A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

Don’t be a

Party Pooper

shay lawson co editor-in-chief

Throwing a party was the quickest way I learned more about myself. Between choosing the perfect playlist that makes people want to get up and dance around and preparing a cute setup of delicious food, it is no secret that throwing a party can be stressful. And even though people may get bored and leave or a ginormous layer of chips and salsa covers the floor, inviting people over to your home is worth it because it makes you a creator, not a consumer.

Hosting teaches you how to embrace stress

When throwing a party, anything can go wrong. There can be spills and messes. During these situations stress levels are high, but the way you handle it tells you a lot about yourself.

3 2 Organization Skills Improve 4 There is nothing more kind than opening your home to your companions. With that also comes the task of serving them and making sure everyone is comfortable. That takes compassion. It’s more than being a good host — it’s having manners.

Throwing a party is extremely exciting. It is one of the best ways to create anticipation and have something exciting to look forward to. There is nothing better than friends, food and music. The combination of the three is what you get at a party, and it makes you happy. It’s fun Before people come over to your house, most likely you will not want them walking into an absolute pigsty. Whether you are the anxious neat freak who deep cleans your house or someone who is more comfortable and confident about your clutter, your coordination skills advance. 5 Boost Courage | DESIGN BY SHAY LAWSON Being able to ask people to come into your home takes major risk. Your home is you. It is personal and reveals every detail about your life. Hosting others offers the opportunity to exercise a social boost. It takes courage to let people in and face their opinions about the food you prepared or how a conversation might go. Take a risk, and have a party. Improves Generosity

26 | march 2020 | opinion & ads Dated Feb. 12, 2020 Good afternoon,

Last week, we had the opportunity to read this month’s Tiger Print Newspaper. After reading the opinion article, the Student Council Executive Board had a few concerns that we wanted to speak with you about. While we do understand the nature of an opinion article and that students have the freedom to express their opinions publicly, we found that the article portrayed Student Council in a negative manner. Having been involved with the planning of our dances, we feel that we can provide additional information that may clarify some of the points made in the article. The article stated that our dances are produced with a “tiny budget.” With each dance, Student Council spend an average of $6,000 for our DJ and decorations. This year especially, we have allocated an increased amount of monetary resources to improve our student’s experience at the dance. We have modified our DJ and dance set-up this year in order to better accommodate the opinions of students who have provided input in our numerous student surveys. This brings us to our second point. Student Council is an organization that welcomes representatives from other organizations. Our Friday meetings at 7:10 am in the Fixed Forum are open to all students to attend and provide input about what they would like implemented in our school. If students have concerns about dance themes and decorations, they are encouraged to provide feedback to Student Council members through either direct contact, surveys, or attendance at our meetings.

Again, we understand that students have the right to their opinion. This article, though, misrepresents the culture of our Student Council. Student Council strives to continue the development and support of a family culture at BVHS. Outside of our dances, Student Council funds and organizes many school traditions, such as Donut Days and class activities (like Commencement). We believe in our Tiger community and always support other student organizations in their endeavors. And while everyone is entitled to their opinion on school activities, we believe that student organizations should promote the culture administrators, teachers, and students work hard to develop. Student Council members, at all levels, work hard each and every day to optimize the student body’s experience at school. The efforts of our members are often unrecognized by our peers, but still they continue their work to organize Hallway Decorations, Spirit Days, Dances, and grade-specific activities.

This year’s Sweetheart was one of our most successful dances that we have had in history. We had over 600 students in attendance, contributing to our continued support for school-sponsored dances. The money raised from our dances is used to fund staff appreciation activities, student financial needs, and various events that promote our school culture.

We hope that in the future, we are allowed the opportunity to provide the facts on the nature of our organization, in order to prevent the spread of misinformation. We can’t change your opinion of our organization, nor do we intend to, but we do hope that this letter has enlightened you of the factual basis of the Student Council Organization. On behalf of Student Council, we hope that the student body enjoyed our Sweetheart activities this year and will provide their input formally in our future surveys to help us improve our events.

Thank you, Student Council Executive Officers Surina Walia, president Anna Van Brunt, vice president Regan LeValley, secretary Peyton Heaney, treasurer Letter to the Editor

Rush Alterations

Mona’s ALTERATIONS Mona’s ALTERATIONS & CLEANERS & CLEANERS

Boys Don’t CryBoys Don’t Cry

Masculinity needs to be redefined in today’s society

liam dale staff writer

The epidemic of men with underdeveloped psychological traits due to outdated societal expectations is stunting the growth of social progress.

As a society, we need to take a step back and look at the rules we have set for ourselves and consider the issues they create. The ball is in men’s court for these outdated roles to change.

Men are in positions of power, and most issues that exclusively affect men were created by men. In contrast, the majority of women’s societal obstacles are in place because of men.

The attitude of many people is to blame women for a system of which they cannot change without men’s cooperation. For example, if a woman is sexually assaulted or raped, there should be no blame placed on her. The blame should be entirely placed on the rapist regardless of the victim’s failure to avoid the situation.

Women dressing modestly, carrying pepper spray or doing anything to try to protect themselves from these tragic occurrences is a short-term solution.

The only way to fix problems like these is to teach men to not rape.

This isn’t only applicable to issues as important as rape but smaller aggressions such as men talking over women. Women shouldn’t be expected to be more assertive or louder. Men need to be taught to shut up and listen.

Men face their struggles, too. Perhaps the worst of men’s problems is the notion that challenging the definition

of masculinity makes you less masculine.

This is the root of gender issues, a cycle that keeps these outdated ideas from progressing.

If a man does something as silly as wearing traditionally feminine clothing, many men would be quick to call that person gay or girly. But if these men were brave enough to look at this situation logically, they would embrace the other man’s expression.

It makes no sense that certain types of clothes or jewelry would be associated with masculine or feminine. There is no biological inclination for women to wear something like skirts more than men.

There is also no reason for someone’s sexual orientation to influence their social standing.

The reason masculinity needs to change instead of femininity or gender roles as a whole is because most of the issues created by gender are issues stemming from a bad definition of masculinity. There will be no change until men are willing to be brave enough to embrace their individual differences and update the definition of what it means to be masculine.

What does it mean to be a man?

“The phrase ‘be a man’ [means] to protect a woman when you see something going wrong.” - Jackson Breshears, 12

“Someone that is actually following what it means to be masculine is someone that believes in [gender] equality.” - Carson Hunter,11 What does it mean to be masculine?

Police and Complacency

Standards for law enforcement in America promote violence

spencer norman staff writer

Since our adolescence, we’ve been taught the police are here to protect us from the things we fear — but what we should fear is the police themselves.

Police aren’t held accountable for their violence toward their families and those in poverty. There needs to be greater scrutiny toward law enforcement from both the public and their fellow officers.

Police develop a superiority complex, coinciding with the justified feeling of being “above the law,” which has been proven to be true. As reported in Police Integrity Lost: A Study of Law Enforcement Officers Arrested composed under the U.S. Department of Justice, an average of officers arrested for offenses ranging from murder to drunken driving, only 54 percent were fired and 37.5 percent arrested for domestic violence lost their jobs. Considering these are allegations, an even smaller percentage of officers guilty of domestic assault receive harsher punishments, such as conviction or termination, for their crimes.

A considerable number of officers are permitted to resign, rather than be fired, which allows for them to retain law enforcement certification. When an officer resigns, they merely have to leave the precinct they were formerly employed within, retaining the ability to join a law enforcement agency of another precinct.

According to Police Integrity Lost: A Study of Law Enforcement Officers Arrested, only “two-thirds of the [police officer] arrest cases originated from an arrest made by an agency other than the employing agency.”

There is an obvious complacency with the actions of police officers within law enforcement, by both fellow officers and by the lack of regulation within governmentfunded law enforcement, as two-thirds well exceeds more than a margin of error in the supervision of police officers. A lack of legal repercussions and regulation of their actions makes police officers feel they are free to abuse their own families, whether it be verbally or physically.

It’s been found that at least 40 percent of police officers’ families experience domestic violence, according to On the Front Lines: Police Stress and Family Well-Being by Johnson, L.B.

The reality is there’s an even greater number of cases that remain unreported out of fear of the potential further abuse from the police officer.

Police violence isn’t limited to home, as police are fearless to discharge their weapon before considering a pacifistic approach. On Dec. 5, 2019 in Coral Gables, Florida, a shootout occurred between two jewelry store robbers and 21 law enforcement officers, 19 of whom opened fire. The robbers hijacked a UPS delivery truck, taking the driver hostage. Fatalities from the event totaled in the two suspects, the UPS driver and a bystander. Video footage of the incident shows police officers using civilians’ cars as protection from the robbers, with little regard for the civilians put in the line of fire. As said by a press statement made by UPS, the shootout was a “senseless act of violence.”

While some may be able to call the shooting an involuntary involvement of civilians, there are definite examples of police intentionally isolating civilians.

Police can be found targeting those in poverty, especially the homeless. Two officers of the Mobile, Alabama, police force were photographed holding a “homeless quilt,” constructed out of cardboard signs collected from panhandlers. Their actions, at the very least, mock those less fortunate, potentially harming the panhandlers as police actively attempt to prevent achievement of survival from charity. Police universally aim to damage the lives of anybody unprotected by the law.

The people we pay to protect us from violence are the ones most commonly inflicting it upon others. They work out of self-interest, disregarding the poor or their own family.

As philosopher Noam Chomsky said, “Unless the powerful are capable of learning to respect the dignity of their victims, impassable barriers will remain, and the world will be doomed to violence, cruelty and bitter suffering.”