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o b l i v i o n
I s s u e 7
S p r i n g - 1 9 9 8
"youth culture killed my cat."
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Contents
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Oblivion Speaks . . . . . . . . . . .
Nemomancer (nemo@oblivion.net)
News Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jestapher (jest@oblivion.net)
Clones . . . . . . . . . . . .
Maureen Lindquist (starstrail@oblivion.net)
Graduated Licensing . . . . . . . . .
Eric P. Anderson (master@oblivion.net)
The Plight of The Last . . . . . . .
The Last (thelast@oblivion.net)
Letters . . . . . . . . . . . .
you, the reader (oblivion@oblivion.net)
Stupid Rules . . . . . . . . . . .
l0rdp00 (lordpoo@oblivion.net)
Hail Satan! . . . . . . . . . . . .
Paulo (paulo@oblivion.net)
From My Perspective . . . . . . . .
Nazdreg Z (nazdregz@oblivion.net)
Zero Tolerance, Zero Intelligence . . . . .
Jestapher (jest@oblivion.net)
Coke Lovin' Administrators . . . . . . .
Tyler (tyler@oblivion.net)
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Oblivion Speaks
Nemomancer
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Well, it's been another three, four, six months since the last issue,
but that doesn't bother any of us here. We're cool. We can handle it. It's
no reason to panic. It's all good. It's all good.
Much has been happening here at oblivion. Unfortunately for Jestapher,
real life got in the way and he moved to Seattle to further his education.
Wheeler, who was living with me due to a motherly desertion, was finally
kicked out of my house by my parents and lives in a trailer in a trailer
park behind a supermarket somewhere. I on the other hand have had no such
social earthquakes come to disrupt my routine. But that's not to say stuff
hasn't been happening to oblivion itself.
Oblivion is now located on its very own server, which means we can
reward our writers by giving them shell accounts with email and webspace all
kinds of fun stuff like that. All you angstful readers take note. You could
someday be [insert name here]@oblivion.net! This issue is jam packed with
oppression, anti-oppression, oppression-based angst and, of course, news.
Also, oblivion is hosting gobs of new pro-youth zines and websites, such as
YouthSpeak, Undumb, Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions and
The Last. We've also got the obv-talk mailing list, which is the premier
source for youth rights news. Check the oblivion.net sites out cause they
all rock.
Anyways, there is really no good excuse for our extreme tardiness, so
you'll all have to live with it. In fact, oblivion may get weirder in the
coming year due to the fact that the entire original staff will be either in
or entering the world of higher education. This excludes Pueblo, the intern
Wheeler spoke of last issue who I could never seem to meet. Apparently, he
left to pursue a better offer with "Esquire." In fact, only one of the
origional writers isn't at this very moment in some higher learning
"establishment." For all of you just tuning in, high school sucks.
Funny thing happened the other day. I'm a sort of network administrator
guy at my school for all the PC's around. So I'm walking down one of the
four main halls, far far from the servers, and the announcement lady come on
the PA and announces that the school's power is going to be shut down in
under five minutes. I had no choice but to sprint down the hall, through
another hall and interrupt a class just so I could get to the gigantic bank
of servers before they all crashed. To cut a long story short, I saved the
day seconds before the room went black. Turns out a telephone pole caught
fire. Go me. Go oblivion.
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News Briefs
Jestapher
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April 15, 1998
San Diego, CA
San Diego police ended a three-month sting at Mira Mesa High School and
arrested ten students on suspicion of selling drugs.
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April 9, 1998
Pocatello, ID
A 14-year-old who took five classmates hostage surrendered in exchange
for a carton of cigarettes and a pizza.
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April 8, 1998
San Antonio, TX
Two high school girls were suspended and reassigned for getting tattoos
above their ankles depicting a woman engaged in a "sex act."
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April 7, 1998
Alexandria, VA
A federal district judge today rejected a government motion to dismiss
a lawsuit challenging the use of blocking software in public libraries in
Loudoun County, Virginia.
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April 5, 1998
Albany, NY
The New York Supreme Court ruled that the parents of Heidi Reyer, a
teen who threw a kegger while her parents where gone, can be held liable for
injuries that a girl suffered when she got punched in the face by a drunken
partygoer.
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April 2, 1998
Thousand Oaks, CA
Joe Pawlick, Westlake High School assistant principal, came to school
to find his office window broken by a brick and death threat scrawled on the
sidewalk outside.
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April 1, 1998
Fairfax, VA
A 13-year-old has been convicted of attempting to arrange sex-for-pay
between girls and boys at his middle school.
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April 1, 1998
Lille, France
An 18-year-old who brought a gun to school and asked a classmate to put
it to his temple and pull the trigger, thinking the safety was on, is dead.
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March 28, 1998
Santa Ana, CA
Attorneys for the parents of Chad MacDonald, a 17-year-old forced to
become an undercover informant to clear his record and subsequently murdered
because of it, have received the 97-page police report that includes
eyewitness accounts of his beating death.
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March 25, 1998
Jonesboro, AR
Two middle school boys pulled the school fire alarm, and ambushed
teachers and students while they waited outside. Four girls and one teacher
were murdered.
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March 24, 1998
San Fransisco, CA
The California Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America can
deny entrance to Michael and William Randall, two agnostic boys.
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March 4, 1998
Jackson, MS
Verline Stiffic is accused of shooting a gun at her son in the Brinkley
Middle School office. She was called in because he was found with marijuana,
and apparently, their conversation didn't go too well.
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February 26, 1998
Concord, California
Keke Kaste and Jordan Stock are suing Concord High School after being
sent home from a European band trip for drinking what chaperones said was an
alcoholic Irish cream coffee.
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February 17, 1998
Milpitas, CA
The Milpitas Unified School District is considering a plan to turn
drug-sniffing dogs loose in classrooms, hallways and parking lots. Students
and parents have vowed to fight it.
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February 12, 1998
Olympia, WA
State legislators have introduced legislation to make it easier to
commit minors to mental institutions. They've been trying it for years, the
first attempt was overturned by the Supreme Court and the second attempt was
vetoed by the governor.
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February 12, 1998
Fullerton, CA
Nicolas Junior High administrators have changed their policy on hugging
after Alicia Galvan and Katrina Weed , 14 and 15, complained about the
policy at a school board meeting. Hugging and other displays of affection
were initially banned but now the assistant superintendent said some hugs
and gestures such as high-fives are allowed.
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February 9, 1998
Collinsville, MO
Two students at North Junior High School have been expelled for
carrying caffeine pills, Aleve and acne medication. Two other girls caught
with the drugs were removed from school by their parents.
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February 5, 1998
Olympia, WA
House Bill 1407, which would punish merchants who sell minors tape or
CDs deemed to contain dirty lyrics, passed the House Law and Justice
Committee. The proposal, which has died many times in previous years,
probably won't make it to law.
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February 3, 1998
Santa Ana, CA
The California Supreme Court rejected a request by the Boy Scouts of
America to temporarily block any efforts by 16-year-old Michael and William
Randall to become Eagle Scouts. The boys, who won't recite a religious oath,
have been battling the organization since age 9.
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February 3, 1998
Atlanta, GA
A 15-year-old boy charged with robbing six Atlanta banks told police he
did it for "the thrills" and threw the money away. That's $50,000 in the
garbage.
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January 30, 1998
Palo Alto, CA
More than a dozen teenagers attended a Palo Alto party, but not one
attempted to stop five young men from gang-raping a teenage girl in a back
bedroom, police reports show. One partygoer said he thought the girl was a
willing participant because the bedroom door was locked.
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January 29, 1998
McMinnville, OR
Two women police officers searching for stolen makeup, jewelry and cash
at a middle school strip-searched about 25 girls, some of whom say they were
asked to lift their shirts, shake their bras and drop their panties. They
found nothing.
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January 29, 1998
Detroit, MI
Administrators of the state's standardized education tests apparently
broke the law by requiring Michigan's 122,000 public school fifth-graders to
submit their fingerprints in class without their parents' permission.
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January 27, 1998
Johnstown, NY
The Johnstown School District has suspended its DARE program
indefinitely and a teacher for two days after she wore the DARE officer's
loaded holstered gun around Warren Street Elementary School.
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January 24, 1998
Burbank, CA
Seven boys, ranging in ages from 12 to 16, were arrested on suspicion
of vandalism after they were caught rolling down rails at the newly opened
police and fire headquarters. The boys were released to their parents, but
their skates were seized as evidence.
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January 20, 1998
San Fransisco, CA
Lieutenant Governor Gray Davis proposed voluntary drug tests for
California high school pupils if both they and their parents agree. Davis
has already proposed that students be required to do a certain amount of
homework each night, 15 minutes for Kindergartners, 2 1/2 hours for 12th
graders.
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January 20, 1998
Oakland, CA
A couple who paid two strangers to take their son from his bed in the
middle of the night and exile him for a year at a Jamaican reform school
were acting within their parental rights, a judge ruled Tuesday. David Van
Blarigan, 16, will stay in the confines of the Caribbean camp -- out of
touch with all friends and neighbors, and subject to strict rules and even a
dose of pepper spray if he gets out of hand.
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January 19, 1998
San Bernardino, CA
A 15-year-old boy fatally shot a 4-year-old because the little boy
didn't fetch cigarettes fast enough, police said. The 15-year-old told
police the shooting was an accident.
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January 15, 1998
Miami, FL
Under threat of a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, the
Miami-Dade County school district has watered down its drug testing program
to allow high school students to refuse random checks.
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January 14, 1998
Burbank, CA
Charges of sexual battery against Cory Kessinger, a former Burbank High
School campus supervisor involve at least two female students who say they
were fondled while on campus, police disclosed.
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January 14, 1998
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco sought to reverse the declining sales of its
brands by developing aggressive marketing proposals to reach adolescents as
young as 14 years old, according to internal company documents.
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January 13, 1998
Slupsk, Poland
Hundreds of teenagers clashed with police in rioting spurred by the
police killing of a 13-year-old. About 460 riot police used tear gas against
the young people. Przemek Czaja, 13, died after a police officer struck him
with a nightstick Saturday after police responded to what they called
reports of hooliganism.
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January 13, 1998
Santa Ana, CA
An appeals court reversed an earlier decision that said 17-year-old
Timothy Matlock was liable for a fire started by a cigarette he gave to a
younger friend. Before the reversal, Matlock's father was ordered to pay
$44,500 in damages.
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January 12, 1998
Texarkana, AR
Teenagers who stole up to 100 pounds of mercury from the city's
abandoned neon sign plant dipped cigarettes in the shiny, poisonous liquid
and smoked them. At least one teen was hospitalized. US officials are
struggling to recover all of the mercury.
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January 9, 1998
Waynesville, MO
Joseph Stanley Burris has been sentenced to life in prison without
parole for murdering a classmate at a boarding school for troubled youths.
In a videotaped confession, Burris, 15 at the time of the murder, and
Anthony Gene Rutherford, 17 at the time, described how they killed their
classmate because they feared he would expose their plot to take over the
campus, have their way with the female students, start a Branch
Davidian-like cult and make it onto national television.
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January 8, 1998
New York, NY
Raheem Dawkins, a 16-year-old who volunteers at his local police
precinct, was shot by a police officer while trying to rescue the officer
from a gang of attackers. For a week while he lay in the hospital with a
gunshot wound to his leg, he received no official words of thanks. Finally,
police said that he was no longer a "possible suspect."
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January 8, 1998
Huntington Beach, CA
Under the new "Teen Driver Safety Act," minors will be required to hold
a learner's permit for at least six months and have a minimum of 50 hours of
supervised driving before taking the driver's test. During the first six
months a driver has a provisional license, they can't have any passengers
under 20 without special permission, or without being accompanied by a
driver at least 25 years old. New teen drivers will also be prohibited from
driving between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. during the first year of
their provisional license.
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January 7, 1998
Santa Clarita, CA
Michael Egan, 18, and Mark Clark, 23, are both running for City Council
seats in April. Ryan Krell, an 18-year-old, has also picked up election
paperwork.
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January 3, 1998
Hamburg, Germany
Six of ten teenagers, aged 14 to 17, face charges of breaking and
entering and property damage after breaking into a Boeing 757. The four
other teens fled the scene and were being sought by authorities. An airport
spokeswoman said the teens would never have been able to take the plane for
a joyride because of a lack of mechanical know-how.
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December 31, 1997
Mahlow, Germany
A gang of seven youths spray-painted a Nazi swasktika on the chest of a
14-year-old girl at a New Year's Eve party. The youths also punched and
kicked the girl and shaved off her hair. Police were investigating two girls
and five boys aged between 15 and 18 suspected of the crime.
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December 22, 1997
Thousand Oaks, CA
Westlake High School wrestlers are under investigation for a hazing
ritual that included pinning students down and prodding their buttocks with
a broomstick dubbed "Pedro." The victims were fully clothed at the time.
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December 20, 1997
Little Rock, AR
Joseph Colt Todd was charged as an adult with two counts of first
degree battery for shooting two teenagers outside a rural Arkansas high
school on December 15. Todd told officials he acted in retaliation but had
not intended to shoot the students. He said he had been forced by some other
classmates to pay money to avoid being beaten and it was humiliating.
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December 20, 1997
Fairfield, IA
Two teenagers who killed 16 cats and maimed seven others in an attack
on a shelter were sentenced to 23 days each in jail, one day for each of the
animals they clubbed.
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December 13, 1997
Oklahoma City, OK
Plainview High School made students pass a sobriety test to get into
this year's Christmas dance. None of the 195 attendees failed the tests.
Principal Stephen Matthews was so pleased that he plans to keep the tests in
place for all of the school's future dances, including the prom. The school
also required students leaving the dance to sign out, leaving a record of
when they left to allow parents to track their children's evening.
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December 7, 1997
Mountain Valley, CA
Last week, the Single Gender Academies, Southern California's first
state-funded, single-sex schools, opened in a two-story office building with
funding from a $500,000 state grant. Run by the Orange County Department of
Education, it is the fourth campus of its kind in the state.
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December 3, 1997
Doylestown, PA
Eight C.B. West High School students were arrested on drug charges
resulting from a three month undercover drug sting in which a 26-year-old
police officer posed as an 18-year-old senior and bought small quantities of
marijuana and hashish.
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December 1, 1997
West Paducah, KY
A 14-year-old boy shot eight students as a prayer meeting ended in a
high school lobby, killing Kayce Steger, Jessica James and Nichole Hadley.
The boy, who had three spare clips of ammunition and four other guns,
surrendered when the leader of the prayer circle grabbed the teen after he
stopped shooting. Afterward, the boy told Heath High School Principal Bill
Bond, "I'm sorry."
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December 1, 1997
Washington, DC
More than 90% of cities surveyed find curfews a useful tool for police
officers, with several California cities reporting dramatic decreases in
juvenile crime, according to a national survey of 347 cities. The report,
from the U.S. Conference of Mayors did not include a statistical analysis of
the effect curfews have had on crime. Rather, it canvassed opinions of city
and police officials, and offered a largely anecdotal view.
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November 22, 1997
Baltimore, MD
Two-thirds of the Northern High School student body was suspended for
two days after defying orders from their principal to go to their homerooms
for the last fifteen minutes of the day to pick up their report cards. The
students complained that it would have forced them to miss their buses.
Instead, the 1,200 students amassed at the doors and chanted "Hell no, we
won't go!"
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November 22, 1997
Princeton, NJ
The New Jersey School Boards Association voted to support giving school
districts the power to conduct random drug testing for students. The 188
delegates decided not to vote on whether testing would be limited to high
school students.
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November 15, 1997
Pontiac, MI
A judge ordered an 11-year-old boy to stand trial as an adult on murder
charges in the death of a teenager who was shot as he walked out of a liquor
store last month.
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November 15, 1997
Mount Vernon, WA
James E. Winkler, 21 pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of
attempted third-degree child rape for having sex with a 15-year-old when he
was 20. A year later, when the girl was 16, the age of consent in
Washington, the two married.
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November 14, 1997
Kent, WA
Mary Kay LeTourneau, 35, a teacher who had sex with a sixth-grade boy
and gave birth to his child was sentenced to six months in jail and three
years of outpatient treatment.
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November 11, 1997
Collins, OH
At least 18 fifth-graders used the same needle to take their own blood
during a science class experiment. The needle was disinfected with alcohol,
but the Western Reserve School District later found out that may not have
been enough to stop the possible spread of disease.
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November 10, 1997
Washington, DC
Two Alabama girls who say they were forced to submit to strip searches
after a second-grade classmate accused them of stealing $7 lost their
Supreme Court appeal. Lower courts ruled that the teacher and guidance
counselor who conducted the strip searches were immune from being sued
because strip searching 8-year-old students was not clearly unconstitutional
five years ago.
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November 8, 1997
New York, NY
17-year-old Andre Burgess was shot in the leg after passing a car full
of undercover law enforcement officers who were hunting for a drug dealer
suspected of killing a Customs agent. One of the marshals apparently mistook
the silver wrapper of the Three Musketeers bar in Burgess' hand for a
pistol. Burgess complained that the marshal who shot him did not even
apologize, and said he had been handcuffed on the ground for 10 minutes
while bleeding.
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October 28, 1997
Accidently Deleted, USA
A group of six boys, ages 9 to 14, were playing a game that involved
pouring rubbing alcohol on the ground and setting it on fire with a candle.
Two of the boys then poured the liquid on another player and set him on
fire. The two were arrested and the victim suffered second degree burns.
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Clones
Maureen Lindquist
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Let's have a look through my wardrobe, shall we? Hmm, what do we find:
a few old cordouroy slacks purchased cheaply at a Salvation Army store; some
tattered t-shirts; an oversized sweater; one barely suitable, "nice" outfit
used only for "special" occasions, such as Grammy's unveiling of her new
dentures or Uncle Jack's new toupee. Wait a minute, that can't possibly be
all there is! I'm a typical, shallow, superficial teenager, at least that's
what the media tells me! I should have closets upon closets full of trendy,
hip, fasionable brand-name clothes. Where are they?
Oh, look! There's a rather large pile of clothes over there in the
corner that I somehow managed to miss. Silly me! Let's have a look through
them and see what we find. Perhaps some expensive Calvin Klein jeans, or a
pair of chic, hip velvet bell bottoms, or maybe even a cute baby tee. What!
What is all of this? Some fasion nightmare? Why, there's nothing here but
navy blue skirts, white blouses, and tights! In fact, they're all navy blue
skirts, white blouses, and tights!
Oh, I understand now. Yes, this makes perfect sense. The reason my
wardrobe is so limited is because money spent for my clothes has gone to
paying for these uniforms. Um, may I please speak up for myself on this
subject? No? Well too bad, because I'm going to anyway. I am an original,
creative, unique, and special individual. I do not appreciate having that
uniqueness stifled by someone else's choice to "conform" me to "standards."
I am my own person and can, no matter how shocking this may sound, make
decisions on my own without being told by someone else what to think. Whew.
Well I guess I should present some form of a rational argument for my
opinion, shouldn't I?
In case you, the reader, did not catch it from my purely blatant
sarcasm above, I am not a robot of the media. My every moment of every day
is not consumed by fantasies of Fila sneakers and Adidas pants. I do not
"live" at the mall. In fact, I don't even remember the last time I went to
the mall or even the last time I bought clothes at any place other than my
good ol' Salvation. What does this have to do with my hatred of uniforms,
some of you may be asking. The main use of uniforms is to make all of their
wearers "equal"; to reduce jealousy, rivalry, and rage; to keep everyone
from knowing who can afford brand-name clothing and who must shop at the
thrift store. Are we all that shallow? Who actually cares if someone has
more expensive clothing than someone else? I mean, if some deranged person
actually does care about that, and actually does waste their money on
clothing, I myself would start to question this person's mental capacities.
Let's look at the opposing side for a moment, just to be fair. Pretend
for a minute that all of us really are that superficial and fake, and that
we really do need to be "equalized" in order to function througout life,
otherwise we'd be mad, foaming-at-the-mouth, jealous, raving lunatics. Our
solution would be to wear these all-powerful equalizers -- uniforms -- or
would it? No, it wouldn't, because uniforms can only "equalize" so much.
Underneath the scratchy wool and stiff-necked collars are countless numbers
of unique and, gasp, different individuals! Some of us are tall, some of us
are short. Some of us are thin, and some of us are not. We each have our own
personal shades of eye, hair, and skin color. We each have our own unique
and beautiful smiles that no one else on earth can duplicate. If we were all
meant to look the same through the use of uniforms, then we would already be
the same physically.
If there are people that need to look the same as everyone else so that
they don't get upset, then I am sorry because I do not have a solution for
their problems; however, it is not just to clothe all humans in the same
garb simply because of a minority's difficulties. Perhaps an educational
maturity course would be more suitable than allowing this minority their
crutch of a uniform, which only hides their problems without solving them.
The only solution that I am sure of is that until all people can find the
true priorities in life though, give me my uniqueness! Being able to be
myself is my right! It is a part of my freedom!
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Graduated Licensing
Eric P. Anderson
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One of the few vestiges of freedom available to teenagers is now in
grave jeopardy with the widespread passage of various "graduated license
programs".
Numerous states, including California, Illinois, and New Hampshire have
already passed these draconian measures. Graduated license programs
generally include a long period of supervised driving with an adult, a night
driving curfew, a limit on teen passengers, freeway driving restrictions,
and zero blood alcohol tolerance. Politicians everywhere are touting this as
yet another magical panacea for an problem which simply cannot have an easy
"band-aid" solution. It is no coincidence that politicians throughout the 50
states began proposing graduated licensing programs in great numbers during
the 1996 election year.
This is yet another example of election-year politicking taken to the
extreme at the expense of the rights of a politically unrepresented group.
It is yet another example of fear-mongering used to push an oppressive
agenda upon our nation's youth.
The easiest way to dispense with the arguments of graduated license
supporters is to state the facts. Proponents of these measures essentially
claim that teens are the only dangerous group of drivers. This is simply
untrue. There are two groups of drivers which are much more dangerous than
teens; the intoxicated and the elderly. I don't want to seem like I'm
bearing down on the elderly, because I am not. I love them dearly.
Unfortunately, supporters of these programs feel that it is completely
alright for someone who can no longer see to be driving at 10 miles per hour
down the highway. Very few states have any restrictions on elderly driving
and whenever it is proposed, it is widely condemned as age discrimination.
Yet, it is supposedly alright to discriminate against teens on the basis of
age. Teen drivers are, in many cases, safer than elderly drivers. As a
group, teens have faster reaction times than anyone older. Sadly, this
causes some teens to believe they are immortal and they take unnecessary
risks. The purpose of this article is not to defend poor teen drivers. In
fact, this article is a defense of the good teen drivers. Secondly, while a
good percentage of accidents involving teens are caused by intoxication, the
percentage of drunk drivers that are teens is relatively small. Many older
drivers continue to drive after their licenses have been suspended or
revoked due to drunk driving. Some drive without any insurance. In some
cases, these delinquent drivers even drive to their court appearances. No
one seems to want to do anything about this. Without a doubt, drunk drivers
evade their punishments more often than any other group of offenders.
Another unfortunate aspect of this problem is the greed of insurance
companies. I have never had an accident or any kind of ticket. In other
words, I have a spotless driving record. I have never taken driver's
education courses. In addition to all of this, I am 18 and I have been
driving for nearly three years. Yet, I still pay over three times the
average insurance rate for other age groups. People in their thrties and
forties which have had multiple accidents or tickets still have lower
insurance rates than I do. This problem is widespread, and it is not an
issue of driving at all. It is purely an issue of discrimination. If someone
suggested that blacks were poor drivers and insurance companies increased
the rates for black policy holders, there is no doubt that it would be
widely condemned. In fact, any insurance company which attempted this would
probably lose a large sum of money to lawsuits.
There is no denying that there is a serious problem in this country
with poor drivers in general, especially drunk drivers. Unfortunately,
programs such as zero blood alcohol tolerance for those under 21 do little
to help the problem. Zero tolerance programs often list limits that are so
low that over-the-counter cough medicine or even communion wine can lace
someone over the legal limit. Drunk driving should be no more tolerable from
someone who is 46 than it is from someone who is 16. Any reasonable
strengthening of drunk driving laws should apply to all age groups.
I have heard that my home state of Missouri is considering a graduated
license program that will not allow full driving privileges until the age of
20. It really makes me feel good to know that I can pay taxes through the
nose and be drafted and then get killed or maimed in a war, yet not have the
right to drive my car when and with what passengers I see fit. Had they
enacted such a program in Missouri before I had earned my license, I would
have been unable to commute to college. That seems to be a grave infraction
on my civil rights. I am certain that my case is not unique.
Now is the time to stand up and be heard. Call or write to your elected
officials and let them know how you feel. If you have a good driving record,
let them know that too. Above all, don't let anybody argue with you about
statistics. Statistics have been used to justify all manners of things,
including slavery. Does that mean that it's right? In the case of graduated
license programs, the ends simply do not justify the means.
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The Plight of the Last
The Last
- - ---- -- - -------
In the late 60's and early 70's, the freedom of students in America was
at an all-time high. The student press, in particular, was given incredible
latitude in what they were able to print. Those liberal students and their
peers have become today's parents. Frightened by their memories of excesses
and compelled by generalizations, many of them continually push for stricter
control of students, even if that means compromising those students' rights.
It is in this age of paranoia, generalizations, and widespread fear of the
youth, with concepts such as "zero tolerance," "immediate action," and
progressively more restrictive curfews, that it is most important for the
students to empower themselves. Sadly, there are many more parents who sit
at home, watch football, and tell their kids not to get in trouble than
those who truly care about their childrens' rights and development as
citizens of a democratic country. The real tragedy, however, is that most
students do just what they're told and grow up not being troublemakers, but
not being active citizens either.
It all began for us last Spring at our public high school in
Greenfield, Wisconsin. Last year at the end of first semester our principal
of many years retired and we got a new one. Our school has implemented a few
odd policies since then and experienced an inordinately large amount of
expulsions (many for stupid things like squirt guns and inch-long
pocketknives) and a committee for beautifying the school. They've spent an
extraordinary amount of money on such things as plants and new paint for the
hallways. This would be nice, if our teachers weren't some of the lowest
paid in the state. Our official school newspaper, because of the incredible
limitations on what they can print, really doesn't cover the issues at the
heart of the student population. If it does, it is usually in terse
statements of obvious facts. One day I was sitting in my Japanese language
class with a couple of my friends listening to my teacher preach about
morals and how we can be successful. I thought the speech was a little out
of place (it felt like one of those guidance lectures you get in grade
school). That's when we realized how badly the students at our school needed
a medium for expressing their true opinions. Since we had some knowledge of
desktop publishing, we decided to get together and work on it. Thus, "The
Last" was born. We've had six issues since then which we've distributed at
school by passing them out through friends. We also post them on our webpage
at http://www.oblivion.net/thelast. We've made it our policy to accept
writings and drawings from anyone, about any subject, as long as they aren't
strictly for harmful purposes and don't blatantly violate the law. The
concept is that people can express their ideas freely and anonymously
without fear of retribution. To say that our school's administration has
been less than hospitable to us would be a major understatement.
Although the administration publicly says that they have no problem
with the paper itself, they have found ways to persecute us. We've heard
that there have been various other independent papers before us and that
those were crushed by attacks similar to the one made against us. It
happened on the last day of regular classes (before exams) just after the
second issue was distributed. We had been talking on IRC (Internet relay
chat) to a student in Minnesota who was interested in our paper for about a
month. Imagine our surprise when those IRC logs were used as evidence
against us and we found out that the supposed student from Minnesota was
actually someone from our school (we still can't figure out who, possibly
one of the administrators themselves) who disliked the paper. Everyone
mentioned in the IRC logs and anyone else who was known to be one of our
friends, even though most of them had nothing to do with the paper, were
called to the office individually. I remember walking into the principal's
office and being immediately told that I was going on suspension and I would
have to leave the building. I had to ask her what I had done wrong. I also
asked to see whatever evidence they had that I had even written the article
in question, but I was refused. They cited my article about the incompetency
of my Japanese teacher and another article about a teacher being forced to
leave because of making an off-color joke as libelous. The student accused
of writing the article about the teacher and I were suspended for three
days. My suspension stuck and I had to make up my exams. The other suspended
student, however, had his suspension lifted after he proved that he didn't
even write the article. The principal called my mother while I was on
suspension and told her that I could get it lifted under two conditions: I
didn't make a scene (I said something about talking to the ACLU while I was
in the principal's office) and I apologized to the teacher. I didn't take
her advice on either point. The article that they took the biggest issue
with, though, was one by Justin Boucher about hacking the school's network
which contained some obvious computer tips and some starting points for
guessing passwords. They called it a disclosure of restricted information
and he was subsequently expelled. We went to the the local ACLU offices with
him and they appointed him a lawyer to appeal his expulsion. He was in
school for a while on an injunction pending the court's decision. Recently,
however, a seventh-circuit court upheld his expulsion.
What happened last year left me with a feeling of utter disgust.
Despite it all, though, we've managed to keep the paper going. We continue
to print every month and we're getting together some people to take over for
us next year when we graduate. We also recently won the Youth Civil
Libertarians of the Year award from the Wisconsin chapter of the ACLU. There
have been many difficult decisions and I've questioned whether it is worth
it on various occasions. I always come up with the same answer though, and
it keeps pushing me forward: If students don't fight for the rights
guaranteed to them, nobody will, and people who grow up without those
freedoms entitled to them by this country do not grow up to be citizens who
believe and participate in it.
The Last
P.O. Box 21898
Milwaukee, WI 53221-0898
thelast@oblivion.net
http://www.oblivion.net/thelast/
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Letters
you, the reader
- - ---- -- - -------
I picked up a copy of Oblivion #6 at the Zine Fiend Festival, good
work! I especially dug the article on blocking software. As an old-school
punk (class of '77, retired undefeated) and parent, I've had to think long
and hard about what is the most responsible policy for kids accessing the
net. I decided to make sure my kids have unlimited access to information,
not because to do otherwise is a violation of their rights ("rights" are a
legal and social construct only valid in an authoritarian system, only the
ruled have rights, the unruled have freedom), but because it would be a
grave disservice to the furtherance of their education. They sure as hell
aren't getting a balanced picture of the world and its possibilities from
the public schools. The main objection people have to uncensored access is
that kids might decide to check out some porn, but I can't see how pictures
of people screwing could be anywhere near as damaging to someone's psyche as
the pornography of greed that pours from the t.v. day and night.
"Protecting" people from information doesn't make them safe, it keeps them
ignorant. I figure this world already has enough idiots.
Damian Carr
Editor, Disgrunt Webzine
- -- ---- -
You're damn right I'm paranoid of Big Brother! Every one of the filthy
bastards is trying to kill me, and for all I know, you're in cahoots with
the Mafia, the CIA, and The Man Upstairs, whoever he is. But in any case, I
thought you might want to consider exchanging permission for displaying
links.
With your relatively high distribution network, you should stop writing
this crap about friggin' high school. We must focus our efforts on the real
enemy, and avenge the unlawful actions of this country's resident
institution. There are more pressing issues at hand, such as the high-grade
plutonium in orbit above our heads this minute. Nuclear weapons are banned
in outer-space, but if one of these satellites were to fall on a large city,
it would be devestated. I think, technically, that this counts as a nuclear
weapon since the radiation originates from the nuclear segment of the atoms.
BJKing
- -- ---- -
I think you're totally right. The teachers and Principal at school need
to be taught a lesson. They are totally clueless when it comes to teens and
what goes on in our heads. Sometimes all I want to do is stand up in class
and deck a teacher really hard. I just don't see how they think they have
the power to punish us like they are our parents or something. I really hate
it when a teacher comes off on this attitude or something. And I have had a
teacher like the one you described. We teased him constantly! We'd write
things about him on the board and when he read them and asked who wrote
them, we'd all just sit there and not pay any attention.
Well, good luck on the zine!!!
Genus
- -- ---- -
Someone asked about Teenage Liberation Handbook in Oblivion #6. For
your info: Genius Tribe is a catalog/newsletter of materials for
"unschoolers" and homeschoolers, put together by Teenage Liberation Handbook
author Grace Llewelyn and her partner.
Box 1014
Eugene, OR 97440-1014
541-686-2315
FAX: 541-686-2315
http://home.aol.com/GTcatalog
Solidarity,
Chris D.
- -- ---- -
A few opinions on blocking software. I'm 15, I'm allowed to use my
computer and the Internet freely, my parents trust me.
1) The V-Chip is blocking hardware not blocking software, and as I remember
it's meant for TV.
2) Internet access @ school, anywhere, is a privilege not a right. If the
school wants to use blocking software then they can. It's their computers
and their connection.
3) Blocking software is the way to go, maybe you forget but blocking
software is made by independent companies, not the government. And as was
demonstrated by the CDA, the government seems to want to destroy any
"inappropriate" material. The blocking software for now is the only
answer, second to parental monitoring, to keep the government from having
to do something.
For closing, I would just like to say, we don't need Internet
censorship we need Internet responsibility.
Adam
http://www.yippi.com/
- -- ---- -
Hi,
I would very much appreciate a copy of your zine. I only wish I knew
more zines with similar content. If you know of any, please send me all the
information you have on them. I wish you the best of luck in doing what you
want to do.
Thanks,
Andrea
P.S. I'm telling everyone I can about your zine.
- -- ---- -
Hey there,
Yes, people are interested in the shit people put up w/ in high school.
Saw the review in PP and I figured this is a zine we should support. I'm
starting up a small scale zine distro + might be interested in your zine.
Please send all the relevant info when sending me my copy. I'm looking
forward to reading it!
Take Care,
Greg
- -- ---- -
To the good folks at Oblivion,
Hi. I got in the mail an issue #6 and a request for copies of my zine.
I'll send you copies of some of my older ones cuz I think you might like
some of the subjects. If you like them, I'll send you more. Issue #10 will
be done soon --- I hand-print them all so it takes me a couple of weeks just
to print 'em. I'm also recording a record version of issues 8 & 9.
I really dig your zine. I expecially liked the last essay, the one on
graduations, oh and the youth news in the beginning. If you ever have 10
bucks you should get a subsc. to The Match, a killer zine with a "Who the
Cops Beat" section. Pricey but worth it. (PO Box 3012, Tucson, AZ 85702).
Well I hope you enjoy the zines, and I also hope you'll keep me on your
mailing list. I'll keep trading as long as I get stuff to trade.
Thanks,
Karen
(artnoose.)
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Stupid Rules
l0rdp00
- - ---- -- - -------
"Excuse me son, but you'll have to put your name on a slip of paper for
me."
Shit, I thought. It's the first day of school and I am already getting
in trouble. I can't believe this. Well I had to argue, since I had no idea
why I was being asked to put my name on a slip of paper. The guy responds,
"because you are wearing a hat." First day of school and I already lose my
hat. What is next?
Now don't get my wrong, usually I'm pretty shy and won't argue with a
teacher, but this just didn't make any sense. So I started arguing with this
guy. Little did I realize he was the head of the ROTC thing in my school.
(ROTC is the army type training program in our high school.) I didn't care
though, all I wanted was my hat, and I had lost it because I had walked into
the cafeteria to buy breakfast and forgot to take it off. I lost it.
The man told me that I'd have to ask my parents to call the school to
get my hat back. This made me really angry. I just didn't understand it, but
I have to do what they say, so I gave in. First day of school, lost my hat,
and my parents are going to be mad because they have to call the school and
ask permission to get my hat back.
When I got home I told my parents. They thought it was pretty strange
that my hat was taken away because I forgot to take it off, but they really
didn't say anything to the principle. All they did was tell her something
like "He will remember next time to take off his hat." Or some shit like
that. Hey, but I got the hat.
My school has never liked hats, but what's wrong with them. The only
distraction they have ever caused me is the fact that they get taken away
from me. I have long hair, my hair is more of a distraction that my hat,
that's what keeps my hair out of my eyes. I thought to myself, why are they
enforcing the rule of no hats so strictly when there are other problems?
These include the fact that you can't even go into a bathroom because it
stinks so bad from cigarette smoke, the fact that people steal from our
bookbags and lockers, and that people are intimidating us to the point that
we think we are going to get beat up. I guess people look at all the little
problems and forget the big ones. (Kind of reminds you of our government,
huh?)
Why must my school, and many others, enforce a rule that is so
pointless, when they could be helping the actual students live their school
lives a little bit easier.
Why? Because it's something to do.
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Hail Satan!
Paulo
- - ---- -- - -------
It all started when I was kicked out of school for five days. I won't
go into details--basically it involved some 7th grade pieces of shit
throwing out disses and not being able to handle what comes back. They made
up some stories, got some of their friends as witnesses, and reported me and
a friend to a vice-principal who hated me anyway. No attempt was made by
them to prove anything.
When you're suspended from my school, you don't sit at home, you have
to go sit in a little shack that doubles as an animal shelter and triples as
an ambulance station for the county. It was in this shack, secluded from the
rest of the world, that I drew the comic that traveled the globe, leaving in
its wake millions of corrupted youth... well, I guess all it really did was
get me in trouble with a bunch of fascist idiots.
The comic was called AMF. It secretly stood for "angry motherfucker,"
but in the comic the main character was reffered to as "Al M. Farmer" to
throw people off. It was three pages of your average punk getting harrassed
by a group of jocks, killing them, getting harrassed by the vice-principal,
killing him, and then getting harrassed by a cop (you guessed it, he gets
killed too.) Suprisingly, this comic contained no profanity and was actually
moderately tame. Sure, it was extremely violent, but the art made it more
humorous than anything else. Basically, I made this comic to release some of
my pent-up hostility. I find that making comics is a healthy alternative to
flipping out and killing lots of people.
When I came back to school, all was well for the rest of the grading
period. I showed the comic to a lot of people, and a few of them were
inspired, drawing what were basically crude rip-offs (kids get sick of
taking crap and kill their oppressors.) One of my newer friends, Jason, saw
this and decided he wanted to put it with some of his and publish his own
little comic. I introduced him to zines, pulling a wad of them out of my
backpack along with a copy of Factsheet 5, and this motivated him even more.
I told him about my zine, undumb, and he thought it was cool that people
from all over can read what I have to say and write back and send their
stuff.
He wrote AMF really big at the top of my comic, with an anarchy symbol
for the A. I told him that was stupid because the title was in the first
frame of the comic, and it wasn't an anarchist comic anyway.
He started using a school scanner and printer, and he got caught.
He told me this lady had taken the comics and told him they were filled
with Satanic references and asked him about his affiliations with cults and
Satanism. I thought this was a crock of shit and wanted my comic back. I
told him to point this lady out to me, so he led me to the office, showed me
the lady and boltled. I confronted the woman.
"You have something of mine and I would like it back. I want my comic."
She got in my face and told me that wasn't an option, and that it was
in the hands of the vice-principal. When she told me this, she was literally
inches from my face. I didn't like it. She was a short, fat lady with a
small head. I don't like that sort of thing very close to me.
"Why did you steal my comic?" I asked, trying to step back a little.
She got back in my face as she told me, "It's not a matter of stealing,
it's a matter of discipline. Mr. Reich has it."
"Can I talk to him?"
"No, he's busy right now."
What a bunch of bullshit. I stepped away from that lady and asked
another one if I could have an appointment with Mr. Reich, the
vice-principal. She said I could and that he would probably call me down
during fourth hour. I said thanks and she wrote me a pass back to class.
Third hour, I'm sitting there taking a test when I'm called down to
student services. Not the office, student services. My teacher says I'm
taking a test and that I'll come down when I'm finished. I finish my test
and go sit in student services. I sit there until a few minutes into fourth
hour, when the fat lady with the small head appears and brings me into the
nurses office.
"I'm using the nurse's office because I don't have one of my own. My
name is Mrs. Allah, I'm working with the other guidance counselors, not the
office. So...what's your connection to all this?"
"I made the comic entitled AMF."
"This comic is entirely innapropriate for school. It is violent and
vulgar, and filled with obscenity."
She sat there rambling about how bad it was, all the while I'm thinking
she's just stupid. Here's where it starts getting even weirder. Amidst her
mindless rambling is more mindless rambling, and amidst that is mindless
rambling about the Satanic references in my comic.
"Wait a minute...where are you getting that it's Satanic?!"
"That symbol you're using! Did you know that symbol is used by Satanist
and occult groups?"
"What symbol?"
"The one with the A. We have documentation that tells us that this is
linked to Satanism and the occult."
"Anarchy? Anarchy is political, not religious."
"It's innapropriate. Just like swatzikas are innapropriate." As she
mentioned swatzikas, she pointed at the anti-nazi patch on my backpack.
I told her I have freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and tried
to ask her about the people wearing Jesus shirts all the time. She told me
it was school policy and I wasn't allowed to debate it. She also told me
"this is a Christian society."
She kept rambling about Satanism and how it wasn't permitted. I held up
the horned hand and said, "Hail Satan!"
"Like that! That's innapropriate!"
She told me it would help my case if I just went along with everything
and stopped being beligerant. I asked her how the hell I'm supposed to act
when she won't even let me say anything. She told me I was allowed to say
anything I wanted to.
Then she went on telling me that she knew AMF stood for "profanity." I
told her no, it stands for Al M. Farmer, and she could find that out by
reading the comic.
She went on asking me if I was Satanic. I told her I had a copy of
Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible. She quickly wrote it down and asked me if I was
involved in a cult.
"Why, yes, actually I am in a cult. It's called the Church of the
SubGenius. I'm an ordained minister of this cult."
She started writing down what I was saying as quickly as she could. She
asked me questions about the Church and it's beliefs. I was trying not to
laugh and even when I talked you could tell I wasn't entirely serious.
Apparently she didn't notice my manner of speech and took it all way too
seriously.
"So who is this "Bob"? What is "Slack?" Does Bob have a last name? Who
is in charge of this cult? Etc., etc."
After she was done questioning me about this horrible evil cult, she
went on trying to figure out what the hell a zine is. I tried to explain it
to her but basically all she got was, "So...you people making these 'zines,'
you're just trying to spread a message of violence and satanism?"
"Is there any information you'd like me to pass on to Mr. Reich? I'm
talking to him later."
"Yeah, this is a load of crap."
"That's your opinion. Anything else?"
"You're a fascist."
"Oh, that's fine."
"I should call the ACLU."
"Call whoever you like, file whatever you want. We have our policies,
I'm just doing my job. Now, where are you headed?"
I told her and she started writing me a pass. She asked what my name
was again and I told her.
"You can write "Reverend Paul Saylor" if you want."
"No, I don't think I will."
I left and started walking back to class. I guess the bell had rung for
lunch so I threw the pass in the garbage and went to lunch. I started
telling my friends what happened. My friend Lewis was quite pissed.
Me, Lewis, and my other friend Doug walked down the hall and started
talking to another guidance counselor. He apparently used to be a social
studies teacher. Lewis asked him about the connections between Satanism and
Anarchism.. He said that Anarchy is just another political group, like being
Republican or Democrat or Fascist.
We talked to him for the rest of lunch and then walked to the office to
make an appointment. I told the lady that Lewis should come down with me
when I get called down. She said okay and sent us back to class.
The rest of fourth hour I sat there having a feeling the vice-principal
was going to be his usual asshole self and not talk to me. I was right.
However when I got home, my parents asked why he called. He had his
secretary call and leave a message for my mom to call him. They said he was
scared to talk to my dad, that's why he did it that way.
I told my parents about how I was accused of being a Satanist and being
in a cult, and that apparently that's against school policy. I talked about
how it was retarded and she wouldn't let be debate anything. My dad was
fairly pissed and talked about how Mr. Reich was going to try to kick me out
again, and that he could because he has police power. ("They kicked him out
for a yo-yo!") He said he was going to expose the asshole for his record of
frivolous suspensions. My mom said she was going to go in and talk to him.
Will I be suspended? Will I be sucked deeper into the cult I'm in? Will
Satan steal my soul?
Find out in the next episode of I WAS A TEENAGE SATANIC ANARCHIST IN A
CULT DRAWING FOUL COMICS TO CORRUPT THE WORLD!!!!
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From My Perspective
Nazdreg Z
- - ---- -- - -------
It seems that our generation is very intent on gaining more rights,
especially a lower voting age and the abolishment of curfews. I personally
agree with these movements, but I also see that in reality, we do not
deserve these rights. When adults contemplate whether or not we are fit to
be granted these rights they inevitably compare us to their generation. This
spells big trouble for us.
When compared to any other generation, we have the worst crime record.
Terrible drug use, irresponsible DUI, violence, are just some of the
blotches on our record. Sure all of these infractions have been committed by
other generations, just not on such a grand scale. When one looks at the
60's the subject of drug use comes to light. Sure, this was wrong but
everyone was doing it, including adults, and aside from that the teens of
that time were generally good people. To gain the rights that we need,
people need to shape up and show the older Generation that we are
responsible enough to handle such rights.
This strategy is guaranteed if everyone makes an individual effort. The
idea of cleaning up the reputation of an entire generation seems daunting,
but if every individual worries about himself or herself and keeps out of
trouble there is no way our constitutionally granted rights can be violated.
Sure, it is easier to continue on our current course whiling kicking
and screaming to be heard, but who will listen to hypocrites? Soon, if we
can change, the world will know what we are really about, a new, exciting
group of people that can do anything. United we stand, separate we fall.
I propose that a branch of this e-zine be opened with the specific
intent of encouraging youth to take responsibility for their actions in a
massive attempt to clean up the reputation of our generation. By creating an
open movement where are all invited to have a part and take active interest
I'm sure the tides will change in our favor. I suggest a web page be opened
with the intent of spreading this message. It will include information,
articles, suggestions, special events and much more. If you would like to
help drop me a message.
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Zero Tolerance, Zero Intelligence
Jestapher
- - ---- -- - -------
Can you imagine the shock and confusion on the face of 6-year-old
Seamus Morris after being suspended for bringing lemon drops to school? Why
would a school suspend a first-grader for bringing tasty lemon candies to
class? Officially, the lemon drops violated district drug policy because
they were "unfamiliar" and "unfamiliar" products are treated as controlled
substances. Administrators have to draw the line somewhere, you may say, but
should it include all of the asinine rulings we've seen lately? Does a
6-year-old deserve to be suspended for bringing lemon drops to school?
Besides reaching new lows in the judgement field, these ignorant
administrators and their zero-tolerance rhetoric are teching us that such
policies don't work, especially when implemented by fanatical zealots such
as themselves.
Take, for example, the case of Joey Hoeffer, age nine, suspended in
September for handing out breath mints. Administrators at Weems Elementary
in Manassass, Virginia said the mints resembled illicit pills but Joey
assured them he was handing out Certs Concentrated Mints. A mother of one of
the boys who recieved an "illicit" mint took the evidence to school and Joey
was interviewed by the Principal and the police, who confiscated the candy
for further analysis. Guess what? Joey was telling the truth; they were
Certs Concentrated Mints. Oh, well. too bad for Joey. The school suspended
him for one day. He violated the district policy on "look-alike drugs," they
said. Apparently, Certs are now "look-alike drugs."
In November, Colin Dunlap was suspended for three days from DuPont
Junior High School in Belle, West Virginia for giving a classmate a cough
lozenge. School policy requires a parental note for any non-prescription
medication and requires suspensions for violation of this policy. Lozenges
are included, so Colin got the boot. "Cough drops appear harmless. But none
of them are," head-nurse Brenda Isaac said. She cited the fact that zinc can
cause abdominal pain, rashes, and breathing problems for people allergic to
zinc.
In reference to the suspension, Jennifer Dunlap, Colin's mother said "A
cough drop? I think that's the most asinine thing I've ever heard."
John Wiley, an eigth-grader at Mannford Middle School in Mannford
Oklahoma, was suspended for 6 months when he turned in a small bag of
marijuana to school officials. The dime-sized bag of marijuana was given to
him by another student in a school bathroom just before his first class.
What school policy creates a criminal out of a student who informs officials
of a crime and turns in the evidence? This one: "A student may not sell,
possess or use a narcotic or dangerous drug..." Although he was turning in
evidence to administrators, he still possessed the evidence, making it a
suspendable crime.
What about John Cahani of Atlanta who gave his French teacher a bottle
of French wine as a Christmas gift? The present was boxed and all wrapped
up, topped off with a red bow, and when the teacher undid all these
wrappings to find her student had brought alcohol to school, she notified
the principal who suspended John for 10 days. Ten days for anyone bringing
alcohol to school, the policy states. Should a gift-wrapped bottle of wine
be treated the same as a student sneaking vodka to school in a pop bottle
and taking shots during class?
John's parents were so upset with the suspension of their straight-A
son and the subsequent refusal to overturn the suspension, they announced
that they would take John to Paris for two weeks, during which time he would
not be allowed to attend school.
Patty Noble was enraged when her 14-year-old daughter was expelled in
January for giving a classmate Advil to help with menstrual cramps. Both of
the girls were suspended from Sacajawea Junior High in Federal Way,
Washington. The school eventually reversed their decision, but Patty Noble
says it's not enough. "This has affected her self-esteem and her reputation,
and all because she had Advil. I want to know how the school plans to make
this up to her."
In February, two girls were expelled from North Junior High School in
Collinsville, Missouri for carrying caffeine pills, Aleve and acne
medication. "If the school board believes that caffeine is harmful, then the
board must remove all caffeine from the schools including the soda vending
machines, chocolate milk, candy bars, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and
coffee from the teachers' lounge," said Dan Burton, a Collinsville parent at
a school board meeting.
Does a 13-year-old girl in Fariborn, Ohio deserve a nine day suspension
for having Midol to help with menstrual cramps? Does the girl that gave her
the Midol deserve a fourteen day suspension for distributing drugs?
Should a 13-year-old honor roll student in Humble, Texas be suspended
for having Advil in her backpack? Because of the suspension, her grades
dropped 20%, and the school board refused to restore them. Is that fair?
If you're an eighth-grader, should you be suspended for having Alka
Seltzer on campus? It happened to one unlucky Pennsylvanian.
Remember the boy who was suspended for using mouth wash at school last
year? Did they stop the illegal flow of alcohol?
Are these administrators thinking? Where do we make a distinction
between candy and drugs, drinking and gift-giving? Right now, we seem to
have drawn the line way too far to the "crazy, suspend everyone we can"
side.
It seems that the parents of these and other wrongly-suspended students
are the only ones using sane judgement. Shana Morris, mother of "little
Seamus, the cough-drop pusher," after the fire department and an ambulance
were called to the school and she was urged to take her son to the hospital
for testing, tried to calm the situation by assuring the school that the
lemon drops were harmless. "Complete hysteria," she called it. "I can't
believe these people are educating our kids."
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Coke Lovin' Administrators
Tyler
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There are some rights that, far too often, you are forced to give up
when you attend a public school. Especially when your principle is a
fascist. Such is the case in Greenbrier High School in Evans, Georgia, where
19 year-old Mike Cameron was suspended from school for wearing a Pepsi
shirt on Coke Day.
In an effort to win $500 dollars and be included in the pool for the
$10,000 national grand prize, Principle Gloria Hamilton invited four
Coca-Cola exectutives to the school's first (and probably last) Coke Day.
The Contest offered $500 to the Columbia County school that could come up
with the most creative method of distributing promotional discount cards to
students. GHS decided to make a day of it. To open Coke day, students of GHS
spelled "Coke" in huge letters while photography students took photos of it.
Home-economics students slaved over hot ovens all day baking Coke cake.
Chemistry students spent the day analyzing Coke's sugar content, while
Economics students spent their day listening to a Coca-Cola marketing
executive.
Mike Cameron, who sported a Pepsi shirt during the photo shoot, spent
the latter half of the day in the principal's office, Where he was informed
that he was suspended.
Mike Cameron states "It was just a joke." And that's really all it was.
"The Coke executives did not even see Cameron's shirt and were not offended
by the prank," said Coke spokeswoman Diana Garza. Pepsi thought it was a
pretty funny joke, too: "Without knowing all the details, it sounds like
Mike's obviously a trendsetter with impeccable taste in clothes. We're going
to make sure he's got plenty of Pepsi shirts to wear in the future once we
track him down."
"In the past, when kids have decided to ruin a school picture --
occasionally we have some who decide that's the time to do an obscene
gesture-- they've been given six days of suspension," the principal said.
"So it's not a new situation."
Is it just me, or is principal Hailton comparing a hand gesture which
means "Fuck You" to wearing a shirt that says "You Got the Right One Baby,
Uh-Huh"? Obviously, no one was offended by this prank. Why then, did
Hamilton go out of her way to persecute this boy?
As a student who annualy wore the rival high school's colors during
Spirit Week, I am totally baffled by Gloria Hamilton's actions. Her
intolerance for anyone who dares to raise above (or step sideways of, or
duck below) the norm disgusts me. Part of me wonders if she had a hand in
selecting the school's mascot- they are the Greenbrier Wolfpacks. Not the
Wolfs, but the Wolfpacks: a bunch of animals that survive by all acting the
same.
I fear, however, that she is just one of many, many public school
administrators who do this. In a coutry founded and thriving on both the
similarities AND differences between people, it is a tragedy to see how many
educators go out of their way to produce (their concept of) the perfect
cookie-cutter citizen.
At this point, as an Oblivion reader, you should be asking yourself
"What can I do to fight this from happening again?" The answer is to make it
happen again. And again. And again. Don't get sucked in to the norm. Nuke
the norm. If enough people dare to raise up off the beaten path, then the
path will cease to exist all together, and instead become a not-so beaten
giant feild of footsteps. Even if we get knocked down at first, it won't
matter. Eventually, public education will realize "It's a good thing that
our system of making everyone the same doesn't work, because if it did,
society would be pretty screwed. Let's scrap this shit and let students
try to figure out who the really are, not who we want them to be." And don't
just do this in schools. No, it goes much further than school. This is a
societal issue as well. The same problem exists, and the same solution will
work.
So let's get out there, people. Spike your hair for the symphony
concert. Wear Airwalks to prom. Bust out your purple and gold on Cougar day.
Wear a Jewel shirt to a punk show. And dammit, wear a Pepsi Shirt on Coke
day.
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Oblivion Information
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copyrights
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Please distribute Oblivion everywhere you can. Do not steal little bits
and pieces without consent from the author of the bit, byte or nybble, for
they retain full copyrights to their work. If you just ask, they will
probably give permission.
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contributors
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editors
Jestapher - head editor, writing, design, graphics, art
Nemomancer - editor, writing, graphics, network
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writers
Amar, Antitrend, Arhat, Avi Hein, Belial, das, Eightball, Eric P.
Anderson, Jaimee, Jane Doe, l0rdp00, Maureen Lindquist, Maureen Rada,
Matt Walcoff, Mr. Orange, Nina, Nazdreg Z, Paulo, The Last, Trippy Kid,
Tyche, Tyler, Warren Apel, Wheeler
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art & graphics
Brian Kappus, Dagda, Gould, Jess Wyer, Juanune, Wennis
- -- ---- -
support
<angst>, Akai, Eggnog, iMAGER, The Retro Ranger
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locations
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mail: Oblivion
P.O. Box 95227
Seattle, WA 98145-2227
web: http://www.oblivion.net/
email: oblivion@oblivion.net
ftp: ftp.oblivion.net /pub/
ftp.etext.org /pub/zines/oblivion/
mailing list: majordomo@oblivion.net
"subscribe obv-zine"
submissions: nemo@oblivion.net
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review quotes
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"There have been a small handful of new zines written by and about
teens and the issues they face. This one does a great job rounding up
current news stories and providing articulate arguments to support youth
rights."
-- Factsheet 5
"One of the most focused, intelligent teen zines I've seen. Any kid
who's tired of being under his/her owner's thumb should send for this."
-- Zine World
"The rants are fairly entertaining..."
-- Ten Things Jesus Wants You To Know
"Eye-opening."
-- RALPH RECOMMENDS
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music
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David Bowie, Durge, Pain, Radiohead, Sicko, Suicide Machines
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zines
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Book of Letters, Ker-bloom!, Puberty Strike, Universe of Truancy
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thanks
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Olympia Networking Services (www.olywa.net), PHAT LIP! YouthTalk Radio
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about
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Oblivion started in 1995 as an underground student zine and was
immediately attacked by administrators. We've gotten bigger over the years
and now focus on youth rights around the United States and the world.
Oblivion is published quarterly by a group of dedicated kids. If you have a
story to tell, contact us either through the postal service or over the
Internet. Writers published in Oblivion recieve a free shell account on our
phat linux box, oblivion.net. We provide services for a number of youth
rights organizations and youth zines. If you want to stay up to date on all
current youth rights news, subscribe to the obv-talk mailing list by sending
email to majordomo@oblivion.net with the message "subscribe obv-talk" in the
body. You will get articles from major newspapers around the world dealing
with youth issues.
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