WOMEN SKI JUMPERS DESERVE A CHANCE FOR OLYMPIC GOLD!

You may have heard or seen recently that there has been a great discussion over womens ski jumping in the 2010 olympic games. Ski jumping is the only olympic sport in which women are not aloud to compete. Over the past few months they have argued that excluding them from this sport violates their freedom under Canada's charter of rights. With the Olympics coming up in less then 91 days it is unlikely for women to compete in the 2010 games, but if they continue to fight it is highly possible they will get to compete in future Olympics

I think these  women deserve to compete. They currently compete at an international level (FIS Continental Cup) in Asia, Europe and North America. They obviously have the experience and skill to compete at the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee sets the games events and it is not covered by Canada's charter. I feel that the I.O.C cannot make a decision based on gender, it should be based on skill and ability at the specific sport. When we watch the 2010 Vancouver olympics let's hope that the future olympians will all have an equal chance to compete for the gold no matter what gender. 

EVA OLSSON: Holocaust Survivor

Eva Olsson, Holocaust survivor, Hero. On October 26 Eva Olsson visited our school and spoke about her unpleasent teenage years. When Eva took stage she asked us to raise our hands if we used the work "hate"in our everyday lives . Most of the room raised there hands. " Eva exclaimed to us that hate is the one word the caused the deaths of millions of people in the Holocaust.

Eva Olsson was one of six children living in a poor area in Hungary. On May 14, 1944 Eva, her family and many others were told there were going to work at a brick factory. They packed there bags and piled onto boxcars. This was no brick factory, after three days of traveling they arrived at Aushwitz concentration camp. Black smoke filled the air and millions of jews and christians unloaded the boxcars. The people were ordered to line up. As they reached the front they were told left or right. Left, you were headed to the gas chambers. Right, off to labour. Eva's mother was ordered to the left, that was the last time she ever saw her.

During Eva's presentation I was affected by the entire time I was in the room. I walked into the chapel thinking the presentation would be another hour long boring speech. I was so wrong, Evas presentation taught me so many things about the Holocaust itself but also things we can do today. In paticular it seemed like Eva really encouraged us to tell our parents we love them everyday, because one day they might not be there anymore.

As I left the chapel that day all I could think of was, how unbeleivable the Holocaust was. Eleven million people killed, all because of hate. After learning all about the Holocaust and other massive wars, I don't think the same about the world. I think that if all of the people in the world stop hating, we can all live happily. So all I have to say is that, what is the point of war? It' doesn't make anything better. All it does is make it worse.