For a friend...
"S1x"

To those that don't regard the rest of my things, skip this first paragraph. To the rest of you, this is likely going to be my last article for a long time. Also, I am temporarily stopping any activity on my comics and stories. The puzzle will remain open and I will continue demonstrating and improving my games. This cease in activity is due to the fact that somebody has been taken out of the school and the district, and a part of myself has just been completely crushed, mangled, and beaten to death due to the school's decision.

This special person is Liz Wimmer, one of my closest friends for quite a while, who was involved with a prank (tossing some stuff into the pool and other small things) gone wrong, causing chaos and damages. Due to this the school district is at the least suspending her and probably not far away from expulsion either. When I claim that she should not be taken out of the school/district and should be allowed to officially graduate, most of the school is against me. However, the people that will not listen are all the people that did not know her that well and only see this one event that she did, automatically categorizing her as a horrible person that deserves a commanding, harsh punishment. Should you actually know her beyond how she looks or what she sometimes does, you would certainly agree with me when I say this is too much and doesn't merit being pulled from school. I am not blindly on one side; I realize what has happened to the school because of the pool incident, and that things went too far and caused damages. Something indeed should be issued for not thinking straight, but not expulsion. That is far too extreme.

First, consider the event itself - the pool got trashed and beat up. I would wager just about everything I own that it was not ever intended to shock and enrage so many people and cause the large amount of damage it did. I can't even get an accurate estimation of the total damages. I've heard values in a range from slightly less than $13000 to more than $18000 from conflicting sources. For the purpose of this article I will assume the actual total is within an average of this range. What was the intention? I've heard that this could have only happened from people that were angry at the school and intended to harm it as much as they could. If that was true, it was a really idiotic way to demonstrate rage. This was merely a type of prank that got out of hand, most likely from other idiots that don't think as much (if at all). If this was really for revenge against the school, weren't there far easier and more direct things that could have happened? Windows could have been smashed. Items could have been stolen from rooms. A few hundred mice could have been released to chew up the wiring. To be really direct, at the end of any of this somebody could have attached notes everywhere saying "Hello school, we don't really like you" and taped a stale cookie to it.

It is supposed that the reason for this was rage at the school probably because most people that saw the end result became mad themselves. There was a point where this event turned from a simple prank into a serious error. Since I didn't view the carnage and I'm not a mind reader, I don't know when exactly this escalated into this much trouble. In no way was this the intended result of this plan, though. This much I am sure of. Damage was not the focus of this at all. As "unforgivable" as some people claim it is, time will pass and the rage will boil down after a while. Then, does the punishment still seem appropriate for a few people having some fun, possibly not quite thinking enough but still respectable with their antics?

Now, that event is one thing, but this doesn't even touch all her other great qualities. She is not a constant law breaker, and does not have a criminal record for doing things like this before. She has been competent enough in school to take multiple flavors of AP classes and pass their tests. With more tests coming in May, taking those classes should not go to waste so easily with this one incident. If you've seen anything she's made or essays she's completed, you'd know how incredibly well she is able to write. This isn't only my opinion, either - apparently the SAT scorers think so too, as she earned 12 out of 12 on the essay part of the Writing section. And I don't know what side of her personality you've seen, but she obviously cares a lot. My mind has been messed with by others, and previous events in my life have almost made me give up entirely, but she has helped me to recover from these hard times and also gives good advice for improving my life - whether it's something I want to hear or not.

Basically, I am saying all this because I wish to help my friend however I can. I promised this, and I'm making sure I mean what I say. But why have I put in this much effort? It doesn't have anything to do with me; I could easily let it play out as it is without any interference. Is it because I feel I have to? No, this is all because I want to. Is it love? That depends on how you interpret it; if you take the term less specialized and base it on deeply trusting and caring about a person to such great lengths, then yes I do. I love her. If I sit back and do nothing it would just feel wrong. As little impact as it may have, this is my effort to try and help. This article will be edited heavily into a formal version that I will be able to send to the district itself. I don't care if I'm basically trying to split open a metal box with a styrofoam stick. I have to do what I can.

I know that at least some of you have something to say too. That is why if you're reading a printed version of this, blank paper is attached to it. If you have something important to write, then do it, and make sure to sign your name. Keep in mind that I will be attaching those papers to the one I send to the district, so don't disregard their authority or make a giant whiny complaint. Make something significant. You could possibly turn my styrofoam stick into a styrofoam... sword. Contribute your part to this if you feel the decision to ban her from this district permanently is wrong. I don't know how effective it will be, or if it is even going to do anything, but... I am keeping my promise and carrying it as far as I can go.