local – The Oracle

Halal, kosher values govern food, social interactions

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 20:36:28 +0000

Senior Yahya Mirza stared down the track. He had not had any food or water in over 12 hours because he was fasting for Ramadan, and he was about to run a 400-meter race. Fatigue and weakness weighed him down as he took his place on a lane, anticipating the painstaking race before him.

Nevertheless, he made it through. After finishing the track meet, Mirza was physically drained, but his spirits were lifted.

“I realized that there are many other people who do (track) while fasting,” he said. “It gave me a new appreciation for the mental strength involved in the halal lifestyle.”

Mirza is one of many Muslims who partake in a halal lifestyle. This lifestyle is based on the concepts of “halal” (allowed or permissible) and “haram” (forbidden), which are taught in the Quran, the sacred scripture of Islam. The natural state of everything is halal, and things are haram only if specified in the Quran — pork, for example, is haram because pigs are considered unclean. These concepts apply to aspects of life beyond food, including social norms and individual beliefs.

“Universally, (the halal lifestyle) is no pork, no alcohol, no drugs,” Mirza said. “But there’s more to it with the halal
lifestyle. I see the halal lifestyle as my moral code, along with the Islamic moral code.”

Freshman Hana Siddeek, who is also Muslim, noted that the distinctions between haram and halal aren’t always simple.

“There’s some circumstances nowadays where there’s not something specifically stated, so you have to use logic and reason and the sayings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, to infer the right decision,” she said. “There’s also varying degrees of disliked, allowed, permissible and encouraged.”

The strictness with which the lifestyle is followed also varies. Siddeek and her family are flexible with some things because of their personal beliefs and choices.

“Gelatine is sometimes taken from the insides of a pig, so a lot of Muslims won’t eat gelatine unless it’s halal gelatine,”
she said. “But my parents (took) a class and their teacher told them that gelatine is chemically reformed — it’s a completely different thing and not actually pork. So, I eat gelatine.”

Nevertheless, finding food options can be difficult. Students may opt for vegetarian options simply because finding halal-certified food options can be challenging. While Mirza has faced these difficulties, he also noted that those at Gunn do their best to make allowances.

“You can’t necessarily eat (school lunch) depending on which family you’re from,” Mirza said. “People (at Gunn) are supportive and they understand the restrictions that I have. I feel like Gunn makes the halal lifestyle relatively easy.”

Outside the realm of food, haram and halal also govern other aspects of daily life, including social interactions.

“I can hang out with my friends just fine, but if my friends are making bets or playing poker, I just don’t put any money in,” Mirza said. “(Living halal) also teaches me how to create my own boundaries so people don’t cross them.”

For Siddeek, part of living halal is not dating.

“I don’t date,” she said. “This is a reason why I prefer juvenile fiction, because a lot of the young-adult fiction features people doing stuff that they wouldn’t normally do unless they were married, but they’re not married. That makes me a little uncomfortable.”

Ramadan is still another crucial aspect of living halal. During this sacred ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast, waking up before sunrise for a meal and praying afterward. While fasting, Muslims do not eat or drink, including water. Prayers are segmented throughout the day: dawn (“Fajr”), early afternoon (“Dhuhr”), later afternoon (“Asr”), sunset (“Maghrib”) and evening (“Isha”).

These daily prayers allow Mirza time for introspection. While he tries to pray five times a day, most days outside of Ramadan, he prays once in the early morning and once before bed.

“Living halal affects me in a positive manner because every (day) through prayer, I get to reflect upon my own feelings
and show gratitude towards my own life,” he said. While many of Siddeek’s experiences with Islam have been shaped by her parents, she has gradually learned to embrace and interpret the religion in her own way.

“As I learn about (Islam), I’ve started to (follow) it more of my own accord because I understand it,” she said. “Just learning by myself and learning from my parents’ guidance has helped me to live this way.”

Summer provides opportunities for engagement in local activities

Amann Mahajan and Irene Tsen — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 05:36:17 +0000

Brandon Seow: Engineering classes

A Taser alarm: It may sound slightly odd, but it’s what sophomore Brandon Seow spent six weeks of his summer on.

Following a weeklong family vacation to French Polynesia, Seow took two engineering classes in hopes of creating a portfolio before applying to the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science, or COSMOS, next summer. It was in his first class, a six-week course on engineering fundamentals at West Valley College, that he and his groupmates decided to create an alarm that stunned its user prior to going off.

The proposal was initially a joke, according to Seow. “It was right in the beginning (of the course) when we were supposed to shout out ideas to the group,” he said. “One of my peers shouted out ‘Taser alarm,’ which sounded funny at first, but somehow the teacher accepted it.”

During the class, Seow and his groupmates created a design, ordered the necessary parts — including electrode patches and wires to hook to phones — and then assembled the contraption. Though Seow’s work mainly involved writing code, he also aided with the physical engineering.

With limited supplies and an unavailable teammate, alongside a slew of bugs typical of an engineering project, Seow’s group faced its fair share of troubles. “We waited for a while longer than we should have to start building (the alarm) in real life — putting the parts together — because we had to do a lot of prior research,” he said. “Our project was one of the harder ones out of all the groups’.”

Still, the team was able to troubleshoot and ended up finishing on time. Beyond engineering skills, Seow also gained friendships from the course. “It’s fun because I get to meet students of all ages,” he said. “I have friends there who are in college, past college and going to be a junior (in high school) next year. So being able to talk with them and relate to them is nice.”

Overall, Seow appreciated the versatility of the class, which always kept him interested: From circuit building to coding Arduino, there was always something new to learn. “Every day is just a little different,” he said.

Rishay Jain: Astrophysics internship

Senior Rishay Jain’s work touched the stars at his Lockheed Martin internship this summer, where he studied solar flares: explosions of electromagnetic radiation or plasma from the sun that can travel up to 3,000 kilometers a second. “If, by chance, this plume of material hits the Earth, and is able to penetrate Earth’s protective magnetic field, we could be severely impacted,” he wrote in an interview follow-up note. “Astronauts would be in extreme danger, air force/military operations could be interrupted, and civilians could experience power and communications blackouts.”

Through working in the Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center, Jain is developing an application that helps scientists track solar flares and their evolution. His tool analyzes photos of the sun’s surface to detect where, when and how often flares occur, with the goal of predicting them more accurately.

Jain’s application builds on the work of previous Gunn interns at Lockheed Martin. They, like him, were part of the decadeslong joint program that sends a few rising seniors from Gunn to intern at the company during their junior-to-senior-year summer. “While I’ve learned a lot of new concepts for my projects at Lockheed, I have to apply nearly everything I’ve learned in the rigorous math, science and engineering courses I’ve taken at Gunn, using everything from vector math from Analysis to electromagnetic waves from chemistry and physics, and even computer-vision/-programming techniques from GRT (Gunn Robotics Team),” Jain wrote.

At networking events, Jain has been able to learn from the people who work at Lockheed. During the 10-year-anniversary celebration of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a NASA sun imager, he heard about the project’s challenges and highlights firsthand. “There’s more than just engineering,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that go into these projects, and there’s a lot of collaboration and teamwork spirit.”

Jain will continue to add more features to his application to analyze different types of data over the next eight months of his internship. “There are real-world impacts to the kind of work that happens over there,” he said.

Beverly Lamis: Circus camp counselor and lifeguard

Junior Beverly Lamis juggled the demands of two jobs and walked the tightrope of responsibility this past summer. A counselor at 888 Monkeys Circus Camp and a lifeguard at Greenmeadow Pool and Community Center, Lamis both taught and supervised children, learning new skills along the way.

Lamis and her twin brother, Jack Lamis, made a last-minute decision to become counselors at the camp after hearing about the opportunity from stage tech teacher Jennifer Ellington, who is also one of the directors of the camp. At the camp, the twins taught circus arts — trapeze, juggling, acrobatics, stilts and more — to kids aged 5 to 14.

As a counselor, Lamis ran stations that students rotated through, each focusing on a different skill. “We’re teaching the kids how to do it and pushing them further than what they think they can do,” she said. “For the (skills that require balance), it’s a lot of just spotting the kids because they’re pretty young.”

At performances, Lamis got to see her teaching and the students’ hard work pay off. “By the end of the week, most kids are able to do whichever (skills) they really tried hard at,” she said. “Usually, at the end of the week, we show all of the skills that they learned to the parents.”

The stories her boss told and the specialists the camp brought in gave Lamis a newfound understanding of circus life. “It’s been a surreal experience,” she said. “My boss, he’s part of the circus, so it’s opened my eyes to a whole different volume of life living (as) part of the circus and having to be on the go all the time.”

Apart from her full-day job as a camp counselor, Lamis set aside time to complete summer homework in preparation for classes, go to the gym and work at the Greenmeadow Community Center, where she watched over swimmers as a lifeguard and did maintenance work around the pool and bathrooms.

Despite younger students’ temper tantrums and unruliness, Lamis loved working with them. “It’s really fun to teach them how to do something and then watch them succeed and build on it,” she said. “They always just love to show you the littlest things, and it’s so fulfilling seeing the joy on their faces after they’ll get one trick, and they’ll start to get it over and over again.”

Local Restaurants Offering Takeout: Philz Coffee

Sophia Stern, Business Manager, Social Media Editor — Sun, 24 May 2020 22:43:59 +0000

The coronavirus pandemic has forced many local businesses to close, due to the social distancing guidelines set by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Philz Coffee, a coffee shop popular among Gunn students with two locations in Palo Alto has made adjustments to meet social distancing guidelines.
“It’s been changing gradually. But right now, we are at the point where the customers don’t go inside at all,” barista David Virin said. Instead, customers wait outside and receive their drinks from a table at the door. Workers and customers are separated by a screen.
Customers are encouraged to keep their distance from each other while waiting for their drinks. Markers have also been put on the sidewalk so people can distance themselves. “The people in line have to be at least six feet away from each other,” he said. “If there is a big group of people gathering outside we’ll try to tell them not to do it, or go home.”
Philz has also stopped all in person ordering. Customers must preorder their drinks on the Philz mobile app. “It’s only going to be mobile for at least a few months, but maybe in July or August [in person ordering will be available]” Virin said. “It depends on what the government says.”
Precautions have been taken to keep workers safe. “Everyone is wearing gloves and masks inside the building. We also sanitize everything and wipe down the tables,” he said.
The new restrictions have posed some challenges. Wearing face masks is not comfortable,” Virin said. “Talking to customers who are also wearing a face mask is kind of hard. If they’re wearing a face mask too, you can’t hear each other.”
While the pandemic hasn’t impacted Virin financially, some of his coworkers have been affected due to smaller staffs. “Some people aren’t working anymore and they can only apply for unemployment,” he said.
Philz has been open for over a month and has gradually started to extend their hours. Currently, they are open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. “It’s definitely been harder [to generate business] because for a while a lot of people didn’t even know we were open,” Virin said. “But it’s been getting better because people are finding out that we are actually open.”

Looking on the bright side: community and neighborhood

Angela Wong, News Editor — Sat, 23 May 2020 04:40:12 +0000

Our current shelter-in-place order, which has infiltrated seemingly every corner of our lives, is undoubtedly a stressor that has caused much financial and mental anguish. This does not necessarily mean that we’re alone. In fact, now more than ever, the local Palo Alto community has come together to show support for our essential workers and to spread hope and love to everyone affected. Economic and emotional support, of course, is a unified effort, and there are a myriad of ways that you can show resilience and empathy amid these unprecedented times.

Checking in with neighbors and loved ones is a great way to help out your community. This can be done in quite a few ways: try calling or texting your relatives to make sure they’re staying safe and have someone to talk to, especially during these dreary times indoors. They may not outwardly show it, but friends could also be going through a rough time, so taking a few minutes out of your day to let them know you’re thinking of them could be immensely helpful.

Additionally, there are many people in our community who are especially vulnerable to the virus—pregnant women and the elderly, for example—so consider asking if they need help, whether it be taking their dog on their daily walks (you’d be helping out someone in need while taking a much-needed walk outside) or shopping for groceries (and, while following safety precautions, leaving the necessary goods on their doorstep).

While there are many ways to become more involved, it can be difficult to know where to start. Consider, then, joining Gunn Cares: a Facebook group of like-minded students, alumni and local community members who share safe and generous ways to help out those who may also be going through a difficult time amid the shelter-in-place. This includes tutoring students who need help in understanding their online school work or studying for their upcoming standardized tests, writing inspirational notes and letters to front-line workers or senior citizens and donating to raise money to support essential workers.

Certain businesses have also contributed to bringing the local community together by offering free goods to essential workers and citizens. Starbucks, for one, had offered free coffee to health care workers and police officers for months. Krispy Kreme had likewise offered a free dozen donuts to anyone who works in the medical sector. And Headspace, a meditation service, is still offering a free subscription and full access to its libraries of meditations for everyone who needs a moment of relaxation and mindfulness amid these difficult times.

Lately, there have also been various community-wide acts of appreciation for the essential workers that risk their lives for the safety of ours each and every day they step outside of their homes. In lateate April, for instance, public safety officers from across Silicon Valley formed “clapping zones” to cheer for the doctors and health care workers at Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. In fact, various “clapping zones” and gratuitous, celebratory drive-by parades have become increasingly common amid the shelter-in-place order.

If you’re still wondering how to contribute, remember that every act of kindness, both big and small, is important. If you’d rather stay safe indoors and not have direct contact with others, consider making a few signs of appreciation for essential workers and community members that you can place in your front yard or by your door. For the last several months, we’ve shown collective resilience in the face of fear, panic and danger. Let’s continue finding the courage within ourselves, even in the bleakest and loneliest of times, to fight the virus together—six feet at a time.

Tips for eating sustainably

kayav2 — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 16:59:18 +0000

Written by Kaya van der Horst

1. Buy locally grown and raised foods.

Besides supporting local farm families, local food is fresher since it is not flown in from another continent.

2. Have a weekly Meatless Monday.

Beans, nuts and tofu serve as excellent protein substitutes, which are not only cheaper than meat, but are also an eco-friendly alternative that help reduce fossil fuel dependence. According to the WorldWatch Institute, around 28 calories of fossil fuel energy are needed to produce one calorie of meat, while only 3.3 calories of fossil fuel energy are needed to produce one calorie of a plant protein.

3. Go organic.

Buying organic foods promotes a less toxic environment for all living things through the reduction of toxins and farm pollution. Since going organic can be pricey, try to prioritize dairy, meat and fruit and vegetables such as berries, apples and spinach.

4. Compost food waste.

It’s an easy way to enrich your soil while extending the life of landfills. If you don’t have space for an outdoor compost pile, you can just as easily compost indoors with the use of a special bin. Compostable items include yard trimmings, eggshells, paper, fruits, vegetables and coffee grounds.

6. Buy seasonal produce.

Forget buying cherries and bananas from Ecuador during the winter. Go for the local apples and oranges instead, which will be more nutritious and less expensive. Foods that were harvested early to endure long distance shipping won’t have the full complement of nutrients they previously had.

Palo Alto students hold teen photography fundraiser event

The Oracle — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 21:21:39 +0000

Written by Evalyn Li

The “Eyes” fundraiser was held at the Mitchell Park Library on Oct. 18. It displayed and sold Paly and Gunn students’ works as well as those of a local professional photographer. The event raised around $900, which will be donated to a Tibet based non-profit school for blind children, Braille Without Borders, through local Bay Area Friends of Tibet.

Courtesy of Ilana Silverstein

Junior photographers Jady Tian, Kelly Liu, Janis Iourovitski, Julia Huang and Ilana Silverstein began planning the fundraiser last spring. Tian wanted to fundraise for a Braille Without Borders after meeting a few of the blind children on a trip to Tibet in the summers of 2013 and 2014.

Tian believes photographs express the photographer’s perspective and that an exchange of photographs is a chance to see the world in different ways. “Normally people do art just for the sake of doing it, but I wanted put [our photography] to better use,” Tian said.

Courtesy of Ilana Silverstein

With this application of photography in mind, Tian connected the fundraiser to her prefered cause, aiding the blind Tibetan children. During the fundraiser she gave a brief presentation to the attendees about Braille Without Borders and her summer experiences in Tibet. “The best part was that I actually got to tell people the stories of the blind children and my personal connection with them and after people heard about the purpose, they actually started purchasing more photos,“ Tian said.

In addition to creating an opportunity for local teenagers to sell their photography, the organizers learned many real-life skills during the process of planning. They drafted a budget plan and submitted a full proposal to the City of Palo Alto’s Garage Street Fund, which supports local teenagers’ events.

Tian expressed that the fundraiser was an unexpected learning experience and opportunity to connect her interest in photography and experience in Tibet. “I think it just gave [the participating photographers] a feeling of accomplishment; they don’t just take photos, people actually use their photos to help others,” Tian said.