March 9, 2010 hi line

e g h iin l Ti er THE

March 9, 2010

Volume 50 Issue 20

1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613

CFHS students glimpse into business world Sara Gabriele Staff Writer

CFHS DECA advanced six seniors to the national contest after the state competition in Des Moines that ended on Monday, March 1. Students arrived on Sunday at AIB business college in Des Moines and were among 325 competitors from around the state to compete for slots to move on to the national competition.

The CFHS DECA group had 30 students competing at State.

At the college, the students took a test, did a role play, or presented a project to a panel of judges. Those who received second place or higher advanced to Nationals. Seniors Mason Troendle, Tyler Brewer, Matt Hart and Alex Entz all placed first in their events, and seniors Linden Terpstra, Allison Duchman and Alexis Rokes placed second.

“We were happy to learn

that we had placed first for our paper, and we were surprised with how well we scored and hope it translates to Nationals,” said Hart, who did his project on Sports and Entertainment Marketing with Entz.

DECA participants could chose from over 21 different topics to work on individually or in teams for their event.

They could then opt to write a research paper or create a businesses plan, take a test over the subject matter and do a role play, or do both.

Terpstra chose to do Apparel and Accessories Marketing for her topic and opted to take a test and do role plays.

“I had to take the Marketing Cluster exam right after I arrived on Sunday. There was lots of business terminology, and you really had to know what you were talking about,” Terpstra said.

Terpstra also did two role plays as part of her event.

For the role play, students are given various business situations or problems and 10 minutes to prepare how they would handle the situation.

They present their solution acting as the manager, or whoever they are assigned to be, and are subject to questioning.

“For my first role play, I accidentally sold a person’s watch that was on layaway, and for my second, I had to make a promotional plan for a clothing store. I drew from past DECA experience and my experience being a manager at Coldstone also gave me some real life business experience to draw from,” Terpstra said.

Others, such as Rokes, chose to create a business plan in addition to doing role plays.

Rokes’ topic area was Entrepreneurship, and for her project she created her own business– a golf retail and indoor hitting range called Specialties. She wrote an 11-

Miracle on Wheels: Ellen Gustavson Staff Writer

The Swartdogs, Team 525, earned a top spot in the Atlanta Championship last Friday and Saturday after it won the regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition in Kansas City.

The team was led by physics teacher Kenton Swartley.

Every year, the team builds a robot to perform different tasks in a kind of game, competing in two minute 15 second matches. This year the game was Breakaway, in which the six teams, divided into two alliances, maneuvered over bumps and through tunnels to move soccer balls to

their sides of the field and into goals. They received bonus points if the robot could do things like hang off towers in the center of the bumps or hang off other robots.

The team encountered challenges along the way, however.

After their first few matches, they noticed a communication error between their robot and the driver station. It appeared to the judges that they could communicate with their robot, but that was not the case. “We were so upset when it happened in three matches in a row,” junior robotics member Emily Hurban said. “Mid-day Friday we were the first seeded team, but by the end of Friday’s competition, after three matches of not functioning, we

State DECA Results

First Place Mason Troendle - Sports/Entertainment Marketing; Tyler Brewer - Technical Sales Presentation; Matt Hart & Alex Entz Sports & Entertainment Research Paper Second Place Linden Terpstra - Apparel Marketing; Allison Duchman Sports/Entertainment Marketing; Alexis Rokes - Entrepreneurship Business Plan Third Place Connor Brooks - Hotel & Lodging Marketing; Ben Nevitt and Michael Relph - Financial Services Team Management; Aubrey Caruso & Sarah Kress - Hospitality Marketing Team; Matt Hart & Alex Entz - Sports & Entertainment Team Management Honorable Mention Cameron Henry - Business Services Marketing; Stephen Poe Marketing Management; Dylan Deery & Ben Challgren - Buying & Merchandising Team; Henry Schares & Matt Klinehart - Buying & Merchandising Team; Alana Alberts & Jordan Smoldt - Travel and Tourism Management Team page paper explaining what she’d sell and do, the details of how she’d promote it, and included flow charts of how much money she’d make and

how much everything would cost.

“I chose something that FEATURE, page 4

Swartdogs win big in Kansas City, earn spot at Nationals in Atlanta

had slipped to eighth.”

However, programming mentor Neil Krumpel along with student members were busy pouring over their code to find any sources of error.

Eventually junior Chris Guetzlaff figured out a possible solution to the problem and worked with the rest of the drive team, Ashley Brown, Dan Harter and Emily Hurban to implement it.

When the team went through the new process in its second match on Saturday, it was excited to see that it worked. The crowd was also extremely supportive. “The noise level was unbelievable.

We had no idea that this many FEATURE, page 4

Danielle Robertson Photo

Juniors Shannon McClintock and Ashley Brown prepare their robot for shipping to the regional robotics competition in Kansas City.

2 opinion our view

Events happening at CFHS As we count down the days till Spring Break, there are still many things going on that might get overlooked during the excitement of the upcoming relaxation days. Here’s a highlight some of these upcoming and past events.

On March 5 and 6, the drama students did CF proud in their comedies Boy Meets Girl and The Niki Taylor Project. In the fast-paced production of Boy Meets Girl, audience members were kept on the edge of their seats, roving their eyes on the stage, trying to keep up with all the action. This play, based around the film production industry, in all its complicated glory, broken hearts and sparkle, was a worthwhile experience, and let’s not forget about the one-act play, “The Niki Taylor Project.” A play, written by students, was a comedic dream of what would happen if you were stuck in Facebook. Filled with plot that avid Facebook fans could understand, the play was highly successful and entertaining.

This week on Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., the wing symphony, symphonic band and jazz bands will perform in the annual pops concert titled “A Red Carpet Kinda Deal” with tickets ($5 adults/$4 students) sold at the door. Young and old audience members alike will not be disappointed with this year’s selection of songs including “Disney at the Movies,” “Les Misérables,” “Shrek Dance Party,” “Titan Spirit” and more, so don’t miss this performance.

Yesterday evening, if you missed the speech team’s recital, there is still a chance to see them at State performing at Starmont High School this Saturday. With 22 performances, this should be an amazing experience. A $4 donation is suggested for those attending.

Contact the Tiger Hi-Line

The Tiger Hi-Line is a weekly publication of the journalism classes of Cedar Falls High School, 1015 Division St., Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613. Our website is www.hiline.co.nr. The Hi-Line is distributed to CFHS students on Tuesdays to read in their DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) classes.

Columns and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Hi-Line or Cedar Falls Schools. The Hi-Line editorial staff view is presented weekly in the editorial labeled as Our View.

Reader opinions on any topic are welcome and should be sent to the Tiger Hi-Line staff or delivered to room 208. All letters must be signed. Letters must be submitted by 3 p.m. on Thursday for publication the following Tuesday. Letters may not exceed 300 words and may be edited to meet space limitations. Include address and phone number for verification.

Editorial Staff

Editors-in-Chief: Maggie Devine and Vincent Stigliani News Editors: Vincent Stigliani and Ben Sadkowski Opinion Editor: Monica Clark Sports Editor: Alex Entz Feature Editor: Aubrey Caruso On-Line Editors: Vincent Stigliani and Maggie Devine Entertainment Editor: Maggie Devine Senior Writer: Alex Entz Photo Editor: Ben Sadkowski

THE

tiger hi-line March 9, 2010

The Lightning Thief provides generic, predictable thrills For those of you out there looking for a fresh, unique adventure movie with stunning actors and a completely unpredictable plot: this movie isn't for you. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, is almost a carbon copy of Harry Photo from percyjacksonthemovie.com Potter, as it comes Directed by Harry Potter’s Chris Columbus, Thief is an from the same direcaction-packed adventure filled with Greek mythology. tor as the first two Harry Potter movies.

Half Blood where other Granted, that might not corporated into the modern demigods live because the necessarily be a bad thing. world. For instance, the land normal human world is unChris Columbus did an of the lotus eaters turns out safe for them. Percy learns amazing job with Harry to be the Lotus Casino in that Zeus believes he has Potter by not only sticking Las Vegas (in Greek mystolen his lightto the plot thology those who ate lotus ening bolt, and relatively flowers became sleepy and he has 10 days closely, but addicted). to return it. He by using The entrance to the also learns that crowdUnderworld turns out to be Hades, god of pleasing the famous Hollywood sign, the Underworld, special with graffiti on it actually is holding his effects as being Greek letters. Also, mother hostage. well. This the entrance to Mount With the help of movie has Olympus is the Empire a satyr (a halfthe same State Building. human half-goat) sort of There are a couple major named Grover visually plot changes from the book, Ellen Gustavson and his friend captivatwhich is forgivable seeing Staff Writer Annabeth (a ing action as how a 400-page book daughter of the goddess sequences along with a needed to be compressed Athena), Percy embarks very Harry Potter/National into a two-hour movie. The on a quest across modTreasure-ish, yet still clever most obvious is the fact that ern America to get to the and exciting, story to create 12-year-old Percy Jackson Underworld to rescue his a movie that is overall still is played by 18-year-old mother and find out who the Logan Lerman — do they worth watching. I would give it three out of five stars. lightening thief really is. actually expect us to believe Those who know the The Lightning Thief, he's 12? most common stories in based on a book by Rick Still, it all fits together Greek mythology will pick Riordan, is about a 12-yearvery well. This movie is a up on a lot of allusions. old boy named Percy pretty generic, predictable Throughout the movie, Jackson who is a son of the adventure movie more suitPercy encounters several Greek god Poseidon, makable for families, but it is Greek mythology references interesting enough to watch ing him a demigod, or half that are very cleverly ina god. He is sent to Camp for those of any age.

SPORTS 3

THE

tiger hi-line March 9, 2010

Sports Opinion: Price caps needed

for powerhouses to ensure parity Alex Entz Senior Writer

Parity does not exist. Not in baseball, not in life, not anywhere.

Of course, though, to hear Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig talk about it, baseball is entirely and completely fair.

To see a list of the value of baseball franchises compared to the value of franchises in the United States’ other major sports arenas provides an astonishing insight: baseball has, far and away, the biggest value spread.

On the bottom sit the hapless Florida Marlins, with a payroll of

$36,814,000; on the top sit the vaunted New York Yankees at $201,449,289.

As we all know, the Yankees won the World Series this past year, and could seemingly be beaten by only two players: Cliff Lee of the Philadelphia Phillies and John Lackey of the Los Angeles Angels. And, surprise: in a poll conducted

by ESPN, the majority of team executives expected the Yankees to get Lackey off the free-agent market for up to $100 million.

Where is the parity in that? The defending World Champions, fresh off of spending $450 million in the last off season, buying two more players at ridicu-

lously inflated prices while the rest of the league shakes their collective heads? How can that possibly be good for baseball?

A salary cap was considered sacrilegious for many years because baseball remains an old-fashioned sport. Kids don’t grow up dreaming of being A-Rod, they dream of being Babe Ruth or Cy Young. Unfortunately, the gap in payrolls and total income has exploded in the last couple of decades, to the point where a small-market team can only hope to be competitive every three or four years, with the other years going as “rebuilding years.” In the past, despite romantic notions, such huge gaps did not exist, and player development trumped overspending on fading stars.

Indeed, this year saw only one small-market team--the Minnesota Twins--make the playoffs.

They were promptly sent packing after a sweep.

Beyond that, the lopsided “parity” is forcing teams to make tough decisions. A salary cap has become a necessity in recent years; teams that heavily outspend others can buy all of the best players, while the small teams are forced to spend years developing talent, which typically leads

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to only a short window of success. Then, the team-unable to pay its stars--is forced to trade them away.

A good case in point is the Cleveland Indians, who have essentially become the Triple-A team for the rest of baseball. Handicapped by a lack of money and a depressed local economy generating little new money, the team’s executives were forced to trade off Cy Young winners in two consecutive seasons. The Minnesota Twins may have to trade away hometown hero and perennial All-Star Joe Mauer because the asking price will be too high.

Is it good for baseball to have professional athletes put money before all else?

What example does that set for young children growing up and following a team, only to see all of its stars gravitate to the coasts?

In the modern world, a salary cap is the only way to negate the Scott Boras effect (an infamous über-agent), where every free agent is heavily overpaid. While I’m certainly not advocating for a full salary cap, a partial one to even the playing field to say-half of where the Yankees are now--is a more dire necessity than instant replay. It’s time for baseball to step up: let Selig run the show, not Boras.

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Athlete Week of the

John Gogola Dodgeball Senior 1. What is your favorite part of intramural dodgeball?

Being able to just hang out with friends and screw around. Also, getting to hurl balls at people is a pretty good stress reliever.

2. You played through an injury to help deliver a second title to the “FP’s.” Why did you risk further injury?

Well, this is my last year, and we barely lost the championship last year, so I really wanted it this year. Besides, I usually just sat back and caught the balls more to avoid putting a lot of stress on my knee.

3. What was your best dodgeball memory?

Winning the championship sophomore year as underdogs and just getting pumped up after big catches and hits.

Tigers in Action

Women’s Track Home 3/16 @ MVC Indoor @ UNI-Dome, 4:30 p.m.

Men’s Track Home 3/15 @ MVC Indoor @ UNI-Dome, 4:00 p.m.

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tiger hi-line feature 4 THE

March 9, 2010

Swartdogs

DECA

people wanted our team to do well,” Hurban said.

The rest of that match was extremely successful, and the team moved from eighth to fourth place. During alliance picks, the team was picked by the first-seeded team, putting them in the quarterfinals.

“We were ecstatic,” Hurban said.

From there, the team moved up to semifinals, which they also won. (For this they got to spray Swartley’s hair orange.)

The finals were suspenseful because they lost the first match but won the second. They needed to win two out of three matches, so it was anyone’s game.

Team 525’s alliance ended up winning the final match, and therefore Regionals, by bonus points for their robot hanging.

The team was incredibly surprised to find it had earned a place at the Atlanta Championship. The team even agreed on the bus ride

I somewhat know about and something that I would want in the community. It took a long time; I worked on it at least an hour to two hours every night for two weeks, but I’m excited now to have the opportunity to revise it and hopefully make it at Nationals,” Rokes said.

Nationals will be held this year in Louisville, Ky., and the CFHS DECA students will road trip down.

At Nationals, there are over 10,000 students from all across the nation and abroad. Students re-present their projects to vie for one of 10 top positions in each category.

“I think the state competion gives a great experience of being put in a professional situation. It really gives them a chance to see what the business world is like, but I think Nationals really puts in a much more realistic situation. With 10,000 kids there to get in the top 10, they’re there to win,” adviser Matt Flaherty

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Danielle Robertson photo

Senior Scott Packard operates the robot at an open house day before sending it on to Kansas City. home that only when they all woke up on the next day and saw their medals, they would actually believe it had happened.

All of the team members worked extremely hard all season to build the robot.

But they felt what mattered

most was not whether they won or lost; they were just proud to be competing.

Team 525 has its second Regional in Minnesota, which is from March 31 to April 3. The Championships in Atlanta are from April 14 to 17.

said.

Terpstra is also looking forward to the trip to Kentucky.

“It’s a great business opportunity to be placed in that situation. You get an opportunity to make different connections with people from all across the country and have an experience you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else.”

Terpstra, like all the other CFHS Nationals qualifiers this year, has advanced to Nationals in years past.

For Entz, this trip marks his third year at Nationals.

“I think by the time they’re seniors, generally, seniors know what it takes and have had the experience,” Flaherty said.

However, two underclassmen came very close to qualifying in their event and will also be attending Nationals.

Sophomore Ben Challgren and junior Aubrey Caruso received third place for their events and will attend the national conference because two of the other qualifiers can’t attend.

Libraries hold book sales, events Jayne Durnin Staff Writer

The Cedar Valley libraries have been up to more than just loaning books lately.

On March 6 and 7 the Waterloo Public Library hosted a Friends of the Library Used Book and Magazines Sale, as well as a comic book sale. The sale was from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 1:30 to 4:30 on Sunday.

The Waterloo library holds four used book and magazine sales a year.

All the proceeds go back to the library to purchase equipment, furnishings and materials.

Book sale prices were two/$1 for hardbacks, two/50¢ for paperbacks and two/$1 for magazines. Also records, tapes and DVDs were two/$1. There was also a special section reserved for Friends of the Library members. A family membership to become a Friend of the Library is $15.

The library also has a used book store called The Book Review. It is open on Tuesdays from 10 to 7 and

Wednesday through Saturday from 10 to 1. The Book Review is located on the first floor of the Waterloo library.

The Cedar Falls library also has some opportunities to buy used books.

The Book Nook at the Cedar Falls library sells used books and magazines and is the primary fundraiser of the library. It is located in the front of the library.

The Friends of the Library Book Nook hours are Monday from 10 to 7 and Wednesday and Saturday from 10 to 4.

The library does not have an annual sale, but each year they have a booth at the Sturgis Falls Celebration and sell paperbacks.

The Cedar Falls Public library also offers a lot of fun activities and opportunities.

This week the library will be having a “Teen Tech Week.” Events include an Internet scavenger hunt and a Wii drop where they will be playing Rock Band, Wii Sports, Wii Music, Wii Fit or Outdoor Adventure.

They will also be showing the movie Whip It, and free

popcorn and beverages will be available. During the movie there will be a drawing for Best Buy gift cards.

Students will also get an opportunity to use the library’s new Flip video cameras and demonstrate what patrons like best about the library. Throughout the week, the library will be giving away prizes and holding a drawing for a Flip video camera.

Both libraries also host regular book discussion groups and classes for teens. All the free events are posted on their websites.