The
Tiger HI-LINE
Friday, Dec. 12, 2014
Volume 55 Edition 11
Dancing Dynasty The dance teams turn out top results at State/Page 4 Follow us on Twitter at tigerhiline, Facebook at TigerHilineOnline and on our website at www.hiline.cfschools.org
File Photo
In an event from 2012, the robotics team competed with a basketball shooting robot. With a donation of $2 or a toy, students and staff will be able to try their hands at shooting hoops today in the gym.
Robotics team invites CF to donate gifts
Leah Forsblom Photos
Sounds of the Season The band completed its winter concert on Monday, Dec. 8, and the orchestra concert was last night. The choir concert is set for Monday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Claire Stanard Auditorium. Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for students. Activity passes are accepted. Starting at top left and moving clockwise, pictured above are Kyler Boss, Maddy Husome, Becky Ochoa, Mary Anton, John Nicol, Michael J. Stowe, James Bamber and Jayla Jackson.
Bots for Tots will be hosting a fundraiser all day in the gymnasium on Friday, Dec. 12. Students are able to donate $2 or a new toy for two minutes of fun. People who donate are able to drive a robot around and compete against their fellow classmates to shoot a ball into a hoop and score the most points. Students are welcome to come by the gymnasium whenever they have a study hall or release. Some of the robotics team will be supervising and helping people with the robot. Robotics adviser Kenton Swartley will be supervising for parts of
the day. Every year there are children who don’t receive any gifts from Santa, not because they have been naughty but because their Santa simply can’t afford any gifts. “It’s a creative way we as a robotics team can help our community,” Swartley said. All donations will be going to the Toy’s for Tots, locally run here by the Cedar Falls Exchange Club through a foundation that distributes toys to children whose parents can’t afford to buy them gifts on Christmas.
of high school seniors all over the United States have smoked marijuana before. Students from Cedar Falls High School obviously are not exempt from this statistic, though if decriminalization for marijuana does follow through in Cedar Falls, that won’t mean teenagers will be free of any punishments from smoking weed. The group still believes that marijuana being legalized or decriminalized should only go for adults and doesn’t advocate marijuana to teenagers until they reach a certain age. If teenagers were caught possessing marijuana, they would be penalized the same
way as if they were caught with alcohol. Hayes doesn’t believe that teenaers should even use marijuana due to the research behind it that can affect them. “There’s research, though sometimes it’s conflicting, that says using any kind of mood or mind altering substance at a young age while you’re brain is still developing can have more harmful effects than using it when you’re an adult. By the time you’re 21, you’re brain development is more or less complete,” he said. “As you get older in adolescence, your judgement improves.”
By Staff Writer Dino
ODOBASIC
Cedar Falls considering decriminalizing marijuana The legalization of marijuana has become one of the most heated debates in the country for years. Though marijuana is only completely legal in two states, there is actually a current discussion to have it decriminalized in Cedar Falls, meaning that anybody who is caught with marijuana won’t face any arrest and will only be charged with a civil offense instead of a criminal one. War on Drugs Task Force, an advocacy group comprised of Cedar Valley citizens, has been around since 2011 and fights for drug-related topics such as making medical marijuana available for those who need
it, reducing sentences for drug offenses and funding treatment programs for substance abuse. On Dec. 1, Allen Hayes, a retired political science professor from University of Northern Iowa, represented the group and spoke out at the city council to try to ease marijuana laws. What they’re looking for is to create a separate, local ordinance related to marijuana possession that doesn’t negate the state law. “It’s an experiment,” is how Hayes described the idea. “We’d have to see how much that would be successful and how much it would be diverting people from going to jail
for marijuana possession, but it’s something that we think is worth a try.” The council ended up voting 5-2 and referring it to committee, meaning that they are willing to listen to this proposal. It is unknown if the idea has any chance of passing in the future, though that doesn’t seem to discourage Hayes and the group’s goal. “You can’t do these things overnight. You have to do these things gradually,” Hayes said. Today, the use of marijuana among teens has increased substantially. The National High School Senior Survey reports that around 36 percent
By Staff Writer Sarah
STORTZ
2
The
OPINION
Our View U.S. police force needs sensitivity overhaul On July 17, an unarmed, black man named Eric Garner died in New York City after telling the police multiple times that he was not selling cigarettes, was minding his own business and wanted to be left alone. He was killed by a white member of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), Daniel Pantaleo, after 19 seconds of being put in a chokehold, a tactic which was banned by the NYPD in 1993. During those 19 second, Garner can be heard in a video recording saying, “I can’t breathe,” 11 times. Five months after Garner’s death, a grand jury decided not to indict the officer, even after watching video of the incident. The announcement came just days after a highly controversial case with the death of Michael Brown. Soon after the announcement, public protests, rallies and riots erupted in multiple cities, all with the message of stopping police brutality and racism, some of these protests For many are still going on. Subsequently, attorney general Eric Holder people around the announced that the justice country, these two department would launch an investigation into the case, cases were the last similar to Brown’s case. Presistraws of somedent Barack Obama released a statement saying that the thing much larger: protests were necessary for the the prevalence of country to move forward. This case is different from racism in America. Brown’s case because there is much less ambiguity. In Brown’s case, there was no video, and the multiple witnesses that were interviewed contradicted each other. In that case, it would have been much more difficult to indict officer Darren Wilson. In the Garner case, however, there is a clear video that shows the incident in its entirety, along with multiple witnesses who saw Garner every day and testified for him. Even after all of the evidence, the grand jury decided not to indict the officer. Unless there is something that the jury has seen that has not been released to the public, there is absolutely no reason not to indict the officer, and unlike the Brown case, there is little chance that the evidence presented to the grand jury will be made public. For many people around the country, these two cases were the last straws of something much larger: the prevalence of racism in America. In order to help with police racism and brutality, President Obama announced a $75,000,000 plan to equip police with body cameras. That’s a good start, but as the Garner case shows, we need to train our police force the limits of what “police force” entails.
Contact Us
The Tiger Hi-Line is a weekly publication of the journalism classes at Cedar Falls High School, 1015 Division Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613. Our website is www.hiline.cfschools.org. The Hi-Line is distributed to CFHS students on Fridays to read during their fifth period classes. Columns and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hi-Line staff or Cedar Falls Schools. The Hi-Line editorial is presented weekly in the editorial labeled Our View, and it is the view of the majority of the editors listed below. 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 Monday for publication in the following Friday edition. Letters may not exceed 300 words and may be edited to meet space limitations. Writers should include their contact information for verification. Editor-in-Chief: Austin Anderson Online Editor: Zuhayr Alam Copy Editor: Annebeth Ahrenholz Lead Opinion Writer: Kaleb Bengston Staff Writers: Kaela Avila, Dino Odobasic, Skylar Starbeck and Sarah Stortz
Tiger
HI-LINE
Friday, Dec. 12, 2014
Editor-in-chief recounts rewards from journalism class experiences There isn’t that they reJournalism Course Offerings alized they a greater Beginning News/two English credits class to take should have This is the first-year class where students write stories for the Hi-Line. than journalalways had. Advanced News/two English credits ism if you The stoThis is the second and third year newspaper class are itching to ries I have where students create the Hi-Line and website. impact lives. written for Broadcast Journalism/one credit English, one credit elective You get to the newsThis is the first-year class where students create prove your paper have podcasts and news stories for the Tiger Hi-Line Online. creativity to b r o u g h t Advanced Broadcast Journalism/ an actual aumany tears one credit English, one credit elective dience that to people I In addition to podcasts and news stories, students can produce the weekly news show. other writhave never Yearbook/one credit English and one credit elective ing classes met, caused This is the class that produces the yearbook cannot propeople to and can be taken three years in a row for full credit each year. vide. More give up soso than any cial media other English class, you get for the betterment of their real world experience that lives, changed perspectives, will help you in your future connected people 2,000 no matter what avenue you miles apart, and, most impordecide to take. Communicatantly, the stories I produce tion is key in every aspect in the journalism class have of life, and when you blend impacted lives of not only the that with time management, people who read them, but innovation and individuality, for those who are the focal journalism is one of the most points of the stories that albeneficial classes you can low themselves to be uncovtake. “Anyone who is naturalered. ly curious and inquisitive and Now many people may has an ability to communicate believe that journalism is dyshould have an avenue to exing and that the students of plore a career that nurtures today will have a nearly imthose talents,” Michael Lee, possible task of finding a job lead NBA writer for the Washin the field when their times ington Post, told me recently. come. People say that the InEveryone has a story just ternet, technology and social waiting to be told. Writing town four hours away.” media are forcing journalism Another time I was go- into nonexistence. for the paper isn’t just finding ing to simply write about the scores to basketball games or To that I would say that upcoming swim team meet. I discovering a change in study journalism is absolutely not walked into the pool area and dying; it is evolving like many hall. It’s about bringing a story to life because that’s what immediately realized there things over the course of huwas so much more than just journalists are: storytellers. man history. This isn’t the first Throughout the stories I swimming going on. I saw time that media was supposa love for a sport that I had edly dying due to something have personally written, it has been the stories that went never seen before, through new. Radio was supposed to beyond the surface level that the eyes of a 75-year-old man kill the printed word. Televiwho started the swim pro- sion was supposed to kill have made the greatest impact. I went to interview Trey gram at Cedar Falls. I brought radio and the Internet was that man to tears after he Hansen, the quarterback of supposed to kill broadcastthe football team who also read the story I wrote about ing. But if you are living in the doubled as one of the best how much he loved, not only 21st century, then you can long snappers in the country the sport he has given his life see that those circumstances thinking my story was about to, but everyone single stu- obviously didn’t transpire. that. What I found, however, dent athlete on the team. “Anyone who thinks Multiple people came up was a student who happened journalism is a dying field to play football, but who was to me after I wrote a story isn’t paying attention to this also driven on and off the on a student who is atheist world and how information field by the death of his best and told me their eyes had and technology have given friend. The story reached his been opened. They previ- anyone with a smartphone old city in Minnesota and ously judged him for being or tablet the capacity to exproduced many tears in the atheist before they knew his press themselves and report Cedar Valley as well. “The story, but after reading the on what’s happening around article really changed my life article produced in the news- them,” Lee said. paper, they understood that and gave a great life lesson THE WRITE STUFF they had mislabeled him and to be thankful,” Hansen said. continues on page 3 gained the respect for him “It really hit home to my old
By writing a story about someone and showing how important they are, you have given them a very valuable gift, but you have also given that gift to yourself.
The
Tiger
HI-LINE
FEATURES
Friday, Dec. 12, 2014
“Saint Petersburg is the second largest city of what country?” “Czech Republic?” WRONG. “Russia.”
Digital
PURSUIT
“Halloween is the third largest U.S. party day of the year. Which is the second?” “Super Bowl Sunday?” Correct!
Annebeth Ahrenholz Photo
Trivia Crack is a free app for cell phones that pits two users against each other in a battle of quesions on a variety of topics. It has reached a wide range of popularity in the last couple weeks.
Students, staff finding themselves strung out on trivia app “Play me back in Trivia Crack.” That is the most common sentence passed digitally in Cedar Falls High School after the wildly popular cell phone app arrived for download last month, and though many students would agree that Trivia Crack is huge distraction from school, that isn’t stopping anyone from joining in the fun. Junior Jackson Reynolds was motivated to download the app right after the food bank trivia challenge. Some people downloaded the app right away, but soon after a few people had it, the news of it spread quickly. Junior Anna Stillman downloaded this app when she heard about it from other students such as sophomore Rachel Eastman, who downloaded the app right
when it came out but quickly deleted it because she thought it was stupid at the time. But once everyone else got the app, she redownloaded the app. “I actually hate it, but it’s addicting,” Eastman said. That is a common battle that everyone deals with. The game is too addicting to put down. Many staff and students play this game not only daily, but multiple times a day, consuming a lot of their free time, homework time and even class time when they should be paying attention. “I don’t play in regular classes, just electives,” Reynolds said. Eastman, on the other hand, said, “I pretty much play all the time in class because teachers know the answers.” Reynolds said he has nine games go-
ing currently, while Stillman has five. Eastman plays Trivia Crack every time she gets a notification. Students say they try to multitask while playing Trivia Crack, but it doesn’t always work out. There are six different categories in Trivia Crack: art, sports, geography, history, entertainment and science. Reynolds and Stillman’s best category is science, but it is Eastman’s worst. Eastman’s best is art or sports, while Stillman’s worst category is sports. As students and staff advance through the rounds of questions, sophomore Sierra Fredickson said, “We are getting more intelligent day by day.” Sample questions range widely.
THE WRITE STUFF, continued from page 2 Journalism teacher Brian Winkel has taught me many things in and out of the journalism world throughout my life, but the most important thing I have taken from him is something that applies to both worlds. “By giving to others and by making them happy, you will in turn make yourself happy.”
By writing a story about someone and showing how important they are, you have given them a very valuable gift, but you have also given that gift to yourself. You get a certain feeling of immense pleasure when you write a good story. You get ancy and start looking for your next story so you can
“Journalism is storytelling, and there will never come a day that stories will not be told.”
3
put your mark on the world once again. That feeling and those stories will never go away, and neither will journalism. “There will always be a place for talented writers, reporters and editors,” Lee said. “There will always be a public for what journalists provide.” When I became interested in journalism, I was immersed in the idea that I could talk about sports for a living one day. After getting into the field, I realized the only thing I love more than sports is people and bringing their stories
While some may view Trivia Crack as learning and reviewing pointless knowledge, others says these bits of info may be useful sometime in life, and also much of the stuff asked on Trivia Crack relates back to something students have learned in class. Science teacher Jason Steffen agrees that he recalls teaching a lot of the science questions in the app and that although Trivia Crack may be distracting, it definitely has its perks and is educating many teens and adults in many different areas of knowledge. “This game is not pointless. I don’t think people realize that most of the questions they see in the game they could have learned in school at one point.” Steffen was motivated to download this app when he noticed the majority of his fifth hour class students concentrated intently on their phones and asking him for help on miscellaneous science questions or shouting across the room to each other to “play me back in Trivia Crack!” Now he’s on a quest “to beat all of you guys in 5th hour.” Steffen does admit that this game can be a problem, but not always in a bad way. “It is affecting people’s learning because it’s a distraction, but if it wasn’t Trivia Crack, it would be something else.” He said he wishes that the game could be more classroom based so the benefit would show through in the classroom as well. “If we could somehow put all our classroom content into this game, then everyone would know everything.” He currently has 14 games going and is 22 and 6.
to life in ways a good journalist can. The values of a good journalist are what our country was built off of; honesty, hard work and persistence. “Journalism is one of the American public’s systems of checks and balances,” Tim Crothers, former Sports Illustrated senior writer and New York Times bestselling author, told me. “If we are doing our jobs correctly, journalists are truth seekers who hopefully hold everyone, including themselves, to a proper standard of behavior.” Journalism is storytelling, and there will never come a day that stories will not be
By Copy Editor Annebeth
AHRENHOLZ
told. It is, however, evolving, which is a good thing. It is becoming more technological while at the same time becoming more opportunistic. Success stories of small websites and bloggers making it big exemplify the new world of journalism. The places you will go and the people that you will meet alone will be well worth your involvement in journalism. But the lives you impact and the difference you will make in the world will last forever. By Editor-in-Chief Austin
ANDERSON
4
The
SPORTS
Tiger
HI-LINE
Dancing Dynasty Friday, Dec. 12, 2014
Athleteof
the
Week
Cedar Falls captures four trophies at state dance team competition On Friday, Dec. 5 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, the Cedar Falls dance team consisting off coed, all male pom and hip hop, took the spotlight as they competed for a state championship. For the girls, they were hungry for revenge to place higher than the previous year. As for the guys, the pressure was on to defeat all the competition for the fifth time in a row. It took months for the teams to perfect the same dances over and over to strive for competitiveness. By the time State came rolling around, the dances had to be spot on. The state championships consisted of three different dances for the girls: hip hop, pom and coed dance. For the men, they competed in an all male routine and coed as well. The girls placed 3rd in their hip hop routine and 5th in the pom dance. Both dance teams were content with the results when they received two trophies after the places were announced on the floor. Senior captain Josie Speltz said, “It was the most amazing experience for me, especially being a leader on the team. It is always an honor to work with such talented girls and bring home
trophies.” The all male dance team has been successful for the past four years, winning 1st place all four years. The men were looking to carry on the tradition of success. As a team of 23 they were ready to get the job done. After the all male dance team competed, the results came to be that the men had done it again, a five-year running streak of 1st place. Senior Hiram Marquez said, “We reached our goal of winning first place and got the job done. We dance for the ladies, and our dance moves help us get them.” The coed team results were announced, placing Cedar Falls in 2nd. This was no surprise to senior Kendall Krueger. “We worked really hard and had one of the best teams in awhile in Cedar Falls. I was so happy to compete with a great group of people. We really stepped it up and got an amazing second place finish out of everyone in the state of Iowa,” he said. The team was beyond thrilled with its overall results and coming home with four trophies. By Staff Writer Skylar
STARBECK
Keaton Block Swimming
Senior captain Keaton Block is leading the resurgence of the Cedar Falls men’s swim team. At his most recent meet at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, he finished first in the varsity 100 breaststroke and broke his personal record by three seconds. He also participates in the 50 freestyle and two relays.
Austin Anderson Photo
Taking home the top trophy for the fifth straight year, the men’s dance is all smiles in this selfie from the state dance competition at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Friday, Dec. 5.
Swimmers prep for Marcussen Invite on Saturday
It’s time for the boys to dive right in as the 37th annual Marcussen Invitational makes a splash this Saturday, Dec. 12 at Holmes Junior High. Starting the meet at 11:30, the Tigers must compete with a total of seven teams coming from all around Iowa, including Muscatine, Jefferson, Decorah, Waterloo West, Des Moines Lincoln, Mason City and Dowling. With the swim team consisting of three seniors, one junior, 13 sophomores and four freshmen, the wave seems to be pushing against the small CFHS team, but coach Joe Brown said otherwise. “We just had two really strong meets for us. We’re still a small team. We are still inexperienced, but we’re getting stronger and quicker than we ever were before,” coach Brown said, “so we’re excited because some of the teams should be similar in talent, meaning we should have opportunities to race, so we’re excited about that.” Since this meet is one of the most important competitions for the men’s swim team, the tension should be high within the watery depths of the Marcussen Invitation. By Staff Writer Kaela
AVILA
How did you get into swimming? Freshman year I had Mr. Brown as a math teacher and he told me he thought I would be a pretty good swimmer. I actually ended up not going out that year because I was a little afraid of what people would think if I went out. But sophomore year I wasn’t doing very well in football, so I decided to go out, and I’ve stuck with it since. Why do you like Coach Brown so much? Every race I finish, I always go to talk to him, and he always tells me ways I can do better and get better. He probably is the best coach I’ve ever had. Why do you love swimming? I was just built like a swimmer. I just love to be in the water I guess you could say ever since I was a kid. I love seeing my time getting better, and that’s something you can’t see in some other sports.
Tigers in
Action
Men’s Basketball
Next up: Dec. 12 Waterloo East at home at 6 p.m.
Women’s Basketball Next up: Dec. 12 Waterloo East away at 6 p.m.
Wrestling
Next up: Dec. 13 Western Dubuque dual tournament at 10 a.m.
Logan Cole Photo
Sophomore Sam Prophet competes on Saturday, Dec. 6 in the breast stroke at the Ames Invite where the team finished in sixth place. The Tigers will be at home on Saturday, Dec.13 for the Marcussen Invite.
Men’s Swimming Next up: Dec. 13 Marcussen Invite at 11:30 a.m
Bowling
Next up: vs. Iowa City High Dec. 12 @ Iowa City at 3:15