Dear Editor,

With the approach of the June primary election, I am reminded of the YouthVote initiative put out by the Youth Commission every year. My observations of the mock election ballots of the past three years have been that the publication is perennially riddled with spelling, grammatical, and factual errors, lacking in vital information, and overall, embarrassingly unprofessional.

While I do admit to being a stickler for spelling, the misspellings (usually of simple words) distract and detract from the issues at hand. Phrases and even entire sentences are sometimes repeated: in one voter guide, the description of a city organization’s role was identical to that of the very different governmental body above it. Another year, a youth candidate’s statement was cut short mid-sentence. The two- or three-sentence summaries of the propositions are utterly inadequate, and there are no supporting or counter arguments provided; as I result I always find myself doing my own research online, something that should not be necessary to understand the propositions.

Clearly, the Youth Commission’s efforts do not match its good intentions of molding us into informed and active voters. The YouthVote initiative instead seems like a joke, and a waste of time and resources. I suggest that the Youth Commission steps up its game, or abandons YouthVote altogether, because in its current form all YouthVote is informing us of is, well, our lack of information.

Vianna Newman, 1112

Dear Editor,

The modular schedule has been part of Lowell’s culture, and I applaud the committee who had the insight to develop a system to that provides flexibility for both the teachers and students, allowing them time to mentally and physically recharge between Mods.