wingspanFeather to all spring sports athletes for the effort they put into their seasons. More feathers to the soccer, softball, baseball and track teams who competed in post-season play.

Talon to the persons who vandalized the walkway to X-building

Feather to Jason Rhodes for being recognized as the Henderson County Teacher of the Year

Talon to the gradual fading of the paint on the senior steps

The student forum of West Henderson High School is published seven times each year by the newspaper journalism class. The purpose of Wingspan is to convey school and community news to the students, faculty, administration and community. Wingspan content is determined by an editorial board of student editors. Wingspan is a Southern Interscholastic Press Association All-Southern, National Scholastic Press Association All-American, Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist and N.C. Scholastic Media Association All-North Carolina and Tar Heel Award publication. Staff editorials express the opinion of the editorial board. Columns reflect the opinions of the writer. Circulation is 1,200. Printed by The Mountaineer of Waynesville, NC 28786. Contact the staff at wingspan@henderson.k12.nc.us.

Are colleges too expensive for students to afford?• Viewpoint

“It’s definitely a problem when peo-ple start ignoring their health. Schools should make healthier cafeteria food and require P.E. for more than one semester to help fight obesity.”

“It’s not really a problem, at least not at this school. The cafeteria food has cut down on the problem. P.E. helps get students involved in exercise without having to play sports.”

“It’s not necessarily a problem, but it does need to be taken into consideration. Obese students get picked on, so schools should try to help, but we should stop bothering them about their weight.”

“I think P.E. needs to be more structured instead of telling students to just grab a basketball and play. Students need to interact with each other and get the full benefits of exercise.”

• Staff Editorial

Sammie Onkenfreshman

Lee Reesorsophomore

Shaundi Sidesjunior

Josh Littauersenior

Art

by

Kat

ie H

untl

ey

Do you thinkthat obesity

is a seriousproblem

amongstudents?

Teenage obesity a problem that must be addressed

3opinionwingspan • june 4, 2010

Talons & Feathers

•PRO 88%

CON 12%•

(based on a survey of 380 students)

A student stands in the cafeteria, gazing at the drink machine. Sugar-filled sodas and energy drinks stare back at them. Unable to withstand

the pressure, he feeds a dollar into the machine and re-ceives a calorie-filled drink almost guaranteed to cause weight gain. The direct and indirect costs of obesity in the United States are estimated to be up to $147 billion a year, according to news reports from CNN. Obese Americans spend 42 percent more to maintain their health than those who are a healthy weight. The U.S. Army recently declared obesity a matter of “national se-curity,” since many recruits are too overweight to fight. This problem is especially prevalent in younger age groups. One in five American children are now considered overweight. This means the rate of obesity among children has tripled since 1980, according to the American Obesity Association. It has become an epi-demic, and such an epidemic among children is some-thing that schools should help solve. Unfortunately, the issue is pushed aside. Our cafeteria has tried to address the problem. All food is baked instead of fried and fresh vegetables are served daily. There are guidelines they are required to follow, and they have done an admirable job in at-tempting to make the food healthier. However, there is only so much they can do. Because of time constraints, they are forced to use instant mashed potato pearls and mass-produced food may be unhealthy. The removal of daily physical education from most school curricula does not help. We are only required to take one semester of P.E. freshman year. Nationally, the percentage of high school students enrolled in a daily P.E. program has been cut in half and is now only a

quarter of the nation’s students. Physical activity obvi-ously helps prevent weight gain, and providing that op-portunity for students in schools is important. Schools cannot continue to ignore the problem of obesity. They are expected to improve students and create healthy, productive members of society, a duty that they are failing. A simple tactic that schools could attempt is ed-

ucating children about the benefits of healthy living. They must be taught at a young age to enjoy eating fruits and vegetables instead of sugar-filled snacks. The importance of regular exercise, and possible ways to go about getting that needed physical activity, should be in-grained in children. Instead of ignoring the issue, educa-tors must rise to the challenge, or American children will suffer in the long run.

BP can make no excusesfor oil spill

A LITTLE BIT OF JOY!

Joy Owens

Brandi MartinJunior Editor

Hailey JohnsFeature Writer

Tuition $26,273, books $1,100, a good education — priceless. There are many factors students look for when choosing a college because they want a

school that benefits their education and offers them a path to success. You cannot put a price on success.

The only reason college is viewed as being “too pricey” is because tuitions at public and

private schools are rising. Prices go up on everything; therefore,

Americans can’t expect college tuition to stay the same.While colleges try to keep tuition as low as they

can, they too are flooded with financial issues. The costs for faculty salaries, maintaining facilities and utilities take

up a large portion of a college’s operating budget. Financial aid lowers the cost of college for students, reducing the amount of money colleges take in from students. This causes yearly tuition to rise in order to make up for the amount of money not received from students.

According to The Collegian Online Edition, running a college costs more than what is paid in tuition and fees. Colleges try to keep the tuition as low as they can, and this effort should be enough to say that colleges aren’t too pric-ey when offering a world-class education. Colleges can’t forfeit their income of money just to gain a few more stu-dents that can’t afford to pay higher tuition. They have to worry about their own financial concerns. While college tuition is rising nationally, a quality education is worth the cost. A college education isn’t something a student will only

use once, but a valuable factor when applying for jobs in the future. Ivy League schools cost approxi-mately $50,000 a year, but graduates are almost guaranteed a job with a higher start-ing salary.

Students who attend top schools in the nation, such as Harvard and Yale, are in higher demand than ones who go to

cheaper schools that aren’t as well known. When you choose to go to a community college, the prices are lower, but you risk the chance of facing unemployment after you graduate. Students are getting everything they pay for when they go to a

top university. Education is priceless. Putting a certain limit on the amount of money

spent for college is inaccurate in respect to the quality of education a student is re-ceiving. Students pay what their education is worth to them, and colleges have a right to charge it.

College has always been expensive. There is no denying it. Even in 1636 when Harvard College was founded, only the elite and fiscally blessed

were able to attend. Since then, colleges have become more abundant and affordable, but the majority of students and their parents still end up thousands of dol-lars in debt. In recent years, the middle class has experienced a hard blow because of sharp increases in college tuition. According to

collegeboard.com, families in the 2009-2010 school year paid from $172 to $1,096 more than the pre-vious year’s tuition, depending on the college. According to cnnmoney.com, some schools, such as the University of California, have experienced a tuition increase as high as 30 percent. These tuition increases result in more stu-dent loans, and 25 percent of students with loans end up $35,000 or more in debt when they finish their education, says moneywatch.bnet. Considering the fact that the 21st cen-tury is a highly competitive time for jobs, a good education is absolutely essential. Many careers now require further advance-ment in education beyond a bachelor’s degree. Medicine, law and other fields require undergraduates to attend graduate school for a more narrow study of their field. However, when an undergraduate comes out of college thousands of dollars in debt, he or she is less likely to attend an expensive graduate program. Doctors, lawyers and dentists will soon become few and far between if ed-ucation continues to be a reward for the wealthy. European countries had the right idea when they in-stituted public universities with little to no cost. If free edu-cation worked for primary and secondary schools, it seems like it would work for higher education as well. For the most part, universities in France are public and charge low tuition. In Ireland, the states pay the costs to educate undergraduates. In England, the government caps the cost to a certain amount to make schools more affordable. With the exception of Ireland and Spain, the United States has a higher unemployment rate than any of the European countries, according to visualeconomics.com. A better-educated population might contribute to lowering the unem-ployment rate. College is becoming more of a business agreement than a preparation course for the real world. It is obvious that changes need to be made sooner rather than later.

Why? It’s a question I have found myself asking quite often in

the days after the Gulf oil spill. Why did it happen? Why hasn’t it been fixed? Why should the rest of America care? Why do I

care? The sim-plest ques-tion to answer is why I care. For start-ers, both of my parents grew up on the Gulf

coast and most of my family still live in the area. After countless summer va-cations and Thanksgiving holi-days spent on the Gulf beaches, it is safe to say that it is my second home. Furthermore, the sheer size of the environ-mental damage it has already caused sickens me. And I know some people will call me a “tree hugger,” but I guess seeing oil-slicked animals appeals to the basic humanity in me. As for why the spill hap-pened, the answers are a little more complex. The technical explanation is long, but in simplest terms some cement somewhere failed and allowed methane gas into the pipeline, which caused it to explode. Now investigations are turn-ing up alarming evidence that this failure could possibly have been predicted. Because the oil rig is owned by private companies (mainly BP), there are few federal regulations and even fewer inspections. So that means that the cement that failed didn’t even undergo pres-sure tests. And the big one: the Deepwater Horizon well had already been issued citations as an acknowledged source of pollution. So why weren’t these warnings heeded? Why has BP still not found a solution? I understand that this enormous problem cannot be solved overnight, but I can’t help but be skeptical when over 30 days have passed and there are still no signs of slowing the leak. It seems like BP is unqual-ified to fix their own mess. After all, when one of the proposed solutions is named “junk shot,” it’s hard to remain positive. I mean really, does shoot-ing golf balls and tires into the ocean ever sound like a good idea? I would think that with the estimated $6 million BP is spending per day, they would have incentive to stop their money wasting away. Why should the rest of America care? First, the state economies of the Gulf region still haven’t recovered from Hurricane Katrina and now they are losing their main in-come: revenue from recreation and tourism. And if you still can’t bring yourself to care just think about this: that seafood you love to eat is soon going to be nonexistent if this oil spill is allowed to wipe the fish out. There are so many things wrong with this spill. We can’t even get an official count on the number of gallons spilled; it’s anywhere from 9.8 million to 55.5 million barrels as of May 12. This ridiculously wide range highlights the mystery sur-rounding this event. If BP doesn’t find a solution and the worst case scenario plays out, this accident will have caused irreparable envi-ronmental damage not to men-tion upwards of $300 billion in costs. I want some answers to my “why’s” before my second home turns into a shiny, black memory.

JUNIOR EDITORSKatie KingBrandi Martin

NEWS EDITORCarly Holland

ENTERTAINMENT EDITORLindsey Fore

ASSISTANTENTERTAINMENT EDITORSMeredith ColeHailey Robinson

FEATURE EDITORAshley Roy

EDITORS-IN-CHIEFJoy OwensJessica Tobin

MANAGING EDITORElizabeth Huntley

ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORKim Randall

SENIOR EDITORSRyan DuckettKyle Keith

CREATIVE DIRECTORKatie Huntley

ASSISTANT FEATURE EDITORSWhitney HowellKaitlyn Reddy

OPINION EDITORKaylan ProctorASSISTANT OPINION EDITORSKayla SciupiderJosh Wentzel

SPORTS EDITOR Matt Thielke

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORSKevin RobinsonCamen Royse

FEATURE WRITERSBella BonnessiHailey JohnsNatalie Rice

STAFF WRITERSTyler BiceLauren GentileDiane GromelskiAngela GrossAutumn HardinJosh HeatherlyJamie HuntBrandon McArthurKatlyn McCarthyRachel ShoemakerAury St. GermainDe’Shawn ThomasMarissa Treible