The pencil, universally known as an erasable writing utensil. The pen, universally known to the kids of Dimond High as the “best writing material known to man,” said Sophomore Kendra Robbins. “I just love how the pen glides on the paper. It’s so smooth and doesn’t hurt my wrist like a pencil,” Robbins said. Other biased people include Teresa Rath, a junior. Rath owns a BIC Velocity Ballpoint Retractable Pen, with black ink. “I prefer pens over pencils because pens write so much better! They make my handwriting look much neater.” “Pens are way better because they don’t smudge like pencil does,” said Senior Marivic Quiliza, whose favorite pen is a blue-inked EnerGel pen by Pentel. Sophomore Liezel Giron speaks highly of her gold fountain pen. She says she only uses silver or gold fountain pens when she writes important letters to her grandma in the Philipines, but on school work, she prefers to use pencil. Senior Lili Melendez says, “Pens write better, but I only use them because I usually can’t find pencils.” The excited Remi Embly, a sophomore says she owns a Santa pen with arms that retract when the lever is pushed down. She uses it for school only when the holidays come around. “ I save my Santa pen for the holidays. It brings a lot of attention, so after Christmas, I go back to use pencil,” she said. Teachers also state their opinion. Missy Nurmi only allows her students to us pen. She explains her reasons: “No government paperwork can be turned in written in pencil. I also can’t read pencil because it is too light.” Nicolette Haynes is a big user of pen in her free time. A teacher of math, she only wants her students to use pencil so they can erase their mistakes. In her free time, she prefers a .5 fine point pen that bleeds like that of a Pilot G2 Retractable Gel Ink Roller Ball Pen. Most of the students at Dimond prefer using pen over pencil, but those like Freshman Jacob Woods likes using pencil because it erases. Sophomore Chrisalyn Johnson believes pencils make her writing better and neater. “With pencils, you can erase your mistakes. This makes my homework appear neater and error free. I love mechanical pencils because you can write a lot and not stop to sharpen. Sharpening wastes more time and also makes the work messy.” Sophomore Tommy Chon said, “I’m human. I make mistakes. I need a pencil, or I feel like I will die.” Sophomore Anthony Taylor said, “I write fastest with pencil so I prefer them over pen. I can also erase with them, which makes my scribbles somewhat neater.” The students of Dimond have spoken. From their favorite pens to their reasons for using pencil, they all have their dislikes and preferences. The debate goes on throughout school. So which will you choose? Pen or pencil?