October 14 - October 31, 2008
Tideline
Chaos in the Restrooms
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BY TATIANA COLE Tideline Staff Writer
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Tideline Staff Writer
student wanting to express the repulsion that sits and waits in the campus restrooms. Bryauna Smith, a junior at Pali described the bathrooms as, “horrible, stinky, and lacking tissue and supplies.” The use of bathrooms in a shared environment is a situation that students will encounter for the remainder of their lives. The maintenance team at Palisades is without a doubt hardworking and determined to ensure the cleanliness of the campus. Perhaps a resolution can be reached if students make an extra effort to conduct their usage of the rest rooms in an orderly manner. It is a unanimous observation that students want change in the campus rest rooms. To the Student body of Palisades, work together to make your rest rooms a pleasant place. Cease the graffiti, excessive use of paper towels and other materials. Thousands of individuals that attempt to make minor adjustments may result in a large change and appearance of the student campus restrooms.
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Tideline Staff Writer
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Tideline Staff Writer
he Drama Department at Pali is known for its excellence and its talent. It was also, until recently, known for its dedicated teacher, director, and supervisor, Ms. Monica Iannessa. Ms. Iannessa worked tirelessly for the Drama Department and its students, directing all shows, teaching the Drama Pod students, and guiding the more experienced students in her Play Production class as well as her seventh period drama class. She was a familiar face to all, and now that she has taken up an administration position and is no longer involved in the drama department, we all wait with anticipation to see what the first show of the year, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, will be like without her. Though drama students were familiar with her directing style as well as her person, a fresh new talent has appeared in Ms. Lisa Kraus. This newly appointed drama teacher brings enthusiasm, experience, and dedication with her, and promises not to disappoint as director of her first production here. “I’m so excited to be directing Shakespeare again!” said Ms. Kraus, who previously directed “Much Ado About Nothing” at a high school she taught at in Washington. “We’re having a Shakespearan professor, Mr. Wesley Vantassel, work with the actors. We’re also hiring a lighting designer from Washington.” Set to open in December, The Twelfth Night is Ms. Kraus’ first Pali production, and she is eager to bring her own flair to the Mercer stage. “I hope it will be fun, colorful, and alive! I don’t want Shakespeare to be thought of as just a dead, white male.” As a drama student who has worked with both Ms. Iannessa and Ms. Kraus, I can safely say that the Drama Department is in good hands. Ms. Kraus brings extensive experience and a unique edge into every aspect of her role as director and teacher. Though the department has been a positive experience for many students, it is time to see the new changes that accompany new leadership. New direction can only bring even more prestige to the drama department, and while we patiently await the first show of the year, we can at least rejoice in the fact that it promises not to disappoint.
No Longer From the Heart
s high school students, one of the biggest things that haunts us constantly is the daunting task of getting into college. From the moment that we take our first steps as freshmen onto this campus, we are greeted by the college center and older students who frantically run around, worried about the test that they have next period, their community service clubs, and all their extracurricular activities that coincide with their SAT classes that run late into the night and roll onto weekends. This frenetic race is all an attempt to try to get an edge over the other students applying for the same college spots, who just so happen to be taking the same exact classes. This constant cycle stresses everyone out and pressures us into participating in activities that don’t reflect who we are. In a society that takes pride in its diversity and encourages people to embrace their differences, we are basically being told that it is almost impossible for us to be individuals and get into the school of our choice. The pressure to get into college is immense. Many of us feel that if we don’t get into the fabulous college that appears in our dreams, then we will not succeed in life and be happy. So, as we’re planning out our schedules, we compare our semester blueprints with BY MARIEL REDLIN
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
BY MELINA CHARIS
or s t udent s ai m i ng t o recei ve an educat i on, High school is like a second home. In this case, P alisades C harter High S chool houses thousands of teenagers 5 days a week, for 10 months per school year. While students work, eat and share publ i c res t room s , i t i s inevitable to not go and use the restroom during an active 7-hour day. The question is not whether to go to the bathroom, but it is what is the campus bathroom experience like? attending high Once school, students learn that the bathrooms are often halos for grooming and getting the latest gossip. However, in this midst of action, students are actually using the bathrooms. As time progresses; trash, food wrappers, graffiti and odors are left as evidence that the bathrooms are being overlooked by its occupants. Malcolm Creer, a sophmore said, “The male bathrooms are disgusting and disgraceful.” Malcolm was not the only
BY LIZ PAULY
OPINION
have to make it look like we are well-rounded. That’s right, make it look like we are well-rounded, because this often entails participating in activities for which we have no passion. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard of someone taking an extracurricular because “it looks really good on college applications.” We are subjecting ourselves to doing things we do not want to do, in the socalled prime time of our lives. When we finally get around to filling out the application, manipulate any aspect of our lives in order to make them look sexy. The sad thing is that these appliJUST-A-CLIP cations, which are supposed to the ones of our friends. We do this to see how the admission people an overall idea of give many APs they’re taking (most of which we who we are, really do not show off our true unfortunately have no interest in) in order to character. Many students are conforming to make sure that we are keeping up with the these generic guidelines set up by institutions competition. Within any school, there are like the College Board, and in doing so, denyonly so many AP classes one can take anying themselves of their prized teenage years. way, so if our peers plan on applying to the If the attitude that has developed towards same schools, how are we supposed to stand college admissions continues in this superfiout from the crowd and make our college cial tradition, there could be serious repercusapplications appealing? The answer: extracurricular activities. It sions. It is teaching our generation that in is nearly impossible to get into a decent order to be successful, we must lie and work school if one keeps his or her nose in the the system to our advantage, instead of nurturbooks all day (apparently we are only expect- ing our strengths and passions. Community ed to do this when time stops in order to keep service and hobbies are no longer from the those GPAs flying high). In addition to the heart, but for the application. grueling schedules that we must maintain, we
The Sacred 35 Minutes
ack in the days of elementary school, when monkey bars and slides were what we daydreamed about all day, the idea of being free from our hard work and having that glorious lunch period to ourselves was as sacred then as it is now. Frankly, a 35-minute lunch is not enough time for seniors to go off campus, let alone enough time for anybody to actually enjoy their meals. There would be no serious harm in extending our lunch an extra five or ten minutes, which is why Pali should make our lunch break at least 40 minutes long. This “break” we call lunch is not a very relaxing time of day. After spending about two hours in an overcrowded classroom, a 35minute break becomes somewhat of a joke. As students, lunch is a time when we want to just sit and not have to fry our brains doing math equations or writing some timed essay (which would usually last about 40 minutes - how ironic). Some students have to go to club meetings, talk with their teachers, or buy their lunches; after doing all that, how much of a break is left? Fifteen minutes maybe? This is why lunch should be ten minutes longer. I wouldn’t mind getting out at 2:13 or 2:18 if it meant having a slightly longer lunch period. Yes, our school is required to have a certain number of instructional minutes, but if adding minutes on to our lunch wouldn’t diminish those
instructional minutes, I don’t see how that would be a problem. These time restraints affect the seniors immensely. They are the ones who have the privilege that allows them to go off campus for lunch, but barely have enough time to use it without being late for class. Senior Natasha Milner said, “They give us 35 minutes, but it takes five minutes to get to the car, a few to get to where we’re going, 10-15 to get the food, and then we have to come back. It gives you no time to eat it.” This 35-minute time limit restricts the seniors from being able to savor the food they are actually allowed to get off campus. Longer lunches would not only benefit the seniors, but the whole student body as well. The time students waste standing in line to buy lunch shortens their time to eat. By adding on more minutes, they will not have to rush through their meals either. “Ideally lunch should be an hour or at least 45 minutes…I wouldn’t mind getting out 15 minutes later for a longer lunch,” said senior Olivia Franzen. This 45minute break would help everyone. Students would be less frazzled when they arrive back in class, and even teachers would have more time to take a break from their “troublesome” students. Would it really be that difficult to call for a vote? I recommend that we lengthen lunch by ten minutes and get out of school ten minutes later. Students, staff, and parents, you are the ones who can make this change possible, so go for it. WILL ANDERSON Tideline
Do you feel compelled to participate in activities just for your college applications?
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No, because football is fun. I like to hit people.
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Elmer Garcia S HOPOMORE
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No, because I take classes keep me entertained. They’re cool.
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Ra’Shee Byrd JUNIOR
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Community service stuff, I guess. Gabriel Abcede S ENIOR
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Yes, I do. The competition is just so high.
Samantha Elander S HOPOMORE
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Because there’s like a gazillion people applying for the colleges I want to go to. I need to be better than all of them.
Shaina Ganjian JUNIOR
Do you think teachers should be put through a more rigorous evaluation process before being hired?
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Some teachers they don’t teach. Just switch classes or fail.
Bryan Berookhim
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JUNIOR
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Yeah, most defiantly my entire four years at Pali. I usually just fall asleep or pretend I’m sick and go to the nurse’s office.
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Carter Wilkes S ENIOR
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They all teach, pretty much. They don’t go off topic, and if they do they catch themselves. Cody Reynolds JUNIOR
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Yes, I do I just have to do more work, stay ahead of the class, and go to the study center.
Ashley Wald JUNIOR
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All my teachers teach. They actually do something. Ariel Albright S ENIOR