Illustration by Althea James ('11)

see CONTRACT page 6

www.urbanlegendnews.org

February 2011 Volume 12, Issue 21563 Page St., San Francisco, CA 94117

BALANCING

Finding the equilibrium between teenage freedom

and safe parenting

LIFE

ver the past few months, Ur-ban’s Parent Association has developed what students are calling a parental “contract” – an agreement among Urban

parents that addresses student safety, sub-stance use and parental policy about parties. The “Parent Collaborative Agreement for Safe Teen Socializing” has triggered a wide range of opinion, with some students calling it “reactive, ignorant, and belittling” while others say it is a “conversation starter.” On Jan. 26, the contract was posted the Urban website under the parent section. An e-mail was also sent to the parent body with the details of the contract.

O

Teens for Testing at Urban School The Urban School is poised to become the first school in the nation to offer HIV testing to its students, with the senior class set to be tested on Feb. 11. Oliver Hamilton (’11) organized the testing for the school with help from The Conant Foundation.

The tests will be taken using a RAPID Oral Swab HIV test and students will par-ticipate in a mandatory counseling session on Feb. 8 to prepare. Go to The Legend’s Web site at www.urbanlegendnews.org to read more about the testing this Friday.

Norfolk case raises questions about justice system

Urban’s often-dormant Speak Up forum, a private online space for Urban community discussion, erupted with red flags when Head of School Mark Salkind announced the long-anticipated grading-policy changes on Jan. 7. Both students and faculty sent a total of 137 messages to the fo-rum between Jan. 10 and Jan. 12, compared with 103 e-mails sent over the entirety of the 2009-2010 school year. Beg inning next fall, stu-dents will see their grades for each class at the end of each trimester. This is the most significant and controversial of several recent changes to the grad-ing policy. According to the “Urban School Grading and Evaluation Policy Changes” page of the school’s website, other changes, also begin-ning next fall, will be: “A common set of performance indicators” on interim and course reports; more detailed indicators of “overall achievement on interim rubrics;” and an enlarged “use of rubrics to assess major papers, reports, projects, labs and problem sets.” Students receive interim reports at the six-week mark of each tri-mester. The decision to show grades came after two years of research , including surveys and conver-sations with students, teachers,

It was a horrible scene: A woman lay raped and killed in her Norfolk, Va., apartment. Within weeks, suspicion settled on four Navy men. They all con-fessed to the crime. The reaction from the commu-nity was one of relief. There was just one problem: The men were not guilty. What should have been a short investigation process became a decade-long fight for justice that continues today. The Norfolk case was the focus of a visit on Jan. 7 by Richard Leo, a leading national authority on false confessions and interrogation, and co-author of the book, "The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions, and the Norfolk Four." Leo discussed how the case highlights a key flaw in the crimi-nal justice system: Although false confessions and psychological abuse during interrogation are rampant, this remains a taboo topic. Juries and judges do not consider these factors very heavily due to the common opinion that if defendants have confessed, they must be guilty. However, this is not always the case. Danial Williams, Joe Dick, Derek Tice, and Eric Wilson were all severely psychologically ma-nipulated into confessing to the

rape and murder of Michelle Bosko during interrogations that lasted as long as 14 hours. Detective Robert Glenn Ford of the Norfolk police department, who was known for his unortho-dox tactics and ability to break any criminal, spat accusations and vile phrases at the men, saying they had all failed lie detector tests when in reality all four men had passed. However, none of this can be fully proven because the interroga-tions were not recorded until the last few minutes, when the men

by Hannah Sears

Staff Writer

were forced to read their confes-sions, carefully crafted by Ford to reflect the known facts of the case and then given to the men to read aloud. Leo explained that in the 1990s, the relatively new method of using DNA as evidence, now taken for granted, proved many falsely-incarcerated people innocent and changed the face of the justice system. This point is crucial in the Norfolk case because the DNA found on Bosko did not match any of the four men. “There’s something very sur-

real about this case,” Leo re-marked, speaking of how the police essentially ignored the DNA mismatches. Facts included in the confessions also were later proven false, giving greater reason to doubt the accusations against the four men. However, the police did not investigate further; rather they had Ford force the men to amend their confessions to mirror the new facts of the case. All four men attribute their compliance to the overwhelm-ing psychological pressure they

and parents. “There are a sig-nificant number of students who are confused about their overall achievements,” said Suzanne For-rest, assistant dean for academics. “We want students to have access to information and families to be well-informed.” The Urban School has never shown students grades at the trimester mark. The policy shown on the school’s website, says that “since its founding (in) 1966, Urban has relied on an evalua-

tion system in which students receive detailed written feedback on assignments, essays, and proj-ects, and in place of report cards with grades.” Even though Urban’s grading

policy will be more transparent, many argue that the system is essentially unchanged. “I have a lot of conviction that (the policy) is very much the same,” said Sal-kind. “We still do not believe that grades alone are a good, accurate measurement of student achieve-ment.” Greg Monfils, freshman/sophomore dean and English teacher, said, “When I had to justify (the old grading system), I never felt good in my gut. It almost felt condescending.” However, for some students getting grades may be an un-welcome reality check. Salkind revealed that “the most common grade given at Urban is a B.” “Hard work alone will not get you an A,” said Monfils, but even

at an Urban with grades, “we have to give kids credit for their hard work and achievement.” Though the Urban community had been expecting a change in the grading policy for more than a year, the changes still sparked a strong reaction from students. In a message to the Speak Up fo-rum, Simone Hudson (’12) wrote, “I believe we all need to consider what we must do, perpetuate, and resist to ensure that we continue to ‘learn for the sake of learning’ and not for that A.” “My initial reaction was be-ing upset because I am bound to (the no-grade) system and it has worked well for me,” said Natasha Weiss (’11). “Then, after I gained more perspective, I came to see the changes themselves are very insignificant.” Ironically, the threat of change has helped some students refocus on what learning really means. “If one letter is going to change your experience at Urban, then you are relying too heavily on the grading policy,” said Cole Larsen (’12). “It makes me happy to see people arguing in a positive way and getting riled up,” said Weiss. “The reaction on the Speak Up forum was really encouraging,” said Hudson. “I hope the zeal and enthusiasm that people so read-ily displayed on the ‘Speak-Up’ forum can be directed toward a ‘maintenance’ or perpetuation of Urban's identity." "While I am upset about the change in the grading policy (and similarly, the parent agreement), I feel there must be some good that will come of this.”

by Sabrina WerbyStaff Writer

Grading change prompts delight, dismay among Urban students

Urbanitems Online: A quick look at what's happening in our community

Check out Urban students get-ting real about the grading policy, in print and on video; add your voice to the poll on the Legend home page.

Consider a sophomore’s opin-ion on Urban's physical activity system and what changes should be made to promote student health.

Explore a special investigation into the fight over Proposition 8: The protests, the hearings, student opinion, the Ninth Circuit's latest ruling, and a special Legend op-ed — all in pictures, videos, and words.

Read about what happened at the Golden Globes Awards last month. The article discusses the main awards presented, along with teacher and student opinions

experienced. Also, everyone sur-rounding the men was convinced they were guilty, including their lawyers and parents, so they were put at a greater disadvantage by this lack of support. When a DNA match was found, another man, Omar Ballard, stated he committed the crime alone; he knew facts to which only the per-petrator could have access. Even then the police did not rethink their approach; the four innocent men remain charged and are still fighting to free themselves. Ballard was offered the oppor-tunity to lessen his sentence if he testified against the four men. He did so, although he maintains that he committed the crime alone and that the Navy men are innocent. Frontline recently made a documentary about the Norfolk four that describes the facts of the case in full. Readers can watch it at http://www.pbs.org under the title "The Confessions." Had the interrogations of these four men been documented in full, this situation would never have escalated to the point of ruining the lives of innocent men, accord-ing to Leo. Partly in response to this case and partly due to evolving ideas about justice, “the movement of the nation is really towards full electronic recordings,” he said. "There are high ideals of how the legal system should work, but then there is legal realism — how the law works on the ground.”

RichaRd Leo discusses the Norfolk case with teacher Dan Murphy (at right) and studentsphoto by isabel Moore

about the movies awarded.

If you’re interested in Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, check out an article about the project and how Urban’s cafeteria measures up.

Puzzle over a challenging cross-word puzzle by Urban student Kyle Chong, and as a prize, the first person to correctly complete the puzzle will get a Legend t-shirt and will be featured in the Legend's column "Secret Lives!”

Keep up-to-date with Urban sports on Sam Lucas’s new weekly sports blog, or the constantly up-dated Urban Scoreboard (scroll down the Legend home page.)

All this and more on the Urban Legend website! Log on now!

The Urban Art Show is always an eagerly anticipated school event, and this year’s Feb. 10 show is no exception. With 26 students taking part in the Advanced Visual Arts Seminar, this year’s show has the highest number of participants ever. The annual art show began in 2004, and the program "has slowly grown and become more ambitious over the years,” said Visual Art Instructor Jennifer Stark-weather who alternates teaching the seminar with Visual Arts Instructor Kate Randall. Artists have approxi-mately eight weeks to construct and turn out a body of work. Students must also seek permission from an art instructor to be admitted into the show. Go to the Legend's website to watch videos of the artists making and talking about their work.

The Winter Art Show

aRT ShoW Emma Lehmann ('11)

photo by Sarah Maccabee

“If one letter is going to change your expe-rience at Urban, then you are relying too heavily on the grading policy.”

-Cole Larsen (’12)

Newsurbanlegendstaff@gmail.com2

February 2010

The Urban Legend

The Urban Legendhe Urban Legend is a vehicle of student freedom of expression and a public forum for The Urban School community. It is produced several times per year during the academic term by the journalism

class. We also publish a website at www.urbanlegendnews.org. We welcome feedback about our articles and encourage readers to contact us directly with tips or ideas concerning future coverage. The Legend publishes letters on topics of concern to the Urban community. Letters must be signed; requests for anonymity will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Letters may be sent electronically to urbanlegendstaff@gmail.com. Hard-copy letters may be sent to the Legend care of The Urban School. Guest opinion columns also may be submitted electronically or in hard copy. We reserve the right to edit for space and language. Signed articles or opinion pieces represent the views of the writer only. Unsigned editorials reflect a consensus opinion of the newspaper staff.

T Editors-in-ChiefAdrienne von Schulthess (News)Zoe Pleasure (Design and Folio)

Managing Editor / Newspaper & Special ProjectsSabrina Werby

Managing Editor / MultimediaHannah Gorman

Asst. Managing Editor /MultimediaEmily Wen

AdviserBeatrice Motamedi

Section EditorsMegan Madden (Opinion)Sarah Maccabee (Green Planet)Jason Cinti (Sports/Online)Jenna Waldman (Sports/Print)Cassiel Chadwick (Arts/Spread)Sara Brooks (Green Planet)Isabel Moore (Photo Editor)Sonja Bartlett (Photo Editor)Samantha Lucas (Blogger)

WritersJonathan BaerJessie King FredelJamie FriedmanAnnakai GeshliderDavid ImmermanMarney KlineHannah SearsCody Siler

Shooting of congresswoman highlights violent message in politics

MLK school assembly discusses the invisible t was a startling statement:

“Everyone needs a nigger Jim,” said Damali Ayo, speaker at

Urban’s Martin Luther King, Jr. assembly. Ayo led one of the many dis-cussions and workshops around diversity during Urban’s January Month of Understanding. This year, the month focused on “mak-ing the invisible visible.” Ayo, who attended Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., came to talk about solving racism. She outlined five steps for white people (“Admit It, Listen, Educate Yourself, Broaden Your Experience, Take Action”) and five steps for people of color (“Get Real, Speak Out, Educate Yourself, Build Ties, Take Care”). Ayo talked about the need for education about the achievements of people of color. Ayo quoted Japanese human rights activist Yuri Kochiyama, who said, “as long as we don’t know our history and others’ history, there will be no positive interactions or under-standing.” This need to recognize and dis-cuss history in school connected to another discussion. Library Lead-

by Adrienne von SchulthessStaff Writer

ers, a group that meets to work on increasing the use of the school’s library, organized a talk on Jan. 13 about a publisher’s plan for a new edition of Huckleberry Finn. The edition, to be published in February, omits 219 uses of the "n" word, replacing it with the word, “slave.” Similarly, “Indian” replaces “injun.” Urban students and teachers talked about the value of retain-ing and eliminating the "n" word. Dean of Faculty and English teacher Jonathan Howland said, “no one is reading ("Huckleberry Finn") anymore because it is just too charged.” He added that “even without the "n" word, the book has a lot going on,” including essential topics about America’s history. The increased accessibility that a revised version would provide could have a positive impact. Yet, opponents see the changes as a cover-up. "The problem is that schools and families are worried about confronting our history,” said Virgil Taylor ('11), calling removal of the "n" word a “useless Band-Aid” for American history. Blanca Gutierrez (’11) recalled how her middle school teacher

“ripped out the intense scenes from Kaffir Boy,” Mark Mathabane's memoir of growing up in apartheid South Africa. Gutierrez re-read Kaffir Boy at Urban. “I am glad that I was able to read the entire book because it showed the reality of many people and what they had to go through during the late 1940s,” she said. Ayo herself prompted debate with her choice to use swear words during her presentation. “Some faculty have already come to me to comment on the f-bombs,” said Ken Garcia-Gonzales, dean of multicultural life. “But this (pre-sentation) was for the students.” Ayo said swear words are “part of the performance. In some schools it's won over the student body, (and) allowed them to trust me.” For Ayo, “the choice of a word like ‘bitches’ is deliberate for its humorous impact. I don't talk like that in my day-to-day life at all. “As I said point-blank in the talk, I might do or say things that upset you, but don't throw out the entire message because of that,” Ayo said. “That's an easy way out. If you focus on my language, then you're just finding a way not to focus on your community.”

MuSt ChANgE A tag cloud of King's "Where do we go

from here" speech in 1967, produced at wordle.com, reveals

his most-frequently used words and themes.

arah Palin has come under fire for her political rhetoric fol-

lowing the Jan. 8 shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who was targeted in an infographic that appeared on Palin’s website

in 2010. A mentally unstable man identified as Jared Lee Loughner opened fire on Giffords and the crowd in front of a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, Ariz. Six people died, including a nine-year-old girl, and federal judge John Roll.

by Cody SilerStaff Writer

Giffords is continuing to heal. She spoke for the first time on Feb. 9. Afterwards, Palin came under fire for the violent imagery in her ads and public statements. In fact, Palin's 2010 "Take Back the 20" infographic, featured on her Facebook, Twit-ter and personal website, showed crosshairs over 20 congressional districts, including that of Giffords. The caption read: “It’s time to take a stand.” The debate over whether or not such imagery influenced Loughner has been fierce. Eli Chanoff (’13) thinks it is ridiculous to blame Palin for the Arizona shootings. “As aggressive and suggestive as her campaign tactics may have been, the fact of the matter is that Loughner is mentally unstable,” he said. Others say Loughner’s mental instability made him an easy target for the ads and the culture of political extremism. Violent imagery “causes a political climate that promotes violence,” said Eli Melrod (’13).

But in a Jan. 17 appearance on television commentator Sean Hannity’s show, Palin indicated that strong words will remain part of her rhetoric. “Certainly I agree with the idea of being civil,” Palin told Hannity. “But we should not use an event like that in Arizona to stifle debate.” Gun imagery has been a large part of Palin’s ongoing Internet presence. A tweet on March 23 read “Commonsense Conservatives & Lovers of America: ‘Don’t Retreat, Instead – RELOAD!’” Hours after the shooting, how-ever, Palin deleted the “Take back the 20” website and removed many tweets with violent imagery from her Twitter account. Urban history teacher Clarke Weatherspoon thinks that Palin’s aggressive campaign tactics are forcing the party “not even to the right, but just to the margins of society.” But others don’t believe that the shootings will affect Palin’s

career. “I doubt that people who support her and have supported her, like in the last election, will really change their minds about her,” said Canada Choate (’13). Whatever the impact, many worry about the violent nature of political discourse. For San Franciscans, the Tucson shootings brought back memories of the 1978 assassination of Supervisor Harvey Milk along with Mayor George Moscone at City Hall. Weatherspoon, who taught a 2008 class at Urban that tracked the McCain-Obama political cam-paign, says “(the political rhetoric) has been increasingly violent since probably 9/11 … because it’s been really polarized since then. “Going even further, and look-ing at the war in Iraq and looking at the 2004 and 2008 presidential elec-tions … things have been increas-ingly polarized and increasingly militant in terms of the language and the metaphors that have been used,” Weatherspoon said.

LoSt LEAdEr A mural at Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy

in San Francisco depicts Milk before his assassination in 1978.

I

S

photo by Isabel Moore

Newsurbanlegendstaff@gmail.com3

February 2010

The Urban Legend

What students might not know about what they put on their faces

SF rolling on bikes

Greening makeup

Last year, Urban’s Farm club con-verted a small plot in the garden into a vegetable patch that will be used by the cafeteria this spring. In addition, the club harvests the vegetables for various events it hosts. Now, the club is creating a cookbook to further advocate for sustainable, local and organic food. Leaders Simone Hudson (’12), Char-lotte Harris (’11), and Isabel Semler (’11) have contacted students and teachers with a request for healthy recipes,

which they will organize by season and compile to create the cookbook. They are inviting students to share short notes or anecdotes along with their recipes, which should have some personal significance. The book, intended to be a “celebra-tion of growing, cooking and eating together,” according to Hudson, will be finished sometime after the interblock break in March. E-mail any of the leaders with ques-tions or recipes!

Think about two-wheeled contrap-tions gliding down the street, like an eco-friendly parade: With San Francisco considering a bicycle-sharing program, to begin at the end of this year, the city may see an improvement in the bicycle environment. New bike lanes would open up, making the city even more accessible for citizens without cars. The city has already led test runs to assess the regional bike program, which would span 50 miles from San Jose to San Francisco. Throughout San Francisco and the Peninsula, stations would be loaded with bikes that could be rented for 30-min-ute periods or longer. The bikes could be returned to any docking station. Each rider would need a credit card or a bike sharing membership card in order to rent a bike. There would be no charge for short trips under 30 minutes. Johanna Partin, the adviser to Mayor Edwin Lee regarding climate initiatives, said that “the city (has) just received a large grant to do a regional bike program,” with San Francisco as the first city in which the bikes will be deployed. “(They) don’t know if (they) will actu-ally have them implemented and people able to ride them by the end of this year, but that’s what (they’re) shooting for,” said Partin, in a phone interview. She expects the program to “open up opportunities for people to bike more and take vehicles less.” San Francisco is not the first city to endorse a bicycle-sharing program. Bike sharing programs have sprung up all around the world, from Paris' Vélib’(short for "v é lo libre") to new programs in Wash-ington, D.C., Denver and Minneapolis. The trend seems perfect for the eco-friendly city of San Francisco. Renee Rivera of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition told the San Francisco Chronicle, “we love to be on the cutting edge in terms of being green, but we've got to move a little faster to keep up with this trend." The basic outlines of the progam are clear. Initially, the program will offer 1,000 bikes at about 100 kiosks around the city. Afterwards, more bikes will be added if the program is well received. The amount of people using bikes has increased by 58 per-cent since 2006 and program proponents believe that the bike-sharing program could improve ridership even more. Other bike-sharing programs have ex-perienced problems with destruction and theft. These problems may force the city

to spend significantly more on the program. Bike-sharing initiators also worry that the bikes will not be used enough. If participa-tion is too low, the program could be cut. Urban students have multiple opinions about the possibility of a bike-sharing pro-gram in San Francisco. Virgil Taylor (’11) says that because he lives in Marin, “there are a lot of situations where I am in the city and would totally use a bike.” The bike-sharing program would allow him to get around San Francisco with more ease. “Right now riding my bike in the city requires lots of planning (and) think-ing ahead,” said Taylor. Similarly, Kendra Bradanini (’12) thinks the bike-sharing pro-gram would be beneficial, “because living in Marin, I don’t want to carry my bike to the city." However, Ella McLeod (’14) questioned the safety of biking in the city. “I don’t really trust the streets,” she said. As 2011 progresses, the city will see an increase in promotion of this program. Not only could the city become more environ-mentally conscious, with citizens using bikes for short rides rather than cars, but the accessibility of the city for many could improve tremendously. For further reading about bicycles in city environments, check out "Bicycle Diaries" by David Byrne, of "Talking Heads" fame.

Last summer, I decided to reward myself for a long stretch of babysitting, so I bought a Chanel lipstick. Much to my surprise, a few days later, I received an e-mail warning me about the risks of lead in cosmetics. The e-mail claimed that brands such as Estée Lauder, Chanel, and Christian Dior contains lead, a neurotoxin, which when ingested regularly can be hazard-ous. I later found out from the “Urban Legends” section of About.com that this e-mail was a hoax, which inspired me to do further research about the truth and transparency of cosmetics marketing. I learned that the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 lipsticks and found that 61 percent had more than 0.65 parts of lead per million. According to the campaign, “the recent science indicates there is no safe level of lead exposure.” Under federal safety requirements, it is a crime to sell unsafe cosmetic products in the U.S. The real question is: How can con-sumers be more informed and determine which cosmetics are safe? Unfortunately, the answer is complicated. According to the Food and Drug Administration, formulas in cosmetics are considered trade secrets, so manufacturers are not required to list them. It has also not yet been officially determined how much lead is too large an amount for beauty products. And lead is not the only haz-ard; mercury and formaldehyde also are found in some cosmetics. Although content information may be hidden or unclear on product labels, con-sumers can educate themselves by visiting the Environmen-tal Working Group’s Skin Deep web-site (www.cos-meticdatabase.com) which contains in-formation on thousands of beauty prod-ucts.

Also, Urban’s Green Team will be creat-ing pamphlets with information about what chemicals to look for in cosmetics, as well as the chemicals' effects on the environment. Even though more information sounds like a plus, some students say they’d still purchase cosmetics despite the presence of toxins, so long as their makeup use is minimal. “I would buy them (products from companies that do not necessarily provide clear information) because I don’t wear an extreme amount of makeup,” said Abigail Vass (’12). “If you wore heavy makeup every day, I would be more worried.”

DANGEROUS BEAUTY Anne Vetter ('12), a supporter of green

cosmetics, applies lipstick. photo by Sonja Bartlett

ViRTUOUS CYClE Bikes like

these, from the public bike system in

Montreal, would be available in the

Bay Area under the new bike-sharing

program.

Farm Club Cookbook

GOOD GREENS Fresh kale

thrives in an Urban student's

home garden

photo by Sara Brooks

Baked Kale Chips

SNEAK PEEK: Winter Recipe

Preheat oven to 350°. Tear kale into bite-sized pieces, avoiding the tough inner stalk. Rinse well in water and dry as best you can, either in a spinner or on a tea towel. Pour a few glugs of olive oil on a baking sheet and add the kale. Sprinkle with salt and toss gently to evenly dis-tribute the oil and salt, being careful not to toss the kale out of the tray. Place in oven and bake about 10-15 minutes, or until the kale is crisp. Best if eaten warm — but not necessary.

ingredients: 1 bunch of KaleA few glugs of olive oilSalt

by Sonja BartlettStaff Writer

Green Planeturbanlegendstaff@gmail.com4

February 2011

The Urban Legend

photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalezof the San Francisco Chronicle / used

with permission

by Sara BrooksGreen Planet Editor

by Zoe Pleasure

Staff Writer

Farmers markets aren’t just tourist traps; in fact, many San Franciscans stop by their local farmers markets to grab a quick meal during the lunch hour. Recently, many markets have begun adding food vendors or restaurant owners whose purpose is to sell ready-to-eat food to people on the go. I’ve ventured to two different farmers markets on opposite sides of San Francisco to sample their to-go items. If you’re hungry and in the neighborhood, try some of these new stands — you never know what new, transportable foods you’ll find.

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market Hours: Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.; Saturday

from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Among the abundance of photo-snapping tourists at the market, there are regulars who work nearby, stopping for a lunch break. I met Sarah King, 22, and Hannah Hausauer, 23, while they were enjoying rotisserie chicken from Roli Roti and falafel from Alfie’s. Though King con-siders herself a regular at

this farmers market, she notes that the Ferry Plaza Market is “more expensive than others.” Roli Roti, the rotisserie chicken truck, had, by far, the longest line, with San Francisco’s popular Blue Bottle Coffee truck coming in second. Hausauer was having the rotisserie chicken for the first time, and by the looks of her empty plate, I can say that she enjoyed it. Both King and Hausauer agreed that “on a day like today, the best place to be is a farmers’ market. (There is) a sense of community, a sense of intimacy” between the vendors and consumers.

Stonestown Farmers Market Hours: Sunday from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Not every farmers market is as upscale as the Ferry Plaza market. Local markets, such as the one at Stonestown, tend to be smaller, but still offer a variety of quick eats. The one stand I will never get tired of is the Gold Rush kettle corn stand. I normally don’t like kettle corn be-cause it tends to be either too sweet or too salty, but Gold Rush kettle corn provides the perfect balance be-tween the two, with just the right amount of caramel to over-power the freshly popped popcorn taste. Katherine Louie (’12), who considers the Stonestown Farmers Market her neighborhood market, agrees: “It’s deli-cious,” she remarked. At the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, you pay for “name

brand” food items and a “cool factor.” It’s the type of place I want to go to with my friends just to explore and eat. Despite this, I can’t see myself going to the Ferry Plaza Market every week and spending $8 on a “gour-met” chocolate bar ; even though it was tasty, it was nothing special, and

definitely not worth the price tag. The Stonestown Market, though lackluster in variety, is inexpensive in comparison, and has a more local vibe. Going to these farmers markets makes me realize one thing: I love to eat.

Anatomy of a guilt-free burgerNew San Francisco restaurant redefines

an American classic at an affordable price

Farmers markets offer ready-to-eat meals —in case you can't cook

Meat:-Choose from beef, bison, turkey and organic vegetarian options -Beef, bison and turkey are grass-fed and free range

Vegetables:-Come from local farms-Picked seasonally

Cheese:-Dairy products come from Straus Family Creamery

Buns:-Made especially by Pacific Coast Bakery-Choose from regular or whole-wheat options

It’s not just any hamburger: ROAM Artisan Burgers, located at 1785 Union St. in San Francisco, is a new restaurant committed to promoting and serving 100 percent sustainable produce. “People talk about sustainable eating, but it’s not just about doing one thing — it's about doing a whole bunch of things,” says Josh Spiegelman, who owns ROAM. Using cooking oil that is converted into bio-fuel and serving meals on plates made from renewable plant fibers are just a few aspects of ROAM's fresh and holistic approach to transforming the classic burger into a sustainable-eating delicacy. Stepping through the door of ROAM, one enters into a warm and pleasantly occupied environment. A sprawling high-quality menu filled with fresh ingre-dients is located on the right wall. It costs $4.99 to “make your own burger.” First, you choose the meat: There are beef, bison, turkey and organic vegetarian options. The beef, bison and turkey are grass-fed and free-range and come from Humboldt County. Spiegelman set forth why eating 100% grass-fed meat is so important. There tends to be a surplus of grains on non-grass-fed farms, he explained, so cows are fed solely these

urbanlegendstaff@gmail.com February 2011

The Urban Legend

Sunday at the Farmer'S market Top: Customers

wait in line for Roli Roti rotisserie chicken at the

Ferry Plaza farmer's market. Middle: The Gold Rush

Kettle Corn stand is one of the most popular at the

Stonestown Farmers Market. Bottom: Stands like Sur La

Table populate the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Marketphotos by emily Wen

by Sarah Maccabee

Staff Writer

by Emily Wen

Staff Writer

5Green Planet

excess grains for the last 90 days of their holding – the time before they are butchered. The grains are not a normal diet for the cows, so they are given hormones and antibiotics to adjust their systems to the grain diet. However, these hormones and antibiotics aren’t necessary on 100 percent grass-fed farms. Also, levels of “good fats,” such as Omega-3 fatty acids (which are lower in saturated fat), are higher in grass-fed cattle. The next step in building your burger is to pick your bun. There are two options, a regular bun or a whole-wheat bun, but both come from Pacific Coast Bakery in South San Francisco. “Pacific Coast devel-oped these buns just for us,” said Spiegelman. The produce comes from local farms, and all the vegetables are seasonally picked. The sweet potato fries and caramelized onion toppings are two of the most popular items on the menu. Straus Family Creamery ice cream, or non-fat frozen yogurt milkshakes, and Farmers Market salads, are available as delicious side options. Organic house-made sodas, teas and Kombucha are on the menu as well. ROAM has revolutionized a meal as American as the sport of football, transforming hamburgers into fresh, delicious and mindfully assembled archetypes of sustainable eating.

Continued fro

m page 1

see CONTRACT

page 8

on page 8se

e FocusFor more coverage about

drinking, te

enage freedom

& safe parentin

g

A draft of the contract was intro-

duced to Urban’s Health Initiative for Peer

Education (HIPE), a peer health education

group comprised of Urban stu

dents, on Dec. 2.

A draft was also presented to Urban’s B

oard of

Trustees on Jan. 18.

The contract, which is printed on

Urban School letterhead, contains se

ven prin-

ciples. They range fro

m “I will n

ot knowingly

allow teens to use drugs or alcohol in my house

in the context of a social gathering or party” to

“I will a

ct assertively to prevent a teen fro

m

driving if I suspect he or sh

e has been drinking

or using drugs.”

Accompanying these principles are

statements that appear to

indicate the reason-

ing behind the language. Some of th

ese state-

ments include “research shows th

at access to

substances increases the risk for addiction,”

and, “motor vehicle accidents are the leading

cause of death in teens.”

There is no place for a stu

dent sig-

nature. Although the contract addresses teen

behavior, students th

emselves are not asked to

sign the document.

According to the Karen Smith-Mc-

Cune, co-head of the Parent Association, par-

ents have been developing the agreement sin

ce

the fall. The catalyst came during a lecture

given to the parent body by Michael Simon,

director of counseling and student su

pport for

the Bentley School in Lafayette, Calif.

There should be “no parties w

ithout

communication with parental hosts,” reads a

“Tip Sheet” located on Simon’s website

, which

is entitle

d "Support f

or Parents of Teens/Pre-

Teens, Educators &

Mental Health Profession-

als." Simon’s v

iewpoints inspired many of th

e

principles expressed in the parent contract.

“It’s an agreement to foster open com-

munication within the parent community,” said

Smith-McCune, a parent of a junior at Urban.

“It’s based on a very sim

ple number of values

that we (th

e parent association) think reflects

the parent community,” said Smith-McCune.

“It’s meant to

be … a way of encouraging a

community of parents to reach out to

one an-

other and talk to each other around certain

shared values.”

“It’s really an agreement between

parents,” continued Smith-McCune. “It is

not

targeted at the stu

dents at all; i

t’s targeted at

parents. We’re not expecting it to

change what

the students d

o.”

However, many students, such as

Alivia Bloch (’11), a member of Urban's

Health Initiative for Peer Education (HIPE)

class, saw the contract w

hen it was confiden-

tially reviewed and strongly disagrees w

ith it.

“I feel lik

e the contract, in (and) of

itself, i

s a clear breach of trust b

etween parents

and their children,” said Bloch. “I feel the con-

tract is unbelievably overbearing and actually

will function as quite the opposite

of its pur-

pose – which is to open lin

es of communica-

tion. It will u

ndoubtedly force students to

lie.”

Active dialogue about drugs and al-

cohol has always been considered important to

the Urban community. As fr

eshman and soph-

omores, students ta

ke a health course in which

the curriculum focuses on open conversations

about drugs, alcohol, and sex education.

Even though the main goal of the contract is

to foster communication, many students fe

el it

will have the opposite

result.

“I agree to treat conversations with

other parents on these iss

ues confidentially,”

reads the last c

lause in the Parent Collabora-

tive Agreement. “Pressure fro

m our children

can act as a deterrent to parent-to

-parent com-

munication.”

“(The contrac

t) undermines

standards

of decency and tru

st that U

rban holds dear,” sa

id

Timmy Gonzalez-C

rane (’11). “I

t signals

a shift

in the school's lo

yalty fro

m the well-b

eing of their

students to the m

ental shelte

ring of

rash paren

ts.”

Some students a

re particularly upset th

at the

contract was re

leased on the heels of th

e Peer

Education Theater show, an Urban production

held each December, where stu

dents discuss

issues before an audience of U

rban students,

parents, and faculty.

“I am extremely disappointed in the

mistrust and misundersta

nding demonstrated

in the contract,” said Eli Melrod (’1

3), a mem-

ber of Urban's Peer Resource group and a

performer in the 2010 Peer Ed Theater. “

It is

in complete opposition to the meaning of th

e

show. In our Peer Ed show, m

any cast mem-

bers dealt w

ith drinking, going to parties, e

tc.

in a mature manner, creating a dialog between

parents and teenagers. T

his contract complete-

ly closes all dialogue.”

While a majority of U

rban students

appear to be opposed to the contract, n

ot all

students feel th

is way.

“As much as I

love the freedom and

trust Urban gives its

students, o

ne of the major

flaws I find with this is

the lack of discipline

where needed,” said Clara Hendrickson (’11),

who was a performer in 2009 Peer Ed Theater.

“Parents these days are (so

) worrie

d about be-

ing friends w

ith their kids th

at they don't ask

the uncomfortable questions.”

“I'm sorry,

but we're not perfect an-

gels, and sometim

es as a teenager we should

feel powerless,” said Hendrickson. “This c

on-

tract raises th

e question, 'S

hould parents and

students act as equals?' In my opinion, parents

should have ultimate authority

.”

Furthermore, Urban’s h

andbook has a

very clear stance on the use and possessio

n of

drugs and alcohol.

“As a school with significant re-

sponsibility for th

e growth and well-being of

young people,” reads the handbook, “Urban is

strongly opposed to the use of ill

egal drugs and

alcohol by minors. Drug and alcohol use is d

et-

rimental to the well-b

eing of the

individual and the school, is

prohibited by law in Cali-

fornia, and is incompatible

with the purposes and

objectives of Urban.”

erms o

f Cond

uct

TCONTRACT: Parent a

ssociatio

n agreement incite

s argument

by Jonathan Baer Staff Writer

6

7

Photo styling: Isabel MooreEditing: Sabrina WerbyDesign: Cassiel Chadwick

see CONTRACT

page 8

Some students a

re particularly upset th

at the

contract was re

leased on the heels of th

e Peer

Education Theater show, an Urban production

held each December, where stu

dents discuss

issues before an audience of U

rban students,

parents, and faculty.

“I am extremely disappointed in the

mistrust and misundersta

nding demonstrated

in the contract,” said Eli Melrod (’1

3), a mem-

ber of Urban's Peer Resource group and a

performer in the 2010 Peer Ed Theater. “

It is

in complete opposition to the meaning of th

e

show. In our Peer Ed show, m

any cast mem-

bers dealt w

ith drinking, going to parties, e

tc.

in a mature manner, creating a dialog between

parents and teenagers. T

his contract complete-

ly closes all dialogue.”

While a majority of U

rban students

appear to be opposed to the contract, n

ot all

students feel th

is way.

“As much as I

love the freedom and

trust Urban gives its

students, o

ne of the major

flaws I find with this is

the lack of discipline

where needed,” said Clara Hendrickson (’11),

who was a performer in 2009 Peer Ed Theater.

“Parents these days are (so

) worrie

d about be-

ing friends w

ith their kids th

at they don't ask

the uncomfortable questions.”

“I'm sorry,

but we're not perfect an-

gels, and sometim

es as a teenager we should

feel powerless,” said Hendrickson. “This c

on-

tract raises th

e question, 'S

hould parents and

students act as equals?' In my opinion, parents

should have ultimate authority

.”

Furthermore, Urban’s h

andbook has a

very clear stance on the use and possessio

n of

drugs and alcohol.

“As a school with significant re-

sponsibility for th

e growth and well-being of

young people,” reads the handbook, “Urban is

strongly opposed to the use of ill

egal drugs and

alcohol by minors. Drug and alcohol use is d

et-

rimental to the well-b

eing of the

individual and the school, is

prohibited by law in Cali-

fornia, and is incompatible

with the purposes and

objectives of Urban.”

FocusThe Urban Legend

urbanlegendstaff@gmail.com February 20118

Liquid cocaine. Blackout in a can. Four Loko. Before the controversial al-coholic energy drink was pulled from shelves in November, the media commonly referred to Four Loko as “liquid cocaine” or “blackout in a can.” Four Loko, which was sold in 23.5-ounce cans, had a 12 percent alcohol content and as much caffeine as five cups of coffee. Hoping to head off a threat by the Federal Drug Administra-tion to ban Four Loko, its manu-facturer, Phusion Projects, pulled it from store shelves on Nov. 16, removed the caffeine and reintro-duced it on Jan. 8 retaining its 12 percent alcohol content. So now the question is: Will Four Loko stay in favor with high schoolers and college kids as a quick and popular way to get drunk? In its original formulation, Four Loko was a potent brew: While the caffeine in the drink made sure that the drinker would stay alert, the alcohol would cause in-creasing intoxication. The Food and Drug Adminis-tration (FDA) Web site states that this combination is dangerous because the drinker is unable to assess his or her level of intoxica-

tion, meaning that a person will drink more because he or she doesn’t feel it. In an official state-ment, Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, former principal deputy commis-sioner of the FDA, declared that the “FDA does not find support for the claim that the addition of caffeine to these alcoholic bever-ages is ‘generally recognized as safe,’ which is the legal standard.” Although the FDA has targeted alcoholic energy drinks sold un-der the brand names Moonshot, Core High Gravity, Joose, and Max, Four Loko has attracted the most attention because of its pop-ularity. After reintroducing Four Loko, Phusion Projects released a state-ment maintaining its views. “We have repeatedly contended – and still believe, as do many people throughout the country – that the combination of alcohol and caf-feine is safe,” the statement said. “If it were unsafe, popular drinks like rum and colas or Irish coffees that have been consumed safely and responsibly for years would face the same scrutiny that our products have recently faced.“ Students are divided on the Four Loko controversy. Seventy percent of students who respond-ed to a Legend survey on Jan. 13 seemed disappointed that the drink had been modified, stating opinions such as, “It's fun to get

drunk off of Four Lokos because it gives you energy as opposed to making you more tired when you drink it.” The FDA seems to take issue specifically with alcoholic energy drinks because of their advertis-ing. Urban students appear to agree: 74 percent of Urban stu-dents who took the anonymous survey revealed that they believed the colorful, cheap, and canned Four Loko was being marketed specifically towards the demand

of a younger market for a drink that could quickly inebriate them while keeping them alert. ”On those nights when you have an unstoppable urge to get faded, Four Lokos are calling to you from the beverage aisle,” said an anonymous survey respon-dent, who added that “the bright colors and juicy flavors" are what attract young teens. The general consensus on the survey is that Four Loko is mar-keted towards teens and young

adults, rather than towards older drinkers. However, the 30 percent of Urban students who partici-pated in the survey raised points about the greater safety of Four Loko without caffeine, vocalizing the well-known dangers of Four Loko. “Caffeine in alcohol seems to be a bad mix,” said another anony-mous respondent. “I would never want to be both drunk and caffeinated at the same time.”

Four Loko 4 SaLe a map provided by the Phusion Web site shows stores that sell Four Loko within a one-mile radius of urban. The Web site is supposed to be accessed only by people over 21 years of age, but all the site requires for entry is a birth date.

As the song goes: Teen drinking is very badStudent survey finds some abstaining, others experimenting with alcohol use

Welcome to high school: It’s middle school on steroids. The workload, the people, the parties are amped up a notch or two, and students are confronted by temp-tations in conflict with the law, their families’ values, and their own moral beliefs. A Legend survey on Jan. 7 about alcohol use among Urban stu-dents revealed a range of prac-tices, from teens who see alcohol as a normal part of growing up, to those who avoid it entirely. “I think (drinking) is just part of being a teen,” wrote one sur-vey respondent, an 11th grader who drinks occasionally. “If you ever ask your parents if they drank in high school they'll prob-ably say yes.”

“At parties, no one drinks ca-sually,” a junior who drinks once or twice a semester wrote. “You have to be drunk in order to hook up with someone.” The survey consisted of 10 questions, including grade level, drinking habits, parents’ atti-tudes, and reasons for drinking. Out of 121 respondents in grades 9 through 12, 70 percent admitted to drinking. Most re-spondents acknowledged drink-ing only on “some weekends.” A majority of students reported that their parents espouse a “don’t ask don’t tell” approach to drinking. Three in four respondents said they drink to relax and have fun. Other reasons included: "To get in the party mood," "to look cool and fit in," and "to overcome shy-ness and insecurities."

The primary reason why Urban teens binge drink was inability to socialize without being "faded." Low self-esteem and peer pres-sure tied for second. Some students think peer pres-sure is over-hyped. Urban alum-na Liz Jenson (’08), a junior at Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology, noted how “people are really respectful of how much you want to drink. It’s easy to get around it if you do not want to.” Despite parental pressure to avoid alcohol, some students think high school is an important time to experiment and test lim-its. “High school is about ... having interesting and new experiences before you have a career to worry about and while (there are) peo-ple still in charge of you to help if you take things too far,” said one

sophomore, who nevertheless abstains from alcohol. A junior who drinks on some weekends wrote “teenagers need to know their limits before they go to college. If they don't, they'll be overwhelmed by the accessi-bility and excess of alcohol and end up hurting themselves.” Health experts differ in their approaches to teen drinking. Wil-liam Solomon, a pediatrician at Pacific Pediatrics Medical Group, thinks anyone under 17 having a “relationship” with alcohol—meaning imbibing even once —is cause for alarm. Some students agree. “It worries me that some of my peers seem to be reliant on al-cohol to have fun,” said Simone Hudson (’12). “Though I recognize that alco-hol use is a very personal choice,

by Marney KlineStaff Writer

by Jessie King FredelStaff Writer

Loco 4 Four Loko: Controversy continues over energy drinks

it makes me sad to see this de-pendence." “Teen drinking is abuse of kids' futures, (their) intelligence, (their) academic and social suc-cess, and their health,” said one freshman. But Jennifer Epstein, Urban health teacher, prefers self-aware-ness to hard rules. Being comfort-able in your own skin, she said, is the best approach to confront-ing alcohol. “It is harder,” she ac-knowledged, but “more sustain-able.” While underagedrinking is con-troversial, it happens, and with frequency. Urban students appear to think they are best served by health ed-ucation; room to make mistakes; and open-minded yet cautious parents who help make difficult decisions.

photo courtesy of www.drinkfour.com

Though Urban administra-tors did not create the contract, the Parent Association has used Urban resources – such as the Urban website and the parent master mailing list – to commu-nicate it to parents. If a parent chooses to agree with the terms of the contract, he or she must log into the parent-only section of the Urban website. Clearly, Urban itself has a stake in the debate. “I think the question really comes down to safety,“ said Assistant Head of School Charlotte Worsley. “Kids are ending up in the hospital,” observed Worsley. “Parties are getting out of hand, and police are being called. It’s happening. The question is, 'What do adults do when kids are not capable of keeping them-

selves safe?' That doesn’t mean every kid, but when there’s evidence over and over and over again about kids not keeping themselves safe, as an adult you can’t just go ‘Oh well.’ The stakes are frickin’ way too high.” According to a 2010 optional and anonymous HIPE survey, 250 students out of the 304 students who took the survey have tried alcohol in their lives. Sixty-six out of the 304 students said that they “drink whenever they go to parties.” Urban is not the first San Francisco school to have its parent community propose an agreement about their teens’ social well-being. The Jewish Community High School of San Francisco’s parent community also has a contract around teen

drinking and safety. “Our contract is called the Safety Home Network,” said Naomi Jatovsky, the co-president of the Parent Organization at JCHS. “For us, our feeling is that (the contract) is a way to create a culture in this school, a culture that we, as parents, want to have,” said Jatovsky. “We get that from the kids’ point of view it pissed them off big time, and I assume that is happening at Urban too,” Jato-vsky said. Smith-McCune confirmed that Urban's Parent Association was aware of JCHS’ contract. Student reaction to the contract has been primarily negative. According to a survey conducted by Peer Resource, 56 out of the 163 students disagreed with the contract; 56 had mixed feelings; six agreed with it; and 15 said the contract doesn’t affect them.

When the contract was origi-nally posted to the Urban web-site, many students expressed their opinions on the bottom of the contract, where parents were supposed to type their signature. In an e-mail sent to students on Jan. 26, Urban’s Director of Communications Kristen Bailey asked for diplomatic dialogue. “I would ask that you please share your opinions, frustrations (and even anger) on Speak Up and in conversation with other students and adults at school, rather than filling in the parents’ form on the website with rude comments and foul language,” the e-mail said. The student outcry could be a response to the lack of commu-nication between the Parent As-sociation and the student body when the contract was released. Even though an e-mail was sent out to all parents about the con-tract, students were not notified.

Nevertheless, Urban students have found ways to express their opinions. On the Speak Up fo-rum, an Urban online conference about current topics, 53 student comments about the parent con-tract have appeared as of Feb. 9. Urban’s Peer Resource also organized a lunchtime forum on Feb. 3, with more than 100 students and six faculty mem-bers squeezing into an Urban classroom to share their ideas. The forum was the “conversa-tion that never happened,” said Sarah Atkinson (’12), a member of Peer Resource, who led the forum. At a Feb. 7 all school meeting Julia Hankin ('11), a member of peer resource, announced that Peer Resource would be using the information and feedback they gathered at the forum to write a letter to the parent asso-ciation regarding the contract.

from page 6

Contract: Parent Agreement

From the moment you were born, we, the parents, have been amazed and somewhat terrified. Our purpose is to help you be the ‘best’ person, (happy, healthy, (w)holy) you can be, doing everything we can to ‘make it so,’ realizing, we cannot ‘make it so’ on our own,; there are too many other factors. Our mission is to get you safely and capably through high school, college, and maybe grad school, without you getting killed, or damaged for life. Whether you realize it, accept it, or not, you are the most important person in most of our lives: Geneti-cally, biologically, psychologically, socially, emotionally, spiritually and personally. End of story! No contest! We have been around; we have known about tragedies with friends and loved ones. We do not want it to happen to you. Our job is to protect you, and we know your job is to grow, learn, and be happy. We all learn by doing. Doing involves taking risks, and sometimes failing. Getting hurt happens. You will have broken hearts (sorry about that,) broken bones, be left out sometimes and sometimes have broken dreams. It happens. Just do not get killed, or damaged for life. Okay? Now to address the Parent’s As-sociation agreement: I will focus on what might not have been explicit. A dialogue about safety started with a couple folks a couple years ago. It is meant to build a parent community to fulfill our shared purpose. I will now go through the contract and clarify what went into making these points. 1. We did not buy the, “It’s safer for kids to be drinking in my house” idea. In addition to the negatives listed in the agreement, as adults we are the ‘hosts,’ and are legally liable for letting underage people ‘use’ in our houses. 2. In reference to the section on restricting access to meds/alcohol at home, it’s a pain to do. I may trust my kids and their friends, but when kids you don’t know are over: “Better to be safe than

sorry.” There are some stupid kids out there. 3. We want parents to talk to each other and call with ques-tions: How do you view drinking and drug use? Is my kid even invited? Are you going to be there and around? Could you use help supervising? 4. Regarding our need to call other parents: Duuh? “About your daughter’s party all next week? Oh, you’re in Paris next week? Do you have good insurance?” 5. Seeing our kid about to DUI: Duuh!! Think! Don’t be stupid, and if you do something dumb, don’t be stupid about how you do it! If you or your friends don’t fol-low these rules, I want my friends/fellow parents to handle it. 6. I want to know if a friend sees my kid messed up, and where to find him or her. If they do not let me know, they are not being a good friend to me, or my child. If it is a judgment call, let me make it. It is my child. 7. We want open, honest, full communication with the other parents in the parent community. (We want it with you as well, but we are realists.) We do not want any relations put at risk. That is why it is confidential. If another parent overhears something im-portant, or even a rumor, say a party at my house, while I’ll be gone, I want to know and I think it is their responsibility to tell me, there is a lot at stake, but, I don’t want their kid blamed. This is all just my opinion, talk to your parents about it, but: “It is not us versus you. It is just us. All of us, kids, parents, the school, the school community and even the broader community. We all have a responsibility and accountability to take care of each other. In this case it really does “take a village.” We, you, parents, the school, share the same goals — for you to be happy, healthy and prepared for life, long term, (it comes at you fast), and I hope we share a com-mon purpose, to do everything we can to help. “Live long and prosper."

As freshmen, we can eat on Haight Street on the first day of school. We have laptops and no Web site restrictions. We even participated in deciding on the grading policy, which will have a large impact on our high school experience. All this freedom is based in the trust that Urban has in its students — and the school’s belief that students who are treated as mature individuals capable of handling independence will grow into that capacity. With this contract, the Parent Association is both questioning that trust and limiting that free-dom, contradicting what Urban stands for. Our experience in the Peer Education Theater show was a prime example of how trust and communication are what we, as teenagers, need. It’s possible that some parents saw the Peer Ed show as an indication of the need for a contract. We couldn’t disagree more. While neither the show, nor the members in the show meant to con-done teenage drinking, we believe open dialogue about drinking is a necessity. The proposed contract threatens to eliminate that open dialogue, and destroys the two-

The dotted line: Contract has Urban taking sides

Urban Parentsthe Parent association

published a contract

last month to monitor

students' activities

outside of school

Charlotte blanC ('13)

& harry KrinsKy ('13)

performed in the

Peer education

theater show last

november

a Peer resoUrCe

lUnCh forUmheld on feb. 3 gave

impassioned students

a chance to share

their views

John o'Connell Jr.is the father of

tmo o'Connell ('12)

Opinionsurbanlegendstaff@gmail.com

9February 2011

The Urban Legend

Beyond the Tiger's den, intellect and emotion flourish

Imagine a childhood with no play dates or sleepovers, three hours a day of practicing violin or piano, and an expectation of straight A’s in every class. Welcome to the world of Amy Chua, a Yale Law professor whose new book about her parenting style, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom," was published on Jan. 11. On Jan. 8, an excerpt from Ch-ua’s book was printed in the Wall

Street Journal. Headlined “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” the excerpt contrasted Western and Eastern parenting. “When Western parents think they are being strict, they usually don’t come close to being Chinese mothers,” Chua wrote. “For example, my Western friends who consider themselves strict make their children practice their instruments 30 minutes a day, an hour at most. For a Chinese mother, the first hour is easy. It’s hours two and three that get tough.” She later describes an example when her youngest daughter, Lulu, struggled over a difficult piano piece. Chua did not allow her to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom until she mastered the piece. What kind of parenting is that?

Not letting your own kid use the bathroom? If my mother did not let me use the bathroom until I mastered a piece, I would associate anger and frustration with playing the piano. Amy Chua focuses on I.Q., but not on E.Q. — emotional intel-ligence. Playdates and sleepovers can define and affect one’s childhood, experiences her daughters never had growing up. Working hard in school is admirable, yet it’s important to have the choice to chose one’s activities and have the freedom to hang out with friends. Urban students’ reaction to Chua's book was critical. “I would not like (the parenting style),” said Claire Conklin, (’13). “I would hate my parents.” Adds Walker Willett, (’13): “You (would) lack social skills.” Like Conklin, he would be

unhappy with a mom like Chua because he would be deprived of the opportunity to make deci-sions that would earn him E.Q. Learning the fundamental skills of teamwork and cooperation is not addressed in Chua’s parenting. It would be one thing if Chua’s daughters preferred to play the piano instead of going on a sleepover, but they never had a choice — and I’m glad I did. Recently, a contract written by Urban's Parent Association aimed to create rules for parent com-munication in order to eliminate substance use by students. (Chua would never even consider letting her kids go to a party.) I agree with the many Urban students who have expressed anger towards aspects of the parent contract be-cause it treats kids as though they all have the same wants and needs.

Like the contract, which makes assumptions about all students, Chua’s parenting style ignores the fact that not all kids are created equal, and will not necessarily fit the Chua mold. If I had a tiger mom, I wouldn’t have the social skills that I've had the opportunity to develop. I would value friendships less, and feel uncomfortable interacting and talking with others. I wouldn’t have gone to Urban, because my mother would be grade-oriented and wouldn’t send me to a school where we didn’t receive graded assignments. It’s sad, because I know if I had a tiger mom, I wouldn’t have a close relationship with my mother. In fact, if I had a tiger mom, I wouldn’t know who I was. Why's that? Because I’d have a tiger mom commanding me who to be.

John m. o'Connell Jr.Guest Writer

Charlotte blanc and harry Krinsky

Guest Writers

Jamie friedmanStaff Writer

(The contract) will close opportunities for con-versation by setting such hard and fast rules that don't actually face the issues and don't cater to the needs of individuals.-Michela Weihl ('13)

Urban VoicesStudents at the Peer Resource Forum on Feb. 3, and on the Speak Up Forum, have been vocal about the Parent Association Agreement. Here are some selected comments by students.

Dear Urban community, by checking the little box at the bottom of this contract, stating that you agree, you have successfully revived and put back into effect the threat of an oppressive, tyrannical, and dictatorial Soviet Communism.-David Leon ('11)

Repetitively, generations disapprove of the actions of the next. It is neither Urban's place nor obliga-tion to involve itself in this ironic cycle nor the social/personal lives of their stu-dents to this extent. -Timmy Gonzalez-Crane ('11)

way street of student-parent com-munication, specifically because conversations among parents will be “confidential” and parents, upon signing, will have an allegiance to other adults that takes precedence over the relationship they have with their children. Talking to our parents about drugs and alcohol is hard enough without outside pressure. A stu-dent’s stance on drugs and alcohol should not be mixed with school policy or their peers’ parents’ opin-ions. Abstaining from signing the contract is not condoning drinking; rather, it is creating a safe environ-ment for students and parents to navigate the pressure of high school life together, without the interfer-ence of adults outside of the family. We are only in high school for four years; the rest of our lives will not be constricted or guided by this no-drinking parental contract. Our parents won’t always be there. Neither will the contract. Urban preaches in its mission statement that the school instills “a rigorous educational foundation to prepare them for college and beyond.” We’re grateful to go to a school that can offer us such implicit trust and respect. We expect the Par-ent Association will do the same.

photo by TMO O'Connell; used with permission from John O'Connell

photo by Sonja Bartlett

Parent association emphasizes parent-to-parent communication

Peer ed theater students say contract jeopardizes family trustPRO CON

For U.S. soccer fans, it was a nasty surprise.The FIFA Executive Committee voted Qatar as the host country for the 2022 World Cup on Dec. 1. The announcement, made in Zurich, Swit-zerland, came as a surprise to many, including the United States Soccer Federation, which had mounted an extensive bid that just fell short of winning in the final round of the selection. Sunil Gulati, the president of the United States Soccer Federation, was joined by former president Bill Clinton; U.S. national team star, Landon Donovan; and Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Free-man at the bidding in Zurich. The team made a strong case for the U.S. and even campaigned on Twitter and YouTube to get more support from Americans. Urban students reacted to the decision with dismay. Zoe Elkins (’12), who is a member of the girls varsity soccer team, said, “I was really upset because I want soccer to become a bigger sport in the U.S.” If the World Cup came to the

U.S., “it would have given soccer a bigger spotlight.” Rowan Puri (’13) was upset about the out-come of the voting but said, “it’s not as big a deal because (the) fan base is not as good (in the U.S.).” However, Puri is optimistic that

“as the (U.S. soccer) team gets better, we will get b e t t e r a s fans.” FIFA’s d e c i s i o n came after a

big push by the U.S. for the rights to host the next World Cup. During his presentation, Donovan ex-plained the importance of the growing pas-sion for soccer in the U.S. “As I’ve grown as a player, so too has our country’s love for the game,” he said, as quoted in a press release. “And for both of us, it started in ‘94, when FIFA allowed us the honor of hosting the World Cup.” Clinton recalled “going to watch (my daughter) Chelsea play when she was six

and seven years old, thinking that something magical was about to happen in America.” Clinton’s other central point was that the diversity of the U.S. was key for ticket sales and international representation. “We have the only nation you can put the World Cup (in) that can guarantee that no matter who makes the finals we can fill a stadium with home nation rooters,” Clinton said. This theme was demonstrated in a short film narrated by Morgan Freeman, in which people from all over the world showed their passion for soccer now coming to the U.S. You can view the video by going to the link below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QA0Rln5ruU The strongest argument for holding the World Cup in the U.S., however, was that it’s been done before: Having already hosted the World Cup in 1994, the stadiums are built and many of the logistics are worked out. Despite all of this, Qatar was selected. In an interview with The New York Times, FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter responded to the uproar very optimistically, saying, “we go to new lands.” Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad al-Thani, the head of the Qatar bid-ding team, predicted that the 2022 World Cup

U.S. suffers suprising loss to Qatar in hosting the 2022 World Cup

From a backyard hobby to a large company, Larry Peterson cruises to success

AmericAn soccer fAns (ABoVe) gather to watch a World Cup game projected on a screen at a fan

park in South Africa on June 12. LANDON DONOVAN (Left) dribbles the ball in the U.S.- Algeria game.photo (above) by steve evans and photo (left) by “jasonwhat” at flickr.com

will “present a new image of the Middle East — far away from clichés and closer to reality.” Qatar is the smallest country to ever host a World Cup, though it is also “one of the world’s fastest-growing economies,” according to The New York Times. Some accused Qatar of trading oil money for votes; others worry about record summer heat. But whether you like it or not, the World Cup is going to new lands.

Sportsurbanlegendstaff@gmail.com10

February 2011

The Urban Legend

“As I’ve grown as a player, so, too, has our country’s love for the game”

—Landon Donovan The Blues put up a battle

against Marin Academy

Read more about Urban sports at Sam Lucas’ blog:

http://urbanhighschool-sports.wordpress.com/

by Jenna WaldmanStaff Writer

Larry Peterson attended Western Oregon University to become a dentist. But while he was working hard to get his degree, another passion was lingering in his mind: Longboards. Little did he know then that this passion would lead him to a multimillion dollar company. What exactly is a longboard? A longboard is a type of skateboard that looks more like a surfboard or snowboard with wheels. It is longer, more flexible and more fun, according to Peterson, who’s also known as “Longboard Larry.” Longboards are used for cruising, downhill racing, carving hills, and transporta-tion. Peterson began building longboards for his brothers, friends and himself. Although long-boards existed at the time, they were hardly noticed and often confused with skateboards. Peterson then started an online forum to let people know about his passion for building longboards. Soon enough, many different people started asking him to build them boards. At this point, Peterson had a decision to make: If “I was going to con-tinue to pursue my degree

or continue to build longboards.” “I was tired of school, so I tried the longboard route,” Peterson said, in a phone interview from Salem, Ore., where he lives. Soon after the decision to pursue his passion, Peterson launched his company, LongboardLarry. Peterson says his job is thoroughly enjoyable, the best part being “designing new boards and coming up with something that no one else has done.” Although Peterson gets to create his boards based off his own inspirations, he also enjoys customizing them to fit the needs of his cus-tomers. “What makes us different (from other longboard companies,) is that the boards are all being handmade by us in the shop,” Pe-terson said. If a customer wanted his or her board to be re-shaped, the compa-

ny would be more than happy to tweak the shape. If a customer wanted the painted de-sign on the board to be different, Longboard-Larry would have the design customized. Peterson thinks that the key differentiation between his company and other longboard companies is that “it is not a big deal for us to customize boards.” Peterson believes that the sport of long-boarding “has grown a lot and is still grow-ing.” “There are so many different types of boards for different styles of riding,” Peter-son observed. “Someone might just want a carving board, and there are many different boards for that. Someone might want a board

for downhill racing and there are differ-ent boards to do that.” If someone

wants a board that they can just throw on their backpack, there’s a mini-longboard for that. Due to

all of the varieties of longboards, there is really a type of longboard for just about anyone. Peterson’s

customers range from teenagers to adults. “The older guys want to have fun and cruise around too,” Peterson said. The sport of longboarding has grown tremendously in the past 10 years, yet still

remains unfamiliar to Urban students. Of 100 students responding to a Legend survey, 34 students did not know what a long-board was. Out of those who knew what a longboard was, 48 students did not own a longboard. However, some are familiar with the growing sport of longboarding, and 18 students own a longboard. Out of those 18 students, four students use their longboard daily. Max Berman (‘11) is an avid longboarder who uses his longboard to travel to and from school every day. Berman owns two longboards, one of which he made himself. According to Berman, longboarding is all about “speed, distance, and most of all, voyaging.” Berman has found a deep connection to the sport of longboarding. “As a middle schooler, I was maturing to a larger world, a San Francisco with more destinations and locales. I would find myself yearning to explore San Francisco on my own and it was through the carving of hills with my longboard that one could say I grew up,” said Berman. “Unlike skateboarding, longboarding is a much more introspective activity,” Berman said.

by Jason CintiStaff Writer

photo courtesy of

longboardlarry.com

Coaches bring fresh vibe to Urban boys basketball program

It used to be that the Blues were, well, blue. Years of losing seasons dampened the spirits of Urban’s basketball players. But this year is different. While the boys varsity and junior varsity basketball teams had rough starts in their first series of Bay Counties League – West games, expectations are still high thanks to a successful preseason. The varsity team won 10 out of its 14 preseason games. The JV team succeeded as well, winning eight out of 11 games. In addition, the JV team won a consolation round over Lick-Wilmerding High School in the “Best of the Bay” tournament, hosted by Berean Christian School in Walnut Creek. Despite preseason success, both teams

lost their first two games to Stuart Hall High School and Marin Academy, but managed to triumph over the Drew School. According to Maxpreps.com, an online, high school sports news website, the varsity’s league record as of Feb. 6 was 2-6, compared with a 1-7 record in 2009-2010. The JV league record as of Feb. 6 was 2-6 as well, compared with a 3-7 record in 2009-2010. On Jan. 25, the JV and varsity teams took on their rivals , University High’s Red Devils. The JV team lost by a narrow margin of four points, and varsity fell to the Devils after a hard-fought battle. The final score was 32-70. Joe Skiffer, varsity head coach and as-sistant athletic director, says that University was “by far the best team we played,” and that “not only are they a talented team, but they play hard.” The question that many raise, though, is

why the regular season unfolded so differ-ently from the preseason? Skiffer believes that in the preseason, “we were more talented than a lot of the teams we played,” and “we fought” and “played hard and smart.” Nate Cohen (’13), a starting guard on varsity, says that during the preseason “ev-erything was just clicking, we were playing good defense, and we were hustling.” However, in the regular season, “we are playing better competition,” Skiffer said, which has caused the boys to “lose some confidence.” In order for the team to turn the season around, Skiffer says, the boys “need to have a belief that they are more than capable and just as deserving to win a game as any other team in our league.” Cohen says that even though “we don’t necessarily have that many skilled players,

or anyone who really excels in something, we really have to focus on defense.” Skiffer says a positive approach is critical: “It’s my goal, and it’s probably my job, to get people to think a different way.” Losses aside, a different vibe is radiating from St. Agnes gymnasium this year. Greg Angilly, director of athletics, credits the change to the fact that “(frosh-soph) Coach Frank Davis and Coach Skiffer have brought a lot of positive energy. They are pushing for us to get bigger, faster, and stronger every day.” Angilly also thinks that the JV and var-sity boys “are practicing harder than they practiced last year — maybe that’s because they’ve had a few more wins.” For Angilly, the biggest question is “if the boys expect to win every time they take the court.”

Sportsurbanlegendstaff@gmail.com11

February 2011

The Urban Legend

score of the boys varsity soccer victory over Lick-

Wilmerding on Oct. 20

By The Numbers

broken arm for Hannah Sears (‘12) when playing a game against

Leadership

1 Th re e - p o i n ter s

shot by Jason Cinti (‘12) against

Marin Academy

3 71

by David ImmermanStaff Writer

47 girls signed up to try out for spring soccer. Tryouts began on Monday, Feb 7.

percent of Urban students who wanted the Green Bay Packers to win Super Bowl XLV

Questions:

Biggest strength on the court?

Four varsity basketball play-ers were asked questions about the sport of basket-ball, their team, and their hobbies. See below for their answers!

Story by Jenna Waldman and Jason Cinti. Photos by Isabel Moore and

Sonja Bartlett. Carly Kuperschmid

(‘12)

360º dunking

JulianMatulich

(‘12)

Those post moves

Lily Burns(‘11)

Communication. I try really hard to be talking and communicating with

my team constantly.

Selby Cohen (‘11)

Beasting squeebs and bringing the pain

Favorite basketball player?Brooke Smith (played forward for the Stan-ford women’s team)

Steve Nash Rucky Rubio Shaquille O’Neill / Kevin Garnett

Best pump-up song?“Bust a Move” by Young MC

“Let the Beat Build” by Lil’ Wayne

“Whip my hair back and forth”

by Willow Smith

“‘Till I Collapse” by Eminem

Position?

Rival team?

One Urban teacher you would want on your team?

Funniest quote from a teammate?

One personal goal for playoffs?

Favorite inspirational movie?

Personal best (number of points)?

Forward/guard

Convent

Leroy Votto

“Is Coca-Cola sweet or sour?” -Jenna Waldman (’12)

“To know all my team-mates really well as players and people.”

“Finding Nemo”

-0.5

Point guard

Miami Heat

Scott Foster running the post

“Yeah, it’s my last night in Rincon, I’m trying to party” -Alex Wu (’12)

Dunk

“Chariots of Fire”

18

Post

You already know

Does Joe count?

“Did you just lose your finger?” –Nicki

Greenberg (’13)

Destroy

“Hoosiers”

14 this season but I’m aiming higher!

Power forward

Stuart Hall

Dan Murphy

“I have a satchel of homework tonight” -Jordan Assaf (’11)

Win first round of NCS

“Lord of the Rings”

23

HOLLYWOOD Bollywood Cabooseurbanlegendstaff@gmail.com February 2011

The Urban Legend

and

True Grit

photo courtesy of moviesinla at flickr.com

The King'sSpeech

photo courtesy of Lancashire City Council at flickr.com

And the Oscar goes to… The 83rd Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood and High-land Center. The award ceremony will be televised on ABC and hosted by ac-tors James Franco and Anne Hathaway. The first Academy Awards Ceremony took place in 1929 and since then 2,768 Oscar statuettes have been awarded. As Oscar’s popularity has increased, how-ever, so has the secrecy surrounding the awards. Three insiders who work in the film industry spoke with the Legend about the mysteries behind Oscar. Jon Macht, an Urban parent, who is a director, editor, and screenwriter and who has prepared “the movies and clips that you watch when the awards are an-nounced” for the ceremony. The event , he said, is “a giant celebration … that the whole world watches on television, and you'll never forget being a part of that.” In the past, winners of the first Acade-my Awards Ceremony were announced months in advance. Now, the ballots are mailed to the firm and hand-counted. This secrecy makes the Oscars excit-ing and shrouds the voting process in an element of mystery. Jeffrey Brown, an Urban parent, and industry veteran Michael Kirchberger, are members of the academy and described what goes on behind the scenes. Kirchberger is a supervising sound editor and has worked on films such as The Sixth Sense. He is currently working on the HBO movie Too Big to Fail. Brown, also an Urban parent, is an Academy member who won an Oscar for directing Molly’s Pilgrim in the Best Short Film (live action) category in 1986. He has directed, produced and written numerous other films. According to Academy guidelines, all of the members of the Academy vote for nominees for the Best Picture Cat-egory. For the other categories, only the members from the specific branch select the nominees. In the final vote, all of the members vote for all of the categories. Voting for the nominees is based on a “preferential scale,” said Kirchberger.

For example, members choose and rank their top 10 nominees for the Best Pic-ture category. Throughout the years, controversies have arisen over the subjective nature of the voting. “In reality, people are peo-ple,” Kirchberger said. “Let’s say an art-ist is old, a movie is good but not exactly the best. There is a lot of sympathy … even though they should not, (people) vote on past career.” “The hardest part about judging is there are so many great films,” said Brown. “It’s like choosing between an apple or an orange — both are amazing fruits.” Studios try to influence the voting process. “For example, Paramount courts Oscar members, but there are strict guidelines,” Brown said. “They cannot do anything but screen the films and send us all the films that (they) think could win.” "Studios spend a lot of money in The New York Times (and other media sources)," said Kirchberger. "There are huge ads to try to influence and trying to get recognition.” In addition, there are, “screenings in New York, Los An-geles, some in San Francisco and, since it’s Hollywood, Maui and Aspen." The popularity and renown of the awards ensures that “Oscars make salaries go up,” Kirchberger said. For Brown, the result of winning an Oscar means his film is “much more widely seen.” “What it has given me is access. I can get to anyone that I need to and I can navigate Los Angeles because I have an Oscar” he said. No one can deny the influence that the Oscars hold today. As Brown said, his Oscar statue, “has a strange power. People want to touch it when they come over and driving around Los Angeles that night” it was the same. He described standing on the stage after winning an Oscar. “I wasn’t tak-ing it seriously until I looked at direc-tor Akira Kurosawa and he was looking at me," said Brown. "I thought, ‘oh my God — this is happening,’ and next to him was Jack Nicholson, and then John Huston. “I suddenly got it — several billion people were watching,” Brown said.

Inside Look at the Oscarsby Adrienne von Schulthess

Staff Writer

True Grit contains just the right amount of grit. In fact, You may need to grit your teeth in preparation. From the opening scenes, 14-year-old Mattie Ross illumi-

nates the screen with her quick wit. She wheedles her way into hiring a U.S. Mar-shal (Jeff Bridges) and a Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) to search for Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), who murdered her father. Mattie is intent on finding and hanging the outlaw herself. Complete with bandits and dead men in trees, the trio’s journey is perfectly col-ored with barbarism (the Marshal Rooster Cogburn shoots a greasy cabin dweller who stabs his comrade), humor (an absurd encounter between the protagonists and a bearded, bearskin-clad mountain man) and combinations (as when Cogburn grabs and rolls around the Ranger LaBoeuf’s re-cently half-severed tongue, saying, “Ahll jus’ yank it fer you”). Mattie’s undying tenacity towards avenging her father’s death is so straight-forward that it doesn’t call for an excess of emotional drama. But her bond with her fellow travelers is apparent, especially when Rooster Cogburn sucks and spits snake venom out of her hand and carries her to safety. So let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: True Grit is completely worthwhile.

The King’s Speech, directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler, ex-plores and narrates the true story of King George VI (Colin Firth). The king, also known as “Bertie,” struggles with a stam-mer rooted in emotional suffering and

lack of self-confidence. When left sud-denly with the responsibilities of leading England, Bertie’s wife (Helena Bonham Carter) encourages him to see a speech therapist to treat his stammer. The vibrant Geoffrey Rush plays Ber-tie’s speech therapist Lionel Logue, who uses unconventional practices to rid the King of his stammer. In one memorable moment, Bertie successfully reads Shake-speare’s Othello while Logue blasts music in the background. The King’s Speech is both inspiring and thought provoking; viewers find them-selves rooting for Bertie and his success as king. Logue and Bertie develop a strong bond throughout the movie. Logue listens to Bertie’s struggles as a child who was teased for his stammer. The King’s Speech is a movie to see; it encourages hard work, perseverance, and friendship. Firth’s acting demonstrates his focus and talent. Rush also gives a comi-cal performance as Lionel Logue. Walking away from the film, one feels inspired and stirred by its lesson and moral: with hard work and optimism, you can achieve any goal you set your mind to.

Bollywood is India’s Hollywood, an industry rivaling Hollywood in its popularity. Whether or not Bollywood movies present an accurate depiction of South Asian culture is up for debate, but Bollywood movies undoubtedly have a lot to offer. Movies that come out of Bollywood are known for their elaborate sets, high drama, complicated and emotional plot twists, long run times, and musical numbers. Intrigued? Or just bored by the good old American Oscars? Here’s a quiz designed to find you a perfect fit for your first Bollywood film.

The Movie Quiz

Your opinion on WikiLeaks:A) I’m glad somebody finally thought of doing that. Information should be free!B) Chaos doesn’t serve any one government well, and that’s what Wiki Leaks provoked. I ought to just be content to laugh about the Libyan leader’s Ukrainian nurse.C) Organized crime should take over the government. Therefore, I’m glad Julian Assange is paving the way for my friends and I.D) Don’t really have an opinion. Who cares about it! Doesn’t apply to my life.

Grading Policy Changes:A)Grades are for slaves of the system!B) Grades won’t ruin my life. I can deal with the truth. It’s not so bad when you can sing and dance about it!C) There was a grading policy change? When did that happen?D) I like that it’s changing the culture of the school. Just look at the “Speak Up” forum’s enthusiasm these days. Changes mean we get more interesting.

When it comes to FirstClass:A)I don’t believe in FirstClass. I think it’s exclusive, like our school. We should make education universal.B) It helps me get my work done. Simple as that. C) I like planning my latest bank heist by using my FirstClass email. Don’t worry, I won't get caught. I’m in cahoots with Tech Support.D) A constant in my unpredictable life.

Awaara (1951): Mostly a’sYour answers indicate you are a Communist with a weakness for love stories! Your allegiances lie with Che Guevara and the hammer and sickle, and you’ll meet some kindred spirits in Awaara. The film will satisfy your zeal for socialist propaganda, as Leftist politics made it popular in the U.S.S.R. back in the Cold War days.

Jab We Met (2007): Mostly b'sYour answers indicate that you have a dual nature of practicality and free-spirited-ness, though at times these conflicting traits can’t seem to agree. Like Aditya and Geet, Jab We Met’s co-stars, you’ll come to the conclusion that “all is fair in love” – and realize that life is too important to be taken seriously! Your cynical side will contemplate just forgetting you read this quiz; however, listen to Geet. She knows what she’s talking about. Give Jab We Met a try.

Deewar (1975): Mostly c'sYour answers show that if you weren’t in school, you might be behind bars. For that reason, you’ll dig Deewar. This film culminates in a battle between the head of a 1970s crime syndicate and his police officer brother. Modeled after Asian 1960’s gangster films, Deewar will appeal to your questionable lifestyle and miscreant tendencies.

Race (2008): Mostly d'sYou’re undecided about everything. As the Bollywood movie with the most plot twists, with a twist per every 25 minutes roughly, you’ll settle right into its mania - that is, of course, until you begin to cringe at some pretty unforgivable misogyny peppered throughout the movie. Race can be called a lot of things - but boring is not one of them.

by Megan MaddenStaff Writer

by Annakai Geshlider

Staff Writer

by Jamie Friedman

Staff Writer