Gunn High School's Student Newspaper
Search results: articles by "Jocelyn Ma"
[News] Local residents voice multiple concerns over division, noise from train system voted in with Proposition 1A —Jocelyn Ma
[Forum] Anti-drug education up to parents, not Olympic athletes —Jocelyn Ma
[News] Greed, lack of regulation spur financial crisis—Jocelyn Ma & Tenny Zhang
[News] The Oracle staff takes a look at some local cases of academic dishonesty. —Jocelyn Ma
[Forum] With regards to cheating, or the educationally preferred euphemism “academic dishonesty,” most of us have probably heard nothing but negativity directed towards the topic. But as expectations to perform in our high-pressure cooker of a community have risen, more and more students have opted out to take the easy road to good grades. With Duke University’s 2005 survey statistics stating 75 percent of high school students admit to cheating, we have to wonder if the future of our country is destined for more Enron and Watergate scandals. It’s often been said that “cheating only hurts the cheater”—but is this necessarily true? —Jocelyn Ma
[News] Sharing your vacation stories after the holidays is a typical classroom activity, but an increasing number of “activities” from students are becoming “homework” or “projects.” The irony of the time called winter “break” has caused the school board to take action against an unfavorable arrangement for both students and teachers.—Jocelyn Ma
[News] The Nynasty symbol is back. Last year, current seniors Nathan Ma and Mark Reid created the concept of the “Nynasty symbol” to unify their class of 2009. The sign, formed by the index fingers and thumbs of both hands adjoining as a diamond, was displayed during a variety of events ranging from Homecoming Week to sports events as a way of both showing class and school pride. “It had a huge effect because we [had] a symbol to represent ourselves,” Ma said.—Jocelyn Ma
[Centerfold] Decorations, costumes, games, rallies—it's possibly the most celebrated time of the year: Homecoming. Most students plan their costumes after the theme is unveiled, but for the Student Executive Council (SEC), Homecoming planning starts before any students even fill the halls.—Jocelyn Ma
[News] When Foreign Language Instructional Supervisor (IS) Anne Jensen opened her e-mail account on Wednesday, April 3, she was in for an unexpected surprise. Teachers from all over the country had flooded her inbox with concerns regarding the elimination of several Advanced Placement (AP) courses including French Literature, Latin Literature, Italian Language and Culture and Computer Science AB by College Board, the administrator and creator of all AP tests. —Jocelyn Ma
[Forum] Students take AP exams to show colleges that they’ve mastered the college class, but the rising prices of the AP tests are essentially forcing students to spend hundreds of dollars to prove their accomplishments. Because of this issue, students who cannot afford testing aren’t given an equal chance of showing colleges their knowledge. —Jocelyn Ma
[News] If you’re tired of the construction already, brace yourself—because on Feb. 26, the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education agreed to support a bond which would allocate approximately $378 million to improve district schools. —Jocelyn Ma
[Forum] Drugs and alcohol—nobody can deny the fact that they are present and used by students at Gunn. Maybe you remember filling out a social norms survey about the usage of illegal substances way back in 2006, but what ever happened to those surveys? —Jocelyn Ma
[Centerfold] To the hundreds of The Oracle readers, I am hereby outing myself as a victim of ADD. Yes, Attention Deficit Disorder. And it’s not just self-proclaimed either—I have been officially diagnosed with medical ADD, with a doctor’s letter and everything. —Jocelyn Ma
[Features] While most of us were still recovering from our large Christmas dinners, the Emergency Medical Response (EMR) explorers were getting ready to go on a four-day trek to Camp Cutter, also known as EMR Academy. EMR is a program where students learn all about the medical field. "If you want to be a doctor this is the right thing for you because of all the medical training you get," junior EMR ex-explorer Kanika Khanna said. —Jocelyn Ma
[Features] Where can you expand your vocabulary while donating rice to end world hunger at the same time? The only answer is www.freerice.com, a non-profit website that has created a program where visitors play a vocabulary game. For every word that is correctly defined, FreeRice donates 20 grains of rice towards a total amount that is distributed by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the world’s largest food aid agency. —Jocelyn Ma
[Features] The campus is never empty: even at the break of dawn, during class and after dark. The custodians, who create the tidy Gunn we see every day, clean and organize the campus when students and staff are at home or in class. We talked to—and followed—four different custodians while learning about their jobs at various times of the day—5:30 a.m., 1:05 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. —Jocelyn Ma & Tenny Zhang
[Forum] It’s so close—five more feet before you can finally buy that cookie. But suddenly, a horde of students slip their way into the line, all of them friends with the person before you. So close, yet so far. —Jocelyn Ma
[Entertainment] If you get squirmy during horror movies, you probably shouldn’t think about going to an exhibit that could arguably be more intense than the law classes’ trips to the morgue. But on Oct. 12, I swallowed my fear, buckled up and headed to The Body Worlds 2 and Three Pound Gem exhibit at the Tech Museum, which included presentations of real human bodies preserved through the process of plastination. —Jocelyn Ma
[Features] The Oracle staff sets off to interview new students from around the world. —Amy Yu, Jocelyn Ma, Tenny Zhang & Bauer Wann
[Features] Despite club's efforts, some students have trouble revealing sexuality—Jocelyn Ma
[Features] The Oracle staff sends out reporters to interview new teachers at Gunn. —Libby Craig, Jocelyn Ma, Carissa Ratanaphanyarat, Ann Abraham, & Amy Yu
[Centerfold] Taking care of screaming kids for a whole summer might sound like a nightmare to some, but junior Jacqui Black is unfazed and even excited about her summer job as a camp counselor. Black will be working as a kayaking and canoeing specialist at Camp New Moon, where she will teach small groups of campers basic knowledge about boats. —Jocelyn Ma