“The Quran says that you have to kill all infidels who don’t believe in the Islamic religion,” Oliver Duff, a SKHS said. Although Duff has never read the Quran he said he arrived at this opinion from what he has heard about the religion from other sources.

  Such accusations have recently increased with the plans to build a Muslim community center near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan

  For months protesters in New York hit the streets with phrases like “All I need to know about Islam, I learned on 9/11”.

  A TIME magazine report found that 46 percent of Americans believe that Islam is more likely to encourage violence than other faiths, yet only 37 percent actually knew an American Muslim.

  Unbeknownst to many SKHS students there is an Islamic center right in URI called the Masjid Al-Hoda.

  On the Masjid Al-Hoda website the center claims to “establish bridges of tolerance, harmony and understanding between Muslims, the American society at large and people of other faiths.”

  According to Syed Hasibul Haqui, Vice President of Masijid Al-Haque, “The general public does not understand the true meaning of Islam”. Hasibul also said, “Islam never teaches to kill innocent people, to harm innocent people, or to steal”.

  Hasibul has lived in America for most of his life, even serving in the American Army for four and half years. He now works at General Dynamics as an Engineer, in addition to his duties at the Islamic Center.

  “Muslims have been living in this country for a long time” Hasibul said, “never have I faced any hostility during my time in America.”

  Although Hasibul knows there is ignorance and intolerance about Islam in America, he does not “believe all of America is ignorant only a handful.”

  Other students at SKHS voiced opinions regarding the Islamic religion, such as Dylan Partridge and Grant Sherman. Partridge and Sherman believe the religion is misunderstood by people and that the whole situation has gotten out of hand. “People always view a group by their extremist counterparts, because they are the most outspoken” , Partridge and Sherman said.

  There are also student who seem to know little of the Islamic religion. One senior asked “Aren’t those the guys that bombed us or something?”

  Mr. Matteson, the Comparative Religions teacher at SKHS, feels that the media is more to blame when concerning the close minded views of some Americans. “The media has a fascination with the loudest, most violent people that they can find and in this case when you attach a Muslim to it, it’s way more interesting,” said Matteson.

  In order for people to become less narrow minded about such issues, Matteson believes, “You have to take in your information from as many different places as possible”.

BK’s Rodeo Burger satisfies yet another customer in senior Gorman Donnelly.

  “The instantaneous sensation I get the moment those juicy buns touch my lips,” is what SKHS junior Michael Congdon says is his favorite part about the Rodeo Cheeseburger.

  Although this may be a little on the extreme side, there is a new food craze sweeping across the town of South Kingstown. It’s the Rodeo Cheeseburger from the fast food chain Burger King, or more commonly referred to as “a Rodeo”.

  The Rodeo is not your typical fast food burger. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

  Some students such as Mike Mulroy, go to the extreme when describing the latest fast food.

  “The Rodeo Cheeseburger has changed the way I look at fast food.”

  For those unaware, a Rodeo consists of a burger patty, American cheese, two to three onion rings and barbeque sauce.

  Some people are initially skeptical when they hear what is on the burger. However, others such as SKHS senior Sean Eden thought this combination, “sounded delicious”.

  This intriguing combination seems not to disappoint buyers, and as student Congdon testifies, “The barbeque sauce makes everything on the burger come together.”

 The typical high school student does not usually have an abundance of money to spend at will, therefore often they are in search of an economic “deal”.

  “It’s like the poor man’s Big Papi Burger from Fat Belly’s,” said English teacher Mr. Blessing. 

  With Taco Tuesday at El Fuego, Weenie Wednesday at Kingston Pizza and Wing Night at Pancho O’Malleys students have  many options these days.

  Also, many fast food restaurants across the United States have added value or dollar menus over the past few years.

  These menus have been very popular among teenage students, who are looking for cheap eats.

  The Rodeo Burger is on the value menu at Burger King and only costs $1.00.

  As SKHS student Eric Eichler says, “It’s a good deal, spending one buck and getting such a good burger.” Customers can purchase a meal for a around $3-$4.   
  That is part of the appeal, along with the convenience of the fast service at Burger King.

  The interesting part about this burger and its popularity is how the word has spread.

Since the Rodeo is only offered at certain regional restaurants the majority of attention is through word of mouth.

  As student Sean Mitchell says, “My friends talked very highly of Rodeos before I had them, so I was unsure if they’d be able to match my expectations.

  “They did.”

  This is the typical case, one friend passing on the positive news to another friend. As Mitchell later goes on to say, “I’ve turned several of my friends onto the gospel of Rodeo Burgers. It has become somewhat of a cult following with how often I promote them,” and thus the cycle continues on.

  However at a cool 400 calories per Rodeo, the taste comes at a price. This burger is not geared towards health conscious individuals, as it is a typical fast food burger. The nutrition facts are crippling considering the size and amount of food that the consumer is eating.

  Due to this Eden and Mitchell limit their intake to about three per week, because they figure anymore than that would probably be bad for their health.

  Rodeo Cheeseburgers are just the latest hit of local food. These burgers go outside the “typical” fast food burger, and pack a very distinctive taste.

   Whether people decide to jump on the bandwagon and try one is ultimately up to them, but as senior Cliff Chen simply says, “Rodeos are a small price, for big taste.”

  For most at SKHS, the 180-day school year, and six hour school day seems to be an unalterable school norm.  In many countries, however, the school schedule is far more demanding.

  In countries such as Japan, school lasts up to eight hours and spans 240 days across the year.

  The school days are also much different from country to country as well.
  Mr. Jeremiah, a foreign language teacher at SKHS, has visited Japan numerous times and described what schools were like in the country.

  “In some schools, the students remain in the same room,” said Jeremiah. “The teachers rotate throughout the school day.”

  Jeremiah also mentioned that the homeroom teachers remain with the students throughout the day. “The homeroom teachers essentially become friends with the students more than anything.”

  Orsola Torrisi, an Italian exchange student, talked about the differences between schools in America versus Italy.

  “Well [school] is totally different. First of all,” Torrisi stated, “we have five years of high school, which means we have more time to think about what we want to do with our life.”

  She continued on about how students needed to decide the area of subjects prior to beginning high school. “Before going to high school we have to decide what subjects we like most.” Torrisi explained the different types of school one could attend, such as language, scientific, and classical-based schools.

  In China, compared to the U.S., students are tested on a far more frequent basis, particularly at the younger grades. Chinese elementary schools, however,  tend to test students often, so that the child will become accustomed to the rigor of such tests, and so the teacher is able to monitor their performance more effectively.

  Chinese educators believe that discouragement that a low test score may yield can and will be reversed by satisfaction of receiving help and doing better.

  It may be because of the frequency of testing that Chinese students placed first in a 2007 international assessment of students around the world in both fourth and eighth grade.

  America in recent years has placed more stress on standardized and international testing, spending a large amount of money each year on various tests to determine the performance of students throughout the country. A large part of this is due to the No Child Left Behind act of 2001.

  Some argue that it’s not necessarily an accurate depiction of the U.S. to take the average score of all the schools throughout the country. The United States is a large country with a very diverse demographic.

   An article on greatschools.com, written by Marian Wilde, describes Finland in terms of academics. “For one thing, Finland has a vastly more homogeneous population than the United States,” Wilde writes. Also, in Finland, the curriculum is the same throughout the country, according to Wilde.

  The United States consists of a much greater population of economic disparity minorities, school settings and in inner-city regions, where living conditions are lower and academic performance tends to be far lower than in wealthier suburban areas. Some schools perform poorly in comparison with foreign countries, but schools such as SKHS remain a higher-caliber school, with higher test scores than most of the state, faring much better in comparison with the higher-ranking countries in the academic studies.

  A study by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center showed that roughly 75 percent of suburban U.S. students graduated, whereas only 58 percent of their urban counterparts ended up earning diplomas.  This trend is also apparent in Finland who has a total poverty rate of 5.4 percent and 91 percent of their students graduate.

  The United States spent a large amount of its educational budget on standardized testing, in order to gauge how well schools are doing nationwide. In the ’07-’08 school year alone, the U.S. spent roughly $1.1 billion on standardized testing according to Eduventures Inc, a education research facility.

  Some critics believe that instead of using such a large portion on tests to see where the country needs improving, the money could be used directly towards improving the performance of students, by taking the standardized testing money, and adding it to the budget of schools.

  According to  Jeremiah, “The U.S. curriculum is too centered on standardized testing— Japan tried [the frequent standardized testing] approach before, and saw that it didn’t work”.

  Although the South Kingstown High School Dress Code itself has not changed, the level of enforcement has been elevated to a new level this fall.  Administration  informed SKHS students this fall that they plan to ensure that students dress is not disruptive to the learning process.

  Administrators also sent teachers a memo asking all faculty to enforce the policy school wide.

  Many students view the way they dress as their identity and dislike the administration’s attempt to enforce the dress code.

   “The Dress Code is stupid,” SKHS sophomore Merrill Gates said. “Freedom of speech is how you present yourself, and how you present yourself is by the way you dress.”                

  Mr. Young, assistant principal at SKHS, said, “If I saw someone violating the dress code, I would make them fix whatever problem they have with their shirt or shorts. We would have to get something that applies with the dress code.”

  Nick Brown, a senior at SKHS, said, “Since I am a boy, I really do not pay much attention to the dress code.”
 Boys and girls reactions about the dress code are vary.

  At SKHS many different styles of dress appear in the hallways and classroom. From the skateboarders with tight jeans to jocks adorned in athletic wear, to the preps all decked out in collar shirts and sweater vests.

   Despite variety of the ways to expressing oneself, some students have run into some problems with their outfit choices. 

  The most common dress code violations for the boys include wearing pants below the waistline with underwear showing as well as wearing inappropriate t-shirts that promote sex, drug or alcohol consumption.   For girls the typical violation is wearing short-skirts and shorts that should. According to the student handbook, while standing upright, the hem of the outer most garment must extend beyond the tip of the longest finger.  Another issue concerns tops and shirts that reveal too much skin.   

  Administrators say the plan is that the Dress Code will be more strictly enforced this year, but many wonder if it is really going to be enforced any more than before.

  An article on charlotteobserver.com shows the problem continues to plague many schools across the nation.
“They say they are enforcing the dress code because it will stop all the distractions,” writes the reporter, “But when you’re pulling someone out of a classroom for the dress code that is even more distracting.”

  Faculty and Staff, however, agree that certain styles of dress are even more distracting to the learning process.

    “I think if someone is wearing distracting clothes and it is taking away from the process of education.  They should be asked to change or cover up those clothes,” said health teacher Mrs. Bush.  

  “If I saw someone violating the dress code,” Bush said, “I would pull that person aside and talk to them.”

  Some teachers are willing to enforce the dress code, but for the dress code to be successful, all teachers need to enforce it, Young expressed. However,
  “This is the first time we’ve done it, at least enforced any kind of dress code,” Mr. Young said, “So I don’t really know what to compare it to.”

  “Michelle Obama’s a Democrat. She must prove she loves America. As opposed to Republicans, who everyone knows love America—they just hate half the people living in it!” said Jon Stewart in regards to the political radicalism against the Obamas. 

  On Saturday, October 30^th, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held their, “Rally to Restore Sanity and or Fear.”

  Many know Stewart from his popular television program, “The Daily Show,” aired on the Comedy Central Network. His late-night antics and parodies of the modern, 24 hour-a-day, news media networks and politics leave viewers laughing up a storm.

  But on September 10^th, 2010, Stewart made his plans available to the public eye through his late-night program and would be holding a “Rally to Restore Sanity.”

  The rally took place at Washington D.C.’s National Mall. Guests included singers Jon Legend, Sheryl Crowe, Ozzy Ozbourne, actor Sam Waterson, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and other high-profile celebrities.

  Stewart wasn’t the only Comedy Central comedian there. Co-facilitating the event was Stephen Colbert, the late night host of “The Colbert Report”. The two celebrities weren’t without their differences, as Stewart was fighting to restore sanity, while Colbert tried to restore fear into the hearts of American citizens.

  Colbert’s character, according to the real-life Colbert, “Is a self-obsessed right-wing commentator, a well-intentioned, poorly informed high-status idiot.”

  The rally is meant to protest the growing “extreme … and fear mongering” of biased news networks and pundits. By October 30^th, over 203,128 people had signed up to attend the event on the rally’s Facebook page.

  Over 215,000 people attended the rally, outnumbering Fox News talk show host Glenn Back’s “Restoring Honor” rally, held on the controversial 47^th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s, “I Have a Dream,” March.

  “We live now in hard times, not end times,” said Stewart.  “And we can have animus, and not be enemies. The country’s 24-hour politico–pundit’ perpetual panic “conflictinator” did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder. If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.”

There has been some talk in South Kingstown about a new, legal drug quickly growing in popularity. Across the country, teenagers have been experimenting with the new way to get high, which reportedly mimics the effects of marijuana.

  Synthetic Cannabis, oftentimes referred to as “K2” or “Spice,” contains a blend of traditional natural herbs, sprayed with chemical compounds that act on the brain in ways very similar to THC, the active chemical in marijuana.

  Although the drug has been banned in several countries, and a handful of U.S. states, it remains legal in Rhode Island and can be purchased in stores with an I.D. for those eighteen years of age.

  “It appears that the K2, or synthetic cannabis, does in fact produce mind altering effects similar to smoking marijuana,” according to SKHS Resource Officer Montafix Houghton.

  “I have received calls from parents about K2,” Houghton said, “and it is something that the police are currently looking into.”

  The drug is sold as incense, and comes with a label which reads, “Not intended for human consumption.”

 While one must be at least 18 to purchase K2, the drug has made its way into the hands of many high school teens, many of whom try the drug purely out of curiosity.

  “It’s kind of like weed only a little low key,” said one SKHS senior. “It’ll make you laugh without the squinty eyed effect of marijuana.”

  Some teens use the drug while undergoing treatment for marijuana, since the drug fails to show up in urine tests.

 “It’s a big problem that some kids will smoke K2, and it will go undetected in their drug tests, which is very counterproductive to their treatment,” said school counselor Mrs. Bragg.

  The consensus among teens who admit to having used the drug is that, while it does produce effects, the effects are not as intense and long lasting as organic marijuana.

  “I didn’t really get high I would say,” explained one SKHS junior. “More like you could feel something different. The stuff goes to your head and you just feel different.”

  No official studies have been done recording possible health risks of the drug, but doctors have observed symptoms when smoked in large doses such as vomiting and increased agitation. Such side effects, experts say, are very rarely experienced from marijuana use.

  Still, some teens prefer the drug to marijuana, usually because of the legality.

  “You don’t need to worry about getting caught, because it’s one hundred percent legal,” explained an SKHS senior, who admittedly uses the drug regularly.

  K2 can be purchased at many smoke shops in Rhode Island, including Ethnic Concepts in Peace Dale.

  Last Wednesday the DEA moved to illegalize K2 across the nation.

MIDDLETOWN — They were proud to be there in Boston in August 2007, when their son was sworn in as a volunteer in the Army. They were there in Kentucky when he graduated from advanced basic training.

But Saturday night, the family of Sgt. Michael F. Paranzino, a 2006 graduate of Middletown High School, were present for an honor they would have gladly forsaken as his flag-draped coffin was somberly removed from a plane at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

The Department of Defense said Paranzino, just shy of 23, was killed Friday by an improvised explosive device while serving near Kandahar in Afghanistan. The decorated soldier had been a cavalry scout with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

He had been in Afghanistan since March, after serving a tour in Iraq.

Throughout the day on Sunday, an electronic sign in front of the Middletown Police Department summed it up in flashing lights: “MPD salutes fallen hero Sgt. Michael Paranzino.”

More honors will follow once the Army releases his body and he is brought back to Rhode Island for burial. Those arrangements were still incomplete Sunday.

Paranzino leaves behind a wife, Lindsey, and sons Maxton and Logan, all in Calcium, N.Y., outside Fort Drum, and his parents, Melane and Francis “Butch” Paranzino of Middletown.

Being a soldier was a job Michael did proudly, his sleep-deprived father said Sunday afternoon. He and his wife had just returned from the “dignified transfer” ceremony marking the return of their son late Saturday night at Dover.

Family and friends were beginning to arrive at the home, tucked away at the edge of a farm on Vanicek Avenue. A friend, fresh from church where a Mass of Remembrance was said on Michael’s behalf, brought food. Others lingered sorrowfully in the kitchen. The Paranzino answering machine gave a beep every 10 seconds, signifying messages waiting to be checked.

“He was a very good soldier,” Butch Paranzino said. “Needless to say, we were very proud of him.”

Michael Paranzino graduated from Middletown High School in 2006. He did some wrestling there. He was also a good archer, his mother said.

He didn’t want to go to college right away and explored other options, such as working at a tent company and toiling on fishing boats. Ultimately he decided to volunteer for the military.

“He said, ‘I don’t want to be a nobody and hang around here. I want to make something of my life,’ ” his father recalled.

Butch and Melane stood with him when he took his oath in Boston. “When he completed his advanced basic training, we were there at Fort Knox” in Kentucky, the father said.

“He learned what it was to work hard, respect authority and discipline. As a youngster, he kind of made his own rules,” Butch said. The Army “was very good for him. It was wonderful, except for the danger.”

Butch Paranzino said his son was proud of how far he had come as a soldier.

“He did like it. He was doing what he wanted to do. I don’t think there was any talking him out of it,” he said. “He went from teenager to man,” intent on providing for his family, being a good son and being a good soldier to his country.

“He took pride in the responsibility he had for the other guys. When he made sergeant, I asked how it felt. And he said, ‘Well, can you imagine being in charge of a bunch of crazy teenagers with guns?’ So even at 22, he had that parental attitude.”

Cell-phone and Internet service wasn’t easy to come by in that region of Afghanistan. “I would either get a text message, a phone call or some contact by Facebook every 7 to 10 days,” Melane said.

“As a parent, you live to hear that he said something,” said Butch, especially when “we knew it was a very active area” of Afghanistan.

“Even if he said something to someone else,” she explained, “I knew he logged on and he was okay.”

Melane would send him weekly care packages of clean socks, beef jerky and homemade peanut butter balls.

The couple last saw their son two weeks ago. “He was back here on a mid-tour leave and we had the absolute best time,” Butch Paranzino said, then fighting back tears. “He promised us he’d come home safe.”

Sunday, Melane Paranzino wore a necklace consisting of Michael’s identification, along with dog-tag-size photos of her soldier.

“I wore these during his first tour [in Iraq]. He got an extra dog tag and gave it to me,” she said. As for the pendant with photos on either side, “I had this made because I wanted to be able to see him and keep him close to my heart. And now, I’ll never take them off.”

“I believe he’s a hero,” Butch Paranzino said. “He fought so we can have what we enjoy here. Whatever challenges you have in your life, if you think of him and do the best you can to succeed, you’re honoring his memory.”