The Little Hawk by The Little Hawk

THE

LITTLE HAWK Iowa City, IA

Vol 74

Friday, December 16th, 2016

Issue 3

thelittlehawk.com

City High has seen two student-orchestrated protests in opposition to the results of the November 8th election.

Students,

Sensing Tension, Turn to Protest

By Sofie Lie

ith a swift tap of her phone, on November 17th, Alma Apolonio-Bernal ‘17 sent out a snapchat inviting allies and victims of discrimination alike to join her in a silent protest. The request was well-received: the next day, to echo a sit-in led by West High students, ten City High students assembled during lunch to craft signs bearing sentiments of discrimination that they carried through the halls during seventh hour and after school. “It was kind of a social media thing,” Apolonio-Bernal said. And the reaction, she said, was as expected: some students laughed, some pointed, some expressed their support. Ultimately, though, she hopes that the intent of the protest–to foster a sense of unity in the face of discrimination–was clear. “I hope that people got our message; I hope that they understood what we were trying to say,” she said. In addition to condemning discrimination, the protest aimed to express solidarity between City and West High. “We thought that we would put this together to show that, while we’re both rivals, we can get along with each other well,” said Laura Apolonio Bernal ‘19, Alma’s younger sister who also partook in the protest. The protest was not randomly timed, according to Byron Ortiz ‘18; rather, it was in response to a spike in hate crimes (up 6% from 2014) across the United States in the past year, as reported by the F.B.I. in an article released in midNovember. Ortiz, one of the ten silent protesters, cites an ever-intensifying feeling of discrimination, specifically following the November 8th triumph of President-Elect Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, as his motive for participating in the protest. “It exists at City High, but it’s people giving dirty looks to each other,” Ortiz said. “We’re all supposed to be equal and happy,” he continued. “We’re not supposed to feel uncomfortable in the community.” This wasn’t the first student-led demonstration following the election results, either; just two days after election day, a group of students, led by Armani Smith ‘17, staged a walkout specifically in opposition to Trump’s win. The march went through downtown Iowa City–where it picked up protesters from the University of Iowa–and ultimately blocked parts of I-80 for half an hour. Continued on page A8 RIGHT: Anita Casas ‘18 (in focus) stands arm in arm with fellow students in the main foyer after school on Friday, November 18th. PHOTO BY SOFIE LIE

One-to-One: One Step Forward or One Step Back? Students and teachers are divided on whether one-to-one–a system where every student will receive a Chromebook–will have a positive effect.

By Victor Kalil

tudents are hunched over their Chromebooks in class, the occasional whisper breaking the constant rhythm of tapping. It’s the average day of work in English teacher Colleen Davis’ U.S. Lit. Honors class. But next year there will be changes in the classroom—no more classroom cart of laptops and no more lining up in front of the cart. Instead, every high school student in the Iowa City Community School District will be receiving their own Chromebook. Going one-to-one with Chromebooks will serve roughly 4,000 high school students total, and 2,000 more students when the program initiates in the junior high schools. One-toone is a significant investment in the modernization of education in today’s technologically advanced society and will “provide an

important resource that students can use both the use of a computer, and the ones that do within and outside of school,” according to have enough computers in the classroom for Adam Kurth, Director of Technology & Innoeveryone to use.” Quenton Max ‘18 said. “I see vation for the ICCSD. this as just another vain atMany students do not tempt to improve education share Kurth’s belief that by improving technology, “MOST OF MY one-to-one is a positive even if that isn’t always the CLASSES DO NOT best solution.” step. In a survey of 64 City High School stuDavis uses Chromebooks NECESSITATE dents, 61% of students almost every week in her THE USE OF A said that one-to-one classes but believes that putwould either not affect ting a Chromebook in every COMPUTER.” their classes at all or students’ hands could lessen have a negative effect— the students’ attention spans. QUENTON MAX ‘18 possibly because over “I don’t know how the 90% of those students logistics will work, but as surveyed already have someone who watches kids access to a computer, tablet, or smartphone get completely distracted by technology, social with wifi at home and usually study there too. media, phones, I’m a little concerned about “I don’t see it making much of a difference when they have a computer in front of them at all. Most of my classes do not necessitate all the time and how much they’re going to be

able to control their desires to move off topic and onto something distracting,” said Davis. Conversely, Serena Collins ‘18 believes that going one-to-one next year will definitely help shorten time wasted in school. “We won’t have to waste class time lining up to get computers, waiting for everyone to get logged on, and then plugging them back in,” Collins said. “Students won’t have to waste time searching for a working computer in the library.” Leveling the technological playing field for school work is also an important reason that Collins cites for her support for going one-toone. Nearly 10% of students surveyed don’t have access to things like their school Google accounts at home, but 45% students with access to those accounts surveyed said that going one-to-one would help them. Continued on page A3

NEWS December 16th, 2016 Section A

Uay holds clothing drive for teenagers

The LH Feature Magazine

Moana’s making waves By Mira Bohannan Kumar

By Madeline Deninger & Edie Knope

mvp club provides guidance to underclassmen

Far from the old standards is Disney’s newest heroine Moana. From her race to her story to her lack of a love interest, Moana is the start of a new era of Disney princesses.

Q&A: Kate Goodvin

[Video] Game, set, match. By Rasmus Schlutter From its humble beginnings at Stanford University, e-sports have evolved into an international industry, with millions of dollars in both player and corporate earnings. Through all of this, however, exists a love of competition and in the lucrative world of e-sports.

12 three, two, one

By Rasmus Schlutter Artist Kate Goodvin explores race and representation through oil based portait painting

By Molly Liu

By Danielle Tang

Cider isn’t going to be the only thing sparkling in your house this New Years—count down with these holiday looks

A Letter From Your Editors

By Sofie Lie, Nova Meurice & Sarah Smith Hey Readers When we first started working on this issue six weeks ago, we lived in a different world. On November 8th, the unexpected happened, yet, as planned, on November 9th we stepped onto a bus and left for the National High School Press Association confer-

ence in Indianapolis. We won some awards and we talked to speakers and fellow student journalists. What matters, though, is that these events have renewed our commitment to bringing you real journalism. There’s been a lot of talk lately about what it means to be a member of the media, and it’s left us struggling somewhat to decide whether or not our establishment might be culpable for what has come to pass. For now, it’s hard for us to say exactly what our role has been (especially as a high school publication), but as we read, breathe, think, and write more, we’re starting to figure things out. Like many people in this school and in this city, we are apprehensive about what the next four years may hold. What we do know is this: we will combat bigotry and ignorance in the way that we can--by telling the truth. So we, here at The Little Hawk, promise to continue to deliver coverage about our community, the people in it, and the world around it. With this issue, we bring you stories about the Dakota Access Pipeline, and what that means for Iowans, the manner in which the ICCSD is handling discriminatory harassment, the growing popularity of e-sports, and student-athletes that have committed to D1 schools, among other things. We also

continue to use our website to bring you in depth versions of our stories, complete with video elements, photo slideshows, and breaking (real) news, and encourage you to check it out. We hope you find a sense of warmth within our beloved paper (and within yourselves) as winter is fast-approaching. Hang in there,

NEWS December 16th, 2016

Yule Ball Steps Toward Inclusivity By Mira Kumar & Zoë Butler

ABOVE: A student looks on during the school board meeting on November 22nd. BOTTOM LEFT: Students from West High read a prepared statement. BOTTOM RIGHT: School Board Member Chris Lynch (center) observes the meeting as student read statements. PHOTOS BY TEAGAN ROEDER

School Board Works to Address Harassment By Teagan Roeder

he school board meeting was a packed house on November 22nd as students from City High and West High delivered remarks regarding harassment in schools and urging the board to take action. “Students need to keep pushing for our cause, and we can’t give up now,” said Lujayn Hamad, a West High student who was featured in a New York Times article in November that explored the heightened tensions amongst students in response to the General Election. Hamad leads with Students Against Hate, a student collation that is looking prevent harassment in Iowa City schools. The group organized a rally just one week after the election, pressuring city council to reinforce their commitment to fight against discrimination and hate speech. On November 22nd they brought their voices to the school board. “The parents need to be behind us, not steps

ahead of us because if the students and parents are together the administration can’t say no to us,” Hamad said. Approximately 20 students from both City and West High gave comments, read poems, and presented demands for the school board to consider. These demands ranged from enforcing current rules in place, educating students on their rights, and having faculty emphasize their availability to talk to students. Once the line of the students concluded their statements, parents in support of the students came up to add their voice into the conversation. Included in these groups of parents was Margarita Baltacat, an immigrant to the United States. She gave her comments in Spanish while Robin Clark-Bennet of the Center for Worker Justice translated for the crowd. “In these days since the amount of discrimination rose, I do feel worried that my daughter is not safe in school,” Baltacat said in Spanish while Robin translated. “On the one hand, my daughter is very young so young children don’t know about discrimination. I’m worried that adults will lead to discrimination.”

After the public comments were concluded, the school board members responded to the comments, all of them favorable to supporting changes proposed by the students. Vice President LaTasha Deloach, however, gave a fiery speech in response. “We hear this all the time. You don’t feel connected to our schools, and you do not feel supported here,” Deloach said to a silent crowd. “I don’t know of how many years or how many committees I have to be on to make any inch of change in this district.” Deloach, a social worker who aims to reduce harm to children due to over or underrepresentation, has previously worked as a community projects specialists for Johnson County’s social services department. “Let me tell you: fight back, not talking physically, fight back with your words,” Deloach said towards the climax of her speech. The students departed upon the conclusion of a vote to enforce the school rules which passed with unanimous support of all present school board members.

One-to-One continued from A1 “One-to-one would allow students to have all their resources with them and would allow us to maximize homework time,” said Collins. But Max doesn’t believe going one-to-one is worth the price. Going one-to-one next year will initially cost $748,000 for the Chromebooks and a management license that will keep the laptops updated and download softwares as needed. This program will also retain a cost $293,000 per year to replace older Chromebooks. “I don’t think they will have enough benefit to necessitate spending large sums of money to give one to every student. In a way, this is very similar to putting a SmartBoard in every classroom,” Max explains. “I have one class that I feel is improved by having a SmartBoard, but other than that I don’t feel they are necessary.” Another issue presented by both people in support and in opposition of the idea is the battery life. “We have been assured that there will be backup chargers in classrooms that we can

use to charge, but when I look at the number of phones that I charge on a daily basis in my classroom—and those are sacred items to the

students—I’m not super confident that those Chromebooks are going to get charged on a regular basis,” Davis said. While Kurth suggests that the problems are inevitable, he thinks that the implementation of one-to-one will ultimately pay off. “There will be substantial challenges—logistically, financially, and instructionally—that come with implementation of one-to-one in our secondary grades,” Kurth said, “but on the balance, I think that it’s a valuable tool that can substantially impact student learning and our educational environment.” Although only 39% of students surveyed think that this move will show a positive effect on their classes, approximately 60% of those surveyed think that this is a step forward. “Better student performance is always our goal as educators, as a building, and as a district. We want to see students perform better and increase their academic learning,” said Davis. “So hopefully, we will find ways to use the technology to do that.”

The Winter Formal is heading our way again. Last year, it carried a tagline that made some students feel ostracized. This year, the school’s making a change. “[Sadie Hawkins is] implying that everyone is heterosexual and that everyone identifies as a girl or a boy, which is isn’t the case at all,” Zoe Tyne ‘20 said. “That needs to be changed [so] people can recognize that there’s more than that.” The change began back in January when some students felt that girls asking boys to the dance was restrictive, especially of people who are gender non-binary or not heterosexual. As the dance approached this year, the EQuAls Club (City High’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance) brought concerns to the attention of Student Senate, resulting in the change. “This year we’re having it be an ‘anyone ask anyone,’ so it’s more inclusive of everyone who would want to go,” said Ailsa Burke ‘17, the head of the dance committee. She added, “I’m obviously glad [the EQuALs club] brought it to [our] attention, because I never would’ve thought about it being a problem.” The new tagline means exactly what it sounds like–everyone is encouraged to ask any person of their choosing, with no intention to leave out any student. Many feel strongly that the new slogan is a big improvement. “It [makes] it so that anyone is okay with asking anyone out,” Mituna McMahon ‘20 said, adding, “it’s also not [forcing] any kind of gender-specific roles onto anyone or saying that anyone’s a certain gender.” However, other students debate the rigidity of the phrase. “You don’t really have to follow the rules of the ‘girls ask boys,’” Timmer Penny ‘19 said. “It’s just a thing.” Daphne Knoop ‘20 agreed on the term’s laxity. “Even when there’s not a ‘girl-askboy’ rule, girls ask boys,” Knoop said, “and anyone asks anyone. For a regular dance, too.” Knoop also believed it was progress for women. “It is a nice feminist move because it’s definitely breaking the regular genderbounds of dances.” Other students embraced the complexity of the issue. “The concept of the dance in general is definitely important because of the feminist [aspect] of it,” Tatum Hills ‘18 said. “I think that’s kind of tricky, finding a balance between the women’s rights that [go] along with Sadie Hawkins and finding a way to not exclude people.” ‘Sadie Hawkins’ is definitely a phrase with an odd–and in some aspects, paradoxical–history. It was first used in a decidedly not-feminist context; in 1937 the term was created to commemorate a comic strip featuring Sadie Hawkins, a character who was so ugly she couldn’t find a husband and was forced to chase around a group of eligible bachelors until she caught one. ‘Sadie Hawkins’ is often considered an empowering concept for women. The term has turned itself around into a symbol of feminist values. It is only recently that people have started to reexamine its origins and the issues concerned with its history. But with the dance’s new slogan, City High is working toward what the Student Senate sees as equality. “It allows people of different genders and different sexualities to feel more comfortable,” Tyne said seriously. “Especially for people who are non-binary, it’s no longer a reminder that they’re not usually considered valid by society. It’s something that allows you to feel like you’re a normal person.”

NEWS December 16th, 2016

MVP Club Offers Guidance to Freshmen

By Molly Liu

or many freshmen, the transition into the high school scene can be daunting; however, a recent collaboration between the faculty and student body has sought to alleviate this issue. This solution, proposed by teacher Doug Lestina, is called MVP Club. MVP Club, or Mentors of Violence Prevention Club, seeks to better connect freshmen to City High through the guidance of a peer mentor. The mentors, which are comprised of a group of successful juniors and seniors, are each matched with a freshman student, known as a “protégé”, based on similar interests. During club meetings, which occur every other Tuesday during advisory, mentors and their protégé work on leadership and goal-setting skills. As the freshmen eventually become seniors, Lestina hopes to see them take on the mentoring role as well. “The goal is to have the protégé become the leadership during their upper class years,” Lestina said.

“THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR KIDS TO GET THE ASSISTANCE THEY NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND HAPPY.” BIHOTZA JAMES ‘18 While the MVP club mainly provides services to freshmen, the club also benefits seniors by allowing them to hone their leadership skills. “I wanted some of the senior leadership to be able to leave their mark on City High before they graduate,” Lestina said. Incoming protégé are selected through a recommendation process during their time at South East Junior High. Once selected, the protégé ultimately decide if they want to be in the club. “I asked teachers at SE Jr. High to submit students who had leadership potential, but may need some additional help with the transition to City,” Lestina said. The pool of mentors are selected from strong students in the junior and senior class. The goal, according to Lestina, is to create a diverse group of mentors representative of the entire student body. “I would like there to be a core group of students with diverse backgrounds to have input here at City High school. Not only as ambassadors to the school, but as role models for other students,” Lestina said. Bihotza James ‘18 is a current mentor in the MVP club. James, like Lestina, wanted to help freshmen students and ease their transition into high school. Their shared goals allowed for the two to collaborate and help form the club at the beginning of the year. “Originally I went to Mr. Bacon with the idea of starting a new club this year that would focus on freshmen and helping them with classes and making them feel comfortable in high school,” James said. “Mr. Bacon told me that Mr. Lestina was starting a club with a similar idea and I should collaborate with him or join his club, which is the MVP club.” Although the process has just started, James is optimistic about the mentorprotégé system.

Members of MVP Club fill out a questionnaire during Advisory at their third club meeting. PHOTOS BY MOLLY LIU

“So far, only the potential helpers have gotten together, but I’m really excited to get started and work with the people I’ll be helping out this year,” James said. Despite the fact that the club is currently restricted to nominated students, Lestina hopes to extend participation to the greater student body. “There will be some sort of application process, that is still being worked out. I will also take input from the current group to see how to better reach out to the general student population,” Lestina said. Personal experience has taught James

“I WANT THE SENIORS TO LEAVE THEIR MARK BEFORE THEY GRADUATE.” DOUG LESTINA

the importance of working around students of diverse backgrounds and ages. As the MVP club continues throughout the academic school year, James hopes to see long-term benefits. “For me, I think it’ll help me meet more students of different kinds, different grades, and kids that wouldn’t normally be in my AP and honors classes,” James said. “I think this is a great opportunity for kids to get the friends and assistance they need to be more successful and happy.”

NEWS December 16th, 2016

UAY Holds Clothing Drive for Teens

United Action for Youth organized a clothing drive specifically for teens this winter.

By Madeline Deninger & Eden Knoop

undreds of coats filled the UAY center on Iowa Avenue, preparing to make their way to a local teen in need. United Action for Youth’s annual teen clothing drive, which took place on December 6th, also featured hats, gloves, t-shirts, pants, dresses, and accessories for teens or their families to “shop” for. “I can say for sure that we’ve never had this many clothes before,” Lauren Linahon, UAY’s volunteer coordinator, said. “We even have extra clothes.” With around 250 coats donated, the clothing drive saw a bigger turnout than years past. “I’ve heard from a few people that with the climate, how people are feeling these days, they just really want to do some good,” Linahon said. “People want to donate and make sure that people are understanding that we support each other and that we are a community.” Teens and their parents were allowed to take 15 items from the drive each. Having access to winter apparel

like coats can have a big impact on the community, according to Linahon. “People who come here will come here with just a sweatshirt and it’s like, ‘you should get a coat.’ Then they get a coat, and they come in with a coat everyday,” she said. UAY is a non-profit that focuses on young people in the community, touching on art classes, emotional health, intervention programs, and hang out spaces. With a location in downtown Iowa City, UAY provides a space for teens to come for a variety of activities and services. Olivia Kellicut ‘17 has been involved with UAY since junior high. Kellicut was among the volunteers at the event. “I really would love to do anything to help out, especially with UAY,” Kellicut said. “All these clothes go to a nice place, so it’s just a really nice program that offers things to people who may or may not have enough clothes or who just need new ones.” Along with winter clothing, the drive also featured items such as jewelry, dresses, and heels. “There was a great story that I didn’t witness, but one of my friends did. She had worked a City High for a while, and she noticed this one person who wore the same outfit a couple times a week,” Linahon said.

“They went to the clothing drive, and they came back with a new outfit everyday, and they were just rocking it. Confidence boosted. It gives people an opportunity to express themselves with clothes, to feel pride. They picked these clothes out, not their parents.” The event attracted several City High students and one alumna. Alex Alva ‘15, who has been coming to UAY for several years, came to support the organization. “I got introduced to this place, and I’ve been coming here ever since then, even when I started going to City,” Alva said. “It was a just a fun environment, with how nice people are, how greeting and friendly everyone is. It’s almost like a giant family.” The clothing drive is reflective of Unconditional Positive Regard, or UPR, a mission statement at UAY, according to Kellicut. “It shows people that there are people that are willing to give and to take the time of day to allow this type of thing to happen,” she said. “UAY is giving their space to have this so that we can become more of a community by helping people come in and socialize with others through getting clothes at this clothing drive.”

ABOVE: Clothes donated to the downtown location of UAY. Donations include pants, hats, shoes, gloves, and more. PHOTOS BY MADELINE DENINGER

NEWS December 16th, 2016

Students interact with customers at Hy-Vee to promote the can drive. PHOTO BY EMMELINE KRAUS

Students Aid Crisis Center Through Food Drive Efforts By Emmeline Kraus

As winter approaches, Student Senate works to provide food to Iowa City families through the organization of a canned food drive.

lthough the weather is cold and harsh, students have still been volunteering at the Hy-Vee canned food drives. Natalie Holmes ‘17, chair member of the can drive committee in Student Senate, has been planning the event. “I was put in charge because I have gone to the event for four years,” Holmes said. She has been working with the local HyVees to set up booths and make sure students can volunteer. Students are volunteering at the North Dodge and First Avenue Hy-Vee on the 3rd, 10th, and 17th of December. “[Volunteers] will be handing out slips of donatable items to customers as they enter Hy-Vee,” explained Holmes. Customers can donate nonperishable items, hygiene products, and diapers. Students of City High can also donate items within the school. Four boxes are located in the main foyer, separated by class, to form a competition within the school to promote

donations. “In the past, we got over a ton [weight] of the amount of food,” said Holmes. Both the weight of the food and the monetary donation are added together. A dollar equals four pounds of food for the Crisis Center. Every year, West also hosts a similar event. “There is a competition between City and West High about which school can collect the most cans,” explained Senior Class President Lucy Wagner ‘17. All collected food goes to the Crisis Center, a local organization food bank. “The Crisis Center is a wonderful organization which does a good job providing families with food,” said Wagner. “More donations would allow families to have a higher allowance of food.” In addition, Wagner is also president of Interact Club and sees many ways that volunteering is beneficial to the community. “I think it is beneficial to help families in the community that aren’t as fortunate as you are,” she said. “Especially around the

holidays, during Christmas, and when the weather is getting colder, families in Iowa City don’t necessarily have enough food.” Students can volunteer their time by contacting members of Student Senate or Interact Club or finding out what other volunteer opportunities are coming up by attending their meetings. Student Senate meets at 8:15 A.M on Wednesdays in Steve Tygrett’s room, and Interact Club meets at 8:15 A.M. on Thursdays in Phillip Lala’s room. “We are trying to create fun incentives for kids to volunteer and donate to the drives,” said Wagner. The library also allows students to bring in canned food items to pay for their book fines. Instead of paying a fee, students can bring in a canned food item, which goes directly to the Crisis Center. The Hy-Vee Food Drives allow for students to help local families in need and earn silver cord hours. The experience is positive for both the students and members of the Crisis Center.

Interact Club Brings Services to Homebound Seniors By Anna Roemerman

W Students participate in making cookies at St. Mary’s Church for the homebound. PHOTOS BY ANNA ROEMERMAN

ith the holidays fast approaching, many students have been getting into the holiday spirit by volunteering around Iowa City. Many of these students are involved in Interact Club, which focuses on finding volunteer opportunities for students. “[In Interact] you get to sign up to volunteer for things and have fun,” Sasha Chapnick-Sorokin ‘17, Interact’s chapter president, said. “You can try out a bunch of different volunteer opportunities, but you eventually try to find a continuous volunteer activity you really like, whether that be at a nursing home, political, or really anything.”

Interact Club is an international program that has multiple chapters throughout the United States. It is a branch of The Rotary Club, and it encourages kids ages 12-18 to get involved in their communities and volunteer. Through this club, students have found volunteer opportunities ranging from baking and delivering cookies to dressing like elves to assist children while they meet Santa. These events have helped students meet new people both in their school and out in their community. “Volunteering has a ton of benefits,” ChapnickSorokin said. “Most importantly, you get to help people in your community and make a difference, but it’s also a great way to network and meet people.” Interact Club meets every Thursday morning at 8:15 in room 1414.

“YOU GET TO HELP PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.” SASHA CHAPNICKSOROKIN ‘17

NEWS December 16th, 2016

Debate Team Welcomes Novices The next generation of debaters are tackling influential issues while learning from City High Debate alumni.

By Mariam Keita

very week, Drew Gartner ‘15 intensely prepares for upcoming debates alongside with members of the Debate Club. Using his two most trusted teaching instruments, a whiteboard and marker, Gartner writes a quick lesson outline for the attentive debate students. “Debate promotes critical thinking,” said Gartner. “Our debate students tend to look at issues with a discerning eye.” Vince Woolums ‘93, head debate coach, started working with the City High team in 2009. He found out about the job through his friend, Darcy Hutzell, a paraeducator at City with a debate background. “Long story short, I learned that the school did not have a coach and I felt like I needed to step in and become a coach,” said Woolums. “[I wanted to] give back to the activity that I took a lot from.” With only seven members, four of them being freshmen, Little Hawk Debate is one of the smaller clubs at City. Due to its small size, debaters get to know their teammates fairly well in a relaxed but educational environment. “I’ve described debate before as a classroom unbounded,” said Woolums. “Debate gives people a platform for talking about issues they want to talk about...it transcends the classroom.” Gartner, a Little Hawk Debate assistant coach, is a sophomore at the University of Iowa. He has been involved with debate since his freshman year at City. According to Gartner, this year’s team is slightly different from the others. “This year, we have a stronger novice base,” Gartner said. “We’ve also had a little more success in our first year of debates than in the past.” Rhys Holmann ‘20 and his partner, Simon Weiss ‘20, have had

a particularly successful season. Their most notable achievement would be their first place win at the Iowa Caucus Tournament. The duo also made it to semi-finals in their first tournament of the year at Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School in October. All current members of the 2016-17 team have debate backgrounds. Many have participated in the activity as junior high students or have had older siblings that were involved. Although they are novices at the high school level, this isn’t their first time around the block. “My brother did debate and he spoke of how it was very interesting and engaging, so I followed in his footsteps,” said Holmann. There are many different types of debate, including Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Policy. All City High teams are currently working on Policy Debate strategies, though team members have been known to try other branches of debate in the past. Policy debate participants are assigned a resolution, or a debate topic, by the National Debate Association or NDA. Debaters then spend weeks, or even months, gathering evidence and researching the topic before heading to interscholastic competitions. “This year’s resolution is essentially asking the question whether or not the United States should increase its policies or engagement with China. It says economic or diplomatic engagement with China, whether or not we should increase trade with them and whether or not that’s a good idea,” Gartner said.

“IN A WORLD AWASH WITH MISINFORMATION, CRITICAL THINKING AND MEDIA LITERACY SKILLS ARE SO IMPORTANT.” COACH VINCE WOOLUMS

At the competitions, debaters oppose other teams and argue both for and against the topic, depending on their rounds. Debaters argue either by themselves, often referred to as “going maverick”, or with a partner. “Debate is a very fun activity,” said Holmann. “You get to talk about issues [and] you get to have discussions of critical thinking and what is best for the world. It’s an activity in which you can learn a lot.” Nhat Tran ‘19 is a varsity debater who has been debating for three years and believes that debate provides a platform for discussing real-world issues. Tran also believes that debate can be a source of relief. “I’ve always had an interest in playing the devil’s advocate...It also takes off some of the stress,” Tran said. “I get to yell at people.” Both coaches assert that there are many advantages to joining the debate team. Benefits include building note-taking skills and acquiring knowledge on how the world works. “In a world awash with disinformation or misinformation, critical thinking and media literacy skills are the most important thing that we can teach to young people these days. It really asks kids to dig deep into whatever activity it is that they’re interested in,” said Woolums. The Little Hawk Debate team has already acquired a handful of wins this year on both novice and varsity levels. “These are maybe the most exciting years,” Woolums said. “We call it the rebuilding years.” Gartner’s hopes the team of debaters will continue to be successful and continue to learn. “The most successful debaters take their skills and apply it to whatever they want to do in their life,” Woolums said. “Regardless of wins or losses, if [students] take those skills and use them for bettering society or bettering their lives, they have been successful debaters.”

“YOU GET TO HAVE CRITICAL THINKING DISCUSSIONS ABOUT WHAT IS BEST FOR THE WORLD.” RHYS HOLMANN ‘20

TWR DRIVER’S EDUCATION, Inc. Contact 319-338-1583 or 319-331-3864 www.twrdriverseducation.com

NEWS December 16th, 2016

Protests continued from A1

Celebrating the Holidays: Four Family Traditions Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin & Emmeline Kraus

“[DISCRIMINATION] EXISTS AT CITY HIGH, BUT IT’S PEOPLE GIVING DIRTY LOOKS TO EACH OTHER... WE’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE IN THE COMMUNITY.” BYRON ORTIZ ‘18

TOP: Alicia Estrada '19 sits on the staircase following a silent march around the school in protest of discrimination. LEFT: Laura Apolonio Bernal ‘19 holds a sign in a protest led by her older sister, Alma Apolonio Bernal ‘17, ended. MIDDLE: (from left to right, top to bottom row) Billy Holiday '20, Alma Apolonio Bernal '17, Laura Apolonio Bernal '19, Alicia Estrada '19, Anita Casas '18, Erick Vázquez '18, and Byron Ortiz '18 stand in silent protest in the main foyer. RIGHT: The tape over Byron Ortiz's mouths reads “wall jumper.” The aim of the protest, Ortiz '18 said, was to stand in solidarity with those subjected to discrimination. PHOTOS BY SOFIE LIE

In both instances of protest, administration has not intervened: such expressions of free speech are fundamental to schoolwide unity, asserts Principal John Bacon. The students that walked out were not penalized further than being counted unexcused for the classes they missed. Bacon says that the protests have helped the student body as a whole, and, therefore, no further disciplinary action was necessary. “The last couple weeks have been an emotional time for many students so I believe the sense of togetherness and unity they found with these actions has been positive for them,” he said. English Teacher Alina Borger-Germann expressed a sentiment similar to Bacon’s regarding student-led demonstrations. Borger-Germann said that, as long as demonstrations don’t incite violence, they should be permitted. “I think that giving students a space to express their feelings and politics is really important, as long as those feelings of politics do not create a dangerous environment for other people,” she said. “In

both of these cases, students chose things that were not going to create a dangerous environment for anyone else, and I was really proud of that, for not venting in ways that would hurt people.”

“I RESPECT STUDENTS ORGANIZING IN A PEACEFUL, RESPECTFUL MANNER TO MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD ON SUBJECTS THEY CARE DEEPLY ABOUT." JOHN BACON Borger-Germann describes her students’ reactions to the fallout of the election as ebbing and flowing with news of new

appointments to the president-elect’s cabinet, and she suspects that Trump’s first days in office will be the point of most upset her more liberal students. “For those students on the left, there is kind of an uptick when there is an appointment and then a lull,” she said. “I imagine that there will be an uptick during the inauguration.” Though the future of the political climate is indefinite, Bacon stands by his support of student-led demonstrations. “I respect students organizing in a peaceful, respectful manner to make their voices heard on subjects that they care deeply about,” Bacon said. Apolonio-Bernal anticipates that there will be further organized student efforts of a similar nature in the coming months. “I think it [the silent protest] was successful,” she said, minutes after the chaos of students in the main foyer calmed following the silent protest. “Later on, we might have similar protests.” An adaptation of this article, along with a photo slideshow, was posted online following the silent protest.

s the weather is getting cold, people are preparing to celebrate various winter holidays throughout City High’s diverse community. Grace Foster ‘19 celebrates Christmas throughout December. “We celebrate it just for family tradition, no religion. The holiday brings family together,” Foster said. For many families, the celebration continues before and after Christmas day. “We go to Michigan after Christmas to see my [extended] family where we open presents and eat a huge breakfast and dinner. [My family] has an elf on the shelf, which we hide throughout the house during December. The elf goes to the north pole and reports to Santa,” Foster said. “Our family looks at [Christmas] from a religious standpoint,” Zoё Miller ‘19, said. Miller grew up attending church on Christmas Eve and celebrating her religious connection to the holiday. Christmas traditionally celebrates the birth of Christ, and the name Christmas comes from the Mass of Jesus Christ. “At church we start by lighting the advent candles on Sunday and closest to the 25th, we light the biggest candle,” Miller explained on how she celebrates Christmas. “There is a Christmas eve service at church where we sing Christmas Carols and the church is decorated beautifully.” Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday, is celebrated at a different time every year during the winter months. Meirav Flatté ‘19 has celebrated Hanukkah her whole life. According to Flatté, eating fried food is a key tradition during Hanukkah. Foods include Latkes, which are potato pancakes fried in oil, and Sufganiyot, which are jelly donuts. “We eat a lot of fried food without having to feel guilty about it,” Flatté said. “My family usually makes a lot of latkes and Sufganiyot.” The holiday of Hanukkah celebrates how a small amount of oil was able to last eight days when the Jews were at war in biblical times. As a result, the holiday is celebrated for eight days because of the oil lit in the Menorah, a traditional candelabra. Jewish families light the menorah for eight nights, adding a candle each night. “Religiously, [gift giving] is not part of the holiday,” Flatté said. “But since it is usually paired with Christmas, we get presents for Hanukkah.” Julia Coelho ‘19 believes the true importance of Hanukkah is family. “I spend time with my family,” Coelho said. Maya Durham ‘19 celebrates a Hindu holiday, called Diwali, in addition to Christmas. Diwali celebrates the victory of light over darkness and hope over despair - a metaphor for resisting evil. “[My family] lights candles, which are called diyas, that ward off evil,” Durham said. In addition to family traditions, Durham participates in University events. “We attend the University’s Indian student association’s Diwali show. They have little kids and adults dancing and putting on skits and we dress up,” Durham said. Theo Prineas ‘19 celebrates an original holiday called Return to Light. The holiday is usually celebrated during the winter season and is centered around New Year’s and Winter Solstice. Theo’s family celebrates the holiday for one to three days. “My sister and I made it up four or five years ago because we have no particular connection with Christmas, [and] we’re not Christian. We didn’t like how materialistic and commercialized Christmas [was], so we just decided to make up our own holiday,” Prineas said. Return to Light has very minimalistic and creative traditions. Although there is no religion involved in Return to Light, the holiday celebrates the season and reflects family values. “We light candles, burn incense, and we have to make presents if any at all...it’s very centered around food,” Prineas said.

‘ RAM N

NEWS December 16th, 2016

THE

HERMIT CRAB

By Addy Smith

amón, a hermit crab, doesn’t speak a word of Spanish. Regardless, he has been a contributing member of Señora Silva’s Spanish classes since last year. “I had a turtle, two cats, a dog, and two hermit crabs [one of them didn’t make it and passed away this summer]. So then I was like, ‘Well [Ramón’s] just stuck in a corner,’ so I decided to bring him here where he’d get attention,” Spanish teacher Dolores Silva said. In addition to conjugating verbs and participating in class discussions, Ramón thoroughly enjoys fresh water, a wet sponge, and some company. “He likes to hide from people that are too

friendly. Sometimes he’s afraid of the girls when they go crazy, and I hear he’s scary when he comes out of his shell.” When it comes to dining options, Ramón has a sophisticated sense of taste. “He doesn’t like the shrimp very much. He prefers the ‘Hermit Crab Food: A vitaminenriched food for all land hermit crabs’ over the shrimp. He’s a pretty healthy crab.” “Isn’t that right?” Señora Silva asked Ramón. “Ds9ji hwioj%xklf#h ew6io f ?jxz,” Ramón snapped back. Ever since Ramón’s first appearance in Silva’s classroom, she has noticed an improvement of the learning environment within her classroom. “When we have conversations [the students] will take him and actually talk with him in Spanish. I think that [Ramón]

brings [another dimension] to the classroom, and students interact more with people they normally might not interact with. [The students] try to figure out how to say things more themselves instead of asking me how to say things since they are trying to communicate with the animal or about the animal. The students also want to know more about him so, they have to ask in Spanish.” Considering all of the time Ramón spends alone in his cage, especially after school hours, some students wonder if he desires for a companion. “There’s talk of [purchasing a friend for Ramón], but no one has actually brought anyone in yet, so he’s still single. I think it might be on his Christmas list, or possibly for Valentine’s. He might just be a bachelor and enjoy his bachelor pad. He might not want to share the attention.”

A CRABBY CROSSWORD

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NEWS December 16th, 2016

Taking a Stand [ing Rock] A look into the role that the Dakota Access Pipeline plays in our school, state, and community. By Maya Durham, Lucy McGehee, & Sofie Lie

In Our School

lyssa Cooper ‘17 felt the passion from the protesters at Standing Rock personally. Cooper, whose heritage is rooted in the Ojibwe and Lakota tribes based in Northern Minnesota, has paid close attention to the controversy surrounding the initial route of the Dakota Access Pipeline through sacred Sioux land. “The pipeline touches us more than other people because we understand and we do know people that live in the reservation up there,” she said. “We are [more attentive to stories involving Native Americans] because we don’t hear them that often, and when we do it catches our attention.” Cooper and her family partake in ancient Native American traditions subtly, by smudging, a ritual involving the burning of sage to get rid of evil spirits, and also use some phrases used by their relatives, for example ‘Mii gwetch’ replaces ‘Thank you’. She acknowledges that there have been both difficulties and benefits from growing up with Native American heritage. “There are a lot of stereotypes like alcoholism, gambling and getting government funding,” she said. “But it is a plus because it’s kind of cool to being a minority and it also looks good when you’re applying for colleges.” According to the United States Census, American Indians and Alaska Natives made up only two-percent of the population, including a combination of one or more races. With such small numbers, Native American struggles are rarely at the forefront of news. “It’s hard for our voices to get out because we’re so small [compared to other minorities],” Cooper said. “But this pipeline isn’t just about the Native Americans. It’s about eighteen million other people.” A recent decision to reroute the Dakota Access pipeline, however, has changed the narrative of the debate. On Sunday, December 3rd, the Department of the Army sided with protesters in its decision to halt construction of the pipeline near the grounds of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Cooper describes the decision as a relief: it renewed her hope in the art of protest, and was a moment of pride in her native heritage.

“I felt like a big weight was lifted from my shoulders. Like this is the reason why we have the right to protest: to make change happen,” she said. “I was just so relieved and proud of my fellow natives for working so hard to get what they deserve.” However, the fallout of this refinement are not yet set in stone: President-elect Donald Trump vows to continue construction once inaugurated. Trump, who is in support of the pipeline’s route close to sacred land, sides with Energy Transfer Partners, the company in charge of the pipeline’s construction. Cooper, whilst relieved short-term about the Army’s decision, is still holding her breath for fear of what the president-elect could do to when in power. “I also don’t want to get my hopes up because Trump could change it back when he becomes president,” she said. However, for Demetrious Ramirez ‘20, of the Lakota Sioux tribe, it’s all the same. Whether the pipeline is halted long-term or not, the intent behind its construction is clear. “It’s a bit like rescinding an insult; it’s not so much the physical putting of a pipeline through the black hills, it’s the audacity to take the oil through the most sacred part of our culture,” he said. For Ramirez, the threat of a pipeline has dire consequences. He affirms that it could destroy the very basis of the Sioux tribe: the sacred land on which their traditions are practiced. “The black hills, which is the land that the pipeline is proposed to go through, are the center point of Sioux culture,” Ramirez said. “They are the sacred land from which our forefathers came from and without [the black hills], there is no culture for the Sioux.” But Ramirez asserts that this isn’t the only incident of a threat to the Sioux; rather, it is part of a larger issue of a disregard for Sioux culture. “I view the pipeline as much akin to much of the other things that have been done to the black hills; it’s something that has never stopped happening,” he said. Cooper agrees in that the attention that the Standing Rock protests have garnered is not only because of the pipeline, but because of previous offenses that have led to its construction. “It just shows that we’re not treated well,” she said.

In Our State

n hour and a half drive South East of Iowa City presents vast fields, the occasional rural gas station, and an enormous, brightly lit cross with floodlights accentuating a bold statement: “Protect Our Heritage.” Just before the river city of Keokuk, Iowa, a gravel side road leads to a productive construction site. Men in machinery are working to cover up the recently built Dakota Access Pipeline with loose dirt and reseeding the area. The construction crew has been in Iowa since May, working on the pipeline that had grown infamous to many in the region. “The surrounding neighbors have been very nice to us,” the overseer of the site, who did not want his name disclosed, said. “There haven’t been any protest here.” Another 30 minute drive alongside the Mississippi River leads to another construction site with a makeshift dirt road that disappears around a curve on a forested bluff. At the entrance of this road, four cars were parked, each with a man inside, staying insulated from the wind blowing off of the river. Each one adorned a fluorescent green vest, labeled “PerMar Security”. They refused to comment on the protests or development of the pipeline. The 1,172 mile pipeline expands diagonally across Iowa, and will eventually be the carrier of sweet crude oil from North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois, where oil production areas and existing pipelines are located. According to Energy Transfer Partners, the company overseeing the Dakota Access

Pipeline, the project has created 4,000 jobs. Although the jobs and work is temporary, labor is needed in large amounts to construct the approximately 343 mile route through Iowa. For many Iowans, the employment opportunities are not worth the destruction of land and resources. Protests have occurred in many areas in the state, including Sandusky County, where Keokuk is located. Tyler Priest, an Associate Professor of History and Geography at the University of Iowa, concludes that this pipeline is actually the safest option for the transferral of oil. According to Priest, large oil spills of 500 barrels or more have gone down, and when they do leak, it is because the pipelines are usually old and eroded. “Pipelines leak and there’s much greater attention to it,” Priest said. “This particular pipeline is double walled, deep beneath the Missouri River in this particular location. But, still people are concerned.” In 2013, a train carrying oil through Quebec derailed, causing an explosion killing 47 people, carrying a the same Bakken Formation oil that would be transported through the Dakota Access Pipeline. Priest explains that this form of light oil is similar to gasoline, which makes it more valuable, but also more volatile. The best transportation method for oil has been contested, however, oil production and consumption will not stop in the meantime. “Stopping pipelines will not have an effect on the oil that we consume,” Priest said. “If we don’t have pipelines, we’ll find another route to get the oil, by train or we’ll just import it from other countries.”

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NEWS December 16th, 2016

In Our Community

s Kristen Rankin, a junior at the University of Iowa, was taken into custody for protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL, she, along with her friend Maggie Dressel and two of Dressel’s family members, made the trip to Boone County, Iowa, in mid-September after signing a pledge of resistance earlier that summer. She got an email, drove to Boone County, and stood with 150-200 others at a construction site of the pipeline. “[We] found out about the Bakken Pipeline and what was going on with that and did a little bit of research and we decided that it was wrong on so many levels because it’s stepping on indigenous people’s rights,” Rankin said. “We had to sign saying that we knew there was a risk that we could get arrested, but that we were going to take a stand and that we wanted to know about upcoming protests that would happen. There was a Facebook event that we said we were going to go to, and the police found out about it because of the Face-

book event. So they were waiting for us there at the protest.” Rankin was the seventh of nineteen protesters arrested that day. She hadn’t been there for five minutes when a police officer approached her, asking if she was aware that she was on private property and private land. “I said ‘yes,’ and he asked if I had any intention of staying there, and I said ‘yes.’ So, he said, ‘Well, okay, I’m placing you under arrest,’ and I was like ‘okay.’ And then he arrested me,” Rankin said. This experience with the Boone County police was very different from that of the water protectors at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. The officer who arrested Rankin walked her over to another officer, who asked her how her day was and escorted her to the bus that held the other protesters — and on the bus, they sang to the other protesters and took selfies with each other. “We were extremely lucky. I know police brutality can be a very complex topic, and we were very privileged not to experience it,” said Rankin. “The Boone County police officers were incredibly polite, and I realize that’s not what is going on in North Dakota right now, or what had been going on for awhile, when they were using the water cannons and the rubber bullets.”

BACKGROUND: A finished portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline in Lee County, IA, near the Mississippi River, which has been the site of most protests in Iowa. The pipeline, which in its entirety stretches across 1,172 miles of land and has been a topic of controversy for its construction near land sacred to the Sioux tribe in North Dakota, runs horizontally through Iowa. PHOTO BY SOFIE LIE

OPINION

A12

December 16th, 2016

There’s something in the water

The Little Hawk staff discusses how the lack of clean water in Flint, Michigan and at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota (and the actions taken towards the situation) are linked to race.

Executive Editors

nova meurice, sofie lie & sarah smith

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lucy mcgehee & molly liu

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rasmus schlutter & addie bass

Copy Editor

madeline deninger & danielle tang

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Media Editor estie dillard

Art Editor

a.j. boulund

Staff

olivia baird, noah bullwinkle, noah freeman, lottie gidal, quincy coghillbehrends, mariam keita, eden knoop, madeline pugh, teagan roeder, emily barnes, zoë butler, maya chadwick, landon clay, olivia deneice, elizabeth evans, mira kumar, zoë miller, piers o’harrow, isabella pittman, mina takahashi, genevieve wisdom, elizabeth ayers, phoebe chapnick-sorokin, sam hammond, courtney hoang, maia janssen, victor kalil, emmeline kraus, alyse lacina, te’angela lewis, michael menietti, corbin nguyen, anna roemerman, addy smith, zoë tyne, devon willingham

mission statement

The Little Hawk, the student newspaper of City High School, aims to inform, educate and entertain readers; to provide an educational opportunity for the students who produce it; and to provide a medium for commercial advertising.

Equity Statements

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices. If you believe you have (or your child has) been discriminated against or treated unjustly at school, please contact the Equity Director, Ross Wilburn, at 509 S. Dubuque Street, 319-688-1000.

LH STAFF EDITORIAL

“Water is life.”

Are the continuing water crises in flint and the pipeline at standing rock related to race? yes: 9 NO: 0

That is the phrase that has reached across the world these past few months. Water is life. That is the phrase that the members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their supporters have been pressing upon everybody that will listen. This is because the Dakota Access Pipeline was (and could still be) being built through their sacred land — land that has had a long history of turmoil with the government. In January of 2016, DAPL was green-lit — it was predicted to be fully functioning by the end of the year. There wasn’t much outcry at this time — why would there be? We didn’t know about the route, the hazards, or the blatant disregard for the land they’d be infringing on. Fast forward to December. The water protectors have been protesting for about four months — and legal action was taken a month before that. They have endured being pelted with concussion grenades, shot at with water cannons and rubber bullets, and teargassing by police during their protests. And it was not until early December when the Army Corps of Engineers decided to look for an alternate route. This decision has been a long time coming for the Standing Rock Sioux, and is a victory in this long, long war. Now, let’s take a trip across the Midwest to Flint, Michigan, where the citizens have gone without safe, clean water for 854 days and counting. Flint has had its water contaminated with high levels of lead since August of 2014 (researchers confirmed the contamination almost a year later, in September of 2015.) In January 2015, a state of emergency was declared due to the water crisis — after fecal coliform bacterium and total coliform bacterium had been found, which can be indicators of E. Coli and other disease-causing organisms in the water. The water crisis also has a possible link to a Legionnaire’s disease outbreak, which caused serious illness and 10 deaths. Now, Michigan officials are

delivering bottled water to families whose filters have not been checked or cleared for safety, but that’s not a permanent fix — Little Miss Flint, the young girl who wrote a letter to President Obama about the crisis and prompted a visit from him, continues to bring awareness to what’s going on, tweeting about how many bottles of water it took to cook Thanksgiving dinner (144) or a picture of her sitting next to piles of packages of bottled water. On December 10, the U.S. Senate passed an aid package of $120 million to Flint for “replacing water pipes and other infrastructure improvements, [public] health to track the impacts of lead, [and to] forgive previous drinking water loans” according to a local news station in Flint. However, the package still has to be approved by the President, and the citizens of Flint still don’t have access to clean water. These two cases of slow government intervention in regards tohuman rights violations can be boiled down to environmental racism. It is patently clear that race and poverty played, and are playing, massive roles in why these situations have been handled in the way that they have been. Standing Rock is a Native American reservation that is predominantly, if not entirely, comprised of people of color and 38.6% of the citizens in the same county are in poverty. Flint’s population is 65.4% minority, 56.6% African American, and 40% on or below the poverty line, according to the U.S. census. While obviously race and poverty levels are not completely the cause of the speed or way that these events have been addressed, they very much have played a role in it. In a state-

ART BY MAYA DURHAM

ment from the NAACP, a representative said, “Would more have been done, and at a much faster pace, if nearly 40 percent of Flint residents were not living below the poverty line? The answer is unequivocally yes.” In addition to that, Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee stated, “While it might not be intentional, there’s this implicit bias against older cities -- particularly older cities with poverty (and) majority-minority communities.” Standing Rock is a bit more blatant in the environmental racism — the Dakota Access Pipeline was originally supposed to go cross a river north of Bismarck, but was rerouted because the citizens of Bismarck did not want their source of water to be contaminated by any potential oil leaks or spills from the pipeline. After their complaints, the pipeline was rerouted south of Bismarck and just upstream of the Standing Rock Reservation. Now, the North Dakota Public Service Commission, or PSC, denied any allegations of environmental racism, citing instead the fact that that route was “never included in the proposed route submitted to the PSC” due to potentials for leaks. However, pairing this reroute with the horrendous police brutality that the Standing Rock Sioux tribal members and other water protectors have been facing, as well as past incidences of profit coming before indigenous peoples’ needs, the pattern has become quite clear. The underprivileged, underrepresented, and silenced people of this country have been and are being taken advantage of. These are not one or two time incidences. These are not going to stop if the pipeline is rerouted, or when Flint gets access to clean water — this pattern of systemic racism on a macro, life-threatening scale will continue, unless something is done. After all, we cannot survive without access to clean water.

Water is life.

OPINION December 16th, 2016

A13

ELECTION

ELECTING THE COLLEGE While the presidential election may be over, the political turmoil it has caused rages on. Who we want to be as a nation and what we want our democracy to represent are not easy questions to answer, but ones that becoming increasingly important to the future of this country. The latest popular vote counts show Hillary Clinton with a lead of over 2.6 million votes, a number that has only been growing. She won 48.2% of the popular vote compared to Donald Trump’s 46.2%. The catch? She won only 43.1% of the electoral college. This discrepancy, while the largest ever, is not unprecedented. Out of the last 5 elections, two of them have gone to the loser of the popular vote. Like Hillary Clinton, Al Gore won the popular vote by a tally of over half a million votes, or 0.5% of the popular vote. Given the way that campaigns are run due to the electoral college, it is impossible to say that either Gore or Clinton would have won in a popular vote run off, but the fairness of a system that renders the popular vote irrelevant has to be called into question. When the electoral college was created, it was meant to create a balance between popular representation, the system used in the House of Representative, and equal representation by state, the system used in the Senate. In order to do that, it gives disproportionate representation to smaller states that would be otherwise unimportant. It was also meant as a check on the power of the people, who the Founding Fathers didn’t trust to choose a qualified president. In Federalist 68, Alexander Hamilton defended the process, saying that the Constitution was designed so “that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.” In order to do so, the electoral college gave the final choice to “men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation.” The fear was that the people, lacking information or understanding about the candidates or the presidency, would elect an unqualified, ill-suited leader to the highest seat of power in America. Given the results of the recent election, that plan appears to have backfired spectacularly. That’s because the modern electoral college does not work the way that the Founders intended; rather than being free to

by EDEN KNOOP

follow their conscience, electors are bound to the popular vote to prevent the theft of an election. This creates a dysfunctional system where the results are simultaneously decided by and not bound to the popular vote, yet the group making the decision no longer has the autonomy to act with their conscience. While the election may be over, the problems with the electoral college remain. More than just not working the way it was intended, the basis of the electoral college is the disenfranchisement of voters. Due to the electoral college, the 107,000 votes that cost Hillary Pennsylvania, Wisconsin,

“DISENFRANCHISING VOTERS AND MAKING LARGER STATES LESS IMPORTANT IS NOTHING BUT A BASTARDIZATION OF DEMOCRACY.” and Michigan were worth more than the 2.6 million votes that she won the popular count by. Those votes came mostly from California and New York, unsurprising given that the electoral college was designed to favor smaller states over larger ones. For example, California, New York, and Florida electors represent half a million people each, giving them the weakest voting power of all electors from all 50 states. Wyoming electors, in comparison, represent a population of 143,000 people, giving them the strongest. But the electoral college doesn’t just prioritize small states over larger states; it also gives disproportionate power to swing states. States that vote reliably in one direction lose their influence over

candidates’ policies, and swing states, which decide the election in the electoral college, gain considerable leverage over the candidates. Also in those partisan states, voters who belong to a minority political party or ideology also lose their power as their votes are all but useless with the winner-take-all system. The millions of Republican voters in California and the millions of Democratic voters in Texas have no voting power in this system. While this does bolster the representation and influence of otherwise unimportant smaller states, particularly swing ones such as New Hampshire or Iowa, it does so at the expense of millions of people. There is no reason that voters in a small state should be worth more than ones from a larger state. If a state has less influence on the nation because of it, then it is rightfully so because the state is a smaller part of this nation. Disenfranchising voters and making larger states less important is nothing but a bastardization of democracy. The representation of small states in government is important, but there are better means of representation than the electoral college. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution to the problem of the electoral college. Any movement to abolish or replace the electoral college on a national scale would require a Constitutional amendment and would be likely to face strong opposition from the states that benefit from it. Likewise, any movement from the states to alter the college would be patchwork due to the individual goals of each state. Even if it were possible to switch to the popular vote or proportional representation, there is still the concern that small states will lose all power they have in the election. But despite their unlikelihood, solutions do exist, and the solution is not necessarily doing away with the electoral college completely. A system of proportional distribution of electors according to the popular vote could achieve the same ends. It could even retain some power for the smaller states if there was a threshold candidates had to reach in the popular vote before they could claim their share of electors from a state. But whether it is going to the popular vote or moving to proportional representation, the current system has to change. For the millions of people whose voices were silenced, the democratic principles this nation was founded upon demand it.

IN DEFENSE OF FLAG BURNING by MADELINE DENINGER The election of Donald Trump and the aftermath that came with it has left this country more divided than I, and many others, have ever seen it. On the night of Trump’s election and the days following it, protests (predominantly peaceful) took place across the nation. Pictures and videos from these protests spread across my various social media pages. And I supported that. I will always support the right to assembly and the right to freedom of expression, whether I agree with it or not. And in this case, I happened to agree. Still, there were a few images from these protests that were a bit unsettling to me. One of which was an image of the American flag being ignited in front of Trump Tower. I’ve seen the flag burned before, and if I’m honest, it’s never sat right with me. However, I’ve always understood that the guarantee of freedom of expression is something we all have, and even if I don’t like it, there’s really not much I, or anyone else, can (or should) do. That is because however troubling I find the idea of burning such a symbol to be, the notion of banning the act is exponentially worse. When Donald Trump tweeted out “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or a year in jail!” my first reaction was that I must be looking at a parody account. Of course, I was not, and this tweet was just the latest of many baiting tweets Trump has sent out over the past year. How could anyone, but more importantly the President-Elect of the United States, so carelessly tweet out such a thing? The very notion of revoking citizenship is dangerous and irresponsible. Not even felons have their citizenship revoked. I’m guessing Trump didn’t think of that. Or maybe he simply doesn’t care. And then there’s the matter of the First Amend-

ART BY AJ BOULUND

ment, which guess also means very little to him. Like I said, I don’t like the burning of the flag. To me, the flag represents, among other things, the men and women who have died for this country. To see it in flames puts a bad taste in my mouth (to put it lightly.) But those men and women have died so that we have the right to burn the flag. They’ve died so that we Americans have certain protections which the government cannot infringe upon. The First Amendment does not make exceptions when certain people are offended by something. At the end of the day, someone burning the flag is a citizen doing as they wish to their own property as a sign of protest or resistance. If Trump decides that can be taken away because he doesn’t like it, where would it end? Censorship is a slippery slope. Even a conservative Supreme Court has ruled twice that flag desecration is a legal form of expression, like in the 1989 case of Texas v. Johnson. If Trump really wants to appoint “the next Antonin Scalia,” he should first understand what exactly Scalia stood for. By Scalia’s own standards, Trump’s proposal is “that of a tyrant.” So much for personal freedoms and small government. Through his little Twitter tantrum, one thing is now clearer than ever: Donald Trump will say anything to cause a stir. He doesn’t care about contradicting himself or going against years of precedent. The thousands of likes and retweets show Trump is not alone in his views. To those Americans, I say this: Do not be compliant in your own suppression. Whether you burn the flag or not, the First Amendment belongs to everyone. It is not just the speech we agree with that has to be protected. No, it is the speech we hate that we must protect most of all if we are to be truly free.

OPINION December 16th, 2016

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ENTERTAINMENT

Moana’s making waves by MIRA BOHANNAN KUMAR

This November, Moana, Disney’s first Polynesian princess, sprang brightly onto the big screen with big dreams in tow. But this time, she wasn’t dreaming of a royal happily-ever-after like other princesses we’ve seen — she was in search of adventure, justice, and the deep blue sea. I’ve always loved Disney movies — the bright colors, fun musical numbers, and the message that dreams come true (huh, maybe it was preparation for Glee later in my childhood…) made them magical for me, as they did for many. But for a few years now, I’ve been frustrated with the lack of feminist themes — particularly in the older, “Golden Age” movies. In “A Feminist Ranking Of All The Disney Princesses, Because Not Every Princess Was Down For Waiting For Anyone To Rescue Her,” Chelsea Mize says that many of the older Disney princesses “lack any agency and must depend on men to get them out of trouble.” Even as a little girl, this always struck a wrong note with me. And it’s not just Snow White. These concepts of female submission and reliance on men are recurring throughout the movies, from Ariel (The Little Mermaid, 1989) trading away her talent to “get the guy” to Jasmine (Aladdin, 1992) being unable to defend herself from the creepy Jafar. (For my opinions on Disney villains, morality, and shades of gray, please keep an eye out. I have thoughts.) Beauty and the Beast (1991) was my favorite as a little girl for several reasons: Belle is intelligent; she makes educated decisions about to whom she gives her heart; and throughout the film, she fights against her prejudiced town and in particular the abhorrent Gaston, who is essentially misogyny personified. However, there are still some flaws to the movie — the main theme of the movie is essentially that Belle is useful to the Beast as a tool to free him from his curse. In contrast to the older films, the newer princesses have been more progressive. In The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tiana is an entrepreneur with dreams of owning her own restaurant. Tangled (2010) had Rapunzel executing a lot of important plot points herself, although she did end up with the main male character. In Frozen (2013), Disney upended the age-old “love at first sight” concept by making every major character completely shocked at the — “You got engaged to someone you just met that day?” — and at the end, the act of true love we thought would be a kiss from a male character turned out to be a selfless act of sisterly devotion (gasp! Platonic love is important too?). However, in all of these movies, the concept of the necessity of romantic attachment and dependence on men is a recurring theme. The biggest feminist triumph of the recent movies is actually one of the least popular—Me-

ART BY A.J. BOULUND

rida from Brave (2012) is an independent female character who has no official love interest in the film and has her own adventures. However, there is one thing that Moana has that Brave does not (besides the return to eponymous titles upon which the franchise began): the main conflict of the story does not center around the main character’s being required to marry. Besides the focus on romantic attachment, there’s another problem in the Disney princess films: the concern of body image. “Women React to Realistic Disney Princess Waistlines” is one of several YouTube videos that mentions the body issues some women have as a result of beauty standards engrained by Disney’s portrayal of women’s bodies. This is explored in written articles and social media platforms as well, and many offer alternate views of princesses’ bodies which take into account healthy proportions and the natural variations in body type present in the real world. Moana, however, has a more realistic body shape, something her creators aimed for. While she keeps a rather slender waist, her limbs are muscular and more athletic than princesses past. The directors said they wanted her to be an “action hero,” someone who “could physically hold her own for what kind of stunts we wanted her to do and the physicality of the role.” Though she may not be exactly anatomically accurate, it is still definitely a step up from the wildly disproportionate shapes we’ve seen before. Like everything else, Moana’s story isn’t perfect — there are still concerns regarding the portrayal of Maui, Moana’s demigod friend. But in all, the Disney princess films are progressively improving. In “The Revolutionary ‘Moana’: Disney’s Most Unapologetically Feminist Princess Yet,” Jen Yamato says that a huge amount of progress has been made since “the days of Disney heroines waiting for guys to put a ring on it or show up bearing the right sized shoe.” Moana is the latest installment in a saga that, while it has a way to go, is increasingly portraying its female characters as strong people with dreams of their own. In the past month, students at our own high school have taken part in multiple rallies protesting the results of last month’s election and varied positions taken by the president elect, among them his view on women and the rights we possess. At this time, when women’s rights are still contested by many in the nation, I think it’s imperative that those of us who support women’s rights not give up on achieving our goals of equality for all genders and give children role models to follow as they are finding their own place in our ever-changing society. And while Moana has its problems like anything else, the example the main character sets shows people of any gender the power of independence, self-discovery, and good old-fashioned spunk.

LH BOOKS: SHIP BREAKER by THEO PRINEAS

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi is a futuristic middle-grade YA that takes place in a dystopian America. Dystopia is pretty conducive to social narrative, and this book is no exception; classism and trust are two of the major themes. In terms of classism, Nailer, the main character, is a ship breakers, meaning that it’s his job to scavenge the remains of beached oil tankers from days when people relied on oil for energy, since they now rely on other sources. Nita is a rich girl who crashed into the scavenging shore during a city-flattening storm. Affluence is put in constant juxtaposition with poverty in this book, giving the theme of classism. The rather more philosophical theme is found within the relationships between the characters; trust. There is no official law on the beaches, and ship breaker society relies on small circles of loose trust called a ‘crew.’ But its shaky trust, as established early on. For example, one of Nailer’s crew mates leaves him to die in a pit of oil so she can get higher pay. He survives of course, and the girl is cast out, her crew tattoos slashed so that no one else will ever employ her. The interesting thing about this situation is that even though what Nailer’s treacherous teammate did was terrible, it’s easy to understand why she did

“STRONG CHARACTERS AND PLOT CAN ONLY HOLD UP IF THEY ARE SUPPORTED BY EQUALLY STRONG WRITING.”

it: because of the desperate situation on the beach. But strong characters and plot can only hold up if they are supported by equally strong writing. When Nailer is crawling in the ducts of ancient ships, the writing feels claustrophobic and tight, and when action moves fast, the sentences fly by and pull you in. When Nailer bursts out of a shipwreck after nearly drowning in oil, it’s like taking free breaths of your own again. Basically, the writing carried the book very well. Overall, I would give this book 5 stars out of 5. It was nominated for a National Book Award, and it really shows. The characters are realistic. The writing is strong and immersive, and the story is exciting and edgy. Dystopia is a popular genre right now, and this book is a part of that wave. Many of the newer dystopias are mock-ups of the Hunger Games hoping for a lucky strike, but this one is true itself and the genre. If I have any advice for anyone who picks it up, read it from the perspective of modern times. I would recommend his book to people who like a quick, easy read that keeps you interested and guessing, but are also interested in thinking deeply about contemporary social issues.

OPINION December 16th, 2016

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POLITICS

Moving Forward: DEALING WITH A TRUMP ADMINISTRATION by GENEVIEVE WISDOM

Wednesday, November 10th, was a dark day at City High. As I walked the halls, I could feel the somber tears soaking through the walls. City High students, male and female, black and white, gay and straight, mourned the results of the election of 2016. Whether you supported Donald Trump through his campaign or not, we all knew nothing would ever be the same. Tuesday night, I sat on my couch, watching the election results flood in with my mother and my gay uncle. He fidgeted nervously, checking his phone for news every time the TV went on commercial break. Later that night, we all started to panic. We dropped our heads every time the newscasters said the words, “Trump has won *insert name of state here.*” I texted an active group chat of my friends, “Guys I think I’m gonna have a panic attack.” “Don’t,” one of them replied immediately. “Call me before you do.” I proceeded to text him through the entire night, relying on him for comfort and support, despite his own dread. My uncle said he thought he should go ahead and marry his boyfriend, for fear that he soon wouldn’t have that possibility. My mother, armed with her pantsuit and “Love Trumps Hate” pin, gripped her wine glass so hard her knuckles turned white. Eventually none of us could stand to watch anymore. We drove my uncle home, and bought ice cream on the way back, prepping for our inevitable depressed junk food binge. In the car, I finally dared to ask, “What’s going to happen to us?” For the first time, my mom’s answer was a simple, “I don’t know sweetie.” Everything we had planned in our future became a question. Would I still be able to take my birth control pills and antidepressants? Would my Grandma still be able to afford her breast cancer treatment? Would my Grandpa lose his business? Would my family survive if a war broke out? Would my sister be safe taking the train home in Chicago? Would I be able to go to college? Would my uncle be forced into conversion therapy? I slept in my mom’s bed with her that night. Neither of us could stand being alone. We both had an irrational fear that when we woke up, something terrible would have happened to the other. For the next 24 hours I was terrified of leaving my mother home alone out of fear that she would do something irrational. She had never been suicidal before, but I had also never seen her this beaten down. I felt that I couldn’t take any chances. When I came home from school after first period yesterday, en route to my university class, my mother and I both broke down. She held me, lying on the couch, stroking my hair as our tears soaked each other’s clothes. “Everything’s going to be ok somehow,” she muttered into my hair, but the interrupting sobs left me unconvinced. A few minutes later she picked up a call from my dad, away on business. My father, who decided not to vote in this election, opened with a somber, “How are you?” “Angry,” snapped my mom. “How are you?” “Shocked,” he replied

simply. “Did Genevieve stay home today?” my father asked, hearing my sobs, “How is she?” “She’s terrified,” my mom replied. “I’m angry and she’s terrified and you owe us both an explanation.” I couldn’t stand to listen any longer. I went upstairs to change for my class, but as soon as I walked into my room, my legs turned to jelly. I couldn’t support my own weight. I collapsed onto the floor, grasping at any clothes littering the ground to wipe up my tears. These past few days I’ve become a child again, curled up in the fetal position, desperate for my parents to hold me and tell me everything is going to be ok. But they couldn’t. When I walked back downstairs, my mom’s yelling was muffled by her bedroom door. She stormed out to the kitchen, snapped once more at my dad, and threw her phone on the counter in anger. She stood there, pissed off and ready to scream. It was then I saw my button sitting on the counter. I wordlessly picked it up, my lip quivering as I handed it to my mother. When she saw the words, “Love Trumps Hate” she collapsed in on herself. She wrapped me in her arms and this time it was my turn to hold her up. She then picked up her phone and sent what I can only assume was a temporary truce to my dad, for my sake if nothing else. As angry as I am with my father, I’m too weak to fight, and there’s nothing he can do now except apologize and attempt to explain himself to the three women in his immediate family. Back at school, I walked out of class to go to my locker. As soon as I do, I make eye contact with a girl I’ve never met, wearing a Bernie Sanders hat. We smile sadly at each other, recognizing another soul in pain. I sit in class. My teacher says he can’t teach today, and he lets us all work on whatever we need to. I sit in a huddle with my friends, all of us angry and scared and desperate for some good news. Our bodies were no longer ours, our homes were not safe, the places we had been a thousand times before were foreign lands, and we had no way to protect ourselves in this potentially dangerous world. We felt stripped down to nothing. As women, we were nothing but bodies that were there for the men around us. The people of color were nothing but foreigners, no matter how long they’d been here or whether or not they were born here, even despite the fact that this whole country is a nation of immigrants. My LGBT friends were no longer safe to be who they were. None of us were, unless we were straight, white, upper-middle class men. Don’t get me wrong — not all straight, white, upper-middle class men are Trump supporters,

“MY MOTHER, ARMED WITH HER PANTSUIT AND “LOVE TRUMPS HATE” PIN, GRIPPED HER WINE GLASS SO HARD HER KNUCKLES TURNED WHITE.”

and they’re not free from the fear of the future. What they are free from is being stripped of their basic human rights because the newly elected president says it’s ok. If Donald Trump says it’s ok to grab women by the p***y and rate them by appearance, that’s now the act of the president, who’s supposed to be a role model to all young people. Now if he uses racial slurs and assaults women and says gay people are not natural, that’s seen as presidential. People growing up under a Trump presidency are going to be seeing these horrible, dangerous, prejudiced things, and believing that it’s ok to be like that. Obviously, there are Trump supporters who do not do racist, sexist, or homophobic things. Many people supported him for his economic views. However, if you support him for one of his policies, you’re automatically saying his racism, sexism, and homophobia are acceptable. People do not get to pick and choose aspects of a president. If you get one part of them, you get the whole person. The problem is, our system is stuck in the concept of two parties. In this particular election, many people felt that neither of the candidates represented them enough. I understand this completely! Not everyone fits in with one of the two parties. However, a protest vote is not the way to fix the problem. The fact of the matter is, you’re going to have either the Republican or the Democratic nominee as president for the next four years, and it’s up to you to decide which you want. Obviously, it’s a little late for me to be saying this. But there are states Secretary Clinton would’ve won if it hadn’t been for protest voters taking away votes for her. If you think they’re both evil and unfit for office, fine. But I have a hard time understanding how people could think that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are at all on the same level. In the days since the election, the many stages of grief have flooded through me in repeated bursts. Stuck in the bargaining phase, I keep trying to find way that could still put Secretary Clinton in the oval office, no matter how unlikely. The one stage I haven’t entered is acceptance. And I’ve come to realize, I will not enter this stage. I will never accept Donald Trump as my president. First of all, he did not win the popular vote. Hillary Clinton did. I understand that the electoral college is in place for good reasons, but those reasons are outdated and, frankly, the electoral college has now failed us twice in under 20 years. I say this at the risk of sounding like an entitled millennial (which, let’s be honest, I am), the system must be reformed. For the

“AS ANGRY AS I AM WITH MY FATHER, I’M TOO WEAK TO FIGHT, AND THERE’S NOTHING HE CAN DO NOW EXCEPT APOLOGIZE AND ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF TO THE THREE WOMEN IN HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY.”

millions of people who voted for their president, and still are ignored. The people deserve to be heard. I understand that Donald Trump is our next president-elect, but I refuse to see him as a presidential figure, a role model. I refuse to believe it’s acceptable to sexually assault women and treat them as if their bodies are the only things that matter. I will not see LGBT+ people as broken and in need of fixing. I will not see people of color as dangerous people who need to be kept out of America. The beauty of this country is that it was built as an escape for the persecuted. It will not become an escape for the persecutors. Not on my watch. In the past few days, I’ve felt scared, angry, helpless, desperate, violent, and depressed. But most prominently, I’ve felt loved. In times like these, I’ve realized the power a simple smile or heart emoji can have. Wednesday was full of anger and fear, but Thursday was full of love. Facebook posts reminding everyone of our hope and solidarity. Texts reminding each other of our love. Snapchats of long-distance friends just checking to see how we’re doing. Do not perpetuate hate-we have enough hate in our future president. Perpetuate love. Spread positivity. You’re allowed to be angry with people. Don’t tolerate hate. But don’t fight hate with hate. Remind yourself of the love in your life. Even if you feel that you don’t have any, you do. People love you, and we will protect you. Tuesday night, when the situation became dire, I saw my mother researching colleges in Canada. When Trump won, I wondered if I could in good conscious continue to study to become an actress. With a dip in the economy, the middle class will shrink, and I don’t know if I’d be able to take care of myself, much less my family. As I cried into Ms. Borger-Germann’s shoulder Wednesday morning, she reminded me to not let Donald Trump shrink my world. I will not give him the power he wants. I will not give him the power to crush my dreams. I will not give him the power to destroy artists. I will not give him the power to make me feel unsafe in my own home. This is my life. This is my home. I’m not going anywhere. He does not have that power over me. As a woman, I’ve been told to accept the fact that straight, rich, white men run my life, and always will. But they don’t. They may run the government, and they may have more privilege. But to all the LGBT+ people, the people of color, the girls- I’m sorry, the WOMEN- of this country and this world: I stand with you. I fight with you. Do not let one man tell you that you don’t matter. You are alive and you can change the world. If you save a whole country or if you save one person from a bad day, you have so much power. You can save people’s lives, even if that person is you. So go out there. Change the world. Girls, don’t let anyone tell you you’re not strong. You are stronger that you can even fathom. You can build anything. You can create worlds. We are stronger together. Love each other. Now is our time. Let’s fight.

“SHE REMINDED ME TO NOT LET DONALD TRUMP SHRINK MY WORLD. I WILL NOT GIVE HIM THE POWER HE WANTS. I WILL NOT GIVE HIM THE POWER TO CRUSH MY DREAMS. I WILL NOT GIVE HIM THE POWER TO DESTROY ARTISTS.”

OPINION December 16th, 2016

THUMBS UP

holiday lights everywhere

ham cubes Rec league starting

Childish amounts of snow

Thumbs down

candy canes

(from every teacher)

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THUMBS

homework over winter break

ham cubes (again!) Everything’s cold all of the time ART BY AJ BOULUND

NERD NOOK

ReCore REVIEW by PIERS O’HARROW Price: $39.99 ESRB Rating: T Pegi Rating: 16+ Genre: Action & Adventure Multiplayer: None Co-op: None Single Player: Available Platforms: Xbox One, PC Publisher: Microsoft Studios Developer: Concept Inc., Armature Studio LLC Release date: September 12, 2016 From dashing to dodging, from scaling to solving puzzles, this game isn’t just your ordinary Action & Adventure third-person shooter. You start out as a lone mechanic, a loving daughter, and a true friend. A dog is truly a man’s best friend, even if it isn’t a living

organism. (I’ll give you three guesses as to what kind of dog it is if it’s not a living thing and she’s a mechanic.) The learning curve is like an extremely short rollercoaster, it has a short and shallow hill to begin and then it starts to tilt up to a steeper curve. You can learn how to play the game extremely easily — but to learn how to be a pro, you need to climb the steep mountain top. There is quite a bit of control in the game. As you progress in the game, you gain more and more control of the game. Throughout the game, as the story develops, you find more companions to join your fight to restore balance and habitability on Far Eden. Far Eden is the setting for the entire game, which is a planet with earth-like habitable features that the humans escaped to after an ambiguous international disaster. ReCore is the sort of game that brings OG gamers back into some very pleasant childhood

memories. It reminds me of the OG Xbox games like Sphinx and Tomb Raider. You freely roam in the world with an objective to find a certain thing, collect “keys” to open doors, and ultimately figure out a possibly mind-blowing mystery. The graphics were honestly the only thing that were unsavory. The game runs on a 1080p 30fps and even though only remotely 76% of the time, the other 24% of the time, the 30fps was quite apparent. Although it actually makes the game slightly more enjoyable (because it helps add the effect of an old school game from the OG Xbox.) Unfortunately, I can’t say that I felt very visually connected to the game. Despite the graphics, I found that the storyline was so good that I still felt very emotionally connected to the game throughout every minute of the campaign. Joule Adams, which I shall say is a very fitting name, is an extremely likable character and also tremendously relatable through her

actions and reactions to events, plot twists, emotional and physical victories, and plot development in general. The sound stays true to the epitome or centre point of this article — the old school gaming atmosphere this game gives off. The sounds effects and all. The music played a very big part in the emotional attachments I made to the characters. Overall, the music composed by Chad Seiter is exemplary. I’ve played this game’s campaign three times and I still learn something new every time I replay the campaign. The game was originally said to have approximately six hours of gameplay, fortunately, that estimation was incorrect, it turned out to be more like twenty-four hours of immensely enjoyable gameplay. All in all, if you’ve been even remotely interested in this game at any point in time, this holiday season is definitely the time to get it and you will not regret it.

QUOTES

“It’s jespersEn, so we can’t hear him!”

RIGHT

- MRs. Gibbens

“I’m not original, I just steal from the internet” -Mr. Schumann

“French students are whiny little bees” -M. Balcaen

“Next thing you know, you’re living in a van by the river, doing drugs instead of your chemistry homework.”

- Dr. Schnoebelen

REmain silent

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ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

December 16th, 2016 A&E

@ A Three Page Special

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The Characters of “Star Wars: Rogue One” The new Star Wars brings back some original characters alongside a number of new heroes and villains, looking to expand upon the backstory of the Star Wars world. By Landon Clay

Jyn Erso

Felicity Jones takes the spotlight in the upcoming Star Wars movie. Her character, Jyn Erso, is captured as a young girl and held prisoner by the Empire until she’s broken out by a band of Rebels. Jyn then discovers her father has helped design the plans for a super weapon, the Death Star. She then joins up the rebels and takes charge in their efforts to prevent the deadly utilization of the Death Star.

Orsen Krennic

Ben Mendelsohn makes an appearance as one of Rogue One’s villains, along with, of course, Darth Vader. He plays Director Orsen Krennic, the man responsible for the security and construction of the Death Star. He commands the Death Troopers, with whom he hunts down rebel attempting to thwart the Death Star plans. Krennic is working with Jyn Erso’s father to design the super weapon.

Cassian Andor

Diego Luna portrays Captain Cassian Andor, an accomplished Rebel Intelligence Officer, in the upcoming Star Wars movie. He is in charge of the task force, eventually dubbed “Rogue One,” recruited by Mon Mothma to steal the plans for the second “Death Star.” He is well known for his ability to keep a cool head in the midst of battle. He’s asked to keep an eye on Jyn Erso to ensure her loyalty.

Mon Mothma

Genevieve O’Reilly takes the place of Caroline Blakiston as the wellknown character, Mon Mothma in Rogue One. In the previous Star Wars movies, Mon Mothma got little screen time, but she’s expected to play a larger role in Rogue One. Mon Mothma is a Rebel leader who assembles and dispatches the Rogue Squadron on the mission to capture the plans for the Death Star.

5 Chirrut Imwe

Saw 6 Gerrera

Donnie Yen takes on the role of Chirrut Imwe, a deeply spiritual warrior who believes every living thing is connected to the force. Chirrut has honed his body through intense physical and mental discipline and had to overcome the challenge of being blind and nonforce sensitive. He assists the team of Rogue One, eventually joining the Rebellion in their efforts to battle the Empire.

Saw Gerrera portrayed by Forest Whitaker is a combat-hardened veteran of the Clone Wars. Even in his old age and ailing health, he continues to rebel against the Empire. Saw leads a group of Rebel extremists. During the Clone Wars, he rebelled against the corrupt government. One hardship for Saw Gerrera, though, was watching his sister fall to her death right in front of his face.

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December 16, 2016 A&E

$Not

everyone has time to watch all seven previous Star Wars movies, so the Little Hawk Arts and Entertainment team has put together a time line and provided some more context for Rogue One, to ensure our readers can get the most out of their Star Wars experience.

Rogue One: The Plot By Landon Clay Rogue One is a Star Wars movie not following up on the events of The Force Awakens. It is instead a story spin off based on a group of elite fighter pilots. The events of this movie take place during the Galactic Civil War (Episodes 4-6). The basic premise of the Galactic Civil War is The Empire, which rules the galaxy and are controlled by the Sith, fight a rebellion. The Rogue Squadron is formed after the Battle of Yavin, formed from the Red One Squadron that successfully destroyed the first Death Star but were mainly depleted in the act. Though the Rogue Squadron is portrayed as flying X-Wings, they also utilize A-Wings, BWings, and Y-Wings. What most people haven’t realized is that they have already seen the Rogue Squadron in action. During the Battle of Hoth, Rogue Squadron is deployed in a special type of snow fighter jet to combat the Imperial advances. Similar to The Force Awakens, the main character is a woman. This time however, Felicity Jones takes the spotlight as Jyn Erso, a strong willed woman who is taken as a young girl and held prisoner when The Empire enslaves her father. She is saved by a rag tag group of rebels and recruited by Diego Luna (Cassian Andor). The movie’s cast consists of Forest Whitaker, Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn, and Mads Mikkelsen as Jyn’s father. James Earl Jones, the original voice of Darth Vader, makes a return to lend his voice in this movie. The movie is directed by British film maker, Gareth Edwards, who is best known for his 2014 revival of Godzilla. From what the trailers have shown, this is a movie with lots of action and a good plot. Rogue One come to theaters December 16, and is sure to be enjoyed by fans and critics alike.

More Rogue One stories, recaps, and reviews will come to thelittlehawk.com following the release of the film.

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December 16, 2016 A&E

A New Hope for Representation

GRAPHIC BY AJ BOULAND

In 2015, thousands of Star Wars fans old and new flocked to theaters across the US to view the latest installment of the Star Wars saga. The film reintroduced millions to the laser-guns-blazing-universe of leading woman Rey and her trusty supporting man, Fin. While the major themes of galactic destruction, an unexpected hero, and an underlying romance remain consistent with the previous installments of the franchise, there is an aspect of Star Wars: The Force Awakens that sets it apart from not only its fellow movies, but from 80% of modern day blockbusters. A study done by Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University found that only 12% of protagonists in the top grossing films of 2014 were women. Both The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story feature leading women with male minority supporting roles, with The Force Awakens grossing $2,068,223,624. If a person were to type “Star Wars cast list” into the Google search bar pre 2013, the first names to pop up would be Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. Both white, both leading men- a cast list which was achingly normal for the time. Now, the first two names on the Star Wars cast list belong to Daisy Ridley and John Boyega- a woman and a black man. It is also worth noting that the third leg of the stool in Rey and Fin’s company is Poe Dameron, a pilot played by the Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac. Historically, sci-fi has been a platform for minority roles since the 60’s; the first televised interracial kiss occurred between Uhura and Captain Kirk on the hit show Star Trek. “I think the beauty of fantasy and sci-fi things is that you can actually make commentary on society by introducing things like putting Rey as the lead,” Mr Burkle, an AP Government teacher and avid fan of Star Wars said. “Even going back to Princess Leia- she was the decision maker- she was in charge of most of the rebel-

lion. You can make that commentary that women are just as strong and daring and intelligent as men are. I mean, you see it in Star Trek all the time, you see it in Star Wars.” At City High, the student leadership board also serves as a platform for social and political advancement for women, with both the class president and class vice presidents being young women. Class President Lucy Wagner ‘17, quoted the Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsberg. “ ‘I won’t stop fighting for women’s rights until all the Supreme Court Justices are women.’ And someone said, ‘What the heck, why would you do that?’ And she said, ‘Well, they were all men in the past, and nobody questioned that.’ And that really resonated with me,” Wagner said. While Wagner has not seen the most recent Star Wars installment, she wouldn’t call herself “not a fan” and is completely on the side of the minority-inclusive cast of The Force Awakens. “I think, from an outsider looking in, it’s good, especially that the leading character is a woman in such a prominent and historic film because I think a lot of people know what Star Wars is regardless of whether they’ve seen it or not,” Wagner said. “So to have a woman starring in it- I think is powerful.” “I think it’s really important to have diversity in the leading characters, especially now, to kind of go against the norm of always having a white person being a powerful person, which is how it is in reality,” Class Vice President Lucy McGehee ‘17 agreed. “I think once we have that more in film, it influences what the normalcy is, I think once it starts being adopted into our culture then it will reflect itself in other ways.” While sci-fi superfan Burkle believes that female inclusion is important, he doesn’t believe that by doing so, movies should push an agenda. “If you keep releasing shows where women are the protagonists it just kind of becomes normal and people just expect it and that’s good,” Burkle said. “I guess

By Addie Bass I’d rather see people write good characters and write good dramas or comedies and not force an agenda.” With the success of female-driven blockbusters such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Force Awakens, there comes a question of how accurate the representations of powerful women are becoming.

their leadership skills but it seems like we don’t get that as much in our female characters; they’re going to be obnoxious and, for lack of a better word, ‘b----y’, and that’s how they become powerful, and I don’t know that I necessarily agree with that.” Another problem with portrayals of powerful women stated by McGe-

“I TOTALLY LOVE HAVING POWERFUL WOMAN CHARACTERS, BUT SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE THEY’RE ALWAYS PORTRAYED AS BEING SUPER MEAN, AND IN ORDER TO BE REALLY POWERFUL, YOU HAVE TO BE THIS MEAN PERSON THAT EVERYBODY HATES.” NATALEE THOMPSON “What I get a little bit worried about is: I totally love having powerful women characters, but sometimes I feel like they’re always portrayed as being super mean, and in order to be really powerful, you have to be this mean person that everybody hates, and that’s not always the case with male lead characters,” City High Vice Principal Natalee Thompson said. “They can be benevolent and people can love them for

hee is the frequent sexualization of women surrounded by men in movies. “I think that generally those specific characters like Katniss are kind of sexualized in a lot of movies. They tend to have another dilemma, which is usually a man, or they have some kind of conflict within themselves about a man, and I think in reality women in power aren’t as focused on their relationships,” McGehee said. “If they have a

lot of power and they’re very focused, they’re going to have the best results by not being distracted by men, but that doesn’t disclude the fact that a lot of them do have men. I just don’t think it’s at the forefront of their problems like it is in those movies.” In children’s movies, however, this ideal has been changing, as Thompson points out. “One thing I’ve really enjoyed over the years is watching the shift in the female characters in Disney movies. If you go back to the original Snow White or Cinderella, it’s like, ‘Oh, well we have to wait for a man to come along,’ but in some of the newer ones, it’s all about, ‘Nope, we’ve got this woman character, and… she’s going to be the one that’s going to not rely on anybody else, and she’s going to do what she needs to do to be successful,’ and I think that’s really an important message to send to young girls: you don’t have to rely on anybody else- you certainly don’t have to rely on a man- but if you set a goal, you can accomplish it, and you have just as much ability to do this as a man does,” Thompson stated. Another common trait in female-driven action movies is the singling out of powerful women, depicting them as an exception to the traditional female role. “I’ve seen a couple films where the main character is a women, but then there are no other women in it,” Wagner said. “So then a lot of the time it’s this one woman who’s kind of seen as the most majestic female character.” This alienation of strong women also falls under a similar trope in each movie, pointed out by Wagner. “A lot of the time the strong female character will always have the same personality. I can almost describe it: she doesn’t date men- they refuse to date because ‘men aren’t worth it’- that’s a huge theme that’s played out. They’re always really beautiful, and I don’t want to say whatsoever that women aren’t beautiful, because they are, but I just think that it’s unrealistic, but what do you

expect, it’s a blockbuster movie.” Once again, along the same lines as McGehee, “They always have a fault, and their fault is always that they get too emotionally connected- that always happens,” Wagner continued. “Their downfall is because they either fall in love with this man or they realize that, ‘I’m not a cold spirited wretch like I locked myself up to be,’ and that really bothers me because I just feel like it’s a very cookie cutter thing.” Wagner also found similarities between the struggles of on-screen women in powerful positions, and her own shortfalls of running for class president. Wagner found that running as a woman meant being judged by her peers more than just her credentials on paper, and, just like the ladies on screen, ambitious women are often pitted against each other, a plot line Wagner finds tiring. “To have this new era where women are rising to powerful positions and starring in huge blockbuster films, where they could be the next President of the United States,” Wagner said, “It is bad to be comparing women based on their personality traits, how they look, instead of just how hard they’re willing to work for something.” Ultimately, both Wagner and McGehee agree that while having strong, powerful leading women is important, equal representation is just as pertinent. “In the feminist movement you do need to be able to find that common ground,” Wagner said. “I do think that it’s important to get more females in movies, but you are going to have to make them not necessarily the lead. I want them to be the lead, but I also want them to be supporting characters as well.” The world has yet to see what Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has to offer in terms of minority and female representation, but thanks to the precedent set by the films predecessor, Rogue One is already a step ahead regarding diversity in its cast list and the public’s new hope of a more diverse era of blockbusters.

A20

December 16, 2016 A&E PHOTO BY ADDIE BASS

Q&A Kate Goodvin By Rasmus Schlutter When did you first develop an interest in art? "I started painting in third grade, but I didn't start doing it professionally until seventh or eigth grade. In seventh and eigth grade I started getting paid for it. I had some of my art displayed downtown in some galleries and someone bought it. Now, I’ve been doing more commissions and stuff like that." Why do you do portrait painting? "That’s all I’ve ever done, portraits. I never really did animals or landscape because I thought they were kind of boring. I mostly do portraits of black people instead of white people. I feel like there’s a lack of representation of black people in portrait painting." How does your interest in race and representation in art affect your style? "My pieces are very beautiful and powerful looking, and some of my work is about police brutality and negative things against black people. My interest in these issues started in eigth grade when Michael Brown was shot, actually." Do you feel representation is an issue throughout the art world? "Yes, it’s very present. There are artists like Kehinde Wiley and Kerry James Marshall who paint black people, but that’s very few considering there's so many people who only paint white people. One thing I’m always asked is why I always paint black people. No one would ever ask a white artist why do you always paint white people." What do you feel art can say about these issues? "Sometimes art is really political, whether it’s visual art or music. I think it’s cool that I’m able to paint something that could change a conversation or start a conversation." Would you like to continue painting in the future with the same interest in race and representation? "I want to do this as a career focusing on portraits, fine art, if that’s possible. I’ll still be interested in social issues." You mentioned some other artists who also do portraits of black people. Where else do you draw your inspiration from? "I do my portraits of people from City High. I take pictures and then draw and paint them. When someone sees a portrait I painted of them, they love it. It makes them very happy. I like that experience and the connection."

To see more examples of Kate Goodvin's art online, visit the photo slideshow at thelittlehawk.com/kategoodvin.

Sports

December 16th, 2016

HAILEY FAY Iowaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first place dance soloist looks forward to dancing at the University of Arizona next year and reflects on her journey. On B6

GRAPHIC BY JIM GEERDES

SPORTS December 16th, 2016

UPCOMING EVENTS

Girls Basketball off

3 to a dominant start

Hailey Fay is one of seven dancers accepted in the University of Arizona Jazz Minor. On B6

Dec. GIRLS BASKETBALL @ Dubuque Senior 16 City Dubuque Senior High School 7:30 p.m.

Dec. BOYS BASKETBALL vs. Dubuque Senior 16 City City High School

4 & 5 The struggles of college commitment

7:30 p.m.

Dec. BOWLING vs. Dubuque Wahlert 16 City Colonial Lanes 3:15 p.m.

Dec. Wrestling 16-17 Varsity Tournament

16 20

Young Arena Waterloo

Dec. BOYS SWIMMING Invitational 17 Varsity Mercer Park Aquatic Center

Best Photos

11a.m.

A LETTER FROM YOUR EDITORS Dearly Beloved, ‘Tis the season — newspaper season. This non-denominational holiday time holds the most important day of the year — paper day (festive bells ring). The Little Hawk does not focus on the ‘getting’ aspect of the holidays, but rather the ‘giving.’ That’s why we have decided to give our wonderful readers of the sports section as many graphics as we could squeeze. Admit it. You came here to look at pictures. Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Along with the numerous photos we’ve littered on our pages, we have words. The sports section specializes in pieces written at a third grade reading level — that is a rather slow third grader, for your information. If you take the time and snap on those handy dandy reading glasses and actually turn letters into words, and words into sentences, you might enjoy this paper just a little more. You might also want to take a look at the girls basketball team that is currently ranked

number two in the entire state of Iowa. Complimenting a wonderful story on our girls basketball team is a story on boys bowling. Colonial Lanes holds a gold mine of Little Hawk talent. We also poured our hearts and souls into our story on City High’s athletes who are going to go play college sports next year. You won’t want to miss it. Perhaps even more important than the Little Hawk (doubtful), is recycling. We would like to use the pentultimate paragraph as a PSA (also due to our excess of space). At the time we are writing this column, Iowa City is being struck by a snowstorm. But this snow won’t be forever. Global warming is real. Please consider recycling this issue after you have completed your reading. We wish you a happy and joyous generic winter festive period, and we’ll be back in January with even more sports coverage to

help get us through the long Iowa winter. In the mean time, go home, kick back, relax, and watch some movies or enjoy some sports on TV — or read a book. We’ll see you in our next print edition in February.

Jim Geerdes and Jonathan House <3

SPORTS December 16th, 2016

Veteran Squad Starts Season Strong The Joens family leads the way for the Little Hawk squad. By Noah Bullwinkle and Jonathan House A combination of young and veteran talent has driven the Little Hawk girls varsity basketball squad to a dominating start to the season. As the girls have reached an undefeated record early, they have jumped out to a #2 ranking in class 5A. Junior and five star recruit Ashley Joens, who is averaging 16.3 points per game to lead the Little Hawks says that she is pleased with the way the season has started. “I think we’ve been playing really well together as a team,” Joens said. “We’ve definitely started the way we wanted to and hopefully our success will continue.” On December 9th, the girls beat third ranked Cedar Falls by a score of 62-40, a win that head coach Bill McTaggart says will be huge for the team going forward, especially as it gave the team sole possession of first place in the MVC early in the season. McTaggart believes that City’s defense will be a key as the season progresses. “When we’re getting deflections on defense, we’re pretty good,” McTaggart said. City’s defense has been lead by Aubrey Joens ‘20, who has 13 steals this season, tied for the team lead. Her sister Ashley has three blocks, second on the team. The Joens family name has gone hand and hand with City girl’s basketball these last five years as Ashley’s older sister, Courtney Joens ‘16, dominated on the court during her time as a Little Hawk and has since moved on to play basketball at the University of Illinois. Ashley and younger sister, Aubrey, seems to be following in her footsteps. Aubrey has averaged 10.8 points per game this year, and McTaggart believes that the young talent on this team with Aubrey and fellow freshman Rose Nkumu, who is averaging 10.3 points per game and also is second on the team in assists, have a lot of experience and talent for their young age. “They’ve played a lot of basketball, so they’re beyond their years as far as basketball age, so they don’t play like freshmen,” McTaggart said. Despite some of their youth, the girls also have some senior leadership on the team. Kenya Earl ‘17, daughter of former NBA player Acie Earl, is a four year varsity player. She has averaged 14.5

Joens Commits to Iowa State By Noah Bullwinkle

TOP: Aubrey Joens ‘20 powers past Praire defenders next to her sister, Ashley Joens ‘18. LEFT: Sydney Schroeder ‘17 draws contact as she goes for a lay-up against Praire.PHOTOS BY JIM GEERDES

points per game and has been shooting an outstanding 94% from the free throw line. Earl has also dominated the boards for the Little Hawks, averaging five rebounds a game. Sydney Schroeder ‘17 is only averaging six points per game, but has found other ways to help out the Little Hawks. Schroeder leads the team in both assists and steals. “It’s been really fun and filled with great memories. I’ve been grateful to play four years because not everyone gets the chance to do that,” Earl said. Another aspect of Earl’s game is her size. At 5’11”, she is one of the tallest athletes on the team. She has also hit 34.7% of her three-point field goals this year, adding to her versatility and overall game. Earl has helped serve as a mentor to some of the younger players on the team. “To help the younger players, I help them with our plays and where to be on defense,” Earl said. “In games when they make a good play I cheer them on, and when they make a mistake I still

encourage them.” With a lot of talent, both new and returning, this season, the team is working on fine tuning the easy things in practice, such as lay-ups and boxing out on rebounds. “[We need to work on] making good passes, playing good defense, cutting down on turnovers, and rebounding,” McTaggart said. “In our offense, we need to pass a little more, be more patient, run the play a little longer, and try to get better shots. Our defense has also been a main source of points for our offense [due to] our press defense.” Ashley Joens says that this team has the potential for a run at the state title, but that the Little Hawks can’t get ahead of themselves. “I think the team’s goal is definitely to get to state and win. Just take it one game at a time, and let the rest play out.” The next home game will be December 20th against Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

On November 21, City High junior and nationwide 16th-ranked girls basketball prospect (ESPN) Ashley Joens announced her commitment to Iowa State to continue her basketball and academic career. Joens has excelled throughout her time as a Little Hawk. Last year, she averaged 19.3 points per game along with 8.9 rebounds. She also led the Little Hawks to the regional final game and was named the Iowa City Press Citizen’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year. This year, Joens is continuing her dominance on the court. As of December 7th, she averaged 16.3 points per game and 9.7 rebounds. City High head coach Bill McTaggart believes that Joens’ devotion to the game has helped make her a top prospect in the class of 2018. “What sets her apart is how hard she works when practice was over,” McTaggart said. “She spends a lot of time at open gyms with her father and her sisters or by herself continuing to improve her game.”

“WHAT SETS HER APART IS HOW HARD SHE WORKS WHEN PRACTICE IS OVER.” COACH BILL McTAGGART Joens’ older sister, Courtney Joens ‘16, was also a key player for City High, helping the Little Hawks develop into a winning program. C. Joens’ sophomore year featured a state semifinal appearance. During C. Joens’ senior season she averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. These feats landed her a scholarship to continue playing basketball at the University of Illinois. Ashley Joens seems to be following in the footsteps of her sister. A. Joens decided on her future school a year earlier than her sister. A. Joens said that she had visited other colleges but that Iowa State seemed like the best place. “I went to visit Iowa State, and it just felt like the right place,” Joens said. “The team, the players there, the coaches, and the style of play. It just fit together.” According to McTaggart, Joens has not only been a leader on the court, but in the classroom at City High. “[Ashley is] very likeable: a student athlete who gets along with everybody. Not only is she a good player on the court, but she excels in the classroom.”

Wrestlers “Good” but not yet “Great” By Jim Geerdes Being good is not good enough for Coach Corey Connell’s wrestling team. The Little Hawks have the talent to be great — but they are not there yet, according to Connell. “Our weakness is being good. We need to work to being great,” Connell said. “We have had too many kids settling for being good, and we’re good. Now we want to be great. Getting kids to understand how to get to another level, wrestle at another level ,train at another level, think at another level. We need to start working on being great.” His wrestlers echo the same idea. “We need real fighters on our team. If we get tough and practice hard, we have some

real talent on our team that can do well for us,” Brock Hunger ‘17, Connell’s varsity 182-pound wrestler, said. The team is currently 2-1 after a loss to Prairie 41-24 and dominating wins against Xavier and Cedar Falls, finishing the days 6313 and 60-22 respectively. Greatness is the goal for City as Connell and his wrestlers have big aspirations. “Our goal is to make it to state,” Hunger said. “Along with that we want to beat West again.” Last year City beat rival West High for the first time in 16 years, and they hope to repeat that success. “That was the best wrestling experience I’ve ever experienced,” Hunger said. “It was unreal, seeing all the guys the happiest they were all year, and I’m excited for that again.”

Connell agrees with Hunger. But it is only possible if they ‘embrace the process.’ “We’re trying to preach the process that it takes,” Connell said. “Coming in everyday with the goals of getting better and not creating bad habits. We’re not here trying to practice the bad things but the good things over and over and over.” The good things will be the difference between a normal season and Coach Connell’s great season. “I want to get better and better and better. I think we can be one of the top dual teams in the state. We need to get individuals in there,” Connell said. “We have the potential to win championships, but we need to work.” The process is showing. City’s 220-pounder, Jordain Buckland, started his season 10-0, winning Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Five Seasons

Invitational after pinning Linn Mar’s Isaiah Garmah in 2:56. Buckland is now ranked 9th in his respected weight class. Bryan Berg ‘17 has been a sturdy 138. Alongside him, Lance Bormann ‘18 holds the varsity 126 spot. Jacob Dykes ‘18 has also wrestled strongly for City at 195 pounds, posting an 8-0 record. Last year Dykes finished 20-4 and hopes to improve. “The biggest thing for me is to make the [state] podium at the end of year,” Dykes said, “most importantly being on top.” Dykes is focused on the ‘little things.’ He wants to fine-tune his skills and end up on the top of the podium at the state individual meet. “The kids are working hard,” Connell said, “but we need to work at another level to get to being great.”

SPORTS December 16th, 2016

THE COLLEGE HUNT By Jonathan House and Addy Smith

ecoming a college athlete is something that many kids dream of. However, it’s a dream that is difficult to achieve. According to the NCAA, there are over eight million high school athletes in the United States. However, only 480,000 of those athletes go on to play sports in college. This year at City High, a handful of athletes have already announced their plans to go to college to continue their athletic careers. Nate Wieland ‘17 announced in June that he plans to attend Northern Illinois University, a school in the Mid-American Conference, to continue to play football. Alexa Ingram ‘17 announced in August that she plans to go to Drake University in Des Moines to play volleyball. Grace Brown ‘17 is headed to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to play Big Ten soccer, and Shannon Stamp ‘17 has committed to play volleyball at Concordia University of Chicago. Joe Hoff ‘17 will be playing tennis at Creighton University, a Big East school in Omaha, next year. Finally, Mar y Arch ‘17 plans to, but has not yet officially signed to run cross countr y and track at the University of Iowa. One junior, Ashley Joens, a five star basketball recruit — according to ESPN — has already committed to Iowa State. The process is not easy. Only the top recruits get noticed early while others have trouble getting noticed, especially by NCAA Division I schools. This is something that baseball player Brett McClear y ‘17 has experienced. Next year, he says he plans to play junior college baseball to give him more time to develop and to tr y to get more attention from top programs. “Going in my dream was

always to play at the highest level,” McClear y said. “I have spent a ton of time picking out the right showcases and camps and making videos to send to coaches [in order to help with my recruiting process].” Shannon Stamp ‘17 has had a slightly different experience than McClear y. Stamp, a Concordia University of Chicago volleyball commit, says the toughest part for her was actually deciding which school to choose. “The beginning was easy for me. You just have to send out as many emails as you can and see who responds and who has interest in you, but when coaches and schools actually start to recruit you it's kind of shocking at how many choices you end up having that fit your ‘wants,’” Stamp said. “Eventually you narrow it down, and it was a huge decision, but I went with my gut and I think that's what most people do.” Other athletes at City High have received attention. Seniors Jordain Buckland, Vance Dillon, and Naeem Smith have all obtained offers from William Penn, a small school in Oskaloosa, Iowa to be apart of its football program. In addition to athletes struggling to get attention from college programs, some athletes find it hard to attract interest from schools outside of the Midwest. The furthest traveller in this year’s recruiting class is Grace Brown, with a 303 mile commute. Mar y Arch ‘17 originally pictured herself competing at Dallas Baptist University or Indiana Wesleyan University, but ultimately decided to run collegiately at the University of Iowa. Upon visiting each school she felt that what Iowa brought to the table would be a better fit for her. Through the struggles of college recruitment, numerous City athletes have excelled at the high school level and have committed to continue their sport on a bigger stage.

GRAPHIC BY JIM GEERDES

GRACE BROWN SOCCER

at Nationals with her ODP (Olympic Development Program) team under her belt. Brown also travelled to the National Premier League tournament in Colorado with a California team this past summer and brought home a first place finish. Although Brown’s experience has prepared her to excel on the field, she still has worries heading into the next level of competition. Brown stands at a mere 5’4” and understands the challenges that come with a short stature. “I’m mostly worried about my size because I won’t be Nebraska’s tallest person, so I’ll definitely have to work a lot harder.” Brown plans to major in elementary education next fall and not only seeks a Division I experience on the field, but in the classroom as well. “[Academics] are also very important to me. I have never let soccer get in the way of me getting good grades.” “I've known this is what I wanted to do with the next part of my life since I was ten years old. [I have spent] a huge part of my life [preparing for] this new chapter, so it's super exciting that it's almost here.”

ALEXA INGRAM

NATE WIELAND

TENNIS

VOLLEYBALL

FOOTBALL

D1 CREIGHTON

D1 NEBRASKA

race Brown has been playing soccer since before she could even write her name. Ever since the very beginning of her career, she has pictured herself playing in college. Brown has decided to live out her childhood dream in a bright red Nebraska uniform. “I visited Iowa, Creighton, and Drake. I was seriously considering going to Drake, but I knew I wanted to push myself the hardest possible. Nebraska is in the Big Ten conference — a really tough conference — and I just wanted to see if I could do it,” Brown said of her college choice. Brown is known by her teammates to be a vocal leader and strong competitor on the field, and she attributes her strong love of soccer to the competition and team aspect the sport offers. “You can’t accomplish anything without the team in soccer. The defenders play a huge role as well as the forwards; in order to be successful, you can’t just have one [component].” Brown practices between six and forteen hours each week. She has two firstplace Regional finishes and one second place trophy

JOE HOFF

oe Hoff has played tennis since he was around seven years old. Hoff first began contemplating the idea of playing tennis at the college level during his freshman year. Prior to that, Hoff played baseball, soccer, and basketball. Hoff felt that he had to quit those to focus more on tennis with playing collegiately as the ultimate goal. In order to help prepare himself for the college level, Hoff has sought out coaching from professionals of the game, including Matt Hagan, the assistant men's tennis coach at the University of Iowa, as well as Sarah Borwell, a British doubles professional player. Last month, Hoff took the next step towards his goal as he committed to play tennis at Creighton next year. He was also considering Luther, Case Western in Cleveland, Coe, and Iowa. Hoff says that as a future business major, he ultimately chose Creighton because he was drawn to Creighton in part because of its business college. He had been considering Creighton as one of his options since the beginning of his junior year. While he took into account

the level of academics there, he also liked the high level of Division I tennis that the Blue Jays play at. “There were a lot of players who were at a right level that would both challenge me and help improve me as well,” Hoff said. Hoff isn’t quite sure about the opportunities that he’ll get to play singles, but he will play doubles in his first year. Tennis is a unique sport in that, unlike other sports where most (or even all) of the recruiting comes from playing for your school during the school season, a lot of the attention tennis recruits receive is based off of their individual performances in tournaments outside of the school season, with the school season being only a small part of the process. However, this will change when he gets to play at the college level as he’ll be attending matches with his teammates. “Most of my tennis has been individual and going to tournaments individually, so I’m looking forward to having it be only with a team and having more connections when you go around and play,” Hoff said.

D1 DRAKE

lexa Ingram has been playing varsity volleyball for the Little Hawks since her freshman year, although she says she never seriously considered playing volleyball collegiately until her junior year. Ingram says she ultimately chose the bulldogs because of the school’s close proximity and the level of interest they showed in her. “Several other out-of-state schools showed interest in me, but I ruled them out early on because I was just looking at schools in Iowa.” “I emailed Drake not expecting much, but the coach came to [one of my] tournaments in Des Moines and liked me a lot more than he expected to, [considering] my height.” Ingram is a member of a very selective group. According to NCAA records, only 1.2% of all high school volleyball athletes go on to play at the Division I level. As a right side hitter, Alexa’s height worked against her in the recruiting process. The typical height range for a DI right side hitter is 5’11” to 6’2”. Ingram is 5’9”. Ingram juggled hitting on the right side and setting

throughout her high school career and was recruited for her versatile abilities. “[When Drake first saw me], I was actually playing a different position than I usually do, and they were impressed with that.” Ingram has displayed her ability to compete at a high level of volleyball, earning her the title of a unanimous all-MVC first-team selection for three consecutive years. On November 19th, she was also recognized as one of the top 36 seniors in the state and participated in the IGCA AllStar Tournament. “I hope to prove myself this fall and earn playing time my freshman year.” On top of developing as a player, Ingram is grateful for the friendships volleyball has brought her and is excited for the future connections she hopes to make. “My favorite memories are watching Shannon Stamp fall during school volleyball and meeting a bunch of new people throughout club and school volleyball. I love getting to play with my best friends, [which is why] I’m most excited to get to meet new people and be a part of a new team next year.”

D1 NORTHERN ILLINOIS

ate Wieland ‘17 has been City’s starting quarterback for the past three seasons. The NIU commit says he first started considering playing college football during his first year starting at quarterback on varsity during his sophomore season. “Ever since I started playing, I really just had a true love for the game, and that’s carried on throughout the years,” Wieland said on the idea of playing collegiately. “I’ve never lost the love for that game, so I knew I wanted to pursue it in college.” Wieland received attention from other schools including Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, and Kansas. He said he ultimately chose NIU, located in DeKalb, Illinois, a town about 60 miles west of Chicago, because of the opportunity to play early and because he liked the coaching staff. “That was the one school they told me I was going to have a lot of playing time at very early in my career,” Wieland said. “They will be very fun to play for.” After announcing his commitment, Wieland said that he received even more attention from other schools

than he did before. “After you commit, I think other colleges see that one big school wants you, so they know that you’re a good player and some of them will start coming in,” Wieland said. Wieland has yet to decide on a major yet and admits that he is nervous to go to school out of state, but he is excited about the opportunity to play football next year and not be redshirted. At Northern Illinois, he is expected to be the backup quarterback as a true freshman and possibly even compete for the starting job. However, unlike in high school, he says that as of now, quarterback would be his sole position. “It’s going to be fun having a new coaching staff, new teammates, and the whole college experience of football,” Wieland said. Wieland understands that with the new experience will come challenges that he has not had to face yet and knows that he’ll have to work to get to the level that he wants to be at starting the second he walks on campus. “I’m just going to go in with the mindset that I’ll have to work hard each day,” Wieland said.

SPORTS December 16th, 2016

Hailey Fay FROM PAGE B1 By Jim Geerdes and Lucy Wagner The national stage is home to City’s varsity dance captain Hailey Fay ‘17. The 17-year-old is well-rehearsed in many forms of dance including ballet, pointe, lyrical, silks, and jazz. Fay’s success can be measured, in part, by the number of trophies she has brought home. Freshman year she placed fifth in the state as a soloist — an impressive accomplishment for a 14-year-old. The following year she fell to seventh but rebounded her junior year with a secondplace finish. Her senior year, Fay was determined to take home the number-one spot, and her training reflected that goal.

“I had to keep trying [to win] and [had to] look up to my mentors,” Fay said. Her hard work paid off; Fay took home a state soloist firstplace trophy. College dance programs across the country noted her hard work. Early this December, Fay auditioned and was accepted into the University of Arizona's dance minor — a selective program for the nation’s top artists. The university accepts seven dancers into each of its individual dance categories. Fay was invited to the jazz minor program. “I was surprised. It’s super competitive, and I was incredibly happy about it,” Fay said. Artistic skills did not come easy to the senior captain. Although Fay excelled in dance

from a young age, she still fought through personal barriers to push herself to the maximum. “I fractured my hip in the seventh grade,” Fay said, recalling her injury. “I lost a lot of flexibility from that, and it took awhile to get back in the groove of things.” College-level dance is just another step toward Fay’s dream of one day dancing professionally. “I want to be in a company; being in a professional company would be really amazing,” Fay said. “Dancing in California or Chicago would be really cool.” Her big dreams will not be easy to achieve. The senior will need to excel at the collegiate

level in order to earn her place in a professional company. Staying in the groove is currently working for Fay. As she challenged herself with advanced classes in multiple categories of dance, she still found the time to travel around the country for competitions. Fay does not dance just for awards and recognition, but also for inner peace and tranquility. “Dance is like its own little world for me,” Fay explained. “When I step in the studio all of my worries go away, and the reality of things is different when I’m in the studio.” There is some controversy over whether dance should be

Young Team Looks to Improve Lack of on-court experience results in slow start to the season.

By Jonathan House

he City Hig h b oys basketball te am has st ar ted a rebuilding ye ar. Wit h f irst ye ar coach D erek Rob er ts and a lot of young players, t he L itt le Haw ks are lo oking on improving day af ter day. “We’ve got a ver y young te am. We have a lot of f reshmen, s ophomores, and e ven upp erclassmen t hat don’t have much on-cour t exp er ience, s o it’s a le ar ning pro cess and guys are st aying p ositive and know t hat t he y are improving to o,” Rob er ts s aid. “ That’s just w hat we’re going to str ive for e ver y sing le day : improvement.” This s e as on, City’s t hree le ading s corers are all underclassmen. Antonio Tur ner ‘19 le ads t he te am wit h 9.8 p oints p er game. Ke yshawn Chr istian ‘20 has als o s een a lot of time on t he f lo or and has added 7.3 p oints p er game, go o d for s econd on t he te am only b ehind Tur ner, and als o le ads t he te am in reb ounds. Ry Threlkeld-Weigand ‘19 is anot her young player le ading t he te am and is t hird in b ot h p oints p er game and reb ounds. Wit h all of t his yout h, Rob er ts s ays t hat he is lo oking for day by day improvements to add up and pay dividends in t he f uture. “E ach prac tice we have to come wit h a worker’s ment ality,” Rob er ts s aid. “You’re not go make any huge gains in one or two days or e ven t he cours e of a week, but t he sum of all t hes e small gains in t he long r un will end up b eing a larger gain of improvement. It’ ll t ake a bit of time, but we’re having f un doing it.” The alre ady young te am was made e ven younger af ter Naeem Smit h ‘17, w ho averaged 10.0 p oints p er game last s e as on, as well as Gab e N kumu ‘17 quit t he te am following a loss to D avenp or t Nor t h 62-27. B ot h s aid t hat t he outcome of t he game and having a ne w coach did not af fec t t heir decision, and t he y b ot h wanted to fo c us more on getting re ady to play college fo otball next ye ar. “I re ally lost t he passion for t he

Senior Kolbie Barnes lines up for a free throw against Muscatine. City lost 70-46. PHOTO BY JIM GEERDES

game,” Smit h s aid. “It wasn’t just b ecaus e we got blown out our f irst game. It had e ver yt hing to do wit h mys elf. I’m not going to force mys elf to do s omet hing I don’t want to do, and s omeb o dy els e can def initely step up and t ake t hat role.” The te am has had to change its sty le slig ht ly to match t he players it has, an unexp ec ted challenge to Rob er ts in ye ar one. “We’ve kept t hings pretty simple

as opp os ed to t hings t hat we wanted to do,” Rob er ts s aid. “As a coaching st af f we s aid t hat we’ve got to t ailor our stuf f to t he kids we have. We’re tr ying to play to t hos e strengt hs, and t hos e are dif ferent t han may b e w hat we had on day one.” The b oys play at home on b ot h Fr iday, D ecemb er 16t h against Dubuque S enior and Saturday, D ecemb er 17t h against Burlington.

considered a sport. While Fay finds her niche quite physically challenging, she considers dance to be an art — not a sport. “I agree with the phrase ‘dance is not a sport.’ To me it is an art,” Fay said. “Dance team or competitions can be considered a sport because you’re competing against other teams. But to me it’s an art, and it takes an athlete to make it look easy. So it’s an art, but it does take some serious physical training.” Fay is thankful for all the opportunities dance has presented her throughout her life. “Dance has taught me a lot throughout my whole life. Without dance I don’t think I would be the person that I am today. I am really thankful for it.”

Experience Describes New Coach By Bella Pittman It all started on a black top in a church parking lot behind Derek Roberts’ house when he was growing up. From then on, he would continue to pursue his dream with the game of basketball. City High's new basketball coach Roberts played ball in high school and continued to play in college until his senior year when he aquired an injury and realized his chances of making into the NBA were slim. “I went to college and played, but I tore my ACL my senior year the second day of practice. It was tough that I missed my senior year of playing,” Roberts said. “I also wanted to be in the NBA, but then I they found out there wasn’t enough room for a 6’3 guy who can’t jump all that well.” Nevertheless, Roberts decided to attend the University of Iowa in mechanical engineering but was not satisified. “I decided to go into mechanical engineering at The University of Iowa, but I felt something was missing, so I got my coaching certification. I mean I do have my engineering degree which has lead me to teaching,” Roberts said. Roberts’ coaching career then kicked off at Mid Prairie High School in 2010, leading the team to a state championship. Afterwards, Roberts continued to move school to school, coaching now for his 7th year. “[The year after Mid Prairie], I went to Cedar Rapids Kennedy where I was a varsity assistant for three years and head sophomore coach for two. Then I went to Ankeny Centennial for two years, where I was head sophomore and assistant varsity again. Last year was my first job head coaching at Maquoketa High School and then this year [at City High],” Coach Roberts said. Now, coaching varsity basketball at City High, Roberts believes he has a unique opportunity to work with a class 4A team. “It was a unique opportunity, and I wanted to get back to 4A. I think [4A] is very competitive, and you can run your program in unique ways along with more depth,” Roberts said. “Iowa City High was just a unique situation with a good foundation that Coach Showalter had put down.”

SPORTS December 16th, 2016

Cameron Chavez ‘18 throws his bowling ball down the lane against Cedar Rapids Xavier. PHOTO BY JIM GEERDES

Experienced Team Sets Record Experience finally catches up to the veteran squad to make for a versatile team.

By Jim Geerdes A short drive away from City High lies senior Bryce Frantz’s ideal vacation getaway: Colonial Lanes. The bowling alley is the home turf for the Little Hawks and Frantz, who was City’s starting running back on the football field this fall and seized the opportunity to expand his skill by joining the team. First year competitive bowler Frantz has added his talents to the veteran roster made up of four year varsity starters Austin Young ‘17 and Garrett Highly ‘17, among others. “Bowling is probably the pinnacle of my high school career,” Frantz said, pausing to reminisce. “I love stepping onto the pine floors of Colonial Lanes and throwing [bowling] balls in between those gaps.” Getting the hang of things was not hard for Frantz, who also happened to be the starting running back for the football team and a starting

pitcher for the baseball squad. His natural athletic talent and lust for competition made him a fierce opponent in between the gutters. The three sport athlete has immediately made a name for himself in the bowling community -with help from his teammate Austin Young. “Austin just goes nuts every time there’s a strike,” Frantz said. “The X-es are what we’re going for. It’s like math class. You get the X, you’re golden.“ The positive attitude is inspirational for the Little Hawks. On December 6th, the team bowled its best match in history, beating a pins record set in 2010 by 105 pins, with a final count of 3,120 pins. “This has shown the young guys what we can do,” Young said. “That 3120 (pins) really means that we can hang with some of the top teams in the state.” In recent years, the team has struggled, posting a 1-10 record last season. The past three years have been ‘rebuilding years,’ each of which

Youth Leads Way in Swimming By Devon Willingham This year, the boys swim team has gained a large number of swimmers, increasing their roster to 29 athletes. The team will also feature two exciting new swimmers in freshmen Forrest Frazier and Louis Stephan. These two swimmers made a booming start to their first high school season. Frazier stands at the third fastest time for the 200 yard individual medley and the second fastest time for the 100 yard breaststroke in the state, competing amongst athletes three years his senior. “I’m not surprised. I’ve been working my hardest to get to where I am, and I want to make it to number one,” Frazier said. The other swimmers are excited for what the future holds. “If we keep getting swimmers like [Frazier and Stephan], we have a good chance of winning state instead of just qualifying for it,” senior captain Donald Hill said. They are determined to make it big this year. The boys have started swimming faster and faster every day. “City really has a chance to come up and win if swimmers like Frazier and Stephan start mentoring and making the team better,” Ryan Van Daele, another senior captain, said on the topic.

“Our biggest competitor is West High, and they lost really good swimmers this year. Other teams are getting smaller while we get bigger,” Hill said optimistically. Head coach Zane Hugo and his staff love their team and want them to get better through good attendance at practices. “We love these guys and want to see them get better. Showing up everyday is how that becomes a reality,” assistant coach Stephen Cimaglia said. “We love watching the guys start the year and seeing how much they progress through the season.” On the other hand, hardships have arisen for the team, and captains say attendance is the main issue. “We have a big team this year, but not a lot of guys are showing up. We have good odds because of our numbers, but attendance determines our chances,” Hill said. In recent years, the swim team has not been successful compared to its rivals. “We were getting beaten, but this year, we’re going to make City High great again. We’re going to make it huge,” captain Sam Naylor said. Naylor has been working every week since last season to get better for this year, and he wants others to do as well in the future. The Little Hawks’ regular season goes until January 24th and is then followed by the district and state meets.

containing losses to rival West High. This year, Young thinks differently. “Our goal is to beat West and get the King Pin (rival trophy),” Young said. “I haven’t beaten them in my career, and I’m excited to finally win.” Young believes that the success of the younger members is directly correlated with the success of the team. “It was awesome to see the young guys step up on Tuesday [December 6th],” Young said. “Because once the seniors are gone they will be the big dogs. Cameron Chavez ‘18 and Winston Lui ‘18 both stepped up big for us that night.” Chavez has been the most consistent bowler on the team this season, bowling a 391 at his first meet and a 411 at his second. “The season is going really well,” Chavez said. “The strength of my game is getting strikes, and that has worked for me so far.” The Little Hawk bowlers have a meet at Colonial Lanes today, December 16th.

Age a Factor for Girls Bowling By Jonathan House As the sound of the boys throwing bowling balls fills the air, the girls team practices not far away. The girls bowling team is one that is young and inexperienced after the graduation of all twelve team members, including former state qualifier Brooke Shaw ‘16. “We had to replace everyone from last season, but replacing Brooke Shaw is not an easy task,” head coach Michael Degner said. “Brooke is a former state qualifier, so that is almost impossible to replace right away.” This year, the girls team features thirteen new girls, but Emily Wilkins ‘19 and Cheyenne Cirillo ‘20 have been leading the way. Wilkins bowled a team high 312 in two games in the first meet against Cedar Rapids Jefferson. The young team has a goal of bowling over 1825 this season and is just looking for continued improvement from such a young team. “In practice we work on our positioning on the lane and the release of the bowling

ball. Once we get those things accomplished we move on to covering our spares as well,” Degner said.“Where we stand and how we throw the bowling ball are two crucial aspects to us improving this season.” Kasey Wieland ‘17, despite going to West Branch, decided to join City High’s bowling team this season because she thought it would be fun. Despite this being her first year, she made varsity. During a meet on December 6th, Wieland bowled a 235, a new personal best for her. “I, personally, have improved a lot this season. I never really bowled without bumpers on the lanes before this year, so I didn’t have any experience bowling,” Wieland said. Wieland, like the rest of the inexperienced team, is looking to improve. “I’ve been working on throwing a straight ball to hit the strike pocket while also trying to learn the correct bowling form,” Wieland said. The girls have started the season 0-3 but will look to show improvement in their next home meet today, December 16th, at Colonial Lanes against Dubuque Wahlert.

“WE HAD TO REPLACE EVERYONE FROM LAST SEASON, BUT REPLACING BROOKE SHAW IS NOT AN EASY TASK.” COACH MICHAEL DEGNER

SPORTS December 16th, 2016

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PHOTOS BY LITTLE HAWK STAFF