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__________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
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continued on page 7