Page 12 - 1983 VES Meteor

2
From e tor's Desk
By David Allen Duringthepasttwoyears,moreandmorestateshaveswitchedthe
drinking age from eighteen to nineteen years old because ofthe large number of drinking fatalities involving teenagers. In any town_you
enter, especially college towns, you find numerou~ te~nagers drm~­ ing or under the influence of alcohol. The temptatiOn 1s there and ~s virtually impossible to avoid. Changes need to be made but I don t
. feel that the teenager is the sole source of blame. There are other alternatives to taking the drunk driver off of the road and I feel that
they should be examined.
Recently, the Government has made an attempt to reduc~ the
number of traffice deaths by tightening regulation of drunk drivers. North Carolina, for example, has begun enforcing a new law on drunk drivers by making a D.U J penalty more strict. It is now possible for a person to be imprisioned for two days if arre~ted for driving und~r the influence. Some counties have even increased their police force m order.to direct more attention to the highways. The Highway Patrol
is encouraging to keep on the lookout for drinking drivers.
The city of Chapel Hill has set up a plan to help intoxica~ teen- agers. Their program is called Drive-a-Teen. They are ~ ~
drive teenagers who feel they cannot drive home, and this service IS
done free of charge. This program is quite successful and goes a long
the lines of what needs to be done about drunk drivers.
Raising the drinking age is not what needs to be done because that
will be ineffective. Teenagers who drink will buy beer regardless ~f what Jaw exists. They will find someone or someway to buy t~ebeer 1f t hey are not cap~ble of getting it themselves. A ~een who fmds.th_at drinking is a great way to party will continue gettmg beer and w1ll In- evitably try to buy it illegally. Buying beer will ~ec~mea g;eat ~hal­ lenge and make it even more desirable if the drmking age 1s ra1sed.
In a situation such as this, the government blames the teens. They
do not take into account the number of older drunk drivers. The
government lays the sole blame on young a~ultsand teenager~.Many teens have even taken the offensive by saymg that they are eighteen years of age, can fight for their c~IUntry,die for their coun_try, get mar- ried, and even elect political leaders, but they cannot drmk a beer. It
just doesn't make sense to raise the drinking age to nineteen or even twenty-one.
The government has put teens in a position whic~ is very un- comfortable and even less desirable. The only alternative that I can see to the drinking age, would be to keep the drinking age at eighteen and let the police continue their patrols. This could potentially reduce the traffice deaths as well as make the teenagers think twice about d r i n k i n g u n d e r - a g e . T h e g o v e r n m e n t c o u l d e v e n r a i s e t h e pu~chasing age in a supermarket or store and keep i~at eighteen for bur:1r- h~er inabar.Thisseemsverylogicalbecause1twouldkeepthedrn. lflgof
minors to a minimum. T he checking of I.D. cards could be entorced more regularly, and there would finally be cOntrol over the teenage
drinker and the drunk driver .
It seems only fitting that someone who is legally responsible for
himself be able to drink. There are other ways to cut back on the drunk drivers and these ways should be taken into consideration. The teenager has always been the victim of government situations about
drinking and for once the teenager should be given a chance. After all, they are the businessmen of tomorrow and if they are expected to act mature, they must be given a chance to prove themselves.
By Fut
A question was recently
regarding the continuation of Saturday classes in next year's schedule. Mr. Charles Zimmer, Headmaster, was asked several questions concerning this issue.
Q, What can be done to im- prove the attitude about Satur-
day classes? • A. It is only a natural reaction
to take it easy on the weekend. ' Thus, it is up to the teacher to
b Study
The Answer?
By Joa WarreD
I have a big question that I
want to share that has been on
J.
~ r.Awt x..ta H. Mftrltt
lll.o.,to,..M
oon hav to Incidentally of coune, we have given ounelvea a deal of un-
..... r.Awt A. Pubr
limited whoaent
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a.tl ......... '-'·· ~-
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ahowed ourHivea quite Incapable of leaderahlp or
v •
rnr
cuperation necessary upon such unusual pleasure. Like th m w been unable to stand the strain ofa ten-day holiday. We need w
recover. If we ever do, it will not be for long, for we shall relax to get into proper condition for the long vacation.
hav kl to
might be a littl
now but if the
willin to coopera , thinghuto
to , or at
youareoaeal are cutt.lq
IN Dot
a
If
THE METEOR -
-
Mr. Zimmer Spealui For Satwday ClaMe8
Friday, April
my mind recent\f, and it bas to in Saturday classes this past make sure that a lazy atmos- dowithStudyHall.Iaskthoseof
Q. Why was there an increase •
year? .
A. There are three main reas-
ons: 1) provide more academic ciass time; 2) allow us to be
flexible in the middle· of the school year without changing
opening or closing. da~s of school; 3) more vacation trme.
phere is not present. Saturday classes should be treated as any
other day.
Q. What is your personal opin- ion about Saturday classes?
A. U there was an effective . liminate these clas'les
you who are involved to please take the following into considera- tion and think before you act!
The big question which I am t.alking about has to do with whether Study Hall .really works or not. Is it efficient enough to work in? My answer to that is
- NO. Why? Because there are too many people in one room at one time; and many in there are too busy socializing or trying to
be "cute" instead of trying to get their work done. This presents a
problem for a handful of people who are trying ·to work and
study. Because of this it is virtually impossible to get any work done. One ·can always tell who the clowns are in the bunch
because they are usually the ones who will be in Study Hall the following marking period for continuing to receive bad grades.
I am well aware of the fact that a lot of time bas been spent by Mr. Lee and other teachers in
trying to come up with an effective and noiseless Study Hall. It is not their fault that the
Study Hall is insufficient. It is the student's fault. Study H•ll will not work unless the people in there are willingtomah itwork.
The people are not doing them-
selves any good by trying to be
::'~o~~osing the benefits of Q. How do you feel Saturday ' what thes~classes b~gto us,.I
d ? ·would be m favor of 1t. At this classes affect day stu ents 1 • 1 mf rt ble with the
A Day students are used to trme am eo o a
the iradition of not having Satur- day classes and it may be difficult
for some of them to make the
psychological adjustment of com- ing to school on Saturday. How- ever, everyone must remember that this is an academic institu
tion with 175 boarders in it. Thus, we must serve the needs of this community as a whole.
Q. How do you feel about the advantages versus the disadvan-
tages of this sytem?
A. In my opinion, the advan-
tages outweigh the disadvantag- es.
situation and do not plan to add or·cut any.more Saturday classes
for next year·
After talking with Mr. Zim- mer, it is easy to see the advantages of this system, such as a longer Spring Break; howev-
er, each student and teacher needs to fight ·against the desire to "goof-off' during a Saturday
morning class by being as atten- tive as possible. The longer vacations really are worth the lost Saturdays!
A Blast From
In the category of "olqies, but goodies" the following editorial ap-
peared in the May 2,1924 issue of THE METEOR and was written by
Editor R. C. Taliaferro. The topic seems as appropriate tod17 u back then.
it did
funny. It seems that their ••
"Spring Movements"
At this time of the year the editorial columns of school papers
rather generally devote themselves to the problems of the "last few remaining weeks of the session." There are frenzied appeals to the weaker brethren to keep up scholastically on the "last lap," to pre- serve one's morale against the se.ductive wiles of spring or the more deadly monotony of school routine. These days just before the dread final examinations are the ones that count, so they say. The outcome of a whole life may depend upon faithful study and immaculate be- havior at this very moment.
Confiding in our alleged general superiority to the rest of school- boycivilization,Ihadthought thatwecouldspareyoutheexpression of similar trite admonitions in the columns of THE METEOR. I had hoped t hat we could continue to pass over the trivialities of school life with the silence that they deserve in the well ordered existence, and could devote our energies to the larger and more enduring qualities
of the life characterized by a noble and capacious humanity.
My thoughts were only another vain dream, our boasts the mere
sport of the vacation to which they had supinely succumbed. W ere- turned with our minds still at home, and our physical being , thus un directed, have since been making a startling horrific incr as m the demerit record. Instead of being leaders, we hav ml'r ly demonstrated our kinship lo the certain workmen of the period of 1918 who wore expensive silk shirts and work d but on day in f'ven, since the others had to be given to holiday-making and lh rf'·
ents are paymg mne
dollan a year for them to come
•
pleasant walking and have deprived ouraelvea of moat of th pleaaureaofschoollife.Wehavewaatedthemon yof
ua here, and have atolen from the parent• of other boya by maldnr atudy and rood behavior harder for them, If In tome way they have been moved either to atudy or pod conduet. ha
reponalblllty. We haven't had
to bop ourHlvea at the bualn•• of life,
•
have hill
If
up here and not do uytbing but make a fool out of tbemaelvee for t wo hours a night and not get one bit of work done.
This is my first time in Study Hall this year. Maybe I am too accustomed to t he peace and quiet which lies within the walls
of my own room. In Study Hall there are people constantly walk- ing, whispering, and making noises that distract others who are trying to study. Would it not be better if everyone could study
in their own room and be watched more carefully? Or even study in a cluaroom, night or day, with fewer people and have
at acherora mast r?
I know that this
bethe
"far out" rtpt