OPINION
NOT-SO-GREAT ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT GATSBIES
A look into Betsy DeVos’ education policies
The dos and don’ts at the prom
Page 5
Pages 8, 9
BEAR
Film Club votes Oscar winners
WITNESS BRANHAM HIGH SCHOOL
MARCH 17, 2017
pro•crasti•nation LATIN pro: forward; in favor of
LATIN crastinus: of tomorrow
Do you have trouble finishing a project because it doesn’t meet your own high standards? Perfectionists procrastinate because they want everything to be perfect. They spend too much time on small details. As a result, they rush the rest of the assignment Lucky crisis maker Do you tend to ignore due dates, then at the last second work frantically to get your stuff done? The “lucky” procrastinators have learned to procrastinate without fear; they think their best work is done under pressure. Defier Do you become upset when asked to do a task that you don’t want to do? Defiers procrastinate because they don’t like it when others tell them what to do. They don’t care about deadlines and expectations, which could be done overtly or passive-aggressively. CADENCE TRENCHARD News Editor
rocrastination: otherwise known as inP tentional delay, postponing, putting off, avoidance, or most commonly referred to as the bane of mankind’s existence. It’s the reason senior Ryan Posey rushed on his AP Art Portfolio, the reason sophomore Ryan McBride prefers listening to music over
How much they pay attention to detail Perfectionist: High Dreamer: Low “I don’t want to do details, organizing in general. Organizing requires a certain attention to detail which I don’t like. -Ms. Anu Satyapal, Math teacher
Are they constantly living in the moment or the future? Lucky / crisis maker: Low Worrier: High “[When I was younger] I would do best under pressure. I would space it out, but it wouldn’t work. I did it all at once and got an A. - Freshman Lyndsey Freitas Focus on relationship with others - how do they feel about the people asking a favor? Defier: Low Overdoer / pleaser: High “I feel bad saying ‘no’ especially if it’s something I can do easier than them.” -Freshman Gabriela Verginis taking trees-worth of AP World History notes and the reason I have only started typing this now during crunch (the night before the Bear Witness sends the issue to the printing press). I know, I know. Procrastination is both a mental and a behavioral battle. This means that even if you know you need to finish annotating an article or start your science project, you may be held back by
he Trump administration has decided T to revoke a federal protection of transgender students on Feb. 22— and Branham
Dreamer Do you tend to ignore due dates, then at the last second work frantically to get your stuff done? The “lucky” procrastinators have learned to procrastinate without fear; they think their best work is done under pressure. Worrier Does worrying about the “what ifs” paralyze you before you even start a project? Do you avoid situations that could cause you stress or anxiety? Worriers procrastinate because they fear change, and worry about what may happen in the future.
Overdoer / Pleaser Is it hard for you to say ‘no’ to others? Do you run around doing a lot, without feeling that you’ve accomplished very much? Pleasers have too much on their plate because they say yes to extra tasks, and never have enough time to do it all. old habits. One way to get motivated is by giving yourselves an incentive. For me, that’s time to draw, pet my cat, or read a book. If you have a long history of procrastination, it’s unrealistic to think you’ll become the most productive worker in the world overnight. Both students mentioned that they began procrastinating in middle school. “I guess you hit a point where the grade isn’t SEE PROCRASTINATION • PAGE 6
Task
Feelings
Action
The activating event or task is whatever you are putting off, such as studying for the SAT, cleaning out your backpack, and writing that huge essay for English. All tasks are really neutral.
These are your “hidden” feelings about the task. How you feel about something governs your motivation. If you have negative feelings, you will tend to put it off or delay. If you have positive feelings about the task, you’ll jump right in. These feelings control your response.
This is what you actually choose to do. You can take a rational or irrational approach. A rational response is “I don’t like writing papers at all, but I had better get going on it anyway because it’s worth a lot of points.” An irrational approach is “I hate writing papers, and even though it’s due next week, I’ll start it later.”
INSIDE
National news ...............................2 International news............... ........ 5
2
Bulletin board.................................4 Editorial......................................... 5
3
Science and technology.................7 Science/Tech briefs........................7
State rules trump new transgender policies Staff Writer
The three stages of procrastination
1
BHSBEARWITNESS.COM
MICHAELA EDLIN
The six forms and factors of the human habit Perfectionist
Page 15
Spread........................................8-9 Student Life............................10-11
students aren’t happy. This came before the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student from Virginia who sued to use the bathroom for which he identified. In the past few years, President Obama had written several memos that guided state legislature under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. The law guarantees participation in education programs regardless of sex or orientation. These memos argued that transgender students should have access to bathrooms, locker rooms and other gendered facilities that match their gender identity and that this right is protected by federal law. This is why many students, especially trans students, are upset that Trump has withdrawn these memos. The Trump and Supreme Court decisions defer to individual states, which have their own policies on bathroom use. California in particular requires gender neutral bathrooms. “From my perspective we are following the state laws right now and we’ll go from there,” Principal Cheryl Lawton said. Branham is planning to add curtains in locker rooms in the next few weeks to add comfort and safety for students, and plans to SEE TRANSGENDER • PAGE 6
Threats show need for campus drills LAURA HEFFERNAN Staff Writer
ecently, there have been multiple violent R threats made to Branham High School through social media, raising questions about
campus safety. Luckily, friends of the Branham community reported these posts to administration. The students who reported the threats tend to get attacked by the original posters and their group of friends, causing administration to worry that eventually these posts stop being reported and someone will actually attack the school. Although students have been defending themselves by saying these are only jokes, it is important to know that this is not a laughing matter. Dean Rick Hayashi said, “I feel that kids are a little distant and they feel that if it’s not a face-to-face conversation, they feel more bold to do something and think it’s anonymous... Colleges get information about a student and see the student’s online behavior and they get rejected.” Mr. Hayashi added that when a student posts something inappropriate online, it can damage relationships at school and make people feel unsafe. It’s important to know that what you post will affect the Branham community. Mr. Hayashi adds, “...we do restorative justice where we want students to fix that relationship they broke when they decided to do something immature like that.” A similar situation happened in a World History class, on February 14 when a student wrote in the textbook that he or she was
Campus Roundup.........................11 Sports.....................................12-13
SEE DRILL • PAGE 6 Arts & Entertainment..............14-15 The Back Page..............................16