Gunn High School's Student Newspaper
Search results: articles by "Danielle Edelman"
[Forum] To All Esteemed Boards of Admission,—Danielle Edelman
[Forum] Every year it seems that Advanced Placement (AP) class acceptance lists grow longer. This higher rate of acceptance is reassuring for many students, but it does not actually benefit anyone. Larger AP class sizes make both learning and teaching more difficult in already challenging classes. —Danielle Edelman
[Forum] It’s finally here: the day you get the grade for the project you worked so hard on. Here it comes. It’s a…B minus? This confusion occurs frequently in schools, with students unsure of how their letter grades are calculated. In some courses, a letter grade is a representation of a numerical score, but other curricula are not so easily converted to quantitative assessment. The A to F scale is an inaccurate system that must be reevaluated.—Danielle Edelman
[Forum] When former Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson claimed to have instructed officers to stop and question African American men on Oct. 30, she inadvertently set off the latest scandal in the long history of racial profiling. Although Johnson has since apologized and retired from the force, questions remain as to whether or not her original remarks were appropriate. Racial profiling is a hot button issue in many areas of society, but nowhere is it as constantly debated as it is in the context of the law. It is true that racism exists within the justice system, but not every mention of a suspect’s ethnicity is a display of bigotry. When applied in a reasonable, unprejudiced context, racial profiling is not a weapon of bigotry, but rather a tool to aid the justice system.—Danielle Edelman
[Forum] Education is a machine, churning out students to be used and abused by society. It is currently owned and operated by the government. The history of social programs is often sketchy, and many times public industries that are given back to private owners thrive under the new system. The privatization of schools has the potential to give lower income families better access to quality education as well as to encourage schools to improve curriculum through competition.—Danielle Edelman
[Forum] As a senior, I suppose I am entitled to grumble every now and again about kids these days and how disappointing they are. What happened to the good old days when people said please and thank you on a regular basis? Did common courtesy go out the popularity window with boy bands and side ponytails? I wish I didn’t have to complain, but after finding myself in the polite minority one time too many, my patience is wearing thin. At the risk of sounding like the most uptight of grandfathers, I am sending out a plea to my fellow students to drop the attitude and pick up politeness. —Danielle Edelman
[News] The current mortgage and stock market crises take Americans on a walk down the nation’s economic memory lane. The reminders of the past—Black Thursday, the Great Depression and the dot-com crash—are not encouraging, and have many people wondering whether history is being repeated. While this bleak prediction is a real possibility, the present policy-makers have a golden opportunity to learn from the past. The government has been behind nearly every successful economic recovery. Now, as before, it has a duty to step in to relieve the economy. The history and structure of the American economy indicate that government intervention, when enacted in a timely and responsible manner, is the best course of action in economic crises.—Danielle Edelman
[Entertainment] The Oracle staff offers the scoop on the newly reopened Academy of Sciences in San Francisco—Danielle Edelman & Veronica Polivanaya
[Forum] Community service is nothing more than dull, boring work that has no purpose beyond sprucing up a college application. Frankly, this statement could not be further from the truth. Community service is not just about taking inventory at the local food bank, nor is it about logging your hours one by one until you have reached the bare minimum for recognition on a transcript. It is about giving your time, energy and heart to something greater than yourself. Gunn only requires a scant 15 hours of community service for graduaton as part of the living skills requirement, though many high schools require more. The schools that require students to perform community service realize that selflessness cannot be taught in a classroom, and that 15 hours barely scratches the surface of charity. Gunn should follow these schools’ examples and take the initiative to send students who know a little bit about selflessness into the world. —Danielle Edelman
[Forum] In a standard game of word association, I would expect the Olympics to elicit words and phrases such as “sportsmanship”, “triumph” and “international unity.” The tune seems to have changed this year, however. Instead of the usual Olympic tradition of setting aside differences to cheer on athletes of the world, individuals and organizations from many of the participating countries called for a boycott to protest China’s actions in relation to Darfur and Tibet. —Danielle Edelman
[Forum] Every four years, the United States undergoes a remarkable transformation from a fairly stable political dipole to a political mess. In the midst of change, a person must not only choose a party, but also a favorite party candidate. The primaries are a unique and valuable time in politics, when both fresh and veteran voters alike can get excited about the election process and express their political views beyond general party loyalty. However, this excitement fades soon after Super Tuesday, and many people find themselves impatient for the selection of a candidate. Moving the primaries closer to the conventions would eliminate the loss of enthusiasm, wasted money and intra-party divisions that are products of the current election process.—Danielle Edelman
[Forum] There are few things that grab the public’s attention like the private lives of royalty. From divorce and death to romance and scandal, Americans love keeping up with the intriguing novelty of the British royal family. What many Americans fail to realize is that the queen and princes are not normal celebrities. Unlike most movie stars and singers, they have real political and social responsibilities. —Danielle Edelman
[Entertainment] The choir belted its way up to a $5,000 prize in the 98.5 KFOX radio station’s annual “School of Rock” contest. The contest, dependent on on-line votes, was from Apr. 11 to 17. —Danielle Edelman & Sasha Guttentag
[News] If you thought the drive up Arastradero to reach the Gunn parking lot was bad, try talking to a few teachers about their commutes. Many members of the Gunn faculty live a significant distance from school, and they deal with everything from early alarm clocks to gridlock traffic to get to work on time. —Danielle Edelman
[News] Students who take classes a second time find themselves 'more prepared,' can 'show mastery' by replacing grades—Danielle Edelman
[Forum] Still hoping that your favorite TV shows are coming back soon? You may want to let out that big breath you have been holding in, because the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike is into its third month and still going strong. Although the tentative deal the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) made with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) gives hope to the situation, the strike has gone on far too long and there is still no end in sight. It is time for both the writers and the producers to shelve their pride and come to a fair agreement that compensates the writers for their work. —Danielle Edelman
[Centerfold] The Oracle staff gives definitions for common slang terms. —Danielle Edelman
[News] The Academic Center (AC), a long-time haunt of busy students, is becoming increasingly crowded, in contrast with the nearly-empty library, the other main source for academic aid on campus. As the increase in the student population strains Gunn’s resources, some are calling for an expansion of the AC. —Danielle Edelman
[Centerfold] Oftentimes when people think of endangered species, they think of well-known animals like pandas and polar bears. While these species are indeed endangered, when was the last time anyone saw a panda wandering around California in the wild? There are many endangered species native to California that require just as much attention and conservation as the more famous ones. —Danielle Edelman
[Forum] Dating is all about compromises—going out versus staying in, going to a movie or going for a walk and of course, deciding who pays for everything. This last question is often dismissed because of the long tradition of men paying for most dating expenses. However, couples should rethink this archaic tradition and realize the importance of sharing expenses. —Danielle Edelman
[News] Last month, a Web site called Titan Truth appeared on several computers in the Academic Center (AC). However, the people who set the Web site as the default page on the computers have not been identified and the webmasters of Titan Truth deny any involvement in the incident. —Danielle Edelman
[News] On Sept. 4, the Student Executive Council (SEC) held its first assembly of the school year. The hour-long assembly consisted of two parts: the former was a tribute to Albert Hopkins and the latter consisted of an introduction to the SEC, counselors, administrative staff, skits about school policies and the revealing of the Homecoming theme.—Danielle Edelman & Ryan Tan
[Forum] This past June, students greeted the bell that marked the end of school with exuberant cheers and a mad rush out of the classroom into months of freedom. At long last it was time for students to put down the textbooks and get some good rest and relaxation. But was it? For some students, that last bell unfortunately signified not only the end of school, but also the start of summer homework. Instead of bogging students down with unnecessary summer work, teachers should respect students' right to a break and limit homework to what is absolutely needed. —Danielle Edelman
[Entertainment] Warning: This review contains spoilers.—Danielle Edelman