Amor Terrae

The new Fish and Wildlife Service plan effectively prioritizes renewable energy over the return of an endangered species, the California condor. The problem with the plan is really a problem with the highly-controversial, renewable energy sources. While renewable energy sounds perfect in theory, the reality is more complicated. It can cost a great deal to install solar panels or wind turbines,...

Andrew Jirak works on his family’s farm in Cummings, Kansas. What kind of farm? The kind of farm we are considered would be commercial. What crops do you grow? The crops we grow are: sweet corn, watermelon, cantelope, slicer tomatoes, grape and cherry tomatoes, summer squash, winter squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, pumpkins, green beans. Next year, ...

Now that all my extracurricular activities such as track and non-online classes have canceled or gone online due to COVID-19, I take bike rides, walks and also spend more time in my backyard.  With more time to spend outside, I have started to notice the beauty of nature around me. I’ve remarked about how green the trees are now that they have grown new leaves.  The bluebonnets and other flowers ha...

Spring has finally sprung! Spring is a beautiful time of year with all of the new life after a winter with everything being dead and cold outside. Spring means new baby animals including calves, lambs, piglets, chicks, and many more. Maybe if you live on a farm,like I do, you get to see these new lives all the time. Around this time of year there are calves and lambs being born every few days. A...

“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night\; and let them be for signs and for season and days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so And God made the two lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night\; He made the stars also....

Don’t litter! It’s pretty obvious, our parents and other adults have hammered that it into our heads. But why shouldn’t we litter? How long do things really take to break down? Now, some people might say, “Come on, it doesn’t take that long for something to break down.” To those people and others I will show that throwing your old hamburger wrapper on the ground might affect the environment a little more than you would rea...

School can be tough! Especially for students in junior and senior year, the word “tough” is an understatement. There are many ways to ease the stress from the grueling schedule of junior year. One way is to plan ahead for camping trips, little vacations during the school year. Being in a group like the Boy/Girl Scouts or the Troops of Saint George can help a lot with this plan. I recently...

Most people have gone camping at least once.  It is a good way to spend time with friends and get out in the wilderness.  However, some people go farther out in the wilderness than others. James Lafave, an MODG senior,  recently completed a 28-day-long excursion in northern Ontario.  This was made possible by a YMCA wilderness camp based out of northern Minnesota called Widjiwagan.  Kids ...

Endangered As this year ends, it is important to look back and stay in touch with issues that will always be associated with 2017. The “bee issue’ is one of them. Earlier this year, the plan to add the rusty-patched bumble bee to the Endangered Species List came to light. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service added this bee, the Bombus affinis, in March 2017.  Several Hawaiian bees...

“My friends, the leaves, who used to entertain me On summer afternoons with idle chatter, Are dropping off in ways that shock and pain me. I wonder what’s the matter. My friends, the birds, are quietly withdrawing; The meadow-larks are gone from fence and stubble; Even the crows are gone; I liked their cawing. I wonder what’s the trouble. My friend, the sun, is here, but altered slig...

To celebrate the arrival of spring, VOX Reporter Gail Peterson stepped outside to document a cluster of tulips on the verge of blooming. A picture says a thousand words, so enjoy these photos of her backyard flowers blossoming over time!   Taken in the beginning hours of the day, the morning sun breathes on the face of the tulips, promising life as time goes on.   The newly fallen raindrops play their part in the cycle of plant growth. &n...

Haliaeetus leucocephalus. In case you’re not a burgeoning biology major, that jumble of letters is the Latin name for a bald eagle. In early American history, bald eagles were voted to be the country’s national bird, despite Benjamin Franklin’s disapprobation. Even though Franklin was against the choice, it’s easy to see why the other founding fathers were in favor of it. The eagles are tru...

I’m sure at some point all of us have been on hikes, have been on some sort of Scouting adventure, or have even wandered through nearby woods. But have you ever gone to nature to stay? Camping gives you an experience of the outdoors that just a few hours in the woods can’t. Some of us camp every year, but for those of us who camp often and those of us who don’t, here are some thoughts... Wh...