The Spectacle INSERT page 1 May 16, 2012

Avoid End-of-Year Drama In Last Few Days

When the end of the school year comes around, I always feel that sort of relief surge

through my body as if it’s telling me it’s over, for now. My classes become less serious and less painstaking to get through; even the teachers and students in my more difficult classes get the urge to just chill out without having all the consequences later. The end of the year is when it starts getting a lot warmer outside and that’s usually around the time people bring water toys and start acting a little crazy. Despite spring fever, however, it’s important to stay calm and finish the school year on a positive note. Senioritis is totally normal for seniors, for example. It’s normal for the seniors to not want to go to class, or do work anymore. It’s normal for them to talk about pulling pranks and maybe even go through with one or two. It is not normal, however, for the underclassmen to act this way. Why is it that the lower grades think they can blow off school at the end of the year and try to out-do the senior prank? I used to want to do the

same until it hit me, I’m NOT a senior. When you miss the last few weeks of school/class, you can’t make up last year’s work, next year. Your final grades will change, and you most likely won’t be very pleased with them. I know all of you have done this at least once: when you blame the teacher for giving you a bad grade at the end of the year, when in all reality you earned the grade given and you know it (but don’t accept it.) If you really want the year to be over with, just get it done and you’ll have more time to enjoy yourself. It’s as simple as that. Rather than holding it off ’til the last minute, get it over with, because the grades you have now are going to matter, maybe not until a lot later, but they still matter. Although the last few weeks of school are possibly the best part of the whole year, we still have finals to complete. We might not be in the mood to study, but we still have to because we’re still in school and learning is the whole point of being here in the first place. Finals are some of the most important grades you can get throughout the year worth 20 percent of your grade, and it’s important that you study and that we don’t get too

caught up in the “spring fever” feeling. Every once in a while, goofing off isn’t too bad, but it’s not something you would want to do every day for the next couple of week(s). Even though we do have our finals for the last few weeks of school, they aren’t going to last forever. We will have a day or two to ourselves, whether it be

sign-out day, a normal day, or even if it’s our cultural fair. Those days are yours to do whatever, as long as you don’t burn down the school or torment the teachers with pathetic

pranks. Plus, getting in trouble at the end of the year isn’t a great idea. You might think, “Well, it’s the end of the year. They won’t suspend me for a day.” But they just might suspend you for a week or more for the following year, wherever you choose to go school. Ending the school year acting like you don’t care and making a fool of yourself is not something you want to do. You want to finish strong and confident about yourself. You want to feel good about your school work rather than worrying about summer school. I hope my words inspire you to try a little harder this last week, and (hopefully) help you maintain your ‘cool’ for the last weeks of school.

OpiniOn COlumnBy AthenAMArtinez

If you really want the year to be over with, just get it done and you’ll have more time to enjoy yourself.

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ACT Deadlines•June 9: Test •May 5-18: LATE Deadline (extra fees) to register for the June 9 ACT

•September 8: Test •August 17: Deadline to register for the Sept. 8 ACTMVHS students get two waivers max. to take the ACT for free. Former counselor Pete Bustamante recommends juniors take it second semester or the summer before their senior year.

Don’t forget! School dismisses at 10 a.m.

on Thursday, May 24.

Have a great summer!

May 24early dismissal

The Spectacle INSERT page 2 May 16, 2012

Eighty percent of stu-dents who experienced sexual harassment re-

port being harassed by anoth-er student or former student, according to the American Association of University Women’s website aauw.org (AAUW). In schools, there are two main kinds of sexual harassment: Quid pro quo (in Latin it means “this for that”) and hostile environment sex-ual harassment, most com-monly explained as when someone feels so uncomfort-able they can no longer focus. In general, sexual harassment is unwanted touching or com-ments, and it’s a touchy issue in schools, especially for stu-dents who think “just joking” is harmless. Sometimes it’s hard for others to know what they are doing is bugging you be-cause now sexual comments are often a part of everyday language for many teens and adults. Some signs that it’s not just joking around are if the other person looks uncomfortable, doesn’t laugh or say something back and/or appears wor-ried about his or her safety. Sexual harassment is a felony; anyone found guilty of sexual harassment may be fined up to $20,000 or serve time in prison. Going to jail and paying fines are not the only possible outcomes of sexual harassment. Harassment can make oth-ers feel scared or insecure, or it can hurt people in other ways, leading to suicide, rape or violence. Many students at Mesa Vista ha-

rass one another; few even realize what they’re saying is making others uncom-fortable. Sexual harassment comes in many forms – rude comments or crude jokes, for example. It can be a friend pulling your hair even. In fact, some-times friends can be the worst offenders of sexual harassment. What you may see as an innocent joke – a stupid com-ment, saying “You have soft skin”and or that “Your hair looks ‘sexy’” can become uncomfort-able, especially if it’s a re-peated offense. Students need to realize that the comments you make are not harmless and can really hurt – you may even be harming one of your best friends and I’m sure none of you are really intending to do so. I know you would be upset if some-thing you said led to serious harm to one of your friends. Please think about

what you say and do before acting. Those of you who are on the receiv-ing end of such harassment or bullying, you need to speak out. If you’re feeling unsafe or uncomfortable, you NEED to step up and say something to stop it.

At least thirty-five percent of college stu-dents who ex-perience sexual harassment do not tell anyone about their ex-periences also according to AAUW. Tell

the person and hope it stops, or you should tell a friend, family

member or someone else you trust – someone who can help you find ways to stop it. If you honestly are feeling unsafe, it is important to tell someone. You can’t just let it keep going on or hope someone else will notice.

Students Need to be Mindful of Others

OpiniOn COlumnBy Kylie Coutu

Students need to realize that the comments you make are not harmless and can really hurt -- you may even be harming one of your best friends and I’m sure none of you are really intending to do so...

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