From multi-colored Lexan Nalgene bottles to baby bottles to tin can linings, plastic is used in everyday products, but may cause potential health problems.

The chemical bisphe-nol A (BPA), an ingredient in polycarbonate plastic, is used in a variety of prod-ucts including water bottles, food containers and dental sealants. From normal use

of these products, BPA leaches from the plastic and into the water or food. The leaching rates increase as the plastics undergo wear and tear and heat.

“Our main concern is for babies and fetuses be-cause the BPA leaching has been shown to cause devel-opment and reproductive problems,” said Elizabeth Saunders, Massachusetts Environmental Health Legislative Director for Clean Water Action. “But

it also may have potential health effects on teenagers because their bodies are still developing and many will have babies when they grow up.”

Animal experiments have linked BPA to health problems including in-creased risks for breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, obesity and early onset of puberty.

Exposure to BPA is

The day before second se-mester began for 18-year-old Ricardo Vazquez started off as any other. But when Vazquez, a freshman at UC Berkeley, went to check his e-mail, he found only one e-mail, and it was one that he never expected to receive.

“There was only one message in my inbox, an e-mail with the words ‘FWD: Copyright Infringe-ment’ on the subject line,” said

Vazquez. “My heart sank. I some-how automatically knew that music and the program Limewire would be connected to it.”

Software such as Limewire and Kazaa allow people to share music for free, however illegally because sharers do not own the copyrights to the songs, and are infact stealing they do not own.

Music-purchasing services such as iTunes, with each song priced 99 cents and each album averaging $9.99, allow music and accounts to be shared with a lim-

ited number of computers.“The University was forward-

ing information from a represen-tative of the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA) informing me that activity on my IP (a computer’s Internet protocol) address infringed one or more of the RIAA members’ copyrights,” said Vasquez.

The link brought him to a message from the record compa-nies’ representative and lawyer.

april 18, 2008 convent of the sacred heart high school | san francisco, california vol. 12, is. 5

the broadview

rachel forbesa&e editor

see some common p. 4

lauren jungfeature editor

the broadviewConvent of the Sacred Heart HS2222 BroadwaySan Francisco, CA 94115

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #90

Santa Clara, CA

Students play improvisation games and learn acting techniques during classes taught by Theater Director Pamela Rickard held every Monday and Thursday af-ter-school.

The two-hour class includes improv scenes where students create characters and invent sto-rylines.

“I think the warm-ups are the most fun because you get to express yourself and get to know each other better,” said sophomore Jessica Peterson.

In one game, two students act out an improv scene while another two follow their gestures and give dialogue to the scene.

“It helps me become more comfortable around my friends. I am not afraid to make a fool of my-self or be a little silly sometimes,” said freshman Tori Balestrieri.

The drop-in class is open to all CSH and SHHS students.

— Anjali Shrestha

SF Film Festival:

SF International Film Festival celebrates its 51st anniversary.

6-7photo illustration RENA HUNT | the broadview

Makeup shakeup: Common chemicals in makeup may lead to cancer.

4

File sharing can cost users, artists

Popular plastics could be harmful

City Walks: SF residents

walk, hike to exercise and see sights in city.

12

Future freshmen gather for tea, socialize

INA HERLIHY | the broadview

International Languages Department Chair Rachel Simpson chats with future CSH freshmen Lauren Choi and Caitlin Martin at the Freshman Tea for the Class of 2012. The Tea was held on April 9, allowing future students and parents to meet with faculty members. The future freshman then took math, language and English placement tests.

Theater director starts improv class

AP Art students win prizes, money

Three AP Art students won cash prizes in a citywide art com-petition hosted by Elks Lodge No. 3.

Senior Dominique Sheth placed second, winning $250, and senior Tracy Kuwantani placed seventh, winning $80, both in the Pen and Pencil category. Senior Allie Kruse placed fifth in the Figurative/Realism category, win-ning $100.

The school received a $450 for participating, which will go toward supplies for the art department.

“We were equal to School of the Arts in winning awards,” said art teacher Rachel McIntire. “We did very well.”

The 21st Annual Mort Ross Art Competition hosted over 20 schools in the San Francisco arena, handing out 30 awards.

— Zoe Newcomb

see music p. 4

REI carries BPA-free bottles by Camelbak.

REN

A H

UN

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bro

advi

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Cars and Driving:

An overview of prices for gas and insurance and new technologies.

8-9

1. UKparliamentmayhostDarfurpeacetalks.

2. Iviesoffermorefinancialaidtomiddleclassstudents.

3. SFwastheonlyNorthAmericanOlympictorchstop.

4. JuniorsandseniorshavefewclassesafterAPexams.

5.“IdolGivesBack”raises$22million.

1. ToomanypeoplehavealreadydiedinDarfurgenocide.

2. It’sharderthanevertogetin.

3. Viewerswereupsetwhentheroutewaschangedduetoprotesters.

4. APexamsareinlessthanamonth.

5. It’slessthanhalftheamountraisedlastyear.

on another notekelly cheung

staffeditorial

kellycheungeditor in chief morgankendalleditor in chief

rachelforbesa & e editorelizabethgrubernews editor

graciehayescolumnistlaurenjungfeature editor

renahuntphotography editormaryslatterysacred heart editor

lesliewusports editor

inaherlihyasst. news editorrebeccakelliherasst. feature editor

larkingrantlayout and designsophieskinnersenior reporter

amandajamesweb editor

reporterssophiegilchrist|sarakloepfer

susielee|zoenewcomb|jovelqueiroloanjalishrestha

dominiqueshethillustrator

tracyannesena,cjeadviser

the broadviewconventofthesacredhearthighschool

2222broadwaysanfrancisco,ca94115

broadview@sacredsf.org

Unsigned pieces are the opinion of the editorial

board. Reviews and personal columns

are the opinions of the author. Letters

to the broadview should be 400

words or less and are subject to

editing for clarity and space.

op-edapril 18, 20082

Globalmusicpiracyannuallyaccountsforthelossof$12.5bil-lion, 71,060 jobs, $2.7 billion inworkers’ earnings, $422 millionin tax revenues, $291 million inpersonalincometaxand$131mil-lioninlostcorporateincomeandtheproductionoftaxes,accordingtoananalysisbytheInstitutefor

PolicyInnovation.Every song that is illegally

downloadedisstolenfromtheart-ists,andfromeveryonewhoworksin the recording industry. Thou-sandsofunderappreciatedtechni-cians,soundengineers,warehouseworkers,andrecordstoreclerksarelosingincome—andnewartists

don’t even have a chance due tolackoffunding.

Illegaldownloadersindirectlyaffectthemselvesandtheeconomyby draining thousands of taxdollars. It also hurts intellectualpropertyproducts,suchassoundrecordings,whichareresponsibleforabout40percentofeconomicgrowth and about 60 percent inU.S. export growth, according tothe Institute for Policy Innova-tion.

Ifpeoplereallywanttosteal,they will find a way, no matterif they want to steal music or asweater.Itislesseffectivetotargetand punish individuals than toeducatethegeneralpubliconhow

extremetheeffectsareofstealingmusic.

The Recording IndustryAs-sociationofAmerica(RIAA)sued261Americans for sharing songsusingpeer-to-peer(P2P)onSept28,2003.Sincethen,theRIAAhasfiled, sued, or threatened to sueover 20,000 students, professors,grandparents,childrenandotherrandomly chosen individuals.TheRIAAcurrentlyfileslawsuitsagainst about 400 people permonth, mainly targeting collegestudents.

Considering that there arethousands of people who arefeeling the consequences of par-ticipatinginmusicpiracywithup

tothreeyearsinprisonandupto$250,000infines,andP2Pisonlygrowingtobemorepopularthanever,otherstepsneedtobetakeninthemeantime.

Too many people are hurtfinancially every time a song isstolen. The legal and conscienceattacks seem to only affect thoseinvolvedwiththelawsuits,notthegeneral public, resulting in moreandmoremoneyand jobsbeinglost. In the meantime, the RIAAshouldshutdownP2Pandothersharing networks and make itimpossible tostealmusic tohelpcut down the amount of time itis taking get music piracy undercontrol.

Everyone knows that downloadingmusicwithoutpayingisillegal,butitcontinuestohappen.Thefactof

thematter is thatparticipating inmusicpiracyhurtsnotonlytherecordcompa-nies,butalsotheeconomy.

Music piracy hurts workers, economy

Myinabilitytomakedeci-sionshasonlyrecentlybecome a problem in

my life.As a child, I was bossy,headstrong,determinedandknewwhatIwantedwhenIwantedit,andtherewasnotalkingmeoutofit.Iknewitwasthatlollipop,that newpairofpinksocks,and thatstuffedbear,withouteventhink-ingoftheotheroptions.

Really,itdidn’tmatterwhichcandy,clothingortoyIchosethen,becausetheirrewardswerequitetemporal.Butnow,theeffectsofeachdecisionarebecomingmorepermanent.

IfeelmyteenagelifeisfullofchoicesthatI’mnotyetreadytohandle.MydecisionsarestartingtohavemoreweightasIgetolderandstarttakingonmorerespon-sibilities. Each option I’m facedwithhasadifferentconsequence,andoneresultmaybegoodbutthe

othercouldbebetter—andthat’swhatI’mfeelingaboutmycollegechoicesrightnow.

As the May 1 enrollmentdeadline creeps closer every sec-ond,Ihearthetimertickingdown,pressuringmetomakethedeci-sionthatwilldeterminethenextfouryearsofmylifeandbeyond.

After not getting into myfirst choice school, I narroweddown my options between twoschoolsonoppositecoasts,withastarkdifferenceofprogramsandfocuses. I didn’t feel too badlyaboutfirst-choicerejection,butit’smakingmeactuallyhavetodecidebetweenthetwouniversities.ThisisoneofthebiggestchallengesI’vefaced,andIrealizetherearegoingto be many other decisions thatwillcomelaterdowntheroad,butrightnow,thisisground-shaking,heart-stoppingbusinesstome.

I try not to let the prestige,

selectivityorothersuperficialfac-torsaffecttheschoolIchoose,butsometimesIcan’thelpit.Ithinkofthesefactorsasthemore“grown-up”versionofpeerpressure,butthey’reonesthatIcan’tjustturntheothercheekto.Peoplecanbeeasytoignore,buttheseinterven-ingfactorsarestuck,poppingupat College Board, U.S. News & Report, and other sites that justseemtobebig fansofmeaning-lessranking.

Personal factors that I can’tevennameareswayingmeeitherwaybutIcan’tdecide.It’shardtoactuallytakeastepbackandactu-allyidentifywhatreallymatterstome,withoutthinkingaboutthosesuperficialthings.

ThebiggestproblemisthatIcan’tdecide.Onanything.Some-how, I’m going to have to learnhowtoactuallybedecisive…tick,tock,tick,tock.

Admissions decisions force tough choices

“But it was just the new Britney Spears song, I swear!”DOMINIQUE SHETH | the broadview

op-edthe broadview 3

life as we know itmorgan kendall

While recent ly clicking around on Yahoo!, I was

shocked by an article about the outlandish sums that magazines are willing to pay for pictures of the latest celebrity baby, including an alleged $6 million for shots of the twins of Marc An-thony and Jennifer Lopez.

While I understand the com-petitive need to sell more issues in newsstands full of many other glossy magazines, it is somewhat ridiculous to pay such enormous sums to an already-rich celebrity for just a few photos, when the money could be put to far better use elsewhere.

The one exception that I found to this disturbing trend is Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who sold pictures of their newborn daughter Shiloh for a reported $4.1 million to People magazine but then donated this money to an African charity.

Reading about how such a powerful couple used its celebrity status to help others, I thought about the recent “Idol Gives Back” telethon, held again after the same event last year raised approximately $76 million for various charities.

“Idol Gives Back” was a com-pletely star-studded event, featur-ing famous figures as varied as Miley Cyrus and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown, all gathered for the same purpose of helping others.

Watching clips of Hurricane Katrina survivors talking about their traumatic experiences or of Annie Lennox visiting a family of four African children orphaned by AIDS was incredibly mov-ing, inspiring people all over the United States to get out their credit cards and donate.

This embodies the potential of celebrities to use their fame for charitable purposes, something that is often lacking in today’s society.

Far more often, the media

tracks what celebrities wear, eat and buy, not the causes they em-brace or the money that they do-nate. Celebrity news is essentially a form of escapism, allowing the public to know everything about the purchases and pursuits of the famous.

But here at school, we focus on charity and giving back to the community on a daily basis, even through such simple means as donating the change left over after buying a latte at Tully’s.

It shouldn’t be that difficult for celebrities who have more money available or the media to focus on these same important causes.

Realistically though, with the recent boom in highly-pub-licized Hollywood pregnancies, from that of Jamie Lynn Spears to that of Jessica Alba, the trend of paying big bucks for a few baby photos is sure to continue.

I can only hope that it some-how takes a more charitable edge in the future.

Q:— Nora Wilkinson, freshman

— Stepy Bittlingmeier, sophomore

“I wash my face at night and in the morning. I try to be hygienic. I don’t pay tht much attention to [chemicals in makeup].”

— Alex Casserly, junior

“Usually when I buy my makeup, it has been recommended. I usually just trust what other people are using.”

— Brittney Fong, senior

— Compiled by Ina Herlihy

Do chemicals in makeup concern you?

“I am not the kind of person who uses lots of makeup. I have sensitive skin, and break out depending on what is in makeup. If the makeup is going to clog your pores, then it is not worth using it.”

“I don’t want to be putting harmful chemicals on my face. Who knows what it could do to me? In the future these chemicals could harm me.”

With record numbers of students applying to the nation’s top col-

leges and universities, this year has been the most competitive year yet in college admissions. But ulti-mately where students get into col-lege isn’t half as important as what they do there and afterwards.

This year Yale College ac-cepted a record-low 8.3 percent of applicants, while Harvard Col-lege accepted only 7.1 percent of applicants. Columbia College, Brown University and Dartmouth College also reported record low acceptance rates.

But selectivity isn’t necessarily synonymous with excellence and there are many less selective — and non-Ivy League — schools which provide an excellent education and sometimes one more catered towards the individual student.

Schools like St. John’s College with campuses in Santa Fe and Annapolis and Colorado College — although they may not have the name recognition of Ivy League schools — offer excellent educa-tions.

For students planning to go onto graduate school, the name recognition of their college is not so important. Graduate schools will recognize good colleges even if they are not as well known and

employers will care more about the caliber of an applicant’s graduate school than her undergraduate school.

A diploma from the Ivy League doesn’t determine success and while this may help, it isn’t always necessary. A 1999 study by researchers Alan Krueger, a Princeton economist, and Sta-cey Berg Dale, who is connected with the Andrew Mellon Founda-tion, found that students talented enough to attend an Ivy League school, but who chose a less well-known school instead, had on average a comparable income 20 years later to graduates of the more elite institutions, indicating

the individual, rather than her school, determines her success.

Equally significant, out of the CEOs of the top 10 For-tune 500 corporations, four went to elite colleges. H. Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart — the largest corporation in the world — graduated from Pittsburg State.

This year has been the most selective year for college admittances in history, but students disappointed that they didn’t get into their first choice schools should recognize that an elite college isn’t the only road to success.

sophie skinnersenior reporter

Protesters draw attention to human rights violations

Lesser-known colleges do deliver

Celebrities should use fame to help charities

JOVEL QUEIROLO |the broadview

Stop Cultural Genocide Tibet + genocide

= shame

One WorldOne DreamFree Tibet

FREE TIBET

China is anxiously preparing for its coming-out party as the host country for the

2008 Olympics. However, certain standards must be acknowledged before this country is deemed ready to fully step out onto the

world arena, such as the interna-tional standards of human rights.

China may be an emerging superpower that many economists predict will someday surpass the United States with its booming economy, but that does not mean that we should accept its violations against Tibetan citizens simply be-

cause it has become a good economic buddy to have by our country’s side.

T h e D a l a i L a m a h i m s e l f , however, said he supports the Bei-jing Olympics, per-haps because it has raised awareness

over the situation in Tibet, yet he also supports nonviolent pro-tests. “Nonviolent” doesn’t imply smashing into vans that carry the eager torchbearers of the race and defacing it with smeared red spray paint, as the recent protestors in San Francisco were quick to ac-complish when the Olympic torch

passed through the city. It doesn’t mean protestors banging into each other like some sort of mosh pit, as if they’re protesting merely for the sake of protesting. It means gain-ing the respect of the international stage through organized, calm protests that cause viewers to sym-pathize, not to draw back, from the issues. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “at the center of nonviolence is the principle of love.”

As for China, perhaps the country isn’t ready to be handed the Olympic torch yet. The na-tion may be eager to show off its wealth and power to all the na-tions, as most proud countries are, but the Olympics is about more than just showcasing a country’s

strength. It’s about uniting our world through athletics. One may argue that it is also up to the host nation in particular to become united in the common rules of human rights, just like in those of a soccer or basketball game.

Although we’ll never know if or how China would have changed if it had to wait another four years to ascend the world stage, the 2008 Beijing Olympics have at least heightened sympathy toward the devastation faced by the people of Tibet. Hopefully, with more aware-ness, more progressive action will follow closely behind.

rebecca kelliherasst. feature editor

DOMINIQUE SHETH | the broadview

news4 april 18, 2008

from file p. 1message from the record companies’ representative and lawyer.

“He alleged [he] had evidence that I held 1634 sound recordings shared by the peer-to-peer network, Limewire, and that a significant amount of these copyrights were held by the represented record com-panies,” said Vasquez.

The lawyers offered Vasquez an alter-native to the typical punishment.

“He gave me 20 days to respond to these claims and settle outside of court for $3000. This hefty fine would avoid the $750 per song route that I would have to take constructed under the federal law,” said Vasquez. “My total financial damage would be over $1.2 million if I avoided the settlement.”

Unsigned recording artist Leena Culhane, a senior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory, says that paying for music is the only fair way to obtain it.

“Illegal downloading is a huge prob-lem,” said Culhane, who has opened for such artists as Chuck Leavell of Rolling Stones and recently had a show at The Fillmore. “I understand that kids are often short on money and whatnot, but I think that what they don’t understand is that a lot of artists are short-changed as a con-sequence [for illegal downloading].”

As an artist Culhane realizes that she will not always be paid for her music, but she would be more concerned that if she were signed to a label.

“People often copy the CDs that I sell at shows and give them to friends,” she said. “At this point, I’m thankful that people do this because its actually helpful, but if I were on a label there would be a lot of people that wouldn’t be getting what they deserve; particularly other musicians who played on the recordings.”

Culhane has also been especially cau-tious with her Music Myspace. Because her songs were not copyrighted until recently, she didn’t allow her songs to be downloadable. However, on her main Web site, http://www.LeenaCulhane.com, she did.

The band Radiohead recently ad-dressed the issue of illegal downloading. For its latest album, In Rainbows, the band decided to not only sell it primarily as a digital download — not a standard CD — but they also allowed it to be down-loaded for whatever price the customer saw fit. Consequently, many people pur-chased the music for free.

“I love that Radiohead did that,” said Culhane. “I don’t think their record company was so happy, but the main dis-tinction between Radiohead and a smaller artist releasing a free album is that they can afford to do that.”

While some sites like Limewire also have a legal alternative, where songs are paid for, iTunes continues to be the most popular means of getting music digitally.

“I think iTunes is fabulous because it satisfies the instant gratification that illegal downloading gives but it does it in a fair way,” said Culhane.

Despite the convenience of iTunes, people still continue to download illegally. iTunes does not offer every single song or artist, and it can often be more convenient to download music for free from one of the illegal sites than to go out and physi-cally buy a CD.

“Yes, I was aware that downloading music illegally was, in fact, illegal but the mere force driving me to continue on this daily and seamlessly innocent activity was my belief that it could never happen to me,” said Vasquez.

While Vasquez knew his download-ing was illegal, he expressed frustration about the fact that only a few individuals face consequences, when many other people also download music files without paying.

“I was confused and I was angry,” said Vasquez about his reaction to the settlement. “This should not have hap-pened to me. Of all the countless users of Limewire and other programs used to illegally download files, why was I picked out as a representational figure of warning and consequence?”

Music sharing raises issues

mary slatterysacred heart editor

Statistics suggest that one in nine women will have breast cancer, but that one woman could have possibly

prevented it by changing her daily beauty regiment.

Chemicals such as formaldehyde, eth-ylene oxide, mercury and lead acetate — all present in many beauty products such as lipstick, perfume, shampoo and nail pol-ish — can lead to cancer and problems in reproductive development.

“The average woman uses 10 or more [beauty] products a day containing up to 200 chemical ingredients,” said Stacy Mal-kan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, an organization that calls for the elimination of all harmful and threatening chemicals used in the cosmetics industry. “Unfortunately, many of these products con-tain low levels of carcinogens or chemicals

that disrupt hormones, or are toxic to the brain or reproductive system.”

Malkan co-founded her coalition following the results of a 2002 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) test for harm-ful chemicals not listed on the labels of 72 name-brand beauty products. Nearly three-quarters of the products contained phthalates, toxic chemicals that affect the endocrine system, which links the brain to organs that control body growth and hor-mones according “Not Too Pretty: Phthal-ates, Beauty Products and the FDA.”

Teenagers are more at risk for breast cancer and reproductive problems because they are exposed to these chemicals while they are in puberty, when breast tissue is rapidly developing.

“I think it’s important for teens and young women to start asking questions. What’s in these products? What are these companies telling us? How can we edu-

cate ourselves to make safer choices?” said Malkan.

Makeup made from minerals, such as Bare Escentuals’ Bare Minerals, Naked Minerals and Bellapierre, can be a healthy alternative according to Katie Tragni, Brand Development and Awareness Project Man-ager for Bare Escentuals.

“We use minerals that are extracted from the earth with no binders, preservatives or fillers,” said Tragni. “Even our foundation is only made from five ingredients, two of which are SPF 15.”

Bare Escentuals’ Bare Minerals founda-tion is made from five ingredients: titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, bismuth oxychloride, mica and iron oxides.

But Malkan has her doubts about min-eral makeup as an alternative.

“In general, simpler is better. Products with fewer synthetic chemicals and no added fragrance are preferable,” said Malkan. “But you still have to check the label, even of mineral makeup, to see if they have any synthetic additives.”

However, senior Ari Bourdet who is a Beauty Ambassador at Bare Escentuals says she has experienced the difference Bare Min-erals foundation can have on one’s skin.

“I had really bad acne and would use liquid foundation to cover it up,” said Bourdet. “But after I switched to Bare Es-centuals foundation my skin completely cleared up.”

More information about chemicals in beauty products can be found at the Skin Deep database by Environmental Working Group at www.SafeCosmetics.org.

from popular p. 1widespread, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found 95 percent of people tested have detectable amounts of the chemical in their bodies. Of those tested, the median level of BPA was higher than the level that causes adverse effects in animal studies.

“Experimental studies using rat and mouse models have provided evidence that very small amounts — levels below those that the federal government currently con-siders safe for daily human exposure — cause significant effects,” said Patricia Hunt, Ph.D., a biosciences professor at Washington State Univer-sity in Pull-man who is studying the effects of BPA on lab animals. “This chemi-cal acts like a h o r m o n e in the body and minute amounts can exert power-ful effects on cells.”

O n t h e other hand, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration states in a November 2005 report that cur-rent levels of BPA-leaching are too low to cause any harmful effects in humans.

“It’s a big leap from lab rats to proven health risks for humans,” said AP Environ-mental Science teacher Marisa Kendall. “Just because it affects rats, doesn’t mean that it will affect humans in the same way.

“If people get scared of using the reus-able bottles and strictly drink from plastic single-use water bottles what people don’t consider is the environmental impact that was the reason for reusable bottles in the first place,” said Kendall. “I see plastic bottles all the time in the garbage can instead of the

recycle bin. Most of the single-use plastic bottles fill our landfills and oceans. Plastic was meant to be durable and long-lasting, so they won’t break down, which poses en-vironmental threats to everyone.”

Further studies are needed to com-pletely determine whether or not the current BPA-leaching levels are dangerous to hu-mans. But in the meantime, many retailers including REI Outdoor Gear & Clothing Store offer consumers safe alternatives to polycarbonate bottles containing BPA.

“In response to public demand and the media attention that BPA has been getting,

we are now carrying BPA-free CamelBak water bottles,” s a i d B r i a n Cline, Inven-tory Special-ist at REI in San Francisco. “We also sell Klean Kanteen stainless steel bot t les and SIGG alumi-num bottles with special polymer lin-i n g s . T h e C a m e l b a k BPA-free wa-

ter bottle is the recent plastic alternative.” Nalgene also makes water bottles from

types of plastics that do not contain BPA, including polypropylene, high-density poly-ethylene and low-density polyethylene.

Several state legislatures have also rec-ognized the public concern of BPA leaching and are introducing bills on the regulation and banning of BPA in products.

In the California State Legislature, SB 1713, or the “Toxin-Free Toddlers & Babies Act,” sponsored by Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) calls for the banning of BPA from all children’s products.

As of press time, the bill has passed the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.

Some common plastics are potentially harmful

Beauty products, cosmetics linkedto some cancers RENA HUNT | the broadview

After Bare Escentuals’ began in 1976, Maybelline, Lancôme, Clinique and numerous other brands have developed their own line of mineral products. Even mineral makeup can have synthetic additives that may pose health risks.

RENA HUNT | the broadview

Reusable polycarbonate water bottles may affect developing teens. In addition to Lexan Nalgene bottles, 95 percent of all baby bottles in the US contain bisphenol A.

sacred heartthe broadview 5

The upcoming dance at Bot-tom of the Hill on April 25 will mark the second year

of Supper Club, a series of co-ed events that began as the inspira-tion of Dean of Students Celine Curran.

“I was making an invitation to the student body for a musical event at the Palace of Fine Arts,” said Curran. “I said, ‘I have tickets for anyone to come with me.’ At first I didn’t get people to raise their hands, but then I said, ‘Come on, I will throw in dinner and we can have a supper club.”’

Bottom of the Hill last year included student performances by Anthony Torrano, and Wolfie Dieterich, Drew Parke and First

Amendment. “Instead of having a DJ play

songs, we got to listen to fellow students and friends play songs,” said sophomore Alfred Gruber. “It is live music and more fun because we can actually cheer for bands.”

Pas t Supp er Club events include a boat dance, San Francisco Giants games and interviews at the City Arts and Lectures with Ben Gibbard, Chris Matthews and Henry Rollins.

“Super Club is fun because you are able to interact with Stu-art Hall [boys] in a non-awkward way,” said junior Ashley Eisenman. “[It] makes opportunities available that I wouldn’t be able to experi-ence on my own.”

Junior Charlotte Parsons agrees Supper Clubs are a way for students to meet in a more relaxed setting, such as at October’s ice skating event at the Yerba Buena

Skating Center.“There were a lot of different

grades present so you would hang out with people who you wouldn’t regularly, since you were literally running into people on the ice,” said Parsons.

Students attended a perfor-mance of “Mamma Mia!” at the Orpheum Theater in early Sep-tember.

“We knew all the lyrics and sang along,” said fresh-man Kelsey Green. “It was not just us, but ev-eryone in the crowd was singing.”

Social events are in-terspersed with educa-tional events, such as at Macy’s Passport Fashion Show, geared towards

raising AIDS awareness. “Fashion is a topic that a lot of

people relate to,” said junior Erica Smolin of the November event. “The speaker had AIDS so it was a lot more personal than reading about the disease.”

Ar iana Huff ington, co-founder of the Huffington Post, interviewed Hearst Magazines President Cathie Black, at City Arts and Lectures in January. Black was promoting her newly released book Basic Black.

“The book would give you a lot of advice on life in general and it seems like it is for a larger audience of women young and old,” said sophomore Maggie Cummings.

Cummings has attended most of the Supper Club events this year, and credits Curran with the success of the program.

“The [Supper Club] is like wildfire,” said Cummings. “Mrs. Curran is the spark. She gives out the information, and it spreads.”

leslie wusports editor

ina herlihyasst. news editor

Coed Supper Club celebrates 2nd anniversary

With two girls, I feel better about them crossing the intersection.

– Ray Cinti,parent and teacher

Crossing guard promotes safety

Ruby Russell (with sign) assists CES fifth grader Caroline Lo (left to right), first grader Julia Lo, their mother Jean Houston and brother Henry Lo who will be entering Kindergarten at SHB next year, through the crosswalk. Russell said she wears Z-CoiLs, shoes built on a Z-orthotic which provides support for the foot’s arch, because they allow her to comfortably walk back and forth in the crosswalk. Below, Russell crosses pedestrians on the corner of Broadway and Fillmore Streets.

RENA HUNT | the broadview

RENA HUNT | the broadview

On a sunny afternoon, the burgundy clad girls stroll across the street, safely

navigating through the intersec-tion as the crossing guard stops after-school traffic. “Thank you,” the girls call out. “You’re welcome, honey. See you tomorrow!” she replies.

“My job is to make sure the children cross all right,” said cross-ing guard Ruby Russell. “Many parents drop off their kids, who are about five or six, on the corner across the street. I make sure they get across.”

Russell works at the beginning and end of the school day, wearing her bright yellow crossing guard vest and orthopedic shoes.

“I get here between 7:15 and 7:25, and my shift lasts until 8:30,” said Russell. “Then I come back at 2:30 and stay here ’til 3:45.”

Russell is employed by the San Francisco Department of Traffic and Safety. She started patrolling the Fillmore and Broadway Streets intersection in 1998.

“I had a hip replacement, so I was walking all the time,” said Russell. “I had a friend tell me that I could get all that exercise if I was a crosswalk guard.”

During the previous 21 years, Russell worked with the United States Postal Service.

“I enjoy the walking, as long as I can keep coming up and ex-ercising,” said Russell. “I enjoy the children and the little babies are so sweet.”

Senior Danielle Bates has

been crossing the Fillmore and Broadway intersection with Russell as the crossing guard since Bates’ freshman year.

“She is very friendly and re-ally cares about the students,” said Bates. “She always smiles. I look forward to seeing her every morning.”

R u s -sell always wishes ev-e r y o n e a good day, a c c o r d -ing to stu-dents who frequently cross the in-tersection.

“The young people all respect me and the parents are nice,” said Russell.

Russell is a benefit, according

to parent and Biology teacher Ray Cinti.

“Ruby is such a good person to have on the corner,” said Cinti. “With two girls, I feel better about

them cross-ing the in-tersection.”

A f t e r 1 0 y e a r s on the cor-ner, Russell i s a lways present in all types of weather.

“It gets windy up here,” said Russell. “When it’s hot, it’s too hot. When it’s cold, it’s too cold. But the view is always nice.”

Fast FactsName: Ruby Russell

Birthday: Sept. 24, 1939

Height: 5’6

Hobby: Bowling

Favorite book: The Bible

Hero: My grandaughter

Hometown: Houston

Marital status: Widow

Favorite subject in school: History

Biggest fear: Being hit bya car

Favorite food: SeafoodFavorite color: Blue

Children: Four girls, one boy

[Supper Club] makes opportunities available that I wouldn’t be able to experience on my own.

– Ashley Eisenman,junior

Twin brothers Logan and Noah Miller dreamed of becoming professional baseball players,

but when that dream didn’t pan out they turned to their second love, film. Their first movie, Touching Home, an autobiographical film, will debut at the San Francisco Film Festival on April 26.

“We didn’t know how to do it,” said Noah Miller about writing screenplays. “We didn’t go to film school and we’re both self-taught. One day we just bought a book on screenwriting and after we read it, it made sense so we started to write.”

The twins wrote, directed, pro-duced and acted in their film.

“We collaborated on everything,” said Miller. “Sometimes we’d argue, go-ing back and forth on certain ideas, but we were always trying to work together as a team.”

The twins created the film as a way to honor their father who died in Janu-ary 2006 while he was incarcerated.

“When our father passed away in the Marin County jail, we decided that we needed to make Touching Home immediately,” said Miller.

The wheels for the project started turning in March 2006 when the broth-ers were awarded a $250,000 grant from Panavision. The brothers first used the grant money to travel to Tucson, Ariz. to make a short trailer of the film.

“We went down to Arizona to shoot with the Colorado Rockies [dur-ing spring training],” said Noah Miller. “There weren’t any scenes, so it was more atmospheric focusing more on the images and the tone of Touching Home.”

The Miller brothers may not have known it at the time, but this trailer would later help them secure Golden

Globe winner Ed Harris to play the role of their fa-ther in Touching Home.

“We heard that Ed Harris was going to be at the San Francisco In-ternational Fi lm Fes-tival,” said

Noah Miller,

“so we went to the Castro Theatre to talk to him because he was the only guy that we thought would be able to pull off the role of our father. First he was interviewed on stage and then he did a Q and A, but we weren’t able to get to the mic. When they gave him a stand-ing ovation no one was really paying attention, so my brother and I got out of our chairs and walked up the steps, past the cops, and through the curtain to get backstage.

“We found Ed, so we started to show him the trailer we had put to-gether on our computer, but the stage light was messing up the image, so we went out a backdoor into this alleyway and we set the laptop on a greasy dump-ster where he could watch it. When the trailer was over he said ‘Wow. This looks beautiful. Looks like you guys know what you’re doing,’ and then he grabbed the script off the dumpster and called us back nine days later telling us he was interested in the role.”

Shortly after the addition of Har-ris to the production, the twins hired Emmy-winning television composer Marty Davich.

“We knew we wanted a very simple guitar with light strings,” said Noah Miller. “We wanted the music to sound

very American because this is a very American story. We did the best to speak Marty’s language because the language of music has a vocabulary of its own. We weren’t always sure exactly what kind of music we wanted, but had a good idea of what we didn’t want and we knew what didn’t work so we tried to work with that in mind.”

Even though Touching Home is the Miller brothers’ first project they are already trying to develop new ideas in hopes of pursuing a career in film.

“We have quite a few stacks of scripts lying around,” said Noah Miller. “We want to be doing this for the next 40 years or until they bury us. Right now we’re just trying to drive [Touching Home] to its conclusion, and hopefully it’ll get in a theatre everywhere across the country.”

Noah Miller encourages high school students interested in film to follow their passion.

“Just go out and do it,” said Noah Miller. “Do what you’ve got to do. If you want to be good in any subject, you’re going to have to work at it everyday. I think it takes that same type of focus and compassion to just go out and do it. As long as you’re doing it there’s no such thing as failure. Just remember: there are only solutions and what you don’t know, you’ll figure out.”

Touching Home screenings are at the Sundance Kabuki on April 26 and April 29.

Review Scale

Gotta watch it

Loves it

Umm…

Boring

a&e6 april 18, 2008

San Francisco International Film Festival celebrates its 51st year

Two Bangladeshi girls run through a field in the British movie, Brick Lane. The film, directed by Sarah Gavron, is about a Muslim woman, Nazneem, who moves from Bangladesh to England in the 1980’s.

photos permission of San Francisco International Film Festival

Father’s death inspires twins’ first filmgracie hays

columnist

Twin brothers Logan and Noah Miller star with Brad Dourif in a movie they wrote, directed and produced. The Millers grew up in Marin County. The movie also stars Ed Harris as their father.

DOMINIQUE SHETH | the broadview

Reviews are the combined opinion of Rachel Forbes, Gracie Hays and Rebecca Kelliher. Synopses by Rachel Forbes.

Twin brothers Logan and Noah Miller dreamed of becoming professional baseball players,

but when that dream didn’t pan out they turned to their second love, film. Their first movie, Touching Home, an autobiographical film, will debut at the San Francisco Film Festival on April 26.

“We didn’t know how to do it,” said Noah Miller about writing screenplays. “We didn’t go to film school and we’re both self-taught. One day we just bought a book on screenwriting and after we read it, it made sense so we started to write.”

The twins wrote, directed, pro-duced and acted in their film.

“We collaborated on everything,” said Miller. “Sometimes we’d argue, go-ing back and forth on certain ideas, but we were always trying to work together as a team.”

The twins created the film as a way to honor their father who died in Janu-ary 2006 while he was incarcerated.

“When our father passed away in the Marin County jail, we decided that we needed to make Touching Home immediately,” said Miller.

The wheels for the project started turning in March 2006 when the broth-ers were awarded a $250,000 grant from Panavision. The brothers first used the grant money to travel to Tucson, Ariz. to make a short trailer of the film.

“We went down to Arizona to shoot with the Colorado Rockies [dur-ing spring training],” said Noah Miller. “There weren’t any scenes, so it was more atmospheric focusing more on the images and the tone of Touching Home.”

The Miller brothers may not have known it at the time, but this trailer would later help them secure Golden

Globe winner Ed Harris to play the role of their fa-ther in Touching Home.

“We heard that Ed Harris was going to be at the San Francisco In-ternational Fi lm Fes-tival,” said

Noah Miller,

“so we went to the Castro Theatre to talk to him because he was the only guy that we thought would be able to pull off the role of our father. First he was interviewed on stage and then he did a Q and A, but we weren’t able to get to the mic. When they gave him a stand-ing ovation no one was really paying attention, so my brother and I got out of our chairs and walked up the steps, past the cops, and through the curtain to get backstage.

“We found Ed, so we started to show him the trailer we had put to-gether on our computer, but the stage light was messing up the image, so we went out a backdoor into this alleyway and we set the laptop on a greasy dump-ster where he could watch it. When the trailer was over he said ‘Wow. This looks beautiful. Looks like you guys know what you’re doing,’ and then he grabbed the script off the dumpster and called us back nine days later telling us he was interested in the role.”

Shortly after the addition of Har-ris to the production, the twins hired Emmy-winning television composer Marty Davich.

“We knew we wanted a very simple guitar with light strings,” said Noah Miller. “We wanted the music to sound

very American because this is a very American story. We did the best to speak Marty’s language because the language of music has a vocabulary of its own. We weren’t always sure exactly what kind of music we wanted, but had a good idea of what we didn’t want and we knew what didn’t work so we tried to work with that in mind.”

Even though Touching Home is the Miller brothers’ first project they are already trying to develop new ideas in hopes of pursuing a career in film.

“We have quite a few stacks of scripts lying around,” said Noah Miller. “We want to be doing this for the next 40 years or until they bury us. Right now we’re just trying to drive [Touching Home] to its conclusion, and hopefully it’ll get in a theatre everywhere across the country.”

Noah Miller encourages high school students interested in film to follow their passion.

“Just go out and do it,” said Noah Miller. “Do what you’ve got to do. If you want to be good in any subject, you’re going to have to work at it everyday. I think it takes that same type of focus and compassion to just go out and do it. As long as you’re doing it there’s no such thing as failure. Just remember: there are only solutions and what you don’t know, you’ll figure out.”

Touching Home screenings are at the Sundance Kabuki on April 26 and April 29.

A young Korean woman bound to a tree, with a piece of bark in her mouth, shrieks in pain. Her silk dress is covered in dirt

and soaked in sweat. The opening scene to Kim Meejeung’s Shadows in the Palace, a supernatural murder mystery set in Korea’s Chosun era is based around the royal court maids. While this birth scene may seem heavy to watch, the scenes to follow only get more intense.

The court maids of the Emperor’s palace take a vow when they enter, to forever remain chaste. But with an ambitious concubine, Hee-bin (Se-ah Yujn), determined to win the emper- or’s at-tention, maids will be pushed into a life of lies and betrayal.

From stabbing needles deep under a girl’s fin-gernails, to the stitching of gold thread into a bare thigh, this vividly filmed mov-ie requires a strong stomach. Despite numerous gory scenes, this movie is hard to pull away from. With a different, bone-chilling clue being revealed every few minutes about the mysterious death of court maid Wol-ryung (Yeong-hie Seo), the movie demands — and requires — full attention from the viewers.

The film, based almost completely on the female characters, reflects the extreme discipline and cruelty subjected to maids. Unexpectedly however, the movie also has a fantasy side, where eerie shadows, resembling the long black hair of the ghosts in Japanese film The Grudge, creep through the palace, haunting everybody involved in the royal scandal.

With an extremely strong plot, beautiful cin-ematography, and rich acting, specifically from Jin-Hie Park who plays the curious and strong-willed court medic, this film is definitely worth seeing, just expect to be clutching your throat during the bloody execution scene.

Review Scale

Loves it

Boring

a&ethe broadview 7

San Francisco International Film Festival celebrates its 51st year

SF film festival partners with Kabuki

After becoming the first festival in the Americas to turn 50 last year, the 51st Annual San Fran-

cisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) continues to expand its recognition by screening 177 new films.

Representing 49 countries in 38 dif-ferent languages, SFIFF’s films will play April 24 through May 8.

“We’ve really tried to grow in size and credibility more and more each year,” said Director of Programming Linda Blackaby. “We’re proud to say that we have also increased membership to the Film Society by 66 percent and cor-poration support by 150 percent.”

This year SFIFF offers 27 documen-taries, 83 short films and 67 narrative features, as well as a New Directors’ section. The festival will showcase eight world and six U.S. premieres, as well as

exhibit the work of 39 female directors in theaters across the city.

Youth outreach programs have also become a clear focus of SFIFF as it struggles to get more teenagers and col-lege students involved in independent films.

“We have attained a new partner-ship with the Sundance Kabuki in which they will be showing a limited distribu-tion of our films from SFIFF in a reserved

section of the theater throughout the year,” said Programming Associate Sean Uyehara. “We hope it will advance wider public interest, especially among those who usually don’t watch these kinds of movies.”

The San Francisco Film Society, which organizes SFIFF, will also be con-ducting a San Francisco International Animation Festival from November 8 to 11 as well as a New Italian Cinema event November 11 to 18.

Father’s death inspires twins’ first film

Never before has heroin addiction been portrayed so hopefully. All Is Forgiven, directed by Mia Hansen-Løve, tells the story of French poet Victor (Paul

Blain), depressed and addicted to dope, his young Austrian partner, Annette (Marie-Christine Freidrich), and their daughter, Pamela (Constance Rousseau).

Half of the movie shows Victor and Annette’s rocky marriage, with Pamela (Victoire Rousseau) at a young age. For every dramatic conversation between the two lovers, the big-eyed, curly-haired daughter is there, never focusing on the hazardous relationship she witnesses. After Victor’s other lover, Giséle (Olivia Ross) overdoses; Victor enters rehab, and Annette and Pamela pack up and leave.

The second half of the movie shows Pamela as a young woman, 11 years later. With the same curls and big green eyes, she is sheltered by her mother, and curious about her past. With the help of Victor’s sister Martine (Carole Franck), Pamela forms a relationship with Vic-tor.

With strong direct-ing from Hansen-Løve, the movie smoothly transitions from scene

to scene, year to year, first showing the distance growing between the lovers, and then it closing between the father and daughter.

Friedrich’s acting as the distressed but strong Annette is mind blowing. With her voice becoming raspy as she cries on the phone to Victor, it is no doubt that she is the star of the film.

Although Constance Rousseau’s acting is weaker, her youthful beauty is breathtaking and she accurately portrays the lost girl that Pamela is.

The audience can’t help but pull for Victor, whose ad-diction never seems to get out of control, but whose depres-sion keeps him trapped. The viewer feels sympathy for every character. Though the plot is depressing all the way up until the last few minutes, the final shot of Pamela walking away into a garden leaves the audience filled with hope.

All Is Forgiven

The first five minutes of José Louis Guerín’s In the City of Sylvia is pretty boy actor Xavier

Lafitte, sitting on a bed, staring. The only way the viewer would know the movie didn’t freeze is the fact that he occasionally blinks. This sufficiently represents the pace of this ascetically pleasing, but practically silent film.

While the film beautifully shows the old, narrow and curving streets of Strasbourg, France with romantic French music playing throughout, it is hard to focus on the film and slow-moving plot. The story is of a young man (Lafitte), credited as Él, searching for his long lost lover Sylvia whom he met six years earlier. In the mean time Él sits at a café, drinking beer and sketching pretty women.

Then Él sees the stunning Ella (Pilar López de Ayala) whom he mistakes for Sylvia, and the stalking begins. He follows her for blocks and blocks, even losing her at one point. Throughout this time the

only dialogue that occurs is completely anonymous and not essential to the plot. Real conversation finally occurs when the suspicious Ella questions her follower.

While the shots of the city are lovely to see, the viewer cannot help but start to lose focus. Yes, the film is ro-mantic, yes, both Él and Ella have ideal French bone-structure, but the audi-ence doesn’t know how to feel towards the characters, especially the young man. In

a way the viewer wants him to find Sylvia, but one also cannot help wish-ing he would just give up, or make a move, because the trailing can only go on for so long.

In the City of Sylvia

Shadows in the Palace

Xavier Lafitte and Pilar López de Ayala

play strangers in the film,

In the City of Sylvia. Lafitte plays El, who confuses

de Ayala for a long-lost lover.

S u n g - r y e o n g Kim stars in

Shadows in the Palace. The f i lm will show at Kabuki in May.

Victor, played by Paul Blain, clutches his young daughter, Pamela, played by Victoire Rousseau. All Is Forgiven was released in France in September 2007.

rebecca kelliherasst. feature editor

DOMINIQUE SHETH | the broadview

Reviews are the combined opinion of Rachel Forbes, Gracie Hays and Rebecca Kelliher. Synopses by Rachel Forbes.

Country: Spain/FranceDirector: José Luis GuerínRuntime: 84 minutes

Country: South KoreaDirector: Kim MeejeungRuntime: 113 minutes

Country: FranceDirector: Mia Hansen-LøveRuntime: 105 minutes

Consumers adapting to rising gas prices

Inching along in her mom’s black Prius, she pulls into a gas station. $3.89 glares from the

price board as she hands the cashier her mom’s credit card. With soaring prices, she would never consider paying for her own gas as a broke teenager.

“Thankfully, I don’t have to pay for my own gas,” said junior Jocelyn Friday. “I’ve heard a lot about rising gas prices. I don’t know much about gas prices, but $2.75 seems reasonable. What they charge today is ridiculous.”

California has the most ex-pensive gas in the nation, averaging $3.59 this month according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), while some San Francisco gas stations charge $4 or more. AAA reports the average annual cost of driving is up an estimated $300 over last year with higher gasoline prices largely to blame.

Driving and adapting to oil prices are the only options for most student drivers.

“I usually have to drive to do errands and drop off my sisters,” said sophomore Joumana Abdul-massih. “I have to drive for a lot of reasons but I can’t just stop driving because of gas prices. Driving for me is a lot easier than other op-tions. I don’t have to depend on anyone else for transportation.”

Senior Stephanie Rotter said high gas prices have influenced her family’s driving habits.

“I drive the family car to work sometimes,” said Rotter. “I don’t

have to pay for gas because it’s the family car, but we definitely use our more gas efficient car now to save money on gas.”

Some choose to reduce costs by shopping for lower gas prices, but many students and teachers have turned to a different way of saving money on gas.

“There are a lot of downsides to driving like [paying for] parking and paying for gas,” said history department chair Michael Staf-ford. “I take the bus.”

Commuters can still find ways to save money on gas.

“Drive less by coordinating lists of things to do and do them all in one trip,” said history teacher Michael Steinbrecher, who com-mutes to school from San Rafael in a Toyota Camry.

Steinbrecher recalled an oil crisis beginning in 1973 when the Organization of Petroleum Ex-porting Countries (OPEC) cut oil production and placed an embargo on shipments of crude oil to the West that created problems worse than what drivers face today.

“You had to wait two hours to get your gas, and if they ran out you were out of luck,” said Stein-brecher. “You were only allowed 10 gallons at a time and it’s no surprise the cars got smaller.”

But, currently, rising prices will continue to affect how much students will drive, according to sophomore Julia Papale.

“I just got my permit,” said Papale. “But when I start driving more I’m going to have to pay for my own gas. I will definitely have to think twice before I drive.”

jovel queiroloreporter

features8 april 18, 2008

10

18

26

34

42

50

Toyota Prius

Porsche (all-turbo)

Hummer (434WD)

Toyota Camry

Toyota Camry Hybrid

2008 Car Models

Mile

s p

er g

allo

n (m

pg

)

How far can your car go on one gallon of gas?

Source : http://www.mpgbuddy.com

46

25

34

1518

New cars serve as ‘green’ options

Hybrid car sales increased by 49 percent in 2007, showing that more peo-

ple are straying from the more conventional, less fuel-efficient vehicles and turning instead to alternative technologies.

“[Our family] felt it was time to recognize that big gas guzzling SUVs were not the fair car to own, economically or politically,” said

Susan Lupica, who switched from a Toyota Land Cruiser to the hybrid Toyota Highlander and a Prius because she drives her two teens to many school and athletic events around the Bay Area.

Various new technologies are being developed to change the way consumers look at hybrids and alternate vehicles. The world’s 13th largest car manufacturer, Daimler AG developed BlueTEC, a nitrogen oxide reducing diesel engine for use in Mercedes-Benz, Jeep, Volk-swagon and Audi vehicles.

Daimler AG’s other gas-sav-ing alternative is the smart car,

whose Web site displays the slogan, “Open your mind to the car that challenges the status quo.” Smart car is an 8-foot-8 two-seater that averages 40 miles per gallon in the city, only 8 miles per gallon less than the Toyota Prius — but takes a year and a half to receive after placing an order.

“There are some people who are canceling [their orders] be-cause they don’t understand that whenever there’s a new product launched in the United States, this is what happens,” said smart car Brand Specialist Loretta Greene. “But there is an appeal, especially

to Bay Area residents, because of the desire to be green. The car is 98 percent recyclable, built in a plant that’s built from recycled materials itself, and they reutilize most of the waste.”

Toyota proved in 1997 that hybrid vehicles can be cheap to manufacture, making the Prius the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, according to the Rainforest Action Network — but like the smart car, Toyota faced challenges with con-sumer popularity when the Prius initially launched.

“The first Prius wasn’t fully accepted, but when the ‘green

trend’ caught on, the demand went really high,” said Mike La, Toyota of San Francisco Sales Representa-tive. “People are looking to lower their emissions and it’s the next best thing to getting a fully electric vehicle.”

Despite the Green Revolution, the only car company that current-ly makes a mass-produced fully electric vehicle is Tesla Motors, with the 2008 Roadster starting at $98,000 with a $5,000 wait-list fee. General Motors unveiled the Chevrolet Volt Electric concept that won’t start selling until 2010 with a projected cost of $35,000.

kelly cheungeditor in chief

for

• Smart cars are much smarller and compact. They were originally designed to make parking easier. Now, they are being offered in the U.S. and plans are underway to sell an electric version soon.

• E85 ethanol cars run on ethanol alcohol-containg fuel. They are becoming increasingly popular in the Midwest where corn is abundant.

•Electric cars are vehicles that run on rechargeable batter and electric motors instead of an internal combustion engine.

Types of car technology

• Hybrid cars combine a gas engine with a rechargeable battery system in order to lower gas mileage.

Source : http://www.howstuffworks.com

After recently earning his driver’s license, 18-year-old Julian Labagh picked

up three of his friends while driv-ing his mother’s BMW and headed down 39th Avenue towards Sunset Boulevard. He didn’t have a stop sign but decided to let a couple cars go by before driving into the intersection. Suddenly a car, going twice the speed limit, sped through the intersection and hit the back tire of Labagh’s car, sending it into a spin.

“I was very lucky,” said La-bagh, who pays for his own insur-ance. “Nobody got injured, and my accident did not affect my insurance because I was not held responsible.”

Teenagers have the highest rate of fatal crashes in relation to any other age group. This rate is three times greater than for any other age group, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

“The rates rise and fall de-pending on accident statistics,” said a State Farm broker who asked not to be named because he is not in press relations. “The rates gradu-ally decrease until a person is 25-years-old and the rates are based on the rates of accidents for that age. The most important issues

are records and experience more so than age.”

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenag-ers in America. More than 5,000 teens, ages 16 to 20, are killed by motor vehicle accidents each year, according to the NHTSA.

The lead causes for accidents among teens are inexperience and immaturity mixed with drinking, not wearing seat belts, distrac-tions such as cell phones, music and friends, driving at night and drug use.

Driver’s insurance is primarily based on the driver’s age, gender, driving record — accidents, mov-ing violations and how long the driver has had her license — an-nual mileage and the age and cost of the driver’s vehicle, according to the California Department of Insurance.

“I am not sure of everything that my insurance is based on since my company just gives me a quote and I write a check,” said Labagh. “I do know it is more for guys and that my age and the age of my car affects the rates.”

For teenagers, being involved in an accident, even a minor one, can cause insurance rates to in-crease, sometimes costing more than the damage.

“I almost bought a Mustang, which is considered a sports car

and therefore my insurance would have been more expensive,” said Labagh. “However, my Mini is a compact car and so the insurance was less.”

The State of California re-quires drivers to take financial responsibility for their motor vehicles and one way to do this is by purchasing liability insurance. A person driving without liability insurance can be fined for hun-dreds of dollars. Drivers without insurance who are involved in an accident may have her license suspended.

Many auto insurance agencies give discounts for grade point aver-ages above a 3.0 or for taking the agency’s driver training program.

“If a person is fully enrolled in school and has a B average or great-er, the rates are significantly less. It is a proven fact that people with better grades get in less accidents,” said the State Farm broker.

Students realize that driving comes with responsibilities and that there are ways to save on insurance.

“Driving a car is a huge re-sponsibility and I realize this completely,” said senior Meghan Helmberger. “I also realize that my insurance is a lot higher since I’m a teenager, so I completed an online driver’s program that lowered my insurance.”

elizabeth grubernews editor

the broadview 9features

Today’s drivers face changes with rising gas prices and hybrid car technology

Accidents affect insurance

photos | RENA HUNT

of a hybrid

Electric motor

Gasoline engine

Batteries

Smart Car ForTwo

Price: $11,590 - $13,590Type: Smart car

Toyota Highlander SUVType: HybridPrice: $27,300 - $33,700Toyota Prius

Type: HybridPrice: $21,100 - $23,700

- similar to those found in most cars, however, hybrid internal combustion engines are smaller and use more advanced technologies to reduce emissions and increase efficiency

- acts as a motor and generator - draws energy from batteries to accelerate and slow down the car

- located towards the back of the car - are recharged when the driver steps on the brakes

Source : http://auto.howstuffworks.com

The green scene

Topsiders , the classic boat shoes

made by Sper-ry, are becom-ing a trend both on and

off the water. “I think a lot of people

wear the shoes in an effort to

be retro and sort of shabbily and effortlessly chic,” said se-nior Hillary Lyons, “But I don’t like that hipster vibe. I wear the shoes because it’s fun to wear something from my parents’ generation.”

The shoes are good for walking around the city and can be worn as a more foot-friendly alternative to flats or tennis shoes, according to senior Katie Sobrepeña.

“They are comfortable, simple, sturdy and good for

everyday wear,” said Sobrepeña, “I’ve had them for four years and they still haven’t fallen apart.”

Sperry makes the shoes in the classic brown, tan and white.

“I have the shoes in the original brown, but I think the other colors are fun too,” said junior Grace Milligan.

The shoes were originally designed in 1935 as boat shoes, to be worn for sailing and mo-tor boating.

“Because topsiders are traditionally worn as boat shoes they’re pretty ideal for that spring and summertime feel,” said Sobrepeña.

The shoes’ preppy versatil-ity makes them a good look, according to Milligan.

“They have a preppy East Coast feel that reminds me of Nantucket,” said Milligan, “I can wear them with a lot of different looks, even the uniform.”

city lifeApril 18, 200810

roll over, beethovengracie hays

pulse

by Dominique Sheth

only in There are few people who would describe

heavy metal and cellos going together like peas in a pod. Surprisingly, Finland’s

Apocalyptica has bridged the gap by melding its three-piece cello band with classical com-posers such as Shostakovich and iconic metal band Metallica — and is now selling out venues worldwide.

Although each member was classi-cally trained at Fin-land’s only music-focused college, the Sibelius Academy, at times the band develops a tone in their playing that is untraceable to the classical cello. Shredding a lightning speed guitar solo is hard enough to play on the fretted, thin neck and light strings of a guitar, yet Apocalyptica is able to nail each note effortlessly, without any frets to guide hands up the long and thick neck of the cello. The band’s flawless solos have gotten me into the strange phenomenon of playing air cello while listening to Apocalyptica on my iPod, which I’m sure has already confused plenty of pedestrians walking down the same sidewalks as me.

Apocalyptica has also made it socially ac-ceptable for teenagers to openly listen to cham-ber music. These Finnish cello shredders may

not know it, but they are rescuing dorky band kids all around the world by redefining what it means to play a classical instrument. Playing the violin or the trombone doesn’t necessarily mean that a path to success will lead to performances with tucked in dress shirts and a receding hair line(not that there’s anything wrong with that). Donning long greasy hair and a vast array of

tattoos, Apocalyptica has proved this point.

With the addition of a drummer in 2005, Apoca-lyptica has developed a more layered sound that compli-ments the cellos and drives forth the more furiously dark emotions.

The band has started collaborating with a number

of vocalists such as the frontman of the masked nu-metal band Slipknot, Corey Taylor. Mind you, when it comes to Slipknot I am a complete music snob. I don’t think I can be in the same room as a Slipknot fan without feeling the need to “save” the wearer from his musical disease. Nonetheless, while listening to “I’m Not Jesus” the song Apocalyptica performed with Taylor, I found myself bobbing my head along with it, still marveled by their cello playing.

If you missed them play at Slim’s on Wednesday, check their Website http://www.apocalyptica.com for future tour dates.

One day in seventh grade while I was walking downtown, all the

pressures of school were re-ally catching up with me. I was walking by a CD store, and I saw a homeless man in a wheelchair with no legs. I had seen him nu-merous times since third grade, and every time someone walked by him, he would hold up a sign saying “Hi,” and then flip it to the other side, which said “Smile.” Every time he would flip the sign to say “Smile,” he would smile at the person, like he was trying to make connec-tions with people on a deeper

level instead of just trying to get money.

Lots of people overlooked him, and looked at him as just another homeless man. There is something about him that stands out to me, that many people find unimportant. When he flipped the sign, looked at me and smiled, for the first time that day I smiled.

Only in San Francisco would you find a homeless man who cares more about uplifting the spirits of others than making money.

— Katherine Mibelli, sophomore as told to Ina Herlihy

I was riding the 45 bus line to my house which passes through Chinatown and

Union Square, attracting lots of tourists. I was talking with my best friend on the phone, and we were using really casual terms such as “Hey hot stuff.” Throughout the conversation, I alternated between calling her “Hun,” and “Sweet thing.”

Eventually I started noticing a group of people wearing San Francisco sweatshirts — brand-

ing them as tourists — looking nervously at each other. As I continued talking to my friend, they kept looking at each other after every term of endearment. It was when I finally said good-bye to her that I realized they thought we were in a romantic relationship.

Only in San Francisco do tourists think of our terms of endearment as a relationship.

— Kat Eaneman, junior as told to Ina Herlihy

Homeless man cheers people up with a smile

Tourists misinterpret phone call on city bus

RENA HUNT | the broadview

Was there something wrong with the chicken?

No, the restaurant is spinning ...

Celloists play heavy metal

There are few people who would describe heavy metal and cellos going together like peas in a pod.

Postcards from San Francisco

Prom 2008: Dinner at the Equinox

Topsiders offer versatilty and style for the wearer.

retro boat shoes make a comeback

sophie skinnersenior reporter

5 simple rules: badmintonThe server hits the shuttlecock (birdie) with the racket underhand from the serve line diagonally to the opposite end of the court.

The server scores a point and serves again if she wins a rally, but the receiver becomes the new server and receives a point if she wins a rally.

The birdie stays in play if it hits the net and goes over to the other side or strikes the other player, but it cannot rest on the racket or hit the ground.

Players switch sides of the court with their opponent at the end of each game, and the winner of the previous game serves first in the next game.

Two games that are 21 points each are played, but if the scores are tied, then a third game of 21 points determines the ultimate winner.

sportsthe broadview 11

end of the quarterleslie wu

Track team members said they hope to do well in the next two meets after improving from their

first meet in San Jose.“There are nine people on the track

and they run multiple heats,” said Coach Anna Challet. “In any heat you are run-ning against eight different people so [the

meets] can be very intense.”Instead of practicing together, the

girls work on their individual runs to prepare for the meets.

“The practices are different for each of the [members],” said freshman Tiana Abdulmassih. “Sprinters run a series of 200 meters and 400 meters to prepare for the meets while distance runners usually run a couple of timed miles.”

The team of three said that they find

that the size, though small for a track team, has not affected their performance in the meet.

“We have only one competitor in all of the events that we participate in, but we have as good a chance as other teams who have dozens of girls running,” said Abdulmassih.

The Cubs’ next meet is April 22 at San Francisco City College. Check http://sacredsf.org/chs for more information.

The swim team is working to improve their record in the upcoming meets before the

BCL championships on May 10. “The girls have been working

extremely hard at practice, and I’ve seen great improvement in every-body,” said assistant coach Renee Chow. “I think we have potential to do well in the championships.”

The team has had two meets as of press time, against Mercy Burlingame and Lick Wilmerding, both of which they lost.

“We did really well at our meet

against Lick, but their team is three times the size of ours,” said Chow. “We have such a strong team, and I’m sure we would score better if only we had more swimmers.”

There are 15 swimmers on the team, and they work together as well as individually to make progress.

“Swimming is a very self-mo-tivated sport, but I find inspiration in my teammates’ enthusiasm,” said freshman Natalie Garnett. “Even though you’re swimming out there by yourself, it’s the team’s encouragement that helps push you to do your best.”

March Madness has always seemed like “spring fever,” a term for common symp-

toms during a certain time period. However, “madness” is probably an overstatement with the recent find-ings on decreased worker productiv-ity in relation to the NCAA tourna-ment.

People spend hours writing their brackets and watching college basketball teams compete across the country. Web sites are constantly up-dated with the latest tournament scores.

It’s understandable that people would want to spend time redoing their brackets in order to win the $5 million for having the best lineup. It’s the perfect money making scheme combined with an interesting pastime.

However, there have been reports that March Madness contributes to decreased worker productivity. Businesses lose an estimated $3.8 billion during March, according to a press release by John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray, & Christmas.

The Challenger report doesn’t factor in the time that people waste at work on a daily basis with long lunches or talks around the coffee pot. Workers understand that they have to finish their work or face the consequences. The tournament just rearranges the time they have.

Sports Illustrated even provided live video streaming online. People were able to watch game highlights or full games on their office computers. The site also had a “boss button,” which brings up a mock spreadsheet with sta-tistics on snacks consumed and other random facts.

Sports Illustrated is just making a joke out of people who do spend time watching the game at work. Not all jobs require working with a spread-sheet. Besides, if a boss really cared about wasted time, he or she would have some sort of system in place that would report productivity.

On average, college basketball fans don’t even tune in to all the games. According to a study done by Nielson Media Research, 23.1 million viewers watched the 2005 championship while only 16.6 million saw the championships for the year before.

Overall, the relation to worker productiv-ity seems blown out of proportion. People have enough common sense not to spend too much time at work doing other activities that could possibly jeopardize their job.

Even if people do spend time creating of-fice pools for the tournament, workers can’t stand around all day just watching games. Be-sides, most games are played on weeknights or weekends.

Productivity estimates should look at the big picture. If productivity slumps, it could be due to “spring forward” or some other seasonal event. People are smart enough not to waste time at work focusing on something that is only a pastime.

Road work

Swim team prepares for championships

Basketball tournamentdoesn’t limit productivity

sara kleopferreporter

sophie gilchristreporter

— compiled by Susie Lee

DOMINIQUE SHETH | the broadview

RENA HUNT | the broadview

Freshman Briana Davis, track coach Anna Challet and junior Claire Cannon take their warm-up run on Fillmore Street to the Julius Kahn Park in the Presidio. The track team has two more meets before BCL championships on May 10 at San Francisco City College.

INA HERLIHY | the broadview

Sophomore Jovel Queirolo swims breaststroke at swim team practice at Garfield Pool in the Mission. The swim team’s next meet is against Crystal Springs Uplands on April 23.

Source: www.internationalbadminton.org

Track team workson personal goals

The JV and varsity soc-cer teams have focused on learning each other’s

strengths and coming together as a team, rather than winning games.

“The season turned out to not be so good in terms of our record,” said varsity captain Tracy Kuwatani. “However, I have seen the team grow from being a group of girls from different grades on a team to a group of friends in a family.”

Junior Gabby Tringali also no-ticed the importance of the game over the age of the players.

“There are girls from all grades on the team, but age doesn’t really matter,” said Tringali. “Everyone is on the same level on the field.”

Kuwatani and varsity captain Sasha Melendez-Goldman contin-ued to read an inspirational quote to the team before each game and each girl puts the quote in her left shin guard, as they’ve done in past seasons.

“For difficult upcoming

games, Sasha and I picked quotes that stressed the importance of trying your hardest, because as long as you try your hardest there is nothing more you can do,” said Kuwatani.

Senior Meghan Helmberger said she enjoyed being able to actu-ally go out on a field and play.

“We lost a lot of our season to the rain last year, so it was great to be outdoors and playing on the field,” said Helmberger.

Having three JV coaches, David Moreno, Christy Checovich and Sarah Garlinghouse allowed the girls to get personal attention during practice.

“There are a lot of people on the team, so having three coaches helps everyone to get the attention they need,” sophomore Qiyamah Hameed.

For many girls on the JV team, it was their first time playing for the school.

“As captains, Jess [Zablah], AnnMarie [Ide] and I try to en-courage the less experienced play-ers to learn more about the game,” said JV co-captain Kat Eaneman.

Varsity’s next game is against Marin Academy at Marin Academy on April 18 at 4 p.m. and JV’s next game is against Marin Academy on April 23 at 4 p.m. at the Polo Fields.

As temperatures rise on clear spring days, San Francisco residents are hiking and

walking as a means of exercising while also exploring the city in greater depth.

“Walking is really the only way to see things in a city,” said Sue Krumbein, guide and coor-dinator of school tours for San Francisco City Guides. “When you’re in a car or even a bus, you can just zip through a neighbor-hood. But when you walk, you can stop and investigate things. You can look up and see the tops of buildings, which can often be the most beautiful parts of buildings.”

While people may prefer to hike in less populated areas, there are certainly opportunities for hik-ing within San Francisco.

“Many people, even enthusi-astic hikers, don’t even try city hik-ing,” said Sylvia Allen, Hike Leader for San Francisco City Hikes. “I suppose they’re imagining little neighborhood strolls with stores, cafes and historic places. There are plenty of those, but you can also do real hiking in the city.”

“City hikes can be as long and as challenging as you want them to be,” said Allen. “They can be as beautiful and interesting as hikes in the wilderness.”

English teacher Theresa Pad-

den frequently walks and hikes in areas ranging from the Presidio to the Embarcadero.

“I’m actually getting rid of my car because I walk pretty much ev-erywhere,” said Padden. “San Fran-cisco is so accessible on foot.”

Padden prefers not to listen to music while walking.

“I don’t usually wear ear-phones because I like to actually hear the world around me,” said

Padden. “It’s exhilarating. It’s meditative for me, where I get most of my thinking and planning done. It’s really easy to find nature in this urban environment.”

Especially in a city like San Francisco that has a lot of hills, walking can be a good form of exercise.

“Walking is aerobic and ton-ing,” said Padden. “It’s probably the best exercise for me. It does take up a chunk of time, but it’s an invigorating whole-body and mind experience.”

Individuals can also person-alize walks by determining the pace.

“You can go as fast or slow as you want,” said Allen. “This kind

of exercise works for everybody, however fit or not the person is to begin with.”

Various organizations offer tours or hikes throughout different neighborhoods for tourists and San Francisco residents alike.

San Francisco City Hikes leads private hikes for groups that are all between four and 5.5 miles long, whereas San Francisco City Guides

offers free walking tours that incorporate more of the history of the city.

“Our number one tour is the tour of Chinatown, because it’s so colorful and it’s a relatively big Chi-natown,” said Krumbein. “We also give a popular tour called City Scapes and Public Places, which takes people to out of the way

places that they might not even known existed, like roof gardens or parks.”

But walkers or hikers often determine favorite routes that they frequent individually.

“My own favorite hike is one of our Presidio hikes,” said Allen. “It starts at Baker Beach and wan-ders all over the Western Presidio. It has gorgeous and unusual views and all kinds of interesting twists and turns.”

Hikers and walkers can also appreciate the picturesque views available throughout the city.

“People come from all over the world to see the views that we see everyday,” said Padden. “Walk-

ing through Crissy Field or the Pre-sidio, you have all of the elements: the wind, the birds, the sun and the bay. This city has so much to offer in the way of natural beauty, and the views are free.”

Overall, Allen views hiking in San Francisco as a testing form of exercise.

“City hiking is a hugely enjoy-able way to challenge yourself,” said Allen. “If you aren’t normally that much of a walker and you find yourself looking out over the city from the very top of Twin Peaks, having hiked up there on your own two feet, you’ll be pretty proud of yourself.”

sports12 april 18, 2008

mary slatterysacred heart editor

Upcoming games

Soccerv. Marin Academy4.18: V at Marin Academy4.23: JV at Polo Fields

Badminton04.22.08: University

v. University

Swimming04.23.08: Marin Academy

morgan kendalleditor in chief

City walks provide exercise, views

RENA HUNT | the broadview

City walks, such as the one leading up to Coit Tower, provide hikers with different views of San Francisco. Walking groups tour the city, showing people out-of-the-way places and historical landmarks.

Soccer team strengthens bonds

Badminton is focusing on improving skills and enjoying the game this

season rather than playing to win.

“I like playing badminton because it’s a relaxed sport that doesn’t require practicing for hours everyday at school,” said junior Emily Boschwitz.

The team has a record of 2-5 as of press time.

“I’m really glad I joined badminton because I’m part of a really supportive team,” said freshman Monica Rodriguez.

“We always encourage each other no matter what the score, and that positive attitude helps take the pressure off.”

Players say they are satisfied with how far the team has come since the season’s start.

“The team has definitely improved over the course of the season,” said Boschwitz. “In the beginning, no one was even making contact with the birdie, and now they’re slamming it over the net.”

The team’s next match is scheduled for Apr. 22 against University High School.

sara kleopferreporter

Badminton improves skills

Track04.22.08: SF City College

City hikes can be as long and challenging as you want them to be. They can be as beautiful and interesting as hikes in the wilderness.

– Sylvia Allen

INA HERLIHY | the broadview

Junior Grace Milligan steals the ball from an Urban player at a varsity game on April 8. Varsity has two more games before the season ends.