THE BURLINGAME B theburlingameb.org
December 19, 2017
Issue 4 Vol. 112
Eighteen-year-olds can now call themselves out of school in accordance with the education code BY PRISCILLA JIN
Business Manager
After inquiries from the Burlingame B, Principal Paul Belzer has reviewed the California Education Code 46012 and has decided to bring back the former practice that allows 18-year-old students to call themselves out of class, effective immediately. The code states that “for purposes of any procedure for verification of absences from school, a student 18 years of age or over, with respect to his own absences from school, shall have all of the responsibilities and powers which, in the case of a minor, would be charged to the parent, guardian, or other person having charge or control of the minor.” At the beginning of the school year, many senior students were disappointed to find out that the attendance rule that previously allowed 18-year-olds to excuse themselves out of class had been suspended. Senior Steven Giammona, who turned 18 this November, expressed his frustrations with the new rule.
“I found out that the rule would not be used right when I started my senior year,” Giammona said. “Since then, I haven’t tried to call myself out. However, I think students should be allowed to sign themselves out when they’re 18. When you’re 18, you’re an adult.”
dents need to be cleared by parents,” Belzer said. “However, the administrative regulations do allow for 18-year-olds to call themselves out.” Belzer detailed how the administration had come to the conclusion at the beginning of the year
ministrative regulations actually allow us to continue the policy, so we decided to bring it back.” The returned policy stipulates that students must receive signed permission from their parents in order to use the privilege. “We value attendance,” Belzer
“For purposes of any procedure for verification of absences from school, a student 18 years of age or over, with respect to his own absences from school, shall have all of the responsibilities and powers which, in the case of a minor, would be charged to the parent, guardian, or other person having charge or control of the minor.” California Education Code 46012 The administration explained that there were many students who had abused this rule in the past and absences had spiked significantly for students who had reached the age of 18. Once Belzer realized the contradiction that was posed by the new rule, he decided to once again allow 18-year-olds to verify their own absences. “The board policy says stu-
to ban 18-year-olds from calling themselves out. He explained that administrative regulations depend on how the board policy is interpreted, which can often be stricter than the overarching education codes. “When we were discussing this in the summertime, we decided to stick to the board policy because we felt we were out of compliance with it,” Belzer said. “But the ad-
said. “We want to see our students be responsible for themselves, but we also want to honor the communication between parents and students.” Despite the discrepancy between school policy and the education code, Giammona understands the rationale behind the administration’s decision to bar the “18-year-old privilege.” “I can totally see how students
WHAT’S INSIDE Sadie Hawkins reopens discussion
of gender roles versus tradition PHOTO BY DARRION CHEN
Page 3 - Get up-todate on all of the holiday drives going on at school By Logan Turner
Page 5 - The district established a new homework committee to review policies
By Charles Chapman
Sophomores at last year’s formal. This year’s will he held on Jan. 27.
BY MAGGIE MURDOFF
Editor-in-Chief
Pages 6-7 - Read about interesting alumni and how they are giving back to the school By Stella Lorence
Page 10 - Two students have started a pipette company By Sasha Benke
The excitement surrounding winter formal always begins early, with talk of corsages, dresses and, of course, dates. But this year, the buzz has been more focused on an unofficial possibility of this year’s winter formal becoming a “Sadie Hawkins” dance; this would mean that girls would be asking boys to be their dates instead of the traditional guy-ask-girl format. “[Sadie Hawkins] started in 1937 from a comic book strip,” senior cabinet advisor Erik Bennett said. The comic strip that Bennett is referring to is one of Al Capp’s illustrations as part of the Li’l Abner comic strip. The Sadie Hawkins dance was created from the character named Sadie Hawkins with the idea that women should be able to ask the men to the dance.
In the 30’s and 40’s, the dance was a symbol of women empowerment and a movement to break down traditional gender roles. Sadies was, to young women at the time, seen as the only time it was socially acceptable to ask a male to a dance. “Obviously these days girls don’t need a rule allowing them to ask someone out - they can do that themselves any time,” senior Ellie Feder said. “And yet, we still have Sadies because it is not quite the norm yet.” Many students believe that Sadies has been an every-four-year tradition at Burlingame and that this year’s winter formal became a Sadies and girls asked boys to be their dates. “I do remember [my older sister’s] Sadies dance,” senior Hannah Sarwar said. “I think her and most of her friends had a lot of fun being able to ask for formal
one year and it was fun for them to be able to plan it out instead of being the ones asked for once.” Though Bennett said that he doesn’t believe that any official tradition has really ever existed, yearbook advisor Michelle Riley explained that the tradition is more of a cultural, unofficial one. “Sadie Hawkins is an unspoken but strong tradition at BHS where every four years, the girls ask the boys to the winter formal,” Riley said. Differing viewpoints and a lot of contrasting information has made formal into another gender controversy that has altered Burlingame traditions in the last three years. After changing the name of Powderpuff to Homecoming Bowl, removing the words “King” and “Queen” to be simply Homecoming Court and switching to all red graduation gowns last year, students are beginning to group formal with that trend. “Whether people like the idea of [Sadies] or not, it shouldn’t limit who asks who,” Sarwar said. “Anyone can ask who they want to and it shouldn’t be a problem. That being said, I don’t think Sadies should be taken away from the school as it has been a tradition for so long.” Other students, Feder included, believe that Sadies is still needed to encourage girls to make the ‘anyone-can-ask-anyone’ format a regularity. “Guys still traditionally ask girls to dances and girls usually expect to be asked,” Feder said. Continued on page 2
might abuse this power,” Giammona said. “In my opinion, there should be a set list or restriction that if a student is showing a trend of being absent all the time and a trend in their grades, they can have their privilege revoked.” Since the rule had been suspended in the beginning of this school year, the attendance office has seen a positive change in the students’ attendance. “The main reason why we don’t like the rule that allows 18-yearolds to call themselves out is because a lot of students were taking advantage of it,” campus security Randy Williams said. “They weren’t really sick or had doctor’s appointments. The number of students that were leaving was just too high. Now that the rule has been taken out, the number has definitely dropped. Students are still leaving, but it’s with their parents permission, so there isn’t a dramatic number.” Now that the privilege is back, the attendance office predicts that the trend of absences with second semester seniors will return.
‘Senior Spotlight’ variety show to be held in spring BY LILY PAGE
Senior Reporter A committee of parents is currently planning Senior Spotlight, a variety show event for the seniors that will take place on April 14 next semester. There will likely be a showing at 3:00 in the afternoon and 7:00 in the evening. Tickets will cost around $25. “We wanted to start a new tradition at BHS,” Alli Murdoff, one of the principal organizers, said. She envisions it as a “funny, high energy” night with musical numbers, dances, fashion numbers, and students playing instruments. “It’s not really about talent, just about having fun,” Kim Gelman, another adult in charge, said. According to Gelman, the event will be divided into three types of numbers. Some students will perform loosely-choreographed dances (created by choreographer Noah Hayden), model rented clothing from local businesses like Sam Malouf and Vineyard Vines, and, if they want to do any other type of number, submit something else for review. “There’s really a place for everyone in the show,” Murdoff said. “We would be thrilled if we could get 40-50% to participate.” Continued on page 2