2021-11-19

WEST SI DE STO RY IOWA CITY WEST HIGH SCHOOL

2901 MELROSE AVE.

IOWA CITY, IA 52246

WSSPAPER.COM

VOLUME 54 ISSUE 2

gender gender identity gender vs. sex gender dysphoria gender in the 21st century

A look into the challenges trans and non-binary students face at West High.

NOVEMBER 19, 2021

OWEN AANESTAD A young child holds up a sign that reads “Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan (chairman of the military council) isn’t going to be Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi (president of Egypt) in Sudan’’ along with other protesters who oppose the military coup in Sudan Oct. 30.

PHOTO FEATURE

CONTENTS Hey West High, 4 NEWS

News Briefs If We’re Green, We’re Golden

8

HEALTH & SCIENCE Plugged In

10 16

FEATURE Shhhh...

Battling Burnout

You’re almost there fall-ow students — one trimester down, two more to go! Not only that, but fall break is just around the corner. To catch up on other recent events, flip to page 4 for news briefs.

On page 20, you’ll find our cover story for this issue: Gender. Reporters Zaira Ahmad, Ella De Young and Caroline Mascardo talk to trans and non-binary students at West about gender as a whole and their unique experiences with it.

If you’ve ever seen Ms. Bailey walk down the hallways and wondered about her creative outfits, turn to page 16 to learn what inspired her to design them herself.

We’re so thankful you’re reading our publication. To find out what your fellow students are thankful for this autumn, flip to page 30.

Take care of yourself! That can start with taking some time to relax and read this issue of WSS — don’t leaf us hanging.

PROFILES

Notes of Creativity Audrey’s Adornments

20 28

COVER Gender.

SPORTS Overlooked

30

ENTERTAINMENT

33

OPINION

Autumn Appreciation The Radish

Custodial Concerns Restructuring

Scan here for mental health resources.

KAILEY GEE

HANAH KITAMOTO

(she/they)

(she/her)

PRINT STAFF LIST Aria Khalil

Artist, Photographer Athena Wu Artist, Reporter Caroline Barker* Photo Editor Caroline Copy Co-Editor, Mascardo* Editorial Editor Defne Bayman Photographer, Designer Ella De Young* Assistant Sports Editor Eva Jordan Artist, Designer Ginger McCartney Designer, Reporter Hanah Kitamoto* Print Co-Editor-InChief Heidi Du* Copy Co-Editor Grace Huang* Health & Science Editor Helen Zhang* Columns Editor Jack Alden Reporter, Designer Jane Lam Reporter, Designer Kailey Gee* Print Co-Editor-InChief Kamakshee Reporter Kuchhal Katherine Shoppa* News Editor

*Editorial Board member

Krisha Kapoor* Lilly Graham Lily Prochaska Maya Chu* Miguel Cohen Suarez Misha Canin*

Sports Editor Reporter Reporter Feature Editor Sports Reporter

Managing Editor, Business Co-Editor Owen Aanestad* Online Editor-inChief Rosemary Timmer- Reporter Hackert* Ruba AhmedBusiness Co-Editor, Abdelmutalab* Profiles Co-Editor Sachiko Goto* Assistant Design Editor Sara Whittaker Adviser Sila Duran* Entertainment Editor Soomin Koh* Profiles Co-Editor William Cheng Artist, Designer Xiaoyi Zhu* Design Editor Zaira Ahmad Reporter, Designer Zoey Guo* Art Editor

NEWS BRIEFS From the Iowan Facebook whistleblower to Iowa City’s Pride Festival, here is a recap of the latest local and national news.

BY HEIDI DU DESIGN BY EVA JORDAN

PHOTO BY SACHIKO GOTO

FACEBOOK WHISTLEBLOWER TESTIFIES In September, West High graduate and former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen ’02 provided internal documents that led to the “Facebook Papers.” These files reveal how Facebook’s algorithms promote divisiveness and perpetuate misinformation.

Haugen appeared in an interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Oct. 3. She believes congressional action is needed to make Facebook and Instagram safer for adolescents and testified in front of a Senate subcommittee Oct. 5.

WEST HOSTS HOMECOMING DANCE After canceling last year’s dance due to COVID-19 concerns, West High hosted its homecoming dance at the Greenstate Family Fieldhouse in Coralville Oct. 2. Masks were required and West Student Government chose the Fieldhouse to encourage spatial distancing. The dance featured a DJ, lights and a professional photo station. Mason Applegate, Miguel Cohen Suarez, Alex Curtu, Hanah Kitamoto, Cameron Reimers and Evan Zukin were named the 2021 Heroes of Troy.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MITCH GROSS

ICCSD SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

The ICCSD held school board elections Nov. 2. Voters elected incumbent members J.P. Claussen and Ruthina Malone to the ICCSD Board of Directors along with newcomers Jayne Finch and Maka Pilcher-Hayek. Voters also approved two finance-related provisions, the first of which allows the school district to continue using money that the state grants for safety and technology resources until 2051.

Additionally, the tax rate for those who pay property tax within ICCSD boundaries will remain at $1.34 per $1000 of property tax value.

04 NEWS

NOV. 19, 2021

PHOTO BY SACHIKO GOTO

IOWA CITY HOSTS PRIDE FESTIVAL Iowa City held its Pride festival downtown Oct. 1 and 2. The ICCSD had a booth at the festival, which featured performances and presentations by the UAY Draglings and I.C. Kings. Iowa City Pride also wanted to honor the October 1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, so a unity march took place instead of the usual parade. As per the Iowa City Pride website, “We wanted to show our community we are still here and we will come together to fight for our rights and the rights of others.”

PHOTO BY JACK ALDEN

WEST HIGH FALL SPORTS West High’s fall sports are wrapping up. The girls swim team won regionals Nov. 6, placing first in six out of 12 total events with Jade Roghair ’23 and Scarlet Martin ’22 picking up two individual titles each. The cross country team competed at the state meet Oct. 29 with Alex McKane ’22 placing second and Seth Cheney ’23 placing 25th, leading the boys team to an eighth-place finish. Cindy Wang ’24 represented the girls team and placed 34th. The Trojan football team concluded their season Oct. 22 with a 2-7 record and Mason Applegate ’22 breaking the school single-game rushingyard record. The volleyball team ended their season with a 16-17 overall record, losing regional finals to Pleasant Valley in four sets Oct. 26.

PHOTO BY OWEN AANESTAD

VACCINE APPROVAL AND NEW COVID PILL Pharmaceutical company Merck announced its antiviral COVID-19 pill Oct. 1. According to Merck, the drug molnupiravir reduces the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 by 50%. As of print time, the FDA is reviewing the use of molnupiravir in the U.S. Research suggests the drug is effective against mutations of COVID-19, and it is recommended for high-risk adults. Additionally, the CDC approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot for 5 to 11-year-olds Nov. 2.

PHOTO BY SACHIKO GOTO

SUDANESE MILITARY COUP The Sudanese military illegally overthrew the government Oct. 25. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other pro-democracy leaders are currently in detention as of print time. Protests against the military government are ongoing in Sudan and around the world as of print time. The Biden administration condemned the coup and suspended $700 million in aid, which was supposed to help the country transition to a fully civilian government.

PHOTO BY OWEN AANESTAD

NEWS NOV. 19, 2021

05

IF WE’RE GREEN, WE’RE GOLDEN As efforts towards environmental sustainability develop across the globe, West High also takes steps to be greener.

BY KRISHA KAPOOR

T

06 NEWS

NOV. 19, 2021

he House of Representatives passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill Nov. 5, which includes $47 billion designated to climate resilience and preparing communities for natural disasters that have been worsened due to climate change. As the U.S. is making changes to reduce its carbon footprint, West is not far behind.

In the past, to reduce West’s carbon dioxide emissions, students have developed outdoor classrooms, planted ash trees around the school and composted food waste from lunch. However, most of these projects have fallen through due to dedication issues. AP Environmental Science and biology teacher Brad Wymer is hopeful that students will continue to make efforts that will make West a more environmentally friendly place.

“We’ve been in and out and up and down with different groups of students all the way from the mid- to late-90s who are proponents of doing things that are a lot more conscientious of the environment,” Wymer said.

To bring together students with a passion for environmental science and sustainability, Raina Pfeifer ’22 founded the Students for Environmental Action club during the 2020 school year.

SEA meets twice a month to discuss environmental issues and projects to implement at West.

“There’s just so many people that are super interested in sustainability and things like that, and there wasn’t really a place to share that,” Pfeifer said. “I wanted to create a community of people that could come to share their ideas and help do some fun things outdoors.”

Recently, SEA has planted acorns in the prairie behind West and spread awareness about sustainability on social media. They’ve also maintained a hydroponics garden, which uses nutrients dissolved in water to grow instead of soil.

The club wants to continue efforts like these and revive past projects that slowed down because of COVID-19.

“We’re working on getting recycling back because we couldn’t really do it last year just because of sanitary issues,” Pfeifer said. “We also talked about what we can do to make composting and recycling more accessible for people at home.”

ART & DESIGN BY EVA JORDAN

One of the biggest contributors to schools’ carbon emissions is the energy used for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Most districts in the U.S. use HVAC systems from the 1970s, many of which are inefficient and expend lots of energy. According to The Hechinger Report, these systems cause an average school to emit equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide released by 18 coal power plants or 9.8 million households per year.

To decrease West High’s impact on the environment, recent construction has included geothermal heating and cooling systems. These systems pump air or water into the ground to either release or absorb heat from the Earth’s natural temperature.

Wymer is impressed by the addition of this technology.

“The implementation of [geothermal heating] here was a huge step,” Wymer said. “[The geothermal heating system] is annoying, takes up a part of my room, and makes a lot of noise, but what a huge environmental impact that has. I was tickled to see that happen.”

Geothermal heating is one of the most efficient heating and cooling systems on the market today. Rather than creating heat by burning fossil fuels, they harness heat from the ground. This saves both the environment and West’s monetary resources.

At the statewide level, Green Iowa AmeriCorps, a national service program, aims to engage communities in environmental stewardship, neighborhood revitalization and energy efficiency services.

They have a K-12 Sustainable Schools program that serves as a resource for Iowa school districts, cities, and community colleges to build a more sustainable future. Schools can hire sustainability coordinators from AmeriCorps whose main purpose is to provide education and mentorship about sustainability at schools. According to Sustainable Schools Program Manager Carmen Finken, these coordinators can have a variety of impacts.

“Our main focus is various environmental education efforts,” Finken said. “In the past we have implemented composting and recycling

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I WANTE D TO CR EATE A COM M U N ITY OF PEOPLE THAT COU LD COM E TO SHAR E TH E I R I DEAS AN D H E LP DO SOM E FU N TH I NGS OUTDOORS.” - RAI NA PFEI FER ‘22

programs, reduction in energy usage, and creating safe and sound environments within a K-12 setting.”

When the Sustainable Schools program began, educators were only working with young elementary students. Even from a young age, Finken noticed the impact the better funded environmental education programs can have and knew that these efforts needed to extend to the secondary level. “[Young students’] knowledge of environmental stewardship and their compassion and care for the environment grew pretty exponentially by just having consistent access to an environmental educator,” Finken said.

West had a sustainability coordinator from 2019 to 2021 but did not rehire them after their last 11-month term ended. Finken encourages all schools to seek someone to help with sustainability efforts.

“Students, especially high schoolers, are becoming very interested, passionate and vocal about [climate change],” Finken said. “If students are really interested in pursuing environmental science and want the district to take steps to become more sustainable, our AmeriCorps members can assist with that.”

Pfeifer wishes students could receive more information about these valuable resources and their impact on sustainability. She believes that if these efforts were advertised, more staff and students would be motivated and willing to help.

“I think if schools could publicize [sustainability efforts] more, it would give people more of a reason to be proud of their school, or the community,” Pfeifer said. “It could be like, ‘Okay we’re doing this to support the environment,’ instead of just being like, ‘Oh, we’re doing this but it’s kind of behind the scenes and people don’t really need to know about it.’”

Although large-scale projects such as geothermal heating and cooling are immensely impactful, Pfeifer believes it is the small changes as a community that matter the most.

“The little things are way more important than the big actions you can take,” Pfeifer said. “It’s just about using what you have and not overconsuming.”

GUIDE TO BEING GREEN Use paper sparingly.

Use natural light when possible.

Ask someone if you are uncertain what you can recycle.

Turn off your Smartboard when not in use.

Add some indoor plants to the classroom.

NEWS NOV. 19, 2021

07

PLUGGED PLUGGED IN IN With the majority of schoolwork taking place online and students increasingly turning to screens to fill their free time, it is important to understand the psychological effects of technology usage.

BY ROSEMARY TIMMER-HACKERT

SCREENS VS. OUR ATTENTION SPAN

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any high school students have faced the struggle of completing homework with their phone in reach. They may find themselves incredibly bored or fidgeting in their seat while fighting to stay focused, asking themselves what is wrong with them. The answer to that is nothing—most West High students have experienced the distraction that comes with technology at some point or another. In a poll of 103 students, 34% said they are often distracted by technology while doing school work, and another 43.7% said they are occasionally distracted. A study conducted by the University of Virginia found that people tend to display symptoms of inattentiveness and hyperactivity when near their phones.

These symptoms occur because cell phones are engineered to be addictive. Nowadays, many apps are free, with profits mainly coming from the sale of ad space on the platform. Therefore, the goal of most developers is to get people to

spend as much time as possible on their app, and they have found that the best way to hold consumers' attention is to maximize the release of dopamine, a hormone that causes pleasure.

The TikTok algorithm, for example, has a similar effect on the brain as gambling. Instead of spending money, the user spends their time, and the gamble is what the next video will be like.

Unlike traditional video platforms like YouTube, TikTok users do not know what video will come next and whether they will like it. They could enjoy it more or less than the previous one, but if they keep scrolling through videos, they will eventually find something they really like. Encountering that enjoyable video releases a lot of dopamine, encouraging the user to keep scrolling for hours.

These apps are engineered to teach the brain that a phone is a reliable place to turn to for the release of dopamine, which it craves. Many find themselves unmotivated when doing tasks

that do not cause the release of dopamine, like homework, and they start to crave their phone because their brain knows it will cause another surge of the hormone. The prospect of this dopamine release is what causes the inattentive and hyperactive symptoms.

Dopamine is not the only hormone whose release is affected by phones. Phone notifications can release cortisol, a stress hormone, which demands attention to whatever the brain deems a threat. The release of cortisol is what makes phone notifications so hard for people to ignore, causing phones to be quite disruptive when trying to get work done.

The best way for people to prevent phone-related distractions is to distance themselves from their phones by putting it out of reach or, even better, in another room entirely. To distance themselves mentally, they may turn their phone to Silent or Do Not Disturb when trying to focus.

Consuming information on the internet requires a much higher percentage of the cognitive load than getting the same information offline because websites are often oversaturated with hyperlinks, videos, pictures and advertisements, all of which increase the cognitive load.

This is especially relevant to West High students who have an average of two hours of online schoolwork each night. After the year of mixed online, hybrid and in-person schooling, more assignments and resources have shifted to be online, making it harder for students to learn.

Information already stored in long-term memory is also at risk because of the internet. While long-term memory doesn’t have a limit, it is possible for someone to lose information if they don’t work to recall it regularly. Putting in the work to remember recently learned informa-

tion signals the brain that it shouldn’t get rid of it, but what many students do instead is turn to Google. By not exercising the neural pathways needed to recall the information, students tell their brain that it doesn’t need to put in the effort to keep the knowledge stored in long-term memory.

Just knowing that the information can be found elsewhere can make someone less likely to remember it. In a 2014 psychological study conducted by Linda Henkel, she discovered that people were less able to remember objects that they had photographed. The participants observed 30 objects in a museum, but were only instructed to take a photo of half of the objects.

When questioned, participants were better able to recall the objects that they had not taken a photo of.

SCREENS VS. MEMORY

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ne of the sneakier side effects of technology is how it hinders the ability to remember information long term.

There are two reasons for this. First, the information presented on the internet often comes with too high a cognitive load to be stored properly. Second, our brains are much less likely to put effort into remembering something that could be accessible later.

The amount of information someone tries to store in their working memory is their cognitive load. If they try to store too much information in their working memory, the brain becomes overloaded and cannot transfer that information to their long-term memory.

08 HEALTH & SCIENCE NOV. 19, 2021

DIGITAL EYE STRAIN Digital eye strain refers to eye discomfort and vision problems that result from viewing screens for too long. Here is some information about it.

SYMPTOMS:

Headaches Blurred vision Dry eyes

CAUSES:

Poor lighting Improper viewing distances High contrast

In order to avoid digital eye strain, technology users should practice the 20/20/20 method, of looking at something 20 ft. away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.

Source: American Optometric Association

SCREENS VS. SLEEP

TT

echnology’s effect on sleeping habits is one of the most widely known and observed psychological effects of screen time. In a poll of West High students, 25% of respondents said an increase in technology usage has negatively impacted their sleep schedules.

The level of energy someone has throughout the day is determined by their circadian rhythm, or “biological clock”, which regulates body temperature and eating habits. It also regulates sleep cycles through the release of the hormone melatonin.

The amount and type of light in your environment determine your circadian rhythm. For most of human history, light levels coincided with the time of day, but now people are exposed to artificial light emitted by screens at all times of the day, throwing off their sleep schedules from the day-night cycle. To maintain a healthy sleep schedule, people should limit the amount of light in their environments three hours before they go to bed.

Blue light especially should be avoided. Different types of light have varying levels of impact on the circadian rhythm, with blue light affecting it the most. A Harvard study comparing green light to blue light found blue light suppresses melatonin production twice as long, setting back the circadian rhythm twice as much.

While being exposed to light at night is unavoidable for most high school students, there are some things students can do to decrease its

effect on their sleep schedule. The first is to reduce the amount of blue light emitted by screens after the sun sets. Many students at West High have already taken steps to combat blue light, with 14.6% owning blue light blocking glasses and 37.9% using blue light blocking apps.

These apps are easy to employ, with many devices having built-in functions to block blue light, such as night mode for Android users and night shift for Apple users. There are also a variety of free apps that can be installed on Chromebooks and PCs for this purpose, such as Twilight, F.lux and Bluelight Filter. Students can also mitigate technology’s effect on their sleep schedules by exposing themselves to plenty of bright light during the day.

People should also be aware of what they do in the 30 minutes before they go to sleep. Ideally, people should use this half-hour to wind down, but most apps are designed to keep your brain engaged so you will stay on them for longer. To get the best sleep possible, people should avoid doing things like going through their notifications, visiting social media platforms and doing homework right before bed. More passive activities like watching YouTube or Netflix are okay, but for many people, it can be tempting to continue watching past the time they wanted to go to bed. The ideal pre-sleep routine doesn’t involve technology at all, so students should make an effort to limit their usage.

What do West students do in their 30 minutes before bed?

25.5% of students said they are off screens

74.5% of students said they are on screens Of the 74.5%,

ART BY ARIA KHALIL DESIGN BY DEFNE BAYMAN

Scan here to watch a video about solutions to technology’s impact on attention span.

18.6% watch YouTube/ streaming services 17.9% go on social media 13.4% do homework 11.9% talk with friends 8.2% play video games 4.5% read online *out of 102 responses

HEALTH & SCIENCE NOV. 19, 2021

09

SHHHH...

BY JACK ALDEN, KAMAKSHEE KUCHHAL & KATHERINE SHOPPA

PHOTOS BY SACHIKO GOTO DESIGN BY SILA DURAN

Students at West share their unique experiences with the stigmas and education surrounding periods.

I

t’s okay to say it. Periods. The natural part of life that occurs when the lining of tissue around the uterus thickens in case there is a fertilized egg that needs help growing every month and if no egg is fertilized, this material is shed and leaves the body through the vagina.

Despite around half of the population having them at some point in their life, periods are still stigmatized due to a lack of education, making them feel like something that must be taken care of covertly.

According to HealthLine, the majority of people begin their period between ages 11 to 14. The first time students are taught about periods is 4th grade, where most students are split up based on gender. Charlotte Delowery ’25 believes this difference in education can cause discomfort to arise when talking about periods.

“It’s really hard for [people without periods] to understand what it really is and the science behind it,” Delowery said. “I think it was more the absence of learning.”

After what some students, such as Joseph Alarape ’23, considered to be insufficient discussions about periods in elementary school marked by giggling students and awkward teachers, the next time the topic arose was in 7th grade personal development. However, Alarape feels the knowledge provided was not sufficient and was not taught in a way where students could actually learn.

“If I compare my experience from what I know now to what I knew then, I learned more from the internet than I learned from that class,” Alarape said. “That’s because of the way that they [teach] the curriculum and how [unengaging] it

10 FEATURE NOV. 19, 2021

is. It just puts a lot of people off and they usually take it as a joke.”

One area where school education has lacked adequate coverage is how menstruation has many unique impacts on different groups of people, including in the way some people practice their religion. In Islam, people who menstruate must take hygienic precautions before

“

YOU SHOU LDN ’T FE E L ASHAM E D FOR SOM ETH I NG THAT’S NATU R AL .

”

- HAYATE M USTAFA ’23 performing certain ritual prayers, which menstruation can disrupt.

“You can’t pray because you have to wash yourself. There can’t be blood on you, [while praying], whether that’s from surgery or a wound,” said Hayate Mustafa ’23. “Obviously when you’re on your period you’re constantly bleeding.”

Receiving education about menstruation around the world is also important to under-

stand that not all countries have the same access to the same resources as the U.S. Mustafa acknowledges this gap in assets and the ways it can affect how others go about their lives.

“A lot of developing countries have cultures in which people who are on their periods are isolated,” Mustafa said. “They don’t have the resources. They miss school because they don’t have pads, or they don’t have tampons or anything of that nature.”

This isolation is not only due to lack of resources but is also a result of menstrual exile, which is when people with periods are moved from their homes into secluded shelters or livestock sheds during menstruation. This tradition, which is rooted in stigmas of periods, has been retained over time.

Due to the poor and often unsanitary conditions, efforts have been made to make menstrual shelters more safe and comfortable through the non-profit organization Kherwadi Social Welfare Association. Improved shelters have beds, running water, a first-aid kit and an indoor toilet. However, many still remain unsanitary, and while these huts make isolation more liveable, they do not solve the problem of being separated.

Developing countries also lack access to education about periods according to BMC Women’s Health, which has contributed to these practices and stigmas.

“I think a lot of people hold on to their culture so that’s been hard to change [in the past],” Mustafa said. “I think that’s what’s causing the stigmas to kind of break down … now that [the world is] more closely connected than they were previously, that’s what’s causing people to have a

shift of opinion.”

When discussing menstruation and breaking down stigmas, Renee Gould ’22, who identifies as genderfluid, believes it’s important to not brand periods as a “women’s issue.” This can contribute to many transgender and non-binary people who were assigned female at birth experiencing gender dysphoria, or feeling uneasy due to disagreement between their body and their gender identity. Gould experiences gender dysphoria while on their period.

“I will say now in dealing with the few times I have periods, wearing tampons would be incredibly gender dysphoria triggering for me,” Gould said. “I honestly had never liked them and now I finally understand why.”

Additionally, the gendered language used to refer to periods, such as how it is “an essential part of womanhood,” as well as the use of hy-

per-feminine products, can make menstruating feel extremely uncomfortable for transgender and non-binary individuals to experience. “[Periods] remind me what I was born as and that I can’t really change much about it,” said Wren Copple ’22.

One of the best things Gould feels can be done to help minimize these feelings is to start recognizing periods as something normal that affects people of all identities, which starts with education. University of Iowa Health Care LGBTQ Clinics provide counseling services and access to resources such as hormone therapy, gynecological exams and routine physical exams.

“We should do a ton more outreach for queer people and women and other people who menstruate [to] help remove the stigma around menstruation as well as around other people who are not necessarily females menstruating,”

Gould said. “A lot of this has to be done in health class, because it is a wide reaching program that will see a lot of people and will essentially be the best way to get it out there in a meaningful, impactful way.”

Mustafa believes it is important to remember that periods are just a natural part of life.

“You shouldn’t feel ashamed for something that’s natural, something that you are going through, your friends are going through, your mother and your grandmother and great grandmother have been through,” Mustafa said.

According to Alarape, education is crucial to removing the stigmas surrounding periods.

“I think education is a key part of [removing stigmas],” Alarape said. “With education comes interest, with interest comes action and with action comes change, so it’s more of a domino effect [that starts] with education.”

PERIOD MYTHS DEBUNKED MYTH #1

MYTH #2

MYTH #3

“Not everyone should have to learn about periods.”

“Periods are integral to womanhood.”

“Periods do not affect your day-today life.”

Menstruation affects a large population and education is key to stopping stigmas. Students having a wider perspective is integral to forming a better school environment.

You don’t have to menstruate to be considered a real woman.

This requirement excludes trans and non-binary people as well as postmenopausal women.

While people who are on their periods are capable of doing normal things, cultural practices can be affected for some people because of pain and blood.

Sources: BioMed Central Women’s Health, Menstural Hygiene Day

FEATURE NOV. 19, 2021

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HO N A SC A LE O F W 1 TO 10, EXH AUST ED ARE YOU? As students return from learning online to learning in person, many are undergoing an exhausting period of transition.

BY LILLY GRAHAM & JANE LAM

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ast year, many students opted to learn from home, often citing the threat COVID-19 posed to the safety of themselves and others. As more individuals were vaccinated and knowledge about COVID-19 increased, students attending online school chose to return to learning in person this year. However, there is a significant difference between staying engaged

“ [BECAUSE OF TH E PAN DE M IC] TH EY ’ R E EXHAUSTE D ... THOSE FEARS, THOSE STR ESSO RS, THOSE CONVE RSATION S. AN D TH E FACT THAT TH EY AR E NOT OVE R .”

- DARI EN ROBI NS, ENGLISH TEACH ER

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FEATURE NOV. 19, 2021

in a school building for seven hours versus half a day of Zoom classes. Poor sleep schedules, heavy school workloads and general feelings of weariness have made the switch to in-person learning an exhausting process for many students.

While online, students could attend classes in bed, making school in person a starkly different reality. Students now develop unhealthy and unsustainable routines as they try to juggle classes, schoolwork and extracurriculars with much less time, for the school day now takes up seven hours of the day.

Nao Oya ’23 is one formerly online student who finds herself staying up until 3 or 4 a.m. to complete assignments. This creates a cycle in which she is tired during school the next day and cannot fully engage during her classes.

“I literally fell asleep [in class] … every time I would look at the words on the paper, I felt like they’d be shaking,” Oya said. “I didn’t learn anything.”

Anjali Lodh ’25 often gets only six hours of sleep and does not have time to eat breakfast, both of which intensify her exhaustion.

“It was hard adjusting from only half-days last year to full days and longer periods … and it’s really hard to wake up on time after staying up late to do homework,” Lodh wrote in a WSS survey response.

English teacher Darien Robins has noted significant exhaustion and stress amongst his students, with mental health being almost as poor as last year. In his classroom, Robins has observed students frequently struggling to return from a largely digital environment last year to a physical space in which they must participate.

“For the last year and a half, my students spent a lot of time in a digital space,” Robins said.

“Their body was secondary. [Students] are still struggling to get off of their phones … and away from their digital selves.”

With online school, the schedule was divided into half-days, allowing students additional time to spend on homework assignments during asynchronous time. Now in person, students struggle to manage intense workloads that dominate their lives.

“I literally bawl my eyes out because I have so much homework,” Oya said. “Sometimes I won’t want to go to school because I don’t want the

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EXPERIENCING BURNOUT? Scan the QR code on the table of contents page for more resources.

ART & DESIGN BY WILLIAM CHENG

feeling of having so much homework.”

Oya has observed how missing just one assignment can snowball, making an individual so behind that they no longer care. She also believes teachers must acknowledge students’ lives outside of class, including activities other than homework, such as jobs and extracurriculars.

“It’s such a crazy adjustment from staying at home,” Oya said. “I can’t imagine being in a bad place but also having to do so much work for school.”

Robins notes that the struggle of living through a pandemic plays into student burnout.

“The last year and a half are very much still with students,” Robins said. “They’re exhausted … those fears, those stressors, those conversations and the fact that they are not over.”

The balance of schoolwork and personal life becomes even trickier with a job. Miles Davies ’22 is one of the students who has been impacted, as he works 10 to 20 hours a week at Fareway.

As a senior, Davies also has the extra challenge of applying for college and scholarships.

“The combination of busier school with other big events is causing stress and exhaustion,” Davies wrote in an email. “Schoolwork is less of a priority than it was before, and I find myself cutting more corners and doing the minimum more often.”

Ella Houston ’24 has also described the transition of moving to in-person learning as challenging. The shift back to a classroom environment and the slower pacing of being in person have been detrimental to her mental health.

“Last year, I was genuinely much happier. I could still talk to my friends, and I had time to myself, but now that I’m back in person, I can’t seem to catch a break ever,” Houston wrote via survey.

This transition also led to Houston feeling like she lost progress that she had made as a student during online school.

“COVID helped me develop some better habits that I can apply to this year but didn’t have in junior high. However, I’m largely back to the same state of learning that I was [in] before COVID,” Houston wrote.

Similarly, Lodh feels as though she has become a worse student this school year.

“I don’t have as much time,” Lodh said. “Now, I have to do the bare minimum just to get an A instead of going above and beyond like I used to.”

Lodh’s perspective has also evolved. Because she was in seventh grade at the pandemic’s on-

set, the transition to high school has been made even harder coming from online school.

“High school is definitely a lot harder for me,” Lodh said. “If I was in seventh grade and saw some of my grades now, I’d feel like ‘Oh my God, this is horrible,’ but right now, I don’t think I’m doing awfully.”

Like Oya, Lodh believes teachers could be more accommodating when it comes to lessening the burden of homework.

“Teachers should be more receptive to when their assignments get to be too much,” Lodh said.

“They’re not really thinking about the workload of all the other classes added up. They’re like, ‘It’s not too much for this one student [in] this one class.’”

Robins’ primary objective is to ensure that his students enjoy class while learning. Consequently, he tries to make all students’ learning individualized, allowing room for accommodations and curriculum adjustments. While some students may feel as if their concerns are not being addressed, Robins emphasizes that all West educators are focused on enhancing their students’ learning.

“Even if … you have a rough conversation with a teacher and administrator, know that we’re just trying so hard to build something that helps you,” Robins said.

Aside from the burden of rigorous academics on students stepping back into the school building, the social demands of interacting with others non-stop for an entire school day can also be draining.

Jay Mascardo ’23 has noticed a pattern of burnout among their friends, especially those who are introverted.

“The constant being in-person … going from class to class seeing people, being overwhelmed by people can be exhausting,” Mascardo said. “It seems very monotonous and just tedious and lame.”

Contrary to some of their classmates, Mascardo’s outlook on returning to in-person learning is largely positive. Mascardo enjoys the ability to regularly check in on their friends, unplug from technology and participate in a physical classroom with a teacher. “[I have enjoyed] being able to get the education that I feel is most helpful for me and I’m able to see my friends and everything and check in how they’re doing. It’s just so much easier,” Mascardo said.

Acknowledging how difficult living through a

pandemic is has helped Mascardo navigate this shift in learning models.

“You’re in a pandemic; you are a teenager,” Mascardo said. “At your age, [your parents] were not in a global pandemic. They don’t have all of these things that make your life so hard.”

Oya’s advice for those battling the burnout that comes with learning in person is to find the time to reset and prioritize self-care.

“Just take a break. It doesn’t really help if you’re super overwhelmed,” Oya said.

Mascardo also finds that fatigue will diminish one’s quality of work and negatively impact the following day.

“If you’re exhausted, sleep. That’s better than doing a [mediocre] job and then feeling awful the next morning because you got three hours of sleep,” Mascardo said.

Oya stresses that maintaining one’s mental health should come before school. “School is important, but it’s not everything,” Oya said.

“You don’t want to ruin your mental health over school.”

“ LAST YEAR , I FE E L LI KE I WAS G E N U I N E LY M UCH HAPPI E R . I COU LD STI LL TALK TO MY FR I E N DS, AN D I HAD TI M E TO MYSE LF. BUT NOW THAT I ’ M BACK I N PE RSON , I CAN ’T SE E M TO CATCH A B R EAK EVE R .”

- ELLA HOUSTON ‘24

FEATURE NOV. 19, 2021

13

NOTES OF CREATIVITY Junior Bryan Chuong expresses himself through the art he creates and the music he composes, both of which have become integral parts of his life.

BY MISHA CANIN & HELEN ZHANG ART COURTESY OF BRYAN CHUONG PHOTO BY DEFNE BAYMAN DESIGN BY SACHIKO GOTO

14 PROFILES NOV.19, 2021

H

is pencil flies across the paper, lightly shading here and there, harsher lines drawn from time to time. For Bryan Chuong ’23, sketching is often his creative outlet. He has been drawing for four years and has an impressive collection of artwork to show.

However, this is not the only art form Bryan practices. He also composes music and even has a YouTube channel to share his final products with the world.

One of Bryan’s biggest influences to begin his drawing journey was the anime series “Violet Evergarden.”

“I used to just kind of draw passively, a little doodle here, do a little doodle there,, but when I saw that show, that’s when I was like, ‘I need to learn how to draw,’” Bryan said.

The school he was attending at the time did not offer any courses that satisfied this desire, so he went to YouTube for help. While learning, Bryan discovered the importance of emulating other artists’ artwork and being repetitive in his practice.

As Bryan begins his process, he often looks to social media for inspiration. One of his favorite artists is @yoneyamai on Twitter.

After finding inspiration, the drawing process begins. Although he has used a variety of mediums, including a Cintiq 16 electronic tablet, Bryan usually opts for pencil and paper drawings ever since school began. This makes it easier for him to create art anytime, anywhere.

The art he creates on the Cintiq 16 is incredibly time-consuming because of how detailed each piece is and becomes very difficult for Bryan to keep up with. Drawing with a pencil and paper allows him to practice his skills without the high stakes of creating the perfect piece. Bryan often uses drawing as an incentive to complete his schoolwork in the classroom.

“When I’m drawing during school, it’s less about creating a beautiful piece of work and more about keeping my skills and refining myself … it’s more about learning about muscle and anatomy and foundations rather than trying to build a finished piece of art,” Bryan said.

Bryan’s more detailed pieces can take a while, causing potential burnout. He combats this fatigue by using skills he has learned along the way. His most valuable tip is to step away and return later.

“Something that artists run into a lot is burnout and running out of fuel for what you want to do,” Bryan said.“Every time I had burnout or got close, I took a break and came back. That’s when I saw the highest jump in improvement.”

When Bryan finishes a project, he posts on his Instagram @yufa_009, which boasts countless

pieces of anime-style art.

“In ninth grade, it was more inanimate objects ... but recently he’s been more focused on facial features or the whole body. His Instagram account does feature quite a lot of it. If anyone were to look through it, you could see the progression,” said Tanvi Kuppachi ’23, a friend of Bryan’s.

Although Bryan is quite confident now, when he began in 2018, he often felt discouraged.

Since then, he has learned his length of experience is not as important as he felt it was.

“Everyone says this and then no one believes it, but it’s true that you can really start any time,” Bryan said. “I started way after childhood so it wasn’t integrated into my system. It wasn’t like a part of my life, and it became part of it.”

Unlike drawing, Bryan had contact with music from an early age. His musical training began with piano lessons at the age of 5 after watching his older sister play. Then, the piano soundtrack to “Xenoblade Chronicles 2” reignited his interest in the instrument at age 13. At 14, Bryan

good bass melody,” Bryan said when describing his composition process. “I just kind of let my ideas fall out of my head onto the keys … I input it into the software [MuseScore] … It’s just a bunch of trial and error.”

Bryan enjoys performing a variety of music styles, from melancholic and eerie to happy.

Kuppachi finds it fascinating how Bryan can change the way he sings.

“He has a wide range, which is very interesting to see him record different things,” Kuppachi said. “It won’t necessarily be singing; it’ll just be like talking in a different pitch or something, but it’s still really interesting to see how he can do that with his voice.”

After being inspired by cover artist Miyashita Yuu, Bryan decided to start a YouTube channel for his music, posting his first singing cover June 24, 2020.

Bryan’s covers on his channel are in Japanese, which he began learning in eighth grade.

“Learning Japanese was probably a good motivation for starting to sing Japanese songs be-

“ START SOM ETH I NG, AN D I F IT DOESN ’T GO ANY WH E R E [THAT’S OK AY]. BUT I F IT DOES GO ANY WH E R E , YOU ’ LL BE R EALLY G R ATE FU L THAT YOU DI D.” - BRYAN CH UONG ‘23 began lessons with a new piano teacher after he moved to Coralville in the summer of 2019.

Moving here was the idea of Bryan’s older sister, Jenny Chuong. Jenny wanted to expose him to the cultural diversity of the Iowa City area and its wide range of opportunities in and outside of school. Unlike Iowa Falls, the Chuongs’ previous location, Iowa City has multiple piano teachers to choose from.

“Everyone has a different learning style, so in the Iowa City community, if you found a teacher you didn’t like, you would have the opportunity to change teachers,” Jenny said. “Being in this community gives us a lot more choices.”

In addition to composing music on the piano, Bryan also sings. He draws inspiration from several genres, including anime soundtracks, J-pop and future core.

“I kind of get a feeling like I want to write something, and then I’ll go to the piano and key any key and then just mess around until I get a

cause it really helped with pronunciation,” Bryan said. “Something about the style in Japan just kind of jives with me.”

Bryan finds it difficult to balance his time between art and music but believes having both skills is useful.

“They kind of support each other if I want to do a multimedia project like drawing with some music behind me [or] if I were to make an album cover,” Bryan said.

Writing and producing an album is a longterm goal of his. He also would love to sell his art as a future career.

Bryan encourages others to give their interests a try no matter how much time they have left.

“Start something, and if it doesn’t go anywhere, [that is okay],” Bryan said. “But if it does go anywhere, you’ll be really grateful that you did.”

PROFILES NOV. 19, 2021

15

AUDREY’S ADORNMENTS ELL teacher Audrey Bailey shares the sewing experiences that have shaped her everyday outfits and confidence.

BY RUBA AHMED & SOOMIN KOH DESIGN BY GRACE HUANG

PHOTOS BY MOHAMED MUSA

16 PROFILES NOV. 19, 2021

W

hile there is much debate on whether shopping is an enjoyable activity, a less discussed issue is how difficult it can be for some. This becomes particularly apparent when society imposes unrealistic beauty standards and generalizes the shape of every woman’s body. With this in mind, ELL teacher Audrey Bailey turned to sewing to create clothes that complimented her own body, not just the mannequin.

“I wanted to make clothes that fit my body type, because a lot of times with plus-size clothes, they’re not very attractive,” Audrey said.

Audrey describes her fashion as “elegant” with some parts being “bright and funky”. During the interview with WSS, Audrey wore a handmade pumpkin pattern shirt with a solid black blazer and pants.

“Today, I made the shirt, and the earrings,” Audrey said. “I didn’t make the rest of [the outfit] but I’m wearing the things that I make and then trying to add more to what I wear to school.”

Since she was young, Audrey has dabbled in sewing and crafting. Growing up in a sewing household, Audrey expanded her skills from a longtime favorite—beadworking—to designing her own clothing.

“My mom … would have us do sewing projects when we were little … and then I stopped sewing for a while,” Audrey said. “For me to go and make something that I actually like kind of started my inspiration this round to start back into [sewing].”

One of Audrey’s favorite garments to make are dresses. After scrolling through Pinterest and Instagram to gather inspiration, she begins her dressmaking process. First, she examines her closet of past handmade garments to figure out what sewing pattern she will use for the project.

Then comes the best part: heading to the fabric store.

“Going to the fabric store and picking out the fabric which is one of my favorite parts,” Audrey said. “The options are endless.”

ELL teacher Jessica St. John, who has been friends with Audrey for 14 years, watched Audrey throughout her journey of sewing various different clothes. St. John is often amazed at Audrey’s sewing skills.

“I’ll be like, ‘Where did you get that?’ and she’s like, ‘Oh I made this’ and it’s like, well no wonder it’s so unique,” St. John said. “I want something

similar but then we can’t get it because she made it.”

Audrey uses her creative talent to overcome barriers posed by limitations of commercial clothing sizes and styles. However, unlike buying clothes from the store, there are many potential roadblocks during the sewing process before the final product is ready to wear.

“It’s really cool to make stuff, but it can be very frustrating. I’ve wanted to punch my sewing machine a million times,” Audrey said. “There’s always something that can go wrong and then you have to rip something out, so it’s not always super fun all the time.”

Despite the challenges, sewing has become more than just making clothes for Audrey.

From exploring different patterns and fabrics to self-empowerment and reinforcing body positivity, sewing has completely transformed her mindset.

“To me, it was going through my own process of self-acceptance and self-love and [I] really struggled with that. [Then] I realized it doesn’t matter what size you are; you can wear a pretty dress and you can wear nice clothes,” Audrey said. “I think that was the change that really brought me to making my clothes.”

Throughout her sewing journey, Audrey always consults the person she learned it all from: her mother.

“I was getting back into sewing and had forgotten a lot of things,” Audrey said. “I had to call my

mom and FaceTime her a couple times because things were not going well … and she would help me figure it out.”

Audrey’s mother, Lori Bailey, cherishes these calls with her daughter and sees it as an opportunity for them to bond over something beyond sewing advice.

“I love it because it gives us something that we’re actually doing together that we both like, and I love that she calls me because sometimes when she’s so busy with school … she doesn’t call me as much,” Lori said. “So if I have one more reason why she calls me then I’m pretty happy.”

Lori also admires Audrey’s inventiveness, viewing her hobby to be especially beneficial during these times.

“I love to see that she’s being creative, and we all need those positive things in our life right now. So if it brings her joy, then I’m all about that.”

In the future, Audrey would like to pursue more advanced projects. While sewing gives Audrey a creative outlet to express herself, it also has a deep meaning to her.

“It’s definitely become a body positivity thing for me [by] learning to just wear a crazy dress if I want to and not be afraid of that, based off my size,” Audrey said.

“

IT DOESN ’T MATTE R WHAT SIZE YOU AR E; YOU CAN WEAR A PR ETTY DR ESS AN D YOU CAN WEAR N ICE CLOTH ES.

”

-AU DREY BAI LEY, ELL TEACH ER

PROFILES NOV. 19, 2021

17

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19

West Side Story explores the experiences of trans and non-binary students at West High.

BY ZAIRA AHMAD, ELLA DE YOUNG & CAROLINE MASCARDO The word “trans” has been used in this article instead of “transgender” to be more inclusive.

Terms like transgender, transgendered and transsexual have been widely weaponized against the trans community due to the composition of the words themselves. ender. Even before a child is born, they are given a label: boy or girl. Excited parents choose clothes and toys based on the social construct that is gender— pink is for girls, blue is for boys. Girls play with Barbies, boys play with trucks. Girls wear dresses, boys wear pants. Society has built gender to be the idea that clothing, personality and objects all fit into one of two categories. However, gender is not the same as sex. Gender is how one describes themself, whereas sex is determined at birth and only refers to one’s reproductive organs. Society controls neither an individual’s gender nor their name and pronouns.

names and pronouns With the general public becoming more educated about gender, the sharing of pronouns has become more normalized. While the use of they/them pronouns dates back to as early as 1386, society has only begun to recognize them more recently.

Students used to only learn about she/her and he/him pronouns, but now they also learn about they/them and neopronouns, demonstrating how grammar has shifted with societal norms.

Contrary to common belief, the use of they/ them and all other pronouns is grammatically correct, according to the APA Style Handbook.

This includes neopronouns, which are new pronouns used in place of “he,” “she” or “they” (e.g. xe/xem/xyr and ze/hir/hirs).

Although grammatical concepts have evolved, societal norms are still catching up. Teachers try

their best to use students’ correct pronouns, but it can be difficult for students to correct them when necessary. This holds for trans student Hayden Dillon ’24.

“I feel like I often just don’t correct my teachers … it’s just harder to speak up against [them] because they’re more of an authority figure,” Dillon said.

Although students may add their names and pronouns to Canvas and Infinite Campus, some have taken additional steps to ensure others recognize their identity.

“I changed my Google picture to the trans flag.

It’s a sign for some people that [the name in my email] is not actually my name,” Dillon said.

Overall, as an English teacher, Kerri Barnhouse thinks the reason for the grammatical shift in pronoun usage is the normalization of identities beyond the gender binary.

“There’s a way that somebody said was grammatically correct at some point, but we also

know that times have changed and culture has changed,” Barnhouse said. “Our understanding of people has changed, and let’s allow [pronouns] to change with it.”

While teachers make mistakes, Barnhouse feels they have their students’ best interests at heart.

“Teachers work really hard to try to remember [students’ pronouns],” Barnhouse said. “Teachers remind each other about [pronouns]; people share different ways of having kids fill out different forms.”

However, it is not uncommon for an individual to unintentionally misgender another. Haley Jungles, Sex Health Instructor for United Action for Youth, proposes there is a simple way to manage this.

“Ask for people’s pronouns. I don’t assume anyone’s pronouns if I don’t know [their] pronouns or haven’t asked yet. I automatically go with ‘them,’” Jungles said.

Pronouns do not always correspond to gender, making it especially important to ask for them.

For example, one may identify as male but use they/them pronouns. Jungles believes creating an environment that accepts and understands pronouns should start from a young age.

“I don’t think [students] are ever too young to learn about pronouns. Everyone has pronouns— they need to understand what that means,” Jungles said.

Along with educating students, West High Assistant Principal Maureen Head feels the school is responsible for creating an environment that welcomes everyone.

“It’s our job to have a safe space for kids, to respect their humanity and gender identity, and to correctly pronounce their names,” Head said. “[It is] part of what makes them human, so it’s absolutely important.”

Head sees improvements administrators can make, including setting a positive example to normalize the sharing of pronouns.

“All of the administrators could do a better job with how we model. I’ve seen a lot of people with email signatures that include their pronouns,” Head said. “I just want a really small and simple way for teachers to start including [pronouns].”

Although West tries to create an environment that welcomes all, not everyone understands that pronouns and gender identity do not necessarily correspond. Joseph Polyak ’22, who uses he/they pronouns, sometimes feels conflicted about how others refer to them.

“Maybe I feel compelled to use [he/him pronouns], maybe I want to use [he/him pronouns].

I’m unsure,” Polyak said. “Addressing it can at times feel like sitting in a room across from an oppressively massive and unsettling oil painting.”

As a non-binary student, Andy Ham ’24 believes coming to terms with one’s identity is an ongoing process.

GENDER (N.): (N.) : a set of identities systemized as feminine or masculine that are assigned to people at birth; a social construct that can be modified or rejected to reflect one’s true self SEX (N.): a category that is assigned to every person at birth: either male, female or intersex INTERSEX (ADJ.): someone born with a combination of male and female reproductive organs TRANS (ADJ.): someone whose gender identity does not align with the gender they were assigned at birth CISGENDER (ADJ.): someone whose gender identity is the same as their gender assigned at birth GENDER IDENTITY (N.): how an individual identifies in regards to gender GENDER EXPRESSION (N.): how an individual communicates their gender through clothing, behavior, etc.

PRONOUNS (N.): words an individual wants to be referred to by (e.g. he/him, she/her, they/them, neopronouns, or a combination of any or all) QUESTIONING (ADJ.): an individual in the process of exploring their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression GENDER TRANSITION (N.): the process of asserting one’s gender identity over the gender they were assigned to at birth, whether by medical transition and/or social transition MISGENDER (V.): referring to a person in a way that does not correctly reflect their gender identity, whether with incorrect pronouns or terms Source: GLSEN, GLAAD

“Labels and names are not definite; you don’t have to stick with anything that you don’t want to stick with,” Ham said.

school environment Among students, there are varying perspectives on the level of inclusion of trans and non-binary students at West High. Polyak has a more positive view of the climate.

“Overall, I consider [West High] a fairly accepting place that tries to care for each other, and it has a diverse spectrum of people,” Polyak said.

In comparison, Ham perceives the West High community as not as considerate as it should be.

“It’s not something quite as simple as, ‘I don’t like you.’ Some people can be perfectly clear of that, but here, it’s difficult to tell what people really think. That’s just true of any place with teenagers,” Ham said. “I think they’re supportive but don’t quite understand all of this.”

In recent years, West High traditions have changed to create a more inclusive community.

In 2018, a non-traditional homecoming court format, the Heroes of Troy, was introduced to the homecoming dance at West. The former design of homecoming was that a king and queen were the final two people picked. The Heroes of Troy is a gender-neutral way for the student body to recognize six of their classmates without regard to gender categories.

“That felt really good in terms of not having a binary system of nominating kids who are worthy of recognition at school,” Head said.

This year, the upperclassmen homecoming events, previously known as the Powderpuff and Manball Games, became the Trojan Games.

“I hope that this is just a small piece of building a more inclusive school,” Head said.

While the Heroes of Troy and the Trojan Games were ideas brought up by students, teachers also try to make West High more welcoming. Dot Spoerl, a paraeducator who uses all pronouns, helped paint the various gender identity and sexual orientation flags at the “Welcome to West” sign. “[The flags are] sparking awareness, sparking conversations, sparking curiosity to [think], ‘Maybe I’ve seen that flag before. I wonder what it means,’ and looking into it,” Spoerl said. “Or maybe someone is coming into themselves, and they’re on an identity journey and seeing those flags can help them understand themselves a little more.”

Trans and non-binary individuals at West may also find a sense of understanding and support in COLORS Club. COLORS Club is a community of LGBTQ+ students who come together to simply talk in a comfortable environment. “[COLORS Club] is just really accepting—it’s a safe place to hang out with people who kind of understand me,” Dillon said.

Barnhouse, the COLORS Club advisor, witnesses students benefiting from the club. “[In COLORS Club], I notice that they suddenly come out of their shell, and they become much more social,” Barnhouse said. “They feel like they finally have a place.”

Resources like the University of Iowa LGBTQ

of trans and non-binary students report bullying in their schools due to gender.

of trans and non-binary students report hearing hurtful comments about gender from teachers.

of trans and non-binary students always feel safe in class.

Source: 2020 ICCSD Culture and Climate Survey

Health Clinic also provide a safe space and free mental health care for trans and non-binary students.

“Having an LGBTQ Counseling Clinic signaled to me that I would have support and acceptance here. I hope that is increasingly true for

trans students everywhere,” said Calyn Leake, associate director of the clinic.

education Many sources, including school, the internet and peers, contribute to the understanding of gender. Nevertheless, these resources do not provide equal access to the information many trans and non-binary students seek.

Grayson McNamar ’24, a trans student, does not feel represented in portions of the health curriculum.

“They leave out transgender [people]. They leave out all of the things that aren’t specifically written down in the textbook, which can make for some very interesting, awkward moments,” McNamar said.

During West’s required trimester-long health course, where students learn about gender identity in the human growth and sexuality unit, a sex health educator from UAY teaches students in health class for a week.

“A lot of those lessons talk about gender identity and sexual orientation, and all of those pieces, so they’re very explicitly taught during those portions,” said Lindsey Schluckebier, the ICCSD Health Curriculum Coordinator.

Although trans students see progress in the education department, they detect a lack of focus on gender identity and trans inclusion in any curriculum.

“There have definitely been discussions about transgender rights in more open classes, but those have just been fleeting moments,” Ham said.

Due to the inadequacy of trans education in schools, many students turn to the internet for more clarification and assistance. For Dillon, the aid of social media during the pandemic gave him a better understanding of his gender.

“I started following more LGBTQ+ pages on Instagram, and a lot of them have informational stuff. [I realized] there are these words that I can use to describe myself,” Dillon said. “It can make you wonder if all that hadn’t happened, would I have ever even realized?”

The school curriculum did not provide much support to McNamar either. The most beneficial source of insight came from his friends. “[Trans education] is something that should be in our curriculum. It’s something that should be widely spread, like in normal conversations or conversations amongst friends—just so people have more of an idea about what they’re talking about when they say ‘trans’ because right now, it’s just a label,” McNamar said.

Education is ever-evolving. “[LGBTQ-inclusive education] wasn’t really even on our radar 36 years ago when I was in the classroom. That was not something we probably discussed and certainly not something that was part of our instruction,” said Diane Schumacher,

the ICCSD Director of Teaching and Learning for the Elementary Schools.

With constant developments in education, Jamie Ellis, the UAY Pride Group Organizer, feels gender identity instruction should begin in elementary school.

“The younger they are, the more [teachers can say], ‘Hey, do you know that there are all kinds of people in the world? Do you know that there are all kinds of families?’” Ellis said. “Once you get to fourth, fifth, sixth grade, you can start talking about the specific uniqueness of family.

I think normalizing that not everyone is exactly like you [is important].”

Ellis believes learning never stops, and it is fundamental in further creating a more inclusive environment at West.

“There are new labels and pronouns and identities—there’s something new to learn every day,” Ellis said. “The beautiful thing about it is that people are also learning those things about themselves.”

restrooms To promote a more accepting environment for trans and non-binary individuals, West High added one single-stall gender-neutral restroom in 2018. While the restroom is available for all to use, students like Tori Lowman ’23 find its location in the art hallway inconvenient.

“There’s only one gender-neutral bathroom here, which is so stupid. There should be more, and a lot of people don’t want to have to walk all the way to the art wing if they’re all the way in the language wing,” Lowman said.

Dillon sees the addition of the gender-neutral restroom as a mediocre effort by administrators. “[After West] put up the gender-neutral bathroom, I feel like they just do the bare minimum,” Dillon said. “It feels like, ‘Here, we gave you this.

Are you happy now?’”

Polyak sees separate restrooms as enforcing and normalizing the gender binary.

“Society has been telling me to use this [bathroom] for the past 17 years of my life, so I guess I already feel comfortable with the concept of ‘this is the me bathroom’ rather than ‘this is the guys’ bathroom,’” Polyak said.

Instead, Polyak believes gender-neutral bathrooms should be the norm. “[Having gender-neutral spaces] breaks down the concept of a gender binary society and also gives more places that don’t force someone to confront their gender identity,” Polyak said.

Principal Mitch Gross recognizes these issues and hopes to improve them soon.

“I would love to have bathrooms renovated with this next round [of construction] and to make sure that we have more gender-neutral bathrooms,” Gross said.

exclusion Despite districtwide and schoolwide progress regarding the inclusion of trans and non-binary students in the classroom, many students experience transphobia regularly.

“It wasn’t until this year when I started noticing people making casually transphobic comments around me,” Polyak said. “Then you just sit there and be like, ‘This is not a good place to address that, so I guess I have to let that slip,’ because people generally don’t listen to the opinions and observations of random strangers.”

Ham believes administrators can do more to address transphobia in the classroom.

“I’ve definitely had experiences where people assume things and are less educated about [trans people] than people who have dealt with them in their personal lives, but I don’t know that the district or West High does a whole lot about things like transphobia,” Ham said.

McNamar thinks the district responds reactively rather than proactively to transphobic events. “[The ICCSD] addresses it … like all things that aren’t strictly talked about—we don’t really talk about depression until something happens; we don’t really talk about [transphobia] until something happens. It’s something that we know about—it’s in the back of our heads—but it’s not fully presented,” McNamar said.

As the ICCSD Director of Diversity and Cultural Responsiveness, Laura Gray has witnessed transphobia in various forms, most commonly in subtle interactions between trans and cisgender individuals.

“What I’ve seen a lot of [trans students] face is microaggressions—things that aren’t said, nonverbal reactions or [not] using preferred pronouns,” Gray said. “Things like that are harmful.”

On a larger scale, long-lasting institutional discrimination has significantly affected the well-being of trans and non-binary people.

“The LGBTQ+ community has historically been an underserved community that has also been harmed by both medical and mental health professions pathologizing LGBTQ+ identities.

Mental health continues to be a pressing issue facing trans and non-binary youth,” Leake said.

According to the Trevor Project, ​​more than half of trans and non-binary youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.

Additionally, nearly half of LGBTQ+ youth have wanted counseling from a mental health professional but did not receive it.

“Trans and non-binary youth have higher rates of suicide, likely due to the increased minority stress experiences faced by this population,” Leake said. “Unfortunately, much of this minority stress is due to systemic discrimination. For this to get better, there needs to be change and

The Trevor Project is a nonprofit that works to prevent suicide among young LGBTQ+ individuals. Some of its resources include:

ART BY KAILEY GEE & ZOEY GUO PHOTOS COURTESY OF ZAIRA AHMAD, RUBA AHMED, HAYDEN DILLON, KAILEY GEE, JANE LAM AND TORI LOWMAN PHOTO EDITING BY ARIA KHALIL DESIGN BY KAILEY GEE

Crisis Counselors: If you are ever in need of support, trained counselors are available 24/7. Counselors can be contacted through a chat, phone call or messages. It is completely free and 100% confidential.

TrevorSpace: TrevorSpace is a moderated online platform for people ages 13 through 24. The platform is an international community that allows young people to talk about coming out, relationships and anything else on their minds.

Resource Center: The resource center is a great place to find information on topics such as mental health, gender identity, coming out and more. It even offers handbooks that can guide you through processes like conversation and support. The research center is not only beneficial for LGBTQ+ youth but for anyone looking to learn more.

Source: The Trevor Project

GENDER IDENTITIES This is a brief overview and not a definitive list.

Trans: an umbrella term for someone whose gender identity and/or expression is different from the gender assigned to them at birth Non-binary: someone who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman Genderqueer: someone who identifies as neither male nor female, as somewhere in between or beyond genders, or as a combination of genders Genderfluid: someone who does not identify with a single fixed gender or has a fluid, unfixed gender identity Agender: someone who identifies as not having a gender Demigender: someone who feels a partial but not complete connection to a particular gender identity (e.g. demigirl, demiboy) Pangender: someone whose gender identity and/or gender expression is numerous, either fixed (many at once) or fluid (moving from one to another, often more than two)

Source: GLSEN, University of Massachusetts, Human Rights Campaign

support at societal and structural levels.”

Rachel Maller is a former research assistant on the equity-implemented partnership between the University of Iowa Public Policy Center and the ICCSD. From 2015 through 2020, she helped administer the annual School Climate Survey to ICCSD students in fifth through 12th grade.

Administrators use the survey results to address the disparities in the district and work toward promoting equity in the classroom. In 2020, 2% of ICCSD students identified as non-binary, an umbrella term the survey uses for all non-cisgender identities. That number is closer to 1% at West. “[The School Climate Survey] highlights all these different data that demonstrate the inequities in schools that non-binary and LGB students face,” Maller said. “There’s a lot of bullying and harassment, and these things are connected to your achievement, mental health and future outcomes.”

Throughout her work, Maller has seen little change in how trans and non-binary students feel at school. In 2017, the ICCSD added LGBTQ-specific questions to the School Climate Survey. That year, 70% of non-binary students reported feeling unsafe in their classes, and in 2020, that number was 68%.

“Something that often gets neglected is the urgency of this [issue] and thinking ‘We’ll get to that,’” Maller said. “It’s so urgent because of people’s mental health, and everything is at stake.

You’re going to have to put [in] work to be able to change it over time; you can’t just hope it will change, because it will not.”

Social studies teacher Travis Henderson believes that students have the most significant influence on the school culture.

“Little things change a culture, and each student particularly making that decision every day is what shapes the culture because you have to make what feels normal,” Henderson said. “If it feels normal to make transphobic comments, we have to shift the norm to make it unacceptable, and teachers alone can’t do that.”

According to a 2019 study, 71% of adolescents claim they have observed bullying at school.

Henderson believes equipping students with bystander intervention strategies will have the most significant impact on school culture.

“If someone hears something, then having the tools to intervene makes a difference, not just for the student who was a target of that particular comment. [It] also provides one small moment that ultimately influences a broader culture,” Henderson said. “If we have students who feel comfortable doing direct or indirect intervention strategies when they hear something problematic or unintentionally hurtful, that starts to shift a culture.”

moving forward In 2021, the Iowa legislature proposed 15 bills discriminating against the trans community, seven of which directly targeted students. These bills ranged from limiting trans students from participating in athletics to outing students for their pronouns to allowing discrimination for religious reasons. None of these bills became law.

“The intentional exclusion of transgender people is alienating and dehumanizing,” Ham said.

“It’s an awful thing to do.”

Dillon believes politicians have no reason to propose transphobic bills.

“It’s so wrong … it doesn’t affect [politicians] at

“DON’T MIND WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK. JUST TAKE YOUR TIME TO FIGURE OUT WHO YOU ARE AND BE HAPPY WITH YOURSELF.” - HAYDEN DILLON ’24 all,” Dillon said. “There’s no point for that, except to be transphobic.”

In the face of this adversity, Head thinks schools must be a safe space for students.

“With [prohibiting] transgender restrooms at school, sports participation and all the ways certain laws are trying to exclude trans students, it’s even more important that schools are a place where kids can come and just be respected and valued as their true, authentic selves,” Head said.

Furthermore, she believes trans and non-binary students should not be responsible for teaching others about their identities.

“Just like it’s not the responsibility of people of color to educate others about [their] experience, it’s not the responsibility of LGBTQ+ individuals to educate everybody else,” Head said.

At the administrative level, Gray prioritizes a student-centered approach to change.

“It’s our professional responsibility to be as cul-

turally responsive as we can with students,” Gray said. “Students are our priority. We don’t want anyone to feel left out. [We need to] get more voice from our transgender students to figure out what they need, where the gaps are [and] what they think is necessary to feel more welcome.”

Although the ICCSD LGBTQ+ policy is the first established and most progressive in the state, there is still potential for improvement.

For Schluckebier, receiving student feedback is essential to creating meaningful change. “[We] grow and respond to student needs, so it’s a constant work in progress—listening to students, getting their feedback, getting the resources and changing some materials, not just continuing to do what we’ve always done,” Schluckebier said.

At West High, Gross sees change as a perpetual process. “[These changes] are not boxes we’re checking off—they’re ongoing, they’re enduring,” Gross said. “I want West to be a place where students can thrive being their true and authentic selves—that’s very important. If you can’t act [as] who you are, you’re never going to be the best version of yourself.”

When it comes to changing school culture, Henderson believes students and teachers must work together. He also sees discomfort and struggle as a natural part of the process.

“When we try to shift a culture, it gets harder before it gets better in the same way that sometimes we get sicker before we get better,” Henderson said. “What’s going on is all these things might make us notice the problem more, make it seem worse or even make it feel worse for a while—it’s not always going to feel good.”

Many students look toward the future for progress and support.

“Ultimately, I hope that our community, if not our overall society, abandons the concepts of gender roles and societally imposed genders,” Polyak said. “I believe that this is important because a genderless society would become more welcoming to all experiences and may even help eliminate gendered conflicts, such as sexism.”

Dillon encourages trans and non-binary students who are struggling with their identity to focus on themselves.

“Don’t mind what other people think. Just take your time to figure out who you are and be happy with yourself. Dress and present however you want because other people’s opinions don’t matter,” Dillon said.

McNamar is optimistic for the future of trans and non-binary students at West High.

“I have pretty strong hopes that we’re going to have more of the student body talk about it,” McNamar said. “Hopefully before I graduate, it’s a lot easier for a younger trans person to find others than it was for me.”

26 ADS

NOV. 19, 2021

ADS NOV. 19, 2021

27

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2 ‘2 R LE LE E L T I S DA NO LLA

NOAH DESAULNIERS ‘22 PHOTO COURTESY OF BECKY MILLMEYER

OVERLOOKED West High athletes and coaches discuss why some sports have more recognition than others, the effects thereof and the solutions to change.

BY MIGUEL COHEN SUAREZ & LILY PROCHASKA DESIGN BY XIAOYI ZHU

28 SPORTS

NOV. 19, 2021

F

riday night lights can be deceiving. Packed stands, painted chests and an overwhelming sense of school spirit aren’t part of the experience for many West High sports teams— even the most successful.

EMPTY STANDS

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ack of accessibility to competition venues can pose a barrier for students, especially those who rely on others for transportation. Bowling, swimming, cross country and golf compete off-campus, so supporting a home competition requires travel to another location.

According to Olivia Taeger ’22, the girls swim team lacks attention because home meets are held outside of school grounds at the Coralville Recreation Center.

“I think one of the main factors is that we’re not

an on-campus sport, so it does require transportation to attend,” Taeger said.

Athletic Director Craig Huegel notes that one reason some sports generate a lot of popularity is because of their existing level of national recognition.

“We have kids that are more familiar with certain sports,” Huegel said. “On TV, you see football and basketball quite a bit.”

Head swim coach Byron Butler also believes national spotlight influences popularity.

“There is a lack of name recognition [in swimming],” Butler said. “Nobody knows who the fifth-best person is in the world, so there’s an education component to it.”

However, national recognition may not have the greatest impact on fan turnout. With a variety of school sport teams competing simultaneously, students must choose which sport to support.

“In spring, we have seven different [sports teams] that perform almost all the time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that really pulls our student fan base in a lot of different directions,” Huegel said.

While this may be one of the largest barriers for student turnout, scheduling is not an easy fix.

“There’s not a great answer in terms of giving each [team] their own separate date because we run out of days,” Huegel said.

Football player Noah DeSaulniers ’22 believes the social environment surrounding a sport’s competitions also impacts support. Students that show up may want to participate in the social experience that the event provides.

“I think it’s just that atmosphere, like Friday night lights, [that attracts people to games],” DeSaulniers said.

Head girls basketball coach BJ Mayer says that basketball games serve as opportunities for students to socialize.

“In the winter, kids are looking for reasons to get out and be with their friends so going to a game is a good reason,” Mayer said, through email.

MISSING OUT

W

hether due to a lack of understanding, need for transportation or desire for social atmosphere surrounding competitions, the amount of attention and support a sport receives may affect the success of the sport itself.

“The enthusiasm of the crowd can sometimes carry your team over the top,” Mayer said.

“Without the crowd, the game’s outcome may have been different.”

In addition to influencing game outcomes, a crowd brings a desirable atmosphere to athletes and coaches. Mayer states that heavily attended games are the most memorable ones.

“All players and coaches would love to be in games that are heavily attended,” Mayer said.

“

IT DOESN ’T ALWAYS FE E L LI KE TH E SCHOOL I S BACKI NG OU R TEAM .”

- OLIVIA TAEGER ‘22 OLIVIA TAEGER ‘22 PHOTO BY OWEN AANESTAD

“Those are the games that people remember.

Packed stands create an amazing environment that is great to play and coach in.”

Huegel has a similar opinion on the effects of home crowds, giving the example of the volleyball team.

“Our student section has had a huge impact on our volleyball team,” Huegel said. “We play so much better when we’re at home. Our coaches and athletes … love the energy that our student section brings.”

As a cross country runner, Caden Noeller ’22 doesn’t compete under packed bleachers and bright lights. However, he doesn’t think that makes a large difference.

“I don’t think [lack of attention] has too much of an effect because you are really focused on just competing in the moment,” Noeller said.

“But I think it would probably help give a little motivation to see classmates cheering you on or wanting to see you compete and win.”

When reflecting on last season, DeSaulniers believes COVID-19 restrictions on audience attendance affected performance.

“There were no fans, so it definitely impacted those games. Having [a crowd] this year definitely pumps you up a little more,” DeSaulniers said. “It’s definitely good knowing that you have people supporting you.”

Noeller appreciates support from those that do show up but believes student presence would make a difference.

“Honestly, the parents do a pretty good job of cheering, but I think it would definitely be beneficial to have to have classmates watch too,” Noeller said.

Athletes like Taeger see student support as more than beneficial; it makes a team feel valued.

“When you look at the stands at a swim meet, it’s just parents and grandparents, and it doesn’t always feel like the school is backing our team,” Taeger said. “It can really affect you and make you feel like your team isn’t important to the school even though it is.”

SHOWING SUPPORT

S

ince attention is crucial to make all athletes feel supported, promoting a high level of student engagement for every sport can foster a more positive environment around athletics at West High. Huegel uses all the resources he has to promote and support sporting events and share news about the programs at West.

“I really try to make sure that I’m supportive with my presence, with financial support for the programs. I’m pretty active on social media on Twitter; I try to promote every single activity,” Huegel said.

Butler recognizes Huegel’s efforts.

“I think [Mr. Huegel] does a pretty good job of always trying to tweet out stuff about recognizing the kids that are having success and the team, so no complaints from me,” Butler said.

Despite Huegel’s efforts to regularly promote all athletics, some athletes still believe more publicity would help bring support to their sport.

“I know there are some social media accounts.

I think posting more on those [would help bring more attention to sports],” Taeger said. “A lot of high school students check their social media.”

Outside of social media, some students think that visual reminders and advertisements around school could help bring attention to more sports.

“I don’t see any schedules anywhere in the lunchroom on the TV, saying like ‘big bowling meet today.’ I just don’t think it gets put out there enough,” DeSaulniers said.

Huegel recognizes that some students who want to actively support athletics are not always able to because of ticket fees or other financial limitations. He believes this should not limit student support, though.

“I can do some things to get discounted tickets. We can do other sorts of things if finances are the barrier,” Huegel said.

While publicizing events may spread the word about all sports, Noeller believes creating an

environment for spectators would bring more students.

“Our track coach, Mr. Craig got a good idea [from] Eastern Iowa Track Festival. He brought in a couple food trucks to the meet so that people could buy food, and he had music playing,” Noeller said. “We just got to make the environment for home meets more exciting, more fun.

I think that will help get people out to come watch,” Noeller said, recalling one track meet that garnered lots of support.

After all, the exciting environment is what gets many people to congregate at football and basketball games.

Support for teams can also come from other programs to foster a sense of athletics throughout the school. Butler has ideas for how sports teams could help support each other on a regular basis.

“I made a suggestion that we make a schedule of [teams coming to support each other] and have it fixed,” Butler said. “In terms of the microcosm that is athletics, we could do more to support each other.”

Noeller has firsthand experience with West groups supporting each other in sporting events and sees the value in incorporating this collaboration.

“I think we just got to get other parts involved,” Noeller said. “A couple years ago, we had a meet at the Ashton course. We brought the pep band over, and we had them playing at the finish, and I think that was pretty cool.”

Overall, Huegel does all he can to make every team at West feel appreciated, but there must be initiative from students and collaborating groups.

“One of our goals we strive for is that all groups feel they are valued. That’s really important to me,” Huegel said. “If there are suggestions that students have about ways we can be even more equitable in promoting our sports, I’m always open to that idea.”

SPORTS NOV. 19, 2021

29

AUTUMN APPRECIATION

Here are a few things West High students are thankful for as fall comes to a close.

BY HANAH KITAMOTO ART BY ZOEY GUO DESIGN BY GINGER MCCARTNEY

JORDAN SMITH ’25

LYDIA SHIN ’23

“I’m thankful for a lot of things: my family, being here, not having it as bad as others, having resources for when it gets bad, music, therapy, friends, the way the clouds look some days, the rain, thunderstorms, nature, BOOKS, people listening to me when I rant, swimming, colors, the flowers in the cracks of sidewalks, the sun being filtered through the trees making it green, moss, cool-looking rocks, the cool autumn breeze, autumn in general, the simple things.”

“Dogs and cats. Not just my dog, but the existence of them in general. Because sometimes, watching dog and cat videos on Instagram is the only thing that makes me laugh during the day. (Not really, I have friends; I’m just exaggerating for artistry’s sake.)”

30 ENTERTAINMENT NOV. 19, 2021

HANA ABOU ALAIWA ’23

“I’m thankful that my family, who is in Lebanon, is still alive and doing well.

Lebanon isn’t in a good position right now with the economy (food prices and medicine have gone up so high, and with COVID, it’s gotten so bad), and I’m glad that my family is still doing okay and that we’ll be able to bring some of them to the U.S. for a better life.”

MOUSTAFA TIEA ’25

“I’m thankful for my teachers devoting and investing their time to make me successful even when the people around me are not using their time properly.”

KINA NGUYEN ’25

“I am so thankful for my friends and family—without them, I don’t know where I’d be. They’re all so supportive of me, and I am incredibly grateful for their kindness and acceptance towards me and my identity.”

FJ LOPEZ ’23

“I am thankful for the useful things I learned in school that actually help me with things in my daily life/the future.”

MIRIAM BLAKE ’25

“I am thankful for my teachers because they are always there every day to teach. Even when I don’t want to learn, they make it tolerable if not fun.”

MICHAEL FOLLMER ’25

“The education that I am getting from this school. Many kids all around the world don’t have an opportunity as great as this one.”

ENTERTAINMENT NOV. 19, 2021

31

THE RADISH WARNING: The contents of this page are entirely satirical. These stories should not be taken seriously, as they bear faint resemblance to reality. Unless…

BY MAYA CHU & ZOEY GUO ART & DESIGN BY SILA DURAN

HAUNTED HALLWAYS

T

o celebrate Halloween, Principal Gross hosted an overnight lock-in event at West High for adventurous students to explore horrors hidden throughout the building.

Actors from Theatre West and theatre advisor Katy Nahra hid throughout the building, dressed as monsters to scare unsuspecting high schoolers.

“This was supposed to be a fun event that all students could participate in,” Gross said. “I didn’t see any dangers until something concerning actually took place.”

During the event, Nahra, dressed as a blood-sucking vampire, lunged at Scaire Deecat ’25 who then fell headfirst into a desk. The impact caused Deecat to faint and they were left unconscious on the cold, tiled ground. The classroom was already furnished with Halloween decor, so the student fit right in.

“I left Scaire there because I thought they were acting with me,” Nahra said. “I was going to convince them to join Theatre West after the event because of their stunning performance.”

A startled custodian found Deecat the next morning and quickly took them to the nearest hospital. Thankfully, Deecat only suffered minor injuries, not including their severe concussion and fractured neck.

“Highkey, I thought the whole fiasco was pretty hilarious,” Deecat said. “Though, my parents didn’t feel the same way.”

Deecat’s parents filed a complaint and the school now faces a $69,420 lawsuit. Despite such charges, the lock-in event was considered an overall success by most students.

“I was pretty impressed with how real the whole thing felt,” a student witness said. “The actors were really giving it their all — and then I realized that not all of them were actors.”

ESSAYS 4 ALL

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32 ENTERTAINMENT NOV. 19, 2021

s the stress of college application season reaches its climax, some students crumble under the pressure. Others thrive. One aspiring business major, Wally Street ’22, got a peek into the world of entrepreneurship through his underground college essay business called Essays 4 All. “My initial goal was to give everyone a shot at submitting high-quality essays. A few of my senior friends failed English 9 so I thought it’d be good to help edit their drafts,” Street said.

Despite his noble intentions, Street’s newfound fame among the senior class only left him wanting more. He longed for more creative freedom with every mundane edit he made — soon enough, he found himself scrapping whole essays and rewriting them. One customer, Brie Tenshus ’22, thought it was strange at first but decided she could use the help.

“Yale is, like, really tough to get into. If Wally wanted to write my essay for me, it didn’t make sense to stop him,” Tenshus said.

Street was earning so much money that his first year of college tuition was almost covered. Driven by this success, he expanded his business and hired a programmer to help him design a website. Though the programmer, who has chosen to remain anonymous, was offered a hefty monetary incentive, they eventually caved in to the guilt and reported Street to Principal Gross in a 500-word email exposé. Although Street now faces charges of academic dishonesty, he believes this experience ultimately benefited him. He realized his potential as a businessman and no longer thinks college is a necessary next step.

“Who needs college? Clearly, I can be successful on my own. The Common App is stupid anyway.”

CUSTODIAL CONCERNS West High custodian Daniel Carlos shares how the culture of students not picking up after themselves affects him and his colleagues.

ART & DESIGN BY GINGER MCCARTNEY

WEST SIDE STORY : Can you walk us through what a day in your life is like as a custodian at West?

DANIEL CARLOS:: I’m actually midshift so I start my day at 12:30, usually coming in at that time to get to lunch cleanup, particularly for the ninth grade commons. Even then you have trash cans everywhere and people still leave stuff on the tables or on the ground, somewhere on the floor. So, what’s the use of having trash cans if you’re not gonna use it? I mean, it’s not everybody of course but...

WSS : How does student activity, like not picking up after themselves, affect your life both inside and outside of school?

DC:: Usually you find that, this in itself being not the cleanest, it’s more conducive for rodents to start popping up inside a building. We do have some issues with that too.

And it’s time-consuming in terms of trying to get stuff done. If you find that you have to be picking up every little bit, it takes more time than if everything was in place and in order; it’d be easier. So it’s tough in that sense, because you always have to be crunched for time and the race against the bell.

WSS : What do you wish students knew about your job?

DC:: That we are caretakers of West High, more emphasis on the caring for West High.

What that means is we try to make sure the building is well taken care of for everybody so it becomes conducive for learning. So we

don’t have to be concentrated on anything else apart from what West High is supposed to be for: just a learning institution.

“ WE AR E CAR ETAKE RS OF WEST H IG H , MOR E E M PHASI S ON TH E CAR I NG FOR WEST H IG H .”

- DAN I EL CARLOS, CUSTODIAN WSS : What can students do to make your job easier?

DC:: I think it starts with students trying

to get a sense of pride. You know where you’re at. You know who you are. Your sense of pride starts with your own personal hygiene. That means how you’re carrying yourself. [If] you’re a clean person, it translates to you being proud of who you are, then that in itself is proud of where you go to, West High. And even then proud of Iowa City being a clean city, then translates to it being a clean country [and] better off in the world. It just keeps building up in terms of if everybody just keeps doing what is right. Take pride in what you do.

OPINION NOV. 19, 2021

33

RESTRUCTURING The WSS Editorial Board provides input on how the new West Student Government can best serve the student body.

F

rom homecoming to extracurricular competitions, West High students missed out on a lot last year. More subtle, however, was the absence of student government. After a summer of executive board meetings in 2020, the former president and vice president decided to disband Student Senate to form a more equitable and inclusive governing body representative of all students. In preparation for this school year, they met with a restructuring committee made up of Principal Mitch Gross, West Student Government’s current advisers, and students to discuss how best to meet their goals. As restructuring is underway, the WSS Editorial Board suggests that WSG increase communication with students and improve transparency surrounding its budget to best align with its goals of inclusivity and representation.

In past years, inadequate knowledge of initiatives and few chances for student feedback created a disconnect between the student body and Student Senate. To better serve the student body, WSG must ensure accessibility and greater outreach through multiple avenues of contact. Students should have access to meeting notes and periodical updates to ensure they are informed about WSG plans. This transparency will not only act as an accountability measure that furthers students’ understandings, but provide the necessary information for students to advocate

for changes they want to see implemented. Given the lack of communication in the past, it has been difficult for students to know what the purpose of student leadership even was, much less use it to their advantage. Student government is all about progress, but progress is ineffective if not everyone is informed. To avoid this, WSG should maintain consistent communication with the student body. This communication, however, must go both ways. Beyond just transparency, WSG should allow students to express their preferences and feedback through tools like surveys, social media and suggestion boxes.

It should also implement the restructuring committee’s idea of arranging a time each week, such as during AFT, for students to talk to a representative about their questions or concerns. These measures will help guarantee that WSG is acting in the interests of the entire student body rather than the limited viewpoints of its members.

One area where conveying more information to students can be especially beneficial is WSG’s budget. Being more open will help promote a healthy relationship with the student body in which students understand the goals and capabilities of WSG. At $10 apiece, tickets to West’s Homecoming dance always leave some students wondering where their money is going. After seeing the new venue and Hollywood-themed photo booth, their questions

were likely answered. However, not all spending has such material results—for most students, the school budget is somewhat of a mystery. Limited knowledge creates a barrier between the student body and the money spent on them. Because WSG has total control over its budget, it should not exclude students from funding discussions.

Students should be aware of available funds and able to provide input on how to allocate said funds. Students deserve control over their high school experience and should get a say on what they think benefits them the most, from fun dances to improved mental health resources.

Regardless of the consensus, students must have a voice in how WSG spends its resources.

As WSG establishes a new student government, student leaders and advisers must keep their goals of inclusivity and representation at the forefront of decision-making. Increasing communication with students and being receptive to their suggestions is a necessary first step to achieving these broader goals. From funding allocation to school-wide activities, consideration of student opinions on all issues is key to a successful WSG that can close the historical disconnect between the student body and its leaders. These changes are essential in the ongoing process of restructuring student government to be effective and productive.

ART & DESIGN BY SACHIKO GOTO

This is an editorial. An editorial, like news reporting, is based on objective facts. However, its purpose is to share conclusions and opinions that have been derived by our Editorial Board and are not associated with the news staff.

34 OPINION NOV. 19, 2021

CAMERON REIMERS Marissa Goodale ‘22 cheers for the West High football team after a long touchdown against City High Sept. 24. The Trojans lost the game 56-7, but Goodale and the rest of the cheer team showed their support by leading chants throughout the game to pump up the student section.

PHOTO FEATURE

FA LL L

F O OO D

Are you sweet like an apple turnover or spicy like a pumpkin spice muffin? Take this flowchart quiz to find out which fall food you are.

BY HEIDI DU Is fall your favorite season?

Yes

No

Green apples or red apples?

Would you rather fight a hundred duck-sized horses (A) or one horse-sized duck (B)?

Green

Red A

B

Which Ninja Turtle?

Do you like candy corn?

Which show: Squid Game or Outer Banks?

Yes

PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFIN

APPLE TURNOVER

You’re a pumpkin spice muffin.

You’re energetic, talkative and the life of the party.

You’re an apple turnover: sweet and gentle while surprising people with your eccentricity.

No

MASHED POTATOES You’re mashed potatoes: loyal and laid-back, you also have a goofy side.

SQUASH You are a squash! You’re sturdy, strong-willed and unafraid to speak your mind.

ART & DESIGN BY ZOEY GUO