Friday Night Lights

This article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/sports/24birds.html?_r=1&ref=science

    In another showdown between environmental concerns and cultural lifestyle, this story chronicles the switch of high school football games in Hawaii from Friday nights to Saturday afternoons, on account of the local species of endangered Newell shearwater birds: “young seabirds mistake the lights of a football stadium for the moon and stars during their migration to the ocean, causing them to become disoriented, fall from the sky and die.”
   
    The story does well in providing the stance of the local residents on the issue, with multiple quotes from parents and players: “I think it’s best—Friday night lights. Not Saturday day football. It’s Friday night lights,” said one of the football players. However, there could be more information from the other side of the debate. It seems like two-thirds of the story focused on the locals and how they strongly believe that the elimination of Friday night games is an attack on their culture and their well-being. Is there more information on the birds? What else can be done to help save them? But the story is engaging, well-written, and concise; and it serves as a brilliant example of the ongoing war between humans and the rest of the world.