may
00
opinions
page 3
Why I’m proud to
be an American
shannon mever
In some circles, people
consider it chic to denounce
the United State and our hor
rible capitalistic, materialistic
ways, but I have a feeling that
these people haven’t traveled
out of the country much.
Well, I recently had the good
fortune to take a small excur
sion to the lovely countries
of Italy and Greece. Despite
the fact that 1 had a wonder
ful time, by the end of 15
days, I wanted to go home.
And while I agree that people
should appreciate other cul
tures, and I abhor anyone
who suffers from Obnoxious
American Syndrome, I am
proud to be an American.
preciate the fact that, in
America, I can get a full 12
ounces for 50 or 60 cents. In
Europe, ten ounces costs be
tween $1.50 and S2. That’s
almost more than I’m willing
to pay, even for my favorite
beverage.
Linearity is a foreign
concept to Europeans, as well.
In Italy as well as Greece, go
ing to the grocery store be
comes the ultimate battle of
courage and wits as you try
to squeeze in and out of the
horrendous traffic that re
fuses to stay in its own dis
tinct lanes. “It’s cows
(meaning chaos but pro
nounced as if referring to that
fabulous farm animal),” as our
guide Enrico liked to say.
A no smokeing sign is nailed to the tree at a sceanic
overtook in Rome.
Apparently Europeans
have not discovered that
smoking is bad for one’s
health. Everybody does it
over there, and they do it any
where they please, in the air
port, in the bathroom, on the
bus, even over your food as
you eat. Smoking sections do
not exist. 1 keep wondering
what people who are allergic
to the smoke do.
Showers caused a lot
issues, too. Real showers
with some sort of enclosing
device were rare. I encoun
tered several types of show
ers, but my favorite was the
one that was the bathroom. 1
mean the shower head came
out of the wall and the drain
was in the floor. Imagine a
Bryan shower with a sink and
toilet in it, too. The bathroom
was about that size. Perhaps
the designer intended to al
low one to complete several
tasks at once, but standing in
the middle of the soaked floor
while 1 brushed my teeth and
having to hike my pants up
to keep them from getting wet
proved too disgusting and
annoying for me. Many
people found a lack of hot
water or good water pressure
an inconvenience, as well.
As an American, I like
Coca-Cola. 1 refuse to apolo
gize for this fact. I also ap-
And I hate to admit this, but
near the end of the trip I broke
down and went to
MacDonald’s. That was an
ordeal. Simply getting a Big
Mac and Coke required shov
ing and trampling people.
There were no lines, only a
mass of people pushing to
ward the counter.
In short. I’ve taken a lot
of smaller aspects of my life
for granted. There’s kind of a
double standard involved.
People are always raving
about how easy going Euro
peans are, but they make fun
of us for always pursuing
comfort. What’s wrong with
comfort if gaining it does no
harm to anyone? While I en
joy my shower curtain that
cost little to my family but
keeps me from having to mop
the floor every time I take a
shower, Europeans are killing
the non-smoking tourists of
the world with all of that
nasty smoke.
So in the future, though
I plan to travel extensively
and appreciate every mo
ment, 1 will never by sorry to
return to my beloved, com
fort-filled country. And I dare
all of those anti-capitalists
out there to spend 15 days
without getting a good
shower and not complain
about it.
Staff Editorial
Scenario 1: Boy caught drinking, given a level IV,
privileges suspended, on probation.
Scenario 2: Boy caught drinking, given a level IV,
sent home.
Inconsistent?
Without knowing any de
tails of these cases, only the of
fenses and punishments, there
seems to be something very
wrong with the above scenarios.
Consistency in the punishments
of level IV offenders has long
been an issue at Science and
Math. This lack of consistency,
whether the punishments are
fair or not, has caused overall
feelings in students of resent
ment and lack of respect towards
the rules and rule enforcers.
“So and so had their
level IV hearing today. Can you
believe they are letting him off?”
said one student.
“But so and so was
kicked out last year for the same
thing,” said the other student.
What causes this dis-
crepancy? Is it because one was
a first time offender and the
other a repeat offender? Is it
because one is doing better aca
demically and the other is strug
gling? Is it because one has a
better reputation then the other?
The answer to these questions
is who knows? And the answer
to that question is nobody.
What factors influence
the decisions in level IV hear
ings? That is what students
want to know so that maybe the
inconsistency will make sense.
The recent level IV trial and ap
peals resulting in the expulsion
of four members of our commu
nity has spurred much discus
sion. Many think that the
administration is insensitive, ex
pelling three seniors two
months before graduation. Oth
ers think that they are being
made examples of so that things
will not get out of hand towards
the end of the year, possibly
even starting a no tolerance
policy. Some say it is about time
people get dismissed for what
they have'done, comparing this
punishment to previous punish
ments for the same offense.
Is creating chaos on
campus what our level system
is for? One suggestion to make
students more aware of the
aggrevating factors in a level IV
decision is the dispersal of-a^
simple statement to the student
body over e-mail concerning
general factors that influence
whether a person is dismissed
or not. This will explain the in
consistency and possibly re
duce the animosity towards the
powers that be.
Recently, a speak-out was
held on the issue of consistency
with members of the student
body, faculty, administration,
and SLI staff attending. Sug
gestions to reduce the inconsis
tency of the level IV trials
included a rotating hearing
board with unbiased members
of the outside community. The
purpose of this suggestion is to
give the accused a fair chance
without the factor of reputation
in the way. However, the new
code of conduct calls for a hear
ing board consisting of one
student, one member of the fac
ulty, one SLI, and one division
director (Dr. Barber or Dr.
Warshaw).
Another suggestion to
reduce inconsistency is the sec
ond-chance-policy. This is the
system already in place at the
Illinois Academy. First time of
fenders would get a five-day
suspension without the chance
to make up work. Second time
offenders will be dismissed.
This would reduce inconsis
tency arid not' allow someone
with multiple level IV offenses
to stay on campus and a person
with just one to be dismissed.
All suggestions should
be welcome to the administra
tion. We are sure that we can
work together with the adminis
tration to use some of these sug
gestions and create others. We
should not let a problem that can
be easily solved through coop
eration divide us. To the stu
dents, keep calling for
consistency in punishments
and to the administration, help
make sure those punishments
are fair.
(b
stentorian
north Carolina school of science and mathematics
1219 broad street durham, nc 27705
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