To the Oblivion Staff,
Hello, and greetings from the Eastern Seaboard, where the reign of despotic tyranny in the guise of Christian morality and wholesome values holds our own students in its fearful grip. I am, of course, speaking of the thousands of parochial schools that litter our educational landscape, providing "education in a Catholic Christian community" where men and women who have taken solemn values work their foul craft of quashing the natural tendency of the young to question and explore, while teaching the "joys" of obdience and censorship. But rhetoric aside, I turn to your staff for advice and guidance. I attend a local Catholic High School, and am currently attempting to form an underground newspaper on campus. Any suggestions, advice, or support you can offer your oppressed comrade in arms would be most appreciated.
Freedom,
Good news! Creating an "underground newspaper" is simple! All you need is some paper and some ideas. You could print student articles, stories, poetry, art, letters, etc. Most ‘zines reprint quite a bit. There are lots of good articles and stories that are worth reprinting, search the web, and ask for permission to reprint them. The people will probably say yes, but if they deny you permission, screw them, print it anyway, they’ll never know unless you’re some giant national ‘zine. There are so many different ‘zines out there, from handwritten to desktop published, one page to hundreds. If you’d like to see some examples, find a copy of Factsheet 5 ("the big fat guide to the ‘zine revolution") and send away for some of the publications listed.
I was wondering how come you let Antitrend work for you guys, now that was a mistake, not to be mean even though he stood up for me in lots of things but he can still be an "Asshole".
Sorry to say all that but You People made a HUGE mistake.
Dear Whoever,
Antitrend doesn’t "work" for us per se, but he has contributed. We don’t employ anyone that I know of. Anyway, thanks for your warning. When we heard that Antitrend can sometimes be an "Asshole," we were shocked and appalled. Without delay, we gathered up the boys, hopped in our Fords and went to beat the crap out of him. We don’t want an "Asshole" working for us, and we certainly want to correct any "HUGE mistake" we might have made.
your idea for oblivion seems awesome. i go to high school & I am sick of it & such & i think that maybe i could write something, & maybe get an e-mail address?
it seems really nice that there are people that oppose reality as it is & want to *do* something about it.
it says that you give *free* issues... i don't see how you can manage. oh well...
Anonymous form? that doesn't seem so true...
kacper,
Thanks for the feedback! You can write an article anytime, although, not everything we get will be published. But if it is, you will get that email address.
The paper issues of Oblivion are free, however, if you (or anyone) want one mailed to you, please send us a couple stamps.
The feedback form isn’t very anonymous when you enter your email address in it! Hehe...
Hello, I teach high school English in mid-Missouri and I would really like any information or help you could send me on creating a zine in my Sophomore English class. We are interested in creating one on paper, rather than the net, and any helpful hints or reccomendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, and by the way, really cool site. My students enjoy it.
Ron,
An in class 'zine is a great idea! I elaborated on this a little in response to an earlier letter, so all that applies too. You could include stories, articles, poetry, reviews, artwork, etc. You could be a "rougher" version of the school newspaper, giving less filtered news or whatever. You should come up with a catchy title. The design should be relatively kewl also. Put some catchy art on the cover to go with your catchy title. Once again, great idea!
I would like to say that Jaimee did the right thing when she told the cops. I have been harrased in school and did not tell. Because of this he tried to rape me in school. I still have not told because I don't go to that school anymore. I know I should have but I am not going to because no one will believe me because he did the same thing to one of my friends and when she told nothing was done about it. I think teachers and schools need to take accusations seriously and help people get over it.
Summer,
Sexual harrassment and assault are not trite subjects and should not be treated as such. Boys will not be boys, boys will be criminals who sexually harrass or assault others. Some schools do take accusations seriously, but in Jaimee’s case, they do not. It’s a small town where boys mow the lawn and hunt with their father. "Oh, they was just flirtin’ with each other. Why, I had to wrestle your mother to the ground just to get her to go to the spring dance with me." Unfortunately, this attitude is not likely to change soon.
(Just a note: this is in response to Paulo’s article that we posted to Usenet before being printed in Oblivion.)
A litte howdy. read your zine article in alt.zines. reminded me (somewhat) of my high school days when I was repeatedly harrassed by both school adminstrators and other kids because I didn't wear my hair the same way everyone else did.
heh. you wanna know what's gonna happen to your friendly neighborhood buttmunch vice principal and geometry teacher? Heh, wait like five years or so (or better yet,wait until the year after you graduate) and then you'll find out that all of this crap you were printing really WAS true, and you'll discover that Idiot Teacher would do something like be hauled off to jail for doing whatever, or whatever. I mean, it happened in my school, which sounds an awful lot like yours.
High school (unless it's a really cool high school, but there really aren't very many of those) is a boring, totally autocratic experience that everyone's gotta go through. But you know what? It's like right after you graduate and explore the wonderful world surrounding you, you discover that the people you were dealing with were totally small-minded fucks who will be living in that same town and doing the same crap for the rest of their lives, while you will run away from it all and become like....cool and stuff.
oh well, take care and happy holidaze and all that,
alissa,
Haha, thanks for the letter. I think we all know that in a matter of years, Mr. Evil Head Man will be mopping the floors in Paulo’s office. Perhaps, in the near future, Paulo will be able to yell "hey, Evil Head Man, you put cheese on my Big Mac! I said no cheese!" Or better yet, they will cart him off to jail for beating some kid with a ruler.
Dear Editor:
Hey, I just want to say--excellent zine! Reminds me of the times I spent in high school standing up against the tyranny I faced: being reassigned to a seat in the back of the class after a teacher realized he couldn't force me to say the Pledge Of Allegiance; being threatened with the loss of a class grade because I argued with a teacher who felt that men, and men only, should not wear hats in class (and I didn't even wear a hat!); participating in the mass action to come to school in intricate "green plant" costumes instead of wearing the school colors on some "Pride in School Day" we rebel students renamed "Green Plant Day" (I bet that blew some administrators' minds).
Don't let these namby-pamby, muzak-loving, ass-kissing, brownshirt, cog-in-the-machine wannabes whose letters you have published disuade you in your noble efforts, either. The reason that they can't understand why someone doesn't just go along with the program, is simply because it's too late for them, they _are_ the "oblivion," they no longer think for themselves, and they are too afraid to question whether an accepted authority figure is actually acting in the best interest of society. They don't matter--the only thing that matters is that by your actions you are helping to maintain a free society for yourselves and for those that will come after you.
I want to offer some suggestions, and I hope this doesn't make me comeacross as some old fart. First, some books to read if you haven't: _The Art Of War_ by Sun Tzu and _Organizing: A Guide For Grassroots Leaders_ by Si Kahn. Second, some vague, almost meaningless advice: always try to do the job _right_ (good job so far!). Third, some more specific advice: find some teachers/administrators who are friendly towards you, then let your opponents in the administration know about all these horrible things some fringe lunatic students will do to embarass the school and _them_ in particular (be creative), and how _you_ will be able to control them if only they give in on _this_ and _that_, and then perhaps conserve your energy by letting the adults argue it out for awhile--this tactic works! Fourth, an afterword: don't discount how sexy it is to be a drug policy reform activist. Fifth, whoops! one more thing: no one from a college _ever_ looks at your "disciplinary record"--it's just a big scam to try to keep you in line, so as long as you can keep your grades up, feel free to cut loose!
Best of luck in all your efforts!
Kai,
Hahahah! This is some of the best feedback ever, Green Plant Day, muzak-loving, it’s got it all! Thanks!@#
