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About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2011)
\ ___________________________ __________News__________________________________ April Japanese earthquake raises questions about local preparedness C harlie C raft Stu d ents crouched under d esk s, g rip p in g the sid es of tables, and squ ealing in m ock fear during- the earth quake drill in R oom D 102. For others it w as less serious, "N obod y w ent und er their desk," M eg Beckett, fresh m an, said of her earthqu ake d rill experience. A fter the 9,0 m agn itu d e earthqu ake in Jap an on M arch 10 and the d ev astatio n it cau sed, serious concerns w ere raised abou t O regon's earthqu ake readiness. N a o k i T su ru ta, so p h o m ore, is from Ja p a n and has p rev io u sly gon e b a ck for long stints to visit family. H e said th at he has exp erienced school w id e and even tow n w ide earth q u ake drills that he describes as "very in ten se" an d sa y s th e y "m a k e m e sw eaty." If Jap an has this level of p rep ared n ess and suffered horrendou sly from the recent earthqu ake, it b eg s the qu es tion: is O regon ready to take the threat o f an earthqu ake seriously? The N orthw est coast of the U nited States also runs along th e in tersection of tectonic plates. In the 1700s there w as a m assive (8.7-9.2) earth quake in this area that caused a tsu nam i that w as recorded to have reached Japan. The N orthw est coast is due for anoth er m assive earth quake, and the release of pres sure from the Jap an ese quake only pu ts m ore pressu re on th e region and the qu estion now is n o t if, b u t w hen. W est L in n lies b etw een the Butterfield and C anby- M olalla faults, areas of seis- m ological instability, w here ea rth q u a k e s ch a n n e l th eir energy. The location o f W est L inn and m any parts o f the Portland metropolitan area m ake them sensitive to earth quakes. Sarah P ass, d au g h ter o f Lynn Pass, art teacher, w as teaching in Jap an w hen the earthqu ake hit. "A lm o st everyone I have talked to has an earthqu ake prepared ness kit w ith food, w ater, a change or tw o of clothes, a flashlight, m oney, e tc .," Sarah Pass said. A t W L H S th e stan d ard p roced u re for an earthqu ake is to allow it finish, evacuate the school and, if the students cannot return to school and the school d istrict is unable to tra n sp o rt th e stu d en ts, the school jo in s efforts w ith the local em ergency resp on dents. A lth o u g h it's clea r th at stu d ents n eed to be better prepared for a earthqu ake, A rt teacher’s concerns th e s ta te g o v e rn m e n t is ta k in g s te p s to im p ro v e safety d rills. T h e cu rren t safety statute accord ing to the state legislatu re w ill be im plem ented n ext year. T h at m ean s sig n ifica n t changes such as "A t least 30 m inutes in each school m o n th s h a ll b e u se d to in stru ct stu d e n ts o n fire, earthqu ake, and w here ap propriate, tsunam i d angers and drills. A t least tw o d rills on earthquakes sh all be con ducted each year." W hile this is clearly a step in a m ore serious d irection it m ay not b e enou gh to fend off w hat could strike at any m inute. m If! Map courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey The Canby-Mollala Fault (south of West Linn) and the Butterfield Fault (to the north) are areas where earthquakes can release their energy. That combined with the unstable soil in the lowlands of West Linn makes the threat of an earthquake like the recent one in Japan especially dangerous. " I knew w hat to do, b u t th at did n't change the fact that it w as frightening. The ground felt like it w as rolling u n d erneath m y feet and it sounded like a M ack T ru ck," Sarah Pass, dau ghter o f Lynn Pass, art teacher, said. Pass w as teaching in Jap an w hen the M arch 10 earth q u ake hit and devastated the country. M eanw hile, in W est Linn, L y n n re c e iv e d a m e ssa g e from Sarah on F aceb ook that she had ju st experienced a m assiv e ea rth q u ak e. Lynn follow ed up on the earth qu ake and w atched the d e stru ction of the su bseq u en t tsunam i on the new s. O f the footage she saw she said it w as "h e a rt w renching." Sarah, w ho lives in Tokyo, w as n ot directly affected by the tsu nam i, b u t everyon e in Japan has been touched by i t. "M y co-w orker's m other (w ho is in h er 7 0 ’s), w as d riving hom e from the d en tist in Fu ku shim a w hen the tsu nam i h it cau sing the river n ext to the road she w as on to flood. H er car w as sp inning out o f control in the w ater," Sarah said. The w om an m anaged to clim b out the w indow and sw im tow ard a h ou se calling out for help. Strangers let dow n a ladder and pulled her up to safety. They provided her with dry clothes, food and shelter u ntil things cleared a day or tw o later and they could get her hom e. W hen she left she saw her car on top of another car, according to Sarah. A lth ou gh Sarah has b een affected by the earthquake and the co u n try strick en by the d ead ly tsu n am i, Lynn said that her biggest concern for h er d au gh ter n ow is the rad iation leakage from the Fu ku sh im a D aiich i n u clear p ow er plant. " I w ill n ot rest easy u n til sh e's b a ck ," Lynn said. H o w e v e r , s h e s a id h e r d au ghter is com m itted to her career in Jap an. A t first sh e w as v e ry co n ce rn e d abou t rad iation , b u t a for m er stu d en t w h o is now a physicist helped explain the situ ation to her and ease som e o f her fears. "H ow ev er," L yn n sa id , "A s a parent, you n ever stop b ein g concerned ." Symphonic Band beats Lake Oswego, placing first atTRL Competition continued from page 1 "You are judged on tone quality which includes balance, blend, and intonation, technique-accuracy of rhythm, and musicality, or the expression on the music," Egan, said. To prepare for the competition the band went on a weekend retreat at "Resort at the Mountain" in Welches. While on the retreat the members played for another clinician to get another point of view on their pieces. "It gives us a different point of view and is really fun to work with someone different for a change," Brittney Peterson, junior trumpet player, said. Agreeing with Peterson, Myre said, "The clinician really helped us clean everything up and give us the confidence we needed going into TRL." Besides performing the prepared pieces, the band is scored on the ability to sight- read music. "The hardest part about sight reading is that if you make mistakes you have to make them confidently," Peterson, said. According to Peterson, it is better to make a mistake with confidence than without because it shows you can own your mistakes as well as your successes. To prepare for this task, the band practices reading music by counting out measures and beats. "I expose [the band] to a lot of different music and bring in clinicians to augment their sight-reading skills," Egan said. In the competition, students get a maximum five minutes to observe and discuss the music, but then must play promptly. Although the sight-reading portion of the competition is not public, the prepared musical pieces normally receive audiences of 300-400 people and are judged by three or four college band directors. Ultimately, Egan hopes only for a great performance. "It sounds trite but I just want the band to play relaxed and with confidence, if we do that I think we will have a lot of success," Egan said. Winning the TRL band competition meant a lot to the band. "The first thing that my friend, Peter, said on the bus was Mr. (Jeff) Cumpston (former band director who died in 2009) would be proud," said Myre. "I think a lot of us dedicated this performance to him." With their success, the band will be continuing on to the State competition in May at Oregon State University. Thespians at State chosen to perform at Elsinore Salem in front of 1,000 drama students and advisers from Five West Linn Thespians around the state. Anna performed at the Elsinore Stapleton, Lisa Wang, Sophie T h e a t e Starks-Madsen, Sammie Forsey, seniors, and Caroline Hitesman, junior, performed "Mama Who Bore Me" from the play Spring Awakening. All five qualified for Nationals, which will be held in June. On April 29, they will perform this scene during pr the May Day assembly. I jjW[ Stapleton not only ^ ¡P ' * L ’i l k qualified in the group H performance, but with her I solo performance as well. E mily R eed Photo courtesy of Lisa Wang Sammie Forsey and Patricia Palczew sk a, seniors, participate in the ’’Project Runway” workshop at the Thespian State Conference. Of the 18 actors that advanced to state, five qualified for Nationals. Her pieces were Juliet from Romeo and Juliet and Mae from Sam Shepard's Fool For Love. "Performing at the Elsinore was incredible," Stapleton said. Thursday, the first day of the conference, competitions were held in the distinctive categories— acting, play writing and stage management. About half of the troupe participated in a stage management competition where they made dresses out of newspaper. Friday and Saturday, the Thespians had the opportunity to spend the day at workshops and auditions with various professionals. Stapleton taught an auditioning workshop. I liS ililS ________________ continued on page 7
