February 22, 2005: This is my crew (Westside)

00:25:27 Joel: so westside admin is now obsessed with cr

Recently, I have percolated on the subject of censorship in the grand ole WHS. Though I don't typically like to reflect on the halls and grandeur of my alma mater--I guess I have a sneaky fear that doing so is like crossing your eyes for too long---I feel like this is a topic worth discussion.

Due to the emergence of universal westside student computer access, the school has been much more concerned with the monitoring of student communications at school (and elsewhere, but I will get to that). The question, of course, is how much of this is good and why should you be concerned?

The intersection of technology, the administration, and me or my cohorts (too evil? how about GANG MEMBERS!) is definitely not new.
My first self-aware (websites that included gif animation don't count) venture into the internet was a fake site for those suffering from Loss of center of balance syndrome, which nearly costed Erik and I a trip to the dean's office. Well it was actually the flyers we got in trouble for, but thats besides the point (this was freshman year). Other projects which I'm sure attracted the attention of the administration, include but are not limited to: the Giant buddy list, mr. kingston's buddy icons (which I plan to update soon!), the maynards video, joel's class officer speech, controversy surrounding the regretful suicides of WHS students, and most recently something which most know about so I will choose to not post it here. The point is the Combatrhino Crew has been savvy and motivated for quite some time.

Remember suckside.tk? For those unaware, this was a site devoted to bashing westside, which was later shut down and prompted the near-expulsion and suspension of a few students a grade above me. This was before laptops invaded Westside, when the boundary between school use of computer and home use was still ambiguous. I am not intimately familiar with the rules, but I believe basically anything on the laptops is fair game, including anything viewed on the internet (combatrhino.com), whether you are at school or at home.

In light of very recent events, should you view the main page of combatrhino from WHS, you will be prompted with the following message (read: A message that me, Jeff Sisson, wrote for the purposes of warning you, combatrhino reader):

welcome westside personnages! With all the respect that is due to this fine institution itself (of which most are graduates or currently attending), I would only gently remind you that any and all communication (comments, blogs, IMs, emails) COULD be monitored. Not to freak you out, just a happy little reminder from your homeboy, the OG-Orwell, George. Happy rhino-ing! -The Combatrhino Staff

It may seem like a warning, but I assure you that the rebellious spirit is not lost or gone. I see it as more of an affront against the administration than a this-is-forbidden sign.
Truth be told, I don't have any specific beef with the administration, and I am not so insular that I can't realize that we had it pretty damn good at Westside. But an uncritical people is a sleeping people, so I still encourage you to visit combatrhino and post what you will and do what you want, just keeping the above in mind.

It is my understanding that all of xanga is blocked at school? And moreover that the technowizards keep watch on peoples' xangas? (in this regard the giant buddy list could be seen as a big favor to the administration, but I'm not too worried). Well then if you think about it, there is a reason why the Rhino still remains viewable.
In a general sense, I would like to believe that there is a reason why everyone who is combatrhino is here (though we really are open to anyone who wishes to join). Yes we are critical, but we never have resorted to saying class sucks (and again feel free to correct me, I don't always read everything, but I try). It is thus important for the administration to recognize that while, because of their literal ownership of the laptops and therefore controlled access, they do not own our minds (cliche). web publishing is different than whisper and gossip in that it is formalized, but I see this as a more constructive form of dialogue than some other "state-supported" formalized mediums at the school.
This problem scales to the concept of blogs in general. Most would be ignorant not to realize that the popularity of blogs is due to their relative lack of hierarchical supervision. So enjoy your free speech please, at school or elsewhere, the more diversity of opinion, the better. don't be a minga