The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/393226
SPARTAN THUMBS Austrian arrival *These Thumbs came from Mrs. Pelanconi's 5th period class. Italian departure Attendance policy Page 2 October 3, 2014 Too much homework Students are starting to feel the weight of school. The school is excited to welcome the Austrian exchange students! Students are still being harshly punished for tardies and absences. The Italian exchange students have gone home. Staff Editorial Live your life the way you want to... 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 Ryan Fisher Editor-in-Chief Ryan Fisher News Editors Brianna Tackmier Lexi Pritchard Opinions Editor Ceighlee Fennel Features Editor Tymberlyn Bealer Sports Editor Savannah Sutliff Topics Editor Rebecca Blanchard Editor-in-Chief Madison Waelty Advertising Director Alisa Pelanconi Adviser Cartoonist Karla Nowicki Juanita Van Meter Staff Writers Josiah Vasey Kaylie Capps Jay Boone Hailie Willey Opinions Rebecca Blanchard Life as we all know it, is relatively short. Things happen that we cannot control and result in casualties, disabilities, or anything. Life is usually taken for granted by most, and we at the Bluffer feel as if people need to live a little because, life happens and losing the ability to do what one might want to do with their life is a real shame. Nothing is worse then not completing your mental bucket list. One might say having a bucket list is cliche and they don't have one, but everyone does. Just because you haven't written one down in your diary, journal, or anything doesn't mean your don't have goals and wishes. Now we are not saying that one should go out and do any hard core drugs, drink and drive, or jump of a sketchy bridge, because their is a difference between recklessness and living your life to the fullest. Living a short lived life because of the stupid things you've done is no way to live. Though, just because you go out and party doesn't mean that in anyway that the quality of your life is different from someone who has fun playing video games. The quality of life for every human on this planet will never be the same. All that truly matters is that you are having fun doing what makes you happy. Never be ashamed by the things you love to do, because the things you do define you as a person and shouldn't be hidden from others. Though don't take the quality of your life for granted. Your life is the way you choose it to be, and have fun with what you're doing because you never know when something bad might happen and having regrets is always a downer. So, we, at the Bluffer, are wishing people to continue to do what makes them happy, because peoples happiness is what truly matters, not what someone else thinks of them. Brianna Tackmier A&E Editor A & E Editor Kaylie Capps Staff Writer Guest Writer Homecoming dates Students are finding cute ways to ask each other to Homecoming. "Even though I'm only a junior, I can feel the stress of teachers, faculty members, counselors, friends, and even family talking to he about colleges." Cynthia Gonzalez Cruddy school chairs linked back to It's that time of the year again, when Homecoming is around the corner and people are wondering if they'll be asked or if they know who to ask. Girls will be giving clear hints on their Twitter page or on any of their other social apps they use. In some cases, people might not want to go to Homecoming because of fear of being rejected, not having a date, thinking they won't get asked by that certain person or by anyone or may not even want to go to the dance cause its not their thing. Most guys always think girls have to have a huge thought out Homecoming proposal to ask a girl to the dance. However, honestly girls aren't that complicated as they may seem. A simple example of a Homecoming proposal that isn't too big yet still thoughtful is a Starbucks drink with the simple question saying Homecoming. Just knowing little facts about what the girl likes, a guy can think of a way to ask. If a guy can't think of anything, there is always the internet who has a million of examples of proposals. Most commonly, the guys ask the girls to Homecoming, but why not mix it up and break tradition.. There's no harm in a girl having courage and taking command if she knows what she wants. The thoughts that come to mind when they hear about a girl asking a guy to Homecoming is, "That's weird", "She must be desperate," or "Wow. That takes guts." Asking a person to Homecoming can be a nerve wrecking feeling because nobody wants to be rejected. But if the roles were switched and a girl asked a guy would that be too embarrassing for the guy or would it make the guy feel impressed that a girl took command and just went for the risk. Honestly what's life without taking a few risks? A s the year goes on, many of us will face little, unnecessary struggles with school. Sorry, it's true, this is high school. One of those struggles has to do with our classroom chairs. Don't get me wrong, it's nice having actual chairs to sit in while we do our work and take tests, but they do have the tendency to hurt people's backs, necks, and rear ends. This little problem could have easily been fixed over the summer when school funds were used to put up new lunch menus on the snack bars on campus. Yet, at the same time the menus are helpful in identifying which snack bar is which, so that's kind of ruled out. So perhaps the other way of fixing this problem is to build up the funds, which will probably be quite a bit of money, to buy new ones for "senior make a difference day" when one of our graduating classes are seniors in early June at the end of our senior year. After all, our chairs are kind of outdated and in need of some serious maintenance. The backs are bent further back than they should be, the chairs are coming off the bar that holds them on the desk, the legs are starting to get sticky on the bottom, these are just some of the problems our chairs have here at Red Bluff High. No, I'm being serious here. Our chairs should be nicknamed "The Back-breakers," or something like that. In short, they're pretty much acting like my old iPod, which has the battery life to just play music while it's asleep and sweats on the back into my case for it (At least it's not battery acid. Otherwise it would really be a bad thing. I'll admit I need a newer one, though.). Really, the only reasonable solution left to this growing crisis is to replace such items, as depressing as it may be. As sad as it is to see such old relics of this high school go, all things eventually need to go, and our chairs are one of those sets of relics that have reached their time long ago. I'm sorry, but we need to accept and embrace these changes when we need to, which there is a lot of those times in our lives If we all want to prevent these spinal problems from getting worse than they already are we have to embrace change, raise the money somehow, and be willing to help replace the chairs in all of these classrooms on campus, because let's face it; There is no way the janitors will replace over a thousand desks connected to chairs on their own when it could be a job where something or someone such as "senior make a difference day" or Key Club have people who would be willing to volunteer to put chairs in classrooms. possible future back complications High college standards cause unnecessary stress C olleges have way too many standards to get into their schools. You have to take the SAT and the ACT, to applying for scholarships and, finally applying to the colleges themselves. Most colleges have their own standards to get in. During your high school experience teachers, faculty members, counselors, friends, family members and even complete strangers will be hounding you to do well in school so that colleges might consider accepting you into their schools. Everyone always tells you that you need to know what you want to be when you're older, so when you go to apply for colleges it will be easier. But in some cases that doesn't apply, students change their majors all the time during their college experience. Some colleges would like you to know what you want to major in, before you even apply. Then there's the SAT, which is the test of a students' academic skills, used for admission for colleges. This test is around three hours and forty-five minutes which is broken up into ten parts: three critical readings, three mathematical parts and one variable multiple choice which is around about twenty- five questions. You would usually take this test before you apply for colleges. Then there's applying for scholarships. There are so many out there it's difficult to decide where to start. There are even scholarships for Sophomores and Juniors! Looks like I'll be applying for some scholarships soon. There are scholarships for everything out there, there's even a scholarship for red hair. That's crazy. You could even get a scholarship for living in a certain town, you could also get academic or sports scholarships. Most colleges like when you have extracurricular activities on your application, including volunteer work, being involved with your school's clubs and sports. The ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school. This test is split up into five parts: English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and an optional Writing test. This test usually takes about four hours excluding the writing portion, but this is including breaks and with the administration instructions. The actual testing time is around two hours and fifty- five minutes, English being at forty-five minutes and mathematics at sixty minutes. Depending on which college you'd like to go, there are many standards. There are several different colleges out there including, community colleges, Universities, Private Schools, and then there are Trade and Vocational schools. Even though I'm only a junior, I can feel the stress of teachers, faculty members, counselors, friends, and even family talking to be about colleges and which one I want to go to. Just thinking about college is getting me all worked up. I think high school should be fun, but since the college standards are so high, that makes it impossible for students to do so. Excluding extra things like Sports and after school activities. You spend majority of your own time studying for exams and the big test including the SAT and the ACT if you wanted to take them, for college. So, when it comes to applying for college keep this in mind. High School will be very difficult with a bunch of different obstacles there will be a bunch of stress, a lot of hard work, and tons of dedication. Prepare yourself for this new chapter in your life, that will happen after your four years here at Red Bluff High School. Dance propositions promote gender bias