2022-04-21

WEST SI DE STO RY IOWA CITY WEST HIGH SCHOOL

2901 MELROSE AVE.

IOWA CITY, IA 52246

WSSPAPER.COM

VOLUME 54 ISSUE 5

APRIL 21, 2022

HOME

WSS explores houselessness in Iowa City and how community members can help.

Three Northwest Junior High students speak during the open mic portion of the walkout for trans athletes March 11.

CAROLINE MASCARDO

PHOTO FEATURE

CONTENTS Hi there!

4 6 8 10 14 20 28 30 TRIBUTE

Remembering Charlie Bates

NEWS

News Briefs

HEALTH & SCIENCE Carbon Crossroads

FEATURE

Unidos The NFT Craze

It may be spring, but what is Iowa without petal-ful weather? The past few weeks have still been cold and windy, but we hope this issue of WSS brings you some releaf.

Along with the theoretical blooming of plants, a new club has sprung up at West: Unidos, the Latinx Student Union. To learn about its importance to Latin American students, flip to page 10.

This issue’s cover story investigates houselessness in Iowa City. To read about firsthand experiences, what the community is doing and how we can help, check out page 20.

To view the sports section of this issue, you can stroll down to page 30, where we take a look at what shoe culture is like at West High.

As we wrap up April, guest columnist Reem Kirja ’25 encourages readers to celebrate and educate themselves on Arab Culture and Heritage Month.

This is our last issue as Print Editors-in-Chief before the new staff takes over. To all of our readers: thank you for your support of West Side Story and student journalism.

Much love,

PROFILES

Pierrfect Teachers Teaching Teachers

COVER Home

ENTERTAINMENT The Radish

SPORTS

Shoe Game

32

OPINION

Toxic Positivity A Beginner’s Guide To Arab Culture Mental Health Matters

Scan here for mental health resources.

KAILEY GEE

HANAH KITAMOTO

(they/them)

(she/her)

PRINT STAFF LIST Athena Wu Caroline Barker* Caroline Mascardo* Defne Bayman

Artist, Reporter Photo Editor Copy Co-Editor, Editorial Editor 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 Krisha Kapoor* Sports Editor

*Editorial Board member

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

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 Sofia Wells-Lu Artist, Designer Soomin Koh* Profiles Co-Editor William Cheng Artist, Designer Xiaoyi Zhu* Design Editor Zaira Ahmad Reporter, Designer Zoey Guo* Art Editor

Remembering

Charlie Bates West pays tribute to Charlie Bates ’25.

BY ZAIRA AHMAD

I

t was the fall of 2021, and the show choir season had just begun. Freshmen Charlie Bates and Claire Lawler walked to Java House before their afternoon show band rehearsal to grab coffee and sandwiches. The day was cold and windy, but the company Claire and Charlie provided one another was enough to overlook the weather.

“It’s not that short of a walk, so I gave [Charlie] my hat because he never had any layers — he always had a sweatshirt, always too warm at the wrong times. He held out his AirPods to me once we sat down and we basically just listened to these guitar solos over and over and he showed me his favorite ones,” Lawler said. “I remember I went to get something and I came back and I just kind of looked at him because he was on the couch and he closed his eyes, kind of tapping his foot and stuff like that, and it felt really nice to see him just peaceful.”

Music was one of the things Charlie loved most about the world. He learned a variety of instruments, ranging from guitar to trumpet to tuba. He constantly practiced them, each providing him with something novel and unique. Because of his talent, it is no surprise that Charlie was involved in all things music, including show band, symphonic jazz band, pit band and Young Footliters — a youth-centered theater organization at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts.

Band director Rob Medd noticed Charlie’s passion and asked him to play tuba for the freshman band.

“We didn’t have a tuba in the freshman band. Charlie didn’t hesitate for 10 seconds when I asked [him to play it],” Medd said.

“He was definitely up for the challenge and wanted to take it on and wanted to help out the band.”

Charlie was constantly looking for ways to help out. According to Medd, he always wanted what was best for the group, whether that be in picking up the tuba in the fresh-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE BATES FAMILY

DESIGN BY SACHIKO GOTO

man band or helping others build confidence in the jazz band.

“I was having a little trouble getting people to want to play and improvise solos in jazz band. I asked Charlie [to play a solo] and he said, ‘Yeah, I’ll do a solo at this point or on this tune,’” Medd said. “For our rehearsals during January, [he was] playing solos, and that kind of helped break the ice for other people. I started getting more people who wanted to try [solos].”

Confidence was one of the many things people noticed about Charlie. He was never afraid to put himself out there or be himself.

It was what helped him take on any challenges that arose; Charlie was never one to shy away.

“He was a kid who came in not knowing anything about the stage, not knowing how to perform, not knowing if he was going to be any good,” said CCPA Managing Director Evan Hilsabeck. “Over those four productions that I worked with him, each time, I wondered ‘Okay, here’s a bigger challenge.

Can Charlie carry it? Can Charlie carry the whole opening of the show? Or the lead role?’ And he always could; he always rose to the challenge. He was game for anything.”

Charlie was also an expert at making everyone around him feel welcome. He was kind by nature and never one to judge others.

“Teenagers can be cliquey and unwelcoming or difficult, especially for younger kids.

That was never true of Charlie. When Marcia, his younger sister, joined the program, we always found the two of them together; that’s something that you don’t always see with siblings,” Hilsabeck said. “That was true of the way he interacted with kids from everywhere: from different schools, from different backgrounds, different ages. Everybody was welcome in Charlie’s world — and it mattered. It mattered to a lot of kids.”

Charlie was a friend to all. Anyone who encountered him bore witness to his unique energy; he never failed to keep spirits high.

“He had this infectious smile and was just a great person to be around. He was always there to make someone laugh or bring the mood out,” said show band member Charles Jetton ’22. “He was always laughing along with other people and poking fun at some of the small things other band members did.

Just little things keeping us all together almost.”

Jokes were always Charlie’s friend. It was one of the many qualities that made him charming.

“Anyone who knew him knew he had a very dry sense of humor and could equally level a roomful of kids or a roomful of adults with both wit and sarcasm,” Hilsabeck said. “It was always fun to hear how he would keep us on our toes.”

In addition to his talent for sarcasm, Charlie was also kind and thoughtful. The way he treated others impacted many.

“He was just the type of person where if you were in a room with him, and you knew him, you would always feel safe and like you had a person who would listen to you and that you could talk to,” Lawler said.

Charlie deeply cared for others. He was compassionate and loving, especially when it came to his sister, Marcia. In the summer of 2021, the CCPA put on a production of “Seussical the Musical,” and both Charlie and Marcia were in the cast. One day before rehearsal, Marcia sprained and scraped her ankle after falling off a skateboard. While she couldn’t put weight on her foot, she insisted on going to rehearsal — which happened to be taking place at the bottom of a big hill.

Like the kind person he was, Charlie scooped Marcia up and carried her down to rehearsal.

“I get to them [at the bottom of the hill] and

say, ‘You can’t rehearse like this, go home,’” Hilsabeck said. “So Charlie just scooped her back up and carried her back up that big hill.

That was how they were together. Charlie was always there for her.”

Charlie and Marcia were two peas in a pod.

During another rehearsal for the musical, Charlie was meant to show up on stage to rehearse his lines. When he didn’t, Hilsabeck went on a hunt to find the missing actor.

“Lo and behold, I finally spot Charlie and Marcia, thick as thieves, tucked away in a corner, totally oblivious to the world around them. Somehow they’ve smuggled hamburgers into the rehearsal and are sitting over there sharing them,” Hilsabeck said.

In many ways, Charlie was like glue. His outgoing attitude was one of the key components in helping the show band build relationships. Every chance he got, Charlie would make sure each of the show band members talked to one another. Never intimidated by his older peers, he would start conversations with anyone.

“He brought everyone together and kept everyone grooving and jiving. That was his job in the band. In a more metaphorical sense, he sort of kept everyone going,” Jetton said.

“Regardless of how the band did or anything, [he] made sure we weren’t beating ourselves up over any sort of small mistakes.”

Above all, friends and family will remember Charlie’s spirit through the lively music he played every day.

“He was an amazing friend and it was just really nice to hear him play. He kind of made everyone else feel energetic,” Lawler said.

“When you’re in a band, if there’s an amazing drum solo or a guitar solo, or a bass solo, or a riff that the pianist or trumpet does, it pumps everyone else up. Charlie would constantly experiment, so the energy was always there, and it kind of just generated from him.”

NEWS BRIEFS

WSS breaks down news events from recent months.

BY MAYA CHU ART & DESIGN BY DEFNE BAYMAN

PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNSPLASH

STATE OF THE UNION President Biden delivered his first State of the Union address March 3. After speaking on the conflict in Ukraine, Biden transitioned to COVID-19 recovery, highlighting economic growth, his American Rescue Plan and the importance of ramping up infrastructure investment. He encouraged an increase in police funding, a move that drew applause from both parties’ lawmakers but was at odds with some advocates of defunding the police. Biden ended with words on immigration reform and a “Unity Agenda,” a four-point bipartisan health plan. Following Biden’s speech, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds delivered the Republican response.

In her speech, she criticized Biden and Democrats for their foreign policy strategy, inflation, immigration and policing.

WALK IT OUT

PHOTO BY AKSHETHAA NAVEEN-KUMAR

West High students, parents and faculty celebrated diversity at the Walk it Out multicultural fashion show in the North Band Room March 26. The show, directed by seniors Shreya Khullar and Emily Shian, has been an annual tradition since 2016 and was brought back this year after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. To kick off the night, there was a self-serve dinner of cultural food, which was both catered and provided by families. Then, students with origins in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, Black America and East Asia showcased their traditional clothing on the runway. There were also several dance, musical and ceremonial performances, from K-pop to a traditional Sudanese wedding practice called the Jirtig.

ANASTASIA Theatre West held its production of “Anastasia” April 7-9 in Arganbright Auditorium. Seniors Sam Croco and Evan Zukin played the lead roles of Anya and Dimitry, respectively.

Set during the Russian Revolution, the musical follows orphan Anya’s journey with two Russian con men, Dimitry and Vladimir, who try to pass her off as Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov. Between the cast, crew and pit musicians, there were around 250 students involved in Anastasia’s production. Get to know the cast and crew in “Behind the curtain of Theatre West’s ‘Anastasia’” on wsspaper.com.

06 NEWS

APRIL 21, 2022

PHOTO BY OWEN AANESTAD

RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Feb. 24 triggered Europe’s first major war in decades and the continent’s largest refugee crisis since World War II, with at least 10 million displacements. Peace talks throughout March showed some signs of progress, such as Ukraine expressing willingness to adopt a neutral status and Russia’s agreement to deescalate attacks around Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. However, a Kremlin spokesperson said April 6 that “there is still a long road ahead” for negotiations. Ever since the conflict started, U.S. and European allies condemned Russia’s invasion, imposing numerous economic sanctions. To help Ukraine, stay informed and donate to organizations such as Sunflower of Peace, Voices of Children and CARE.

INFLATION AND GAS PRICES

PHOTO BY DEFNE BAYMAN

Supply chain issues, robust economic demand and the conflict in Ukraine are contributing to record U.S. inflation rates. February’s Consumer Price Index, which measures the average change in price of a basket of goods and services, was up 7.9% from last year, representing the fastest rate of annual inflation in 40 years. On top of increasing food and rent costs, gas prices soared to a record average of $4.43 per gallon in mid-March. In response to overall inflation, the Federal Reserve raised the interest rate by 0.25% to reduce demand, the first increase since 2018.

Federal Reserve officials predict six additional rate hikes this year, up from a previous forecast of three. To find out how inflation has affected populations experiencing houselessness, turn to page 20.

NEW LAW TARGETS TRANS ATHLETES Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill March 3 that bans trans women and girls from participating in women’s sports. The law applies to public and private K-12 schools, community colleges and institutions affiliated with the NCAA and NAIA. Supporters of the law say it is a fairness issue, arguing trans women have a biological advantage over cisgender women. Opponents say it is discriminatory and will increase already prevalent mental health issues among trans students. Southeast Junior High students organized a walkout at the Pentacrest March 11 to protest the bill, and peers from City High, West High, Liberty High and Northwest Junior High joined the protest. In support of its trans students, the Iowa City school board passed an opposition resolution against the law March 22.

PHOTO BY SACHIKO GOTO

NEWS APRIL 21, 2022

07

CARBON CROSSROADS The Summit carbon dioxide pipeline aims to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Its proposal has sparked controversy among Iowan environmental activists and farmers alike.

BY HEIDI DU AND LILLY GRAHAM

A

s the effects of climate change become more evident with rising temperatures and increasingly frequent natural disasters, both scientists and companies have devised innovative solutions to reduce fossil fuel emissions. One such solution is carbon capture pipelines, which gather carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, liquify it, then store it underground through the process of sequestration.

Summit Carbon Solutions, a company based out of Ames, Iowa, is currently seeking funding and approval for a $4.5 billion carbon capture pipeline that would span five midwestern states, including 681 miles in northern and western Iowa. The pipeline would capture carbon emissions from ethanol plants that use corn to produce ethanol, a renewable fuel found in motor gasoline. As of press time, the project has yet to be approved by the Iowa Utilities Board.

“This system would have the capacity of capturing and storing 12 million tons of carbon dioxide on an annual basis, which would make [it] the largest carbon capture and storage project in the world,” said Jesse Harris, Summit’s public relations advisor. This reduction in released carbon dioxide would allegedly contribute to the United States’ goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Harris believes the pipeline would create economic opportunities because ethanol developed under more environmentally conscious conditions can sell for higher prices.

“For ethanol producers [and] for corn growers, this is a really significant opportunity in the coming years,” Harris said.

The Sierra Club is a nationwide organization that advocates for environmental conservation.

Jessica Mazour is the Conservation Program Coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Iowa Chapter and has spoken out against the pipeline. “[The pipeline] isn’t about climate change,”

08 HEALTH & SCIENCE APRIL 21, 2022

ART & DESIGN BY SOFIA WELLS-LU

Mazour said. “It’s about some very wealthy people making a lot more money. We have strong beliefs that [Summit is] going to use the carbon dioxide for a process called enhanced oil recovery.”

Enhanced oil recovery, or EOR, is when car-

“

FOR ETHANOL PRODUCE RS [AN D] FOR COR N G ROWE RS, TH I S I S A R EALLY SIG N I FICANT OPPORTU N ITY I N TH E COM I NG YEARS.

”

-J ESSE HARRIS, SU M M IT PU BLIC RELATIONS ADVISO R

bon dioxide is injected into oil wells to boost oil extraction, resulting in more greenhouse gas emissions. Mazour believes Summit plans to use the carbon dioxide obtained by the pipeline for EOR rather than permanently storing it underground. In a March 2 article published in the Des Moines Register, Summit Executive

Vice President Wade Boeshans denied plans to implement EOR. Harris echoes Boeshans’ statement.

“This project will not be utilizing enhanced oil recovery; I think we can say that definitively,” Harris said.

Harold Hamm, the owner of Continental Resources, North Dakota’s biggest oil drilling company, recently invested $250 million in Summit’s pipeline.

Deborah Main is a landowner from northwest Iowa who has been contacted numerous times by land surveyors seeking to acquire her acreage for the pipeline. Main owns a century farm, meaning her land has belonged to her family for over 100 years. For Main, Hamm’s investment questions the project’s true intentions.

“You’re lining up oil people [to invest],” Main said. “If it were an environmental issue, the oil person would not put one dime into this project.”

Harris holds that investors simply see this work as a way to profit.

“I can’t speak for [Hamm] personally,” Harris said, “[but] I think that there’s a significant opportunity around this in terms of decarbonizing critical industry across the Midwest with ethanol; I think he sees an economic opportunity.”

The pipeline would run through private land, most of which is agricultural. During the construction period, landowners would either have to agree to the pipeline’s development or have their land temporarily taken from them under eminent domain, the government’s right to overtake private land without the owner’s proper consent in exchange for monetary compensation.

Main has taken an active role in opposing the pipeline’s construction and is concerned about how Summit will obtain the required land. If the Iowa Utilities Board determines that the pipe-

line is in the interest of the public good, Summit would be able to exercise eminent domain. “[Summit] has a mission to accomplish and they will accomplish it by any means necessary,” Main said. “They want my family’s land, but they’re not part of my family; they don’t belong here.”

Main emphasizes the pipeline’s projected impact on heritage and livelihood.

“We don’t inherit the land from our ancestors.

We borrow it from our children,” Main said. “So what are we leaving for our children if this pipeline gets put in?”

Harris believes Summit is unlikely to resort to using eminent domain as of now.

“

TH EY WANT MY FAM I LY ’S LAN D, BUT TH EY ’ R E NOT PART OF MY FAM I LY; TH EY DON ’T BE LONG HERE. - DEBO RAH MAI N , LAN DOWN ER

”

“We prioritize our negotiations and conversations with landowners,” Harris said. “I know eminent domain is a topic that has been brought up quite a bit on the other side, but we’re kind of really nowhere at that point in the process just yet.”

According to Mazour, a bipartisan sense of unity among landowners stems from this possible destruction of farmland and heritage.

“For the most part, landowners have been told to hate groups like the Sierra Club, and the Sierra Club is supposed to hate all the Republicans,” Mazour said. “Yet, when it comes to this issue, we actually have a lot in common. We care about our farms, our soil, our neighbors, our communities — and we’re able to look past those differ-

ences and work together.”

According to Main, additional concern centers around how the pipeline could have direct environmental impacts such as soil disruption and crop damage. “[Pipeline workers] don’t understand what happens when you compact the soil hard enough that you can build a road on it — you can’t grow anything on it,” Main said.

Mazour shares these fears.

“We have major concerns of just what it’s going to do to our soil because it took thousands and thousands of years to create, and it’s what makes Iowa an agricultural state,” Mazour said.

Charles Stanier, a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa, was a member of an advisory panel on carbon sequestration for the State of Iowa, and while on the panel, he advocated for greater transparency. Once installed, he questions how Summit and the ethanol plants would record and quantify the pipeline’s impact.

“I think there should be very transparent disclosure agreements for how much [the pipeline] is capturing — how much is going into the pipeline versus was leaked … what’s the monitoring system to make sure that the accounting is appropriate?” Stanier said. “There were crickets every time I said that. People didn’t want to go there.”

Stanier also believes the pipeline’s impact could be relatively minor; his calculations project a 2-3% reduction in Iowa’s carbon footprint. Instead, Stanier thinks the future lies in renewable resources and predicts the pipeline’s utility may eventually become irrelevant.

“I think electrification is going to win in the long term. It will be better off to get ahead and capitalize on wind and solar and make renewable energy,” Stanier said. “Investing in something that’s going to be a falling market — I think it’s a short-sighted approach.”

Mazour also holds the pipeline will fail as a long-term solution because it accommodates nonrenewable energy rather than finding a more sustainable alternative.

“We already know the real solutions to climate change, which are decarbonizing, getting off of fossil fuels, and doing wind, solar, and battery storage,” Mazour said. “If we allow this … we’re just putting a band-aid on an industry that’s already contributing massively to climate change.”

FAST FACTS

Would stretch through 5 states: Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota

Would annually remove 12 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Total estimated cost: $4.5 billion

HEALTH & SCIENCE APRIL 21, 2022

09

UNIDOS

The new student union Unidos provides Hispanic students at West a sense of belonging.

BY MIGUEL COHEN SUAREZ & KAMAKSHEE KUCHHAL

U

nidos is translated as “united.” Unidos, the Latinx Student Union, is one of West High’s most recent clubs. With 12.8% Hispanic students in the district according to the 2021-2022 ICCSD enrollment report, Emily Carbajal ’23 believes it is necessary to provide Hispanic students at West with a welcoming environment.

“We needed a club like this because there are a lot of Latinx students that don’t feel like they belong here,” Carbajal said. “Not many students feel like they fit in in this school just because they’re from other places. We make people feel welcome.”

Spanish teacher Monica Aparicio Ruiz is the club sponsor for Unidos.

“There were talks about it last year and the need for it, so we waited until this year to kind of get it all going,” Aparicio Ruiz said. “From what I know, this is [West’s] first Latinx union.”

Forming a new club required administrative support and getting the word out.

“The process [of forming Unidos] was my reaching out to administration … and getting the information I needed, and then seeking student interest … I started with announcements on the overhead to see if anybody would come,” Aparicio Ruiz said. “Since then, mostly, we’ve gained membership through word of mouth.”

Aparicio Ruiz says the most effective way of recruitment has been members inviting new

10 FEATURE

APRIL 21, 2022

students directly.

“People would come in, and it was because they heard it from somebody,” Aparicio Ruiz said. “The flyers are great. The announcements are great, but it was word of mouth — it’s people inviting others to come to the meetings.”

Alexandra Filerio ’23 heard about Unidos through a current member. In addition to community, the service aspect of Unidos drew her in.

The student union plans to do volunteer work in communities with a high Hispanic population.

“A friend came up to me and was like, ‘We’re starting this group, and there’s going to be volunteer hours,’ and I honestly wanted to get a silver cord,” Filerio said. “Then once I joined them, [I thought] ‘Oh, this is nice. I’ll stay for a little while.’”

Unidos offers a safe space for students to speak their language, share their culture and heritage, and be part of a community within the school.

Aparicio Ruiz believes this is especially important for those who do not have an established sense of belonging.

“One of the reasons why we started Unidos was to build community,” Aparicio Ruiz said. “Many of them felt disconnected from their culture. It was something that they saw at home but didn’t really see here when they were in school.”

In addition to connecting with her culture, Filerio has used Unidos to connect with new people and make friends.

“I didn’t know many people who are Hispanic or Latino before I got into the group, and now

ART & DESIGN BY GINGER MCCARTNEY

I know a whole bunch more people. [Aparicio Ruiz] has also been helping us reach out to more people,” Filerio said. “I also talked to some ELL kids who I’ve never met and who speak Spanish.”

Unidos also helps to provide a community for those most comfortable speaking Spanish.

“There’s a lot of voices that aren’t heard, especially with ELL kids,’’ Filerio said. “I feel like Unidos could help them find more people within West that they could connect to and talk to.”

Unidos includes people of vastly diverse backgrounds, but their cultural differences do not hinder them.

“I feel like a lot of people, even though they’re different, can connect with each other,” Carbajal said. “All communities are different, and I feel like having that community in this school makes Latinx students feel better connections with each other.”

These connections do not create themselves, however. To begin every meeting, Aparicio Ruiz leads an activity to promote community and engagement, and then members share experiences to bond over similarities — and differences — in culture.

“I remember just being together and talking about where we’re from or our stories and what we’ve been through,” Carbajal said. “Sometimes we just talk; it doesn’t really have to be something important — it’s just about our own lives and what we go through as Latinx students.”

Though Unidos is the Latinx Student Union, all people are welcome to listen and learn from

“I FEEL LIKE HAVING THAT COMMUNITY IN THIS SCHOOL MAKES LATINX STUDENTS FEEL BETTER CONNECTIONS WITH EACH OTHER.” - EMILY CARBAJAL ‘23 others, as well as meet new people.

“It’s a place for everyone, not just Latinx students,” Carbajal said. “People from other countries are welcome too because it’s nice to know about every country, every culture. It’s just a place where you can get informed about everything. You don’t have to be a Latinx student to be welcome there.”

In addition to sharing among its members, Unidos is eager to share its diverse culture and experiences with all of West High. Filerio’s favorite memory in Unidos was proposing to participate in Walk it Out, West High’s multicultural fashion show.

“When I introduced it, everyone got excited,” Filerio said. “They were super helpful because they said they would join and suggested a whole bunch of things.”

School-wide events like Walk it Out connect Latin American students with the entire student body, but building community extends beyond the confines of West High. Aparicio Ruiz makes an effort to connect members with leaders in the greater Iowa City area. “[Aparicio Ruiz] planned a field trip for Latina girls … it’s going to be a [Latina Youth Leadership Conference] with a whole bunch of Latina women who either have businesses or are in leadership positions,” Filerio said. “The program is basically to bring us together and find a community.”

Filerio says Aparicio Ruiz is a helpful resource to discover new programs and opportunities.

She consistently finds opportunities for Unidos members to get involved beyond West High.

“This past week, I was telling them about the Latin Native American Cultural Center. They have a bunch of events open to the community celebrating both Latinx and Native American cultures, so I was inviting them to that and let-

ting them know,” Aparicio Ruiz said. “First trimester, we attended the Latinx Youth Summit at the University of Iowa. I took a group of about 15 students to that, and I just continue to look out for opportunities whether it’s scholarships, events or conferences that they might be interested in.”

In addition to bringing light to specific events, Aparicio Ruiz is committed to large, overarching goals for Unidos students, one of which is college preparation.

“More college readiness is something that I definitely see Unidos like taking on, whether it’s providing workshops or information to students and parents, providing resources in Spanish or getting their parents to be involved in that process,” Aparicio Ruiz said.

Aparicio Ruiz’s passion to mentor students to pursue post-secondary education stems from personal experience.

“When I was getting ready to start looking into colleges, nobody in my family had gone to college, so I had to learn and I had to look for the resources,” Aparicio Ruiz said. “If I can help the students as much as I can to make that journey easier, that’s what I want to do.

College is also where Aparicio Ruiz found the namesake for Unidos.

“There is a living learning community … called Unidos. I helped establish it. It’s the first Latinx living learning community within the University of Iowa,” Aparicio Ruiz said. “I helped create it, and we thought that was a fitting name because it means united. It doesn’t make reference necessarily to Latin America or a specific country, but I think it’s just very much like bringing people together, and I think that’s what we wanted out of this.”

Though the goal of both collegiate and high school student unions is similar, Aparicio Ruiz has noticed some notable differences in how they operate. Though less structured, this uncertainty opens up more possibilities to offer a helping hand.

“It’s high school, and that’s fine. We’re trying to figure out who you are as a person, and so I’m trying to help them navigate that,” Aparicio Ruiz said.

Ultimately, the goal of Unidos is to bring people together.

“Unidos means ‘together,’ like ‘united,’ so I feel like it’s for everyone. [Unidos] is a big word, and I feel like it’s a really important word — it’s for everyone to be together,” Carbajal said. “So no matter if you’re a Latinx student or not, if you feel like you need somewhere to feel welcome or feel connected to somebody, I feel like it’s a good club to come in.”

TERMINOLOGY

Terms often depend on context (census or Spanish community or inclusivity), and you can identify as many at the same time

Hispanic refers to any of the peoples in the Americas and Spain who speak Spanish or are descended from Spanishspeaking communities

Latin American refers to people of all Latin American countries (everything south of the US, with some possible Caribbean exceptions)

Latinx a non-binary form of Latino or Latina; in Spanishspeaking countries, the term Latine with the suffix “-e” is circulating as an alternative to the -o/a binary

Latino/Latina describes any person with ancestry in Latin America; usually includes Brazil and Haiti, but excludes Spain Source: The University of California

Scan this QR code for more information.

FEATURE

APRIL 21, 2022

11

CRAZE

O

ne quick click and a piece of art worth millions is now yours. However, you will never hold it in your hands. This is the reality of Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs. NFTs represent ownership of a piece of digital art, music or video. Purchasing an NFT is like buying an original painting with a certificate of authenticity. “[They’re] something that you might like, or you might look at, just like all other forms of art,” said Pakshal Jain ’22. “Having some sort of item that signifies, ‘Oh, you‘re a fan of this,’ … like another addition to people‘s collections or hobbies.”

The “non-fungible” aspect of NFTs means the digital asset is irreplaceable, and there is only one like it. The uniqueness of this digital asset makes it desirable and of value to people involved in the digital economy. Some people question how screenshotting NFTs can affect their purpose and value. However, screenshotting is comparable to owning a picture or print of the Mona Lisa, not the original painting; the originality is what gives NFTs value.

Made in 2014, the first NFT is a pixelated image of an octagon called „Quantum.“ Today, this one-of-a-kind art piece is on sale for $7 million.

Since then, trends in media such as video game characters, trading cards, viral social media posts and even memes have pushed the interest in the NFT market. Now, buyers can scroll through digital platforms like OpenSea and Axie Infinity to find and purchase NFTs. Ethereum, a platform that records and verifies exchanges in the digital economy, tracks NFTs as they move

NFTS BLOCKCHAIN ETHEREUM CRYPTOCURRENCY

12 FEATURE

APRIL 21, 2022

As the digital economy develops, West High students are involved with one of the newest trends: NFTs.

BY KRISHA KAPOOR & JANE LAM ART & DESIGN BY WILLIAM CHENG IMAGES COURTESY OF NFT NOW & OPENSEA

through the market. “[Transactions are] recorded in a ledger in a blockchain, and it can‘t be altered. It‘s not stored by anybody, which I find fascinating. A blockchain is like a Google spreadsheet that‘s recording transactions by users,” said computer science teacher Dominic Audia. “There are breadcrumbs that lead back to people who are using it. Criminals who use it aren’t necessarily safer than using a regular currency. It’s actually public information that authorities can track down.”

in price over time,” Bhattarai said.

Since NFTs can become more valuable, some buyers purchase them intending to invest. Although investing in more risky NFTs comes with the potential of great profit, Rhys Brauns ’22 finds purchasing safer NFTs appealing.

“I just do really safe [investments]. I‘m not really traditional, I just know what is safe and what is risky, and I just really like safe betting,” Brauns said. “If the figures behind it are successful, you‘ll probably be successful in it. I don‘t own anything crazy.”

The potential uses of NFTs continues to develop. After the Ukrainian government scrapped their initial plan to sell NFTs to raise money for the war effort, Ukraine formed a partnership with the creators of a website called Fair.xyz.

They plan to sell around 5,000 to 7,000 NFTs that centralize around funding the war. On this platform, the NFTS sold are expected to raise between $2 and $3 million for Ukraine.

“We‘re very slowly, but surely, unlocking what [NFTs] can do,” Brauns said.

NFTs also open up new opportunities and security for digital artists.

“NFTs have exploded, and digital artwork artists are being able to have these NFTs and make a decent living by creating some of this,” Audia The price of an NFT stems from its demand, said. “For years, there was forgery going on in so it can change over time: as the demand for a the art world, and this new technology is predigital asset grows, the price of it increases. Bis- venting that and making it so that this is recorwash Bhattarai ’23, founder of Investing Club at ded in the ledger, who owns it, and when it was West High, explains how NFTs gain value. bought.” “[An NFT] holds that value that it‘s unique, However, Audia does not believe NFTs will be and you can trade that one piece of unique con- sustainable due to the financial toll they might tract on Ethereum with other people for diffe- have on artists. rent prices. People think it has value, so it grows “It‘s not easy to make a lot of money selling digital artwork or digital music because there are high fees associated with putting your NFT Unique pieces of digital art that are bought online. on [digital platforms],” Audia said. “[Physical] art has always been appreciated in value. Digital art, I‘m not sure.”

Where NFT purchases are monitored and tracked.

Jain has noticed a growth of interest surrounding the digital ecoCompany that has developed a blockchain platform for NFT nomy at West High. and cryptocurrency transactions. “[The digital economy] has Digital currency that can circulate without the authority been a lot more popular, of a government or bank. NFTs are commonly bought with and a lot more people cryptocurrency. talk more about it,” Source: Investopedia

“

WE’ R E VE RY SLOWLY, BUT SU R E LY, U N LOCKI NG WHAT IT CAN DO.

”

- RHYS BRAU NS ‘22

NFTS JUICEBOX #2949

(From top to bottom)

CLOCK

Price: $68 (0.021 ETH) Part of a collection of juicebox NFTs. It is amongst the anime collection, which comprises only 3% of juicebox NFTs.

Price: $52,700,000 (16,953 ETH) The second most expensive NFT ever sold, a timer that displays the number of days Assanage has spent in prison.

Jain said. “It‘s good because it shows people you don‘t always need to be following a certain path to make money.”

He believes that cryptocurrency’s accessibility is what sparked the interest of high schoolers.

“I think that just that sense of being able to make passive income is inviting, and you don’t have to be 18 to get into cryptocurrency,” Jain said. “It‘s really easy to get into. It‘s an interesting way to make money.”

Bhattarai believes the interest in NFTs is partly due to the integration into popular culture. Shoe companies like Nike and Adidas have started to sell digital sneakers. Additionally, professional sports players now sell digital jerseys and shoes.

tal economy] and kind of just pump it up. I don‘t know how legal that is, but it definitely has a big impact on making it more available and more widespread because most people use social media in some form,” Brauns said.

Jain has observed interest in NFTs growing in other digital communities such as the messaging platform Discord.

“There are a lot of NFT Discords around certain projects, and I think that‘s how a lot of these things get popular … people fall into the hype,” Jain said.

After observing the growing culture around the digital economy, Bhattarai started the Investing Club at West. In Investing Club, Bhattarai teaches students about different aspects of the digital economy, including strategies about investing, and starts conversations around upcoming trends, like NFTs. Bhattarai believes that trends like NFTs can create a community in the digital economy.

“I‘m trying to bring people together so we all can learn together, all make money, all set ourselves up for the future and invest and grow,” Bhattarai said.

As the culture around NFTs grows, so has environmental concerns surrounding them. For NFTs to be purchased, they have to go through a proof of work process. Proof of work is a mechanism that companies like Ethereum use to validate transactions for NFTs. However, this process requires huge amounts of electricity. Ethereum consumes 73.2 TWh of electricity annually. This amount of energy is the equivalent of energy annually consumed by a medium-sized country like Austria.

“The amount of energy that‘s being used [for proof of work] is very concerning. Companies are using vast resources… some countries like China have kicked all the [proof of work platforms] out because of the amount of electricity they‘re using,” Audia said.

Despite the potential long-term environmental devastation resulting from NFTs, Jain believes that growth in the interest in NFTs will continue.

“There are still a lot more people who haven‘t been exposed to it, who would like to be exposed to it, and I think they‘ll keep on growing,” Jain said.

“

IT’S GOOD BECAUSE IT SHOWS PEOPLE YOU DON ’T ALWAYS N E E D TO BE FOLLOWI NG A CE RTAI N PATH TO MAKE MON EY.

”

- PAKSHAL JAI N ‘22

“NFTs will be connected to the hype culture, clothing and fashion culture, and to collectibles,” Jain said. “Over time, [NFTs] will be 100 percent integrated like collectibles, and [interest in them] will just keep growing.”

Brauns believes social media has also contributed to the popularity of the digital economy.

“You‘ve seen Elon Musk tweet about [the digi-

Sources: nft now & OpenSea

CRYPTOPUNK #7524 Price: $11,754,000 (4700 ETH) Part of a collection of retro figures, known as the “covid alien” due to its mask that is a rare trait in its collection.

FEATURE APRIL 21, 2022

13

PIERRFECT

West High sophomore, Pierre Rutagaya, shares his experience as a person with albinism.

BY RUBA AHMED

14 PROFILES

APRIL 21, 2O22

PHOTOS BY BELLA TISDALE DESIGN BY ZAIRA AHMAD

T

here are approximately 330 million people in the U.S., yet only about one in 18,00020,000 have a form of albinism, according to the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation. Pierre Rutagaya ’24 happens to be one of them.

Rutagaya believes that its rarity results in a broader issue regarding the lack of education about albinism.

“It’s not really taught like that,” Rutagaya said.

“Besides animals in science, I’ve never heard about [schools] teaching about human albinos.”

Albinism is a genetic condition that can affect all sexes and races. Albinism, however, is only an umbrella term that describes a diverse condition with various advantages and disadvantages. For Rutagaya, one advantage is how unique it makes him.

“I guess it means a lot that I’m not the same as everybody else — I stand out,” Rutagaya said. “I wouldn’t change who I am. I wouldn’t want to be different because I like the way I am.”

Generally, albinism reduces the melanin pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. The degree of pigmentation loss depends on the type of albinism; oculocutaneous albinism involves eyes, hair and skin, while the less-common ocular albinism affects only the eyes. Because of these physical differences, those with albinism sometimes face curious questions from others. “[People say] stuff like, ‘Where’d you come from?’, ‘How did you get this type?’ They just ask random questions, basic questions that people are supposed to know,” Rutagaya said. “When people ask [these] questions, I don’t like answering them just because I feel like this is basic knowledge that people are supposed to know.”

These questions can stem from an ignorance surrounding albinism. Certain African countries have a superstition that the body parts of people with albinism have special powers and therefore use them in witchcraft. This leaves

those with the condition living isolated and in fear for their lives. Fortunately, Rutagaya’s case is not as intense.

“Most people don’t bring it up. They just treat me as a normal person. But most people have questions. They want to know what it is. I always answer,” Rutagaya said.

Still, to Rutagaya, even excusing questions as mere interest should have a limit.

“Sometimes it gets annoying,” Rutagaya said.

“But sometimes, some people are just curious.”

Rutagaya finds that people compare him to others with albinism and tend to generalize who they are and how they look.

“

I WOU LDN ’T WANT TO BE DI FFE R E NT BECAUSE I LI KE TH E WAY I AM .”

- PI ERRE RUTAGAYA ‘24 “We’re all not the same person. We’ve got different features and stuff like that.”

Rutagaya sometimes finds himself a victim of ridiculous questions and assumptions from those around him.

“I used to get like, ‘Did you bleach your skin?’ … ‘Did your mom sleep with a white man?’” Rutagaya said. “I haven’t heard these questions in a minute.”

Rutagaya’s friend, Clinton Carter ’24 also re-

calls hearing some of these ignorant comments from a peer.

“It [happened] once, but I knew he was joking.

He was probably like, ‘That’s why you’re albino’ or something,” Carter said.

To Rutagaya, many of these questions seem to have an obvious comedic intent.

“They just like making jokes. I think people can just choose to be ignorant,” Rutagaya said.

People with albinism face physical challenges due to their condition as well — they have skin that is highly sensitive to the sun and vision problems that are not always repairable with eyeglasses. In fact, the abnormal retina development and nerves that connect the eye and brain are what formally define whether someone has albinism or not. Common problems that result from the altered development include astigmatism, poor eyesight, photophobia and nystagmus. Otherwise, those affected have average lifespans and carry out regular lives.

“I was just treated differently because I was different from others,” Rutagaya said. “You have got something to prove, I guess.”

Despite one in 70 people carrying the genetic mutation associated with albinism, Rutagaya has still found himself alone in having the condition because of its recessive gene nature. Even on the streets of New York, where he used to reside, he had never caught more than a glimpse of albinism around him.

Regardless, Rutagaya is surrounded by a supportive group of friends and peers, with Carter being one of them.

At the end of the day, albinism is a condition that affects physical characteristics. On the inside, we are all the same.

“I don’t really see anything different about him. He’s just like me,” Carter said. “[Seeing him treated differently] makes me kind of confused because at the end of the day, he’s still a person, so it’s kind of disappointing.”

WHAT WHAT CAUSES CAUSES ALBINISM? ALBINISM? Albinism is caused by a recessive gene. Both parents must carry the gene for it to be passed on.

However the parents themselves do not have to have albinism. = Gene that causes albinism Source: National Institute of Health

PROFILES APRIL 21, 2O22

15

TEACHERS TEACHING TEACHERS There are several teachers at West High who were students there once, two of which happened to develop a unique relationship with some of their teachers.

BY SOOMIN KOH & MISHKA MOHAMED NOUR

W

est High’s tradition of excellence spans over five decades, with hundreds of students coming and leaving, and hundreds of teachers departing and staying. It is no wonder that some teachers might have already crossed paths before becoming colleagues.

The relationship between a teacher and a student can be life-changing. Sometimes, that relatively brief interaction plays a major role in the future ahead. This holds true in the business department for teachers Diane Fickel and Emily Hudachek.

Coming to West as a freshman in 2012, Hudachek already had a sense of who her favorite teacher would be.

“My sister … went to West High, and she always told me when I got to West, ‘You need to go find Mrs. Fickel because she is the best teacher’,” Hudachek said. “I already was walking in thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, I gotta make a really great first impression myself. This is a top-tier teacher.’”

Hudachek quickly formed a bond with Fickel and the environment of her classroom due to Fickel’s welcoming personality.

“I walked in, and I was kind of expecting business, super strict and rigid, but [Fickel] was so welcoming,” Hudachek said. “You felt like she valued having each and every student in the classroom.”

At the beginning, Fickel saw Hudachek as an introverted, hard-working student.

“I noticed right away that she was a very engaging student,” Fickel said. “And I noticed that she seemed very studious and very driven by ac-

16 PROFILES APRIL 21, 2022

ademics. I also noticed right away that she was loving accounting.”

Hudachek’s love for accounting prompted Fickel to invite her to join the business club.

“That was hard for her because she stepped out of her comfort zone to be in that club. But I think her trust in my recommendation helped her take that step,” Fickel said.

Hudachek spent her high school years as an avid student and teaching assistant in Fickel’s classroom, taking various business-related classes such as Introduction to Business, Accounting and Professional Pathways. Despite all of this experience, Hudachek had doubts about her true career passions in the field of business. A key influence in her decision to switch to education was none other than Fickel.

“I just remember sitting down in her office [and] having a heart-to-heart [conversation],” Hudachek said. “That kind of changed my life — that 30-minute conversation we had.”

Fickel believed that Hudachek would be a good business teacher because of her characteristics and skills.

“She’s professional. She’s very organized. Even as a student, she was coachable and I knew when you have a teaching role, you have to be willing to learn,” Fickel said.

Fickel suggested that Hudachek go into business teaching, which Hudachek pursued for the next four years in college. After that discussion, Hudachek was ready to step into her own path through Fickel’s advice.

“She was like a daughter to me. I love her to this day like a daughter. And so we cried and cried and cried when she left,” Fickel said. “And

I said, ‘You know what, Emily? I think someday we’re gonna be together again.’”

Little did they know how quickly they would reunite soon. Upon Hudachek’s graduation from college, Fickel notified her of a job opening at West.

“She’s the reason why I’m at West,” Hudachek said. “[Fickel] goes, ‘You need to interview here at West,’ so she’s the one who first let me know about it. I went through the application process, and that’s kind of how I landed here.”

From having a student-teacher relationship to becoming colleagues in the same department, Hudachek feels her relationship with Fickel has positively changed.

“Our relationship has just continued to evolve.

I consider her still a teacher. She will always in my heart be my favorite teacher I’ve had, but it turns into colleagues and friends. I consider her a member of my family now,” Hudachek said.

Fickel’s friendship helped Hudachek adapt as a new teacher in the district. From lesson-planning to casual conversation, Hudachek frequently finds herself in Fickel’s classroom.

“Coming into West that first year, I would use my prep periods to go observe some of Mrs. Fickel’s classes just so I could see what she was doing with classes that I would be teaching later on in my career,” Hudachek said. “I’ve really tried to kind of adapt my lessons and adapt my teaching style to be more fluid, flexible, [have] more room for discussion and [be more] project-based. And I do attribute that to mirroring a little bit of [Fickel’s] teaching style while also coming through with some of mine.”

Similar to the pair in the business department,

the science department also has a group of teachers who share a bond. Biology teacher Andrea Harms and physics teacher Matt Harding, previously had a teacher-student relationship with another science teacher, Marshal Moellers. “[Moellers] was a very inquisitive kid, and also very concerned about doing exactly everything the right way. He seemed kind of nervous and shy sometimes,” Harms said.

During Moellers’ high school years, his true passion was in physics.

“I continued to keep in touch with him as he was an upperclassman, and I remember he was super into physics,” Harms said. “At that time, he was like, ‘I want to be a physics teacher.’”

Moellers remembers his experience in biology similarly.

“I think [it’s] just my lack of knowledge of biology. I didn’t really feel comfortable enough with the material that I could hardly say anything. I don’t think that I was as outspoken in [Harms’s] class as I was in Harding’s class,” Moellers said.

When Moellers took a physics course with Harding in his senior year, his personality began to shine. “[Moellers] was funny but he did so in a respectful way … if you got room for a comment, it was usually going to be kind of clever,” Harding said. “[He was a] good student, a really, really good student.”

In addition to Moellers’ humorous personality within the walls of Harding’s classroom, physics was also one of his academic strengths.

“I should have, in retrospect, been aware that he really was into [physics], because he … did remarkably well in terms of his ability to take in the materials,” Harding said.

At a certain point, Moellers had considered teaching as a career, specifically as a math teacher. However, Harding was the key for him to decide that he wanted to become a physics teacher. “[Harding] was actually a huge inspiration for why I became a teacher. Seeing how much fun he had teaching up at the front of the classroom, I was just in awe of everything that he was able to do. [He was] obviously a very knowledgeable teacher, but then just very fun, charismatic. [He] cared about his students, cared about what they knew for a subject as challenging as physics,” Moellers said.

Moellers graduated from the University of Iowa and became a teacher at Davenport North High School; however, he was only able to teach earth and space science and not physics which proved to be a setback. When Mitch Gross informed Moellers there was an opening to teach both physics and earth and space science at West, he ended up taking it.

“It always blows my mind when kids go into science,” Harding said. “It was really a thrill when that vacancy came available that we would be able to potentially hire him.”

Despite having a close relationship with Moellers in high school, Harding still worries about

lingering formality in teaching as colleagues.

“I think it’s still a little bit of a challenge and I feel bad about it. I’m cool with him pushing back on stuff, but I think there’s some hesitation because [he’s] still, ‘this is my teacher’,” Harding said. “I don’t want him just doing something be-

“

[HAR DI NG] WAS R EALLY H E LPI NG M E ALONG TH E WAY. H E WAS A M E NTOR TO M E WH I LE I WAS H E R E I N SCHOOL , AN D A M E NTOR EVE N BEYON D.

”

- MARSHAL MOELLERS, SCI ENCE TEACH ER

cause it’s how I did it or how I think it could be done. I want him to make it.”

In Moellers’ first years teaching at West, he had frequent interactions with Harding due to the proximity of their rooms and a new physics curriculum.

“[Moellers] would come in and observe periodically just to see how I was doing things because there was a pretty dramatic shift in how I taught physics that happened between when he graduated and when he came back as a teacher,” Harding said. “What was really impressive [was that] he was really brave in tackling teaching physics with a new approach that he hadn’t experienced before.”

Harding and Moellers share a treasured bond through their common character traits.

“It was great when we could interact on a daily basis [and] having somebody that has the same sense of humor and that sort of thing,” Harding said. “We were really tight that first year.”

Harding hopes to continue collaborating with Moellers in the future through a shared general physics class.

“I don’t teach general physics this year, [but] maybe I will again next year, so it’ll be collaborative. He and Mr. Bushkofsky have learned some things this year, so I’ll try to take on board some things that they’ve discovered from doing things a little bit differently,” Harding said. “I think, in addition to our personalities working well together, our understanding of how science class should be taught is very compatible as well.”

Overtime, their bond has only strengthened.

“I felt like our friendships got that much better and that much stronger as a result of me being their colleague now,” Moellers said.

To both Moellers and Hudachek, Harding and Fickel became mentors and inspirations.

“A big inspiration to come back [to West] for sure would have been Harding because he wrote me a letter of recommendation to the University of Iowa,” Moellers said. “So he was really helping me along the way. He was a mentor to me while I was here in school, and a mentor even beyond.”

PHOTOS BY DEFNE BAYMAN & COURTESY OF ICCSD DESIGN BY GRACE HUANG

PROFILES APRIL 21, 2022

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19

HOME

Although some struggle to afford housing in a college town with an ever-growing population and architecture scene, community members can make a difference.

THE WORD “HOUSELESS” HAS BEEN USED IN THIS ARTICLE INSTEAD OF “HOMELESS” BECAUSE OF THE STIGMATIZATION OF THE TERM AND BECAUSE ONE CAN FEEL AT HOME AND CONNECTED TO THEIR COMMUNITY WITHOUT HAVING PERMANENT HOUSING. HOWEVER, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT STILL USES THE WORD “HOMELESS” IN THEIR REPORTS AS DO OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY DUE TO VARYING OPINIONS ON TERMINOLOGY. FIRST NAMES ARE USED TO PROTECT THE PRIVACY OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOUSELESSNESS. SEE THE EDITORIAL POLICY AT HTTPS://WSSPAPER.COM/POLICY/.

Source: Architectural Digest, Do Good

BY ELLA DE YOUNG, KAILEY GEE & HANAH KITAMOTO

I

owa nice: the term describes the overwhelming kindness members of the Hawkeye State practice. It refers to Iowans’ tendency to greet strangers on the street or make conversation while checking out at a store, whereas in other states, residents may walk past or shift focus to their phone. How far does this kindness extend, though, to people without shelter?

IN THE COMMUNITY

I

owa City residents Shane and Jeremy are best friends. Both experienced houselessness for most of their lives. Jeremy was battling an addiction to narcotics, and both friends currently struggle with alcohol abuse. Additionally, both faced tough childhoods — Jeremy’s family members struggled with substance abuse disorder, and Shane encountered a variety of adversity early on. “[I lived] on the street, off and on all my life — about 40 years. I’m 63 now,” Shane said. “My dad died when I was 6 years old, so I had to raise myself. Then, I had to take care of my mom too.

She had a bad heart.”

Things started looking up when Cross Park Place opened in January 2019 and located Shane and Jeremy. The building, brought about

by Shelter House, has single apartments and provides housing to individuals experiencing chronic houselessness. Cross Park Place was designed using trauma-informed design principles, including soft colors, warm materials and soothing spaces.

“Cross Park helped us out. They’re really nice people,” Jeremy said. “They came and picked me up out of the woods.”

Although both friends are

glad to have a permanent place to reside, they agree there are some upsides to being houseless.

“Sometimes I like being houseless. It gives me the freedom that I need, the space. A lot of people don’t realize that. Some people like to have their own space,” Shane said.

Shelter House Director of Development and Communications Christine Ralston affirms that many people experiencing houselessness may enjoy it because it allows individualism.

“The thought of losing a freedom when you have very little individual choice, in a world that prides individual choice, [is terrifying],” Ralston said. “[People experiencing houselessness] have a reasonable and justifiable skepticism of structures and institutions because often they fail them continuously.”

Still, there are challenges. Abbey Ferenzi is the Executive Director of GuideLink Center, a 24/7 urgent care facility for people who have mental health or substance use crises that would otherwise be in the emergency room or jail. Based on Ferenzi’s experiences working and a 2020 piece published in Psychiatric Times, being houseless and having a mental health disorder or substance use disorder frequently arise from one another.

“Certainly not everyone who’s homeless has a mental health disorder or substance use disorder, but, in my opinion, from what we see, a lot of people struggling with that are also struggling to stay housed,” Ferenzi said.

Struggling with a substance use disorder himself, Jeremy takes it day-by-day.

“I’m just trying to get by,” Jeremy said. “I’m trying to help myself out. I’m trying to help my brother out too because he’s going to become homeless soon.”

Michael, another Iowa City resident, has been houseless off and on for the past 10 years. Al-

though he is originally from Iowa City, he lived in various places throughout his life. He feels there is a stigma surrounding being houseless. “[People think] I am useless. People kind of look down on you because you’re homeless,” Michael said.

Recent rises in inflation have only exacerbated troubles. According to University of Iowa economics professor Anne Villamil, pandemic-era shifts in consumer behavior, supply chain issues and U.S. fiscal policies are responsible for inflation. Additionally, the war in Ukraine has increased oil, gas and commodity prices.

“Inflation is always more difficult for low-income people. If one has an income of $1,000 and inflation is 10%, this income will only buy $900 worth of goods and services,” Villamil wrote in an email.

Safety is another concern. Dieu Plus Fort is currently battling houselessness and has been using resources provided by Shelter House.

“My experience is not too good, not too bad,” Dieu Plus Fort said. “It’s a place to sleep, you get

[PEOPLE TH I N K] I AM USE LESS. PEOPLE KI N D OF LOOK DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ’ R E HOM E LESS. - M ICHAEL, PERSON EXPERI ENCI NG HOUSELESSN ESS something to eat. The bad thing is people stealing your stuff. They’re noisy, they’re fighting. I don’t always feel comfortable.”

The anonymous source, a fellow person utilizing Shelter House, does their best to make the environment as welcoming as possible.

“I stay busy cleaning and not complaining.

People are from all different walks of life, so some people are bound to make a mess. It makes us look civil for when people come to donate or interview,” the anonymous source said. “When you have cleanliness, you have more order. Plus, Covid makes you more aware and more considerate about cleaning.”

The resources Shelter House provides are beneficial for the anonymous source, and they are on their way to a permanent residence in two weeks, as of press time.

“Shelter House has helped me refresh and refine life skills — being punctual is one. It all follows you through school, to work, to paying bills. Also, giving me the motivation and confidence to stay housed and gainfully employed has been valuable,” they said.

Their experience being houseless has not only

taught the anonymous source life skills but life lessons.

“It’s been very enlightening to the conditions that people face. They become creative when it comes to survival,” the anonymous source said.

“I feel humbled and more in line with humanity.

For example, I’m fully mobile. It makes me appreciate the minute things in life.”

Rickey, having experienced houselessness for six years, however, uses a walker to get around.

Even though she must use a walker, Rickey loves to walk to the Iowa City Public Library and watch Marvel movies. Although Rickey does not like being houseless, she feels her identity as a trans woman is more accepted in Iowa City than in Cedar Rapids, her childhood home.

“My childhood was really bad; I was sexually abused by my mom and dad. They didn’t know what they were doing because they were using drugs,” Rickey said. “[People at Shelter House and my doctors] understand me more, understand what I’m going through and call me ‘she.’”

Ultimately, everyone has a different reason for being unhoused. However, there is hope.

“Success stories are possible — they’re highly

possible. The resources are in place to get back on the grid. A lot of people come in with barriers. It’s like if you’re running track, with hurdles.

These people definitely help you — they help you get over the hurdles no matter how many you have. It works for people that allow it to work,” the anonymous source said.

COMMUNITY ACTIONS

S

tudents in the ICCSD have been doing what they can to help people experiencing houselessness. Since last summer, Ana Nester ’22 has volunteered for Houses into Homes, a non-profit organization that delivers furniture and household items to families exiting houselessness in Johnson County. Through her volunteer experience, Nester says she has gained a new perspective.

“In our community, there’s a lot more need than I would have ever thought,” Nester said.

“There was one time we brought a bed, and this kid was so excited. He was jumping up and down, and he’s like, ‘That’s the bed I’m going to sleep in tonight.’ I was really happy, but at the same time, it’s heartbreaking to know these kids don’t have a bed to sleep in every night, and that’s what they’re excited about when [for] a lot of people, that’s just a given.”

West High classes, such as the Seal of Biliteracy courses, have encouraged students to use their skills to give back.

“Me and my classmates, we went to CommUnity, which is a food pantry. We crafted this script in French to help shoppers at CommUnity that don’t speak English be able to know what to do when they go in the building and know how to shop there and all the rules,” said Alice Doresca ’23, a French Seal of Biliteracy student.

To help shoppers, CommUnity turned the

script into an informational video, producing it in French and Spanish.

“It made me feel good to know I was doing something good to give back to our community, because none of the volunteers at the food pantry speak any other language except English.

[We were] able to help these people actually understand what to do when they walk in the building,” Doresca said.

The CommUnity Food Bank and other local food banks are helpful places to get food when on the verge of houselessness, currently houseless or in Shelter House’s permanent housing.

Otherwise, Shelter House provides breakfast and dinner, and the Iowa City Free Lunch Program provides free lunch without requiring identification or an address.

In the larger community, Iowa City South District Neighborhood Association President Angie Jordan works to connect residents to resources they need. For individuals who are unhoused, this may be food banks or programs like Shelter House. Another central goal is connecting residents — in other words, community-building.

“People realizing what’s in their own backyard, what they have access to — that always makes me feel good because that connection and attachment, at least for me, really makes me feel like I’m home. And when I’m home, I’m comfortable,” Jordan said.

Jordan keeps this philosophy in mind in both her volunteer work and position as Founder and Director of Banjo Knits Empowerment LLC. Her business provides many services, including but not limited to event planning and restorative justice practices used to repair relationships between victims and offenders.

“I think we oftentimes will forget that the fun that we try to create and the joy we try to create is for everyone, whether you have a home or

not,” Jordan said.

Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls ’09 has been interested in helping individuals experiencing houselessness ever since he was a child in downtown Iowa City. In the many years since, Wahls’ involvement in this issue has only grown.

“It started off as a childhood question of, ‘Why is this happening? It doesn’t seem fair,’” Wahls said. “[It] grew in high school, and then in college, into a better understanding of the broader structural issues around this topic.”

When Wahls was in graduate school, he learned about an approach to addressing houselessness called Housing First. The Housing First method, which is used extensively by Shelter House, approaches houselessness differently than traditional methods.

Historically, housing was only provided to individuals experiencing houselessness who completed a series of steps, including accepting needed treatment and being sober. The Housing First method switches up the order in which

individuals experiencing houselessness receive housing — a person experiencing houselessness is first given a home and then, they can decide if they want to receive treatment or become sober, or both. Through Housing First, no lengthy steps are needed for someone who is houseless to finally have a roof over their head.

Wahls has been working to combat houselessness in Iowa through his leadership in Iowa government since his first speech in the Iowa Legislature, where he focused on an encounter he had with a man experiencing houselessness in Des Moines while it was negative 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

“We were able to get some legislation passed that has more than doubled our state’s investment into the kinds of projects that help make sure that people like him have the help they need from our state,” Wahls said. “We got a lot more work to do; it’s just a step in the right direction.”

However, not all actions in the community are positive. Gentrification is the process of turning a community with formerly low housing prices

I T’S H EARTB R EAKI NG TO KNOW TH ESE KI DS DON ’T HAVE A BE D TO SLE E P I N EVE RY N IG HT AN D THAT’S WHAT TH EY ’ R E EXCITE D ABOUT WH E N [FOR] A LOT OF PEOPLE , THAT’S J UST A G IVE N .

-ANA N ESTER ‘22, VOLU NTEER

into a wealthy area and, in turn, displacing the former residents.

“Sometimes, yes, it’s better to fix [properties] up and have them be better for people in the community. But not to the point where they’re priced out of housing,” Ralston said.

Anne Russett is the Senior Planner for Iowa City. She leads her team in making decisions about long-range and current city planning.

Long-range city planning includes the creation of a comprehensive plan for the growth of the city that covers topics such as land use, transportation, environmental resources and more — all based on community input. Conversely, current city planning involves screening land use development applications, such as add-ons to already existing properties.

Russett has not noticed any large-scale patterns of gentrification in Iowa City. For example, although there was a rezoning of a former mobile home park, she mentioned that the city provided resources.

“The city was really worried about the displacement of those residents. We will require as part of that rezoning that individuals get relocation

Besides potential gentrification, some activists have been concerned about anti-houseless architecture. Cities across the country have implemented these changes, from slanted bus benches to spikes on flat spaces that prevent people experiencing houselessness from sleeping there.

Iowa City installed new benches with armrests in 2018. Later, the city council replaced 20% of the benches with benches without armrests, and donated an additional $10,000 to Shelter House.

“Nobody’s wrong for getting riled up about people’s comfort and accessibility in the community,” Ralston said, regarding concerns about anti-houseless architecture. “It’s not wrong to ask those questions as long as they don’t lose sight of [the central goal that] I don’t want my community to have to sleep on benches. I want to be able to connect them to a home they can afford, they can stay in and that they’ll have support in.”

Overall, Jordan believes houselessness should never define an individual.

“When you see someone who’s houseless, whether you realize it or not, that really doesn’t and shouldn’t, in my opinion, matter: if you’re in

I F YOU ’ R E I N OU R PHYSICAL BOU N DAR I ES OF OU R N E IG H BOR HOOD, YOU ’ R E HOM E .

-ANGI E JO RDAN , SOUTH DISTRICT N EIGH BO RHOOD ASSOCIATION PRESI DENT assistance, financial and support services and [are able to] work with Shelter House in particular to find a new home,” Russett said. “[This is] not to say that there hasn’t been any displacement of individuals from their residences; it may be occurring. What I’m not seeing though is residential neighborhoods completely redeveloping and resulting in displacement.”

The city minimizes gentrification by being self-aware and putting preemptive measures in place. The city planning team has a group dedicated to allocating funds for affordable housing. Russett advocates for a diversity of housing types and feels, for a city with 80% of residential land being used for single family homes, this is a step in the right direction.

“Single-family homes cost more. Not everyone can afford a single-family home. Not everyone wants a single-family home,” Russett said. “We went through a process recently where we created new zoning regulations that require a mix of housing types per block. So, as we’re thinking about housing diversity and encouraging housing diversity, we’re trying to provide some flexibility in our code.”

our physical boundaries of our neighborhood, you’re home,” Jordan said. “Those parks, those benches, those bus stops, the playground, the sidewalk, they should all be clean and shoveled and accessible for everyone who is home here.”

Johnson County Sheriff Brad Kunkel has a similar perspective on how people should view houselessness.

“Being homeless isn’t a crime and neither is having a mental illness,” Kunkel said.

BUILDING COMMUNITY

T

o build community and make everyone feel at home, Jordan believes a friendly greeting can make all the difference.

“Instead of avoiding eye contact and acting like [people experiencing houselessness are] not there, myself and others, we say hi. Just some of those really basic human connections for folks [make a difference],” Jordan said. “Again, whether they have a physical home or not, you’re home here, and when we’re home here, we acknowledge each other on these streets.”

Education and spreading awareness are big

components of helping for Ralston. She believes that if people experiencing houselessness do not know about the resources available to them, they cannot use them. Similarly, community members unaware of the resources are unable to provide support.

“The public support is huge. The only way you can get that is by educating our community and helping people find ways to be involved that work for them. A lot of people think you have to have a lot of time or a lot of money to be involved in making the world a better place for the people who need it — that’s just not the case,” Ralston said.

As one of West High’s Student Family Advocates, there is one thing Annie Gudenkauf feels she can always provide.

“Really, what we can do is just be an emotional support for families that might not be getting the services that they deserve to have,” Gudenkauf said.

Others participate in hands-off work, including political, financial and emotional support, for people who are doing the hands-on work. If a person wants to be active in their community, Jordan believes they should find an internal connection to the issue in the form of empathy or personal experience. This process requires listening and reflecting on the issue while learning new things and preparing to be uncomfortable.

“I’ve oftentimes found that in most of the community work I do, if there’s not a personal connection to it, some people put in the amount of work they think needs to be done, pat themselves on the back and then leave. If you really want to be involved, and you want to make a difference, this is forever and always,” Jordan said.

After firmly committing to a cause, Jordan notes there are many ways to get involved, from volunteering to writing related pieces that make people think. Nonetheless, a personal connection is important to combat the heavy toll taking on social justice issues has on an individual.

“The sustaining factor for me of doing the work is the joy, healing and excitement I get. And that’s because I tether it to knitting or I tether it to my neighborhood. I tether it to people that I see every day,” Jordan said. “It’s personal, and it’s fun.”

Russett values community members voicing their opinions on city planning and potential projects. She encourages others to think about changes with empathy.

“Sometimes these rezoning meetings at city council can get really contentious. There’s lots of neighbors that don’t want to see certain housing types in their community. I would like people to think, not just about what’s going on in their neighborhood, but what the city needs as a whole and what’s best for the city in terms of providing housing to our community,” Russett said. “We need multifamily units. We need duplex units. We need smaller units. We need accessory dwelling units. And we need it across the city, not just in one neighborhood.”

Source: Continuums of Care to the HUD & Institute for Community Alliances ART BY SILA DURAN, ERINN VARGA & ATHENA WU DESIGN BY SILA DURAN

ALTHOUGH THESE ESTIMATES ARE DIFFICULT TO MAKE, THESE NUMBERS ARE THE MOST ACCURATE AND RECENT TOTALS OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOUSELESSNESS ON ANY GIVEN DAY. Iowa City:

United States:

113 people as of 2021

Iowa:

2,647 people as of 2020

RESOURCES There are many places available for people experiencing houselessness in Iowa City to receive help — their contacts are listed below.

Shelter House: 319-351-0326 Iowa City Public Library: 319-356-5200 CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank: 319-351-2726 GuideLink Center: 319-688-8000

580,466 people as of 2020

26 ADS

APRIL 21, 2022

ADS APRIL 21, 2022

27

THE RADISH

The contents of this series are entirely satirical and should not be regarded as fact.

For two bonus radishes, visit wsspaper.com.

BY CAROLINE MASCARDO & ROSEMARY TIMMER-HACKERT

STUDENTS SHARE AP TEST-STUDYING STRATEGIES West High will administer the 2022 AP tests over the first two weeks of May. With these high-pressure exams on the horizon, many test-takers have implemented various studying strategies to prepare, some more unique than others.

“I’ve been sleeping with a textbook under my pillow since spring break ended — Mondays and Wednesdays AP Human Geography, Tuesdays and Fridays AP Biology, and weekends AP Spanish,” said Dormir Hawkins ’24. “I’m hoping I can soak up all the information I missed sleeping through class in time for the tests.”

Other students have opted to avoid sleeping altogether. According to a recent survey of West High students enrolled in AP courses, 76% reported sleeping 5 hours or less since AP Crunch Time (more commonly referred to as April) began.

“I don’t remember the last time I got 8 hours of rest,” said Kay Oss ’23. “With seven exams to

study for, the only time I can review is when I should be sleeping.”

Although most AP test-takers spend the majority of April reviewing in hopes of receiving a score of 4 or 5, some believe there are alternative methods to attain high exam scores. Current AP U.S. History student Jack Pott ’24 plans to leave his Venmo username — @a-rad-ish-guy — on the DBQ portion of the exam for his test grader.

“The Gilded Age? The Great Depression? I honestly couldn’t tell you anything about either of those things — I haven’t paid attention in APUSH all year,” Pott said. “I’m a lost cause at this point. My only hope for a passing score is to get whoever is grading my exam to request as much cash as they want in exchange for a good score.

Earlier this month, some furious students began the Destroy College Board campaign, citing the corporation’s monopolization of education as

a key reason for West High students’ general sleeplessness and decline of well-being.

“AP test-takers, please don’t let a single-digit number define your self-worth. After you finish applying to colleges, that number literally doesn’t matter anymore, I assure you,” said Principal Mitch Gross in the latest Monday Message.

“Please get some sleep and take care of yourselves.”

PAID PROMOTION ENTERS PUBLIC CLASSROOMS

28 ENTERTAINMENT APRIL 21, 2022

Nectar, Rectangleroom, Talenttrade: West High students have become familiar with these brand names and more as the number of paid promotions in teachers’ lessons grows.

“I thought I was dreaming the first time I heard a pitch,” said Willow Taylor-Frank ’25. “My teacher had just told us what the math homework was and then suggested we get some extra practice using Intelligent. That was strange enough, but then she talked about it for at least two minutes.”

The idea spread throughout the staff, with the average student now encountering two sponsorships per day. Younger teachers have been especially likely to put sponsored content in their lessons. Monet Ghetter, who started teaching this year, was the first teacher to include paid promotion in their classes.

“The salary I get paid as a new teacher isn’t quite enough, so I asked an influencer friend of mine to put me in contact with the brands she’s worked with. I told them I had a loyal audience of 120 teenagers that watch me five days a week, and one of the brands offered me $40 for five days of promotion,” said Ghetter.

While the administration expressed disapproval of sponsorships and made attempts to stop them, teachers defended the practice by claiming they are just personal recommendations.

Teachers also argued that the use of brands like Syntaxly, Interest Stream and Intelligent could be beneficial for students.

“While I’m against sponsored lessons, I could name a few students off the top of my head that could use a subscription to Bill Hygiene Group,” said mathematics teacher Pat Ryan. “Personally, I give students the option to sponsor my lessons themselves through the classroom’s Patreon page.”

The administration finally settled on forcing teachers to disclose any sponsored content in their lessons.

“It’s not ideal. I’d rather school be used for learning the curriculum than learning about brands,” said Principal Mitch Gross. “But, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. At least now students know when a lesson is sponsored, which will allow them to make better decisions concerning the brand mentioned.”

KIM REYNOLDS TAKES ADDITIONAL STEPS TO PROTECT WOMEN’S SPORTS Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 2426 into law Tuesday, prohibiting girls six feet tall and up from participating in women’s sports.

While many see this as harmful and unnecessary, Reynolds stated that the bill is essential for protecting women’s sports.

“The average woman is 5 foot 4 inches tall, and 99% of women in America are under 6 feet.

These women deserve to see their effort and training pay off, but women over 6 feet have too much of an inherent physical advantage,” Reynolds said.

The Short Girls Association, who have been

lobbying for this law for over five years, attended the signing of the bill.

“We don’t hate tall girls. I love competing against taller girls, but it’s not really a competition if they always win,” said Tina Peterson, a member of the organization. “I’m glad someone is finally taking steps to let women be able to play sports in a fair environment.”

It is unknown how many athletes this bill will affect, but many women are already coming out and sharing their stories.

“I’ve been playing basketball since I was in sixth grade. I love it. I love my team. And sud-

denly I don’t get to play anymore?” said Tahlia Williams. “I know the state is supposedly making the sport more fair, but isn’t this unfair to me?”

Opponents of the bill are arguing that Reynolds is addressing a problem that doesn’t exist.

“Everyone’s genetic makeup is different. We all have advantages that we work with and disadvantages that we work to overcome,” said women’s rights activist Fenna Nest. “It is ridiculous for a woman to be banned from her sport because of her biology.”

ICCSD ADMINISTRATORS DECREE MASKS OFF, CLOTHES OFF If you have been feeling stressed about how lame your outfits are, fear no more. Not only has the mask mandate been lifted, but ICCSD administrators have also decided students are no longer required to wear clothes while on school property. After nearly a year of uncertainty regarding the district dress code, administrators have finally provided some clarity.

“Ultimately, this is the more equitable option.

What if some students can’t afford clothes? The district will not provide any support. Instead, we’re laying a clean slate, so students no longer have to worry,” one administrator said.

The student response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I’m personally really grateful for the removal of the clothes mandate,” said Shirley Ukare ’25. “Now I don’t have to spend an hour every morning trying to pick out what to wear.”

Unsurprisingly, there was an awkward transition period during the initial days of the clothing mandate being dropped.

“It was sort of weird at first, seeing some of my classmates and teachers walking around buck-naked,” Ukare said. “But after getting used to it and taking off my clothes myself, I think this measure should have been implemented earlier. I feel like it’s only natural we stay the way we came into the world — I’ve discovered nudity is a social construct.”

Although most have grown accustomed to the sight of several West High students and staff naked all over campus, there has been particularly significant pushback from the school nurses and janitorial staff.

“There is fecal matter all over the place and so many messes to clean up,” said West High custodian Ivana Cry. “Please, I don’t care what you do at home, but cover yourselves properly at school.”

ART & DESIGN BY ATHENA WU ENTERTAINMENT APRIL 21, 2022

29

SHOE SHOE SHOE SHOE SHOE

GAME GAME GAME GAME GAME

Sports and fashion have created a long-lasting culture around sneakers that have made a mark at West High.

BY KRISHA KAPOOR & LILY PROCHASKA

T

o some, shoes are just another accessory, something to wear to protect your feet. For others, collecting shoes is a fun hobby, and their footwear brings out a sense of pride. From Yeezys to Crocs, shoes of all types can be seen in the hallways of West High.

English teacher Amari Nasafi’s interest in shoes began at a young age. Most of his early sneaker inspiration came from top athletes and celebrities.

“Like any kid who came of age in the 90s, I was obsessed with Michael Jordan,” Nasafi said. “My high school bedroom [had] lots of Michael Jordan posters that were quintessential 90s stuff.”

Jordan shoes were some of the first to create a culture around shoes — Michael Jordan debuted his Nike Air Force Sneaker in 1985 for performance on the basketball court. Now, Nike has released a total of 35 Jordan editions.

Sneakers were first made in the mid-1800s for athletes who needed durable footwear. Unlike other shoes, sneakers were made of rubber soles and prioritized flexibility and comfort. In the 1920s, American basketball player Chuck Taylor pioneered the trend around sneakers with his Chuck Taylor All-Stars. The primary audience of the shoe was basketball players and fans.

“I’d say basketball for sure is a staple for shoes,” said basketball player Jack McCaffery ’25. “I’ve always seen my favorite NBA and college players wearing them, and it’s a big thing in basketball.”

Since the NBA predominantly consists of Black players, sneaker culture has naturally been interconnected with Black culture and fashion.

“When Black players began to come into the NBA in large numbers, they changed the style of the game. That aesthetic — the emphasis on improvisation, boldness and sometimes, exag-

“ M Y CLOTH E S A R E D I CTATE D

BY M Y S H O E S. I ’ LL G ET A PA I R O F S H O E S, A N D TH E N I ’ LL E V E NTUA LLY B U Y CLOTH E S A N D A WA R D RO B E A RO U N D TH AT PA I R O F S H O E S.” -AMAN R E D DY ‘23

30 SPORTS

APRIL 21, 2022

geration — shows up in sneaker culture, too,” Nasafi said. “I see sneaker culture as a sub-genre that has its roots in predominantly Black cultural milieus, somewhere near the intersection of basketball and hip-hop fashion.”

However, athletes alone do not influence all of sneaker culture. Celebrities not affiliated with sports often release shoes of their own, like Kanye West with his shoe brand Yeezy.

Grey Genkinger ’23 primarily got into sneakers that matched her style. She believes it is simpler to wear sneakers for fashion purposes.

“If you have a passion for clothes, it’s easier because in sports, you’re using them [to] get use out of them,” Genkinger said. “With clothing, you’re just wearing them to look good.”

Similarly, Aman Reddy ’23 started wearing sneakers because of their appearance. With a growing shoe collection, Reddy has noticed his shoes influence his clothing style.

“My clothes are dictated by my shoes. I’ll get a pair of shoes, and then I’ll eventually buy clothes and a wardrobe around that pair of shoes,” Reddy said.

According to Reddy, increased social media use during the pandemic has increased interest in fashion and shoes.

“It’s growing especially during Covid because everyone is on their phone, and social media is blowing up with TikTok. There’s a lot of people in general right now who are probably more conscious about their fashion choices than they were pre-Covid,” Reddy said. “If you’re really into sneaker culture, social media may not have that big of an influence. But for people on the periphery of that area, it’s a gateway to getting sneakers.”

As a teacher, Nasafi has observed different trends develop through the hallways, such as Yeezys.

“I think generationally, a divider for me is when Kanye signed with Adidas, and Yeezy started proliferating,” Nasafi said. “To me, there is nothing aesthetically appealing about them at all, but I can see them on younger

“ YO U H A D TO B E WI LLI N G TO C A M P O UT A N D WA IT FO R R E LE AS E S TO CO M E O UT... N OW, IT ’ S K I N D O F LI K E , I F YO U H AV E A CR E D IT C A R D -YO U J U ST H AV E TO B I D TH E H I G H E ST.” -AMAR I NASAFI , E N G LI S H TEACH E R people like, ‘Oh, okay, that’s your thing; that’s your generation.’”

Nasafi appreciates the changes in trends that he has noticed.

“I value them because it’s nice to have those sorts of distinctions within a culture, whatever kind of art form,” Nasafi said.

Another significant development in sneaker culture is the process of reselling shoes online.

Companies like StockX and GOAT buy trending shoes in bulk on the release date and then sell the shoes for a high price or put the shoes up for bidding. Nasafi believes the reselling business of sneakers has taken some of the experience out of collecting shoes.

“Sneaker culture has become even more commodified with the advent of reselling. It used to be a thing where it wasn’t just about how much money you had because you had to be willing to camp out and wait for releases to come out,” Nasafi said. “That used to narrow down the people who [were] really into it and who weren’t. Now, it’s kind of like if you have a credit card — you just have to bid the highest.”

Online stores, however, make purchasing sneakers more accessible to McCaffery.

“I mostly go online to StockX, GOAT or Fight Club. Since I wear a size 15, I struggle to find cool

shoes in my size in stores, so I just go around on sites looking for shoes,” McCaffery said.

Although reselling platforms have made some shoes hard to access for a reasonable price, Reddy believes most shoe companies have the right intentions.

“Companies will do a lot of drops, and they’ll make sure people who want the shoes can get them, so as long as you’re not sleeping on what you want, there’s a pretty good opportunity to get shoes,” Reddy said.

As access to shoes becomes more convenient

PHOTOS BY SACHIKO GOTO & COURTESY OF STOCKX

SNEAKER TRENDS Chuck Taylor All-Stars

1922

through technology, Nasafi believes getting into shoes is more common. “[Sneaker culture] was more niche … and now it’s gotten to be such a part of the broad mainstream culture that it’s diluted a little bit,” Nasafi said.

Nasafi says that it is increasingly difficult for brands and people to create distinctive shoe designs as time goes on.

“So much has already been done with sneakers.

It’s kind of hard to be original and do something new.

I think about this obsession with remakes and remixes of films that have already been done,” Nasafi said. “I think we’re kind of getting stuck in that with sneakers too. There’s only so many colorways we can do.”

However, as shoe game influencers come and go, their shoe choices and trends do so with them.

Every day, new athletes and celebrities come out with new collaborations and start trends in sneaker collections.

“Shoes are a big deal within sports, and it’s expanding all over multiple sports,” McCaffery said. “There are a lot of new people getting their signature shoes, not only in basketball.”

Additionally, Reddy believes that sneaker culture will continue to develop. “[Sneaker culture] will grow because people are more conscious about their style due to the ever-growing impact of social media,” Reddy said. “People are more likely to be exposed to shoes they may like or be intrigued to buy.”

DESIGN BY EVA JORDAN

Adidas Superstar

Nike Air Force

Air Jordan One

Yeezy

1969

1982

1985

2015

SPORTS APRIL 21, 2022

31

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO ARAB CULTURE WSS Intern Reem Kirja ’25 explains Arab culture and contributions.

BY REEM KIRJA

I

ART & DESIGN BY SACHIKO GOTO

t’s a humid April morning, and sounds of people getting ready for the day engulf the atmosphere. I wake up around 7 a.m., drink a cup of milk tea and head out. Most people rush to school or work, thinking it’s an ordinary April morning. Others spend their time counting down the days to their upcoming AP exam.

Little do they know, this is a special month for a particular group of people — April is Arab Culture and Heritage Month, a time to celebrate Arab culture and commemorate contributions

by Arab people to the development of society.

The hearths of Arab culture are North Africa and the Middle East — two regions full of exotic spices and vast oil reserves. The Middle East is a vernacular region, so the countries included are typically debated among geographers. Now, Arab culture has spread beyond its origins, with Arabs inhabiting every continent.

Arab culture is an umbrella term used to describe the shared religion, language and ethnicity between Arabs in different countries. However, it’s important to note that practices in each area differ from one another. In most cases, the qualities of generosity, respect and loyalty are shared among the various regions. Although diversity is present in practiced religions, 93 percent of Arabs identify as Muslim. For that reason, Arab culture and Islam are closely intertwined, making it hard for outsiders to distinguish between them.

In many cultures and religions, food is considered important, and Arab culture is no different.

Arabs believe that food brings people together.

For example, during Ramadan, many families invite close comrades and prepare a food spread that includes staple dishes like falafel, ful meddamas and shawarma. Food is also incorporated into traditional gatherings, such as weddings, birthday parties and school celebrations.

Another important aspect of Arab culture is clothing style, which uniquely ties back to each

country’s history. For example, Sudanese women who are elderly or married wear a toub, a long piece of decorated cloth wrapped around the body in a specific manner. Many women choose to wear the toub to represent their culture, but others opt for a more Western look. In Algeria, cultural clothing typically consists of differently styled dresses depending on the wealth of the individual. Like the Sudanese, Algerians alternate between Western and traditional clothing depending on the event.

Arab culture is an intricate and vast topic, but it barely gets talked about in the mainstream media and schools. Arabs have long been victims of underrepresentation. In the standard American education curriculum, Arab heroes are neither included nor talked about, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any contributors from the ethnicity. To put this into perspective, printers and most electronic devices wouldn’t exist due to their use of algebra, a mathematical theory invented by Arabs. Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (780 CE - 850 CE) was a Muslim astronomer and mathematician who introduced the concept of algebra. Famous names, such as Albert Einstein and Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, used al-Khwārizmī’s discoveries to achieve their work. Other notable Arab inventions include paper, ink, cosmetics, toothbrush and toothpaste, plumbing systems, and medical therapies such as cupping and acupuncture. Evidence of most of these inventions can be found in Egyptian records, ancient relics and the Quran. Many credit Arab inventions to the ancient Greeks or the Chinese, but in reality, these inventions were first made by Arabs and later improved by different ancient civilizations to a certain degree.

Misinformation about Arab culture affects Arab women in a particular way. The media and government propaganda typically portray Arab women as weak, oppressed or unintelligent. A

consequence of these stereotypes is lack of employment and trust. For example, Muslim women are 65 percent less likely to be employed than Christian women in the United Kingdom. This leads to Muslim communities having economic disadvantages, such as lower-grade education and less access to services due to being classified as low-income. Additionally, hate crimes and racial profiling are currently at an all-time high, leading to unstable safety in primarily Muslim and Arab communities. Another effect of these stereotypes is the justification of “liberation” bills and government targeting, such as the hijab ban in France, which bans the wearing of any hijab type. As an Arab Muslim, my hijab is part of my identity, and the same goes for many other Muslim women. We don’t wear the hijab because we’re forced to — it’s a way to express our religion, culture and identity.

Even though Arabs significantly contribute to society every day, many still degrade them.

The Middle East and North Africa are excellent examples of areas with cultural and geographic diversity. Nonetheless, most representation in the media is that of conflicts and civil wars. If the truth isn’t explicitly presented to us, we need to educate ourselves on it. As students, we don’t have a lot of power, but we can use resources available to educate ourselves and others. We can use the internet to advocate for Arab rights and to ask questions, such as what a hijab is and the similarities and differences between Arab culture and Islam. Recognizing Arab Culture and Heritage Month is the first step toward change. School districts and other administrations should do more to support Arabs, such as revising their education plans to include Arab history. Through proper representation of and education on Arabs, we will not only decrease rates of hate crimes and discrimination, but we’re opening the door for proper representation of other marginalized groups as well.

ARAB NATIONS: A QUICK GUIDE

32 OPINION APRIL 21, 2022

Arab is generally accepted to be an ethnicity. The term “Arab” is not to be confused with the term “Middle East,” which encompasses non-Arab nations.

The Arab world is made up of countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

There are currently 22 countries generally accepted to be Arab countries.

These countries are: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Source: New World Encyclopedia, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

POSITIVI TY

PROBLEMATIC

HELEN’S HOT TAKES:

Columns Editor Helen Zhang ’22 discusses the importance of recognizing toxic positivity and how to avoid it.

BY HELEN ZHANG ART & DESIGN BY ZOEY GUO

O

ur society often portrays optimism as a virtuous trait for people to possess. We admire those who can see the bright side of every situation and stay positive through extreme struggles.

However, there is a difference between being optimistic and having an excessively positive attitude. In fact, there are instances where positivity becomes toxic. According to the University of Washington School of Medicine, people display toxic positivity when they respond to a situation with false reassurances instead of being empathetic about someone’s negative feelings.

One example of toxic positivity in action is a response to the ongoing pandemic. Flowery, aesthetic social media posts that spew messages, such as “Just stay positive and keep going!” are tone-deaf and likely come from a place of privilege. Those who have lost their jobs or loved ones or face mental and physical health challenges have every right to be less-than-positive about their situation. Simply trying to be positive won’t erase their struggles, and it’s ignorant to belittle their experiences.

In a TEDx talk about toxic positivity, speaker Mahmoud Khedr stated, “Our language is so important.” The words we choose in response to someone’s suffering determines how validated and supported they feel. Instead of suggesting to your friend to stop being negative, you should remind them it’s normal to feel unpleasant emotions. You can be honest about being unsure of what to say, but just let them know you are here for them.

Additionally, Khedr said that when we or someone we know is struggling, we shouldn’t mention that there is always someone who has it worse. It’s not wrong to be grateful, but telling yourself that you don’t have the right to be upset because another person out there is struggling more than you is damaging.

The issue with toxic positivity is viewing negativity as a choice and something to be fixed.

It can delegitimize mental health conditions such as depression, in which one cannot simply choose to be positive. When someone is physically injured, we wouldn’t tell them to just “feel better,” so the same should go for mental health struggles. Getting professional help is something to encourage when someone is struggling with their mental health, just like when someone is sick.

According to a YouTube video by psychiatrist Dr. Tracey Marks, the thought-stopping that toxic positivity promotes is ineffective. Trying to not think about something actually makes you think about it more. Also, Healthline says masking your feelings may put a strain on your relationships as others feel they don’t know who

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THE WORDS WE CHOOSE IN RESPONSE TO SOMEONE’S SUFFERING DETERMINES HOW VALIDATED AND SUPPORTED THEY FEEL.” - HELEN ZHANG ‘22 you truly are. Thus, it’s best to be honest with yourself and those around you about your feelings, even if they’re not on the happy side.

Having diverse feelings is what makes us human and it’s okay to admit that something makes you feel bad. In fact, affective labeling, or naming the emotion you’re experiencing, can be beneficial. Furthermore, Scientific American reports, “Unpleasant feelings are just as crucial as the enjoyable ones in helping you make sense of life’s ups and downs.” Accepting our low moments allows us to better recognize our high ones.

In addition to using considerate language for others, you can avoid expressing toxic positivity toward yourself through resilience, which means accepting and working through your struggle while recognizing you don’t enjoy it. It’s also necessary to be clear about your intentions when you decide to open up to someone. Let the other person know if you want advice or simply a listening ear. On the other end, as the person listening, make sure you know what they need from you so you can be supportive in the best way possible.

Toxic positivity usually comes from a place of good intentions; we want to help someone feel less upset and remind them to strive for happiness. However, it’s important to live honestly and not suppress the more difficult parts of the human experience. No matter what disturbs your mental health, it is always worth taking seriously. Recognizing and accepting when you are not okay are the first steps toward health and healing.

OPINION APRIL 21, 2022

33

MENTAL HEALTH

MATTERS A

ny young lives lost is too many. Within a year, the ICCSD suffered losses of students, including due to suicide. The grief and hurt caused by these events are impossible to forget and necessitate change. Informing students of available resources and setting up spaces to talk for one day is not enough. The district, school staff and students need to take more proactive measures to ensure the mental well-being of students and disband mental health stigmas.

The culture around mental health in schools is filled with institutional, public and internal stigmas. In a place where students are encouraged to “achieve excellence,” there is a distinct built-in pressure to continue to push yourself, regardless of your well-being. When students struggle, they should not feel obligated to “power through.” Some teachers add to this culture by leading students to prioritize assignments over their self-care, rewarding unhealthy academic habits. It is more important for students to stay alive than finish their homework.

Another detrimental part of the stigmas surrounding mental health issues is who are perceived to have them. Even if a person appears healthy on the outside, they can be fighting their own battles on the inside. The stigmas are especially harmful to men. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, men took their own life 3.88 times more than women in 2020. Men are hurt by traditional gender roles — how are men supposed to feel comfortable speaking up and seeking help when they are struggling if they are constantly supposed to appear “strong” and “dominant”? Research also suggests that men are less likely to recognize symptoms of mental illness in themselves and accept help.

The ICCSD Social-Emotional Learning attempts to address ignorance. However, the SEL lessons during AFT are not functioning as intended, because there is a disconnect between students and teachers, with many students feeling forced to participate. Students who do not want to participate joke around and brush off the lessons, rendering them ineffective. This problem is amplified because teachers are not

School staff and students should take more proactive steps to ensure the mental well-being of students and disband the stigmas surrounding mental health.

TERMINOLOGY Instead of “mentally ill,” use “has a mental illness” instead.

“Mentally ill” implies the person is defined by this condition.

Instead of “suffering from a mental illness,” use “living with mental illness” instead.

“Suffering from a mental illness” victimizes the person.

Instead of “committed suicide,” use “took their own life” or “was lost to suicide” instead.

“Committed suicide” insinuates a crime and puts blame on the person.

Avoid using mental health terms for minor inconveniences in your life such as “I’m so OCD.” Sources: Health Partners & Psychology Today

licensed mental health professionals and often want to get through the lesson. Teachers already have enough on their plates — trying to coordinate and get kids involved in another kind of lesson only adds extra pressure. The SEL environment is not friendly or inviting enough for students, as many are with unfamiliar classmates. This takes away the safety that students should feel when trying to be genuinely vulnerable and heard.

While the importance of mental health should be taught and normalized from a young age, we, as a community, must do our best to break down stigmas now. A noteworthy aspect of this

is using appropriate terminology to normalize discussing mental health and remove negative connotations. Words truly matter.

As a student body, it is paramount to look out for each other by checking in with people, even if you do not know them well, and helping them find resources and support. It is also crucial to encourage others and remind them to take breaks to prioritize well-being. Maintaining mental health should come before grades and pushing yourself too far. However, the responsibility of maintaining peers’ mental health should not fall solely on the students. Teachers and administration should be understanding of students’ mental struggles and create a community that is open and honest about students’ well-being — at all times. Teachers must follow through with administrative actions, like the SEL lessons and community-building exercises, for them to be effective, and they must be taught with the same seriousness as their lesson plans.

Instead of the current SEL format, consistently having optional circles for students would help build community and create an atmosphere where students truly feel safe and comfortable expressing their emotions. The circles should be based on sharing and listening rather than lecturing, like SEL. While optional circles were held March 24, more circles are needed for topics other than grief. Only 11 students attended these circles, likely because of the lack of accessibility. For many people, these circles were only communicated to them through emails and it was hard for students to justify missing class.

These community-building efforts should be accessible to everyone during school hours and gradually increased. West High administration has also proposed having a NESTT as a space for students to navigate their emotions and calm down, an initiative requiring district staffing and funding. Having a NESTT is an important resource the district needs to support. To have effective, proactive steps that help students who are struggling, we must form a supportive community where everyone works to destigmatize mental health.

ART & DESIGN BY ZOEY GUO

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 APRIL 21, 2022

PHOTO FEATURE

Maya Hanna ‘25 performs at Benton High School with one of Iowa City West’s show choirs, Showtime, Feb. 12.

BELLA TISDALE

Cut out the square patterns below and follow 10 easy steps to make your own fun spring origami.

ART & DESIGN BY SILA DURAN

BY SILA DURAN & ATHENA WU

Fold paper diagonally twice and across twice as shown above.

Unfold the past two steps. Take the top flap (cited in step 2) and pull it to and fold on step 4’s crease and press down along guides made in step 3.

Repeat on the other side.

Pinch two corners and bring them together.

Make sure the side with open flaps faces down.

Fold the right and left flap so their sides align with the vertical center.

Pull the flaps in the center outward and bend them down.

Fold both right and left sides to the center crease on the front and back.

Fold the right flap over the left on both sides.

Fold one tip down and you are done.

Fold both bottom flaps up as high as they can go.

For video instructions and an extra tutorial, scan the QR code.

Fold the top down both ways.

Repeat the process of step 7.