WEST SIDE
Are exams really the best test? See p. 4-5
STORIES
January 2012
• Wauwatosa West High School • 11400 W Center Street, Wauwatosa WI • Volume 16, Issue 4 www.wauwatosawest.com
INTRAMURAL
All-Girl Teams Infiltrate IBA
Increase in female players participating in Intramural Basketball Association changes atmosphere
Deanna Ross g Staff Writer
Around Wauwatosa West, if you say the acronym IBA, people immediately become excited. IBA (Intramural Basketball Association) is a basketball league for those who enjoy playing basketball but are not on a school team. In IBA, students are allowed to put together their own team and play with whomever they want. They are allowed to name their team and make shirts with each member’s unique number and nickname. Teams then compete against other teams in their bracket on Thursday nights in both sides of West’s gym. IBA is becoming an increasingly popular activity at West, and students from all grade levels and genders participate, having a good time in the process. This year, there are more all-girl and co-ed teams than ever before, making the activity even more intriguing, popular, and fun. Interested in what both guys and girls thought about
the increase of participation of all-girl and co-ed teams, we asked around to see what students had to say. Andrew Gleason, a freshman on a coed team, thinks that having a girl on his team “is different but makes the game more fun.” Andrew added that playing all-girl teams “requires a different strategy,” but changing up his team’s strategy keeps the game interesting. Kyle Hemming, who also plays on a co-ed team, really likes having girls on his team. “I think playing with girls is a fun bonding experience,” says Kyle. When asked what he thought about all-girl teams he replied: “An all-girl team is a great idea because usually when people think of basketball, they think of a guy’s team. I also think that they contribute to the league, just like every other team.” Kyle loves to play against co-ed or all-girl team, sometimes more than all male teams because g Please see p. 2
it’s “less competitive and more fun”. Both the boys encourage more girls to play IBA and think that they shouldn’t be afraid because IBA is a ton of fun. On the other hand, Sarah Mraz participates on an all-girls team and thinks that being on a team with just girls encourages her to “take it less seriously and make the game more about having fun.” Sarah thinks that if she were on a team with boys that their desire to win would decrease the fun in the activity. She is definitely glad to be on an all-girl team, but has never felt discriminated against by all-guy teams. This opinion is consistent with most girls that are involved and playing on an all-girl team. To all the girls at West, if you were thinking about playing in IBA this year and didn’t, don’t be afraid
to go and sign up for it next year. On a broader note, IBA is an activity for everybody at West no matter your gender and age. Even the teachers have their own team! So get involved if you’re interested, and if you want to watch games, come on out Thursday nights to the West gym and see how much fun the involved students are having. To learn more, go to WestSideStories.com and take a look at the broadcast’s IBA program.
Wajahat Ali West Side Stories HOT SHOTS members Haily Vaughn, Megan Falk and Kasey Plonka discuss strategy and positions with their teammates before their next game. g
THEATER
SCHEDULING
An Invisible Rabbit Block Scheduling Theater department in midst of rehearsing for play Breanna Subotich g Staff Writer
Wauwatosa West High School has always put on a lot of great mu-
sicals and plays, but there has never been one quite like this year’s winter play. There are several things that make the play Harvey unique, including the fact that it is about a six-and-ahalf foot tall imaginary white rabbit. Harvey is about a man named Elwood, played by Wauwatosa Jasmine Thomas West Side Stories West senior Matt ZanPHOEBE ALBERT rehearses her lines with ton, whose other members of the Harvey cast. g
best friend is an invisible white rabbit that he calls Harvey. His sister Veta, played by junior Kylie Hogrefe, tries to commit him to an insane asylum and instead she ends up being committed. “When they realize this mistake, chaos ensues,” says senior Megan Falk, who plays one of the 11 understudies in this year’s winter play. This show has a 12 person cast, and every character has an understudy except for Veta. Hogrefe is so perfect for the role that the West director Tim Catlett didn’t see any use in finding a second person to play the part. Auditions were held Decemg Please see
p. 2
Committee looks into possible schedule formats
Brianna Blinkiewicz g Staff Writer
With the great variety of classes that Wauwatosa West offers, everyone has that one class that their alreadyjammed schedule will not permit them to take. And lately, rumors have been flying about West starting a new form of scheduling, in particular one called block scheduling, which will create space in students’ schedules, giving them room to take that class that they have been wanting to. It’s important to remember, though, that this is a very drastic change and one that may not happen anytime soon. The process of creating a new form of scheduling for students is not one that is taken lightly. There are many steps that the Scheduling Committee has to go through before deciding on a new schedule. “First we surveyed the parents of students and the teachers in the Wauwatosa school district and we got lots of different ideas,” said Bonnie Harris, a science teacher at Wauwatosa West who is also a member of the Scheduling Committee. “After this, we started a process called the rank-
ing process, or waiting process, where we took all the ideas from the faculty and asked them which one was most important to them. We then looked at all the benefits of each,” she added. In fact, this is a simplified version of what the committee goes through; the actual process includes many smaller details which are weighed in importance over a greater amount of time. Even after the committee selects a potential schedule format, the school board still has to approve it, which takes much debate from them and even more time. “At the moment, we have three or four potential schedules. We are going to be looking for schools that are running their day with these, and we are going to be having sight visits,” Harris stated. So as you can see, choosing a new schedule for West will really be thoroughly researched and thought out. Because of this laborious process, it makes sense that Tosa West will not be getting a new schedule setup next year. g Please see p. 2