Junior sits on school board.

Byline: FACES AND PLACES by The Register-Guard

Name: Cara Ashworth

Age: 17

School: A junior at Willamette High School.

You might have seen her: ... if you've been to a Bethel School Board meeting this year. Cara is Willamette's student representative to the school board. While she can't vote, she sits at the table with the seven board members during their meetings and is invited to share her views.

Why she volunteered: "Publicity in this school is pretty rough, because people don't pay attention, and there were some changes to be made and I thought this might be a way to do that," says Ashworth, who had never attended a meeting before. "Student government doesn't really allow students to change the school much."

Priorities for change: School food is chief among them. "Most of it is just junk," she says. "It really doesn't follow the food pyramid. There's not much fruit at all, there's no cooked vegetables. ... It's mainly pizza, hamburgers, corn dogs. It's like the school isn't sending a very positive message on how you should eat." While the school has made improvements, such as ditching french fries, she'd like to see more variety in the salad bar and more vegetarian fare. "I don't think high school students fear greenery."

Why the interest in nutrition: While healthy foods were never forced on her, her vegetarian mother always ate well and had good food in the house. Ashworth recently became a vegetarian, and hopes to pursue a career as a registered dietitian. At Willamette, she's pursuing a Certificate of Advanced Mastery in health occupations.

Hometown: She grew up in Springfield and the Bethel neighborhood, attending Danebo Elementary and Shasta Middle School.

Family: Father, Mark Ashworth; mother, Lisa Mulvin; brother, Tony Mulvin.

Favorite classes: She likes them all, but anatomy and physiology is a favorite.

Some of her class sizes are too large, she said, but she hasn't noticed much of an impact from funding cuts.

School activities: She's on the Link Crew, a peer tutoring program that pairs upperclassmen with freshmen. She's also a member of National Honor Society, and played on the petaque team (it's a French ballgame). She's involved with the Gay-Straight Alliance club, and previously was on the debate team.

Best things about Willamette: The science department, the CAM program and the school's interest in promoting diversity and acceptance.

Worst: "I don't like how kids leave their trash everywhere. They don't respect school property."

Plans beyond school: She plans to go to college, perhaps in California.

Pastimes: She likes to read and draw, but doesn't have a lot of time. "I do school work." She also enjoys the films of Hayao Miyazaki.

Favorite music: Glam rock (the New York Dolls are a favorite), '20s swing and sound tracks.

Favorite book: "Alice in Wonderland"

Current reading: "Star Signs," a book on astrology and numerology by Linda Goodman.

Fashion sense: She loves fashion and has an eclectic, distinctive style: on a recent day, she wore a black, ruffled miniskirt over purple tights with blue leg warmers, platform sneakers and a black cardigan over a White Hot Odyssey T-shirt.

Someone she admires: Ramiko Takahashi, a popular Japanese artist who does "manga," a type of animation. "I really wanted to be a cartoonist before I wanted to be a nutritionist."

- Anne Williams