22
Op-Ed
October 30, 2008
Op-ed
The Lion’s Tale
“Free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.”
Albert Camus
LION’S TALE
OUR WORD
Budget cuts need student input
With the recent $30.5 million budget cuts in Seminole County and more to come, students, teachers, and parents should be involved in the cutting process. The Seminole County Public School Board members who have the power over where to make the cuts in the school system don’t always have the first hand information they need to make an intelligent choice. The members don’t always see the effects of their choices and, with help from students, teachers, and parents, they will be able to make better choices. A committee should be set up at the school made up of teachers, students, and parents to help in the cutting process. The committee should have more involvement than just the PSTA or student government, giving the members an ability to make real choices for OHS. A committee for all of Seminole County should also be created involving students, parents, and teachers from all Seminole County Public Schools as well as the actual school board members. This committee should deal with real problems in the budget and areas to cut. After discussion with each other and school board members, the committee will vote on the matter. The members of the school board should then take that information and use it to help them in the cutting process. With a new system, the school board members would be able to see how their choices affect schools and what students, teachers, and parents’ real concerns are. Students always complain about the budget cuts and how they don’t want to the Orange County time change for high and middle school students to reach Seminole County. There are so many factors that affect students, teacher, and parents, and they should be allowed to have a real voice in the matters. Correction The Oviedo High School Lion’s Tale Newspaper apologizes for the One by One article that was printed in the September edition. After the newspaper was printed it was brought to our attention that our reporter was given false information. The Lion’s Tale abides by the journalistic standards of integrity and ethics and would never knowingly print false information.
Oviedo High School 601 King Street, Oviedo FL 32765 • Phone: 407-3204199 • Fax: 407-320-4213 The Lion’s Tale belongs to CSPA, NSPA, and FSPA. We reserve the right to refuse ads. The views of the staff do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, staff, or faculty of Oviedo High School. Advertising and editorial policies are on file in the newspaper room. (21-020) Editors-in-Chief: Miranda Ghali, Stacey Sterling News Editor: Victoria Persampiere Features Editor: Marsha Gibbs, Tiffany Ray Diversions Editors: Carly Brower, Emily Cottrell Sports Editor: Connor Bailey Op-Ed Editors: Brooke Fidrick, Jordan Hugh Sam Photo Editors: Graham Christensen, Brooke Fidrick Staff Artists: Miranda Harmon, Michael Mangos, Kevin Baird Staff Technician: Graham Christensen Advertising Editors: Ryan Fuerst, Ryden Butler Faculty Advisor: Deborah Jepson
The Lion’s Tale provides an open forum for students, teachers, and the members of this community. Letters to the editor and guest columns are welcome and may be written and submitted to Deborah Jepson’s room 21-020. Anonymous columns or letters will not be printed, though names may be withheld upon request.
Administrative Advisor: Anna McCarthy Principal: Robert W. Lundquist Staff Reporters: Kenny Anderson, Carson Bailey, Bridgitte Batista, Zane Beard, Caitlyn Braswell, Tien Holmes, Amy Judah, Maggie Kipi, Tova Kranz, David Parsons, Colin Perry, Caitlin Smith, Ariel Sowers, Julia Thorncroft, Kevin Veloso Lion’s Tale is accessible through the OHS web page.
Of all people, I should know. It’s not necessarily something that I’ve publicized, given recent events, but one-third of my life has been spent in the distant country of Oman. Tucked away in the southernmost slice of the Arabian Peninsula, I lived in the company of 2.5 million pureblooded Muslims; I walked amongst the so-called enemies of America. Believe it or not, but during my stay in Arabia I was never accused of being a heathen Kevin Baird staff reporter or heretic. On no occasion did I spy hooded figures stockpiling explosives. urple smoke dances above a sun-baked In those seven years, not once had I heard wasteland, outlined by jagged barriers of the term, “jihad.” rock. A lonely camel lumbers through the It’s funny to think that so many people desert, pokes its head above the multitude of associate Middle East with brutality and dunes to reveal delicate minarets and open-air fundamentalism. markets. It’s also a bit disconcerting. I can still remember my first viewing of You see, unlike people in just about any the movie Aladdin and how I snickered at other region of this world, the Arabs of Oman its stereotypical portrayal of Middle Eastern displayed genuine kindness. If I didn’t know culture. better, I’d say they were bound by divine lawThough outrage bubbled just beneath the to offer an “Assalamu alaikum” (Peace be upon surface of my seven-year-old being, I was you) and a nod of the head to any member of ultimately seduced by Walt Disney’s artistic the human race, regardless of flaws or ethnic stylings and jaunty melodies. differences.Showing that same compassion I’m afraid, however, that my amusement toward outsiders is certainly not an act that has long-since subsided. It’s an unfortunate Americans often indulge in. It’s just that lack of consequence of the disinformation and tolerance that infuriates the Omani within me. xenophobia I’ve seen in our post-9/11 world. In fact, Americans are the ones who seem Ask any God-fearing American what the to place the most value on a person’s past. It’s a Middle East is like and he’ll paint a picture that shame, because that’s the thing that most of us bears little resemblance to the 1992 animated don’t have any control over. feature. When I first moved to this country in the Ask any ignorant American and he’ll tell March of ‘96, I found myself in a hotbed of of a place where men blow themselves up to Christian fundamentalism. I would go so far as satisfy Allah, to have their names recorded to label my first friend an extremist, according in the history books as martyrs, and to be to his beliefs. While I indulged in violent welcomed into Paradise by the open arms of movies and video games, he preoccupied “72 virgins.” himself by attending church daily. He was It’s a depiction with little basis in reality. pious, but he was also wildly defensive about
The human element
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his way of life. Suffice to say, we didn’t see eyeto-eye on a variety of matters. Truthfully, I can recall the exact moment when a rift formed between the two of us. It was also at this moment that I realized the depth of America’s subconscious discrimination. It was late in the summer and, for a lack of better things to do, my friend and I decided that we were going to tag the sidewalk with our artwork. My cohort rummaged through his garage and managed to produce a single stick of chalk. He bent over and scratched away at the concrete for a few moments. When he was done, he pulled back to reveal a crude depiction of Christ’s crucifixion. Since he was the sort of person who dressed up as religious figures for Halloween and attempted to convert me at every given opportunity, I wasn’t surprised by his choice of illustration. He threw his chalk down in triumph and said something along the lines of, “You can’t beat that.” I looked over the fruits of his labor then plucked the chalk from the ground and sketched a simple star and crescent. I looked to him for approval, but found that his smile had faded. “That symbol is no good,” he had said. He promptly returned to his house and slammed the door. The star and crescent was a symbol I had learned in the Middle East, a common representation of the faith of Islam. In addition, it was apparently an icon that my friend did not approve of. I was caught me off-guard when he
illustration/KEVIN BAIRD
Discovering a whole new world
returned five minutes later. His mother stood behind him as he hugged a bucket of water. With a quick jerk, he washed away my masterpiece. Despite my initial reaction, I soon found that there was no reason to call out or clutch on to malice. The person before me didn’t know anything beyond his parents and his religious texts. His face was utterly blank. Obviously, a man would have understood the gravity of his actions and based said actions purely on his own conviction. But what stood before me was no man. He was misguided by a system that preached one thing but practiced another. My eyes gradually traveled upward, and settled on the face of his mother. It was in her eyes that I noticed a glimpse of satisfaction. Though this was not the first time I had seen such a gaze. It was far too similar to that of the snake-headed staff wielded by Jafar in Aladdin. Though she lacked the benefit of mystical powers, this woman had hypnotized her son. She had performed magic with narrowmindedness.