# Leelanau Talk Blog

because we need a safe place to speak

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Leelanau Talk Blog
Leelanau Talk is a collection of students and alumni of The Leelanau School that are concerned about the school’s direction and practices. We offer uncensored discussion, news, and reviews about the school and protect student free speech rights.
Update Apr 24, 2009 Leelanau Talk is now on twitter. Go here to follow us or text "follow leelanautalk" to 40404 to get updates on your cell phone.
Update March 18, 2009: It looks like Wordpress is being a pain and making all comments moderated. This means that we have to manually approve every comment. We're working on a way to fix this. Until then, it might take up to 24 hours for comments to be posted. We believe in free speech, so we'll publish everything that isn't spam.
Anybody can post stuff to the front page here by registering for an account. We do not require any personal information from you. If you want to, you can use winston's account. Both the username and the password are winston. Note: If you write something with this account and then somebody else logs in, they can delete what you wrote. Feel free to send us an email at leelanautalk{at}gmail.com.
Leelanau Talk: No Logs. Leak their shit. Stop snitchin. Live dangerously.

## Bread Bar

December 8th, 2008 | Tags: bar, Bread, cereal, leelanau school
1 comment

Hey Guys, we got it back. After a few Emails between me to Mr. Odell, the bread bar and cereal bars are back. Its a limited selection, but at least theres something. thanks everyone for your support, and all of you who said I couldnt do it or I should pick my battles better, I hope you got the email.

I will be posting the email, fixing the punctuation and grammar mistakes and expanding the post later.

Thanks all-

Dan Stravinskas

## Sorry Adb, this site isnt yours…

November 22nd, 2008 | Tags: ADB, bar, Bread, Cameras, cereal, Dan, discipline, get, involved, Kac, leelanau, ms., new site, school, Stravinskas, sunshine
8 comments

Sorry ADB, this site is no longer yours. The school isn’t yours. The school and this site belong to us, the students. It belongs to the students who are here, now.

I am hijacking this site; it is now the Leelanau Students place to speak our minds.

The old site, ADB’s site was about fighting subversively to get what you want, what we want, a better system. But now this site won’t be about, “fuck the school, they made me take a piss test, they’re invading my privacy” it’s not about, “fuck the school, here’s how you can piss them off: hack!” it’s no longer about “fuck the school, look what they did!”

The new site is about news, what’s going on, and how we can fix the problems. The new site is by students, for students, and about students.

I would like to kick off the new Leelanau Talk with this update:

I have been going to Leelanau for 2 years now, and I am very pleased with the way my education has been shaped and effected by the school.

That being said, there are some issues I want to bring forth. These are all issues I have brought up in student council as the senior class representative.

Issue 1: Cameras

The school, I suppose over the summer, installed 2 cameras in the KAC. This is to deter students from misbehaving, pulling pranks, and most of all, having sex in the KAC. This issue has been talked about at almost every meeting, and we are thinking about making a petition against these cameras.

The other issue involving cameras is that another camera has been put out on the beach. This is assumed to be about catching smokers.

No one is quite sure who is watching these cameras and who looks at the tapes, if there are any tapes at all. I have heard that the cameras feed into Mr. Begg’s office, which has yet to be confirmed.

Please talk about this issue, and help raise awareness.

Issue 2: Ms. Sunshine’s new discipline policy

After Mr. Sonnenberg left his role as assistant to residence life, and as the disciplinary go-to guy, he went on to become the school’s gym teacher, which I am told he enjoys very much. The school has put Ms. Smithbell as the new disciplinary leader. She remade a lot of the policies, and her explanation for the new title “miss sunshine” can be read on her office door.

The new discipline system is hard to read at best. It is even harder to describe, but the idea is to come up with individual punishments for different individuals. While I believe her heart is in the right place, and anything is better than last years’ system, there are huge flaws in this new system.

For one, there is no more dorming. Ms Smithbell has told me that it makes her feel like she doing the old “go to your room” which we all went through when we were young. The problem is that there are no ideas of other punishments that seem to work.

We have tried giving apologies to the student body at quiet period, we have tried snow shoveling (the newest idea) both of which are a deterrent, but most students just refuse to do these things.

I met with Ms Smithbell today, regarding my lack of attendance to first hour class, which I will admit is a problem, and she told me she was getting tired of students disrespecting her. I would have to agree that some students are being very disrespectful, but what she told me next was just too much. She said that if students continued to miss classes, skip classes, or not sign in to morning sign in, these students would not be asked to come back next semester. She also told me that some students were already chosen to not come back. This is not the Leelanau school way, and I ask you all to write or talk to her about this new direction.

I have not had a chance to bring this up in student council, but I will come the next meeting.

Issue 3: Bread/Cereal Bar

If you haven’t noticed, the Leelanau cafeteria has recently made the decision to remove the bread bar and the cereal bar during lunch and dinner. This, I’m told, is because certain students are eating a straight carbohydrate diet, which is extremely unhealthy.

This goes back to the issue the school has (forgive me if I’m being too preachy here) of simply removing something when it would be better to educate the problem students, and leave everyone else alone. They’re using a sword were they should be using a scalpel.

If you hadn’t guessed who was writing this, you probably know now. This is an issue I have been on top of since it became an issue. I have made the decision to not eat in the cafeteria until the bread bar and cereal bar are brought back, as a peaceful protest, and I invite anyone who wants to help out to do the same. I love Jims cooking, and I hated to miss the thanksgiving feast, which I’m told was amazing, but I need to do this, for myself and for my fellow classmates.

Those are the issues I can think of right now, as more arise, I will post them when I can, usually weekends at the coffee shop ;)

Thanks for the new domain ADB, but this site is ours now.

Contact me if you want to get involved in making a real difference,

Dan Stravinskas,

Senior Class Rep. ‘09

## Welcome to the Leelanau Talk Blog

November 19th, 2008 | Tags: analysis, censorship, friley, leelanau school, speech, stir
No comments

Wow! I took the site down for maintenance for a few days and in doing so I have caused quite a stir. I posted a note to the site explaining some of my current thoughts, misgivings, etc. about my time at Leelanau and the time I have put into Leelanau Talk. There was some good discussion from all sides, which leads me to why Leelanau Talk was started in the first place.

I had two goals when I started Leelanau Talk. The first was to foster an un-censorable discussion about The Leelanau School, what had happened in the past, where it was going, and what people should be doing in the meantime. My plan was to do this by releasing previously censored speech, providing a safe place for it, and supporting those at Leelanau who were under attack for their thoughts and words.

There is a theory across most of the industrialized world that the mere existence of a good idea would cause it to perpetuate itself. The typical thinking of the hippie-era in the 1960s was that by raising consciousness and by spreading ideas, we could change the world. In the third world, it’s clear that people think about things differently. One could spend endless hours debating whether this is because lives are at stake or that these people think about change differently.

…. regardless ….

This leads into my second goal of starting Leelanau Talk, which was to promote radical thinking among students and staff, support those who thought about the school situation in revolutionary terms, and use the evidence I had gathered to support my own arguments. I don’t mean radical as enforcing an anarchist/marxist/etc. perspective, but radical in the sense that I was asking people to think outside the box of what they took for granted and to attack the roots of the problems they saw through direct action.

Over the past few months I have had a lot of time to think about my own philosophy, the things I have been doing, the things I have been working with, and what it all means. Leelanau Talk never became quite what I wanted it to be because I didn’t put the energy into it that I had originally planned and because I was disillusioned. When I took down the site I put up a little note which talked about certain people and the groups those people belonged to. I think some people who read this also read into a deeper meaning which was that I saw a little of myself in all of those groups.

During my time at Leelanau, my political ideology was challenged, proven correct, proven incorrect, and changed quite a bit. I was a hardcore communist when I came to Leelanau, but when I left I had turned into a fledgling Anarchist. They seem the same to most mainstreamers, but they’re actually opposite ends of the spectrum. I think the main thing that happened to my ideology at Leelanau was that it was hardened. While this was good for getting through my last year of boarding school, it wasn’t so great in the real world. Mr. Friley said something to me towards the end of the year that I think really sums up something important and it went along the lines of “Black and white decisions are easy to make. It’s the decisions in the grey area that are hard and it is those decisions that ultimately decide our character”. I absolutely agree, and that quote says much more than is originally apparent. His words analyze the individual but they also apply to social interactions and systems. Diversity is what makes us unique. Challenges are what happens when those diversities meet. The results of those challenges are varied and depending on the outcome: beautiful. Doesn’t it then make sense that we would want to foster diversity and create safe environments for those challenges to occur?

Yes, but that’s not what I was doing here at Leelanau Talk. After having put some of my ideas about liberation into action, I wanted to help others do the same. I got really excited about the prospect of helping organize radical thought on campus, being able to finally speak my mind, and helping others with their own liberation. As often happens to people who are really excited about a cause, I tried to micro-manage everything. As people who checked the site regularly can tell you, I made a lot of comments and also corrected a lot of people when I saw them saying something I didn’t agree with. This was not only a beautiful display of my closed-mindedness caused by the hardening of my ideology, but also of my desire to micro-manage everything. Ideologies are like living things. They grow and try new things and explore and sometimes make mistakes. By constantly pointing out what I saw as mistakes and trying to guide ideologies, I ended up messing up that process. You could say the same thing of how people grow up. It’s all a process of trying new things, challenging yourself, and learning from your mistakes. This isn’t to say that having a third party analyze your thoughts about the world isn’t helpful, but that the best things happen when that third party steps aside and you have an opportunity to do it yourself.

That being said, after having much time to think about my own ideology and its practice, I have decided to take a new approach to Leelanau Talk. Of course, the cycle will continue and a while down the road I’ll probably try something different. Until then, I’ll try to stay out of discussions in the way that I’d been placing myself in them previously. I’ll still be here to support those on campus who are persecuted for their views, whatever they might be. I’ll still write occasional articles, keep an eye on the Leelanau School, and try and bring publicity to the cause — and maybe I’ll finally get around to sending some of those care packages.

adb

## The Leelanau School Caught Censoring Wikipedia!

November 16th, 2008 | Tags: leelanau, odell, richard, school, wikipedia
1,486 comments

Well, looks like the Leelanau School is at it again, silencing its critics. This time, they’ve been editing the school’s Wikipedia entry. How do we know it’s the Leelanau School? Well, because the IP address that made the changes (71.13.68.126) is the school webcam! Try going to http://71.13.68.126 and see what you get!

The editor, obviously working for the school, when confronted about the edits said “The Leelanau School’s Headmaster Rich Odell can answer any questions regarding changes made to this website, 231.334.5800″. He gave school president Richard Odell’s number out. Once this person’s edits were seen, a Wikipedia editor cleaned them up saying that “Wikipedia is not a marketing pamphlet”.

So what exactly did the school try and remove from the wikipedia entry? Well, quite a bit. Here’s all the things they didn’t like people knowing about the school.

1. The school has had a fluctuating enrollment between 60 and roughly 100 (the latter being its nominal capacity) over the last 20 years. During the last few years the school has suffered declining enrollment and resulting increasing encumbrance on its financial structure. Challenges facing the school include a lack of “legacy” students (students whose parent(s) also attended Leelanau) and a severe shortfall in charitable giving.

2. In response to these challenges the school has undertaken a realignment of its core competency, choosing to emphasize “learning differences”, and has boosted tuition levels to in excess of $40,000 annually. The success of this realignment in stabilizing the school’s fiscal status is yet to be determined

3. An organization called “The Leelanau Alumni Organization” was formed in late 2005 by alumni concerned over the lack of alumni contributions to the school and the potential of closure. This organization is independent from the school and intends to serve alumni interests, and hopes to facilitate the school’s growth as well

The school employee also removed links to sites that had negative reviews of The Leelanau School and the Leelanau Alumni Organization.

Now, I know what the school’s going to say about this. They’ll say that they were cleaning up factual inaccuracies in the entry. Fair enough, let’s check the facts. Number one and two can be confirmed by tax reports released by the Leelanau School and available in the download section. For number three, you don’t have to look any farther than the Leelanau Alumni Site.

The school’s Wikipedia editor also added quite a bit to the wikipedia entry, making the page sound more like a promotional video than an encyclopedia entry. He added too much to list here, but here’s just a sample of his “unbaised” view of Leelanau
The Leelanau School is the experience-based, five-senses learning community where students in grades 9 through 12 live and discover together on Lake Michigan’s wooded shore. We build on each student’s learning strengths, creatively using hands-on projects and our dramatic natural setting to help students gain a fresh new sense of independence, engagement, and capability.
Beyond textbooks. Through experience. Toward college. With a whole new sense of what’s possible.
The Leelanau Experience is engaging, unique, memorable, and life changing. The Leelanau Staff carefully assesses the strengths of each student and builds a program that pays attention to each individual’s educational, social, physical, and emotional development. In today’s society with all of the pressure for youth to succeed, the Leelanau Experience allows students to significantly improve their confidence and self-esteem.

Luckily, there are people on Wikipedia who want you to have the facts instead of a bunch of promotional hot air.

Unfortunately, the school didn’t stop at just vandalizing their own page. The author continued on, editing the page on Charles Darwin to say that Darwin “…hated with the passion of a thousand suns one and only one and that was Marie Curie because she stole her husbands ideas and won a bunch of prizes.”

Now, how do we know that these edits aren’t just done by students messing around online? Simple, because when you edit Wikipedia from school, that’s not the IP address that shows up. This is one of the external IP addresses from the school staff network. I’ve edited things on Wikipedia from school and they don’t show up under that IP and I know I’m not the only person who has edited things.

I have attached a zip file where I saved copies of all of the page edits, seeing as to how the Leelanau School might see it fit to go delete those off of Wikipedia as well. See the downloads section to the right –>

For honesty,
adb

## 75 Bucks For Thumbtacks? What?

November 16th, 2008 | Tags: johndavis, ridiculous, thumbtacks
3 comments

Ok, I’ve been at Leelanau for most of my High school career, and I love the school. It is by-far the best high school I have ever attended. That being said, there are obvious problems that need to be discussed here, and in person. That’s why I am posting, as the site says, “Because we need a safe place to speak…”

At the end of the ’07-’08 year, I was charged for damage to my walls. There wouldn’t be anything wrong with that if the reason was different, like if there was graffiti like in other rooms, or if there was gum or something else like that stuck all over. There wasn’t. The reason I was charged was because, according to the bill, damage from posters being put on my wall. I was charged 75 dollars. 75 dollars for hanging posters with thumbtacks. A thumbtack has a point of about .7-1.0 mm. so what would the damage look like? You wouldn’t see it if you were not looking for it. So, the staff member who filled out the form was looking for things to charge me with, and he found it.
Another problem with them charging 75 dollars, is that they can’t do anything to fix the damage with that money. It goes straight to the bank, and who knows where that goes… the walls in the dorm were made of wood, which would be very expensive to fix, and 75 dollars wouldn’t cover it. I would say that 150 might be a start, that’s 75 dollars from me and my roommate, but only I was charged.

Only I was charged, even though my roommate and I used the exact same thumbtacks. The same thumbtacks from the same box. I called up our suitemates, and neither of them was charged, even though they used thumbtacks also.

Why is this a big deal? Because there is obviously a bias in this story, the staff member who filled out the form has tried to charge me for other things, despite my repeated maintenance request forms for various other issues. And 75 dollars might not seem like much for a typical student at Leelanau, who are mainly high income families, but I come from a lower-middle class family, and we don’t have that kind of money.

So there it is. My first post, if you have a similar story please post it here. I feel that the school discriminates against lower income families more because they have a possibility of not “returning the favor of a good education through monetary means.” Basically, you’re more likely to be harassed, if you won’t donate later.

## How to Beat the Filter

November 16th, 2008 | Tags: filter, fortiguard, leelanau school, proxies, proxy, tor
4 comments

It’s unfortunate that this guide ever had to be written, that we ever had to use proxies in the first place, that anybody ever thought we weren’t smart enough to decide for ourselves what was right and wrong, and that somebody ever thought censorship was a good idea. Unfortunately, the world we currently live in has found it acceptable to censor internet access to kids because we aren’t smart or responsible enough to use it. This guide will debunk some popular myths about web filters and show you how to get past them.

I’d like to take some time to quickly destroy some arguments that people use to install filters on internet

1. Filters only block bad sites
This is absolutely not true, and anybody who has ever been behind a filter can tell you that. Filters block thousands and thousands of legitimate, academic sites. While I was at Leelanau, I ran into multiple sites a day that I needed for school, some of which I was able to get unblocked.

2. Filters stop kids from seeing “bad” content
This is also absolutely not true, as anybody under the age of 35 can tell you. Filters are easy to get past and only serve as an inconvenience to people trying to use the internet. Everybody’s definition of “bad” is different, so this isn’t really a good point to argue on.

3. There are places out there on the internet that tell kids how to do bad things, we have to stop them!
Well, the good thing is that you can’t. If you really think it’s a good idea to censor the internet, then you should also stick to your word and censor mail, books, and all communications between people. We don’t do that because it’s incredibly Orwellian and an infringement on numerous human rights. For some reason, people think the internet is an exception. Laws that have tried to implement web filtering on a national scale such as COPA have been shot down by courts as unconstitutional. There might be things on the internet that you find offensive, in fact, there are certainly things you would find offensive. If you see something offensive, you just move on as if you has heard somebody on the street saying offensive things. Chances are if you find something offensive, your kids will find it offensive too. I don’t think Nazi hate sites are cool either, but they have their free speech rights. One of the main reason that hate groups are able to flourish is that information is so tightly regulated. If people were able to look at different sources and see the facts, nobody would be duped into those kinds of beliefs.

4. They’re my kids, I should be able to control what they see online!
The problem is that your kids are human beings, which means they have human rights. These rights include the right to free speech. If you won’t let them see things, they’ll go and get those things from friends etc. and friends aren’t always the most reliable source of information. If you want your kids to be able to say no to those “bad things” on the internet, the best course of action is to show your kids why those things are bad. If you can’t make an argument to prove this, maybe you need to reconsider why you think those things are bad.

5. If we don’t censor myspace, my kids will get abducted by pedophiles!
Again, you’d have to censor mail, telephone calls, and conversations if you truly believed that. The internet is a tool, just like the written word or any other tool, and it can be used responsibly or irresponsibly. Kids these days are very aware of the risks of giving out their personally identifiable information thanks to a lot of education on this topic, so there isn’t a lot to worry about. Instead of shutting down the site or making your kids turn a blind eye to it, have a conversation with them about how to protect themselves online and why they shouldn’t give out their information.

6. Isn’t the school required by law to put filters on the internet?
No. There is no law that requires them to do that, although installing them does earn the school some fancy tax breaks. Remember: As Thomas Jefferson said, “Freedom requires eternal vigilance”.

7. Isn’t it illegal to give out these proxies? Isn’t it illegal to bypass filters?
Not unless your hacking into the school mainframe and elevating your user account to administrator. You can do illegal things with proxies (like watching porn before you turn 18 or hacking) but proxies aren’t illegal on their own. This is like how you could run over somebody with a car (illegal) or go to the grocery store with your car (not illegal).

8. The blocklists used by filters are reviewed by humans, so they’re 100% accurate!
Ok, now think about this. If human beings really added all those sites to the filter then there’s no way they could block even half of the “bad” content on the internet. These filters are mainly created by machines which is why you have thousands of false postitives.

9. But kids will use Facebook/Myspace to harass each other! I’ve seen it happen!
As long as there are stupid people, they will do stupid things. During the middle ages, we probably harassed people with wax tablets. Now we do it online, or in newspapers, or by word of mouth. For one, if they do it online, there’s a clear record that they did it and it’s easy to get them in trouble. If they whispered it to somebody, there’s no way to prove that. So consider internet harassment to be a blessing! In reality though, people can harass others with any tool available at their disposal such as their voice, their writing, their facebook, and even their hand signals. Facebook clearly isn’t the culprit here. The culprit is the person doing the harassing!

10. If a filter wrongly blocks something, why don’t you just tell the school?
That can sometimes work, as I’ve gotten dozens of sites unblocked but it’s an incredible inconvenience. This the-filter-is-perfect assumption doesn’t work and ends up leaving your network admin with a dizzying list of sites to look at and unblock. It’s much easier to just use proxies. Doing this also allows the school to build a profile of the sites your looking at (they already do this through logging) and in all reality, 99% of it isn’t their business. It only becomes their business when you break the law on their internet connection.

Peacefire, a group that distributes proxies for students, also has a wonderful piece on whey we shouldn’t censor kids at school at http://peacefire.org/info/why.shtml

There are three different types of filters that you will encounter called whitelists, blacklists, and keyword filters.

Whitelist filters have a list of sites that the filter provider (school, Fortiguard, etc.) have determined to be “acceptable” for you to view. By design, whitelist filters block the majority of the internet as well as all new sites. The Leelanau School moved from a Blacklist filter to a Whitelist filter in 2007.

Blacklist filters have a list of sites that have been deemed “bad”. These, like all filters, also block tons of academic sites. Everything that hasn’t been blocked is automatically unblocked.

Keyword filters usually have a blacklist in them, but they operate by inspecting the pages you view for keywords such as proxy, pipe bomb, porn, etc.

As I said earlier, the school uses a whitelist filter which is probably the most restrictive type. As anybody who has spent five minutes on the school internet can tell you, it’s almost worthless because of the vast number of sites that it blocks.

Beating the Filter: Web Proxies
This is probably the most common way to beat filters. You visit a site such as http://www.stupidcensorship.com where you type in the name of the site you want to visit such as http://www.myspace.com and then it lets you through. These work by obscuring your traffic (web surfing) so the filter can’t see what’s going on. The web filter thinks you’re just connecting to http://www.stupidcensorship.com instead of http://www.myspace.com. These can get blocked, meaning you have to find new ones all the time, which can be really difficult if all of yours get blocked at once. If you use this method, it’s good to have one or two backups in case they block one of yours. I suggest you subscribe to the mailing list at http://www.peacefire.org which will send you new proxies fairly regularly right to your email. http://www.proxy.org also has a fairly exhaustive list of proxies available.

Beating the Filter: Tor
This is the best way to beat filters. Tor is a program that has a huge list of proxies it can send you through. It goes through this list until it finds some that are unblocked, and then it send you through them automatically. Some of these proxies are in other countries so you might end up at the German google, but you’ll get used to that fairly quickly. It can also be slow at times, but it works 99% of the time.

You can get Tor by going to https://www.torproject.org. Click on the download tab, go down to “Tor Browser Bundle” and download the latest version. Run the file you downloaded, follow the instructions on screen, and you’re set! You can even install it to a flash drive and take it with you!

It’s important to remember that using these programs or bypassing the filter is usually a violation of your school’s computer use policy. I don’t know anybody at Leelanau who has gotten in trouble *specifically and only* for bypassing the filter, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. Everybody does it, so they’d have to get everybody in trouble.

## How To Pass Your Drug Test

November 16th, 2008 | Tags: drug tests, guides, howtos, print this shit everywhere!, weed
11 comments

The Leelanau School has an extremely invasive policy when it comes to drug testing. Last year, they even started to implement drug testing on a random basis — even to kids who were model students. Find out how to pass your drug test, what causes false positives, and your rights when it comes to testing.

Why is Drug Testing Wrong?
Because what you do with your body and what you put into it is your business, not anybody else’s. Regardless of what you consented to in your applications, it doesn’t change the morality of the issue. If you’re using drugs, it doesn’t matter what drugs you’re using or when you’re using them; as long as you don’t hurt anybody in the process, it’s none of their business.

Drug testing is also wrong because it’s extremely invasive. Getting tested can be an embarrassing situation, even if you’re just taking a baseline. Testing can reveal a number of things about you that you don’t want revealed, such as what medications you take or whether you are having issues peeing on command. For somebody who does, taking these tests is never fun. It can also be embarrassing if you are singled out for a drug test. If you take pride in staying abstinent, it doesn’t look good when you get pulled in for a test especially when the school doesn’t tell you if you pass. (They don’t tell you if you pass, only if you fail)

Drug testing is not even used for its proclaimed purposes. It’s mainly used as a scare tactic in order to perpetuate a culture of fear. Every time we are subjected to testing, it reinforces the idea that we are sujects of the school and that our free will is limited. For example, drug testing is brought up in situations like quiet period and before prom where administrators threaten kids with drug tests. In order to stop kids from doing drugs (again, their business), the school says that they’ll be screening more or screening “everybody”. If drug testing were really to detect members of the community who used drugs, it would be applied on a regular, consistent basis as opposed to the haphazard schedule it has been on in the past. The school also targets students who skip class or act up for more drug tests than regular. This basically subjects students to embarrassing situations when they aren’t acting perfectly, like making them walk down the hall in embarrassing clothes. The Geneva Convention has long outlawed embarrassing prisoners, shouldn’t we apply the same standards to our students? If you’re acting up in class, asking questions, or bringing up controversial topics, you might just be singled out for additional testing. My question is: If your drug use isn’t disrupting the learning environment or causing problems, why should the school even care? In other words: If they can’t tell, why does it matter?

Why Drug Testing Doesn’t Work
Drug tests can prove that you used or were in the vicinity of people using drugs, but they don’t prove when that occurred. What if you were around people using drugs on fall or spring break? The test assumes you have done drugs while in school, and you are punished according to that assumption. If you’re dealing with drugs like weed, whose active chemical THC is fat-soluble, you may have used it a long time ago. THC is stored in fat cells when it is used and if you gain weight after using it, then that THC can be stored in your body for months and months. If you start losing weight, you might just start failing your drug tests.

Drug tests are also subject to numerous false positives. A false positive is when the drug tester says your urine sample contained a drug when it did not. Here is an incomplete list of things that might cause false positives on your drug test. If you fail a drug test and can prove you have taken any of these things (or can come up with an even semi-plausible story), bring it up with school administrators.

THC (Weed):
Dronabinol (Marinol)
Ibuprofen; (Advil, Nuprin, Motrin, Excedrin IB etc.)
Ketoprofen (Orudis KT)
Kidney infection (Kidney disease, diabetes) Liver Disease
Naproxen (Aleve)
Promethazine (Phenergan, Promethegan)
Riboflavin (B2, Hempseed Oil)

Amphetamines:
Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, propylephedrine, phenylephrine, or desoxyephedrine
(Nyquil, Contact, Sudafed, Allerest, Tavist-D, Dimetapp, etc)
Phenegan-D, Robitussin Cold and Flu, Vicks Nyquil
Over-the-counter diet aids with phenylpropanolamine (Dexatrim, Accutrim)
Over-the-counter nasal sprays (Vicks inhaler, Afrin)
Asthma medications (Marax, Bronkaid tablets, Primatine Tablets)
Prescription medications (Amfepramone, Cathne, Etafediabe, Morazone,phendimetrazine, phenmetrazine, benzphetamine, fenfluramine, dexfenfluramine,dexdenfluramine,Redux, mephentermine, Mesocarb, methoxyphenamine, phentermine,amineptine, Pholedrine, hydroymethamphetamine, Dexedrine, amifepramone, clobenzorex,fenproyorex, mefenorex, fenelylline, Didrex, dextroamphetamine, methphenidate, Ritalin,pemoline, Cylert, selegiline, Deprenyl, Eldepryl, Famprofazone) Kidney infection, kidney disease, Liver disease, diabetes
Over-the-counter cold and allergy remedies that contain ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, propylephedrine, phenylephrine or desoxyephedrine: Nyquil, Contact, Sudafed, Allerest 12 Hour, A.R.M., Triaminic 12, Ornade, Tavist-D, Dimetapp, Sinex, Neosynephrine, Actifed, Bayer Select Maximum Strength Sinus Pain Relief Caplets, Contact Non-Drowsy Formula Sinus Caplets, Dristan Cold Caplets, Maximum Strength Sine-Aid Tablets, Maximum Strength Sudafed Sinus Caplets, Maximum Strength Tylenol Sinus Gelcaps, No Drowsiness Sinarest Tabs, Sinus Excedrin Extra Strength Caplets, Cheracol Sinus, Drixoral Cold and Flu, Efidac/24, Phenegan-D, Robitussin Cold and Flu, Vicks Nyquil, Dexatrim, Accutrim, Amfepramone, Cathne, Etafediabe, Morazone, phendimetrazine, phenmetrazine, benzphetamine, fenfluramine, dexfenfluramine, dexdenfluramine, Redux, mephentermine, Mesocarb, methoxphenamine, phentermine, amineptine, Pholedrine, hydroymethamphetamine, Dexedrine, amifepramone, clobenzorex, fenproyorex, mefenorex, fenelylline, Didrex, dextroamphetamine, methphenidate, Ritalin, pemoline, Cylert, selegiline, Deprenyl, Eldepryl, Famprofazone

Opiates (heroin, etc.):
Poppy Seeds (in large amounts), Tylenol with codeine, Most prescription pain medications
Cough suppressants with Dextromethorphan (DXM), Nyquil, Kidney infection, Kidney Disease
Diabetes, Liver Disease

Ecstacy:
Ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, propylephedrine, phenylephrine, or desoxyephedrine
(Nyquil, Contact, Sudafed, Allerest, Tavist-D, Dimetapp, etc)
Phenegan-D, Robitussin Cold and Flu, Vicks Nyquil
Over-the-counter diet aids with phenylpropanolamine (Dexatrim, Accutrim)
Over-the-counter nasal sprays (Vicks inhaler, Afrin)
Asthma medications (Marax, Bronkaid tablets, Primatine Tablets)
Prescription medications (Amfepramone, Cathne, Etafediabe, Morazone,phendimetrazine, phenmetrazine, benzphetamine, fenfluramine, dexfenfluramine, dexdenfluramine,Redux, mephentermine, Mesocarb, methoxyphenamine, phentermine, amineptine, Pholedrine, hydroymethamphetamine, Dexedrine, amifepramone, clobenzorex, fenproyorex, mefenorex, fenelylline, Didrex, dextroamphetamine, methphenidate, Ritalin, pemoline, Cylert, selegiline, Deprenyl, Eldepryl, Famprofazone) Kidney infection, kidney disease
Liver disease, diabetes

Cocaine - Substances or Conditions which can cause false positives
Kidney infection (kidney disease)
Liver infection (liver disease)
Diabetes
Amoxicillin (antibiotic), tonic water

How drug testing works
As of the 2007-2008 school year, all students received a baseline testing upon enrollment. If a student failed a baseline test, he/she would be subject to random or planned testing from then on (as decided by an administrator). If a student failed a test and tested positive for hard drugs such as heroin or unusually high amounts of drugs such as weed, you would be subject to forced counseling and put on a random screening program. The school could also screen people at random or when they were suspected of using drugs (ie skipping class, acting funny, asking questions, etc.).

What Are My Rights as a Student?
I am not a lawyer, but I do know a lot of law. If you’re seriously considering doing something about being forced to be tested, then be sure to contact a lawyer. When you enroll in the Leelanau School, you agree to be subject to drug testing under certain conditions (random, if they have reason to believe you have been using drugs etc.). If you are forced to take tests for reasons not covered by that release, you have grounds to take legal action. If the school forces you to take a drug test through coercion such as physical violence, or physically forcing you into the testing room, threatening you, etc. then you have grounds for legal action. All the drug testing release form does is insure that you can’t sue because they required you to take a test for enrollment/graduation.

Medical decisions are yours to make and the school may not force you to take a drug test. They can encourage you by subjecting you to dorming, suspension, etc but they may not use force to make you take one. There are certain conditions under which a school may refuse you a diploma, and I’m not sure if refusing a drug test is one of them. I’d need to research that a little more. If you refuse to take a drug test, the school can’t take any type of legal action against you. As a patient, it is your right (or your guardians, depending on your age and the situation you’re in) to refuse any type of medical treatment on any ground. If the school punishes you for exercising your rights as a patient, there might be grounds for legal action. Also, courts and the media tend to be sympathetic to kids when they assert their rights as patients, even when it is technically the decision of their parents.

How Long Will it Stay in My System?
For occasional, healthy users, weed will stay in your system for 7-10 days. As for other drugs, I’m not so sure.

How to Pass: The Condom Method
If you know you have a drug test coming up, this is the safest option. Since the school does not physically watch you pee, this works. Some schools do this, however it’s extremely invasive and many times borders on sexual harassment. You didn’t agree to let them watch you, so they have no right to.

What you’ll need:
A condom (regular, nothing fun or good tasting or anything, it might mess up the test)
A safety pin
Some clean urine (urine from somebody who hasn’t done drugs recently, the school can’t trace this back to them)
Hand Warmers (available at mini-marts, etc.)
Something to keep the condom attached to you (tape, a pocket, etc.)

1. Find somebody with clean urine. Have them fill up the condom with urine and tie it off.
2. If you have a test coming up anything after this second, wrap hand warmers around the condom to keep it warm. You can also tape it to the inside of your leg but it won’t stay quite warm enough and you’ll have to spend some time warming it up before you give it to the nurse.
3. Right before the test (or whenever possible), conceal the condom. You can put it in a pocket, tape it to your leg, etc.
4. Once you’re in the bathroom, shut the door, take out your safety pin, and poke the end of the condom, letting the urine stream into the sample cup.
5. Wash off the urine around the cup to make sure you don’t get the nurses hands all dirty. If they say it’s too cold, say it’s because you washed it off because you figured they didn’t want to get their hands dirty. There have been situations where the nurses have refused samples because they were “too cold” and made students give another one.
6. Walk away knowing you’ve passed your drug test if your friend who gave you the urine was honest with you.

If you’ll need to pass lots of drug tests, this method is a bit easier:
What you need: A catheter, two pairs of boxes, rubber tubing, needle and thread, and some hand warmers.
1. Cut a square piece out of one of the pairs of boxers.
2. Sew the piece you cut out onto the “fly zone”, ie the area where your penis goes through. This makes an area to put the catheter.
3. Cut a rubber tube to a few inches and attach it to the end of the catheter.
4. Fill the catheter with clean urine and put a hand warmer next to it in the pouch.
5. When you take the test, flip the lever and pass!

How to Pass: The Niacin Method
Warning: I am not a doctor. Taking Niacin can be dangerous. I suggest that you talk to a doctor before taking Niacin and follow all instructions on the package. If you have liver damage, a history of liver problems in your family, diabetes, or anything that could make you more likely to experience liver failure, do not take Niacin. Taking Niacin can be dangerous.

Some people say Niacin helps flush you out so you’ll pass your drug test. From what I understand, it only helps you pass drug tests if you’ve been using fat-soluble drugs like weed. I’ve always taken Niacin before tests but I’m not actually sure how much it helps. I know it does something because I have noticed that it delays the effect of drugs (in this case Dramamine) for up to eight hours. I hear from people who are experienced in faking drug tests that it’s hit or miss and from others that it’s sure-fire. You’re more likely to pass the test if it’s been a while since you used drugs and everything is out of your bloodstream. Niacin is available at drug stores, meijers, and grocery stores. It’s expensive so split the cost with somebody you know. If you have liver problems, you’ll want to ask a doctor before taking it. Whatever you do, don’t buy the “flush free” niacin, it’s completely worthless. Taking niacin for extended periods of time or in large amounts can cause liver damage, so please be careful when using it. Remember: Overdosing on Niacin is dangerous (duh). See this article for more information. I hear that you should take one Niacin pill at least one hour before your test and then it will last for eight hours. Supposedly, it opens up your capillaries so that more blood can pass through them, making the likelihood that THC will end up in your bloodstream/fat higher and the likelihood that it will end up in your urine lower. Depending on how much water you’ve had, your weight, etc. you will experience varying levels of side-effects. If you’re low on water, it will give your skin a burning/crawling sensation which is just horrible. For this reason (and to help dilute your urine), drink lots and lots of water before and during the niacin dose. It will also make you look “flushed”, blotchy, etc. To make yourself feel better, it can help to take a cool shower. Whatever you do, don’t itch, move around a lot, or wear lots of clothes as this will only make it worse. Even better, take it naked (I swear it helps). Keep peeing until your test and then hope for the best.

If anybody has any experience with Niacin, I would appreciate hearing their stories so I can make this section more accurate.

How to Pass: Dilution
There are several ways to do the dilution method. It relies on the principle that the more diluted (ie the more water your urine has it is) the sample is, the less drugs will be present in it.
Method One: Dilution via External Sources
Sometimes when you take your drug test, they will put a tablet in the toilet that makes the water blue. This totally defeats this method. If there’s no tablet, then pee into the toilet and then put the urine from the toilet in your cup. You can also fill the sample cup about halfway with water and then fill the rest with your own urine. Pretty simple. Make sure that the urine is “yellow enough” or they might make you take the test again. The school has been known to keep kids in the bathroom for over an hour who ran out of urine, so be wise.
Method Two: Dilution via Drinking
Drinking lots of water dilutes your urine. If you drink tons of water the week leading up to your test but none the day of, it won’t do much for you. You have to be well-hydrated at the time of the test. A good way to check how hydrated you are if the colour of your urine. Clear urine indicates you have been drinking a lot of water. If you drink enough and it’s been long enough since you took the drugs in question, you’ll pass the test. Pretty simple.

How to pass: Breaking the test
If you’re really desperate (ie you will test positive for high levels of heroin or something along those lines), you can botch the test by putting some bleach in it. This will show up as an invalid test, but it might buy you some time.

How to Pass: General Tips
> It’s often best to combine several techniques to help you pass drug tests. For instance, dilution and niacin
> Eat well and exercise before your test. This will help your body clean itself out, especially with fat-solube drugs like weed
> Drink and drink lots. This can not be over-emphasized. If you have a test coming up be sure to drink lots and lots of water. This helps everything in your body run smoothly, which is good for you, and helps your body expel toxins and drugs. It also dilutes your urine so the drugs in it are less concentrated. If you feel like you’re getting sick from drinking too much then stop as this might be a sign you have had too much. It’s better to drink lots consistently than to binge. Use common sense.
> When peeing into the sample cup, make sure the urine in the sample cup comes from mid-stream. Never use the start or the end of your urine stream as your sample, as drugs tend to be concentrated in higher amounts there.
> In order to make your urine more yellow, take some vitamins (in accordance with their labels). B-vitamins are the ones that give it the most yellow colour, but all of them help.
> You can’t just put yellow food colouring in some water and call it good. The testing facility will notice that the pH is off and say the sample is bad. You will also be subject to an interesting array of questions from administrators.
> The thinner and healthier you are, the faster drugs will pass through your system. People with high metabolisms benefit when it comes to drug tests.
> As you use a drug more often, you become less and less likely to pass as it takes these drugs longer to get out of your system.
> Most of the flush/detox kits available out there don’t do anything except mess up your body chemistry. They can be dangerous, so just stay away from them.

Why publish our secrets?
because if they stay secrets, we’re fucked
Some people might read this and ask why we’re publishing this. After all, can’t the school read this and update their drug testing policies to defeat these measures? Not really. A lot of these things can’t be defeated unless the school moved up to hair tests which would never work, especially considering how costly those are.

One might ask, as Emmett Grogan demanded of Abbie Hoffman upon the publication of Steal This Book!, whether it has occurred to us that making all these secret methods public knowledge might hurry them into obsolescence. In limited cases, this might be true, though we’ve made an effort to slant the content so that it won’t be quickly outdated. When these methods become outdated.. well.. then.. we’ll have to come up with new methods! At any rate, our answer to this charge is that these skills and the struggle for which they are useful must both be extended to much broader circles, or else they are doomed to obsolescence anyway. The small group of people who already know this information is too small to make us all pass our drug tests. For massive change to be possible, everybody who has become a victim of drug testing policies must learn how to defeat them. In limited cases, yes, the powers that be will be able to use our advice to prepare themselves for our efforts to contest their control, but we hope that this drawback will be outweighed by the ways in which this work can help equip new generations to strike blows for freedom from unexpected directions and in unpredictable ways.

In short, why give away our secrets? Because if they stay secrets, we’re fucked. If you associate yourself with the struggle for a better world, consider how you can do your part to get these tools into unlikely hands. Talk without action only sets a precedent for more of the same; actions themselves can be eloquent, on the other hand, in ways that words rarely can.

All the best in all the beautiful, dangerous ventures you’re involved in already, friends. May your every dream come true and may you never fail a drug test again!

## Mr. Begg Caught Red Handed Threatening Students

November 14th, 2008 | Tags:
1 comment

Update Nov. 14, 2008: This article was changed a bit for formatting/search engine reasons. Should be easier to read now.

Update: Leelanau Talk sent a letter to Charter Communications, asking them to investigate the incident. The letter is attached.
A while ago, Mr. Patrick Begg (Soon to be president of the Leelanau School) sent this letter to Winston over at the LUP. During the walkout I brought this up with Mr. Jarvis and he claimed I was making an unfounded accusation. Here’s the original letter (I have added bold and italics for emphasis so that this stuff is easier to sift through):
Dear Mr. Pornographer…
I assume you are a pornographer, as you are trying to help minors end-run around our content filter here at Leelanau, which is in place to protect the students from psychologically damaging material.
Your style of pornography is even worse than exploitive pictures…it is blatant hate.
I wonder if you have violated the Federal internet Child Protection Acts, as it relates to schools ….
We are going to find out, anyways.
Sincerely,
Patrick Begg, technology manager

As I said earlier, the school said this email was never sent, but right here I have the evidence that Mr. Begg did in fact send this (and other) letters to the LUP. Whenever an email is sent from one server to another, a record of its travel is attached to it. Most email programs don’t show this by default, but they all have some type of way to view it. It’s too big to include it all in this post, but you can download it here. What I can show you is the part that shows it was actually from Patrick Begg (in bold).

From pbegg@leelanau.org Mon, 5 Mar 2007 10:32:26 -0500
Received: from rimon.safe-mail.net ([192.168.13.68])
by tapuz.safe-mail.net with smlocal (smtas 1.2);
Mon, 5 Mar 2007 10:33:01 -0500
DomainKey-Status: not-signed (failed-get-policy)
X-SMTests: g00nmpcilb0ar00
Received: from 71-13-68-126.static.aldl.mi.charter.com ([71.13.68.126] helo=mail.leelanau.org)

In response, Winston, as usual, sent a thought out and well-documented response:

Dear Mr. Begg:
This is the last email we will send you until you agree to enter a rational discussion with the Leelanau Underground Press and the student body. We are not pornographers and the email you sent us is simple libel. The Leelanau Underground Press does not distribute hate, pornography, or any other content that could be legally deemed “harmful to minors”. No, we haven’t violated the laws you stated. In case you haven’t read them we have produced a small summary for you:

1. Schools must filter internet access and block content “harmful to minors” if they want to receive E-Rate
funding
Harmful to minors is legally defined as: 1. the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find, taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion, and

2. the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find depicts, describes, or represents, in a patently offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors, ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; sadomasochistic sexual acts or abuse; or lewd exhibitions of the genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or post-pubertal female breast, and
3. a reasonable person would find, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
Therefore the CIPA does not apply to the Leelanau Underground Press. In addition, the school has chosen to apply for tax-breaks and funding instead of making the ethical choice to abstain from using blocking software. Similar acts to CIPA such as COPA have been ruled unconstitutional. Blocking/filtering software is inherently flawed as numerous reports from I.T. professionals and congressional testimony have shown because:
1. Blocking software is a restriction on free speech and access to it
2. Blocking software can’t block access to such speech if proxies are used
3. Blacklisting is not the solution because new sites will always be on the internet before they are blacklisted
4. Blocking software has been shown multiple times to blacklist thousands of legitimate sites
Since you have taken this opportunity to attack our credibility, we will do the same for you. The difference between your letter and ours is that ours is backed up by fact and logic whereas yours is not. You do not properly administer the school networks. Website filtering is inconsistent between dorms and areas of the school, it took you a week to fix the “daylight savings bug” on the wireless networks, and you make false statements about how networks function. During quiet period you responded to student complaints about
internet speed by saying they were using too much bandwidth and they should lay off the youtube. In addition you said “[blocking sites] would be counter-productive” so at least you got that right. As a network administrator you should know how networks function but you obviously don’t because of the incompetency you demonstrate in administering the networks and the false statements you make about them. In a 802.11B/G wireless ethernet network (like the ones at school) each user’s requests are given the same priority. For example let’s say we have 500kb/s of bandwidth. If one user requests a youtube video and one user requests their email then 250kb/s of bandwidth will be given to each user. We can take this example and apply it to somewhere like the Netgear routers you have situated throughout the school and show that a bunch of people downloading videos won’t stop internet access to users who are not. The issue here is that when an entire dorm is on the internet each users receives about 2kb/s of bandwidth. On the Leelanau website and informational pamphlets the school advertises “high speed” however this is obviously not the case as users are receiving speeds below the speed of a 28.8k or 56k modem. So perhaps you instead of us are violating the laws (See False Advertising Laws). Perhaps you should consider your words carefully before sending them to us next time and use logic instead of primitive emotional responses to attack us. We are willing to engage you and The Leelanau School in a logical, open, and rational forum about this issue however you have not given us the opportunity which is why we had to start the LUP in the first place.
Sincerely,
Winston Smith
Senior Editor

Soon after, the LUP sent an email out to staff at The Leelanau School as follows:

Dear Recipients,
This is Winston Smith of the Leelanau Underground Press. Despite continuing threats, pressure, and false statements directed at and about us, the Leelanau Underground Press is back and fighting. You probably
want to read it, so check out our site at leelanauunderground.org. Our comrades have been oppressed for too long and we all know a major change is coming. Are you ready to cope with it or will you ride this bike
until the wheels fall off? I’m sure you have plenty of work to do in order to combat this problem so I won’t keep you for much longer. Perhaps you should consider opening a rational, open and democratic discussion with our constituents so we can stop all this monkey business. The revolution is near. I can taste it, can you fear it?
Winston Smith
Leelanau Underground Press

And despite his horrible defeat earlier, Mr. Begg decided to try and counter the LUP again. Like his previous message, the same inciminating headers were attached.

Dear Leelanau Underground…

I write you not as an employee of the Leelanau School, but as a recipient of your poison email..
And we all know who you are….. Given the happenings in Virginia Tech this week, I take you
seriously…. As such, I feel you have made a physical threat against me personally.

I grew up in the inner city, and I still remember how we dealt with bastards like you at home.
And I am acting accordingly, you cowardly prick…..

Most sincerely,

Patrick Begg

Winston fired back, almost immediately with one of his classic logic-filled responses:

Dear Patrick Begg,
We said we wouldn’t engage you in discussion until you provided the
students an ample and righteous platform to speak and we still hold true
to that promise. However, you did respond with a Leelanau address and
your letters seem to represent the opinions of other administrators on
our work. We find it sickening that you would try and use the tragedy at
Virginia Tech for your own political gain. We are an organization that
operates legally and find killing innocent civilians to be morally
reprehensible. Despite what you seem to be telling people, we have not
made any direct or indirect threats against you. If you can find some
specific statements from the LUP or its members we would gladly dispel
any misconceptions you have about them. Please stop the name calling and
libelous comments. It’s unprofessional. As you have probably noticed, a
copy of this message has been sent to Mr. Odell so that he can deal
appropriately with your libelous comments and actions.
Sincerely,
Winston Smith
Senior Editor
Leelanau Underground Press (leelanauunderground.org)

Mr. Begg, the hypocrite that he is, responded with his own threat after criticising the LUP for sending one! (bold added for emphasis)

Dear Leelanau Underground…

I write you not as an employee of the Leelanau School, but as a recipient of your poison email..
And we all know who you are….. Given the happenings in Virginia Tech this week, I take you
seriously…. As such, I feel you have made a physical threat against me personally.

I grew up in the inner city, and I still remember how we dealt with bastards like you at home.
And I am acting accordingly, you cowardly prick…..

Most sincerely,
Patrick Begg

Whoah! Did you see that? Mr. Begg threatened to deal with the LUP like they used to deal with kids in the “inner city”. Perhaps he has some innocent idea here, maybe they used to deal with them using nerf guns, but to the average person the “inner city” brings up images of guns, violence, and curb-stomping.

Thank you Winston and especially Mr. Begg for giving us all a good laugh! On a serious note, the school should really consider whether they want somebody like Mr. Begg to be speaking on their behalf. I mean, he did break the law by making threats. We won’t pursue it (and Winston, because of his apparent need for anonymity, probably won’t either) but the school should. *wink wink* Mr. McNutt *wink*. The school could also have their internet service terminated for sending mail like this as it is a violation of Charter’s Terms of Service.

I have attached the original emails with full headers. Thanks Winston for forwarding these on to me! Threats against journalists, just another thing to add to Leelanau’s List of Crimes!

adb

PS Boarding schools in Michigan such as The Leelanau School often censor students. Live dangerously!

## My Prefect Resignation Letter

November 14th, 2008 | Tags: leelanau school, letter, prefect
10 comments

Near the start of third quarter, I quietly resigned from my position of prefecture. Why? Because I realized that by being a prefect I was putting myself above others. The school had made it very clear to me that I was not to cause any more disturbances or engage in politics, so I didn’t make a big deal out of it or publish the letters.

While I think I did my duties well, I didn’t want to be doing them at all. I wasn’t a member of the kindel dorm anymore and it wasn’t my right to go around telling people to do their areas, especially when other prefects were getting paid to let kids off the hook. Even before, it wasn’t my right. When I joined the prefecture program, part of my goal was to make it more equitable, which I think I did by doing areas when the guys in my group did them, often doing more than them. I hope this set an example for future prefects.

To: Ms. Semanco – Head of Prefecture Program
Mr. Friley – Director of Resedential Life
Mr. Sonnenberg – Kindel Head of House

From: Alex Bryan

I appreciate the opportunity you have given me to be a prefect this year and for maintaining my status as a prefect despite political differences. As you know, I have given up my life of political activism and I am now only engaging in political activity outside of school. I do not believe that I adequately fill the roll as prefect. I am writing this letter to tell you that I have decided to give up my status as a prefect staring second semester.
Since I left Kindel I have quickly become alienated from it and my status as prefect is often confusing to the residents of Kindel. Prefects are meant to be respected members of the dorm community who naturally fall into leadership roles. I am no longer a member of the Kindel community and I believe my status as a prefect dilutes the program’s original intentions. Students need a person who they live with and I just can’t bring that to the prefect program.
I have heard that there will be a new prefect installed in Algonquin and that Joe has been groomed for the position. Because of the mixture of students placed in this dorm, it has become a high-tension area and I constantly am aware of it due to my room’s proximity to the common area. My last action as a prefect, and therefore informal representative of students, is to strongly urge you not to make Joe a prefect in Algonquin. I do not think Joe would be a good prefect because he does not have the respect of the other members of the dorm. The main issue I feel and observe is that Joe does not give the same respect to other residents that he already expects, and would expect more of, if he were to be chosen as a prefect. At the prefect orientation meeting this year, we were told that things would be different and they have. The prefect title carries weight among students and no longer means somebody who can get away with things because they played their cards right the previous year. I was also told at the meeting that prefects were not to be administrator’s pets, the community watch, or anything along those lines but rather members of the community that naturally fell into leadership roles whom other dorm residents respected. By setting good examples, students would start to look up to prefects and take on leadership roles as well. To me, Joe would be that “extension of the staff” that many prefecture programs in other schools have. I believe the “community member” model is much more effective and helps foster bonds between dorm members. These bonds lead to working collaboratively and mutual respect.
Other students may tell a different story to you, and I hope that you will listen to everybody’s views and make the best decision possible. I do not know who to suggest for prefecture or even if Algonquin needs a prefect however I do believe that Algonquin needs dorm meetings for Algonquin-only issues. If a prefect is to be chosen for Algonquin then I believe John Wilt is a good candidate. He has the respect of the other members of the dorm because of the way he treats them and handles dorm life. I do not know how well he does with leadership roles or if he is interested in the position; that is for you to evaluate.

I hope this letter has come soon enough for you to find a replacement for me and that prefecture continues to represent what it has represented this year to myself and other students this year. I am willing to sit down and discuss things with you individually or as a group if need be.
Sincerely,
Alex

After I sent the letter, not a single word was spoken to me about the prefecture program. Prefects get away with a hell of a lot, so it’s a good position to be in but it’s not right to make others do work against their will. Hopefully somebody got some joy out of this blog posting, just putting it up so things can be more transparent.

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