Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1983)
New copier overused If you ever intend to use the new Xerox 8200 copy machine, you had better have at least 20 minutes to wait in line. Teachers over-use the new copy machine. A recent poll of 20 teacher’s aides (those qualified to use the new machine) were asked whether they thought the teachers ran off significantly more copies on the new machine, as opposed to the old one. Nineteen of the 20 aides said “yes.” The problem seems to be, that teachers think because the new machine is so fast, they can copy twice as much as they did with the old one. It is true that the new machine is faster, but what the teachers do not realize is that if the double-sided copy mode is used, the machine is not that much faster than the old one. Bill Aue, A.V. Department head, explains, “The new machine is more efficient; there is no doubt about that. But the lines are twice as long because people use the (new) machine twice as much (as the old one).” Aue has tried to solve the problem by sending out notices to the teaching staff, asking them to cut down the number of copies. But it was to no avail. The problem will solve itself one way or another. Either the teachers will succumb to Aue’s pleas, or we will lose the new machine because of the mounting costs of its over-use. Second lunch lacks taste Students of a “first class” school such as West Linn should not be subjected to the slim selection of leftovers merely because they are scheduled to second lunch. No one expects school food to taste or look like a buffet at the Benson, but they do expect (and with good cause) the food to be hot and fresh. Maybe the food starts out that way but by second lunch the limp lettuce has grown slimy, grease has covered the cold french fries, the cheese on the pizza and ham sandwiches has turned to rub ber, and the rolls are stale and cold. Sure this food is still edible but just imagine the problems that could arise from the consumption of such food. First, the slimy lettuce could slip down someone’s throat; if it didn’t gag him to death, it might present difficulty in digestion. Another item is the french fries. Now cold french fries are bad, but cold grease in the shape of french fries is worse. Cold grease seems to collect on the roof of the mouth a great deal like peanut butter, without the pro tein. Students must remove the residue on the roofs of their mouths to learn the lessons for the day. The cheese does not cause too much trouble for the students wihout dental work, just extra chewing, but for others the cheese may pull out fillings or collect on braces. It would be better sold as super balls. v Finally, possibly the most dangerous problem, the rock hard rolls could seriously injure someone in a food fight. How would that look in the papers? Often, the rolls are gone before the salad is but one still has to pay the same for the lunch. How’s that for fair? Only some salad lunch purchasers would have ammunition. Problems cost more to correct than they do to prevent. The staff who plans the lunches should take a lunch count of both lunches. Less food should be cooked and brought out at a time. Hot food should be placed over a low heat and in containers with lids. Finally ice should be placed around or in the food needing to be kept chilled. We should eat no food after its time. Double block: welcomed The time has come to commend the WLHS staff for a job well- done. They have come up with the new double block schedule. The efforts to perfect this idea should be appreciated by the students, for it was done mainly for them. Although double block had a hard time getting on its feet again after the six-week trial period during the first semester, the wait has been worth it. Instead of 110 minute periods, classes are 90 minutes in length. Fifteen minutes make a lot of difference after an hour and a half. The lunch period is an hour long, which allows students time to do other activities as well as eat. Many different activities are schedul ed for students to participate in during lunch break. That is not to say that students are obligated to take part in these activities, the choice is theirs. The point is that everything was done for the students. It’s only ob vious how much time, effort, and planning was put into making the students’ day less monotonous and “boring.” Now that things are getting off the ground, it’s up to the students to keep things going. The rules now are the same rules that applied before the new schedule started. It would be terrible if all the hard work put into this idea was thrown away because the rules were broken. len LO t 1UMY204LUM. Recently I was requested to write an article about the senior party, but since then we have had posters, fliers sent home, class meetings, and deadlines. In fact, by the time this sym posium reaches your eyes you will have miss ed or met the $10 deposit deadline by three days. S o it would be pointless for me to “urge you” to participate. Nevertheless, I think the party should be discussed. I personally think that the senior class has gone to a tremendous amount of work to get this party going. They have done an outstanding job. There has been a lot of debate over three items concerning the party that I would like to refute with my mighty pen: (1) the destina tion being secret (2) it being on graduation night (3) it being alcohol free. First of all, what’s wrong with a little secrecy? It’s not like the lot of us are going to be shipped to Timbuktu and never returned. I find it amazing that the secret place has not leaked out. Sure, I’ve heard rumors, but nothing definite. I think it adds enticement and curiosity. Come on now, grad night is perfect. It is the last night, aside from maybe our class reunion (where not everyone shows), when all 241 of us (give or take a few) will be together. We graduate on a Tuesday. A Tuesday! Like Kathy Stein said at the class meeting — have your private party on Friday or Saturday and come on Tuesday. Billy Rancher and the Unreal Gods will be playing until 6 :00 in the morning for us. Seriously, a school-sponsored activity must be alcohol free. No discussion necessary. So throw off the robe and yank on some jeans after grad and let’s roll. By the way, we have only 22 days left. The world according to Marc Attire not indicative of sexual preference Simply because a person wears attire that differs from that of the great majority of the students at this school does NOT mean he/she is a homosexual. As a matter of fact there are few instances in which clothing can be attributed to sexual preference. (These we won’t discuss.) Basically I see no reason for the blatant persecution of those who actually have the guts to dress as they please. But the true individualism is being confronted by the wrath of such conservatism and bum- pkinry that nonconformity (clothing wise) no longer seems livable. You are probably wondering at the moment just who these in considerate conservative idiots are, and indeed they do deserve some sort of recognition for their brilliant asininity. The people are too numerous to name so I will generalize and narrow the broad spectrum down to something tangible, by pointing out exactly what kind of people we are deal ing with. Ready? First and worst we have the “just plain inconsiderates” who will make light of anything new and different. They are easily identifiable by some distinct characteristics that set them apart from virtually any other crowd. You know, ’60s throwbacks; the long hair, the ratty clothing, the works. They travel in small groupsrbut can only get brave enough to annoy you when there’s more than four. Another obnoxious bunch are the ultra-conservative dressing, acting, and looking “friends” that jokingly rib you and then still pretend that you really enjoy their company and should feel honored to be with them at all. The worst, however, are the people you have known for a long time, and are always look ing for a cut. These are the guys to watch out for. It seems as if they just don’t know when to quit. There is one simple explana tion for all this relentless persecution. This lies within the fact that those exercising their right to free speech are too in secure to handle any type of nonconformity and must, in order to make themselves look good, put down others. Sure, we all did it in third grade but haven’t we come past that stage yet? The Amplifier is an official publication of West Linn High School, West A Street, West Linn, Oregon. Subscription rates are $5. Advertising rates run $3.5 0 per column inch. All letters to the editor may be turned in to Mrs. Cole’s box in the lower office. Editor-in-chief.......................................................... Susan Denton Opinion e d ito r..................................................... Marc Whittaker Feature ed ito r..........................................................Mike Martus Sports e d ito r..................................................................Steve Kelly Exchange editors................. Susie Welch and Richard Bloom R eporters...........................Richard Bloom, Andrea Dechenne Jami Floyd, Nathan Gerstein, Staci Johnson Lisa Kendall, Joanie Kramer, Janice McDonald Frank Scheu, Heidi Von Tagen, Kris Warner, Susie Welch Photographers................................................... Heidi Von Tagen and the Photo II class Advisor.................................................................................. Pat Cole