Rank & File

Teachers will likely be more vindicated than surprised by the statistic that over 20 percent of students sleep in class. When the lecture starts or the lights go off for an educational movie, one in five students’ heads will hit the desk for a ten-minute nap.

Because sleeping in class is an issue that has been forever prevalent, teachers must institute methods to discourage students from sleeping during lessons. Several unique means of keeping students awake in class have been implemented throughout the years by teachers.

It’s 12 a.m. and the towering pile of math homework you’re working on is taking longer than it should. Occasionally, your eyes start to flicker, then close; drool begins escaping the corner of your mouth as your tilted head slowly drops before... THUMP, you’re back awake until you do it again. Just as soon as you finish the homework, you begin watching your favorite show as you simultaneously instant message your best friend. But the next morning, you wake up dead tired.

When you hear the words bullying or cyber bullying, certain negative thoughts come to mind. There is the immediate desire to roll your eyes, or tune out. When you hear that there is going to be an hour-long discussion on the dangers of bullying in class, you prepare yourself for an hour-long nap. This predilection to ignoring talks on bullying is completely understandable, because in the end we have been receiving the same message for years. Yes, we get it; bullying is a problem. No one is arguing against that fact, we just don’t want to hear another lecture on it.

1. Tapeworm diet: People consume tapeworms so that the parasite will consume nutrients from all of the food they eat, leaving them literally starving... but skinny!

2. Foot binding: The Chinese custom of wrapping feet tightly from birth to make them small, but deformed, in older age.

3. Neck stretching: South African tradition of wearing rings around the neck to stretch it out over many years.

 4. Eyebrow threading: Flossing your eyebrows, especially in the middle of the mall, is not cool, people.

According to Peter’s Principle, a theory originally established by education specialist Laurence J. Peter in 1969, a person rises up the ranks until they reach a point of incompetence.

This truth also applies to a political parties. The Republican and Democratic parties have both historically implemented change that has- pushed the country forward. Unfortunately, both parties have grown to a point where their own priorities hold them back. As a result, the time has come to dissolve these bitter rivals and make way for a more evenly represented multi-party system.

In response to the worst oil spill in global history, Congress is currently passing an emergency appropriations bill to provide additional funding for environmental agencies, as well as extra resources to fund summer jobs for teens. Yes, lumped together in the Disaster Relief and Summer Jobs Act of 2010 is one problem that deserves Congress’ emergency efforts and another that is neither emergent nor something to be addressed in mid-May. This randomly constructed legislation is currently waiting for Senate approval after passing through the House at the end of March.

What do all these things have in common: Rubik’s cubes, lava lamps, the Beatles, Pokémon, the iPod and Lady Gaga? They’re all fads popular over the past five decades; they’re what was ‘in’ at one point in time.

There is no doubt that our lives are surrounded and influenced by the latest fads in fashion, music and celebrity gossip, as pop culture even pervades the school environment.

Tabloids are just one form of pop culture’s unavoidable presence in today’s society.

Presenting a grim, disturbing account of her life in Nazi-occupied Poland, holocaust survivor Charlene Schiff visited on May 4 to discuss her experiences during the Holocaust and to speak out on recent issues such as the Darfur genocide.

According to history teacher Wanlance Yates, history teacher Gayle Weiss initially organized the event because her classes missed opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum.

Sitting down with student journalists from across the county, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Jack Dale discussed issues impacting the county in the coming year, including the fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget, which will be finalized on Thursday.

Although Dale’s originally proposed FY 2011 budget featured drastic cuts, the majority of programs on the chopping block will remain in place next year.

“Most of the things we thought we would have to cut, turned out we won’t have to,” Dale said in reference to the originally proposed extensive cuts.

Best Buddies participated in a walk for the Best Buddies Virginia chapter on Sat. May 8 at Oakton High School. The walk served as a major fund-raising event for the organization. Participants had the option of walking for either one or three miles.

“[The event] really brings out the whole community,” club sponsor Michael Mann said.

Mann stressed that it was important to see “the differences that bring us together. Anyone [even] if they’re really not involved can come to the event,” he said.

Sophomore Carrie Zettler believes that the walk helped promote unity.