Tat’s why, when I came to the


high school, I knew I wanted to con- tinue learning Spanish. But I didn’t just take Spanish III and IV, fulfilling only the graduation requirements. I went on to Spanish V and now AP Spanish this year. It’s important to me that I not only understand and respect the culture and language of my own country, but those of others as well. What worries me, however, is that not many people take this approach. Many students only take two cred- its of a foreign language in order to graduate. Within six months, they’ve forgotten everything they’ve learned. What’s more is that, when I traveled to Barcelona, Spain this past summer, I found that almost the opposite was true of European students. Most of the people I met knew at least their native language and English, plus two or three others. One person knew ten languages. When I asked them why they stud- ied languages, most replied that they were interested in other countries, and they felt that learning languages


would help them educate themselves about the world. “Teaching out of context” on pg. 15 shows that


Decatur foreign language teachers feel that learning a language without immersion in a foreign country is difficult, but this isn’t the only problem. Schools must generate an interest in world languages in order to better educate their students. It is important that American students develop stronger world views, and this includes understanding language and culture. n


cut it out M


BY CLAIRE DEPREE clairedepree@csdecatur.net


y family had a tree in the backyard that was at least a hundred years old. But one night during a bad thunderstorm, a huge branch fell and shattered the windshield on our truck. We decided to have the


tree cut it down since this wasn’t the first time a branch had fallen from it. Before we could cut it down, city law required a tree expert was required by


city law to come to our house and declare whether or not we had a justifiable reason for removing the tree. We did: it was sick and and had broken our car. But the tree expert disagreed. We then got another expert, who looked at the


tree and told us that there were borer beetles in it, which would cause the tree to collapse and crush our cars, our house, our neighbors house and our shed. All this hassle took about a month. Across the street from Dearborn Park, over three hundred trees were quickly


cleared for a housing development that, to date, has not been built to date. Tree hundred healthy trees cleared away for no reason. It should not be easier for the city to uproot hundreds of healthy trees than


it is for one very sick tree to be removed from an area where a lot of damage would be done if it fell. I understand the regulations are there to help conserve, but how is cutting down a dead tree conservation, and clear cutting isn’t? n


pledge allegiance E


BY SAM MCLEMORE samuelmclemore@csdecatur.net


very day at eight in the morning, I stand for the pledge. Out of my first period class, only about a fourth of my classmates stand up. I don’t understand why they refuse to stand. Granted, it may be


out of laziness. But who wouldn’t want to respect our country for staying indivisible, maintaining liberty and preserving justice for all? Tis is what our whole country is based on. I stand because we live in one of the luckiest countries in the world. We


live in houses, have smart-phones and computers, and have access to clean food and water. Remember, the very school you currently sit in was given to you by our government. Although our government is slow and hasn’t solved every issue, you should still respect our country. I stand because our military fights every day to preserve these freedoms.


the little things that strengthen the bond between family members, and make a healthier family over all. Yeah, it might sound lame spending the afternoon with Dad fishing or with Mom baking cookies. But if it’s what they really love to do, it might be worth learning to love it, too. Look at it this way: if the whole family can do fun activities together, spending time together becomes less of a chore and more of something to look forward to. Family togetherness is important, it’s been preached to us over and


over again. But the idea that doing something together can be any- thing-- yes, even hunting-- is important to realize. It doesn’t matter what the activity, but remembering the time spent with Mom or Dad is a memory even the most jaded teenager will cherish a few years


Tey are the brave ones who fight to preserve not only our liberties, but help to preserve those of others. Whether you believe in the war or not is a separate issue. After seeing the respect that some people have, as shown in “Beyond the stars and stripes” (pg. 19) it is disrespectful to not even be grateful for our freedoms. How hard is it to stand up and recite 31 words so that you can respect our


forefathers who gave us our freedom? I realize that some people choose to not stand because of the word ‘God.’


I myself don’t even believe in any higher being, but this word isn’t a problem for me. My freedoms are far too important to not stand. If you don’t stand for the pledge, at the very least, ask yourself why If you believe in freedom, then stand for the pledge. n


DECEMBER 2011 • CARPE DIEM 53


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