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March 12, 2008 hi line

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‘Hopping’ Into Different Cultures

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To learn about different perspectives of Easter around the world, check out the Feature page where sports editor and German foreign exchange student Jakob Zierer has written a story profiling how some of the other exchange students celebrate Easter.

Volume 48 Edition 21 http://hi-lineonline.shorturl.com 1015 Division Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613

Prom Potential: Kristen Counsell Staff Writer

The women in the CFHS office are volunteering their time to help out a cause that they find worthy. Their project/event is called Classy Fashions and Heels Shoppe. They will be collecting dresses and accessories that people wish to sell or donate. “Often dresses are worn once and are just hanging in closets. We thought this would be a good opportunity for them to be worm again and also a cost savings for many students. Prom can be very expensive, and we don’t want students who want to participate not be able to because of cost constraints,” Suzanne Gettman, CFHS nurse and head organizer of Classy Fashions and Heels Shoppe, said. On Monday, March 24, through Thursday, April 10, they will be collecting prom or party dresses and accessories in good or excellent condition and of a current style. People can drop their item(s) off at the principals’ office anytime during school hours. Before sellers drop off their item(s), they must fill out a

Office women help to make purchase of prom dresses more affordable

contract agreement and pay the handling/advertisement fee. The event will take place in the CFHS auditorium. Shopping hours for purchasing and trying dresses on will be on Tuesday, April 15 from 5 to 7 p.m.; Wednesday, April 16 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.; Wednesday, April 23 from 9 to 11 a.m. and from 1 to 3 p.m. The final day is Friday, April 25 from 3:30 to 5:30. Prices of the dresses or accessories vary and will be determined by the seller of the item. Dresses are recommended to be priced half or less than the purchased price. There will not be any trading permitted between buyer and seller. Sellers will be charged $10 per dress and $2 per accessory (non-refundable) for handling and advertising. Any unsold dresses must be picked up by Monday, May 12, or they will be donated. They money collected from the handling/advertisement fee will be used as a student assistance fund. The fund is to assist students throughout the school year will financial needs. No matter the color, design or size, just as long as it meets the criteria, any dress is welcomed. There will also be a wide variety of accessories

Seven Division I, 10 Division II ratings earned at State speech Nadia Honary Staff Writer

The CFHS individual speech team participants had another successful day at State last Saturday, which was held at Starmont High School in Arlington, Iowa. Seven students received seven Division I ratings and 10 received Division II ratings. Students who received Division I ratings were senior Alice Peck for public address, senior Nicky Singh for original oratory, freshman Tonya Larsen for prose, senior Diamond Lee for improvisational acting, senior Briana McGeough for both spontaneous speaking and public address and senior Caitlin Lake for radio news broadcasting. The stakes are higher at State. Lee said she is proud of the results. “I got Division I’s from all three of my judges,” Lee said. Lee has done group improvisation for speech team, but individual improvisation has slightly different rules. “For individual improvisation, you have to select two situations and three different characters. You get to choose one of those situations and two of the characters and then you have five minutes

to act out that situation with the two characters for the judges,” Lee said. This was Lee’s first year participating in speech team, and she has had a lot of fun doing improvisational acting. “I like doing that because improv is for people who can talk a lot and I have a lot to say,” Lee said laughing. Lake also did well at State, receiving Division I ratings from each of her judges as well. “I thought the best part was going there and finding my ratings, because I thought I did bad. I got there late. I would have been on time, but I stood outside the door for ten minutes just waiting and when I decided to walk in and see when I could go, the judges were like, ‘you’re late,’” Lake said. With the exception for the very select few students chosen to go to All State, this was the last speech team competition for the year. The next time speech team participants will perform again this year will be at the recital held in the CFHS orchestra room on Saturday, March 29 from 1 to 3 p.m. Anyone who missed these students’ performances or wish to see them perform again should come and support the speech team members.

including dress shoes, jewelry, shawls, evening bags, etc. “We want a wide variety for people to choose from,” Gettman said. Girls who want to save money and spend less can now obtain a current-style dress and participate at prom. Junior high as well as any other Cedar Valley student can buy a dress. It is not just limited to high school students. “We felt like this was something we wanted to do to offer students a bigger variety of prom dresses and also give a good use to prom dresses that have been worm once and are just hanging in people’s closets,” Gettman said. For more information, contact 553-2501 or any of the office ladies: Suzanne Gettman, Jacki Underwood, Jane Carter or MaryAnn Lee. Displaying some of the dresses available from the Classy Fashions and Heels Shoppe from left are Suzanne Gettman, Jacki Underwood, and Jane Carter. The Shoppe will be open from March 24 through April 10.

Kellie Petersen Photo

Choir tours South over break Kristen Counsell Staff Writer

Every year, either the CFHS choir, orchestra or band goes on a spring break trip. This year is the choir’s turn, and 62 members are going all over the south. On the first day, the choir will perform at the Trinity Lutheran Church, which is one of the oldest Lutheran churches west of the Mississippi. They will perform a Sunday morning service there. From there, the choir will travel on to perform at Memphis, Graceland and Nashville. Then they will move on to Bowling Green and have an exchange with Western Kentucky University. Some fun things that they will do include going to the St. Louis Zoo and Museum, the Arch, the Royal Dump Dinner Theater (which is sort of a medieval time dinner theater that includes the audience). In Memphis they will tour Beale Street (a historic blues district) and the National Civil Rights Museum. In Graceland they will see the Rock and Roll Museum, and in Nashville they will visit the Country Music Hall of fame and will see a performance by Ricky Skaggs at the Grand Ole Opry. Both the concert and the mixed choirs are

Pops Concert Be sure to check out the band Pops Concert on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the gym.

going. The concert choir is made up of both juniors and seniors, and the mixed choir is made up of only sophomores. “Anyone can go. It’s just if you want to or not,” sophomore Ashley Mason in the mixed choir said. The choir leaves on Saturday, March 15, after their spring concert at Cedar Falls on Friday, March 14 at St. John’s Church at 7:30 p.m. They return on Thursday, March 20 in the afternoon. Students will be taking two charter buses on the trip and a group of people have put together some fun activities to do on the buses instead of watching movies all the time. One of the activities is capture the flag. Wohlert wanted to make singing a priority for the choir trip. “Previously we had done just trips to Florida and not sung on the trips. I feel it’s really important for the kids to do a tour where they actually sing every day as an ensemble and have lots of free time, but at the same time, we’re a choir, so we need to sing together and perform wherever we are at,” Wohlert said.


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OPIn n IO OPI IOnn

our view our view Lengthening school day presents fewer conflicts than extending school year into summer vacation Due to a harsh winter in Iowa this year, many schools face up to a week or more of snow day make-ups. School boards are frantically trying to come up with a solution for how to limit the snow days in June. Two Dubuque school districts have already made a final decision. The plan is to have classes extended every day for a total of approximately 30 minutes tacked onto each day. These extra minutes will replace whole days that they would have made up due to school cancellations. Instead of the students going until June 10, they will be let out on June 2,assuming spring is around the corner and no more snow days befall them. We feel the Dubuque school districts have discovered an excellent alternative to simply making the days up and the end of the year. Some students or staff might disagree with extending the day, though an overwhelming amount are likely to feel that an extra half an hour per day is a far better time management idea than remaining in school for an entire week during June. Still, schools in the past have had to deal with less appealing choices to offset the snow days. For example, smaller communities have sent their students to school on Saturdays in the past to make up their snow days. Extending school into the first week of June may not seem like such a big deal in retrospect, but if you take a closer look, it has a larger impact than it may seem. For example, many families have already planned vacations for the first couple of weeks in the summer. Sometimes, with work schedules and the like, this is the only time families can squeeze in a little much-needed together time. Another potentially damaging effect of an extended school year is that sports programs are thrown awry. Summer sports and practices are already being scheduled and these schedules may interfere with school after May 30. Now with school extending a week into the summer, game days and afternoon practices may be off-track. Another twist to consider is that the further we dredge into summer, the higher the risk that the heat will further interrupt our school calendar. It is not unusual to be let out early due to heat in the Cedar Valley, and if the summer is as intense as the winter was, extending the school year into the summer could be just as damaging. Besides, who wants to go to school when it’s 95 degrees out, when you could be at the pool?

Write 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. Each edition is published on Wenesdays during the school year in The Insider and Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier, 501 Commercial St., Waterloo, Iowa 50701. 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 Wednesday. Letters may not exceed 300 words and may be edited to meet space limitations. Include address and phone number for verification.

Editorial Staff

Editor-in-Chief: Briana McGeough News Editors: Olivia Schares and Kellie Petersen Opinion Editor: Torie Jochims and Jacqueline Jordan Sports Editor: Jakob Zierer Feature Editors: Honor Heindl and Briana McGeough On-Line Editor: Ellen Wrede Entertainment Editor: Kristen Hammer

a day in the life:

Staff writer faces daily life with diabetes A day in the life of a high school student with diabetes is kind of a hard thing to imagine for anyone who doesn’t have diabetes. Everybody asks me how I do what all I do e v e r y d a y, and all I have to tell them is that I have been doing this for three years. And it is just a routine for me now. For anyone who wants Tyler Burch to know Staff Writer how I cope with my type 2 Diabetes, here is a day in my life. First off I wake up around seven and I get ready for my day by testing my blood sugar with my glucose meter. After I poke the side of my finger, I have to put a test strip up to the mi-

croscopic hole and wait until the meter beeps. When it beeps it then tells me what my blood glucose levels are. After it tells me I base how much I can eat for breakfast by looking at the carbohydrate levels on the nutrition facts. I am only supposed to eat around 75 carbs every meal. Once I am done eating, I have to take my Humelog insulin shot. I have to take the shot with a very small, 3/4 inch needle that injects the insulin into my torso, in six different spots around my naval area. Once I finish with my shot I go to school. It says on my driver’s license that I have a health risk because of my diabetes, and I am not supposed to drive if my blood glucose gets too low. When it gets low I get really tired and it gets hard to function normally. I usually try to hurry up and eat something otherwise if my glucose levels get too low I go into seizures and then it gets really serious and could be le-

thal if I don’t get a glucagon shot which pretty much injects straight sugar into my system. But in the three years I have had my diabetes I have never had to use my glucagon kit. When I get to school I go through third hour, then I have to go to nurse Gettman’s office to test my lunch sugar levels and then take my shot. After I take my shot I go through the rest of the school day like anyone else. Once I get home, I wait a while until I get hungry and then I have to test my blood sugar levels. After I do that then I eat and take my shot. Once I get done eating I do whatever, then at bedtime I have to test my blood sugar for the last time and then I have to take my Lantus insulin shot before I go to bed. That is a day in my life with diabetes and so I have to test my blood sugars and take a shot four times a day. And how I cope with it all, I don’t know, it all is just 2nd nature for me.

Spring season brings classic pieces with new twists The snow is melting, the sun is shining and soon (I hope) it will be time to put the boots, the jeans and the heavy winter coats away. Spring fashion is now a topic of conversation—and I’ve put together a few key Maggie Devine trends f o r Staff Writer spring 2008. Metallic Shoes Like fall, metallic is in. But this time in the form of stilettos. Wear these with spring dresses or skirts. Trapeze jackets For misses especially, shorter, wider jackets are big. In white especially, these can pair with spring dresses and pretty much anything. Tunics These started getting popular last year, and they haven’t left

the building. Now for spring, they’ve got funky and floral prints, and they are less heavy and are made of lighter material. Colorful sunglasses It’s not so much about the “my sunglasses are bigger than my face” shades anymore, but about the shade of shades. Bright colors replace the normal black and white now. Skinny Belts We saw this a little this winter, but thin-thin colorful belts will be big to wear with just about anything. Bermuda shorts After a few years in semi-hibernation, bermuda’s are back and ready for plaid prints this spring. Over-sized earrings Yes, tacky, larger-than-your-ear, bright, annoying, obnoxious earrings are back. But, hey, if you’re into that, that’s fine. Though

Katie Dexter cartoon

this means all you gals out there with no necks, just don’t do this trend. This is for swan-necked girls exclusively. These are just a few of the many trends that you’ll see in the mall the spring. (Assuming spring actually comes.)


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SPORTS SPORTS

Third coach in three years puts emphasis on perfection Omeed Kashef Staff Writer

For three consecutive years the Cedar Falls men’s soccer team has had three different head coaches. Chris Schulte ended his career at Cedar Falls in 2006 after he led the Tigers to qualify for State for the first time, but then he went to coach at UNI. Amel Muhamedagic was Josh Printz the head Head Soccer Coach coach after Schulte, and he also led the Tigers to qualify for State. Muhamedagic is now married and has moved away, leaving the head coach spot open. After searching for the right person, the Tigers have found their man. Josh Printz, a player in the premier league for Internationals Soccer Club in Cleveland took the offer. “I’ve always wanted to pass on my knowledge to the younger generation,”

Printz said. Printz was also a two year varsity starter and captain during his junior and senior years at Pella High School in Iowa. Printz helped lead his team to state in 2002 where they were runners up and he was named 1st team All State and 1st team All Conference. At the University of Northern Iowa, Printz was a four-year starter for the men’s soccer team and was president and captain of the club team for three years. During those years, Printz helped lead the team to two national tournament appearances. Printz has already had four years of high school coaching experience and continues to show great potential. “I am an aggressive coach that expects perfection out of players.” Printz said. Printz said he is looking to continue his coaching education onto the National level in both USSF and NSCAA. “I always knew I wanted to coach while growing up in Ohio and playing at UNI. Once I realized I had reached my limit of playing especially after having three knee surgeries I just wanted to pass my knowledge of the game to the youth and inspire them to enjoy the worlds game,” Printz said.

CF men’s soccer team uses spring break fitness workouts Jakob Zierer Sports Editor

New season, new team and new coach—the men’s soccer team started its season on Monday, March 10. Before the official workout started, the team moved inside the high school and UNI Dome to run and get in shape for the season. “The teams are currently playing in open gym before season starts, which allows them not only to get touches on the ball but also allows them to build up their cardio. We will always include a dynamic warm-up. We will be doing short and long distance conditioning as well as simple things from sit-ups and push ups,” Josh Printz, head coach, said. “Mark Iehl, me and some other guys organized running at the Dome, so that has been helpful,” Joe Fagersten, returning letter winner, said. Besides Fagersten, Ben Bremner, Riley Morris, Wesley Boyer, Brandon Nicholson, Nick DiMarco, Sam Fransdal, Alex Clopton, David Weidenbacher, Ryan Helgerson, John Hennings and Mark Ihel are returning letter winners. Printz is looking forward to start the workout with new players and

some new talents. “During open gym my staff and I have noticed some new talent that has come into the program, and we are excited to begin working with everyone on the 10th,” he said. After participating at State, Printz already has his goals set for the season. “Our first goal is State, and then our second goal is to improve our sportsmanship as CF men’s soccer has a nortoriously bad reputation,” he said. To reach its goals, the team will use the upcoming spring break for an intensive schedule of conditioning units. “We will be doing two-a-day practices during spring break. The practice will mainly be conditioning so we evaluate everyone’s fitness level. Some of the conditioning will include a ball at times,” Printz said. Besides the team goals, Fagersten wants to be a “varsity starter and help other guys feel confident on the team.” He also said he wants to “win State” and “win it with class.” Printz said he is excited for the soccer season. “The team chemistry this season is better than last year, and I believe that we will have a very good season,” he said.

Trapshooting draws increasing interests Alex Entz Staff Writer

Let’s face it—guns have long been a taboo issue in school, yet trapshooting is steadily becoming more popular. Long overlooked as a school sport, trapshooting is finally starting to become a recognized and mainstream sport. The trapshooting team holds seven events this year, up from just a few not many years ago. The team has some big differences, but there is one binding similarity. “We all share the common interest of guns,” junior Clay Cornwell. Nobody on the team has any qualms about this controversial topic. Beyond the controversy lies a team that is very deep and may have a realistic shot of winning State this year. “We have sound shooters, and I think that we have good mechanics,” team coach David Grund said. The team’s main challenge is now

to remain focused and keep their strong “win-now” mentality. “This year we’ve really stepped it up a notch,” junior Clay Cornwell said. “My favorite part of trapshooting would probably be the kids that participate,” Cornwell said. The team is deep due to a strong set of returning seniors. The team also boasts 15 first year shooters Grund hopes can push the team hard down the stretch. “I’d like to see the team do well and place at State,” Grund said. Practices, though not strenuous like the ones the track team endures, feature shooting 25 shells at 19 yards, and 25 at 16 yards. They practice at the Cedar Falls Gun Club. Mechanics and repetition are stressed. “I think a weakness for our team would be staying focused and having a positive outlook,” Grund said. The team’s first meet is March 22 at Nashua Fish and Game.

Coach Week of the

Dan List Women’s Basketball After getting his 400th win this season and qualifying for State, head women’s basketball coach Dan List has been nominated for the IHSAA Hall of Fame and is our coach of the week. 1.) What do you think about your recent Hall of Fame nomination? I feel very surprised and honored. Coach Pappas from Waterloo West mentioned it to me at a rules meeting, and then I read it in the coaches newsletter from the state. 2.) How has the whole experience been for you? Well, it came at a great time. Our team played exceptionally well; they won 16 in a row, upset some top-rated teams, beat the state champion two years in a row and surprised a lot of people by making it to State. I was also fortunate to win my 400th game this season. It was a great bunch to coach and the honor was just the frosting to a very enjoyable coaching experience.

Tigers in Action

A True Underdog Story?

Mackenzee Quarnstrom Photo

Homing in on a target as he and his team advance to the “Champions Night,” which took place on Monday, March 10, is Colin Ashwood. To find the results, check the PE homepage at http://cfhspe.cedar-falls. iowapages.org/ The next intramural opportunity is for volleyball, and the first 16 teams to sign up by Wednesday, March 26 will be accepted. The form for signing up is also found at the PE homepage. The top volleyball team will win T-shirts.

Women’s Track Indoor Wartburg 3/10 (Waverly @ TBA) Men’s Track Indoor Wartburg 3/11 (Waverly @ TBA) Women’s Soccer Metro Jamboree 4/1 (W. East @ TBA) Men’s Soccer Metro Jamboree 3/28 (Home @ TBA) Women’s Tennis Dubuque Hempstead 4/5 (Away @ 9 a.m.) Men’s Tennis Dubuque Hempstead 4/5 (Home @ 9 a.m.) Women’s Golf MVC Quadrangular 4/8 (Cedar Rapids @ 3:15 p.m.) Trapshooting Nashua Fish and Game 3/22


Tiger Hi-Line

FEATURE FEATURE

The

E b c S ram led ggs

“Easter traditions bring surprise ” On Easter Monday, boys splash girls with containers filled with cold water. Then they flog them, but not with force. It is just for fun.

—Senior, Mishka Balazecova

for foreign exchange students Jakob Zierer Sports Editor

Honor Heindl Graphic

Holidays Around the World Mishka Balazecova

“On Easter Monday the girls usually invite the boys in for a drink or some food or give them chocolate.”

Arthur Burle

Slovakia

“In Brazil we have Holy Week. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we have no school. Forty days before Holy Week there is Carnival, and we have no school for five days.”

Andre Neves

Brazil “Brazilian Independence Day is Sept. 7 and Republic Proclamation Day is on April 22. We celebrate with parades and fireworks.”

Slovakia

Jakob Zierer

“I cannot think of any different holidays. The ages are different in Germany. The drinking age is 16; the driving age is 18.”

Germany

When you look out of your window, you see snow, snow and more snow. We have fought against the weather for more than four months, and it seems there won’t be an end. Heating bills are rising, the firewood has run out and the only signs of spring are in shop windows. Beautiful, strong colors, Easter decorations from colored eggs to spring clothes tell us that, despite the bitter weather, spring’s holiday, Easter will arrive on March 23. For a couple of Cedar Falls exchange students and a local student, attitudes toward winter and Easter traditions are quite diverse. Arthur Burle of Brazil is taking the cold weather in stride, explaining that, for him, snow has not lost its appeal— yet. Burle had never seen snow before coming to the United States and is still enjoying it. “I still like the snow. We don’t have snow in my city, and the weather pretty much doesn’t change during the whole year. It’s just between 75º and 85º,” Burle said, “The weather is different; the Easter traditions are basically the same.” “Since most of Brazilians are Catholics, we do have Lent, and some people try to stay without something that they really like during this 40 days, either some food or anything that they like as a sacrifice for Christ, and we don’t eat meat on Friday,” Burle said. Although Easter is typically cele-

brated for one to three days in the United States, Burle celebrates it for much longer in Brazil. “We have almost a whole week of holiday,” Burle said. Burle’s family usually gets together at his grandmother’s house on Easter Sunday. His grandmother hides the eggs she has bought for all the grandchildren, and they search for them. Exchange student Mishka Balazecova, from Slovakia, is, unlike Burle, used to the weather. “Around Easter it’s normally typical spring weather. The snow starts melting. But we have had some Easters with a lot of snow, too. It is unusual, though,” Balazecova said. Because of deep religious ties, Easter is an important holiday for the people of Slovakia. “Because Slovakia is a big, religious country, celebrating of Easter is pretty big. During Easter, we are not in school from Thursday until next Tuesday, so I am usually home with my family or we go to visit other relatives.” Though religious traditions are similar for Slovokians, Slovokia has Easter Monday traditions that vary from typical American celebration. “A lot of people go to the church, as well as I do, and people usually give up something during Lent. They do not eat meat on Fridays. On Easter Monday, boys splash girls with containers filled with cold water. Then they flog them, but not with force. It is just for fun. Boys usually get chocolate eggs for that or the girls ask them over to their house,” Balazecova said smiling.

“On Easter day I usually go somewhere for a trip, or I am just at home watching TV, which is full of Easter stories. We sometimes color eggs before Easter and then we use them as decoration.” Stuart Steffy, a CFHS senior and native Iowan, is not, like a lot of people, concerned about the unusual cold temperatures in this season. “Usually it’s nice and you can wear a short sleeve shirt and the snow starts to melt, but I love the snow, and I could have snow all year,” Steffy said. His family developed its own Easter tradition over the years. “After church in the morning, we go to the Amana Colonies and have a big lunch. We meet with my relatives from all over Iowa,” Steffy said. Their family bonding is a bit different than many family’s traditions. “We spend the whole day shopping and eating, and it is nice to have all the family together,” Steffy said. On Easter day, Burle will come back from a church trip to San Francisco. Although his family didn’t plan anything out of the ordinary, he is excited for his first Easter in the United States. “Besides the travel with the church, we didn’t plan anything, but I’m looking forward to celebrating Easter in America,” Burle said. Balazecova and her host family will also use the spring break to travel. She will spend the whole break in Chicago, but she doesn’t know how she will celebrate Easter with her host family. “I’m excited to go to Chicago, but I am not sure if we are doing any Easter traditions,” she said.


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