One of the things that makes AHS such a unique high school is the abundance of student-run clubs. Some are seriously dedicated to helping others or raising awareness about social issues, while others are just an excuse to get friends together and have fun (or hit each other with foam pole things). The WEB recognizes the value of these organizations, and is therefore disturbed by the AHS policy of not allowing them to meet on Wednesday evenings, citing this time period as “family time.” At best, this is an inconvenience to club members; at worst, it is blatant discrimination. This policy was not well known to students until this year, when the homecoming Battle of the Bands was moved to Tuesday from Wednesday, leaving Wednesday night open for students to attend youth groups, do homework, or simply have a nice family dinner. Unfortunately, this resulted in students being forced to choose between the battle of the bands and the drive-in movie, compromising the success of both. However, the AHS administration maintains that the policy has always been in place. This is confusing to The WEB staff, as Progressive Club and Amnesty International have met on Wednesday evenings for the last four years. These clubs have not been met with any administrative resistance until about a month ago. Why is this ancient policy only being enforced now—posters advertising the clubs’ meeting times have been posted all over the school for years! An explanation that has a lot of plausibility is that the administration has recently come under pressure from Christian youth groups to keep Wednesday nights free. A football game was moved to a Thursday night from a Friday so as to not interfere with the sacred Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, and it was deemed only fair to give Christian groups their night, as well. While this may be well-intentioned, in reality, it gives preference to Christian groups over any other religions. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is of monumental importance to any adherent of Judaism, while Wednesday is not even the Christian Sabbath. Following this logic, there should be no activities on Friday nights, as the Synagogue has services on Fridays. And Muslims must pray five times a day, so perhaps there should be no school activities during daily times, either! Whatever the real explanation for the sudden repression of Wednesday night meetings may be, The WEB feels that it is an unnecessary intrusion into students’ personal lives by distant administrators. Everyone’s family is unique, and it is an unlikely situation that one would plan their family activities around the Ames Community School District’s “family nights.”