2011-03-11

westsidestory p. 14 & 15

BULLYING DEFINED

An inside look at West High’s attempt to identify, prevent, and eliminate the surreptitious issue of bullying.

IOWA CITY WEST HIGH SCHOOL

WSSPAPER.COM

2901 MELROSE AVE.

IOWA CITY, IA 52246

VOLUME 42 ISSUE 5 MARCH 11, 2011

practice yoga <<atstudents wellness wednesday in the team room. brady shutt leads this free yoga session every wednesday after school.

egyptian revolution

[news 4-5]

egyptian students explain the recent political unrest

thriving grads

[profiles 8-9]

successful alumni share their stories

west high rappers [a&e 13]

check out the lyrics of these up-and-coming rap stars

bullying

[in-depth 14-15]

the administration has been emphasizing the dangers of bullying, but is it really a problem at west high?

lofty goals

lilli oetting editor-in-chief anna hippee design editor, in-depth editor emily kreiter managing editor garrett anstreicher managing editor david huang copy editor eleanor marshall copy editor lauren parsons business editor alissa rothman news editor madhu srikantha opinion editor becky sweeney feature editor anna egeland feature editor olivia lofgren profiles editor caroline van voorhis profiles editor evan smith a&e editor caroline found sports editor daniel rothman sports editor elizabeth dagle backpage editor saranya subramanian beats editor bridget novak artist jojo silverman photo editor lindsay best photographer katherine yang photographer elizabeth lin ad designer, staff designer audrey evans staff designer laura stamnes staff designer leah murray staff designer ashton duncan staff writer ansel landini staff writer amir sabbagh staff writer juliann skarda staff writer pombie silverman staff writer katie mucci staff writer adam canady webmaster sara jane whittaker advisor

editorial policy

[sports 19]

the “go for the goal” campaign aims for a field to call their own

vegetarians

wss staff members

PHOTO BY//LINDAY BEST COVER PHOTO BY//JOJO SILVERMAN

[feature 20]

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

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

The West Side Story reflects the views of the staff and does not represent the school administration, faculty or student body. Guest articles may be accepted to represent an additional point of view or as a part of a collection or reader contributions. The staff will carefully scrutinize all reader submissions.

All ads are subject to approval by the business staff. Those that are libelous, obscene or plainly offensive may be rejected.

The West Side Story attempts to publish all letters, which must be signed, to the Editors, but may reject submissions due to space limitations, inaccuracy or poor quality. It is the responsibility of the opinion editor to verify authorship.

Editors can make minor edits for the sake of clarity, length and grammatical correctness. Staff responses to letters are not allowed.

A full copy of the Editorial Policy is available in Room 111.

correction

In the Feb. 4 edition of the West Side Story in the article “Choose your own education: new courses offer students a jumpstart on careers” we attributed a quote about next year’s World Literature class to English teacher Tom Lindsey that he did not say. We regret this error.

march

tableofcontents

03 news

QUIZ

CURRENT EVENTS

Slow Foods plans organic garden DO YOU LIVE UNDER A ROCK? ansel.landini@wsspaper.com

According to co- leader Bennett Thompson’12, the Slow Foods club started this November as “not so much a culinary club as an environmental club focused on food. More like obsessed.” They became so obsessed with restaurants that used locally grown foods that they embarked on a mission to bring the same ideals and flavors to West High, including a vegetable garden allowing West students to experience fresh, organic foods through school lunches.

“Our first priority is the cafeteria. Our garden will meet district specifications for producers. That way lunches in the spring and fall can [include] lettuce and other produce [from the garden on campus]. The rest will go to whoever worked on the garden and wants some and the Crisis Center,” Thompson said.

The garden will include a variety of different vegetables, including lettuce, spinach, radishes, sweet peas, beets, kale, Swiss chard, dill, turnips, calendula and broccoli. And that’s just for the spring harvest. The club hopes to grow hot and sweet peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, herbs, zucchini, sunflowers, butternut squash and more for the fall and in the future.

The club’s plans are still ripening since funding and last details have yet to be finalized.

James Barnhouse has put his time and expertise into making it happen, and Bob Braverman, a local organic foods producer, has been meeting with the club weekly.

“Braverman is donating all the seeds that the club will need and his experience and wisdom.

Undoubtedly, the garden wouldn’t be happening without him,” Thompson said.

But the growth of vegetables isn’t the only expectation that Slow Foods has for their garden.

“We are discussing the possibility of using flowers grown in the garden in the West High biology classes for specific units and as a therapeutic and skill-creating outlet for the Special Education students,” said co-leader Joseph Malanson ’13.

Other members are just as anxious to get the crops growing.

“I think that getting the chance to produce delicious, environmentally-friendly food and sharing it with my classmates is a pretty different idea in the high school realm, and one that I’m really excited about,” said Elizabeth Vandenberg ’12.

The garden will be located south of the band wing between the school and the baseball field.

All West students will be invited to help with the production and maintenance and eventual harvest of the garden itself. Other than that, it’s all about waiting for the crops to grow.

Slow Foods club meets Thursday after school in oom 122. Students interested in joining are invited to attend a meeting, contact Thompson or visit their website at: http://slowfood.icwesthigh.com.

1

3

2

4 5 6

ART BY//BRIDGET NOVAK COMPILED BY//ALISSA ROTHMAN Tickle and tease your tongue with these tricky tongue twisters!

1.D, 2.A, 3.A, 4.C, 5.C, 6.D

BY ANSEL LANDINI

At the Conservative Political Action Conference, won a poll for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

A) SARAH PALIN B) DONALD TRUMP C) TIM PAWLENTY D) RON PAUL is witnessing massive protests after the governor proposed cutting collective bargaining rights.

A) WISCONSIN B) NORTH DAKOTA C) CALIFORNIA D) DELAWARE won the awards for best picture, director and actor at the Academy Awards.

A) THE KING’S SPEECH B) TRUE GRIT C) THE SOCIAL NETWORK D) BLACK SWAN President Obama’s budget proposes to cut the deficit by over 10 years.

A) $2.4 TRILLION B) $4.3 TRILLION C) $1.1 TRILLION D) $1.9 TRILLION “Best in Show” at the Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show was won by .

A) AN AFGAN HOUND B) A MINITURE POODLE C) A SCOTTISH DEERHOUND D) A BULLDOG After the Egyptian protests, other demonstrations have broken out in .

A) IRAN B) YEMEN C) LIBYA D) ALL OF THE ABOVE 03

04 news

Students support Egyptian revolution

BY EMILY KREITER

A

emily.kreiter@wsspaper.com

death toll of over 300. Over 6,000 injured. A broken city.

An overthrown president and suspended constitution. Look no further than international headlines, than the speeches of Obama and Hillary, than the victory cries of thousands in the streets: it is revolution. And for West High’s Alissar Hassanein ’12 and Mariam Elhattab ’11, it was all worth it for a freer homeland.

In case you missed the earth-shattering (or should we say nation-shattering and then rebuilding?) news, Egypt has recently undergone a revolution, starting with thousands of Egyptian protesters taking to the streets of Cairo to call for an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30 year rule and culminating with Mubarak’s resignation Feb. 11.

But that isn’t the full story. The full story is about hunger: for bread and for democracy. The full story is about struggle: to speak and to be heard. The full story is about the people.

Before the Protests

Like many major events of the decade, the Egyptian Revolution was sparked in part by online social networking.

Internet activist Wael Ghonim started a Facebook page in honor of Khaled Saeed, who had exposed corruption in the Egyptian police force by capturing video footage of a drug deal. “[Khaled Saeed] tried to show everyone in Egypt how corrupt the cops were, so they dragged him out of his home and beat him until he died, and even after he

PHOTO BY//RAMY RAOOF

died, they continued to hit him. Since he can’t speak for himself anymore, we’re supposed to speak out for him, because it’s not fair the way he died,” Hassanein said.

According to Hassanein and Elhattab, the Facebook page was a starting point for another page about corruption in the police force.

“Once they saw the Facebook page, they knew that people were going to riot and they [captured Wael Ghonim] for it. They thought that if they took him, the riots wouldn’t start, but while

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reassurance, like people were convinced that, ‘Yeah, this can happen,’” Elhattab said.

The Protests

The peaceful civilian protests turned violent depicted by the media were exactly that, but it was not the civilians that had changed tactics. According to Hassanein and Elhattab, it was the government authorities and not the civilians that had turned violent.

“All of the damage that happened

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EVERYTHING WAS SO NORMAL

AROUND ME AND I’M LIKE ‘ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS?’

A REVOLUTION JUST HAPPENED HERE,

AND NOBODY’S NOTICING THIS. Alissar Hassanein ’12

he was held captive by the government, the riots started,” Hassanein said.

The solidarity of the Egyptian people online was only the beginning. Once Tunisia had forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali out of office in January, the Egyptians realized they could do the same in their own country. “[The overthrow of the Tunisian government] was kind of a

wasn’t actually done by average citizens; they were hired government police in plain clothes,” Elhattab said. “I think [the Egyptian citizens] handled it perfectly well.”

“It has been an advantage being bilingual because I’ve been able to watch the Egyptian media and the American media,”

Hassanein said. “It really helped our families to understand our people, rather than what the media wants us to think of our people, and there was so much destruction. It was terrible, but it wasn’t the citizens, it was the police.”

Former West High student Mo Eissa, who now resides in Cairo, has experienced firsthand what most of the world has only seen on television.

“Before I went to the protests, I thought they were violent, but when I got there, I figured out that what we saw on TV was fake, and when there were violent people [among us] we got mad at them and told them, this isn’t right, so either they leave Tahrir Square or they remain protesting in peace like all of us,” Eissa said. “[On one occasion,] a guy was talking to the cops and shouting, ‘You guys should be with us, not against us.

You, too, need help.You should let go of your weapons and protest with us.’ But the cop, with no response, just beat the old man to the ground. That’s when a conflict began and I was there so I had to do something because they kept hitting the old man and this cop punched me in the face and cursed me, so without thinking, I hit him on his head and he was on the ground. But that was me, I could do something about it, but what about the old-aged people and women who can’t protect themselves?”

On Jan. 28, President Mubarak set a curfew from 4 P.M. to 8 A.M. for the streets of Cairo, and ordered that anyone found in the streets between those times be fired upon.

“For him to see his people and ask that they be shot, that’s not what a leader is supposed to do,” Hassanein said.

On that same day, Mubarak made a speech, hoping to appease the people, by announcing changes that he would make to the government.

“He suggested that, ‘Yeah, I’ll change the gover nment, I’ll change the Parliament’

EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION

compiled by eleanor marshall

Jan. 14

Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali resigns, suspends the parliament and flees to Saudi Arabia, answering the calls of street protesters. The Tunisian revolution inspired Egyptian protests that broke out just days later.

Jan. 25

Thousands of Egyptians first take to the streets of Cairo for a “Day of Rage” protesting President Hosini Mubarak’s 30 year reign.

Jan. 27

An internet and phone communication blackout spreads across Egypt, believed to be orchestrated by Mubarak’s government.

PHOTO BY//RAMY RAOOF Standing on an army truck in Tahrir Square, soldiers attempt to subdue civilians as they protest the 30-year regime of Hosni Mubarak. On Feb. 11, Mubarak officially resigned, leaving the military in power. Elections for a new president will be held in September.

– clearly the chants were like, ‘Go Mubarak, Go,’” Elhattab said. “It was kind of frustrating.”

Then, on Feb. 10, despite rumors circulating that Mubarak would step down, Mubarak announced that he would not leave the office, and the people of Egypt’s frustration was pushed even further. Mubarak vowed to pass power on to his vice president, Omar Suleiman.

“I felt completely betrayed. I mean I knew he didn’t care about the people, but I didn’t know it was that bad,” Hassanein said.

Hassanein cited a joke that she felt summed up Mubarak’s refusal to leave office.

“Obama was talking to [Mubarak] and he was like, ‘Aren’t you gonna get your farewell speech ready?’ and [Mubarak responds,] ‘Why, where are the people of Egypt going?’ So they would all have to leave before he resigned was what he was thinking,” she said.

“He had been ignoring them for 30 years, why not just keep ignoring them? I think that’s what went through his head. Everyone was just so disappointed after his speech and the protests continued,” Elhattab said. “At the same time, the protesters and other Egyptians around the world were relentless [in pursuit of] this whole idea, they were like ‘No, we’re going to get freedom, we’re going to get a democracy.’”

Feb. 11: Mubarak resigns

“I couldn’t actually believe it. At first I saw it, I got text messages and news updates and stuff, and it said ‘Mubarak resigns,’ and I just kept looking around and they all said the same thing and then that’s when it hit me like, ‘He really did go,’” Elhattab said.

The streets of Egypt were filled with citizens expressing these same sentiments after Mubarak’s resignation. After handing power over to the military, Mubarak fled Cairo, leaving behind what he had tried so hard to maintain.

“I saw it on a status update and it wasn’t such a big deal then, because people didn’t know. Everything was so normal around me and I’m like ‘Are you guys serious? A revolution just happened here, and nobody’s

noticing this,’” Hassanein said. “[Mubarak] couldn’t believe the people of Egypt didn’t like him. The people of Egypt have been chanting for two weeks, why is it just today that you finally got it? They’ve been saying it, I don’t know why you haven’t heard it. But it’s just ridiculous.”

The Future of Egypt

Although she was overjoyed at Mubarak’s departure, Elhattab said that there was still much work to be done in Egypt.

“The main goal in the beginning was that his entire regime get kicked out, and at the moment, the constitution which gave the president so much power in the first place has been suspended. So yes, I think a lot of things have been achieved, but at the same time, there’s still a step further we can go. The military has made many promises for a democracy and a government ruled by the people, so I hope in the future this [is achieved]. The elections are coming in September, but for the time being, anything could happen. It doesn’t all come at once. Step-by-step, things will definitely happen and hopefully a bright future will come,” she said.

After Mubarak fled, it was found that he held millions, and possibly billions of dollars in assets around the world. The Egyptian government has sent requests to various countries to freeze Mubarak’s and several other former government officials’ assets.

“The only way the revolution can be 100% successful is if we have our money back because he robbed everything. I think [the Egyptian people] did an amazing job with the revolution. I don’t want them to settle down now that he left, I know people are stopping with the protests because there’s nothing really to protest, but I don’t want them to be like ‘Oh, he’s gone, that’s all we cared about,’” Hassanein said.

“Trust me, it will be better,” Eissa said. “Egypt was at its worst. It will never get worse than how it was. It just needs some time to get back up, that’s all.”

Jan. 28

Mubarak addresses the crowds saying he asked cabinet members and other governmental officials to resign but refuses to step down himself.

Feb. 1

Mubarak announces that he will not seek re-election, but will not leave office before the end of his term.

Feb. 3 Around two dozen foreign journalists were detained in Egypt by pro-government forces because they appeared sympathetic to the protests.

Feb. 5

Officials in top government positions, including Mubarak’s son, resign to appease protesters. Unrest continues as demonstrators refuse to stop until Mubarak himself steps down.

Feb. 9

More than 10,000 protesters gathered in Tahrir Square calling for a massive labor strike across Egypt to show discontent with bread shortages, housing scarcity and Mubarak’s refusal to abdicate.

Feb. 11

Mubarak officially resigned as president and left a military council temporarily in charge. The military pledges to hand over power to the winner of the next election.

Feb. 13

Military authorities announce they are suspending the Egyptian Constitution and disbanding Parliament. Soldiers attempt to remove the last protesters and tents from Tahrir Square, opening the square up to traffic for the first time since the protests began. Meanwhile, labor strikes continue as 2,000 policemen demonstrate for better wages and a more respectable reputation.

06 news

RUMOR BUSTER

AP TEST REFUND?

Unfortunately, West students will not be receiving a refund for AP tests any times in the near future.

According to West High counselor Renato de Leon, the AP coordinator for West High, the refund students received in 2007 was only for that year. The funding for that refund came from the state and allowed each student to only pay $46 per test, while the state covered the rest.

“I think it is a possibility, but I don’t know about it happening in the near future. However, I want to continue encouraging students to take the AP tests,” de Leon said.

However, de Leon reminds students that those on reduced lunch can still get a discount of $30 on each tests, and he encourages students who qualify to contact him.

BUSTED

FACEBOOK AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS?

According to West High librarian Jill Hofmockel, Facebook will be much more accessible to the West High community in the near future. In addition to no longer enforcing an anti-Facebook policy, the librarians hope that three stand-up stations will be installed in the library later this year or over the summer.

“We are ordering three stand-up stations to be designated as five minute email, Facebook, grade check stations,” Hofmockel said.

The new stations are a district decision, but the librarians are excited for the new addition.

“The sit down computers are full so much of the time, so we hope this will be an option for the kids who just want to quickly check emails and grades. It will also allow kids who need to work on homework to have more open computers,” Hofmockel said.

CONFIRMED

06

COMPILED BY//ALISSA ROTHMAN

What in the WORLD? NEW YORK CITY, NY

A man was recently arrested for trespassing at JFK airport after he tried an alternative method of boarding a plane. He told ticket agents he badly needed to be on his flight even though he had forgotten to bring a photo ID. Frustrated, he stepped behind the counter and crawled onto the luggage conveyor, where his next stop was the tarmac where he was arrested.

LONDON, ENGLAND A six month old fox cub was recently found living on the 72nd floor of the U.K.’s tallest skyscraper. It is estimated the fox has lived there for at least two weeks on scraps of food left by workers in the underconstruction Shard tower. According to local government official Les Leonard the fox would have had to climb 71 sets of stairs and an oldfashioned ladder to get to the 72nd floor.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA Two counselors recently formed Men of Tears -- a male support group to encourage crying. In the group, men recount touching events in their lives and cry, which, according to the counselors, makes them emotionally stronger and less hostile. One of the counselors praised the recent public cries by Speaker of the House John Boehner and hoped that President Obama would someday step over that line.

SPEED, AUSTRALIA

Speed, an outback town in rural Austrailia with a population of 45 will change its name for the month of March to “Speedkills” in an effort to reduce rural road accidents and increase awareness of the dangers associated with speeding.

ART BY//BRIDGET NOVAK COMPILED BY//ALISSA ROTHMAN

Test transformations College board changes AP tests presentational. Interpersonal covers direct oral and written communication between multiple people.

Hold on to your yellow number Interpretive involves one-way comtwo pencils, West High, these AP prehension activities where students tests are about to go from out-dated interpret print and non-print mateto up-dated. rials. Presentational measures a stuFor students planning to take AP dent’s ability to formally communiclasses in the future, the College Board cate information, concepts and ideas has announced some updates to sev- in a written or oral form. eral subject areas, some of which are According to West High AP French offered as classes at West. In the 2011- teacher Theresa Juhl, this is a long 2012 school year, the AP French, Ger- overdue change. Juhl says the new man and World History curriculum curriculum for AP French is expandwill be significantly different than ed to cover the entire Francophone in previous years. In the 2012-2013 culture, as opposed to the current school year, the AP Biology, Latin and class that is just centered on France.

Spanish Language and Culture cur- This version will be focused on a riculum will be different. more contemporary era, composed According to a release from the of World War II through the present, College Board, the new history and according to Juhl. science curriculums will provide West High AP Spanish Literature more in-depth material on a narrower and Culture teacher Carmen Gwenrange of topics. ingale says that none of the AP SpanThe AP language tests will be un- ish changes will be drastic. Gwendergoing similar changes, including a ingale says that grammar will be focus on three modes of communica- assessed through writing and speaktion: interpersonal, interpretive and ing on the revised exam, instead of Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.

BY ANNA EGELAND

anna.egeland@wsspaper.com

having a separate section for this. She says that the new test will focus on student ability to use the language, rather than finding errors. The AP Spanish Literature course will feature a shortened reading list in hopes of giving instructors more freedom to connect art and media into their curriculum.

Both the AP Spanish and AP French tests will remain the same length and retain the multiple choice and free response sections.

The AP Biology exam will be undergoing some less-immediate changes to reduce the scope of information covered. The new material will also allow students more opportunities to use their reasoning and analysis skills.

West High AP Biology teacher, Doug Herman, says the new curriculum will allow students to go deeper into the material and have more freedom in the lab. “[The new curriculum will] focus on more inquiry lab work and [allow students to] choose various variables to investigate,” Herman said.

Successful West High Grads 08 profiles

These West High graduates prove that excellence really is a tradition. They have gone on to make national news and influence international affairs. The West Side Story revisits four successful former students that walked these halls during the past ten years.

Wahls wakes up country with passionate speech

BY JULIANN SKARDA

W

juliann.skarda@wsspaper.com

hen Zach Wahls ’09 spoke in front of the Iowa House of Representatives, his message resonated with many.

Wahls, a West High graduate and University of Iowa student, gave an eloquent testimonial about growing up with homosexual parents in hopes of blocking the passage of Resolution 6, which would ban same-sex marriage in Iowa. His speech, which has accumulated over 1.5 million views on YouTube, also attracted the attention of the Ellen DeGeneres Show on which he was interviewed.

“They were one of a dozen programs trying to book me, but they’re the Ellen DeGeneres Show. It was really humbling, actually, to know that they thought my story was inspiring,” Wahls said.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY//MICHAEL ROZMAN/WARNER BROS. A typical day for Wahls isn’t so different from any After his YouTube debut, Zach Wahls was contacted by Ellen DeGeneres.

He is pictured here sharing a laugh with Degeneres on college student, including class, homework and work, the Ellen DeGeneres show. though Wahls says that he hasn’t had a “normal” day for hardships.” Zebby said. almost a month. The surge of media attention was new a touch of shock.

“Well, my first thought was, ‘Wow, that’s my Wahls has not only proven a point, he has given for the family, but his two mothers, Jackie and Terry, brother up there, making a stand for our family Iowans and people everywhere something to consider are handling it well.

“They were both extraordinarily supportive. Such and way of life.’ My second one was, ‘Christ, I hope about prejudice and equality.

“Ideal gay rights would be equal rights.We’ve already intensive media coverage was new for all of us, but nobody expects me to do that.’ It’s been a pretty crazy experience, and I’m so proud of him.

I think got those in Iowa, so I’m working to help protect I think we handled it as best we could given the that the most important thing to take from this is that them here at home and secure them throughout the circumstances. They’re both very proud.” Wahls said.

Wahls’ sister and West High student Zebby Wahls our family is no different from any other. We all love rest of the United States,” Wahls said. ’12 also responded with encouragement, pride and each other like every other family and we have our

Lipman works at U.S. embassy in Spain

BY OLIVIA LOFGREN

W

olivia.lofgren@wsspaper.com

PHOTO PROVIDED BY//JOSH LIPMAN Josh Lipman worked as an intern at the US Embassy in Spain, where he was able to see how diplomats collaborate in foreign countires.

08

here do you think you will be in five years? It’s hard to know whether to be idealistic or realistic in imagining your future self. West High graduate Josh Lipman ’07 doesn’t have to choose.

Lipman graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with majors in Finance and Management. He studied abroad thrwwough the University of Pennsylvania in Madrid, Spain, from January through August 2009. Then in the summer of 2010 he continued his international interests as an intern.

“It was an internship through the U.S. State Department. It was very interesting to see how diplomats collaborate and negotiate with each other in foreign countries. It was a great experience that I’d recommend to anyone,” he said.

Lipman had to apply for these opportunities on A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits and a biscuit mixer.

his own.

“The school helped a lot to set up my semester of studying abroad in Spain [but now I’m working in the Embassy],” he said.

Throughout all of his success, Lipman recommends that all current West High students try something new.

“Take a foods class, try out for the play, do speech or try out for the tennis team. High school is an amazing opportunity to try new things. It is easier to try new things in high school than any other time in life,” he said.

Lipman has not only succeeded in his own life, he has also has helped his younger sister, Northwest Junior High student Molly Lipman, aspire in both her school and life experiences.

“Josh’s success has set great example for me to try my hardest and stay involved in the community. He has encouraged me to do speech and challenge myself as I plan for high school, including taking harder science courses freshmen year,” she said.

Rao works as documentarian

BY ELEANOR MARSHALL

I

eleanor.marshall@wsspaper.com

PHOTO PROVIDED BY//ANITA RAO During her four week trip documenting the water supply in Tanzania, Anita Rao helps carry water from a surface water source back into Mswakini. The two hour long trip (there and back) is made by women and children each day to get the water they need to drink. Before the water is drinkable, it must be purified to remove the bacteria, viruses and dirt.

f you’re reading this article it’s probably means you like stories. Which also means you have something in common withWest High graduate Anita Rao ’07.

High praise considering she hasn’t even graduated from college and she’s already a documentarian, an intern for a show that’s broadcasted on NPR and a developing humanitarian. After years of traveling and interviewing, the tables have turned, and it’s Anita’s turn to share her story.

Anita is a senior at the University of Northern Carolina majoring in women’s ANITA RAO ’07 studies and international affairs, but her class list doesn’t tell the full story. She is currently interning with a radio program called The Story that airs on NPR. From now until May, she will work mainly on background research and preliminary interviews for the show, pursuing assignments like finding potential contacts involved in the upcoming royal wedding.

“I interviewed a man last week whose grandma was a nanny for Johnny Cash and she co-wrote a song with him. He told me about living so close to someone so

09 profiles famous [and getting to see] the inside lives of people who were so public,” she said.

The program, based in Chapel Hill where she attends college, features three interviews per episode, a perfect fit for Anita who is sure her future career will involve interviewing. Her brother, West High student Nikilesh Rao ’13, considers Anita’s people skills her biggest strength.

Chapel Hill doesn’t exactly scream media hotspot, but it was in this same city that Anita signed on to a team with seven other UNC students to work as a journalist documenting clean water in Tanzania through a program called Students of the World last summer. She spent four weeks in Tanzania and then six in Austin, Texas, creating promotional materials for a non-profit group called Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) that provides water purification packets to those in need. The finished product was five short documentaries exploring “the intersection between water and other social issues” like HIV AIDS, education and women’s roles, according to Anita.

“Water is an issue that is particularly relevant to women because water is woman’s responsibility in that every morning women wake up to walk to a

SUCCESSFUL GRADS CONTINUED ON P. 26

Kaeding kicks from Iowa City to San Diego

BY CAROLINE FOUND

I

caroline.found@wsspaper.com

t is often that parents hear the words “I want to be a professional football player when I am older,” come out of their child’s mouth. But that wasn’t the case for Nate Kaeding ’00.

Kaeding graduated from West High School in 2000, competing in football, basketball and soccer throughout every one of his high school years. He received first team all-state as a senior and third team as a junior. Senior year, Kaeding was team captain, MVP and winner of the Leader of the Year award.

These honors drew great attention to Kaeding as he moved on to be the kicker for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

While at Iowa, Kaeding scored a total of 373 points to aid the Hawkeyes in competing in the Alamo Bowl and the Orange Bowl. But his career didn’t stop there. He was then selected by the San Diego Chargers in the third round (65th overall) to compete at a professional level. Kaeding’s decision was predicted when the team gathered a second third round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, he then signed a six-year extension in 2006.

Not only is Kaeding successful on the field, but off the field too. Raising a family and being a partial owner of Short’s Burger and Shine and Stella in downtown Iowa City takes a lot of work as well.

“Obviously my football career is very time consuming when you reach this level of play,” Kaeding said. “But being with my family and being a father of two boys [Jack, age 3; Wyatt, age 1] is my top priority.”

The idea of getting into the restaurant business came to Kaeding and some of his buddies during their college years at Iowa. Renovating Baldy’s is where the restaurant business really started its action.

“Some friends and I just talked a little bit about it during college, and we decided to look into renovating it. Once things fell into place, it became really fun. I look at it as my contribution to Iowa City,” Kaeding said.

While playing soccer at West High, Kaeding formed a relationship with coaches and teachers along the way.

A close bond was formed between Kaeding and Brad Stiles, an assistant soccer coach to Kaeding at his time at West.

“Nate was late to the soccer season because of the success of the basketball team. It had been a year since he last kicked a soccer ball and it showed. He looked ‘rusty,’ almost awkward, but kind of funny. As the season went on he did his job, quietly, efficiently, not a big presence but showed up every day to play hard,” Stiles said.

Kaeding enjoyed his experience at West, as it formed the person he is today.

“People that coached and taught me in high school taught me to be successful and they developed me as a person,” Kaeding said.

In order to be a successful person, whether it is being an athlete, or even just a person, Kaeding has some words of advice to share: “Find something you like, find something you are extremely passionate about, and always try to get Sure the ship’s shipshape, sir!

PHOTO PROVIDED BY//NATE KAEDING Despite a busy schedule as a kicker for the Chargers, Kaeding still finds time for his children Wyatt and Jack (pictured here).

better at it. There is always room for improvement,” Kaeding said.

“I didn’t grow up and say ‘I want to be a professional athlete’, I just walked into practice or the weight room or wherever it was, and worked hard, because I knew that it was my passion.”

09

10 A&E

The Flava of chicken

BY DAN ROTHMAN AND ADAM CANADY

dan.rothman@wsspaper.com and adam.canady@wsspaper.com

It is rare for any Iowan to become a celebrity, but it is even rarer for an established celebrity to choose to come to Iowa. However, this is exactly the decision rapperturned-reality-star William Dayton Jr., more commonly known as Flava Flav, made when he decided to open Flav’s Fried Chicken in Clinton, Iowa, a city with a population of just over 25,000. Of course, an oddity of this proportion simply can’t be ignored, so the West Side Story decided to see if Flavor of Love star’s talent for chicken stacks up.

Service

AtmospherE

Aside from the 20 minute line to get food, the service was pretty good.

Once we arrived in front of the cashier, our food was prepared and handed to us in under a minute. Looks like FFC is taking fast food to a whole new level, challenging McDonald’s old 60 seconds or less promise.

The restaurant’s atmosphere can be called top-notch, but only if you consider having life-size paintings of Flava Flav stare at you while you eat topnotch, and not, say, slightly creepy. We, however, found the paintings and Flava Flav catchphrases (“YYEEAAHH BOOOOYYEEE!”) covering the wall to surpass cute gimmicks and reach vaguely disconcerting territory. Furthermore, the building itself was surprisingly janky considering the wealth of its owner, lacking the polished feel one would expect from such a high-profile business venture.

PHOTOS BY//ADAM CANADY

ts c a F st Fa

FOOD

11p.m.

Hours: 11a.m.nton IA; li C , t e e r t S d n o North Sec FC right next to K osts $7.50. c l a e m e c ie p A four eals are m d e iz s y il m a Larger, f also available. f Rating: 3 out o

The chicken was excellent. Classic extra crispy taste that is slightly reminiscent of KFC, but still has that pow of something fresh, something... Flavaful.

I’m not sure what they do to the chickens, but the end result is fantastic. For the sides, we went with the cornbread and mashed potatoes. The cornbread was excellent, however, the mashed potatoes were lacking in stuctural integrity. They were the consistency of 1% milk.

5 stars

Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.

10

P.O.S. PHOTOS BY//EVAN SMITH

11 A & E

THE MONTHLY CD REVIEW

by pombie silverman & ashton duncan

of the month

“In order to make the radio work, I have to drive with my hand on the gear shift.

It’s the weirdest thing but that’s the only way I get any reception.”

“It used to be really messed up. When my sister had it, she got in two accidents and I’ve gotten into two as well.

After the last one, it got some major body work done and now it looks better. It was really bad before.”

“It is a hybrid so that means it goes from 0-60 in 4.4 years.”

This car not janky enough? Submit your P.O.S. ideas to evan.smith@wsspaper.com

COMPLETE THE

LYRICS

with James Kirpes COMPILED BY ADAM CANADY PHOTO BY//JOJO SILVERMAN

20

21

2004 Honda Civic

Brendon Cullen ‘11 “It’s a great car to get stranded in. There’s enough clothes to last a week and there’s old food in there somewhere if you needed it.”

Adele

WSS: I’d catch a grenade for ya, throw my hand on a blade for ya. I’d jump in front of a _______ for ya....

KIRPES: Bulldozer.

WSS: I see you driving ‘round town with the girl I love and I’m like _________....

KIRPES: When did you pick up my wife?

WSS: Pretty pretty please, don’t you ever ever feel like your less than _________.....

KIRPES: Epsilon.

WSS: Do you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind wanting to start again, _________________.....

KIRPES: Only during my sea cucumber days.

Friendly Frank flips fine flapjacks

“We could’ve had it all,” Adele Atkins belts on her outstanding opening track, “Rolling in the Deep.” Although this “Chasing Pavements” singer ditches her lingering ballads, she graciously replaces them with foot-stomping jams, bringing in drums and hand claps. Although Adkins has taken a tougher tone, 21 (the title refers to the age at which she wrote these songs), keeps her signature velvety voice and classic piano. Track after track, Atkins slurs each word together perfectly. Some of the score seems to drag on, but regardless, this U.K. soul diva’s sophomore album is a pleasant listen.

Avril Lavigne

Goodbye Lullaby

Avril Lavigne has struck back into pop music with Goodbye Lullaby, an hour-long album reminiscent of the Avril from her 2003 album Let Go. The album opens with “Black Star”, a song directly on trend with the other “be yourself” songs hitting the charts recently. The simplistic style and lyrics of this CD, added to piercing piano melodies give meaning to songs that are reflective on Avril’s own struggles and conflicting emotions, displaying the songs and herself in a prominently rebellious and simultaneously cynical and upbeat persona. Notable tracks are “What the Hell,” which spotlights Avril’s aptitude for catchiness with lyrics such as “You’re on your knees/Begging please/Stay with me/But honestly/I just need to be a little crazy,” and “Alice,” a song that sets up a delightfully creepy atmosphere that most will recognize from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Urban

Dictionary word of the month...

ridin’ qwerty

Texting while driving where it’s illegal, taken from “ridin’ dirty” “Hey man, you know I respond to your texts super fast because I’m always ridin’ qwerty.”

11

6PM TO 7PM

MARCH 29

COLLEGE

PLANNING

WORKSHOP

WEST HIGH AUDITORIUM

For coverage of the state basketball tournament!

defined

BY DAVID HUANG

I

david.huang@wsspaper.com

t’s in the tears of any student who doesn’t understand why they feel alone in a school of nearly two thousand peers. It’s the skeleton in the closet of every classroom where a teacher seems to single out one lone member of their class. It’s the uncomfortable atmosphere that’s created when racial or sexual slurs are casually thrown around in everyday conversation.

And it’s the unifying theme of an effort by West High to create an educational environmental where all students can feel safe and accepted.

Bullying. What is it?

FISHER’S STORY The answer has tirelessly shadowed Fisher Gerot ’12 since he was in elementary school.

“They beat me up [and] cut me,” he recollected, pointing to the scarred remnants of a gash across his eyebrow. “Then towards fifth and sixth grade they started making fun of me about my father. He killed himself.”

But beyond the verbal and physical harassment he experienced when he was young, the bullying still continues for Gerot in equally nefarious forms.

“I don’t have any friends here at school,” he explained. “The only people that talk to me are, well, a few people by mistake. [At school, I] keep my mouth shut, keep my head down, do my time, and get out. … No one ever says hi to me, I never say hi to anyone, I mind my own damn business. And that’s the way I liked it for a long time. At least, until I realized that maybe it was time to come out of my shell.”

That time for Gerot arrived the moment Jodee Blanco, author of Please Stop Laughing At Me, ended her 90-minute presentation on Feb. 16 in a short question and answer session. The West High audience of juniors, seniors and staff members sat in silence as a scruffy-looking teenager awed them with just a single sentence. Nine words. One big revelation.

“I’ve been bullied since I was in second grade.”

However, one simple line could never have captured the gravity of some of the experiences that Gerot has had to endure.

“When I was smaller, and I was in about fourth grade, this guy was bullying up on my little sister. She

was just a toddler at the time. This kid was in sixth grade. I stood up and I said, ‘Stop it,’ and I hit him.

And he got up and he pulled out a knife and he cut me across the head. [A few years later,] I ran into the guy and I roughed him up. I beat him up pretty bad.

And he looked me in the eye and he says, through all that blood, ‘I’m so sorry Fisher, now I know what it feels like to be bullied. I’ll never do it again.’ And he never did.”

Most of the direct harassment for Gerot has stopped since he entered high school, but he still constantly feels alone in the hallways of West High. And that utter loneliness, he believes, is often just as harrowing, if not more so.

“You get what’s called the thousand-yard stare,” he said. “It’s where everywhere you look, you look with the intimidating look. The crazy eye. The eye of pain.

You just get to the point where you don’t want to talk to anybody. … And so you have no social life.You wonder what’s wrong with you. Next thing you know, it could lead to suicide or thoughts of homicide.”

Gerot, who’s both experienced and well-spoken in the tragedy of bullying, is also adamant in his desire to help others who have been or currently are in his position. After starting a clique in junior high school specifically for kids who didn’t fit in with other groups, Gerot envisions a similar program at West High.

“You’re being bullied, you can come to the club, say what you’re being bullied about, and it’ll make you feel better,” he explained. “Bullies obviously won’t listen to teachers. Maybe they’d much rather have students of some sort say [something]. … I think that’s more of what we need. I don’t know if I’m the person for the job or what, but that’s what we need.”

And for those who scoff at “bullying” as being largely juvenile or lay it on “kids being kids,” Gerot doesn’t necessarily blame them.

“I get it.You don’t think there’s a bullying problem. I get it. That’s your opinion.You’ve never been bullied.

That’s why you don’t think it’s a bullying problem. If you were bullied, you’d know that it’s around. And it isn’t just shoving people in lockers or being spit on,” he said. “Just ignoring someone because you don’t want to talk to them, because you think it’s inconvenient, because you feel that they are different in some way. That is horrible in it’s own right.”

But beyond even the torment of those who’ve been

bullied, Gerot fears a larger calamity just waiting at the doorstep of his high school.

“Obviously, [there have been school shootings]. I don’t think people realize how close we are to that.

How close we are in our own backyard. I don’t know anybody who’s thinking of shooting up the school, but you never know, there could be somebody down the hallway that’s getting shoved into a locker or made fun of and he could [one day] bring a 9mm Glock. We don’t know how far we’ve come to pushing these kids over the edge.”

PLEASE START TALKING ABOUT ME In January, while students across every grade level filled out a preliminary survey with questions about their experiences with bullying, an effort was already underway to create an open discussion about the subversive force that most didn’t perceive as being an issue.

“We’re being proactive rather than reactive so that bullying doesn’t develop into being a problem,” explained David Rosenthal, a foreign language teacher at West. He, along with coworkers Elizabeth Bruening, Stacey Strief and Jessica Dwyer organized several educational sessions for teachers with the intent of spreading awareness about bullying. More notably, the group also collaborated in bringing activist Jodee Blanco, the aforementioned author and student activist, to speak and spur further conversation on the topic.

And in the wake of the author’s presentation, further conversation was most definitely spurred.

After all, Blanco didn’t simply lecture the student body using bullying statistics and graphs; she spent an hour and a half sharing her life story of being tormented ruthlessly throughout her school experience.

“I’m Jodee Blanco,” she began in each assembly.

“And from fifth grade through high school, I was the school outcast.”

Some argue that Blanco had a point to make, and that her aggression was necessary to drive home that point.

BULLYING DEFINED CONTINUED ON P. 26

16 sports

Concussions

BY JULIANN SKARDA AND POMBIE SILVERMAN

juliann.skarda@wsspaper.com pombie.silverman@wsspaper.com

How it works:

A conk on the noggin. A bump on the head. A smack on the skull. No matter how it’s phrased, any substantial impact to the head has the potential to cause a concussion, or a temporary alteration in brain function.

According to neurologist Dr. Daniel Bonthius of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, “There is not typically any identifiable trauma to the victim’s skull or brain. There is usually no bleeding or bruising. Instead, part of the brain temporarily ceases functioning properly.”

Warning Signs: Though anyone can receive a concussion, athletes are at high risk. Particularly those who participate in contact sports. Warning signs to watch for include dizziness, headaches, difficulty thinking and memory problems following an impact to the head. If symptoms don’t resolve within a few hours, this is known as postconcussion syndrome and can be serious.

Steps to take: “In general: rest, be evaluated by a trainer or doctor, and definitely seek medical attention if symptoms don’t resolve promptly or are getting worse,” said neurologist Dr. Katherine Mathews of the UIHC. It is also very important to avoid the possibility of a second concussion before the first has properly healed.

“A second injury... can produce more significant problems,” Mathews said.

These problems may include swelling and bleeding in the brain which can result in permanent brain injury.

“Any athlete suffering [from] a concussion should be removed from the game and not return to that game. The amount of time for which the athlete should be removed from sports depends upon the seriousness and duration of the concussion symptoms,” Bonthius said.

Here at West: One large contact caused an even bigger conflict.“[As] I released the ball, I was drilled in the stomach [by another football player]. My head hit the ground extremely hard. It felt as though I had blood in my mouth and my head began to pound,” said football player Xavier May ’13.

May’s injury from a linebacker during a football game gave him a concussion and a seat on the bench. After being out of football for two weeks, not being able to think or speak clearly, and slipping grades, May finally recovered from a Grade One concussion.

“A little while after [I’d gotten hit], I told my coach.One injury can change how everything in your life looks,” May said.

Although May’s experience is quite rare at West High, head football coach Brian Sauser believes more athletes should be aware of the dangers of concussions.

“Concussions in West High football are pretty rare, so they receive a lot of publicity. We can’t predict when [concussions] will occur and we can’t do much to prevent them, but we try to prevent it as much as we can by advising players to keep their head up and avoid hitting with their head,” Sauser said.

Starting this year, West has ordered special football helmets to prevent concussions. In addition, athletes have to take a concussion test at the beginning of the season.

Student Stories “In a basketball game, I was going for a ball to save it from going out of bounds and I dove to save it. I hit the top of my head on the brick wall.”

-Danielle Chelf ’12

16

“It was during basketball practice and I guess I was chasing a ball that was going out of bounds against a teammate, I couldn’t stop and ran into the wall that didn’t have mats. I don’t remember it happening at all though.”

-Tatum Klein ’12

Many an anemone sees an enemy anemone.

compiled by caroline found

“It happened at an after school program at the Coralville rec center. I was jumping in the pool head first and I hit my head on the bottom of the pool.”

-Tyler Freund ’12

West girls make history

17 sports

BY CAROLINE FOUND

caroline.found@wsspaper.com

The West High girls’ basketball team may have lost to Des Moines East, but Shelly Stumpf ’12 (11) and Jessica Shull ’12 (13) played solid defense against East players such as Nijay Gaines (14) PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION FROM//SHANNON SLOCKETT

The West High girls’ basketball team not only exceeded expectations this season, it made history. Indeed, this year was the first time that the team ever made the stae tournament.

Being the underdog in the Iowa high school 4A girls’ state basketball tournament, the Women of Troy defeated Cedar Rapids Washington 6758 on Wednesday, March 2. Washington was favored to win by the Iowa City Press Citizen.

West High students piled into the rows of the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, wearing nothing but green to support the team. As the final seconds counted down on the clock, West High students chanted “Bring on Kiah,” referring to the game to take place on Friday against defending state champions, Cedar Rapids Linn Mar. Winning against Linn Mar in overtime with a score of 65-58, the Women of Troy proved they could do anything they set their minds to.

“We learned that anything is possible,” said Jessica Shull ’12. “Even though it was our first appearance and we were the underdogs, we can do anything. We weren’t favored to beat Washington or Linn Mar, but we still made it to the championship game,” she said.

Playing in the championship game on Satur-

day, March 5, brought nerves to the team, but once the West High student section was spotted, the atmosphere changed.

“Our student section gave us an adrenaline rush, and showed that they were there to support us 110%,” said junior guard Brianna Sturtz. “They weren’t discouraged that we didn’t represent our school by winning the state championship because they knew how great of a season we had.”

And that they did. Having a record of 23-3, conference champions, and becoming second in state is a huge improvement from last year.

After being defeated by the Des Moines East Scarlett’s, 40-52, the Women of Troy experienced a bittersweet feeling.

“It really hurt when we lost in the finals because we wanted it so bad,” Sturtz said. “But we were so proud of how our season went, second in state isn’t too shabby.”

Without a doubt, the Women of Troy will have a successful season next year with all five starters returning, and only three seniors graduating.

“We are looking ahead to the future. Winning the state title will be our ultimate goal next season,” Shull said. “This year at state was a great experience for us, in the preparation for next year.”

Ahead of the pack

BY CAROLINE FOUND

caroline.found@wsspaper.com

Records have been set, people have been impressed, but ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your hats because records are about to be broken.

Kristina Bauer ’14 is proud of the results already achieved in her seventh and eighth grade years at Northwest, but is excited for her future years of West High track.

“I’m very excited for track, I love it. I love it. I’m probably most excited about hanging out with all the new girls and meeting a ton of new friends. I am super glad to be part of the West High track team,” Bauer said.

In seventh and eighth grade, Bauer went to the state track meet in Marshalltown, Iowa, to compete in the 100 meter, 400 meter and 200 meter dashes, returning home with first and second place in all races. She also competed in the Hershey Track meet in sixth grade.

“During the regular season, I ran about

those same events, along with some relays, and over all I guess I really lost about two or three races,” Bauer said. ”In junior high, I ran some hurdles but I guess it just wasn’t my thing, but I enjoy running the spring medley the most,” Bauer said.

Bauer isn’t only excited about the track team here at West, but she enjoys the community as well.

“Being at West, I definitely have more freedom. Everyone is so much more laid back, but at the same time still strict enough to get what is needed done. I love that we can choose the classes we want, too,” she said.

Although memories have been made in Bauer’s career in track, competing in the Hershey track meet, and winning two state titles are two that stand out. With the ups and downs of running, Bauer keeps a positive attitude no matter how she performs. “I love the feeling of being a part of a team, and at the same time being on your own, just running.”

The sharpest saw I ever saw saw was the saw I saw saw in Arkansas.

Fast Facts FAVORITE HOBBY: Photography

FAVORITE CANDY: Hershey’s Kisses

FAVORITE FOOD: Spaghetti

WEIRD FACT: One of her feet is size 7 and one is size 8

FAVORITE CLASS: English or French

FAVORITE MOVIE: The Notebook

FAVORITE SPORTS MEMORY:

PHOTO BY//LINDSAY BEST

Either winning state 4x100 by six seconds at the Hershey track meet, or winning the state titles as a team and as an individual at Northwest compiled by caroline found

17

Life in the fast lane 18 sports

BY POMBIE SILVERMAN pombie.silverman@wsspaper.com

After winning last year’s state competition, the Women of Troy are hoping to keep standards high and head for gold once more. With the indoor track season just starting, the girls are looking to improve even more from last year, winning meets and preparing for the outdoor season.

“We have been successful in the past year, which has been great, but we have to put in the effort in order to make it happen,” said returning varsity member McKennan Cronbaugh ’13.

Winter conditioning is extremely beneficial for the Women of Troy’s success, according to head coach Mike Parker. Winter training is used to prevent injuries and get athletes ready for regular season practices and competitions.

“We wish to start and end the season by winning,” Parker said. “It is our standard to never lose. We have

only lost twice in the past five years.”

As for the boys, the Trojans hope to continue reaching their potential as well, possibly challenging for a conference championship, according to head boys’ track coach Brian Martz. If there is enough talent and

[

]

I would like my teammates to perform with 105 percent at every track meet. Everybody counts, and so does every point.

ARMANDO WILLIAMS ‘12

dedicated effort by the athletes, the team hopes to qualify and score at state. But to succeed, all members of the team, newcomers and alumni alike, need to work together to shine.

“I would like my teammates to perform with 105

percent at every track meet. Everybody counts, and so does every point,” returning varsity member Armando Williams ’12 said.

To help others, Williams works hard to be a role model for others.

“I try to practice really hard because the younger guys look up to me and will follow [in] my foot steps … . Just wait and see and you will be surprised [at] how many newcomers we have [that will] take us far,” he said.

According to Martz, indoor meets are just practice sessions for the outdoor season. Since indoor meets are not scored, this advantageously allows athletes to try out different events until they find one that suits them best without hindering the team’s success. “[Indoor meets] allow athletes to rehearse procedures that can’t be simulated during practice sessions, such as timing their warm-ups, mental preparation for maximal performance and learning to compete against athletes from other schools,” he explained.

PHOTO BY//LINDSAY BEST

compiled by leah murray

‘

Years running track: Two Events: 400 meter dash, 4X4 relay and the 4X8 relay Favorite pre-race food: Honey crisp apple [or] granola bars Favorite team moment: Drake Relays with the boys Favorite TV Show: Phineas and Ferb Pump-up song: “Champion” by Flipsyde

18 24

‘

RUNNERS MEET THE Aaron Peller 11

Jessica Robinson 12

The fuzzy bee buzzed about the busy buzzy beehive

Years running track: Including junior high, this will be my fifth year running.

Events: Shuttle Hurdle Relay, 100 Meter Hurdles and 400 Meter Hurdles Favorite TV Show: Glee and Grey’s Anatomy Pump-up song: “The Show Goes On”

by Lupe Fiasco

ART BY//BRIDGET NOVAK

19 sports

K

ennedy. Bettendorf. Prairie.

These three high schools have one thing in common: a home soccer field. A home field is more than just a plot of land. It’s access to a locker room before games, a concession stand for the fans, a standing scoreboard, a source of revenue and, most importantly, a place to feel at home. Soon, soccer powerhouse West High will be in possession of its own soccer field to brag about.

BY LEAH MURRAY

leah.murray@wsspaper.com

“Soccer is an emerging sport that has grown in popularity over the years. The timing is just right - both in terms of the financial climate and resources,” said campaign worker Peg Hausler.

As of now, the home soccer field is located at Northwest junior high, and according to the Go for the Goal campaign web page, it isn’t worthy of West’s talented teams, with problems including; a lack of a concession stand, limited seating and a low quality field which could lead to injuries, especially for younger players. The proposed field would have the potential to add lights and would be close enough to the football stadium that the press box bathrooms and concession stand could be used. The field’s proximity to West High would help boost attendance,

ticket sales and hopefully the player’s morale.

“I’m hopeful that this field brings high new levels of enthusiasm and support because it’s here on campus...people can walk out the back door and watch games” said girls’ soccer coach Dave Rosenthal.

The field will also have a fast drainage system and superior surface, West High’s soccer teams would have an even better chance of creaming the competition.

In order to make this dream field come true, $300,000 must be raised through the help of a student committee, parents and private donations. The student committee is composed of Ben Troester ’14, Justin Baker ’13, Mary Hausler ’12 and Sarah Moore ’11 and has a goal of $100 per grade, just enough to earn a plaque placed near the field.

So far, the student committee’s projects

have included a fundraiser through Which Wich, where the sandwich store donated 15% of their earnings on Feb. 4, raising nearly $500. According to a press release, an amount totaling over $110,000 has been raised so far.

“I’m really excited for the new field,” Baker said. He has experience playing for West High’s freshman/sophomore team. “[I] just [hope students] support the new field, and when it’s done, come out and see us win.”

PHOTO BY//KATHERINE YANG

FAST

FACTS:

How to help

The team is hosting a Panchero’s promotion for the new field this March. Tickets will be sold for two weeks before winners are drawn April 4 at the kickoff celebration. The winner receives free Panchero’s for a year (52 burrito cards). Tickets are $1 each, or six for $5.

In April, the committee will be partnering with Kohl's employees to secure yet a third fundraising effort. This is still in planning stage, as the students have not started focusing on it yet.

Which witch wished which wicked wish?

compiled by leah murray

19

20 Feature

The Veg Pledge

COMPILED BY JULIANN SKARDA juliann.skarda@wsspaper.com

There are all kinds of reasons to become a vegetarian: health benefits, animal rights and environmental sustainability, to name a few. These West High students see vegetarianism not as a sacrifice, but as an opportunity. Here’s their perspective.

Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew Recipe courtesy of Carly Stamnes

INGREDIENTS 3 medium sweet potatoes cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces 1 tbs olive oil 2 garlic cloves pressed 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp crushed red peper 2 cans garbazo beans 1 can vegetable broth 1 can diced tomatoes 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter 1/2 cup cilantro leaves

PROCEDURE

1. Place potatoes in microwave dish, microwave until tender (about 8 minutes).

2. Meanwhile in 5-6 quart saucepan heat oil over medium- high heat until hot.

Add garlic, cumin, salt, cinnamon, and red peppers. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

3. Stir in beans, broth, tomatoes and peanut putter. Heat to a boil and cook stiring occasionally for 1 minute.

4. Reduce heat, add sweet potatoes and stir 2 minutes.

5. Add cilantro.

[

[

“I hate to think that what I’m eating has had a family and I like to think that animals and humans are pretty similar.”

[

CARLY STAMNES ’14

[

PHOEBE LOW ’13

Veggie Stir-Fry

Recipe courtesy of Phoebe Low

INGREDIENTS Mushrooms Cabbage Barbeque seasoning Favorite vegetables PROCEDURE

1. Chop up favorite vegetables and place in a bowl (I usually use cole slaw without the mayonnaise. ... Basically cabbage) Add mushrooms because they are awesome.

2. Stir fry the veggies Asian-style.

3. Wait for veggies to become a tolerable temperature.

4. Sprinkle with barbeque seasoning (enough to taste it, not enough to overdose on sodium).

[

[

VEGAN

A vegetarian who does not eat meat, dairy products, eggs or any food containing animal products.

20

[

“I like vegetarianism because I don’t feel that I’m as much of a part of the food industry when I don’t eat meat, and it seems like I’ve been healthier since I became a vegetarian.”

“I honestly felt so much better on the vegan diet. I felt really clean. ... I had a lot more energy and was just consistently really happy.”

MEGAN HENRY ’11

[

“The hardest thing about not just eating what people put in front of me is trying something new.”

PESCATARIAN LACTO A vegetarian who eats fish, but no other types of meat. Pescatarians also eat dairy products and eggs.

A vegetarian who excludes meat, eggs, fish, and poultry products from his or her diet. Lacto-vegetarians will eat dairy products.

Around the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran.

EVAN MCCARTHY ’12

LACTO-OVO

A vegetarian who does not eat any type of meat (including fish and crustaceans), but will eat dairy products and eggs.

Across the Pond

21 feature

Students look forward to this year’s language trips, while others reminisce on past trips

“During the fam ily stay we wou ld spend our da speaking school ys at an English in el Puer to de Santa Maria. O told us that we ne day, our guid were going to be e in the compute we were to mak r lab and that e a presentatio n on life in Am really wanted to erica. None of work on the pr us oject so we all and commente got on Facebook d on each othe rs walls and ha ing off. The next d a lot of fun go day when we w ofent back to the blocked Facebo lab they had ok. We all laug he d about it.”

Jordan Gunning ‘11

“My experience ha d its ups and downs . The best part of the third day. My ho my stay was on st mother, her boyf riend, my host sib day trip to some ne lings and I took a arby mountains to hike and go rock cli very fun and was re mbing which was ally the first time I connected with th everyone was pres e family because ent and we were ta lking to each othe really liked was th r. Another aspect I at no one in my ho st family spoke En stantly speaking in glish so I was conSpanish, unlike som e other students on host families woul the trip whose d mainly speak to them in English.”

-Peter Ascoli ‘11

ely ner vous. The ench] trip, but also extrem “I am excited for the [Fr e to understand or abl be scared that I won’t me has n rtio po y sta family me. I do think it will e and that no one will like be understood by anyon ence, however.” be a worthwhile experi -Madelin Otterbein ‘12

nd s. He’s just ki three language mad when we ks ea sp t] en nd of host stud ol. He got ki “Bernard [my te spor t is po ri vo fa s hi ” d 3 of shy, an a real spor t.

-Gil Phelps ‘1 m pool isn’t tried to tell hi

compiled by audrey evans PHOTOS BY//ELIZABETH LIN A proper copper coffee pot

21

22 radish

The

Report

Radish

Note: All Radish content is satirical and is not meant to be perceived as factual.

In a great revelation that made the nearby San Andreas fault tremble, Floyd Corlander, a bearded California hipster wearing a Bob Marley tshirt, revealed himself to be the second coming of Christ.

“I always knew that I was Jesus inside, but I wanted to keep it cool, y’know?” Corlander said. “But then I was in the middle of this, like, awesome party, and I thought, ‘Dude, I should totally go out there and, like, do something rad. So I did.”

Thus far, Corlander has been living up “the good old days,” winning swimming competitions by running on water, healing lepers and peacing out with his bros.

“It was totally sweet, man,” said Iris Emerson, a prostitute that Corlander talked with last night. “When he visited our club, he was all like ‘Heya,

peeps! I brought this gnarly fish for dinner!’ and we were all like ‘You just brought one fish, brah! That’s not gonna be enough!’ but then he suddenly had like 20 BAJILLIION FISH. Best trip ever, except it ACTUALLY HAPPENED, you know what I mean?”

After his nostalgically divine escapade, Corlander began to notice how America was doing. According to him, the fact that “getting stoned” has an entirely new meaning that has nothing to do with dying is “pretty sweet,” but the fact that roughly 40 million people in the country don’t have health insurance is “totally not chill.”

“I mean, come on, man!” he said. “If I see a blind guy on the street, I’m not all like ‘Can’t help you, brah; it’d cost me some of my divine capital.’ Naw, man. I just heal the dude because it’s a cool thing to do.”

“And what’s with all this stink about gay marriage?” he continued. “Man, I’m all for tolerance and acceptance.

Love thy neighbor, brah. Doesn’t matter if he likes his bromance more than most people. Sure, my old man got a bit cranky in the Old Testament, but he’s all about love now. I swear.”

Corlander went on to support pot legalization and the acceptance of people of different religions. The fact that Jesus was a liberal came as a great shock to far more people than it should have.

“You could say that this is ... inconvenient,” said Pat Robertson, the notoriously idiotic evangelist. “Now that I can’t quote obscure verses from a 2,000 year old book to condemn whatever I want to in our modernday society, I don’t know what to do.”

Jerry Falwell’s ghost expressed similar sentiments.

February marched off

Valentine’s month no longer on the calendar

BY ASHTON DUNCAN ashton.duncan@wsspaper.com

After months of rallying and political debates that will influence the very structure of modern time, yesterday the vote was taken. In a 7-5 vote, the months agreed to take February off the calendar, slated to start in 2012 across the globe.

“It was always about equality, and equality triumphed today,” spokespeople for January, Icy London and Icy France stated in a press conference late yesterday evening.

“Every other month has 30 to 31 days, should February be an exception to that rule? No.” May, June, July and August voted with February in the coalition of months, despite claims of scandal in 22 the Summer months.

“We’ve always sided with February, despite our differences,” an August official stated, “We have clearly stated that our ambitions remain no further than Summer break.”

Another issue that came to a head yesterday morning, February’s name itself. “We find it unfair that the rest of the months must be shamed into having but one “R” in their names. March, January, and April get along just fine without a silent “R.” February is the most commonly misspelled month to date and, in the generation of spelling ‘you’, ‘u’, has become a blight on even our abbreviated forms. A stand must be made against these preposterous actions!” rallied Snow Joke, a January protester at local event.

February supporters declined to comment.

Number of times I look at lesbianswholooklikejustinbieber.com

Reasons Teenage Girls Cry Genuinely tragic events

garrett.anstreicher@wsspaper.com

Other

Ability to understand the material

BY GARRETT ANSTREICHER

Happiness

THE The return of the King BY GRAPHS

Amount of homework done for a class

compiled by madhu srikantha

(No)food supply

Y

ou’ve heard of the protests in Egypt. Maybe the riots in Algeria. Possibly even the impending famines in Russia and China.

But have you heard that these unique disasters share a common flavor? The diverse and domestic issues at stake are in no way trivial, but they are swallowed by a common catalyst: global food supply. Or, more precisely, a lack thereof.

While natural disasters have decimated global agricultural capacity, The UN recently announced worldwide food prices had hit an all-time high, a disaster embodied by global unrest spurred by people in panic. And rightly so. Any way you slice it, we are descending into a food crisis and meanwhile distancing ourselves even further from a long-term solution to global food needs.

The problem is two-fold: we are impairing the earth’s capacity to grow food while uncontrolled population growth is driving demand (for ever-dwindling resources) even further out of reach.

Some conservatives are quick to blame skyrocketing oil, grain and sugar prices on bad economic policies, but the root causes lie in the land. Climate change is once again the culprit. As global weather patterns become increasingly extreme and the land is disfigured by natural disasters like the wildfires and heat waves of Russia, flooding in Austra-

lia and droughts in Brazil, less and less land is available to grow food. And the land that’s left is worsening as unsustainable farming practices leech nutrients from the soil and eventually cause it to erode away entirely. Iowa farmland has lost an estimated ten inches of topsoil to erosion in the last 150 years, meanwhile it takes 500 years to restore just one inch. And we aren’t an isolated case. One third of the world’s arable land has been lost to soil erosion and 10 million more hectares (that’s 100 billion square meters) are added to the degradation each year.

And if environmental destruction wasn’t quite ominous enough for you, add a growing total population.Each year there are eighty million more mouths to feed (and fewer resources with which to do it). And each year three billion people in developing countries shift their diets to eat higher on the food chain, including grain intensive livestock and animal products that are less efficient and more energy intensive.

You have to feed mouths before you can hear voices. Addressing global unrest has to be broader than political reform. It must include reforms on agricultural practices, caps on emissions and a change in consumption. It’s already too late.

Her choice

23 opinion

H

ouse file 153. The name sounds unassuming enough, but the bill recently introduced to the Iowa legislature will, if enacted, place a huge limitation on the rights of Iowa citizens. By declaring that life begins at conception, the law will effectively outlaw all abortions. This does not include exceptions for women who were raped or whose health is jeopardized by the pregnancy. The legislation could also lead to prohibition of several forms of contraception, because any birth control which prevents a fertilized egg from successfully attaching to the woman’s uterus is, under the proposed definition, ending a life.

Banning contraceptives is incredibly counter-productive, considering it is one of the major forces reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies – and abortions.The government needs to realize that it is not their job to make such a life-altering decision for an individual.

Very few of the Republican politicians supporting the law have ever been pregnant (considering that the huge majority of them are men), let alone pregnant as a result of rape, an abusive relationship or incest or at risk for serious medical conditions caused by pregnancy. These politicians are unfit to make the decision for the women who are in these situations because they, like most of us,

can’t possibly understand what is involved in making it.

On top of this severe intrusion into personal decisions, the Republicans could also be handing insane anti-abortion activists a get-out-of-jail-free card.

A second proposal, House File 7, extends the laws regarding the use of reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect oneself or a third party from serious injury or death. When taken together with House File 153, this forms the potential for the application of a “justifiable homicide” defense to violence against abortion providers in defense of an unborn child. This defense has already been used (albeit unsuccessfully) by the murderer of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in 2009 and the proposed law is just what criminals like this need to succeed in court.

The outlawing of abortion is a limitation on the right of a woman to make decisions about her own life and her own body. Not providing exceptions for extreme cases such as rape or medical necessity (ironically, isn’t aborting a life-threatening pregnancy technically “justifiable homicide” under the proposed laws?) makes the proposed legislation even more ridiculous, and allowing doctors to be killed off by crazed activists doesn’t help either.

Letter to the editor After reading last month’s “A Safer Society,” John Bourjaily and I (Joe Henderson) felt the need to clear up the myths surrounding the issuance of concealed (or open) carry permits. My goal is not to sway anyone to the other side of the argument, but rather to express a different point of view based upon facts; not hypotheticals.

While the over simplistic tale of “Larry the nutcase” makes gun control very appealing, the reality is not so straightforward. The article states it would be best for “Larry” to have never obtained a gun, which is most assuredly true. However, restricting the manufacture or sale of guns would do nothing to prevent the use of the 200 or so million firearms registered in the United States (FBI). Laws restricting the sale, ownership or carrying of firearms (a right granted in the Bill of Rights and upheld by the Supreme Court) would work…on those who follow the law. One must remember criminals are not out to follow any laws. A man bent on carrying out a mass shooting in public will not be deterred by the fact that he would be illegally carrying a gun. A re-

sponsible gun owning citizen, however, would be.

In fact, concealed carry laws, such as the one passed in Iowa, actually help deter crime. According to FBI Crime Reports, states with concealed carry laws have 13% lower violent crime rates, 26% lower robbery rate, a 7% lower aggravated assault rate and a 3% lower murder rate. Additional studies conducted by universities show similar trends.

One must grasp the fact that in an overwhelming majority of self-defense cases, the armed citizen never fires a shot. The presence of a gun alone is enough of a deterrent. Such was the case in Tucson, where Joe Zamudio heard gunfire outside the Safeway and ran out to help, and was key in taking down Loughner. What gave him the confidence to do so?

He says that his concealed handgun did.

Additionally, while a police force is established to protect the citizenry, they cannot necessarily respond to an emergency, such as an armed robbery in the night, within seconds. They may arrive in time to chalk an outline, but concealed carry laws help prevent these situations from even occurring.

Mafia turncoat Sammy Gravano says, “Gun control?

It’s the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I’m a bad guy, I’m always gonna have a gun.” The right to carry a gun in public is more than an exercise of rights given in the Bill of Rights. It is a protection of the first of three unalienable rights: life. Carrying a gun allows a law abiding citizen to protect themselves and those around them.

Some will be the first to argue that the First Amendment protects pornography or libelous tabloids (a very modern interpretation of the amendment), but will reject at large the entire second amendment. The second amendment is still “necessary to the security of a free state.” The lawabiding citizenry need the right to defend themselves from the criminals who care not what laws are in place. After all, why would the founders have put it second in the Bill of Rights if it were of such low importance?

BY JOE HENDERSON AND JOHN BOURJAILY

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24 opinion

Invested in failure A

pparently the Iowa State Legislature doesn’t believe in investing in Iowa’s future - at least that’s the only explanation we could come up with for proposed spending cuts for this year’s budget including cuts in education on the preschool to university levels.

The relatively new Iowa government is proving to be an integral part in Governor Branstad’s promise to balance the state budget and reduce the size of government. But cuts in education spending are always a risky move considering that no one ever wants to be viewed as the antithesis of progress.

Clearly that didn’t stop the state legislature.

The current bill, HF45, proposes eliminating funding for public education at the preschool level – that is to say that the new budget would have the Iowa government only financially support those toddlers whose families pass a means based test for funds. Essentially that means that preschool will actually cost money for the majority of Iowa parents.

There are two main reasons why this is an impractical proposal. The first is that Iowa’s public education system is one of the best in the country and it needs money in order to be maintained - this cut applies to all levels of education. The second is more specific to the preschool level – the elimination of free preschool de-incentivizes Iowa’s growing market sector.

Fewer families are likely to move to Iowa when faced with job choices that include a location that offers them free public education from the pre-K level than somewhere that does not.

On the K-12 level the proposed cuts are in free and reduced lunch funding - the single dumbest aspect of the education cuts that the legislature made.

With less funding per district, fewer schools are going to be willing to work with many a district’s goal of equalizing the distribution of students who require free and reduced lunch prices. With smaller amounts of money to work with, schools that are

already struggling to cover the costs of their disproportionately low-income student body are going to struggle more and have to make cuts in legitimate educational spending within their own budget, only adding to their disadvantage. This simply perpetuates a problem that was previously approaching a solution on the local level. The antithesis-to-progress budget bill strikes again.

Finally, funding to Iowa’s public universities also numbers among the list of things facing cuts with this budget proposal. Let’s use the University of Iowa as an example of what this budget cut will ultimately force public institutions to do. Currently the tuition at the University of Iowa is around an affordable $15,000 a year for in-state students and $24,000 for out of state students. According to The Gazette, the University of Iowa currently has a significant deficit.

The cuts will perpetuate this deficit, maybe prompting the University to prematurely hike tuition prices.

This clearly would significantly reduce the appeal of the University to students – a large draw to the University is its promise of a great education at a pretty affordable price. Without the latter half of the equation, the U of I will lose many prospective students.

Ultimately, the WSS sees the education spending cuts as a refusal to invest in Iowa’s future. The legislature should not attempt to balance the budget of today by sacrificing the progress of tomorrow.

Are cuts to the education budget an effective solution to Iowa’s budget crisis?

1-10

Ten members voted that the education cuts are an ineffective solution

Quality of Life Index March

WHICH WICH DISCOVERY Saranya, the goddess that she is, recently let me in on a secret that the Coralville Which Wich manager let on to her - if you show your school I.D. you get a free drink with your sandwich. So much LOVE. Plus 3

SPRING BREAK The climax of our year has arrived after which we’ll settle into that horribly uneventful two month long stretch of complete boredom. I’m as excited as I sound.

Plus 4

MARCH MADNESS

I don’t particularly care about this, but a lot of people do. As in the American tradition, democracy triumphs once again.

Plus 2

CHEBA HUT

The opening of this marijuana-paraphernalia-ridden sandwich joint (HAHA SO FUNNY) has brought tears of deliciousness to my eyes. Check it out!

Plus 3

ALLERGY SEASON

Having to deal with those annoying kids who sniffle every five seconds is the only thing that’s bringing me down. Nevermind that I am actually one of them.

Minus 5

Total 7 24

art by bridget novak

compiled by madhu srikantha

25 opinion

For the people, by the people GUEST COLUMNIST: MARIAM ELHATTAB

J

anuary 25, 2011 was a defining moment in my life. Being of Egyptian origin, to me, the protests mean hope and revolution.

Now that this whole thing did actually happen in Egypt, as corny as it sounds, joy fills my heart with each passing day of freedom. I remember how emotional I got when I saw a video on YouTube of the first protest in Tahrir Square, Cairo. When I say emotional, I literally mean tears were flowing out of my eyes.I just felt like telling the whole world. I thought I was proud of Egypt before, but now it has reached a whole new level. The bravery and strength it takes to overthrow a regime that has been growing roots for 30 years is just amazing. It’s like people decided to forget all of the problems they have with each other, and instead unite. I saw an exceptional picture on CNN news that shows this unity. It showed Muslim protesters bent down in prostration, while Christian protesters formed a human chain around them to protect them against the violent and thuggish police.

These two groups have generally been head to head for the longest time in Egypt, so to see something like this is completely breathtaking.

During the beginning days of the protests, Mubarak

actually turned off the Internet and phone services in Egypt making it impossible to contact my family in my home city, Alexandria. As you might expect, concern for our family and friends filled our household. What was going to happen? Were they all okay?

All these questions that were being left unanswered only increased the hate that I already had for Mubarak and his evil regime. Hate made even stronger by the fact that the police, who are basically Mubarak’s yes men, got violent with the peaceful protesters. And sadly, after 18 days of protests, this violence and unrest against the citizens has left over 300 dead, and thousands injured.

Although there has been presence of pro-Mubarak thugs in the square, anti-Mubarak demonstrators were the majority in Egypt, and only wanted one thing; his departure. Mubarak had made a few public addresses during the protests, but all of them were extremely disappointing. He had made no effort to alleviate the problems that were going on. He insisted that he would stay in power, which in turn frustrated the people more. Citizens, who set up campsites and food stands, vowed not to leave Tahrir Square until he left office. If he was going to be stubborn, the people wouldn’t have any of it-they would match him.

And match him they did because on February 11, 2011, their efforts were all worthwhile. Former Vice President Omar Suleiman had announced on national television that Mubarak resigned his presidency. We had actually done it. We got him to step down. Upon reading this news, I couldn’t even believe it. I literally thought that is was a joke. After all his acts of stubbornness and refusal to resign, he ended up leaving

office. He had finally gotten the message!

Upon his departure, citizens of Egypt cheered and celebrated as they finally received freedom. It’s quite touching how contagious this feeling is, because even though I’m thousands of miles away, I still feel like I’m connected. It’s like the umbilical cord that never got cut, and never will. People now have a new mentality about life; if this country is going to get anywhere good in the future, we need to stick together.

So that’s exactly what they kept doing; thousands of volunteers enthusiastically took to the streets to clean up the damage done during the protests. This was another time to prove that the Egyptians, united, can achieve something so great.

This feeling of change and democracy is now sweeping the Arab world in a domino effect. Protests emerged in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and even Algeria, all calling for the same thing: freedom. It’s pretty funny that of the many flaws these governments have in common, one striking one is that the rulers have been in power for decades. My mother literally calls them “the dinosaurs of the Arab world.” So now, the main goal is to cleanse these governments of corruption, one “dinosaur” at a time, while still staying peaceful and united. I support my brothers and sisters in these regions, and my heart goes out to those who have died fighting for their freedom. May God rest their souls.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WRITING A GUEST COLUMN, CONTACT MADHU.SRIKANTHA@WSSPAPER.COM

Traditionally uninclined

BY MADHU SRIKANTHA

T

madhu.srikantha@gmail.com

his year’s Oscar winners reminded me of a terrible fact of life – a lot of the time tradition sucks.

Clearly the type of tradition I’m talking about is not like the oft-proudly mentioned tradition of excellence that our school claims – rather, it’s the continuance of past trends in the face of deserving and fresh new ones.

In accordance with this is the sense of “ought-to” that hovers around all tradition-ridden things: the Academy Awards, college decisions, governments, families with multiple siblings and the food I eat.

Then there’s the sense of “deserves to” and “needs to.”

In my humble (just kidding, I’m not humble at all) opinion, the “deserve to”s and “need to”s ought (haha look at all the funny jokes I make) to win more often. But change is scary. That’s the only reason that I can think of as an answer to why tradition is reason enough for the continued reign of the “ought-to”s and why we overall shy away from things that are new.

Clearly, dishing out accolades to the fresh and new would mean redefining our standards. And who could possibly want to do that when the very word standard implies an assumption regarding the quality of things past? But I think our very problem lies in our very definition – it allows no room for the ascendance of new ideas because we evaluate them on a scale created only for traditional evaluations of traditional things.

This is exactly why Colin Firth won the award for best actor nearly two weeks ago. Why when we’re making college decisions, newer universities have a

difficult time cornering our parents money. Why we hear those stories of kids who went through incredibly humiliating (often illegal) hazing rituals to be part of some organization. Why I have a “regular” at Jimmy John’s.

And again, I’m not saying that all tradition is bad – merely suggesting that it shouldn’t be followed in every single situation simply for the sake of following tradition. Although it doesn’t always appear to be a big hindrance, tradition can easily stunt our own becoming – it prevents us from considering alternative forks in our preset traditional path. Bruce Lee (who would have thought that he was a closet philosopher?) makes a great point regarding the ultimate consequence of absolute adherence to tradition quite concisely, “The classical man is just a bundle of routine, ideas and tradition. If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow — you are not understanding yourself.”

True that, Brucey-bruce, true that.

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26 feature

BULLYING DEFINED CONTINUED FROM P. 15

“She had a plan. She had a script. She had a particular message that she wanted to not be missed, and I think that her approach was to shake things up so much you couldn’t deny what she was saying,” Dwyer said. “If she went up there and she … was friendly, she would have started losing people.”

But despite Blanco’s universal messages of universal acceptance and kindness, not everyone appreciated her as the messenger.

“The tone was very accusatory, and I think it sort of made a lot of students defensive,” said Jordan Gunning ’11, one such student who felt Blanco’s performance was too aggressive. “I wasn’t as receptive to her message as I would have been if she had been more polite. If she hadn’t been just so hostile.”

Some even saw possible negative side effects of her message as a whole.

“What I got from the subtext was that ‘it’s okay if the popular kids like you,’” said Nathan Frese, an English teacher at West. “She kept saying that she was never accepted by any group, but she is accepted by certain groups in the book, and to me, that just shoots your credibility in the foot. The crux of her problem was that the cool kids never accepted her, and I don’t know that that’s the right message to send.”

But whatever the reaction, many agreed that the various discussions that ensued were productive in themselves.

“Every single one of us was talking about it the next day,” said Strief. “Negatively, positively, whatever it was.

And I think once people got over the initial reaction to her, they were able to sort of look at what the underlying message was of the presentation. … I know I’ve already had some very great conversations with my students who’ve gone on to say ‘alright, that makes sense now.’”

ALONE, TOGETHER Besides conversation, the decision to bring Blanco to West High also presented a unique moment in time in which people who often felt powerless were given the opportunity to come forward to tell their stories.

Alan Shriver ’11 was one of those people.

“I’ve had bullying experiences mostly with verbal abuse, but I have at one point had something happen where there was somebody physically harming me. That never got quite resolved the way I wanted it to, but I just kind of tried to forget that.”

Shriver used Facebook to communicate his thoughts to the public en masse, and, like Gerot, was seemingly empowered to finally speak up about the distress he had to endure for a large part of his life. Indeed, just three hours past the end of Blanco’s presentation, Shriver’s status had already been updated: “I could relate to the speaker at the assembly more than I thought I would. Especially in elementary school. I was bullied from first grade to seventh grade. … It does not feel good to be the person she was talking about.”

And though Shriver admits that the bullying has largely died down, he still maintains that “it’s hard to move on from that when you know there’s people out there who

26

were really mean to you and never did anything to show that they wanted to take it back.”

Yet there are also those whose experience with bullying ultimately ended in friendship.

“In junior high there was a guy that would just constantly pick on me and call me names,” said Sarah Conner ’12. We had a class together so it happened every day throughout the year. It made me think badly of myself.”

Conner, however, was able to find some resolution in her junior high conflicts.

“We actually did become friends. We’ve talked about him doing that and he did apologize for it. He moved away and was bullied at his school, where realized how bad it felt and then he moved back here.”

But absent the poetic justice that Conner’s bully found himself facing, most victims aren’t fortunate enough to find a happy ending for their own story.

Most, like Fisher Gerot, are still wandering the halls unnoticed and unacknowledged. The invisible ghosts of a school that’s not haunted. The nameless few who are tormented everyday because they’re different or misunderstood.The people, like Gerot, who talk to no one and have no one to talk to them.

Gerot knows they exist. And he wants to help them.

“I do not know who, but if you’re out there, approach me. We can be alone together, you know?

I’d prefer to be alone with somebody who also feels alone than be alone by myself. If you’re feeling alone, hey, I’m not as bad of a guy as I seem. Come to me.

And even the people who aren’t alone, just say hi to me. I’ll appreciate it.”

SUCCESSFUL WEST GRADS CONTINUED FROM P. 9

water source, and it could be 45 minutes or an hour and a half away. And the water is dirty so they have to collect firewood to boil it. [The women in Tanzania] were very busy, doing things all the time, and their tasks were very home and family oriented. Men worked in the fields but didn’t have as much accountability and that was frustrating from an outsiders perspective … [but] when you’re doing documentary work you really have to be hypersensitive to your own role as an outsider and quiet any mental flags of outside judgments that you have because it affects the way you interact and ask questions,” she said.

Though they had four weeks in Tanzania, they were as nomadic as the native people, moving from the bustling city streets of Dar Es Salaam to the rural town of Mswakini-Chini, barely visible above the tall grasses of the savanna.

She was responsible for gathering facts, logging descriptions of her surroundings and conducting interviews. Communication was always done through a translator and sometimes through several, forcing Anita to keep her questions simple and direct.

She felt the strongest connection with Einoti John, a woman her team spent two full days with, allowing the team to immerse themselves more fully in her daily life and allowing John to open up about her frustrations at the lack of opportunities available for women. “[We] were able to really get to know [John] and her husband and children. We had a much more laid back interaction and connected to her as a person more than we had time to with other people. …She was very open and excited for us to be there, versus apprehensive, and not having to cross those barriers eased our communication,” she said.

Nikilesh was less than surprised when his sister set out for Africa since the Rao family travels frequently and Anita has always had an interest in exploring. She was also influenced by her time in West’s humble halls, participating in the 1440 sponsored trip to Xicotopec, Mexico, and profiling students for the yearbook.

“Coming to college I’ve really noticed how unique West High is to offer opportunities to do things people don’t even think about doing until they get to college and feel confident about doing them,” she said.

LEFT: Molly Parsons ’11tunes her clarinet at the Wind Ensemble Band Concert on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

BELOW: Alyssa Adamec ’11practices her viola solo for the Symphonic Orchestra’s performance of Fantasia.

BOTTOM LEFT: Gina Thayer ’11, Matt Staib ’11 and Molly Parsons ’11 warm up their instruments for the Wind Ensemble Concert. Staib is one of the few students who performed in both the band and orchestra concerts.

BOTTOM RIGHT: John Wen ’12 takes a break from playing his violin to accompany the Symphonic Orchestra in their performance of Concerto Grosso.

PHOTO BY//LINDSAY BEST

BY ELIZABETH DAGLE

“I’m really looking forward to our jazz band competition season because we have a lot of great TheWest High auditorium floods with rich melodies songs that feature the saxaphone section,” said Gina and chords each time the bands and orchestras file Thayer ’11. “As a Baritone saxophone, I usually onto the stage. The fine arts are currently recovering don’t get to play a lot of the moving parts and in jazz from one of the bussiest times of the year. With a band I do”. series of festivals, concerts and clinics on their plates, The orchestra took a different route these past few the band kids have no fears. weeks. At a clinic held by the University of Iowa on “I’m not very worried, we’re prepared,” said Evan Saturday, Feb. 26, they were critiqued by professional McCarthy ’12. “The jazz bands are really good.” musicians.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for us,” said Riko Ohashi ’12. “[We’ll get] PHOTO BY//LINDSAY BEST an entirely different view of how we play. It’s a good opportunity to expand our skills and knowledge of music.” “[The concert was] a good opportunity for me to play with an orchestra,” said John Wen ’12 who accompanied the orchestra at their Feb. 24 concert.

elizabeth.dagle@wsspaper.com

PHOTO BY//JOJO SILVERMAN

Sound of Music

PHOTO BY//JOJO SILVERMAN

25 17 1 25

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School making you cross? work it out with this puzzle 12 Across

17 Down

27 Across

17

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BY ELIZABETH DAGLE

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elizabeth.dagle@wsspaper.com

2 BEST PHOTOS BY//LINDSAY AND KATHERINE YANG

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2

9 Across

9 Across

5

4 3

6 7

8

5

4

9 12

4

13

4

11

10 14

5

25 5

15

16

5

18

17 2 21

3

25

20

19

1

23

22

26

20 Across 4

28

27

17

24

29 30

1

5

31

2 32 34 35

ACROSS:

2 City and West football teams battle for this 4 That 70’s Show Kutcher from Iowa 4 5 One of three foreign language trips go here 8 United States President from West Branch 9 Club that runs the coffee shop on the middle floor 10 Cross town rival to West High 5 12 Mexican restaurant originating in Iowa City 15 Girls’ volleyball placement at State 2010 16 Month of West High Graduation 18 West High biennial trip to South America 20 Trojan Epic 22 Heavy metal Iowa band 25 Color of success (with 3 down) 26 Holy Grail of Open Hours

27 Hallway home to ceramics, painting 30 Theatre West spring production: The _____ Bride 31 West High mascot 32 1440 ____ club 34 Starts tomorrow (2 words) 35 Subject of pages four and five

DOWN:

1 Website that put West High grad Zach Wahls in public eye 3 Color of success (with 25 across) 4 Extra Thursday class 6 Spring sports teams fundraising for new field 7 US Senator who visited West High 8 Downtown burger place with many famous customers

9 MJ’s ____ it 10 Hopeful home of Flava Flav reality show 11Wellness Wednesday activity 13 Iowa City is the home of these 14 Ronald McDonald House accepts millions of these 17 Lower level computer lab 19 Miniature auditorium 21 Downtown Iowa City mall 23 West High Good Time Company and Showtime are

these 24 West High’s Arganbright 28 West High government group; plans Academy Awards 29 More of these in Iowa than people

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