Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2010)
2010 5 Forum Devious adults hide soda in teacher's lounge P atrick D ouglas ________ Keeping soda from Americans is like taking away their freedom. Without freedom, the American spirit dies. Hiding soda from students is an infraction upon their freedom. Every day students pile into the lunchroom to purchase food. Students are given the option of drinking milk or juice. We don't, however, have the option of drinking soda. At first glance, it seems there is no way to purchase soda at school. Although food and beverages are available to the student body, soda is not. But the school is keeping a secret. Just like when the aliens landed at Roswell, New Mexico, and the government covered it up, there is a cover up taking place at West Linn High School. It's a small mysterious room next to the elevator, one which students are forbidden to enter. But why is it that the school has made this area forbidden? Could it be a secret lab used to create indoctrination potions? Or perhaps a group of alien cadavers? Or maybe, there is something else going on here. D e e p in the c a v e that teachers call home lurks a soda machine. Yes, the reason the faculty won't let us enter this lounge is because they want the soda for themselves. I am absolutely appalled by this secret. The adults are hiding their soda, and there nothing we can do about it. It is blatantly hypocritical. This unfortunate reality is nothing less than a catastrophe of epic proportions. The school has spent years trying to brainwash us and destroy our fragile minds. They could at least give us soda to drink. One way or another, we will get our hands on soda. It's just like the Photo by Patrick I have personally laid witness to this calamity, the soda machine. I once baked a pizza in the teachers' lounge. I placed the pizza in the oven, and as I looked up, I saw the beautiful sight of a shining soda machine. There before me lay the Garden of Eden at WLHS. The adults that Douglas use the A ndy W est, English teacher, purchases a soda from the teachers' lounge vending m achine. teachers' W hile students are stuck w ith V itam in Water, teachers have access to the good stuff. lounge have hidden their soda. Without knowledge of the soda, the student body remains in a constant state of ignorance. But ignorance is not bliss. There are two obvious solutions to this problem. The school could replace all that junk they sell to us in the vending machines with soda. This would greatly increase the happiness of the students, and raise revenue from the vending machines. Or, the school could simply deny teachers the right to drink soda. This seems to be the most likely solution, seeing as the school system is incredibly stubborn. "In a world where people get cholera from unclean drinking water, this issue is truly small potatoes," Andy West, English teacher said. Some teachers think this issue is insignificant in the grand scheme. Other teachers suggest that students drink all the soda in the teacher's lounge anyway. Nothing relating to a soda machine should incite the will to rebel in the general population. But why not take the time to observe the world around you and decide what's really important? Someday, it may not be a soda machine that the adults are Hiding from ns. Suggested amount of sleep brushed off by teenagers M ary E arp Waking up at 7 a.m., hitting the snooze button several times and guzzling down Dutch Bros in the attempt to keep themselves awake all day has become habit for some teenagers. Over 80 percent of teenagers don't sleep enough for them to function normally, and the effects of this are immensely noticeable. Teenagers need to sleep more. "If I don't get enough sleep I am really tired. I also don't feel very alive and I found that I can't work with people at school as easily because I am so tired," McKenna Clayton, freshman, said. "It is hard for me to pay attention, and I end up missing out on notes or other important things." Researchers at Stanford University have shown, through their studies, that teenagers should sleep at least eight hours a night, however, more than nine hours is recommended. Sleeping is proven to be just as important to humans as the air they breathe or the water they drink; sleep is vital for life according to the National Sleep Foundation. " I have read that the frightening creature we call the teen should get at least nine hours of sleep for optimum performance/' Emma Kennard, sophomore, said. "We are biologically programmed to sleep longer and stay up later than adults." Teens also have a tendency to sleep less than any other age group, for a variety of reasons. Teens not only have homework and many activities that can keep them up late, but their own biological clocks keep them up, making them tired around 11 p.m. Being forced to wake up for school makes it almost impossible for teenagers to receive their recommended dose of sleep every night. "I sleep about four or five hours a night, never more than eight," Erin Newsham, sophomore, said. "I know it's unhealthy, but my homework level is high, and I want to be involved in extracurricular activities. All that aside, stress makes it hard to sleep." Many high school students find themselves in irregular sleep patterns, causing sleep disorders or sleep deprivation. Because of school, teenagers have to wake up at an early hour. On weekends, however, many teens sleep in, disrupting their sleep pattern and hurting their overall quality of sleep. In a survey of WLHS students, every teenager said that they slept more on weekends than school nights. Sleep deprivation among teenagers needs to be addressed. When a teenager doesn't sleep, they may lack the ability to pay attention or the ability to concentrate, which may limit learning ability. Pimples or increased acne, aggressive or rude behavior, weight gain and more susceptibility to illness can also result. "If I don’t get enough sleep for a consistent period of time, I always get sick," Anneli Tostar, senior, said. In order for teens to sleep more, they should always go to bed at a reasonable hour. This can be accomplished by doing homework earlier in the day so you don't have to stay up late to finish it. Setting a reasonable bedtime and sticking to it will help you stabilize your sleep patterns, resulting in a higher quality of sleep. Electronic stimulation before bedtime is also a contributing factor to poor sleep. UCLA's Sleep Disorder Center claims that the bright light of the screen from an electronic devices affects sleep an exceptional amount by telling the brain to stay alert. By not using light-emitting devices such as laptops or phones before bed, your sleep quality will increase greatly. Another way to ensure better sleep is to make sure to have a good sleeping environment. Studies show that if your bed is only used for sleeping and not lounging, your body will grow accustomed to sleeping in it and sleeping in it will be easier. Also, a clean, dark, quiet room proves to be the most effective environment for sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Only 15 percent of teenagers sleep eight hours of sleep a night, the minimum recommended amount. If teenagers go to sleep at a reasonable hour in a good sleeping environment, they will start to see improvements in their school life and health, among other areas of their lives. Photo by Mary Earp Dalton Tuor, sophomore, dozes off in class after a night of poor sleep. Many West Linn High School students stated they slept much less than the recommended amount to function normally, and that it affects them in their daily lives.
