The first amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”  For those of you who may not understand this due to its complex wording, it says it’s illegal for Congress to strike down free speech.  While it’s illegal for Congress, it’s not illegal in schools, and schools can do whatever they please when it comes to punishing students for saying something.  That’s understandable because it students shouldn’t be allowed to just randomly curse in school and go unpunished.  What’s messed up is that schools can punish students for saying something about other students while OFF school grounds.  You could call another person a bitch off school grounds and the dean can step in and punish you.  Yea, no shit.

            What’s the point of this?  Well, it’s quite simple.  The entire thing is unfair.  When did it become legal for schools to step into affairs that happened off school grounds and in no way include the school?  I don’t know and frankly, I don’t think anyone does.  Earlier this week, as some people may know, a senior at our school, Carl James “CJ” Dodd, was suspended then later expelled for items he wrote and posted on his Live Journal (LJ) that were inflammatory against another student.  The exact extent of his sayings I won’t go into but it basically came down to simple schoolyard name-calling.  Nothing more than all of us have done at one point in our lifetimes.  Someone printed out the LJ post and took it into the office.  The office investigated the account but couldn’t pinpoint who owned it.  Willing to go the distance, they called up the LJ offices, which are based in California, and found out who the owner of the account was.  Without a second thought, the school suspended CJ for 7 days.  The next day, the school then decided to expel him.  The exact reasoning for the harder sentence may never be known but it’s obvious someone in the office has it out for CJ.  He writes a single ranting post against a single person, never threatening her but just calling her names, and posts it on a private account that a minimal amount of people have access to, and he gets expelled.  Students scream curses at teachers and go to school drunk and high but the worse that happens to most of those is a slap on the wrist or a minor suspension.  Someone earlier this year openly wrote online that they hoped there was another shooting so everyone could get the day off.  The person was suspended for 3 days.  Last year, a student brought a knife to school and got a in school suspension.  Those are serious offenses and CJ’s isn’t but what does CJ get?  The hammer.  Why CJ was cracked down on can only be attributed to the fact that someone or some ones somewhere no longer wanted him around.  Well whomever those assholes, whether they are administration, teachers or students, have definitely succeeded.

CJ wrote for this underground paper under the name Iroquois Pliskin and was the author of our most controversial article “These Sweeping Generalizations of Ours”.  As some may know, he often speaks his mind with little regard to the verbal beatings he’ll receive but it is almost always for a good cause.  This was no different.  The person he spoke out against, Alyssa Vanderwulp, has a history that is nowhere near sparkling clean.  I’ve known CJ for 8 years and Alyssa for 6 or 7 so I know plenty about both.  CJ is the editor of the school newspaper and had a group of friends that never caused problems around the school.  He has never done drugs and has been a strong activist against teenage drinking.  Many teachers liked him and enjoyed seeing him in the hallways.  He was going to ICC next year and then transferring to a 4-year university after that.  All in all, CJ was a good student that helped Woodruff a lot more than he hurt it.

Alyssa on the other hand is a different story.  In the years I’ve known Alyssa, a single title comes to mind, “mental instability”.  As someone who actively “cuts” her wrists, but isn’t suicidal, she strives for sympathy and attention from all.  She has a complex where she pleads low self-esteem in order to have sex with multiple partners, including females, so she isn’t labeled a slut.  There have been multiple instances where she would go to parties and get drunk and play a game that’s similar to Chicken where 2 people put their forearms together and drop a lit cigarette in the middle and allow the cigarette to burn them until one of the two people could no longer stand it and pull away.  She has also been known to delve into the world of narcotics.  On top of this, her best friend was expelled last year after she was caught bringing a weapon to school.  CJ spoke out against all of these faults of hers.  Alyssa definitely isn’t someone that we want in the hallways of Woodruff and CJ knew this and spoke out against it and gets expelled.

            This wasn’t the first time CJ has written things similar to what he wrote, but it has been the first time he’s gotten into trouble.  Why he was expelled now oppose to all those other times and why no one else has received the same punishment for worse crimes is complete and utter bullshit.  Why the administration is wasting their time on simple stuff and allowing the horrible stuff at Woodruff to continue is baffling.  The fact it was written and posted off school grounds just add to the bullshit of this entire thing.  The administration is showing nothing but unfairness in this situation.  What’s worse is that the school has gotten the police involved to see if they can’t get CJ into more trouble.  It can easily be prove that EVERY student in the school has done something illegal but does the school crack down on them?  No.

            CJ causes very little trouble, supports good causes, has a bright future and is one of the best students in school yet he has gotten expelled and is now forced to finish his schooling at Greeley.  Alyssa is mentally instable but no one is rushing to do anything about that.  The administration wonders why the school is going down the shitter, well they can now no longer look farther than the mirror.  They kick the best students into the street while they allow the worse to stay in school.  Until they fix this trend, it’s obvious this school isn’t going to do any better.

            CJ has decided not to fight this legally or through the school board because it is the end of the year.  We still ask that you show your support by wearing a “Save CJ” or an “I <3 CJ” pin that will be available, free of charge, starting on Monday.  Just ask someone wearing one and they’ll be able to tell you how to get one.  Show your support for CJ and make a statement to the administration that their unfairness is bullshit.