Is Off-Campus a Good Idea?

Teenagers crowd the counters at the Jack in the Box on Cedar Avenue on a regular basis. They order diet-busting tacos, burritos, and chalupas, happily eating junk food that would send older, less aerodynamically formed adults screaming to a fat farm.

But while these teens pay no nutritional consequences for their caloric sins (not yet, anyway), there is a consequence for this sojourn to the local food merchants surrounding the high school; should they make the trip during school hours. The price for leaving campus at Newark Memorial High at lunchtime is an entire Saturday. Repeat offenders face suspension, and even worse, parent contact.

How did getting a midday fast food fix become a crime?

Although the high school was already considered a closed campus as recently as the 2003-2004 academic year, as of the current 2004-2005 school year, the Newark Board of Education voted to enact a "closed campus" policy at the city's only high school site at lunchtime. The board's decision puts an end to the off-campus privileges NMH students have enjoyed since the first days of the school's existence.

In comparison, of the seven public high schools in Fremont, American High is the only one with a closed campus. On its website, the school newsletter cites the potential for non-student invasion as a reason for the closed policy. American High, like Newark Memorial, changed over from the open campus lunch hour, although NMH has only recently made the switch.

At Washington High, students enjoy an open campus, and often traverse the local fare on Fremont Boulevard, such as the Fremont Hub, McDonald's, and Wendy's. Students seem generally appreciative of their enviable position, and take frequent advantage of the privilege.

"We have the freedom to go out, and have time to do our own thing, rather than just being kept inside," said WHS junior John Pham.

But Pham's brother had a different viewpoint on the matter.

"A closed campus wouldn't really affect us,...