Magnet Central: Weekly Magnet & Campus Fodder

Issue of the Week: Breaking News; A Classic Magnet Administration Over-reaction

I'm assuming that most students are now familiar with what I term to be the "Pork-sandwich throwing of 2006". The gist of it is that some student threw a pork sandwich in the downstairs "A" stairwell, near the main office, at the end of sixth period yesterday, November 15.

Now while this doesn't seem to be such a big deal, a classic overreaction made it a big deal. The punishment for the act was that all the students of Magnet would have to go to their assigned lunch and would have to stay in one room during their co-curricular period. Food would be strictly prohibited in the Senior lounge, and students would not be allowed to utilize the outdoors for eating or sports or whatever. This method is the classic method for attempting to obtain an interrogation from someone who is unwilling to give up the information they know about the incident. Punishing everyone makes the populace angry at whoever did the action and demand a confession from someone, anyone.

While this may be a good method, it was not only an overreaction but was also discriminatory against the Senior class. One stipulation of the rules was that the Seniors could no longer eat in the Senior lounge. Most days prior students would be found in the Senior lounge during fifth period, eating and hanging out. This rule ended all that, and the ironic thing was that from the start it was well known that it was not a Senior who did the act. Early in the day today I even bet money that it wasn't a senior. From what leaks have occurred into the investigation, a confessor has been produced, and ironically enough the sandwich was thrown at a Senior. It's interesting that a Senior was victimized by this incident and was in effect punished twice for something that was not his/her fault.

It's my opinion that the restriction on food in the senior lounge should never have been placed since it's one rule that only affects one of the classes, whereas all the other restrictions are placed upon all the grades. Of course I feel the reaction was over the top, but I don't disagree with it based on the principle that it did have good intentions and did indeed produce a confession.

Kevin

Another Break from the Format: College News

I'll have to break from the usual format that I use in order to discuss some important college news of mine.

About a month ago I began the College Application process, applying to both St. Peter's College and my first choice Early Decision school, the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business. I will not be getting back my letter from UPENN for another month, although I did get back the results of my application from St. Peter's in roughly 2 weeks time, which is fairly impressive for making a college decision.

I got admitted into the school with a full scholarship, which is great. This is a school that I will fall back upon if three things happen.

1) I get rejected or deferred from the University of Pennsylvania Early Decision Pool.
2) My Seton Hall Application goes horribly wrong and I am not awarded the full ride I think I will be getting there.
3) All the schools I apply to using the normal admissions cycle don't give me sufficient financial aid for me to consider going there.

I suppose that is all for now. I'm very pleased with this, not that I didn't expect to get in, but rather that it effectively ensures that I will be enrolling next year in a four year college. This is a minor load off my back for now at least.

Kevin

Krieg Korner - Your Weekly Guide to Heavy

Band: Suidakra

Genre: Melodic Death Metal with Folk Influences

Album: Caledonia (November 17, 2006)

It certainly seems that in the past weeks my musical tongue has taken more of a taste to folk oriented bands. While I am not sure of the validity of this statement, it does have some truth. Maybe it's the murky weather that makes me feel at home with moorish lore, in any case, I never thought it would happen to me.

Regardless, Suidakra is an awesome band with more to them than "folk influences." Their newest release "Caledonia," a name given to Scotland by the Holy Roman Empire, has more folk to it than usual. The most notable touch is the bag-pipes implemented in almost every track. This also explains the bag-pipes.

However, while this is a bit unusual for Suidakra, the band's recognizable characteristics are still evident. Arkaduis' (Suidakra is his name spelled backwards) growl accompanied with the clean vocals, as well as the layered almost choir vocals. The instrumentals are heavy and very technical at many times, particularly at the opening of the song "A Blackened Shield," then switch to a very classical folkish sound while still retaining their crunch, see "The Distant Call."

Overall, I was very impressed with this album. While I did mention in my last review about how the music became boring and repetitive after time, this does not hold true for Suidakra. Once this hits stores, even though it'll probably be impossible to find, I highly suggest picking it up. Even if you're only into Zepplin this will fit nicely into your collection.

Rating: 9/10

Jake "Teh Thor" T.

A Break from the Usual Format: The Midterm Election Report

Being that it is the Wednesday following an election day, I figured it would be appropriate to break away from the traditional Magnet news format and instead do an article covering the elections and my opinion of them.

To cut straight to the chase, I am a Republican, but I will cover this article with a neutral perspective. I will not attempt to argue the "historical" loss point that has been made by Republicans, trying to justify this loss.

To begin, I was greatly disappointed, to say the least, when I heard the Democrats had taken the House and were extremely close to taking the Senate. I thought that Kean had a chance in the New Jersey Senate election, though I was sadly mistaken. I felt that Republicans had what it took, using the power of incumbency, to hold onto the house.

With that being said, I do see the reason why voters voted the way they did. The war in Iraq was a main factor in their decisions. I feel that perhaps Donald Rumsfeld should have resigned at least 10 months ago, rather than after the elections, when it is of no use to Republicans. While I do normally stand with the President, Rumsfeld was just dead weight under him.

Although I wanted the Republicans to win, I do see some positives coming out of this election. First and foremost, the federal minimum wage will probably be raised, which is something that I feel should have been done at least 6 years ago. Adjusted for inflation, it is the lowest it has been in 50 years, which is just ridiculous. With Democrats controlling Congress, ironically enough the President will have an easier time passing his immigration reforms. On plenty of issues, Democrats side with my views, although the overall picture of the liberal side is something that I am against.

With all this being said, I tip my hat to all the Democratic Senators and Congressman who unseated Republican incumbents.

Kevin

Magnet Central: Weekly Magnet & Campus Fodder

Topic of Discussion this Week: The End of the Marking Period Rush

This topic is one that touches just about every Magnet student, regardless of how hard or easy a schedule you may have. Towards the last two weeks of each marking period, a whole bunch of projects and tests all have their due date around the same dates. Work tends to ramp up, especially during the First, Second, and Third marking periods.

My opinion on this topic is one of overall wisdom and not of the shortsightedness that hits Magnet during this period. In theory, work should be uniform at all times, since different classes will naturally have tests and projects and tests at different times. If tests or projects were delayed a bit after the end of the marking period or done before the end of the marking period, then there would be no issue at all. At the very least, the rush should be kept down to one project or test per class at the maximum. I get quite annoyed when there are two tests or projects in the span of a week, especially projects in which no class time is given. While some of these projects have been perhaps assigned a few weeks ago, I work on a due-date basis.

Kevin