Tiger Hi-Line The
Volume 48 Edition 14
Oh, the Places You’ll Go When You’re Knee Deep in the Snow Reading is always a good way to pass the time when the snow is flying outside, so why not pick up one of the classics written by Dr. Seuss. For more memories of the beloved author, turn to the FEATURE page.
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Huckabee first in PAC mock caucus Arlene Freudenberg Staff Writer
After considering the issues presented by representatives from nine presidential candidates, CFHS students gave Mike Huckabee the top spot in the CFHS mock caucus on Thursday Dec. 13. Huckabee earned 14 votes, and was closely followed by 13 votes for Barrack Obama. The other finishers were Edwards with nine votes and three undecided. The format followed the Democratic caucuses, and a 10 percent threshold was used to determine viable candidates after the first round of voting. The mock caucus was held in the school cafeteria. Students were invited to listen as several representatives endorsed different candidates. The students were then allowed to wander to each representative and question him or her individually on anything they wanted to know about a candidate. Each candidate’s representative was allowed to speak about his or her candidate for roughly two minutes. They presented in alphabetical order. Justin Scott represented Joe Biden. Scott volunteered his time to tell the students why Biden would be the best choice for president. “Joe is like your favorite teacher. Everybody knows him. They respect
First Round CFHS Mock Caucus
Final Round CFHS Mock Caucus
him. They know what he’s done,” Scott said. “Joe has the country in mind. He wants to bring the war to an end without leaving chaos back in Iraq. Joe has the country in mind. He also wants to make college more affordable for everyone.” The next person to speak was Don Smalls, who represented Hilary Clinton. Smalls is a staff member of the campaign who came all the way to Cedar Falls to speak to students. “Hilary has the experience, the strength and the ambition. She wants to introduce a universal healthcare covering all Americans. Her first plan of action is to get us out of Iraq,” Smalls said. “She wants to make America work for working families again.” After Smalls, Chris Dodd’s representative, Sam, spoke. “Chris Dodd is known as the children’s senator. He wants to make community colleges more affordable for everyone,” Sam said. Following him was the representative for John Edwards, Everett Crosland. “I think we need to look at who the people are. Edwards has a clean record. He wants to send low-income families to college. He’s willing to take a stand for what he believes in because he remembers where he comes from. He is trying to change his friends’ lives, his families’ lives, as well as ours,” Cro-
sland said. Julia Rutten represented John McCain. “McCain’s been in politics for quite some years, since the ‘80s. He served in the Navy. Served in Vietnam. He was actually shot down while on a mission. He was held captive for five and a half years in solitary confinement,” Rutten said. “Because of his personal and political experience, he understands all the ins and outs.” After Rutten finished her sad, but inspirational tale, Sara Elamine spoke about Barrack Obama. Sara Elamine had many followers along with her, all being fellow CFHS students. “Obama is the candidate that represents change we can believe in. He wants to go into Washington and rewrite and change things because Washington is a dirty, corrupt place right now. Obama is not about mudslinging. He’s about bringing us together. We’re gonna take the country by storm and take the country back,” Elamine said. Elamine also spoke of a “Party like a Barackstar” party every Tuesday from 4-9. It is located at 4807 University Ave., Cedar Falls, the Obama campaign headquarters. Anyone who wants to come and support Obama is invited to come. When Elamine finished, John spoke about candidate Ron Paul. “Seventy percent of people are against the war, and the Democrats plans will take about
five years long. The Republicans don’t even want to end the war. The first act of Ron Paul is to end the war, and end it now,” John said. “America has lost its freedom. When I was in high school, wearing a seatbelt wasn’t the law and the drinking age was 19. Now all the government has to do is call you a terrorist and they can lock you up without giving you any contact to a lawyer. What happened to our Constitution? I don’t know about you, but I want my freedom back. Paul wants to give us our freedom back. Ron Paul has also never changed or flipped-flopped; he has always kept his stance.” When John finished, Justin Uebelhor and his guest, Cedar Falls resident
Ruth Mahon, took the floor to inform students about Bill Richardson. “Bill Richardson is the most experience. He’s been a governor and been in Congress for 14 years. He wants to bring our country together, and he has a history of getting things done,” Uebelhor said. Although candidate Mike Huckabee didn’t have a set representative, CFHS sophomore Alex Clopton arrived to answer any questions students may have on the candidate. In the initial round of the mock caucus, the results were as follows: 13 for Obama, 9 for Huckabee, 4 for Edwards, 3 for Richardson, 2 for Clinton, 1 for Paul, 1 for Romney and 6 undecided.
Cody Herrick Anthony Hopper, Andrea Huber, Amanda Johnson, Ariel Juhl, Chelsey Lenth, Smantha Mahler, Alexsis Montover, Peter Muzzy, Renae Osman, Kya Parker, Nicholas Patten, Ashley Pavelec, Kyle Redfern, Zachary Shields, Kelsey Webb, Kassandra Weber, Callie Weiss, and Courtney Wutzke. Students planning on graduating early have various plans and goals. Senior Andrea Huber is prepared to graduate high school. “I’m going to go to Hawkeye and take the general education requirements. I’m going to keep my job at Montessori Preschool. Next fall semester I’m going to move out and take classes in Iowa City at Kirkwood,” Huber said.
Huber knows that it would be more valuable for her to start college earlier. “Next semester, I would have only had two classes and then COOP. I thought it would be more beneficial to just start college. I also didn’t take any year long classes which helped,” Huber said. Huber does not feel particularly excited, nor is she scared about her future in college. “I’m feeling pretty aprenhensive. because I’ll be starting a new school and I’ll have to start the process before my other friends,” Huber said. Huber plans on majoring in English and Political Science. Senior Renae Osman is also graduating early. She has big plans after graduation.
“After semester I’m going to Texas for four months. I’ll be joining the military hopefully in April, but I’ll still be doing photography on the side,” Osman said. Osman feels more than ready to graduate early. “I’ve been working hard, taking a full schedule every year, so it just feels right graduating early. It feels great. I’m excited,” Osman said. Senior Elle Frodsham is very excited to finish high school. “It’s kind of like, one day I’m way excited and I hate high school and I’m ready for it to end, but then another day I’ll look around at all my friends and get sad. But I am mostly excited,” Frodsham said. Frodsham is prepared for life post-
high school. “I’m moving out to Provo, Utah in February and I’m going to start school in March at Cameo College. I’m doing aesthetics and it’s a yearlong program, and then I’ll be done,” Frodsham said. Early graduation is a difficult decision to make and Frodsham feels she has made the right one. “Ever since I started high school, second semester seniors never seemed to do anything, and I just wanted to get started on the next part of my life faster,” Frodsham said. Life after high school is a big step as opportunities for students are endless. Whether students choose to start their life sooner or later, the feeling is generally the same; it is a scary, yet very exciting thing.
Olivia Schares Graphic
32 seniors poised to graduate early Nadia Honary Staff Writer
The final year of high school is a busy time for seniors. Graduation involves much preparation- - yet some students still choose to graduate from high school early, as they are ready to begin their life sooner. This year, 32 CFHS seniors plan on taking that giant leap from high school life to real life, if their grades are kept up and all the requirements are met. The seniors planning on graduating this year are Zachary Baldwin, Bethany Barr, Christina Berning, Andrew Boody, Ashley Cook, Kelly Cousins, Cody Davenport, Kelsey Davis, Kevin Forero, Ellenor Frodsham, Tyler Garcia, Chelsea Gray, Amber Hanson,
Tiger Hi-Line The
OPIn n IO OPI IOnn
our view our view
States should follow NJ’s death penalty change Last week, New Jersey became the first state in over thirty years to pull the plug on the death penalty. As New Jersey becomes the fourteenth state to stop this obsolete and expensive punishment, The Tiger Hi-Line staff encourages more states to follow New Jersey’s lead. With two inmates receiving exoneration within the last month and a jawdropping 600 people receiving exoneration since 1989, concerns of innocent people receiving the death penalty are rightfully mounting. A justice system with such a high rate of error is in no position to issue irreversible retributions. There is solid evidence to suggest that execution is a discriminatory practice that is disproportionately given to males, racial minorities and the poor. For example, people who are represented by court-appointed, often substandard, lawyers for the poor are more than twice as likely to receive capital punishment as people who are convicted of murder and represented by hired private attorneys. During the 1972 Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia, even the Supreme Court denounced the death penalty as arbitrarily applied and unfairly given to African Americans and poor people. Additionally, the death penalty has never been adequately proven to deter crime. Careful review of the relative number of murders and executions across the nation has shown that there is absolutely no correlation between the two rates. One study by William Bailey compared the number of murders before and after Oklahoma resumed executions, and he found absolutely no evidence of a deterrent effect. The death penalty provides no safeguard to society, so the United States government has virtually no basis to justify taking human life. Even from a fiscally conservative perspective, abolishing the death penalty is the reasonable option. According to a Duke University study, because of the immense legal costs attached to death penalty cases, each execution costs nearly $3 million. Life in prison costs approximately $800,000. This means that for every execution performed, $2.2 million could instead be allocated to education, social security or even crime prevention. The Tiger Hi-Line staff wholeheartedly supports the decision of the New Jersey legislature. We believe that the death penalty is unfairly issued, provides no protection for society and is an irresponsible use of resources that could be more effectively used to improve human life rather than take it away.
Write the Tiger Hi-Line
The Tiger Hi-Line is a weekly publication of the journalism classes of Cedar Falls High School, 1015 Division St., Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613. Each edition is published on Wenesdays during the school year in The Insider and Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier, 501 Commercial St., Waterloo, Iowa 50701. Columns and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Hi-Line or Cedar Falls Schools. The Hi-Line editorial staff view is presented weekly in the editorial labeled as Our View. Reader opinions on any topic are welcome and should be sent to the Tiger Hi-Line staff or delivered to room 208. All letters must be signed. Letters must be submitted by 3 p.m. on Thursday for publication the following Wednesday. Letters may not exceed 300 words and may be edited to meet space limitations. Include address and phone number for verification.
Editorial Staff
Editor-in-Chief: Briana McGeough News Editors: Olivia Schares and Kellie Petersen Opinion Editors: Andrea Huber and Torie Jochims Sports Editor: Jacqueline Jordan Feature Editors: Honor Heindl and Briana McGeough On-Line Editors: Ellen Wrede Entertainment Editor: Kristen Hammer
Comprehensive final exams fail to truly test course results It’s near that time. In the back of students’ minds, they are wondering about finals. Whether the thoughts run to a flashback of an all-nighter you pulled last year or what this year’s tests are going to be like, the majority of students are thinking about it. O c Sara Strever casionally, Staff Writer you hear a student ask why do we have to know this, and then the teacher will reply because it is on the final. Then the student will ask why, and the teacher will reply because it prepares you for higher education and a life beyond high school. But, are finals really a necessity? From what I see, they have two major points to them: they prepare you for college and show if you really have learned something in the past 18 weeks. What if I can show you counterpoints to these strong arguments? Would you listen? Of course, because who likes studying or taking up time to study and rememorize material for tests that you have already taken. First point, will the finals prepare you for college? Currently, many colleges are moving away from the idea of comprehensive finals.
In the social work department at UNI, the majority of the professors do not give comprehensive finals. The social studies department follows similar reasoning. “There are (a) few professors who do decide to give comprehensive finals, but many do not. It really varies from professor to professor. In my own classroom I have three tests and a research paper. Their (his students) final is the last unit test. It is really a matter of preference; I do not give comprehensive finals because I think it is easier for the students to focus on the lateral part of the course, that they just learned. Finals here are often not comprehensive, but one question,” Social Studies Department Head at UNI Dr. Robert Martin said. From my personal experience, my brother, Ben Strever, is a sophomore attending a four-year college. In the past three semesters he has yet to have a single comprehensive final. He has been in classes that offer the opportunity to take a final for a chance that it might improve your grade, or to simply take the grade that you have earned for the past semester. For this argument, it seems that taking a comprehensive final in high school for the sake of preparing you for college wouldn’t make sense if most college finals simply cover the latest material since the last class evaluation. Another argument is that finals are a productive way to show what you have learned over the course of semester. But shouldn’t the past tests that you have taken represent how much you actually comprehended the material?
Also, the majority of our comprehensive finals are multiple choices. Multiple choices are the kind of information that is usually factual and can be easily looked up. It is good to memorize formulas and dates, but the truth is if that is the field of life we decide to pursue, then we can look them up on the Internet, notes or textbooks. I think if we do have to have some sort of final, it would be much better to have a project or a paper that we could complete. This would not only force you to understand the material, but to actually apply your knowledge, which is the ultimate goal of high school and education. It would also teach about using time wisely; projects are much harder to do the night before in comparison to studying. With studying it is easy to fool ourselves and make excuses and say that we are ready; we really aren’t. With projects there is a definite line that you can see if you did your best or if you are finished with project or not. We also have to think in a sense of reality, in an ideal world, all students would study a little bit every night, so that way they don’t have to cram the nights before. But this is definitely not an ideal world. Even the most prepared students will fret and continue to study and cram the night before. Cramming causes stress and stress causes sleep deprivation, which the time to be sleep deprived is definitely not the night before your finals.
Semester test schedule Thursday, Jan. 10 Period 1 test- 8:05-9:30 (10 minute break) Period 2 test 9:40 - 11 Lunch shifts: 11 - 11:35 first shift [1st, 2nd floors, and SASHes] 11:35-12:10 second shift [Band/Orch/3rd Floor] Period 6 test 12:15 - 1:35 Period 7 test 1:45 - 3
Friday, Jan. 11 Period 3 test 8:05 - 9:30 (10 minute break) Period 4 test 9:40 - 11 Lunch 11 - 11:35 first shift [1st, 2nd floors, and SASHes] 11:35-12:10 second shift [Band/Orch/3rd Floor] Period 5 test 12:15 - 1:35 Test makeups 1:45 - 3
Tiger Hi-Line The
SPORTS SPORTS
Coach Marcussen works to prepare swim team for success at state meet Jakob Zierer Staff Writer
“Bitter cold doesn’t matter. School delays mean nothing. And a national holiday means four hours of practice instead of three. Marcussen’s back!” Members of the CFHS Men’s Swim Team are sporting their new t-shirts announcing the return of well-known Coach Dick Marcussen who took a break last season. Under his guidance the team has started its season successfully by winning the Marcussen Invitational and by getting 4th place at the Iowa City Invitational. Marcussen has been a swimming coach for 43 years, and this is his 40th year at Cedar Falls. Regarding why he has returned to coaching at Cedar Falls, Marcusssen said, “One reason is, I wanted to see this program succeed and build it back as a state contender,” Marcussen said. “Another reason is I love the sport.” The swim team is working hard to reach Marcussen’s goal “to win the Mississippi Conference Meet and be a contender at State.” The team has a two-hour workout after school and also practices for one hour before school. “It is important to have a morning and an evening workout to prepare them mentally for the end of the season, the taper, called rest. Our success and tradition to excellence establish this way: ‘Don’t fix what isn’t broken,’” Marcussen said. Nick Challgren, the team captain and one of the key swimmers this year,
agreed. “ It is important because it will get us in shape faster, and we will become better swimmers quicker,” he said. Challgren, who has been swimming since he was a freshman, was a State qualifier and All-American Swimmer last year. “My biggest success is going to State last year and getting All-American and All State,” Challgren said. The team’s key swimmers besides Challgren are Andy Peck, Josh Bower and Brian Verink. They are all last year’s State qualifiers. New “Real Prospects” are Jon Baker, Taylor Burk (both from Waverly), Ben Olson, Austin Abbas, Lucas Carlson and Jack Kosmicky. “We have 11 different events, so there are a few key swimmers this season,” Marcussen said. “I think Andy(Peck), Brian(Verink), Austin(Abbas), Garret(Moses) and me (Nick Challgren) are key swimmers this year, but without any of the other swimmers, we would be nothing,” Challgren added. Team spirit is also important for Coach Marcussen. “My success recipe is hard work, dedication to details, being a motivator and communicator to athletes. Having fun and doing the best we can as a team,” he said. The team won the Marcussen Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 8. On Saturday, Dec. 15, the team went to the Iowa City Invitational held at Iowa City West. It is a big meet with nine teams participating. After all the events, Cedar
of the
Senior Kevin Hancock Wrestling
Jakob Zierer Photo
Junior Nick Challgren strokes for one of his last laps at the Iowa City Invitational. The Tigers took 4th place at the contest. Falls won 4th place with 237.50 points. Cedar Falls only surrendered Iowa City High (248 points), Pleasant Valley (305 points) and, last year’s state championship winner, Bettendorf (351 points). “I’m all in all pleased with the meet on Saturday,” Marcussen said. “But we have done a lot of basic things wrong. It was interesting to see how the team did compared to the other teams and especially compared to the State-winner Bettendorf,” he continued. Not only is Marcussen pleased, but so is Challgren who is still working to get back in shape. “I’m very pleased with my times because I went close to my best times, and I’m not quite in shape,” Challgren said. The coach and the team are ready
for the season, and their goal, to “be a contender at State” is within the range of vision. “We have a very talented team— good support from all athletes. This team wants to be good—the coaches have picked up on this and the motivation is high,” Marcussen said. “I think that we have a good core of swimmers and that we will be good this year,” Challgren agreed. “My main goal is to drop my time and go to State in an individual event,” he continued. There are two more meets before the winter break. The next on Thursday, Dec. 22, will be Newton invited to the Tiger’s pool (Holmes Junior High) at 6 p.m., and the last one before the break will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22, in Ames.
Sports Opinion:
Playoffs would assure fair football rankings Matt Hart Staff Writer
The college football season is certainly coming to an exciting end and championship games are approaching. But many people think the way BCS determines division 1-A championship games is too complicated. I agree. Implementing a play-off system would assure that the two best
teams will be playing in the championship game. Here’s how to do it. Take the top 20 teams in the rankings and split them up 10 and 10 based on location. Final AP rankings would determine each seed. The rankings have been crazy this year changing every week. It seems like the No. 2 ranking never stayed the same for more than two weeks,
Athlete Week
with USC, Boston College, Cal, Kansas, South Florida, Oregon, and West Virginia all throwing away their No. 2 rankings. The way the BCS National Championship should’ve been played changed three weeks in a row. Three weeks ago, LSU should’ve played Kansas. Then the next week it changed to Missouri playing West Virginia. Now the game is LSU and Ohio
State. The records of the two teams are certainly questionable. Both teams have two losses, but with undefeated Hawaii out the and won loss Kansas it leaves me scratching my head but people’s argument for that is they didn’t have a strong schedule. That’s where the playoffs come in. If you don’t think they’re good enough, let them prove it to you.
1.) What kind of ritual do you have individually? In practice we will all warm up by jogging, stretching and taking shots on a partner. Before meets I like to get a good workout before hand, so I am feeling good. I will then keep loose and mentally prepare. I like to think about the moves I will use on each opponent. 2.) What have you learned from wrestling? I have learned a lot about hard work and dedication. Even with wrestling being individual on the mat. Every match counts, and I have learned about team work. 3.) What motivates you? Making sure I am working harder than my opponents. I want to make it to State and place high, so I need to work hard. I have more fun when I win. 4.) How many pins have you had all through high school so far? Nineteen pins last year, and I’m second highest for the team.
Tigers in Action Men’s Basketball 12/14 54-43 D. Hempstead Next up: 1/4 W. East Women’s Basketball 12/14 55-35 D. Hempstead Next Up: 12/20 Waverly (Away 6:15 p.m.) Wrestling 12/13 won against W. West 32-29 12/15 at CR Kennedy 1-4 Next Up: 12/20 D Wahlert (6:15 p.m.) Men’s Bowling Next Up: 12/20 Linn-Mar (Home 3:45 p.m.) Women’s Bowling Next Up: 12/20 Linn-Mar (Home 3:45 p.m.) Men’s Swimming 12/15 4th at Iowa City Invite Next Up: 1/5 W. West Invite (Away 12:30 p.m.)
Tiger Hi-Line The
FEATURE FEATURE
dr. seuss creations continue to delight readers of all ages Ellen Wrede Online Editor/ Seuss Critic
Dr. Seuss. He is possibly the most well known children’s author of all time, and certainly the most memorable. Theodore Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904. He invented pen name, “Dr. Seuss” when he had to use a pseudonym in order to write for his college humor magazine by taking his middle name and annexing “Dr.” onto the front. He has also been published as “Theo Seuss 2nd,” “Dr. Theophratus Seuss” and “Theo Lesieg” (Geisel spelled backwards). But the real point is the genius behind the name. Why is the world so fascinated with Dr. Seuss? Is it the word play? The underlying morals? The fantastic illustrations? “I always liked Cat in the Hat Comes Back, because he has this hat. Under each hat is another cat, and they keep getting smaller and cuter,” junior Michelle Redinbaugh said. Maybe it’s the humor. There are reams of life lessons to be learned from those engaging books, some more evi-
dent than others. The Cat in the Hat, for instance, teaches us not only to NEVER let striped-hat wearing felines into our homes, no matter how coercive they are, but also responsibility in rectifying your mistakes and cleaning up after yourself when you’ve made a mess. “What I really like about Dr. Seuss is the lively characters, the rhyme, the rhythm and then the moral that’s underneath. It’s such a striking, everyday sort of moral that we can all live by,” English department head Judy Timmins said. Timmins has used Dr. Seuss (Specifically: The Sneetches) as a part of her curriculum in her Language Arts Enrichment classes, as part of the tolerance unit. The story goes that some of the Sneetches are in possession of starmarkings on their bellies. The Sneetches that are so endowed see themselves as superior to all the other Sneetches until one day when a machine is unveiled that can give the un-starred Sneetches the chance to become members of the elite class. Soon everyone is star-bellied, and
so a star-off machine is invented and they all get them taken off. This process soon escalates as the Sneetches run from one machine to the other, anxious to stand out from the crowd. “It really shows the whole idea about wanting to separate ourselves, and having intolerance for those who are not like us,” Timmins said. The fiascoes that are the live-action movie adaptations of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat leave much to be desired. Since these are two of the most beloved Seuss masterpieces, it is indeed a travesty that these films were both badly portrayed and badly received by the public. In the case of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which was also made into an animated film in 1966, the general population is made up of animation purists. Please, always remember: If you keep your eyes open enough Oh, the stuff you will learn! The most wonderful stuff! You’ll learn about Fishbones and Wishbones And trombones, too.
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Aseuss-tacularB recommendations You’re Only Old Once: A Book for Obsolete Children This book follows an “obsolete child” throughout his annual doctor appointments. He is bombarded with tests, pills and confusing instructions and can hardly find his pants. This is a satire about the seemed incompetency of clinics.
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? Mr. Brown is most accomplished at producing onomatopoeia , and so he challenges you to do the same.
B D A E L H G C C I J how seuss are you?/
If you got two or fewer questions right:
You need to brush up on your Horton and your Whos in Whoville If you got three questions right: You are a moderate Seuss-aholic. No SAA meetings for you, yet, but you’re on the way!
4. The main slogan of The Lorax would be: A. Protect the environment! B. Everyone should become vegan. C. Trees make excellent fuel and should be used in excess 5. The two actors who portray The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat respectively are: A. Leonardo DiCaprio and Colin Farrel B. Jim Carrey and Mike Myers C. Ben Affleck and Hayden Christensen
Answers: 1. A 2. C 3. C 4. A 5. B
1. What was Theodor Geisel’s first pen name? A. Theo. Lesieg B. Dr. Seuss C. Theo-Seuss-Geisel 2. How many books did Dr. Seuss publish in total? A. 140 B. 25 C. 71 3. How many words did Dr. Seuss restrict himself to to write The Cat in the Hat? A. 248 B. 150 C. 223
If you got four questions right: Your nickname is now “Gerald McBoing Boing”
If you got ALL FIVE questions right: If Seuss was alive, he’d toast you with a plate full of Scrambled Egg Super and some Green Eggs and Ham. Also, you have too much time on your hands.
There’s a Wocket in my Pocket! Well… This book doesn’t really have a plot… But it’s a good storytime book. It is filled with nonsensical rhyming and tickles the senses.
Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?
This account of all the things that COULD happen to you is designed to induce thankfulness for what you have already. It accomplishes appreciation in a very adorable way.
The Lorax The Lorax is a sad, sad man-like creature that tries to save his home from the “Oncler” who makes Sneeds (a sort of article of clothing) out of Truffula Trees. This story is a metaphor for the human impact on the environment.