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corinthian
CORINTHIAN Different times bring different humor
I
STAFF
’m sitting in class, minding my own business, when the guy next to me says to his friend, “dare me to snort some hand sanitizer?” Of course, his friend replies with an enthusiastic “hell yea.” I couldn’t believe these two. Why would this guy want to do something as idiotic as to snort hand sanitizer? There are several reasons why this is a bad idea: A) I don’t think that’s very sanitary, B) that’s gross and C) isn’t that dangerous? I tried to stop him. Apparently my cries of “Don’t be stupid!” and “Don’t do it!” were futile, because up his nose went the hand sanitizer. “Ow, that burned!” was all he said. Everybody laughed at his little stunt (even him). That’s probably when I realized that he did it all for a laugh. What a poor attempt at a comedic performance. And of course it’s not like this asinine behavior is frowned upon by my peers. It’s an innocent act when compared to the charades of Johnny Knoxville and Wee-
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
CELIDA GASTELUM STEPHEN MACKO MANAGING EDITOR
CONNOR JOHNSON JULIE MANTE PHOTO EDITOR
MICHAEL BARTON NEWS EDITOR
JOVANA MERCADO FEATURES EDITOR
JAMIEE COOK A&E EDITOR
KATIE BURNS BUSINESS MANAGER
WILLIAM RUTHERFORD WEBSITE EDITORS
ANTHONY JIMENEZ LUIS URBANO REPORTERS:
KILEY BROCKFIELD AMRIT CHOWDHARY JAKE DUFFY ALEXANDRA FALK MONICA JOHNSON COREY KIRK NAGIEB MUSAID CHRISTINA ZUNIGA ADVISOR
JIM MCCARTHY The Corinthian is the official student run and student produced newspaper of Grace Davis High School. Established as a forum for student expression, this publication provides a full opportunity for students to inquire, question, and exchange ideas. The Corinthian Editorial Board exercises the right to determine the content of this newspaper. Students and staff are encouraged to write letters to the editor that reflect their opinions or reflect stories or happenings around school or in the community. Letters and editorials may be submitted to us either by emailing them to corinthian@monet.k12.ca.us, dropping them in Mr. McCarthy’s staff box in the main office, or by bringing them to room 613. All letters and/ or editorials sent to The Corinthian will be considered for publication providing they are typed or printed neatly with the writer(s) first and last name(s) and grade level(s). Letters and/or editorials that contain libelous information, obscenities, personal attacks, or gossip will not be considered for publication. The Corinthian reserves the right to edit or censor the contents of any letter and/or editorial considered for publication. Any editorial and/or letter represents the opinion of the writer and not the opinion of the staff of The Corinthian.
M EMBER
man from Jackass, or the stunts performed on Scarred. What does this say about my generation? Not much. Some of the most evolved type of comedy, such as satire, eludes our simple minds. Works like Candide go right over the heads of many of my peers. Some even
CELIDA GASTELUM Editor-in-Chief
think that the Colbert Report is a real news program. Little piece of advice here: the “comedy” part of Comedy Central is a dead give away. We laugh at things that make every other generation cringe. And it’s not like we’re original in our “jokes” either. They are all “that’s what she said” (a joke that relates to sexual innuendos) and bad renditions of other jokes made by comedians, like “oh, you got burned” and “your mom” jokes. When I overhear people talking in the hall, I can’t help but say (in my head) “that’s what she said.” Some of my more crude friends say it out loud. Everything has become a double
entendre, and my friends and I can’t help but laugh whenever an old person (somebody over the age of twenty one) says something that we know could be made a dirty joke if phrased differently. For example, I’m sitting in English (it’s first period so I’m not really functioning) and Ms. Barr said something. I don’t remember what it was but I could hear snickering coming from Dawn’s direction so immediately I know that whatever it was that she said could have been dirty, and we exchange knowing looks from across the classroom as I start to smile. We have become predisposed to connect anything to sexual humor. How did we come to this? How did we come to the point of finding the most ludicrous things even remotely funny? I highly doubt that half of the people out there can catch satire and think it’s funny. Parodies, yeah, because of movies like Date Movie and Meet the Spartans, but the most evolved kind of comedy? No, which is a shame because there are a lot of funny things in the world that we don’t catch.
What irks me the most is that this type of comedy has now become the norm. Eliminate “Jackass” humor and sexual innuendoes and the world is no longer funny. Gone are the days of “knock, knock” jokes and zingy one-liners. The constant vulgarity that spills out of our mouths everyday has been made common enough that we don’t even flinch at the atrocious comedic performances displayed through our everyday lives. Its’ not only teenagers that are acting like this. We are teaching the younger generation that it’s ok to have a guttermind, to make dim-witted, vulgar comments and to laugh at the superficiality of our society. We are teaching them that it’s okay to make jokes without any reason or substance to them, as long as they have an audience that will laugh and cheer them on. We need to remember that although this is accepted as the norm, we cannot act like this forever. We need to grow up and learn that snorting hand sanitizer is not the funniest thing in the world- if it was ever funny to begin with.
Gregori will provide Davis with breathing room
G
regori High school has been planned for many years, but now that this school is finally under construction, the question concerning many Davis students is how its opening will affect us. Davis High School and over population have been associated for a long time. Walking the halls or entering a classroom shows that this school needs more room, or less people on campus. Gregori’s main intention is to help with this problem. Overpopulation, at not only our school, but at Modesto High, brought the district to realize that going through with the building of Gregori, though difficult, was crucial. “For a four year enrollment at Gregori we’re expecting to see a little over 1,700 kids, and we’re hoping to see about 500 to 700 of those from Davis, so that should help with some population problems,” said Modesto City Schools Director of Planning and Research Dana McGarry The state of Davis High
School is constantly discussed, not only by its students, but by students of other schools as well. A small campus, limited gym space, and no football field are among the disadvantages Davis faces. I completely understand the need for
KILEY BROCKFIELD Corinthian Staff
another high school; population overrides the facilities. Modesto is not what it was back in 1961. Gregori High will help to take population stress off of Davis’ campus. Imagine walking to and from your locker without having to jump in, on, and around people. Imagine being able to get a chicken wrap at lunch without having to wait 25 minutes with being cut 4 times. With 500 plus, less people on campus, surely some of our issues will be solved. At the same time though, I fear that a “brand new school’s” needs will override that of the old one which, in many aspects, is falling apart. Yes, I think that the district should have worked to create Gregori, but I also think they
should have worked to make improvements here at Davis. I understand money, and that it is not unlimited, but I also do not think that Enochs needed a Gym that looks like a college gymnasium while we fear falling over our “safety hazard benches”. I know that the people down at the district work hard to do a good job, but I, as well as my fellow Spartans, cannot help but feel a little neglected sometimes. I feel like the building of Gregori, while an effort to help our population problem -some say crisis- is just going to cause more of a distraction for us from the district. They say that there is money put aside for Davis’ modernization, where many of the flaws us students see in our school will be fixed, but the cynical part of me cannot help but question this reasoning. When Gregori is estimated to open in September of 2010, it will not only open its doors to Freshman and Sophomores who now call it home, but also to our principal, Jeff Albrittion, along with other staff. “At Gregori, I am excited about
starting new traditions and hiring a new staff that is enthusiastic about making history in helping to welcome in the first class to graduate there,” said Principal Jeff Albritton. What does that mean for Davis? A new principal. The job of Davis High principal will be posted by district human resource, and superintendent will choose who they think is right for the job. “I would defiinitely love to become the principal here at Davis—I love Davis—but that isn’t my decision to make,” said Associate Principal Scott Genzmer How will a new principal affect policies at Davis? In my opinion, Mr. Albritton has been as great principal. He has been great about interacting with students and about instituting rules that he has thought fair. Will a new principal be as fair and as accessible? It is impossible for us to know how exactly a new high school is going to affect us. Only time will give us answers to our questions. Until 2010 we can only wait with anticipation for those answers.
How have you had to adapt to be able to survive at Davis? “Don’t rush to class because you will get run over.”
“I’m just friendly so that I can meet a lot of friends.”
Hend Sadeeh
Chris Layos
Senior
Junior
“I’m patient through the halls.”
Keyaira Cornish
Freshman
“I just don’t really care too much about what goes on.”
Kyle Johnson Sophomore