Staff Editorial - NSAA Page
5
Opinion 11 • 28 • 2016
Election outcome difficult for many This race for the presidency was an interesting one to say the least. As the weeks wound down to election day, candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump continued fighting tooth Hailey Boden and nail for the White House. Whether you consider yourself a Democrat or a Republican, it still seemed hard to pick a side when both of the canidates have so many downfalls. Both Trump and Clinton have made some misleading claims that may have made you question whether or not you want to even vote at all. No one ever knows how presidential elections will turn out until they are over and this election kept all of America on our toes for a very long time. Now that this nail-biting election is over, Trump supporters are rejoicing in his victory, a victory so under predicted that it was clear to see his own campaigners were a bit shellshocked. Clinton supporters on the other hand have taken to the streets in protests targeting Trump buildings across the United States. Now being a person that is not extremely involved in politics, nor holding my own standpoint in this particular presidential election or even being old enough to vote considering that I am only 17, it is still my belief that no matter what the outcome is, it is our duty as American citizens to respect our new Commander-in-chief whether we share his beliefs or not. However, I can also understand the utter disappointment that many Americans share after hearing the outcome. Clinton put so much of her energy into this race that even a Trump supporter, no matter how much discrepancy their and Clinton’s viewpoints share, can see. Clinton’s loss is devastating to the millions of Americans who put their faith in her to “bridge the divide” and change our country for better, but who says she can’t still do this? Who says that she can’t join forces with Presidentelect Trump and accomplish her goal after all, even though it might not be as president herself? So, I believe that instead of protesting, or mourning their devastating loss, supporters of Clinton should be getting out and spreading their word in a more proactive way instead of wasting their energy trying to change something that is unchangeable. I do realize that this is easier said than done and, again being someone who is not very politically involved, I might not understand exactly what Clinton’s support base is going through but I can’t help but to wonder what might happen if both sides joined together. I think that if we as a united nation can do this that we can in fact make America great once and for all.
Common Sense
Staff Editorial
Common Sense editorial position vote yes 24
no 2
unsure
2
District should modify nondiscrimination statement Recently, the progress within the nation for LGBT rights has come into focus as the professed beliefs of newly elected and potential appointed leadership in our country differ from the previous presidential administration. Now more than ever, we might turn to local and state elected officials to extend protections to the LGBT community. One such local elected board to do so was the Omaha Public School Board who voted to include sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination policy back in August. They aren’t alone. They joined Lincoln Public Schools and Westside Public Schools whose statements have included such language for quite some time. Yet Millard Public Schools has not included this language within the district’s protections. This issue has not only been addressed once specifically in the district’s history, but twice within the past two decades. The first was by Millard North’s Gay Straight Alliance in 2000. The policy was revisited once again in 2015 as part of routine reaffirmation of policies. At both times the school board left the policy as is without adding the words “sexual orientation.” The board’s reasoning behind this is that they feel the policy currently already covers all students and meets state and federal laws regarding the wording of the statement. The Common Sense staff feels that rewording the language
would be a welcome addition at this point in time. Our district had the opportunity to be one of the first to pioneer this right/protection for its students and we still have an opportunity to show to others that we can be an innovative and open-minded district that cares for and includes its students by giving them protection and rights that most other schools in the state have not spelled out in this way. By not including the specific language that students in 2000 lobbied for, they may be doing exactly exactly what the district fears doing, which is putting kids on the outs. Our district is comprised of many LGBT students who may not always feel safe at school. This may be for other reasons, but adding this protection in classrooms and throughout the school, could do nothing but help. School, as has been reinforced many times, should be a place where students can feel safe, regardless of many factors such as race, ethnicity, religion, and many other factors including sexual orientation. Even though this issue was visited as recently as 2015, the school board should, for the sake of many of its students, again reconsider the language used within the nondiscrimination policy to directly state that students can not be discriminated against due to sexual orientation.
Special order. . . More Ratatouille!
Student challenges sensibiility of teens and illegal substance use
Ever since I was a young kid, I have always loved animated productions, from cartoon TV shows to various films. But one movie has remained in my recently watched list, one of my all-time favorites: Ratatouille. From the soft pastel color schemes to its enchanting orchestral melodies, the 2007 film is a timeless classic. The movie opens to a gloomy, rainy atmosphere of Paris, France, where it is shown how rats can be misunderstood and mistreated by humans. The main character, Remy (Patton Oswalt), is a rat with a passion for food and the culinary arts, but is limited by his species. Remy’s idol, Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett), is a chef and his son Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), who has no culinary talent, befriends Remy, who controls him by pulling his hair under his chef ’s hat. Working in Gusteau’s restaurant, Remy experiments with his cooking skills and lives out his dreams, but is fearful of the outcome when the community discovers who is creating their food. Famous food critic Anton Ego challenges the integrity of their food, so Remy whips up ratatouille, a dish that astonishes the critic. Ratatouille is an aniMaddie Rynes mated film that entertains, but it does much more than just that. It teaches children to not judge by the way others look, to believe in their seemingly impossible dreams, and to explore ways to express themselves. In this century, we’ve faced many challenges with acceptance, and this movie shows how if you get to know someone for their talents and ignore minor differences such as origin or species, we’ll be better for it. It also shows adults to believe in their aspirations and that while it may seem like the universe is working against them, they might just need a special ingredient, friendship, and as the movie states, “There is excellence all around you. You need only be aware to stop and savor it.”
In the United States alone, a national study revealed that 70 percent of high school seniors have admitted to alcohol use over the past year, 35 percent have admitted to marijuana use and about 20 percent have admitted to using other prescription and more “hardcore” drugs. So that means the majority of high school seniors have and or regularly use substances Cam Filleman that are harmful to their brain. That also means over half of the new adults coming into the workforce are going to have a less “functional” if you will, brain. Generally that only goes for abusers of the substances, but for teens it becomes a lot easier to mess your brain up permanently. So why is the statistic for teenage drug and alcohol use so high? Honestly I have no idea. We have a ton of people literally making their brain function worse because . . . ? Like I’m seriously at a loss as to why doing all this is so popular because the long term effects can be so severe and are almost inevitable, so why would you do that to yourself? I mean I guess I can understand a person enjoying the extremely short-term effects, but the long-term effects are so much greater that it really makes me question their human intelligence. Teens must know somewhere in that foggy head of theirs that it’s probably not healthy to do that kind of thing so I ask why? Have they already failed so badly at life that they’ve resorted to killing their brains?
Common Sense is the official publication of Millard South High School 14905 Q Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. School district guidelines determine the suitability of advertising content. To place an ad or inquire about rates, call (402)-715-8363. Common Sense is a monthly publication produced in Room 130. Common Sense uses desktop publishing hardware and software: Apple 5G computers, Adobe InDesign CS6 Adobe Photoshop CS6, and Microsoft Word software. Printing by White Wolf Web in Sheldon, Iowa. Letters to the editor are encouraged. All letters must be signed with the student’s first and last name, grade, then submitted to Mrs. Kaldahl. Unsigned letters will not be published. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, length, and clarity. Letters of profane nature or other infractions of school or district policy will not be published.
Editor-in-Chief Alyssa Soppe
Lifestyles Editor John Reel
Photo Chief McKenna Krueger
Entertainment Editor RuthAnne Hale
Production Editor Jordyn Kelley News Editor Vanessa Chavez Sports Editor Kailey Boden Features Editor Adrienne Bruner Opinions Editor Ryan Carter
Business Manager Sam Sliva Social Media Manager Sarah Braley Graphic Artist AJ Bierwirth Cartoonist Tori Barkus
Staff Secretaries Miriam Cortes Kathryn Willenborg Audio/Visual Editor Ellie Dean Distribution Editor Jessica Malashock Copy Editor Emma Martin Staff Reporters Tori Barkus Hailey Boden Madi Bullard Carina Covington Conlan Custard Cam Filleman
Parker Geiss Rebecca Harvie Kristin Kaipust Savannah Lacy Jessica Lukecart Sarah Braley Isabel Kimminau Eric Murcek Maddie Rynes Adviser Christine Kaldahl
Opinion 11 • 28 • 2016
Election outcome difficult for many This race for the presidency was an interesting one to say the least. As the weeks wound down to election day, candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump continued fighting tooth Hailey Boden and nail for the White House. Whether you consider yourself a Democrat or a Republican, it still seemed hard to pick a side when both of the canidates have so many downfalls. Both Trump and Clinton have made some misleading claims that may have made you question whether or not you want to even vote at all. No one ever knows how presidential elections will turn out until they are over and this election kept all of America on our toes for a very long time. Now that this nail-biting election is over, Trump supporters are rejoicing in his victory, a victory so under predicted that it was clear to see his own campaigners were a bit shellshocked. Clinton supporters on the other hand have taken to the streets in protests targeting Trump buildings across the United States. Now being a person that is not extremely involved in politics, nor holding my own standpoint in this particular presidential election or even being old enough to vote considering that I am only 17, it is still my belief that no matter what the outcome is, it is our duty as American citizens to respect our new Commander-in-chief whether we share his beliefs or not. However, I can also understand the utter disappointment that many Americans share after hearing the outcome. Clinton put so much of her energy into this race that even a Trump supporter, no matter how much discrepancy their and Clinton’s viewpoints share, can see. Clinton’s loss is devastating to the millions of Americans who put their faith in her to “bridge the divide” and change our country for better, but who says she can’t still do this? Who says that she can’t join forces with Presidentelect Trump and accomplish her goal after all, even though it might not be as president herself? So, I believe that instead of protesting, or mourning their devastating loss, supporters of Clinton should be getting out and spreading their word in a more proactive way instead of wasting their energy trying to change something that is unchangeable. I do realize that this is easier said than done and, again being someone who is not very politically involved, I might not understand exactly what Clinton’s support base is going through but I can’t help but to wonder what might happen if both sides joined together. I think that if we as a united nation can do this that we can in fact make America great once and for all.
Common Sense
Staff Editorial
Common Sense editorial position vote yes 24
no 2
unsure
2
District should modify nondiscrimination statement Recently, the progress within the nation for LGBT rights has come into focus as the professed beliefs of newly elected and potential appointed leadership in our country differ from the previous presidential administration. Now more than ever, we might turn to local and state elected officials to extend protections to the LGBT community. One such local elected board to do so was the Omaha Public School Board who voted to include sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination policy back in August. They aren’t alone. They joined Lincoln Public Schools and Westside Public Schools whose statements have included such language for quite some time. Yet Millard Public Schools has not included this language within the district’s protections. This issue has not only been addressed once specifically in the district’s history, but twice within the past two decades. The first was by Millard North’s Gay Straight Alliance in 2000. The policy was revisited once again in 2015 as part of routine reaffirmation of policies. At both times the school board left the policy as is without adding the words “sexual orientation.” The board’s reasoning behind this is that they feel the policy currently already covers all students and meets state and federal laws regarding the wording of the statement. The Common Sense staff feels that rewording the language
would be a welcome addition at this point in time. Our district had the opportunity to be one of the first to pioneer this right/protection for its students and we still have an opportunity to show to others that we can be an innovative and open-minded district that cares for and includes its students by giving them protection and rights that most other schools in the state have not spelled out in this way. By not including the specific language that students in 2000 lobbied for, they may be doing exactly exactly what the district fears doing, which is putting kids on the outs. Our district is comprised of many LGBT students who may not always feel safe at school. This may be for other reasons, but adding this protection in classrooms and throughout the school, could do nothing but help. School, as has been reinforced many times, should be a place where students can feel safe, regardless of many factors such as race, ethnicity, religion, and many other factors including sexual orientation. Even though this issue was visited as recently as 2015, the school board should, for the sake of many of its students, again reconsider the language used within the nondiscrimination policy to directly state that students can not be discriminated against due to sexual orientation.
Special order. . . More Ratatouille!
Student challenges sensibiility of teens and illegal substance use
Ever since I was a young kid, I have always loved animated productions, from cartoon TV shows to various films. But one movie has remained in my recently watched list, one of my all-time favorites: Ratatouille. From the soft pastel color schemes to its enchanting orchestral melodies, the 2007 film is a timeless classic. The movie opens to a gloomy, rainy atmosphere of Paris, France, where it is shown how rats can be misunderstood and mistreated by humans. The main character, Remy (Patton Oswalt), is a rat with a passion for food and the culinary arts, but is limited by his species. Remy’s idol, Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett), is a chef and his son Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), who has no culinary talent, befriends Remy, who controls him by pulling his hair under his chef ’s hat. Working in Gusteau’s restaurant, Remy experiments with his cooking skills and lives out his dreams, but is fearful of the outcome when the community discovers who is creating their food. Famous food critic Anton Ego challenges the integrity of their food, so Remy whips up ratatouille, a dish that astonishes the critic. Ratatouille is an aniMaddie Rynes mated film that entertains, but it does much more than just that. It teaches children to not judge by the way others look, to believe in their seemingly impossible dreams, and to explore ways to express themselves. In this century, we’ve faced many challenges with acceptance, and this movie shows how if you get to know someone for their talents and ignore minor differences such as origin or species, we’ll be better for it. It also shows adults to believe in their aspirations and that while it may seem like the universe is working against them, they might just need a special ingredient, friendship, and as the movie states, “There is excellence all around you. You need only be aware to stop and savor it.”
In the United States alone, a national study revealed that 70 percent of high school seniors have admitted to alcohol use over the past year, 35 percent have admitted to marijuana use and about 20 percent have admitted to using other prescription and more “hardcore” drugs. So that means the majority of high school seniors have and or regularly use substances Cam Filleman that are harmful to their brain. That also means over half of the new adults coming into the workforce are going to have a less “functional” if you will, brain. Generally that only goes for abusers of the substances, but for teens it becomes a lot easier to mess your brain up permanently. So why is the statistic for teenage drug and alcohol use so high? Honestly I have no idea. We have a ton of people literally making their brain function worse because . . . ? Like I’m seriously at a loss as to why doing all this is so popular because the long term effects can be so severe and are almost inevitable, so why would you do that to yourself? I mean I guess I can understand a person enjoying the extremely short-term effects, but the long-term effects are so much greater that it really makes me question their human intelligence. Teens must know somewhere in that foggy head of theirs that it’s probably not healthy to do that kind of thing so I ask why? Have they already failed so badly at life that they’ve resorted to killing their brains?
Common Sense is the official publication of Millard South High School 14905 Q Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. School district guidelines determine the suitability of advertising content. To place an ad or inquire about rates, call (402)-715-8363. Common Sense is a monthly publication produced in Room 130. Common Sense uses desktop publishing hardware and software: Apple 5G computers, Adobe InDesign CS6 Adobe Photoshop CS6, and Microsoft Word software. Printing by White Wolf Web in Sheldon, Iowa. Letters to the editor are encouraged. All letters must be signed with the student’s first and last name, grade, then submitted to Mrs. Kaldahl. Unsigned letters will not be published. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, length, and clarity. Letters of profane nature or other infractions of school or district policy will not be published.
Editor-in-Chief Alyssa Soppe
Lifestyles Editor John Reel
Photo Chief McKenna Krueger
Entertainment Editor RuthAnne Hale
Production Editor Jordyn Kelley News Editor Vanessa Chavez Sports Editor Kailey Boden Features Editor Adrienne Bruner Opinions Editor Ryan Carter
Business Manager Sam Sliva Social Media Manager Sarah Braley Graphic Artist AJ Bierwirth Cartoonist Tori Barkus
Staff Secretaries Miriam Cortes Kathryn Willenborg Audio/Visual Editor Ellie Dean Distribution Editor Jessica Malashock Copy Editor Emma Martin Staff Reporters Tori Barkus Hailey Boden Madi Bullard Carina Covington Conlan Custard Cam Filleman
Parker Geiss Rebecca Harvie Kristin Kaipust Savannah Lacy Jessica Lukecart Sarah Braley Isabel Kimminau Eric Murcek Maddie Rynes Adviser Christine Kaldahl
