We’ve all heard about the controversy sparking up about the water fountains, right? There are so many positive and negative opinions about these water fountains, so why not talk about them?
Below are the responses of students that have been asked to give their opinions on the new fountains; these students are Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas, Viviana Powell, and Vanessa Lujano.
Gustavo is in 11th grade and his school involvements mainly consist of sports such as football, wrestling, and throwing track and field.
Another junior is Viviana Powell, her school involvements consist of clubs and sports such as Steelers for Christ, FOHI conservation club, Book Club, softball, and basketball.
Vanessa Lujano is in basketball, Creative Writing Club, CSF, and she was in this year’s Homecoming Court!
1.) How do you feel about the new water fountains?
Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas (11th): “I feel like they're a cheap cover up for getting rid of the old ones.”
Viviana Powell (11th): “I love them; they taste like fresh water from the mountains.”
Vanessa Lujano (12th): “I miss the other ones.”
2.) What do you like about the new water fountains?
Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas (11th): “I like the water fountains because of the design, and because the other ones, you couldn’t drink straight from them.”
Viviana Powell (11th): “The taste is purified and fresh; it makes me feel energized to go back into practice to the best of my abilities.”
Vanessa Lujano (12th): “I like that they’re easy to use.”
3.) What do you dislike about the new water fountains?
Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas (11th): “You see, they don’t taste as good. FOHI has gotten me used to the old water fountains, but now with the new ones, I can’t go back to this poor life.”
Viviana Powell (11th): “I dislike that there is one of them in the gym, and in this area as a whole (FOHI Quad), and so it’s very crowded there sometimes.”
Vanessa Lujano (12th): “The water is not that good.”
4.) How do you feel about the locations of the water fountains?
Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas (11th): “The locations are the same, so it doesn’t matter.”
Viviana Powell (11th): “I think there needs to be more, but I like that a water fountain location is by the gym because it’s very convenient for me, but perse, my sister that is in cross country--always complains about the fountain locations because she’s always outside running everywhere. She always has to stop at this specific location just to drink water.”
Vanessa Lujano (12th): “I feel like you can miss them easily. However, the other water fountains were blue, so they were easier to spot. These newer water fountains are easily missed if you don’t know where they’re at.”
5.) Do you prefer the old water fountains or the new ones? Why?
Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas (11th): “The old ones for sure, because the old ones are cleaner. Sometimes they’d run out of water, and you’d have to wait longer for the water to come back.”
Viviana Powell (11th): “The new ones.”
Vanessa Lujano (12th): “Old, for sure the old ones. I prefer them because the water actually tasted clean, but now it just tastes like tap water.”
6.) Do you think the school can do better on the water fountains?
Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas (11th): “For sure.”
Viviana Powell (11th): “Yeah! More, more, more!”
Vanessa Lujano (12th): “Yes, I think they can, but the students; the school can’t be spending a lot of money on the water fountains if the students aren’t going to take care of them. I mean, I feel like the school tries doing their best, but they’re obviously not going to spend so much money on water fountains that are not taken care of.”
Writer’s note: Vanessa does make a great point here, if us students want to have better conditions, we need to act and take better care of the things we have a privilege to. Our first step towards this is to stop handling the fountains aggressively.
7.) Do you think the water is filtered enough?
Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas (11th): “No”
Viviana Powell (11th): “Yup, tastes Delicious.”
Vanessa Lujano (12th): “No, I don’t think so.”
8.) Anything else you want to share about the water fountains?
Gustavo Angel Herrera Cardenas (11): “I think I spoke my truth.”
Viviana Powell (11): “No, but they do make my tummy happy. Besides that, that’s it.”
Vanessa Lujano (12): “I want the old ones back!”
These are some opinions the students of FOHI have. Again, some were negative, and some were more on the positive side. We chose to write about this because we have heard so many students being disappointed with the new water fountains. We also wanted to voice the students’ opinions on this matter because we know that not everyone gets a chance to do so. If we want to change the water fountains, we must do more research and ask how we can put more water fountains, get better quality, etc. Do you agree with these students? Do you disagree? Let the steeler Chronicle know what your thoughts are about the new water fountains! You can email @thesteelerchronicle@gmail.com to voice your opinions.