Do Jarvis Students Bust Their Butts For Nothing?
Melinda Maldonado
Kiss My Ash!: A Majority of Jarvis Smokers Find it Easy to Buy Cigarettes
Joanne Mei
Do Jarvis Students Bust Their Butts For Nothing?
Melinda Maldonado
Have you ever canceled plans with friends from other schools because you had too much homework to do, and they didn't?
Jarvis students know that they work hard, and it seems unfair compared to the amount of work other schools require for the same course. After all, we end up with the same credit. Who is the judge of how well a student learned the course material and how well immersed they were in the subject? This is certainly important for applying to university; it makes sense that admissions departments would be aware of this, and take the school's educational standards into consideration.
JCI is well known for having a strong academic program offering this through advanced and enriched courses. Schools with a large special education department will have a variety of course levels to choose from, including basic and applied levels.
"Even if it's an advanced course, if everyone's dumb in the class, it's not like the teacher can go really fast if no one's getting it. The teacher has to slow down to make sure that everyone understands," said a Gr. 12 Jarvis student.
Of course the teacher has to slow down if students have no idea what's going on.
If the pace of a class is determined by the capability of the students, why do some schools seem to be attracting the same type of students over and over again?
A Jarvis teacher said, "A lot of a school's academic success depends on the students that the school attracts. The standard of the school is set by the department head, the teachers, and the principal, as well as the capabilities of the students."
This teacher found that at another school it was hard to teach at the academic standard that they felt appropriate, so they looked for a school that had higher standards and chose Jarvis.
The effort seems to be for nothing when you "realise" that universities do not consider which school you studied at, and how in-depth the learning experience is there.
Does a student taking OAC Chemistry at Central Tech with a 90 do as much work as a Chemistry student at Jarvis with an 85? Or does U of T favour students from the University of Toronto High School? When a U of T Admissions representative was posed with the question of the difference between an OAC Chemistry 90 at Central Tech, or an 85 at Jarvis, they said there is absolutely no difference and that "it's too messy and complicated to get into ratings."
The representative said that she thinks other universities, particularly Queens, rate highschools. And indeed she may have been correct.
A letter was written to Jarvis from Queens' Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It stated that they compared students' first year marks to high school marks and that there was a wide range of variation.
They said that Jarvis students have continued to perform well and that they are willing to consider dropping their high 80's percentile cut-off to the high 70's for JCI students applying.
If they are doing this for our school, they are probably doing the same for other schools with similar results. This means they probably have a list of "excellent high schools" which have consistently produced good students. This is great for us, but what if we are not on the "good school" list for other programs, or other schools?
A Jarvis teacher said, "Students come back to visit and they tell us that they feel extremely prepared for University or that they are at the top of their class."
So there is feedback that is telling us that the academic courses are "Some of the best in town," as a Jarvis teacher said, and that at least some universities are recognizing this.
Guidance counselor Ms. Fricker says that, "Students want to believe that they are better than others. Students should not be so concerned with ranking, and should focus on being 'good students.'" She says that except for elite programs, no ranking system has been created because there is such a wide variety of factors to consider when comparing high schools.
When the U of T Admissions representative was told of the Queens letter to Jarvis, she said, "Oh, are you applying to Engineering? Because they [the faculty of Engineering] do rank high schools." This was not the information given when the question was first asked, which provokes the question of how much rating is going on behind closed doors.
Kiss My Ash!: A Majority of Jarvis Smokers
Find it Easy to Buy Cigarettes
Joanne Mei
I was on my spare just the other day with nothing to do, so I decided to go to a nearby convenience store to buy a yummy, yet nutritious, Passion Flakie. I was at the counter ready to pay for it when I saw something that shocked me. There in front of me were some of my peers purchasing cigarettes.
This was shocking because the cashier did not ask them for any identification. She just simply placed the pack of smokes on the counter and politely said, "$4.50 please," after one of the boys requested a pack of Du Maurier Lights.
Cigarettes should not be sold to anyone under the age of 19 in Ontario. Law prohibits it. However, too many teens these days find it easy to get their hands on them.
"I would say that 6 out of 10 tries [at buying cigarettes], I don't get carded," says a Jarvis student, age 17. "If I get carded and they don't sell me cigarettes, I just go somewhere else."
The Canadian Government is well aware of the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, so they use many different methods to deter the public from buying them. They banned the advertisement of cigarettes in Canada; they put excise taxes on them; cartons and individual packs of cigarettes are covered with bold warnings (for example, "Smoking can kill you."); and the Ontario government passed a law, outlawing the sale of cigarettes to people under the age of 19.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness or death in Canada. It is responsible for over 40 000 deaths a year. That is four times as many people as those who die from AIDS, traffic accidents, suicide, homicide, fires, and accidental poisoning, combined. Smoking can also lead to cancer - and not just lung cancer. It cans also result in cancer of the mouth, sinuses, esophagus, brain, breast, uterus, bladder, kidney, thyroid, leukemia, and lymph glands.
Smoking also causes or increases the risk of many other diseases, including bronchitis, emphysema, strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, cataracts, gum disease, and tooth loss. It can cause early aging in women and impotence (yes, IMPOTENCE) in men.
The government attempts to prevent vendors from selling cigarettes to kids in many ways. There is a hefty fine of up to $25 000, jail-time, or the store could be closed down. At the 7 Eleven on the corner of Queen and Broadview, a cashier, who would like to remain anonymous, said "I check every time," when asked if he asks for identification.
Nicotine is a very addictive chemical. 8 out of 10 people who try smoking get addicted; that is a very scary fact, considering most smokers start in their teens. 28% of teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 smoke. Evidently, teenagers are much smarter now. The lower number of teen smokers shows that adolescents know about the addictive nature of cigarettes and the effects of smoking; however, some choose to ignore them.
"I know smoking is bad for me," says Adele Bolonzo, 16, a student at Riverdale C.I. "But I'm not going to quit. We all have to die sometime!"
No comments:
Post a Comment