At Home: Censored yearbook to be reprinted
When a grade 10 student at Lake Trail Secondary School in Courtenay, B.C., wrote a comment for the school yearbook there were some who didn’t give his write-up a passing grade. In fact, it was considered so controversial that staff used scissors to cut the passage out of the books before they were handed out to students.
As the CBC reports, Brandon Armstrong’s comment criticized principal Lori Carpenter, claiming that the principal had ?spent the school’s money on a fence rather than on textbooks.? School officials say that Armstrong’s comment wasn’t true, but somehow the offending passage made it into the yearbook.
Before the yearbooks were handed out to students, 150 copies had Armstrong’s entry cut out. The decision created a strong reaction from parents, students, and the community, with many decrying what they saw as censorship.
Emotions have been running so high over the matter that the principal has received hate mail, with comments that are ?very aggressive and very disrespectful,? as the assistant superintendent of the Comox Valley School District told reporters.
School officials have now made the decision to reprint the yearbooks and Armstrong ?will be allowed to write a new comment.? A local printing company has offered a discount to help ease the additional cost.
In Foreign News: Striking students in Puerto Rico claim victory
Most of the time, school strikes involve teachers walking out over contract disputes. But when officials at the University of Puerto Rico announced severe budget cuts, students turned the tables and began ?one of the largest and longest? strikes in Puerto Rican history.
As The New York Times reports, the student strike began two months ago. One of the issues they were protesting was ?a special fee that would have effectively doubled the cost to attend the university’s 11 public campuses.? On June 17, the students declared victory and ended their strike after they reached a deal that was brokered by a court-appointed mediator.
Although the deal still needs to be approved by ?a general assembly of university students,? It’s expected to pass since the students had all but one of their demands met. The only item not agreed to was a promise that the university would not implement a substantial tuition increase next year.
A key part of the deal was ?a promise that there will be no sanctions against strike organizers.? During the lengthy strike, organizers and police clashed on a few occasions at the university’s main campus outside San Juan.
And while life at the university might be getting back to normal, more disruptions are possible later this year when planned cuts are announced to professors? benefits and salaries.
