This month's issue of Verde Magazine has everyone at Palo Alto High School talking. The subject matter is a weighty one. The issue is dedicated to the topic of rape.
"This is something that everybody who is in high school, who is going to college, whoever drinks, whoever is going to have sex needs to know about," said Paul Kandell, the journalism advisor.
The student run magazine dedicated six stories to rape. The cover story focused on two Paly female students who admitted they drank too much and were then raped.
Staff writer Lisie Sabbag interviewed the victims and wrote about the campus' reaction.
"If someone says they are raped you will often hear people saying, 'Oh, they're just looking for attention or they got drunk, it's their fault,'" said Sabbag.
Verde even conducted a non-scientific online student poll. They found 57 percent agree that certain women are more likely to be raped due to promiscuous behavior and 26 percent agree that if a woman gets drunk and is then raped she is responsible for what happened.
"We are a very liberal community, but some of these statements were certainly if not ignorant, then certainly not very well thought out," said editor in chief Evelyn Wang.
Students found the issue eye opening.
"It was definitely surprising to know that this kind of thing is happening at our school," said Palo Alto High School junior Freddy Kellison-Linn.
Even though students could pick up the issue of Verde Magazine on campus on Tuesday, parents will get their copy in the mail on Thursday.
