[News] California budget finally passed after months of stalemate—Sarah-Jean Zubair
[Entertainment] Find out which supposed health foods are actually calorie-packed flops—Jazreel Cheung
[News] Gunn community gets closer through preparation for four-day evaluation—Joyce Liu
[News] Beginning with the class of 2012, students will no longer be required to take two SAT subject tests as part of the University of California (UC) admissions process. —Sophie Cheng
[News] On Feb. 17, President Barack Obama signed the economic stimulus bill that will allot $787 billion to public works projects, social programs and tax cuts. It includes $150 billion to education, doubling the Department of Education’s budget for the year. The Gunn administration has said that Gunn might not see significant gains, but the availability of student loans will increase. —
[News] Contrary to popular belief, being in the parking lot during and after school hours is prohibited. Although it seems harmless, administration believes that students pose a danger to cars and their own safety.—
[News] On March 4, students met in the Palo Alto High School library for Gap Year Information Night. The purpose was to show students and parents how others benefited from gap year, a time between high school and college where studies are suspended for time to be spent learning life skills and responsibilities. —
[News] Since the beginning of the school year, the Student Executive Council has been planning the Drug and Alcohol Assembly. The assembly featured a guest speaker, Austin Whitney, a motivational speaker who swore off drinking after a car accident paralyzed him and almost killed his best friend. —Sophia Jiang
[News] During the January staff meeting, Principal Noreen Likins informed teachers about a more formal and updated teacher’s assistant (TA) policy. —Wen Yi Chin & Joyce Liu
[News] The Oracle interviews Dean of Students James Lubbe on the topic of truancy. —Danielle Aspitz
[News] Recent report sheds light on large number of students cutting class—Niki Mata
[News] Punishment for tardies and cuts take place over the weekend—Stephanie Kennel
[News] Twenty-five cent tax proposed—Jon Proctor
[News] Cyberbullying, according to several students and staff members, hurts more than a physical fight. “Cyberbullying affects [you] throughout your daily life,” junior Sarah Simonetti said. —Carissa Ratanaphanyarat
[News] In an attempt to copy the TV show Gossip Girl, Gunn students have started “Gunn Gossip,” a Facebook group geared towards spreading gossip about others. The group is based on the concept that students provide gossip to an anonymous source, who, in turn, passes the information on to group members via Facebook messages. —Veronica Polivanaya
[News] After consummate protest and negative feedback from users, Facebook has returned to its previous privacy policy. As the largest social networking site in the world with over 175 million users, Facebook recently amended its privacy policies and claimed the rights to all pictures, messages and information posted on the site. The notice gave Facebook an “irrevocable, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license” to “use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising.” The social networking site even claimed rights to items posted by people who had deleted their accounts.—Beth Holtzman
[Forum] The economy hasn’t stopped plummeting yet; it’s time to try something new—
[Forum] Labeled the best player in the game throughout his career, Yankees player Alex Rodríguez was hailed as the legitimate heir to the home run crown, the only one who could break Hank Aaron’s record without cheating. His image was not perfect (just Google “Madonna”), but his work ethic and talent were unquestioned. After a revealing Sports Illustrated article and an emotional admission, his road to baseball immortality, which includes the all-time home run record and potential induction into the Hall of Fame, has been tarnished forever. —Noah Johnson
[Forum] Playing God may have drastic consequences—Tenny Zhang
[Forum] The birth of the Suleman octuplets on Jan. 26 has become one of the most controversial multiple births to date. Nadya Suleman, already a single mother of six, gave birth to eight babies that she could not support. Congress needs to pass stricter legislation regulating in-vitro fertilization to protect taxpayers and families alike.—Rupali Raju
[Forum] Imagine you need a life saving transplant such as a heart or a liver. Your name has been put on a list behind tens of thousands of other patients in need of the same transplant as you.—Melissa Chan
[Forum] Anti-drug education up to parents, not Olympic athletes —Jocelyn Ma
[Forum] Merit pay—the idea is not exactly popular, but nevertheless, it is one that needs to be addressed.—Bauer Wann
[Forum] To All Esteemed Boards of Admission,—Danielle Edelman
[Forum] As the age-old saying goes, you are what you eat. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the high amounts of corn in our diets have turned us into live, walking corn chips. Although that may be a slight exaggeration, it is not far from the truth—when scientists tested one person’s strand of hair, 69 percent of the carbon came from corn. The government should gradually cut down on corn subsidies, as the high intake of corn in our diets has led to dramatic increases in obesity and diabetes.—Veronica Polivanaya
[Forum] News sources use bad judgment, distorted statistics and gossip to skew public opinion—Dana Li
[Forum] Approximately 35,000 Americans lost their jobs today. They will join 2.6 million others who lost their jobs in 2008, the highest unemployment number since World War II. Twenty-eight million people, an all-time high, applied for food stamps and over four million homes were repossessed. A recession is a fluid problem; ever-changing and ever-expanding. Acting with caution while allowing the problem to spread could inevitably cost more than taking firm measures now. The stimulus package is a major investment in the United States economy. But that’s just what it is—an investment—and a necessary one to maintain our standard of living internally and ability to compete internationally. —Emily Glider
[Forum] Why exactly is America in so much debt? Most importantly, what can be done about it? Throwing more money into the economy and expecting it to flourish is not the solution.—Eugenah Chou
[Forum] The economic crisis has tipped Americans off balance. As the stock market reaches new lows, cataracts of debt and unemployment threaten to sink the American spirit. Rather than drowning in the hardships of a recession, however, we need to step back and appreciate what good the recession has brought us. Just as a rainbow can follow a storm, economic slumps tend to bump up our physical health and environmental friendliness.—Jon Proctor
[Features] The Oracle staff gives some tips on how to spring clean efficiently. —Veronica Polivanaya
[Features] The purpose of Fair Trade is to ensure that Third World country workers are given basic benefits such as living wages and better working conditions. The Students for Fair Trade club helps to advocate this idea by selling fair trade chocolate, coffee and tea to students, teachers and other community members. —Alvin Man
[Features] The Oracle staff interviews junior artist Leo Chen, winner of the Art Piece of the Month feature. —Bauer Wann
[Features] The Gunn Robotics Team (GRT) is comprised of a group of diverse students united by a singular love for engineering and robotics. The team recently returned from regional robotics competitions in Portland, Oregon. “If you go by our alliance that we got picked on, we placed maybe 5th [in Portland],” sophomore GRT member Shreyas Parat said. —Danielle Aspitz & Eugenah Chou
[Features] When faced with a heavy homework load, procrastination and poor time management, most students cut from their sleep time in order to cope with the amount of work.—Joseph Lin
[Features] The Oracle staff follows a day in the life of a Gunn teacher, administrator and student. —Shaya Christensen
[Features] This June, junior Ben Gardiner and sophomore John Boyle will be leaving Gunn—Sophie Cheng
[Features] Although English teacher Kristina Gossard, an advocate for eating disorder and body image awareness, had to step down from coordinating Gunn’s first National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, the events still went forward.—Emily Zheng
[Features] When does the Numa Numa song meet bratwurst? Quesadillas and pearl milk tea? From March 2 to 6, National Foreign Languages Week was held to celebrate diversity in the Gunn community and emphasize the five main languages offered on campus: Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Mandarin.—Linda Yu
[Features] Racism? Sexism? Prejudice against those who are not of heterosexual orientation? Most have heard of these ideas before at one time or another, but Not in Our Schools (NIOS) Week, a five-day event that will be held April 13 to 17, brings these prevalent issues into the spotlight. “It’s a district-wide event dedicated to teaching acceptance,” senior Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) President Jessie Belfer said. —Carissa Ratanaphanyarat
[Entertainment] ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ invites audiences to participate by choosing the fate of the characters—Danielle Aspitz
[Entertainment] The Oracle staff introduces local band Corner Street Light. —Annie Shuey
[Entertainment] The Oracle staff introduces Primary—Dana Li
[Centerfold] It is impossible to fully sum up the beauty of the stars in words, but equally interesting is the story behind them. The most remarkable of the winter constellations have their own stories in Greek mythology. —Eugenah Chou
[Centerfold] Astronomy and astrology–though they both begin with astro (Greek for “constellation” and “star”), the similarities essentially end there. —Sophie Cheng
[Centerfold] Ancient civilization used astrology to comprehend the natural world, one part observation, one part imagination. Astrology falls somewhere in the realm between science and religion. —Ann Abraham
[Centerfold] The most popular interpretation of the origin of the Chinese zodiac is the legendary animal race hosted by the Jade Emperor sometime in sixth century B.C. The ranking of the 12 animals is based on the order in which they finished the race. —Bauer Wann
[Entertainment] Many students choose to create their own clothes, sewing on their personality and creativity into finished products. —Alice Yu
[Entertainment] Twice a year, fashion enthusiasts gather in New York City to see top designers debut their latest styles. Along with similar events in Paris, Milan and London, New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is one of the most important fashion events of the year. The two main fashion seasons are spring and fall, but as designers create their new collections, they preview everything months in advance.—Mati Pluska-Renaud
[Entertainment] You’ve probably heard about the delicious food in the Google cafeterias and have always wanted the chance to taste it. Well, now you can experience the same style food in Calafia Café and Market A Go Go, Palo Alto Town and Country, which are both owned by Charlie Ayer, the same chef who created the famed dishes at Google’s site. —Anne Hsiao
[Entertainment] This past winter break, my parents decided to leave the house at my mercy for three weeks. I’m sure they worried about various things—at least, I kind of hope they did—but they voiced one concern above all others:—Maya Itah
[Entertainment] The Oracle offers alternatives for a couch potato.—Amy Yu
[Entertainment] The Oracle offers alternatives for a traveler. —Joseph Lin
[Entertainment] The Oracle offers alternatives for a homebody. —Henry Gens
[Entertainment] The highly anticipated film adaptation of the graphic novel Watchmen, directed by Zach Snyder, brings together the best of both the science fiction and human worlds, combining them in an emotionally enthralling quest for world peace and domination.—Melissa Chan
[Sports] The boys’ varsity basketball team set high standards for future teams, ending the regular season with a 23-6 record, winning the De Anza league with a 11-1 record and coming one game short of Central Coast Section (CCS) finals. —Jeffrey Wang
[Sports] The girls’ varsity basketball team ended the regular season with an undefeated 26-0 record and an 11-0 record in league play, earning the team’s first-ever De Anza league title and setting a new school record. “It wasn’t what we expected, but we are really happy,” senior guard Rimona Cartun said. —Nicola Park
[Sports] The Oracle staff takes a look at the spring sports offered at Gunn. —Tiffany Hu, Elaine Liu, Alvin Man & Emily Zheng
[Sports] The Oracle staff gets this year's Final Four picks from Gunn's top college basketball fans. —Aviel Chang & Kevin Gao
[Sports] The class of 2009 has led the Titans to many athletic achievements over the last four years. Girls' basketball, led by senior Jasmine Evans, recently broke the school record for number of wins in a season and is currently 29-1 (and counting). Senior Martin Trainer is one of the country's top amateur golfers and senior Kelsey Pedersen races past her competition in crew. These three athletes, along with a few others in their class, have the athletic prowess to play competitively in college next year. These seniors are considered elite athletes of their sport and have promised both their academic and athletic abilities to their future colleges. —Mari Ju
[Sports] The Oracle staff interviews Stanford announcer and Gunn swim coach David Lombardi, a Stanford junior. —Shaya Christensen
[Features] The Oracle surveyed 144 students and 50 staff members about the issue of sleep deprivation. —Sarah-Jean Zubair