The Insider is an ALC student publication. The articles reflect the opinions and views of

ALC students and do not necessarily reflect the views of either the ALC or of ISD #518.

Click here to read our student newspaper publication guidelines.

The Worthington ALC Insider
Volume 3, Issue 3 September 24, 2005
Biography of Mr. Knapp By Rosy Rodriguez Rick Knapp was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. He is fifty-eight years old. His favorite types of music are old time rock ‘n’ roll, and country western. For fun he likes to play with his grandchildren, read, watch sports on television, and be with Virginia. Mr. Knapp loves Minnesota. His favorite types of foods are steak and baked potatoes. Mr. Knapp’s family consists of two sisters and his parents who have passed on. He also has four children and four grandchildren. (Continued à) Officer Fritz and Mr. Knapp “draw fish” on Fridays	Mr. Rick Knapp, the new ALC Coordinator The places where he has lived are Omaha, Kansas, Minnesota and Iowa, but he has traveled to Canada and around the United States. Mr. Knapp came to Worthington because he heard about the job as ALC Coordinator, and because he loves Minnesota. He has taught in alternative settings before. Mr. Knapp thought he was good for the job and the job was good for him. It was a nice match, so he got the job. We would like to welcome him to our school.

The ALC Insider September 24, 2005 page 2

The Disaster in New Orleans By Nichole Meyer In the past few weeks, Americans have seen fellow citizens in Louisiana lose not only their belongings, but also in many cases, their lives. The horrible storm known as Katrina left mothers without their children, children without parents, and elderly people with no one to help them. This has been one of the most horrible, chaotic events that ever unfolded in American history. I have concerns how long it took Americans to react. We all knew the hurricane was coming, so it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone. It took way too long for anyone to act on it and start doing something. (Continued à) A child plays in a hurricane evacuation center

The elderly were among those left to fend for themselves after Katrina hit. I saw the Mayor of New Orleans speak publicly and basically cry for help. Yet it still took days for anything to actually be done. President Bush has no problem sending our troop to Afghanistan or Iraq to help people there. Why would he hesitate to send troops to New Orleans to help our own people? In my opinion, the main reason for the slow response was that it happened in an all-Black neighborhood – in a place that is considered a “ghetto.” This is no reason not to do what was necessary. The people in New Orleans obviously needed our help yet no one did anything for several days. I now realize that everyone is helping and that people are being taken care of. But in future disasters, we need to react immediately – not just to upper class white people, but to everyone equally.

The ALC Insider September 24, 2005 page 3

Was news coverage of Hurricane Katrina fair? By Manuel Marcia A lot of blame has been spread around about the disaster following Hurricane Katrina. Some people don’t like President Bush and accuse him of being a racist and against Black people. I honestly don’t know about all of that, but I do know that many in the media have biased attitudes, at least in the coverage of this story. (Continued à)

If you watched the news during this tragedy you witnessed many reports showing people on the streets of New Orleans looting. That’s all good. But if you paid attention to the pictures, and especially to the words used to describe the pictures, you may have noticed what I noticed. African-American people were usually described as “looting a grocery store” while Caucasian people were described as “finding bread and soda.” Come on – they were all looting. My question is, why can’t all people be labeled equally? People in the news media need to choose their words carefully so that they don’t unfairly label one group of people, especially in the middle of a disaster. Will this happen again? It will happen again and again and will keep on happening. Unfortunately it is just the nature of some in the human race to take preferences regarding one group of people while making others feel inferior.

The ALC Insider September 24, 2005 page 4
ALC Mythbusters Leticia and Miguel: What’s the deal with these two? The Random House Webster’s Dictionary defines urban legend as “a modern story of obscure origin with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously throughout a community.” An example in last week’s Insider involved the tale being told that Worthington’s new watertower is leaning. Another example would be the story of giant alligators living in the sewers of New York City. Here at the ALC, we don’t have urban legends, we have schoolhouse legends. And they also spread spontaneously without evidence. The latest schoolhouse legend goes like this: Leticia and Miguel are a pair. They are engaged, and hope to marry shortly after finishing high school. But is it true? “This story is complete nonsense. We are not a pair – we are first cousins,” said Leticia. (Continued à)	To add to the schoolhouse legend, The Insider used Microsoft Picture-It to prepare this bogus wedding photo of Leticia and Miguel. “We are friends, but it ends there. Everyone at the ALC thinks we are going out, but we are not. We are cousins, period.” This is what Miguel had to say about it all: “I do have a girlfriend, but it’s not Leticia. Leticia is just my cousin.” So what’s the verdict on the Leticia-Miguel schoolhouse legend? If both individuals in a supposed relationship deny that any relationship exists, we can probably assume they are telling the truth. It’s safe to say that this myth is busted.

The ALC Insider September 24, 2005 page 5

Student Editorial More Classes are needed in this school By Leticia Heredia Why does the High School have so many classes to choose from? The ALC only has seven classrooms and a total of 41 classes to choose from. They are pretty much all the required classes only. When I was in High School I got to pick my classes but, now that I moved to ALC I just get what ever is available. I enjoy the ALC very much, but I think we should have more classes to pick from. Many people believe that the ALC is just for students that get in trouble, but in reality, the ALC is one of the most helpful schools that a person can attend. Our current classes are pretty much the required ones. These classes would be like American History, Biology, General Math, Geometry, and Sophomore Composition. For electives we have a few classes such as Hispanic Cultures and Retail Store. Other than that we have Independent Study class. This is an independent class where you do the work at your own rate. If you do double the work in half of the time you can get ½ a credit for the quarter, but this all depends on you and only you. ALC gives opportunities to get the credit that you need in order to graduate. Still if we had more class choices we could get to choose what we are interested in. (Continued à)

Animation by animationlibrary.com Some of the classes I think should be available are a PE class with an emphasis on dancing. Art classes where we can draw and do other things to show the talents we have would be nice. Some other suggestions would be a woodshop class that I think most of the guys would like to be in. A Crafts class would also be a really good option because we could learn how to cook and sew. I think it is unfair that the High School gets more class choices than we do. The school would need more teachers to come and teach, and maybe it would take a while. Still, if we start planning ahead, maybe we might get a wider selection of classes available for the ALC. This is a dog in a toilet. Why? Because we had space to fill… Animation by animationlibrary.com

The Insider September 24, 2005 Page 6

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Go see a new movie today or watch T.V. or go to McDonalds or something.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Today is a good day for just relaxing. Go home and go to bed and stay there.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

Today you will meet someone new. Or else you won’t. Don’t ask us. Think we can predict the future or something?

Cancer (June21-July 22)

Don’t believe the gossip today even though every bit of it that involves you is true.

Leo (July 23-Aug.22)

Go your own way today. Just stay out of our way while doing it.

Virgo (Aug.23-Sept.22

You might as well go home and sleep all day. Your life is a complete waste anyway.

Libra (Sept.23-Oct.22)

Amaze everyone and go out and actually do something today. The shock of it all will bring the world to a halt.

Scorpio (Oct.23-Nov.21)

Keep warm today or you’ll get sick. If you get too warm you’ll get sicker. If you get sicker still, you’ll die.

Sagittarius Nov 22-Dec21)

Remember, you are not always right. In fact, you are never right. You are always totally wrong about absolutely everything.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

We’ll give you this piece of advice even though you won’t listen. Be quiet today. No one wants to hear you anyway.

Aquarius Jan 20- Feb 18

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your pathetic, stinky armpits until the very ends of time.

Pisces Feb 19 –March 20

People who read horoscopes – and this means you – are the most hopeless, pathetic losers of all time.

This Week’s Separated-at-Birth

Click here to read back issues of The Insider