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February, 2012 Volume 87, Issue 6SignalThe

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Black History Month

By: Tyler WhiteStaff Writer

Valentine’s Day: As pointless as a broken pencilBy: Ciera Simbro

Staff Writer

Standardized testing:Is it really standard?

By: Jill GunzenhauserStaff Writer

Iowa Court grants students free pressBy: Kaylinn Taggart

Editor in Chief

February 14. Val-entine’s Day. Ugh. Everywhere you look there is someone planning their eve-ning or telling other people their plans. Happy couples pa-rade around giving each other chocolates, flowers, and cutesy little stuffed animals to prove their “love” for each other.

There is an over abundance of PDA (public displays of af-fection), and everything is ob-noxiously pink. It’s sickening. Valentine’s Day is a com-pletely pointless “holiday” that originated in Rome as the festival of Lupercalia. Wom-en would put their name in an urn to be picked by a man who would then become their spouse for that year. Today, it

is celebrated for the purpose of giving candy companies and flower shops our money. Until the mid 1890’s Americans still gave home-made sentimental cards, but then candy companies realised that they could make a profit and started producing sweets specifically for the holi-day. It also creates the sense that one has to be in a relationship to be happy; something that is

completely not true. There are plenty of happy, single people. Some may argue that Val-entine’s Day does have a point; to show the one you love how much you appreciate them. If someone genuinely cared about another person, they would not express it only once a year, it would be an ongoing thing. While doing something Valen-tines-esque every day, would

get old and expensive fast, it is still important to do some-thing more than once a year. Valentine’s Day is a com-plete waste of time and mon-ey, celebrated strictly for the benefit of candy producers. So, have a Happy Unimagi-native, Consumerist-Ori-entated, Entirely-Arbitrary, Manipulative and Shallow In-terpretation of Romance Day!

February 7th and 8th holds the annual test, ITEDS. Thomas Jefferson High School students as well as other stu-dents around the country, dread the onslaught of the so-called “standardized testing.” The relevance of what stu-dents are tested on, has been de-bated for years as the students complain about the difficulty of the questions that appear on the test. They all wonder if the tests even contain material that will be used later in life. The ques-tion arises for students of, how standard are standardized tests? “We don’t even learn half of the stuff they put on the tests,” said senior Ashley Arnold. Some people argue that the tests can be effective if used properly. According to cta.org, properly is defined as us-ing the tests to prove whether students are succeeding or not. They also believe that the tests have more benefits than they do harmful attributes. “Standardized testing pro-vides students with better feed-back about their own level of knowledge and skills,” said Colette Kemmering from Tem-ple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also ex-

plained the importance of teach-er accountability. “Standard-ized testing motivates teachers to work harder and more ef-fectively,” (astro.temple.edu). Professors and students from Michigan State University highlighted four main problems with the standardized testing we use now. These four issues include teacher evaluation, school funding, learning dis-abilities, and struggles with test-taking altogether (msu.edu). Schools put a lot of in-tense pressure on students to do well because the scores that students achieve do not only effect the students. Teachers are evaluated by the scores their students receive. “With the consequences of low performance on tests, lower salary and competency tests for example, it's no won-der that teachers feel like they are forced to do something about the scores,” this was the outcome of a 1990 study done by Haas, Haladyna, and Nolen. The school’s funding can also be effected by the scores. If students do poorly, funding for that school can decrease. Does this make sense, though? Schools that do poorly should receive more money for bet-ter supplies so that they have

the resources to improve. That is what school staff m e m b e r s b e l i e v e . “ O f t e n times, after getting test results, we spend more time punish-ing schools and students that don't do well (by f e d e r a l l y taking over the school, re-moving resources, etc) instead of spending that time help-ing those students and schools improve,” said Dennis Fox. Students have a lot go-ing against them in the tests as well. Students who do not have English as a primary lan-guage, need help reading the tests, or have other learning disabilities are under the same category as other students who do not have these issues. Haladyna and Nathan also proved that the tests can be very difficult for a wide-range of students. “One of the biggest faults of standardized tests is that they often do not take di-

versity into ac-count. Too many of today's tests are written so that only white, m i d d l e - c l a s s , English-speak-ing Americans can succeed.” Standardized testing also in-cludes the SAT and ACT which can affect stu-dents who are on their way to college. The scores of the

SAT and ACT directly effect their chances of making it into a college. This puts pressure on students, es-pecially seniors, because it can make or break their future. “I was sure that I did re-ally bad, but I actually got a decent score. I felt so much better after that,” said Arnold. Because of the issues that the ITEDs provoke, students will always dread them, teach-ers will always hope for high scores, and school adminis-trators will push for excel-lence. So with the 2011-2012 test approaching, students will be sent off with a hearty good luck, and fingers crossed.

Censorship in schools has been a big debate for many years. Due to the Iowa Court of Appeals’ rule on November 9th, 2011 in the case “Lange vs. Dierks and Allamakee Community School District,” students in Iowa and six other states have more freedom to write what they want com-pared to students in other states. “I think that generally high school journalists have always had quite a bit of freedom based on previous court cases. I think they should operate like other journal-ists and be free from censorship,” Principal Mrs. Lisa Dale stated. The new case restricts what the court case “Hazelwood vs Kuhlmeier” originally had set as student journalism guidelines.

In the Hazelwood case, an ad-ministrator deleted two pages of two articles that discussed a stu-dent’s pregnancy and the impact of divorce on students within the school. The pregnant students, who were only given initials in the article, might be identified and seemed inappropriate for younger students. The divorce article was deleted because of the student’s complaints about their father’s conduct and the principal felt that parents should be able to have a say and respond to being published. In the Hazelwood case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school saying that the prin-cipal acted reasonably in censor-ing the articles from the paper. In Lange vs. Dierks and Al-lamakee Community, Dierks and the administration said that the

people within their district were offended by the article and tried to restrict what was published. The students had created a fake newspaper for April Fools day discussing cheerleaders on ste-roids and a chemistry teacher run-ning a meth lab. The edition came with a disclaimer to say that none of the information in it was true. The Supreme Court in this case ruled that “The content in the publications did not encour-age the conduct specified in [Iowa Code] section 280.22(2)(c)”. These articles differ from the pre-Novmeber 2011 law, which stated that the First Amendment does not automatically apply to journalism students as it would professionals and other adults, the school paper cannot be seen as a “forum for public expression”,

and educators can have editorial control over style and content of student speech in school activities. These freedoms are important to journalism students because it gives them the basic freedoms that the First Amendment grants them. The school district cannot restrict what articles the news-paper, yearbook, or broadcast staffs produce as long as they submit to the guidelines above. “I know student journalists aren’t the same as professionals, but we should all protect freedom of the press whether it’s students or newspapers, magazines etc.,” Principal Dale said. “It’s a ba-sic constitutional freedom that is what helps protect our Democrat-ic society, so it’s very important.”

Black History Month is an important and memorable time of year. What originally started out as Negro History Week in 1926, changed to become the Black History Month we now celebrate in the month of February. Many African Americans have fought and protested for their rights and freedoms without discrimination. There are many important figures in the black history time-line. Rosa Parks was one of the many. She started the Boycott Act when she refused to give up her seat to a white person. She alone led many people to protest against the bus rules. Another very important leader would be Martin Lu-ther King Junior who fought against segregation and was against violence. His words in-spired many African Americans to also fight against segregation. “Black History Month is a time to be thankful for who you are and not the color of your skin,” sophomore Ramon Scarpino stat-ed. “I feel Martin Luther King made one of the biggest impacts on African American history be-cause he helped resolve segrega-tion problems without violence.” Another very important fig-ure is Thurgood Marshall. Mar-shall was denied admission to the University of Maryland Law School due to his skin color. Marshall was a Supreme Court Justice Lawyer who fought the case of Brown vs. Education for neglecting a young African American to their university. He wrote over 150 decisions includ-ing support for the rights of im-migrants, limiting government in-trusion in cases involving illegal search and seizure, double jeop-ardy, and right to privacy issues. Many people take these histo-rians and their hard work for grant-ed. They fought against those who were racist and turned them down just for the way they were born. Black History Month is a way to remind people about all of the brave things African Americans did to help shape America today. Source: chnm.gmu.edu

Photo taken by Miranda Gibb.

See “Free press cont.” on page 2 for the rest of the story!

Page 2

Seniors’ corner

Signal bulletin:

-Less than 90 yearbooks need to be sold for Mr. Lindquist to shave his head into a mohawk and dye it orange! -Valentine cards spon-sered by FEA are on sale for $2.00 until February 8. Meet in C216 to design your card from 3 - 4 P.M. Delivery willbe February 14 during 5th hour. -People interested in Indi-vidual speech team need to talk to Mrs. Bev Hall in room C216. -You can sign up for spring sports in the Main Office. -Is pizza a vegeta-ble? Take our poll at bit.l y . / T J H S J o u r n a l i s m

Snoball has been post-poned until February 11.

Editorial: SOPA and PIPA

College Visits:*2/14 Iowa State Univer-sity- 2nd period

*2/15 Iowa Central Com-munity College- 4th period

*2/19 Upper Iowa- 2nd period

Do you pray before a game of any kind of sport? Many people all around the world have their own traditions and religion that they like to add into sports they play. They are either profession-als or students of high schools. Javier Hernandez, a famous Mexican soccer player who plays for the Manchester United and the Mexican National team, admits that his faith is very im-portant while playing a game. “I always pray in the field before a game, it’s an important routine, but it’s not a supersti-tion,” said Hernandez. He also asks God for everything to go well for his team and the rivals, so that no one can get injured during a game or has to end their career. Many people did not think Hernandez would make it far in a sports career due to his young age. Despite the odds, Hernan-dez was motivated to keep go-ing. With his family encouraging him, he succeeded in becoming one of the most valuable play-ers for both Mexico and Europe.

At 20 years of age, Hernan-dez made his debut for Mexico in September 2009, in a match against Colombia. He also rep-resented in the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2011 CONCA-CAF Gold Cup, which earned him a gold medal and special recognitions for his hard work. Students from Thomas Jef-ferson High School that are fans of Hernandez believe that he is a great player and sup-port his religious routines. “There is no doubt that Her-nandez is a great player,” said freshman Rolando Carabajal. “I have seen some games of his on T.V. God sure has helped because he is a fantastic soccer player.” Carabajal also prays on the field before playing a game. “I make the sign of the cross and pray before the game because it gives me luck and I like to feel that God is with me through-out the game,” Carabajal said. Sophomore, Humberto Luna, thinks the same as well. “I like to make the sign of the cross and dedicate the game to my family and God right be-fore the game starts,” Luna said.

In Texas, there was a Su-preme Court case that made a lot of controversy: Everson vs. Board of Education. In an im-portant football game, a teacher said a prayer over the intercom, it was supposed to help the football players and give them luck. The school officials did not agree with that act, so they took it to court. The students and teachers who participated in the act lost the case, due to separation of religion and school (church and state). Remember, when someone testifies in court they are suppose to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God,” even if the person is not Christian. They are obliged to put their right hand on the Bible to be able to testify. Do you agree that people should not be able to represent their religion in public, even if the government does? It seems that people are okay with the fact of mixing religion and sports together. Many profession-als and high school students use religion and luck for protection. The government uses it in many things: in court, or in money; most dollar bills say, “In God we trust”.

Sports and religion combining?By: Kelly Espinoza

Contributer

As a student at Thomas Jefferson in Council Bluffs, Jon Narmi took – and en-joyed – a creative writing class. He enjoyed it enough to give some thought to a ca-reer as a writer. But he also thought about earning a living, and making a living won out. The would-be writer who opted for a more realistic and financially secure path went on to a successful career in finan-cial planning after earning an undergraduate business degree at the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in business ad-ministration at Creighton Uni-versity. But that high-school seed, the urge to write, remained. In the years then decades that followed, Narmi said, the writing seed sputtered from time to time in the form of personal essays; more often as business writing that he at-tempted to give a personal and interesting, reader-friendly flair. The seed blossomed to ma-turity last year. Narmi sat down at his computer on Feb. 8 and pecked out the opening sentences of what was to become his fic-tional “SEAL Team 6: bin Laden and Beyond.” The first draft of the book was completed April 22, before anyone knew much about “SEAL Team 6” and days before the mastermind behind the terror-ist attacks of 9/11 was shot and

killed by a member of the real Seal Team 6. That first draft did not mention the death of bin Laden. “We were in New York City on May 1, staying in a ho-tel on Times Square, when bin Laden was taken out,” Narmi said. “Times Square started filling up. There were a lot of young peo-ple chanting ‘USA’ and ‘USA No. 1.’ Fire House No. 4, which was wiped out in the 9/11 attack was there. It was really cool.” When Narmi returned to Council Bluffs, he blend-ed bin Laden’s death into the book’s early chapters. Fiction and current events are intertwined in the book that centers on Gregory “Geno” Genelli, the leader of SEAL Team 6. After the death of bin Laden, Genelli and Team 6 are assigned to a mission that involves secur-ing the release of the U.S. Sec-retary of State from a splinter terror group in Saudi Arabia. Narmi called the book “an exciting read for an audience beyond those who have an af-finity for military action books.” “The novel has an appeal for those who also have an inter-est in world politics and strate-gies because the body and flow of the book extend well beyond the military actions involved.

It is a story as much about stra-tegic political decisions as it is about military actions.” Narmi said he believes the book, which is now be-ing reviewed by screenwrit-ers, will hit home with read-ers because of events currently unfolding in the Middle East. “What was once thought un-thinkable is now possible, and no action or consequence is as remote as it may have seemed just a few short months ago,” he said. “Our respect for the brave men and women who fight each and every day to keep our country safe grows stronger when reading of the mis-sions and their toll on people.”All of Narmi’s royalties from the book – over $3,000 so far – are being donated to The Wounded Warrior Project and The Navy SEAL Foundation. And, having survived what the financial planner turned writer termed a “very stress-ful” editing process, he’s thinking about a followup.

By: Jon LeuFrom the Nonpareil

T.J. Alum pens book about SEAL Team 6

M a n y p e o p l e l o o k t o t h e I n t e r n e t f o r i n f o r m a t i o n , m u s i c , a n d e n t e r t a i n m e n t . B u t t w o n e w a c t s c a l l e d S O PA ( S t o p O n l i n e P i r a c y A c t ) a n d P I PA ( P r o t e c t I n t e r n e t P r i v a c y A c t ) t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t a r e c u r r e n t l y t r y i n g t o p a s s c a n c h a n g e t h i s . T h e s e b i l l s a r e t r y i n g t o c e n -s o r o u r I n t e r n e t s o t h a t w e c a n n o t c o p y r i g h t a n d s t e a l o t h -e r s ’ w o r k o r m u s i c . We b e l i e v e t h a t t h e s e w o u l d b e u n -f a i r b i l l s a n d c o u l d a f f e c t m a n y p e o p l e w h o s i n g a s o n g , p o s t a b l o g , o r j u s t s a y s o m e t h i n g t h a t c o u l d b e c o n s i d e r e d “ c o p y r i g h t ” . A n y -o n e o n e w h o u s e s F a c e b o o k , Yo u Tu b e , o r a s e a r c h e n g i n e w o u l d b e a f f e c t e d . T h e g o v e r n m e n t w o u l d h a v e t h e a b i l -i t y t o s u e t h e s e s i t e s a n d s e a r c h e n g i n e s o r e v e n s h u t t h e m d o w n . A n y o n e w h o p u t s a d o w n l o a d o f a s o n g o r a v i d e o o n t h e I n -t e r n e t c a n b e s u e d o r p u t i n j a i l . O n e u s e r

Iowa is not the only state to have limited what the Hazel-wood case originally stated. Ar-kansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Or-egon have also limited the effects of Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier.

1. Students in public schools have the right to free-dom of speech, which includes the “right to expression in of-ficial school publications”. 2. Students cannot express, publish, or distribute materi-als that are obscene, libelous or slanderous. They also shall not encourage students to commit un-lawful acts, violate lawful school regulations, and cannot dis-rupt the operation of the school. 3. “There shall be no pri-or restraint of material pre-pared for official school pub-lications except when the material violates this section.” 4. Student editors can assign and edit the news, editorial, and feature content of their publica-tions, under the limitations of this section, but it needs to be super-vised by the Journalism advisor(s).

Free press cont.

Iowa Code summary

Photo of Jon Narmi taken by Jon Leu

c o u l d p o t e n t i a l l y g e t a s i t e s h u t d o w n b y o n e c o p y r i g h t e d p o s t , b l o g , o r v i d e o . We f e e l t h a t t h i s c o u l d h a v e a n e f f e c t o n m o r e t h a n m u s i c a n d e n t e r t a i n m e n t . We t h i n k t h a t t h i s w o u l d c h a n g e t h e w a y w e u s e t h e I n t e r n e t t o d a y, s u c h a s , s e a r c h e n g i n e s a n d i n f o r m a -t i o n a l s i t e s t h a t c o n -t r i b u t e t o t e a c h e r ’s w a y ’s o f t e a c h i n g . I f p a s s e d , t h e s e a c t s w o u l d c a u s e t h e s h u t d o w n o f i m p o r -t a n t w e b s i t e s a n d s e n d i n n o c e n t p e o p l e , w h o d i d n o t i n t e n d o n c o p y r i g h t i n g , t o j a i l o r c a u s e t h e m t o b e s u e d f o r a b l o g o r l y r i c s t h e y h a v e p o s t e d . T h i s b i l l i s c u r r e n t l y p o s t p o n e d , d o t o t h e s e v e n m i l -l i o n o n l i n e p e t i t i o n -e r s , b u t p e o p l e c a n s t i l l h e l p i n s u r e t h a t t h i s w i l l n o t p a s s b y w r i t i n g t o c o n g r e s s . I n f o r m a t i o n f o u n d o n :v i m e o . c o mw w w. c b s n e w s . c o mn e w s . c n e t . c o ma m e r i c a n c e n s o r s h i p .o r g