Bellevue has changed since then, so why have things stayed the same? “[Class rank] can be a good ranking system based on rigor of class work, but it also causes lots of undue stress,” senior Mallory McClure said. e pressure to succeed at a public school ranked 148th in the nation by Newsweek is not always a nec- essary burden. In fact, many of the best public schools in the country have begun to remove class rank from their school entirely. Oak Parks Fenwick High School in Chicago suspended class rank in 1972, and have re- mained unscathed by the college admissions process. Surprisingly, many colleges are not able to dif- ferentiate between the elite public schools and their (perhaps) subpar neighbors. Typically, colleges will have regional high school experts who they will con- sult before every application. However, students apply- ing to schools lacking a representative in any region from which they are receiving applicants run the risk of being leſt without distinction, despite their school’s difficult standards. “Someone in the top 10 percent at Bellevue may be in the top 20 percent at a school like Interlake, or the top 5 percent at a school like Sammamish,” senior Brian Lawrence said. Granted, Sammamish and Interlake are actually both ranked higher than Bellevue under the same Newsweek poll cited earlier, but this again suggests the subjectivity of any rank. So how are students supposed to know how this rank will impact them? In most cases, colleges look for a range of percents, such as the top five. Because of this, principal Margaret Regan of Martha’s Vineyard’s Regional High School in Massachusetts established a bar-ranking system, clustering students under classi- fications such as “top 5 percent” and “top 10 percent,” whose grade point average differences are negligible. Although a bar-ranking system provides the aca- demic impetus without focusing on the specifics, there are still flaws that must be addressed. Unfortunately, there is no compensation for those with passions that do not equate to the “rigor” of an honors course. Classes like band, orchestra, leadership, yearbook and the newspaper all require year-long elective commitments that, despite their heſty work- load, can significantly damage one’s standings. It is imperative that we reward students for pursu- ing their futures. e least BHS can do is stop dispar- aging those who are only brilliant outside the realm of Bellevue’s core curriculum. “A group of such diverse students cannot be ranked in one list,” senior Dan Wiegand said. SAM LEGGETT Research Director 6 THE BARQUE NOVEMBER 18, 2011 OPINION Piracy is generally accepted as a problem, as something wrong. Yet most of us commit this crime anyway. e Business Soſtware Alliance defines piracy as “the unauthorized copying or distribution of copyrighted soſtware.” is includes buying one soſtware program, like Photoshop, and then downloading it on to more than one computer, or making a CD for your friends of music that you bought on systems such as iTunes – and obviously from websites such as Media Fire or Video2mp3. e issue with excessive piracy, however, is that pirating music and movies is extremely tempting. ousands of websites exist for people to easily retrieve these desirable items at little or no cost. Even I am guilty of purchasing counterfeit Ray-Bans on the sidewalk and of pressing the “convert” button to download a song from YouTube –and my mother is the CEO of CREATe.org, an advocacy group promoting legal use of soſtware However, the establishment of my mom’s foundation has allowed me to understand that piracy is detrimental to society. When people steal other people’s creativity by downloading music or movies illegally, they remove the incentive for people to be creative. If people are constantly downloading songs and books for no cost, why would anybody want to be an artist or author for a living if there is no financial reward? New artists are typically funded by the earnings of another artist – with- out the financial means to sponsor up-and-coming musicians, they will not be able to discover and produce new artists of any merit. e only music available will be from those who pay their own way into the music industry – think of Rebecca Black, everywhere. It seems harmless to download one song illegally, but the collective cost of millions of pirated songs is immense. To be exact, it is costing the American economy $12.5 billion annually, in addition to 70,000 lost jobs. Next time you think about pressing “download,” consider the effect that your small but very illegal action (which can be punished by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in jail) has on society. e Internet is like a gateway drug, exposing people to a diverse array of music and television they would not have experienced otherwise. As more discoveries are made, the price of legally listening to or viewing this media can create a huge dent in one’s wallet. File sharing is the most common way for people to pass along information about computer programs, games and music. Pirating was born so that people could indulge in all the media they desire for free. Anti-piracy measures have actually propagated piracy. Constantly paro- died ad campaigns, like the Motion Picture Association of America’s “You wouldn’t steal a car,” do not make pirates feel guilty. Instead, the viewers a leſt with the sense that piracy is an exaggerated crime. ese campaigns also promote a false message. Pirates are not actually stealing anything; rather they are making a copy of a file and leave the origi- nal untainted. While pirating does indeed create less profit for a company or artist, it is difficult to view piracy itself as a crime. Piracy does not have negative effects on artists, either. In fact, re- search has shown that less popular artists profit from piracy because piracy increases the chances that lesser known bands will get enough attention to become acclaimed stars themselves. In a study conducted by the Harvard Department of Economics, 75 percent of all artists profit in recognition from file sharing, which includes downloading songs and albums gratis. e lesser known artists thus gain recognition and begin to profit more as a result of piracy. All in all, humans are smart; they are constantly finding loopholes to solve problems. Anti-piracy laws will thus allow new bypassing methods to arise. Companies wishing to eliminate the issue of piracy must welcome customers with open arms; piracy is not going anywhere. crossfire: piracy class rank is overrated OCCUPYING THE TOP SPOTS: The top five ranked seniors, in no particular order. From leſt to right: Gene Yoon, Sophia Wrench, Daniel Yao, Xia Hui Huang and Frank Lu. respect the artists and download legally illegal downloading leads to more recognition SARAH GUINEE Features Editor VANDAN KASAR Graphics Editor PHOTOS BY LONDON LEE AND HOLLY WARENDORF e clock is ticking and seniors know it. Essays are meticulously rewritten by students’ college counselors, Friday nights become study sessions for the last ACT/ SAT and teachers are barraged with counselors’ student evaluation forms. Yet all the while, they are waiting for the first week of October to receive the final statistic to check off the Common Application: class rank. Although it may be a time-tested tradition, class rank no longer means what it used to, and must be reconsid- ered as a component of BHS. “Class rank is a good idea in theory… but the system is so broken and doesn’t really do a good job,” senior David Lee said. ere once was a time when the system worked. Fewer kids went to college, the valedictorian truly was the smartest kid in school and honors courses – not even advanced placement – were prestigious.
06 Opinion
Mar 10, 2016
OPINION THE BARQUENOVEMBER18,2011 SAM LEGGETT Research Director OCCUPYING THE TOP SPOTS: The top five ranked seniors, in no particular order. From left to right: Gene Yoon, Sophia Wrench, Daniel Yao, Xia Hui Huang and Frank Lu. PHOTOS BY LONDON LEE AND HOLLY WARENDORF
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Bellevue has changed since then, so why have things stayed the same?
“[Class rank] can be a good ranking system based on rigor of class work, but it also causes lots of undue stress,” senior Mallory McClure said.
� e pressure to succeed at a public school ranked 148th in the nation by Newsweek is not always a nec-essary burden. In fact, many of the best public schools in the country have begun to remove class rank from their school entirely. Oak Parks Fenwick High School in Chicago suspended class rank in 1972, and have re-mained unscathed by the college admissions process.
Surprisingly, many colleges are not able to dif-ferentiate between the elite public schools and their (perhaps) subpar neighbors. Typically, colleges will have regional high school experts who they will con-sult before every application. However, students apply-ing to schools lacking a representative in any region from which they are receiving applicants run the risk of being le� without distinction, despite their school’s di� cult standards.
“Someone in the top 10 percent at Bellevue may be in the top 20 percent at a school like Interlake, or the top 5 percent at a school like Sammamish,” senior Brian Lawrence said.
Granted, Sammamish and Interlake are actually both ranked higher than Bellevue under the same
Newsweek poll cited earlier, but this again suggests the subjectivity of any rank.
So how are students supposed to know how this rank will impact them? In most cases, colleges look for a range of percents, such as the top � ve. Because of this, principal Margaret Regan of Martha’s Vineyard’s Regional High School in Massachusetts established a bar-ranking system, clustering students under classi-� cations such as “top 5 percent” and “top 10 percent,” whose grade point average di� erences are negligible.
Although a bar-ranking system provides the aca-demic impetus without focusing on the speci� cs, there are still � aws that must be addressed.
Unfortunately, there is no compensation for those with passions that do not equate to the “rigor” of an honors course. Classes like band, orchestra, leadership, yearbook and the newspaper all require year-long elective commitments that, despite their he� y work-load, can signi� cantly damage one’s standings.
It is imperative that we reward students for pursu-ing their futures. � e least BHS can do is stop dispar-aging those who are only brilliant outside the realm of Bellevue’s core curriculum.
“A group of such diverse students cannot be ranked in one list,” senior Dan Wiegand said.
SAM LEGGETTResearch Director
6 THE BARQUENOVEMBER 18, 2011OPINION
Piracy is generally accepted as a problem, as something wrong. Yet most of us commit this crime anyway. � e Business So� ware Alliance de� nes piracy as “the unauthorized copying or distribution of copyrighted so� ware.” � is includes buying one so� ware program, like Photoshop, and then downloading it on to more than one computer, or making a CD for your friends of music that you bought on systems such as iTunes – and obviously from websites such as Media Fire or Video2mp3.
� e issue with excessive piracy, however, is that pirating music and movies is extremely tempting. � ousands of websites exist for people to easily retrieve these desirable items at little or no cost.
Even I am guilty of purchasing counterfeit Ray-Bans on the sidewalk and of pressing the “convert” button to download a song from YouTube –and my mother is the CEO of CREATe.org, an advocacy group promoting legal use of so� ware
However, the establishment of my mom’s foundation has allowed me to understand that piracy is detrimental to society.
When people steal other people’s creativity by downloading music or movies illegally, they remove the incentive for people to be creative. If people are constantly downloading songs and books for no cost, why would anybody want to be an artist or author for a living if there is no � nancial reward?
New artists are typically funded by the earnings of another artist – with-out the � nancial means to sponsor up-and-coming musicians, they will not be able to discover and produce new artists of any merit. � e only music available will be from those who pay their own way into the music industry – think of Rebecca Black, everywhere.
It seems harmless to download one song illegally, but the collective cost of millions of pirated songs is immense. To be exact, it is costing the American economy $12.5 billion annually, in addition to 70,000 lost jobs.
Next time you think about pressing “download,” consider the e� ect that your small but very illegal action (which can be punished by a � ne of up to $250,000 and � ve years in jail) has on society.
� e Internet is like a gateway drug, exposing people to a diverse array of music and television they would not have experienced otherwise. As more discoveries are made, the price of legally listening to or viewing this media can create a huge dent in one’s wallet. File sharing is the most common way for people to pass along information about computer programs, games and music. Pirating was born so that people could indulge in all the media they desire for free.
Anti-piracy measures have actually propagated piracy. Constantly paro-died ad campaigns, like the Motion Picture Association of America’s “You wouldn’t steal a car,” do not make pirates feel guilty. Instead, the viewers a le� with the sense that piracy is an exaggerated crime.
� ese campaigns also promote a false message. Pirates are not actually stealing anything; rather they are making a copy of a � le and leave the origi-nal untainted. While pirating does indeed create less pro� t for a company or artist, it is di� cult to view piracy itself as a crime.
Piracy does not have negative e� ects on artists, either. In fact, re-search has shown that less popular artists pro� t from piracy because piracy increases the chances that lesser known bands will get enough attention to become acclaimed stars themselves. In a study conducted by the Harvard Department of Economics, 75 percent of all artists pro� t in recognition from � le sharing, which includes downloading songs and albums gratis. � e lesser known artists thus gain recognition and begin to pro� t more as a result of piracy.
All in all, humans are smart; they are constantly � nding loopholes to solve problems. Anti-piracy laws will thus allow new bypassing methods to arise. Companies wishing to eliminate the issue of piracy must welcome customers with open arms; piracy is not going anywhere.
cross� re: piracy
class rank is overrated OCCUPYING THE TOP SPOTS: The top fi ve ranked seniors, in no particular order. From left to right: Gene Yoon, Sophia
Wrench, Daniel Yao, Xia Hui Huang and Frank Lu.
respect the artists and download legally
illegal downloading leads to more recognition
SARAH GUINEEFeatures Editor
VANDAN KASARGraphics Editor
PHOTOS BY LONDON LEE AND HOLLY WARENDORF
� e clock is ticking and seniors know it. Essays are meticulously rewritten by students’ college counselors, Friday nights become study sessions for the last ACT/SAT and teachers are barraged with counselors’ student evaluation forms. Yet all the while, they are waiting for the � rst week of October to receive the � nal statistic to check o� the Common Application: class rank. Although it may be a time-tested tradition, class rank no longer means what it used to, and must be reconsid-ered as a component of BHS.
“Class rank is a good idea in theory… but the system is so broken and doesn’t really do a good job,” senior David Lee said.
� ere once was a time when the system worked. Fewer kids went to college, the valedictorian truly was the smartest kid in school and honors courses – not even advanced placement – were prestigious.
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