“We’re so close to the end, but there’s one more issue left ... ahh, let it be over.”
Shh: GLOW students took a break at lunch on the Day of Silence pg. 6 Making a CD: Want to know how its done? Check out the cool ways to get your stuff on a CD. pg.3 April 28, 2005 Volume XVI, Issue 8
Dexter High School 2200N. Parker Road Dexter, MI 48130
Watch out: Senior girl has a black belt, better stay on her good side. pg.10
New student press freedom bill waiting in education committee Sarah Craft editor in chief
Photo illustration by Mike Vickers
Students have ability to hack █Increased knowledge in technology could allow students to tap into the school’s system and change their grades.
Michelle Svetkoff managing editor
Changing a grade used to be possible only when a student tried harder the next quarter. But with advances in technology, changing a grade is now possible through computer hacking. “If you know what you’re doing,” junior Spencer Ryan said, “it’s not hard.” According to Ryan, Dexter High School’s grading system is very vulnerable to a hacker changing grades. “It’s the way (teachers) turn in grades,” he said. “They just turn their grades into a folder on their desktops. That folder isn’t protected at all, so anyone can change (the grades).” According to Ryan, to change grades students only have to know one teacher’s login and that student will have access to all of the grades. To prevent such hacking tech support person Phyllis Risdon says that
it’s important for teachers to keep their passwords secret. Besides password concealment, Ryan said the only way to change the glitch is to buy a new system. But changing the system would not necessarily eliminate the problem. “Any system can be hacked,” tech support person Roger Johnson said. “No matter whose it is. There are just varying degrees of hacking.” If the system were hacked into, Johnson said he would have to check the various levels to which the system could be hacked. “I would have to look for security breeches,” he said, “from the server up, to see where the weaknesses are.” Administrators say they know of no one who has changed their grades or hacked into the system, but they acknowledge that it is possible. District technology director Richard Weaver did not return phone calls seeking comment on the situation.
Hacking isn’t the only way students can change their grades. Students can also scan their report cards and change their grades. Although this does not change the students actual GPA, it does hide grades from parents. According to senior Mark Messmore, who considers himself a hardware hacker, the scan change really is not that hard to do. “If you have a scanner and a powerful program like Photoshop,” he said, “all you have to do is take a letter already on the sheet and duplicate it. It’s very simple.” Senior Steve Cavanaugh said he has changed some student’s progress reports even though it only changes the grades on that paper and not actually on the transcript. “Think about the kids that come and ask,” Messmore said. “They are dumb people. (They) don’t understand that when you change your progress report, you don’t change your transcript.”
Senator Michael Switalski introduced Senate Bill No. 156 to the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 3. According to Michigan Interscholastic Press Association legislative chair Gloria Olman, the bill was created to prevent public school administrators from censoring student publications unless the content is obscene, defamatory, advertises a product illegal for minors or could disrupt the school day. Journalism adviser Rod Satterthwaite said he supports the bill. “The biggest problem is that administrators often misunderstand what the bill says,” Satterthwaite said. “You can’t censor something just because you don’t like it. “It has to be libel or obscenity. The bill will make that clearer to administrators.” Olman said she too hopes the bill will pass so students can have the right to publish what they want. “The bill protects students, advisers and anyone else who wants to use the First Amendment,” she said. “People need to understand and exercise their First Amendment rights, and this will help them do that.”
Friday Night Lights for spring sports Sarah Craft editor in chief
Accessible: Grades of all the teachers are accessible and changeable by students who know where to look.
No problems yet: Although he has never had much trouble with censorship, journalism teacher Rod Satterthwaite said he still supports Senate Bill 156. “Our current administration has been very supportive of our paper,” he said.
Cindy Glahn, president of the Athletic Booster Club of Dexter, will host a spring pep rally called Friday Night Lights at Ulrich Field at Creekside on May 13. “We’re playing games and having different clubs set up tables to advertise for their club or sport,” she said. “We want it to have sort of a carnival theme to draw people from the school system as well as from the community.” And supporting school athletics isn’t all ABCD promotes Glahn said. They’re trying to support school spirit too. “We do usually focus on athletics alone, but in increasing school spirit, we’re also increasing sports attendance,” she said. “We’re really excited about this event. We’re hoping for a large crowd and just a really fun night.”
█ABDC will host a pep rally on May 13 at Ulrich Field
Community members questions district’s honesty █After “The Community Observer” publishes an article questioning the district’s finances, even more controversy spurred over budget cuts.
Transportation cuts worry parent
Hillary McCown and Brandon Mayotte copy and image editor
happened in any way, shape or form.” The Observer also accuses the board of holding meetings in private without posting notices of them in adIn early Spring “The Community Observer,” a local vance. Many of them were held at Zanzibar Restaurant in news magazine, published an article titled “Fuzzy Math” accusing the Dexter school board of sloppy record keep- Ann Arbor, with only three board members, Spargur and ing and digging the already troubled budget deeper into a few others present. Lundy said in The Observer article, “(We) did not want financial crisis. The Observer introduced what they said are a plethora to be holding up construction to call a meeting of (the full of budget and record problems in the district, including board) to decide, when they were not actively involved.” However, when interviewed by The Squall, Lundy a $4.7 million hole in the record books, the destruction of over two truckloads of documents by former superin- said, “I don’t believe (the meetings) were private,” but tendent Bill Spargur, the holding of private school board that it was a “murky legal area” and said he couldn’t commeetings, unannounced to the public as is required by ment further. As for the $63,332 given to Spargur, Superintendent law and the issue of $63,332 to Spargur for “a few eEvelyn Shirk said the money was mails” after he retired. due to Spargur’s contract. According to the article, the district From a practical point of view, I think (the In June of 2003, Shirk said a spent a total of $6.1 million in bond board) did a wonderful job. I don’t believe group of board members created a money on equipment, furniture and the (Observer) article represents what hap- Retirement/Separation Agreement fixtures between 2000 and 2002, while pened in any way shape or form.. that would allow for Spargur’s reskeeping no inventory of its assets. ignation to be accepted in NovemHowever, the latest audit, done on -Richard Lundy, ber 2003, with his last work day beJune of 2004, revealed only $1.4 milBoard treasurer ing June 30 of that year. lion for the said purchases, leaving “I was able to negotiate a retirement agreement that $4.7 million unaccounted for. Spargur, however, says that he has no idea where The was satisfactory to myself and the board,” Spargur said about the Retirement/Seperation Agreement. “It was apObserver got this figure. “All funds in the bond were accounted for and ap- proved (unanimously) in a public meeting.” According to Shirk, “(Spargur’s original ) contract ran proved by the Board of Education,” he said. “The bond was audited every year with no discrepancies and a final through the 2004-05 school year. “According to the contract, if the board terminated the audit completed at the end of the bond.” But The Observer article said 100 items, including contract early, he would have been entitled to 15 month computers, video recorders, televisions and cameras are severance pay.” Because of that, a choice had to be made to either pay in currently unknown locations, which according to they, Spargur the $63,332 or give him the severance pay which due to “haphazard” record keeping. Board Treasurer Richard Lundy, however, said, “From Shirk said would have been much more. a practical point of view, I think (the board) did a won The next issue of The Squall will contain a continuation of this story including derful job. “I don’t believe the (Observer) article represents what interviews with the editor of The Community Observer, Shirk, Spargur and others.
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Christina Field photography manager
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I knew the job of superintendent would be challenging, and this job has proven to be just that.
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-Evelyn Shirk, Superintendent
Trying their best: After struggling with negative press from “The Community Observer,” Superintendent Evelyn Shirk said the district is doing its best to inform community members of facts regarding the district’s budget.
With budget cuts being discussed for next school year, some parents are concerned about how cutting back on expenses will affect their children. At the board of education meeting on March 21, parent Julie Stotlar, whose daughter Lauren Stotlar was killed in a school bus accident five years ago, expressed her concerns. Addressing the board, Stotlar made it clear that the school needs to have sufficient funding for the transportation department or offer none at all. In the statement Stotlar gave to the Board, she said it was the way the transportation system was managed before current director Robert Poor that resulted in her daughter’s death. A court document obtained from the National Coalition For School Bus Safety (NCSBS) alleges that Heather Armbruster, the bus driver that struck Lauren, had numerous complaints filed against her during her four years as a Dexter bus driver. The NCSBS document said the complaints included driving over speed limits, skidding to stops and
screeching away from stops, speaking abusively and profanely to schoolchildren, striking a car with the bus, hitting curbs and mailboxes and driving the bus into a ditch on two occasions requiring evacuation of school children. In an e-mail, transportation director Robert Poor said regarding complaints against bus drivers. “We take all complaints seriously and have a concern and complaint form that is filled out and all complaints are investigated and the outcome is communicated with the complainant.” In terms of the budget, Board of Education treasurer Dick Lundy said that cutting from the transportation system would certainly be reviewed since this department still has unspent money in its budget. Poor, however, said that there are so many ways his budget can be cut. “We only have a few ways to limit costs of transportation, the biggest way is to limit service,” he said. Stotlar, however, said any transportation cuts are dangerous. “I basically went (to the board meeting) to remind them to follow policy and procedures,” she said. “And if cuts had to be made, don’t take from the transportation system.”