February/March Issue

black& white the

February/March 2015

pages 10/11

The gift of life

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index

feb/march 2015 p.2

meet the staff

february & march

Cover: Photo by Sydney Ginkens

Head editor-in-chief Anne Rogers

Print editor-in-chief Clare Farrell Online editor-in-chief Carly Kinning Design editor Zoe Wilson Sports editor Carly Campbell Opinion editor Senad Besic Online sub-editor Natalie Larimer Print sub-editor Sarah Caporelli Staff writers

sports Ice fishing fanatics

editorial

13 Communication is key

double truck

10/11 The gift of life

feature

The Black and White is published solely by the Johnston High School newspaper staff. Its goal is to inform, enlighten and entertain Johnston students. It is an open forum. In accordance with Iowa law and board policy, students assign and edit material and make all decisions of content. The paper is generally published ten times per school year. The paper will avoid material that is libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. The law does not require parental permission to use student quotes.

Ethically, we believe students can speak for themselves.

Staff editorials represent the opinion of a majority of the editorial board. Editorial and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the advisor, school officials or the district. Letters to the editor must be signed.

Like all material, letters may not be libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. Bring letters to room 413 within one week after publication to be considered for the next issue. The Black and White strives to report accurate and timely information. If you believe that an error has been printed, please contact the editors through email at jhsblackandwhite@gmail.com. The Black and White is a member of CSPA, NSPA, Quill & Scroll and IHSPA.

photo essay

b&w philosophy

7 The future of outdoor pursuits

Allison Klein Michelle Kumar Eileen Lagerblade Anna Larson Kate Lichter Allexis Mahanna Kitarrah Mangra-Dutcher Carissa Metcalf Lizzy Orr Will Reiher Bryce Schulte Olivia White Photographer Sydney Ginkens

4/5 The Big Give

Matthew Berry Erin Bockenstedt Meredith Campidilli Grace Coleman Hannah Crooks Max Culbert Jake Dalbey Brianna Erickson Esmeralda Flores Brooke Ginsberg Myles Glandorf Kennedy Graeser Meredith Gwennap Kathryn Ikeda Medina Jusufovic

current events

feb/march 2015 p.3

compiled | Zoe Wilson

Letter to the editor To all the editors of the JHS Black and

White Newspaper and the JHS Student Body:

In almost all previous issues of the

B&W published this year, the topic of

acceptance/tolerance has been strongly emphasized without any idea of why

it should be other than the doctrine of

“people should get what they deserve” and “all people need equal rights” and “People

are afraid to be themselves” and such. You have provided evidence for why we sup-

and should be treated in an appropri-

earlier, as long as there is even the small-

defines tolerance as “willingness to accept

tolerance is virtually, and most likely truly,

ate way.” However, the same dictionary

feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different impossible to achieve. But I also said from your own,” and the verb “accept” as

“to receive willingly.” This then enlightens the idea that as long as there is even the

smallest unyielding differing viewpoint, tomost likely truly, impossible to achieve.

But, respect can be achieved.

I say this idea because of my differ-

ing viewpoint on almost all of the opinion

nobody knows what would happen if total

respect people, and I am willing to do that.

tolerance was achieved. That is a seri-

ous flaw with your issues, and that is also partially why I am writing this letter.

In my opinion, everybody should be

treated with respect, which is NOT total

acceptance/tolerance. I personally try to treat almost everyone with the respect

that they are due as a fellow human being like I am. However, my idea of respecting others is much different from the B&W’s

conveyed ideas of acceptance/tolerance.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of the

English Language defines respect as “a

feeling of admiring someone or something that is good, valuable, important, etc.” or

“a feeling or understanding that someone or something is important, serious, etc.,

that respect can be achieved. I wish to conclude this letter with a statement of

my own two cents worth on this subject to everyone in general: Since total accep-

tal tolerance or acceptance is virtually, and tance/tolerance is an irrational idea and is

posedly need total acceptance/tolerance,

and I compliment you for your efforts. But,

est differing viewpoint, total acceptance/

writing that is published in the B&W. I

However, I cannot possibly accept, nor

have complete tolerance for, something

that is against my own moral ideals and

most likely impossible to achieve, I think that everyone should focus on earning

the respect they deserve of others. Once

you have the respect of others, you need not worry about being mistreated. Other

people will still have differing viewpoints,

but this cannot be stopped. People will al-

most always have negative thoughts about some person or group or people, whether

standards. This then brings the concept of they are lobbying for acceptance/tolerance moral standards into question. If absolute

acceptance/tolerance was achieved, then

or not. So, I ask you (meaning everyone reading this letter) this question: Why

it could be speculated (and it is most likely, don’t we just respect each other instead of but sadly, true) that the moral backbone

trying to force radical ideas that will most

society to fall into total, complete, near-ir-

each other?! So overall, I think that we, as

of society would collapse; thus causing

likely never be fully accepted/tolerated on

reversible chaos. I, personally, do not want a society, have the wrong idea: We need this to happen. Also, I don’t think anyone

to respect each other as people instead of

pen, whether or not they are for or against

everything.

in their right mind would want this to hapthis doctrine of acceptance/tolerance.

This then returns me to the original

demanding total acceptance/tolerance of

-David Lass, Class of 2016

purpose of writing this letter. Like I stated

What in the world?

March 2

Ticao Island, Philippines Divers swam with a trans-

Austin, TX A “professional” dump-

ster diver found $9,000 worth of merchandise, including brand new computer software.

February 26

Arizona, USA A boy forgot his house keys, so he slid down

the chimney, resulting in him having to be pulled out by the fire department.

lucent worm-like creature, whose organelles give it the ability to glow.

events quiz

1

Who won the Academy award for best picture?

a

Birdman

b c

Boyhood Selma

2

What year did Kanye West interrupt Taylor Swift’s speech at the Video Music Awards?

a

2007

b c

2009 2012

3 a

b c

4 a

Interested in writing a Letter to the Editor? Email us at jhsblackandwhite@gmail.com or talk to us in person in room 413.

February 24

Current

b

c

5 a

b c

6 a

b c

Which of the following people have not won a Nobel Peace Prize?

Oprah Winfrey Mother Teresa Barack Obama Which of the following people

has hosted the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards?

Adam Sandler Josh Peck Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson What is the name of the award show for the worst in film?

Golden Raspberry Awards The Dundies Dorothy Everton Smyth Award

The Pulitzer Prize is an award

for achievements in which of the following?

Short films Sports Journalism, literature and music

answers found on jhsblackandwhite.com

photo essay

feb/march 2015 p.4

The Big Give is big success

words & layout | Esmeralda Flores & Brianna Erickson

Each year, The Big Give is hosted by Student Council during the months of January and February. This year Student Council teamed up with the CC+10 foundation. Approximately $7,600 was raised through all of the events, which will be donated to the foundation in support of mental illness awareness. The events included a coin war between classes, a dodgeball tournament, guest speakers and various restaurant nights that donated funds.

1 2 3 4 5

While senior Reid Sinnett attempts a layup, senior Regen Siems and junior Erik Francios prepare for a rebound. The Dragons hosted Urbandale on Feb. 13. The final score of the game was 63-53, and Urbandale was victorious against the Dragons.

2

1

Brianna Erickson/ BW

3

Through humor, singing and dance moves, senior Luke Davis performs on stage during the talent show. Davis and senior Ben Perman sang “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift with the help of junior Julia Beswick.

Senior Samantha Wilkinson covers the song “A Thousand Years” by artist Christina Perri, while also playing acoustic guitar.

Wilkinson has performed in the talent show the past three years.

Juniors Tyler Franke and Ben Tack check out the competition during their round in the dodgeball competition. The dodgeball competition took place Feb. 8th at the high school gym from 1-3 pm.

Juniors Braden Cooper, Drake Moser and Erik Fancois prepare to sprint towards the line of dodgeballs lined up in the middle of the court.

The dodgeball tournament was hosted by Student Council at the high school Feb. 8.

Brooke Ginsberg/ BW

44 Brooke Ginsberg/ BW

5

Esmeralda Flores/ Esmeralda Flores/ BWBW Esmeralda Flores/ BW

5

Esmeralda Flores/ BW

photo essay

6 7 8

feb/march 2015 p.5

6

Team “Floon” celebrates winning the dodgeball tournament for the second year in a row. The team was made up of all junior boys who wore their “Tanks for Hank” in memory of the passing of their good friend Hank Evans this past summer.

Junior Johanna Miller shows off her talents by playing the piano backwards during The Big Give talent show Feb. 5. Miller tied for second place along with junior Christian Lund.

She played a medley of songs while facing the piano, like normal and playing it backwards.

Brianna Erickson/ BW

$$

Money raised from Big Give events

$3000 2,749.73

$

$

550.00 375.00 306.56 292.44 126.68 $ $

$

$ $

Events

BWW

$0

688.82

Bake Sale

$500

934.36

Dodgeball Tournament

$1000

1,549.50

Raffle

$1500

Pizza Raunch

Brianna Erickson/ BW Brianna Erickson/ BW

$2000

Talent Show

$2500

Coin War

9

Juniors Devin VanderWerff, Kenton Thoms and Nick Voss cheer for senior Nick Neumann for making a three-point shot. They were up against Urbandale 2825, however, the boys lost 63-53 against the J-hawks Feb. 13th.

The boys team did not make it to state, losing to the Waukee Warriors Feb. 27. The final score of that game was 48-27.

Donations

Brooke Ginsberg/ BW

Amount Raised ($)

7 9

9

8

Famous Dave’s

Esmeralda Flores/ BW

Sophomore Elle Brown reaches after the ball before an Urbandale player can grab it. She got the ball and made the layup. The girls won 62-15 against the J-hawks Feb. 13th.

The Big Give events that were hosted this year raised a substantial amount more than prior years.

The total amount raised was $7,573.09. The Coin War raised the most amount of money which was $2,749.73.

Information was provided by Student Council.

photo essay

feb/march 2015 p.6

Bowling knocks down the competition words | Bryce Shulte layout | Carly Campbell

The girls bowling team competed at the state competition

at Plaza Lanes in Des Moines Feb. 25. With a new high overall score of 2,989, the girls took home the title of state champions.

Junior Loyal Ulm placed first as individual state champion

Brianna Erickson/ BW

for the 3A class division with a total score of 460, senior Monica Snyder tied for sixth place with a total score of 423, and

Junior Loyal Ulm, became the first Johnston student to place first at state in the individual competition.

“I didn’t start out so hot,” Ulm said.

“I was throwing good pocket shots but leaving a solid pin every time. My Coach said to move my feet and mark to the left and started throwing strike after strike. It was crazy.”

sophomore Amber Reid placed ninth with a total score of 398.

It took time and effort to prepare for state, according to

girls on the team, and after the four hour-long day, the girls

are proud of themselves. “We worked so hard to be able to call ourselves state champions,” Snyder said. “We all knew what we had to do, we [went] frame by frame, we [didn’t] worry

about what our finish was going to be. We kept each other pumped up.”

On top of the team’s win as a group, Ulm is also humbled

Team Standings School

Score

1. Johnston 2. Ottumwa 3. Cedar Rapids Prairie 4. Dubuque Hempstead 5. Muscatine 6. Des Moines Lincoln 7. West Des Moines Valley

2989 2905 2806 2759 2601 2526 2296

by her win as individual state champion. “It’s unbelievable to be state champion,” Ulm said. “I’m so proud and thankful for all of the work my coaches and team have put into this season

to make it successful.” Behind Johnston, Ottumwa placed second, and Cedar Rapids Prairie placed third.

Sophomore Amber Reid bowls during the state competition.

She finished with score of 398, to contributed to the total team score, placing them in first overall.

Brianna Erickson/ BW

Individual Standings Bowler

School

Score

1. Loyal Ulm (Jr.) 2. Michaela Kelly (Sr.) 3. Bailey Palmer (Jr.) 4. Cheyanne Starr (Sr.) 5. Hanna Duver (So.) 6. Jade Klinefelter (Fr.) 6. Monica Snyder (Sr.) 8. Jennifer Raynoza (Sr.) 9. Mikayla Hite (Fr.) 9. Patrice Chapman (Sr.)

Johnston Bettendorf Ottumwa Ottumwa Des Moines Lincoln Cedar Rapids Prairie Johnston Waterloo West Cedar Rapids Prairie Dubuque Hempstead

210-250 (460) 225-225 (450) 221-226 (447) 212-225 (437) 222-212 (434) 179-244 (423) 179-244 (423) 201-204 (405) 172-222 (394) 200-194 (394)

Johnston team members Name

Grade

Loyal Ulm Monica Snyder Amber Reid Kelli Bormann Rose McAninch Allison Norris

Junior Senior Sophomore Senior Junior Sophomore

feature

feb/march 2015 p.7

Restricting online resources

words | Eileen Lagerblade layout | Sarah Caporelli

The school uses the filter to block inapropriate websites, with some exceptions for certain classes

Johnston blocks certain categories of websites from

their students by using a filter.

Not many students are aware that they can request a

cause we can’t do the research we need,” junior Shelby Grzech said.

When the students in DragonTV have research to do,

website to be unblocked. The request can be passed if

they have to go ask superviser Micheal Barta for his user-

There has been a case in which a student has asked for a

“It would be helpful to most students [if Barta opened

they can provide an educational purpose for the website.

name and password to his account.

news website to be unblocked and it was an easy process,

it] and we would definitely use it, but I also think some stu-

pose. “Of course if you send in a request to unblock Twitter

cause they would abuse it,” Grzech said.

because it was not difficult to provide an educational purit’s going to take a lot more time and research (because of

potentially inappropriate content and social networking is-

sues),” network and server specialist Wesley Bresson said.

A student can put in the URL of a blocked website, and

at the bottom of the page there is a link that will direct them

dents can’t be trusted with that opportunity or privilege beThere are some days when students can get onto any

website and download anything.

This is because sometimes the software that the school

uses fails.

“The software that we use to manage the iPads is called

to a Google forum. This allows the student to request an

Casper,” Bresson said, “It runs backups every night to

website and what teacher or class the site is needed for.

up not finishing. This crashed the database and caused the

unblock of the website. The forum asks for the URL of the With this unblocking process, it provides the school the

benefit of being able to trust students on the Internet. “The filter takes websites and blocks those, and it just depends

on the policy and it depends on what my bosses tell me to

backup the database.” This issue was caused by the backserver to reboot. “When the server comes back up [it can

be] missing some information,” Bresson said. Such as the what filter is supposed to filter and blocking the app store.

Junior Connor Stanton took advantage of when the

block and unblock,” Bresson said.

server failed. When the server went down the last time, he

that way the school will receive money and a faster transfer of data.

tify, a music playing app. Eventually, he had to delete them Teachers and students can use this form to send for fear of his iPad being wiped clean. requests to iPad HQ for unblocking a certain

ey,” Bresson said, “As part of that you have to block certain

a longer time.

Johnston’s policy is based on the government’s policy,

“We are required to [have a filter]; we get E-Rate mon-

categories of sites.”

E-Rate Money is a federal program where the school

gets 40% of it’s Internet bandwidth bill paid back by the federal government. This helps the school obtain afford-

downloaded multiple games from the App Store and Spo-

Stanton wished he had been able to keep the apps for site. The form asks what the URL of the site is

and what class needs the site only. To get into Although the filter has crashed before, the school has contact for further question the form saves the username.

found it to be a beneficial way to keep the school safe from inappropriate websites and apps.

able high-speed data.

There are certain classes that do have the privilege

of having a blocked website, such as Digital Storytelling which has YouTube unblocked.

“The reason [Digital Storytelling has] it is because they

are looking at film craft and YouTube is one of the fastest

growing places in regards to some film craft and some literary stuff,” teacher Sarah Moore said. “So it’s the ability to keep us current within the genre that we are looking at.”

It took Moore time to get YouTube open for her class.

“I had to talk to the head of the tech department and

give him some rationale as to why (we need YouTube) and

then we had to problem solve how the server would work with the filters and and with the log-ins,” Moore said.

Granted, not all classes that would benefit from having

YouTube have it. DragonTV is one of those classes.

“(We) especially need (YouTube) to plan our story and

we need to do some research, and it’s kind of difficult be-

The filter atomatically blocks youtube.com adult. certain sites depending on answers.com forums. the category they are put in, such as adult and games wiki.answers.com adult. from students. To have a studymode.com plagiarism site unblocked anyone can games2win.com adult.games. file a request only needing educational justification.

feature

feb/march 2015 p.8

The future of

Outdoor Pursuits

remains uncertain

words | Myles Glandorf Track six, otherwise known as outdoor pursuits, might

be the most unorthodox P.E class offered at the high

school. Not only is it the only blocked P.E. class, but it

also does away with many of the activities that could be considered "traditional."

layout | Carly Kinning & Zoe Wilson

perintendent at the time, he slammed his fist down on the

yes it would be nice," he said. "But just to offer it just as

ing, exposing our kids to some new and different things.' It

behind it, no."

table and he said 'this is exactly what we need to be dopassed." The next year track six had commenced.

Beason's inspiration for the new track stemmed from

For senior Scott Kruse it is a breath of fresh air, "We do

his passion for nature. "This all comes from my love of

There is a multitude of different activities that track six

wanted to pass that on to others," he said. "We [have]

stuff outdoors that other P.E classes don't offer," he said. students learn and perform. "We start off the year doing

some fly tying," track six teacher Dave Beason said. "Fly fisherman tie their own flies so I teach them how to do that, it's a good wintertime pass time for a lot of folks."

Senior Michael Thiel likes the activities in track six.

“I think my favorite so far has been archery because we didn’t just do normal archery we got to play games and

stuff like that,” Thiel said. “We got to compete with each other so that made everybody really try their hardest."

Kruse enjoys many of the offered activities. "So far I

liked archery the best," he said. "But I'm probably going to

Saylorville Lake so close by, and so many people have

never even been to the lake, there's all this great outdoor stuff we can do just seven minutes down the road and so thats why I created track six."

This class, however, might be in jeopardy. With the

thoughts of retirement on Beason's mind, the future of track six has become uncertain.

“I’m considering [retiring],” Beason said. “If the district

offered an early retirement package would I take that, probably would.”

With taking everything into consideration, Beason is

still unsure about retiring. “Without (an early retirement

outdoor pursuits is due to it being blocked. “We actually

and I gotta weigh all my options here.”

get into the activities, we get time to do it and excel at it

package), I don’t know, cost of insurance is pretty high

In Beason's absence, the program would either be of-

instead of you get it explained to you (and) do it for 20

fered again with a new teacher, or it would not. There is a

easier to get good at things and have fun with it and get to

don't see anybody on staff currently who has the inter-

minutes and you’re just done,” he said. “It makes it a lot

a point where you can work together and do it instead of everybody's just there.”

Beason is the teacher who actually came up with the

idea of outdoor pursuits around 1998. "It was a curriculum writing year for us, every so years you do a curriculum writing and you submit that to the district and you get

approval or not on your curriculum," he said. "It was just (good) timing."

The school was exploring the block schedule, and Bea-

son used that as an opportunity to present his idea. "I re-

member at the board meeting that night we presented this and one of the board members said 'this sounds a lot like

boy scouts, I don't think that's what we ought to be doing," Beason said. "Dr. (Richard) Sundblad who was our su-

Sydney Ginkens/BW

being outside and doing outdoor activities, I just simply

like fishing and rock climbing (too)."

Thiel finds that one of the main reasons he enjoys

a place to dump kids and not really have good instruction

Dave Beason instructs students on how to tie a specific knot. Students will go to Climb Iowa to use these skills to make knots before they rock climb.

Units of Track 6 fishing

rock climbing

orienteering

archery

chance that track six would continue without its founder. "I est to teach all the things I've been teaching, does that

mean that it would totally disappear, maybe, maybe not," he said. "I mean it could continue on just with somebody

else's twist to it, maybe they'd bring in some new activities to do so."

hiking

Thiel thinks it would be unfortunate if track six was

cross country skiing

stopped as he appreciates the positive atmosphere of

the class. “Everybody wants to be there,” he said. “In the other tracks everybody sits there and complains ‘I don’t

want to be in PE’ and (in track six) everybody’s like ‘yeah

mushroom hunting

let’s do it I want to be there’ and that’s really nice to have.”

Beason would love to see this program continue on,

given it was the right circumstances. "If you had somebody in there that was qualified to teach all the things,

photography

outdoor cooking/ camping frisbee golf

feature

feb/march 2015 p.9

R-Word: Changing misconceptions The spread the word to end the word movement is a campaign sweeping the nation that is spreading knowledge about the word “retard” in order to put an end to its usage in all harmful contexts

words & layout | Allexis Mahanna

Junior Grace Carlson works in the special ed room,

the word retard.

the school doesn’t emphasize it, but I mean obviously [the

Education Opportunity Provided for Exceptional Learners

making them feel like they’re [not different],” Carlson said.

it on the news and stuff, but I think it needs to be more

pating in such programs, and she has grown close to the

established during the Special Olympics Global Youth Acti-

students], you kind of see how just because they don’t

Games and has spread across the nation since then.

walks the halls with Mason Rumpf, and is a part of Physical

(PEOPEL) P.E. Carlson has realized the benefits of partici-

students as a result. “I mean, once you work with [these learn at the same rate doesn’t mean they can’t learn,” she

“I think it’s really just about hanging out with them and The “Spread the Word to End the Word” movement was

“The motivation for the campaign was driven by a unit-

his or her name, city, age and reason for taking the pledge.

which isn’t true.”

the world combined with a simple call to action that also

The “spread the word to end the word” movement is a

using the word “retarded”. The use of the word “retarded”

Students can still become involved in this movement by

going to r-word.com and taking the pledge. The pledge is a

ed passion to promote the positive contributions people

national campaign to encourage people to pledge to stop

prevalent here.”

vation Summit at the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter

said. “I guess to me, [the word retard] kind of signifies that they can’t learn at all and are incapable of doing anything,

movement is] a good thing,” Carlson said. “They talk about

with intellectual disabilities make to communities around

symbolizes positive attitude change and a commitment to make the world a more accepting place for all people,” a

promise to stop using the “r-word,” where students include The pledge is put onto the website, which keeps track of

how many people have taken the pledge. Students can

also take the pledge at the bottom of the page to become part of the movement.

Senior Dane Beery has a different opinion about us-

representative on the Special Olympics website said.

ing the word retard. “I use the word retard to more or less

The official definition of the word retard is ‘a delay or

tion room, has developed a love for the students and does

extremely offensive word, and one that I would never use

plishment.’ Some students use it as a synonym for stupid,

aren’t informed use to refer to someone they know who is

can be used in exchange for “stupid”.

hold back in terms of progress, development, or accomfrustrating or annoying. In the past, it has been used to describe those with mental disabilities. It can, however, offend

Carlson, being an active member in the special educa-

not promote the word. “I think [retard] is a word people who not as able as them,” Carlson said.

However this movement has not come to Johnston ful-

describe something that was stupid,” Beery said. “It is an directed towards somebody that the word is designed for.

However, [I wouldn’t take the pledge] because I know I’m not going to be able to hold my word.”

On March 31, 2009 the campaign celebrated the 1st An-

some people due to the negative stigma associated with it.

ly yet. There has been no school wide information given

nual Spread the Word to End the Word National Awareness

use of language that respects the dignity of people with

may be some information given in specific classes, there is

ing the word retard and encourage others to do the same.

Those who are a part of this campaign advocate for the

mental disabilities. Members believe that individuals with

disabilities feel less human due to the casual references to

about spreading the word to end the word. Although there yet to be school wide involvement.

“We don’t really do a whole lot of [the movement] here,

Day. Across the country, people made a pledge to stop usIn 2010, the 2nd Annual Spread the Word to End the Word National Day of Awareness took place on March 3, 2010.

Pledge Your Support Name

School (if attending)

City

Age

Grade

Reason for the pledge

Take the pledge, cut it out on dotted lines and return to room 413 (Journalism lab) to become a part of the movement

organ donation

feb/march 2015 p.10&11

“

“ The gift of life

Never rule yourself out

Tony Hakes, the outreach coordinator for Iowa Donor Network

“The Black and White” staff asked students why they chose whether or not to be an organ donor

Rylee Keith ‘15 “I chose yes because If I die I want

to be able to save lives and I want it to be a legacy. I know I will be able to save many lives.”

Student Hank Evans was longboarding with his friends

on May 29, 2014 when he lost consciousness and fell off

of his long board while going 25 mph down a hill. Evans took his last breath in the ambulance on the way to the

hospital, but was not declared dead until the next day at 10:20 a.m. Much to his parents’, Clint and Lori Evans,

surprise, their son was an organ donor. He made the decision on his own when he received his license, and Clint and Lori honored Hank’s final wish to help others after his death.

The demand for organs is high. According to orgando-

nor.gov there are 123,215 people currently waiting for an

Jared Bacon ‘16

“I chose yes, just in case anything

happens and to help support other

people who need organs because I know there are a lot of people who

need them. Also, if something were

to happen I know it would help others out and it would save a lot of lives.”

organ donation nationwide while, 21 people will die each

day waiting for an organ. One organ donor can save up to eight lives and enhance 100 or more.

Becoming an organ donor is easy. Tony Hakes, the

outreach coordinator for the Iowa Donor Network, encourages people to choose to donate. “You can save lives just by marking yes on your license,” Hakes said.

Becoming an organ donor does not guarantee that

you donate all of your organs.

“They say you have to die a perfect death to be an

organ donor,” Lori said.

though I won’t be alive, it still kind of scares me.”

Bryce Hanna ‘16 “I chose yes because when I

learned about what [organ donation] was it inspired me. Also, I

didnt realize how much it helped

people and that it was a necessary thing.”

even treating a fever he had on Saturday morning.

Once someone is declared dead, the nursing staff at

the hospital contacts the Iowa Donor Network who then works with the medical team to determine if the patient is

Myths and facts of organ donation *donatelife.net

Myth

“[I do not check yes] because even

eligible to donate. They check the Iowa Donor Registry,

body, the medical team stands in silence around the

donor, they will still talk to the family to see if an organ

memory of the donor.

out their loved one’s wishes. If the patient is not an organ

donation would be something their loved one would want.

After Hank’s donation the Evans family received mul-

tiple letters of thanks from the organ recipients. Hank’s

the donation process.

45-year-old diabetic woman to play basketball with her

At this point, donation begins. There are two types of

donation, organ donation and tissue donation. Organ recovery takes place in the hospital where the patient died.

Generally to be an organ donor, one has to die of an injury that leads to brain death, which means the brain stops functioning on its own.

The employees at the Iowa Donor Network then medi-

cally manage the donor in order to ensure that their or-

donation of his left kidney and pancreas enabled a son again and is now living without diabetes. Hank’s lungs were received by a 47-year-old man who wanted of your loved one’s donation.’

“When we were at the hospital praying for Hank,

someone said to me ‘you know God did answer a lot of prayers tonight,’” Lori said.

For most, losing a loved one is difficult, yet the gift of

their organ donation can help many people.Hakes be-

organs, and the Iowa Donor Network will coordinate with

of the deceased. “After a family loses a loved one who

the medical team to make sure the organ reaches the recipient. If the donor does not die of a brain death they are

still able to donate their tissues, but regardless of what is being recovered it must take place within 24 hours of that person’s death.

This process may seem like all business, but the Iowa

Donor Network has a way to remind the medical team

that a human life was lost. “It’s pretty cool what they do,”

Clint said. “They let us write a note or a card to let the surgical team know who Hank was.”

“My religion opposes donation.”

“Doctors may let me die so they

Skin

Skin from his back, legs and

scientific research.

torso can be used for the skin grafts for burn victims.

Thoracic Aorta Hank’s thoracic aorta (heart) was donated to science to

Lungs

aid in research of vascular

Hank’s lungs went to a

surgery.

47-year-old man. He

the family to know, ‘I can’t thank you enough for the gift

gans are in the best possible condition. Then the medical team will be called into the hospital to recover the

Heart Valves

Hank’s heart valves went to

donor and reads the note from the family, honoring the

Once the patient is confirmed to be eligible and their family provides authorization, the donor nurses continue with

Organs donated by Hank

Before the doctors recover the organs out of the

then a representative talks to the family about carrying

wanted Hank’s family to

Liver

know, “I can’t thank you

Hank’s liver was given

enough for the gift of your

to a 67-year-old woman.

loved one’s donation.”

She is married and has two sons.

lieves that the gift of donation brings peace to the family

was an organ donor, they find so much peace in that their loved one saved lives,” Hakes said. “That someone is living because of their loved one. It helps with the grieving process and can bring light into something that is very tragic and can be a very dark time in their lives.”

Through this tragic time, the Evans’ have kept a posi-

tive outlook on organ donation. “I can see how it’s really sensitive,” Lori said. “But for us, because of our faith, we

know exactly where Hank was going and that he didn’t need his earthly bound body.”

“Organ donation costs money.”

can give my organs to others.”

“You can be too old to donate your organs.”

Right Kidney Hank’s right kidney went to a

Left Kidney & Pancreas

48-year-old gentleman who is

Hank’s left kidney and pancreas

married and has two kids. He had

went to a 45-year-old woman who

been on the donor list for three

is a mother of one. She has under-

years and had to go through dialy-

gone dialysis three times a week

sis three times a week.

since March 2013.

Bones

Bones from Hank’s arms and legs were donated for

All major religions in the United

Fact

Abbie Craig ‘17

The donor nurses at the hospital treated Hank as if *donatelife.net he were still alive, such as changing his bed sheets and

Uncovering the myths and facts of organ donation and the impact it has had on a Johnston family words | Clare Farrell & Allison Klein layout | Clare Farrell

States support organ, eye and tissue donation and see it as the final act of love and generosity toward others.

If you are sick or injured and admitted to the hospital, the number one priority is to save your life. Organ, eye and tissue donation can only be considered after you are deceased.

There is no cost to the donor

Anyone can be a potential

or their family for organ or tis-

donor regardless of age, race

sue donation.

or medical history.

reconstructive surgery and bone grafts.

Femoral Veins The femoral veins are four of the main veins in the human body.

In most cases they can only successfully transplant one of the four, but they were able to recover 100% of Hank’s. Two have already been transplanted and two are currently being transported to be transplanted.

feature

feb/march 2015 p.12

2 1500 in

Will Linder sophomore

On a list of all students in the school, from sophomore to senior, two students were randomly chosen to tell their story

words | Meredith Campidlli

The week before the fall play, “The Crucible”, opened,

Putnam,” McDowell said. “He

dancing or making funny faces at the cast members prac-

day at the play and no one

“Either Will or I would be sitting on the sides of the stage,

our performance, he was just

sophomore Will Linder could usually be found off stage ticing on stage, trying to get them to laugh or mess up.

trying to make each other laugh or screw up a little bit,” senior Ethan Babcock said. “There was a time when Will was

dancing on the side of the stage, and he actually made me mess up my lines. I called someone by their actual name

like ‘Guys, I really did write

The Crucible 2.’. It is a real thing.”

In fact, Linder dreams of

but in his everyday life. Linder loves to laugh and make

I want to be a comedy writer

said. “He’s a good person. He’s encouraged me to be as dedicated as he is to various projects.”

In school, Linder is involved in numerous activities in the

choir and speech programs. He is in Synergy show choir

and the spring musical “Bye Bye Birdie” as Hugo Peabody,

Meredith Campidilli/BW

believed him. Until the day of

being a comedy writer when

others laugh as well. “He’s a really funny guy,” Babcock

he is older. “When I grow up,

for ABC, not NBC because they over-sexualize things,”

Linder said. “I watch shows like Modern Family and think ‘Hey, I could do that.’”

Sophomore Will Linder laughs with his fellow cast mate, junior Peter Lo, during a musical practice after school. Linder plays the role of Hugo Peabody, the main character’s boyfriend, in this year’s spring musical, “Bye Bye Birdie”.

The reason why Linder is

the main character’s boyfriend. Linder also participates in

involved in so many extra curricular activities is because

egories, and played the role of Thomas Putnam in the fall

with Congenital Heart Disease. Currently, he has a Pace-

IHSSA speech in both the short film and group improv catplay “The Crucible.”

Junior Lauren McDowell has worked with Linder during

the fall play and spring musical, and was also one of his partners for their IHSSA short film. “He wrote the script for

our short film with my sister Becca,” McDowell said. “He has sent some other scripts he’s written to me. He really is a great writer.”

Linder has written many scripts for plays and movies

on his own time. “He wrote an entire script that’s about 70 pages long for The Crucible 2: The Revenge of Thomas

of his heart. When Linder was born, he was diagnosed

maker to help regulate his heart. A pacemaker is a small

device that’s placed in the chest or abdomen to help control abnormal heart rhythms. It uses low-energy electrical

in Shakopee, Minnesota, sophomore Tallie Kerr and close

friend, sophomore Madison Mehls, meant to turn in for

the night around 10 p.m. to be ready for the amusement

born with a slow heart. Without my Pacemaker, I really

Linder said. “I have made so many friends there, and it is a really important thing in my life.”

Linder doesn’t see his heart condition as a negative

“I’ve had a lot of opportunities and experiences from my Both in and out of school, Linder is dedicated to his

wouldn’t be here so it’s really important.”

activities and his friends. “He definitely has the ability to

located in Crosslake, Minnesota. Camp Odayin is a spe-

sonality, and he’s just a fun person to be around.”

Every summer, Linder attends Camp Odayin, which is

make people laugh,” McDowell said. “He has a great per-

words | Hannah Crooks

Mehls regards Kerr as having a ‘one of a kind’ personal-

ity. “She’s very funny,” Mehls said. “Her facial expressions are what gets me the most. She’s just so great.”

The impact that Kerr has on those around her great.

like really quiet and now I’m not as quiet as I used to be be-

like we’re sisters.”

mer camp, but there are also a lot of normal kids like me,”

heart condition, which have greatly impacted my life.”

tired the next day, but it was one of the greatest memories to college together, so it’s not really like a friendship, more

up in poor families who can’t afford an extravagant sum-

like show choir and the play,” Linder said. “I basically was

really play sports with my heart, so that’s why I’m in things

“She’s more outgoing than me so she makes me be more

ever,” Mehls said. “I’ve known her forever, our dads went

like Linder. “At this camp, there’s a lot of kids who grow

thing. “I mostly am just in music and theater,” Linder said.

park the next day, but ended up staying up until 4:00 in

the morning, laughing and unable to stop talking. “I was so

cial camp sponsored by the Y for kids with heart problems

pulses to prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate. “I can’t

Tallie Kerr sophomore During a recent trip to Valleyfair, an amusement park

layout | Zoe Wilson

told us that basically every

instead of by their name in the play.”

This is typical behavior of Linder not only in the play,

made by Zoe Wilson

confident and social with people,” Mehls said. “I used to be cause of her. She’s just a good person to know in my life.”

The greatest influence in Kerr’s life is her family and

friends. “They just support me in the things that I do,” Kerr

said. “They try to get me to try new things and interest me

in topics I haven’t thought about before.” One of the things

they support Kerr in is something very important to her: her academics.

For the rest of the story go online to www.jhsblackandwhite.com

feb/march 2015 p.13

Communication is key

editorial

The use of Twitter opens up contact between administration and students

Trying to make students’ voices heard by administra-

will make snappy remarks back. “We try to have fun with

this year. The place to have the conversation is turning out

there was a picture of snow on a student’s patio and

tion has been a common theme with all the policy changes

to be Twitter, a social media site where students are able to virtually speak freely about their thoughts and ideas.

Communication with the administration is important, we just need to learn how to communicate.

When there was the possibility of school being can-

it if it’s a fun kind of tweet,” Sprague said. For example,

someone tweeted there should be a snow day. “What do

you want me to say, ‘Looks like a lot of snow’?” Sprauge

said. “Everybody’s already saying that so I’m going to say something else.”

When an official account puts out sarcastic comments,

celed because of snow, there were more than a few in-

it sets a precedent. When the administrators set a low

Corey Lunn. Tweeting, ‘Lunn you dirty dog,’ even if you

dard and take it too far. That is where problems arise.

appropriate comments directed towards Superintendent meant it in a positive way, is not okay. He is our superior,

standard, there will always be people that break that stanAnd what is more, how would we know the intricacies

and we should treat him as such. When dealing with the

of communicating on Twitter? The school offers no train-

what is funny and what crosses the line, such as a picture

There are some conversations we do not want to have

administration, who deserve respect, we need to learn

ing. It blocks the site.

of someone strangled by a seat belt.

on Twitter. “I wouldn’t say everything that I would want to

tration deal with each other formally in a normally casual

it’s monitored,” Nguyen said. “I would say what I want to

The problems arise in how students and the adminis-

environment. “I keep joking I want to remind these kids

that they’re tweeting to the superintendent of schools and it’s not casual, I’m not a fellow student,” Lunn said.

Research by Piper Jaffray and the Pew Research Cen-

say to administration on Twitter because it’s public and say up front more person to person.” We do not see the

person we are tweeting at, and sometimes we think that we can say whatever we want.

The fact that the school avoids talking about things

ter shows that 59% of teenagers use Twitter compared to

we do not understand or do not know how to talk about

other, not old people. “I feel like we can talk more casually

certain conversations.

17% of 30-49 year olds. We are used to talking to each

on Twitter, but it depends on who you’re talking to,” junior

makes it hard for the students to reach out and try to have

Both Lunn and the JCSD account talk about all the

Hung Nguyen said. Tweeting something that you think is

things happening in the district because they are heads

in a good way.

Twitter if they are also using it.

fine in the moment can turn out to be a big deal, and not Obviously, Twitter provides advantages for the admin-

of the community. They should be able to talk to us about The JCSD account represents each person who is em-

istration and students. We actually get to talk to each oth-

ployed by the district. “I think the nice thing that’s been

district Twitter account (@JohnstonCSD) and uses Twitter

it also represents the students,” teacher Brad Hurst said.

er. Director of Communications Laura Sprague runs the

to bridge communication with the students. “We want to

be able to say ‘yes we’re listening’ and a two-way communication tool is powerful for us,” she said.

On Twitter we can have that conversation. “It’s just like

kind of cool is that it doesn’t just represent the teachers

“A lot of the time the students are actively engaging in conversations [on Twitter] so it tries to involve everyone in the district.”

It can be hard for students to transition from venting

when a group of people are talking about another person,”

their feelings to talking respectfully to an administrator. “I

when that person is present.”

to be on a billboard somewhere because you’re letting go

Sprague said. “The conversation is a whole lot different One of the advantages of conversations with admin-

istration is they understand us better. “We know how you

guys feel about lanyards and to that degree there are cer-

always tell people with email ‘you better be ready for that of that control’ and I don’t think people think about that sometimes,” Lunn said.

In advisory we went over how to properly write an email

tain things like lanyards, school delays and school cancel-

to teachers. Maybe we should talk about how to behave

Sprague said. “That’s where you see that tongue and

on Twitter, the school ignores teaching about Twitter and

lations that we’re not going to be able to do much about,” cheek or more of a snappy response come back because

the same old ‘thanks for letting us know’ and ‘nothing we can do about that’ gets redundant.”

The problem with using snappy remarks is students

The Johnston Schools account above covers all school news and events. Dr. Corey Lunn’s account is a personal account that he uses professionally to tweet updates about school events and district wide news including; policy changes, school cancellation and delays.

on social media. Except for Lunn calling some of us out

avoids having conversations on how students are supposed to act on it. Because of this, there is a disconnect between what we should be saying and what we actually are saying.

The editorial is an opinion held by the editorial board of the newspaper. It needs a simple majority to pass. This month’s vote was 8-0.

opinion

feb/march 2015 p.14

kcaB 2 Besic

Teaching s tyles change

All activities are created equal

Chemistry needs both teacher instructio n and student led learning

words & layout Senad Besic Recently our wrestling team broke new ground by

being the first group from Johnston to ever make it to the

state dual wrestling competition, which is a team competi-

tion rather than an individual competition. And since this is the first time in school history that this ever happened, our

words & layout | Michelle Kumar Sitting in chemistry, the only thing I feel is frustration.

Yet, wrestling wasn’t the only organization to break

answers and I truly do not understand the point of what I Junior Abbey Carter is another frustrated student. “It’s

frustrating to sit through a class where you’re told the general concept of a lesson but the important details are for you to figure out on your own time,” Carter said.

This year science teachers changed the way chemis-

try is taught. The class no longer solely relies on teacher

instruction but rather on conceptual ideas that students

are encouraged to figure out themselves through labs and class discussion.

school history recently. Our girls bowling team won state 54 54%

for the first time this year, our varsity show choir, Innova34%

12%

they found most beneficial. 54% of students pre-

ing for state, our yearbook winning best yearbook in the

led learning, while 34% preferred teacher lecture and

girls cross country team, who completely annihilated the

chemistry students asking them what teaching style

awards this year included our girls basketball team qualify-

ferred a combination of teacher lecture and student

state, girls softball winning state, And let’s not forget our

12% favored student led learning.

competition at state, getting first place and sending Jordyn

The way the chemistry is taught now is made for more

chemistry will have a fighting shot and the kids who just then discuss with my peers and teachers. In chemistry get it to expand their horizons even more,” Oldham said. there is no common resource or in fact any material at all.

Junior Helen Wang is one of the students who have Biology my sophomore year was great. It was my favorfound success with the new teaching style. “I like it be- ite class because I learned. I had a teacher who lectured cause students can help each other, we do a lot of white and had all that information explained through labs. better this way.”

Pacemaker, which means Johnston has one of the top 40 school newspapers in the nation. Other honorable

will be able to retain more information and will benefit in independence. When faced with this style in other classes the long run. “I think that the kids who struggle usually in I follow along well because I have material to read and

boarding,” Wang said. “I feel that knowledge gets shared

tion, went undefeated and the Black & White won a NSPA

The “Black and White” conducted a survey of 140

Teachers made this decision after being encouraged by is that students were not even given the option of having others who had success with the style. Chemistry teach- this resource. er Dave Oldham believes by using this method students

nize their achievement and to give them a proper send-off to this tournament.

I am frustrated at the fact that I am only being given half am doing.

school had a nice, short and specific assembly to recog-

The new style is nothing like this. Last semester we

were learning how to name compounds. We were given an We can learn more by working out our problems as a activity where we guessed the rules by putting compounds group, but it is hard when there are 20 pairs of confused together. This was not the issue. The issue was when my

eyes staring at the front room and no one is speaking in partner and I finished and asked the teacher to confirm our another beneficial class discussion. rules, the teacher told us to ask our peers. No one knew if The class discussions, or white boarding, only work they were right. How is this method beneficial when what when everyone participates and we know exactly what we you retain may or may not be wrong? Just like most things are supposed to be discussing. I personally have never that semester I had to Google the answers. witnessed this.

I work hard to understand and to follow along. I thorOne problem is that there is no consistency between oughly enjoy learning, but there comes a point where it is

teachers. Last semester my teacher had students go up not learning. It is just guessing at what I think the teacher’s in front of the class to work out problems. My teacher this point is. semester relies on partner white boarding and questions.

While talking to others my opinion shifted and I have With a few teachers following the new way to the letter and more of an open mind to the new style. Hopefully when the others not, some students get left behind. chemistry department gets together to evaluate the new

While talking to students who took the class last year, I teaching style they get student feedback first and have solearned that they had access to books to refer from. This lutions to iron out these kinks. With some understanding year however those books are no where in sight. My point from both sides, we can find an equilibrium that works.

Kleve to nationals where she placed 15th in the nation.

Boy, a lot of great things happened this year, espe-

cially in the girls sports realm, yet only the boys wrestling received a send-off. Perhaps this shows a dash of my-

soginism within our society, or maybe Johnston just stinks at recognizing sports.

Turns out, our recognition committee, a group of teach-

ers who dedicate their time to recognize the achievements of the student of Johnston, emailed our activities director, Gary Ross, and asked him if we could have send-off for

the wrestling team since it was the first time they qualified for team competition at state.

To me, the send-off just seemed like a group with good

intentions wanting to give an organization some praise for

a cool thing they achieved. Which is sweet, but what about the other groups that did great things? If the committee’s

job is to recognize the students for great things, then why aren’t they recognizing all students in our organizations?

“The challenge is we have so many different activi-

ties that kids are involved in but how would you pick and choose which ones you [recognize] and which ones you don’t?” Ross said. “You have to balance the aspect of recognition versus the balance of loss of schooling.”

Regardless of the sport or organization, all of the

students that participate are passionate and dedicate a lot of their time to the activity. So when these kids do all this work and make it to state or nationals and then maybe even receive an award for their efforts, they deserve

the same amount of respect you would give to the more “popular sports”.

opinion

feb/march 2015 p.15

Clash of the columnists “Friend zone” reserved for mythological creatures

words and illustration | Natalie Larimer

Ever since the TV show “Friends” entered the

get over it, and you continue hanging out with them

complaints about one of the main characters,

just mean. There are two options for you here. One

realm of Netflix, my Twitter feed has been full of

and torture them, making you either really dumb or

Ross Geller. I’ve been watching “Friends” my en-

would be to dump them as a friend because they

tire life and I never noticed how terrible Ross is.

are obviously not mature enough to handle being

But I just saw an episode the other day (The One

told “no”. The other option is to ignore the fact that

With the Blackout) where he throws a fit over Ra-

anything happened, ignore their pain and agony of

chel dating somebody else. Joey then classifies

seeing you every day, and pretend everything is fine.

him as a member of the “friend zone.”

Or you can go with the third option. I know I was

Joey is wrong. The “friend zone” is just an ex-

being tricky and didn’t mention it before, but I hope

teen angst a little belatedly and blaming Rachel

credibility. The third option is to help them realize

cuse for rejection. Ross is just experiencing his for having a life. He pursued Rachel all through

high school and has been in love with her since, but she has shown no interest in him. The main issue here is he

thinks she is obligated to date him because they shared a cookie. I mean, cookies are engagement rings right?

Let’s apply “Friends” to our lives. The “friend zone” is

just guys thinking that being nice somehow constitutes that the girl owes them a date, and when it doesn’t happen, they get all upset. Get over yourselves. Be nice because you’re a good person, not because you want to get

into your friend’s pants. When a girl says that you’re “just

friends”, it means she doesn’t think you would be a good boyfriend. That doesn’t mean she’s evil and putting you in

Don’t let me into your zone

It’s not a physical, touchable or seeable thing. It can-

not be found on the Earth, nor is it on the elemental chart.

Some believe that it does exist, and some do not. It’s the facilitator of some serious debate, mostly among middle

that little misguidance there didn’t forfeit any of my the “friend zone”, it means you are being rejected and you

can whine about it and call her whatever you want. Or, you can grow up and realize that she doesn’t want to date you.

The reason there’s not a “friend zone” for girls is be-

cause they blame themselves rather than the guy. If a girl

is rejected, they immediately look for flaws in their own personality instead of finding flaws in their potential date. Not saying this is a good thing, but it’s way better than blaming the other person for your pain.

What I don’t understand is girls who believe in the guy-

rendition “friend zone”. You’re encouraging guys to blame you for their problems? You reject somebody, and they don’t

that they are being misogynistic (a woman-hater)

and slowly turning into J. Alfred Prufrock (THE woman-hat-

er). The best choice for you here is to sit them down and tell them how insane and insensitive they’re being.

The “friend zone” doesn’t exist. It’s a cover for being

rejected or tension in a friendship. There is no “zone”

where you keep your friends who have feelings for you.

You have to talk to your friend and work it out or just stop being friends, there is no in-between. Refusal to accept the

problem is becoming a part of the problem. Suck it up and

have a mature conversation and eliminate the idea that life is fine in a “zone”.

words & layout | Senad Besic or people that have feelings for you, but you don’t feel that

friend zone. I mean, most people prefer to not be there, but

most men would define it. But not everyone would agree.

no one should make that decision but you.

way towards them. At least, this is how I, and probably Usually I hear women defining the friend zone as noth-

ultimately it’s up to you where you categorize people, and Lastly, just because people are nice to you does not

school students. Of course, I am talking about the friend

ing more than an invention made by insecure guys who

mean they think you’re entitled to give them a date. Some

Personally, yes, I am not a fan of the friend zone. How-

placing the blame on everyone but themselves. Or as my

to woo you. Whatever the person’s intentions are, you do

zone.

ever, this isn’t a story about my pathetic life of not being able to score chicks, it’s about the fact that the friend zone exists for both genders, at least theoretically.

Look at it this way; every single person you meet in your

life, you will mentally organize them into some category. It

are trying to justify being rejected by accusing the girl and opponent states, “The ‘friend zone’ is literally just guys thinking that being nice somehow constitutes that the girl

owes them a date, and when it doesn’t happen, they get

rudimentary graphic (see right) explaining some categories

are then placed in your friend zone. Usually you treat them

Each of these zones are very general. Acquaintances

are people you sort of know and see occasionally but don’t hang out with. Random people are people you have met

once or twice but hardly know. Professional relationships

are your teachers, bosses, employees, etc. The rest are pretty self explanatory, except for our topic, the friend zone.

Still, even the idea of a friend zone isn’t that hard to

grasp: it’s a theoretical zone where you sort your friends

which absolutely does exist, and worry no more.

I see where they’re coming from, but these definitions

are callous and greatly exaggerated. When you reject a

you would mentally store people in.

not have to satisfy them. Just put them in your friend zone,

all upset.”

is human nature to observe and stereotype people, ideas

or cultures. Taking this idea broadly, I’ve created a very

people are just genuinely kind. Others are being nice to try

Acquaintances

male or female, since these zones apply to everyone, they no differently if they are in this zone. And just like how you

can drift away from friends, which would move them to the acquaintance zone, someone in your friend zone can move

to any other zone depending on how you handle your re-

lationship with them. Sure, whoever you reject may be a

little irked over what you did, but they aren’t blaming you.

They’re just frustrated that they were placed in the friend

zone. You just don’t see that person as dating material,

that’s no big deal. There’s nothing wrong with being in the

Professional Relationships

Best Friends

Friends Friend Zone

Dating Romantically Involved

Random People

opinion

feb/march 2015 p.16

Parent pressure spoils sports

Sports should be fun, but parents that critique and pressure their kids aren’t helping

words & layout | Max Culbert For about four years now I have swam with a kid on my

club team, we’ll call him Ryan. His older sister is an amaz-

he will perform better during the next match.”

It is good the main focus of their conversations is not

ing swimmer who swims Division 1 in college. His mom is

about winning and losing. Parents often put too much em-

he is working hard. After watching him swim, she critiques

a game. Everybody likes to win, but there is more to sports

very intense, and often comes to practice just to make sure

him, telling him everything he did wrong and how to fix it.

Her expectation is for Ryan to swim in college, just like his

mom, made worse by high standards set by his sister, have

er wrestled in their life,” Henry said. “But it’s worked so far

every day before practice, and on one occasion, he even

noying. “It makes me a little bit ticked because they’ve nevso I wouldn’t change anything.”

holding them back from reaching their full potential. How-

sports less about having a good time and improving, and

the success of developing athletes than critiquing is. Leave

more about becoming the next Michael Phelps. Sports should be fun, but parents that critique and pressure their kids are not helping.

son or daughter excel in sports, but trying to coach/critique

while trying to make their kid great, don’t even realize the

to their coach and have fun.

Do you even care? Your form looked off.

ing to be a coach.

are pushing their kids to be the next amazing athlete who

vice a parent can give to their kid is to try their best, listen

h

simple ‘good job’ or ‘have fun’ can go a lot further than try-

young athletes succeed by instructing them on how to get

them just isn’t the way to do it. In most cases, the best ad-

es

Try Hasrivde. olarswhipon r. ? .

Don’t disappoine t us. Focus.

the critiquing to the coaches, that is why they are there. A

Under Pressure

better. There is nothing wrong with wanting to see your

c

ever, being a supportive parent is much more valuable to

Let the Coaches Coach

Much like Ryan’s Mom, many parents try to help their

yo

Parents feel that if they do not coach their kids, they are

snuck over to a park across the street to avoid swimming.

Too many parents like Ryan’s mom have made youth

Yo u

Wak u wa oul e u nt d Be mor e aggr p. a sc ’ve

Even though Steve no longer focuses on winning with

Henry, Henry says being coached by his dad still gets an-

driven him to hate swimming. He stalls in the locker room

n’t

than just the final score.

sister.

Ryan is really talented, but loads of pressure from his

Do

phasis on winning in youth sports, and they forget it is just

As I mentioned earlier, parents today more than ever,

gets a full ride scholarship, turns pro, etc. Many parents, amount of pressure they’re putting on their athlete in the process.

Pohlmeyer, who has been working toward a scholarship

Unfortunately, this is often much easier said than done.

the last four years, knows the feeling. “I feel like they’re

kid, just a society.”

is difficult to stay in the background and just be parents.

I’ve put so much time and effort in to the sport,” Pohlmeyer

running after sophomore year so I could focus on swim-

As a parent, trying to motivate a young athlete without

that offseason training under your belt, you feel you’re at

All parents want to see their kids do well, so naturally it

Sophomore runner Emily Poss says her parents sometimes give her running advice. “I’ll finish a race, and I’ll do

kind of pressuring me to be the best I can be, just because said.

really well, and they’ll go ‘Oh you could’ve caught that girl

putting too much pressure on them can be a struggle. “We

“But they’re just trying to help me improve.”

courage, and our efforts came across as pressure instead

at the end there’ and I’m just like ‘Oh, okay,’” Poss said.

In addition, Emily’s parents are both runners them-

selves, which makes it even harder to resist from giving

have screwed this up at times as we tried to motivate or enof motivation,” Michele Poss said.

Steve Pohlmeyer has faced similar problems while rais-

I certainly understand pressure to specialize. I stopped

ming. Everybody else is specializing, and if you do not have a disadvantage. However, there are a million reasons why

doing multiple sports is beneficial; it makes you a better

athlete, helps prevent overuse injuries, and decreases the risk of getting burnt out or losing motivation.

Society plays a role in athletes specializing, but in cer-

pointers. Emily’s mom, Michele Poss, says she does her

ing Henry. “Earning a college scholarship was never the

tain situations parents contribute as well. They want their

hard to let the coach do the coaching,” Michele said. “To

best he can at what he chooses to do.”

if he or she does not focus on one sport. However, in the

best to avoid instructing her kids too much. “We try really

first be supportive no matter what, and give advice when

final goal for me,” he said. “I encourage Henry do to the ‘What he chooses to do’ is key. Henry tried out wrestling

asked or when we see a problem.”

along with other sports, and loved it. He eventually focused

by his parents. “My dad proceeds to tell me what I did

isn’t always the case. Often parents’ expectations over-

Senior wrestler Henry Pohlmeyer is regularly coached

wrong and what I need to do to fix it,” Pohlmeyer said.

Henry’s dad, Steve Pohlmeyer believes these talks can

help Henry improve on certain aspects for future matches.

end, specializing in one sport does more harm than good.

I am not sure why parents feel it is crucial for their kid

on wrestling, but that was his choice. Unfortunately, this

to be a star. Maybe because they have spent so much

whelm an athlete, and force him or her to specialize in one

on their investment’ in the form of a college scholarship.

sport and quit other sports they’re involved in.

Cross country and track coach Patrick Mattingly be-

“Early on during Henry’s wrestling career, we focused too

lieves the problem lies beyond pressure from parents. “My

tling matches, we talk about changes Henry can make so

tingly said. “As a society; not a parent, not a coach, not the

much on winning and losing,” Steve said. “Now, after wres-

kid to have an ‘edge’ and believe their kid will fall behind

thought is, are we just doing everything overboard?” Mat-

money on their child’s athletics, they would like a ‘return

Maybe they just want their kid to be a champion, and be proud they made a contribution. Regardless, parents need to realize it is okay if their child isn’t a star athlete, and just let them have fun. Isn’t that why we do sports in the first place?

health

feb/march 2015 p.17

Food for

thought

Last year junior Sarah Henry watched a documentary

A look into the students who are vegetarians and their decision in becoming one words & layout | Anna Larson

Another trouble vegetarians face is not being able to eat

in her health class called Food Incorporated, and after she

whatever and whenever without asking questions. “I don’t

me out so much I could not handle it,” Henry said. “My

sometimes,” Henry said. “It’s hard because you have to

made the decision to go vegetarian. “Honestly it grossed mom is also vegetarian and has been for like 20 years and

my sister used to be. So I guess it wasn’t really that much

of a switch because we didn’t really have that much meat in our house anyway.”

Junior Loyal Ulm had an unordinary motivation to be-

watch what you are eating a lot more.” Henry found strug-

like restaurants that have a vegetarian menu because

gles with being a vegetarian within the high school’s cafeteria because some soups that did not physically have meat in them were cooked in meat broth.

then you don’t have to search for things you can just order off that menu,” Henry said.

A common misconception of vegetarians is that they

do not get an adequate amount of protein. This being said

or ways of eating out. “There is a cafe, called Ritual Cafe,

seeds, beans, eggs, quinoa, among several other foods.

downtown and it is specifically a vegetarian place,” Stoen

A common reason for many people to become veg-

ian menus. “It’s just nice when restaurants cater to that,

Many vegetarians have interesting experiences when

“So I was kind of like joking like ‘Hey I can be a vegetarian’ it’s official I’m a vegetarian.’”

Even though Des Moines may not have may not have

many vegetarian places, many restaurants have vegetar-

going out to eat but still are able to find their own versions

and my mom was like ‘No you’re not’. So I was like ‘okay

bie Burger has a really good veggie burger.”

really miss any specific foods I just miss the conveniency

come a vegetarian. “I became a vegetarian about three years ago because my mom told me I couldn’t,” Ulm said.

layout | Zoe Wilson

said. “They make things really interesting and it’s not really boring plant stuff like I usually have to eat.”

Besides restaurants that are specifically vegetarian, stu-

vegetarians eat several different things such as nuts and A commonly mentioned source of protein among vegetarians was a fake meat brand known as Morning Star. “My

favorite vegetarian thing to eat are soy chicken nuggets,”

Toebben said. “They are from this brand, called Morning

etarians is because of the love for animals and dislike of

dents are able to find many restaurants that have vegetar-

mals and the environment and I just wanted my habits, my

etarian menu,” Cardwell said. “I really like eating Chinese

“Two summers ago I got a grilled cheese sandwich from

Finding vegetarian options is generally easier in a big-

hefty good stuff and there was like bacon in it and I didn’t

mistreating animals. “I have always really cared about anibehaviors to align with my beliefs,” senior Jennifer Curiel said. Senior Lenin Cardwell had a very similar opinion to

ian options. “More restaurants have come to having a vegfood because they have different vegetarian options.”

Curiel. “I guess it’s because the well being of animals be-

ger city with more restaurants. “There aren’t very many

and I just didn’t want to contribute to it,” Cardwell said.

sad, but there is a lot of catering to it,” Toebben said. “Zom-

cause they are treated pretty cruelly in the meat industry

Some vegetarians choose to become a vegetarian just

because they are curious or their family members take part in it. “I started becoming a vegetarian just to try it because

vegetarian restaurants in downtown Des Moines, which is

Sources of protein

my sister had tried it and ended up sticking to it,” junior

Autumn Connelly said. “So me and my mom tried it and we just stuck to it.”

Senior Meredith Toebben has a similar but slightly dif-

ferent opinion on the subject. “Well first of all I really like

meat,” she said. “I would eat it right now but it’s mostly

because I feel weird eating animals like digesting them. I

MILK

6 grams per egg

8 grams per cup

8 grams per 2 tblsp

don’t really care that anyone else eats them and as I said I love the taste of meat but it’s just the fact that I am eating a cute little baby lamb or something like that.”

Senior Jennifer Curiel and sophomore Maddie Stoen

felt that it was the most difficult to avoid meat during the holidays. “Turkey, especially at Thanksgiving because it’s

Beans 8 grams per cup

Tofu 10 grams per half cup

I miss it a lot. Especially at Christmas time when everyone

Even though being vegetarian means one is missing

out on some dishes and items at restaurants, vegetarians

are still able to find alternatives. “I’d say if I miss one thing it’s B-Bops,” Henry said. “Because every time we go I just get like a shake and fries, which is still really good.”

Yogurt 5-10 grams per container

Fake meat (Morning Star) 12 grams per serving

Toebben had a way of getting around it. “When I am at

big events, that have food at them, I just get all the sides

and I don’t get the main, if it’s a meat,” Toebben said. “I just get every single other thing and make that my dinner.”

Quinoa 8 grams per cup

roasted and it smells really good,” Stoen said. “Roast beef, else is eating it except me,” Curiel said.

PB

Green Peas 8 grams per cup

Star, and they just have all this soy stuff and it’s so good.”

Toebben has been a vegetarian for almost five years.

Panera and it was like the adult grilled cheese like the know,” Toebben said. “So I ate a bite and it tasted like bacon and I opened it and there was bacon in it and I kind of just kept eating it because it was really good.”

Non-meat

eating habits

Ovo-vegetarian:

does not eat dairy but does eat eggs

Lacto-vegetarian: eats dairy, but not eggs

Ovo-Lacto vegetarian:

includes both eggs and dairy products

Vegan:

excludes all animal products, including eggs, dairy, beesqax, and honey

Pescetarian:

a person who does not eat meat but does eat fish

feb/march 2015 p. 18

Ice fishing fanatics

sports

words & layout | Jake Dalbey

Smeared Eyeliner Swimsuit edition not necessary

words & layout | Carly Campbell Dusk fell upon Lake Poinsett, South Dakota in a layer rieties of fish become available in Iowa waters, like crappie,

of thick fog. It is a cold day on the lake with fresh snowfall walleye, bass, and many bluegill. “My biggest catch was collecting on the bank, the temperature reaching no higher 29-inch walleye in South Dakota, I couldn’t even begin to than below freezing. In the middle of a mile long stretch of tell you how much it weighed,” Scott said. water sits a small tent, surrounded by dozens of tiny holes

There is a fair amount of danger associated with the

and fishing poles positioned ever so slightly to move at the sport for those who have not ice fished before. Given the

drop of a hat. Once the fog settles, hundreds of tents can be entire concept of the activity revolves around sitting on top seen on the horizon creating a fortress of fishers all eager of ice miles away from shore, it would be easy to assume

to catch the night’s dinner.This is a typical day of ice fishing that a single crack could end a fisher’s life. In the state of

for senior Scott Kruse as he sits inside the tent in nothing Iowa, only three known fatalities have been recorded since but shorts and a t-shirt. Kruse is one of only a handful of 2012, and in Minnesota six fishers were claimed to cracked

students who actively participate in the fairly unknown sport ice. Most fishers believe that using safe ice procedures

of ice fishing, an activity that is just as much about braving are all that is needed to stay safe. “Really the most danger the outdoors as catching the biggest bluegill.

comes from people going out onto the ice before it’s four

As the name implies, ice fishing is an offshoot of the typi- inches thick,” Scott said. “Once the ice is about eight inches

cal fishing most Iowans are familiar with. The main differ- thick there isn’t much to worry about.” Harrison has also exence comes with the equipment used and the manner of perienced fishing on thin ice. “The start of the season, it can catching fish. “When we go ice fishing we have a shack that be kind of sketchy,” he said. If ice cracks, a boom can be

has a sled and we pull the shack/equipment onto the lake,” heard across the water that may leave some a bit paranoid.

Kruse said. “Then we use our ice augers to drill holes and “Some people take off running when they hear the sound, attach a fish finder to see where to cast.” Unlike traditional it’s pretty funny because theres still eight inches between fishing, ice fishing tends to involve more waiting as fisher- them and the water,” Scott said. men will often sit on single holes waiting for a bite given the

The true danger of ice fishing are the harsh tempera-

nature of the frozen lake. “Generally it’s all day, we get up tures and freezing winds, with typical temperatures often in the morning and fish until about late afternoon then head falling below zero. Frostbite can set in under 30 minutes back for the shore,” Kruse said.

when exposed to direct skin. Hypothermia can be any-

Iowa is home to several ice fishing competitions, includ- where from 30 to 60 minutes. Luckily, ice shacks provide

ing the Team Extreme tournament at Big Creek Lake and adequate protection from the outside conditions, which are West Okoboji Lake. Even areas as close as Jester Park big enough to fit several people and a portable heater. Ice

offer beginner courses. “When I go out I usually just fish fishing competitions appear to be cities of shacks by mid-

in Grimes or private lakes, ice fishing is more about just day with fisherman storing grills and coolers inside their

hanging out with my buds and having a good time,” senior mini houses. “One time me and my brother were able to Harrison Kruse, a fellow ice fisher, said.

get our shack up to 100 degrees, we were stripped down to

Ice fishing follows a seasonal period. “Usually its from shorts by the end of the day,” Scott said.

the start of winter all the way until there is no more ice,”

Provided/Scott Kruse

ed, in fact I am probably in the minority of readers. None

the less, Sports Illustrated is my favorite magazine. Reading the articles and seeing who is on the cover each month is something I really enjoy.

That all being said, I do not enjoy receiving Sports Illus-

trated to find a half naked lady on front. Why does Sports Illustrated swim suit edition have to be a thing? I guess the

thought is mostly men read the magazine and therefore they would enjoy it. However, I don’t understand why girls

would voluntary pose for that. It is degrading and not helping the women’s equality movement. As a self proclaimed

“feminazi” I could go on rant about this, but that’s not the point I am trying to make. I would like someone to just

explain why this edition is in existence. I’ve ask a few people and most give me disgusting answers. “Because who doesn’t want to look at naked girls?” is one I received. The

most logical answer people could produce is the money aspect. The swimsuit edition sells 10-15 times as many

copies as a normal edition. That makes a little bit of sense.

My next question then is, why don’t they use actual ath-

letes? It is a sports magazine after all. I decided to do a little research into the type of girls they use. I found that two of the 25 models are athletes. MMA fighter, Ronda

Rousey and Caroline Wonzniacki, a tennis player. The rest of the girls consist of skinny professional models who look in desperate need of a cheeseburger.

Except two.

Robyn Lawley and Ashley Graham were the “plus

sized” models in this year’s swim edition. Lawley was the only one who appeared on the website. When I found out

she was a plus sized model, I actually laughed out loud.

This girl had to be 120 pounds maximum. To say she was a plus sized model was pathetic. I looked up Ashley Graham myself. She indeed is a plus size model, but she

didn’t make the cut for this edition. Go look for yourself,

Harrison said. At the height of the fishing season many va-

Senior Scott Kruse enjoys one of his many ice fishing trips inside an ice shack. These shacks can reach temperatures of over 100 degrees despite the cold outside with careful heating and insulation.

I am probably not the target market for Sports Illustrat-

Ice Fishing Check List Ice Auger- $400 Ice sled- $50 Mini Heater- $150 Fish finder-$400 Fishing rod- $130

the Sports Illustrated swimsuit website isn’t blocked by our awesome filters. You missed one, JHS.

So I return to my original question, if the models are

for the most part not athletes, why does Sports Illustrated

make this edition? If it is indeed for the money, then why don’t they have a men’s swim edition? I’m sure plenty of women would buy that.

Could it be that American culture is still as male domi-

nated as it was 100 years ago? I have always wanted to

work for Sports Illustrated. But first, I think I would need a valid reason behind the swim suit edition. Until properly

explained, I will continue my feminist campaign, by angrily

tweeting from my bedroom, to end this edition. I just want to read about recruiting scandals and the freshman basketball class at Kentucky, not boobs and bootie.

sports

feb/march 2015 p.19

Prevalent pressure words | Anne Rogers

layout | Carly Campbell

Eating habits do not just regulate athletes’ choices in the

cafeteria. They also affect the their lives on the field or in the gym, and everywhere in between. Whether it is bulking up or slimming down, for a variety of athletes, diet remains constantly in their minds.

In a 2013 study, sports scientist Marriane Martinsen and

sports medicine professor Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen found that young elite athletes (50.7%) were twice as likely than

non-athletes of the same age (25%) to be considered “at risk” for an eating disorder.

Not all athletes have eating disorders, but many have

disordered eating, according to West Des Moines business

owner Jennifer DeWall of Nutrition in Motion. “This does not have the same diagnostic criteria as an eating disorder.

They are very different. Disordered eating is just an unhealthy relationship with food,” she said. This relationship corresponds to guilt after eating certain foods, depriving

oneself of specific foods or intentionally exercising to burn off calories related to particular foods.

The pressure to conform to a sport’s certain body type

does not help. The two go hand in hand, according to Johnston athletes and experts.

Running

A runner on the cross country and track team, who

chose to remain anonymous, has felt the pressure of conforming a certain body type. “When I’m around the team is

when I feel the most bad about myself,” the runner said. “If you come to Panera after a run and people get water and oatmeal, or something really healthy, I just feel really selfconscious. It’s what the team does, their actions not their words, that make me feel bad.”

The fact that a varsity spot is so difficult to keep may

be a factor in the pursuit of a certain body type. “There’s

always the constant pressure that your spot is going to be

taken so you have to be faster and it would help to be skinnier,” the runner said. “I see that my competition, on and off

the team, is skinnier and I automatically think they’re faster than me even though that might not be true.”

Girls’ cross country coach Patrick Hennes has seen

what that pressure does. “I’ve seen the impact that pressure on body type can have, especially on female runners,” he said. “The truth of the matter is there is pressure out there that isn’t just self-imposed.”

Hennes has often battled with teaching proper nutrition.

“I’ve seen what can happen, and the problem is that sometimes it’s difficult to draw the line,” he said. “Sometimes if

you draw attention to things, you worry they’ll become fixat-

ed on it.” He focuses on the fact that food is fuel, no matter what. “As long as [they’re] eating, let’s keep it going, even if that means extra Kit-Kat bars,” he said. “The worst thing we can do to ourselves is not adequately fuel our bodies.”

Athletes change their eating habits due to demands of specific sports

Wrestling

In a sport that requires athletes to drop to a certain

weight in order to compete, disordered eating can result.

1st

Varsity wrestler junior Ethan Ksiazek has battled with this before. “Sometimes I think it would help to be in the weight

room trying to get stronger, building a bigger physique,” he said. “But then you have to keep in mind the weight

aspect,too. So it’s kind of like how strong can you be, but how light can you be at the same time.”

Food seems to always be on wrestlers’ minds, but for a

different reason than other athletes. “We’re always doing

math in our head saying how many ounces is this, asking if it’s going to put me over weight.”

Ksiazek usually maintains his 113 pound weight

throughout the week leading up to a meet, which he says is

Football

Then there is the other end of the spectrum, bulking up

to play a certain position on the team. In football, big and bulky determines potential.

Having to bulk up for a position is what senior Austen

one of the hardest parts about the season. He is constantly

Knowlton encountered. “There were definitely suggestions

his weight. “Wrestling is a battle within a battle,” he said.

ger but I just needed to weigh more.” During the season,

competing just because I’ve done it so many times. But I do

his weight by 50 pounds, and has since been trying to get

Head coach Aaron Tecklenburg sees the obligation

Head coach Brian Woodley tries to educate the play-

checking his weight, and he adapts his diet in regards to

that I increase my weight,” he said. “Not only get stron-

“I don’t want to say I prioritize making weight over actually

Knowlton took extra protein and mass gainers to increase

think about it a lot.”

down to his original weight.

some wrestlers want to meet for a weigh-in. “I think some

ers on bulking up the right way. “What I try to tell our kids

certain weight class, so it becomes an individual challenge

way,” he said. “If you spend time in the weight room and

weight classes to be competitive, so some kids are wres-

Woodley and the other football coaches try to steer players

to wrestle, but because that’s where they can fit in to the

things like testosterone and steroids.

kids have the mindset or goal that they want to wrestle at a

is ‘yes’ we want to bulk up, but you have to do it the right

for them,” he said. “At the same time, we have to fill all the

follow the program consistently, you’re going to get bigger.”

tling weights that are heavier or lighter than what they want

toward protein and healthy diets, and away from unhealthy

varsity lineup, that’s the weight they need to make.”

Both Knowlton and Woodley know there are pressures

Even with obligations, Tecklenburg wants the focus to

to conform to this body type, and it is apparent in some

making sure they are comfortable at that weight class and

but it would take a toll on your body that is not healthy,”

psyche and you’re more worried about your weight than

attracted to that, and I’ve seen that happen.”

be on competing. “The biggest factor with the weight is

individuals. “Short term, yeah you look good and feel good,

can manage [it],” he said. “If you can’t it takes over your

Woodley said. “Obviously you see steroids, certain kids are

you actually competing and that’s never a good recipe.”

Knowlton agreed. “There are individual athletes on oth-

If the focus switches to solely weight, Tecklenburg tells

er teams that I wouldn’t put it past them to use enhanced

meet as a freshman. “I saw a young man literally being car-

“It gets them the starting job, it helps them win, it helps

his wrestlers of the time at his weigh-in during the state

sports supplements, like increased testosterone,” he said.

ried down the steps by his coaches because he was that

them go to the state championship.”

weak and tired from trying to make weight,” he said. “This kid is on the verge of collapse, and I think how in the world

is this kid going to wrestle today?” The athlete made the weight, but lost in the first match.

Ksiazek thinks all wrestlers have gone through that point

before. “You haven’t eaten anything all day, you’re going to

work through a hard practice to get no reward afterwards, you’re wearing sweats and you’re just about down to weight

but you have to keep going, and you’re body doesn’t have

all the will power and strength it needs,” he said. “So you feel weak, you feel depleted. But I keep it in the back of my mind that I’ll get to replenish soon.”

Being aware

DeWall encourages athletes to focus on what they’re

putting into their bodies, especially the amount they are

putting in, saying that it is important to eat enough. “Ath-

letes will practice and train hard but then they forget about what they’re eating, and that can make a huge difference,”

she said. She also encourages teams in all sports to look

at results rather than body types. “Everybody has their different set points, has their different body types, and what is the right body type for one athlete may be different for

others,” DeWall said. “The focus should be on performance outcome versus body image.”

feb/march 2015 p.20

Counselors answer common questions

backpage College Admissions offices answer questions on what they look for in admitting students words & layout | Lizzy Orr layout | Zoe Wilson

Questions:

Lilianna Bernstein, Drake admissions:

Philip Caffrey, ISU admissions:

What do you look for in an application?

“We’re going to look at students’ transcripts, their ACT score, and their full application. In their application, we are looking for extracurricular activities, their essay, and either their letter of recommendation or a counselor evaluation form.”

“Students either meet the admission requirements or they don’t, it’s pretty concrete. What we look for are their RAI scores*, and if their score is 245 or greater, the student is automatically admitted. If it is less than 245, they are reviewed on an individual basis.”

Is it more beneficial to focus on many activities or just one extensively?

“We definitely want to see quality over quantity. It’s not that necessarily that you should only focus on one or that you shouldn’t, we just want to see what you are really passionate about. In reality, if there is only one activity that you are passionate about, compared to a student that signed up for an activity and never showed up to a meeting, that’s not as important to us.”

Does the college require the ACT or SAT to admit a student?

“We accept both.”

“It doesn’t really matter what activities the student has or hasn’t been involved in. It doesn’t really play a part in the admissions decision.”

“We require one or the other.”

*RAI is a calculation of GPA, ACT scores, and core courses completed.

Timothy Butterfield, Grinnell admissions: “We look for students who have done well on standardized tests, and have committed to leadership and activities beyond the classroom. We don’t have minimum GPA or test score requirement, as our application process is holistic. We want to see that applicants have done well in rigorous, balanced high school curriculums.”

“If a student does one activity at a very high level, then we certainly would not expect that student to be involved with many other activities outside of school. For a student who isn’t “the best” at any one activity, we’d like to see that student manage balancing their time between schoolwork and other activities.”

“Either ACT or SAT scores.”