THE
Check out HoliDaze
Student-made crafts sold 10-2, Saturday, Dec. 10 near resource classrooms.
VOLUME 52 ISSUE 12
1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
Wanted: Movie-makers, Screenwriters, Actors Teachers create student filmfest to provide creative outlet for student artists Maya Amjadi News Editor
Cedar Falls High School is holding its first Tiger Film Festival ever this year on April 16 in the auditorium, and entries are due March 21. The event invites students to create their own movies, which will be publicly shown at the high school, showcasing students’ creative work. Possible submissions include documentaries, interpretations of literary work and original screenplays. Social Studies teacher Chad Van Cleve is leading this project. “You get people who write their own scripts. [I’ve seen] reinterpretations of the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene as well,” Van Cleve, Film Festival adviser, said. He has also seen students create their own music videos to popular songs or music they create. Van Cleve started the Film Festival at other schools as well. At Dubuque Senior, where he previously taught, the Film Fest event has grown so much that now students’ films are viewed in a movie theater on a big screen. “Students have so much talent. It’s really neat because [with the Film Fest] they get a bigger audience to view their films rather than putting it up on Youtube and only getting viewers from telling their friends or family to watch it,” he said. Van Cleve is receiving help from other teachers on staff to make the event a suc-
cess. Librarian Kim Traw is setting up the submissions. Other teachers aboard this project are librarian Kristi Anhalt; TAG teacher Tim Kangas; English teachers Brian Winkel, Michelle Rathe and Matt Klemesrud; science teacher Scott Bohlmann; and art teacher Lisa Klenske. “I don’t have great editing or technical skills, and I don’t know different camera angles,” Van Cleve said, “but we can steer [the participants] in the right direction to find actors and resources, such as access to a green screen.” Films must range from 30 seconds to 15 minutes. A panel will first view all submissions and only the top films will be shown at the Film Fest. The first time Van Cleve helped put on a film show, he received 27 applicants, but time permitted only nine be shown. Films will be judged on the delivery of the message, the use of technology/technological merit, the creativity and approach in delivering the message and
overall impression. The experience Van Cleve has in this area comes from his work in providing a city wide Film Fest for all Dubuque high schools, as well as work overseas with students from other countries using video. “I enjoy film. This opportunity is a venue for students to show off what they can do. If technology communicates, film communicates thoughts about society,” he said. He is hoping students will promote this event, and ideally students will produce it. In the past, schools have decided to theme the event based on the Oscars. Van Cleve said students wore tuxedos from Goodwill and past prom or homecoming dresses complete with a red carpet rolled out on the floor. “None of this is done to make money. There is no budget. It is solely to promote
student work.” Because Van Cleve has done this before, he is willing to help with ideas. “One year students spray painted Barbies gold as a symbolic gesture of the Oscars,” Van Cleve said. The Film Fest will contain different categories to be determined once submissions are in and reviewed. Winners will receive a prize still to be determined. Overall, however, the recognition participants receive by having their films screened will be the biggest reward. From his experience, Van Cleve said the first year is a starting year; after two more years, films start getting more complex. “Students see what their peers can do, so they try to make their films even better.” Further opportunities have come out of the film fest. One boy who spent 14 hours creating a film on possessed light sabers received a summer internship at Loras College where he got to use higher level technologies. Also, students who don’t usually work together now have the opportunity to get together and work on something they all enjoy. For individuals interested in drama and plays, the experience of acting for the festival shows them that acting live and acting in film are two completely different things. Van Cleve said, “Films of high quality are produced and it makes for a really fun night.”
Dance teams shimmy and shake to State • All-male wins state title, Girls teams and Co-Ed receive Division I ratings
Jared Hylton Sports Editor
The Cedar Falls dance team competed in the Iowa State Drill Team State Championships on Friday, Dec. 2. All four teams that Cedar Falls sent to State Dance earned a division one rating, and one team won its division. The all-male team stole the show, earning a Division I rating with its tribute to the Backstreet Boys. In doing so, Cedar Falls won its second consecutive state championship in the allmale division. Raud Kashef, Ben Bonwell, Adam Streicher and Evan Fairbanks all had solos. The girls hip-hop routine one was of the 12 teams to earn a Division I rating in its class, but they did not place in the top five. The girls had a solid cheering section in the top deck of the Wells Fargo Arena. The hip-hop class was one of the toughest classes that state dance has seen in awhile; it’s very uncommon for all 12 teams to earn Division I ratings. The co-ed routine, which was Beatles-themed, featured girls wearing British shirts and jeggings, while the boys sported black dress pants, white dress shirts and black skinny ties. Conner Calhoun’s infamous soul patch was also on display. Co-ed earned another Division I rating but didn’t place in the top three of its five-team division.
Dec. 6, 2011
Opinion
hiline.nr.co
Let Them Eat Cake: Student submits essay on eating By Jacob Byers Comp and Rhet. II AP
I’m guessing you’re overweight. If you’re obese, I’m not surprised. But don’t feel bad, well, maybe you should, but you are not alone. (Possibly) You, along with over 60 percent of Americans, are part of an epidemic. Don’t blame me. It isn’t my fault. It isn’t food’s fault. It isn’t the government’s fault. It is your fault. And you have the freedom to live that way or change. No one has the responsibility, or right, to make you change, much less take care of you. A fat tax raises the price on unhealthy food in an ATTEMPT to keep people healthy and at a lower risk of disease (specifically heart disease). This means the government thinks I don’t have the capacity to make my own decisions and live my life as I want to. As a person with a metabolism on steroids, yes, I am indeed lucky; I live with the philosophy of the worse it is for me, the more I want of it. Even with the outrageous
amounts of junk I eat, I manage to remain healthy. Don’t punish me for liking food that tastes good by “trying to help me.” Fat taxes impose on
Let’s imagine they do somehow manage to pass this disastrous tax; it would just raise the prices of Twinkies, pop and other delicious snack food, right? Not if it was
“ people’s right to choose their own lifestyles. But the constitution reads, “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union should force everyone to be healthy,” right? Wrong. It actually says to “promote the general Welfare.” Therefore, the government has every right to suggest, persuade, and encourage us to eat a healthy diet and exercise, but a fat tax oversteps that boundary. They already require us to wear safety belts and tax cigarettes like it’s their job, and imposing a fat tax would increase their already Svengali-like control.
our view
worse things that they need to worry about? I understand red meat is not the healthiest food around, but, if I were one to worry, I would stop drinking my 2-liters of Mountain Dew
Don’t punish me for liking food that tastes good by ‘trying to help me.’
implemented like it is in Denmark. They added a tax to butter, cheese, pizza, meat, oil, processed food and MILK. It does seem that something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark. That or I misinterpreted the “got milk?” posters in school. That must mean we need to force mothers to stop making their kids drink milk because it is going to make them fat. How have we been so deviously lied to for so long? Also, meat, my main source of protein, would cost me even more money. How else are we supposed to build big, strong muscles? I was taught that in order to grow up with big, strong muscles I needed protein, which comes from meat. It seems I was a desperately misled child. Furthermore, aren’t there
”
long before I stopped eating red meat. Now, between the two outcomes: the tax working and reducing consumption of fatty foods or it not working at all, I believe that it having very little effect is the much more likely. However, let’s look at the first situation. Hooray! People aren’t fat anymore! Everything is good now ... or not. People stop eating these foods due to ANOTHER tax, hurting the profits on a lot of food companies, resulting in job loss, and continuing to add to the terrible economic conditions. It is simple. Taxes kill jobs and prevent growth, so, right now, implementing yet another tax would be extremely detrimental no matter the “benefit.” Or the situation that seems inevitable to me: consumption
The (lost) art of parking After getting up late and rushing through the morning routine, driving usually becomes something like a NASCAR race. When people get rushed, things tend to get more and more neglected. Sadly, what really gets the short end of the stick is parking. When rushed for time, people just call it good when the entire rear ends of their cars are sticking out of their spots. Seriously, the amount of people who come to school, pull their car sloppily into a spot and just ignore the fact that they are either over the line or out of the spot completely is getting out of hand. More and more pictures and websites dedicated solely to terrible parking have sprung up due to the exponentially expanding amount of people who simply don’t understand how to pull their cars properly into the spots. What did these people learn in driver’s ed? Parallel parking is not really that hard, and diagonal parking — a majority of the high school parking — is incredibly simple. So why can’t people learn that bad parking results in tickets and people who aren’t particularly pleased with a terribly parked car that conveniently takes up two spots? The world may never know.
of unhealthy food is hardly affected, if at all. “Like a fat kid loves cake” is a common phrase for good reasons. Unhealthy foods taste good; people like to eat it a lot, become overweight and continue to eat (too much) of it because it tastes good. The siren’s song of that Twinkie will overpower the added cost. This means the government would just be taking more money out of our pockets without a purpose. It was designed to dissuade consumption of unhealthy food, no dissuasion occurred, but the government still gets money (and probably wastes it). Neither possible outcome is good, so why even contemplate implementing the tax? Food alone does not make anyone fat. If you exercise enough, you can burn off every bit of what you eat and not become overweight. The epidemic is more complex than just foods high in saturated fat. So, unless the government plans on regulating everything we do, they cannot control the epidemic. But remember, no one makes you be overweight either. You have the freedom to do as you please, and you need to appreciate that. Go eat a Twinkie. At you OWN risk, of course.
Contact the Tiger Hi-Line
The Tiger Hi-Line is a weekly publication of the journalism classes of Cedar Falls High School, 1015 Division St., Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613. Our website is www.hiline.co.nr. The Hi-Line is distributed to CFHS students on Tuesdays to read in their free time. Columns and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Hi-Line or Cedar Falls Schools. The Hi-Line editorial staff view is presented weekly in the editorial labeled as Our View. Reader opinions on any topic are welcome and should be sent to the Tiger Hi-Line staff or delivered to room 208. All letters must be signed. Letters must be submitted by 3 p.m. on Thursday for publication the following Tuesday. Letters may not exceed 300 words and may be edited to meet space limitations. Include address and phone number for verification.
Editorial Staff
Editors-in-Chief: Sara Gabriele, Ellen Gustavson, Meg Lane News Editors: Maya Amjadi, Sara Gabriele, Chandal Geerdes Opinion Editors: Meg Lane, Karl Sadkowski Sports Editor: Jared Hylton Feature Editors: Ellen Gustavson, Sandra Omari-Boateng Entertainment Editor: Lucas Hamilton Hi-Line Online Editor: Martha Hall Staff Writers: Sarah Church, Lindsey Davis, Chase Eremieff, Mikayla Foland, Isabelle Hayes, Trevor Johnson, Kathrine Mayhew, Diamond Spann, Rhydian Talbot
Sports
Dec. 6, 2011 hiline.co.nr
Wresting starts off season strong with 2-0 winning streak Chandal Geerdes News Editor
For returning state qualifiers senior Zach Rahnavardi and sophomore Cassy Herkelman their dreams of going to back to State are the goal they hope with be contagious for the whole team. Working hard and maintaining a positive attitude are a few of the ways Rahnavardi plan on getting there. For Herkelman, she hasn’t stopped practicing since last year’s season and will continue to work her hardest to make it to State. “This year we hope that Cassy works as hard as last year and can do as well as last year. She has a goal now to be the first girl to get a medal and be on the podium in Wells Fargo Arena,” parents Bill and Michelle Herkelman said. For two months athletes and their families spend every Thursday night and Saturdays together. This is one of the
sport is probably the way it is an individual sport but it is also a team sport. It is great to see people all pulling together to cheer each other’s kids on. We all have the same goal — to see out CF Tigers do well,” Herkelman’s said. As for the coaching staff, they are always giving positive encouragement to the athletes. “Coaches push you in practice and show you what your potential is,” Cassy Herkelman said. Tori Brandhorst Photo As a team, CF wrestlers Cedar Falls takes on multiple teams around the Cedar won more matches than in Valley at the Keith Young Tournament on Saturday. previous years at the Keith Young Tournament on Saturbut they can do it one athlete reasons why wrestler families day, Dec. 3. at a time. Essentially each seem so close-nit. “We have a good core of athlete gets his or her shining “We understand the worry, seniors and returning letter moment. the stress and the excitement winners this year. Throw in a “Yes we cheer on the that the other parent is feeling, good group of freshman, and whole team, but we do it one whether the son/daughter is I predict we will improve off athlete at a time,” Hess said. on varsity or JV,” parent of of last year’s performance,” Just like Hess, the Herkelwrestler Mary Hess said. assistant coach Ethan Wiechman’s feel a similar way. All of the parents cheer on mann said. “Our favorite part of the the whole CF wrestling team,
Sports opinion: BCS needs to change postseason policies Jeff Daniels Staff Writer
The BCS is a fraudulent system. Always has been. Always will be. Only now are people recognizing this for the first time as many teams are vying to be the second-best team behind LSU. Alabama, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State and others are sending their best pitches in, pointing out their own strengths and at the weaknesses of the other opponents. These arguments will only fire up in the upcoming weeks when the final dash to the National Championship begins. Ignore what the talking heads want you to believe: the BCS is not designed to choose the perfect championship matchup. It is used mainly to
avoid the impending doom that is a playoff, which the bowl directors fear will cut into their millions of tax-free profits. Remember the issue with the CEO of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl? A report came out that the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl paid for a golf date with Jack Nicklaus. If you don’t know who that is, I’ll just say this: Right now, he’s regarded by many as the greatest golfer of all time. If for some godforsaken reason a playoff system doesn’t form in the near future, then the system used to pick the No. 1 and 2 teams in the country needs a thorough revising. Right now, twothirds of the selection process is human opinion polls, which are full of political issues and
where conformity in a large group is the norm. The last third of the selection process is made up of six separate computer system formulas that have been criticized for actually not being as accurate as they could be. Not only that, but five of the six computer system formulas are unknown, even to the BCS. If the group in charge of picking the National Championship game doesn’t know how part of the selection process is made up, how the heck can we be sure that the formulas are actually fair and accurate? The one formula that has been made public got in trouble last year because the person that created the computer formula entered scores that weren’t up to date.
Jerry Palm, a reporter from CollegeBCS.com, made the discovery when double-checking this person’s rankings. It turned out that one insignificant game between two FCS teams determined the final ranking of four teams in the top 20, which included LSU and Boise State. The people running the BCS seem to put all their faith into the creators of the computer formulas, which Palm states might not be the most intelligent thing to do: “This is my longstanding gripe with the system. No one is held accountable.” You’re right Palm. No one is held accountable. So when you see the final BCS standings in the coming weeks, the results might be correct. Or they might be wrong. You’ll never know.
Athlete Week of the
Maria Dropps
. Dance 1. How did state dance go? State was awesome! All the groups scored Division 1’s, and the only team to place was our all male team, winning 1st place again. CF also won the sportsmanship award, which has never been done before. 2. Did the team enjoy State? I personally think everyone did, and I especially wouldn’t trade the time on the floor for anything.
Tigers in Action
MEN’S SWIMMING- Dec. 6 vs Linn-Mar @ Coe College 6 p.m. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL- Dec. 6 vs CR Prairie 7:30 WRESTLING- Dec. 8 @ Cedar Rapids Xavier 5:30 MEN’S & WOMEN’S BOWLING- Dec. 9 vs Iowa City West 3:15 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL- Dec. 9 vs Debuque Senior 7:30 MEN’S BASKETBALL- Dec. 9 @ Debuque Senior 7:30 MEN’S BASKETBAL- Dec. 10 vs Austin 6:30 am (doubleheader) WRESTLING- Dec. 10 @ Western Debuque 10:00 am WOMEN’S BASKETBALL- Dec. 10 vs Decorah 5:00
Feature
Dec. 6, 2011
hiline.co.nr
The Space jams with new youth audience Sandra OmariBoateng Feature Editor
Need a place to listen to music, view art displays or discover local entertainment? Look no further than The Space, an increasingly popular non-profit venue that serves as an outlet for members of the community to share their creative work. Located in downtown Cedar Falls at 109 East Second Street, The Space, rightfully named, is a space to display art and serve as a music venue. In addition, they host a wide range of other activities to get in touch with public, such as literary readings, poetry, clothing swaps, amateur yoga, mix-tape exchanges and potlucks. It’s an environment where community members can get together a few times a month and share something with each other. The Space regularly hosts
shows every Monday and on the weekends, some of which include performances by CFHS students. “My band has played there maybe five times,” junior David Boody said. “I love the venue, even the small shows we have feel like big ones, and there is always interesting art up on the walls.” Local bands such as Boody’s are also requested to play shows with touring bands. “Since our guitarist Oliver [Weilein] books some of our shows, he either throws us in the shows or has us perform with other bands,” Boody said. Many students and recent graduates have been spotted in the crowds of these shows from week to week as well. Although the local music scene is mainly punk, the performance of the bands is worth seeing for fans of all
music genres. “I love going to the shows. Even if I don’t always like the music, the bands that play make it fun to just watch their performances,” junior Kayla Elliott-Wach said. There are a variety of bands that perform at The Space, but mainly it gives off an underground vibe. “I can say that I generally feel old at some music events, leading me to believe there is a good amount of high school students that have helped make The Space so successful,” CFHS graduate Emily Berregaard, one of its creators, said. “I know that there is a band, Faceplant, that I believe is a high school band, and they have played more than once. They bring a great crowd too, so it has been nice to see the wide variety of people and ages.” The Space opened its doors to the public in May; it used to be an old book store
popular series is approaching it’s March 23 premiere, and production company Lionsgate released a new promotional trailer before the start of the holiday season. Within 24 hours of its release, over 1.5 million Mockingjays flocked to view the trailer, feeding an ever-growing flame of anticipation for the thriller’s big screen adaptation. Released a mere three days before Stephanie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 hit theaters, the preview for Games provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the newbie versus it’s blood-sucking counterpart. The two series have been closely linked because of their shared focus on a teenage heroine and ensuing love triangles; all comparisons stop there, however. Twilight’s damsel in distress, Bella Swan, sacrifices her
immortal soul to a vampiric dreamboat who spends over half the series restraining himself from tearing her limb from limb. Katniss, the B.A. leader of Games fame, sacrifices herself to protect her sister from certain death; the love affair she embarks in is merely a mind game as she cleverly panders to the wants of wealthy benefactors. Collins writes a series centered around themes of government rebellion and self-preservation, whereas Meyers focuses on such trite ideas as everlasting love and emotional dependence. As the theater doors have already opened (or shattered) for Part 1 of the Breaking Dawn premiere, the Twihards have had their a penultimate hour and a half of bliss. Come March 23, all interest in Bella’s musings will have been sucked dry by the Mockingjays.
run by John Jacobs, the owner of the building. In addition to Berregaard, The Space was started by Rebekah Engstorm, Chance Greaves, Natasha Woods and Randy Timm. “I personally knew John from both being regulars at a coffee shop and buying old postcards from his shop once a week,” Berregaard said. “I ... noticed a lack of collective spaces here in the Cedar Valley. My good friends Rebekah Engstrom and Chance Greaves and I talked multiple times about starting something like The Space. At this time, John expressed his desire to turn his book store into something else. After many meetings with John, The Space was under way.” In March, Berregaard and the others began helping Jacobs clear out his book store and refinish the building so that they could hold events there. By May they held their
Hunger Games trailer goes viral Rhydian Talbot Staff Writer
Behind every viral movie is a rampant horde of followers. Fanboys and fangirls raise the anticipatory atmosphere of the film with their obsessive devotion to the fictional world and its characters. Hype surrounding the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises flung closeted followers into the open, exposing the level of devotion in dedicated fandoms. However, the Potterphiles have had their spot in the sun, and the Twihards should shrink away from said sunlight to protect their sparkle-laden skin. It’s time for a new era of fanatics to take to the theaters and message boards: world, meet the Mockingjays. Mockingjays, the moniker given to fans of the dystopian Hunger Games novels, have something to Tweet about: the film adaptation of the
first show, and since then they have hosted up to 10 events a month. Woods, a CFHS alumni, has been in charge of musical events for The Space, bringing in large crowds. “I get really excited about some of the ‘smaller’ bands that have come through,” Berregaard said. “Wet Hair from Iowa City performed this summer, which was a big deal to me. We have had Brooks Strause and the Gory Details. Stubborn Tiny Lights played there, which brought almost 100 people.” There is now consistent funding for The Space because they are a non-profit organization. They also have many volunteers to help out, giving a great amount of support to the organization. All the money made at the events goes directly back to the artists and performers, and donations are welcome.
The Hunger Games is the first installment of a dystopian trilogy penned by Suzanne Collins and set in the near future. The country of Panem stands in the place of former North America, composed of the wealthy Capitol surrounded by 12 dilapidated districts. As punishment for a prior rebellion against the Capitol, each district must randomly select one boy and one girl, ages 12 to 18, to compete in the annual Hunger Games, in which the 24 youth “tributes” from across Panem must fight to the death in a televised event. Only one youth survives. The story follows 16-yearold Katniss Everdeen, the trilogy’s heroine from District 12, as she competes in the 74th Hunger Games, having volunteered to take her younger sister’s place. Within the Games, she and fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark, form an alliance and learn how to play to the advantage of the Games.