A Heavy Subject


Articles Dante Alighieri Arthur Dent Jesus Jones Thomas Paine Other Authors Contact Us! Letter to the Editor Dante Alighieri Arthur Dent Jesus Jones Thomas Paine	A Heavy Subject Dante Alighieri Advanced woodshop is just as hard as AP Chemistry. Because everyone knows that taking advanced woodshop requires coming in for zero period all the time. And everyone knows that advanced woodshop requires its students to take a book home over Winter Break and do an entire chapter of work without the aid of a teacher. And, of course, everyone knows that advanced woodshop calls for going through an entire year's worth of work by May. Oh, wait, advanced woodshop doesn't entail any of that…but advanced woodshop is just as hard as AP Chemistry. Or so they would have us believe. They? Administration (when in doubt, blame Administration). Although their motives are unclear, they have decided to not weight grades for any Terra Nova-related purposes such as the selection of valedictorians, choosing instead to honor those who worked less and maintained nothing more than a high GPA. Just take a look at last year's graduating class. The two valedictorians (Lacey Slattery and Paul McGinty) and the salutatorian (Julie Paping) had one, maybe two AP classes among the three of them. As a matter of fact, the salutatorian chose not to take an academic English course at all during her senior year, opting instead for Film Lit. On the other side of the coin were students like Ryan Kochevar, Peggy Nesbit, and Sasha Ashpis. These people took every Advanced Placement course they could, from Chem. to English, but were refused the title which they so rightfully deserved. Now, I don't mean to trivialize the high grades of the actual valedictorians - they are definitely to be commended. But to stand these people up as the smartest and most hard-working people of last year's class? They hardly seem to have earned that honor - not when there are students working much harder in classes twice as difficult. Administration's argument is that "an A is an A." Black and white, no gray area, advanced woodshop is just as hard as AP Chemistry. I'm sorry, but that's fuckin' bull. A system in which an A in AP English is considered "equal" to an A in Film Lit is just ludicrous. There is something materially and substantially wrong with a system that doesn't account for the amount of effort put forth by those being measured. Why, then, is such a scheme in effect? Uhh…because Heaven forbid the councilors and administrators should have to think about things like that. Heaven forbid they risk incurring the wrath of the parents of the next Paul McGinty and Julie Paping, bitching that "Weighted grades are unfair. My angel got a 4.0 and he/she deserves the top spot." THEY DON'T DESERVE THE TOP SPOT! These people don't deserve it because they took the easy way out. The titles of valedictorian and salutatorian are meant to reward those who went above and beyond, not those who did as little as possible for the A. When one starts rewarding mediocrity, what message does it send to the people who work their asses off? Human beings, Americans especially, and teenagers most of all, are rather prize oriented. Most of us put forth extra effort only when rewarded. Right now, for example, there are dozens of kids on campus who should be in the "smart people classes." They have the talent; what they lack is the drive. They think "Why should I bother with an AP class when it's just more work for the same credit? Besides, I don't need it. I already got accepted to SF State, and I'm going to be a nurse and earn double your salary regardless." So exactly why should students work harder for the same concrete benefits? Um…personal enrichment? Lame. Self-satisfaction? Not doin' it for me. It looks good on your transcript? yeah, but so does a high GPA, which one can get by taking classes that require minimal effort. People need motivation. They need incentive to go the extra mile. If that incentive comes in the form of grades, then they deserve it - advanced woodshop is not as difficult as AP Chem. It's a damn shame that people who work their asses off get no love, while some punk who skates through his compulsory education and aces some painless classes gets recognized as the most diligent person in a given year. The Iron Chef is not the one who makes perfect macaroni and cheese from a box; it's the one who makes delicious lobster bisque, but overcooks it a little. Again, advanced woodshop ‡ AP Chemistry. Thoughts? Email DanteAlighieriTN@yahoo.com	Archive Back Issues Why? Cartoons Poetry Random Rants Disclaimers Losers and Kudos of the Week Letters to the Editor Editor's Notes Picture of the Week
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Dante Alighieri

Advanced woodshop is just as hard as AP Chemistry. Because everyone knows that taking advanced woodshop requires coming in for zero period all the time. And everyone knows that advanced woodshop requires its students to take a book home over Winter Break and do an entire chapter of work without the aid of a teacher. And, of course, everyone knows that advanced woodshop calls for going through an entire year's worth of work by May. Oh, wait, advanced woodshop doesn't entail any of that…but advanced woodshop is just as hard as AP Chemistry.

Or so they would have us believe.

They? Administration (when in doubt, blame Administration). Although their motives are unclear, they have decided to not weight grades for any Terra Nova-related purposes such as the selection of valedictorians, choosing instead to honor those who worked less and maintained nothing more than a high GPA. Just take a look at last year's graduating class. The two valedictorians (Lacey Slattery and Paul McGinty) and the salutatorian (Julie Paping) had one, maybe two AP classes among the three of them. As a matter of fact, the salutatorian chose not to take an academic English course at all during her senior year, opting instead for Film Lit. On the other side of the coin were students like Ryan Kochevar, Peggy Nesbit, and Sasha Ashpis. These people took every Advanced Placement course they could, from Chem. to English, but were refused the title which they so rightfully deserved. Now, I don't mean to trivialize the high grades of the actual valedictorians - they are definitely to be commended. But to stand these people up as the smartest and most hard-working people of last year's class? They hardly seem to have earned that honor - not when there are students working much harder in classes twice as difficult.

Administration's argument is that "an A is an A." Black and white, no gray area, advanced woodshop is just as hard as AP Chemistry. I'm sorry, but that's fuckin' bull. A system in which an A in AP English is considered "equal" to an A in Film Lit is just ludicrous. There is something materially and substantially wrong with a system that doesn't account for the amount of effort put forth by those being measured. Why, then, is such a scheme in effect?

Uhh…because Heaven forbid the councilors and administrators should have to think about things like that. Heaven forbid they risk incurring the wrath of the parents of the next Paul McGinty and Julie Paping, bitching that "Weighted grades are unfair. My angel got a 4.0 and he/she deserves the top spot." THEY DON'T DESERVE THE TOP SPOT! These people don't deserve it because they took the easy way out. The titles of valedictorian and salutatorian are meant to reward those who went above and beyond, not those who did as little as possible for the A. When one starts rewarding mediocrity, what message does it send to the people who work their asses off?

Human beings, Americans especially, and teenagers most of all, are rather prize oriented. Most of us put forth extra effort only when rewarded. Right now, for example, there are dozens of kids on campus who should be in the "smart people classes." They have the talent; what they lack is the drive. They think "Why should I bother with an AP class when it's just more work for the same credit? Besides, I don't need it. I already got accepted to SF State, and I'm going to be a nurse and earn double your salary regardless." So exactly why should students work harder for the same concrete benefits? Um…personal enrichment? Lame. Self-satisfaction? Not doin' it for me. It looks good on your transcript? yeah, but so does a high GPA, which one can get by taking classes that require minimal effort. People need motivation. They need incentive to go the extra mile. If that incentive comes in the form of grades, then they deserve it - advanced woodshop is not as difficult as AP Chem.

It's a damn shame that people who work their asses off get no love, while some punk who skates through his compulsory education and aces some painless classes gets recognized as the most diligent person in a given year. The Iron Chef is not the one who makes perfect macaroni and cheese from a box; it's the one who makes delicious lobster bisque, but overcooks it a little.

Again, advanced woodshop ‡ AP Chemistry.

Thoughts? Email DanteAlighieriTN@yahoo.com