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The Oil Well: A Story of Negligence 

      A dark and imposing figure towers above the south wing of the school. To the average onlooker it looks perfectly harmless - quite inviting in fact. The "tower of hope" as it is called is teeming with flowers and vivid colors making it seem like a pillar symbolizing joy and life. Life, what irony. Although the facts are disputed, and conclusive evidence has yet to be heard for either side, it is clear that there have been major problems during the past year of upheaval over the Venoco facility.  I am not going to argue that the oil derrick is necessarily killing people - to conclude that would be careless for I don't have enough facts to conclusively prove such a position. 

Is there a problem, however? Most definitely. 

      The problem is one of negligence. Lets forget the accusations for a moment and take a look at the facts. Fact: The Department of Toxic Substance Control, a state agency designed to investigate matters such as the oil well on campus, was denied the ability to do a comprehensive study of toxic substances on and around campus. Fact: Such a study has yet to be done, rather, the city is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to contract a firm to test for specific substances in hope of disproving fears. For the city, its about allaying worries, not actually probing for problems.

      The predicament has come down to two clear cut sides - both of which are fueled by drastically flawed motives. On the one side you have Ed Masry and Erin Brochovich who are desperately trying to reek financial benefit from the city and the school district. Are they championing a just cause, yes, but their motives are tainted and this largely destroys hope for improvement. By making the oil well an issue of money, the city shuts themselves down. It is no longer on a quest to save the students and faculty at Beverly, but rather, it becomes a struggle to save the city's own ass. 

      Fighting against the suing lawyers is the other side. This side, better known as the city of Beverly Hills, notably attorney Larry Wiener, is also not looking out for our safety. The huge sums of money spent every month on testing is done to sway public opinion. The testing is done to reassure worried parents that there is no problem and that everything will work out. Maybe, and hopefully, this is true, but its about time an organization steps in that has no vested interest in the matter to run their own extensive tests. The city of Beverly Hills sees the oil well as a giant threat not to the BHHS community, as it should, but rather to the city treasury.

      Its April now, well over a year after the preliminary accusations against the oil well first surfaced, and the wonderful smell of oil toxins is back in full swing. The stench had disappeared for a while, but now, it's back. It's back to haunt the upper field - the stinging stench of what quite frankly seems to resemble the body odor of someone after running three marathons in 90 degree weather without deodorant.

But we should return to the issue of negligence. 

      I find it hard to believe that the AQMD was doing its job properly before February of last year (when CBS first aired their report about the oil well) and I also find it difficult to accept that the AQMD was going about their investigation appropriately even after the initial panic. The AQMD's own reports and pictures show their utter negligence. The Venoco facility was quite obviously in terrible shape (see pictures from the issue 3 story we did) It took not one, not two, not even three, but four visits for the AQMD to discover significant leakages due to poor maintenance. A company, under scrutiny or not, should never have left their operation in such disrepair. I find it unbelievable that Venoco would be so negligent to not fix these even after they came under strong public scrutiny. I can only imagine what kind of operation the AQMD is running if it takes four visits, intense public pressure, and two months for them to find obvious leaks around the facility. 

      My question for the AQMD is, "What were you doing for so many years before February of last year?" If AQMD negligence can happen here, it can happen anywhere. What does this mean for the AQMD as an organization? Is it equipped to handle its responsibilities effectively? At least in this case - the answer is no. I can only hope that such negligence doesn't strike again... but until more regulations and stricter enforcement standards are set up, I find this doubtful.

- Zack Anderson

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Too Much Work!

      Too much homework? Too many tests? No time to relax and enjoy your life? You're not alone. Throughout the United States, students are faced with a general trend of more work, more studies, and more worries. This trend, unfortunately, is not likely to change any time soon. “Quit complaining!” or “Everybody has to work hard to succeed”, you may say. The purpose of this article, however, is not to bitch and moan about my workload. No, the purpose of this article is to show that the amount of work that students in the United States are given, and the way in which this work is distributed, is greatly flawed. Not only that, but this amount of work is pointless. It serves to do absolutely no good to society. If anything, its impact is negative. The general reasoning behind this work is that if more people are educated faster, society will be able to progress at a faster rate. To a degree, that is true. One cannot doubt the importance of quality educational institutions. However, at this stage, it no longer applies. Why should students have to work as hard, if not harder than adults? Childhood is a part of one's life that should be enjoyed. Currently, if a student wishes to “think about their future”, it means that they should also be thinking about countless hours of studies and little, if any, time to have fun.  

      Don't exaggerate this argument. Work is important to preparing somebody for the rest of his or her life... but why so much? A large workload will overload the student. This is often discouraging. It is proven that somebody who is stressed in childhood will probably develop a habit of stressing themselves throughout the rest of their lives. It is also proven that heavy stress is unhealthy, at times even fatal. It is important to note that a student, upon completing their heavy workload throughout their education, will be no more useful than a student who had a fair workload, and had plenty of free time. They will only be more tired. But, you say, wont they gain a lot of extra knowledge in their extra workload? The answer is no. Sure, for a period of time that particular student may know something more about a subject than another who did not have so much work. But the student who had more free time will quickly gain that extra knowledge, and even more so when they decide that they want to have a career in that particular subject. In this way you can see that an overworked student is no more useful than one who had a reasonable amount of work, and time to think about what they want to do when they are grown up. Another important point to note in the increasing workload trend is the rate at which students seek to progress. It is thought, God knows why, that if you learn something earlier or if you do something earlier that makes you smarter or better. Across the country students are competing to finish an AP class to skip a year of college. To those students I have one word to say: RELAX!!!!! Why is it better if you get out of college a year earlier than you were meant to? Why is it better if you finish something before a classmate does? It doesn't matter! You will still have to look for a career and you'll still go through the same experience as somebody who paces him or herself. And what happens when somebody rushes to get everything done early: they eventually mess up. Why not take it easy and enjoy the ride? 60 years ago students had nowhere near the workload we have today and nobody had even heard of AP classes. Are people that much smarter today? Has the HUGE increase in workload done anything? No.

      Now the question is what you can do to fight this trend and what you can do to make sure your children won't have to go through this same experience (because such a grand change cannot take place soon enough to affect you unfortunately). Convince your parents and your friends that you are right. Write to politicians. Talk to school boards. Try to do everything you can do to reverse the trend. And make sure that when somebody says, “He has too much free time” to punch them in the face. Free time, which is currently viewed as something that is worthless and needs to be killed, is actually a paramount part of childhood, something to be valued and something that will help you grow.

- Lithium

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"Now That's Control"

The following was a picture sent to the editor in response to the recent article on Beverly Underground entitled, "Suspicion Surrounds the Termination of High School Staff Members":

Here is an excerpt from the letter:

"Well, Step has successfully encroached his reign over the entire administration and the media department as well with all of his obedient appointees!"

- Anonymous

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