Three simple, yet incredibly loaded words: second semester senior. This phrase has reached legendary proportions. Apparently, students can cut class on a regular basis with no consequences. Homework and exams? Unheard of. Overall, students believe that being a second semester senior grants you the right to give up on formal schooling and to experience true “freedom.” Well, guess again.

Many factors go into the debate on public and private schools. The differences in community and culture carry over to the networks and relationships students build, and price tags may enhance or detract from a school’s appeal.

Over the course of the last decade, with the proliferation of computers and the Internet, we have witnessed a startling decline in reading. In a survey conducted by the Literacy Company, 80 percent of US families did not buy or read a book in 2008, 33 percent of high school graduates did not read for the rest of their life, and 42 percent of college graduates never read a book after college.

I admit it; I used to be someone who used Sparknotes indiscriminately. Temptation lured me to err at 2:30 AM, after hours of diligent work (and sneaky procrastination). Completed the history notes? Check. Reviewed for the biology lab? Check. Studied for the pre-calculus test? Triple check. Finished reading chapters one through eight of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? Che– oh, shoot. Guess I should read the abridged summary online then.

Admiring my freshman year planner, I realize how manageable and blithe life once was. My assignments for the day seldom solicited more than three lines of writing, and the remaining space was wisely adopted as a convenient medium to doodle thoughts on.

At MSJ, most students feel blessed if they can get eight hours of sleep each night. So to counteract the effects of heavy workloads, some have proposed a flawed plan to push school start times ahead an hour to 8:40 am. As expected, this issue has aroused criticism and has even sparked some heated debates on how students’ lack of sleep should be handled.