THE Tie Dye Guru, page 4
VOLUME 52 ISSUE 18
1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
Digital libraries paving way to future Lindsey Davis Staff Writer
The definition of a library is slowly expanding with the edition of digital books. With a huge fan base hooked on Kindles, libraries are expanding their collections in response to the enormous demand for e-books. Usually one must buy a book to download onto an e-reader, but just like libraries do with paper copies of books, many are now offering books to check out for a certain period of time. Cedar Falls Public Library and the high school’s library have teamed up to provide these services to students. Librarian Kim Traw explained how this works: “The high school does not really have a ‘digital library’ like the public library does. You can ‘borrow’ e-books to
download to your own device from the public library. The high school does not offer that service (yet). You can borrow Kindles from our library. We have purchased digital editions of books and downloaded them onto the library’s six Kindles,” Traw said. So far, each of the Kindles has around 25 books installed. They can be checked out for three weeks at a time, just like a book. Students should beware, though, for overdue fines still exist at 10 cents a day. Tried and true readers may become wary of the creation of these digital books. Many worry that print is going out of style. Digital books reduce the magic of lying back and flipping through the pages of a classic. But have no fear, librarian Kristi Anhalt has no concern that books will go out
of print. “There are too many archival libraries with documents that have not even been cataloged yet, let alone digitized.” The only real concern with digital libraries are equity issues. Anyone can check out a book, but to check out a digital book one must own a device on which to read it. The positive effects of e-books outweigh any negatives. “A digital library provides reading material that is always available. You can download the books from your home or any computer with Internet access. I suspect convenience is the most positive effect,” Traw said. “The digital library offers better customer service since titles are available within minutes of a request if we have a Kindle available for check out,” Anhalt said.
Erin Keiser photo
Senior Danielle Lilleskov uses one of the new Ebooks now available in the library. The E-books have become part of the digital craze with their easy access and portability.
More changes coming to school lunch Lindsey Davis Staff Writer
An ideal school lunch for most adolescents includes greasy pizza, salty chips and a soda to top it all off. But with all the changes made to school meals in the last few years, it’s impossible to think these bloat-inducing foods will ever make a comeback in public schools. The trend is definitely turning toward healthier options. For instance, most foods offered for lunch are now made with whole wheat. This makes the food a little less delicious, but is a healthier option. Although many schools have made the change to whole wheat foods, lunches are still not as healthy and fulfilling as they should be. The Cedar Falls school district will be hiring a new superintendent and food service director in the coming year. With these new
people comes hope for better, healthier school lunches. First of all, look at all the healthy improvements made so far to lunches in the last few years. LaVonne Arndt, the Cedar Falls School District’s food service supervisor, has played a large role in these changes. “Cedar Falls has been serving whole grains over the last few years. We have tried to approach this change gradually. Whole grain taste is something students were not used to. We currently use whole grain buns, bread, cookies, pasta, rice, etc. We have increased the amount of fruits and vegetables offered each day along with different ones that not all students have experienced before. Also, we have added more legumes to the menu,” Arndt said. The legislators are currently working on new rules for school lunches. They are
pushing for a separate starches “group” such as potatoes, corn and peas, which schools would be limited from serving too many times. Fruits and veggies would be based on color so more red vegetables and leafy greens would need to be served. The amount of these fruits and veggies offered would almost double. What would this mean exactly for Cedar Falls? “The biggest change our students will notice will be the amount of fruits and vegetables offered, and a number of them will be dark green or orange,” Arndt said. It is not a stretch to say that many students will welcome these changes to their school meals. Eating healthy is a lifestyle, and if school lunches can cater to these nutritious habits, more students may invest in a hot lunch. An incredible school lunch success story comes from
not too far down the road. Kelly Crossley, formerly the Independence School District food service director, singlehandedly changed the entire meal system around. She increased the amount of fruits and veggies and found healthy substitutes to everyday favorites. At the time of her leaving the district, the Independence food service program had a surplus of $20,000, no easy feat. “My motivation for these changes was on a more personal level. I eat healthy, and I didn’t like how much processed food was being served in Independence when I started,” Crossley said. “There was also not enough produce being served. My cooks didn’t like it either and were willing to start doing more from scratch. They were all good cooks, but weren’t being asked to cook like they wanted to.”
The process of making these drastic improvements took place over the course of two to three years. Making better “homecooked” meals for an entire district takes a lot more than a good cook. Crossley notes that translating a recipe from 10 servings to 300 is tricky, so a lot of trial and error occurred. After she had the backing of food staff, Crossley wanted to make sure the students and teachers were on board. “We had to take steps to introduce new vegetables and fruit to kids, like sampling the new items in the classroom. We asked the teachers to talk about the menu in their classrooms, so the kids would be prepared when they saw the new item at lunch. With the local food that we served, we put signs out that let everyone know the food was local and the name of the farm/farmer Continued Page 2