Rye High School has a long-standing tradition of giving no homework over December break. It is the only week of the school year that the faculty deems it appropriate to give students a relaxation period that they both cherish and deserve. However, some could argue that doing AP work over break is necessary to finish the curriculum in an already tight schedule, as well as propel class discussions upon the return to school. So what should MHS do to eliminate homework over vacation?

On Oct. 14, the MHS football team played Port Chester for its very first homecoming football game on the new turf Memorial field. This game brought another first, too: anyone who planned on attending the game was not allowed to bring in beverages and bottles or any sort of backpack, purse or bag.

With the release of the iPhone 4S, a whole new type of technology became available to Apple product enthusiasts. An application called “Siri” was built into the device, and it has been aweing critics and users alike with its seemingly human capabilities.

On August 4, Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old man from London was shot dead by police after a suspected crime. Youth groups responded by organizing a mass, peaceful protest. Slowly the protests turned to riots and the focal point became grievances with unemployment, high prices and an overall sense of helplessness. The riots ravaged through Tottenham, an area in the London borough of Haringey, causing five deaths and $300 million worth of damage. The riots consisted mostly of looting and acts of arson.

A prom. For some, it’s the event you look back at twenty years later as your fondest high school memory. For others, it’s the night you regret the most. For a select few, it’s a night you won’t recall ever happening. But, for many MHS students, this event doesn’t happen just once. You can go to two proms for the price of…roughly $200. Don’t worry, that money covers your food, DJ, venue, and transportation (to junior prom only). “Prom” doesn’t just connote the dance itself, however. It entails pre-prom pictures, and for the seniors, it includes after-prom celebrations that span one to three days in beach and mountain homes equipped with hot tubs and lots of bedrooms.

Last month, local police departments throughout Westchester began participating in a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program called Secure Communities, which cross-checks criminal databases with the names of immigrants who are taken into police custody. Its avowed goal is to find and deport immigrants who commit serious crimes, not minor misdemeanors. Troubling statistics give us reason to doubt the effectiveness and necessity of the initiative.

In the past few weeks, TV watchdog groups, particularly the Parents Television Council (PTC), have raised issue over the explicit content of MTV’s “Skins.” The show, like its eponymous British source material, depicts casual sex and drug use by characters portrayed by teenage actors. The watchdogs’ concern is that children will be exposed to and influenced by a program in which adolescent characters deal with supposedly adult subjects.

Since Nov. 29, confidential U.S. diplomatic cables have been published daily by WikiLeaks and five newspapers, The Guardian (Britain), El Pais (Spain), Le Monde (France), Der Spiegel (Germany) and The New York Times.

In today’s debilitated economy, businesses and establishments across America have raised prices in an attempt to bring in more money. Unfortunately, for attentive high school sports fans, this means increased ticket prices at certain games and events. It is understood that the school and the other local venues that host MHS games need to make money; it would not be feasible to make all games free for students. Still, certain regulation is necessary.

With the start of the school year came some bothersome news: the library, which has previously opened around 7:40 a.m., will now not be opened to students until 8:00 a.m. due to a lack of available staff. Many argue that there is no way that slow-moving, groggy teens could cause too much commotion for just a few librarians to handle. Still, the existing staff already have full work schedules. Although many students have complained, there are no signs yet that the time will return to what it once was.

The concept of tracking at MHS, as well as at other competitive high schools, has proven to be a highly controversial issue. Tracking is the process in which academically gifted students take on a more advanced course load. Considering the hysteria and pressure associated with being admitted to elite colleges, students often feel the need to enroll in all of the honors and AP classes that are available to them. The controversy surrounds mostly one question: in what grade should AP classes first be offered?

In the 1950s, as a graduate student at Princeton, the mathematician John Nash conceived what has become known to many students of economic as Nash equilibrium. The theory holds that, contrary to Adam Smith’s traditional model of societal advancement through individuals acting solely out of self-interest, oftentimes individuals can better attain desired outcomes by taking account of others’ interests in addition to their own.

With The Mill nearing, students, administrators and parents in the community are all wondering one thing: is this going to be any different from the infamous Coast? Time and time again the school has given us “one more chance” to prove that we can act responsibly at these dances. And time and time again we have failed. Administrators say that The Mill will be the very last chance we have to enjoy a dance like this. How we as a student body behave this Friday will make it or break it for the future of MHS dances. And this warning should not be taken lightly.

There is a lot to say about the events that transpired in Tuscon, Arizona last month. A United States congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot while at a local Safeway. Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona, and twenty other citizens were shot. Six people died in the incident, perpetrated by Jared Lee Loughner. Although Loughner’s mental stability is questionable and there is no excusing his horrific actions, we cannot hold him solely in account for this devastating loss.

Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons (including methane). These are some of the harmful chemicals in car exhaust. According to the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, “the compounds in vehicle emissions are known to damage lung tissue, and can lead to and aggravate respiratory diseases such as asthma. Motor vehicle pollution also contributes to the formation of acid rain and adds to greenhouse gases that cause global warming.”

According to Godwin’s Law, as a discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one. A similar development has enveloped seniors this fall. In the interest of wordplay, let’s call it Bowdoin’s Law: as a conversation between seniors grows longer, the probability of the word “college” or “application” being mentioned approaches one, too.