Let’s start with something local. Do you know who your ISP is? The majority of you probably have Verizon ADSL/dial-up or Time Warner Cable’s Roadrunner service, and there’s a reason for this: utility laws prevent cable companies from laying cable after cable in the same area for their services. This means that the land was partitioned into areas where a single cable company can offer their services. Our local cable provider is Time Warner Cable, and their internet services are offered as Southern California Roadrunner.  The biggest problem with this system is that it limits competition between cable companies, which drives up internet prices.

Today, though, many areas have high-speed alternatives to cable internet, such as fiber optic networks, like Verizon’s FiOS service. Because Verizon is laying a fiber optic network which uses different cables for the sole purpose of providing internet access, the company does not have to bid against television cable companies such as Time Warner. This changes the game slightly because before FiOS, RR had the upper hand on internet connectivity because of its speed. Now that many households see FiOS as a worthy alternative, Time Warner has increased the speed of its cable service packages at the same prices.

Now that you know about your local Internet Service Providers, let’s talk about the state of consumer internet pricing and features in the United States today.  The greatest benefit of high-speed service plans in the United States is the fact that providers do not limit the amount of data you can download and upload from your computer. Recently, some companies changed their data policies to limit data consumption, the biggest of these being Comcast and Time Warner in Texas. This signals a terrible trend for us, the consumers, because our utility laws will prevent us from switching to another cable company if Time Warner decides to limit data. Furthermore, because of the way the cable companies form local monopolies, it would be very easy for other companies to start limiting their data after they see that their customers have a limited amount of options, and are less likely to switch.

The only issue for us is that if Time warner were to begin to limit their data plan tomorrow, most homes in FV have very few alternatives to turn to. ADSL is far too slow for the tastes of most people, and FiOS is still not available in the majority of FV, although those of us that live in Huntington Beach may already be experiencing the joy of high speed fiber internet.

The only way to protest effectively would be to downgrade, as any reconciliation that includes limited data would cripple our internet capabilities. Thankfully, it is very unlikely that Time Warner will enforce a limited data plan on any of us before FiOS or similar alternatives roll through Fountain Valley. We can just hope that the state of internet in the city doesn’t get worse.

By David Vu, Staff Writer

I was driving the other day and decided to turn on the radio. Like many other drivers, I had KIIS FM, Amp Radio, Power 106, etc. saved as my speed channels. A quick push of a button and, BAM, MUSIC! I heard the song, Rude Boy by Rihanna, a rather popular singer in the music industry today. What a great song to listen to while in the car, driving with the wind in my face as mediocre drivers make stupid moves on the road. It was quite a nice way to relax my rage, until I realized what the lyrics said.

Don’t get me wrong; I can dance and sing to almost every song on the radio these days. Those bomb beats and catchy tunes are perfect to sing or dance to, but has anyone taken the time to slow down and really listen to what these songs say? Music reaches a very big group of people, and many of these listeners are teenagers, kids, and young children.  These songs are carrying the wrong messages, and these messages are getting out to the kids.

All I get from today’s music is “Girl, let me get in your pants.” Sex, drugs, and other things of that sort plague our music. Some quotes like “I can make your bed rock” or “C’mon rude boy can you get it up?” are very simple to interpret. Take it how you want to, but I think brushing your teeth with Jack Daniels whiskey doesn’t really help much.

Not only does it seem wrong, but also disrespectful and degrading to women. Music videos are filled with half naked women dancing around, seducing other men. They are hot, no doubt, but the next thing you know, all the guys are touching and grinding with the women, waiting to “get some.”

The biggest problem I have with these songs is that they’re popular. They are VERY popular. And they are sending the wrong messages to teenagers. Some claim music has caused a big spike in crime and violence among teenagers, something all parents should be aware. The problem is, most parents don’t partake in the fad of listening to KIIS FM or watching the music videos, and therefore have no clue what they’re children are listening to. I think it is wrong, and parents need to do something. Teens are being fed music that they should not be listening to. It’s disgusting.

We used to listen to the Beatles, the Eagles, and Frank Sinatra. From what I know, their songs don’t solely talk about sex, drugs, and violence. Some songs even carry positive messages like Here Comes the Sun and What a Wonderful World.

It’s basically impossible to put any blame on artists. They want to make money, and if they have to make songs about sex and drugs to do so then the message is justifiable to them. Hey, sex sells, right?

In this part of the column, I explore the meaning of net neutrality and the internet’s place as a medium and as a public utility. Net neutrality describes the current state of the internet: it is neutral and unregulated by any single entity. Every ISP (internet service provider) in the United States is obligated to give their customers access to every part and every aspect of the internet.

You may ask how this has anything to do with the fear of technology. Many people in congress believe that a neutral internet is not a good thing because it gives its users too many choices and is far too unwieldy and complicated. They also mention issues such as access to all material, even that with questionable validity, and that the internet in its current form does not deny access to any content, appropriate or inappropriate, to anyone, including children.

The ISPs propose to offer tiered internet plans, similar to how household families today purchase tiered plans for cable television. You will basically be forced to buy access to different websites. The more you pay, the more websites you get access to.

It is very important to see the issues with scrapping net neutrality.  ISPs fuel special interest groups that goad these legislators into pushing anti-net neutrality laws. Even if you forget issues with lobbyists and special interest groups, you have to consider that removing net neutrality essentially allows ISPs to charge customers for something that they never had to pay for before. Lastly, it extinguishes the various small independent websites that exist to show the opinions of minority groups.

This mock tier chart below is an example of how a tiered plan could possibly look like. Notice how limited the access to websites is, and how much more expensive this is compared to a regular cable internet plan.

The only solutions to the problems internet users face today are simple and require willpower. Parents are responsible to regulate what content their children have access to, no matter what the medium. It is very simple to block websites that contain inappropriate material.

Researchers are liable for their own sources. It is important that every person verifies the origin of the content they are reading to make sure it is reliable. Even sources that have commonly been criticized for their reliability may not be as unreliable as previously thought. Studies show that Wikipedia, a publicly edited encyclopedia, is as reliable as the Encyclopedia Britannica, a privately edited and published encyclopedia that has existed since 1768, on topics such as medicine and physical sciences.

Taking all this into account, no person should advocate dropping net neutrality. It gives us freedom to publish and access information and unprecedented rates. Net regulation will serve no purpose but to dumb down the public and charge it more money over time.

A worst case scenario mock poster created by user of Reddit, a social bookmarking site

The second day of senior assemblies brought forth a new spin on the joyous occasion of senior assemblies.  The next day consisted of rotations of motivational speakers.  The first was a legless surfer that spoke of his trials and tribulations as a passionate surfer who lost a part of himself and had to find it again through looking within himself.  It was quite liberating and eye opening for most of us to see someone who has lost something and was able to make something more of it. Someone who made something out of nothing.

Following the surfer, there were two other presenters, one of which this columnist was not at the liberty to see.  The one unavailable was the economist who lectured about the importance of having good credit.  Though the second day was more eventful than the first day, the second assembly was infinitely better than the first assembly,–and the first assembly was a bundle of joy!

The reason why the second assembly worked was due to something that Governator has stressed a great importance to, which is activity.  The second assembly went quickly and was far more interesting due to the activity involved in moving between assemblies.  It was just like another blessed school day.  Both were interesting in their own small way, but the senior assemblies did not only serve as mere get-out-of-class free cards, but provided the departing seniors with something to hold onto before riding off into the sunset.

At a pivotal time in the class of 2010’s lives, life lessons couldn’t hurt.

Have you ever read a book and thought “This sounds familiar“? Chances are you’re actually right. So many teen books nowadays tend to copy each other’s story lines “coincidently”. It all started off half a decade ago with Twilight, or so everyone thought. Until the Age of Romantic Books came and flooded our libraries with authors like Meg Cabot, Simone Elkeles, and Nicholas Sparks (whose books have gotten so popular over the past years) it’s become a nightmare. Now teens everywhere can’t seem to let go; it’s as if their lives depended on that mere book. I often think of ways to save them from this misery, but it’s just too late. If you’ve ever read a romantic book like Twilight for instance, you’ll understand when I say books can get addicting.

Addiction doesn’t even cover it; you start reading without even thinking for a second how terrible the plot actually is. An average girl with no personality going to school with average friends until a guy comes into her life. And not just any guy, a tall dark and handsome guy who drives an expensive car. So they dramatically fall in love and even though things may get bad, nevertheless they end up living happily ever after. You might be thinking, “That sounds like a normal storyline.” But in reality, authors like the ones I’ve mentioned above follow a strict “Story Formula” that leads their success till this day. The reason why the main character (often a girl) has no personality is so that the reader injects their personality while reading the book. This makes it easier for the reader to imagine being in the protagonist’s shoes and wanting to find out what happens next. The male lead in the story must also be good looking for many obvious reasons. And as for the ending, unless there is a simply spectacular, thought out tragic ending, the ending is almost inevitably happy to avoid hate mail from fans. The formula is so genius that anybody can do it.

Since we are youth and we are the voices of all generations to come, I say we protest. If we don’t put a stop to this never ending cycle of story writing, the future of writing will just be replicas of what has been done before. If authors can’t come up with interesting and creative stories then they should not have been authors in the first place, maybe movie directing might be a better road for them. [Seeing as the movie industry is a failure and can no longer be saved.] You might think I am just a crazed paranoid teen who might think books are going to take over the world with mind control, but if you’ve read as many books as I have, you would understand. If you’ve read fourteen different books all from different authors and they all have the same plot, you know something has gone wrong. So I say, put down that book or write a better one.

While our juniors and sophomores were hard at work STAR Testing, FVHS seniors were treated to two assemblies courtesy of our fellow brethren ASB and BBN.  The assemblies were split up to two days which were in turn split up to four sessions; the first day consisting of one long three hour assembly while the second day consisted of three motivational speakers.  Yeah, getting out of school early without truancies was great but STAR Testing –for seniors– was not all it was cut out to be.

DAY 1: The Longest

Day 1, Assembly 1, Session 1 can best be summarized in the words of a wise capitalist, “I’ve never felt such a mixture of pity and indigestion.” Day 1 was long. Upon entering the gym, it appeared that this was going to be just another education-injected soma holiday with all of the senior social orders and cliques packed up in one gym like a can of sardines.  It’s quite pleasant to be there huddled up with all the people you love and the people you couldn’t imagine being within a forty-mile radius of.  Of course the screaming adolescent rabblerousing and the occasional passing of drugs was kept to a dull roar.  After all, this was a respectable high school assembly, not some wild college lecture.

With much added pleasure, it was nice to see new adult faces standing at the center of the gym, demanding the attentions of my fellow seniors.  It would have been slightly more rewarding had they demanded our ears instead.  As their mouths truffle-shuffled into fruitless inaudibility, it was difficult to discern whether our elders were talking about graduation or Bernoulli’s principles of fluid dynamics.  The gym became a wonderful animal house of excitement complete with shrieking bipedal beasts and oblivious obstinate zookeepers.  The idea of keeping a bunch of high on summer graduating seniors in one place for three hours appears to be another scientific conundrum.

The senior majority ruled the entire assembly; They talked over the presenters and did their own things.  It’s as if the presenters were merely court jesters placed by a king to appease the hormonal teenagers.  The audio gain from the speakers was so low and so poor that the whispers from my dear peers overwhelmed the gym.  Supposedly we went through both the Disneyland Grad Night and FVHS’ very own Grad Knight, but it was really hard to tell what was going on with all that Id swirling around the bleachers.  To lighten up the mood, the class of 2010 was treated with a fashion show and a dance-off.  While no names will be mentioned in praise of these futile exercises, it was clear who the winners and losers were.  When real skill displayed itself at the dance off, the vast majority pulled for the underdog who had little, if any skills at the art of dance, while the clear winner was slighted by a noticeably lesser scale of applause.  It just goes to show how prudent my fellow brethren are.

The climax to the first day was the icing on the mud pie cake that was our senior assembly.  We were treated to a complimentary special forty-minute episode of the BBN.  It was just like another episode of BBN, but forty minutes worth as opposed to the usual fifteen minutes.  One can imagine the great joy my fellow classmates had at watching nearly an hour of The View’s worthy successor, being that hosts of this special BBN were gracious and modest enough to tug us along with them without being too overly smug.  This episode featured never-before-seen clips unaired by the BBN with a quirky spin off of our beloved Baron’s Got Talent, but with Edison Chargers! M. Night Shyamalan couldn’t have predicted such a twist! The talent that the Chargers displayed was playing video games which this columnist thought was pretty clever being that most of our Barons don’t even know what video games are! But never mind my philosophical discourses, this is all about our seniors and the assembly we were invited to participate in for those wondrous three hours.  In fact, my fellow brethren were so happy to sit through the forty minute BBN that they loudly applauded it even before it was over!  Now that’s quality.  The grandest applause came at the end when the credits rolled and the seniors were let out for lunch at 11:23 AM; A fitting end to a wonderfully long day.

]]> http://www.baronbanner.com/2010/06/05/a-lack-of-stars-part-i-a-reflection-on-the-senior-assemblies/feed/ 3 http://www.baronbanner.com/2010/06/04/miss-usa-killed-chivalry/ http://www.baronbanner.com/2010/06/04/miss-usa-killed-chivalry/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:24:39 +0000 jamieshigh http://www.baronbanner.com/?p=9969 By Jane Smith

Everybody has heard of the Miss USA pageant show, many of us might also be great fans. But the truth is pageant or not, it makes no sense to me whatsoever. Somebody please explain to me how fifty young women getting judged by their looks all the while spitting out superficial and unoriginal answers to superficial and unoriginal questions thus finding a lucky winner to put a tiara on top and call her “Miss USA”.

Let me start off by saying that a great percentage of the contestants are coincidently good looking. Now, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the qualifications are to be a pageant contestant: good looks. Now moving on through the actual contest which starts by seeing who can look best in a swimsuit and who looks best in a gown. And to make it all look somewhat intellectual, let’s ask the final contestants a few questions they already know the answers too! REALLY? Is our media really that desperate to catch an audience? Has our country run out of creative ideas thanks to The Simpsons, and American Idol? And the nation wonders why teens are suicidal and depressed.

When beauty is expressed by fake tans and anorexic diets, then we shouldn’t be surprised to see depression in the eyes of a girl who feels unsatisfied with herself because she is being compared to supermodels. The main message people get from broadcasts like Miss USA, is that women on TV are nothing but sex symbols that definitely don’t get judged by intellect. But I’m sure the producers of this contest didn’t know any better, and if they did who cares. Success censors whatever poison filled message might be going to audiences as well as viewers around the nation.

Word on the street is Chivalry is dead. But if you do your research you’ll find that Chivalry immediately died when shows like Miss USA first came out. It makes sense for a guy to think “Hey that girl looks just like Rima Fakih (Miss USA 2010 Pageant winner) I should open the door for her…” Thanks a lot Rima Fakih. Now, nobody opens the door for me anymore.

What is technophobia? It is the fear of technology or its advances. It is probably also the best-documented ideological war of the modern age. Who are the belligerents? The FCC, Senate, Australian Government, Cable News, Cable Companies, you, me, and probably every person you know who has played a video game, streamed a movie, or played a song.

Technophobia can be seen in many independent instances throughout the world. Last month, the FCC was denied the power to regulate Internet Service Providers as Telecom companies. Two years ago, the Australian government erected a firewall to block any content it deemed “illegal” or “inappropriate for children.” Fox News defamed the popular video game Mass Effect for its sex scenes by wildly exaggerating the content. And just a while before this, news outlets finally realized that not all video games were made for children.

What do all these instances have in common? They reflect the ignorance of a large amount of people when it comes to media and technology. Most people do not understand what “net neutrality” means, but will readily support their political party’s stance on the issue. People who have never played video games go out to critique the “influence of violent video games on children today.” News outlets run sensational headlines because they have nothing better to run.

It is the duty of the parent to regulate their child’s video games and internet activity, not that of some private or government group. It is the duty of the user not to abuse social networking to deprecate oneself or others, but instead to use it to genuinely keep contact with those who the person could not contact in any other way. It is the duty of the viewer not to pay attention to sensational headlines, not to fuel any fabricated controversy.

This means that video games should not be banned. The internet should not be censored. Social Networking should not die. Controversy should be clarified, not eliminated.

This column will expose the many different fronts this “war” is and was waged on, from the old campaigns against the “blight” of television to the battle against social networking websites today. In today’s world, we need not fear technology. The way we use technology depends on us, and not on the its nature.

It was dark over the seas of the Eastern Mediterranean late in the evening of May 31st, 2010. A convoy of ships sailing from Cyprus and bound to Gaza were met with fatal, and deadly force. The convoy, a part of theFree Gaza movement, was attempting to break the blockade over the intensely-occupied strip of desert, known as the Gaza strip. At approximately seventy miles of the coast of the strip, in international waters, the main vessel, the Mavi Maramara was raided by Israeli commandos. A few activists on board were thought to have used clubs and rocks to counteract the commandos’ offensive. The violence ended when at least 10 activists were killed, and dozens more wounded, by Israeli forces.

The international convoy consisted of vessels flagged from Turkey, Sweden, Greece, Ireland, and the United States. As Greta Berlin, an American who is in fact the organizer of the Freedom Flotilla, stated, “People certainly have the right to resist if they’re being attacked. We taught our Free Gaza Movement people to be non-violent, and the Turks did the same, but if anyone resisted, it was in response to soldiers opening fire on them when they hit the deck.”

The action by Israel has been met by a sweeping international outcry, and an essential political disaster for the nation of Israel. Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Denmark and Sweden have summoned their respective Israeli ambassadors. The widespread condemnation and disapproval of the raid, is seemingly unprecedented.

International repercussions are, as a result, intense. Protests against Israeli embassies or consulates have been noted in dozens of countries, most notably Turkey, which according to the Los Angeles Times, had up to 10,000 protestors take to the streets in Istanbul, Turkey. Other significant demonstrations took place in Cairo, Egypt, Gothenburg, Sweden, Spain, Jordan, France, Germany, and many other nations. Turkey recalled its ambassador, and along with Greece, has canceled plans for military exercises with Israel. Turkey has now stated that future vessels carrying aid will be escorted by a Turkish naval contingent. Turkey, Israel’s closest ally in the Middle East, appears to be fading away, especially in the wake of Gaza Flotilla raid.

The international convoy was comprised of citizens from the Turkey, The United  States, The United Kingdom, Norway, The Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, Israel, Palestine, Poland, Spain, Belgium, Kuwait, Australia, Greece, Canada, Malaysia, Serbia, Algeria, Cyprus, Ireland, and Sweden. Those on board the convoy included, a former US Congresswoman, a former US Ambassador, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, the retired archbishop of the the Melkite Greek Orthodox Church of Caesarea, and even an Israeli Knesset Member.  In addition,  members of the parliaments of The United Kingdom, Ireland, Kuwait, Sweden, and Germany were part of the convoy.

Israel’s response consisted of the cliché ”We were defending ourselves.” But, that excuse has its limits. What were the commandos afraid of? What was Israel afraid of? And why would they raid the ship in international waters- a blatant contravention of international law? The convoy went through customs checks before it sailed to Gaza. Why was such disproportionate force used against the peace activists? And what rights does Israel think it has to behave in the manner that it did? Israel’s own trade minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, even recognized the raid as a huge “scandal.” But most Israeli government officials are staunch supporters of the action. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, canceled his talks with President Obama to deal with the Gaza Flotilla incident. He said that Israeli commandos were protecting themselves. But again, the amount of force used does not seem defensive, but rather instigative.

If Israel genuinely acted as the democracy they claim to be, and let the flotilla pass, then the thousands impoverished in Gaza would be happy, Israel wouldn’t have almost every country on earth upset with it, and those people who lost their lives would be, well, alive. But then again, if Israel genuinely acted as the democracy they claimed to be, Gaza wouldn’t need that aide.

There is a twist to this whole story, as the vessel attacked was Turkish. Turkey, a NATO member, is protected under NATO doctrine, and accordingly is guaranteed rights if and when its vessels are attacked. Although a NATO intervention is highly unlikely, Israel is sailing through dangerous waters, no pun intended.

By Hassan Rassmy, Staff Writer

One student’s take on this year’s Miss USA winner

Rima Fakih, a Lebanese American, recently won the title of Miss USA this month at the Planet Hollywood Hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rima is thought to be the first Arab American and immigrant winner of the pageant, as past records are not thorough enough to prove otherwise.

Rima moved to the United States at a very young age from Lebanon, first landing in New York, and later Michigan, where she eventually grew up, in Dearborn, which has a highly populated Arab community. From there, she would win the Miss Michigan pageant, and later go on to the national level in Las Vegas. Rima actually sold her own car to achieve her ascendancy to the pageant.

Rima has been featured on a number of talk shows, and because of her success as the winner, will tour the country, as the official representative of the pageant.

As with every contestant, drama is a large factor. A few pictures of Rima “pole-dancing” surfaced, but were not an issue. Rima later explained that the “party” she was at was in fact held at eight o’clock in the morning, and was meant only for women, not your usual scandalous storyline. What seems to be the bigger issue is her religious affiliation. With Rima being of Arab background, religion plays a big part. Rima identifies as celebrating both Muslim and Christian holidays.

Within the Arab and Muslim spheres, there’s been talk of how she isn’t a good Muslim. But to each: their own. This isn’t a religious issue, it’s a cultural one. Many take pride to know that as of today, the “The most beautiful American,” happens to be Arab. It’s a large source of pride for both Arabs and Arab Americans alike.

As Rima put it, “My victory means anyone can make it in America.”

Hell yes Rima, hell yes.