Category Archives: Opinion

How to Survive Senior Year

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By Qu’Chae Madison

Being a senior in high school can be very stressful, from bridge projects to HSAs. It can be your most stressful year.Your freshmen to your junior year are usually easier years.  One important thing to remember is “the earlier the better.”  If you know you need 75 community service learning hours by your Senior Year, DON’T wait until senior year.  If you can, start earning hours your freshmen year in high school. Try asking teachers if they need help with things around the classroom.  For hours, volunteer at a nursing home or a church.  These are just a few things you could do.  The best thing would be to get most, if not all, of your hours out of the way.

Here are a few tips that will help you get through your Senior year:

*Don’t procrastinate – Don’t wait until the end to try and get hours or to try and ask teachers for work, etc.  They will probably say,”no”.  Make sure you handle your business early.
*Be On Time – The earlier you are to class every day, the more likely you are to be successful, pay closer attention, and ultimately pass your classes.
*Do Your Best – Even if you do get an answer wrong, try, and ask for help.  Do your best.
*Ask For Help- If you don’t understand something, raise your hand and ask for help. Ask questions to better understand.

Illustration by Rose Hershman

Opinion: Women still face discrimination, stereotypes

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By Qu’Chae Madison

Illustration by Elizabeth Christopher

Equality affects all of us, no matter what our race or gender we are.  Equality, to me, means treating everyone with respect, no matter the race, nationality, or gender of the other person.

In the olden days, many people in the world believed very strongly in stereotypical gender roles. A gender role is the standard role that a man or woman takes in society.  For example, men work hard and bring home the bacon, while women stay home, cook, clean, and take care of children.  But as the gender roles have blurred, more women are working while taking care of children, becoming CEO’s while going to school, and making a living for the family.  At the same time more men are taking on the role of “manny,” taking care of kids while the mothers are out of the home.

Equality is a very important thing to me because I believe in treating everyone fairly.  Equality is about treating people with respect. I don’t think women are being treated equally right now. For example, if a woman and a man are competing for a job as a business-person, I think the man would get the job nine times out of ten. I think some men believe women are weaker and naive so it is easier for some women to be dominated by men.

I do not think girls are being treated equally at Pattterson either.  For example, sometimes students are categorized based solely on gender and the stereotypical thinking might be: “Oh, just because she’s a girl, she can’t beat me”, or ,”Oh, she’s a girly-girl. She might break a nail.”

If you label and stereotype people, you automatically put them in a group and do not give them the chance to be known as individuals.  I think women are being mistreated sometimes because of how people see them.  For example, if you see someone who is quiet and who is always looking down, someone would immediately think they can step over them, because of the visual impression they make on others.  Equality is something that is very important to me, and I believe we need to stand up for it.

Food Review: Salad Bar

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The new salad bar gives students more options and a chance to eat healthier (Photo: Clinton Adams, Patterson Press)

By Brennan Meeks

Recently, I tried out the new salad bar that is located in Patterson’s cafeteria. After standing in line for a long time, I realized that we need to do something to make sure that students get served more quickly. We have choices in the salad bar such as chicken and regular salad and also we have tuna sandwiches and fruit and vegetables.

I tried some lettuce with ranch dressing. The lettuce tasted fresh and the dressing was good. I was impressed with the quality of the food.

This is a good start, but I can think of a couple improvements that could make the salad bar even better. For one thing, hiring more servers and having two lines instead of one would help make sure that everyone has a chance to get a salad with plenty of time left to eat it. Also, it would be nice to add more choices of toppings for the salad like other vegetables, feta cheese, and more flavors of dressing.

So far, our salad bar is helping our school to become one of the healthiest schools in the nation. For everyone who gets free lunch, the salad bar is free for you too. People who pay for lunch have to pay to get salad but it is the same price as the regular lunch. I would like to thank Ms Diehl and the Health Corps for bringing us a healthier option for our school lunch.

(Photo: Clinton Adams, Patterson Press)

(Photo: Clinton Adams, Patterson Press)

(Photo: Clinton Adams, Patterson Press)

(Photo: Clinton Adams, Patterson Press)

OPINION: Bullying hurts

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By Qu’Chae Madison

Bullying is a growing  epidemic  in schools across the nation. Most of the time, bullying starts in school. Some students hide it from their parents because they are afraid. Like many students, I was bullied in elementary and middle school. It was very difficult for me because I didn’t have any friends in elementary school. I was made fun of and I would get depressed a lot. I even went to a counselor to talk about it. I was always sad and I always felt alone.

Bullying is something that can be stopped and it needs to stop now. When I posted,”What do you think about bullying?” on Facebook, I received this comment in response from senior Allyce Black: “Bullying is stupid and it needs to stop before someone kills themself. People need to realize that words hurt.”

In fact, several children and teens have already committed suicide because of bullying situations. One example is Joel Morales, a middle school student from East Harlem in New York City. Joel was very intelligent but was depressed over how other students treated him. One night this past May, Joel hung himself from a shower curtain rod in his home. His family said he had killed himself because he had been picked on repeatedly. He was 12 years old. (Source: New York Times – May 31, 2012)

Bullying is an important and personal subject to me because I’ve been through it and I know how it feels. Some ways you can help to stop bullying include telling a teacher or other adult about it, speaking up for the victim and even stepping in if possible. Help stop bullying now. It hurts!

 

 

OPINION: School lunch needs serious improvement

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By Qu’Chae Madison

Everyone has different opinions when it comes to Patterson’s school lunch. Some like it, but many do not. I got the honest opinions of some Patterson students and recent graduates via Facebook. In response to my question, “Does anyone like Patterson’s school lunch?”, senior Allyce  Black said,”It’s dehydrated, and not flavorful. They put it in the microwave to make it bigger”. Former Patterson student Shannon K. declared,”I hated it,it tasted like cardboard”. Raymond Partee, another former Patterson student, stated, “I won’t lie–some of it was good, and some of it tasted like straight crap”.

It is clear to me that the quality of our school lunch is simply unacceptable and changes should be made as soon as possible. The new salad bar will be a step in the right direction, but there is much more that needs to be done. One  way I believe we can improve school lunch is to persuade the government to provide schools with better food that is made with higher quality ingredients. Our cafeteria workers can also make a difference by substituting healthier methods of cooking for the unhealthy methods that are currently used. For example, Patterson students are sometimes served fried chicken for lunch.Instead of fried chicken,the cafeteria could have served roasted chicken. I hope Patterson takes these suggestions seriously and makes an effort to improve our school lunches. Until then, my advice is to pack your own lunch. That way, you can control what is in it.

 

 

Senior Superlatives

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Every year the Patterson Press and the Yearbook committee ask seniors to vote for their favorite candidates for everything from “class clown” to “favorite teacher”. These are the winners of this year’s “Senior Superlatives” election:

Category Female Male
Cutest couple Tionna Johnson Daquan Milburn
Most Fashionable Kabita Magar Arjun Ghaley
Most Talented Genisis Noboa Salah al deen Al Batayneh
Most Artistic Stella Matsangos Mark Wilson
Most Helpful Pabitra Gautam Grace Monga
Most Athletic Michelina Poindexter Derrick Green
Class Clown Amatullan Abdoullah Leroy Clowney
Teacher’s Pet Miquel Vazquez Dominic Jones
Most Argumentative Shaquane Hursey Kenneth Troy
Best Personality Bobbie Scott Robert Joyce
Most Creative Shawna Beckett Ricky Gordon
Best Smile Kristen Edwards Jeffery King
Prettiest Eyes Oni Nana Shad Noori
Biggest Flirt Breana Yancy Devonte Britton
Most Likely to Succeed Hawa Sall Muluberhan Bahre
Favorites – Category Winner
Singer Triple tie – Beyonce, Trey Songz, Rihanna
Vacation Place Miami
Car Nissan
Candy Snickers
TV Show Family Guy
Phone IPhone
Shoes Nike
Fashion Accessories Bracelets
Teachers Ms. Franklin
Color Blue
Movie Twilight
Song Climax by Usher
Clothing line Tie – Polo & Levis
Fast Food Restaurant McDonalds
Ringtone The Motto by Drake

OPINION: College education should be free

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The dream of a college education seems out of reach to many Americans. But what if college was free? (Photo: nyc.gov)

By Deanna Bell, Patterson Press staff writer

Do you know anyone who never had the opportunity to go to college because it was too expensive? Unfortunately, this is the reality for millions of Americans for whom the dream of a college degree seems hopelessly out of reach. But what if college was free? I personally think that college education should be subsidized in the United States.

I believe that  people who want to further their education should be able to, even if they are from middle or lower class backgrounds and cannot afford the expenses. There are many countries that  provide free education at the university level. In these countries, the cost of college education is paid for by taxes or charitable organizations. There are hundreds of free colleges and universities around the world. Many of these colleges even offer online degrees.

If the United States chose to subsidize college education, the American people would benefit from having a better educated population. More people would have access to higher paying jobs and better insurance. Unemployment would go down, saving the government money on unemployment benefits and other expenses. Some statistics show that people with college degrees tend to smoke less and live healthier lifestyles. These are just a few reasons why the U.S. government should make higher education free.

Twilight: a hard lesson with even harder consequences

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By Jakai Hunter, Patterson Press staff writer

In public high schools across the country there is a program called Twilight. It’s really like night school but on the internet. Now, normally if you’re doing Twilight, that means one of two things: Either you had a class and failed it or the class could not fit into your schedule and you are forced to take it in Twilight.

In a way, students are fortunate to have Twilight because otherwise some of them would not be graduating. The price of Twilight and the hours during which you are required to work on the program can prevent you from finishing or even starting it. Managing your time will be your number one priority when it comes to doing Twilight, but some students do not even bother to sign up for Twilight, not because they are in one of the situations I mentioned earlier but because they simply refuse to do it. Little do they know, it will soon become a decision they deeply regret.

As many students know, if seniors who fail to complete Twilight can not participate in any senior activities and cannot graduate from high school until the course or courses they are required to pass are completed. If you have been informed that you need to take Twilight, my advice is to take it seriously and get it done as soon as possible so you can move ahead with your life.

Bullying is a serious problem

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By Deyanna Bell, Patterson Press staff writer

Bullying can affect anybody, whether it is in school or out in the neighborhood. School bullying is a big problem that  still goes on. It is caused by spreading rumors or physically or emotionally hurting other people. Statistics published on the website bullyingstatistics.org show that 2 in every 3 bullied victims have been bullied more than once or twice during the school year and 10% are bullied on a regular basis. Some students do not realize what bullying means or what it can cause the victim to do. Victims of bullying  often start to have poor grades, sucidical thoughts and/or low self esteem and help problems. In 2010 about 71% of students were reportedly being bullied in school.

There are a number of ways to help stop bullying in  school. If you are being bullied, standing up for yourself is a great way to  improve your self -esteem. It can also help to have a friend around that can support you in this difficult time.  According to Olweus, a bullying prevention program, students who bully others should be held accountable for their actions.  If you know someone who is being bullied tell them they should get some help from a teacher, counselor or the help hotline.

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