Open any edition of the Paw Print, and the only pages in full color besides the front and back are in the SPORTS section, starred in the center of the paper. Scroll through https://wilsonvillebroadcastnetwork.com/, and the first image up is almost always a sports team, rejoicing in their victory. 

Athletic activities are great for building community, and each game is an opportunity for the whole school to join together and cheer their team on. But do sports deserve to always be in the spotlight of our media?

“I believe that it’s a cultural aspect of Wilsonville HS,” says senior Ellie Kim. Sports are certainly cherished by our school, and our media reflects that opinion.

Senior Yaseen Mubashir adds, “It’s modern and adds a vibrant piece to the paper.” 

Some students say that they haven’t noticed that certain sections of the print papers are in color while others aren’t. “People could think it’s biased towards organized sports but I don’t think that it’s really that noticeable to me,” says senior Dylan Nance. Starring the sports section, which is “very connected to the spirit of our school”, is just the norm.

Dylan continues to say, “the camaraderie of most of the students in the school is built around sports since they are the main fan base of the school. It can raise the spirit of the school when a sports team wins and can lower the spirit of the school when they lose.” Organized sports have large effects on the school population as a whole and may deserve this grand recognition.

However, other students express that sports are getting too much attention. It’s annoying to some that SPORTS is the only section in full color in print. Color on black-and-white draws the attention of the readers. More readers may be attracted to colored sections, leaving monochromatic sections unread.

(On a side note, all archived volumes of the Paw Print are available on the WBN website in full color, so the digital experience of readers isn’t affected by the color disparity.)

Regarding the print papers, sophomore Lily Vu says, “I personally think it’s unfair, although it’s not a big deal. All topics should have full color regardless of whether it’s in sports or academics.” Yaseen adds, “Wilsonville puts a lot of emphasis on sports and their success, but having color throughout the whole paper would be better to highlight the diverse student body we have.”

Besides the SPORTS section of the Paw Print, the front and back pages are also printed in color. These pages allow space for articles from other sections to colorfully capture readers’ attention. However, articles regarding organized sports appear on the front page on at least 11 out of 21 past volumes of the Paw Print, over fifty percent, of the time!

For the reasons of organized sports being given such grand importance in our school, senior Winston Tang says in protest, “Defund ASB!” ASB, the Associated Student Body, is often associated with the funding of athletics and school-based activities.

Ellie brings up a point that sports’ precedence might even be less representative of the school and more representative of the WBN-staff. “Is it their personal preference to have it colored?”

Maybe it’s time to think about the implications of only printing one section in color. “Personally I feel like all of the newspaper should be colored,” says Yaseen.

Lily says that printing sports in color reflects our community, which “values sports over academics.” To some students, this may feel like the other activities they partake in are being devalued.

“I’m sure it’s done to keep costs down,” notes senior Wesley Hur, “but maybe they could alternate which pages get color.”

It may be time that other sections, such as academics, opinions, arts, and student life, are given equal opportunities: in full color.