The 2011-2012 school year took an early start because of the late end of school last year that almost spilt into July.

   Snow days caused problems with the 180 day schedule and bumped back the last day. This year, even with the efforts to start summer earlier, the start of school was pushed back due to weather issues once again.

  Hurricane Irene caused the first day of school to be pushed to the next week. Because of this push back, SK is now considering the elimination of February Vacation to regain the lost days taken by Irene.

  If they do not go with this plan then the 180^th day will be in mid-June and that is if no snow days occur, which seems unlikely since our first snowfall came in October.

  The school, however, should think twice before cutting an entire vacation, especially in February because a large portion of students have already reserved or planned a vacation and would most likely still go if break was cancelled, causing numerous of absences.

  Many students go to tropical, or at least warm locations to escape the Rhode Islands long winter, others just stay home and unwind from the stresses of school.

  No matter which it is students will be upset about the cancellation of February break.

  Some students may say that they would rather get out for summer earlier than be stuck in the house while it snows for a week.

  However, students need to realize that this would not ensure a day we would get out of school since snow days are still a variable in the equation.

   In the beginning of the year all signs pointed to no for the administration to axe winter vacation, but after the cancellation of the Sadie’s Assembly and dance, it seems the administrators don’t have any regard for tradition in their decision making.

   In the end it is unclear whether or not cancelling February Vacation is even on the table anymore, but if it is students do have something to be upset about.

  Going to school, waking up early, and eating lunch at strange times wears down the body and without breaks takes a huge toll on ones mental being. This is something SKHS staff should keep in mind.

  To counteract these measures students need to stand up and advocate for their free time and show that they care about this subject, especially since it will largely affect them in the coming months.

 

Cal Figliozzi

October 31^st is a national holiday consisting of low budget homemade costumes repeated year after year. Unfortunately, the lack of creativity among those who participate decreases annually.

The problem is that people are perfectly fine with wearing the same costumes as each other over and over. Truth be told, anyone who can’t come up with something original and non- generic shouldn’t bother dressing up with weak costumes.

Usually young children and their parents are the only ones going door to door collecting excessive amounts of candy. By age 14 most usually give up the practice. But is there an age limitation for wearing costumes?

Every year students in South Kingstown High School try their best to outdo one another by wearing ridiculous banana suits or idiotic attire. Even teachers participate by wearing common witch or wizard costumes.

Primarily, children around the country dress as either ninjas or princesses. For those who have the Halloween spirit, the ideas come quickly and seem to have gotten more creative.

On the other side, the rest of society either chooses to have no involvement with the tradition at all or just wear conventional and regular costumes.

Besides from the majority of seniors wearing the prison inmate suits, statistics show that at least 50 percent of girls are annually dressed as cats. On top of this, 10 percent of males dress in banana suits.  Some of the more genuine ideas at SKHS include costumes such as a squirrel suit, the incredible hulk, and even a life- sized leprechaun. One anonymous student was even spotted dressed as the infamous “Ice Mane,” from the legendary No Sleep Gang.

This is the kind of originality SK needs for the Halloween season. These repeated costumes are weaker than ever and it’s time a change is made.

No one should have to deal with the nastiness of South Kingstown
High School’s water bubblers. There is trash and chewed gum in every bubbler on
every floor. Sometimes there is even soggy food.

Students should be well hydrated in order to perform well in
school, but with the condition of these bubblers, no one wants to drink from
them.

Besides the trash and chewed gum, the actual
water in the bubbler just doesn’t taste like the water you can get from home. You
can almost tell the water is coming from this gruesome source just by tasting
it.

Not everyone brings a water bottle to school, and if they do, they want a clean bubbler to fill it up at when it gets low. Bubblers should be cleaned so that students can have a good source of hydration during the grueling school day.

Students should learn that if they want drinkable water from
the bubbler, it’s on them. Instead of haphazardly throwing trash in the nearest
bubbler, stop into a teacher’s room and throw your half eaten sandwich out
there.

Principal McCarthy should make rules concerning trash and the general sanitation of these water bubblers for the sake of the health of the students.

If you are caught throwing trash out or putting gum in the bubbler, you should get a warning, or detention. Also, it should be made clear to students that any teacher’s room is available to tosh your trash into.

The bottom line is, these bubblers are not supposed to be used as a trash receptacle, and because of confusion regarding this, the sanitation of the bubblers is subpar.

Student Speak about Hallway Jam

Will McCallig, Freshman

“I’ve seen the seniors block the hallway and it’s pretty funny.”

 

 

 

 

Nick Sullivan, Sophomore
“It’s kind of self-explanatory why I wouldn’t want to like hallway jams.”

 

 

 

 

 

Katie Gallogly, Junior
“They think that they are cool by deciding to stand in the middle of the hallway and blocking the hallway,” Gallogly explained. “Ryan Sweenor is a big source of the problem.”

 

 

 

 

Aaron Andrews, Senior

“I can’t go point A to point B without being blocked or get stuck in the hallway jam,” Andrews said. “The people who stand at their lockers and don’t move are the main source of the problem.
“Stay on the right side of the hallway and you’ll be fine.”

   You know what? Weather should be banned from the world. I mean, not all weather…just weather spelt R-A-I-N. Honestly, there is nothing redeeming about rain, and if you think long and hard about it, you’ll see that I’m right. I think rain is a weatherman’s best friends because they always seem to be right about rain rolling in to ruin my day. Think about that. When it’s supposed to rain, it rains. When it’s just cloudy, it rains. And when it’s sunny, it RAINS. I think I could be a weatherman. It doesn’t seem all that difficult. Just predict rain. Every day. All 365 days of the year. That way, when it rains, everyone thinks you’re right and their trust in you as a weatherman grows. And, in the unlikely event that it’s sunny, everyone is too happy to care that you were wrong. It’s a win-win. Some people might say, “but I love dancing in the rain!” And that’s great, more power to you, but what happens after you’re done dancing? You are now soaked in rain, and have to spend the next 17-49 minutes drying yourself off, peeling the wet clothes off, changing into dry clothes, and then throwing everything in the dryer. What a colossal waste of time that could be used on boosting my score in Gunblood.

     Cold rain is awful; it cuts and chills you to the bone. It ruins every attempt at doing something outside for more than ten seconds and instead makes you spend your whole day inside, crying. But what’s worse? Warm rain. It tricks you into thinking that you can still go about your day, but then, after multiple hours of getting your courage up, you venture outside and the stifling humidity and bathtub-temperature water leave you feeling slimy and disgusting. It takes days to get rid of that feeling. And the smell! The smell of warm water is just horrible. It’s like burning rubber. But, you know what’s worse? Acid rain. Forget annoying, acid rain is downright painful and deadly. This kind of rain is literally killing me. It forces you to stay inside, yet if it keeps falling long enough, you may not have a place to stay inside, as your house slowly deteriorates around your sad, weeping body.

    And look what rain is doing to our country! It feels the need to attack America’s people again and again, constantly showing us the power of nature by flooding rivers, displacing people from their homes, and killing about 400 people just this year in the southern states. Watch out Pentagon, rain has become our enemy. In a war against terror, rain IS the terror.

    And yeah, there will be the haters who claim that rain is necessary to life and that without it we would all die. And I’ve been thinking and perhaps that is true. I think that both sides need to sit down and work on a happy medium. You know, we say something like, “look rain, we understand that you’re important and all, but man you are being a colossal pain in the neck right now, and we kind of want to enjoy the spring weather, so if you could just give it a break for a few weeks that would be awesome.” That sounds reasonable to me. As long as we do something about this problem, because it has become incredibly annoying and disheartening.

 

When was the last time you drove by a gas station and looked at the prices in horror?  For most, that’s nearly every day.  Gas prices just are terrible, and it just makes me want to stop driving.  Even so, even if you do not even buy gas, it just hurts to look at the gas prices near gas stations. 

  I pass by the Wakefield gas station on Main Street each week when I drive to work.  Starting in March, gas cost $3.30.  Then, I started to consider biking to work.  Each Wednesday, I would see the price slowly increase– $3.40, 3.65, oh no, it’s 3.82!  and then the beginning of May I just wanted to stop driving altogether: $4.

  I only work maybe five and a half miles away from my house, so a round-trip would be 11 miles.  The fact is, I was used to filling up my gas tank maybe each month when I was not working.  Now, it is even more frequent, but I volunteer, which means I am not paid.  It is just awful when I have to fill my gas tank up. 

  It is honestly pretty shocking.  I was used to filling my tank up for maybe $45.  Three weeks ago, it cost around $60.  Ouch.  And it is even more for drivers who need a higher-octane gasoline.

  The reason for these high gas prices?  With the Middle East and North Africa in turmoil, gas prices jumped dramatically amid fears the U.S and other world countries would lose access to Middle Eastern oil.  That, coupled with higher demand around Memorial Day weekend, oil-refinery maintenance in spring and cleaner-burning summer-grade gasoline, gasoline costs more to produce, which translates into higher gas prices.

   Still, I have yet to see many empty spots in the senior lot due to the high gas prices.  Perhaps some seniors take the bus one day a week to put off another day of filling up their gas tank, and I definitely know that people are combining trips and carpooling to save gas money.

  Higher gas prices just suck, and I for one am just sick of it.

  Most everyone at our school knows about the cleanup day we have every year during fourth quarter. It’s a great day where everyone works together and laughs and makes merry to assist in beautifying our school. Students plant gardens, get rid of weeds, they paint, and even clean up the bike path. And the best thing is,  at the end of it all we get to eat delicious food supplied by popular stores in town, like Del’s, or Brickley’s.

  A lot of students enjoy the cleanup day because we get to do something new, get to actually go outside, and of course, it’s a day off from classes. The work students do greatly helps in tidying up the community, and the local businesses that come to our school and set up vendors make a profit.

  Unfortunately, the cleanup day only happens once a year at the end of May. It happens so late in the year that all the work we do cleaning up the school goes mostly unappreciated. The gardens students planted, and the areas people cleared off just become overgrown again by the time everyone returns in September.

  It makes sense then that we would either have the cleanup day earlier in the year, or have the cleanup day twice a year, once in May, and once in September or the beginning of October.

  By doing that, we would have a cleanup day early, so the work we do will at least be appreciated for some time, and local businesses have another opportunity to set up vendors and make money.

  As another benefit, it could be a way to help freshman get assimilated, meet new people, build teamwork skills, or help them get to know teachers. Also, many people enjoy it so most students would be fine with doing it twice a year.

  Having an extra cleanup day could also benefit students educationally. Students could gain skills in planning from having to setup and organize such a large event. Another skill students could learn would be fundraising, since a lot of money would be needed to setup a second cleanup day.

  There are, of course, problems with having two cleanup days. It takes a fair amount of money and planning to make sure the day goes smoothly.

  It could also be potentially difficult to coordinate with the businesses that usually come, and make sure that all of them would be willing, or able, to show up on an extra day. Another problem with having a second cleanup day is that it would be challenging to convince the school board to allow another day without classes.

  To make a second cleanup day or having one earlier in the year, students and teachers could begin planning at the end of the school year, or begin planning for the earlier cleanup day in the summer. To get the money for it, a fundraiser or asking for small donations from every student would likely be enough.

  Lastly, to silence the complaints that will surely come from the school board, just start the year one day earlier, or just go an extra day if its that big of a deal with scheduling.

  It would be difficult to do and to organize, but the overall reward is worth it. Students would enjoy it, everyone would get to appreciate the work they did, and it could be a means to make the transition into high school easier for some freshman who may be having trouble with fitting in.

  I made my Facebook account back in August 2007, going into my freshman year of high school. Then, the website had just under 50 million users, so it was already a major site.

  But today, the site has over 500 million users, making it one of the internet’s most visited sites.

  While the majority of Facebook and YouTube users were once citizens of western nations, both sites are now ubiquitous around the world.

  These types of sites fit under the broad term of “social media,” which, essentially, refers to any source that allows people to easily communicate with each other, even across continents

  Now to anyone my age, saying something like this is laughable; we grew up with it. While I’m young enough to remember the “young internet” and the dreadful sound that dial-up made, generally speaking I’ve grown up in a world where I can talk with someone across an ocean or two without getting out of bed or worrying about “long-distance calls.”

  While older generations have most certainly hopped on the social networking band-wagon, I believe there is a difference when you have actually grown up with it.

  But what’s most interesting about social networking sites is the impact it has had on the world. Sure, any student loves the fact that he can easily ask other classmates what the homework is after sleeping through a class, or being able to say hi to an old friend you haven’t seen for a few years, but there have been far more import impacts with the rise of social media.

  The most obvious development in recent history regarding Facebook has been its impact on the protests, uprisings, and successful revolutions that have occurred in North Africa and the Middle East since December 2010.

  In the past few months, Facebook groups have been organized about those killed or brutalized by the oppressive regimes of North Africa, the most famous “page” being “We are all Khaled Said,” which brought attention to Mubarak’s violent actions against the people of Egypt.

  While Facebook cannot by any means be called the sole factor in the revolution, it was certainly an important one; protests were originally organized through the website; and after weeks of protesting Mubarak was successfully taken out of office as the whole world watched Egypt.

  A protestor’s baby was even named Facebook due to the site’s impact on the revolution.

  Facebook has altered the means by which people connect and organize, and that can certainly be seen not only in the recent revolutions, but also in our own community.

  Most know about many major school events long before it is announced on the loudspeakers of SKHS’s halls and classrooms; there is usually a Facebook group made for it long before then.

  It’s now easier than ever for major events, be it a concert or a protest, to be planned out and advertised in just a few days.

  My point here is that social media is not a fad, by any means. Facebook gained 100 million users from February 2010 to July 2010, just half a year. As social media grows its influence will too; no doubt it was a major part of the 2008 presidential elections, but chances are it will have a much greater impact on the upcoming 2012 elections.

  One day it might be the most technologically literate and “socially connected” candidate to be elected to office, though that is obviously a long shot.

  If someone wants to gain influence today, be it a politician or a student with a cause, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are the first places to go to, and while its certainly possible for an individual site to die out, the concept of social media is here to stay, and it’s much easier to work with social media than around it.

  In the coming years, it will make more sense for people to embrace social media, not reject it.

  Social media isn’t just a game; it’s a tool which makes it easier for people to connect with each other than it has ever been. While I’m not saying something like “schools should let us use Facebook,” I am suggesting that something like YouTube, which certainly has many education applications, should be embraced by the school, not blocked.

  While I certainly understand the position some hold of not having a Facebook or a Twitter or anything like that, I do believe that people should be embracing social media for what it is; the fastest form of connecting with people around the world society has ever had.

  Any student that drives to school, or has parents drop him off knows the hectic and crowded situation that the SKHS senior parking lot causes.

  Along with making students and parents frustrated, the lot causes unneeded stress, by creating traffic.           

  This traffic source is caused by poor planning and rule making by both the town and school administration.

  Currently, there are three entrances into the lot: two that lead to the front of the school, and the other to the back lot. To exit these parking zones, one must follow one way roads, merge, and exit by crossing the road that heads toward the back lot.

  This creates traffic, because the parents that drop off their kids need to exit in the same place that students and other parents are trying to enter. This traffic to exit backs up into the front lot, creating long lines to exit the property, which forces seniors to wait for the cars to clear before they are even able spot an open space, and park in the front lot.

  In the afternoon, a similar situation occurs, due to a large amount of students and faculty waiting to exit on a single road.      

  Both the front lot and the back lot exit in the same road, backing up traffic all the way through the school’s parking lots.

  Based on the location of the parking space, a teacher may have to wait close to half an hour before he or she is able to exit the lot.  

  To counteract the situation, many teachers stay in their classrooms after school, grading papers, and waiting for the traffic to clear, and those that live close to the school walk on a regular basis.

  Along with the unneeded burden, the poor planning causes safety risks for students and faculty. At the end of the day, administration waits in the parking lots with walky-talkies, ready to respond to a car accident. In the past year there have been several collisions between students, causing thousands of dollars in damage, but luckily no injuries have been sustained.

  Although this problem would seem difficult to tackle, there are many possibilities that could reduce the amount of traffic.

  First of all, there used to be a back entrance that is currently blocked off. Students refer to this area as the ‘kusty corner,’ but few realize that it could be utilized to reduce traffic.

  The road was blocked off after a student accidentally left his car at the top of the hill leading to the school. The car rolled down the hill and damaged a resident’s property. After the event, student officials, as well as town managers, thought it best to block off the road.

  To reduce the traffic in the school lots, the school could reopen the entrance, but restrict the times that it could be accessed.   Because the rush hours hit immediately before and after school, the school could put in a gate that would only be opened at these times. This would greatly reduce the traffic, because it would double the amount of exits/entrances.

  Even if this solution is unattainable, a redesigning of the entrances would reduce the traffic. Currently there are three entrances all leading to one exit.       If the entrance into the front lot was changed into an exit, then everybody would be entering from one road, but there would be two exits. Considering all of the traffic caused by people trying to leave the lots, this solution would greatly decrease the amount of traffic.

  In the near future, student council hopes to create a student government that will be able to influence school policies. When this goal is attained matters like the parking lot, senior privileges, and other policies could be altered, especially if student support is shown for the cause. To begin all students can support and assist in the creation of the student government, and The alteration of current policies like the school parking lot should be first on the agenda.