One popular nursery rhyme is “Jack and Jill.” It goes like this: “Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.” Upon first glance, the lyrics depict a boy and girl going up a hill to get water, then tumbling down the hill on their way home. Not so suspicious, right?

A closer look into the origin of the rhyme, though, takes you back in time to England under the rule of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. According to a website about nursery rhymes, the lyrics “lost his crown” refer to the king being beheaded, and “Jill came tumbling after” refers to the queen being beheaded shortly thereafter (rhymes.org). The rhyme is apparently just a tad on the morbid side.

   Another well-known nursery rhyme is “Ring Around the Rosies.” As children sing this song, they usually hold hands and spin around in a circle. On the last line “we all fall down,” the children let go of each others’ hands and fall to the ground.  “I used to sing ‘Ring around the rosy’ with my friends all the time when I was little. It was all fun and games; I didn’t know it could have a darker meaning,” said Freshman Jackie Sanders.

According to the website about the origins of nursery rhymes, the entire song is about the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague of 1665. The line “ring around the rosies” refers a symptom from the plague where a red ring-shaped rash would appear on the skin. “A pocket full of posies” refers to the belief that carrying around good-smelling herbs or flowers (like posies) would ward off the disease. “Ashes ashes” refers to the cremation of dead bodies (rhymes.org). How nice….

The rhyme “Mary Mary Quite Contrary” refers to the daughter of King Henry VIII named Mary Tudor. Mary Tudor may not sound familiar, but the name Bloody Mary might ring a bell. Queen Mary got her not-so-fun nickname from her brutal slaughtering of Protestants. The rhyme goes, “Mary Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row.” The reference to her garden is a metaphor for a grave yard, which was rapidly filling with slaughtered Protestants.  The ‘silver bells and cockle shells’ are types of torture instruments. The ‘silver bells’ were thumbscrews ,which crushed the thumb between two hard surfaces by tightening  a screw. The ‘cockleshells’ were believed to be instruments of torture which were attached to the genitals! The ‘pretty maids all in a row’ refers to a beheading device that was used prior to the invention of the guillotine. 

  All those innocent, fun nursery rhymes aren’t so sweet after all. Look up the meaning behind your favorite nursery rhyme. Who knows? It could have a completely unsuspected, slightly disturbing back-story.

Senioritis is defined in the Urban Dictionary as “a crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, and an over-excessive wearing of track pants. Also features a lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. The only known cure is a phenomenon known as graduation” (urbandictionary.com). There certainly is no better description of this very real illness overtaking a good portion of UC High’s senior student population.

Part one of senioritis comes from the fact that we have been stuck in windowless buildings learning generally useless, common-sense information for the past 12 years. Disregard the trivial fact that many of us have also been with the same group of people for all that time, and you get a bunch of antsy teenagers who can’t wait to start their lives and are forced to spend a year “getting ready” to do just that.

Part two is based on the fact that we truly believe colleges don’t care about our senior year grades — especially after we’ve already been accepted to a college. Okay, this might be extremely ignorant, but it’s an excuse to slack off more than usual — “But I already got in somewhere!”

Part three is that people have told us senior year is easy, but five AP classes usually doesn’t classify as an “easy” load. After we have used up all of our energy on college and scholarship applications, it’s extremely hard to find any motivation to study for AP tests that will have no impact if we fail them—except on our parents’ bank accounts, but again, zero effect on us—especially considering many colleges don’t even accept AP credit.

There are many effects of the crippling senioritis disease. One of the most major ones is the complete lack of caring about clothing, resulting in countless outfits consisting of sweatpants and sweatshirts. Seniors also, instead of coming home to do homework, come home and eat. A lot – and the food generally isn’t kale and quinoa. Somehow though, amidst all this lethargy, seniors still manage to find the energy to do any activity not involving school.   High school seniors know they are going to college, the military, trade school, or whatever they plan to do after they graduate, and it really doesn’t matter what they’re doing — just that they know they will be out of high school forever. That fact alone makes it nearly impossible to work hard, wear nice clothes, come to school, and have a positive attitude. “It’s hard not to get senioritis when the beach is so close and high school seems so meaningless since we’re getting ready for college,” said Senior Jenn Kim.

After we’ve submitted our college applications and sent mid-year reports, senioritis really hits hard. Caring about school comes to a complete halt, because you probably won’t get into that dream school you’re trying to impress anyway. Seniors become extremely lethargic and annoying to be around, but the only way to cure them is graduation — so, hurry up, June 11!

For one, the level of competitiveness this year overshadowed the intended fun, relaxed, and humorous atmosphere. When the Varsity Basketball Teams are playing other schools, we all want the players to have a high intensity, but when it’s a fundraiser, allowing students and staff to light-heartedly compete, the competitiveness needs to be toned down. The event became too much about winning and losing when it should have been about having a fun, friendly competition, and raising money.

In addition, many of the players for the staff team were not even members of the UC High faculty. Three of the staff team’s first five starters were assistant basketball coaches who are not only not on staff, but are not even known by the vast majority of the student body. The only students at UC High who would know the assistant coaches who played are a small number of basketball players and cheerleaders. This took away from the excitement and entertainment of the game, because the whole point of the game is to watch adults usually seen teaching or in a professional environment, instead running around in shorts playing basketball. That’s what students look forward to when they attend Student Versus Staff. These three spots could and should have been reserved for familiar teachers and administrators who students see every day.

If the school’s head basketball coach had been playing, this would have been a different story. Basketball Coach Terry Stonebreaker is someone who almost every student at UC High knows, because he is seen on campus daily. He’s not only a coach, but also a staff member, part of the school’s security team. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to play this year because he was ill. Stonebreaker’s absence should not have given assistant coaches the opportunity to take over most of the game.

Students paid to see Math Teacher Bernard Steinberger defending Senior Kolter Knapp or History Teacher Daniel Millard working down low on Senior Trent Jacobs. Students did not come to see three men, who most of the audience could not name, shoot three’s and block shots. Sure, students wanted to see these plays, but only if performed by staff members who they recognized.

Changes need to be made in time for next year’s match. There needs to be an outreach to other teachers to get them to play again and assure that the environment will be fun and not so competitive. Well-known teachers, as opposed to unfamiliar coaches, need to be the stars of the game, because they are the ones the students want to see play.

“So many options, so little time,” said Junior Alice Giliarini, describing the problem most UC High students face. “We need a solution that will allow students to take more than six total classes per school year, so that they can take advantage of the numerous courses offered here [at UC High].” As it is, though, many students find it difficult to organize their schedules to accommodate both credits required for graduation and courses in subjects they enjoy. Furthermore, with UC High’s present 58 minute-long classes, individual teacher and student interaction is somewhat limited. “Some students need time to talk to their teachers independently to excel in class but it’s hard for teachers to provide that time due to the fact that our present classes are only 58 minutes-long…. Time is really the enemy in this situation,” said Sophomore Madeline Balicoco.

There is a simple solution to ease these complaints: UC High should adopt an alternative, four-by-four class schedule. This is a block schedule that allows students to take a year-long class in one semester. Students take four classes per semester, allowing a total of eight classes per year, rather than six. This schedule model, which would allow students to take more courses and experience longer class times, would help alleviate some of the problems students currently face with the traditional six period schedule. Simply by changing when the end-of-class bell rings, UC High could provide a more complete education for its students.

If the four-by-four class block schedule were to be adopted by UC High, teachers would be able to spend the additional class time checking in with each student, ensuring that everyone has a firm grasp of the material. Block scheduling might be just the step that would enable students to do better in their classes, and perhaps even better on standardized tests. Although the ability to “slow down” and give more one-on-one interaction may be impossible for AP classes on a rigid schedule, it has the potential to significantly benefit students taking other courses.

Math Teacher Bernard Steinberger believes that UC High should consider having the four-by-four block schedule. According to Steinberger, “If UC High were to adopt the four-by-four block schedule, students would be able to do more work in class in a supported environment. It would also allow me to give my students more lab time where they could work further on problems to come up with solutions with the help of their peers.” If the four-by-four block schedule was adopted, learning and grades could increase.

Although the idea of having 91-minute courses sounds wonderful to many students, others aren’t as excited about the proposition. Freshman Ekalabya Mohanty feels that the four-by-four block schedule would simply exhaust him and his classmates. “Being in a class for that long does not sound enjoyable to me,” said Mohanty. If 58 minutes seems too long in some classes, 91 minutes could seem unbearable. Both schedules have pros and cons, but in the case of the four-by-four block schedule, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Due to the six period schedule implemented at UC High, students are faced with limited teacher and student one-on-one time, not enough peer discussion time, and too few slots in their year for desired courses. In order to diminish these problems and keep much of UC High’s student population content, a four-by-four schedule should be considered for future years. According to Giliarini, “[The four-by-four block schedule] really is something that could change students’ lives for the better.”

Although the majority of the population identify as Christian, a good 24 percent of the population does not fall under that category, according to a Trinity College 2008 Survey (b27.cc.trincoll.edu). Currently, though, 100 percent of holidays observed by SDUSD are either unaffiliated with a religion or tie in with Christianity (usa.gov). Would it be too taxing for the district to pick one or two holidays affiliated with the most prominent other religions celebrated by its population, and observe these days? At its best, America is a country about acceptance and tolerance, and celebrating holidays of other faiths would only contribute to that ideal.

Not only would including a few extra days of observance in the SDUSD school calendar promote multiculturalism and broaden all students’ knowledge of non-Christian holidays, it would also give non-Christian students a chance to celebrate their holidays without worrying about missing school. As it is, there are many Jewish students who take off school for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Muslim students who miss school for Eid-ul-Adha, the celebration of the end of the month of Ramadan fasting (jewfaq.org, answering-islam.org). These holidays are especially significant for those who practice these faiths, and they deserve the right all Christian students currently have to celebrate without the threat of making up tests or missing a vital lecture.

School districts, in particular SDUSD, should redesign their calendars so that schools observe the major holidays of the most practiced religions in America – holidays from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu faiths, for example (lb9.uscourts.gov). “If we have Good Friday off, we should have other religious holidays off, too,” said Senior Brooke Mallory. “You shouldn’t just choose one religion to celebrate and not think about the others.”

As of now, SDUSD is creating five furlow days in order to save money (which is why Good Friday was a holiday this year, according to several UCHS teachers). If they plan to do this next year also, the district should plan to choose those five holidays wisely, keeping other faiths in mind. If there are not to be furlow days next year, to ensure that observation of these other holidays would not shorten the school year, the calendar could be amended so that today’s week-long breaks would become tomorrow’s two to three day vacations.

Observing Christian holidays isn’t necessarily a “bad” thing – a great many UC students celebrate those days. The fact that schools exclusively take off time for secular and Christian religious holidays is what must be addressed.

The GPA system currently works as follows: an A in a “regular” class constitutes four points, while a B gives a student three points, a C yields two points, a D one point, and an F zero (collegeapps.about.com). To calculate a GPA with Honors or AP classes, you simply add a point for each grade received. Thus, an A in one of these classes gives a student five points, a B yields four, etc. However, Honors courses allow students to work the system, especially during their junior year. A junior can hypothetically take Honors American Literature, Honors Pre-Calculus, Honors US History, and Honors Chemistry, while another junior may take AP English Language, Honors Pre-Calculus, AP US History, and AP Chemistry. Assuming both students receive all A’s in these core classes, both would end up with the same GPA.

Senior Emily Maschan said, “[Students in] AP classes are definitely doing more work than [those in] Honors. There’s a lot more work outside of school and more self-motivation is required for studying.” An article from The Washington Post explains, “Honors courses are generally taught from the same lesson plan as regular classes but at a faster pace and in greater depth. An AP course contains altogether more-challenging material – charting a path that coheres to national [College Board] standards” (articles.washingtonpost.com). It is illogical to allot students the same bonus points for two different amount of work, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

In AP courses, subject matter is analyzed and learned much more thoroughly, often making the class exponentially more difficult than Honors classes. Honors Chemistry Teacher Maureen Quessenberry said, “For example, Equilibrium is a huge, huge topic in AP Chemistry; we just broach it in Honors Chemistry and barely touch it in regular.” She added, “Currently as they are, Honors classes shouldn’t be weighted the same as AP classes are. I think Honors classes are taught at a very rigorous level, but it’s certainly not the same rigor as an AP course.”

This is not to say Honors classes should not exist. AP US History Teacher Michael Brown said, “There is a place for Honors programs. There are students who stack their AP classes in science and math and have other activities like athletics or band and don’t have time for that one more AP. They still want a rigorous course, though. Honors classes can provide that.” He added, “[At the same time] students place a tremendous amount of weight on their GPA, and many believe it is better to receive a higher grade in Honors than a lesser grade in AP. I don’t know if this is necessarily true.” Supposedly, colleges do take the rigor of classes and differences between Honors and AP courses into account. Nevertheless, there has seemed to be a shift of student interest from AP to Honors classes at UC High according to Brown, at least in the Social Studies department.

Several alternatives could deem the weighted GPA system more just. Maschan said, “I think that Honors classes should get a 4.5 weight for an A [when calculating GPA] and AP Classes should get 5 points, because Honors classes are still doing more work than regular classes, but AP classes are doing more work than Honors.” Brown proposed that all Honors classes could have an end of course exam similar to the AP exam in May, except based on the material the Honors course covered, and if students passed the exam, they would be able to enjoy the benefits of a weighted GPA. Honors American Literature does have such an exam, weighted as ten percent of the students’ grades. These and other alternatives could improve the way student GPA’s reflect the actual effort, workloads and knowledge gained by the students.

According to The Union Tribune, during a meeting in San Diego on March 8, “The state Coastal Commission on Friday rejected the Navy’s sonar program, saying the service must take more care to protect whales and dolphins during training exercises off Southern California” (utsandiego.com). Despite this, however, it seems increasingly probable that the Navy will choose to ignore the Coastal Commission’s ruling and continue this ecologically unsound sonar program, just as they did when the Coastal Commission turned down similar proposals in 2007 and 2009.

For the sake of the Southern California sea life that the sonar training would affect, it is vital that the US Navy finally heeds the urgings of the Coastal Commission. If revising sonar training plans would help preserve already dwindling marine mammal populations, there is absolutely no reason that the Navy should disregard the Coastal Commission’s advice.

The Coastal Commission unanimously rejected the Marine’s proposal due to the harm Navy sonar is believed to cause to marine mammal’s hearing, the disruption it can cause to the animal’s own use of sonar, and the dangerous behavior it is thought to induce as the animals try to escape from the sound, according to The Union Tribune and the Marine Connection Organization (utsandiego.com, marineconnection.org).

“Critically endangered marine mammals like the Hawaii Insular Stock of false killer whales, which numbers only 150 animals, rely heavily on their acoustic sensory capabilities to find food, for navigation, and to breed,” said Earthjustice Organization Attorney David Henkin. “Blasting their ears through the ramped up training the Navy proposes risks pushing this species, and a host of other marine mammals, closer to extinction.” In fact, according to the Navy’s own projections, around 160 marine mammals would die and 1,600 would experience hearing loss by way of Navy sonar testing in the five-year period. The California Coastal Commission predicts an even greater negative effect (earthjustice.org).

“They should be doing all that they can to protect marine life,” said Junior Emily Halaka. “At the same time, I see show it’s important for the Navy to continue with its programs.”  Of course, compromises must be made in the name of national security. However, the California Coastal Commission’s suggestions were more than reasonable and unlikely to cause major disturbance to essential Navy training. According to The Union Tribune, the recommendations included: “Establishing larger shutdown areas, of up to 2 kilometers, when marine mammals or sea turtles are detected, avoiding use of sonar in sensitive areas, including marine sanctuaries and protected areas; zones with blue, fin, and gray whales; and shore areas with coastal bottlenose dolphins, reducing sound at night and under low-visibility conditions, limiting speeds in sensitive areas to 10 knots, unless necessary for specific training, and improving the training for lookouts, who are tasked with spotting marine mammals during Navy exercises” (utsandiego.com). None of these suggestions appear to pose a substantial setback to the Navy’s program, rendering its apparent unwillingness to listen to the California Coastal Commission unreasonable.

As previously mentioned, according to CBS San Diego, in 2007 and 2009, the Navy continued with its plans after the California Coastal Commission rejected them. “The commission set out similar conditions to the Navy in 2007 and 2009, but the Navy refused to accept them both times,” making it all the more likely that they will do the same this time (cbs8.com). Hopefully, however, the Navy will finally act with the interests of the animals with which they share the ocean in mind. As Center for Biological Diversity Attorney Emily Jeffers said, “These war games have real and deadly effects on California’s wildlife, including some already trying to fight off extinction” (biologicaldiversity.org).  In order to protect marine life, the Navy must make changes. The Navy seriously consider California Coastal Commission’s ruling.

The proposed legislation outlines a partnership between public universities and commercial or out-of-state education providers, allowing students who took a state-approved online core class from such an organization to receive course credit in the UC, Cal State, or California community college system (latimes.com). Although this proposal raises a few concerns, the positive effect it promises to have on the California education system far outweighs its possible downsides. The state has a problem when a student’s education is jeopardized due to overcrowding. The SB 250 is one of the first bills in the nation to offer a solution.

Due to the budget crisis and consequent overcrowding, students are constantly facing the prospect of being turned away from a course required for graduation or being forced to transfer from a junior college to a university. According to The Monterey County Herald, “High-demand courses are in short supply, particularly at community colleges. Last fall, more than three-quarters of California’s 112 community colleges had wait lists, averaging 7,000 students each” (montereyherald.com). Additionally, according to The Union Tribune, “Only 60 percent of UC undergraduate students complete their degrees within four years and only 16 percent graduate from CSU schools in that time frame” (utsandiego.com). This enormous gap between the number of students who need to take a course and the number who can each semester has proven devastating to many students’ educational plans and financial capabilities.

“It’s a problem,” said Junior Cassie Ferris. “I feel like people are faced with disappointment and sometimes financial issues just because colleges don’t have enough room for them.” The proposed plan would allow California students access to an education, giving them an opportunity to pursue their interests and career goals in a timely manner. Student success should be at the forefront of any state’s education concerns, and the SB 520 offers California a chance to better its college students’ educational experience.

While it is important to provide students with opportunities to succeed, it is essential that the education they receive be of high quality. To many faculty association representatives of California educators, the SB 520 appears to challenge the integrity of a Bachelor’s degree. “The primary concern is quality control and faculty control of the curriculum, which is the way that quality of the courses is presently maintained and has been for all history of the university,” said Council of UC Faculty Associations Member Joe Kiskis.

However, according to Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, those behind the bill understand the importance of keeping online courses at a high standard, and have plans to ensure course quality. Each of the UC, community, and state colleges would have a three-person course review panel that would evaluate courses by their specific college’s guidelines (latimes.com). This bill would not cause the value of a California education to decay – precautions would be taken to keep it at the high level for which it is known. In fact, due to the increased course accessibility under the bill, overall college quality would be enhanced, not reduced.

Despite some concerns the SB 250 may raise, the fact that it addresses a rising problem and that, if implemented, it would likely benefit thousands of California students makes supporting it more than worthwhile.

One of the new classes that will be offered at UC High is Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus. While the instructor for the course is to be determined at a later date, Math Teacher Phil Huszar is a realistic candidate for the position. AP Calculus is not, however, to be confused with Math 150, the Mesa Community College mathematics course offered here at UC High. “Since you’re only covering approximately half as many subjects [as Math 150] in AP Calculus, I would say the course would only be about half as rigorous,” explained Huszar.

In order to take Math 150, a student has to pass the Calculus Qualifying Exam when they are in Pre-Calculus or Honors Pre-Calculus. The test is graded on a curve, with a passing score usually above 12 out of 24, according to Huszar. If a student does not pass the exam, they end up taking Discrete Math or AP Statistics the following year.

The adoption of AP Calculus would allow students to take a college-level math class even if they could not take the actual college course. “If a student didn’t pass the Calculus Qualifying Exam, but still wanted to take a calculus course, I think AP Calculus would be a good fit,” said Junior Glenn Gasmin.

AP Calculus, which will cover enough information over the course of two semesters to prepare a student to pass the AP Exam in May, will help students fill their mathematics prerequisites for universities. “For Math 150, you get nine units of credit for passing both semesters. The most amount of units you can hope to get for AP Calculus is five, but most universities are going to give you a bypass for that prerequisite math course,” said Huszar.

Another new class that students at UC High will be able to take next year is Computer Animation, which will teach students how to design and create three-dimensional models on a computer. “Students will learn how to design, model, animate, and render in three dimensions,” said Computers Teacher Steve Csakai.

Students cannot take Computer Animation right away, however. “[Computer Applications in Business] is the basic class, so they need that class first, or they can take multimedia production, and then they can take this class,” said Csakai.

Computer Animation, though it has not been an available course at UC High for quite some time, is not exactly a new class. According to Csakai, the class was offered at UC High several years ago but was discontinued after students expressed a lack of interest.