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About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2009)
4 APr# Forum "I think it's stupid because Portland is a happy place. Roses are happy." —Mackenzie Johnson, freshman "Well, I never thought it was that boring but I guess I would rather be living back in Calgary." — Matt Glenn, sophomore s s s i > 8888888888888888888888 ? f m xm g M Ä 0 > What do you think about Portland being nam ed the unhappi- est city in the U.S. ? ■ 'Were in a tough spot right now— so many people are out of a job and it's understandable but there is always hope. We'll just have to hold on to that until these rough times are over —Jaimie Lorenzini, junior "I think it has to do with the weather. The sun has a lot of vita mins that are im por tant for us ." a é — Miles Rifkin, senior Entertainment industry ignores economic dow nturn, prices rising unreasonably Even with inflated prices, With the economy in a people still flock to the disastrous state, businesses theaters. Shows sell out and continue to go under and concessions are bought by prices in every industry seem the truckload. At the end of to be dropping. One industry, the day, jnany people forget however, doesn't seem to be about the prices. In a time affected—the entertainment when people can't seem to industry, specifically movie pay their mortgages, the theatres. As new attractions amount of money we spend such as "17 Again" and "Monsters vs Aliens" premiere, on entertainment seems a bit unreasonable. box office prices rise, but that It would appear that doesn't stop the crowds of people from coming. With ticket prices at $10.50 per person, ^ Bridgeport a family or group of friends could easily drop $40 at the box office on a Friday night. This, mind you, is just for a standard non matinee movie ticket that may or may not include stadium seating. It costs an extra $4 to see a movie in the IMAX theater at Bridgeport Village and an extra $2.50 to see a movie in 3D. Then there are the refreshments at the concessions counter. Most theaters do nothing is changing, if you go not allow any outside food by the crowds at the theaters or drinks. This is because on a Friday evening. Movies theaters make about 85% of provide an escape from reality. their profits off concessions They provide a chance to sit sales. A small popcorn costs back and relax. It seems that $5.50 at Bridgeport, so it once the previews start rolling would be easy to spend and everyone gets settled, the another $40 on snacks. It is cost of getting there doesn't outrageous that a person matter. could buy the exact same However, it is still possible candy or drink for a fraction to have a good time on a of the price elsewhere. Friday night without spending have to just sit back and suffer the rise in prices. We need to let theaters know where we stand. Its ^ time to voice our opinions am "|||| boycott the theaters until they get the message. They need to lower the prices and stop ignoring hard times people are facing. And, if they don't, I will refuse to support them or their business, and I think you should too. Portland named unhappiest city in America M ax H ays Staff Reporter Anyone who has been to the great city of Portland could tell you that it is a place with beautiful scenery and wonderful, interesting people. When you walk down the streets of Portland, people are friendly and overall Portland is a very upbeat city— one of the best in the country contrary to a recent study by BusinessWeek, com. To the am azem ent of many Portland natives, The City of Roses was named the unhappiest city in America by the study. The ranking was based on many factors including the rates of suicide, depression, crime, uni Oregon is the only state in America that allows physician-assisted suicide, which m ight have affected the suicide rate in Portland drastically. Portland was also the highest listed city in depression rates, but this ranking was based on how many anti-depressants were sold. Just because Portland sells a lot of anti depressants, doesn't mean that we are all depressed, this just means that we are able to realize it when we have problems and take action to better ourselves. Portland’s unemploym ent rate was relatively high at 7.8 percent, but our unemploym ent rates were lower than cities such as Yuma, Ariz., where the unemploym ent rate is 21 percent. id num ber 24 in crii Photos by Avery Breyne- Cartwright a fortune. Check out a movie at the library or rent the most recent release and watch it in the comfort of your own home; go and get a movie from the Red Box at Safeway for $1 and return it the next day. While you are at Safeway, stop at the candy aisle as well and I guarantee that when you return to your car, you will have spent less than the cost of one movie ticket. We don’t Just because Portland was named most unhappy doesn't mean that it is not a great city. Portland was also named the Greenest City in America by PopularScience. com and by BestPlaces. net. It was named the best city for senior citizens, the eighth most energetic city, the 14th most secure large metropolitan area, the 15th best city for dating and the 16th healthiest city. The only negative reviews that Portland received were that it was the sixth most stressful and the 11th riskiest for identity theft. While I don't doubt that these numbers are accurate, I think that it is impossible to rate a city on how unhappy it is based on statistics and numbers. I t to truly say that nhappy, one mi
