Thornton Academy – AP Language 2018-2019

Steve Prefontaine was an American distance runner born on January 25, 1951. He set American records in seven different track events from 2,000 to 10,000 meters. At the young age of 24, he was tragically killed in an automobile accident near his hometown of Eugene, Oregon. However, Prefontaine would leave behind a legendary legacy, and he is still a prominent figure 40 years later.

Steve Prefontaine attended Marshfield High School in the fall of 1965 and joined the Cross Country team coached by Walter McClure Sr, who ran at the University of Oregon. In high school, Prefontaine was a star. In his junior year, he went undefeated in the cross country season and won a state title. In his senior year, he went undefeated once again and won two more state titles in the mile and the two mile. This success drew interest from many colleges, and Prefontaine ended up being recruited by around 40 different colleges. He ended up staying in-state and attending the University of Oregon, despite being pursued heavily by Villanova.

At Oregon, Prefontaine’s success continued, as he won four 5,000 meter titles in track three times in a row. He was a very aggressive runner, and would insist on going out hard and holding a lead for the entire race instead of saving it for the last lap. In 1970, Steve Prefontaine’s success on the track earned him national attention, and at age 19, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He also earned an endorsement with a small company at the time, Nike.

Nike was once called Blue-Ribbon Sports, and was co-founded by Bill Bowerman, who was also Steve Prefontaine’s coach at the University of Oregon. With Prefontaine’s endorsement, the Nike brand skyrocketed, and merchandise was eventually sold worldwide. Prefontaine became the first face of the Nike brand, which provides clothing articles and shoes for many people around the world. Without Prefontaine, Nike may have never reached the success it currently has in the present day.

As we are in the heart of mother nature’s frigid winter, it only seems appropriate to discuss the matter of school delays and cancellations. Which one is it to be and why? While I’m sure the children, of all ages, at home would undoubtedly opt for the snow day, adults have many more variables that play into their decision.

For many adults and faculty members, especially the principle, making these kinds of important decisions can be difficult. There are many factors that play into the decision, plus the chance that you could make the wrong decision and possibly risk the lives of families.

So what does one look at to make this decision? Firstly, there are the variables of the school. Each school is different, and a private school may cancel were a public school doesn’t, because each has a different student base and commute. For private schools families can be commuting from a ways, while in a public school generally most of the students live fairly close by. However, this is not the only characteristic calculated into this equation. There is the factor of the students age. For many making this winters decision, they may be apprehensive to have school if their are inexperienced drivers coming from afar, or if there are toddlers in the car. The decision not only involves internal aspects, but variables from the outside. There is always the chance that roads are not clear, or a car accident might have greatly disrupted the traffic.
At the end of the day, the decision is not only up the the school, but to the parents as well. It is everyone’s goal to stay safe in this weather, and looking to these factor is only a piece of the dilema. The decision is yours and whatever is safe and is in your comfort zone is usually the best and right choice.

       In the days leading up to the end of America’s temporary government reopening, Republican lawmakers have negotiated with Democrats to create a deal that may put a stop to Friday’s shutdown. On Monday, February 11, congressional negotiators came to a tentative agreement: democrats would be willing to provide $1.375 billion for border barriers, including 55 miles of new fencing.

       Though it’s a far cry from President Trump’s estimated budget of more than $15 billion, lawmakers hope that the deal will be enough to avoid the shutdown, which is set to begin on Friday, February 15. The first part of the shutdown, which lasted 35 days and was the longest in U.S. history, left most government employees without paychecks and damaged dependent businesses.

         Despite the deal’s promise, it has not yet been signed into legislation, passed by Congress, or signed by President Trump. According to the New York Times, Sean Hannity, conservative political commentator, called the negotiation a “garbage compromise.” However, lawmakers seem to have hope. Regarding the agreement, House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey states, “Some may be happy, some may not be happy… We did the best we could.” (chicagotribune.com).

         President Trump, who has been unrelenting in his effort to receive full funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall, has yet to release a statement regarding whether or not he supports the negotiation. Ultimately, whether or not the deal is passed by Friday now lies in the hands of Congress and the president.

       

Animals are constantly being subjected to torture on a day-to-day basis by humans who have no capacity to understand the actual pain these animals are going through. Some of this torture may be visible such as violence towards animals; whereas, other forms of torture may come in the form of neglect and abandonment in which animals are forced to live in conditions against their will. For example, many marine parks across the world force animals into conditions in which they are denied their needs. They are forced to live in open, tanks and swim around in circles. day after day which causes them to become miserable and lonely. Furthermore, millions of animals are experimented on daily; they are torn apart from their families and forced to live in cold, barren cages where they are subjected to painful and torturous experiments and sometimes even killed in the process. Although these actions are horrendous, many humans simply disregard the fact that animals have feelings.

However, science has shown that animals experience similar feelings to humans and just like us, they have a spectrum of emotions ranging from happiness to sadness. Therefore, animals should be given rights that take into consideration their feelings and emotions. How would you feel if you were an animal that was constantly being exploited every day by ignorant humans who gave no regards to your feelings?

As an owner of pets, I have witnessed the many emotions animals portray. My dog makes whining noises whenever his tail is stepped on to indicate he feels pain. He also starts barking whenever I hug someone; this is attributed to the fact that he was experiencing jealousy. With this evidence in mind, how could we treat these animals that have feelings like us with such contempt? Shouldn’t their rights be considered as well?

We need to make a change in order to give animals the rights they deserve to have. Just like humans, animals deserve to be free from pain, suffering and torture. We can work together to extend our empathy towards animals. We can start by maintaining humane conditions for animals to live in. We humans have the power to make a change. Animals do not have the power to say no so we have to say no for them. Together, we can strive to improve the rights of our fellow creatures.

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With the end of my junior year indoor track season coming to a close, I thought I’d reflect back on it. It was awful! It began with the first meet, jumping 2 feet behind and a whole second slower than my personal bests. The feeling of defeat came in early. A few days after this meet I came to the conclusion that it was the beginning and I’d eventually work up to where I was last year. I was wrong. As the season progressed, my performances were stagnant. With barely any improvement, I was sent into confusion, but mostly frustration. I was putting in the work and receiving nothing. I was stuck. In response I immediately started to go to the gym more than I have before. Started the season with 3 days a week, I moved up to 5 days a week if not then any day I could. It was tiring and left me with no time for homework, let alone free time.

This made an impact, small but noticeable. I put more work in and the results slowly began to show. Of course, it all started to click at the end of the season. Yesterday was our first championship meet and our team won the whole meet, yet my personal results were anything but close to placing. Although, my technique and performances were the best they have been all season, I fouled more than half of my jumps. Oddly, I wasn’t too upset. I knew I had jumped well, just my mark on the board was off. All though I didn’t receive the junior season I’d hope for, I still have outdoor to not suck.