2019-12-20

WEST SI DE STO RY IOWA CITY WEST HIGH SCHOOL

2901 MELROSE AVE.

IOWA CITY, IA 52246

WSSPAPER.COM

VOLUME 52 ISSUE 3

FIGHTING FOR FAITH How accommodating is the ICCSD when it comes to religion?

DECEMBER 20, 2019

FOR MORE COVERAGE, GO TO WSSPAPER.COM

PHOTO FEATURE

David Jang ‘22 bowls a spare on Nov. 26 against City High for the Battle of the King and Queen pins. Jang bowled a combined 236 in the individual round but couldn’t get past the Little Hawks as both the boys and girls bowling teams fell to City High at Colonial Lanes.

OWEN AANESTAD

Hello, or as my fellow EIC would say, hellow!

After the interminable three weeks since Thanksgiving, winter break has finally (almost) arrived, and there’s no better way to start it off than with a West Side Story in hand.

The holiday season is in full swing — a time of the year marked with gift giving, reflecting on the past year and Christmas music. Lots and lots of Christmas music. However, in the midst of this cherished time, it can be easy to forget that we all come from different backgrounds, with different religions and different traditions.

For this issue’s cover story, we take a look into how accommodating our school district is when it comes to religious practices. We hope that the article illuminates the importance of not just tolerance, but acceptance.

For a lighter read, check out Isaac Young’s satirical commentary on page 26, or learn about the new social media monitoring plan the district is in the process of implementing and see the Editorial Board’s stance on this potential invasion of privacy.

Enjoy your last few days of the decade!

(If you thought I would end without ringing in this new era of our lives … you were completely wrong.)

NATALIE KATZ

CONTENTS

FOLLOW US @WSSPAPER

NEWS

NEWS BRIEFS 4 SECURING SAFTY? 6

FEATURE CLEARING THINGS UP 8 THE FINANCIAL FACTOR 10

PROFILES

WALKER’S WARDROBE 12 MIXING IT UP 14

COVER

FIGHTING FOR FAITH 17

ENTERTAINMENT

2019 IN REVIEW 24 THE RADISH 26

SPORTS

BENEATH THE SURFACE 28 WRESTLING WITH STEREOTYPES 30

OPINION

OK, BOOMER 32 SOCIAL MEDIA SPIES 34

STAFF LIST Owen Aanestad Fareeha Ahmad Abdul Ahmed Mohammedhalil Al-Ani Caroline Barker Sara Baroncini Paras Bassuk Aditi Borde Kiley Butcher Sarah Callanan Misha Canin Alex Carlon Caroline Chandler Carmela Cohen Suarez Alexis Dick Natalie Dunlap Maddy Ephraim

Asst. Online Sports Editor Bess Frerichs Photographer Brenda Gao Reporter Kailey Gee Yearbook Copy Editor Yearbook Editor-in-chief Joe Goodman Photographer Renee Gould Videographer Photographer Emma Hall Photographer Jack Harris Yearbook People Editor Photographer Annabel Hendrickson Videographer Vivien Ho Photo Editor Cymry Hieronymus Social Media Editor Selina Hua Photographer Natalie Katz Yearbook People Editor Edward Keen Reporter Mariam Keita Yearbook Staff Hanah Kitamoto Online Managing Editor Tosh Klever Online News Editor Luke Krchak Asst. Sports Editor Online Copy Editor Youjoo Lee Online Entertainment Editor Marta Leira Online Editor-in-chief Amy Liao Print Reporter Abby McKeone Reporter Business Editor Alice Meng Yearbook Business Editor Jessica Moonjely

Online Feature Editor Entertainment Editor Designer Reporter Sports Editor Online Reporter Book Critic Artist Online Reporter Film Critic Copy Editor Feature Editor Photographer Art Editor Print Editor-in-chief Arts Editor and Critic Online Reporter Reporter Videographer Online reporter Columnist Designer News Editor Design Editor Online Graphics Editor Online Reporter Reporter Managing Editor

Jillian Prescott Cameron Reimers Ella Rosenthal Alyssa Skala

Maddy Smith Nicole Trout Sumner Wallace Jenna Wang Gwen Watson Sam Westergaard Ken Wilbur Sydney Wildes Isaac Young Xiaoyi Zhu Sara Whittaker

Profiles Editor Broadcast Editor-in-chief Artist Yearbook Clubs/ Academics Editor Designer Humans of West High Coordinator Photographer Yearbook Managing Editor Photographer Yearbook Student Life Editor Yearbook Editor-in-chief Columns Editor Copy Editor Editorial Editor Photographer Photographer Podcaster Videographer Podcast Editor Photographer Videographer Reporter Podcaster Designer Yearbook Staff WSS Advisor

NEWS BRIEFS

BY JESSICA MOONJELY PHOTOS BY OWEN AANESTAD, FAREEHA AHMED, MADDY SMITH AND GWEN WATSON DESIGN BY MADDY EPHRAIM

Have you been too busy drinking hot chocolate to digest the news? Here’s what you might have missed.

NOV

NOV

15

16

In Bolivia, five people were killed after security engaged with supporters of exiled former President Evo Morales. Meanwhile in Paris, demonstrators marching to honor the one year anniversary of the Yellow Vests Movements, a fight for economic justice, were met by police who fired tear gas and water cannons.

At the fourth annual Music Playathon, 27 student acts performed in the cafeteria.

The event, organized by Leah Rietz ’’20, Niyati Deshpande ’21 and Mallika Huynh ’21, raised over $1,500 for the Music Auxiliary.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GREGG SHOULTZ

NOV

18 Chick-fil-A announced that it will no longer donate to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army, two organizations that have been accused of making antiLGBTQ comments.

NOV

18

The Successful Students Inspired Through Education and Diversity (SSIKED) club sponsored a community dinner with cuisines from across the globe, spoken word poetry and musical performances to celebrate the diversity of the student body.

NOV

04

NEWS

DEC. 20, 2019

NOV

20

20

Due to construction, 21 teachers located mainly in the math and English departments switched classrooms. The newly renovated rooms include floor to ceiling windows, dimming lights and air conditioning.

The House Judiciary Committee approved a landmark bill (2410) that legalizes marijuana on the federal level, removing it from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. The bill has a high chance of passing through the full House but is likely to face opposition in the Senate.

NOV

NOV

21-23

24 The 47th annual American Music Awards (AMAs) honored the most popular artists and albums of 2019.

Notable winners include Post Malone, who earned 7 nominations, and Taylor Swift, who is now the most awarded artist of all time at the AMAs, beating Michael Jackson’s record of 24.

The band, orchestra and choral departments sent 49 musicians to perform together at the 2019 AllState Musical Festival in the Hilton Coliseum at Iowa State University.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JON WELCH

NOV

26

The boys swim team defeated Muscatine at the Coralville Recreation Center. Varsity won 133-36 and Junior Varsity won 139-7. Jordan Christensen ’22 earned two first-place finishes in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley.

NOV

29 The founding principal of West High, Ed Barker, passed away at the age of 91. Donating his salary back to West in 2012 to build the soccer field, Barker was known for his dedication to giving back to the community.

NOV

28 On Thanksgiving day, a powerful winter storm moved across the Midwest, canceling hundreds of flights. In the West, a “bomb cyclone,” caused by a rapid drop of barometric pressure, brought snow, wind and rain.

DEC

03 The boys basketball team defeated highly-ranked Dowling Catholic 43-28 in their season opener. Junior forward Marcus Morgan paced the team with 21 points while Tate Crane ’20 contributed five points and seven crucial rebounds.

DEC

06 At Theatre West’s opening night of “She Kills Monsters,” audiences were met with wraiths, bugbears and a five-headed dragon standing at 15 feet tall.

DEC

07 Mu Alpha Theta swept the Iowa City High School Math Invitational with both the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams earning a 1st place finish. During the individual events, standout member Michael Han ’20 achieved a perfect score of 80 in the target problems section.

NEWS

DEC. 20, 2019

05

SECURING

SAFTEY?

The ICCSD has secured funding from the District Attorney General in order to monitor students’ social media accounts.

BY MARTA LEIRA & ISAAC YOUNG

A

s technology has become more prevalent, security monitoring has increased, and people’s sense of privacy has gone down.

Schools are no exception to this trend. Since West has opened, the administration has added security cameras and began locking doors. Now, the ICCSD is looking into yet another safety measure for students: social media monitoring.

Chromebooks given to each student beginning in 2017 were installed with Securly, an application which monitors students’ search histories and gives parents the option to supervise and further restrict usage. Additionally, the district is able to monitor students’ school Google accounts when using district-issued technology.

This year, the district has decided that the need for security monitoring goes beyond school property. The ICCSD has decided to investigate the prospect of monitoring students’ social me-

06

FEATURE DEC. 20, 2019

THERE WERE

60

VIOLENT INCIDENTS REPORTED TO THE POLICE IN THE ICCSD IN 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR

dia in light of national violence trends. According to CNN, there has been an average of one school shooting per week in 2019.

“Most of the time before there is some sort of a major event, or crisis event, there’s something that’s happened on social media,” said Matt Degner, Assistant Superintendent of the ICCSD. The $187,000 grant will cover 75% of costs, but the ICCSD will have to finance the rest. With this money, the district hopes to eliminate any potential emergency situation before it occurs by monitoring students’ social media accounts that are attached to a school email. By filtering posts, they hope to identify “alarming messages,” which are defined as containing violent language and a reference to a school facility, in order to address the problem before it becomes a serious issue. “[If] somebody was going to commit harm to themselves or to other people, those are the

things we’re looking for,” Degner said. “We’re not looking for just regular conflict between two students or between a group of friends.”

In addition to blocking entrances and requiring student ID’s for entry, social media monitoring is a significant part of a larger plan to improve school security across the district. This could help to reduce the 60 violent incidents that were reported to the police in the ICCSD during the 2017-2018 school year.

The majority of the grant money will be allocated towards establishing a position known

“ WE’ R E NOT LOO KI NG FO R J UST R EGU LAR CON FLICT.” - MATT DEGN E R , ASSI STANT SU PE RI NTEN DENT, ICCSD as the Crisis Response Coordinator. Their basic responsibilities will be to oversee the creation of a crisis response program and promote cooperation between staff members throughout the district in case of an emergency.

The school board is also working to determine what software system they will implement.

Lakeview, a school district in Battle Creek, Michigan, has already adopted social media monitoring.

Lakeview has been monitoring students’ public social media on all platforms for the past two years through a company called ZeroFOX. The company looks at public accounts within the school district’s proximity and screens for keywords that may indicate malicious intent.

“I’ll be honest, it doesn’t hit on things very often,” said Blake Prewitt, Superintendent of the Lakeview School District. “But every now and then there is something.”

According to Prewitt, the program has prevented a few potential violent incidents and generally gives people ease of mind.

“I know for some of the parents, they appreciate it and feel that it’s doing a good job helping us keep safe,” Prewitt said Despite the promised prevention of violent attacks that have plagued schools all across the nation, many have concerns about the privacy of students. Following a Press-Citizen article regarding the new policy, there were multiple Facebook comments expressing concern.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve heard substantial backlash,” Degner said. “I would say the potential for that is there, and I think that’s why we need PHOTOS BY SYDNEY WILDES DESIGN BY ELLA ROSENTHAL

to make sure we’re open and transparent about what we’re doing.”

There is a range of student perspectives on the potential policy within the student body.

According to Lillian Montilla ’21, social media monitoring could be a necessary next step in advancing school safety. She believes that monitoring students’ posts is acceptable, but that a line should be drawn at sifting through students’ private messages.

“It is somewhat of an invasion of privacy,” Montilla said. “But if it can prevent certain things from happening it could be worth it.”

However, Claire Moira ’22 worries this new policy could be an infringement on students’ privacy.

“Our social media is something personal to us outside of school. Although the things we share

online are not private, they are also not meant to go directly to administrators,” Moira said. “If a student is having problems relating to social media, someone can report them and they can get monitored but there is no reason for everyone’s privacy to be invaded like that.”

According to Degner, it is important that the community gives input on their views in order to ensure a positive outcome, although any change would need to be approved by the granting organization.

“We haven’t had a conversation on it either.

And I think that’s part of our job to do,” Degner said. “Because we’ve heard some [opinions], and I think anytime you hear some there’s probably more opinions out there that we’re not hearing from.”

HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE ICCSD’S POTENTIAL PLAN TO MONITOR STUDENTS SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS? 250 STUDENTS SURVEYED

18% YES

82% NO

DO YOU SUPPORT THIS NEW POLICY? 244 STUDENTS SURVEYED

4% YES

96% NO

FEATURE DEC. 20, 2019

07

CLEARING THINGS UP HELEN KEARNEY ‘23

Skincare professionals and West students provide their tips and tricks for taking care of your skin.

BY CAROLINE CHANDLER

SUNSCREEN

T

JULIE SHIAN ‘20

PHOTOS BY ADITI BORDE DESIGN BY XIAOYI ZHU

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FEATURE DEC. 20, 2019

he heat of the sun glares down, signaling that it’s just about time to reapply that sunscreen. A couple of months later and the warmth of the sun will be swapped out for the frosty, chilly winter. Just because the humidity of summer is no longer here doesn’t mean the use of sunscreen should fade away along with the heat.

Sunscreen is an essential part of our daily skincare routine. Dr. Jessica Harms, a dermatology physician resident at the University of Iowa, says that sunscreen plays a significant role in protecting our skin.

“It’s the best way to prevent skin cancers as you get older,” Harms said. “It can prevent you from developing fine lines and wrinkles, so regardless of skin type, you should be using it daily.”

One simple way to include sunscreen into your skincare routine is through moisturizer.

This sunscreen should have at least a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30 or more. According to Harms, studies have shown that sunscreens that surpass the SPF 30 mark are proven effective at preventing sun damage.

“No matter what SPF is used, you should reapply every one to two hours while outside,” Harms said.

For Helen Kearney ’23, skin care became a more important task following the process of attempting to find a new sunscreen. After her mother started having her use sunscreen at an early age, Kearney wanted to find a more comfortable sunscreen for herself.

“The one product I could not go without would be sunscreen. It is the most important part of my routine,” Kearney said.

SKINCARE MISCONCEPTIONS

T

here are an abundance of skincare misconceptions, and it can be hard to know what to look out for and how to take care of your skin.

“People think that the more ingredients that you put on your face the better, when often just basic gentle cleansers and moisturizers are the best,” Harms said.

Many inaccurately believe that people with oily skin should omit moisturizer from their daily routine. Instead, Harms recommends looking for specific ingredients on the product label. “[Products] that say oil-free and noncomedogenic can be helpful, meaning that they won’t cause acne,” Harms said.

Those with oily skin are prone to breakouts, so using a gentle cleanser and an oil-free and noncomedogenic moisturizer are two ways to help combat oily skin.

“Even people with oily skin can still benefit from moisturizers,” Harms said.

The oil found on the surface of the skin comes from the sebaceous glands which are found throughout our skin. When excess oil or dirt builds up in them, it can result in irritation.

Those who have a sensitive skin type should steer away from scented products, as these can irritate the skin. The fragrances found in these products are sensitizing ingredients, meaning that they often will make the skin react negatively to whatever the applied substance might be. Fragrances are frequently found in products and can be spotted on the ingredients list.

Despite the pleasant scent they provide, negative skin responses can arise from overuse.

ANNA CARMEN ‘20

Anna Carmen ’20 has been using dermatologist prescribed products to combat acne and eczema. For the past three years, Carmen has been using a retinoid cream for acne. According to Carmen, the cream helps advance the shedding of her skin, which works well alongside an exfoliant.

“I also have really bad eczema,” Carmen said.

“For that, I use Hydrocortisone cream on my face and Fluocinonide on the rest of my skin.”

Both products help reduce itching and inflammation.

Carmen has been using these eczema products for nine years and has seen positive results. While some students like Carmen have gone from appointment to appointment to find the right product to suit their skin needs, others like Niyati Deshpande ’21 have taken a different approach. She wasn’t prescribed Curology by a dermatologist or pediatrician. Curology is an online service with certified dermatologists ready to help assist with a client’s skin needs. Users are able to take a quiz with questions ranging from skin type and needs to any other medications and treatments that the client might be on. Additionally, the quiz asks questions about other variables that can affect the skin, from sun exposure to the amount of water consumed in a day. Deshpande first came across Curology through online advertisements.

“My skin was really, really bad because of various different factors,” Deshpande said. “I had been seeing these ads, and I first thought it was a hoax.”

She decided to experiment with Curology after becoming motivated by a conversation that she had with a classmate and the fact that the first month of use is free.

“What they tell you at the beginning is that it takes a little bit, and you might have some setbacks because your skin is adjusting to this new treatment,” Deshpande said.

For her, these setbacks came in the form of breakouts, emerging in places she that she didn’t previously have issues with. Those new symptoms persisted for a period of time and then faded away.

“It took at least a month for me to actually see some differences,” Deshpande said.

STRESS & YOUR SKIN

O

ften, stress levels can contribute to the condition of one’s skin. Many teenagers struggle with breakouts, and this is often tied back to stress levels.

“When I get stressed, I get eczema breakouts on my chin and pimples on my forehead,” Kearney said. To combat this, she uses pimple patches on her forehead and prevents further breakouts by eating healthy and keeping her skin hydrated.

Because skin becomes sensitive and irritated when stress levels rise, keeping the skincare routine simple is important. Skin care routines don’t need to be extensive and complicated. Sometimes all that is needed is a gentle cleanser, sunscreen and moisturizer.

STUDENTS & SKINCARE

M

any skin conditions can alter the appearance of someone’s skin type.

“Acne is probably the most common one and eczema is super common in kids,” Harms said. “There’s a lot of things people are just born with genetically, and it’s nothing that they’re doing that’s causing it.”

Julie Shian ’20 used Tretinoin, a dermatologist prescribed topical medication, to help clear up her skin over the span of six months.

She was prescribed Tretinoin before starting a new medication for two months.

“I was prescribed something called Mupirocin, which is used to treat bacterial skin infections,” Shian said.

For Shian, a bacterial skin infection wasn’t what she was dealing with. Rather, she had a skin condition that caused red spots to appear and scab her arms. Shian set up an appointment with a dermatologist to see what was causing the issues and was prescribed to use Mupirocin for two months.

“I didn’t like having cuts on my skin all the time, and nothing I was doing was really working,” Shian said.

While Shian is no longer using these products, they have had a positive impact on her skin.

NIYATI DESHPANDE ‘21 FEATURE DEC. 20, 2019

09

THE FINANCIAL FAC TO R A look into how West combats financial disparities that students face.

BY NATALIE DUNLAP & NATALIE KATZ

H

ow much does it really cost to have a quality education at a public high school?

Looking at the sticker price, nothing. Yet this year, according to USA Today, the average family spent $1223 on just basic school supplies alone. Add in registration fees, extracurricular costs and lunch money, and the price goes through the roof. Contrary to its founding principal, receiving a public education in 2019 is expensive, and for students living in low income households, this cost can be detrimental to their quest for a good education.

At West, one of the few ways to measure low socioeconomic status is the amount of students enrolled in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Students in this program have scored lower on tests such as the Iowa Assessments than their peers.

“There is a gap in achievement scores — you see lower achievement scores when comparing kids, non-free and reduced lunch,” said Assistant Principal Molly Abraham.

In student and family advocate Jamie Schneider’s experience, low attendance largely correlates to lower performance in school. With students possibly having to stay home to provide childcare for younger siblings instead of attending class because their family cannot af-

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FEATURE DEC. 20, 2019

ford a babysitter, this disproportionately affects students in low income households.

“If you’re not in school, you’re going to fall further and further behind,” Schneider said.

At West, 35% of students participate in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program, though not all who are eligible apply for it. While it may seem like the obvious thing to do, Abraham believes that pride and privacy dissuade students from applying. Other explanations for the lack of full

participation, according to Schneider, are that some families don’t know how to apply or they have been denied in the past and don’t want to apply again. Students who are homeless or in the foster system automatically qualify. Being in that program does not necessarily mean a student is living in poverty and some families just need the assistance temporarily, such as when a parent loses a job and is looking for a new one.

In addition to more affordable meals, students

that qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch receive assistance and lowered costs for other expenses.

“If you’re on Free and Reduced lunch, then you get [other fees] either waived for free, or you get them reduced,” Schneider said. “If you want to do any type of testing, whether it be AP testing or ACT, if you qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch, you can have access to all of those resources here for free or reduced, so it goes so much further.”

While this program certainly helps bear the brunt of mandatory financial burdens, it alone isn’t enough to provide students living in low socioeconomic households with a seamless education. Outside of that program, West has helped students in obtaining items such as shoes, homecoming tickets and Business Professionals of America conference money. However, because these situations are handled on an individual level, the school can only help if they are aware of the student’s needs.

“I’m positive there’s kids that go without things that they would want because we just don’t know what they need,” Abraham said.

One way the school is trying to help bridge the gap between what they can supply and what some students need is through West High Supply, a resource for food, clothing, toiletries and

school materials that have been donated. Any student in need of these items can access West High Supply by speaking to their guidance counselor or a student and family advocate.

“West High Supply sums it up really well because we have food in there, we have clothing, some coats in there for winter gear. We also have school supplies, so it covers all of those bases,” Schneider said.

While aid is being provided in the school for home life, outside of school, it is much harder for help to be administered. For instance, although Chromebooks have given everyone a device, access to Wi-Fi when students return home isn’t guaranteed.

“It’s somewhat common that people don’t have internet in their home,” Abraham said. “We got hotspots from a Sprint grant, but those ran out pretty fast and plus they’re super slow.”

This, in addition to home responsibilities, such as babysitting their siblings or working to help increase the family income, can have a negative effect on the education of students living in low income households. Moreover, families may not have the funds to meet basic needs such as adequate clothing, food or an environment that allows the children to get enough sleep.

“When kids and adults aren’t getting adequate sleep, aren’t getting adequate meals, then you’re not going to be able to function at the level that you need to function at, especially at school,” Schneider said.

Outside of the resources the school provides, the administration relies on teachers being

“ MY GOAL I S ALWAYS TO MAKE SU R E THAT MY STU DE NTS HAVE TH E BEST CHANCE THAT TH EY CAN AT DOI NG WE LL I N LI FE AFTE R TH EY COM E TH ROUG H MY CLASSROOM .”

- J EFF CON N ER , SCI ENCE TEACH ER aware of student’s situations to intervene if necessary.

“We keep trying to work on [getting] teachers to develop relationships with kids, and then they might figure out what the need is,” Abraham said.

One teacher who has proven to be a support to students in need is science teacher Jeff Conner.

Growing up in a low-income household himself, he understands the obstacles they encoun-

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

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W E E KLY

$445 $602 $759 $917 $1,074 $1,231 $1,388 $1,546

ter. Conner’s personal experiences have helped shape the manner in which he offers support.

“I try and make sure that I’ve got things available for my students,” Conner said. “I tell the students that anytime that they need anything school supply-wise they can come and get it.”

Walking into his classroom, his dedication to helping students is evident — his class set of calculators sits in individual pouches on the back wall, there’s a cabinet full of school supplies such as the 30 binders he purchased, and a storage of something perhaps less obvious, but just as important: food.

“I have food sitting around my room that’s just for students to have if they’re hungry,” Conner said. “One student I knew was not eating at home. So I made sure that she had money for food on the weekends specifically and over the breaks, because I had noticed that when she was at school, she was asking for food a lot and then I realized that she didn’t have much at all.”

The line between appropriate and inappropriate actions a teacher can take to provide help is unclear. As a teacher, Conner acknowledges that his job isn’t to provide funds for students, but as a person who cares for each of his students, he finds this difficult to follow.

“There are some limits to what I can do and what would be appropriate to do, but I try and make sure that they know that I’ve got them supported if they need it,” he said. “I’m not a parent, right? So I shouldn’t be worrying about whether they have food at home, and if they don’t have food at home, I should be reporting it to somebody rather than just paying for it myself.”

Regardless of the different approaches staff takes, support to help students living below the poverty line seems to be growing. With the redistricting of elementary school boundaries last year to evenly distribute students living in lower socioeconomic households throughout the district, the ICCSD is attempting to better the learning experiences of all students. With West experiencing a lower percentage of students living in this situation, and the other high schools at a similar level, the priority is on the schools with drastically higher percentages.

Schneider says West is a supportive place for families lacking in financial resources, but certain factors, such as child care and transportation, make it difficult for students in these situations to have the same experience as their more affluent peers.

“My goal is always to make sure that my students have the best chance that they can at doing well in life after they come through my classroom,” Conner said.

ART & DESIGN BY SELINA HUA

Source: Jamie Schneider, 2019

FEATURE DEC. 20, 2019

11

JY WALKER’S WARDROBE

PHOTOS BY SARA BARONCINI DESIGN BY BRENDA GAO

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PROFILES

DEC. 20, 2019

From colorful scarves to countless boots, math teacher Joye Walker has mastered how to dress to impress.

Y

BY ALICE MENG

A

“

nother week, another day, another pair of sweats. It’s Monday after all; everyone’s going to be wearing an oversized hoodie and pants that oddly resemble pajamas.

Take one step into room 233, and it doesn’t seem like a Monday morning anymore.

Math teacher Joye Walker is known for her eye-catching, color-coordinated outfits. A variety of colors is a priority for her wardrobe. After choosing the color palette she wants to wear for the day, she works around it to match the rest of her look, topping it off with accessories.

“I like things that blend nicely, colors and styles that look good together,” Walker said. “I like a complete look with things to coordinate shoes and jewelry and so forth.”

Ever since she was a child, Walker has been paying special attention to her style. She grew up in a household that ingrained the importance of dressing nicely in her mind.

“My mother was the type that if I came down the stairs she would say, ‘Well, you’re going to have to change your skirt or blouse because what you have on doesn’t go together,’” Walker said. “I learned very quickly to be very careful about what clothes I put together when I would go to school in the morning.”

Walker purchases clothing from a variety of different stores, ranging from Kohl’s to Cracker Barrel. However, what ultimately matters to her are the individual items she discovers rather than the store itself.

“I don’t necessarily go to any particular place with the idea that I’m going to get something there that I like,” Walker said. “I just buy things as they appear to me wherever I happen to be.”

While looking through the racks for new clothing, she searches for pieces that could be integrated with other garments she already owns.

“I like layering things, so if I’m going to wear a jacket or sweater, then I need solid colored things to wear underneath it. Then maybe I have a scarf at home that I think is going to blend with that,” Walker said. “I think about all of those things when I’m actually shopping for clothes to make sure that I can put something together that’s going to look nice.”

“

I think about all of those things when I’m actually shopping for clothes to make sure that I can put something together that’s going to look nice.

-Joye Walker, math teacher

”

When Walker is at home she takes on a much more casual look, usually donning a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Once Walker leaves the house, she dresses up regardless of her destination, even if it’s a simple trip to the grocery store.

Walker also holds the same standards for herself during the workday. In addition to teach-

ing classes in the morning, Walker serves as the district math coordinator, where she constantly attends meetings with other math specialists.

“I’m standing in front of lots of people all day and meeting lots of people in various circumstances with my work,” Walker said. “I always feel like I have to dress professionally, and I like dressing professionally.”

However, Walker’s fashion skills aren’t one-dimensional. When her daughters were younger, she would sew clothes for them. One of her daughters, Erica Goodoff, particularly remembers the amount of work that Walker put into her homemade Halloween costumes.

“I had a butterfly costume with these elaborate wings and a fortune teller costume that had all kinds of cool details, like a Magic 8 Ball wrapped in shiny fabric for a crystal ball,” Goodoff said.

Though Goodoff developed a simpler style of a couple staple clothing items, her mother’s fashion still impacts her today.

“I did pick up on the thoughtfulness aspect.

I try to pick clothes that are comfortable and appropriate for the occasion, and maybe more importantly, clothes and accessories that make me feel confident,” Goodoff said.

The effort Walker puts into her outfits has not gone unnoticed by the community. She often receives compliments not only here at West but also everywhere else she steps foot. Math teacher Karen Meyer finds that every item of clothing Walker wears complements the rest of the ensemble.

“It’s everything; it’s the jewelry and it’s the scarf and it’s the cardigan and it’s the shirt and it’s the boots or the shoes. It’s the skirt and the pants. It just all works together,” Meyer said.

“She just does a really nice job of making it work really well.”

Frances Blount ’21, one of Walker’s students, shares the same sentiment, noting that she has a unique style not often seen in other teachers. “[Walker] actually puts a lot of thought into her outfits,” Blount said. “I enjoy walking into the classroom and being like, ‘Oh shoot, what is Ms. Walker wearing today?’”

I enjoy walking into the classroom and being like, ‘Oh shoot, what is Ms. Walker wearing today?’

-Frances Blount ‘21

”

Blount also believes Walker’s fashion is an invitation for a deeper connection that encourages her to learn more about Walker.

“I want to know more about her. Instead of just walking into class and not really caring, I feel like I want to know her more as a person,” Blount said.

Dressing nicely does come with difficulties, but it can provide for an entertaining experience.

A DAY I N T H E LIFE O F MS. WALK ER

4:15

Wake up

4:30

Work out at the gym, then go home and make breakfast

6:30

Stop at Panera and get coffee

7:30

Arrive at West High, get ready for class

8:50

Teach periods 1-3

11:30

Go to the ICCSD Educational Services Center

Work with specialists, serve on committees, attend meetings Get home and finish schoolwork with the news on in the background Read, follow recipes from cooking magazines

8:30

Go to bed

Walker occasionally has trouble deciding which pieces of clothing should be matched with what, and how one item has many possibilities but has to be matched differently every time it’s worn.

“That’s kind of a challenge, but I think I like the fact that it isn’t the same all the time,” Walker said. “It’s just fun to change it up and see what kinds of combinations work.”

During holidays or other events, she is often seen in festive dress. Economics teacher Tyson Smith, who works with Walker as an Instructional Design Specialist, enjoys how she can add a creative element to an outfit while still maintaining a professional style. “[I like] the fact that when she goes Hawkeye, she goes full Hawkeye,” Smith said.

According to Walker, fashion can have a large impact on individuals’ lives in many ways. She believes that though the way one dresses can leave a good impression on others, dressing for self-satisfaction is important as well.

“I feel good about myself if I’m well dressed,” Walker said. “I think it’s an important thing for me, [and] you feel good about yourself if you know that what you have on looks good.”

PROFILES DEC. 20, 2019

13

X I M IN G X I M IN G IT UP X I M IN IX Amar Idris ’20 relives the events that molded him into the DJ he is today.

BY FAREEHA AHMAD urntables, headphones and deafening music all accompany the talented individuals and job descriptions of disk jockeys, commonly referred to as DJs. While most DJs may learn and perfect their style and technique before their first time performing, this wasn’t the case for Amar Idris ’20. After a series of rushed events, he was unexpectedly thrown into his high school DJing career at the age of 14.

It all began back in Amar’s hometown of Brooklyn, New York, when Amar and his family were frantically running around preparing for his sister’s engagement party.

In the midst of chaos, the DJ they had hired called in and canceled last minute. Adding on to their stress, it was too late to hire another, and the family had to find a quick solution. Amar wasn’t even planning on attending the party since it was supposed to be an all-ladies event, let alone DJ it.

Despite this, his brother’s friend arrived with his DJing equipment and showed Amar how to use it within about half an

14

PROFILE

DEC. 20, 2019

hour before he had to rush off to work. The crucial element of any party, the music, was left in Amar’s hands.

“Sometimes when you go into big things, you’ll feel scared until you see everybody engaging with you. Everybody’s dancing, having fun, and you play for them, and

IF YOU LIKE SOMETHING,

-AMAR IDRIS ‘20 they feel happy,” Amar said. “That’s the best feeling you can have.”

Despite picking up the job last minute, having to call his brother’s friend to see how to plug in some wires and accidently cutting off the music twice, Amar was a natural. Because he was familiar with the

Arab music that was going to be played, all Amar had to do was follow the instructions given to him. However, Amar had another agenda in mind — one that went above and beyond with his performance as a first time DJ. bvv “Everything that came up by accident, I learned from. Like that button cut off that song? Okay, I can’t press that button. That turns the volume up and turns it down, that’s what I’m going to use. Then the mixing and stuff, I learned on the spot,” Amar said. “If you like something, it’s easy to learn.”

Knowing that he wasn’t supposed to be the original DJ, guests came up to Amar after the party and commended him on his DJing skills. Amar’s sister was incredibly proud of her little brother and enjoyed seeing him do something that she knew he would love.

“I always knew he had a strong passion for music and [that] he was very talented,” she said. “I was really impressed and proud because at that moment I knew he would go

AMAR IDRIS ‘20 HAS TRAVELED TO MANY STATES DJING AT EVENTS LIKE ENGAGEMENTS, WEDDINGS AND PROTESTS.

“HIS TASTE OF MUSIC IS

-JAMES CALON KEY FOOD OWNER

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAR IDRIS

far with his talents.”

The whole experience deepened Amar’s love for mixing music together and making people dance. Even before the event, Amar was very fond of music. He would sing to his favorite songs at the top of his lungs and run his fingers across the keys of his piano for hours.

“Ever since I was little, I loved music and I always wanted to do something with music,” Amar said. “The piano connected me with music even more because I would practice and sit down for two to four hours sometimes.”

Because it took him a while to feel as though he were ready, Amar got to work on his business cards a year later. He asked his father to make the investment of a small DJ setup afterwards, which included some speakers, turntables and a mixer, to which his father agreed to.

“Seeing Amar doing something he loves, that’s all that matters,” said Musa Idris, Amar’s father. “That’s the best feeling you can have.”

Within the next couple of years, everything changed. Amar practiced on his own as a self-taught DJ. He never liked the idea of ‘How-to’ videos on Youtube because they would only show him how to do one particular move, and that would be all he’d know.

“The best thing to do if you want to be a DJ is just sit down by yourself and play with it. Even if you mess it up, you’re still learning something,” Amar said. “So, you just play with it.”

The first parties that Amar began DJing after his sister’s engagement party were celebrations for Eid, a yearly holiday marked on calendars by Muslims. During that time, Amar kept working at improving his DJing skills. Later, an opportunity arose as Amar stopped by Key Food, a grocery

store right around the block from where he lived. There he met the store owner James Calon and learned that he was about to get married. Amar volunteered to DJ at the reception, and in return, Calon put up Amar’s business cards in his shop’s window.

“His taste of music is beautiful. He’s different because everything that he does depends on his mood,” Calon said. “Other DJs just copy from each other, but I feel like Amar has his own style.”

At the wedding, Amar was approached by an event coordinator from Lux Events, a company that plans weddings and other celebrations. Although Amar no longer

works with the business, this contact proved to be a huge step in his DJing career.

The company contacted Amar several times and booked him events all across the states, from Pennsylvania to Arizona. In his experience, one of the major highlights of being a DJ is traveling and learning about the many different cultures of his clients. “[My favorite parts about traveling as a DJ are] first seeing different people, and second, learning about their cultures,” Amar said. “Once, there was an Indian party, and it was a wedding, and they had to change clothes twice. I was like ‘That’s kind of cool,’ and I liked the dresses they had … everything was beautiful at that wedding.”

Amar still finds it incredible that he got to experience all the opportunities he did and expresses how he never thought anything like this would happen to him. He encourages others to pursue their passions, believing that nothing can limit anyone from achieving their dreams.

“Anything you want to do [that] you think is impossible, it’s actually not. I never thought at 15 or 16 I’d go [to] Philadelphia or go to Arizona for someone that wants me to do their wedding. I never thought about it until it happened, so I was like ‘Wow, things really can change,’” Amar said. “Whatever you want to be, you can be, as long as you put your mind to it.”

ENGAGEMENT PARTY- ARIZONA PROTEST- NEW YORK PARTY HALL OPENINGPENNSYLVANIA COMMUNITY GATHERING- TEXAS WEDDINGS- GEORGIA, MICHIGAN WASHINGTON D.C.,VIRGINIA PROM- MARYLAND, OHIO ENGAGEMENT- KANSAS, SOUTH CAROLINA, VIRGINIA SWEET 16- ILLINOIS

PHOTOS BY CYMRY HIERONYMUS ART & DESIGN BY VIVIEN HO

T EVE N T S PAST E VE NT S P AS T E VE N T S 15 IDRIS’ PAS

PROFILE DEC. 20, 2019

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With the holiday season upon us, West Side Story is taking a deeper look into how religion is addressed in the ICCSD and the obstacles many students have to overcome in order to attend school during major holidays in their religions.

BY MISHA CANIN & ANNABEL HENDRICKSON

FIGHTING FOR FAITH

I

t’s that time of year again. The bitter December wind whips through the air, bringing with it an equally chilling obstacle for students: the influx of exams crammed in before break. When the seemingly endless piles of work after Thanksgiving finally start to melt away, students are awarded a two-week break from school to spend time with family. For those who celebrate Christmas, this break is filled with celebrations and gift-giving. For students practicing religions other than Christianity, having a school-sanctioned break from classes during their religious holidays is not always an option. Holidays like Ramadan and Yom Kippur that typically fall during the school year pose several obstacles for these students when they have to miss school days in order to celebrate. Religious practices, including fasting, further affect students when they have to deal with the effects during the school day.

Fasting is a practice that religions have used for centuries as a way to exercise sacrifice, self-discipline, cleansing and gratitude. Many students struggle to concentrate during fasting and even have to miss school from time to time. Fasting is just one example of a religious practice that the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) addresses in their religious policies.

INTENTS OF THE DISTRICT When it comes to religion, the ICCSD aims to create an environment that is inclusive to everyone. They try to achieve this through policies and guidelines that have the intent of making it easier on students whose religious practices conflict with the school schedule.

“One of the things that we are very conscious of is that it’s clear to the students, staff and the communities that as a public school, we are open to everybody,” said Superintendent Steve Murley. “Our goal is to accommodate people’s needs when they come through our door, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language spoken and religion.”

An obstacle that students practicing religions

other than Christianity face is trying to stay on top of schoolwork when they have to be absent from school. The ICCSD has a written policy requiring the school to excuse any absences due to religious celebrations. This makes certain that students don’t feel pressured to attend school instead of celebrating a holiday.

“One of the things that we’ve been working very hard to do is to ensure that we are a truly responsive school district and that we are proactive,” Murley said. “We try to determine where

“ON E OF TH E TH I NGS THAT WE’VE BE E N WOR KI NG VE RY HAR D TO DO I S TO E N SU R E THAT WE AR E A TR U LY R ESPON SIVE SCHOOL DI STR ICT.” -STEVE M U RLEY, SU PE RI NTEN DENT areas of conflict may lie, and then [we try] to develop resolutions to those conflicts.”

In order to resolve conflicts between religion and schooling, Murley works with local Muslim, Jewish and Christian religious leaders to create a religious calendar provided to ICCSD staff. This calendar includes the major holidays that the main religions in the district celebrate to make sure that teachers are aware of certain days that students might have to miss.

“I actually went and met with the imam at the mosque and the rabbi over at the temple and a couple of Christian religious leaders, and I had them help me determine ... what the most im-

portant religious holidays that fall during the school year were,” Murley said. “Then we talked to accommodate student needs when they were in conflict with school.”

A common practice for many religions, one that the ICCSD tries to incorporate into their goal of inclusivity, is praying. A significant part of many students’ religions includes praying at times that fall throughout the school day. Massa Suleiman ’22, who is Muslim, feels that the school is quite amenable to this practice. “[The school] offers us rooms in the West Wing Office to pray,” Suleiman said. “Teachers are also very understanding when I need to come to class a bit late.”

Although providing a space for students to pray is not included in an official policy, the district makes it clear that schools ranging from elementary to secondary should have a safe space for students of all religions to pray during the school day.

“Our whole goal is to make sure that school is a welcoming place for everyone — students, staff, parents and the community,” Murley said. “We make school that welcoming place by recognizing that [we all] come from many and varied backgrounds, and that’s what makes our district such a great place to go to school.”

While the ICCSD does have policies in place to assist certain major religious holidays, there are many obstacles that some students feel go unnoticed in their classes. For Suleiman, she finds it very important that both the student population at West, as well as its staff, continue to learn about what a large number of students are going through when missing school on major religious celebrations.

“I think it’s very important that Islamic [and other non-Christian religious] holidays are at the least recognized by teachers and staff so they are more understanding when we miss school,” Suleiman said. “Just awareness of what a large percentage of the school districts students are going through would be very accommodating.”

AN ADDED OBSTACLE: TESTING A school year’s worth of material crammed into just over three hours of testing. Fifty-five multiple choice questions, three short answer questions and the ever-dreaded long essay question and document-based question. As stressful as an AP exam can be, students like Razan Hamza ’21 faced an additional obstacle last year when their AP exam overlapped with the celebration of Ramadan.

In the spring of 2019, West students took the AP European History exam on May 6, the same day Muslims across the world celebrated the start of Ramadan, a holiday in which they fast from sunrise to sunset. Hamza remembers multiple occasions where she had to take a test on a day that she was fasting, but the AP Euro exam was the one that stuck out the most.

“I was extremely worried,” Hamza said. “I was thinking, ‘Taking this test while dehydrated is probably going to be the worst decision I’ll make this year.’”

Hamza isn’t the only student who has faced difficulties regarding the AP testing period and fasting.

“Fasting during an AP test is something that has happened multiple times that I’ve had students talk to me about,” AP Human Geography teacher Megan Johnson said. “I don’t think that there’s any formal accommodations for those students where you can take it at a different time or anything like that.”

Due to the lack of accommodations provided by the College Board, students have had to create an individual plan to work their fasting schedule around the exam. This includes getting up before sunrise to eat a big meal, or breaking their fast on the day of the exam and making it up on an extra day.

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS AUGUST

SEPTEMBER 1

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JEWISH HOLIDAYS ISLAMIC HOLIDAYS

DECEMBER 1

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FEBRURARY

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MARCH 1

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MAY

7

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Source: International Business Times, 2018

“I think that it does become difficult for some students, particularly if you have an afternoon test,” Johnson said. “There’s not any sort of formal policy that I’m aware of from College Board, but my experience has been that the individual students find their own ways of navigating through it.”

For students who cannot attend the regularly scheduled AP exam, College Board offers an option to sign up for a make-up exam later on in May. The late testing date is available free of additional charges for circumstances including a bomb or fire scare, an athletic event, another AP test at the same time or religious celebrations.

This year, however, both the normal exam weeks and the make-up exam weeks will fall during

“ON E TI M E TH I S YEAR I HAD TH R E E TESTS ON TH E SAM E DAY AS [YOM KI PPU R] AN D I SPE NT TH E N EXT WE E K MAKI NG TH E M ALL U P.” - EVAN ZU KI N ‘22

Ramadan, as it lasts from April 23 to May 23 in the 2020 year.

It’s not just AP tests that can overlap with religious celebrations. Evan Zukin ’22 remembers a recent stressful time when he had multiple tests to make up after missing a single day of school.

“One time this year I had three tests on the same day as [Yom Kippur] and I spent the next week making them all up,” Zukin said. “[My teachers] were all accommodating, and they understood that I had to miss that day.”

Although there’s no district policy that prevents teachers from giving tests on major religious holidays when students may be out of school, the district’s guidelines strongly encourage ICCSD staff to keep the celebrations in mind

while planning their courses.

“We go over that [religious] calendar that all staff members can see once a year, and we remind them that it is our intent — not a policy, but our intent — that they not hold exams on the holy days in particular for Christianity, Judaism and Islam,” Murley said. “The intent is not to have major assignments due or major tests on those dates or in the days immediately following.”

THE CALENDAR CONUNDRUM It is the policy of the ICCSD not to discriminate on the basis of religion in its educational programs, activities or employment practices. If a student ever needs to miss classes for a religious reason, this absence will be excused by the administration.

Even though these students’ absences are approved, having to miss class can be very stressful for a high school learner. While the ICCSD cannot accommodate every religion and each of their holidays, they look at many different components when determining the calendar, including the University of Iowa calendar as well as the breaks in between the trimesters. However, the one consistency over the years has been two weeks off for winter break that coincides with the Christian holiday of Christmas.

In recent years, the district has seen a push for more days off of school for Islamic holidays.

According to Johnson, several people have spoken out about this at school board meetings, but nothing has moved forward as of yet.

“I know there have been a lot of community members who have expressed their desire for

that to happen at school board meetings,” Johnson said. “We take days off all the time for other reasons, whether it’s Christian religious holidays or taking the day off between trimesters, so there’s no reason it couldn’t happen.”

One Islamic holiday in particular has been brought to the school board’s attention by the community. For the past couple years, Eid alFitr, a celebration in which the month-long fasting of Ramadan comes to an end, has fallen over the summer months. However, because the Islamic faith follows the lunar calendar, the holiday will overlap with school days in a few years.

“We’ve actually talked to the calendar committee about whether or not we will have those days off [for Eid],” Murley said. “We’ve also talked to the rabbi to see if we’re recognizing those other specific Jewish holidays that we should also consider, so we’re trying to make sure again that we’re being as inclusive as possible in that process.”

Due to the length of Ramadan, it’s impossible for the district to take a whole month off of school, leaving students who celebrate it with some added challenges. One of these impediments arises when students taking PE classes are unable to participate at a full level during fasting.

“Individual days are easier to deal with. It’s Ramadan that’s very difficult for everybody. [It] creates its own little set of circumstances that are hard,” PE teacher Charles Stumpff said. “But we have given them the choice of how they want to go about doing that.”

Students are allowed to choose the extent at which they participate in PE during this holi-

day, whether that means sitting out entirely or modifying workouts. However, according to Suleiman, the inconsistency between teachers and schools can sometimes result in students being pushed to their physical limits.

For Boaz Abramoff ’22, who in addition to being Jewish, is a devoted football and track and field athlete, finding a way to manage academics and sports along with his religion can be difficult at times, especially when it comes to missing school.

“It can be hard because both school and my religion are very important to me, so normally what I do is go to school for part of the day then miss a few classes so I can go to services at the synagogue. I get back to school in time to go to practice because sports are important to me as well,” Abramoff said. “I think it’s important to keep a good balance of things you care about in life, like faith, academics and athletics.”

Although Christmas remains the only religious holiday that consistently falls during a break from school, Murley hopes that the district will remain open-minded and accommodating of all students, regardless of their religion, in the future.

“Whatever we can do to ensure that we are being culturally responsive and proactively religiously tolerant makes for a more welcoming environment,” Murley said. “If we can succeed at that, we know that kids are better able to learn and become successful students.”

PHOTOS BY PARAS BASSUK ART & DESIGN BY AMY LIAO

22

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ENTERTAINMENT

DEC. 20, 2019

IN-REVIEW

This year has been big for Disney live-action remakes, from “Aladdin” to “The Lion King.” The highly anticipated “Frozen II” was also released, along with its new streaming service Disney+.

“Disney”

“Spider-Man Far From Home”

This 2019 release starring Tom Holland and Zendaya was praised enthusiastically despite controversy between Sony Pictures and Disney over the rights to the Spider-Man character.

After the iconic evil clown first appeared back in 2017, fans were excited to see the three-hour sequel where Pennywise returns years later to terrorize the Losers’ Club.

“It Chapter 2”

MOVIES

This new dance move, which involves making a swift move with the fists, is the meme move of the year, which follows previous years of the “Dab” and the “Whip”.

“The Woah”

“And I oop”

Since drag queen Jasmine Masters first uttered this iconic phrase, the way we express surprise or embarrassment has never been the same.

A joke made on Facebook about raiding Area 51 in search for alien life at a United States Air Force base in Nevada became a viral event, with more than 2 million people expressing interest in storming the desert.

However, after barely any people showed up, the event ultimately flopped.

“Storming Area 51”

DESIGN BY YOUJOO LEE

TikTok, an app for sharing short videos, had its most glorious meme-filled year yet. From iconic challenges to dances like ‘Renegades’ and also VSCO girls, Tiktok has dominated 2019 pop culture.

“TikTok”

One of the most widely-acclaimed movies of the year, Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker inspired a wave of discussion about morality and true evil.

“Joker”

MEMES

With 2019 coming to a close, WSS recaps the biggest pop culture and entertainment trends of the year before the new decade arrives.

2019 COMPILED BY JENNA WANG

ENTERTAINMENT

DEC. 20, 2019

25

TV SHOWS

Along with the arrival of Disney’s new streaming service came this new show set in the Star Wars universe. It features a gunfighter exploring the outer reaches of the galaxy along with baby Yoda.

‘’The Mandalorian”

“Stranger Things”

Netfilx’s release of season 3 of the sci-fi show about a group of kids in the 80’s battling supernatural forces was one of the most demanded TV shows of the year, with the next season anticipated for 2020.

With the recent release of season 2, the highly anticipated show with rave reviews is based on a comic book series that stars a psychopath and an angsty teen, embarking on a trail of violent events to find an estranged father.

GOT, filled with dragons, kings and white-walkers in the land of Westeros, concluded its decade of TV dominance this year with its final Season 8 amid many mixed reviews about the season.

“End of the F***ing World”

“Rise and Shine.” When Jenner used this sing-songy phrase to wake up her baby daughter, the clip went viral on Twitter, resulting in hundreds of memes. The 22-yearold youngest self-made billionaire also sold a 51% stake in her cosmetics business to a beauty company for $600 million.

Kylie Jenner

“Game of Thrones”

Swift made history at the American Music Awards, sweeping every category she was nominated for. She was also named as artist of the decade, performing a melody of her hits from the past ten years. This comes as she battles with Scooter Braun over the rights to her music.

Taylor Swift

INFLUENCERS

This record-breaking song, sung by Lil Nas X and remixed by Billy Ray Cyrus, earned three Grammy nominations as the hit song of the year, being the longest-running No.1 song on the Hot 100 as a unique mix of country and hip-hop.

“Old Town Road”

Sung by famous singer Billie Eilish, this song, known for its recognizable lyrics and unique beats and vocals, captured the world with its originality and hundreds of funny remixes.

“Bad Guy”

An influencer known for his bold makeup looks and singing, Charles was notorious for being canceled this year after a scandal with make-up artist Tati Westbrook.

James Charles

There isn’t a song that better defines the summer of 2019 than this steamy hot duet between Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, which has only skyrocketed in popularity since their relationship began.

“Señorita”

Lizzo’s powerful song and lyrics hit home for millions of listeners as it rose in popularity this year, shooting Lizzo to fame. Her performance of the song at the BET Awards with a flute became a viral sensation, but her song lyrics recently fell into controversy over potential plagiarism.

“Truth Hurts”

From her big speech at the United Nations to her voyage across the Atlantic to the United States and back, 16-yearold climate activist Greta Thunberg has been calling major attention to the climate crisis and was named TIME’s Person of the Year.

Greta Thunberg

SONGS

THE RADISH Cultural commentary for the juvenile masses…read and enjoy (this is satire, so please don’t write to the editor)!

BY ISAAC YOUNG

FAC U LT Y B R AW L

D

uring lunchtime on Tuesday, Dec. 17, a quarrel broke out in the cafeteria. Although the combatants remain anonymous as of now, several sources confirm that they were not members of the student body, but actually faculty.

Eyewitnesses claim that it was impossible to see their faces, but that their fight revolved around the most appropriate way to teach students the importance of race in relation to the themes found in Shakespeare’s classic play, Othello, leading some to speculate that the English department is at fault.

The fight quickly cleared every lunch table in the room and prompted many to take videos on their phones.

“I didn’t get to actually see the fight in person,” said one disappointed student. “But it looked pretty awesome from the shaky, low quality Snapchat story I saw.”

Fights have become such a routine part of the school day that they have amassed quite a following. Regular fans of so-called “lunchroom boxing” were very happy with the final fight of the calendar year. Some are saying it may even be the best of the school year so far.

“I don’t know if it’s the definitive best fight I’ve seen [this year], but it’s right up there with the one where that girl lost like half of her hair,” one cafeteria frequent commented.

While many staff members are concerned that violence has become a regular occurrence at West, most students are enthusiastically hoping for another fight to break out as soon as possible.

“It seems like these fights really bring the Trojan community together. I’m praying for another bench-clearing brawl ASAP,” a student said.

26

ENTERTAINMENT DEC. 20, 2019

I M P E AC H M E N T I N QU I R Y

T

he impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has taken an unexpected turn. The House Intelligence Committee announced that his request for Ukraine to look into Vice President Joe Biden’s financial history is not the only time President Trump has asked for political favors from foreign officials. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff reported that world leaders have been contacted countless times and asked to “talk smack” about the president’s political rivals.

“We have German Chancellor Angela Merkel on record saying President Trump asked her to say that Senator Bernie Sanders ‘smells like old people,’” Schiff said.

Other proposed insults from the president included declaring that Elizabeth Warren “can’t spell the word ‘Massachusetts’” and that Andrew Yang “thinks the Star Wars prequels are better than the original trilogy.”

“He even wanted us to start a ‘rumor’ that Pete Buttigieg is a homosexual,” Schiff said. “He really dropped the ball on that one.”

P L E AS E S TO P VA P I N G … G I R L S

T

owards the end of the first trimester, the administration took a bold stance against the vaping industry by placing signs warning against the dangers of vaping on bathroom doors. Staff hope to stop the common practice of juuling in the bathrooms (yes, believe it or not, going to the bathroom to juul fools no one) in addition to nicotine use overall. Although most agree that the fight against teen electronic cigarette use is a noble cause, some students noticed something peculiar: there are only signs on the women’s restroom doors.

While at first it may seem concerning that male students are being alienated, there is actually sound scientific reasoning behind this decision.

“What we’ve found is that although two times as many boys use e-cigs as girls, we simply just don’t care very much about the male population,” said pulmonary specialist Dr. Winston Hughes.

Based on testing scores and behavioral studies, the administration decided that girls are more valuable to the school than their male counterparts. In order to keep the prestige of West High alive, female students’ health is imperative.

The decision to focus on female students over male students came to be during a phone conference between executives from several big-name vapor companies, like Juul, and ICCSD leaders.

“It took some convincing, but we managed to talk them down from signs on both bathroom doors to just the girls’ restrooms,” said Juul CEO K.C. Crosthwaite. “Although it’s not like the signs are going to have any effect anyway.”

ENTERTAINMENT

DEC. 20, 2019

ART & DESIGN BY SELINA HUA

27

B E N EATH TH E SU RFAC E

BY JOE GOODMAN

Although the Trojan Bolt swimmers compete individually, they win as a team.

James Pinter ‘20 & Izaak Hajek ‘20 PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES PINTER

I

magine if all five players on the basketball team were shooting at a different basket, or a soccer match with 11 different goals.

Unlike cooperative team sports like volleyball or football, swimming uses a collection of individuals, each competing independently, to accomplish a common goal.

Each swimmer races individually, performing different strokes for varying lengths, all while applying completely different techniques. With so many pieces coming together, team chemistry becomes vital in order to keep everyone swimming towards a common goal.

“

I would say [team chemistry] is actually very important.

Especially [during] high school swimming you’re really swimming for your teammates.

”

-J O RDAN CH RISTENSEN ‘22

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SPORTS

DEC. 20 2019

“I would say [team chemistry] is actually very important. Especially [during] high school swimming you’re really swimming for your teammates,” said Jordan Christensen ’22, the team’s fastest breaststroker this season. “If you’re not swimming for anyone you don’t have that enthusiasm, and it kind of pulls you down a little bit.”

The Trojan Bolts swim team, comprised of athletes from both West and Liberty, looks to senior captains James Pinter and Izaak Hajek to lead them this season. Hajek, who attends Liberty, is seeking to defend his state title in the 100 fly while Pinter hopes to avenge runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200 freestyle. Their main goal, however, is to bring West High its first boys swimming team state title since 2015.

“I’ve known Izaak since his freshman year, and he has really built some leadership skills. James kind of had it coming from a military family,” head coach Byron Butler said. “Their number one goal this year [is] to win a state team title.”

With the two schools merged into one swimming program, participation numbers are high for this year’s team, which features a wide range of swimming experience within its 60-man ros-

ter. Considering that four different club teams feed into the program, all with different coaches and training techniques, getting everyone on the same page was crucial for this year’s team to achieve its early-season success.

Luckily, the team has a plethora of returning varsity swimmers, including Nathan Deyak ’21 and Liberty student Tate Happel ’20, to guide them through swimming’s demanding two-aday practice schedules and grueling workouts.

While swimming practice may seem very isolated to the casual spectator, there is plenty of encouragement and leadership going on beneath the surface.

“James is kind of the talking guy and Izaak is sort of the lead-by-example guy,” Butler said.

“James definitely talks to the guys after practices more where I used to have to do all that, and now I feel comfortable letting him do it.”

With Hajek as the exemplar and Pinter as the motivator, the team has leaders from both schools keeping their heads above water. Petty school rivalries, however, have not seemed to have made their way into the pool during Butler’s tenure leading the Trojan Bolts.

Butler ensures there is no separation or distinc-

TROJAN BO LT SEASON - BEST TIMES 100Y F RE E S T YL E

500Y FREESTYLE

Di l l i ng h a m , Digg o r y

4 8 .2 0 Pi nter, J a m e s

4 :57.54

N i c h ols , Lu ke

4 9 .3 8 Con zem i u s, Da m on

4 :57.80

B roth erto n , Ki rk

5 1 .8 6 Luo, Andy

5 :03.73

100Y BRE AS T S T ROK E

1 0 0 Y BU T T E R F LY

C h r isten s en , Jo rda n

1 : 0 0 .8 7 Ha j e k, Izaak

51.61

Keeney, Ga vi n

1 :0 4 .7 7 Ch ri sten sen , Jord an

54.39

H appel, Tate

1 : 0 5 .9 8 Ni c hol s, Lu ke

54.75 Source: Quik Stats Iowa, 12/9/2019

tion between the West and Liberty swimmers as long as they are all swimming under one team and one cap. Friendly rivalries still exist within the team, but school colors wash off as soon as the athletes dive into the pool.

“I don’t see Izaak as a Liberty guy. I see him as my teammate that I swim against every day,” Pinter said. “It’s not that he goes to another high school that makes me want to step up my game; it’s the fact that I know he’s working super hard, and I want to match and exceed that.”

Swimmers are constantly in fierce competition with their peers during practices and meets, but on most occasions their biggest competitor is in their own lane. It doesn’t matter who is on the left or right, because there is no way to slow your opponent, meaning all of the pressure to succeed rests on the swimmer’s own shoulders.

“There’s no defense in swimming. It’s all on you. It’s all offense,” Pinter said. “I can’t control what [my opponents] are doing, so I just focus on what I can do my best in.”

All too often, swimmers can get tunnel vision and only focus on themselves, because that is often the objective in races throughout the club swimming season. During high school season,

“

There’s no defense in swimming. It’s all on you.

It’s all offense.

”

-JAM ES PI NTE R ‘20

however, swimmers strive to shift their focus from themselves to the team as a whole.

“With swimming ... being an individual sport, it’s kind of hard sometimes to switch from the mindset of ‘I’m swimming for myself ’ to ‘I’m swimming for a bigger purpose,’” Pinter said.

Throughout the year, each swimmer chases individual goals such as times they want to beat or records they aspire to break. In order to bring the team closer together, Butler equates those benchmark times to points the team would score at the state meet.

“Instead of shooting for an arbitrary time in the 100 fly like 54 seconds, we say if [they] go 53.7 [seconds], that got eighth place at state last year,” Butler said. “That becomes the goal because you’re scoring 11 points for the team in that case.”

In chasing personal goals, swimmers are help-

ing out their team by scoring points and raising the bar for their peers. Team and individual success are not mutually exclusive, something Hajek has found to be the case as he works to defend his title in the 100 butterfly.

“My personal goals are more team goals than they are personal. They’re more just points to get the team a better placement at state,” Hajek said. “I’m a huge relay guy. I really like relays and working with other people.”

While individual titles are certainly valuable, there’s a reason relays count for twice as many points at the state meet. The ability for each swimmer on the Trojan Bolts to be versatile and flexible will be crucial for this team to make a run at the title. No matter which event is one’s favorite, each swimmer should be ready to compete in any of the four strokes.

“A philosophy that we really hammer home is that your favorite event is ... whatever coach puts you in,” Pinter said. “Even if I’m a backstroker and a freestyler, if coach puts me in the 100 breaststroke I know that he put me in that event because the goal is to win. The goal is to win as a team.”

ART & DESIGN BY BRENDA GAO SPORTS

DEC. 20, 2019

29

WRESTLING WITH STEREOTYPES GIRLS WRESTLING IS GAINING TRACTION AS ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING SPORTS IN IOWA AS WEST HIGH STARTS AN INAUGURAL GIRLS WRESTLING SEASON.

BY HANAH KITAMOTO

A

t first glance, wrestling mats might look soft. That’s what people thought about female wrestlers. But if you take a closer look, both are extremely tough. It took decades of dodging stereotypes and doubters for girls to settle into the wrestling room. Forty years ago, female wrestlers took these steps for the first time.

Julie VanDyke, who graduated from West in 1984, was one of the first female wrestlers in the U.S. to wrestle at the junior and high school level along with Caroline Lee ’84. VanDyke wrestled in 1980-81 as a ninth grader at Central Junior High in Iowa City, around eight years after Iowa ratified the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1972, recognizing the equal rights of every citizen regardless of their gender. However, this amendment didn’t have an immediate impact on society.

“It was a lot different around [the 1980s],” Van-

30

SPORTS DEC 20, 2019

Dyke said. “Iowa City had its first female firefighter, and she was fired for breastfeeding.”

These types of discrimination in jobs and society transferred onto the wrestling mat and made it difficult for VanDyke and Lee to participate on the team. The duo experienced separation from the rest of their team during the season.

“There were guys that intentionally didn’t make weight just so they wouldn’t have to wrestle us at meets,” VanDyke said. “They did not want us there.”

Although there was a stigma around girls wrestling, it didn’t stop VanDyke from joining the team.

“I think I may have wanted to do it partly because people said we couldn’t do it,” VanDyke said.

After VanDyke’s first year of wrestling, the Iowa City Community School District stopped supporting athletes participating in sports dom-

“I AM PROUD OF DOING IT. I DON’T REGRET IT AT ALL .”

-JULIE VANDYKE, HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLER

inated by the opposite gender, such as girls participating in wrestling. This forced VanDyke to finish her wrestling career after just one season.

Despite the fact that VanDyke was only able to participate in wrestling for a year, she is fortunate of her accomplishments.

“I am proud of doing it. I don’t regret it at all,” VanDyke said.

Before this year, girls who desired to participate in wrestling would have had to join the wrestling team, which is traditionally male-dominated.

Similar to VanDyke, Amelia Stevens ’23, who wrestled in seventh grade at Northwest Junior High, had a tough season as well.

“It was kind of weird because the boys excluded me. It’s not like they purposely tried [to exclude],

“IT’S GOING TO CHANGE THE MINDSET OF PEOPLE FROM SEEING WRESTLING AS A BOYS SPORT.” -MAMI SELEMANI ‘20 they didn’t really talk to me,” Stevens said. “I didn’t really feel like [a] major part of the team.”

Due to the isolation that Stevens experienced while on the team, she decided not to participate in wrestling in eighth grade.

“I had no friends on the team, so it was tough for me to be confident,” Stevens said.

One of the misconceptions in girls wrestling is the stereotypes that come along with it.

“People are so used to watching boys that when they see girls out there, they may mentally think ‘this is weird’ or ‘this is different,’” Kody Pudil, the assistant coach for the boys wrestling team said. “But if you watch the technique or if you watch the level of competition, it’s still there.”

Fortunately, with the opening of the girls wrestling program, the girls were able to turn their barriers into opportunity. “[The wrestling program is] something that we have definitely been missing as a school and even bigger as a state,” Pudil said. “All these girls that do want to compete never had the chance or the opportunity to [do so before].”

The new program will also transform the per-

spective of girls wrestling.

“I feel like it’s going to change the mindset of people from seeing wrestling as a boys sport,” said Mami Selemani ’20, a wrestler on the girls team. “As the program progresses, I feel like more people are going to start joining. And that’s going to change how people see wrestling at West High and across Iowa too.”

For Emily Elizalde ’23, this new program opened up another door for her.

“I am looking forward to being introduced to the sport that I know nothing about [and] having a passion for it,” Elizalde said.

There are currently 24 girls signed up for the team, which makes it the largest girls wrestling

team in Iowa. The team went from having an enrollment of zero to the largest girls wrestling program in the state of Iowa in the span of a year.

Girls wrestling numbers are increasing throughout the country as well. According to USA Wrestling, there are 27 straight years of growth in girls wrestling at the high school level.

Justin Koethe, the head coach for the girls wrestling team who graduated West in 2012, believes that the increased numbers for girls wrestling is a positive fact. “[This program is] only a good thing. It just brings more recognition to the sport as a whole,” Koethe said. “I think we just need to continue to do things like this and give the girls just as many opportunities as the boys have.”

WEST CO-ED TEAM (1980) Julie VanDyke ‘84 poses with the Central Junior High wrestling team (first row, second from left) with Caroline Lee ‘84 (second row, first from right) Photo courtesy of Julie VanDyke

WEST GIRLS TEAM (2019) On the first practice of the season, the girl wrestlers practiced in pairs, mastering techniques such as side-stepping.

PHOTOS BY MADDY SMITH DESIGN BY KAILEY GEE

SPORTS

DEC 20, 2019

31

BY SUMNER WALLACE

32

OPINION DEC 20, 2019

Columns editor Sumner Wallace ’20 shares her thoughts on the increasingly popular “OK, Boomer” meme.

A

new generational war has broken out, and words are the weapon of choice. Two little words in particular have sparked fury among the middle-aged and plastered smug grins on the faces of teenagers and twenty-somethings everywhere: “OK, Boomer.”

“Boomers,” or more accurately Baby Boomers, are individuals born between 1946 and 1964.

After World War II, the US economy boomed (hence the name) in what some have called the golden age of capitalism, and as a result, the Boomers enjoyed an above average income. Despite the constant fear of nuclear war, the American dream flourished.

For Millenials, individuals born between 1981 and 1996, this American dream is increasingly hard to realize. Gen Zers (1997 to the present) are similarly disadvantaged. Our standard of living will be worse than our parent’s generation, the first time this has ever happened. The ice caps are melting, polar bears are dying and there seems to be no escape.

Many young people these days feel as though Boomers are unsympathetic to life in the modern age as a young adult. It’s not hard to see why they hold this opinion when our newest generations are being called entitled “snowflakes”: afraid of hard work and afraid to grow up. This is not only not true, it’s insulting. When more and more Millenials are working multiple jobs to make ends meet and pay off the 1.5 trillion dollars of student loan debt that adults in America currently owe, the idea that young people are afraid of hard work is frankly ridiculous.

The other frustration for Gen Zers and Millennials is that climate action and other social movements continue to be ignored or criticized by older generations. This is astonishing considering that Boomers were once the faces of the counterculture movement. However, now that their children and grandchildren are doing the same, they have become “the man” they fought so hard against.

As a dismissal to these condescending comments and a retort to the elders who cannot be reasoned with, “OK, Boomer” was born.

Some have called it ageism (defined as prejudice or discrimination based on age). If this is true, then Boomers are hypocrites to think that they aren’t ageist as well — calling young people snowflakes is certainly derogatory. But it isn’t ageism, it’s an eye-roll. It’s an exasperated sigh directed at adults who are painfully out of touch.

This is not to say that Boomers deserve all of

the hate they’ve been getting. Nor is it appropriate to use “OK, Boomer” on anyone who appears to be older. Gen X (1965-1980) often gets tacked on to the Boomers, and occasionally even older Millennials as well. Lumping these generations together is dumb because 30 year olds and 60 year olds are not at all the same, and the overuse takes away the effect of the come-back.

It’s also not fair to blame Boomers for every poor decision that has led to our current problems. Society and politics are not the same as they were in 1946, so we cannot apply our present standards to the past. Every generation has inherited the problems of the generation before it, and in that sense, Gen Z and Millennials are not special.

“TH E I DEA THAT YOU NG PEOPLE AR E AFR AI D OF HAR D WOR K I S FR AN KLY R I DICU LOUS.” -SU M N ER WALLACE ‘20 While I don’t think the steps my generation has made towards pushing action and not taking sh*t from anybody who makes excuses are mistaken, I do wonder if we could try harder to take the high road and maintain civility between the generations. Instead we’re making bank on “OK, Boomer” merch and receiving our daily doses of comedy from the bazillion memes that have populated Twitter and the internet as a whole.

That being said, what happened to adults acting like adults? Gen Z is busy fixing its future, meanwhile the older generations are busy chastising us. If Boomers feel disrespected, then they should try harder to earn our respect by taking the challenges our generation faces seriously.

The refusal on both sides to start a helpful dialogue or create any sort of understanding continues to fuel this generational war, and it remains uncertain what will bring the cease-fire.

A GUIDE TO THE GENERATIONS THE SILENT GENERATION Born between1928 and 1945 Ages 74-91

THE BOOMERS Born between 1946 and 1964 Ages 55-73

GEN X Born between 1965 and 1980 Ages 39-54

THE MILLENNIALS Born between 1981 and 1996 Ages 23-38

GEN Z Born between 1997 and 2012 Ages 7-22 Source: Pew Research Center, 2019

PHOTO BY ADITI BORDE DESIGN BY KAILEY GEE OPINION DEC. 20, 2019

33

SOCIAL MEDIA

SPIES The WSS Editorial Board voices their input on the ICCSD’s new social media monitoring policy.

I

n part of a district-wide effort to increase school safety, the ICCSD has recently received federal funding to monitor students’ social media accounts connected with their school-issued emails for indications that a student might harm themselves or others.

Most of the funding is being allocated towards hiring a civilian coordinator to lead a new threat assessment team that would implement this plan, along with additional costs that the ICCSD will need to bear themselves.

While the ICCSD hasn’t decided what the social media monitoring would exactly look like, the school board members are divided in terms of whether or not they support the plan.

The district officials who support it justified their reasonings by citing that in past years, the district’s anonymous texting and reporting platform recorded nearly 30 “significant” reports of students who had intentions of self-harm or hurting others. However, some other district officials don’t believe that social media monitoring is the best solution to find more potential threats.

According to Kate Callahan, director of student services, the school district doesn’t even have to use the funding strictly for a monitoring system, and can adjust how they want to use the money as long as the general scope stays the same.

With the school board’s members calling for community input on the plan, the WSS Editorial Board feels the responsibility to voice our inputs as ICCSD students.

The Editorial Board votes 20-1 that the ICCSD should not continue to implement its plan to hire a company to monitor student social media accounts.

One of the first flaws with the plan is that the school district would only be able to monitor social media that students have connected with their school-issued emails. Very few students

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EDITORIAL DEC. 20, 2019

use school accounts for their social media, but instead connect to their own personal accounts, most of which are on private setting. This drastically reduces the program’s effectiveness because the vast majority of “potentially harmful” messages wouldn’t even be discovered.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, the plan steps into the private lives of students outside of school. Granting school authority the ability to constantly monitor the outside lives of students sends a powerful message to the student body that a line of trust is breached between students and administration, with an underlying pressure that they always have to constantly filter what they post or send.

SHOULD THE ICCSD CONTINUE TO IMPLEMENT ITS PLAN TO HIRE A COMPANY TO MONITOR STUDENT SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS?

20 1 THE WSS EDITORIAL BOARD VOTED AGAINST SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING.

Moreover, on the administration side of things, deciding how deep the monitoring will go and through what social media platforms will be another difficult matter on its own. In modern day, students have multiple accounts on different platforms, each with their own style, lingo and teenage jargon. How will a company, without an inside view into what it means to be a modern teenager, constitute what a threat is or not?

Will they have to examine every comment on every post? How will they access Snapchat, for example, with its system primarily built on photos and text that instantly disappear? It’s all too easy for innocent students to be falsely accused and subjected to examination while any serious

threats go undetected.

Additionally, there’s no need for every student to be subjected to this invasion of privacy. It would be far more resourceful to focus efforts on the students reported through the anonymous texting system rather than the entire student body.

Even national organizations agree. Brennan Center and the Center for Democracy and Technology express their concerns that monitoring students’ social media is invasive and not an effective indicator for whether a student will cause harm. The American Civil Liberties Union also warns that the practice can lead to students being falsely identified as threats.

In light of the overall plan’s ineffectiveness, there’s no need to spend thousands of dollars to hire a company. With the grant money’s flexibility, there are better methods.

One idea is to use the grant money to create a social media literacy course for all students to take, or bring in a professional to speak during AFTs or assemblies. The purpose of the course would be to thoroughly educate students on how to notice potential signs of harm on social media and in regular school life.

The more educated on the warning signs, the easier it is for students to act through systems such as the anonymous texting system. Because after all, students who go through daily school life are the most observant of their peers in what separates actual concerning material from regular teenage language.

That way, the ICCSD won’t need to use thousands of dollars in funding to breach the trust and privacy of all students through social media monitoring but instead, use the money for a better solution.

ART & DESIGN BY XIAOYI ZHU

Aiden Babka ‘23 uses a specialized catapult device to score points for the student team at the Best Buddies and PALS vs Faculty basketball game on Nov. 7. Aiden and the rest of the team succeeded in beating the faculty with the support of their classmates, cheerleaders and the pep band cheering them on.

PARAS BASSUK

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Add colors and DM us your masterpiece for a chance to get featured on our Instagram story. @WSSPAPER 4

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