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[6/2] In a school where academic competition is widespread, every grade that a student receives matters. Grades, which are meant to reflect a student’s work and intelligence, are not always comparable due to differences between classes of the same course. How are students supposed to portray their knowledge equally when their classes are moving at different paces, and are graded at different standards? In order to ensure that grades are equally reflective of students’ work, teachers should collaborate their courses by establishing the exact same curriculum and grading system.
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[Forum] Given the Virginia Tech massacre, are recent reactions to potential school violence gross overreactions or necessary steps to ensuring student security? The Oracle weighs in on two different opinions. —Stephen Salazar
[Forum] Given the Virginia Tech massacre, are recent reactions to potential school violence gross overreactions or necessary steps to ensuring student security? The Oracle weighs in on two different opinions. —Alex Rasgon
[Forum] When shoppers enter a supermarket, they often do not know where the produce they buy originates. They could be spending money on a clove of garlic laced with poisonous pesticides or week-old fruit gleaming beneath wax and artificial hormones. Why take such health risks when there are reputable farms adhering to California agricultural regulations within one’s own community?—Sarah-Jean Zubair
[Forum] In April 2008, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced that it would offer $1 million to anyone who could create test tube meat by 2012. Through test tube meat, PETA is hoping to reduce the number of animals raised and killed for meat to help the environment by decreasing deforestation. Although the organization’s intentions are good, test tube meat is simply not a feasible option for the future.—Amy Yu
[Forum] By the time you finish reading this sentence, hundreds of pigs will have been killed in slaughterhouses to be put on dinner tables nationwide. Sure, we’ve all been notified of this calamity countless times, but, in reality, no one ever gives animal cruelty a second thought. And contrary to popular belief, posters and stickers won’t get this anti-animal cruelty movement on its feet. Test tube meat, on the other hand, holds promising possibilities. —Veronica Polivanaya
[Forum] I’m probably going to get a barrage of hate mail from all the Barack Obama fans after this expose. Still, I hereby declare myself a loyal supporter of Hillary Clinton.—Tenny Zhang
[Forum] Every four years, the United States undergoes a remarkable transformation from a fairly stable political dipole to a political mess. In the midst of change, a person must not only choose a party, but also a favorite party candidate. The primaries are a unique and valuable time in politics, when both fresh and veteran voters alike can get excited about the election process and express their political views beyond general party loyalty. However, this excitement fades soon after Super Tuesday, and many people find themselves impatient for the selection of a candidate. Moving the primaries closer to the conventions would eliminate the loss of enthusiasm, wasted money and intra-party divisions that are products of the current election process.—Danielle Edelman
[Forum] The race for the Democratic nomination has dragged on without a meaningful conclusion. With Barack Obama ahead by 2 percent, it may seem that the best course of action would simply be for his opponent, Hillary Clinton, to drop out of the race and allow Obama to begin campaigning for the presidency immediately. However, even though deciding on a candidate quickly may have some short-term advantages, in the end, it will prove to be a political blunder. —Emily Glider
[Forum] In a school where academic competition is widespread, every grade that a student receives matters. Grades, which are meant to reflect a student’s work and intelligence, are not always comparable due to differences between classes of the same course. How are students supposed to portray their knowledge equally when their classes are moving at different paces, and are graded at different standards? In order to ensure that grades are equally reflective of students’ work, teachers should collaborate their courses by establishing the exact same curriculum and grading system.—Niki Mata
[Forum] Parents across the nation are rushing their children to language immersion schools, hoping that their child will someday become fluent in another language. For those of us not in language immersion, however, a foreign language Advanced Placement (AP) course is the next best thing. Therefore, it is strange that the College Board is deciding to eliminate three AP language courses after the 2008-2009 academic year. Latin Literature, French Literature and Italian Language and Culture will all be discontinued. The elimination of French Literature, the only aforementioned course that Gunn has, will affect almost 200 students who would be eligible to take the class. The College Board should not discontinue AP Language or Literature courses because doing so undermines the purpose of learning a new language: gaining a deeper understanding of a particular language and culture.—Joyce Liu
[Forum] Palo Alto High PTSA president threatens First Amendment rights—Sophie Cheng
[Forum] May is over, and various students have just gotten their results from that fateful test: SATs. Some may celebrate while others sigh and gear themselves for another painful round of test-taking. But before students try to find meaning behind their scores, they should ask themselves—do the SATs say anything about skill? Studies, statistics and the experiences of millions of students say otherwise. The SATs are meant to make the college admissions process fairer, but they utterly fail to serve as the great equalizer that the College Board claims them to be. —
[Forum] Even one of the best public high schools in the nation has its set of flaws. One of the main blemishes at Gunn, and the entire Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD), is the lack of student input in the tenure system. Being tenured means that PAUSD is required to secure a teaching spot in the district for that person. This guarantee should be contingent upon approval by students. Under PAUSD's current tenure system, so-so or even terrible teachers receive tenure, largely because of the lack of student feedback in the process. —Sasha Guttentag
[Forum] SEC survey biased against Guidance Department; African aid article off base, oversimplified; Health office provides service, information to students—
[Forum] A student needs to fulfill many requirements in order to graduate, but few of these requisite courses are approached with as much apathy as physical education (PE). Students habitually cut, fail to suit up and arrive late, and even those who come prepared for class often slack off and put in only a modicum of effort. Grading students on their performance will increase students' work ethic. —
[Forum] National agency should heed California pollution suit—Thomas Bao
[Forum] According to PG&E, "the future is clean energy," meaning energy produced without the emission of carbon dioxide gas. When most people think of clean energy, they think of wind generators and solar panels. While these energy sources are obviously environmentally friendly, their use is limited and impractical on a large scale. Yet, many who search for an environmentally friendly energy source overlook the most practical source of all, nuclear energy. The power plants take up relatively little space, emit zero carbon emissions and leave very little radioactive waste behind. —Eric Johnston
[Forum] Indiana University men's basketball coach Bobby Knight dramatically jumps to his feet. He grabs his fold-up chair and tempestuously tosses it onto the court. This display of a coach's anger is unfortunately not exclusive to universities. In high schools too, abusive coaches are a problem that should be addressed. Coaches must be positive role models for athletes by practicing good sportsmanship and leading by example. —Beth Holtzman
[Forum] Ban on popular dancing trend denies freedom of expression, dents school funds—Ana Kostioukova
[Forum] Despite what parents and teachers would like to think, their students are far from safe.—Alex Lee