It’s no secret- Tabor has been getting stricter on their rules- first with dress code, hazing and cheering at games.  The thing that has surprisingly caused much controversy, for both dorm parents and students, is room permission.  From the perspective of a senior girl in Heath house, an all senior dorm, room permission ends at 10:00, when check in is not until 10:30 now, with senior privileges.  This poses a question, what are you supposed to do for the extra half an hour?  The dorm parents in Heath called a dorm meeting; because they do not want couple congregating right outside the dorm.  Where is one supposed to go?  The Tabor rules specify that the couple cannot meander around outside on campus and the BB is too far away, especially for Heath.  Not wanting to get in trouble, seniors are wondering what to do with their senior privileges.  This is a highly brought up point in the dorm between dorm parents and girls because seniors feel they are being restricted with all the rules.  For example, three feet on the floor, door open and out by 10:00.  Since there is no where to go after, a half hour with the boyfriend is all one is going to get.  My advice to solve the problem?  Move the ending time to room permission from 10 to 10:20 for senior couples, to save the awkward in between time, creating less on a conflict for dorm parents and students.  The next thing to work on- the tight rules for when the couple is in the room itself!

North Illinois University, home to over 50,000 registered students, experienced a traumatic situation on February 14^th.  Located in DeKalb, Illinois, it was a generally suburb area.  Twenty- seven year old, Steven  Kazmierczak, whom graduated from campus nine months ago, entered the lecture hall at approximately 3:06 pm.  He was dressed in all black, carrying a guitar case.  If only they had knew that under his black attire were three guns, two 9 mm and another shotgun, and in his guitar case a Remington shotgun.  He immediately drew out two guns and started fireing on panicked students trying to flee the chaotic scene.  As a result, according to CNN, he fired more than fifty shots, shooting at 21 people, killing six, including his own. 

Police chief Donald Grady said at a press conference Friday, the shooting began at 3:06 and thirty seconds later, two police officers were on the scence.  Less than 90 seconds later, eight more police officers came to control the situation.  Although, before the two police officers arrived, Kazmierczak had already done his shooting and killed himself.  There are no motives as of why he shot the students, as he was, according to teachers and students surveyed at the university, said that he was a straight A students and very well-liked.  Evidence suggests that Kazmierczak had just stopped taking undisclosed perscription drugs, but is not a factor in determining his motivation yet.

Almost a half of year after the Virginia Tech shooting, instances around college campuses have been occuring throughout the United States.  Police and college security have become more aware and prepared, but even so, shootings can not be predicted.  In this case, the police were there within thirty seconds and yet Steven Kazmierczak had already shot 21, killed 6, including himself.  Even the most prepared, with the best technology and security can not fully protect it’s students.  So what are campus’s planning on doing?  This question has plagued schools for many years.  

Anticipations were high as most seniors arrived early for the Senior Auction. The home and away sporting events were over, and now the only thing in focus for the school was the Senior Auction. On both sides in front of Lyndon South sat anxious seniors waiting for their turn to be bought. As people started filing in, it become apparent that the whole school came to watch. Music was blasting from the speakers, students were laughing- you knew it was going to be a good night.The lights dimmed and it was time for the first video to play.

Due to the three hosts auctioning, it went by smoothly and caused a few laughs, although many of the underclassmen were tentitive on bidding, and as a result a senior ended up buying the two boys. The second video caused the same result, and many seniors started to get agitated. The non-existant bidding was not from the lack of creativity, though. The senior class came up with great ideas. The change from stage bidding as dates to the valentine’s dance to video bidding as a specific service raised some concerns, it turned out to lead a surge of innovative ideas. The videos ranged from spoofs on Zoolander, Night at the Roxbury and My New Haircut, to dancing and singing, to feeding eachother snackpacks. Upon approval of Mr.Houck, some videos had to get redone or edited, to make them more ‘appropriate’, but overall they all had a tone of humor.

Some videos, although, experienced some technical difficulties. The audio on the big screen was tempermental, causing some videos to be stopped short or silent. However, the services were always announced.Many of the services were better than just a date to the dance and involved much more interaction with the buyer. Some were as simple as dinner and a movie, to eating breakfast together, runs to uncle johns and massages, while others risked it all, auctioning themselves off to do anything the buyer wanted for a whole week. While bidding onstage, many participants just stood on stage, while others took off their shirts (just the boys) and some even tossed home-made cookies and cupcakes into the crowd as added inscentives.

The auction turned out pretty well in terms of money. Many groups of seniors got the courage to auction themselves off this year, more so than any other year. As a result, the senior class made just about 2500 dollars. Some groups went for only 35 or 65 dollars, others went for 350-450 dollars. The majority of the groups went for the 150-275 dollars, which benefitted the class greatly. Due to time restrictions, three videos were not able to be played, and are being discussed whether to play them during allschool or not to raise some more money. Despite the time restrictions and technical difficulties, the Senior Auction proved to extremely beneficial and overall a fun night.

US Virgin Island, British Virgin Islands- what a beautiful scene.  Palm trees, endless sun, sparkling water and full rainbows dominate the looks.  Although, the picture-perfect scenery is not the only thing you missed!  The group as a whole consisted of 16 students plus 6 crew members, three of which graduated from Tabor, and we snorkled to a plethora of interesting places.  The most memorable being the intense snorkel to the shipwreck of the SSV Rhone, the most famous ship crash in the Virgin Islands.  Added to the snorkling, we also ventured to a place in the British Virgin Islands called ‘The Baths’.  It consists of underwater caves, hidden trails and rock climbing, leaving you to discover which unknown path to go to explore.  Leaving with a few scratches and bruises, this had to be the most grueling yet the most fun of the trip.  Sailing from place to place was no bore, either.  From setting the sails and coiling, to bouncing over ten foot swells getting drenched, was an adventure on the Tabor Boy.  On the seas we saw flying fish, dolphins, endangered sea turtles during the day and glowing tarpins and bats at night.  If you feel the being on the sea at all times is not right for you, we also stayed on land at Cinnamon Bay.  Cinnamon Bay, the home to many stars, such as Kenny Chesney, was located on a beautiful beach.  This was the place of many firsts for me, such as camping outdoors and trying coconut milk.  The indigeous palm trees held many coconuts, in which the group got together and started cracking them.  Although I do not recommend the taste of the milk, the experience was worth it.  From the ten days on the Tabor Boy with 16 of your fellow schoolmates, lead me to conclude that signing up for the Caribbean Studies was the best thing I have ever done- oh yeah, did I forget to mention, I missed exams for this ‘study’ too!  

Welcome to Edublogs.org. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!