THE APPEL THE APPELLATION
2901 MELROSE AVE IOWA CITY, IA 52246 JUNE 3, 2014
Pg. 3
Pg.4
Summer Calendar
Frozen Joy
Pg.6 Chews Your Flavor
Pg. 7
Pg. 10
Bridging the Gap
Netflix Necessities
Pg. 12 50 Shades of Orange
Pg. 14 O.S.S Editorial
Pg. 15 Don’t Micromanage Me
COVER by//SIMRAN SARIN PHOTO by// Maya83 PHOTOS by//SIMRAN SARIN {Design by SIMRAN SARIN
Don’t know what to do with your summer days? Take a look at our
CALEN D R E A M R! M U S
M T W
Th
F
Sa Su
June
Every Monday: Open mic series at The Mill
July
Every Monday: Open mic series at The Mill
Try out some free pie shakes at the Hamburg Inn!
June 18th, MusicIC starts in pedmall
July 17th: Iowa City sidwalk sales begin!
Every Friday: Friday night concert series outside the Sheraton and ICPL
Every Friday: Friday night concert series outside the Sheraton and ICPL July 3rd: Jazz Fest starts downtown
June 6th: Art Fests starts in down town Iowa City Free movie series at the Pentacrest
Free movie series at the Pentacrest
June 7th: Arts fest ends June 21st: MusicIC ends
July 5th: Jazz Fest ends July 20th: Sidewalk sales end
COMPILED BY//AVERY SMITH } JUNE 2014 A&E 3
FROZEN JOY By Avery Smith
avery.ian.smith.ais@gmail.com
The scene for frozen yogurt in Iowa City has boomed in the last few years, with several places opening all around town. But with all the places, how should you decide on which one to eat at? The Appellation takes a look at three fro yo places and informs you on their own quirks and delicacies.
T h e newer of the two local chains of fro yo, Ghurties’ fro-yo is defined by it’s sweeter tasting fro-yo. The atmosphere of the restaurant is nice, however upon walking in I was met with an extremely overpowering smell of hand sanitizer that nearly killed my appetite. However, their fabulous fro-yo made up for it. Of the three places, their spoons were very lackluster, and while they lacked a divider for your fro yo endeavors, they did invest in providing waffle bowls
for more coverage go to wsspaper.com PHOTOS by/SIMRAN SARIN
04 FOOD JUNE 2014 { DESIGN BY SIMRAN SARIN
Of the three places, this place had the coolest spoons. Straight up, these were mad rad. But aside from that, there wasn’t a ton that made this place stand out. Compared two the other two places, their yoghurt is the least unique, nothing that really defines it as it’s own. They did, however, offer cup dividers called “Divide & Conquer,” dividing the bowl into three sections to maximize your fro you diversity. They also provided Waffle Bowls alongside Ghurties
Here we are, Iowa City original fro-yo place. While their spoons are not quite as swaggin’ as Orange Leaf ’s, they’re still pretty cool. They have a similar fro-yo bowl divider concept similar to Orange Leaf ’s, splitting the bowl into two sections for a more diverse fro yo selection. Of all three places, the interior of this place is a little lackluster, lacking in unique chairs and tables and a rather boring paint scene. However, that is more than made up for with it’s extremely thick and fulfilling fro yo.
JUNE 2014 FOOD 05
Chews Your Flavor Many high-schoolers find themselves in a sticky situation by the end of the year. The coffee shop only sells so many different flavors of gum, and you’re sick of everyone stealing your Extra pieces. All you want is a new and
exciting flavor of gum- something that will awaken your tastebuds and blow your mind away. The Appellation is here to save the day and and help you Wrigley out of this icky situation. Here are some bubble gum flavors the WSS suggests you Trident.
Name: Wasabi Gumballs Where to buy it: accoutrements.com or Amazon Cost: $6.54 Maybe you just love the spicy hot flavor of wasabi, or you want an easier, simpler way to eat wasabi with your sushi. (The Appellation recommends that you do not eat wasabi gumballs while eating sushi at the same time.) Whatever the case, wasabi is definitely the flavor for you. The flavor of the gumball is mostly sweet, but there is a very slight twinge of spiciness. There isn’t enough spice to make your taste buds burn wildly and clear up your sinuses, however, if you a looking for something to spice up your life a little, this gum will hit the spot.
Name: Bacon Gumballs Where to buy it: accoutrements.com or Amazon Cost: $5.80 America’s favorite flavor- bacon. From toothpaste to soda, it seems as if everything sold in America comes with the option of being bacon flavored. How could one resist bacon flavored gum? From the moment you open the box, the crimson red gumball catches your attention. It’s delicious smell reaches your nose in a matter of seconds. When you pop the gumball in your mouth, it’s flavor surprises you. At first the flavor is just bubble gum and then the bacon starts to kick in. It’s very slight at first, but the flavor gets stronger and stronger. Eventually, the flavor of bacon overtakes the sweet bubble gum flavor to a point at which the flavor is too strong- if that’s possible. Try this flavor out and make the decision for yourself: can you handle the bacon?
Name: Pickle Gumballs Where to buy it: accountrements.com or Amazon Cost: $5.78
If none of the previous flavors have appealed to you, you sure are in a pickle. Maybe an extra briney pickle-flavored gumball will help you out. It has a mint green color, and is very smooth, contrary to a pickle. The gumball has hardly any smell what-so-ever and its flavor is non-existent as well. It’s flavor consists of bubble gum and the only pickle you taste is when you swallow. Even worse, when you swallow, you really have to concentrate to taste the pickle. This gum is a disappointment to all pickle lovers.
FOR MORE COVERAGE GO TO WSSPAPER.COM
6 FOOD JUNE 2014 DESIGN BY//AVERY SMITH
BRIDGING THE GAP By ELEANOR HO
eleanorcpbw12@gmail.com
Is the summer learning gap what’s holding students back?
PHOTO by//SIMRAN SARIN
JUNE 2014 COVER STORY 07
S
ummer is right around the corner. You can feel the weight of it in the air, the promise of lazy days and warm sunlight. But with all these wonderful things that are found in summer, what you don’t notice are the effects that slowly creep into your brain, melting away your memory like ice cream in the desert. According to a study by the National Summer Learning Association conducted over more than 100, most students lose two month’s worth of learning during every summer break. Over the course of public school, that adds up to over two years of forgotten material. Summer break causes a lot of problems besides a learning loss. It causes the achievement gap between low income students and higher income students to become exaggerated. As a result, lower income students are even less likely to graduate from high school or enroll in postsecondary education, according to the National Summer Learning Association. Other setbacks of a large summer break include an increase in weight gain, especially in children with a high risk of becoming obese. The national tradition of summer break began with an older version of American society. “Kids needed to go work on farms, when summer time came, they needed to help out working and planting when we had much more of an agricultural based society and the system just stayed,” said Karen Meyer, a teacher at West High. Meyer taught internationally at schools in Venezuela, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia), and Switzerland. In addition, many families with relatives outside of the United States want the long break. “I like summer break because I can visit my family in India,” said Mythri Challa, ’17, “I like to be there for at least four weeks, because it takes so long to fly there.” Despite its downfalls, some countries still follow the so called “American way”. “We had a two and a half month break in Jordan, and we just have a day for Christmas, and Easter was also one day. we had some breaks for Islamic holidays,” said Hannah Jwaied ’17. She studied in Jordan for 13 years before coming to study at West High. However, many other countries stay away from the American schedule. Top countries including South Korea and Germany use school schedules that are more evenly spread across the year. “I’m a huge proponent of year round school,” Meyer said, “when people hear ‘year round school’, I think that they think they get no summer vacation. What it means is you still go [to school] the exact same number of days, you just space out your breaks.”
08 COVER STORY JUNE 2014
In the 2006-2007 school year, about 3% of public schools operated on a year round basis, on two different types of schedules; single-track and multitrack. Single track year round school is simply rearranging the 180 days into a more spaced out schedule. The multi-track schedule involves only parts of the student population being in school, while another part is on vacation. This serves to reduce overcrowding, a large issue at West High and many schools across the country. In addition, it saves money for school districts because less materials are needed at any one time, and costly buildings don’t need to be built as quickly to accommodate a growing population. Besides big-picture advantages, it affects students positively on an individual level. “A student who struggles in school, they need the consistency [of year round schooling]. I think it would be a much better situation for them,” Meyer said. This would eliminate an estimated twothirds of the achievement gap between low-income students and high-income students. In the Cedar Rapids school district, two elementary schools, Taylor Elementary School and Polk Elementary School, run on a year round calendar. For the past eleven years, Taylor Elementary School has had a five week long summer break, with lengthened winter and spring breaks. According to KCRG, a local news source, they have switched to a seven week long summer break and shorter winter and spring breaks, allowing families to enjoy summer longer. “I’ve been principal for eight years and have never heard a teacher say they did not like the calendar; actually the shorter, more frequent breaks throughout the year are beneficial to maintaining higher levels of focus during the year. Productivity and moral are higher because during those longer, arduous stretches of a school year, kids and teachers alike know a break is coming and the opportunity to reflect and ‘recharge those batteries’ is rejuvenating,” said Brian Christoffersen, principal of Taylor elementary. However, with recent budget cuts in the district, the idea of converting to year round schooling here is still far off. “I wanna make it clear [that] air conditioning is an issue. You cannot have kids going to school in 110 degree weather and expect for them to succeed,” Meyer said. But still, she’s staying optimistic. “I believe this in anything: if the right people are in the right place to make it happen, it could be done tomorrow. But who does that person need to be? There needs to be someone who’s pushing that concept and making it happen.” dESIGN by//SIMRAN SARIN
PHOTO by//katsrcool (kool cats photography)
JUNE 2014 COVER STORY 09
Necesities
After a long day of school and with the stresses of homework, Kevin Hanson ‘17 likes to relax by watching comedies like Archer, Family Guy, American Dad, and more. “They’re funny. People fall on their ass,” said Hanson. “If you’ve had a bad day and want to have a laugh, all you have to do is watch people fall on their ass. It’s fantastic.”
10 A&E JUNE 2014
Minsu Song ‘15 has a diverse selection of shows she loves to watch, from Charmed, to How I Met Your Mother, to Glee. But her favorite show to watch is How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), an NBC comedy that recently ended. “Now that it’s over, it’s nice to just be able to watch it and know, ‘Okay, this is how things go,’ as opposed to shows like Pretty Little Liars where a character will say something in one episode that is completely negated in the next.” said Song.
The Appellation asks West students for their favorite shows and why they like them.
for more coverage go to wsspaper.com
Becca Staib ‘16 likes to take advantage of Netflix’s huge and unique selection of shows and movies by finding and watching whatever random shows she happens to stumble across. This has led to her discovering American Horror Story. “I like how it’s different from other shows. It has a thriller or horror aspect to it that aren’t seen in many other shows.” said Staib. “[I would recommend this to] anyone who likes horror. Since every episode has a different plot, it will keep you entertained.”
Want some more wacky Netflix classics you need to watch? Head to wsspaper.com for more coverage..
DESIGN BY//AVERY SMITH JUNE 2014 A&E 11
50 Shades OF
Orange From a golden bronze to tangerine orange, the skin colors at school vary after winter when everyone want to have gorgeous skin. But is that great look that lasts for a few months really worth sacrificing your health for?
“
I think the whole spray tan thing is a fad, and hopefully when Snooki dies it will be gone.” -Nathan Abramoff ‘17
By SIMRAN SARIN
simran.ranisarin@gmail.com
It’s that time of year again- everyone is raking through their closets trying to find their shortest shorts and cropped shirts. They already have perfectly bronze tans, although winter just ended and there hasn’t been much sun. How do teenage girls keep their skin bronze all year round? The almighty tanning beds and sprays. Along with the chance of a person’s skin turning an obnoxious shade of orange, tanning poses a great threat to the David Wang ’17 public’s health. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch off of the World Health Organization, the usage of tanning beds increases a person’s risk of melanoma (skin cancer). Out of all age groups, people who are under the age of 35 and use tanning beds increase their risk of cancer by 75 percent. Despite how dangerous tanning beds are to a
person’s health, people continue to use them. “A common misconception about tanning beds is that the newer tanning beds are now made to emit safe wavelengths of light and do not increase chance for skin cancer in the future. This simply is not true!” said Dermatologist David Boysen. A person who spends a significant amount of time outside on a daily basis is susceptible to develop melanoma later on in their life if they do not protect their skin. However, tanning beds are significantly more dangerous because of the extremely powerful UV(ultraviolet) rays they emit. According to the FDA, a single use of a tanning bed can increase a person’s chance of developing melanoma by 20 percent. Each additional tanning session can increase the risk by another two percent. Who or what causes teenagers to put their lives in danger to get a nice skin tone? Do teenagers not know about the dangers of UV rays or do they simply not care enough about their health? David Wang ’17 believes a lack of knowledge isn’t the problem. “I’m pretty sure all
12 FEATURE JUNE 2014 {DESIGN BY SIMRAN SARIN
[teenagers] know they’re going to get skin cancer but don’t care. They’re like, YOLO,” Wang said. If a lack of knowledge isn’t the problem, then what is? “[Teenagers] care about their body image too much. They care so much that they sacrifice their health,” said Nathan Abramoff ’14. According to the BBC, many women feel as if they need a tan to look acceptable in today’s society. However, women who get fake tans pay for it as they get older. According to Boysen, common effects from excessive outdoor or indoor tanning include, “Premature aging of the Nathan Abramoff ’17 skin, wrinkles, age spots, [and] sun burns.” Celebrities also play a major role in influencing teen to get fake tans. In the 1980s, celebrities started to make appearances with perfectly tan skin. Naturally, tan skin became the “in” thing, and people did whatever they could to get the beautiful “healthy glow” that all the celebrities
on the spot
{
On a scale from 1 to 10, how dangerous is tanning?
“A solid nine”
Layla Siddig’15
“Seven because I know people who have gotten melanoma from tanning when they were younger.” Jaxon Klosterman ’17
had. Tanning quickly became associated with glamour and sex-appeal. Nowadays, celebrities such as Snooki and the Kardashians are an excellent of Dermatologist David Boysen representation fake tans. Commonly mistaken for Mr. Wonka’s oompa loompas, these celebrities have a tan that can only be described as orange. “People are always going to tan because they want to look good, but I think the whole spray tan thing is a fad, and hopefully when Snooki dies it will be gone,” Abramoff said. If some teenagers are still desperate for the glowing orange skin they get from fake tans, there is always an alternative to tanning beds. “Spray tans are a safe alternative when trying to achieve a tanned look,” said Boysen. Unfortunately, spray tans are still not 100
percent safe. “A spray tan itself does not increase the chance for melanoma. However, because the person who gets a spray tan looks tan, they think they might not need to use sunscreen anymore. This is a misconception as the spray tan does not protect the skin from ultraviolet light. In this way, a person can be more susceptible to skin cancer because he/she is not protecting their skin appropriately,” said Boisen. Although artificial tanning is detrimental to people’s health, it cannot be banned. “It should be like it is with cigarettes; there’s an age where you legally can [get fake tans] but you still shouldn’t,” Abramoff said. Others across the nation have the same thought process as Abramoff. The FDA has announced that warning labels will soon be required on tanning devices and will have to advise persons under the age of 18 to not use those devices. “ I do think the message is slowly getting out to the public that there is no such thing as a safe tan whether it’s being outdoors or at an indoor tanning bed,” said Boysen.
“A nine because there are harmful UV rays.” Molly Howes ’17
“A 6.25. Tanning is kind of dangerous.”
Harry Manaligod ’15
COMPILED by//SIMRAN SARIN PHOTOS by//SIMRAN SARIN PHOTO by// MERCY HOSPITAL
JUNE JUNE2014 2014 FEATURE FEATURE13 13
Editorial:
The Appellation investigates if and why out of school suspension is (or isn’t) a viable punishment
W
hen you picture the stereotypical high school, you picture a bunch of different cliques. The populars, the nerds, the jocks, and maybe the worst out of the bunch: the rowdy group. They cause trouble everywhere they go and end up with detentions, bad reputations, and suspensions. At West High and most other countries in the United States, there are two types of suspensions. In-school suspension, and out of school suspension. In school suspension, considered by most as the lesser punishment, is where you sit in a classroom for most to the entire school day doing basically nothing. On the other hand, out of school suspension, the so called bad one, is where you aren’t allowed to go to school. Instead you stay at home and sit in the corner with a dunce cap and think about the bad things you’ve done. NOT. In school suspension is basically a get-out-of-jail-free card, with jail in this situation being school. You’re not being forced to sit in classes
that tend towards the irrelevant side, you don’t have to wake up at an ungodly hour, you don’t even need to change out of your pajamas if you don’t want to. It’s more of a reward for being bad than a punishment.
“
PROBLEMS DON’T JUST GO AWAY WHEN YOU SHUT YOUR EYES.”
-The Appellation
If this isn’t a punishment, why does it exist? according to the West High student handbook “students whose presence poses a continuing danger to persons or property and/ or ongoing threat of disrupting the academic process will be assign out-of-school suspension”. In other slightly more comprehensible words, if you’re too dangerous, you’re out. The motives for this type
of punishment is understandable, but this creates another problem. Throwing troublemakers out into the streets to do what they will isn’t the best way to deal with this. Out of school suspension needs to be changed so it isn’t a reward for doing bad things. Kids who are acting out to the point of needing to be suspended instead need to be retaught how to behave, separate from other students. Some people are skeptical, or plain don’t want to waste the resources trying to save “lost causes”. But something needs to be done, because problems don’t just go away if you close your eyes and click your heels. Should the I.C.C.S.D remove O.S.S. as a punishment for poor beheavior?
3-0
The Appelation editorial board voted in support of removal.
EQUALITY STATEMENT
It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, martial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or socioeconomic programs, activities, or employment practices. If you believe you have (or your child has) been discriminated against or treated unjustly at your school, please contact the Equity Director, Ross Wilburn, at 509 Dubuque Street, 319-688-1000.
EDITORIAL POLICY
The Appellation reflects the views of the staff and does not represent the school administration, faculty or student body. Guest articles may be accepted to represent an additional point of view or as a part of a collection of reader contributions. The staff will carefully scrutinize all reader submissions. All ads are subject to approval by the business staff. Those that are libelous, obscene or plainly offensive may be rejected. The Appellation attempts to publish all letters, which must be signed, to the Editors, but may reject submissions due to space limitations, inaccuracy or poor quality. It is the responsibility of the opinion editor to verify authorship. Editors can make minor edits for the sake of clarity, length and grammatical correctness.
14 OPINION JUNE 2014 DESIGN BY//AVERY SMITH
A WEEK during
O.S.S. Day 1 You’re free! The realization that you have 3+ days all to your lonesome to day what you want.
plus 4
Boredom... After the initial high of no school related responsiblity, you become very bored with the lack of entertainment
minus 1
You > Your Friends “Haha, my friends still have to be in school, NERRRRRRRRDS,” you say to your self as you slowly become swamped with work you’re missing.
plus 2
Oh, this is homeschool You realize that while homework sucks, fitting 72+ hours of learning and additional homework alone sucks more
minus 5
Welcome back!!.. You arrive back at school. While you have to learn, you also don’t have to teach yourself anymore. Meh
zero
Total: zero COMPILED BY//AVERY SMITH
DON’T
Micromanage How to avoid excessive stress on your summer vacation
BY ELEANOR HO
eleanorcpbw12@gmail.com
You’re standing in Disney World, for the very first time since you were a child. Surrounded by humid Florida air, bratty children screaming for ice cream, and the aroma of overpriced food, you want to document the moment. “No time for pictures!” A shrill voice rings out, jolting you from your stab of nostalgia. A packet of paper is shoved into your hands by a family member, the owner of the shrill voice. And what, one might ask, is on this packet of information? A schedule, describing every minute of the entire day, including meals, which rides when, bathroom breaks… wait, bathroom breaks? Next, a color-coded map of where you’re going, when, and how you’re going to get there, including rendezvous points. Finally, there’s (brace yourself) ride seating assignments. At the end of the day, you trudge back to your hotel room and collapse in a heap. Keeping on schedule was harder to do than you thought, especially with the horde of small children, who were about as easy to herd as cats. You pull out your phone and glance at the camera roll, searching for something to post on Facebook. But nothing. Not even generic sunglasses selfie. “No time for pictures!” rings out in your head and you wince. Is it possible to get a migraine from someone just talking? Gandhi once said, “too much of a good thing is a bad thing.” Okay, maybe not Gandhi, but someone really smart and/or important and/or famous. This lesser evil, also known as micromanaging, is an overabundance of organization. Don’t get me wrong, organization is a great thing to have. You can keep track of important DESIGN BY// ELEANOR HO
Me
homework, you have important dates at your fingertips, heck, you can even know what day of the week it is! But honestly, do bathroom breaks necessarily need to be on the schedule? You’ve hear the phrase “nature calls”, right? Some of you might be thinking, what’s the problem? Well, if your time off becomes a hurried mess of trying to check things off of the list, there’s your problem. If you’re not enjoying your vacation, it’s not really a vacation. The real objective is to have fun; so what if that means a couple hours of down time at the hotel? Some people are so detail oriented, they can’t see the big picture concept of vacations. So, o wise columnist, you must be asking, can we do when we’re with one of these such people? The answer? RUN. Just kidding. If they manage to chase you down, it’ll be pretty dang awkward. The best way to deal with this is way easier, especially if you’re not into cardio workouts. Tell the truth. Tell the micromanager in question that while their efforts are appreciated, they’re on vacation, so it’s okay if not everything’s perfect. They’re on vacation, so chill! Most likely, your reality check will be appreciated, and you can enjoy the rest of your time off. But, don’t be the person that belittles their efforts. What they’re really trying to do is to be helpful in the best way they know how; being organized. After all, in this messy world of ours, there’s not a lot of people willing to do that for you. So next time that shrill-voiced family member tries to hand you a vacation schedule, kindly thank them and go hide on the spinning teacups.
HOW TO manage a
MICRO-
MANAGER (SUBTLY) STEP 1 Say stuff like “bro I feel like being totally spontaneous today.” Hopefully they’ll get the hint...?
STEP 2 If you start running into problems, tell your micromanager to just “let it go.”
STEP 3 Proceed to sing “Let It Go” and other songs like “Hakuna Matata.” Get them to join in and while they’re distracted, steal their timetables and higlighters for color coding.
STEP 4 “Accidentally” loose your schedule. Multiple times. Because they will inevitably have extra copies.
STEP 5 If all else fails stop being subtle and just tell them. It’s much less embarassing than singing in public.
COMPILED BY//ELEANOR HO
JUNE 2014 OPINION 13
Start
Are you adventurous? Yes
Warm or cool?
Nope
THE MOVIE THEATER It’s. Always. Freezing.
What type of adventure?
Cool
Are you okay with things trying to kill you?
It’s known as the city of love. If you don’t fall in love with a person, there’s always the croissants.
Yes
Do you like swimming?
STAY HOME Beware, the Outernet is full of dangers. Better to grab a tub of ice cream, your laptop, and just chill.
OH,THE PLACES YOU’LL GO
GO TO THE MALL You can go wander aimlessly for a couple of hours while consuming copious amounts of Starbucks.
Where should you should spend your summer?
What? No!
meh
*laughs* what friends?
...normal stuff?
PARIS, FRANCE Anything for adrenaline
What do you and your friends do?
Warm
Romance!
...regular?
How’d you know?
SIX FLAGS
You can scream to your heart’s delight, with out you know, the high mortality rate.
How do you feel about sand? LOS ANGELES
THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK YOU are the daringest of the daring. nothing except in class essays can faze you. This will be your personal challenge.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Tons of different things to see and do, including bears.
Pass
*cringes*
THE SWIMMING POOL Nothing says summer like sunscreen, chlorine, and checking out the lifeguards!
You’ve got all sorts of stuff to do, pluse sun and the beach if you change your mind about swimming. It’s cool
THE BEACH
Sand castles galore, seagulls, crashing waves... what’s not to love at this classic vacation destination? {DESIGNED AND COMPILED BY ELEANOR HO} PHOTO BY//YEOWATZUP ON CREATIVE COMMONS