By Donald Chan, News Editor

Many chastise the Advanced Placement (AP) Program for measuring one\’s test-taking skills or for giving too much weight to a single three-hour exam, but its assessments are very similar to those of colleges and therefore have the same flaws. To solely criticize the AP Exams is to ignore the system of college evaluations from which the tests stem.

AP Exams are similar to college finals in measuring mastery of curriculum. Unlike high school classes, college courses only have a few tests throughout the year, and the final exam possesses a considerable amount of weight in determining one\’s grade for the semester.

I concede that someone\’s test scores do not adequately indicate how much he or she has learned. For example, many students cram the night before a big exam and forget everything after it. Others have test-taking anxiety and cannot demonstrate their knowledge on evaluations.

It is impossible to measure everyone\’s knowledge of the material fairly using a single evaluation or assignment, including projects, written tests, and practical exams. Any type of assessment plays to  a particular set of strengths, such as the process of elimination required on multiple-choice tests, critical thinking, and essay-writing, skills that some possess and others lack. One cannot solely blame the AP Exams for favoring those with superior test-taking skills, but instead must realize that all types of assessments and assignments are advantageous to those with a specific trait.

While AP Exams are deemed unfair, they validly determine the colleges\’ definition of knowledge of material as a student\’s performance on a single, cumulative test.

Public Notices: LOVE LETTERS

Thank you to those who purchased “Love Letters” from the Baron Banner. Your contribution makes our publication possible!

Cindylamchopper <3  Binh the Bunny

Miss Taylor: You are, and always will be The One. –Dr. Poff

Courtney Garrity, I think you are scrumpdiddlyumptious and you are a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious friend. I love you! Mari

All to of my “kids”: Have a great Valentine\’s Day! Make good choices. Mama M.

To Bert without a mustache. I love you so much. You\’re amazing. I can\’t wait until Valentine\’s Day. Love Raychl

To Bert with a mustache— I like you. I\’m so glad I met you, hun. Happy Valentine\’s Day. -Love Anonymous.

Albert Nguyen, age is but a number to me. Swim your way to your heart! –Your most ardent admirer

Trevor & Niles Marquez,
Happy Valentine\’s Day! I love you! –Mom

Madame Jones— Nous vous aimons! Merci beaucoup. Vous êtes très chouette ! – Love votre AP classe, period 3

Rachel Lynn London White: You\’re just amazing. –Andre P.S: I love you more.

I would write you a letter,
But I\’ve got something better.
Love. Happy Valentine\’s Day, Brina.

Mrs. Henderson! Woof Woof (I love you!) Happy Valentine\’s Day! –Love Scout

Boo! Happy Valentine\’s Day, Joseph Pham! Jennie\’s cool. You\’re not. Just kidding. I love you babe. 101107 <3 -Love always, Jennie

Well, I don\’t have a Valentine, so I\’m celebrating S.A.D. – Singles\’ Awareness Day. :] But I guess I\’ll take this opportunity to give a shout out to my cat—I love you!

H.T.H. – you are purely AMAZING! I will never forget “Warner & Magnolia,” cleaning the janitor\’s closet, and almost getting arrested with you. I\’ve had the time of my life with you. <3 L.L

Dearest Ellen Akashi,
You warm my heart.
You\’re as cool as Sweettarts.
I like Sweettarts. *hint hint*
–Love, Casey Odd

I miss you all Baron Banner kids! Hope to be back soon! Love, Amanda

Kara, el amor de mi vida. Tu piel es porcelana. Pero cuando no estás conmigo, siempre pienso en ti. –Tu admirador secreto

Happy Valentine\’s Day from your favorite librarian.

Annette, these past months have made me realize that I love you and hope to never lose you. –Your BF, David

Claudia, Nesli, Annie, and Sophia, we\’ve been through so much together since Masuda. I hope we stay friends Forever. Love ya!

Dear Valerie: You make my life miserable, but I would not have it any other way. Love, Kara

From one lover to another, keep me in your heart. I love you, Tiffy! –Vinson

Dearest Kimmie,
So, we wanted to give a secret something away, but I got this ‘cuz I felt bad. -Ellen

Chikapoo! Too many more good times and adventures! -Dustin Vu

Ian Leo, you\’re sooo sweet!
Going out with you would be a treat!
Love your Secret Admirer

Ms. LaFramboise, thanks for everything. Your class was challenging, but very fun. Thanks for all your support and enthusiasm.

Kyle Sugitan, this is for you:
My heart to you is given:
Oh, do give yours to me;
We\’ll lock them up together,
& throw away the key.
- Your Opposite

To the sweetie whom I love so much (don\’t deny it). I haven\’t felt happy like this in awhile. ~ Cutie <3

Aarushi—I\’ll be waiting in New York City!
— J.F.

Good luck in college, Ricky! You were great, and Mock Trial will miss you! And…the Game. — Matthew

Wendy, you are the epitome of the female persona, all in a petite package!
Love, Alan

Valerie, I owe you so much for the things you have done for me, and I will make up the debts. I promise.
— Anonymous

Dear Jaime,
I have twenty words to express my feelings. So, here it is. I love you, always and forever.

Happy Valentine\’s Day Beckaffanayah! I love you! — Sarah Yoo

Julie, I simply cannot put into words how I feel for you. There\’s just not enough words…

NECAS= the best group EVER! All the laughs, sleepover(s), hangouts — it\’s impossible to erase the memories…thru thick & thin — love you guys <3 C.

Hey Kyle, even though I scare you, I hope this Valentine’s Day gives you enough courage to stop running away.

Tim: Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you.
Love, Rick

Ms. Ziller, I didn\’t enjoy the subject you taught, but I definitely enjoyed the class and way you taught it. — former student

Peter Nguyen & Sean Goebel,
Hope this brings a smile to your faces. Study hard; don\’t let the squirrels beat ya!

Señor Yarton. No me gusta usted mucho. ¿¿Por qué tocómi ipod?? Usted es loco y no quiero estar en su clase.

El mensaje de arriba no es serio y pensamos que Señor Yarnton es un maestro magnífico. = )

To Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Penhall, admit it already: you guys are like two peas in a pod! = ]

Miles part, I\’ll remember how your random twitching made me smile,a nd your sleeptalking made me laugh. I love you.

Aboo, I hope your Valentine\’s Day is as sweet as you are, because you\’re my sweetheart. –Honey bee

Shakespeare was wrong. Even if the world was a stage, not all of the people would be players. Sure, you might have the jock and the school coquette as the lead roles. The second-string benchwarmer and femme fatale might be their respective understudies. The school emo could even play Hamlet. And of the intellectuals? They\’re around somewhere – maybe on the balconies. But pay no heed to them; no one ever does. Everyone else worries over the drama of the high school theater.

A Time article noted our society\’s view of intelligence: “As a culture, we feel deeply ambiguous about genius. We venerate Einstein, but there is no more detested creature than the know-it-all. We like athletic prodigies like Tiger Woods…but the mercurial, aloof, annoying nerd has been a trope our culture…intellectual precocity fascinates but repels.” In a clique-based setting that bars idiosyncrasies, straying from the norm is a taboo. Far from the norm, intellectualism is hardly fostered. What bears even a remote resemblance is the intellectual labor force.

School is a place for learning, though learning of different types. Students learn through operant conditioning how to obediently take orders so they can grow up to be Willie Loman. Most of all, they learn how to stay ahead of the game – that is, deceive, cheat, envy. They look not inwards to find meaning but look around to see what everyone else is doing. They care an awful lot about others\’ actions. Sometimes, I suspect that they know my schedule better than I do. They are even friendly enough to calculate my prospective GPA for me. They learn to distinguish between Advanced Placement and College Prep. However, there really is no difference. Everyone must deal with the shtick. We like to joke about the dead-end cubicle job ten years from now, but the real joke is that the cubicle is already here. The only difference is that we have to share it with thirty other people.

AP classes have deviated far from their original intent. Originally emblems reserved for private school scholars, “AP” now just means you have a death wish of a commitment to homework. The advent of AP classes brought about frenzy for quantity of knowledge over quality. History is whittled down to fit in a phonebook-sized test prep book. The sciences must adhere to old models palpable only to the College Board. Mathematics is often an avalanche of problems; we hardly know which way is up and are lucky to find the correct equation. The teachers are confined by time and the curriculum to follow the routine. Gearing for the big test in May, they make students learn by means of memorization. Rote memorization follows rote work. The paradox is that for all the detail and minutiae, the AP test reduces to shallowness.

This is not to say that the systemic flaws affect a small population. No Child Left Behind seems to leave everyone behind. Essentially, the school gears for and harasses students with standardized tests to maintain accreditation. The purpose of school then is not to enlighten spiritually the benighted mediocrity but to further their own agenda. This agenda does not necessarily converge with the best interests of the students. A great deal of politicking makes school more than just a place of learning.

For those who care, here is a real-life application. Anti-intellectualism occurs in politics when soon-to-be presidential candidates want to fit in with everyone else. William Henry Harrison lied when he said he had been born in a log cabin; in truth, he had been a polished product of privilege. Ulysses S. Grant waved his “bloody shirt” – an emblem reserved for victorious war veterans.

While history does not necessarily repeat itself, it sure tends to rhyme. Clinton went to Yale. Romney was at the top of his Harvard Graduate Law class. Both Michael Dukakis and Barack Obama were Harvard scholars. However, never an utterance by any candidates about their highly educated backgrounds reached the American public. The former staged a game of catch with his campaigning team. This later glamorized stint was meant to toughen his public image, like an apt drinking buddy. Obama poked Clinton, saying, “I never inherited this…I never had some fancy congressional internship.” He is supposedly still paying off his college loans, like the majority of Americans. Intellectualism is simply not the image the voting populace wants to see.

As Joan Didion wrote, “They do not want managerial elite. They do not want political specialists who speak the political lingo, a language not specific the common man.” They do not want a candidate who can rattle off the accomplishments of his pedigree. They want, at most, an anti-intellectual. The frills of politics show that we leave high school just to enter an even bigger one.

Maybe Kurt Vonnegut was on to something when he wrote “Harrison Bergeron.” Bizarre egalitarian ideals dictate that everyone must receive the same education. Everyone must work at the same level. Anyone working above some subjective level of proficiency receives glares and snide remarks because they are not like everyone else. Even then, intellectuals are pushed aside to fend for themselves. The notion that they will always be fine is horrendously flawed.

Time noted that schools tended to care “most about kids at the bottom, stragglers of impoverished means or IQs. But surprisingly, gifted students drop out at the same rates as non-gifted kids – about 5% of both populations leave school early.” Intellectuals have to be challenged, not driven to tears with drivel. It takes a lot of practice to keep the mental faculties in shape, just like an athlete needs to work out everyday to keep at his best. Without a challenge to match their talents, both are stifled and their capabilities squandered. Society cannot progress by treating everyone the same. More needs to be done to lift those with the capabilities to their full potential rather than to drag all others to some level of mediocrity.

“What happen if the elites of the world withdraw?” was a central question in Ayn Rand\’s Atlas Shrugged? Or what happens if the majority obliviously obliterates the minority? Because I am not an intellectual, I cannot fathom such questions. I can only look up at them, high above the stage. I can only wonder what happens when their fingers slip and hit the “off” switch, when the world stage goes very dark.

Many students have questions on the conditions for changing classes. Listed below are the Guidance Department\’s rules.

1. Student has not met the prerequisite for the course.
2. Student did not receive the required grade level course in his/her schedule.
3. Student does not have a minimum of five classes (jr./sr.) or six classes (frosh./soph.)
4. Student has failed a required course and needs to repeat it.
5. Student has requested a course that has been cancelled.
6. The word “Conflict” or “Invalid Course” appear on the student\’ on the student\’s schedule.
7. Student took class in Summer School.
8. The word “Unassigned” appears in the middle of student\’s schedule.
9. Wrong course code was indicated on student\’s schedule.
10. Student needs to add ROP or Department Aide.
11. Student\’s petition for selected class has been approved.