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“Oh beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticide grain, for strip-mined mountains majesty above the asphalt plain. America, America, man sheds his waste on thee, and hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.” — George Carlin.

April 22nd, or Earth Day, has become a strange and forgettable staple to America’s burgeoning list of national holidays.

Initially the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, Earth Day was meant to inspire awareness of the environment’s ills, and an appreciation of the inherent majesty within our once luscious planet.

Truly, it was a noble cause, but one can’t help but feel that the whole affair is half-hearted at best. It’s almost like the country is trying to make up for the fact that it pollutes and destroys the earth more than any other country by saying, “See? We named a whole danged day after the earth. We care!”

Like Secretaries Day, everyone writes their office aids a nice card and maybe sends some flowers, but does that actually change any opinion they have of the people that work with them every day?

Unfortunately, it seems that most people forget about Earth Day when it comes, or don’t do a whole lot to actually celebrate it.

Junior Vanessa Kerns is cognizant of the problem, as the good will is there, but the action of actually helping the earth is missing.

“Earth Day makes me want to recycle, but alas, I still waste,” said Kerns.

Even if recycling or picking up trash isn’t done by everybody on Earth Day, there is a certain amount of joy and enthusiasm for helping our planetary mother when the holiday rolls around.

After all, there is nothing wrong with at least making people think about doing right by nature. There is always the possibility that a lesson or message will worm its way through to everyday life. Freshman Rachel King thinks that assigning a day to be earth-conscious is a good thing.

“I’m all about the earth. It’s pretty cool,” King said.

Obviously, the main problem that faces the earth every hour of every day is the overwhelming amount of trash and pollution that chokes up and degrades everything that we need to ensure our continued survival.
America is undeniably the most damnable culprit for destroying what we should hold dear, as this country is home to more cars, factories and landfills than anywhere else in the world.

If we run out of room for trash, we simply ship it to another country. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has become the home of our discarded waste, swirling about in the ocean until the water itself has turned to plastic sludge poison.

Some efforts have been made to make people more aware of the problems facing our planet, beyond the simple declaration of Earth Day as a national holiday.

Across the country, more and more people are attempting to “go green,” although it is unclear whether or not this is a true effort to fix things or simply a flavor of the week cause, packaged nicely with a cool little catchphrase.

The evil behind all these efforts to make people conscious of why the earth is worth saving is that the efforts wouldn’t be present if there wasn’t also a buck to be made from it.

Corporations and conglomerates of various levels can now make money producing the garbage, and still make more by selling t-shirts about why that is such a bad thing.

This is definitely a country run by marketing, and the polluters come from the same place as the would-be saviors. Freshman Kenzie Hampton knows that the earth should be saved, but the source of that message may be questionable.

“Earth Day? I can’t wait for the movie!” Hampton said.

So maybe Earth Day is the culmination of the American Dream in action. We can make money by selling plastics, paper bags, various rubbers, cans, trash bags and gas emissions.

Then, if anyone notices the buildup of nastiness, we can dedicate a day to getting rid of the nastiness, selling trash bags, cloth grocery sacks, environmental t-shirts, bumper stickers and various movies and documentaries, such as Avatar or Disney’s “Earth,” which of course will lead to selling more toys, posters, t-shirts and underoos.

We may do well to adopt George Carlin’s national anthem, as the message is at the very least more honest and up-front about the entire disgusting situation.

Many consider the theatre stage to be a place of Shakespeare, musicals and strange set design. Young people are more detached from the theatre now than ever before, having easy access to film and television, or, God forbid, Youtube videos.

The stage is an alien environment to the young as it can be hard to find something to relate to in theatrical productions, or at least that is the assumption of many.
Fortunately, there is still a large grip of those who would keep theatre alive, even here at Missouri Western. From April 15-18, theatre students will perform six “One-Act” plays, each put together solely by the students involved.

Hopefully, since they aren’t performing underneath Shakespeare’s shadow or some other centuries-old production, students not familiar with theatre will be able to more easily identify with what is on stage. Freshman Brian Duskey, a theatre/cinema major, feels that the One Acts are a great opportunity for students to witness something new and relatable.

“Sometimes when a play that was written 100 years ago, a lot of people still get it, but not everyone. With the One Acts, the writers are of the audience’s age, so we share the culture and the mindset that they do,” said Duskey, who is the director of “The Fountain” and the writer of “Sins of the South.”

The One Act plays, beyond entertainment, also serve a valuable role in creating a group dynamic and camaraderie between the students involved. Since everyone is writing, directing, or acting in each others’ plays, the creative juices truly begin to flow, forming an experience that no one of them could have put together alone. Sophomore Jesse Glyn Frazier, a theatre/video major, expressed the joys of a collaborative creative process.

“It’s great because I really get to experience both sides of the project. As a director, I am able to take someone else’s work and mold it into something that is unique to my vision. As far as acting, I am just blown away by the different approaches the other directors are taking. It’s humbling and I’m learning a lot,” said Frazier, who is directing “Dear Diary” and acting in “The Fountain.”

Putting on these plays is a fantastic way for Missouri Western’s theatre students to hone their craft, and show off their various creative chops on the stage. Since the plays are short and move quickly, unlike most performances, those involved get to put a glistening shine on their work in the time available.

Senior Keith Routh, a theatre/video major, thinks that the shortened time frame is a good way to work out all the details and streamline the act.
“When working on One Acts, we have the benefit of putting all of our focus into a condensed story. This allows us to try to perfect every moment of stage time,” said Routh, who is directing “The Lobster.”

The plays will provide the perfect ground for the students to show off what they’ve got to the public, exposing them to professionalism and teamwork, without being looked over or directed by a teacher, or being hampered by performing a classical play to a “T.”

Since these are made by the students, for the students, the One Acts could possibly lead to new artistic, theatrical grounds. Jesse Frazier thinks that the plays will be a great way to show off our theatre students’ skills in the field.

“A lot of extremely talented people are putting their future and passion on display, no different than the gallery everyone passes on the way through Potter,” Frazier said.
The One Act plays will be performed from April 15-18. at 8 p.m., in the Black Box Theatre in Potter Hall.