SPPS fights

December 17, 2015 feveng514 Leave a comment

This past school year has seen an increase in fights in the St. Paul Public School district. Harding High School, Como Senior High, and Central all have had to call police over the recent fights that have been happening, according to Fox News. In the beginning of the school year, a loaded gun was brought to Harding in a backpack along with marijuana. According to Fox 9 news, there was no intent on using the gun.

After the Central High student (name not released) attacked staff member Mr. Ekbald during lunch, the mother of the student said that her child did not know the adult was a teacher. The 16 year old student caused a traumatic brain injury, tingling in his hands and back, and neck pain to the staff member. Mr. Ekbald was choked until he was left unconsciousness and later was admitted to a hospital.

School officials are saying the outbreak of violence in SPPS schools are a result of poverty and lack of parental guidance. In an interview with Fox 9 News, the principal of Central High, Mary Mackbee, spoke about the outbreak of violence, “Our kids are needier they come from families that are suffering, whether financially or for other reasons. There’s just a lot of chaos in this world.”

One of the problems may be discipline. The Pioneer Press reports that many students are disrespectful towards their teachers. That behavior may lead to more violent behavior.

This issue hits Highland Park Senior High hard, because we’re part of the SPPS schools, and we care about our students’ safety. Kennedy McTeague, a ninth grader at Highland, when asked about her safety in school replied, “I feel terrible about what happened at Central, but I don’t think that’ll happen at Highland. We hardly have any fights and we are given alternative ways to deal without violent breakouts.”

News

Medical marijuana

December 17, 2015 Abby Thompson Leave a comment

Marijuana has created quite the controversy throughout the United States recently, with protests for and against the legalization of “weed”, the terrifying statistics of imprisoned people due to possession of the plant, and the ever growing recreational usage among young people. The use and possession of this narcotic is illegal in 48% of the United States, but it has been decriminalized in four states. The plant has also been legalized in many states for recreational, as well as medicinal, use. Minnesota is one of the states to recently legalize marijuana for medicinal use.

Minnesota’s strict policies are being re-visioned in hopes of being less
restrictive. During the last half of 2015, the medical marijuana bill went under slight revision. One provision requires the health department to consider adding severe pain as a qualifying condition by January 2016 instead of July 2016, which is when the law originally suggested. Though individuals with severe chronic pain can’t access the the medical marijuana immediately, they can access it six months earlier than before.

Rapid implementation of a medical marijuana program has been underway in Minnesota. In July of 2015, the program opened their first patient registry. Due to the revision, patients suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, ferreted syndrome, ALS, and more may have access to medical marijuana with an annual payment of $200.

There are now several locations for medical marijuana dispensaries supporting patients in pain. Dispensaries can be found throughout Minnesota including cities such as: Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Coon Rapids, Duluth, Eagan, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Plymouth, Rochester, St. Cloud, St. Paul, and Woodbury.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Would you pay $15 for a 2-hr field trip?

December 17, 2015 Wendy Vo Leave a comment

Hey seniors, remember the last time you guys went on that senior trip to Zero Gravity? Some of us paid up $15 to attend the trip in hopes of skipping class for the day. But did any of us realize that it was $15 just to spend only 2 hours jumping around on trampolines? Some went because they actually wanted to, while others pulled off the price just because they wanted to miss class or because all of their friends were going. Not to be dramatic or anything, but the trip should have been extended for at least another hour in order for the trip to be worth the price. With $15, a student can pay for approximately 6 days of school lunch.

Those who did not attend the trip admitted that they were not willing, nor able, to sacrifice that amount of money to join the rest of the seniors on the trip. Some of us were left behind at school, and unfortunately, still had to attend our usual classes. It honestly feels unfair that money has to be involved in order for students to be able to participate in fun senior activities. Shouldn’t senior activities be for the benefit of everyone? It is understood that students had voted for this trip, but not all students were aware of the fact that it only allowed them to miss the last two periods of school. Plus, they were still responsible for work they missed while class was in session.

You shouldn’t have to put a price on the happiness of students. Even though a survey was created to determine the senior field trip, not all student took it, therefore only those who took the initiative to vote on social media were able to have their say on the options.

An alternative should have been given to seniors who were not able to attend the field trip. For example, different activities could have been supervised by different teachers between those times, such as sports activities in the gym, a movie in the auditorium, or other things that students would rather do besides sitting in class.

Snow tubing will be the next opportunity for seniors to participate on a senior field trip. Based on the opinions of previous seniors, it will actually be a fun and exciting activity for us to experience, but let’s just hope that it will be reasonably priced to fit the financial needs of all students who want to go.