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.
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