Don't Shoot the Messenger


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	Don't Shoot the Messenger Thomas Paine It's been some four weeks since Issue 1 came out, and since then, a great deal of chaos has enveloped the school, especially in the first-floor lair of those in charge. Many people have been called down for questioning, including a group of girls suspected by Administration of having received "early editions" of Issue 2. (The irony, of course, is that those girls couldn't have had less to do with this paper.) Various principals have been seen pacing about the office corridor, hands behind their backs, wondering just what the hell they can do to quash the impending threat that is The Subterranean. The problem with their current witch-hunt is this: Subterranean staff is not here for the sole purpose of stirring up shit and ripping on Administration - we are here, rather, to help those in charge, to point out some of the inefficiencies, and to propose remedies. Unfortunately, the response of the principals and their toadies has not been that which we sought. Rather than confronting the issues and arguments thus far adduced, they have been chasing us, the messengers. Rather than deal with the issues, they still attempt to conceal them. Several problems confront Terra Nova today, problems which need be addressed: Many teachers are plagued by ineptitude or apathy, resulting in a poor learning environment. These teachers are often tenured and cannot easily be fired or replaced, so Administration takes the easy way out and allows them to continue to teach. (see "Losers and Jellyfish" on pg 2) Rooms are dirty, in some cases filthy, creating a disproportional amount of work for our relatively small custodial staff. Instead of making the teachers in such rooms "clean up their acts," the principals turn a blind eye to the problem and allow students to march off to polluted rooms on an hourly basis. Funding for sports is unbalanced; football controls the school, whereas players of lesser-attended sports such as basketball and tennis are found having to pay for their own balls, road-trips and tournaments. Drugs are a huge issue that has yet to be fully confronted, and whether Administration chooses to see it or not, there are people in the Smoking Section every day who are using. We have even heard of girls giving hand-jobs in the bushes to get a fix, and the issue, like so many others, is ignored. Test scores are down, and for the last two years, TN has failed to meet its targets on SAT-9s. Furthermore, 27% of the class of 2004 has yet to pass the High School Exit Exam. Why is nothing being done? Because this is Dr. Kazakoff's last year as principal, and he is choosing to leave the mess in his wake for somebody else to handle. Counselors, who will at this point remain unnamed, are telling their students to aim low, encouraging them to shoot for junior colleges instead of aiming for more selective, four-year universities. Who the hell is a counselor to play God and encourage kids to aim low? It only took us 10 minutes to brainstorm those six major problems. Ladies and gents, we are here for almost seven hours a day, and our time is often wasted. Nobody is confronting what's wrong, and to make matters worse, Administration is not looking at these issues rationally. They are, instead, getting up in arms against our newspaper, trying to silence the voices of reason, despite the fact that this paper has broken no laws, nay, broken no rules at all. Rest assured: The Subterranean will, over the next few issues, cover the aforementioned problems and many more. In the meantime, the problems are festering. Some of your teachers are still wasting your time. Some of your classrooms remain perverted by litter and stench. Some of your sports are still under-funded, and some of your classmates get high on campus. Your principal is still failing to raise test scores because his time at TN is up, and retirement pays the same whether he leaves the school in sparkling condition or in the shambles of ignorance. The worst problem, though, is that, at least until next year, Terra Nova will be beleaguered by administrators who would rather shoot the messenger than heed the message.	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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Thomas Paine

It's been some four weeks since Issue 1 came out, and since then, a great deal of chaos has enveloped the school, especially in the first-floor lair of those in charge. Many people have been called down for questioning, including a group of girls suspected by Administration of having received "early editions" of Issue 2. (The irony, of course, is that those girls couldn't have had less to do with this paper.) Various principals have been seen pacing about the office corridor, hands behind their backs, wondering just what the hell they can do to quash the impending threat that is The Subterranean. The problem with their current witch-hunt is this: Subterranean staff is not here for the sole purpose of stirring up shit and ripping on Administration - we are here, rather, to help those in charge, to point out some of the inefficiencies, and to propose remedies.

Unfortunately, the response of the principals and their toadies has not been that which we sought. Rather than confronting the issues and arguments thus far adduced, they have been chasing us, the messengers. Rather than deal with the issues, they still attempt to conceal them. Several problems confront Terra Nova today, problems which need be addressed:

Many teachers are plagued by ineptitude or apathy, resulting in a poor learning environment. These teachers are often tenured and cannot easily be fired or replaced, so Administration takes the easy way out and allows them to continue to teach. (see "Losers and Jellyfish" on pg 2)
Rooms are dirty, in some cases filthy, creating a disproportional amount of work for our relatively small custodial staff. Instead of making the teachers in such rooms "clean up their acts," the principals turn a blind eye to the problem and allow students to march off to polluted rooms on an hourly basis.
Funding for sports is unbalanced; football controls the school, whereas players of lesser-attended sports such as basketball and tennis are found having to pay for their own balls, road-trips and tournaments.
Drugs are a huge issue that has yet to be fully confronted, and whether Administration chooses to see it or not, there are people in the Smoking Section every day who are using. We have even heard of girls giving hand-jobs in the bushes to get a fix, and the issue, like so many others, is ignored.
Test scores are down, and for the last two years, TN has failed to meet its targets on SAT-9s. Furthermore, 27% of the class of 2004 has yet to pass the High School Exit Exam. Why is nothing being done? Because this is Dr. Kazakoff's last year as principal, and he is choosing to leave the mess in his wake for somebody else to handle.
Counselors, who will at this point remain unnamed, are telling their students to aim low, encouraging them to shoot for junior colleges instead of aiming for more selective, four-year universities. Who the hell is a counselor to play God and encourage kids to aim low?

It only took us 10 minutes to brainstorm those six major problems. Ladies and gents, we are here for almost seven hours a day, and our time is often wasted. Nobody is confronting what's wrong, and to make matters worse, Administration is not looking at these issues rationally. They are, instead, getting up in arms against our newspaper, trying to silence the voices of reason, despite the fact that this paper has broken no laws, nay, broken no rules at all. Rest assured: The Subterranean will, over the next few issues, cover the aforementioned problems and many more. In the meantime, the problems are festering. Some of your teachers are still wasting your time. Some of your classrooms remain perverted by litter and stench. Some of your sports are still under-funded, and some of your classmates get high on campus. Your principal is still failing to raise test scores because his time at TN is up, and retirement pays the same whether he leaves the school in sparkling condition or in the shambles of ignorance. The worst problem, though, is that, at least until next year, Terra Nova will be beleaguered by administrators who would rather shoot the messenger than heed the message.