opinion3
wingspan • december 11, 2009
• Staff Editorial Despite efforts, intolerance remains a problem for students
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Do you think that intolerance is a problem among students?
realize what they’re doing wrong. Once we accept the fact that we are spreading misunderstanding, then we can try to come together as one group. Cliques should be less exclusive and try to include others. Yes, keep the same group of friends, but make others feel welcome as well. Hanging out with people who have similar interests is fine, but expanding our horizons will only ben-
“I think it exists, yes, but it isn’t really the biggest issue here at West. I believe there are other problems that the school needs to focus on more, like students using tobacco on campus.”
Jessica Nicholson freshman
“There are some people that are like ‘Asians!’ That’s not really much of a problem, though. Other than that I haven’t really experienced any problems with discrimination here at West.” Charlie Hyunh sophomore
efit everyone in the long run. Maybe the deer hunter can befriend the vegan, and the basketball player talk to the bookworm. Being different is OK. We are all individuals, and our uniqueness should be celebrated, not torn down. If we can learn to love the differences in others, school can become more enjoyable for everyone. “I believe discrimination does exist here at West. Some people think it doesn’t, and it doesn’t in a major way like it used to, but there is still some discrimination going on.”
Hunter Hill junior
“I don’t think it’s a major problem. Teachers don’t discriminate, and I feel we as students don’t discriminate really bad. There’s not any on the sports teams except based on ability.” Taylor Bryson senior
• Viewpoint
Should the public school year calendar be extended?
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he United States has kept up the reputation of a truly intelligent country until a few years ago when we were surpassed by China and India in average test scores. Since then, it has only become worse. In an increasingly competitive global society with a depressed economy, excellence in education is the new frontier. President Barack Obama proposed on March 10 in a speech on U.S. education that time be added to the Alisha Carland school day and days to the school calendar. Feature Writer Among major industrialized nations, the U.S. has one of the shortest school years. “We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land at the end of each day,” Obama said. “That calendar may have once made sense, but today it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea. That is no way to prepare them for a 21st century economy.” According to herms-press.com, 20 years ago the U.S. ranked number one in the number of high school students to graduate with diplomas. Now we can barely hold number nine, falling behind countries in Europe and Asia. Today, 30 percent of high school students drop out of school and 50 percent will never go to college. The reason countries such as China and India are surpassing us is that their students go to school longer than the average American student. Statistics show that they go at least 25-30 percent longer than traditional American schools. Japanese students go to school 201 days out of the year while American students go 180 days. Japanese Standardized Achievement Test scores were approximately 25 percent higher than American. Statistics also show that changing the structure of the school calendar doesn’t boost test scores; adding on more school times does. The additional hours allow students to complete more homework in school and allow them time to participate in more activities. With more time spent in school, students can take a wider range of classes that they might be interested in. This opportunity provides students with a better chance for a bright future in a comfortable career. “Our children aren’t competing for jobs down the block or in the state, they’re competing against children in India and China,” Kevin Carey of the US Education Sector said. Not only does a longer school year help students, but it helps teachers as well. Teachers who participate in this new plan could receive, on average, a 9 to 18 percent pay raise. With a longer year, teachers can space out the curriculum and spend more time with each individual student. America is mired in difficult times, and students are the ones who can save it. They need a proper education to get better jobs, and more time in school will equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Joy Owens Jessica Tobin MANAGING EDITOR Elizabeth Huntley SENIOR EDITORS Kyle Keith Ryan Duckett
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Kiersten Ellsworth ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Lindsey Fore
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Katie Huntley
ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS Meredith Cole Hailey Robinson
JUNIOR EDITOR Katie King
FEATURE EDITOR Ashley Roy
NEWS EDITOR Carly Holland
ASSISTANT FEATURE EDITOR Whitney Howell
OPINION EDITOR Kaylan Proctor ASSISTANT OPINION EDITORS Kayla Sciupider Josh Wentzel SPORTS EDITOR Matt Thielke ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS Kevin Robinson Camen Royse
Ignorance is no excuse, right?
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Art by Katie Huntley
ooking around a cafeteria at lunchtime, students sit separated from each other based on their groups, the people they feel similar to. The basketball team sits in one spot, the band kids at another and the Hispanics at yet another spot. The cliques are oil and water; they don’t mix. West is similar to other high schools in the intolerance among our students. They are separated: some by choice, some by peer pressure, into groups that are filled with people just like them. Nobody wants to let in outsiders, those who are different. Differences scare students, and it’s become about more than just race or religious beliefs. Perhaps it’s due to the sport one plays, the classes one takes or the clubs one joins. Each group has its own criteria for fitting in. This can lead to prejudice and discrimination toward people who don’t fit that particular mold. It’s not necessarily malicious hate, but the snide, under-the-breath comments can be just as hurtful. Sometimes students don’t even realize that they’re offending others with their actions. They may not know that refusing to include someone in a certain activity can be interpreted as discrimination. Even the most “popular” groups can receive cruelty from others. Students may resent their exclusivity and decide to punish them for it. Often, it’s unfair. Intolerance can be based on traits that people can’t change, or friends they have had since they were children. It can be based on their family’s religion, something they were given no choice about. We as a student body first need to recognize all of the forms of discrimination we practice every day. Some may not realize that what they do is classified as intolerance, but their actions can’t be corrected until they
The Girl Next Door
FEATURE WRITERS Alisha Carland Natalie Rice Catherine Swift Michael Turlington STAFF WRITERS Collin Armstrong Mariah Case Zac Cole Ashley Heywood Hailey Johns Miri McClung Amy Taylor Kristen Woods
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n recent weeks the issue of extending the school year has become a topic of much debate with even President Barack Obama himself endorsing a longer school year. But just how much school should we have? A longstanding argument has been that a longer school year results in proportionally more successful adults. But more importantly is what kind of schooling is most effective. It’s obvious that American students need Josh Wentzel better educations: the United Nations eduAsst. Opinion Editor cation index ranks the United States just above Kazakhstan and behind such nations as Greece and Slovenia. Even more striking is that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development doesn’t even have the United States on its list of the top 20 countries by education in the areas of science, reading and math. What we must realize in promoting longer school days and years is that we are promoting longer school times under American educational methods, not necessarily the methods of our educational and economic competitors on the world stage. More hours alone won’t improve American education because what is important is how those hours are spent. The idea of extending the school year has been dabbled with over the years; one New Orleans school tried a 220 school day schedule, the same as South Korea’s, but school officials saw very little improvement in test scores. So if South Korean children test higher than average American children with the same number of school days, what must the other factors be? Although education in the United States undoubtedly needs improvement, it does not need to come at the expense of summer break when perhaps a longer school year won’t necessarily be effective. The major differences are the quality of education, the societal attitudes toward education and the after-school time spent on educational activities. Typically, after Korean students finish their school day, they spend time with one of several tutors for several more hours. The Korean military even grounded all jets during college entrance exams. Yet another important difference between American schools and those of our competitor nations is the emphasis on foreign language. Foreign languages are stressed much earlier in a student’s education in other countries. If we steadily introduce languages at a young age, students will absorb them more naturally. Gradually introducing a new language will free class time in high schools as well which will allow for more high school focus on those educational areas that American students are lacking in.
wingspan
Talons & Feathers Feather to all the fall sports teams for their successful seasons, especially teams that qualified for state Talon to the vandalism of the senior steps by former West students Feather to the Flying Falcon Marching Band for its first place wins in recent band competitions Feather to the Honors Theater class for its performance at the NCTC competition at Western Carolina University
gnorance of the law excuses no man.” Oh, the wise saying of some dead white male. This statement should in theory be true, correct? Laws are based on common sense, written to protect and uphold all that is virtuous, tearing down the immoral and building upon and protecting the strong, moral foundations of society. Every person is imbedded with an innate sense and keen Kaylan Proctor discernment between right and wrong. Therefore, there is no such thing as this “ignorance” he spoke of. But what if I, traveling through the Midwest to the small town of Joliet, Ill. (because there is very important business to be done in a town that is one giant cornfield, of course), stop to ask the seemingly friendly policeman for directions to the nearest hotel in “Jolly-ette.” Before telling me to turn left at the stop sign ahead, he politely tells me that, because I failed to pronounce the town’s name as “Joe-leeette,” I am fined $5. Does the statement “ignorance excuses no man,” apply even then? Is that particular law based upon moral standards? Does it uphold and protect all that is correct and upstanding? This law was not built upon an already present knowledge between right and wrong, between the criminal and the righteous. I like to think that my parents taught me well; I like to think that they instilled in me a wise and keen natural discernment between what I should do and what I should not do. When I refused to share with my sister or took things that were not mine, I got a time out. When I drew on the walls with my bright assortment of Crayola crayons or cut my little sister’s hair, they quickly made sure that I felt immediate remorse for my actions. They made sure that I knew lying was wrong, cheating was bad and hurting someone else was never OK, even if they did hit you in the head with a soccer ball during recess. Now as a senior in high school, I know all these things are wrong and I can take the small things my parents taught me and apply them to the bigger picture. But in the situation I described, should the words “I didn’t know, Officer,” be a legitimate excuse? What if I, an avid member of domino games, happen to be playing an intensely exhilarating game in Arizona on a lovely Sunday afternoon. The sunlight pours in through the parted curtains, and I smile at the sound of the dominoes’ click click as they topple over into an array of glossy rectangles. I pick them up, placing them one by one back into a winding row before I topple them over again. There is a pounding knock on the front door and I scramble to open it. I shade my eyes with my palm as I strain to make out the shape of the police officer standing before me. He begins solemnly reading to me my rights; apparently there is something illegal about dominoes on a Sunday afternoon in Arizona. News to me. Is there something morally unrestrained about playing dominoes? If there is, no one ever told me. Maybe sometimes, ignorance should excuse a man.
The student forum of West Henderson High School is published seven times each year by the newspaper journalism class. The purpose of Wingspan is to convey school and community news to the students, faculty, administration and community. Wingspan content is determined by an editorial board of student editors. Wingspan is a Southern Interscholastic Press Association All-Southern, National Scholastic Press Association All-American, Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist and N.C. Scholastic Media Association All-North Carolina and Tar Heel Award publication. Staff editorials express the opinion of the editorial board. Columns reflect the opinions of the writer. Circulation is 1,200. Printed by The Mountaineer of Waynesville, NC 28786. Contact the staff at wingspan@henderson.k12.nc.us.