The 2011 Metrowest  Adolescent Health Survey reports that 40% of HHS students have had sex, yet 53% of students don’t use condoms at our school. These numbers are troubling. In a survey of 150 students taken this year, 23 students reported that they were sexually active and do not use condoms, while 28 reported that they do use condoms.

Up until this year only eighth grade had mandatory sex education. Next year it will be mandatory for eighth,  eleventh and twelfth graders.

Students should have sex ed every year, and condoms should be readily available without question or scrutiny to all high school students to hopefully decrease the number of students having unprotected sex and unintended pregnancies.

One HHS student who has a child believed birth control was enough protection. Of the 150 students surveyed, 12 of the 23 that reported they did not use condoms didn’t use them because they were “uncomfortable” or “inconvenient.” This shows the need for more education because oral contraceptives are only 99% effective, and it still leaves a slight chance of pregnancy.

No area high schools distribute condoms: Framingham, Westboro, Algonquin, Natick and Nashoba do not distribute condoms to their students.

However Framingham High School does refer their students to their Adolescent Health Nurses program; the remaining schools will refer students to a Planned Parenthood in the area for further questions outside of school. In fact most schools in the area have never even discussed a distribution policy at any school board meeting. Despite the need for a policy like this, no one seems to have any interest in passing one.

What is the best way to supply condoms in our school? Provincetown High School, in Provincetown, Massachusetts, passed a proposal to have the nurses hand the condoms out when a student asks for it directly. Although this is a good idea, does anyone really expect a student to ask a nurse for a condom? Five of the 150 students surveyed said they don’t use condoms because they are “inaccessible.” One student said, “I don’t have a car, so I can’t just ask my mom to drive me to CVS. That’s awkward.”

Having condoms in the nurses’ bathrooms doesn’t eliminate the lack of confidentiality this creates, even with the school confidentiality rule we have in place now. Nurses at HHS say they would support condom distribution, but they would like to be separated from it. They think that a bowl of condoms in the bathroom would be a good way to distribute them.

Given the survey, there should be an annual sexual education class and a condom distribution program at our school. The school should put some funding into getting a small wall vending machine and selling the condoms in the nurses’ bathrooms for 25 or 50 cents. This would not only cover the cost of the condoms, but it would also place the condoms in a safe place away from possible peer embarrassment and pressure, and it eliminates the need to ask anyone to get them for you.

Photo Credit: Rossini Neto
Field Day 2011

For a school with twenty-three sports teams, twelve clubs, and a large drama department, Hudson High seems to severely lack school spirit. Only a select few sports actually have supporters come to games. The drama department, who work hard on numerous productions every school year, usually have families as their audience, rather than encouraging students excited to see the play. But, the worst display of spirit seems to be reserved for the week dedicated to showing pride in our school: spirit week.

The word spirit is even in the name, yet the meaning of spirit seems to end there. The week is designed around dressing up in the fun themes each day, all to build up anticipation for the pep rally or field day at the end of the week.

Though some students do dress up, there are few who actually commit to dressing for each themed day. Many students look at the days as a game rather than trying to show excitement for their school. It becomes more of a competition between students of who can dress the most outrageous (such as the gorilla and penguin costumes seen in previous years).

Other kids just choose not to dress up, thinking the whole thing is a waste of time. “What makes a kid wearing a Hawaiian shirt spirited about their school?” asks sophomore Adam Colbert. “And what if you don’t play a spring sport or have tie-dyed clothes? I just don’t see how these days do anything for supporting our school.”

Latin students dressed up in red & white spirit for 2012 spirit week.

Those who do regularly dress up for the sake of displaying their spirit are affected by students who don’t. “I get disappointed when people don’t do it,” says sophomore Sam Sousa. “When a lot of people don’t dress up, it makes it less fun. It also makes people who do dress up feel awkward because everyone is wearing regular clothes.”

But when twenty-nine students were asked about creating their own dress up themes, almost all were very enthusiastic about sharing their ideas. “When I asked people about creating a theme, they seemed to want to give their opinion,” says journalism student Taylor Polomarenko, who was investigating for her weekly feature All That Chit Chat. “Students were saying how they would actually do their invented themes, and the kids they were sitting with agreed.”

Two students dressed in red and white for the 2012 spirit week.

With plenty of ideas that students seem to be excited by, it seems strange that every year Hudson High chooses similar themes that don’t get much support from students. The problem lies in Spirit Committee, who are the decisionmakers for spirit week. Spirit Committee is open to all students, yet only five kids are consistent attendees. That leaves the decision making to them, the teachers who run the committee, and the random students who occasionally attend.

Because they’re the only ones there, it’s only their ideas being tossed around. Students who complain about the themes already created are the ones not attending the meeting and sharing the ideas they’re excited about. If students have ideas that they would actually embrace, they should be attending the meetings and giving input.

Dedicated spirit committee member Sarah Billings believes more students at the meetings could change the school’s spirit. “Spirit committee is all about students planning fun school events,” she says. “If more kids came to help, they would be making field day, pep rallies, and spirit week so much more fun.”

Even as a diehard Patriots fan, I am not a big fan of the rule that won us our first Super Bowl. This rule should be abolished from the game, and no team should get the debatable call that could affect the game’s outcome. It was becoming too hard to tell when the rule should apply, the rule that ended one dynasty and started another, the tuck rule.

Twenty-nine NFL teams voted to withdraw the “tuck rule” from the rule book at the annual NFL owners meeting on March 20 in Phoenix. The Pittsburgh Steelers voted to keep it. The New England Patriots and the Washington Redskins did not participate in the vote.

For those who don’t know, the tuck rule applies when an offensive player is holding the ball to pass it forward, moves his arm forward to pass the ball(or a pump fake) then brings it back into his body but loses possession of the ball before it is actually tucked into his body. According to the rule, this play is an incomplete pass instead of a fumble.

The rule was created  in 1999 to protect the quarterback. Not many had heard of the rule before the AFC divisional round between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders on January 19, 2002.

It was a snowy day in Foxboro, Massachusetts, and the Raiders had the 13-10 lead with 1:50 left in the game. Tom Brady took the snap and took a few steps back to pass the ball. He then pump faked the ball, and blitzing Raiders defensive back Charles Woodson tackled Brady. Woodson stripped the ball from Brady, and linebacker Greg Biekert recovered it.

But according to Rule 3, Section 22, Article 2, Note 2 of the NFL rule book, it was an incomplete pass.

The Patriots were then able to kick a 45-yard field goal in the snow to tie the game with 27 seconds left on the clock. The game went into overtime, and Patriots’s Adam Vinatieri kicked the game-winning, 23-yard field goal.

A lot of people do not see the point of the rule. Twenty-nine NFL teams don’t see the point of it. What gives the quarterback that special power to fumble the ball after moving his arm in a forward motion? The quarterback never released the ball to throw, and he dropped the ball. Why is that not a fumble? Should wide receivers get the power to secure the ball before getting tackled?

At what point does safety come into play? The quarterback still gets tackled. The call is just ruled an incomplete pass if he drops it pulling it back into his body.

There are other, better rules to protect the quarterbacks, such as the rule against tackling them below the knees. The tuck rule does not protect the quarterback. Ruling a fumble an incomplete pass is not going to protect the quarterback from injuries.

There is a photo of the aftermath of the play that made the tuck rule famous. Brady is on the ground after being tackled, surrounded by Greg Biekert and Charles Woodson. His shoulder pads are up over his jersey, and his helmet is shifted. He had taken a hard hit for sure, and that call did not protect him.

Rules that prevent the defense from tackling the quarterback below the knees save injuries. In fact, that rule was designed after Brady tore an ACL after a hit from the Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Bernard Pollard. This rule will protect the quarterbacks’ knees and keep them off the sideline and on the field.

Since safety does not seem to apply, what is the point of the rule? I’m sure Raiders fans would like to know. To end the confusion, twenty-nine teams voted to eliminate the rule. The NFL has made the right choice.

In America, only nine out of the fifty states support and recognize gay marriage. On the national level, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines marriage between only one man and one woman. This is discriminatory and homophobic. Gay marriage should be legalized nationally, and within all fifty states.

Some religions  would say Jesus states that “marriage is a sacred, lifelong bond between one man and one woman” (Matthew 19:4-6); they oppose gay marriage because of their interpretations of the Bible. While religion should not be disrespected, American government has always decided that there should be a separation between church and state.

In Thomas Jefferson’s 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists, he wrote, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” American Government, specifically the Supreme Court, has since cited the phrase repeatedly in cases. The argument that gay marriage should not be legalized because of religious beliefs is allowing church to influence state, and the two are not remaining separate, which would mean government is forcing a religious view on its people.

Also, Americans who oppose gay marriage say traditionally marriage was an act that allows a man and a woman to procreate. According to Peter S. Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the Family Research Council, “Marriage is a public institution because it brings together men and women for the reproduction of the human race, and keeps them together to raise the children produced by their union.” Since homosexual couples can not physically produce their own children, they do not fit into this old-fashioned idea of family structure.

A gay couple can raise a child in just as loving and nurturing of a home as heterosexuals. Abbie Goldberg, a psychologist at Clark University in Massachusetts who researches gay and lesbian parenting, says that “gay parents tend to be more motivated, more committed than heterosexual parents on average, because they chose to be parents.” Homosexual couples can adopt a child, have a child either created with their sperm and a surrogate mother, or created with an egg and a sperm donor.  Gays and lesbians rarely become parents by accident, compared with an almost 50 percent accidental pregnancy rate among heterosexuals.

The acceptance of gay marriage hinges on how Americans feel about the issue. Since Americans have a history of creating second class citizens, government should not allow laws made based on religious beliefs and traditions established at the time women had no rights and slavery still existed. Decisions of personal freedom should be made based on what is morally right or wrong. Many Americans (such as Presidents Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton) in positions of power and intelligence support gay marriage. Not allowing gays to marry is discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The National Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibits gays from getting married in the United States. Although nine states in America recognize and allow gay marriage, those married couples are being denied federal recognition and benefits that heterosexual married couples receive. DOMA prohibits “federal employees’ health insurance, for example, or Social Security and tax benefits,” according to Andrew Rosenthal from the New York Times.

Appeals in several DOMA cases are pending before the Supreme Court. A federal appeals court in New York was the second to rule that DOMA is unconstitutional, and Boston was the first. Both court systems ruled that the law violates the constitution’s equal protection clause which protects all citizens from state laws that deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “DOMA deprives same sex couples of equal protection under the law. This ruling is an important step in ensuring the rights of men and women.” If the Supreme Court rules that DOMA is unconstitutional, it will be amended and all gay marriages will get federal recognition and benefits.

The 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia ruled that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the Equal Protection Clause. The Lovings, a black woman and white man, were wed in the District of Columbia in 1958. When they returned to their home state of Virginia (where state laws banned marriages between any white person and any non-white person), they were charged with a felony and sentenced to a year in jail. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion which ultimately ended in the Supreme Court cases ruling that discriminatory marriage clauses are unconstitutional.

This court case caused marriage to been seen as a basic civil right of mankind. Justice Stewart ruled that “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.” Many who oppose gay marriage say that because Loving v. Virginia was about race, and race has a long documented history of discrimination, it is the only reason this ruling stood.  Opposition would say that homosexuality doesn’t have a long history of discrimination and therefore does not apply to gay marriage. That thought process does not make sense because homosexuality does have a long history of discrimination. In 1951, the first gay rights organization was founded in the United States, today there are about 75 nationally recognized.

The ruling in Loving v. Virginia was in favor of interracial marriages because it was decided that the state cannot make a judgment on who can marry whom.  According to court system ruling, marriage is a basic civil liberty. Freedom to marry is a human rights issue, whether it is about race or sexual orientation. Marriage formation should be an individual choice rather than exclusion based on social acceptance.

President Barack Obama announced his support for same sex marriage in May of 2012. Mr. President also put an end to DADT (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell) which discriminated against gay servicemen in the army. “I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” President Obama said in an interview with ABC news.

President Obama has said that DOMA is unconstitutional and has instructed his administration to no longer defend the law. Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the decision as “a major turning point in the history of American civil rights. No American president has ever supported a major expansion of civil rights that has not ultimately been adopted by the American people – and I have no doubt that this will be an exception.” DOMA is unconstitutional and gay marriages should be legalized in all 50 states.

Gun control should be much stricter in America, possibly to the point of no civilian gun ownership except for those with occupations who use guns. Because this is a very extreme view, I would propose a more realistic gun control law that would call for more mental health checks and better access to patient records when people apply for a gun license.

With a strong military and armed police everywhere, civilians should not need to carry their own handguns for self defense. The Center for Injury Control at Rollins School of Public Health conducted a study to determine how often guns in the home are used to injure or kill in self-defense. The study concluded that for every time a gun in the home is used for self-defense or a legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and eleven attempted or completed suicides.

Guns should be prohibited in America because they often lead to fatalities. According to the National Institute of Justice in 2006, firearms were used in 68 percent of murders, 42 percent of robbery offences and 22 percent of aggravated assaults nationwide.

The Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm and to use that weapon for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. This amendment was enacted in 1779 when Americans felt the need to protect themselves from another war after the separation from England. Our country is established now with strong military and strong police forces. Civilians do not need to use guns to protect themselves. Guns would only need to be used for hunting to provide food, and for the police and military forces to protect against attacks on the country.

Many state legislatures have weak gun control laws in place, and they need to revise them to be tougher on gun owners. On Tuesday, January 15, a gun control bill passed in the New York legislature. It expands the current ban on assault weapons to include a semi-automatic weapon with a detachable magazine. It limits the magazine clips to 7 rounds of ammunition instead of the current 10. Gun licenses must be renewed every five years. Background checks will be required at all gun sales, and there will be a new electronic database for gun permits and a new registry for ammunition sales. How does a gun control bill that limits magazine clips to 7 now instead of 10 make a difference? That is still 7 bullets that could be in the wrong person’s hands killing 7 people.

Another provision asks health care professionals to report to local health care officials when they have reason to believe that the patient could harm themselves or others. After crosschecking against a database of gun owners, this could eventually authorize police to confiscate firearms owned by a dangerous patient. Many states are looking to connect mental health records to gun control provisions.

Congress and state governments are discussing how to change our gun laws after recent mass shootings, such as the Sandy Hook tragedy. Eight bills intended to address gun control and mental health were introduced in the Colorado state capitol during a press conference on Tuesday, February 5. The bills would put into effect universal background checks and new requirements for mental health professionals to inform authorities about patients who shouldn’t have guns. The bills did not call for an outright ban on assault weapons, but a controversial measure would make sellers and even manufacturers liable for damage inflicted by those firearms. This sort of liability will stop some people from continuing to sell, or just carelessly sell, but this will not stop people from killing because it does not affect the shooter. The person who pulls the trigger should face harsher punishment through gun control laws.

The mental health provision keeps people who are not safe away from guns. A polling last month found that 55 percent of Colorado voters said they’d favor stricter gun control and 95 percent of voters agreed that those with serious mental health problems ought to be kept from buying a gun. And this may help in the case of gun violence trials. Less people will be pleading mentally insane, and more will just be guilty and go to jail.

Typically Democrats want more gun control, and Republicans want no restrictions on their Second Amendment right. Despite that, House Republicans signal openness to some gun control measures. The second ranking House Republican said Tuesday that he supports improving the federal background check system for gun buyers. President Obama took four separate executive actions designed to improve the information in the existing background check system. The administration is also asking Congress to provide 50 million in incentives for states to share their criminal history and mental health information with the federal database.

Although both parties feel so differently about gun laws, there is a good chance that the first bipartisan gun control bill that was introduced on Tuesday in the House will pass because both parties agree. This bill would make gun trafficking a federal crime and impose new penalties against gun straw purchasers who knowingly buy firearms for convicted criminals who are barred from buying their own weapons. The one part that is lacking in this federal level gun control bill is to include background and mental health checks, unlike most state level bills being revised to include this.

Civilians do not need guns. A gun is more likely used to inflict harm on one’s self or to commit a homicide or murder. A more realistic set of gun control laws for Congress would be to get to the root of the problem, which would be the person pulling the trigger. It does not matter what kind of gun or how many bullets and how easy it is to fire if the person pulling the trigger is mentally insane. Our gun registration and licenses have to be attached to medical records of all citizens.

The intensity of the puck being dropped at center ice. The sound of players being crunched against the boards. The relief the crowd feels when the goalie makes a great save. The elation that flowing through the crowd when the horn sounds for a goal. The exhilaration felt when the announcer says, “The Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup!” That statement that you heard in 2011 when the Bruins beat the Canucks will not be heard this year due to the NHL Lockout currently going on.

The NHL Lockout began on September 15, 2012 and continues to this day. The dispute, like most other lockouts, is between the owners and the players of the NHL. The season, originally set to start on October 11, has been pushed back and nobody can predict when it will return. This is the second lockout within the last ten years for the NHL. The last lockout occurred in the 04-05 season, which completely canceled the whole season. The owners and players are determined to not let that happen again, due to the public damage it did to the league, but nothing can be promised in this type of situation.

Just look at what the 04-05 lockout did to the league. There were so many people like the concession vendor, the ticket guy and all of the other people employed by the team that lost their jobs. The players and owners need to think about whom they are affecting. The league lost so many fans during that time, as well. Sure the attendance and TV ratings were up in the 05-06 season, but that was just because the league was back. Not only did that lockout kill the reputation of hockey with many fans, which is just now starting to get their normal reputation back. It also cost the teams incredible amounts of money. The teams lost an estimated $2 billion in revenue from tickets, media, sponsorships and concessions. The players lost about $1 billion in salaries.

The owners, led by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, have many issues that they want to be fixed. The owners want to reduce the players cut of the hockey related revenue (HRR) from 57% to about 46%. This means that 46% of all the money the league makes would go to the players. They also want to set a restriction on the length of contracts signed at a 5 year maximum. The owners want to eliminate signing bonuses and set a uniform value for each year of a contract. This would make it so the player is making the same amount each year. They want to extend the length of entry level contracts from three to five years. Lastly, they want to change free agency so that you need at least eight years in the league to become an unrestricted free agent. They made this offer in July.

The NHL players association (NHLPA) took about a month to set a counteroffer. The NHLPA wanted to retain a salary cap, but not link it to revenue. They proposed a fixed cap for three years, with an option to return to the old collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in the fourth year. The NHLPA head Donald Fehr said the proposed deal would save the league $465 million and would also feature an enhanced revenue sharing system aiding lower revenue teams.

The two sides have continued to negotiate since. The last offer the NHLPA gave included them saying they would drop their revenue share from 57% to 52% by the 15-16 season, but would increase back to 54% in the last two years of the deal. The NHL would counter with an offer that would continue the existing definition of HRR and a linked salary cap, but would lessen the players cut to 49% this upcoming year and 47% by the end of the deal. This offer was rejected. The NHL offered a 50-50 split in a recent offer, but that was also rejected.

Players throughout the league have found alternatives during the lockout, such as playing in Europe and other countries. In fact, at least 140 players are playing overseas during the lockout. In the end, it seems like the players hold the leverage here. They have other options to make money and they seem to be in control here. The owners are losing money every day this lockout ensues. They are the ones who desperately need this to end. To this day, 326 games have been cancelled, including the Winter Classic that takes place on New Year’s Day.

It’s not only these two sides that will suffer. In the end, we the fans suffer the most. We are being deprived of such an intense sport. People will not have that excitement of preparing and going to a game. They won’t have that great feeling of sitting around the TV with friends and family cheering on their team. Hockey is a lifestyle for many people in America, and taking it away is like losing a part of yourself.

The two sides have become too focused on the money, and fans are losing faith in the sport. The NHL needs to end this lockout and to save the reputation of their sport.

When most students think Friday nights, they probably think of going to the football game. Yet, at this time there may be five or six other games going on, volleyball, soccer, field hockey or even a cross country meet. Why is it that football has hundreds of fans, and field hockey has few, if any, students coming to support them?

It’s no surprise that no other sports have fans because while the Morgan Bowl has nice bleachers, none of the other fields  have anywhere to sit besides the ground. If someone forgot a chair coming to a field hockey game or soccer game , they would have to either stand or sit on the ground.

“It’s just that I wish we had more  supporters,” says freshman cross-country runner Emily Giorgio. “I feel like football is all that everyone cares about. Our teams seem ignored.” Even Mr. Macedo believes that some sports get all the support.

“Night games is the common thing, so we make night games for boys and girls soccer. They are not as well supported by the student body,” says Athletic Director Luis Macedo. “So really the student fans are the holders of the mystery of fan support.” The field hockey teams have had two night games, and they had barely twenty students at the game.

“It seems that once they qualify for postseason they are supported better,” Macedo says.

“I feel like more people make an effort to go to games. There were more families,” says field hockey manager Tessa Dinnie of their playoff games. “It’s hard to tell though, since our games were away.”

In a student survey about fan support, students who did not play sports preferred going to see football, hockey and soccer games.

Student athletes who feel they do not get a lot of support from their peers play lacrosse, baseball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track, tennis, girl’s basketball, and softball. The athletes said the only students who go their games are friends. Is it that football games are more of a social event, and that’s why people go? But then why do athletes have more support.

However, everyone who said they play football thinks they get a lot of support. Of 30 student athletes who responded to the survey, 29 of them support other teams. Basically, student athletes are supportive of other teams.

It is not fair that some sports get tons of support from not only parents and siblings, but students, who enjoy and continue going to games.

Last year in Hudson High, the school Wi-Fi was blocked to all students without the password, but this year it is open to anyone. The bad news is that many sources are blocked by a sonic wall. This poses a disadvantage to student learning in the classroom.

Administration blocks websites like Facebook and Twitter understandably, but there are some sites blocked that could be very helpful for research and demonstration.  One specific site that is always blocked is YouTube. Teachers often want to show excerpts from movies or historical songs related to learning, and they have to unblock the website in order to do so. This site and many others like it are really helpful and should not be blocked.

Technology is becoming impossible to ignore. It is a part of today’s society, so why not take full advantage of it?

There are some specific schools around the country that don’t use any sonic walls, and this seems to be benefiting their school environment. New Canaan High School in Connecticut received the National Library Award with unique tech devices and open Wi-Fi network. Their school has opened their network to social media and cloud computing, benefiting their student’s learning, and the student-teacher community. Opening the network in Hudson High could bring more students to the library and overall create a tighter knit school community through technology.

Having an open network in classes like journalism would make the course so much easier. The class has its own Twitter and Instagram account that must be unblocked by Mrs. Vessels for each student to view.  There are some times when the sonic wall even blocks The Big Red.

The firewall really limits education through social networking like blogs. There is much information and a full spectrum of opinion in blogging, and that should not be blocked just to ensure students won’t be using these social networking sites during class time. Blogging sites such as blogger are being encouraged in a lot of English and history classes, so why block any other blogging websites that prove to be helpful in learning?

Students who are going to text or be on Facebook during class are using their phones regardless of sonic walls. Students who are going to be paying attention in class and contributing to the learning environment are responsible enough to have an open Wi-Fi network.

Schools across the country have to follow the Children’s Internet Protection Act. This requires them to block or filter harmful materials. There is no specific requirement, and the law is open to interpretation by every school. Many schools are blocking sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Other social networking has been known to benefit a school community. For example sites that allow students from different schools to communicate for educational purposes or sites that allow students and teachers to communicate should not be blocked.

Having social networking sites unblocked in the school, administration is taking a risk by giving students the opportunity to abuse them, but that risk is well worth taking in order to benefit student learning.

On November 6, citizens voted for the next president of the United States. However, how did the voters get a good opinion of the candidates when Obama and Romney are lying about facts and attacking each other? Candidates do not always present the truth, which makes it hard to make a decision on who to vote for, and that should change.

During the final debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney, “Romney claimed credit for top scores by Massachusetts grade-schoolers while he was governor,” factcheck.org states, “but they tested at the top, or near it, before Romney took office.”

The American people want to hear the candidate’s opinions and where they stand on particular  topics. However, sometimes the facts are hard to decipher when the candidates are twisting facts or making false accusations about one another.

The lies and false accusations presented by the candidates cause more work for voters to sort out. It may even dissuade people to vote. False political claims can also warp the way that people vote as it can be hard to make a decision based on false facts.

Suppose I am busy and only see the attack ads and a  bit of the debates. If the information from the candidates or Super PACS that support certain candidates is not honest, then my decision may be warped because of it.

People can also twist the words of candidates or only include candidate’s soundbyte to misconstrue their message. A super PAC called Black Men Vote “ takes a statement that Romney made about the very poor out of context — six times in 60 seconds. Listeners hear Romney say over and over, “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” He actually said, “I’m not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.” (factcheck.org).

This is an example of another way that campaign supporters can influence a certain opinion that is not necessarily giving the whole argument. While Romney may have said the first part of his statement, he has more to say after it and his idea wasn’t finished. Therefore, the Black Men Vote’s ad misinterprets what Romney is saying.

People may say that attack ads and lies have been tossed around in campaigns before so why should they be changed now? The campaigns should be changed because the people could make better decisions, and we could get a real vote about what’s going on. The American people should have to do some research to figure out which candidates to like, but the candidates waste time telling lies and then having the opposing person say that it’s a lie. If the candidates told the truth, then they would have more time to talk about issues that actually mean something so people could make a better choice on which candidate to pick.

There should be a team of people during the debates that can look up facts and present the truth. That way if a candidate says something false, then the moderator can interrupt and say the truth. This will hopefully dissuade the candidates from lying as it looks bad if they are lying and it wastes time.

Those interested in the research on claims presented in campaigns, check out factcheck.org.

The amount of paper our students and staff use is horrendous. The copy center can use 5+ boxes, which contain 5000 sheets of paper, a day. While the HHS copy center does fill orders for all the schools in Hudson, only 30% of the orders come from outside the high school.

Out of the 20 teachers who responded to my survey, the average number of copies teachers make in a day is 56. And with over 100 teachers in the school that would mean teachers make about 5600 copies each day. Although the survey showed the average number of copies is 56, several teachers indicated that they make up to 180 copies a day.

However some teachers are making an effort to go paperless. Teachers have started posting handouts online and have created a classroom website. If the students had computers every day in class with them, it would make it easier to go paperless, especially since some teachers don’t have textbooks. How can they go paperless?

Some teachers have had students send assignments by e-mail or through Google docs while others created a class blog. Some teachers have also stopped using a paper plan and gradebook.

Paper is recyclable and can be renewed, but it can only be recycled once. So eventually the paper will have to get thrown away.

Hudson High School uses too much paper, and we need to do anything we can to decrease the amount of paper we use.