° < ge a NO Need more than a _ hippie hoe down to clean environment I had pleasure (if you could call it that) of sitting in on. por- tions of the Environmental Youth Alliance Conference (EYA). it was billed as an event orga- nized primarily for youth to un- derstand the problems. that the natural world faces, and ways in which they could make an impact on the leaders who make the deci- ’ sions. It turned out to be one of the most one-sided, radical, insidious encounters I have ever attended in my life. . It was, sadly, a ‘‘look-at- what-those-pigs-are-doing-let’s- get-them” event, reminiscent of the days of Woodsteck, lava lamps and free love. Even the clothing matched: tie-dye, embroidery, bell bottoms, the works. It was a pretentious outpouring of people who are trying to make their mark on our generation by living someone else’s way of life. One of the participants confided in me: ‘It’s cool to be here, but we're not doing much for the planet. It’s a symbolic thing.’’ Deep.’ . They gather to learn how to help, but what they are doing is aligning themselves too, far left. They are too radical to be taken seriously. -. And that is hurting not only their credibility, but also that of the whole environmental move- ment. , If they want to run a granola- head, hippy hoedown, that’s great, but they should know better than to yell environmentalism and then do nothing about it but fearn radical ways of making the news from imported enviro-leaders such as California’s Sierra Club presi- dent, Vicki Husband. Which brings me to my point. Is’ it) worth Last week we asked whether you thought skateboarders are cour- teous enough to deserve more freedom on city sidewalks. I've personally never come across any skateboarder who hasn’t been courteous on the sidewalk. I don’t usually come across them because they’re nol allowed, but 1 think that it’s not the having an En-. vironmental Youth Alliance that runs itself in this manner, or is the environment better off without it? The conference itself was a true environmentalist’s nightmare. The participants were encouraged to grab as many of the postcards at the front of the room as possible ‘and mail them off. Great idea. I have a fceling not even 10% of them will be mailed; the rest will sit somewhere, the trees that were cut down to make them completely forgotten. If these wanna-be environmen- talists really cared about the en- vironment instead: of making a name for themselves, they would be doing. things which would help the environment, so that when they spoke out, they would have credibility enough to have people listen. As someone who observed parts of the conference, I think this was not the case. Nobody seemed to care about their image. It was as if this was farthest from their minds. What these eco-terrorists are doing is turning’ the very serious, ever-increasing need for en- vironmental awareness into a cir- cus sideshow. Their cause — and this is too bad — is bearing the brunt of a visible lack of direction from this organization. They are, by doing what they 4&4 Even the clothing matched: tie-dye, embroidery, bell bottoms, the works. 9 do, turning large numbers of peo- ple away froin the environmental cause and in some cases alienating those groups that, by being mod- erate in their stance, do make a positive impact on policy and thought both in the public and in government. . The Environmental Youth Alli- ance, at least in the eyes of one member of its target group, is treading on very thin ice. « If someone within the organiza- tion doesn’t take action, doesn’t change the course to one of moderation, the ice is going to crack and the EYA is going to fall right through, taking down with it not only its members’ credibility, but also the importance and need to save our fragile natural en- vironment. a big deal for them to be on the sidewaik just as fong as they’re watching out for other people. No, I do not think they should have any more freedom because { got run over by a skateboarder and I really didn’t appreciate it. I think that sometimes skateboarders can be really nice; YOUNG OFFENDERS who break the law are protected by a Jaw that keeps their names from being made public. Do you think this is fair to the rest of society? Do you think that teens who commit crimes should be punished as harshly as adults? 2 rhs NEWS photo Cindy Geodman BE PREPARED for Cookie Week, April 22 to May 1: NV Girl Guides (left to right, Lindsay Walker, Natalie Thompson, Katy Campbell and Sarah Hamilton, with Crystal Folk in front) helped mark Guide/Scout week with a display booth at Lonsdale Quay iast weekend. .... @ l@ Caviar O everly | THE TELEVISION show. Beverly Hills 90210 could be considered a caviar program only amongst teens. However, people of al] ages religiously gather around the TV every Wednesday night to watch this show. Why, I ask, is 90210 such a hit? Is it the wealth, the dream cars or the perfectly moulded bodies that attract us? | was curious to find out the opinions of other teens who watch the show. S.M., 17: ‘‘My world stops at 8 p.m. on Wednesday nights for an hour. It is an awesome show regardiess of how unrealistic it is!” Why is everybody so turned on by this TV show? Personally, be- tween the perfect problems solved by the perfect solution, I see no redeeming qualities that would religiously hold my interest. This show is about six teenagers who live in West Beverly Hills, California: twins Brandon and Brenda Walsh; Dylan McKay, the James Dean type; Steve Sanders, the preppy rich snob; Kelly Taylor, the rich beauty; Donna, the typical stereotype blond; and David Silver, the rapper extraor- dinaire and disc jockey for West Beverly High’s radio station. J.L., 17: “I think the show is a pathetic excuse. for the portrayal they'll get off their skateboards if you're in their way or if you're bicycling or something, and then again there are some skateboarders who will just run tight past you and knock you down. It’s just tike bicyclists — some people are -reafly nice, some people are really mean — or car drivers, the same. So I feel that since bicyclists are ad-