Paly grad Todd Burpee found guilty of rape

Campanile, News, June 2 Paly 2006 graduate Todd Burpee was found guilty on May 28 on six charges for the assault of a now graduated Henry M. Gunn High School student in October of 2007. Burpee faces 25 years to life in prison. » read more

Alert: Suspected bike thieves apprehended

Exclusive Online Content, News, May 29 Two suspected bike thieves will face charges after Palo Alto High School campus supervisors spotted them trespassing on campus. » read more

Picking up the Pieces

Verde, Features, December 17 When faced with a student who has broken Palo Alto High School rules the school administration has two options: let the student off with virtually no punishment or tarnish his or her record with suspension. » read more

Library considers adding security cameras

Campanile, News, March 17 As a result of the Martin Luther King weekend library vandalism, the Palo Alto High School administration is considering installing security cameras in the library as a deterrent towards similar acts in the future. » read more

Police called to remove non-students from Paly campus

Exclusive Online Content, News, March 5 The Palo Alto Police appeared on campus this afternoon to deal with individuals who are not Paly students and who refused to leave after multiple requests. » read more

Summer theft vexes teachers

Verde, Features, October 24 Some teachers are struggling with multimedia presentations after the summer theft of three English department projectors and newly installed Social Studies projectors. » read more

Security cameras coming to Paly

Campanile, News, November 13 Palo Alto High School has been chosen as a pilot school by the Palo Alto Unified School District to test security cameras and their effectiveness on school campuses and will install these cameras by the end of the school year, Assistant Principal Chuck Merritt said. » read more

Security cameras overly incursive, high-priced

Campanile, Opinion, November 13 The Palo Alto Unified School District has chosen Palo Alto High School as a pilot school for a new security program implementing surveillance cameras. To anyone who has ever had their pants stolen during P.E., this sounds like a good idea. But while theft is definitely a chronic problem at Paly, security cameras are an invasive and unnecessarily expensive way to combat it. » read more

Local crime rate shows steady increase in Palo Alto

Campanile, Features, October 23 The man said nothing to Anne Taylor as he crossed her path on a Palo Alto Cresent Park street. He simply looked her in the eye. But when she and two friends turned the corner, another man waited for them. He demanded her friend's purse, but the woman clung to it. » read more

Paly, Jordan to combat locker room theft

Verde, News, June 5 Paly and Jordan plan to insititute security cameras outside the locker rooms to help combat rising theft. » read more

Anti-Theft: Police battle burglary boom

Verde, News, April 9 The corner of the small window was broken. There were small shards of glass scattered on the floor next to a brick directly below the window. Michael Hwang, a Palo Alto High School junior, ran into his home with his mother, and called 911. Both walked around their home together, starting in the living room and ending in the parents' room. Clothing was spread around, and Hwang's mother noticed that her fur coat and jewelry box had disappeared. On Friday March 3, Hwang's home became the latest victim of a series of burglaries in Palo Alto. » read more

Administration looks to introduce new security procedures on campus

Exclusive Online Content, News, April 4 The Palo Alto Unified School District and Palo Alto High School administrators are in the stages of considering implementing new security procedures at Paly, including adding security cameras, slide keys and a roving patrol of the campus. » read more

Administration tightens security after laptop thefts

Campanile, News, February 14 Science teachers remain enthusiastic about their department's new wireless laptops, despite the theft of three computers since their introduction. Since the thefts, classroom use of the computers has only increased as teachers and students embrace them as educational tools. » read more

Lockers open to all

Verde, Features, December 13 If only those thieves who broke into the locker cages in December stopped to ask a student for help. Instead of entering the locker cages the easy way, the thieves wasted time and energy cutting individual wires in the metal fence. Numerous Palo Alto High School students could have told them how easy it is to open the locker cage doors. » read more

Locker vandalism breaks into Paly

Exclusive Online Content, News, December 7 Palo Alto High School administrators are looking into new security measures for students' lockers after finding a hole in the wire cage surrounding the lockers, and the contents of lockers 603-658 strewn over the ground Sunday. » read more

Security changes to be implemented at Paly

Exclusive Online Content, Features, October 21 With little fanfare, Paly principal Scott Laurence implemented a new emergency plan on Wednesday, October 20. The new plan has many long overdue improvements over the previous plan. » read more

Congress should renew expired national assault weapons ban

Campanile, Opinion, October 11 Without the media attention of a Britney Spears marriage, the nationwide ban on assault weapons vanished in mid-September due to Congress' failure to renew it. The 10-year ban prohibited the sale of 19 semi-automatic weapons and identical weapons with different names. The passing of this ban is a setback to crime in the United States. » read more

Theft Necessitates Surveillance

Campanile, Opinion, December 18 Imagine having $50 stolen one day, an iPod the next and a credit card the following week. Now imagine that there was a likely suspect for all three thefts, but nothing could be proven. The culprit goes unpunished and the items are lost forever. Is this justice? No. Is it preventable? Yes. All it takes to prove someone guilty is a little evidence. With the use of surveillance cameras, Palo Alto High School's administration would have the proof needed to punish thieves and the power to force them to pay compensation. » read more

Surveillance Invades Privacy

Campanile, Opinion, December 18 How would Palo Alto High School students feel if the next time they had advisory they were being watched by a surveillance camera? How about during their next math test? Or how about the next time they're in the library doing last-minute homework? Everyone has enough on their minds without having to worry about being constantly watched during school each day. » read more

Know Your Rights

Verde, Features, October 31 A school official walks from locker to locker in the halls of a public high school, opening each in turn as part of a crackdown on weapons and contraband. Many students say the searches are immoral and unfair, but thanks to the Supreme Court, they are perfectly legal. » read more

Abundance of shoplifting negatively affects economy

Campanile, Features, October 27 At the entrance to the new Longs Drugs at Town and Country is a pile of backpacks. All teen-agers wearing backpacks are instructed to remove them and leave them outside before they are allowed to enter the store. Many students are uncomfortable leaving their belongings unattended for fear of having their bags raided by other students. » read more

Paly administration cracks down on burgeoning amount of larceny

Campanile, News, October 27 Theft at Palo Alto High school has always been a problem, but the amount of stolen items this year has increased compared to previous years. » read more