Stop whining
Reflect on what's right at Peacock

Over the past few issues we have seen numerous opinion articles written, and they all say the same things. Our lockers are too small, I don't like the food in the vending machine, we don't have enough time to get to class, etc.

Well we have a solution that will silence all of you. Stop whining! These are all petty little things that are silly to complain about. Let's stop and think about the things we do have.

First of all, we live in a safe town where we don't have gangs shooting at each other. We go to one of the best schools in the country. We have computers in every classroom, and we have our own television studio!

Most schools in Chicago don't have any encore classes like Industrial Tech or Home Ec., because they don't have enough money.

Thanks to our complaints we don't have any vending machines or microwaves. We don't know about you, but we're getting sick of a plain, old sandwich every day.

In conclusion we need to stop whining and focus on what's important: our education.

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Usher Park is in danger
So are local children by planned Irving Park Road expansion
By Michele B.,
Copy Editor

The expansion of Irving Park Road has been debated since September 1999. The topic? Five lanes or three.

The expansion would be very dangerous for children trying to cross in the 1.4 miles of residential area that Irving Road runs through.

Usher Park, the heart of Itasca, would also be heavily affected. When there are so many alternate routes, why expand our dinky little road to a major highway?

Irving Park Road is the most traveled road, especially with kids. The area is almost completely residential and children are constantly outside playing in the snow or selling lemonade, depending on the season.

Probably the most dangerous feature of expanding Irving Park Road is its closeness to Benson Primary School, which hosts kids from the preschool age through second grade daily. Their backyard, so to speak, is Irving Park.

The area with the most traffic in Itasca is the intersection of Walnut and Irving.

It is highly congested area, with not only car traffic, but also pedestrians and bikers. People crossing the intersection to get to Village Hall, Usher Park and the train station.

Most importantly, however, for Peacock students, is the presence of the 7-ll. This convenience store is a popular hangout for kids of all ages. Whether picking up a slurpee or meeting a friend, this is the center of teenagers world. Expanding Irving would make crossing impossible and create a dangerous situation. Don't do it!

The world is full of roads, streets, highways, and other ways of getting where you want to be. Irving Park is a little side street compared to the other roads that have recently sprung up around it.

Prospect Road has recently been expanded to five lanes and now goes through to Arlington Heights Road. Rowhling road is currently undergoing a five-lane expansion, and there are other major roads surrounding this two-lane stretch of residential area.

Who would want to expand this dinky road used only by residents and trucks cutting through? That is what expanding Irving will do to the town, make it a polluted cut through for trucks. Do you want that?

Three lanes are enough to solve our traffic problem, especially with all these major roads surrounding us.

Everyone has been to or seen Usher Park recently. There are so many things to do and see; whether the swans are being fed, or the gazebo is hosting a band, Usher Park is truly the heart of our small village. IDOT's expansion plan would mean relocating the swans and taking out the Veterans Memorial.

These things are very important to Itasca's small-town culture, and without our little park, where would people go to listen to live music or have a family picnic?

This area is one of the few remaining parks belonging to the Department of Natural Recourses, and it must be carefully preserved for all to enjoy. The expansion or Irving would take out much of this park, don't do it!

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When you vote, know why!
By Carl L.,
News Editor

I am disgusted at the results of Peacock's 2000 presidential election! To see if the student body was well informed about the platforms of the candidates, I asked about twelve to twenty students (mostly in sixth grade) to see if they knew exactly whom they were voting for.

The results were horrible. Even after the election assembly, students still didn't know hardly anything about either Gore or Bush.

Most students simply voted for the man their parents wanted to be president. So considering that this is a Republican county, most of us voted for Bush.

I'm not favoring Gore, but you are supposed to form your own conclusions and decide for yourself who is better for the job.

If we are the future of our country, people voting to please their friends and parents or just voting on the basis of party, mean big trouble.

So people, I beg you, find out all you can about a person before you decide he or she should run a country. If everyone thought voted like we did, then we might wind up with an illiterate and incompetent person in office.

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There's not enough time
By Kristen S.

I think we should have more time between classes. Teachers are always saying "We give you more than enough time between classes!" But I don't think so.

"I think we need more time between classes because sometimes we have to go from the first floor to the second floor and we don't have enough time," commented sixth grader Jamie Laftus. "I also think we need more time," Jamie added, "because sometimes we need to go to our lockers."

Sixth grader, Ashley Cross exclaimed, "We need more time between classes because if we have to go to the bathroom, we don't have the time we need."

I'm sure other people feel the same way. So, I think we need more time between classes.

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