Help Needed in SF Bay: Pollution Crisis! by Laila Zaidi, Age 9

Issue 23: December, 2008 Written by students. Read by all. Free to kids Help Needed in SF Bay: Pollution Crisis! by Laila Zaidi, age 9 they leave pollutants there. Over the summer, San Francisco had a very low amount of rainfall. Maybe the pollutants don’t increase with the rain, but maybe they do. As I said earlier, rain does make the bay higher and maybe that makes dredging necessary and so the cycle of pollution continues. It is my hope that this ter- rible pollution will end soon and that you will help to keep the bay clean. School Garden Loved By All by Georgia Brady-Tompt, age 8 Courtesy of: http://www.boatingsf.com/photos/031106/IMG_4645_edited-1.jpg Our Sherman Elementary School gar- There are now lots of things going on that rain makes the bay higher, and it den is my favorite place in the school, with our bay, including mercury dredg- is also possible that rain decreases the but it could be even better. ing and too little rainfall. Mercury is amount of mercury. Even though we Garden Coordinator Linda Mey- the first enemy on the list, according have the biggest estuary in California, ers explained the process of building to the San Francisco Estuary Institute it doesn’t mean that people don’t pol- the garden. First, a committee met to and the regional monitoring program. lute it. come up with greening ideas. Then, Dredging here in San Francisco is cra- I think we are trying to make our asphalt on the grounds was excavated. zy! It has been said that the long-term bay a better place and that most people Next, soil was brought in. Pathways management strategy is to prevent respect that, especially fishermen. In were created, and after that a waterfall dredging and coordinate dumping. my opinion, nobody over-fishes in pond was created. Dredging is a very bad thing, but how San Francisco, but in other areas this Continued on page 4 can we get cargo ships in if the bay is may not be the case. I also think that not that deep? We don’t know, but we the people who sail every Sunday, or are trying to stop dredging. just people who really care, will help. INSIDE: Now let’s talk about mercury. I agree One way to start helping would be to News & Politics ...........................2 with my Mom that mining started the clean up a local beach. Sometimes, like The Environment ..........................4 mercury problem, but what I want to when there was a large oil spill in the Arts & Entertainment ....................7 know is how it got way worse. I think bay, people clean it up. Other times NEWS AND POLITICS Page 2 Civil Rights Endangered by Ailish Burden, age 11 made towards acceptance it was sad to get a window into how the majority really feels. It appears that the majority were not able to see this as a civil rights issue, but one of religious beliefs. I believe that this is at the core of Prop 8.” The constitution is supposed to protect people from prejudice, the opposite from what is currently happening with Proposition 8. There have been other constitu- tional civil rights issues, such as women getting the right to vote. It may seem obvious now that Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/antinous/3032897712/sizes/o/ women deserve the same rights as On November 4, 2008, 52% of ployer would no longer pay medi- men, but back then people didn’t Californians voted to change the cal/ dental benefits for my wife. think that way. Another example California constitution by adding This amounts to approximately is when blacks and whites were the words “only marriage between $6,000 per year.” legally prevented from marrying. a man and a woman is valid or Maria Pease, a therapist at The California Supreme Court recognized in California.” Propo- UCSF and mother of two, says she abolished that law in the 1940s. sition 8 eliminated the right of “has some sadness that narrow- If that had been put to a popular same sex couples to marry in Cali- minded people felt they needed to vote it may not have passed. fornia. exclude my family or pretend we The California Supreme Court In May 2008, the California are somehow less than them.” agreed to listen to arguments to Supreme court decided that mar- Attorney Scott Wilkinson feels strike down Proposition 8. I hope riage is a fundamental right under that “there is no small irony that that the Supreme Court gives back the California state constitution. in the same election we also passed gays and lesbians their civil right Proposition 8 changed that by Prop 2, that extended protections to marry. preventing gays and lesbians from to farm animals by giving them marrying. It could possibly affect larger cages, Californians voted gay and lesbian marriages that in favor of chickens over human BAY-FARER ADVISORS have already occurred. rights by something in the neigh- When asked how this proposi- borhood of 16% of the raw vote.” Cameron Clark Kevin Feeney tion would affect her, Lori Amato Although I see “No on 8” signs Ryan Browne Herman Wong said, “It would put me back at do- everywhere, there is still a huge Daniel Brownstein Carmel Wroth mestic partner status. This would and obvious prejudice against gays Tracy Clark-Flory Elliott Gluck mean eliminating over 1000 rights and lesbians. When asked how Kathryn Olney Jen Snyder married people have. As an exam- she felt about Californians, Amato ple, should this happen, my em- said, “After all the strides we have Katherine Roberts Logan Shedd NEWS AND POLITICS Page 3 Bloody Tug-of-War in Georgia with South Ossetia as Rope by Albert Liu, age 9 Is South Ossetia going to be pulled apart by war? By bombs, grenades, and submachine guns? In April of 2008, NATO invited Georgia, for- merly part of the Soviet Union, to join the alliance. This angered the Russian Federation. As a result, the Russians joined the Courtesy of: http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/waroutcomes/pics/ethnicMap.jpg cause of South Ossetians wishing for bers of irregulars and mercenaries. ish and makes dumb choices,” Rus- independence. The Russian airforce They go around drunk, aggressive, sian president Dmitry Medvedev is started bombing raids while Rus- and armed and do all these atroci- thought to have said. He may have sian troops poured over the border. ties,” announced Georgian president said this because the U.S. invited Terrified Georgian citizens testified Mikhail Saakashvilli on August 17, Georgia to join NATO when Russia that Russian fighter jets flew past the 2008. Russia blames the U.S. for is right across the border. The Geor- borders. Georgia had previously car- inviting Georgia into NATO since gian president said he believed 500 ried several ground attacks on South Russia opposes NATO, which they tanks and 25,000 troops belonging Ossetia on August 7, 2008. see as part of the Cold War between to the Russians were in Georgia. It Is the U.S. somehow responsible? the U.S. and the old U.S.S.R. was a loss for Georgia, but still some “Russia’s army brought large num- “U.S. administration policy is self- Georgians blame U.S. foreign policy. called “bunny suits” because they Mission Mars: don’t want to contaminate Mars “Toxic” Rover to Roam with anything. You are probably wondering the Red Planet what the MSL is made of. The by Luis Arriaga, age 10 metals used are titanium, alumi- num and lighter metals. The toxic The Jet Propulsion laboratory in substance used in making MSL Pasadena, California is working on is plutonium, which is poison- a new rover. It is called the Mars ous. The vehicle uses hydrogen Courtesy of: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa. Science Laboratory, otherwise gov/planetary/image/msl.jpg and oxygen for the take off from knows as MSL. The supervisor is earth. During the cruise of the Randy G. Herrea. Herrea says that Mars is stable enough for life. ship it uses hydrazine. When “the team is made up of more than The MSL will cost more than $1.8 it reaches the surface of Mars it six hundred people, including sci- million. The MSL is being built will use plutonium to land. The entists who are currently work- in the jet propulsion laboratory, MSL is a rover, so it will analyze ing on the project, engineers, and but some smaller parts are being rocks and look for sign of present other workers.” built elsewhere. While working on or past habitability. It also has a NASA wants to learn whether the spacecraft, workers wear gear Continued on page 7 SPECIAL FEATURE: THE ENVIRONMEN T Page 4 “School Garden”—continued from page 1 Courtesy of Sherman Elementary School Trees and vegetables were planted, plants in the garden. Some of the the pond and rocks. One second- a cob bench was built, and finally, plants include lettuce, tomatoes, grader said that he doesn’t like the a solar water fountain was in- gourds, zucchini, strawberries, flowers and the benches, but he stalled. broccoli, tot soy, bok choy and likes the ponds. My friend, third- The garden is used as a meeting fruit trees such as fig, pear, apple, grader Dashiell Meyers-Holmes place for morning assembly, and plum, lemon, lime and persim- said he didn’t like the asphalt and Meyers teaches all 20 classes how mon. Not all the plants are edible he wishes it were grass. He does to garden.

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