[Yan Wang]

David Kelly, you didn't hear Bill Clinton's convocation address at Cornell University a week ago. He was politically charged. And so what? As long as a speaker is not making baseless remarks or insulting anyone, his opinion is as valid as anyone else's, regardless of their political views. I agree with the speaker's opinions but I also do agree with you to a certain extent - the Principal holds the final say upon the issue so there's not much one can do about it. The press helps his case, of course, but that can't deter the Principal completely. As for whether the speech is positive, I'd say yes it is! Pro-peace and anti-violence definitely is happier to me than watching someone get their head cut off (it was a nasty video).

Here's the situation at my school. Next year, when my class graduates, we won't have a valedictorian or salutatorian. Our extra liberal school (in my opinion) doesn't do specific rankings (we do deciles, top 10%, 20%, etc) of people probably because of some notion that it'd be offensive to the community (ie parents) to know that their kid isn't as smart as they thought or to the students who might actually be humbled (such as me). Instead, our class president and vice president speaks. But what use is that when our officers run uncontested each year knowing that no one else cares about such a position (it doesn't do much in our school)? I don't have a problem with their performance in their respective positions but I'd prefer to follow the tradition of letting the valedictorian and salutatorian speak so that there is a reward to being smart and working hard (I'd like to see my best friend speak) - you get to address your entire graduating class and parents and leave a lasting impression. Obviously, it's something important enough so that the aforementioned student was noted in his community news regarding his Principal's decision and mentioned in these forums.