The Lion's Roar

Alarm response was reasonable, in line with established precedents

By The Lion's Roar

We know another 20 minutes to a seemingly endless Monday is tiring. We know that 10 extra minutes of A and F blocks wouldn’t really help identify the culprits; we know they wouldn’t really replace the time lost from the other classes. We know that no matter how many times Principal Stembridge says this was not a punishment that that’s sure how it feels to us. But was waiting a few more minutes for the clock really such a big deal?

In response to the two pulled fire alarms last Friday, Stembridge and the administration decided to extend Monday’s school day by 20 minutes. Our first reaction was that this decision was unreasonable and that it was an abuse of power to punish the whole school for one or two people’s actions. We soon learned, however, that Stembridge was merely enforcing a policy that most high schools, including North, have been following for years. One that perhaps because of our constant turnover of principals has been brushed aside at South. We think that Stembridge responded appropriately to the fire alarms.

For years, South has experienced frequent fire alarm disruptions, especially during testing weeks. Under former Principal Brenda Keegan, two fire alarms were pulled during one Monday E block and one during Tuesday E Block of the same week. In response, a sophomore wrote a letter to former Mayor Cohen, asking what could be done to prevent future pulled fire alarms.

Cohen responded by mentioning the possible ways of limiting false fire alarms, but concluded th…

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With troubles looming before us, finding hope

By Sascha Bercovitch

On Jan. 12, a major earthquake devastated Haiti, leaving the country and its people in ruins. A week later, state representative Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate election, giving Republicans the votes needed to filibuster Democratic reforms. On Jan. 21, two days after Brown’s victory, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a 2002 law restricting spending by corporations in elections, allowing big business unprecedented influence in politics.

All through the month, terrorism remained a threat abroad with suicide attacks in Iraq, increasing Taliban activity in Afghanistan and the reemergence of Osama bin Laden. And through the month the debate over national health care raged in demonstrations and the media, while the country sank into unprecedented national debt and job loss continued to soar.

Welcome to 2010.

We are now officially in the teens, and the prospects before us, at home and abroad, seem bleak. But these events also provide us with the hope we need to confront the challenges ahead.

In response to the earthquake in Haiti, countries around the world poured millions in donations and volunteered help on the ground. In the very first week following the earthquake, America alone raised $275 million, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. And South students, too, did their own part, on track to exceed their initial goal of $20,000. Throughout the country, people of differ…

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