The halls have been buzzing with the news of next year's uniform shirts, and students need to stop griping.

The shirts will come in around eight colors and have different cuts for boys and girls, so it's not as if the student body will look like an army of clones. The uniform shirts are coming whether you like it or not, but there's still time to give the administration feedback on personal preferences. Request that orange be a color option, request long-sleeved rugby-style shirts, request sweaters. If they see you're embracing the new dress code, they'll be glad to listen to your ideas.

The new shirts will shave a lot of time off students' morning routines and reduce wardrobe crises. The administration won't have to worry about watching for rounded tails and yelling at students to "Tuck it in!" either, because the square-bottomed shirts won't have to be tucked in. The buttons are also higher up on the shirt, making it less revealing to leave the top few open on a hot day.

The shirts will also eliminate the problem of girls wearing cap-sleeves or shirts that are too tight and reveal the midriff. Instead of scrutinizing their looks in the mirror every morning wondering, "Is this in dress code?" girls can just pull a polo off the rack, knowing they'll be fine.

Though we like the idea of the new dress code, we strongly believe Hoban sweatshirts and T-shirts should be allowed. When visitors to our school look out at the sea of students in the hallway or at lunch, they can see how much school spirit we have by how many people are wearing Hoban clothing. Perhaps a rule about wearing only Hoban apparel issued in the last five years would eliminate the ripped sweatshirts and holey T-shirts. Maybe just allowing a casual Friday every week where students can wear Hoban clothes would be enough to keep morale up.

Students claiming they will protest, petition or rip up their shirts in defiance need to get real. Uniform shirts will simplify everyone's morning routine and keep the school looking respectable without turning us into carbon copies.