athletes are encouraged to eat greater amounts of chicken and other meats to build muscle, but they lose the vegetable and fruit aspects of their diets. Juice cleanses are beneficial because juice provides essential vitamins and minerals. Athletes receive a serving of vegetables and

more nutrients than a regular serving without becoming too full. Dieticians also show that juices’ antioxidants help improve the immune system and lower blood pressure. Having a strong immune system increases an athlete’s endurance, allowing him or her to stay longer in the game.

A key part of an athlete’s life is spent off-season. Everyone is recovering from the past season’s wear and tear, and some athletes are just trying to heal their injuries. Eating a steak or a high-calorie meal is not helpful because athletes have stopped conditioning and are thus unable to burn the calories. A juice cleanse would be most helpful to an athlete’s recovery. According to Stephen Harrod Buhner, author of “The Fasting Path,” “fasting stimulates a more than twofold increase in insulin binding protein,” which increases lean tissue develop-ment, muscle regeneration, bone strength and energy levels. Sometimes eating less does more for the body and allows the lean muscle to work its way back into the fray. Most importantly, a juice cleanse will help the athlete detoxify his or her body from harmful toxins or fats and to allow the immune system and pancreas to heal.

Dieting is a common but possibly harmful way to help your body lose weight. It’s incred-ibly hard to lose weight at a healthy rate without lowering metabolism or even experiencing diz-ziness or other side effects. The juice cleanse is not for everyone, but it is a truly fantastic way to keep an athlete in shape. It may be hard for the mind to get used to a diet of just juice, but the first couple of days are always the hardest. Once you have mentally adjusted to the juice diet, your body will begin to feel more relaxed and cleansed from the toxins of your daily meals. Weight begins to be lost at a constant rate. The metabolism is still at a healthy level. Once you reach these stages, the juice cleanse has finally

taken effect and you can start to feel good about your body.

—Niksa, a junior, is an Assistant

Business Manager

Yes

Matt Niksa

NO

Danielle Yacobson

Is It Beneficial for athletes

Paige Anderson and Carolyn Zhou

to undergo juice cleanses?

On Nov. 23, girls’ water polo played against St. Francis High School in its first ever Central Coast Section (CCS) championship game. The game, which took place at Santa Clara International Swim Center, ended with St. Francis Lancers defeating the Titans 9-2.

Going into CCS finals, the Titans were aware of the chal-lenge St. Francis posed. According to co-captain senior Rachel Wong, the Lancers is reputable for its elite defense, especially its goalkeeper, Katherine Moore. In order to take on St. Fran-cis, the Titans focused on changing their overall approach in the finals game. “We knew that St. Francis is a really good team and that they have some really strong field players and a really strong goalie,” Wong said. “Going into the game, we were hoping to win by playing strong defense first and then going out on offense and trying to take more strategic shots.

Scoring three goals in the first quarter, St. Francis held a strong lead throughout the game. Midway into third quarter, the opponent still maintained a 6-0 advantage. According to co-captain senior Caroline Anderson, Gunn was still receiv-ing opportunities to shoot, but players were simply failing to make successful shots. “Even though St. Francis was scor-ing, we were still getting opportunities to score. We just weren’t finishing them,” she said. “We took a ton of shots that didn’t go in. They were capitaliz-ing on their opportunities to shoot.”

Despite the disadvan-tageous start, the players made sure to keep their calm. “We didn’t panic after the first quarter,” coach Mark Hernandez said. “We knew that they weren’t shutting us down, and we also knew that they weren’t getting everything that they wanted,” coach Mark Hernandez said. “Our approach is to take it minute by minute, play by play, to really sustain the moment. In the minute, we talk about ‘what’s important now?’”

After multiple saves by Moore, Anderson managed to break through in the third quarter to score Gunn’s first two goals. However, St. Francis held on strong to score three more goals in the last quarter, finally ending the game at 9-2.

Despite the team’s loss at CCS championships, this year is the furthest the girls’ water polo team has ever gotten in CCS. In addition, this year’s water polo season is Gunn’s most successful ever as the Titans delivered a solid performance in both the De Anza League and CCS. “This season has been Gunn water polo’s [most successful] season so far,” Wong said. “We only lost one league game, and we won our league championship.”

Since past seasons, girls’ water polo has steadily improved, from qualifying for semi-finals in 2011, quarter-finals in 2012 and eventually finals this year. “It’s vastly improved,” Her-nandez said. “We’re now a three-time defending champ. We’d never won the [league] championships before. We’d never

won a CCS [semi-final] before or the finals before. Now, we’re regarded as one of the best public schools in the area.”

Both captains credit this season’s success to the team’s work ethic. From the start, the players re-solved to reach CCS finals and make school history. “To [make it to finals], we

knew we would have to work harder at practice, not like the coach forcing us but ourselves, individually, motivating each other to practice harder and stay focused,” Wong said.

In matches, Gunn stood out through its emphasis on de-fense. “We’ve always focused on the importance of defense, and how we must play as a unit on defense before we can look to attack on offense,” Anderson said.

In addition, Anderson added that the team also benefited from key players who returned this year after improving greatly over the summer. “[Senior] Gabby [Bethke] is known for her speed, but not only her speed now. This year, she also stepped it up on shooting from the outside and was putting away some really crucial goals,” she said. “Our goalie Sam Acker also improved a lot over the summer, and she did very well this season.”

With this season over, the Titans are now focused on next year. The team will lose five senior players and will have to start new. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board and do things over again,” Hernandez said. “We’re losing a lot of talent, a lot of speed, a lot of experience, a lot of length and a lot of strength. We lose a lot, for sure, but we like our core. We like our returning core. They’re experienced. And perhaps most importantly, they know what it’s like to win.”

Gunn’s administration has installed a new rule prohibiting the Titanettes, the varsity dance team, from taking Gunn’s name after basketball season. Despite continuing performances at various school rallies and events such as Clash of the Titans, the dance team is no longer considered a sport once basketball season ends. However, because the Titanettes are not allowed to be affiliated with Gunn after February, the team is also unable to attend competitions, which occur in March and April, to represent Gunn. This makes the team unable to continue its success from last year—the team placed first at its first-ever competition, and sixth at USA Nationals. Although the new rule’s intention was not to prevent the team from competing, its effects and certain circumstances have done so.

As a senior captain who has accompanied the team on its ascent to success, I find this situation highly disappointing. The dance team is self-run, so each and every member has dedicated countless hours towards the continual improvement of the team.

Most of us have cut back on our other extracurricular activities and commitments in order to fully contribute to the team, greatly diminishing our involvement in other dance studios and sacrificing valuable homework hours to choreograph, practice and plan all of our performances. We are willing to give up our time because the team’s development is extremely important to us; only through perseverance and devotion can we work towards making Gunn proud.

The majority of the high school dance programs in the area have been in existence for a long time, while the Titanettes was formed a mere five years ago. We have come far in these five years, and it was only through unending dedication and persistence that we were able to make a name for ourselves in the dance world. As with any other entertainment complex, it is difficult to burst into an arena full of experienced competitors, but we put in the sweat and tears to make ourselves known in the competition world so that people can associate Gunn with more than just academics. We have succeeded in gaining recognition in the local dance community already, but we aspire to be known nationally, not only for ourselves, but also for Gunn. By prohibiting its team from competing, Gunn is missing out on the opportunity to build a strong dance program comparable to those of schools such as Monta Vista, Homestead and Lynbrook.

Withdrawal from competition ushers in the loss of the opportunity for us to showcase our skills. Every sport requires hours upon hours of practice and drilling as preparation for its meets and games; competitions are our games. Competing grants the team the chance to push ourselves past our limits, as well as display the technique that we have worked so long on. Competition also allows us to view other teams, to learn from their successes and failures and to ultimately improve our program and team.

We trust that the administration has its reasons for putting in place this new rule, but we are also crestfallen that we do not get the opportunity to compete, improve and reach for greater heights. The dance team has been a crucial part of my high school experience, one that not only allowed me to pursue what I loved, but also gave me the chance to continually strive to be the best that I can be. The team has become a family to me, and I hope to leave it as a family for scores of dancers to come. The dance team has become my legacy, the legacy of all of the seniors who stuck with the team through the supervisor changes and captain resignations. The team gave all of its members the chance to create something for ourselves, to take action and make our dream a reality. But our silver lining has now disappeared. Now, Gunn as a school has become disadvantaged because the dance team cannot compete and become the best that it can be.

—Lin, a senior, is a reporter

16Girls’ water polo finishes with a splash

Sports

Dance team loses ability to compete

Christine Lin

Goalie Sam Acker reaches out to block a shot in Gunn’s CCS final game of the season against St. Francis.

“To [make it to finals], we knew we would have to work harder at practice, not like the coach forcing us, but our-selves, individually, motivating each other to practice harder and stay focused.”

co-captain senior Rachel Wong

Senior Gabby Bethke swims the ball across Santa Clara International Swim Center’s pool to score a goal.Photos by Audey Shen

Klaire TanForum Editor

THEORACLE

Look for the Aurasma symbol to watch videos of Gunn sports on your smartphone

Step 1: Download Aurasma from the App Store or Play Store.Step 2: Tap the “A” at the bottom of the phone screen, tap the search icon, and search for“GunnOracle” to follow the account. (You will only need to do this once.)Step 3: Look for the Aurasma symbol at the bottom left corner of an article/photo in The Oracle.Step 4: Tap the middle icon at the bottom of the screen and hover your phone/tablet camera over the photo. When a purple spiral appears on the screen, the video is loading and is about to play.

Sports 17

Whether it is dribbling, passing or shooting a ball, senior Ming Ming Liu and sophomore Lin Lin Liu both believe that soccer has always been “a sport that was bound to be most exciting.”

Ming Ming says her favorite sport is soccer. She has played soccer since she was five years old as soccer is a form of exercise that is unique.

As the younger sister, Lin Lin says to have always looked up to Ming Ming. However, Lin Lin also enjoys playing soccer because she believes that “it’s more than just run-ning; it’s about everyone cooperating as a team to work towards a main goal.”

They began to play competitively about three years af-ter getting hooked on soccer, and both joined the varsity team. “It is interesting to play with everyone on the field,” Ming Ming said. “We all have really distinct personalities. “Everyone is funny in their own way and whether you’re with the whole team or just one person, you’ll always have a good time.”

—Written by Aayush DubeyPhotos by Stephanie Kim

Junior Mack Radin and freshman Josh Radin have played a variety of sports, but they both enjoy playing football.

Mack played flag football in middle school and used that experience to play tackle football for the junior varsity team during his freshman year. He won both the First Team All League and the Most Improved awards in the same year. Mack is currently on the varsity team and considers himself to be a strong player.

According to Josh, he was moved by Mack’s performance and decided to play for the junior varsity football team in his freshman year. He says he has always looked up to his brother. “He set high standards for me and portrayed an extremely determined and motivated work ethic for me to live up to,” Josh said.

Both brothers believe that football helped their relation-ship with each other. Mack says that he does his best to support Josh by helping him improve more and “tackling him often as a way to toughen him up.” He believes that his guidance has helped Josh become a great athlete and a dedicated football player. “I feel that I prepared him to be a solid football athlete,” Mack said.

Senior Michael Abramovitch and freshman David Abramovitch feel that wrestling “can help you [for] the rest of your life,” as both brothers hope to improve in the coming years.

Michael has been wrestling for about five years. He used to play baseball in middle school until he broke his arm. After leaving baseball, he entered wrestling believ-ing that it was a good sport for him to dedicate himself into. “Wrestling got me into good shape and helped me develop a good work ethic,” Michael said.

Having been a wrestler for three years, David claims that wrestling is a lot about motivation within the team and within oneself. His coaches have helped him under-stand that wrestling is “up to the individual to really work hard and go beyond the expectation.”

Michael and David also like how wrestling “makes [one] tougher and productive.” According to Michael, wrestling is not always about size or efficiency, but about hard work. “Success depends mostly on how much work you put in, not how big you are,” Michael said. “[Wrestling] makes you more of a disciplined student and teaches you to deal with adversity in all aspects of life.”

Siblings bond over shared sport

Josh and Mack Radin

David and Michael Abramovitch

Lin Lin and Ming Ming Liu

Friday, December 6, 2013

18 EntertainmentTHEORACLE

D e s i g n e r v e r s u s d i s c o u n t f a s h i o n

1

23

4

6

5

1

2

3

4

5

6

—Compiled by Yuki Klotz-Burwell and Emily Kvitko

Arman Iranmanesh

Leather jacket

NecklaceT-Shirt

Skirt

Tights

Boots

Leather jacket

Necklace

T-Shirt

Skirt

Tights

Boots

Photos by Anthony Tran

1. Target — $25 2. Brandy Melville — $163. Target — $12.99

4. Urban Outfitters — $55. Target — $56. Kohl’s — $34.99

Discount Alternative

“I was really impressed by how fashionable my outfit was. It really opened my eyes and made me realize how much I spend on clothing.”

Designer Option1. Macy’s — $702. Urban Outfitters — $203. Urban Outfitters — $18

4. Urban Outfitters — $325. Nordstrom — $126. Boutique 9 — $159

Total: $311“My outfit was made up of expensive, brand-name clothes to demonstrate how a cheaper version could be easily com-piled through smart shopping.”

Total: $98.98

The Oracle staffers junior Emily Kvitko and sophomore Yuki Klotz-Burwell model two versions of one outfit.

Gunn Illustration Club presents an original holiday comic

19Friday, December 6, 2013Entertainment

Not spending money in No-vember seemed like no big deal. So I wouldn’t go out with friends as much during lunch. I could definitely cut down on my coffee expenditures. Plus, I had a point to prove. What did I really need, anyways?

It all started when junior Noa Livneh and I got into an argument about who spends the most money. Noa, who makes spontaneous and pricey purchases, argued that my small spendings each day added up to more. I, on the other hand, doubted that my daily coffee runs and lunch outings exceeded her shopping sprees.

I soon came to realize that this “experiment” was easier said than done. Every time I was with a group of friends and the question of what we should do came up, getting food was the conclusion we arrived at about 90 percent of the time. I craved coffee in the early mornings before zero period and definitely did not have enough time or energy to make some at home. After a bad day at school, all I wanted was to treat myself to

some frozen yogurt, but I was re-minded that my spending would be tracked.

I proposed cooking but that required buying ingredients. The price to go ice skating at the Winter Lodge increased by at least two dollars since last year and going to the movies is as expensive as a dinner. That being said, I did both, largely because I didn’t want to sacrifice my social life for the bet.

In total, I spent $78.07 during November, and this was while try-ing to save money. I’m reluctant to think about what my total would have been if I had mindlessly spent money as I had done before.

Noa spent $75.86 and (by a slim margin) won the challenge.

Looking back, I realize how truly privileged I am. I have the means to go out and get myself Starbucks anytime I want or buy myself a new pair of shoes when I deem my closet to be “empty.” Spending constantly on litt le things can only go so far, because the little things start to add up faster than you would expect. I spent an average of $2.60 each day during the month of Novem-ber, a relatively insignificant sum in the grand scheme of things, but which ultimately added to a notable decrease in my bank account.

Remixed: I get the “best of both worlds”

Let’s just say that my family does things a lit-tle differently for the holidays. People may think that we are slightly weird, but it seems perfectly normal for me to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Everything about the two holidays seems to blend together. The Santa that comes to my house on Christmas Eve rocks a red and white fuzzy Yarmulke, and we leave him challah next to the bed. Being in an interfaith family, I get the best of both worlds. I get to light Hanuk-kah candles to “Jingle Bell Rock.”

In all seriousness, I have to admit it is pretty nice to celebrate my most beloved holidays in the span of less than a month. I have spent every year during the holiday season unpacking our Christmas tree ornaments and our dreidels.

Splitting up the season between two holidays might seem confusing to other people, but to me, it’s all I’ve ever known. My Judaism comes from my mom’s side of the family, while my Christianity comes from my dad’s. Although I identify myself as a Jew, my family values our unique identity, so we continue certain tradi-tions that my dad grew up with.

Buying and decorating a Christmas tree is an event that I look forward to every year, and while Christmas for others may have a religious aspect, I view it as an opportunity to spend time with my family and learn about my culture. My family always wakes up on Christmas morning and spends the whole day together. It is a day that reminds us of how crucial it is to save time for family.

Hanukkah holds more of a religious mean-ing for me because I have grown up going to synagogue and practicing the Jewish faith. The differences between these two holidays are what make them so interesting to me.

The most important part of these holidays for me is not the religious aspect. Spending time with my family and honoring our culture and ancestors is what makes the season special for me. Whether my family is gathered around the menorah or the Christmas tree, we are together, and that’s what matters.

There are many benefits to celebrating not one, but two winter holidays. People always ask me if I get double the presents, and while I might get slightly more than others during this season, my family has a fair way of splitting up the gifts. During Hanukkah, we receive small gifts every night. Many times these are books or hair ties—the necessities. Christmas is our opportunity to receive gifts that we wouldn’t normally buy for ourselves.

I’ve gained a deep appreciation for the tra-ditions of these two holidays. I love Christmas songs and I can never get them out of my head during the winter, while every Jew knows that Hanukkah is severely lacking in that depart-ment. Hannukah is known for its numerous delicacies: latkes and jelly-filled donuts are oil-laden lumps of heaven that I devour in an instant.

These holidays have their own distinct tra-ditions that I have come to love. I am thankful that my parents decided to include both holidays from their childhoods, because I have learned to love where I come from and all parts of my identity.

I don’t know if Santa is Jewish, Christian or even religious. What I do know is that he probably likes his fair share of sugar cookies as well as latkes.

—Acker, a junior, is an Entertainment Editor.

Sam Acker

Jean-Marc Valée’s “Dallas Buyers Club” builds off intense, highly developed and committed performances to become one of the most emotionally powerful films released this awards season. Matthew McConaughey stars as Ron Woodroof, a ranch-hand homophobe who unwittingly contracts HIV. Reluctantly joining forces with a transgender woman (Jared Leto in his first film role in four years), he launches a service that provides unap-proved yet effective drugs to others affected by the virus. The film illustrates the horrors of the AIDS epidemic as potently as any other cinematic work of art. But “Dallas Buyers Club” distinguishes itself most through the stellar performances of McConaughey and Leto. Leto, in particu-lar, would be snubbed if he does not receive an Academy Award for his role.

Commercialism causes Ken Scott’s “Delivery Man” to deteriorate into a standard Vince Vaughn comedy. What renders this a tragedy beyond the normal scope of comedic duds is the fact that the film builds off a premise that could actually be considered creative. When Vaughn’s character finds out that he fathered 533 children through sperm donation, he seeks to befriend just about all of them despite the advice of his friends. It might be preferable for Gunn students to instead rent “Starbuck”, the Canadian comedy directed by Scott that serves as the basis for “Delivery Man.” It does not look like that film was burdened as much by the requirements of the Hollywood studio system, and a rental would cost less than the box office price too expensive for a movie like “Delivery Man”.

—Written by Cooper Aspegren

“Delivery Man”

“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” rises above the pitfalls that typically befall action-packed sequels. Jen-nifer Lawrence returns as Katniss, who, after winning the Hunger Games in controversial fashion, must fight to the death with previous Hunger Game winners as part of a quarter-centennial “Quarter Quell.” Rather than revert to the formula that brought its 2012 predecessor more than half a billion dollars at the international box office, “Catching Fire” manages to provide a exhilarating burst of artistry that can satisfy theatergoers who read Suzanne Collins’ novel and entertain those who didn’t. As a result, don’t be surprised if you leave the multiplex comparing the visceral effects of “Catching Fire” to those of “The Empire Strikes Back”. Maybe “Catching Fire” isn’t totally a classic on that level, but it’s definitely worth the admission price.

No-spend November proves difficult

Danielle Yacobson

—Yacobson, a junior, is a Features Editor.

1. Dance2. Philz3. Starbucks4. Philz5. Philz6. Fraiche7. Philz8. Philz9. Ice Skating10. Fraiche11. Starbucks12. Philz13. Catching Fire14. Starbucks15. Thrifted Vest

$10.00$8.00$1.50$3.00$3.00$5.00$3.00$3.00$12.00$3.45$3.69$3.00$13.75 $3.69$6.99

Total $78.07

Average amount $2.60spent a day

Anton Oyung

“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” “Dallas Buyers Club”

20 Entertainment

Directions:1. Gather all the ingredients you will be using to make your lip balm.2. Combine all ingredients, except flavoring, in a micro-wave-safe container.3. Place the container in a microwave and melt in short bursts until it is completely liquid (this should take a minute or two). In between melting bursts, stir ingredients lightly to help evenly disperse the heat.4. Add flavoring if you decided to use it.5. Quickly, but carefully, pour the melted ingredients into a sterile lip balm container. It will set in about ten minutes. You’re now ready to try out your lip balm!

Time to get real: the holidays are approaching; your shopping list is growing and your heart is glowing. Here are some affordable, treasure-worthy items that qualify as perfect gifts for every type of female friend on your agenda.

get creative for the holidays

Directions:1. Combine ingredients in a large pot.2. Stir regularly for 30 to 40 minutes until the chocolate is fully melted.

I love a good cup of hot chocolate, but until recently, I’d never tried anything other than traditional cocoa. On a recent after-noon, I was in the mood for some hot chocolate, but I wanted something a little more unique than the usual hot chocolate powder mixes. I came across the Polar Express Hot Chocolate recipe and decided to try it because it is said to be inspired by the movie, and the ingredients looked interesting. I had never used condensed milk when making hot chocolate before. This is something that I wouldn’t recommend drinking on a daily basis because of the ingredients, but I think it is fine for special occasions. The Polar Express Hot Chocolate is fairly sweet, as is hot chocolate in general, but since you use bittersweet choco-late, it’s not as sweet as you would expect.

Polar Express Hot Chocolate

Gift basket option #2

With the holidays just around the corner, many of you guys are probably stumped on what to give your friends. Here are couple of heartwarm-ing items that will definitely touch any bro’s heart. This range of gifts will surely show much you care and understand your male friend. Chocolate and marshmallows for roasting s’mores, the first two ”Rush Hour” films to laugh about, a pair of socks to keep him warm for the winter, headphones so your friend does not have an excuse to use yours, and protein powder to enjoy.

Gift basket option #1Lip balm

Four simple “do it yourself ” projects that make great holiday gifts

Inside the basket:1. A nice letter2. A delicate necklace3. Chips, sour patch watermelon or chocolate4. Candles from Bath and Body Works, perfume, a scarf, sweatshirt/sweater or beanie5. A classic watch, some ribbon hair ties and shades

Inside the basket:1. Chocolate and marshmallows2. DVD of “Rush Hour” and “Rush Hour 2”3. A pair of socks4. Headphones5. Protein powder

Ingredients:•1/2 teaspoon beeswax•3/4 teaspoon shea butter, mango butter or a combination•3/4-1 teaspoon oil that is liquid at room temperature (like aloe vera oil, peppermint oil, olive oil or sweet almond oil)•2 vitamin E oil capsules (optional)•2 to 3 drops food grade flavor oil (optional)•Microwave safe container•Small sterile lip balm container

—Lena Campbell

—Henry Siu

—Emily Kvitko —Regina Tran

Dave Zhu

Ingredients: (makes about 8 cups) •1.5 cups of heavy cream•1 can of sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)•2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips•6 cups of milk•1 tsp of vanilla extract

Henry Siu

Lena Campbell

Regina Tran

Emily Kvitko