First of all, one must understand why the teachers have turned to such a measure. The main argument for required reading is that the A.P. Program of W. F. West high school has fallen behind that of other high schools around the country. This is a fact which I am not going to debate because any Joe Schmoe can see that W. F. West is no longer producing the best and brightest which it may once have.

The fact is that the majority of the students in the A.P. Program don't really have that lust for knowledge which the teachers expect. Therefore, the teachers are going to force homework on them over the summer in order to make up for the apparent apathy.

Dan Hardebeck (the teacher who first proposed the required reading program) was quoted as saying "Students in the A.P. Program are trying to get ahead...we are assigning them books to read which will be beneficial to their high school career." If this is not a contradiction, I don't know what is. In my point of view, if a student wishes to increase his knowledge, he should go out and do research for himself. If a student must wait to be assigned something before he can go out and learn from it, what is the student actually learning? Students are learning to shut off their brains and only take orders. What happens after high school, when there will be no one there to tell them what to read? Will the lust for knowledge disappear from the minds of today's youth? Is this the type of society that the school system wishes to produce? A bunch of mindless drones waiting for orders?

I understand that the end effect which the teachers are looking for is thought to be beneficial to the students, but sometimes the end is not worth the means. If students really wish to be part of the A.P. Program, then they should ask the teachers for a recommended reading list. To me, summer symbolizes a time to be free; a time when every student can unshackle himself and do what he/she may. It is what I look forward to the whole year through: a time when there is no homework hanging over my head; a time when I am the one who chooses what I have to do. It is a time when students get to feel more independent; they have lived their entire lives following the requirements of others, so summer offers them a time to just let go. It offers a time of sanity in an insane world.

If we have a required reading list, there will always be that nagging thought somewhere in the shadows which will whisper and remind us that our summers are no longer free. Yet, it is only a symbol of more restrictions to come in this everlasting progression which our society has come to know as life. A little less control here, a little less control there - when will it stop?

I am not saying that reading two books will be a hassle. Quite on the contrary, I along with many other students (I'm sure) are looking forward to reading numerous books over the summer months. As a matter of a fact, I believe that I learn a lot during the three months of summer. I learn things first hand; I gain knowledge not from a text book, but rather from experience, which is something that cannot be taught in school.

Summer is a time to be free and to experience things for oneself - not a time to do more homework.