nearly sprinting. I shot past nine men with guns as they watched me with beady black eyes that tore holes in my confidence with one glare.
“Do not run,” Mother’s voice rang in my head.
“They will think you are hiding something,” Grandmother’s voice, wise with age, added, her eyes staring through me into my soul, knowing and cold. You are hiding something, the tiny, tiny confident voice in the very back of my brain said. Images of the nine shiny covers and thousands of pristine pages filled my mind. Shakespeare, Frost, Homer. They were all hidden under my bed, shrouded by a dusty lambskin. People of my sex are not allowed to have books like that or any educational material. The men with the guns enforce the will of the men who say that, so I fear them. I fear them all. I scanned the hazy road, cracked by lack of water and abuse, for any gunmen lurking in the shadows of society, but none were in sight. The tiny, tiny confident voice shouted at me again to run but my leaden feet did not respond. As in all animals, instincts prevail. Mine just need to be sharper than others.
“Young Voting” Emily Carmosino Young adults should take the opportunity to vote seriously, and understand not only our government but, the candidates. This election, people seem to be very indifferent towards the two presidential candidates, due to their negative appearance in media. If people are unconcerned about our future president, do they care less about the future of our country? The media only conveys the mistakes of the candidates and the debates have become a source of ridicule. Young adult voters are surrounded by the media, whether it’s the political satire of Saturday Night Live, their peer’s passionate debate ‘tweets’, or politician’s slogans. Young voters should not succumb to the peer pressure surrounding this election, instead they should want to learn more and form their own opinions.
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educated about politics and our government, they will then be able to form an opinion based off the facts rather than the misleading media. Young voters will be the future of our country and our government; therefore, they need to create personal, firm opinions to lead the country.
“VOTES Speeches” Hope Braue and Disha Gupta Our school is one of many that participates in the VOTES program, and on October 16 speeches for the presidential election were held. The Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, and Socialist party all conveyed their plans and ideas to use. All were able to tell us what they would do if they were elected. Most addressed the main issues pressing our country and how they would fix current problems. They explained how they would be able to bring our country back from the dust. This event was organized by Mr. Diamond, Mr. Ripton, and the A.P. U.S. Government class. Altogether, it was a well planed and executed event that gave the crowd lasting impressions. First to take the stand was the vice president, Joe Biden (Max Libleich). He addressed Obama’s (Ryan Lapre’s) opinions on creating new jobs and lowering the unemployment rate. Biden conveyed to the audience that Obama had the difficult task of inheriting a country in a depression when he was inaugurated as president. After a great introduction from his vice president, Obama readily took the stand. He spoke to us about the importance of new job opportunities which he believed could come about by searching for a new renewable energy source. Next, he exercised the need for a stable economy and denounced Romney’s idea of tax cuts on the rich, emphasizing their uselessness. Think about it, why would someone cut taxes on societies class with the most money? Obama wishes to raise the taxes on the rich and cut the taxes on the middle class. Which is really the only sensible thing to do to get the country out of a ditch we dug ourselves into. It wasn’t to long before the Republicans took over, not exactly graciously to say the least.
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Politicians rely on the malleable teenagers to sway the vote, with numerous opinions being forced on them; young voters become easily influenced by peer pressure. During the debates, social network sites are flooded with one-sided, passionate posts about their favorite candidate, from their own peers! Other forms of entertainment satirize politics, sometimes to sway opinions towards one party. If young voters are
The Republican’s vice presidential candidate, Paul Ryan (Craig Pilla), argued that in order to get out of this depression, tax cuts were necessary because of the immense number of jobs they created. Without many examples or details to back up his points, Romney (Stark Kirby) quickly took the stage. It appeared that his strategy was to avoid talking about relevant and important issues, so he focused his
speech on small businesses. The one thing he actually agrees on with Obama is the need for new energy, but where the sources come from may vary. While delivering his last line in the most confident way possible, Romney quickly added he would defend the institution of marriage, obviously avoiding the argument of same sex marriage. No one in the crowed seemed to notice, they were all too busy clapping away when it was likely that most didn’t know what he was talking about. The crowd should keep in mind this is a presidential race, not a popularity one. The next three to deliver their plans were the Libertarian, Green, and Sociliast party. Judge Jim Gray (Scoey Young), very strongly, to say the least, delivered his opening speech. He used most of his time to provoke the crowd to his party’s advantage while mentioning the awful effects of voting for the Democrats or Republicans. A very persuasive and enthusiastic Gary Johnson (Katherine Giordano) spoke to the crowd regarding no government interference. She argued that because of this overbearing government, the national debt had risen to colossal heights. The Green Party vice president, Sherry Honklen (Kasey Collins), tried to interest people in the need for a healthy environment. The president, Jill Styne (Dylan Rowell), focused on decentralization. According to Styne eliminating weapons of mass destruction was required. The Socialist parties vice president, Phyllis Scherrer ( Jenna Araism), concentrated on the importance of defending civil rights. The president, Alexander Mendoza (Laura Wood), was also motivated by the idea of the involvement of the people. She argued that withdrawing from the Middle East would help the country, and that a larger minimum wage would suppress the great depression our country has gotten into. In our opinion the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, came off as a power- seeking tyrant. He had a strong personality that proved to be to his benefit. He voiced his opinions on tax cuts and corporations, but he failed to elaborate on his plans, leaving us slightly disoriented. Romney was able to deliver his speech in an evasive and powerful way, whereas Obama was rather soft spoken. Since Romney was able to portray himself in such a convincing way, he received a better response from the crowd, even though his plans and ideas for the future didn’t add up. Although Obama was able to point out all of the various holes in Romney’s points; Romney’s oversimplifications were able to destroy Obama’s soft spoken facts. Obama did deliver one point that personally stuck with us; he put Romney’s tax plan into perspective, saying that an eight-trillion dollar budget will be impossible to accumulate by closing loopholes and tax cuts without creating burdens for the middle
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class or increasing the deficit. Overall Romney seemed to receive a better response from the crowd, most likely an effect of his overbearing and self consumed personality. Voters should keep in mind that even though Obama wasn’t able to come off as a powerful and convincing candidate, he delivered the most sensible plans that would benefit every single person in the country. Overall, these speeches were great to watch and should have helped the students form their own opinion about politics. Students should remember that their opinion is based off of their own thoughts and shouldn’t be influenced by parents, siblings, friends, or peers. When voting one should vote for the one who they think will best represent their own opinions, not for someone their parents like or since one more popular than the other. This event helped make the election feel closer to home and hopefully pushed student’s to increase their involvement in the matter. The youth should realize that soon enough we will be the ones making the decision of who will reside over our country. Some people might think that one vote won’t do anything, but enough votes can change our future. Even though our views clearly swayed towards the left, all of the speeches made at this event had great points and the participants voiced their views in a truly intriguing way.
“Thoughts on the Election” Peter Schimdt For the past several years, the pundits who follow American politics and particularly the cycle of Presidential elections, have made it clear that the economy and the financial well-being of the individual American voter, trumps all other issues as the motivating factor for whom voters choose to support. I would like to call into question this narrow, self-interest and offer a different perspective on the upcoming election on November 6th. It is my belief that we should never treat any single issue in isolation and therefore, the economy, as important as it is to each one of us, cannot be disconnected from matters of importance in American foreign policy, critical choices that we face regarding the environment and climate change, and the implications of huge issues of social justice and our capacity to better the lives of those who have been denied the bounty of American growth for too many generations. In other words, my pocketbook is never as full as it could be unless the world in which we live and share with billions of others is safe, secure, nurtured to its fullest beauty and strength, and approached each day with humility and reverence.
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