February 14, a day in which people are supposed to show their love for one another by taking someone out to a fancy dinner, giving them expensive jewelry, or buying them flowers and candy. As the day gets closer, commercials for jewelry stores, and the Hallmark store are on every station, ads for the personalized M & M’s are in the Washington Post, ads for candy grams are on the morning announcements at Sherwood. 

       Every year at this time, people start up their usual complaints about Valentine’s Day. It’s exclusionary, they say. It makes single, unattached people feel badly about themselves, while making coupled people feel obligated to provide expensive gifts for their significant others. 

        America’s armed forces are spread increasingly thin across the globe. According to Department of Defense statistics, in 2003, there were about 487,000 people on active service in the Army, about 385,000 in the Navy, about 174,000 in the Marine Corps, and about 368,000 in the Air Force. More service members are being called up for repeated tours of duty and recruiters are under increasing pressure to meet their quotas. Some have suggested reinstating the draft, claiming it is more fair to spread the obligation of service throughout the country. Others say the draft violates basic rights, and will not help the war effort. So the Warrior asks, should the draft be reinstated?

        The U.S. Army has been heading towards a breaking point since the start of the Iraq invasion in 2003. According to a study done for the Pentagon, the Army has become a “thin green line” that could break easily if replacements are unable to deploy soon. There simply are not enough troops to fight conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as participate in anti-terrorist actions around the rest of the world.

     There has been much debate about whether to reinstate the draft in the face of the War in Iraq. Dwindling troop numbers, fewer recruits and a war that remains as intractable today as when it started all seem to call for such a measure. However, the draft is still the wrong solution.

Sixty-four percent of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students feel unsafe at their school due to harassment, discrimination and bullying. Four out of five students report verbal, sexual or physical abuse at school because of their sexual expression and sexual orientation, according to the Gay, Straight, and Lesbian Education Network. This past year, a California student, Lawrence King, was shot and killed because of his sexual orientation and gender expression.

Today marks the final day of instruction for the 2007-2008 school year. Though this is certainly cause for celebration, the last day of classes will likely be anti-climatic for many students. In many classes, actual instruction ended a few weeks ago. Lack of conformity in instruction greatly disorients students in the final month of school.

      I turn on the national news to find Barbie and Ken, hair stiff and smiles wide, spurting off the day’s headlines: Clinton and Obama swap insults; Killer wants sex change; Hospital staff face firing over Britney’s medical records. The coverage ends with a, you guessed it, commercial break. Man, all of that hard-hitting news got me thinking: What is going on in the world? Click.

      When thinking which is a nation of fat people, the first country that comes to mind is none other than the United States. Oh, the good ol’ U.S. of A, eating and enjoying life one French fry at a time. But maybe there’s another category in which to place the citizens of the world’s sole remaining superpower. In 2006, McDonald’s raked in $20.5 billion. Big surprise. However, that same year, antidepressant and antipsychotic pills earned $25 billion. So not only are we a bit overweight, but we also have emotional issues. Lovely.

     How would you like it if your counselor told you that you don’t seem to have a passion for the career you always envisioned yourself pursuing?

      Prepare for the future. It’s hackneyed and trite, but there’s something to be salvaged from that aphorism. Senior year’s all about looking ahead. Some students forget school as a priority and pick up part-time jobs. Some continue challenging themselves through Advanced Placement courses. Some work and study. It’s truly a transition from public education to higher education, or education to the workforce. Unfortunately though, it’s more like limbo than a stepping stone.

      Renowned lover, Dr. Love (PhD in Loving), gives his advice to young, inexperienced souls looking for answers to their romantic woes.

      At the risk of talking too much about itself, the Warrior must express its concern. As a facet of the local press, it has a responsibility to report and publish balanced yet critical news important to the community at large, as do all school newspapers. But one 1988 Supreme Court ruling with far-reaching effects has placed critical high school journalism on the endangered species list. 

      The government has proved its efficiency again. Maryland state government has found another way to waste a lot of money on a wasteful project. Wow, now there will be less traffic! Everyone’s commute will be easier! There are only a few consequences of their plan, but they don’t affect the grand scheme in its complete brilliance. Destroying neighborhoods and the environment doesn’t matter at all, right?

      The 2008 presidential election sadly will go down as the most expensive campaigns in U.S. history. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton alone has raised $115,652,361 during primary campaigning, but what is even more shocking are predictions that each eventual nominee will need to raise $500 million in order to stay competitive.

      Vegetating in my first period class, the teacher, switching up the routine, began to call out in a monotonous drone the names of those invited to the ice cream social for making honor roll. When my name was called, I shuffled over to receive my golden pass out of sixth period and noticed that more than three-quarters of my peers were going to miss sixth period too. In honors classes, “high” achievement is the norm.

      As cheesy and impersonal as eCards are, there is something strangely alluring about them. Browsing on the internet for a sympathy eCard, I stumbled upon a plethora of eCards for all different occasions. Good old card companies-always reliable. You can count on them to try to rake in some money by making each day a holiday. Next Wednesday is Sherlock Holmes day. Honorable man, he was…Can I get a professional day for that? 

   

      How would you like it if your counselor told you that you don’t seem to have a passion for the career you always envisioned yourself pursuing? That’s eleven years of preparation down the drain. Giving up your Friday nights to volunteer at Montgomery General Hospital, reserving Saturday mornings for intensely hectic shifts at Moss Chiropractic, enduring rigorous AP science courses, applying for impossible internships, prepping like a maniac for the top grades and SAT scores, taking tours and gathering paraphernalia for only those selective few colleges that flaunt their medical programs like the latest Coach purse—basically sacrificing your entire social life to meet the demands of the college application process. Welcome to my life.