The independent student media site of West Linn High School

wlhsNOW

The independent student media site of West Linn High School

wlhsNOW

The independent student media site of West Linn High School

wlhsNOW

Students host political forum

With state representatives and mayoral candidates—students weren’t kidding around when they said that they were hosting a legitimate political forum.  On Oct. 9 in the auditorium, students hosted Julie Parrish, State Representative for House District 37, and her opponent Carl Hosticka and the two mayoral candidates for West Linn; John Kovash, incumbent, and Ron LeBlanc.

Students asked the House candidates questions on three topics: education, environment and economic development. They asked the mayoral candidates questions on infrastructure and economic development.

“I think it went really smoothly and I think it went as we planned as far as the candidates not attacking each other,” Morgan Haskin, junior, said. Haskin was part of the student committee which helped organize, put together and facilitate the forum.

The forum was the brainchild of Todd Jones, A.P. Government teacher, who solicited the candidates, but it was being run almost exclusively by students.

“I thought of [having a political forum] this summer and I purely thought of it as an educational opportunity for students,” Jones said. Why did students organize the forum? Jones said that he wanted to inspire students to take an active role in politics.

“I really want to instill in students this notion of empowerment, like we don’t have to be on the outside of the system looking in, we can have a voice, we can have an effect. That’s the whole point,” Jones said.

The forum was open to the public but the majority of attendees were students and parents. The audience had the opportunity to write down questions for the candidates on notecards but only two questions were asked for each topic and the questions were screened before the candidates answered them.

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About the Contributor
Charlie Craft, Arts and Culture Editor
Hand-delivering a golden owl to one of your heroes may seem like an impossible dream, but for Charlie Craft, senior, this is a dream come true. Craft’s favorite band, My Morning Jacket, announced a tour before his recent trip to Japan in the summer of 2012. Knowing the band has an obsession with owls and bears, he made it his personal goal to find an item to give to the band. While scouring various markets in Tokyo, Kobe and Osaka, Japan, Craft found the perfect golden owl. Craft was luckily able to obtain sound-check tickets where he met the singer, Jim James. After briefly talking, he handed James the owl and in return, received an owl of his own. Star-struck, he could do nothing but say “thank you.”

“Owls are my favorite animal,” Craft said, “Because they look funny and are silent killers.”

For now, Craft has to worry about repaying his parents for his Japan trip. Craft works at Bellagio’s Pizza where he is a self-proclaimed “Pizza Insider.”

“A Pizza Insider does everything short of delivering pizzas,” Craft said.

Being stuck in a terrible job is Craft's greatest fear, which is not the current case. Craft plans to work at Bellagio’s until college. He hopes to attend the University of Oregon, ideally majoring in media studies but he admits it could change at any moment.

The college search process has been “weighing down on” him for a while and Craft is ready to finalize his future plans. Until then, he plans on protecting his coveted owl from his three cats and golden retriever and also “loving” his cat Curry.

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Students host political forum