The Decline and Fall of Western Civilization: or, Stealing

By Charmaine S.

I have a story to tell you, it took place a long time ago. It was a time when people were honest and truthful and would never steal or take anything that did not belong to them. If you can bring yourself to believe that this could actually be true, you will realize how much our society has changed.

I had an unfortunate encounter with our society's moral corrosion in the second quarter of this year when a thief took my purse with many expensive perfumes and cosmetics in it. I have been searching for my purse ever since. I believe that whoever stole it will read this, and I just have to say, I hope you enjoyed using my things for this long but it is time to give them back. I promise I will not be mad at you if you give it to me in person or leave it by my locker, but enough is enough.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all of you for reading my rather critical editorials, but don't worry, this is the last one (I swear). BYE BYE!!!!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of time…

By Travis B.

As much as I don’t want to admit it, I will miss this school when I leave. To put it in a nutshell, I’ll quote Charles Dickens from his epic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Alhough I’ve been at this school for three years, and learned many valuable things (like you’re not in trouble unless you get caught), some important things remain unanswered.

Questions, everyone has them, but I tend to have more and stranger ones than the slightly above average student. For example, gravity, where does it come from and how? Why does some yogurt come stirred, while you have to stir other kinds? For the guys reading this, why do most girlfriends get mad at you about stupid things all the time? Why doesn’t this school let us chew gum? We do it anyway. How can people like country music? What is the purpose of your toes? How can the Peacock staff tolerate us? Why can’t we play with really dangerous stuff in science class? How can anybody not like "South Park?" How did Celiene Dion get all that fame for making a stupid song for a stupid movie?

There are many more questions I have to get off my back, but the column is coming to a close and that's enough for now.

Zareena offers some final fashion advice

By Zareena J.

I know what you must have been thinking, you have been thinking, Zareena, the world has suffered long enough, please grace us with another one of your brilliant fashion editorials. Well, your wish has been granted. The only thing is, today's fashion advice is directed at a different group of individuals. Those who like to dress in, children shield your eyes, COMFORTABLE CLOTHES.

To begin, I would like to say that contrary to popular opinion NAVY BLUE AND BLACK DON'T MATCH!!!! In fact, people wearing navy blue and people wearing black, probably shouldn't even stand next to each other, if God forbid, they are in the same room! If you have a shirt that has a collar on it, that's all well and good, and I hope that you wear it as much as you want, but please, don't wear it with pants that are made of the swishy material that athletic people seem to love so much. And if you find it so necessary to do that, it is not necessary for you to tuck in the shirt, thank you very much. Below is a list of color combinations or clothing combinations to avoid.

Electric blue and anything

Navy blue and black

Yellow and oh eeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuw! I can't believe you're still reading, like anyone would wear yellow!

If it is by J. Crew, or you got it at Structure, American Eagle, or Aeropostal, chances are it won't match with anything you got at Foot Locker (as if!)

Red and green, purple, electric blue, or yellow (euw!)

By the way, I like, researched this, I talked to someone who is like Nike's little poster boy, and I went to Sportmart.

In case you didn't know, hiking boots do not match with swishy pants, and oh yeah, hunter green and white and red don't look so hot together either.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Immigrants vs. Intelligence?

By Amber S.

Hello everyone! Your very favorite editorial writer is back for one last spin in the newspaper. I am responding to a comment in the Chicago Tribune that Mr. Martin, my advisory teacher, shared with us. In that article, a Congressman from I believe Texas said that the United States should restrict immigration only to those people who already possess the equivalent of a high school diploma. That is completely against our nation's background. I would like to see a show of hands on how many people in this school have immigrants in their blood lines. Almost all of you? Hmm, that's a surprise, especially considering the fact that our nation was built on, what was it again, oh yeah, immigrants. Silly me. How could I forget that big green lady who stands on an island with a torch in her hand? And doesn't it say on the Statue of Liberty "Give me your tired, your poor..."? Never does it say "Give me only the educated." I'm sorry, but I really don't want to have to carve into the Statue of Liberty a clause that places that kind of restriction on the huddled masses who come to this country.

Just because someone hasn't had the chance for an education, or isn't the brightest star in the sky doesn't mean that they don't have the right to live in the United States. I understand that there should be some kind of restrictions, but what is the immigration office going to do, make everyone who gets off a foreign plane take a written exam before they can go through customs? Come on, think things through before words come tumbling out of your mouths. Tax payers are worried about these people sucking up their money, but don't they realize that this is how their families came into the country? Don't they wonder what would have happened if their ancestors had been denied access to the United States of America? Denying someone the right to live in a country because of a lack of education is stupid. That may be a little ironic, but this education restriction denies immigrants the freedom of opportunity to make something of themselves here and provide a better life for their children, you know, freedom and the pursuit of happiness--and aren't those two rights what our country's most famous documents preach?

Advisor says thank you

By Mr. Travis

I would like to thank all the students who contributed to The Charger this year and helped to make it a success. I would also like to thank the editorial staff for all their hard work and creativity. The editors will receive a CD-ROM version of The Charger as a token of appreciation. Any student who contributed to two issues of The Charger will receive a certificate of merit. I wish the eighth graders luck in their high school careers and hope to see the rest of you again next year.

I would also like to mention three students who merit special recognition for their outstanding effort, Elizabeth F., Nicole S. and Amber S.. These three students always had substantial stories, typed and in on time for every issue, and they wrote on a variety of subjects. They were also very good sports in regard to the painful process of being edited. Elizabeth demonstrated a real aptitude for news writing, the backbone of any newspaper. Nicole submitted several large creative pieces as well as always finishing that important news story. And finally, Amber was a terrific copy editor and a wonderful editorial and creative writer whose commitment really helped the first year of The Charger succeed. Finally I would be remiss if I did not thank the administration and teachers for their support and Mrs. Doyle and Mrs. Purtell for all their help and patience in photocopying The Charger each month.

Emily A.

Robert B.

Brittany B.

Janelle B.

Michelle B.

Joseph C.

Lindsay C.

Felicia C.

Bradley C.

Billy C.

Bethany D.

Julie D.

Michael D.

Robert E.

Edward F.

Elizabeth F.

Courtney G.

Christine H.

Janice H.

JR H.

Blake H.

Aleksia I.

Stefan I.

Zareena J.

Robert K.

Rick K.

Mark L.

Kurt M.

Melissa M.

Christa M.

Hannah M.

Amar P.

Snehal P.

Scott P.

Kristina R.

Jeffrey R.

Rosa S.

Nicole S.

Andrew S.

Roy S.

John S.

Amanda S.

Amber S.

Charmaine S.

Kristin S.

Eric T.

Jason V.

Kristen W.

Mary W.

Abigail W.

Leslie W.

George Z.