Granite Bay Gazette » Voices

‘Reality’ TV is just faking it for the cameras

Shannon Carroll — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 05:43:07 +0000

“Reality TV” should be renamed. It should be called “partially scripted TV,” or maybe “mostly scripted TV,” or perhaps “completely fictional TV that is being treated by willfully naïve viewers as though it’s real for reasons that are truly hard to fathom.”

Just pay a little attention as you watch these shows.

On Jersey Shore, two of the too-tanned, fist-pumping, boob-jobbed, self-described “Guidos and Guidettes” got into a fight on the cobbled streets of Florence. The fight just happened to occur in an area where bodyguards were blocking access, so no one walking by could intervene in the fight. Even better, the fight happened right under a street light that lit the scene to perfection. What uncanny good fortune.

When Ali Fedowsky had to tell Bachelor Jake Pavelka that she was leaving, he was shown in his bathroom when the phone started to ring. Walking toward the phone, 10 feet away, he had no watch on. Then he picked up the phone, wearing a watch.

Do you think that scene was staged and involved multiple takes? Do you think?

Just imagine how long that scene must have taken to film – it’s not as though someone would remove a watch if there were only 30 seconds between takes.

Despite all the drama about bachelors and bachelorettes searching for the loves of their lives, and all the despair when someone is spurned, how many happily-ever-after marriages have stemmed from those shows? I’m not aware of any.

For that matter, how many of America’s Next Top Models have actually become America’s next top model? The way the show is hyped, you think all the decisions are life and death. In reality – and, yes, I mean reality – they’re just standard television.

I certainly don’t know any people who are out getting paid for hunting for paranormal activity that doesn’t exist. Oh, and I’ve never met a couple that traded spouses.

In fact, shows don’t go very far to hide their manipulations. After the “fight” on Jersey Shore, a waitress in the café where the incident began told a newspaper she had heard two guys planning the details of the fight and had seen the cameras go out first. She said the fight began only after one of the cameramen gave the participants a thumbs-up.

When Kristin Cavillari said her tearful goodbyes on The Hills, the song “Unwritten” played in the background, bringing the whole series full circle, and Brody Jenner watched Kristin leave while he stood right in front of the Hollywood sign. It was the perfect ending to a drama-filled, soapy six seasons.

Then everything just disappeared. The cameras shifted and showed us that the beautiful blue California sky was nothing more than a simple curtain. Then the whole crew of The Hills emerged and surrounded Kristin. They were on a set.

The producers were basically winking at the audience, letting us know the whole thing was a fake.

“Everyone is trying to get story lines and create drama in their lives,” Cavallari said in an interview with Times magazine. “It’s just so. . . fake. There’s no truth to it. At all.”

The fact is that producers can splice together anything they want and make even the ordinary seem dramatic. Heck, follow me around for a week, finding people who drum up stressful situations for me, and I bet even my boring academic life devoid of crazy parties and hordes of boys can look entertaining. Just cut the video in a way that takes things out of context and makes me look mean, bitter, or some other attribute that really doesn’t reflect me.

Producers want hits. They don’t care how they get them. And the “reality” stars know that reality is mostly boring, so they do crazy things just to get people talking.

And people do talk. Even my completely reality-TV-illiterate dad knew who Heidi and Spencer were.

Sure, I understand that dramatic interactions on TV can be a guilty pleasure, and I watch my share of junk.

Why these shows are called “reality TV,” though, I’ll never know.

I say we start a crusade. Let’s get TV networks to switch the term to “unreality TV.” That way, people won’t get depressed about not having in their lives an orange-skinned, four-foot-tall (without the two-foot hair poof) Guidette who is so famous she’s known by only one name, who is getting into car accidents every other day and who fights so often that fighting might as well be her religion.

Look at it this way: if there were no reality TV, we wouldn’t ever have had Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt on every magazine cover. Imagine how great a world that would have been.

How far would you go for a good college app?

leyen — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:33:52 +0000

Three agonizing and hair-pulling hours, and 45 unbearably stressful minutes later, you have completed the SAT.

But not to worry, you can take a break in the car ride to your volunteer shift at the animal shelter.

High school students have fallen under the impression that we need to boast artificially “fluffed” resumes and applications in order to get into the college of our dreams.

Society has decided that junior and senior year should determine the rest of your life. If you pass the SAT, you shall succeed; if you fail, you are doomed.

It seems that many have lost the idea that with determination and perseverance, you will find your way into the college of your dreams that will allow you to create a future surrounding what you are passionate about in life.

But no.

The problem with the current method of determining our worth to colleges is the fact that everything has become so inflated with trying to become what we are not.

Sure, you are expected to, and should, try your hardest with everything that you do – on your own.

Instead of simply working hard in school and doing our honest best on the tests such as the SATs, we have decided that we need to inflate our artificial knowledge with the help of tutors and classes.

These educational aids show us how to trick the minds of the graders, in order for them to perceive us as being smarter than we really are in topics we truly aren’t passionate about.

However, in the grand scheme of things, don’t we wish for a college to want us for our individuality and special skills that set us apart from Joe-Shmo? Yet we still spend hours upon hours trying to ace a test that makes us just another number.

With the problems with the written work, come the problems of showing our dedication toward our school and community.

Because how many hours we spend knitting blankets for the less fortunate will determine whether we are good or bad people…right?

There is no question that people should step back from their own insignificant problems by undergoing a wonderfully humbling experience, such as spending time at a local shelter.

But will doing these things simply for the sake of being able to put more words on a resume truly enable you to put the care and passion into what you are doing?

Or are we too focused on trying to impress someone into thinking we are something that we aren’t?

There is no reason to blame individual people. In fact, it seems that our only chances nowadays are to do exactly that, by pretending we are the most dedicated person in every single thing that we do.

It is better for each one of us to flaunt our own personal skills, while still trying our hardest and putting effort into everything that we do.

Not what can be jammed into our heads hour after hour in a small classroom full of people giving us the idea that we need to become an expert on every last detail in order to succeed in life.

Let’s not join 10 clubs so that we can say that we are so “well-rounded.”

Let’s not play four different sports so that we look like an “amazing athlete.”

Let’s not take every AP class just to boost our GPA higher than the next person.

If you are passionate about every club, and love every minute you play on the field, and are excited when you solve that math problem that has taken you hours to solve, then go for it.

But if you are simply doing it to get into a college you aren’t even sure about, then at least reconsider.

Inderepublicrats

Shannon Carroll — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:05:44 +0000

Our political system has become bananas. Politicians are so concerned with getting themselves and their parties elected that they aren’t doing the right thing for our country. People have been talking about the problem for a long time, but no one has come up with a solution. Until now.
We can get rid of the divisiveness between Democrats and Republicans if we get rid of the parties. Let’s go to a one-party system. I say we all register as Inderepublicrats.
Let me preface this by saying that while my main examples are about Republicans being obstructionist, that’s only because they are so focused now on defeating Obama. Democrats have been just as bad in other circumstances.
Look at the recent debt-ceiling crisis. Something needed to be done to prevent our country from defaulting on our loans, but the Republicans focused on how they could use the crisis to make President Obama look weak.
They purposely let the problem drag on for weeks, even though they caused great concern among the countries and investor groups that lend money to the U.S. government. All that concern may well mean that the U.S. has to pay higher interest rates on its debt in the future.
That would be quite the irony: The Republicans claimed to want to cut government spending, but they may make the government spend more, while providing no additional benefit for citizens.
Recently, President Obama sent out an email to supporters with the subject line, “Frustrated.” Obama asked for support for his plan to create jobs. But Republicans in Congress don’t want jobs to be created before the elections in November 2012. The country craves jobs, but creating them would make the president look good. So Republicans don’t want to cooperate.
The Republicans justify their actions by saying that President Obama is a disaster, and anything that helps remove him from office is justified. But the Republicans didn’t do such a great job the last time they held the presidency – anyone remember George Bush and his war in Iraq, the way he turned budget surpluses into deficits, the financial crisis that he left behind?
So I’m not willing to put blind faith in the Republicans. I say we put off the fight about who should be the next president. Let’s focus on what’s right for the country now.
The problem is that the political parties can’t do that. Parties are set up to be running for election all the time. So parties won’t pass a law or do anything else if that would provide even a tiny advantage for the opposition, even if that law is right for the country.
The process for nominating presidential candidates makes the problem worse. At the moment, all the Republican candidates for president are trying to show just how conservative they are, so they compete to show how much they disdain government. Democrats getting ready for next year’s elections are competing to show how democratic they are, so they argue that government is the solution to everything.
Once the primaries are over, all the candidates will try to sound more moderate so they can appeal to some voters beyond their parties, but the damage will be done. Candidates will be stuck with many of the extreme positions they laid out in the primaries. They have been raising a lot of money based on those positions, and they can’t just walk away, if they ever want to raise money from those people again.
And, of course, in a world where everyone is always campaigning, candidates are already thinking about raising money for that next election.
That’s why the solution is for everyone to be Inderepublicrats. If the parties fades away, then no one has to show how Republican or Democratic they are.
We could still have the two (or more) most popular candidates run against each other in a general election, but they’d all be Inderepublicrats, so no one would be arguing for one party over another. They’d just be arguing about who is best-qualified for the position.
We need to stand up for what is right, not what our party is telling us to do. ¬¬I’m not suggesting a one-party system like Fidel Castro has in Cuba, where one person dictates everything. I’m talking about a free-for-all where the best ideas and the best people win.
Ever heard the line “United we stand, divided we fall?” That’s what’s happening in American politics today: We’re divided, so we’re falling. We pick on our own president, making him seem weak, at a time when we need him to be strong. Our inability to get anything done for our country through Congress makes us the laughingstock of the world. Haven’t we learned from civil wars that a country should stand together?
Sure, people will always have a difference of opinion, but if we’re so patriotic, why is it okay to always try to stymie and embarrass the leader of our country, the one who was elected by the people, for the people?
It’s actually really funny to watch the campaign trail for president. Except for Herman Cain, the Republican candidates are seasoned politicians. However, all they do is denounce Obama’s policies, rarely offering a solution of their own.
Many times, these Republicans say they look to our Founding Fathers for advice. They might want to read George Washington’s warning that political factions that seek to obstruct the execution of laws may claim to be following popular demand, when in reality their goal is to take power from the people and place it in the hands of men who do not deserve it.
Everyone in Washington should read the letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Dickinson in 1801, in which he said: “The greatest good we can do our country is to heal its party divisions and make them one people.”
Jefferson alluded to the blind faith that develops within people of a certain party. People who register as either a Democrat of a Republican often refuse to consider the other side’s ideas. “The Democrats are evil socialists,” the Republicans might say. “The Republicans are looking out for the wealthy and want no government,” the Democrats might say.
Politics has become like the Super Bowl, the great rivalry of the Steelers against the Cowboys, where there can be only one winner. In reality, all the contestants in politics should be working together so that all of us win.
The only real downside to a nation that works together is that Jon Stewart would have less material for “The Daily Show” – and I love Jon Stewart.
But the upside would be even greater. Divisive forces like Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann would have to get real jobs. And we’d stop obsessing over whether Sarah Palin will compete for the Republican presidential nomination, because there would be no Republican nomination, and she’d stand no chance in the debates over qualifications.
A nation of Inderepublicrats would focus on the good of all, not just the good of the party. So, as many of us get ready to vote in next year’s elections, let’s please not register as Republicans or Democrats. Let’s register as Independents, an affiliation that will have to do for now as long as the term “Inderepublicrat” isn’t yet official.

Opinion: Football is Special

cevans — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:21:52 +0000

Nobody cares about high school
boys’ water polo.

Is the boys’ water polo team good? Yes. Does the average high school student care at all? Not really.

However, high school football brings out tons of fans each game and many students follow it diligently. What makes football different?

Why do people go and watch the football team play at Nevada Union an hour away and yet relatively few people come to our boys’ soccer home games?

Why do so many people come to Friday night football games? Can you imagine a swim meet with 2,000 people cheering and rooting on our swim team?

What about a girls’ softball game with more than 25 people in the bleachers?

Sports that are striving to have more fans look at football and wonder why so many people show up to those Friday night games.

Why do people come watch football? Because students like me love the sport.

I love to watch the 230-pound grown men fighting each other on the line.

I love to watch the finesse of the speedy wide receivers juking out the cornerback to get open downfield.

I love the atmosphere of the fully lit stadium with hordes of people yelling and screaming for their team on a dark Friday night.

I love the sound it makes when two helmets collide at full running speed.

I love to criticize and argue about a coach’s decision and determine the merits of the result.

I love to judge the players and their abilities on the field.

I love the drama that comes with a fourth-quarter drive that my team needs to win.

I love to watch people sacrifice their bodies for a game that is their passion.

However, there are people who don’t agree with my opinions about football. Some people hate to watch high school boys violently attack each other.

They think the sport is overly agressive and pointless, void of finesse and skill.

But for most of us at GBHS, and football fans all across the country, we love all those things.

We vent the week’s emotion and stress through watching football. It gives us an opportunity to watch our brutal guilty pleasure and not care about other issues.

Football is us living vicariously through the players laying their heart and bodies on the field.

Friday nights is our time to yell and cheer and forget the week behind and get lost in the chaos.

Even as swimmers and volleyball players complain about their near-empty stands, people still come to football games on those drama-filled Friday nights.

People come to football games because it does something that no other sport is going to do. Football lets us feel the danger and excitement of the players on the field.

Football is special.

Teens smoke away their future

jcologna — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:34:34 +0000

A cluster of pre-teens passing around a cigarette is a sight I never anticipated witnessing. It’s a regular habit among adults, but seeing a group of kids lighting up stopped me in my tracks.

They do it to seem glamorous, to appear mature and to be like the adults they see smoking on a daily basis.

They are only capable of understanding the outward appearance of smoking, not the fact that with every puff of a cigarette, they inhale over 4000 chemicals which are released into the bloodstream. Over 40 of those chemicals are known carcinogens.

People hear the word chemicals and it is taken so lightly. However, maybe if the public knew and understood what these chemicals did it would urge them to stop.

A better word for these chemicals is poisons. Cigarettes not only contain the addicting poison, nicotine, but they are also made up of arsenic. Arsenic is commonly used in rat poison and long term exposure to this chemical can cause cancer in the skin, lungs bladder and kidney.

Ammonia, which is often in floor cleaners, is also present in cigarettes, along with poisons such as methane, cadmium, and butane.

As shocked as I was to see these kids smoking, I also knew that the amount of teen smokers is very high.

Everyday about 3,000 kids smoke a cigarette for the first time.

About 1,000 of those kids will eventually die as a result.

Despite continuous health warnings, teens continue to light up and eventually end up hooked on tobacco products – even though they know that they are unhealthy.

It is a fact that has been drilled into us for years by our parents, teachers, commercials and ads: tobacco is bad.

Unfortunately, that little fact that we all know so well isn’t enough to stop kids from smoking.

Maybe it’s because young people have this sense of immortality; they don’t care enough about their lives and live in the moment rather than looking at the long-term effect.

There are more reasons to stop smoking, besides the fact that it can

eventually lead to cancer and death.

Smokers are also destined to a life of bad breath, terrible odor, wrinkles and yellow teeth. Cigarettes also cause cavities, lower hormone levels, weaken the heart and the immune system.

Smoking cigarettes doesn’t make people look cool – it makes them look gross. By smoking, people are asking to be avoided.

Nobody wants to be surrounded by clouds of cigarette smoke, whose smell will cling to their clothes and stick in their hair. Nobody wants to inhale the second hand smoke.

Cigarettes won’t make you skinny and they won’t calm you down. All that these cancer sticks are good for is wasting money and killing your lungs.

The longer people smoke, the harder it is too stop. Addiction happens quickly, and that leads to a short life of wheezing, coughing, cancer and, ultimately, death.

Flowers are for gardens, not wrists

Brittany Hince — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:31:21 +0000

   Sometimes when I’m dancing, I think to myself: “Dang, I wish I had a flower on my wrist.”
   Am I right or am I right?
   When Winter Ball comes around, I could care less about the dress, the shoes, the hair, the makeup or even the date –I just want that corsage.
   The deep-rooted tradition of the corsage exchange is of such immense importance that no one can remember
either where the tradition came from or why it is important.
   Each and every year we continue the dogmatic tradition for some unknown reason – unknown, yet undoubtedly, indisputably significant in some way or other.
   The corsage is the one item on the long list of Winter Ball necessities that never seems to go out of style – in part because no one seems to care enough to change the style.
   The corsage itself was evidently developed by experts in female fashion.
   It’s a matter of logical thinking.
1. Girls love to accessorize.
2. Girls also love flowers.
3. Therefore, girls love to accessorize with flowers.
   Descartes clearly foresaw this application of deductive reasoning.
   Who needs a flower that you can put in a vase and admire from afar, when you can have a conveniently portable flower to take with you everywhere you go: to your friend’s house, to dinner, to pictures and even to the bathroom. One of the greatest Winter Ball moments that I can attest to is the moment when I hit the dance floor with that nifty flower-bracelet; the flower petals fly away one by one, flickering in the strobe lights; a rosebud falls off and flattens beneath the foot of someone being taught how to jerk; the corsage begins to weigh down my wrist as I fist-pump the night away.
   But I don’t mind – I have the esteemed privilege of wearing a pretty little flower from Raley’s.
   The average corsage costs $15, and dies the next day. But fellas, if you really want to make a statement,
buy one of those fancy corsages for your date. It will set you back 40 bucks, and the flowers will still
die the next day, but man, will she be impressed.
   Thousands of dollars will be netted by flower shops during the season of date-dances, all thanks to a tradition
that is as stubborn to remove as a spaghetti stain on a Betsey Johnson dress.
   It’s as if high schools within the district and across the nation are caught in a scene from Fiddler on
the Roof; everybody secretly wants to abandon the custom, but everywhere you turn there are people dancing and singing about tradition!
   OK, maybe it’s not quite like Fiddler on the Roof. But you get the picture.
   In conclusion, (and if the Corsage Loyalists could please excuse me for sounding rash,) I believe that it is entirely possible to enjoy Winter Ball without a wearable, portable, expensive, unnecessary, disposable flower.

Cyberbullying

jcologna — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:26:54 +0000

Facebook, MySpace, Tumblr, Twitter – these are all common sites with the single purpose of social networking.

The popularity of these sites continues to climb. However, with the freedom to post whatever one pleases come the risk of potentially hurting one’s piers.

Cyber-bullying has become one of the easiest forms of teenage harassment. The bullies who are uncomfortable with confrontation are given a new outlet, the Internet.

The Internet becomes a place where they don’t have to face their victim and don’t have to deal with the reaction.

Apps on both MySpace and Facebook make the bullying process even simpler.

Formspring make the consequences of bullying non-existent. With the option to remain anonymous, bullies are able to say whatever they choose without ever having to confess.

Remaining anonymous gives the bully the satisfaction of leaving their victim in the dark, wondering about who thinks such terrible things about them.

Others are less discreet about their harassment, choosing to post their words on Facebook walls, leave MySpace comments, tweet hateful things or even post YouTube videos containing obscene comments about their victim.

What these bullies seem to forget is that once something is published online, it is there forever.

Whenever someone logs onto the web, an Internet Protocol, or IP address is established. This IP address can be traced in all electronics including computers and cell phones.

Over the past few years cyber-bullying has been frequently covered in the media.

Phoebe Price, Megan Meier, Alexsis Pilkington, and Tyler Clementi are all teens that have committed suicide after months of online harassment from classmates. At GB???

They were taunted on Facebook, MySpace and YouTube. Eventually it became too much to bear.

The fact that any student would be willing to inflict such pain on another is repugnant.

There is a lack of respect in teenagers. Nobody should feel the authority to put someone else down and shred them of their confidence.

Not only does cyber-bullying cause teens to suffer a constant feeling of sadness, it can also lead to serious depression, low self-esteem and suicide.

Cyber-bullying isn’t something to be taken lightly; it is something that should be intolerable and unforgivable. Those who choose to cruelly harass others online should be punished.

Many people make mistakes when they are bullied online. They are unaware that there are steps that should be taken when harassed.

Often times, the immediate reaction is to be defensive and say something nasty and hurtful back, but they should try to refrain from doing so. By retaliating, the problem will only increase.

After the initial shock wears off, the victim might feel embarrassed and want to delete the text, email or comment, but they shouldn’t be embarrassed or keep it in. Countless teens are suffering from the same dilemma.

They should report what happened to an adult they trust and save all of the evidence. Save the emails, texts, videos, wall posts and anything else that confirm foul play.

With the evidence, victims should file a complaint to the social networking site or cell phone company.

Lastly, make sure to block the bully. On Facebook, block them. On MySpace, delete them. Victims need to cut off any connections with that person.

By reporting the transgression the bullies might actually stop their endless taunting.

Granite Bay High School is a “bully-free” environment, and has zero tolerance for online aggression, yet it continues to occur on a regular basis.

By stopping this violent behavior in its tracks and reporting these incidences, we as a student body can end what has become such a frequent occurrence.

College Applications

Ali Valdrighi — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 21:17:17 +0000

College applications are painful.
Yeah, there’s probably a more eloquent way to say that. But, after attempting to write essay after essay, each portraying my true character, my philosophical beliefs and distinguishing my unique persona from the millions of other qualified applicants, all in less than 1,000 words, my eloquence is a bit drained.
Initially, the essay process begins with feelings of anticipation. After all, this is one of the first chances students are given to write an essay on a topic other than the symbolic aspects of a mentally disturbed Shakespeare character.
We are finally allowed to use words such as “you,” “our” and even “I.” Maybe it’s just me, but it was nice telling others how I felt for a change instead of analyzing authors’ beliefs.
But, as the weeks drag on, the excitement seems to grow into an endless procession of cheesy clichés, dead end statements and edit after painful edit. Each mark of the red pen no longer seems like a helpful improvement, but a cruel torture device forcing you to spend another hour at the computer.
Corrections pile into a labyrinth of prepositions, punctuations and adjectives until you feel as though you can barely stand to look at the work you were once proud of.
Ultimately, the essay becomes nothing more than another painful homework assignment, on top of an already difficult course load, another burden to be shed as quickly as possible.
And colleges expect to judge us on this?
Of course, the essays do have benefits. They offer us the chance to be more than just another test score.
I do appreciate that colleges attempt to see us as people, not just numbers but, I think the sheer volume of essays is overwhelming.
Many schools have their own supplements that can grow into an impenetrable stack.
But then again, what can colleges do instead? There are very few alternative methods colleges can use to see students as actual people. I’d rather be forced to write essays than have my application tossed into a pile of similar scores, none of them unique.
Besides, there is something exciting about uncovering different facets of your personality. Before I started writing my essay, I wasn’t entirely sure about what I believed or who I truly was as a person.
But now, months later, I feel as though I am beginning to achieve a better understanding of who I am. I am able to understand my thoughts and emotions better.
Maybe that is the true purpose of college essays. Not to torture students with hours of work. Not even to distinguish us from other applicants. Instead, they offer us the chance to see ourselves from a new perspective. They push us a step closer to adulthood. They prepare us for college.
Although college essays can often seem to be the enemy, in truth, they do have their benefits. I’m sure in February, when all the applications are finally complete, I’ll be happy I worked through them.
But for now, I guess all we can do is commiserate and get them done. Sorry I don’t have any more encouraging words than that. I’ve already used all my motivational conclusions in my college essays.
I’m a bit clichéd out.

The sanctity of marriage?

Justin Shiiba — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:32:35 +0000

For the past couple years, I have heard the phrase “protecting the sanctity of marriage” repeated over and over when the topic of same-sex marriage arises. But what does that mean? Are marriages really sacred? Are marriages exclusively for heterosexual couples? Has the institution of marriage really been a holy matrimony of love and happiness that lasts a lifetime?
   No. Not anymore.
   Today, marriage is in no way the sacred institution Proposition 8 supporters claim it to be. They picture it as a 1,000 year-old tradition that would be forever changed if gays were allowed to marry. They say that gays would redefine the definition that marriage is between a man and a woman.
   But is this what we’ve changed marriage into? A definition? We’ve been focusing so much on the wording and precision that we’ve lost sight of what it truly means to be married –love, commitment, and marital bliss. Those arguments aren’t present in the debate over gay marriage, but are just as important as any definition.
   By definition, any man and woman can get married. It doesn’t matter the length of their relationship, the quality of their love, the extent of their devotion toward one another; the only thing that matters is if they’re a man and a woman.
   The state does not ask for proof of love or a record of time spent together; if it did base marriages on love, if it did base marriages on the quality of the relationship, then half of all marriages in the nation would never have been granted a license.
   How do you think that makes same-sex couples feel? Some have spent their entire lives dedicated to each other, love equaling any heterosexual marriage, yet they are not allowed to share the same equal right of marriage.
   How can Las Vegas drive-through weddings and Britney Spears’s two-day-long marriage be valid, when same-sex marriage isn’t?
   How can marriage be sacred when cable network shows such as the Bachelor and The Rock of Love televise the entire process of dating and “love” to millions of Americans? These marriages are a joke, a stint that lasts for a couple months before the unbelievably surprising divorce.
   According to www.divorcerate.org, 50 percent of all first marriages end in divorce. That’s how sacred this “holy institution” has become. Why are people fighting over gays damaging marriage when divorce – the legal act of ending a marriage – is the real fault?
   Not too long ago divorces were considered sinful. The Bible explicitly states that “whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:9) Yet today, divorces are legal and incredibly commonplace.
   Is divorce not detrimental to the sanctity of marriage, but same-sex marriage is? �
   My point is not to hate on those who are against same-sex marriage, or vilify them for their blindness. My point is this: Marriage should not be focused on who is married, but on why they’re married. It does not matter if they’re straight or gay; it matters only that they love each other, the strength they hold within each other, and the happiness they receive from each other.
   That is a sacred marriage.

Sleepless nights, napless days

Adam Tilford — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:26:25 +0000

Time is a valuable thing. Unfortunately, it’s a very scarce commodity in today’s fast-paced lifestyle. Twenty-four hours in a day just isn’t enough anymore. So, as a senior in high school, I must ask the question for the sake of everyone that suffers with me:

Why is our time so meaningless in the eyes of those who control us?

I didn’t realize when it happened, because it came slowly and I was continually told it was just a part of life, but all of a sudden I didn’t have any free time.

Two weeks ago when I was running on about six hours of sleep for three days straight, I was thinking I could really use a two-hour nap.

But I thought about it, and I realized I didn’t have two hours free for four days straight.

This is not right.

It was a Sunday night and I wouldn’t have free time until Thursday.

I was depressed, to say the least.

At that point, I was wondering if I was the only one in such a terrible position. So when I came to school the next day I asked around in all of my classes, and guess what?

I’m not alone.

For some reason it’s become completely normal for a student in high school to have six classes because of blocked schedules, three to four hours of homework, sports practice on weekdays and games on weekends, SAT prep courses, personal statements to write, college applications to fill out and a job to pay for a car and/or senior trip.

So that would leave just enough time for…

Nothing!

Oh, but it’s all OK. I’ve been told many times that I’m just a kid, and I can handle it. Besides, everyone has had to deal with it; our parents completely understand what we’re going through… Ha ha.

It’s hard to stifle a sad laugh every time I hear that argument. It’s incredibly clear that things are not what they used to be.

The level of competition in school is ridiculous, especially here at Granite Bay.

If you don’t take classes over summer school, take six AP classes, and get an A in every single one, then you’re not going to be anywhere near the top 10 in your class.

The worst part is that the system isn’t going to change anytime soon, because there are continually more and more kids willing to sacrifice all of their free time and their high school experience in order to get into a good college.

Admittedly, I come a little frighteningly close to that group, but at the risk of being hypocritical, I must say that I fight for my free time as much as I can.

Now let’s throw sports into the mix. Anyone who has played high school sports competitively knows that coaches expect full and absolute commitment, and they have no problem with a three- to four-hour practice on a weekday.

Of course, we don’t need that free time – we’re just kids.

But I like my free time! And I want it back.

My only option seems like making my course load easier next semester, but I keep getting told by my counselor, my parents, my prospective colleges and my teachers that I can’t lighten my load – it would look like I’m coasting through my senior year.

I’m told I just have to deal with it for time being.

Now, I’m not sure if this is the case for a majority of high school students – in fact I’m quite sure it’s not – but nevertheless it is the predicament of far too many.

So all I’m asking for is a little less homework, a little less practice, a little less stress and a little more time.

Because I am quite tired of waiting four days to take a nap.