Opinion

My friend was shot. And almost nobody knew. 

Last Thursday (4/13) Ralph Yarl, a black 16 year old, was simply trying to pick up his younger siblings. He accidentally went to the wrong address and after merely ringing the doorbell, was shot by the elderly white homeowner in the head and then again in the arm as he fell backwards. Ralph had to run to three different houses before someone was finally willing to help him. 

To the editors:

I have had occasion to attend several basketball games this season, and most of the hockey team’s run to the Challenge Cup final match. Congratulations to both of those teams for their successful seasons this winter. I have been impressed over and over again by the spirit and class shown by our fans. One cheer sticks out though, and anyone who’s seen me frantically trying to silence it knows what I’m talking about.  I want to explain why I believe SLUH fans should not cheer the “tomahawk chop.”

Each Friday during the end-of-day announcements, Dr. Kesterson utters the same four words: Be good Jr. Bills. In a social climate often centered around underage drinking, it is an appropriate parting message before students are released for the weekend. Yet, these words often fall on deaf ears, met instead with smirks and sideways glances to friends from guys who have no interest in “Being good Jr. Bills” for the weekend. 

This June, the issue of homelessness in Missouri and St. Louis was shook at its core.

Gov. Mike Parson signed Missouri House bill 1606, which will ban staying on state-owned land for unhoused people beginning in January. An important shift like this will demand our attention, causing conflict and changes right in our own SLUH area– but also brings to attention our need, especially as members of a Jesuit school, to come to terms with the lack of human dignity with which we treat St. Louis’s unhoused populations.

A few months back, my advisory was taught about the importance of gender equity at SLUH. To some, it was a meaningful lesson, but to most, it felt like another belaboring advisory lecture. In this particular advisory session, we were tasked with discerning where and when we saw gender inequity in our school and out-of-school lives.

We all dream of Christmas and the lovely break we get. But first, there’s this little matter of school and final exams. There’s no doubt about it, this can be a stressful time. There’s research to do, papers to write, and exams to prepare for. On top of the normal routines of practices and games, rehearsals and performances, there are often extra chores and shopping to do as well.

What helps? Actually, a lot of things do.

We met her at midnight, just as she asked. And she did not disappoint.

Taylor Swift released her tenth studio album Midnights last Friday, a sonically cohesive synth-pop collection of 13 songs inspired by 13 sleepless nights throughout her life. This culmination has been a highly anticipated release for fans since Swift announced Midnights at the MTV Video Music Awards this past August. The announcement came in her acceptance speech for Video of the Year, which she won for her self-directed All Too Well: The Short Film released last year.

The shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts School just down the street has stirred strong feelings in us: anger, fear, sadness, frustration, anxiety, and probably many more. There’s no other way to say it: this is messed up. Stuff like this shouldn’t happen. Anywhere. Period.

Earlier this week, the St. Louis area was heartbroken over the news of the tragedy that took place at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience. As we said in our email on Monday, our prayers are with the victims, the families, and all those suffering from the situation. We strongly encourage you to reach out to your counselor or a trusted adult if you need to talk to someone.

I leave my house at 7:40 each morning, and by the time I pick up my freshman carpool and make my way down Forest Park Parkway, Kingshighway, and Oakland, I arrive at the student parking lot right around 8. As a senior arriving 20 minutes before school begins, I expect each morning to find a spot in the first five rows of the lot, which are designated as Senior Parking. Throughout my entire junior year, I—along with the vast majority of my classmates—respected that rule, acknowledging it as a quintessential senior privilege that we would eventually get to enjoy.

Are you a bully? Most of us would answer by saying “of course not!”

I took a walk down freshman hall the other day and I heard some unsettling things:

“xxxxx is way better at basketball than xxxxx is.”

“I hate xxxxx.”

I was recently in an advisory room and asked the question of students: “Is there bullying at SLUH?” Sadly, a few students indicated that there was. I remember thinking: “we’ve got some work to do.”

To the editors, Robotics needs help from SLUH students. Simply put, we do not have enough members to continue sustaining a club which requires a team of freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. When I joined my freshman year, I joined a group of many underclassmen led on by a sizable group of upperclassmen. Now that I am in my senior year, I am left with a few of my own classmates. I implore and encourage anyone fascinated with engineering to join and stick with this club throughout the season so that it might live after we graduate.

The SLUH Counselors wrote a letter to the editors of the Prep News for Suicide Awareness Month.

An election is taking place in the City of St. Louis next Tuesday, Sept. 13, to decide on a new Board of Aldermen President. This special election is happening because former Board of Aldermen President, Lewis Reed, resigned after it was revealed that he took bribes in exchange for providing tax cuts to local developers.

“If nothing else, value the truth.” Every week, the Prep News masthead includes this small little phrase. It seems so insignificant, so unessential, yet those six simple words serve as the foundation for all that we have done and continue to do  at the Prep News. It’s a phrase that I have strived to live by for the past three years of high school. 

I’m sure every senior has heard that college is a period of excitement, freedom, and learning. In such an exciting time, I would encourage any freshman in college to not be shy in meeting new people and taking new classes. However, above all, the best advice I can give to any incoming college student is take ownership of your faith.

It’s a tale as old as time. Each year, SLUH students gather together to watch the big game, just like millions of other Americans. The play calls are scrutinized, the commercials are ranked, and the halftime show is either thoroughly enjoyed or berated for not living up to the hype. Overall, the night is fun, except for one thing: the looming threat of a Monday morning at school. Jr. Bills dread few things more than school. 

There are three things in life that are certain: death, taxes, and students loving snow days. Students from everywhere have their differences, but they bond together over their mutual love for these days off. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, students had their wish come true and got to experience their first real snow days in a long time.

Four days ago, I had left with my youth group to travel 15 hours on a bus to Washington D.C. for the March for Life, and to my disappointment that journey was coming to an end. I was confused, very confused: why did I not want to leave this cramped, smelly bus, and return to my home? Because I was surrounded by a community built on joy, and awaiting me on Monday was a community lacking joy.

“Who do you say that I am?”  

Of all the questions Jesus poses in the Gospels, this one might just be the most essential.  When a high school senior takes this question seriously enough to publish his response to it in the school newspaper, I see cause for celebration.