The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/66410
Opinion Senior year, class of 2012... Y ou are all so incredibly close to graduating. That is a fact; you have only three weeks or so left. As many teachers would say, you have worked for this since first grade , for 12 years, don't screw it up. All you Seniors may laugh, but there is a lot of validity to this statement. Some of you have already lost the ability to walk at graduation for behavioral problems, others have faltered in the last months, coming close to losing what they've worked so hard for, and finally there is the minority of students who have avoided the fatal disease known as "Senioritis" . Senioritis is not real, no matter what you have experienced; it is not a real disease, there is no medical cure, and it is completely psychosomatic. However, Senioritis does exist on some sort of invasion of privacy E veryone remembers SOPA, the unjust internet censorship bill that infringed on our rights as citizens. But luckily, people realized that this bill was terrible and needed to die, and die it did. We rose up and said no to SOPA. So, we're safe now, right? Sadly, that is not correct at all. We once again have to rise up in protest to preserve our basic, consititutional rights. The minds behind SOPA have devised a new bill that is like SOPA, with a dash of privacy invasion to add flavor. It is CISPA, or the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. It sounds nice and all, but it is really just terrible. You see, SOPA prevented us from viewing pirated material, but CISPA is a flat out invasion of our privacy. Okay, so basically what CISPA does is make companies share information that they've collected from their customers with the government (as if it wasn't bad enough that companies can spy on us). You have all probably heard about companies getting knowledge about what sites you're on, what products you're buying, etc. But companies just use this information to market to your needs so that you will buy their product. Although this is slighlty annoying, it is in no way harmful. But who knows what the government will do with your personal information. The bill is supposed to help defend CISPA bill another way to censor internet, America from various threats. This sounds reasonable, but really how will this information help? Will the government catch a terrorist who searched, "Terrorists R Us"? All the information will do is give the government insight into our personal lives. What really makes me mad about this bill is the people behind it. These people tried to pass SOPA, failed, and are just trying again. The way it is supposed to work is, a politician has an idea for a bill. He sends it off and, depending on whether the people like it, it will be passed or forgotten. But these people tried to pass a bill, failed, and instead of saying, "Huh, I guess the American people don't want this. That's fair," they said, "Huh, the American people don't want this. How can we trick them into approving it?" They don't care what the American people think. They are just forwarding their own agenda. CISPA is just another way to try to censor the internet, with a little government observation added. It has already passed in the House of Representatives. Obama has said he will veto the bill, but we can't be sure if he will follow through. Fewer people are aware of CISPA than SOPA, so it has less resistance and a higher chance to pass. CISPA will hardly help the government to find and eliminate threats to our country. It can only hurt us. We can't let this bill pass, it gives the government too much power that it simply doesn't need. Josiah Vasey Staff Writer THE BLUFFER Editorial Staff News Editors Aaron Vasey Austin Chase Viewpoint Editor Marissa Chase Eddie Spidle Connor Ross A&E Editors Features Editors Natalie Almond Ashlan Brunello Bailey Patchen Sports Editors Egan Meagher Nick Reinhardt Laurel Shoop Shelby Keeler Topic Editors Andrea Hveem Illustrator 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. Editor-In-Chief Austin Chase Aaron Vasey Xarayna Sekscenski Alaina Ru -dnick Carson Dunbar Payton Cumpton Brittany Villa Laura Defonte W Page 2 May 18, 2012 mental level. Senioritis is simply a "disease" where Seniors feel like they have reached the finish line, when in fact, they are on the last stretch. During the time when they should be sprinting, Seniors are waling, or in some cases, crawling to the finish line. We in Bluffer cannot advise you to avoid this typo of behavior enough. Consider what is at stake here: your diploma, your family's ability to watch you " You are all so incredibly close to graduating." walk at graduation, your senior trip, and your ability to finish things you've started in life. Class of 2012, we in Bluffer warn you to avoid that party on Saturday night, to avoid arriving late to class and surpassing the allowed amount of absences, to avoid Senior ditch day, and most of all, to avoid slacking off in your classes and adding your name to the notorious "May Fail List". If any of you do not know, the "May Fail List" is a compilation of the names of Senior students who may not graduate high school due to various circumstances. Just make sure that your name is not on it, make sure you stay out of trouble and most importantly of all, make sure you finish high school strong. As our only source of original news, newspapers must continue to print. ����� e've all heard in some way or another, or have even noticed in our daily lives, that newspapers seem to be dying out. The number of high school, local, college, and even regional papers are declining, prices are going up, and they are delivering fewer papers across the board. Some experts, even some people working at the papers themselves, have dire predictions of the future of this type of media, saying that soon children will be born that never read a newspaper in their lifetime, and that even the illustrious New York Times will soon go under, as the Star Tribune of Minneapolis did in 2009. We see it in the Sacramento Bee, as well as The San Francisco Chronicle, which have stopped delivering in our area, citing costs. Will the death of printed papers be a bad thing? I believe it will. Though online news is faster and more convenient, it has many faults to contend with. Online publishing site, blogs, and forums don't usually follow good publishing etiquette. Many copy stories without giving credit to the people who did the real "legwork". Over time, with multiple copies being made, the story can get distorted, leading to my next point, which is that they sometimes slant, or spin, stories and news to fit in with their own beliefs or objectives. There is also the fact that in copying stories, the person re-publishing it didn't do the actual interviews and research, so they can get things wrong, even accidentally, since it isn't first hand information. While this shoddy work is often found online, at printed news companies, most, if not all of the writers have gone to school precisely for this, to write for papers and to write the truth. Online sites also usually have a smaller staff, and so there is less of a peer review process than you would find in a normal newsroom at a paper. They are also harder to prosecute if they do misinterpret news, as it is hard to Times was founded 1851 1,150,589 - Daily circulation of The Times 30 million - People who visit nytimes.com per month 108 - Number of Pulitzer Prizes The Times has won The voice of Red Bluff High School since 1901 Editor-In-Chief Advertising Director Shantell Estrada Staff Writers Josiah Vasey Rebecca Blanchard Armando Aguilar Ryan Fisher Claire Samay KC Jacobsen locate where the news came from, and there are fewer laws against it. They are also read by fewer people per site because there are so many options, and so are held to a lower public standard, than say, The New York Times. If The New York Times misprinted something, they would be flooded with hundreds of letters from professionals, involved parties, and regular people. If an online news site did the same, they would get less of a response. If these things work against online sites, they work for papers, which usually have more employees, a larger dedication to unbiased news, a tradition of honesty, and more people watching them closely. Publishing something in print has standards for writing original stories and with original content. While papers may need to evolve, they are preferable to online news sites, and largely better than blogs or forums. For more information you can look at many articles printed in The New York Times, which now has a website and app. Alaina Rudnick Staff Writer - The New York 1,150 1971 7,414 of Dec 2010 Alisa Pelanconi Adviser SPARTAN THUMBS • Student parking lot is dangerous • CST testing officialy over After many weeks of taking the CSTʼs, students are glad they are over and can get back to school. • School year is coming to a close The students parking lot is filled with drivers that drive too fast and pay no attention to their surroundings. June 7, a Thursday, marks the last day of school and students canʼt wait to beign their summer vacation. • Riverside going out of business After many years of being a great place to eat in the community, Riverside is unfortunately closing. • PDA around the campus Students are tired of the public displays of affection they must encounter throughout the campus. *These thumbs came from Mr. Vossiʼs and Mrs. Dausséʼs 4th period class. Number of staff writers on the Times - The Times printed the Pentagon Papers - Number of employees at The Times as Staf " pr Staff Editorial