THE BUGS STUDENT NEWS
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Uniforms: Our School’s Best or Worst?
By Hazel Sherman
Since last school year, I have been conducting a survey to see how students and staff feel about uniforms. The results are in: the majority of people who took the survey said they did not like uniforms, many going as far as saying, “ALL I WANT TO DO IS EXPRESS MY PASSIONS AND THIS UGLY, SWAMP COLOR MADNESS OF A ‘UNIFORM’ IS SO CREATIVITY LACKING.”
Yes, that is direct quote from one of the responders to the form. While a few responders spoke in favor of uniforms, many did not. As such, it's important to discuss a few pros and cons discovered through the survey results.
After reading them, make your decision; are uniforms good for bugs?
Cons:
Attracts Attention:
Although a common argument in support of uniforms is that they help prevent in-school bullying, outside of the school they could easily attract negative or unsafe attention from kids of MS 442 or other schools nearby due to their recognizable color and logo. This is arguably more dangerous, since there are rarely adults around to defend kids outside of school, so it should be a greater concern.
Limits creativity:
It is a known fact that kids, especially tweens and teenagers, use clothes to express themselves. A uniform places great limits on this, demolishing a child’s ability to express themselves, their culture, their passions, and their personality through what they wear. As such, most teens and tweens would agree no school—let alone one who prides themselves in being accepting of all—should have uniforms. Is making us all look the same, thus denying us a form of creative expression, not wrong?
Price:
I am just going to say it outright: this is a charter school, not a private school. Consider this: in a private school, you have to pay for education in order to attend. In this school, you have to pay for clothes---does that go against protocol, since you're technically paying for your education?
Color, Fit, and Fashion:
Okay, honestly, this was probably one of the biggest complaints on the survey. Our choices are literally swamp green, which is just not a color you want to wear every day, or bright white, which turns yellow and stains easily. Therefore, the argument can be made that the colors are both unfashionable and impractical.
Similarly, even just looking at our uniforms, not even putting them on, they might seem like they are not well made. The fit is out of proportion; as a said by one of our students, they are simply "ugly."
Updates to the Policy:
As of this year, a huge change has been made to the uniform policy: both your shirt and your outer layer must have a BUGS logo.
This comes despite arguments made by the OSA last year that an easy solution to uniform complaints being simply to wear a BUGS hoodie over regular clothes.
Asking us to wear uniforms in all of the layers of our outfits seems overzealous and excessive.
Pros:
Field Study Safety:
Despite the many cons, one of the pros is field study safety. On field study, our students are notably safer, as they have a way to be easily identified and are lost less frequently because we all wear identifiable colors and logos. As a result, if we wander off, it is easy to spot and redirect us while we are outside.
Prevents Some In-School, Style-Related Bullying:
As you may have noticed, this title is exceedingly specific. Our uniforms do eliminate some bullying based on style and quality of clothes. The question is whether this is still much of an issue, or if it's an outdated belief. It does make us all dress the same and helps a little, but not much.
In summary, uniforms seem to be causing significantly more harm than otherwise. In fact, 80% of respondents say they do not enjoy uniforms. In interest of the student body, hopefully the OSA, our Executive Director, and our Principal, can make an educated decision to remove uniforms as a requirement.
It is apparent that, despite the many cons, there are a few pros to uniforms. "Uniforms limit people's channels to express their personality, but it also mitigates judgment based on clothes. However, overall I think we should not have uniforms,” says a respected student. As such, here is an idea for a better, actually useful uniform code...
Proposed New BUGS Uniform Policy:
Shirts cannot have graphic violence, inappropriate media, foul language, and cannot leave stomach and/or hips exposed. All other shirts are allowed.
On top of the shirt, students will wear a velcro 2 inch by 3 inch BUGS logo patch in the standard green and white school colors that can be placed on the shirt.
To guarantee student safety, students must wear uniforms on field study trips.
This solution is effective because it allows for freedom of self-expression, and the patch can be easily ripped off of a shirt and be re-stuck to a sweater. Because of only wearing uniforms on field studies, students only have to buy one uniform, or can be supplied a free one from the giant closet of clean uniforms by the OSA offices. In turn, making it so the price is only what people can and/or want to pay.
So, you have the facts. The quotes. The numbers. The actual thoughts from the students about how uniforms impact their wellbeing.
To the OSA, after reading this, do you still think uniforms are doing more good than harm? And to the students, you have freedom of speech. You can and should voice your opinion on uniforms. So, what do you think?
may you be haunted forever if you missed out on monster mash...
may you be haunted forever if you missed out on monster mash...
A Guide to Irish Mythical Creatures
By Olivia Soennecken-Schmidt
In Irish folklore there is a wide range of different creatures, some with good intentions, some with bad. You will learn about many from each side and the in between in this article. So buckle up to learn about some folklore.
Faoladh: The irish folklore version of werewolves, these shapeshifters are portrayed as magical protectors that guide and watch over children, lost souls, and all the innocent. These guardians are usually shown to retain their human mind, intelligence, and memories as a wolf. Contrary to the modern version, the Faoladh are considered good creatures and liked instead of hated and hunted.
Leprechaun: I'm very certain that when you read this text you envisioned a tiny green bearded man hoarding gold at the end of a rainbow. However the case is different within the world of Irish folklore as the leprechaun is portrayed as a wise old man or a solitary cobbler, hoarding pots of gold. These creatures are known for their solitary nature in contrast to most faeries.
Faeries: I'm sure you’ve heard of them in faerie tales and Disney movies, but in Irish folklore these cute characters are unpredictable and often dangerous while not strictly good or bad. These are often associated with faerie trees, faerie rings, etc. However, many of the other creatures you’ve seen here and will see are related to or are a type of faerie, like banshees, leprechauns, and changelings. I might go deeper into this in later publications.
Banshees: This eerie creature can be technically categorized as a faerie or spirit but individually they are seen as beautiful women or crones that wail their haunting shriek when someone is doomed or soon to experience a downfall. In the ancient folklore they are usually seen brushing their long hair using a silver comb and wearing a grey, white, or red cloak symbolizing sorrow, aging, death, and mourning.
Pukas: These Irish trickster shapeshifters are known for being able to bring both good fortune, and chaos. Often taking the form of humans while still retaining animal features such as ears or a tail, sometimes even taking on an eerie grin to scare people and point them in the wrong direction. The pukas also take the form of animals such as a goat, hare, dog, cat, bull, or eagle, but most frequently as a powerful jet-black horse with a wild mane and glowing eyes.
In this form, they would trick an unsuspecting traveler to mount them and then take them on a terrifying, wild ride across bogs, brambles, and meadows, making sure to bring them to their exact starting point by morning. Despite their usual trickster nature, they also occasionally helped people, warning of misfortune, helping farmers, and ensuring crops could thrive.
Selkies: An irish sea-folk, these creatures are depicted as seals who can shed their seal skins to become humans, usually as enchanting women. In some Irish tales, sailors or fishermen would steal a Selkies's seal skin and control them or force their hand in marriage, where they would have to stay on land and marry the sailor or fishermen. Then, the Selkie would eventually regain their skin and return to the sea. These creatures are also seen as gentle sea-folk, unlike the vicious, greek, half-bird sirens.
The Muckie: The Irish version of the Scottish Nessie, the Muckie is a popular cryptid said to inhabit the Muckross Lake in Killarney. The legend began not too long ago in 2003, during a scientific fish-population study where sonar equipment recorded an unknown large creature in Ireland's deepest lake, the Muckross.
It became popular as Ireland’s sea monster. Scientists nowadays think that it was simply seals, since freshwater seals dive in groups and attack together, seeming like one large serpentine creature, but the urban legend still remains strong and fueled.
Merrow: The Merrows are like the stereotypical mermaid. In Irish folklore, some appear more like hybrids and some have separated qualities from each creature. The appearance of the females is usually graceful, strikingly beautiful, and human-like from the waist up, except for seaweed green hair and webbed fingers, with a greenish fish tail from the waist down. In contrast male Merrows are described as ugly, grotesque, rough featured hybrids. In Irish myths, Merrows wear a red or grey cap, similar to the selkies seal skin. If stolen, the Merrow must obey the person who stole the cap.
Changeling: Changelings are essentially a sickly, malformed, or malicious faerie child exchanged for a human child by the faeries. In Irish history, when a child was disabled, Irish people believed they were changelings and the human child had been abducted by faeries to improve their community, and sometimes even to bring an old or dying faerie to die in the human realm.
Signs of a changeling the Irish people would look for concerned the child's own appearance (malformed, slow to grow, irregular behavior, unusual needs that drained family resources); or even things outside of the child’s knowledge and control (crops going bad, milk turning sour, animals and family members falling ill).
Some “solutions” to this were exposing the child to iron to scare the faerie or even hurt it, and extreme methods such as nearly drowning them, exposing them to extreme heat, and many other things that would put them in danger. They believed this would cause the human child to return and the faerie to vanish.
Abhartach: The irish version of a vampire is an ancient Irish creature stemming from a legend about a ruler or sorcerer named Abhartach.
They were killed by a neighboring region; however, the next day, the ruler rose again and demanded blood. After being killed several times, the neighboring ruler consulted a druid, or saint, and determined how to kill Abhartach.
What is a Storm Chaser?
By Jayden Molina
A storm chaser is a person who risks their lives for tornado research and it helps scientists understand tornados more. However, keep note that tornados are still very chaotic and very unexpected. For example, the El Reno tornado in 2013.
The El Reno tornado in 2013 is the widest tornado ever recorded. It had killed 8 people, 4 being stormchasers. Three of the four deceased stormchasers were in a team called TwistX (El Reno Oklahoma 2.5 Mile Tornado 13 Years Ago Facebook · Reed Timmer Extreme Meteorologist May 31, 2026). The team members were Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras, and Carl Young who sadly passed away on that tragic day.
Another team that also chased the El Reno tornado is called Dominator. The team was founded by Reed Timer and built Dominator 1, 2, and 3. Dominator is famous for his teams storm chasing career. Reed timmer has been storm chasing for 28 years, starting in 1998.
What is a Tornado?
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm and makes contact with the ground. There's different categories for these tornados, such as:
EF0 - EF0 is a tornado that does not do that much damage. Windspeeds are typically 65-85 mph.
EF1 - EF1 is a tornado that does minimal damage, with wind speeds at 86–110 mph.
EF2 - These tear entire roofs off well-built houses, destroy mobile homes, uproot large trees, and flip cars. Their wind spees are typically 111–135 mph.
EF3 - An EF3 destroys entire upper stories of well-built houses, overturns trains, debarks trees, and lifts heavy cars; wind speeds are usually 136–165 mph.
EF4 - These level well-constructed houses and turn debris into dangerous projectiles, with wind speeds at166–200 mph.
Ef5 - An EF5 sweeps away strong frame houses, carries automobile-sized pieces of debris long distances, and causes severe damage to reinforced concrete structures. They have wind speeds of over 200 mph.
If you see a tornado touching down on the ground, know that they are very dangerous and seek shelter immediately.
Student Council Latest
By Mark Burton
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, more and more crossovers, and much to look forward to in the first Student Council lowdown!
As most of you know, Ada Trifon of 702, has been elected as Student Council President. Congratulations to her and the rest of her team elected to office.
Eliot Townsend of 701 proposed a crossover between NGSS and Student Council. This has been reviewed by Secretary Juno Krebs, and Vice President Lenka Ouchi-Latocha, and is now being passed onto the President, Ada Trifon. A decision is yet to be reached.
Meanwhile, let's give some credit to the Student Council for organizing the Breast Cancer Awareness Month walk. It was fully organized and operated by the Council.
In other news, some Student Council members have already voiced their interest in running for office at the end of this year. Emmett Browne of 704 has announced that he will be looking to be elected president next year. Also in 704, Penelope McCullough, current treasurer, is interested in running for vice president.
In other news, some Student Council members have already voiced their interest in running for office at the end of this year. Emmett Browne of 704 has announced that he will be looking to be elected President next year. Also in 704, Penelope McCullough, current Treasurer, is interested in running for Vice President.
The 26-27 office officials are:
President: Ada Trifon
Vice President: Lenka Ouchi-Latocha
Secretary: Juno Krebs
Treasurer: Penelope McCullough
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