4

MANE EVENT

FEATURES

The staff at the

Mane Event

has received

some mail in our

“inbox”

of sorts. We have received

a message from an anonymous writer explaining his

or her concern for a friend. The friend in question

has begun hanging out with other friends. These

friends aren’t the best influence on her anyway, see­

ing as how our writer expresses a deep concern for

her friend. She believes that she may be smoking

pot. The writer writes,

“Who should I talk to?”

Well, in our minds one of the most obvious

choices is to talk to your friend! You have to find out

for yourself if that person is actually smoking the pot

or not. If that person is truly your friend, they should

at least enlighten you as to if they are doing it or not.

Making sense of all of this in your own mind is es­

sential for fixing anything that may be going on. This

leads me to my next point; if you know what the

problem is, don’t just assume that you can fix it. The

person in question must be a willing participant in the

healing process. What this means is that if the person

does not want any help, them you must leave them to

their own vices. They must want to help themselves

before you can help them. Speaking of help, here

are some numbers, websites and people that you

could go to for help:

www.na.org

www.alanon.alateen.org

Lyons Police Department: 946­5141

Wayne Behavioral Health:956­5722

Our Resource Officer Sgt. Jeff Shields!

School psychologists

Helping your friend get out of the hole is step

one. Helping them get back on track with their lives

is another. As the helper it is important that you try

not to take on all of this yourself. Stress is something

that can overcome you. You must take small steps

with

the person who is in trouble. They can’t do it

alone, and neither can you. Think about it for a while

and make a plan of action.

Dear...Someone?

The state has that ability, they knew that the break

walls couldn’t possibly stand the force of the flood,

and they should’ve used the ability to force people to

leave their homes. At first glance it may seem a harsh

thing to do to the residents of New Orleans, but I’d

rather be alive than possibly die just to see if I can

save my house.

Also, the precise wording of the statements

issued by the governess disgusted me deeply. It sick­

ened me to realize that the governess said that all of

the people that didn’t want to leave were unemployed

blacks. I hate racism more than anything else, and

that was racism in its highest degree in my opinion.

Besides, it doesn’t cover two groups that logically

would also want to stay: the elderly, who might have

nothing else but the things in their homes, and the

people who wanted to prevent looting of all of the

objects in their house (although that isn’t a real good

reason to stick around).

The federal government also handled the situ­

ation pretty poorly. Things like President Bush not

ending his vacation to immediately survey the dam­

age is an example. Another thing is how the National

Guard didn’t arrive fast enough (although some would

say that is due to the Guard being in Iraq, which would

lead to Bush­Bashing). In addition, FEMA collapsed

under its own weight (which would lead to similar

arguments).

Bush showed up after most of the rioting,

looting and overall violence stopped (which, in hind­

sight, was probably the smart thing to do, as the last

thing we need right now is an injured President). The

Guard did arrive eventually, and the situation is rather

controlled now. And while FEMA still hasn’t fixed

itself, FEMA Director Michael Brown has resigned,

and since then that particular political fiasco has sub­

sided. My point is this: Maybe the U.S. government

did react slowly, and in the case of FEMA, poorly,

but at least they reacted. The state seemingly didn’t

even do that; the only thing they did was move the

people to a football stadium without any supplies for

the people, and that is why I find that the state is

wholly more responsible than the U.S. government

for the loss of life attributed to this disaster. They also

stepped up their reaction time much faster after hur­

ricane Rita.

On a related matter, many people have gone

so far as to compare Katrina to 9/11. And to them, I

say you are wrong. 9/11 was a terrorist attack. A

deliberate, willful act against the United States of

America of which we had no warning, and Katrina

was a natural disaster. Despite what government pro­

paganda may lead you to believe, Katrina did

NOT

affect everyone in the nation. It did not and will not

force a change on our way of life as 9/11 did, except

maybe in future planning for disasters. In fact, the only

reason I am affected by Hurricane Katrina at all is

because of the grumbling of my parents over the ris­

ing gas prices, which don’t really have

ANYTHING

to do with Hurricane Katrina anyways.

I was affected by 9/11 the same way many

were probably affected after Pearl Harbor: Confused,

Scared and Angry. And I still am to a degree, and

that was four years ago. Hurricane Katrina only brings

forth pity, and that is obviously not how I will feel a

year from now as this whole issue will likely be for­

gotten by me. Not so for the people who lived in the

area, but that is my point: it either directly affected

you or not at all.

Now, some would argue, “But Logan,

what about the rises in petrol prices after both

hurricane Rita and Katrina?”

Well, that’s fodder

for the next issue of

The Mane Event.

“Center”

continued from page 1

Germs!!!

Have you ever wondered exactly how many

germs you contract each day? Have you ever sat

down and thought about all the people you shook

hands with who didn’t wash their hands? If this

sounds like you, you are right to be cautious.

Eighty percent of germs, bacteria, and ill­

nesses are spread by hand contact. That’s enough to

make you want to wear gloves all day. One of the

most common ways people catch colds is by rub­

bing their nose or their eyes after their hands have

been contaminated with the cold virus. So think about

that, the next time you shake hands with someone.

It is estimated that one out of three people

do not wash their hands after using the restroom.

Those are some scary statistics. So imagine you have

twenty­four friends over for a party. About eight of

those friends did not wash their hands and are touch­

ing all of the food you’ve set out.

So think about all of what has been said the

next time you bend down to take a drink from a pub­

lic drinking fountain or sit down to

“relieve”

your­

self!

Daycare Prices Rise

Ashley VanValkenburg, Senior

Have you ever noticed that when you pay

your bills that more than half of your check goes to a

daycare center? Being a parent is a hard job. Nowa­

days it is even more difficult because many families

are made

up of one

parent.

This

makes it

harder for

a parent to

work and

take care

of his/her

children. A parent then has to find suitable daycare

but he/she can’t always afford it.

Daycare centers are very expensive. Money

paid to daycare goes toward food, the rent of the

building, utility costs, insurances, wages, and other

items connected to running a business. Usually the

larger the city, the higher the cost of daycare. Don’t

forget. Most daycare workers have to be trained

and that costs money too. In addition, the younger

children in daycare require more attention; there fore

more workers are needed, thus more money is re­

quired. Prices for daycare run from $3000­$15,000

a year! Daycare workers are also hard to find at

times, as many migrate to higher paying jobs.

Parents also have to decide what type of

daycare they want and what is affordable for them.

Many parents would rather take their child/children

with them. This would be considered a baby on the

job daycare. It’s a lot cheaper, and the parents feel

more at ease with their

child being close to

them.

There are many

types of daycare to

choose from. Parents

can choose a licensed

daycare, private

daycare, or homecare

(like a nanny).

For parents

who don’t make a lot of

money, daycare can

seem like a hopeless possibility. However, there are

programs offered through the department of social

services and public assistance.