The Knight Times » Opinion & Editorial

Suriving the holiday season takes planning and care

remminger — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:03:10 +0000

Every year the questions come. What should one buy for whom? What will the recipient do with your gift? Are you buying or perhaps for more creative people making the right present for those you love?

Holidays are the most stressful and simultaneously relaxing times of the year. Shopping during this time can be extremely tiring and enduring it can be difficult.

Holiday shopping for the most major holiday, Christmas starts in late November especially around Black Friday. The rush for deals on the best gifts for the best prices is intense. Without proper planning, Black Friday can be a complete disaster. One news story reported police shooting a man in the shoulder for having a pear they mistook as a hand grenade.

Also around this time is when Christmas tree shopping begins. Most know that festive trees come in a vast variety of different fauna from small to large and bristly thick to wire thin. The most popular American Christmas tree is the Fraser Fir, well suited for smaller rooms lacking the space for larger trees.

After the start of the season the average consumer can expect an excellent selection of sales throughout the month of December. Being diligent and paying attention is what will save money at this point, ensuring successful holiday season purchases. Many stores do quite a few periodic sale events with massive savings for opportunists willing to fight their way to them.

For those planning to travel, avoid traveling on the Dec. 25, and other peak days for traffic. If you do plan to travel on these dates and can’t do it any other day, be very careful while driving and make smart decisions.

Hopefully everyone has a happy, safe holiday season.

Big Red

remminger — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:10:34 +0000

Dear, Big Red

I’m having trouble with catching attitudes with a teacher who annoy me and in my opinion they don’t teach. How do I contain myself so the teacher will stop emailing my mom?

Dear Anonymous,

Have you tried to explain to the teacher what they’re doing wrong with their teaching style? They may not want to hear your criticism, but if your points are valid, they should listen to what you have to say about why you have problems in their class.

Dear Big Red,

I have trouble raising my grades. I’m always getting behind and am unorganized at school but at home I’ m very organized. What could I do to become more organized at school? I think actually using Flex & less socializing may be my answer but I wanted to hear someone else’s opinion. Please Help : )

Dear Anonymous,

Getting behind is likely due to procrastination. If you do your work at school with flex, I’m sure you’ll get it all done very easily.

Dear Big Red,

I need some help on being more organized & stay focused on school. My grades are gradually slipping & I am never paying attention.

Dear Anonymous,

Attentiveness is usually dependent on what’s distracting you. Remove distractions and you should be fine.

Anti-Couch Potato, Horseback Riding

cyau — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:44:20 +0000

There are plenty of great things to do during the cooler seasons this year. A lot of people don’t think that horseback riding is a great sport to do when it’s cold outside. It’s a terrific choice and anyone can have fun doing it; whether its trail riding, western, or English, you’re sure to find a fun way to enjoy being around horses and nature.

You can rent a cabin in Lexington, Virginia and enjoy some great views and horseback riding. Trail riding is a fun and relaxing way to enjoy nature and can be done by any age group. You can pretty much rent cabins anywhere in Virginia to get away from stress, enjoy wildlife, and hang out with your family.

There are more than enough English riding farms in our area: Whitestone Farm, Hazelwild Farm, and EKG Stables. Whitestone only takes people that have their own horses and EKG and Hazelwild have pretty much the same rates. They have great trainers and great school horses that you can use in lessons.

Horseback riding is an invigorating and great sport to do in any season. You don’t have to be a professional. If you have a professional with you and the right horse, then you won’t get hurt. So, have fun and enjoy!

Battlefield 3 Too Beta

Taylor Dunavant — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:13:53 +0000

When game developer DICE released the Battlefield 3 Bete, the highly anticipated follow up to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, many were hyped for one of what promises to be one of the best games of the year. Most people who played the Beta weren’t expecting a finished product. For those who don’t know a beta is an unfinished version of the game which allows players to find and report glitches so that they can be removed before the end product. However, releasing it at this time just a few weeks till the full release with the amount of glitches and bugs still in the game is disturbing. With the recent release of the full game I can only wonder if the final result is any better than my experience.

If you managed to join any multiplayer game lobbies, you were faced with very reflex-focused gameplay that made no real use of tactical approaches and instead made any few shots taken lethal and unforgiving.

If you didn’t join a game, you weren’t missing out on too much. With the horrible reliability of the servers, this problem was hardly uncommon. My connection isn’t something to behold, but at least on other online PS3 titles I can stay in a single matchmaking lobby for the length of the game. I experienced many frustrating disconnections from the server, making it difficult to get any real play in. Hopefully this is due to fewer players playing the Beta, than the real game and by result having less server priority for the Beta.

Despite all its flaws, when I did get to play the game, it was fun. The game looks beautiful and sounds great. The sound has impressive depth and audio while working with the visual elements to make an immersive gaming experience. I think possibly the most entertaining gameplay was to be found in the objective-based game modes. Working with your team to secure a position or disable a bomb site can be difficult, but is a welcome challenge.

Overall, I was hoping for better, but would still recommend buying the game. As I said, the Beta was definitely a Beta, certainly not a finished product. Depending on reviews by others when the game is released, I might certainly buy the full version.

Two Times and You’ve Got Detention

Deborah Cerrillo — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:25:15 +0000

In most high schools, tardiness is an inevitable issue. Excuses are endless. Now, Spotsylvania High School has a new rule starting in the 2011-2012 about how to handle tardies.

“This year, because of the complaints of teachers and the amount of referrals piling up on my desk, Mr. Davis and I have decided to come up with a new rule on handling tardies. Last year, all of the students knew it took three strikes to get a lunch detention. Now, we dropped it down to two,” said Mrs. Andruss, one of the assistant principals.

The procedure for this process is very easy. If a student is late to class on the first try, the teacher will give him/her a verbal warning and reminds them that they only have one tardy left. The next time they’re late lunch detention will be assigned as well as informing the parent’s of their child’s actions. This isn’t the end of punishments, if students keep being late to class, they will be directed to ISS (In School Suspension) or worse.

Students who have had lunch detention because of the new tardy system think it is not fair for several reasons.

“First off, I was late because I was coming back from the nurse’s office. The second time I was late, the teacher freaked out at me and just yelled at me for being late. I then got a lunch detention and a phone call home to my parents. It’s not fair that kids should just get detention on their second tardy. It should be just three times and then you get a detention,” said Brett Handy, a sophomore.

But the teachers interviewed for this article all agreed one thing: that the rule is fine as it is and students should take responsibility.

“The new tardy rule does not need to change because students should be responsible for arriving on time. I’m tired of students arriving late to my class and interrupting my lesson by asking ‘What did I miss.’ I will not excuse anyone for being tardy unless they have a note from a teacher,” said geometry teacher Mrs. Newton on the subject.

Personally, I believe that they should just get rid of the new rule and go back to three strikes. This is because some kids are late for reasons that are important like they had to go to the nurse or the principal’s office. On the other hand, I think students should be responsible and improve their time management skills.

It Comes Naturally

Deborah Cerrillo — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:36:13 +0000

Everyone has something about themselves that they hate .For some, it’s the size of their stomach; for others, it’s the size of their lips or their butt or even their breasts. As for me, I have nothing I hate about myself because I know I’m the way I am for a reason. Girls often complain about their weight or the size of their breasts and often times, it’s simply not true. God made you the way you are for a reason, you shouldn’t try to change that

Changing the way you look is unnecessary and can come with some consequences. Changing the size of your breasts can cause back pain and receiving liposuction simply because you don’t like the size of your torso is not needed. Being a little more than your suggested weight doesn’t mean that you aren’t beautiful in every way, everyone has something special to bring to the table.

When God created us and put us all on this planet, He didn’t intend for us to transform ourselves for the benefit of society, He intended for us to love ourselves for being the way we are no matter the size of our waist.

God created a planet meant for people to love each other no matter what we looked like. God doesn’t care if we are fat or skinny or if we are ugly or a supermodel. He wants everyone to get along.

In a way, everyone is the same yet we are all unique. We all have something in common: we are all humans and make mistakes. One of those mistakes would be to change the size of your breasts or butt or stomach.

My point is there is no point whatsoever to change the way you are because you are always going to be beautiful the way you are. This is just proof that you are your worst critic.

Spotsy’s Student Section Shows Spirit

Deborah Cerrillo — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:27:27 +0000

There’s nothing like a Friday night football game: the cold air, the hot chocolate, Spotsy hoodies and hats, the cowbells and the posters, and even the Spotsy High Student Section.

No, your eyes have not deceived you. Spotsy has its very own student section devoted to keeping the crowd up beat and energetic. Our student section is filled with seniors, freshman, sophomores and juniors. Any and every student is welcome to join in the fun.

Bring your facepaint and all your Spotsy gear, along with your “D-fence” signs. Help support your Knights and get a little fun out of it. The student section is open every Friday, so come on out.

Is Cheerleading a Sport?

Deborah Cerrillo — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:50:49 +0000

The typical cheerleader practices everyday of the week. They stunt, they run, and they practice cheers and dances. But most people argue, “Is that really a sport?”
Cheerleading isn’t a sport because they don’t compete. They may practice every day, and do hard work, but it doesn’t really involve much. They practice cheers and dances to prepare for the upcoming games, but they don’t do as much physical work as other sports teams. The typical cheerleader doesn’t do nearly as much running, lifting weights, or actually have to play to win a game. Sideline cheerleading has no competition like other sports do.
Some people argue that competition cheer is a sport because they have to go up against other teams just like the opposing sports.
Olivia Jarrell said, “I think that competition cheer is definitely a sport and sideline cheerleading is more of an activity and more for fun then being a sport.”
Along with Jarrell, sophomore Logan Wolfe said, “I think regular cheerleading – like sideline cheerleading – isn’t a sport, but I think competition cheerleading is a sport because they have to do many more stunts, activities, and dances, and actually have to use some sort of skill while there doing it.”
There are those that argue that cheerleading is a sport.
“Many people don’t think cheerleading is a sport because they don’t actually know what it takes to be a cheerleader. It takes many long hours of practice and memorization of cheers, dedication to the team, and just making the team a family,” said David Weaver.
I agree with Wolfe because competition cheerleading requires a lot more work then sideline cheerleading does. Also in the dictionary “sport” is defined as a “physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.” Also, sideline cheerleading doesn’t really involve physical activity, so it really isn’t a sport.

Senioritis can be detrimental to your future

Deborah Cerrillo — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:37:58 +0000

Senioritis. What is senioritis? Senioritis is a disease that seniors in high school are susceptible to. While afflicted, a sense of apathy for school is present. Seniors affected by the disease may skip class or lack the will to take school seriously. This is not helped by the fact that seniors are often 18 and can sign themselves out of school.

The ideas that spread senioritis are all the same. One will get it into their mind that anything they do beyond the point they are at will not be of consequence. The problem lies in the fact that there are consequences, however minor. Social influences may also be a problem. If the disease is seen as socially acceptable, this lessens the seriousness of neglecting studies and allows for the spread of the infection. Failing grades are never a positive thing, no matter what the circumstances.

Contrary to popular belief, colleges have special interest in senior year and some colleges when accepting applicants warn them that their acceptance can be withdrawn if performance discontinues. College admission officers pay close attention to senior year, and the presence of senioritis will be obvious from the classes you choose, your current grades and how many classes you’ve chosen.

Despite your current grade status, senioritis is a disease that is costly and can damage future opportunities. It is important to keep a sufficient course load in order to show that work is still being accomplished in this transitioning period from high school to higher education. Just being aware of the problem and why it is a problem is helpful.

This applies to other things. Just because one can get away with an action does not mean that it was the correct or best action possible. Hopefully the high school seniors who are affected will make better choices and those becoming seniors will take the best route for the future.

Big Red

Taylor Dunavant — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:08:03 +0000

Dear Big Red,

My dog died and I’ve had her since I was little. What should I do?

From: BigRed24

Dear BigRed24,

I highly suggest you bury your dog. Dead organisms tend to decay after death, making them smell absolutely horrible. After that, buy a box of tissues to wipe your tears.

Dear Big Red,

I constantly get bullied at school because of the way I dress. How should I approach taking care of this?

From: BigRed24

Dear BigRed24,

You weren’t very specific when you said “way I dress”. I’m unsure of how to provide advice for such a vague question. I recommend wearing whatever makes you happy, whether that be clothes to make you happy or clothes that avoid the harsh criticism of others.

Dear Big Red,

Why do people always feel the need to walk slow in the halls? People do need to get places you know, we’re not all just “chilling”. For real! Move!

From: Skyler

Dear Skyler,

Some people might find it incredibly entertaining to intentionally irritate you while talking with their friends. It’s not their problem, for this reason they feel fine causing it. If you are truly annoyed, make that clear and gently push your way through the halls.

Dear Big Red,

I recently discovered that there isn’t a pool in the school. Why do upperclassmen play such mean tricks?

From: Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

Upperclassmen generally find it hilarious how incredibly gullible freshmen are. The ability to make you act stupidly is empowering for some. Ask a teacher if you’re unsure of a pool being at the school.