The
Tiger HI-LINE
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Volume 53 Edition 27
r e g i T l a v i t s e F m Fil
Haiti Mission Love family go spread support and care in Haiti/Page 3 Follow us on Twitter @ tigerhiline, Facebook at TigerHilineOnline and on our website at www.hiline.cfschools.org
“Audience members had the opportunity to take a stroll along Hollywood Blvd. and walk down the red carpet,” committee leader Maya Amjadi said.
Winning Best Director were Tarrell Christie and Luke Kreger for their film C.F. Noire about a detective solving a robbery case.
Winning Best Film and Viewers’ Choice was Horrible Things Part II. A horror film about a character trying to steal a girl because of the unknown powers she holds. Above is senior Josh Ochoa in a scene from Horrible Things. He was awarded Best Performance. To the immediate right, senior TarThe Best Technical Merit winner of rell Christie won MelissaBeth Breddin WellsPhotos Photo the evening went to Battle of the the award for Best Big’uns: The Cosmic Invader. This Supporting Performance for his Obama role in the Battle film featured a UFO whose monster of the Big’uns: The Cosmic Invader. Above and right are seniors Anna Love and Maya Amjadi who reawakens the Big’uns and battles. emceed the evening with poise.
News Briefs Robotics The robotics team placed 31st out of the 100 teams in its division in the First Robotics Competition (FRC). The team was also one of the three Industrial Safety Award finalists out of the 100 teams. The competition took place in St. Louis’s Edward Jones Dome, home of the St.Louis Rams on April 24-27. Over 14,000 people attended this event. The students also listened to speakers Dean Kamen, an influential inventor, and will.i.am. World Food Prize April 29, junior Max Su attended the World Food Prize
Iowa Youth Institute at Iowa State University in Ames. He presented his research paper which focused on how to solve main global challenges. He received recommendations and comments from a small group of students and faculty on his work. He also got to connect with students from across the state who have also been researching countries and identifying solutions to world problems. There were many more opportunities for Su at the institute including interacting with global leaders, choosing among sessions to explore his
interests and interactive tours. Orchestra The All-City Orchestra performance was the night of April 29 in the high school gymnasium. Students from throughout the district gathered to make beautiful music for a large audience packed with supportive parents, teachers, siblings and peers. Blood Drive Students can participate in The Annual Blood Drive by signing up in the counseling, attendance and nurses’ offices. Parent consent forms must be returned to Mrs. Gardner before May 8. The blood drive
will be on Friday, May 10 in the band room. Exceptional Effort The Exceptional Effort awards for the month of April were recently handed out to staff and students who go above and beyond. Those included social studies teacher Chad VanCleve, senior Katie Friedel, junior Sam Ahrenholz and sophomores Beth Wells and Dominic Cipressi. Congratulations to these deserving and helpful people as they continue to reach high and work hard. Music Concerts The orchestra is putting on
a concert Monday, May 13 at 7:30 .p.m. The band will also be having a concert on Monday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m, and the last vocal concert of the school year will be Thursday, May 23 at 8 p.m. Earth Day The Earth Week bud counting contest attracted teachers and students. There were 1,411 buds. Math teacher Emily Wheeler was 29 away, winning the teacher division. Three students tied in their division with a guess of 1,500 (seniors Madie Judish and Logan Lewellyn and sophomore Deanna Hudson). Judisch and Wheeler receive Earth Day T-shirts.
2
The
OPINION Our View
Cedar Falls High School deserves high ranking
Cedar Falls High School was recently ranked fourth on the U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best high schools in the state. To be eligible for a ranking, CF had to have been awarded a national gold or silver medal. Gold medals are awarded to the top 500 schools in the nation based on college readiness. Silver medals go to high performing schools with lower college readiness than the gold medal schools. Cedar Falls received a silver medal, a prestigious honor seeing as only seven percent of the nation’s schools were awarded with it. Coming in at fourth place in the state of Iowa on this distinguished list is also a massive honor. The staff at the Hi-Line would like to congratulate the students and staff of Cedar Falls High School for their exceptional efforts and test scores making us deserving of such a ranking. Nationally, CF is ranked at 954 out of 21,000 schools. Test scores show that students are 85 percent proficient in reading and 90 percent in math. Currently, the student to teacher ratio is 15-1. These factors alone allow Cedar Falls to be named one of the best schools in the state of Iowa, and ultimately one of the best in the United States. Ninty-three percent of the schools in America are not as college ready and proficient as Cedar Falls. The awards and rankings CFHS have recieved are truly a great achievement. We would also like to extend our congratulations and thanks to all who participated in the April 27 Tiger Trot. The annual 5k raised around $1,000 this year with about 90 people participating. Congrats to the top three finishers Mike Wells (18:43), Lou Fenech (19:23) and Jennifer Peters (21:09). Proceeds from this race will help Cedar Falls students whose families struggle to make ends meet. All who contributed to the cause should know how helpful their money is. Keep up the excellent work Cedar Falls.
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 HiLine is distributed to CFHS students on Tuesdays to read during their RCTs fourth period. 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 Thursday for publication in the following Tuesday 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: Maya Amjadi News Editor: Katherine Mayhew Opinion Editor: Maya Amjadi Sports Editor: Jared Hylton Feature Editor: Sandra Omari-Boateng Entertainment Editor: Lindsey Davis Hi-Line Online Editor: Martha Hall Staff Writers: Ana Cunha, Amanda Harwood, Alyssa Jensen, Lauren Nickerson, Kaleb Bengston
Tiger
HI-LINE
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Recent torture report shows U.S. ugly stain We have all heard of torture, but doesn’t that only happen in movies and third world countries? No, according to a bipartisan study recently released by an 11-member panel named the Constitution Project, the United States has been participating in torture in secret prisons like Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and in military bases in the Middle East. In government speak, the torture is also called extraordinary rendition or irregular rendition. It is the apprehension and para-judicial transfer of a person from one country to another. During the United States “War on Terror” under the administration of President George W. Bush, the term became associated with U.S. practices of transferring suspects for interrogation in countries or prisons known to employ torture. The process has continued under the Barack Obama administration, though new rules have been put in place that supposedly prevent torture of abducted individuals. This controversial subject was supposedly started after the 9/11 attacks to gain intelligence, but according to the study, there is evidence supporting that torture start-
ed as early as the Reagan era. 9/11 was over 12 years ago, and we have taken out the two major heads of the infamous al-Qaeda. Now they are dead, and we are still engaging in torture. One of the most commonly used methods of torture (and it is horrible to say even that) is “waterboarding.” According to Wikipedia, “‘Waterboarding’ is a form of torture in which water is poured over cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning. Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, dry drowning (a sense of drowning do to a lack of the ability to draw oxygen into the lungs), damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage, and sometimes death. Adverse physical consequences can manifest themselves months after the event, while psychological effects can last for years.” In addition to the atrocious details of torture, the results of the practice are also questionable. Does torture produce
more intelligence? Is torture used to simply produce false confessions or to exact punishments on undeserving scapegoats? Another fallout of torture came up when I was talking with a coworker at my job. She said, “When we torture those we capture, we do put our own troops in greater danger of being tortured themselves if they are captured by the enemy. The USA is a leading nation of the world and other nations look up to us as an example of how to do things. If we demonstrate that torturing enemy captives for the ‘good’ of our nation is right, then that gives the green light to other countries to do the same thing. If we harp on about human rights and then go around severely violating them, then that just makes (America) look like a hypocritical nation.” I agree, but apparently some actual government officials disagree. Some would argue that under conditions where time is short, the potential of saving many at the cost of exacting horrendous pain from one suspect is worth the gamble to prevent the loss of many more innocent victims of terrorists. When I asked social studies teacher Chad Van
Cleve if he believes that the good of many overrules the well-being of one, he responded: “No, it doesn’t matter the situation or circumstances. Each person is entitled to his/her civil rights, whether he/she is an American citizen or not.” The part of the Constitution he is referring to is, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Continuing with Van Cleve’s statement; “It’s unfortunate that many are put in danger, but once we open the door to torturing or anything of the like, the dominoes start falling.” Van Cleve made a great point. It’s like the adage, “give an inch, take a mile.” Once we open that door to torture, what else will we let pass do to “special circumstances”? I want to finish with a quote from one of the Founding Fathers, a signer of the Constitution and a true patriot. Benjamin Franklin said, “They that can give up essential liberty to ensure a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” By Staffwriter Kaleb
BENGSTON
Bill to punish judges for gay marriage ruling misguided Iowa’s judicial branch is not made up of Republicans and Democrats. Our judges interpret the laws based solely on one thing: what is just. Their rulings are not dependent on their own personal beliefs, religious teachings, educational upbringings or family influences. They rule in accordance with the laws set forth by the Iowa Constitution. When a ruling is unanimous, that indicates how sure we can be, as a state, that our judges are practicing unbiased, nonpartisan work. Regardless of where they come from, they rule in the same way. It reassures us; the law is being upheld fairly.
The 2009 Varnum v. Brien unanimous ruling is no exception — except for the fact that it granted marriage rights to same-sex couples. Now suddenly, Iowa legislators, Tom Shaw and Dwayne Alons, see error in a judicial system that has brought equality for years. Those few Iowa House members are the erroneous ones. To punish the judges for ruling in a way they disagree with, they have suggested a pay cut. For the four judges still serving (three were ousted during elections with funds from out-of-state) their income would decrease to $25,000 rather
than the current $163,000 they make if the bill proposed by the legislators becomes law. We cannot pay justices different amounts based on which rulings they were involved in, and justices should not be punished for interpreting the law fairly. This response stems from ignorance and intolerance. Some legislatures (and the people they represent) are so anti-gay that they are proposing to significantly lower the salaries of justices involved in the Varnum v. Brien case. It is sad that while the state has been progressive in allowing same-sex marriage
ahead of most other states, there are people willing to take extreme measures to counteract the recent success. Why is “Who can marry?” an argument and a debate? Marriage, a symbol and act of love has been prevented and judged and rallied against. Something so beautiful rials up so much hatred and despair. It is absolutely despicable that Iowa legislators think it is a sound idea to greatly decrease the pay of judges for a fair ruling involving samesex marriage. By Editor-in-Chief Maya
AMJADI
The
Tiger
HI-LINE
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
3
FEATURE
Blake Love plays basketball with a Haitian child at far left. His sister, Anna Love, plays with children at the UCI school during a recess break. The school, built by UCI, currently holds grades K-2nd. They add a grade each year. Below, Blake and Anna take a walk with their team to where UCI is building more housing to accomodate community members.
Siblings return to Haiti In early April, as many Cedar Falls students were just getting back into the swing of things after Spring Break, senior Anna Love and sophomore Blake Love set down their school books for 10 days to experience a different kind of learning. The siblings and their mother traveled to Haiti on a mission trip. “It was my second time going to Haiti. I go with a group from Orchard Hill Church, although non-members are also welcome. We go to a small town in the middle, rural parts of Haiti to stay with an organization called United Christians International,” Anna Love said. “UCI is an amazing organization whose goal is to provide Haitians with a way to take care of themselves. As an example, they are working on distributing coffee tree seedlings so the people can grow the plant and sell the produce, earning their own profit.” Her brother, Blake Love, also went on the mission trip for the second time and helped with several projects as well. “We did many small work projects like putting in two cement floors, started building a fence around the university and many other miscellaneous small jobs,” Blake Love said. The projects that the Loves worked on played a significant part in improving safety in the area, especially around the
local university. “We bought the supplies and worked on building a fence for the university school on the UCI campus. Security is needed because there are a lot of instances of kidnapping of college kids in Haiti because people assume that if the parents can afford a college education for their child, they can also afford a ransom. The kidnappers are rarely violent, just desperate for money to be able to live,” Anna Love said. “Four of the 50 or so college students had been kidnapped, or someone had tried to kidnap them while they went to a different college. It's the first year for the university at UCI.” Another experience that the Loves shared was getting to spend quality time with the local children. “It surprised me that when I got there, kids I had met and spent time with last year remembered me right away, even after just being there for one week a year ago. It was amazing,” Blake Love said. The Loves helped with both churchrelated and non church-related activities while spending time with the kids. “We also did Bible school for two different groups of nutrition center kids. These kids are there because they are in the most poverty stricken homes in the area. Many of them begin in the center malnourished. We taught them
a Bible story, did two crafts, played at recess and, of course, fed them. One of the crafts was a picture of them with their photo on it that we took and printed there. That was really fun for them because they don't have mirrors, so a picture is the way they can see themselves,” Anna Love said. While they experienced a lot on their trip between the projects and activities with the kids, one of the most powerful memories for Blake was witnessing a baptism. “The thing that stuck with me the most was during a baptism in the river a girl who had troubles with possession in the past started flailing around and yelling as she got baptized. They prayed over her, and the spirit left her and she was re-baptised. This struck me because I always thought that possession was just in movies, but it showed me how the Devil is trying to gain power but God will always prevail. This trip reminded me how fortunate we all are and how money and stuff doesn't bring happiness,” Blake Love said. Anna was shocked at the level of maturity and adult-like behavior from the kids who live a difficult life of poverty. "These kids are there because they are in the most poverty stricken homes in the area. Many of them begin in the center malnourished,” Anna Love said. “Dur-
ing all this time the kids acted so well behaved. There were four year olds acting like parents to one year olds, helping them eat, drink, helping them color and rocking them if they cried.” For Anna, the hardest part of the trip was saying goodbye. “These children’s childhoods are non-existent. The only time I saw them act like kids was during the Easter egg hunt, and it was wonderful to see that crazed excited gleam in their eyes as they raced to find the plastic eggs. I felt like I was back in America again,” Anna Love said. “As they left they each got a set of clothes, toothbrush and hat balloon made by me. It was fun to be able to bring my balloons down and make them for the kids there — they rarely see anything like that. The worst part of the entire Bible school was seeing them all walk away. The two hours we just spent with them was nothing like what they were going home to. They weren't going home to enough food, suitable shelter and 18 people ready to play soccer and blow bubbles with them, but truly terrible living conditions. Watching them walk away was very heartbreaking for me.”
By Staff Writer Amanda
HARWOOD
Submitted Photos
The
Tiger
HI-LINE
SPORTS
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Track has big expectations for State after Drake Relays
Cedar Falls track posted impressive numbers at the Drake Relays over the weekend, giving a look into the upcoming weeks. The men’s 4x400 team finished third in the state, running a 3:21.92 in the finals, finishing just 4/10 of a second behind Cedar Rapids Prairie. The team shaved nearly four seconds off its time from its qualifying race, which the team posted a 3:25.60. The team was made up senior Nick deBuhr, senior Sam Jamison, junior Sam Ahrenholz
and junior Zach Shippy. “It meant a lot to me because it was my first time in the finals in three years. We wanted to see how we matched up with all the teams in the state,” deBuhr said. “I feel like we definitely sent a message at Drake.” In the women’s part of the meet, senior Allison Gregg finished 5th in the 1,500 meters. Gregg, an Alabama commit, ran a 4:41.42, six seconds behind Linn-Mar’s Stephanie Jenks who brought home first place. The 4x100 also brought
home fifth place, running a finals time of 49.47. The team consisted of senior Daianera Whitaker, junior Symone Robinson, senior Katelyn Haan and freshman Alicia Harrington anchored the squad. Cedar Falls alum James Harrington also made his return to the blue track. Harrington, a freshman at the University of Alabama, started with the baton in the sprint medley relay in which the Crimson Tide would finish fifth. Harrington also ran in the 4x200 relay, but the Tide would not finish.
State is right around the corner for the track teams, with the first events taking place on Thursday, May, 16 on the blue track at Drake. “We’re starting to back off on our workouts and keep our legs fresh. Our game plan is to have fresh legs going into Districts and State so we can perform our best,” deBuhr said.
Sports Editor Jared
Hylton
Second annual Tiger Trot raised $1,000 that will be used to help students’ families that have financial hardships.
Athlete of the
4 Week
Adman Shehata Men’s Soccer
Junior Ahmad Shehata leads the men’s soccer team in goals this season, finding the back of the net seven times already. How has the team bounced back from starting the season 0-3? We’re very proud of how the team has progressed. The first couple games were kind of rough, but we’re on a seven game winning streak. What are your goals for the rest of the season? Hopefully we’ll bring home the conference championship. How do you feel about the team chemistry? It’s getting better each game. We’re learning everybody’s individual strengths and using them to our advantage.
Tigers in
Action
Women’s Golf
Next up: West, East, Columbus on May 7 at Gates Park at 12 p.m.
Women’s Track & Field Next up: Regionals on May 9 at TBA
Men’s Track & Field
Next up: Districts on May 9 at TBA
Women’s Tennis
Next up: Iowa City High on May 7 at home at 4:30 p.m.
Men’s Tennis
Next up: Iowa City High on May 7 at City High at 4:30 p.m.
Women’s Soccer
Next up: Cedar Rapids Xavier on May 7 at home at 6:45 p.m.
Men’s Soccer
Next up: Cedar Rapids Xavier on May 7 at Xavier at 4:15 p.m.
Baseball
Next up: Fresh/Soph on May 12 at home at TBD
Softball
(Left to right) Sophomore Alexa Rabune, junior Kayla Dowell; Superintendent Mike Wells and sophomore Beth Wells; Rich Strike; junior Lisa Morales.
Next up: Waterloo East on May 21 at home at 5:30 p.m.