Category Archives: Opinion
Letter to the Editor
Our Readers Speak — Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010
— Education suffering because of snow
As a senior at Shady Spring High School, I have enjoyed the seemingly endless strings of snow days that have been called in Raleigh County.
Unfortunately, as a forward-looking student, I have begun to worry about how greatly my education is being affected by the loss of class time.
Very soon, I will no longer be competing against West Virginia’s “Content Standards and Objectives,” or CSOs, I will be competing against students from around the world as I begin my studies at Washington and Lee University this coming fall.
To me, although I find snow days to be a grand break from school, the amount of snow days that have been called must certainly hinder the education of students like myself who will soon be continuing their education or entering the evermore competitive workforce.
A whole argument can be made as to whether the school calendar should be edited to allow for a reasonable amount of snow days; however, my argument is to look closer at how snow delays and closings are called. For instance, if the Shady Spring area has been bombarded with snow, but the Woodrow Wilson (Beckley) area is only moderately covered, there is no reason to close both schools, simply because they are in the same county lines. It is just not fair to students.
Moreover, if a school day is canceled or delayed because buses cannot reach many of their students, why can’t schools open the doors to students who are able to travel via their own automobiles or in those of their parents?
Some will argue that doing so is unfair to students who cannot drive themselves or be driven by friends or family members.
Although this may be so, I believe that helping a portion of students is always better than helping none at all.
Students in the deepest hollows of Raleigh County have made their ways to the cinemas and shopping centers in Beckley.
Clearly, snowy roads do not hamper one from driving to fulfill their entertainment needs.
That said, I am neither asking for any colossal changes in the school system, nor am I asking the school system to put the physical well-being of students on the line.
I simply ask the school system to hunker down, accept that this winter will probably give us even more of the white stuff before the season is through, and allow students the opportunity to — if safe to do so — attend school.
Christian Martine
Daniels
http://www.register-herald.com/letters/x1834678309/Our-Readers-Speak-Saturday-Feb-27-2010
Texting and Driving PSA
If you are even questioning the dangers of texting while driving, watch this short video. Made with £10,000, this road safety video was released in the United Kingdom and has caught the eye of millions of people around the world.
Viewer discretion is advised.
I’m Legal!
I have always looked forward to this day, but cannot believe that it is finally here. 18 comes with responsibilities, but also with it comes many great benefits. For instance, I’m now able to run for the House (just saying).
As I transition from high school to college, I pray that my future will be as great as my past as I continue to work toward achieving my dreams.
Receive School Closing/Delay Announcements Without the TV
During winter, many parents, students, and teachers habitually focus on their televisions waiting to see if their county will have a two-hour delay or be closed the next school day. West Virginia offers a few great resources that are easy and free to receive these announcements without having to touch your television.
The West Virginia Department of Education will often have school closings and delays posted on the Internet before they are ever sent to television and radio stations. You can check out the closings page of the West Virginia Department of Education by visiting http://wvde.state.wv.us/closings/county/all/.
For those of you who have an addiction to checking your email, click here to visit a subscription page where you can sign up to receive emails from the West Virginia Department of Education as soon as they post school closings or delays for your county.
Of course, you will not always have access to the Internet. A great service is in place for you to sign up to receive messages of closings and delays via text message and phone call. (There is also an email option.) Click here to check out the Web site. One main difference that you will notice when using this site is that you will sign up by school, not county. Some schools have not been activated and will not send you alerts. When this happens, simply find a school within the same county that is using the service. This will only work, however, if closing or delaying the start of your school day is a part of a county-wide decision.
For an example, Shady Spring High School is an unregistered school. I signed up to receive alerts for Shady Spring Junior High School and received a call that announced a two-hour delay shortly after.
As always, use your own discretion when using any of these services and cross check your sources.
Gonna Be a Close One
For all the students lucky enough to have an extra week of Christmas Break, there’s a good chance that today could end the streak of seven snow days. With the temperatures expected to remain frigid later this morning, however, counties across southern West Virginia may be forced to once again close schools. Many districts, including my home county of Raleigh, have already called for a two-hour delay.
As I’m writing this, the windchill is one degree below zero. A couple sources have the windchill in the morning around three to four degrees which may be considered dangerous for students who have to walk to school or make their way to a bus stop.
The Sun did a great job melting main roads today, but many back roads are still untouched and most manpower is focussed on protecting the main roads from potential precipitation. Nevertheless, even if school is cancelled today, it will most certainly be the last snow day for a while.
For updates on public school closings in West Virginia, visit http://wvde.state.wv.us/closings/county/all.
UPDATE: Today did end the streak of snow days. Now the weatherman is torturing us with possibly a snow storm tonight.
Cabin Fever
Click on the calendar for a larger view.
Today marks yet another day that I have been relieved from the burden of having to wake up at 6:20 A.M., eat a quick breakfast, and drive off to school before the Sun gives its first light. Sounds wonderful, right? Not quite.
My entire family has a Type A personality, meaning that we are very energetic people who don’t feel that excessive down time is relaxful. Even when we vacation to a beach, we can only stand sitting by the water for about an hour. We spend most of our time going on excursions, shopping, and playing mini golf.
Both of my parents work in education. My mother teaches in Raleigh County (calendar above) and my father is a principal in neighboring Fayette County. Since the silent blizzard has blown through, schools have been closed in both Fayette and Raleigh Counties. The first couple days were enjoyable. I had some work to finish up and enjoyed relaxing. As the week progressed, however, my parents and I were in dire need of entertainment. The roads were too bad to drive on and the snow just kept falling as it is still doing as I am writing this.
The most amusing part of this week has been my Dad. I knew he was hard up for entertainment when he forbid my mom and I from shoveling the driveway. Dad has been talking about retiring in a few years from education. After this week, I think he may put his retirement on hold for a few more years.
Overall, this has been an enjoyable break. I do not mind the time off, but I have a bad case of cabin fever.
Poll: 3G War
I have given my take on the media war between AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Now, I want to see who you vote as the better cell phone carrier.
Less is More
If you are familiar with the Cold War, you know that some of the tactics included the strategic use of propaganda: deceptive or distorted information that is systematically spread by, in this case, the government. Among other things, the Cold War was the medium for both sides to prove that their country and form of government was the strongest.
Today, a very different Cold War is taking place, the 3G War. The war is between the iPhone wielding AT&T and Verizon Wireless. The argument is very simple. First, Verizon Wireless released commercials bloating, “we have 5 times more 3G coverage nationwide.” Then, AT&T released commercials with the argument that “you can surf the web while talking on the phone. You can’t on AT&T.” (Note that AT&T didn’t exactly argue the claims of their competitor.)
Both arguments seem legitimate, but I believe Verizon Wireless comes out on top because they convey their message with one simple idea: “our maps are bigger than your maps.” Upon further review, however, the claims by Verizon Wireless are a bit misleading. The commercials by Verizon Wireless only compare 3G network coverage, not coverage of the older 2G network. In other words, Verizon Wireless claims that it can deliver the faster 3G coverage to more Americans than AT&T.
Check out a couple commercials and decide for yourself who gives the more compelling argument. When you’re finished watching, take a few seconds to vote on who you believe is the best cell phone carrier:
My brother pointed this whole debacle out a couple weeks ago. More commercials like these are plastered all over the Internet. Ahh… these videos give me the feeling that elections are coming up again.
Believe in Yourself
Believe while others are doubting.
Plan while others are playing.
Study while others are sleeping.
Decide while others are delaying.
Prepare while others are daydreaming.
Begin while others are procrastinating.
Work while others are wishing.
Save while others are wasting.
Listen while others are talking.
Smile while others are frowning.
Commend while others are criticizing.
Persist while others are quitting.
-William Arthur Ward
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Today, the State Journal and Governor Manchin honored me as a West Virginia Student of Excellence. During Governor Manchin’s keynote, he read the quote above. This quote is so very powerful, because it summarizes the ingredients of success. You have the potential to do anything you wish. What keeps me going is not what I have accomplished in the past, but what I plan to do in the future. To me, it is important to always work to surpass my accomplishments and strive to become a better person.
My history teacher once said to her class, “You might think that you are all that and a bag of chips, but someone is always going to come with a truckload.”
Pandora didn’t think outside the box
Today, I was in my Yahoo Mail account and clicked to create a new message. I type in who I’m sending it to and for whatever reason, my mouse hovered of the Subject button long enough for an info bubble to say “Subject-O-Matique.”
I go ahead and click it. To my surprise, I find a random subject appeared:
So, the Subject-O-Matique is an easter egg Yahoo put into its E-Mail software. Apparantly, it’s been around for a while. Nevertheless, for your amusement, here’s a little list of what the Subject-O-Matique spits up:
- Law firm of Herringbone, Leather & Tweed
- Do you suffer from uncontrollable falling down?
- A hip-hop MC performs with improvised rhyme and the spoken word, typically over a thumping beat.
- KAR 120C where are you?
- Wake me up when it’s time to go to sleep
- Your earrings would make a great fishing lure!
- Shaolin Golden Palm!
- Re: Test Results
- cycling over melons
- Rupert and mummy bear go by train with Bill on holiday again.
- ASAP’s Fables
- To replace the normal colonic flora.
- Sender wishes to recall message
- Que pachuca con toluca! (I actually don’t think this translates into anything.)
- Thank god and Greyhound she’s gone
This was a fun easter egg to find. New subjects always seem to appear, so check it out when your entertainment is slim.
