Ryan Allein grew up watching the San Francisco Giants and Barry Bonds. He followed Bonds' journey to hitting 73 home runs in 2001, an accomplishment that stands as the single-season home run record. He witnessed the Giants come oh-so-close in 2002 during the World Series against the Anaheim Angels.

Yet, he still does not know where he stands on the controversy over Bonds. Allein said he is aware that although numerous allegations of Bonds' link to steroids have been made, Bonds has never been proven guilty.

If Bonds is ever proven guilty of intentionally taking steroids, Allein said "I think there should be an asterisk [next to his record]."

Despite the embroilment of Bonds' alleged steroid use and Allien's own misgivings, the 17-year old senior at Hanford High School in Hanford, will always acknowledge Bonds for the great player that he is.

"He's probably the best player I've ever seen. Even though he's made some mistakes he deserves to be recognized as one of the best players ever to play the game of baseball."

It's summertime, and the sounds of baseball are alive and well at AT&T Park in San Francisco, home of the San Francisco Giants and the site of the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. But noises are being made in greater volume as Bonds continues his pursuit of the prestigious home run record set by Hank Aaron 31 years ago.

Ryan's dad, Mark Allein, 47, agrees with his son about the asterisk. Mark Allein also ragged on Bonds for taking time off every five games he plays. "If you're part of the team, you're part of the team," he says.

Being 42 in human years is almost like being 82 in professional baseball. Many baseball fans agree Bonds is not the player he used to be. Aside from the steroids, there has been controversy over the reason Barry Bonds is playing this season.

Fans such as Daniel Ruiz, 68, believe Bonds is still in the Major Leagues today just to break the record. Ruiz was riding Caltrain with his wife heading towards the Giants-Padres game on June 26.

"He's definitely playing to break the record," Ruiz said. "He should be on the Giants to help them win, and he can do it with base hits and walks, not necessarily with home runs."

Along with Ruiz and his wife were their two grandchildren. When asked what he would tell his grandchildren about Bonds, Ruiz said, "I would say to my grandkids he's a great player. I won't mention too much about steroids, just I don't think he'll ever be proven guilty and I don't think he'll admit it either. And I'll say he'll be going to the Hall of Fame."

"Absolutely, I want Bonds to break the record, and he will!" said the grey-haired Ruiz.

Many Bay Area residents, like Ruiz, say they support Bonds and wish him well in his chase to beat out Aaron's home run mark, but they admit they don't know what to think of Bonds being tied up in steroid allegations.

Lou Wolner, a college professor of social psychology, looks at the entanglement of Bonds and steroids from another perspective.

"I hold Major League Baseball responsible, which includes all the owners and player unions. Barry Bonds is being made a scapegoat for the fact that Major League Baseball is chicken," Wolner said. "Also, I think there is a hell of a lot of racism behind Barry Bonds and the steroids issue."

Wolner said Babe Ruth and Aaron, baseball's other premier home run hitters, did not have to make any decisions about performance-enhancing drugs and nobody knows if either would have taken banned substances to enhance their athletic ability if given the opportunity.

On the other hand, John Wilson, a firefighter from San Diego and an avid Padres fan, blames another source for the public image of Bonds.

"I think the media will do whatever it takes to sensationalize a story."

Although Wilson is a Padres fan, he appreciates Bonds for what he's done for the game of baseball. He believes Bonds is a tremendous baseball player, but not a role model. To Wilson, athletes who are ideal role models for kids are Khalil Greene, Jake Peavy, and Trevor Hoffman, all San Diego Padres.

"They desire to win and they'll put forth 110% everyday. They won't do it for themselves but for their team," Wilson said.

The notion of Bonds as a role model carries over from the Major Leagues to Little League, where coaches are also confused as to how to address the Bonds/steroids issue with their players.

Craig Morton, 56, a Little League coach with the Cupertino American Junior Cardi at the entanglement of Bonds and steroids from another perspective.

"I hold Major League Baseball responsible, which includes all the owners and player unions. Barry Bonds is being made a scapegoat for the fact that Major League Baseball is chicken," Wolner said. "Also, I think there is a hell of a lot of racism behind Barry Bonds and the steroids issue."

Wolner said Babe Ruth and Aaron, baseball's other premier home run hitters, did not have to make any decisions about performance-enhancing drugs and nobody knows if either would have taken banned substances to enhance their athletic ability if given the opportunity.

On the other hand, John Wilson, a firefighter from San Diego and an avid Padres fan, blames another source for the public image of Bonds.

"I think the media will do whatever it takes to sensationalize a story." Although Wilson is a Padres fan, he appreciates Bonds for what he's done for the game of baseball. He believes Bonds is a tremendous baseball player, but not a role model. To Wilson, athletes who are ideal role models for kids are Khalil Greene, Jake Peavy, and Trevor Hoffman, all San Diego Padres.

"They desire to win and they'll put forth 110% everyday. They won't do it for themselves but for their team," Wilson said.

The notion of Bonds as a role model carries over from the Major Leagues to Little League, where coaches are also confused as to how to address the Bonds/steroids issue with their players.

Craig Morton, 56, a Little League coach with the Cupertino American Junior Cardi at the entanglement of Bonds and steroids from another perspective.

"I hold Major League Baseball responsible, which includes all the owners and player unions. Barry Bonds is being made a scapegoat for the fact that Major League Baseball is chicken," Wolner said. "Also, I think there is a hell of a lot of racism behind Barry Bonds and the steroids issue."

Wolner said Babe Ruth and Aaron, baseball's other premier home run hitters, did not have to make any decisions about performance-enhancing drugs and nobody knows if either would have taken banned substances to enhance their athletic ability if given the opportunity.

On the other hand, John Wilson, a firefighter from San Diego and an avid Padres fan, blames another source for the public image of Bonds.

"I think the media will do whatever it takes to sensationalize a story." Although Wilson is a Padres fan, he appreciates Bonds for what he's done for the game of baseball. He believes Bonds is a tremendous baseball player, but not a role model. To Wilson, athletes who are ideal role models for kids are Khalil Greene, Jake Peavy, and Trevor Hoffman, all San Diego Padres.

"They desire to win and they'll put forth 110% everyday. They won't do it for themselves but for their team," Wilson said.

The notion of Bonds as a role model carries over from the Major Leagues to Little League, where coaches are also confused as to how to address the Bonds/steroids issue with their player

A weeklong protest calling attention to the need for comprehensive immigration reform and a legal pathway for undocumented immigrant children to attend colleges ends today on the doorstep of the San Francisco office of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).

College students from across the state spent the last four days fasting outside legislators' offices in support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which would fix immigration laws and increase education opportunities for undocumented immigrants who are students.

The protest in favor of the so-called DREAM Act started Monday when a caravan of vans departed Los Angeles and headed north. The caravan picked up participants in towns along the nearly 400-mile route to Pelosi's office, where hundreds were expected for a rally today.

Five South Bay college students also took part in the fast in which they sat in front of the office of Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) near downtown San Jose. The five are also taking part in the rally.

"I think it's awesome," said Alba Cardenas, 22, one of the protest's organizers. "It's great so many students are trying to get a better future. Passing the Act would be extremely helpful. I'm a very strong supporter."

Father John Pedigo, the Director of the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform, on Monday prayed over the five student fasters in San Jose, and declared the Catholic Church's support.

"We, as the Catholic Church throughout the U.S., believe these demands are reasonable and achievable," Pedigo said.

The fast was organized by Student Advocates for Higher Education from California State University, San Jose, and the Coalition for Human Rights of Los Angeles.
Organizers want the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States to have a way to gain citizenship without having to first return to their home countries. Organizers also want full rights and protections for current and future undocumented immigrant workers, preservation of due process and civil rights, and a stop to raids on businesses that might employ undocumented immigrants and deportations of any such workers identified. Organizers also want immigration law to continue to stress family reunification.

As part of the campaign, a mock graduation was held Tuesday in front of San Jose City hall to dramatize how the DREAM Act could change lives of students by allowing them to complete higher education in the United States. Nightly vigils were held throughout the week in front of city hall.

Under the DREAM Act, students who enter the United States at 15 years old or younger and demonstrate good moral character will be eligible to apply for conditional status, which would authorize up to six years of legal residence.
If during those six years, the student graduates from a two-year college, completes at least two years towards a four-year degree, or serves in the U.S. military, permanent residence will be granted.

Each year roughly 65,000 high school students graduate who would qualify for the DREAM Act's benefits, according to the National Immigration Law Center, a Los Angeles-based advocacy organization.

The passing of the DREAM Act also would restore states' rights to determine state college and university fees for undocumented immigrant student residents.
Julia Curry, an assistant professor at San Jose State University and an advisor to some of the student fasters, also spent a day this week faxing letters to the California Legislature in support of the Act.

"I wanted to make sure that they know we support them and (legislators) should be supporting them as well," said Curry.

How is it that in the most diverse nation in the world, one can feel like an outcast?

In my part of the country, everyone is put into five ethnic categories: white, black, Latino, Asian, or Asian Indian. You might not even have a single drop of any of these races, but with so much indifference and ignorance that so many people have, you are what they think you are.

I feel that in a country that is known for diversity, we seem to fall short of actually embracing it. We instead have become hypocrites, shooting out ways to conform cultures rather then celebrating them.

I'm Arabian, but to many people I look Asian Indian or black. As a Muslim female living in the United States, I'm basically expected to have stories of post 9-11 discriminations, but surprisingly, I haven't. I don't "fit" the stereotype because I don't wear the hijab or abaya.

The hijab is a religious scarf that Muslim females wear to cover their hair. It goes around one's face, covering not just the hair but also the neck. The abaya is a long, loose, black garment that hides one's whole body. The hijab to Muslim women represents complete dedication to their religion and to God.

So I decided to visit the local mall while dressed in a hijab and abaya to see what the reaction would be.

From the moment my friend and I drove in to the parking lot, people stared at me. I got stares walking, buying things, sitting down. Good lord! It was like they had no sense of manners. I even had some juvenile delinquents staring me down, trying to start something. When people weren't staring, they were actually avoiding me.

I have never been in as uncomfortable a position as this. I felt like I was doing something wrong by just wearing my religious clothes. I have never been put into a situation that consisted of me being the "outcast", clothes-wise. I conformed, in a way, to what my friends were wearing, or what I saw on TV.

I'm not saying I was embarrassed about my culture's clothes; it was just that I was born in America, so I obviously had many more American influences, as opposed to my Arabic influences. I'm sure that if I had been born and raised in the Middle East I would have grown up on what would have been appropriate there. The thing that really got me mad was the fact that everyone was looking at me with either hate or pity.

Hate because of 9-11 and the constant negative exposure that Islam and the whole Middle East gets. Pity because many people view the hijab as oppression, forced upon women. So many people judge and they never seem to really want to understand why. Why a person dresses differently. Or why they might think differently.

People have this mentality that if something doesn't match what they think is right it is either written off, or they decide that it's wrong. Many Americans don't understand that there is no one, uniform way to be an American. You can still be the best American you can be, while still holding on to your culture.

If we Americans can accept different religions, why can't we accept different American cultures and treat each other equally? This cultural discrimination is like a game of tag. We Arabs are "it" right now, but eventually it will be someone else later.

After my experiment, I had a sudden awakening. What makes me different from those people who judged me? Aren't I playing the role they want me to play by accepting Western customs?

I felt that all my life, I had been considered the "safe" Muslim. People have been comfortable speaking with me as opposed to someone who wears the hijab. The reaction I received at the mall helped me realize that I should acknowledge my culture and maybe one day, wear the hijab. When that day comes, I will know I did it not because I felt I had to in order to be accepted in my culture; instead it will be my personal choice, with no sense of pressure to conform.

As a Muslim teen, Sabrin Said had been thinking about wearing a hijab, the head scarf worn by women of her faith, when she had an epiphany during fajr, or early-morning prayer. She felt an uneasy shiver all over her body and wanted eagerly to read the Koran. She had never felt such fear and took it as a sign that it was time.

But the 16-year-old student at Gunderson High School in San Jose also thought about how she would be perceived by her peers and faculty.

"I knew going into this situation I was going to be the only muhajaba person in my school," she said, using the term for a Muslim woman who wears a hijab. "And I knew that being the only person would bring up thoughts of what would students think of me. Not only the students, but how would teachers react to me? How was I supposed to act? Am I going to act differently? Or the same? There were a lot of things going through my mind, but there was something bigger than these thoughts."

Said, now a 19-year-old student at the University of California-Los Angeles, is one of many young Muslim women who weigh the life-altering decision to wear the hijab. The head scarf represents modesty and the commitment the girls make to Allah and Islam. While many Islamic countries require girls to wear the hijab once they reach puberty, the decision is harder in a society where covering your head is not only optional, it can also perpetuate negative stereotypes.

"The misconception in the West is the hijab is oppression," says Samina Faheem Sundas, executive director of the American Muslim Voice. "Muslim women who wear it are not narrow-minded or backwards people. They are the opposite."

Some American women who wear hijabs were afraid to leave their homes after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, for fear they would be physically harmed. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, women are often targeted for their hijabs.

In June, a Georgia woman was barred from entering a courthouse for "homeland security reasons" when she tried to contest a speeding ticket. Also in June, at Seaside High School in Monterey County, a lunchroom supervisor yelled at a 13-year-old student to take off her scarf, even when she explained she wore it for religious reasons.

So for young women like Said, something that is meant to be a spiritual decision ends up having to be weighed against what's "appropriate" in the United States. Said's sister, Seham, 18, came to a different conclusion when considering whether to wear the hijab. She says her choice was not influenced by the negative connotations; rather, she just was not ready for that dedication.

"The hijab is like wearing Islam on your sleeve," Seham said, adding, "One day I would like to be like my sister, because I know that she is strong in her deen (religion). And I know I am as well, but I'm not capable like her to do the requirements to be on her level."

For many women who wear the hijab, the meaning is the opposite of Western stereotypes.

"The scarf is not an enemy in society; it's an option of attire," said Zakiyyah Hyatt, a psychologist who was part of a team that started a youth mentorship at the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara. "In our society, women are perceived as sexual objects. So when people, mainly men, see a woman covered up, her knowledge and abilities stand forth to him, not the fact that she has tight jeans on or he likes how her hair looks."

To many girls the hijab is a symbol of becoming a new person. "The hijab is not just a physical change, it also changes our attitude," says Abynette Kaffl, 17, a freshman at UC-Davis. "You're more humble, and you respect yourself a lot more."

Whether it's to be treated equally, or to be modest, wearing a hijab is a choice only a girl can make for herself, young women say, and it can't be decided overnight.

"In Saudi Arabia I was forced to wear it. In America I can take my time," said Amal Shefdin, a sophomore at DeAnza College in Cupertino. Sabrin Said says Allah gave her the strength to wear the hijab despite the stereotypes.

"It fazed me, but not to the point that I wouldn't do it," she said. "Don't let your hijab be your boundary. I may be muhajaba, but that's not all I am. It's what you make of it."

A week after she turned 20, Danielle stood in front of her family to tell her secret.

She braced herself, waiting for their negative response as she told them she was transgendered.

To her surprise, that response never occurred.

"I thought it would be a really big deal," says Danielle, of Santa Rosa, "but my family was just open about it, and they seemed like they were expecting it. When I came out, it seemed like everyone knew before me."

Biologically a male, Danielle, who didn't want her last name used for this story, is a transgender female, who joins a growing number of youths who are coming out earlier in their lives than ever before.

Only 15 years ago, transgender people were wary of revealing themselves, but the advent of the Internet has allowed a new generation to meet in chat rooms and message boards to discuss their most personal issues.

That has systematically fueled a better understanding and an increasing acceptance of transgender people in the mainstream, although some prejudice still exists.

"There is a start of a recognition that people who are transgendered face quite a lot of discrimination and that there isn't a lot of protection for them," says Brad Decker, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender National Hotline. "A lot more people are now calling themselves transgendered." Transitioning -- or switching from one gender role to another -- is done so a transgender person's body matches the gender they identify.

But regardless of what age or generation transgender people are, most have problems with health care and insurance. Financial problems limit the medicine they need because of barriers insurance companies often raise to trans-related treatment.

While gender identity is classified as a psychological disorder, insurance companies rarely include treatment in their coverage, forcing many transgender people to pay for everything out of pocket.

"Some insurance companies may not pay for hormonal treatments or may not pay for sex reassignment surgery," says Decker. "Often there's a financial burden for that individual even if they have insurance. It's financially devastating for someone who has to try to pay for that."

Hormone replacement therapy – which is essential to the transition and consists of injecting the body with hormones of the gender the patient identifies – is especially difficult to acquire.

Sometimes, doctors refuse patients' prescription requests – prompting desperate people to turn to the streets for the hormone drugs to help with their transitions.

"It's a lot more common than anyone wants to admit," says 21-year-old Nicky, who didn't want his last name used. "It's really dangerous because you just don't know what's in there. You don't have blood work, you don't know if you have heart issues -- it's just not a safe practice."

Depending on the medium of replacement – including gels, injections, patches and pills -- the cost of HRT can range from $50 for a month's supply (gels and pills) to $50 for three months' supply (injections).

Many transgender people -- particularly the younger generation -- will not be able to afford such prices, especially if they wish to go further with their transition.

According to the Transgender at Work Project, the average cost of sex reassignment surgery can range from $11,000 to over $50,000 and does not include costs for therapy.

"Basically, transpeople just find a way to work around the system, although I know guys paying $100, $200 just for a [clinic] consultation," says Nicky of San Jose. "I'm very lucky with just going up [to San Francisco] for 20 bucks, showing my prescription, and paying another 20 bucks for my blood work." According to the standards set by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, before beginning HRT, patients must be at least 18 years old, be able to demonstrate knowledge of hormones' medical abilities and prove that they are ready for transition through either the Real Life Experience, in which patients live as their target gender for at least three documented months, or a period of psychotherapy for at least three months.

"There's a lot of issues where transgendered [youth] want to take hormones or do surgery or any changes like that," says Cassie Blume, youth program coordinator at the Billy DeFrank Center in San Jose. "I've seen them work harder to express themselves in the same way. They're working really hard, but there's a lot more expression and a lot more understanding."

For their part, the younger generation thrives, though not without some disappointments.

Having known almost nobody like them until they stumbled on transgender communities, some transgender people can't help but feel a slight tinge of jealousy for younger generations who have always had the Internet at their fingertips.

"I feel like I missed out on childhood, the way I wanted it to be," says Nicky. "I wish I could have [transitioned earlier], had I been able to describe this when I was about 13 or 14."

But for$100, $200 just for a [clinic] consultation," says Nicky of San Jose. "I'm very lucky with just going up [to San Francisco] for 20 bucks, showing my prescription, and paying another 20 bucks for my blood work."

According to the standards set by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, before beginning HRT, patients must be at least 18 years old, be able to demonstrate knowledge of hormones' medical abilities and prove that they are ready for transition through either the Real Life Experience, in which patients live as their target gender for at least three documented months, or a period of psychotherapy for at least three months.

"There's a lot of issues where transgendered [youth] want to take hormone

The second I walked into a thrift store, I flipped out my list: A knitted fabric, atop a canary-yellow long-sleeved dress; a navy blue polyester flower print tunic the attached sash loosely tied to the waist; a bright, lipstick-red leather purse; an ancient Elton John vinyl record that hasn't been played for decades; and a first edition of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.

I found all of these seemingly expensive items for bargain prices at a new breed of stores, which I'll call "thrifty vintage" stores.

Clothes are one of the first things that people see, and definitely the last thing they remember when you walk away. For me vintage is everlasting, the "new old" if you must.

I find it so painful that women spend thousands of dollars on designer bags, shredded jeans, and high-end, super-high stiletto shoes.

Whatever happened to the ideals on which America was founded?

Democracy: Check!

Freedom of the press: Check!

Thriftiness: Well, that's not our strongest suit anymore but it should be.

Fashion can be classy and cheap at the same time. In fact, "thrifty vintage" shops are not only found in rural towns with no malls. In fact, they are found all over the Bay Area… but where are all the good ones?

I've searched far and wide in search of the best "thrifty vintage" stores in town and around the area.

I'd have to say that one of my favorite destinations in this quest to find the best and finest thrift stores was right here in comfy San Jose.

Moon Zooom, on W. San Carlos Street, is a small "thrifty vintage" store that focuses on authentic era-related clothing, shoes, hats, and accessories for men and women.

The small store has an eccentric vibe with quirky rooms and sections that display décor of specific eras.

Underneath displays of posters of the original 70s television show Charlie's Angel, you can find go-go dresses in nearly every print imaginable, those dreaded bell-bottom jumpsuits, and woven hippie belts.

There are numerous racks that specialize in specific fashions, such as jumpers from the '40s, nightgowns and geometric dresses from the '60s, flapper dresses, and many, many, more.

The upstairs '80s boutique was completely adorable, and reminiscent of the '80s cult classic, "Pretty in Pink".

New merchandise is added weekly, sometimes even by sellers and traders. The best time to go is the last Saturday of the month . That is when items and racks are taken outside the store and sold for $1 a piece!

No matter how hard I tried, I simply could not part from a very adorable strappy black knitted fringe dress from the '70s that ended up costing $17. Though this burned a small hole in my wallet, I consider it bargain for the joy it brings to my wardrobe.

Tip #1: If you can't live without it- buy it!

If you are more into contemporary trends with brand-name tags, the local Crossroads Trading Co. in San Jose might just be your cup of tea.

Anyone can buy, sell, or trade clothing to and from the store so merchandise is added daily to already full racks.

Most of the racks have clothing in unused or good condition for very reasonable prices.

I was able to find a cute denim mini-skirt from American Eagle for $7.50, a flowy plaid print dress from Forever 21 for $16.50, and last season's unused western boots for $28.50.

Gentlemen are not left out of the loop. In my scavenger hunt I was able to spot Nike shoes in great condition for $18.50, Lacoste polos for $20, Kid Robot shirts for $16, and Gap jeans for $8.50.

The counter displayed various used bags and wallets from designer labels such as Juicy, Prada, and Dooney and Burke for a fraction of the original prices.

Tip #2: Purchasing accessories is typically a safe bet-. Just make sure they are washed before they are worn.

When thrift shopping, one cannot simply disregard the Mother Goose of thrift stores.

Goodwill, located on W San Carlos Street, is more of a store with jumbled household goods, knick-knacks, clothing, utter junk, and maybe a few "diamond in the ruff" finds for bargain prices.

On a recent Saturday, all items with orange tags were selling for $2! As I scoured the many racks of this Goodwill store, I was delighted to find an assorted collection of skirts, such as a funky bubble pink leather skirt and a magenta knee-high corduroy skirt.

Also a black-with-green-polka-dot Nicole Miller dress, a caramel tone v-neck dress, a billowy flower-patterned blouse, and many other items caught my eye. Though the Goodwill in San Jose had some good finds at win-win prices, I found that the Goodwill in San Francisco had a greater variety of eccentric pieces, but with greater price tags.

I was able to find a sequined top for $6 that I had to have. Perfect with skinny jeans!

The accessory corner had many quirky beaded necklaces, unused, from local stores.

I was instantly smitten.

Tip #3: Household items, novelties, books, furniture, and vinyl records are a steal at thrift stores; all you have to do is dig arfor $20, Kid Robot shirts for $16, and Gap jeans for $8.50.

The counter displayed various used bags and wallets from designer labels such as Juicy, Prada, and Dooney and Burke for a fraction of the original prices.

Tip #2: Purchasing accessories is typically a safe bet-. Just make sure they are washed before they are worn.

When thrift shopping, one cannot simply disregard the Mother Goose of thrift stores.

Goodwill, located on W San Carlos Street, is more of a store with jumbled household goods, knick-knacks, clothing, utter junk, and maybe a few "diamond in the ruff" finds for bargain prices.

On a recent Saturday, all items with orange tags were selling for $2! As I scoured the many racks of this Goodwill store, I was delighted to find an assorted collection of skirts, such as a funky bubble pink leather skirt and a magenta knee-high corduroy skirt.

Also a black-with-green-polka-dot Nicole Miller dress, a caramel tone v-neck dress, a billowy flower-patterned blouse, and many other items caught my eye. Though the Goodwill in San Jose had some good finds at win-win prices, I found that the Goodwill in San Francisco had a greater variety of eccentric pieces, but with greater price tags.

I was able to find a sequined top for $6 that I had to have. Perfect with skinny jeans!

The accessory corner had many quirky beaded necklaces, unused, from local stores.

I was instantly smitten.

Tip #3: Household items, novelties, books, furniture, and vinyl records are a steal at thrift stores; all you have to do is dig arfor $20, Kid Robot shirts for $16, and Gap jeans for $8.50.

The counter displayed various used bags and wallets from designer labels such as Juicy, Prada, and Dooney and Burke for a fraction of the original prices.

Tip #2: Purchasing accessories is typically a safe bet-. Just make sure they are washed before they are worn.

When thrift shopping, one cannot simply disregard the Mother Goose of thrift stores.

Goodwill, located on W San Carlos Street, is more of a store with jumbled household goods, knick-knacks, clothing, utter junk, and maybe a few "diamond in the ruff" finds for bargain prices.

On a recent Saturday, all items with orange tags were selling for $2! As I scoured the many racks of this Goodw

"Mafia, please close your eyes."

You can feel the tension as 20 teenagers sit in a circle waiting to see if the person they had picked is the game's murderer. After a pause, Jessie Poblacion, the "god" of the game, proclaims, "Anuj is … the Mafia!" The players explode into screams of victory and disbelief as Anuj reluctantly reveals his ace of diamonds.

Welcome to Mosaic 2007.

Not long after meeting, the 20 students from different backgrounds connected through their enthusiasm for journalism -- and their love for the role-playing game Mafia.

From morning to evening, the students immersed themselves in all things journalism: They read the Mercury News every morning and were quizzed about the day's paper. They went out into the community and interviewed sources for their stories. They listened to a panel of journalists talk about the future of journalism. Through it all, they came to understand the frustrations -- and rewards – of the profession.

"It's interesting to be able to view journalism in a perspective other than high school," said Caroline Hodge. "To be able to talk to sources that you wouldn't normally talk to made journalism so much more exciting."

With $60, flimsy, oversize nametags and notepads in hand, the students embraced the resources of the Mercury News. They tackled stories they would not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue, such as gender-neutral bathrooms and profiling ex-gangsters.

"I think the opportunities have always been out there for us, but we just didn't have the inspirations or motives to look," said Dulce Martinez. "Here, they tell you to be confident, and you feel stronger by yourself. You don't take no for an answer."

With their evenings free from work, the Mosaic Mafia blew off steam playing Ultimate Frisbee, ping-pong, and billiards. They toured the nightclub district (don't worry, they didn't go in), devoured buckets of Ben & Jerry's "Vermonster," and fell in love with "Ratatouille."

"Hanging out with everybody was nice because we got to be together. In the newsroom, we're kind of separated," said Jordan Hung.

If the Mosaic students all attended the same high school, they might not have ever met. But because of the opportunities the Mosaic workshop gave them, they managed to connect. Not only has each Mosaic student acquired new knowledge and skills, but they also met a few new friends.

For some music lovers, that tiny mp3 player just won't do.

"The purest form of music is on vinyl," said Nate Leblanc, an employee at Streetlight Records in San Jose. "I probably have about 4,000-5,000 pieces of vinyl. It's what keeps me going."

The LP has survived the introduction of 8-tracks, audiocassettes and CDs. And it's still here despite the massive success of digital music and portable media players.

Tyler Narciso, 21, of Salinas said he shops for vinyl records at least once a week since obtaining his grandparents' vacant turntable.

"Vinyl feels more intimate because it forces me to listen to the whole song. You can't fast-forward, rewind or skip a song like the way you would with CDs and just look for a single," he said.

"I feel like I'm more involved when I play vinyl," Narciso said.
Vinyl records, sound recordings consisting of a disk with a continuous groove, are still being mass-produced by record labels, with the most up-to-date singles and album releases, whereas 8-track cartridges and audiocassettes have been discontinued. According to the Associated Press, Nielsen SoundScan reported that 858,000 LPs were sold in 2006.

There are numerous record stores in the Bay Area such as Streetlight Records, Amoeba Music and Rasputin Music that specialize in selling modern and classic vinyl records, as well as CDs and other music products. The distinct album covers for vinyl records are also coveted. Many collectors frame them as they would works of art.

Yet, vinyl is not just purchased by music collectors. It is also used by DJs, who say the presence of an actual record at their fingertips makes the entire music experience more worthwhile.

"Using vinyl is so much more hands-on," said Jonathan Lewis via-email, a mobile DJ from Wales, United Kingdom. "By messing about and touching the vinyl, you almost feel like you are being a part of the music."

Lewis is more known as the "DJ Tutor" on the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube. Since October 2006, Lewis has been creating step-by-step tutorial videos on the techniques of DJing.

For the past five years, Streetlight Records employee Leblanc has also been working as a part-time mobile DJ, running local events in art shows and museums in the Bay Area.

"The older people at these events are surprised when they see me DJing with vinyl records on turntables. They tell me how they haven't seen a vinyl record in ages," Leblanc said. "It already establishes a good relationship with the crowd because they are able to connect with the DJ through the equipment he or she is using."

There are other advantages in using vinyl records for DJing purposes. The analog recording found in vinyl sounds infinitely better than CDs because the structure and waveform of the recording is literally engraved into the source, allowing no sound to be lost.

Additionally, vinyl records aren't prone to the technical errors of computers, which can crash or freeze.

"If you purchase a download and use it from your hard drive, your hard drive can stop working and you are left with nothing," Lewis said. "At least with vinyl, you are able to record the song onto your computer and even burn it to a CD while still having the original piece of music."

But one drawback is the price of vinyl records. A sealed vinyl album can range from $20-$30 while the same CD can be bought for $10 -$15.

Perhaps the main reason that disc jockeys continue to use vinyl comes with the mental aspect of knowing that the vinyl record stands as a recognized trademark for anyone who labels himself or herself a DJ.

"I feel like a true DJ when I'm using vinyl," said Isaias Sernas Jr., 30, of Hollister. "I hardly buy any CDs because there is so much originality on vinyl."
Sernas has been working as mobile DJ for nine years and recently started getting work in clubs.

Nevertheless, because there is so much gear to transport from event to event, some mobile DJs who use vinyl records are digitalizing their music collections. This means they will now have to purchase CD-capable turntables, also known as CDJs, but they gain the convenience of carrying just a binder of CDs with the same amount of music as abundant crates of vinyl.

"I prefer vinyl for home use, but CDs are more practical for mobile work," Lewis said. "A set of mp3s burned to CDs is a lot lighter to carry."

But Leblanc refuses to ever DJ with CDs.

"I never understood digital mixing," he said. "It just never felt right."

Mayra, a 17-year-old who graduated recently from Downtown College Preparatory with top grades, had hopes on going to a four-year university and becoming a lawyer. There is only one problem, which she can't fix.

She entered the United States illegally at four years of age, when her parents knew that if they stayed in Mexico they could starve. As an undocumented immigrant, she's ineligible for government financial aid.

At her high school, Mayra was in Leadership, a program for students who help with campus activities. She was a member of the associated student body and M.E.CH.A, a Latino student group. She prepared and distributed sandwiches and water to day laborers in front of Orchard Supply Hardware while they waited for jobs.

Mayra thought that she was as American as anyone. She never thought that being illegal was going to be a problem until she applied to a university. Then she found out that she qualified for almost no aid. That limited her college choices.

"I feel that it's not right that I worked so hard to improve my future and now I'm not sure what would become of my plans," said Mayra, a tall, brown-haired and brown-eyed girl from a poor village.

I know many teens who, like Mayra, had their dreams destroyed when the U.S. Senate turned down the latest immigration reform bill. They shattered the hopes not only of illegal students in San Jose but also, students living all over the country.

Another deserving undocumented immigrant student worried about her future is Perla, a thin "Jarocha'' from the Mexican state of Veracruz.

Perla's parents smuggled her into America when she was nine. A 2007 Downtown College Prep graduate, she has all the qualities universities look for: She participated in student government, passed advanced placement class and tutored struggling students. And yet when it came to applying to a university, she had all doors slammed in her face.

"I feel betrayed by the country I call my home" said Perla.

When the congressmen derailed the immigration bill, they punished innocent young people who had no input in their family's decision to enter this country illegally.

Undocumented immigrant students in schools are not treated any differently than citizen students. They are always told that they can succeed, become lawyers, psychologists or teachers. But that's a lie if they are not able to attend a college because they don't qualify for government financial aid. I have met many students who find out what type of unclear future is waiting for them. They decide that there is no point in working so hard and so they start falling behind and start hanging out with gangs.

These undocumented immigrant students never rest because they are afraid that they might get deported at any second. It is not fair because they have worked really hard educating themselves, learning our country's history, speaking our language, contributing to their community, taking the hardest classes. They don't deserve to be treated so badly.

What happened to the American dream? For these students, the dream became a nightmare and now they have no choice but to remain here, stuck in the lowest ditch in our society because they can't go back to a country they no longer consider their own. All men are created equal, but do Congressmen think about that when they put the life of thousands of undocumented students on hold? The Congressmen should face the problem with their heads up high instead of running away and hiding. Is this what America wants, to destroy the hopes of so many bright and hard working young people who want to become citizens?

The special effects are all the reason you need to see "Transformers,"especially if you're an action movie junkie.

The transformations are so realistic, they make it believable for a two-story-tallrobot to fit inside the body of an average sports car.

In the movie, two factions of a robotic race, the Autobots and the Decepticons (whose technology allows them to morph themselves into the shape of automobiles and other types of vehicles), have been fighting a civil war on their home planet of Cybertron for hundreds of years. When the Allspark, a massive cube with the power to create other members of their race, somehow ends up on Earth, the two sides take their war to our home and duke it out over control of the Allspark.

Directed by Michael Bay of "Independence Day" and "Pearl Harbor", this robot epic stars Shia LeBeouf as Sam Witwicky, the boy with who holds the key to finding the Allspark. Peter Cullen reprises the role he played in the '80s as the voice of Autobot leader Optimus Prime.

For anyone too embarrassed to admit having played with the Hasbro toys as a kid, don't be. Transformers is a mature film. Its tone is nowhere near the campiness of the original 1980s-era Saturday morning cartoon. At the same time, watching Transformers is a great treat if you're a fan of the original series. The action sequences are packed with explosions and exciting special effects – some of the best ever created. The first appearance of a Transformer was especially brilliant.

This is a good popcorn flick, through and through. It's a simple idea -- robots ripping each heads off -- so don't expect a movie classic. Ladies be warned: Your choice of date movies might not mesh with what Transformers is about. In general, guys are going to like it more than gals. It's a great way to spend a guy's night out if you're looking for an alternative from the usual. Despite a lack of quality acting or dialogue, we still gave it a high score of seven because of its humor and thrilling action. The movie comes offas cheesy at times, bordering illogical.

For instance, who would believe that a grandma's boy super hacker named Glen (played by Anthony Anderson) rather than one of the hundreds of world-class analysts at the Pentagon, is the only human capable of breaking the Decepticons' code?

Also, the excessive advertisements can get on your nerves. The camerawork emphasized logos and other product placements such as car brands like GMC and Pontiac, which became repetitive. Technology advertisements from Apple and Xbox also made us feel the movie was overdoing the advertising. Online auction website eBay was also featured prominently when Witwicky tries to sell his great-grandfather's glasses online.

Advertising aside, "Transformers" is fun and surprisingly humorous. Bernie Mac's bit as a used car salesman drew a lot of laughs from the audience and Witwicky's Chihuahua peeing on one of the Autobots drew some more laughs (despite being slightly icky). The movie is not a roll-on-the-floor-laughing comedy, but a laugh-out-loud action movie with originality.

Despite our joint appreciation of the movie, we did differ on one aspect: Patrick: I thought the animation blended really well with the roads, buildings, and humans in the background. I liked how the Transformers would change from a muscle car into a robot. This was a breakthrough in animation that's worth seeing for its special effects.

Jessie: You're right, but, for me, the sequences get old by the end of the movie and I don't think it was as much of an innovation as you say. When you've got George Lucas's special effects company working on it with Steven Spielberg producing, it's going to have great looks, but it's only the fun and offbeat tone that makes it worth a viewing. All in all, check this movie out.

Travis Parker likes helping people. That's a good thing because the 19-year-old from San Jose spends most of his days working with others at the front desk of San Jose's YMCA. He helps people sign up for memberships and directs visitors wherever they need to go within the facility.

Parker is just like many teens this summer who have chosen to gain some experience in the working world instead of whiling away time in the California sun.

"I get to work with a variety of people with different opinions and different needs," he says.

In July 2005, at the peak of teenage employment, half of all 16- to 19-year-olds had jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The majority of them were working in accommodation and food service or retail.

Sarah Gregg, 17, of Menlo Park enjoys keeping busy, which makes her job at Starbucks a perfect match. In fact, she hates not being busy, as when she does the cleaning. "It's just kind of a drag and not as fun as being behind the counter. But you just deal with it," she says.

Rachel Allen, 16, of Alviso, who works at a different Starbucks location, applied for the job because of the busy atmosphere.

Both girls agree that the multitasking skills they learn are one of the best things about working at the coffee chain. "You really have to keep track of the details. They keep calling out drinks to you, and you have to juggle everything. I love interacting with people and keeping busy though. All you can really focus on is keeping up," Allen says.

Teens work during the summer for a variety of reasons.

"I needed something to do to keep me busy over the summer and I thought it would be better to get a job earlier (in life) to get the experience for later applications for more prestigious jobs," Gregg says.

The pay was a draw for Colin Daw, 16, of Saratoga who works at a bike shop. "I decided I should make my own spending money. I like the responsibility," Daw says.

Daw also does the job because he enjoys it. "I just do the bike shop job for fun, not for any real preparation. I really like selling the high-end mountain bikes and the only thing I don't actually like doing is occasionally taking out the trash," he says.

Teens get their jobs in various ways. Paula Quezada, 18, of San Jose works at Pizza My Heart in San Jose. "I was hired that day and I worked that day," she says. Quezada had a few family connections that helped her get the job, but credits her employment mainly to how easy it was to strike up a conversation with the manager.

Jeff Fong, 19, who works at Tengu Sushi in San Jose, entered the working world in a very casual manner.

"It was really informal. I was walking from the movies and my friend was working (at Tengu Sushi) and called me in," Fong says. From there he got an application, had a short interview and got hired. Previously he had been working at a family vending business, so job experience wasn't a problem.

But the easy entrance isn't universal. High school senior Annie Tang, 17, of San Jose, had a lot of trouble finding a job this summer because of her lack of experience. "I wanted to work, but haven't really found a job yet. It's hard. I don't have experience or contacts to help me get a job," she says.

Another huge problem is age restrictions. As teens have begun deciding what profession they would eventually like to pursue at younger and younger ages, they have also began looking for job experience at younger ages, but the age limit at some places is 18.

"I looked around at a few other places before Starbucks but kept getting told that the age limit was 18," Allen says.

For Allen, finding a job wasn't an option. "My parents told me I had to get a job by the end of the school year and that was it," she says.

I like polo shirts instead of Apple Bottom jeans;. I like Green Day instead of 50 Cent. I don't listen to hyphy music all the time. I don't listen to a lot of gospel music, and I have absolutely no talent when it comes to singing. I like to shop at a variety of places such as American Eagle, Hot Topic and J. Crew.
My aunt, cousins and close friends have called me an "Oreo."

An Oreo is made up of a sweet white cream sandwiched between two chocolate cookies. Get it? They're referring to my black exterior, which is my skin color and my so-called white interior, my character.

I transferred to Leigh High School, a public school in San Jose, for my sophomore year. My first day at Leigh, I met a girl in my P.E. class. She started asking me questions about my hobbies, sports, my class schedule -- you know, the usual conversation starters. I told her I played basketball.
"You must be really good. You look really good," she said.

This girl had never seen me play, and already she was making assumptions about my athletic ability.

I was at a journalism workshop, and one day, I was being completely goofy singing old Britney Spears songs. We were talking about singing ability, when one boy said, "All black people are good singers." I was astonished that he actually believed that. Hasn't he ever seen "American Idol"?

Before they got to know me, some of my new white friends made a lot of assumptions. They assumed that I knew the meaning of phrases such as "ghost ride the whip," "going dumb" and "hyphy." I didn't. I'd been in affluent, suburban private schools most of my life, and I didn't know the definitions for those words because they were rarely used among my friends, most of whom were white.

Instead, I could tell you about the latest lingo on MTV's "Laguna Beach."
Eventually, my new white friends realized that I wasn't the person they were expecting me to be. I didn't live up to their preconceived notions of black people.

All of this confusion has caused me to question who I really am. I want to belong, but I don't want to have to change who I am to do it. But that's what I did.

When I'm with my black friends, I begin acting more like them, and the same goes for when I'm with my white friends. I'm letting their expectations change who I am. But oddly enough, it is helping me figure out some things I didn't know before.

I'm learning that people are going to judge other people no matter what. It happens unconsciously. I've also realized that I shouldn't change who I am to fit a certain stereotype that I'm really not. I am free to be who I really am. I can be goofy, nerdy, sassy or reserved around everybody. I don't have to act a certain way just to fit in.

At this point, I'm trying to figure out where I stand among my friends. Am I the black girl, or am I the girl who acts white?

I'm hoping that I'm neither. I'm hoping that to my friends, I'm just me.

Everyone has experienced being stereotyped. Whether it's because of how you dress, your nationality, or who your friends are, people are constantly making judgments about you before they get to know you. We assume "gangsters" wreak havoc, "white people" are rich and preppy, and that "rockers" are emo.
This is how these young people spotted at Eastridge Mall say they experience stereotypes.

Larissa Logan, age 22
She says people stereotype her because of her multi-colored style.

"I don't look 'normal.' My hair is pink so they think, 'Oh she's like this or like that,' " she said. "They probably think I'm ghetto from Oakland."

Regardless of what people say about her, Logan is true to herself. "I get complimented a lot, so I like it. I don't care what people think of me."

Moises Perez, age 15
He says he's tagged as a gangster and troublemaker because of the way he dresses.

"I'm always being watched around stores. There could be other people there, but the person working will only look at me," he said.

He also said he's treated differently because he's Latino, but he says there is nothing he can do about it.

"I don't mind being stereotyped,'' he said. "But it can get to a point where I want to hit them.''

Samantha Anguelo, age 14
She says she is considered the "rocker" type. Her black clothes and style choice lead people to cast her as dark or moody.

"I was wearing a jacket that had a Heartagram, but everyone thought it was a pentagram. So they called me a devil worshipper and Goth, when it was totally not like that."

She not only gets discrimination from strangers, but also from her friends.

"My friends have tried to dress me differently, but I tell them I'm not going to dress that way just because you want me to."

Even though she has people judging her, she still expresses herself the way she wants to. "I think I'm just me. Some days I do dress emo or Goth. I just dress how I feel."

Kacie Kerro, age 23
The Hollister store manager says she's looked at as though she is "your average ditsy white girl.''

"We have typically Caucasian women working here, and people will come in, then walk right out because they don't want to be around us," Kerro said.

Many times people come into her store wanting to exchange something, but she can't do so because it is against store policy. People get mad and call her a racist or a stupid white girl. But Kerro is self-confident and doesn't take it too seriously.

"I am who I am."

Don't deny it: Newspapers are dying, and the state of journalism is in flux.

Major newspapers in California are cutting their newsroom staffs. The San Jose Mercury News recently laid off 31 employees from its newsroom, severely cutting its number of staff members. The same goes for the Los Angeles Times, which in April cut 150 jobs; 70 positions were newsroom jobs, according to the International Business Times.

The boom of the digital age has put newspapers at a disadvantage by posing as a serious competitor for news distribution. Instead of relying on unbiased, trained journalists, people are turning to bloggers, the ultimate everyman.

Newspaper journalism as a career option also looks bleak. High school newspapers, staffed by the journalists of tomorrow, suffer from a lack of trained teachers, funds and student interest.

Still, many say this is not the slow spiral to the end, rather a transition period during which newspapers find a means to balance the changing technology with the respected tradition of print journalism.

"I think in two years the newsroom will be online first and print second," said Richard Koci Hernandez, a photographer at the Mercury News.

Despite the declining rigor of journalism curricula at high schools, a multitude of students still enter various journalistic programs and camps, showing a persisting interest in the profession.

For that sake, pros, scholars and students insist that newspapers are worth saving.

Newspapers vs. Technology

For a number of journalists, the fight for newspaper industry survival becomes more difficult every day as the digital age flourishes and leaves print news to catch up.

"We've gotten very comfortable," said Kim Vo, a religion reporter for the Mercury News. "Journalists are not the hippest people around. We love newspapers. We love digging into rosebushes to get newspapers. And we got too comfortable."

Although newspapers have traditionally stayed close to pen and paper, the Internet has been able to change the face of journalism through the exchange of information it so readily allows.

However, even with knowledgeable journalists, it's difficult for any newspaper to keep afloat without funds.

Selling ads has become more challenging in the wake of such sites as Craigslist and Yahoo. Those sites offer free ad postings to large audiences, which have caused a sizable lapse in revenue for many newspapers. The Mercury News has lost 36 percent of its total revenue since 2000.

For the Google and MySpace generation, using the Internet is second nature. Web sites, blogs, and online encyclopedias alike are all gaining readers and advertisers

However, for a majority of print newspapers, online revenue is not enough.

"Newspapers haven't figured out a way to capitalize advertising on the Internet," said Shahin Nasirpour, a reporter for ESPN. Traditionally, advertisers pay much more for a print ad than an online one.

"I don't think online advertising will ever see those kinds of profits," Hernandez said.

However, the industry is changing. Yahoo's "Smartads" system links customers to advertisers based on their interests and search requests. Subscription fees are another feasible way for newspaper Web sites to gain revenue.

However, when some of the most prestigious newspapers, such as the New York Times, are online for free, many readers are unwilling to pay for other news Web sites.

"Newspapers need to band together to charge essentially the same fees" Nasirpour said.

While newspapers adapt to the possibilities of Web advertising, newsrooms are trying to adjust to growing technological changes. Journalists in the digital age must learn new skills.

"The days of one-trick journalists are over," said Hernandez of the Mercury News. "Right now there's a huge appetite for multitalented journalists. You have to bring something else to the table."

With technical skills highly valued in the industry, journalists must strive to learn more than how to write or take pictures (or both) – they must learn to work with a wide range of equipment such as audio and video recorders, all of which play a vital role in pushing journalism into the digital age.

"I was a photographer for 13 years," said Hernandez, before he points to a colorful Flash video on his eMac. "I'm not just a photographer anymore. I'm a reporter, I'm a photographer, I'm a producer. I have to know Flash, I have to know Final Cut Pro."

Hernandez said he has a grasp on every type of cutting edge media possible. He simultaneously handles photography, online videos, Web design and editing sound.

It can get overwhelming at times, but for him, using all the latest technology in journalism is fun and exciting. Hernandez, along with many others, believes that journalism is going through a transitional phase.

Although the world of print journalism may be enduring hard times, online news seems to be a promising hope for reviving the industry.

"There is so much more freedom online than in print," Nasirpour said. With the use of video clips, digital photographs and sound, journalists like Nasirpour can tell their stories in new ways.

Having studied traditional journalistic methods, recent graduates have none of the technical advantages that journalism schools n

"There are excellent reporters, but most don't know multimedia," said Cynthia McCune, a journalism lecturer at San Jose State University. "If you know Web and multimedia and you know journalism, I think there's a future for you out there."

The rate at which people obtain news has also dramatically increased since the Internet came into its own.

"People get news a lot faster," Vo said. "You can get constant updates every single day, all throughout the day. You don't have to wait till 6 a.m."

The Internet, unlike newspapers, has an infinite amount of choices and features for readers, with many sites offering customizable news pages for those who only need to know a sliver of what happens in the world.

"There are people who must have serious, analytical news, whereas other people want it quick and fast," Vo said. "They don't see why they should spend 30 minutes over breakfast."

High School Programs

After 15 years without a school newspaper, Independence High School in San Jose started its journalism club producing The Independent Voice three years ago. However, with administrative changes and budget cuts, there is still no journalism class.

"I wish our students could get special training — specifically in various kinds of news writing. This is where a true journalism class would be helpful," said Marty Brandt, a journalism club adviser at the school.

High schools that want to save journalism are on their own. District budget cuts, a decrease in student and staff interests, and the lack of formal training for journalism advisers have led to a reduction in elective classes like journalism.

Although The Independent Voice is published every month, the staff struggles to draw enough writers and photographers in the school population of 4,000 students. It's symbolic of the state of professional newspapers, but on a smaller scale.

As a club, it's difficult to raise money to publish newspapers, obtain equipment and a computer lab, and train reporters.

Journalism also competes with remedial classes offered in schools. With the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001, schools with students falling behind in statewide tests need to offer remedial classes to help get students to grade level.

With less funding for newspaper classes, the quality of the work published has weakened.

"A pre-[requisite] class would help grow the [journalism] program, but that got cut out five years ago for budgetary reasons," said Johanna McCormick, a retired Homestead High School adviser.

The decline in high school journalism is also a result of advisers' lack of training.

"In California, if you major in journalism in college, you can't be credentialed to teach in high school. Most teachers that end up teaching journalism never had a journalism course," said Steve O'Donoghue, director of the California Scholastic Journalism Initiative.

And most advisers teach other subjects.

"I was only a part-time teacher and my other class was English Language Development, so I don't think I could court students into the program the way a more mainstream teacher might be able to do," McCormick said.

Not all high school journalism programs in the Bay Area are suffering. At Saratoga High School in Saratoga and Mission San Jose in Fremont, the schools need more than one class period to house all their prospective journalists.

Mission San Jose offers two class periods of mixed Journalism I and Journalism II, offered to approximately 50 students altogether. Last year, the school paper, The Smoke Signal, had more than 70 applicants for only 20 open positions.

That leaves room for optimism for struggling programs.

"If I were to judge on the basis of the other school newspapers I receive in my mailbox, I would say that journalism programs are thriving elsewhere," Brandt said.

A Better Tomorrow?

While newspapers are struggling, journalism in general is here to stay — at least that's what the experts predict.

Many students are still choosing to enter journalism programs. According to Ernie Sotomayor, careers director at Columbia Universitygraduate school of journalism, the number of students applying to journalism schools is actually increasing.

Adi Sambamurthy, an intern at the Mercury News and graduate student at University of California-Berkeley, is optimistic.

"There is still going to be opportunity (for jobs) since content still needs to be provided," Sambamurthy said.

Students all around are still interested in journalism because of the possibility to write articles for online agencies, which have a bigger distribution newspapers.

Robert Hernandez, the senior producer for local news at the Seattle Times, thinks journalism definitely has a bright future.

"The medium is always going to be around in one form or another. … It's got to branch out from more than just print. Its product — edited information — is still quite valuable. It just needs to find better ways to stay relevant in people's busy lives."

Vo offered advice to students afraid of layoffs in the journalism world. "It might not be the best time, but it's the time you got," Vo said. "If you really want to do it, then do it."

Technically, I'm Jewish, but I still haven't found a religion.

My family is hardly religious. My mom is Jewish and my dad Christian, but neither one was knowledgeable or dedicated enough to teach my sister and me much. My parents settled on celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah as a bare bones way of giving us some sort of religious education.

Our Christmas celebrations extended little beyond a tree and presents. I knew that Jesus was born Dec. 25, but to this day I'm fuzzy on the details of the nativity story.

We celebrated Hanukkah by lighting our menorah, albeit erratically, and reading transliterations of the three essential prayers from a photocopied sheet pasted into one of my mom's cookbooks.

When I was in elementary school, my mom had a change of heart and decided that she wanted us to get a real Jewish education. We joined a temple and my mom enrolled us both in the Hebrew school.

I liked the classes, but never felt much of a connection to Judaism. My favorite parts were the weekly quizzes on Hebrew vocabulary words and the doughy challah bread we ate after services. I gave little thought to the subtle religious messages entwined in each lesson.

By sheer accident, I ran into a Mennonite youth convention in San Jose a few days ago. As the group of almost 4,000 teenagers waited to enter the worship hall, they erupted into cheers and applause. They threw beach balls and blown-up plastic animals into the air.

As I stood outside the door in the moist heat steaming off the crowd, I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy that I didn't have a community like this one to call my own. Inside the worship hall, the Mennonites clapped and sang to the boy-band rock music that overflowed from the stage. They listened intently to a man speak passionately about finding God.

The Mennonites were self-assured, too. The young people I spoke with talked about their futures with a candid confidence that I find uncommon among people my age. They know that they want to remain chaste until marriage. They know that they want to do service in their communities to emulate the life of Jesus. Most importantly, they know they want to live their lives for God.

For a moment, I wondered why I had never rejoined my congregation or sought out another religious community. I found myself wishing I had a religion – some broad, overreaching philosophy that I could refer to so that I could determine what I should think about certain issues or how I should conduct myself in daily life.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I'm glad I don't have a religion. I don't have the same type of community that usually comes with it, but I have something else: the opportunity to come up with my own answers.

So instead of a religion, I've been looking for a philosophy on life. I try to find out how people around me choose to live and take their ideas into consideration as I mold my own set of beliefs.

Sometimes I visit with a group of people who invented its own religion, which science to discern value. I went to a nearby Buddhist center during winter break one year and attended a service. I read about a book about meditation and occasionally try to submerge my mind in nothingness. I frequently talk to my friends about their religions and what they think the meaning of life is.

Sometimes, I think I've found it. One rainy day last April after a long run in the hills, I was positive I had discovered the ultimate philosophy on life, but I've forgotten it now. I guess I'll just have to keep looking.

A lonely woman eats dinner by herself. My friend, Andrew Hsieh, walks up to her with his hands behind his back. As she looks up, he hands her an elegant white rose and simply says, "Have a nice evening." Her face lights up with surprise and delight as she smells the rose while Hsieh walks away with a grin on his face.

Many, like Hsieh, practice random acts of kindness daily. At San Jose's Homestead High and online, groups are encouraging people to take the time to help others.

Online, there is a Random Acts of Kindness Facebook Group created by Ray Spence. A student at the University of Houston, Spence started the group after he realized the importance of showing appreciation to the people around him and the happiness he obtains from it.

"Random acts of kindness are just a very simple way to spread joy," he says.

"They can change people in small ways, for instance, when someone does an act of kindness for you, you tend to carry it with you throughout the day," said Spence.

I love the idea of how a simple gesture can make a person's day. Sure, it sounds cheesy, but in a world that can be full of negatives, watching someone make a nice gesture is all I need to make my day. Compliments are a great way to make people feel good about themselves.

No, I am not telling you to run around the streets proclaiming your love to strangers (although that would be nice). No, it is not necessary to donate every last penny of your money to a charity (although that would be nice). What I am telling you is that a simple act of kindness can produce so much goodwill.

At a toll station on a freeway, there is now a concept of paying for the car behind you. As the car behind you pulls up, the cashier informs them that they are already paid for. Such a simple act of kindness can be made for three dollars, and it is even more special since the car has no clue who the generous person is. Another example is the famous Oprah Winfrey, the billionaire talk show host, who is constantly giving extravagant gifts to her live audience.

In a new campaign called "free hugs," people hug strangers on the street. On YouTube, videos from Korea and other countries show people supporting the free hugs movement. This movement helps isolated people get tied back to society with a simple hug.

A smile can be infectious. In a world that is constantly enduring war and murder, I find it motivational to do something nice for someone else and hopefully put them in a better mood.

Which brings me to a pivotal question: why? The phrase, "A candle loses nothing when it lights another one," is an example of how that you don't lose anything by helping others.

Random acts of kindness will not end crime, wars, or sadness. What this kindness will create is a sense of confidence and trust in one another. When someone is in a good mood they are more likely to believe in their fellow man. A random act of kindness reduces stress, leading to a calmer atmosphere for all. In The Healing Power Of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others, author Allan Luks noticed that consistent volunteering reduced stress.

My advice for you is to accomplish a good deed for someone every day. Before you go to sleep, think back on whether you have accomplished your Random Act of Kindness quota. If you haven't, go out there and do something nice for someone else. It's time we stop thinking only about ourselves.

Maybe, just maybe, the world will be a much better place with one random kind gesture at a time.

Journalism has always been looked upon with a considerable amount of doubt. The general public never seems surprised if a journalist accidentally misrepresents someone or something, and many people go as far as to openly disbelieve everything the media present to them.

Why does this happen?

The thing is, after it's out in the public, it's out of our hands. The reader is the one who really defines what is right or wrong in an article. And more often than not, the reader's opinion is negative. Not very fun for us journalists, but hey – everyone knows we're too busy to care. Right?

I ran head-on to this problem when I wrote about a new, long-term substitute teacher at Wilcox High School's newspaper, the Scribe. As an opinion writer, I had a considerable amount of freedom. But apparently I took that freedom to a whole new level.

Overall I meant to write a positive article that covered how when the substitute first arrived, I had honestly thought he wasn't the brightest. And then I went on to explain that as time passed, he became really a good teacher with some great ideas. After the column was finished, I sent it in, and the newspaper adviser, a much-loved English teacher, approved the piece and into the paper it went.

However, the principal became agitated by my use of the term "not the sharpest tool in the shed" at the beginning of the article. The principal then put our adviser under a lot of heat, as she had been the one to allow it to slip through. The result? When faced with the ultimatum to change the way she had been running the Scribe for five years, she resigned from the position of adviser.

That was when I got to experience people hating me just for being a journalist. Though everyone continued to assure me that everything was fine, I began noticing them jokingly blaming me for getting the "greatest adviser ever" fired. A chorus of "if only Geneva hadn't written that article" echoed around me for several days. The experience, to be completely honest, sucked royally.

All the negativity toward journalists is one of the main reasons I was originally skeptical about pursuing my love of journalism. It's impossible to enjoy the idea of having a group of people out there in the world who literally hate you – just because you're a journalist!

So, what can be done about this?

Obviously the public needs to recognize that journalists are not out to get them and weren't put on this earth to rip the average man to shreds. We are here to shed light on important issues and let people see the facts, whatever they may be.

A wise man once said, "The truth is rarely pure and never simple." In all irony, Oscar Wilde never spoke truer words, especially when related to the subject of journalism. The truth is a multifaceted thing that is so easy to misinterpret, yet no one seems to reflect upon this when judging the subject of journalism. The general public automatically thinks the truth can be only one thing and if it doesn't believe what is being presented is truth, the public blames it on the one doing the presenting.

This isn't to say that we as journalists need do nothing while the public does all of the work. As a reporter or an editor -- or anything related to the field of journalism – journalists can be diligent in making sure they have both sides of the story, or at least have made a decent attempt to get both sides.

But in the end it boils down to the fact that journalists and the public need better communication if the plan is to allow everyone to win. In an ideal world, unfair judgments would not be made and questionable facts would not be published.

We don't live in an ideal world.

But with a little help from both ends of the spectrum we may be able to fix this problem.

On a tour of the nightclub district in downtown San Jose, 20 Mosaic students were stalked by a drunk man. He followed us down many streets, wobbling unsteadily and asking us if we were in the stock market. Not only did we attract an old drunk man, but wherever we walked, wolf-whistles and dirty remarks came our way. Young girls wearing skimpy clothing flooded the streets, and perverted men took notice.

Now our question is this: Why would you want to be a part of such a shady scene? The 14 girls and six boy teenagers were wearing sweats and jackets -- hardly attractive! -- and the things that were said to us were shockingly disturbing.

"Do you want some dick in that?" said one guy. He leered at us as we hurried by. We just ignored him and kept walking, but none of us could believe our ears. Other men flipped us off as we walked by for no reason at all. "This is how we do in downtown San Jose!" yelled a drunk girl teetering on stripper heels.

We weren't going into the clubs. Heck, we weren't even making eye contact with anyone. If this is what happened to a large group of people, imagine how dangerous it would be for two single girls walking down the street.

The sad part is that many of the young women were only a few years older than us. They wanted that kind of attention. FYI ladies, tube-tops with your beer-bellies hanging out and low-rise booty shorts are not in fashion. They never were. If your intention was to be noticed, then you were successful. We saw you, and trust us, we wish we hadn't.

It's not just the uncomfortable attention that makes the whole nightclub experience so unsettling. It's dangerous.

In December 2003, a man was stabbed inside Zoe's Bar, Grill & Nightclub on South First Street. And in November 2005, three people were wounded in a shootout in front of a different San Jose club. Call us party poopers, but we'll stay home and hang out with our friends instead. At least we'll still be alive.

It is an outrage that people today voluntarily spend their nights bumping and grinding with strangers. Picture this: you press your body up against some man in a small, stifling room. Sweat drips down your face, and the guy next to you says that it's sexy just so he can get you into bed. In fact, you don't even need to leave the club. Some clubs in the district provide beds just for your convenience! How original. Yes, you are definitely attracting those guys, but do you really want to attract people like that?

The whole nightclub scene defies the philosophies of feminism, which dictate that women should not subject themselves to men. The actions that the women at the nightclub district essentially reflect such subjugation. It's disgusting and hinders every sense of the progressive society.

We saw women of all shapes and sizes, and all of them were, to say the least, scantily clad. We saw one woman strutting her way down the street in the tightest orange wrap -- it could barely be called a dress. The women we saw wore clothes unsuited for their body types, clothes that only emphasized their unattractiveness. What would your mothers think?

As we passed by the entrances to different clubs, some of the owners told us to come back when we were 21. We just smiled and nodded. Of course! Of course we'll come back! Of course we'll dress like sluts to win the affection of a dozen dirty pigs! What do you have to lose except your self-respect?

Honestly, if this is what we have to look forward to when we turn 21, then frankly we're not that excited about the new nightclub scene in downtown San Jose.

Slowly, they trickled into the First Unitarian Church – some with bowed heads, others with tears.

No one said a word as – single file – they made their way inside, where they gazed at photos of well-known, veteran San Jose Mercury News journalist Rich Ramirez.

University of Southern California flags were displayed throughout the church – a tribute to the school the 44-year-old not only attended but spent his adult life supporting.

Those who knew Ramirez, who died June 20 from an apparent self-inflicted wound, couldn't mention his name without following it up with his love for his alma mater and, more important, its football team.

Many who attended the June 28 memorial wore the school's colors – cardinal red and gold – in memory of Ramirez, who was never short of smiles.

Karl Kahler, a longtime friend and fellow Mercury News colleague, recalled a friendship that spawned from their USC connection.

Seventeen years ago, Ramirez searched the newsroom for Kahler simply because he was the new intern from USC, Kahler told the 300 people who attended the memorial.

Ramirez took Kahler under his wing, comparing notes about USC and football, despite the fact that Kahler admittedly doesn't know much about the sport.
"When USC football games were going on, Rich would come out in his Riddell helmet and whenever the USC team scored its first point, he would open a beer with a bottle opener that played the USC fight song," Kahler said, as the church filled with laughter.

Ramirez, who close friends knew as Richie, became a major link between the Mercury News and the community as he moved from reporter to editor to executive assistant to the executive editor.

He also became well-known to schools across the region, mentoring students interested in pursuing careers in journalism. He was also active in the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

His work transformed him into an important pillar of the community, sparking an outpouring of grief and sorrow across the country from family, friends and colleagues. One of Ramirez's oldest friends, Steve Norvell, who spent so much time at his house as a child his mother considered him one of her own, also spoke.

The two met in the seventh grade, when they looked at each other in class and wondered, "how the girls changed so much from sixth grade."

Ramirez was the chubby-cheeked boy nicknamed "roly-poly" but who would grow into the man with the athletic ability to compete in triathlons.

He was the sweet kid who always thought of others, something friends would say lingered well into his adulthood.

Jerry Ceppos, a former executive editor of the Mercury News, worked closely with Ramirez.

"Much has been shared about how Rich was a quiet professional, but not enough has been said of Rich's quiet warmth," he said. "His capacity to share personal stories despite his innate shyness was amazing."

Ceppos described Ramirez's passion for journalism, especially the day he told him that they had to eliminate a weekly magazine called the Alameda Weekly, and how tears formed in Ramirez's eyes.

Everyone who worked with Ramirez echoed the sentiments, including David Yarnold, a former Mercury News executive editor who worked closely with him.

On Ramirez's job title, he said, "His job title hardly describes what he did. He could've been called a managing editor, an assistant editor, and I don't think assistant covered it."

Yarnold described Ramirez's love of the Mercury News: "He was fiercely ambitious, particularly for the Mercury News. If it had our name attached to it, he wanted it to reflect the high standards of the paper."

Perhaps the most powerful words during the memorial came from a man who was as close to Ramirez as anyone could be - his cousin John Boyle.
Boyle couldn't make it through the first few sentences of his remembrance before tears stopped him.

"When you looked at him, you were drawn to him," he said. "His big dimples, his smile. He could always make us laugh."

The two shared a love for sports, and planned to take in a football game in a couple of months.

Boyle will go to the game, not because he wants to, but to remember the cousin who was more like a brother.

"I'll be there Richie," he said. "I'll be there."

Survivors include his wife, Janet Dalke, of Livermore.

There is a terrible phenomenon permeating newsrooms across the globe, a phenomenon that is even more horrendous than the Brad-Jenn breakup and the Jason Richardson trade-off. It is appalling. Criminal, even.

There are no guys in journalism.

Granted, this is not completely true, but there is no denying that journalism is a field dominated by women. On my high school newspaper, less than a third of the staff members are male. Of the dozen plus years that the Mosaic summer journalism program has been in session, girls have always outnumbered the boys. Even at the San Jose Mercury News, it is evident that the number of female journalists is growing more so than the number of male journalists, according to Recruiting and Training Editor Melissa Jordan.

Aside from the unfortunate lack of cute guys for us ladies to choose from, this phenomenon presents a foreboding omen to newspapers across the globe. In an era where the future of journalism is jeopardized while apathy for current events reign and the number of reporters steadily decline, male involvement in journalism is more important than ever.

A common sentiment among this generation acknowledges that males dominate math and science, while females excel in humanities and fine arts. My mom would solemnly joke that the reason I have don't have a boyfriend is that I only participate in humanity-related extra-curricular activities.

I joined the math club and chess team the very next day.

Similarly, the multitude of girls in journalism should be reason enough to convince guys to flock to newspaper staffs. At a Bay Area high school journalism conference a few months ago, I noticed that the majority of participants were girls. My guy friend and fellow newspaper staff member, however, did not seem to mind. He enjoyed being at the center of attention. The next day, he told me about all the cute girls he had met. Our journalism advisor had unfortunately overheard us and quipped, "Yes, that's why any young man joins journalism: to hook up with cute girls, right?"

Cue lighthearted but slightly awkward laughter.

These young men should recognize that they have limitless opportunities in journalism. The guys on my school paper are able to pursue interests in many areas, such as sports, politics and chick flicks, through their writing. Their opposing opinions on subjects like music and fashion provide powerful insight that ensures the inclusion of a diverse readership audience.

More importantly, however, the balance of male and female voices ensures unbiased representations of world events. Remember the nation not more than 60 years ago, when only men occupied the newsrooms while suffragettes campaigned for freedom and equality in the streets. Not only were events like wars and suffrage movements underrepresented and skewed, they were sometimes flat out inaccurate as well.

Inversely, imagine the inevitable parallels that would arise from the dearth of men in the journalistic field. What stories would be overseen and lost? What viewpoints would be buried and unheard in the folds of history?

It is said that history is written by the victors. In this democratic era, however, history is written by the reporters. A fair and accurate documentation of history can only stem from the active participation of both genders.

In many ways, the fate of journalism lies with the young men of today. Because many women are already attracted to the profession, journalism relies on increased male participation. These men have the power to revive a falling industry, an industry in which they can thrive.

And if nothing else, at least they find a cute girl to hook up with.

Logging on to my computer on a chilly afternoon two years ago, a sports headline caught my immediate attention: Boston Bruins Star Joe Thornton Traded.

My first impression was, "What a stupid move by the Bruins."

I did not yet know which team acquired Thornton. When I clicked on the link and found out he was coming to the San Jose Sharks -- my favorite team -- I was at a loss for words.

Joe Thornton came to the Sharks in November 2005 and almost single-handedly turned the team around. Perhaps foreshadowing the turnaround the Sharks would take that season, Thornton came within inches of scoring in his first shift as a Shark, hitting the crossbar on his first attempted shot.

Since that first shot, Thornton has established the Sharks as a Stanley Cup contender, for now and the immediate future.

Last week, the Joe Thornton era in San Jose was extended to at least the 2011 season when the San Jose Sharks awarded Thornton a 3-year contract extension. He'll earn $7.2 million each season.

I have nothing but praise for Doug Wilson, general manager of the Sharks, for getting this contract extension done before Thornton becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer. Thornton could have demanded a hefty raise from the Sharks or he could have signed with a team elsewhere.

That $7.2 million will be the best money the Sharks ever spent.

What some may not know about the contract is that it's only $500,000 more than what Thornton earned before signing. There is no doubt Thornton gave the Sharks a "home-team discount."

With Thornton getting such a minimal raise, the message to Sharks faithful is that Thornton has a desire to win in San Jose. He recognizes the young talent the Sharks have in Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo and company, and he wants to win a Stanley Cup here in San Jose.

Initially, Thornton gave me the idea he would rather be somewhere else when he first joined the Sharks. However, in a couple of months, the entire story changed. Thornton realized that he loves playing in California. Thornton's signing expressed his desire to play for nobody else but the Sharks.

Thornton is one of the most dynamic players on the ice, and can change a game single-handedly by setting up scoring opportunities and converting Tic-Tac-Joes.

More importantly, Thornton makes his teammates better. Thornton has led the league in assists for the past two seasons. An assist means Thornton isn't doing the scoring, he's making the passes that lead up to the shot that goes into the back of the net. He is the first player to have back-to-back 90-plus assist seasons since hockey greats Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

In his first season with the Sharks, Thornton helped Jonathan Cheechoo win the Rocket Richard Trophy as the top goal scorer of the season. He had a hand in team captain Patrick Marleau establishing career-high statistics. He's aided the speedy development of the young defensive corps of the San Jose Sharks. He's even assisted the success of goalies Evgeni Nabokov and Vesa Toskala with his defensive play and offensive contributions.

Another bonus: Thornton is only 28, which is young by hockey standards. Most hockey players don't peak until their early thirties. It is scary to think that Thornton will just get better.

In signing Thornton, the Sharks gained not just an extraordinary hockey player, but also a centerpiece for the franchise. As long as Thornton is on the team, the Sharks can build a winning team around him.

Re-signing Thornton to another contract will also benefit the city of San Jose. For many years, San Jose officials have been trying to put the city on the national map. Thornton helped gain national attention for San Jose when he won the Art Ross trophy, for leading the league in points, and the Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the Most Valuable Player of the National Hockey League.

Thornton has not only established the San Jose Sharks in the hockey world, he's brought credibility to West Coast hockey.

With Thornton locked up until the 2011 season, there will be plenty more of Tic-Tac-Joes to come in San Jose and, with any luck, a future Stanley Cup championship.

For 23 hours, 27-year-old Scott Manthey of San Jose waited in line at Oakridge Mall in San Jose.

Veronica Bautista, 17, of Sunnyvale stood in line for 22 hours at Westfield Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara.

Both of them, along with thousands of others, anxiously anticipated the June 29 release of the iPhone, the newest high-tech gadget from Apple Inc.

The premiere of the iPhone has been met with overwhelming excitement. The first and second floors of Valley Fair mall overflowed with people on the launch date. Inside the Apple store, as the 6 p.m. launch time neared, employees formed a two-line walkway.

A countdown began. 10-9-8 . . .

And with the shouting of ONE, the gates of the Apple store lifted. The wait was over.

Greeted by high-fives from employees, the first group of eager customers entered the store, including Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, who was the honorary first person in line.

Not many products inspire this kind of frenzy. According to the Contra Costa Times, Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey said shoppers might have bought as many as 700,000 units during the iPhone's first weekend of release.

The iPhone is a combination of an iPod, a Web browser and a phone. Apple made the iPhone with advanced technology, but the gadget is said to be user-friendly for the everyday consumer. It has a touch screen that enables users to control the phone with their fingertips, it can access e-mail and send messages and pictures and, of course, it can surf the Web.

The iPhone has a 2.0-megapixel camera to take pictures, but it's unable to take videos. With its 3.5-inch screen and sleek design, the iPhone is the hottest product in the technology world.

So how much is this revolutionary device going to cost you? A four-gigabyte version costs $499, and an eight-gigabyte version costs $599. Users also must pay a monthly minimum of $59.99 for a calling plan with iPhone's exclusive carrier, AT&T, and a one-time activation fee of $36. The minimum cost for an iPhone is a whopping $594.99.

The day before the iPhone's launch date, lines began forming outside Apple stores across the country -- similar to those formed by people eager to purchase the PlayStation 3 or Wii.

Michael Leonard, 46, of San Jose first stepped into line at Valley Fair about 10 p.m. on June 28. The line was formed outside until about 7 a.m., when the mall opened, and the first 75 people were led inside. As for his decision to wait in line, "This was a spur-of-the-moment thing. It was more like a dare," Leonard said.

Lindsay Guillen, 21, of Campbell waited nine hours to buy her iPhone. "I'm a nerd; I just have to have it," Guillen said. The Apple fan was at Macworld the day Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, and she knew she would be in line waiting the day of its release.

The day after she bought it, she's still pleased with the product. "It's really great," Guillen said. "I can't believe I've gone without it for so long. . . . I'm using it now."

Some people such as Shawn Abadajos, 25, of San Jose, didn't get caught up in the hype. "The iPhone isn't for every person," Abadajos said. "Do they really need it? I think most people are getting it just because it's Apple."

Juan Figueroa, 24, of San Jose agreed. Both say the iPhone would be more useful to the corporate person, but to the average consumer, "it's just too much." Scott Manthey arrived early the afternoon of June 28 to get in line at Oakridge. Part of the hype about the iPhone was the fear that there might not be enough for everybody who wanted one. But after the masses left Oakridge Mall, there were still iPhones left at the Apple store. So Manthey's long wait was unnecessary.

"It's OK. It was fun, and I still got the iPhone," Manthey said. Has the iPhone lived up to the hype? So far, the answer seems to be "Yes." Jacob Rangel, 30, of San Jose waited in line for 23 hours, but that didn't bother him at all.

"It was a small price to pay to get my hands on the future," he said.

After 14 years, Hajrudin Hodzic has stopped fighting.

The battle started when he came to America, where he compared his life as a busboy with that of his native Bosnia, where he was a reporter.

"Do I belong here or there?" the 53-year-old asked himself after he settled in San Jose with his wife, Margareta, and their two young children.

He's one of many immigrants who left behind lucrative careers as attorneys, doctors and teachers in their homeland only to labor in lower-paying service jobs in this country.

According to Julian Chun-Chung Chow, a professor of social welfare at University of California-Berkeley, it can take immigrants up to four generations to adapt to a new society.

"Once they move from their home countries to the United States they have to (change jobs)," says Chow. "It doesn't mean that they don't have the skill. It's just a different educational background and skills."

Hodzic is a prime example.

The man known as "Hajro" was forced to leave his homeland in 1992 after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from the former Yugoslavia.
Hodzic didn't know anything but life in Bosnia, where he practiced law for five years before becoming a journalist.

"It was a dream story: turning hobby into profession," says Hodzic who has spent 12 years at the Santa Clara Social Service Department. "In that dream life the war happened – and poof."

No matter how many years have passed, the mere mention of his homeland brings back a rush of memories – both good and bad.

On this recent Wednesday, Hodzic sat in a San Jose park, plucking blades of grass from the ground, twisting the strands between his leathery fingers as the thoughts of his past overwhelm him.

He remembers spending his youth playing with friends and family outdoors and vacationing near the Adriatic Sea.

Amid the panic and confusion of war, Hodzic and his wife decided to leave to protect their young children, Zlatan, now 19, and Jasna, now 16.

In their haste, Hodzic remembers leaving behind all of his mother's gold jewelry, but "then you realize that your world disappeared and you're forced to prioritize … you don't have time to think."

Hodzic and his family came to San Jose in August 1993 as refugees with no money, no belongings and no relations. They spoke little English.

"You question yourself. What am I going to do? How am I going to make it? Who cares if you're a journalist if you don't speak the language? A lawyer is useless, the laws are different," says Hodzic, who was 39 when he immigrated.
He started over, learned English, went to school, and picked up any job that was available – busboy, assembly line worker, cleaner – to support his family.
"Without motivation – without kids – I think I would have given up," says Hodzic, remembering his emotional fatigue and desperation. "With kids, you find strength."

His office job as an eligibility worker is a sharp contrast to his previous career that relied solely on creativity.

Bleak lights beam down on long aisles of gray walls and monochrome blue carpet. His desk is piled with stacks of papers and yellow Post-its stick around his computer monitor.

Photos of his family and dog are taped to the right of the screen. Next to it, a photo of earth from the moon peeps out above a wall full of documents.
A black and white photo of the type of car he owned in Bosnia – a Giulia Super – is tacked to his wall. Even here you see evidence of his love for the outdoors and memories of the past.

Yet losing everything has taught Hodzic that happiness lies neither in a job nor in the country one calls home.

Today he finds happiness in his garden, in photography, and in his love for puzzles and anagrams.

At the sound of puzzles he spontaneously tells how, while driving the other day, he noticed that the sign "public storage" was made up of 13 different letters.
He asks a reporter if she knows what "real fun" can be rearranged as and then quickly says with a chuckle: "funeral."

"I belong here. I'm okay here," says Hodzic. "I stopped fighting 'Where am I going.' "

Hodzic has gone from being a client of Social Services to working side-by-side with the very people who helped him gain his footing in this country.
Today he helps those who are in the position he used to be.

"When people tell me 'you don't know what I'm going through' I can say 'yes, I do,' " Hodzic says.

He still remembers the gratitude at receiving his job at the Social Services despite having a thick Bosnian accent.

"That," Hodzic said, "is the best part of this society: they give you a chance. They look at what you can be tomorrow, not today."

The battle to survive has been long and "I had to leave my home," says Hodzic, "But I'm in a good place that is becoming more and more my home."
Trinh Thi Tran is another example.

She always has a quiet smile on her face, but beneath the petite, gentle woman lays the strength to give up her life for her children.

The 50-year-old left her life as a doctor in Vietnam to secure a future for her young daughters. Unlike Hodzic, war did not force her to leave, but rather the communist government and its society.

"I didn't agree with their morality," she says in Vietnamese. "Children weren't like before. The life they taught children was more materialistic, selfish."
In order to give her children opportunities and a worthy education she immigrated in 1995 with her husband Duc and two young daughters, Marie and Theresa. She was the last of her extended family to arrive in America, where she and her husband faced a difficult time finding work to support their family.
She first worked at Mervyns, picking up after others and working at the cashier, then at the Santa Clara County Court answering citations and the phone – a far cry from her career as a pediatrician.

"What I miss the most is I miss being a doctor," says Tran, who now works in accounting at the Palo Alto courthouse. "If I stayed, I would have made a lot of money … but I didn't agree with the communists."

Instead of attempting to study to become a doctor in this country, Tran decided to sacrifice her career to care for her children.

"The period of teenage years is critical. If I go back to school, who will take care of my children? They're like trees, they need guidance," says Tran.

"I can't give my children luxury but I can give them tinh, thuong – love, values."

Walk past the clubs on South First Street in downtown San Jose and loud music slaps you like a sharp wave. It's not just any type of music — it's hyphy. Five years ago, it would have been hard to believe that music which involves the use of ecstasy would be successful. Yet, hyphy is taking over, leaving some wondering what this new music genre entails, and how it affects the Bay Area's reputation.

Hyphy started out full of energy and rapping. It is often played on radio stations, like Wild 94.9 and has become its own subculture.

The phrase hyphy was coined when Keak Da Sneak, a popular Oakland rapper, shortened hyperactive into hyphy. Hyphy music provokes crazy, high-energy dancing which is done with rhythm and style.

Walk down the street and you hear a ring tone of The Federation's tune "I Wear My Stunna' Glasses at Night," a popular song that samples the Corey Hart song "I Wear My Sunglasses at Night." In hyphy culture, it is common to wear Stunna' Glasses –are round glasses that often cover a large portion of the face.

At Taste nightclub in San Jose, and you're sure to hear the beat and rhythm of "Tell Me When to Go," one of many unofficial anthems by Keak Da Sneak and E-40. Even hyphywear — baggy, colorful clothes adorned with symbols that reference the Bay Area, has sprung up in local malls.

Many Bay Area stores have adapted to the Hyphy Movement and started stocking clothes and music that are popular. Allen Murphy, a worker at F.Y.E Music and Movies at Eastridge Mall in San Jose, said hyphy music is popular in sales. "Hyphy comes up pretty commonly. Even if not buying, then at least asking," said Murphy.

Deejays around the Bay Area constantly receive requests for hyphy music. Local San Jose deejay Julian Hernandez, or "DJ Play," loves hyphy because "[You Can] do whatever you want. It's cool, fool."

Hyphy has been here for some time, but only in the past two years has it gained momentum from fans all over. For the first time in this generation, the Bay Area is slowly becoming pervasive into homes all over the nation, due in part to the hyphy phenomenon. The hyphy movement is much discussed among today's youth, and its artists take pride in spreading the word and promoting its geographic origins.

One of the pivotal aspects of the hyphy movement are the fans. There are dedicated hyphy promoters like Elisa Torate, founder of the Facebook group "The Pursuit of Hyphyness." When asked why hyphy appeals to her and the 120 members of the group, she said "We do it for fun, because we love everything hyphy-related."

Hyphy is often known for derogatory terms. The phrase "Ride the Yellow Bus," a reference to special education kids who take the bus to school, is an example of the sometimes derogatory and demeaning aspects of hyphy culture.

Regardless of negatives associated with hyphy music, it is undeniable that it has put the Bay Area on the hip-hop map. Warren Hurts, a dancer who appeared in such popular hyphy videos like "Tell Me When To Go" and "Vans" by The Pack, likes to go hyphy anywhere and anytime.

"I can [dance to hyphy] all the time. I went to New York, and they had hyphy music there," he said.

Hyphy music is not valued for the song lyrics as much as the dancing and energy involved. At Eastridge Mall in San Jose, a woman in her early 20s who referred to herself only as "Peanut," associated hyphy with clubbing.

"If I'm going to a club, then I like hyphy music. [Also] if you're hella' drunk or high," she said.

Many people listen to hyphy music mainly because of the lifestyle attached. The music is popular to dance to and often provokes acts that are mentioned in songs and music videos. One example is "ghost riding the whip", which is when you put your car into neutral and walk outside while your car is still driving.

Hyphy music has gained a lot of resistance over the years. Many are perplexed that a culture focused around drugs, alcohol, and sex could become so important. It is questionable if the Bay Area even wants to be associated with hyphy music.

Arianna Toscanno, an 18-year-old who attends De Anza College, predicts that the hyphy music will last only two to three years. "Hyphy movement is temporary. I think it all sounds the same," said Toscanno.

Hyphy has grown through the years from just music to a complete culture. Hate it or love it, either way it's part of Bay Area youth culture.

I'm not a freak, really I'm not, but I've read the six Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling at least 50 times each and review them nearly every night before I go to bed.

Needless to say, I love Rowling's magical world of Hogwarts.
And I am not the only one. With more than 325 million copies of the first six books sold worldwide, Harry Potter has become nothing short of a phenomenon that has deeply affected the lives of children who have grown up alongside the boy wizard.

In fact, every year, children run into a wall at Kings Cross Station in an attempt to get to Platform 9, the supposed entrance to this magical world. Although I have never tried this myself, Harry Potter has been a fundamental part of my childhood as well. These books have helped me in social situations, benefited me academically, and taught me to always believe in magic.

Because of the book's popularity, everyone, even the "cool" kids are always eagerly anticipating what will happen next. As a loner in new schools, I have taken advantage of the book's popularity and used this topic as a conversation starter. We talk about what we liked about the first book, the upcoming one, how funny it is that Harry is our age, etc. Now my very best friends are throwing Hogwarts parties! Even on dates, when the conversation starts to lag over the salad, I bring up Harry Potter. Nine times out of 10, our predictions as to who will die next, takes us all the way through dessert.

In an academic sense, Rowling's made-up spells such as wingardium leviosa, which makes things lift off the ground, has helped me memorize massive vocabulary lists with words like "alleviate" in English class. In Spanish class, those same spells have helped me learn verbs such as "levanter" (to lift). Furthermore, the whole plot of Harry Potter is a lesson in prejudice. This underlying theme of racism can easily be connected to our world today. I used this analogy for my SAT I essay, comparing disputes between pure blood wizards and those with non-magical parents to various genocides.

I truly am lucky to have become immersed in this magical world at a young age. Back when there were no Harry Potter movies, action figures and mass commercialism, I pretended to be Harry Potter all on my own. For Halloween in the fourth grade, I dressed up as Professor Dumbledore with half-moon spectacles made out of wire, a long gray beard and homemade wizard's robes. These games were fundamental to my imaginative play, creativity and cognitive development. I always believed that I, like those children who run into walls, was magical.
Then, one night in the summer before sixth grade, my father started to complain of a disturbance, possibly an owl, in my room. So with great trepidation, I hurried to my bedroom where to my surprise I found a large envelope addressed to me. It was my Hogwarts acceptance letter with a list of necessary school supplies!

I was elated. After all, it's not like every muggle (person whose parents aren't wizards) in America gets to go to Hogwarts in Britain. And even though, as I later found out, it was clearly a fake, I still held onto a strand of hope that the magical world existed.

Despite growing out of the phase where I pretended to be a wizard in my back yard, I still associate with Rowling's novels. I am not an orphan in England like Harry, but I nevertheless connect with his concerns over homework and tests, his relationships with teachers and friends, sports competitions and love interests. Such themes are universal. His important OWL tests are analogous to my SAT subject tests, his relationship with Professor Snape analogous to my relationship with my hated physics teacher and the knots in his stomach before a Quidditch match analogous to those I feel before my softball games.

Still, thousands of stories re-create the drama of high school with the various cliques and relationships that young people can connect with. What then, sets Rowling's series apart? It's simple -- the magic. Imagine having your teacher turn the bully who has been picking on you for years into a ferret or taking a ride on a broomstick when you're sick of doing homework. Rowling's books truly are a great escape from the muggle reality where there are no summoning charms, cheering charms or felix felicis to make life easier. The sophisticated, make-believe world that Rowling created suggests that good always triumphs over evil (as Harry has over evil Lord Voldemort in every book), that there is always hope of being special (Harry lived in a cupboard for 10 years before Hogwarts) and that magic can be real. It lets me connect with my happy, naïve grade school self.

Thus, it is with great excitement and ineffable sadness that I anticipate Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts, incidentally my final year of high school. Millions of readers on the verge of adulthood have grown up with him. And we will always remember how Harry's adventures affected our own lives with magic.

Wearing Nike Cortez shoes, baggy pants, a black T-shirt and a sad expression, Juan Rivera recalls his time as a gang member in elementary school. He remembers being hit by gang members without retaliating to get "jumped in," or initiated. He also remembers getting stabbed with a screwdriver in fifth grade. By his freshman year in high school, he wanted out.

"I felt bad that I made my mom go through all that, watching me in pain," said Juan, 16, a sophomore at Downtown College Preparatory, a charter high school in San Jose. "I left all that behind in the past."

Many teens like Juan, who start out glorifying the gang life, get to a point where they want to get out. Juan is changing his lifestyle on his own, and his goal is to become a lawyer who helps juvenile delinquents. He says whenever he's tempted by his ex-Norteño lifestyle, he thinks about the look in his mother's eyes.

But for those who can't go it alone, there are programs — both local and international — to help them find another path in life.

"What gang-involved teens need in order to end their gang involvement is a positive vision of their future," said Micah Morris, an English teacher at Downtown College Prep who advises students on how to find a better path. "I try to communicate to teens who are involved in gangs that I see them as people beyond their gang involvement and — as much as they might protest otherwise — that their gang involvement does not define who they are."

At the Mexican American Community Service Agency in San Jose, motivational speaker Dimas Martínez works with young people in a program that offers alternatives for those caught in gang activity. "It was either this program or probation," participant Jose Bello said after one of the gang prevention workshops the agency offers.

"Each one of you has a gift," Martínez recently told the seven teenagers in Bello's class. "I'm here because I think that all of you are savable."

Worldwide programs also exist to focus on older gang members. Victory Outreach Cease Fire is a faith-based program led by ex-gang members who work to bring peace between notorious gangs all over the world, including in San Jose.

"God uses this ministry to go back to the barrios and reach the gang members, drug addicts, and the people that the judicial system has given up on," said Daniel Contreras, an ex-Norteño and one of the leaders of Cease Fire.

The worldwide ministry helps rival gangs unite to stop the violence. The leaders of the organization are ministers who preach God's word to help gangsters find their path, "but it doesn't matter what religion they are from," said Robert Rios, a leader of Cease Fire.

Rios said the group's work includes uniting the two biggest gangs in El Salvador, the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 last year, a job many thought impossible.

"We are in six of the seven continents of this world," Contreras said. "We have governments that call us, and they ask for us because they see what we do."
They also work with San Jose gangs, last year negotiating a local cease-fire between Norteños and Sureños.

Victory Outreach is concerned with the violence that Latino gangs use on their people. Cease Fire leaders use inspirational words and are role models for unity because their organization is made up of ex-Sureños and ex-Norteños.
"God brings us all together," Rios said.

Cease Fire leaders also use music and rap to speak the language of most gang members. One poem on a Cease Fire CD describes the destruction that the North-South division causes.

North, south, it's all the same
The southern and northern vision that brings forth division by corrupt decisions
That XIII and XIV was never intended to be
Until someone came along and planted a seed
Full of pride, hate, envy, and greed
Only to fulfill a need
Giving in to dirty deeds that has many sewed up into deceived
A manmade movement that when it gets its own grain are restrained from where it came
Now who's the one to blame?

Some teenagers said they joined gangs because they wanted to belong to something. Leonardo Cervantes, 14, did. But the ex-Sureño later came to the same conclusion as Juan Rivera.

"Even if you are not hurting yourself, you are hurting your family and the families of the people you fight with," said Leonardo, a sophomore at Downtown College Prep. "No lifestyle is worth this."

Samantha Rodrigues, a sophomore at Evergreen Valley High School, arrives home from school on a Monday afternoon. She puts down her books, goes to her room and packs up everything she needs for the week. Then she waits for her mom to pick her up and take her to her other home a few minutes away.

At her dad's house, Samantha shares a room with her younger sister, Diana, and has a pet turtle. At her mom's house, Samantha has her own room, as well as three dogs. She admits that while her room at her mom's house is always clean, her room at her dad's house is always messy.

"I don't remember what it's like to live at one house," said Samantha, 14, whose parents have been divorced since she was 3.

In the United States, countless teens have to deal with the effects of divorce. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the divorce rate has increased 54 percent since 1950, though rates have declined slightly since the 1980s.

While often one parent takes custody of a child, many parents share custody, meaning kids have two homes. Statistics on just how many teens shuttle between homes are hard to come by.

Nancy Quiggle, a psychologist and clinical coordinator at the University of California-San Francisco, believes joint custody can be good and bad.
"It's very family-specific," Quiggle said. "I think it can work out very well if the parties cooperate and focus on trying to mask their differences. And of course teens should be listened to."

Samantha keeps all her clothing and belongings at her dad's house, so when it comes time to switch houses, she must pack everything she needs. She doesn't mind living at two homes, but her parents are constantly pressuring her to choose one.

"They always ask who I want to live with. They say I need to choose eventually," said Samantha. "But it's hard to pick between them. I love them both."

Other teenagers don't like being in a joint custody situation. Rather than having two homes, they feel they don't have any.

"People don't realize how lucky they are to live in one home," said Shani Chabansky, a 16-year-old at Gunn High School in Palo Alto. "I feel like I don't have a home to call my own."

Shani's parents have been divorced since she was in the third grade, and now live within a few minutes of each other.

"I have to move stuff all over the place. It's not as easy as people think," she said.

Even the most responsible student can forget something at the other house and have to go back and get it. When most teenagers are worrying about what grade they got on a math test, teens of joint custody worry about packing up all their stuff for the other house, or making sure they're not forgetting anything. One day, Samantha left her math book at her other house and wasn't able to get it.

As a result, she couldn't do her homework and received a zero the next day.
DK Simoneau, author of the children's book "We're Having A Tuesday,'' which focuses on kids who switch back and forth every week, knows all too well the effects of divorce and shared custody. A child of divorce herself, Simoneau switched back and forth between her parents' houses for most of her adolescent years. Now divorced herself, her two children also live at two homes.

"It's a good idea as long as the parents can make it work," Simoneau said. "Kids need the influence of as many positive adults as they can."

Simoneau is a strong believer in joint custody, but also believes that each situation is different. "If going back and forth were really becoming bothersome for the child because of logistics, I would recommend talking about other solutions. Maybe the schedule needs to be looked at, or other processes need to be in place. I wouldn't just blanket say you should live with one parent."

There is no right or wrong answer to joint custody; different solutions work for different situations.

"The adults put their children in these situations. It's up to them to find solutions that work for everybody. Parents need to stop worrying about what the parents want, and focus on the kids," Simoneau said.

Teens in joint custody often say their lives would be easier if they lived in one place because they find themselves constantly having to choose between families. Holidays and graduations become stressful times because they don't know which family to sit with, or which to spend time with. When they find out good news, which parent does a teenager call first?

Shani admits living with one parent would be less hassle, but she doesn't want to choose between them. "I would much rather live with one parent, but then the other would be really upset or offended."

Naomi Shachter, 17, of Palo Alto has been switching houses every two weeks since her parents divorced three years ago. Although she doesn't necessarily enjoy living at two homes, she would never choose to live with one parent.

"It sucks. It can be a big hassle," said Naomi. "But it's the preferable option."

The little girl -- brown wavy hair, big green eyes, wide smile – dashes across the garden to pluck a flower from a bush.

She spins around, spots her grandmother and giggles as she's playfully scolded in Bosnian.

This is the Green Thumb Garden, a 1 1/2-acre spot where the cultures that comprise San Jose's rich diversity cross paths.

Each morning, when the air is still cool, the gardeners converge on their plots of crops, many of which reflect their cultures.

In one corner, a Mexican gardener grows towering cornstalks. An old Bosnian man stoops over and slowly separates a mass of tomato plants with his bare hands. "I shouldn't have planted them so closely," he says.

Nearby, a young white man jabs the dirt with his shovel, tossing soil to either side. An old Russian couple hobbles along, tending to their rows of cabbage.
Behind a trellis of climbing green beans, an African-American man tends to his brother's garden. "He's sick today," he says, carefully labeling the strawberries and the carrots.

An Iranian man grows Swiss chard. Beside him, an old Chinese couple cultivates leafy bundles of bok choy that they readily give to appreciative members of this tight-knit group.

In this garden – located beside an inexpensive apartment complex in West San Jose – the myriad of ethnicities collide, yet coincide.
Some gardeners are old, some are young, some come every day, while others come only once a week.

Seeds are shared and laughter is heard, despite barriers – ages, backgrounds, languages – that would divide most.

They come together a few times a year to share vegetables they prepare at a brick barbecue in the garden.

At their annual celebration, everyone offers something for a salad that becomes a cornucopia of cultures.

To these people, this garden offers more than a sentimental space, it offers an entire world.

For some people, a bathroom can make all the difference.

Two years ago, a woman in the women's restroom at City College of San Francisco accused Nadia Cabezas of being a man and slapped her across the face.

But Cabezas was not a man – she was a transsexual student, who was born male, but identified as female.

The incident prompted transgender music Professor Bob Davis, who identifies as female, to launch a campaign to add a third kind of restroom to the campus: one that was not male, not female, but gender-neutral.

The school – which now has gender-neutral restrooms in nine of 13 buildings – is among a growing number of colleges and grass-roots organizations working to increase the number of bathrooms that could be used by either gender.

"It boils down to safety," said Alexis Rivera, policy advocate at the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco. "People who don't feel comfortable necessarily using the male or female bathroom need to have the option to use the gender-neutral restroom."

A San Francisco Human Rights Commission survey found that about 99 percent of nearly 500 trans and non-trans people want gender-neutral bathrooms for various reasons.

Transpeople specifically want them because they've been targets of harassment in gender-specific restrooms. Some were even escorted out by security, said Bailey Stevens, co-founder of www.safe2pee.org, which lists gender-neutral bathrooms across the country.

Almost half of the transpeople who responded to a 2002 San Francisco Human Rights Commission survey reported they had experienced assault or harassment in restrooms.

However, not all transpeople want to use gender-neutral restrooms, said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights based in San Francisco.

"Transsexual people would generally just like to use the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity and the other [genderqueer] folks would prefer to have a gender-neutral bathroom available," Minter said. "It's important to accommodate both groups."

Minter has worked with numerous colleges across the country to designate some single-occupancy restrooms as gender-neutral. He estimates that more than 90 campuses have gender-neutral restrooms, usually in compliance to the school's non-discrimination policy.

He also presents a workshop on the rights of transgender students, including restroom rights, at an annual conference for college administrators. He has been giving the workshop for 17 years, he said, but the movement is just now starting to gain momentum.

In addition to City College of San Francisco, other Bay Area schools with gender-neutral bathrooms include the University of California-Berkeley, the New College of California and California College of the Arts.

Some schools, such as the University of Arizona, have had gender-neutral bathrooms for several years. The school recently added more after the university incorporated gender-identity protection into its non-discrimination policy.

Campus leaders at the private Pomona College recently changed the signs on about half the men's and women's restrooms in the dorms, although students have informally designated some dorm restrooms as gender-neutral for years.

The signs now list what is inside the room – such as two stalls, two showers – in place of which gender is permitted to use the facility.

Some schools even list on their Web sites gender-neutral bathrooms. These schools include the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Vermont, UCLA and UC-San Diego.

Davis uses the list of the gender-neutral bathrooms at the City College of San Francisco when she recruits students from transgender organizations and communities to show that "the school is aware of their needs," she said.
Five colleges - American University, New York University, Ohio State University, UC-Santa Barbara and Washington State University – have committed to including gender-neutral, single-occupancy restrooms in all future buildings, according to Minter.

School districts, on the other hand, have been slower to adapt. Because most junior high and high schools don't have many single-occupancy restrooms to convert, providing gender-neutral bathrooms for students can be difficult.
Instead, several school districts have adopted policies that allow transgender students to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity, even if it differs from their birth sex.

The San Francisco Unified School District and the Los Angeles Unified School District recently adopted such policies. Minter said it will be an "uphill battle" to get other school districts, especially in conservative states, to implement similar policies. But, he said, "it will only be a matter of time before it's absolutely standard to have gender-neutral bathrooms along with the more conventional division" at all schools.

Minter has also worked with businesses to create gender-neutral bathrooms and ensure the rights of transpeople to use the restroom of their choice. Employers and employees have been contacting the organization, he said, as gender-neutral bathrooms grow in popularity.

"In restaurants and airports and other places where the public is in and out, it is increasingly common to have a gender-neutral bathroom," he said. "It's quite silly to label single-occupancy bathrooms as either male or female. It serves no purpose at all."

But how do people find out about these bathrooms? Enter www.safe2Pee.org.
Stevens and two other co-founders launched www.safe2pee.org in December. The directory lists entries for 870 bathrooms in more than 260 cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Anybody can to add entries to the directory, search for bathrooms and have restroom locations in a particular city or ZIP code sent to their cell phone.
The group hopes to expand the site to include listings worldwide, although Stevens says the need for a directory of gender-neutral bathrooms "is especially an issue in North America," where there tends to be fewer such restrooms.
Another organization, the Transgender Law Center, is working with businesses and schools to designate single-occupancy restrooms as gender-neutral.

In response to numerous requests to do something about bathroom harassment, the San Francisco-based center published "Peeing in Peace: A Resource Guide for Transgender Activists and Allies."

The extensive guide includes information on the history of bathroom segregation, the process of persuading schools and businesses to designate bathrooms as gender-neutral, as well as tips on how to deal with harassment in the bathroom.
The center plans to approach schools, universities and businesses and encourage them to use the guide.

"It's basically identifying the restroom at the location and switching the sign and making sure all administrators and employees know why it's important that there is another option," Rivera said.

In San Francisco, at least, the group has the law to back up its requests. In 2003, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission added a stipulation to its compliance rules regarding gender identity discrimination that "strongly urges" businesses and other institutions to provide a gender-neutral bathroom to employees.

On the national scale, federal lawmakers are considering at a bill that would prohibit workplace discrimination, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Although the bill does not include a specific provision about gender-neutral restrooms, Minter said, "the law will require employers not to discriminate with regards to bathrooms," and mandate that they allow employees to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

But Minter said the best way to end discrimination and promote gender-neutral restrooms is not through legislation, but education – the same kind transgender and student groups have been doing for years.

"People are really receptive when they understand this is really an issue about safety and dignity and practicality," he said.

They weave across the empty dance floor, with him catching her graceful ballet leaps.

At 28, Easton Smith embodies the archetype of a male dancer – strong, tall, statuesque. His wife, Haley Henderson-Smith, is also the epitome of a dancer – lean, graceful, elegant.

But like other dancers, one wrong move could sideline their careers, jeopardizing their ability to perform and cutting short their dreams of being on stage.

According to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, high-intensity aerobic dance produces about one injury per 100 hours. The journal also states that newcomers to a sport are significantly more likely to be injured than individuals who have been training for years.

"I sustained plenty of heavy injuries when I was younger," says Smith, who with his wife dance for Ballet San Jose. "I’ve torn ligaments in my ankle, dislocated my shoulder, sprained my ankle about 10 times, and threw out my back when I was 22."

The most common injuries seen in ballet dancers are tendinitis, sprains and strains caused by overuse, according to physical therapist Laura Keller of the Stone Foundation for Sports Medicine and Arthritis Research in San Francisco.

"The best way for dancers to avoid devastating injuries is by cross training, such as incorporating different exercises into their daily cycle like swimming, biking and other activities," Keller says.

As dancers for Ballet San Jose, Smith and Henderson-Smith not only have to juggle taking classes and rehearsing about eight hours a day, they also try to keep their bodies in tip-top shape for performances with gym workouts.

"I try to go to the gym a good hour before or after rehearsal a couple of times of week because I need the cardio to build up my stamina when I am dancing on stage," Henderson-Smith says.

Smith, on the other hand, tries to incorporate basketball, swimming and weightlifting into his workout and dance regimen, which starts shortly after the sun rises and lasts long after the sun sets.

"Dancers are always moving and always on the run. We need as much energy as possible, so it doesn’t make sense for a dancer to starve him or herself," Smith says, joking about being able to eat three hamburgers in a row.

Ballet San Jose dancers often practice while off-season to stay in peak shape and prevent injury. Many of the dancers have been involved with ballet since they were young, and the fluidity of their movement is almost as natural as the injuries that come along with them.

Dance injuries are also becoming prevalent among youths.

"I have had to deal with shin splits and plantar fasciitis [inflammation of the toes and heel region]," says Svenja Reinschmidt, 15, a student at the Ballet San Jose School.

"I have had to deal with Achilles tendinitis [inflammations in the Achilles tendon], but it is actually very common for dancers to experience it," says Danielle Dunmier, 16, also a student at the Ballet San Jose School.

Keller, the physical therapist from San Francisco, attributes many of the injuries of young athletes to their narrow range of activities.

"Many athletes only focus on one specific activity and do not get involved with enough cross training," she says. "By doing this, they are placing too much stress on joints and tendons and as a result the joints and tendons provide weak support."

Dancers not only have to keep their bodies in best condition, but they also have to maintain a stable level of mental well-being to survive in such a fast-paced art.

"Many professional dancers are perfectionists who have high expectations in their performance," says Bay Area psychologist Jim Taylor, co-author of "Psychology of Dance." "Others can suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and a wide array of eating disorders."

Taylor explains that consistently performing at a high level and demonstrating superior technical ability are the basis for a dancer being psychologically ready to perform at an enhanced level. Psychology is key when looking at a dancer's probability of success.

"If a dancer can stay motivated and handle the pressure, then that kind of mental strength can get him or her to the top and remain at the top," Taylor says.

It may just be that fear of injury can impede a professional dancing career just as much if not more than an injury itself.

"Doctors warned me that my career could only last so long. When I threw that fear aside, the injuries slowly went away. It was as if I was allowing myself to create my injuries in my mind," Smith says.

Though some dancers might be fortunate enough to overcome injuries and continue a professional career, the thought of injury preventing dance is all too real for other former dancers.

"I started dancing when I was 5 years old, and my whole identity was tied to the fact that I was a ballet dancer," says Kristin Bertrand, Ballet San Jose administrator, whose career was sidetracked by injury when she was 16. She experienced an "identity crisis" following her departure from dance, something her doctor told her she needed to face or endure further physical problems.

Bertrand, now 36, then began looking at other options, including going to college – something she hadn’t thought about before her injury.

"In a way I feel grateful for that injury," she says. "Without it, I wouldn’t have started teaching dance, I wouldn’t have gone to college and I wouldn’t have become an administrator of a great ballet school.

"I try to use the injury as inspiration for the way I teach, mainly focusing on proper alignment and technique. The best advice I can give my students is to rest for the entire time given for an injury and to make sure you heal properly, do not to strain your body but rather emphasize it and work with the body you have.

"I would also stress the importance of a college education to my students. I would encourage them to follow their dreams but to also have a backup such as taking some college classes to be prepared. [I hope] they’ll think of the future past the age of 40."

For now, two of Ballet San Jose’s most talented dancers are taking it one day at a time, trying to master the nuts and bolts of a comprehensive dance career.

On a recent day, Smith and Henderson-Smith put the final touches on a choreography they’ll perform next week at the Crucible’s annual Fire Arts Festival in Oakland. The choreography depicts a scene from "The Odyssey," in which Smith plays Odysseus and Henderson-Smith plays Calypso trying to seduce him away from his home and his wife, Penelope.

The two move across the stage, striving for perfection. She stretches her legs, arches her back and sways her arms. He awaits her. Henderson-Smith moves across the stage, enticing him to catch her as she leaps toward him.

Injuries are the furthest thing from their minds as they continue to dance.

Ninety-one years of tradition cannot be ignored — but neither can new,
progressive approaches to education.

Although Bay Area students might be tempted to classify all-girls schools as one
category, the eras when such schools were founded fundamentally affect the
schools' philosophies.

Two all-girls schools in the Bay Area, Castilleja School
and The Girls' Middle School, are examples of these differences. Castilleja
School, in Palo Alto, was established in 1907. By contrast, The Girls' Middle
School (GMS), established in 1998 in Mountain View, has only an eight-year
history. The difference of 91 years creates a vast disparity between the two
schools in their educational philosophies, approaches to learning and values of
tradition.

In both schools, the concept of single-sex education allows young women to
discover themselves and mature without some of the distractions of co-ed
schools. Both schools aim to provide an atmosphere in which girls can take risks
intellectually in a small setting. "The small size of all-girls schools
increases personal attention, which is mostly a good thing," said Anne Cameron,
head of the middle school at Castilleja. Her former colleague at Castilleja
agreed.

"The all-girls atmosphere allows girls to ask questions that they can't ask in
co-ed schools," said Deb Hof, former dean of students at Castilleja and current
head of school at GMS. But the similarities end there.

Castilleja was founded during the Progressive Era, while GMS was founded during
the dot-com boom in Silicon Valley. As a result, Castilleja takes a more
traditional approach to education, while GMS approaches education in a more
experimental way. According to Heather Allen Pang, coordinator of the Castilleja
archives, more private schools were established during the Progressive Era in
order to bolster West Coast education. David Starr Jordan, the first president
of Stanford University, urged Mary Ishbel Lockey, the founder of Castilleja, to
establish an all-girls school in order to prepare young women for Stanford
University. Castilleja's motto, "Women Learning, Women Leading," demonstrates
that the school is dedicated to developing all aspects of young women.

Castilleja's nearly 100-year history has led to the many traditions for which
the school is famous. An opening tie ceremony begins each school year, the
rivalry between the juniors and seniors is a highlight every spring, and "Cookie
Days" are synonymous with Thursdays. "Traditions allow students to feel the
rhythm of the school year," Cameron said.

Castilleja honors its history of tradition so much that it has to be considered
before any change can be instituted within the school.

"We always have to ask ourselves, 'We have a really good program here. How can
it be even better? And if it is better, will it change?'" Cameron said.

Castilleja blends tradition with innovation. "When something has been done for a
long and successful time, it's hard to change. But sometimes a change could
make for a really good thing. Some schools can be stuck in their ways, but I
don't think Castilleja is," Cameron said. Castilleja gradually changes the
school curriculum to reflect the changes in society.

Some traditions, such as the Maypole dance – a traditional folk dance where girls dance with ribbons
around a pole during May Day celebrations – have been abandoned as society has
changed. Cameron cites the school's recent shift in focus to global awareness as
an example of its progressiveness. Two years ago, Castilleja began holding a
Global Week each January to educate students on global warming. At GMS, however,
the lack of tradition has benefits and drawbacks.

"The lack of tradition can cause a lack of feeling of camaraderie within the
school," Hof said.

Though traditions provide a sense of comfort in the school, Hof said, not having
them allows for more freedom and experimental learning. The school is slowly
building traditions, such as the eighth-grade graduation during which each class
member speaks, and the annual sixth-grade camping trip. Moreover, the GMS
student population is a reflection of the cultural and socioeconomic diversity
of Silicon Valley. Forty-six percent of GMS students are people of color, and
20 percent of those students are on full scholarship. "We want to meet the needs
of kids who are the first generation of their families to receive an education,"
Hof said.

The structures of the two schools affect their atmospheres and philosophies as
well. Castilleja offers education to sixth through 12th grades, while GMS
concentrates solely on the middle school years. For GMS, the narrower focus
allows more freedom for their curriculum.

"These three years are when girls really grow from little girls to young women,"
Hof said. "The fact that we are a stand-alone middle school shows that we are
not a feeder into a high school." Hof said the lack of influence from
high-schoolers on the same campus allows the middle-schoolers not to be "taught
down."

For Castilleja, however, the mix of high schoolers and middle-schoolers at the
same campus allows the older students to mentor their younger counterparts.
Programs such as Teaching Assistants and Peer Tutoring allow high-schoolers to
impart their knowledge to others. Not only do students from a wider range of
ages learn from one another, they also create long-lasting friendships.

Courtney Yin, a Castilleja 2003 alumna, said, "My seven years at an all-girls school have
left me with friendships that will last a lifetime. I can safely say that the
bond we formed at Castilleja is more enduring than any of the friendships I have
made in college and will probably ever make. For that reason alone, I wouldn't
trade my experience for anything."

The schools' different curricula also lead to differences between the schools. Castilleja requires its students to take
classes in English, history, mathematics, visual and performing arts, modern and
classical language, science, physical education, and health and wellness.

"We require a lot from students at Castilleja, and they learn from every venue.
The girl who has never danced before has a chance. Some girls discover that
they can draw really well; others discover that they can sing," Cameron said.

In contrast, GMS allows for more experimental, hands-on learning with a less
traditional approach to education. "We are different because we were never a
finishing school," Hof said. The GMS curriculum reflects the culture of Silicon
Valley. Students learn to run a business and build a bridge during their
seventh-grade year.

The school also focuses on group work: Students work in pods throughout their
time at GMS. There are no letter grades, a policy that school officials say
allows for more risk-taking from the students and more personal attention from
the school. There is no uniform. Students call their teachers by their first
names. "Our field trips are curricular," Hof said. "We let kids learn by
doing."

Many GMS alumni appreciate the hands-on opportunities the school offers,
especially its unique entrepreneurial program. The seventh-graders essentially
run a real business. They write a business plan, pitch it to a venture
capitalist, and find ways to fund and manufacture their product. In the process,
they experience the frustrations – and rewards – of running a business.

"The entrepreneurial program was very educational. I cannot believe that
seventh-graders were allowed to run a company. That was really cool," said
Kersten Schnurle, 18, a 2003 GMS graduate and a 2007 Castilleja graduate. "The
entrepreneurial program was really creative – now I want to start my own
business," said Monica Chen, a 2004 GMS graduate.

So how is the typical Castilleja student different from the typical GMS student?
According to Schnurle, the Castilleja student is generally more confident and
more leadership-oriented. But that can also create more stress on the
Castilleja campus. "In general, Castilleja students seem a lot more stressed-out
than GMS students. There isn't that, 'Oh man, I only got five hours of sleep'
mentality at GMS that there is at Castilleja," Schnurle said. But that may have
more to do with the age of students at GMS. "You can jump into stress when
you're older," Hof said. "The kids here are in eighth grade – they don't need
to worry about college yet." That's not to say GMS students are Castilleja
rejects.

"A different type of girl chooses us," Hof said. "GMS girls are more
intrinsically motivated. They want to learn but they want to get their hands
dirty as well." The students' young age also proves to be an advantage at times.
The school does not need to overcome the stereotype of all-girls schools as
"finishing schools." "Other schools have to break away from the white dresses
and white-gloves image of all-girls schools," Hof said.

For GMS, time may provide more resources. There is a possibility that the
school will move to a larger campus.

"Maybe I'm a perennial optimist, but I hope that someone will come along and
offer us what Castilleja girls have now," Hof said. "But the school is still so
young. You never know."