The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/252481
Staff Writer Maggie Tallan SPARTAN THUMBS Track is back *These Thumbs came from Mr. Penner's 6th period class. Starbucks identity theft Alpine has been put on hold Page 2 January 31, 2014 Super Bowl is almost here Everyone is looking forward to the entertainment of the Superbowl. Track preseason is getting underway. Alpine hasn't been able to race Shorts and T-Shirts are coming back into season. Starbucks app leaves your account information vulnerable to identity theft. Staff Editorial Discipline... 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 STA FF Marissa Chase Editor-in-Chief Marissa Chase News Editors Owen Ritter Grey Grotke Viewpoint Editors Ceighlee Fennel Features Editor Ryan Fisher Tymberlyn Bealer Sports Editor Bailey Patchen Becca Blanchard Topics Editors Josiah Vasey Editor-in-Chief Kellie Rodriguez Advertising Director Alisa Pelanconi Adviser Cartoonist Karla Nowicki Staff Writers Adam Swarthout Kylee Bonds Grey Grotke Maggie Tallan Molly Shea Brianna Tackmier Anh-Taylor Nguyen Mikayla Moore Lexi Pritchard Jeff Mandolfo Julia Liebert New clothing options Opinion Josiah Vasey Y ou know, we here at the Bluffer really don't like to criticize the school. Red Bluff High School is a great school. But the school's decision to suspend students for pulling a prank on someone off campus is a blatant abuse of power. For those who don't know the story, three RBHS student were suspended a few weeks ago for putting a fake parking ticket on a friend's car, even though they weren't on campus. How far does the school's jurisdiction go? Do they really have the authority to discipline students who do bad things outside of school? Should I not pull my epic fettucini rocket prank on my best friend in case the school is watching? If you read the fine print on the student contract, you will find that the school has the power to punish you for things outside of school grounds. This seems entirely unfair. Now it would be easier to understand the school's logic if the crime had been more serious: teen drinking, selling drugs, bringing weapons to school- all these would have been reasonable grounds for the school to suspend or expel a student because this institution can't be expected to house dangerous individuals who might endager or infulence the youth. The school has gone overboard with their punishment. The point of punishment in schools is to discourage interruptions to education- drugs, alcohol, cell-phones, all of these can potentially disrupt the educational process, and therefore it makes sense to punish their use. But this didn't interrupt anything! Likely the only reason the students were punished was because the incident was reported in the Red Bluff Daily News. If there had been no publicity, it is almost certain there would have been no penalty. Things that happen outside of schol are not for the school to deal with; that's up to the authorities. Red Bluff High School has overextended its power by trying to moniter kids own personal lives. Let's hope they don't do it again. A & E Editors A s many of you have come to know, winter has not really set in yet. Hopefully, it will soon. However, just hoping isn't going to make winter happen. What will happen if it never does come? What will we do then? These are probably some questions you may have. Don't worry, I'm here for you. First of all, our year-round schedule will change because there is always a chance that winter will come when we get out of school for summer. Yep, the months of December through February will be summer while June through August is our new winter. This also means the spring and fall months will change places as well. That would actually be interesting, the Fourth of July in winter, and Christmas in summer. The only problem with the seasons flipping is that the daylight would be completely reversed. Our new longest days of the year would be near Christmas and our shortest would be around Independence Day. Hey, at least we wouldn't have to stay up so late for fireworks in the winter. Not only that, but waiting for Christmas morning won't be as long. Anyway, now that we see the problem that has no clear solution, everyone can tell this is an EPIDEMIC! If it doesn't rain, everyone will have to find a new way to live or suffer the consequences. This is an absolute emergency! Everything will dry out, and bottled water prices will skyrocket. The worst part of this pandemic is that anyone who plays sports or likes being in the sun will suffer the most because we need to stay hydrated. Why? Because it is a simple fact that all sports players need to drink a lot of water. The same goes for those who like being in the sun, too. We have to find a way to make it rain, but we can't use all our water at once. . It has to rain before we end up using all of our water or we'll end up shriveled like prunes from dehydration. Or like raisins, if you want to put it that way. We will be forced to face some consequence if nothing happens. Getting out of bed... wake yourself up, physically and mentally. Sadly, the morning mentality that you have plenty of time takes over and begins the dangerous "snooze cycle." Fear not, my fellow students, for all is not lost. All these problems can be solved by simply moving the alarm to the opposite side of the room from the bed. This way, you have to get up anyway to turn off the alarm, and may then proceed to get ready. Hang in there, guys! Mornings may be rough, but the rest of the day is whatever you want to make of it. Good luck, out there. Quarter life crisis T his week, my friends, family, and classmates have witnessed a sort of crisis fall upon me. The symptoms point to what many would diagnose as senioritis-- but no, I've experienced what I like to think of as a premature quarter-life crisis. School had fallen lower and lower on my list of priori- ties, and at the disgust of my mother and English teacher, I let one of the subjects that comes most easily to me drop to an obscenely low grade. I'm still snapping myself awake and out of this crisis, and I'm deal- ing with the consequences. However, I think I need to take a moment here to reflect upon reasons why a prema- ture quarter-life crisis may occur and different techniques that can be uti- lized to prevent a relapse. The nearly- tangible image of college has recently been broadcast in the forefront of my mind for weeks now, offering an easy escape when I get frustrated with the fact I am still stuck in high school, do- ing worksheets and struggling to get out of bed in the morning for a day I've lived a thousand times before. It's conferences, Maintaining the school farm, showing fees, and operational expenses for all ag classes. If the proposed budget does go through the district will still receive funding but it is then the districts choice as what to do with it, meaning; we could receive a lot less funding. That is why the cut of the Incentive Grant would be such a big contention. Although our school may not encounter any problems, due to our community and district being pretty supportive, there's many other schools that very well could. These schools may also face the eradication of their programs. I feel strongly that the grant should be embodied in the budget and hope our State legislators recognize this also. G overnor Brown recently proposed a new state budget. Normally I wouldn't give a second thought to the news, it wouldn't concern me. But this time around it does, along with many other students. This particular budget is missing a very important aspect for schools all over California. The newly proposed budget does not include the Agriculture Incentive Grant. This specific grant insures that over 300 departments state wide receive funds in order to keep them running. There is over four million dollars dedicated, as of now, to the approximate 300 high school Ag departments. Schools receive as little as 6,000 to as high as 48,000 dollars depending on the size of their Ag programs. Money given to the schools from the grant is matched by the school district. To Red Bluff High the funds we receive from the grant are a major part of the reason our Ag program is such a big part of the community and cherished part of our school. The amount of money we currently receive annually, funds things such as Ag Department vehicles, Travel expenses, important to visualize, and never stop visualizing, but it's imperative to do these worksheets and get out of bed in the morning. This last semester is just as effective toward the GPA and A-G requirements as any semester. I personally have a huge mental block in accepting this fact and forc- ing myself to finish every assignment and to just keep going. This is a huge factor in the occurrence of my quarter life crisis. Aside from visualization, another tool for preventing a full on school-related meltdown would be to avoid procrastination at all costs. This isn't always possible, but it helps. I'm still working on it. Possible ag grant cut Jeffrey Mandolfo Staff Writer Wacky weather A lright, let's face it. Mornings aren't exactly the most pleasant part of the daily routine. Every morning is the same struggle to drag yourself out of that nice, soft, and inviting bed. It's almost as if the bed itself is calling your name, holding you back for you to wallow in its lavish comfort. Getting up early in the morning is one of the weekday's greatest challenges. We aren't exactly the little excited toddler we used to be, willingly waking up at 5 am to stare at Christmas presents. That dreaded sound of the alarm clock is a painful reminder of morning woes, as is that pile of alarms that have been smashed in a fit of early-morning frustration. With the inexplicable invention known as "the snooze button," matters are only made worse. It becomes a cycle, as the snooze button is pressed over and over again and the time available to get ready for school s l o w l y dwindles. Then there's the old "I'll just close my eyes for a minute" idea. Your alarm goes off, and you decide to take a moment and rest your eyes for a short time. Unfortunately, this "minute" of having your eyes "just closed" almost always turns into a half hour of oversleeping. Of course, every other tactic to solve these problems has been tried. The battle of going to bed on time ensues every night. We try and try, but there's always a reason to stay up too late. Whether it's your favorite TV show, a good movie, or just homework, we stay up late and realize what a bad idea it was in the morning. Another plan of attack is to set the alarm earlier. The r e a s o n i n g b e h i n d this is h o p e f u l l y you will get up earlier and have extra time to a c t u a l l y Staff Writer Brianna Tackmier Mikayla Moore Staff Writer