CatlinSpeak

Despite serious risk of future negative health effects, some teens still choose to use tanning beds, especially before prom.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, if someone uses tanning beds before the age of 35 he or she increases his or her risk of contracting melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer, by 75 percent. However, over one third of Grant High School senior girls attending their prom said that they were planning on getting tanning bed services before the dance (of 53 surveyed). If tanning is so harmful, why are adolescents still doing it?

16-year-old Victoria Kirkland of St. Mary’s Academy has a tanning bed in her home that she tans in once a week, and she is planning on tanning more often before prom. She says, “I like how [tanning] makes my complexion look … My parents are fine with it, in fact they tan too.” Similarly, 18-year-old Avalon Bryce of Grant High School says that she tans before prom “so I look better in pictures.”

Besides causing premature aging effects, tanning is one of the most significant causes of skin cancer. About 90 percent of non-melanoma diagnoses are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States today, with over two million diagnoses a year, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Victoria Kirkland uses her tanning bed in her home once a week. (Photo: Victoria Kirkland)

Tanning beds emit up to three times more intense UVA radiation than natural sunlight, according to Harvard Women’s Health Watch. UVA rays are the longer rays of the UV spectrum that penetrate further into the skin than other UV rays.

Barbara Resnick, MD, a Catlin Gabel parent and dermatologist at the Portland Dermatology Clinic, explains what tanning does to your skin: “Basically all of the UV [rays] change [skin] DNA. Your body is pretty good at fixing injuries to DNA, but if you keep on insulting the DNA, it gets harder to fix.” Sunscreen is what protects from direct DNA damage, but overexposure can lead to sunburn and other future health effects, like skin cancer. “13 percent of women ages 18 to 22 [use tanning beds] regularly,” says Resnick. “I have seen teenagers [who use tanning beds] that have pre-cancerous moles.”

Despite the serious risk of damaging skin, Kirkland says that she doesn’t ever think of or worry about possible health effects. Bryce says that she only tans before prom or sometimes before vacation “because I know the risks and and how [they] make me more susceptible to skin cancer, so it doesn’t seem worth it … In the bed I put sunscreen on my face and chest because that skin is the most sensitive … most people don’t [put sunscreen on] and think I’m pretty weird for it.”

Tanning facilities don’t seem to worry about potential health effects at all: in a study conducted by JAMA Dermatology, college students pretended to be 15-year-old girls and called over 3,000 tanning facilities nationwide to inquire about tanning bed use. According to NPR, only 11 percent of the facilities followed the FDA recommendation of advising new members to tan no more than three days a week. Additionally, Palm Beach Tan, a popular national tanning franchise, offers no form of health risk warnings on its website. However, facilities do seem to worry about liability issues: Bryce says “I signed [some papers] but I am aware of the risks and [wouldn’t] blame the people at the tanning [salon for future health effects].”

Although Oregon bans commercial tanning for minors without parental consent, Bryce says that when she tanned at Venus and Mars, a local tanning facility, they didn’t thoroughly check if she was under eighteen.

Legislation in the United States has also addressed the possible dangers of tanning: California and Vermont both have bans on all minors tanning in commercial tanning salons, and Oregon’s House of Representatives recently passed a proposed bill to ban commercial tanning bed use for minors without a physician’s referral on March 7, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Palm Beach Tan offers both spray tanning and bed tanning. A representative of Palm Beach Tan in Northwest Portland comments, “Most of the [minors] that come in before prom come in to get spray tans,” as opposed to bed tanning. This trend is also seen among Catlin Gabel and St. Mary’s Academy upperclassmen girls attending prom, with nearly zero saying that they would use tanning beds, yet 17 percent saying they were planning on using a self-tanning lotion, and four percent saying they were planning on getting a spray tan (of 90 surveyed).

Although it seems that a minority of teens choose to tan before prom, do the reasons that they choose to tan outweigh the possible health effects? Even though Palm Beach Tan says that the sun is “the fundamental ingredient for all life forms,” perhaps laying under fluorescent ultraviolet bulbs isn’t the best way to glow.

With the death of Hugo Chávez on March 5, Venezuela has been in a state of uncertainty. Throughout the country political tensions escalated, specifically between presidential candidates Nicolás Maduro and Henrique Capriles Radonski.

Maduro was sworn in as Venezuela’s new president on Friday, April 19, after a disputed election that divided the country. His followers strongly support a continuation of Chávez’s socialist government while those opposing him contend that the ruling party won through a fraudulent vote.

Chávez’s successor (Maduro) succeeded in winning the country’s presidential election by a stunningly narrow margin, something that has only highlighted rising discontent.

Maduro has ridden Chavez’s praises to the top. The late president once described him as “a complete revolutionary, a man of great experience despite his youth, with great dedication and capacity for work, for leading, for handling the most difficult situations.”

Maduro has attempted to stop protests, stating that he would block a march called by his opponent to demand a recount of the vote. Capriles claims he is the real winner of the extremely close election and has refused to recognize the result.

Capriles responded to Maduro by stopping the march to the headquarters of the National Electoral Council, which had received information that the government planned to infiltrate the march and incite violence. He called on his faithful followers instead to bang pots at their homes in a traditional Venezuelan protest.

Although it seems as if all decisions are final, Maduro has said he would accept a full recount, despite his insistence that his victory was lawful.

President Nicolás Maduro celebrates in victory. (Photo: New York Times)

As the members of the class of 2013 head off toward a future away from Catlin Gabel, it is important to note that the final matriculation decisions for seniors are often more diverse than the common perception. Usually, students’ decisions are not based primarily on a school’s reputation, but on how they, as a student, would fit into a college. Here are three such examples:

(Graphic: Cody Hoyt)

Where will you be attending college?

Emma: “Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.”

Anne: “Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.”

Jeremy: “Chapman University in Orange, California.”

What elements of the school did you find the most attractive?

Emma: “Foreign language, study abroad, Vermont, sustainability, medium-small size, nearby skiing, beautiful campus, [and] seemingly interesting people.”

Anne: “The perfect balance between academics and social life, the people are genuinely proud to go to SMU and have a lot of school spirit and pride, and it’s bigger than [the small student population of schools like Catlin Gabel].”

Jeremy: “What drew me most to this school was the quality of its theater department in addition to its small class sizes and close relationships between students and professors.”

What was the ultimate factor in your decision?

Emma: “Nowhere else had everything I wanted.”

Anne: “Some people say that you just kind of know. That was definitely my experience. I felt excited about everything there [and] that I could be a part of such a great community, even before I applied. The program was attractive to me in every way. I can’t imagine going anywhere else. Also, 70 degree weather most of the year is not bad at all.”

Jeremy: “After I heard back from all my schools I had applied to, I decided to select Chapman since they placed me in their top theater program and offered me the most money through merit and talent scholarships.”

What do you hope to study?

Anne: “The plan right now is to double major in accounting and management science (engineering).”

Jeremy: “[I will enter as] a member of their Bachelor of Fine Arts theater program.”

Why did you decide to take a gap year?

Emma: “I am eager to learn more Spanish and to experience the mix of wild mountains, barren deserts, and everything in between that Chile has to offer. Also, I’m sick of school at this point and really want time away from homework to pay attention to the things I’m interested in and have the freedom to learn about the world.”

What advice do you have for future college applicants?

Emma: “Apply early to one of your top choices (if you have narrowed it down to three-ish you will love each one), don’t apply to more than six schools unless you enjoy filling out apps, don’t check your decisions at school, and take standardized tests and prep courses as little as possible.”

Anne: “Get it done early! I had my final list, personal essay, and some supplements ready to press send [much earlier than my senior year]. Make sure you have a well balanced list…Make sure you are happy with every school on your list but don’t apply to only ‘reach schools’. Also, be open-minded…Don’t let one part of the country, or one climate, or a silly name make your college decision for you. Not that those things aren’t important, but not everyone is going to be happy at a school with a ‘big name.’”

Jeremy: “I recommend only applying to schools you know you would be happy at. If you can’t see yourself there, it is probably not the school for you. Don’t worry, wherever you end up will be the perfect fit.”

This month the Masters, one out of the four major professional golf tournaments, welcomed a new member to its selective ranks, Australian Adam Scott. The tournament is always held during the first week of April at the Augusta National Golf Club, a controversially all-men’s club in Georgia. The Masters champion is given a green jacket that he must return to the clubhouse after one year. He is also invited to the Champions Dinner, a meal with all of the living former Masters champions and a few of Augusta National Golf Club’s board members.

This year’s Champion, Adam Scott, was the first Australian ever to win. It had been seventeen years since Australian Greg Norman’s meltdown on the final eighteen ruined his six-stroke lead and his chance to be the first Australian to win the Masters. All that changed when Adam Scott sunk his last putt during the second hole of a sudden death round against Argentina’s Angel Cabrera.

A fourteen-year-old amateur golfer from China, Guan Tianlang, also made history when he became the youngest player to ever compete in a Masters tournament. According to ABC News, Tianlang began golfing at age four and watching the Masters at age five, and has competed in over two hundred tournaments. Tianlang finished the entire tournament without a single three putt and a total score of twelve over par.

Adam Scott uses his belly putter. (Photo: New York Times)

Remember that one section of the SAT? No, not one that required filling in answer bubbles – that agreement on the back of your answer sheet that you had to painstakingly rewrite … in cursive?

An instructional page from the famous (in the world of handwriting) Lloyd J. Reynolds’ exercise book, Italic: Lettering, Calligraphy & Handwriting. This form of cursive is taught at Catlin and numerous other schools. (Photo: Marina Dimitrov)

 In elementary school, most of us were told that cursive handwriting would form a vital part of our high school and adult lives. So we continued to practice forming those loops with our pencils. But these days, we rarely use cursive – rewriting that agreement on the SAT being one of the few instances – so should children continue to learn it?

Personally, I type far more than I write. So I ultimately find my lessons in keyboarding in middle school more useful than my cursive handwriting education. In fact, it was only upon taking the SAT and rewriting that agreement for the first time that it struck me how little I used cursive nowadays. But surely there was some point to learning it?

I began my quest for the rational behind this large portion of my elementary education by searching “why learn cursive” in Google. I found a number of arguments involving brain development, speed and efficiency, and even security risks.

A study at Indiana University claims, “Neuroimaging research … has revealed that brain activation in preschool children changes depending on how they learn,” and that writing letters out by hand helps children recognize them better. An article by William Klemm, D.V.M., Ph.D. explains many cognitive benefits to using cursive. For example, “Brain imaging studies show that cursive activates areas of the brain that do not participate in keyboarding.”

A New York Times article brings forth another interesting issue: “Might people who write only by printing — in block letters, or perhaps with a sloppy, squiggly signature — be more at risk for forgery?”

With that information under my belt, I contacted Catlin Gabel Middle and Lower School faculty about their thoughts on the merits of teaching cursive, and handwriting in general.

Mariam Higgins of the Lower School says that cursive is alive and well in the classrooms: “I teach fourth graders cursive italic; they spend between 30 and 45 minutes a week practicing the formation of the letters, then apply it on all handwritten classroom and homework.”

(Graphic: Marina Dimitrov)

Third grade teacher Marcelle Donehower says that “handwriting is important because it helps reinforce expectations about quality of work and it teaches students about aesthetics.” She has found that her students value the experience: “My students really enjoy the time during the day that is designated to handwriting practice. It is meditative and very gratifying for them to see their growth and improvement from practicing something every day.”

I met with Lower School head Vicki Roscoe, to discuss her many ideas about handwriting. In fact, she has herself written an article about the merits of teaching handwriting, entitled “In a Day and Age When We Are All Using Computers – Is Handwriting Still Relevant?”

In her article, Roscoe writes, “There is something so utterly delicious, so empowering, and so dynamic when oral language and written language converge!”

She continues later: “An increasing number of high schools now require laptops and this makes sense to me. But is this what we want for our youngsters? Just because it may be what we are doing with the older students does not make it right for our elementary age learners.”

What are the benefits of the physical act of handwriting? “Kids need to FEEL the letter ‘T’, which is distinctly different from a ‘S’ or a ‘D’,” Roscoe explains in her article. “No matter what letter or symbol you press on the computer keyboard, the ‘feel’ is exactly the same.”

For Roscoe, “sometimes the sheer act of physically writing helps me to clarify my thinking and work through my ideas in a way that is more satisfying than whipping it off on a keyboard.”

As I talk with her, Roscoe tells me about her opinion of digital versus physical written communication: “Email messages – let’s face it – they’re communication, but they’re not aesthetic, and sometimes in a rush they’re not very well written. Tone can also be an issue.” One can convey a lot more beauty and emotion through a handwritten letter.

Apparently this need for speed in communication could be a manifestation of a much larger societal issue. “Faster is not always better,” says Roscoe. “[The decline of] handwriting is only one small example of a much larger picture of a culture obsessed with efficiency and quantity. Indeed, a society that is in such a hurry may forget to savor.”

Roscoe ends her article with: “You cannot tell me that handwriting will ever go away.”

Lower School art teacher Peggy Schauffler was a calligraphy teacher at Oregon Episcopal School for a year before coming to Catlin 19 years ago. Schauffler learned handwriting from Inga Dubay, who, together with Barbara Getty, wrote and distributed many of the italic books that are now used at Catlin and a number of Oregon public schools.

“In my own life, I find that I keyboard a lot for information,” explains Schaffler, “but you can’t beat handwriting for personal things. When I’m, say, making signs in a meeting because we need to put up posters, people always call on me because I have nice handwriting. And I take pride in it, and I’m flattered!”

Schauffler also simply admits, “I enjoy writing! Something different happens in my brain when I’m writing in [a] journal than when I’m typing.”

But she also believes “there’s a place for both. You can use a computer all the time, but there’s nothing like sitting down and writing [an] actual letter, or writing in a journal to reflect on life.”

Schauffler concludes, “I think my main idea is that if we were to just go to that [keyboarding], it would just leave too many people out. The poor, some of those in other countries, the elderly…”

This information successfully bolstered my hopes that I did spend my elementary school time learning cursive for good reasons. And even though I don’t use it that much these days, I honestly sometimes wish I had more time to explore the art of beautiful handwriting.

Schauffler agrees with the pleasure aspect of calligraphy and cursive:  “When I bring out the nibs and ink, the kids just gravitate towards it! They love the experience, and have lots of fun.”

So, the next time you write a letter, break out a pen and go for those flowing lines – maybe some loops if you’re really daring – write something graceful and exquisite.

Before winning the election in November 2012, new Portland mayor Charlie Hales had been eyeing the third floor in City Hall for a year and a half. Hales, 57, first announced his candidacy on May 23, 2011, and fought a long and controversial campaign until November 6, 2012, when he was elected.

CatlinSpeak first made contact with Hales––and the other mayoral candidates, Eileen Brady and Jefferson Smith––in the fall of 2011, as we planned for the mayoral primary debate. Here’s a look at what he has done and said since then, and what’s coming up for Charlie Hales.

May 23, 2011: The Oregonian reports that Hales has announced his candidacy for mayor of Portland, calling him “the first serious candidate to declare for the 2012 race.”

October 2011: Hales, Brady, and Smith agree to attend a January 2012 debate hosted by CatlinSpeak.

January 31, 2012: Hales, Brady, and Smith participate in the first ever CatlinSpeak debate. Hales doesn’t particularly make a splash; CatlinSpeak staff overwhelmingly votes to declare Jefferson Smith the winner of the debate.

April 18, 2012: Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott rejects a complaint filed against Hales which states that Hales was not a registered voter in Oregon when he announced his candidacy. This follows months of scrutiny over Hales claiming simultaneous residency in Washington––where he paid no income taxes––and Oregon––where he voted in eight elections despite living in Washington.

May 15, 2012: Primary election. Hales and Smith each receive enough votes to continue on to the general election.

May 18, 2012: Hales dismisses his entire campaign staff following a four-point primary victory over runner-up Smith.

June 19, 2012: Hales names Evyn Mitchell as his new campaign manager, Liz Burns as campaign finance director, and Mark Wiener as a consultant.

June 21, 2012: Hales announces that he will cap contributions to his campaign at $600 and will not allow any out-of-state contributions. In August, Smith announces his own set of contribution limitations.

July 13, 2012: Willamette Week reports that Service Employees International Union Local 49 endorses Hales. SEIU 49 is the second largest union in Oregon.

October 15, 2012: In a reversal, Hales writes to Smith and suggests that they both break their campaign contribution promises.

October 19, 2012: Hales and Smith participate in the CatlinSpeak debate. Hales emphasizes the importance of Portland youth, and praises youth programs and civic engagement. CatlinSpeak declares Smith the winner for the second time.

October 19, 2012: The Portland Mercury joins The Oregonian, the Portland Tribune, and Willamette Week in endorsing Hales.

November 6, 2012: Charlie Hales wins the mayoral race in a landslide victory over Jefferson Smith, winning over 61 percent of the vote.

Late November: Hales and his wife, Nancy, take a vacation after the campaign has concluded.

January 1, 2013: Hales takes office, replacing Sam Adams as mayor of Portland.

February 4, 2012: Hales takes control of all city bureaus––a move that vastly increases his power––in hopes of using the leverage to get the city out of its budget crisis.

March 7, 2012: Hales sits down for an interview with CatlinSpeak. He laments cuts to youth programs and talks about reinstating them in the future, discusses the budget issues, and reaffirms his support for water fluoridation.

May 21, 2013: A special election will determine whether or not Portland fluoridates its water, bringing an end to the first major public health issue of Hales’s.

On March 14, 2013, two laptops were stolen midday from the lower level of the Miller Upper School Library. Upper School administrators worked quickly to inform students and faculty of the situation, and the families of the students filed police reports. Even though the incident has caused no further harm since, it leads us to ask, how safe are we?

Historically, Catlin Gabel has not had major issues with campus security. Glenn Burnett, the Upper School student activities director, explains that Catlin Gabel employs the standard safety procedures of all public and private high schools throughout the country. “We have lockdown procedures and drills. We do it when we can with faculty and students. Obviously, since we are a K-12 school, it is hard to mobilize the entire school, but we do what we can.”

Eric Shawn, the director of facilities on campus, notes that the community has helped play a part in keeping the campus historically safe. He notes that drills, alarms, alert systems, and locks are only one part of campus security. Shawn says “daily awareness and interactions of students, parents, faculty, and staff are essential elements of campus security.”

(Graphic: Kenneth 0Woods)

In the past, Catlin Gabel used to have a full-time caretaker living on campus in a house behind the gravel lot. Originally this person’s role was to remain on the campus at night in case a student forgot or needed something. This person would also hypothetically provide some level of protection to the campus during the nighttime. Burnett explained that the school evolved to the point where it felt the caretaker was no longer needed, and eliminated the position in June of last year.

The incidence of laptop theft prompted the school to take some immediate actions. First of all, the school reiterated its steadfast commitment to safety. Shawn explained that the school hired an independent security firm to evaluate campus security, saying “A safety and security consultant from Georgia visited and assessed the campus during the first week of April.  The executive team [which is composed of Catlin Gabel staff] will review the written report when it arrives and make decisions based on that report.”

Some other immediate actions have been made, such as the temporary introduction of a security guard on campus. During the time around Winterim, this unarmed security guard patrolled campus.

There were mixed feelings about having a security guard on campus. In a discussion in a New Media Studies class, most students revealed that they felt slightly uneasy about having a security guard patrol campus. Many students asked whether having a guard at all was necessary, and raised concerns about privacy and freedom. The overwhelming majority of students agreed that having an armed security guard was unnecessary and likely more dangerous than an unarmed guard.

Some students felt that having a security guard would help campus security. Lawrence Sun ’14 says that, “The school’s move to hire a temporary security guard was a good move. As it stopped any further stealing it appears to have worked. However, a more permanent fix is required than just hiring a temporary security guard.” Sun raises the precedent of the caretaker as evidence to show that a security guard has worked in the past. Shawn explains that the long-term decision to keep a security guard will be made by the head of school or the executive committee.

Another larger discussion focused on the culture of trust at campus. Catlin Gabel is a very trusting and safe place: students routinely place valuables in the open, and most of the time, theft is unheard of. However, the incident has shaken that trust. Emi Foster ’13, a student whose laptop was stolen comments, “Not until a few weeks ago did I ever even think about my belongings being vulnerable when left in the open.”

Some faculty and students believe that the culture at this school may fundamentally have to change. Sue Phillips, the Upper School librarian, says, “When I first came to Catlin Gabel nine years ago, I was shocked by the relaxed attitude toward personal possessions demonstrated by students in the Upper School.” Phillips has been working tirelessly to urge students and faculty to keep track of their belongings, taping signs throughout the library telling students to secure their things. She does not propose any major policy changes, but says that students could help each other, saying: “I think we need to get creative, but most of all, I think that students need to encourage one another to change their habits to support a little more security.”

Other members of the community feel that trust is important to the Catlin Gabel community. They feel that taking away the freedoms enjoyed by students could undermine the school’s culture. Ramtin Rahmani ’12, says he found Catlin to be a very safe and trusting environment. “I would routinely leave my wallet out on a table in the library, and nobody would ever take it,” Rahmani says. “I think that Catlin is different from other schools in that students really do trust each other, and I think it will hurt the community if we prevent students from doing certain things.”

It is unclear how what steps the school will take in changing culture. It is likely to be a controversial issue with no clear and easy solution.

One particular incident that occurred in early April provides a microcosm of the larger debate. Upper School assistant head Aline Garcia-Rubio saw unattended backpacks outside of the library during an assembly. Because two laptops had been stolen a week before, and these backpacks presented a similar risk, Garcia-Rubio took the backpacks to her office. In order to retrieve their belongings students needed to find their way to the Upper School office.

Many students and teachers supported this move. Upper School history teacher Patrick Walsh says, “If the administration tells students repeatedly not to do something, and students keep doing it, what are they supposed to do? This is the only way they can get students to learn.” Burnett said, “We would keep doing this if we had the resources to pick up all the backpacks all over campus. It’s just too much work. This should be the job of the students, anyway.”

Others disagreed, saying the actions were unnecessary and an invasion of trust. Tucker Gordon ’13 asks, “Isn’t this too far?”

It is likely that if anything is decided it will develop through a long discussion involving the entire community. Foster explains, “I wish that we would have had a more personal conversation about it in which the faculty or administration explained why we can’t leave our backpacks outside anymore, as it has always been a part of our culture to trust the campus’s safety.”

Catlin Gabel is a school that prides itself on its ability to foster an environment where everyone can learn together. Time and time again, this community has shown that it has the ability to overcome hurdles that prevent that environment from coming to fruition. There is no reason to believe that this incident will be any different.

It was 1990 when Lower School Spanish teacher Enrique Escalona entered his first year of college in his chosen field of journalism.

He was part of the first set of students ever to study journalism at the state-run Universidad de Sevilla, which was considered one of the top universities in Spain. Just a few years earlier, such schools hadn’t existed, and journalism as a profession was just emerging in the post-Franco era.

“I was very curious and very interested in something brand new,” says Escalona, who grew up in Sevilla. “So I studied journalism in 1990, and from the beginning it was very pragmatic. It was oriented toward the profession of communicating news and reporting news.”

At the time, Spain’s media world was exploding; the concepts of television and radio news had been buried under the dictatorship, so audio-visual media formats were just coming to the fore.

This boom, combined with the prestige and novelty of the journalism school, opened up early professional opportunities for Escalona and other rising journalists. By his sophomore year, he had internships with radio stations and a newspaper, and by the end of the year he had an offer to intern at a public television station, Canal Sur TV.

At first, he studied as an assistant to one of the station’s producers––“basically making phone calls”––but by the next year he began doing “real work.”

After covering local political events and issues for a while, Escalona was dispatched to work as a foreign correspondent covering an international conflict (CatlinSpeak has agreed not to disclose further information about the conflict itself) in what he calls “probably the coolest and most bitter experience.”

It was during this assignment that Escalona faced his first major challenges in journalism. Escalona and the journalists who were also covering the conflict had to stay in a hotel, where the United Nations funneled them information on events happening several countries away.

(Photo: Siobhan Furnary)

“We were basically the middle man between the United Nations and the TV stations,” says Escalona. “So basically I didn’t think I was reporting the truth. Not what I could see with my own eyes.”

In six months of covering the conflict, Escalona did not talk to people on the ground once––he wasn’t permitted. Instead, he and the other journalists were merely allowed the occasional bus ride through the countries in crisis. At that point, his doubts about journalism began to surface.

Upon returning to Spain, things did not improve much for Escalona. He began covering local political news again, eventually hitting a big story about a politician that was set to air on prime time news. But just an hour before the show, the station shut the story down after receiving a phone call.

That marked the beginning of the end of Escalona’s journalism career; after that day, he worked in weather information for close to a year, by which time his fifth and final year of journalism school was over.

“By the end of my fifth year I found myself in a place where I didn’t believe in what I was doing anymore,” remarks Escalona. “I didn’t believe in the function of journalism anymore—I was very [idealistic].”

The issue of the story-ending phone call was not an isolated incident. “Everything was pretty much given to interpretation; it was a product that you could pretty much manipulate following the political directives of the place you were working at.”

So Escalona switched career paths entirely, and left Spain to pursue a masters in education at Stony Brook University in New York. At first, he intended to teach journalism, and to share his own experiences with corrupted media with his students. But when an offer to teach Spanish arose, he took it, and loved it so much that he decided to focus on linguistics and become a Spanish teacher.

Ultimately, journalism lost its appeal and its magic for Escalona. As a child growing up under the waning years of the Franco regime, he saw journalism as “some sort of a guard for democracy.” After Canal Sur TV, he felt that guard’s power hadn’t lived up to its potential.

But for Escalona, his current profession pursues much the same goal: “teaching is another pillar, another cornerstone of democracy, of freedom, and of well-being,” he says. “And besides, it’s way more fun.”

Despite the “bitterness” Escalona once felt for news reporting in Spain, he feels the media has turned a corner, and has begun to rightly expose politicians and bankers instead of following orders from higher powers.

While he acknowledges the “barriers and obstacles” that still remain in achieving objective and honest reporting, Escalona feels that “it’s gloriously necessary for [journalism] to keep existing, and not to be afraid of communicating anything that needs to be said, that needs to be taken to the public.”

“It’s an extremely important part of who we are as a democratic society. It’s probably the sharpest weapon to keep democracy at its best.”

 A handful of environmental groups have threatened potential lawsuits against railroad and coal exporting companies after finding dangerous amounts of coal in the Columbia River Gorge.

The citizen lawsuit may be filed by Columbia Riverkeeper, an organization which works to protect the Columbia River and restore its health. It alleges that several coal companies, including Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad (BNSF), are in violation of the Clean Water Act after failing to properly cover trains carrying coal dust which allowed for unlawful amounts of the dust to enter the Columbia River ecosystem.

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendment of 1972, better known as the Clean Water Act, established a national commitment to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological well-being of the nation’s waterways.

The Clean Water Act has been instrumental in improving the health of rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. It has stopped billions of pounds of pollution from negatively affecting waterways, and has dramatically increased the number of waterways which ban swimming and fishing.

These coal trains traveling through the Pacific Northwest have a serious impact on wetlands, streams, and rivers throughout the Columbia River Gorge. Unfortunately many local rivers and lakes have pollutants directly related to coal trains including the Columbia River, Drano Lake, Horsethief Lake, the Klickitat River, the Little White Salmon River, Rowland Lake, and the White Salmon River.

According to BNSF Railway, each car loses between 500 and 2,000 pounds of coal dust in transport from the Powder River Basin (located in Montana/Wyoming), which amounts to about one pound per mile. With 120 cars per train, each coal train loses about 10,200 pounds of coal as it travels 85 miles through the Gorge. Currently, there are several coal trains per week traveling through the Gorge.

With the detrimental effects of pollution on these natural surroundings, environmentalists are concerned with the current proposals to build more coal terminals in cities throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The National Marine Fisheries Service found that building a coal export terminal at the Port of Morrow near Boardman, Oregon and barging coal through the Gorge to a facility at St. Helens would likely effect 13 species listed under the Endangered Species Act, including several species of Columbia River salmon and steelhead.

As the legal proceedings continue, the Columbia Riverkeepers will continue to voice their mission and commitment to “protect and restore the water quality of the Columbia River and all life connected to it.”

“Criticism of the [US News and World Report] rankings is nearly unanimous, but so is compliance with them.” – Colin Diver, former President of Reed College

 There is almost a universal condemnation of the US News and World Report’s rankings of undergraduate institutions in the United States. Reed College in 1996 refused to participate in the surveys portion of the rankings. In 1997, Stanford sent a letter to 480 colleges asking them to boycott the same survey. St. John’s College followed in 2005, also abstaining from the survey. In 2007, 80 college presidents from across the U.S. promised to withhold from the survey.

Students at Reed College. Reed decided to discontinue its participation in the surveys portion of the US News and World Report rankings in 1996. (Source: New York Times)

 There are many good arguments against ranking colleges. The first is that it is impossible to confine something that is inherently subjective, such as the choice of college, to a single number that can be objectively compared. The second is that it relates higher education to prestige and wealth. Schools that are ranked highly are traditionally seen as more “elite” or “prestigious.” The third is that rankings create an incentive for colleges to game the system- namely, in manipulating or distorting data to increase rankings.

 So if rankings are so bad, why do colleges still care so much?

 It is indisputable that colleges themselves pay great attention to the rankings. In 2010, The Washington Post reported that it was common practice for institutions to send promotional, glossy materials to other colleges so that they would subsequently view them higher in the annual surveys. In 2009, a researcher at Clemson University stated that the school systematically attempted to increase its ranking. The school increased class sizes of larger classes and gave other schools negative peer reviews. Much of the recent focus on advertising towards high school students through email and packages is geared on increasing application numbers, consequently decreasing acceptance rate and improving rankings.

 Even though rankings are so universally criticized, some schools actually benefit heavily from the rankings process. Obviously, schools that are ranked highly tend to benefit from their ranking. It is very easy for these highly-ranked schools to advertise their school by using their ranking, and this can give the school confidence. For example, at Dartmouth College, most promotional materials emphasize the fact that it is ranked #1 in undergraduate education.

 Elie Mystal, an editor at Above the Law, writes that rankings simplify the process of judging a degree. She writes “Back in the days before U.S. News, employers and colleagues might have cared about where you went to school. But U.S. News allows clients and customers to judge you based on nothing more than where you got your degree.”

 Furthermore, rankings can also simplify the process that a college undergoes to “improve itself.” It is obviously very difficult to “improve” something as massive and complex as a college, but given the framework of a numerical and objective ratings system, the process is easier. Schools know that they can advertise to increase the number of applicants, campaign for alumni donations, and accept students with higher rankings and test scores to easily boost their “prestige.” While these factors do not even necessarily have anything to do with quality of education or life, they can be easily manipulated. Schools like Washington University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Southern California have risen quickly in the rankings in past years by focusing on these attributes.

 While most schools are hurt by the rankings process, the few schools that do benefit set the example for other colleges. It is too tempting to stay in the rankings in the hopes of eventually becoming the next highly-ranked university. Despite so much criticism, the response rate for the US News rankings survey is actually still growing annually. Antoine Garibaldi, president of Gannon University in Erie, Pa., says he completes the survey every year. He says “It’s not perfect. But the fact of the matter is, people look at it.”