Hostage Situation


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	Hostage Situation Arthur Dent and Thomas Paine Late October: Three administrators walk into Leadership and announce that the next dance is cancelled unless the class comes up with a suitable method for handling drunks at the dances. Students were told they had to "earn" the dance's reinstatement. Students brainstorm numerous ideas, each of which is rejected by Administration, until they say the answer that the principals wanted all along: one drunk kid and the dance is immediately shut down. End music. End scene. Wednesday before Thanksgiving: Junior class officers and their advisor, Ms. Levine, ask Ms. Segalas if they can sell tickets through Thursday, December 5th because sales have been sluggish. Segalas not only says "no way," but then informs the kids that they have only 3 more school days to hit a target of 250 tickets sold, or the dance will be cancelled. This is a shock to the kids because Segalas directly contradicts both Levine and Mrs. Fry, who said that it's never been required to sell more than 150 tickets. Monday: Junior class officers go on a ticket-selling drive, putting up fliers to encourage students to buy tickets, even offering their faces as pie-targets. Ticket sales more than triple, but it's still not enough. Yesterday: Kazakoff is out on personal business, leaving a power-hungry Segalas in charge and raring to brandish her newly-attained authority. She sees junior class leadership kids in the first-floor hallway and demands the list of ticket-holders so that she can begin checking eligibility. The officers then tell her that they've only sold 150 tickets and plead for mercy: canceling the dance would result in the loss of the DJ's nearly $500 fee. It's common knowledge that the junior class is extremely poor compared to other classes and that this dance represents the last major fundraising opportunity before prom. Segalas's response: "We'll see." Levine goes to see Segalas and lobby for the dance, but she ends up waiting around as Segalas tests out her new-found powers in a meeting with the Superintendent. What next? No one is sure. By the time you read this, the dance's fate will have been decided. The issues: first, what the hell would have been so wrong with granting the kids an extra day to sell tickets? So she'd only have 24 hours to check the list for criminals - how long could it possibly take? Second, why suddenly shift from 150 tickets required to 250, almost certainly assuring the cancellation of the dance since the winter dance is traditionally under-attended? The answer: If the dance is cancelled, Administration doesn't have to supervise it. It's just that simple. There's no other reason for canceling. The teachers have to be there to supervise anyway, the custodial staff gets their overtime, the police get their extra pay, and the junior class makes at least $700, even with only 150 tickets sold. Cancel the dance, and only the Administration benefits - less work for the same pay. Of course, who suffers? Not just the junior class, who stands to lose the DJ's hefty fee, but also the 150 ticket-holders, who now have an empty evening in store. The secondary issue is the new dance policy, which is utter and complete bullshit. The poor judgment of one student is liable to sabotage the evening for over 150 others. The policy is designed to cut down on drinking, but what are those 150 sober kids going to go do if the dance is suddenly shut down? Join the ranks of Johnny Bier and contribute to Pacifica's already burgeoning problem of teenage inebriation. And if a kid is intoxicated, where would you rather he/she be? In the cafeteria dancing or out driving somewhere? Listen, we're not trying to trivialize the problem of drinking at the dance - it's not a good thing. However, allowing the actions of one person dictate the fate of an entire dance is ridiculous. Personal accountability is the way to go - you drink, you get the boot, you get suspended, you get to attend AA, and I get to dance. That would be fair. But who wins if the music suddenly stops? Administration, who gets to go home early and watch Leno. You lose, I lose, and, even scarier, the school could stand to lose big when it's sued after some kid gets hurt during the time that his parents think he's being properly supervised at a school function. Issue #7 of The Subterranean wasn't due out until December 12th, but the immediacy of this debacle required early action on our part. People, the fate of this dance is being decided today. Your weekend is being held hostage by the uncaring actions of vice principals who have no qualms about robbing the junior class of over $700, robbing over 150 people of a harmless good time, robbing Terra Nova of yet another evening event. Also, keep in mind that even the dance sells out, the new alcohol policy ensures its demise. They snooze; you lose. And by the way, the Valentine's Dance is in jeopardy, too… Email: TPaineTN@yahoo.com and ArthurDentTN@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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Arthur Dent and Thomas Paine

Late October: Three administrators walk into Leadership and announce that the next dance is cancelled unless the class comes up with a suitable method for handling drunks at the dances. Students were told they had to "earn" the dance's reinstatement. Students brainstorm numerous ideas, each of which is rejected by Administration, until they say the answer that the principals wanted all along: one drunk kid and the dance is immediately shut down. End music. End scene.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving: Junior class officers and their advisor, Ms. Levine, ask Ms. Segalas if they can sell tickets through Thursday, December 5th because sales have been sluggish. Segalas not only says "no way," but then informs the kids that they have only 3 more school days to hit a target of 250 tickets sold, or the dance will be cancelled. This is a shock to the kids because Segalas directly contradicts both Levine and Mrs. Fry, who said that it's never been required to sell more than 150 tickets.

Monday: Junior class officers go on a ticket-selling drive, putting up fliers to encourage students to buy tickets, even offering their faces as pie-targets. Ticket sales more than triple, but it's still not enough.

Yesterday: Kazakoff is out on personal business, leaving a power-hungry Segalas in charge and raring to brandish her newly-attained authority. She sees junior class leadership kids in the first-floor hallway and demands the list of ticket-holders so that she can begin checking eligibility. The officers then tell her that they've only sold 150 tickets and plead for mercy: canceling the dance would result in the loss of the DJ's nearly $500 fee. It's common knowledge that the junior class is extremely poor compared to other classes and that this dance represents the last major fundraising opportunity before prom. Segalas's response: "We'll see." Levine goes to see Segalas and lobby for the dance, but she ends up waiting around as Segalas tests out her new-found powers in a meeting with the Superintendent. What next? No one is sure. By the time you read this, the dance's fate will have been decided.

The issues: first, what the hell would have been so wrong with granting the kids an extra day to sell tickets? So she'd only have 24 hours to check the list for criminals - how long could it possibly take? Second, why suddenly shift from 150 tickets required to 250, almost certainly assuring the cancellation of the dance since the winter dance is traditionally under-attended? The answer: If the dance is cancelled, Administration doesn't have to supervise it. It's just that simple. There's no other reason for canceling. The teachers have to be there to supervise anyway, the custodial staff gets their overtime, the police get their extra pay, and the junior class makes at least $700, even with only 150 tickets sold. Cancel the dance, and only the Administration benefits - less work for the same pay. Of course, who suffers? Not just the junior class, who stands to lose the DJ's hefty fee, but also the 150 ticket-holders, who now have an empty evening in store. The secondary issue is the new dance policy, which is utter and complete bullshit. The poor judgment of one student is liable to sabotage the evening for over 150 others. The policy is designed to cut down on drinking, but what are those 150 sober kids going to go do if the dance is suddenly shut down? Join the ranks of Johnny Bier and contribute to Pacifica's already burgeoning problem of teenage inebriation. And if a kid is intoxicated, where would you rather he/she be? In the cafeteria dancing or out driving somewhere? Listen, we're not trying to trivialize the problem of drinking at the dance - it's not a good thing. However, allowing the actions of one person dictate the fate of an entire dance is ridiculous. Personal accountability is the way to go - you drink, you get the boot, you get suspended, you get to attend AA, and I get to dance. That would be fair. But who wins if the music suddenly stops? Administration, who gets to go home early and watch Leno. You lose, I lose, and, even scarier, the school could stand to lose big when it's sued after some kid gets hurt during the time that his parents think he's being properly supervised at a school function.

Issue #7 of The Subterranean wasn't due out until December 12th, but the immediacy of this debacle required early action on our part. People, the fate of this dance is being decided today. Your weekend is being held hostage by the uncaring actions of vice principals who have no qualms about robbing the junior class of over $700, robbing over 150 people of a harmless good time, robbing Terra Nova of yet another evening event. Also, keep in mind that even the dance sells out, the new alcohol policy ensures its demise. They snooze; you lose. And by the way, the Valentine's Dance is in jeopardy, too…

Email: TPaineTN@yahoo.com and ArthurDentTN@yahoo.com