Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2009)
Holidays plagued with fake cheer, phony traditions C alley L athrop Christmas is a sham. A holiday originally developed in the worship of pagan gods, the holiday now revolves around gluttony, pretend familial love and a fat man in red. Holiday celebrations have turned into a time full of misconceptions and blatant stupidity. Let's stop the nonsense and recognize the holidays for what they are...seems impossible, but trust me, true meaning CAN be derived amidst all the mistletoe, sugar-plum fairies and candy canes. Around 200 BCE, ancients began celebrating the sun god Elah-Gabal and Mithras, a soldier's god. These festivities took place in the month H of December, during the winter solstice, which was very important in many ^ cultures of the time. Why and how did we go from pagans to a baby messiah? Jesus' birth was actually late in the month of May (according to biblelight. net)! It was in the middle ages that Europeans began celebrating the nativity in December, a month many kings were crowned. William I, Charlemagne, Edmund the lartyr and R ich ard ^ ^ all chose to be including that of Jesus' birth. Now Christmas has become a time when people the world over give each other gifts, attempt to make little children feel special and worship Jesus' birth (..but eight months late?). The holidays are a multi-billion dollar industry. Family time is great, but for promise themselves they'll 1 o s e ^ ^ h o s e last 10 lbs., or radically change heir lifestyle, ew Year’s was ¡aagg . ; 1 first celebrated in 2000 BCE, around the time of the vernal equinox (the first day of spring) in March. In 153 BCE, the Romans declared Jan. 1 as the first day of the year, and so it has been ever since. However, many have turned celebration of the new year into an excuse to celebrate, often to excess. Christmas and New Year's are great. They used Jto echo themes of religion, Yebirth, enjoying family time and helping those Jess fortunate. In this ronsumer society, these >ositive themes are )ften overshadowed >y gluttony, greed, epression and even anger, et's iB l crowned Christmas Day, throwing huge parties afterward. Beginning in the 1600s, Christmas Day became a time when all major yearly festivities became one, * some, all the holiday cheer in the world cannot fix family feuds or tension that really destroys the fun. And then, there's New Year's— last big bash of the year before many wake up with a nasty hangover, or S a n t a C l a u s , t he i c o n i c Am erican symbol of holiday celebrationrides in his sleigh , whilst Mithras, an ancient war god, slaughters a Bull. Over the following centuries, Christmas w ent from a celeb ratio n of Mithras' birth (Dec. 25) to the crowning of new kings to the modern day Jesus. remember why the holidays are here, and celebrate them by helping others and enjoying them ourselves (even if it means breaking the stereotypical mold for how these days are supposed to be spent). Happy holidays! Slow walkers and crowds blow nerves of students in a rush C hrisann K im ________ The first bell blasts. "Oh no! I have to get to class!" Stumbling and rushing to ready your materials, it's already a minute into the passing time. In such a large school, walking from the music building all the way to the other side of the science room in just six minutes sounds impossible. Have to visit your locker, perhaps? But that's not even the half of it. In the midst of trying to hurry class, a notorious obstacle looms— slow walkers and crowds. A typical passing time in high school is much the equivalent to rush hour in modem day traffic. Whenever I've tried to speed walk through the halls, there's always a group of obnoxious students who tend to walk ridiculously slow. And often enough, crowds ranging from five to ten students form in the middle of hallways, making it virtually impossible for a small freshman like me (or anyone else for that matter) to get through'. I remember many days wlhs-amplifier@wlhs.wlwv.kl2.or.us The Amplifier is published approximately every four weeks by the West Linn High School Advanced Journalism class. Opinions expressed in commentaries and editorials represent only those of the writer, and are not necessarily the opinions of West Linn High School, its administration, faculty, staff, or student body. Editor-in-Chief: 81 Lexi Welp I Calley Lathrop ' 1 Managing Editor: Zack Mueller . : 1 . " . ■ : ' ■ i Business Editor: , ■ m mm ■ m ■ : : Drake Edwards : : . «58 Section Editors: News: Mary Wood Forum: Calley Lathrop Features: Lexi Welp Sports: Jen Sitton Entertainment: Alison Fieldhouse Photo Essay: Haley Cool, Julia Vanwinkle Photo Editors: Mark Poppert, Libby Kara Staff Reporters: Elise Brown, Nicole Campbell, Haley Cool, Alex Houston, Chrisann Kim, Jaimie Lorenzini, Ben Mann, Kiliaiko Matthews, Daniel McGarry, Michael McNinch, Marshall Miller, Halie Owens, Sean Pebler, Emily Reed, Julia Vanwinkle, Grace Wall, Gun- nar Wolfe Photographers: Alex Houston, Ethan Brent Cartoonist: Eta Santoro Adviser: Ann Breyne attendance status. People aren't penguins. They do not huddle into immense groups to circulate warmth. Is it just an emotional or psychological feeling teenagers have that make them want to be super close to their friends? It isn't necessary to be five inches from your best friend when you can easily talk to them from five feet away. If people spread out just a couple feet (or five), rushing students would be more than able to move through the hallways Photo by Mark Poppert Busy students rush through the hallways during passing time. Slow walkers and clusters without any delay. of students often block passage, inhibiting others from making it to class on time. In this hallways were crowded with to walking slowly other than day and age, education is bunches of upperclassmen. the fact that you don't have at risk and students require Obviously, it was intimidating to use much energy. But isn't success for their futures. walking healthy for you? to have to squeeze through a High school is just the Plenty of students have more bunch of tall football players beginning. With cramming time because they are taking and just try to reach the and harsh studying, just more relaxed classes, or they other side— alive. It's time getting to classes on time is have passive teachers who consuming to have to find key to focusing in class. So don’t mind their students another route around a crowd the next time you run across being a minute late or two. and no one these days has the a group of turtles or cuddling I don't think any of them time to do that and beat the penguins, don't let them realize that some students six minute limit. inhibit you from reaching are in a critical rush to their As I stereotyped these your destinations— SHOVE classes in order to save their slow walkers as turtles them if you have to. when people would just place themselves smack in the middle of the hallway either talking to a friend or engaging in public displays of affection— move over or get a room. Another day, the library and crowded penguins, I wondered— exactly WHY do students take so long to walk from here to there and WHY do they crowd in the middle of the hallways? I can't see a solid benefit
