The Little Hawk

Iowa City, IA

18A Sports

7A Arts and Entertainment

City vs. West football: Battle for the Boot

Bates Field Follies

13A Opinion

5A News

Alone: solitary confinement just makes things worse

Ghosts of Iowa City

The Little Hawk Vol. 77

Issue 2

Friday, October 26, 2018

Frustration with flooding

ABOVE: A tree uprooted in City Park as a result of recent flooding PHOTO BY LOTTIE GIDAL

By Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin

R

ain has dampened basements, trails and streets in Iowa City all of this fall. Just as the water has risen, so have people’s frustrations.

Beatrice Kearns ‘19 lives in a house with a creek running under it, so she often experiences flooding in her basement. Due to the recent heavy rain, her basement is currently flooded, and she estimates this is the fourth or fifth time it has happened.

“My basement floods all the time,” Kearns said. “Two weeks ago we had to rip all the carpet out of our basement and there’s still fans drying the floor and it smells really bad in my entire house.”

Kearns recalls that the city made efforts to fix the flooding on her street a few years ago, but it was unsuccessful. “[The city] put a different drainage system in, but a couple of our other neighbors complained because there was so much water draining into the street that there was algae growing so we had to stop doing that,” Kearns said.

Without a proper drainage system, all the houses on Kearns’ side of her street flood frequently.

Iowa communities have spent about $18 billion on floods since 1988, according to a recent University of Iowa study. In 2008, Iowa City and surrounding areas experienced a flood with levels that had not been seen for over 20 years. Since then, the city of Iowa City has made efforts to prevent a recurrence, such as raising Dubuque Street.

Zack Greazel ‘19 lives in a @instalittlehawk

LHFACTS

.97 6.69 INCHES OF RAIN IN 2017

INCHES OF RAIN IN 2018

flood plain, and in 2008 had to “It’s fine for me because they evacuate his house due to flooding. raised Dubuque Street but because “We were asked to evacuate and the people who live on Linder Road, we did for a little while, but then we which is nearby, refuse to raise the got annoyed with having to live with road because that would mean their our grandparents, so we had to sneak houses get destroyed...we still have around,” Greazel said. “We parked our parts of our road where the city has car at the trailer court which is nearby to come in and bring gravel when [the and had to have one of our neigh- water] gets too high,” Greazel said. bors take their golf cart to our house Although raising Dubuque Street and we just lived there, not illegally, has drastically decreased the floodbut nobody wanted us there pretty ing in Iowa City, floods still cause much the whole time it was flooded.” problems in the area. Greazel believes Flooding has been a part of that the city still has work to do in Greazel’s life since first grade when City Park, a public park that is next he moved into his current house. to the river opposite Dubuque Street.

“With where I live, every single time “I think they did the right thing by the water level raising Dubuque gets too high the and making a “I’VE BEEN A PART OF roads get closed new bridge and and I have to take CROSS COUNTRY SINCE I stuff but you can different ways,” that City Park WAS IN NINTH GRADE, SO see Greazel said. is completely 22 YEARS, PRETTY MUCH destroyed every But Greazel says that this time it floods and EVERY YEAR...AND I’VE year he is not that if NEVER SEEN A FALL THIS Itheythink being affected care enough by the flooding about City Park, WET AND STORMY.” as much due to they should the raising of definitely try RYAN AHLERS Dubuque Street. @The Little Hawk

@thelittlehawk

to put up a wall or something over there that will make it stop flooding every time,” Greazel said.

Flooding does not only affect people’s home lives, it also affects sports.

Cross-country coach Ryan Ahlers has been frustrated by the number of meets that have been cancelled this season due to rain. The first three meets of the season were cancelled, in addition to more throughout.

“I’ve been a part of cross country since I was in ninth grade, so 22 years, pretty much every year, because as soon as I graduated college I started coaching,” Ahlers said. “I’ve never seen a fall this wet and this stormy.”

The cross-country team’s practices have also been affected by the floods, as some of their routes have been inaccessible—for example, Napoleon, near Terry Trueblood Park.

“Two weeks ago we were going to do Napoleon...and we got all the way down to where the trail goes underneath the bridge and [water] was almost up to the bottom of the bridge,” Ahlers said. “It probably would’ve been mid-thigh deep.”

The team had an alternative route planned for the day because they suspected this would be the case.

City High students, especially athletes, have become very annoyed with the fluctuating weather this fall. Kearns hopes that it dries up soon so that she can have her basement back and not have to worry about being wet all the time.

“Everything I own is moist,” Kearns said. @The Little Hawk

thelittlehawk.com

Student Senate sets priorities for fall

By Mira Bohannan Kumar

T

he Student Senate meeting on Wednesday, October 17 began without faculty adviser Steve Tygrett. “The world doesn’t wait for Tygrett,” Judith Dickson, faculty adviser, said in an indication to begin the meeting.

“The first order of business is that the...Food Drive is coming around,” Naomi Meurice ‘19, vice president, said. “They want cans of food and everything like that at the Crisis Center, but money is much more valuable to them, because they can spend money in a much better way than we can. We’re looking to form a committee and then in that committee, get ideas going.”

Hall monitor Chip Hardesty chipped in to offer his two cents on the value of money to the Crisis Center.

“Every dollar to them means four dollars spent by us because they can buy more for their money than we can,” Hardesty said.

The Senate is also looking ahead to the winter formal, which will take place on December 8.

“The winter dance is also coming up,” President Lottie Gidal ‘19 said. “People should form a committee for that as well.”

Treasurer Rachael Volkman ‘19 presented an analysis of Senate funds after and profits from Homecoming weekend. The Senate threw out ideas for raising funds. Faculty sponsors mentioned selling tickets to the winter formal for seven dollars as opposed to five dollars, and using the same decorations each year.

“We won’t have as many people at the winter dance,” Dickson said.

“I think your winter dance theme needs to be the same every year.”

Dickson’s biggest concern was safety.

“When we had 1100 people jumping straight up and down at Homecoming, and six adults in the room, that’s not a safe environment,” Dickson said. “You need to recruit teachers.

We’re paying them 20 dollars a shift.”

The Senate discussed whether it is better to use Flexisched or to go back to using paper passes.

“Advisory teachers can look at where students are scheduled to go,” Xeniphilius Tyne ‘20 said. “They can say, ‘I can see where you’re scheduled.’”

The Senate took a vote on Flexisched versus paper passes, and the vote came out in favor of Flexisched. The Senate made recommendations to have teachers enforce Flexisched use more and to remind students of their prior commitments during Advisory time.

Hardesty brought up the award given to the best elementary school float in the Homecoming parade, and the date of the Homecoming dance.

The Student Senate meets every Wednesday from 8:15-8:45 in room 3311. To learn more, please attend meetings, which are open to all students, or contact Steve Tygrett, the primary faculty adviser. @thelittlehawk

2A NEWS

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

Letter from the Editors Dearest Readers, The editor squad is very proud of this issue. We threw it together in only three weeks, but it is by far our best yet. Although us sleeping on the news room couch represents how tired we are now that it’s done.

The news section features stories on flooding, partying for a cause, and a feature on our beloved Ms. Basile.

The opinion section talks about how students feel about Kavanaugh, along with solitary confinement.

On pages 15-16 you get a glimpse into the culture of City High, with

the new series Cultured Corner.

The A&E section shows beautiful pictures from Bates Field Follies and lots of book reviews.

The sports section summarizes multiple recent games, along with a story discussing team bonding.

Lastly, our wonderful features editors put together stories on topics anywhere from food to sleep deprivation.

We hope you have as much fun reading this issue as we did making it!

Love always, Papa Phoebe & Mama Maya

NEWS 3A

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

One year later City High students reflect on their experience with Chromebooks

By Wayne Joseph

T

ABOVE: A drag queen in the show during the SASS benefit party on October 6 PHOTO BY ELLIS CHEN

By Ellis Chen

C

olorful lights bathed students in an otherworldly glow as they whooped and hollered for drag performers. On October 6, Studio Thirteen, a local club known for its bar, opened its doors to teenagers who made drinking moot. On stools in the entryway the event’s hosts, members of Students Against School Shootings, took donations from patrons.

The drag show featured local drag kings and queens that collected donations from viewers as part of the fundraiser. Following the show, students took to the dance floor, under multicolored lights and a smoke machine.

“I really liked the dancing afterwards,“ Estella Brady ‘20 said. “There were quite a few people for the drag show but then quite a few of the families and older people that been there left after the drag show was over, so

it was a smaller group and we could goal to SASS, let’s see if we can work really go hard on the dance floor.” together with them and help them For the fundraiser, SASS col- out and Studio Thirteen,’” Brady said. laborated with the organization Since its formation in organizGays Against Guns, a direct action ing walkouts in Iowa City following group of LGBTQ+ individuals that the Parkland shooting, SASS has unpushes for tighter gun restrictions. dergone several changes, although “During the summer, SASS had a it retains its fundamental goal. booth at Iowa City and Cedar Rap“We have pretty different members, ids Pride Parades and Pride Fest, and because a lot of the original members through that we graduated and learned about so there are a lot Gays Against of new members “I REALLY LIKED THE Guns. And like a few of the DANCING AFTERWARDS... and many marginalold original memIT WAS A SMALLER GROUP bers. Also, it startized groups in America, memed out as a protest AND WE COULD REALLY bers of the LGwith a GO HARD ON THE DANCE group, BTQ community rally and a walk FLOOR .” are at a higher out, and now risk of the victims it’s turned into of gun violence, more legislation, ESTELLA BRADY ‘20 so we thought, talking to legisla‘here’s this group tors registering that has a similar people to vote, ”

Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin ‘19 said.

To aid efforts to craft legislation on guns, SASS has recently focused on the upcoming midterm elections.

“We’ve been registering people to vote a lot. That’s been a really big thing for us, and we are planning a march to the polls on October 27 to help people get out and vote and to help motivate people,” Shoshie Hemley ‘21 said.

The voting efforts are part of the repeated efforts of SASS to create lasting change and prevent shootings, by generating enthusiasm for their cause before another tragedy happens.

“I think the ball is not rolling as hard as it was back in March, but I know the next time that a school shooting happens that will get people more fired up,” Hemley said. “But, what we’re trying to do is get people fired up before the next school shooting. That’s what we’re trying to prevent.“

Johnson County Democrats host annual barbecue

By Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin

E

very fall, the Johnson County Democrats host a barbecue that attracts constituents from all over the county, and even throughout the state. Johnson County Supervisor Janelle Rettig has been going to the function for many years.

“It’s like a big family reunion,” Rettig said. “Sometimes you only see [certain] people at the barbecue, some of the older Democrats.”

The event takes place right before elections each year, and serves as a platform for candidates to speak with the community and each other.

“It’s right at the election cycle, it’s kind of a breather and a good time for everyone to hang out and celebrate and re-energize for the next couple of weeks,” Rettig said.

Each year, the Johnson County Democrats bring in guest speakers from around the country. This year they included Andrew Yang, a businessman and 2020 presidential candidate from New York, Senator Jeff Merkley from Oregon, Governor Jay Inslee from Washington, and Representative Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, another 2020 presidential candidate.

Gabbard has spoken at the event for

the past two years, and she continues to be impressed by Johnson County’s Democratic party.

“I have been so inspired by all of the energy that I have been surrounded with here in the different county Democratic parties and really all the candidates running for office at every level,” Gabbard said. “The folks who I’ve met, at least, are really focused on putting people before politics, really talking about listening to the challenges that people are facing and then talking about how do we work together to find solutions.”

She talked about many topics, including how the funds delegated to war affect the United States domestically.

“The trillions of dollars that we spend on these destructive regimechange wars of choice, that are not good for us, actually end up making the problems worse in the countries where we rage wars, and we end up with deficit of resources that we need for our schools, for our roads, for our healthcare systems, for the things that are in dire need here at home,” Gabbard said.

Gabbard also mentioned that she believes many prevalent issues affect non-voting high school-age citizens,

ABOVE: Tulsi Gabbard speaking at the barbecue on October 13 PHOTO BY PHOEBE CHAPNICK-SOROKIN including healthcare, the cost of education, the kind of education available, criminal justice reform, and the federal prohibition of marijuana, among others.

When she was in high school, Gabbard was passionate about environmental issues, and she encourages students today to find what they are passionate about and try to make a difference.

“Everyone has different kinds of issues that they’re passionate about...the main thing is, as I did as a teenager, there are so many things you can do to get involved right now as we head

into the election. Making sure that people who are eligible to vote are voting is a tremendous way to do that,” Gabbard said.

Gabbard said she was pleased that she was able to return and speak at the barbecue for the second year in a row.

“I was glad to be able to come back again this year,” Gabbard said.

“We have a unique culture and unique people in every single state but again I’ve been so impressed by the kind of leadership and proactive energy that I’ve seen here, especially as we head into the election.”

his school year marks one year since the Iowa City Community School District introduced Chromebooks to City High as well as other schools throughout the district. Chromebooks were issued to each high school student during the 2017-2018 school year in an attempt to enhance student learning.

“I was very excited when I first heard that the school would be providing Chromebooks for all of the students,” Rocco Zollo ‘21 said.

“It also allows us to have them in every class and at home, which is a big benefit.”

Like Zollo, many of the students at City High had a positive outlook on the introduction to Chromebooks. But, like most changes, they faced speculation from others. Julia Coelho ’19 was one of the few who believed that Chromebooks would be a problem for students.

“I was worried that having technology in the classroom would distract us all,” Coelho said.

Fast forward one year later, most students are now familiar with their Chromebooks and utilize them to their fullest potential.

“I use mine to do homework every day and to fill out college applications,” Coelho said. “However, I sometimes use it to watch YouTube and Netflix.”

Contrarily, Adam Engelbrecht ‘20 said that he only sticks to schoolrelated activities on his Chromebook.

When Chromebooks were introduced, the big concern for those like Coelho was hat they would be a big distraction for students. While her views have changed slightly, she still thinks they can be a distraction.

“I think it sometimes can be.

I’m a huge believer that the overuse of technology is a huge flaw in our society but I think mainly it’s been used for good,” Coelho said.

Zollo also believes that they can sometimes be a distraction.

“However, teachers usually only allow them to be out at certain times and often check what the students are doing,” Zollo said..

Engelbrecht does not consider Chromebooks to be a distraction.

“I would definitely not call it a distraction,” Engelbrecht said.

“It is simply a helpful, productive learning tool that kids utilize. If administrators are really worried that it is a distraction, they should just restrict it more.”

After one year of getting familiar with their Chromebooks, students have formulated a solid stance on where they fall on the “love it or hate it” spectrum.

“I certainly do not have the same stance on Chromebooks now than before,” Zollo said. “I used to be so excited and they seemed so great at first, but after having them for over a year, my excitement has worn off.”

As for Coelho, her viewpoint has changed as well. “I think that Chromebooks have been used very well and I think it’s a great resource,” she said.

“After using my Chromebook for a year, my positive opinion has definitely stayed the same,” Engelbrecht said. “It’s definitely my best friend.”

4A NEWS

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

ABOVE: Language Arts teacher Anna Basile holds the ‘Ms. Basile Likes Me’ pencils that she gives out to students on their birthday PHOTO BY JULIANNE BERRY-STOELZLE

There is a point in showing you care

By Julianne Berry-Stoelzle and Kate Kueter

A

fter being on maternity leave for six weeks, Anna Basile came back to City High with a special surprise for her students.

“I wanted to make more of a point this year of bridging the gap and to show kids that I’m thinking about them,” Basile said.

While she was gone, she had pencils engraved with “Ms. Basile Likes Me,” to give to her students on their birthdays.

“I just thought that I could ask people what their birthdays are and then give them a little token of my affection,” Basile said. “Just to let them know that I’m thinking about them.”

Planning to give a gift to every student is a challenge, but that did not stop Basile.

“There might be only a few little things that high schoolers really need from me that I can afford to give everybody,” Basile said. “Everybody needs pencils!”

Basile originally had engraved pencils when she taught junior high saying, “I want to go back to Ms. Basile.” The thought came back to her. “[I came up with the idea out of] sheer boredom,”

Basile said. “I was thinking about how badly I wanted to get back here and how I think it’s always a good idea to take a little bit more time to develop relationships.”

One of the first students to receive a pencil from Basile was Sean Phillips ‘20. He was happy about getting such a token from one of his favorite teachers.

“She really cares about her students and this is just another little reminder that she likes you and cares about you,” Phillips said.

One of the students in Sean’s class, Trinity Sadecky ‘20, thought it was a great idea.

“I thought they were really cute!” Sadecky said. “They are something special.”

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

NEWS 5A

By Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin PHOTOS BY RHYS HOLMAN ART BY ZOË BUTLER AND MAYA DURHAM

Slater Hall

S

later Hall houses 499 co-ed students, is air-conditioned, and located in a convenient distance to the field house.

But rumor has it there is a 500th student living in Slater Hall. It is said to be haunted by a student who jumped out of a window off of the ninth floor and killed himself. He has been spotted walking the halls with an ax, although some say the ax detail was added for embellishment. His screams have also been heard echoing throughout the halls.

Currier Hall

B

uilt in 1913, Currier Hall is said to be haunted by the ghosts of three girls who killed themselves in the E300 wing. Legend has it that the three girls all fell in love with the same man, and killed themselves in heart-broken anguish. There have been reports of loud footsteps and cries coming from the halls.

Watt’s Antiques

T

he most mysterious of the four haunted places, Watt’s Antiques is a barely-open antique store on the corner of Muscatine Avenue and Dearborn Street in Iowa City. There have been reports of footsteps, voices, apparitions, and patches of paranormal feelings such as cold spots. Members of the ghost hunting community continue to explore this venue, as it is rather untouched.

Black Angel

A

rguably the most well known haunted place in Iowa City, the Black Angel at Oakland Cemetery has haunted the area since 1912. The statue serves as a memorial for Nicholas and Teresa Feldevert, but it also has an eerie tale surrounding it. Teresa Feldevert, an immigrant from what is now Czechia, built the statue for her late husband, Nicholas Feldevert, whose ashes are in the bottom of the statue. When Teresa died, her ashes were placed next to her husband’s, but although the statue states her date of birth, her death date is nowhere to be found. There are many explanations for the statue’s black hue: Teresa Feldevert’s mysteriousness, the angel was struck by lightning on the night of Teresa’s funeral, Teresa’s broken vow of infidelity, a theory that Teresa murdered her son who is buried under the wing, and the simple oxidation of the metal. It is rumored that if one kisses the statue in the moonlight, they will be struck dead in six months. No matter what is true about the Black Angel, its aura continues to cause many residents of Iowa City to believe, and fear, the legends.

6A A&E

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

Top district choirs come to Voxman

T

By Zoë Miller

director, said.

Rondes includes whispering, changing places with other members of the choir, and lip trills. One part of the song includes a bass leaving the stage mid-per-

here was a clamor of sounds as students bustled up to the stage. They filled in an entire half circle, everyone jammed together. There was silence, then the conductor raised his formance. Phong Nguyen ‘20 reflected on that role.

“I tried not to look [at the audience] because I hands and 300 voices joined together.

“I thought [the mass piece] was really fun because would’ve gotten really nervous. I accidentally messed we were doing the All-State music,” Phong Nguyen up actually. I couldn’t see the door and so I jumped ‘20 said. “It was fun to hear how full [the sound is] off the stage to the side of it so I was a bit embarrassed by that but, other than that I had fun.” because of the room.”

The audience reaction is considered to be part of Choirs from City High, West High, and Liberty the music of “Rondes’ as well.

High schools joined together in the “[The reviews] were wholly posiVoxman music building on October tive everybody was very keen to 10 for a district-wide high-school “HEARING IT IN THE hearand it, see the score and know what choir performance in conjunction HALL CERTAINLY IS it was about,” Hagy said. ‘Some of with one of the choirs from the University of Iowa. City High’s Concert A VERY REWARDING the masters or doctoral students at Iowa talked to me about it too and Choir was the last high-school group EXPERIENCE AND said they really wanted to see the to perform their three-piece set. score because they were so intrigued JUST TO KIND OF The City High Concert Choir music.” performed “The Boy Who Picked SHOW WHAT WE’RE by the Not only did City High get a Up His Feet To Fly” by Joshua DOING NOW IN THIS chance to perform, but the choir Shank, “Go Lovely Rose” by Edalso got to hear the other high mund Waller, and “Rondes” by Folke DEPARTMENT.” schools perform.

Rob. The final piece, “Rondes,” led “I thought it was really fun listo some different reactions from the PHONG NYUGEN ‘20 tening to the other schools,” Nguycrowd. The piece is written in graphen said. “I really liked ‘Bring Me ic notation where there are not lines Little Water Silvy’ that one of the and notes, but pictures of what the music should sound like. When performed, it sounds West High choirs did. I really liked that.”

With City High’s recent change in head choir dilike randomized notes and vibrations.

“I don’t know why people seem to be drawn to rector, this concert gave a chance to show what the that piece, certainly because it’s so different you don’t music department has been working on. “[Voxman] is just beautiful, so it’s a very rewardexpect it, you don’t know what’s happening, and you ing space to sing in, maybe not as much being on don’t know what’s coming next so there’s always that sort of anticipation…I thought it was a cool thing for the stage itself but hearing it in the hall certainly is us [to perform it] and for everybody in the place to a very rewarding experience and just to kind of show be pulled out of their comfort zone a little bit and what we’re doing now in this department and in this get to experience something different that one doesn’t program what direction we are kind of heading over expect choral music to be,” Tyler Hagy, head choir the course of the next several years.”

ABOVE: City High Concert Choir performs Rondes at Voxman Music Building PHOTO BY SHELLEY RUBLAITUS

“Laugh Out Loud” hits the stage

By Lindy Rublaitus

7

plays, 4 directors, 34 actors, 2 stage managers, and 3 evenings.

City High’s drama department is gearing up for their fall performances: “Laugh Out Loud: an Evening of Comedy.”

These shows range from a short monologue dedecated to a dead “cat” to the highs and lows of auditioning for the school musical. The shows touch on topics such as dating, life, and school all while giving the audience a fun night.

“We not only have a lot of freshmen, but also upperclassmen doing the show for the first time. I’ts so exciting to be able to see people enjoy the thrill that is the City High Drama Department,” said stage manager Kate Murray ‘19.

The performances will take place in Opstad Auditorium on October 26 and 27 at 7:30 pm and October 28 at 2:00 pm. Ticket can be purchased in the main office during business hours and 30 minutes prior to each show.

ABOVE: Rehearsals of “The Audition” and “Controlling Interest” PHOTO BY LINDY RUBLAITUS

Am I really doing this again?

National Novel Writing Month can be a bleassing and a curse.

Here’s why one Little Hawk staffer is doing it a second ime

By Mira Bohannan Kumar

I

’ve been thinking about it since last December 1, and I still can’t decide whether I’m excited or terrified for this year’s NaNoWriMo, my second time climbing the Word Mountain of Wordly Wording, or alternatively The End of Me, Redux.

You might be scratching your head and asking, “What the heck is...NaNoWhatsit?” In case you are, here’s the DL: NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a grueling ordeal in which a bunch of people who apparently have nothing but time (and an unholy amount of caffeine) on their hands try to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Yes, that’s four zeros.

Last year, I, a 15-year-old high school sophomore who did and does not have time for any of this and who also has markedly unfortunate reactions to overconsumption of caffeine, set out to win NaNo for the first time. I did. Somehow. And now here I am, mired in Sisyphean misery at the bottom of the mountain once more, donning my oxygen mask, hefting my pack, and asking myself the question I’ve been asking for almost 11 months: Am I really doing this again?

The answer will shock you: yep. NaNo is usually a hugely positive experience and there are lots of different ways to do it; most of them have delightful names, like “pantsing,” which is when you

start writing on November 1 with no idea what you’re doing. The way I do it is boring: I start with a vague plan and commit to write as close to 1,667 words as I can every day for 30 days. Mathematically, I end up finishing on the last day. Last year, I finished a day early, but my method is still not at all romantic. I know people who go into it without having so much as thought of a first sentence, dash off as much as they can whenever they can, and then end up staying up until midnight on November 30 trying to write 5,000 words in a night. That’s romantic. That’s exciting. That’s the real way to do things. I can’t handle it.

Last year, I could handle the constant pressure of having to write more, more, more every night. I got to the point where every time I was sitting down with my computer open, I was writing. Three words, fifty, a hundred at a time--however many I could get down during first period meant fewer to do at 10 pm. It was like a quest, a glorious adventure, gave me more vim and vigor than anything, and every night when I finished the 1,667th word, I sighed in relief.

That’s what NaNo was for me: constant, small doses of relief.

It was needed. In the fall of 2017, I was having something of a tough time. I was struggling to find things I enjoyed doing. Until December, when I really began to feel passionate about some of my intramural activities, and later in January, when I joined one activist group and helped found another, sophomore year wasn’t

looking up. NaNoWriMo provided the incentive I needed to get out of bed and into a story. Every day, even if I was exhausted, even if I just felt like listening to sad music while stuffing my face with popcorn and then into the carpet, I had to write those 1,667 words.

Every night, I sat on my bed and typed furiously, my brain getting ahead of my fingers. I have friends for whom memories of a camp at which they were a counselor brings a tear to their eye: for me, thinking of NaNo gives me the same feeling. I listened to “Girls/ Girls/Boys” by Panic! At the Disco during most of my writing sessions, and to this day I can’t hear that song without thinking of the novel I worked on in 2017.

After I did it last year, I was too tired to even think about 2018, and that feeling, leavened only by brief interludes of excitement, didn’t change for months. Back in July, I could feel November creeping up on me, reaching out with a cold finger to poke me in the side in an experience Anne Shirley would find terrifying beyond belief. And I could feel a soreness creeping up on me, a memory of the exhaustion I retained staying up late, plugging away at my Doc, the light from the midnight oil gleaming lonely in my diurnal household. But now, November feels so close I could reach out and poke it. My exhaustion is melting away. NaNo is waiting. And a voice in the back of my head, a cheerleading-coach kind of voice, is telling me: Yes. I’m really doing this again.

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

A&E A7

Marching to the end of the season

By Lottie Gidal

A

s the sounds of the Beatles’ Hey Jude filled the gym, students and parents alike waved their arms to the rhythm, signaling the end to yet another marching band season.

“That’s always a really exciting concert, just to see everyone come together in celebration,” director Aaron Ottmar said. “We had a really great season and I think that was a great way of capping it off.”

Bates Field Follies is the annual concert for parents, a chance for the band to show off what they have been working on in a different setting than their usual Friday night football games. The theme for song selection this year was jazz, and students performed their four pieces Caravan, Afro Blue, Echano, and Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing.

“It’s fun music that has lots of life, and I think the students really bought into it,” Ottmar said. “It was really fun to have that theme of jazz, particularly in a school like this where lots of people, and really the whole community is into jazz.”

In addition to their varying theme songs, the band plays You Can Call Me Al, Hey Baby, Seven Nation Army, You Can’t Stop The Beat, and Hey Jude every year. Right before a special photoslide show, the drumline marched in to play a handful of songs including the Iowa Drum Candence that they performed with the Hawkeye Marching Band earlier this year.

“To be able to play all those songs I’ve played for four years now one last time was pretty fun,” Smith said. “After seeing all the seniors before me, and then finally being a senior and doing it for the last time, well, it’s interesting how everything unfolds, without realizing how quickly it’s all gone by.”

But not only high school students participate in the Follies. Eighth graders from South East Junior High’s marching band come up to play one song with their future bandmates.

“It was really cool and impressive to see people who are just a few years older than me play really hard pieces,” bassoon player Amelia Lang-Fallon ‘23 said. “I was nervous knowing that that might be me next year.”

South East also had an opportunity to play with City High earlier in the season, performing the fight song at a football game.

“Playing with City High at a football game was really fun but quite intimidating because of how good they were,” Lang-Fallon said. “They had every step down to a march and it was like wow. It really motivates me to put more effort into my playing.”

According to Ottmar, the senior leadership from Smith and others this year has been exceptional.

“It really boiled down to having great leadership, from the drum majors to the section leaders, to even other members of sections that weren’t necessarily given the title of leaders,” Ottmar said. “It happens every year, people step up. But I think in particular, with this senior class, we are going to be missing a lot of great leadership.”

At recent a recent competition in Ames, Iowa, the band had an opportunity to put their leadership to the test. Going up against three other schools, the band was judged on four different sections, or captions, (i.e. winds and brass, drumline, drum majors, and ---) as well as their overall

presentation.

City High came in third in the last category, but was able to win the winds and brass award, something Ottmar says is something the students should be very proud of.

“That’s a really big deal because the band that got first in our class is a very competitive marching band, they go to a competition on a national level,” Ottmar said. “The fact that we got this caption award over them is a huge deal, so I try to tell the students that, something to really hang their hat on.”

The --- is the only competition the marching band participates in, and this year there were some challenges going in.

Bad weather, shortened practice time, and a need to prepare for other events stood in the way of the students. But Ottmar says that once again, the leadership he sees on a daily basis really pulled it all together.

“If you don’t have a good leadership team for marching band, you could have the best players in the world and it just wouldn’t happen, it really wouldn’t,” Ottmar said. “They have left a great mark of keeping tradition here, but bringing some new enthusiasm to it as well and really wanting to help each other out and hold each other accountable. It’s sad to see them go, but they made a great mark on our marching band.

I know that they will all go from here and do wonderful things, whether its marching band or not.”

In fact, because of the positive times they experienced in high school marching band, many seniors are looking to continue on at the collegiate level.

“I will definitely continue marching in college,” Smith said.

“Not just if I have time, it will be on my list to do, no matter where it’s at. I honestly think marching band takes a whole different technique than normal concert band when you’re just standing there playing things. When everyone works together to do that and works together to learn the music it sounds amazing.”

Part of this, Ottmar says, presents itself in the small traditions that keeps everyone excited. From a moment in a drumline solo where all the students jump into the air, or a loud yell at the end of a song, the enthusiasm the players bring to marching band is never lacking.

“Just little things like that, that are really silly and cheesy and literally have nothing to do with making marching band better, except that its something fun,” Ottmar said. “They’ll remember that, and those little things along the way make a big difference and that can be a reason why people enjoy being in marching band.”

ABOVE: Marching band celebrates their last show with traditional perfamnces. PHOTOS BY LOTTIE GIDAL

8A A&E

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

Banned books and where to find them

TOP 7 ARTISTS EVERYONE SHOULD LISTEN TO

By Kate Kueter

By Noah Bullwinkle

B

anning books have been around in America since the 1600s.

The act of not allowing people to read a book has been called stupid and pointless by City High students.

“I think it’s stupid because books educate people,” Jacob Strathearn ‘19 said. “And one thing we need in this country is education.”

The idea of restricting what students learn and develop their own opinions leaves students puzzled.

“They always want us to learn,” Olivia Burke ‘21 said. “So why would you stop us from learning?”

When talking about banning and challenging books there is a difference in definition. Banning books is removing the book because of its content. Challenging a book is the attempt to remove a book because of objections of groups or people. According to the American Library Association’s Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 range from classic adult literature like Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger to young adult literature classics like Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling.

“I think banning a book is pointless,” Shelby Caldwell ‘21 said.

“Students can go to the public library and get the book and read it in their free time.”

There are a vast amount of reasons why books are banned, for example, racial issues, violence, witchcraft, political bias, and being age-inappropriate. Reasons for challenging books are even broader because it depends on a person or groups beliefs.

One of the newest reasons for challenging or banning books is because the book contains lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) content. Drama by Raina Telgemeier is number three on the 2017 top ten challenged books because of it LGBT content. Three of the books on the top ten challenged book list reasons for being challenged are because of their LGBT content.

Books like Harry Potter fall into three categories of reasons for being banned. One is because it promotes witchcraft, two it sets a bad example, and three beginning age inappropriate.

When people think of banned books most can think of one or two titles. Some of the most well know banned books are To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, for its racial language and “conflict with communities values”. The Catcher and the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, because of identifiable profanities.

In 2017 the American Library Association tracked 354 challenges to libraries and school resources. In total, 416 books were banned or challenged in 2017. In 2017, 32% of challenges come from parents who do not want their children to read inappropriate content or certain views, political and others. The highest percentage of people challenging books are patrons, at 42%.

“Because the experiences they’ve had with reading books have either been in a classroom where they’re forced to or they just ended up reading the wrong kinds of books and grew away from enjoying reading,” Strathearn said.

Aphex Twin

Genre: Electronic Top Songs: “Alberto Balsalm,” “Xtal,” “T69 Collapse,” “Polynomial-C” Why Listen: Aphex Twin, otherwise known as Richard D. James, has been a captivating and influential figure in EDM music since his 1991 album debut “Analogue Bubblebath.” Escaping the modern trend of beat-drop EDM, Aphex Twin’s tracks consist of a peaceful and calming sound. After taking a long hiatus from music, James has come back strong since 2014, recently releasing the five-track “Collapse EP.”

Smino

Genre: Hip-hop Top Songs: “Kajun,” “Amphetamine,” “blkjuptr,” “Anita” Why Listen: Hailing from St. Louis, Smino was born into a family of musicians: his grandfather played bass for jazz legend Muddy Waters. A mix of funk/soul and rap, Smino is a tantalizing and gifted artist you shouldn’t miss.

Public Enemy

Genre: Hip-hop Top Songs: “Cold Lampin’ with Flavor,” “Night of the Living Baseheads,” “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos,” “911 is a Joke” Why Listen: A forgotten group among today’s generation, Public Enemy combines lyrical and politically infused messages with striking and energetic beats. PE’s frontman, Chuck D, eloquently voices the struggle of African Americans against the racist system they find themselves in, contrastingly criticizing the self-destructive crack culture the African-American community faced during the time of their music with tracks like Night of the Living Baseheads.

Anderson .Paak

Genre: Funk/Hip-hop Top Songs: “Bubblin,” “Silicon Valley,” “Tints” Why Listen: With a smile that could headline a Colgate commercial, Anderson .Paak’s infectious energy and catchy songs are hard to forget. Combined with an undeniable musical talent (Paak also plays the drums) and unique voice, Anderson .Paak is definitely an artist you should check out.

Daniel Caesar

Genre: Soul/R&B Top Songs: “Death and Taxes,” “Streetcar,” “Lost” Why Listen: A Canadian-born singer, Daniel Caesar rose to fame with two well received EPs in 2014 and 2015. Bringing a religious side to R&B, the 23-year-old is definitely an artist to check out.

Mura Masa

Genre: Pop Top Songs: Love$ick, What If I Go, Firefly Why Listen: Mura Masa blew up as a teenager making beats on his laptop, and his repertoire of feel-good and catchy songs is a pleasant listen.

Isaiah Rashad

Genre: Hip-hop/Rap Top Songs: “Menthol,” “GIL,” “Heavenly Father,” “Free Lunch,” “Wat’s Wrong” Why Listen: Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Isaiah Rashad first gained acclaim with his mixtape Pieces of a Kid. In a smooth and composed flow, Rashad blends simple yet beautiful production into a well-rounded mix of songs, addressing topics from his upbringing to his past struggles with depression.

Spooky books: teachers’ top Halloween books

By Alison Kenaston, Kate Kueter, Owen Sorenson, and Emmelene Perencevich

BOOK COVER COURTESY OF PUFFIN BOOKS

BOOK COVER COURTESY OF RIVERHEAD BOOKS

BOOK COVER COURTESY OF VIKING PRESS

The Lewis Barnavelt Series

by John Bellairs

“The Girl on the Train”

by Paula Hawkins

“Four Past Midnight”

by Stephen King

“More than once we stayed up till three in the morning because I wanted to find out what happened. They were scary… they combined what would be a kid’s reality with a little bit of supernatural stuff.”

—Chip Hardesty

“I like her books because they are kind of the suspenseful ones that [are] not told in chronological order. You are wondering if she’s setting you up to figure out who did it and what happened. Its new.

I liked that it was set in England. I liked how I had some idea of what was going to happen, but there was just enough intrigue to keep me going through the novel.”

—Elizabeth Schau

“‘The Langoliers,’ one of the four short stories in Stephen King’s ‘Four Past Midnight,’ it tells the story of eleven passengers who wake up to an empty plane. An off-duty pilot on the flight takes it off autopilot and lands, but the world they land in is not the world they remember.”

—AJ Leman

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM |OCTOBER 26, 2018

Michelle Buell

Makeup artist & photographer

By Lindy Rublaitus Little Hawk: What kind of art do you do?

Michelle Buell: I do photography and makeup design.

LH: What is it like to be self-taught?

MB: I’ve always been interested in makeup as an art form so it’s spending a lot of time doing the same things over and over again. I’m proud of it.

I’m proud of being able to say, ‘Oh yeah. I taught myself how to do everything.’

LH: What’s your favorite project that you’ve ever done?

MB: I think one of my favorite projects I’ve done is this makeup that looks like it’s electric and glowing. It’s very pretty, but I actually was just messing around—but it looks so good. I have it on a button.

LH: What got you started with photography?

MB: Everyone in my family is a photographer.

My sister is a professional photographer, my grandpa’s interested in it, my aunt is interested in it, my great-grandma was interested in it. It’s like a generational thing that we all have in common.

Something we talk to each other about, help each other with.

LH: What got you into makeup?

MB: Well, I danced for nine years, so for recitals my mom would have to do my makeup and after recitals I would find the bag of makeup and just mess with it forever.

ABOVE: Michelle Buell ‘19’s makeup projects PHOTOS BY MICHELLE BUELL

LH: How would you define your artistic style in three words?

MB: Colorful, out-of-the-box, and perceptional.

It’s based on perception and I feel like you can see a lot of what I am trying to convey with the specific models. I feel like when [I] take pictures of them, capture them in their essence, you can see who they are.

LH: How do you feel taking pictures versus being in the photos?

MB: I feel like I enjoy taking pictures and being a studio photographer and I kind of get frustrated whenever I have to do it on myself because they never come out the same, because I can’t shoot and be the model at the same time. I like doing it on myself because, obviously, I’m more comfortable with myself, but I don’t have a big enough set-up to take studio photos of myself.

LH: What are your next projects that you are planning on?

MB: For my portfolio for AP Studio Art, I’m doing a project on the destruction of the earth and climate change, showing how we are eluding the earth, so I’m kind of going into this area of pollution and what we can do to stop this and showing the effects of it.

LH: Are all of your projects mainly focused on global issues?

MB: Not all of them. Some of them are just fun and creative, but I feel like there is a world of opportunity within showing design through makeup that hasn’t been explored yet that I would love to dive into.

A&E 9A

10A NEWS

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

NEWS 11A

Iowa youth get out the vote Over the past five years, voter turnout for midterm elections has decreased dramatically — from 41 percent in 2012 to 35.9 percent —and is especially low among young people, according to FairVote, a non-partisan online voting record database. Generation Z is trying to turn that around

By Maya Durham, Mira Bohannan Kumar, & Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin

Y

outh voters, which reconsidered voters from the ages of 18-29, made up 21 percent of the electorate in 2016. This election, many youths, not even of voting age, are working to make their voices heard by registering people to vote. “[When youth get engaged], their voices and their opinions can be displayed,” Kevin Drahos of March for Our Lives Iowa told TV news network KCRG. “Through our public officials and shown through legislation and things like that.”

Drahos, a senior at Linn-Mar High School in Cedar Rapids, serves on March for Our Lives Iowa’s Executive Board. Like the membership of the national branch, most participating members of MFOL Iowa are teenagers—no older than 21 years old.

March for Our Lives, an organization founded by students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, following a tragic shooting at their school, has been focusing on mobilizing youth and getting young people out to vote in this year’s midterm elections. Both nationally and in local chapters, teenagers involved with March for Our Lives have been participating in #TurnoutTuesdays, an online call to action.

“It’s important to constantly remind the youth in this country that if young people in their community went out to vote, they can actually sway any election so long as they get involved,” Jaclyn Corin, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and a co-founder of March for Our Lives, told Bustle.

Corin said the goal of this campaign was to “have the largest voter

INFOGRAPHIC BY MIRA BOHANNAN KUMAR turnout in history this November.”

People engage in #TurnoutTuesdays through social media—they can post pictures of themselves taking part in a given #TurnoutTuesday’s theme (everything from wearing March for Our Lives’ “Barcode T-shirts,” which provide a QR code to a website that enables anyone to register to vote online, to creating art, to hosting town halls).

March for Our Lives’ national branch has set up different ways to encourage people to actually vote on November 6, as well. Lyft, a ridesharing app, has agreed to give discounted as well as free rides to the polls. This will give anyone the opportunity to get out to their local polling place and vote, and eliminate the excuse that people don’t have a way to the poll.

Another way people can vote without driving to the poll is with absentee ballots, a resource that many motivated organizations such as March for Our Lives encourage in their communities.

In addition to raising voter turnout, these initiatives work to give teenagers who aren’t yet 18 years old the chance to get involved in politics in any way they can.

INFOGRAPHIC BY MIRA BOHANNAN KUMAR

“Honestly, a large chunk of the organizers that we work with all around the country and that we hope to work with in the future aren’t 18 yet,” Corin said.

Drahos said that even though many organizers in March for Our Lives are too young to vote, they’re enacting real change. As people who are not at the voting age, registering voters to make sure that the people in their community are voting is one of the biggest goals of many members of March for Our Lives.

“When we really put our minds to it,” he said, “we get s*** done.

Everybody vote November 6!”

March for Our Lives is not alone in their efforts to increase voter registration. Other organizations throughout Iowa reach out the community to make sure people are registered.

In Iowa City, teenagers and young adults are working to ensure their peers are registered to vote. At both the University of Iowa and local high schools, students are constantly organizing—holding voter registration drives, organizing parades and carpools to the polls, etc.

NextGen Iowa is a progressive

organization that aims to “register, motivate, and turn out more than 250,000 young people to vote,” according to their website.

“With the help of some other high school volunteers, we went around and got a bunch of city students registered to vote,” said Nao-

“[WHEN YOUTH GET ENGAGED], THEIR VOICES AND THEIR OPINIONS CAN BE DISPLAYED.” KEVIN DRAHOS mi Meurice ’19, a NextGen fellow.

Meurice has played a key role in voter registration efforts at City High School. She organized one week earlier in September when she registered as many people to vote as she could within those five days. Throughout that week, Meurice got other students at City High interested in helping out.

Students were registering their peers before school, during lunch, after school,

and throughout the entire school day by carrying voter registration forms in their backpacks and offering them to anyone eligible to register.

“I want to get as many people registered to vote, particularly high school students, [as I can,]” Meurice told The Little Hawk. “There are a lot of high school students that aren’t registered that could be and could vote.”

Voter registration is only one part of the puzzle, though. Meurice says NextGen has much more planned for the midterms. In addition to registering people to vote, NextGen educates people on who to vote for.

For example, when registering students at City High, Meurice handed out cards that listed issues and gave newly registered students directions to find out information about the candidates on the ballot. This enabled new voters to make educated choices.

“Now, we are looking at doing a voter education event as well as just reminding people of where they are supposed to vote and how they can vote,” she said.

So far, NextGen has registered thousands of new voters.

“I love working for NextGen because I have a lot of freedom to do some of the events that I think might be most effective, while also being a part of a larger organization that is influencing local and national elections,” Meurice said.

Through organizations like NextGen and March for Our Lives, students are inspiring other students, and even adults, to vote. Both organizations have hosted events at City High and other area high schools to get people excited about the election. Generation-Z organizers, as close to home as City High, are doing what they think right in hopes of creating excitement and participation in democracy.

12A OPINION

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

Isolationism

LH Executive Editors

Maya Durham & Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin

Opinion Editor Estella Brady

Features Editors

Zoë Miller & Nina Lavezzo-Stecopoulos

News and Sports Editor Lottie Gidal

Photo and Video Editors Lindy Rublaitus & Alison Kenaston

A&E Editor Lindy Rublaitus

Copy Editors Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin & Mira Bohannan Kumar

Web Editor Mira Bohannan Kumar

Graphics and Social Media Editors Zoë Butler and Olivia Lusala

ART

BY ZO ËB UT

LER

Staff

Jack Bacon, Gabe Baird, Julianne Berry-Stoelzle, Noah Bullwinkle, Shelby Caldwell, Ellis Chen, Kate Goodvin, Rhys Holman, Marin Irvine, Wayne Joseph, Kate Kueter, Virginia Muturi, Quincy Ott, Emme Perencevich, Ethan Snee, Owen Sorenson, & Victoria Weckmann.

Adviser: Jonathan Rogers

Our community’s liberal tendencies can overwhelm conservatives, including students, and polarization doesn’t stop at the city limits

C Mission Statement The Little Hawk, the student newspaper of City High School, aims to inform, educate and entertain readers; to provide an educational opportunity for the students who produce it; and to provide a medium for commercial advertising.

Equity Statements It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices.

If you believe you have (or your child has) been discriminated against or treated unjustly at school, please contact the Equity Director, Ross Wilburn, at 509 S. Dubuque Street, 319-688-1000.

ity High rumor has it that a few years ago, a Young Republicans club failed after only one student showed up to the first meeting.

While this story may well be apocryphal, sometimes it does, indeed, seem as though City High has a smaller conservative sect than it has any other group of people.

“Iowa City is a major Democratic city,” Jaimie Dykes ‘19, who identifies as a conservative, said. “I find [it] at times hard because the vast majority of my peers and even my teachers are all telling me I have to think one way, otherwise I’m some terrible person, which I’m not.”

Talk of political polarization is nothing new in this day and age. A study done by Ron Johnston, David Manley, and Kelvyn Jones in “Annals of American Association of Geographers” shows that between 1992 and 2012, polarization between Republicans and Democrats increased by 29 percent across census regions and 12 percent across states.

Political polarization has increased within states as well. In-state polarization increased significantly in 58 percent of states over this same period. The current presidency is not the cause of this ever-increasing divide between Americans, for it is a process that started decades ago.

Now, though, what was initially a recognized but relatively inconsequential problem has become a nationwide concern. Political polarization and incivility in discourse are on the tip of everyone’s tongue when it comes to problems in today’s society.

“Working across the aisle” and “bipartisanship” are common assets for candidates to claim in the midterm elections, as close to home as parts of Johnson County: the Iowa City Press-Citizen recently quoted state House candidate Jodi Clemens, whose constituency if elected would include a portion of Johnson as well as Cedar County, as saying that our society has “to let people in…[w]e may disagree on this other

issue, but if we work together on that one, we can find some common ground.”

Despite this push across the aisle, many Americans have perceived recent congressional proceedings, like Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, as extremely partisan. “What we witnessed yesterday from the Republican Judiciary Committee members was a degree of invective, blind rage and brute partisanship that threatens not only the Senate and the Supreme Court — it threatens the basic faith in fairness and justice that binds this country together,” former Vice President Joe Biden wrote in a statement concerning the hearings. Kavanaugh himself cited “pent-up anger about President Trump” as a motivation for Democrats to oppose his confirmation.

The recent uber-partisan behavior of Congress and the increasing distaste average Americans have for ideologies different from their own would not easily be seen by voter registration statistics. “In 1976 more than 70 percent of the counties in partisan registration states had 10 percent or fewer independents. By 2004 the situation had reversed: more than 70 percent of the counties had 10 percent or more independent registrants,” found a study by the Hoover Institution. In that same time frame, registrants of independents increased by 6 percent nation-wide. This leads us to conclude that these divides are a change in the culture of the United States.

What can’t be seen on paper can be seen, heard, and felt through the daily life of living in this country.

“I feel like I am in the minority of people at City who have moderate conservative views. It feels hard to talk to some people with other views because I feel like they just try to keep talking over me while just trying to have a conversation about politics,” Mark McLaughlin ‘20 said. “I also feel like I am judged really hard by liberal people at City about my views.”

The animosity between differing sides of the political spectrum can also be increasingly perpetu-

ated by relationships with the news media. Liberals and conservatives can essentially experience entirely different facts and angles on stories, move through news sources without brushing elbows: one follows the New York Times and CNN, the other Fox News.

One well-known Wall Street Journal exercise created two side-by-side Facebook news feeds: one liberal and one conservative. The two often presented radically different interpretations and picked and chose separate events to present to their user. “The Internet was expected to be an open, democratic source of information,” NPR’s Weekend Edition wrote in 2016.

“But algorithms, like the kind used by Facebook, instead often steer us toward articles that reflect our own ideological preferences.”

Even The Little Hawk has had trouble recruiting and retaining staffers with diverse political opinions.

“The Little Hawk newspaper, a majority of the time, has a liberal bias,” McLaughlin said. “Even if they try not to have a bias it still comes through.”

This constant flow of news and information that match what we already believe to be true creates an environment that can isolate those who do not share the majority opinion and make coworkers, neighbors, and peers feel at odds with one another when, McLaughlin said, they should be working together.

“We are all Americans and should be proud of this nation [where] we are allowed to disagree and have different ideas,” McLaughlin said. “We should all agree to disagree in a civil way and listen to each other and come to neutral ground.”

Although crossing the barrier between ideological groups can seem too intimidating, it is crucial in today’s political climate to escape the echo chambers that many of us inhabit. We cannot create a culture of fear for anyone, and that includes those with political views different from our own. Freedom of speech should not mean dominance nor majority rule at the expense of the minority. Freedom of speech should mean that no one is afraid.

OPINION 13A

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

Alone

By Rhys Holman

Solitary confinement doesn’t accomplish its goals in the criminal justice system. It just makes things worse

ART BY HALEIGH STEFFENS olitary confinement has been a widely used facet of the American prisviolence because in a study that tracked how often recently released prisoners on system for hundreds of years. But with the Supreme Court recently are to commit crimes that return them to prison, those who were released the refusing to hear the cases Apodaca v. Raemisch and Lowe v. Raemisch, same year as they had been in solitary confinement had a 61 percent chance of which call into question the constitutionality of solitary confinement returning to prison, far more than the average. due to the the cruel conditions it involves, the question is: Why are there so A tragic example of what solitary confinement can do to a person is the case many calls to ban this form of punishment? of James Robertson. Robertson first went to prison when he was 17 for burglary Many oppose solitary confinement because they see the conditions as inand assault charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He’s now been humane and cruel. This is because when one is in solitary there for the last 37 years due to multiple crimes he com“THE CONDITIONS OF confinement, one is forced to spend anywhere from 22-24 mitted while in prison, including many charges of assault hours everyday locked in a seven-by-ten-foot cell, which SOLITARY CONFINEMENT and rioting, which have given him senteances totaling to is slightly more space than the size of a king-sized bed. over 100 years. Of those 37 years, 20 of them have been in HAD HAD SUCH A There’s little to no human interaction, which has been solitary confinement due to his long history of violence. shown to have significant impacts on prisoners’ mental PROFOUND EFFECT...THAT Eventually his mental state descended so much that when health, with many experiencing hallucinations, being he was eventually given a cellmate, which is sometimes HE WOULD RATHER BE more prone to self mutilation, and having difficulties fodone to try to mitigate the effects of social isolation, RobPUT TO DEATH THAN STAY ertson strangled him to death at night. But this was no cusing or thinking about anything.

The intended purpose behind putting prisoners in solicrime of passion. He had a clear purpose when he killed THERE.” tary confinement is that those put in it would be the most his cellmate: to get on death row. Robertson was recently violent and dangerous prisoners, so it would be a necessary interviewed as part of “I Am a Killer,” a Netflix series and proportional punishment. These conditions are supposed to decrease danwhich gets the perspective of admitted killers as they’re on death row. During gerous behavior because they would create a deterrent against inmates wanting the interview he said that after 20 years, the conditions of solitary confinement to do things that would put them in solitary confinement, such as assaulting had had such a profound effect on him that he would rather be put to death other prisoners or smuggling illegal items, like weapons or drugs, into the pristhan stay there until he got old. That wish has been granted. He’s on death row on. The time alone in their cell is also supposed to allow them to contemplate awaiting execution for murder. what they did wrong so they won’t do it again. Solitary confinement fails in The central question here is, if the conditions of solitary confinement are so both regards because many of those put in solitary confinement already have bad that they can drive someone to murder, then why is it readily used in the prismental illnesses, so isolating them isn’t necessary and only makes their situaon system? There is no reason, for it fails in everything it hopes to accomplish tion worse. Many also consider it a form of torture due to the sensory deprivawhile destroying the mental state of prisoners and dramatically increasing the tion and social isolation. A classification of torture would mean that nobody, chances that they will once again return to prison, creating a vicious cycle which no matter how dangerous, would deserve it. It also fails as a deterrent of future requires the removal of solitary confinement in order to break prisoners free.

S

Escaping the college machine

By Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin

F

amilies throughout the United States spend thousands of dollars to pay for services like ACT tutoring, essay tutors, and college application advisers. One of my relatives spent $1,625 on ACT tutoring alone. They also had an essay tutor, college counselor, and various other assistance with completing their college application. This person got into multiple selective universities as a result of not only their exceptional grades and hard work throughout high school, but the fact that their family had the means to provide them with these resources.

The help that my family member got with their college application process is not uncommon where they live; in fact many of their friends had the same college counselors and ACT tutors. This segment of the population literally has a team of people walking them through their college application process. But what about the students who cannot pay for these services?

This assistance is not a common practice in Iowa City. But even though it’s not prevalent in our area, it still affects us during our college application process because we are applying to the same schools as these people and, therefore, competing against them for limited admission slots.

This assistance costs a lot of money. In areas like New York City, there are opportunities to hire someone to write your college essay for prices close to $700. The company that my family member got ACT tutoring through charges $100 per hour for a session in one subject, and it is the primary career for the

owners of this business. Businesses like this exacerbate inequality throughout the college application process.

College admissions should not be a business. The point of college applications is for the schools to see who a person is without knowing them. Having someone else write the essay, and having test scores that do not represent a person’s intelligence, defeats the purpose of college applications.

As someone currently applying to college, it irks me that there are people out there paying others to do the work that my friends and I are spending all of our time on. Writing a multitude of essays, navigating poorly designed websites, and organizing our own appointments with school guidance counselors is all part of the experience.

In my mind, there are two options to improve this. The first is to make application assistance resources equally available to everyone. The second is to put restrictions on the extent of help students can get on their applications. After all, the point of college applications is to show the abilities and accomplishments of the student, in addition to providing admissions committees with information about which students are likely to succeed in their institutions, and doing it themselves would be the best way to show this. But, unfortunately, neither of these solutions have any chance of being implemented so the best thing to do is to know that the college application process by no means defines one’s intelligence or deservingness.

Wait...

You’re Asian?

By Alison Kenaston & Emmelene Perencevich

W

hen you grow up in a mixed-race household hearing different languages, eating many different foods, and experiencing different cultures– even many different religions–you become a blend of all these different things. For us, being American-born Asian-Europeans means that nobody quite knows what we are. Chinese, Japanese, maybe from one of those islands south of Vietnam? Or maybe...Hawaiian? Wait, if you’re Thai does that mean you’re from Taiwan or Thailand? Are you North or South Korean?

One thing that is a struggle for us, apart from the strange questions people feel perfectly comfortable asking, is determining our own “race.” When asked to identify which race we prefer we have many options, the first being “I’m mixed.”

It’s the easy answer, but often brings up more questions than it’s worth. We could also answer “Asian,” or more specifically Korean and Thai respectively. One thing that we have trouble with is answering “white.” Non-biracial people have categorized mixed people by their minority parent since an American antebellum anti-egalitarian law, the “one drop rule,” hich classified persons with black ancestry generations back as black. Though this law is now defunct, the sentiment remains. Biracial people can check the “white” box if we want, but only if we check the “Asian,” “Hispanic,” or “Black” box too.

While “What ARE you?” is one of the questions we dread the most, every once and a while we get a question that makes us laugh. From “Do you eat dogs?” to “Do you eat rice, like, every day?” the food-related questions are only a little less racist than the ones about race. Even though we are “Asian,” we don’t eat only Asian food. We like American foods like hamburgers and Mexican foods like quesadillas. Our food choices go far beyond Asian cuisine.

There are certain cultures that people just expect us to be a part of and others that people are surprised to hear we are.

We are both Buddhists to varying degrees, but often people are unsure of what that even means (apart for those who have taken WHAP with Mr. Schumann or Mrs. Dickson. Then you should know what it means). In Iowa City, there aren’t even temples we can go to express our religion because it’s that “unconventional.”

It’s difficult for us to find places where we belong, we don’t really have one race, one culture, or one people. Others often blend or group us together with other ethnic groups, but often we aren’t received by either of our races. We are neither entirely white nor entirely Asian, and there are too many types of “mixed” for us to fit into that broad classification. So, we wander the brink, on a three-way crossroad that hopefully leads to somewhere we belong.

Another part of Asian culture that has been brought over to the US is the way Asian-American children are brought up.

Our parents pushed us to work hard and try our best, like lots of Americans, but the stereotype that “all Asians are smart” is far from true. We were taught the value of hard work, but nothing makes us biologically smarter. We can be competitive, but like most stereotypes, this isn’t true of all Asians.

It’s not your race that defines you, but who you are as a person. We, as people, are not always equal, but our differences are what makes us unique. Every person has their own stories, their own beliefs, their own cultures, and languages, and foods, and selves that make them who they are.

These differences should not be a basis on which to judge a person. In an ideal world, these differences wouldn’t be “different,” or “foreign,” they would just be normal. Things we can’t choose shouldn’t define who we are. The things we dont choose shouldn’t make us strange or alien.

People should be accepted for who they are and what they believe without preventing others from being themselves too.

14A OPINION

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

HEAD to HEAD:

CONFIRMED Is Brett Kavanaugh fit for the nation’s highest court?

O

By Karl Streitz and Hayden Johnson

YES

T

hroughout history, survivors of sexual violence have been forced into silence, scared that nobody would believe them, that no action would be taken, that they would be blamed and ridiculed, lose their jobs, and even be ostracized from their communities. Although the #MeToo movement has had an impact on decreasing the feeling of hopelessness in survivors--made obvious by the hundreds of survivors who came out with accusations of over 400 perpetrators with power, each gaining strength and courage from the last--it has far from fixed the problem of the silencing of survivors of sexual violence. When a survivor of sexual violence comes forward with their story, they must be believed. Follow-ups and investigations should surely confirm the truth behind them, but denying the allegations at their first presentation makes it nearly impossible for any of them to have an impact on the lives of the perpetrator(s) after they occur, and ensures that the survivors will keep their story and pain to themselves in the future.

When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accused then-United States Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in September, she stated straight from the start that she had no desire to do so, that she was terrified and was only doing so because she believed it was her “civic duty.”

“My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats. I have been called the [vilest] and hateful names imaginable. These messages, while far fewer than the expressions of support, have been terrifying to receive and have rocked me to my core,” Dr. Ford said during her testimony. She was not looking to personally attack him, to smear his reputation, nor was she politically motivated. She was not looking for fame or attention, either. On the contrary, her story became public without her consent and only then did she decide to come forward with her name. She came out to reveal the truth about what Kavanaugh had done to her over 30 years ago because she is still impacted by it today. There is no reason to think that one would go through so much pain and hardship to lie to their country when they had nothing to gain.

Of the sexual assault charges reported, less than one percent of the perpetrators will end up going to jail or prison. In addition to reports to authorities not always being followed by significant actions, most do not even ever get reported. According to a Stanford University study, only about 40 percent of rapes and related sex charges are ever reported to the police. Of these reported, only about two percent of them are determined to be false, the same percentage as for other felonies, according to the same study. The chances of someone being falsely accused of rape or a related sex charge are so slim that it would be absolutely unreasonable for the immediate response to hearing an accusation be the assumption of falsehood.

False accusations are incredibly rare, but they do occur. However, when they do, the effects that they have on the accused are by no possible means worse than the effects of sexual violence on the survivors. It does not keep the accused from achieving their goals or take them away from their jobs. There are hundreds of examples of this, but the few that come to mind are some of the most powerful people in our country. The President of the United States has been accused of 22 instances of sexual misconduct, according to Business Insider; both Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas sit on the highest court in the country after nationally-known accusations of attempted rape and sexual harassment respectively. The actions of the President, Kavanaugh, and Thomas did not inflict the same amount of harm to the survivors. They should not all be grouped together and assumed to have the same effects.

However, it is important to keep in mind that these accusations could all be grouped together in terms of how they were treated: they were deemed to be not important enough to keep them from gaining the power that they desired. But if a person experiences sexual violence, they can go through PTSD, have higher chances of engaging in criminal behavior, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, attempted or completed suicide, and many others, according to the CDC. Although it may be tempting to doubt a survivor when they first become open about their experience because it may be hard to believe, it is vital to the health of our society that we believe them at first. Looking closer into, or investigating if necessary, the accusations is are never a bad idea, but the research must come after an initial act of acknowledgment of the accusation. If stories of sexual harassment, assault, rape, or related behavior are denied the time and mental energy of the public when they come out, they will decrease even further from where they already are in terms of rates of reports, and this will do nothing but put the people in our society at higher risks of experiencing such pain.

NO

n September 16, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford publicly accused then-United States Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh of physical and sexual assault. Shortly after, Kavanaugh strongly denied that he had ever committed the acts he was accused of. I and many others believe that we should reserve our judgment of the accused until they have been given a fair trial. One of our nation’s most important beliefs is that everyone in the United States has the right to be presumed innocent until their guilt is proven. When one asks the question, “Is Kavanaugh guilty?” they are presuming that there is a definite answer to this–something only a conclusive investigation can reveal.

As for investigations, there have been quite a few. Most recently, the FBI conducted a round of interviews that did not reveal any evidence of misconduct–much like the previous six he has been subject to, which were insisted upon by both Democrats and Republicans alike. Rachel Mitchell, a public prosecutor from Arizona, was brought in to question both Ford and Kavanaugh. She was chosen because while working as the chief of the Special Victims Division in Arizona, she accumulated decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes.

Mitchell later wrote, “A ‘he said, she said’ case is incredibly difficult to prove. But this case is even weaker than that. Dr. Ford identified other witnesses to the event, and those witnesses either refuted her allegations or failed to corroborate them.” She then went on to say, “I do not think that a reasonable prosecutor would bring this case based on the evidence before the Committee. Nor do I believe that this evidence is sufficient to satisfy the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard.”

There has been further evidence to the difficulty of opening a police investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh. For one, Ford herself has not filed a police complaint against him, and Montgomery County chief prosecutor Lisae Jordan indicates that it is key to do so in cases of sexual misconduct or assault. “You’re risking re-traumatizing them again.

It would be an even worse idea in cases like this, where detectives would know they’d have very serious legal issues to overcome,” she remarked, referencing the allegations Ford has brought. While not all victims of sexual crimes are comfortable with directly confronting their abuser, Ford testified in front of the Senate on September 27th to support her accusations. It is curious, then, that she would not also seek assistance from the police where the alleged assault took place. At least one charge that Justice Kavanaugh could be tried for is outside the scope of the statute of limitations–assault with intent to rape, which fits Dr. Ford’s description.

Maryland police, however, say that she has yet to file any criminal complaint against him.

It is unquestionably important to take allegations of sexual assault seriously, but believing them without evidence is a dangerous thing to do. The hashtag “believe women,” while well-intentioned, has the consequences of implying that an investigation is not necessary for accusations of sexual assault brought by a woman. The only things more damaging than being accused of sexual assault are the effects of a public presumption of guilt.

Ross Bullock was 38 years old when he decided to take his own life. He was accused of raping a woman after they had met at his workplace and engaged in sexual conduct, despite text messages between the two proving the encounter was consensual. After months of torment and anguish, Ross Bullock hanged himself.

Ford had three decades to pursue legal action against Kavanaugh with reasonable diligence, but choose not to. By the time her stale claim is litigated, Kavanaugh may have lost information important to his defense. This further tips the scales to favor the defendant, which is reasonable to believe in a court system that dictates the burden of proof belongs to the accuser and not the accused. As Americans, we must strive to find a balance between the rights of the accused and those owed to the victims, but without a rigorous consideration of the facts, we can’t make that decision. If we cannot prove his guilt, we must presume his innocence.

By Estella Brady and Emmelene Perencevich

CULTURE 15A

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

Culture Dear Readers,

In this issue, you will find stories from students that have journeyed, immigrated, and sought refuge here at City High from other countries and cultures. Building your life from scratch in a new environment can be difficult. Here, you will hear the stories of the good, the bad, and the unexpected that accompany life in a new place. You will also get to read about the impression that Michael Jordan has left on previous generations, as well as what crowdfunding to help pay for medical bills says about the American healthcare system as a whole. If you are looking to stay up to date on the conversations that have been happening in the hallways these past few weeks, our new Kultured Korner will break it down for you. You might find some other spicy stuff in here too.

Do it for the culture,

Mariam and Cecile

What Senator Warren got wrong Two students of Native American descent respond to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s claims of Cherokee ancestry

By Mariam Keita

E

arlier this week, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts publicly released results from a DNA analysis in the form of a video. This act, seemingly in response to prodding from President Trump questioning the Senator’s alleged Cherokee heritage, has raised many eyebrows.

According to The New York Times, if the DNA report proves accurate, then Warren “has at least one Indian ancestor between six and 10 generations back.”

Maleah Armajo-Tuttle ‘20* is a student at the The Jackson Hole Community School in Jackson, Wyoming.

Tuttle has biological connections to several Native tribes, including the Lakota Sioux, Flathead, and Umatilla.

“Culturally, religiously, and linguistically, all of my ties are with the Lakota Sioux people and the Oglala people as well,” Armajo-Tuttle said.

Today, according to NPR, blood quantum (BQ) laws are used to set guidelines for tribal citizenship among many Native tribes. The specific BQ guidelines that may act as qualifiers for citizenship can vary greatly from tribe-to-tribe.

According to the official website for the Cherokee Nation, blood quantums begin at 4/4 and divide in half with each successive generation.

Following these guidelines, where blood quantum lessens with every generation removed from a “full-blood” ancestor

(close to 100% Native blood quantum) means one step further away from belonging to a tribal people, Warren would not be able to enroll as a citizen in many Native American tribes today.

There are many different schools of thought regarding the role of DNA in relation to Native identity.

“Blood quantum means absolutely nothing. It is about the cultural awareness that you gain through your life, through your family, through your tribe, through your people, through the reservation land itself. There is something in being raised Native American that can never be passed through just DNA,” Armajo-Tuttle said.

Demetrious Ramirez ‘20 is a student at Iowa City High who also has biological connections to both the Oglala and Lakota Sioux peoples. His grandfather was born on a reservation in 1945 and Ramirez’s own blood quantum is one-fourth Native American.

Though he is aware of his Native heritage, unlike Armajo-Tuttle, Ramirez does not believe it has played a large role in shaping his identity.

“I’ve never been discriminated against for my race because everyone generally assumes I’m white, but because of the discrimination my grandfather and father faced, my family has never done well economically,” said Ramirez. “We’ve always been lower-class and I think that’s definitely affected my life. I think that’s a very consistent experience for Native Americans because they were never [historically] offered education on the reservations

and they never had anywhere to go.”

Two years ago, Ramirez had the opportunity to visit the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the very same reservation where Armajo-Tuttle was raised.

“The whole place is very sad and run down and neglected due to lack of funding,” said Ramirez.

Armajo-Tuttle has a different view of Pine Ridge. While she rec-

“We have a very acute and constant knowing that if the US government had it their way,we would not exist.”

Maleah Armajo-Tuttle ognizes its weaknesses, she has much more to say about its tenacity.

“The Pine Ridge reservation, that is my second home. There is such an interesting culture on reservations here in the United States because there is such a sense of strength and resilience that is in the very DNA of the people,” said Armajo-Tuttle. “For 500 years, they have done everything to kill us off, and I literally mean everything, and for 500 years we have survived. There is such an innate strength to the people there.”

All talk about blood quantum and DNA aside, Armajo-Tuttle takes a very strong stance against Warren’s

public claims to having a connection to the Native American people, based solely off of distant family connections. Her qualms have more to do with the fact that Warren was not raised culturally Native American.

“Elizabeth Warren? She’s essentially claiming that her pinky toe is Native American. Our culture, our people, our history, it is more than just blood quantum,” said Armajo-Tuttle. “When you are raised in the way I have been, it affects your world.”

Similarly, Ramirez does not believe that DNA and identity are one and the same. “[If it is in a person’s DNA], they can say they have an ancestor, but I don’t think they could say that they’re Native American,” said Ramirez.

“You can look at it two ways, either the tribe decides or you can go with general markers like one-eighth, onethird, or one-fourth, but then you get to the issue of when you cut it off.”

From Armajo-Tuttle’s standpoint, the problem is not that Warren has claimed Native identity, so much as the fact that she has claimed an identity she was not raised with and has few cultural connections to.

“People can still learn their culture later in life, that’s a thing that I’ve seen happen many times,” said Armajo-Tuttle. “I go to school here [in Jackson] and I have spent a very large portion of my life on reservations with my family, especially in South Dakota. Generally I just feel like I’ve had a lot of experiences in two very different parts of

the world and that has made for an interesting comparison in my life.”

Even within the junior’s very own family, she has witnessed this. Her great-grandmother was a product of one of the many boarding schools where Native children were sent in the 19th century in order to be assimilated into colonial culture. There, her Native language and customs were socially conditioned out of her. “[Her daughter], my Grandma Leah, went and learned the culture for herself even though she was, unfortunately, not raised with it,” Armajo-Tuttle said.

She wants people to know that while some factors may be out of a person’s control when it comes to race and ethnicity, historical and cultural proficiency is another issue.

“We have a very acute and constant knowing that if the US government had it their way, we would not exist. That knowledge, that historical and cultural awareness, that is what it means to be Native American. Even if you don’t practice the ceremonies, know that it is a right and a privilege to even say that you do,” said Armajo Tuttle. ”Elizabeth Warren has made absolutely no attempts to connect with that. So no, if you don’t make an effort to get to know the culture, you have absolutely no right to claim it.” *Because Native Americans did not have a written language for a large portion of history, there is still a lot of disagreement about how to spell words in many tribal languages. This is the spelling that Armajo-Tuttle uses for her tribal name.

16A CULTURE

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

CULTUREOPINIONS

What GoFundMe reveals about the issues with the healthcare system

By Rhys Holman

O

LHFACTS

27

ver the summer, it was revealed that one-third of Gomillion people still left without healthcare FundMe pages are for paying medical bills. Stories like these have been reported as heart-warming ex- dit wants to go. In reality, supporting like medical bankruptcy, and forcing amples of human kindness, with large Medicare for All isn’t a radical posi- people to choose between treatment amounts of money being given to tion. In fact, it’s one thing that is over- and the economic security of their whelmingly popular among everyone, loved ones. With Medicare for All, those in need.

However, they are also in- except those that determine the laws. countless lives would be saved and dicative of a broken system. A Kaiser Health poll showed that 59 America would finally ensure the right In 2017, the World Health Organiza- percent of Americans support Medi- to health for the people. The most prevtion said, “The enjoyment of the high- care for All, despite the fact that there alent response to this is that even if it est attainable standard of health is one has been no movement by Washington was a good idea, the costs would be so of the fundamental rights of every hu- to move towards anything even slightly high that it would be impossible to pay for. However, a study funded by the man being without distinction of race, resembling the will of the people.

This very well may be changing right-wing Koch brothers accidentally religion, political belief, economic or soon.

On June 26, Alexandria Ocaproved the exact opposite. The study social condition.”

America fails in assuring this right sio-Cortez won the Democratic pri- showed that Medicare for All would for the 27 million people still left mary to run in the 14th district of cost 32.6 trillion dollars over the next New York. She beat the longtime es- ten years. This was meant to be a large without healthcare tablished candidate, number that would scare people away in America, even Joe Crowley, by from wanting to pursue Medicare for “THE ENJOYMENT after the passage of proposing vast pop- All, but simply stating that it cost 32.6 the Affordable Care OF THE HIGHEST ulist reform, which trillion dollars over the next ten years Act. The only way included Medicare leaves out that that would actually be ATTAINABLE STANDARD to help these people for All. This is just two trillion dollars less than the curand guarantee the OF HEALTH IS ONE OF one example of rent system. It isn’t that we can’t afrights of everyone what’s happened in ford Medicare for All, it’s that we can’t THE FUNDAMENTAL in America is to multiple districts afford not to have Medicare for All. ensure Medicare for RIGHTS OF EVERY around the counAdvocating for Medicare for All All in this country.

HUMAN BEING.” try. The Democrat- doesn’t make you an authoritarian Systems similar to ic party is shifting monster that wants the government Medicare for All farther to the left to take control of everyone’s lives, it have already been and is now more simply means you want America to implemented in countries like Canada, widely endorsing popular reforms that keep up with the rest of the world in and a system like it, the Expanded and have resonated with voters enough for providing people their right to health, Improved Medicare for All Act, was some of them to move into the gener- save lives, and save the already indebtfirst proposed in 2003, to no avail.

Whenever Democrats, such as al elections. The midterm results will ed country two trillion dollars in the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Oca- show whether or not the country now process. But the only way to create sio-Cortez, suggest Medicare for All, believes that Medicare for All can truly that change is to vote, and to show the it is common for them to be labeled happen, or if it’s still believed to be in will of the people in the voting booth. as “socialist” or “communist,” depend- the category of theoretically great, but Otherwise Washington will continue to drag its feet, and the cycle of debt ing on how far the conservative pun- unable to be actualized.

Medicare for All would stop things and death will continue as usual.

LH COMIC

“YEEZY EFFECT” ART BY KATE GOODVIN

Cultured Corner

What City High students think and know about popular culture issues Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin ‘19 on Affirmative Action “Harvard University has been accused of using bias in its admissions process.

A group of Asian American students has filed suit against the school in what could be a landmark case for affirmative action. Critics have denounced the case as being used as a scapegoat to end the long-standing and very controversial affirmative action system that gives preference in admissions to students from underrepresented backgrounds.”

Virginia Muturi ‘19 on Kanye ‘Kanye West has been in conversation with President Trump, for whom he has shown public support since back in his campaign days. As CNN reported Kanye saying in a press conference held during a visit with Trump at the White House, “If he don’t look good, we don’t look good. This is our president.” West has received a lot of backlash from some members of the Black community for supporting a president that they see as problematic. Some are even questioning his mental soundness.”

Samba Traore ‘19 on Common coming to Iowa City “The Hate U Give’s Common performed a free concert at Iowa City’s Hancher Auditorium. 50 Iowa City area students and their families were given tickets to attend the concert, which took place Saturday, October 6. He’s just full of creativity and he’s well aware of the problems that are going on in the world. He’s not afraid to challenge himself or hold himself accountable.”

Isabel Jones ‘19 on losing the City versus West game “I expected it so I wasnt that disappointed but it sucks to lose to West. I went to the game and was really caught off-guard by the fact the we scored the first touch down. I was a little hopeful after that but then West scored a touchdown like in the next play right after we all cheered, ‘Overrated.’ That was funny.”

Tommy Brands ‘19 on college applications being due soon “Applying to college is a stressful process. I just submitted my first application and despite the uncertainty of the future I’m excited to see what happens. I’ve gone into talk to my counselor multiple times and it has been exteremely helpful. It’s nice to have experienced adults available at pretty much any time.”

Zoe Hellberg ‘21 on Trump’s anti-immigration efforts “I wish Trump would stop trying to get people out of our country. I know he keeps trying to make laws forbidding immigration out of Mexico and countries like that and it makes me so mad. Everyone’s an immigrant anyway. We all started in Africa. The way that immigrants are being treated is unconstitutional and makes me ashamed of my country.”

SPORTS 17A

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

Playing for family

COMING UP FOR CITY

CROSSOct. COUNTRY 27 State Meet @ Fort Dodge. All day, fanbus available

Oct. GIRLS 27 SWIMMING/ DIVING Regionals @

Nov. GIRLS 5 BASKETBALL City v. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 6 p.m. @ Kennedy

Nov. WRESTLING City v. Cedar Rapids Xavier 29 6 p.m. @ City

By Jack Bacon

I

t was four in the morning when Maisha Sila ‘20’s mother woke him.

She sat him and his siblings down and told them the news: their uncle had passed away.

“And I was like, ‘Wait, what?’” said Sila. “‘That doesn’t make any sense.’”

The news was shocking. Sila had spoken to his uncle just the night before, and he had seemed in good health. He had called because he was going to have surgery that night for a problem with the tissue in his abdomen. Sila says he knew that it would be a major surgery, but that no one, including his uncle, had doubted that the operation would be successful.

Now, he was gone.

“I didn’t know what to think,” said Sila, “He was the one who was always there for us. He was like a father to us.”

Sila had always been close with his uncle. He had been the one to teach him how to play soccer and how to drive. When Sila’s family built their house, his uncle was there to help.

One memory that Sila shares is of a family trip with his uncle. Busy with work and trying to get settled into their new home in Iowa City, Sila’s mom told the kids that they wouldn’t be able to go on their traditional family trip that summer. When his uncle heard, he dropped everything and made the six-hour drive from Michigan to take them on vacation.

Later, they learned that he hadn’t

PHOTO REWIND

been able to get permission from his boss to take the time off, and he was fired for missing work. To Sila, the memory was a reminder of his uncle’s free spirit and love for his family.

“That was kind of funny,” Sila said.

“But at the same time he showed us who he really was and how much he cared about us, which was just so special because he put us first.”

His uncle’s passing put Sila in a difficult position. Still emotionally raw from the loss, Sila had a big football game against Dubuque Hempstead coming up in two days. He missed practices that week due to his emotional state, and even worried about his ability to get through the game.

“In my mind I was so afraid that I would just breakdown or not be able to leave it all on the field.”

To make matters worse, the funeral was scheduled for that Saturday. If Sila went to the game he wouldn’t be able to attend. He says that decision was difficult, but that he was inspired to play

by NBA star Isaiah Thomas, who put up 33 points for the Boston Celtics in a playoff game the day after the death of his sister.

Sila says he believes his uncle would have wanted him to play, and that he dedicated that week to his memory.

“That game was all him. Every play of that game I said his name,” said Sila.

“You’ve always got to have something that’s going to motivate you... I just told myself, ‘You’ve got to get a pick, you’ve got to get a pick,’ every play.”

It paid off. Sila had one of his best games against Hempstead, knocking down key passes and grabbing a crucial interception in the fourth quarter.

Garrett Rosenow, who played on the line for City this year, says the pick was critical.

“That pick was huge,” said Rosenow. “It gave us another chance to score and important momentum in a game that ended 23-22.”

City defeated Hempstead that week thanks in large part to an outstanding defensive effort lead by Sila’s big plays.

Sila says that while the decision to play was difficult, he knows he made the right choice.

“I wound up feeling good that game. We won that game, I got a pick, I made some really good tackles. That game was kind of therapeutic, and it just felt good to get the win.”

Since winning the Hempstead game in week four, Sila has gone on to have a great junior season. He’s picked up more great interceptions and developed into a key part of the City High defense. His playmaking ability and energetic leadership style are looking to make him a key member of the team next season.

Sila says that the experience has helped him to be a better teammate and person, and that he’s learned a lesson about responding to adversity.

“It’s your actions that will push you to become a young man,” says Sila. “Make decisions and staying faithful to the decisions you make.”

POWDERPUFF FOOTBALL

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Annie Rummelhart ‘19 evades Lindsay Bolton ‘20 while fellow teamate from Punt, Punt, Pass Julia Coelho ‘19 assists. Powder Rangers Kiana Vanlo ‘19 and Drew Damhorst ‘19 take a break to say hello to the Seydel dog. Spread Formation players Paige Rocca ‘20 and Rose Nkumu ‘20 celebrate after a touchdown. Naomi Meurice ‘19 evades Rocca. Toughen Up Big D member Maddie Kimm ‘19 pushes past the Powder Rangers PHOTOS BY LINDY RUBLAITUS

18A SPORTS

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

CROSS-COUNTRY

Unexpected endings

By Julianne Berry-Stoelzle

A

fter 30 years in a row of qualifying for state, the City High girls cross-country team broke their streak. They came in fifth at Divisionals, missing the qualifying third place by only three points.

“It teaches you that cross-country is a very razor thin sport, where a few thing[s] here or there in a race, one girl passing you here, one girl passing you there, can make a big, big difference,” Coach Ryan Ahlers said.

There were two points between the fourth and fifth place teams and only one point between the third and fourth place teams.

“It’s sad, but everyone did their best,” Lilly Reynolds ‘21 said. “Some teams were just able to get out faster and keep that spot.”

The City High boys cross-country team also did not qualify but they managed to beat Dubuque Senior, a team that crushed them just a week before.

“We knew it was [a] long shot coming into this race and we planned on giving it our all, trying to improve our times on the course, and then just seeing how the cards fell,” Coach Salinas said.

The great conditions, with solid ground and nice weather, led to many personal records and improvement from almost everyone.

“We are extremely proud of them,” Coach Skay said. “The last month, the staff’s goal was to have them come together more as a team and be more competitive. I think we have seen that in the last couple races. They did exactly what we asked of them and they competed thoroughly and gave it their best shot.”

While their teams did not qualify, both Yasar Hassan ‘19 and Rowan Boulter ‘22 qualified for state individually, Boulter getting fifth and Hassan fourteenth in their separate divisions.

“I am so excited for state,” Boulter said.

“This is what I have wanted all season. It’s just that I am also very nervous and a little sad about not being able to qualify with my whole team. I could not have done any of this, the whole season, without them.”

Similarily, Hassan said his teammates were there for him while he was running.

“It was definitely my hardest race in terms of pushing myself. The team really kept me going,” Hassan said. “We were in there for the first two miles of the race.That helped me a lot mentally, but in the third mile I knew that I had to start bridging out from the pack.”

“I AM SO EXCITED FOR STATE. THIS IS WHAT I HAVE WANTED ALL SEASON. BUT I’M SAD ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO QUALIFY WITH MY WHOLE TEAM. I COULD NOT HAVE DONE ANY OF THIS, THE WHOLE SEASON, WITHOUT THEM.” ROWAN BOULTER ‘22 One of his teammates, Charlie Maxwell ‘19 had been hoping to set a personal record. He did not do this but still had a positive outlook on the race.

“Not going to State is a little disappointing,” Maxwell said. “I wanted to go finish my season off well but I am really happy with what I have done these past years. It was my last race after six years [of cross-country].”

Overall, the teams raced hard and even though for some of the runners their results were not what they hoped for, their coaches are still proud of their accomplishments.

“They are part of really tough athletes from so many teams, and this sport on any given day produces results that don’t add up with what you want. But the effort they gave should absolutely match the pride they have in their hearts,” Coach Lynn Ahlers said.

City started off the Battle for the Boot with strong defense and a 7-0 early lead. PHOTO BY GABE BAIRD

“Battle for the Boot” City falls to West In spite of a promising first half, West High retains the Boot for the second year in a row, after a disheartening loss for City High

F

By Jack Bacon

or the first time in well over a decade, West High has beaten City in back to back football games. The fifth-ranked Trojans were heavily favored over the 2-7 Little Hawks, but that didn’t make the dominating 54-13 loss any easier to swallow.

“It was tough,” said Garrett Rosenow ‘19, who played offensive and defensive line for City High this season. “We were all looking forward to that game since the beginning of the season, so to go out like that is obviously hard.”

City started off strong. After stopping West on the first drive of the game, the Little Hawks marched down the field on the stingy Trojan defense for a touchdown that put them up 7-0. West High gave up one total yard of offense in their game against Linn-Mar earlier this season, but the Little Hawks drove down to the red zone in their first three possessions on Friday night.

However, it wouldn’t be enough. City failed to score on two of those red zone trips, and with five minutes left in the second half West extended the still-manageable 16-point deficit to a stifling 40-point lead at halftime on a series of big plays and turnovers.

After that the game was essentially over, as each team scored a touchdown late with multiple starters out of the game. Quincy Wells ’19 connected with tight end Evan Gundar ’19 on the final play of the game, giving the Little Hawks a glimmer of positivity in a game that otherwise had gone south.

Despite the outcome, Rosenow says the team was happy with their effort out of the gate and perseverance as the game went on.

“I’m still proud of the effort we showed,” said Rosenow, “and I think [our effort] says a lot about the quality people we had on our team this year.”

The question for Little Hawk fans is what comes next.

This marks back-to-back years that City has gone 2-7 with multiple close losses, but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.

The freshman class appears strong, featuring one of City’s largest linemen groups in years, future playmakers Darren Richardson and Jamari Newson, and other key athletes such as Gable Mitchell.

City also returns varsity quarterback Raph Hamilton, who was just a sophomore this season, and runningback Tonka Hickman ‘20.

The sophomore team had success against West before ultimately coming up just short. City led the Trojans by two scores in the second half, but a series of mistakes and questionable calls on the part of the officiating crew led to a late victory for West. Still, the Little Hawks may well have more upsides between the two squads, as City’s sophomore team was largely made up by the talented freshman class this season. Between City’s youth and the fact that West was heavily senior-laden this year, the East Side may still have reason to be optimistic in Boot games in the next few years.

Freshman offensive lineman Ethan Goodrich agrees.

“You can expect great football from us moving forward,” said Goodrich. “That’s a talented

group of guys that I have the opportunity to play with, and we have great respect for each other.”

Goodrich says the Little Hawks can see more success at both levels next year, and that it will come down to the work they put in this off-season.

He’s right. City should return enough offensive playmakers next season to make good things happen, and brings back a solid junior class on the line. Defense could be a different story, as City loses key senior tacklers like Liam McComas, Max DePrenger, and Kyle Hefley.

Still, come what may, the fact remains that the West High Trojans won the Battle For The Boot in the 2018 football season, and they did so in dominating fashion. It’s a sobering loss for the Little Hawks, and one they will most likely use as motivation next season.

PHOTO BY GABE BAIRD

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

SPORTS 19A

ABOVE: Owen Jones ‘19, Joshua Fletcher ‘19, Noah Weaver ‘20, and Evan Hansen ‘19. Not pictured are Olivier Ssabani and Charlie Maxwell PHOTO BY LOTTIE GIDAL

Sit down with the boys cross-country captains After a season of ups and downs, the boys cross-country captains spelled it out, reminiscing on highlights of the season, things they wish had gone differently, and the future of the program

By Lottie Gidal

T

he boys cross-country team began the season with well over 100 members, making it by far the largest sport at City High.

The Little Hawk sat down with team captains Owen Jones ‘19, Noah Weaver ‘20, Evan Hansen ‘19, Joshua Fletcher ‘19, Olivier Shabani ‘19, and Charlie Maxwell ‘19 to talk about how they are able to lead such a large group of runners, highs and lows from the season, and things they will miss about the team.

While they are now upperclassmen, the captains remember how intimidating it was coming onto the team as a freshmen with so many older runners, and made a big effort this year to help the younger athletes feel welcome.

“I think it was a good season. We got the young freshmen into the system and they will be a lot better next year,” Weaver said. “For me, getting to know kids and making them feel welcome in a team environment is more important than being successful in terms of qualifying for

state and such.”

With a number of freshman runners consistently running varsity, the captains observed the dedication coming from the freshman class every day.

“We have a younger team this year, especially on varsity we have a lot of freshmen and sophomores,” Maxwell said. “That was a lot of fun because they care a lot about this sport and getting better, so I’m really excited to see how is going to look in a couple years. It was fun to teach them even more about running.”

According to the captains, traditions such as team dinners at Zio Johno’s, disc after practice, and the Hee Haw challenge reached new heights this year.

“It’s not high-class food, it’s just nice to be around,” Hansen said. “Getting freshmen involved, giving them rides to Zio’s to help get them integrated with the team is important.”

As captains, these athletes are expected to take on a bigger leadership role at practice and work with the coaches to get things going. But

according to the captains, a rambunctious junior class and the larger team size sometimes made getting things done harder.

“To be honest, a lot of the kids on our team didn’t really take it seriously, and that hurt the overall team,” Weaver said. “It’s okay, I just wish that everyone would be totally committed and put everything they have into it, but that’s just not the reality. When kids are screwing around and yelling for no reason, I think it hurts everybody else because then the coaches have to go to those people and tell them to stop instead of doing stuff with us. But I do like how we split everyone up...varsity was with one coach and then varsity two was with another coach, so that kept us more focused.”

This “divide and conquer” system had one coach with each section of the team, from varsity down to OV2, and the speed ranges of the captains meant they could also spread out to help. According to Jones, Hansen was a great example of this.

“It’s good to have a wide range of abilities

in your captains, so even though Evan may not be the fastest guy, he’s done a really good job of leading the JV squad, and being a good example for them,” Jones said.

While their cross-country seasons are over for the last time, the senior captains all say they would like to continue running after high school.

“I don’t think I have the times to run on a college team, but I will definitely keep running on my own, just because it’s good for my health, both mentally and physically. It just makes me feel better as a person,” Fletcher said.

Even as the captains say the team results of the season could have been better, in looking back at the atmosphere they built among athletes, the future of the program is strong.

“There’s a lot of good juniors who will step up and take on captain roles,” Weaver said. “So I’m excited to see what we do next year, but it’s gonna be sad, leaving all these guys. Getting to know other people and laughing with them is what makes a team.”

More than a team

By Henry Mildenstein

Some sports go above and beyond to build a positive atmosphere, and often competition results reflect that Cross-Country

A

lthough seniors and freshmen at city are often separated, freshman and seniors on City’s girls cross-country team get to know each other quite well over the course of a season.

Every year, the team has a “freshman wake-up” where returning members of the team surprise the freshman by waking them up in their room and taking them to do fun activities.

Averi Loria ‘22 was happy to get to know people outside of her freshman class during the wake-up.

“I didn’t know any of the seniors and now I know most of them and it makes the team atmosphere feel a lot friendlier,” Loria said. “This year we went to a dance party, a haunted house, and then we went out to breakfast.”

Beyond freshman wake-up, the team has a host of team bonding experiences. Mai Hoang ‘19 has been on the team for three years, and is fond of the team dinners held the night before a meet.

“I think my favorite [tradition] is probably team dinners. We go there after a workout, everyone is looking forward to the food, and everyone is nice and relaxed,” Hoang said.

Although the girls cross-country team is competitive, Hoang believes that the team prioritizes a feeling of family over winning.

“I feel like when you go in the mindset is family comes first, it’s not just about competitions or winning, obviously those are all on mind but I think everyone comes in with family being the top priority,” Hoang said.

Beyond just creating a fun environment, both Loria and Hoang believe that this family feeling can help them during races.

“Cross-country can be tough and knowing there is someone with you means you don’t feel like you’re out there alone and everyone is out there as a big group. You might be three minutes ahead or behind someone but everyone is there and waiting for you when you finish,” Hoang said.

As a senior, Hoang has seen many traditions evolve over time.

“I think I have grown to appreciate them more and see how special they really are. As a senior you get to see everything come full circle, and you get to see these freshmen coming and they get to start this new, and they have so many opportunities ahead of them,” Hoang said.

One unique thing about the girls cross-country team is that all of their team bonding events are run solely by the students.

“I love it because the traditions come from the girls and wanting to have that bond, so it doesn’t feel forced,” Hoang said.

Girls Swimming

I

n the water, the City High girls swimming team has a myriad of different team bonding activities. Team captain Maggie Cremers ‘19 has been swimming for nine years and all four of her years at City. One of the swim team’s biggest traditions is the annual Harry Potter-themed practice.

“The TriSwimmer tournament [The Harry Potter practice] is something we look forward to every year and we go all out. We split into houses and have competitions with Harry Potter trivia, relay races, and games. It’s a good break from the normal practice structure and refocuses us on working hard for our big meets at the end of the season,” Cremers said.

Along with the Harry Potter-themed practice, another one of her favorite traditions is the team sleepover.

“Our team sleepover is great because we still don’t even know everybody’s names at the start but in the morning we all know each other and made some really good memories. This year we had a City Swim-themed Kahoot! and a Mario Kart tournament,” Cremers said.

Cremers believes that there are several unique things about the team.

“I think we are a little different since we are a smaller group. It really gives us a chance to get to know everyone really well. That, combined with up to 10 practices a week, makes us a really close group of friends,” Cremers said.

Like the girls cross-country team, the swim team feels like the extra encouragement given from having a closer team helps them perform better in their sport.

“Bonding helps me do better. My teammates really push me and are super encouraging. It really motivates me and others,” Cremers said.

Another parallel between the two teams is that the girls swimmers also organize most of their team events.

“The coaches started our Harry Potter-themed practice my sophomore year, so they’re in charge of that, but the other stuff is organized by the team captains with help from the other upperclassmen,” said Cremers.

Girls swimming also has several other traditions. They have a breakfast together after stadium cleanup, have team dinners the night before all of our home meets at a team member’s house, and a fundraising car wash.

20A SPORTS

THE LITTLE HAWK | THELITTLEHAWK.COM | OCTOBER 26, 2018

Rolling with the punches

I

ABOVE: Eryn Dailey ‘19 PHOTO BY LOTTIE GIDAL

How do you feel thinking about the end of the season?

“Very tired, but I feel like the work I am putting in is paying off,” Erin O’Rourke said.

“A little sad, just because when it’s done, I will literally never swim competitively again, but I’m also very ready to have some extra sleep and free time,” Kate Wilson said.

What will you miss the most?

“We have really, really supportive coaches. They’re coaching us about swimming and they’re also really understanding that sometimes swimming can’t be the top priority, that it has to be grades or other stuff. They’re just like some of the most supportive people in the world. And I’m really going to miss them,” Beatrice Kearns said.

“I will definitely miss my teammates. They are some of my best friends and I spend 17 hours a week with them. That’s a lot of time and then you just go cold turkey and that’s kind of hard to deal with,” Alexa Fredricks said.

“I’ll miss all of my friends and getting to see them everyday and we all have one thing in common, we are a community. We’re all getting through swim season together,” Sydney Wilson said.

What do you want your legacy on the team to be?

“Being a kind person to everybody, no matter how I’m feeling or how they’re feeling. I always want to be somebody who’s known as somebody who is there no matter what.,” Erin O’Rourke said.

“That I worked hard but I wasn’t one of those crazy people that has no fun while doing it,” Maggie Cremers said.

By Nina Lavezzo-Stecopoulos

njuries have occurred, new players have joined, and the volleyball season continues to accommodate change after change as state approaches. Kaylee Paulson ‘19 and Kelsey Law ‘20, who have both played volleyball throughout their high school careers, and have seen the JV and varsity teams build trust and communication skills as the season has progressed, but the teams face new challenges.

“I sprained [my ankle] in all sides, the front, my Achilles tendon and the sides and [the bump] was pretty big, it was tennis-ball sized,” Law said. “It’s a severe high ankle sprain so I’ll be in a boot for two to four weeks, which is our whole season.”

On Thursday, October 12, Law was doing the first drill of the day when she rolled her ankle. Law has had an impingement in her shoulder for the past year for which she recently received a cortisone shot. She continued to play throughout the season despite this injury, but when Law injured her ankle she immediately knew that she was done for the season.

“I knew it was bad. Right after I did it I was screaming and Ellie and Mack carried me to the trainer’s room,” Law said. “I was really frustrated because I knew that we could possibly go to state and I really want to participate in that. It’s mostly anger that was the first reaction. I want to be able to play.”

Varsity has gotten second in both of its tournaments so far and placed ninth in a conference on October 13. The team lost to Kennedy 25-12 and Jefferson 25-11. A team City had previously won against, Prairie, beat them at this conference. Law thinks her team should have beaten Prairie, but City had some wins despite their setbacks. City beat West along with Waterloo East and all the other teams in the tournament. Both Law and Paulson have seen their teams grow throughout the season.

“It’s always hard at the beginning of the season because you’re working with new people and learning the best way that people work together. There’s always different changes in the lineups and we also had some people that were out at the beginning of the season and then they came in partway through, which changed lineups are stuff,” Paulson said. “Once we got used to the new changes we were able to work a lot better together.”

As the trust built in the JV team, Paulson has seen improvement in the games.

“You can definitely see those moments for JV. Recently on our game, we started to go on runs and get a lot of points in a row,” Paulson said. “That really encourages us and our energy builds.”

In the beginning of the season the JV team was missing two players: Kate Swenning ‘19 and Olivia DeNeice ‘19. DeNeice is the team’s setter and Swenning plays in any position. They are both necessary or the team. According to Law, varsity kept many of the same players, who already knew each other well, as the year before and they only lost one senior. In years past this was not the case.

“I think my freshman year we had a star team with a lot of star players and they didn’t really mesh at first,” Law said. “Once they started communicating and trusting halfway through the season it was much more successful.”

City has not been to state throughout Law’s years on the team.

In her freshman year City lost at the last regionals game which determined if they made state or not. But this year Law saw improvement in the team after a game with Hempstead, who is a strong competitor along with Jefferson.

“We were flowing,” said Law. “It was a really great game and that was the turning point. Once we beat [Hempstead] we were like, “Whoa, we have so much potential. This could be a great season.’”

ABOVE: Makayla Ribble ‘22 PHOTO BY LOTTIE GIDAL

Do you have any tips for success?

What is your favourite swim memory?

“Time management is everything, having a group of people you can trust around you is important, and don’t sweat the small stuff,” Beatrice Kearns said.

“Give yourself space to just relax sometimes. Life is stressful, and it never hurts to take a well earned break,” Alexa Fredricks said.

“Between Zane asking Jordan to homecoming and how we all got to watch Kia’s progress last year and how much better she got at swimming because that was really fun to watch,” Sydney Wilson said.

“Regionals my freshman year. That was really fun, because it was on Halloween and so we all dressed up in onesies. Specifically, our coaches, in womens onesie[s]. Zane was Princess Leia, the whole time, while the other coaches were in suits. It was wonderful,” Maggie Cremers said.

“Last year, I was swimming with a senior, we got like a super hard set and she got so mad that she lifted herself up on the lane line and...it snapped and the buoys went everywhere,” Erin O’Rourke said.

&

Q A Seniors on the CHS women’s swim team

By Julianne Berry-Stoelzle and Alison Kenaston

Any last words to the other swimmers?

“Have fun and it’s not the end of the world if you’re not going your best time. Take it with a grain of salt and have fun. That’s what we’re here for,” Beatrice Kearns said.

“Hang in there. Trust me, it’s worth the four years you go through. You may think I just want to be done, but you’re gonna miss it a lot. I’m already missing it and I have two weeks left,” Alexa Fredricks said.

“Do your homework, but also sleep if you need sleep,” Kate Wilson said.

Are you looking forward to college?

“I’m looking forward to meeting new people and learning about things I am really passionate about. I plan on rowing in college as well so that is something I am really excited for. But I’m really going to miss the team. I’ve never met a group of people with more heart and determination than these girls. They show so much passion for the sport and for their teammates, it’s really like having 30 sisters who will support and be there for you no matter what,” Beatrice Kearns said.

“I’m looking forward to kind of being on my own and be[ing] more independent and then learning things I’m really interested in hearing about. But I’m really gonna miss gonna miss my friends and the community and my mom and Jordan,” Kate Wilson said.

“I guess I’m just excited for something new. I like City and I’ve genuinely enjoyed high school but I’m starting to feel like I’m ready for something else. There’s nothing I’m really specifically looking forward to other than starting a different stage in my life,” Maggie Cremers said.