2017 columns and reviews

COLUMNS & REVIEWS IOWA CITY WEST HIGH SCHOOL

2901 MELROSE AVE. IOWA CITY, IA 52246 INTRO.WSSPAPER.COM

FEBRUARY 2017

02

OPINION

February 2017

All Out War

It’s the biggest war of all, Molly’s vs Scratch Cupcakes. With opinions circulating the halls with who has the best cupcakes, I went to find out myself.

BY SIDNEY SHEPHARD

The sweet and creamy texture melting in your mouth bite after bite. The sugar rush from eating so much frosting. It’s one of America’s favorite dessert, a cupcake.

Molly’s is located in an ideal spot downtown Iowa City, perfect for people looking for dessert after a nice dinner in the Ped Mall. There are other locations in Des Moines, New York and Chicago. Molly’s atmosphere definitely makes you feel like you could grab a cupcake and a coffee and chill out for hours with a friend or even on a nice date. Molly’s has vegan and gluten options as well as other sweet treats like cookies and cheesecake. Their cupcakes are served on a warm plate which makes the cupcake the perfect temperature. Although the cupcakes melt in your mouth, the frosting over powers the soft delicious cake. The frosting is grainy and not well balanced, it makes you want to chug a bottle of water because of the bizarre tastes it leaves behind. With a large variety, it is very difficult to decide on just one. I stood there for a good five minutes before I said anything to the polite staff member. I ended up with a solid chocolate and a red velvet cupcake. With the cream cheese frosting being so strong, it takes away from the flavor of the

Molly’s Cupcake Test Presentation: 2 Taste: 4 Frosting to Cupcake: 1 Price: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Overall Score: 17/25

Scratch Cupcake Test Presentation: 4 Taste: 5 Frosting to Cupcake: 5 Price: 5 Atmosphere: 2 Overall Score: 21/25

cupcakes. When I scrapped off the frosting, the cupcakes were slightly warm and fell apart as I took a bite.

Overall, for only $2 you can’t go wrong with their cupcakes but, maybe ask for a butter cream frosting instead of their normal cream cheese frosting.

Scratch on the other hand has many different flavors and other types of treats. They offer cookies, coffee and even a cupcake shake. Obviously, they have cupcakes but they don’t have any old cupcake, they have 125 flavors! To go along with all the flavors, you can get vegan cupcakes.

At both shops, the vegan options aren’t on display. You really get a lot for your $2 at Scratch. Not only do they taste good, they are huge, and the presentation is beautiful. The great thing about Scratch is they put the cupcakes in a box even if you eat them there in case you don’t finish it.

If you do decide to eat there. There are only a few spots to sit at a counter and by the door which gets a bit cold in the winter. The ratio of frosting to cupcake is perfect. Each bite has a creamy texture from the frosting and then a second texture of moist cupcake. I highly suggest going to Scratch if you are looking for a good place to quickly pick up some cupcakes and then take them to a party for everyone to enjoy.

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OPINION February 2017

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OPINION FEB. 24, 2017

Cosplayer at Anime Iowa 2016 cosplaying Edward from Assassin’s Creed.

Cosplayers at Anime Iowa 2016 cosplaying at Rapunzel and Flynn from Tangled.

& y a l p s Co

g n i v Sa y e n o M

Saving money and making cosplay is hard work; this is my adventure in both of those.

Cosplayer at Anime Iowa 2016 cosplaying Rose Quartz from Steven Universe.

Photos by Aubrey Dallner

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OPINION

FEB. 24, 2017

BY CORISSA GAVIN Three assassins step down the empty boardwalk for their next adventure. What would they have to do this time? Assassinate a king, capture some bandits, or maybe return home from all of their other adventures. The doors open as they walk in the vast hall and enter Anime Iowa 2017. At least, that’s how I imagine it.

My friends, Rhianna and Erin, and I started planning a cosplay. Cosplay is the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, anime, manga or a video game. We came up with our idea at the 2017 Cedar Rapids Comic Con. Sitting in the room where the Cosplay Contest was happening also impacted our decision. We wanted our costumes to be impressive and to wow people, like the little girl on roller blades in the flash costume.

Forrest J. Ackerman and Myrtle R. Douglas were the first people to dress up as characters at the 1939 1st World Science Fiction Convention.

Our first idea was to cosplay as bread, jelly, and peanut butter. But, that got tossed aside because none of us thought that it would wow anyone and it would be pretty cheap.

Then we had an idea to be hipster versions of super heroes. Again, that would be easier to make, and it might wow some people, but we eventually tossed it. Finally, we decided to cosplay as assassins. We instantly fell in love with that idea.

Erin and Rhianna wanted to be assassins because of Assassin’s Creed. I’ve heard of it, but I wasn’t really a huge fan, I just thought that being assassins would be cool. That night I watched a seven minute video about the storyline of the game. I understood most of it, but some of it was confusing.

We started talking about it more the next few days and our idea took shape. It took me one flawed design to find what I would actually do. Rhianna and Erin also went through many ideas before they got their

10 final idea.

A few days later, I started to look up prices for the materials. I already have fabric scissors, a cutting board and a sewing machine, but I don’t have the fabric that I need. I went on the JoAnn’s app and looked at the prices.

Some of the cheapest fabric there is at least $5 per yard. I can’t even buy one yard of fabric, and I know that I will need a lot more than one yard.

Our plan is to enter the cosplay contest, though we may only do the Exhibition, which is showing off your cosplay without being judged. The thing is, I still don’t have a ticket for Anime Iowa because I only have $4 and have a hard time not spending it.

So then, I had to think of ways to get more money. I could just ask people, like Erin has done, but I’m too nice to do that. I also don’t have a job, which doesn’t help. I have to find ways without asking or through a job.

That means I’ll have to live off of my allowance and the occasional ask from my grandma to help with cleaning. I’m also hoping that some old lady in my grandma’s complex will need help screwing in a light plate. I can do that.

Another way to save money is keep it in a box or jar that is out of sight. I realized that I have put away over $200 to spend on the band trip. I think what’s helping me keep that money is having it out of sight and not having it in my wallet where I can spend all of it at once.

So now I have to work to get the money I need for the ticket and the fabrics. I have to find new and innovative ways to earn money on my own. I know that it would help to get a job, but I don’t want to right now. I learned from my experiences is that you have to work hard to achieve what you want. Even if it is something small like a ticket.

Ways to Save

1) Stop collecting things and start selling 2) Drink more water 3) Turn off the lights 4) Use the library 5) Buy quality items 6) Make your own things 7) Cancel unused memberships 8) Holiday shop after the holidays 9) Avoid the mall 10) Don’t spend it

Common cosplay judging criteria

- Accuracy: resemblance to

the original character in terms of appearance - Craftsmanship: quality and details of the costume and props - Presentation: likeness in terms of character portrayal and performance - Audience Impact: stage presence and connection with the audience

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OPINION FEB 2017

Students are ungrateful

BY ABBIE CALLAHAN Throughout the school day, we all hear comments such as “I just In some places that have free education, school is more of a compewant to go home,” “I hate school,” “I just want to go to sleep,” “I’m tition because the people who score the lowest on tests are forced this close to dropping out,” and so on. Each day students mope into the workforce early. It’s not like America where everybody is around, complaining about being forced to go to school. Students offered education. don’t understand that they were blessed with the opportunity to I decided to ask some teachers what there opinion was, to hopeexpand their minds and become more productive and successful fully see another perspective. But all that I learned is that teachers people. This is extremely ignorant of students because there are are more forgiving than I thought. people all over the world who are fighting for a chance at getting “Everybody has an off day,” said Spanish teacher Teresa Bozer. a good education, and not that long ago that could have been you.

“We are working with teenagers and some come into high school Almost 200 years ago, the first American public high schools without having it completely figured out, but by the time they for white girls opened in New York leave, they have a greater appreciation and Boston. That’s about the time for school and they take it seriously.” your great-great-grandma was in “Let us remember: One book, one pen, Other teachers, at this point in the school. And over 100 years later, one child, and one teacher can change school year, are getting sick of grading in 1954, the landmark case Brown stacks of late homework assignments the world,” v. Board of Education of Topeka, and having kids skip their classes. the Supreme Court unanimously “Kids don’t know how good they -Malala Yousafzai ruled that segregation in public have it,” said Jonna Hall, an English schools was unconstitutional. teacher. “Most kids take school seriEven though this decision was made, it was not truly respected ously but we always get kids who really take their opportunities until around the mid to late 1960’s. While this may seem to be a for granted.” thing of the past, people all over the world are still fighting for an A lot of teachers are trying their best to keep students engaged education. and interested in class, but it can be really difficult.

To this day, about 70 million children are not receiving a pub“We see kids skipping class or just not singing in class but I try lic education, says The Guardian; that is around one tenth of chil- to intrinsically motivate them,” said Jeff Knutson, a choir teacher. dren across the globe. While these children aren’t in school they “But in the choir department, most kids take class seriously.” don’t play video games and watch Netflix all day; they work. They My point of spitting these facts at you is not to shame you or do chores for the family, community or simply for another house- make you feel inferior about yourself. It is just so you can be more hold income. It’s not fun or enjoyable work. It is back-breaking, informed before you unnecessarily bitch about school. For all we intense labor. They don’t even get an opportunity to complain or know, some of the most potentially brilliant minds could be left they could lose these jobs. uneducated, and that’s a shame.

Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. As a child, she became an advocate for girls’ education, which resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. On October 9, 2012, a gunman shot Malala when she was traveling home from school. She survived, and has continued to speak out on the importance of education. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. In 2014, she was nominated again and won, becoming the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Source: http://www.biography.com

The

BY JESSICA MOONJELY

rime of the

entury

The People v. O.J. Simpson: From the Ashes of Tragedy

“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” reopens the true story of the trial of American football star O.J. “The Juice” Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. It is the series premiere of the brand new American Crime Story anthology. While the original air date was Feb. 2 2016, the show came to Netflix this month. In a time where racial tensions were strung high, the State of California struggled to handle what seemed like a slam dunk for the prosecution. “From the Ashes of Tragedy,” the first episode, highlights racial nuances of the time and sets the stage for the revolutionary crime thriller.

American Crime Story is more than just a trial story; it addresses how race and fame can make a case become more than just another murder story. It opens with real footage of police brutality against a black man named Rodney King and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots that followed. This sets the mood for the rest of the series. Viewers can relate to a situation that feels culturally relevant even two decades later.

22 emmy nominations and 9 emmy wins

After the riots, the night of the murders unfolds masterfully. First, O.J. (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is seen swiftly making his way to the airport late at night for his trip to Chicago. In the next scene, a white dog with bloodstained paws barks anxiously, leading a neighbor right to the bloody, lacerated bodies. The cops arrive and investigate the scene; evidence is found in what seems like a matter of minutes. One pivotal moment was the discovery of the infamous, blood-splattered glove.

At this time, officers officially declare the Simpson home a crime scene.

Another one of the strongest scenes was the interrogation scene. O.J. flies back to Los Angeles when he is notified about the death of his ex-wife. Because

07

FEBRUARY 2017

RATING:

of the amount of incriminating evidence against him, O.J. is questioned about his whereabouts the night of the murder.

O.J. ends up joking around with the police officers and detectives while giving them vague time-frames of the events that took place. This scene works so well because it goes back and forth between this interview and how the lead prosecutor, Marcia Clark (Sarah Paulson), frustratingly listens to this tape with the

5.11 million viewers watched the premiere. embarrassed officers. This scene is especially pleasing to the audience because it provides a little humor in what should be a somber situation. It is also important because it demonstrates how the starstruck officials really stepped on eggshells around O.J. It shows how sometimes the system fails.

The late Robert Kardashian (David Schwimmer) was one of the lawyers on the Juice’s defense as well as an old friend. At the funeral of Nicole, the younger generation of the famous family are seen running around eating candy and bumping into things. Kris Jenner even gets her own emotional scene. The Kardashian emphasis throughout the series seems a little forced and over sensationalized. It did not work with the mood and was kind of weird that they come back later in the season.

The purpose of this show is to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. The amazing cinematography and cast tell the story in such an enthralling way that you find yourself suspicious even though we all know how it ends. When first hearing that the miniseries was made by the creators of American Horror Story, I was a bit weary of it since I can’t stand horror movies. American Crime Story pleasantly surprised me with being more of an intense legal thriller.

The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story is a binge-worthy show on Netflix because it focuses not just on a trial but the behind the scenes of the case, failures of the judicial system, as well as the underlying racial tension.

Before the Juice expired...

O.J.’s awards: Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award (1973) Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (1973) AP Most Valuable Player (1973) Heisman Trophy (1968)

OPINION

08

OPINION FEBRUARY 2017

THE LOST CITY OF Z: A TRUE HIDDEN GEM

BY TING GAO Overall rating:

WARNING: may contain some spoilers!!!!

Reasons for rating: PLOT: The plot is based less on describing Fawcett’s adventures and more about the backstories to those adventures, a welcome distraction from the bold action that there seems to be too much of these days in literature. However, it must be noted that the book is less about the author’s journey, as was advertised in the summary, and more about Fawcett’s life. In addition, the way the author’s journey is mixed in with Fawcett’s appears a little random, and is less than ideal. Thus, the plot lost the book one star.

DEPTH: This book covers all sorts of aspects of Fawcett’s life and relevant topics, not just what is immediately relevant to his adventures. There are deep discussions of the Royal Geographical Society, why map-making is important for empires, racism, Amazonian archeology and much more. It should also be noted that the book discusses many famous people who were relevant to Fawcett and the Amazon at the time, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Lawrence of Arabia, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary.

If nothing else, read this book for the historical cameos.

SOURCES: The author went above and beyond in order to locate quality sources, such as Fawcett’s diaries, some of his living relatives, and various ancient manuscripts. For instance, there is a certain small story in the book about the author’s attempts to gain access to a certain 18th-century document in Brazil. The author says, “The manuscript was in Brazil’s National Library in Rio, and was so old and in such poor condition that it was kept in a safe.

I had filed formal requests and made appeals by e-mail. Nothing worked.

Finally, as a last effort, I had flown to Rio to make my case in person.” He also journeyed deep into the Amazon in order to speak to Indian tribes that were supposed to know Fawcett’s true fate.

Below: the Amazon jungle, where most of the book takes place Credit goes to Hector Montero Sommerfeld, Flickr

Above: the first-edition book cover of The Lost City of Z, by David Grann COMPILED BY TING GAO

BY THE NUMBERS

2009 352

Year the book was first released..

Number of pages in the book.

14

The date in April that the movie will be released in the United States.

BASIC INFORMATION Author: David Grann Genre: Nonfiction Summary: The last of the “gentleman explorers” of Great Britain, Percy Fawcett, disappeared in the Amazon in 1925. At the time of his disappearance, he was leading an expedition to prove the existence of a great lost civilization in the Amazon, which he dubbed “Z”. For years, his fate has remained unknown and the subject of much speculation and obsession.

In this book, the author documents Fawcett’s life and the circumstances of his disappearance, as well as the various attempts to find out what happened to Fawcett and the author’s own journey to discover Fawcett’s true fate.

Why read it?

It is a good piece of nonfiction, and it is also being made into a movie this spring with the same title, with Charlie Hunnam playing Colonel Fawcett, Robert Pattinson playing Fawcett’s aide-de-camp, and Sienna Miller as Fawcett’s wife.

Who would be interested in this?

Indiana Jones fans, as well as those with an interest in the Amazon and its archeology.

OPINION SECTION FEBRUARY 2017 WSSPAPER.COM

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OPINION FEB. 24, 2017

Important or Pointless The importance of Black History Month BY: JASMINE BEEMON

Valentine's Day, Donald Trump and the Grammys. You may wonder, what do all of these things have in common? Well, they all seem to have impacted our lives sometime during this month of February, also known as Black History Month. Why did most of us recognize all of those things and then seem to forget that it’s Black History month? It’s because Charles Drew, not a lot of people seem to care. To most, Inventor of Blood it’s the shortest month of the year but for Banks.

African Americans, it’s a time to learn more about our history and reflect on how our lives have been impacted by this month. But, it’s kind of hard to do when it’s not talked about.

What is Black History Month?

According to wikipedia, “ Black History Month is an annual observance in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom for remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora.” I say it’s just a month all of white america gives black people pity because we don’t get recognized any other time. It’s really not talked about Philip Downing, as much as I would think it would be.

Inventor of MailAlthough black people are talked about boxes in school, it’s the basic things everyone already knows about like slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. But, we don’t even go into much detail. I would think the history of African Americans is supposed to be talked about in detail and positively at least a little, but it’s very rare that it does. Some ask, “Why isn’t there a white history month?” Think

back to American Studies where we talked about our U.S history. What did you generally talk about? White people! White people are always talked about in school. Before the Obama presidency, literally all the presidents were white. If someone who is white tries to say that doesn’t mean anything, it actually does.

From not learning about African American history, we are missing out on learning opportunities. For example, the movie Hidden Figures is based on African American women that worked in NASA’s space program. Katherine Johnson was a mathematician that calculated the routes to outer space for most of the people that went up there. Even though this happened in the 1950s, many people are just now learning about it because no one felt the need to enforce teaching it. The media is kind of helping to get some history across to help us learn more by creating movies about important people and events that helped shape African American history. Two years ago a movie called, “Selma” was created and it was based off of marches that took place in 1965 called Selma to Montgomery Marches.

Also, the media was helping create history by documenting the Black Lives Matter protests throughout 2016.

Black people hardly get credit for anything they do, which is why I feel like black history shouldn’t only be taught during one month out of the year. Even now, how we’re supposed to be learning about African American history, we aren’t. Although it’s talked about a little, it’s not enough.

READ to be in the

10

OPINION FEB. 24. 2017

Lead

Teenage reading rates have declined dramatically

and have become an issue of national attention.

T

BY JENNA WANG

ucked against the sheets of my cozy, snug bed on a quiet high school night, my eyes barely blink. They’re glued to the words on flimsy pages that crinkle and break the silence of the night every time I quickly flip a page of a story. I’m completely zoned in. Only once do I part a sideways glance at the black alarm clock that patiently sits, as if reminding me that I have more important things to do. 3:08 a.m. It’s been three hours since I crawled into bed. Three long hours since I finished suffering through homework. When I made it into my bedroom, gigantic numbers, math fractions, and crazy history facts were all swimming around in a murky puddle of sleepiness. My eyes were droopy from the weight of tiredness and my whole body wanted to crash against the soft mattress, slowly drifting away into an oblivion of sleep. Instead, I found myself in Wonderland. It was a magic world, filled with the strangest and A person who loves to creatures things; some read. of which included a handsome Joker, a talking Jabberwocky, and cake that could make anyone grow. The great part about Wonderland was that no homework existed. It was wonderful. Hence the name. When I woke up the next day, my mind wasn’t muddled from a lack of sleep. Instead, I’d felt more right than ever before. Ever since I was small, I considered myself to be an avid reader. One day my dad brought a book to me, read it before bedtime, and that just about settled it. I began to carry a thick book under my arm everyday and everywhere. My whole childhood was filled with words, and it seemed like I couldn’t get enough of them. By the time some of my third

Bibliophile:

grade classmates were reading beginner chapter books, I was already into 800-paged books and longer. I always felt like there wasn’t enough to read, and when words started to run out, I began to create my own. Throughout my childhood, I met numerous people who loved books just as much as I did. We formed Harry Potter fan clubs and didn’t care about the busy adults who flashed us odd looks because we were praising a skinny kid with glasses who had a lightning bolt Most popular modern scar emblazoned book series with over on his 450 million copies sold f o r e h e a d .

We would spend all our free time cooped up in the quiet libraries or bookstores, as if they were our homes. I was the classic kid who would stay up with a flashlight beneath the covers past the bedtime to keep on reading. Needless to say, I was enthralled with reading. It gave me the emotional buzz that reality could never give, and I could go to places that would never exist in real life. I wept over characters and shouted at foes that were only words on a page. Words had so much power, and my life was filled with imagination.

However, high school rolled around. The loads of homework started pouring in like a rainstorm that wouldn’t stop, and it loosened my grip around the books that I held so dear. Trips to the bookstore felt like years ago, and reading felt like a luxury I rarely had the chance to encounter. Homework became the only thing on my mind when I woke up and when I slept.

Reality all of a sudden came crashing down, and imagination

Harry Potter:

Most Anticipated YA Books of 2017

Frequency of reading for fun 1984

2012

escaped from my mind. The real world hit me hard, and I wasn’t ready for it. Depression had struck me like a rock. My cycle became a series of: Waking up. School. Homework. Sleep. Repeat. Honestly, life felt pointless.

I fit in with the majority of West High. No longer was I carrying a book, but addicted to my phone. Social media had overturned my life. It was a different type of r e a l i t y, but it d i d n’t bring me Amount of words learned the same in a year for 20 minutes happispent reading everyday. ness as a book did. Eventually, I pulled myself together and I began to make time to read. Instantly, my life became much better. Books transferred me to someplace better than the average life cycle, if even for a few pages of bliss. With new eyes, I paid more attention to my surroundings peers.

However, everywhere I walked, no one clutched a book like I did. All I saw were people scrambling to finish the homework they didn’t do the night before, or having their noses buried deep in their phones. When I was standing next to a box for a book drive, I overheard a girl behind me. “Why would I want to give books to children?” she said. “I don’t even like reading myself.”

Teenagers are neglecting to read, and regarding it as a chore. They aren’t to do the very thing that allowed them to read the text on their phones in the first place, helped build their vocabulary, and gave them an imagina-

1.8 million words:

11 OPINION FEB. 24, 2017

tion to explore. Is scrolling through someone’s photos really all that more important than enriching the imagination? Since when did the teenagers of this generation care so much about someone else’s status? Especially in the twenty-first century where much of anyone’s life is made up of an endless cycle of stress and competition for jobs becomes even higher, books are a needed thing by everyone in order to succeed and live a better lifestyle. They offer relief from stress, mental stimulation, intellectual growth, and best of all, a free vacation to go anywhere.

With the millions of books published and resources like libraries, anyone can go anywhere at anytime. Books are unlimitless in power, possibilities, and miracles. No one should ever have to go without them.

My phone still calls out to me, begging to be used. A little notification rings out, but I’ve learned to shut it down. Instead, I plop down on my couch and open up a new b o o k .

Let’s face it: reality Used to be chained to isn’t always that shelves in libraries in order fun. Even to prevent stealing though books can make me uncontrollably sad and moody, those are more of the real emotions I’ve had than over homework I forgot to finish. To me, books are the one escape I can find from this world that can be at times, crazy with all that’s going on.

I guess, in a weird sense, the imaginary world seems more real to me than the real world.

And I fully intend to stay that way.

Books:

Source: Common Sense Media Design by Jenna Wang

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OPINION FEB. 24, 2017

The Sound of Music January 31 through February 5 2017, The Sound of Music, directed by Jack O’Brien was performed at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City as part of The Sound of Music Tour. Natalie Dunlap attended the one o’clock performance February 5.

BY NATALIE DUNLAP

HANCHER

First of all, going to Hancher is an experience in itself. Driving up to the building, I admired its shiny exterior, but once I stepped inside I was awestruck.

It was so pristine and modern.

What really stood out to me was an art piece that hung above a staircase called Anonymous Creature, by El Anatsui.

The colorful metal sculpture caught my eye in a sea of cream colored architecture.

After poking around in the gift shop, my family and I made our way inside the theatre. The funky green curtains opened to several nuns singing a song in what I recognized as Latin (thank you Masterworkconcert).

CHANGES

One of the first differences I noticed was the personalities of The Mother Abbess (played

by Melody Betts) and Maria (Charlotte Maltby). In director Jack O’Brien’s version of The Sound of Music, Maria was less mature and a quirkier character than Julie Andrews portrayed her in 1965. It also seemed to modernize her, as many main characters in today’s art have a sarcastic, silly side. The Mother Abbess was also softened and even sang “My Favorite Things” with Maria after Maria confessed to singing outside of the Abbey.

In contrast to the movie, Maria did not sing “My Favorite Things” to the children during

the thunderstorm, she sang “The Lonely Goatherd”, a song that the children and Maria sing while putting on a puppet show in the movie. Even though I think “My Favorite Things” works better when she’s trying comfort the children, I think Maria singing “My Favorite Things” with Mother Abbess earlier in the show demonstrates a strong bond between the two, and I understand why they wouldn’t want to overuse it in the first act.

The musical also featured two songs sung by Max, Elsa and Captain von Trapp. The song’s weren’t part of the original movie but they added character to Max and Elsa, even though the content of the

13

OPINION

songs wasn’t necessary for the plot. The first song was “How Can Love Survive?” from Act I Scene 8. It was about how relationships between rich people are harder than relationships between the poor, because they have everything and therefore cannot offer much to the other person. The second was “No Way To Stop It” from Act II Scene 1. In this song, Max and Elsa explain to Captain von Trapp how they can be so casual about the state of Austria during WWII. Another change made to Elsa was her reason for leaving Captain von Trapp. In the movie, Elsa see’s the chemistry between the captain and Maria, but in the play, she leaves him because of political reasons.

HIGHLIGHTS

MELODY BETTS The entire cast was very talented, but Melody Betts stood out. *SPOILER ALERT* At the end of the play when the von Trapps fled Austria to escape the Nazis, they hide in the Abbey while the soldiers are looking for them. When they leave, the Abbey gates open and the family walks out of them and into the mountains. While they are escaping, Mother Abbess sings “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”.

Betts’ beautiful and powerful voice over took the whole room, and her performance combined with the emotion of the scene led to some ugly crying on my part.

When the cast took bows, the applause significantly increased when Betts came onto

the stage. She was perfectly cast and absolutely stole the show.

SCENERY If there is one reason to see O’Brien’s production of The Sound of Music it would be the breathtaking sets. The scene changes were so swift, at times I didn’t even notice they were happening. Scenes so

MOVIE

MISTAKE

HOLLYWOOD GEOGRAPHY

The Sound of Music was based off of the real story of the von Trapp family, but many things were changed or discluded when the moive was written. In the real story the von Trapps escaped Austria by train and went to Italy. Of course the fleeing by mountains is much more dramatic and symbolic, but in real life it would have been impossible. Salzburg Austria borders Germany, not Switerland. The real Maria von Trapp was not please by this implausable change. The director justified the morphing of European geography by responding “In Hollywood you make your own geogaraphy” smoothly bled into each other, the changes didn’t disrupt the performance. Act I, Scene 5, in which Maria meets the von Trapp family, seamlessly changed into Scene 6. One moment the stage was the Trapp

FEB. 24, 2017

living room, with Maria as the focus, then she faded into the background and suddenly the attention was on Lisel in the yard and Rolf riding in on a bike from off stage.

One of the most dramatic scene changes was the change from Act II, Scene 4 to Scene 5. The Trapp living room changed to the concert hall stage with an abrupt drop of five vertical Nazi flags. It was uncomfortable staring the at the flags, so large and in real life instead of documentaries, but that was probably an intended feeling on O’Brien’s part. *SPOILER ALERT* When the von Trapps don’t come out after winning the musical contest, the entire theatre went black besides the flashlights of soldiers pretending to look for the von Trapps. The light was shone into the crowd, which really put audience member in the moment.

After searching, the scene changed from Act II Scene 5 to Scene 6, when the soldiers gracefully pulled the flags down from the ceiling, revealing the garden of the Abbey.

OVERALL

The play was definitely worth seeing. Those who love the classic movie will enjoy experiencing it in a different way. Seeing the performance live made me feel a deeper connection with the characters because their story was unfolding in front of my eyes, as opposed to on a flat screen.

14

Things that today’s youth should wory

Five Tweets From Our President

15

OPINION

OPINION

FEB. 24, 2017

FEB. 24, 2017

about with Donald Trump By: Haley Wojciechowski Emotional Expression: Kids and teenagers can pick up on their parents emotions.

If you’re upset or happy, or acting in a different kind of way, your kid has most likely noticed it. After Donald Trump was elected president, there were all kinds of emotions; sadness, anger, happiness, etc. So when you were either happy or sad about Trump becoming president, your kids went in the direction of what your emotional expression was. Kids look up to their parents. They want to follow in their footsteps and please them. If you are openly hating or loving Trump in front of your child it will easily confirm their belief system and that’s not fair to the child. I feel there hasn’t been this much controversy about any other president. An example would be some of the things he allows himself, such as “grab her by the p*ssy.” Which is why we must fix this problem of controversy ‘going on around the world. It’s definitely affecting our youth. If a parent has to tell their kid something about their emotions; keep it small. Because a lot of younger kids don’t know what is happening, they could feel scared and vulnerable. This could teach kids that feeling and being vulnerable at times is okay. It might even help them get involved in the community or something positive like that.

Separation: Because Donald Trump has openly expressed his opinions and ideas on immigration, many people might feel scared or worried. Kids who don’t fully understand things like this, such as adopted kids from other countries, might fear that they are getting sent back to that country. Other families from different countries could fear getting sent back and possibly being separated from their families and same with many families who plan on coming here to join family. They might not be able to come. Or they could be too scared to come. Donald Trump shouldn’t be expressing these kinds of things, especially on television where kids of any age can flip

the channel and see him speaking about. For example, the ban on the countries of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and Somalia. This can very easily scare kids and teenagers and make them feel targeted. They shouldn’t be asking or feeling these types of things, especially young children.

Bullying: Donald Trump had launched one of the most ugly and fractious campaigns in American history. He affected many kids when he did this. When children and teenagers would tune in to watch our president speak, he would say things that could be okay to say, but he would also say racist things and mean things that shouldn’t be repeated. Once these children heard him say it— an adult that would soon run our country—well what’s stopping them from repeating it and thinking it’s okay to say it? Well to not just say it, but to use it against other kids, to hurt them and make them feel small and weak.

That’s called bullying. To tell kids to go back to their own country, or make fun of them for how they look or dress. We were already having many bullying problems with sex, gay or lesbian, fat or skinny, and disabled. Now it just increased.

Donald Trump is a bully himself, and I feel like he’s showing that bullying is okay when it’s not. Even his wife is trying to combat cyberbullying. I think that says something. Since Donald Trump’s election, The Southern Poverty Law Center has received more than 430 reports of bullying, harassment, and racist displays. Those are just ones that have been reported. This is not okay and we must make that clear, especially to these children and teenagers. They are the future.

10

A DV E R T I S E M E N T S FEB. 17, 2017

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矰 䘀爀攀攀 圀椀ⴀ䘀椀 ☀ 倀甀戀氀椀挀 䌀漀洀瀀甀琀攀爀猀 矰 䐀嘀䐀猀 矰 䌀䐀猀 矰 䈀漀漀欀猀 矰 攀䴀攀搀椀愀 矰 匀琀甀搀礀 䜀甀椀搀攀猀Ⰰ 椀渀挀氀甀搀椀渀最 䄀䌀吀Ⰰ 匀䄀吀Ⰰ ☀ 䄀倀

16 OPINION FEBRUARY 2017

Bridges vs. Walls

BY CARMELA COHEN SUAREZ

“A people united will never be divided,” chants the crowd at the Women’s March on Jan. 21 in Iowa City.

Upon hearing this chant, one question rang in my head: Are we really united? When I first heard of this

march I was reluctant to go because I was pretty tired that day, but my mom convinced me to, she voiced, “People shouldn’t be afraid of who they are and what they believe in.” At the time, I was pessimistic and I

“A people united will never be divided” Women’s March Iowa City.

pessimistic and I did not want to go simply because I did not believe that it would change anything. I only went because I had to cover

an event for the photography unit in Intro to Journalism. In just two hours I had gained more than just photos, I had obtained a new

sense of solidarity with others who had similar thoughts on the 2016 election and it helped me find my voice.

This helped me become more involved in the group I was already in, but it definitely strengthened

my division with groups who did not support equal rights for certain other groups and people who discriminated against an individual because of their age, gender, sexual orientation, or race.

17 OPINION FEBRUARY 2017

Since the election, there have been protestors and supporters.The day after at West High School, there was a dark cloud of silence all around us, and it felt like I was walking on eggshells.

People had their walls drawn up, afraid to voice how they felt. Each person is different and each individual is entitled to their own opinion. Some came out of the election relieved and others

on edge. It is important to talk about this issue now because it will not go away, not even four years from now.

We need to be more tolerant and accepting of other people’s thoughts and opinions.

I am writing this because I believe in bridges, not walls.

People should attempt to cross over the “bridge” and see things from other points of view, this could help you gain a new perspective on

Estimated Women’s March Turnout Estimated total Over 2 amount of people who participated around the world.

MillionIs the estimated total for

150,00250,000

Nearly 1,000

1

the world around you.

More than 2 million people all over the world came together to protest in solidarity and make themselves heard, this was an attempt to create a bridge between people and new ideas. Walls do not bring people together, they separate us more, they shut out voices that deserve to be heard.

“People shouldn’t be afraid of who they are and what they believe in.”

-Belkis Suarez

people who participated in the Women’s March in Chicago.

Estimated amount of people who went to march in Iowa city.

Amount of marches it took me to realize that everybody

“Fear shouldn’t rule the world.

Instead, honesty and the truth should.”

deserves a voice.

-Belkis Suarez

COMPILED BY HTTP://USUNCUT.COM/NEWS/OFFICIAL-WOMENS-MARCH-ATTENDANCE/

We can not change the past or the results of this election. What we can do is make ourselves heard.

My mom always said, “Fear shouldn’t rule the world. Instead, honesty

and the truth should.” In light of these words, you should stand tall, be confident in yourself and your opinions because they are relevant. If you feel something is wrong, speak out.

Walls separate, bridges connect people and ideas.

I chose bridges, I want to hear everyone’s opinions and I think that it is important for two clashing groups to see things from

both points of view. It is, ultimately, your choice.., What do you choose: Bridges or walls?

18

OPINION

FEBRUARY 2017

EVERYBODY NEEDS AN ANTIHERO

BY EMMA GEHLBACH

At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis as any ordinary realistic fiction book.

The cheery yellow cover screams fluffy summer romance, and beneath the dust jacket is a whimsical engraving of a little girl with rolled-down socks and messy hair. But make no mistake: underneath the cute exterior, this book is nasty. It deals with the darkest aspects of the human race--the terrible, violent parts of our minds that terrify us so much we shove them aside and try not to think about them.

It’s better to go into this book without knowing much since it’s more fun to experience the plot for Student Reception

Three West High students share their thoughts about The Female of the Species.

Anjali Huynh ‘19: It was a very

though-provoking book that exposed rape culture and slut-shaming. It’s very different from most realistic fiction novels.

Thomas Duong ’19: This

book does a really nice job of going in-depth on what we don’t see about rape culture.

Amanda Young ’19: It gives

a bunch of detail and background stories...one of my favorite types of stories.

yourself. All you really need to know is that the story follows a girl named Alex Craft whose sister was murdered a few years before the start of the novel. Alex has isolated herself from other kids her age since she killed her sister’s murderer (not a spoiler, I promise) and got away with it. The story is told from three different perspectives: Alex and two kids at her school: Peekay, the preacher’s kid, and Jack, an athlete and nominee for valedictorian.

My first thought when reading this book was that the characters were absolutely incredible. They’re perfectly flawed and human and I felt connected to them from the start, but Alex was my favorite.

She’s a monster, but she’s also kind and smart and puts other people before herself. What makes Alex so relatable is that deep down inside we all aspire to be like her: to do what we think is right without giving a thought to the consequences or other people’s opinions.

It was very refreshing to see a book in which a girl is the violent character, as most other authors place male characters in

these roles. This probably explains the title of this novel- the idea that the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Even though it was great to see stereotypes flipped around, my favorite part of this book was its merciless takedown of rape culture and slut-shaming.

At its heart, The Female of the Species is a social commentary that reads like a thriller, and it’s extremely effective at showing the toxicity of a society that normalizes sexual assault.

As important as this message is, this book may not be the best choice for young or sensitive readers because some of the descriptions are pretty graphic. I don’t consider myself easily upset, but I found it difficult to continue reading at times because of the subject matter.

Even though this novel is very dark, the author’s unfailing sense of humor

prevents it from being too depressing, and I found myself cracking up in many of the lighter moments. McGinnis gives the characters many silly little traditions that help give life to their stories, such as Emergency Girlfriend Pact, in which every time a girl goes through a breakup her friends throw a party. The humor was very unique in that rather than just being comedic relief, it helped build up the story and the character’s personalities.

By the time I reached the last page, I was completely emotionally drained. This book has one of those bittersweet endings that feels like emotional whiplash: I laughed and cried and raged and hoped within the span of seven pages.

Even though the book ended in the perfect place, all great stories leave me wanting more, and this one was no exception. Do not miss out!

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TREADMILLS AND GPAS These similarities require a new way of thinking, are they more present in your life than you would think?

With an undeniable overall connotation, treadmills are very similar to GPAs, different approaches come with different people. Some exert strong “heck yeahs!”, some avoid all contact like ex-lovers in the halls and some get trapped underneath. But before we dive too deep, let me share a little background information, that might answer, “Why treadmills?”

BY MORGAN HAWKINS

BY THE NUMBERS

24,400

30

Accidents regarding treadmills last year.

Deaths occured in 2016 due to treadmills, taking a killer workout to a new level.

When I was younger, all my friends were in jaw dropping physical states, so I wanted to be too. One day after school, my friends and I were in my basement and one asked how fast we could all run. Following that provoking question, our competitive nature took over and we headed to the treadmill. As the speeds climbed and it creeped even closer to my turn, my foolishness and determination grew like a summer bonfire. Stepping onto the treadmill as the youngest girl there, I wanted to prove something to them and myself.

A jog broke into a run that led to a full-out sprint, and soon enough my legs felt like Jello and my lower body became numb. Being in the blindly driven state I was in, I commanded them to keep turning up the speed, until all of the sudden everything went black and I was burning, everywhere. I can’t honestly say I remember much else but the excruciating feeling of my flesh being torn from my body. Later when the incident was described to me, it went something like this. I was running at Olympic speeds, (ok not really but I sound cooler if I say that, so let’s go with it), and suddenly my feet stumbled and I was shot back into the wall behind the treadmill, then rebounded off and underneath the treadmill that was still running at an astonishing pace for a few minutes until someone finally unplugged the machine. I’ll save the gory details for later, you get the point.

This story reminded me a lot of people’s battles with their GPA, including myself. We strive to be something better, to be an ideal figure. We push and push until stuck in a detrimental position that gives us the option to either refocus and get back on the right track, or has you trapped and burning.

-This inevitably leads to a collapse and pinning of epic proportions, literally and figuratively. It was a rude awakening, left with a scarred way of thinking is no place to be. It forced me to take a step back, my goal was to approve, to push myself, but within limitations. With the approaching new trimester, it’s important that we all do that. To take a step back and put everything into perspective, the perfect grade or physical body isn’t worth the constant blows to your health and mental sanity. Always remember that, and, hopefully, you won’t get pulled, or stuck, under.

THE CURSE OF

00 45 21

E N T E R TA I NEMNETNETR TA I N M E N FEB.FEB. 17, 17, 2017 2017

‘GIFTED’ 04

E N T E R TA I N M E N T

FEB. 17, 2017 Personal thoughts on how the American school system is affecting the lives of teens deemed to be smart

BY: LUCY POLYAK I first remember being told that I was smart when I was in second ules while still participating in extracurriculars and maintaining an grade. While most of our class was working on reading a Junie B. interesting social life. This impossible juggling act causes students Jones book, I was a part of a group of kids working on creating bi- to often find their mental or physical health seeming to falter or ographies of famous Americans. decline.

Flash forward to fourth grade when I started in my school’s ExIn a world where students push themselves to their breaking tended Learning Program. Over the course of three years, I would points for good grades, it seems like we’ve lost sight of what’s redissect pig bones, participate in a mock trial and research famous ally important in life. Many kids, myself included, find themselves inventors instead of going to regular class. staying in most nights to study instead of going out to dinner with In junior high, I would continue on to North Central Junior High’s people whose company they enjoy. Is getting an A on a test really talented and gifted program, Seminar. I distinctly remember being that much more important than making real life-lasting memories told that those people with me in that classroom were a cut above with friends or family? the rest; that we all were gifted.

So maybe we, as a society, need to take the “Gifted” has been a label I’ve strug- “It isn’t normal for students to feel a weight out of “gifted.” In removing the stangled with for years. I’ve never felt need to stack their schedules with dards that kids are expected to meet, we regifted, but I have felt the pressure this classes they know they won’t be able move the stress of potentially not meeting label puts on me and I know I’m not them. Generalized standards of what success to handle.” the only one. means does more harm to anyone than it It isn’t normal for students to feel a need to stack their schedules does good. Each student is their own individual and deserves to with classes they know they won’t be able to handle. It isn’t normal feel like so. for students to stay up until the early hours of the morning trying So what should high school mean for these so-called “gifted” kids? to finish work for all of their rigorous classes. It isn’t normal for stu- Is proving yourself really worth pulling your first all-nighter before dents to panic about a test they knew they studied for, but are still the age of sixteen? Are you experiencing all that your teenage years all types of anxious about. have to offer, or are you wasting too much time worrying over a But if these things aren’t normal, why are they so prevalent in paper that won’t matter a month from now? many schools all around the world?

It’s important to let young adults forge their own paths through These are all things that force an unimaginable weight on kids, life, without labels stretching them to be something they’re not. pushing on them to achieve the impossibly high standards of a “gift- Sometimes you choose to go hang out with your friends instead of ed” student. They’ve been told since they were still in the single dig- cram for a quiz. Sometimes you study for hours and still manage its that they are smart and therefore must be perceived as so. to do poorly on an exam. It happens. And it’s never the end of the This causes students to attempt to tackle strenuous course sched- world.

FAST FACTS ON ADVANCED PLACEMENT CLASSES*

• 34 different subjects are offered nationwide • 3,200,000 AP exams were taken in 2013

• 57% of those exams had a score of at least a three • 2 times the amount of students are enrolled in AP classes compared to a decade ago *Data collected from KPBS.org

22

T AWKWARD A QUIET RESERVED SHY A SCARED ALIENATED NERVOUS SILENT BORING LONER IN A FOCUSED ISOLATED AFRAID FACE PESSIMISTIC SHELTERED UNPOPULAR INSECURE ALONE NE WALLFLOWER OUTCAST DI

OPINION

FEBRUARY 2017

AND INTROVERT CA

INVISABLE STANDOFFISH ANN ANNOYED UNPOPULAR INDIFFERENT D ANTISOCIAL PATHETIC EMOTIONLESS HERMIT ED WITHDRAWN SOLITARY ONELY TIMID COY MODE E SOCIALLY-AWKWARD SEL

FACED

C

Y

THIS

“LONER”

BY MADDI SHINALL

23

OPINION

FEBRUARY 2017

IS FINE

Flashback to me standing in front of spite my protest, adults always pushed, my elementary school class, face redder encouraging me to become more extrothan a firetruck, hands shaking, voice verted and “out of my comfort zone.” quivering. I look down at my feet and Whether it was making me talk more in the piece of paper that I’m holding in front of the class or telling me to “make my hands. We were in the story writ- new friends,” even though I already had ing unit and my teacher was making us some, I always got the not-so-subtle read the narratives we wrote to the en- hint that I should be more outgoing. tire class. As my eyes start to fill with But this isn’t a message that was just tears, my teachCONNOTATION OF INTROVERT CONNOTATION er looks at me and advises me in her ever-sohelpful teacher voice, “Just suck it up and read your story.”

Nevertheless, I managed to read it, and as I walked back to my desk someone said loudly, “Wow, your face is so red!” as if I hadn’t noticed that my own face sent to me alone; it’s not an isolated was red, and that the fact needed to be occurrence. Introverts are often told vocalized to the rest of the class that that they should change, whether that had clearly seen it and already knew. message is sent more subtly or directly.

As a little kid, I never enjoyed being the Society continues to put pressure on incenter of attention. I shied away from troverts, saying they need to be as outattention and absolutely hated hav- going as extroverts. They are ridiculed ing lots of people staring at me. Even for being “loners” and “moody” purely when I was in daycare, I was perfectly based on the fact that they’re more recontent with quietly playing by myself served and don’t talk as much as extrowhen my friends weren’t there. De- verts. I’ve been told when I was younger

that I was “rude” because I was shy and nervous about talking to a new person.

Just because a kid is keeping to themself and playing alone doesn’t mean they have something wrong about them. Although extroverts are sometimes told to imitate the independence and focus of introverts, they’re never told to change as much as introverts are, even though introverts can be OF EXTROVERT just as successful as extroverts. Just look at Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Marissa Mayer, all of them are extremely successful entrepreneurs and introverts.

But nobody tells a kid, who is clearly an extrovert, that they should “get out of their comfort zone,” but shy kids are told it all the time. Nobody tells an outgoing kid to “go make more friends,” but as a more reserved kid, I was told to do this constantly.

There isn’t anything wrong with someone being an introvert, so seriously, please stop trying to get them to change. Also, don’t point out how red someone’s face is, either. It’s not nice.

DESIGN BY LYDIA GUO

24

OPINION FEB. 27, 2017

NOT THAT KIND OF BOY

MY EXPERIENCE GROWING UP WITH SOCIETY’S MESSAGES TOWARDS MEN

BY LUKE REYNOLDS

A

n image of society’s definition of a man pops into my mind with no difficulty.

It’s a guy who ripples with muscle, never sheds a tear, plays all the sports he can get his hands on, and jokes about women with no regard to how he sounds.

Whether seen gracing magazine ads flaunting their figures or walking through hallways with their posse of bros, they always seem repulsive to me. It’s because they embody exactly what the world deems a man, and the labeling makes me want to scream.

When I was growing up, forcing myself into society’s masculine image never crossed my mind. The first place I would go to in the toy section was the aisle bathed in pink, finding dolls or stuffed animals and clutching them in my little fists so I could bring them on exciting adventures. There was a period of four years where I wore Halloween costumes meant for girls and march in the yearly elementary school parade without a care in the world. What was wrong with a boy being a tween Alice in Wonderland with fabulous long blonde hair that bounced with the blue dress? Nothing. There was also nothing bad about spending recess chatting excitedly with my brother and running around a tree instead of running after a soccer ball. I mean, we all can have different interests, right?

Maybe so, but that didn’t stop the messages I received from my peers and when flipping through magazines.

Hey, you’re a boy! Why don’t you go man up by playing sports with other boys instead of hanging out with girls?

Hey, you’re a boy! Wouldn’t it be more fun to play with action figures and toy cars instead of all those tacky blonde-haired dolls?

Hey, you’re a boy! Why don’t you go harass that girl over there since you’re going to end up falling in love with her?

25

OPINION

FEB. 27, 2017

Those comments settled under the surface for several years before coming out of the water and slapping me in the face as a high school junior. Our world is shaping every single guy into a buff and emotionless stereotype that overexerts their dominance and can sweep women off their feet with the flutter of an eyelash. However, this also comes with a price, one where any guy not masculine enough is called gay and any girl is subject to derogatory comments that reduce them to mere props men can use.

I don’t understand why that should be the case. Why do men have to fit into this box society lays out for them? It’s not healthy for anyone involved. Boys, you can be scrawny, cry and smile all the time, not play sports at all, have girls for friends, and even love other guys or everyone, and you will still be beautiful.

Screw what’s shown on every television screen: real men come in so many different personalities and sizes, and there’s no reason why we can’t all be “masculine.”

I’d rather not be that kind of boy, please.

DESIGN BY FRANCES DAI

WHAT’S DANGEROUS ABOUT SOCIETY’S PORTRAYAL OF MEN? A lot, actually. The main problem is that it can lead to hypermasculinity, a word Collins Dictionary defines as “an exaggeration of traditionally masculine traits or behaviors.” Once young boys see men on television, magazines, and maybe even around them act incredibly aggressive, not cry, be athletic, and treat women like objects to fulfill their sexual desire, that’s how they’ll believe they have to act. This is toxic on so many levels, especially since the hypermasculine ideals are solely that: ideals that will never be reached. Boys will work themselves up to get to the highest possible point of masculinity, and they won’t be deemed enough of a “man” by their peers. It’ll also lead to them suppressing the parts of themselves they want to let out so they won’t view them as “feminine.”

26

OPINION FEB. 27, 2017

VEGGIES

CAN’T BE

BEET

BY TEYA KERNS

M

ood disturbances, high cholesterol, obesity, cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, Psoriasis, and cancer.

What if you could reduce all of these, would you? If you said no, you’re with 92.5 percent of the United States. However, the other 7.5 percent is vegetarian.

According to healthyamericans. org, the obesity rates in America have more than tripled for children and doubled for adults.

Vegetarianism is a great way to become a healthier being, and, if you are determined enough, it could even be a fix to a lot of physical and mental problems.

One great benefit is your physical health. A vegetarian diet is healthier in general than a omnivorous diet due to all the fats in meat and what you replace

them with. Vegetarians don’t eat meat, which means they have to have another source of protein.

Protein, which is made up of amino acids, makes up about 20 percent of your body.

Amino acids are found in both plant protein and animal protein.

This necessary protein can be found in eggs, beans, seeds, nuts, yogurt, and cottage cheese, all of which have the protein needed for your body. By having getting your protein from plants rather than red meat, you reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, and early death.

Another benefit is actually mental health. By eliminating meat, and in some cases animal products in general, you may lower your chances for schizophrenia, anxiety,

Alzheimer's, anxiety, and Mad Cow disease (obviously). Between six and eight percent of the population over 60 has Alzheimer’s, which is caused by high levels of Homocysteine, an amino acid.

Homocysteine is found in meat and dairy, so by cutting out meat your levels will be lower. Due to other

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OPINION

FEB. 27 2017

amino acids reaching the brain, vegetarian or vegan eating reduces depression anxiety, hyperactivity, and insomnia.

Vegetarianism is also a way to help with problems such as

Photo from Creative Commons

climate change, deforestation, pollution, and (if you go vegan) water issues. Raising animals for food currently takes up 30 percent of Earth’s land mass and is also where 70 percent of the grain grown goes. If the grain going to animals is reduced, there would be less demand and greenhouse gases coming from grain production could be reduced. People who go completely vegan save more carbon emissions than they would if they drove a Prius! Carbon can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, and eventually heart disease. By cutting your meat consumption, you also cut your carbon footprint.

If you are considering going vegetarian, I recommend starting slow. Instead of going full vegan right away, you could first just cut out red meat; beef, pork, lamb.

Going pescatarian is another good entry, just seafood. You want to start slow to make sure that your body is getting all the nutrients it needs. Being vegetarian isn’t just cutting out meat, it is replacing meat with other foods that will get you what you need. The next time you see a hamburger, or a plate of steak are you just going to think ‘yum.’ Maybe the next time you see that hamburger, you can think back, where it came from, how much it took to make, what was released into the air and choose your way to make a difference.

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OPINION

FEBRUARY 2017

GOALS FALLEN SHORT BY: NATALIE ROETLIN

Iowa City West High Dance Team ranks lower than anticipated at Nationals in Orlando Florida.

A

s a member of the Iowa City West High Dance Team it was hard to see our season turn out the way it did, but we are in high spirits with hope for next year’s Nationals at the castle in Orlando Florida.

This year our team was faced with a dramatic change in environment The 2016-17 when the coach of seven years quit. season was We were blessed with a new coach of many hidden qualities, Christy ScimeWest High ca, who has many years of experience Poms’ 9TH as a dance instructor at Nolte Acadyear going to emy. She also is a physical therapist at the University of Iowa. She is a very Nationals good addition to our team, but all change comes with difficulty.

We have always had a “name” at Nationals, especially since we ranked ninth last year in jazz finals. We’ve never had a hard time making finals in both dances (jazz and pom.) This year we did not make jazz finals. I think the main reason was our level of confidence going into the competition. We took making finals for granted in the past; we assumed we had it made and we didn’t give it our all. This proved to us that you need to dance every round like it’s your last. This gave us a drive to succeed in pom finals. “You have tonight to be sad, but tomorrow we kill pom,” said Coach Christy Scimeca, the night before finals at a team meeting.

This year was much different than last year’s team. In the 2015-16 season, we practiced an average of 13 hours a week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday were all three hours, then Saturday morning we had a four hour practice and lift. Compared to this year that was a lot. In the 2016-17 season, we practiced on average seven hours a week and did not lift as a team. I think you get what you put in. Of course your practices still have to be productive, you cannot just expect to

win because you put the most time in. I do believe though that the lack of time committed to practice did hurt us in the long run.

Our team was not as close this year compared to previous years. Our seniors were not motivated to encourage team bondings. We had a couple throughout the year but in total I would say that our team was very cliquey and divided. This hurt us because people had a hard time keeping their problems with other teammates out of practice.

We encourage constructive criticism to better our dancers and our routine as a whole, but problems arose when people did not take it constructively. This got in the way of bettering our team and forming an emotional bond with one another.

Having a new coach definitely made the season harder. As fun as this year was, it was not the most productive. She spent most of the year trying to figure us out and learn what motivated us. This is to be expected of course, but it did take away from the productivity of practice and some things she tried shut us down.

I feel like towards the end of the season she has adapted to the way we learn and learned how to motivate us as a coach. Don’t get me wrong; 16th in the Nation isn’t bad, but we would love to do much better. There’s nowhere to go but up from here.

It’s not just black or white.

By SIERRA A. SUITER

Ellen DeGeneres once said “True beauty is not related to what color your hair is or what color your eyes are. True beauty is about who you are as a human being, your principles, and your moral compass.” I grew up struggling to realize that.

Throughout my life I was called an oreo and caramel, I never really understood what those names meant. It all started when I was in kindergarten there was two groups in my school the white girls group and the black girl group.

I hung out with both groups but whenever they would fight they would make me pick a side, I never enjoyed picking sides because no matter what side I picked I never felt like I picked the right side. So as time went on I started to figure out that I shouldn’t just hang out with people because of my skin color, I should hang out

with people that see me for who I am and not my skin

Another Opinion Lexie Little ’20

“I have never seen myself as just one color nor have I thought I was who I am because of the color of my skin. I hope that no one would ever do that to me.”

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OPINION

FEB. 17, 2017

I really struggled with the fact that I was darker then mom because she was white. On a regular bases I would be asked,” Are you adopted”, “ Is that your mom?”. After being asked these questions for over four years I started actually wonder if I actually was adopted, so everyday for about a year I would ask my mom if I was adopted. It got so bad that my mom actually had to getw my birth certificate to prove that I was her biological daughter. When I look back to that now I think about how just because some people told me that there was no way my mom was my mom I went crazy and went against everything I believed.

As I have grown up I have started to hear people say I am a basic white girl. What does that even mean? So what if I like Grey’s Anatomy, Netflix and Starbucks . I don’t feel like what I like and dislike has anything to do with the color of my skin. As time goes on our culture has come up with more and more stereotypes based on people’s race and or origin but what I really don’t understand is how do we come up with all of these stereotypes. Do we just think oh that one white person does this so all of them must do that? Why do we do this when we know it hurts some people? I challenge all that read this to never judge someone by their race or origin.

If you can do this people might stop labeling people or using stereotypes and soon we might not even remember what a stereotype is. I believe that without stereotypes life will be a lot easier for everyone including me.

23 personalities, one person There’s something really cool about watching movies. Getting totally absorbed in another person’s life. But instead of getting absorbed into a person’s life, with one personality, in Split, you get absorbed in one person’s life but with 23 different personalities.

With a 24th on it’s way.

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, he is known for his movies with big twist endings.

And Split was definitely one of them.

The movie about a guy named Kevin Wendell Crumb, who is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. DID is a condition where a person’s identity is divided into two or more different personalities. In Split, Kevin has 23 different personalities and 24th is coming.

James McAvoy portrays the role of Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Barry, Orwell and Jade, The Beast and Kevin Wendell Crumb. Also in the body of Kevin Wendell Crumb. And does a very admirable job on playing the many different characters. There are only 3 personalities that take “control.” Hedwig, a lively 9 year old boy. Dennis, a somber freak with OCD and Patricia. A stern british women.

The movie starts on Claire Benoit’s (Haley Lu Richardson) birthday, her friend Marcia (Jessica Sula), and a girl, who never really fit in with them, Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor Joy) get kidnapped by Dennis.

The 3 girls have no idea where they are and are very confused by the different personalities they’re experiencing that are clearly the same guy.

But, Dennis didn’t take them because he’s freak, but because he has to feed The Beast. The 24th personality who is a bit supernatural, in a sense. The Beast being supernatural kind of threw me off a bit. And I have to admit, the was the only part in the movie that I didn’t like.

As the movie goes on, you see that Casey gets her smarts from numerous newsflashes, And a deeper concern within the flashbacks as well. You see Kevin’s multiple sessions with Dr. Fletcher and the leading up to what the 24th personality becomes.

Other M. Night Shyamalan movies:

The Sixth Sense, 1999

Unbreakable, 2000

The Visit, 2015

THE RISE OF COLLEGE ESPORTS The modern age of competitive gaming

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OPINION

FEBRUARY, 2017

BY DEVIN NOLTE

F

ootball, basketball, base- and the winning team was awarded ball, volleyball, and a full college tuition. This was the League of Legends. All first major eSport competition that teams of players, and all provided collegiate players with a nationally televised college sports. monetary reward, and other comLeague of Legends is a video game petitions like this one will begin to with over 67 million players world- rise, paving the way for more colwide. Throughout America, there leges to form teams. are over 300 teams that participate Already, college sports conin collegiate eSports tournaments, ferences are beginning to create and are recognized and supported leagues for schools to compete by universities across the country. against other teams. League of LegThe field of eSports is growing, and ends, a video game created by Riot championship will then receive in a few years, players and teams Games, has partnered with the Big $100k, so it is apparent that enough ESPORTS TODAY from colleges will compete for Ten to create a college-level League people support collegiate eSports, and the field will be growing trehundreds of thousands of dollars of Legends season featuring twelve • 11 colleges that in scholarships, and grow as big as schools from the Big Ten Confer- mendously over the next few years. offer eSports many other major college sports. ence, including the University of One of the current schools who programs offers a scholarship for League of There are currently seven major Iowa. The teams will compete on Legends is Columbia college.

In a colleges across North America and Monday nights throughout FebEurope ruary and recent interview regarding their • 300 student run that offer March, and choice to create a team, university League of Legs c h o l a r - “True skill at video gaming is the games president, Scott Dalrymple, said ends teams ships to will be “Esports aren’t the future, they’re just as impressive—and just s t r e a m e d the present.” As the field of eSports players to join their as legitimate—as excellence in on the Big grows in colleges across America, • $20,000 in eSports Ten web- colleges want to get involved to get traditional sports” winnings at CSL program, site and their share of the fame in a rapidwhich is app.

The ly rising field, that has much more tournament directly finals of the room to grow and thrive in today’s run by the school, and not the stu- tournament will be live on the Big day and age. In the very near future, B1G CONFERENCE dents. The University of California Ten Network, from Riot Games the field of eSports in the college scene will grow tremendously, and Irvine, Robert Morris University, headquarters in Los Angeles. The • 12 teams particmillions of college players will and the University of Pikeville are champion of the Big Ten will then ipatng in League be playing for their chance at all schools currently offering gam- join the official North Ameriof Legends tourfame.

“True skill at video ing scholarships. These schools ca collegiate League of Leggaming is just as imare leading the way of collegiate ends tournament, which nament pressive—and just eSports, and are motivating more features the top four as legitimate—as schools to join in and create teams college teams in • 200 teams across excellence in of their own, which is going to help North Ameritraditional grow the field of collegiate eSports ca. The winthe nation parsports.” very quickly. ner of ticipate in simlar In 2016, the video game compa- t h i s tournaments ny, Blizzard, opened up a tournament called “Heroes of the Dorm” HOW TO BECOME A CHAMPION in which teams from 482 different colleges competed in Blizzard’s Six simple steps to make the pros game Heroes of the Storm for a chance to win thou1. Download the preffered game sands in scholarships.

The finals of the 2. Play the game online or with freinds to gain practice tournament were televised na3. Take your skills into the competitive mode within the game tionally on 4. Enter a regional, free tournament with your premade team (WinESPN,

ning this helps) 5. Get noticed by a college or professional team 6. Display your skill on a national level

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OPINION

FEBRUARY, 2017

Undrerrated By: Ben Pizzimenti

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OPINION

FEBRUARY, 2017

There is a long disputed question over which professional sport is actually the best, and to decide that you have to look a little bit closer than many would like. I believe that it is hockey, and to find out why, first of all you have to decide how to define the best sport. The word “best” is described as being of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality. So the best sport should be entertaining to watch, difficult to master, yet exhilarating to play.

Since I know many people don’t actually play the sport, they just watch it on t.v., I am going to start off with the entertaining to watch part.

Compared to basketball, baseball, football, and soccer, hockey has the most amount of live action. meaning that you will see the most action/actual playing during a hockey game. When you are watching sports, you probably don’t want to see a bunch of players standing around, you want to see competition, points, fights, anything to get your blood pumping. When playing youth sports I always wanted to play as many sports as I could, I played basketball, football, baseball, soccer, and hockey, it seemed as if in baseball and football especially, you just stand around a lot and don’t do much playing, while in hockey you are always moving. In 2016 the NHL averaged 5.49 goals per game, meaning there is a goal almost every 10 minutes of playing time, while still allowing players to fight and hit.

Now, a sport cannot be great unless it is difficult to master because if your Uncle Joe can throw a football or hit a baseball like the pros then there is no reason why they should be called professionals. I started playing hockey when I was three, and it took me two years until I could skate well enough to be on a team, but I picked up baseball, football, and basketball in no time and I wasn’t that bad. To play hockey you first have to learn how to skate, which means gliding on ice with .115 inch. blades nailed to your shoes. It also means that you have to learn to stop and turn around with those blades in a split second. You must learn how to control a one inch by three inch piece of frozen rubber with a five foot tall stick, and you must do all of this while attempting to not get barrelled into by someone trying to take that piece of rubber from you.

Lastly, the joy of playing.

The average shift in a hockey game is 30-45 seconds meaning that you go out for 45 seconds, change, sit for approximately two minutes and 15 seconds, then go out again. You get to work within different situations such as having one or two more players on the ice than the opposing team, or one to two less. You are able to score goals and make plays from all positions so that you aren’t left out. Every player and position is vital to the team. I believe no other sport can compare to the bonds that are made with coaches and players in hockey and how important that is to youth sports players.

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OPINION FEB. 24, 2017

FAR EAST TO MIDWEST

BY KEN WILBUR AND DANIEL SONG

F

or many students at West High, eating at an authentic Chinese restaurant can be scary.

Communicating with staff, deciphering the menu and trying foreign food, while not quite knowing what you are eating, often turns people away. Yet, authentic Chinese food offers combinations and flavors that can delight and reinvigorate a palate suffering from the complacency of eating the same kind of food day in and day out. So if you do decide to take a step out into uncharted territory, there are a bunch of great Chinese places that are close to home.

100 S Linn St, Iowa City, IA 52240

320 E Burlington St, Iowa City, IA 52240

Uncle Sun is a restaurant run by students of The University of Iowa business school. Situated a block from university campus, Uncle Sun offers a casual eating experience for a price that merits its gargantuan serving sizes. Specializing in crafting mouth-watering meals and self-proclaimed “superb customer service” Uncle Sun provides an eating experience that is sure to delight.

Few restaurants in the Iowa City area provide as much of a genuine cultural experience as Schezuan House. With dim lighting and booth seating Schezuan House may not appear to be different than a typical Dennie’s, but the specials menu written in chinese characters quickly articulate the difference. Schezuan House is a favorite of many chinese born students at the university and specializes in heating food to very high temperatures in order to be soft.

Spicy string beans:

It was cooked very hot so that it was very soft when eaten; very salty flavor that was strengthened by garlic and ginger. Minimal crunchiness

Japanese Tofu:

Served as large balls of tofu with a tough outer shell, but the inside has a soft egg-like consistency that you will find no trouble tearing through.

(Custard-like)

34 OPINION FEBUARY 2017 WSSPAPER.COM

Mild dry Chicken hot pot: Mild Spice,

however still considerable. Fried and crispy peppers added for flavor but should not be eaten. Potatoes and ginger among secondary ingredients.

Fui qi fei pian: cooled

dish with beef stomach, intestines and kidney, which is more palatable than one would expect.

Pepper, spice and cilantro add to the flavor of what becomes quite a hefty appetizer.

CHINA

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

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OPINION

FEBUARY 2017

FRIED SCALLION PANCAKES

RECIPE STEPS: STEP ONE: Mix flour and 1 teaspoon salt together in a largeFor many students at West eating atmix an bowl; pour in boiling waterHigh, and quickly authentic restaurant can be scary.

Commutogether Chinese until water is absorbed.

Work cold water, nicating with staff, deciphering the menu and trying about 1 tablespoon at a time, into flour mixture just foreign food, while not quite knowing what you are until dough forms. Knead dough for 10 minutes. Coveating, often people authentic er bowl withturns a damp clothaway. and Yet, let dough rest Chinese for 40 food offers combinations and flavors that can delight minutes. and reinvigorate a palate suffering from the complacenTWO: onto a lightly cySTEP of eating theTurn samedough kind of food day in floured and daywork out. surface; divide into 4 equal pieces.

So if you do decide to take a step out into uncharted territory, there are a bunch of great Chinese places that STEP THREE: Roll 1 piece of dough into a large thin are close to home. round; brush the top with vegetable oil and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 the green onions.

Pick up 1 end of the round and roll dough around green onions into a long scroll-shape. Take 1 scroll end and roll dough into a disk. Repeat with remaining dough, letting each disk rest for 10 minutes.

STEP THREE: Heat about 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Place 1 disk on a floured surface and roll into a 1/2-inch thick round; cook in the hot oil until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining disks.

INGREDIENTS:

FLOUR: 2 CUPS SALT: 1 TBSP VEGETABLE OIL MINCED SCALLIONS

WSSPAPER.COM FEBUARY 2017 OPINION 35

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OPINION FEB. 2017

The Inside Scoop

BY AVA WESSINGER

When you choose what ice cream you are going to buy is there a reason why you pick a certain brand over another? I tried five different brands of ice cream all in the same flavor to see if there really was a difference. I choose vanilla flavored ice cream because it is the most common flavor and simple.

To start off I first tried Bryers simple vanilla it was the most basic version the store carried. The ice cream had a good consistency and was everything you would expect.

There were many things I liked about this brand it had many natural ingredients and not very many artificial additives. It was carried in almost every grocery store I went to and it was one of. It was an okay price for the product and didn’t cost too much.

The packaging reflected the product with a classic.

Next I tried Blue Bunny, it was cheaper than the Bryers by about 20 cents. It too had a simple classic taste but not as good as the Bryers. It had similar ingredients to the Bryers but much more artificial ingredients. It was also a creamy and smooth ice cream. The downside to this ice cream was that it had a watery after taste didn’t had a strong vanilla flavor. The packaging was similar to the others, but was pretty sturdy, and had their normal logo with the bunny.

Another ice cream I tried was Ben and Jerry’s vanilla flavored ice cream. This ice cream stood out from the rest in many different ways. It had a slight vanilla taste and not as creamy as the others. One of the most surprising things about it was the after taste. The after taste had almost an eggy taste and it didn’t really go away for a while.

It was a medium priced ice cream and I found that it had pretty high ratings. It had better packaging than the others and seemed to hold up better with a plastic rim on the lid unlike the others. It had a bright and colorful design and was eye catching. I wouldn’t recommend this product to others because of it’s taste.

I also tried Edy’s ice cream it had a smooth and very creamy texture and had a rich taste. It was not very cheap, but still reasonable for 1.5 QTS. It had the best overall taste out of the ice creams I tried. TI was their slow churned classic vanilla flavor and was apart of their simple recipes collection of ice creams with natural vanilla and cream. It had quite simple packaging but it was not always easy to scoop because of the paper sides.

Next I tried the Häagan Daz vanilla flavored ice cream. It was similar to the Blue Bunny but much better quality. It was rich in flavor and was very creamy. It wasn’t as good as the Edy’s but but very close. It was not very cheap for its size. It had nice packaging and was sturdy. It had simple ingredients including cream and natural vanilla.

My overall experience was surprising in many different ways.

Before I had never realized such a major difference between the ice cream brands.

For the variety of brands they all have about the same price between the $2-5.

They tend to use some of the same ingredients in their products, but It may seem like they are all the same and there is a big difference between each ice cream. You won't truly know what makes each one different until you try them.

COMPILED BY LEAH DUSTERHOFT

MOST POPULAR FLAVOR

29% 9%

Vanilla

Chocolate

5%

Butter Pecan

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OPINION

Caucasian ≠ White

FEB. 24, 2017

By Fatima Kammona

Caucasian and white are not the same thing yet people use them as if there interchangeable

About 40 languages are spoken in this region of the world.

What is your

Definition of Caucasian A mountainous region of SE Europe and SW Asia, lying between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and SE Russia

gender? Do you identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, or asexual? What is your race and/ or ethnicity?

These questions were exact questions that I had to answer in a survey by K12 Insight for one of my classes a few weeks ago. The people who write these questions and think this way are one of the reason as to why racism, sexism, and stereotypes still exist.

In school, were taught not to stereotype people and that it does not matter what race or gender you are, but the second a standardized test comes out the school asks us, the students to do this to ourselves.

We’re asked to stereotype ourselves by answering these degrading questions. I am a teenager, which means this is my time to love who I want to love, to act how I want and this is my time to figure out who I am and who I want to be. This is not my time -- nor will it ever be time -- to let others degrade who I am by putting me in little categories that are supposed to identify who I am. I am not a bubble that can just be colored in or a box that needs to be checked.

As if the questions themself weren’t horrific enough, they aren’t even accurate. If you allow someone to identify who you are by your race, then you are

either red, orange, black, gray, yellow, brown, green, white, blue or any of the other 240 names for colors in English. Race is a color that is all it is and all it should ever be allowed to be.

However one’s ethnicity is defined by one’s cultural factors, including nationality, regional culture, ancestry, and language. Ethnicity has nothing to do with race, they’re two completely different groups. For example, caucasian and white don’t actually mean the same things. White is a color which means it indicates race, while Caucasian is an ethnicity that refers to a person from the Caucasus region -- a region at the border of Europe and Asia, situated between the Black and the Caspian seas.

I’m sitting their, in my room taking a survey for class answering these degrading questions about myself, and as if that wasn’t enough I asked to put others into these categories, into these stereotypes.

What does that even matter, I am a person, I live and breath, I make mistakes and I learn from them and I will die. So the only box that I will ever check or circle is the one that says human because that is the only cate- gory I will ever

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OPINION

It’s a sport. Just deal with it.

FEB. 17, 2017

“What sport do you play?”

“Tennis.” I am immediately responded with laughter and Lets just think about it if you are still not motions. “You play tennis? Hahahaha!” *swings his arm persuaded. mimicking a tennis racquet. Laughs so hard he ends up falling on the floor * As I stand over him, I shake my head COMPILED BY SANJEEV SARIN and roll my eyes. “Tennis isn’t a real sport.” say’s Henry Krain ‘20, “It’s easy, anybody can play it.” People that say this piss me off. Now I will say, when you work your tail Roger Federer makes $71 million dollars a off at least 3-4 times a week for two hours of constant year. grinding on the court, you wouldn’t expect some random person to know that you are working hard. (and yes that Number of State actually happened…. I didn’t bother to ask his name.) A champoinships won by boys and girls at west high school variety of students at West high School think tennis isn’t a real sport. It’s too easy to play is what many students say.

The Starting 6. 6 players on the team that start off the “I feel like, it’s really easy because you can just be realmeet with singles. ly angry and just hit the balls, right?” Britney VanVang ‘20(city High School).

Tennis is a sport that consists of mental strength. There is If you want to be dedicated about a term that many players use and it is called your mental tennis, it means you want to improve game.Most people define the mental game using words and get better. Just like any other sport, like: having confidence, belief, a good attitude, or thinkto get better you want to be dedicated. ing the right thoughts. In tennis, your mental game is When people say Tennis isn’t a real extremely important. You must stay calm, even if you are sport, come on people, give me some losing, do not give in. Everybody has anger, an animal inside of them and in tennis, if you release that animal on reasons how it’s not . the court, you’ve already lost. Let me give you an example of a sport that includes mental game: Basketball. When it If you want to be dedicated about tennis, it means you want to improve and get gets into crunch time, the two important things are skill and mental toughness. If you guys are down by 30 points better. Just like any other sport, to get and it’s only second quarter, most players would have the better you want to be dedicated. When people say Tennis isn’t a real sport, come mindset to start focusing more. If you are slouching and on people, give me some reasons how dragging your feet, your coach is gonna yell at you. You it’s not . have just lost your mental game.

Let’s do some number right here: the average pro basketWorking your way to starting 6 for the ball player makes about $2.5 million a year. Now, a pro tennis player, lets bring up Roger Federer. He makes about varsity team takes time and effort. The $71 million a year. That’s more than any basketball player Starting 6 are 6 players on the team that start off in singles and if they lose or win as far as I know. So…. tennis? Not a real sport? Why are and 3 loose, the two teams they putting so much money on this guy then?

BY THE NUMBERS

$71m 10

6

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OPINION

FEB. 17, 2017

Varsity stats for boys and girls

go to doubles. Off-season, first Tri, I practiced for 2 hours, 5 days per week.To practice that long on the court, and almost every friday after school, condition with the team really shows that I want to be on the starting 6. when people say tennis isn’t a real sport, how does dedication, mental game and money not fit in the category of sports? That is what I leave to you, besides, how would you feel if someone laughed at you and your sport?

Welcome to

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AMERICA:

OPINION FEB. 24, 2017

an immigrant An untold tale of

BY THOMAS DUONG

F

or many immigrants, the journey to the United States is a new start to life. Many travel thousands of miles to escape violent conflict or to find a better life. However, anti-immigration policies threaten to limit opportunity to enter the United States and remove citizens who left everything behind in order to live in the U.S. The struggle for immigrants is immense, and my dad’s journey helps describe what it’s like to be an immigrant.

When my dad made the decision to immigrate from Vietnam, the journey was not easy. My father lived in a city called Xuan Loc which was thirty-five miles from Saigon. Xuan Loc was the last city before Northern Vietnamese took over Saigon during the Vietnam War. Because of the war, my father and his family ran away from home and followed railroad tracks in the forest.

There was no fresh water, so they collected muddy rain water to drink from pot holes along the way and ate from the rationed food they brought. After thirty-five miles, they reached Saigon and stayed there for one month until the war was over. My father and his

family moved back to their hometown only to find that their family business was taken over by communists.

One night, my dad and his brother took a bus from Saigon that took them to an unknown wooded area. It was pitch black as they scrambled through the forest to the river. A large boat

awaited when they arrived. “The boat carried 231 people. It was an escape boat disguised as a fishing boat waiting for us. It was 17 meters long and 4 meters wide. I remember to this day that PK1110 was the number written on the side of the

boat,” my father described.

My father and his brother along with other people who made it to the boat all hid inside until the next nightfall.

The boat left for Malaysia at night. The voyage took five days and four nights.

“The boat broke down a couple times, and people tried to fix it,” said my father.

“Sometimes,” my father said, “there wasn’t enough food to eat. When the weather was

bad, we don’t get many supplies so there was no food to eat. We had no money. All we did was sit there and wait.”

On the island, the habitants also built

11.6

231

40,000

MILLION

36%

PEOPLE

REFUGEES

FOREIGN BORN CITIZENS

IMMIGRANTS GRADUATE COLLEGE

ON A 17 x 4 METER BOAT

ON THE MALAYSIAN ISLAND

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OPINION

FEB. 24, 2017

a church and a cemetery. New refugee boats, three or four, came every day.

“We stayed there for a year waiting to see if any countries were willing to pick you up,” he recalled. After staying in the camp for a year, 40,000 people lived on the island. He and his brother were finally picked to resettle in the United States.

Immigrants, like my dad, struggled through such adversity just to get to the United States. This struggle and hardship needs to be taken into consider-

ation when making executive orders.

These people not only sacrificed themselves, but also their family and all they worked for. Immigrants know what hardship is, they know what inequality is, and they know what limits their success. That’s why they immigrate.

They want a better life. America was built on immigration and the promise of the American dream. Building a wall, or implementing a ban on Muslim-majority countries doesn’t help anyone, immigrant or not. Helping immigrants bring the U.S. together and strengthens our national identity. Without immigrants today, America wouldn’t be the same. Their place here means all the difference.

A closer look on immigration

42

OPINION FEBRUARY 2017

DON’T CRITISIZE IT, LEGALIZE IT! BY: COLESON KRUPP

Marijuana has been a controversial issue in the United States for whether it should be legal or not for a while now. Recently, with some states being legalized and others not, it has been talked about with very strong opinions on both sides of the argument whether it should be legalized or not. It seems to be that marijuana is becoming more prevalent at West high comparing to earlier years. Even though there is not as much information about marijuana and it’s side effects as alcohol, it seems to be much safer. High Schoolers might be thinking the same thing because marijuana is becoming more prevalent at West high comparing to earlier years. If it were to be legalized, our economy would actually benefit and there would be less crime.

There is no reported death from marijuana overdose, unlike alcohol where there is an average of six people each day who die from overdosing. But yet marijuana is not yet legalized nationwide, but it is legal for medicinal and recreational (just having to be 21 and older) use in 9 states and legal for medicinal use in 28 states. Even though alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana, it's more popular amongst high schoolers at West High to drink rather than to smoke. The problem is that the way society and the media views marijuana without really knowing the truth behind either drug. Both drugs are bad for teenagers and the developing brain, but is marijuana actually any worse than alcohol?

Marijuana acts on movement, sensations, vision, judgement, memory and coordination. Long term effects are still fairly unclear but scientists believe that it affects your memory and brain development but it is still unclear because it has been legalized in some states for only a short amount of time. Alcohol has similar short term effects as marijuana in a moderate amount, but with higher amounts there are much greater consequences such as vomiting, blurred vision, passing out, alcohol poisoning and even death. Some of alcohol's long term effects are loss in brain cells, liver damage, heart diseases and effects on brain development.

There are many benefits to legalizing marijuana. For example, drug dealers are benefiting from marijuana being illegal because it keeps them in business and it makes it easier for them to younger people. If marijuana was legal, people would not buy from dealers but instead from legal dispensaries. If marijuana was legal in Iowa, then our State Government would be making much more money from taxes on it. The Colorado State Government made over $2,000,000 from taxes on marijuana on the first year it was legalized for recreational use.

They made so much money they had to give tax refunds to people.

Legalizing it would also open many more jobs with a whole new industry.

Even if you think it is morally wrong, you have to admit we could benefit greatly from it being legal. This could be like alcohol and how it has helped our economy and became part of our culture. Marijuana could potentially be the same and come with all the benefits with much less negatives

43

OPINION

FEB. 2017

SUBSTITUTES OR STUDENTS...WHO ARE THE REAL TEACHERS? Substitutes do not know what to teach if they don’t specialize in that subject. The students end up knowing more than the sub.

BY EMERIE BELL

When you have a substitute in your

classroom that doesn’t know what to do, how do you address the problem? Do you help the sub, or mess around with your friends and totally dismiss everything the substitute instructs? Students always have worse behavior in the classroom with a substitute rather than their actual teacher.“The biggest challenge for me is not having students listen as if I’m not even there,” says Mrs.Sterler, a substitute teacher. This problem could be solved if substitutes knew exactly what they were teaching, and students would pay more attention in class, so they wouldn’t miss out on the lesson.

10%

of teachers are absent on any given school day The test you have the next day would be so much easier if subs knew how to teach the review or answer any questions you may have the day of testing. Teacher’s are gone a lot the day of or before one of my tests. I never do as well as I could on a test if the teacher isn’t there the day before or the day of the test. The majority of the time I have a substitute, we watch a movie for three days.

When the teacher is gone, students end up having to watch a video that rarely relates to the topic they’re learning about.

If they don’t watch a video, the substitute tries to continue the lesson from the day before, but students get even more confused or don’t learn anything at all.

Here’s an easy solution, teacher’s that have an open period can cover for a teacher that are absent, if there are teachers available during that period.

SUBS NEAR YOU

1. There are about 100 susbtitutes in the Iowa City district 2. About 10 substitutes are needed a day at West High 3. Iowa has 7,230 substitutes 4. 40% are boys, 60% are girls

Even bringing in a higher authority, such as a dean, would be a good solution. If the dean ever comes into my class, we all shut our mouths and get right to work to make sure we don’t get in trouble. Teachers and deans as a replacement for substitutes, will help the issue of substitute shortages throughout the district as well.

Substitutes are required to, at minimum, have a high school diploma and identification.

Only sometimes they are required to have previous teaching experience, I completely Substitutes disagree with that. I are in think all substitutes should have some the nation sort of teaching experience.“I teach about four to five different subjects a week,” says Mrs. Sterler. Maybe if subs were put into subjects they have majors in, or know a lot about, they would be more willing to sub, and the number of substitutes in the district will increase. I understand that teachers have a say in what substitute will teach their class, but what if there’s an emergency and an important lesson is being taught? This is when a dean or a supervisor should come in to watch the students as they use the time to do work for other classes. teach the same thing the next day.

However, the supervisor shouldn’t try to teach the class, because the supervisor shouldn’t try to teach the class, because most likely, students won’t understand what is being taught and the teacher will have to teach the same thing the next day.

I believe that if a substitute understood the subject, and had school a say in what they systems are got to teach students actually learn in need of would something, adn this could potentially help teachers the shortage of subs throughout the district.

400,000

73%

44

OPINION

FEB. 17, 2017

America, the land of the free, the place where opportunities are endless, where people look to as if it were heaven, and most of all, where diversity is great. However, the people who weren’t born here or at least, “look” like they aren’t from America don’t have a voice in how the place they live in should play out. According to Pew Research Center in 2015, 39% of non-Americans, people not from America, feel that they don’t have a voice as to how the government runs things.

the upcoming presidential election. In order to do that, we had to give up our right to vote back home. I was pretty upset with my parents for doing that because I would never want to lose my right to vote from where I am from.

Whenever I hear people talking about it or hear it on the news, I just get really annoyed and put headphones on. Politics is my least favorite subject, although it’s important, it just gives off a lot of nonsense.

I have now lived in the U.S. for almost four As a person who isn’t from America , I don’t years now and honestly, I’ve never heard or necessarily care about American politics despite seen a certain political topic, like the presiliving in the U.S. My family and I will be affect- dential election, being talked about so much. ed by the choices the leaders of this country I respect that the outcome of this presidential make; however, it just doesn’t concern me as election was such a shocker and that people do much as it does other people. I do know right not like who is leading the country right now. , from wrong and if I ever do need to make a However, it's just tiring ….... Even when I was stance on who’s side I’m on, of course I’ll be on back home in Saipan, I didn’t pay attention to the side of what is best. who was running for governor or secretary or whatever. True, I was young, about 8 years I’m from Saipan, a small island in the Pacific old, but still. I respect all people’s opinions on Ocean where it’s summer all year round. It's in- what’s going on in their own country. I respect habited by a little over 47,000 people and the lo- what people do and the choices they make and I cals, like me, speak Chamorro, a language only do admire the people standing up for what they found in the Northern Marianas Islands. My think is right and seeing the American people people have definitely had an encounter with come together and unite as one.

Americans in the past concerning World War 2 when the Japanese invaded our island, and Don’t get me wrong. I love America, it’s a because of that event, we are now aided by the beautiful country, although it does have it’s U.S. We are a U.S. territory, so you would think disagreements. The way the people are able to that I would care for the politics. Well, I don’t. stand up for what they believe in and fight for When it comes to the presidential elections for what’s right, makes us very great role models the United States, we can’t vote. This impacted for other countries who are having the same my family because when we moved to America problems. At the same time, though, it just four years ago, my parents wanted to vote in really doesn’t concern me. I may not agree with

BY MOIRA IGLECIAS

Trump’s actions, and I do think he’s a snob, and he fits the stereotype of rich people just wanting more power and attention.

To me, I only really don't care for politics is the fact that I'm not from here, so I have this idea in my head that it has nothing to do with me even though in some ways it does. All I really want to do is just live life and have fun with my family and friends. That’s how I see everything.

COMPILED BY MOIRA IGLECIAS

What do you think?

Fatima Kammona’17 Moira: In general, do you care for American Politics?

Fatima: I do, for different reasons. I care about American Politics because I live in America and what’s going to happen to me. I do care for it, because my family, politics in our family, we sit down together and just laugh at it with each other. Like it’s a comedy.

Pedro Amarra’20 Moira: In general do you care about American Politics?

Pedro: In general… no but I’ve been here for just a year so I can’t say much about it but I don’t, even Brazil I didn’t care much at all because everyone knew that the government was terrible. So yeah I don’t care much about it.

Helpful or a Waste of Time?

BY KILEY PIERCY

Its 2am and I’m sitting at my desk in my room with all of my homework spread out in front of me. I’ve been doing homework for 4 hours and I am exhausted and stressed out because I have three finals tomorrow. Don’t you ever wish you had more time in class to get homework done so you didn’t have to stay up until the middle of the night?

Currently at West High School, every Tuesday and Wednesday there is Academic Focus Time. AFT is between 6th and 7th period and lasts 25 minutes. AFT was designed this year to help students get their work done during school, and to ask teachers for help. You can ask other students for help or go to a teacher and have them help you with confusing concepts in that certain class.

Majority of students love AFT as it can help them organize themselves out better to help with all of their school work. During the winter time especially, sickness spreads around West High and causes students to miss several days of school. AFT is a great time to talk to their teachers about making up assignments and exams. Sometimes it is hard to focus on school work at home because you can have distractions of family members, pets, and of course netflix. Being able to work in a quiet school area is helpful.

AFT is a newer concept that has been a controversial topic throughout the West High’s students and staff. A high percentage of students believe that AFT has increased their level of production within their school day, though some teachers have said that it’s just a 25 minute period for students to play on their phone. There has been talk through the school of increasing the amount of AFT and making it everyday. Maddy Lugering ‘19 said that having AFT time has increased her GPA and finds her levels of stress are very low now. Overall, AFT had a positive impact on West High School and made major changes in students school lives.

COMPILED BY KILEY PIERCY

BY THE NUMBERS

96

70

4

Percentage of students who enjoy having AFT.

Percentage of students who find themselves productive or very productive.

The average number of days a week students would like to have AFT.

45

OPINION

FEB. 27 2017

46

OPINION FEB. 2017

PIPE DOWN

A picture of Oceti Sakowin camp, one of the camps where the Water Protectors are staying.

Where my mom, Shelley Buffalo, stayed while she was up there.

Taken by Shelley Buffalo.

BY THOMAS PETERS thpet19@icstudents.org The Oceti Sakowin camp was just recently shut down by the militaristic sheriff ’s department, with a crack down on the peaceful protesters and the independent journalists staying there. The camp was one of the camps where people protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline stayed. The Dakota Access Pipeline, or Bakken pipeline, is a controversial $3.7 billion project that begins in northwest North Dakota and travels through South Dakota and Iowa, ending in Patoka, Illinois.

The pipeline company and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have been at odds about this project.

The website, daplpiplinefacts. com says that the pipeline would be “the safest and most environmentally sensitive way to trans-

port crude oil from domestic wells to American consumers.”

The company that is building this pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), recently spilled 55,000 gallons of gasoline into the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. In 2013, ETP was sued and served with notices of violation for v ar i ou s spills, leaks and contamination of water. According to the Center for Effective Government, “...ruptures and leaks are a daily occurrence.” Eighty people died with another 389 injured from 2010 to 2015 because of these incidents. So can you really believe them when they say it is environmentally sensitive? ETP makes subsid-

iary companies to oversee the pipelines that they own, ETP is more of a collection of smaller companies, each with its own pipeline. DAPL is one of these subsidiaries.

Also, Morton County is the county that is directly above the Standing Rock Reservation, so the sheriff ’s office from Morton County would be the one responding to the protests.

The Native American tribes in the Dakotas and Iowa are opposed to this pipeline and have been protesting since April of 2016. The pipeline may not be directly on the reservation, but if a spill was to happen, it would make this impoverished reservations water tables pollut-

ed and they wouldn’t have any water to drink. Not much has happened since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement to drill under Lake Oahe. However, since Trump became president, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are giving DAPL the easement to do so and the protests will begin again. The protesters, also known as water protectors, are practicing civil disobedience through peaceful protest to protect the earth. DAPL, a private company, has used eminent domain (see graphic to left for definition) for private gain. DAPL’s uses of eminent domain in this situation is illegal, as they are a private company, not a governmental power. The governor of North Dakota and the Morton County sheriff ’s department have

47

OPINION

FEB. 2017

WHY THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE IS A BAD IDEA.

“They are saying it’s violent and that they are rioting, but while I was there it was peaceful and there was sense of love in the camp.”

-Shelley Buffalo used excessive force against the people opposed to the pipeline.

Mass arrests, attack dogs, mace rubber bullets, sound cannons, water cannons in sub-zero temperatures, impact grenades and tear gas have been documented by photos, video and reporters as being used on the Water Protectors. You can find videos of what is happening on outlets such as youtube, or The Young Turks.

The North Dakota state police and Morton County sheriff ’s office have committed human rights abuses, while acting on behalf of a private corporation, against peacefully protesting citizens. This should be alarming to every United States citizen that the police, who should be protecting and serving the people of North Dakota, are in-

stead abusing their citizens and refusing to give them a voice, while the corporation they are protecting is the one breaking the law. President Trump is biased towards DAPL in this situation, because he is personally invested in this pipeline.

Additionally, what is happening at Standing Rock is institutionalized racism against Native peoples. The white citizens of North Dakota show very little compassion towards the conditions of the Natives and what they are going through to protest the building of the pipeline. The original pipeline route crossed the Missouri River north of Bismarck, North Dakota, a predominantly white town. When the people of Bismarck protested the pipeline crossing North of them, how-

ever, the route was quickly changed. Now, those protesting the pipeline and its current route, who are predominantly Native American, are being ignored by most major news outlets, and any big publicity that they are getting is from the Morton County Sheriff ’s office.

All pipelines fail. They eventually leak, either to disregard from the company that is “maintaining” it, or from other less controllable factors, like if a natural disaster happened.

When they inevitably fail, pipelines pollute waterways and land that we depend upon.

The Bakken Pipeline may not be directly in the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, but it is in disputed territory and goes through private land. It will be going under a piece of the Mis-

souri River, Lake Oahe, which is just North of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. If the pipeline breaks there, the oil will pollute the water tables and land of the reservation. What is happening in this fight is U.S. corporations are getting so powerful that they are able to abuse the law for private gain.

The power of corporations in our country is getting to be so much that they can just do whatever they want to gain profit without any implications.

This needs to stop. If you want to help with this, you can; learn more about the struggle, donate to the cause, divest from banks invested in the pipeline, raise awareness, call or email governments agencies, such as the Army Corps of Engineers and support solidarity rallies.

The Glass Wall.

BY MICHELLE KIM

The definition of privilege is to have a special right or advantage only granted by being a particular person or group of people. This basically means, depending on your race, gender, sexual orientation, workplace, etc, you will have a certain advantage or disadvantage. For example, a black male has more disadvantages than a white male does, while a black male would have more advantages than a black female because she would be female. Why? Because throughout history mostly everywhere, women have had less rights than males, women didn’t get to vote in the United States until 1920. Sure, you may have a life that doesn’t really turn out as well as you wanted, but if you’re white, you will have an easier time in life than an asian, black, or hispanic person if their life isn’t that good either.

Discrimination against someone’s gender, race, class, sexual orientation, etc. is illegal in the United States, even though there are laws for this, discrimination still occurs all the time. The glass wall is an analogy for the discrimination happening around the world. In business, the “glass wall” or “glass ceiling” happens all the time. If a man and a woman compete for a promotion in a

priv·i·lege noun

business, it’s most likely for the man to get the job. Women are perceived as weak or not fit for a higher job and they don’t get promoted as easily as men do. The “glass wall” is when someone implicitly favors a certain group, in this case, men are being favored in the business industry. Now, I know that this “glass wall” has been brought down a little bit, college today has been accepting students of diversity ranging from different race, sexual orientation, gender, and class. This is great that this is happening, but that doesn’t mean that that “glass wall” or “glass ceiling” is gone. Sometimes it feels like we aren’t favoring a cer-

4 SECTION MONTH 2016 WSSPAPER.COM

di·ver·si·ty noun

The privilege walk is an experiential activity to highlight how people benefit or are marginalized by systems in our society. There are many iterations of such walks with several focusing on a single issue, such as race, gender, or sexuality.

-the state of being diverse; variety. “there was considerable diversity in the style of the reports”

tain group but we have an innate bias to lean towards to one.

“It’s privilege because you

Unfortunately, there are lives don’t go to jail if you are a cis, that are taken because of this bias. The shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, was straight, white, male.” a huge start to the Black Lives Matter movement, this tragic incident brought -Chase Marino ‘17 thousands, or even millions of people together to fight against racial discrimination. Maybe without this kind of racial bias or discrimination, the life of Michael Brown wouldn’t have been taken. The cop who shot Brown was Darren Wilson, a 28 year old white cop shot Brown when he had his hands up noun to surrender but Wilson kept shooting. The question is, would Wilson have shot if Brown was a white male? Probably not. “It’’s -an unofficially acknowledged barrier to privilege because you don’t go to jail if you are a cis, straight, advancement in a profession, especially white, male.” - Chase Marino ‘17. affecting women and members of minorities.

Privilege is a problem. It shouldn’t exist, but it does, and maybe there isn’t a way we could resolve it but, we can change it.

We can change people’s opinions, show them that this is a problem that is definitely happening all around the world. We can point every problem with privilege and try and fix them one by one. We can do this and be all equal.

1. a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. “education is a right, not a privilege”

Privilege Walk

glass ceil·ing

The starting point for Pedro - “20, Sierra Suiter ‘20, Korea West ‘20, Sanjeev Sarin ‘19, Henry - ‘19, Emma Gehlger ‘19, and Enyo Okeomo ‘19 pariticipating in the Privilege walk.

Some of the Questions Asked - If you are right-handed, take one step forward.

-If you were ever made fun of or bullied for something you could not change or was beyond your control, take one step back.

- If you can show affection fo ryour romantic partner in public without redicule or violence, take one step forward.

-If you were ever discouraged from an activity because of race, class, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation, take one step back.

-If you feel good about how your identities are portrayed by the media, tak eone step forward.

- If there was ever substance abuse in your household, take one step back.

- If you feel respected for your academic performance, take one step forward.

Last positions after 30 questions being asked, they all took a tile step back or a tile front depending on the questions.

WSSPAPER.COM MONTH 2016 SECTION 5

44

A DV E R T I S E M E N T S FEB. 17, 2017

PHOTOS BY BY LEAH DUSTERHOFT & SARAH LONGMIRE

EXCLUSIVELY ON

1

12 WSSPAPER .COM 2

‘YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN ON THIS ONE’: THE STORY OF A FEMALE WRESTLER

PHOTO STORY: INSIDE LOOK AT THE NEW CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL

Laurel Haverkamp ’20 tried wrestling for two years before deciding to quit. Read on about her experience as a female in a predominantly-male sport.

Look in on the open house of the new Stead Family Children’s Hospital in honor of the University of Iowa Dance Marathon yesterday.

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54

E N T E R TA I N M E N T FEB. 24, 2017

SHAPE UP

OR...

School Behavior: Disrespectful students at West High School

BY SELINA HUA

dents disrespect teachers and students, I have seen students give the middle finger to a teacher because of a slight penalty given by a teacher and I definitely have heard people using rough language. Having this behavior going around in our school isn’t something that we should be proud of. Looking at it in a teacher’s perspective, I would want all my students to not flunk a class and end up going on with their life struggling to put food on the table for their kids everyday.

Inappropriate school behavior ranges from

classroom,” Secrist said. School is a place where teachers and other staff members create a learning environment. It’s not like teachers are willing to spend time with tired and angry teens. Teachers in our school are the ones tasked with dealing with the tired and angry teens that walk in and out of the classroom every day. Their biggest goal is to see their students graduate high school. “My goal as a teacher is to help kids be the best they can be. But that has come with challenges always, being disrespectful

Everyone has experienced some type of inappropriate classroom behavior. Meaning people who get to class late, never finish their part on a group project, and are always on their phone using Snapchat to take weird selfies to send to friends during class.

Sometimes, people make excuses like “my locker got stuck” or “I went to the restroom” to cover up for their 30 minute tardy. Then there are others who drop more than a couple of F bombs in a sentence just for the fun of it. These days continue on and on, until the school year ends. Then right after summer break, I see a dramatic change in behavior: the exact same thing over again.

As a student here at West, I have seen stu-

texting a friend in class to physical injury to the teacher or another student.

Jenifer Secrist, a science teacher here at West High has had plenty of experiences with inappropriate classroom behavior. “I think behavior gets out of hand way too often. Not to the point of injury but I have seen that happen and have also been physically injured by a student,” Secrist said.

According to Secrist, some of the worst behaviors she’s observed are apathy and disrespect. “When I only have about 50 minutes a day, and I have to spend more time redirecting, reminding over and over, correcting behaviors - this all takes away from the amount of learning that can happen in the

needs consequences, but if the same child is apathetic about his or her school work then that makes it difficult for the teacher.” Secrist said.

Bad classroom behavior isn’t only limited to things like coming to class late on a daily basis. It also includes things that we don’t categorize as bad. Instead we categorize these things as normal. For example, looking on our phone during class is considered “typical”. Almost everyone does this a couple of times a day to maybe send a friend a selfie on Snapchat or maybe responding to a text. These things that we see as minor are actually things that disrupt the learning

I make my way into the classroom, feeling tired, and ready to go home. Everything in the classroom seemed normal. But as soon as class starts, students are immediately on their phones, having side conversations and not listening to the teacher go through the lesson plans. Then a little while after, a student was caught snapchatting their friend in class. The teacher gives warning to the student and in a blink of an eye, the student sticks up the middle finger at the teacher when he/she isn’t looking.

55

E N T E R TA I N M E N T

FEB. 24, 2017

...SHIP OUT environment just as much as all the other actions because these things are things that almost everyone does. “There are days that I do not know what to do to change it...and I carry that home with me because my job is to provide a safe learning environment that encourages growth for all of my diverse learners.” Secrist said.

Well, is classroom behavior a big problem in the West High community? Yes, these behavioral components are definitely something that could be changed. These types of behaviors are the ones that affect everyone who is needed to maintain a good learning environment. Not only does this affect us, it also affects the teachers. The teachers who deal with the bad attitudes that students give them. The teachers that stay after school to help that one students catch up on missed content. The teachers who deal with struggle of dealing with that one student that could potentially mess with their main goal as teachers, to provide a good learning environment for all students. All we have to do as students is to maybe use our phones less, or be more respectful of our teachers. Simple things like this can make a dramatic change in the behaviors in students. “Disrespect is a sign that people only value themselves and the end “reward”, what makes me sad is that disrespectful kids are only hurting themselves.” Secrist said.

DESIGN BY SELINA HUA

Do we all stand under God?

58

OPINION

FEB. 27, 2017

CARLEY SPADING

“...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and

justice for all…” but I don’t see as much justice as I feel I should. In fact, this country seems to be plagued with injustices nowadays. People continue to claim that their racist, sexist and just plain ignorant remarks and claims are warranted by God. Rather than keeping church and state separate, people seem to want to use the church as verification for everything.

When America was founded, it was founded on the idea of justice and equal treatment, and one of the first things decreed was that there should be a separation of church and state. The First Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” right there, in the Bill of Rights. Yet the same people who claim guns are an inherent right, according to the Second Amendment, seem to dismiss the the injustice caused by the involvement of religion in the making of laws, as discouraged by the First Amendment.

You can see it almost constantly in politics; religion is used to discredit and insult others. Take the “birther scandal” for example. People sought to discredit Obama not only on the basis of where he was born, but they also “accused” him of being a muslim. This is detrimental to American attitudes towards religion in that it continued to perpetuate negative attitudes towards Islam, and encouraged the use of religion as a basis of judgement.

All too often I hear something along the lines of “Finally,

a man of God,” in reference to President Trump. In all honesty, this makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. How does being Christian justify his blatant hateful and bigoted attitude? He is so incredibly disrespectful and ignorant towards minorities, and makes no effort to sympathize with people who are different from him. I was raised Catholic, and if Trump’s values are considered “Christian” that gives me some concerns. I had always thought the basis of Christianity and Catholicism was love, not immaturity and disrespect.

Many will, however, make the argument that America was built on Christianity, and that that should be acknowledged in American society. While it is true that most of America’s founders were Christian or of a Christian denomination, they were also mostly white, and mostly men, and we have acknowledged the problems with that haven’t we? America was not built on Christianity, it was built on the idea of freedom, and yes that includes freedom of religion. I cannot stand how often religion is used as a base of judgement or prejudice when the idea of this country in the first place was as a refuge for the oppressed.

People of the LGBTQ+ community are often denied basic human rights because people cannot look beyond the pages of the bible. Muslims are labelled as terrorists because Christians cannot handle another expanding religion. I do not think Christianity should be disregarded as a whole, but it should be prevented from harming citizens of this or any nation. This so-called “War on Christianity” is not a war, but a call to unify, and a call for true justice.

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A DV E R T I S E M E N T S FEB. 17, 2017

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72

OPINON

Are the Minnesota Timberwolves Future NBA Champions?

FEB. 17, 2017

BY HENRY KRAIN

In the next 3-5 years the Timberwolves have high potential to reach the playoffs, and subsequently win the Championship.

Here’s why.

To get the full story we need to go back 3 years to the 2014 offseason. During this time, a pivotal moment occurred when Andrew Wiggins, the first overall pick and future Rookie of the Year, was traded the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Timberwolves two months after the draft. Wiggins didn’t play a single game for the Cavaliers before making the switch. Wiggins’ switch was a catalyst for a string of smart and key draft picks. With the acquisition of Wiggins, the Timberwolves gained a dynamic scorer in the position of small forward that strengthened their offense.

In addition to Wiggins, the Wolves picked a young star in the 2014 NBA Draft. This star was none other than two time NBA dunk champion, Zach LaVine. As of now, Zach LaVine is the starting at shooting guard. He’s a promising insight to what’s to come. There

is no doubt in my mind that if LaVine avoids injury, he’ll become a very dynamic playmaker. Unfortunately as of Feb. 4th, 2017, LaVine tore his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in his left knee.

He will be out for the remainder of the season, and will have to undergo surgery. If he works hard this offseason, he will come back next year with the same amount of talent he previously showed, and maybe even more.

The next player that the Timberwolves acquired is one of my favorite players. He was drafted in 2015 with the first overall pick, and won Rookie of the Year.

If you didn’t already know, it’s Karl-Anthony Towns, otherwise known as KAT or Special K. KAT stands at 7 ft tall and mans the center position. So far this year, KAT averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds, a very promising stat line. Another great thing about KAT is that he had the privilege of learning under Kevin Garnett during his rookie year. Garnett is one of the most physical, aggressive, all around scorers at

the power forward position and is a contender for future Hall of Famer. It’s no wonder why the Timberwolves picked up this once great Timberwolves player turned Boston Celtic even though he was far past his prime. The knowledge from this man is palpable. When you mix a future Hall of Famer, a one time championship winner with a willingness to learn and an already talented rookie, that rookie gets even better. “His work ethic is impeccable, man,” said Kevin Garnett after asked about his views on KAT. I feel it’s safe to say that the Timberwolves won’t have to worry about finding a new big man for the next couple of years.

Kris Dunn was drafted with the five overall pick in the 2016 draft.

He’s brand new to the franchise and hasn’t gotten much playing time yet, but that will probably change with LaVine’s season-ending injury. It’s most likely he won’t start, but he’ll get valuable playing time and experience. He played four years in college for Province, so he’s already coming into the game with a solid resume. There’s

73 OPINIO N FEB. 17, 2017

not much to say about him yet.

We’ll just have to wait and see how he does.

The in the next few years every Timberwolves fan will be watching as the the Wolves have the potential to go to the their first ever NBA championship game.

Know you know my feelings on how KAT will be the next superstar player. When LaVine comes back from his ACL tear, he will be just as dominant. Andrew Wiggins is going to blossom into an all-star figure. Overall the future for the Timberwolves is almost locked in. All you gotta do is wait.

TIMBERWOLVES LOGO

84

OPIONION

THE AMERICAN

FEB. 17, 2017

BY LEELA MAHAJAN

own newspaper. They no longer threatened white settlement but could compete within white society. However, Jackson was intent on expelling them from their land. When Jackson became president, the Cherokee began to challenge him in court rather than with weapons.

As our morals have evolved, President Andrew Jackson, widely known as the “hero of the common man,” now seems more of a conqueror than a liberator. The people Jackson identified as the “common man” was exclusive and enabled him to justify his policy of discrimination against Native Americans. Under Jackson’s administration, 46,000 Indians were displaced. On the Trail of Tears alone, 4,000 Cherokee out of the 18,000 died. The relocation of the Indians opened up 25 million acres of land for white settlement and slavery. Despite the Supreme Court ruling calling it unconstitutional to forcefully take the Indians’ land, Jackson continued to relocate Indians and set the precedent for other presidents to continue the practice which affects the descendants of Native Americans.

By the time Jackson became president, many of the Cherokee were well educated, could read and write and even had their

In the Supreme Court Case Worchester V. GA., John Marshall sided with the natives saying that the Indians were domestic and separate Nations and the United States had no right taking their land. Andrew “Jackson ignored the ruling and encouraged Georgia to keep harassing the Cherokee.” - PBS A treaty giving Jackson the legal authority he needed to seize the Cherokee land was promptly rejected by Cherokee leaders. Congress ratified the treaty anyway. Not only were the Indians forced to migrate, they were pushed out into some of the worst land in

N GENOCIDE the country, the dry and arid land of Oklahoma where it is difficult to grow anything. Because the Cherokee did not have a nation that was recognized by the world, had no political power, and no strength in arms, Congress could enact the treaty without their consent or any repercussions.

the discrimination that marginalizes them silences their voices.

Not all of this occurred during Jackson’s presidency or can be blamed on him, but he set the precedent of making it morally right to dehumanize, discriminate

The Genocide of the Native Americans has been overlooked by the world. Americans have forgotten the approximate 114 million against, and ultimately exterminate about Native Americans that 80% of America’s indigenous population. were murdered. The HoUnder no circumstances can killing be locaust is often thought justified. of as the worst genocide in history. AmeriAs a consequence of the policies Jackson cans have forgotten the put into play, the culture of indigenous genocide that occurred America has been depleted. Americans on their own land. 107 are more familiar with foreign cultures million more American than with the cultures of the indigenous Indians died than Jews people. The actions of President Andrew murdered in the HoloJackson have influenced the descendents caust. Perhaps it is so of the Indian Nations. The government has easy to forget those who placed reservations in areas far away from lost their lives because fertile land and in geographic isolation.

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OPINION

FEB. 17, 2017

Today, many Native American communities are impoverished with tribes reporting unemployment up to 85%. Native Americans have the lowest employment rate out of any ethnic group in America and student graduation rates are less than 50%.

Under President Andrew Jackson’s leadership and the leadership that followed, America became a great nation by expanding its territory through murdering its native inhabitants.

America became a great nation by using slaves who worked on farms in the South and ports in the North. America, the great nation, has been designed for the prosperity of the white man at the expense of those less powerful.

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OPINION FEB. 22, 2017

1. Grey’s Anatomy

Grey’s Anatomy is a very cool and sometimes disturbing show about doctors and nurses and the drama that goes on in the hospital. If you like medical related things I definitely recommend this show to you.

2. Criminal Minda

Criminal Minds is a series about murders and FBI agents working together to try and find the killer or the bad person. This show is very hard to watch if you do not like blood or scary shows, but it is definitely a good show because you can pick up anywhere and watch the episodes out of order.

TOP T

NETF

SERI

3.Pretty Little Liars

5. Switched At Birth

4. New Girl

6. 90210

Pretty Little Liars is a series about a group of friends and one of the goes missing and is found dead.

The whole story is about finding out what happened to her and if she is really dead or not. I recommend this to people who like mysterious things.

New Girl is about a girl named Jess who is new to town and is sharing an apartment with stranger. This show is about the relations she builds with her roommates. I recommend this to anyone who likes a funny and short show. These episodes are only like 20 minutes a piece so it is easy to sit down and watch one quick.

Switched at Birth is an amazing show about two girls who were accidentally switched at birth. This series is all about how the two families become one big family and cope with all the issues and drama along the way.

90210 is about siblings that move to a new town and while they are there they encounter a “queen bee” who is a big part is all the drama and relationships in this show.

This show is a good drama.

TEN

FLIX

IES

Who Is The Hottest Doctor From Grey’s Anatomy?

1. Alex 2. Mark 3. Dereck 4. Preston 5. George

Fun Facts About Netflix: 1. Netflix has 81 million subscribers 2. The US has the most subscribers of 15% of our population 3. 70% of Netflix xustomers binge-watch shows

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OPINION

10. The Office

FEB. 22, 2017

The Office is basically about a bunch of coworkers that have lots of drama and things going on in their office. I recommend this to anyone who loves funny and just kind of weird shows because it is super funny and silly at the same time.

9. How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother is about these parents explaining how they meant each other. Throughout the show you do not know who he is married to so the whole time you have to be curious, but it is very funny and can always give you a good laugh if you are having a bad day.

8. Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation is a show about basically what it sounds like… Parks and recreation. This is a very funny show that will definitely make you laugh so if you are ever in desperate need for a good laugh just watch this show.

7. Orange Is The New Black

Orange is The New Black is about prisoners and their time spend in jail. This show is very funny but it is also inappropriate. This show is a very good show but is defintly innapropriate, so probably don’t let young kids watch.

BY AUSTYN GOODALE

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E N T E R TA I N M E N T FEB. 24, 2017

COMPILED BY LEAH DUSTERHOFT

1.25 times more people tuned into the Superbowl.

TRUMP WINS AGAIN

11/4

MILLION people tuned in to Superbowl LI at some point.

2016 Presidential Election

129 161

MILLION people voted during the 2016 Presidential Election.

Super Bowl LI

BY THE NUMBERS

t n r e e i f f D e v A i t c

e p s Per

labeled as ‘poor’ was normal to them too. It was something they heard regularly.

BY EVA BURBIDGE From the second I stepped off the airplane into San Juan, Guatemala I found myself labeling people. The people of Guatemala were ‘poor,’ I o many people walk down the hallways at school or downtown kept telling myself. We were there because they needed money and and label the strangers that pass them. I am definitely guilty of that. materials, I kept telling myself.

And I just had this idea in my head Even if it isn’t on purpose, it just that I was somehow above them. sort of happens sometimes. What And that I was there to almost save people don’t understand is how them. much these labels can hurt others.

By labeling people, you’re putting each and every one of them into little boxes and telling them who they can and can’t be, when there is actually so much more to that person than just what you’re labeling them as. I learned this in Guatemala.

When I went to Guatemala for the first time over spring break of 2015, I was completely out of my comfort zone. I remember the first night my mission group and I arrived at the airport at around 12:30 in the morning and we all Slowly over the course of the week, loaded onto a bus to take us to the Promised Land, which is a place for I gained a whole new perspective on things. I met people that were missionaries from Impacto Minisabsolutely incredible. In the aftries to stay. ter school program for local kids As we were driving down the street I looked around. The houses that I helped out at called Happy Tummies, I met amazing girls and were made out of cement and tin, boys. At a program called Abuelithe floors were dirt, and on top of all the houses was coiled up barbed tos - meaning grandparents - where wire, to keep unwanted people out. we would do activities like singing But this was normal for the people songs and sewing, with the elderly people of the community, I met in Guatemala. Just like the getting

S

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CO LU M N

FEB. 24, 2017

wonderful men and women.

The first day I was helping out at the after school program, Happy Tummies, a little girl named Bella walked up to me and said, “Mi amiga,” meaning friend. Honestly, I thought that was a little weird because I didn’t even know the girl.

But every girl and boy in Happy Tummies would call you “Mi amiga,” or “Mi amigo.” And that’s when it finally hit me.

I realized that labeling these people was completely wrong. So what if they didn’t have as much money as my family did? So what if their houses looked much different than mine? So what if they were different than me? I don’t have the right to label people just because they aren’t like me. Their hearts were so full of love and they cherished every single moment. They were some of the happiest and most welcoming people I had ever met and probably will ever meet.

The labels I had put on these people were all wrong. They weren’t poor.

They were rich. They were rich with love. They were rich with kindness.

They had rich hearts and they were willing to welcome anyone with open arms. And I learned that that’s all that really matters in a person.

COMPILED BY EVA BURBIDGE

Guatemala Fast Facts

-- Spanish is the official language of Guatemala, but there are also 21 Mayan dilects spoken.

-- The motto of Guatemala is el pais de eterna primavera, which translates to the land of eternal spring, in English.

-- Even though Guatemala is small in size, there are more than 29 active volcanoes.

In 1972, Alvin C. Cope9 0 land Sr. opened up Popeyes in R eV I E W New Orleans, Louisiana.

FEB. 24 2017

In 1984 Popeyes was beginning to spread globally starting with Toronto, Canada

In 1985 Popeyes 500th restaurant opened making it the third quick service chicken chain in the US

In 1999 Popeyes surpassed their one In 2001 it became the In 2011 their 2,000th billion annual sales mark and received the second quick service chick- restaurant opened in MemMenuMasters Award for Louisiana Legends en chain in the US phis, Tennessee.

Building

PRO

The atmosphere is warm and hip with a very modern look to it, with the orange circular lights and colorful tiles stripping the wall. Soft jazz was playing in the back that tied well with the New Orleans theme and the pictures plastered across the wall. There were many different options of furniture to sit down on including booths, tables and counters. The white tiled floors were mostly clean and the counter with all the condiments was spotless.

PRO

Chicken

CON

PRO

It came in a nice size little styrofoam bowl for $2.19 and the cabbage and lettuce were nice and crispy.

The ratio between the cream and salad was perfect too.

PRO

Fries CON

The cajun fries were perfectly crispy and golden with a spicy flavor in no need of sauce. Compared to many other fast food restaurants, they were some of the best fries I have ever had.

CON

While they did have lots of options of where to sit, they were all hard seated and not comfortable at all, even the booths. Most of the tables were scattered with crumbs and considering it was not very busy I thought it odd that they would be unable to keep the tables clean.

TO POPEYES ?

BY:GRACE BRUSEGAARD & LILA TERRY

PRO

Service

Getting past the double doors that let out a soft ding, I was CON greeted with a smile and hello The only flavor evident from the cashier. As it was my was a peppery, sweet first time I had a few questions pickle undertone. In my and took a little while to deexperience of eating lots cide what to order in which of coleslaw from many they responded with patience. different restaurants, this After ordering the three items was downright some of the food was ready within two the worst coleslaw ever. minutes.

Coleslaw

The bag was smaller than a McDonalds kids meal bag of fries. That was a regular, with there only being one more size up a large I was expecting a little more fries than the size of a children’s fist.

FEB. 24,2017

SHOULD YOU POP DOWN

There was no distinct The chicken was flavor to it, making it golden and crispy, not covered in grease. pretty bland. I got the three piece and two of the It was juicy and tender, not pasty like them were big and juicy many other fast food the third was a little stick, restaurants. I ordered mostly just coating. Also mild, so it had a hint for three chicken tenders of spice in each bite. it cost $6.69, which included nothing else.

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REVIEW

CON

The cashier that took my order spoke quite fast and pretty quiet making it hard to know what they were saying causing me to ask for them to repeat a few times. While they were friendly I would not say that I felt they were actually happy to have to serve and take my order.