FOJ's feature magazine 2017

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ZINE Dec 21, embe 201 r 7

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DEC. 21, 2017

and s n e e t lt of products u s e r is a on s e r d i and u n t c l a s c u u u c o beast ending th f-White, G ut the e p y H als sp , Bape, Of brands, b stion. i n n e l s e e mil prem pper-clas s still in qu u S ei er u from p h y t h o e many around th n reaso

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DEC. 21, 2017

BY AMY LIAO & EMILY MOORE

T

he year is 2017. You scroll through your are identical,” says Buchanan. “You see so much Instagram explore page, a particular different stuff. You get the idea of what they’re photo catching your eye. A guy in his trying to do, spending money on clothes and all early twenties glances morosely at the that.” Many lesser-known YouTubers have become camera, sporting a plain white hoodie internet famous after sharing more hypebeast enhanced by a red rectangle. You scroll down: content. One prime example is Blazendary, a 100,000 likes. The caption says it costs a lofty popular YouTuber whose videos showcase the $250, but you are not at all surprised. In this day epitome of hypebeast culture. and age, you’d expect nothing less.

Unfortunately, not everyone is able to indulge What began as popular New York streetwear on such costly items, usually due to financial brands have transformed into global icons. People restrictions. Staple items that have made their everywhere are investing thousands of dollars into way into hypebeast culture cost hundreds of clothing, shoes and accessories. Supreme, Bape, hard-earned bucks that not everyone has.

Off-White, Gucci, along other prestigious name However, that doesn’t stop people that want brands are rapidly gaining popularity among to reap the status and social benefits. Known as young adults, creating a growing demographic “wannabe hypebeasts”, these participants splurge of people willing to spend big to look good. They on fakes instead. “A lot of expensive shoes that are known as “hypebeasts”, and have developed people buy are fake. [...] it’s easier to spend $50 a culture of their very own. dollars than $900,” said Ilya Tataurov ’21.

Urban dictionary defines While being a hypebeast a hypebeast as “a kid that There’s not set hype- has its personal benefits, collects clothing, shoes beast [requirements]. It’s there are still some and accessories for the downsides-- their willingness just a person who wants sole purpose of impressing to spend copious amounts others.” What these clothes, to spend their money on real- of money often comes shoes or accessories might ly high-fashion clothes and high off as materialistic be is based on each and arrogant. “There’s quality clothes.” individual’s personal style. recently been a negative -Traevis Buchanan connotation with it,” said “There’s not set hypebeast [requirements]. It’s just a Tataurov. person who wants to spend their money on really However, there’s more to being a hypebeast high-fashion clothes and high quality clothes.” said than what meets the eye. “I can see there’s a Traevis Buchanan ‘18. lot of people that disagree about hypebeasts The term originates from Hypebeast, a because they think it’s dumb to spend that type streetwear and shoe magazine that promotes of money and go out of your way,” said Buchanan. popular “hype” brands and gives updates on new “But the thing is, there’s a process in becoming releases. The fashion-based culture it has created a really good hypebeast, and it’s about having has been popularized by many celebrities and good connections and knowing how to network.” reached teenagers across the globe through One way that hypebeast can be differentiated social media. “Celebrities wearing it is what’s from past trends is the constant process of causing kids to want to wear it so bad.” said buying and reselling items within the community. In Buchanan. “If you look at the followers Migos this business, being able to acquire popular items has on instagram-- Lil Uzi Vert has like 5.5 million before the price blows up is essential. “You can followers-- those are mainly teenage kids.” literally get sweatshirts that cost up to $2,000, YouTube has also experienced a spike in but when they first came out on the original hypebeast related videos. “If you look up a website, they were $200-400,” said Buchanan. hypebeast on YouTube, you could find millions of “I feel like it’s kind of its own subculture, that you videos. You could never find multiple videos that can really get into,” said Klever.

DESIGN BY AMY LIAO & EMILY MOORE PHOTOS BY TRAEVIS BUCHANAN, TOSH KLEVER & ILYA TATAUROV

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DEC. 21, 2017

BY VIVIEN HO

T

oday, the average American home contains around 300,000 items.

Yet 10 percent of our population rents out even more space, just to store things they don’t use. The demand for so much extra space for these unused things is so high, there are more than 50,000 storage facilities in our country.

How did we accumulate all these things?

More importantly: Do we even need all this stuff?

when you were younger. Was there ever a certain toy commercial, or a friend who had a toy that made you really want to have it as well? Then when you finally got it, it didn’t bring you as much joy as you thought it would? This is a fine example of how we as a society put material objects on a pedestal. In reality, these ‘things’ are much less valuable than things like experiences or the presence of people we care about.

Almost everything we look at is an advertisement.

Scrolling through Instagram? Try this new detox tea or buy the latest overpriced shoes! Who cares about the perfectly good ones you already have? Spending some time on Snapchat?

Sounds like a couple hours perusing the “Discover” tab looking at promotions for new movies and videogames. This constant stream of brand exposure has become the norm of American lifestyle, and it has become more prominent with the widespread use of social media.

Companies are constantly fighting for our attention in order to sell us things that we probably don’t need.

Another example is Black Friday shopping. We’ve all seen or heard about people who physically fight, get hurt or even die because of these post-Thanksgiving sales. Is all of that completely necessary just to get a TV? Instead of duking it out for the latest 4K resolution flatscreens, they could be spending quality time with their families. The whole idea of the holiday season is that school is on break, people are off work and everyone goes home to be with family. Our culture has evolved to the point where we ignore all of that and go out in the early hours of the day to buy clothes, home decor, among other items, in excess just because prices are lower. Not because we really need them.

In addition to that, advertisements try to convince us that these material objects will bring us happiness, even if they are completely unnecessary. Think back to

The core concept of minimalism is to value and use everything you have. Blindly buying things just because they are cheap is meaningless. The less you value something,

the less likely you are to use it, and ultimately the more likely you are to get rid of it. Of course there are some exceptions of needing to have things you don’t like (please, hold onto your homework, even if you really don’t value it), but at the center of it all, there’s no good in having material items you don’t enjoy and unhealthy friend and romantic relationships around.

This could include multiple aspecsts of your life, such as your possesions, relationships (professional, romantic, family etc.), how you spend your money as well as your overall perspective on life.

Constantly asking yourself “Does this (thing, person, or experience, for example) add any value to my life?” if it isn’t, or it isn’t necessary (again please hold onto homework) then just get rid of it.

A life with that only includes things with value will be a much happier life. The page to the right includes a couple things you can check out to get more infomation and some inspiration on this topic. Just remember to think: “Does this add value to my life?”

ART BY VIVIEN HO PHOTOS BY VIVIEN HO

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“The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” By Marie Kondo This book goes in depth into the steps to take in order to completely clear out your home (everything from the pitfalls of tidying and what to avoid when cleaning to how to fold your socks). The process is very particular and intense but, according to Kondo, is 100% effective.

“Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things” (Netflix) This is an extremely inspirational documentary and very educational. It follows around The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus as they travel cross country giving talks about the topic. It also features each person’s simple lifestyle.

“ LOVE PEO PLE AN D U SE TH I N GS, B ECAU SE TH E O PPOS ITE N EVE R WO R KS.” -J O H S UA F I LE DS M I LLB U R N “ M I N I M A L I S M : A D O C U M E N TA RY ”

“The Minimalists Podcast”

In addition to the documentary, The Minimalists have a weekly podcast that covers all aspects of minimalist lifestyle, from shopping, to friends and finances.

MY PENCIL CASE INCLUDES A HIGH QUALITY MECHANICAL PENCIL, TWO OF MY FAVORITE PEN, AN ERASER, A PAKC OF LEAD AND CHAPSTICK.

Streamline your pencil case There are three types of students, one who never has a pencil, one who does, and one who has seven pencils, three different colored highlighters, 12 colored pencils and a mini stapler. Why not just have a really good pen, pencil and eraser? Streamlining your pencil case makes things much more organized. Besides, teachers have any extra supplies if they’re needed.

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CLASS OVERLOAD

Anxiety caused by honors and AP classes is pushing students past their breaking point.

BY ALEXANDRA CARLON AND ALYSSA SKALA

AP HUG

For some students, however, the opposite is true.

“I’d say most of my stress comes from school. My family doesn’t cause stress, I think they help get rid of stress.” Said Aditi Borde ‘21.

Any teen will tell you that school has caused some level of stress. What, however, makes an honors/AP class that much different from a regular class?

“ I K N EW MY LI F E WOU LD ALG II HONORS

AP PUSH

B E STR ESSF U L I F I TOO K AP/H O N O RS CL ASSES, BUT I K N EW I WOU LD B E

GEOMETRY HONORS Photo from Pexels used with permission

I

t’s 2 a.m. Your eyelids are heavy, your brain is foggy, and the dregs at the bottom of your coffee cup have long since gone cold. This is an all too familiar scene for participants in the demanding honors and Advanced Placement courses offered at West. Many students brush this reality off as a normal facet of high school life. However, when your mental and physical well being is at stake, where do you draw the line?

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 85 percent of teenagers don’t get the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep per night.

“I probably get around 5 or 6 hours on average when i have homework,” said Favor Alarape ‘21. “ [The amount of sleep I get] definitely affects my day. I can get really crabby, my mind lives on its own, and I am more annoying.”

From how we move, how we talk and even how we think, the amount of sleep we get impacts nearly every component of our daily lives.

“When I was taking my math class it was hard for me to get to bed on time. I would stay up until 11, 12, or even 1 doing homework and trying to understand what we learned in class,” Said Rain Richards ’19.

In addition to physical health, a lack of sleep can cause irritability, stress and an increased risk of mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.

Sleeplessness can also make learning harder for students with existing learning disabilities.

“I have ADD, so it’s very hard for me to focus for long periods of time on stuff that I don’t find particularly interesting,” Richards said.

Besides affecting how much sleep you get, challenging courses at school can cause a decrease in free time. Add in extracurriculars and sports, and students’ schedules can become overwhelming. “[AP/Honors Classes] definitely do take up a lot of my time. I get home at 4:30 and usually I have a little bit of free time for an hour or two and then homework, then bed.” Richards said.

The pressures of accelerated classes are undeniably causing students stress, but for some teens the source of anxiety is something else entirely.

“I think that some of [the stress] might just be from parents’ expectation They’re like ‘oh, you’re taking this class, it’s very important.’” Richards said.

BO R E D I F I TOO K TH E N O R MAL ROUTE .”

“A normal class, well, it will impact your GPA, doesn’t give you college credit like an AP class. Honors classes are on your transcript as well, so if you mess up it’s a bigger deal,” said Richards. “Also, since [AP/honors classes] are harder, it’s easier to get a bad grade if you don’t keep up.”

Although the general consensus among students is that advanced classes cause an unnecessary amount of stress, it all comes down to the individual.

“I think [the stress of honors classes] probably depends on the person and the class,” Richards added. “Different people can keep up with different levels of stress. It really depends on what they’re trying to do.”

And in spite of the fact that these classes are time consuming and challenging, many students feel the sacrifice was well worth it.

“I knew that my life would be stressful if i took AP/Honors classes,” Alarape said, “but I also knew I would be bored if I went the normal route and didn’t challenge myself.”

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percent of west students are taking more than one advanced class percent of west students spend over an hour on homework a night percent of west students see their friends less than an hour a week

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DEC. 21, 2017

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The holiday season is here, and with it comes the two week hiatus from school, and the stress that comes with it. You may be wondering how to unwind and spend your time. So here’s a compilation of relaxing activities to do with family and friends this winter breaks.

If you’re not a huge fan of sledding or snowboarding, a great outdoor activity is exploring Iowa City. While strolling along downtown, not only can you discover new stores to do your holiday shopping but you also get a chance to enjoy the lights and festive decorations that have been put up around town.

When the weather’s freezing, as it often is in Iowa, outdoor activities can be unbearable. So baking is a great way to spend time with your loved ones and end up with a sweet treat at the end, too. Some of my favorite recipes include gingerbread or funfetti cookies which of course go hand in hand with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. So grab your friends and bake your favorite treats.

PHOTOS BY ADITI BORDE

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2017 RECAP

This year was filled with many different events. From crazy trends, popular shows, to top hit songs, 2017 had it all.

BY ELLA SMITH

On Nov. 10, Taylor Swift released her sixth studio album, “Reputation”. In its first week, it sold 1.216 million copies in the U.S. With Swift waiting three years to release “Reputation”, after her fifth studio album, “1989”, fans around the world were shocked.

Some people love her new content, while others are questioning the direction Swift is taking her music. Raven Davenport ‘19, used to listen to Swift’s music quite often, but after her most recent album, she has lost all interest. “I feel like she’s not done exploring who she is completely, but she’s also trying to please the public and follow the new style of music,” Davenport said, “but it’s not working. Every thing’s just mixing and colliding and it’s not working at all. It’s just not her.” While others seem to enjoy Swift’s new approach, such as City High student Megan Jones ‘20. “I like how they’re a lot different from her old music. Not so, ‘oh my god I’m so depressed this boy doesn’t like me,’ to ‘hey I don’t need any man’.”

The movie “It” entered theaters on Sep. 8. This horror movie, starring actors such as Bill Skarsgård and Finn Wolfhard, is based on the book by Stephen King. It is the second adaption of the novel, with the first being released in 1990. “It” centers around a group of friends that must take on an evil clown that appears in their small town every 27 years. The clown preys off of children and brings about their biggest fears. Both movies have good qualities throughout them, but, according to Molly Wilson ‘21, she prefers the original movie. “ I really like both of them, but I’m going to have to go with the old one. Originals are always better. I do like the newest one because of the character’s humor, but the older one is better because it has more of a creepy vibe.”

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TOP H ITS • " SHAPE O F YOU " BY E D SH E E R AN • " DESPACITO" BY LU I S FO N S I & DADDY YAN K E E FT. J U STI N BIEBER • " HAVANA" BY CAM I LA CAB E LLO

The solar eclipse occurred on Aug. 21 in North America. Millions gathered along the path of totality, which stretches from coast to coast, starting in Oregon and moving all the way to South Carolina, to view this phenomenon. The solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, blocking out all light. Although solar eclipses happen pretty often all around the world, this type of eclipse in the U.S. is very rare. In the past 100 years, only ten solar eclipses have happened, and only eight will appear in the following 100 years.

Netflix released the popular T.V. series, “13 Reasons Why,” in late March. It immediately blew up, being the most tweeted about show in its first week of being released. 13 Reasons Why is based on the book written by Jay Asher. It follows the life of Clay Jenson after Hannah Baker, a well-known girl, commits suicide. Hannah leaves 13 tapes behind, each one explaining a different reason why she killed herself. Clay is reason number eleven. Whether one wanted to see how it compared to the book it was originally based off of, or were just hopping on the bandwagon, there were mixed opinions on this show. Jones found the show to be realistic. “It really showed how traumatizing it is to be in that situation, especially with the mother's response. It was heartbreaking to watch, but really was a slap in the face of how real suicide is.” Others, such as Mary Woodward ‘21, believe the series strays too far away from the book. “I read the book a couple years ago, I watched the first episode and I found that the book was much better in my opinion.”

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Swing into Show Choir All photos taken by Catie Miller

BY:CATIE MILLER

ShowTime's last post for their closer song tittled "The other side" by Bruno Mars You’re on stage, in your position and ready, the lights are shining on your face, the music starts and you begin dancing like there’s no tomorrow.

Show choir is a large group of students who sing and dance. They meet every Thursday from 4-7. They have to be very committed; even though it’s only once a week, you have to give 100% every week. Show choir is pretty intense most of the time but at other times they must be graceful, according to Greta Vande Lune ‘20 Vande Lune joined show choir when she was a freshman going into West.

5:30 Wake up for competition

6:30 Get on the bus

“ if I didn't have show choir, I probably would've never done anything that I love now,” says Vande Lune.

One of Vande Lune’s favorite memories during show choir season was when her and her friend Paige Dahlstrom ‘20 had down time at a competition so they went around the school and gave random people hugs and high fives, but when it comes to the performance her favorite part is getting closer to the people she dances with. “ we’re all so tired but we get pumped and give it our all” says Vande Lune.

9:00 Arive at competition

12:00 Showtime performs

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There are two main shochoir groups, GoodTime and ShowTime. Good Time Company or GTC also practices every thursday for three hours and they to have occasional rehearsals on the weekends. Show choir isn't the biggest commitment but you are required to memorize music and choreography.

Joseph Verry ’18 Is in GoodTime and has been in show choir all of his four years at west.

“I got interested in show choir because it added an extra level of difficulty to singing and I love to perform so I decided it would

be a good option to pursue.” Says Verry.

Verry’s favorite part of show choir is the Ballad which is generally a slower song that is more focused on singing than dancing,thought it is a unpopular opinion, according to Verry.“Show choir is a place when I can do something I really enjoy with the people I want to be associated with, I think of it like a really large family.” says Verry.

Even though they do have long and hard practices they also have fun at the end playing games, laughing and getting to know eachother better.

Goodtime's beginning pose for their opener song

3:00 GoodTime Company

9:00

11:00

Home

Award Get of the bus Depends on how far Ceremony to go home the competition is

14 N EWS DEC. 21, 2017

THE WORLD IN THEIR HANDS Students at West are striving to make the world more sustainable by eliminating one carbon footprint at a time.

BY LILY MENG

W

ater bottles and candy wrappers carelessly tossed everywhere. Smog making the sky look gray and ashy.

Entire forests disappearing in the blink of an eye. Rising sea levels destroying people’s and animals’ homes. This is our world today.

However, several West students have taken steps to help mediate the effects of global warming and other environmental issues. These students believe that the world should be saved and that people should do their job to help conserve and protect the earth.

Gracie Rechkemmer ’18 is one of these students.

She started an environmental club at West called Sustainabilitrees. “The environment is super important because we only have one earth to live in,” Rechkemmer said. “It’s really damaged because of what humans have done, and because of that I think we have a responsibility to protect it and to work to make the world a better place.”

Teya Kerns ’20, a member of Sustainabilitrees, agreed. “We have one earth, and we need to do what we can to make it last the longest.

Everybody knows the consequences that their actions will have, however, you don’t see the effects immediately, so people just kind of forget about it.”

Rechkemmer started Sustainabilitrees to help students become more aware of the environmental problems affecting the world today.

“I thought it would be a good idea to start [an environmental club] at West because it’s a

“ EVE RY BO DY K N OWS TH E CO N S EQ U E N CES TH AT TH E I R ACTI O N S WI LL H AVE , H OWEVE R , YO U DO N ’T S E E TH E E F F ECTS I M M E D I ATE LY, SO PEO PLE J U ST K I N D O F FO RG ET A BO UT IT.” - TE YA K E R N S ‘2 0 way for students to be able to advocate for the environment and to work even in our own little community to make the world a better place.”

The club is new this year but has already attracted several members, including Kerns.

“This is the first year [Sustainabilitrees] has been around, and so it’s actually a really small club, but it’s a lot of fun,” Kerns said.

So far, the club has partnered with the Iowa Raptor Center to make boxes for American kestrels, a species of bird that is in danger of extinction. They have also partnered with the University of Kansas Monarch Watch Program to tag and release monarch butterflies so their migration patterns can be observed and studied, put up posters at football games to encourage people to recycle, and participated in campus cleanups. Sustainabilitrees has also started teaching future generations about helping the environment by showing elementary school students how to make milkweed balls, which, when scattered, helps grow milkweed so monarch butterflies can nest and eat. The club meets Friday mornings in Room 16, and welcomes anybody interested in learning more about the environment. The club is student-run, and they talk about and work on environmental issues that the members are interested in.

Rechkemmer already has plans for the club in the future, like starting composting.

“I think that one thing that we’re going to try to get started that would really be good is doing

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billion tons of litter is dumped into oceans annually.

composting [at West], because there’s so much food and paper products and stuff that’s wasted, and that we could potentially use to help grow things and not have waste.”

These students also avidly advocate for the environment outside of school. Haley Shook ’18 has volunteered for almost two years at the Iowa Raptor Center, which aims to connect the community to the conservation of birds of prey and their natural habitats.

“All the raptors have injuries either mental or physical. My job as a volunteer is to socialize with the birds and use them to educate others on what we can do to prevent injuries to these beautiful raptors,” Shook said.

Besides working with raptors, Shook is also aware of what she can recycle instead of tossing in the garbage can. Whenever she is outside and sees trash, she always picks it up and throws it away.

“West High does a nice job of recycling, but I wish we could all get together and clean up our campus outside. There is so much trash in the parking lots and lawns.”

Besides doing simple things to help the environment, Rechkemmer also tries to keep herself educated.

Left: Teya Kerns ‘20 and Liz Walters ‘18 take a hike at the Woodpecker Trail in Iowa City.

“I would say I try to just do the basic things, like carpool, and recycle. There are so many basic things that we can do everyday, but other than that, I really just try to keep myself educated on what’s going on in the environment, just so I can kind of be aware of what’s going on, and hopefully do something to help,” she said.

Both Rechkemmer and Shook hope that West students will start doing things to help the environment. They think that there are many things students can do to help, whether it be big or small.

“I would hope people would recycle when they have the opportunity, would not use more electricity than they would need to, would try to do things like carpooling or biking,” Rechkemmer said.

Shook agrees that the smallest things can make a big difference.

“It could be as simple as using a reusable water bottle versus buying a plastic water bottle to composting.”

All around the world, people, like these students at West, are working to make the earth sustainable so generations in the future have a chance to experience the home many take for granted today.

cubic miles of ice has been lost in Antarctica annually.

percent of the water entering people’s homes goes down drains.

WHAT YOU CAN DO Plant a garden. Growing our own fruits and vegetables reduces energy and waste.

You can also compost food waste in your garden.

Buy food from your local farmer’s market. Organic farming that uses little fertilizers and pesticides consume up to 40% less energy.

Choose foods with less packaging to reduce waste.

Use the dishwasher and laundry machine only when they are full. Don’t run the washing machine when you could add more clothes to the load.

Turn off the tap water when you brush your teeth.

Use the dishwasher instead of hand washing dishes.

Unplug your electronics when you are not using them.

Above: Haley Shook ‘18 and Gracie Rechkemmer ‘18 tag monarch butterflies with the University of Kansas.

Choose energy-efficient appliances such as low-flow shower heads, composting toilets, and washing machines that use less energy.

Right: Sustainabilitrees members drill Kestrel boxes in the West High courtyard.

Keep your thermostat low in the winter; find another way to keep warm, like wrapping yourself in a fuzzy blanket.

Photo credits: Gracie Rechkemmer Statistics: Nasa.gov

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N E W T E A C H E R

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DEC. 21, 2017

Discovering an unexpected passion Learn more about West High’s new French teacher and how she got into teaching French.

M

BY JILLIAN PRESCOTT

any students think perfection is the key to success when learning a foreign language, but Sydney McDermott knows making mistakes is what makes you better. McDermott has had her own fair share of blunders. The worst mess up was during one of her French classes. It was a college French class. She had just finished presenting in front of her classmates.

Her Professor said to her, “Do you want me to take over?,” During her response she accidentally called him an elementary school teacher instead of a college professor. That might not seem like a big deal to most, but in French it is a big deal. He then responded back pointing out her mistake, but McDermott didn’t understand what he was saying. She assumed he told her to keep going, and so she did.

Despite the embarrassment, McDermott discovered her passion for teaching French.

“I just fell into the right career,” said McDermott.

It might surprise students that McDermott wasn’t keen on teaching. She never saw herself taking French, let alone teaching it. McDermott chose French because it was the only thing that fit into her course schedule, but she is so happy she did. Previously, she majored in history, but never wanted to teach it. Teaching did end up being a rewarding career, and something she loves to do.

“My favorite part of teaching is when the

“ MY FAVO RITE PART O F TEACH I N G I S WH E N TH E STU DE NTS TEACH M E , AN D DO R EALLY AWESO M E TH I N GS” -SYDN EY M CDE R M OTT JORDAMY BOBOLIKO ‘19 TALKING WITH SYDNEY MCDERMOTT ABOUT A FRENCH TWO PROJECT. PHOTO BY JILLIAN PRESCOTT

students teach me, and do really awesome things,” McDermott said. She has learned a lot from her first couple years of teaching.

Patience and thinking from the student’s perspective are two things she value in her classroom.

Putting herself in her student’s shoes can be anything from having the distracting smell of food to whether or not they will understand a grammar term.

Erica Wales ‘21 describes McDermott as a very patient person.

“She’s also very understanding when it comes to the difficulty when learning the language so she teaches in a way that real-

“ SH E ’S ALSO VE RY U N DE RSTAN D I N G WH E N IT CO M ES TO TH E D I F F I CU LT Y WH E N LEAR N I N G TH E L AN GUAG E SO SH E TEACH ES I N A WAY THAT R EALLY H E LPS STU DE NTS LEAR N .”

- LI LIAN M O NTI LL A ‘21 ly helps students learn.” Lilian Montilla ‘21 said.

This is Montilla’s second year having McDermott as a teacher. Montilla describes McDermott as someone who cares a lot about her students, and really want her students to learn.

McDermott currently teaches in the morning at Northwest Junior High, and the afternoons at West teaching four classes total. The groups are vastly different from McDermott’s perspective, but she is glad she gets the opportunity to work with both.

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EMBARRASSED EMPLOYEES These are some embarrassing moments from students and teachers while working.

You’re not human if you haven’t had an embarrassing moment some point in your life. So to make you feel a little better about yourself, here are some embarrassing moments from students and teachers while working.

Turn Around Megan Johnson, Social Studies Teacher “I had shown a video on Youtube, and it was when Youtube used to do the thing where after a video had played, instead of going right on to the next one, it would show different options of what you could play next. There was one time that I had shown a clip for something in World History. I was standing [in front of the board] and we were having a discussion after the video clip had played, and all of a sudden I got the sense that people were trying not to laugh. Finally someone was like, “Ms. Johnson, turn around.” I turned around and there was an inappropriate picture on the board of this [...] woman.”

Screaming Match Lilli Duncan ‘20, Walden Place Retirement “[There are] some really nice people [at Walden Place Retirement] and some really grumpy, older people. There’s this one old man. He can’t hear anything and it makes him seem super rude to all the workers because he’s yelling and he can’t hear.

He got into a screaming match with another older person who also couldn’t hear. I had to go into the middle of it and try to calm them down. They kept screaming, “What?” at me, like, “What are you saying, what are you doing?” They’re just like, “These young kids don’t know how to speak.”

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Out of Control Katelyn Miller ‘19, Dane’s Dairy “I was making a chocolate milkshake in the twister machine. The shield that goes over [the twister machine] to keep it from splashing on you was broken, [but] I [still] had to use it. A certain machine went out of control and it went all over me. It was in my hair, it was in my face, and all over my clothes. I had to serve people all day like that. Then this guy I used to like came and he saw me like that.”

“Shame Box” Eman Elsheikh ’18, Panera “In the mornings we have to bake souffles for breakfast. Every two hours or so, we have to go put the pans in the oven, and sometimes we forget about them. One time I was working with someone and we had forgotten to put the souffles [in the oven] until lunchtime, so then it was like afternoon and we had put the souffles in. No one buys souffles after that point, so then [a manager] took one of the empty boxes and wrote something like “shame box” and punched holes [in it] and put it on my coworker. She wore that for a little bit.”

What do you do?

Take this quiz to find out what person you are in embarrassing situations.

1) You just ran into your crush and spilled your Starbucks on him. What do you do? a) Run away but end up slipping on your spilled drink b) Take his shirt off and maniacally flap it back and forth to dry it c) Cry and let the tears wash the coffee off his shirt 2) You’re presenting a slideshow in class. You click on the next slide and a video of you farting pops up. What do you do? a) Run out of the classroom but run into your crush’s open locker and pass out b) Accidentally fart again from the nervousness c) Cry and let the water from your tears break the monitor 3) You’re running late for school and quickly run out the door. As you get to school you realize you forgot to put pants on, just as your crush is nearing. What do you do? a) Run to the bathroom but accidently flop headfirst into a trash can on the way b) Take off your sweatshirt to cover yourself but realize you didn’t wear a shirt underneath c) Cry and let your tears make synthetic pants Mostly A’s: You’re secretly the runaway bride. You try to get out of the situation, but end up getting into something almost as worse.

Mostly B’s: You’re a holedigger. You try to fix the situation but only end up making it worse.

Mostly C’s: You’re a crybaby. All you do is cry, but sometimes it makes the situation better.

BY ALICE MENG

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How would you describe 2017 in one word? Why? “Dry, because nothing happened and everything and everyone was bogish” 20 years from now.. What is one throwback song you will play? “Honestly it’s too many songs to list. I’d listen to them all” Sasha Merkle ‘20 One piece of of advice from 2017 you’ll always remember?

“Always be on your best behavior because you never know what opportunities might open based off first impressions.”

What’s next for technology?

“I bet Apple is gonna come out with a new way to put headphones in your phone.”

What is one thing about 2017 you’d change? Why? “The racism and hate around the US. I understand you can’t change people’s’ opinions but you can definitely spread the word to create more peace and love and people will follow slowly but surely.”

TRAGEDIES • Hurricane Maria- Puerto Rico- Killing 69 people • Hurricane Harvey- Texas- Killing 91 people • Hurricane Irma- Florida- Killing 134 people • Police Shootings- over 118 dead,Texas 13, Florida & New York 9, Gunfire 42, Automobile Crash 24, Heart Attack 12 • Largest Mass Shooting- Sunday, Oct. 1st, Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, Las Vegas Nevada, 58 people killed, 489 injured

MUSIC • “XO Tour Lif3”- Lil Uzi Vert • “Despacito”- Luis Fonsi • “Bodak Yellow”- Cardi B • “I’m The One”- DJ Khaled • “The Weekend”- SZA • “Mask Off”- Future • “Shape of You”- Ed Sheeran • “T-Shirt”- Migos • “DNA”- Kendrick Lamar • “Wild Thoughts”- DJ Khaled

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By: Simo

MEMES

Snapchat Hotdog Roll Safe

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Cash Me Outside Mocking Spongebob

Would you repeat 2017 if you could? “I have had a really fun year, I have really grown over this past half of the year especially. I am very very sad to see it go by so quickly though. I feel like I would want to repeat this year again. So I could make Assen Olivo ‘20 more and more memories.”

What is one thing from 2017 you’ll remember forever? “Starting Young Life and going to my first camp. I had a fun time and was surround with friends that care for me and enjoy me. ” One piece of of advice from 2017 you’ll always remember? “To never give up on anything. And just ignore the bullies, they are just super unhappy with life and want someone to go down with them. Also I learned how to be soft. It is better to be soft than hard because I want to be able to cry and have feelings and really stick up for what I believe in.”

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RECAP

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DEC. 21, 2017

TV& MOVIES • Get out- Mystery/ • Stranger Things Thriller • Grey’s Anatomy • The Big Sick- Drama/Romance • Riverdale • Dunkirk- Thriller/ • Game of Drama Thrones • American Horror • Wonder WomanFantasy/Science Stories Fiction Film • 13 Reasons • Logan- Science Fiction Film/Thriller

TECHNOLOGY • Iphone X- Nov. 3 10 Year Anniversary, Face Recognition, Full screen Display • Iphone 8- Sept. 22

one Willis

SPORTS • SuperBowl New England Patriots- Feb. 5 21-3 second quarter Atlanta Falcons turned to 34-28 Patriots • Golden State Warriors- wins 3-1 Cavaliers winning only game 4 • Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor- Aug. 26 Mayweather won the fight on the 10th round TKO)

How would you describe 2017 in one word? Why? “Dry, because everyone is lame and were all about drama.”

What in 2018 are you looking forward to?

“Getting a nice beach body so I look for vacation this Ahjianna Walker ‘20 summer.”

What will you change in 2018? “The amount of toxic people in my life. I will just avoid them and not have them in my life at all. Also creating an environment that is fake people free and only have people motivating me and there for me through whatever whenever I need it the most.”

What is one thing in 2017 you are glad was created?

Why? “The new and the amount of boy bands pretty much because they are absolutly amazing and are enjoyable to listen to and see.”

Classroom

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By:Pauline Kihura

T

here are alot of classrooms in West High School. Each classroom has a different design that not many students get to have the experience of seeing. Teachers take a lot of time designing their classrooms to fit the students needs while also providing a fun space. Match each classroom design to its specific teacher. Lets see how many you can get right?

“I am inspired to decorate my room to look hispanic. I like to hang flags, banners, posters and papel picado.”

-Spanish teacher: Jamie Sandhu

“I decorate my room for more than just my students. I spend more than 8 hours a day, 5 days a week in this room. I need it to be aesthetically pleasing. Nobody likes to spend lots of time in an ugly environment. “

“Many of our art prints were faded, so we tried to replace those with some abstract designs, and inspirational prints.”

- Beth Belding

I am a librarian, and it is important to us that students feel welcome and positive energy when they are in the library. We wanted it to look young, reflecting the age of students.”

“I love being surrounded by beautiful photos, designs, inspiring quotes/books, plants, etc. I also think it’s helpful for students to see a snapshot of West Side Story history, whether it’s by looking at all of the covers or the staff t-shirts posted on the walls.”

-Jounalism teacherr: Sara Whittaker “I really like her room because its interesting, she has lots of pictures of students, and it gives her room a very nice welcoming feel,” -Chloe Stence 20’

“Her room is very different, and there are alot of old things from the school on the walls and i just always notice the posters and masks on the wall.”

-Simone willis 20’

“I like his room because it felt like an actual art studio and i felt comfortable sharing my works with others in his room.”

-Angie German 20’

Ann Rocarek: 4,8,14

Jamie Sandhu : 2, 9,15

“Art Room is decorated for function.

Objects and Art around the room are for teaching.”

-Art Teacher: Christian Aanestad

“I love being surrounded by beautiful photos, designs, inspiring quotes/books, plants, etc. I also think it’s helpful for students to see a snapshot of West Side Story history, whether it’s by looking at all of the covers or the staff t-shirts posted on the walls.”

Beth Belding: 5, 13

Matchup

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10 11

8 9 13

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Photo Credits: Pauline Kihura

Christian Aanestad: 3,6, 11

Sara Whittaker: 1, 7, 10,12

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DEC. 21, 2017

TOP TRAILS NEAR YOU ANGIE GERMAN The satisfying cracking sound after stepping on a stick. The wind whistling through the tree branches.

The fresh smell of somewhat clean air. All things one enjoys when going on walks. The Johnson County area provides us with almost unlimited amount of trail systems to adventure on, each with its own distinctions. Whether it be to go on a run, bike trip, or to just simply go on a walk, it’s a great way to pass time.

Here we have some of the top trails that are available near us.

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Woodpecker Trail and Squire Points Iowa City, IA - North Liberty, IA

This 3.6 mile trail system goes from Iowa City to North Liberty. Hugging the Coralville Lake, this trail can vary from hilly to flat. Here you can find many different structures like bridges, a wood maze, and a 3D wood structure for leisure. With each pathway comes multiple smaller pathways that branch off which allows people to choose their adventure. During the warm season make sure to wear the right shoes as the pathways can become very muddy and slippery. And during the cold season make sure to bundle up because the trees become bare and the wind is harsh. Coming here during sunset will make the worst of days seem like minor details.

Photo credit - Angie German

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Hikory Hill Park Iowa City, IA

Located on the east side of Iowa City, this park has a variety of trails to take. Some can lead you to giant open fields while others can lead you to a prairie area. This park has unique parts to it including an older dam of metal, bench tables with meaningful quotes, and open areas for a fun game of frisbee. Although located near Regina High School, this park is one of the most peaceful ones. A good place to relax and not have to worry for a while. Noah Yetley ’20 is an active adventurer who enjoys doing outdoor activities in his free time. “Going on walks is really relaxing especially if you take your dog” Yetley said.

Photo credit - Sara Thompto

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Lake Macbride Trails Solon, IA

A 5 mile trail system great for walking, running, cycling and even skiing or snowmobiling during the winter season. Going along the Lake Macbride, this trail is mostly flat but has many amazing views. An amazing waterfall can be seen flowing from the lake into the Iowa River, but sometimes the stench of small dead fish might make you want to keep moving. Along the rocky shoreline you can find small hidden beachy areas that overlook the lake. “Lake Macbride park has a ton of good trails and anyone of them are good choices,” Yetley said “around here I really like the trails that are at the back of the Macbride Nature Reserve”. And Hunter Herman ’18 who basically spends everyday outdoors said “The best place to go on a walk is all over macbride”. So this area will surely not let you down.

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Photo credit - Iowa Parklands

Tom Harkin Trailhead Coralville, IA

Located right off Camp Cardinal coming into Coralville, this trail used to be named Camp Cardinal Trailhead in dedication of Senator Harkin’s work on health, wellness, and leadership in earning funds for the trail. A shelter is seen right from the get-go and is perfect for a quick snack or drink. For instance, “The best food to eat before you go on a walk is your personal favorite food because then you’re already happy before you start [the walk]” Yetley said. Starting the trial off is a small bridge that passes over the small creek which then follows along next to the pathway. The first half of the walk is engulfed with trees and other plants, then an opening is available with a big open prairie field. There’s also many smaller trails that lead off of the main one allowing people to choose their adventure.

Photo credit - Angie German

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Hawkeye Wildlife Management Area Oxford, IA

This 13,708 acres area provides visitors with delightful trails. You can spend a whole day here and not get tired of the outdoor feeling. “I like to go out to Hawkeye Wildlife Management Area a lot.” said Herman. If you’re a fan of birdwatching, this place has open skies to view the pheasants and waterfowls going through. Furthermore, not only can you go walking, you can also put their shooting range into use or go hunting in this area.

Photo credit - John Johnson

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F E AT U R E DEC. 21 2017

The Unseen Ro High Rooms that the normal student can’t see

When walking through West High, you are used to seeing all the hallways and classrooms and other obvious places, but what about the rooms you haven’t seen? Rooms such as the boiler room, the orchestra pit in the auditorium, or the rooftop?

Not many people have access to these rooms, and others are left curious as to what they look like.

Head Custodian MJ Plank is perhaps more familiar with these rooms than anyone. ¨Not very many people have access to these rooms besides a selection of people,¨ Plank said. ¨I go down to these rooms daily so I can check up on things¨ Plank said. During the winter, West High is heated by boilers that run on gas and water. ¨It is a pretty long process to turn on the heaters, about two weeks” Plank said. In the auditorium, there is a hole in the front of the stage. Many people have seen the outside of it, but not the inside. It is actually a band/orchestra pit where musicians go to play music during musicals. ¨One time we actually had a kid fall down the hole¨ Plank said.

The orchestra pit

ooms of West

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The rooftop of West

Inside of the boiler room By: Chloe Stence All photos taken by Chloe Stence

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DEC. 12, 2017

Bedtime

How much sleep do students at West get?

BY NATHAN WILKINSON

Studies show that teenagers need nine hours of sleep each night to feel alert and well rested. However, some students are only getting seven hours. One of the main effects of not getting enough sleep is Sleep Deprivation. Sleep deprivation is the condition of not having enough sleep; it can be either chronic or acute. A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight loss or weight gain. It affects the brain and cognitive function. Chronic refers to a prolonged period of time without sleep while acute refers to just a few days without sleep.

Two years ago, the school district changed high school start times from 8 to 8:50 and a lot of students say they like the later start time, while many others liked the old one better. Some say it helps them get more sleep while others say it gives them less time to do homework and extracurricular activities.

In High School, it is important to get enough sleep at night. One high schooler does just that by going to sleep at 9 p.m. Emily Shie ‘19 goes to bed at 9 PM on weekdays and wakes up at 6:45 AM the next morning. Shie says she thinks gets just the right amount of sleep each night. Shie’s afternoon is planned out everyday. The first thing she does when she gets home is homework. After that, she plays with her dogs and just relaxes. When it is 9 PM, she heads to bed. “I like to have a routine schedule everyday. That way I’m getting enough sleep each night,” Shie said. When asked about the new schedule Shie said, “I like the new schedule because it gives me more time to get ready in the morning and I can wake up later. It doesn’t really affect me.” As Shie is able to get plenty of sleep, she gets good grades.

Image by Public Domain Pictures

Emily Shie ‘19

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Some high schoolers though could only imagine getting that much sleep on school days. Nicu Curtu ‘19 typically goes to bed on school nights at nearly 1:30 AM and wakes up at 8 AM. Curtu sometimes feels sleepy in class but still manages to get good grades. “I’m always the last one to go to bed in my family.” Curtu said. “If the school day started any earlier, I don’t know if I could stay awake.” Curtu said. But Curtu’s sleep schedule during the weekend is very different from his schedule during the week.

“I usually go to bed about the same time as on school days, maybe half an hour or an hour later, but I wake up much later. Typically around noon.” Curtu said.

Nicu Curtu ‘19

According to the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center, teens are at an important stage of their growth and development and therefore need more sleep than adults.

DEC. 12, 2017

Marsean Rhodes ‘18 is in between these two extremes.

He goes to bed usually around 11 PM and wakes up at 8 AM. He tends to go to bed after he finishes his homework. “I don’t like the new schedule because it pushes back everything for me.” Rhodes said. Rhodes, a varsity basketball player, has basketball practice everyday after school. His after school activities really push back his bedtime and his time to do homework.

“It’s really tough to go to practice, then come home to do homework because after practice all you want to do is relax, but I still manage.” Rhodes has pretty good grades and never feels sleepy during class. His day consists of going to school, going to basketball practice and doing homework.

Marsean Rhodes ‘18 The amount of sleep someone gets can really affect how active they are at school. Most people at West don’t seem to be aware of the very large differences in hours that people sleep, and in what time people go to bed and wake up.

What to do during winter break BY: SAMAYYA MUHMMAD

Do you ever find yourself searching for what to do during winter break?

Well, if you do, this is perfect for you. This basic guide will inspire and give you ideas for what to do during this break. At the beginning of winter break you might find yourself making plans to sleep in or catch up with your friends and family. The happiness of over two weeks of from school already makes you excited to spend it on fun. The idea of getting bored seems crazy...until it happens. If you’re looking for fun and useful ways to spend your winter break, look no further because here is a list of some activities to guide you.

Read books: Find yourself stuck in trying to find a good book to read? Well, if you want some good suggestions for books, go to Goodreads. Make an account there and follow communities, browse different genres, and make your own list of books you want to read.

Play in the snow: The basic winter break plans will include something with snow. Most people either play in the snow or just admire it. Whichever you choose to do you can always add to the thought and spice it up. An idea you can try is having a snowman building contest. Between two or more groups, start to build your snowmen, but it doesn’t have to be the basic three layered style, feel free to change it up. Also, add things that you wouldn’t find on a classic snowman like a mustache or t-shirt.

Start a winter journal or scrapbook: Winter break is a great time to pick up a new hobbies and journaling is a great one. To start a journal all you need is a pen and a notebook. If you want to write about an event that you did but add something to it, print out pictures. The pictures don’t need to be on picture paper, and if you go to the Coralville Public Library you get one dollar of free printing. Just glue down your pictures and add some words and your done. If you keep on journaling and want to invest, buy some stickers and washi tape (decorated tape) to add an extra pizazz. Listen to music, it can give you inspiration.

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Redo your room: Feel like your room feels bland? Change it up for the new year. You don’t need to go out to change your room up, just changing the positions of your room can make it feel redone. “If I could change one thing it would be my bed,” says America Marungo ‘21 Study classes that you aren’t doing well in or need a bit of refreshment: Just because it is winter break doesn’t mean you should study. If there are classes that you feel like you are struggling in, study them. There will never be a time where you shouldn’t study. Even if you study for 15 minutes a day it will keep the knowledge from the beginning of the year fresh. Distribute your practices!

“I suggest you listen to any of BTS’s album, they are really good and inspirational,” said America Marungo ‘21

Have a potluck marathon: What is a potluck marathon you ask? It is a party night with all your friends but instead of having a host, you all are hosts. Each host is in charge of one thing. If one person bring the movies or shows, someone else will bring snacks, and someone one else will bring games, etc. This way it isn’t just one person doing everything and everyone can feel involved in the fun.

“During winter break I like to sleep and watch TV, and suggestions I have for music and shows is watch Shameless on Netflix and listen to blackbear, you’ll thank me later,” Rana Alkholy ‘21

Shoes: the new trends

BY HAN GAO

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Bottom Photo Key: Top left: Gucci New Ace Men’s Sneaker, Top Right: Jordan 6, $8.2 billion Bottom Left: Nike Kyrie 3, $26.9 million Bottom Right: Adidas Ultraboost, $20 billion

n 2016, sales from Adidas Ultraboost Shoes numbered more than $20 billion. But what are they for many students here? According to an article made by WearTesters, ever since Adidas introduced the Ultra Boost, the brand has grown by 31 percent in North America.

In addition, more and more celebrities are wearing Ultra Boosts, especially Kanye West.

On average, one pair cost $120. Other shoes like Nike cost the same or less. Well, if it is so expensive, why do a lot of people buy them?

The answer is quite interesting.

With Adidas Yeezys in the news a lot, they arouse a lot of attention. Aidan Terrill ‘21 says “I believe they are the most valuable shoe RIGHT NOW!!” The Yeezys, which were created by Kanye West in 2015 in a collaboration with Adidas, cost at least 200 dollars at cheapest. Some have sold over $1,000 on eBay and Amazon. Aidan also says “They look cool and they feel nice to wear(I’ve tried them on).” Not many will know what walking in the top line Adidas shoes feels like, mainly they can’t afford it or it’s not worth it in their opinions.

Many things are good about the hottest shoes Adidas has to offer. Charlie Duffy ‘21 says “They’re clean, nice quality, and very comfortable to wear.” Drew Peterson ‘21 agrees the same. “They’re comfy, look good, and so forth.” According to many reviews on Amazon and other shopping sites, Yeezys usually have 4 star or above ratings. Many say that they are comfortable and nice looking. (Like what the interviewees said). The main reason is also that many celebrities wear then, like Kanye West, Kris Jenner, and Justin Bieber. Still, that doesn’t mean they’re the best ALL the time.

Not everyone likes Yeezys. That’s natural. The

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main things that are bad are the price($200+) and the quality. Charlie Duffy ‘21 says “If I did have a pair they’d rip as soon as I would put them on.” Charlie has had experience with shoes from Nike, like when he got a pair of Roshes and they ripped in two months. Even with some criticism coming from all over the place, many people still buy it anyway.

“If I did have a pair, I would be so proud to be able to wear them.” Says Peterson.

“I believe they are the most valuable shoe RIGHT NOW!!!”

-Aidan Terrill ‘21

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Battle of the Burritos DEC. 21, 2017

There are two competing Mexican grills in downtown Iowa City: Pancheros and Chipotle. This article will help answer the question that has plague our city for years. Which one is better?

BY: ELLIE BROWN

Schuyler Houston ‘21: Pancheros

Bethel Tewabe ‘20: Pancheros

Madeleine RobertsGanim ‘19: Chipotle

Charlie Lamlu’18: Pancheros

“The tortillas at Pancheros are really good and I think that sets them above anywhere else, including Chipotle.” Houston has tried both food chains, and admits that he enjoyed Chipotle, but it just didn’t compare to the good quality burritos he can get at Pancheros. “It didn’t blow me away or anything, wasn’t as good as Panch,” said Houston. He reveled that while he goes to Pancheros about once a month, his brother goes twice a week.

When asked about his usual burrito oder he confessed that the toppings he chooses change depending on his mood that day but he always sticks with chicken and lettuce.

“Pancheros all the way.” It doesn’t matter that she’s never been to Chipotle before, she will stand by Pancheros. She doesn’t even want to bother with Chipotle. “The prices are pretty low and they do put a lot into it and I get really full off of it, even though they are pretty small,” she said when asked about why she likes Pancheros.

Tewabe hasn’t been there in a while and can’t remember what she gets on her usual burrito, but she still had plenty of good things to say about Pancheros, and she didn’t forget to mention that it was definitely better than Chipotle. “They (Panchero) pack those burritos to the max.”

“Chipotle has fresher ingredients. I never feel like what I am eating is heavily filled with chemicals,” Roberts-Ganim said. She also thinks the staff at Chipotle are wonderful. “One summer I was spend a lot of time downtown so I’d be into Chipotle a lot. One day I come in and get my burrito bowl. I pull out my card to pay and the cashier says, ‘Oh no don’t worry about it about this one, we’re not making regular customers pay today.’

I doubt I would’ve gotten that at Pancheros.”

Roberts-Ganim admits that Pancheros has some good qualities, like the tofu tacos, but says nothing will ever change her love for Chipotle.

Not only does he think the food is good at Pancheros, but he also has some fun memories from the restaurant. “There was a time a friend and I sat at one of the booths for a couple of hours catching up after eating.” Lamlu thinks the prices of both grills are reasonable for the food, however, he says that the one time he ate at Chipotle he was underwhelmed and disappointed.

“I’ve only ever had Chipotle at an airport at some point this past summer. Maybe it was the travel getting to me, but from what I could tell, the burrito didn’t actually stay in a single piece. I never wonder if Pancheros burritos are falling apart.”

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Burritos: by the number

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FRIED MILK

DEC. 21, 2017

By: Chen-You W, Chris K, and Emma G

Never heard of it before? Makes sense. Neither did we. It’s a very unique dessert, and so of course it has a very unique taste. A pudding like milk filling pan-fried in a soft, golden shell, and lightly sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Some people love it, some hate it. All we can say is give it a try. (Also, check out our video on the FOJ YouTube Channel to watch some people try it.)

1 quart milk (whole, divided)

Ingredients 1/4 cup olive oil (or amount needed for frying)

2 tablespoons butter

Garnish: ground cinnamon and sugar

3 1/2 tablespoons flour (all-purpose, divided) 3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs (room temperature)

Directions

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In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, 3 1/2 tablespoons flour, and sugar.

Add 1 cup of milk and mix well.

In a large saucepan, heat the rest of the milk over medium-low heat.

When the milk begins to bubble, pour the sugar, flour, and milk mixture into the saucepan over low heat, again stirring well for 10 minutes, or when thickened.

9x9 inch ovenproof glass baking dish with olive oil. Pour in the custard mixture to a depth of 3/4 inch.

Leave to cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours, or overnight if you have time.

Run a knife around the edge of the milk custard to ensure it's not sticking and very quickly turn it out.

Cut it into squares that are about 1 by 1 inch. Â Beat the eggs.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan to a depth approaching 1/4 inch over medium heat.

Bread each of the squares by dipping in the eggs and then dredge in flour. Then fry until lightly golden.

Sprinkle with ground cinnamon and serve immediately, cool, or cold (personal preference).

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DEC. 21, 2017

IT’S A HAIL OF RECS

Sit back and enjoy these recommendations to keep you entertained over break.

BY FAREEHA AHMAD & BRENDA GAO

D

on’t be bitter, and try these recommendations for winter!

If one day you’re just bored out of your mind (probably lying down on the couch, staring at the wall, and melting into a puddle of boredom), don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

Your winter will be filled with fun and excitement as you are taken on a journey from different movies, books, music, and more. These recs are brought to you by the teachers you know and love. So, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re dying of boredom, sit back and enjoy this hail of recommendations.

PHOTOS BY FAREEHA AHMAD & BRENDA GAO DESIGN BY BRENDA GAO

Jeff Finn

Megan Johnson

Andrea Harms

The Good Place

“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”

by Dave Eggers

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling & Home Alone

This show is a 0comedy and is about a woman who finds herself in “The Good Place” (Heaven), when she should have gone to “The Bad Place” (Hell).

Now she has to hide her secret from everyone else in order to stay up there.“It’s on Netflix, it’s funny, [and] there’s a little bit [of] philosophy because she’s trying to learn how to be a good person [...] so I like that component.”

Eggers has written many books, but this is a memoir specifically about his life. “He talks a lot about his childhood and some of the adversity that he faced, but he’s also really humorous,” Johnson said.

“I think there’s probably something in there for everybody to connect to.”

A classic from our childhoods and many more generations to come, Harms had first read the series in college. She also recommended the Christmas comedy “Home Alone”, which has become a tradition for her to watch it every winter break with her family. “I have it memorized. ‘Look what ya did, ya little jerk!’”

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DEC. 21, 2017

Jon Welch

Rob Medd

Jamie Sandhu

Julie Kennebeck

Joye Walker :)

It’s a Holiday Soul Party by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings The album is an all-inclusive holiday album that leans heavily on a Motown, soul feel, with original songs and fresh twists on classic tunes. It’s also a refreshing break from holiday tunes that tend to get overplayed.

“I discovered this album a few weeks back […] This album [became an earworm] and it’s just a lot of fun.” The album can be found on Spotify.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation This classic Christmas movie will get you laughing with the whole family as we follow the main character, Clark Griswold, who always has high expectations for Christmas. Follow this hilarious film of an amazing family trying -- and failing -- to have the perfect Christmas. “It’s a funny movie, it’s a classic Christmas movie, and […] my family watches it every year.”

Stranger Things: Season 2 The sci-fi Netflix original exploded last year with its homage to the ‘80s and influence from works of Stephens King and Spielberg.

The second season takes place a year after the first, as supernatural forces once again take over Hawkins, Indiana.

“One of the things I really liked […] was all of the ‘80s references, the music; all of that, because [the ‘80s] was when I was a teenager.” The show is also a rather quick watch with only about ten episodes per season.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult This tragic book is about a boy who was bullied every day, until it lead him to start a school shooting. “I think students can […] really empathize with [the boy], because I think so many students could say at some point in time in their life they felt bullied […] and they could see themselves in [his] shoes.” This book really makes you think, and helps you understand different people's perspectives.

“Go and do something that you typically don’t have time to do, that takes you out of your typical zone.” She said she observes how a lot of high-school students put a lot of stress on themselves, or feel a lot of stress in their lives, so when it comes time for break, students should let go of all of that stress by doing whatever it is that makes them relax.

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F E AT U R E DEC. , 2017

A GREAT GIFT IN LIFE

BY CINDY TOLENTINO-ANTUN

Freshmen girls Dorsa Behnami and Annie Perez open up about their incredibly close, crazed friendship, and how they came to be what they are now.

DESIGN & ART BY CINDY TOLENTINO-ANTUN

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DEC. , 2017

“Welcome back to my YouTube channel everyone,” a girl says loudly into her phone as you pass by her in the hallways. You turn back, confused as ever. What is she talking about? Another girl by her side, her friend, you presume, giggles madly, and your curiosity grows. “Sorry about us,” the “YouTube star” exclaims. “Inside jokes get the best of us.”

“We had to grow flowers, and look at how bees pollinate them, yeah. Well, our plant died, but our friendship started.” Behami exclaims. “After that, we somewhat played during recess. Slowly, we got to know each other. We opened up.”

And Perez is glad that she got to know Dorsa Behnami’s fake “YouTube star” personality is just Behnami as well. Most of her favorite memone of the many great collection of jokes that have ories are what she shares with her. “Dorsa is never grown old. “We’ve had so many inside jokes since the absolute best. She makes me laugh all we met in fourth grade,” Behnami said. “I think our first the time, no matter how edgy she can be,” one was something about swings at our playground? Perez says. “My favorite [memory with her] Yeah, we had the worst sense of humor, but who can would probably be the school dance from blame our innocent 10 year old last year. She was so “AN N I E I S A G REAT lively, full of energy. It brains?”

F RI E N D. SH E I S DOWN was pretty much raAnnie Perez ‘21 hasn’t forgotdiating from her,” PeTO DO ANYTH I NG ten the humorous memories as rez laughs. “I will never WITH YOU.” well. “None of her jokes nowaforget that dance.” days are appropriate. Funny how things change… But there is one joke that we nev- “Annie is a great friend,” Behnami gusher stop doing. We prank call Pizza Hut a lot,” Perez says. es. “She’s such a nice, caring person. Annie is down to do anything with you. If you go “Yeah, a lot,” Behnami agrees. “I’m surprised they didn’t down, she goes down with you. She has nevblock our numbers yet? Oh, and we never got our cinna- er let me down, not now and not ever. I’m mon sticks that we ordered. We gave them the school always here for her. I hope she never foraddress and everything.” Perez and Behnami laugh as gets that.” they reflect back at their moments.

Before Perez and Behnami were friends, Behnami had come from Iran to Iowa, and started fourth grade at Coralville Central Elementary school. She had lived in Iran for her whole life until then. She didn’t know how to speak or write English. A loving teacher, Mrs. Winkler, though, helped her with her grammar and speaking abilities. Behnami’s family were very thankful, and because of her ability to now speak English, she made a new friend; Annie.

“We became science partners at first. It was really awkward, since I couldn’t speak English as fluently.

So we mostly communicated with head nods,” Behami

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DEC. 20, 2017

THE CULTURES OF CHRISTMAS The how and why people celebrate Christmas

BY BERNARDO PEREZ AND KAREEM SHOUKIH

Christmas has evolved since the year 336 and it is celebrated by many different cultures around the world. It

is said to be celebrated in over 160 countries. This cultural diversity causes Christmas to be celebrated in many different ways. Just as there is variety in the world, there is variety within West High. And, with this comes many ways to celebrate Christmas.

Dominic Iannone, Social Studies Q: How do you celebrate Christmas?

A: “We put up lights and you know like the traditional stuff.”

Q: What is your ideal Christmas gift?

A: “Having student loans paid off and a guitar. I was most excited when I got my Nintendo [...] it came with ‘Super Mario Brothers’ and ‘Duck Hunt’.”

Q: Do you have any Christmas traditionh?

A: “We would always have the same dinner on Christmas Eve. Sweet and sour soup and egg rolls.”

Q: What is the significance of Christmas?

A: “It’s sort of a family holiday”

Q: Is Santa Real?

A: “As far as my kids are concerned he is”

Kaushik Raghavan

Q: How do you celebrate Christmas?

A: “I celebrate Christmas with my friends and family. Christmas reminds me that no matter what’s wrong, there is always people to lean on.”

Q: What is your ideal Christmas gift?

A: “My ideal Christmas gift changes every year, so there really isn’t an ideal Christmas gift.”

Q: Do you have any Christmas traditions?

A: “I am not one for extended celebrations, so I only really celebrate Christmas on December 25. On that day though I love to watch Elf.”

Q: What is your best Christmas experience?

A: “One of my favorite experiences with Christmas is when I went to Minneapolis last year. We went to Ikea, and Ikea is fun.”

Q: Do you believe in Santa?

A: “No” A:

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DEC. 20, 2017

Eman Elsheikh

Q: How do you celebrate Christmas?

A: “We don’t hang a Christmas tree. I do celebrate with my friends... we do like secret Santas.”

Q: What do you celebrate instead?

A: “We have Eid.”

Q: What is Eid about?

A: “There are two Eids. One is at the end. We have a religious month called Ramadan where we fast sun up to sundown. The Eid that’s at the end of the month is just like celebrating the end of the fast basically. There’s another that’s about two months after that... traditionally, families or groups will sacrifice a lamb.”

Q: What is your best experience with Eid?

A: “One time I was in Sudan... we got to see how everyone else celebrates. Being in the situation where everyone else celebrates was pretty cool.”

Q: What is your ideal Christmas Gift?

A: “I really like mugs”

Katy Nahra, English Teacher Q: How do you celebrate Christmas?

A: “We usually get together with our families. We usually take a trek out to my grandmother’s to see all my extended family.”

Q: What would be your ideal Christmas gift?

A: “I don’t know. I love giving gifts. I get so excited about giving gifts that I usually end up giving them early.”

Q: Is giving gifts a big part of your Christmas?

A: “Yeah, I love to think about it for a long time, and I try to find things. It’s fun.”

Q: Do you have any specific Christmas traditions?

A: “Yes. We go see our nieces and nephews, they always have a Christmas program on Christmas Eve, so we always go and watch them do their little singing thing, then we open presents. There’s a very specific way we do it. We all take a turn, kids go first, and we all go in a circle. Our tradition is also to eat a lot, as much as possible throughout the day. It’s also our tradition to take pictures by the fireplace at my Grandma’s house. All the awkward years are accounted for.”

Q: What is the significance of Christmas for you?

A: “It is more about friends and family. It’s one of those things that you’re not getting out of seeing them. It’s kind of like this established time to put everything else aside and spend time with your family.”

Q: Do you believe in Santa?

A: “Of course I do. If you don’t believe in Santa, you don’t get gifts.”

Photos by Kareem Shoukih and Bernardo Perez

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F E AT U R E

DEC. 20, 2017

DEC. 20, 2017

WHO IS SANTA CLAUS? How is Santa Claus represented across cultures?

BY ANDREW BURGESS AND CLAUDIA CHIA

You better watch out, you better not cry, Santa Claus is coming by. Christmas is near and we interviewed West students and teachers to see how their cultural representations of Santa Claus differed.

Santa Claus is a mix of different traditions. Saint Nicholas was a Greek saint and was notorious for being generous by giving gifts to the poor. The halt to referring to St. Nick was because of the Protestant Reformation. Protestants opposed saints, so they moved to celebrating Christmas, which was minor holiday in Christianity.

This is how they evolved to Santa Claus. When Pagans in

Germany went to convert, they incorporated local traditions with Christianity. Big white beard and led wild hunt while flying through the sky in a carriage of stags, that is where his sleigh with reindeer comes from. The Netherlands has Sinterklaas, who has a black sidekick because of the slave trade back then, but has now become controversial because people dress in blackface to mimic.

England has Father Christmas,

BY TH E

N U M B E RS 36

celebrate Christmas

36

have heard of Santa Claus

16

have heard of Father Christmas

9

have heard of Père Noël

13

have heard of Krampus

which is from the 18th to 19th centuries. In the 20th century, Santa was a marketing and advertising ploy.

There are many popular images of him as a fat jolly guy in a big red suit, but it was the Coca Cola company that cemented that image because they used Santa as a marketing strategy in the 1930s. They solidified what Santa looked like and made him more popular in Christmas celebrations. Christmas is a mix of Christian traditions with other local regional traditions and culture, like all holidays.

Younger than 7 years old 7 years old 8 years old 9 years old 10 years old Over 10 years old I STILL BELIEVE 36 students surveyed

Why is it important for kids to believe in Santa?

When did you stop believing in Santa?

“I just think it’s important for kids to believe in everything, like the tooth fairy...it just builds creativity... I think I believed in it so long that and I’m such a creative person, something has to connect there. People who don’t believe are pessimists and I’m such an optimist.”

“I go back and forth on it. I know how heartbroken they'll be when they find out that he’s not [real]. On one hand is it lying... on the other hand i remember how exciting it is when you're little, the magic of it, the way it makes you feel...

“I think it’s important because it’s just a fun little mystery and it’s a fun holiday and it gives kids something else to look forward to and be good for.”

“ WE ’ LL FACE THAT

SO M ETH I N G

H U R DLE WH E N WE

E LSE TO LOO K

“I stopped believing in Santa in 7th grade. People would just assume I knew and start talking about it. That’s so insensitive. It ruined my Christmas. When I knew that he was fake I thought I was going tao die, I loved him, I put my whole heart and soul into Santa...the whole holidays were ruined that year, it was all a scam. ”

G ET TH E R E .”

FO RWAR D TO...”

“... IT G IVES K I DS

“I am sad to say that I was “When I was about seven.” a believer till way later than I should’ve been because I was so totally committed to the idea that it had to be real. I was in fifth grade and I finally sat down with my parents and I said ‘Is Santa real?’...they gave each other a look and they said I was old enough to find out now and that was two weeks before Christmas. I was devastated and my entire world was rocked by that.”

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DEC. 21, 2017

CATCHIN’ FEELIES FOR THE HEELYS

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F E AT U R E

DEC. 21, 2017

BY TH E

Magnus Wilson ‘20 is rollin’ through the school year on his unique shoes

N U M B E RS

1 17 1. 25

month since Magnus Wilson got his Heelys

I

n the bustling school hallway, a sudden movement creates a ripple of pivoting heads.

Students turn and stare in utter amazement as he whirs past them, flying by on his trademark Heelys.

“Wow,” someone whispers under their breath. “Who is that guy?”

“That guy” is Magnus Wilson ‘20, an icon in the hallways at West High School. He’s an owner of Heelys, a wheeled shoe popular among the younger generation.

Wilson got his Heelys about a month ago. “I haven’t worn other shoes since.” he said.

In the short time that he’s owned the Heelys, Wilson has made a memorable impression on the West High students.

Not only are students noticing him speeding through the halls, faculty have too, although some don’t find it as interesting as the students. “[Ms.] Walling yelled at me one time, she said that they were leaving marks on the floors,” Wilson said. “I checked and they do leave marks, but they wipe off really easily.”

According to Wilson, people’s first reactions when they see him zoom past are generally questioning, then of amazement. “[My favorite part about my Heelys] is probably the confused looks that people give me when I roll by,” Wilson said. “They look at me and notice that my legs aren’t moving and gradually work their way down and see my Heelys, and there’s a look of understanding, then they just kinda look away.”

The Heelys trend has started rolling since Wilson started wearing his regularly. Another student, Wilson’s friend Milan Williams ‘20, has become enticed with the unique shoe.

Williams got his about two weeks ago, and has been just as hooked as Wilson.

“Before I thought that I would never get a pair,” Williams said. “Now that I have them I question how I never got them before, and

realize that they are a lot of fun.”

With the invigorating thrill of the Heelys, however, there comes an equally dangerous risk.

According to a 2015 ROSPA article, a high number of accidents happen especially with new users. ROSPA advises that all new users of Heelys should wear safety equipment, and be sure to go at a safe speed.

Both Williams and Wilson have suffered falls from their Heelys, although neither let it stop them from continuing to practice and get better. “[I fell] one time in the courtyard.”

Wilson said. “There was a big crack in the courtyard that I hit.”

Though simply a pair of shoes, Wilson feels they express who he is as a person, both by their appearance and the reaction they get from other people.

“They’re unique and different,” Wilson said. “Not everyone likes them, but they’re there anyways.”

“ I HAVE N ’T WORN ANY OTH E R SHOES SI N CE .”

years since Hellys were first patented million pairs of Heelys sold the first year they came out

Q&A West Side Story: What inspired you to wear them regularly?

Magnus Wilson: They’re fun and look semi-formal if you take the heels out.

WSS: How long did it take you to learn to wear them?

MW: It took me a solid half an hour to

go five feet.

WSS: Have you ever fallen?

MW: One time in the courtyard. There

was a crack in the courtyard.

WSS: What’s your favorite thing about your Heelys?

MW: Probably the confused looks that

people give me when I roll by, because they look at me and notice that my legs aren’t moving, and gradually work their way down and see my Heelys, and there’s a look of understanging, then they just kind of look away.

Magnus Wilson ‘20 poses in the West High hallways with his signature Heelys MADELINE EPHRAIM & ANNABEL HENDRICKSON

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DEC. 20, 2017

Photo by Gwen Watson

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DEC. 20, 2017

ACTS OF KINDNESS Kate Cannon '21 does her best to always be kind.

W

herever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for Cannon believes even the simplest acts of kindness count. Like the kindness. Throughout their lives, many people may hear this Greek poet Aesop once said, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, phrase, but few will take it to heart as much as Kate Cannon is ever wasted.”

‘21 does.

To Cannon this means anything from lending someone a pencil, giving If someone is sad, Cannon does her best to cheer them up. If someone them a hug, saying hi to someone in the halls, or starting a conversation drops their stuff, she’s the first one to help pick it up. If there’s an with them. She also believes, “You should never give up on anything and argument, she does her best to solve it. She first started doing this after just keep going.” elementary school. Before that she would simply help people out if the This, along with her opportunity presented itself, but she never went out looking for it. friends and family, “ YOU [SH OU LD] In sixth grade, Cannon had an argument and accidentally hurt inspires her to try her ALWAYS HAVE someone’s feelings. She felt ashamed of her actions, so she vowed to best. change them.

“She is the most kind “[I] changed to positivity,” Cannon said. “I promised myself to never and genuine person I F RI E N DS BY YOU R use negative emotions toward someone ever again.” have ever met,” Culver She takes the promise very seriously, determined to be the best person said. “There isn’t an SI DE N O MATTE R she can be. For her that means befriending almost everyone she knows ounce of hate in her.” and helping out in any way she can.

“You [should] always WHAT.” “I remember at the beginning of this year I was upset one day and she have friends by your could sense that and she told me everything will be okay and that's what side no matter what.” - K ATE CAN N ON I really needed to hear at that moment,” Ryann Culver ‘21 said. Culver Cannon explained. met Cannon in 7th grade and they’ve been good friends since.

By Bess Frerichs and Gwen Watson

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F E AT U R E

DEC. 21, 2017

RETRO GAMES: BACK IN STYLE

By Noah Krchak and Luke Krchak Older games are coming back from the dead and are being brought new life

Older games are coming back into style, with companies remastering their old systems, and the consumer bringing a high demand to the retro game industry.

Retro games are anything 15 years or two generations ago, that is based on the year not the date.

“The mega man games was what I grew up on. ” said Rain Richards 19 Nintendo is the leader in bringing back retro games. They started by giving access to these old games such as Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue via the Nintendo EShop. Also they have brought back their first two systems the NES and the SNES in miniature forms.

“Mario 64 was the best game on the nintendo 64, because I used to play it with my dad.” said Hunter Herman 18 Sony has also contributed to retro gaming by bringing a service that is called Playstation Now. It has some of their old games ready to stream. The service costs $19.99 per month or $99.99 per year.

Atari is a major icon in retro gaming by being the first video game company ever built. (Note: Nintendo did not start making videogames until 1983 with their first consle the Famicon) Sega is like Atari but they did bring there games to the newer consoles, also they made new games with a more retro feel.

Microsoft uses a similar service like Sony but you download the games instead of streaming them resulting in better run times and it requires no internet after the download of the game.

Also most of the Xbox 360 games work on the Xbox One. (If you are interested in what games can be used you can visit this list: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/backwardcompatibility/available-games ) People can also download retro games via emulators to their Chromebooks and other devices, but it is not recommended because it is highly illegal and is counted as piracy.

If you want to join the craze there are a few options that you have.

Option 1: If you have a Ps4 and/or a Xbox One then you may benefit from their services. Option 2: You could purchase a Nes or Snes remake. Option 3: if you are a collector you can search for an older system online or in used game stores. If money’s not a problem then you can go to Japan where they have heaps of old arcade machines and many retro game stores.

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DEC. 21, 2017

Q&A about emulator legality issues Can I use an emulator to play games that I also have a copy of?

A: Unfortuantely no, you can not. The second copy law doesn’t extend to ROM’s therefore it is copyright infringement to download a ROM. Aren’t the older games under public domain now?

A: No, a product only enters public domain if it has been more than 75 years since the copyright renewal.

Wait, what if I have it for lets say 12 hours is it legal then?

A: No, no matter how much time you have it for you still are infringing the copyright of that product.

So, how much trouble could I get in if I downloaded an emulator?

A: You could get in a lot of trouble or very little depending on how mad the company is towards you downloading that emulator or ROM. If you have anymore questions on legality issues visit these links: https://www.copyright.gov/title17/ http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/ are-game-emulators-legal-1329264 https://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp

====-

Best Buddies is a program at our school where students are interacting with other students but with learning disabilities. A lot of people are very passionate about the club and have their own personal buddy, and others float around to different buddies. One of the more passionate students in the club is a junior, Anna Haney ´19.

¨I’m really invested, like I spent time with kids outside of school, and if I have an open I go and see them¨ Says Haney

Haney said it all started in eighth grade when she signed up to volunteer with the kids at the junior high, and since then she has built a very strong relationship with them and would like that relationship grow to past high school.

¨It’s not really time consuming, they only meet about once a month¨ Haney says to all the people who are looking to join¨

During the Best buddies meetings they are doing really fun stuff, for example at the last meeting, (at the time of the interview), they had a cake making contest.

One of the supervisors of Best Buddies says that Best buddies is really helping the kids who don’t know how to make friends, make friends and a connection that will hopefully last a long time.

To the left you will see anna Haney with her main Buddy. Almost everyone has a main buddy that you do everything with, and if you don’t have a main buddy you will be floating around to all the kids.

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F E AT U R E

DEC.20, 2017

A new grocery store, a new way of life Trader Joe’s, the largest and one of the most popular West Coast chain grocery stores opened on Oct. 6 in Coralville.

By: Nina Meng and Maggie Huang

Craving something sweet, yet spicy at the same time?

Gross said, “[Trader Joe’s] is one of the sought-after names in

How about sweet and spicy pecans? This new grocery store in

all of American retail, so you are competing with every other

Coralville offers many products not found in other grocery stores.

city across the country.”

Let’s take a look down memory lane on how this all started.

Many of us have probably seen the construction

Trader Joe’s was first called Pronto Markets when

happening earlier on this year, but the work put behind the

it opened its doors in the ‘50s. However, it was not only until

opening of Trader Joe’s actually started 5 years ago. Gross

1967 was the first Trader Joe’s officially opened in Pasadena,

said, “Trader Joe’s has an interesting process in deciding where

California. Surprisingly, opening a Trader Joe’s is a lot more work

they locate and there will be times we thought we made the

than you expected.

final cut, and then we hadn’t.”

Mitch Gross, a Social Studies Teacher at West High, who

In the process, Gross had to met with Trader Joe’s

is also a member of the Coralville City Council said, “I think it’s

officials to sell the idea of opening a Trader Joe’s here.

going to be a great addition to Coralville…[Opening a Trader

But the construction of Trader Joe’s was actually the quick

Joe’s here] would give people a lot more choice.” He also thinks

part. “The deal got signed in maybe August or November, and

that it would give people the opportunity to try new foods,

it opened in November, so they actually opened really fast,”

especially healthier foods at cheaper price.

said Gross.

Although there are 466 Trader Joe’s open in 36

Despite the lack of amount of time there was to

different states, this is only the second one open in Iowa, after

build a Trader Joe’s here, Gross confessed, “It’s probably the

the first store location in Des Moines. However, this is not a

nicest Trader Joe’s in America. A lot of times, they go into strip

surprise considering the amount of competition there is to open

malls, and this is a stand-alone brick store, it’s pretty nice.”

a Trader Joe’s store.

Trader Joe’s Coralville Store Information Location: 920 Ponsetti Way, Coralville, IA 52241 Hours: 8AM-9PM weekdays and weekends Phone: 319-351-7223

53 F E AT U R E DEC. 20, 2017

Aside from Gross, Todd Gibson,

Liao said, “They have interesting

the head manager of the Coralville store

things that most grocery stores don’t. The

also has a passionate opinion on Trader

things that they do have in other stores are

Joe’s.

higher quality. According to people I know, it

“It has continued to be the best

also tastes better.”

professional decision of my life,” he admits. “I

have learned that communication is an art

“I think it’s just they have great products at

and supporting people is super rewarding.”

great prices. They offer things you cannot

Amy Liao ‘21 and Caitlyn Hill ‘21

get anywhere else,” he said. “One of Trader

have not personally been to this newly

Joe’s trademark[s] is they offer healthy food

opened grocery store yet, but they have

at affordable prices, so I think it’s gonna

already developed strong opinions on it.

offer people in all income levels [to have the]

opportunity to try new foods.”

Apart from the positive views on

Gross also seems to agree with Liao.

this store, Hill, said, “A lot of people seemed

to be really hyped up about. I don’t really

provide excellent service in Gibson’s opinion.

Aside from the prices, the staff also

get what it is. I hate how much people are

“We are really working hard to take care

making a big deal out of it, there are other

of them and give them the best customer

grocery stores, like, what’s the big deal?”

experience possible,” said Gibson.

Sweet and spicy pecans, sponge candy and cookie butter are some of the unusual products Trader Joe’s offers. Watch Amy Liao ‘21, Caitlyn Hill ‘21 and Fareeha Ahmed ‘21 try these surprising treats out in our video. Check out our video by searching Freshmen test weird Trader Joe’s products.

54

F E AT U R E DEC. 20 2017

guilty or not guilty

BY SOPHIE NIMS

On Dec. 1-2, Theatre West put on their first of two shows of the year, “Twelve Angry Jurors.” This show is different than most shows they have done in the past, featuring a cast of only 14 people.

The show, Twelve Angry Jurors, happened to be much smaller than most shows done by Theatre West, both in the crew and cast. Take it from Emma Brustkern ‘18, the props crew chief, who has been in crew since freshman year. “Since there was only one set, because it never changed, they’re (the characters) constantly in the courtroom. Normally when we’re doing props stuff we have to consider who’s going to move this on stage and who’s going to move it off.” said Brustkern. In this show, the props crew had to make sure to hand two props to the actors and move chairs and tables only a couple of times on stage.

One of the reasons why the directors decided to perform Twelve Angry Jurors was because students would read it in 10th grade. When they deciding that they were going to be doing the play, Katy Nahra, the show’s director, decided to make it present day. “This year [the play is] impactful, because of the issues that it deals with, the racial discrimination and things. What we found tempting about it was that it brought up many issues that are still relevant today even though this was set in the 1950s,” said Nahra.

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F E AT U R E DEC. 2O, 2017

Actors featured in the photos are Joseph Verry, Sam Sunderland, Ethan Seylar, Pieper Stence, Damarius Levi, Brandon Burkhardt, Sean Harken, Meg Moreland, Cade Koch, Sasha Tyler, Leah Brownsberger, & Paige Harken. Photos by Lauren Upchurch from Theatre West used with permission

The show’s plot is a courtroom case in which a teenage boy is accused of murdering his father. In the beginning of the play, the twelve jurors vote on whether or not they think the boy is guilty. The results are 11 to 1, favoring guilty. The rest of the play follows the discussions and disagreements of the twelve jurors on the case, with at the end of the show coming to a verdict of not guilty.

Theatre West’s next show will be the musical West Side Story, which is about two gangs in New York City and follows a Romeo and Juliet type storyline. West Side Story will feature a much larger cast and crew, due to it being a musical. If you “ TH I S BOY ’S B E E N K I CK E D would like to audition for West Side Story, auditions will be on Jan. 22, and all are welcome to AROU N D ALL H I S LI F E ... I join crew. Overall, this show has been much more TH I N K WE J U ST OWE H I M A different than previous shows done at West, but was still successful and everyone who went and R EW WO R DS. THAT ’S ALL” participated had a good time.

-J U RO R E I G HT

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F E AT U R E

ALL WRAPPED UP DEC. 20, 2017

Behind the paper that makes the season bright

BY S U M N E R WA L L AC E

W

hether you like it or not, colorful paper and ribbons will be strewn about your house this holiday season. Some find being the bearer of gifts stressful, while others can’t wait to put on some holiday music and drink hot cocoa while they wrap. After the Black Friday rampage is over, the next task is figuring out how to make the Nerf Guns and fuzzy boots aesthetically pleasing while they wait patiently to be torn apart. If you’re feeling drained and lacking in the creativity department, don’t worry, here are a couple ideas to make that gift extra special and environmentally friendly.

By one estimate Americans spend $2.6 billion each year on wrapping paper, and they throw away 226,800 miles of the colorful stuff just over the holidays. For the waste conscious, try wrapping gifts in old paper grocery bags. Take advantage of the new Trader Joe’s, buy some holiday cookies and use that intricately decorated bag to save the earth and make the season bright.

Got any old socks? Turn them into snowmen! Wrap small presents in the sock (with something to stuff it full if there’s still space) and then decorate the outside with buttons and ribbon.

Tissue paper is great for wrapping, it may seem like it is still pretty wasteful, but it can still be used to stuff bags even after it’s been ripped up. For a festive looking present, wrap gifts in white tissue paper and then paint some red stripes on there. Now you’ve got a giant peppermint candy!

Photo Credit: Sumner Wallace

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OPINION

THE HOLIDAYS

It is safe to say Maia DeGrazia ’20 likes everything about Christmas. The smell of pine trees and cookies, picking out a Christmas tree and giving it a name, listening to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, buying her family presents, and “Elf ”. Wrapping presents makes her day better. Best case scenario she has a perfectly shaped box, nice tight corners, and wrapping paper with fat seals wearing Santa hats, not to mention a light up ribbon and the perfect card.

Every year DeGrazia has a Christmas party, she explains, “I like Christmas a little too much and I really enjoy shopping for it and baking for it. How am I supposed to do that if I don’t have people [to do it for]?

So, to fix this problem I decided to have a Christmas party every year. Me and my friends get together and drink hot chocolate, eat cookies, watch “Elf ” the movie and sing Christmas carols and it’s a good time.” What is DeGrazia’s advice? Spend more time doing things for other people that you enjoy. It will be extremely beneficial to your mental health.

55%

HISTORY

70%

Christmas is one of the most, if not the most, commercialized holidays in America. The term “Hallmark Holiday” is widely used in the U.S. to describe such holidays. Coincidentally wrapping paper is directly related to Hallmark. Wrapping paper was created on accident in 1917 when the Hall brothers, Joyce and Rollie, ran out of the usual red and green tissue paper at the first Hallmark store in Kansas City, Missouri. They replaced the tissue paper with “fancy French paper” meant for lining envelopes and it sold out. In the following years the Halls made their own decorative paper, specifically for wrapping gifts. Now Hallmark is a billion dollar company and wrapping paper is a billion dollar industry.

BY THE NUMBERS

52%

have a Santa use gift bags use wrapping paper

76%

enjoy wrapping presents

97%

enjoy the holiday season

of 35 students surveyed

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How to change your flat tire

Let’s say you’re on a road trip in the middle of nowhere, when suddenly—*POP*—your tire is flat. What do you do? No one has service, no one is around, and no one knows how to change the tire. Lucky for you, the WSS is here to help you on your future road trips with this handy guide.

BY HUNTER HERMAN

What you need Vehicle Owners Manual To make sure you properly place your jack.

Spare Tire To change your flat tire.

Wrench

To loosen your lug nuts and to take off take off your tire.

Jack

To lift your vehicle.

What you could add Rain Jacket

To stay dry if it rains.

Gloves To keep your hands safe and clean.

Wheel Wedges To secure your vehicle from moving.

Flashlight (With Working Batteries) To have better vision during night.

Wood to secure the Jack

If your surface doesn’t secure your jack (Snow or dirt).

X

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Steps to changing your flat tire Step 1. Make sure you’re in a safe place.

2. Turn your hazards on.

3. Apply parking brake and wheel wedges if some are near.

4. Remove your spare tire wherever its secure at.

5. Loosen lug nuts with your wrench.

6. Place and raise your jack to lift your car.

7. Unscrew the lug nuts.

8. Remove the flat tire.

9. Mount your spare on the lug bolts.

10. Hand tighten your lug nuts.

11. Lower vehicle and tighten lugs nuts again with wrench.

12. Replace Hubcap and check tire pressure.

13. Stow all equipment.

14. Take your flat tire in to get checked.

(Remember your spare tire has a maximum speed it can reach, if you exceed it, you can pop your spare tire)

Brennon Keen’s helpful tips

Q: How do you know your tire is flat?

A: Most modern cars have indicators that tell you or you can look around your car and notice, also your car will lopsided if it’s low on air.

Q: Where is your spare tire?

A: Spare tires are on the back of your car either on the trunk outside, inside your trunk, or on the underside of your car.

Q: How do you take your spare tire out?

A: Some have bolts around it, your wreck should take it off, also read owners manual so you don’t mess it up Q: Can you call a tow place to change your tire?

A: Yes you can, but it will cost money. If you know how to do it, do it!

Q: Can you drive with a flat tire?

A: Yes but it will cost you. You can really affect your alignment and your rims.

Q: Where do you put the jack under your car?

A: Usually you can look under your car and it will tell you, if it doesn’t, make sure you put it on your frame and not on something flimsy that can break.

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F E AT U R E 12/20/17

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12/20/17

An in-depth Look at “The Eric André Show” The Eric André Show pushes boundaries in its hell on earth style

BY HOLDEN LOGAN A man in a suit is walking around NYC with a suitcase, you hear Screams and cries coming from it. Bystanders try to intervene but the man only swats them away with a newspaper. But who is this man you ask? It is none other than the comedian Eric André playing a prank on the people around him.

“The Eric André” Show first premiered on Adult Swim on May 20, 2012 as a ‘70’s style talk show. They used 70’s tube cameras to film the first season in an abandoned bodega. The show starred Eric André as the host with his co-host Hannibal Buress, a new comedian at the time, who serves as the shows voice of reason. For almost five seasons this hell on earth style talk show has tortured its guests who range from Tyler The Creator to Jimmy Kimmel. Dylan Gaeta ‘21, an avid viewer, describes it as ¨immature but hilarious.¨

R EVI EW “If ‘The Eric Andre Show’ isn’t the darkest comedy on television, it’s surely the most poorly lighted”NYTIMES

R EVI EW

“The ‘Eric Andre Show’ takes the late-night talk show format and throws it in a blender full of saliva that spits out 11-minute episodes “What do you find funny about The Eric André Show?”

“The utter and complete randomness” -Dylan Gaeta ’21.

The show isn’t all about the interviews though, the show includes street skits that terrify the people around him.

In one of these skits Eric destroys an NYPD police car in broad daylight. His skits can range from the mediocre, like his Black Scientologists skit, to the borderline illegal, like his metal detector skit . To many people his skits are unfunny and are downright terrifying and creepy, but to some people, like Dylan, the show is comedy gold. ¨[The Eric Andre Show has] very, very, very low brow [humor],¨ said Dylan Gaeta ’21.

The show hosts a wide range of interviews, but these interviews aren’t like any normal interview. The interviews often include uncomfortable situations for the guests-whether it’s Eric stripping naked on live television or having rats come out from under chairs and desks. Guests are often left confused, scared, or disgusted if not all three. Of course, for some people, these interviews are too much to handle, and some guests, like Lauren Conrad, walk out.

BY TH E

Comedians become successful by using jokes that they know will work. Eric did not do that instead he pushed boundaries by using his own absurd jokes. Eric doesn’t care if people find his jokes funny or not. A skit ,received as the worst skit he ever had made, that aired in season 2 called bird up began playing for the entire 3rd season finale. His show is a big ¨I hate you¨ sign to the audience.

Comedy N U M B E RS

3 2 3 2

People like Satire

People like the office

People like dark humor People like memes

Dinosaur myths that should be extinct

BY ANN GAO

A collection of annoying dinosaur myths.

People’s knowledge of dinosaurs has changed immensely since the discovery of the first dinosaur fossil. From the belief that Iguanodon walked on all fours to the myth that humans lived with the dinosaurs, there still is misinformation about dinosaurs. Here are some common dinosaur myths, debunked.

Myth

Dinosaurs are extinct

Myth Stegosaurus a brain at the base of its tail

Myth

Stegosaurus and T. rex lived at the same time.

ART BY JEFF POLING

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F E AT U R E

DEC. 21, 2017

Fact People are accustomed to thinking of dinosaurs as large, dead animals. They’re not, since birds are dinosaurs and are still around. Fun fact: birds are technically also reptiles.

Fact

Fact: it didn’t, although it had a large cluster of nerves (called a ganglia) there, like many animals.

Fact Fact: You’ve probably seen movies, television shows and books that have fights between T. rex and Stegosaurus. However, T. rex didn’t show up until Stegosaurus had been extinct for 80 million years

Myth Large sauropods (like Apatosaurus) lived in lakes and ponds.

ART BY VIRGINIA LEE BURTON

Myth

Dinosaurs dragged their tails on the ground

By E. D. Cope (https://www.jstor. org/stable/4065118) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Myth

Velociraptor was the same height as a human and extremely fast

Fact If you read books that came out before the 1960s, you’ve probably seen illustrations of sauropods in bodies of water.

Later, scientists pointed out that sauropods didn’t have any special adaptations for swimming, so sauropods couldn’t have lived in water

Fact Again, this is an older myth. This was considered a fact when scientists thought dinosaurs were really lizard-like, but now we know that the structure of their tail bones disproves this.

Fact Most movies with Velociraptors portray them as large, extremely quick dinosaurs. Sadly, most Velociraptors were about two feet tall at the hip, making them the size of large birds and not terribly fast.

PHOTOS BY MATT MARTYNUIK

By Matt Martyniuk - self-made, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ index.php?curid=917946

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F E AT U R E

DEC, 21 2017

Myths about Rats

66 F E AT U R E DEC. 20 2017

Rats Pets or pests Many know rats as the diseased filled creatures wandering around in sewers and alleyways. But others know them as cute, intelligent pets. Could we be wrong about them?

Most people know rats as the diseased filled critters crawling around in alleys and sewers. But others see them as cuddly, intelligent pets. Could we be wrong about rats?

Wild rats and fancy pet rats don’t seem that different at the first glance, But they are more different than apples and oranges. Rats were first domesticated in the 18th century by people in europe who captured and bred them for sport. They were put in a ring with a dog, the dog who could kill the most in the littlest time was the winner. While people were breeding rats, color mutations appeared. The rats with attractive patterns were sold for pets.

Domesticated rats love attention from their owners and other rats. It is very rare for a pet rat to bite a human without reason.

Wild rats on the other hand are known to lash out at humans if provoked. “They make awful pets in my experience from what others have said after trying to rear them.(go behind) They’re just not domesticated enough even if raised by people.”-Is what Elizabeth Schumaker of CliffordSisters Rattery had to say about wild rats under captivity.

Today rats have many uses to us. Rats are used in laboratories because of their intelligence, while others are raised as pets for people of every shape and color.

In laboratories rats are able to learn advanced tricks, commands, words, and even simple math problems. They also have developed complex personalities and emotions.

Rats smell: Domesticated rats only smell if they are given a poor diet or if their owner doesn’t clean their cage regularly. Besides that they give off as much odor as a well cared for hamster might.

Rats bite: “Rats that are well bred and temperamentally sound won’t be people or rat aggressive.”- Shumaker. It is extremely rare for a rat that is unprovoked to bite.

Rats spread diseases: While wild rats do, it is extremely rare for a pet rat to concevie a disease, and even rarer for them to spread it to humans. While pet rats do get sick from time to time, the illnesses dont transfer to humans.

67 F E AT U R E DEC. 20 2017

Questions about Rats Reporter- What comes to mind when you think of a rat?

Mckenna Proud, 21- small and underappreciated Reporter- what are some things that you like about rats?

Emma Caster, 21- They like to cuddle and are really fun to play with and pet.

Reporter- What are some things you like about owning rats?

Schumaker- I love how much love rats show their people. I’ve had them sleep with me, cuddle while watching tv, and then their playful side where they’ll play “tag” when i tickle them, etc. They are literally almost just like little pocket dogs!’

Rats that are properly trained and introduced to people become very affectionate towards their owner.

They will play with them, cuddle up and fall asleep on them, and lick their hand as a form of grooming.

Fun Fact!

Rats are extremely social creatures. They must be kept in at least pairs of two, or else they will become very depressed and stressed out.

Second and third photos taken from CliffordSistersRattery with permission.

SCHOOL LUNCH what fuels the students in the middel of the day

for this portion of food the school charges money and it dosen’t fill up the child eating

thoughts for improvment lots of students here at west are thinking about ways that the lunch at school could possibly be better. some of the student have very good thought up recamindations

lots of students feel that if they have good important recommendations they shouild be heard out and maybe the recommendation will help the majority of people that have to pay for food or maybe that end up hungry even after lunch

student recommendations student feel that lunch should make them full and not have them feeling hungry again during class because it then messes up their focus at the work at hand

students have very good recommendations for the school lunch to be better such as less cost for the food. if the food cost more money than less kids will eat school lunch and more kids will go to class hungry

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F E AT U R E DEC.18,2017

How It All Happened Mom’s in hospital and this is how I saw it all By; Ke’Asia Mullen

I knew something was wrong, I just had a gut feeling. I was called out of school because my mom was in the hospital, I figured it was just the typical chest pains and swelling in the legs she’d been experiencing, this was the one time that keeping her for observations was a good idea. I didn’t think that something was actually wrong with her until I went to her room and saw that something wasn’t right—seeing her sleeping and being drugged up with an oxygen mask on. A feeling of terror ran through my spine, making me want to cry.

Leaving in every morning at six, going home to shower and eat breakfast; I would go to school and all that would be running through my mind was if my mom was okay. I didn’t have to work, from 4:30 I would go to the hospital and spend the whole night there, continuing the same routine would repeat for a whole week. This one night I wanted to go home, shower and do homework because I didn’t have my Chromebook charger and it was dead; I figured that she would be fine if I left for one night. I knew the doctors were moving her to the ICU, Intensive Care Unit, because there was better equipment that could take better care of her and help her get better.

The whole time she was in the hospital, she was delusional. There was a time when me, my oldest brother David, and my mom were sitting on her hospital bed and she started sing the State Farm commercial jingle. Both me and David were a bit confused but we thought that she was just making a joke like she normally would. Little did we know something was actually going wrong.

While in my biology class the next afternoon, David, called me even though he knew I was in class.

“Just call me when you get out of school,” he said.

“Why what’s going on?” I asked him.

“Just call me when you get out of school,” he said, sounding like he was trying not to cry. I didn’t know what to do, so I just went back into my class and did my work. There in fact was something wrong because when I tried calling her, she didn’t answer and I called at least five times that day.

When I got out of school, I instantly called him and all he said was that my Aunt Cari was coming to get me. Then I got a call from my dad saying that he was coming to get me and then it was my older brother, Andre saying he was coming. I waited at least half an hour before someone came and got me and sure enough it was my Aunt Cari. No one told me anything, they just let me walk into that room and see my mother laying there.

As soon as I walked in, I saw all my family standing around crying, no one stopped me from walking into the room to tell me what was going on. I walked into the room and saw her laying there lifeless with a tube down her throat, not breathing on her own. I looked around while everyone was just staring at me, I didn’t know what to do at that moment. “Put your bookbag down and come here,” David said wiping his eye, so I did what I was told.

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F E AT U R E DEC. 18,2017

The woman in the photo is my mom now; better than ever

“Mama’s heart stopped,” was all he said to me before I broke down. “We were just talking and she was saying how she was hot so we got her a fan, all of sudden she stopped talking and when I looked over; she was just laying there with her eyes looking at the ceiling not breathing.” After listening to him say that, I was crying uncontrollably unable to stop. I could feel my family’s hands rubbing my back and hear them whispering in my ear that everything was gonna be ok—that my mom was strong, that she was a fighter.

Once I was able to see straight and breathe normally, we went back into the room where she was and we stared at her. “Maybe if you didn’t leave last night, this wouldn’t have happened,”Andre said, I was completely speechless I had no idea what to say to him. The only thing that went through my head was, ‘Now is not the time to deal with this,’ or it was ‘You have got to be kidding me, our mother is laying here and all you can do is blame me?” I just ignored it and went back to looking at my mom. Days went by, no one ate, we just listened to what the doctors said and waited. “She’s responsive, we are just waiting for her to wake up.”

The doctors did tests after tests, days went by and she wouldn’t wake up. One morning around four, she started moving and trying to talk. Even though she had a tube down her throat, she continued to try.

When the doctors came in told us that they were taking the tube out, the whole family was ecstatic. After they took it out, she instantly wanted to talk; instead of letting her talk we gave her a pen and paper, the first thing she wrote was, “My butt is numb.” Classic mom—always making a joke.

Today, she is finally moving around and is back to her old self. “This is the fastest recovery we’ve ever seen happen,” said my mom’s doctor.“We’ve never seen anyone recover as fast as she did. The whole hospital is proud of her.”

This taught me a lot, it taught me to never take life for granted and that life is really valuable. Everyone should appreciate life because it can get taken away from you in a split second. Every person in the world has something to live for and every person should be spontaneous because life's too short to be cautious.

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F E AT U R E DEC.22,2017,

Home for the Holidays

6 Things to do This Winter Break Article by Caitlyn Hill

*all recipes are courtesy of the Allrecipes website

Frosting Recipe:

-1 cup of Confectioners Sugar -2 teaspoons milk -2 teaspoons of light corn syrup -1/4 teaspoon of almond extract

Cookie Recipe:

--3 3/4 cups of flour --1 tsp baking powder --1/2 teaspoon of salt --1 cup of softned margarine --2 eggs --2 teaspoons of vanilla extract --1 1/2 cups of white sugar

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Bake Cookies Arguably the best part of the holiday season is the food. If you find yourself stuck lounging around the house during winter break with a sudden craving for something sweet--well don’t just sit there! You can do the quick version and hit the supermarket to grab some cookie dough and canned frosting, or if you’re feeling especially crafty (or bored) you can look up any one of the cookie recipes littering the internet (try Allrecipes for some great variety) or use the ones conveniently provided on the left side page.

F E AT U R E

Watch a holiday flick Holiday films are always a great way to get into the holiday spirit, or just enjoy yourself during some down time-which you’ll likely have tons of during winter break. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of holiday films for you to watch.

And different holiday films will appeal to your different moods throughout this holiday season. Highly regarded holiday classics include “The Polar Express” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.

Listen to Christmas music Nothing gets one into the holiday spirit like some festive music. Some general favorites include all of the Pentatonix Christmas albums and of course the beloved “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey, but for a little bit of a different sound or experimentation listen in on the Anthony Hamilton Christmas albums, tune in to Stevie Wonder’s “What Christmas Means to Me”, or lend an ear to Carrie Underwood’s “Silent Night”.

DEC. 22 2017,

Go shopping For some reason, there always seems to be a large surge in shopping around the holiday season. Join in--even if you don’t personally shop for holiday presents, other people do, which means there will be tons of cool sales and discounts for you to take advantage of.

According to a survey, 68.8% of West High School students do the majority of their holiday shopping at Target.

Sled through the season Curl up and read Weather permitting, it’s always fun A worthwhile way to pass your to glide on the ice or fly down a winter break is simply to crack snow coated hill on a sled or skis. open a book. A good book can Good sledding locations in Iowa City keep you occupied for hours include the rear side of West High as on end, if you have nothing well as Willow Creek Park. If winter more pressing to do, and isn’t your friend and no snow falls, especially if you’re spending or the lake doesn’t freeze over, never the holidays at home, the right fear--you can alway hit up a ski rekinds of books will make the sort or the Coral Ridge ice rink! But break fly by. if you don’t feel like spending any more cash this season, you can always just have a simple hot cocoa fest with your friends and family, or just Winter Activity Survey Results: burrow under the covers far from the cold to catch some much needed 39.8% students prefer drinking hot cocoa indoors 33.3% enjoy sledding and snowball fights extra shut eye.

16.7% enjoy ice skating 5.6% enjoy skiing

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F E AT U R E DEC. 20, 2017

What’s in a

?

In the United States, there are thousands people with the names Sidney and Sydney. Here at West High, there are three people with the name Sidney, and seven people with the name Sydney- ten total. In this year’s junior class alone are seven of those ten people.

That number doesn’t include people who left to go to Liberty, and those who graduated and went to Iowa. Makes sense considering the years these names were most popular among newborn females was 2000-2002. All of those babies are now between the ages of about 14 to18 years old- in other words, they’re all in high school by now.

SIDNEY SYDNEY BY: SIDNEY KIERSCH

PHOTO CREDITS: SIDNEY SHEPHARD, SYDNEY KOUT, SYDNEY ALLEN

Sidney Shephard ‘19

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DEC 20, 2017

WSS: Do you know why your parents named you Sidney?

Were they about to name you something else?

SS: They were going to name me Haley but my dad didn’t like it so they changed it to Sidney.

WSS: If you could change your name, would you?

SS: No. I feel like if I changed my name then it would somehow change the way I am.

WSS: What’s something unique about you that you think sets you apart from all of the other Sidney’s/Sydney’s?

SS: I think i’m very social and try to have a variety of friends.

Sidney Kout ‘19 WSS: Do you like your name? Depending on your answer, what do you like/not like about it?

SK: Yes, I like my name but it is frustrating when people spell it wrong.

I can’t imagine being named anything other than Sidney, its apart of who I am. I like that it’s spelled with an I instead of a Y and I love that my friends call me Sid! WSS: What’s something you think is unique about you that sets you apart from all of the other Sidney’s/Sydney’s?

SK: I think I am unique because, I was born 3 months early and when my mom found out she was in labor she has to pick a name quickly. She wanted me to have a name before I was born.

WSS: Did your parents have any other names in mind for you?

SK: If I was a boy I would have been named Beckett or Larson and for other girls my mom only had Sidney picked out.

Sydney Allen ‘19 WSS: Do you like your name? Depending on your answer, what do you like/ not like about it?

SA: Yes I like my name, I just feel like it fits me… and I can’t imagine having any other name. The only reason why I wouldn’t like my name is because it’s so common.

WSS: Do you know why your parents named you Sydney?

Were they about to name you something else?

SA: Well they just really liked the name Sydney, but it just so happened that the Sydney olympics were going on when I was born.

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F E AT U R E

DEC. 20, 2017

Heart of an Athelete Emma Durian ‘19 has been running since she was in fourth grade, and as a member of the varsity girls cross country team, she thought she had her running career all figured out until September,

By Marta Leira

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E

mma Durian ‘19 has been running since she was in fourth grade, and as a member of the varsity girls cross country team, she thought she had her running career all figured out until September, when she was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a condition where the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick. This makes pumping blood more difficult, to the point where it can be dangerous to do certain types of exercise that raise the heart rate, including running.

Durian’s condition is genetic, so every year she goes in for testing.

This year, doctors noticed the walls in her heart were bigger than they were the year before. This news was heartbreaking for Durian, as she is no longer allowed to run. The last race she ran was in September at Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids.

“I got pretty sad at the start because I knew the doctor was going to call soon and that I might not be able to run anymore. I sort of knew that it was going to be my last race.”

Everything moved very fast after the diagnosis, Durian said. .

“In one week I went from perfectly fine to not being able to run,” she said. Although she was let down at first, Durian tried to look on the bright side. ““The hardest part is not being able to run, by a longshot… but there are other people who have it much worse than I do,” Durian said.

Despite not being able to compete, Durian is still an important part of the team, according to Assistant Coach Peggy Mcguire. “After her diagnosis, she has continued to come to practice everyday with a smile on her face and being 100 percent supportive of her teammates,” Mcguire said.

The team has always been very important to Durian, and teamwork is her favorite part about sports. She likes how encouraging and supportive everyone is at practice. “You can’t win on your own… everyone has to come together and work

“ YOU CAN ’T WI N O N YOU R OWN … EVE RYO N E HAS TO CO M E TOG ETH E R AN D WO R K TOG ETH E R TO WI N .”

- E M MA DU RIAN together to win,” Durian said.

Durian’ s positivity doesn’t stop with athletics—it extends to everyone around her. Emma’s father, Tom, appreciates how much she cares for others. “I am proud of how she treats her friends and family,” Tom said. “She is quick to put others needs ahead of her own.” Just talking with Durian, you probably wouldn’t realize the challenges she faces because she is such a lighthearted, easygoing person. Outside of practice, she enjoys playing the ukulele, hanging out with her friends and her terrier-lab mix, Wrigley. Although she has HCM, it doesn’t stop her from doing what she loves and makes her happy and she definently hasn’t lost her sense of humour “one good thing that came out of it is was finding out that I wouldn’t have to do PE… thank god for medical waivers.” Durian jokingly said.

F E AT U R E

DEC. 20, 2017

Photo courtesy of Olivia dachtler, Leah Dusterhoph, Sarah Longmire, and Caroline

BY TH E

N U M B E RS

0.2% 1 IN 2 50%

Of US population has HCM of women with HCM don’t get diagnosed

of children whose parents have HCM inherit the conditon

HCM

FAST FACTS • • • • • • •

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is commonly known as HCM Condition where the heart muscle thickens abnormally Heart thickens because muscle cells and fibrous tissue increase in size Usually the growth is in the left ventricle which is the main pumping chamber Makes it harder to pump blood making certain types of exercise dangerous Leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults HCM is genetic

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DEC. 21, 2017

Cuphead: a Story How has the game, Cuphead, turnedEDDIEout?

WILSON

1930 style animation, 2D platforming that’s tough but not impossible, a killer soundtrack, two player co op and only a $20 price tag. It sounds like an impossible combination of factors that sounds amazing in theory, but in practice it could never be done. However, on that you would be wrong. This describes the new game, and Reddit’s newest obsession, “Cuphead.”

With all the work put into the game, how has it panned out?

People have been enjoying it. The unique art style they chose has ended up attracting many people to the game. As someone who doesn’t play games very often, if Kiel McBrearty ‘19 has heard of it and played it it’s most likely good. He says that the appeal of the game is the “The art style and the animation process they took to create it.”

Avid gamer Brandon Kuenster ‘19 agrees, saying that, “The biggest thing that makes the game appealing to so many people is definitely the art style of the game and animation,” and also comments on how “We don’t see a lot of hand drawn animation around very often because it take so long that no one wants to do it.”

However, it’s other appeals still shine through. For instance, it’s difficulty is commented on by retro game fanatic Sam Dolinsek ‘19, “I think the appeal of the game is it’s difficulty, and how fair it feels. I found it through vinesauce, and then I got the game. Then it beat me up, but in a good way” The difficulty of the game is something that’s been recognized by a lot of people, with game fanatic Sam Mitchell ‘19 saying, “I also enjoyed the difficulty of the game, as it allowed me to get much better as I played the game.”

Despite its difficulty the game is still fair, as Kuenster says, “I like that the game is really hard but fair at the same time.

It’s YOUR fault that you died not the games. You have to learn the patterns of each boss in order to beat them.”

Another person that agrees with what Brandon’s had to say is Dolinsek, “[I like] how fair it feels, I play a lot of games and get salty, even if I know the games are fair I get mad.

I think it’s astonishing that I don’t get mad at Cuphead.”

The studio still has a way to go with the game despite all the effort that’s been put in it. There are some common complaints such as what Dolinsek has to say, “[The lack of] online multiplayer, for the time being it’s local multiplayer only which is fine.

Online multiplayer or the lack of is archaic, and a bit weird,” Mitchell says that, “Although learning the patterns can be fun, fighting the same boss over and over gets very repetitive. The bosses with less variety of attacks can be boring after a while.”

These complaints have been heard by MDHR and they’re attempting to remedy them through their regular updates on the game.

Cuphead: the Story What’s the history behind it?

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With all this reception people would think that the story behind it would be common knowledge, but surpisingly not. So, the question is, how did this game come to be?

The idea for the game began bouncing around the studios in 2010, the widely accepted start date for the game. However, actual development for the game didn’t actually begin until 2013. At this point MDHR, the studio creating the game had established they wanted to create a 1930’s style animated game with running and gunning gameplay. They began developing the original eight bosses that were to be in the game and the selection screen was reminiscent of Mega Man’s.

The most difficult part of this process was the animation, due to the unique animation style that many people aren’t skilled in creating in anymore. 1930’s style animation requires animating as if the character is a 3D model and as the team soon found out after trying to create the game, needs to be done on paper. Due to the switch from digital art to paper a majority of the art had to be scrapped and artists who were trained in animation on paper had to be hired. Once this was done they could properly begin on the game and design the characters.

Character design proved to be another difficult part of the process. Even drawing out the main character wasn’t set in stone

for the first few months of the game’s development process. The main protagonist, Cuphead, originally started out as a green blob that walked around.this evolved into a fly that would walk around and shoot things. It then changed into a bendy fork with arms and legs, but it still wasn’t the final design.

This would come about when one of the members on staff saw a piece of Japanese propaganda that showed off a cup turning into a tank. The idea of cuphead was proposed and it stuck.

Although the art was a main focus, gameplay was more important to the studio. This lead to them creating fine tuned controls that made it feel like when you died, it was your fault and not the game’s. It also lead to an odd combination of frame rates, while the game is animated at 24 frames a second it as a whole runs at 60 frames. This aids the controls in that the game is accurate to your button presses to 1/60 of a second rather than 1/24 if they had gone with the frame rate at which they had animated it.

All this lead up to presentation they showed off at E3 2014 which created a large amount of excitement in people who were there to see it’s presentation, enough so that Microsoft took notice. Soon after the presentation Microsoft approached MDHR and offered a deal to make it platform exclusive in exchange for a large sum of money. They accepted and they could then create the game exactly as they wanted to.

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BY DIEGO RIVERA What better of a way to spend a summer night than to live it like it’s your last? Sit back and relax in the front seat of your car with the stereo on full blast as Daniel Burgess ’18 sings you a story of wild nights and the pursuit of finding someone to share them with.

Just recently having released his debut album, ‘Stay the Light’, Burgess says that it was no easy task. Although the project of creating a full scale album was born through simply saying, ‘I should record [these songs] and put them out there’, countless hours were put into the creation of the album.

‘Sometimes ideas just come, but in order to work out a complete song from those ideas I need to schedule times to sit down and grind it out.’ Says Burgess. He often pushed through sleepless nights, especially the couple weeks preceding the release of the album, where he would get in a groove and work on his songs for hours on end. All eight of the songs on the album were fully recorded and produced by Burgess himself including him having played all of the instruments individually and later combining the tracks. The only exception to this was a choral part included in his song Festival and another in Living Nights.

Despite the amount of physical work that went into the creation of the album, one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome for Burgess was self doubt. As any creator that puts their work out to the public, ‘Are people going to like this?’ was one of the many thoughts floating around in the mind of Burgess.

‘I mostly just stopped caring whether the reception would be positive and I started doing it for myself, which I think is an important mindset to have’.

Despite at first being concerned with public opinion of his music, Burgess continues to make music out of love for playing music. He plans on continuing his music career in college, eventually hoping to be able to collaborate with some more well-known artists of the music industry. He says he plans, ‘to continue making music, rather than having a 9-To-5 get in the way’.

Burgess says he’s currently taking a break from writing new songs, but make sure to be on the lookout for another album in the future.

Find out more about Daniel at danielburgess.com!

Burgess playing a Gibson Alex Lifeson EDS-1275 Double necked Classic at the Chicago Music Exchange

Find Daniel’s debut album ‘Stay the Light’ on Spotify!

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Students vs. the future: DEC. 22, 2017

Students voice their opinions on the potential digitization of education

BY SIMON JONES

Adapting to our era

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or the 2017-2018 school be kept physical. Some students year onwards, West High is- agree with this notion, such as sued Chromebooks to every Quinn Thomas, 19’. student to close the digital divide “I really like the advantages havbetween those with access to tech- ing an online textbooks can bring, nology and those without. For all however I prefer to keep but I of human history, learning was notes on paper.” Thomas 19’ said. done using the technology of the Taking notes on paper has shown time. Through chalk, the quill, or better results on students than the pen; education has integrated digital notes. For example, a study itself into the technology of the by the French Aix-Marseille Unitime. That leaves the question: versity concluded that students what next? Surely there are more who wrote out foreign languagthings that can be done for the es far better remembered them good and convenience of students. than students who learned to type Some students have suggested them. Writing creates a certain ditching cumbersome notebooks ‘body-memory’ that the student and textbooks in favor of a more is more likely to recall. However, convenient digital variant, but physical notes are bulky and take some are skeptical. up space, something which is a A lot of students enjoy how tan- huge concern for students. Schools gible a physical textbook is in have started to transition to pure, comparison to their digital coun- online education because of these terpart. worries. Some schools across the “It’s really difficult to access the country have already begun extextbooks because of all the user- perimenting with fully-digital names and passwords you need classrooms. For instance, a school to use.” said Michael Fischer 19’ district in Westport, Connecticut “Physical textbooks are just easier transitioned their algebra to use.”

Other students agree, saying that 11 students were anonymously physical textbooks and notebooks asked how many online textbooks they use in the survey below are easier to access.

“It’s easy to study with” said Yegor Kuznetsov 20’ “If you have to review for a test, you can easily flip through the pages and review quickly.”

Perhaps a hybridization of education is beneficial, perhaps books should be transitioned online and notes should

DEC. 22, 2017

program entirely to computers by combining curriculum and providing a more personalized experience.

Since the advent of Chromebooks into the ICCSD curriculum, the digitization of education is even closer on the horizon. Students agree. “[Online Textbooks] are all I use,” said Leo Schriever 18’ “It’s also really convenient to access all of my study guides and notes from one place.” Having resources in one place also cuts down on weight and space, and that’s good considering the average backpack weighs like a bag of bricks.

Heavy backpacks are a huge concern for students. In fact, multiple different studies have suggested that students’ backs and spines are suffering from lugging around their notebooks, textbooks, and resources. Consumer Reports, a non-profit organization that conducts consumer-friendly research, found through a survey that kids’ backpacks weigh about 18.4 to 30 pounds, on average. That value is about twice what the American Academy of pediatrics recommends.

There are currently many problems stemming the gradual shift to digital education, between stress, evident spinal problems from heavy backpacks, and difficulty of access for students. Regardless of opinion, it is evident that the question of whether or not to shift education to the digital world is one we will have to answer in our lifetimes.

Computers in

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A look at the history, past, and p

BY; SAM FENNELL-CH

Pre-1950s Technology. It is an integral part of our lives at school. Can you imagine school without Smart Boards, computers, and even technology as basic as calculators? Technology has always been an important part of education, but it has changed dramatically in the decades since the 20th century. Both the past and present of technology are necessary to understand how technology could be shaped in the future. We must look back to history in order to look forward to see what shape technology and its prevalence in schools will take in the coming decades.

1950s From film projectors of the 1920s, to photocopiers of the 1950s, and finally to the dawn of the information age in the 1980s and 1990s featuring personal computers and the Internet, technology has always been progressing forward in the realm of education. Steve Ehren is an AP Computer Science teacher at West High. AP Computer Science teacher Steve Ehren was last a student in 1974.

1960s “At that time, there was no such thing as a personal computer, there was no Internet, and only the largest universities had a computer science major. Computer science departments only existed in large universities during the 1970s and computer science courses were rarely taught in high schools during that time period,” Ehren said.

1970s Ehren went on to teach at a suburban Chicago high school where he taught a computer science course during the 1980s. Ehren also upgraded many of the programming languages taught at West High, and pushed for the teaching of Python, a programming language more advanced than those currently taught, at our school. Unfortunately, his effort did not succeed.

“District administration shot that idea down,” he said.

the Classroom

present of technology in school.

HAMETZKY

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1980s Today Chromebooks are very widespread at our school. Ehren believes that it is valuable for all students to have Chromebooks. He also believes that computers in general have had a massive, mostly positive impact on schools and society. He related a story about how people thought computers would impact the educational sphere during the late 1980s. “I decided that my topic would be the impact computer science was having on public education. My instructor urged me to pick a different topic. She said the only impact computer science would have on education was to help students develop problem solving skills.

She did not foresee all the software that would be developed over the next couple of decades. Software that has completely changed how we live our lives,” Ehren said. Alyssa Skala ‘19 also offered her opinion on the Chromebooks. “I like them. I feel like we don’t have enough freedom though,” Skala said. She also expressed concern that the securly filtering website has blocked some content that she needed to access for a school research project. Emma Hall ‘19 expressed some of the same concerns. “I understand why they block some of the stuff, but sometimes it’s annoying,” Hall said.

1990s But even though computers are now such a big part of our lives, the rate at which computer science classes are taught and the amount of computer science graduates produced at universities is alarmingly low. According to Ehren, only 8 percent of high schools in Iowa offer AP Computer Science, and nationally the figure is just 25%. And additionally, there are almost half a million unfilled computer science jobs, yet our universities produce less than 50,000 computer science graduates annually.

The Future No one can be sure what the future will hold, but some possible innovations include expanded use of virtual reality, online classrooms, and even robotic teachers. According to Ehren, online learning and virtual classrooms already are quite common. “In the field of computer science, I think you will see an explosion of online learning opportunities,” Ehren said. “The demand for all high schools to include computer Ehren added that he believes that there should be a gen- science courses in their curriculum is growing at an alarming rate and the supply of teachers qualified to teach these courses is very limited. tler approach to computer science at the school, in the form of a computer science principles class. Skala agreed. However, I don’t think you’ll see much growth in online learning for the core courses. Right now I don’t see virtual reality playing a very big “I like to code and I think it’s fun, but the school doesn’t role in education.” Hall also offered her take on the future of techeven have beginner classes on it,” she said. Hall also expressed her concerns with a lack of programming classes. nology in education. “I think in the future online schooling will be the “I think they don’t do the best [at promoting programming most common form of education. I personally don’t agree with this change, as kids need face to face social interaction.” classes] as I have never heard of programming classes.

21st Century

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Behind the Curtain The beautiful performance you see every year isn’t an easy task. Get a look at the performance in a new way you have never seen before.

By Kathleen Washinton Pictures taken by Jenni Olson and Angela Thompson

The curtain goes up and the crowd is stunned with a swirl of beautiful dances and pleasant expressions.

The charcoal colored stage, covered in extravagant Christmas scenery, is stunning against the shining costumes. The performers are so shockingly good that the theatre erupts in applause, when the show is finished. As the curtain goes down, the crowd watches the beautiful performers emerge from the shadowed staircase, leading down to where they feel at home in the Englert Theatre. The performers are overjoyed to see all the people they care so deeply about, standing in the crowd waiting for them, patiently. The hugs they give are so warm and welcoming to their loved ones and the rest of the crowd. Suddenly, flowers rain down from the sky landing in their arms. Each performer seems to have

Marah Fuller ‘17 is the Maid in the Nutcracker and is interacting with the character of Clara in the party scene.

dozens for flowers from the crowd. As they say their heart warming thank you’s to all, they gently and gracefully strowl out of the theatre. But, what happens to the performers behind the curtain? What do they do to prepare for the Nolte Academy Nutcracker?

The Nolte Academy of Dance has been putting on The Nutcracker for the past 13 years, and both Iowa City and Coralville students are dancing in the production every year. The Nutcracker is a ballet that premiered in Russia in 1892. The choreographers of the original ballet were Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, and the music was written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The Nutcracker’s music consists of soft and slow music like “Café” (the Arabian dancers music) to strong and powerful music like “Danse des Bouffons” (the Russian

“We actually had four Sugar Plums this year, which is very unusual. It was hard at some points to have so many people doing the same role, but in the end it was interesting to watch each of the other Sugar Plums perform, because each performance was so different from the next dancer.”

-Marah Fuller ‘17

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All of the dancers in the Nutcracker are warming up on the Englert stage.

Marah Fuller ‘17 performs Sugar Plum. was Ramon Gaitan. Gaitan role was the Arabian male lead. Gaitan was a very hardworking and helped everyone improve.

The hard work every person in Nolte Academy Nutcracker puts into the six shows they perform should be mentioned once and awhile. Every dancer on the Englert stage makes sacrifices and pours their heart and souls into these performances each year. The Englert staff help the production so much and without them the boat would never float. So, look behind the curtain sometimes and you might be surprised.

dancers music). One of the most famous songs from the Nutcracker is “Variation de la Fée-Dragée” (the variation of the Sugar Plum Fairy music).

Most of all the dancers dancing in the Nolte Academy Nutcracker, give up all of their Saturdays for practicing from the six performances they perform each year.

They start rehearsals in the middle of August and they practice every Saturday until the week before the shows.

The rehearsals consist of learning the dances, running through all the dances, and running through certain sequences in order to clean the dance of mistakes. But, every dancer doesn’t dance in rehearsals constantly, there are usually two or three people doing the same role, so the different casts switch in and out.

The week before the performances, every person goes to the Englert Theatre for tech week. Tech week is when all the dancers run though the whole two hour ballet almost everyday on the stage they will perform on.

Usually, the first couple of days the casts runs through the spacing of the dances on the Englert stage. Then, the next couple of days the casts runs though the whole production without makeup and costumes. After that, they run though the production as a full dress rehearsal.

Finally, it is show time.

Marah Fuller ’17 is Sugar Plum in this years Nutcracker. Sugar Plum is one of the major leading roles of the whole ballet and Fuller landed the spot.

“Being Sugar Plum was very intimidating,” Fuller said.

“We actually had four Sugar Plums this year, which is very unusual. It was hard at some points to have so many people doing the same role, but in the end it was interesting to watch each of the other Sugar Plums perform, because each performance was so different from the next dancer.”

Every year, there is a professional dancer that joins Nolte Academy performers on stage, because there are a couple duets between male and female dancers.This year Nolte only needed one professional dancer whose name

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PAY TO WIN How the gaming industry is ruining video games

By Rain Richards

$ MON

EY

$

$ $

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oot boxes. Mann Co. Crates.

Requisition Cards. Bright Engrams. They go by many names, but they always have the same purpose: to make as much money as possible. These are the most popular form of microtransaction; a way to get players to spend money on virtual goods via micro payments. The video game industry isn’t focused on trying to create amazing games that everyone loves; their primary goal is to make a profit. This used to mean developers would make quality games and make money through selling lots of copies. Recently, however, this hunger for money caused an upsurge in the addition of microtransactions to games, and some bad publicity for game publishers. The most common items in loot boxes are weapon “skins” and cosmetics for in-game characters. Companies like Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard and Bungie have been quick to implement these systems in new releases.

Some games, like “Overwatch” and “Team Fortress 2”, feature both loot boxes and free updates with new content. In “Overwatch”, boxes contain purely cosmetic items, and the boxes can be earned by playing normally (albeit at a very slow rate). “Team Fortress 2” has a similar system, with free “locked” crates that each require a $2.49 key to open. The items in TF2’s crates vary, but most are virtual hats or costume pieces which don’t directly affect gameplay. However, that is not always the case with microtransactions.

Key Terms DLC - Downloadable Content, or additional content created and sold by a publisher for an already released game.

Fallout - A series of post-apocalyptic RPG games. In this article, the term refers to “Fallout 4”.

Loot box - A virtual box, card pack, or engram in a game which contains randomized goodies. Usually they can be both earned in-game and purchased with real money.

Microtransaction - Virtual goods players can purchase with real money by way of micro payments.

Western RPG, WRPG - Type of role playing game with the style of those developed in the West. It only refers to the design of the game, not place of origin.

The introduction of a loot box system into the newest “Halo” game caused a lot of backlash towards 343 Industries.

“Halo 5: Guardians” released with a Warzone gamemode, in which players could call in special weapons, vehicles, and power-ups from previously opened “Requisition Cards”. Fans of the series blamed 343 Industries. But eventually, even the loved Bungie, developer of the original Halo trilogy, fell to microtransactions. In working with infamous game publishing group Activision, Bungie produced “Destiny”.

Although some remain die hard fans of the franchise, “Destiny” has become synonymous with controversy among gamers. The game has had a colorful history, to say the least. From an incredibly short, disappointing story, to preventing those who haven’t bought the latest DLC from playing content they already own, it seems that the developers are constantly at war with their fanbase.

Last month, Bungie slowed the rates at which players earn consecutive experience points. In “Destiny 2”, these points lead to Bright Engrams, the game’s version of loot boxes. While this on its own wouldn’t have been a huge deal, the game was programmed to display the old values. Players were being told that they were earning a higher amount of experience than they actually were. The clear motivation is that the company wanted people to buy the boxes, rather than earn them.

The biggest offender, however, is Electronic Arts. Until very recently, fan-favorite characters and desirable weapons were locked behind paywalls in “Star Wars Battlefront 2”. While it was possible to earn them through gameplay, the hours required to do so were in the thousands. Far less time consuming was the task of entering a credit card number.

The weapons, it should be noted provided a clear power advantage to players who had them. Understandably, the game was not well received. Fans were outraged that the reboot of a classic had turned into a glorified casino. The company has since formally acknowledged the blunder on the official EA website, acknowledging players’ “constructive criticism,” and stating their objective “has always been to create the best possible game” for Star Wars fans and gamers alike. Many gamers predict that the microtransaction system will be reintroduced-- or replaced with something similar--once the attention dies down.

F E AT U R E

DEC. 21, 2017

Q&A with Holden Logan Holden is a freshman at West, who moved to Iowa City from Montana three years ago. His favorite food is Mac and Cheese.

RR: How long have you been playing video games for?

HL: Maybe, like, seven years now... [since] third grade, I would say.

RR: What types or genres most interest you?

HL: I like Western RPGs, like “Fallout” and “Skyrim”, but I'm also interested in Shooters like “Tom Clancy's The Division”, “Call of Duty” and “Battlefield”. It just depends on the mood I'm in.

RR: What is your favorite game developer or publisher?

HL: Probably Bethesda, because they've made two of my favorite games, “Skyrim” and “Fallout”. Although, they are selling out a bit...

RR: Do you have any opinion on the DLC practices of games like “The Division” and “Destiny”?

HL: I don't really like “Destiny”, [and] I generally don't like [DLC], because ... you have to pay more for a game that you have already bought.

RR: Do you play any games that have lootboxes?

HL: Yeah, I play “Overwatch” occasionally, and sometimes “Call of Duty”.

RR: Would you say lootboxes are well implemented in “Overwatch”?

HL: In “Overwatch”, yes. I think [Blizzard] did that really well. It's all cosmetics. In “Call of Duty”, you actually had weapons in them ... that you kind of want in the base game.

RR: Was there any way to get [the lootboxes] without paying for them?

HL: I mean, you could play the game and get things like scrap ... and buy them [with that], but really it was just easier to buy currency [with real money] and buy [loot boxes] with that.

90-91 Mohammedhilal My city children playing Ankara Turkey December 20,2016

By;Mohammed alobaidy photographer.

By canon 5d mark lll with .canon

Captions go here. old man in the streat thinking and smoke this is in in Ankara Turkey March 15/2017

I.need.AHEADLINE

90-91

Mohammedhilal

Altin park Ankara/turkey Febrwary 20/2017 This is dana she has 1 years old I tooked this picture in hir pirithday Iraq Bagdad..gune 3,2016

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Owning An Unusual Pet When someone decides to get a pet it's fair to assume they will probably get something of the ordinary. If not a cat or dog maybe a rabbit or a hamster but when it comes to pet care there are many other animals that people often overlook.

Most Popular Pets in the United States

Dogs.: Approximately 46.3 million us households own a dog.

The average number of dogs per household is 1.7.

Cats: Approximately 38.9 million households own cats. Despite being owned in less households the average cat owner has 2.2 cats Fish: 12.5 million households own fish.

Rabbits: Owned in roughly 6.2 million homes Chinchillas are rodents native to the Birds: Owned in 5.7 million homes. andes mountains of northern Chile.

Due to their notoriously soft coat they have been hunted for hundreds of years, however only in the early 1900s did the domestication and breeding of chinchillas begin. Today, they are rising in popularity as pets and are fairly easy to find at most exotic pet shops, and through breeders. McKenna Proud 21’ has owned her Chinchillas for nearly a year now and has very much enjoyed caring for and learning about them. Holly and Molly were first owned by her neighbor but when she was no longer able to care for them Mckenna took them into her home. “They each have their own individual personalities and they’re so soft” Said Proud. Although Chinchillas are raising in popularity the number of owners is still quite small

Chinchilla Care Chinchillas in the wild live in low temperatures and can not tolerate heat because of their thick fur coat. It's important to keep Chinchillas in temperatures between 60-70 degrees fahrenheit. Too far above this can be detrimental to their health.

They can sometimes be difficult to socialize with and are not recommended for young children or people who aren’t prepared for more intermediate animal care. .

“I would say their care is about medium in difficulty but if you don’t like cleaning poop I wouldn't recommend them.” - McKenna Proud 21’

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All Photos by: McKenna Proud

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While some learn for college purposes, others actually enjoy learning languages. Shawn Thacker ‘18 is what many would consider a polyglot, or one who knows several languages. He thinks learning languages has had a positive impact on him.

He first started by learning English and Nepalese at the same time, while living in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. “Growing up in Nepal, I sort of learned both English and Nepali at the same time,” Thacker said.

However, he did not stop with those two. He also achieved a good bit of knowledge in French, Korean and Hindi. To Thacker, language means more than just meeting college requirements. It is the gateway to a world of possibilities.

“For me learning languages is all about the connections you can make with people from different cultures,” Thacker said. “The smile you get from people when you start speaking their native language is addicting.

More than the practical benefits of learning languages, whether in the workplace or for traveling, I think that trying to speak someone’s native language forges a sort of unspoken trust with them that allows for more open dialogue.”

The Power of Language

BY PATRICK TAYLOR While many students struggle to learn a foreign language, others thoroughly enjoy learning languages. We interview a couple of students who really enjoy learning languages.

LAN GUAG ES I S ALL ABOUT TH E CO N N ECTIO N S YOU CAN MAK E WITH PEO PLE F RO M D I F F E R E NT CU LTU R ES,” Currently, Thacker’s newest goal is to learn Chinese. A classmate of his at his University of Iowa Mandarin class is Emaan Elsheikh ‘18, who is a a bit of a polyglot herself. She told how her Mandarin class teaches a language that’s considered hard to learn by many. “The way that we learn it is using Pinyin (romanized Chinese).” said Elsheikh.

“IT REINFORCES A LOT OF THE THINGS YOU DO IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE. -TH E R ESA J U H L , F R E N CH TEACH E R

“ FO R M E LEAR N I N G

-SHAWN THACK E R ‘18

Many students find learning a language hard. Theresa Juhl, a French teacher at West High, understands the daily struggles many students face. “Learning a language requires so many different skill sets to do it successfully, you become more meticulous with what you do on a daily basis in your own language.”

Another benefit to learning another language is that it usually helps you to understand English better. “It kind of reinforces a lot of the things you do in your own language as well.” said Juhl.” One thing Juhl finds valuable is a thing learning a language forces you to do. “I think just taking risks, because it forces you to leave your comfort zone.”

•

Thacker and Juhl both find value in learning language for other reasons than just school or work. “I think learning languages has had a big impact on my life. Giving some truth to those papers that say things like bilingual people’s synapses work faster in their brains, I think knowing or formally learning six different languages has made me more easily see connections in other subjects.

Also, it’s always fun to listen in on other people when they think you can’t understand them.” said Thacker, who has used his language skills when he travels internationally. Juhl agrees, “Another great thing about learning a language is it gives you an opportunity to speak with so many more people than you usually would be able to.”

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A DV E R T I S E M E N T S DEC. 22, 2017

NEED A LAST-MINUTE

GIFT IDEA? Don't get frustrated. Get Scrappy.

By local strategist, speaker, author, and educator Nick Westergaard.

MORE AT GETSCRAPPYBOOK.COM

WARM UP TO WINTER WITH A CUPCAKE

ENJOY!

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Have The Humans Of West High Conquered The World?

The people of West High come from and have traveled all over the world. What are benefits of visiting other parts of the world, and what can be done to understand the people of West High better?

By Edward Keen and Shuntaro Kawasaki When it comes to diversity, look no further than the hallways of West High. Take a look at all the people walking around, and it can be seen how diverse the hallways of the school are. Many people, teachers and students alike, have different cultural backgrounds and have traveled to other countries outside of the United States. Over 66 million people in the United States visited other countries last year according to travel stats, to put it on a larger scale. Many people in the United States also represent different cultures from countries around the globe. Cultural differences are very common as are different ethnic backgrounds and history of international travel in the United States, and can plainly be observed in West High and other schools as well.

In a survey done with 188 students from all grades at West, it was shown that though most people were born in the United States, there was more of a variety of ethnic backgrounds from other countries across the world. Around half of the people surveyed had also traveled to another country. The countries people have visited ranged from Greece to China to the UK. While the survey does not represent the entire West High population, but it does give a good idea of the diversity among students.

Visiting other countries is something people here and all over the world have found to be important.

Spanish teacher Amy Seidel certainly thinks so.

Some of the countries she has visited are Mexico, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, and the list goes on. She enjoys seeing all the different cultures and applying her travel experience to her Amy Seidel teaching.

Map represents the countries people have trav

*188 students from grades 9-12 at West were

“ IT I S I M PO RTANT TO LEAVE [OU R] OWN POCK ET O F TH E WO R LD AN D EX PE RI E N CE H OW TO LIVE E LSEWH E R E . IT ALLOWS

“[The reason] I like different cultures is because the pace of life is U S TO B E M O R E O PE N slower… it is more relaxed, and you get to have more relationships with M I N DE D AN D K I N D TO other people,” she said.

Her student teacher, Ms. Greer, is also familiar with visiting other OTH E RS F RO M D I F F E R E NT countries and cultures. She is from Europe and has visited countries PL ACES.” such as Canada, Mexico and Ecuador. According to her, the cultures of the other countries she has visited are completely different than that in - M S. G R E E R the United States in every possible way; from the languages they speak, or food that is eaten, and the family values.

When asked about the importance of visiting other countries, Greer said, “It is important to leave [our] own pocket of the world and experience how to live elsewhere. It allows us to be more open-minded and kind to others from different places.”

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F E AT U R E DEC. 21, 2017

Q&A Lauren Ernst ‘18 Q: What countries have you visited in the past?

A: Cyprus, Malta, Sicily, and the UK. Q: Did you experience any cultural differences?

A: Yes, some are more advanced than others... it is like comparing Des Moines, IA to rural Iowa, Q: Have you applied your travel experience to your life as a high schooler?

aveled to and are from according to survey* and research.

e surveyed.

A: Yes, when you go to a different place and visit a different culture, it opens your mind to a different way of life.

Q: What are the important reasons you have continually visited other countries?

Social Studies teacher Dominic Iannone is also very adept at visiting other countries. Though he does not see himself as well-traveled as some other people, he has visited the likes of Germany, Czech RepubA: I think it is important to lic, Austria, and Hungary in the past. visit other cultures because it Contrasting with the others, he said about the environments of other can present different viewcountries. “I think other countries are different than most people would points and present different suggest…the cities generally seem the same as here, and most people ways of looking at the world. speak English as well. Only once you have been there for some time do It can also broaden your view you start to notice differences.” on things and help you interHowever, he still found visiting other countries refreshing, and he liked act with people better. visiting places he had previously only read about in textbooks. He also suggested that people visit other countries because it is refreshing to get to meet and talk to other people and encounter new cultures.

Learning about different countries and cultures around the world is crucial to understanding the diverse population. At West, the people have been to many countries and have different ethnic origins and backgrounds, ranging all over the world. Being able to visit other places and get to learn about other people’s cultures can help to understand the people around and can help see them in a different light and understand them better. It also gives an opportunity to meet new people and explore opportunities that may have been unable to be done before. So maybe next time you walk down the hallways at West, think more about what you can do to understand the diverse population better.