The Falcon Flyer

The English Wikipedia page on Jan. 18 participated in a blackout to protest SOPA and PIPA.

This bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Lamar Smith, a Republican from Texas on Oct. 26. At the same time as SOPA is being debated in the House, the Senate is working on a parallel bill, entitled the Protect-IP Act. Both will have drastic consequences if passed.

Under SOPA, copyright holders would notify ad or payment companies that a website was violating their copyright. Ad or payment companies would be required to suspend their services to that website with no investigation into the claims. Another effect of SOPA is that the penalties for streaming video or selling illegal activities would increase to being a felony.

The problem with this proposed law is that it will affect more than just the United States. The ad and payment companies involved are not just US companies, and when they suspend their services and websites become blocked it will not just happen in the US.

Supporters of SOPA include the US Chamber of Commerce, Netflix, the Motion Picture Association of America, Viacom, the Recording Industry of America, and MasterCard. These all stand to lose money in copyright violations, which is why they support the bill. However, not all of them realize the far reaching ramifications SOPA will have.

Many major companies have expressed their dissent for this ridiculous bill, including Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, ACLU, and Tumblr. Even the Library Copyright Alliance and the American Library Association, who must deal with fair-use and copyright issues on a regular basis, do not support it.

Campaigns have sprouted up all over the internet urging users to contact their representatives and protest the unfair act. The website tumblr.com showed examples of censorship to drive the point home. A coalition of Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other internet giants put a full page ad in the New York Times against SOPA.

Mashable.com, among others, has begun a petition to send to President Obama that shows the amount of people who do not support SOPA.

There is absolutely no way that SOPA will benefit the American people, or the world. Please, if you want to continue to use the internet, visit fightforthefuture.org/pipa to send a message to your representative.

There is an ongoing crisis in education in the United States. It is one of the foremost problems facing our country. The U.S. once was a competitive player on the international arena in terms of education. However, in the past several decades we have been falling behind other countries.

On the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test, the United States scored 30th in mathematics, 23rd in science, and 17th in reading. We score lower than the majority of European countries and many Asian countries. Considering 65 countries were tested, these scores are mediocre and far lower than what should be expected from a world superpower. Education in the U.S. is a failure; something must be done to improve upon these results.

From the PISA test we can see that American students are doing worse on the mathematics and science portions. Considering innovation in the 21st century is dependent on these two subjects, it is unacceptable that we are scoring so poorly. If we want to compete with China and South Korea in terms of technological advancement, we need to focus on math and science. This could be accomplished by teaching math at a faster pace and implementing higher level science options in secondary schools.

An issue is that there is too much pressure being put on students to go to college. Throughout secondary school the emphasis is on people to go to college, regardless of whether that is what they want and need. This leads to a surplus of people with degrees who cannot find jobs. Higher education should be reserved for only the brightest and most intelligent students.

However the less intelligent students should have an alternative that will allow them to succeed in life. In Poland, students can choose to go into a technical school after their second year of high school. This allows people to gain the necessary skills to prm various jobs right after secondary school. If we implemented something similar, there would be an alternative for those people who are not intelligent enouerfogh to go to a university. This would dispel the attitude that one must go to college in order to succeed.

A key issue in the education system is that there is too much emphasis placed on all students being equal. Teachers are forced to instruct based on the needs of the average student. However, this method is not effective for the students who fall on either extreme of the spectrum. Less intelligent students feel “stupid” and more intelligent students are held back. A system that takes into account the various levels of intelligence within a population of students will allows the top students to succeed at a higher level.

The education system should have more competition and a greater focus on results. Students should be motivated to score better than their peers. The students who score well should be praised and the ones who score poorly should not. Students should not be told “good job” if they obviously did not do well. This will inspire students to improve their results.

If we want to compete in the global arena, we need to force these changes in to the U.S. education system. We need to have an education system that focuses on the top students but also has a solution for the lower students. Dealing with them as one group will not work. The top students should be motivated to excel at mathematics and sciences. Only after we deal with these issues can we move towards an America that score first in all the categories.

Political correctness has been taken too far. The White House recently announced that its 2011 Christmas trees will be referred to as “Holiday Trees” and will not display ornaments comprised of religious symbols.

According to the 1989 Supreme Court case Allegheny County v. Greater Pittsburgh ACLU, the Christmas tree symbol is not associated with religion. The decision stated, “When the city’s tree stands alone in front of the City-County building, it is not considered an endorsement of Christian faith.”

We should not be forced to tiptoe around a nationally recognized holiday. References to the holiday are deemed inappropriate in most establishments and employees are instructed to stay away from the word “Christmas” altogether.

Merry Christmas used to be an acceptable greeting; it was simply a way for people to say something pleasant during December. The words “Happy Holidays” should not be offensive to Christians who celebrate Christmas, and wishing someone a “Merry Christmas” should not offend those who don’t. So-called political correctness has spoiled what was once a kind gesture.

It is not impossible to have confidence in one’s own beliefs while also respecting those of others; simply use common sense. Will saying “Merry Christmas” really offend someone? Possibly, but that miniscule percentage of people who find Santa and Rudolph intolerable should not be on the forefront of your mind.

In fact, political correctness is often more insincere than bending over backwards not to offend one another. In our efforts to appear like upstanding citizens, we try and phrase everything perfectly. It has become more about self-preservation rather than value of other cultures.

Christmas is a holiday celebrated by millions. So feel free to say “Happy holidays!” and cover Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Years, and whatever else. That is fine, but do not do so simply out of fear of the PC police. After all, “Merry Christmas” is not code for “Let me force my religion down your throat.”

photo by Blake Jacobsen

According to Principal Joe Potts, the custodians take ten minutes out of their day to pick up trash that students leave on lunch tables once the bell rings and students leave for class.

Compared to last year, this is a major improvement. In previous years, custodians would spend up to an hour just picking up the students’ trash. Although the progress is respectable, there is room for improvement

“For the amount of people in this school and at every lunch, the trash pick-up is good. But there are always certain groups that leave the trash on tables and just don’t care. Even by the trash cans,” said Counselor Ken Darcy.

Picking up after yourself is a life lesson that high school students should have perfected by now, at least with a simple task like picking up a lunch tray and simply tossing it in the garbage. Though most of the students are responsible enough to clean up after themselves, some consistently do not.

Administrator Kirsten Roberts walks around at lunches two days every week. “I don’t enjoy cleaning up after students. I appreciate the kids who clean,” said Roberts. With greater responsibilities to take care of, she cleans at least a quarter to one half of the tables at lunch before the next lunch starts.

The Environmental Protection Club is trying to make our school more “green.” With students leaving trash on the floors and even in the recycling bins, it makes a simple task of being more environmentally friendly a challenge. Even walking back to class from lunch and having to step around the smashed grapes and food on the ground is irritating.

A popular trash dump site is the hallway that leads to the new building, by the vending machines. That hallway is one of the narrowest in the school, and becomes over crowded during every passing period. With food scattered all over the ground and students having to step around it, the hallway becomes more hectic.
For an administrator, teacher, and even a fellow student, it is frustrating that trash is left on the tables that are directly next to the garbage cans; people could easily throw things away without even leaving their seats.

There is a simple solution. Be respectful and pick up your own trash instead of leaving it for others to take care of.

As an eighth grader at MacDonald Middle School in Michigan, Matt Epling cherished art and had a passion for what it could do. Epling soared academically, placing on the school’s Citizenship and Honor roll without any inhibition. Forty days after his last day as an eighth grader, Epling killed himself. As part of being “welcomed to high school,” some students brutally bullied Matt.

Countless teenagers have committed suicide due to unregulated bullying, and many schools have failed to stop this cruelty.

In memory of Epling, an anti-bullying bill (HB-4162) passed through the Michigan House of Representatives. It made significant headway in the anti-bullying movement by mandating school districts to adopt and implement a policy prohibiting bullying in schools. Following this, the Michigan Senate introduced its own bill, SB-137, which was virtually identical to the House’s.

Unlike the previous bill, however, the Senate’s bill contained this passage, “This section does not prohibit a statement of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian.”

SB-137, a law intended to prevent bullying, would allow bullying, so long as bullies cited “religious beliefs” or “moral conviction” for motivation. Now, this may seem a bit off-putting at first, but do not dismiss it just yet. On the bright side, it poses a few thought-provoking questions: “What would be considered moral conviction?” “Who would be calling the shots?” and, “What sort of inhumane, radical bigot would find it ever acceptable for one student to openly bully another?”

In creating loopholes, SB-137 virtually outlined how to get away with bullying. Those who caused Epling such incredible pain, and the pain of all other victims who continually go unmentioned, need only say, “It’s part of my religion,” and they would get off without consequence.

It is fascinating to see how some individuals believe that religious values or beliefs are sufficient reason for the bullying of others. This, of course, assuming your definition of “fascinating” is “repulsive and abhorrent; entirely foregoing the intentions of anti-bullying laws by providing a method for bullies to avoid both punishment and correction, further encouraging children to practice cruelty and discriminate against others.”

On Nov. 6 we had to deal with the dreaded chore of setting our clocks back to standard time. While the additional hour of sleep was enjoyable, the changing of clocks surely caused turmoil in the lives of many. This disturbance in our daily routines causes us to have a feeling of unsettlement for the subsequent days. The annual ritual of changing our clocks to daylight saving time (DST) and back should be abolished in favor of a year round standard time system where we do not change them.

DST was originally established to allow for more sunlight in the evenings after work. By setting the clocks forward an hour in the spring and backward an hour in the fall there would be an illusion of the sun being out longer during the summer. This archaic system was at one point beneficial, but has since outgrown its original purpose. Originally, it saved electricity because it encouraged people to stay out later during the summer. We are now spending far more time indoors and our schedules are far less regimented than they were during the time of the industrial revolution.

If there was ever a significant financial benefit from DST, it has since been demolished. Some even argue that DST costs money because it requires more electricity to be used for air conditioning. The overall financial effect of DST is plus or minus 1%. So even if there is a saving, it is so minuscule that it is not worth the trouble we go through twice a year.

The hassle of changing the clocks has a real effect on our productivity. People are generally less productive the week after the clocks change. Productivity meter, Rescue Time, estimates that $480,000,000 is lost due to lower productivity caused by the time change.

Another aspect of our life that DST complicates is planning meetings across time zones. The vast majority of the world does not participate in DST and those who do usually start on different dates than the United States. This divide regarding time makes it hard to schedule conference calls across borders. In the 21st century a large chunk of business is done internationally online and DST complicates it greatly. Imagine the confusion of planning a meeting consisting of representatives from four or five different countries, all running on different time paradigms.

DST can further confuse because some countries only have it in certain provinces. A perfect example is that the United States participates in DST except for the states of Arizona and Hawaii. This is further complicated because within the state of Arizona, the Navajo Indian Nation does follow DST. And within the Navajo Nation there is the Hopi reservation, which does not follow DST. Furthermore, inside the Hopi reservation is a part of the Navajo Nation that does follow DST. It is like time-ception. While this unusual local example is quite extreme, this pattern of time confusion is evident around the globe.

For the sake of humanity, it would be simpler to have the whole country running on a standard time system. Changing the clocks twice a year takes a simple task and makes it unnecessarily complicated. Having a standard time system is an elegant solution that is necessary to alleviate the chaos we are forced to struggle through.

Seniors need advisory to work on culminating project

Our precious advisory time is now rapidly disappearing due to late arrivals, silent sustained reading (SSR), and the fact that we just aren’t having it. For seniors, especially those who have not started on their Culminating Project (CP), the lack of time to do this four year graduation determinate is irritating.

At the beginning of the year, administration had cut the number of advisory days during the year. Students had quietly celebrated because advisory was seen as a “waste of time”. Freshman and sophomore advisory classes were used for movies and sitting around. Of course there were daily tasks such as going over what students will be doing in the future, job shadows, and community service. Essentially, underclassmen only have to worry about the current year’s Best Work and the Four Year Plan.

That leaves all of the other tedious tasks to students’ junior and senior years. With the added anxiety of jobs or tough classes, the CP is another challenge. When the school promises students time to work on a four year project, they should follow through.

Seniors are frustrated with the lack of advisory. The late arrivals are sincerely appreciated, but when they are so often that they disrupt valuable advisory time, seniors feel that they are being cheated. The new SSR requirement of all grades reading during advisory is another CP hindrance. The shortened amount of time from previous advisory classes is still useful, but since it has been disrupted by reading, it has becomes useless.

One reason students believe we are reading during advisory is because of low reading scores on the HSPE. Art teacher Ruth Appleby explained that the low scores are part of the decision, but it’s not the general reason. She said that teachers were informed of the SSR decision at the beginning of the school year. The instruction particularly aggravates seniors because if they are graduating anyway, why read for a test we will never take again?

Seniors need more time. One conclusion could be that seniors do not have to read during advisory, but spend quality working time on the CP. It would reduce the number of stressed out students, and therefore make graduation easier.

With the presidential elections drawing ever closer, it is becoming more important to stay informed about the candidates and their positions on main issues, especially for the seniors who will be turning 18 before Nov. 8. It is imperative to understand the candidate’s opinions and have an actual idea on how that person might potentially run the country instead of falling for the “hope” and “change” façade again. So far, several Republicans have announced their candidacy.

Michele Bachmann
The most recent debate took place at Las Vegas, Nevada. Michele Bachmann, the only woman who participated, is currently the chairwoman of the national Tea Party. She is also the first woman to be elected to congress in Minnesota and the mother of five biological children as well as a guardian to 23 foster children. Bachmann is big on limiting government but often changes her opinions based on what the people want, which explains her sudden affiliation with the Tea Party (a party created by people protesting big government during the Obama administration.) Before that however, she often sided with democrats and proved to be extremely inconsistent and unproductive with her voting.

Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich, previous Speaker of the House during the Clinton administration and a key role in Reagan’s presidency, is the most qualified pick for president. Like the other candidates, he is for reducing the size and power of government, reducing debt, and reducing unemployment rates but unlike the others, he actually has a record that backs him up. While Newt was in Congress, he helped pass the first balanced budget in 30 some years, repaying around $400 billion in debt. He also cut taxes and reformed welfare, helping over sixty percent of people on welfare either get a job or go to school. Gingrich is really the only candidate who can back up his talk with impressive results, giving voters tangible evidence that he has fixed problems like the ones facing our country now. This is why he is the most ideal choice for president, because he has the experience required to deal with the delicate situation America is in.

editorial cartoon by Joe Bautista

     In the 1970s and 1980s when George Lucas created Star Wars, he created something much bigger than a trilogy of three movies. He created perfect masterpieces that quickly gained a cult-like following of fans. They became three of the most beloved movies of all time, epitomizing everything people love about movies and all the emotions that film evokes in us. While they are in no way perfect in terms of special effects, fans love them just as they are.
     In 1997 George Lucas decided he wanted to update his movies. So he re-shot scenes, added special effects, and released the Special Edition on DVD. Many fans strongly disliked the changes in the Special Edition. Now in 2011 Lucas has decided to edit Star Wars and release it for blu-ray. The most prominent change in the blu-ray is that in The Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader now screams “NOOOOO!” before sacrificing himself to kill the Emperor. What used to be the perfect mixture of actions and subtle emotion is ruined by a horrifically unnecessary scream.
Even though these changes are generally disliked, it is important to realize that Star Wars is George Lucas’s creation and he has the right to edit it and update it for new formats. That is not the worst part; fans are up in arms over something far worse.
     Lucas is trying to destroy the original theatrical versions of his movies. He hopes that by confiscating 35 mm prints, prohibiting them from being screened, and through deterioration of other formats the original versions will simply fade from memory. In 1997 Lucas said, “The other versions will disappear. Even the 35 million tapes of Star Wars out there won’t last more than 30 or 40 years. A hundred years from now, the only version of the movie that anyone will remember will be the Special Edition.”
     What George Lucas is doing is unethical. It is analogous to destroying a piece of history. The original Star Wars movies are possibly the most important pieces of film to exist. They truly are cultural artifacts. Lucas should be working as hard as possible to preserve them, not to wipe them from memory. The best argument for the preservation of our movie heritage comes from the very person who is now working to destroy it. In his 1988 speech about preserving film, a much younger Lucas said “People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians…”
     George Lucas should listen to his own advice. There is no problem with working on his movies and releasing new versions. However he must not think of the originals as rough drafts. The originals should be preserved so future generations can enjoy them as we did. This is not an issue to be taken lightly. History is at stake.