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4 The Southfield Jay / October 2009 Editorials & Opinions The Southfield Jay is a member of Quill & Scroll and the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. The Jay is a 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 George H. Gallup Award winner and a Spartan Award winner for the same years. We welcome your letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and may be edited for space reasons. E-mail us your comments at southfieldjay@gmail.com, or write to The Southfield Jay, c/o Diane Hofsess, Southfield High School, 24675 Lahser Road, Southfield, Mich., 48033. Phone us at (248) 746-8963. The Southfield Jay Published monthly during the school year by journalism students of Southfield High School Editor-in-Chief News Editor Centerspread Editor Editorial Editor Features Editor Sports Editor Entertainment Editor Photo Editor Webmaster Staff Artist Circulation Manager Business Manager Exchange Editor Staff writers: Faculty Adviser: Our views ‘Obamacare’ makes good sense for America “Change that we can believe in.” This now-famous slogan comes from the lips of President Barack Obama, who has captured the hearts of many around the nation. There were those who didn’t believe that President Obama would have a tangent presidency. Yet he continually does his best, even when being ridiculed to change what is now a moderately corrupt government. His health care reform plan wisely aims to provide affordable, accessible health care to all Americans, excluding illegal immigrants. This brave new plan would fortify employer-based coverage, and guarantee a patient’s choice of doctors and care without government interference. Americans who wish to stay with their current health insurance would not be forced into this new system. Under his plan, Americans would finally have a shot at having new affordable health insurance. President Obama’s plan, which has been nicknamed “Obamacare” by the media, would regenerate our market structure to modify competition by offering federal health insurance to employers. The idea is to help ensure that unexpected or catastrophic illnesses do not make health insurance unaffordable. Critics say the plan shows favoritism to democrats. This plan would result in huge tax increases. According to the Obama’s official Web site. The budget of this plan is projected to be about $200 billion a year by 2019. Admittedly, this may sound outrageously expensive, but not when you consider that America has spent more than $1 trillion on the war in Iraq. It’s a matter of priorities. Over the years, America has been sitting at a saddening 37th place in the ranking of the World’s health report, according to the World’s Health Organization report. Our country’s health care is truly a disappointment and it would be ludicrous to continue on with the present low-grade health care system. While politicians sit around and debate about whether or not to make this risky change, a consumptive child is out there left to perish with no hope of a brighter future because greedy health care officials are blinded by the sight of dollar bills instead of compassion for the precious lives of others. Logan Patmon Matthew Anderson Revati Nkosu Alisha Cayce Ariana Dada Cory Jackson Michelle Nobles Craig Lewis Leslie Summerville Tania Lee Rachael Robertson Michelle Nobles Nieya Gaston Kiera Boyce, Marissa Katz, Brandy Perry, Sierra Mays, Andrew Melton, Jasmine Walker Diane Hofsess America, you have a bad case of health care blues. I have just the plan for you. Dr. O The Jay renews its editorial policy The staff of The Southfield Jay reaffirms its long-standing editorial policies with this opening issue of the 2009-2010 school year. The paper’s editorial policies are as follows: The Jay exists as an open forum of public expression. It serves the student body of Southfield High School and will not function as an instrument of any individual. All information printed in The Jay will be factually correct and unbiased in content. It will not knowingly be published if it is injurious to a person’s reputation or constitutes libel. The Jay will strive to present the widest possible scope of information dealing with Southfield High School while ensuring that articles are of interest to a significant segment of the student population. The Jay will publish indepth features highlighting both positive and negative areas relating to SHS in hopes of enhancing the readers’ understanding of important issues and events. The opinions expressed in unsigned editorials are those of the paper’s staff and not necessarily those of the school administrators or The Board of Education. Signed opinion pieces represent the opinion of the writer. Editorials in The Jay will be a forum for honest opinion and will not be influenced by any outside powers, including the faculty or the administration. Letters to the editor are encouraged and will be published as space provides. They must be signed and must abide by the same stated standards regarding other Jay articles.
Editorials & Opinions Seniors pay highest price for Career Center changes There are a dozen new faces on staff this school year, but none is more noticeable to seniors than that of Deanna Gabbana, the school’s new Career Specialist. Gabbana is the rookie who replaced the veteran Ginny Borowski, when Borowski retired last year. This year’s seniors are at a tremendous disadvantage with a rookie in the career office. Before coming to work at Southfield High School, Gabbana worked as a para-professional at Brade-Lederle elementary school for four years, helping students with special needs. While Gabbana has a positive attitude and is willing to learn, time is rapidly ticking for this year’s seniors. When the previous career planning counselor retired, she took with her all the knowledge of how best to run the Career Center. Borowski in the past scheduled numerous onsites, which are interviews at the school with college admissions officers. They allow students to be How do you like the new changes to Facebook? Compiled by Alisha Cayce admitted to universities right then and there. They have included schools such as Michigan State University, Western Michigan University and Oakland University. At press time, only one onsite had been scheduled so far this year. The only school that had an on-site set up at press time was Grand Valley State University. In previous years students have taken trips arranged by Borowski to various universities in and outside of Michigan. Students venturing into the Career Center to look for scholarships will be disappointed. The binder that was normally stuffed with scholarships for seniors has disappeared. The scholarship board outside the Career Center, which was normally packed with scholarship opportunities, is unusually bare this school year. This means that this year seniors have to research their own scholarships on Web sites such as collegboard. com, cappex.com and scholarships.com. “It has more technology, and it’s easier for us to find out about our friends.” - Alexis Flowers, Freshman Borowski was bound to retire at some point, but she should have fully trained her successor. To Gabbana’s credit, she has arranged for several university admissions officers to visit with students at Southfield High. But visits pale in comparisons to onsites. The college visits give little information that can’t be found out through a phone call, or on the Internet. This year’s seniors have been groomed by Southfield Public Schools for the last 12 years, and now - at the last step of the journey - SPS is coming up short. The career counselor is the vital link that connects students to colleges, scholarships and job opportunities. Without a good career counselor, students are destined to miss out on opportunities. That is the worst part for the seniors this school year who are stuck with a new counselor. None of them will ever know what they are missing out on. - Logan Patmon “It’s sweet. Now people know who you are talking about in your status when you tag them.” -J’von Glenn Sophomore By Kieara Boyce There has been a lot of talk going around about this irrational, new attendance policy. There is no need for an attendance policy. It wounds students and has no benefit to them. It interferes with student grades. The policy states that if you are absent or late more than 5 times, you will receive zero honor points toward your grade point average. However, you will receive credit for the class, if earned. Most people would say they need all the honor points they can get to boost their grade point average. It’s truly hard as a senior The Southfield Jay / October 2009 5 Letter to the editor: Pull the plug on Kanye West After watching the MTV Video Music Awards, I couldn’t help thinking how weak-minded Kanye West is. Some artists can appear one way through their music, but another (way) when they are in the public eye. His “I really don’t see a big difference between the old format and the new.” - Rashad Timmons Junior New attendance policy needlessly damages grade point averages to apply for colleges when your overall grade point average is low, just because of tardiness. The policy makes it hard for students to succeed. Even if they are really earning an A in a class, it’s possible that they could only get credit. Students have been told that this attendance policy is designed to help prepare them for the real world. Plenty of teachers have used the example that if employees are late to work every day, they’ll lose their jobs. Although this is true, and school is a student’s “job,” the school is trying to use the policy to dictate what’s right and what’s wrong for our lives. This is an especially response to Taylor Swift receiving a VMA was very inappropriate. His mistake and bad judgment could possibly cost him a successful music career. If I were a producer at a TV station, I would think twice before ”Facebook is just pointless now. It’s basically just a resource to see pictures. “ - Kiana Abston Senior critical time for students to make the start of the rest of their lives. Yes, there are the rebels of the school who will just be late, attendance policy or not. But the policy is not fair to those students who have legitimate, quality reasons as to why they can’t make it to school on time every day. Some people have lockers in A-House and classes in distant O-House. With a mere six minutes for passing period, it is sometimes impossible to complete the mission. Policy makers need to consider how badly this could affect students and leave our grades alone. featuring Kanye on one of my awards shows. It is very clear Kanye did not learn from his first mistake with his earlier comment about George Bush. - Sidney Lee Senior “Facebook is about meeting new people. The added features are just too much.” - Daniel Dorsey Senior
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Page 9 and 10: By Revati Nkosu Staff Writer Southf
Page 11 and 12: Andrew’s ‘A’ Game By Andrew M

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