Sequoia Cheating

Cheating, plagiarizing, and simply not creating your own idea is a great offensive to the person you’re stealing from, but also, you are cheating from yourself.  The mind at work is an incredible thing.  To let something so amazing go to waste is a heartache.  Sure, we all have our moments.  Maybe we don’t have the time or we are having “writers block”.  Especially in an honors class, the pressure to do the best work all the time is at its max.  This creates a huge amount of stress on students to perform their best all the time.  This request is unforgiving and at most times, unfair.  The situation with the student from Sequoia High School is an interesting one greatly because of sheets signed in the beginning of the year regarding rules and regulations for cheating.  Two papers contradict themselves.  One “declares cheating is grounds for immediate removal from the advanced-level program”, while the other “states that a student will be removed from the program only after a second plagiarism offense.”  So which side wins? It will be interesting to see who prevails with the best arguments.  My opinion: the student is a sophomore, it was the first time, and the student is probably just getting used to the demand of high school.  This whole debacle has taught the lesson itself, I am sure.  So think logically here.  Second chances, second offence; everyone deserves one.

Tryvon Martin

It is interesting how this article points out the harsh reality of the role that media outlets play in a news story.  It is mind-blowing to think that station A could change the focus on certain facts just to catch the attention of a certain audience.  Deggans says himself, “I think at some point, this story became different things for different media outlets, depending on how they galvanized audiences.”  This proves that once the story is in the hands of a company, there is no range of how far left or right they can pull the facts.  This also then creates a fear not covering the whole range of the story.  “On Fox News, there is sense of worrying about a rush to judgment, trying to reflect George Zimmerman, the shooter's side.”  We see here how on Fox, they are concerned about one side more than the other, leaving viewers to obtain a biased take on the situation.  I understand that if someone is watching a certain news station, they have come to know which side the station takes on a story.  Even with that knowledge, I still believe it is just to give each side of the story, allowing the viewers to create their own opinions and stand points. This case has troubled me from the beginning.  To think that news stations are taking sides within their company is troubling me even more.  It was a confrontation, not a death threat.  In my eyes, Zimmerman is taking it way too far by claiming self defense. 

You Come So Close (Wash. Twp. Teen)

Having gone all day Sunday without hearing about the Washington Twp. Senior who died in a car crash late Saturday night, has left my heart in an ache.  First off, my thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends who she has left behind.  It is hard to think that in one moment, you have everyone around you that you love and in an instant, they are taken from you.  After watching the video posted of the vigil that was held for her on Sunday, I was able to see firsthand the pain that those individuals were going through.  It hurt me just to watch it; I can only imagine what type of real pain the friends and family have to endure.

Being a high school senior myself, I have a feeling of accomplishment and readiness for that next step in my life.  I have come so far in these past 4 years and I have confidence inside me when I look ahead to the new chapter I will be starting this summer.  To think that this was all taken away from a senior just like me is unimaginable.  Her dreams and goals she has built up to this point, her success and readiness for that next step, all taken away in that instant.  I cannot even wrap my head around this.  For someone who has come so far in her life and to have built up all that has become her, it is beyond anyone’s thoughts that it could all just be taken away.  She came so close to that new chapter.  However, that new chapter is just going to be written differently than what was expected.