In Control
An inside look into one student’s fitness journey 18
Amuses Bouches 4 The Story Behind Stadium cleanup 8 Net Neutrality 12 Fashion Editorial 20 Crossword 23
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Contents On the cover:
18-19
In Control by Mina Takahashi
Features:
4-7 8-11
12-17 20-22 23
Amuses Bouches by Lottie Gidal Kinnick Cleanup: The Story Behind the Stadium by Maya Durham and Victor Kalil Net Neutrality by Lindy Rublaitus Fashion Editorial by Zoe Butler and Olivia Lusala Crossword by Mira Bohannan Kumar
Letter from the editors: Dear readers, Welcome to the third issue of the features magazine. We have a variety of content to share with you, starting with a food feature on Amuses Bouches. There is a piece on the story behind stadium clean-up, a profile on one student’s fitness journey, and net neutrality. We also have a fun fashion editorial, student artwork, and a crossword. We hope you enjoy reading this magazine. Let us know what you think and have a great winter break!
Maya Durham
&
Mina Takahashi December 22, 2017 3
Amuses-Bouches by Lottie Gidal
Above: Bacon wrapped dates, prepared by Lottie Gidal.
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Top: stuffed mushrooms, a thanksgiving delicacy in the Gidal household
December 22, 2017 5
Above: Stuffed dates drizzled with oil and garnished with chopped almonds.
Below: A platter of amuses-bouches. Amuses-Bouches originate in France, and literally translate to “Mouth amusers.� They are small morsels, often served before a meal.
Above: Gidal arranged the amusesbouches here, which include bruschette, stuffed mushrooms, bacon wrapped dates, and much more.
December 22, 2017 7
KINNICK CLEANUP
Every Saturday morning between August and November, dozens of high schoolers wake up before dawn to pick up old popcorn bags and empty Coke bottles. They put on their grubbiest tennis shoes, their warmest coats and sweatpants, and they go to town on the parking lot and bleachers of Kinnick Stadium. Dean Wortman ’18 is one of those high schoolers. As a participant in both band and cross country, when Wortman takes part in stadium cleanup, he has to clean both the parking lot and the stadium itself. “I do both parking lot and stadium cleanup, and it can be pretty fun,” Wortman said. “Especially in the parking lot, you can go off and work with your friends, which can be a really good time. With the actual stadium cleanup, it’s all very quick and straightforward. Parking lot cleanup can take longer, but I find it more enjoyable.” Stadium cleanup is required for all junior high and high school athletes in the Iowa City Community School District — which adds up to approximately 84 teams a year. The athletes are incentivized to attend and work hard at these cleanups, in spite of their unpleasantness. Chip Hardesty, the head boys tennis coach at City, is one of the coaches who makes it a point to get his athletes up and at the stadium for these cleanups. “We are supposed to only do one stadium cleanup a year, which means the boys tennis team is assigned to a specific day,” Hardesty said. “But, only 5 players and their parents showed up for ours, so we had to reschedule. We have continuous meetings to make sure that our players do their share. There may be sanctions for the players that have failed to show up time and time again.”
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“We got a little bit less money this year, and it’ll get lower next year, and the following year. It’ll stabilize when Liberty starts getting their full share.”
- Terry Coleman
For many, these incentives work. And as a further reward, the schools and their teams are given monetary compensation. According to the president of the ICCSD Booster Club, Jeff Albright, there is a total of $5,000 given to the district, which is split between the junior high and high schools. Each high school receives roughly $1,500 and each junior high gets a share of $166.67. Albright believes this is the most fair option for the schools. “I think the rationale behind it is that everybody gets an equal amount of work to do.” Albright said. Although the exact numbers on money distribution are not easily available to the public, Albright said that the Booster Club works hard to make sure each school gets what they need. “We say ‘Here’s your share of the money and we trust they’ll be good
the story behind the stadium By Maya Durham and Victor Kalil Art by Zoë Butler and Olivia Lusala
stewards of the money,” Albright said. “We go with the judgement of Athletic Director and it’s really the principal’s job make sure they’ve got the oversight. Our job is to raise the money.” The money from stadium cleanup is added to the rest of the funds for that year — which come from Pancake Breakfast Day, stadium cleanup, and advertising, among other sources — and evenly distributed between the schools. In regards to the distribution of funds in 2017, Scott Kibby, the Principal of Liberty, had told the Board of the Booster Club that Liberty would not need a full allocation of funds during its first year of operation, as they had money allocated in the school district’s budget. Starting in 2018 they will receive an equal share. Terry Coleman, City High’s Athletic Director, believes that the way
“I think the rational behind it is that everybody gets an equal amount of work to do.”
- Jeff Albright
the money is being spread now is fair, given the needs of each school. “We got a little bit less [money] this year, and it’ll get lower next year, and the following year. It’ll stabilize when Liberty starts getting their full share,” said Coleman. “They aren’t getting the same amount that City and West are getting right now because all of their [equipment] is brand new, and the district has purchased it. So, they don’t have the needs that City and West do because we’re continually buying and replacing new equipment.” Coleman explained that, at least at City High, funding for each sport is decided by what each team needs each year. “There might be things that the state or conference require. For instance, this past year the conference required our basketball teams to post all of their footage on this program called Hudl. Well, that’s $800 which has to come out of somewhere. That’s an expense that we have to pick up,” he said. “Things like that happen with regularity, and [the school] has to pick up because it’s a requirement of the sport. So, girls and boys basketball are going to get a little bit more than they would have that year otherwise. I estimate that we cover everything that the teams need, and for the most part what they want.” Nevertheless, it’s a consistent source of money for the district’s athletic programs. “It’s a lot better than it used to be.” says Albright, who did stadium cleanup during high school. “As an alternative to some of the other fundraisers which would take a lot longer, this is a really efficient way to do it.”
December 22, 2017 9
The money from stadium cleanup is added to the rest of the funds for that year — which come from Pancake Breakfast Day, stadium cleanup, and advertising, among other sources — and evenly distributed between the schools.
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Stadium cleanup is required for all junior high and high school athletes in the Iowa City Community School district — which adds up to approximately 84 teams a year.
December 22, 2017 11
By Lindy Rublaitus Infographic by Mira Bohannan Kumar
O
n December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to repeal existing net neutrality regulations, meaning that companies who control the Internet have freedom to slow down or block what users see on the internet. Net neutrality is an Internet-regulation principle and these rules prevented internet service providers, or ISPs, from manipulating the speeds of certain websites, increasing prices for certain areas of the web, and overall ensured that ISPs treated all data on the internet equally. Now that they have been repealed, technology companies like AT&T and Verizon can charge higher fees and control Internet speeds for certain sites.
A total of 83% of Americans opposed the decision of repealing. Before the vote, people across the US protested by making signs in Washington, D.C., and posting videos in support of net neutrality. Websites and petitions providing ways to contact Congress swept over social media. After the vote, entertainment platforms and app companies are recognizing the votes and their disappointment on Twitter and in the news. Even Bernie Sanders spoke out on Twitter about the results of the vote. In classrooms around City High, students talked about the outcome of the vote and how it would affect them. Elias Perez ‘19 was one of
“There is no reason we should be doing this, it’s only benefiting the rich and taking more from the lower class citizens. It’s awful.” - Bubba Perez
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these students. Perez doesn’t believe that there is a good explanation for this action. “This could mean that on websites and apps that people use to express their emotions and feelings, they might not even be able to access them anymore because they will cost money,” said Perez. “There is no reason we should be doing this, it’s only benefiting the rich and taking more from the lower class citizens. It’s awful.” Perez is worried about social media access, as he doesn’t want to be denied his Internet life. He is not willing to pay for access to social media if that is the result of the rules made by the FCC. If this passes, Perez can see this starting the end of the social media empire. However, there are some who are in favor of the repeal of net neutrality regulations. Ajit Pai, the FCC chairman who voted for the repeal, has been very outspoken on his position. “I think the end goal is to preserve the free and open internet that we had for two decades, starting in the Clinton administration,”
Pai said in an interview with CNBC. “That’s a framework that served the American people very well. And that’s a framework that I hope we’ll be able to return to on a bipartisan basis in the future.” FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn had spoken out against the vote, as she had access to protests as well as people who are part of government organizations. She promoted the number of letters, calls, and comments that the FCC was receiving but not recognizing. Just before the vote was initialized, she spoke out against it during a net neutrality hearing. “Each of us raised our right hands when we were sworn in as FCC Commissioners, took an oath and promised to uphold our duties and responsibilities ‘to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination... a rapid, efficient, nationwide and worldwide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges.’ Today the FCC majority officially abandons that pledge and
“That’s a framework that served the American people very well. And that’s a framework that I hope we’ll be able to return to on a bipartisan basis in the future.” - Ajit Pai
millions have taken note.” While the repeal passed the FCC’s vote, it still has to pass through Congress, which may be more difficult. The repeal has already been voted down by Congress twice, and the likelihood of another repeal is uncertain. “Once again, the Trump administration has sided with big money and against the interests of the American people. The FCC’s vote to end net neutrality is an egregious attack on our democracy,” Bernie Sanders said in a public statement. “With this decision the Internet and its free exchange of information as we have come to know it will cease to exist. The end of net neutrality protections means that the Internet will be for sale to the highest bidder, instead of everyone having the same access regardless of whether they are rich or poor, a big corporation or small business, a multimedia conglomerate or a small online publication.”
December 22, 2017 13
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December 22, 2017 15
By Mina Takahashi
F
itness has a different meaning for everyone. For some people, it is something that is either forced or avoided. For others, it comes naturally through participation in sports or other everyday physical activities. However, for Alex Pradarelli ‘18, fitness is a way to have control over something in life. “I’ve been interested in fitness on and off all my life. I usually don’t stick with things. I tend to do something for maybe a year or two and then I get bored with it, but I think this is just a way of having control of something in your life,” Pradarelli said. “Sometimes as a high school student you don’t necessarily have control. You don’t get to make a lot of life choices, and fitness is a way to have some control in your life and have something to focus on.” However, maintaining the energy and motivation to keep up a rigorous fitness routine is not easy and there have been many struggles along the way. “I used to be 170 pounds, and I lost 40 pounds within 2-3 months. I think that it is more of a mental game. Especially while you’re bulking, you put on body fat, and some days I think I’d rather just cut because it’s nicer to have veins popping. But I have to realize that the finished product is
not going to look as good. I think that’s probably my biggest struggle in addition to finding the motivation to go to the gym when I’m exhausted at the end of the day. That’s always hard,” Pradarelli said. How often Pradarelli goes to the gym depends on the specific routine he is doing and how much free time he has. “Right now I’m doing a four-day routine but sometimes I’ll do five. I used to go every day and then I cut down to six days. How often I go depends on what routine I’m doing and also what I have going on in my personal life whether it’s school or my job,” Pradarelli said. Besides a consistent workout routine, Pradarelli makes sure to watch what he eats. “I used to eat completely clean. I was not eating any processed foods for about 3 months and that’s how I lost all of that weight. But that’s not really sustainable because we live in America. As high school students, we are surrounded by junk food all the time. Now, especially since I’m bulking I definitely eat more junk food because I used to not eat any at all and I wasn’t really putting on weight. For a lot of people, it’s not great for your health, obviously, I mean I don’t go to McDonalds every day, but I definitely don’t eat completely clean anymore,” Pradarelli said. One key factor in maintaining a strong work ethic is to change your routine, and never let your body or mind get used to a specific regimen or exercise. “You have to change your workout routine because otherwise it’s going to get boring and your body is gonna get used to it. That’s what people don’t understand. So once I feel like I’m not making any more progress on a program after sticking with it for a few weeks to a month or two I’ll switch it. That’s one of the things I’ve learned over time. Before I was
doing a high set workout, like 7 sets of 10 which is insane. Now I’m back down to 3-4 sets of 10-12 so my routine varies,” Pradarelli said. Pradarelli’s main source of inspiration and motivation comes from looking at the bigger picture. “Some days I don’t want to go to the gym, and, I’m not going to lie, some days I don’t go. But I think at the end of the day I have to remember that no one else cares whether you go to the gym or not. You’re the only one who’s going to know. When you say ‘I’m not going to do that last exercise’ or ‘I’m not gonna go to the gym,’ the only person you’re hurting is you. So do you really want to do that? It’s only going to take longer to reach your goals. That’s something I always have to remember, and it’s probably what keeps me motivated the most.”
December 22, 2017 19
VITALITY s t r o n g a n d i n d e pe n d e n t e n e r g y i n f a s h i o n
by Zoe Butler and olivia lusala
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YARA MOUSTAFA 17’: Shirt- Forever 21, Dress- H&M, Coat- Michael Kors, Scarf- American Eagle, Tights- Urban Outfitters, Shoes- Merona; MOLLY LIU 17’: Top- Forever 21, Skirt- 35th and 10th, Jacket- vintage, Socks- H&M, Shoes- Sperry; TONY BRANDT 18’: Shirt- Kohl’s, Tie- Van Heusen, Jacket- vintage, Pants- Old Navy, Shoes- Apt. 9; NOAH FREEMAN 17’: Shirt- GAP, Sweater- Arizona Jean Co., Pants- Croft & Barrow, Coat- J. Ferrar, Shoes- Johnston & Murray, Tie- Calvin Klein, Scarf- Preston & York; SOFIE LIE 17’: Shirt- American Apparel, Skirt- Columbus Avenue, Coat- Miss Sixty, Socks- vintage, Shoes- Urban Outfitters, Tights- American AppareL
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The Little Hawk
crossword
By Mira Bohannan Kumar
Across: 2. The program that built the school 5. Nobel Prize-winning alumnus 6. Our favorite acronym 8. At one time, the highest point in town 10. Your friendly neighborhood Hardesty
Down: 1. The Little Hawk has won more of these than any high school publication in the country 3. Did you eat breakfast this morning? Also, the principal 4. The year our school was built 7. “Our ______ little hawk...� (Come on, you know you want to sing along) 9. Our brave and glorious mascot
See the answers at thelittlehawk.com
Art by Zoë Butler ‘19