Northwest

Scant coverage seen as factor in quake-aid level

Replies from students at Amphitheater High School The amount of American humanitarian aid going to Pakistan and India to help victims of the massive earthquake has been low compared with the amount Americans gave tsunami victims earlier in the year and hurricane victims this fall. Why do you think there has been less willingness to help after this natural disaster? This week's answers come from Jennifer DeMello's psychology class at Amphitheater High School. The willingness to aid the tsunami tragedy over in Asia was because of how drastic the damage was and how much the victims suffered. Also, the way the media covered it and viewed it to our society put everything into perspective. It seems the way the earthquake was viewed, the damage and loss of victims wasn't so costly. But the willingness to aid shouldn't have changed. Its amount of humanitarian aid is low solely because of how it's been viewed. The media haven't favored it like the tsunami and hurricane tragedies. They haven't promoted relief funds for the earthquake like they did with the other natural disasters. Skyler Lown-Peters, 17, senior

I think that Americans didn't help the earthquake as much as they helped Hurricane Katrina because Hurricane Katrina was bigger and was in the news more than the earthquake. The hurricane was a bigger problem because there was a bigger population of people. Gabriela Ramirez, 17, senior

I think the reason why Americans didn't contribute as much to the earthquake is that the tsunami was bigger and more publicized. Also, the Katrina devastation was also big and closer to home. We contributed to these disaster relief efforts, and yet another disaster is almost too much for Americans to contribute a lot to. Of course, this is important to aid, but there are too many devastations around the world for us to pay for it. Alex Palido, 17, senior

The United States has always had a habit of being the world's police force. With the relatively low approval rating of the presidency this term, a lot is being done to try to gain international and worldwide support for our country's leaders - and what better way than to take advantage of a natural disaster, publicize it and help out, becoming the world superhero? This was the case with the amount of aid we sent to the tsunami victims. However, with domestic hurricanes, we almost had no choice to aid; we can't just aid other countries and then not take care of our own citizens. Unfortunately, by the time the earthquake came about, our country's supplies and resources had thinned out, and we can't realistically take care of the world until we take care of ourselves first. Laura Campbell, 17, senior

In the society today, Americans seem less likely to help the disaster in Pakistan because of the events of Sept. 11. Given that the disaster occurred in the Middle East, Americans subconsciously relate Pakistan to terrorism. America crumbled the day the twin towers fell, and to aid a country close to our destroyers doesn't seem "American." Schreen Raboza, 18, senior

After donating billions of dollars to other disaster-relief efforts, even charities might be a little fatigued by the constant efforts that they have engaged in over the course of the year. It could be the fault of those who have pressured people to "give generously," but the fact is that people can give only so much, especially during our economic crisis and the financial struggles of other giving nations. If there is a way to be more conservative with giving, there may be a way to spread out the aid to other nations. We are capable of helping, but even the largest bucket has a bottom. Mike Camacho, 18, senior

The American public is fed up with how much our government is willing to help other countries, yet we see very little done in our own towns. Also, the earthquakes are less publicized on TV than the other natural disasters. The United States needs to improve our own countrymen's lives and make the United States as a whole stronger. Ross Felton, 17, junior