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OpinionsCoral Reef Sr. HighJanuary 20105Is deferrment from college equivalent to rejection?Each deferred studies has to face the ambiguities such a decision detailsANNA MEBELStaff WriterIn modern times, a motivated highschool student is faced with sky-highstandards and brutal competition. Goingto college is no longer a privilege soughtafter by the upper middle class, but a mustfor success. Because of financial aid andcollege applications becoming accessiblethrough the Internet, everyone has themeans to apply and attend college, levelingthe playing field economically. Due tothese changes, colleges have the luxury ofchoice, meaning that students have to lookeven better on paper.“It’s ridiculous. It seems like you needa sob story along with excellent credentialsto get accepted,” said Jennifer McCord,VPA Senior.This competitiveness extends beyondthe Ivy League, and many other schoolshave upped the ante for applicants. Withthe increase of hopefuls, colleges havebecome more adept at saying no. Yet,“yes” and “no” are not the only responsesa student can get from colleges. Deferraloffers a strange, hazy middle ground. If anindividual applies for Early Action, whichis non-binding, or Early Decision, anapplication choice that forces the personto attend if he or she is accepted into thecollege, the admission staff can decide toview his or her application in the contextjeremy mathurinStaff WriterFire drills have been practicedin schools since 1948, and areregarded as one the most usefulways to prevent injuries duringfire in schools, office buildings,and even homes.A fire drill is a method ofpracticing the evacuation of abuilding for a fire. Most of thetime, the emergency system,usually an alarm, is activated andthe building is evacuated as thougha real fire had occurred. Usually,the time it takes to evacuate ismeasured to ensure that it occurswithin a reasonable length oftime. But many are beginning toquestion their usefulness.“Fire drills are useless and infact, people would probably gethurt because they think it’s justa drill that they’re pushing reallyhard, plus when was the last timeYale University deferred a total of 51% of its Early Action pool.of the Regular Decision pool and give adecision later.It is strange to be a deferred student.Though you are not exactly a reject, youare not accepted either. The majoritythere was a fire at this schoolanyways,” said Matthew DuncanBusiness Sophomore.With today’s efficient technologyand appliances, fires in buildingsare becoming less common.Students are becoming skepticalof the positive effects of firedrills and are questioning theireffectiveness.gets deferred, and the chances of gettingaccepted for regular decision are generallylower than in the early action or earlydecision pool.“At first I was like, ah man, I didn’t getA new study by thehomeland securityconcluded that almostall fires in the state havebeen confined to theirorigin. Moreover, thisschool has not seen afire in years in part totechnology and alsoextinguishers all overthe school“I like them becausethey get me out of classbut when it comes toactually helping during afire, chances are it won’tdo much. I don’t thinkpeople will be all thatconcerned with gettingout the building in anorderly fashion whenthere’s a fire near by,”said Brittany AlabreBusiness Sophomore.Expecting an entire school ofteenagers to get out of a buildingin a calm and organized mannerin to my safety school. Then Ifroze because I had to tell myparents,” said Shari Thompson,Legal Senior.It is logical to presumethat not all deferred studentsare equal. The MassachusettsInstitute of Technology, forexample, accepts one-third oftheir deferred applicants, butthe questions haunting everystudent’s minds are whetherthey are instead in the rejected66%.“Well, I wasn’t reallyexpecting to get in. I stilldecided to give it a try, thoughthe application process wasstressful and time-consuming,”said Sophia Meziani, IB Seniorand deferred student.When applying to anextremely selective school, it isimportant to remember that theodds are stacked against you.When receiving a deferral, itshould be a confidence boostbecause you were chosen to bepart of a pool of absolutely extraordinarypeople. Nevertheless, a deferral is awhisper away from a “no” and keepingone’s hopes up is self-destructive.Fire drills are dangerous, bringing more harm than goodFire drills become an outdated precaution in this new age of technology and sprinklersPHOTO CREDIT: jeremy mathurin.The school follows strict safety precautions by placing fire alarmsthroughout the school.Submit to Elysium,GRAPHIC: ANNA MEBEL.is extremely difficult, and canactually add to the confusionand even lead innocent studentstoward a fire. Why risk it whenthe chances of a fire spreading areslim to none?“Here at Coral Reef, we haveten required fire drills per year,which means one per month ofthe school year. Some might sayit’s more than enough and that itdisrupts the class room, but anydrill that could potentially savelives is not useless and is defiantlynecessary. We’ve accomplishedto evacuate 3000 students in threeminutes. This will really helpif there is an actual fire in theschool,” said Assistant PrincipalMr. Mejia.Yes, preparation makes perfect,but why risk keeping a practicein place that might save livesonce, but puts them in jeopardy atleast ten times. In the end, it canbe concluded that fire drills areuseless.Coral Reef’s literary-arts magazinePoetry-Stories-Essays-Plays-Raps-Photography-Painting-Sculpture-Digital Media-Prose-Graphic Design-Comic Strips-Animation-Fashion Design-Musical CompositionsSUBMIT TO ROOM 310DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: FEBRUARY 26