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East Palo Alto Today 1 August - September, 2010

When to go to a dental specialistDr.VirginiaHumphrey, I ! DDS

East Palo Alto Today

As in the medical field,dentistry consists of generalpractitioners and specialists.However, in dentistry mostdentists are generalists able totreat a wide variety of dentalproblems limited only by onestraining, equipment, and ex-

pertise. Some practitioners willelect to refer their patients outto a specialist which may becostly, but often in the best in-terest of the patient.Five main specialties exists inthe dental field.

Endodontia- Practice lim-ited to root canals therapy.Post doctoral training to treat

all types of infected rootcanals, even those which areextremely curved, blocked, orperforated. If your root canaltreatment has failed, youcould get a second opinion byan endodontist and possiblysave the tooth.

Orthodontia- Practicelimited to braces. An ad-

By Henrietta J. Burroughs


Ooh là là. It wasan occasionmarked by asense of ap-

preciation and pride.A respectful audience

cheered and applauded asEast Palo Alto seniors struttedalong the garden pathwaymodeling their best finery. Thefew who were not able to walkalone used the aid of a walker,a cane or a wheel chair tomodel their impressive ap-parel.

Their sense of pride wasnot lost on those who came tosee them. The audienceseemed to marvel at the senseof grace and style the seniorsshowed in their clothes and intheir comportment.

Billed as the Runnymede

Garden Annual Barbecue, theevent was sponsored by theRunnymede Garden TenantAssociation and the Bread ofLife organization. It featured amime, the gospel band QC, thesinging group Amazing Grace,

solos, poems and prayerWhile the spring barbe-

cue has been held at Run-nymede Gardens for threeyears, this year was the firsttime the event featured a sen-ior fashion show.

Bonnie Russell Harbin,the organizer of the event,lives in Runnymede Gardens.Harbin said she supported theidea of the senior fashion showbecause she noticed that the sen-iors who live in Runnymede Gar-dens dressed immaculately

everyday.For her

the purpose ofthe fashionshow was to acknowledge theseniors and to show them thatpeople paid attention andcared about what they weredoing and saw the attentionthat they paid to themselves.

Those who participatedas models were divided intotwo categories: the non-ambu-latory, which included those withwalkers, canes, wheel chairs andscooters and the ambulatory.After

EPA seniors model their finest fashionsPhoto by Henrietta J. Burroughs

The gospel band QC performs one of their riveting, soulfulsongs at the Runnymede Garden Annual Barbecue thatwas held in East Palo Alto.

the fashion show, there wereawards given to those whowere considered the bestdressed.

The models included:Genevieve Prince, Bill John-son, Lorita Williams, IreneMcray, Anna Richards, ZengZong Oiang, Lucy Wright,Maria Perez, James Ewing,Sr., Mattie Johnson, AnnJones, Mitch Johnson, EvelynMiller, Doug and CarleneYoung.

The event was profes-sionally photographed andvideotaped by Mr. Kato’s Pho-tography. See some of hisphotos at www.mrkatospho-tography.com. Look for avideoclip of the event on theEPA Today website soon

Photo by Henrietta J. BurroughsIn this photo, Ronald Knowles, thetenant association president mod-els with his 93 year old motherGladys.

A beloved musician passes awayThis spring East Palo Alto

lost a cherished elder ofthe Peninsula commu-

nity. Thomas Boukaka--musician, singer, drummer,teacher, storyteller, craftsman,cook, uncle and wonderful fa-ther and husband passedaway on March 21st. Born in1934 in the village Mouyami inCongo Brazzaville, he wasworking as a safari guide inCentral Africa when he met anAmerican friend who helped

him emigrate to the US.He brought with him a

strong cultural identity. TheCongolese traditions of villagelife, music, and sense of familyresponsibility stayed with himhis entire life. He patientlyshared the gift of Congo drum-ming and singing with peopleof all ages and backgrounds,inspiring his students with thebreadth of his knowledge, hiswarmth and quiet strength.

He worked at the Depart-

ment of Lab Animal Medicineat Stanford for 37 years. Dur-ing that time he co-foundedand performed with Fua Dia

Congo Dance Company, andhis musical groups Bole Bantuand Point of Order. Herecorded many CDs. Hetaught weekly drum classes.He taught and cooked at theCongolese Dance and DrumWorkshop in Nevada City andHawaii. After his retirement in1999, he taught in schools andvarious facilities all over thePeninsula, including the Cul-tural Kaleidoscope bridge pro-gram in Palo Alto and East

Palo Alto, Ravenswood Char-ter School, Creative Montes-sori Learning Center and atCollege Track to name a few.

Music was Ma Boukaka'sthing. He felt good making itand enjoyed the people hemet while doing it. He isdeeply missed by his familyand by the countless peoplewhose lives he touched.

Read more at the Treas-ured Memories s i te at :http://www.epatoday.org/trea-sured_memories/index.html

Ma Thomas Boukaka

This photo shows some of the attendees at the RunnymedeGarden Annual Barbecue that was held in East Palo Alto.

vanced degree to treat themisalignment and crowding toimprove ones bite or occlu-sion. Orthodontists occasion-ally work with oral surgeons tomove the bone in conjunctionwith moving the teeth tostraighten even the most sig-nificant bite and jaw relation-ship problem.

Periodontia- Surgeonswith advanced education totreat gum disease. Periodon-tists can place implants, elim-inate gum disease, andreduce pockets around theteeth to improve their lifespan.

Prosthodontia- one of theleast known specialties. A de-gree enables the prosthodon-tist to restore artificial teeth ineven the most difficult orhopeless mouth. Often usingimplants and removable den-tures together.

Oral Surgery-is thelongest post doctorate pro-gram of the dental specialtiesoften acquiring an MD title aswell. Oral surgeons treat can-cer and fractures of the jaw, aswell as extract teeth and place

implants. Some of their train-ing overlaps with that of ENTand plastic surgeons.

Cosmetic and TMJ "spe-cialists" are not actual special-ists, but rather generaldentists who have taken extraclasses, and have a special in-terest in that area.

Although specialists do notrequire a referral from a gen-eral dentist, as in medicine,the general dentist should bethe team leader when manyspecialists are necessary torehabilitate ones mouth ordentition.Not all specialist achieve re-sults better than skilled gen-eral dentists, but specialistoffer advanced expertise andare an integral part of thedental team available to thepatient.Dr. Virginia P. Humphrey, II

is a doctor of dental surgery(DDS). She maintains a dentaloffice at the RavenswoodShopping Center. You can getmore information about herfrom her ad which is directlybeside this article.

Lifecycles

East Palo Alto Today Page 12 August - September, 2010

By Elizabeth Vargas


Although it's achallenge to beunder pres-sure as a

journalist,these stu-dents de-cided to

learn whatit takes toface theconfronta-tion.

Deciding what to do overthe summer can be a difficultdecision because there is somuch to do.

For me, this summer Iwanted to focus on journalismand also have a job. OriginallyI had applied to another pro-gram for journalism but waswaitlisted and so my journal-ism teacher told me aboutEPA Journalism Institute.

The application for this

program had five questions,

with each question needing along response. Seeing the ap-plication gave me the gist ofthe program I was getting my-self into. It involved a lot ofwriting.

Joining this institute, Imet new friends each havingtheir own reason for joining.

"I want to improve mywriting skills," said DavaughnDillahunty, "and have a fun ex-perience learning somethingnew."

As reporters, we ex-plored different portions of thejournalism field. We did notsit in a desk and write all day;,instead, we went out and ex-ercised our journalist skills.

During the first two weekswe were located at the EastsideCollege Preparatory Schoolwhere we learned the basics ofjournalism with Ellen Austin and

Paul Kandell. They

had Elis-abeth Rubinfien as assis-

tance as well. In these classes we

learned news writing, featurewriting, the basics of photog-raphy and how to interview.

"I enjoy getting to askpeople a lot of questions," saidDaniela Gomez "and gettingto know someone who mayhave started as a completestranger."

One assignment that wedid was an observation exer-cise where we sat in a randomplace in the RavenswoodShopping Center and wrote-down our observations.

"I like how we did a littlebit of everything. They madesure we learned it all," said Ar-iana Barrón-Silva.

From writing news toworking with cameras, it wasa good experience to learn alot about journalism.

During week three, we

were relo-c a t e d

to Costano El-e m e n t a r y / 4 9 e r sAcademy to learn aboutmedia with RebeccaFisher.

In this media pro-gram, we were taughthow to host a live showby learning how to usecameras and how to di-rect.

Only spendingone week at themedia center, welearned a lot.We even pro-duced ourown little showin which wehosted and di-rected.

In this showsome students fo-cused on sportssuch as the world cup andalso a program named MAP.Other students focused onteen pregnancy and fashion.

"If I were to continue

working in journalism I wouldprobably work in the mediaportion of it," said MelissaGonzalez.

As for the last weeks ofthis summer program, eachstudent went his or her sepa-rate ways by going into an in-ternship in either EPA Today,EPA.net or in the Media Cen-ter.

As these students ex-plore the life of being a jour-nalist some have consideredtaking journalism in high

school and also in col-lege, but this summerwe all learned some-thing new and defi-nitely experienced thedifficulties of being areal journalist.

Elizabeth Var-

gas is a student at theEastside CollegePreparatory School in

East Palo Alto. Shehad an internship this pastsummer at the East Palo AltoToday newspaper.

As someone who is also onThe Panther staff at EastsideCollege Preparatory Highschool, junior, Daniela Gomezjoined the Summer Journal-ism Institute to do better in herschool newspaper.

"I enjoy getting to ask peo-ple a lot of questions," saidDaniela, "and getting to knowsomeone who may have startedas a complete stranger."

Daniela said she wants tocontinue journalism through-out high school. But shewould also like to get moreexperience in the media.

Besides journalism, Danielaenjoys boxing. After highschool Daniela hopes to go tocollege although she may notknow what majors and minorsare, she hopes to pursue thatdream.

Getting and putting new skills to work

By Elizabeth Vargas


Since the very beginning ofthe program, 17-year oldMelissa Gonzalez, enjoysjournalism particularly videoediting.

As a senior in Notre DameHigh school, Melissa plans to gothrough the hard work of filling in

college applications and alsogoing to college.

For her last year in highschool, she plans to continueworking in the journalism fieldbut she will focus toward themedia portion of it.

Aside from journalism,Melissa said that she enjoysphotography, reading, writingshorts stories and "doingcommunity service whenever possible."

Melissa Gonzalez

Daniela Gomez

Profiles: Summer Journalism Institute interns and staff

Christina Aguilar is a soph-omore at Eastside CollegePreparatory School. Havingan interest in journalism, shedecided to join the summerjournalism program becauseof her eagerness to learnmore in this field.

"I loved meeting new peo-ple. Being able to be on TVhelps my stage fright," saidChristina.

Christina wants to continuejournalism during high schoolby working on The Panther,the school newspaper atEastside College Prep.

After high school, Christinawould like to attend UCLA andbe a reporter.

Aside from journalism,Christina enjoys listening tomusic, especially Mexican

Christina Aguilar

Being new to journalism,

15-year old Alán Lamarque, a

sophomore at Palo Alto high,

joined the East Palo Alto jour-

nalism institute to help keep

the world informed about

what's going on around them.

"I like to write and askquestions in order to informpeople of what's going on intheir communities." said Alán"I like writing about health is-sues and I get to work inde-pendently"

Alán plans on continuingjournalism throughout highschool and he also plans togo on to college and write forthe college’s newspaper.

Besides journalism Alánenjoys playing basketballand watching soccer.

Alán Lamarque

Being a part of The Pantherat Eastside College Prepara-tory school 16-year-old Kim-berly Ibanez wanted to dosomething new this summer.

"I thought it would make senseto do something productive andworthwhile during the summer,"said Kimberly.

During high school, Kim-berly plans to continue beinga part of The Panther as thesports editor. After highschool, "I absolutely plan onattending a four year collegeto continue my education,"she said.

Aside from journalismKimberly said she has " apassion for fashion," fromshirts to shoes and acces-sories.

Kimberley Ibanez

Editor’s note: East Palo Alto Today had the opportunity to host three interns this summer: DaVaughn Dillahunty, Elizabeth Vargas and Ariana Barrón-Silva.The three student interns were a part of the 2010 Summer Journalism Institute, a collaborative effort that involved a partnership between EPA.net, EPA Todayand the Midpeninsula Community Media Center. The institute was funded by financial and in-kind contributions from the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund, theYellow Chair Foundation, the Dow Jones News Fund, the Silicon Valley Education Foundation and Eastside College Preparatory School.

The articles on pages 12 through 16 of this issue show some of the articles Dillahunty, Vargas and Barrón-Silva completed during their internship with EPAToday. The interns researched and wrote the articles, took the pictures to accompany their articles, contributed the graphics and suggested and worked on pagelayouts. Daniela Gomez, who interned in the media program held at the Media Center submitted an article about the awards luncheon given in honor of EastPalo Alto grandparents who raised their grandchildren. You can read her article on page 3 of this issue. Look for more articles that the interns wrote during theirinternship in the next edition of EPA Today.

continued on page 13

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By Ariana Barrón-Silva

East Palo Alto Today Intern

Robbery, burglary, lar-ceny, and motor vehicle theftis never a good experience;however, there are simpleways that these incidents canbe prevented.

With burglary rates goingup by 11% in East Palo Alto, itis never a bad idea to protectyour home. There are smalleasy ways to protect yourhome, for example not hidingyour keys. Burglars will look inthe usual hiding places likeunder the place mat or overthe windowsill.

Keeping plants tamedalso help, because if shrubsare covering window they canhide. Make sure windows arecovered with blinds. This pre-vents people from looking intothe room. Keep valuables outof sight if there are not anyblinds or curtains.

Having anti-lift protectionon the sashes of sliding win-dows helps from having intrud-ers in your household. Keeptools and barbeque utensils intheir proper areas, becausethey can be used to robbersbreak into your home.

Having motion sensored

lighting and photoelectric de-vice in entryways is always agood idea. Not being able tohide always make thievesthink twice before trying tobreak in.

House alarms are also away to protect your home. Ifsomeone is trying to get in, thealarm will go off and thepolice will be contacted.However, there is always thepossibility of actually havingsomeone breaking in. If thishappens, have your valuablesengraved with your name oreven with your drivers li-cense number, and re-member to make areport to the police.

Motor Vehicle Theft

Motor vehi-cle theft is alsoon the rise.Simple things canalso be done toprevent your car from beingstolen, for example not keep-ing any valuables in the car orany personal identification likecredit cards.

If the there are any valu-ables in the car, make surethat they are all out of sight.Keep all windows closed, be-cause then the person cannot

use any tools to get into yourcar. Make sure that the pinlocks are tapered type pinswithout a shoulder.

An inside hood release isalso a good

i d e a .T h i s

feature can beapplied if you

have an oldercar with an aftermarket kit. Park invisible areas and

d o n ’ tl eavet h ecar in

u n a t -tended areas.

If possiblemake the wheelsturn towards the

curb, that way itmakes tow-

ing the cara lot

more difficult. Keeping the carin the garage is always a goodidea.

However if your car isstolen, make sure that youhave your insurance card andlicense with you instead of inthe car, and, of course, reportthe crime.

Preventing yourself from

being robbed is a lot simplerthen dealing with a robberyafter it happens.

Three basic things

There are three basicthings that can be done to pro-tect yourself.

One, do not get dis-tracted. Watch out for who’s inback and in front of you. If forsome reason you do not feelsafe going by yourself to a lo-cation, ask someone else togo with you.

Two, making sure you donot look scared or uncomfort-able is also helpful. Makingquick eye contact with thepeople around you is a goodway to show this.

Three trust your instincts.If you do not feel safe, it’sprobably because you are not.The best thing to do when youare in an uncomfortable situa-tion is to just leave, as soon aspossible.

However, if somethingdoes happen make sure thatyou stay calm and make sureyou get a good description ofthe person. If the thief justwants your purse or wallet,give it to them. You do notwant to turn the situation into

a violent one.

No to neighborhood crime

There are many things thatyou, as a community membercan do to prevent crime frombeing committed in your com-munity.

You can take part in yourlocal neighborhood associa-tion with other people in yourcommunity. Keeping parksand socializing areas clean forteens can also discouragethem from taking part in nega-tive activities. If someoneworks at night, offer to escortthem to their job. If you wit-ness a crime, call the policeand stay with the victim untilhelp arrives.

For more information, goto Palo Alto Police DepartmentWebsite:

h t t p : / / w w w . c i t y o f -paloalto.org/depts/pol/crime_prevention.asp

You can also go to EastPalo Alto Police Departmentfor statistics on East Palo Altocrime:

http://www.ci.east-palo-alto.ca.us/police/pdf/Crime_Stat_May_2010.pdf (statistics)

Crime Prevention tools and t ips1-2. . . I ’m coming for you. .3-4 lock your door

P r o f i l e s : S u m m e r

J o u r n a l i s m I n s t i t u t ec o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 1 2

Photos by

Ellen Autsin

and

Paul Kandell

Having no experience in journalism, 15 year oldPalo Alto High School sophomore, DaVaughn Dillahunty,wanted to try something new this summer by being a partof the Journalism Insti-tute.

"I want to improvemy writing skills," saidDavaughn, "and have afun experience learningsomething new."

DaVaughn has en-joyed the media portionof this program becauseshe enjoys taking photosand working with cameras.

Throughout high school she plans to continue beinga part of journalism and, after high school, she hopes togo to college and, perhaps, do something in law or jour-nalism.

DaVaughn Dillahunty

Being a part of The Panther and beinga sophomore at Eastside College Prepara-tory School, 15 year old Ariana Barrón-Silva joined the Journalism Institute toexpand her knowledge and learn moreabout journalism.

" I like how we did a little bit of every-thing, they made sure we learned it all,"said ArianaAriana en-

joys horse-back riding,sketching,Facebook -i n g a n d"super gluingmy fingerst o g e t h e r, "said Ariana.

Throughout high school, she plans tocontinue working on The Panther as theentertainment editor and, after high school,she hopes to go to college and take thechallenge of being apart of the collegepaper.

Ariana Barrón-Silva

Elizabeth Vargas is one of those girls who loves totake photos and hang out with her family and friends.

However there isanother side to this twin.She is a journalist at theEastside Panther and hasbeen for the past twoyears.

She has a passion forjournalism. She said"more people need to getinto" journalism.

She feels journalism isvery creative. She alsolikes it because there are a lot of photos. She loves tak-ing photos and will be the photo editor this year at theEastside Panther.

She decided to join the Summer Journalism Institutebecause she wanted to strengthen her skills and bringsome new skills to The Eastside Panther.

Elizabeth Vargas

In the pictures above, the summer journalism interns practice their interviewing skills. In the first pic-ture, from left, Elizabeth Vargas, and DaVaughn Dillahunty. In the second picture,Christina Aguilaris interviewed, possibly by Elizabeth Vargas. In the third picture, from left DaVaughn Dillahunty,Christina Aguilar and Daniela Gomez.

This photo shows seven of the Summer Journalism Institute internsat Eastside Preparatory School where they were taught journalismskills prior to starting their internships. From left, Ariana Barrón-Silva,Kimberley Ibañez, Elizabeth Vargas, Alán Lamarque, Melissa Gonza-lez, DaVaughn Dillahunty, Christina Aguilar

East Palo Alto Today Page 14 May - June, 2010

You have been talking for awhile with someone on thephone but you have never ac-tually met the other person.You have been talking a lot butyou don't know if you shouldtake the next step, of actuallymeeting them or what youshould do with them. So whatdo you do?

You end up finding the gutsto meet the person, but youhave to drag one of yourfriends along. Alone, you maystart acting in a certain way inpublic that may not be flatter-ing for the people around you.

So what do you do whenyou are ready to make every-thing official, but also whatshould you not do?

"Why hasn't he texted meyet?"

"Why hasn't she called me?"

"I can't meet them, what ifhe/she doesn't like me?"

Texting, calling, or talking inperson are all under the cate-gory of communication.

Well, first of all it depends onthe person with whom you arecommunicating, but in thiscase what do you care if it'syour boyfriend/girlfriend?

Texting, a hot new way tocommunicate with others, isdefinitely fun, and it is excitingto receive a message from acertain someone.

"OMG! He texted me!" isprobably one reaction somepeople give when they receivea text from a significant other.But, what if days later youdon't get texted back? Shouldyou move on?

Well, then first of all don't acttoo excited about a text andactually be cool about it. Ifhe/she doesn't text you backfor a long time just forgetabout it and if you want you

can text them but only the firsttime. If they don't text backthen move on.

When one is getting to knowa new "friend" the first time itsokay to start out texting. Allyou are doing is having smalltalk with them that can maybelater lead to something moreinteresting.

But when a person is tex-ting for along timeand actuallyhaving longconversa-tions, it's notgood com-municationi f you havenot actuallymet yet.

Well, Iguess it isokay to havea long con-versa t ionsometimes,but it doesn'thurt to trysometh ingnew like, maybe, calling or set-ting up a date.

If you only text, how are youso sure, you're texting the rightperson? What if the man orwomen behind the phone isnot the person you are pictur-ing in your head?

On the phone, you can de-tect those small mistakes thatare usually fixed through text.

These mistakes may be a lie,maybe not, but it's good to

know what kind of game theyare playing.

Talking on the phone cansometimes get "juicy" or inother words interesting. Youcan actually hear their "Lol"and their "Lmao". You canhear if they actually do laugh.

Now although it may beharder and a bit more uncom-fortable, meeting in person

may be the most suggestedidea if you are talking to a sig-nificant other for a long time.

"What if he doesn't like me?"Well if he doesn't like you, hedoesn't like you. At least, nowyou know. But, I mean let's notbe negative, he/she wouldmost likely like you becausewhy would they spend somuch time texting you?

When you have finally de-cided to meet the other per-

son, do not bring another per-son because that will onlymake the situation a lot moreawkward and someone willend up being excluded.

I'm sure you have all heardabout or have been a thirdwheel, not the best situation tobe in at all.

First, your friend begs you togo with her because she is notallowed to have a boyfriendand needs you for a cover up.So, you decide to go with yourfriend. Unfortunately, you endup being excluded, becauseyour friend ends up only talk-ing to her boyfriend the wholetime.

While they have fun, youhave to stand at the sidelineswatching them have fun. Ithappens to the best of us.

There is a different situationiin being a third wheel. Yourfriend could have invited youalong with your boyfriend, andthe boyfriend is excluded, butfor the most part it's the friendwho is excluded.

In all reality, they could justtell you to invite someone elseyou know so it's not that awk-ward. But since it's your friend,you just do it for them and tryto have a fun time.

However, either way thesituation is awkward. It doesnot matter if you are the friendor the boyfriend, the situationis just awkward.

But if you decide to go alone,

The do’s and don’t’s about relationships

By The Advice Squad


Photo courtesy of Ariana Barrón-SilvaTwo people holding hands with a heart in themiddle.

By Ariana Barrón-Silva


I knew a young womanwho got very little sleep. Eventhough the clock read midnighton almost every school night,she did not go to go to sleepbecause of Facebook, latenight conversations, a late TVshow, or she was just not donewith her homework. She con-tinued to stay up until her eye-lids could not stay open and,by then, the hands on theclock would always be onthree in the morning. Threeand a half hours of sleep, thatwas all she got because sheneeded to be up by 6:30 a.m.

When the time came forher to get up, she would con-tinue to sleep even after thealarm clock sounded. By thetime she did get up she onlyhad a short period of time tohop into the shower and gether things ready.

As soon as she gotdressed, she rushed to herbedroom to stuff in text booksand loose pieces of paper intoher backpack. One day, sheleft her math homework laying

on the hardwood floor as sherushed to the door. She evenleft for school without eatingbreakfast, because she wastrying to make it to school ontime.

I was that young woman-- the high school student whostayed up way too late andwoke up way too late onschool mornings. My fresh-man year was pretty tiring. Butnow that I look back at myfreshman year at Eastside, Ireally do believe that I wouldhave had a better time learn-ing and I would not haverushed in the mornings, if Icould have just had more con-

trol over my nighttime distrac-tions.

While I was doing myhomework some nights, I waswatching the television pro-gram The Office . Because Iwas doing this, it would takeme a lot longer than it shouldhave to actually do my home-work. A 30-minute homeworkassignment would turn into atwo-hour homework assign-ment, because I would only domy homework during commer-cials.

There were even timeswhen I would drop the page,while I was watching TV and Iwould no longer work on theassignment, because it wason the floor. By the time Iwould continue to do my work,it would be way past my bedtime.

Every morning I wouldrush to get ready and wouldeventually forget something.Those days were always theworst. I would get up late. Put onthe first thing I saw in my closetand rush to the bathroom to brushmy teeth. My hair would not bedone. It would just be put up in amessy pony tail and I would grab

a yogurt on my way out the door.I walked to

school with myolder brother andthere were timeswhen I would haveto run back home be-cause I forgot myhomework. Some-times, I would evenask my brother if Icould borrow his textbook because I for-got mine at home.

Great! SoWhen I got toclass, I was un-prepared and Icould not stopyawning. Whata great way tostart the day. I couldnot concentrate insome of myclasses. I was tootired. I wouldhave to forcemyself to stayawake or Iwould just drink an energydrink to stay up.

I became caffeine ad-dicted. I thought that my tired-

ness was fixed with coffee. Ifelt that I could stay up as longas I wanted and, in the morn-ing, I would be fine as long as

I had caffeine inthe morning.

I finallyrealized that Ireally had tofind a new

way to controlmy sleepingh a b i t s ,staying up

late andh a v i n genergyd r i n k s

in them o r n i n gwas just notworking forme. Mym a t ht e a c h e reven told

me that I had tostop drinkingcaffeine, because I could notcontrol the level of sugar.

Night, night don’t let the bed bugs bite


Ariana Barrón-Silva


August 31, 1993. "Congrat-ulations, you just had twins."

Yes. I am a twin, an identicaltwin. I always wonder if mytwin and I look alike. I don'tthink we do, because we areso different in many ways:such as in our personality, ourlikes and our tastes. In fact,we are unlike in many thingsand in practically everything.

Being a twin is not differentfrom being just a regular kid.It's just like having a bestfriend for life. People alwaysseem to ask how does it feel.Well, having a twin feels coolbecause, you have someonethat looks like you. It's kind ofamazing. You can communi-cate with them in your headand know exactly what theyare feeling, like when my sis-ter hits her hand I feel it. I'mJUST KIDDING. It would becool if we had that capability.

Well, my twin and I do havesome advantages. For exam-ple, when you have no one tohang around with, you haveyour twin and, when you want

to play a practical joke onsomeone, you have your twin.On the first day of school,when you start out having nofriends and not knowing any-one, you have your twin.When you're in trouble andneed help to get out of it, youhave your twin. The point isyou're never alone.

My twin sister and I getalong pretty well, most of thetime.

We get into fights here andthere but its nothing we can'tfix. But we do fight a lot over

everything from chores toshopping. When it comes toclothes, I don't like getting thesame thing, probably becauseI like to be known as an indi-vidual and not just as a twin. Idon't like to be compared tomy sister.

When we argue, we knowthat it would never ever beabout some boy. Our smallmotto is, “Whoever claims himfirst can date him.” We defi-nitely don't date the same guy.It's just not right.

It's funny how people can'ttell us apart, not even mymom. People say "hmm...you're.Wendy!" and I'm like… "No." It'slike a guessing game. I don'tmind at all when people get itwrong, but then they start tolist the differences betweenus, which sometimes getsawkward.

I can never be apart frommy twin. It just doesn't feelright. It's probably because weare literally with each othereveryday and we have beenso use to it. We just needsuper glue and then we will lit-erally be attached. So, when itcomes to the day when we

have to be a part because ofcollege, for example, then itwill be hard, but we will getuse to a whole new life style,hopefully.

Now I am 16 and we livepretty well as twins. We don'tdress the same, but we suredo act the same, and we trynot to get into too much trou-ble. Overall it's great to havea twin.

"Which twin are you? Wait Iwant to guess."

That's what I hear on a typi-cal day when my twin sisterand I are caught walking to-gether. Being a twin can bequite difficult and has its downside.

One is, until people find away to identify us I have to in-troduce myself to them every-day which can be prettyannoying especially when Icorrect my parents. Two, not only do we look the

same we sound the same aswell and people cannot tell usapart on the phone so we tryto avoid three way calls.

And three, we are alwayscompared and I know howmuch my sister and I hate that.

Furthermore being a twin al-ways has its up sides too.

One, we are the same age andits like having your friend overevery day and night and we canalways give each other advice.

Two, we can be sneaky andcompletely pretend to be oneanother, even though we havenever attempted to do so. And

three, we have the same DNA,which is extremely brilliant.

Of course there is way morepositives things about being atwin than the negatives be-cause being a twin is amazingknowing that I was and neverwill be alone.

Elizabeth and Wendy Var-

gas are Juniors at EastsideCollege Prep.

Night, night continued from page 14

East Palo Alto Today Page 15 May - June, 2010

There were times when I wouldseem to go “insane,” laugh uncon-trollably and just not stop talking. Iknew she was right, I could notcontrol it, but it was the caffeinethat got me to stay focused andget all of my work done during theweek.

But I knew that the waythat I was handling the stay uplate situation was just not agood idea. I had to learn to take

control of what I was doing. Ihad to tell myself that I neededto calm down and do myhomework first. I needed to domy homework with out watch-ing TV. I had to learn to finallycut a conversation with some-one and go to sleep instead ofstaying up to talk. I had tolearn that there is a time whenI have to log off Facebook andgo to sleep. So, now I do the

things that I need to do first. Ilearned some important les-sons from my own personalexperiences.

Ariana Barrón-Silva is a

sophomore at Eastside Preparatory

School. She participated in the

Summer Journalism Institute this

summer and served as an intern

at East Palo Alto Today

be careful. Also be care-ful on how you act inpublic with the significantother when you are com-fortable being with himalone.

If you are sitting onsomeone’s lap at JambaJuice, you should get aroom and learn to showyour affection to yoursignificant other in ap-propriate ways when inpublic.

Remember you are ina public place with peo-ple, and you are not theonly one in the room. Ifyou are at Jamba Juiceand sticking your tonguedown someone's throat,think twice because youwouldn't want your par-ents seeing you do thatand the people arounddon't either.

There is time to pres-ent yourself in a civilizedmanner and a time whenyou can touch the other

person all you want aslong as you are not inpublic.

Just because you arein a relationship doesnot mean that you haveto show the whole world.There are other ways toshow your affection inpublic. You can holdhands, a way that youcan tell the whole worldyou are in a relationshipwith out making themgag. A hug is also fine,they are friendly andthey keep you warm.Pecks are also okay aslong as they are onlypecks and not a makeout session.

These are also thingsthat you can do aroundyour friends and family.Instead of making out infront your friends, holdtheir hand.

When you do thingslike this, the peoplearound you do not feel

awkward and you canstill keep your dignity.

Remember you’re rep-resenting yourself andyou do not want to giveyourself a bad image.The actions that youtake will have an impacton how people look atyou. So, next time thatyou are on someone'slap at Jamba Juice, thinktwice.

You can send in thequestions that you wouldlike to have the AdviceSquad discuss.

Send your questions [email protected]

[Editor’s note: The an-swers that the AdviceSquad gives comesolely from the AdviceSquad.

They do not necessar-ily reflect the views ofthe East Palo Alto Todayboard or staff.].

Advice squad continued from page 14

Photo courtesy of Ariana Barrón-SilvaDaVaughn Dillahunty falls asleep while doing homework.

We know how much it’s a twin thing!By Elizabeth and Wendy

Vargas


From left, Elizabeth Vargas,Mariela Peña, Imelda Ro-driguez, and Wendy Vargas

The Vargas twins Elizabeth and Wendy


East Palo Alto’s graduates excelBy DaVaughn Dillahunty


Running is healing

Eighteen year old CapricePowell recently graduated fromMenlo Atherton High School andthis fall will start as a freshman atSacramento State. She startedtrack at the age of ten, after Al Ju-lian discovered her talent atCostaño Elementary when play-ing softball. Powell trained andcoach Julian pushed her. Powellthen went to state championshipsin Philadelphia two times. The firsttime she placed fourth and thesecond time she placed second.

After that Powell continuedwith track in high school. She wasnumber one out of about twentygirls on Girls Varsity. Unfortunately,she could not run her junior yearbecause she tore her ACL thesummer before playing basketball.Even though Powell said, “It wasbad, it was so bad” that she could-n’t even go on the track to help

others out. But Powell felt there was

something positive out of suchmisfortune. It was also a time forher to find herself as a person andbecome closer to God. Since trackis the only sport in which she par-ticipates Powell focuses a lot oftime on track, which is somethingshe loves.

This summer Powell startedtraining with coach Victor Hudsonat Stanford University. She hopesto reach her goal of running atleast 11.5 seconds in the100meter, which she currently runs at12.2 seconds. Powell wants to

make sure she’s running fastenough to qualify as a college ath-lete. She said “I want to be on col-lege level”.

Powell’s favorite event is thefour by one where she and herteammates past the baton, shehas the ability to interact with herteammates and that’s what sheenjoys doing.

Her least favorite event is the200 mete.. “It’s a race that requiresa lot of thinking,” said Powell. Shehas to think about what to do andprocess her thoughts before shetakes action.

Track has “always allowedme to free myself” and “release allthe unhealthy thinking” she said.

The appeal of a military career

Most people who decide toserve our country choose differentbranches of the military such asthe Marines, the Air Force, theNavy and the Army. But there areother options.

Caprice Powell

East Palo Alto residentMarshawn Garner chose an-other option, the NationalGuard. Garner said that theNational Guard does a “widerange of things.”

You might wonder whatGarner means when he saysa wide range of things. Mem-bers of the National Guard areassigned to multiple tasks.Garner describes the NationalGuard as a “more protectivefield,” since members of theNational Guard can be used in

case of natural disasters, such ashurricanes and earthquakes. Theydefend the country from invadersand sometimes they are evensent overseas to engage in com-bat.

Garner graduated fromRedwood High School in 2008and he currently attends Ala-bama State University study-ing criminal justice. He willsoon learn how to speakSpanish.

He will be based in Birm-ingham, Alabama for fivemonths. After he graduatesfrom Alabama State Univer-sity, he will be ranked as asecond lieutenant in the Na-tional Guard. This is some-thing that is one of his majorgoals.

DaVaughn Dillahunty

served as an intern at EastPalo Alto Today in the summerjournalism program.

Supporting the EPA Police Explorer Program

By DaVaughn Dillahunty


A website on exploringdefines exploring as a “Learn-ing for Life’s career educationprogram for young men andwomen who are 14 (and havecompleted the eighth grade)or 15 to 20 years old.

The Explorer program inEast Palo Alto has beenaround for nearly twentyyears, and it has been a suc-cess.

“We wanted to introducekids to law enforcement,” saidSergeant Norris of the EastPalo Alto Police Department.

For some, this was theexact reason that the explorerprogram in East Palo Alto was

started. Also with this programit helps keep youth out of trou-ble and gives them a morepositive outlook on the police.

One East Palo Alto resi-dent who joined the explorerprogram two years ago has re-ally enjoyed her experience.

Marisol Moreno is nine-

teen years old and currentlyattends Heald College, butplans on transferring in abouta year and a half.

The death of her step-brother encouraged Moreno tojoin the East Palo Alto Explor-ers. She said that she sawhow the police gave her familya helping hand when this hap-pened. Since then she hashad an interest in the law.

Moreno said now thatshe has been an explorer andhas been working at the frontdesk at the police department,it has made her “more organ-ized and time efficient.”

Moreno has plans to con-tinue working in law enforce-ment as a police officer.

DaVaughn Dillahunty

Marshawn Garner

If you have been discriminated

against in your housing situation,

visit Project Sentinel,

a non-profit agency

(888) F-A-I-R-H-O-U-S-I-N-G, (888)324-7468

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DE VIVIENDA

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tive 90 year-old man. Virginiamumbles something to

herself in Spanish as he walkson, "It's hard to tell whetherhe's ignoring me or whetherhe really hasn't heard mesometimes," she says.

This place is what Vir-ginia calls Don Ignacio's "ob-session": his garden and all itscontents. Almost an acre insize, and enjoying direct sun-light for most of the day, theplot is bigger even than thefoundation of his house. Everyinch of space is hosting somekind of living organism, withmini rows of rich soil land-scaped throughout and birdsand bees circling above. Thetomatoes are over by the en-trance, just a few feet awayfrom the chicken coop; theywere planted a few days agoso the seedlings haven'tpeeked through the surfacejust yet.

Then there are the chiles,about three inches tall, too lit-tle still to give fruit. Furtherback are the only few shadetrees in his lot: eight year-oldavocado, chayote and nísperotrees -- all of them fruit speciesthat can be found in SanNicolás de Ibarra, in Jalisco,Mexico, where Don Ignacioand his family once lived.

Over on the left above hiscorn, Don Ignacio has hungsome of his grandkids' oldstuffed animals from a laundry

line. A raggedy rabbit, a lizardand a cow are equidistantfrom one another. "They're myscarecrows," he says, with achuckle. "And they reallywork."

He's also growing beets,turnips, cucumbers, pump-kins, and yellow and greenonions that give off a pungentsmell, even as they're still un-derneath the soil. His mostprolific plants in the whole gar-den, he says, are his frijoles --his black beans. With straightstalks that shoot up from theground and little bunches ofwhite flowers, these frijolplants are taller even than DonIgnacio. When harvest time ar-rives, Virginia and her sonFidel will help the elderly man.

"Last week I was off forSpring Break, and I helped mygrandfather harvest someturnips, corn and fava beans,"says Fidel, a 15 year-old withbig curly hair and the begin-nings of a mustache. Fidelsays Don Ignacio was happy

for the help then, but that usu-ally his grandpa prefers towork in the garden all by him-self. "When he comes home fromthe senior center each day, hecomes back here and disappearsbehind his plants until it's dark andmy mom asks me to bring himback indoors."

Back in Jalisco, DonIgnacio farmed in an area thatwas almost 25 acres in size,and shipped the produce tothe largest nearby city,Guadalajara. He grew chiles,beans, corn, chícharos, straw-berries, peanuts, watermelon,and more. He misses growingfood in Mexico, he says, be-cause there he had access tomore land and people whohelped him around the clock.He would go back if he could.

But now, Don Ignacio hassettled for an alternative plan:When the family can come upwith the money, he'd like torent or buy the two empty lotson either side of his house."They're sitting there empty

and full of weeds," he says,shaking his head.

Almost all of the vegeta-bles, fruits and herbs he growsare consumed by his eightchildren and his grandchil-dren. He does sometimes sellhis produce, though, to thesenior center -- tomorrowthey've said they'll buy hisonions for 50 cents a bunch.Underneath the níspero treehe's piled up a dozen bunchesof these red and white onionstied together by a single greenstalk, each one of them glossyexcept for the occasional bugmark.

"They don't look big andperfect like they do at the mar-ket," he says as he lifts newones from the ground. "All ofthe things I grow here aresmaller and at risk of beingeaten by the bugs, but I al-ways know they'll be good forus."

Like other adults in hisfamily, Don Ignacio has highblood pressure and diabetes.When he was first diagnosed15 years ago, his doctor wasamazed by his ability to keephis sugar levels down withoutany insulin, so he suggestedthat Don Ignacio speak to re-searchers at Stanford Univer-sity about his condition. Thedoctors have been monitoringhis health and diet for years,including his daily portions ofblack beans, and his use of

various beet and collardgreens for teas.

At 90 years of age, DonIgnacio moves slowly and withthe help of a cane. He refusesto get a hearing aid. He does-n't like to sit down and rest.And while he enjoys the com-pany of other folks his age atthe senior center -- "He playschess and dominoes and so-cializes there all morning," Vir-ginia says -- Don Ignaciowould much rather be in hisgarden. There's always some-thing to keep him occupiedthere: If he doesn't have toplant some seeds, then he hasto harvest. Nothing in his gar-den will ever go to waste; noteven the stalks and greens."Every day I drink a bitter teamade from the beet and turnipgreens," he says while heholds a bunch in his hand,headed for the chicken coop.The birds start to congregateall around him, picking at thefresh greens he's thrown onthe ground. "I've found thatwhat's good for me, is alsogood for my chickens."

******************* The above article is the first

in a three to four part series writ-ten by Ruxandra Guidi for Col-lective Roots, with funding fromthe Silicon Valley CommunityFoundation and Tides Founda-tion, to cultivate community inter-

Por Ruxandra Guidi


Temprano en un Lunespor la tarde, Don IgnacioLópez regresa a su casa de-spués de estar toda lamañana en el centro para per-sonas de la tercera edad queestá a cuatro cuadras de sucasa. Como es su costumbre,Don Ignacio ha vuelto justocuando el sol brilla directa-mente por encima de sucabeza, encegueciéndolo. Elviste un sombrero azul de alaancha; tipo fedora y vaquero ala misma vez, que le protejelos ojos y la cara. Las mangasde su camisa blanca estánsubidas, y sus pantalones sonal parecer demasiado grandespara él. Don Ignacio los haamarrado con una cuerdalarga alrededor de su cintura.

"Papá!" grita su hija Vir-ginia, apenas lo ve. "Te vaspara la parte de atrás?" Sindar ninguna respuesta, DonIgnacio se mueve lentamentey la pasa de largo; pasa delargo a la casa y a los autosestacionados, hasta que pisasobre la tierra de su jardín.Don Ignacio está perdiendo elsentido del oído, pero en gen-eral, es un hombre de 90 años

activo y en buena salud.Cuando él la pasa, Virginiamurmura en voz baja, "Mecuesta saber si él me está ig-norando o si realmente no mepuede escuchar.”

Éste lugar es lo que Vir-ginia llama la “obsesión” deDon Ignacio: su jardín y todosu contenido. De casi un acreen tamaño, y disfrutando demucho sol durante el día, ésteterreno es aún más grande delo que ocupa la casa. Cadapulgada de espacio está re-pleta de vida, con filas detierra fértil por debajo y pá-jaros y abejas dándolesvueltas arriba. Los tomatesestán por la entrada, a unospasos del nido de las gallinas;las plantas de tomate fuerontransferidas al jardín hacepocos días, así que el almá-cigo es apenas visible. Luegoles siguen los chiles de ape-nas tres pulgadas de altura;muy pequeños todavía paradar fruta. Más atrás están lasúnicas plantas que dan som-bra: árboles de aguacate,chayote y níspero de ochoaños de edad -- típicos de SanNicolás de Ibarra, en Jalisco,México, de donde vienen DonIgnacio y su familia.

A la izquierda, por

encima de sus elotes, DonIgnacio ha colgado algunos delos peluches viejos de sus ni-etos. Un conejo dañado por lalluvia y el sol, un lagarto y unoso que cuelgan de diferentescuerdas. “Ésos son mis es-pantapájaros,” dice el, con unasonrisa. “Y realmente funcio-nan.”

Don Ignacio tambiénsiembra betabel, nabo,pepino, calabaza y cebollasblancas y verdes que emitenun fuerte olor, a pesar deseguir bajo tierra. Las plantas

más prolíficas de su jardín sonsus frijoles. Con troncos rectosy largos que están cubiertospor pequeñas flores blancas,éstas plantas de frijoles sonaún más altas que el mismoDon Ignacio. Cuando llegue latemporada de cosecha, Vir-ginia y su hijo, Fidel, lo ayu-darán a recoger los frutosmenos accesibles.

"La semana pasada es-tuve libre por mi vacación deprimavera, y le ayudé a miabuelo a cosechar nabo, elotey frijoles de fava,” dice Fidel,un jóven de 15 años con ca-bello rizado y los comienzosde un bigote. Fidel dice queDon Ignacio parecía agrade-cido de recibir la ayuda, peroque generalmente, su abueloprefiere trabajar en el jardíncompletamente sólo. “Cuandoel llega a casa después delcentro para personas de ter-cera edad, el se desaparecedetrás de sus plantas hastaque oscurece y hasta que mimamá me pide que lo busquey lo traiga para la cena.”

En Jalisco, Don Ignaciosembraba en un terreno decasi 25 acres, y mandaba sucosecha a la ciudad más cer-cana, Guadalajara. Entre otrascosas, el sembraba chiles, fri-

joles, elotes, chícharos, fre-sas, cacahuates y sandías. Eldice que extraña su vida enMéxico porque ahí tenía ac-ceso a terrenos más grandesy a gente que le podía ayudara cualquier hora del día. Sipudiera, el regresaría. Peropor el momento, Don Ignacioha escogido un plan alterna-tivo: Cuando su familia con-siga el dinero, el dice quequisiera alquilar o comprar losdos terrenos vacíos que seencuentran a ambos lados desu casa. “Están ahí vacíos yllenos de malezas,” se queja,moviendo su cabeza.

Casi todos los vegetales,frutas y hierbas que cosechason para el consumo de susocho hijos y de sus nietos. Aveces Don Ignacio vende lacosecha al centro para per-sonas de la tercera edad -- re-cientemente le dijeron quecomprarán sus manojos decebollas por 50 centavos cadauno. Justo debajo del árbol deníspero, el ha acumulado do-cenas de éstos manojos de cebol-las rojas y blancas, cada una deellas brillosas a excepción de unaspocas que parecen haber sidomordidas por gusanos. "No son

continua en pagina 18

Un acre es mas que suficiente

Photo courtesy of Collective RootsDon Ignacio displays some seeds from a chirimoya fruit.

Photo Courtesy of Collabora-tive Roots

Dr. John Chavez in his green-house, where among othertropical plants, he grows awide assortment of orchids.

One acre not enough continued from page 1


By Henrietta J. Burroughs


It was time for the showto start and it was ap-parent to those in the

front that the studio in whichthey were seated had at-tracted a standing room onlycrowd. There was much antic-ipation as the assembled audi-ence waited for the show tobegin.

They had come to seeAmerican Blues Man, a newlyfinished video about the careerof Kenny Neal, an award win-ning, seven-time Grammynominee blues musician.

Many in the crowd hadreceived the press releaseabout the event the week be-fore and had read in the re-lease that "American BluesMan” weaves together musicwith stories about Neal’snine siblings, his blues musi-cian father Raful Neal, theirfamily friends Slim Harpo,Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, andother blues greats, their family

tragedies, and Neal’s goals forthe future. The stories are bothhumorous and poignant. Andthere’s lots of music.”

The release had beentantalizing so, it was no sur-prise that the patience of somein the audience was growingthin, since it was pass the 7:30p.m. starting time.

The video’s editor TomDaniell (aka TD) entered thestudio and stood on the side ofthe room. Moments later, Nealstopped greeting people in thelobby and entered the studio.

When he took what was prob-ably the only seat left in theback of the room, it becameobvious that the show was fi-nally about to begin. Everyonehushed.

Karen Adams, the MediaCenter’s production managerand staff producer, addressedthe audience. She gave a fewremarks about the Media Cen-ter and acknowledged severalof the center’s producers.Then she called on KennyNeal, himself. Neal told thegroup that he had just over-come severe liver problemsand, as he faced the possibilityof dying, he decided to putsome of his performances ontape for posterity.

Once the video started,every word of the press re-lease rang true. The video ofNeal’s life is simply an amaz-ing piece of work from start tofinish and it became clear toeveryone in the room thatKenny Neal is a musical leg-end who has worked with mu-sical legends.

He is a giant among gi-ants and it is sometimes rarethat a viewer can get such anup close look at the evolutionof a musical genius and thetalented family that nurtured

and surrounded him.As the narrator of Ameri-

can Blues Man, Neal tells hisstory in his own words and hekeeps his viewers enthralledevery step of the way. Heshares how, as the oldest often children, growing up inBaton Rouge, Louisana, helearned music from his fatherand ended up having each ofhis nine siblings playing and/orsinging with him in his band.

He talks about how hetraveled through most ofAmerica, Europe and eightAfrican countries sharing themusic of his roots. During thetelling of his life’s story, whichis interspersed with his musicand excerpts from his concertsand gigs, he shows pictures ofthe many famous musicans heplayed with on his musicaljourney.

As amazing as the videois, how it came to be producedat the Media Center is anotherinteresting tale. Daniell, saidthat one day, while he was di-recting one of Neal’s studioproductions, he found himselflistening to another of Neal’s

stories, so he suggested toNeal that he produce a videoabout his life.

Thinking that he would di-rect a one-hour session withNeal, TD said that he was un-prepared to have that one ses-sion turn into multiple tapingsessions and 80 hours of rawvideo which had to be edited.

The video editing tookweeks and culminated in thepremiere showing which tookplace at the Media Center onJuly 25. The premiere wassponsored by the Media Cen-ter and the Peninsula Peaceand Justice Center.

There is no doubt that Amer-ican Blues Man is truly a “mustsee.” It is a fascinating storythat will replay in one’s mindand heart for a long time.

For his part, Neal performedat several concerts in Turkeythis past August. During thefirst week in September hewas on tour in Portland, OR.He plans to travel to Brazil andto Argentina before the end ofthis year.

Those interested in seeingboth musical history and musi-cal history in the making canwatch a video clip of AmericanBlues Man at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW_KxNlUkzc

To see the show times for thecomplete video at the MediaCenter go to:http://midpen-media.org/program/search.php?action=search&search-text=blues&Submit=Search

tan grandes como las que vendenen el mercado," dice, mientrasque recoje otras del piso. "Todo loque yo cosecho aquí es más pe-queño y en riesgo de ser comidopor los bichos, pero siempre séque lo que yo siembro es mássaludable para nosotros.”

Como el resto de los adultosen su familia, Don Ignacio sufre dealta presión sanguínea y de diá-betes. Cuando le dieron su diag-nosis hace 15 años, el doctorquedó impresionado por la habili-dad de Don Ignacio para man-tener bajo el nivel de sus azúcaressin la insulina, de manera que laUniversidad de Stanford lo incluyóen investigaciones sobre la diá-betes. Desde ése entonces, var-ios doctores han estadomonitoreando su salud y su dieta,así como observando el efecto de

porciones diarias de frijoles, y suuso de hojas de betabel y otrasverduras que el toma en forma deté.

A sus 90 años, Don Ignaciose mueve lentamente y con laayuda de un bastón. El se niega autilizar una ayuda para el oído. Nole gusta sentarse y descansar. Ymientras que el disfruta de la com-pañía de los demás en el centropara personas de la tercera edad-- "El juega ajedrez y dominóstoda la mañana," dice Virginia --Don Ignacio siempre prefiere estarsolo en su jardín. Ahí siempre hayalgo que lo mantiene ocupado: Sino tiene que plantar semillas, en-tonces tiene que cosecharlas. Noexiste nada que no sea utilizado;ni siquiera las ramas de los ár-boles o las hojas de sus verduras.“Cada día me tomo mi té amargo

Un acre continuado de la página 17

de hojas de beterraba y nabo,”dice Don Ignacio mientras quelleva un manojo parecido al nidode sus gallinas. Las aves se acer-can a él y empiezan a cacarear,picoteando las hojas que el acabade tirar a sus pies. “Me he dadocuenta que todo lo que es buenopara mí, es también bueno paramis gallinas.”

**************************El susodicho artículo es

primero en unas tres a cuatro se-ries de parte escritas por Ruxan-dra Guidi para Raíces Colectivas,con la financiación de la Fun-dación de Comunidad de Valle deSilicio y Fundación de Mareas,cultivar el interés de comunidad ala agricultura local. ”

This photo shows some of the supporters who attendedMayor David Woods campaign kickoff event at the FirehouseGrill and Brewery listening to the presentation he made.

Photo courtesy of TD DaniellKenny Neal and his wife Josi are shown in one of the scenesfrom American Blues Man.

Photo courtesy of TD DaniellA scene from the video American Blues Man, which showsKenny Neal viewing one of the performances of his fatherRaful.

Photo courtesy of TD DaniellKenny Neal played with someof the great blues musicians,like Big Mama Thornton, whois shown here during a per-formance.

Photo by Henrietta J. BurroughsKenny Neal takes the mic andintroduces his biographicalvideo American Blues Man.

The Arts:American Blues Man is a touching and memorable show

launch his campaign afterLabor Day.

Doug Fort, who ran un-successfully for a seat on thecouncil in the 2008 electionsaid that he is running for theEast Palo Alto City Council “toprotect the essence and cul-ture of the city that raised meto be the man I am today! Ialso want to hold fast to ourcities founder’s idea and vision

for East Palo Alto. This ideaand vision was to have a citydevelopment... operate by theindigenous people of EastPalo Alto. In so many words,"Power to the People!"

Fort said that he does notplan to hold a campaign kickoffevent. He has been usingFacebook, thus far, to speakto his potential constituents.


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with the County of San Mateo.Sensing the disappoint-

ment of those present with theanswers that were being givenand the lack of progress infinding the murderer, SanMateo Police Chief SusanManheimer said, “It’s been aroller coaster for us. It hasbeen discouraging.”

It was even hinted duringthe meeting that Lewis’ mur-derer might not have be fromthe local area. “It may be a lit-tle bit more global than ourcommunity,” said East PaloAlto’s Police Chief Ron Davis.

Earlier in the meeting

Davis said, “Some hope mighthave been provided and somehope might have been takenaway. We will not stop lookingfor David’s killer. We will keeppushing. The East Palo Altopolice department will keepsupporting the San Mateo po-lice with all of its resources,”Davis said.

“It is what it is,” Man-heimer said. “We want to getthe killer. We want to put thisto rest. I feel it as strongly asyou do that this happened inSan Mateo.”

Manheimer stressed thatfinding Lewis’ murderer “is a top

Lewis’ Murder continued from page 1

From left, San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer, EastPalo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis, Mayor of East Palo Alto-David Woods and San Mateo Police Lieutenant. Wayne Hoss

priority for our organization.”East Palo Alto resident

Patrick Brock, one of Lewis’friends and a member of his

recovery group, thought thatManheimer’s meeting with theEast Palo Alto Police and withthe East Palo Alto community

PROVISIONAL EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO

THE CITY MANAGER



Open until filled.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

East Palo Alto City Council

meeting 7:30 PM at the EastPalo Alto City Council Cham-bers – 2415 University Avenue

Special agenda item: Mar-garet and Lee Arthur Gamblinof Kitty Cleaners will be hon-ored by the East Palo Alto CityCouncil as they retire aftermore than 50 years in busi-ness in our community. You

are invited to come out to wit-ness this event and to offeryour congratulations to themas the longest running busi-ness in East Palo Alto . Thisitem is at the beginning of theagenda and the meeting be-gins at 7:30 PM. Feel free tobring a note, a card, a floweror other expression for theGamblins Everyone is invited.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Disaster Preparedness Day.

Is your family ready for fire,earthquake, flood, terror-ism....? Free admission, freegifts and an emergency kit anddisaster plan instructions. Formore information contact Of-fice of Emergency Services at(650)363-4790 or call Office ofSupervisor Adrienne J. Tissier (650)363-4572.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

County to Host Free Whoop-

ing Cough Vaccine Clinic.Thenumber of whooping coughcases in the County hasreached nearly eight times thenumber at this time last year.San Mateo County HealthSystem will hold a free vaccineclinic to protect County resi-dents. The clinic will be heldfrom 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the

Health Administration Building,Room 100, located at 22537th Ave. in San Mateo. Allresidents ages 7 and older areencouraged to get vaccinated,No appointment is necessary,and residents will not be askedto show I.D. For more informa-tion,call (650) 573-2346 or go towww.smhealth.org/pertussis

Community Calendar

See more community events at East Palo Alto Today’s calendar pagein the announcements and events section at www.epatoday.org

to give an update as to the sta-tus of the San Mateo PoliceDepartment’s investigationwas a good idea.

Brock says he thinks that theSan Mateo Police Departmenthas been withholding informa-tion regarding what it knowsabout Lewis’ murder.

At one point during an emo-tional exchange with the po-lice, Brock stated that SanMateo Police told him thatLewis gave the police thename of the person who shothim.

Then Brock said the policedenied that Lewis had giventhem the name. Given what heconsiders some discrepanciesin the handling of the case,Brock thinks that all of the in-formation should be given tothe East Palo Alto Police De-partment, which he feelsshould lead the investigation.

San Mateo police detectiveswho accompanied Manheim tothe meeting passed out flyersannouncing the $50.000 re-ward the State of California isoffering for information leadingto the arrest and conviction ofthe person responsible forDavid Lewis’ murder.

They urged everyone at themeeting to distribute the infor-mation to get the word out toturn up more clues to lead to aresolution of Lewis’ murder.

Hector Sánchez-Flores, the director of Policy & Initiatives for the National Latino Fatherhood& Family Institute, show host Henrietta J. Burroughs and Bruce Collins a senior deputy pro-bation officer for San Mateo County sit on the set of the Talking with Henrietta show after theirdiscussion about the role of fathers in today’s society.

Talking with HenriettaStrengthening the Bonds between Fathers and Their Children

Their one hour discussion can be seen onChannel 27 on the Midpeninsula from Sun-day, August 29, 2010 until Friday, Septem-ber 10, 2010. Talking with Henrietta can beseen on Sundays@5 p.m., [email protected]., Wednesdays@3 a.m. and 11 a.m.,Thursdays@8 p.m. and Fridays@3 a.m. and11 a.m. Viewers can see the show on the web

at the above days and times at www.midpen-media.org.

Upcoming show

The next Talking with Henrietta will featurean interview with San Mateo Police ChiefSusan Manheimer and East Palo Alto’s PoliceChief Ron Davis.


To view more information about the “East Palo Alto Sanitary District’ Ap-

proved Budget Summary for all funds FY 2010-2011,” go to the East Palo Alto

Today website at www.epatoday.org.

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