Lately in class we have been reading a series of short plays called "The Kentucky Cycle". Im going to be honest and say at first I did not think very highly of this book but as soon as I starting reading it I just became hooked on it. First of all I find it very interesting to read about how life was like early on in our country's history. The way to white people thought of the Native Americans and how they treated them was intriguing. I could not even imagine coming to a new country to find other people that didnt speak the same language as I do and try to make treaties with them. Additionally, I enjoy the book because the details are very good and the scenes are usually pretty eventful and even sometime unusual for current day standards. Actions like wanting to get married at age 16 and killing your father are not the most common things anymore. All in all this book is a good read and takes the reader through history in an interesting way.

Recently there has been a lot of talk in newspapers and online about the New Trier student who hacked the system in order to find out his class rank. After being caught he has been suspended for the rest of the year, is not allowed to walk at graduation, and has lost acceptance to MIT, the college he enrolled in prior to the hacking. In the paper it said the student could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Honestly in my opinion this is way too big of a punishment. The kid just wanted to know his class rank because New Trier doesnt provide it to their students. I'm not saying that he shouldnt be punished but jail time for trying to find out how well he ranks among others in his class? Thats ridiculous. It was not meant to hurt anyone, he didnt purposely go through peers' scores to know what they got on standardized tests, he just wanted to know where he stood gradewise in relation to his classmates. I think he has learned his lesson by being suspended but hopefully the authorities rethink all their punishments and ask themselves is what he did really worth all of this?