School Sanitation

Our school recently went from their own custodial staff to a privatized staff. The amount of custodians has decreased. It has showed in our bathrooms and locker rooms as well. The standard of cleanliness has also changed. I have noticed that our school has looked extremely dirty. The hallways, bathrooms, and classrooms do not seem to get as cleaned as often as they used to. Just because the school custodial staff is privatized and decreased is not an excuse that school is not cleaned to same standard it was last year. It has gotten so bad that it has becoming a health risk. Many people on the swim team have gotten sick or gotten warts on their body. This is inexcusable; this is just laziness in not cleaning the pool deck and locker rooms to the absolute need. Something must be done to change how our school is cleaned. Do you see the same problem? What is your opinion on how the school is cleaned?

Mock Elections

Senior year brings a lot of exciting events. We already had spirit week and field day but an upcoming event for seniors are the mock elections, which are placed in the year book. Every winter seniors vote for their classmates. I personally, love to look that the senior mock elections. I think they are so funny and creative. I think it is a great way to recognize students that are not so called “popular” who usually take up many of the pages of the year book. Also since everyone votes we get everyone’s opinions. Some of the topics include: best smile, best dressed, biggest flirt, teacher’s pet, most likely to rule the world, best laugh, best hair, cutest couple, most sarcastic, most athletic, most talkative, and most likely to be late. There are many more. Do you think mock elections are a good thing to have in the year book? Who do you plan on voting for? Should other categories be included that are not? Are there any categories that should not be included?

Was Nurse. Ratched Really That Evil?

During class this past week we watched Cuckoo’s Nest the movie. Jack Nicolson played R.P McMurphy and Louise Fletcher played Nurse Ratched. Well reading the book I felt bad for McMurphy more. I understood what he was trying to do with the patients and how he was trying to help them from constantly living life stuck under Nurse Ratched’s power. However well watching the movie I felt bad for Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched was not showing the power trip seemed to be under during the book in the movie. Instead she was just trying to keep order and have the best for the men in the ward. She was looking out for their best interests. McMurphy however was just out of control during the movie. He brought women and alcohol into the ward throwing all the men off which ultimately led to Billy’s death. He was not looking out for the men in the Christmas party scenes, he was just looking for a good time. McMurphy seemed immature and out of control he needed help and Nurse Ratched tried to help him. Do you think that the director of the movie wanted to have this much of a contrast from the book to the movie?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Halloween dates back 2,000 years when the Celts celebrated the marking of the end of the summer and harvest season. This night was the beginning of the new year. The Celts believed that on this night the boundary between the living and the dead world were blurred. When the ghosts returned to earth on this night they caused chaos and damaged crops. To help celebrate the event the Celts built large bonfires where people would gather. During the bonfire Druids or Celtic priests would dress in animal skins and attempt to tell each other’s fortunes. In AD 43 when the Romans took over the Celtic land they continued the tradition. Today’s Halloween is celebrated by young children and teenagers dressing up and going “trick or treating” Trick or treating is when you go out on the town and go door to door collecting candy. Older teenagers and Adults have Halloween parties. Halloween is every year on October 31st. What are you doing for you Halloween? What are you dressing up as?

"The Brand Expands"

The Brand Expands by Naomi Klein was about the branding culture. Logos no longer just represent a brand; they are now a culture, a lifestyle. The little story Klein tells at the beginning of the article about being obsessed with brands when she was only eight is true for a lot of people. I remember when my little brother was only in 4th grade and he had to have a Ralph Lauren polo because his friend had one; and it couldn’t be a Lacoste polo either, it had to be Ralph Lauren. So it’s not only the girls that are brand and logo conscious the boys are just as aware.
I agree that brands are becoming a culture. Certain brands represent certain lifestyle. For example if you’re wearing an Etnies t-shirt you are usually a skateboarder and embrace the skateboarding culture. When you like a brand you are going to want more and more things by the brand.

Did you agree with the article? Do you think that brands are becoming a culture?

Supersize Me Please

This week in class we watched Morgan Spurlock's film where he ate only McDonalds for one month. This food is very unhealthy. It consists of processed meat, grease and fat. Spurlock was determined to eat only McDonald’s for a month to see what happened to him. Not only did Spurlock eat three meals a day, he also cut down on his exercise because the average American does not get that much exercise. The mass majority of American’s diet consists of fats and processed foods. Most Americans do not have a stable diet. A stable diet includes a portion of grains, fruits vegetables, meats, dairy and controlled amount of sweets. America’s population has an obesity problem and it might be due to the mass amount of the fast food restaurants. Recently restaurants like McDonald’s were sued because people thought they were the cause of all the growing health problems in so many young Americans. What did you think of the video?

Should Barbie be a "Role Model"?

When you think of what a young girls favorite toy is what do you think of? When I thought of this I pictured Barbie. The classic doll that has been around for several generations. Barbie is supposed to be the perfect women other than her being made of plastic of course. She has the perfect figure and a perfect family. She also has had every career imaginable. Some women would say she is a role model. However the two words “role model” have a heavy cost. In class we read several articles that attacked the little plastic doll. Saying she’s to perfect. No girl could ever live up to her standards. I do not agree with these attacks. Women need to realize she’s just a doll. It is hard to find any doll that isn’t picture perfect. Even action figures for boys have the huge muscles and supposedly perfect man figure. I think that people need to relax. However the Barbie company has been working on making Barbie a more typical women figure. She has larger hips and a somewhat smaller chest. What do you think of Barbie?