<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"  xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"><channel><title>Student Voices Speak Outs</title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/</link><description>Click on a topic to read and participate in a moderated discussion with other Student Voices participants.</description><ttl>60</ttl><item><title><![CDATA[ Eliminating 12th Grade: Selling Students Short or Balancing Budgets? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=766</link><description><![CDATA[ Hey, juniors - it’s June, your school year is wrapping up.  How would you feel if your high school career was ending as well? Utah State Sen. Chris Buttars thinks he has a cure for senioritis – eliminating 12th grade from all high schools across the state. Senior year, he says, is good for “nothing but playing around.” The senator proposed this move before the state legislature earlier this spring. He says it will help close Utah’s $700 million shortage in budget money by saving about $102 million a year. “You're spending a whole lot of money for a whole bunch of kids who aren't getting anything out of that grade,” Buttars said. “It comes down to the best use of money.” When reaction to Buttars’ plan skewed negative, he offered a different version; rather than eliminating 12th grade altogether, make it optional for students who have completed a core number of credits. This would save the state about $60 million a year. 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>07 Jun 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>John Vettese, Staff Writer and James Horner, Student</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=766</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Do parents have a right to hold a school bake sale? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=765</link><description><![CDATA[ Don’t mess with the homemade chocolate cupcakes and Rice Krispies bars. Outraged parents in New York City recently took up spatulas and spoons to protest a city crackdown on school bake sales, those ubiquitous and often lucrative fund-raisers. Getting the figurative pie in the face were city education officials, who say they have to balance fund-raising needs with the child obesity epidemic. Forty percent of the children in city schools are obese or overweight, they say. And they need to know, and control, the nutritional content of snacks sold in schools. Homemade goodies obviously don’t come with such labels. 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>01 Jun 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Ellen Iwamoto, Staff Writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=765</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Should genes be patented? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=764</link><description><![CDATA[ If a woman in your family wanted to get tested to see if she carries an inherited risk for breast or ovarian cancer, there has been only one place to send her blood sample: Myriad Genetics’ labs.  That’s because Myriad has held exclusive rights to two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer and has been able to stop other companies from developing tests for these genes.  How is this possible?   In the last two decades, science has made great progress in mapping the hereditary pieces of information of genes to assess your chances of getting certain diseases and to develop custom-made treatments.  It might surprise you to learn that the companies and academic centers responsible for these advances have been able to patent – or stake claim to – the genes they have isolated and the research connected with them.  These patents provide the companies and researchers with exclusive rights to interpret the information contained in the genes and to offer tests to the public based on those genes. Now a federal court has struck down Myriad’s patents, putting into question thousands of other gene patents.
 ]]> </description><pubDate>24 May 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>James Horner, Student</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=764</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ When maps attack: A primer on political gerrymandering ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=763</link><description><![CDATA[ 
In the world of politics, maps turn into living things. An Iowa attorney compared them to an amoeba during a 2007 NPR interview.  A Philadelphia Inquirer writer used the more colorful description, “a mutant, one-legged lobster with an oversize claw.” And if you’ve ever played TheReDistricting Game, you’ve watched its cartoon of a map turning into giant green alligator, hungrily munching away at the elected officials around it. Obviously, we aren’t talking about your average, everyday atlas. These are political district maps, drawing the boundaries of where one elected official’s territory ends and the other begins. And the reason they get compared to monsters is because of a process known as gerrymandering. It’s something that  you’ll be hearing much more about as census forms are counted and elections approach. 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>17 May 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>John Vettese, Staff Writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=763</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Flash Mobs: From urban fracas to policy game changers ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=761</link><description><![CDATA[ Imagine sitting on a park bench in your favorite park, or shopping in a department store. Suddenly, a mass of people descend, causing havoc and damaging property. You might be scratching your head and wondering what just happened, but don’t worry. The phenomenon has a name: It’s called a flash mob. Flash mobs started out peacefully about seven years ago as fun social experiments – often including street art, impromptu performances by bands or theater troupes. Sometimes they can be silly – pillow fights or silent iPod dance parties, for example – or they can be a marketing ploy to hype up a new product for the key teenage demographic. Recently though, they have turned violent throughout the United States, from large cities like Philadelphia, Boston, New York to smaller urban cities like Chattanooga, TN and South Orange, NJ. Philadelphia has witnessed four flash mobs in the past several months that have resulted in assaults and property damage. And unfortunately for you, the mobs were mainly high-school age students, leading to hysteria about high schoolers running amok and frightening people (because nothing freaks out parents and the authorities more than a mob of uncontrollable teenagers). But what causes this phenomenon?
 ]]> </description><pubDate>03 May 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Jeremy Quattlebaum, Student Voices staff writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=761</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ No Child Left Behind, Take Two: How should the U.S. revise its education law? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=760</link><description><![CDATA[ If your school is like most, it probably goes into high-stress mode around standardized testing time. These standardized tests, which are used to get a feel for how well your district teaches reading and math, have been around for quite some time. They are used to help figure out how much federal funding your school needs and how much it receives. But standardized tests became particularly important in 2001 when Congress passed the No Child Left Behind education reform act under President George W. Bush. Now the law is approaching its ten-year mark, and President Barack Obama is totally rethinking the way it is implemented. Don’t get too excited – you’re still going to have to take tests. But those tests won’t be as high-stakes. 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>26 Apr 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>John Vettese, Staff Writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=760</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Would soda taxes improve public health?   ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=759</link><description><![CDATA[ 


    























    
    
    




    























    
    
    

You know it’s probably not the best choice to reach for that sugary soft drink instead of a water bottle or glass of skim milk.  But it gives you a boost and is just so refreshing.  What if your state or local government decided to try to add a tax to your favorite sweetened beverage to get you to cut down or even cut out your consumption in the name of better health?  That is just what is happening around the country. Would a soda tax help improve public health?  Is it discriminatory?  Does it interfere with your freedom of choice?  Would a soda tax cause you to drink fewer sugary beverages?  Join the discussion!

 ]]> </description><pubDate>12 Apr 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>James Horner, Student</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=759</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ The Active Citizen: How to Make Your School Healthier ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=758</link><description><![CDATA[ No matter where you live, Alaska or Texas, Maine or California, there is something in your community that can use improvement. Maybe the stream that cuts through town gives off a bad smell when the weather gets warm, or your school lunches are far from what you would call healthy. And you may be thinking to yourself, someone should do something about this. 
 
And you are right. But guess what… THAT PERSON IS YOU!
 ]]> </description><pubDate>05 Apr 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator>Jeremy Quattlebaum, Student Voices Staff Writer</dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=758</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Student Voices Reports: The Masterman Mock Election ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=757</link><description><![CDATA[  ]]> </description><pubDate>01 Apr 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator></dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=757</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[ Webcamgate: Did a school’s laptop security feature violate students’ privacy? ]]> </title><link>http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=756</link><description><![CDATA[ How far do your school’s disciplinary boundaries go? When do they cross the line? In Lower Merion, PA, a student sued his high school when he said he was disciplined for alleged behavior that occurred inside his own home. What evidence did the school find of this? Webcam pictures taken by a district-issued laptop. The case made waves across the country last month and has raises questions about personal privacy, schools’ responsibility to safeguard their students, and ethics in education. 
 ]]> </description><pubDate>19 Mar 2010 00:00:00:000</pubDate><dc:creator></dc:creator><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.student-voices.org/SpeakOutDiscussion.aspx?Id=756</guid></item></channel></rss>