Today, we find ourselves at an interesting nexus. As humans, we are fundamentally learning creatures. As humans living in an era of information, access to information is more important than ever. Say it again: information is important.
Roslyn and the towns surrounding it are prime examples of what we would call information deprivation. If people do not communicate, information stops. The embezzlement scandal was just a symptom of this lack of communication. People have lost touch with one another. "Community members" took from the rest of the community. They took because the community no longer meant anything. Furthermore, the crimes went on so long because people were so estranged with where their money was going.
Whoever controls information controls what we know, and therefore what we think. That's why the internet is so great: we control the information, for the first time since Gutenberg's Bible. In the case of Roslyn, this question is crucial. The answer seems increasingly bleak. The Hilltop Beacon, newspaper of Roslyn High School (and news outlet that broke this story), has been severely limited and censored by an administration that road into town with a message of reform. Ironically, this is the one thing that we cannot be doing. Roslyn as a community needs free flow of information.
The Roslyn Hilltopper is a direct respones to this environment. As a blog, it is financially independent (and not associated with) Roslyn Schools. Whereas the information content of the Beacon could only be updated monthly, information content of the Hilltopper can be updated by the second. People can read it anytime they want. And most importantly, anyone can contribute.
So lets do this now. Lets start a community.
