Gunn High School's Student Newspaper
Search results: articles in "Volume 44, Issue 7"
[News] The movie “Fight Club” has always been a favorite of high-schoolers, as has the television show “Jackass.” But for some Gunn students, the sorts of daredevil and adrenaline-rush-seeking activities have moved off of the television screen and into their backyards.—Aurelle Amram
[News] “You can push your kid to be a straight-A student, but in the end, is it worth it?” Psychologist Dr. Madeline Levine asked an assembly of Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos parents in Spangenberg Theater April 9. —Daniela Reichelstein
[News] On April 10, students and staff participated in the first ever “Code Red” drill directly run with the Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD). —
[News] On April 3, students increased their political awareness at the first Political Action Fair which was held on the quad, organized by senior Jaya Wen. Several local political organizations and advocates set up tables with information about their organizations. —
[News] From March 25-31, members of the orchestra and band traveled to Oahu, Hawaii, to participate in the Heritage Festival. —
[News] Berklee College of Music—Amy Yu
[News] Prom season is here, and accompanying it is the annual Drug and Alcohol Assembly that will take place April 22. —Joyce Liu
[News] This year, enrollment in Advanced Placement (AP) Biology and AP Economics increased, while enrollment in AP U.S. History (APUSH) dropped considerably.—Joyce Liu
[News] Nearly a year after his passing, former Academic Center Coordinator Albert Hopkins was honored on April 4, which was designated as Albert Hopkins Memorial Day. Hopkins, who passed away June 30, 2007 from a heart attack, was commemorated with a bench dedication. —Sarah-Jean Zubair
[News] Not in Our School (NIOS) Week, an event aimed at raising awareness about the hate and discrimination that occurs at Gunn, was held the week of April 14 through 18. —Sophie Cheng
[News] Students battle eating disorders, need ‘safety net’ to avoid relapse in college—Libby Craig
[News] The Oracle staff interviews Karen Schenuer, Palo Alto Medical Foundation Nutritionist, on eating disorders. —Caroline Hodge
[News] Electives offered by the district include American Studies and Advanced Problem Solving in Mathematics—Ann Abraham
[News] The Palo Alto Unified School District gathered information for a five-year strategic plan from an InClass survey. —Veronica Polivanaya
[Forum] There’s nothing wrong with celebrating victories, but there’s something wrong when students begin to celebrate each other’s losses. When college acceptance (and rejection) letters pour in, malice rears its ugly head as students gossip about who got in where—and who didn’t. Such talk may feel good in the short run, but the pain relief is fleeting. Making fun of people to make yourself feel better for five minutes is simply not worth it. —
[Forum] If ignorance really is bliss, then we must be a happy student body. From April 16-18, students voted for next year’s Student Executive Council (SEC) officers without hesitation—but also without any significant knowledge of the candidates’ platform and goals, the differences between the candidates or even what each position’s roles are. The current SEC election process is ineffective in informing the student body and, consequently, ensuring the best candidates are elected. —Tenny Zhang
[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
[Forum] In a city ranked as the fifth most expensive in the country by Coldwell Banker’s Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI), it is difficult to imagine how Palo Alto is able to provide a comfortable environment for new teachers to settle down. Palo Alto’s competitive real estate market is directly linked with its renowned school district, as many families buy property in the city so that their children can have access to a great education. The one factor that many people forget is that as prices of homes rise, it becomes increasingly difficult for teachers to continue to live in Palo Alto. For the district to continue to prosper and remain as one of the top in the state and country, it needs to expands its teacher-benefit programs and make Palo Alto a much more attractive place to work and live.—Noah Johnson
[Forum] Countless times I have been walking between classes and someone bumps into me. My immediate reaction is, “How rude! She better watch out where she’s (or he’s, as the case may be) going!” I continue on my way, feeling slightly disrespected and subconsciously judging that nameless person. I can only imagine what the person must have thought about me—something equally as irrational I’m sure.—Aja Mathews
[Forum] A pedestrian-friendly Arastradero which is being proposed by the city is not necessarily the way to resolve global warming. —Danielle Aspitz
[Forum] SAT subject tests. SAT reasoning test. ACT. Standardized tests engulf students’ lives, typically beginning with the PSAT in the fall of sophomore year and culminating with a frantic last-minute SAT reasoning test in the fall of senior year. The tests are offered far too infrequently during the year, and the College Board, in addition to the ACT, should support students’ busy schedules by establishing more testing dates.—Sasha Guttentag
[Forum] One Tuesday a month, students file into Spangenberg to attend an assembly. The attitude on campus during these assemblies is usually not one of happiness for attending the assembly, but rather resentment for having to get out of school one hour later than students usually would. However, these assemblies provide new insight to many important topics not commonly covered in the present Gunn curriculum, and the information they provide is important for each Gunn student to know.—Alana Alfrey
[Forum] It’s Tuesday morning, you’re late to class and barely catch the last minutes of “The G” reporting on today’s assembly schedule. Could the day get any worse? You’ve just lost the tutorial that you desperately needed to study for a calculus test, and on top of that, you are going to miss out on the delicious sandwich that you could have gotten during your expertly chosen G prep. Assemblies are inefficient, unneeded, overused and a large source of stress for students.—Jon Proctor
[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
[Features] Although students sometimes try to deny it, teachers do in fact have lives outside of school. For example, law and web design teacher Patricia Bruegger likes to fly airplanes. —Amy Yu
[Features] There are two common misconceptions about Gunn’s Black Student Union (BSU). One: the club’s main focus is assembly performances. Two: only African-Americans can join. —Maya Itah
[Features] When you walk into the car shop in the back of the automotive technology classroom, you almost forget that you are on a high school campus. Cars, machines, tools, street signs and different car parts invade the shop’s floor and walls, creating the perfect environment for Mike Camicia’s automotive technology (auto) students to learn about different cars, how they work and how to fix them.—Stéphanie Keller-Busque
[Features] Video production class creates video to submit to ‘US News and World Report’.—Ann Abraham
[Features] Sophomore Charles Chen is the mastermind behind the recent transformation of the Gunn Web site as well as the updated Oracle Web site; in addition, he is the president and founder of the Web Design Club. —Sophie Cheng
[Features] “It’s scary. There’s no scarier word in the English language than cancer. I’m a mother, and he’s my little boy. I just want him to have a normal life.” —Lettie Weinmann, mother of sophomore diagnosed with cancer —Carissa Ratanaphanyarat
[Entertainment] If you haven’t yet heard of or played the newest addition to the Super Smash Bros. series, then you need to get out more—or, rather, get in more. Since its January release in Japan, where it sold more than 800,000 copies, and its March release elsewhere, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is becoming the fastest-selling Nintendo game in North America and easily achieving the best-selling title in the US—not only for the Wii, but across all other gaming consoles as well. —Jeffrey Wang
[Entertainment] The Oracle staff presents new and upcoming innovative gadgets—Bauer Wann
[Entertainment] There is a growing trend of the electronics industry distancing itself farther and farther away from rugged solo innovators carving out their own inventive path. Long gone are the days of two dudes named Wozniak and Jobs building their own personal computer and revolutionizing the industry. These days, individual ingenuity is confined to the software side of electronics, but Peter Semmelhack of Bug Labs has a different idea. Bug Labs’ cutting-edge idea is a bag of goodies for would-be inventors that allows anyone to quickly snap together any gadget that suits their fancy.—Boris Burkov
[Entertainment] Gunn alumnus and jazz artist Akira Tana made Gunn’s 31st Annual Jazz Guest Artist Concert on April 4 a high quality event full of hot drumbeats, showing off talented musicians from Gunn and Palo Alto High School (Paly).—Anna Luise Zott
[Entertainment] The Oracle staff interviews Akira Tana, jazz guest artist and Gunn alumus. —Anna Luise Zott
[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
[Entertainment] Though no awards will be given, the Gunndance Film Festival, Gunn’s version of the Oscars, will take place this year in the Little Theater May 29 and 30. “It’s a chance for any Gunn students to show their work,” senior videographer and historian Kaitie Macknick who described herself as the “executive producer” of the event, said. “The whole point of making movies is for people to see them.”—Carissa Ratanaphanyarat
[Entertainment] Are you tired of watching box-office hit after box-office hit only to discover that none are appealing enough to you? Do you usually enjoy movies that your friends have possibly never even heard of? No need to worry, you are not alone. In fact, cult film fanatics are sweeping the nation. The term “cult film,” refers to cinema that attracts devoted followers. “Basically [cult films] inspire a certain type of culture and usually have to do with an original and specific creative vision,” junior Viktoria Tsukanov said. —Veronica Polivanaya
[Entertainment] The Oracle staff takes a closer look at the location where you will be dancing the night away.—Ryan Tan
[Entertainment] Prom may be one of the highlights of high school, but it is also one of the easiest things to worry about. Here are some quick tips to help alleviate emergency Prom anxieties, so the little problems do not ruin the entire night.—Tenny Zhang
[Sports] The Oracle staff compiles obscure jargon for fans.—Sophie Cheng
[Sports] I stare into the mirror, bobby pins sticking out of my mouth as I try to tie a big red ribbon around my ponytail. I don as much red and black as possible without looking too ridiculous. But I hesitate. After all, the whole point of dressing up in school colors is to be ostentatious and flashy. It’s Gunn vs. Paly day, and it’s time to get out there and proudly show some spirit.—Wen Yi Chin
[Sports] Gunn has school rivalries in various sports, including lacrosse (Menlo and Paly), badminton (Lynbrook and Monta Vista) and boys' tennis (Paly). —Anne Hsiao & Adrienne Nguyen
[Sports] “If you beat Wilcox, I’ll shave my head,” three-year varsity softball co-coach Dave Jost said. It’s that kind of encouragement the players need from their coaches to get them out of their current rut. —Mari Ju
[Sports] ‘The Lemur,’ ‘Rajibbles’ and ‘Zooboomafoo’ are not just pet names, but nicknames teammates have given sophomore Rajeev Herekar, who is currently ranked 13 in North California in the “16 and under” tennis division.—Wen Yi Chin
[Sports] To the Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics (PASA) team, swimming is not simply an extracurricular to be tacked on a college application, but a way of life. “I’ve loved [swimming] since I was little,” senior Katie Reeves, a member of both PASA and the varsity swim team, said. “The people in my group are family.” —Daniela Reichelstein
[Sports] The badminton team is off to a great start this season with a 4-0 record and strong wins against Palo Alto, Wilcox and Monta Vista. —Niki Mata
[Sports] In the complicated world of college sports, it is sometimes difficult to decipher just how high school athletes end up playing at the collegiate level. For most Division I college sports programs, a majority of the players are recruited. Division I programs have the most money allotted for scholarships and scouting, and are able to scout around the country and personally get to know potential collegiate athletes. —Noah Johnson
[Sports] The Oracle staff sent a reporter to investigate one of Gunn’s largest sports teams: track and field. Various events include jumping, sprinting, hurdles, throwing and long distance. —Alicia Zhao
[Centerfold] How Gunn stacks up: The Oracle staff sends its most intrepid reporters to scope out other Bay Area schools. Danielle Aspitz, reporter, goes to visit Half Moon Bay High. —Danielle Aspitz
[Centerfold] How Gunn stacks up: The Oracle staff sends its most intrepid reporters to scope out other Bay Area schools. Mari Ju, reporter, goes to visit Carmel High School. —Mari Ju
[Centerfold] How Gunn stacks up: The Oracle staff sends its most intrepid reporters to scope out other Bay Area schools. Beth Holtzman, Circulation Manager, introduces Liron Zamir, Israeli tenth grader, to Gunn High School. —Beth Holtzman