Little hawk 2 14 14

TheLittleHawk Iowa City High School - Iowa City, Iowa - Volume 71, Issue 4 - February 14, 2014 - www.thelittlehawk.com

ICCSD plans redistricting Between the spring of 2014 and the spring of 2021, the Iowa City Community School District will rezone all 28 of its schools in an effort to follow the new Diversity Policy.

SPRING 2 014 Coralville C entral, Gar ner Kirkwood, Lincoln, Pen , n, Van Allen, Wickham

SPRI N Sout G 2014 h Eas t JH, North North Central JH west , JH SPRING 2016 Borlaug, Hills, Horn, Webber , mme 2018 over, Le n G an o IN SPR Elem., H ucas, M L East ellow, f Long

ISTRICTING T IMELINE FALL 2015- F ALL 2022

At a meeting on Tuesday, January 14th, the School Board was presented with a timeline of the many transitions that will take place over the coming years. The plan includes several breaks in the district’s newly adopted diversity policy, but the Board stands behind their decision to approve it.

Due to the upcoming construction of three new elementary schools, a high school, and renovations to all existing ICCSD schools, the current borders of each school will need to be redrawn. In addition, the implementation of a new diversity policy requires the transfer of students across the district, which can be achieved through redistricting.

“What this redistricting will be about is to align the goals of the diversity policy with the facilities plan to accomplish both goals and to reduce the impact,” said ICCSD Equity Director Ross Wilburn. “If you’re a student having to move to another school, the goal is to reduce having to move several times down to one time.”

The rezoning will affect schools of every level, taking place in a total of eight clusters of schools that will be looked at for redistricting between this spring and spring 2021. Five of the clusters are made up of elementary schools, with the remaining three composed of the junior high and high schools.

One aspect of this plan, the diversity policy, was adopted for the 2012-2013 school year. It aims to bring all elementary schools within 15 percent of the district average in terms of students on free or reduced lunch, and have the number of FRL students at City High and West High be within 10 percentage points of each other.

“We’ve got some schools like Lincoln that are around five or six percent on free and reduced lunch, and we have some schools that are at 70 to 80 percent,” Wilburn said. “The goal is to bring those numbers closer together.”

As of this year, the gap between City and West is at 14 percent. The ICCSD plans to have the two schools in compliance with the diversity policy by the 2015-2016 school year, and the rest of the district’s 22 schools in compliance by the 2018-2019 school year.

During the phasing plan there will be two

points in which the district will be out of compliance with the diversity policy for one year as more schools are built, in order to limit the number of transitions for students in the district.

“The board approved it because the way the plan is laid out is a more natural timeline,” School Board President Sally Hoelscher said. “It makes sense to essentially delay that for waiting for more construction and more buildings.”

The diversity policy will be put into effect at the same time as the Master Facilities Plan.

So, as school district boundaries are changed, new schools will be opening, and others will be renovated.

“The timing of the goals, the plans, aren’t in sync,” Wilburn said. “Sometimes there may need to be a slight adjustment in a timeline regardless of which policy it is.”

Some community members object to the way the diversity policy will be put into effect. Julie VanDyke, community parent, would prefer to have the district have programs that people will travel to in order to have schools with a percentage of FRL that is over the district average.

“Of the ways to implement the diversity policy, redistricting is not the best one,” VanDyke said. “The superintendent’s refusal to implement programs to incentify I think is harmful to the Iowa City community, which has the majority of the poverty, and it’s not right.”

Kierra Zapf ‘17, also feels frustration when it comes to the diversity policy.

“We just recently moved,” Zapf said. “We didn’t buy certain houses because there were certain schools we didn’t want her to go to.”

Zapf ’s little sister currently attends Lincoln, one of the schools up for redistricting in 2015.

“With this new diversity policy it doesn’t even matter anymore,” Zapf said. “It’s not that I think it’s a bad plan, I just think that where you live should affect where you go to school.”

The School Board will start having community involvement meetings starting this spring, before any schools are redistricted, something Principal John Bacon is excited for.

“It’s definitely something I want to be engaged in,” Bacon said. “I’m certainly excited to welcome any students that would be assigned to City High as a result of this redistricting process.”

SCHOOL RED

By Claire Noack clairenoack@thelittlehawk.com

2021 SPRING h, North Hig , h City Hig West High

SPRING 2014 Hills, Lemme, Elem., Longfellow, South Twain, Webber, Wood SPRING 2014 City High & West High

SPRING 2018 Garner, Lincoln, North Elem., Penn, Van Allen, Wickham

20 orth igh, N NG 20 SPRI h, West H H, North ig J City H outh East est JH S , h t h or w Hig JH, N l a r t Cen

The timeline represents when each schools district boundaries will be redrawn. This information is according to the ICCSD Attendance Zone Phasing Plan Draft.

School works toward AP classes reflective of student body

By Ellen Carman

ellencarman@thelittlehawk.com

In an effort to address a lack of minority student representation in AP classes, a cohort of students has been formed. The group was formed with the intent to inform students about the opportunities AP classes provide and provide a support system that encourages students to challenge themselves with honors and AP courses.

“If all of our classes are not diverse than they are not as good as they could be,” Principal John Bacon said in a meeting with a group of approximately 70 students in January. “I want to see all of our classes be reflective of our student body as a whole.”

Students selected to attend this meeting were minority freshmen and sophomores who

scored in the 70th percentile on the Iowa Assessments and have a 3.0 GPA or above. Some were also recommended by teachers. Bacon stresses that the students in attendance are not the only students the administration thinks could be successful in AP courses, but it is a starting point.

Two students, Soumba Traore ‘14 and Jens Dancer ‘15 spoke about their experiences taking AP classes at the meeting. A representative from the Belin-Blank center, Kate Degner, spoke about her plans to model a cohort of students at City High after a service project done through the American Excellence Project Association as well. A chapter in North Carolina went into high schools and encouraged minority students to enroll in upper level courses.

“One of the things that I know Mr. Bacon and I are both really interested in is to expose

students to the types of AP opportunities that are available to them here,” Degner, Belin Blank administrator for STEM initiatives, said. “No one likes to do something that is unknown. We want to have AP not be this thing that people talk about but no one really knows what it is.”

The first official cohort meeting is set to meet within the next two weeks. The plan is to have the cohort meet monthly, but is still in an early planning stage. Degner hopes to bring in AP class teachers to talk to students and give them opportunities to tour University of Iowa facilities. She hopes to gear the group’s activities to what the students are interested in doing.

A similar program may also be started at South East.

“Eventually it would be ideal for students to be identified (for the program) in sixth grade,” Degner said.

Degner says that the culture of the school will play a major role in student’s course decisions. Starting with a small group of students, however, will help the school find out what students need to feel prepared to take AP and honors classes.

“In order to have a culture of the school where they feel like they can take challenging classes and those classes are for everyone,” she said. “It really does have to be a school effort.”

Traore encouraged students at the initial meeting to take advantage of their opportunity to take AP classes and to encourage their peers to do the same. She drew from her own experience in AP classes to share how her presence offered a unique perspective.

“You have the chance to take your voice and make it heard,” Traore said. “Don’t waste it.”

A2 PREVIEW

February 14, 2014

Section A

The Little Hawk Feature Magazine

4

NEWS: City (Versace Cover)

5

By Elena Foster

NEWS: Barrera and Hall to retire

THE YEAR IS 2024. YOU ARE PRINCIPAL.

By Jacob Potash Three members of the school community answer the question, “What needs to change about City?” Find out what they envision in the long term.

By Caroline Brown Long term Spanish teachers to retire at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.

$

NEWS: The Cost of Our Future In Depth News A look at how growing up in a college town is unique and the rising concern about college debt.

8

ON THE COVER: Under the Knife

By Daniela Perret The inside story of four students who have confronted injury and illness – by going under the knife.

A&E: Golden Key Awards

14

By Leah Hoelscher Three City High students are finalists for the National Scholastic Art and Writing competition.

Section B

4

6

SPORTS: Rec League

SPORTS: Little Hawks to play district football next fall

By Elena Foster and Emilie Burden The Little Hawk takes a look at all of this year’s teams in the popular extracurricular.

By Jonas Geerdes In January the state disbanded the MVC, replacing the conference with new districts.

TAKING THE STAGE: BEAUTY PAGEANTS

By Lilly Reitz Elena Foster ‘14 and Blanca Apolonio ‘14 both recently made their first forays into the world of beauty pageants.

Here’s what they gained and learned along the way.

From your editors...

Ellen Carman & Jacob Potash

Happy Valentine’s Day! On The Little Hawk there is always more than enough love and chocolate to go around. While this issue may not be as heart-filled (literally) as some of our past February issues, we want all of our readers to know how much we “heart” their support. That love is much

better shown by providing a newspaper full of worthy news and information than flooding The Little Hawk with gooey romantic fluff. This year our goal was to balance covering the romance of the holiday while maintaining a wider perspective of the continuing stories that are happening whether or not we are eating heart shaped chocolate or normal shaped chocolate.

We decided to use this holiday to examine love that has faced adversity. City High’s GLOW club has a commanding presence in our school.

While, for the most part, City is an accepting environment, more can always be done to improve our understanding of each other. Too often, hate stems from not taking the time to see things from another’s perspective. By covering GLOW’s initiatives, as well as transgender and gay students, we hope to share the experience of students in a way that will help our school ‘s environment be a welcoming one in which learning can happen.

On an especially sober note: we want to give

our own Valentine’s Day shoutout to all the student journalists who work hard to maintain our right to freedom of press. We love this freedom on The Little Hawk, and like with any relationship, we must respect the fact that we have this right.

We want to assure readers that we are dedicated to honoring the responsibilites that come along with that freedom. This past month we experienced a rough patch in this area. Concerns arose on staff about work that relied on previously published articles without proper citation. This type of shortcut is easy to take but also increasingly easy to catch, and it was caught. This “copy and paste” journalism is unethical and we took the situation seriously. We apologize for any mistrust this may have caused and we hope we can mend our relationship with you, the reader.

This experience has forced us to more closely examine the material we publish and the culture in which we work. We led discussions as a staff about these issues. In the end, it has made The

Little Hawk’s commitment to honor our pledge to do no harm and report the truth much stronger.

Just as this winter seems to never end, this publishing cycle definetley felt long. We learned a lot. We can always improve upon our committment to ethical journalism and use our freedom of press to further progress toward a more respectful society. So, take this day of love, and this ridiculous amount of candy, to reflect on how you can make your relationships stronger. In journalism, we seek the truth, so remember to be honest with the people you love. If you can’t do that, at least give them some chocolate.

b o Ellen c a sh J ta Carman o P

The Little Hawk

NEWS

A3

Iowa City’s tallest building to open The 14 story building will contain The Buzz Salon on its ground floor, and house office space and apartments above. It is located on Dubuque Street in downtown Iowa City.

The view from an apartment in the new Park @ 201 building on Dubuque Street in Iowa City. CORA BERN-KLUG/ THELITTLEHAWK

By Will Barker

lot.

However, Moen says that he doesn’t see Iowa City’s landscape changing drastically anytime soon, thinking Iowa City will continue slowly building up. Moen says the Chauncy will likely be Walking through one of the two penthouses at Park@201 and looking down at the snowy rooftops of downtown, one thing is certain, Iowa city has never been seen like this before. Park@201 his last large scale project. He also says that besides the Chauncy there will not be many more is a newly constructed 14 story glass skyscraper which will be opening its ground floor in early high rises up in the future.

“I know people who are interested in development,” Moen said. “But not on this scale.” spring. Over the next few months more offices and apartments will be finThe ground floor of Park@201 will house the Buzz Salon, a long time Iowa ished and tenants will start moving in. With the exception of the two 14th City business. The Buzz has been located across the street from the Park@201 floor penthouses the rest of the apartments are near completion and more business site and is moving in at the beginning of March. Jodi Connolly the than half of the residents have already started to move in. owner of the Buzz says the building has positively impacted her business.

Park@201 was developed by Marc Moen who also built Plaza Towers in “The construction has had a positive impact on my current business for The pace at which 2007. Moen owns a number of buildings in and around downtown and is many reasons,” Connolly said. “My personal favorite is the excitement for pleased with the projects completion. the they got it up was current and new Buzz stylists. In any company your people are your number “Everyone was very cooperative on the move in,” Moen said. “The pace one asset so with this said Buzz has a new buzz.” at which the they got it up was incredible.” incredible.

When the building was first proposed many people were opposed to the Moen says one of the main benefits of Park@201 is what little a strain it idea, some thought it would impede views of the old capitol building, others places on the infrastructure of the city. Water lines, police and fire depart-Mark Moen thought it would not fit into downtown. However Moen says now that the ment services and electricity are all provided on the site. Another advanbuilding is up, the direction has become more clear and feedback has been tage to the building site is that the lot is only 40 feet wide but 14 stories mostly positive. tall, a lot of space is added to downtown without changing the landscape “As a business owner Moen went around and talked to all the businesses too much. that were across the street,” Terry Dickens co-owner of Herten and Stocker Mark Moen has restored or constructed eight major buildings in and around downtown, After Park@201’s completion he hopes to get the go ahead to build the Chauncy next to the blue jewelers across from the building said.”It won’t take up to much space, It looks like a great deal for downtown.” willbarker@thelittlehawk.com

ClusterFlunk passes the test

By Leah Hoelscher

leahhoelschert@thelittlehawk.com

The clock on Joe Dallago’s computer blinks 12:00. It’s midnight, and he has been stuck on the same problem for the past hour, unable to complete the study guide without the answer. No answer to his email to the professor, no response from the TA, and the final is tomorrow morning.

“That one hanging point cost me the exam,” Dallago, co founder, said.

Sitting in a library full of students, and in a class of 300 students, he wondered why there wasn’t a way for him to get help.

“It kind of just baffled us that there wasn’t a tool for you to simply go talk to the other students in your class. It’s a basic need,” AJ Nelson, co founder said.

Joe Dallago and AJ Nelson needed an answer, so they made one. ClusterFlunk is a free online forum for college students to connect with classmates, TA’s, and professors to get answers to questions, share study guides, and give helpful hints.

Business major Nelson and Computer Science major Dallago dropped out of college their junior year after deciding ClusterFLunk was their true passion. After a lot of advice from mentors on how to start a company, they are now the owners of a $500,000 company that is produced to 52 colleges around the United States,

with over 11,000 users.

ClusterFlunk is free for all users, the only requirement is a .edu email address, and to attend one of the available colleges. Originally aimed at University of Iowa’s students, they began with a test group: The University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa, Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, and Cornell College in Mount Vernon.

The criteria for colleges has changed to require the college to have a lecture based class structure, and to have more than 15,000 students attending the college. Having recently expanded the database to around 50 colleges, Nelson and Dallago eventually hope to reach all colleges.

They are also considering the possibility of ClusterFlunk being available to high schools, although high school teachers are skeptical of marketing parties and ClusterFlunk’s mature Facebook profile.

The company received initial scrutiny about the name and legality of its forum. The DailyIowan released the first headline about ClusterFLunk, saying “UI students create collaborative study website, officials not concerned.” The founders admit that they have always had people question the choice of the name, but they are not overly concerned with what officials and professors say, they are choosing to focus on the students.

“We learned from day one that if we were going to build a

product for the students, that the students needed to be the focal point,” Nelson said. “It really only mattered what the students thought.”

Levi Hacker, sophomore at the University of Iowa began using ClusterFlunk after it was recommended to him by a friend.

“I take my own notes in class, and then back them up by studying notes other people have posted on ClusterFlunk. But sometimes I ask a question on a page, and nobody answers. So it’s not always helpful in answering specifics, but is really helpful in studying notes and getting study guides,” Hacker said.

Founders work daily on improving usability, marketing, contacting users to find out what’s wrong, and pushing new versions of the site, but get paid nothing to produce the site. Living off of investments, Nelson and Dallago have the students best interests in mind.

“We take a strong stance that ClusterFlunk is specifically produced for the students,” Dallago said.

In response to legal speculations, they claim that students are not allowed to post pictures of copyrighted materials or tests. A system is being set up to allow students to monitor themselves and each other, becoming “administrators” on the site.

Best friends since high school, Nelson and Dallago aren’t sure if ClusterFlunk will be their life-long job, but hope to expand it as far as they can, for as long as there is a need.

A4 NEWS

FERUARY 14, 2014

Spanish teachers take their friendship from City High to the African Safari

After teaching in the same building for 24 years, Spanish teachers Bonnie Hall and Susan Barrera are both retiring this June and going to Africa .

GLOW petitions for gender neutral bathrooms

By Abby Dickson & Olivia Parrot abbydickson@thelittlehawk.com oliviaparrot@thelittlehawk.com

ABOVE: Sra.Hall explains concepts to a spanish class ABOVE RIGHT: Sra.Hall and Sra.Barrera pose together. Hall and Barrera are retiring after this year. CAROLINE BROWN/ THELITTLEHAWK

By Caroline Brown

carolinebrown@thelittlehawk.com On the first day of school in 1992, two City High spanish teachers walked through the doors and taught their first day in new classrooms.

Now, in less than four months they will both teach their last class at City High. Bonnie Hall and Susan Barrera aren’t taking any breaks. When the bell rings on the last day of school they are headed straight for Africa.

“We’re gonna go hang out with the animals. There will be lions inching up to our jeep!” Hall said Before this trip can commence, there is still teaching to be done in the last few months before summer.

Mary Rethwisch 14’ , third year student of Señora Hall, is one of many

who has been inspired by her way of teaching “I’ve learned so much more than Spanish from her. She’s very free with her world view,” Rethwisch said.

Hall has been teaching at City since 1992, and has gained lots of respect from her students over the years.

“One of the things that people both love and hate about Señora Hall is that she doesn’t accept excuses,” Rethwisch said. “You always know what she will and won’t accept because she has standards.”

Señora Barrera has also been quite successful, for twenty two years both teachers have taken City’s fourth year Spanish students on a two week trip to Spain.

“The trip to Spain is definitely a favorite memory.” Barrera said.

Spain is a favorite memory for both teachers, and many students.

It has become a tradition that the teachers hope will continue after their retirement.

“The last Spain trip I went on it rained really hard, every day, except one afternoon in Córdoba. We had beautiful weather and we visited a fortress. The sun was shining and the kids were so happy. We were around the reflecting pools and we just took pictures and pictures and pictures and had the most wonderful time.”

Hall said.

Both teachers stress the importance of language and travel for having a well-rounded education. The Spain trip is designed for students to be able to travel to a place where they can see and speak the language of the natives.

“I’m going to miss having the connection with my students.” Barrera said.

This summer the Señoras have plans to go on an African Safari together, as well as spend more time with family and friends.

“I’m looking forward to the next phase of my life. It’s gonna be neat.”

Barrera said.

But leaving is not without hard goodbyes. Señora Hall gives her best advice to next year’s teaching staff.

“Enjoy the heck out of the students in the classroom, because they are wonderful and that’s the best part of the whole job.” Hall said. “They are interested in Spanish, they’re smart, enthusiastic, they’re funny. It’s gonna be really weird to not have teenagers around for the first time in my entire adult life.”

GLOW dance pushes for LGBT awareness Students prepare for the GLOW Valentine’s Day dance. Members rave about years past and hope for similar results this year.

By Elena Foster elenafoster@thelittlehawk.com

The final bell rings on a Friday afternoon and a sigh of relief is let out by the student body. Athletes hustle to the locker rooms and students walk briskly out to their cars to get out of the cold. However, you will find a handful of students full of laughter and enthusiasm filing into room 1101 in progress of planning the annual Gay, Lesbian, or Whatever (GLOW) dance.

“The purpose of GLOW is for people to talk about LGBT issues and enjoy each other’s company,” President Lauren Johnson ‘14 said.

City High’s gay straight alliance (GSA) was founded ten years ago by teachers in the English department who saw the need for a safe haven for students who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

“GLOW is a place where you can go and be who you are,” Loshika Embery ‘14 said. “You feel free to be straight, gay, bisexual or whatever you want because you have your own place to talk to people.”

Students feel that the organization is underrepresented not only in the halls of City High but as well as the state of Iowa.

“A lot of other schools don’t have the funds or the tools to get their gaystraight alliances and organizations off the ground,” Kyla Paterson ‘15 said.

At the hour long meetings, dedicated members brainstorm ideas of how to reach out to other GSAs among Iowa. They were talking about the annual dance that occurs each year around Valentine’s Day when Johnson suggested inviting smaller high schools into the halls of City High.

“Last year, the dance seemed lonely and it did not fulfill our expec-

tations,” Paterson said. “This year, we hope to invite schools including but not limited to Kennedy, Jefferson, and some smaller schools like Lone Tree, Solon, Washington, and Kalona.”

The dance has a mock-rave theme applied to it. Bright lights dance around the room as strobes flash with neon bursts. Music blasts and food is served in the cafeteria.

Anyone is welcome to the dance as well as the GLOW meetings. Other activities are there including bouncy balls and games to play for students that are not comfortable with dancing.

“It’s the first dance that I’ve ever gone to,” Gina Appleby ‘17 said.

“There will be a bunch of fun things to do there with a lot of room to dance and food to eat.”

City High’s GLOW chapter hopes that this dance will broaden their spectrum of the kinds of students in GLOW. They also hope to reach out to

the junior highs and make sure everyone feels welcome in the atmosphere.

“This dance will make City High look good with showing that we can take care of different GSAs,” Paterson said. “That’s what GLOW is supposed to do. We’re not supposed to stay in our own school because we’d be a private school.”

Students hope that GLOW will gain popularity and publicity through this dance. GLOW has been a place for many students to find peace of mind and they wish to share their experiences and enrich friendships.

“I think its a good way to make similar friends. We’re all odd people and make friends with each other,” Johnson said. “I have identified as LGBT since the late eighth grade and hid it for a while but with GLOW was able to express it more and I was a lot more comfortable but everyone has their own story.”

For three years, G.L.O.W. club has been campaigning for gender neutral bathrooms at City High, and thanks to rejuvenated efforts from upperclassmen, the bathrooms could soon become a reality.

“When I when I was at Lone Tree, I got harassed and bullied everywhere,” Kaela Patterson ‘15, a transgender student, said. “It happened in the locker room and all of that. City High has really helped me with [bullying], but I still don’t feel safe in the bathrooms.”

The G.L.O.W. club has struggled with their installment because of uncentralized leadership.

“This has been a planned project since I was a freshman, but we haven’t been able to do anything about it because we haven’t had any upperclassmen as our representative,” Patterson said. “But this year, I got tired of it.”

There are currently four openly transgender students at City.

“We hope that having safer bathrooms will make other transgender students feel more comfortable coming out,” said Patterson.

The gym foyer bathrooms would serve as the gender neutral bathrooms as they are the only bathrooms not used during the day, but the G.L.O.W. club hasn’t officially contacted City’s school administration yet.

“Some students approached me at Homecoming, but there hasn’t been any real action to meet with us,” Scott Jespersen, one City High assistant principal, said.

Though most G.L.O.W. club members support a safer environment for the transgender students, some students not in the club, and ones in the club, think that having gender neutral bathrooms open at City could lead to other problems.

“It’s a good thought,” Elizabeth Goss ‘16 said, “But I think students [might] have sex in the bathrooms.”

Others believe that bullying could dampen the push to have gender neutral bathrooms.

“I think it’s good, but it’s also risky,” Loshika Embrey ‘14 said. “Some people might make fun of [the transgender students] using a different bathroom.”

Victor Pascual ‘14, a transgender student at City, is also against the bathrooms.

“I honestly don’t think the gender neutral bathroom campaign will work because it’s creating more conflict between our point of view and society,” Pascual said. “I’ve never been bullied at City or in Iowa City.”

Regardless of the installment of the gender neutral bathrooms, Pascual believes it is important to stay true to yourself.

“You have a choice to be who you are,” Pascual said. “If I decide to be a guy, I’ll go to the guy’s bathroom. If I decide to become a girl, I’m going to go to the girl’s bathroom, and that’s the way it should be.”

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Versace cover spreads school pride

“City (Versace Cover) continues to grow. The YouTube made by four City High boys has reached over one thousand views from the community.

By Elena Foster

elenafoster@thelittlehawk.com Gaggles of freshmen fall silent as Omar Shaban ‘14 struts down the main hall minutes after the release of “City (Versace Cover)” on January 13th. Internet connection slowed as the YouTube music video spreading “City High Swag” gained over 900 views on the first day of public viewing from not only Little Hawks but teachers, alumni, and even Trojans.

City High and West High have made videos in the past, successful as well as not. Social media has been tense across the river and projects like this are often pointed towards each other, aggravating our rivals. However, this video was made in good spirits with little fun poked at West High.

“Even my little sister’s friends were talking about it before an hour had passed,” Jacob Pajunen ‘15, who filmed and edited the video, said. “She didn’t even know I was making it.”

Shaban heard the rapper Drake’s song, Versace, over the summer and immediately thought it had a great beat to rap. He started improvising with some lyrics and hand-picked his team. Kole Butler’s ‘14 experience made him perfect to compose a verse of lyrics.

“All of Kole’s beats are sick so I asked him to write a verse and it turned out great,” Shaban said.

Shahkem Badgett ‘14 and Adam Nicholson ‘15 both agreed to be in the film as soon as Shaban explained his vision of City High pride. Pajunen heard about the idea and offered to film and edit the video to gain more experience. The team brainstormed and collaborated ideas in the beginning of the August.

“We filmed for around two and half days because it was our first video,” Pajunen said. “It took me another twelve hours to edit it and I put it off until the last second, but it turned out great.”

Pajunen had many ideas for different shots in the video but ran out of time. Various locations on and offcampus were used including the front lawn, in front of the press box, the soc- LEFT TO RIGHT: Kole Butler‘14, Omar Shaban ‘14, Adam Nicholson ‘15, Shakem Badgett ‘14. KIERRA ZAPF ;)/ THELITTLEHAWK cer field, classrooms, the reservoir, and Pancheros. thing similar to it soon.”

City High faculty including Mr. The group gained experience and “If we could do the action to the The boys were concerned about Lehman, Mrs. Fields, and Chip confidence in themselves through words we were saying, we’d try to do crossing lines in the video, so they Ha r d e s t y the project. it,” Nicholson said. “There were some went to Mr. Bacon at the beginning made apCreating the things we couldn’t do but we managed of the school year and talked about pearances video was a to get an Audi up on the front lawn so, the things they were worried about. in the coldifferent way whatever works.”

One particularly contro- laboration. to express Our main goal was to The video has gotten versial line was “Tryna They were themselves Watch the City spread City High spirit. very positive feedback go on a date with Ms. very flexcompared to a (Versace Cover) so far. Due to Twitter’s Audi” but she gave per- ible and pep assembly We hope to do something video here: 73 retweets and 111 famission. enthusiasor announcesimilar again. vorites, the clip spread “We knew that we tic in being ment on the like wildfire. The comneeded to get permis- selected to intercom. pleted project was sucsion from the teachers to be a part “Every time Omar Shaban cessful in Shaban’s eyes. use their specific names of the projyou do a big “Our main goal was in the video, but Mr. ect. project like to spread City High Bacon was really cool “Mr. Bathat, you get spirit,” Shaban said. “It with everything else so con said as long as we didn’t do any- more experience,” Pajunen said. “We was really fun to do and shouts out to him,” Sha- thing stupid or get in any trouble that just want everyone to know that City we hope to do someban said. he was all for the idea,” Butler said.

High can do things like this.”

A5

Poetry in Public showcases student writers

By Madeleine Spivey

madeleinespivey@thelittlehawk.com Poetry in Public combines art and poetry every year, recruiting in January and publishing in June.

“The great thing about Poetry in Public is that it celebrates people from all walks of life,” Ali BorgerGermann, English teacher said.

Poetry in Public is a contest in which people of all ages submit their poems to be put up in banks, buses or recreation centers. If selected, the poets have the chance to work with an artist to represent their poem. Iowa City is home to a world-renowned university of writing, so it’s no surprise Iowa has this program. Poetry in Public is yet another example of the unique atmosphere.

“I’ve always enjoyed writing,” Rachel Fischer ‘17 said. “Having my poem selected was awesome and it just made me feel really good.”

Fischer’s poem was selected in 2012. Students aren’t the only ones who are involved in Poetry in Public, there’s a driving force behind them.

Ali Borger-Germann is part of that force. She has made it mandatory for everyone in her Creative Writing class to submit one and made an extra-credit opportunity for those in her other classes.

“For my Creative Writing students, it’s really meaningful to have a wider audience,” Borger-Germann said.

And a wider audience they get.

As mentioned above, the poems are spread all over the city. For students that ride the City bus, they can see several poems stuck up on the ceiling. At the Mercer Rec Center, poems can be seen in the front entryway.

“The cool thing about it,” BorgerGermann said, “Is that you can read the poems and recognize Iowa City in the lines of these poems,” Poetry in public is a mixture of several mediums of art. For those that were never really interested in writing, Poetry in Public gets them thinking about it. It also gives artists a chance to have their art, whether it be paintings, drawings or word art exposed. This event is something that’s special to Iowa’s community and gets citizens more enthusiastic about writing. Not only can Iowa City see its town in the poems but as Borger Germann said, “It’s almost calming to be able to read the poems, having them spread everywhere.”

For more news coverage to thelittlehawk.com here:

A6 NEWS

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Xavier Fields scores perfect on ACT

By Becca Meyers

I’d love to major in music composition. There’s something so satisfactory about writing songs and playing Xavier Fields, ‘15, confidently instruments.”

Xavier takes playing instrustruts to band, feeling light as a feather. The stress of taking the ACT ments, especially the saxophone, to has recently drifted from his mind. the extreme. He’s been in band since His claim to fame: Xavier is the only 5th grade and jazz band since 7th junior at City High who got a perfect grade, racking up various honors such as SEIBA honor band and being score of 36.

“When I got the results back, an alternate for All-State.

W h e n I freaked out,” he’s not doing Fields said. “It school work was around or playing the midnight and saxophone, I woke my enXavier spends tire house up I When I got the his time hangwas so excited. results back, I freaked ing out with I wasn’t expectfriends, goout. It was around ing a 36 at all.” ing to HamA s i d e midnight and I woke burg Inn and from being acamy entire house up. playing Sims. demically talStudying for ented, Fields is the ACT was also part of the never a prior#1 jazz band ity for Fields.

Xavier Fields in Iowa for 4A “I really schools, the didn’t study City High rea whole lot. view, math club, I took some and Ambaspractice tests,” sadors. Fields hopes being a top- notch student Fields said. “Mostly reading tests so I and participating in various activi- could practice reading fast enough ties will help him when making his through the test.”

According to Fields, there is no college application. The options of colleges are endless, but Fields only secret formula for getting the score sees himself at one place: University you want on standardized tests.

“There’s no trick. I just stayed of Southern California.

“My number one school is USC calm and collected the entire time,” because they have an incredible mu- Fields said. “Psyching yourself out sic program,” Fields said. “Music is isn’t going to help you at all, so don’t my favorite thing in the world and do it.” beccameyers@thelittlehawk.com

ABOVE: Xavier Fields ‘15 poses with his saxophone. Xavier is in numerous activies at City High and also scored a 36 on his ACT. CORA BERN-KLUG/ THELITTLEHAWK

NEWS

A7

Tailgate Company Coming to I.C.

By Micah Cabbage

micahcabbage@thelittlehawk.com

Coming in April, Tailgate Clothing Co. will open their doors on the first floor of the Grossix Building in downtown Iowa City.

The store provides a fresh take on college apparel, combining vintage styles with collegiate logos.

Tailgate Clothing Co. originated in Ames, Iowa in Dennis Snyder’s basement with the help of his son, Todd. Their hobby of making and selling shirts for college sports fans in the back of Snyder’s car at games became something more in 1997 when Todd Snyder was working at Polo Ralph Lauren with his friend, Steve King, in New York City. The two decided that there was a need for high-quality classic college apparel.

“The focus was on recreating vintage college and classic american sportswear by incorporating vintage manufacturing methods, workmanship, and attention to detail,” said Steve King, operations manager of Tailgate.

Tailgate Clothing. Co will sell apparel from over 100 colleges and universities around the United States anywhere from the New York University Violets to the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Along with college apparel, Tailgate will offer shirts with local prints such as “The Airliner” and “PBS”.

“We will offer a curated assortment of classic collegiate apparel such as sweatshirts, t-shirts, thermals and fashion knits” said Steve King, operations manager of Tailgate. “This product assortment will include both men’s and women’s styles with a focus on vintage inspired graphics.”

In addition to clothing, Tailgate will also sell wool stadium blankets, leather footballs, and other unique items, setting themselves apart from other collegiate apparel stores in downtown Iowa City.

“Tailgate recreates classic american styles with updated fits while focusing on vintage washes to create your favorite old school clothing,” said King. “With our attention to detail and quality of our products, it will be the clothing which will stand out.”

The average price of a vintage shirt at Tailgate ranges from $34-$42 and sweatshirts ranging from $75$79.

The Iowa City location will be the second Iowa location for Tailgate, with their headquarters in Ankeny, IA. The popularity of University of Iowa clothing is what prompted their desire to open a store in Iowa City.

“The University of Iowa has a great athletic program with a long and storied history and a very loyal fan base,” said King. “This combination makes it the perfect place for us to launch our first collegiate retail store.”

tailgateclothing.com

Check out the NEW & IMPROVED www.thelittlehawk.com

The Cost of Our Future

A8 NEWS

A9

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Ascending college debt causes concern

By Payton Evans

paytonevans@thelittlehawk.com Many children begin dreaming about what they want to be when they “grow up” at a young age. From doctors to astronauts, or maybe even princesses, the majority of these professions require further schooling after high school.

Most students make the decision to go on to college, but there are multiple factors involved in the selection process, one of the most important being cost.

Not every student qualifies for scholarships or grants, which is where the alternative of student loans comes in handy. Student loans are loans provided by the government or a financial institution as a secondary option to help pay for a student’s education. Different from a grant, which is an amount of money given to a student by the government based on financial need, a loan is money borrowed from the government that eventually begins to accumulate interest.

“The best kind of student loan is to not have a loan. That said, it is getting increasingly harder to go to college without taking out any sort of student loans,” Steve Lindley, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at St. Olaf College said.

“Student loans are like a lot of other things: in moderation, they are fine, but if you take out too many that can be a bad thing.”

While loans may sound like a flawless backup plan to college bound students, there are negative aspects as

well. Many different types of loans are available for students through the government. All loans are either subsidized or unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are administered to students demonstrating some sort of financial need, where the lender pays the the interest while the student is in school up until six months after they are no longer enrolled.

Unsubsidized loans are given to any student, with or without financial need, where the student is responsible for paying interest at all times. Due to fluctuating interest rates, students end up paying a substantially higher amount than what they originally borrowed.

Interest, even without accumulating until months after college graduation, continues to accrue until the loan is completely paid off, thus forcing students deeper and deeper into debt.

Too much debt can even go as far as to jeopardize a student’s financial success in the future. According to the College Board, the average amount of student loan debt accumulated for each of the 54% of students that took out loans in 2012 was $25,000. The amount of debt accumulated throughout a student’s college career can have a significant effect on their future choices.

If a student takes out multiple loans for a degree in a profession that won’t be very profitable, their financial security can be significantly impacted. “The amount of student debt may also influence the type of occupation the student chooses as well as the geographic areas where jobs are sought,” Mark War-

ner, Assistant Provost for Enrollment Management and Director of Student Financial Aid at the University of Iowa said. “High student debt could have an influence on other life choices including marriage, having children, purchasing a house, etcetera.”

However, loans are the only key to affording an education for some people.

“In my opinion, college is a long term investment,” Addie Bockenstedt ‘14 said. “Without a college degree the chances of finding a supporting job are lower. You have to spend money to make money.”

Many current professions require a college degree. Without that, finding a well-paying, supporting job is nearly impossible. As long as it means receiving a proper post-high school education, benefits to taking out student loans are evident.

“It’s okay to get a little bit of debt as an investment for yourself, and some debt is certainly okay, but there is definitely such a thing as too much undergraduate college debt,” Tom Carey, Guidance Counselor, said. “You have to be aware and plan based on what you’re going into and how much earning power you’re going to have.”

The government has introduced a newer law, the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, that will ultimately lower student loan interest rates for millions of college students.

The new law will attach interest rates to the market and bound the rates for the life of the loan. It will also guarantee a

Future seniors: A college timeline 0

C yo ons u co r ult on un gui wit op co sel da h pe tio lleg or nce lin rso ns e a r e. P nal and to es re tim sc sen ume par eho d e ol to s.

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When scholarships and grants aren’t enough, student loan debt can accumulate in overwhelming quantities, jeopardizing a student’s future financial security.

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Begin to visit colleges and aske adults for letters of recommendation.

College Costs Calculator TESTS-

SAT: $51.oo x # of times taken

cap on interest rates, promising that undergraduate rates can’t rise above 8.25 percent, graduate loans can’t rise above 9.5 percent, and PLUS loans provided by the government can’t rise above 10.5 percent. This will benefit people in student loan debt, as previously interest rates were able to rise and fall with the economy, without any limits.

Outstanding student loan debt is now the second largest form of consumer debt. According to an article

by U.S. News, in June of 2013, more than 7 million borrowers are in default on federal or private student loans, meaning that they were over 270 days late on a payment. However, there are further resources available to reduce or eliminate overwhelming student loan debt. If applicable, many scholarships and grants are available for prospective college students from various sources such as their current high school, future college, or the local community. Needbased financial aid is also awarded to students from families struggling to afford additional schooling, different amounts being given based on the level of financial need.

“The family need to start planning early for meeting future college costs,” Warner said. “The parents and students need to form a partnership and research together what other financial resources are available. The primary responsibility for paying for a college education lies with the family, and need-based financial aid is there to help where the family cannot.”

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By The Month ddar h n a suc e st Tak tests T and d ize he SA nas t T to i ance AC ase ch ng i cre eciev ips. of r olarch sch

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Growing up Hawkeye

By Leah Hoelscher

leahhoelscher@thelittlehawk.com

ACT: $52.oo x # of times taken FINANCIAL AIDCSS Profle: $5.oo + ($18.oo x # of schools) FAFSA:FREE!

APPLICATIONS-

Application Fee: $30.00-$60.00 X # of schools

TUITION @ U of Iowa-

Iowa Residents :Ave. $8,000 x #of years OTHER FEES @ U of IowaRoom&Board/Meal Plan: $9,100 x # of years Books & Supplies: $1,000 x # of years

=

Personal Expenses: $2,000 x # of years TOTAL COST

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Send in Applications and scheulde college interviews. Most early application are due.

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Most fi applic nal ations need to subm be itted f or regua la sion. r deci-

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FA S p ati CS form in

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Take AP tests to receive early college credit, make your final decision about your future college, and graduate from City High!

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Send your final high school transcripts to your college.

Walking downtown Iowa City on a Friday night, the slapping of college student’s feet along the cobblestones can be heard well into the next morning.

“Even as a freshman I felt like I was one of the people saying I would never go to Iowa, but the more I thought about it the more realistic it was,” Mary Kelly ‘14 said.

Kelly made the decision to go to the University of Iowa after a handful of her relatives spoke to her about their experiences.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people who say that even though it is in the same town, it’s a totally different experience and that makes it a different place,” Kelly said.

After living in Iowa City their whole lives, seniors going to the University of Iowa have been molded into their decision since they were little.

Growing up in Iowa City, walking around downtown, and going to University events and cheering for their teams, Iowa City teens have grown up accustomed to life in a college town.

“The fact that I was raised here and I know my way around makes me want to stay. And since I’ve grown up in this environment, I already know I like the dynamic of Iowa City,” Katrina Scandrett ‘15 said. Scandrett is a junior at City who is already considering going to the University of Iowa.

According to Eric Page, Senior Associate Director of Strategic Communications in the Office of Admissions at the University of Iowa, a major percentage of Iowa’s freshmen came from City High and West High, 80 and 97 freshmen respectively in 2013.

Scholarships play a large part in local high school students attending the University. There are specific scholarships for students who have grown up and attended high school in Iowa, including the Iowa Scholars Award and the Old Gold Award.

Fin a dea l FAF S d fed line t A era o re l fin c anc eive ia l a id.

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final FAFSA deadline to receive federal financial aid.

Attend your college’s summer orientation

It sounds like a fun place, and I’m going there for engineering, I knew I wanted to stay in state, and I think it’s the best engineering school in Iowa.

It’s cheaper, and I would probably get homesick somewhere else,” Brady Swenning ‘14 said.

Assuming that it will be the same experiences they had growing up, some seniors choose to move farther away to get a fresh start.

“I think it’ll be fun to experience something new and be in a new town.

Change is good, and when you’re learning to be an adult and fend for yourself, I think if you’re farther away from your parents and not depending on them so much that you’ll end up exceeding a little more in figuring out how to live your life independently,” Amber Slater-Scott ‘14 said.

Sam Cavanaugh ‘14 has also been looking for out of state colleges.

“I really like the dynamic of Iowa City, and how liberal it is, but for a college experience I want something that I am going to remember for the rest of my life, I don’t want it to just be about partying, and at Iowa it’s inescapable,” Cavanaugh said.

Ryan Dorman ‘14 has grown up around the University, since his mother is a professor and admissions adviser.

“I knew I didn’t want to go to Iowa, but now it seems like my best option.

I wanted to get away. I still want to get away, but costs and other factors limit that. I feel safe here, I know the town really well, and I know about the University in general,” Dorman says about his decision to stay in town and attend the University.

“Personally, I think there is something special about growing up in a college town like Iowa City and then attending the University. You feel a really strong connection with the place that lasts a lifetime. For some students, they want to get away and experience something different. It’s all about personal preference and how a student fits at a University,” Page said.

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A10

OPINION The Little Hawk - FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Staff Editorial:

A State of Tolerance

LH

How does City High, as a school, and Iowa City, as a community, welcome and accept those who identify as LGBT?

Executive Editors

ellen carman, jacob potash

News Editor ellen carman

Opinion Editors neil harte, lilly reitz

A&E Editor will barker

Feature Editors

daniela perret, jacob potash

Sports Editor annika wasson

Photo Editor kierra zapf

Copy Editor leah hoelscher

Online Editors

elijah jones, chris ohrt

Ad Managers

abby dickson, emma mcnutt

Staff

dominic balestrieri-fox, marco barenghi, cora bern-klug, jacob buatti, emilie burden, anton buri, will braverman, caroline brown, micah cabbage, sylvia dean, abigail dickson, keighley ehmsen, payton evans, rachel fischer, elena foster, jonas geerdes, claire goodfellow, rachel gralnek, nathan katalinich, rebecca meyer, claire noack, braden offerman-mims, emma mcnutt, cody owen, jacob pajunen, olivia parrott, sabrina rodgers, sarah smith, madeleine spivey, edgar thorton, hailey verdick, chris winegarden art by Neil Harte

Adviser

jonathan rogers

Online Bios and Stories www.thelittlehawk.com/staff

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 English Version: 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.

In the 1960s, black people were being spit on and excluded because of the color of their skin. Blacks were still fighting for their rights, even a century after slavery was outlawed by the 13th Amendment in 1865.

The Civil Rights movement was one of the most historically prominent movements in America that shaped us as a country, and today, we are living in what will become an equally historic fight for civil rights: the gay rights movement.

Although America has come a long way from throwing homosexuals into the fire with the kindling, we still have a long way to go. Gays are still discriminated against constantly, in places like Jacksonville, Florida, where you can be fired from a job if you’re a homosexual.

There is also homosexual oppression in many corporations, such as Chick-Fil-A, who donate money to anti-gay causes and have refused to hire those who identify as LGBT in the past. Discrimination even goes so far as to not let homosexuals donate blood and save the lives of others. These kinds of situations and discrimination happen all across the country, every single day.

Gays are discriminated against everywhere, but here in Iowa City, named the third gayest town in

the country by Advocate magazine (one of the most popular LGBT publications), our environment is completely different from the gaybashing parts of America.

Being only the third state to legalize gay marriage almost five years ago, Iowa has always been a place of tolerance for those who identify as LGBT. Even dating back to the Civil Rights Movement, Iowa has always been tolerant. Iowa was the second state to legalize interracial marriage. So it is safe to say that in Iowa City, our level of tolerance is through the roof.

Both Iowa City high schools are very accepting of homosexual students. Having GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) programs at both schools, Colors at West High and GLOW at City High, offers a sense of safety and security for the LGBT students in Iowa City.

Here at City High, an extra effort is made to make LGBT students feel comfortable and safe in the halls of their own school. Especially in the third gayest city in the nation, we have a lot to live up to.

City High is already a naturally accepting place for its LGBT students. Many students who identify as LGBT report having never been bullied or ostracized for their sex-

ual orientation, but just fitting in is not enough.

Ten years ago, several teachers from the English department got together and decided to form a GSA, which we now call GLOW (Gay Lesbian or Whatever). GLOW has been a very popular club for those who identify as LGBT, and it has been a very successful endeavour to help LGBT students fit in and deal with their sexual orientation, which, although accepted in Iowa City, is not necessarily accepted everywhere.

In recent years, these efforts have skyrocketed. LGBT students have been working to get genderneutral bathrooms for transgender students, and just a few short weeks ago, a GLOW dance was hosted at City High, where LGBT students from City and many other schools in the area got together to have a rave-themed dance, which was very successful.

Unfortunately, not every high school is as accepting and tolerant as City High. In many schools all across the country, students are bullied for their sexual orientation, sometimes so extremely that they commit suicide. Bullying and suicide have been serious problems in recent years, even for students

who do not identify as LGBT, 30% of high school students are or have been bullied...For students who do identify as LGBT, the bullying can be much worse, and 30% of all suicides are related to sexual identity.

Here at City High, that isn’t much of a problem for us. Living in such a tolerant town, and historically tolerant state, we are predisposed to accept our fellow LGBT students and not treat them differently, especially in the third gayest town in the country. This is how it should be, but not every school is like this.

There are schools all across the country that are intolerant, and have problems with bullying LGBT students. Not every city can be Iowa City, and not every state can be as tolerant as Iowa has always been, but even in schools that frown upon gays and gay culture, there are still students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, and these students deserve respect and to be comfortable in their school, just like every other student.

In schools that have problems with bullying their LGBT students and being intolerant, it is important to make a change, because every student deserves respect no matter what sexual orientation they identify by.

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

OPINION

So Fit It Hurts

A11

THUMBS

by CHRIS OHRT

Snow days and late starts (especially for seniors)

75% off chocolate after Valentine’s Day

Infinity scarves & combat boots Michael Sam art by Neil Harte

New Year’s is long gone, and all the people who have made resolutions to lose weight and be healthy have already forgotten all about it. My New Year’s resolution was to eat more cake, so I may not be the greatest person to give advice about weight loss…

Before I go any further, I want everyone to know that I am hardly a doctor and any advice given should be taken with a grain of salt. Actually, not a grain of salt. Too much sodium is bad for you. Take my advice with a grain of Splenda.

There are many ways to stay healthy without being sad and failing, like so many weight loss resolutions end up.

1) Don’t diet: Why would anyone diet anyways? A diet implies that you are deterring from your regular dietary patterns for a temporary period of time, and temporary eating patterns lead to temporary weight loss. Eating a salad once every couple of months when you feel bad about yourself is not how one takes off the pounds. Restricting yourself from certain unhealthy foods is

only going to make you want them more.

2) Everything in moderation: This is an ancient quote by the great Socrates. If you don’t believe my advice, believe Socrates, because he had abs that would make even David Hasselhoff weep openly into his own massive pectorals. I would advise a well-balanced diet, with a little bit of everything, in moderation. So for every bite of cake you take, just take a bite of a carrot and a bite of organic cheese.

3) Buy a juicer: It’s true, all healthy foods taste terrible. The human species has destroyed their innate ability to find healthy foods due to the use of artificial sweeteners and large helpings of bacon grease. People now only want to eat things that are either super-sweet or super-fatty.

The best way to combat this is to buy a juicer.

Toss in whatever food you want to eat and feel good about it, it’s like a cheap V8. Throw in a some blueberries, red cherries, hot dogs, bloody steak, birthday cake, ice cream, and whatever else you can possibly fathom. Finally, dump in a few

spoonfuls of sugar and blend that sucker into a fine foamy frappe of your fantastical super-health liquid that will taste like it’s just out of Starbucks.

You can have the essence of every necessary and unnecessary food that you normally would have to eat throughout the course of the day, all in one sip. Now that’s magic!

4) Exercise regularly: It’s the only real way to consistently maintain an ideal weight. Just kidding! Liposuction is getting cheaper and cheaper.

5) Be happy: You can’t buy happiness, so I have no miracle cure or special juicer to sell that can make a person truly happy. I believe that half the battle when losing weight is mental. If you’re not happy, then you simply won’t lose weight effectively, it’s as simple as that.

As Mr. Bacon/Ralph Waldo Emerson always says, “Nothing great is achieved without enthusiasm.” So get out there with a smile on your face and watch as that muffin top morphs into a slightly smaller muffin top! If all else fails, just Google it.

Wacky Winter Olympics sports

Girl Scout cookies

The 34th annual Razzie Awards

Are We There Yet?

by ELENA FOSTER

Polar Vortex 8 College applications are in. Summer job interviews have been scheduled. The seasons are supposedly changing, but it seems like we will be stuck in February’s frozen grasp forever. The first few days of school, students flew about the hallways to tell their friends the hottest summer gossip. It seemed to be a year full of promise and hope. Now, those same students trudge around the halls in a slump, because nothing seems to be happening. Students wait anxiously by their mailboxes and check emails only to find a handful of coupons.

Students are constantly comparing themselves to others. Competitive seniors wonder why their friends are getting packets full of information on their dream university while they are still waiting. Insecure girls ask why their hair isn’t straighter. Immature boys ask why their biceps aren’t bigger. Athletes that have a bad game often live in the mistake when they should be concentrating on what they can do better.

Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves for things that we can’t control? A star basketball player slipped while dribbling, a brainiac got a 35 instead of a perfect 36 on the ACT, and a performer’s voice cracked during an audition.

So what? The fact that the fear of striking out keeps someone from playing the game at all is astonishing. If that were true for everything, no-

body would go to college. Nobody would get an education. Nobody would take a chance on anything because of the fear of failing. No one wants to disappoint anyone.

Waiting to hear back from colleges may be the worst wait of today’s youth’s lives, but once seniors hit send there is nothing to do but wait. We run around doing research on our top universities, praying and wishing that we will get in. We stress and wrestle fears of our future that is still six months away.

In half a year, the seniors will be gone and the underclassmen will move up the social food chain, but there is nothing to do until then, except wait. Freshmen will be there before they know it, but there is no point in crying over milk that hasn’t even been spilled yet. In the years to come, no one will be there to hold your hand and tell you that it’s all going to be alright.

Underclassmen still feel like they’re just waiting to grow up. They hear all about senioritis and the common app and they can’t wait to get out of their low “status.” As students get older, they say they don’t want to grow up. They advise their peers to never grow up. The truth of it is that we grow up before we realize it.

In a blink of an eye, everything changes.

Sophomores become juniors. Spoiled kids go and get jobs. Suddenly every toddler old enough

to hold an iPad seems to have a dire need for the latest technology. When kids hit high school, lockers are bigger and classes are harder, but insecurities stay the same.

While seniors walk into school with the same pair of sweats they slept in, freshmen strut by with shorter skirts and low cut shirts in an attempt to look older. They see ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars and MTV’s Awkward and wonder why they don’t have an affair with a college boy.

They wonder why they don’t go out every weekend and get smashed because they’ve been taught to believe that is the norm for high school.

When you’re fourteen, you want what’s in the movies. You want to hold hands with the star quarterback. You see the homecoming queen crowned and you want it more than anything.

You want to be valedictorian. More than anything, you dream of walking across that stage and pray that Mr. Bacon won’t mispronounce your name.

Whether an apathetic senior is struggling to get through their last few classes to receive their diploma or a nervous freshman is sprinting through the halls to get to their class in the first minute of passing time, the student body is grown up.

We’ve been waiting all of our lives to grow up when guess what? We’re already there.

Not getting Valentine’s from everyone in your class anymore School in June or July Vladimir Putin Olympic Wardrobe Malfunctions Waiting for college acceptance letters Justin Bieber

A12 OPINION

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

What DOES the Fox Say?

by MADELEINE SPIVEY

Here in America, our country was founded on freedom of the people. More than anything, it is what we take pride in as a nation. The U.S. was founded on the First Amendment and our freedoms should not be prohibited, jeopardized or compromised both by the media or the greed of corporations.

“Media is the nervous system of a Democracy,” said Jeff Cohen, former Fox commentator. “If it’s not working properly, it will begin to crumble.”

The government shutdown was a perfect example of the stubborn, lofty mentality that we have in this day and age. I would like to think that we are not all unreasonable and unmindful, despite many of our representa-

tives being that way. So why are we so sure that we are right? Could it be that we all have different information?

Well, if you’re listening to Fox News, you’re being fed information that isn’t necessarily true. Their slogan, “We report, you decide”, should be taken a little more seriously.

Journalism is defined as writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation by the Merriam Webster Dictionary.

“We weren’t necessarily, as it was told to us, a news gathering organization as we were a proponent of a point of view,” said past Fox News anchor Jon Du Pre. Not to say that other news stations aren’t

guilty of reporting opinionated news, but Fox News is a glaring misrepresentation of journalism. When several former producers come forward saying there is definitely an untruthful agenda being followed, it should be considered something more along the lines of propaganda.

“It was like watching people around you come down with the flu,” explained former Fox Producer Frank O’Donell. “We knew it was coming eventually, but we could only hope that if we took enough vitamins, it wouldn’t.”

Recently, republican Governor Christie has been exposed to have allegedly blocked traffic because another governor refused to endorse him. It has now come to light that

it was his executive assistant that gave the orders.

Now, as one would think, this had been slathered over what seemed like to be all news stations. CNN covered Governor Christie’s mishap for one hundred and fifteen minutes, while Fox News covered it for a slim fifteen, insisting that the governor was being wronged, and were quick to come to his defense.

When getting your news, broaden your sources. If you don’t, it’s easy to be swept up in the words of faux journalists. Getting more information would be beneficial all around.

If we did this, people wouldn’t be absolute idiots when pretending they know what’s going on.

Not only this, but you can beat someone in a debate thoroughly, instead of arguing a point that isn’t even valid. Lastly, we might be able to actually solve problems in America today. The corruption of our government is spreading like the Plague. Sure, the press have the right to freedom of speech.

It’s not against the law to write completely false information, but if you don’t want to look like a flaming dunce, try to pay attention to whether or not your source of news is speaking objectively or not.

RIGHT TO REMAIN

SILENT art by John Ngyuen

Plagiarism Guest Column got the best possible lesson about how to effectively paraphrase. It’s not a “gotcha” device; it’s a learning tool. I may be naïve, but I believe most students don’t set out to participate in the kind of plagiarism that is most egregious--the kind where a student copies ideas from the internet, pastes them into a Word document, and attempts to pass those stolen words off as the student’s work. That kind of cheating is beyond lazy; it’s foolish.

With a five second Google search, the teacher can bust the plagiarist. Duel over. Teacher wins.

The far trickier plagiarism cases, and I hope the far more common ones, happen because students have at their fingertips access to a world of ideas. Often, those ideas have been written by people who are experts in a field. When students see these on-line ideas, they think, “I can’t say that any better.” Inadvertently, students parrot phrases and ideas from internet sources. What students need to know is when and how to give credit to those sources. The conversation about plagiarism, then, needs to move out of the confrontational and into the instructional.

Yet I find myself getting frustrated when I see that students have used on-line summaries or guides to generate their responses to a text. This, too, is plagiarism, after all.

I don’t think students do this because they want to cheat or buck the system; they do it because they, like everyone else in the world, don’t like feeling dumb. They just want to know, for example, what the heck a poem is really about. Students think citing that source shows they’ve “cheated.” Often, I have to remind myself of my core belief: my students are honest, decent people who want to do well in school. They see the internet as a tool to help them succeed. And they are right—it is almost unfathomable what the web can do. Is the internet a crutch for the lazy sometimes? Sure. Reading closely and thinking hard presents unavoidable challenges. Using the internet allows people to sidestep those challenges. I just wish City High students realized that what they have to say about issues or texts is far more interesting to most teachers than the “right” answers from the internet.

Plagiarism is an incredibly serious issue. Students who plagiarize in college can get expelled; musicians can get sued; senators can lose their credibility. I’m grateful for City High’s investment in a learning tool that helps students learn to research more effectively. It has helped remind me that we should be discussing how to avoid plagiarism, not dueling over it.

“You guys are going to love this synthetic!”

-Mr. Schares “If your genome was 50% different… You’d be a banana!”

-Mrs. Green “You’re throwing your voice at that note like a monkey throwing feces.” - Mr. Thompson

“

by MRS. FETTWEIS Last fall, when Senator Rand Paul (RKY) faced repeated charges of plagiarism, he suggested that he’d like to end the discussion by challenging his critics to a duel. Rand eventually backed down and acknowledged he’d relied far too heavily on unacknowledged sources’ language. But I still couldn’t get past his seemingly harsh reaction--a duel? Seriously? This kind of defensiveness reminds us what a serious issue plagiarism is. It goes directly to the heart of a person’s integrity.

Around the same time Sen. Paul was wishing he could settle his problems with pistols, City High purchased a subscription to Turnitin.com, a website that helps teachers and students detect plagiarism. When I told one of my classes about this resource, they reacted as if I had challenged them to a duel: they were defensive, scared, even angry about the implicit implications of this program.

Sure, we want to bust blatant plagiarists.

But what I tried to assure my students is that this is a tool to help them detect citation errors before a draft is final. After using it this week, they finally believe me. Many were delighted to realize how they effectively synthesized research in their original arguments. If a student relied too heavily on a source, Turnitin showed the student the original source.

By seeing sources next to their texts, students

“

“I was so mad I almost kicked a baby.”

-Mr. Rogers after the Super Bowl game

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

OPINION

A13

We Girls Can Do Anything

by LILLY REITZ It has been about a decade, but my memory doesn’t need to be jogged to remember all the fun times I had playing with my Barbies.

Doctor Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, Teacher Barbie, Chef Barbie… I had them all. Barbies were a big part of my childhood, and I think a lot of girls could say the same.

A few years ago, when the “If Barbie Was a Real Person” story exploded all over the Internet, I was interested, but annoyed at this attack on my favorite childhood toy. A group of college students did the math and determined that if Barbie was a real person, she would be 5’9 and 110 pounds, with a 16 inch waist and other impossibly tiny measurements.

These criticisms were made on Barbie because of the possibility that if young girls play with Barbies, they would feel bad about their bodies and have lower self esteem. Barbie’s miniscule waist and tiny proportions could possibly cause harm to the body images of young girls.

However, when I was young, I was not thinking about Barbie’s impossible body, because she is a doll. Eight year old Lilly was more focused on the fact that Barbies were there to help express her hopes and dreams. I could pretend to have any career just with the change of an outfit. Belittling Barbie because she has an “unattainable body” is not only irrelevant, because she is a plastic doll, but it completely takes the power away from Barbie’s amazingly feminist message.

Barbie’s slogan is “we girls can do anything”. There was an astronaut Barbie twenty years before America put a woman in space.

Barbie was every career, occupation, and personality that existed. Barbie could do anything, and that was the message she sends to young girls. Barbie is a true childhood inspiration.

Barbies also spread equality, there are Barbies of different backgrounds and races, so as to leave absolutely no one out of the equation.

Barbie’s first went on the market at the end of the 1950’s, when women were still fighting for their rights. Barbie taught young girls who were being unknowingly oppressed that they did not have to abide by the patriarchy’s standard of women, but that they could be anything they want and do anything they want.

In recent years, everyone has been fighting for body equality, and we have come a long way. The media has been embracing more body types, trying to make sure that those who are not stick-thin can still feel good about their bodies.

However, taking this so far as to criticize a doll for having unrealistic proportions is ridiculous. It’s a doll. I haven’t heard any movements critcizing Cabbage Patch Kids because their heads are so big, or Bratz dolls because they don’t have feet and have ridiculously sized eyes.

When everyone shoots down Barbie’s for being unrealistic looking, they’re taking away the great message she provides for young girls. People are so worried that someone might be offended that they forget the great things Barbie has given to women and girls alike. Because after all, we girls can do anything.

i-

eil Har art by N

te

Warm Weather, Cold Hearts

by NEIL HARTE After six years of construction and a price tag of over fifty billion dollars, the exuberant 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, are finally underway. If you caught the stunning opening ceremonies on Friday (or, for that matter, the cover of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Choir), you have some idea of just how seriously the hosts are taking these games.

And at first glance, it may seem fitting that a country that gave us Siberia and fur hats should host the Winter Games. After all, in Yakutsk, in the northeast of Russia, temperatures this past January hovered around minus 50 for most of the month. Oh, did I mention that was without wind chill? No cancelled school. No 2-hour delays. Just life as usual in the coldest city on the planet.

Sochi, though, is different. Look on a map and you’ll see why. Right across the Black Sea from Istanbul, the place is a lot closer to Baghdad than to Moscow, for crying out loud.

I mean, what were they thinking? Not surprisingly, it turns out there is almost no snow in

Sochi.

Yes, that’s right. It does not snow in Sochi. It may seem insane to think a city in Russia has no snow. I didn’t believe it either, and I was born there! Still, it’s true. This year’s venue is actually nothing but a flashy summer resort town in the southern part of the country where palm trees grow naturally and winter weather rarely drops below freezing. So, how exactly can there be Winter Olympics in a place without winter?

Well, in a word, Putin. Russian leader (forlife) Vladimir Putin is responsible for these games from start to finish, from his strongarming of the IOC in Guatemala in 2007 to wrest the games away from the South Koreans, to his lining up of Russia’s billionaires to get in on the action in remaking Sochi, to banning open displays of homosexuality in the run up to the Games. For all we know, he even designed the flashy psychedelic jackets the Sochi volunteers are wearing around town.

These winter games are the most expensive ever, with the total bill coming in at a little

over $50 billion. Not only did Putin allocate $8 billion to Russian Railways (which happens to be owned by one of his good friends and multibillionaire, Vladimir Yakunin,) for rail construction, he also contracted one of his many billionaire buddies to build the Olympic Media Center, as well as just about everything else.

Mikhail Prokhorov, the richest man in Russia and owner of the Brooklyn Nets, became the biathlon federation chairman in 2008 and -- on top of threatening to step down if his team does not win at least three gold medals -- hired the world’s best known biathlon coach from Germany. He is also providing the athletes undisclosed “personal bonuses” and transportation to Sochi on three private jets instead of traditional train.

Corruption and greed, however, are by no means the only problem. Although the sprawling beach resort is welcoming hundreds of athletes from all over the world to participate in all sorts of bizarre winter sports like Luge and Skeleton, not all are welcome. That’s because Russia last July passed a series of laws that,

among other things, bans the adoption of Russian children by same-sex couples, gives the police authority to arrest foreigners suspected of being “pro-gay,” and classifies “homosexual propaganda” as pornography and subject to vice laws. So it was that Anatoly Pakhomov, mayor of Sochi, claims that there are absolutely no gay people living in the summer resort town. “We do not have them in our city,” Pakhomov told BBC in late January this year.

This is, as Russians might say, “chepukha,” nonsense.

What Sochi does have at the moment, though, are some of the world’s finest athletes. When all is said and done, that’s what really matters. I mean, that’s why we’ll continue watching the figure skaters and the ski jumpers and the speed skaters, and, yes, even the curlers. In the end, who cares if Sochi was a terrible decision or if billions disappeared in the black hole of Russian corruption? Now is simply the time to watch the athletes do what they have been training years for and enjoy these 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

The Little Hawk

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

A14

Demigods bring Medea to life

By Jonas Geerdes

jonasgeerdes@thelittlehawk.com

ABOVE: Sam Steine ‘15 poses for a self-portrait for “50 Years From Now” Assignment, Steine received 2 Golden Keys and 1 Honorable Mention

Young, Emery, and Steine recieve the Golden Key

Three City High junior AP art students have been chosen to advance in the Iowa scholastic art and writing competition and be judged on a national level. They will find out the results in March.

By Leah Hoelscher leahhoelscher@thelittlehawk.com

In the 91st year of it’s existence, the Scholastic Art and Writing awards are being given out to many student artists and writers around the U.S.. Included in the nominees are three City High junior AP art students.

Jamie Young, Clara Emery, and Samantha Steine ‘15 have all been nominated for Golden Key awards, the highest level of first round recognition.

All three girls are students of Jill Harper, City High AP Art teacher. Four other students were awarded Silver Key awards and Honorable Mention.

Samantha Steine was nominated for two Golden Keys. One for her ceramics piece of an old man with age lines on his face, and the other for a self taken photo of her face after being drawn on to make herself seem older.

Jill Harper, AP Art teacher, claims that the Golden Key is the highest award these students could earn at this level. They will be able to use this achievement on resumes and to receive scholarships.

The four pieces of art will now go on to be judged by another round of judges at the national level. Students will find out in March if they will receive a national award.

ABOVE: A mask made by Steine ‘15 LEFT: Photo by Clara Emery ‘15 RIGHT: Self-Portrait by Jamie Young ‘15

Demigod Productions will be performing the tragedy Medea this Valentine’s day. The play is set in Ancient Greece where Medea is pushed aside by her husband, Jason, for a new woman. Medea then plots her revenge, intent on ruining Jason’s new life no matter what the costs. The twist however, is that the students are rewriting the play based on their own preferences.

“They chose what goes in it,” Patrick DuLaney, the director of Medea said. “They chose all of their own poems, raps and songs to go into the play. I just push them forward.” Practicing since the end of winter break, the nine students have worked hard rewriting the script into modern English.

“It feels good,” Michael Salazaar ‘15, said about the script. “Seeing it come to life, acting it out, it makes you feel important.”

Rewriting the play has come as a challenge to some of the students with the time limit being an issue.

“In the back of your mind you don’t if it’s going to be any good,” Kalia Khamthaphengxai ‘16, another of the play’s writers said. “You’re not sure how to write it, you have so many people depending on you, wanting it be good.”

Acting is a new experience for most of the cast, with Medea being the first play they’ve taken part in.

Jeremiah Seels, ‘16, who has never acted in public, will be singing a personal favorite song of his, “Ghetto” by August Alsina in a scene of the play. Other important artists who have contributed songs to the play include Rihanna and Beyonce.

Even though the play has been remade by the cast, they still plan to keep the basis of the original Medea.

“We haven’t deleted any of the original scenes.” Salazaar said. “We added scenes for Jason and some other characters, to add a little bit of closure.”

Practicing the play has been rough so far, with several members leaving in mid-production.

“We’ve lost some really good actors and singers.” Salazaar said.

“We’ve had to give their parts to other people, and that has taken a lot of time.”

Medea will be performed in Opstad Auditorium at 7:30 on February 14th and the 15th, with a suggested donation of five dollars. It will be performed in a choral reading style, where the actors read off a script.

FEBUARY 14, 2014

A&E

A15

ABOVE: A customer browses the selection of records at Iowa City’s Record Collector. KIERRA ZAPF/THE LITTLE HAWK

Vinyl records increase in popularity

By Nate Katalinich natekatalinich@thelittlehawk.com

Whether its the small pop of the needle hitting the vinyl, or the crackling while the song is playing, people of all ages are getting back into vinyl records.

“I think its good because people of all ages can enjoy it, between the baby boomers buying their favorite old records or the new kids trying something new, It’s great,” said the owner of popular record store Record Collector, Rick Townson.

Vinyl records have been popular since the 1970s but left mainstream music in 1991 due to the invention and rising popularity of the Compact Disc (CD). Many people in the “Baby Boomer” generation have kept their record players around since then or have bought their own. The younger generations either buy their own, or get one passed down from their parents or grandparents.

“I was always curious to see how the vinyl sounded but I just didn’t have a way to get a hold of a record player,” said Jerred Albaugh ‘14. “My grandma gifted one to me, I found out it is way better than any electronic music I’ve ever heard.”

Many people who don’t like the imperfec-

tions of vinyl, like the pops or cracks, can invest in more modern expensive high performance models, for a price.

“I personally love the vinyl because it adds a human element to the music, you know its not just made on a computer. That someone actually played this and spent time recording it. Old School,” said Townson.

Most people you ask will describe the sound as warmer and not as sharp as electronic music with a richer bass and cleaner highs.

Classic rock is the best selling genre for vinyl records, most likely because thats what was being produced around the time vinyl was big.

“Classic rock does it best for most people,” said Townson, “Led Zeppelin, Rush, The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix and bands like that sell really well both new and used. People like to hear songs that were on the radio when they were teenagers. Its just comforting to people, I guess, and there is really no music like that around anymore. Vinyl really brings out the iconic sound that you just can’t get electronically.”

Young vinyl enthusiasts agree.

“I got really into [Led] Zeppelin after I started listening to vinyl. Their sound is so distinctive and powerful. I can’t get enough vinyl,” said Albaugh.

After the Disco album review

By Chris Ohrt chrisohrt@thelittlehawk.com

Broken Bell’s James Mercer and Danger Mouse make quite an impressive duo. With the Shins vocalist/ guitarist James Mercer infusing his pop rock sound into the electronic production prowess of Danger Mouse, it is a sound that reminisces an 80’s disco vibe with a sophisticated hip hop backdrop to the table.

Their second album shines in the first half, but its memorability seems to drift in the latter half. “A Perfect World” leads the album both on the tracklist and in spirit. “After the Disco” is a well done piece with some of the most

catchy beats. Mind you, this is a thoroughly enjoyable album, even the bad songs are good.

In the modern age of singles, where albums are mostly filler aside from a few singles, this is a record that never intentionally slouches on quality. “Control” is the most eighties song on the album, with a disco feel reminiscent to Fitz and the Tantrums. While the album never quite reaches the impact of the original, it is a solid collaboration by a very talented duo.

Below are my thoughts on each song: A Perfect World- Melodic melancholy mixed with symphonic synths.

After the Disco- The most memorable song, with high-pitched vocals and a very ‘80’s vibe.

Leave It Alone- Harmonic vocals with a very bluesy feel.

The Changing Lights- Very poppy, the happiest song on the album.

Control- The most ‘80’s song on the album, which is reminiscent to Fitz and the Tantrums.

Lazy Wonderland- Laid-back.

Medicine- Psychedelic, melodic, very poppy.

No Matter What You’re Told- Nice flow.

Angel and the Beat- Worst song on the album.

The Remains of Rock and Roll- An ode to the origin of modern music.

The After The Disco album cover edited by The Little Hawk.

Oscar Is Back

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

A&E

A16

By Elijah Jones elijahjones@thelittlehawk.com

T

he 2014 Oscar Nominations are out, and this man is disappointed. After a surprise year for film, The Academy gives us their list of typical and safe choices. Gravity and American Hustle lead the nomination list with 10, and 12 Years a Slave with 9. Below I give my off-handed comments to the list of the top awards categories. I will say, every film nominated was a great film (aside from Captain Phillips), so all of my rage comes from the films in comparison to each other. This year turned out to be a surprise hit for film, so I couldn’t be happier that I have so much to say (good or bad) about the Oscar contenders.

Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio-Wolf on Wall Street (Finally Leo’s time- and with what a great performance!)

Chiwetel Ejiofor- 12 Years a Slave (Black Brit playing an American slave? Just give him the Oscar now!)

Bruce Dern- Nebraska (Fantatsic choice, Dern delivered a great and nuanced performance.)

Matthew McConaughey- Dallas Buyers Club (Another great choice- Matthew should have had attention for Killer Joe, but glad to have him for this.)

Christian Bale- American Hustle (An interesting choice here- I don’t feel either way about it-Where’s Robert Redford?)

Best Actress

TOP 10. Rush 9. All is Lost 8. Inside Llewyn Davis 7. Blue Jasmine 6. Nebraska 5. August: Osage County 4. Dallas Buyers Club 3. Wolf of Wall Street 2. Side Effects 1. Her

Cate Blanchett -Blue Jasmine (Shes surely the lock, and deservingly so. Enthralling performance.)

Amy Adams-American Hustle (See, I don’t believe the hype here. Great performace, but not an Oscar worthy) Sandra Bullock- Gravity (Sandra gave us Oscar worthy rapid breathing, but not a performance that should be on this list.)

Judi Dench- Philomena (Glad to see Judi here, very great choice for her role departure of the finicky Philomena.)

Meryl Streep- August: Osage County (Meryl shouldn’t have won her “old” Oscar for Iron Lady, because she’s found her most powerful and Oscar worthy performance with August: Osage County.)

For additional predictions, go to thelittlehawk.com

Best Picture

American Hustle (An alright Oscar-bait film. Typical. Where’s All Is Lost?)

Captain Phillips (The Argo of the year. Not pleased. Where’s Side Effects?)

Dallas Buyers Club (Good choice. Happy with this.)

Gravity (Not a bad choice, should be here for it’s technical achievements) Her (The only real risky choice, but still not very. This is one of the most deserving titles here.)

Nebraska (Great choice. A unique dead-pan comedy that doesn’t try too hard.)

Philomena (The other somewhat risk here, happy for it, and engaging film.)

12 Years a Slave (Sure, it’s a great film. Only because it has to be-and will win for the same reason.)

Wolf Of Wall Street (The 2nd most deserving film on the list. Engaging and worthy.)

OLMYPIC CALENDAR sochi Fri 14 Alpine Skiing

7 pm

Biathalon

2 pm

Sat 15 Sun 16 Mon 17 Tue 18 Wed 19 Th 20 7 pm

6 pm 1 pm & 10p

7 pm 1 pm & 2p

Bobsleigh

4 am 5 am &4p

Cross Country Skiing

3 pm

7 pm

7 pm

6:30 pm 7:30 pm

8:30 am

12 pm

3 pm 4 pm

9:30 pm

Freestyle Skiing

8 pm

9 am & 8p

3 pm & 8p

9 am &1p 12:30 pm 6 am &11 a

8 pm

Ice Hockey Nordic Combined Short Track Skeleton Ski Jumping

9 pm

2 :30 & 7p

Snowboard Speed Skating

1:30 pm

9:3010:45

8 pm

8 pm

12:30 &9p

2 pm

3 pm

2:30 pm

1 pm

4 pm

2 am & 2p

11:30 am 5 pm

8:30 pm

4:30 am

7 pm

8 pm

2 am

9 am 2 pm &9p 3 pm

Sat 22 Sun 23

7 pm

Curling Figure Skating

Fri 21

2 pm

4 pm 11 am

9:30 pm 9 pm

6:30 am

The Little Hawk

SPORTS

B1

Battling Back

The boys basketball team has fought their way to a 9-9 season, surpassing last season’s win tally. The Little Hawks hope to finish the regular season strong, and have momentum going into the Regional Tournament.

B2 SPORTS

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Boys Basketball

STATE

Team battles to a 9-9 record DATES After playing in a tough conference this season, the Little Hawks have held their own and hope to build on their success in the Regional Tournament.

Girls Basketball IGHSAU State Tournament March 3rd-8th

Boys Swimming IHSAA State Championship February 15th ABOVE: Emmanuel Hooper ‘15 drives down the court past a Mount Pleasant defender. CORA BERN-KLUG/ THELITTLEHAWK

By Jonas Geerdes jonasgeerdes@thelittlehawk.com

City High basketball is moving forward from last season, already beating their past record of 8-14. The Little Hawks have made quite the impact this season in the MVC conference.

“They’re a coachable group of kids,” Coach Dan Showalter, head coach of the varsity team said. “They’re all well-trained.”

Showalter believes that the team will go far this season and credits the team’s chemistry for those wins.

“The chemistry gets better and better,” Showalter said. “It’s one of the reasons we’ve won some of these tough games.”

Luke Posivio ‘14, starting post, believes the big change from last year is the team’s generosity.

“Everyone is looking for that extra pass to make,” Posivio said. “Everyone wants to give that teammate that extra shot at the basket.

The team suffered some devastating losses early in the season, most notably losing to rival team West High, 34-70.

“Players put too much emphasis on that game,” Showalter said. “There are always other games to play.”

After the loss, City High was able to bounce back with wins against Dubuque Hempstead and Davenport North.

Players recognize the level of competition the MVC has to offer this year and understand who they’re facing.

“The MVC conference is by far the best conference in the state,” point guard Mitch Wieland ‘14 said. “We’ve got some of the top teams.”

Currently, City High ranks No. 22 in the 4A conference. Other top teams in the conference include West High, No. 6 and Dubuque Senior, No. 3.

Forward Jamarty Hall ’14 also agrees on the tough competition this season. “Every game has come down to the last two minutes,” Hall said.

Hall’s mindset into every game is to always come out with the victory.

“I take it one game at a time,” Hall said. “I only focus on the now.”

Hall believes the team who is most aggresive will come out with the win, and knows City High thinks that way.

“We go in every game thinking of only the win, knowing we have the skill to,” Hall said.

LaDarius Taylor ’14, currently leads the team with 215 points, and Logan LaFauce ’15, forward, leads the team with 35 three pointers on the season.

“Practicing all summer has really improved my shot, I just expect the ball to go in,” LaFauce said.

City plays Dubuque Senior , 16-1 tonight.

“They’re one of the toughest teams in the state,” LaFauce said. “That game will be a battle.”

City High received a first round bye for the regional tournament that will begin on March 4th.

Wrestling IHSAA State Championship February 20th-22nd

Leohr to continue career in South Dakota

By Marco Barenghi

marcobarenghi@thelittlehawk.com

Ever since he was a little boy, Jake Leohr ‘14, has dreamed of playing college football.

On February 5th, he became one step closer to his dream, by Jake Leohr ‘14 signing to play Division I football at the University of South Dakota.

“It felt great when my recruiting coach from South Dakota called and offered me a scholarship,” Leohr said.

Recruiters for the University of South Dakota followed and contacted Leohr during last summer

and throughout this past season before offering him a scholarship to play for them next fall. This summer he’ll be leaving to spend four years receiving his education and playing football at the highest level in the nation.

“It’s great that I have this opportunity,” Leohr said. “It was my goal to receive an athletic scholarship and I was very excited and happy that I accomplished one of my goals. Receiving a Division I athletic scholarship was one of my athletic goals that I wanted to achieve.”

Leohr stands at 6’3” and 220 pounds and was a key player for the 8-3 City High Varsity football team last season. When he injured his shoulder during the end of the season the team suffered his loss in the play-offs.

“I’m getting better and I’m back to shape, so I can play basketball

too,” Leohr said.

Leohr was a versatile player for the Little Hawks where he played mostly defensive end and tight end, but also played some quarterback, fullback, punter, running back and linebacker.

He was selected team captain during last season. He was also first team All Mississippi Valley Conference punter and defence.

“I can do everything to help my team and make them win. I’m always available if the coach needs me,” he said.

The City High head coach Dan Sabers had Leohr play all of these positions because of his athletic ability and his open-mindedness to learn new position.

“We used Jake a lot last season in a lot of positions. That’s what you do when you have a really good player on your team,” Sabers said.

College football is very competitive. There are lot of talented players and everyone has to get better and stronger, but Sabers has great expectations for Leohr and his career.

“There’s no question about it, this experience is going to challenge him a lot. No matter where you go, college football is always competitive. But Jake has a big opportunity to do well,” Sabers said.

Jake’s dream is becoming true.

He’s going to play at a high level of football, and has the opportunity to grow as a person and a player and possibly reach the next level.

“He had a good experience here and I know he can do well during college,” Sabers said. “Is he is going reach the next level? I don’t know. But I do know he’s going to be successful in whatever he does.”

Boys and GIrls Bowling State Tournament February 28th

Boys Basketball IHSAA State Tournament March 14th-15th

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

SPORTS

B3

Girls Basketball

Little Hawks dominate competition

The girls basketball team has had many successes this season and in a few weeks hopes to travel to the state tournament.

By Annika Wasson annikawasson@thelittlehawk.com

Watching the girls basketball team this year, there were many games where they made winning look easy. The Little Hawks, with few exceptions, have breezed to a spotless 19-0 record. They have an average 29.2 point margin of victory over their opponents so far this season.

Captain Haley Lorenzen ‘14 says she attributes their success to her team’s extra efforts.

“We worked hard, therefore the hard work is paying off,” Lorenzen said. “We knew we were going to have our challenges during the year.

You have to work hard to be dominant, I feel like with all the hard work we put in we became that dominant team.”

Some of these challenges include games against top ranked teams such as Waterloo West and Cedar Rapids Kennedy. At the Kennedy game, more than just their spotless record was on the line. They were also competing for a conference title. The Little Hawks went on to win that game 67-44.

“We came out ready to play against Kennedy,” Lorenzen said.

Last Tuesday, City travelled across the river to face off with rival West High. Even though the Little Hawks have already defeated the Women of Troy by a score of 53-37 earlier this season, captain Haley Lorenzen ‘14 says the team did not take this game lightly.

“We know obviously from the way that we ended last year that you can’t just expect to beat a team two times,” she said. “Honestly it’s West High and anything can happen.”

After tonight’s game against Dubuque Senior, the Little Hawks will switch their focus to the regional tournament. Their road to state will begin with a home game against the

winner of the Clinton (3-14) vs. Davenport Central (2-15) game on February 22nd at 7:00. If they are to win that game they will advance to the regional final to face the winner of the Bettendorf (11-7) vs. Pleasant Valley (11-7) game. The winner of the region will become one of eight teams to travel to Des Moines for the state tournament.

Lorenzen says she’s glad City High will be hosting the semi-final game because the larger crowd and a vocal student section gives her team more motivation and intensity.

“When we get a huge crowd that’s interactive in the game, it changes all the momentum, it gives you so much energy and it’s just fun,” she said.

Head coach Bill McTaggert is making sure the Little Hawks don’t shift their thoughts to the postseason and the Regional tournament quite yet though. McTaggart says the team wants to focus on the rest of their regular season games first.

The coach says he’s proud of the way his team has handled most of the season, especially their intensity in the third quarter. While their scoring has been strong throughout the season, he says the Little Hawks can still make improvements in their offensive game and on the other side of the court.

“We need to continue to get better on the defensive side, and continue to cut down on our turnovers,” McTaggart said.

Lorenzen agrees and adds that if her team can clean it up, she believes they can go far in the rest of their season.

“We’re a very aggressive team so we need to fine tune [our passing], but then when we make the right pass it’s going to be a good play. We just have to take it game by game,” she said. “If we do our jobs for what we have to do, it shouldn’t matter what [the other team] does.”

ABOVE: Haley Lorenzen ‘14 blocks a shot during the Little Hawks’ game against Cedar Rapids Prairie.

City went on to win 60-43.LEFT: Little Hawks on the bench cheer as their team rolled to a 75-28 win over Linn-Mar on Breast Cancer Awareness night.

CORA BERNKLUG/ THELITTLEHAWK

Bowling

Teams prepare for Regionals after West losses

By Becca Meyer and Rachel Gralnek beccameyer@thelittlehawk.com rachelgralnek@thelittlehawk.com

BOYS BOWLING

Kids from all different schools fill Colonial Lanes for a City High boy’s bowling home meet. Everyone is clearing their minds to focus on the goal ahead of them: bowl a perfect 300.

“Before each meet we actually get practice bowls, so we get to warm up.

Besides that I just relax my mind and drink some water,” Michael Beaumont ‘14 said. “I want to bowl a 300 before the end of the season, which requires a lot of concentration.”

Although not the ideal situation,

the City High boys bowling team has a record of 2 wins and 6 losses. A losing season was not what the boys had hoped for, but this does not stop them from playing the sport they love to play.

“After a few meets I was okay with losing,” Beaumont said. “The other teams bowled better and I just have to accept that. It’s not a huge deal.”

Unlike some sports, there are no cheerleaders, there are no bleachers and there is not a roaring crowd.

“It doesn’t affect me that there isn’t a crowd, but sometimes I wish there was. But overall I understand, bowling isn’t really a spectator sport,” Beaumont said. “But I do think a crowd would help because it would disrupt some of the other bowlers.”

Crowd or no crowd, the boys hope to make improvements before the end of the season, enough to make it to state.

“Bowling is all about technique, technique, technique and a little bit of luck,” Beaumont said. “It would be awesome if we could make it to state.”

GIRLS BOWLING

The king and queen pins were the talk of the bowling teams for most of the season. Last year The Women of Troy took home the queen pin, but the Little Hawks hoped to take it back on February 7.

“The king and queen pins are like trophies but you compete against West High,” Mackayla Highly ‘14 said.

Girls and boys teams lost on Friday. West girls had a combined score of 2,329 and City had 2,218.

“Right now West High has it,” Liz Goss 16’ said. “It’s like the boot for bowling.”

City high girls bowling team hopes to bounce back from this rivalry loss and bring this energy to regionals.

“I hope they do well in the regionals,” Jerry Maye, head coach, said. “It is possible they can.”

Regionals is on February 18 and the team has high hopes to do well.

“Regionals are coming up and our team is excited we know that we need to bring our A game to move on to state as a team,” Highly said.

Regionals is the next step before

State on February 28.

“With regionals coming up I hope we do well there,” Goss said.

Although regionals is the focus, the practice of the season has built up to prepare the team.

“Our season is going pretty well,” Highly said. “We started off really strong.”

Goss believes the team has been progressing throughout the season.

“We are definitely improving as a team,” Goss said. “Especially from the first day.”

The girls team has won 2 games this season so far, but they see a lot of potential within their squad.

“The team has good possibilities,” Maye said. “They are a good group of bowlers.”

B4 SPORTS

BALL OF DUTY: BLACK HOPS 0-3

REC LEAGUE RETURNS

Team members: Ruth Grace ‘14, Tiara Phillips ‘14, Caitlyn Jones ‘14, Mackenzie Fields ‘14, Ashley Duthie ‘14, Sasha Fraunholz ‘14, Allison Fleming ‘14, Keighley Ehmsen ‘14, Marlee Wallace ‘14 and Michaela Nelson ‘14.

Coaches: Natalie Fobian ‘14 and Sabrina Rodgers ‘14

Rec League has returned to Mercer’s Scanlon Gym for the Winter 2014 season. City High has seven teams participating in the Rec League with students of a variety of ages and skill levels.

By Elena Foster and Emilie Burden elenafoster@thelittlehawk.com emilieburden@thelittlehawk.com

Dripping sweat, shouting names, falling down and making shots are all components of 2014 Rec League Basketball. Eight teams risk respect, honor, and dignity to gain the glory of a champion.

“I came into Rec League expecting world dominance and it hasn’t been anything short of that,” Scott Tribbey ‘15 said.

Students gathered and divided into teams.

Each team has a different atmosphere and something unique about them.

Turn Up the Acie consists of the junior class Acie Earl enthusiasts. They are undefeated and turn to Earl for the positive attitude of their team.

B5

FEBRUARY 14, 2012

“Acie Earl was not a man, but a legend,” Tribbey said. “He is our inspiration.”

Long and Hard Distance was formed by the cross country boys that wanted to play basketball. Their iconic uniform includes wearing their trademark short running shorts as opposed to baggy basketball shorts.

The Gorgle Crew is made up of seniors who decided last year it would be fun to shoot some hoops, but weren’t expecting much out of the experience.

“We can’t really do anything well,” Greg Grier ‘14 said. “But we have a hilarious time doing it.”

While some teams find Rec League is the only athletic experience of their high school careers, Ball of Duty: Black Hops has some of the most talented senior athletes City High has to offer. It contains all senior girls with positive spirit and a lot of mouth.

“It’s a really nice break for my teammates and I to just have a fun atmosphere while we play,” Ruth Grace ‘14 said. “This feels so much less forced.”

Bros United is another example of a team that joined rec league for the enjoyment of the game.On the more diverse side of the league, “bros” range from freshmen to seniors. They feel a strong bond indicated by their name and wear tank tops in the dead of January.

The Hustlers serve as the team made up of juniors. They haven’t won a game yet, but they have high hopes and many Hustler enthusiasts.

STP players include sophomores and one junior making them the youngest team with the least experience in the league.

“I think we’ve got a lot of motivation and potential,” Tom Pugh ‘16 said. “So I’m happy with where we are.”

STP 1-2

Tate High School also participates in the Rec League as an extra curricular. They are undefeated and predicted to play in the championship game. Their team consists of both genders and all ages.

All of these teams have different reasons and explanations for why they continue to play Rec League.

“My favorite part about Rec League is looking into my players’ eyes after a win and seeing the joy it brings them,” Turn Up the Acie’s coach Ryan Weaver ‘15 said.

Some students take the games more competitively than others, but at the end of the day it comes down to which team has the greatest teamwork and knowledge of understanding.

“When I get older, I’m going to be able to tell my kids that I played rec league,” Tribbey said.

“And hopefully say that I won it all.”

Team members: Nick Chalkley ‘15, Tom Pugh ‘16, Erick Fletcher ‘16, Greg Hensley ‘16, Henry Mosher ‘16, James Yapp ‘15, Nick Figueroa ‘16, Griffin Fellows ‘16, Jack Berg ‘16.

Coach: Will Braverman ‘15 and Bennett Yeo ‘16

LONG AND HARD DISTANCE 2-1 Team members: Jens Dancer ‘15, Ryan Dorman ‘14, Drew Abrams ‘14, Chris Ohrt ‘14, Tom McDowell ‘15, Elliott Tucker ‘15, Joel Bender ‘15, Zach Coleman ‘14 andAndy Peterson ‘14.

Coach: Sam English ‘14

BROS UNITED 1-2 Omar Shaban ‘14, Joe Pugh ‘14, Victor Brown-Rodriguez ‘15, Collin O’Meara ‘16, Kole Butler ‘14, Shakhem Badgett ‘14, Gavin Oliver ‘17, Alejandro Pacheco ‘14, Miguel Gutierrez ‘14, Auston Troyer ‘14 and Mohamed Shaban ‘16.

Coach: Emma Greimann ‘14

TURN UP THE ACIE 3-0 Austin Tholen ‘15, Scott Tribbey ‘15, Anton Buri ‘15, Peter Larsen ‘15, Eric McDonald ‘15, Brian Schweer ‘15, Matt Hensley ‘15 and Drew Orr ‘15.

Coaches: Joe Britton ‘15, Logan LaFauce ‘15, Evan Grace ‘15. and Ryan Weaver ‘15

THE HUSTLERS 1-2 Gunner Marchael ‘15, Alec James ‘15, Ryan Brennan ‘15, Ben Morony ‘16, Theo Shriver ‘15, Marque Edwards ‘15 and Devontay Johnson ‘15.

Coach: Brady Cotton ‘15

GORGLE CREW 1-2 Greg Grier ‘14, Ethan Dailey ‘14, Ryan Cox ‘14, Ian Verhoef ‘14, Dalton Green ‘14, Nicolai Gibbens ‘14, Sam Montgomery ‘14, Randy Gibson ‘14, Brady Swenning ‘14 and Evan Streeby ‘14.

Coach: Nick Yeater ‘14 LEFT: Kole Butler ‘14 drives to the basket against Tate High. TOP RIGHT: Ryan Weaver ‘15 looks for a pass during Turn Up the Acie’s game against Ball of Duty: Black Hops. BOTTOM RIGHT: Scott Tribbey ‘15 encourages his teammates during Monday night’s game. CORA BERN-KLUG/ THELITTLEHAWK

TOP: Austin Tholen ‘15 makes a layup over a Ball of Duty: Black Hops defender. BOTTOM: Peter Larsen ‘15 looks for a shot during Monday night’s game. CORA BERN-KLUG/ THELITTLEHAWK

B6 SPORTS

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Boys Swimming

Little Cyclones to possibly play Little Hawks In January the state made the decision to end MVC football and switch to a district schedule.

By Jonas Geerdes

jonasgeerdes@thelittlehawk.com

The way high schools on the east side of the state play football will be different next fall.

A conference that lasted over seventy years, the Mississippi Valley football conference was terminated early January. The reason for ending the conference was due to a choice to stop the another football conference in Iowa,the Mississippi Athletic conference, when three schools, Cedar Rapids Xavier, Dubuque Wahlert and Davenport Assumption, made the choice to go from 4A to 3A. “When the decision was made to end the conference, our hands were tied,” Terry Coleman, the athletic director of City High said.

“There wasn’t much we could do.”

City High will now move into a new competition district, competing against five other teams in that district instead of the thirteen teams of the old conference. The teams in the new district include Burlington, Cedar Rapids Washington, Muscatine, Ottumwa, and Cedar Rapids Prairie.

A positive thing about the ending of the conference, according to Sabers, is the possibility of a game between the Ames Little Cyclones and the City High Little Hawks before the night of the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones matchup.

“Ames approached us with the idea and we immediately jumped on board,” Dan Sabers, head coach of the football team, said. “It’s a game that could receive national attention for City High, but the state makes the final decision.”

Other schools outside of City’s district have asked to play the Little Hawks, including Bettendorf and West High.

Since most of the non-district games will be played early in the season, the Battle of the Boot could be a possible season premiere game.

“We’ll still be playing our rival West High like always,” Coleman said. “The only problem is that it could be the first game of the year.”

Some players think having a rivalry game so early in the season will take away from the tradition.

“It loses it’s special meaning, Ben Sindt, ‘15, said. “You won’t be able to tell which team will be better.”

The other returning varsity players are sad to the see the conference go.

“The MVC was a great system, with some great teams,” Eric McDonald, ‘15, said. “There’s a lot of tradition.”

The players are also looking forward to leading the team into new competition.

“I hate to see it go,” McDonald said. “But I’m ready for the new competition.”

ABOVE: Leo Xiao ‘17 swims the butterfly in the 200 IM at Districts last Saturday. BELOW LEFT: Zach Kenyon ‘16 competes in the freestyle. BELOW MIDDLE: Andrew Parr ‘16 awaits horn before swimming the backstroke. BELOW RIGHT: Xiao swims the breaststroke at the District meet at Mercer Aquatic Center. JACOB BUATTI/

Swimmers prepare for state After finishing fifth at the District meet last Saturday, the boys swimming team is prepping to swim four events at the state meet this Saturday.

By Nate Katalinich natekatalinich@thelittlehawk.com

This past weekend the City High Boys swimming team competed in their district meet at Mercer Aquatic Center. For some this was the last meet of the season, while for others this is just the lead up meet for their state championship meet this weekend. They placed fifth overall in the meet.

The team had state qualifiers in a total of four events. These events include the 100 Backstroke, 200 Individual Medley, 100 Breaststroke and the 200 Medley Relay. This is significantly less events than last year, partly due to the departure of seniors and a lack of numbers.

“Not having many people out for the team wasn’t a big effect on us as individual swim-

mers, but it was bad for our depth and our relays,” Abe Eyman-Casey ‘15 said. “If we can start them swimming freshman year on relays and JV by the time they’re juniors they can even be good enough to qualify individually.”

For only having eleven athletes, the team qualifying five swimmers is a big accomplishment for the Little Hawks. Eyman Casey is also excited for his events at state and has big expectations for next year.

“My senior year I definitely look to make it back to state in the 100 Backstroke but also compete in the 50 Freestyle and go for the school record,” Eyman-Casey said.

Last year the team managed to qualify swimmers in six individual events and two relays. The Little Hawks hope to have swimmers score crucial points at the state meet this weekend. Freshman Leo Xiao ‘17, who qualified in

the 100 breaststroke will be entering the meet in fourteenth place. Xiao is hopeful to place in the top three at state. He was ranked fifth in the state before their districts meet this weekend.

“I am excited to be in the state meet as a freshman,” Xiao said. “I just want to focus on going fast at state.”

Also returning to state from the team is Andrew Parr ‘16, who is swimming both the 100 Backstroke and the 200 Individual Medley and has raised his place in state in both events, by being ranked ninth in the Backstroke and 21st in the Medley.

“I’m glad to be coming back to state this year and I am hoping to drop some time at the meet and get myself a better state ranking than last year,” Parr ‘16 said.

The state meet will take place tomorrow, February 15 in Marshalltown.

Wrestling

Team aims for improvement despite setbacks Facing injuries and other obstacles, the wrestling team has had made their way to an 8-22 season. The Little Hawks will travel to Newton tomorrow for Districts in hopes of qualifying for the state meet.

By Emilie Burden emilieburden@thelittlehawk.com

As the season comes to an end, the boys wrestling team is looking back at their accomplishments and their struggles. Most are already looking to next year and how they can improve their skill, while others leaving the program are looking at the future of the program itself.

“I’m excited for the program’s future,” Ryan Maas ‘14 said.

Head coach Cory Connell also has high hopes for the future of City High wrestling.

“We have a state champion and state runnerup in eighth grade right now who are going to be in high school next year, as well as a state

qualifier, ” Connell said. “These are the best numbers that we have had in junior high in 15 years.”

Mat Pac, (a kids wrestling program), has also gotten a lot better according to Connell.

This season hasn’t gone quite as well as Connell would have liked. With a record of 8-22, the team is looking to improve as the year comes to a close.

“We are getting better,” Connell said. “We aren’t where we want to be but I feel like the boys are making improvements and getting better.”

Maas has seen this improvement in his teammates.

“My favorite moments are watching my teammates succeed,” Maas said.

Injuries and other setbacks overwhelmed the team this season. For most of the season, there were many injured at one time. These injuries did not help out with the improvement that Connell wanted to see in the boys.

“There has been a lot of things going on,” Connell said. “It’s been tough to keep our best line ups out there on varsity and JV.” Even with all those “things” happening, the team keeps doing what they can without the injured players and improve on their own for Districts on Saturday, February 15th, in Newton.

“We just need to keep improving,” Connell said. “If we can improve like we did from last summer to this year, from this year to next year, we can have a pretty good team. We just need to stay with the program.”

For updated wrestling scores visit our scoreboard at

www.thelittlehawk.com

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

SPORTS

B7

Girls basketball attendance on the rise The No. 1 Little Hawk girls basketball team’s success this season has led to an increase in student attendance, contradicting the stereotype that boys athletics are more highly attended than girls.

By Olivia Parrott oliviaparrott@thelittlehawk.com

Mens sports throughout history have generally drawn more student spectators, as well as spectators in general, and have more popularity than womens sports. The University of Iowa Womens Basketball Team is no exception.

The City High girls basketball team is challenging this consistent trend. Their ascension to the number one ranked team in the state, with an unblemished record of 190, has attracted more fans than the boys basketball games have, according to a recent student poll.

“I think the biggest reason people went to the boys games more [before this season] is because the boys games were more interesting,” Haley Lorenzen ‘14 said. “Because they are more athletic than girls, they really didn’t take the records into consideration.”

The increase in attendance at girls games has had a positive influence on their performance, Bill McTaggart, Head Coach of the City High Girls basketball team said.

“The girls work very hard in practice and love the opportunity to be acknowledged by their peers,” McTaggart said. “The girls seem to

do a lot better when there is a large crowd, and the adrenaline flows more when there are more people.”

It is possible that more students attend the girls games because of the publicity that comes with being at the top.

“The girls [team] has had a fantastic year, rated number one, with probably the best player in the state, so it is easy to see why students would want to attend the girls games,” Don Showalter, Head Coach of the City High Boys basketball team, said.

Besides promotion from news outlets, such as the Press Citizen, across many local online news sites outside of City High, there are also ways McTaggart has utilized from the beginning of the season to publicize.

“I try to put the games on the announcements and promote the games to students whenever I can,” McTaggart said.

Despite the girls’ command of their own season, the Little Hawk boys team keeps working.

“We are trying to get our program - and we are making big strides - to the point where students want to attend and help the team win,” Showalter said. “We’ve scored a lot of points this year and the players have great chemistry. They are fun to watch.”

ABOVE: Students cheer during half time of the City-West girls basketball game. CORA BERN-KLUG/ THELITTLEHAWK

Although there are disparities in opinion over what should be expected from their peers-Lorenzen believes it is an obligation for students to attend home events, while Luke Posivio ‘14 thinks it’s not necessarily a liability to attend them-the change has made its imprint.

“I don’t mind if students attend our games, but it’s a much better at-

mosphere to play in if they do,” Posivio said.

Lorenzen also believes the environment is improved with a larger support base from students.

“The whole [girls] team has noticed the larger crowds and it’s such a nice change,” Lorenzen said.

Regardless of attendance statistics or gender popularity, the focus

of high school sports is not lost according to Showalter.

“I think this is part of the high school experience for the students,” Showalter said. “Go to games and have fun cheering for the teams.

Showing support for the school and taking pride in the school teams are an important part in the life of a high school student.”

B8 SPORTS

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

PLAYMAKER PROFILE AUSTIN WITHROW: FROM TROJAN TO LITTLE HAWK

By Becca Meyer

beccameyer@thelittlehawk.com

Just this year, the Little Hawk’s mens basketball team made an addition to their squad. From bleeding green and gold, to representing The School That Leads, Austin Withrow, ‘14, made a decision in his senior year to trade in his West High jersey for a red and white one.

“I like how close we are as a team, and the feeling of the locker room. Everyone is really cool,” Withrow said. “Everybody is motivated to win and it was quick for me to get to know everyone which made it easier.”

Withrow is a player that other teams constantly have an eye on. Towering over the smaller players at a height of 6’7” he is easy to spot as a threat on the basketball court. With a total of 165 points so far this season in 14 games, Withrow is the 2nd highest scorer for City High, after LaDarius Taylor ‘14, who has 215 points.

What’s his secret to success? Practice. Withrow has been playing basketball for as long as he can remember. He got serious about the sport during high school and realized it was a passion worth pursuing. Withrow hopes to continue his career and grow as a player during college.

Superstitions, crazy pre-game rituals, and getting nervous before each game are not how this athlete prepares to play.

“Before a game I listen to some pump up songs, and I do stretches, I say a prayer, but that’s about it.

I’m normally not very nervous, I’m usually the guy that gets pumped up before a game,” Withrow said.

On Monday, January 6th, when the West High Trojans came through the doors of City High for the big annual cross-town rival game, Withrow couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“It was really weird to play all my friends. It was hard to keep a straight face when I looked at them because I’m used to just hanging out and laughing with them,” Withrow said.

Though West High won the battle 70-34, Withrow says that his ex-teammates quickly went from being his competition to being his close friends again after the game was over.

“All the West guys came up to me after the game and said ‘what’s up?’ and everything. They were super cool about it,” Withrow said.

Moving from rival school to rival school has affected Withrow’s final year of high school, in his opinion, for the better. Though they are just 15 minutes apart from eachother, City and West have their differences.

“I know I made the right decision to move. I like West, I just think City is a better fit for me,” Withrow says, “My teammates are really fun, they play around a lot. There’s a lot of chemistry and I look forward to practice everyday.”