Intro.'s feature magazine (2014)

t s e w E SID ORY ST date up

INTRO. TO NEWSPAPER’S

FEATURE

MAGA-

ZINE Dec 18, embe 201 r 4

Human Canvases

More than a handful of students at Iowa City West High School have tattoos, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of knowledge behind these tattoos. Most of all tattoos have a story behind them, here are some stories of West High.

Kevin Dowell ‘15 already has five tattoos and he is only 18.Kevin was seventeen when he got his first tattoo. It was in Chicago from a friend named Gilby. He has a quote on his right bicep, “That one probably hurt the most, like a nine out of ten.” His favorite tattoo is the one on his left bicep. It’s a young man sleeping under clouds with the name Raymone written in cursive letters. This is his favorite of all of his tattoos because Raymone was someone very special to him. Growing up, Raymone was a huge role model to him, but Raymone has recently past away and this was Dowell’s memorial to a long time friend. He has a huge chest piece with the saying ‘family first’ with roses in each corner with wings on each pectoral muscle.

BY RYAN STARK ryan.starkwss@gmail.com

At one of the many local tattoo shops in the North Liberty area, Nix Rue Tattoo Shop, one of the shop artists, Andy October, was able answer some questions. What the most common tattoo design and he said, “The infinity sign.” He also said the best time to get your first tattoo would be at age twenty, because not everyone is mature enough at eighteen. He said, “The worst place to get a tattoo would be the neck, throat, or face.” “As artist we are always constantly producing more work,” he replied when he was asked why he decided to get involved with tattooing. “I am always making progress by advancing from paper, to canvas, to skin.” He was fourteen when he got his first tattoo, it’s a memorial tattoo of a tribal lion, he got it in New York, where he formerly lived, he has been tattooing for almost five years and his favorite style of tattooing is water color.

Pierre Williams ‘15 another of the few students who have tattoos,. has a spider web on his right wrist going up to his forearm. Inside the spider web is his mom’s name Shawn. He is getting a memorial tattoo of his brother’s name on his left arm and he already has his initials, one on each of his pectoral muscles. He said that the next tattoo he is going to get is the Chicago Bulls logo on his throat because he is originally from Chicago.

Hannah Twitchell ‘15 has an interesting story about her triskellion (tri-skell-e-n) tattoo. It all started when she started to watch a popular tv show, Teen Wolf. “I saw it as a back piece in the show and I just fell in love with it,” said Twitchell, “it’s so calming and I started to draw it all the time.” She watches the show on Mondays, with her “Moonday Friends” as she calls them.

She knew she wanted a tattoo but she couldn’t decide what she wanted until she decided to take the easy road and get the triskellion. She was asked on a scale 1-10 how bad it hurt, “I was surprised it didn’t hurt as much as I thought, I didn’t cry either, I can be a cry baby sometimes,” says Twitchell. The style of the tattoo is Celtic mixed with a little bit of tribal. “I plan on taking my sister to Missouri when she turns 16 so we can get matching tattoos together,” says Twitchell.

t Tattoo Gun Hannah Twitchell ‘15

Triskellion Pierre Williams ‘15 Spider Web

Andy October Water Color Tattoo he did

Student Tattoos

Kevin Dowell ‘15 Raymone Memorial

On Your Own

Drawing Classes

“It is geared towards what students will need to know when living on their own in college or with a first apartment. A variety of topics are covered including, finances, loans, credit card fraud, laundry, cooking for one, job applications, rental agreements, healthy relationships and more,” said Beth Long, a teacher of the class.

“Drawing is the base of every kind of artwork we do,” said Christian Aanestad, an art teacher at West.

A r t s

OR

Stained Glass

The class is for thinkers in two dimensions, and “It’s more craftbased,” said Christian Aanestad, an art teacher at west.

“Students do need to provide their own material for the class, but everything else is provided.

Those individuals that want to learn to sew or continue their sewing skills are invited to take this class,” Beth Long said .

Exploratory Art

Nah

Sure

“Typically, we suggest either exploratory art, a drawing class or stained glass,” said Christian Aanestad, an art teacher at West, noting a good place for artists to start.

How about sewing?

Child Development

Yes

6 5TH PERIOD DECEMBER 2014

mwanger32@gmail.com

AP Studio Art

“Typically, if you plan on going to college and studying art, you want to take our AP studio art class,” said Christian Aanestad, a West High art teacher.

Are

you...

Art Master

An Artist?

Are you interested in caring for a child?

K i n d a

N o

Family Consumer Science

Are You Hungry?

Yes

Engineering

Computers

Visual basic

“Many universities are now requiring students in pure and applied sciences, architecture, and business to pass at least one computer science course,” said Steve Ehren, who teaches the class.

BY MASON WANG

A Problem Solver?

“We offer a variety of courses in food preparation,” said Jacque Green, a Family Consumer Science teacher at West.

AP computer science

You

A flowchart-styled guide to registering f

N o

Foods

“Students in other fields are finding they are much more marketable if they can use the computer to solve problems in their discipline,” said Steve Ehren, who teaches both computer science classes.

should

Barely

Project Runway

“How people parent and types of families are also discussed. We discuss wanting to parent all the way to the birth of the child,” said Beth Long, a Family Consumer Science teacher here at West.

What Cla

A Craft?

Creative Fabrics

“This class is geared towards clothing construction. Students will make a garment that they can wear by the end of the trimester as well as a few other projects leading up to the final one,” said Beth long, a Family Consumer Science teacher at west.

It is almost that time of year. Not the h after them. Do you know what classes you that class you regret taking, and it haunts y students and teachers give their advice o ever you envision yourself in the future, yo

Rate your engineering skills N o

Have you taken or are you taking Algebra II? Da Vinci/10

Yes

Painting

Painting is for those who are 2d visual thinkers.

Ceramics

“Ceramics is my favorite class to teach,” said Christian Aanestad, an art teacher at West. “Ceramics is a craft-based course.”

Aerospace engineering A r t s

OR

A Craft?

“It is a class for those that want to investigate why things work the way they do, analyze data and answer/pose new questions that haven’t been asked before, and build some really neat projects” said Scott Kalher, a teacher of the class.

Practical?

I haven’t engineerin

POE or IE

“[Underclass Foundation help prepa advanced have caree as Intro to E Manufactu tals of Ele tion Skills,” s Project Lea

European History

Social studies teacher Gary Neuzil particularly promotes this class.

Take 2 of the three Euro History classes offered, each covering a different time period.

holidays, but something looming u will register for? There is always you to this day. Now, experienced on electives worth taking. Howou must decide by late January:

AP

European

History

AP European history makes one tough. The first question that you’re asked as you step into your AP Government AP government room is “Did you take AP euro “Shutt is a pretty cool guy last year?” Those who take AP Euro will do fine and American Studies fresh- D o n e ! in other advanced classes. “If you are a student man year prepares you pretty that could be successful in an AP class, take AP well,” a West High student said. euro,” said Gary Nuezil, a West High social studies teacher.” Another student here agrees the class is U.S. Government difficult but rewarding. “It’s hard, tedious but the One U.S. government taker recomtopics are very interesting.” Yet another student mended the class to “Anyone who focuses on the positive side, saying “it’s fun and is interested in learning about hisa really good way to improve study habits” and tory in a way that is still relevant to recommends the class to “anyone willing to put in us today.” The student said, “I think a lot of work to both better their study skills and it is a good class that has a ballearn and whole crap ton while having a jolly load anced amount of homework and of fun.” Specifically, “the class is very hard at first an excellent class environment.” but after the first few months Tyson makes the AP Human Geography class very enjoyable.” To summarize, a survivor of American studies teacher Gary the class said, “Anyone who has interest in Europe Neuzil says that the class is good and time to read a lot [should take this class]. It’s for sophomores looking for collegreat if you care about history. And Europe.” giate credit. Also, he doesn’t think you have to take a history class.

asses

u Take?

for the 2015-16 school year.

m

American Literature

N o

Ye s

Journalism Classes Yes, but what Social Studies class should I take?

A Writer?

Do you like History?

A Reporter?

Industrial Technology

Yes

Are you a person who is “naturally curious, and who is not afraid to put themselves out there.”?

Go on the Journalism route.

“It’s a class that teaches you common sense and etiquette when interacting with others, as well as a way to keep up with current events locally and nationally.” Journalism students.

How did you make this flowchart?

I’m not sure

“Industrial Technology”?

smen should take] nal classes that will are them for the classes that they er interests in such Engineering Design, uring 1, Fundamenectricity, Construcsaid Scott Kahler, a ad the way teacher.

The class is “One of my favorites even though I do not like English because Mrs. Shullaw is one of the most inspiring people,” a West High student said, also “Anyone who loves a challenge and is good at critical reading,” should take the class. Some say the opposite. “I really enjoyed the material covered in class, however the teacher was very abrasive most of the time,” a different student of the course said.

N o Another Ind. Tech. class?

taken an ng class/10

ED*

Popular Class:

Too AP!

*Principles of Engineering, Introduction to Engineering Design

Design

“We have a lot of kids wanting to go into advertising, graphic design, and fashion design,” said Christian Aanestad, an art teacher here.

Are you sure?

Huh?

AP Psychology

More Industrial Technology

“Classes such as Manufacturing 2, Civil Engineering & Architecture, Electricity 2, Digital Electronics etc…

These students have opportunities to get out on the jobsite,” said Brian Martz, who teaches the industrial tech classes here.

Easy

“All students should take Psychology,” said Gary Neuzil, a teacher of the class, “The Psychology class is applicable to countless human interactions in the real world.”

Yes

Are you

you are

sure sure?

WSSPAPER.COM 5TH PERIOD DECEMBER 2014 7

Heelys: The shoes that you can

walk in, run in, and skate in at any time.

Originally released in 2000 with a more modern version released in 2006, Heelys have been incredible hits with kids. According to the Washington Post, in 2006 Heelys Inc. Had more than $188 million dollars in sales. “We would wear them in Target and ride down the aisles until the employees would yell at us,” said Josh Van Roekel ‘17.

Josh Van Roekel ’17

Tebowing:

Inspired by NFL quarterback Tim Tebow in 2011, participants would kneel down and strike Tebow’s iconic midgame pose. “It was a great way to joke around with your friends, in 8th grade we blocked the hallway while t e b ow i n g . ” Said Kevin Hanson’17.

Planking :

Became a craze in 2011, after rugby player David Williams planked during a game.

Individuals planking take a rigid planklike pose in unusual locations. “Why do people plank? Do they have a death wish?” Said Kaleb Turnbull ‘16

2014 Kevin Hansen ’17 Kaleb Turnbull ’16

2012

2011

2008

2006

08 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

‘ As the years go by

BY CHARLIE CODE

Hunger Games: Novel written Ccode04@gmail.com

by Suzanne Collins in 2008. Developed a cult following and eventually was developed into an equally popular movie. “They were really good and action packed! I really started to warm up to the characters as the series progressed.” Said Emily Mergenthaller’17.

Emily Merganthaller’17

“Call Me Maybe”:

Became a sensation in the summer of 2012. Was known to get ingrained in the heads of anyone listening to it. “It was the most annoying song of all time, it would be stuck in everyone’s heads all the time.” Said Jared Termini’17 Jared Termini ’17

Gone in a flash. Planking, silly bandz, heelies, and “Call Me Maybe.” These are just some of the massive crazes that have come and gone in the past ten years. While some trends find more permanent spots in society like: Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and Angry Birds, many fads fail to maintain a continuous amount of popularity. During an interview with Inc.com, Robert Croak, creator of one of the most popular fads in the past 5 years Silly Bandz said, “Our U.S. sales started to slow during the summer of 2010, and we expected it. The craze in the United States is over, and that doesn’t offend me at all.” Once the initial energy of a trend has died down companies that have products that have been thrown into the spotlight almost always inevitably fade away.

Game of Thrones: Premiered in 2008. Based off of the popular novel with the same name. Has become one of the most viewed shows of all time. “Game of Thrones is awesome! It has action, drama, swords and fire so its pretty great.”

Derek Smith’17

Derek Smith ’17

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 09

A Journalist’s Lament

t

CHINA

BY JUNHEE LEE

jheelee28@gmail.com

First things first. This is a really long article about travel, so for the reluctant reader, I give you this; don’t go to the Peking Buffet, just go to Beijing. It’s a wonderful experience, so much so that I don’t even know why I wrote this paragraph in place of all of the other interesting things about China that you actually want to read. But, hey, I need a lead. Just go with the journalism.

Oh, you don’t have any Orange Chicken?

PHOTOS BY JUNHEE LEE, CREATIVE COMMONS

From top to bottom: A bottle of Chinese Coca-Cola, fried scorpion sticks, and candies of different flavors

10 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Even though I’ve had my fair share of Panda Express and fortune cookies, I’ve rarely tasted authentic Chinese food. Yeah, I’m pretty uncultured for someone born in Asia, but come on.

I doubt that any of you have tried fried scorpion sticks before.

Time out! Not that I forgot my nut graf or anything, but I hope you can tell that I went on a mathematical expedition to Beijing, China for Thanksgiving. Just making sure.

For the most part, our tour group ate at restaurants in the heart of Beijing. Eating was almost a race between the customers and the waiters - we instantly inhaled the food on every new plate. All of the rice, soups, and cooked meat and veggies - gone. Who needs Thanksgiving turkey when you can have Beijing duck?

Although it’s nice to sit down and eat in peace, nothing comes close to eating along the streets of China. It was in the depths of Wangfujing Street, in a narrow vendor alley, that I had this opportunity. There were so many interesting foods - fruit kabobs, Chinese candies, drinks, even some live octopus. My yuans seemed to fly out of my pockets as I stopped by each new food store. Yet in all of this excitement, the experience brought me back to my childhood in Korea, where I would walk home with coin in hand, looking for a snack. Walking down the street with my bags of food, I thought to myself, ‘It’s the little things that matter most.’

Some Forbidden Information Sixty-two honks into the Beijing traffic and smog, our tour group strided into the not so Forbidden City. While once the emperors’ home, the 178 acre palace is now a tourist hotspot in the heart of China. To say the very least, it was grand; roofs soared above my heads and water surrounded me on all sides. Just imagine the irony as the emperor, the most powerful person in China, stands puny to his own home.

Enough with the melodrama, time for some visuals. Thanks to what are called photos, all of my efforts writing and editing have gone to waste.

Still, it’s funny. You can look at all of these pictures and read all of the facts in the sidebars, but it’s different when you can actually run your hands across the orange gables and smell the trees in the Imperial Garden. Maybe the 12 hour flight really is worth all the trouble.

Imperial Living

The Forbidden City: - Built in 1421 - Over 8,000 rooms - 24 emperors - Last emperor Puyi abdicated at age 6

Did you know?

The color gold could only be used by the emperor.

Dragons are the symbol of the emperor.

The phoenix symbolizes the empress.

The Climb of Near Death I’ll admit it, I’m no hiker. I’ve barely seen mountains, and I definitely haven’t climbed one. But when you’re at the Great Wall, you just have to go for it - as the Chinese saying goes, ‘He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a real man.’

Turns out, it’s pretty easy to underestimate the length of this thing; it’s not quite your average flight of stairs. After three breaks and 30 long minutes, I found myself not so victoriously collapsed on the last stairstep. Hey, even in all the gasping for breath, at least I remembered to take photos, right?

Halfway down the Great Wall, the sky shivered and powdery snow began to fall from the sky. I suddenly stopped in my tracks and looked out at the mountains. It was strange there was an ineffable emotion building as the snow kept falling. Was it joy? Or maybe a hint of melancholy?

Watching the sky, I finished my wistful descent down the Great Wall. It’s at times like these when a picture is worth much more than a thousand words.

Well, reader, you have made it to the conclusion. Maybe you loved every word of fake wit and humor in this article, or maybe you’re just very patient. Either way, I’ll end with this; no matter how many notes and pictures I take, I can’t quite describe what it feels like to be in China. But I think they’re the places like Beijing, the ones that leave you with so many thoughts but so little to say, that mean the most. It’s quite the small world, and maybe you’re just halfway across the globe from the best writer’s block you’ll ever have.

From left to right: The Great Wall, bridges of the emperor’s home, the emperor’s marble boat, statue of the phoenix, Chinese ambulances

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 11

Weather’s affect on Students and SAD

BY QUENTIN DAVIS QRD0702@gmail.com

West High students comment on the cold affecting their behavior and how SAD could affect them.

T

he holidays, a time of joy and happiness, presents being opened, food being cooked, snow falling gently outside, peppermint flavored everything, singing carols, and families spending time together. Without the joy of the seasons, winter can get to people on an emotional level.

“I hate winter I don’t like the ice, and the wind ruins my hair,” said Samalya Thenuwara ‘18.

Others make it their least favorite time “Winter is my least favorite season because it is cold” Adam … ‘18 said.

Others even hate it for the difficulty of play “I feel bad, because I can’t play outside,” said Owais ‘18 It was a unusually cold and snowy winter in the U.S., and at West High more people are at risk for Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD). According to Mayo clinic SAD is

A type of depression that’s related to the changes in the seasons, Symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months snapping energy and making you feel more moody.

When winter officially starts on December 21st, it will have Adam, Thenuwara, Owais and others longing for summer, Adam and Thenuwara like summer weather more, “My favorite type of weather is sunny and warm, because I am able to do things outside,” “My favorite weather is sunny and windy. It’s a good balance of cool and hot,” Thenuwara said.

As the holidays come and go, people need ways to stay happy in a cold and miserable season.

Some tips are: Get moving, if you are up and active you will have a better state of mind, and keep you from gaining weight.

12

Let sun in or create an artificial sun, the sun makes you want to do more things Brighten up your home, the more light there is outside. the less likely you are to Stick to a schedule: if you be sad and depressed. stick to a schedule you are more likely to get more sleep which helps stops depression. You will also be exposed to light at consistent and predictable times.

Travel to a warm place, it helps you get a break from the cold and overcast weather, which helps lift spirits.

SAD has a higher chance of affecting people at West High when the weather is very cold, and school is scattered.

The holidays are a time of joy but people with SAD have a harder time being happy, if people find themselves slipping into depression, think of all the fun the holidays are.

Mood Forecast Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Snowy Cold Sunny Rainy Cloudy Hot Thunderstorms

Guess the Mood Each Day A.Happy B.Sad C. Casual D. Bored E. Bad

Answers Sun. B Mon. B Tues. A wed. D Thurs. C Fri. A Sat. C

13

Moving in with a high chin

BY PRATEEK RAIKWAR

raikwarprateek9@gmail.com

West Side Story sits down with two students that explain the struggle of moving to a new country

New and diverse people. A new language. A new way of living that you have to live by every single day: a new beginning. These are the things that many foreign people have to endure when they move to a new country such as the United States.

India

For many people, moving to a new country may seem like the end of the world.

Two students, Rama Balde ’17 and Dhruv Khanna ’18 had to go through this daunting task. With moving, some of the biggest obstacles they had to overcome are learning a new language and adapting to their new environment.

“I think being able to communicate is crucial to adapting to the country,” Anne Schularick said, an English Language Learners (ELL) program instructor. “It’s scary to interact in another language.”

According to Schularick, there are a few ways that a teacher can help make the vocal transition easier.

“Pictures really are the best way to teach. [...] A picture is really worth 1000 words,” Schularick said.

The students agree with this.

Balde

“Sometimes she [ELL teacher] uses pictures and that is good because it teaches me well,” said.

Balde is a foreign student that moved from Guinea. She takes the ELL program and insists that the education system in the United States holds a much higher standard than in Guinea.

PHOTO BY PRATEEK RAIKWAR DESIGN BY PRATEEK RAIKWAR

Name: Dhruv Khanna Age: fourteen Original Country: India Family: Mother and Father Favorite Activity: Soccer Why?: It is a strategic game that involves teamwork and helps with making friends.

14 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Guinea

“In my country, school is not good and there is fighting everywhere. I like [schooling in the United States] a lot because my education is better here. [...] [Teachers] help you better and help with homework and explain: they teach you a lot of things,” Balde said.

Khanna, a student who also moved to the United States from India recently, seems to agree.

“The education system doesn’t pressure you too much and you have to move from class to class instead of the teacher,” Khanna said.

Schularick had similar input “[Education] varies greatly know too much reasons while

as well. from country to country. Most students don’t English in some countries because of war or other other students are learning English from age five in academies.”

Schularick said.

Despite school being important parts of Khanna and Balde’s lives, they also enjoy other activities.

“I like sewing a lot, I used to sew in my country and I even have a sewing machine. I really like beads and sparkly things,” Balde said.

Although Khanna may not enjoy sewing, he, too, has a hobby.

“I love soccer because it involves teamwork and it’s a really stra tegic game; it’s a great way to make friends,” Khanna said, who seemed to be very passionate and enthusiastic about the sport. “the key [to adapting easily in a new country] is to find good friends.”

Khanna said.

Name: Rama Balde Age: sixteen Original Country: Guinea Family: Mother, Father, three brothers, four sisters Favorite Activity: Sewing Why?: It can involve beads and sparkly things WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 SECTION 15

CELLPHONE Is this generation’s obsession with technology affecting our ability to communicate with others?

Are we transitioning to a new era of reliance upon our cell phones? What should our relationship wtih our devices look like?

photo by wingel xue

ADDICTION?

16 feature December 2014 wsspaper.com

wsspaper.com december 2014 feature 17

POWERING OFF

by WINGEL XUE

wingelxue3@gmail.com

The single glowing screen of an Android or iPhone seems to be central to everyone’s lives these days. But when the average American teenager spends hours upon hours a day on their phones, that might indicate a problem. In fact, according to a study by Flurry Analytics, the average American uses their phone for over two and a half hours every day. That’s 10% of a day, spent solely on a mobile device. Are phones taking away from our ability to conduct normal face-to-face interactions with other human beings? Is this generation addicted to their cell phones?

I’ll be the first to admit it. I’d fit perfectly in the category of what you’d call a “cell phone addict,” like so many other teens. I use my cell phone for everything, from texting and social media to games or just checking the weather, and I don’t really see a problem with that. Isn’t that what everyone does?

We, as a population, have a huge reliance on cellphones for even the simplest of daily needs. Because of this, I decided to see what it’d be like to go just 24 hours without my phone, and challenged a few others to do it with me.

For some, like Maggie Terry ‘17, who rarely uses her phone, this was no big deal.

“I would not consider myself addicted to my phone... I don’t use it very frequently,” said Terry. “However, this

generation does appear to be addicted to their phones because using them for many people replaces conversation and other social interactions. They are on their phones all night and it is unhealthy.”

Meanwhile, I, along with some others, struggled with it.

“For an introvert like me, having a

in social networking sites,” said Mhatre.

It was extremely tempting for me pick up my phone as well, although not for the same reasons. Cell phones are simply so accessible to most of us. Need to check the time? Phone. Want to ask a friend about homework? Phone. Need

“Before I got my phone, I was always quiet and couldn’t create a conversation [...] my phone has really helped me.”

-Pareen Mhatre ‘18 phone can really help. Before I got my phone, I was always quiet and couldn’t create a conversation, so I believe my phone has helped me,” said Pareen Mhatre ‘18, who also took the 24-hour phone-free challenge.

While technology can be a useful tool for communication, it is also possible that we’ve become too reliant on technology to communicate with others, to the point where it’s hard for us to even interact without the happy medium of a cell phone.

“Without my phone, I felt really bored because my friends were on their phones and we couldn’t really create a conversation based on things we saw in our feed

to google something?

Phone.

Throughout the day, though, I noticed that I did engage in conversations more, rather than receding into the pleasant glow of whatever I was doing, of course, on my cell phone. I looked up when I walked, instead of staring down at a screen, and interactions with others definitely felt more engaging in-person than through a digital chat.

Maybe we are becoming too reliant on our devices to do everything - including social interactions - for us.

I challenge you, for just a day, to put down your phones and get engaged in a conversation. Maybe you’re more addicted to your phone than you’d thought.

BY THE NUMBERS:

70

percent of all teenagers own a smartphone

650

138,809

percent projected increase in moblie data used from now to 2018

apps expected to be downloaded in 2014

sources used: Nielsen Statistics, CTIA, Statista

Photo by Jackson Nasby

West High sports continues to remain supreme in all sports

History: West High School is known for state titles in almost every sport(2010,2012,2013,and the latest 2014) The boys soccer team has made history last year, becoming the only team in Iowa to win the state title three times consecutively. This was a very proud moment for the team.

Get to know the Athletes: So, what are the players doing when the boys soccer season is over and must wait till the next year for an exciting season?

Jackson Nasby ‘16 won the state title last year with the team. Last year was his first year on the varsity squad and an exciting moment for him. He stays at top form by playing about 9 hours a week. He stays in Photo by Nick Andersen shape with his soccer club (ISC), ultimate fitness/performance(P.E. classes at west), and summer runs.

“I’m never off season,” said Nasby.

He started playing soccer at the age of four, when his parents encouraged him to get out of the house.

“I had lots of energy,” said Nasby.

He is motivated by Nick Arpey, Mueng Sunday, and Tanner Shilling. These soccer players played at West in past years and played in college. Nasby is inspired to play Division one

kavirramos42@gmail.com

BY kavir Ramos

h t 4 Time State Champs?

in college like his role models.

“I knew I wanted to go D1 (division 1) when I saw Andy Holte’s girlfriend,” said Nasby.

Nasby won’t ever stop training, as he says, Photo by Antonio Sanchez “Always do better.” This quote keeps Nasby focused.

He will impact the team by using his leadership skills.

“Now I’m a Junior, [so] it’s more of a leadership role,” said Nasby.

This season will be different because the loss of 12 seniors, half of the squad graduated. To continue to win the state title, the team knows that they will need to work hard as any other season. “The midfield will be tested even more with the loss of Ben Troester,” said Nasby Nasby plays the central midfield defender position and attacking midfield. His position is important as he is another player in the defense that connects the attacking players Photo by Antonio Sanchez with the defenders on the field. He is ready “it’s unbelievable to be that good,” said and pumped for the season to start.

Andersen Nick Andersen ‘15 Now his senior year on Antonio Sanchez ‘16 has been on the the West High team. Andersen has been on varsity squad since his freshman year. He was the varsity squad since his freshman year. won the state title with the team twice and He has been on the team since the beginning of this new memory for the Trojans. He hopes for a fourth. He spends about 9 hours, but it also depends on the week. He stays spends 8 hours in the fall practicing soccer. in shape with club soccer at ISC, Iowa ODP He plays in the midfield as well in the de(Iowa’s state team), and Region 2 team. He fense. works out at school through the P.E. proThis season he plans on being a leader to grams, but doesn’t mind a burger. the team now that the seniors are gone.

Sanchez started playing soccer at the age He works hard to be a role model for his of 3 “ I played other sports, but I liked soccer team. “I think you can always improve in more,” said Sanchez. some aspect and your overall game.” said His role models are Messi, Neymar, and RonAndersen aldo, they are professional players considered Nicks motivation are his soccer coaches, like Jon Cook who has always pushed him to the best in the world.

“I want to be in the World Cup someday,” work hard. Andersen is inspired by players like said Sanchez.

Messi.

He is proud to this moment of his success in soccer. “I’m proud of what I’ve done but I can improve,” said Sanchez.

Sanchez believes this season will be different due to the loss of the seniors. The seniors on the team were leaders with qualities that lead the team to victory.

He will impact the team by bringing his experience to the field“I know what it is to win two, I’ll apply my knowledge, since we don’t have ben troester leading” His position is central attacking mid and forward.

Photo by Nick Andersen

Photo by Jackson Nasby

All time scorer for boys is Cody Stoermer with 56 goals West High Team

Tryouts start spring break

12 spots are available on the team for this year

The dream is going D1

If the boys team wins state this year, we will continue the all time record in Iowa

more soccer

BRo VS. HIpster

With Christmas coming up around there are so many things that people need to prepare for.

Christmas dinner, Christmas shopping, Christmas caroling and so much more. How about school? How do students at West High school prepare for school? That answer is simple. SPIRIT WEEK! Spirit week is a fun way for students to express the way they feel about an up and coming event. The day that brings a lot of question is Bro VS. Hipster day. Can anyone really define what is really a bro and what really is hipster? That can be up for debate. When teens think of a bro, they think of saggy pants, backwards snapback hats and baggy shirts. When it comes to a hipster, skinny jeans and saggy beanie hats. West high students not let these factors stop them from having fun. “ A baller,” says Emma Andrus ‘18 when asked to describe what a bro is to her. “ hipster wear beanies, jeans shirts, sneakers. I think they are comfortable,” says Elise Chang ‘17. Many students used their best interpretations of what it mean to them, but they all seemed comfortable in they way that they dress. There is no way to describe the excitement that came when many students donned on there snapbacks and beanie hats. An observa-

12 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Behind the scenes: Spirit Week BY: IRENA CHARLES

irena.charles21@gmail.com

tion that came with this spirit day was the way that more girls than guys had dressed as a bro. Also how more guys dressed up as hipsters than girls. “ I think that it a fun experience to join in on something that means so much to certain people. The way that view themselves to others is a good way to see the different diversity that is a West High,” exclaimed Alexis Fleetwood ‘16. This has proven to be true amongst teens in todays society. Even through social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, there was no way to avoid the battle that came between friends as best put as #Bro VS Hipster. As the day went on, it was clear to notice how even the teaching staff showed their point of view and join in with the students that had brought joy and laughter.

Much like the holiday seasons.There is still much to be said about this spirit week as the time moves along, all fun must come to an end as we end a wonderful year of 2014 and begin 2015.

STREET DREAMS

BY: DE’JA BUNYAN

After a hard day at work I come home Hear the boy rapping the words to his headphones Every bleep comes another bleep As he keeps dancing to the beat Come upstairs and barge through the door Say to him, “Boy whatcha listenin’ to that for?”

As I rip it out of his ears Turn around and look in the mirror Get ya head outta the gutter son You talk to ya mother with that tongue?

Ought’a lean you down and wash your mouth soap Teach you a lesson and just barely make you choke Dad, you don’t understand This is me, this is who I am!

Boy, you freeze it right there Just so I know we’re good and square I’m your father, sit down when I say so This is home, this is where the green grass grows Can’t be the one to follow you where you go Can’t take you as is and just tie a little bow Around it and be happy. You ain’t what I 22 Feature December 2014 WSSPaper. com

expected you to be. After all this hard work to bring home the bacon Just to come home to see the fuss you making!?

“Imma be big and travel the world, Be famous and get hooked with any girl I’m tired of this rice ‘n’ beans, I wanna taste some of that green!”

Stop it child, you making a scene, a mockery of ya ma and me.

Do yourself a favor and dream a different dream The strings are for those with charm And fame are for those holding cards Your inner core will just burst at the seams They say play it safe And dream a different dream Billionaires are cowards in disguise Their careers built upon money and lies Your inner core will just burst at the seams They say play it safe And dream a different dream I remember when you was little Your mind was like some twisted riddle Rapping the lyrics To your idols, Drake, YMCMB, and Jay-Z Acting like you knew what they meant But boy, you could barely read Spittin’ rhymes don’t put a roof over ya head Or clean the dirty sheets in your bed

All those fancy clothes don’t give ya fame just brings your family to shame Look at you playing life like it’s a game Joining all those gangs just to bleed Gettin’ high and smokin’ weed Dad, it ain’t like that I’m not some filthy rat planting my seed wherever. Imma stay true forever Build myself upon lyrical tether striving to be as authentic as leather Come on dad, can’t we get it together?

Take these words right from my mouth And give ‘em wings to fly south Or I will run from this house like the ratatouille mouse Tired of this cheese I want something more The birds and the bees aren’t what I’m looking for I don’t wanna die like everybody else Just put in a hole and call it a grave I don’t wanna die with nothing to my name If I’m not looking up I’m going south You can scream and cuss at me with ya sailor’s mouth I’m still leaving and I’m taking the dangerous route.The strings are for those with charm And fame are for those holding cards Your inner core will just burst at the seams They say play it safe And dream a different dream.

23

COMPILED BY EUGENIA CHEN

From left to right is Madison Voigt freshman to senior year, Mathew Birely freshman to senior, and

Greg Beaver freshman to senior.

GOODBYE High School, HELLO College

Madison Voigt, Mathew Birely, and Greg Beaver are all seniors at West High School. Voigt is hoping to be attending Georgetown University in DC. Birely and Beaver will both be attending the University of Iowa for Engineering.

BY MADI BARTA

madi.barta09@gmail.com

H

igh school, you can have the I cant wait to leave,” Madison Voigt ‘15 best times and the worst times. said.

It is the transition from adoles- Voigt applied to seven colleges and cence into adulthood. The time when is hoping to attend college at Georgekids are learning right from wrong. town University in DC to study politics.

When everyone is trying to see where It finally hit her that this is her last year they fit in. at West High For some kids its ”I was terrified to go to high School when the best time of school. And I am still terrified in she started their lives, for oth- high school. I cant wait to leave,” applying for -Madison Voigt, ‘15 ers, the worst. After colleges. being asked a series “I would of questions here are three students probably have participated in chess views on their high school experience. and math club as well as tried some ”I was terrified to go to high school. sports,” Mathew Birely ‘15 said.

And I am still terrified in high school. Most people regret not participating 24 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

in much during their four years of high school. “ I thought there was a good chance that people were going to hate me just as much as they did in junior high, and that I would still have no friends.

I didn’t sleep much the night before the first day and was pretty scared. It wasn't that bad, but I still had no friends,” Birely said.

Birely will be attending the University of Iowa.

When asked when it finally hit him that he was a senior, he said, “August 17, 2014.” “ I will be attending The University of Iowa for engineering. It was either that or I would go somewhere in Nigeria,” Greg Beaver ‘17 said.

Beaver said, “I wish I would have taken more classes with the coolest canadian Dr. Audia.”

He felt like it was senior year on the first day of school this year and is very glad that his four years are almost up.

Although high school can be tough, when students approach their final year it’s a sigh of relief. Looking back at all of the changes that have happened during the transition period in every teenagers life can differ between students.

On the left is Mathew Birely, in the back is Madison Voigt, amd on the bottom is Greg Beaver Photo Credit: Mathew Birely

Voigt, Birely, and Beaver have personally gone through this period of change. The type of experience you get in high school depends on what you do and what you make of your time. Eventually your time in high school runs out and these experiences are over. So make the best of your four years here.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 25

“My favorite vacation spot is St. Pete beach because my family always goes there so we have a lot of memories.”

-Rory Brady ‘16

“Scottsdale, Arizona because I like the desert and I like how there is no humidity anywhere on a lake because I like boating and fishing.”

-Luke Barta ‘16

West High’s Favorite

Vacations

BY RYLEE PETITGOUT r.petitgout@gmail.com

Some people have that one vacation they will never forget. Since we just had Thanksgiving break and winter break, and Spring break is coming up, some students here at west high will be traveling all around the world.

26 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.

“I really liked Santorini and Dublin and Limerick, Ireland because they were really laid back and were really beautiful. We mostly just went to the Guinness Brewery and drove around and looked at the mountains and coves and clifs.”

-Harrison Fairfield ‘17

Vacations...

Gone

“Virgin Islands, because it was secluded and non developed, it also had some of the best beaches in the world. There were really cool crabs that would walk around the beach and a lot of cool locals.”

-Nate Disterhoft ‘17

Wrong?!

“One time when we went to the rose bowl when I was really young my babysitter was giving me a piggy back ride and

“Hawaii because it’s warm and there is lots to do. I went to Pearl Harbor, which was really fun.”

-Austin Geasland ‘18

I fell off and broke my leg but the doctors there couldn’t find the break so I had a broken leg for a week and a half without a cast.”

“Florida because I love going to the beach in the summer and my family also goes to Disney together and the rides there are fun.”

-Logan Cook ‘18

-Luke Barta ‘17 “Once we were laying out

on the

beach and we all fell

asleep and got really badly sunburned, like bright red!”

-Rory Brady ‘17 WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 27

BY ELLIE GRETTER & HANNAH KRUPP esgretter@gmail.com hlkrupp@gmail.com 28 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Tires on ice According to www.safteyinsurance.com nationwide, 43 percent of first-year drivers and 37 percent of second-year drivers are involved in car crashes. This pertains to the students at West High, and these rates increase during winter.

You stick out your tongue and a teensie fluffy snowflake lands, melting instantly. You haul your hefty shovel to the end of the driveway, To scrape up the freshly laid snow and ice. All of a sudden you hear a deafening squeal and look up from your busy work. A car is flying right at you, and the tires cannot get friction on the slippery ice. This is just one of the many dangers of winter driving.

According to the Wisconsin DOT during the winter months of November, December, January, and February there is an average of 131 deaths resulting from motorist crashes. This number is decreasing due to slower driving, seat belt laws and more precautions the government is enforcing, yet it is still a prominent problem everyone deals with, including West High students.

Winter is nothing new to any of us, the bitter weather and the constant risk of fresh ice on the roads from the snow the night before. Everyday we are forced to overcome poor conditions to get to places we need to go, like school and work, then home again.

One fellow student when driving during the winter had a traumatic experience and shares her story with WSS. “My least favorite thing about driving in the winter is the icy roads because I’ve driven twice in really bad conditions and fishtailed completely sideways in the wrong side of the road and nearly hit a sign,” said Bridget McKenna ‘17.

If you didn’t know, according to Dictionary.com fishtailing a is the rear end of a car swerving or skiding from side to side.

The WSS asked a few West High drivers what scares them most about driving in the winter and here are their responses: “The slipperiness because it makes you crash easier,” said Michael Krupp ‘15.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 29

“The scary feeling of not being in control of stopping your car anymore,” said Noah Fletcher ‘15.

“The ice and losing control of your car,” said Nicki Schilling ‘16.

We also asked future drivers what makes them most nervous about driving in the future: “What makes me nervous is definitely the ice because a higher risk of crashes,” said Wali Parks ‘16.

“Not being able to stop in time because of the ice and sliding into other cars,” said Lauren Schuchard ‘18.

Winter driving brings much more stress than normal driving. Being stressed out is already very dangerous if you are an inexperienced driver behind the wheel.

Many West High students have gotten in winter car accidents due to poor weather conditions or cars being stuck in the roadways.

“Someone was stopped in the middle of the road, I was going 10 miles per hour when I came up the hill and a van had stopped in the middle of the hill! I started braking and my tires were slipping and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop so instead of hitting the car, I went over the curb!

Then my back tires slipped down a hill and I started going down the hill toward the houses at the bottom! I tried to stop it by straightening my wheel out so instead of flipping down the hill I hit a tree almost a quarter of the way down the hill.” said Schilling.

This proves that even when traveling at 10 mph, there is still a chance that things may go wrong even when you believe you are safe.

Although winter driving is unsafe, we still all must get places in vehicles even when the roads make us slip and slide.

30 feature dECEMBER 2014 wsspaper.com

3

Winter driving essentials Winter driving is dangerous, and nobody wants to get stuck unprepared. Here are just a few things you can keep in your car which will make a large difference if you get abandoned:

1. Blankets, Hats, Mittens, Coats

These items will keep you warm if stuck in freezing weather and make it more bearable.

2.

Road salt, sand, or cat litter

This will help you get out of the ice and snow if your tires get stuck.

3.

A windshield scraper

It will let you keep all your windows visible when they have a thick sheet of ice covering them.

What makes you the most nervous about driving in the winter?

{

“Well the thing that causes most accidents are the icy roads so that makes me the most nervous.” said Haley Shook ‘18.

{

{

Winter Driving Stories

“...well Tyler Eads was

there and slowly, tried to drift, I thought it was funny, so I went faster and spun out, instead of hitting the breaks I hit the gas and ran into a fence.” said Noah Fletcher ‘15.

{

{

“What makes me nervous is definitely the ice because higher risk of crashes.” said Wali Parks ‘16.

“...I was going 10 mph and I came up the hill and a van stopped in the middle of the hill I started braking and my tires were slipping and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop.” said Nicki Schilling ‘16.

What is your least favorite part about driving in the winter? “...is the icy roads because I’ve driven twice in really badconditions andfishtailed c o m p l e t e l y sideways...”said Bridget Mckenna‘17.

{

“The most scary feeling of driving in winter is not being in control of stopping your car anymore.” said Kasey Baller ‘17.

wsspaper.com dECEMBER 2014 feature 31

“I like alternative it’s really calming for me when I’m stressed.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Bang Bang Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj Fancy Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX Problem Ariana Grande Featuring Iggy Dark Horse Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J Let It Go Idina Menzel Wrecking Ball Miley Cyrus Happy

Pharrell Williams The Monster Eminem Featuring Rihanna 9 All Of Me John Legend Chandelier Sia

Top 10 songs

West’s most favorite type of music is ALTERNATIVE West’s least favorite song is “Anaconda”by Nicki Minaj

Music has changed immensely year after year, each genre having it’s own unique songs and sounds. People always have a least favorite song and a song that they just can’t stop jamming out to. There’s always a best selling artist of the year, and the top 10 songs of the year. Here are West’s opinions of music of 2014. *out of 236 surveyed students

frostsr3710@gmail.com

BY SIERRA FROST

Music of 2k14

“X” by Ed Sheeran

Top selling Album:

- Hiba Ibrahim ‘16

“Ariande Grande and Justin Bieber are going to be big in 2015.”

Pop was said to be the most POPULAR genre of music

SOOOO overplayed: “Happy” by Pharell Williams

-Jonah Marcussen ‘18

I woke up at 12 and reached for my phone to check the time...then i remeber i turned it off the night before. I got out of bed and went into the kitchen it was 12:03. I wake up a lot earlier than this so i was surprised, maybe it’s because my phone usually woke me up. I started “making” breakfast now when I say making I really mean find whatever is in the fridge. My phone sitting on the table in front of me i wanted to see if someone texted me or something happened that I didn’t know. It’s been an hour since I woke and ate my food. I’m extremely bored and have nothing to do other than sit here and stare at the dusty old ceiling fan in my living room. The floor is hard and unintresting, just laying here is making me want to run around and I hate exercise which is why this is something i would never do. I decided to go outside it was very cold and once again unintresting. I took a two hour nap it helped a lot.

I opened up a book I haven’t read in a while, because I always was busy with my phone and everyone texting me and all the notifcations. I just sat and I remember how good this book actually was and I sat there calmly. I read for a while and I finally finished my book and as for the title of this book, I can not give that to you because it is a weird book and it has a weird name. Dinner finally came around and I sat at the table envious of my whole family on their phones rubbing it in my face. I frowned in disaproval.

I started getting tired again, and decided it was time for bed. I realized in that very moment that having your phone off for a day SUCKS! I’m so happy I live in a generation with technology don’t take it for granted. If you decide to try a day without technology then good luck to you my friend.

scoures: http://www.businessinsider.com/15-billion-smartphones-in-the-world-22013-2?IR=T& http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2014/how-smartphones-are-changing-consumers-daily-routines-around-the-globe.html http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/

Most of us are pretty familiar with holiday traditions in the U.S.. We all know what Christmas entails: trees, lights, decorations, gifts, food, and family, and don’t forget all of the Christmas specials on TV. But what about the rest of the world? Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world, but its celebrations don’t always look the same,whether it’s Japan’s KFC or Europe’s Sh*tt*r Man.

Christmas Aro The World

Mohamad S. El-Zein abusamer100@gmail.com

Broom Superstition: In some countries in Europe it is considered bad luck to clean on certain days, so they hide all the brooms.

Krampus: In Europe and some other parts of the world, instead of getting coal, you could have the anti-Santa Claus, Krampus, literally drag you to hell. And instead of Krampus in some other countries, you could get his partner, whose name literally means “Belly Slicer”. Coal doesn’t look so bad anymore.

Sh*tt*r Man: In Europe you will be able to find statues of a man, pants pulled down, defecating. The story is that when Jesus was being born, a man had to take a poop. People later thought this was funny so they made little statues of a man pooping Pooping Log (Caga Tio): The name is a bit misleading. In Europe (mostly in Spain) people get this hollowed out log and fill it with goodies. They then put a face on it, give it decorations, and put a red quilt on it. Then what happens you may ask? The kids beat it until it breaks. So the reason this christmas pinata is called the Pooping Log? The kids have to beat the crap out of it to get the goodies.

Mari Lwyd: A man from a community/town is chosen to parad a decoraded horses skull 36 December WHS 2014-2015 around the town/community.

ound

Noah Lehan Mackein ‘16

Rebika Acharya ‘15 Kai Gui ‘ 15 Dallas Johnson ‘17

Krampus: Yes

No No

No

Sh*tt*r Man: No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Black Peter: Yes

No No

No

KFC Japan: No

No

Yes

Pooping Log :

Yes

German Christmas Pickle:

Kinda No No

Kinda

Shoe Superstition:

Kinda

Kinda No

No

Broom Superstition:

No

Yes No

No

Mari Lwyd: No

No No

No

Have You Heard of This Tradition: German Christmas Pickle: During Christmas in Germany the parents hide a small pickle in the Christmas tree and they let there kids on Christmas morning look through the tree to find it and whoever finds the pickle recives a small gift.

Japan’s KFC Tradition: Many years ago, less than one percent celebrated Christmas. The closest thing to a Christmas Tradition was parents getting their kids a pastry known as “Holiday Cake”. But then in 1974 KFC launched Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii! (Kentucky for Christmas). Since then a regular dinner during Christmas in Japan is KFC. Black Peter: In some northen reigens of Europe St. Nicholas sends black faces “eleves” to beat children who have been bad. And the reason Black Peters are black is because they are chimmeny sweepers.

37 December WHS 2014-2015

Madison Houser ‘18 nicknames: Maddie, Mad-Dog, Mads “My moms loved that name since she was a kid. She watched a show and there was a girl named Maddie and she wanted to name me that.”

Madelyn Moriyama ‘18

nicknames: Mad-Dog, Maddie, Mo, Moo, Moo-Moo, May “I don’t really care for my name or have a opinion on it.”

Madeline Laffey ‘18

nicknames: Madz, Maddie, Seven “My mom liked it and my family took a vote on either that or Ella and Maddie won.”

Madison Cookman ‘17

Nicknames: Maddy, Mad, Mads “I made the varsity dance team by only dancing for a year!”

Madison Barta ‘18

nicknames: Madi, Mad-Dog, Farta “[Having the same name] doesn’t really bother me, it just means the name is popular.”

Mollie Madison Voigt ‘15 Nicknames: Maddie, Mad V, Maddog, Mads “All my siblings are named after presidents.”

38 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Madison Fisher ‘16

Nicknames: Madi “So when I was little I was coming home from the hospital and me and my mom were in the elevator and my mom was talking to some girl in there and she found out that Madison was the most common name of that year.

When she thought that she was naming me something unique, but she wasn’t.”

Madison Brenner ‘17

nicknames: Maddie “[What sets me apart is] a lot of stuff, spelling of my name. Also dance and show choir, GTC.”

Madison Ford ‘17

nicknames: Mads, Spice, Spicy, Mae, M “My parents loved the name but I was nameless for a long time at the hospital because my parents knew it was so popular but they didn’t like any other name better than Madison.”

Madison Bartelme ‘18

Nicknames: Maddie, Mads “I don’t like how common my name is, I wish it was more unique.”

Madeleine Wehmeyer ‘18 nicknames: Madi, Matthew “A lot of people call in the hallway like “hey Madie” and then I turn around and there talking to someone eles.”

Madelyn Huinker ‘17

Nicknames:Mad “Looks, personality, interests...

Everyone is so different even if they have the same names.”

Madeline Nachtman ‘18

Nicknames: Mady “What sets me apart is that well I have a different spelling of my name, and I also do theater, work, and speech.”

Madeline Silva ‘16

Nicknames: Mulin “[I wouldn’t change my name] I mean it’s still the name my parents gave me and I don’t feel that strongly about it.”

Madeline Miller ‘15

Nicknames: Mad-Dogs, Mads “I was born with Madeline Miller, but people started calling me Madie and it’s kind of odd because of the spelling and I kinda like Madeline better but it would be weird to go by Madeline since I have gone by madie so long.”

Madison Whitehead ‘17 nicknames:Maddee, Madz, Madagascar, M-Dog “I have no problem being myself and saying what I think.”

Madelyn Kay Rhinehart ‘18

Nicknames: Mads, Hart “My mom was talking with coworkers from work and my name came up and she liked it.”

Madeline Tansey ‘17

Nicknames: Maddy “Just when someone like yells your name and you just look then it’s really awkward.”

Madison Fay ‘17

Nicknames: Maddie, Tina “I’m funny, I have like a fun personality. I play basketball and volleyball.”

Maddie Fletcher ‘16 Nicknames: Mads “I like my name, but usually there’s more than one Maddie in the class and it gets confusing.”

Madison Miller ‘15

nicknames: Madi, Mac ‘I like my name but a lot of people have it so its not unique. And spelling there’s a million, billion different ways to spell it.”

Madison R Miller ‘16

Nicknames:Madi “My parents also named me Madison because they thought it was unique but then it also turned out they named my sister Carson so they liked that, so ending for both of our names being popular.”

Same Name different story

After countless hours, flipping pages, and endless names. Finally choosing the name Maddie/ Madi/Madie and every other way you spell it was who I was going to choose. After Talking, texting, yelling, screaming, and pulling out hair to find all them. I got most of them, with some interesting quotes!

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 39

RELIGIONLESS In a study done by The Pew Research Center in 2010 through collected census’, it was found that roughly one-in-six-people around the globe were said to have no religious affiliation. Students at West have a lot to say about their lack of religion.

BY NINA ELKADI

nina.elkadi@gmail.com 40 FEATURUE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Quick Religion Facts

. 78.4%of adults in

America consider themselves Christians

. Men are significantly more likely than women to claim no religious affiliation

. The Midwest most

closely resembles the religious makeup of the overall population.

“

Source: Pew Research

Stefan Schmidt ‘15

When a child is raised, they are generally either gently or roughly placed into the religion that their parents choose to practice. Eventually, some choose to take their own path and choose a different religion - or lack thereof.

It’s time to get one thing clear though, atheism and not having a religion are not always synonymous. The definition of atheism according to American Atheists is atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. By this they simply mean an atheist is not necessarily someone who believes in absolutely nothing, but rather does not believe in a “god”.

Someone without religion is simply someone without religion, whereas atheism is the belief that there is no god.

Breanna Bradshaw ‘18 says that because her parents were so religious, she felt pushed away from it and more into atheism.

“Because there were so set in what they thought, they weren’t open to me and my brother being or doing anything else,” Bradshaw said.

Wingel Xue ‘18 has a complete opposite background.

I believe more in science. I’ve read The Bible, and still I choose to be an atheist.

-Wingel Xue ‘18 “I was raised as an atheist. Neither of my parents hold any religious beliefs, and therefore I don’t hold any specific beliefs,” Xue said. Having atheist parents isn’t the only reason she chooses that path.

“I believe more in science. I’ve read The Bible, and still I choose to be an atheist,” Xue said.

Stefan Schmidt ‘16 was also raised sans religion.

“Both of my parents had become atheists by the time that they had me and my brothers, so we were raised without a religion. I think most people without someone who tells them there is a god as a child will naturally not come up with the idea by themselves,” Schmidt said.

Kalen McCain ‘17 considers himself an atheist, but was raised by a catholic mom and an agnostic dad.

“I think that it’s more possible to accept things that we have evidence of over creationism, which lacks evidence,” McCain said.

In a study done by The Pew Research Center in 2010 through collected census’, it was found that roughly one-in-six-people around the globe (1.1 billion at the time) were said to have no religious affiliation. But one question still looms, how does one choose morals without religion?

“There’s this concept that I learned in debate called utilitarianism, [...] the belief that you should help as many people as you can in the most significant way possible, and that’s generally my go-to.” said McCain.

Whether your morals stem from within yourself or debate, allow yourself to believe in what’s best for you, not someone else.

Wingel Xue ‘18

” Kalen McCain ‘17

WSSPAPER.COM FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 SECTION 41

{

Freshman Fears

}

Reality or Rumors?

BY FENNA SEMKEN

semken.fenna@gmail.com

You envision students being thrown into trash cans and dunked into toilets. The ‘big kids’ threaten to steal your lunch money. You fall down the stairs, and are late to your classes. Your locker won’t open and your friends ditched you at lunch. Your teachers load you with confusing homework the first day and yell at you in front of the class. You go into the wrong bathroom and others make fun of you for it. It’s your first day of high school. You're a freshman. You know these thing will happen, or at least you think you do. But in the end, all these things are rumors, right?

Or are they?

Some students do have these moments happen in their daily life.

According to The Atlantic magazine, five percent of high school students stay home daily to avoid being bullied. That’s 5% of students missing the first day of school. It might not seem like a big number, but with West Highs population of 2,000, it’s an average of 100 per day. Why is this happening? Who’s spreading these rumors that frighten students into not attending school, or making them stress about the first day so much that they can’t enjoy it? Heres what a few West High students had to say.

“I heard that there would be tons of hall monitors and if they saw you, you would get a huge detention,” said Bailey Raso ‘18.

Some students believed that their classmates were criminals.

“I heard that many people in our school were criminals and some were even drug addicts, it scared me,” DK Khanna ‘18.

Other students talked of the upperclassmen bullying the freshman.

“The biggest rumors I heard were getting pushed into lockers, being told the wrong directions to a class, or just have the upperclassmen be mean to them in general,” said Maddee Whitehead ‘17.

Why do people believe these things? Who puts those rumors out there in the first place? Media, movies, TV shows, and magazines. They are throwing images into our minds, and we are believing them. Take the movie Mean Girls for example, the girls in that movie are ruthless and will stop at nothing to ruin others lives.

42 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

The media also gives off an image that your first day will be the most embarrassing. For example, the diary of a wimpy kid series shows almost every embarrassing thing that could go wrong.. ever. and every once in a while, the moments they show will happen on the first day.

“I walked into the wrong class.. and it was all seniors. They all just kind of stared at me and I was out of there pretty fast,” Raso said.

And of course, there’s always the ‘walking into the wrong bathroom’ scenario.

“In the beginning of the year, I was at lunch and had to throw something away, so I went over to the bathrooms, but I went into the guys instead. Everyone was laughing at me, but I laugh at it too now, so it’s okay,” said Taylor Grider, ‘18.

Things happen. It’s the truth. But is the first day of freshman year really going to scar you for life? Are the 5% of students that stay home actually avoiding anything?

“The upperclassmen want to help you, and they don’t mind when you ask for directions,” Whitehead said, “The teachers want to give you the brightest future you can ask for, and are willing to help you achievebrightest future you can ask for, and are willing to help you achieve your full potential.”

Nobody is going to slam your locker shut, or book check you, or push you down the stairs. And nobody is going to tie your shoelaces together or dunk your head into the toilet. The freshman class will live through the first day of school.

“I thought that teachers would be reminding us to do our homework all the time, but they don’t. I’m okay with that because I feel like they are teaching students [how] to be responsible, and that will help me for life long past high school,” said Raso, ““this is the best four years of your life, enjoy it!”

Would You Survive Your First Day of Highschool?

Start Here!

It’s the first day of your freshman year of high school.

After dodging the upperclassmen on the way to your locker, you realize your have no idea how to get to your first period class. Do you…

Ask an upperclassmen who is still in the halls You ask the senior for directions to your biology class, and they say to take the back stairwell until you get to the door at the top.

You follow the stairs, but end up on the roof. You realize its really windy outside and you’re losing your footing, when all of the sudden you fall over.. and hit your head on the brick.

Try to find it your class by yourself, who says you need help?

You wander the hallways until you find the science wing. You decide to go into a classroom to see if you can find a map of the wing. You enter what looks to be a classroom, but turns out the be a huge storage room of old, but working,

Blackout! The end.

chemistry materials. Do you…

Stay and see what the materials can do You get sidetracked by the awesome chemistry tools and forget all about first period..and second. You are too busy making chemicals and gases, until an experiment goes wrong and bursting into the air, blowing up the materials, the room, and you. The end.

Decide you can look another time and continue on your way to class You find your class and get through it successfully. The bell rings and you have to go and get your materials for your next class. Your locker is on the bottom floor, but you’re all the way on top. Do you..

Risk going to class with no materials in hand, who actually does class work on the first day anyway?

Your teacher is totally okay with you not having any materials, he just planned to play a game, and you don’t need your materials till next week! Your next period is gym. you get to class and overhear that you’re playing dodgeball, your least favorite thing.. ever.

See if you can make it to your locker and back it the short amount of time You begin running down the stairs at full speed.

Five minutes is just NOT fast enough. The stairwell is crowded and you trip over someones foot and fall down all three flights of stairs at full speed.

After your fall, you realize your books are dispersed all through the stairs and you are already late to class. You get a detention for being late to class and get sent to the office for the rest of the day.

The end.

Do you..

Deal with it and focus on the period being over as soon as possible.

Ditch class. you heard the seniors do it all the time

Bad choice. You get hit in the head with a dodgeball and blackout. You have to be taken out of class because you have a concussion. On the way to the hospital, you realize that you just should have ditched class. The end.

You get out of class easy and get away with it just fine. After that, the day is a breeze. You get in your car with all your friends and decide to celebrate your first day with a trip to the mall. You did it. You got through your first day! Hey, maybe high school won't be so bad after all..

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 43

Religions at West The West Side Story interviewed five students about their religious beliefs. Here are the results.

BY SHAWN THACKER

thacker.v.shawn@gmail.com

SAMALYA THENUWARA ‘18

ALI ALI ‘17

BUDDHISM “Buddhism is what I base a lot of my decisions on. I follow the principles of Buddhism as I live my day-to-day life.” “[...] when people learn that I am Buddhist they get an image of an old priest meditating. I feel like that’s what it is associated with.”

“Buddhism is very open ended, so it makes me feel quite free.”

“You can be ANY religion and still lead a Buddhist life.”

“I love and hate that it is so vague. I like the freedom I get but get confused when I have questions without answers. My religion tends to bypass many important concepts such as an afterlife. I have literally no idea if there is one.”

ISLAM “I’m a Muslim. A Sunni muslim.”

“My parents didn’t drill it [Islam] into me.

They sort of set up my love for God.” “[Islam] has affected my life in every way.

A lot of the decisions I make on a daily bases are based on my religion and what the prophet had said.”

“My favorite aspect is the belief that everything must be in moderation. [...] In Islam you have to have a life to live. We are not allowed to beg, we have to go out and get a job. We have to be the ones in a position to give to others.”

“In Islam the actual thing that Muhammed taught us was that when someone is aggressive to you never let out the first strike or let out the first insult. Be on the defensive. And I think I really respect that. Since like we never ever try to be the bad person, we always try to be the best person we can be, even to our enemies.”

44 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Patrick Shirazi ‘18

Agnosticism “I am an agnostic.” “[Agnosticism] means that I don’t really believe in God; but I don’t hate on the people who believe in God. I’m not that sure if he’s real or not, but I don’t know.”

“I don’t go to church on Sundays, so I have some free Sundays every once in a while.

[But] I do celebrate some holidays because my mom was raised as a Christian.

So, yeah there’s that.”

“I was never really taught anything about god, so when I first talked about god with classmates at school I was just like, what is this? I don’t know… So that’s kinda how it started to be agnostic.”

“This Iowa City place is very multi-cultural, so I feel very safe about my beliefs.”

WORLD RELIGIONS

Anoushka Divekar ‘16

Religion: Religion can be explained as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

Gracie Rechkemmer ‘18

Hinduism

Christianity

“Well my mom and her parents are Hindu. My dad believes that it is better to do good and that idol worship is very superficial. [...] He feels very strong about helping people.”

“I am a non-denominational, evangelical Christian.”

“I am more Hindu than anything else. I was raised as a Hindu.”

“My faith has completely changed my life. Since I have become a Christian, I have learned that there is a God who made me and loves me.

I know that God is always with me, and that He has a plan for me.”

“I really like a lot of the things that [Hinduism] says but I think that some things are very contradictory and they are difficult to understand.”

“God has taken away my worries and fears, and replaced them with peace, and a hope in Him.”

“I have done Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam, since I was four. Its very important to me. Bharatanatyam is based off Hinduism which it makes it so I’m supposed to understand the spiritual stories that go along with it.”

“I grew up in a Christian family, and I have gone to church since I was a little girl. I became a Christian when I was about four or five, but I didn’t really start living out what I believed until later.”

“I think that everyone can say that they have be discriminated against in some way or form [because of their religion].”

“ [...] there have been times when people have judged me because of my beliefs.

People have told me outright that what I believe is wrong, and people have talked about me behind my back because of what I believe.”

“A lot of the things that Hinduism teaches you are that you are supposed to be kind to everyone. You treat people how you’re supposed to, and I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve taken away from Hinduism.”

“The best part about being a Christian is that I know that God will never let me down.”

“One negative aspect of Christianity is that a lot of people who claim to follow it have lost sight of what Christianity is really about.”

Buddhism: A way of living based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama.

Christianity: The world’s biggest faith, based on the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Hinduism: A group of faiths rooted in the religious ideas of India.

Islam: Revealed in its final form by the Prophet Muhammad.

Jainism: An ancient philosophy and ethical teaching that originated in India.

Judaism: Based around the Jewish people’s covenant relationship with God. Atheism: Atheists are people who believe that god or gods are manmade constructs.

Source: BBC

RELIGION BY THE NUMBERS

Christian: ~31% Muslim: ~26% Hindu: ~14% Buddhist: ~7% Jewish: ~1% Sikh: ~1% Bahai’i: ~1% Athiest: ~2% Other Religions: ~10% Non-Religios: ~7% Source: The World Factbook

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 45

Flashback of 2014

BY HIBA IBRAHIM heebuh@gmail.com

The year has come to an end and it is time to recognize the good, the bad and the ugly of 2014.

From big booties to elevator fights, here are the top 10 most overexposed songs, movies, shows, and celebrities.

“Anaconda”: Written by Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda” is a song from her third studio album, The Pinkprint. This song heavily resembles “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-a-Lot. The song hit number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Eva Mysnyk ’15: “I think Nicki Minaj is really pretty, but I think she should be wearing more clothing.”

Dilan Guran ‘15: “I liked the song, but I did NOT like the video.”

“Happy”: Written by Pharrell Williams, “Happy” is a song from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Crystal Flanscha ’18: “Morning announcements would play it, our band would play it, and our choir sang it. Pretty soon we were over it.”

Kara Shueler ’16: “At first I liked the song happy because it was fun and upbeat, but then it kept getting way overplayed and got really annoying.”

Orange Is The New Black: This show is an American comedy-drama series that was released on Netflix. It received 12 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations.

Nina Elkadi ‘18

Ryan Dekeyser ’17: “This show is actually based on a real person and I think it’s really funny.”

Kailin Lust ’16: “I think it’s a great show! I love it and I cannot wait for season 3 to come out.”

Nina Elkadi ’18: “It’s not very appropriate, but I’ve watched all of it.”

Ryan Dekeyser ‘17

Shia Labeouf: This year has been a very bizarre year for the actor Shia Labeouf. He’s had many incidences which included weird and violent actions on his behalf. He chased a homeless man, demanding he hand over his Mcdonald’s, was caught spitting at the actors during a Broadway show and has been wearing a “I’m not famous anymore” paper bag as a mask.

Megumi Kitamoto ’15: “I watched him on Jimmy Kimmel Live and I think it’s very impressive that Shia Labeouf is able to talk about it now and reflect upon it.”

Sarah Ahmed ’17: “He started acting at a young age and I don’t think he really knew what he was getting into.”

Sarah Ahmed ‘17 46 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Songs 1) “Happy”- Pharrell Williams 2) “Fancy”- Iggy Azalea 3) “All of Me”- John Legend

Celebs

Movie

Shows

1) Justin Bieber: Arrested for DUI

1) Frozen

1) Orange Is The New Black

2) Beyonce, Jay-Z, Solange: Elevator 2) The Fault In Our Stars Fight

7) “All About That Bass”Meghan Trainor

3) Once Upon A Time

3) Bill Cosby: Rape Scandal

3) Divergent

4) The Walking Dead

4) Ray Rice: Elevator Fight

4) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

5) The Big Bang Theory

4) “Let It Go”- Idina Menzel 5) Kim Kardashian: “Broke the 5) “Anaconda”- Nicki Minaj Internet” 6) Drunk In Love- Beyoncé

2) American Horror Story

5) 22 Jump Street

6) Shia Labeouf: Ridiculous Behavior 6) Neighbors 7) Jennifer Lawrence: Leaked 7) The Lego Movie Pictures

8) “Stay With Me”- Sam Smith

8) Sam Smith: Success

9) “Rude”- Magic!

10) Nick Jonas Is Back

9) Ariana Grande and Big Sean <3

8) Gone Girl

9) Ride Along

6) The Voice 7) Dancing With The Stars 8) Scandal 9) NCIS 10) Downtown Abbey

10) Ouija

10) “Problem”- Ariana Grande

Frozen: This is an American film produced

by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Frozen, classified as the highest grossing animated film of all time, won two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the BAFTA Award, five Annie Awards and two Critic’s Choice Awards.

Claire Mcdonnel ‘16

Majid Taha ’17: “It incorporates love, strength and despair, and I think it’s a great movie for all ages.”

Claire McDonnel ‘16: I really like the movie Frozen and I think it was talked about by kids and adults of all ages because it is the best Disney film since The Lion King. Some people got sick of it after a while but I never did!

Flashfoward to 2015

Brooke Goodman ‘18: “I think Sam smith is going to get more Grammy’s and Shailene Woodley will get bigger.”

Majid Taha ‘17

Celeb Baby Of the Year Blue Ivy Carter 31%

North West 69%

Sharon Xiang ‘16: “The Avengers: Age of Ultron will be the number 1 movie!”

Karli Maurer ‘18: “I think Finding Dory and Pitch Perfect 2 will be the big movies of 2015.”

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 47

G

i p oss

s l l Ha

Words like “Bruh,” and “Bae” fill the halls as you walk into West. As you walk through the halls you see the friendly faces of the teachers. Students talking about the latest gossip, while the teachers stand outside their classrooms, trying not to listen. Although they try to stay out of our business, as soon as we say something inappropriate, they start to tune in.

“ I usually hear people talking about test, homework and jokes. If I hear something inappropriate I usually say something along the lines of that language is not acceptable here, and I don’t want to hear it. Not all things I see or hear in the halls are bad. I love it when I see someone pick up someone elses garbage and throw it away, I also like hearing encouraging things! You're always kind of listening and not listening at the same time.”

-Said Spanish teacher Dave McNair

“I usually try not to listen to what students because I don’t want to invade their personal lives.

But when I hear kids being rude to one another, that’s when I start to tune in. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes I hear students talking about answers to tests and quizzes, and that’s when I go out and stand by my door. I try to be aware for things inappropriate, but not be aware of their personal business.”

-Said Science teacher Maureen Head

“I try my best to stay out of students’ personal lives and what they are talking about because I don’t want to invade their privacy. However, if I hear ‘Thats what she said’ or the f bomb, I start to tune in. But every once in awhile I hear students talking about drama, relationship problems and school. Buzz in the hallways is just buzz to me.”

- Said Science teacher Marianne McGrane

48

“I like to think of the conversations in the halls as ‘seasons of hallway conversation’ you can tell when an event is coming up like prom, I call it ‘ proma, prom drama.’

I can also tell when classes are having tests and all the students telling people what to expect on the test. Students need to remember hallways echo and things can be heard by others. Another thing students should do is be nice with what you say.”

- Said Social Studies teacher Brady Shutt

“One day before first hour I was sitting at my desk and out of no where I hear this boy talking to his friends, ‘Dude I totally cheated on the AP human Geo test!’ Students should watch what they are saying because we are listening. As much as we hear the bad things in the halls, we see the good things you do too. I remember one day there was this boy with an intellectual disability and he was having a hard time getting his locker open, then a girl complimented him about his cool multicolored shoes. And he complimented her back by saying he liked her backpack. It might not seem like a big deal but it shows how things we say can change how another person is feeling.”

- Said Social Studies teacher Travis Henderson

“When I stand out by my door, most students try to avoid me and walk around me. If I hear someone cuss when I am sitting at my desk I go out to the hall. If I do catch students saying things they shouldn’t say I usually tell them ‘You’re a West High student, I know your vocabulary is bigger than that,’”

-Said Spanish teacher Dave Rosenthal.

• Drama • Who got in a fight • Tessts and quizzes • Who is dating who • What happend at work

Top 5 things people talk about in the halls

49

You know that sickening, rock in your stomach, push in your chest, adrenaline feeling you get when there is a big test coming up and you haven’t studied yet?

Or when there is a big project due the next day and you haven’t even started? Or when you think about your phone you left at home and how many notifications you might be getting? Now, imagine that feeling only it doesn’t go away.. Imagine the question “What if?” constantly rolling through your head. This is what it is like to have Generalised Anxiety Disorder or GAD. According to adaa.org, GAD is on the rise and teens are more numb to it than you think. The WSS surveyed 39 students on their stress levels and what we found was shocking. Learn how to prevent stress before you have a panic attack. Proof from a student at West shows what a panic attack feels like and the difference between stress and anxiety is cleared.

GAD is a disorder in which the person has constant anxiety, over so-called little things. The person generally has had “It hurts a lot and it’s very at least one panic at- stressful. You like start to tack by the age of 15. cry and breathing starts to Bright eyed and bushy become difficult” tailed Reagan Hart 18’ Reagan Hart is a friendly class‘18 mate of mine. But at times she has told me frustrating stories about stressful times while doing homework. Hart has suffered many panic attacks.

She told me about a story that happened very recently about her stressing over a project. She said it was very late at night and she hadn’t even started because of the amount of homework she had already.

sweaty palms and a painful chest KAYLA SHADER

harold.cure.org@gmail.com

DESIGN BY KAYLA SHADER

Stress is a temporary feeling. It comes and goes once the person has forgotten about it. Anxiety is something that will last for months, even years. Even if that big project is over and was presented, the person will still look back at that moment and get that sickening stomach feeling inside. It haunts them for a long time. This is usually the first thing that triggers GAD. Usually GAD involves lots of little triggers like remembering if the lid on their water bottle sitting on their counter at home or if they got the last icicle off of their roof. These little things add up and result in a panic attack.

FINDINGS ON GAD AT WHS About 68% of 39 West High students get 2-3 hours of homework each night.

Only 17% of 39 West High students think they do NOT have a high stress level.

Only 23% of 39 West High students have a GPA lower than 4.0 Mathematics was the most stressed subject out of the 6 other subjects. (Science, English, American History/Geography, Language, Other, I don’t worry too much) Teens and children usually don’t recognize that they have GAD.

50

-SurveyMonkey -Joseph Shader M.D.

do you have gad?

If you think you do look for these signs: • • • • • • • • • • • •

Frequent headaches Irritability Jumpiness Shaking Muscle aches Nervous for unexplained reason Frequent feeling of caffeine rush Lightheadedness Sweating Hot flashes Feeling out of breath Dizziness

WAYS TO STOP A PANIC

ATTACK

Take a deep breath

Focus on something other than the problem.

Hug yourself! Its natural human instinct that when given a hug, you feel comforted.

Walk away from the situation.

Something to prevent one in the future:

If you go on a vacation or a place that

Hold an ice cube for as long as you can. -(this one works really well)

pleases you, buy a small little trinket the has a special sound, feel, or look to it. While you are still at the place, interact with your trinket the whole time. (ex: if you have a small stuffed animal, feel its fur while having a good laugh.)

Then when you are stressed or just feeling down, if you interact with your trinket, it might remind you of that time you were feeling happy.

51

Stress + school sleep

student

BY LEAH DUSTERHOFT

1 hour of hygiene time

3 1/2 hours of working or organized extracurricular activities

1 hour of homework

duster298@gmail.com

But what they don’t tell students is to not go crazy when trying to achieve all these things.

Dealing with the stress

In class JJ Colgan `17 is fatigued from his full schedule.

He spends eight hours at school each day, then races off to swim practice for two and a half hours.

“Swimming is tiring. There’s no break. It’s like non stop cardio for hours every day after school,” said Colgan.

After practice, Colgan has to do what every student does; rush home, eat, shower, and attempt to attack the pile of homework sitting in their backpack.

“I have at least two to two and a half hours of homework a night,” said Colgan. “But, sometimes I come home and I’m tired, and I’m like ‘Well, I can’t get all this done, I’m going to sleep!’ and just blow off the work.”

Teachers can easily observe this stress of ‘finding a balance’ in their students.

“I notice kids very tired in class, very short fused,” said German teacher, Linsey Choun. “They never get caught up, or they never feel like they are actually with pace on what is happening in class… [I can see them] trying to balance and focus where their needs are and then having to start choosing which class to invest more time or less time in. And they constantly have their grade in the background .”

Over her 14 years of teaching English at West, Darci Witthoft has been cutting back on the so-called busy work she is handing out to students.

“I have been giving out less homework than I have in the past,” said Witthoft. “That’s in reaction to how stressed my students seem. I’ve also cut out the busy work, because 82 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

8 1/2 hours for sleep

8 hours at school

Ideal

day of a student

*Data compiled from interviews

Get 8 hours of sleep every night!

Be involved!

Earn all A’s!

Hang out with your friends!

Eat healthy!

Stay in school!

And the list goes on... and on.

1 1/2 hours eating

I saw it was unnecessary.”

The importance of 8 hours

Even though some teachers are cutting back, the homework is still cutting into student sleeping schedules.

According to a survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation , only 15 percent of teens get the recommended 8.5 hours of sleep each night.

“8 hours minimum every night,” Witthoft said. “I think on an average students get 5 [hours], and that’s probably on a good night. And it does affect their moods. They’re happier, healthier, and kinder with more sleep.”

Sleep is vital for young students. Your body recharges, grows and helps your attention span when awake.

“I think we need to educate our youth on sleep and how important it is. Because it can lead to issues with depression, affect your metabolism. It’s just really important,” Witthoft said.

But, sometimes students need to be told to actually sleep. “ And it’s weird that it’s like we have to give them

Pressures on students 1 hour spent driving 1 hour eating 30 minutes for hygiene

3 1/2 hours of working or organized extracurricular activities

2-5 hours of homework

5 hours of sleep

8 hours at school

Students feel they should be achieving a certain level in school and these expectations come from others too.

One source of expectations?

Parents.

“If I don’t do my work, then I’ll just get a crappy grade and that’s no fun because my parents get mad at me,” said Colgan But, even school, “where excellence is a tradition,” can factor into student pressures.

West High has the top ACT composite score in the state (25.8) and is ranked 4th in academics in Iowa according to a 2014 U.S. News & World Report article.

“Some kids don’t feel comfortable enough to come up and say that they are extended much further than they really should be, or they can handle at this point in time,” said Choun. “They’re told that when you’re at the top and taking all these classes, you should be able to handle it, every kid that’s up there should just automatically do good. And I think it’s harder, the further you are along, to stop and say maybe I don’t get this, maybe I need more help.”

Possible Solutions

Real

day of a student

permission and say, ‘okay, tonight you sleep.’” said Choun. “The worst case scenario is that one day you don’t turn in your homework. It’s not the best recommendation, but sleep is part of a functioning day.”

But, 8 hours of sleep seems too unrealistic for some students.

“I get 5 hours [of sleep] on a good night,” as Colgan puts it.

3

tips to destress studying

So, what have some area schools been doing to facilitate stressed out and schedule-packed students?

Cedar Rapids Washington implemented a system called Response to Intervention, or RTI. This system shortens class periods and creates built in time for all students to have time to work.

C.R. Washington has 7, 53 minute class periods, starting at 7:17 am and released at the end of the day at 3:05 on regular school days. They also have early release and late start schedules. During regular days, Washington students stay with their 6th period class for an extra 25 minutes.

During this extra period, students study, do homework, or meet with other teachers to make up assignments or ask questions. It is basically a shortened, school wide study hall.

Or maybe just a better use of our advisory time and study halls provided now, would help students here at West.

“A better way to implement this here at West, may just be to adjust how we use our Advisory time every week,” said Witthoft.

1. Gummy bear read Place a gummy bear after every section of a book and reward yourself.

This way you are motivated to keep reading and stay focused.

2.Power down

Turn your phone off to decrease distractions!

3.Jump around!

Walk the dog, dance a jig, or just jump up and down! The boost of blood flow will help your brain function at a better rate.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 83

Wait, Teachers Actually Have a Life Outside of School?

By, Conor Zielinski

You know when you are out at the grocery store and you see one of your teachers down the aisle? You then say ‘Dad, let’s go to this aisle a little later.’ You did not even expect a teacher to be outside of the school and then you ask yourself: why would they be outside of school? They have families and lives, too. here are some hobbies teachers are into.

Take a look, you might just be into the same hobby.

What do you do when you see a student outside of school?

Do you have any hobbies outside of school?

I say hello. If they stop to talk to me, I like to ask them about Yes. Reading….obvious what is happening in his or her life. I love seeing my former

ly?…, playing card and board games students and finding out what is new.

(my family enjoys euchre,

rummy, etc.), and I like watching Where do you usually see students?

baseball. I’m just now realizing that Katy Nahra most of my hobbies HyVee. It took me a while to get comfortable with not getting involve sitting on dressed up and wearing makeup to the grocery store, but now my caboose! students should consider themselves lucky if they see me at Hy-Vee with my hair brushed and out of my sweat pants.

For how long have you been doing this hobby?

As long as I can remember.

What/who got you interested in this hobby?

My dad is a huge baseball fan and my entire family is very competitive. You give us any “game” and we’ll make it a competition. Playing cards just fits right into that compulsion.

What do you think of students not thinking teachers do activities outside of school?

I would say that I thought the same thing when I was a student. I was always jarred when I would see a teacher outside of school at the grocery store or wherever. I see many of my students around town, and I always enjoy the awkward look they have that seems to say, “what are you doing outside of school? Don’t you have papers to be grading or something?”

54 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Mr. Finn is a English teacher and has been teaching for eight years at West High.

Mrs. nies is a History teacherand has been teaching for three years at West High.

Mrs. Nahra is a English teacher and has been teaching at West High for three years.

Jeff Finn

and running apps that do most of the work like Runkeeper and Zombies, Run! Do you have

any hobbies outside of What do you think of students not thinking teachers do ac school?

I enjoy playing Ninja and tivities outside of school?

Don’t you know the world’s theory? Everybody

Peekaboo. I’ve got two

kids, so my main knows you’ve got to keep the worlds apart. If the worlds come into contact they blow up. My freshman English hobby is whatever

they are interested in at teacher, Mr. Lippold, once gave me a ride home after practice. He pointed out his house on the way and I remember the moment.

When I thinking, “Who is this guy? Of course he has a house; how do I not even realize he is a person? Nothing makes sense get personal time,

I generally use it anymore. I’ve got to rethink everything.”

What do you think of students not thinking teachers Jeff Finn for running, listen

ing to do activities outside of school?

Don’t you know the world’s theory? Everybody podcasts, or watching knows you’ve got to keep the worlds apart. If the worlds films. come into contact they blow up. My freshman English For how long have you been doing this hobby? teacher, Mr. Lippold, once gave me a ride home after prac I played football in hightice. He pointed out his house on the way and I remember school so I could not run, but my brother and one of my thinking, “Who is this guy? Of course he has a house; how sisters liked to run and I would go with them. In college, I do I not even realize he is a person? Nothing makes sense hung out with runners and did a lot of runs where anymore. I’ve got to rethink everything.” they marked trails like a treasure map to follow.

What do you do when you see a student outside of school?

What/who got you interested in this hobby?

I almost always try to say hello. I haven’t met a

What got me back into student yet that I didn’t like (at least a little). Also, I’d just running was the convenience of being able to just walk like to say that it is a bit rude to play the “do you remember outside and go, the me?” game. I actually remember every student’s face and even events or things they said or did, but with hundreds of Melissa Niies students I sometimes forget the names. It’s not nice. Just Do you have any say your name. hobbies outside of school?

Yes! I go hiking and stand

up paddle boarding in nice

weather, I love to travel, What do you think of students not thinking teachers do

and am trying to activities outside of school? re-learn the guitar.

It’s alright – we thought the same thing about our teach For how long have you ers! But it would be great for students to know that teachers are active members of our communities and ac been doing this hobby? tive in our own lives. I think it sets a good example that

you can be engaged in things that you love in addition to Melissa Nies having a career that you also love.

Re-learning the guitar for a couple of years – I learned to play in high school, but didn’t keep it up.

What do you do when you see a student outside of school?

I love to say hello – it’s great to see students with their What/who got you interested in this hobby? friends enjoying time outside of school. Sorry if I embar Mr. Iannone is a great guitar player – he brings in his guitar and gave me a couple rass anyone! of lessons to get back into it. I’d love to be able to pick it up and play. I was a singer through college and guitar is Where do you usually see students? the perfect instrument for a singer.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 SECTION 55

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Tis

The Season A Winter Break: CRASH COURSE

By Bethany Schillinger and Sarah Longmire

56 Feature December 2014 wsspaper.com

Christmas Spirit “Decorating brings the spirit of Christmas into the house and it’s fun to see the creative things my dad does with the decorations,” said Eva Mysnyk ‘15.

Photo by Eva Mysnyk On Valley View Dr. in Coralville if you tune your radio to 107.3 you can listen to Christmas songs in your car while watching a light show that changes to the beat of the music.

Photo by Bethany Schillinger “I like making Christmas cookies because it is a great way to bond with family and they are delicious,” said Gabby Skopec ‘17.

Photo by Bethany Schillinger “I love to jam out to Christmas music 24-7. I also love to make christmas cookies and decorate my tree,” said Morgan Saylor’ 17

What holiday movie should you watch?

Photo by Morgan Saylor

Do you even like holiday movies?

Not really

Try The Polar Express

Watch Elf

Yeah

Who doesn’t??

Do you like to laugh?

Even if it’s slightly dumb?

Do you like movies that require lots of thought?

No

Yes

Um, no gag!

When was the last time you saw a holiday movie?

Of course

Do you like it when bad changes to good?

No

Reconsider if you like holiday movies

This year

Have you tried any classic Christmas movies?

Checkout Home Alone

Maybe

Long

Yes

It’s a Wonderful Life

Longer than a year?

Yes No

Watch A Christmas Carol

Or Try Frosty the Snowman

Reconsider if you like holiday movies

wsspaper.com December 2014 feature 57

Giving...

Great Gifts

The Lokai Bracelet -This contains water from Mt. Everest and mud from the Dead Sea, these are the highest and lowest places on earth $18 on mylokai.com

The Bluetooth Shower Speaker -A waterproof bluetooth speaker with a suction cup to stick to your shower well $15 from boardwalkbuy.com

Different ways to give back -Volunteer at food pantry -Give to school food drive -Write thank you notes -Bake cookies for the neighbors -Shovel a friends driveway -Make a card for a child in the hospital -Send a care package to a veteran

58 Feature December 2014 wsspaper.com

The “Take What You Need” Inspiration Box -Full of inspiring coins for you to carry around with you during the day $25 on skymall.com

“Keysmart” -Great pocket organizer and minimalized key ring. Keep all your keys in one pocketknife-like contraption $20 on getkeysmart. com

Back!

“My favorite part of caroling is getting to spend time with people I enjoy being around, but I also enjoy singing in general,” said Willem Paul ‘15.

“SSIKE has always done an annual clothing drive, and we continued it this year because it’s an important way to give back to the community,” said Layla Siddig ‘15

Holiday Favorites The WSS surveyed students, and here’s what they had to say.

Movies 1. Elf 2. A Christmas Story 3. Home Alone Songs 1. “Jingle Bell Rock” 2. “Winter Wonderland” Cookies 1.Sugar 2. Chocolate Chip 3.Frosted Sledding Hill 1. Brown Deer Golf Course 2. Willow Creek Park 3. West High

10 1

things to do for days of break

Make Christmas cards

2

Do a service project

3

Make Christmas cookies

4

Go Shopping

5 HAVE A NERF GUN WAR WITH FRIENDS Drive around and look at 6 7 Christmas lights Binge watch Play 8 board games 9 Christmas movies Go Bowling

10

Go see a movie like: Annie, Big Eyes, or Expelled

♫ Holiday Mixtape ♫ ♫ ♫

By Christian Aanestad

1: “The First Noel” by Carrie Underwood 2: “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby 3: “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” by Nat King Cole 4: “Have yourself a Merry little Christmas” by Frank Sinatra 5: “Baby it’s Cold Outside” by Louis Armstrong 6: Silent Night by Stevie Nicks

wsspaper.com December 2014 feature 59

From One Place to another

BY ABBY JANS

jans.abby@gmail.com

Whether moving 10 miles or 1000 miles, any move is difficult. These are the stories of three girls who moved to Iowa City and now attend West High. All of them moved for the same reason: one of their parents accepted a job here. However, their stories also have their differences, such as if they had the choice to move or not.

Marina Paul Marina Paul ‘17 didn’t have a choice when it came to her family’s decision to move from Washington to Iowa City because her dad accepted a job here in Iowa City.

“Being yourself in new In Paul’s eyes, best way situations helps you to the to meet new find friends that will people is by like you for you.” being yourself. “ B e i n g yourself in new situations helps you to find friends that will like you for you, not for something you pretend to be,” said Paul.

She also thought that meeting new people

Callie Linebarger

Moving almost 1,000 miles away from her home, Callie Linebarger ‘15 moved to Iowa City from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during her transition to high school. Given the choice of whether or not she wanted to move, she decided it would be best to move.

“I thought moving would offer an exciting change.”

Callie with her mother and sister in 2009.Photo used with permission from Linebarger.

60 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

was intimidating, like always when you’re put in a new situation. She met a lot of people at her church and made friends through people who she was introduced to through the people she had met.

In comparison, Iowa is Marina with her family a while ago at Christmas. more humid than Wash-Photo used with permisington. The communitysion from Paul. in Iowa is more diverse but way smaller in size. Both places have friendly people.

“I thought moving would offer an exciting change. Plus I didn’t want to be away from my two younger siblings who were 5 and 3 at the time,” said Linebarger. As a way to meet people, Linebarger joined the volleyball team. Linebarger also felt that moving to Iowa changed the way she acted.

“I definitely adopted a nicer facade since Iowans tend to behave more passively than people from the coast,” said Linebarger.

She moved because her mom accepted a job at the University of Iowa. Linebarger also believes that there is more to do there, such as heading out to New York for a day or just taking a train anywhere.

Jade Merriwether If given the choice to move to another state or stay in the same city, the decision could be difficult. But for Jade Merriwether ‘17 who got the choice to move to Iowa City or stay in St. Louis, Missouri, the decision was easy. She moved with her mom and brother during this past summer because her mom accepted a job at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in physical therapy. When comparing Iowa City and St. Louis, Merriwether can tell that Iowa City definitely has a college vibe.

“You really feel like you’re in a college town community,” said Merriwether.

Population-wise, St. Louis is bigger. St. Louis has a population above 318,000 while the population of Iowa City is about 71,600. Merriweth-

er believes that all the classes offered at West and the high school she attended her freshman year in St. Louis, Crossroads College Prep, are pretty much the same.

There are more students per class at West. Merriwether decided to step out of her comfort zone earlier this school year, which helped her to meet more people. “[Meeting new people] was intimidating at first but once I stepped out of my comfort zone and started talking to different people I made some friends,” said Merriwether.

Jade with her mom (left) and brother (right). Photos used with permission from Merriwether.

Moving in High School

BY ABBY JANS jans.abby@gmail.com

Between 2012 and 2013, 35.9 million people moved in the United States.

48% moved for housing, 30.3% for family, employment was 19.4%, and other was 2.3%.

In 2009, moving for a new job was the fifth most common reason for moving, at 8.7%.

Sources; Census.gov

Mymovingreviews.com

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 61

Fast

Fashion

Americans are buying more clothing and spending less of their money on it. But what is the long term impact of this abundance?

BY MADELINE SILVA

mad.silva.ic@gmail.com

PHOTO BY MADELINE SILVA

Everyone loves shopping. Whether they admit it or not, the act of acquiring something shiny triggers a primal endorphin rush for most people. And for many people, clothing is their consumerist vice of choice.

As stereotypical teenagers, we are image-conscious and trend-obsessed, yet poor. So where do we go? In the past two decades or so, so-called fast fashion retailers have emerged to serve our demographic. Forever 21, H&M, Zara, Target, and others of their kind are notorious for kicking the design cycle into hyper speed and churning out cheap runway knockoffs as fast as people can grab them off shelves.

The shopping habits of Americans have changed radically as a result of the universality of super cheap, super trendy clothing. Today, the average consumer buys 64 items of clothing a year, more than one item per week, according the book Overdressed. But in order for this level of consumption to be possible, retailers have slashed manufacturing costs, resulting in terrible overseas working conditions (a travesty we don’t even have time to get in to) and often, very poorly made garments.

The supposed shoddiness of Forever 21, a sleek marble outpost of which we have in our very own Coral Ridge Mall, in particular, has become a sort of meme.

WTForever21 is a blog devoted to mocking particularly tacky items. Rapper Azealia Banks uses Forever 21 as a synonym for “Once I was trying to get a basic bitchery in her song tag off and it fell apart.”

“Van Vogue”: -Lucy Blair “Tryna come ‘16 out of Forever 21 stuntin’ on me…” This level of disdain is deserved in the eyes of some consumers.

“Once I was trying to get a tag off and it fell apart,” said Lucy Blair ’16.

Yet we keep coming back. Forever 21’s success has come from its business model that focuses on getting customers to come back weekly, like a grocery store.

And it’s offerings are addictively cheap.

“I don’t have a lot of money but I still want to dress comfortably and somewhat fashionably and so forever 21 and similar stores provide this,” said Callie Linebarger ‘15.

The fast fashion industry has changed consumers’ expectations. We now expect clothing to be incredibly

cheap, and are increasingly unwilling to pay for quality.

When things are so inexpensive, why bother when they break prematurely? “[I wear clothing] until it rips, so usually a couple m o n t h s ,” Linebarger admits.

O bv i o u s l y, going through The U.S. generates around 25 products like billion pounds of brand-new that isn’t good. textiles per year- that’s 20 But what about billion garmets. thrift shops? Isn’t A few decades ago, the average impulse-buying household spent 14 percent of that ironic “Pug its annual income on clothing; Life” pullover now it’s just over 3 percent. you wear twice okay if it ends In 2013, the U.S. exported up at a place like 860,000 tons of secondhand apparel to other countries.

Goodwill or the Source: Huffington Post Salvation Army, destined to keep an impoverished child warm this winter, or perhaps more likely, to be a hit at a hipster ugly sweater party?

In fact, the fate of most donated clothes isn’t so rosy.

Thrift stores receive far more clothing than they can use. According to NPR, eighty percent of donations end up in the hands of textile recyclers, which pack them into bundles of several tons and ship them off to poor countries to be resold, or car factories, where they’re used to stuff seats. Still more garments end up in landfills, where cheap plastic-based fabrics can take hundreds of years to decompose.

In order to reduce clothing waste, consider going back to the way generations before us consumed clothes.

100 years ago, most people had a few outfits they wore, washed, and fixed until they were unusable. Even a few decades ago, people expected the clothing they bought to last them, and perhaps we should return to that line of thought.

Instead of buying five pairs of seven dollar pants, consider buying one pair of thirty five dollar ones. Fast fashion clothing’s pricing makes it hard not to buy it like candy, but a little restraint and planning is well worth the environmental savings of using less.

CHIC STATS

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 63

Other Slang used by teachers Homeboy What Cool Sup Yo

Other slang used by students YOLO Yeet Or nah Fleck Point Bae Turnt up

Slang Now Ace Holst

Ever wonder if your teacher and you used the same slang words?

Slang can be used in any way imaginable and can mean anything. New words are constantly being created and old ones forgotten, like when YOLO used to be a thing but some words will always be timeless.

Lane Ungaro, ‘18 “Fleck’ and ‘Point” “Your Face on fleck but my clothes on point”

Tyler Stern, ‘18 “Squad” “The sguads here”

64 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Slamg added to oxford dictionary

&

Then

Bing-watch: To watch multiple episodes in succession Cray: Crazy Vape: Refers to E-Cigeratte vapor YOLO: You Only Live Once Can You you match the word to the correct definition? Once you test your knowledge find the snswers at the bottom of the quiz.

Stacy Strief Social Sudies “Peeps” “Sup peeps”

Matching Quiz Source: Oxford English Dictionary

1. Phablet A. An alternative for pysch 2. Yeet B. A contents whose main pur-

pose is to attract 3. Click Bait C. A tablet sized phone

Sakinah Ellickson Science “G” “Whats up G?”

4. Time Suck D. An unproduc tive Activity

Word of the year

Words of each year found on Wikipeida

2013 Because 4. D

2012 Hashtag

3. B

2011 occupy

2. A

2010 App

1. C

2008 2009 Bailout Tweet

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 65

14 DECEMBER 2014 wsspaper.com

ISM?

IN-

FEM-

BY KARLI MAURER AND MEG MORELAND kmaurer17@gmail.com and mcmoreland3@gmail.com

“The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men” Feminism is a concept that has been around for a long time. With the new wave of social media latching onto the concept of feminism, it’s important to hear what our community at west has to say.

67 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

UPCOMING EVENTS - Feminist Club is

Filler Picture

Feminist Club “Do you guys want to talk about anything?” said Meldia Sharpe ‘17, the feminist club president. She quickly backtracks. “Okay, we can say this [...] The controversial topic about saying ‘you guys.’” Did you catch that? She just referred to an entire group of girls as guys.

This is the feminist club. They meet after school on Thursdays in room 122.

This discussion goes on to talk about gender neutral pronouns, how debate teams will file a complaint when the opposing team uses the term “you guys” to get them disqualified, and sexism in general.

“Alot of it is just the normalization of the slang ‘guys.’ You hear it a lot throughout the day,” said Danetta Dobre ‘17, a feminist club member.

“It’s something that happens subconsciously,” Sharpe said.

Unlike common misconceptions, the feminist club isn’t sitting around bashing men.

“A lot of people say they won’t come because feminism means hating all men. But that’s really not

throwing a party and you are all invited. The party will be in late January. The club will be handing out invitations with more information - Buy a bracelet to help support an organization that makes pads for girls in developing countries who have to miss school due to their periods. Bracelets will be on sale

what feminism means,” said Maggie Terry ‘17, a feminist club member.

And that’s not what the group does; instead, it’s just a group of girls discussing big issues and eating semi-stale cookies. The goal of the club is to simply educate on the topic of feminism. The lack of formality makes for a comfortable, relaxing and open feel.

“It’s really nice to get to talk about with is a normal occurrence in your [feminism] in this sort of environeveryday life, and, of course, the ment,” Dobre said. controversy surrounding “you guys”.

As for the flow of the meetings, According to Meldia it’s hard to it all depends on who’s there and if recruit new members because of anyone has anything to bring to the the controversiality of the topic of table. feminism. The club was included in “Usually we start off by talking and the club page found in the first isasking everyone something about sue of the West Side Story this year, feminism that they want to talk and they also had a booth at the about or something they’ve obclub fair. Most of the girls attending served in the past week,” Terry said. the Dec. 4 meeting came because Meeting discussions range from of a friend that got them involved. social media, pop culture, recent Another thing that seems to be things found in the news, songs, and detrimental to the club, is the lack any questions that come up along of boys. the way. Emma Watson’s UN speech, The addition of boys to the confor example, was talked about in a versation allows the club to get a past meeting. different perspective, they find.

“Normally we analyze some sort of “[Boys] are just as important as the social media,” Terry said. women in the club,” Sharpe said. “If During the Dec. 4 meeting, they you’re a boy, come.” discussed the song “Ladies” by Andy “I would encourage anyone [...] to Grammar, how it seems that touch- find out the definition of feminism,” ing other people you are conversing Terry said.

68 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

The Opposing Side

Like any story or argument, the topic of feminism has two sides. Mason Hanson ‘18 views the topic of feminism from the other side of the argument.

The WSS asked him questions regarding his beliefs towards feminism: Q: What is your personal definition of feminism?

A: Feminism is, I think, women trying to take away rights from men and be better than men

and saying that that’s equality.

Q: Do you believe society or our generation has affected your beliefs?

A: Definitely. A lot of kids don’t really have an opinion, they go with what everybody else is saying. So if someone believes in something they’re like, oh yeah I do too, trying to be mainstream. I think that if you’re going to have an opinion, have an honest one and actually know what you are talking about instead of just going with the flow. Formulate your own opinion.

Q: How important do you feel feminism is?

A: The current feminism, not really.

Equality for women and men, getting paid the same, I think that feminism is somewhat important.

Q: What’s one thing that you would say to the opposing side of this argument?

A: I think women and men should have mostly equal rights, but women should not have more rights than men and men shouldn’t have more rights than women. It depends on what they believe personally.

Q: Do you believe that all feminists think that they are better than men?

A: No. A lot of stuff I’ve been saying is talking about people who think women are better than men or women should have more rights than men. I understand that there are still a lot of people that think that women and men should have equal pay, I’m just saying that a lot because it’s

just an easy example, and I agree with that. But the ‘over the top’ feminists, I think are confused and wrong.

Q: You said mostly equal rights in your previous answer, what do you mean by that?

A: There are some jobs that women can’t do women are not built to do.

I mean, sure if you’re built to do that and you’re capable of doing it then yes you have that right to do that.

But, just because you want to say, ‘Oh well women and men are equal, that makes me able to do this even if I’m not capable of doing it.’ That’s stupid, in my opinion.

Q: Do you feel that at West feminism is a problem or a big topic?

A: At West in general, no. In groups of kids here at West, yes. I’ve seen groups of kids talking about it and that are passionate about it, but not necessarily everyone at West. It’s not a normal topic that comes out. I’m in the Republicans Club and we have just never talked about feminism.

Q: Hypothetically, if you were a female do you think you would still feel the same way?

A: Yes. Hypothetically, I would still want to be able to have the same pay as men. I would not say that women are better than men and that we should have more rights than men.

Q: What’s one thing you would say to a feminist?

A: Know the facts and be fair.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 69

Feminism in Pop Culture Unbeknownst to you, your favorite song, lyric or rap could be playing to the theme feminism. Here are some examples: “Bo$$” By: Fifth Harmony “Run the World (Girls)” By: Beyonce “***Flawless” By: Beyonce and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “ Ladies” By: Andy Grammar

Times Magazine’s Apology

Your Definitions We asked students at West to give us their definition of feminism.

“The idea of females expressing individuality.”

“To love and care affectionately.”

“An attempt to equalize the sexes.”

“When you act like a girl.”

“Girly.”

“Female traits.”

“Stereotyping a women.”

“Things women can do.”

“IDK.” “Cat calling a chick.”

“Letting women work and differ from the old social norm of just being housewives.”

“A certain way females are supposed to act.”

Twitter Tags

Even Time had something to say when it came to feminism.

On a reader’s poll regarding terms to ban in 2015, the magazine included the word feminist in their Nov. 12 issue. It was followed by an apology a few days later from the managing editor. The magazine claimed it was included because the issue is now something every celebrity is supposed to state their position on. Along with the word feminist, there was bae, basic and kale.

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 70

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for the kids

ADHD Meds: Use and Misuse With ADHD being diagnosed to 11% of children between ages 4-17 adderall abuse is at an all-time high By: Colin Waldron As a high school student, college is in sight as a reachable goal but some students decide they need a little help. Adderall is a medication created to help people who have ADHD focus.

ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and there has been a large surge in diagnosis for this condition, in a study done by the CDC in 2011 11% of children ages 4-17 years old were diagnosed with ADHD. With this large surge comes an increased amount of supply of Adderall.

When a student is pressured to get good grades in such a high stress environment, some may look towards drugs in order to gain the edge they need. One of the most controversial parts of the Adderall debate involves the effects of dependency. If your body becomes dependent on Adderall from over usage and heavy dosages, there will be much lower levels of adrenaline in your system and you will become resistant to it as Adderall causes release to increase rate and flow of blood to the muscles. As a result of this prolong increase of heightened heart rate your heart muscle can become weak leading to much larger problems like cardiovascular diseases.

Another significant side effects of Adderall are mainly mental health issues with long term usage including severe depression, paranoia, and hostility towards other. The coalition of drug abuse studies confirmed these symptoms over the course of addiction in observed users.

72SECTION December2014 wsspaper.com

Even people in our own school have trouble with Adderall.

Michael Cho a sophomore here at West High School told me his story of Adderall abuse and its effects on his personal life. He was diagnosed with ADHD and he was given Adderall in to cope, “Over 3 months my dosage of medication increased overtime in order continue feeling the same focus,” over time he felt like he was becoming resistant and he upped his dosages until he realized, “The thing about prescription medication is that you don’t realize how addictive it is until you forget to take it one day, [...] I felt like it was the correct way to cope with my ADHD but on the day I forgot to take Adderall, I couldn’t even function in school, my eyes itched, I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t focus at all, that is when I knew I was addicted to it, I needed it to operate,” As it is required you take the prescription every day often times people don’t realize how badly they need it until they miss a dosage. After months of fighting Cho says, “I slowly weaned myself off the high doses of Adderall until I was back at the recommended prescription amount,”

All Images used are from CreativeCommons.org

Is it really worth destroying your body and mind over a good grade? There is a huge lack of information about Adderall and its side effects among high school students. “What is Adderall in the first place?” Walt Wang ‘16. This lack of information is often attributed to a lack of drug education beyond health classes. Only by recognizing the significant physical and psychological issues that can develop from taking Adderall without a prescription can there be change. I did an interview with MECCA and they left me a few notes to teens and parents concerned with Adderall abuse, “People certainly abuse Adderall it is definitely a concern, it can cause people who actually need it to have trouble getting access to medicine, [...] Monitoring prescriptions and pill amounts is necessary to combat the selling of prescripwsspaper.com December 2014 section 73

MetallIC Wing

Make no mistake.

Frisbee is actually almost a real sport with numerous teams on different levels of play. Metallic Wing is just one of about 2,500 high school Frisbee teams in the USA. Among high school teams there are club teams, intramural teams and actually professional frisbee teams.

It started off in 2008 as just a high school mess around activity in the gym of the school by freshmen at the time, Reed Johnson ”12” and Patrick Tierny ”12” But after finding a huge joy in it Johnson and Tierny both decided they wanted their pickup frisbee mess to become something a little more.

So in early March of 2011, Johnson and Tierny, along with graduated friend Colin Lord,

oi e wt s ay t

all turned the “team” at the time, into an actual club program, with organized practices, scheduled pre-season and on-season games, and even the cutting of players to make the team the best it could be.

With it now being taken seriously and being more organized the team then went on to become State Champions in the Falls of 2011, 2012, and 2013 and plans to make at least another appearance at state this year if they don’t win it again.

Now the team is approaching its 7th season, still coached by Colin Lord with Reed Johnson’s little brother, Ben, as captain.

As the team is in off-season it has open practices where anybody can show up to try and see if they would like the sport but within the first two weeks

76 FEATURE DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

of spring, cuts are made and a final roster is done. Right now there are about 18 kids who consistently show up for practice and will probably be the majority of the team in the spring of 2015.

The team encourages new people to try out for the team. Escpecially if they are younger because they feel like the team is going to get smaller as the years go by if less underclassmen join.

When asked if people would join, the most common responses were, “Are you kidding?” or “Thats a real sport?” But Lord says that, “Only brave people try frisbee. I know it sounds lame but it takes guts to come out and try a weird new sport and stick with it through the rough period of learning the game. Ultimate is a very humbling game because everyone starts out universally terrible.

“Ability is nothing, if you never get the Team captain Ben oppertunity” WORST GAME VS BEST GAME WORST: Loss to Chicago Whips: 21-8 BEST: Win against Scattergood: 21-0

Johnson says, “My favorite part about frisbee is it is the only sport that requires two people to score on every single point.”

77 FEATURE DECEMBER 2015 WSSPAPER.COM

BY CHRISTIAN ZIRBES czirbes89@gmail.com

With 2014 rapidly drawing to a close, WSS takes a look at seniors and their work toward the next step in their educations.

As winter break approaches there is the feeling of excitement for the upcoming freedom from school in the air, yet there is also the rancid undertones of stress. Not the normal test and schoolwork stress, but the stress of yet another year of seniors losing sleep over college applications, the next step in paving their futures in this world.

The scariest part? The fact that those reading this article right now have either gone through the process, or will have to do so in less than four years if they plan on pursuing a further education. That’s right, less than four years, and as the college application process looms over the horizon, current seniors are in the thick of the application process right now. “Hopeless” is how Albarra Sadigahmed, ’16, felt during the college application process, facing the blizzard of papers and essays that needed to be written and perfected.

In order to have an application process for colleges, there must be colleges that exist to apply to. Not only that, but the colleges applied to by a potential students must “fit” with the student. Whether it be areas of academic study offered, the social life, the party scene, athletics and beyond, the college must have something that appeals to the applicants. Ben Johnson, ’16 applied to Luther because of how familiar he is with the college. “[Luther is] a second home for me. Our family would take surprise vacations to Luther, its a place I’ve grown up besides Iowa City. My parents and older brother went there.”

Competitive Colleges

All too often, those applying get wrapped up in the titles that garnish a college’s name. Examples being “Ivy League” or “Top Ten in the country.” Names that come to mind are Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Cornell and Columbia. With the fancy titles come increasingly competitive admission rates. U.S. News reports that Stanford University in California has the lowest admission rates in the country, with only 5.7% of those who apply actually being admitted, closely followed

by Massachusetts’ Harvard University at 5.8%.On the subject of increasingly competitive schools, “Kids do a lot more work, a lot of the time only for college. A lot of people do Silver Cord to get into college.” said Ben Johnson, ’15. He believes that although colleges have gotten more competitive, people are doing things to only add shine to their college applications. “[Students are] doing good things for

78 5TH DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

the wrong reasons,” said Johnson. Senior John Sunderland, also felt that students are ramping up their competitiveness. “Like i‘m competing with others, if I or someone else gets an A or B, it puts more pressure on tests.” Said Sunderland, ’16. However, Megumi Kitamoto, ’16, had a different approach to viewing the competitiveness, “I try not to think of how competitive schools are. I look for schools in my score ranges and with programs, not focus on acceptance rates.”

Said Kitamoto, ’16.

Students have a wide variety of criteria they look for when going through the college search process. Lining up standardized testing scores, class rankings, and GPA against the students currently studying at the university. Additionally, other factors to consider are tuition, as well as potential scholarships available to those applying. According to Bloomberg, the cost of a college tuition has soared 1,225% since 1978, whereas medical care has only increased 634%. These are still staggering numbers, considering the Consumer Price Index (CPI), or prices of consumer goods, has only raised 279%. That means medical care has increased almost threefold that of the consumer purchasing prices, and tuition skyrockets past at around six times that of the CPI. Fact of the matter is, colleges are getting more applicants and accepting less. So what that means is that tuition is going to continue to grow at such a rate that line graph might just whizz past the moon. However, don’t be intimidated, as there are many colleges out there, which quite possibly appeal to you, and they offer a wide array of options, interests and opportunities for you to explore. College presents a whole array of new experiences and freedom. Ben Johnson, ’16 is excited for meeting new people and experiencing new things. “[You are] free to do whatever you want.”

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 5TH 79

Josh Jensen ’15

Ted Paulsen ’15

John Sunderland ’15

Ben Johnson’15

Megumi Kitamoto ’15

Albarra Sadigahmed ’15

cool campus.” Josh Jensen, ’15

Where: Kenyon College Location: Gambier, Ohio Why: “[Kenyon is] a small Liberal Arts college, they have good academics and a really

Where: University of Minnesota Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Why: “[Minnesota] has the chemical engineering program that is second in the nation.” Ted Paulsen, ’15

John Sunderland, ’15

Where: Creighton University Location: Omaha, Nebraska Why: “[Creighton is] a nice midsize school . My dad used to teach there. They have solid academics but not overly competitive.”

Where: Luther College Location: Decorah, Iowa Why: “[Luther is] a second home for me, a place I’ve grown up besides Iowa City.

My parents and brother went there.” Ben Johnson, ’15

different. Applying to NYU was that difference.” Megumi Kitamoto, ’15

Where: New York University Location: New York City, New York Why: “Iowa City is a small city and I wanted something

Where: University of California, Davis Location: Davis, California Why: “I have family over there. I have visited the campus and like it a lot.” Albarra Sadigahmed, ’15

Where Did You Apply?

WSS tracked down some seniors, and asked the big question:

BY MADDIE MORIYAMA

maddiemoriyama21@gmail.com

80 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

A

sexual assault occurs once every two minutes. By the time you are done reading this article, someone will have become a victim.

Despite its frequency, some do not know what sexual assault is. Sexual assault is defined as “any sexual activity that does not have consent,” by Susan Junis, an employee at the Rape Victim Advocacy Program, located in downtown Iowa City. RVAP offers sexual assault victims resources such as a 24 hour crisis line, advocates for victims, counseling and support groups, and referrals.

Sexual assault is one of the most under reported crimes. According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network), only 40% of sexual assaults get reported.

Junis thinks that “A lot of people who experience sexual assault don’t think what they experienced was rape or sexual assault.”

For victims who were abused by authority figures, reporting the crime can be worse. “People might be legitimately scared. The authority figure might bring down consequences.”

Junis also believes that “We have a culture that blames victims for what happened to them.”

According to Junis, when it comes to high school students who are victims, a secondary assault may also follow the first act of sexual violence. High school students may accuse the victim of being a “slut” or say that “she was asking for it,” which sexual assault victims sometimes agree was worse than the sexual assault itself.

Sexual assault affects every victim differently, however common effects include PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), nightmares, flashbacks, difficulty concentrating, disordered eating, and being excessively startled. One common long term effect a sexual assault can leave on a victim is the inability to trust. Survivors are also more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, and develop depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and/or ideas.

Unwanted pregnancies and/or STD’s are also a concern.

In preventing an assault, Junis agrees that those methods are aimed more towards stranger assaults, which are -Susan Junis far less common than peer assaults. In high school assaults, 93% of victims knew their perpetrator.

“Our culture makes it difficult to talk about those kinds of assaults.” She also thinks that in certain situations, like parties, the expectation is that sex is just going to happen. “We have this mentality that sexual activity should just be expected, which is false.”

Consent is key when it comes to sex. Consent is when both parties agree to engage in the sexual act.

“An outfit is not consent,” said Junis. “We should be talking to children about consent at a very young age.” she said.

Ninety-seven perfect of accused rapists do not spend a single day in jail, according to RAINN. When asked why, Junis said “I believe the justice system is inadequate in addressing sexual assault. Sexual assault is the only crime where it seems that the victim is being put on trial. We buy into these myths that victims are asking for it.”

When a victim tells someone they trust that they have been assaulted, the reaction of the first person they tell can make an enormous difference.

“The first thing is you let the person know ‘I believe you.’ The reaction of the first person they tell makes a huge difference. If you do nothing else, just tell them ‘I believe you.’” If you say things like “Well, are you sure?” or “You were drinking a lot though,” the victim might think that “Well, since this person I love and care about doesn’t believe me, why would the police believe me,” said Junis.

So who is affected by sexual assault? Potentially everyone. Sexual assault sees no prejudice. But, there are groups of people who carry a higher risk; girls between the ages of 16-19, transgender people, and people with disabilities. The reason for this is that they are more vulnerable. As for disabled people, they might not have the ability to say that the abuse is happening, especially if they have cognitive disorders.

“An outfit is not consent.”

How To Receive Help

Local National RVAP (Rape Victim Advocacy Program) National Sexual Violence Resource 332 S. Linn St., Suite 100 Center Iowa City www.nsvrc.com 24/7 Crisis Line- 319.335.6000 Natinal Coalition Against Domestic Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline Violence 800.284.7821 303.839.1852 Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault Rape, Abuse & Incest National 515 28th St., Suite 107 Network

Sexual Assault Statistics 1 in 6 the number of women

who have experienced an attempted or completed rape

1 in 33 the number of men

who have experienced an attempted or completed rape

97

the percentage of accused rapists who do not spend a single day in prison

93

the percentage of juvenile victims who knew their attacker

60 the percentage of unreported

sexual assaults

10

the percentage of accused rapists that get arrested

5

the percentage of rapes that result in pregnancies

4

the percentage of accused rapists that are convicted of a felony charge

6

the number of times a rape victim is more likely to suffer from PTSD

4

the number of times a rape victim is more likely to contemplate suicide

3

the number of times a rape victim is more likely to experience depression victim is more likely to abuse alcohol Source: RAINN

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 81

Android

Cellphone Market Breakdown

iPhone Blackberry, Windows Phone and Other

unique experiences with mobile devices Can You Guess

These Famous Sayings Written in

Emojis?

Emojis iPhone

and their

Android

Counterparts

1. It’s raining cats and dogs.

2. Cut to the chase.

3. Honey, I’m home!

4. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

5. Don’t cry over spilt milk.

86 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Unbreakable?

Allie Biscupski ’17, was never really worried about her phone cracking. “I always dropped my phone, and it never broke!”

Sidewalks, hardwood floors, and concrete were no match for her sturdy iPhone 4S. Then, one day while sitting in her kitchen, her phone dropped 6 inches out of her pocket and hit the soft kitchen mats, shattering the screen and the case. That day, the sophomore learned that nothing is unbreakable.

A Phone Through the Generations

Sa f

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ty T ph im U ye on oth pg nu ar e y K ra lia m s, t for el de I r ble be he a ly ‘ di ea . “ rs 1 ph lo 15, ci al lize I co , 4 on ng ha a de 911 d uld , an e d tim d u ne d . th s d e w to ..” A ere no 7 ter e. ed iP sw fte w rm ke ior Ov a ho itc r a e t a a y ne h so s a lly w s br ted r t rus 5. out me p or oke , le he ty s Fo h d ro k a n av re lid r s is o elib ble ro an ing ce e n af ld e m un d et s ra . I d un the t y, lid tio c it re of e n, ou , b co ph he ld ut ur on d n’t se e e... fo r

With three older brothers, Daniel Neese ’18, is usually on the receiving end of things. His previous cellphone is no exception. The small flip phone has been in the Neese family for 9 years, traveling from brother to brother until it reached Daniel. This past month, he has gotten a new phone, and has put the old flip phone aside. “I was super excited when I finally got the phone because it was completely new! [I don’t miss] all the random texts from my brother’s friends whose contacts I had deleted on the flip phone.”

But Daniel is confident his old phone won’t stay unused for long - his younger brother will need a phone soon.

IMAGES AND STATISTICS SOURCES: OPENCLIPART.ORG, YAHOO.COM, AND GAMEDEV.STACKEXCHANGE.COM

87 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.

Choose Your Own

(Winter)

BY CATHERINE JU

Adventure ju.catherine.18@gmail.com

How would you fare if you were stranded alone in a winter wonderland? Grab your warmest scarf and come find out.

START HERE

You’re walking home from school. It’s the middle of January, so it’s still cold. You hear some strange noises behind you and glance back. You do a double take. There’s a black bear barreling down the street towards you.

You can’t tell if it’s foaming at the mouth. But your mouth is dry. Your head is woolly.

Your feet are taking you god knows where, but at least it’s away from the bear. You risk a look back and see the bear is still behind you but definitely gaining. Okay, so that probably was a bad decision.

Up ahead is a cluster of tall pine trees. Maybe you can climb them?

You also think about just turning around and trying to scare the bear. Aren’t they supposed to be more scared of you than you are of them? You choose to…

88 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Build a fire and get warm.

Stand your ground. You wave your hands and jacket in the air and the bear backs off. You’re now alone in the wild. You take out your cellphone but there’s no reception. You decide to...

Climb the pine trees. Bad move, black bears can climb trees too! You have reached the end of your journey.

You remember a tutorial you watched on raising a fire with a battery and a gum wrapper.

You take the battery out of your calculator and do this but then realize you’ll need something to keep the fire going.

You decide to...

Walk around and look for cellphone reception. Trudging around with your phone held out above your head, you lose your focus on the ground and slip… off a cliff. You have reached the end of your journey.

Use your textbooks. Burn,

Burn! You take a few of your heavy textbooks out and get a nice fire going. You decide to stay for the night.

As you doze off, you hear some noises and wake back up and find three wolf pups. They’re huddled together and you come to the conclusion that they probably have no mother.

You don’t know if they’re dangerous or not. You think about it for a while but in the end you choose to...

Go search for wood. You spy a big pile of wood and go for the big log at the bottom. It’s hard to pull out but it comes loose along with all the other logs. You realize the pile of wood is a beaver dam just as you fall into the freezing water next to it. You have reached the end of your journey.

Move campsites since you don’t want to risk the danger. You pack up your backpack and look around for a stick and light it to use as a torch and start your trek.

After a while you become tired and decide it’s far enough away from the wolves.

You’re about to set your things down when you notice a small hut with light inside. You run (at least as best as you can) through the snow to the small house and are relieved to find a kind stranger willing to help you. Good job, you survived the adventure!

Let the wolf pups stay, they seem pretty chill. You watch the pups as they settle down close to the warmth of the fire. You’re about to close your eyes when you see the silhouette of a man with a gun strapped to his shoulder coming towards you. Thinking fast, you decide to...

Run. You don’t know what the guy’s intentions are. You start sprinting and then you hear a gunshot. You scream out, but realize there’s not actually pain. You fall into the snow anyway though, from shock. The man comes rushing over while you scramble up to continue your escape. He yells for you to stop and explains he thought you were one of the wolves he was hunting, apologizing profusely throughout the whole explanation.

He helps you up and takes you back to the town. The wolf pups follow you and you take them to the DNR. Later, when you’re looking through your backpack you find a bullet lodged in the pages of one of your remaining textbooks. Maybe those things aren’t too bad after all. Good job, you survived the adventure!

Confront the man. It turns out he’s the security guard working for a gang of criminals stationed nearby. You were wandering too close to their headquarters and he’s been sent to eliminate you. Stranger danger. You have reached the of your journey.

Tuesday

Monday

7.

Wednesday

Thursday

1.

2.

3.

8.

9.

10.

16.

17.

HA S H T AG

14.

21.

15.

22.

23.

Hastags are a new trend in the social media world. Hashtags are used worldwide by many ages. This feature is bringing you to the world of hashtags in our school. by eLLE bODE

ellegirl21@gmail.com 90 Feature December 2014 wsspaper.com

24.

Top 5 Instagram hashtags of 2014 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

#love 664,559,278 #instagood 301,923,656 #me 285,515,784 #tbt 257,637,034 #follow 248,197,245

Maddie Moriyama ‘18 uses the first most popular hashtag on instagram for her personal photo with her dog.

Captioned: #Love my dog @maddiemoriyama

Did you know?

There are an average of 40 million instagram photos posted a day...

Teachers use hashtags too... Hashtags for Peggy McGuire “#icwgirlstrackxc is one of my favorites because I am a coach for girls track and cross country.

I also like #trojannation because I like West High and enjoy coaching and teaching here.” @PeggyMcguire

the holidays

Mckenzie Fairfield ‘15

Students share their favorite filters

@GeffJarbutt

Jeff Garbutt ‘18 “My favorite filter is Nashville because it’s raw and it makes the whole picture pop”

Eva Mysnyk ‘15 “My favorite filter is Valencia because it makes the whole picture brighter and that makes me happy.” @EvaMysnyk wsspaper.com december 2014 feature 91

December

by Taylor Fridrich

Using hastags is very popular. Many students and instagram users use hastags that match the days of the week. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s take a look at a calender of hashtags used by students here at West High.

fridrich.taylor.18@gmail.com

1.

@maddie.laffey

@jacobmentz

@lexee_nicole_

2. @ayeeeitsbrittan 3.

#mancandymonday #transformationtuesday #womancrushwednesday 7. @nottommyduffy 8. @c_countryman7 9. @humble_parks10 10.

#twintuesday 15. @papaproud7

#managermonday

#seniorsunday @mollykuehn

14. @aaron_bleil

#snorkelsunday @mkruppii

#mancandymonday #tilttuesday 21. @littlefaulkner33 22. @katevl03

#womancrushwednesday 16. @taylorwest_ 17.

#womancrushwednesday 23. @alex_lynch7 24.

#seniorpicsunday

#mancandymonday #transformationtuesday #womancrushwednesday @marymondonaro 28. @darianshowalter 29. @maddeewhitehead 30. @paulislife.23 31.

#selfiesunday

#mancandymonday

#transformationtuesday #womancrushwednesday

Hashtags @dilski.d22

4.

#throwbackthursday @_simsy21

11.

#throwbackthursday

@nextwhitemamba 5.

@licholas

#bestfriendfriday

#ootd

@sarahlongmire

12. @spencerwiskus

#flashbackfriday

@amanda_dancertwirler18. @zachlogsden

19.

#ootd @cpuff_real

#flashbackfriday #justgirlythings #throwbackthursday 26. @rosaloops @ndisterhoft_23 25. @t.smith19

#throwbackthursday

#flashbackfriday

#pfln

6.

13.

20.

27.

Tidbits UNDERCLASSMEN EDITION

BY CALEB THURMAN

cthurmanmusic@gmail.com

Based on the YouTube-popular “My First Time” tag, the WSS gave underclassmen example-questions of firsts and were asked to share one of their most bizarre autobiographical stories that they could think of. And this is what they gave us.

82 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

Childhood Memory Elsheikh

is not like most — she cannot remember anything from her childhood. Except for Sarah Elsheikh ’18 one memory.

“My mom would talk about my childhood and I wouldn’t remember anything any of it,” said Sarah Elsheikh ’18. “I would just look at her and ask, ‘when did that happen?’”

However, Elsheikh vaguely remembers an important figure from her young childhood. “[My grandpa] used to babysit us because my mom and dad are doctors and they used to stay out of the house late,” Elsheikh said. “He would usually come over to [watch] us.”

But one day, Elsheikh and her family decided to pay her grandpa a visit.

“So we went to visit him [...] and we found him laying on the bed - there were machines all around him,” Elsheikh said, looking down. “He asked me for a hug.”

Soon after, Grandpa passed. It was the most traumatic event of Elsheikh’s childhood.

“I never even knew that my grandfather was going to die,” Elsheikh said. “My grandpa was the only person I ever talked to. And after he died, I stopped talking.”

After going to therapy, joining sports such as swimming and gymnastics, and taking some well-needed time, Elsheikh began to talk again.

“The only memory I have [of my childhood] is of him.”

“My grandpa was only person I ever talked And after he

d

the

i

e

d,

t a l k i n g .”

I

.

to

stopped

Quote from Sarah Elsheikh ‘18

A Colorful Vocabulary Turquoise

is totally the first word that comes to mind when thinking of a baby’s first word, right? Well, for one West Serené Cincotta ’18 High student, it surely is.

“Before meeting [my stepsister], I was mute. I met her when I was two, and when she was five,” said Serené Cincotta ’18.

Many parents try to coax their infants into saying “momma” or “dadda”, but that didn’t work for Cincotta. When falsely diagnosed as mute and autistic, it would have seemingly been a

miracle to even have a vowel come out of her.

“When I met my sister, she had just learned the word to her favourite color– turquoise– so, she repeated it all the time– it was her favorite word,” Cincotta said.

Soon after, Cincotta silenced her “mute” diagnosis.

“One day, my mom was asking my sister questions [...] and she asked my sister, ‘what’s your favorite color?’ and I blurted ‘turquoise!’”

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 83

NFL Bathroom Mishap Trevin

Neels ’17 entered the women’s restroom for the first time at the age of six. But Trevin Neels ’17 there’s some necessary explaining to do.

“Around Christmas time, I was in Florida with my parents,” Neels said. “We got ahold of Tampa Bay Buccaneers tickets, and we went to watch them play. Around that time, the stomach flu was going around. Halfway through the game, I just started to feel awful.”

Either from that darned stomach flu or just greasy stadium food, Neels certainly wasn’t up for watching the Buccaneers play anymore.

“I told my mom that I needed to go to the bathroom. She wanted me to come with her to

“I

Take the Cake

had fourth-period American studies with this girl, and my friends encouraged me to ask her to Kevin Hanson ’17 Homecoming. But, they all gave me bad ideas of how to ask her [to homecoming],” said Hanson ’17.

Some of those ideas evolved having friends with tee-shirts that collectively spelled “homecoming” while Kevin would be wearing a shirt with a question mark on it, 10,000 dollars in a briefcase, and even male genetalia in a box.

Hanson later goes to his sister for help.

When asked, she replied, “You should bake her a cake - what girl could say ‘no’ to a cake?”

“So,” Hanson said, “we got this Funfetti cake mix, made the cake, then made yellow homemade frosting, and in white wrote “Homecoming 2K13” on top of all of it with a question mark in the middle.”

Hopeful, Hanson had the cake made and was ready to win the girl over.

84 FEATURE DECEMBER 2014 WSSPAPER.COM

the women’s bathroom,” Neels said.

Neels and his mom left their seats for the bathroom.

“So, in the girls’ bathroom,” Neels pauses to laugh, “I puked everywhere. But I didn’t realize that I was in the girls’ bathroom until [I noticed that] everyone was staring at me.”

Neels affirmed that this was the very first trip that he had taken into the women’s bathroom. After some thought, he affirmed that it would also be his last.

“Oh … And the janitor gave me a dirty look — that was kinda funny too,” Neels said.

“My friend went into a class to grab her, but she came out of the class with five of her friends,” Hanson said.

But, that didn’t stop him.

“And so I asked her if she wanted to go to homecoming. I remember the words coming out of her mouth - the biggest frown on her face - and her saying that she was going with her friends,” Hanson said.

But then, the unexpected happened.

“She was still going to take the cake,” Hanson said. “And just as she was about to, [my friend] grabs the cake, yells ‘no!’ and runs to his locker!”

One could say that Hanson’s friend stole the show; but, without question, his friend definitely took the cake.

Chunky,

Puking at Puberty

runny, a blend of orange and brown, hard to get rid of, it stains a dot on your Camryn Benge ’18 shoe and even makes an entire hallway reek of its odor. What is it? Camryn Benge’s puke.

“I had just eaten lunch, and I wasn’t feeling well at all,” said Camryn Benge ’18.

After returning to class, Benge’s teacher begins to play boys puberty video.

“Oh, great,” Benge thought to herself.

Six minutes into the boys puberty video, Benge began to feel something stirring inside of her.

“I got up and asked my teacher if I could go to the bathroom. He said ‘no’ and that there were only eleven minutes left,” Benge said.

Benge returned to her seat. A few minutes later, Benge asked her teacher again. And it was déjà vu.

“I went back to sit down, but I just felt it,” Benge said. “I got up and I ran into the hallway, puking all into my hands, on my shoes, and on the floor.”

After, Benge threw her puke into a nearby trashcan. She then ran into the bathroom and puked again, this time in a sink.

Benge promptly left school after the series of unfortunate events. One week later, Benge faced the awkwardness of returning to the legacy that she left behind.

“The week that I returned to school [my classmates] thought that I had puked because of the video, but it was just because of the stomach flu.”

However, she returned to school with one perk. “[When I came back], my teacher let me go to the bathroom and get drinks whenever I wanted to - I didn’t even have to ask.”

“ ran I

all into

into the

hallway,

puking

my hands, on my shoes, and

on

the

floor .”

Quote from Camryn Benge ‘18

“It

Logical Thinking

was summer in Texas, and that day we were having a barbeque. I was playing in the Sarah Ahmed ’17 streets on my Barbie bike, [wearing my] pink shorts and matching pink Barbie shirt,” said Sarah Ahmed ’17.

Her father insisted upon helping her learn how to ride a bike that day.

“I was trying to show off to my little cousin - she kind of looks up to me. My father helped me ride around in the streets, making sure I wouldn’t fall, but then we were going downhill,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed began to pick up speed, soon near-fly-

ing down the hill.

“I looked behind me and my dad had let go of the bike! So, I freaked out.”

But then, Ahmed’s logical thinking kicked in!

“I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to fall anyways, so I might as well just do it.’...and so I tipped over and fell.”

The price she paid: a scraped knee, ruined matching-pink Barbie shirt, and a headache from hitting her head on a car tire.”

“I didn’t talk to my dad for two days,” Ahmed

WSSPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2014 FEATURE 85

Other Unique Names Include: -Wala -Safeya -Jacoa -Guy -Shaquannsha -Memo -Espoir -Emerence -Darriyelle -Siddarth -Noam -Winter -Boni -Callahan -Zayetzy

- I S M

BY STEFAN SCHMIDT

s.n.schmidt14@gmail.com

Five students holding unpopular viewpoints, or “-isms”, are interviewed to shed light on what diversity really looks like.

There are socialists hiding in our Kai Trepka classrooms. There are atheists in ’16 is our government. There are Muslims quick-witted, leading our students! But are they intense, and really out to get us?

Different belief sets and ways of livloves competing are found in each student sitting itive policy dearound you. Paradoxically, they may bate. He’s also be more similar to you than “all genders are equal you might and deserve equal an atheist. think.

Although the steSharon rights” -Sharon Xiang reotypical atheist Xiang Student ’16 is is “immoral” and outspoken, smart, and ambitious. “angry”, Trepka said he “[gets] She’s also a feminist. along fine with [his] friends that are “I don’t think most people actually very religious [...] I think atheism is understand what feminism means […] Feminism is simply the bemore of a result of the way I think lief that all genders than something are equal and deserve that changes who equal rights” said Xi- “atheism is [...] a I am.” ang. result of the way I Xiang said despite Trepka thinks the fact that some see think” because Iowa City feminists as “crazed -Kai Trepkais a relatively tol[…] male-hating […]

Student erant town, the lesbians”, they tend to be open minded people not that subject of religion different from anyone else. In fact, doesn’t come up very often. When it Xiang thinks those who say they does, people are usually accepting. aren’t feminists probably just don’t “I would probably be screwed if I know what feminism really is.

“Since the word ‘feminism’ conlived in the South,” said Trepka. tains ‘feminine’, people assume it’s According to Trepka, the biggest only about women […] but men substantive difference between are affected negatively by patriaratheists and most religious people chal rules too,” Xiang said. “I can’t emphasize enough that feminism is is that “[we] just weren’t told to beabout equality for all genders.” lieve in God as a child.”

76

Jonathan Neese ‘16

is goofy, kind, and a mild-mannered. He’s also a devout Christian.

“I think most people [...] think of Christianity as a long list of rules and a bunch of crazy people.” said Neese. However, Neese said what Christianity provides for him is simply “[help] to make [moral] everyday decisions.”

Neese said some people feel out of place when they learn he’s very religious. “Some people don’t swear [...] or try to act like a better person” said Neese. However, Neese does his best to “not judge others and [...] love them” so there may be little need for that.

For Neese, religion is as simple as “[treating] everyone as God would meaning love and encourage others.”

WSSPAPER.COM MONTH 2014 SECTION 13

Richie Zhang ’16 is reserved, hardworking, and a competitive swimmer. He is also a socialist.

Richie believes socialism is something good for the people.

He even thinks others do too but just don’t know it yet.

“Socialism doesn’t fit in a box […] there are aspects of many economies that are socialist even though they have [...] a ‘capitalist’ economy,” Zhang said.

Zhang said decades of propaganda painted the image of a socialist as “a heavily mustached advocate of government control of everything that is out to take your rights away and grind all of humankind under the oppressive boot of totalitarianism.”

It may have a bad rep in America, but “it’s really about protecting people through public ownership of the means of production […] For example, medical care is an essential good so it’s wrong to apply pure capitalism and charge ridiculous prices” said Zhang.

Layla Siddig ‘15 is sassy, sociable, and your class president. She’s also a Muslim.

Siddig thinks the biggest obstacle to social acceptance of Muslims is the way the media “portrays Muslims as anti-western and violent.” However, Siddig says that “for [her], [Islam] represents love and respect [...] forgiveness [...] and peace.” In fact, “Islam [...]

-Layla Siddig condemns a lot of the Student violence we see in the media.”

Many perceive a wide cultural gap between Muslims and the West. But as you can see, “ Islam’s core values are a lot closer to most belief systems than people would expect” said Layla.

“Islam is a constant reminder of how I should treat people” said Siddig. “It has helped me learn -Richie Zhang not judge others [...]

Student to forgive people and stay kind and respectful.”

“Islam’s [...] a lot closer to most belief systems than people would expect”

FAST FACTS

Percent of students that are Muslim: 1% Percent of students that are atheist: %16 Percent of students that are Christian: %80

Tanenbaum.org

“It’s really about protecting the people”

WSSPAPER.COM MONTH 2014 SECTION 77