The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/603975
Page 2 November 20, 2015 Staff Editorial Bluffer Staff apologizes... Opinions Editorial Policy: Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the district, staff, or student body. We welcome signed letters to the editor. Names may be withheld upon request. We also reserve the right to edit submission based on length and/or clarity. THE BLU FFER STA FF Tymberlyn Bealer Editor-in-Chief News Editors Tymberlyn Bealer Ceighlee Fennel Kaylie Capps Kourtney Sanders Opinions Editor Britney Miranda Julissa Villalobos Features Editor Lexi Pritchard Sports Editor Becca Frey Sophie Cumpton Topics Editor Ceighlee Fennel Editor-in-Chief Julia Liebert Advertising Director Alisa Pelanconi Adviser Cartoonist Katelyn Stewart Staff Writers Brianna Tackmier Joe Mills Amy Becerra Mary Herrera Abby O'Sullivan Shania Prieto Taylor Nguyen Skyler Drew A-&-E Editor Holidays rush into the scene at Red Bluff Mary Hererra Staff Writer Joe Mills Staff Writer Stefanie Brunello Copy Editor Copy Editor Stefanie Brunello T is' the season to get ready for the best time of the year. Halloween is over, the temperature is finally getting colder and the winter fashion is coming into full effect. Singing and playing Christmas music is only half the fun, but putting up a Christmas tree in November really shows the holiday spirit. Everyone still loves Thanksgiving so a huge shout out to the Pilgrims and Indians because they brought us the delicious meals and the day to remember everything that we are thankful for. These last two holiday seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas really bring everyone together and focus on the true meaning of the holidays of being thankful for everything that we possess. Maybe it's the Christmas lights, Christmas movies, Pumpkin spice lattes, and the Christmas commercials that pushes the excitement that begins in the early days of November. With Christmas time coming up, this also means the The Bluffer Staff would like to respond to our last Halloween issue Sound Off where students answered the question, "If you could be any serial killer, who would you be and why?" This question was inappropriate and we understand the community's concerns about the question being printed in our high school newspaper. We would like to formally apologize for letting something so serious be shown as a light or funny matter. We do not support violence or killings of any kind. When we asked the question, we were looking for movie characters or fictional characters instead of real serial killers. After the issue was printed, we realized that the wording of the question should have been changed because it was taken the wrong way. We definitely should have reworded the question; however, we have no control over peoples' responses and can't censor them. We also could have chosen other people who gave answers more in the direction of what we were thinking. We should have followed through on these actions so that there would be no relation to real-life past incidents. There was a lack of communication between staff and Editors which will be remedied in the future to catch sensitive material that might be taken the wrong way. Also in the future we want to be more careful and use better judgment with our content. The last thing we want is to have a negative reputation in our community and we hope to make up for that mistake in the future. We have reached out to administration for feedback on our printed issues to get both point of views and the different responses to our content. Thank you for reading the Bluffer and we hope to live up to your expectations with our future issues. A day of thanks is on the horizon. SPARTAN THUMBS Rainfall in Red Bluff School Break Thanksgiving Pumpkins at Thanksgiving This fall food has yet to go out of style. California welcomes needed rain. Students are desperate for this vacation. Thanksgiving History No one seems to care anymore. Submitted by: Jacob Thornton Bluffer/ Skyler Drew ***These Thumbs were acquired by Mr. Hendricks's third period class. beginning to Holiday Classic. Holiday Classic is an exciting time in our school because we get to welcome basketball teams from all over California, the dress up week gets crazy and the basketball games turn into a great night for everyone to enjoy and cheer on their team. Not to mention that Holiday Classic also leads up to Christmas break which is the real reason everyone is actually happy. Not everyone likes the commencement of Christmas celebrations so early in the year but there are many other reasons to enjoy these last two months. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Hanukkah, Holiday Classic, Netflix and Chill and Christmas break are truly the best. New policy overreaches for power T he high school recently enacted a new Academic Integrity Policy, where they attempted to create a school wide policy on what integrity and dishonesty in the classroom is. There are several issues with the new rules. Aside from lack of student input, many of us had no idea they were even considering it and couldn't contribute to the process, they are examples of overreach that can't be enforced. For example, one of the new outlawed behaviors is missing class so as to avoid turning in assignments or taking a test. After talking to several teachers, they agree that it would be nearly impossible to determine which students were sick or avoiding class without conducting a witch hunt. In addition to this, other activities that are now banned include looking at others' work and doing more or less than your share of group projects. Beside the fact that RBHS has almost no ability to see who's sending pictures of work or letting me take a peek at the English paper due today, doing more than your fair share of a group project? Really? Of the different things that you could punish, let's punish the overachievers in the group? I fail to see how trying harder on a project to ensure that our grade is higher is worthy of being labeled as a cheater. There are issues with cheating that must be addressed, and the policy covers many issues, such as stealing tests, answers and plagiarism, but it has overreached on what they can actually do in an effort to make themselves feel better about what they're doing. The school is making policies that they have very little power or ability to enforce, so the new policy is doomed from the start. L ately, the school has been undergoing several beautification projects around campus. They fixed the lawn in front of the office so that it drains properly. They also hung numerous banners around campus on the light posts. While those banners did add some appeal to the look of the school, they serve no purpose. There are other significant projects for which that money could have been used. For example, whenever it rains, the quad smells horrible. Some people say that it is the bushes that smell while others have said that it is a sewer issue. Either way, it is a problem that has been ignored for years and needs to be fixed. Why are the administrators trying to make the campus look better before solving problems? Students and teachers shouldn't have to walk through a foul smelling quad. The school isn't fixing present problems before they spend money on other less important ones. Even if the issue is being caused by the sewer, the school should attempt to fix the problem. They shouldn't be ignoring the issue because the longer they ignore it, the bigger the problem becomes. They should just take the time to fix the problem instead of ignoring it. If it is just the bushes, then the problem should have been taken care of long ago instead of ignoring it. Smelly quad concerns students M any teens in High School are in some form of art class. The fine arts are highly regarded in everyone's life, but the classes that these teens take aren't very important to the school. Art is important to the students, but not so important to everyone else. The reason for this might be because people think that the arts are reserved only for people who have a huge Arts classes essential for happiness Amy Becerra Staff Writer amount of talent. Getting a career in any form of art would be hard work. When only a small portion of school is reserved for arts, how can children accomplish this goal of being very talented? Fine arts are used by students for many reasons. It takes away the stress in life, and it is an opportunity to show how talented they are. It's also just something fun that they like to do. Taking that away from students leaves them with an empty heart. There are many benefits to having fine art classes. It teaches students to work together, build critical thinking skills, enhances creativity, and it helps them learn positive habits. Taking away the arts from the school, will have a lot of downsides, so finding a way to keep them in school would be worth the effort. "...they have very little power or ability to enforce..."