Sophomore Letters
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Editor&8217;s note: The letters on this page came from sophomores in a journalism class at Albert Lea High School.
Be sure to thank crossing guards
The spring weather is becoming more apparent as we try and forget all the winter blues, but we shouldn&8217;t forget all of those who worked in the cold weather to ensure all of our safety.
As a sophomore at Albert Lea High School, I have seen many of the school&8217;s crosswalks in the years, and I have seen little kids crossing unsupervised crosswalks, which is very dangerous. I have also heard many adults and students complain about rough wintry roads.
Sometimes we forget that there are a handful of people to take care of all city and highway roads. I would like to thank all the snowplow drivers and kind hearted volunteers who help little kids cross busy streets. Your help does not go unnoticed and I, as well as many other Albert Lea citizens, are very grateful for your services.
Jessica Wencl
Albert Lea
Government works best in private
I am writing a response to the editorial that said government works best in sunshine. My dad works for the government. This person who wrote this letter didn&8217;t think much about the things the officials do.
Even though people complain hat the officials have meetings without the public listening in. This can anger many. What people need to realize is that how would you like it with the public watching your every move and have them know everything. The officials should be able to meet privately and discuss matters, which then can be brought out for the public to hear about.
Whitney Walker
Albert Lea
Liberal media makes it about race, gender
The upcoming presidential race is becoming a joke. It&8217;s no longer the race for presidency but a battle of sex and race. This is what the liberal media is doing, making it seem like the only reason both of the Democratic presidential
candidates are where they are now is because one is black and the other is a woman. Honestly, that shouldn&8217;t matter. I have been following this race since the beginning and the race and gender of all three candidates isn&8217;t what matters to me. What matters are their views and how they will run our country if elected.
Aaron Thomas
Albert Lea
Coaches for sports teams deserve thanks
Being a basketball player, I know what it&8217;s like be coached. And it seems very frustrating to get a bunch of kids to make a good team. I see a lot of complaining toward coaches and not enough gratitude. I just want to say thanks to all the coaches at our school for helping students become players. Being on a team is fun and it can&8217;t be done without a coach. So I&8217;d like to thank all the coaches out there. Thank you.
Damian Montes
Albert Lea
Gasoline for cars is a love-hate relationship
Oil prices have reached over $110 per barrel or $4 a gallon and even $5 in some parts of the United States. It is even said that those numbers are supposed to go up this summer.
I am a sophomore at Albert Lea High School and received my driver&8217;s license this winter. Thus I was introduced to the cruel, harsh, adult world that is gas prices. It has been terrible being in this love-hate relationship all winter, but hey cars, can&8217;t live with them, can&8217;t live without them. Or can we?
We live in a small and safe town and have good weather for, well, most of the year. These conditions are perfect for walking or riding a bike to get where you need to go. Then there is public transportation. Yes, Albert Lea has a bus, and, yes, it is small and doesn&8217;t go to very many different places, but it is still there. Cars are great, but we are just too dependent on them and these are just a few ways to keep gas prices at bay.
Jack Sturtz
Albert Lea
Sports on back puts it last in the paper
Why is the Sports Page on the back page?
All of a sudden you have been putting the Sports Page on the back page of the paper. It is usually on the third or fourth page. Sports is a big thing in America and Albert Lea. Putting it on the back page kind of gives the impression that you don&8217;t care about sports. The Albert Lea Tribune is probably the only paper in the United States that has the sports page on the back page. When I get the paper, that&8217;s the first thing I look for is the sports section. It just doesn&8217;t make sense put it where it belongs.
Colby Strilaeff
Albert Lea
Editor&8217;s note: The change is because we care about sports. Putting the Sports Page on the back allows us to provide color sports photography. Plus, the back page is always easy to find. We looked at many examples of other newspapers with sports on the back. (The New York Post is probably the most famous one.) In the Albert Lea Tribune, Page 3 is always for obituaries and Page 4 is always the Hometown Forum. Before, the Sports Page had no dedicated location, so it shifted around and it was usually in black and white.
Be kind to workers who serve people
My mom is a pharmacist and has to deal with angry, demanding customers almost every day she goes to work. She is working to serve people, not wait on them. I am writing this letter because she is upset, frustrated, and depressed because of these cranky customers often when she comes home from work.
I want customers to know that people who serve the public do not deserve to get yelled at. My mom&8217;s pharmacy is short-staffed, so it moves a little slower. If your cashier makes a mistake or is making you frustrated, control your temper and treat them like a human being. Please give public servants an ounce of your patience.
They are trying to help you out as best they can. Please show some respect, and you will get some in return.
Bridget Reed
Hollandale
High school student life is difficult enough
School for seven hours, sports practice for two hours, work for four hours, and homework for another hour on top of that.
I am just a student with this busy schedule. I wanted to list a few things in my mind that would make sense to have a less busy schedule.
I think that we need less homework. Everyone should get a study hall in school. Sports practices and games can run too long. They should have practice right after school and leave to games earlier. A lot of kids are stressed out by having a job, school and sports. Teachers shouldn&8217;t give such big assignments or have more time in class to let them work on their homework.
I would just like to see every student getting more time to work on their homework and get more time for themselves after sports, homework and a job. I think the school should just think about it and put some consideration into it.
Anna Petersen
Albert Lea
Thanks for supporting Albert Lea education
I would just like to say thank you to everyone who went out and voted yes to pass our referendum. I am a 10th-grader at Albert Lea High School. All the students were waiting to see if it passed or not. Finally it did. It would be nice to go back to a four-period day. Having seven classes a day is a lot of homework for students &8212; especially if they are in a sport. I think staff and school board should consider letting us go back to blocks.
Ellie Johnson
Albert Lea
Figure Skating Show had great support
It was nice to see so many people at the Albert Lea Figure Skating Show on March 15 and 16. As a figure skater in the club, I know how hard it is to learn the routines and stay on beat with the other skaters. Unlike other sports we only have one weekend of the whole year to perform. All of our practices go toward learning our moves for one show. I&8217;m glad the community came and supported us. Without them, our preparations would be pointless.
Samantha Jerdee
Albert Lea
Pig roast helped with mission trip
I would like to thank everyone who came out to Applebee&8217;s and the pig roast for all their donations. We made more than $2,000 on these fundraisers put together. I&8217;m a 10th-grader at Albert Lea High School and a participant on the mission trip to San Diego, Calif., and Mexico.
Being able to go on this mission trip means so much because helping people is a major goal in my life. But we still need a ton of money so that everyone can go on this trip, so I ask that if you feel like you are being called to support our missions team, then send your donations to Crossroads Church at 3402 Hoeger Lane. We would really appreciate your help. Thanks again for everything that you have done for us.
Megan Meuser
Albert Lea
Drinking age at 18 sends wrong signal
Lowering the drinking age would be like telling teenagers its OK to do illegal things, &8220;there are no consequences now.&8221;
I am a student at Albert Lea High School, and I know that lowering the drinking age once would make even younger kids think it&8217;s OK to drink, when it&8217;s not. Lowering the drinking age would also make it difficult for the high school administration to enforce the rule for those who can&8217;t drink (anyone under 18).
I don&8217;t think lowering the drinking age would decrease binge drinking. I think it would increase it because now they wouldn&8217;t have to worry about getting caught in the act.
I think the best thing our state could do is keep the legal drinking age at 21. This won&8217;t change what&8217;s happening, but then we also know it won&8217;t make alcohol more accessible to teens.
Liz Lukas
Albert Lea
Hockey has been very good to A.L.
I am pleased to know that the North American Hockey League hockey team might be coming to the Albert Lea City Arena to face off with boys&8217; hockey team.
NAHL is top level amateur players the ages between 15 to 20. They play to get scholarships. The only thing that is stopping it is that the sports administration hasn&8217;t voted yet, they&8217;re supposed to vote this week.
If the game happened it would attract people from the town. It would be a good thing. Thanks for your time.
Lisa Juntunen
Albert Lea
Thanks for cheering ALHS sports teams
I would just like to thank our community for supporting the youth. I am currently an involved sophomore at Albert Lea High School who participates in many activities. I swim in the fall, dance in the winter and run in the spring. But I also am in band, choir and show choir. I take great pride in everything I do, but what makes many of these activities worthwhile is not just the outcome of the meet or competition. It is the support given from the community. Those fans who come and watch to cheer us on, that is what makes it memorable.
Albert Lea is a great place to live because there is an opportunity to go to an event almost every day. When game nights roll around many people choose to come and watch instead of staying at home watching a movie on television. I really appreciate it.
It&8217;s dreadful to go to a town for an away meet and the hometown&8217;s crowd has few people there. I&8217;m glad to see that this does not occur in Albert Lea. Thank you for coming and supporting our school at our events. It really is a great feeling.
Amanda Walters
Albert Lea
Mood of Albert Lea keeps improving
This is a letter in response to the column that Tim Engstrom wrote on April 1, 2008. I would like to say that I agree with Tim&8217;s views on the &8220;gripers&8221; of Albert Lea. I am just a sophomore at Albert Lea High School, but I do believe that Albert Lea is a positive place.
I have seen many changes in our town, and I do see them for the good. I don&8217;t hear as many people complain about the lakes because we have done many things to improve them. As I walk around, the only things I do hear some griping about is the gas prices. I like how much Albert Lea has turned positive, and I hope it can only get better.
Mitch Webb
Albert Lea