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Volume 58 Edition 22
S.T.A.R.S Rocket Club win top award at NASA student launch On April 6 in Huntsville, Ala., after eight months of hard work, the Science, Technology And Rocketry Students Rocket Club (S.T.A.R.S.) watched their 8-foot, 25-pound rocket ascend into the sky at the NASA student launch. “It is really hard to launch a high powered rocket, so with what we did, it was a success,” S.T.A.R.S team captain and senior Erik Walther said. “There was some pressure coming back from winning the award last year if we would completely flop, but we hoped for something successful, and it paid off. It is hard with teams from all over the country to tell what they are going to bring to the table with their different projects year to year,” rocket club mentor Zeb Nicholson said. The main goal of this launch was to emphasize safety. It led to a successful launch. “We wanted a safe decent. That was our first priority that NASA had given us. Everything came down undamaged, though payload wasn’t fully successful. The payload section is one small aspect of the launch, so if that wasn’t successful in the 400 feet that the rocket descended, I don’t see it as unsuccessful,” payload design team member and senior Calvin Timmer said. For this year’s rocket, the S.T.A.R.S’ project was to have a “parawing” that deploys from the rocket and can manually land at a predesignated
Submitted photos
Above, members of the S.T.A.R.S Rocket Club traveled to North Branch, Minn., this winter to do a test launch. The team just won the most prestigious award at the 2019 NASA studet launch. GPS point. As a result of all of their hard work, the rocket club received $2,000 from the Judges Choice award for the second year in a row. “It is the best high school award, which we got last year as well. It is decided by a secret panel of judges throughout the week by showing good teamwork and dedication to S.T.E.M.,” Walther said. The team worked months to write proposals, design, construct and test-launch the rocket in order to fly at the NASA launch this month. The team experienced struggles in the test launch stage of the rocket with temperatures of -20 and 18 inches of snow at the closest certified launch site in North Branch, Minn. “Every person’s phone died from the cold. We didn’t
even have the chance to videotape it because of how cold it was. It was so cold people were almost getting frostbite. The quarter mile walk to the launch pad was through kneedeep snow,” outreach team leader, safety team member and senior Marika Yang said. The team also had concerns due to safety with their design while proposing it to the NASA board. The team worked over 300 man hours to fix this problem during numerous school issued snow days. “During our presentation phases after our Critical Design Review, they were talking about how they were not confident in our design concerning safety. They let us do something called a Delta Review. There was whole week window where we did not
have school because of snow days, and the team grinded for the payload,” Timmer said. “I didn’t know if we were going to get to Alabama at that point.” Although the students experienced some technical difficulties with the rocket’s payload, they proved their spot in the competition. “The students learned a really great lesson and pulled through with it. It was tough. There were NASA engineers asking them hard questions about the project. We almost lost our spot and had to stop the project because people at NASA were not quite confident with what we had. The students came back full force and let NASA know that we knew what we were going to do, and we ended up getting
the top award,” Nicholson said. From budget cuts to the 2019 NASA student launch, only seven schools out of the large amount that applied were chosen, fewer schools than previous years. This also limited the amount of public schools attending the competition, giving private S.T.E.M.based schools an upper hand. “This year was definitely more competition because we were one of two public schools out of the seven. Some schools were special private S.T.E.M schools, and as one of the only public high schools, we did the best,” Walther said. Next year, the S.T.A.R.S. will have to start over the process to be invited into the NASA launch, but still have a good shot at making it back into the experience in Alabama because of their two years of first place winning rockets. “We were only given a two-year invitation to launch with NASA. We have to figure a new project for next year. There is a really good chance that we will go back to TARC (Team America Rocket Challenge.) If we do well enough at that, we can hopefully go back to the NASA launch,” Nicholson said. “To not only be chosen for this opportunity, but to be number one in the end is a huge deal for the team,” he said. By Co-Editor-In-Chief Sabine
MARTIN
Junior high women’s leadership hosts bonding night Friday, April 26, marks an annual tradition for Peet Junior High’s women’s leadership group, LEAD or Loving Everything About Differences. Every year they host a LEAD movie night that is available to anyone in LEAD. LEAD coordinator and Peet guidance counselor Rebecca Lins said, “LEAD movie night started two years ago as a fun way for our girls to bond and hang out outside of school. It was a student’s idea, and I thought, why not? It would be so much fun, and now it’s an annual event with its own traditions.” The movie night follows up the sev-
enth grade girls presentation that is held that Friday during the school day. This presentation is often filled with heavy discussions and allows the girls involved to be vulnerable and open up to one another. The movie night gives these girls an opportunity to reflect on those discussions and to have fun with their friends in LEAD. The night starts by handing out sweets and baked goods and eating until the girls feel like they are going to burst. Then, they settle in to their pillows and blankets to watch the chosen
movie. This year the movie is “High School Musical.” Finally, to round out the night, the current ninth graders share why they joined women’s leadership and how it has affected their lives. Lins said, “It’s touching to hear their big takeaways and what they will take with them into high school. It also reminds me of the great legacy LEAD can have and how it will be a part of how these young women move forward as leaders, students and strong women overall.” This night is also an opportunity
for former members of LEAD to return and interact with the new generation of LEAD members. She said, “Starting last year, LEAD alums started coming back for movie night, and it was the best. I loved seeing these girls again and to think of them hanging out with the current seventh-ninth graders is so special. This year I anticipate more, and my motto is, Once in LEAD, always in LEAD.”
By Staff Writer Clare
WILLIAMS
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Alex Williams Photos
The Out of the Darkness event on Sunday, April 14 raised over $29,000 for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention.
Out of the Darkness campus walk raises suicide prevention awareness One walk through UNI’s campus on Sunday, April 14 was one of several across the country raising suicide prevention awareness. For nine years the series of walks has been raising money for the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. Organizers say suicide is something we should be more comfortable talking about, yet it’s very difficult for anyone of any age to discuss this type of topic. On Sunday, the main goal was to raise awareness and the importance of talking about it and also to remember those we have lost to suicide and those who are still struggling with it today. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 24, and the 10th leading cause of death overall in the United States. Hailie Carlson, the event logistics coordinator, said, “Last year I was just on the marketing committee, so basically on the day of [the walk] I came in and did media and took photos. This year I’m our event logistics coordinator, so I help set up the
reservations on campus. I plan our lap out. I make sure that everything is done safely and correctly, [and] I get the food and the drink.” “My goal of the day is to make sure everyone has what they need, all the vendors, all of the tables, and kind of direct people where to go at all times,” Carlson said. “I also supervise the actual walk, so I’m one of the members that will actually go out on the walk and make sure people know where they’re going. The walk just goes around UNI’s campus right now, so they weave in and out of places depending on where you are. It’s just a nice little walk through campus, and we end up back at the Gallagher Bluedorn.” Although it’s only a walk, Carlson said the whole purpose signifies so much more than that and helps to reduce the stigma of suicide every year. “Today was our annual Out of the Darkness walk, which is an event sponsored by the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention. They have campus walks all over the country. This
one is with UNI, so it’s sponsored through the counseling program and the Chi Sigma Iota Honors Society, so it includes students and counselors that are part of those programs,” Carlson said. People from all walks of life went to the Out of the Darkness walk to help be there for others, prevent suicide and to receive help if they needed to. Carlson said, “What we do is we take a year to set up this event, and we raise funds for suicide prevention efforts. The whole goal of the walk is to reduce the statistics of suicide, and our goal is to get those numbers lower and lower every year.” “Our walk has been a top 10 fundraising walk for the past few years. There are some campuses that are doing so much amazing work, like raising triple to double the amount that we do, but we’re still in the top 10, so that’s super exciting. Our total was just over $29,000 this year, which is record-breaking for our program here at UNI,” Carlson said. By Staff Writer Alex
WIlLLIAMS
The Out of the Darkness event brought together venders, crafts and a community walk in a coordinated effort to raise awareness and funding for addressing the issue of suicide.
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Project Lifesaver aids first responders’ searches A year after Jake Wilson’s disappearance, Project Lifesaver is being kicked into gear with the help of the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office and many other programs including the LOST (Loved Ones Safe Together) program. “This project was born out of the anguish we all felt while searching for Jake Wilson. We knew that we could take advantage of some technology and work in partnership with families of autistic children to use this technology so that what happened to Jake would not happen to another child or family again,” Sheriff Tony Thompson of Black Hawk county said. “It is a conglomerate of several programs, but the LOST Program focuses on programs and technologies that makes our most vulnerable in society safer through opportunities and technology that aids first responders in getting to them quicker.” The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office has transponders that can track the lightweight bracelets that people who have a danger of wandering wear. This helps to quickly locate the
clients in case of an emergency and gives the families an additional sense of security according to Thompson. The Cedar Valley Autism Awareness group brought the project idea to the Sheriff’s office hoping to partner up with them on it. Ever since then the project has been funded by a grant through the Waterloo Community Foundation and with the Community Services Fund that is funded through donations. “We have fostered great relationships over the past year with the local autism awareness and Alzheimer’s groups, and following the arduous efforts we expended in searching for and locating young Jake Wilson, we don’t want to go through that as an agency ever again and never want a family to have to experience such an event again,” Thompson said. Even though the project is new to the community, it already has a good start and has many people getting involved. “This project already has several groups and agencies involved and several individuals signing up, so
The sixth annual “Do Better. Be Better 5K Color Run” will be taking place this Saturday, April 20. Inspired by the personal story of physical education teacher Jamie Smith, the event will raise funds to support the cause of the foundation, Do Better. Be Better. On Oct. 25, 2013, Smith suffered a stroke when she was 15 weeks pregnant to her fourth daughter. This unexpected occurrence hit once again on Feb. 15, 2016, which later led to a Pontine brain surgery on March 4, 2016. As a result of her recovery, this incident resulted with Smith and her family founding the organization, Do Better. Be Better. to aid families suffering from medical emergencies, alongside providing a $1,000 scholarship to an award-winning senior from Dunkerton and Cedar Falls each year. “Do Better. Be Better. became my personal motto during recovery of my first stroke. I often used it in my Facebook posts as I expressed my newfound perspective on life and the meaning behind the saying really caught on within the community, so it was a no brainer to use it as the name of my non profit organization and scholarship program,” Smith said. So far the event has helped fund 10 scholarships to date, and will continue for more. Dunkerton and Cedar Falls take turns in hosting the event each year. This year, Cedar Falls is the host. Under the supervision of school counselor Erin Gardner, the student senate has been working on the organization of this event for a long time. It took a long time to organize. The student officers at Cedar Falls went from walking door to door to find sponsors, to hanging posters around town. “As the student senate supervisor, Mrs. Gardener was such a huge help. She did a ton of behind the scenes work to make sure we were on the right track. We had to go
around and ask people if they were willing to donate money for the event; then, we had to design the shirts, figuring out the colors, how much we needed of which color, and the general planning of the event took a lot of time as well,” said Student Senate Secretary junior Rachel Brokenshire. The planning of the event had some challenges, especially when parking problems occured to the organizers of the event. Everything was going very well, until they realized the place the event would be held at wouldn’t have enough parking spots for the participants. “Something we didn’t think of, was parking. When you think about it, parking doesn’t really come to mind considering that it is a 5K run. When it’s a run/walk, how people are going to get there usually doesn’t seem to be the first thing that comes to mind. So, we had to shift over to a different parking lot because we didn’t have enough parking spots for everyone,” Brokenshire said. As a result of all of the team effort, the Do Better. Be Better. Run has brought a lot of success in the past, and considering the registration of already more than a hundred people, the anticipations are high for this year’s event as well. “In the past years was fantastic. It is a super fun, laid back event, and once people experience it, they make sure to do it each year,” Smith said. The Do Better. Be Better. 5K Color Run will be held at the Prairie Lakes Trails at 9 a.m, Saturday morning. With the inclusion of a Tshirt which will turn into a color sharade by the end of the event, registration will start at 8 a.m, of which the tickets will cost $30. The event will replace three physical education make-ups for interested students.
Color Run set for Saturday
By Staff Writer Saba
AYDINER
the program already has ‘legs’ and is up, off and running. We continue to work with our system of advocates to further the message and get the word out. We use social media and the network of legitimate media contacts that we work with every day to continue to keep the message in the minds of the communities in Black Hawk County, and we have it on our website as well,” Thompson said. Along with the quick start, the project is already popular with the families and friends of those who could benefit from it. “Everyone who has been approached or has requested the technology is excited for the opportunity and appreciative of the support that they are getting from our agency. The LOST program goes beyond just the technology though. [The program] is also outreach and education. It is support systems and connections to families of other people with similar situations, so they gain an extended support system through participating in our program,” Thompson said. Anyone who is in need of this
technology can contact Deputy Joe Stafford, the Community Services Coordinator at the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office to get more assistance and to help get their questions answered. “I invested so much personally in the search for Jake Wilson. I invested so much in the search for the missing cousins case, and I’ve had to watch those situations tear at the families in each case. As the incident commander for those kinds of situations, I take our searches, our investigations and our efforts very personally, and though my anguish pales in comparison to what the family goes through, I too feel the pain and suffering. I struggle through the long, long hours of searching, the difficulties of negotiating all the obstacles of such a difficult administration of this kind of incident,” Thompson said. “If we can save one family the frustration through this investment in time and technology, it will make all that suffering worthwhile.” By Staff Writer Taylor
HUNT
String Thing All City Orchestra was on Monday, April 15 in the high school gym. The final music concerts for the year include the orchestra on May 15 at 7 p.m., the band on May 20 at 7:30 p.m. and the choir on May 23 at 8 p.m. All concerts will be at the high school. The junior highs also have concerts scheduled for the end of the year, including a choir concert at Peet at 7 p.m. on May 9, orchestra concert at Holmes at 7:30 p.m. on May 13, choir concert at Holmes at 7:30 p.m. on May 14, orchestra concert at 7 p.m. at Peet on May 16 and band concerts at Holmes and Peet at 7:30 p.m. on May 21. Katie Crow Photos
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Friday, April 19, 2019
Spring Cleaning
Follow these tips for a cleaner home and mind
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Organize your closet by using the “triangle fold” by Marie Kondo. This method is super effective in making sure there is enough space for all your clothes. Start by folding both sleeves into the middle. Then fold the body of the shirt over so it forms a rectangle. Fold this rectangle in half. Finally, fold that half over into the remaining portion of the shirt. When folded properly, the shirt should be able to stand up on its own.
Dusty shelves Most people already wipe out their fridge shelves on a regular basis, but there are a couple of things you can do to take it even further. One tip is to use a combination of soda water and salt to scrub your shelves. The bubbles from the soda interact with the harshness of salt to thoroughly and effectively clean the fridge. This will remove all of the built-up grime and odd smells.
Pots and pans In the kitchen Talkin’ trash To clean out old pots and pans, fill them with water and let them simmer on the stove. If a pan is particularly dirty or is burnt at the bottom, add in some white vinegar to the water while it sits on the stove. This should get rid of that gross burnt texture.
A lot of time people overlook the sink when they’re cleaning their kitchen, but it can often be one of the dirtiest places in the entire kitchen. If you think about it, your sink is always dirty because you are constantly storing dirty dishes there. To fully clean out your sink, fill it up with soapy water and scrub the sides. Then, cut half a lemon and run it through the garbage disposal.
Clean up your trash. Don’t forget about your garbage cans that hold all the gross garbage thrown away on a weekly basis. Take a hose and spray out the cans, then turn them upside down to let it drip dry. This will ensure that there is no stuck on grime left over from last year.
Ridding of gunk The bathroom Room primping The outdoors To clean your faucets and showerheads, use a combination of equal parts of vinegar and water. Take this mixture and put it in a plastic sandwich bag. Then, seal this bag over the showerhead or faucet and leave on overnight, or as time permits. This will get rid of all the built up chemical gunk caused by years of use.
While cleaning your bathroom, start with the shower. Spray on a generous amount of cleaner and let it sit while you work on completing the rest of the room. Once you are finished, wipe off the cleaner and you will be greeted by a fresh shimmering shower.
One way to freshen up your room for spring is by deep cleaning your bedding. Take off all comforters, blankets, pillows and sheets, and wash them thoroughly. Sometimes we can forget how dirty the actual pillows and comforters can get. This is also a good way to prevent allergies as a result built up dust.
When cleaning, sometimes we tend to focus only on the inside. Don’t forget that when washing windows, both sides need to be wiped off. Go outside and take a ladder if necessary, and wash the outside windows with a rag and soapy water. After this, dry them off with a clean rag.
By Staff Writer Erin
MCRAE
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Eggcellent Decorating Hacks Friday April 19, 2019
Take a crack at these twists to classic tradition Basic Easter Eggs
An overview- Start off with hardboiled eggs for all of these. For basic eggs, use about ½ cup of boiled water and a teaspoon of vinegar (varies), and your desired amount of food coloring. Drop eggs carefully into solution until they have reached your desired shade. Pro- Easy to do, especially for little children. Con- Can get boring. Read ahead for ways to spice it up.
Speckled Easter Eggs
Place uncooked rice and food coloring in a bowl, set egg into bowl, seal lid tightly and gently shake. Use multiple colors for a fun twist. Pro- makes for a newer twist on a classic. Con- Can be a little messy, use gloves for less mess.
Marble Easter Eggs
Swirl food coloring onto Saran Wrap and carefully wrap up the egg. Once you remove it, you will have a great design. Pro- Creates a beautiful design in a short time. Con- Not easy to do. More of a craft than a kids’ activity.
Cotton Ball Easter Eggs
Dip a cotton ball in food coloring diluted with water, and dab onto the egg. Use different colors to create a background effect, great for more designs on top. Pro- Uses household options. Con- Can be time consuming. Plan ahead.
By Staff Writer Grace
WASESKUK
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ENTERTAINMENT HI-LINE NEW New country song sparks TikTok obsession RELEASES MUSIC
•GANG OF FOUR: Happy Now • FAT WHITE FAMILY: Serfs Up! •JOHN PAUL WHITE: The Hurting Kind •THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: No Geography •ANDERSON PAAK: Ventura •SHOVELS & ROPE: By Blood •FONTAINES DC Dogrel • T-BONE BURNETT The Invisible Light: Acoustic Space
MOVIES
•THE CURSE OF LA LlORONA 04/19/19 •BREAKING HABITS 04/19/19 •DRUNK PARENTS 04/19/19 •FAMILY 04/19/19 •GRASS 04/1919 •HAIL SATAN? 04/19/19
GAMES
•MY TIME AT PORTIA (PS4) •GHOST GIANT (PS4) •EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: IRON CURTAIN (PS4) •RESIDENT EVIL 2 (XONE) •SEIKRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE (XONE) •HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE (XONE)
ONLINE EXTRAS
Jorgensen Outdorzz With host Jack Jorgensen join an angler and his adventures and discoveries on the water. This week’s news feature:
Episode 2 Early Spring Fishing
Find the inspiring video online at https://youtu.be/ hx6qGe1-Nwc
Friday, April 19, 2019
It all (allegedly) started with a Nicki Minaj stan account on Twitter. The account, entitled NasMaraj after rappers Nas and Nicki Minaj, was created in early 2014 and suspended for spamming in early 2019, after it accumulated over 170,000 followers. The account was best known for viral scenario threads, stolen memes, an adoration of Nicki Minaj and bringing us the chart-topping hit song “Old Town Road.” Lil Nas X, creator of the song, has denied any involvement with the account. However, this isn’t entirely believable, given the Reddit account with the same name and profile of Twitter’s NasMaraj that was almost wholly dedicated to promoting Lil Nas X’s music, even before his music hit the mainstream; that the links to both NasMaraj’s email and SoundCloud match with those of Lil Nas X; and that the identification numbers in the URLs of several of NasMaraj’s nowdeleted tweets now redirect to similar, if not identical, tweets by Lil Nas X. In late 2018, Lil Nas X began making music, which he published through SoundCloud with the support of his Twitter followers. With “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X hit gold for two main reasons: the popularity (and by extension, absurdity) of video-sharing app Tik Tok, and a resurgence of western styles and cowboy regalia, termed the Yee Haw Agenda. Tik Tok was first released in China under the name Douyin in 2016, but didn’t reach out internationally until 2017, and didn’t really catch fire until October 2018, when it became the most downloaded app worldwide. Tik Tok allows users to share short videos, which often follow bizarre challenges and memes. Its leaning toward short, snappy content and strange, often absurdist humor makes it the perfect space for the younger generations, who find their cultural hubs in social media sites, apps and chat rooms. In a decade where our climate is killing us, our president is a reality TV star and our humor involves drinking bleach and yeeting ourselves into a void, it’s safe to say the kids are not alright. Modern music has responded appropriately to this change in perspective by filling the charts with slow, downbeat
Submitted Photo A recent trend on the video sharing app TikTok consists of people drinking “YeeYee Juice” and turning into cowboys inspired from the song “Old Town Road.” songs about stress, hopeless- pression and emptiness. Mike ness and depression. The cool Posner, most well known for his new drug of choice is Xanax, 2010 song “Cooler Than Me,” and judging by the various Post expresses this wonderfully, if Malone-esque songs filling ra- unintentionally, in his 2015 song dio time, quite a few people are “I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Seeb Repartaking. mix).” He begins with a portrait Many of the big names of of the life of a star, singing, “I the early 2000s have fizzled out took a pill in Ibiza/ To show Avi(see: Pitbull, Rihanna), exploded cii I was cool/ And when I finally spectacularly and disastrously got sober, felt 10 years older/ (see: Taylor Swift, Katy Perry), But f*** it, it was something to or stayed relevant by match- do/ I’m living out in LA/ I drive ing with the flavorless, dron- a sports car just to prove/ I’m a ing nothingness that is today’s real big baller cause I made a popular music (see: Maroon 5, million dollars/ And I spend it Drake). They produced flashy, on girls and shoes.” loud music with larger-than-life However, the song quickly videos and personas to accom- takes a more self-reflective tone. pany it. They showed off their He opens the chorus with, “But fame and excess, bragging you don’t wanna be high like about gold chains, popularity me/ Never really knowing why and wild parties, and they were like me/ You don’t ever wanna proud of it all. The music was step off that roller coaster/ And bright and upbeat to match the be all alone.” Posner says, “And superficial joys of having every- all I know are sad songs,” and thing. few lyrics could better capture Now, that life of excess is the mood of modern music. coated in a thick layer of deIn “Old Town Road,” Lil
Nas X takes a decade of music about celebrating excess and half a decade of music about feeling empty inside and comedically flips it on its head. “Old Town Road” works best when you don’t think about it too much, as do most of the Tik Toks inspiring its success. “Old Town Road” serves as the soundtrack to the semipopular Yee Haw Challenge on Tik Tok, which displays teens participating in everyday activities, then transforming into cowboys (or more accurately, cowboy stereotypes) after the song’s beat changes. The Yee Haw Challenge may seem as strange and unprecedented as most of Tik Tok’s trends, but it didn’t exactly pop up out of nowhere. 2018 saw a resurgence in western regalia and cowboythemed trends, from Kacey Musgraves’s “Space Cowboy” and Mitski’s “Be the Cowboy” album to That One Yodelling WalMart Kid (you know who I’m talking about) to Cardi B donning a cowboy hat in her early 2019 video for “Thotiana (Remix).” Numerous think pieces discussed the trend, from Pitchfork to Rolling Stone to Teen Vogue. In late 2018, pop culture archivist Bri Malandro coined the term “Yee Haw Agenda” to describe it. “Old Town Road” could not have been more perfectly timed. After its popularity on Tik Tok skyrocketed, the country-rap genre-straddler hit the charts, peaking at number 1, where it still sits. Even when Billboard removed it from the country charts in late March, it only grew, thriving from the controversy. In early April, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus recorded a remix of “Old Town Road,” giving the world both an extra 40 seconds of “Old Town Road” and Cyrus attempting to rap about “living like a rock star,” neither of which were necessary. Lil Nas X might be using the resurgence of western styles to comedically explore pop music’s culture of excess, but at the end of the day, he still rhymes “Gucci” with “boobies” and “tractor” with “bladder.” For what it is, it’s not bad. The song has a catchy beat, and it sounds good, and if you really, really love it, you’ll never try to find out what it means. By Staff Writer Sierra
MILLER
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ENTERTAINMENT HI-LINE NEW New country song sparks TikTok obsession RELEASES MUSIC
•GANG OF FOUR: Happy Now • FAT WHITE FAMILY: Serfs Up! •JOHN PAUL WHITE: The Hurting Kind •THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS: No Geography •ANDERSON PAAK: Ventura •SHOVELS & ROPE: By Blood •FONTAINES DC Dogrel • T-BONE BURNETT The Invisible Light: Acoustic Space
MOVIES
•THE CURSE OF LA LlORONA 04/19/19 •BREAKING HABITS 04/19/19 •DRUNK PARENTS 04/19/19 •FAMILY 04/19/19 •GRASS 04/1919 •HAIL SATAN? 04/19/19
GAMES
•MY TIME AT PORTIA (PS4) •GHOST GIANT (PS4) •EARTH DEFENSE FORCE: IRON CURTAIN (PS4) •RESIDENT EVIL 2 (XONE) •SEIKRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE (XONE) •HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE (XONE)
ONLINE EXTRAS
Jorgensen Outdorzz With host Jack Jorgensen join an angler and his adventures and discoveries on the water. This week’s news feature:
Episode 2 Early Spring Fishing
Find the inspiring video online at https://youtu.be/ hx6qGe1-Nwc
Friday, April 19, 2019
It all (allegedly) started with a Nicki Minaj stan account on Twitter. The account, entitled NasMaraj after rappers Nas and Nicki Minaj, was created in early 2014 and suspended for spamming in early 2019, after it accumulated over 170,000 followers. The account was best known for viral scenario threads, stolen memes, an adoration of Nicki Minaj and bringing us the chart-topping hit song “Old Town Road.” Lil Nas X, creator of the song, has denied any involvement with the account. However, this isn’t entirely believable, given the Reddit account with the same name and profile of Twitter’s NasMaraj that was almost wholly dedicated to promoting Lil Nas X’s music, even before his music hit the mainstream; that the links to both NasMaraj’s email and SoundCloud match with those of Lil Nas X; and that the identification numbers in the URLs of several of NasMaraj’s nowdeleted tweets now redirect to similar, if not identical, tweets by Lil Nas X. In late 2018, Lil Nas X began making music, which he published through SoundCloud with the support of his Twitter followers. With “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X hit gold for two main reasons: the popularity (and by extension, absurdity) of video-sharing app Tik Tok, and a resurgence of western styles and cowboy regalia, termed the Yee Haw Agenda. Tik Tok was first released in China under the name Douyin in 2016, but didn’t reach out internationally until 2017, and didn’t really catch fire until October 2018, when it became the most downloaded app worldwide. Tik Tok allows users to share short videos, which often follow bizarre challenges and memes. Its leaning toward short, snappy content and strange, often absurdist humor makes it the perfect space for the younger generations, who find their cultural hubs in social media sites, apps and chat rooms. In a decade where our climate is killing us, our president is a reality TV star and our humor involves drinking bleach and yeeting ourselves into a void, it’s safe to say the kids are not alright. Modern music has responded appropriately to this change in perspective by filling the charts with slow, downbeat
Submitted Photo A recent trend on the video sharing app TikTok consists of people drinking “YeeYee Juice” and turning into cowboys inspired from the song “Old Town Road.” songs about stress, hopeless- pression and emptiness. Mike ness and depression. The cool Posner, most well known for his new drug of choice is Xanax, 2010 song “Cooler Than Me,” and judging by the various Post expresses this wonderfully, if Malone-esque songs filling ra- unintentionally, in his 2015 song dio time, quite a few people are “I Took a Pill in Ibiza (Seeb Repartaking. mix).” He begins with a portrait Many of the big names of of the life of a star, singing, “I the early 2000s have fizzled out took a pill in Ibiza/ To show Avi(see: Pitbull, Rihanna), exploded cii I was cool/ And when I finally spectacularly and disastrously got sober, felt 10 years older/ (see: Taylor Swift, Katy Perry), But f*** it, it was something to or stayed relevant by match- do/ I’m living out in LA/ I drive ing with the flavorless, dron- a sports car just to prove/ I’m a ing nothingness that is today’s real big baller cause I made a popular music (see: Maroon 5, million dollars/ And I spend it Drake). They produced flashy, on girls and shoes.” loud music with larger-than-life However, the song quickly videos and personas to accom- takes a more self-reflective tone. pany it. They showed off their He opens the chorus with, “But fame and excess, bragging you don’t wanna be high like about gold chains, popularity me/ Never really knowing why and wild parties, and they were like me/ You don’t ever wanna proud of it all. The music was step off that roller coaster/ And bright and upbeat to match the be all alone.” Posner says, “And superficial joys of having every- all I know are sad songs,” and thing. few lyrics could better capture Now, that life of excess is the mood of modern music. coated in a thick layer of deIn “Old Town Road,” Lil
Nas X takes a decade of music about celebrating excess and half a decade of music about feeling empty inside and comedically flips it on its head. “Old Town Road” works best when you don’t think about it too much, as do most of the Tik Toks inspiring its success. “Old Town Road” serves as the soundtrack to the semipopular Yee Haw Challenge on Tik Tok, which displays teens participating in everyday activities, then transforming into cowboys (or more accurately, cowboy stereotypes) after the song’s beat changes. The Yee Haw Challenge may seem as strange and unprecedented as most of Tik Tok’s trends, but it didn’t exactly pop up out of nowhere. 2018 saw a resurgence in western regalia and cowboythemed trends, from Kacey Musgraves’s “Space Cowboy” and Mitski’s “Be the Cowboy” album to That One Yodelling WalMart Kid (you know who I’m talking about) to Cardi B donning a cowboy hat in her early 2019 video for “Thotiana (Remix).” Numerous think pieces discussed the trend, from Pitchfork to Rolling Stone to Teen Vogue. In late 2018, pop culture archivist Bri Malandro coined the term “Yee Haw Agenda” to describe it. “Old Town Road” could not have been more perfectly timed. After its popularity on Tik Tok skyrocketed, the country-rap genre-straddler hit the charts, peaking at number 1, where it still sits. Even when Billboard removed it from the country charts in late March, it only grew, thriving from the controversy. In early April, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus recorded a remix of “Old Town Road,” giving the world both an extra 40 seconds of “Old Town Road” and Cyrus attempting to rap about “living like a rock star,” neither of which were necessary. Lil Nas X might be using the resurgence of western styles to comedically explore pop music’s culture of excess, but at the end of the day, he still rhymes “Gucci” with “boobies” and “tractor” with “bladder.” For what it is, it’s not bad. The song has a catchy beat, and it sounds good, and if you really, really love it, you’ll never try to find out what it means. By Staff Writer Sierra
MILLER
8
The
SPORTS
Tiger
Friday April 19, 2019
Rugby team grows, sets eyes on State With an increase from 12 players to 22 players from last season, the rugby team is excited to see what they can do this year. “This year is different because there are so many people going out for the team. Our coach says that this is the most we’ve gotten in a long time,” junior Ryan Dunlop said. Their coach, Brent Piper, relies on the kids reaching out to their classmaxtes to get the game of rugby out there. “Every year we have a meeting at the school, typically the week after state wrestling. We really rely on current athletes recruiting new athletes. We also send out information on social media, Facebook and Twitter. Most people that try rugby enjoy it,” Piper said. Many players like Dunlop joined the team after hearing about it from their friends. “I learned about the rugby team from my friends. They told me how fun it was,” Dunlop said. Something that may create a barrier for kids to join rugby is the violence involved, but a lot of practice time is spent learning the fundamentals of the game to prevent injury and
keep the game safe for the players. There are also many rules enforced to keep the players safe. “I think a lot of people that don't know about rugby think it is very dangerous. All sports have risk of injuries. Rugby can be a very physical sport, but our concussion rate is similar to baseball. We have lots of rule about tackling that help keep player safe, such as no tackles above shoulders or lifting in tackles. This help protect players’ heads and also prevents players from getting slammed on the ground,” Piper said. Dunlop had worries going into the season about injuries but was reassured by the rules in place and the time they spend in practice working on safety. “Rugby is a physical sport, but there are a lot of rules that take place to make sure that people don’t get hurt like tackling below the shoulders, which is a strict rule, and no lifting players off the ground when tackling,” Dunlop said. “At practice we also work on tackling and the right form of tackling, which really helps in games to keep us safe.” Piper understands the concerns but hopes that kids will
give the sport a try. “Some kids are nervous about trying a new sport, but rugby is a very simple sport to learn. The good thing about rugby is you can have to ball as much or as little as you want. Same thing with contact. If you don't want to get tackled, just pass the ball. Most sports correlate with rugby such as football and wrestling because of tackling and ball running. Even basketball can be like rugby because you have to move around to get open,” Piper said. “It’s a lot less overwhelming then it seems.” The team sits at 2-2 on the season with some very close losses against back to back reigning state champion Waverly-Shell Rock and Iowa City West. With their synergy, Dunlop believes that the team can pull it together and win State. “Our rugby team works together with tackling and passing and trusting one another that they will do their job. Our chemistry is really good because we are all friends and we bond like brothers. Sometimes we get in arguments at practice, but at the end of the day we come together as a family and know that we are just trying to get each other better,”
Dunlop said. “I think that we have potential to go to State again and do better than last year, and I think a lot of my team members think that too.” While winning State is important to Piper, he enjoys seeing his players fall in love with the sport and go on to be successful at the collegiate level. “I love helping develop student athletes. It is very rewarding watching the players grown into the sport. We have had over a dozen kids play collegiate rugby in our short existents. We had three kids win a national championship in collegiate rugby.” Piper hopes that the rugby community continues to grow at Cedar Falls and hopes to have a women’s rugby team in the near future. Dunlop has seen rugby as a great opportunity and is thankful that he chose to join the team. “I went out for rugby because I heard it was a fun sport, and I thought it would be good to try something new and keep myself in shape. I’m really glad that I went out.” By Staff Writer Jackson
GUTKNECHT
Tiger Invite
Sabine Martin Photos
Top left Hailey Frahm, following Emma Clark hands off to Jayna Freeman, Natalie Degabriele, bottom left Leah Longnecker and Anisia Smith, following Alyssa Neese, and bttom right Lilly Becker.
HI-LINE Athlete of the
Week
JAMIE KNOX
Women’s Tennis How long have you been playing tennis? “I have been playing tennis seriously for about four years, since freshman year. I have been playing recreationally since I was little.” Who is your inspiration? “I feel like it is a classic, but Serena Williams. She’s very very talented and is so empowering.” Favorite memory from this season or past season? “Making it to State last year for sure. The match leading up to me qualifying was amazing. The fact that I play no. 3 all year, and I had to play a no. 1 singles player. I also had to play my own teammate.” What has been your biggest accomplishment? “From this season I would say, compared to the past three seasons, I just am a lot more confident when I play. Team morale is really awesome, and we get together really well.” Have you had any struggles or mindset bumps in your years of playing tennis? “No legitimate injuries, but in the past few years my mental game has been hard. Keeping a positive mindset when you are losing by quite a lot on the court is hard, but it is something that I am working on and will continue to work on in college.” Do you plan to continue to play tennis after high school? “As of right now I do plan on playing for the Wartburg team, but I will see how it all pans out with me focusing on band and music as well.