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People consider the floor
By: Matt Tulberg
When you walk down the halls, do you notice that the noise levels are a lot louder than they used to be? This is from the new tile floors in the 1100 and 1200 halls. Most students think that the noise is a huge problem, as people do not want to hear what someone down the hall is saying at a volume that makes it seem as though they are screaming.
The floors have created problems. The first problem that tile creates is that it amplifies all conversation. With all of the people that talk in the halls, you can imagine what it is like. The second problem with tile is that people intentionally scuff the floors with their shoes. The school custodians do not like having to clean all of the scuffmarks. Slippery floors are the other problem. Nobody wants to see people injured because they slipped on the floor.
The tile floors have some advantages. Tile stays cleaner longer than carpet. School janitors woun't have to report finding mildew and other "growths" in a tile floor like they did with the carpets at the end of the 2000 - 2001 school year.
Students and staff also commented on the topic. "We should have tile everywhere," said Cindy Frach.
Howard Sullivan, the ASB advisor, activities director, and teacher, stated, "I love the tile floors. They are a lot cleaner than the carpets."
On the other side, Sue Cowan, Speech advisor and English 12 teacher said, "I don't like the new tile floors. With the carpets, we were able to have speech team members practice in the halls. Now, we can't do that because the tile floors create massive echos whenever anyone goes down the hall."
Roland Aschim, FFA advisor and teacher stated, "I miss the carpets. The new tile floors create so much echo that it disturbs classes."
Active does not mean drug/alcohol free
By: Matt Tulberg
Do extracurricular activities help keep teens off of drugs and alcohol? According to a study done at the University of Michigan, teens that participate in extracurricular activities and/or sports are MORE likely to drink and use drugs. The federally funded survey tracked 1,259 high school sophomores for six years, to see how participation in sports and other extracurricular activities affects a wide range of positive and negative behaviors, from academic performance to substance abuse.
The study did not say that all student athletes will automatically go out and drink or use drugs. Barbara Cimaglio, director of the Oregon State office of Alcohol and Drug programs, said, "A substancial number of young people are experimenting, and what we hear that is isn't just the fringe kids. It's the athlete's. It's the good students. It's everybody."
Some say that extracurricular activities keep high schoolers too busy to use drugs and alcohol. That is only true during the time of the extracurricular activity. Student athletes have more than enough time to drink or to use drugs on weekends, or school holidays, or even days with no practices and games.
Athletes can be overwhelmed by feelings of pressure to win, to perform well and to maintain a cool image among their friends. These are some of the reasons that student athletes can turn to alcohol and drugs.
If you want teen athletes to stop drinking and using drugs, studies have found that the best way to do that is let the athlete's parents talk to the athlete. When asked, What can be done to stem drug and alcohol use by teen athletes? Cimaglio said, "One of the key factors is parents. We know that families where parents give strong messages about no drug use, where they talk to their kids about alcohol and other drugs, it's far less likely that their children are going to use these substances."
Innocent Bystander: Local band of FGHS juniors
By: Matt Tulberg
When was the last time that you've seen a four-person band competing against other bands in an annual event to see who is the best? Now is your chance. Innocent Bystander is playing at the Roseland Theatre at 8 NW Sixth Ave. in Portland on February 23. Innocent Bystander will be competing against Breakers, SYX, Spun, Hot Boxed, Larceny, and nany other bands. "The band that ends up winning this contest will get studio time to make their own CD, and some serious cash," said Dan Anderson, lead singer of the band.
Tickets are $12 and can be purchased from Dan Anderson, Josh Benson, Ben Elkind, or Travis Timmons. "If we sell more than one hundred tickets, we will be able to perform closer to four p.m. If we don't, we'll end up playing closer to midnight."
This event promises to be quite a show, so buy your tickets while they are still available.
Education has many houses
By: Matt Tulberg
Forest Grove High School began in 1907 when there was enough students in the already present Forest Grove school system that the school board granted their parents requests that a high school be added. The parent's proposal to add the high school was voted on and passed during the 1904 school board meeting. The high school was to be added to the second floor of the already present Central school building.
In 1905, there were nine teachers and a principal to teach five hundred sixty students. High school consisted of two grades, the ninth and tenth. In 1909, two more years of high school were added, eleventh and twelfth. The teachers also started raising money for a library and the school board added an unspecified amount to the money that the teachers were able to raise.
The first high school class to graduate FGHS was the class of 1911. There were two more classes to graduate from the high school in 1912 and 1913. These were the only three classes to graduate from the original Central school building. Rising enrollment had led to many complaints of the school being overcrowded. Therefore, the school district created the Lincoln Junior High School, which was located at the present Pacific University tennis courts, to alleviate the problem.
In 1912 however, a special meeting of the voters was called to vote on a proposal to demolish the original Central School building and to replace it with a new school building. The motion was defeated and replaced with a new motion to repair Central while appointing a committee to find land for a new High School in the east part of town. The motion carried, and a committee was appointed.
In January 1912, the appointed committee reccomended that Forest Grove buy two lots on the southwest corner of Fifth street, (now Elm street) and Third Avenue (now Seventeenth Avenue.) In May, the school board named the new school South Park High School, and dedicated a cornerstone in the rapidly rising new building. In September 1913, the high school classes were moved out of Central and moved into the new high school. In 1953, (when South Park no longer seemed worthy), the high school was moved to the new building, (Tom McCall), which still stands. South Park High School was sold to become the building for members of St. Anthony's Catholic church, but it burnt down on the night of Feb. 20, 1956.
The new high school was later converted to a middle school after the present high school building was completed in 1983. Since then FGHS has been on Nichols Lane.
Tennis Battles Inexperience
By: Matt Tulberg
It's time to get out your rackets and watch the FGHS tennis teams have what promises to be a great year. The boy's team will have several veterans returning this year. "There will be a competition for the #1 spot between senior Brad Hodges and sophomore Kris Stephen this year," commented Coach Rick Taylor. "Juniors Jason Walker and Nathan Kabota will be much improved over last year."
Other returners are Sam Boyd, Greg Vanderzanden, Chris Winterborne, Grant McRobert, and Eric Castro.
The girl's team has all of the makings of a great team that will have a great season. Returning this year will be seniors Sharine Haller and Anna Botello.
"Freshman Kathryn Willson, sophomore Jessie Robinson, and Whitney Howe are looking good in early practices," said Taylor.
"We will struggle early because of inexperience; the girls are probably still a year away from doing as well as they can, due to their youth. We lost eight seniors last year, and we need time to develop our new players," commented Taylor.
Blood drive set for May 13
By: Matt Tulberg
Have you ever wanted to save a few lives and be a hero? Well, now is your chance. The annual FGHS blood drive is on May 13, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the auditorium foyer. The blood collected from this event will be used locally and one pint of blood can save the lives of as many as three people.
There are some guidlines for giving blood. To give blood, you must be healthy, be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 105 pounds, and not have donated blood in the last 56 days. You must also have permission have permission from your teacher(s) to miss class.
If you meet all of these conditions, then the Red Cross would love to have you donate blood. While the previous blood drives have gone well, more people can still participate. That is because only five percent of eligible donors actually donate blood.
The actuall blood donation only takes eight to ten minutes, and after that, there is a canteen with cookies and juices to help your body replace the blood cells that were lost to the donation.
You can save as many as three people with your blood donation, so come to the annual FGHS blood drive, and feel like a hero!
Growth in the Grove
By: Matt Tulberg
We have all seen the new housing developements and stores that are popping up all over Forest Grove. They have led to a change in the lifestyle of everyone in Forest Grove by bringing in more people. What happened to the country lifestyle that drew people over to Forest Grove? It seems, that that has been replaced by the ethos "bigger is better."
New housing developments are being put up all over town, new stores have swallowed up the older businesses that were there originally, and city services are straining to keep up. These factors have emerged to make Forest Grove a bigger and more vibrant city, but have left their marks as well. It is inevetible that as a city gets bigger, the crime rate and pollution also go up.
"I remember when it was safe to leave your doors open because your neighbors would watch your house while you were away. Now, that just does not happen anymore," commented city councilman Pete Truax.
City services are also feeling the strain. "We have just had to hire two more motorcycle policemen to take care of our traffic problems while having our other units do the more serious work," added Truax.
The police are not the only ones that are feeling strained. The Forest Grove School District has started work on two new schools that will hopefully relieve the overcrowding in the elementary schools. There are also plans to replace Tom McCall, and replace it with a new school.
There are more students in the high school than there used to be. "We might have to split high school students into continents like at Tom McCall in the near future," added Truax.
Finding funding for all of these proposed projects has been difficult. There is talk of either trying to put new bond measures to the taxpayers, or raising existing tax rates. Either way, this is not a good thing.
All of this growth seems to be a good thing, but what has happened to the historic character of Forest Grove? Shops like Da Boy's have had to close because they cannot compete with the new grocery and convenience stores that have been built in Forest Grove.
All of this new construction has brought with it many new people. To accomodate them, new housing developments have been built in places that used to be wide open fields. This has cut down on the number of places that people could go to relax. The people in these new housing developments also require more city services to safegaurd them. While more people means more tax money, it also means that the size and scope of city services must increase to meet their needs.
That is why we must ask the question, "Is all this growth a good thing?" Does Forest Grove want to become the next Portland? The Grove must decide whether it wants all of the side effects of what the increased growth will bring.
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Shintaro hails from Japan
By: Matt Tulberg
Shintaro Nakaaki comes from Tokyo, Japan as an exchange student.
He is now residing in Forest Grove with the Savage family. He commented, "Forest Grove is very quiet and small compared to Tokyo."
He continued by saying, "American schools are a lot easier than their Japanese counterparts because American schools are a lot less formal and strict. Japanese schools also have you wear uniforms."
Shintaro is trying to adjust into the American culture with all of it's twists and turns. Language is not a problem as Japanese children learn both Japanese and English in school. The biggest problem for Shintaro is getting used to things like wide open spaces, hot dogs, and other American staples.
About the September 11 terrorist bombings on the World Trade Center towers, Shintaro said, "The attacks opened the eyes of the entire world to this new threat."
Shintaro, like most Japanese, lives in a small family apartment when he is in Tokyo. "There are so many people in the small space of Tokyo that most of the people live in small, single family apartments," Shintaro noted.
Halloween was a new experience for Shintaro as there is no such thing in Japan. "It was wierd to see all of these children wearing costumes and asking for candy," he said.
In the long run, he likes what he's seen of America so far.
Technological reliance continues to increase
By: Matt Tulberg
Sure, modern technology is great. It gets this paper written and printed, it allows us to communicate with anyone, anywhere, and it even allows us to store a large amount of information in a very small space. We have come a long way from the Stone Age. But, with all the new technologies that are coming out, we must wonder, "Are we becoming too reliant on technology?"
Before we answer that question, we have to look at the evidence. One of the best examples of what can happen if we rely on technology too much would be the problem that Ethiopia is having with it's network of hydroelectric dams. Ethiopia built many dams across its rivers. Hydroelectricity was supposed to be a cure all for Ethiopia's electricity problems.
When all of their hydroelectric power plants came online, Ethiopia experienced the worst drought that they have ever had. Not only did their citizens have no power, they also had almost nothing to drink, either. In this case, it was an over reliance on hydroelectric power plants and a powerful drought that hurt the Ethiopians.
Our ancestors survived by being good at overcoming challenges as they came along. The earliest ocean explorers couldn't call home or e-mail someone to ask directions. They were strong, rugged, courageous people, willing to battle the unknown.
Today, we explore by letting satellites do all of our exploring whether it's on earth or in outer space. We haven't let a manned vehicle land on another planet since we were on the moon.
Remember when you only had to check the answering machine to see if anyone wanted to talk to you? Now, we have cell phones, pagers, palm pilots, and e-mail that will reach someone wherever he or she may be. It can get very annoying at times to have to check all of them or to have to call someone back because they left a message on your pager.
All of us have from time to time asked our parents what a question on some homework assignment meant. Now, you might just hear a "Don't ask me, just look it up on the Internet." Most of the time, this leaves you feeling frustrated.
There is also the matter of fast food restaurants. They used to write your order down on a slip of paper and put it on a wheel that would spin. Today, they use machines where you press a button that says, "Coke" for a Coke, "Burger" for a burger, etc. etc. Your order then goes into a computer that tells the employees what you ordered, and the price shows up on the cash register.
The problem with that is that the employees at fast food restaurants have been conditioned to believe that the computer is always right. If the price comes out wrong, they don't notice.
This happened to me one Saturday a few years back when I was in Hood River. The price that came up on the register was three times what the price should have been. I told that to the person behind the counter, and he took a look at it and acted like he had just noticed it.
On the other side of the issue however, technology has made it easier to communicate with people that you need to get in touch with. Technology has also made it possible to store tons of information on the Internet. The Internet is a remarkable accomplishment that has made it possible to not only research information on on almost every topic, but also to communicate with others, and to store your information for others to look up.
Technology is not an evil thing to be kept at arms length. The first human to throw a stone at a bird, discovered that it was easier to hit birds in the air than it was to catch them on the ground. The first man to put animal skins on his feet to make the first shoes likewise discovered that he could run faster, longer, and not get his feet cut.
There still is much room for improvement in this technological revolution of ours. We have to make sure that we use technology as a tool, rather than just creating technology for it's own sake. We must also look to the future to make sure that we don't lose all of our skills to technology.
To answer the first question, "Are we too dependent on technology?"
I would have to say YES, but there is no alternitive.
Annual exchange is smaller
By: Matt Tulberg
Every year, the GAPP program hosts German exchange students from Krefeld, Germany for three weeks in a direct exchange. This year's group of student's arrived on March 13.
The students will experience a welcome by the ASB, a tour of Mt. St. Helens, and skiing at Timberline. They will also experience American style high school classes.
This year's group consists of nine students and a chaperone. "I can't wait to meet my exchange student," said Dan Anderson, a GAPP member.
"The number of students is down from what it was in recent years because of the security considerations after Sept. 11," said Mary Fitzgibbons, the GAPP and NHS adviser.
"In recent years, there were at least fifteen students. Hopefully, those numbers will climb back to normal," Fitzgibbons said.
The host students will be introducing these students in your classes where you can meet with them, and talk with them.
U.S. and "them"
By: Matt Tulberg
Here in America, we earn 59 % of the world's wealth while we have 4.6% of the world's population. Life for us is simple because we have lots of material possesions.
Many countries don't even have the basics that Americans take for granted. They don't have decent medical care, clean water, a stable government, or sufficient housing. Their economies are very small and weak.
In most of the poorer nations, outsiders are looked at with suspicion and hatred. As in Afghanistan, local war lords band political points. They are not united as a country; they are mostly seperated into tribal groups that have bloody battles.
In third world nations, the simplest diseases still kill millions every year. AIDS is the most common disease to sweep the third world countries. In Africa, disease is the number one killer of both children and adults. Adults there often do not live past their fortieth birthday. As you can see, the outlook for third world nations is grim.
America has public education, modern health care, safe foods, clean water, employment, a stable government, and a healthy economy. These are some of the major things that are missing from many third world nations. In America, we worry about having enough food to feed people at a party. In the third world countries, they worry about having enough food for themselves.
Unstable governments lead to multiple civil war, which tear countries apart and destroy what industry that the country might otherwise have been able to use to help their economy.
The people in third world nations are often denied even the most basic of medical care. In America, we worry about whether the doctor that we see will be the least expensive. In third world countries, they are worried over not having any medical attention at all.
This is something to think about the next time that you watch the news about one of these countries.
Left Side
By: Matt Tulberg
Hollywood is powerless to resist sequels. Here's the latest batch of recycled movies, coming soon to a theatre no where near you:
"Beautiful Mime": Russell Crowe plays a mathematical genius whose penchant for wearing white face makeup and pretending to be trapped in an invisible box who drives everyone else insane.
"The count of Monty Python": A British pet store owner who is falsely imprisoned for selling "dead" parrots (they're actually just resting), escapes jail and exacts revenge with a killer rabbit.
"Jack Lord of the Rings": Steve Mcgarrett of "Hawaii Five-O" breaks up a gang of Middle-Earth jewel thieves who are trying to fence a stolen ancient ring. Book 'em, Frodo.
"Hudson Hawk Down": An elite force of Hollywood publicists and agents tries to rescue the career of Bruce Willis after he stars in one of the worst films of the 1990's. Based on a true story.
"Ocean's 7-Eleven": In yet anthor elaborate heist, George Clooney and friends hold up three convenience stores simultaneously. Don't miss the Slurpy fight sequence!
"I am a summer of Sam": A high-priced lawyer (Michelle Pfeiffer) helps David "son of Sam" Berkowitz win the right to raise a child, because serial killers are people, too.
"American Pi": PBS tries to enter the lucerative teen comedy market with a film about four high school buddies who make a pact to calculate pi to the 100,000th decimal place before senior prom.
"Gosford Jurassic Park": One of the lamest movies of the year is mercifully cut short when a herd of wild dinosaurs rampages through a 1930's English estate, killing everyone.
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