SCROLL Issue 3 Volume 87
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Staffers
Co-Editors in Chief
Shelby Alsted Carver Bartz Lynsey Borgen Fabiana Centeno Blake Christensen Caleb Cook McCayla Dahlberg Elise Dowler Caleb Enos Stephon Field Ryleigh Hayworth Caitlyn Hexamer Delanie Jackson Siara Kozeliski Cynthia Martinez Maddie Miller Joshua Sales Madison Stout Fallon Trenter Mayson Williams
Abby Folkerts Toni McPhee Elaina Rothmayer
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Wrestlers place in State Meet
Design Editor Alyssa Ayersman
Deville Dentis 2nd Place 138lbs
Copy Editor Nikki Grove
Social Media Editor Toni McPhee
Cover Model Jazzy Johnson
Matt Jordan 5th Place 132lbs
Adviser Natalie Niemeyer Principal Leslie Morris
DISTRICT EDUCATIONAL EQUALITY STATEMENT The Des Moines Public Schools prohibits discrimination in educational and employment programs and activities based on age, race, creed, color, sex, marital status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. In addition, the District prohibits acts of intolerance or harassment toward employees or students that are not related to the individual’s employment or education.
Brock Espalin 6th Place 126lbs
ADS POLICY Ads are available in quarter page, half page and full page sizes. Ad inquiries should be directed to Natalie Niemeyer at natalie.niemeyer@dmschools.org. The Scroll reserves the right to reject ads deemed not in the best interest of East students. The paper is printed by Wilcox Printing in Madrid, IA.
LETTER POLICY
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The Scroll welcomes letters but reserves the right to edit for space as needed. Outside contributions are subject to the usual restrictions of libel and obscenity and must conform to general paper policy, which is available upon request. Signed commentaries represent personal opinions, not views of the staff. Also, your letter needs to include your full name and grade. Unsigned letters can not be printed. You can deliver your letter to Natalie Niemeyer in room 3060N.
NOTE: All contents are the product of the EHS newspaper production staff. Occasional stories are contributed from the Journalism Intern program.
The Scroll is a public forum for student expression.
Table of Contents March 1, 2018 Aaliyah Williams’ journey through basketball
Teacher Karin Hansen: moving forward Who is Zero?
Students’ opinion on SRG at East High IHSSA explained
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Page Editor/ E. Rothmayer
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JALEN LONG SCARLETS NEW WIDE RECEIVER Walking onto a new field, with a new feel next season. Joining the East football team as a senior after transferring from Valley High School is junior Jalen Long. Long is going to be a great impact to the football team next season as a 6’2 210lbs Wide Receiver. Coming back to his home school, Long is looking forward to finishing out his high school years at East, and hoping to help lead the football team in the right direction.
Coach Schoon on Long
How does Jalen need to adjust to do to prepare for his senior season?
I think he just needs to get to know some of the guys he doesn’t know, good thing is, he does know a lot of the guys. He played with a lot of them in 8th grade. Just meeting new kids in class, and finding his way around the building and building new relationships with East people I think will help him adjust fairly quickly,” head coach Greg What made you want to transfer? “I wanted to transfer because Valley wasn’t the right Schoon said. After building bonds with his future teammates Long plans to lift and work much harder fit for me, and I needed to be around more of my this offseason. He also is interested in going to friends,” Long said. camps like The Opening by Nike, Iowa State camp and Iowa camp. What do you like about East so far?
“It’s a nice school, everybody is welcoming and people want me to be here and it feels like a better place to be.”
What are differences between Valley and East?
“There are more people of my color, and a better environment to be around and there’s a lot of nice people,” Long said.
Why are you glad Jalen was able to transfer?
“I’m glad we got a student with his type of character and discipline, him wanting to come back to East, makes me feel good that he has a good feeling about our coaches and staff and players that he’s going to join,” Schoon said. Long has always felt support from East’s players and coaches. Along with him living on the east side he knew this is where he
What goals do you have for next season?
“I want to help lead the team to the play-offs, I want to be an All State receiver and do anything I can to better the team.”
photo/contributed
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Page Editor/S. Field
Photo illustration / J. Sales
Our lives matter A story about the struggles of LGBT youth
S
story/J. Sales
photo of gay female Trisha Killen uicide is the second leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 24, LGBT youth are five times more likely to attempt suicide compared to their heterosexual peers. 1 out of 6 LGBT students (grade 9 – 12 Nationwide) strongly considered suicide in the past year. This needs to stop and the only way to do it by a more accepting public “Don’t let people’s words damage you, bcause you are far more beautiful then they will ever be,” gay male Caleb Enos said. The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights movement is a social movement fighting to gain fair and equal treatment of LGBT individuals Tthe movement started back in 1969 on June 28 at the stonewall inn in the Greenwich village neighborhood (a neighborhood with a sizable amount of LGBT individuals living there after WW1) of Manhattan, New York. LGBT Americans in the 1950’s and 60’s faced an “anti-gay legal system” with police constantly raiding LGBT safe spaces, on June 28 1969 the patrons in the bar fought back against the police showing violent demonstrations and sparked multiple activist groups for LGBT people to be open with no fear of being arrested for being a LGBT individual. “I’m an ally because there’s no reason not to be, I support my brothers and sisters in the LGBT community and they need support from nonLGBT people, because they deserve equality and need our help getting it,” ally Zack Kuehler said Allies are so important when it comes to support because in most legal and political places there are
ts uden t s t f lgb bally o % 63.9 een ver gender b have ed do to ss hrar ssion e expr
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not many LGBT individuals. allies are important to keep laws being made and allies are also important to stand up for us in public situations. Allies help give LGBT confidence and a safe feeling
“Don’t let people’s words damage you, because you are far more beautiful then they will ever be.” “When I came out people said things like you’ve never been serious with a girl and now your gonna say your gay, or just like offensive things like they’d wanna see me kiss a girl cause that’d be hot,” pansexual female Ellie Kuehuler said Kuehuler falls under the + in the lgbtqia+ Pageis community, being pansexual. Pansexuality the sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction to someone regardless of their sex or gender. There are many other sexualities other then lesbian, gay, and bisexual “I deal with discrimination by ignoring it and if it goes to far i’ll clear the air about who I am,” said Kuehuler because
The truth on the lgbt youth
some people don’t believe in pansexuality “I support the movement (LGBT movment ) by being a safe space for people and accepting others the way they are, it’s important to me because it affects my rights,” gay female Kathy Le said 71.3 percent of LGBT students hear homophobic remarks like “fag”, “faggot”, and “dyke” every day and 6 out of 10 feel unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation. This isn’t okay, we need to gain more ally’s and the only way to do that is to teach people and hopefully LGBT individuals will do this. “People who don’t accept the community and want to discriminate against us, I just be myself because that’s all you can really do (to stand up to them), just because they’re not happy because everyone is treated equal then that’s their fault they can’t change with the times,” Enos said This is true one of the best things you can do to stand up to people is be yourself and educate people who don’t know times are changing we are moving forward and it is getting better and this movement will not be stopped. People my say you’re wrong, gross, disgusting, or weird but educate them on why you’re not. “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you Editor/T. McPhee gonna love somebody else?” RuPaul Charles said. LGBT youth are two times as likely to feel sad or hopeless, and are three times more likely to experience a mental health condition. One of the best things to do is to be open, and happy with yourself, this takes time, but it’s the best feeling being true to yourself, so you better werk .
BT G L 10 l al f o fee sexu t u s 6 o dent o to d stu safe ion un entat ori
81.9% o stude f lgbt n haras ts verbally se sexua d do to l orie ntatio n
Page Editor/ J. sales
They need a voice Students all over the world struggle to love school because of their constant struggles in the classroom Story/M. Miller Have you ever sat in a classroom with your hand up in frustration but multiple people in line in front of you waiting for help? Imagine being a kid with special needs or a student who struggles in the classroom. You’re completely lost with no resources to help you. Many parents sit in a hard spot because their student is falling behind in class but there’s no one to help them and a lack of resources. The class sizes are a big part of this problem when there is a class close to 30 students and only one teacher. Therefore only so many students can be helped and successful in that class period. These problems are happening all around the nation at every grade level. There are resources available for students, but not enough staff or money. As these students get older the resources decrease and are harder to provide for those that are in need causing more students to want to drop out. This topic is not only a close topic to me because my siblings are one of many of the kids that this affects, but as a student every day as I sit in my classes. I look around and there are always kids that sit and struggle, but never get help. Every day they fall behind more and more in class and many others could say the same. I have a sister that is in seventh grade
and has very bad anxiety. She struggles to comprehend the context that they are handed and the obstacle she is faced with. The struggle with my sister is that she may like any normal kid on the outside but on the inside, she isn’t like everyone else she over thinks everything and can’t process the learning like others. Kids that show struggle’s take a special test that will show whether they will be provided
She may be like any normal kid on the outside but on the inside, she isn’t like everyone else. with the help they need or not accepted into programs that will help them get one on one help. Here is how it works, it’s like a scale on one side it’s where the kids that don’t struggles. On the other side, there’s the kids that extremely struggle. Then in the middle sit the students that get some of the things but do not understand
These words Don’t Define Me
These Words Hurt Loving Is Always Better Than
Hating
other things so they don’t struggle as bad as some students but still needs one on one help that they aren’t always provided. Unfortunately, that is where my little sister falls and it’s hard to see her struggle and when parents look at their kid’s homework or work they didn’t finish and don’t understand it can be hard to help their kids. On the other hand, there is my little brother he struggles in math a lot and he is one of the very few that was provided with one on one help. Many people look at that little percent of kids that don’t get the help they need, but never realize how many kids that little percent truly stands for. Someone needs to stand up for those that don’t have a voice and don’t know how to get the help they deserve, someone has got to pick them up and help them succeed and understand so they can go on to do something. There are a few ways that this problem can be solved. One way is we make it a priority to have money so we can provide jobs for people that specialize in these problems or try making classes smaller so that kids can get help and still feel “normal .’’One last solution is to have another teacher that can help kids get the help they need.
Useless Alone LOST Special Pointless DifferentWorthless Broken Mistaken Falling
Weird
Misunderstood
Ugly
Labeled
Sad
Disappointment Stupid Hurt Abandon
Treat Me Like You Treat Others
Photo/M. Miller
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Page Editor/M.Miller
Shooting Hoops with Aaliyah Williams Story/ R. Hayworth It was the day before the first game of the season, and freshman basketball player Aaliyah Williams still did not know whether she would be playing varsity. Williams comes from a basketball-oriented family. Both of her parents played varsity all four years of high school, so it came as no surprise when her basketball coach called her over after practice, and gave her the news. “Liyah, you’re playing varsity tomorrow.” “I was really young, and my dad claims he saw potential in me, so he put me in a couple Christian leagues and I’ve played ever since,” Williams said. Williams grew up in Des Moines, just like her parents. Her mom went to East for freshman year, and then transferred to Roosevelt, where she met Williams’ dad. Currently, her dad coaches a team called the Iowa Battlers. Williams started playing basketball when she was five years old, and has loved it ever since. She has been playing in the East program since she was in fourth grade. “After a while it (basketball) gets tiring and it’s very time consuming. You have to be really dedicated,” Williams said. Williams plays basketball almost year-round. During the summer she plays AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball for Kingdom Hoops, and the past two years she has been asked to play on a team for Nationals in Oklahoma. She got to meet 11-time NCAA Women’s Basketball National Champion Geno Auriemma, the head women’s basketball coach for the University of Connecticut. Her favorite part of basketball is how it takes her across the country and introduces her to new people. “I don’t really have an off-season, because once school basketball is over, track starts. And also, AAU begins when school ball ends,” Williams said. This season for East, she is playing four quarters varsity and two quarters junior varsity each game night. She said that when she is playing varsity, she is held to a higher standard, and when she is playing junior varsity, she has a little more control. Shooting is her self-proclaimed best basketball skill. It seems that Williams’ time is well occupied
by basketball, but that is not her only sport. “She has more confidence playing at the varsity level and is less nervous in games. Aaliyah has also become more knowledgeable of the game and is beginning to understand her role and how she affects both Varsity and Junior Varsity. She still has a ways to go but right now we are happy with the progress that she has made,” assistant coach Samisha Powell said. Basketball is a difficult sport to be involved in. The varsity and junior varsity teams have practice every Monday and Thursday with games on Tuesdays and Fridays. Practices are long and consist of many things, including conditioning drills, shooting drills, and going over set plays and offenses. “She is a leader on the basketball court, always giving it her all and doing her best,” JV basketball player Hannah Oleson said. Like most high school students, Williams has yet to figure out what she is doing after high school, but she hopes that basketball is a part of it. She hopes to earn a scholarship to a college with her basketball talent, but she does not care to which college, though she said she has always loved the University of North Carolina. For now, she strives to be the best student, basketball player, and person that she can be. “It’s like anything you wanna be good at, you have to put in the work for the outcome you’re expecting or yearning for,” Williams said.
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She is a leader on the basketball court, always giving it her all and doing her best. Photo/ MK. Walling
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-Hannah Oleson Photo/ Contributed
Page Editor/ R. Hayworth
Life & basketball
photo/ M. Walling
with Devante Witherspoon Great classmate, varsity basketball player, funny guy, and a rapper on the side. All of these things describe Junior guard Devante Witherspoon, playing his third year of basketball here at East. story/ C. Cook
When did you start playing? didn’t start playing basketball until about three years ago. My brother, had played basketball, and he got arrested, so then I just thought that I would play too. I
What motivates you to play hard? Just the fact that there’s always somebody I know that’s going to be better than me.
How do you feel the team is has done this year compared to last year?
Devante Witherspoon brings the ball up the court in the Scarlets’ season opener against Mason City. Witherspoon, a junior, is looking to take the lessons learned this season and translate them to success next season. “We’ve made progression in some areas, we play more as a team this year,” Witherspoon said
We’ve made progression in some areas. We play more as a team this year, and it might not be showing in the win column or anything, but it shows on the floor and just how we act as an overall team.
What do you think is the future for this team?
How have the lessons you’ve learned on the court shaped you off the court?
We’ve got a lot of young talent, a couple freshman we have that are really good. We have a good platform for the future, and that’s good.
What do you think about the changes Coach Core has made?
Who have been your biggest role models/ mentors in your time playing basketball?
Well, on a basketball court, there’s going time be things that don’t go your way all the time, might be a bad call here, a whistle there, and you kind of just have to play through it, like in life, there’s things you have to do that you have no control over, that you’re just going have to live with.
I feel like they’re good changes, he’s getting us into a mindset, that even though we’re not winning, he’s putting us into a winning mentality, and putting us in situations where we kind of just have to think positive. He’s getting rid of a lot of negative thinking, which I think is great.
Bagot (Anyang) has been probably one of the biggest influences on me, because he’s the type of player that can be funny and stuff off the court, but as soon as he steps on the court his whole mindset changes, and that’s something I kind of look up to. He’s just a cool dude to be around.
What has been your biggest accoplishment on the court?
This year, I started off the season starting, and that’s always something I’ve wanted to do, see how it feels to start on the varsity team. I don’t start anymore, but I still get [playing time].
Devante Witherspoon by the numbers
7.8 1.1 2.7 #23 points per game
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steals per game
rebounds per game
Page Editor/ C. Cook
Karin Hansen
EHS English teacher’s journey through life
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story/ F. Centeno cup of black coffee and graded assignments with yellow happy stickers on the right corner of the paper for those who earned an A. Once the students walk start into class there’s screaming and yelling with a mix of laughter and loudness. Is this any way for an English teacher to act? Meet Karin Hansen who has the loudest laugh and makes fun of her students in a playful way. Who also acts like a friend to many students and acts like a 26-year-old teenager. “I seriously love this job. I don’t cry often, but when I do, it’s because I have so much passion for this place and my students. They’re frickin incredible. My students, past and present are the best parts of my life,” Karin Hansen said. Growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, Hansen grew up with parents who were extremely supportive and she was very focused on sports. She was involved in volleyball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse and golf. She was also involved in a lot of outdoor activities such as camping and hiking. One of her favorite childhood memories is going
to Camp Randall to watch the Wisconsin Badgers or to “The Frozen Tundra” also known as Lambeau Field to watch the Green Bay Packers. “I had a very pleasant surprise once I got to Des Moines. I love the small town yet city feel. The Midwest is the best,” Hansen said. Once she started her journey in Des Moines she
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I’m a happier, stronger woman without that toxicity and I know what I want in future relationships - Karin Hansen
originally didn’t want to be an English teacher. She claimed she hated it and went to college to become a veterinarian. When she finally realized she wanted to become a teacher, it’s because she says she’s super immature, kids are cooler than adults and
‘Energetic, caring,very into her job, kid at heart, she’s my best friend,”English teacher Lacy Anderson said. Hansen would buy presents for any reason, when shes stressed, Christmas, for any reason.
Lacy Anderson
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understand her sense of humor than most adults. She loves coming to work because of her friendships with her students. “I like that she’s loud and always excited,” sophomore Paulina Hernandez said. Hernandez isn’t the only student Hansen has that appreciates her personality. “She is very happy, outgoing and easy to talk
to. She makes me happy,” sophomore Alicia Solis said. Her advice to someone who wants to teach is that it’s amazing, rewarding and exhausting. It’s worth it but takes a lot of passion, energy, time and dedication. Hansen’s enthusiasm to teaching is
something you don’t see in a lot of teachers but she had to overcome conflicts. Hansen went through a divorce that she felt changed her for good. “I realized how much strength and power I have. [I] was in a relationship with someone who only cared about his occupation and failed to understand why I loved mine so much. I knew that I deserved better and that the exhaustion and sadness and loneliness he caused me wasn’t going to be short-term thing while he finished med school. He was in a relationship with medical school; and I had to have the strength and courage to not settle for such a relationship. I’m a happier, stronger woman without that toxicity and I know what I want in future relationships,” Hansen said. She plans to focus more on her life. She started chilling with her dog more, read nightly, writing daily and she started grad school. Focusing on things that mean to her. Her advice to anyone who is going through a divorce is to never settle and always be grateful for people that support you. “Don’t settle for abusive
“THE SOUTH WING SISTERS” describe Karin Hansen “She’s trustworthy, honest and uplifting,” Englis teacher Michelle Ritchie said. Her best memory is dressing up like the spice girls for homecoming and dancing.
Michelle Ritchie
photo/ F. Centeno
relationships because they seem healthy from the outside. Many people look at my relationship with jealousy because of my ex’s occupation and future salary, but didn’t consider its effect on me or my relationship. Money isn’t happiness and I can say with 100% honesty now,” Hansen said. Hansen has been through a lot throughout her divorce and always have advice for people who are going through this conflict. “Having a happy life is to have many positive relationships! So, stay strong! Build a support network! And Persist! Know your worth,” Hansen said. Hansen is an amazing teacher, she really connects with the students and understands them. She’s a type of teacher you can be yourself and joke around with. She is seen as a close friend to many students. “Keep caring for others because when you boil everything downlove is the only thing that matters,” Hansen said.
“She’s funny, outgoing and generous,” English teacher Shawna Green said. one of her favorite memories is dressing up unicorn onesies for homecoming week.
Shawna Green Page Editor/F. Centeno
Q+A with Kayla O’Connor A behind the scenes look at this East High School teacher
story/ C. Martinez East High School teacher, cheer coach, poet, 515 movement advisor, daughter, sister, former Grandview University student, friend, and mentor. These are all roles that East High School FCS teacher Kayla O’Connor fills in her everyday life. O’Connor strives to be the best version of all these every day. What is your favorite memory at East and why? O’Connor’s favorite memory was when she did the lip sync contest as Drake and sang Hotline Bling. What are your likes and dislikes about East? O’Connor’s likes are the students and how there is no competition between them. Some of her dislikes are the funding and staff. “We have a lot of teachers who don’t know how to work with students of color,” O’Connor said. What other jobs were you considering? Why? O’Connor’s mom had wanted her to be a lawyer. She thought about a news anchor, hair stylist, and she did have her own cleaning business in college. Her HS teacher inspired her. “I had a ‘That’s So Raven’ moment,” O’Connor said. What year did you graduate high school and how was high school different than today? She graduated in 2007. When she was in high school she only had 36 students in her whole class. It took four towns to gather the 36 students. There were no African Americans. There wasn’t a lot of social media. “It was so boring, like, scratch your eyes out boring,” O’Connor said. What was it like growing up? O’Connor grew up in a small town. Her family didn’t have a lot of money. Tell us about yourself as a spoken word poet O’Connor is a comedic spoken word poet. She’s written a poem about her “tragic dating life,” “Shit students say,” O’Connor said. Tell us about your family Her parents are still together and have been together since seventh grade. Her brother is 20 years old. Her sister is 27 and she is 28. O’Connor’s extended family is crazy. Do you want any children? Why or why not? O’Connor does want children. She wants three to five children. “No more than five,” O’Connor said.
photo/ D. Brown Movement 515 advisor Kayla O’Connor posing in front of student art. Ever since she’s been involved in movement 515 she’s been able to open up as a person.
“I couldn’t imagine working at another school.
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Page Editor/C. Martinez
Photos/ S. Alsted
S L elf
Story/ S. Alsted You may ask yourself, what is self love? Why is it so important, why would I need it? Self love is a very important step in finding yourself, it helps you find companionship, self love can even make you a happier more confident version of you. Self love is defined by the dictionary as the instinct by which one’s actions are directed to the promotion of one’s own welfare or well-being. “Self love is accepting who you are and who you are not, accepting your flaws and that you are beautiful on the inside and out. You don’t need to rely on others to tell you, you just know that deep down in your heart that that’s who you are, and that you are beautiful,” senior Macey Jenkins said.
ove
Self love to me is excepting you for who you are, loving yourself to the extent that you know your worth and what you deserve. I believe that self love is very important, especially for young women and men. From personal experience loving yourself is a major key to success, when you love yourself you know your worth and what’s best for you and I believe that 100 percent. When I began to focus on myself and learned to love who I am as an individual, I saw more clearly who was bringing me down and what I needed to do to be happy and successful. The difference between being conceited and loving yourself is clear, the definition of conceited in the dictionary is, excessively proud of oneself; vain. Conceited is being arrogant, rude, stuck up, and the polar opposite of self love. Self love comes from a growth of oneself, not from a place of self-centeredness. Jazzy Johnson is a junior at East High, you could call her a self love advocate. When thinking of self love, Jazzy is for sure one of the first students to come to mind. Johnson is a very outspoken, confident, young woman who a lot of other young women and men look up to. Self love to Johnson is just knowing that you’re beautiful and to not care about what anyone else thinks of it. Her advice for other young women and men who are learning to love themselves is to just simply do what makes you happy. “People are haters, and if you love yourself you won’t care about what anyone else says and will just do whatever makes you happy no matter what other people’s opinion is,” Johnson said. Kayla O’Connor is a Health and Relationships teacher and has been for seven years. O’Connor is also the advisor of Movement 515, a poetry/spoken word group throughout all DMPS schools. She is seen as a poet mentor. O’Connor is a very loud, unapologetic, opinionated, confident woman who you could call the epitome of self love. O’Connor’s definition of self love was having positive feelings about who you are as a person. Self love was said to be important in her opinion because it is the first step towards accepting love from anyone else. She stated that in order to love anyone else or to accept love from anyone else you have to at least like or love who you are as a person. She also talked about how she believes it helps a lot with confidence, that people with confidence are less likely to fall into negative patterns, and peer pressure because they are confident in who they are as a person. “Self love is like a pre-requisite, you cannot take Algebra II without taking Algebra I. Just like you can’t accept love from anyone or give love properly without knowing how to love yourself,” O’Connor said.
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Page Editor/S. Alsted
B Pernicious xpression E
ringing toxic relationships to light
Story/ S. Kozeliski
Self- doubt can paint a distorted self-portrait. The toxicity that often singes the mouth and leaves an overwhelming bitter taste afterwards. It can be simply summarized into one word: betrayal. Deceived by perspective and blinded by empty affection. The clean complexity of the situation coerces it’s victims with violent highs and lows with remnants leaving them achingly disoriented. The most transparent words gain trust yet delivers an absolute destruction. The high that puts you on a pedestal and a low so full of resentment. Excuses begin to consume your life. And yet, you don’t even realize it. No one deserves to be blinded by toxic relationships. “I’ve learned not to attach myself so easily. I have an issue with trying to see the good in everyone, and it never does anything but hurt me in the end,” junior Danielle O’Connor said. Relationships, whether it be with either a friend, family member, or significant other, are meant to be mutually and equally helpful. Without this mutual support, relationships can crumble along with your mental health. There’s
no point in maintaining a relationship that fails to recognize you as a person. “I really don’t think that there’s anything that anyone could have said or done to help me. I knew what was going on, I just didn’t want to believe it,” junior Danielle O’Connor said. Teens are impressionable and aren’t nearly fully
“
When I finally left him,
relief
I felt for the first time in a very long time.” -Danielle O’Connor developed in decision making or emotions. Therefore, they often have trouble with figuring out what to do. Teens may even find it common to be in these relationships as they might see it as a normality. It’s important to create a strong distinction between healthy and abusive relationships. “I think it’s hard to recognize manipulation because people will do things to make you trust them and become attached. After they have you hooked, they hurt you and then promise that
In the,United States, almost half of all women and men have experienced mental abuse by their significant other.
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they’ll never do it again and you believe them constantly. When I finally left him, I felt relief for the first time in a very long time,” junior Danielle O’Connor said. Although, even after the realization, it can be hard to break apart from said relationships. People often still care about these people or are in a rough
spot. Manipulation is often the reason behind this. It’s essential to try and see past their words. “Toxic relationships are not only hard on the person in the relationship, but friends in their lives. They are never in a good mood, always upset, and a lot of the time you are never able to hang out with them without their significant other being mad,” junior Arminda Neppl said. Not only do toxic relationships affect the person directly, it can also take a toll on friendships.
1 in 10 high school students have experienced physical violence in the past year.
No one is happy and everyone accumulates pent up frustration. It may not be fair to either, but it’s hard to really do anything without offending the friend with a toxic relationship. “Toxic relationships are so prevalent in high school because you think that you are in love with that person, and you think you will be with them for the rest of your life. When in reality, that’s probably not the case. You try to make it work so you can still be with that person, even if it’s not meant to be,” junior Arminda Neppl said. “They kept pushing me away from them and saying bad things about me behind my back and made me feel less than them,” sophomore Caroly Coronado- Vargas said. Toxic relationships aren’t only related to romantic relationships; they’re also very common in friendships. People tend to believe that friendships are too valuable leave, but no mistreatment should be allowed. Friends should be your support system. Everyone you involve yourself with should be supportive. No one should be chained to a toxic relationship.
More than half of all college students report that it is difficult to identify dating abuse.
Page Editor/S. Kozeliski
Introducing JJ Emunah talent as he sprays through his journey of becoming a graffiti artists Story/ T. McPhee Art/ J. Emunah
From sketching designs on notebook paper to fill free time in class to freehanding graffiti murals on the walls of local Des Moines building is East High school junior JJ Emunah. In school some may describe Emunah as quiet and hardworking but on the outside of the walls of East High he is an artist full of creativity. Emunah or as other artist may call him, Zero, has been doing graffiti for years at the Des Moines Social Club but his talents do not end at the doors of the Social Club.
“I believe if you don’t already go down to the Social Club, it can really get you out there.”
Tell me a little about yourself? “For fun obviously I like to do art, graffiti, stuff around that. My favorite thing to do is a lot of murals around Des Moines.You meet so many new people and get so many new opportunities. How did you get involved with doing graffiti? A long time ago I used to draw a lot in my notebook and stuff. Ever since middle school I’ve been drawing on my notebook for class. One day Ms. O’Connor recognized that and she took me downtown to the this place called the social club where they have different groups that do stuff, she brought me into the art program and ever since I have been in it,” Emunah said.
Photo/ T. McPhee
Page Editor/ T. McPhee
12 page Page Editor/ T. McPhee
Was there anyone who has inspired you to continue graffiti? “My mentor which his graph name is Phate, he is the person who runs the art group at the Social Club. As
I kept doing graffiti he introduced me to people Des Moines and around the whole entire country that were his mentors. So was able to meet people from California. I was able to meet one of the first people in Des Moines to ever do graffiti. I met a lot of people through that. All that inspired me to do more. Now i do digital art also, it just kept going on,” Emunah said. What doors has doing graffiti opened for you? For now I’m staying local but in incoming years I will be traveling. I did have opportunities to travel, but I decided to stay, but it also gave me opportunities to be in competitions against other graffiti artist around the country. They would come here and compete against me and two other people, and the then there was the other group in this competition called Secret Walls, which is a very popular no paper no pencil sketch. You just go up with a paint marker and you draw for one hour. Whoever has the most amount of claps wins a money prize,” Emunah said. Have you won any other awards have you received? “Our Most memorable being the murals behind Central Campus” artist and partner Kenny Tran said. Emunah has also won the Secret Walls competition and has won first place for hand control art award which is progressing with your hand control and how much pressure to give out. Do you plan on continue doing graffiti after High School? “I have a job in mind. I really like art and cars together so I want to do something like painting cars. Giving art to cars. I believe if you don’t already go down to the Social Club, it can really get you out there,”Emunah said
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Color Guard
photo/C.Hexamer
Photo/K. Peterson
photo/C.Hexamer
Photo/C.Hexamer
More than just a team
Spinning their way to the top is the East High Color Guard team. In between performances there are team meetings to keep the team close. Team Captains are senior Tina Spears-Pennman and senior Tatum Hochmuth. Also on the team is junior Kasie Stalkup, Sophomore Kelsey Reiter(not pictured), sophomore Caitlin Hexamer, freshman Ashlyn Forget, and freshman Ashley Safley.
Story/ C.Hexamer “5, 6, 7, 8” is the most repeated sentence in color guard. Whether it’s between warmups or the routines, this sequence helps the team look like one but still stick out compared to the dance and cheer leading teams. “Color guard is a sport. It’s flag, rifle, and sabre spinning mixed with marching and dancing. You don’t need dance experience, just a positive attitude and a will to learn,” senior captain Tatum Hochmuth said. When someone joins color guard they are joining a family, a family that sticks together. In this family the whole team has strengths and weaknesses but by working together they are hard to spot. Some people are really good at tosses while other people are really good at dancing. “I was scared. I was nervous that I couldn’t do it and that I wouldn’t make friends. Now I have become friends with everyone and I realized that I can do it no matter what,” Hochmuth said. The first thing someone will learn in color guard is footing. The footing is similar to ballet. Then they will learn how to use the equipment. There are three pieces of equipment that can be spun, tossed, and many other things: instrument number one, a flag. Flags are used by everyone on color guard they are the first thing someone learns to use after being taught how to move their feet. Next is the rifle. After being taught flags a person learns rifles. Most people with the rifles have been on the team for a while. Last but not least is the sabre (pronounced say-ber) they are rarely used because they are similar to rifles but harder to learn. “I love color guard simply because it’s a fun activity. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment once you learn new skills and advance on the equipment.
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It’s also great watching students evolve on the team, and the sense of pride once they recognize their improvement. I’ve also made my closest friends while I was on the team...It just feels like a big family, “ alumni and coach Madi Williams said. Once you join the color guard family you see each other a lot. There are many practices especially in November leading up to ISDTA State, the biggest competition that East Color Guard performs in. Practices are very serious and consist of lots of hard work. “Practice usually starts with stretching and a warm-up with the flags and rifles. Then, if there’s new work to learn, the team learns choreography for whatever performance is coming up. For the fall, they learn new choreography for every home football game halftime. For our winter season, they learn one performance for our biggest event of the year: ISDTA State competition. Once the choreography is taught, we run through the performance as many times as possible to clean the work up and make any necessary adjustments, “ Williams said. Try outs are April 23-26 during that time the girls who are already in color guard will be doing workshops to help the girls learn. During those three days we will work on skills and drills to build trust and show the potential new members what it’s like to be in color guard. “I feel the expectations are high and not a lot of girls meet them unfortunately. As a member you should hold yourself high because you are the face of the school. And some choices are not very well thought out,” Hochmuth said. As a school sport team, the color guard is the face of the school. East high’s color guard has
had ups and downs there have been a couple times where it has been disbanded in some other schools. Being the face of East High is not easy. Color guard girls are expected to do their best but also have fun. “The expectations for the color guard are just like any other team: have good character, show up, commit to the team, and always put your best effort into the work,” Williams said. Color guard performs at many times throughout the year. During the winter it becomes winter guard and the practices become focused on ISDTA state, learning and perfecting the routine which is planned by the coach. Winter guard is November and December this year state was on December 1 for East High color guard and steppers. “Routines start with the counts; once I figure out how many counts are in the music I usually move on to writing drill spots for the show. It isn’t until after that foundation is laid out that I start to write the choreography. It’s important to keep in mind the general effect you want the show to have; the highs and lows in the music, the theme, and the different levels of skill the team has, “ Williams said. After the routine is planned the coach Williams starts to teach the routine slowly first the flag work which takes a couple days-weeks, then they move to learning the flag work to the music. Practices are long and very often. “There aren’t necessarily any “rules” for guard. At competition it’s all about the judge, it’s completely objective, “ Williams said. Color guard practices are very important especially in the winter season for state. Practices normally last a couple hour and the girls work hard with few breaks some practices closer to state will last from 6:30-9:30. “It is a team/family, “ senior captain Tina Spears-Penman said.
photo illustration/E.Coll
Page Editor/C.Hexamer
The poets behind the Movement The poetry group that Runs DSM. photo/N.Niemeyer
Every seat is filled to the brim, each squad yelling chants “Everyone in the 515 put your hands up high, we’re about to get live!” Hands swinging along with the “Hey’s and Ho’s” .Hyping everyone up, the empty stage looks like a black box, the anticipation of wondering who’s going to spit hotness next, you hear the footsteps but can’t see who they belong to. You jump out of your seat as the spotlight hits who’s on stage. The poet on stage is getting ready to be free takes a deep breath and then spits some hot fire. “Movement 515 is a second family,” Movement 515’s East’s squad, member Kiara Warner said. 515 is filled with great people, who will always be ready to listen to what you’ve got to say and value your thoughts/opinions. Warner performs to share her story and tell her truth. Performing helps her with expressing her feelings and opinions. Movement 515 is a poetry group spread all over Des Moines Public
East poets taking the stage for a group piece at the Temple for performing Arts on Nov.10,2017. Schools. They have finally spread to Scavo Alternative School. Their mission for the poetry group is to support and empower students on their journey to becoming community- based activists, providing them a platform to be heard. As well their vision is to shift the perception of youth by fighting illit-
count on,”Warnersaid. At East, teachers Kayla O’Connor and Kortny Williamson are the poet mentors for the group. The group ranges from freshmen to seniors. Your color doesn’t matter, the only thing that does is your pieces that you spit. Nine poets take the stage in O’Connor’s
Rollins and his wife Emily Lang gets down with us along with Words Taylor. You walk into the room they have booked for 515 a filled room full of nothing but love. “O’Connor and I don’t really have a say,” Williamson said of students having total creative freendom The squad members get the say of what poet gets to take the stage, they only intervene when they feel like a poet isn’t ready to spit yet. The 515 gives students the voice and stage to express themselves over things they may not control. “ E m p o w ered because I can give my message to other people”. Poet Tiembra Dantzler said. Practicing a lot and doing many breathing exercises is how Dantzler prepares herself for performing.
“ A second family.” - Kiara Warner
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eracy, discrimination, and silence, allowing them a greater part in the conversation for change. School movement started September 5 2017 this year. Movement gives people a platform to have their voices heard and to express their opinions. “To me, 515 is like a second family you can always
room with a loving boyfriend in the audience. Every Tuesday they get down to whatever they have been working on to make it ready for a show or just to make it better. Wednesday are even better by a long shot every school squad comes and gets down at the social club downtown. At the Social Club the Co-founders Kristopher
515 by the numbers
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Page Editor/M.Dahlberg
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Story / L. Borgen
Times are changing. And I’m not just talking about a new day and age, I’m talking about school start times. Everyone welcomes extra sleep with open arms, and we have all at one point complained about getting up early for school. But what if you had to get out of school at a later time than before just to get one more hour of sleep? You already know you will use that extra hour of sleep to stay up later the next night. Overall, switching school start times for the 2018-2019 year will not fix everything the district is trying to fix, like the gaps of times between after school activities and students getting enough sleep. There are multiple problems that will arise as a result of the new school start times. Although DMPS feels that they have solved their issues, but they haven’t. First of all, because of the fact that elementary schools will get out of school before high school, some students that attend high school would not be able to give their younger siblings rides home from school in the afternoon when their parents at
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work. Since elementary schools are starting earlier than high school, the students that have to drive their younger students to school in the mornings would still have to get up early in order to get their siblings to school on time, which ruins the whole point of sleeping in for an extra hour or so. Students in high school who participate in extracurricular activities will face negative effects from the start times being later in the morning and the afternoon. For instance, the coach for girls swimming is also an elementary school teacher. Because of the fact that high students will be starting the school day off later than elementary school, the athletes who participate in this sport will still have to adjust their new schedule around the earlier schedule of their coach so that they can work around the coaches travel time and start time of the school she works at. With that, there’s also the trouble with after school swim practice, the same coach will have to struggle to get out of her school on time to make it to the high students practice to
be able to coach the team. And she is not the only coach who might struggle to arrange their primary work schedules along with the new school start times. There are other coaches at East that will struggle to work around their fulltime schedules and their coaching schedules. Students will have to either adjust to a new head coach, or the assistant coach will have to fill in while they wait for the head coach to get there in time. This not only accounts for sports, it also hurts many extracurricular activities. Along with the clashing times for coaches and leaders, students will not be able to have very much time to get ready for their activities after class gets out at the end of the day. If a meet starts at 4:30, students won’t have enough time to grab dinner before going to the game. DMPS has commented on every aspect of this change. “Practices and rehearsals for extracurricular activities will be adjusted to reflect the new school hours. Because many high school activities currently do not begin until later in the afternoon, the
“time gap” between the dismissal of school and the start of practices will be lessened or eliminated.” This is how administrators explain dealing with the time between activities and school hours. With the old school hours students barely had enough time to get prepared for their activities, whether it was time needed to change, make plans for meeting spots, travel, or all of the above. But now, with the fact DMPS is trying to get rid of the gap in time between class and extracurricular activities, there’s no time to take a break or get prepared for the next activities. Along with all of these things, students will have to adjust their own work schedules around the new school schedule, and although that might not seem like such a big deal, students that participate in extracurricular activities will have to choose one over the other when it comes to work and activities. Overall, there are many reasons I believe that DMPS could have come up with better ways to fix the problems within our district.
Current school hours: Elementary group 1: 8:15a.m. - 3:10p.m. Elementary group 2: 8:45a.m. - 3:40p.m. Middle school: 7:45a.m - 2:40p.m. New school hours:
All elementary schools & smouse: 7:30a.m. - 2:25p.m. Middle School & Van Meter: 8:30a.m. - 3:25p.m. High school: 8:25a.m. - 3:25p.m.
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Smouse & Van Meter: 8:15a.m. - 3:10p.m. High school: 7:40a.m. - 2:40p.m.
Page Editor/L. Borgen
Surprising time changes for DMPS Story By Blake Christensen
If you’ve been waiting for East High to change what time school starts, Then you’re in luck. Recently DMPS (Des Moines Public Schools) has announced that they will be changing the start times in their schools from 7:40 to 8:25. The change is said to be because of the sleep patterns of students, and how this change will help children and teens alike. The start time changes will most likely start to be in effect in the 2018-2019 school year. “The new start time affects me by giving me more time to sleep and making sure I get to class on time but negatively affects me because I hate getting out later and I’d much rather get out early and now I have to change my work availability,” junior Nolan Schooley said. Ever since early October, DMPS made a chart for what the new start times would turn into to, they are very passionate about this new change to the district and for good reason. This way, DMPS is showing that they are putting the health and education of their students as their main focus. In fact, studies are showing that after puberty, students have healthier sleep when they fall asleep later and
8:25a.m.-3:25p.m.
This will be the new and improved high school schedule for the 20182019 school year page / 17
wake up later. Other than falling asleep early and waking up at around six in the morning. “I think they’re changing it because kids are late a lot and they think it will fix it and studies show that it helps sleeping in later,” Schooley said. Students who are older tend to get healthier
photos/contributed
“I think that DMPS should just keep the times the way they are now and not change them its fine. It’s the kids fault and it will mess up parent’s schedules,” Schooley said. Nolan is somewhat true here. Regardless of what the times are now, students should still try and get to school on time every day. But this new “The new start time affects me by giving me more time to sleep time will make doing just that extremely easier. “The new start time will affect me by and making sure I get to class allowing me more time to sleep and get rest. on time but negatively affects It will also allow me to be well prepared in me because I hate getting out the morning, such as always eating breakfast later and I’d much rather get out and not rushing to school,” Joe Ramsey said. However, there are some cons to this new early. Now I have to change my start time from Des Moines Public Schools. work availability,” junior Nolan “It will negatively affect me by causing me to Schooley said. have to quit or change my availability for work by finishing school/practice later,” Ramsey said. sleep when they fall asleep later at night and This is also true; this new time change will wake up later in the morning (typically, around make students adapt to the new times and 8). But pre-pubescent children have shown to try to change time for the workplace as well. have better sleep when they fall asleep earlier in With all of this time change happening in the night and wake up earlier. This statistic alone DMPS, there are certainly some pros and somecs has shown to be the complete opposite of what cons to this topic and it will be a very interesting the current start times are throughout DMPS. change to the school environment as a whole.
Sticking to the facts Transportation Due to the new start Sleep patterns times, the budget will Research shows that teens get better sleep when they go to sleep early and wake up later
increase due to need for charter busses for after school activities Page Editor/B. Christensen
A Note To DMPS DMPS students are not leaving highschool prepared for college Story/D.Jackson
The graduation rate in Des Moines Public Schools has schools because they know it’s easy to pass a class with an A. To pass a class gone from 72.68 percent to 81.16 percent between 2011- 2016. all students have to do is show up and be able to breathe. It’s harder to fail Although this may seem that students are improving this is very a class because you actually have to try to fail. With SRG students have no misleading. The graduation rate is improving but kids learning deadlines and can retake a test as many times as they want. This does not is not improving. Students have not become more dedicated to help students prepare for college. school over the years the standards have just dropped. Years ago Transfer students usually realize that they already learned everything the district actually held kids accountable for their school work, that we are learning in class. It’s basically just a review for them, o t h e r now the district requires students to do the bare minimum to districts learn what Des Moines Public Schools students learn in a whole graduate. school year within a semester. Students SRG is not the problem in DMPS“High school definitely doesshould have the same opportunities as other schools, the actual problem is that thenot prepare us for collegestudents in the surrounding districts. If a schools do not hold kids accountable and even some teachers thinkmetro student were to transfer to a different for their school work. If a kid stops school district they would suffer and have a going to class or fails a class thethat, too. I’m probably goinghard time adjusting. teacher gets in trouble just becauseto fail my first semester “I think if I were to transfer it would they didn’t “do enough”. High push me. The courses at their school in college because I won’treally Schoolers are old enough to know seems a lot more challenging than ours. Not they need to go to class. Maybe if theybe able to handle thingssaying DMPS has terrible courses, but I do had consequences they might startbecause I was never taughtthink that it is easier to get decent grades on going to class regularly. top of SRG,” junior Daren Nguyen said. what it would be like” If kids don’t pass a class within the DMPS students should be learning the semester the school places them in a same amount of content as other school cinthia Amaro credit recovery class to get the credit districts. in a couple of weeks. This is not fair to all the students who go The district loves to say that they are preparing their students for college to class everyday and work hard all semester. and life after high school but in reality they really aren’t. “I think it is so unfair that some of us actually try hard to get “High school definitely does not prepare us for college and even some good grades and we go to class everyday for teachers just to give teachers think that, too. I’m probably going to fail my first semester in free A’s to people who do not deserve it and their work is actual college because I won’t be able to handle things because I was never taught trash,” junior Cinthia Amaro said. what it would be like,” Amaro said. In a majority of my classes there are kids who come in half The only way students can actually prepare themselves for college is by way through the class almost everyday and they still are able to taking as many AP classes as they can. Students who don’t take AP classes pass. Some kids don’t even show up to class on most days and in high school will have a hard time going from no homework to mountains miss multiple tests and still pass. of homework. This is one of the main reasons why teachers are so stressed This should not be acceptable and the district needs to start holding during the last week of the semester. During the last week of the students accountable and stop blaming teachers for students failure. semester all the students who barely showed up to class come in Teachers provide students the resources they need to be successful in their and make up a semester worth of work in a couple days. And class its not their fault, it’s the student’s. The district needs to go back to the teachers have to accept this because there are no deadlines the old ways and have deadlines for work and drop students after missing a with SRG. certain amount of classes. This will stop students from skipping class just Students from other school districts transfer to metro high because they feel like it.
side bar Graph/DMPS website
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Page Editor/D.Jackson
Overloaded
Photo illustration/E. Dowler
Kids
Wh ym
e?
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With activites such as sports, choir, orchestra, debate, and many others, it can be hard for students to find a balance between them all
Am I good enough?
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family
Work
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I quit!
Money I can’t do this!
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School
Story/E. Dowler
Each year students everywhere struggle with stress. They spend days and nights studying whether it be for exams, or for their applications to college. Students live in exhausting anticipation waiting for that one response that will either make or break them. “I get up and get ready around 6:45-7a.m., then I don’t usually go to bed until about 2 a.m. I always try to make sure everything is done and ready for the next day,” junior Kaitlin Anousis said. “I get ready, go to school, come home for a little and do homework,
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then I go to work, baby sit then I go to bed.” Anousis is one of many students at East who has their plate filled with lots to do. “ T u e s d a y s , Wednesdays and Thursdays are my busiest days of the week. Those days I have debate right after school, then I go home to baby sit my niece and nephews. On Wednesdays I have to go pick up my family then I go to work,” Anousis said. With the many hours spent on extracurriculars and things outside of school, the large amount of school work can
be pushed to the side. “It can be pretty hard sometimes to try and balance everything, but I do my best to stay on top of it all, if I ever get behind I immediately go to that teacher and talk to them,’’ junior Corey Mills said. Every once and a while that stress can be too much and can becomes overwhelming. A lot of stress people have starts outside of school with family. “The things that stresses me out the most is family. Since my mom was diagnosed with Skin Cancer, I try to spend as much time as I can
with her because I never know when the last day will be,” Mills said. Many people take that stress with them wherever they go, and it ends up becoming a lot worse. The best thing to do is to try and cope with it. “To cope with my stress, I throw around a football or hang out with friends, whenever I do either of those, I feel like all my stress disappears,” Mills said. Something a lot of people do not realize is that not all stress is negative. “I do have negative stress like with my teaching or with students,
but I also have positive stress with getting things done, like being under stress and perceiving, I feel like everyone needs to be aware that not all stress is bad and its ok to be stressed out occasionally,” Teacher Stephanie Clark said. The best thing to do when stressed is to learn from the mistakes made and not to let it get in the way of your striving for. ”If you can balance time, then you can manage anything, but if you let stress overcome you, you’re not going to get very far in life,” Anousis said
Page Editor/E. Dowler
Less money, more problems
How state budget cuts are affecting public education
Story/N. Grove
This year’s legislative session that is allocated for you to be an started on January 8, and like East student, to homeschool you, most years, representatives have send you to Waukee, or enroll a lot to talk about. Discussions you at a private school. These will include, the state budget, the funds being pulled from where state tax reform, and education they are create an imbalance in funding, among others. funding and money that districts One thing being discussed this session at the Statehouse that could have a direct impact on students attending DMPS schools are Educational Savings Accounts, or ESAs. This gives parents a state monitored account with perpupil funding in it, and they can spend it on their child’s count on for their yearly budget. education. Discussions about “This would have budgetary ESAs started last year and this implications for public schools year they are hoping to push as the state would not be working them through. But going through from an increased pool of with them will cost $240 million. money to distribute, so the ESAs For example, say your parent or vouchers would shift money would like to use the state funding from that pool to be shared with
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private and or parochial schools,” There will be fewer resources Des Moines School Board for teachers to offer students, member Cindy Elsbernd said. including less time with each School funding is also not individual student, more students expected to increase. Last year in class rooms, and more stress a 1.1 percent increase was for teachers and students. approved, this year the projected “I think that what legislation increase is between forgets is that public education zero and two percent. is a public good,” East “For DMPS, whether teacher Sami El- Baroudi said. there is a 0 percent, a 1 Not only are teachers percent, or a 1.5 percent stressed but the cuts to funding increase in SSA for also make parents stressed. schools, it is not enough. “As I parent, I am aware Costs for school districts that my children’s educations increase year after year are being affected by these just as they do for other cuts. My younger son attended businesses and they do Smouse Opportunity School so at a greater rate than when he was in elementary 1.5 percent, which means school because of his intellectual that DMPS is looking for disabilities and his behavior ways to make up for the issues. These programs are being shortfall this creates. The significantly cut, in part, because District is looking to do this in our district hasn’t received a way that has as little impact enough funding from the state on the classroom as possible of Iowa for these programs for as they currently work on the our most vulnerable students,” FY2019 budget, but after many East teacher Julie Keith said. years in a row of inadequate SSA, that is getting harder and harder to do,” Elsbernd said.
“I think that what legislation forgets is that public education is a public good.”
States with ESAs and their national rank in education Arizona 43 North Carolina 21 Florida
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Tennesse
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Page Editor/N. Grove
Story/ M. Stout
@the_rundown_on_net_neutrality
On December 14th, 2017, President Donald Trump announced that the idea of net neutrality will be revoked and eventually Congress will vote on it again to decide whether or not this law will stay or go. For those of you don’t know what the net neutrality is, here’s a rundown... net neutrality is the idea, principle, or requirement that internet service providers should or must treat all internet data as the same regardless of kind, source, or destination. Say you have a provider like Mediacom or DirectTV and through those companies you have streaming companies like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, depending on which apps are more popular, the companies can decide which they want to modify and out all their money into. For example, Netflix vs. Hulu... the two most popular movie/tv show networks, the company can decide, based on popularity, which will have more “bonuses” (faster responses and connection) and the one that falls short, people might have to pay extra for. The same goes for social media, there is a possibility that some apps may now require payments in order to keep an account. “I was shocked by the voting, I honestly
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thought it would be the opposite effect” junior Edgar Salazar said “I would’ve kept it because personally, I don’t see any problem with it, all I hear when the topic of net neutrality comes into play, it’s all negative, I want to focus on the positives.” According to Salazar, if net neutrality were to be taken away, from what he has researched, it could lead to more paywalls. A paywall is an arrangement whereby access is restricted to users who have paid to subscribe to the site.” So, if companies don’t pay up, their sites could end up being blocked. It seems from the public’s point of view that net neutrality and what it means spells the end of the world for all those with social media, the truth is, it doesn’t. You can make the decision to cut off some social media apps from your life because most of them aren’t beneficial to your health. Studies show that social media causes anxiety and depression due to drama, cyberbullying, and more. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to unplug and focus on something other than what’s going on in a screen, focus on the important things in life, like the people around you. The other side of this issue is that net neutrality
is actually a good thing, in fact, it may be a blessing in disguise. According to flashrouters.com, net neutrality will be setting up more regulations against illegal websites. The website states “ Many worry that without regulation, illegal content and activity will run rampant on the Internet. This is not the case. ISPs are treated as a regulated common carrier, preventing activities such as illegal file sharing.”. The website also talks about how it still will protect freedom of expression on the world wide web. The website states “Websites such as blogs, services, and businesses that abide by the law are able to operate legally. As long as laws go unbroken, content will not be censored. Without net neutrality, ISPs could potentially censor slanderous content or even content they do not agree with.” But even though there are some pros to this concept, in the public’s eye, it’s nothing but stressful not knowing what’s going to happen and what the future holds.
Page Editor/M. Stout
DACA the dreamers at East
In early September of 2017, President Trump announced plans to end a program that protects over 800,00 people. These people are DACA recipients, otherwise known as Dreamers. These Dreamers are walking the halls of East and are constant contributors to the East community. DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals gives children who have come to the U.S, deferred action and authorization to work. “Deferred action” refers to a decision to delay the removal action of an individual. This policy was created by President Obama in 2012, but the program had not been renewed by President Trump, until a judge in California ordered the Trump administration to continue processing DACA renewal applications. Over 200,000 DACA recipients’ permits would have expired after 2017, but for now they still have access to renewing their applications. The Trump administration is still seeking to terminate the program. Many DACA students are worried because their future is uncertain. Students at East are seeking and support and advice from teachers and counselors who have educated themselves on DACA and its potential impact on students. “ I currently am working with students that are a part of DACA. In class we’ve talked about their fears, because their future is uncertain,” East Spanish teacher Ruby Herrera said.
Herrara, a strong supporter of DACA, says it hurt when she heard the news about the potential end of DACA. She says that it hurt because these students were promised the American Dream and now it’s being threatened to be taken away from them. Ms. Herrara hopes that one day, everyone that wishes to live in the U.S will be protected, not just DACA recipients.
she was six months old when she arrived. She has also attended East since she was a freshman. Recently, Cindy has become a resident and no longer needs the DACA program, but she still has concerns for others.
Lori T. Chesser, an Iowa immigration lawyer stated in a blog post that there could be many negative effects if DACA is rescinded, including many businesses losing valued workers. Chesser encourages contacting local senators in order to defend DACA.
“My concern are that after their DACA cards expires that they would not have anything to protect them. They could potentially lose their jobs because they would no longer hold a valid working permit therefore most employers would fire them due to inadequate documentation,” Delgado said.
One East junior, Cindy Delgado, an active member of Science Bound and Al Exito, and a former DACA recipient shares her experience with the program.
Cindy says she hopes that there will be a clearer pathway to citizenship, there needs to be something to protect the individuals that are seeking success in America.
“I was able to legally work using a valid social security number issued to me. I would have also been able to get a permit and later a driver’s license. I also was able to travel anywhere in the country without having the fear of being deported for not having some sort of proper identification,” Delgado said.
“Even though I’m not a DACA student I will always consider myself a dreamer and will always continue to fight for equality in this country,” Delgado said.
Cindy has lived in the U.S for 17 years,
79.4% of DACA recipients are from Mexico
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2/3
Are 25 or younger
53% Are Women
2,700 Live in Iowa
Page Editor/C. Bartz
Conspiracy in the air taking action on the climate crisis Story/ A. Folkerts If you’re looking for a controversial topic to divide or unite a group of people, look no further than the epidemic that is most popularly known as climate change. Climate change is defined as a change in global or regional climate patterns. Although many of the world’s top scientists agree that human activity is largely to blame for the warming of the Earth, there are still people with opposition to this consensus. Why there are opposers is very confusing to me, as there is literal scientific evidence that global warming and climate change is a real thing. Ranging from celebrities who actively advocate for the environment such as heartthrobs Ian Somerhalder and Leonardo DiCaprio, all the way to those who deny climate change every chance they get, such as President Trump and political leader Sarah Palin. I, myself, believe in climate change and global warming. Climate change is really the only logical reason for why the world’s hottest desert saw snow earlier this year, why Iowa didn’t see consistent below-freezing temperatures until midDecember, even though in years past we usually see those temperatures in November, and why it was colder in our state late December-early January than it was in Antarctica. Not only was it colder here than in Antarctica, we have had weeks upon weeks of consistent below-zero temperatures, which is something we have never endured in previous years. Schools in the area were forced to delay for multiple days in a row due to the dangerous temperatures, as students were in danger to receiving frostbite in as little as ten minutes. Also, it is to blame for the devastating fires in California, and the horrid hurricanes that rocked Florida and Texas back in 2017. Our Earth is the hottest it has ever been, contrary to what it might feel like outside walking to your car. Us, humans, are singlehandedly changing the planet. We are putting way more carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere than what is needed to sustain life. Fortunately, we do have trees and plants that are able to absorb these gasses and put oxygen back out into the environment, but many forestrial areas are being plowed down for buildings, and housing developments, thanks to our evergrowing population. Our population on Earth is a staggering 7.442 billion, and growing by every day. Not only does climate change and global warming affect human life, and the weather patterns on planet Earth, it also affects the animals
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and other living organisms whom are living within the environment. For example, the coral reefs are on the verge of extinction because of massive infectious disease outbreaks, and coral bleaching. Prior to 1980, large-scale coral bleaching events, which is what causes coral reefs to become extremely fragile, was almost unheard of. According to a study which was published in the journal Science, the frequency of coral bleaching has become so significant, that the coral reefs no longer have time to recover in between coral bleaching episodes. When coral dies, it severely affects the shelter that is home to thousands of fish, lobsters, and many more organisms. As the coral dies, so do the animals and plants that require upon it for survival. Another species that is threatened to extinction are the polar bears. Climate change is very much to blame because the Arctic is progressively becoming warmer, and sea ice is forming later in the fall and disappearing earlier in the spring. While they aren’t at the top of the list for concern, they are vulnerable to endangerment. So why exactly should you be worried about climate change and global warming? Well, its very simple actually. If we continue going down this path and not having a care about the environment, the result will be devastating. We will continue to have “once in a lifetime” storms such as Hurricanes Irma and Harvey more frequently, which would inevitably wipe out small and large cities and everything in between, and leave thousands to even millions of people homeless. The first step to change is acknowledging that there is a problem. Us, humans, really need to pay attention to what scientists are saying and stop questioning the practicality of global warming and climate change, and take their advice to stop the progression of it. Whether you believe it or not, climate change is a serious epidemic that the world is facing. Consider walking or carpooling with a friend to reach your destination. You can also help the cause by simply picking up your waste, and recycling plastic containers and bottles. So the next time you think about throwing that plastic bottle out the window of your car, wait until you reach your destination to put it in a recycling can. If we all work together, we can combat global warming and climate change, instead of it combatting us.
21% don’t know why
31% blame it on natural patterns
48% of Americans believe it is due to human activity
What is causing the warming of the earth?
Page Editor/ A. Folkerts
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Page Editor/E. Rothmayer
story/E. Rothmayer
“The critic watched everything that day and then chose the short film as the best, most stand out piece, which was a huge honor,” Johnson said. Because of the award Young then got to present the Critics Choice Banner at All-State the following year. There’s no doubt that IHSSA is an underrated event at East High School. While it may not get the recognition it deserves, the people who work so hard to make it happen are commendable. “Everyone should join IHSSA and try it out see what it’s like because it really does help you open up as a person and you have fun,” Young said.
owa High School Speech Association (IHSSA), a mouthful of a title for students who have a never ending fountain of words to share, but what does it really mean? Students of all kinds can either come together and compete in Large Group competition, or compete alone in Individual competitions. Everyone described IHSSA a little differently: “It’s like an off brand version of theatre,””It’s competitive drama,” “it’s like speech and debate, but not?”, no one is 100 percent sure on how to describe IHSSA. Even director Virginia Johnson struggled with a definition. “I is a competitive large group and individual speech and presentation program. Its learning how to present in groups, and solo pieces and them taking those to competition and being judged,” Johnson said. For senior Courtney Young, she got her start freshman year after being asked to join by a friend. Since joining she has competed in Choral Reading, Short Film, Acting, Literary Program, Poetry and Musical Theatre. “It was a little overwhelming at first, I thought it would be kinda boring but once I got into it I realized it was way more than that,” Young said. You meet all kinds of people in IHSSA, people from different academic backgrounds, men, women, all grade levels. Everyone is there for one thing though, to do well. “Everyone was accepting of a new person like me coming in and I couldn’t think them enough for that. I also want to say that I’m astounded at the talented people I get to work with,” Bennett said. photo/ contributor There are so many ways to succeed in IHSSA from scoring well at competitions to making it to All-State. Young was able to experience the highest award her sophomore year. She co-directed a short film which went to All-State, and then earned the Critics Choice which is the top award.
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