FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009
OP/ED
THE SPOKE
11
Gabriella Epstein/ The SPOKE
T o th e E d i t o r
A rather awful midterm
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In light of this past week’s multiple shortened school days, I would like to comment on the unequal amount of time allotted to each class. I have found the current schedule to be inadequate in terms of instruction time. While some classes get the full amount of time each shortened day, other classes do not, and consequently fall behind. This has been detrimental to the scheduling of tests and projects, and in keeping all periods of a given course on the same track. For example, due to the need to stay on an accelerated track in AP courses, test dates are not easily changed and therefore the classes that meet later in the day had more time to learn and prepare for the exams at the end of this week. Kaitlyn Kiely Junior Dear Editor, The recent article by Seth Zweifler (Coming out in the classroom, Dec. 2008) was very eye-opening, and the follow up on LGBT education in high-school was well informed. However, the education cannot come while our government stands in the way. It is distressing to learn that our very own country would not sign the “United Nations declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity”. This resolution was an effort not to make gay marriage legal, but to decriminalize homosexuality. Our government has signed on with the 77 countries where homosexuality is a crime (and in seven of those it is punishable by death) to attempt to stop the passing of this resolution. While our President Elect has stated explicitly that he is opposed to gay marriage, one would hope that he keeps homosexuality legal. Andy Bazany Sophomore
By Meredith Mayer Managing Editor My mother has taught me countless important lessons in my 17 years of life. Clean up your own messes. Play nicely with the other kids. The only way to focus and study is at a quiet desk in warm and well-lit area. And until recently, I scoffed at the latter of her lessons. I stubbornly study on the floor of my room with music playing from my speakers on top of my bookcase with a cup of tea cradled in one hand and a pen in the other. I know that doesn’t make me an anomaly among our student body, but I never realized how right she was until I sat down to take my science midterm in the cafeteria last Monday. Now, I’ve taken my fair share of exams in the cafeteria. Honestly, taking an exam in the cafeteria at least offers more elbow room than attempting the same feat in those delightful cramped triangular desks in the math department. Normally, other than the smells of discarded breakfasts lingering in the warm air, the cafeteria is a quiet place to take a test. My science midterm, however, violated my mother’s studying rule and the usual experience I was used to. The joy of alphabetical seating scored me a seat sharing a circular table directly in front of the cashier area. Since the snow day pushed science ex-
ams to Monday, giving us an exam followed by an abbreviated full day of school, the cafeteria staff had to prepare for lunch time. That meant my class and I were treated to the collective noise that it takes to prepare lunch for the building. And, since I was seated directly in front of the main lobby entrance to the cafeteria, all of the people coming into the meeting being held in the faculty dining room opened the doors behind me letting in a blast of frigid air and allowing the doors to slam behind them. Was I really supposed to be able to focus enough to take a test that counts as ten percent of my final course grade? Quite frankly, it was impossible to focus for longer than five minutes before I was treated to the clatter of a pots and pans banging together, the noise of the radio in the kitchen or the slamming of the doors behind me. I place no blame on the cafeteria staff. They were simply doing their jobs. And my teacher had no way of anticipating all of the issues. If the exam had occurred as regularly scheduled, my class and I wouldn’t have experienced these difficulties. But why didn’t the administration foresee this issue? The solution could have been as simple as closing the doors to the food preparation area, moving the meeting and putting signs on the doors requesting silence during the exam. The administration maintains that the cafeteria offers teachers equal access to their students and is therefore a good space to utilize for testing. I just hope that my experience will cause them to rethink their decision. In the movie “Forest Gump,” Forest says, “Mama always said, life was like a box of chocolate.You never know what you’re going to get.” I just hope next time I get a quieter chocolate. Meredith Mayer can be reached at mmayer@stoganews.com.