With so many changes affecting our lives as students, it’s easy to feel overstimulated. When exploring the effects of energy drinks, which are widely consumed by Palo Alto High School’s student body, we realized the fast pace of our world around us fit this issue’s theme: overstimulation. With events like Charlie Kirk’s assassination, changes to the college admissions processes and new phone policies in classrooms, “overstimulated” is certainly how our staff
has felt since returning from summer break.
Our editorial “Civil Discourse” shares Verde’s views on Kirk’s death. As a staff, most of us did not agree with many of Kirk’s opinions, but we do not condone a person’s death for any reason, especially when it relates to expressing free speech. This is extremely immoral, and contradictory to our democratic values.
Energy drinks are a common stimulant used by many students. “Buzz Kill” by Keira Ling and additional reporting by Ryan Shin explores the negative effects associated with these drinks. With energy drinks being so prevalent in youth culture, we see teens making it part of their daily routine and ignoring the consequences that widespread usage exposes them to.
Changes within college legacy admissions are addressed in a news story written by Ryan Saket. In response to Stanford University’s recent decision to bring back legacy admissions, we as a publication believe this provides an unfair advantage to students without familial connections, as is explored in our Stanford legacy editorial.
With the Trump Administration responsible for many changes our country is undergoing, the clash of opposing ideas is often fought through protests. Thousands of people came together on the Peninsula on Labor Day to express their opposition to the administration. The 17x17k protest, which aimed to create a 17-mile-long human chain along El Camino Real with a group of 17,000 protestors, is covered in “Protest Against the Powerful” by Leela Kulkarni and Shaurya Thummalapalli.
With all the changes and overstimulation we face, it can be hard to stay centered. We hope that this issue informs you of our current state as teens living through a time of tremendous social and academic change. In all the chaos, one thing remains clear: our generation is paying attention.
On the cover
Palo Alto High School senior Juli Spreckelmeyer holds an energy drink in an edited photo taken by Editor-in-Chief Kensie Pao. Illustrations of pink lightning bolts and blue detail, drawn by Art Director Ethan Bradley, shine out from the Red Bull, representing the high energy in this issue’s stories.