Feb ruaj^
4
ASB needs to lend support to alternative sports
a
L ogan K elly __________________
Staff Reporter
"The 12th Man," "The Kop"
and "The Timbers Army" are
names of a few of the world's
well-known sport supporters
groups. Every one of these
groups have had their famous
moments. The most recent was
the Seattle Seahawks' run to
the Super Bowl. All the talk
was about how loud SAFECO
field was. Fans can
only speculate
how intimidating
the atmosphere
was for Seattle's
opponents.
Anyone who
knows anything
about soccer
kno ws the
Liverpool
Football
Club is a prominent club not
only in its home, England, but
also in European competitions.
The Kop is the nickname of
the massive group of Reds’
fans who show their passion
at every game. Their most
famous song, "You'll Never
Walk Alone," when chances for
a win were looking dim.
One spectacular moment for
the Kop happened during the
2005 Champions League final
in Istanbul, Turkey. Liverpool
was up against perennial Italy
dominators AC
Milan. At the
conclusion of the
first 45 minutes
the Reds’ were
down 3-0. Instead
of sitting in the
stands with their
heads in their hands
or making a charge at
the "The Devils" fans,
the Kop made one of
the most electrifying
performances of "You'll
Never Walk Alone." It gave
me goose bumps and brought
a tear to my eye. Rafa's Men
(Liverpool's manager is
named Rafael Benitez) were
so uplifted, they scored three
goals to tie and won in penalty
kicks. How's that for a thanks?
Why do these stories
belong in the "Amplifier?
Well, we have a problem
at our wonderful school:
Nobody seems to
support our school's
lesser known athletic
programs.
Take for example
the boy’s soccer team's
thrilling game against
Lake Oswego. The Laker
fans did not seem to
mind the trip; there were
more of them there than
West Linn fans. The lack of
attendance by West Linn
students really raised
some questions in my
mind.
Why is it that no one
seems to have respect for
girl's basketball, boy's soccer,
cross country, girl's soccer
and all of the other activities
except football? I'll tell
you, it's because our own
Associated Student Body
makes little effort to promote
these sports. They put
on Homecoming Week
which focuses on
Varsity Football. Both
the game and the
dance were packed.
That's the kind of
attendance that will
lift a team.
ASB also put on
a dance for boys'
basketball. One ASB
member commented that
the goal was to "pack the
gym." I went to the game
and saw just how packed
the gym was. Try and find
someone who was there.
Good luck. The ASB was
trying. Now try more and try
harder.
It's time to start thinking
outside of the box about
how to bring in new fans to
sporting events they would
not normally go to. There need
to be incentives in place that
will make people feel like a
part of the school community
and make them want to
support the lesser recognized
teams. Students came to the
Homecoming Carnival and
then stayed and hung out. It
put them in a jovial mood. The
atmosphere transferred to the
stadium, making for a spirited
football game.
In order to bring in fans
to other sports than football,
ASB needs to start making our
school sporting events exciting.
If they do, more sports will
become popular and all
athletes will walk through the
hallways with heads held high
and fans will feel like part of
a school community. Think
"Friday Night Lights."
D uring m y research, I
had an extrem ely difficult
tim e finding w aste and
packaging inform ation
about the U.S. This alone
is quite troubling as
an indicator of public
interest. The m ajority of
inform ational w ebsites on
excessive packaging cam e
from China or the United
Kingdom . It appears that
this issue is not being
addressed seriously in the
U.S. We are, w ithout doubt,
prioritizing profit over the
environm ent. G litzy and
large packaging attracts
consum ers, and this appears
to be the only consideration.
This show s us how m uch
the U.S. cares! Being one of
the m ost m aterialistic and
w asteful countries in the
w orld, d on't you think that
w e have the responsibility
to pay the m ost attention to
it?
A ccording to The
W om en's Institute in the
U.K., the U.K. produced
88,000 tons of w eekly
household w aste in the form
of packaging, equalling 4.6
m illion tons a year. W ith five
tim es the population of the
U .K., even if the U.S. w ere to
hold true to even their w aste
am ounts, w e create 440,000
tons a w eek of packaging
w aste alone.
The average person in the
U.S. creates 4.5 lbs. of w aste
per day. W hy? Can you
think of a good reason? For
exam ple, an average high
school student either buys
or brings a lunch.
If people buy lunch,
num erous non-recyclable
products w ill be put in the
garbage w ithin a half hour.
U neaten food, Styrofoam
trays, plastic utensils,
napkins, food packaging
and m ore w ill go straight to
the landfill. If they bring a
lunch, it's probable that they
w ill not use a reusable lunch
box and bring a plastic or
paper bag. Prepared foods,
in individual sizes, are
extrem ely over-packaged.
For exam ple, if som eone
brings applesauce for
lunch, the little plastic
cup w ith a foil cover w ill
be throw n aw ay after use.
W hat happened to buying
bu lk and using reusable
containers like Tupperware?
Buying in bulk is very sm art
for the environm ent and for
budgets. Buying a six pack
of applesauce cups costs
m ore m oney (about two
cents m ore per ounce) and
creates a lot of unnecessary
waste.
Foods and toys seem
to be som e of the m ost
excessively packaged
™
items. Som e exceptionally
overpackaged foods
that I found included
Lunchables and, yes it's
true, individually w rapped
peanut butter slices.
Excessive packaging, worth harm to environment?
A lex F rye
Contributing Writer
H ave you ever found
yourself opening som ething
and w hen finished
found that the am ount of
packaging far exceeded
its contents? Or, have
you ever found yourself
walking through a grocery
store w ondering w hy you
see individually w rapped
coconuts and cucum bers in
the produce section? This
is an exam ple of one of
A m erica's and the w orld's
greatest environm ental
downfalls: excessive
packaging.
In 2005, the U nited States
alone produced 245 m illion
tons of w aste and only 79
m illion (30%) w as recycled.
From w hat I can see, there
is no excuse for producing
166 m illion tons of trash that
w ill m ost likely be on this
earth for several thousand
years w ithout decom posing
or being recycled!
f
ifier
West Linn High School, 5464 West A Street, West Linn
« §
.
(503) 673-7843 »fax: (503)657-8710 •
wlhs-ampMer@wIhs.wlwv.kl2.or.us
.........................
The A
Linn
o p in io n of West Linn High School, its i
faculty, staff, or student body.
tent: Mike Gorgone
Nathan Fisher
GW \y- >
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continued on page 15
Garden growth saves arctic bears
C arly F eke
tem perature to rise
Contributing Writer according to w w w .w cit.
Stop! Think before you
o rg / tra d eis/ glossary,
throw aw ay your soda
htm. And at howstufjworks.
can in the trash. N ot only
com , they say in the last
can you save energy and
100 years the sea level has
alum inum m aterial by
risen six to eight inches and
recycling it, you can also
the earth's tem perature
can save the life of anim als
has increased about half
in the Arctic. But it's not
a degree Celsius. M ay not
ju st their lives that you're
sound like a problem , but
saving, by decreasing global even the sm allest change in
w arm ing, it also could be
our earth's tem perature can
yours.
cause m ajor damage. The
Global w arm ing is w hen
A ntarctic is about 90 percent
heating occurs from carbon
of our planet's ice, and the
dioxide traps the sun's heat average cover is 7,000 feet
near Earth's surface, causing thick. If all that ice m elts
Earth's
that w ould m ean the sea
w ould rise about 200
feet.
For the
first tim e,
researchers
found
evidence of
polar bears
drowning. The
ice floes they feed and live
on are getting sm aller and
m oving apart forcing the
bears to take long journeys
into the w aters of the Arctic.
Som e bears have to swim
up to 60 m iles for food.
The num ber of polar bears
drow ning in open sea has
doubled in the past 20 years.
Global w arm ing could turn
the polar bear's (and are
own) lives upside down.
Some scientists say in 100
years from now, polar bears
could be com pletely extinct.
Everyone and anyone can
change that by doing five
easy steps.
1. Drive less, w alk more
(or ride your bike)
2. Reuse, reduce, recycle
3. Tell people about global
w arm ing
4. Grow your own garden
for fruits and vegetables
5. Turn off lights w hen
not in use
All of these changes can
save energy and decrease
carbon dioxide, w hich is the
cause of G lobal w arm ing. If
we don't change parts of our
life, not only w ill the polar
bear's life w ill be at stake,
w ill our own.
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