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the student newspaper of mount saint joseph high school volume lxxx issue iv february 2011 the quill years of dedication what we can learn from our cafeteria ladies moses hubbard the only way i d stop comin is if they tied me up mrs pearl thames laughs or if they wouldn t let me back in she doesn t look at me while she says this ­ she s turned away leaning over a stainless steel counter in the cafeteria s back kitchen mixing a large bowl of tuna salad i bought a tuna sandwich that day and it was delicious it s a grand old time more laughter and the whole kitchen is nods and chuckles if you ve ever had breakfast at saint joe ­ or tuna or bacon or hamburgers or soup ­ chances are it s thanks to ms pearl she s been serving in our cafeteria for thirty years coming in in the incredible early in the morning and preparing food for the day but she leaves campus at 8:30 a.m so few students see very much of her mrs pearl along with mrs flo biagiotti ms jean schmidt ms tonia gardner mrs noreen sexton and mrs naamah kendrick make up a very select breed at the mount ­ the cafeteria ladies over 70 years old students know them and love them they re the ones who put two scoops of peanut butter on your sandwich even though you re only supposed to get one they re the ones who keep extra dimes in their pockets in case you re short a few cents and when they tell you to have a great day you know they mean it but while we remember all this how many can honestly say they ve gotten to know the ladies i m guilty of this too i don t think i had ever talked to many of them until they agreed to the interview i know as a guy how hugely important food can be especially during school i find it funny then and a little unfortunate that the women who feed us every day get so little credit take ms jean for example she s been in the cafeteria since 1976 ­ that s thirty-five years she fed many of our fathers before they were even feeding us i find her spreading pasta sauce over a circle of pizza dough the cafeteria is different when i started here it was a lot of frozen food frozen pizzas but the food s much more fresh now she tells me about the first of the famous strombolis as she sprinkles cheese over the pizza and remembers the days when there were xavarian brothers all over the school or ms tonia who came to saint joe after a career in the auditing quill editor-in-chief department of pnc bank eight years ago she was sitting in church with her husband a graduate of the st joe class of 49 when an announcement came on about mount saint joe needing cafeteria workers so i said to my husband `i m gonna go down there and i did she s been serving us sandwiches and fries ever since the few times i ve pictured and just sit around we re dependable i think we re a big part of the cafeteria crew and we enjoy working it s fun it s just fun and that seems true i really do mean it when i say we love our cafeteria ladies over 70 ­ they re an irreplaceable staple at the school and not just because of the dimes and extra peanut butter through their commitment to and love for their jobs they stand ­ f or me and i m sure for many others ­ as examples of much of what the mount tries to teach humility devotion and a passion for life myself at 70 it s been on a porch somewhere or on the beach or sitting by a lake content and retired so why then are these ladies still at work i m back in the kitchen scribbling in my notepad as mrs naamah folds dough for the thursday strombolis i like it food s good and i like my boss every one of them agrees about cafeteria manager mrs stacey arnold we all love our boss and it keeps us motivated says ms flo biagiotti who just turned 75 we don t want to sit around and be couch potatoes you know so many people reach our age mrs flo biagiotti mrs jean schmidt mrs pearl thames

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page 2 mr kapusinski opens doors for programming engineering hopefuls adam kellermann class tests robots at the naval academy tive new program with the naval academy in which students can test their underwa quill staff writer i had a great time it was a great opportunity to test our new and more advanced robots ­ben gehring class of 2012 on december 2 2010 mr kapusinski s robotics class visited the united states naval academy robotics is a class in the computer science department where students learn to build and program robots the naval academy is one of the most prestigious engineering schools in the country the school has started an innova ter robots in the naval academy s testing pool the day was packed with many events including testing their robots in a pool and visiting the campus one of mr kapusinski s former students now a midshipman even spoke to the class the trip provides great opportunities for students who are interested in programming or engineering after the trip the class makes videos that can be used as an online portfolio to show a college or prospective employer you can view these videos by going to www.vimeo.com and searching mount saint joseph mr k plans on visiting the naval academy every semester with new students when thinking about programming or engineering consider this everything used in the world has to be made by someone as mr kapusinski says robotics teaches people how to build things and without engineers and computer programmers nothing would work school president peer educator asian-in-chief kai-li liang takes our questions q what s the best part about st joe k to me the best thing about st joe is the friendships i have formed helping me with homework making me laugh being supportive when i want to talk and being willing to help out with whatever it may be my classmates and friends at msj are by far the best part of the mount q the worst k the worst part of msj is that since there are so many interesting afterschool clubs and activates it s hard to attend them all for example i enjoy going to think-tank and discussing current issues and real life situations but sometimes there is an aacc meeting or a campus ministry activity that i have to miss i didn t realize how many unique and fascinating clubs there were till recently and i wish i could go to them all many of the responsibilities are subtle such as being in uniform prompt respectful and studious but i believe the most important responsibility is being yourself whenever i am talking to faculty students parents or staff i try to stay true to what st joe has taught me q what are your hopes/plans for college k my dream is to go to a four-year college and major in bio-medical engineering and hopefully one day help to do research on regenerative medicine using the body s own cells to heal itself q off-campus what s most important to you k spending time with my friends learning taiwanese recipes from my grandfather and biking on the patapsco state park trails in the fall and spring q on-campus k there are too many great things to even list but i would have to say that drama the adl [anti-defamation league and the habitat for humanity team are some of the most enjoyable and rewarding ever since i was a freshman i ve been involved with the musicals and i enjoy spending time with my friends and participating in the performances the adl is one of the most important groups i have had the honor of being a part of because of the steps st joe has made to become a more open and accepting community i m confident that this new culture will continue and grow because of the action taken by many of the students to end discrimination i m currently working to establish a habitat for humanity chapter at msj and it is my hope that we will be able to set up a system where students will be able to go off campus and work building homes improving our baltimore community moses hubbard quill editor-in-chief q what does the school president do for fun k i like going to the ellicott city ymca and just taking time to work off the stress of the day swimming working-out playing basketball nine out of ten times there s someone from msj with the same idea in addition i enjoy baking and cooking taiwanese family recipes q how much time do you spend on homework a night k if you had asked me this question last year i would ve said roughly around 9 hours a day however this year although the courses are more demanding there is less homework and i can usually go to bed around 10 p.m q what s it like being school president k being the school president definitely has its perks however there are also many responsibilities i came to realize that when you are planning an activity it does not matter which club or organization accomplished it or which one takes credit what really matters is that it was accomplished and benefited the school.

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page 3 hundreds of thousands parade through d.c to support the unborn andrew brown an estimated 250,000-400,000 people marched on washington d.c last year at the 2010 march for life the march for life held every year since october 1 1974 is an anti-abortion rally to let the government know how opposed abortion is in the united states it was started after the roe v wade case which was a very controversial court case in which abortion was legalized this was allowed to happen in the earlier months of pregnancy without restriction and in the later months with some restrictions based on the right to privacy prior to the roe v wade case abortions had been legal in some states yet illegal in others and limited in some other states it had not been a national law as it is now this has sparked a great conflagration of criticism and praise from people standing on both sides of the issue in the roman catholic church abortions are considered morally wrong because an abortion is considered a murder in 2005 the most recent year from which reliable data was attainable 1.21 million unborn fetuses were aborted in the united states alone in 2005 as well the u.s national murder rate was st joe students march for life 16,740 killed through some number crunching one could find out that the ratio of abortions to murders in 2005 was approximately 17:1 that is a staggering number devout catholics would be very upset at the sight of that number because that means 17 unborn children are killed per every one baby born there are no mitigating circumstances that allow abortion in the catholic church pope john paul ii himself confirms these contentions in this quote from evangelium vitae no circumstance no purpose no law whatsoever can ever make licit an act which is intrinsically illicit since it is contrary to the law of god which is written in every human heart knowable by reason itself and proclaimed by the church from a pro-choice standpoint it is a whole different story abortion advocates believe in a woman s right to choose what to do with her child while it is still in the womb pro-choice people often cite america s ideal of freedom to back up their position the world health organization who declared that a fetus is not a living organism until it takes in its first breath therefore a doctor can perform a c-section and when pulling the child out of the womb hold its hand over the mouth and nose and suffocate the fetus cruel yes illegal no when i along with the rest of the mount s contingent attended the march for life and youth rally/mass on january 24 2011 around 30,000 youth were in attendance with an estimated 20,000 at the verizon center and the other 10,000 at the dc armory overall attendance was estimated quill contributor to be 300,000 there were youth from all over the country from new york down to miami across to green bay and denver there was pre-mass entertainment by ike ngola and many other christian music artists which really got the stadium set and prepared for the special mass as msj s contingent marched along the streets there were many people from other contingents who were shouting anti-abortion sayings such as hey hey ho ho roe v wade has got to go the amount of people was simply staggering and i personally was amazed by the quantity of pro-life supporters especially the high number of youth i highly recommend that anyone who is reading this go to the march for life at least once as i m sure you will be changed for the better like i was sources http www.religioustolerance org/abo_hist_c.htm http www.abort73 com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics http www.marchforlife.org/content view/13/26 http womenshistory.about com/od/abortionuslegal/p/roe_v_wade.htm http www.abort73.com/abortion_facts us_abortion_statistics http en.wikipedia org/wiki/roe_v wade http en.wikipedia org/wiki/march_for_life and http www nhs tutoring caught doing something right if you want change you have to seek out change experience is worth his time many struggling students continue to struggle because they do not seek help there is no pride or sense of accomplishment in continuing an academic free-fall out of a misguided and stubborn belief that there is nothing to be done about it if you want change you have to seek out change if you want to learn better study habits and better your grade point average you have to seek out the national honor society experienced junior and senior tutors are there to help but only if you let them perhaps the most valuable asset of tutoring tuesdays is based on its peer-to-peer system sometimes a particular teacher is not the best match for a particular student visual learners may have trouble following a lecture-style class while students with logical mindsets may have trouble grasping abstract ideas this gap can lead to frustration if left unchecked as the student may feel he becomes lost in translation this is where the national honors society tutors step in the first step is to determine what tutoring approach works best for the individual student it is then the responsibility of the tutor to tailor an individual study plan to best fit the needs of his charge tutors are expected to do whatever is necessary to have a worthwhile session this includes everything from drawing diagrams to reading out loud to quizzing on the spot one afternoon during the frenzied buildup to midterms mr norton the director of studies dropped by the man cave for a surprise visit he was met by a diligent group of conscientious students paying rapt attention to their tutors as mr breen exclaimed it s always nice to be caught doing something right michael bodley welcome to the man cave mr tim breen one of the mount s most popular religion teachers and self-professed stand-up artist plays host to the organized chaos better known as tutoring tuesdays with the always valuable assistance and guidance of resident chemistry expert mr jason ader and spanish mastermind mr adam kauffman the haphazard masses of peer tutors and their charges that overwhelm the room are quickly whipped into shape run with a sense of precision the system is wonderfully effective from the moment a student in need of help enters the room to the moment he is matched up with a compatible tutor is a matter of seconds not minutes unfortunately these weekly national honor society sponsored tutoring sessions are not fully taken advantage of by those who need assistance whether it is out of a sense of personal shame or embarrassment or perhaps because a student simply doesn t feel the quill staff writer

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page 4 my beautiful dark twisted review kanye finds redemption in music beatz nicki minaj rza raekwon pusha t bon iver model amber rose and even comedian chris rock every song on this album has a distinct sound which is one of the things that makes it great ­ whether it s the chilling runaway the seemingly r&b themed devil in a new dress or a song like lost in the world that sounds like it belongs in a club the lyrics are what set this album apart from others however west says any and everything about anybody whether it s the writers of the tv show south park choke a south park writer with a fish stick from the song gorgeous the entire crew of saturday night live in the song power and even himself i hit the jamaican spot at the bar take a seat i ordered the jerk she said `you are what you eat in the song devil in a new dress all of west s lines on this able to compete the second meaning is referring more directly to the show family matters where urkel was always hanging around with his neighbors the winslows despite the moments of humor west also deals with more serious themes in this album such as poverty and racism whatever feelings you have about kanye whether you love him or hate him you can t deny that he is one of the most talented artists of our generation and beautiful dark twisted fantasy only helps to remind us of this this is a must own for any music fan but the success of this album has set the bar higher than ever for kanye will he be able to duplicate it or will he just be stuck in its shadow we ll find out the answer later this year when he drops his next album watch the throne a collaboration with his mentor and longtime friend jay-z sources my beautiful dark twisted fantasy wikipedia the free encyclopedia web 18 jan 2011 rap genius splay time usa web 16 jan 2011

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page 5 but about that day or hour no one knows jordan taylor 2012 will it be the end quill staff writer since the beginning of time people have been predicting the end the main theory right now is that something significant will occur in 2012 to change life as we know it but what exactly will happen in 2012 what exactly do we have to fear there are many theories but right now only a couple will be spotlighted one of the most popular theories is that the mayans predicted the end of the world to be december 21-december 23 2012 these dates coincide with the end of the mayan calendar the mayans however never stated that when their calenders end the world ends too actually when the mayan calendar ends it just starts all over again like our calendar had they been alive today the mayans would have celebrated the ending of the calendar not feared it believing that the world would be reborn into a new era when the calendar first began it was accompanied by the first writings cities and nations another ancient civilization the incas speak of the pacha cuti or luminous people a phrase meaning world turner one incan belief is that one birds falling from the sky fish belly up is it poison foul play or something more mysterious do not think that weather could have been the cause at hot springs and a flock of birds was found dead because of lightning again fitzpatrick said that poisoning could be possible but was unlikely because many cats and dogs ate the birds and suffered no ill effects from it scientists are still unsure as to what happened to the dead birds and fish in arkansas on new year s eve but every dog and cat in the neighborhood that night was able to get a fresh snack that night rowe said sources first falling birds now dead fish in arkansas as carcasses of 2,000 birds that fell from sky are tested 100,000 drum fish turn up dead in arkansas river from http www.cbsnews.com stories/2011/01/03/national/main7208349 shtml mysterious death of birds fish puzzle arkansas residents from http www.5newsonline.com/news/rivervalley kfsm-mysterious-death-of-birdsfish-01032011,0,3592993.story picture http www.cbsnews.com stories/2011/01/03/national/main7208349 shtml of their great rulers will return to turn the world around from a chaotic world to a world of peace another incan belief is the emergence of luminous ones a human race with new abilities and a luminous nature which will turn the world right side up again there is a possibility that a meteor or a celestial body could strike or pass the earth with little or no warning an asteroid of one kilometer diameter or longer could wipe out the united states an asteroid that is 500 meters would be hard to spot in the solar system and it could wipe out life within 1000 feet these space objects can cause damage from direct impact on land or sea causing dust and debris on impact or creating tsunamis in water it would seem that the government is not prepared to combat this threat unless they have already begun taking precautions the solar storm theory is the idea that the sun s powerful magnetic shields will release powerful energy waves into space eventually colliding with the earth according to www the2012theories.com these storms can cause major blackouts leaving millions without electricity for months and disrupting many satellites and electronic systems we depend on if that wasn t bad enough the solar storms could flip the earth s magnetic poles causing yellowstone volcano to erupt with the force of 10 atomic bonds if the volcano erupts the u.s could be covered in ash for months blocking out sunlight and disrupting both plant life and the food chain another theory is that of a super volcano erupting while most of the super volcanoes in the world are extinct yellowstone in wyoming has been showing activity recently the last super volcano eruption was of mount toba 74,000 years ago and it caused a 1,000-year ice age killing many plants and animals yellowstone has recently been having small earthquakes which are evidence of magma activity sources say that the majority of volcanic scientists believe that we have nothing to worry about but there are a few that believe a major eruption is coming the volcano is due to erupt every 600,000 years and its last eruption was 640,000 years ago anything from an atomic bomb to a solar storm could set the volcano off my theory is that we ll wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night the day will come and go without incident someone famous will read my prediction and i ll become a world-renowned tv physic fortune cookie writer honestly though i don t know what will happen so i leave you all .with one final quote from mark 13:32 but about that day or hour no one knows not even the angels in heaven nor the son but only the father sources http bible.cc/matthew/24-36 htm http survive2012.com and solar storm http www.the2012theories.com adam kellermann quill staff writer on new year s eve thousands of dead fish washed up on a 20-mile stretch along the arkansas river on this same day thousands of red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky in beebe arkansas a tug boat operator noticed thousands of dead drum fish according to the arkansas game and fish commission experts estimate that between 80,000 and 100,000 fish died scientists are investigating the cause of the dead birds it could be something as simple as bad weather or poison although some think it could have been fireworks the cause of the dead fish still remains a mystery it couldn t have been contaminated water because only one species was affected say officials the mass killing of the fish took place only 125 miles from the site of the falling birds john fitzpatrick the director of cornell university s ornithology lab in ithaca n.y told cbs news that the most likely cause was bad weather and described the type of weather as washing machine-type thunderstorm bad weather can occasionally catch flocks off guard blow them off a roost and they get hurled up suddenly into this thundercloud john fitzpatrick said to cbs news many are doubtful that the cause of this could have been bad weather because at the time of the poor weather the birds should not have been in flight birds don t normally fly at night and can t see well in the dark said kevin mcgowan another cornell ornithologist also said to cbs news the weather was very poor that night but scientists still no matter what the cause of these birds dying they certainly will not be missed large blackbird roosts like the ones that died can have thousands of birds that leave ankle to knee-deep piles of droppings in places according to cbs news reports red-winged blackbirds are the among north america s most abundant birds with some 100 million to 200 million fitzpatrick said at least 3,000 of these died on this day in 2001 lightning killed about 20 mallards

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page 6 verizon joins with apple to release iphone 4 is it really worth buying on the verizon network be 4g for those of you who do not know 3g is the nation s most used network nowadays but companies like sprint have launched their 4g network that has faster speeds than 3g for browsing the internet and better connections while talking on the phone unlike verizon at&t customers can surf and talk at the same time on the iphone 4 while verizon s cdma network cannot do that this is the biggest disappointment to future verizon iphone customers the droid bionic however will appear on verizon s 4g lte network which may be worth holding out for apple however has come out and said that they have fixed the grip of death which caused users to lose service if the device was held a certain way when the iphone 4 was released last june many people had issues that while talking on the phone they lost connection this was fixed a month later by apple giving out free protective cases for people who purchased the iphone 4 this botched up the problem but many users still were upset that a device that is this expensive had problems like that since verizon s network is different there is no need to worry about the placement of the antenna another plus on the verizon s network for the iphone 4 is that the device can be used as a hotspot or router for other devices such as laptops gaming systems and desktops this feature allows users to surf and browse the internet from their laptop or desktop or connect to play online with their xbox or play station iphone 4 verizon has dropped their new every two policy which allowed customers to upgrade their phone if they kept it for two years customers were giving discounts on phones ranging from $30 100 customers were also giving an early upgrade after one year if they wanted a new phone this policy is no longer in effect and has angered many current verizon customers who want nothing to do with the iphone 4 in order to reach apple s requirements verizon is selling the 16gb iphone 4 for $199 and the 32gb for $299 the same as at&t s prices i expect the iphone 4 to be a big hit and worth buying if you are an apple fan but as a droid fan myself i would wait out for the droid bionic which has stunned phone fanatics already the phone has an 8 megapixel camera and a front facing camera plus it will be 4g sources http www.nj.com/business index.ssf/2011/01/verizon_new_every two_no_longe.html http blogs.computerworld.com/17654 verizon_iphone_4_pros_and_cons_for business_users?td and http socialmedia101.org/wp-content uploads/2011/01/iphone4.jpg harrison bachman quill senior editor as good as the iphone is is it a waste of money on the verizon network america s number one network and the nation s number one phone will be joining together verizon and the iphone 4 made by apple have reached an agreement that will let people in the verizon network buy the iphone in the first couple weeks of february this deal will change up the whole cell phone industry as verizon has been looking for a phone to compete with at&t s iphone for a few years now the iphone s counterpart the droid will offer a new phone to verizon customers called the droid bionic that will allow android fans a new upgraded phone that will give verizon an advantage over many other cell phone carriers will the iphone s debut to verizon be a good or bad one well i could see it going both ways the iphone 4 will appear on verizon s 3g cdma network which is a disappointment in the fact that verizon will be launching their own upgraded 4g network in the coming months at&t currently in is works of a 4g network for its iphone users but verizon has not said whether their version of the iphone will verizon has changed its whole upgrade system with the addition to the proper representation vs free expression seniors reflect on the proper way to represent the mount said that socks were the least important to worry about for your presentation whenever someone is wearing a jacket sweatshirt or sweater that holds a symbol of an important group or institute whatever actions that person makes can reflect a great deal on the group or institute he or she is representing dire actions the person makes can send awful feedback to the place represented and could end up with a low quality future high-quality actions can send superior feedback to the represented place and could mean good happenings for their future this is true for the various clothing and paraphernalia available with the mount st joseph name or initials inscribed as most of the seniors and juniors of this school drive a car that has a bumper sticker on the back they also represent what the sticker says and is st joe s reputation is reflected in how the student drives carefully or recklessly if a student would drive recklessly i personally would recommend removing any bumper stickers that hold representation of our school or better yet drive safer a second survey was taken to ask if any of the students surveyed both drive themselves to school and have a mt st joe bumper sticker on the back of their car out of all five students surveyed all five do drive themselves but do not have any msj bumper stickers when asked how should you represent yourself as a mount man in your community outside of school senior adam corn responded with i believe outside of school mount men should display simple acts of common courtesy such as holding a door for someone especially a female senior brian fitzpatrick also commented on this question saying we should definitely represent the mount by being respectful senior rocco andrews agreed commenting we should act the same way outside of school as we do in school if not better senior ryan scherr also made a remark to this question stating i think you should dress respectively nothing that s inappropriate but still i guess express yourself in a way that s not inappropriate when asked what is your general opinion and take on the entire matter of proper representation vs free expression a student who preferred not to have his name printed stated free expression should always take precedent over proper representation because without that you are a mindless robot when asked the same question to a second anonymous speaker that person stated what i believe is that we should always be allowed to freely express ourselves but [in the same sense as the united states government s use the u.s government says in one of their amendments that every u.s citizen has freedom of speech well then why do we have the f.c.c for that matter yes i believe we should be able to freely express ourselves but in limits as to not [to go crazy with the power of free expression at some points we should [be able to express ourselves but at other points we should know when enough is enough and be proper about the representation of the person we want to express ourselves but with the matter of proper representation of a school you must be careful of how you express that you belong to that school while also showing how wonderful the school is even though you take your jacket sweatshirt sweater or hat off each holding a symbol of the mount you still hold the entire message of what the mount means and represents you are a student and a part of the mount in a special way you are the mount dominic salacki quill writer when it comes to proper representation and keeping the imperative message of an important corporation or organization sacred you can never be too careful as for mount saint joseph our greatly respected baltimore city college preparatory private all-boy high school values spirituality and long-lasting brotherhood with the xaverian brothers five special charisms that are all too historic and delicate to be troubled with that is why the faculty all work hard to be great examples of kind philanthropic supportive wise and sophisticated people they all want us to be the best person we can be they all want us to look the most presentable as we can be i took an informal survey to find out which piece of clothing or appearance students thought would make them look the most presentable five different aspects were revealed in the survey clean shaven face dress-code approved shoes belt dress-code approved socks and dress-code approved button down shirt and tie four out of five students surveyed agreed that a clean shaven face is most appropriate to look the most presentable three out of five

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page 7 the elephant in the classroom is everything you read the truth or a fragment of it allows them to report the facts positive or negative about almost every member of society except themselves the new york times would never run an exposé about its own crooked journalists nor would fox news release a study that finds even a slight political bias in its coverage a school like mount saint joe has larger goals than reporting the news the text of our mission statement reads thus mount saint joseph is a catholic college preparatory school for young men sponsored by the xaverian brothers faithful to the tradition of xaverian education mount saint joseph strives to be a community of growth and learning characterized by enduring personal relationships an emphasis on spiritual formation a challenging academic program and a commitment to justice and peace mount saint joseph isn t focused on reporting the events that occur in its hallways or bathrooms or athletic fields or classrooms it s focused on making its students better people but here s the larger question if mount saint joe can reasonably suppress freedom of the press in its publications does the school suppress free speech in the classroom and is it reasonable to do so the supreme court has ruled on such a topic for public schools in morse v frederick the court ruled that the principal could suppress free speech if it encouraged illicit drug use but in a larger sense if that speech interfered with the educational mission of the school mr jody harris one of the mount s most respected teachers isn t worried about free speech in mount saint joseph s classrooms he believes that inside the classroom the school promotes freedom of thought and expression and encourages students with respect for their views generally the school doesn t necessarily compromise free expression but there are more strict limits than at other schools it s a structured environment with learning protected by discipline that sometimes regulates free expression part of education is thinking for yourselves mr harris a teacher of social studies states mr barry fitzpatrick our principal was quoted in the quill last year expressing a similar view during a discussion about the president s speech to schoolchildren it s a hard thing to teach people to think with a critical mind and i hope we re doing that here mr fitz said with the same vocabulary and diligence he expects his students to use in answering questions mr harris summed up his thoughts in a single sentence generally the 1st amendment is not seen in the same way as it is in the public system and it is seen at private institutions as less inalienable than at public schools due to the unique mission of the school if mount saint joseph has a higher obligation to fulfill that of building boys into men then it certainly can accomplish that by giving students the ability to think for themselves in the classroom and the school can also be forgiven for publishing only good news about itself mount saint joseph has plenty to be proud of but no matter how perfect it may be and how wonderful its mission no organization wants to mention its mistakes tommy o donnell quill staff writer last year this reporter was politely told not to write an article on an event that occurred in this school if the article had been written it wouldn t have been published while i won t mention the intended topic here the event was known to almost every member of the mount saint joseph community who was on campus that day in fact it was mentioned over the p.a system during announcements i don t disagree with the teacher who told me not to write the article i understand that teacher s reasoning and i support the mission behind it as strongly as i support my school that is with almost all i ve got however i d like to remind the readers of this paper to take caution and to question what they read no institution whether it s msj or another establishment will print bad news about itself the freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment to the united states constitution applies to independent publishers who rarely have duties other than to report the news this why study history mr scott beck one of the honors u.s history teachers and the a.p u.s history teacher stated in my opinion we have witnessed a world that has shrunk due to rapid advancements in military and social technology we now operate on a more global level and that means we compete on a global level however this is a positive factor of today s society now we can access the news from anywhere in the world by just the click of a button mr beck believes that the internet gives you the opportunity to be more aware and better informed about what events are happening to impact us there is absolutely no excuse for why we should be in the dark about what is happening in the world the amount of excess time put in facebook and skype could be used to just glance at a news site to see what s new in the world fortunately for some our history classes are having a positive effect senior kai-li liang believes that it is fascinating to learn about our past and where we come from and our history it s very important especially knowing who you are and where the future can go another senior gabe flood believes it s interesting because everyone needs to know their own history because they need to know where they came from and it s a good motivating tool because it helps motivate you to pursue your goals in conclusion whether you re a fan of study history or not at least keep an open mind about the class and try to see the significance and importance of the subject trust me it s not all boring just look at the news every so often and something might interest you the only way to know is to actually look things appear dull now but have value later steward beckham quill staff writer sometimes you may walk into a history class and see some kids with their head on their books or gazing out the window unfortunately those kids are missing out on a lot of useful information i know we d rather be in bed until 3 o clock than in class getting lectured but take it for what it s worth we have the opportunity to learn about different cultures and uncover the roots to our own origins when studying for a history test there are probably two things that you need to know about the material to help you succeed what happened and why it happened to get to the core of the subject students must be able to look at the information and not only see dates and locations but also see the parallels of that world and today s world history is even more important now for us to study given the complexity of what has happened to the world in the last 20 years the world has evolved so rapidly that if you guys don t have the skills to access the information and make good judgments then we re in trouble

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page 8 the economy is tough count on jesus instead of the easter bunny brad gonce are you ready for lent and easter quill cartoonist swim meet vs severn on january 14 laura taylor splish splash the quill staff 2010-2011 editor-in-chief moses hubbard senior editor harrison bachman staff writers harrison bachman steward beckham michael bodley sean gilmour adam kellermann tommy o donnell dominic salacki jordan taylor production staff harrison bachman steward beckham moses hubbard staff cartoonist brad gonce quill parent contributor

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