High food prices and long lines have caused many students at Terrace to search for alternative dining during lunchtime.

With the current off campus pass system we have in place, there are two main passes that students can use to get food outside of school, the off campus pass and the Senior Privilege Pass. The off campus pass is for all grade levels based on the previous semester. Freshmen must wait until second semester to apply and all students must have less than six absences and no failing classes as well as a few other requirements. The pass simply allows them to walk off campus during lunch. The Privilege pass is for seniors who meet the same requirements as everyone else, but can drive
off campus at any time.

This does not affect freshman and sophomores, who are usually are just beginning to drive, but why should juniors not be allowed to drive off campus as well? Principal Greg Schwab said, “[The senior privilege pass] should be a reward for doing well at school and staying out of trouble. It’s a way to try to recognize students who try to do things correctly.” If seniors are going to be given so much more freedom because they are a year older, then they should at least be held to a higher standard than someone getting a basic off campus pass.

Many juniors pay to park in the school parking lot and are taking advanced senior level classes. Hypothetically a junior could be a licensed driver in multiple senior classes and still have to walk
off campus for lunch while the senior, who parks next to them and is in the same classes, could drive.
Obviously the current system is understandably in place for liability purposes, but if there are going to be such drastically different privileges for people who are only one year apart, then the standards should be different as well. Why should juniors take advanced classes or pay for parking if they will not be given the same privileges as seniors who do the same?

~The Hawkeye staff editorial represents the views of the Executive Council

Students agree that daily advisory would help out

By Amanda Radcliff
and Avi Morales
Guest writers

To many students and teachers, bringing advisory back in the everyday schedule seems like a great idea, but to others it seems useless. Most freshmen don’t know that advisory used to actually be an everyday occurrence instead of just a couple of times a month. Advisory used to happen everyday and was a chance for students to work on homework or class work and get extra help. Advisory also provided a place for students to talk about school-related issues. Having advisory everyday gave students and teachers a chance to bond, making students feel they could have a teacher they could always go to.
Many students said that a return to a consistent advisory would be a good thing. “Having advisory everyday was a great idea for getting extra help on schoolwork,” sophomore Alexa Jacky and freshman Hanah Joudi said.
A lot of students have after school activities, making it hard to finish schoolwork. If advisory was everyday “there would be no excuse to not have your homework done,” freshman Amanda Shartner said. However, some upperclassmen like junior Brandon Radcliff said having advisory everyday is just “a waste of time.” But on the plus side, freshman Chloe Sharpe said, “classes would be shorter everyday” in order to fit in advisory.
Some teachers said that they also think advisory everyday isn’t as relevant now since it used to be part of MTHS’s small schools where getting to know your advisory teachers well was more important.
Advisory should be back everyday because it would be a big help for whenever students need help on schoolwork and can’t come in before or after school. If students could get extra help then they could raise their grades increasing their chances of being successful in school. Overall, a majority of students said that they think having advisory back would be a great idea for helping with schoolwork, which could help students get their grades up. It’s understandable why teachers might think it’s a waste of time but if it will help students with academics, why not bring it back?

Political correctness sucking the fun out of the holiday season

As Dr. Seuss has said in “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas,”

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?
It came without ribbons,
it came without tags.
It came without packages,
boxes, or bags. And
he puzzled and puzzled
‘till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought
of something he hadn’t
before. What if Christmas,
he thought, didn’t come from a store? What if
Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”

The Grinch understood that Christmas is not just a word. He even knew that it could not be bought it stores. This has not been the case these past years here in the United States. Our nation has been
bombarded by political correctness; our desire to prevent offending others is growing. Instead of calling a person a “garbage man or woman,” one would say “sanitation worker.” Although these terms sound much kinder than otherwise, names don’t change reality.

Political correctness censors a person from truly expressing themselves to protect the minority, and with that it restricts the language people can use. One of the biggest controversial examples is saying
“Happy Holidays” instead of saying “Merry Christmas.” As a majority, avoid saying “Merry Christmas,” because it feels like one is oppressing the minority. But because of this, our holiday spirits are hindered and unshared with others whom celebrate other holidays, and therefore, not recognizing
other cultures by saying “Happy Holidays.”

Of the 100 students surveyed here at MTHS, 95 students celebrate Christmas, two students celebrate Eid, three students celebrate no winter holidays, and none surveyed celebrated Hanukah and Kwanzaa. Though this is not a scientific study of students here at MTHS, it is clear to see that the majority celebrate Christmas. These 95 students will be wishing their peers a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Eid” this holiday season. However, if they knew the person does not celebrate the same holiday, 76 of the 100 students would say “Happy Holidays” instead. This result shows that for every four students, three would say “Happy Holidays.” The reason is because they are afraid of offending the person.

This brings up another question. What would it look like many years from now here in United States, when more and more immigrants come to America from the four corners of the world? These immigrants with their own holidays and culture— would we, say “Happy Holidays” as to not offend them? Would more and more Americans say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” or other specific holiday greetings? Political correctness is using terms that would not alienate anyone outside of the majority. It is affecting our way of celebrating holidays, stifling it, to make sure no one feels upset. It turn, it makes people say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” and “holiday tree” instead of “Christmas tree.”

Why are we limiting our holiday spirits when as mentioned, names do not change reality? The United States of America, full of culturally diverse citizens, should respect the many cultures. That does not mean they should go about and be politically correct. It means that they should not avoid the cultures
present in America by saying, “Happy Holidays.” Americans should be proud to say their holiday greetings, proud to know that United is not just of one culture but of many cultures that make the United States. By being able to say, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukah” or others, people are not excluding another individual. They are saying this nation is made up of many people that come from different backgrounds, and they take pride in that. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.

Edmonds School District (ESD) along with many other school districts in Washington state suffered from snowstorms just before winter break. Snowstorms continued to block roadways for about two weeks. In response to these weather conditions, several days of school were canceled. Principal Greg Schwab said, “Everyone was saying the storm was coming so they just took caution.”
In Mountlake Terrace, weather was consistently below freezing from Dec. 14 to Dec. 21. Many of these days included snowstorms that prevented many schools from opening and now means schools need additional days at the end of the year to fulfill state requirements.
To guarantee student’s safety, ESD announced two-hour delays on Dec. 15 and 16 due to the snowfall from the weekend. These days do not require making up and students did attend all of their classes.
School was canceled for Dec. 17, 18 and 19. ESD was closed Wed. On Dec. 17 weather forecasters predicted a large snowstorm to hit Mountlake Terrace around two o’clock when most students are leaving school. The school district decided that the entire day school would be canceled instead of making it an early dismissal day partly because it would be hard for elementary children to get home while their parents were at work. The storm actually arrived around four o’clock that day and continued to fall with breaks until later in the week.
Families were notified that school would be canceled Dec. 17 the night before. Typically the ESD announces its snow plans the morning of the snow day.
There was also a two-hour delay on Jan. 9, the first day of school after winter break, but this time will also not require making up.
When the school district decided upon this year’s calendar, it included snow makeup days to ensure there were 180 student contact days. The three canceled school days require additional days to be tacked onto the end of the school year.
Instead of school ending on June 16, the academic year will continue until June 19. June 16, 17 and 18 will all be full days meaning MTHS will release students at 1:50. June 19 will be an early release day ending at 10:15 a.m.
May 22, currently a Teacher Professional Development Day, is the next scheduled snow makeup day. The last scheduled make-up day is June 22. Any more makeup days will be scheduled for after June 22.
This new schedule affects all students except for seniors. Seniors will still graduate on June 11.
Cultural week was canceled due to snow days and the lack of time ASB had to plan the week of lunchtime activities. Other MTHS activities toward the end of the year could be canceled or delayed but nothing is finalized.

The new year is opening with many changes, including a adaptations with the vending machines. Policy had it that by the end of February, most vending machine contents would be banned.
However, due to negotiations mainly advocated by Kim “Stew” Stewart, both the contents of vending and soda pop machines will remain until the end of 2009. The district’s wide policy requires the vending machines contents to change to promote healthier food choices within school. Terrace vending machines include a variety of snack foods from chips, to candy, all the way to pop-tarts.
As a stand-in, vending machines will be replaced with alternatives including fruits, vegetables and granola bars. Students may notice that a few things have begun to be added, for example, the tuna and chicken salads.
“Tuna salad and chicken salad have been selling, we have got in some profit from salads,” said Stewart, “its not as much as the other foods in the vending machines but at least they’re selling.”
Last school year, vending machines and pop machines combined brought in at least $80,000. The revenue will decrease once the vending machines items are altered. ASB gets a large amount of its money to help clubs and sports at MTHS from the vending machines.
One major problem that the vending machines will affect is sports. Students already must pay $25 to play on sports teams, but after vending machines contents change in 2009, much less revenue will be collected and as a result, sports fees will increase.
“I think $25 is way too much [money] already,” said freshmen Jasla James, “students are not going to pay $50 just to play a school sport.”
Since this is a district policy and a state bill, the administration cannot reverse the decision, but has been fighting to postpone the implementation at Terrace.
“All I can do is keep fighting,” said Stewart. “I can’t put an end to it but [I can] just keep postponing the date they change vending machines.”
Community members, staff, and students may attend school board meetings to discuss the issue further.
Jeannie Brzovic’s A.P. Government class is currently working on a bill to submit to the Washington State House of Representatives. The goal of this bill is to create awareness of school’s need of the revenue brought in by vending machines. Also, the bill will try to prove that the current policy is ineffective and only hurts students.

The MTHS Hi-Q team had a home match on Wed, Jan. 8, in the MTHS Theater. The MTHS Hi-Q team was up against the Hi-Q teams from Cascade High School and Glacier Peak High School.
Hi-Q, an academic quiz competition for high school students, first started in 1948 in Pennsylvania and Washington in 1976. The goal of Hi-Q is to foster deeper student interest in learning and strives to engage the entire student body. Questions are primarily based off of 14 high school subjects. Peter Breysse is the current adviser for the Terrace Hi-Q team.
“We scored well the first match,” he said, “and we’ll score even better the first couple of matches.”
Everett Community College is the main sponsor of the Hi-Q program, but there is some support from local community groups, businesses, and foundations as well.
The Hi-Q season formally begins again in Jan. of 2009. There are 20 high schools competing this year for the Hi-Q program. Currently, there is no rank since most schools have not competed yet.
“This is the first time we came in the lead in a while,” said veteran team member Jeremy Rowe. “I think the biggest change this year is a strong opening round.”
The match first started off with team questions, then toss up questions, and lastly, envelope questions. During the match, after a question is presented, the chosen team must answer correctly within fifteen seconds. Other teams also can buzz in if one team says the wrong answer.
As for the toss up question, all teams are able to answer the same question, but only one team has to answer correctly within 45 seconds.
Last, the envelope questions are for all teams to solve the questions in the given envelope, and the first team that answers correctly within the allotted time gets the points.
In the first round, Terrace was in the lead scoring 25 points, Glacier Peak trailing up with a score of 19 points, and Cascade was third with nine points.
In the second round, Terrace did well again, leading with a score of 34 points, Glacier Peak with a score of 28 points, and Cascade with a score of 21 points. This ended the game with Terrace winning the match, Glacier Peak second, and Cascade third.
According to Breysse, last year Terrace was “in the middle.” “We weren’t great but we weren’t bad either,” he said.
“I think that the new schools [like Glacier Peak] are going to try a little harder than us veterans,” said new member Jacob Laugeson.
The Hi-Q team at MTHS had a great start with the first match of the season and the team will continue to play matches throughout the season. Their next match will take place Jan. 22 at Sultan High School.

In a sea of bright colors and odd shaped picket signs saying “love, not h8”, close to a thousand people crammed together in Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill in Seattle on Nov. 15.
The Anti-Proposition 8 Rally, brought together by Seattle Central Community College student Kyler Powell, was a march through Seattle’s Capitol Hill area down to Westlake Center to protest California’s newly passed Proposition 8, a bill banning same sex marriage.
Supporters of same sex marriage found this to be a loss of civil rights, while supporters of Prop 8 viewed it as a change back to how marriage should truly be.
Powell’s reason for creating the rally was to stand up for people he felt had been wronged.
“I’m gay, yes, but I’m also part of the Church of Latter-day Saints. I found it to be the worst thing ever when I heard that $20 million was raised in churches around the United States just to be sent to California to be used in support of Prop. 8,” Powell stated on his Facebook blog three weeks ago. Powell wasn’t the only one with an opinion.
Speakers for the rally included King County Executive Ron Sims, State Senator Ed Murray, State Senator Joe McDermott, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Representative Jamie Pedersen, City Council member Sally Clark, Connie Watts – ERW Executive Director, Ben Vogt, Charlene Strong, Pastor David Strong, Craig Darling, Trace Peters, Wendy Reynolds, and Rabi Michael Latz.
As was stated by Charlene Strong, “almost 1,138 rights were stripped from partners in California. Most people just thought they were banning gay marriage, but they didn’t understand that the fine-print and the bill itself held so much that partners were stripped of almost every right known for couples.”
Mayor Greg Nickels also found it to be “a hateful measure that shouldn’t have been on the ballot.” In an effort to “promote equality for everyone in the Seattle area”, Nickels stated that in Seattle city limits, Nov. 15 would now be Marriage Equality Day.
Senator Joe McDermott, an “out-of-the-closet” Senator, stated: “Back when I first got into politics, the one thing you could do was be honest about your sexuality. Today, the one thing you can do is be honest about your rights.”
Ben Vogt also said what most signs were stating at the rally: “We should change laws of church to the laws of man. Our forefathers made a point of stating the separation of church and state, yet here we are, having to fight a time when church and state came together.”
Rabbi Michael Latz also stated his reason for being there “was not in spite of religion, but because of it. I’m standing up for my rights against bigotry and narrow-mindedness. Let’s all keep going.” Rabbi Latz said he felt that the measure was something that shouldn’t have been passed due to the fact that it did not prove love for everyone, but hate against homosexual partners.
As also stated by David Strong, “The Bible states to love everyone, yet here we are, creating more tension than anything else.”
On the other side of the spectrum, six religious anti-gay groups at the Westlake Center Rally were standing inside the masses of pickets, screaming and yelling that anti-prop 8 supporters would go to hell due to their lifestyle choices.
Only one of these men took the time and effort of not screaming above the crowd, but to listen to their questions, then answer as best as he could.
When a woman in the crowd asked him where it said in the Bible that woman should not lay with another woman, the man simply stated that there is not a scripture that says that.
The five other groups, when faced with the same question, stated a quote about a pit of fire.
Churches always have had the choice in not performing a marriage ceremony for any reason.
Newsweek also covered a story on same-sex marriage and how supporters of Proposition 8 have the choice of letting partners truly in love be married, or have the opposing choice of letting them perform fornication instead. Most churches find this to be a greater sin than homosexuality, the articles said.