Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2008)
News Students persuade City Council to pass peace resolution T amra S chelot Staff Reporter Seniors Lucas Pinelli, Kirk Larsen and Chelsea Callas presented the Department of Peace Resolution before the West Linn City Council on Nov. .10 for public discussion and Council vote. "(This is a) Proactive solution, rather than a reactive solution. Instead of responding to symptoms, it would address the root causes," Pinelli said at the meeting. He cited domestic violence as one of the direct issues on which the department will focus. In Clackamas and Multnomah County alone, over 1,000 adults and children stay in shelters due to domestic or sexual violence. These two counties combined have average 21 night stays for those escaping abuse. The group spent a total of 20 hours starting at the end of last school year, on top of schoolwork and maintaining a social life, to work toward its goal. Once school was out for the summer, the three continued to work diligently, taking precious time away from loitering and putting it into work and study according to Larsen. "Lucas's mom took us out to eat a couple times after working on the project and I savored every last bite of every meal she provided—and that was one of our incentives. But we are strong advocates for peace and feel strongly that war is uncivil, immature and a poor way of dealing with conflicts," Larsen said. The Peace Alliance works Chelsea Callas, Kirk Larsen and Lucas Pinelli, seniors, prepare for the City Council meeting to pass a resolution in support of the establishment of a U.S. Department of Peace. The students succeeded in passing the bill making West Linn the 38th city in the U.S. to support it. Photo submitted by Kara Hansen toward the promotion of peace and is attempting to establish a U.S. Department of Peace. They long to empower civic activism and bring peace to the forefront of policy making, investment and understanding. On an international scale, Callas spoke of the need for peace experts employed who could advise officials how to solve problems without using violence. Civilian peacekeepers would be employed for nonviolent police forces. "With a Department of Peace to advise the President, Model United Nations presents... INDIA NIGHT Join the West Linn High School Model United Nations Club on Saturday, January 17 for an entertaining and culturally enlightening evening of India. •Authentic, catered Indian dinner •Traditional dance routine performed by students •Live Indian background music •Friendly, Indian-themed atmosphere •Authentic Bollywood movie Saturday, January 17 $8 Students $10 Adults $13 6:30-9 p.m, See Todd Jones, Room 106 for tickets money," Callas said. Another reason to strive for peace is to achieve equilibrium. "If we have a Department of Defense it would only make sense to have a Department of Peace to balance it," Larsen said. The City Council asked the students to present this resolution to the Council vote on whether or not to support this movement in Washington D.C. The policy question for Council consideration was: does the Council support the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace? There are no budget impacts to the city associated with passing this resolution. The Council voted unanimously in support of the establishing the Department of Peace. "A handful of high school student groups have participated in passing city council resolutions, and only one other has led the effort like West Linn High School did. The Student Peace Alliance national organization, active at over 130 schools, is thrilled to see West Linn make such a significant impact. As students and youth throughout the country continue to organize city council resolution campaigns, they will be looking to West Linn for guidance," Aaron Voldman, Student Peace Alliance Executive Director, said of the trio's efforts. In Oregon, Portland, Corvallis and Lincoln City have passed the same resolution. West Linn is the 38th city in the United States to adopt it. Economics affect scholarships A shley S heron Staff Reporter As the days become numbered for high school seniors, so does the deadline to apply for scholarships. According to the New York Times, most colleges have announced that they will have selective hiring freezes and put aside construction projects to budget for more financial aid. "With the economy in it's current state, it has been extremely stressful for me and for my family as I apply to college. Most of the schools I'm looking at are more on the frugal side when it comes to how much money they give to prospective freshmen," Mimi d'Autremont, senior, said. "I'm just doing my best to focus on getting my applications in and applying for as many scholarships as I can so the burden is a li tt l e e a s i e r on my parents." sure they keep track of those deadlines. Sports scholarships are more competitive. According to the New York Times, out of the 1,025,762 high school boys - participating in football only 19,549 are awarded with scholarships each year and the yearly value per recipient is $12,98^ Out of the 602,930 high school girls participating in track and field/cross country, only 4,506 are awarded with scholarships and the yearly value per recipient is $8,105. Oregon State University was recently endowed with a boost in scholarship funds. J According to the University of Oregon website, meeting its priority deadline gives students the best chance of receiving the most financial aid. Deadlines vary for different schools so, applicants need to make Sciiaiarstiips___________________ ■ continued on page 3 Cell tower causes debates within district Gen Tiwer Debate continued from page 1 •Henna tattoos available Children under 14 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State, it will be possible to prevent further armed conflict and replace it with peaceful means, while at the same time saving this country an enormous sum of Community members and parents have debated whether losing that much monthly revenue for the school is worth taking the chance, especially when data is inconclusive. "The safety of those at the school was the basis for this decision. If it is truly a safety issue, then it is the right decision. The money that was being received for this always went directly to the district office, so this decision is not impacting the school directly," Rob Holstrom, Athletic Director, said. When an inquiry began about placing a new tower at Wilsonville High School, questions were raised about the existing tower at WLHS. Because the current contract does not expire until 2020, the tower will not be removed anytime soon. "O ur new policy prohibits new tower placements on school property and states that we will not renew the current tower contracts," Hoogestraat said. The policy also states that the district will oppose any proposed towers on adjacent or nearby property. According to the School Board, the tower could potentially hamper the utilization of school property for future development. Although some local school districts have turned away possible cell tower vendors, no other district in the state has adopted a policy such as West Linn- Wilsonville has. The Lake Oswego School District has the most cell phone sites in the Portland area, with nine, which brings the district $200,000 per year. Portland Public Schools have seven wireless sites; Beaverton has three and Gresham-Barlow has one. "School safety vs. school funds, the district will always side with school safety and figure out another way to deal with the loss of funds. The administration at the high school is in support of this decision," Holstrom said. "They are overreacting too soon. They should do more tests and then if they find out something is wrong, then they should take action," Lisa Wang, sophomore, said. According to Hoogestraat, it would be speculative to comment on how the loss of revenue will affect funding in the classrooms and schools in the future. "The tower will be in place until at least 2020 under current contract. Technology may well be quite different in 10 plus years, so I don't know about potential impact (on cell service for the surrounding area). If, in fact, research shows conclusively that towers are safe, the board can change the policy to accommodate towers as they see fit," Hoogestraat said.
