Ethical questions arise about captivity within tiger’s roar. Silence. Trapped in a four-sided cage with no room to walk, the tiger’s roar almost hurts to hear. Humans of the Trapped in a tight cage, clawing for an world are always trying to grab the beauty escape. Their empty shadows run across the of nature and put it in a tiny box in their bars. People stare and a fire ignites from a hands. Humans always pick device, causing the animals things up and keep them; to stamper back. The phrase like when one picks up a ‘treated like an animal’ butterfly, they have already was not meant to be a good killed it for it can no longer thing. The phrase came fly. By taking something from the mistreated animals out of its natural habitat, themselves. Mistreated does BY TAKING humans are exposing that not have to necessarily mean SOMETHING OUT creature to something forphysically attacked, it can eign, almost endangering OF ITS NATURAL that animal altogether. mean not getting the needed space to roam around or not HABITAT, HUMANS When a human puts a lion enough food. ARE EXPOSING in a cage, what purpose Zoos are places that alTHAT CREATURE does it have in there? With most everyone has been TO SOMETHING nothing to hunt, nowhere to and can enjoy. There to run, the lion is useless. FOREIGN, ALMOST There is something absois something absolutely ENDANGERING lutely beautiful about nabreathtaking about seeing an elephant stomp around THAT ANIMAL ture that humans can not 20 feet away from you. ALTOGETHER. get from cages. So why as While zoos are an absolutely humans do we have to keep Isabela Diaz (10w) amazing place, zoos are not everything in a box? always amazing for the aniThe zoo is hands-down mals. Many have argued about the ethical- an amazing place. You get to see animals ity of zoos; not only the ethicality but how that you otherwise would not have if it some animals are mistreated at zoos. The wasn’t for the zoo: penguins swimming in ethicality of zoos has not been a pressing circles, giraffes chomping down on leaves, matter though it should be. lions roaring to the sky. Zoos help preLaughter, ice cream, sunny days. Sweat serve this amazing scenery. Though some trickles down past your eyebrow. Then, a change is needed, zoos should still stick Isabela Diaz Staff Writer
around because of all the benefits they provide. Not only do visitors get to see the animals they probably would not get to on the daily, zoo-goers get to learn about them as well. Almost every exhibit there has its own unique plaque that gives facts and information on that animal. Not only is it informative, but people get exposed to life through the animal. Humans get to see the way the animals walk and hear their roars, something one would not hear on the regular. However, visitors can not forget that humans are taking them out of their natu-
ral habitat. At that, there need to be some changes for the animals’ sake. Space is one of the biggest issues; along with spacing comes food and naturalistic things like letting the animals hunt. A zoo is a magical place. Walking in and hearing the lions’ roar is something one will never forget. Though magical, along comes the issues presented. Fix the spacing, food, and naturalistic things that are needed for the animals, then the zoo will be one of the best places in the world to see and learn about these animals.
Advisory lessons leave GAP in effectiveness, influence Justice LaMaster Staff Writer
Last year, the Scottsburg High School guidance department noticed a need for the Guidance Advisory Program also known as GAP. According to Counselor Shannon Mount, GAP was created not only because of the offer of the Lilly Endowment Comprehensive grant but in hopes of creating a better student-teacher bonding experience
in advisory and creating fewer interruptions in English classrooms. Although GAP is a great program to have at Scottsburg it is not influential to the student body. GAP is not influential because most of the students do not find the activities to be entertaining and the activities seem pointless to the students. Mount said that the topics that are chosen for GAP were made based on surveys taken in English classes last year by the students.
The issue with the activities being based on these surveys is that a lot of students just go through and click the first answer they see. Mount mentioned that Freshman advisories are the only ones that typically participate in GAP activities. To improve GAP, it needs to be more student-led and hands-on rather than computerized so that the counselors can see an increase in student engagement regarding the activities. Most students prefer to do
hands-on activities especially if they get to pick what they are doing. GAP can be more student-led if the advisors in charge of making the assignments would just give each advisory a set of topics to choose from and let the advisories go from there. This would create an environment that would increase participation and get advisories to collaborate more during advisory. These are things that the administration in charge of GAP is seeking to accomplish. Opinion
February 2020
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