Posts by snesva:
STDs on the rise
February 10th, 2010The nurse’s face turns white as she glances at a piece of paper. She motions the girl to follow her to the back where the doctor awaits to give the diagnosis: she has human papillomavirus, an STD commonly linked to cervical cancer.
***
During their freshman year, GBHS students are required to take a health class which includes a section on sexual education.
They learn what the symptoms are of several STDs, how they are contracted and most importantly, how to prevent them.
Even though GBHS teachers thoroughly go over the dangers of STDs, several GBHS students still contract them.
According to the Center of Disease Control, nearly 19 million people contract sexually transmit infections each year, and more than half of those cases affect 15- to 24 year-olds.
Granite Bay is definitely not immune. In fact, Placer County has the third highest STD rates in California.
“(Placer County has) a higher rate of STDs than most large cities do,” GBHS health teacher Kathie Sinor said.
Read the rest of this entry “
What’s in a name?
February 10th, 2010The first time I realized I was different was in the 2nd grade: while the rest of my classmates looked forward to having substitute teachers, I absolutely dreaded it.
Each time the substitute would stand in front of the class and begin to read names off the roll call list, I’d become anxious.
You see, my name was the only one that he or she had trouble pronouncing. My peers had easy and beautiful American names like Kaitlyn and Julia, while mine was weird and unusual.
From the beginning, I was embarrassed about being unique and not possessing the typical features my peers had: easy names, light eyes, pale skin and that all-American look. I was even embarrassed about being bilingual, and I’d deny being able to speak Farsi whenever a teacher or friend would ask. Read the rest of this entry “
Rights are for exercising, not memorizing
February 5th, 2010
Speech, press, religion, assembly and petition.
If you knew the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment by heart, be proud. Statistically, less than a tenth of a percent of the population can name those rights.
Yet a staggering 25 percent of the population can name all the members of the Simpson’s family. We have our priorities straight in the United States, don’t we?
As Americans, we are given potential and opportunity just for simply living here.
Take a look at the country of Iran and you might realize just how lucky we are.
Article 209 of the Iranian constitution officially declares that a woman’s life is worth half of a man’s. The civil code states that a wife cannot leave the house without her husband’s permission, even if it’s for her father’s funeral.
Both women and men are told how to dress, how to do their hair and who they can go out with. If they don’t obey, punishments include stoning, whipping and even death.
Thankfully, we live in a country based upon equality and individual freedom.
In U.S. history and government classes at GBHS, we learn what exactly our rights are and how we can exercise them.
But ironically the place where we learn our rights seems to be the one place where our freedoms mean absolutely nothing.
A GBHS junior was ordered to take off a simple, rainbow-bead bracelet made by her 7-year-old cousin because it was considered to be “drug paraphernalia.”
A GBHS senior was told she would get in trouble if she created a class T-shirt for her and her friends.
Another student was harassed by a teacher several times for sitting down during the Pledge of Allegiance.
The parking lot is considered “off-campus” when it comes to getting something out of your car, yet magically and conveniently it switches to “on-campus” when the school feels the need to do a drug search.
What happened to the Supreme Court case of Tinker vs. Des Moines in 1969? I thought student’s didn’t “shed their rights at the schoolhouse gates.”
Apparently our high school is above the law.
We wonder why voter turn-out rates are so low among the age group of 18 through 24, yet the answer is right in front of us.
You can’t just tell students to read a chemistry text book and expect them to magically become chemists once they graduate. You have to give them a lab− a place to practice what’s in the text book.
It’s the same thing with freedoms. I can read my government book and memorize every single amendment; but without a “lab,” what good does it do? After my rights have been limited for 12 straight years, you can’t expect to me to know how to use them once I’m out in the real world.
As students at GBHS, we’re given responsibilities and consequences when our duties aren’t fulfilled. But I’m starting to wonder why I’m expected to act like an adult when I’m not being treated like one.
Thanks to section 48907 of California’s education code, students still have one freedom left− the freedom of press. And here I am, proudly exercising it.
I urge you to be a part of the statistic− be a part of the one tenth of a percent of the United States who knows their rights.
We’re lucky to live in a country with such freedom. And one day, we will actually be able to use it.
GBHS students balance school, band and religious activities
February 4th, 2010
GBHS students attend Mormon seminary each morning at 5:30, and leave for band practice at 6:30 a.m.
The sky is pitch-black and there’s pure silence on the practically empty streets. At 5:30 a.m., several cars arrive at once outside a lit-up, inviting home.
Most of Granite Bay is still asleep at the time, but a few dedicated individuals have been up for hours and are just arriving at their first activity of the day.
Although it requires extreme determination and devotion, four Granite Bay High School students have learned to manage two activities they are passionate about: band and Mormon seminary.
These committed students begin their day with seminary, follow up with zero period band, attend the regular school day and occasionally have another band practice afterwards.
Sophomore band member and Mormon Daniel Flinders is also a member of the GBHS wrestling team, which adds even more to his work load.
“It becomes hard when you try to throw in a sport (along with) doing band and seminary,” Flinders said.
With so many time-consuming activities, Flinders barely has any free time.
“I go to seminary, band, school and wrestling,” he said. “Then I do my homework and go to sleep.”
Monday nights are especially hectic for Flinders because of the extra after-school band practice. His day begins at 5:30, and he doesn’t get home until around 9:30.
“On Mondays, I have the usual early start, wrestling practice from three to six o’clock, and band practice from six-thirty to nine,” he said.
Because of the high-volume of both physical and mental activities throughout the day, Flinders becomes exhausted.
“I’m tired a lot of the day,” he said. “If I go to bed any later than nine o’clock, it really hits me the next day.”
GBHS senior Lisa Hoffman also starts off her day at seminary and band.
“It’s hard to get up and get there on time,” Hoffman said.
But regardless of the early hours, both Flinders and Hoffman truly enjoy the 5:30 a.m. seminary because of its personable and cozy environment.
“The 5:30 seminary is smaller and has kids from all age groups,” Flinders said. “It’s more of a discussion.”
Although the 6:30 a.m. seminary is at the Mormon church, the earlier session is held at Anne-Marie Mullen’s home in Granite Bay.
Mullen, a GBHS parent and active member of the church, has opened up her home for seminary and leads the group four times a week.
Mullen is in her fourth year of leading seminary. She wakes up each morning around 4:30 to get the daily lesson together and cook breakfast for every student who comes.
“Everyone who comes wants to be here,” Mullen said. “They’re not here because their parents are making them come.”
Although getting up earlier is tougher, the 5:30 seminary has several advantages in comparison to the later session.
“It’s nice being in the Mullen’s home and having a smaller group,” Hoffman said. “We use visuals on their computer and watch (educational) movies on the T.V.”
Because the group is smaller, kids of all ages participate in the same lesson and conversation.
Mullen said she loves having the older kids with the younger kids because they set examples for each other.
“It’s fun to watch them grow up, and the other teachers don’t get that chance,” Mullen said. “I think both the teacher and kids benefit from having all ages.”
The students also appreciate the daily breakfast provided.
“It’s great how she makes up breakfast so that we don’t have to wake up even earlier,” Flinders said. “The location is also convenient for most (GBHS) students since it is close by.”
But the best part of the 5:30 a.m. seminary is the amount of motivation each student has for both band and church.
“I have no problems with discipline because I have a whole table full of motivated kids who want to learn,” Mullen said.
Although it requires sacrifices, Mullen said she loves leading the group.
“I love having it at my house because it creates a homely environment,” Mullen said. “It brings some warmth to the environment rather than a colder classroom situation.”
“I think it’s easier to feel the things we want to feel when we have that environment,” she said.
The students in the class appreciate Mullen’s dedication to creating a fun learning environment for them.
“She does an amazing job,” Flinders said. “She is always prepared and has a great lesson everyday.”
Mullen’s son, GBHS senior Joseph Mullen, also wakes up early for the 5:30 a.m. seminary.
“Some people ask me why I do it and why I wake up so early,” Mullen said. “But a friend of mine said to me, ‘Can you imagine that every day before Joseph goes to school you spent that time with him sharing your beliefs and your testimony?’”
“Seminary is a very powerful way to start the morning,” Mullen said. “The whole rest of day you feel good.”
A split house
February 4th, 2010
SHEEVA NESVA
Whenever I hear the last name McCain, I can’t help but think of the previous Presidential candidate calling himself a “Maverick”, his ridiculous choice for vice-president and his traditionally conservative views.
But I think of John McCain’s daughter Meghan in a more positive light: she truly breaks the stereotype of a typical Republican.
She openly admits that she has several differing views with many party members, including her father, even though she writes on her blog that she is a “pure Republican”. Read the rest of this entry “
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