Letters to the Editor

48 comments

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48 thoughts on “Letters to the Editor”

  1. Joseph Cole Agenbroad

    Response to STAR testing faces its last hurrah in week ahead
    I think switching to standards that are untested anywhere else in the world in a country that has 45 states using it and has gone from number 1 in education to number 17 is an absolutely brilliant idea.
    Without taking into account the fact that the US Department of Education isn’t even supposed to “exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction” or selection of “instruction[al] materials,” under federal law. Yet they have found a loophole by having it complete No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. It will still cost around 8-16 billion dollars to invest in this new curriculum and form of testing, nearly all of which will go to the companies who sell the products.
    Then we look into the fact that CCSS will require teachers to spend about half their time reading material that they may not even be qualified to teach. Math classes over the course of k-12 will not have taught math concepts that otherwise would have been taught, leaving students at a disadvantage in applying universities. English as well will be cut down from learning about literature, mythology, poetry and drama to simply learning literacy, completely destroying the culture and history learned in English alongside literacy.
    In my opinion this choice will just hurt the students, especially the high achieving students. And we will most likely see our ranking in Global education drop a few notches.

    Reply
  2. Maisie Kise

    Thoughts on CHS’s binge drinking problem

    As a current senior sprinting this last homestretch of her high school career, I have witnessed my share of this so called binge drinking problem spotlighted in Noah Liebmiller’s article.

    As mentioned in the article, here at Carmel High we are known to have quite the knack for partying. I’m not just talking about going out for a little risqué dancing or having a few friends over for a couple of cold ones, I’m talking about parties teeming with endless empty bottles and drugs, which in my opinion, shouldn’t even be known to mere youngsters our age. Pardon my use of generalization, but this has been the predominant culture at this school for quite some time. I think when you get down to it, a rich community with a poor entertainment scene has simply left rambunctious high schoolers with nothing better to do than get wasted.

    The article comments that statistically the drinking issue at this school has fallen in recent years, and according to Heath Rocha, the district’s increasing stress on alcohol education is responsible for this progress.

    I do believe that it is important to inform young adults on the health risks of drinking; although, I do not feel mere classes are doing much to solve the destructive nature of many students on campus. I know that many participants in these surveys do not answer honestly and these programs are seen as nothing more than opportunities to criticize the administration and crack a few jokes in front of a crowd.

    I think the school needs to stop preparing for negative behavior and instead promote healthy activities. The only shot this school has at permanently changing the reputation of CHS is to simply give kids something better to do than drink.

    Maisie Kise

    Reply
  3. Anonymous ;)

    In response to the article in the Sandpiper regarding the feelings of gay students towards how accepting the student body is of the gay community, I noticed some flaws in the conclusion that “gay students call campus tolerant, if not quite perfect,” the campus is far from perfect.

    Statistics say that 1 in 5 people are gay and according to the statistics, many people are in the closet seeing as there are only about 7 of 850 students that are “out.”

    According to these statistics, there are 170 gay students at the school, so why are they not out? It could be their parents, or it could be the fact that they feel this campus is not the safe, perfect campus that the article made it out to be.

    That’s not to say that the school is not a safe environment, it is. It’s just not perfect.

    I believe that the article should have also gotten quotes from teachers, students that do not identify with the LGBT community, or some homophobic student. This would show the true colors of how safe the environment that Carmel High School is, I don’t believe it’s rainbow.

    ~Anonymous

    Reply
  4. Anonymous

    In response to the article on the gay community at CHS i feel that this article covered a lot in the sense it got the view and the perspective of the gay community. I feel that the writer seems to have done their homework and it was a great story by far!

    Reply
  5. Elizabeth Harrison

    It was a brisk, bright mid-December day, the last Friday before finals. Birds were singing, the sun nearly blinding in its visual tenacity. All was well. Until I read page 8 of The Sandpiper’s 13 December 2013 issue.
    Firstly, did Aram and Tatjana even read the books? If they had any idea what they were talking about, this article might have even been palatable. Instead, we read a veritable shitstorm of patriarchal values and ignorance of the trilogy’s actual message (hint, it’s not “how hot that Katniss girl was” or “[being] a serious downer”). Firstly, sure. Jennifer Lawrence is pretty spicy. Everyone thinks so. It’s okay to think so. It’s not okay, however, to completely gloss over her character, which compels her to not necessarily about her appearance and focus on other things like NOT DYING AT THE HANDS OF HER CORRUPT AND VIOLENT GOVERNMENT, and focus solely on her looks. Jennifer put a lot of work into Katniss, and the fact that Aram could only comment upon her comeliness was…disappointing. Secondly, da fuq are you saying about Peeta. Again, our fabulously talented movie critics have missed LITERALLY THE ENTIRE POINT OF HIS CHARACTER. So Peeta is a guy. That obviously means he should take control of every situation and generally be a macho asswagon, right? No. No, no, NO. Peeta’s entire character is to show the opposite of that assertion! To show that a woman (in this case, Katniss) can take charge and not be the one head over heels in love! But that isn’t to say (as Aram and Tatjana did) that he’s weak. By the way, this next bit has a few spoilers for Mockingjay, so readers beware. Maybe Katniss has to take care of Peeta. Maybe she’s more the brains of the operation. That’s totally cool, because you know what? That dynamic shows that a female protagonist can be strong, and a male one can be emotional. But Peeta is an extremely emotionally resilient human: not only is he rejected time and time again by Katniss, he also loses his entire family (as we find out in Mockinjay), and is brainwashed completely (again, Mockingjay). Yet he is able to work through that and even has a somewhat happy ending with the woman he loves. Cool. Submissive male character with emotion. Not a weak one, Aram and Tatjana! Also, insulting Josh Hutcherson’s masculinity by pointing out that he’s short? Seriously? That’s hella patriarchal and only cements the idea that all men should be, have to be, tall, strong, and muscley. But outside of our critics’ insightful comments on the protagonists’ fem- and masculinity. Did either of you really understand the actual real point of the trilogy? Like, at all? Obviously you didn’t, because y’all thought that the parts of the movie that actually address the sadism and corruption of the Capitol were “depressing.” Do you guys understand that these books were about what happens when a small, violent elite rule a country and the importance of the strength of the people? Don’t answer that, I know neither of you do. That’s basically it. I was extremely disappointed by this article, as it illustrates complete ignorance of things that matter in favor of focusing on hot babes and short men, as the Capitol itself is so very fond of doing.
    –Elizabeth Harrison

    PS: Y’alls character analysis of Johanna was simply astounding. Great way to take one of the deepest, most important players of the book and reduce her to a sex object. Excellent.

    Reply
  6. Campbell Schoenfield

    in response to Q&A, i was marked as a Freshman- i am a Junior… just saying… Other Than That, GREAT issue this week!

    Reply
  7. Grace Donnelly

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    Re “CHS welcomes new staff members across departments,” Oct. 3: I would just like to praise the Sandpiper’s recognition of the teachers on campus, both in this edition and in previous articles I have read before. Personally, I enjoy hearing about my teachers: it’s nice to have a reminder that they’re humans with lives like us. They play such an (if not the most) important role in our education, and usually all we know is what subject in school they like and their philosophical views on test corrections. As far as new teachers go, I think it’s important to give them a proper welcoming to the campus, and it’s difficult to do that when they only look like foreign objects meandering around campus, maybe hearing our friend mention how the classes they teach are going. Hearing about their childhood, schooling experience, the subject(s) they teach, their interests, etc. make them seem more relatable. If we ever do have one of their classes, it’s nice to know a little about them. From the teachers’ point of view, I’m sure they would like to talk about themselves (as most people do). For these reasons, I suggest doing teacher interviews and biographies more often, and I’m sure there are many more who would agree with me.
    GRACE DONNELLY
    Carmel, C.A.

    Reply
  8. Sophia Buraglio

    To the Editor:
    Re: “Don Perry publishes book on 30-year career in music” April 25: Although my time so far at CHS has only consisted of a little over a year, I’ve already come to find that a large number of the Carmel High staff have interesting and impressive backstories/previous career paths. I enjoyed the article about Don Perry’s past as a music producer, especially since that career field is one that I’m considering pursuing. I think it would be interesting to have more articles focusing on certain staff members and their accomplishments, as well as providing students with people to talk to about various life pursuits.
    Sophia Buraglio
    Sophomore

    Reply
  9. Claire Rammel

    Carmel High Sandpiper

    To: Editor in Chief
    Re: Sandpiper, Carmel High School Newspaper. When I receive a copy of your newspaper I really enjoy reading the creative articles written by fellow students. But I do not always get the luxury of reading the newspaper, as I do not always have access to one. Only occasionally do I see a newspaper student delivering a paper to my class. When they are distributed weekly I do not understand what class they are supposed to be distributed. When I do not see them distributed in a class I do not know where to find them. Some tell me they are in the library but I cannot always find them there. If given the time I would love to see an article saying where they are or the information announced in the bulletin. I know I would be able to enjoy the newspaper much more if I could see it more often. I really admire the way your students have to ability to write their own articles and how they report on such a broad series of subjects. I hope you take my suggestions into consideration and appreciate my opinion.
    CLAIRE RAMMEL
    Carmel, CA

    Reply
  10. Jessica Pavloff

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    As students, we use the bathroom at least once a day, if not many more. Not only are the lines out the door, and can take more than ten minutes, but the bathrooms lack multiple necessities. As flu season is right around the corner, it is extra important to wash your hands… with soap. However, the bathroom by the gym is always out of soap, and the other bathrooms run out frequently as well. In addition to having to “wash” your hands with simply water, there is nothing to dry them with once you are done. The upper bathroom is constantly out of paper towels, and the bathroom by the gym does not even have a paper towel dispenser. Although, these are all issues you encounter once you are in the bathroom; if you can get in. But the lines prevent many from reaching the actual bathroom. We need another bathroom or simply to open the locker rooms for changing. Often times, after school sports change in the bathroom, and even in the hallways when the space is too crowded. If the people changing leave, it would allow more space for people who actually need to use the bathroom. Thank you for taking the time to read about my issues; and, I hope this letter will result in more soap, possibly more paper towels, and maybe even more space for changing.
    JESSICA PAVLOFF
    Carmel, C.A.

    Reply
  11. Sarah Morgan

    Carmel Sandpiper

    To the Sandpiper editor:
    I am a sophomore at Carmel High School. Last year I noticed that there is not a sufficient amount of water fountains and it is still a problem this year. Throughout the campus of Carmel High, there are several water fountains; however, I have found that these few sources of water are not enough and not in the right places to supply water for 800 students on a daily basis. The locations of the water fountains are quite inconvenient and there have been many times where I have wanted to refill my water bottle but I didn’t have enough time. Students don’t want to step out of class to fill a water bottle. The passing period should be plenty of time to refill a bottle, but when we have to go out of our way, we risk being late to class. I think that if there were two or three more fountains in commonly passed places, it would be a lot easier for students to have water all the time and this could encourage students to stay hydrated. I hope that this letter brings the problem of water fountains to your attention and allows the school to put in more water fountains.
    SARAH MORGAN
    Carmel, CA

    Reply
  12. Sarah Saito

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    Re “Full steam ahead with CHS sports stadium renovations,” Sept. 2016: The new construction of the stadium has affected many areas on campus and has made it inconvenient for students who play sports. I think that it is great that the school is remodeling the bleachers; however, the construction has caused more traffic, taken away parking spaces, and has made it more difficult to get to the field. The article does not mention the hassle the construction has caused for athletes. Since there is a gate closing the hallway from the bathroom by the gym to the field, it has caused students to have to walk around and enter the field through the side entrance. Along with the story about stadium renovations, I think that Carmel High should be able to install stadium lights. I understand that the people who live around the high school are opposed to it, but they need to understand that if they are buying a house near a high school, to at least expect Friday night football games. Even with all the difficulties that come along with construction, the new stadium should be much nicer, and I am excited to see the result.
    SARAH SAITO
    Carmel, C.A.

    Reply
  13. Claudio Montero

    To The Carmel High School Sandpiper:
    Re “Papachica poppin’ aces through undefeated tennis season,” Oct. 3: It is very admirable how a newspaper focuses on average students and makes them the center of attention in an article. I believe that doing articles such as this one where it focuses on one student’s success is really kind and appreciative of the school. In the case of this article, it talks about the specific success in tennis that the student Daniel Papachica has had during this fall sports season, which is something that I really like since it talks about individual success of a student that the school may not know about. More specifically in this article, it talks about how Daniel Papachica has had a nearly flawless season in his favorite sport of tennis. This article also talks about Daniel’s 12-0 season, and what his future goals are with the sport of tennis. In Daniel’s words, he wants to use tennis to get a scholarship into a college. As this article has shown, the talented portrayal of Papachica being a star of a tennis player is very kind and considerate of the Carmel High School community, and I believe that having a newspaper that focuses on us as a whole school is bringing us closer together. With that being said, I truly do appreciate the effort that you as a High School newspaper puts into giving students a chance to be a star of an article that you have specifically written for that reason, which is to inform, entertain, and, most importantly, please.
    CLAUDIO MONTERO
    Carmel, C.A.

    Reply
  14. Jessica Bartlett

    To the Editor:
    This school is one with numerous talented extracurricular activities that triumph over a majority of other schools in the area. There are so many talented athletes that a lot of them have to be cut from the highest of teams, and filter down into teams like Junior Varsity and Freshmen. These teams end up being extremely successful a lot of the time, but their victories are highly neglected by a majority of the school. For example, last year the girls junior varsity soccer team went undefeated the entire season, and was only beaten once in the preseason. This team got nothing except for some certificates and one-eighth of a page in the yearbook with their names listed in fine print to show for this amazing season, while the varsity teams were praised with free shirts and two-page spreads in the yearbook. This is particularly true for soccer, which is a less popular sport, but is also relevant for more commonly followed sports like water polo, and football. The scores of games for these teams aren’t even shared in the bulletin, which is just about the easiest thing to do out of all of this. Lower level sports teams should get more recognition for their efforts, whether it be a larger display in the school yearbook or just reading the scores in the bulletin, something needs to be done.
    JESSICA BARTLETT
    Carmel Valley, CA

    Reply
  15. Colleen Lang

    Re: “California Bill Constricts Next Generation Smokers,” April 2016.
    When reading the various articles produced by the Sandpiper, there are no apparent changes I would make to the paper. It has a perfect balance of political and school-wide news, a touch of humor, and clear organization. Articles such as “California Bill Constricts Next Generation Smokers”, I found very informative and interesting because they applied to the next generation in a way other than school life. By reading articles such as this, I can conclude that this paper has a well-organized staff of capable student journalists that are doing a great job. Furthermore, I enjoy reading the Sandpiper and am excited to read more articles in the future.
    Colleen Lang
    Sophomore

    Reply
  16. Olive De Luca

    To the Carmel Sandpiper Editor:
    Re “Increased Class Sizes Lead to Struggles, Adjustments,” Sept. 2016: It is no surprise that an increase in class sizes has led to struggles for many teachers and students. However, I don’t think that that much has changed due to the increased classes. In fact, all the rearranging that went on in order to keep class sizes constant came at an inopportune time when students were just adjusting to their new classes and then had to switch one or several. The behavioral problems exhibited in classes of bigger sizes are no less prominent than in smaller sized classes. Additionally, the increase in class sizes has not been that great; having 30 other students in your class is not that different from having 26 other students.
    OLIVE DE LUCA
    Carmel, CA.

    Reply
  17. Maile Adams

    To the Carmel Sandpiper editor:
    Re ¨Increased class sizes lead to struggles, adjustments,” Sept. 2016: Although it is true that an increased class size can lead to some issues, I think that there is not a whole lot that has changed. Behavioral issues can show up in any class large or small. It is true that the larger the class the more likely, but people are going to start to lose focus occasionally anyway. I remember towards the beginning of the year classes had to be rearranged because of sizes. Personally, I think the classes were fine as is, and the rearrangements seemed to be inconvenient for many, if not all. In addition, some people are not allowed to switch into certain classes that they want to be in because of “too big of a class.” Larger class sizes as a result of a larger school population is inevitable, and it does not have the impact on students that everyone is making it out to have.
    MAILE ADAMS
    Carmel, CA.

    Reply
  18. Taylor Desmond

    To the Sandpiper:

    “Studies show that most teenagers need exactly 9 ¼ hours of sleep,” says the Nationwide Children’s Hospital. That is not possible for the students at Carmel High, most of which participate in an extracurricular activity. There is an abundance of competition at our school to get the best grades in the hardest classes. That alone comes with hours and hours of homework that leaves students working up late, making it impossible for them to get the suggested amount of sleep and still get to school on time. They are expected to be able to make connections, friendships, find hobbies, get proper meals, have a part-time job, study for classes, and be happy. There are not enough hours in the day! Some kids are waking up at 5 AM to be able to catch the bus and get everything situated. They take care of younger siblings, help their hard working parents, and at the end of the day they are running on 3-5 hours of sleep. So why does our school start at 7:45 AM? There are countless schools pushing back the start time to 8:30 so their students can stay awake and stimulated in the classroom environment. Their test scores are going up and so is the attendance rate. It would take a whole lot of work to get our start time pushed back some, but the end result will be worth it. Can we make a change?

    Taylor Desmond

    Reply
  19. Stella Robertson

    Dear Editor,
    To be frank, this school year has not started off well. The gym being nowhere near finished when sports began had a huge part of that. Volleyball in particular was effected without a gym to practice or have home games in. Practices all year have been held very late, in inconvenient places which is a huge disruption and detriment to the student athletes on the team. It’s a strain for these hard working students to deal with all of their school work, while juggling transportation and practice/game schedules. Then not only did volleyball not have a gym, but the team was not given much information regarding when it was going to be finished so the team was unable to plan accordingly when suddenly the date of its completion changed, leaving volleyball with two weeks more without a gym, and no plans for where the team could practice and play during them because they had previously believed they would have the gym back. The fact that the gym was unfinished was already preposterous, then the lack of communication and information shared about made it worse for the team and coaching staff who have had to work tirelessly to find places for the team to go. This school district needs to plan better when it comes to large projects like these, and be ready to deal with the consequences of them when plans change.
    Sincerely, Stella Robertson

    Reply
  20. Ian Empey

    Re “Procrastination increasing among students,” April 25: I think that this article has many good points. I think that is mainly the students’ fault that they procrastinate, however, I think that some of the problems lie on the workload that the student has. Many students have jobs, sports, and other things outside of school to do and sometimes these are more important than the schoolwork that was assigned. Some days people feel like all of their teachers keep giving us more and more homework and think that they are the only class that this student is taking but they don’t realize that other teachers are giving out a ton of homework too. This leads to the procrastination because people feel like they cannot finish the homework so they don’t do any of it. This leads to less complete homework and less learning because of the amount of homework and procrastination. With schools starting early and students having extracurricular and homework this only negatively affects the student’s health and their performance at school.

    Reply
  21. Ealaph Tabbaa

    To the students of Carmel High,
    Can we please stop bottle flipping? It was cool for the first two weeks of school but now it’s not only old but annoying. This trend has been going on since late of last school year. It will not stop because people still think it is some monumental feat to throw a bottle and have it land on the bottom. We have seen everything from flipping it onto clocks in classrooms and landing it on its cap, so can we finally move on to something new? Another problem with this is it can not be done quietly. Whenever anyone successfully flips it, it makes a somewhat loud thunk noise that can be disruptive in class. In conclusion, this trend should have come to an end some time ago and still lives when it shouldn’t.
    Ealaph Tabbaa

    Reply
  22. Aminah Khalil

    The Carmel Sandpiper
    Re “Increased class sizes lead to struggles, adjustments,” Oct. 3: Understanding the complexity of class placement, it’s agreed that large class sizes can potentially disturb students learning. While on average there are 25 students per class, the outliers affect this number immensely. The number of students per class is still way too high for the teacher and the students to be fully comfortable. In agreement with the fact that 30 plus students in one classroom is difficult, it’s understandable why a student will feel the struggle of expressing their problems and needs freely to their teachers. Students will participate more when they are comfortable with their surroundings, and 30 plus people will take awhile to get comfortable with.
    Anna Gumberg
    Carmel High Student
    Sara Phillips
    Carmel High Student

    I disagree with the opinion that more students doesn’t mean less affective learning. Although maybe the teacher is fully capable of handling more students in a professional manner, students are not trained like teachers to be comfortable around each other nor to be able to participate around each other easily.
    Anna Gumberg
    Carmel High Student
    Jillayne Angie
    Carmel High Teacher
    AMINAH KHALIL

    Reply
  23. Rachel Bagby

    The Sandpiper

    Re “2015 graduate promoting DC superhero web series” September 2016
    It is truly wonderful to hear the focus shift from such negative matters of politics and wildfires to the uplifting insights of “where are they now”. The article on past graduates succeeding in their aspiring professions gives us all hope of following our own dreams in the future. I enjoy hearing about my past drama buddy out there passionately acting, as we all predicted he would. This benevolent news gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and provides me a link to something I would adore to watch in my spare time to further support their careers. It is certain that sharing this information to the community where these young performers originated will help spark a wider-spread hope for the future among the student body. It is now known that we comprise the resources to help students make it or break it out there in the real world. It only further proves that our creativity has the opportunity to blossom from school projects into our own independent adventure.
    Rachel Bagby
    Carmel, California

    Reply
  24. Luke Melcher

    To The Sandpiper Editor:

    Re “California bill constricts next era of smokers,” Apr. 25: This topic of discussion is very prominent in today’s high schools. Underage teens purchasing tobacco products from adults who can access the products. There was many great arguments in the article including statistics about the use of e-cigarettes. Interviewing people is always good because you can see other people’s opinions. There were two people interviewed but I think it would be more efficient and more interesting if you would have interviewed more than a couple kids. It was smart to interview people from two different classes, but maybe using a couple of more ideas from more than two students would be more beneficial to the argument. My question is, why are parents supplying to their kids? Although it would probably be impossible, it would be cool to hear what a parent who supplies tobacco products to their kids have to say about it.
    Luke Melcher
    Carmel

    Reply
  25. Chloe Bernal

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    RE “football lights” Oct.3
    Friday night football games are an american tradition and it is sad our school cannot enjoy this long-established event. Many people have weekend plans and can’t attend Saturday games. Having Friday night home games would increase our schools spirit and more people would attend the games. I am aware that the neighboring houses do not want lights because they are worried it will be disturbing. However, I think the Carmel community needs to come together and bring back a wonderful high school tradition. I think it is important for our schools athletes and for our schools spirit, that the school takes this problem seriously and takes steps to try and change it.
    CHLOE BERNAL
    Carmel, CA

    Reply
  26. Megan Pellett

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    I have been going to this Carmel High School for two weeks now and I’ve noticed many things I like and don’t like about the school. I came from Salinas High School and there are so many things I can see that are different that I have my opinions on. First of all, I seem to be very ahead in the majority of my classes, which gets pretty boring since I’m just relearning everything. For example, in my math class I am relearning concepts from last year that are considered as new concepts for the students who have been here for awhile. There are other things I don’t like, but one of the many things I do like is how welcoming everybody is in my classes and just around the school in general. It’s weird for me being at a school that is so different from what I am used to, not only is the curriculum different, but the size of the school. Personally, I would consider this school very small, but on the other hand my old school had a total of 3,000 kids and about 30-40 kids per class. My thoughts on the school may be different from the ones of people who have been here for awhile, but overall these are my opinions.
    Megan Pellett
    Carmel CA

    Reply
  27. Spence Swartz

    To the Editor of the Sandpiper:
    I have noticed, both this year and last, the inconvenience and inefficiency of the system for determining homecoming kings and queens. The aforementioned system involves students nominating others abruptly during their English classes. Some students have complained that they have nobody in mind to nominate, so this process is both a struggle and waste of time. The problem is that many students do not have a clear understanding of each student’s political capabilities for this position. I recommend that each student’s height, weight, IQ, shoe size, cereal preference, shampoo brand, remote control battery life, phone case size shape and color, and dental history be recorded ahead of time, and put into a database. From here, the database shall be printed out, and tacked up on each classroom door. This way, students will be able to make a well-informed decision when electing their representatives. People who feel that kings and queens should volunteer, rather than be nominated are wrong because this would surely not allow those with a desire to participate to be elected, without wasting the other students time. What would especially fail is eliminating required nominations, and skipping to voting predetermined candidates. This would not stop unwanted candidates from being forced to run, as everyone wants to be homecoming king. Hopefully, my suggestions can boost the productivity, efficiency, and buoyancy of CHS.
    Spencie Swartz
    Carmel Valley, CA

    Reply
  28. Quinn Jones

    Quinn Jones
    To the Editor of the SandPiper
    In regards to your paper, I would like to say thank you for your excellent work. I enjoy the updates on school news. They keep me well informed and up to date on the daily info. Your author’s do good work on writing their articles and they do an excellent job getting real info that is helpful. I would also like to highlight how the paper provides not only a variety of topics but many views on the topics. I enjoy reading your articles. Keep up the good work!
    Quinn Jones
    Carmel, Ca

    Reply
  29. Hendrik Botha

    To the Editor of Carmel Sandpiper:
    The new internet filter, known as “iBoss,” employed at Carmel High School is a way for school employees to monitor and restrict malicious activities on the school Chromebooks. This new filter has raised controversies among students and teachers alike, some teachers praising the more restrictive filtration techniques it uses, while the majority complains that it significantly increases upload and download latencies. This results in a vast drop in internet speed, which affects everyone who uses the school WiFi network. Playing videos from websites like Youtube has become much more of a hassle because of the video’s reduced resolution and longer buffering time. On top of this new, more restrictive, slower network filter, the Carmel Unified School District still uses two other network filters; a private filter, as well a third party filter called Lightspeed. The combination of all three of these network filters have had a dramatic effect on student productivity because of slower internet speeds.
    Hendrik Botha
    Carmel, CA

    Reply
  30. Emily Bahu

    To the Editors of the Sandpiper:

    RE: “Soberanes fire effects CHS, community at large” September 2016. I like that you decided to write this article because not everyone knew much about the fire at this time if they didn’t watch the news. The article clearly stated how many acres were burned at the time, when the fire started, and what areas of Carmel Valley and Big Sur were affected. The fire affected my family, as the first day of the fire we could see it on a mountain across the valley and the smoke was terrible for the rest of summer. It luckily never got close enough to where we lived to make us evacuate, but it did remain the whole time up until today about four and a half miles from us. However, that wasn’t the case for a lot of people who did have to evacuate and possibly lost their homes to the fire. One thing that I would have liked to see was maybe a few more quotes from the students of CHS about how the fire affected them and their families.
    EMILY BAHU
    Carmel Valley, CA

    Reply
  31. Jared Kitteringham

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    Over the course of my school years, many of my teachers have talked about the importance sleep. In fact teenagers are supposed to get over nine hours of sleep every night. Now tell me, how can I follow these recommendations when I receive an immense amount of homework every night? Between all of the homework, sports, and family obligations, it seems to be a near impossible task. Oh wait, here’s an idea, if you want us to get a sufficient amount of sleep, then assign less homework. Honestly, I already spend about seven hours in school each day, then I get to go to sports practice for about two hours (not including away games). After I return home from physically exerting myself, I get to take part in a wonderful activity called homework. So I ask you, how can I get a healthy amount of sleep when my day is full of these never ending tasks. Other than this, less homework would also enhance my learning experience at school because I would not be so fatigued and tired. I strongly feel that less homework and more sleep would reap wonderful rewards on the hard working students of Carmel High School.
    JARED KITTERINGHAM
    Carmel, California.

    Reply
  32. Karina Gonzalez

    To the Sandpiper Editors:

    During halftime at football games, it’s fun performing in front of our school and showing them what we do. I think that it is unfair that we, the cheerleaders, have to dance to music with no words. We should be allowed to have lyrics in our music because that would pump up the crowd a lot more. Our dances would also be better because music contributes to the performance. I don’t see what the issue is. Obviously, the music will not have any curse words or anything that can offend anyone. If there was a problem in the past that affected the cheerleaders not having lyrics in their music, then we should at least know because we shouldn’t be able to do something without knowing the reason why.
    KARINA GONZALEZ
    Big Sur, CA

    Reply
  33. Nicholas Ortiz

    To The Sandpiper Editor:
    Re: “Vending Machines”, Oct. 3: Recently, the vending machines at our cafeteria have not been in use, although many students at this school would like them to be. I know a countless number of people, including me that would frequently buy snacks from them. The reason that people like the vending machines so much, is because you don’t have to wait in line for five minutes just to get a bag of chips for example. The school will also make a good profit off of them, which could be used for sports or other school events.
    Nicholas Ortiz
    The Sandpiper

    Reply
  34. Isidoro F. Cosentino

    To the Sandpiper editor
    Re “Padres adjust to temporary closure of gymnasium” I agree that the closure of the gymnasium is an unfortunate inconvenience, but I am glad that the new gym will be able to support both people and sports with the reconstruction of the bleachers. I hope however that the new bleachers our much stronger and durable than the last ones because it would be unfortunate if they were to break again. I hope that the construction of the gym is able to be finished this month so we can get back into the locker rooms and get back to supporting our sports teams and showing our school spirit.
    ISIDORO F. COSENTINO

    Reply
  35. Stefan Mayer

    To the Sandpiper Editor
    eSports Coming Into the Mainstream?
    As of recently, it seems that competitive video games (dubbed “eSports” by the loyal fans of these online games) have been given increasing attention in the mainstream. The popular sports bar Buffalo Wild Wings, the sandwich shop Arby’s, and even famous basketball players, namely Shaquille O’Neal, have all invested into the exploding scene of competitive online “sports.” Obviously, these video games cannot be classified as actual sports, but as the average viewership shows, eSports are set to become even more popular than the aforementioned. South Korea is an example of a country who has already been immersed in the culture of online sports, with eSports players being as well-known, if not more famous, than baseball or football players in America. Will this popularity perhaps project itself into American culture as well? With the current growth of eSports, it certainly seems like this is a possibility.

    Reply
  36. Rayna Elliott

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    RE ‘football lights’ Oct. 3
    Football games are one of the most important events on our school campus, many people come to support our school! It sucks having to go to other stadiums because we don’t have any lights at our school. Not only do we spend money on that but it is also annoying for all the students to go to different places. Football games are a huge tradition around this peninsula and everybody loves to go to them with a lot of school spirit. Although, party buses are fun; it is a hassle having to leave at a certain time at the game if you want to leave early or later. To conclude, it would be easier just to have the games here at our school with stadium lights.
    RAYNA ELLIOTT
    Carmel, CA

    Reply
  37. Hope Hanlon

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    RE “football lights” Oct. 3
    I recommend that the school get stadium lights. I say this because they are quite a necessity to a popular high school. A few reasons why these are important is because Friday night football is a tradition. It would be terrible for such an amazing school like ours to not follow such a classic tradition. Also, stadium lights would draw more people to come to games. People pay to get into games, and such a popular event would bring in a lot of revenue. I am aware of the fact that the residents around the school would not appreciate these lights, but they did know that they were going to live by a school. Most other schools have stadium lights and neighbors living right by the school, so why should ours be deprived of having lights?
    HOPE HANLON
    Carmel, CA

    Reply
  38. Madison DiGirolamo

    To the Editor:
    I do not think our school lacks school spirit. What we lack is enthusiasm. I don’t think that there are many students sitting around disliking their own sports team, club, or anything of that matter. If they did, that would be a lack of school spirit. We all are very proud of our teams and achievements, and we put a lot of spirit into them. We have the spirit, we just do not show it with the enthusiasm we are capable of during school. I think that we need more subtle opportunities to be enthusiastic. We have the spirit. Everybody knows how we act on Shoe Week. We just need things like red and grey Fridays, and maybe seasonal sports rallies for the teams to represent themselves. Everyone shows spirit when in their team setting, but when given big opportunities to show spirit in front of our peers, no one steps up because we never do it on a smaller scale and that makes the large activities intimidating. If we had some smaller scale activities where students, ASB and non-ASB included, could put on the event and participate, we would have a greater display of our school spirit overall.

    Reply
  39. Melanie Twisselman

    To the Sandpiper editor:
    Recently Carmel High School has been putting their focus and money into improving the sports facilities. Although these are nice luxuries, there are more necessities that we could turn our attention to instead. This year I have noticed that there is a lack of in-class textbooks and materials to provide a wholesome education for the students. The school has been focusing more on sports rather than tools needed for a higher education. For example, in the World History classes this year, there were not enough textbooks for each student to take home and use in class. Even though the online books were offered, some students would prefer the physical copy. Every student learns differently, and having the book physically in front of them could enhance their understanding of the topic. Since the school’s goal is to provide a quality education, it should be a top priority for the school to provide the necessities before the luxuries.

    Melanie Twisselman

    Reply
  40. Hannah Matthiesen

    I am writing about the form of teaching at the Carmel High School in comparison to the German school system I am used to and how CHS could benefit from their teaching styles. Here there is a lot of pressure put on the students and the workload is very heavy. I first recognized this when I had more homework than I was used to. The situation that shocked me was when one of my teachers collected my homework, which I invest a lot of time and work in, and he just checked if I did them. In Germany the teachers usually do not collect the homework, but they check if you did them and they make sure that you found the right solution. There was also a situation where my teacher explained something, then she looked at her watch and said: “alright guys I can not spend more time on this. If you have any questions, come to me during break or lunch.” It seems like in comparison to Germany, teachers are rushing through the classes and seem to not have enough time to teach. Here, it seems it is about quantity and not about quality and this is the big difference between American and German teaching. I think this is because of the common core standards in California, which we do not have in Germany. In Germany the school system is also more separated and there are different types of schools, depending on your wanted educational track.

    Reply
  41. pierce Gallaway

    To the Sandpiper Editor:
    Stadium lights are something every high school campus should have. With the lights, they provide a time for every team to practice on the turf field. If there were lights for this current season, field hockey and football could both use the turf field at different times. With stadium lights they can both use the field one team after the other so when it gets dark practice can still happen. Some teams are having to practice at the middle school and bus everywhere. If I was a player, I would be very annoyed. The field was made so everyone can enjoy it so why isn’t everyone practicing there and enjoying it? Without lights it defeats the purpose of even spending millions on the field. I haven’t even dove into the issue of no lights for night games yet. Ask your parents what was one of your favorite memories of high school? Guaranteed they will say night games. It is something that brings a school together and is just fun to watch your team play. Also, the players want to play in front of their school and want a bigger crowd. Just ask Jake Pereles (soccer player) he said, “ The school spirit would soar and we always need more students in attendance. We want a crowd.” Must I say more. We need stadium lights.
    PIERCE GALLAWAY
    Carmel, California

    Reply
  42. Ethan Yant

    To the Sandpiper:
    I am very thankful and glad that all Carmel High students have been provided Chromebooks. These laptops are very useful, but I’ve a hard time enjoying them because of their restrictions and limitations. By giving all students laptops with Windows 7 or Windows 10, we could get school work done much easier, and in different ways. Some classes like Graphic Design require the students to use a variety of different Photoshop programs. The problem here, is that Chromebooks can’t run programs like Photoshop, and they require Windows. By using Windows laptops, students can finally access their Z-drive. This drive is where students can post any information, and easily access it through any school computer. These are just two examples, but Windows 7 and Windows 10 are both very powerful operating systems that can do much more than Chromebooks. One argument that could cause this suggestion to be declined, is that Chromebooks are much easier to manage, and it’s very easy for teachers to control what students can access, or can’t. This argument is somewhat true, but Windows laptops can also be controlled in this way. There are many different types of laptops that can run Windows, but I would recommend laptops that can turn into tablets as well. Laptop tablet combinations can provide many new ways to use the computers. Overall, I think laptops using a Windows operating system would be much more efficient, and useful for students attending Carmel High School.

    Ethan Yant

    Reply
  43. Angela Valdez

    To the Sandpiper News Editor:
    Re “Gay students call campus tolerant. if not quite perfect” April 26: Being someone who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual, they are vulnerable to hate and many other injustices. A school is a place to get an education but in order to keep students happy and focused the community should tend to their needs as well. Derogatory terms are used all over campus. Making fun of people some think they understand because of their label but are truly uninformed. Our school focuses on bullying and other forms of injustices on campus but don’t focus on other very important matters. It can make students feel unimportant or without a voice. This school offers workshops and other informational classes talking about subjects like bullying. But, hardly any focus on sexuality and the importance of being kind to other people whose sexuality are different than theirs. Also, people are very poorly informed on these terms and the school and the student body should act upon it.

    Reply
  44. jake pereles

    To the editor:
    Re: “Getting Stadium Lights At Carmel High School” Oct. 3: During last couple years of experiences I have had at Carmel High, it has come to my attention that there is an increasing need to have stadium lights at our home field for a variety of reasons. First off, everyone knows that there is nothing better than a friday night game under the lights, but without a lighted stadium, this cannot be a reality. If we had stadium lights, the school spirit and number of students in attendance would soar, and the games would be much more fun to attend and play in. Stadium lights would be a wonderful investment for the school, and the benefits would be enjoyed by the whole school, and everyone in the Carmel community. Also, another reason stadium lights are a necessary investment, is the compact practice schedule of sports teams. For example, sometimes teams have to practice at the middle school because there is only enough room and time for a couple teams to practice at the high school. If there were stadium lights, then there would be more practice times, and all the teams would be able to practice on the excellent high school turf field because they could play after sunset.

    Carmel, C.A.

    Reply
  45. Dagmar Giachetti

    To the Sandpiper:
    Re “Procrastination Increasing Among Students,” Apr. 25: While I do agree that procrastination is increasing among students, I have to include that it isn’t entirely the student’s fault. As you move up in the grade levels the amount of homework and time getting put into that work increases. Along with that comes the responsibilities of extra-curricular activities and sports, often leaving students with almost no time to finish their homework. This lack of time often leads to sleepless nights completing homework, and to the eventual buildup of stress that is usually too much for a student to handle. With this build up of stress weighing down on them, students become less inclined to finish their homework and lean more towards procrastinating instead. They do this in order to escape from their work for a while and relax. To take a break from the pressures and responsibilities of school, and get rid of the stress that builds up as a result of too much work and little sleep. And while procrastinating is still not a good habit to get into, I still believe that there are other factors to consider, and that students are not entirely to blame.

    Reply
  46. Connor Mowatt-Larssen

    To the Sports Editor:
    Re “Procrastination increasing among students,” Oct 3: Given that I also know very much about procrastination, I feel confident saying that procrastination is very common. However, I would have liked the author to provide more techniques to conquer procrastination, because the Pomodoro technique does not seem to work for me. Also, I do not think that procrastination is increasing, but simply the workload of students is increasing; thus, procrastination is becoming more prominent and obvious when students are forced to stay up all-night doing homework.

    Connor Mowatt-Larssen
    Carmel, California

    Reply
  47. anonymous

    To the editor,
    During my time spent at Carmel High School a very recurrent problem at this school. On the chromebook there is an application that was added to the computers starting this year. The purpose of the application is to almost completely restrict anything that is not school related. Last year there were some restrictions, but some games and a few harmless application were available. IBoss has become a problem now because it has prevented users from accessing sites that are even related to school. There have been numerous students who have experienced this recurrent problem. One of the worst parts is when doing research, the application is so sensitive if there’s one word that it finds bad, the website is restricted. I have been researching for my history class, and had multiple links blocked by IBoss. I hope that changes are soon made so that the security is somewhat more lenient.
    Ian Snyder
    Carmel, California

    Reply
  48. Connor Reding

    Dear Editor,

    Unfortunately, there is a lack of water fountains at the Carmel High School. At first I felt this issue was unimportant, but as it caught my attention, I started to have more feelings about it. Throughout the day I look for fresh sources of water but there are only the ones in the gym and cafeteria. Even though that there is boxed water in the cafeteria, it costs money. I propose that there should be more water fountains throughout the school grounds. If there is more water fountains, then people can stay hydrated throughout the day. This would prevent litter at the highschool too from plastic water bottles brought from home. I know people could bring water from home in a reusable bottle, but they are heavy and can be awkward in the backpack. Sometimes I just want a little sip of water, but I have to walk all the way across campus to get there. And then when I get there, the bell rings, and it wastes valuable time. The water fountain situation is ridiculous. The school expects me and other students to make water bottles at home, where we have homework, housework, and sleeping. There is no time to make a water bottle at home, so I look for a refreshing drink at the school and there are none. I understand that it looks weird when people drink from water fountains but the school has to get over that. If the school staff tried drinking in water fountains they would like it, even if it does scare them. Water is pretty scary when you get your face right next to one. It is time to change something. Or someone. Stand up. Rise to the challenge. Show your stripes.
    CONNOR H. REDING
    Carmel, CA

    Reply

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