Feature magazine 2015

west SIDEORY STupdate

INTRO. TO NEWSPAPER’S

FEATURE

MAGA-

ZINE Dec 17, 2 ember 015

Hello

Saying goodbye to peanuts A peanut butter sandwich sits half eaten on a table. Everyone fled to the car to rush to the hospital. The 13 month old child is in the back seat, face swelling and hives spreading. The car stops to a halt as a train stalls them.

The mother and father look at each other in horror. They frantically call a doctor, realizing their daughter is having an allergic reaction to peanut butter. This was just the beginning to Adriana Schafer’s ’18 journey.

BY TAYLOR SHELFO “We were really confused at first because we didn’t know what was going on. She was getting hives and her face was swelling up,” said Maureen Schafer - mom. “[In the 90’s] parents were told not to expose kids until after they were one, so she hadn’t had it before then, I [even had] peanut butter and peanut contained food while I was pregnant and nursing,” said Schafer’s mom.

After her first reaction, her parents wiped the entire house of any food that had even a trace of peanuts. Her parents were able to eat peanut foods when away from her but had to thoroughly wash their hands before seeing her; the fear of any accidents was too much to take the chance.

It wasn’t just at home when Schafer had to be kept out of harm, it was everywhere.

“I had to sit in one spot in kindergarten at a table by myself, it sucked.

First through fourth grade [though] I sat in the same spot but they allowed friends,” said Schafer.

“I’ve known Adriana since fifth grade and at lunch I’d always think if she even saw a peanut she’d explode! And I mean explode, like a bomb!” said Haley Shook ‘18. “I never had much exposure with allergies before I met Adriana, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

For over ten years Catherine Collins ‘18, has been helping Schafer out with her allergy everywhere they went.

“I’ve never met anyone with a peanut allergy before and a peanut butter sandwich was my favorite food back then, but I couldn’t eat it when I sat with her; she couldn’t even stand the smell of it.” said Collins.

“We couldn’t just go out and have a normal dinner with our friends,” said Collins, “everything had to be planned out. We’d have to go into the kitchen and ask how they prepare the food and if they prepared it with peanut oil, could they prepare it without; we didn’t go out that much because it was just too much extra stress.”

Growing up with a peanut allergy excludes kids from many activities like birthday parties, snack times, restaurants, movies, even halloween.

“One Halloween she reacted to candy corn because it was made in the same facility as peanuts [her dad and I] were really shocked, but we were always learning new things.” said Schafer’s mom.

“In Kindergarten we went trick-or-treating, and that’s always a rough thing with an allergy,” said Collins, “but we had a thing where we’d sift through all the candy and she’d give me everything she couldn’t eat and

02 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

PHOTO BY ADRIANA SCHAFER

we’d try to even it out so she’d have enough candy as me.”

Sure Schafer has felt left out or awkward in these situations, but she has a different way of looking at them.

“Sometimes I got better food than the food I couldn’t eat [at parties] so people were jealous of that,” giggles Schafer, “it was really nice when my friends who knew about it would tell other people to wash their hands around me so I didn’t have to.”

Having friends that supported Schafer throughout her life helped her grow confidence and strength against the people who tried to bring her down. “[They] would include me but make remarks like ‘I’m gonna make you eat this!’ and ‘we can’t have that or she’ll die’” said Schafer. The kids without allergies may find it amusing, but it was Schafer’s life at stake; she did not find it funny at all.

Time to make a change

Her parents had been looking into treatments for peanut allergies, were even put on a waiting list for a year but did not get in. That is, until they found the Oral Immunotherapy treatment conducted by Dr. Molis in Des Moines. Schafer was put on the waiting list for six months and got in earlier than expected due to the two hour travel there and back.

“It’s very cutting edge and controversial,” said Schafer, “when I started there were less than 20 doctors doing [the treatment] in the U.S., possibly 25 now.”

Schafer is told to be a sort of “test subject.” The treatment has only been practiced privately for one - two years before she started. People that are opposed to it say that it’s too dangerous and avoidance is the best [way for the allergy].

“That’s not a valid argument,” Schafer shared, “[almost 200] people die every year from accidental exposure. This program has made it so I will never have to worry about accidental exposure.”

What is still being yet to discover is how long the treatment lasts. Since it

[The treatment] is very cutting edge and controversial, when I started there were less than 20 doctors doing it.

-Adriana Schafer ‘18

make the world a safer place for Adriana, that means so much to us,” said Schafer’s mom, “it’s also been fun to see her eat new things that other kids have eaten all their lives and taken for granted. Just last week she had a waffle cone for the first time in her life!”

Collins who has grown up with Schafer and her allergy was ecstatic about her change in diet.

“It was different, but I was excited to introduce her to new foods,” said Collins, “I was always like ‘oh! try this!’ or ‘you have to try this!’ and we were able to go out to dinner without stress, and eat cookies, and go to the movies, she could have anything she wanted now.”

PHOTO BY ANGIE SHELFO

is so new, people have tried stopping the treatment and then starting back up, but the results are undetermined right now.

As far as the program goes, if you reacted after years of treatment, you’d just have to start over from scratch.

You can eat anything now! But at what cost?

The peanut intake Schafer took came in doses, different amounts of peanuts twice a day. Schafer started the treatment three years ago and her dose is now 10 peanuts every day, once a day.

“It was hard because I never had been exposed to the taste before and the smell alone had always been a warning sign for me to be careful because they were close,” said Schafer, “I used to seriously hate [peanuts] and got to the point where I swallowed peanuts like pills. We noticed that wasn’t keeping me up to the same tolerance level, so when I went back to eating them, my parents baked peanuts into everything imaginable [so I wouldn’t taste them].”

Schafer and her parents share one of the most traumatic stories that dealt with a reaction to her peanut dose.

“I was out walking with my friend after I took them, and I didn’t realize that walking would make me react,” shared Schafer, “It was very hot and I started wheezing and coughing, I thought it was the water I was drinking! We went back to her house and I was like ‘why do my ears feel like they need to pop, like they felt tight and i was like wheezing, tight ears, connecting to my throat, OOPS I’M REACTING! I started to cry but I called my parents and I had to take the epipen, her mom woke up shouting about how she just saw a commercial on it and to not put it in the butt but the thigh, she was trying to help but I just did it and I felt kinda shakey. I was okay by the time I got to the hospital, just scared. The doctor asked me for my autograph because I was so brave and I’ll never forget that.”

Schafer’s family believes she’s very brave for taking initiative with her reaction, but they’re just glad she was okay.

“Seriously, the first time she need the epi-pen she called us… that was so scary because we weren’t with her and knew it was serious,” said Schafer’s mom, “You never get used to that feeling of rushing your kid to the hospital.”

Because of the treatment, Schafer can eat anything she wants now without having to worry.

“The best part of this immunotherapy program is that it will

This experience has been a rollercoaster for Schafer and everyone around her, but she never fails to make them proud.

“After having something almost kill you one day and then you are willing to eat it again the next day - that is incredibly brave. She absolutely hates the taste of peanuts [so] that has made this process even harder, [but] this was not without challenges and she stuck with it.” said Schafer’s mom.

“She’s so, resilient,” said Collins, “We’d have a team dinner and she’d order something and they’d say ‘you can’t have this’ or ‘you can’t have that’, that never affected her you know, she always bounced back and just moved on to the next thing. She never had a negative attitude about it.”

Schafer is proud to say she is able to eat whatever she wants now, thanks to the oral immunotherapy. The future shows no fear to Schafer as to if she’ll need more therapy, it’s worth it to her.

“Once you get through the hard part [of maintenance and doses] it’s so worth it. Everything is easier.” said Schafer.

C E L E B R I TI E S WITH PEANUT ALLERGIES • • • •

Ray Romano Kelly Clarkson Serena Williams Mason Disick - Kourtney Kardashian’s son

PHOTO BY ADRIANA SCHAFER

Schafer’s first peanut dose contained 1/650,000 of a peanut and could only be consumed in a beverage measured in the oral syringe above.

Schafer happened to choose Koolaid.

Compiled by Taylor Shelfo

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 03

PHOTO BY ALLISON CHRISTOPHER

TOGETHER THEY STAND Members in Behind the Mask talk about mental ilness in schools.

BY GRACE CHRISTOPHER

PHOTOS BY AMY KANELLIES UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

04 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

M

ental illness.

Mental: of or relating to the mind. Illness: a disease or period of sickness affecting the body or mind. Mental Illness: a mental or bodily condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual Often the word mental illness is looked upon as something that applies to misfits or victims of tragedy, and not ‘normal’ people, but studies show that 20% of teens ages 13-18 live with a mental illness.

A mental illness is possible for any to have or develop, and is more common than you might think.

Mental illness can range anywhere from eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia to depression, which is one of the most common in teens. Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Aside from giving the victims the blues it can affect their eating and sleeping habits. It can lead to self-hate, self-harm, and can eventually lead to suicide according to the website of Mental Health America(MHA). MHA is the nation’s leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to helping Americans achieve wellness by living mentally healthier lives.

Their website also mentioned that only ⅓ of people with depression seek professional treatment. Even though according to the Nation Institute of Mental Illness, around 80% of people who get professional help show great improvement.

Behind the Mask is a group started in 2013 by recently graduated West High Students who started for just that reason. Behind the mask has a goal of tackling the stigma behind mental illness and “provides a place where students can ‘take of their mask’” said Amy Kanellis, guidance counselor and advisor of Behind the Mask. People can share their stories and it provides

a safe place they can get support. “ I had a panic attack after show choir competition[...] people didn’t believe me, they told me to just calm down.” said Laura Doe* she also said that people don’t realize that it isn’t that easy to just calm down. Members of behind the mask also shared how it creates a whole new set of challenges throughout their school day. “It takes everything you have to keep yourself together.” said Emily Smith*. “[It’s like] trying to focus on not focusing on [whatever you’re going through].” said Kanellis. Members also mentioned how when they fall asleep in class it isn’t usually because they are tired or bored it’s because of the medication they have to take to be able to concentrate throughout the day.

Behind the mask doesn’t just try to encourage each other but they try to encourage those who just need a safe place to talk or a pick me up. One of their favorite group activities is making sticky note to put on the bulletin

board located across from the guidance office, they call it the take what you need bored. These sticky notes say things that anyone might need such as a friend, hope or time. They encourage people to take what they need from this board to help them through the hard days and give everyone hope. No matter what you struggle with it is important not to feel alone because said Mary Johnson*.

Members of behind the mask said People feel like they are alone, but they also said that people need to know they are not alone, and that they need to stand together.

Behind the mask meets every Tuesday from 3:30-4:30 in room 137, check their board across from the guidance office for announcements from the club. * Names have been changed for confidentiality of sources

“It takes Everything you have to keep yourself together” -Emily Smith* a memeber of Behind the Mask

BY THE NUMBERS

20% 50% ≈50%

COMPILED BY SIMRAN SARIN

DESIGN BY Grace Christopher

Of youth 13-18 live with a mental illness.

Of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14.

Of students age 14 and older with a mental illness drop out of high school.

TOP 5 mental ilnesses in teens Depression Anxiety Disorders Bipolar Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Eating Disorders

COMPILED BY GRACE CHRISTOPHER

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 05

Which Show

Should You Watch ?

By: Quiana Starling

Some of the best shows on television

START

Do you prefer 1 hour shows or 30 minutes?

It’s 1 hour Halloween. Do you watch a scary movie?

SCARY

Do you really care who A is?

Do you prefer drama, or full on scary?

Drama Scary

NO YES!

a little

No Way!

Popular shows or out of the ordinary?

30 minutes

out of ordinary

What is your favorite holliday?

all about the trends

Halloween Christmas Blood and guts kind of cable person?

Eat popcorn and binge or think of inventions? definately!

Netflix or cable?

Netflix

binge! hmm..

PLL (mystery, thriller) Scream Queens (murder mystery) a group of girls go on a search a mass of killings at Kappa sends to find the person behind the them into a frenzy! Whos doing it? blackmail texts they have been recieving

Shark Tank(reality) Entrepeneurs come in front of investors with cool new ideas hoping for a partner.

Friends(sitcom) a comedy about 6 friends living in Manhattan.

Popular TVShows: Students “My

favorite show right now is Grey’s“ -Megan Herring ‘18 “I love PLL!” (Pretty Little Liars) -Kaitlyn Rose ‘18 “Love and Hip-Hop!” -Tiara Green ‘18

Other Favorite Shows “My favorite show is “Once Upon a Time.” I would recommend it for anyone who likes fantasy and Disney!”

-Serenity Washingnton ‘16 “I really like the Walking Dead! I would recommend it to everyone! -Kaleb Binns ‘19

Big Bang Theroey Empire Vampire Diaries Pretty Little Liars Scream Queens Criminal Minds Keeping up the Kardashians

“Greys Anatomy of course!”

-Alex Cashen ‘18

Popular TVShows: Students

American Horror How I Met Your The Walking Dead Orange is the New Black

Sports Profile Micaila Kurtz shows the unseen effort behind gymnastics By: Sophie Schenkel How long have you been practicing your sport? Some gymnasts have been in theirs since they were 5. Gymnastics is a difficult sport that takes years to learn, and Micaila Kurtz 18’ has been doing it for 11 years. “My parents put me in those kiddy classes because they thought it would be fun for me. I don’t think they had any idea how long I would stick with it” The risk of injury is high, however.“I [did] injure my back by straining the muscles in it.” Kurtz can’t do certain things right now, because of her back injury, but she still goes to the gym 11 hours a week to practice less intense moves.

According to Kurtz’s friend Meghan Sinn 18’,“Micaila is really dedicated. She can do some of the really advanced moves that I [can’t], like triple full layouts.”

Not many people now how rigorous gymnastics can be. “There aren’t very many gymnasts at west, compared to other sports.

I don't think that many people think about it much” Kurtz says that the hardest part of gymnastics was learning to use the bar. “I has so much trouble letting go of it. I was so afraid.” Sinn disagrees. “The bar was my favorite part of dance. That’s what I

“I don’t think [my parents] had any idea how long I would stick with it.”

-Kurtz 18’

missed most about gymnastics after switching to dance, it was so exhilarating.”

Despite the difficulties this sport has presented, Kurtz doesn’t regret anything.“I’m glad I stuck with it. I like being able to do flips, and I like going to the gym every week.”

Gymnastics definitions Carbonate of magnesia: Chalk used to make surfaces less slippery and provide traction Hand guard: A wrist strap used by gymnasts to protect their hamd skin when they perform on hard surfaces Springboard: Trampoline like aparatus required to mount vault Senior: A gymnast that is world-class or elite and is 16 or older Gainer: A move where a gymnast performs a backward flip while moving forward

DECEMBER INTO TO JOURNASLISM

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Iowa’s Impro

10 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

From 0-0

by Hunter Liebermann

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obable Run足

0 to 12-1 and Connor greer

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 11

“New Kirk, Maverick Kirk,” Ferentz said after asked why he didn’t change his assistant coaches after the disappointing 2014 season.

Iowa’s 12-0 start is the best in school history, and CJ Beathard is 13-0 as a starter. The Iowa Hawkeyes have been doubted by many football analysts such as Paul Finebaum on SEC network and Colin Cowherd on Fox sports. Clay Travis of Fox Sports said, “I think they’ve been the most impressive team in the Big Ten so far.” Iowa left the 2014 season with the trophy cases empty, coming back in 2015 with the cases full.

Iowa vs Iowa State is one of the biggest rivalries in college football.

Alex Schwickerath ‘18 said “It’s more fun to watch than any other game.”

Most Iowa fans would agree with this statement. The Hawkeyes jumped on the bus and started the 126 mile journey to Ames. The Hawkeyes started off the game with 49 yard field goal from Marshall Koehn. After a hard fought third quarter, the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones were tied at 17. The Hawkeyes went up two touchdowns in the fourth and sealed out the game, with a final score of 31-17. They went on and win the CyHawk Trophy. The first of four trophies picked up by the Hawkeyes on the other sideline.

Iowa vs Wisconsin, a rivalry dating all the way back to 1894,has been at an even split the past 10 years, both teams winning five. Many believed this would be Iowa’s toughest challenge heading into Camp Randall Stadium, and it sure wasn’t easy. Wisconsin jumps to a 3-0 lead but is followed by a Desmond King pick and a George Kittle touchdown.

It was all defense from there as only six points total were scored after that. Iowa forces four turnovers and a critical fumble in the redzone as they hold on to beat Wisconsin 10-6. Iowa obtains the Heartland trophy and heads back to Iowa City with a then upset victory over Wisconsin.

Iowa vs Minnesota is one of the longest running rivalries in college football with a total of 109 meetings. In the 2014 season Iowa traveled to Minneapolis and went back to Iowa City after getting destroyed 51-14. In 2015 at the historic Kinnick Stadium, primetime football in their new all black uniforms. Michael Duffy ‘18 said “the new jerseys were amazing” The Hawkeyes started the treacherous fight for the Floyd of Rosedale under the lights. Iowa got up by two scores by halftime and slowly let the Gophers back into the game. The Hawkeyes won 40-35 to add another trophy to the expanding trophy case.

Iowa vs Nebraska, a newer trophy game for both teams, but equally

12 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Iowa vs Nebraska, a newer trophy game for both teams, but equally as important. Iowa had lost six out of the past seven meetings. It was a true hard fought smash mouth game. It was a blistering cold game with temperatures in the 20’s. Iowa takes a 7-0 lead with a touchdown to George Kittle. A second quarter pick six was the story of the game as Iowa forced Tommy Armstrong to throw four interceptions, and pulled out a 28-20 win in Lincoln, Nebraska. They took the Heroes trophy back home to cap up an undefeated trophy record and a regular season.

Iowa vs Michigan State was a matchup in Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship. The stadium was 70% full of hawkeyes ready to watch one of the best games of the season. Iowa lead by a field goal going into halftime. MSU kicked two field goals in the 3rd quarter to go up three. Tevaun Smith caught an 85 yard touchdown pass from C.J. Beathard to go up four points on the first play of the 4th quarter.

Iowa let MSU drive on them for 82 that took nine minutes and scored with 27 seconds to go. Iowa lost 13-16 in Iowa’s first loss of the season and it ended in a heart breaking way. Ellen Burns ‘16 said “everyone wanted to see the Hawks win but they still went undefeated in the regular season and they get to go to the rose bowl.

After a heartbreaking loss to Michigan State, the Iowa fans were more than pleased to find out they were heading to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl, The Granddaddy of them all. Duffy said “this will be one of the most memorable games of my life.” They will be matched up against the Pac-12 champion, the Stanford Cardinals.

Stanford is lead by their Heisman finalist Christian McCaffrey who has the most total yards in the history of college football. The game will be played on January 1st at 4:30 P.M.

AWARDS

Desmond King, First team all american Desmond King, Jim Thorpe Award Austin Blythe. 3rd team all american Kirk Ferentz, Big Ten coach of the year

L 13-16 Source by ESPN

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 SECTION 13

are you,

By: Anna Staib

Scooby Doo or Discord?

Who

Can you be easily annoyed?

Yes

Are you mischievous sometimes?

Yes

No

No

Do you love chaos?

Yes

No I am not loyal.

No

I don’t eat a lot at once.

Are you loyal to your friends?

I eat a lot at once.

Food, a lot or not a lot?

I’m the one who gets scared.

Scared or scaring?

Are you a trickster?

I’m the one that does the scaring.

Start

14-15 DECEMBER 2015 wsspaper.com

Discord (My Little Pony Friendship is Magic)

Yes

If you were a villain, would you be reformed?

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Can you easily manipulate people?

I would have courage for my friends.

Courage or no courage for friends?

Scooby Doo (Scooby Doo)

I wouldn’t have courage for my friends.

Yes I am loyal to my friends.

COMPILED BY SAM SUNDERLAND

Fast Facts Artur speaks three different languages His main two hobbies are studying for AP Chemistry and flirting with girls He grows most of the food that he eats

He was born in Poland Artur has slept in an igloo

Picture by Artur Wolniak

FROM POLAND TO AMERICA

4 SECTION December 2015 wsspaper.com

I

Picture by Callie Dains Ok, so… he’s super cool and super nice and super fun to do set for theatre with.

Callie Daines 18’

Picture by Daniel Szmyrgala “Ok, so what not is my opinion on Artur, he’s a sweet man, loves life, loves everybody, I love him, he has a really nice jawline, and he has a really nice voice, it’s like smooth butter melting off of a butter knife, hope you like this Artur. *wink wink*” Daniel Szmyrgala 16’

magine, you move to the wonderful country of the United States, and then you are supposed to move all the way to Italy in less than a year. Artur Wolniak (vol-nee-ak) ‘16, a senior at West High was born and lived in Poland until 2013 when he moved to Iowa City. He had to move to the US because his dad got a job at the Whirlpool Corperation in Amana, Iowa. He also said that he moved here with his people from a lot of countries and a whole family. When asked about the few continents.” Wolniak said that the english language compared to polish, one thing that he cannot stand about he said that english is a lot easier than America is the political correctness polish in his opinion. Wolniak had that we have, and it’s really annoying planned to leave the United States last and that we really care about it too year and move to Italy but the job of- much. When asked was the US how fer that they were offered was a lie, the you imagined it would be, Wolniak deals and conditions were a lot worse said “Not exactly, there were lots of than they had expected. stereotypes from Poland and like “Is school harder here then in Po- from television, like I never would’ve land, huh.. I would definitely say that guessed that Americans are such it is a lot different from the two,” said sport minded people, like compared Wolniak. He said that there are many, from here to Poland. Here, everyone many differences but in the end it all is either is fond of sports or plays a equals out. In Poland at school, you sport but in Poland sports are just have a group of people and that is like something that is out there and not your main group of classmates that many people are pulled into sports as you have class with the whole day they are here in America.” and you have just one teacher/coun- If given the choice, Wolniak said that selor that teaches everything, they he would want to stay in the US and would travel together, for example not move back to Poland but he would he said “We traveled to London and want to visit Poland as frequently as many other smaller places in Poland. possible. He says that he is going to Wolniak says that both of the coun- his country for Christmas this year tries that he has lived in are fantastic and he is very excited so he can see and wished he could just live in both all his old friends and have fun. Also at the same time, “I love America but he would like to see what has changed Poland is my country, it is my home so throughout the years that he has been I will never stop loving either country, gone and what is the same. ever.

For the biggest difference between here and there Wolniak said that “The language and people are more open and multicultural so you have many wsspaper.com december 2015 section 5

2

The Cliche answer: work hard

“Just work harder than B students that is the way to [get an A],” Lee said. Cliches are cliches for a reason (Yes, that is another cliche).

18 DECEMBER 2015 wsspaper.com

DESIGN BY SAMALYA THENUWARA AND HAE-JOO YOON

3

Find a study spot

To improve studying find a good study spot!

Different places work different people. “I study on my bed and I have all my stuff spread out and I’ll have my computer there and be listening to music,” Bozer said. While that works for Bozer, Lam-Lu prefers a different place. “It’s a table and it’s round...Every once in awhile I forget how round some letters should be, so I look at my table for inspiration… you can’t do that with a square table or even a rectangular table for that matter,” said Lam-Lu.

n

A+

The easiest way to get an A? Take a class that’s easy! Junhee Lee’18 recommends music classes because “they are easy just because there’s not a lot of studying you have to do.” Katie Bozer ’17 recommends any art class because “as long as you put in the effort and you come out with the requirements you are supposed to you can get a high A.” Finally, Daniel Hong ’17 recommends visual basics because “basically everything is easy.”

“It doesn’t hurt to read the book. I know students don’t really like to read the book very much but I think reading often solidifies little holes in thinking,” said Michelle Wikner, an AP Chemistry teacher.

It m the ay no se t t ips be ea to g sy b by et y ut i sa our t is ma lya way far f Th on rom en to a im uw ar fou poss aa r po ible nd . int Ha GP Just fo e-j oo A. llow yo o

1

Take an easy class

Read the book just do it.

it

A You just go to the nearest repository and then you barge in there guns ablazing and you steal as many As as you can.

-Charlie Lam-Lu ’18

5

Get help

8

There are no stupid questions (97% of the time). Especially when they make the difference of a letter grade. Teachers definitely encourage questions. “Always ask. If you‘re too shy to ask in class come in some other time and ask the teacher,” said Wickner. Of course you don’t always have to ask a teacher. “I’ll ask a friend or someone that I can trust and [is] helpful,” Hong said.

6

No one beats the internet

Many students use online resources to supplement what they learn in class, clarify confusing aspects, and just practice things from story problems to vocabulary terms. According to Bozer Khan Academy, Quizlet, and Conjuguemos are of her most frequently visited sites.

9

Don’t miss out on the easy points

They are a great fall back when you mess up on things like tests or quizes. “Every class has those easy points that are built in… participation, daily readings, things like that,” Dominic Iannone, AP European History teacher, said.

7

Be the teacher

If you can teach someone else it definitely means you know what you are talking about so just talk it out. “Talking or trying to explain it to someone else is another pretty good technique for doing well on tests,” Wickner said; and Bozer recommends getting a “study buddy” to do it

Advocate

10

A for effort comes into play here. If you are just on the edge of getting an A just ask. Teachers are humans too (we think). However, no human teacher takes well to being harassed the day the trimester ends. “Advocate, but advocate early,” Iannone said.

The other side of the A

You can get As but do you need As?

“I think about the fact that if I don’t get an A I am a failure and --,” Lam-Lu said but breaks off laughing, “ No. That’s not it. No. Why would think about it that way? I think it’s the simple idea of wanting to challenge myself academically and to do the best possible job I can.

“From a personal standpoint yes I like getting As. But I don’t think it’s something you should revolve your life around,” said Lee.

4

“I feel like society as a whole focuses too much on the A because if you are strictly going off of grades, technically majority of students should be getting Cs since that is the average grade and a select few students should be getting an A,” said Bozer.

Turn up the music

According to many West High students, music is very beneficial. “Music really does help me focus. Usually I listen to Korean pop music or Christian music or this group called the Glitch Mob [because] they make music without any words,” Hong said. Other types of effective music according to Lam-Lu includes Jazz, Blues, and Classical. “It’s nice to have in the background.” said Lam-Lu.

“I think at West students are a little overly obsessed about it and they think they matter more than they do...I think you should be involved in a bunch of activities and learn in lots of different ways and challenge yourself a little bit but not overdo it on the classes that you take and I think that’s going to get you much farther in life than having a 4.0 when you graduate from high school,” said Wickner.

ART by HAE-JOO YOON

wsspaper.com DECEMBER 2015 19

www.birthright.org

irthright

Help is just a phone call away

Free & ConďŹ dential

1-800-550-4900

of Iowa City

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Classes held at Christ the King Lutheran Church School year and Summer sessions available Complete schedule located on web site driversed.co

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 ADS 15

FINDERS KEEPERS, LOSERS WEEPERS HIDE AND GO SNEAK

BY MOLLY HOWES

Every student knows the feeling of a missing phone. Your heart stops, your stomach drops, and your concern is all consuming until the device is found. For many people their phone is found in a pocket or backpack minutes after this event. But for others, it may be never be found. Theft isn’t something many students at West worry about, and that's a good thing for many reasons, but the next time your teachers warn you to put away your phone you might want to listen.

In the 2013-2014 school year, the WSS cover story, “When Things Go Missing” talked about an event that has luckily not happened since.; the stolen cars. Aaron Armstrong ’15 was one of ten unlucky students who had their cars stolen. In 2014 he talked about how his car was stolen out of the front parking lot after his keys were forgotten in his car. “They came out and … looked ... to figure out if a window was broken, and we filed a report that said it was stolen.” Armstrong said. At the time this story was written the thief had not been apprehended, and to this day the authorities do not know who it was.

Last year Kesten Anderson ’16 had her backpack ransacked, her jacket and cash stolen out of it.

Her belongings were left at school 20 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

after wrestling practice “I came back the next day and my bag was in the stairwell … It had just been Halloween, I saw candy on the stairs, and that’s how I knew before I saw my bag.” Anderson said.

“My stuff was all over, and then my Northface was gone. We don’t have any cameras in the stairwell, so that’s why they took it there.”

To get a better idea of what happens He said that three years ago, when the cars were being stolen, West’s crime was at an all time high.

“This year particularly we are signif-

a two story follow up on the January 2014 article When Things Go Missing

BY THE NUMBERS

57 11 6

percent of teens have things stolen

reported missing items so far this school year number of missing items returned

COMPILED BY MOLLY HOWES SOURCE: NCPC

This year particularly we are significantly down [on crime] - Colby Miller, assistant principal icantly down [on crime], and we are even more significantly down from last year.” He said that what helps drop crime most is the large amount of security cameras. Although, like in Anderson’s case, they are not always helpful, they still help to provide a safe school environment.

Although it may not seem like it immediately, the school goes through lots of processes to try and reclaim lost items. The authorities are not always contacted,but parents always are, and they help

to decide the next step. Each crime is a case by case situation, and is used to develop a specific plan of action for each student.

Mr. Colby Miller, assisnent principal said that the reason the crime rates are going down is because the students overall at west are becoming more empathetic of each other. “People who find one item are no longer keeping them, but returning it,” he said, “They realize what it would be like for them without their phones, and want to help others.”

DESIGN BY MOLLY HOWES

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR THINGS ARE STOLEN I am no longer as trustworthy of the school as I used to be...

-Kesten Anderson 18’

TO TRUST OR NOT TO TRUST

BY ALFONSO WHEELER

Everyday, over 2000 kids walk into West High with backpacks in tow to learn and socialize. Most of them are thinking about what’s happening Friday night, or the test next period. Often they don't think about the trustworthiness of their school and if their belongings are going to be safe. But should that thought be on their horizon?

“I don't have that thought lingering in the back of my mind because I have more important things to worry about,” said Simran Sarin, ’17.

She is just one of the many students at West High that don't think their belongings will ever be stolen, since it has never had it happen to them.

“I always leave my stuff around and no one takes it.” said Maliyah Halvorsen 18’. But what happens when something is actually taken?

Here at West High, security cameras are checked and leads on the missing items are followed by the administration. To some these actions are sufficient enough but to other it’s not. Kesten Anderson ’18 is one students to have had her 21 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

stuff stolen. “I had my north face jacket, $25, and apple headphones taken,” she explained. “Every time that I'm put in a position now where I have to leave my stuff unattended, I'm very hesitant about leaving anything of value there.”

To her these actions aren’t enough. They don't always create a full safeguard for students because the cameras aren't in every section of the school.

“I had left my stuff on the bleachers by the wrestling room and in a rush I left my stuff laying there overnight.

When I realized that I had left my stuff the school was already closed, and I went back first thing in the morning to find my bag in the stairwell, ransacked and North Face nowhere to be found” Anderson said.

The stairwell is one of the few places where cameras are not placed and it makes it more easy for people to in fact steal valuables.

“I am no longer as trustworthy of the school as I used to be… I didn't even think about cameras before my stuff was stolen,” Anderson said. “The cameras are really unreliable because they might not even be able to identify the person and even if they can, there is no guar-

1 2 3 4 5

Make sure your missing item is actually missing file a missing property report in the main office, and wait for them to contact you

Notify your peers,, so that they can be on the look outfor it as well.

If you want to take this further. (optional) contact the authorities.

Hope for the return of your missing item.

COMPILED BY MOLLY HOWES AND ALFONSO WHEELER

antee you will get your stuff back.”

The thought of having items stolen, and being trustworthy of your school floats to the back of most students’ minds. It is not until their items go missing at school that people start to question it as a place of theft and develop a lack of trust in their peers and their school.

DESIGN BY MOLLY HOWES

BY ETHAN GOERS

DESIGN BY ETHAN GOERS PHOTOS USED FROM: DEVIN NOLTE, DANIEL NEESE,, GRACIE RECHKEMMER, AND SAM ANDERSON

Many students at West High are short on cash. You can easily solve that by getting a job. “But which one?” You may ask. Great question, there are tons of job opportunities all around Iowa just waiting to be snatched up. Here are some examples of jobs that you might want to apply for, and what the students working there think of them.

DEVIN NOLTE ‘18 Where do you work?

Pagliais What’s the best part about your job?

The people are very friendly and welcoming. They taught me how to do everything I needed to know how to do as soon as I got to the job. The pizza is also delicious.

Do you get any perks?

They call me up once I have finished all the kitchen things, and I make whatever pizza I want with three toppings, and it cooks while I clean up.

How much do you make working at Pagliais?

I make 8.50/ hour Would you recommend this job to others?

Yes. Besides the people being cool it is a safe and clean environment that has some of the best pizza in Iowa City.

What is your dream job?

Something involving programming.

9/10 22 FEATURES DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Best Job

DANIEL NEESE ‘18 Where do you work?

I work at Ghurties, and I enjoy working there.

What is the best part?

The best part is that it’s close to my house, and it has flexible hours.

Do you get any perks?

For perks, every time I work, I get free froyo.

How much do you make working there?

I make $8.20 per hour.

Would you recommend this job to others?

I would recommend the job to any who are interested in a good starting job. ( Warning: the crew is small and not everyone gets hired).

Do you have a dream job after this?

My dream job is to become a chemical engineer.

8/10

GRACIE RECHKEMMER ‘18 Where do you work?

Fareway What is the best part about your job?

I like my job because the people I work with are all fairly friendly, and easy to get along with. I also like getting to interact with the customers.

Do you get any job perks?

I don’t really have any perks How much do you make working there? $8.25 an hour Would you recommend this job to others?

I would recommend the job, because it’s one of the only places around here you can work when you’re 14, and the scheduling/ hours are very flexible.

Do you have a dream job after this?

Teaching in third world countries.

7/10 SAM ANDERSON ‘17 Where do you work?

I work as a server at “Walden Place Retirement Home”.

What is the best part?

The best part is probably getting to interact with the residents. Most of them are pretty nice.

Do you get any job perks?

Sometimes if there’s extra food after the meal, we get to take some of it home.

How much do you make working there?

I’m not sure how much I make, but I’m pretty sure I started around minimum wage, and then probably got more the longer I’ve worked there.

Would you recommend this job to others?

This is a pretty good job, but it requires a fairly good memory (to remember the orders), it also requires a lot of carrying fairly heavy things (trays full of food), so if you can do that you should be OK. I probably would recommend it.

What is your dream job?

My dream job, is probably to do something in the health science field, preferably something with sports, so maybe like an athletic trainer for a professional sport team.

8/10

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 FEATURES 23

Budget Cuts Across the country schools are being forced to remove fine arts programs due to budget cuts.

A

Written by Nicholas Pryor

lthough you may not pay for public school in the sense that one may pay for private school, public schools still cost money, and lots of it. According to the 2013 United States Census, it costs the government an average of $10,615 a year for a public school student. Funding for public schools is based on the national level on sales and income taxes, however at the local level, it’s funded on property taxes. This means in wealthy cities, such as Iowa City, we have the benefit for the most part of being able to have the newest equipment, for example Smart Boards in all of the classrooms. However in impoverished communities, they may struggle to keep the funding required to keep classes and programs open. When the money runs dry, the first place districts cut off are the fine arts departments. Programs such as theatre, art, orchestra, and band, all classes that require many materials, usually see the money stop flowing.

Causing them to have to make do with slowly degrading materials.

Band

Here at West High, one of our proudest fine arts programs is the school band. With nearly 285 stu-

DECEMBER 2015 WSS.COM PAGE 24

dents, 3 jazz bands, 2 marching bands, and accomplishments going all the way up to a Grammy won 12 years ago, we have one of the best band programs in the state. However, even in a wealthy community such as ours and with a successful band program, we are not immune to the effects of budgeting. One and a half years ago, the Iowa City Community School District made cuts to numerous programs, including a major cut of $500,000 to the elementary school band program. Although this is a cut that does not directly affect West High, these cuts could have drastic effects

of the program.” The funding for the band program comes from things such as the patron program and the Music Auxiliary. The patron program allows parents, alumni, and community members to directly donate to the West High band and is one of the main ways they pay for instruments and music. The other main way, the Music Auxiliary is a voluntary parent organization that works to fund the Iowa City Community School District music programs. With these two methods, West High has

Rob Medd, one of the band teachers at West High on the band in the coming years.

“Without staffing at the elementary level, you have more students per lesson, and the level of teaching goes down on an individual level,” said Rob Medd, a West High band director. “[We are] starting to see students who aren’t successful because of the student to teacher ratio in elementary dropping out

Iowa City West High’s Band Room

been able to keep up with the costs of instruments and music. Crissy Vigil ’17, is a member of both the art and band programs.“I feel the fundraisers we do through Music Auxiliary are sufficient and all of the parental support and their donations have really helped us out,” Vigil ’17 said. With the upcoming completion of Liberty High in North Liberty, there is still a lot up in the air in terms of what will happen to staffing between West High and the new school with band, and other arts departments.

Theatre

Music is not the only art department that has seen cuts around the nation. Over the last 15 years, the theatre departments in schools have had a massive decline in budget. In 2010, only 4% of schools in the country still had a theatre class available according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Theatre

“Not just a hobby, fine arts are imperative to well rounded individuals”

-Katy Nahra

at West has been one of the more lucky programs in the country. At West theatre is a large program, with over 200 students involved. Each year, they produce one play and one musical. Both are directed by the students. Theatre also benefits students in many ways, it helps with social skills, public speaking, and with a majority of the students involved being backstage, in helps a great deal in life skills and problem solving. Funding for theatre at West comes from ticket sales from the previous show to fund the next show. This means that people must attend the shows to keep the money going for the next one. Difficulties arise sometimes in that regard for the department as they must compete with sports in terms of student body support. Whereas sports money is all pooled together from the different teams, and theatre must make their profits on a play and musical during the year. “A lot of our funding comes from ticket sales, so we have high motivation to put on a good show,” Ethan Seyler ’18 said. Ethan has been a member of theatre both of his years at West. Taking part of the Cinderella musical his freshman year as a chorus member, and playing Mr. Kolenkhov in this year’s production of You Can’t Take It With You. “To put on a good show, it often involves buying a lot of things, so we need to sell more tickets,” Seyler ’18 said. The large and extravagant sets that people enjoy in plays and musicals are not cheap to build.

“Building the sets is incredibly expensive, [it is] a few thousand to just build the set,” said Katy Nahra, the advisor of the theater department. Just getting the rights to produce a play can also be a huge cost.

Design and photography by Teresa Knecht and Nicholas Pryor

The rights to a Disney play are often a few thousand dollars, not including costumes, sets, and any of the actual production. Not all arts programs that have faced budget cuts require the massive amounts of money that band or theatre can.

Art

Art is another very popular arts program with students at West High. There are 12 different subjects taught, including art classes not commonly found at other schools in the country like metals and jewelry. Arts are a different in how budget is determined compared to the other subjects. It is up to the principle to determine the funding. Under Jerry Argenbright the arts have plenty of funding, and when there were worries of cuts, the administration realized that they would be able to not cut them. However, with Gregg Shoultz as the current principal, there is the possibility of a change in that. Although West has a bigger budget for art than other schools, some students feel like the art budget should be raised to help boost the program. Vigil ’17, a student in AP Studio Art feels that more funding should be given to the program to allow it to build into some-

Christain Aanestad, one of two art teachers here at Iowa City West High

thing like the band or sports programs.“We really are in need of support and donations toward the program,” Vigil says. Christian Aanestad, one of the art teachers at West, has taught in four school districts in Iowa and considers West to have one of the best art programs. He does however, worry that with the creation of Liberty High problems could start.

“We’re hoping to be able to sustain the program but funding problems could arise with the new high school. [Such as] staffing problems could happen,” Aanestad said.

West High for the most part has gotten very lucky compared to many schools across this country in its

“Initially schools want to focus on reading writing arithmetic, arts don’t have the parental backing that music programs has, art programs are expensive” -Christain Anaestad

Choices at West

Students at West have choices that are not usually available at other schools across the country.

For Band

4 Concert Bands 3 Jazz Bands 2 Marching Bands

For Art

12 Subjects in total 2D and 3D art Metal and jewelry programs Along with AP Art

For Theatre

Two daily theatre classes One play per year One musical per year

ability to maintain the funding that is required to sustain these programs. Much of this is due to the background of literature present in Iowa City and the importance it plays on the culture of the town, something many cities do not have the luxury of.

As of now, no budget cuts to the fine arts departments have happened at the high school level. However, cuts in the previous year have impacted the programs at the elementary level, a crucial stage in developing students passion for the arts. With the opening of Liberty High in North Liberty drawing nearer, worry is beginning to sneak into people’s minds of the possibility of teachers and budgets being shifted around the accommodate the new high school.

Emily Burtch ‘18 working on her still life drawing in explority art

WSS.COM DECEMBER 2015 PAGE 25

PAGE 28 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

The F@#%s and S#&*

What the veriety of different people at W

Design inspired by Barbara Badovinac

*s of West High

West think about Swearing

Swearing at West

BY SAM GIIENAPP

To some, swearing is natural. They do it all the time with no hesitation-no thought as to the consequences to what they say.

To others, they find when people swear they ask the question, “Why do people swear?” while some just turn their heads and simply don’t care.

One could argue that this is the most foul generation in a long time. On the other hand they could argue that swearing is a natural part of life and essential to expressing man’s true emotions.

Most people do hear quite a lot of swearing at West High, but it’s no surprise considering the amount and variety of people. It also isn’t surprising that people hear the most swearing in the hallways which is where people can briefly talk and chat with their friends about what has happened during the day; how a class was, who said something, if the test in a certain class was hard, or maybe who broke up or got together that day. Drama.

At West High we do have a wide range of ideas when it comes to swearing from.

In an anonymous survey, when asked what they thought of swearing, students

replied from not caring very much, “I personally do not swear that often, but other people swear all the time. I don’t really care if they do or not.”

To detesting swearing, “I think cussing is stupid. So many people do it when they don’t need to at all.

People use it way too much and honestly it makes them sound unintelligent and unprofessional. It doesn’t make you cool so just stop.”

To swearing a lot themselves, “I swear a $%!* ton myself, and I hear it often. Swearing doesn’t bother me, and I think it is effective for adding emphasis.”

This is true to the fact that we have a wide range of ideas on the topic of swearing among the alphabet soup of other topics on the airwaves. And at West High, we respect others’ opinions whether we believe that opinion ourselves or not.

I think it’s okay in moderation. Swearing can be a good way to express how you feel about certain things, but at a certain point it becomes disrespectful and rude. -West Student

PAGE 29 WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015

Is journaling a

JOKE?

BY STORMY SNYDER

Some may think of a journal as a drag or a commitment that they just don’t have time for, but it really is just as simple as to stop using it.

“If it becomes [a problem], they don’t do it,” said Kate Jacobson, an English teacher at West.

T

ART BY JANET GOOCH

here’s a reason journal and journey start with the same five letters. With a flick of the wrist and of pen against paper a story is being told; an everyday, usual, amazing life in words or pictures. Millions of people keep their own stories tucked away, whether in a written journal, sketch diary, or blog.

The thought “But I don’t have anything interesting to say!” by a prospective journaleer is a toxic one. Anything and everything is interesting in time.

“I used to write things like ‘It rained today’,” said Rosemary Jacobson, a counselor at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

“It was not real private…” she said, and recalled how her family would use it as a calendar.

Privacy isn’t all that much of an issue compared to the huge benefits of journal keeping.

Surprisingly, although one keeps their journal to themself, it can improve how they react socially.

“It’s a nice way to put down thoughts without hurting anybody,” said Rosemary.

Organization, planning, and innovation can also be benefited.

“It’s just a way to write new thoughts out,” said Emily Means, ‘19.

Not only can organization and mental health be improved, but studies show that physical health can also be positively impacted. In one experiment in New Zealand, patients who were assigned to journal daily for at least 20 minutes after a skin biopsy healed 34% more often than those who did not.

Want to start a journal, but feeling uninspired?

PICK A PROMPT

1. Write a permission slip to yourself to stop doing something you don’t want to do.

2. Pretend you are a god/goddess. Draw them.

3. Pick up a random book, flip to a random page, read the first paragraph, and draw it. ..Please don’t use Fifty Shades of Gray. Please. Begging you here.

4. Tell a story in three pictures. No caption at all.

5. Make up a person. Write them having a nice day, please be kind to them.

6. Write as many puns as you can in thirty seconds.

7. Write a “six-word-novel”, a term attributed to Ernest Hemingway, where the writer tells an entire story in six words.

Compiled by Stormy Snyder

Short answer:

No WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 31

One MATH teacher NUMEROUS countries West High math teacher Karen Meyer has traveled to over 50 countries, and doesn’t plan to quit traveling anytime soon.

BY CLAIRE LYNCH

“I

started it all because of this list.” Said Karen Meyer West High math teacher who has taught in numerous countries, including Venezuela, Slovakia and Switzerland.

Meyer said her whole travel experience started because of an idea she had to make a list. She had heard of someone backpacking in Europe which inspired her, “So I made this list of 100 things that I wanted to do in my life, that’s where all of this started.”

Believe it or not, Meyer didn’t like math when she was in high school. “I think I didn’t like it because I don’t think that anyone helped me to see the beauty in it.”

Then one year in college she had a teacher in college named Bill Houston, who influenced her views and inspired her interest in teaching.

From 1987-1990 Meyer taught in Caracas, Venezuela, at The International School of Caracas. It was her first teaching job. “All the kids there were at least trilingual, they were really motivated students and they were from all over the world. So it was just 32 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

+

%

exciting.” Meyer said about the school. Almost every weekend in Venezuela Meyer would go to beaches to sail and scuba dive.

She also recalled sleeping on hammocks right on the beach. Then from 1992-1993 she was a volunteer teacher in what is now Slovakia. “The kids that were there were pretty privileged, but they were so giving...”

Meyer said about the students. She also said that every weekend they traveled to the kids homes, “It was a very different experience, but it was super warm and welcoming…” she said. Meyer says that she learned a lot

about Slovakia, its people, and its history during her time there. From 1993-1994 she taught in Zurich, Switzerland at The Riverside School “You literally like walk to the train station, buy a ticket, the train takes you right to the bottom of the lift, you walk out, you ski all day, you ski back down you hop on the train and you go back home.”

Meyer pointed out that all three experiences were very different, but really amazing in their own ways.

Meyer is from Cedar Rapids, she graduated from high school in 1981. After her time spent in many amazing countries she

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x²

>

=

decided to live in Iowa City, “When it was time to come back and sort of think about a family and that, Iowa City was a great choice…” She did substitute teaching at both City High and West High.

Now at West Meyer tells stories of her adventures to many students, Megan Hill 17’ who had Meyer her freshman year said, “I remember the last day of school she told us about all these cool places she’d been…” Hill enjoyed the class taught by Meyer and had many good things to say. Kat Armstrong 18’ who also had Meyer her freshman year

said, “Cherish her because not all teachers are as good as her. We have amazing teachers at West but there’s something just really good about having a teacher that knows exactly what you need to hear, whether it’s about math or life.”

But just because of her career at West High doesn’t mean her travels are over. She talked about how she would first start to think about retirement as an option in five years, but she also said, “There’s a couple places I would still like to go and live and teach, so it’s a consideration, it’s on the table.”

÷

FAST FACTS She has been to over 50 countries.

She was in Czechoslovakia when it split into Slovakia and The Czech Republic She has four kids

She loves the mountains She would like to vacation in South Africa, or in Northern Europe

Compiled By Claire Lynch

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 33

THEY’RE BACK THEY’RE BACK THEY’RE BACK VENDING MACHINES And better than ever?

BY GEORGE LIU DESIGN BY IAN PRESCOTT

It’s a typical day at West. Books in hand, you squeeze through the noisy, congested hallways to get to your music class. As you are freed from the endless traffic jam by the library and step into the English hallway, your tummy gives you an all-too-familiar grumble. So why not stop for a snack?

Up until recently, students this year did not have the option of purchasing food to satisfy their gnawing hunger. Previous vending machines stocked with candy, soft 34 DECEMBER 2015

drinks, and chips did not comply with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act put forward by First Lady Michelle Obama.

However, from the ashes of the older vending machines rise a new generation of vending machines capable of filling us with healthier food. Upon closer inspection, you’ll find that they’re outfitted with modern conveniences, such as card scanners and LED lights, and also foods that were not found in school before, such as Popchips, Pirate’s Booty Popcorn, and many varieties of sparkling juice.

The most significant change to our school’s new vending ma-

chines, however, is the lack of unhealthy foods missed by students.

The new vending machines come with a variety of new foods that comply with both the Healthy Kids Act and the Iowa City Community School District’s new Smart Snacks regulation.

While these restrictions on what we can eat have been viewed negatively by some, notably within the student body, the administration is trying to make the transition as smooth as possible.

“We have started with standard non-perishable foods for now, and we want kids to tell us what [else] they want in [the vending ma-

the vending machines are just sitting there gathering dust, they are actually very well used in-between periods after lunch and are also Despite these often used by the West High POMS dance team. efforts, most students still do Natalie Roetlin ‘18, West High not utilize this POMS Dancer, said, “The whole convenience at team uses the vending machines! all by a matter MOLLY ABRAHAM, We buy [food like] dried strawberASSISTANT PRINCIPLE of preference. ries, cookies, and goldfish since we want a snack before practice.”

Nathan Thomas ‘17 said, “Don’t change things that don’t need to be Though the devious prices still deter many, changed.” most The whole team uses the vending Serene machines! We buy [food like] dried Cincotta ‘18 strawberries, cookies, and goldfish seems to agree, saysince we always want a snack being, “I get fore practice. -Natalie Roetlin, ‘18 why they put whole grain in there, but they [also] should put more [appealing foods].” chines] as they will be the ones actually buying the [products]”, said Assistant Principal Molly Abraham.

For others, it’s a matter of accessibility. Both Andy Chen ‘19 and Anna Moses ‘19 have said that they eat in a location other than the cafeteria, the long-time home of the vending machines.

Price is also an important factor to consider, especially since high schoolers are not the wealthiest types of people.

Delilah Lopez ‘18 said, “No! I don’t buy stuff from there because the prices are way too high.” Lopez is not alone on this issue. Mitchell Clements ‘19 said, “Yeah, I don’t use the vending machines.” When asked about why, Clements said, “The things are too expensive, and I don’t really feel that hungry.”

Although it may seem that

dancers manage to purchase something once a week.

Vending machines from Fresh Healthy Vending have been popping up all over the place, such as in City High School and the Coralville Recreation Center. In order to show you what selections they really offer, enjoy these head to head comparisons of the new arrivals against classic favorites, courtesy of the WSS!

Ever wonder which vending machine food is most healthy? Here are some quick facts.

LAY’S BARBECUE

POPCHIPS BARBECUE

SMARTFOODS POPCORN

PIRATE’S BOOTY POP

SKINNY POPCORN

2015 DECEMBER 35

Hawkeyes

By Nick Haddy and Dashawn Willis

T

he Iowa Hawkeye Basketball team is very well know around the nation and especially

around Iowa City. A well known place where you can find small talk about the Hawks, is here at West High. These talks can be heard from the gym all the way to the ninth grade lunch center. One of the proud supporters of the basketball team is Michael Duffy ‘18, and he is a true Hawkeye fan. He has been to many Iowa sports activities, including, football, basketball, and even wrestling. Duffy has been a proud supporter of the basketball team since the day he could remember, and he cares a lot on how they do.

at

Another person who is passionate about

the Hawkeyes is Patrick Mccaffery ‘19.

Mccaffery knows the Hawkeye basketball

team very well. His dad is head coach, so there is no surprise to say that he has been playing basketball since he could pick up a ball and shoot it. He has not been a total Hawkeye fan until 2010, when his family moved to Iowa. “I think that the Hawkeye’s are a very passionate team.”

Mccaffery said. “I think that if they work together, they will make it to the NCAA Tournament,” he said.

When asked how they will do this year, he gave a strong statement. “I think they (Iowa Hawkeyes) will do pretty well and have a good team, but they face lots of chalMichael Duffy ‘18

36

Patrick Mccaffery ‘19

West High

t

The Hawkeye’s are a great team to watch!

-Dr. Schoultz

Another huge Hawkeye Basketball fan is our

very own, Dr. Schoultz. “I became a fan (of the Hawkeye’s) in junior high when the team went to the Final Four. I remember Bobby Hansen, Kevin Boyle, Kenny Arnold, Steve Krafcisin, and Steve Waite were on that team.”

Dr. Schoultz said. Schoultz likes to watch many Hawkeye events, but says that college

Dr. Schoultz

basketball is his favorite sport to watch.

The Hawkeye Basketball team is 7-2 coming off a sweeping win against Western Illinois, 90-56. On December 9, the Hawkeye’s will be playing against nationally ranked Iowa State who is ranked fourth. Iowa’s first Big Ten team will be against Michigan State on December 29. Iowa basketball lost a few seniors last year, Aaron White, Josh Oglesby, and Gabriel Olaseni. All three

FAST FACTS

Iowa vs. Dayton: L 77-82 Iowa vs. Notre Dame: L 6862 Iowa vs. Wichita St: W 61-84 Iowa vs. Florida St: W 75-78 Iowa vs. UMKC: W 75-95 Iowa vs. Western Illinois: W 56-90 Iowa vs. Iowa St: L 82-83

have moved on to play professional basketball over in Europe that started in the summer.

37

RIVERSIDE ROATATION Ron Clark recently exited stage left as Artistic Director at Riverside theatre, with Sam Osheroff coming in from the wing to take his place.

By: Harry Westergaard Since it’s humble beginning in 1981 Riverside Theatre has been one of the leading sources for classic theatre and drama in Iowa City, providing quality shows in a small and accessible place. Earlier this year it became apparent that there were some big changes underway with the departure of founders Ron Clark and Jody Hovland.

Sam Osheroff stepped on in July as replacement and has begun his first season of work at the theatre, the thirty-fifth overall. One of Osheroff ’s plans is to try to get younger audiences interested in Theatre early.

Riverside theatre was started in 1981 by Ron Clark, Jody Hovland and Bruce Wheaton, who was initially a co-founder, but later worked as a director. Wheaton was described by co-founder Ron Clark as a “valuable person.”

The theatre was started by Clark and Hovland because they couldn’t find a good place to put on classic theatre productions. Clark stated that there was a good audience, and that it was a good city, so he and Hovland created Riverside.

“It went from a family business to a regional theatre that’s produced over 300 plays,” Clark said.

Clark was the artistic director at Riverside theatre until earlier this year, when he and co-founder Jody Hovland stepped down.

“Working with Ron and Jody was a great experience, and I am really grateful that they worked so hard to create a lasting legacy of professional the-

Photo Credit: Creative Commons atre in Iowa City,” said Kristie Hartsgrove, an actor who has worked at the theatre.

Clark stated that his favorite part of the job was working with all of the wonderful artists. “The greatest joy was discovering people to work with” and the biggest challenge was finding the talent and individuals.

“You form relationships that are deep with artists and staff,” Clark said. In early 2000, the staff at Riverside started Riverside theatre in the Park, which performs Shakespeare plays in the outside theatre.

The flooding of the outside theatre is common, and Clark described this as the greatest frustration that was tied to the job. “Nobody knew the scope of the flooding.”

Earlier this year Ron and Jody stepped down as the artistic directors and agreed to Riverside’s five year plan. The plan requires Ron and Jody to work on two shows each season. Ron described it as, “A nice, orderly transition.”

Ron will direct a play called “Dancing Lessons,”

which goes into production in March, and will perform in April. It will star current Artistic Director Sam Osheroff. Sam is an actor and director with a MFA in acting from the FSU/Asolo conservatory. He lived in New York, but moved to Iowa City a few years ago and worked at the Pensacoal Shakespeare Theatre. “When my wife and I had our first child we realized that living the life of itinerant actors in New York was not going to be feasible any more. We looked for ways to transition out of the city but stay within our chosen profession (she’s also an actor),” Osheroff said. “I’m a different person than Jody and Ron so I naturally gravitate towards other scripts sometimes,”Osheroff said. Osheroff also stated that he’s going to try to get younger audiences (elementary through high school) into Riverside’s shows. “I think it’s essential to build your future audience or someday you won’t have one.”

Big changes are afoot at Riverside theatre. However, to quote Sam intimate, “engaging theatre and really good acting. That won’t change at all.” At the moment, Sam is working on a comedy called Line of Descent, which will debut in January/February, and ROAR which is an event devoted to solo work, which will it premiere in March. You can see these shows at Riverside theatre in Downtown Iowa City. 213 N. Gilbert St. “I hope Riverside has a long, productive future, because it’s had a long and joyous history,” Clark said.

“We’re proudest that it’s a joyus and fun place to work. After that, it all comes naturally” ~ Ron Clark

UPCOMING AT RIVERSIDE Coming of Age in Chore Boots Dir. Tim Budd December 4-19 Line of Descent Dir. Sam Osheroff January 29-Febuary 21 ROAR! March 4-13 Dancing Lessons Dir. Ron Clark April 1-17 Check out riversidetheatre.com for more info!

Source: Riversidetheatre.com Compiled by Harry Westergaard

Heading F Feminism is becoming more powerful

BY RACHEL FALDUTTO

Jonah Terwilleger ‘19 and Nikita Bailey ‘19 Feminism. What is it? What do people think it is? “[People think that] women want to have more than men, when really they just want to be equal,” Nikita Bailey ’19 said.

Other people have different sides and believe that feminism is not needed due to the fact that men and women have certain roles in society.

“I believe that men were created to lead and females were created to help, but in today’s society ‘helping’ has such a negative view,” Jonah Terwilleger ’19 said.

In addition Terwilleger said, “I also believe that men should respect women more than their

own gender,” Some students also have difficulty coming up with what they believe feminism is at all.

“It’s kind of a hard thing for me to describe but I guess my answer would be the support of female rights,” Emma Gehlbach ’19 said.

Bailey is very pro-feminism and gets very mad when people don’t know what they’re talking about.

“A meninist is men against the feminist beliefs and try to counter them with something that is literally not necessary or real,” Bailey said.

Women typically only earn 78 cents for every dollar a man makes and that gap is even worse

[People think that] women want to have more than men, when really they just want to be equal -Nikita Bailey ‘19 44 FEATURE DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

For Equality

for African-Americans.

“Women should have the same rights and treatment both in the workplace and politically and at home as men,” Gehlbach said.

Some men believe that women should be pampered.

“My goal for the future is to have a job where [I] make enough money so she [my future wife] doesn’t have to work,” Terwillieger said.

Some women are against that however, citing that some women want to work but don’t want to feel obligated to.

“Some people [women] don’t hate work,” Bailey said.

Women seem to more pro-female working than men. Bailey and Gehlbach firmly believe that women should be in the workforce and should have the same wages whereas Terwillieger believes women should be pampered and shouldn’t have to work.

FAST FACTS

1920- 19th Amendments allowing women to vote Women are paid 78 cents to a dollar men make 1996- Military institutes must allow women 1972- Title IX- women must be let into sports 17% seats in Congress are held by women Compiled by Rachel Falduto

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 FEATURE 45

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

Winter break is very fun until you get bored. So, here is your winter break survival guide to help you get through the holiday season like a pro.

46 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

DESIGN BY KARA WAGENKNECHT

Coming up in your winter break survival guide: Page 48- Fun recipes and treats to make for the holidays.

Page 49- Profile on Madeline Ohl and fun winter movies to watch.

Page 50- Profile on Breno Sader.

Page 51- Tips from Maddie and Olivia Fletcher and fun activities to do over break.

PHOTOS BY KARA WAGENKNECHT

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015

THE MOST WONDERFUL FOOD OF THE YEAR

BY ALLIE SCHMITT-MORRIS

Rice Krispy Treat Snowman

1 package (10 ounces) marshmallows (about 40) 6 cups crispy rice cereal round red peppermint candies red jelly beans semisweet chocolate chips mini semisweet chocolate chips fruit roll-up, red M&Ms pretzel sticks What To Do: Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and coat with nonstick cooking spray.

In a soup pot, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from the heat and add the cereal; stir until completely coated.

PHOTO BY ALLIE SCHMITT-MORRIS

Hot cocoa ornament

Using a 3/4-cup measure of mixture for each, form five balls and place on the baking sheet. Using a 1/3-cup measure for each, form five more balls. Place the smaller balls on top of the larger ones, forming snowmen.

Decorate with candies, chocolate chips, and pretzels, or design your own creations. Serve, or cover loosely with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

one packet of your favorite hot cocoa mix clear ornament a handful of mini marshmallows a handful of mini chocolate chips sprinkles of your choice crushed up mini candy cane funnel What To Do: Funnel the hot cocoa mix into the clear ornament.

Next, funnel the rest of the items in layers however you want.

PHOTO BY JENNA ZENG

48 DECEMBER2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Traditions

A

BY ALLIE SCHMITT-MORRIS AND JENNA ZENG

10 WINTER MOVIES TO WATCH

lot of people have special traditions and speDURING cial foods to celebrate the holidays, including Madeline Ohl ’19. She has a unique annual tradition for ringing in the new year.

The snow is beautiful and fun to play in, but Ohl uses it for more than just building snowmen. She takes a thin layer of snow and heats up either molasses or syrup to make snow candy. “I don’t really like molasses, so I use syrup,” said Ohl of her preferences on her candy.

1. HOME ALONE Madeline Ohl ‘19 Aside from the unique candy that she makes, Ohl also likes making gingerbread. “I really like making ginger2. PLANES TRAINS AND bread and I eat that with cream and it’s really good,” said Ohl. AUTOMOBILES One of Ohl’s favorite ways to spend the holiday season is baking with her mom. It is a great way to spend time together, and make tasty treats. “My mom taught me how to bake. It’s just something we do to enjoy ourselves,” Ohl said.

3.HARRY POTTER Although it seems like Ohl has a normal break, her big tradition occurs on New Year’s Day with her family where she gets a fun surprise in the morning. While many people like to stay up late on New Year’s Eve to ring in the new year, Ohl and her family do something different.

4.POLAR EXPRESS “On New Year’s Eve, we don’t stay up late or have a big celebration, sometimes we go up to my grandparents house. The special thing we do is in the morning,” said Ohl. Books are a big part of Ohl’s life as she enjoys reading while cuddling with her nineyear-old Siamese and tortoiseshell cat, Minerva. Because of this, Ohl really appreciates the gift her parents have for her. “On New Year’s day I will wake up early and the 5.CHRONICLES OF NARNIA table is set for breakfast and under the plate there’s a book.” Ohl said of the gift she receives. At the beginning of this year, she received Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

This has been a long standing tradition in her family. “It’s something I’ve al6. FROZEN ways done, my grandparents used to do it to my mom too,” said Ohl. Ohl has another tradition with her fam7.ELF ily, and it involves luck.

One New Year’s Day, 8. NATIONAL LAMPOON the Ohl’s will have lentil CHRISTMAS VACATION soup and there will be one bay leaf in it. The person that gets the bay leaf is lucky for the year.

9. EIGHT BELOW However, Ohl doesn’t -Madeline Ohl really believe in the luck it brings anymore, 10. ITS A WONDERFUL but she still enjoys the tradition. “I’ve gotten the bay leaf many times, but I don’t LIFE think that it makes me super lucky, or that different from normal years,” Ohl said. “It’s more of a fun tradition we do every year to recognize the new year.”

Tradition is an important part of Ohl’s life. She knows she wants to continue the New COMPILED BY ALLIE SCHMITT-MORRIS Year’s tradition when she’s older and has her own family. Ohl said, “It’s a fun, unique way for my family to celebrate the new year in a way that is more similar to what we enjoy, since none of us really like to stay up late, or are a big fan of loud parties.”

WINTER BREAK

It’s something I’ve always done, my grandparents used to do it for my mom

PHOTO BY ALLIE SCHMITT-MORRIS

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 49

Tropical travels For many people, winter break is the time to cozy up next to the fireplace with a mug of hot chocolate and play in the fresh, fluffy white snow. But for Breno Sader ’19, it is the complete opposite.

BY JENNA ZENG

F

PHOTOS BY BRENO SADER

rom exploring cities in Brazil to traveling to Mexico four times, Sader’s winter breaks have been full of exhilarating, tropical adventures in a number of places including the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Portugal, and Brazil.

One of Sader’s most memorable experiences Breno Sader ‘19 was when his dad pushed him off a 200-foot cliff into a giant lake of water twice in a tropical jungle near the resort his family was staying at in Cancun. “I was excited, but a bit scared,” said Sader. However, Sader’s worst memory came immediately after that. “In that same lake of water, when [my mom] jumped, she injured her leg,” Sader said, “and the hospitals there are not even [good]. She probably would have been better off not going to the hospital.” Sader explained that that quality of the hospitals in Mexico were not very good, and since they only had two days left in Cancun, they waited until they got back to the United States to visit the doctor.

50 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

These winter break trips are a much needed retreat from the harsh, bitter Iowa winters for Sader. “I can’t stand the cold weather,” he said. When asked if he misses the snow on his trips, Sader said, “Not even slightly. I get sad when the plane starts to land and I see snow.” He does not miss Iowa one bit while on his excursions, but he did enjoy his only winter break spent at home. “The only reason I liked it was because it was one of the only Christmases that I’ve ever celebrated [where there has been] an actual Christmas with trees and snow,” said Sader. Usually, Sader and his family have a special Christmas dinner at the resort and exchange gifts when they return back home.

This upcoming winter break, Sader will be spending two weeks camping in the middle of the Amazon, twenty miles from the nearest city. While all of Sader’s trips have been a way to escape the cold weather and go some place warm, they have also allowed him to experience new cultures and places. Sader said, “[I like to travel] because it’s important to explore and learn about other lifestyles.”

Home alone While some people may think staying at home the entire duration of winter break is extremely boring, it is actually possible to make it more exciting and fun. Just take the these two sisters for example, Maddie Fletcher ’16 and Olivia Fletcher ’19. They stay home over break, but they do manage to find ways to make the uneventful break more interesting.

BY JENNA ZENG

W

inter break is amazing.

There is no denying it. You can wake up whenever you want, do whatever you want, and not have to worry about making it to school on time, or having a huge test the next day. But, after the initial excitement, it tends start to get a bit boring, sometimes even to the part where you have the slightest wanting to go back to school. Instead of just passing the break idly, doing nothing but watching Netflix, try something new or spend time with those you have neglected. After all, it is the holiday season where joy and love is in the air.

When school is in session, there is virtually no time to relax and hang out with family because of the heavy homework load and studying that needs to be done. Winter break is the perfect time to catch up with them and spend quality time together. “I usually don’t travel during winter break. I like to spend time at home with my family and dog,” said Olivia. With the holiday spirit in the air and the cheery feeling floating around, take time to cherish and hang out with family. Take a break from being a moody teen (that we all can be at one point or another,) and really have fun with the people that are the closest to you. “I like to spend time with [Olivia] because we are very close and we have a lot of the same interests so we get along most of the time,” said Maddie.

Friends help keep us grounded and get us through tough times. They make us laugh when we are having a rough day. You have two full

weeks to hang out and have fun together. Make the most of it by doing some fun activities. “[I like winter break] because I get to relax at home and I don’t have to leave my friends,” said Maddie.

While traveling is fun, hanging out with friends could possibly be even better. This winter break try and branch out to new people along with spending some time laughing with old friends.

Despite all the festivity and importance of spending time with other people, sometimes you just relax over break and take some time for yourself to unwind from all the stress of school.

There are lots of activities to do on your own besides spending the entire day on the Internet. Do-it-yourself crafts are a popular activity that you can do alone during the holiday season. “DIY paper snowflakes are the best. I love to make a bunch and then hang them from the ceiling of my room. They are super easy and fun,” said Maddie, “DIY wreaths are also fun because their are so many different things you can put on them to make your house or room look pretty.” Take some time to pamper yourself by taking a nice warm bubble bath, or do something you have always wanted to do but have never gotten the chance. Try something new and who knows, maybe you’ll find a new interest that you never even knew you had before.

While the holidays are a nice time to relax and take a break, it’s also good to stay active and not spend the entire time watch TV in your bed, so you don’t lose your motivation going into the second half of the school year.

Fun activies to try: With Family 1) play board/card games 2) watch holiday movies (see page 49 for suggestions) 3) have an indoor campout - set up a blanket fort or tent, make s’mores and tell stories 4) go sledding (West High is the best place for this!)

With Friends 1) bake wintery treats 2) play in the snow - have snowball fights, build snowmen and forts 3) schedule a time to see friends you only talk to at school at the mall or a coffee shop 4) go ice skating

On Your Own 1) finish your homework while it may seem tedious and boring, it will keep you ahead of the game and keep your grades up 2) DIY activities (room decor, gifts, snacks) 3) sleep in!

4)exercise 5)volunteer - the holidays are a great time to give back to people in the community, plus it makes yourself feel good as well WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 51

he best loc t a to

onu ld

t shops

A loo k in

E ET W S

BY DENIZ INCE With the recent opening of Hurts Donut Co. in Coralville, a preference and like both donut stores. According to Kyle West students are now posed the question should they Sulwer ’18, Dunkin’ is faster than Hurts, but Hurts has more stay loyal to Dunkin’ Donuts or choose Hurts to get gourmet donuts. Hurts also has the option of custheir donut fix. tomers choosing their own donuts or employDe’Ja Bunyan ’17 is a student who has deees choosing donuts for the customers. Sulcided that she prefers Hurts over Dunkin’. wer simply likes donuts, and both locations In one week, Bunyan went to Hurts three provide those. or four times. One reason Bunyan is a “There’s no real preference, just whatfan of Hurts is because she likes the atever’s closer,” said Sulwer.

I think people need somemosphere there.

Both Hurts and Dunkin’ have their pros thing new and something “It’s really eccentric, but I absolutely and cons, so the choice is up to the cusfresh and I feel like Hurts love it. It’s like a modern version of a tomer and what they prefer. Each perDonuts does the job.” cafe,” said Bunyan. son has different expectations of a res-De’Ja Bunyan ’17 Though Bunyan is a new customer taurant, so for quick service and choices of Hurts, Kennedy Hochstedler ’19 still beyond just donuts, choose Dunkin’, and likes Dunkin’. She believes in the quality of for gourmet donuts with nontraditional flaDunkin’s food and customer service. vors and toppings, choose Hurts. “[Dunkin’ has] better donuts with [a] shorter wait “I think people need something new and someand better drinks,” said Hochstedler. thing fresh and I feel like Hurts Donuts does the job. It’s Some students, unlike Bunyan and Hochstedler, do not have definitely a 5-star cafe in my opinion,” said Bunyan.

PHOTO AND DESIGN BY DENIZ INCE

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 53

Su r A story of Gabby’s struggle with suicide

BY CAROLINE YOUNG

As one person’s journey ended, a whole new one began for Gabby Finlayson ‘19.

In third grade, Finlayson’s uncle committed suicide triggering a battle with depression. Finlayson was willing to share her story in hopes to inspire perseverance in those struggling with the same situation.

Finlayson experienced a deepening sadness after her uncle’s passing. As her depression worsened, Finlayson’s parents were reluctant to accept that it was more than just a phase. Throughout elementary school, Finlayson experienced the difficulty of switching schools as well as dealing with anger issues. As she overcame her anger issues, Finlayson became very approachable and made her close friend Kristina Rosebrook ‘19. Rosebrook introduced her to the world of anime which soon brought joy and passion into Finlayson’s life. “It kind of took over my life and it was the highlight [of my life].

It felt like it was my personal high,” Finlayson said.

“In the winter of 6th grade my boyfriend broke up with me and my emo phase began. How cheesy, right?” Finlayson said. She ended up getting diagnosed with depression and started taking prescription medications. In eighth grade, she realized she also had developed severe anxiety and was soon diagnosed for anxiety as well. Later that year, Finlayson suffered a concussion from a fall in her theatre production which triggered anger issues towards her parents.

This injury, combined with the effects of depression, landed Finlayson in Success Center for extra school help.

“It was really hard for me and I struggled with my grades a lot because I was so depressed all of the time,” Finlayson said. To make the situation worse, Finlayson was very deeply affected with a close encounter with rape and bullying by some of her close friends. In the middle of eighth grade, Finlayson’s struggles with her depression and her parents became so overwhelming that she attempted suicide. Her friends and family were extremely worried and she remembers it being very tough on her parents.

“I was in the hospital for two weeks which was actually quite the experience. It’s not how they portray it on TV. It’s not scary.

It’s very friendly and I became very good friends with my roommate.”

Every day, patients living in the psychiatric ward at the University of Iowa are monitored during their meals, attend “school” and group therapy, and have free time.

“You could watch movies, play video games, or do puzzles. We also made tons of friendship bracelets which I still have today.” Finlayson said. Finlayson learned many PHOTO BY JACKIE BLAKE PHOTOGRAPHY

54 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

good lessons from her time spent with her roommate and said that the support of her friends and her discovery of anime have helped her the most through her journey.

“Gabby is creative and one of the strongest people I know. She is passionate about what she loves, she’s really funny, and everything about her exudes character. Everything she does is just so characteristically Gabby. She has a very strong identity.” said Leen Hamza ‘19, one of Finlayson’s closest friends.

Despite all of Finlayson’s struggles, she has learned many valuable lessons to live by.

“I know at the moment it might seem like you’re not going to survive [the things you’re going through], but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. No matter how bad things may be, there is always good that comes out of a situation.” Finlayson has recovered very well and is doing much better today, thanks to all of her support from her close friends, family, medication, and her experience with professional help.

I know at the moment it might seem like you’re not going to survive, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.”

-Gabby Finlayson ‘19 For those of you who may happen to be struggling with suicide or depression, or just want an adult to talk to when you’re having a bad day, there are immediate resources available for you as well. Jamie Schneider, West High’s student and family advocate, always has her office open and is willing to talk to anyone. “My job is basically to be here as much as possible...You are always welcome to come talk to me or any of the guidance counselors throughout the day.”

Schneider said.

“Our school district has more mental health resources than I’ve ever known.” If you or anybody you know ever needs additional support, do not hesitate to set up a time with one of the counselors.

“I really love to get to know students; their stories, where they want to go and what they want to do with their lives.”

vivor 90 percent of people who commit suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder

%

105

Men are nearly four times more likely to die by suicide while women are three times more likely to attempt

people take their lives every Every 13.7 minutes, someone in the US dies by suicide

Increased use in drugs and alcohol

Frequent mood swings

Easily angered

Warning signs:

Looking for ways to kill oneself

Suicide prevention hotline:

Over or under sleeping

IN A CRISIS:

1-(800)273-8255 What should you do?

• take all threats seriously • don’t be afraid to ask someone if they are suicidal • seek professional help

Change in appearance

Take them to the emergency room

Call 911

Remove all dangerous objects

DESIGN BY CAROLINE YOUNG

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 55

What would you do?

By Haley Paulson What would you do if you were not afraid? Why?

Three of West High’s best answer this question in a series of hilarious and character revealing questions.

-Jared: I would rather have bells hang from my chin -Cadine: The second one because tails are cool -Crystal: A 5 inch tail, that would be awesome! It would be awesome because I get excited all the time and I could just be like, “LOOK AT MY TAIL!”

-Jared: Sky diving!

-Cadine: Everything! That would be so exciting and I would be on an adventure!

-Crystal: I would probably sneak out. I’ve always wanted to sneak out but I’ve never had the guts

Would you rather have bells hang from your chin or a 5 inch tail that wags every time you get excited?

-Jared: I would speak my mind because I talk to everyone -Cadine: Never speak again because I don’t even like talking in the first place!

-Crystal: I would rather just speak what is on my mind, I already do!

Crystal Franco ‘18

Would you rather have to say everything on your mind or never speak again? Why?

Jared Termini ‘17

-Jared: Trapped with the old lady and her dogs!

-Cadine: I like dogs first of all and second, I don’t like to smell disgusting smells -Crystal: THE DOGS!

Would you rather be trapped in an elevator with an old lady and her three wet dogs or three fat men with bad breath?

Why?

56 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

-Jared: I would take the money because I’m really broke!

-Cadine: Pick it up because I want money, then I would go and buy white chocolate.

-Crystal: Pick it up. Usually I would turn it in because then you feel guilty and you don’t want to spend it!

What would you do if you saw someone drop money on the floor and no one else was around?

Why?

-Jared: I don’t know -Cadine: That’s a secret, but I would change going to New Jersey -Crystal: Past relationships

-Jared: It’s cliche but I’d live everyday to the fullest -Cadine: Let myself die…

-Crystal: Live life

What would you do if you could go back in time and change one thing you have done? What is it?

Why?

Would you rather hit your funny bone or step on a lego? Why?

What would you do if you knew how you were going to die and you couldn’t avoid it? Why?

-Jared: I would rather step on a lego because it doesn’t hurt as much -Cadine: The second one because the funny bone hurts more -Crystal: Step on a lego because if you hit your funny bone, everyone’s like, “oh blah blah blah” and I’m like, “shut up.”

Cadine Adza ‘18

What would you do if you could save ten people but no one would know it was you? Why?

What would you do if you knew nobody would judge you? Why?

-Jared: I would wear baggy clothes!

-Cadine: I’d dance...crazy! I would do that all over the place becasue I like being weird.

-Crystal: I don’t know

-Jared: I would save them just because I could -Cadine: That’d be great; I would feel so great about myself.

I don’t have to tell people. I’d be a hero, that’d be so cool!

-Crystal: Save ‘em! You know you did it and that’s all that matters

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 57

Words of

PHOTO COURTESY PATTARIN OONMETTAREE

WISDOM

Diving into public speaking, a commonly feared skill, and related activities at West.

BY GRACE YARROW

A

merica’s top fear is public speaking. The second most common is death. Apparently, you’re better off in a casket than doing the eulogy.

Glossophobia, fear of public speaking, is present in approximately 75% of American citizens. However, the ability to express your thoughts and opinions is necessary for any person to be successful in the future.

Cyndy Woodhouse, Public Speaking teacher, says that public speaking is a basic communication skill and can give people confidence in new situations.

“No matter what kind of career you go into, no matter what kind of post-secondary education you’re going to pursue, you have to know how to talk to people … so that you can effectively get what you want out of the situation,” she said.

58 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Woodhouse recommends every student at West to take public speaking, due to the class being open for anyone to take.

Woodhouse also says that the best way to overcome stress with public speaking is a lot of practice, which is a big part of the class.

Many of the activities in the class involve preparing a speech and improving skills.

According to Woodhouse, “Public speaking is not easy for most people. They’re not interested in potentially embarrassing themselves, or saying something that other people might not agree with ... the key is to have a supportive audience.”

Any student at West can take the class, because there are no restrictions on grade or experience.

Elisa Nisly ‘19, a participant in the Public Speaking class, says she joined the class because she believes speaking in

Cyndy Woodhouse

TOP TEN

TIPS FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING 1. Eye contact 2. Channel nervous habits into better habits 3. Prepare before 4. Do whatever works for you to be comfortable 5. Participate in public speaking activities 6. Set a pre-speech routine for yourself 7. Ask for questions or clarification 8. Speak at a steady tempo that people can understand 9. Earn attention from your audience 10. Thank your audience for listening when done with the speech

“You have to know how to talk to people... so you can effectively get what you want out of the situation.”

Elisa Nisly public is important for high school and college.

“It’s a good skill to have for life in general,” she says. “We’ve learned a lot of things that I can use to improve my public speaking in the future.”

So why are people so afraid of public speaking if it’s such an important skill? Nisly says, “It’s different from having a casual conversation with a couple people, all eyes are on you and people will be judging you.”

Megan Johnson, AP Psychology teacher, agrees.

“I think that for anyone, it’s just kind of an intimidating thing to be the person that everyone’s eyes are on, everyone’s listening to, especially as the group who you’re speaking to gets larger or maybe more unfamiliar,” Johnson said.“I also just think that it’s not really very natural for people, especially in today’s world, where so much of our communication and so much of our interaction with people happens online or via other forms of technology when it’s not face-to-face communication.”

According to Johnson, the psychology behind this comes down to one social inhibition versus social facilitation

-Cyndy

Woodhouse,

Public Speaking Teacher

theory. This theory says that if you’re more comfortable doing something, and you perform the task in front of people, it will improve your skills.

However, the social inhibition side of this is that if you’re not comfortable doing it, your skills will decrease. This is another reason why both Johnson and Woodhouse recommend practicing more than anything for budding speakers.

Johnson is the director of and coach for West’s Speech and Debate team, another group of students recognized for their speaking talents. The team frequently travels to competitions and meets a couple times after school every week to practice for those competitions. Johnson says her background with speech and debate has helped her become a more capable public speaker, along with teaching.

Woodhouse agrees that public speaking skills build up more over time.

“Even if you think you know what you’re doing, and you’re really confident in it, keep working on it, keep practicing.”

“So much of our communication and so much of our interaction with people happens via other forms of technology.”

-Megan Johnson Megan Johnson

DESIGN BY GRACE YARROW

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 59

Food for

thought

How have recent school food regulations affected

us?

BY GRACE WANG

School food is something that we don’t think much about; it’s just another constant in our school day. If anything, it’s often ridiculed for being unpalatable. But, with over 780 school lunches made every day at West and 8,000 school lunches churned out daily by all of ICCSD, someone’s got to care a little more about it than the rest of us.

60 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

ICCSD considers several factors when creating menus for EATS Club is a club at West HIgh with a focus on providschools. They include guidelines established by the USDA ing sustainable, healthy, and local food options to students. and Department of Education, food availability, and prod- Club advisor Kerri Barnhouse, a language arts teacher at uct limitations such as cost and transportation, says ICCSD West, agrees that food regulations are a potential cause for Director of Nutrition Services and dietitian Alison Demo- food waste. “[Regulations] could if kids merely dispose of the ry. Requirements have also been established by the district. fruits and veggies they are required to take,” said Barnhouse.

“Students must take 3 [food In the past, the club has made efforts groups] to make a reimbursable to curb the amounts of food waste by meal and one must a fruit or introducing composting programs. vegetable,” said Demory. “The It’s never easy to make chanes “We have always encouraged recycling new guidelines went into effect and more recently have implemented but [regulations are] a positive composting in our kitchen.” To furat the beginning of the 2012-13 one for future generations school year.” ther their efforts, Barnhouse said “we -Alison Demory Recently, school food regulawould like to expand our composting tions and acts have become in the kitchen to the main cafeteria so prevalent, especially since the that students learn how much of their beginning of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative in 2010. waste is actually compostable and so they will start compostThe Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 allowed the ing waste from their lunches every day.”

USDA to make major changes to the school lunch program Despite increases in food waste as a result of new guidelines, for the first time in over 30 years. The recent changes we’ve Demory believes them to have an overall positive impact. “I seen in vending machines and lunch menus have been re- think it’s great that we are teaching students that fruits and sults of this. veggies are an important part of their meals.” The district is Guidelines established by the school district and federal also taking more steps to reduce waste by making healthy agencies have an original goal, Demory says. “I believe one food more appealing to students. It is working hard to write of the original goals was to decrease childhood obesity and menus based on student preferences and to produce food in teach students what a healthy meal should look like, in por- an appealing way, Demory said. tion sizes and content.” Guidelines will also continue to Not everyone, however, shares a positive view on recent regchange, she says, as political views shift on recent school ulations. “Everyone just grabs their food and throws it away,” lunch acts. said Breno Sader ‘19. To demonstrate his point, he picked up Introducing stricter guidelines on food does create another his uneaten apple and threw it into the trash. Despite conissue: higher amounts of wasted food. “I think there was more flicting views from teachers and students alike, Demory rewaste (as guidelines went into effect) as students adjusted to mains optimistic. “It’s never easy to make changes but I think taking a fruit or vegetable to make a meal,” said Demory. this is a positive one for future generations.”

THE IDEAL SCHOOL LUNCH

850 1230

COMPILED BY GRACE WANG

or less calories

10%

or less miligrams of sodium

or less calories from saturated fat

SCHOOL APPROVED SNACKS COMPILED BY GRACE WANG

- Popchips

- Garden Veggie Straws - Goldfish Crackers

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 61

TOP

5

Most people have a resolution by

the time New Year’s comes around.

Some ridiculous and some reasonable.

Here are what some teachers thought about that, and what their resolutions are.

BY YARELLE JAIMES

Do...

Things

To have/not have as New Years resolutions.

Dont...

1.) Make it something you can actually do 1.) Make it hard on yourself 2.) Make it something impossible 2.) Make it reasonable 3.) Make it difficult to achieve 3.) Make it fun 4.) Make it illegal 4.) Make it legal 5.) Make it something that makes you a 5.) Make it complicated better person

62 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Do you have a New Years resolution?

“I don’t have a New Year’s resolution. I feel like if you make one, your making it hard on yourself. Instead I just celebrate the accomplishments that I had for that year.[...] I haven’t actually completed one, they would be short term and last like two or three months.[...] The most memorable resolution would be when I went skydiving because that’s what made me conquer my fears it made me less fearful. I always think of that when I’m in a situation that I might be afraid to do. I would think ‘if you could walk out of a plane door at 1,200 feet in the air then you can do this.’”

David McNair (spanish teacher) “I have goals for the year, not resolutions. I say happy new year in August, when school starts, more than I say it on the actual day of New Years.[...] If I did have them, they would probably be to cut back on sugar, which is hard. And to have more patience. When I was about fifteen I made a resolution that I have stuck with till this day. It was to minimize, and eliminate, my use of curse words.”

Maria Martin (academic dean) “most of the time it is to work out more, but I end up eating candy instead. I have tried not to have resolutions because I know I don’t stick to them. I just try to be a better person each year.”

Sakinah Ellickson (science teacher)

“I always have one, usually to eat healthier and exercise, those are the ones everyone has right?

One of them would also be to manage time better. I have gone through with them, yes for a while. Instead I would go back to my ‘old ways’”.

Katy Nahra (english teacher) PHOTOS BY YARELLE JAIMES DESIGN BY YARELLE JAIMES WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 63

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

OCD

How to deal with compulsive thoughts.

By: Anna Haney and Josie Anderson

Fast Facts

1.) 1-40 adults have OCD 2.) 1-100 children have OCD 3.) Caused by anxiety 4.) Comletely treated by brain surgery 5.) It is genetic

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted or repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations, or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something. Ways you can try to treat OCD is through therapy and medications, there’s no way to completely get rid of it, but what comes most helpful is brain surgery.

Kelly Fahrenkrug, age 46, lives in Dewitt, IA. She was diagnosed with OCD when she was 26 years old, in the year of 1995. Fahrenkrug shares with us her case of obsessive compulsive disoder. “It became so debilitating, I couldn’t leave my house for several years, even than I took about eighteen showers a day, if I touched something dirty i had to change my clothes” said Fahrekrug. “I checked doors and windows several times before I went to sleep, when my husband went to the grocery store he had to transfer the food into clean containers before he brought them inside, he had to take off all his clothes before getting into the decontamination shower, after that he went inside to take another shower, anytime I washed my hands, I washed them with bleach instead of soap,” Fahrenkrug took a pause, ”It’s a nightmare.”

Fahrenkrug had gotten brain surgery to get rid of the problems going around in her head. “It’s very stressful, no one believed I had a problem, I still feel ashamed in what I put my family through, the fact that I had no control over what I was doing was even worse” There’s no way to prevent OCD, especially when you have a rare form. There’s many people with OCD. Now see how this problem affects people near you.

Lily Anderson ‘19, member of West High School, is a niece of Kelly Fahrenkrug and was diagnosed with OCD July of 2013. We asked Anderson what it was like having OCD. “I clean a lot, organizing is something I do a lot too, I wash my hands frequently, sometimes I count how many steps I take in cement slabs.” said Anderson, “It mainly affects me in a way that’s not really physical, I get repeated headaches though.”

Headaches are common with OCD. We asked Anderson how she prevents it, she takes a long pause, “All you can do is try not to think about it,” she says, “I can’t prevent it, most times you just need to think about something else basically.”

Anderson can’t get rid of the problem like most people you need to live with it. “Most people just think I’m exaggerating.” said Anderson, “I guess it keeps my room pretty clean.” She laughs.

Cynthia Woodhouse, a teacher at West High School, found out she had OCD in college, the year of 1999. We asked Woodhouse questions about how it affects, and how it did affect her in everyday life. “It doesn’t affect me much anymore, although I’ve been medicated for sixteen years, sometimes, not so often, I get panic attacks.” Woodhouse said. Things like medications are the only way to make OCD not as harsh on your mind. “The people in my family were always very concerned, OCD used to always preoccupying me, I never spent much time with the people that I should have been spending time with, it’s better now but not completely,” Said Woodhouse, “It’s impossible to prevent, I count my steps, and I have issues with numbers and symmetry.” Hygiene is a main cause of OCD. “ When I was in college I brushed my teeth all the time,” she tells us, “the tooth brush stripped away my annamal.” Things like this aren’t normal. Woodhouse wood like o add, “I don’t like when people use OCD to describe a minor annoyance, I don’t like to say this, but it’s almost as if you were calling someone retarded…”

“A lot of my family members have OCD, it’s very common” -Emma Jennings ‘19

“I dont have OCD but a lot of my friends do and sometimes being around them gets irritating.” -Addie Schroeder ‘19

“For me it’s hardest to handle in dirty areas.”

-Megan Dacis ‘19

Winter

Tre nds

BY OLIVIA DACHTLER

While you have the few short weeks of off school, sometimes you spend the majority of your time sitting on the couch watching holiday movies. Regretting • Have a Holiday Movie Marthe way you spent break AFTER athon: Including friends it’s over, is the worst feeling. Listmakes it a bit more fun. ed below, is a list of ideas to keep (Some holiday movie suggesyour winter break fun and active, tions- White Christmas, The so you aren’t stuck indoors.

Nightmare Before Christ• Go Ice Skating: If you’re mas, Home Alone, Elf, Home clumsy, this isn’t the best opfor the Holidays) tion, but ice skating is avail- • Make Loads of Holiday able at the Coral Ridge Mall, Treats: If you’re into bakor any frozen (make sure it is ing, this is the one of the indeed frozen) pond nearby. best things to do over win• Catch Up on Your Sleep: ter break. Snowmen cookies, While school ruins your peppermint brownie pie, and sleep schedule, you are givchocolate covered pretzels en 2 weeks to catch up on are just a few ideas to get the the lost hours, even though creative juices flowing. it doesn’t make for a good • Relax and Spend Time with story, people will envy the Family: The best thing to do amount of sleep you got. over winter break is spend • Go Outside: Although maktime with your family. Grab ing snowmen isn’t very some hot chocolate, a blangrown up, it’s still fun and ket and sit in front of the spending time with a youngfireplace and talk with your er sibling will make their day. family.

If you’d rather not get snowy, opt for sledding or snowboarding for more of a challenge.

66 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Jack Dickens ‘19 favorite thing to do over winter break is sleep and watch T.V., while it doesn’t make for the most interesting story, it is certainly common and easy. The worst gift he ever received was socks, and the best was, like most teenagers would respond, his phone. One of his favorite things to do over break is spend time with his family. Jack would give a significant other a page-turning book.

Haley Shooks ‘18 favorite thing to do over break is go sledding and snowboarding, though she usually watches Netflix. The best gift she’s ever received was her dog, but the worst, as Haley explained it, was “An old perfume my grandma gave me that reminded me of old lady.” Although she didn’t want to ever want to wear the perfume, she would buy a significant other something she’d want them to wear, whether they like it or not.

Lucy Polyak ‘19 enjoys watching holiday movies during the two week break. She can usually be found sleeping or spending time with her family. The best gift she ever received was a keyboard, and the worst was a really ugly hat. She celebrates a Polish tradition each night before Christmas with her family.

options

e od f or: Anyon

od

Go

Go

Gift cards are good for anyone. Starbucks, Scheels, Target, and Best Buy are a few

Candles and Photos: Candles are an easy present for anyone, but remade family photos are the best part of this gift. fo ot r: m Mo d ther or Gran

he r

Gift Cards:

he r

G

Cologne or Perfume: Both are good gifts to give, not only can they be expensive, but you get to choose oo a scent you like. df t or: Significant O

G

Mobile Projector: Connect it to your phone, set it towards a blank wall, and watch.

Go ers od g a for: Teen

Polaroid Camera: Polaroid cameras are making a huge comeback in a more modern form. oo r df ste i or: S Daughter or

Holiday

Bluetooth Speaker: Phone speakers aren’t the best for loud music and speaker prices range from $20-$200.

Goo

d for: Teens

Your Favorite Book: Buying someone your favorite book is always more sentimental than any old book.

Go

ne od f or: Anyo The hardest part of the holidays is figuring out what to get your mother, father, siblings, friends, and everyone else if your life, hopefully including pets. To help the gift search, the circles above will provide gift ideas for nearly every person in your life. The higher priced gifts are towards the top of the chart, and the lower priced gifts are located towards the bottom of the page. Below the circle, containing the present, will have the group of people the gift would be great for.

Gift Guide

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 67

Star Wars Epis The Hype Aw

We received the news three years ago. Finally, it has become a realit that reality is Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. However, not only is t new movie, there is also a new owner. And that owner is Disney. So, wi impending release of the new movie, what do Star Wars fans expect, an do they feel about Disney as an owner?

Lucy Polyak ‘19

Some fans may feel that the Disney buyout was a bad decision. But wa ally? Lucy Polyak ‘19, an avid Disney fan, offered some views into why it be beneficial to both franchises. “I think it’s a really good thing,” she s George Lucas’ decision. She noted that Disney has the money and reso to make this a good movie-and, with all the pressure, they will have to d She called fan animosity towards Disney “counter-productive”, as Dis the company providing Star Wars fans with more Star Wars.

Peter Jetton has been a Star Wars fan since 1977, when he saw the nal movie in theatres. In addition, he is also a Disney fan. But the fi heard of the buyout was when he was interviewed over the Thanksgivin day. His initial reaction contained neither shock, fear, or dismay. In fa offered views similar to Polyak’s. According to him, the series has “no to go but up”. For him, Disney will not have as big an effect on the qua the film as J.J Abrams. “Everything he touches turns to gold,” Jetton s the director of The Force Awakens, and praised his work on Star Tre Cloverfield. He also noted how well Disney has handled the promotion film-for example, how the trailers have created fan controversy about L

Dr. Tracy Morgan-Harris offers a less positive view. She has been Wars fan for twenty-four years-since she was 5 ½. She said that the D

Promotion of the kind Dr. Morgan-Harris might dissapprove of

MONTH 2015 wsspaper.com pg. 68

sode VII: Awakens

ty, and there a ith the nd how

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as it ret could said of ources deliver. sney is

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by Emily Jetton buyout was “probably a good thing and a bad thing”. Her reser buyout was “probably a good thing and a bad thing”. Her reservations come from the amount of “Frozen-level” promotion Disney is doing-for example, all the “Star Wars” products that have come out recently. When she first heard the news, Dr. Morgan-Harris “wasn’t that surprised”. After attending a convention,she suspected that someone would take the franchise off Lucas’ hands, and that someone just might be Disney. What she wasn’t expecting was a full buyoutshe had thought Disney would only buy part of the franchise. “I’m trying not to have really big expectations,” she said when asked. However, she will see the movie-she already has tickets and a costume planned. She hopes to see a “passing of the torch” from the older characters to the newer characters, and that the new movie will imitate episodes 4, 5, and 6 more than 1, 2, and 3. She, too, praised the job Abrams is doing, but mentioned that “I really, really, really don’t like that he did Star Trek”, as it gives him influence in two major sci-fi franchises.

So, all in all, perhaps Star Wars fans have little or nothing to fear. Nothing will be certain until we see the movie, of course. But The Force Awakens shows all signs of a good movie-a skilled, experienced director; old, beloved characters returning along with the new; and a mysterious new villain in Kylo Ren. And with all the hype Disney has built up around this, they certainly have a lot more to lose if this movie is a big flop. So, we can expect this to be good. Well, it had better be, or as Charles Jetton ‘22 said, “there will be a mousehead on the wall”.

quick Stats:

1,ooo sold out shows in 12 hours I$1,000-expected box

The Vue at Westerfield Whitehouse in London, will be showing the movie 78 times in Source 24 hours. or Compiled by The Force Awakens Cast at Comic-Con pg. 69 Month 2015 WSSPaper.com

NOT IN MY NAME

In the heat of recent events, terrorism has grown to become the national topic of discussion. West High shares its thoughts on the conflict and its true connection to the Islamic faith.

BY ANJALI HUYNH AND CRYSTAL KIM leimam said. “They change everything. Whatever the ideology What comes to mind? For of those running it, that’s going many, it’s the word Muslim. With to affect what they play and the occurrence of events such what they show the public and as the 9/11 attack on the World what they don’t show.”

Trade Center, as well as recent Due to the increase of media events like the Syrian Civil War dependency, the news people and Paris attacks, these words do receive may be their only are not only being associated knowledge of the Islam faith. with strictly-defined IslamAccording to a HuffPost survey, identifying terrorist groups, but around 55% of Americans have with the Muslim population as a somewhat to very unfavorable What they preach as Islam is silencing whole. views of Islam, despite the fact what we are preaching as Islam.

Despite the fact that over that a mere 13% of the popu-Hamza’19 90% of terrorist attacks are lation understand the religion performed by non-Muslims, inand its beliefs. creasing numbers of Islamic be“Islam, to me, is not the relilievers are being discriminated gion that you see on CNN, on against for crimes they are not Fox News, on any of those news responsible for. not a terrorist. I shouldn’t feel looked down upon.” channels because terrorists who Leen Hamza ‘19 recalls a par- like I can’t express my religion Information presented in tech- claim to be the strongest supticular hate crime she experi- just because somebody’s idea nological forms has a key role in porters of the religion are really enced, spurred solely on what of what my religion actually is swaying people to feel a certain not its biggest… they’re attackher appearance or the way that I way about various ing the religion,” revealed about her follow it is wrong,” faiths. According said Hamza. beliefs.

Hamza said. to a State of the The true meaning “I was walking in Baraa Suleimam First Amendment of the Islamic faith, the mall with my ‘19 has felt un- Survey, 70% of however, is not as friend, and she equal treatment Americans believe widely recognized wears a head scarf as well, being a that the informathroughout society. in public. We were devout Muslim tion revealed by “Islam is a religion just having fun like himself. news media is infounded on peace. normal twelve year “It’s not as if it’s tentionally biased.

The words are subolds and this older a normal thing,” This applies to mission to God, looking group of he said. “The way portrayal of Islam [and] it’s personal Leen Hamza’19 Baraa Suleimam ‘19 guys comes up to society treats you, in the media as submission. The hisus. They said, ‘Oh when a person well. tory is so complex, look, it’s the terrorknows that you’re “Everybody knows but exposing stuists,’ and they run off. They were Muslim or you’re from a dif- the media twists and turns,” Su- dents is a way to find peace

Terror. Extreme. Radical.

laughing and talking about ISIS and all that.”

However, Hamza personally has not let this event dampen her love for the religion, but pursue it with renewed fervor.

“After that, I felt like, ‘You know what? I’m not that. I’m

#NotinMyName West students and faculty use the hash tag to denounce terrorist actions from the Islam faith.

70 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

ferent faith, [it’s] as if you’re different. It’s not as if they welcome you as they would if you were the same as them. I think that because of recent events like ISIS and Al-Qaeda and Taliban people, whenever someone says the word ‘Muslim,’ it’s

#I’mNotATerrorist #NotASuicideBomber

#NotADiscriminator

and meaning in their lives,” said been targeted. social studies teacher Melissa “Depending on religious backNies. ground, [certain groups are afAccording to the START Glob- fected] with the presidential al Terrorism Database, Muslims debate right now. And then have carried out you’ve got Donald less than approxiTrump, who you mately 2.5% of all obviously can tell, terrorist attacks he despises Muslims. between 1970 That plays a big and 2012 in the part,” said SuleiUnited States. mam.

The effects of Republican presithe Islamic exdential candidate tremist groups Donald Trump reare significant. cently announced Melissa Nies They have devasthat he has a plan tated hundreds of for a Muslim dathousands of lives tabase that would globally and are require all Islamcontinuing to everyday. This is following American citizens to done not only by terminating be tracked. The potential idea those suppressing the extremist was met with much controversy groups, but by misrepresenting and has even been compared the millions of Muslims not de- to the strategies of Nazi Gerfined by terrorism. many.

“ISIS is powerful, they have “History has a tendency to restrength in numbers, and what peat itself,” said Hamza. “I feel they preach as Islam is silenc- like I should be [scared] because ing what we are preaching as I don’t know what the future Islam,” said Hamza. holds.”

“I want to prove “I think that some that I don’t need of our elected ofanybody else to ficials, and some define who I am as that are not a person. Not even elected but seekanybody that I’m ing to be elected actually associated as president, are with, let alone peousing that [Islamople that I’ve never phobia] to instill [met].” fear by saying, Dave McNair Politics also play ‘Hey, we shouldn’t a significant role let Syrians into our in how certain country, into our religious groups are viewed states,” said Spanish teacher throughout the United States. Dave McNair. “I think that’s In the heat of presidential elec- completely political, [and] I tions and debates, candidates think the tone would be differare heightening and rethink- ent if it wasn’t on election year.” ing issues such as allowing SyrDespite the increasing amount ian refugees into the country. of fear and hate towards IsThroughout this ordeal, the lamic followers, West High, and Islam religion as a whole has Iowa City as a whole, has proven

to be a safe haven for followers of Islam.

Suleimam said, “I think that because West High, and Iowa City itself is so diverse, Muslim people are better off.”

“You’re always gonna have that group, that demographic that does not accept, but I think for Iowa, for the Midwest, I would say Iowa City is a pretty accepting place,” stated McNair.

In regards to the misconceptions and bias portrayed in the media and the resulting, sometimes ignorant, actions experienced by the Muslim community, students and staff expressed that being well-cultured and open-minded can prevent such further fear of Islam as a whole.

“I think open-mindedness is really important, that even if you don’t look for more information [on Islam] you are open to other ideas and it’s true of other cultural practices,” said Nies.

Educating others on the true meaning of Islam has been suggested as a solution as well. “ I think that o n e o f the

things that we need to do to help protect ourselves is to educate people on the real situation, educate people on the Islam religion so that people understand what it really is,” said McNair. “Ignorance is sometimes bliss, and it’s very hard to protect yourself if you don’t understand the situation.”

#Don’tPromoteViolence #InhumaneBehavior #HateCrimes DESIGN BY CRYSTAL KIM

Unique and weird Christmas t

By Aracely Brito

Christmas is almost here and three West High Students

Pickle Christmas tree

Christmas widely celebrated around the world, but each family has its own traditions. Here is Anna Truszkowski and her family tradition. “ We have this really weird tradition where we have this ornament that is shaped like a pickle, and every year my dad hides it on the tree and we look for it.

Whoever finds the pickle first wins, said Anna Truszkowski ‘18. Truszkowski also said, “ We don’t even win a prize, we just win the satisfaction of finding the pickle ornament on the tree.” photo by by Lauschaer Glaskugelhaus.

Fried caterpillars in South Africa.

Would you like to have a plate of yummy delicious fried caterpillars from South Africa instead of a wonderful cooked ham? You might say pass to the fired caterpillars and go devour ham, but for Abioye Diallo ‘ 17 he would go for the awesome fried caterpillar. “ In South Africa, we eat fried caterpillar for christmas. We celebrate Christmas like many people in the United States.” “ I enjoyed being with my aunts, uncles, and cousins whom i haven’t seen in a very long time.” photo from creative commons

72 December 2015 wsspaper.com

tradtions at West High School . have unique ways to celebrate Christmas.

photo from creative commons

Christmas in Guatemala “When i vistied Guatemala on christmas my family and neighbors go outside and take a man made sculpture of baby Jesus and go carry it around the neightborhood”, said Lizbeth Hernandez’ 19. “Christmas in Guatemala is almost the same thing in the United States, we just add something different to the holiday costums”. The majority of people in Guatemala are Catholics and after walking around the neighborhood they attend church. After church people usually go back home and spend the rest of Christmas with their families.

fun Facts In the Ukraine they decorate there Christmas tree with a metal spider web to bring good luck for there family.

In Venezuela they close all the streets on Sunday morning to skate on roller skates to church. ( mainly catholics.)

Many children enjoy this day.

Rather than Santa Claus, Italian children await the arival of Befana, a friendly which who delivers candy and toys on the fifth on January.

In Norway there is no cleaning on Christmas day. They do all of the cleaning the day after Christmas. Also, they hid all of the brooms in case if they are stolen by withes.

In Iceland also France children leave there clean shoes outside. The next day it is filled with sweets and toys.

Source by Fox News.

wsspaper.com december 2015 73

BY PAREEN MHATRE

The holiday season has officially kicked off, and the diversity of West High lends itself to a multitude of different holidays for the Trojans to celebrate.

Hanukkah is about remembering a time long ago, when the Jews only had enough oil to last them just a few days. Ryan Braverman ’18 celebrates Hanukkah with his family by setting up a menorah (candle holder) and surrounding it with gifts, similar to how one might set up a Christmas tree. Every night, Braverman’s family lights the menorah and says the Hanukkah prayer.

“My favorite part of Hanukkah is definitely spending time with family and seeing relatives I don’t always get to see,” said Braverman.

“But I also like being able to blare the Adam Sandler Chanukah Song.”

Ryan Braverman’18

Diwali, also called the Festival of Lights, lasts around ten days, usually in November. This festival celebrates light over darkness and good over evil. During this time, Hindus spend time with family and friends, keeping their Khushi Kapoor ’18

homes alive with light.

“We usually put lights around and in our house, and on the days leading up to Diwali, we do Indian rituals, called poojas, where -Ryan Braverman ’18 we offer food and decorate the gods,” said Khushi Kapoor ’18. “We also eats lots of special Indian foods and invite other friends over, just to celebrate the occasion.”

Kapoor and her family try to stay at home with each other and with other close Indian

“[...] I also like being able to blare the Adam Sandler Chanukah Song.”

74 SECTION DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Winter Holidays Around the World None 1 Chinese New Year 2 Hanukkah 1

Diwali 2

Christmas 25

Christmas

Diwali

Hanukkah

Chinese New Year

None COMPILED BY PAREEN MHATRE

Create infographics

families as much as possible to celebrate this holiday.

Christmas is vastly celebrated around the world, but every family has its own traditions. “[...] we have this really weird tradition where we have this ornament that is shaped like a pickle, and every Anna Truszkowsi ’18 year, my dad hides it on the tree, and we look for it, and whoever finds the pickle first wins,”said Anna Truszkowski ’18. “And we don’t even win a prize, we just win the satisfaction of finding the pickle ornament on the tree.” Truszkowski has family in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Oregon, and she enjoys the time when her family comes over.

Rachel Ding ’19

Chinese New Year is celebrated at the start of the Chinese calendar. “We watch a big New Year show that airs every year and we make dumplings.” said Rachel Ding ‘19. She and her family also give out red envelopes with money in them. “It’s kind of like Thanksgiving because most people go home to be with their family.” Ding said.

DESIGN BY PAREEN MHATRE

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 SECTION 75

D

ivorce

Di路vorce 1. The legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body.

BY AMY LAMASTER DESIGN BY Amy LaMaster

76 SECTION DECEMBR 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Divorce is an emotional

over time it got easier.”

When parents divorce, it struggle for any family to go can affect the emotions of through. It can result in less children, especially chilmoney, how much time that dren of a younger age. a child spends time with one Divorce may affect the parent, and how emotions holidays for many people. and feelings are changed.

“We switch off for holidays Divorce is when two parents like Christmas and Thanksend their divorce and are no giving but those were two longer together. If the seperwere the only ones affectated parents have children, ed.” Bartelme says. it’s either one parent has full It seems that the holidays custody or the parents share are more affected than any custody. In this case, during other factor in divorce. an interview (via texting), If you or someone you Maddie Bartelme ‘18 was know is going through diasked, and responded to a vorce, here are some helpfew questions regarding her ful tips to take your mind parents divorce. “At first it off of the situation. Take it was hard and frustrating, but

from someone who's been through their parents divorce, “At the beginning of the divorce I read a lot to deal with it. (...) and whenever I started to get upset about it i buried myself in my books, kind of the way other people use music to help them get through it.” Bartelme says. Madi Wehmire ‘18 explains that it won’t be how it was forever, “For others going through divorce, I would say that it’ll get better.”

At first it was hard and frusturating, but over time it got easier.

-Maddie Bartelme ’18

Going through divorce? Here are some helpful tips to calm down and to keep your mind off of the situation.

• Write in a journal: write down your thoughts and emotions.

• Listen to music, play your favorite song and plug in some headphones • Read a book • find someone to talk to, sometimes letting your emotions out, or telling your feelings to

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 SECTION 77

Txting Ettiquette

68 SECTION MONTH 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

#5 Texting while with friends #1 Taking too long to reply

You’re hanging out with your friends, and you get a text, you send one back and they send you one again, what do you do?

Maleh “Whenever I get a text while hanging out with other people, I don’t answer it, because if I were them, I wouldn’t like it.” This can be seen as rude by many people, so it makes it a hard decision.

Taking too long to reply is something almost everyone has experience with, whether they’re the one who takes to long or the receiver. It can lead you to wonder if they texted you and then threw their phone out the window.

#2

Read your text before hitting send

We have all been a victim of autocorrect, and sometimes even worse can be when you send a text to the wrong person. There’s a quick fix to this, and that’s proof reading your text and look at who exactly you’re talking to, and it can save you a lifetime of heartbreak.

TXTing Ettiquette

Texting is here and it’s here to stay, and everyone has some bad memories to go with, like that time autocorrect changed your word into something extremely embarrassing, leaving you like this . Here’s some texting etiquette tips to help you out.

Alaa Ali alali19@icstudents.org

#3 Sending K

Nearly everyone hates receiving this text. K. What does it even mean? Are you mad? Are you busy? Also, it’s a major conversation killer. According to Esra Mohamed ‘18 “I respond with ‘k’ a lot. If the text annoys me, or if the person annoys me, I just keep saying k.”

#4 Too many emojis Too many emojis Does your text look like this (insert emojis here)? This is what has to say about using too many emojis. “ I use an emoji about once a conversation,” says Shane Snapp ‘19. “To me it depends on who I’m talking to and what we’re talking about,” said Fatima Elmaleh ‘19.

BY DAMARIUS LEVI

Do you remember

the good old days? How every Saturday morning, some of your childhood cartoons came on? Many of us that were born in the late 1990s and the early 2000s remember those good old shows, for example That's so Raven", Kim Possible, and Sonny with a Chance. But kids born after 2007, probably don't even know they exist.

Those shows, back in the day, made kids think. They gave a life lesson at the end of every episode. They taught people to love yourself no matter what anyone says. They taught people that it's okay to be different, while some of today's shows don't teach much at all.

Many people , such as teens,agree that some of the old shows are deeply missed. "I really miss the old shows! My favorite was That's So 80 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

#Today’s Kids W

It’s true,that hashtag, #Todayskidswillneverknow. about the childhood shows kids watched in the 20 know about the new shows.

than the old ones. Others think that the old sho Either way it goes without saying that all these hood favorites of the next generation.

And the cycle may repeat. In 20 years some kid childhood shows.

Will Never Know

Some of today’s kids don’t really know 000s. And some of those kids don’t even

ows are better and carry more attracting aspects. shows have a place in history and will be child-

d could be writing about how they miss their

Raven," said Maggie Ross '18.

A survey of 10 people found that 9 people really enjoyed watching That's So Raven as a kid.

"The plot of the older shows are things that some kids go through regularly. For example, on "That's So Raven", there was an episode dealing with racism."said Sarah Ahmed '17.

Many of today's shows don't carry the same quality of life lessons as the old ones.

Although, that's not what everyone thinks. Callie Dains '18 thinks that the life lessons of new shows carry some of the same qualities. " [..] but from what I've seen I think they both have great lessons having to do with friends and family and how to get along well with everybody," Dains said.

Ross seemed to think that the newer shows aren't interesting. "The newer shows, to me, just aren't as intriguing as the old shows." she said.

Altogether, everyone has a different viewpoint on the newer shows. Some think they're more interesting WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 81

Adjusting to America

West High students from around the world tell their strories of adjusting to life in American schools

BY GRACIE RECHKEMMER

Danny Grimes ‘18

Above: Danny and his family Below: Anne Schularick with an ELL student

W

alking the halls of West High are people of all different cultures, nationalities, and backgrounds. These students are each unique, and each of them has a story to tell.

One of these international students is Danny Grimes ‘18, a blind student who moved to America nine months ago when he was adopted by his new family. Starting at West High, Danny had fears concerning the size of the school and its population.

“I was nervous because in the hallway it was crowded, and people are not aware about blind people, so it was a little bit hard,” he said.

Danny also said that in the beginning, people would bump into him accidentally and then freak out when they realized that he was visually impaired.

It was hard for Danny to connect with students, especially since many people saw him as different than themselves.

“Making friends was the hardest part,” Danny said.

“Sometimes I’m nervous to start [the conversation].”

However, Danny said that it has gotten better since he moved here, and that he is now finding it easier to connect with people and be a part of West High.

“The teachers are so helpful, and make sure you understand [the curriculum] well,” Danny said. “The students are also helpful, but they don’t always know how to communicate with me.”

Jennifer Kalala ‘19 from the Congo and Sarra Osman ‘19 from Saudi Arabia are also West High students that have been adjusting to American life. Initially, Jennifer was not excited to come to West High.

“My mom told me to move here; I didn’t want to go. I was scared of the teachers and of saying ‘hi’ to people,” Jennifer said.

Sarra was also nervous upon coming to West.

“When I saw the TV high schools, and how the people talked and walked, [I was nervous].

But here it is better than that.”

Both girls now enjoy com-

ALL ABOUT DANNY

He loves playing in the snow His favorite color is pink

His favorite book is “Wish You Were Dead” He loves Adele He wants to go to Ireland

He loves to sing and play the keyboard and drums ing to West High and the benefits that it offers them.

“This is better here than my last country. The lessons here are better and I like that,” Sarra commented.

“I like everything about America.” Sarra said. Jennifer added, “You feel free here. In my country, not everything was free.”

Anne Schularick, an English teacher at West High, works with international students through the ELL program. She is very familiar with the struggles that these students go through starting at West, and helps them to learn English as well as adjust to American life in other areas.

“Some students have been studying English since kindergarten, and that makes the transition to American schools a lot easier,” Anne commented.

Some students have come from backgrounds of limited schooling, while some students are literate in their first language and have also studied English. Regardless, a transition into American schools is not an easy thing to do alone.

“[The ELL program] surrounds students with other students who are going through the same process.” Anne said.

ELL provides a support network where students can befriend each other and are also encouraged to get involved in clubs and sports throughout the school.

Ms. Schularick has thoroughly enjoyed working with international students, and she loves learning about the world through these students.

“They give me just as much as I give them,” Ms. Schularick said.

Though ELL and its support system of teachers and students greatly helps students that move here from other countries, other students at West High can also be of help by simply stepping up and getting to know these students.

Many of the international students that go here feel separated from the other students, and we have the opportunity to help them in their transition.

Jennifer Kalala ‘19

Sarra Osman ‘19 PHOTOS FROM DANNY GRIMES, ANNE SCHULARICK, AND GRACIE RECHKEMMER WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 83

VEGETARIAN TALES

by EMMA BRUSTKERN

The life of a vegetarian can be difficult. Three different vegetarians were interviewed in order to learn more about their diet, life, and experiences.

Why make the switch?

Omnivores vs. vegetarians

T

here are a myriad of reasons why one might want to become a vegetarian: ethical issues, environmental issues, political issues, just to name a few.

Others have reasons that fall outside of the normal spectrum. This upcoming January will mark Ethan Seylar’s ‘18, eighth year as a vegetarian.

“Honestly, I think that I just wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to know if I had the willpower to not eat meat, and I just never wanted to break that willpower” said Seylar.

For some, not eating meat is a part of their religion. Aaditya Deshpande ‘17, for example, has been a vegetarian his entire life.

“It’s mostly a religious thing. [My family practices] Hinduism. That mostly only prohibits beef, but I guess it was easier just not to eat meat all together” said Deshpande.

I

So, what do you EAT?

T

he majority of vegetarians from the United States and Canada fall into the category of being a lacto-ovo vegetarian, meaning their diet excludes meat, fish, and poultry. With these restrictions on their diets, options can be limited for some vegetarians, especially at restaurants.

“Some restaurants have veggie burgers, but I’m a very picky vegetarian; I don’t like peppers and stuff like that, so it makes it even harder for me” said Anna Hitchcock ‘18,

t can often be difficult for people who eat meat to understand the diet of vegetarians. Some even go so far as to tease them about their diets.

“They ask me stupid questions like, ‘why are you killing the plants?’ Like, excuse me, do you know how many plants a cow eats a day?” said Hitchcock.

Deshpande agrees with this sentiment.

“They sometimes taunt me, saying things like ‘Oh, I bet you wish you could eat this’; like, no. I don’t. Enjoy.” said Deshpande.

Although family life can also be difficult for vegetarians living with meat-eating families, the responses to most of our questions about family were positive.

“When we have dinner, my mom will either make the meal so that the meat is separate and you add it into the dish, or she makes a smaller, separate entree for me. If it’s something like burgers, I’ll have a veggie burger” said Seylar.

who has been a vegetarian since March.

As for school lunch, Hitchcock finds that options tend to be even more slim.

“I eat school lunch. I usually get a piece of cheese pizza. . . there is vegetarian food sometimes. . . a lot of times it’s gone by the time I get there though, because I have C lunch” said Hitchcock.

Aaditya Deshpande ‘17 84 DECEMBER 2015 wsspaper.com

Experiences vary between different vegetarians, though.

“I almost always pack home lunch, but I know that if I don't, the school is really good about having options” said Seylar.

Anna Hitchcock ‘18

Why not vegan?

W

A very vegetarian vacation

W

hile vegetarians can’t eat the classic turkey during Thanksgiving or ham on Christmas, they still find plenty of things to eat.

“It is easy and delicious for me to feast on all the sides that come with holidays.

Mashed potatoes and creamed corn are a favorite of mine” said Seylar.

For some, being vegetarian provides a sweet deal of eating your favorite foods.

“Last year, I just kinda ate a lot of sweets.

Everyone kept bugging me about getting enough nutrients, though” said Hitchcock.

While these vegetarians tend to stick to sides and sweet treats, vegetarians across the country may opt for faux meat counterparts to feed them during the holidays.

hen asked about being a vegan rather than a vegetarian, the answers varied.

The issue for many is that the vegan diet is much more restrictive than that of the average lacto ovo vegetarian diet. Vegans do not eat or use any animal products, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy. This narrows down what vegans can and can’t eat considerably.

This diet proves too daunting and perhaps too unhealthy for many vegetarians due to the lack of essential nutrients such as protein and iron.

“I personally wouldn’t be a vegan. To me, unless you have an actual prescribed health need to eat vegan, it would be hard to do and might not be healthy for your body. . . but to each their own” said Seylar.

Still, others aspire to remove all animal products from their lives.

“I have [tried to go vegan], but I think I will wait until I’m an adult so I don’t bug my parents about it. . . they said it would be a nightmare if I was [a vegan]” said Hitchcock.

For Deshpande, the answer was short and sweet. “No [I would not become a vegan]. I like cheese too much.”

I just wanted to challenge myself.

I wanted to know if I had the willpower to not eat meat.

-Ethan Seylar ‘18

VITAL VEGETARIAN FACTS

Vegetarian Experimentation

I

n order to experience the diet and lifestyle of a vegetarian myself, I went vegetarian for a week. Here are the results: Day 1 - Today was pretty standard. The only thing out of the ordinary was my mother continuously asking me, “ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH PROTEIN?” Day 2 - So far, so good. In order to ensure that I am getting enough protein, my mother has brought me protein bars.

They are basically healthy, protein filled kit-kats.

Day 3 - My first run in with temptation.

My friends brought orange chicken from Panda Express. Must. Resist.

Day 4 - My mother attempted to make a vegetarian friendly soup, and was outraged when I told her I couldn’t eat it. She said, and I quote, “What do you MEAN turkey broth isn’t vegetarian friendly?”

Day 5 - I was slightly disappointed today when my friends and I got Subway and I realized I couldn’t get anything with meat on it. Goodbye, Chicken and Bacon Ranch melt.

Day 6 - I went to a party. The main dish was cold meat sandwiches. Instead, I filled up on cake. Thank God for cake.

Day 7 - Last day, and I nearly (NEARLY) made a mistake. I almost accidentally ate some of the chicken rotel my grandma made. It my sister hadn’t reminded me, I would have been a FAILURE.

7.3 million Americans 59% of American vegetarians are are vegetarians female, while 49% are male THIS IS YOUR SUPER COOL SIDEBAR GO YOU Portland, Oregon is Men usually become vegetarian for the top U.S. city for health concerns, while for women vegetarians. go vegetarian for ethical concerns.

PHOTOS AND DESIGN BY EMMA BRUSTKERN

wsspaper.com DECEMBER 2015 85

Insights

on pizza

Students at West try pizza they’ve never tried before.

BY SHaron Amouzou And Pari Roby

It was so cold, it slipped out of her fingers.

People have eaten pepperoni, cheese, chicken, and other common toppings you can imagine on pizza. It was only right to find students daring enough to get out of their pizza comfort zone, and taste-test pizzas. Not only from different restaurants, but pizzas they’ve never heard about.

“I was hungry,” Valeria Ramos ’18 said, then added, “No, but for real, I’m up to do anything really, and I didn’t think the pizzas would be too bad.”

Ramos, as well as others, are fully capable of naming their favorite pizza, and not their not so liked pizzas.

For the 10th grader, it’s the classic pepperoni pizza as a stand alone, or with black olives. However, when given the opportunity, Ramos typically goes straight to her preferred pizza chain, Domino’s, to get it.

Scott Wiener, pizza guru and the holder in the Guinness Book of World Records with the largest collection of pizza boxes, say’s in a blog post that “freeing your mind” is a way to judge pizza’s well. How are you going to accurately judge a pizza when all you can think about is how much you don’t like it? With that in mind, one would say that’s exactly what Breanna Barragan ‘18 did. She doesn’t eat pizza often, but when it does come up, she’d normally eat Casey or Pizza Hut’s hawaiian pizza with sausage and jalapenos.

For West High Spanish teacher Dave McNair, the craziest pizza he’s consumed was a hot dog pizza.

Which consists simply of a normal pizza, but with slices of hot dogs as a topping. It was a homemade pizza prepared by his host family’s house in Spain.

He comments although it wasn’t horrid, the pizza wasn’t any good either.

“It wasn’t that bad, I mean, the crust and the sauce 86 December 2015 wsspaper.com

was kinda normal tasting,” McNair said. The hot dogs although tasting fine, McNair says it might’ve been more psychological to him.

“Having the hot dog on the pizza..it was psychological I think, because it just wasn’t right, so I just thought it tasted bad,” says the Spanish teacher.

Although it may be pleasant to always eat your favored pizza any time you get the chance, it doesn’t hurt to step out of that comfort zone and eat a pizza --or food in general, you’ve never heard before.

Plus, if trying a new pizza doesn’t turn out so well, not only will you know what you don’t like, but you’ll have a story to tell.

...more cheese and sauce flavor added to it ‘cause it tasted plain.

-Barragan ‘18

Its too messy for my liking.

-Ramos ‘18

DESIGN BY PARI ROBY AND SHARON AMOUZOU DESIGN IILLISTRATION BY SHARON AMOUZOU

UNIQUE Gifts My sister put it[coal] in my stocking and hid all of my stocking stuffers -Kaylynn Tomas

By Jane Ratliff It’s that time of year where gifts are exchanged and there are happy faces all around, until... there is that one weird gift that you would’ve never thought of receiving. That gift that you have no use for, like if you received a sedimentary rock… you wouldn’t exactly have a use for it, unless you have a rock collection. Here are some of the most unique gifts received or given.

Some people give weird gifts as a game between their friends. For example, White Elephant Gift Exchange.

“It’s when you basically take something you know isn’t a desired gift and you- either repurpose it or gift to them or regift something...it’s more funny,”said Katy Nahra, English 9-10 said.

But what about when receiving a

88 SECTION December 2015 wsspaper.com

Caitlin Ryan ‘16 said that just recently her aunt gave her “little free things that come on planes.”

She wasn’t surprised when she received those gifts because she says that her aunt always gives them “weird little gifts that are random.”

White Elephant Gift Exhange Originated in the 1850s from a story based on the King of Siam.

Consists of alot of rules

You usually give a way items that aren’t worth much

Source or Compiled by Jane Ratliff

One year, Ryan gave her friend a homemade joke book as a birthday present because her jokes were awful. Infact, she had one joke that she used; “What’s America’s favorite type of Gelatin?... JELLO.” Ryan says that her friend laughed when she opened the gift, but that in fact the present didn’t exactly bring them closer since they were already close, “I think because we were so close it made it that much more funny.”

Kaylynn Tomas ‘18 says she received coal for Christmas, two years ago, in her stocking. “My sister put it in my stocking and hid all of my stocking stuffers.”

Tomas she says cried when she saw that it was coal.

All of these gifts aren’t your ordinary gifts. Can you imagine receiving coal in your christmas stocking… That’s a little upsetting, but nevertheless a funny prank that could be pulled on a younger sibling.

Facts About kaylynn She plays volleyball and softball for west high

Her favorite color is purple ­­­­­She has a dog named Ginger

Her two older sisters went to West High

Her favorite sport is volleyball Source or Compiled by Jane Ratliff

Vacations

Here at West

If you’re in need for a new vacation spot or even a place to dream about, here are some West High students favorite vacations.

PHOTO BY MAYELLA PELAYO

BY JANELLE BEEMON AND MADDIE RHINEHART

Mayella Pelayo ‘18 Chicago “I love Chicago, my family goes there a lot. My favorite part about where we go is taking the train to get downtown and spending all day there. The food there is the best plus there is shopping and going to zoos. I love being in a big city.”

PHOTO BY FATIMA KAMMONA

Fatima Kammona ‘19 Lebanon Lebanon is Fatima Kammona’s ‘19, favorite place to visit. “I’ve been there five times and once by myself,” said Kammona . “Even though you don’t get to go shopping and stuff like that, you still get to spend time with your family.”

DESIGN BY JANELLE BEEMON AND MADDIE RHINEHART

90 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Keshawn Shaw ‘19 Las Vegas

PHOTO BY KESHAWN SHAW

In Early September of 2014, Keshawn Shaw ‘19 went to Las Vegas, Nevada with his family. “It was really cool walking down the strip seeing all the cool buildings and even seeing some famous people [Iggy Azalea],” said Shaw. Every year he goes to Las Vegas. When down there, Shaw and his family goes to the circus, this place where kids can “gamble” and swims

Ryan Stark ‘18 Mexico and Caribbean “When I took a week long cruise to Mexico and the Caribbean, this was the most fun because it was something I’ve never done before and it was a taste of different cultures and I got to speak some Spanish while I was in Mexico which I really enjoyed.”

Most visited vacation spots in the US

PHOTO BY KARAGINES

New York City, New York Chicago, IL Charleston, SC San Francisco, CA Las Vegas New Orleans Washington DC

Most visited vacation spots in the world Paris, France New York City, NY Rome, Italy Cancun, Mexico London, England

PHOTOS BY DI_CHAP, PETER SANDSTRO,M, MOYAN BRENN, AND TOMMIE HANSEN

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 91

Junk Drawer DIY:

DIY: Artsy Pencil Holder

Renew, Reuse, Recycle Batteries, screwdrivers, and rubber bands may seem like they have nothing in common, but in actuality, there’s more to all three of them than you will know. All three of these items can be found in an area commonly referred to as “the junk drawer”. The junk drawer is a desert of long forgotten objects.

What can you do with broken rulers? Or a half broken mirror and plastic spoons? You can revamp them and make them something new.

“It helped declutter my house” said Mary Dana Andre, a diagnosed hoarder, about doing a DIY project. “Uhm...in my box, I have... four cassette tapes, and an old coaster...I have a few toothbrushes without the bristles and seven batteries. I have an old shirt and some old plastic forks. There’s also one half of a broken ruler” Andre said about the objects that she donated to the project.

Craig Moser, a former student to West High said, “I wanted to do a DIY once on pinterest, with cake and making it look cool, but never something like this...not with [stuff] from my house. I have a lot of junk.”

Taking up the idea of DIY projects, we decided to take some things found in two different people’s houses and combine them to make one DIY project, teaching people how to turn their trash into a treasure.

“It’s really beneficial,” Andre said about the idea, “It saves a lot of harmful things for the environment from getting thrown into the ground.”

Compiled by- JenaShaver

Materials: Four old cassette tapes An old coaster, hot glue gun

DIY Project #1: Renewed Binder Materials: 2 paper clips 2 rubberbands 1 broken binder

Step #1 Put one side of a cassette tape to another, and glue it together. Then take all of the other cassette tapes and do the same, so that you get a square with two open ends.

Step #1 Take the paper clip and put one rubber band into it, so that it’s secure. Then do it to the other side, with the other rubberband

Step #2 Hot glue the coaster onto the bottom of the tapes, so that it covers one of the openings.

Step #2 Put the two rubber bands through the holes of the binder, and put the other paperclip in between the two, so that it holds the paper in place inside of the binder.

I think of a junk drawer more as a craft drawer by jena and kaitlyn

DIY projects have been shown to cut down electric use and our carbon footprint by 17 tons.That’s about the same as 4, 077 gallons of water. That’s almost 8,154 days of standard drinking by an American citizen.

Reusing standard appliances in your house could do great things.

-Teacher Many

92 December 2015 wsspaper.com

wsspaper.com December 2015 93

www.birthright.org

irthright

Help is just a phone call away

Free & ConďŹ dential

1-800-550-4900

of Iowa City

24 hour hotline

Classes held at Christ the King Lutheran Church School year and Summer sessions available Complete schedule located on web site driversed.co

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 ADS 15

Hijabi101

BY ALA MOHAMED

A hijabi refers to a Muslim girl who wears the traditional headscarf. This term was not made by any high scholar or from the beginning of the Islamic faith, but was crafted in the 20th century and, just like the word “selfie,” it has picked up steam in the young adult muslim community. In Islam, women are obligated to wear the hijab, which does not mean scarf, but comes from the arabic word “hajaba” meaning to hide from view. Islam does not have any laws on how a women should dress, but it has a requirement for women to dress modestly.

The hijab is worn by many Muslim women, but the questions hijabies get are unreasonable some say.

Sadia Daoud ’19 says, “Some of the questions, like ‘do you shower with that,’ ‘does it change colors,’ and ‘do you sleep with it,’ are very ignorant. I feel like people should ask questions that make sense, not something like this.”

Yet, Daoud is not the only one that believes this. Raneem Hamad ‘17, also a hijabi, says, “More people ask me questions that are stupid than wanting to actually understand and become knowledgeable about it”. Suha Saeed ’16 does not wear the scarf, but she says the questions are getting way out of hand,”Like they would ask if hijabies wear it because their religion makes them wear it, which is not true, because I’m a proud Muslim and I don’t wear the hijab. It’s a choice.” However, you who have come to seek the knowledge of questions that have been urging to come out have to come to the right place. Because I have taken it into account to be the brave soul and ask the hijabies for you.

Different types of traditional headsacrves

94

Hijab(Scarf): The arabic word means modest covering, but the style is very modern hiding the hair ear, and neck.

Burka: Covering head and body, grid-like structure covers the eyes, enforced by the Taliban.

Dupatta: Worn in South Asia loosely draped across the head and shoulders.

Shayla: Full length cloak worn in Iran, typically held closed by the arm.

Niqab: Covers the body and face, leaving only the eyes.

Trying find what to

is behind the veil

Do you sleep with it? Do you sleep with it? Do you sleep with it?

Do you shower with that? “ No I don’t shower with the hijab.

That’s crazy. It’s like wearing a big shirt and being drowned in the pool”.

Do you sleep with it?

Hamad says, “Obviously I do not sleep in it, you want me to choke in my sleep” *eye roll*.

Does your mom sew it out of curtains, or do you wear curtains?

Daoud says,”No I buy them from the store. Most of them I’ve gotten from a friend and some from any store”.

Are you forced to wear it?

Said says,“I’m a proud Muslim and I don’t wear the hijab. It’s a choice.”

Aren’t you hot in that!?!?

Hamad says, “You get used to and sometime you don’t even notice that you are wearing it.”

Does the pin go inside of your head?

?

Are you bald under that?

“Also people ask if they wear it because they have no hair which is dumb because I’m pretty sure not every hijabi girl is going to be bold”.

Were you born with it?

Daoud says, “ No I am not born with it. Are you stupid?

I’m pretty sure that babies are born naked.”

Hamad says, “Yep, the point goes into my head and there is a specific hole that I have for it”.

95

The life of a

southpaw

BY REAGAN HART From the very beginning of humanity left handers have only been about 10% of the population.

Scientist have studied the bones of early humans and concluded most were right handed. Today, still 90% of the world is right handed. Some West High southpaws, another name for lefties, share their stories about being left handed.

Nathan Abramoff ’17

Smearing and smudging In English we write from left to right. Which means lefties drag their hands through what they have just written.

When using a pen or pencil it will smudge the writing, and smear a person’s hand with lead or ink.

“It makes handwriting messy,” said Nathan Abramoff ’17.

When writing in hebrew you write from right to left. This means that right handed people are the ones smearing their writing. It is an advantage to be left handed.

“It is helpful,” Abramoff said.

Most of the time Abramoff considers his handwriting messy. He doesn’t like when teachers tell him his handwriting is messy. He would like them to try to write having to drag their hand through what they have just written. He has decided to never be the designated writer in a group project.

“I would screw everything up,” Abramoff said.

When playing baseball he uses his right hand, and only when writing does he use his left hand.

Writing papers as a left handed person, he finds very difficult stating that it take more work to write legibally. It is especially frustrating when he is writing an essay, and is trying to write fast.

He finds in weird how all his brothers are right handed, but he is left handed.

A Sinister story

DESIGN AND PHOTOS BY REAGAN HART

96 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Sinistre is the latin word for left-handed. Although the word that it became in english is sinister. When people hear the word sinister they think bad or evil. That is what for many generations people thought of left handers. Left handedness was associated with the devil so children were forced to write with their right hand. At one time as punishment for crimes people’s right hand was cut off.

This is very bad when you don’t have toilet paper, and use your left hand instead. Wedding rings are worn on the left hand, because in ancient times they hoped this would ward off evil.

Mady Nachtman ’18

Dominic Iannone, social studies teacher

Right handed supplies

Pick a hand, any hand

Mady Nachtman ’18 was sitting in art class, and went to go remove the scissors from her hand only to find out they were stuck.

“It was so embarrassing,” Nachtman said, “The teacher had to help [me] get them off.”

The scissors were stuck on her hand, because she was using scissors made for right handed people. There are many other supplies that she also had a hard time using. Can openers are among these supplies. “[When using a can opener] it doesn’t go very well,” Nachtman said.

When she use to play volleyball she had to strength her right hand, because volleyball is a right hand dominant sport. It was difficult for her to switch hands. She ended up quitting volleyball, because it didn’t fit with her high school schedule and the difficulty it placed on her.

Not all sports are right handed dominate, and in many sports there is an advantage to be left handed. Such as the other sport Nachtman use to play, softball. Many positions there is an advantage to be left handed.

Another advantage of being left handed, according to Nachtman, is that it is easier to play the flute. Nachtman is a flutist, and because of the way a flutist must hold their flute it is easier for a left hand dominant person.

During Kindergarten Dominic Iannone, social studies teacher, wrote with both hands. He would switch hands when the other got tired. His teacher did not approve of his method of writing, and told him he had to pick a hand and stay with it. He choose his left.

Through school left handedness really affected him.

When he writes in cursive it doesn’t have the natural slant needed in cursive, because lefties are pushing the pen across the paper not pulling it. This means you have to work harder to get the slant, and he doesn’t believe it looks as good.

“They never liked my cursive, but I don’t blame them,” Iannone said.

When he was in school there was a grade for handwriting, and he never got more than a C. This caused him to never make honor roll.

Iannone hits, in golf, right handed. This is, because it is hard to find right handed clubs.

“You almost always have to special order [left handed equipment],” Iannone said.

In soccer, another sport he plays, being left handed is an advantage. Even though in soccer he does not use his hands his left leg is strong than his right, because he is left handed.

He believes that even though left handedness is the smallest form of this there is still something people can learn from left handed people’s struggles.

“You don’t [notice] when the world is set up for your benefit,” Iannone said.

Right handed people are everywhere, and they don’t always realise what is difficult to a left handed person.

The english language was many sayings that associate left handedness with bad. A person who is the main helper is a right handman. When a person is bad at dancing they have two left feet.

About 2500 left handers a year die from using right handed equipment.

Even though throughout history left handedness was considered bad many famous people have been left handed. They were scientist like Marie Curie. They have been artist such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Left handers have been important leaders like Julius Ceasar, Joan of Arc and Mahatma Gandhi.

They have been musicians such as Jimi Hendrix and Paul McCartney. Left handers have also been famous athletes such as John Cena, Babe Ruth and Phil Mickelson.They have been actors such as Angelina Jolie, Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Lawrence . There have also been eight presidents who have been either left handed or ambidextrous. Left handers have also made an appearance as fictional characters such as Rocky Balboa from Rocky and Chuckie Finster from Rugrats.

Compiled by Reagan Hart WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 97

We’ve got

SPIRIT Yes we

DO!

BY KYRA STOLL

It’s a loud atmosphere. If you shut your eyes, you can hear the pounding of the basketballs against the waxed wood floor, and the squeaking of shoes. There is a mixture of laughter and cheering coming from the bleachers, and when you open your eyes, you can register the looks of concentration on the players faces, and you can see the coaches huddled together discussing the plans for the game. Everything around you is saying “welcome to the Trojan’s basketball court”.

98 MONTH 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

You might wonder what the coaches think of the student section; is it distracting, does it make the coaches nervous? As we all know, the purpose of the student section isn’t to be distracting, but sometimes they take their team spirit to the next level. Fortunately, it isn’t a distraction for the coaches. “It’s fun to play in front of large crowds; you can showcase your team in front of large numbers of people,” said B.J. Mayer, girls’ varsity basketball coach.

When you observe the coaches at games you notice that their coaches are very focused in the game, but sometimes you wonder about the players. “I’d like to say no, it doesn’t distract my players, but I don’t know, it might,” said Steve Bergman, boys varsity basketball coach. Both varsity coaches agree that the first time in front of a large crowd can be scary, but after that you get used to it.

We know the student section doesn’t distract the coaches, but what about the players? “Sometimes, when the students section gets crazy I get distracted for a second then I focus back on the game.” says Maddie Huinker ‘19. The players on the court are able to tune out the roaring fans and keep their focus on the game. They don’t get nervous, and they aren’t embarrassed when they make mistakes. Similar to the coaches, they’re used to the people.

In terms of energy and attendance, early promoting helps. “People like to dress up and be goofy and not just wear green all the time.” says Tanner Lohaus ‘16. “Game days pics on instagram are really popular, and the student section twitter account really helps tell people about the games and the themes.” says Huinker. So many people love to come out and cheer on our Trojans, whether it is the boys or the girls. “People feed off the energy and excitement.

They make it fun to be there.” says Mayer. Without their energy, the games are dull and the energy levels are low, and the players have to try to make the energy themselves. It is also a way for all four classes to come together “I think it’s a really good way to bring all four classes together to root against the other school.” says Lohaus. It doesn’t matter what age you are, anyone is welcome to cheer on our beloved Trojans.

PHOTOS BY KYRA STOLL

FAST FACTS Boys basketball has 6 state champion titles Boys basketball has 14 MVC titles Girls basketball went undefeated in the 2012-13 season Most recent MVC title for both is 2015 West basketball has 6 state titles in total Compliled by Kyra Stoll WSSPAPER.COM MONTH 2015 99

PAGE 102 DECEMBER 16 2015

BY EMMA PETERSEN

Cole Kurns

Mr. Lindsey

JEDI OR SITH TEST Do you constantly strive for power? Y N Strength or Smarts?

Y N

Conflict or peace?

Y N

If you answered a two or more Y you are a jedi. If you answered N two or more times you are a sith.

DECEMBER 16 2015 PAGE 103

I

BY JORDAN BAILEY

njury means harm or damage to your body. You can get injured doing almost about anything and it can affect you in almost anyway possible. No one wants to get injured but it happens. The only way you can help yourself is by staying fit and exercise.

“I’m dumb and I like doing parkour.” Caleb Binns ‘19, got himself injured jumping off a 2-foot loading dock at Weber Elementary when he was fourteen. He broke his knee and was handicapped for about five weeks. He says it took him forever to get better but was alright with it because he didn’t have to do anything.

He also did not have to take the stairs at school and do chores at home because he likes to be lazy. He missed a week of school and stayed home playing video games. Some of the things he did not like about being handicapped was he could not stand in the shower, or walk without falling down his stairs. With all the misfortunes, Caleb thought it was boring but very new and interesting. His parents on the other hand did not like it. They had to take care of him more, and had to help him do everything. They were worried about him the whole time, hoping that he would not get worse.

“My parents were not surprised at all.” Megan Brown ‘18, broke her collarbone playing monkey in the middle while playing soccer. When it happened, her parents were not surprised; Megan had broken four bones before that so it PAGE 104 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

PHOTO BY AIDAN YAMASHITA

PHOTO BY MEGAN BROWN

was normal for her. She recovered in a couple of months but even though it was normal for her, she did not like it. She could not play soccer for those months and soccer is the only sport she likes playing. Luckily she made the next season and would definitely get into another monkey in the middle. The one thing she liked about being injured was she did not have to take the stairs and never wanted to take them again.

Funny Injuries

FUNNY CELEBRITY INJURIES Zac Efron

The West Side Story interviewed people about injuries and “We had to listen to him whine all the time, “ said Misty Yamashi- tried to make it funny. ta. Aidan Yamashita ‘19, sprained PHOTO BY CALED BINNS

his ankle tripping up the stairs.

He was in 7th grade and was doing cross country at the time. It took him a month and a half to recover and had nothing to like about it besides he did not have to work as hard. Otherwise, he absolutely hated it. When his mom found out, she was angry.

She called it “stupid shit” and hates it when something like this happens. It turned out terrible, even though it was just a sprain, there was a lot of pain and there was no excitement. It was boring, and painful. It was the best when he recovered, he got back to cross country and running and when asked if he wanted to walk after, he said, “no, i’ll just get a wheelchair” sarcastically.

Slipped on a puddle and brike his jaw.

Justin Beiber Fell on stage and broke his foot.

Nearly 90% of injuries to children are the result of unintentional or “accidental” incidents and around 830, 000 children die from certain injuries each year. Soemtimes you get dumb injuries and they can be really funny so here are some injuries for you.

Miley Cyrus Had to get stitches on her finger playing with a blender.

Ed Sheeran Played drums with 2 glass bottles and got stitches on his hand.

Katy Perry Tried to show off her dance moves and got 17 stitches on her leg.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 PAGE 105

Do Twins Know Each other?

BY MADISON FLOSS AND LIZ NODIA

Twins are not the common to have, but if you do, you will always have a friend by your side. We interviewed Bridget and Caitlyn McKenna ‘17 and Grace and Nick Fleckinstein ‘19. We asked them 10 basic questions to see how well they know each other and which set of twins knows each other better.

Grace’s answers for herself Nick’s guess for Grace 1. Gym 2. Keeping up with the Kardashians 3. Clothes 4. Zac Efron 5. Orthodontist 6. Anything Nick does 7. Christmas 8. Girl: Aspen Boy: Max 9. Panera 10. Mommy’s 11. Volleyball 12. Million dollars

1. Math 2.Modern Family 3. Nail Polish 4. Zac Efron 5. Orthodontist 6. Chew with your mouth open 7. Christmas 8. Girl: Peyton Boy: Pat 9. Olive Garden 10. Mommy’s 11. Volleyball 12. Dog

Nick’s answers for himself Grace’s guess for Nick 1. Gym 2. Blackish 3. Snowboard 4. Ariana Grande 5. Baseball (professional) 6. Anything in school 7. Christmas 8. Girl: Lizzy Boy: Andrew 9. Kyodai 10. Daddy’s 11. Baseball 12. Casting net

106 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

1. Gym 2. Duck Dynasty 3. Football cards 4. Kim Kardashian 5. Biologist 6. Anything Grace does 7. Christmas 8. Girl: Lizzie Boy: Zach 9. Sushi place 10. Daddy’s 11. Baseball 12. Mini Motorcycle

OUR QUESTIONS

1. What is their favorite subject in school?

2. What is their favorite show?

3. Something they would get at the mall?/ Favorite store?

4. Who is their celebrity crush?

5. What is their dream career?

6. What is their biggest pet peeve?

7. What is their favorite holiday?

8. What would they name their kids?

9. What is their favorite restaurant?

10. Mommy or Daddy’s girl/ boy?

11. What is their favorite sport?

12. What is something they have always wanted?

Caitlyn’s answers for herself

Bridget guess for Caitlyn

Bridget Answers for herself

Caitlyn guess for Bridget

1. Math 2. Big Brother 3. American Eagle 4. Zac Efron 5. Graphic Designer 6. Bad grammar 7. Christmas 8. Girl: Reese Boy: Elliott 9. Cheesecake Factory 10. Daddy’s 11. Iowa Hawkeyes 12. Go to Australia

1. Math 2. Big Brother 3. Food 4. Adam Levine 5. Orthodontist 6. When my food touches, people don’t see the other point of view 7. Christmas 8.. Girl: Eleanor Boy: Elliot 9. Chili’s or Atlas 10. Both 11. Hawks, Bears, Cubs, Notre Dame 12. A French bulldog

1. Art 2. Big Brother 3. Makeup at Sephora or socks 4. Harry Styles 5. Web Design 6. My messiness 7. Christmas 8. Girl: Elliot Boy: Elliot 9. Olive Garden 10. Mommy’s 11. Hawks or Cubs Bears 12. Laptop 1. Math 2. Big Brother 3. Forever 21 4. Zac Efron 5. Orthodontist 6. Talking too loudly 7. Christmas 8. Girl: Eleanor Boy: Elliot 9. Atlas 10. Mommy’s 11. Iowa Hawkeyes 12. Her own iPad

FAST FACTS ABOUT TWINS

The results

1. There’s no hereditary trait that influences a predisposition to having identical twins. Identical twins do not run in families. Although there are families with a high incidence of identical twins, it is due to chance, coincidence or plain good luck.

(How many right) Fleckinsteins Nick: 5/12 Grace: 6/12

2. The average time between the delivery of the first and second twin is 17 minutes

McKennas Bridget: 5/12 Caitlyn: 7/12

3. The largest surviving complete set is of septuplets (in US).

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 107

COMPILED BY YASMIN OMAR

UI STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE IN HONOR OF MIZZOU University of Iowa students stand in solidarity for Mizzou.

The University of Missouri, also known as Mizzou has recently gone under a lot of controversy in the public’s eye. Several students attending mizzou are concerned with the negligence from faculty of racial incidents that occur at campus but aren’t acknowledged and were aggravated due to the fact that the administration wouldn’t confront or talk about these issues. Numerous protests occurred because of this. Protests and the refusal of Mizzou’s football team to play and other demonstrations to evoke change led to the resignation of top officials at Mizzou; President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin. But as a result many colored students at Mizzou were faced with alleged death threats from anonymous people, students were apprehensive about entering campus for fear of their lives and some witnessed explicit racial harassment and death threats because of the resignation of the top officials.

Due to this fact, University of Iowa students gathered a demonstration downtown, Iowa City at the pentacrest for a stand with solidarity for Mizzou, and orchestrated a blackout attire for the event that nearly 200 students attended.

Azza Nasraddin secretary of S.S.A and a junior at the UI attended the demonstration held on November 11th, and said” The occurrence of Mizzou affected my sanctity and sense of security at U of I, it could have easily happened at UI especially since similar incidents occurred at UI”. Nasraddin also added” I think the beneficial advantage of the support system we provided is community, a sense of belonging is essential for one’s health regardless of skin color but community for black students is crucial due to the lack of representation and hostile racist environments present in a multitude of predominantly white institutions.

COMPILED BY PHIL ROEDER

This demonstration made evident that students at Mizzou aren’t alone, that we are here, present and understand their experiences.”

Yasmin Omar, a junior of UI attendant at the demonstration included “ The primary goal of the demonstration was to show solidarity for Mizzou students, and how a lot of UI students can relate, there’s power in numbers, there is a lot of injustice happening that's been glossed over and swept under the rug and in order for something to garner national attention and for that momentum to be continued, there needs to be an effort to raise awareness to these issues, a lot of Mizzou’s students struggles are mutual and the notion of community is important and has a great psychological impact”Lastly, Laila Abdeltam, a freshmen at college incorporated that “Everyone is clearly not equal under the eyes of law, these controversies have been integrated into the system. By standing in solidarity publicly, this forcefully opens eyes and attracts attention to confront this serious issue”.

FAST FACTS

Mizzou students avoided c;lasses after death threats were posted online toward people of color, students emailed their professors alerting them weren’t able to attend classes that day.

Numerous proffersors continued on with their classes , students felt their professors were

neglecting the potenital harm to them starting the trend #ConcernedStudent1960 and several people questioning the fact that in a pursue of knowledge fear should never be a determing factor.

e g n i b d n a x i l f t e n Binge-watching can become an addictive act for many people.

West High students were interviewed to touch on their most binge-watched shows on Netflix, and what it is about shows that makes them so popular.

BY TYLER THOMASSON

I

t’s one thing to take an hour out of a busy teenager’s schedule to watch one episode on Netflix. It’s another thing to take several more hours out of that same person’s schedule to binge watch an entire season. Ironically, this act appears to be completely habitual for a lot of students at West High.

“I’ve probably gone six to eight hours just watching a show straight” said Abbie Cram ‘17.

According to Digital Statistics, Netflix users spend about 10 billion hours per month watching shows. Likewise, 61% of Netflix users binge-watch shows every few weeks. While there are several popular shows on Netflix, one may wonder what it is about those shows that makes people so inclined to binge-watch them.

“I watch Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, Switched at Birth, and Friends. I like them because they’re dramatic, but they’re still about real life families,” said Elaina Irving ‘18.

The genre of a television show does not just influence the viewership on Netflix, but also primetime media.

MarketingCharts states that it has statistically been proven that dramas are the most popular genre with 44% of 110 December2015 wsspaper.com

viewership, followed by sports and reality shows.

Generally speaking, there are patterns shown when someone will binge-watch a show. From a psychological standpoint, a person will be far more likely to binge-watch something if they feel depressed or lonely. Also, on weekends or holiday breaks a person may feel a sense of boredom, and they have the mentality to do nothing.

“I definitely binge-watch during winter break and Thanksgiving break, and also at night when I finish all of my homework,” said Cram.

While binge-watching shows on Netflix may become a recurring task for a person, some students at West do not classify it as an addiction for them.

“For some people it has become an addiction, but not really for me because I typically binge watch on the weekends, and I don’t do it every day like some people,” said Irving.

Even though shows on Netflix like Orange is the New Black, Friends, American Horror Story, and much more have gotten an avid amount of praise from critics and fans, some shows may be easily overlooked. One of these many hidden gems belongs to Agent Carter.

Hannah Scillinger ’16

Abbie Cram ’17

“Agent Carter is legitimately the best show! There are only eight episodes in the first season because the lead is a girl superhero, and the producers didn’t know if it would work. The first season was really short, but now they’re making a new show,” said Hannah Schillinger ‘16.

Like Agent Carter, there are many television shows that are encouraged to be watched on Netflix. With winter break approaching very soon, such shows are even more likely to be binge watched. While binge-watching certain shows may not necessarily be considered the most festive, a lot of West High students can take pride in such an act.

Elaina Irving ’18

design by tyler thomasson

wsspaper.com December 2015 111

BEHIND WEST HIGH’S BIGGEST COST The Impacts of West High Athletics

by WILL cONRAD AND AUSTEN MATTIINGLY

$17 million. According to a summer Iowa City Gazette report, this is the amount that the Iowa City Community School District plans to add to the high school athletics budget for maintenance and new fields. This total is staggering for some, and prompts a discussion as to what the true importance of sports is at the high school level. Studentathletes and coaches were interviewed to determine the wide-ranging impacts that high school athletics have had on so many of their lives, and to grasp why this area of the a student’s experience is so vital.

Leadership and positivity are often thought of as two of the prime benefits of high school athletics. Francis Jayoma ‘16 has tried many sports at West, including wrestling, swimming, cross country and track, in addition to basketball and football in junior high.

Jayoma spent a good deal of time talking about the positive impacts he has made on his various teams, saying it was his positive attitude that helped his teams the most.

“I think it is important to show positivity to motivate all of the guys on the team that they can achieve anything,” said Jayoma.

A common theme across the comments of those interviewed was motivating not only the “star players,” but everyone on a sports team. Matthew

Schneider ‘16, captain of the cross country team, also had a philosophy on this topic.

“I think being put in this spot has definitely helped me learn to lead young guys to live up to their potential,” Schneider said.

A positive attitude can do more than just motivate others. Staying positive can help students to achieve desired goals, both in sports and real life.

“One can’t accomplish anything with a negative attitude, it only causes you problems,” stated Ali Ali ’17, a cross-country and track veteran. “I think a lot of the philosophy like this that you learn from sports can really help later in life.”

In addition, sports can help one academically. Jayoma talked about learning to divide time. “I was forced to learn how to manage my time, mostly from a lack of time. I think that ended up being beneficial for me.” he said.

Many students, especially freshmen, come into high school with poor strategies to manage the excruciating workload. The majority of sports practices last a minimum of two hours, not including morning practices and team activities, thus forcing students to maximize the time they have.

“Once you learn the value of time, you can utilize it a lot more,” Jayoma said. “One can only learn to appreciate

Athletics at West

West Football Nov. 1, 1968 100 December 2015 wsspaper.com

West Basketball Feb. 22 1980

West Cross Country Oct. 15 1993

West Soccer May 24 1996

something when it starts to disappear.”

Sports also have the potential to motivate students to achieve better grades in the classroom so that they will be able to stay eligible for practices and games.

“I think that any kind of motivation you can get to do well in all aspects is great,” said Garrett Hartwig, English teacher and head varsity football coach.

The state of Iowa requires a 2.0 or higher cumulative GPA for student-athletes, and that a student-athlete cannot be failing any classes if they wish to participate in a sport. This state-imposed standard is meant to help the non-academically inclined to work harder to maintain eligibility. All students and staff interviewed were incredibly supportive of this requirement, and spoke of the undoubtable connection between athletics and academics.

“Competition is the main thing that drives the human spirit,” Hartwig said. “One of the things that I’m most proud of as a coach is being able to light a fire under my athletes. I think West High athletics have always done a great job with this.” This drive spawning from athletics is seen as another important benefit to high school athletics.

Hartwig played high school football, then went on to play college football

through the years

West Basketball Feb. 1 2013

at the University of South Dakota. He spoke about how his playing days helped him settle into the niche of coaching.

“I got into coaching because I am so competitive, [and] I think to achieve greatness, you have to hate to lose,” Hartwig stated.

Schneider shared similar views. “It was only through hard work that I got to the point with running where I am today. I’ve just always wanted to excel,” he said.

This competitive nature not only drives students to become great athletes, but for them to become great people.

Despite having only been the head coach for two years, Hartwig feels that he has touched many lives in more ways than just athletics.

“I’m most proud of the way in which I’ve run West High football,” he said. “I refuse to play a game if I know that the men playing are not quality individuals on and off the field.”

Although the new budget may seem astronomical at first, a closer look reveals that the tremendous profit obtained from high school sports cannot be plugged into a simple budget.

Photos courtesy of west side story archives

West Soccer April 10, 2015

West Football Oct. 2 2015

West Cross Country Oct. 2 2015 wsspaper.com December 2015 101

5 SUPER-

To make winte

By Samantha You

Winter is the one season most peop things that are associated with winte doors, and worst of all, the cold. Win some time, but there are a few activit These are activities that can be done way more fun. Finding something to can be tricky. Here are 5 ways to mak some fun facts.

1.

Snowtubing

FUN

Snow tubing is an activity similar to sledding except using inner tubes instead of a slead.

Snow tubing could easily become part of your winter ritual. Find an old swimming inner tube, blow it up and take a test drive on your favorite hill.

2.

Snow angels

There’s nothing better than finding the perfect spot in the snow and flopping down to make an angel in the cold weather. The design can make anyone feel like they’re transported back to their childhood.

112

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5.

Movie nigh

Staying indoors du storm can have its p Bradshaw 18’ would thing to do in the w Harry Potter movie puts me in the holid makes me super hap

PHOTO BY OLIVIA DACHTLER

-FUN WAYS

er more enjoyable

ung

ple dread. There are many negative er such as; Slippery roads, drab outnter in Iowa can drag out for quite ties that can make it more bearable. multiple times to make the season o do whether it’s indoors or outdoors ke your winter the best, including

FACTS

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3.

Hot chocolate

After a long day out in the snow, coming inside to a hot beverage can be one of the best feelings. Callie Dains 18’ finds drinking hot chocolate with her friends one of her favorite activities “You get to spend time with your friends and have fun, hot chocolate is the best.”

hts

4.

during a winter perks too. Breanna d find her favorite winter is having a e marathon. “It day mood and it ppy”

Building a snow fort with a couple of your friends for a good old fashion show fight can be an amazing memory you could create this Winter break. Angie Zirbes 18’ finds snowball fights to be one of the things she looks forward to the most in this season, “snowball fights bring my friends together.”

Snowball fights

113

SARCASM. Me? Sarcastic? Never.

Sarcasm. Because we know that it wasn’t really a “nice job” when you spilled the milk. Children as young as the age of five are able to detect the use of sarcasm, so your best friend should too, right? Not always.

First of all, people with an injury to the right frontal lobe of the brain often have difficulty comprehending sarcasm. Crazy how brain injuries can cause trouble understanding, huh. In order to detect and comprehend irony and better understand the meaning of people’s words, one must have empathy. The right hemisphere of the brain deals with emotions and the pre frontal cortex handles social cues, so people who have had an injury to the right pre frontal cortex often have difficulty understanding irony and sarcasm.

WHAT NOT TO MAKE FUN OF ACCORDING TO WEST HIGH STUDENTS Mental Illness Disease Weight Someone’s looks Race 9/11 Orphans Rape Periods Compiled by Olivia Benda

Secondly, children typically do not begin recognizing sarcasm until ages six through eight, although for some, it can take much

“No, you just keep going. No I’m kidding, I’m kidding that was sarcastic.”

-Mitchel Clements ’19 114 SECTION DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

SARCASTIC TV CHARACTERS COMPILED BY OLIVIA BENDA

Glee- Sue Sylvester “I don’t trust a man with curly hair. I can’t help but picturing birds laying sulfurous eggs in there, and I find it disgusting.”

Friends- Chandler Bing “Nice camouflage. For a minute, I almost didn’t see you.”

“Let’s break it down. You want to be creative; you want to be in the spotlight. Face it: You want to be me. So here’s the deal. You do with your depressive little group of kids what I did with my wealthy elderly mother: Euthanize it.”

“I can develop a condition in which I talk and talk and no one hears a word.”

“Hell is filled with people like you.”

New Girl- Nick Miller “I am not a successful adult.

I don’t eat vegetables and/ or take care of myself.”

“Nice camouflage. For a minute, I almost didn’t see you.”

-Chandler Bing,, Friends

longer. The skills to comprehend sarcasm and irony continue to increase through adolescence, as the pre frontal cortex is still developing.

Sarcasm is popular for a reason. Often, using humor in an otherwise aggravating situation can make it seem better and distract from otherwise annoying situations. Using sarcasm also exercises the brain more than a sincere statement, (even though using sarcasm doesn’t earn points in P.E.). Sarcasm uses the left side of the brain to illustrate the meaning of words, as well as pre frontal cortex and right hemisphere to decipher the social and emotional context.

According to Gabe Caruthers, ’19, sarcasm should only be used with something a person knows, “they’re pretty cool about.” He believes that people’s skin color, race, or social groups should never be made fun of. Avery Carneol, ’19, thinks that both weight and mental illness also should not be made fun of. And should you apologize if you cross the line? According to Mitchell Clements, ‘19,“No, you just keep going. No I’m kidding, I’m kidding that was sarcastic.” So take our advice, and apologize.

So next time you’re using sarcasm in the house and your mother tells you to, “Stop running your mouth and get some real work done,” tell her you’re exercising your brain. But if you offend someone, apologize, make amends, and try to avoid putting your foot in your mouth.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 115

I Scream, You Scream We All Scream For Screamo?

by Jared Kula, and Sam Saylor

er e m . a opl . l s e r u e i sc e pe so phn e g f th som was ailin sym o ut f a w vely ps hat i o l o e d, w ing lo h s t d d As parte com oun hear d ul s r s r a e e f h ead th o r e d il h W

During the morning of November 13th many students in the freshman cafeteria were asked if they would listen to a clip of “A Prophecy,” by Asking Alexandra. Almost all of the students who agreed to listen to it did not like it.

“It was nice and soft, but then it got scary,”said Matthew Romans ‘19.

When art teacher Mr. Aanestad was asked if he liked the screamo music it was pretty obvious he wouldn't listen to it on a regular basis “I’m generally confused by this music, because it goes from that, like soft, where it actually sounds like those people can sing, but then. It sounds like he ate a microphone and it got stuck in his throat,” he said.

Later we played Sleeping with Sirens; Better off Dead, and Blink 182’s song: Adam’s song. After the songs were over we asked him if he liked them., he then said that he doesn't really like the kind of music we showed him because it reminds him of the people in his life who deal with depression which makes him think sad thoughts.

Next, we went to the choir teacher to ask how he feels about alternative music, Mr. Knutson mostly likes renaissance music and grew up listening to orchestral music with his parents. However he told us he used to listen to a little bit of green day but that's about as far as his experience with alternative music goes. When we played the first song for him, it never ends by Bring Me The Horizon. He didn't really like it, saying that it sounded like a song you would listen to at the gym but it had no real beat to it so it would be hard to match it with doing anything.

Lastley we interviewed Anna Weckerlin 19. She said that the screamo song was very scary and that she would never listen to a song like it.

When we played Sleeping with Sirens: Better Off Dead. Anna said “The girl in this song should get some help, like therapy.” Anna then said that she listens to only broadway songs and that she can name over one hundred of them.

To see the video we made go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMaMNSyn9Q

The

Daily Grind

by Mary Vander weg

I

More than half of America’s teens rely on coffee daily, but how is this preferred drug of choice really affecting kids? t’s almost midnight and you’ve had a busy day of school, work and extracurricular activities. You’re pretty tired and in dire need of some sleep, but there’s one problem: you still haven’t started your homework. So instead of lying down and dozing off, you reach for your backpack - and to keep you alert, some caffeine.

“I do believe caffeine is a problem among teenagers. It causes several health issues,” said Samuel Kinzer, Pediatrician.“Too many kids are using caffeine regularly.” Caffeine is a stimulant. According to the National Institute of Health, caffeine is a chemical compound found in various plants, which acts as a simulant for the central nervous system.

Caffeine is most commonly found in coffee, tea, soda, chocolate, energy drinks, and even some over-the-counter medications. For Marianne McGrane, a science teacher at West High School, coffee is a necessary aspect for daily life.

“When I’m feeling tired or grumpy, I reach for a pot of coffee to cope,” said McGrane.

The Food and Drug Administration states that caffeine is both a drug and a food additive, but the organizations does not yet have formal recommendations for consumption.

Healthy adults can generally consume 300 milligrams to 400 milligrams without any negative side effects but teenagers need to be more wary. Due to the importance of brain development and sleep regularity, teenagers should consume no more than 100 milligrams of caffeine a day. But too often, the line is not drawn.

“I drink at least three cups a day,” said Mary Stanley ’19 who, like many others, drinks caffeine to keep awake. “I just really like caffeine!” she said.

A survey conducted by the Beaumont Health System noted that 11% of teenagers aged 13 to 18 drink at least 400 milli-

118 december 2015 wsspaper.com

grams a day which is equivalent to more than four espressos, two 5-Hour Energy drinks, and 5 Red Bulls. This extensive amount can lead to some serious problems.

“There are many negatives that come along with drinking a lot of caffeine,” Kinzer said. Symptoms of caffeine consumption are commonly jitters, anxious feelings, headaches, fatigue, and problems with withdrawals. With those who are more dependent, symptoms can include faster heartbeat, reflux, risk of obesity, and bowel problems.

“I noticed one student whose hands were shaking because they were drinking a lot of caffeine,” McGrane said. “I don’t pay much attention to my students drinking caffeine, but I probably should.”

Caffeine, though dangerous if consumed too often, has its positives. With teenagers kept up many nights studying for their next exam, it can improve alertness and reaction times to keep you functioning the next day.

“I like that it makes you really energetic, and if you’re used to it, you aren’t affected,” Stanley said. “It helps because I’m really lazy.”

“We do have to remember the positives of caffeine,” Kinzer said. “It has health benefits such as helping those with ADHD and Narcolepsy.”

So how can you still keep alert while avoiding all of those negative side effects? Moderation. “If your use of caffeine is affecting you negatively, decrease your intake.” Advises Kinzer, “you don’t have to go cold turkey, just try to gradually decrease consumption.” It’s all about self-restraint. Caffeine is in fact, addicting, but not life-threatening.

Caffeine is a stimulant depended on by many high school students, but along with the energy boost, comes dangerous effects. Be sure to keep an eye on your intake, and drink responsibly.

Mary Stanley

Marianne McGrane

Samuel Kinzer

COMPilED by Mary vander weg

DESIGN BY MARY VANDER WEG

wsspaper.com December 2015 119

A

Week

Without

Coffee

By Lexi Goodale West High student attempts to go a week without drinking coffee.

C

offee addictions are common among teens in this day and age.

Many people rely on coffee on a daily basis to get them through their day. Hannah Harney ‘19 is one of these people.

On November 17th, 2015 Harney was put to the test.

She was challenged to go one week without any coffee. She ultimately could not complete the challenge. Before she started the challenge she thought it wouldn’t be very difficult. But, later, she was struggling to complete the challenge and inevitably gave up.

Anna Forbes ‘19 and Ayanna Rost ‘19 are both friends of Harney’s. They have known her for 2 years and she has been drinking coffee as long as they have known her.

After the challenge Harney said that going a week without coffee was a lot harder than she thought. Forbes and Rost thought Harney was prone to moodiness when she was without coffee and Harney agreed. Rost stated, “Coffee puts her in a good mood, so she doesn’t get mad at me and I don’t get mad at her.

Harney just felt that coffee helped her get throug the day with more ease.

Are you a coffee addict quiz

Soda or coffee?

No caffiene needed!

Soda!

Coffee is bae

Frappe or latte?

Hyina or Girraffe?

Hyina

Girraffe

You prefer something a little more sweet, Your a pretty maybe some hyped up soda but not person, the bittermaybe have ness that some caffeine comes with every once coffee in a while but typically there is no need

Frappe

Latte

COFFEE ADDICT You like sweet taste but can also use a little bitterness too, in good proportion

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that o o t t a as a t trouble h e n o r are some o f I t . n r e e s cov dgem ght out and t i u j y d b a ook ve b hou b a t h a e r e y a e g jud an th ttoos e a t m e Don’t s h y t m. t alwa of the time e ’ n h s t e d o d ehin ost b M y . r s o r t e mak gful s i n a e m have a 122 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

T

his mother and it means just as much to her, as it means to him.

Rebekah Tokuhisa ‘16 is a senior here at West High and is a newbie in the tattoo world. On November 24, 2015, Tokuhisa decided to get a tattoo to honor a loved one that passed away.

“Everybody has a story, but mine is a heartbeat tattoo. It says “forever and always,” forever and always to my heart. It’s near veins because I’ve lost a loved one that was close to me and everyday I think of him.” Tokuhisa decided to get the tattoo at the young age of 18 because she wanted a constant reminder that someone is always with you everyday, instead of going on, trying to remember why.

Everybody has a story, mine is a heartbeat tattoo.

Tokuhisa ‘16

“Getting a tattoo is like when you’re shaving and you get a knick on your leg a couple of times.” Tokuhisa has a high pain tolerance so she didn’t have to deal with a lot of pain. She chose to get it on the backside of her forearm because that way most people can’t see it unless they stand behind her. She had been wanting this tattoo for the past six months so she saved up her money until she had enough.

“It’s one of those things where when you get bored in class you doodle on your arm. I always doodle on my arms so my parents always knew not matter of if, but when.” Tokuhisa also added that her parents weren’t thrilled when they saw it, but they have to accept it.

“When I get older, I think if I look at it in a positive direction, it’s a memory of all the times I’ve spent with people I’ve loved, who have died or departed from my life.” Tokuhisa said when asked if she’ll regret getting a tattoo at this age when she is older. She added that she likes to look at all of the things that happen in her life in a positive way.

Ricky Witt ‘19 has gotten two tattoos so far and they both stand for something very important to him, his family. He cares equally about both of them and got them at age eighteen as well “They’re family tattoos,” describes Witt, “one is my mom’s name over my heart because she means alot to me. The other one is on my arm and means family.” He had always wanted a tattoo, but he just didn’t know where .He got a more definite idea the day before his mother’s birthday so it just seemed right. It was surprise for

Witt believes that he will continue to love his tattoos as he ages, and doesn’t think it will effect him getting a job because he chose to get them in a place where people can’t see unless shown.

Bret Eldredge ‘19 has gotten three tattoos over the past two years and is eager to get more.

He got his first tattoo at the age of sixteen for about $100. “It’s a jesus tattoo on my chest, I got it just for the fact that I could.”

After he got it and returned home his parents were, to put it the way Eldridge phrased it, pissed. They couldn’t do anything though, you can’t just take a tattoo of the skin, so they told him to wasn’t allowed to get anymore. But he didn’t let that stop him.

“I have one behind my ear, it’s like a suicide prevention tattoo. It’s basically a semicolon, It’s like for you to continue your life sentence.” Eldridge got this tattoo and his last tattoo over the summer without parental consent. He’s good friends with his tattoo artist so he can get them for a cheaper price and without permission.

“I also have one on my left arm, It’s the great wave, which is a Japanese painting.” Eldredge decided to get this tattoo because it symbolizes freedom. He got it last year for around $50.

Eldridge already has big plans for new tattoos. He is hoping to get a large tiger, to represent his Chinese zodiac symbol, on his arm that will connect to a rose on his chest.

In the future Eldridge doesn’t think he will regret getting a tattoo, “It’s my body, there is nothing else to regret.”

GUESS THE TEACHER! First tattoo at age fifteen

Has a total of twelve tattoos Regrets first tattoo, which is why they believe high school students should wait to get tattoos answer: Mrs. Woodhouse

attoos have been around for more than 5,000 years.

The tattoo is a type of art, but instead of paper the canvas is your skin. Several students here at West have taken the permanent decision of getting tattoos, each with a story behind it.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 123

Top to bottom, left to right: Bret Eldridge, Bret Eldridge Ricky Witt, Ricky Witt Rebekah Tokuhisa, Bret Eldridge

124 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Should You Get a Tattoo?

Does the tattoo have a special meaning to you?

YES

NO

Is it a name?

Don’t get a tattoo!

YE

S

NO

ye s

Is it unique?

Is it a picture? color scenic city

nature

s ye

Is it a significant other’s name?

N O

Don’t get a tattoo!

words quote

Black and white symbol

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 125

Addicted

BY MEGAN BOLAND AND SADIE RHOMBERG

Something that is very important to most people and is used on a daily basis, actually may be very addictive. Social Media. It’s all been said, being online can help keep in touch with friends and family, spread news quickly, and the list of good things about the online world goes on and on. While a majority of those things seem to be positive, they may also be impacting somebody in a not so fun way.

Many people may think that social media is a good way to communicate with faraway friends, but according to Steven Strogatz at Cornell University, it’s not. Surprisingly, it can actually make it confusing to know the difference between their real relationships and their online relationships. People can also weaken their personal relationships because they spend so much time trying to strengthen their online ones. Social media is capable of many things, breaking down strong relationships to even taking over someone’s life.

There are a number of things people can become addicted to, but social media probably wouldn’t be the first thing that pops into people’s minds. In the past year, 12 million Americans are checking their social media accounts multiple times daily.

“I would say that I’m addicted. But unless it’s interfering with your life I don’t think it’s bad,” said Olivia Smith ‘18. For example, if a person smoked a cigarette every few hours every day for 6-8 weeks, they would probably start developing a habit of smoking, most likely leading to an addiction. Becoming addicted to social media works in the same way. According to New York Times business writer Charles Duhigg, when someone does an action over and over again, they are bound to create a habit or an addiction.

“I think a lot of times people just use social media to brag about their lives,” says Maddie Bartelme ‘18. Because all over social media there are numbers, followers, likes, people can feel down about themselves if they have low numbers. Social media can lead to FOMO, or a fear of missing out. Constantly scrolling through any social media you will see photos or videos of groups of people owning popular items and going to parties or events. “I once missed out on my favorite basketball player being traded on twitter,” said Garth Anderson ‘19.

“I’m always worried about my kids on social media.

There’s so many people you can talk to online I’ll never know who their talking to,” said West high language teacher, Joan Burns.

Addiction to social media can be dangerous for not only you, but also the people around you. Reputation damage from social media affects many people without them realizing. Posting things on the internet that can be seen as bad or irresponsible will cause your peers to begin viewing you in that same way. What you post online can also affect your job. Before hiring, most employers do background checks and if they feel you are irresponsible because of the things you have posted online, you won’t get that job.

126 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Nowadays, people using social media will do anything for more likes and followers, but people are not aware of how dangerous social media really can be.

While a lot of people, especially teens are addicted to social media, many people aren’t as attached to it as others. They don’t find it nearly as important as other things such as family, real friends, and school/ work. People who aren’t on social media 10 times daily are probably less distracted, have more free time, and are more productive.

“I would say it’s unimportant and unnecessary but it’s fun,” said Bartelme. Addicted or not, people should still know that they can reach a point where the most important thing to them is being on their phone. Things online are there forever, but they won’t last.

“I like Snapchat because you can send pictures to your friends rather than just texts” Devon Eberl ‘16.

“I think social medias like twitter or facebook are good for spreading important world events” Mrs. Burns.

“Youtube is cool because it is a place where people can express themselves through videos and show it to the world” Lydia Rhomberg ‘16.

“I like Tumblr because I don’t follow anyone I know and I like that because a lot of times people just use social media to brag about their lives” Maddie Bartelme ‘18.

DESIGN BY MEGAN BOLAND

BY THE NUMBERS

45% 50% 66%

COMPILED BY MEGAN B0LAND

People that have more than 5 social media accounts

“I like Instagram because I get likes boii” Jared Kiebel ‘16.

people that have 1-4 social media accounts

people would consider themselves addicted to their phone *40 students surveyed

“I like Twitter because it has funny and ridiculous videos that I watch” Safeya Siddig ‘18.

“It’s so cool how creative and funny viners can be when they only have 7 seconds” Maryam Musa ‘18.

“I like that on Pinterest they use visuals to show you things, because words can be annoying” Julie Watkinz ‘17.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 127

YOU’RE AN ADDICT!

how

addicteadryeo

Find out th e severity o f your socia like you. l media

u?

addiction. P ick which m o

st sounds

You have 5+ social media accounts. You can not go anywhere without your phone. The majority of your friends are from the internet. You are up till four in the morning scrolling through your twitter feed. At school your phone is constantly going off with notifications from snapchat and instagram. You can’t imagine life without the internet. Even without the popular app Snapchat, Oliva Smith ‘18 feels like she is addicted to social media.

YOU’RE CLOSE!

NOT ADDICTED!

128 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

You have 3 or 4 social media accounts. You check your social media accounts at least once a day. Your friends usually see you on social media. If something happened to your social media accounts you would be angry but then you would get over it and make new ones. You sometimes don’t get homework done because you spent your time on your phone.

You have no social media accounts. You don’t know what your friends are talking about when they mention snapchat. You spend a majority of your time reading and doing homework. Braden Dochterman ‘17 says he feels like he has more time without social media.

You have 1 or 2 social media accounts. You check your social media accounts once a week, maybe more. You enjoy talking to relatives and friends far away from time to time. You wouldn’t be angry if your social media accounts got deleted. Your social media accounts don’t interfere with your school work, sleep, or relationships.

YOU’RE OKAY!

DESIGN BY SADIE RHOMBERG

www.birthright.org

irthright

Help is just a phone call away

Free & ConďŹ dential

1-800-550-4900

of Iowa City

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Classes held at Christ the King Lutheran Church School year and Summer sessions available Complete schedule located on web site driversed.co

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 ADS 15

When interviewed, the sophomore known by his friends and peers as quite, the comedian, Drew Graves ’18 gave some deep answers.

Reporter: Do you like to be by yourself or with friends when upset?

Graves: “Depends on the reason. If I’m upset with my friends I like to be with them to sort things out and you know hang out after that.”

Reporter: On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you?

Graves: “I’d say a solid five.”

Reporter: What do you think happiness is?

Graves: “Happiness is the ability to enjoy life without worrying.”

Reporter: Do you pretend things are okay when they’re not?

Graves: “Of course, it’s not my job to ruin someone else’s day.” After he said this, Graves went on to talk about how he likes to rant about his problems, but makes sure he doesn’t impose- them upon others.

From speaking her mind to listening to others’ problems, Nicole Ritchey ’17, has got it down. Ritchey is thought of as a genuinely happy person by her friends, classmates, and especially those who work with her on Theater West crew. But as stated earlier, even people who are thought of as really happy have problems of their own.

Reporter: What ticks you off?

Ritchey: “When people are capable of doing something and ask me to do it for them.”

Reporter: How do you think you portray yourself to others and how do you want others to see you?

Ritchey: “Hilarious, because I am (sarcastic intonation), hahaha happy and funny.”

Reporter: Do you ever feel like giving up on things when they take a turn for the worst?

Ritchey: “Yes, so much yes. Do I? No. It’s really hard to give up on people.”

Reporter: Do you ever pretend that you’re okay when you’re not?

Ritchey: “Yes, especially when someone asks “How was your day?” and you only see them five to ten seconds, you’re not going to say “Aw my day was really crappy.” Especially if they’re just an acquaintance.”

Caecilia Shoppa ’18 is a bubbly individual. She is known by many for her happiness, friendliness, and cheerfulness. So, how does she deal with sadness?

Reporter: What do you think happiness is?

Caecilia: “Well happiness is being loved, and loving others and making people feel good about themselves. I feel like a lot of people try to get happiness from others. Happiness should be something you find for yourself.”

Reporter: Are there any moments in your life where you feel very down?

Caecilia: “Yes!” Reporter: How do you get out of a funk?

Caecilia: “I listen to music in my bedroom, and play the piano.”

Reporter: Who do you talk to when you’re sad?

Caecilia: “No one to be honest, I really don’t talk to anybody because I don’t wanna worry people with my problems.”

Reporter: On a scale of 1-10 how happy are you?

Caecilia: “On the average day a six or seven and on somedays it could be a two and on some days it could be a fifteen.”

Reporter: Even though you don’t really talk to anyone, does talking about your problems make you feel better?

Caecilia: “Um, not really because I don’t really want to relive them if I explain them to people.”

Reporter: Do you ever pretend you’re okay when you’re not?

Caecilia: “Yeah I do, because if I feel that I’m in a bad mood and I let people know then they’re going to treat me like I’m weak and I’ll feel like I’m a burden on them.”

130 December2015 wsspaper.com

The Sadness Behind-

The Smile

Reporter: How do you want others to see you as?

Caecilia: “I try to be really kind and enthusiastic and happy to other people because making other people happy makes me feel like I’ve done something good.”

Reporter: Do you think that most people you know, including friends and family know the real you?

Caecilia: “It depends. I know a lot of my friends do, but i know that there are a lot of things going on in my life that my parents don’t know.”

Reporter: Do you see yourself as a happy person?

Caecilia: “I think I can portray myself as a happy person even when I’m not but I like to be happy and I like to make other people happy even if I’m not. I’ve always been the type of person who puts others happiness before my own even if it means I’m not happy.

After asking deep and somewhat personal questions of the three sources one thing was clear; a nearly constant smile and cheerful attitude doesn't always mean a person is always happy. Just because someone doesn’t talk about their problems, doesn’t mean that they don’t have them or that they don’t like to talk about them. The moral of the story is that everyone has problems, including happy people. Now does this mean go out and bug happy people in order to find out if they’re down or not? No. It means that there’s a deeper side to everyone’s story, and by taking time to listen to people talk about the deeper side to their story can be beneficial to both the listener and the person talking about their problems.

-By

Janaya Buns and Chideraa Okeoma

Happiness: “When your heart goes doki doki, and you feel like you can rule the world without being anxious or fearful of bad days and mean people.”

-Janaya Buns Happiness: “When you don’t have any homework.”

-Chideraa Okeoma Photo taken by: Janaya Buns wsspaper.com december2015 131

SIERRA_FROST 6 1.0m 500 Photos Followers Following Sierra Frost

Here’s my hair!

Design by Jessica Doyle & Kristina Rosebrook

Running, eating, sleeping are defined as my daily ritual

Back home! (Munich)

Love these ladies! <3

Fun was invented by families

Cut for Flash!

PHOTOS BY SIERRA FROST

136 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Starke frau (strong woman)

By Kristina Rosebrook & Jessica Doyle

I

f you notice a 5’7” girl trucking through the hallways with a heavy looking camo backpack and a Ruby Rose inspired haircut, chances are it’s Sierra Frost ‘18. One part of her story has already been told here at West High in a previous profile, but the rest has yet to be revealed...until now.

Vergangenheit (German for “past”)

In a previous article written about Frost by Junhee Lee, she told the story of when her mother kidnapped her when she was four. This was one of Frost’s many traumatic experiences, but she said all of them have made her a stronger person. She has two dads and said she wasn’t treated fairly when she was younger because of it and resented that her parents were gay for awhile. But her opinion changed when she went to a gay pride parade in Bisbee, Arizona. She saw her grandfather, who was born in a time when interracial marriage wasn’t accepted, waving his LGBT flag happily. which made her think about her opinion. Frost was bullied in middle school, so she transferred to a different one, where in eighth grade, she met one of her best friends, Michael. On April 19th, 2014, Michael committed suicide, sending Frost into severe depression. Her parents took her to a psychiatrist who prescriber her antidepressants, which Frost says are the greatest things ever invented. Frost is now outgoing, friendly, humorous, kind and stronger than ever.

When she first started doing this, she said she had a hard time, but now it’s much easier. Her motivation for joining the military comes from one of her dads, who was a paratrooper, and her aunt who is in the military intelligence for the army.

‘Murica vs. Europe

When Frost first came to the United States she was five years old. Prior to moving, she lived in Munich, Germany. But her memories of Munich aren’t so great.

But, she didn’t think the U.S. was the great at first, either.

“I thought it was awful. Everything here is so….I don’t know, America kind of has this facade that everything's okay, everything’s happy, but it’s not,” said Frost.

Frost has revisited Europe since leaving ten years ago.

“Some people in Europe are kind of prude too. Like in Paris, you cannot touch anything in a shop unless of course you’re going to buy it. And if you don’t speak French, they give you like “oh my gosh” [look]--they don’t like that. [And] I don’t [speak French],” said Frost.

“Dreamin’ in color, livin’ in black and white”

Ever wondered what it's like to be colorblind?

Frost knows. All she can see are variations of black and white, and yet she can somehow distinguish colors. Because she’s been color blind her entire life, she can guess (accurately) if a dark grey is red or pink and if a light grey is a yellow or green.

“When I grow up”

The reason Frost trucks around with a giant camo backpack, is she wants to be in the military intelligence for the army. Her goal is to become stronger, so she carries all of her books in her bag.

137 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Frost moved to Iowa in the summer of 2014, transferring from the sunny San Diego, California, to the cloudy, cold Iowa City. She prefers Europe over the United States, but she has noticed a few good deeds since moving here.

“So, I’m in cross country and my coach, Coach Parker, he’s a motivational speaker so he talks about this one time [when] he [went] to this fancy restaurant. And he goes there and he gets a cheesecake and he didn’t finish it. So he just leaves it there, he doesn’t take it with him. Then he sees these really rich people, they’re like dressed to the nines, wearing like Louis Vuitton stuff and they had these bags of extra food and he’s just like ‘Why would these [rich people] need extra food?’ Then he sees these homeless people and he sees the rich people giving these poor people food. There’s some good things about [America]. But most people wouldn’t do what those rich people did, they would just ignore them and go right past them,” Frost said.

But whether or not she was born in the U.S. doesn’t really matter to her.

“I think people are more than where they came from. People are more interesting than where they came from. It’s the person, not where they’re from.”

“Born to run”

Frost is involved in cross country, basketball, soccer, and track and field. This was her first year doing cross country. “[She’s done some] embarrassing things in front of the coach,” said her friend and teammate, Colleen Bloeser ‘18. “We were in the training room. The coach was filling ice buckets. Sierra was holding the ice bucket, but wasn’t able to [understand] that the coach was telling her to put it down [because English isn’t her first language], and just stared at him.”

Not all of Frost’s cross country experiences are as light hearted, though.

“She got a stress fracture in her ankle [during] the first meet,” said Bloeser. “The race was three miles and she was only one mile in and rolled her ankle.”

Although, she slowed down for a little bit, Bloeser said she finished the race, still running. But the stress fracture resulted in her having to sit out for the rest of the season.

“Even though she couldn’t run, she was still 138 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

there for the rest of the season,” said Bloeser.

“Don't worry, be happy”

According to Frost’s friends, her best quality is her attitude. “[She has a lot of] confidence,” said Claire Lynch ‘18, a friend of Frost. “She is so loud and isn’t scared to be herself! I really admire that about her!” “[She is] trustworthy and easy to confide in and talk to,” said Bloeser.

“We have a lot of inside jokes. She’s good at making little things into funny things. [For example] I got in an argument with my parents about my [driver’s] license. My mom said I [needed] to drive 500 miles with supervision. Sierra said we could drive 501 miles and then kick her out of the car. [She] puts things in a better light.” “[One time] I was doing an English project with her and a few other people. We all had to get together to work on it. My mom [and I went] to go pick [up Sierra] because she needed a ride. [We] went and got bagels and we had a ton of fun!” Lynch said.

Not only is Frost physically strong, carrying all of her books in a military backpack, but she is emotionally strong as well.

“As I’ve gotten to know [Frost], I’ve realized she’s strong and been through stuff a lot of people haven’t been through. She’s a fighter and she can put up with a lot of problems,” said Bloeser. “I tend to have a lot of anxiety and stress,” Bloeser continued, “but observing the way she handles things makes me take things not so seriously and appreciate the things I have.” “[She is very open.] There is so much stuff about her life that she doesn’t have to tell me, but she does and it’s really cool to know that she trusts me enough to tell me things that are kind of personal,” said Lynch. “[Frost] has a very unique personality and that’s a very admirable trait,” said Bloeser.

Ruby Rose hairdo

When asked why she cut her hair, Frost replied, “Well Flash died last year and he had cancer. I didn’t know him because I didn’t go to school with him but I went to his funeral and that just broke my heart. I wanted to do something so I donated [my hair] for Dance Marathon.” She chose the Ruby Rose haircut because she is her idol.

www.birthright.org

irthright

Help is just a phone call away

Free & ConďŹ dential

1-800-550-4900

of Iowa City

24 hour hotline

Classes held at Christ the King Lutheran Church School year and Summer sessions available Complete schedule located on web site driversed.co

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 ADS 15

Awkward Land Many people has awkward situations. Here is a fun way to explain some people’s situations they were willing to share.

Crystal Flancha ‘18 her awkward situations is when she talked to her friend after knowing that she was doing things with her ex-boyfriend.

But she handled it well.

Donald Reynolds ‘17, the most awkward situation Donald has been in is when “I had a girlfriend and her brother came up, so I pretend to be gay.

Allie Pearce ‘16 “In AP Euro, I wasn’t listening and he called on me to give out this long answer, that we were suppose to have it prepared and I didn’t have it prepared.

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Move forward 2 red

Move forward 3 blue

Move forward 1 orange

Move backwards 2 green

Not listening in classgo to Pearce’s story. No awkward slide for you!

Oops you lost your words go to Reynolds’ story and skip a turn.

Sucks to be you-you stay stuck for the next 2 turns.

Your friend stabbed you in the back-learn from Flancha’s story.

Time for a nap-go to Brown’s story.

Move backwards 4 blue

Move backwards 5 red

Move backwards 1 green

Move backwards 3 orange

Move forward 3 green

Move forward 1 red

Move forward 4 blue

Go back to finish

You win go to finish.

Move to nearest blue

Move to nearest green

You have been interviewed for this project, go to Gupper’s story.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMEBER 2015 143

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

144 DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

Awkward Land By: Jenny and Alexis

By: Alexis Samaniego and Jenny Vest

Berries Brown ‘16 most awkward situation is falling asleep in class and snoring when it’s really quiet.

Elisha Smith ‘17 Her most awkward situation is when a teacher called on her when she wasn’t paying attention.

Thomas Gupper ‘16 he said the most awkward situation was trying to be interviewed about awkward situations.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMEBER 2015 145

BY LAUREN

BY LAUREN KATZKATZ

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2015 SECTION 146

It’s the first day of winter break and the snow is softly falling outside your bedroom window. As you watch the frost creep up the pane, your sleepy mind cannot for the life of it think of anything to do today. Here’s hoping that this helpful list will kickstart your still-in-school brain mode into wicked winter fun!

Location 1: Lake MacBride, Solon Where the air is still, the snow untouched and a chill in the air to revive you, what could be a better way than to kick off break outside?

Dig up those cross country skis and enjoy the brisk December air as you ski on the Lake Macbride cross country trails near the raptor center. Don’t have your own skis? Rent a pair from Finn & Feather located in Iowa City. Boots and poles cost $15 per day. After this escapade, take a short 11 minute drive via Mehaffey Bridge Road to Capanna Coffee in North Liberty for some hand-warming hot

Location 2: There’s Snowplace like Home You missed the downtown gingerbread house competition, but you can still host your own contest! Find two groups of four people, supply gingerbread, icing, and candy and give each group one hour to construct and decorate a gingerbread house. Give each team an incentive to win by promising a prize to the best-looking house.

147 SECTION DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

“You get to exercise with your family; what could be better than that? Plus then the warm hot chocolate is so much more appreciated!”

-Elise Femino, ‘18

Location 3: Leaf Kitchen If you’re looking for a cozy place to catch up with the fam, Leaf Kitchen is the place for you! Open 9-2 pm all week, you can show up for brunch, lunch or afternoon tea.They offer a noteworthy assortment of teas and cookies such as the Honey Yuzu and Lavender- andMint Leaf Chocolate Chip cookie.

“I like Leaf Kitchen because of the mismatched dishes and random lamps; the differences make it feel homey and warm. My favorite scones are the plain ones, but I like to put jelly on the top. The lavender tea also smells really good!”

-Aisha Kazembe ‘18

Location 4: Fired Up If you’re looking to satisfy your creative spark, Fired Up Inc., located in Iowa City, is the place to go! Open from roughly 12-6 P.M. on weekdays and 12-4 P.M. on weekends, you can bring a friend and choose from an assortment of ceramics, brushes and paints. When you’ve finished painting, your creation will go in the kiln and be ready for pickup in about a week!

Location 5: Home Ec.

“I had a great time going to ‘Fired Up’ with my friends.

Being able to pick your paints and pottery is super fun and it’s really gratifying to be able to use what you made!”

-Izzy Martinez,‘‘18

Creative Crochets:

Home Ec., located in Iowa City is a workshop which offers classes for crocheting, knitting, sewing and stitching. They have many fabrics to choose from, in fact, it is worthwhile to simply visit them to choose some fabric!

Knit, sew, crochet, spin, stitch, drink coffee or eat a cookie from their kitchenette. Open from 10 am-7pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10-6pm on Friday and 10-5pm on the weekend, you can join a class or organize a private lesson.

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