NOTE: This commentary features very heavy sarcasm, modeled after Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. Please understand this is an article written to augment what the writers feel are some of the absurdities of life at Pomona High School.

We had a thought the other day while watching some people walk up to the pit to enjoy a smoke between classes. Why shouldn’t the student body at Pomona have an area that is supported by the school for all different types of addictions?

Here are our ideas. A lounge for the students that would like to drink during the day, of course the school wouldn’t supply the alcohol, but if students happen to get some beer to this area then so be it. This room would have to be on the edge of campus so the school wouldn’t have any obvious responsibility. How about at the edge of the baseball fields? Then our baseball teams will have to play around all the broken bottles, not unlike our track team who run through cigarette butts. This room will have couches and comfortable chairs so students that choose to frequent this new site won’t have to sit on the ground.

If that sounds too blasé we should add a section for students to relieve their sexual needs. We know it is disturbing to see students kissing in the hall; why not add a red light district in the empty space at the back of the parking lots? We could have several furnished rooms with condom dispensers, of course, and our campus supervisors could enforce that they be used of properly. It seems this would be a natural way to lessen the disturbance of students who are “making out” in the halls. We are sure the use of condoms would help insure that ladies do not become pregnant and no students leave infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

We hope that this farce sounds like a terrible solution (although it has the same logic as the pit) to problems that exist today; a terrible solution is also how a division of the student body views the pit. The pit is an attempt by this administration, the Arvada Police Department, and some of Pomona’s neighbors to contain student smoking to “the campus” and prevent smokers from destroying nearby property. We’ve lived with this fact for two years and understand that it will, unfortunately, continue for many more, but when the community gives money to “improve” this area we have to object.

As reported in the November issue of the Pomona Perspective there are plans to bring benches to the pit, which would be paid for by community donated money with “little to no outside fundraising”. Why are these students exempt from raising money for the new benches they want to put in? The different departments of the Pomona community all have to raise money to improve their respective programs. The math department has sold candy for the last three years; and recently they began to sell book sox in an attempt to buy new books for all levels. The music departments (choir and band) do thousands of hours of fundraising to put on the wonderful programs that have won this school many awards, including national recognition. What positive recognition does the pit bring to Pomona?

Many pit goers have presented the argument that the school gives money to athletics, why is it any different to give money to smokers? This in not entirely true, the fact is, athletes pay a $100 athletic fee to the district, on top of paying and/or fundraising for the other expenses for equipment which the school’s budget does not cover. For example, this fall the gymnastics team sold bread rolls, the girls swim team pays an extra $49 for swim suits, basketball is currently selling Papa John’s pizza discount cards for their major fundraiser, and don’t forget the Panther Passes that the track team sells every year.

Athletes don’t get a free ride, as some pit goers may think, they also give back to the community as a way of earning the money that the school gives them. The volleyball team has adopted a section of Wadsworth Blvd. and the football team helps to clean up after the annual Panther Prowl.

Not only is it Pomona’s athletics that give back to the community but also different clubs and departments. Aside from Key Club, H.E.L.P. Club and NHS, which are known for community service, other clubs such as DECA, Publications, the English department, and the Drama department give to the community through Trick-or-Treat Street, along with the science department which provided about 1,000 bags of candy. The list is endless on how the students of Pomona give back to its surrounding community. What exactly does the pit give to the community to warrant these donations?

This last question brings us to our largest concern, why is the “Pit Leadership Committee” going to receive money for new benches without any fundraising support from the students that want the new benches?

This new idea of a “Pit Leadership Committee” that apparently inspires the students that frequent the pit to clean up after themselves is a novel idea, but what is going to happen after next semester when the senior that organized this committee graduates? There have been previous attempts to put up benches and tarps, intended to protect students from the elements. Each time the endowments were vandalized and destroyed within two weeks.

We hope that through the satirical commentary and the logical reasoning which followed, the absurdity of the proposal to spend money from community members. For those who still feel that benches are a necessity to the humane conditions of the smoking pit we encourage you to diligently raise money for your cause. Please refrain from asking the community members of the greater Pomona area to pay for you without raising the funds yourself.