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Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
High School Senior Rights Turn To Senior Privileges
This is the LobbyGuard device that the seniors use to sign out on "privs" during their free blocks
Experience, age, privileges, and respect come with seniority, right? Not always. In many schools, high schools in particular, advancement in age and grade level comes with certain privileges that are denied, and envied, by underclassmen, but in some schools these privileges are getting cut back and even eliminated.Although these privileges vary depending on the school, some of the most common are closer parking spots, private quads, being able to leave campus during a free block or lunch block, enrollment priorities on classes, and the ability to skip finals for classes that you have higher than a B+ final average in. Having the freedom of these seniority advantages can be taken for granted or abused, and have started to become a receding trend in more than one case. Kelsey Kruzel, a senior at Woodstock Academy states, "I think the privileges at WA are fair and pretty decent, the only thing I would change is having the ability to leave during assemblies, but I know that probably won't happen." Privileges are not given away, and are only earned by those who deserve them; so severe restrictions or abuse of these privileges can force them to be eliminated for one person, a bigger range of people, or even having one or more of the privileges abolished completely.
In some schools, Woodstock Academy being one of them, to earn privileges for your senior year you must have no final averages lower than a D- in your second semester of junior year and achieve a “satisfactory record of student conduct and attendance”.(Woodstock Academy's Student Handboook) These requirements also differ and vary among schools. At Killingly High School you must have a discipline report approved by their assistant principal or principal, all grades above a D+, a “satisfactory attendance record”, and have completed certain pre-graduation requirements completed .
Over the years senior privileges have evolved and grown into a great accomplishment. At Rockport High School in 1983 Nathan Ives remarks, “the only senior privileges we had was being allowed to go to the john [bathroom] after asking politely.” As these privileges have been established, abused, and taken advantage of, requirements to use them have come into play as well. As a product of this process, requirements and restrictions to obtain and maintain senior privileges have been established as well.
Woodstock Academy: Losing Interest and Enrollment
Woodstock Academy, a semi-private high school located in Woodstock, Connecticut, has seen significant decreases in enrollment over the past two years. The academy acts as a regional school and accepts students from neighboring towns that lack a high school of their own. Brooklyn, Connecticut, a sending-town of the academy, noticed a decrease in interest among Brooklyn students about attending the academy. A large sum of the students who once populated Woodstock Academy recently transferred to other regional schools like Killingly High School and Norwich Free Academy.
A recent article in the Norwich Bulletin addressed the enrollment issue and attributed the problem to Woodstock Academy acting less as a public run school and assuming a more prominent role as a private boarding school with the recent arrival of international students at the academy.
Many students claim that the international students from China and other nations are treated differently, favored by teachers, and are given more attention compared to local students. In an interview with Valarie Carr, a guidance counselor at Woodstock Academy, she stated, “because they’re international students, and because it’s visible that they’re international students, it’s noticed that they’re different, where when we look at a group of [local] students I can’t tell if you’re from Brooklyn or Woodstock.”
It is currently unknown whether there will be changes in the marketing techniques and the equality of the academy learning environment in response to the article. The headmaster of the academy is believed to acknowledge the article and his approach to fixing the enrollment problem. As a student currently enrolled at the academy and a Brooklyn native, I find it necessary that Woodstock Academy revise their welcoming and advertising techniques and work to make every student feel welcome and equal on their campus.
[Kefalas, Francesca. "Brooklyn High Schoolers Ditching Woodstock Academy."Http://www.norwichbulletin.com. Norwich Bulletin, 3 Feb. 12. Web. 9 Feb. 2013. http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x2082684248/Brooklyn-high-schoolers-ditching-Woodstock-Academy#axzz2KjymQ6cE]
Are The Fatalities Worth The Joy Ride?
Off-road vehicles contribute significantly to accident-related deaths and emergency-room treatments.
A family and community remains distraught with despair after a young life is taken too quickly by a careless accident involving a dirt bike, a parked car, and a father-son duo (http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x2082724440/In-fatal-crashs-wake-ATVs-on-roads-vex-Plainfield-police#axzz2PtAf41Jx) . In 2011 there were 327 reported deaths and 107,500 estimated emergency-room treatments given for injuries related to ATV accidents. (http://www.atvsafety.gov/stats.html) Although these numbers seem to be steadily decreasing, the risk is still present in the use of these off-road vehicles, especially when they’re operated on public roads.
The steadily decreasing numbers fail to reassure concerned parents, care-givers, and citizens.
Though these vehicles have virtually become over-powered by the fatal side effects and possibilities, it still remains a popular past time of thousands of local residents. Jeff Perry, an avid driver of ATVs and dirt bikes who had been participating in the family activity for as long as he can remember states, “ It’s only becomes a safety hazard when the person driving doesn’t know what he’s doing. I think they should know how to drive the things before they go out on the trails or the road.” Though these vehicles are specifically named “off-road” vehicles for a purpose, but this never fails to stop their supporters. Mary Anne Ives, a concerned driver, mother, and detractor of the recreational use of off road vehicles relates, “with anything it’s the responsibility of the driver to make it a safe journey or not. One of the concerns I have is I have seen kids in this neighborhood using ATVs on the road. It’s very disconcerting because they’re obviously aren’t supposed to be on the road and, as a driver on these roads, it adds a heightened risk of [my] responsibility not to hit them.”
Although it has become publicly frowned upon by many, it is currently not specifically stated in the “Connecticut Statutes Title 14 Motor Vehicles” as illegal to operate a “snowmobile or all-terrain vehicle” on anything other than a public highway. The Connecticut ATV Laws also lack an infarction for operating an ATV, or vehicle similar to one, at night, without safety equipment (helmets and eye protection), or below a certain age as it is in other states, (http://www.atvsafety.gov/legislation/legislation.html). Revising these state statutes could have a lasting positive impact on the death and injury toll created by ATVs.
The question remains whether it’s worth the risk to drive these off-road vehicles on public roads, or at all. Connecticut’s state government has proposed a bill to dedicate state land specifically to the use of ATVs, dirt bikes, and vehicles of similar characteristics (http://www.housedems.ct.gov/Mikutel/2013/pr045_2013-02-14.html). It is still undecided whether this would eliminate the problem at hand. Reassuringly to the off-road vehicle community, both parties state that the ATV industry has become too powerful for its total elimination to remain a possibility.
Integrity and Reliability Keeps A Small Business Afloat
The Wauregan Grain Company in Wauregan, Connecticut remains a small, rustic business that consistently works to keep their head above water.
Everyone’s surrounded by the consistent and never ending effects of the precarious economy, right? True, but some people experience them more than others. Debbie and David Bunn are a couple who work together to run their small business, a grain store in Wauregan, Connecticut. Together they not only see the economic effects that the average person would see but are also consumed by the loss of customers, the transferred focus of the companies that supply them that are knee deep in the struggling agricultural industry, and the endless other side effects of the economic crisis our nation is struggling through.
After buying the business from Blue Seal, a larger grain company, around 30 years ago, Dave Bunn started the business in much different conditions and circumstances than he and Debbie are seeing today. Debbie recalls, “About 20 years corn was like $50 a ton, and probably 10 years ago it was $100 a ton, now it’s over $200 a ton.” With the plummeting economy and escalating prices, the grain store owners remarked that one of their biggest challenges is not only keeping their good quality grain stable and static but also keeping their prices at a reasonable and more preferable rate when compared to their competition.
To keep their business afloat they constantly have a man on the road delivering grain, gaining new business, advertising, and reassuring Dave and Debbie Bunn that Wauregan Grain is up to date and stays current with changes in prices, ingredients, and quality of the competition’s products. It’s common for the surrounding grain businesses to use fillers, like old cereal or pasta, to replace real and quality ingredients like corn, mids (a flour product), and other grain products. But at the Bunn business their recipes remain consistent and devoid of fillers and byproducts, reassuring their customers that their grain will always be the same and the best quality possible. Along with the struggling economy and the chain reaction effects that accompany it, Wauregan Grain has also seen a dramatic change in technology as well as the daily and long term challenges they face due to the technological updates they have made.
Although their technological advances have been limited, the Debbie Bunn has seen a noticeable increase in the quality of their business.
When asked about the struggle of keeping up to date with the new technology, Debbie replied, “We, as a small business, can’t afford to buy this high tech equipment.” One of their only advances in the technological field has been their assembly line process that fills and bags their grain products mechanically replacing their old process of having to pay people to fill the grain bags manually. Though the change to their deep-rooted, but out dated ways, has created a struggle and daily learning experience for all those who work through the grain store, they have seen a definite increase in their business’s well-being and efficiency due to their new updates.
David Bunn, with the trusted companionship of this dog Brinkley and wife Debbie, has kept his grain store running efficiently for over 30 years.
Though their strides and changes have set them up for great advances and success in their field, the economy continues to keep their potential success at a standstill. “We’re just maintaining along with every other company,” remarks Debbie about their current well-being. Though their business isn’t seeing great strides towards plentiful success, their integrity and local small business qualities continue to provide them with substantial and committed customers. When asked for a piece of advice for people following in their footsteps, Debbie laughs, “My advice would be don’t do it! It’s a hard business to be in.”
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