Opinion project 2014

FROM NEWSROOM: the classroom to the

OPINION COLUMNS introduction to newspaper class project - APRIL 2014

PASS THE PEPPERONI PIZZA As America becomes more diverse, we are becoming exposed to many different cultures. However we shouldn’t be quick to assume an individual’s religion based soley on their ethnicity religion, the most popular religion in India.

An important aspect of being Hindu is being vegetarian, as the cow is considered very sacred.

“

By MICHAEL MOONJELY

michael.moonjely@gmail.com

W

hen I was about eight years old, during a regular trip to the dentist’s office, I was faced with a curveball question. As the hygienist was sticking various metal instruments in my mouth, she asked, “What is it like not eating meat?”

Not thinking, I answered, “I love meat!”

In return she gave me a very strange look, and she didn’t talk to me the rest of the visit. In the car, I asked my mom what the hygienist meant. She said that the hygienist must have thought I practiced the Hindu

I

was

Don’t assume born and the indian kid rC aa tih so lei cd, is only allowed so I soon ealized to eat the veg- rthat I was d i f f e rent gie pizza”

a m o n g the Indian community and sparked confused faces amongst those who learned I go to church.

Whereas I don’t consider myself a devout catholic by any means, being asked if I was Hindu was a very weird question for me.

As I got older, I saw that many people asked the same kinds of questions as the dental hygienist. I am never offended by theses questions, but they can get annoying.

According to the Indian Census, 80.5% of

Indians worldwide identify themselves as Hindu. Although this is definitely the majority, what about people like me?

Those who fall in the remaining 20%.

This stereotypical behavior can easily be avoided.

Is it really anybody’s business what religion other people practice? I don’t think so. There are so many other things to talk about in the dentist’s chair. We could easily talk about the ever-changing weather, my summer vacation plans, or a high school student’s favorite question“What are your plans after high school?”

I thought conversations in the dentist’s chair were the epitome of small talk. Racial misconceptions are bound to happen. The white girl will always be assumed to like starbucks, the african american will always be assumed to run track, and the asian kid will always be assumed to get a high ACT score. However, let this be a lesson. Don’t assume the Indian kid is only allowed to eat the veggie pizza.

Books are A LIE. Have you ever read “I am Number Four” by Pittacus Lore?.

Well, Pittacus Lore doesn’t exist, and the actual author doesn’t write.

By eugenia chen

S

eugeniachen123@gmail.com

ometimes, books are not what they seem, as in they are a flat-out lie to our faces. Last year, the popular book “I am Number Four” by Pittacus Lore was given the Iowa Teen Award from a list of 15 nominees created by the Iowa Association of School Librarians.

Little do they know, “I am Number Four” was not written by Pittacus Lore; Pittacus Lore does not even exist (you can probably tell by the author bio claiming he is an alien from another planet). If you make a simple Google search, the Internet will tell you the book was written

by James Frey. But the definition of “writing” is being over-stretched.

Frey is the owner of Full Fathom Five, a young adult book publishing company. The name seems innocent, but this company is definitely not your average Scholastic. This company consists of a group of young writers churning out books as per request by Frey with pseudonym names printed on the covers. Yes, some ideas are Frey’s, but none of his writing is present in “his” books.

This horrible employment is known as ghostwriting. Ghostwriting is a popular choice for many new writers wanting to get their feet wet before diving into their own writing endeavors. It consists of no credit what-so-ever for the manuscripts spent months carefully writing, little to no payment, and lawsuits galore for spilling the beans on who actually wrote the book they just wrote.

In Frey’s case, the contract for writing his books include a whopping $250 before the book, maybe another $250 after the book is completed, and a percentage of the profits (if there happens to be any). Along with the lousy pay, there is a $50,000 penalty for giving yourself credit for your own book. But, many writers still find the idea of enslaving themselves to some greedy business man/woman just to be able to get an “opportunity” to get their words into the world without their name written on the cover appealing.

Ghostwriting encompasses many forms of expression including: tweets on Twitter (yes, not all celebrities write their own tweets), blog posts, novels, poems, movies, songs, and the list goes on and on. What has become of writing these days that authors, poets, artists, writers and screenplayers don’t even write their own content? Where once a venue of expression becomes a corporation of shelling out money to get others to do their “dirty work”? It is only a matter of time before all the names accredited to our literary works are only just names. The ideas, sweat, tears and emotion found in the body of the text the labor of a team of others, without names, without recognition, without the credit they deserve.

And so, still, Full Fathom Five is alive today with new books coming out every year, and the latest installment of the Lorien Legacies, “The Revenge of Seven,” out in August.

If this column teaches anything, don’t blindly follow some recommendation by any association, even the ever so trustworthy Iowa Association of School Librarians, as you never know what others don’t know. Do your own research into the things you read.

Next time you see something from the Lorien Legacies lying on the shelf, don’t pick it up.

TROPHY CASE

INEQUALITY EXAMINING THE THE COMPARITIVE SIZE OF THE TROPHY CASES AT WEST AND THE SHOCKING INEQUALITY FOUND THERE.

By MAGGIE TERRY

dmrt98@gmail.com

West High School: Where Excellence is Tradition.

Sure, but when you go in the website it also says “Extraordinary West High School” Theres also a bit about it being “Exemplary” on the website.

But why stop there? Surely there are more alliterative superlatives that can describe West High?

How about exalted? Exceptionable? Exorbitant?

Extolled? Extravagant? No matter what you say though, it appears our priorities are skewed at West.

Because it is a school, it must be academic related activities West holds in high regard.

We build massive trophy cases to house our numerous plaques and trophies our math

team and debate teams have won. West holds extravagant award banquets at the end of the season for these valued teams. We have pep assemblies before big tournaments and we have a wall with pictures of those valued members of math and debate teams. West appreciates our teams, and we send them off to competitions accompanied by buses so students can come watch.. When there is a big competition, all the teachers stream it so the rest of the school can watch and wait and hope and um… I think I got something mixed up here.

Really mixed up. If you replace math and debate with sports through, it sounds correct.

But have you seen the size of the math trophy case? You know, the thing on the wall opposite the guidance office, the one about 6ft by 3ft?

With all the places and trophies crowded in?

And the debate one is by the Little Theatre.

Down the art hallway a bit. Between the one that was filled with random junk and the show choir ones.

But I am sure you have see the 8 or so huge trophy cases with sports trophies.

But I am also sure there is a reason why the sports trophy cases are so much bigger and more prominently displayed right?

And our sports teams just win more than the math team right? Everyone knows the math

team has only won the state championship nine consecutive times. And the sports teams have done so much better than that at some sport I think…

But the point really is, who cares? Who cares about the math team or debate team? Joining either one is social suicide like in Mean Girls.

West has football, and basketball, and volleyball, and lots of other sports. And people who don’t like sports don’t have to participate. They probably don’t care about sports so why should we care about them?

At this school it seems as though no multiple time state champion debate team is better than any sport. No, school is for everyone to play sports, get an athletic scholarship, play professionally and make a million dollars and live happily ever after.

This isn’t what happens, but this seems to be the message West seems to send with all the trophy cases, recognition, assemblies, and attention paid to sports. But those students doing math and debate? They are the inventors, thinkers, doers, makers, leaders of our generation. They are the next business leaders, software designers, political leaders, and scholars of our generation.

They will be in charge someday. …. So perhaps a bigger trophy case is in order?

Academic Pressure

How do we Deal with it?

Academic pressure at West High is definite The ways to deal with it are infinite

By Chanel Vidal

chanelsmita@gmail.com

You’re one diminutive freshman out of 500 walking into the doors of West High on your first day of school. Tiny but mighty you walk in with confidence, in awe and hope that maybe the seniors won’t hate you as much as portrayed in movies and hoping for that improbable “High School Musical” experience is a reality in your eyes. Seven periods a day, and before you know it your whole first week of school is over. Teachers finally got your names down, and your paths to your classes are figured out. You quickly find out that what you imagined high

school to be is completely different.

Nothing was mentioned about the homework load, the feeling of not fitting in, or the huge 150 point tests that Mr.Kelly has every two weeks. Lost and aghast, the whole class of 500 freshman scramble to learn how to study and to get their homework finished. Slowly, we find out that the kids who take honors classes are automatically respected, because they’re taking on a challenge. Lots freshman, including me are not taking honors classes this year, which seems to leave teachers and sometimes other adults to wonder why we’re not challenging ourselves.

Lots students here at West High feel pressure from teachers, or other students when it comes to grades and what classes we take. The WSS conducted a survey, and found that out of a section of students, 67% of teenagers feel that there is academic pressure at West High. Rather than taking the class and being stressed out and sleep deprived, there are many ways we can deal with this pressure instead of taking classes that will just bring down our GPA’s.

For one, don’t be ashamed for not taking any honors classes. You’re trying your best, right? That’s all people can expect out of you. You should be the one pushing yourself, rather than someone else. They’re not always

going to be there to push you, yeah?

Sometimes high schoolers will take an AP class to look good for colleges, despite the fact that there are many alternatives to look good for colleges. Volunteering, joining a sport or club or having a job will definitely look good on that college application.

AP and Honors classes are a great decision if you’re looking for the challenge, not the status it comes with.

My point is not to tell you to go sign up for every honors class possible and stress yourself out wondering if you’re smart enough. It’s to tell you that honors or AP classes are a great thing, as long as you can live up to the hard expectations expected in these classes. And to ALWAYS do the study guides for Mr.Kelley’s 150 point American studies tests because failing one of those will definitely dunk your grade.

How many students are in honors/AP classes?

28% are not in any 72% of students are in one

SUNNY WITH A CHANCE OF

LEGALIZATION Everything you need to know about the magical ways of Cannabis and why we shouldn’t let the government deprive us of a rescource that never runs out and has many many benefits.

By MOON FANGMAN

moonfangman@gmail.com

Chances are you know someone who uses marijuana, whether you realize it or not. We all know it’s a hot topic and one of the most common (and least dangerous) drugs. Considering 38 percent of America alone have at least tried marijuana (according to North Carolina State University) and most are casual users you probably know someone who is a casual user.

Marijuana users are most commonly stereotyped as lazy and stupid. They are said to have slow reactions and no ambitions. But that’s only because the only marijuana users you ever hear about are the ones who are being stupid and getting in trouble with their school, parents or with the law (which should be going down soon because of decriminalization in over 20 states).

The marijuana users you don’t hear about are the ones peacefully smoking in the privacy of their homes or the students who get good grades, are in sports, and still find time to use marijuana while keeping up with their daily activities. The reason we know these people exist is because the people who are getting in trouble for smoking

marijuana do not make up even half of the 38 percent of Americans who smoke Marijuana.

In the state of Colorado and Washington marijuana is legal for recreational use. Since this legalization, Colorado’s income has skyrocketed to an estimated 1.7 trillion dollars. On top of that with the decriminalization of marijuana will save the economy an estimated 7.7 billion dollars. And in case that wasn’t enough, the U.S. could profit 6 billion dollars annually if taxed at rates similar to tobacco and alcohol and since it was legalized in Colorado the state has generated 2 million dollars in tax revenue. Not to mention the amount of new job opportunities opening up in the states of Colorado and Washington.

There are many jobs being created because of the legalization such as dispensaries, head shops, even “Bud and Breakfasts” which are special marijuana friendly hotels where people can come and enjoy the drug as they please with no worry of their being anyone under age or getting in trouble with the law. We all know America has had some problems with the economy lately and this could be the big break that generates enough jobs to put money back into the economy. More jobs means more people making money which means more money being spent.

And just in case you’re still on the fence about

the legalization of marijuana, let me tell you about medical marijuana (which according to ProCon.org has been legalized in 22 states).

Scientists have been studying the effects of medical marijuana and have found that it does many great things for people suffering with cancer, arthritis, anorexia and many other diseases. According to the NCI (National Cancer Institute) when it comes to cancer, medical marijuana can do a number of amazing things including: anti-inflammatory, blocks bad cell growth, prevents growth of blood vessels that supply tumors, helps build an appetite (also known as “the munchies”), helps prevent some viruses and relieves muscle spasms that can cause Multiple sclerosis. So while the government is trying to ban medical marijuana, they’re denying the people the care they need.

The legalization of marijuana isn’t so that teenagers can go out and do as many drugs as they please and get trashed and make fools of themselves, it’s so that the people who just want to relax in their home or with a few friends and use marijuana without the fear of getting in trouble and having their futures ruined. Not only will it create better futures for my generation and the generations after us by not putting us in jail, it will create a better future by salvaging the economy that is currently in ruins.

PUSHING PAST THE

BOUNDARIES AS MORE HIGHSCHOOL ATHLETES PUSH TO GO PRO, MANY COACHES UP PRACTICE TIME. LEAVING NO TIME FOR SCHOOL, INTENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS PROVE TO BE DETRIMENTAL TO STUDENTS’ HEALTH

By Allie Biscupski

S

albiscupski@gmail.com

ports. As the impending doom of the future looms over the heads of students everywhere, high schoolers think of every way we can milk our high school experience for all it’s worth (while beefing up our resumé at the same time). The perfect solution?

Ah, sports. The quintessential high school experience. Having fun and bonding with teammates, getting in a good workout, and having to get your knee replaced by the time you’re 25.

The latter is a reality for more than one would think. In the 2012-2013 school year, there were an estimated 1.4 million high school sportsrelated injuries. Out of all those injuries, most, if

not all, could be avoided. Athletes are put under very strenuous conditions during a typical high school practice. For 2 1/2 hours a day, they subject their body to an insane amount of training, such as running for miles then running sprints as well. The repetitive actions of doing that one sport lead to overuse injuries. But they have to still be the absolute best, so they often continue to exercise even with being aware they could seriously hurt themselves.

Many student athletes’ dream is to continue their sport on into college and pro, but the reality is most do not make it into college sports. With coaches and athletes alike desperately trying to up their chances of going pro, many have turned to longer and more intense training sessions.

This leads to less time to sleep, do homework, and get ready for the next day. During the regular track season I’ll have to go to a meet, get home at 10:00, go to bed at midnight or 1, and have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to make it to morning weights. The pressure on students mount with teachers, coaches, and parents alike constantly telling students to strive to be the absolute best in everything they do.

We can no longer be good at school or sports or volunteering; it has to be everything. We work our students into the ground and then expect them to seamlessly handle it all on three hours

of sleep.

Coaches plan two-three hour practices, usually with morning practices as well, and seem to forget that we are student athletes. We have homework and projects and tests to study for and frankly, a good education outweighs any sport. Even for those looking for an athletic scholarship, you still need good grades to be accepted. Students can not get by on pure talent, they need the grades to show the college they’re capable of working hard in all aspects of their lives.

As I sit through another team meeting where the coach tells us the stories of athletes losing hours of sleep to study, puking while competing, and working themselves out of one injury and into the next; I think of how in the coach’s mind these are all situations to wear proudly like badges to show your “true dedication.”

As my parents worry themselves sick about how I’m getting no sleep, how my grades are slipping, and I have no time left for our family.

As my teammates drop one by one from torn ligaments to fractures and breaks, it becomes glaringly obvious that a rehaul of the American high school athletic program is in order. Let’s keep our knees where we can use them, and scale back the intensive training and pressure put on student athletes.

BUT FIRST...

LET ME TAKE A

SELFIE

BY CLAIRE MURRAY

S

claire.cl.murray@gmail.com

elfie: a picture taken by yourself, of yourself (occasionally with a friend or two), a white girl stereotype, usually edited to remove all flaws of oneself and finished off with a filter of choice. Selfies are often shared on social networking sites such as Instagram and Snapchat. Selfie: voted word of the year in 2013. Selfie: A hashtag with over 103 million pictures on Instagram.

Selfie: A hit song with over 76 million views on youtube, and if you haven’t heard it, I’m sure you’ve heard people singing it. I think we can agree that 90% of West High has in someway taken a selfie, whether it be proof that you were at the informational speaker for extra credit in Biology class, or a perfectly edited photo on Instagram. It’s taken over the slang in our English language. According to Samsung approximately 1 million selfies are taken each day, and, I confess, I contribute to those 1 million, but not in a “wow I look really good today I have to take a selfie and post it on social media.” kind of way, more of a “I’m snapchatting ugly faces to my friend” type of way.

Many time my parents will catch me taking a selfie and tease me, but hey, watchu gonna do ‘bout it?

Many times I ask myself “Why do we use this term?” and “Why is it so addicting?” I figure it’s a short word that quickly gets the point across instead of saying “I’m taking a picture of myself.” You can simply say, “I’m taking a selfie.” It also happily corresponds with the word Sunday and Saturday, ergo posting IG or Twitter pictures with the caption (or hashtag) “Selfie Sunday” or, for the few that can’t wait until Sunday, “Selfie Saturday.” Lastly it seems to fit in well with previous slang terms such as swag, or bogus; very popular, yet short lived slang in the English vocabulary, but the word Selfie seems to be sticking around longer than others, so this is what I ask you, will we be saying “RIP Selfie 2013-2014” or will it last? We’ll be saying goodbye to this slang term very soon (before 2015 rolls around), as it already seems to be fading out, but first (before it does), let me take a moment to capture this selfie.

According to Samsung, selfies make up

30% of the photos taken by people ages 18-24 and there are approximatley

1,000,000 selfies taken each day, but will this term we use almost everyday last?

Hypocrites Towards Gays If you vote or said “yes” to gay marriage or same sex relationships, did you actually meant it?

By Miriam perez

miriam.prz359@gmail.com

More and more people are “coming out of the closet”, so you say, than ever before. Also, gay’s have been celebrating nationally “Coming Out Day” for about 15 years now according to: realtruth.org.

Now that we are starting to recognize that people can love whoever they want to love, it gives the strength to gays to show who they truly are finally. Without hiding themselves in their own secret world, they’ve shown themselves to all of us with no shame, they’ve relied on us to accept them for who they are and for some of us we promised to accept it. But others show no acceptance in loving the same sex. Those who don’t agree upon same sex relationships

do everything they possibly can to keep from spreading same sex relationships through: laws, criticizing, and outcasting them. This motivates gays to fight for “justice”. It helps them become stronger, to believe in themselves, and fight for what they want: acceptance of who they are.

One thing that can set their minds off is the way you approach them. Even though you said “yes” to same sex marriage/relationship you still feel weird when seeing gay couples in person.

Other’s can even be “two-faced” by saying out into the public that they support same sex relationships but then talk bad about how awful it is behind their backs.

If you said “yes” to same sex relationships before, then stick to it. Gay’s don’t need twofaced people in their lives because they’re already too discriminated from “straight people”. But then again, you just say “I’m just not accustomed to it yet”, right? Right.

People make up so many lies or excuses to keep from telling how they truly feel about same sex relationships. That’s okay! It’s not wrong that you’re confused about this scenario but all I’m saying is once you’ve decided try sticking to that decision.

There are so many hypocrites out here in this crazy wonderful world, and those hypocrites just need one more action or issue to look upon: gay’s. Let’s try our best not to make that happen. Nobody likes to be desolated, judged, or discriminated because of who they are.

I for one, hate being outcasted so i try not to do that to others. In my spanish class when there was only one person in our class that got a perfect score on this really hard test everyone put their focus on me. I told them that it wasn’t me and they replied with, “but you’re mexican!”.

I don’t know absolutely every word in spanish so I get some things wrong too, but it’s the typical stereotype way to think that just because I’m mexican I’m bound to know absolutely everything. Gays deserve a real answer on how you truly feel about them, so give them that.

FORGET

FORGIVENESS:

BURN THE

BRIDGE

ADULTS THAT WERE ABUSED BY THEIR PARENTS AS CHILDREN ARE CALLED UNGRATEFUL, CHILDISH, AND MORE FOR NOT FORGIVING THEIR TORMENTORS. THIS NEEDS TO STOP.

By danetta dobre

thedanadobre@gmail.com

I

magine a good friend of yours pulls you aside one night. He wants to ask for your opinion on something that has been gnawing at him for a long time. Normally, he explains, I wouldn’t bother you with this, but I’m so confused and I don’t know what to do. I can’t tell what’s right and what’s wrong anymore.

You’re surprised when he tells you how his partner has been wearing him down ever since they met. She puts him down, sneers at all of his choices, and screams at him everyday when he doesn’t satisfy her expectations or follow her vague rules. He tells you thats she’s even hit him before in a drunken fit of rage.

He wants to leave her, but he’s torn. They’ve

been together for a long time.

I think she still loves me, he says quietly, she cries afterwards. Begs me not to leave. Says she’s trying her hardest just to keep me happy, and that she’s sorry she’s not good enough for me. It’s like I can’t concentrate on anything but her lately without feeling ashamed. Sometimes it feels like it’s all my fault. It feels wrong to leave her all alone, but I don’t know how much more of this I can take.

What would you tell him to do?

Replace partner with parent. Are the variables not equivalent? Does the solution change with the equation?

What would you tell him to do?

I feel most of us can agree that encouraging a victim of domestic abuse to stay with their abuser is almost unthinkable. We all know of battered womens’ shelters, we’ve seen the PSAs in the solemn portion of YouTube, we’ve all listened to lectures and watched educational videos on teenage dating violence in health class -- we know it’s wrong. Report it, ask for help, get out; this is how we are told to deal with it.

The solution is never as simple, however.

It can be argued that child abuse is even worse than domestic abuse, as it starts early in childhood and reverberates all though the child’s adult life. Even though they’ve had an irreversible mark forced on them, victims can be

berated by friends and family for not forgiving or “getting over it”. Taking the high road, being the better person, proving their parent wrong… all of them are arguments given to hesitant believers.

Forgiveness is not a magic balm that we can grab out of the medicine cabinet when we need it. It’s not a requirement for happiness, nor is it wiping the slate for the abuser. Those that have long escaped their abuser’s grasp and built themselves an accomplished life without this mysterious forgiveness can find themselves rubbing salt into old wounds by trying to find it.

Here’s a hint: it’s hidden underneath all the pain and misfortune the abuser has inflicted.

Digging through it all years later in order to find “peace” sounds too optimistic to me, especially if the abuser continues to find fault in the victim’s every action, every word, despite their child’s attempts to reconnect.

My suggestion: if we can’t tell a friend to forgive their abusive partner, then we shouldn’t tell them to forgive their abusive parent. They are the ones who have to live with the consequences of their parent’s actions. They are the only ones with the right to decide to forgive or not.

ARE YOU REALLY

GOING GREEN?

PEOPLE CLAIM TO BE “GREEN,” BUT ARE THEY REALLY DOING ALL THEY CAN TO HELP THE EARTH?

By cameron cook

I

cecook1117@gmail.com

n my experience, most people consider themselves “green”.

“I’m green; I recycle,” or “I’m green, I walk to school.”

But what really is being “green”?

For instance, many people, including my own parents sometimes don’t practice what they preach. My father often prints double-sided to save paper and rides his bike to work to reduce emissions. But he also has the water on constantly as he does the dishes and hasn’t stirred our compost in months. Also, I was on a trip to the Galápagos Islands over spring break on a National Geographic tour (National Geographic likes saving the environment.) However, we were on a constantly air conditioned boat with lights that were always on and all the food was brought to the boat with gas-powered vehicles. We were constantly urged to buy new things and throw out the old ones, print 50 pictures to show to our friends and make sure to use the internet every day. And they still called themselves “green”.

Many people say there’s nothing you can do about it, that this is our way of life.

But that doesn’t stop the other half of the population spouting things like, “I drive a fuel efficient car everywhere!” or “Took a four-minute shower!

Saving-water selfie!” even though their normal lives aren’t anywhere close to “green”.

Maybe people want to be “green” because it reflects well on them. Most people have been called a “litter bug” by a second grader sometime in their life, or been told they weren’t doing enough to save the earth.

I’m not a hypocrite; I consider some aspects of my life “green”. For instance, I open my windows instead of using AC while in the car. I recycle, compost, walk where I can and always turn off the lights when I leave. I do as much as I can for the environment, at least for my current lifestyle.

But I’m also a swimmer; I spend two and a half hours a day in a depression full of always cycled out water. I take long, hot showers, drive a four ton car with 18 MPG and I usually have my fan on in my room.

The difference is, I don’t tweet pictures tagged “#renewableenergy” or “#livinggreen”. I can’t change what everyone does; I’m not the UN, I’m not Chuck Norris and I’m not Oprah.

If you really want to be green, try running as few loads of laundry as possible. Try turning off the lights every time you leave a room. Try actually sucking it up and sorting through your trash to see how much of it can be recycled, then actually remembering to throw it in the recycling bin.

Try turning “faux green” into a real thing.

Unless you’re really going to go all-out, please don’t brag about your lifestyle being “Green”, “electric lime”, “yellow-green” or even “aquamarine.”

Be “green” to make a real difference, not for retweets.

Support Your

School

By Lexi Shaffer

lexi.shaffer123@gmail.com

Football and basketball, the sports beloved by almost all West High students; the pride and joy of our school. At least that’s the way it feels.

During these games you look out into the crowd and see rows upon rows of fellow students, cheering on their team. They are covered in green and gold clothing, accessories, and in some cases even body paint. All are ready to go, in rain or shine, warm or cold. To help them push through those last five minutes when all they want to do is rest. We, as students, travel to the away game’s destination just to sit and watch our friends and classmates. We even miss class to support the school. And it is accepted if you do go, almost expected for some! Our society has encouraged this over many years (not that there is anything wrong with supporting your school). However, it is time to spread the support to a few of our other West High athletes.

How about the trapshooting team? Many of us don’t even know what trapshooting is (shooting at clay pigeons sprung into the air from a trap). This is what I mean; we spend all of our time supporting a couple of major sports when there are plenty of others throughout the year needing our support too. Who is there to cheer on the tennis, rugby, or ultimate frisbee teams? My guess is not many of us. Who is there to help these athletes push through their last five minutes? They need us too, because who couldn’t perform better with a friendly face there to tell you good job or just sit in the stands and cheer. These sports aren’t the most talked about so it may be hard to find schedules. However make the effort and look in the planner, on the school website, or just ask your fellow students. Maybe you have a friend in one of these sports and you didn’t even know it.

Who said football and basketball deserved more fans? Just because they are better known sports shouldn’t matter. Heck, I go to a football game whenever I get the chance even though I have no clue what is going on and end up looking like an idiot. But I risk my dignity to support the school, in hopes that I can help the student section rile up the team enough for a victory.

So that’s right, put down the computers and homework and next time leave school early to see a lesser known sport and invite a few of your friends. Tell them Lexi sent you.

Isn’t it time we support the lesser known sports too?

“I Don’t Knower”

{

A LetteranFrom

A letter to parents about the stress of decision making for the future from a student that always says “I don’t know.”

By Morgan Schmitt-Morris sm16.morgan@gmail.com

Dear Parents of West High, As a child that replies to every question about what I want to do with, “I don’t know,” I obviously struggle to make decisions. I tell people I can’t decide because I really don’t know.

But, in actuality I think I just don’t want to upset anyone. I’m so focused on pleasing people that I don’t want to make my own decisions.

This rings especially true when thinking of the future, like what college I want to attend and most importantly what I want to do. I’ve told my mother on multiple occasions that she should just decide for me. Being the involved parent she is she jumped at the chance. To be honest, she’s probably put more work into college searches than I have.

Granted, I’m a sophmore...I have plenty time.

But do I? There are so many choices to make, and they’ve been piled on all at once. It’s not just me that has been stuck with this pressure to decide. In a paper by the University of Southern Florida they state that in 2011 researchers estimated that between 20 to 50% of college freshmen were undecided on their major. The researchers also estimated that between 50 and 75% will change their major at least once in their college career.There can’t be too many people who know exactly what they want to do from the earliest of ages. Most of us go through periods of indecision. However, during this time we can face different reactions from our parents. Some parents will just let their child decide when they are ready (not always a good thing), while others will push to find a path (not always a good thing

either). Now, as an experienced member of the latter group, I understand that it comes out of love. Parents (unless they have some serious, personal issues to deal with) want their child to succeed in life. They want them to have a career that they are happy with. This desire leads many to tell their kids of new job opportunities or of colleges they feel would be the “right fit” on a fairly consistent basis.

That doesn’t always work. It can almost make your child more stressed, especially if they are of the people-pleaser type like myself. Unwilling to hurt your feelings they just mumble under their breath “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure.” If it’s an especially appalling career like accounting (*shivers*) you may even receive a rare and forceful “No.” But, like I said, that’s rare. The “I don’t knowers” just don’t want to disappoint you.

Give them time. They’ll come around. They’ll see that if they don’t figure out their future soon they’ll end up living in your basement with cats named with after each letter of the alphabet.

If you push them, you may just being adding more weight to an already tipping scale. One more thing and that scale could break. Your son/daughter needs time to decide on their own future. Extend your love to trusting that your child can search for colleges or jobs on their own with a little guidance from you. It shouldn’t be all you and it shouldn’t be all your child-just be there to provide support and guidance in the times it’s needed.

Sincerely, An indecisive student

10 Best College Majors For Indecisive Students

1.Biology

Student Name ’15

2.Business or Business Administration

3.Chemistry or Biochemistry Student Name ’15 4.Computer or Informational Science 5.Economics 6.Engineering Student Name or ’15 Engineering Management 7.Health Science 8.English

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9.Psychology 10.Communications COMPILED by//Morgan Schmitt-Morris Soruce// Best Degree programs

Medical Marijuana Yay or Nay?

By brandon berner

GENDER ROLES

By NICOLE LANGE

DO YOU SUPPORT SCHOOL SPORTS?

You’ve been to Friday night football games as just one of hundreds of fans that goes to almost every home game, but have you ever been to a tennis match, golf tournament, or swim meet? Probably not.

BY GABBY SKOPEC

gabbyskopec@gmail.com

We’ve all been there; it’s a Friday during football season and there’s a home game tonight.

You’re talking to a friend at lunch, “Are you going to the game tonight?” They ask.

“No.” You respond.

They scoff at you, and ask why, you respond with whatever reason you have for not attending. Your friend still thinks the idea of you not attending the football game is crazy, everyone knows that everyone goes. And why wouldn’t you want to? There’s so much offered at the football games, concessions, memorabilia,a fire-twirling baton girl, a student section, cheerleaders, the marching band. Other than

the cold weather there is no reason not to go; actually that’s wrong, people go no matter the weather sporting parkas, multiple layers of clothing and hats.

Flash forward to the day before the ONLY home meet for the cross country team.

“You should go!” I say cheerfully to a few of my friends.

They laugh. Or give a lame excuse, This is a common occurrence at our school, for many of the sports teams. I’m not even going to list the sports that don’t get very much support because I don’t know all of them; I didn’t know there was a rugby team until last week.

That’s the problem. Even though I think we should all support other teams, I don’t go to the soccer games or tennis matches. But I should, we all should. How unfair would it be to say that the football team gets too much support, no, they deserve all the support they get. Anyone who has a sports event of their own would gladly welcome a crowd that’s close to the size of the football team’s. Once I watched an episode of “Zoey 101”, yes I know how lame of me to reference a TV show, where the girls formed a cheerleading squad and went to golf, ultimate frisbee, and all sorts of events.

And hey, It’s not just the students at fault, pep buses are offered to shuttle kids to the

basketball and football state tournament games.

Even though in some other sports there aren’t tournaments to go to there are usually regional games that kids could be shuttled to. Even if kids only decide to go because they want to miss school, so what? They will probably learn something new, and maybe even enjoy it a little bit.

So here’s what you should do. Go to a game, meet or match; most events are held on campus.

However a few sport’s home meets are held around town; cross country is held at the nearby Ashton Cross Country Course, golf at Brown Deer Golf Course, swimming at the Coralville Rec Center, and Bowling at Colonial Lanes.

Another thing you can do is learn about your school’s different teams and events, sports teams schedules can be found on the West High School website; which organizes the sports by season, so you have no reason to say you thought both boys and girls swimming was in the winter. Recruit your friends, parents, and siblings to go with you, the more the merrier really. And lastly, be proud of our school sports teams, every last one.

No, I DON’T Have a Plan, Iowa THE STATE REQUIRED ONLINE PROGRAM BARELY HELPS US STUDENTS PREPARE FOR OUR FUTURES. IT ACTUALLY MAKES US WONDER WHY WE HAVE TO HAVE A WEBSITE PLAN OUT OUR LIVES FOR US.

By Leola Eko

leolaeko@gmail.com

It’s that time of year again. Our teacher has just informed us that we will not be carrying out our regular classroom activities. Music to every student’s ears. But what will we be doing instead?

Has the teacher miraculously come to the realization that probably 98 percent of the class doesn’t care about what is being taught everyday and is giving us the opportunity to rest our perpetually working brains? Okay, let’s be serious here. Stuff like that only happens in our dreams. Instead, it turns out today is our scheduled day to go to the computer lab and participate in this year’s I Have A Plan. And the collective groan ensues.

Voices mumble “Seriously?” “Didn’t we do

this last year? And like every year since seventh grade?” “Sure, maybe it gets more useful as we get older, but it’s so boring and way too long!”

I Have a Plan gets more demanding and more irritating every year. Does it really help us in the long run?

Because IHAP is state mandated and our guidance counselors have been almost brainwashed into forcing us to do it during one of our classes, there really is no avoiding it.

IHAP wants us to believe that their services really help us plan out our future and give us insight on what careers we might be interested in, as well as introducing potential scholarships that will help us pay for college.

Really? Requiring us to answer 492,108,423,132 questions about “skills we currently have and skills we hope to develop in the future” is helping us? Barely. For the most part, it makes us want to slam our heads onto the keyboard and question the adequateness of our own intelligence.

Imploring us to choose “at least three” scholarships that we know absolutely nothing about is helping us? Nope. It just sets us up to pick the first three that we see so we can be done.

Nobody even really takes IHAP seriously. All we care about is finishing it during class so we don’t have to (dare I say it) do it at home. You know that everyone is really starting to care less

about IHAP when you’re a junior or senior and your teacher tells you to “BS” your way through it just so you can finish it during the time allotted.

As a junior, I’m all for college planning and preparing for my future, but IHAP has really gotten on my nerves. I don’t think it’s necessary for a website to hold our hand and map out for us exactly what to do in high school to properly prepare for college.

Using IHAP sets us up to believe we’re all going to succeed, go to our first choice college and know confidently what we’re going to do the rest of our lives. Get a clue, IHAP. At the end of the process, most students will be shaking their fists screaming “But why didn’t I get into Harvard? I had a plan!”

Kids these days are often made fun of for trying hard in school and succeeding.

Thankfully, the fad phrase “try hard” is starting to wear out.

By isabelle robles

isabeller99@gmail.com

I

remember sitting in Senora McAndrew’s second period Spanish class at Northwest like it was yesterday. She was handing back a particularly hard exam we took a few days before, and I was nervous. As she slapped the paper face side down on my desk I sheepishly turned it over and saw the grade: A+. I sighed with relief and set the paper on my desk, knowing that all the review and studying paid off.

My neighbor looked over at me, scoffed and loudly whispered two measly words into my ear: “try hard.”

Wait, what? Isn’t trying hard in school a good thing? I didn’t even do as much as verbalize the grade, I just received it, and was now being made fun of for it.

Shouldn’t this person, who I thought was my friend, congratulate me for my hard work, or at the very least give me a smile?

Apparently not. His friends proceeded to shake their heads in disapproval and mutter similar expressions my way, and when Senora announced I was the only person in the class to receive that grade, the phrase bombarded me like rain on pavement on a cool April day.

That week, and the rest of the school year, I was continually called a “try hard”

and continually tried to hide the fact that I worked hard in school. But, it wasn’t just me. Tons of other students were being made fun of and even teachers. I recall one girl calling our math teacher a “try hard” because he decorated his classroom and gave us treats to celebrate pi day. He spent his time and money to do something he loved to brighten our days, and he was getting made fun of for it.

As the phrase and making fun spread to this extent, I became very worried that it would carry over to my first year in high school. I was about to enter a brand new school with 2,000 people I had never met and the hardest classes I had to date; how was I going to be able to thrive while being made fun of everyday for my hard work?

To my surprise, I wasn’t called the phrase the first day, week, month or any day since.

I had a magnificent realization; at West you are valued for your hard work in whatever it is you love, not made fun of for it. This is the way school is supposed to be! You are supposed to thrive and find what you want to make of yourself, whether it’s a pro basketball player, an award winning scientist or a math teacher that is excited about his job. You should be allowed and encouraged to do whatever makes you happy.

I can gladly say that you, me, and the rest of the student body have the right and opportunity to do just that: be the best “try hards” we can.

Why do you think people make fun of others for trying hard?

{

PROUD TO BE A “TRY HARD”

on the spot

Chris Jung ‘16

“ They lack intelligence.”

Katie McGrane ‘17

“They are intimidated by them and it’s an easy way to make fun of people.”

David McNair, Spanish teacher

“They are trying to compensate what they are lacking.”

Abby Jans ‘17

“They want to make themselves feel better for not doing well or putting in enough effort.”

COMPILED by//ISABELLE ROBLES

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

A young girl travels five-thousand miles accross the world showing her how much there is to life

PHOTO BY AZEMINA LISINOVIC TAKEN IN KOTORSKO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

BY azemina lisinovic azemina1@gmail.com

17 hours, 32 minutes.

In that moment she had to decide: should she stay or should she go?

Her ticket was paid for, her bags were packed, her family was holding back tears.

A month.

An entire month without her family, could she bare it?

The clock was ticking closer and closer..

“Boarding call for flight 1128” she heard over the intercom. She knew it was time. Boarding the flight with an uneasy feeling in her stomach from the terrifying but exciting image of the

unknown, she waved a final goodbye to her family.

There was no air conditioning, she had no car to get around and had to wait 30 minutes before the water was warm enough for her to shower.

It was all so different to her; but she began to love it.

Waking up in the morning hearing the prayers coming from the Mosque at the end of her street, the roosters screeching to wake her and being able to see her grandmother every single day after not seeing her for 13 years, she began to feel like she was at home.

Every day brought something new and she began to feel adventurous. After making new friends she began traveling to different cities, witnessing weddings, purchasing new items from the street vendors and expanding her style in clothing, hearing stories from her peers about how their school system worked she learned so much about not only them but her own culture.

Coming home to her home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina brought a new light into her eyes.

PHOTO TAKEN IN NEUM, BOSNIA

Standing on the white balcony of her apartment, staring at the clear blue waters of the Adriatic Sea, it was in that moment that she realized that every person in the world deserves an adventure, a chance to try something new, whether it be a trip to Southeastern Europe or a walk through the woods near their house, an adventure is sometimes all a person needs to gain light back into their lives.

And in that same breathatking moment, she felt refreshed. She felt like a new person.

She was me.

I was myself again.

So take a chance. Go out there and do something different. Every single person deserves to go through a life changing experience even if they have to create it themselves. There’s 24 hours in day, find an hour to dedicate to trying something

THE PROBLEM WITH MOVING

WHEN PEOPLE MOVE, THEY NOT ONLY AFFECT THEIR OWN LIVES, BUT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE THEY LEAVE BEHIND. A STORY OF MOVING, BY A GIRL WHO’S NEVER MOVED

By LILY WESTEMEYER

lwestemeyer@gmail.com

W

hen I was in elementary school, the beginning of the year was the best. Everyone showed up with their shiny new school supplies stuffed in their tiny backpacks, nervous and excited.

My friends and I would all find each other at recess and tell each other of the adventures our summers held. Another part of the beginning of the school year I loved was finding all of the new students in my class. There was always at least two or three, oftentimes more.

Many kids in my primary classes would pass through, only staying in Iowa for a year or

so, and I never really noticed their coming and going. As I got older and began to grow strong friendships with these people, though, I began to notice not just the arrivals but the departures of my newfound friends. Just in the summer of my sixth grade year, six of my good friends moved away. A few of them had lived in Iowa for a while, but the rest had only been here for a year or so.

I’ve always wondered if it’s like this in other cities, and I would imagine it is. People migrating in and out without getting a chance to really settle in. But almost all six of my friends who moved had something in common: their parents were in Iowa City for the university. They had moved here for a job, or to complete their residency. They were moving away for better opportunities, and I just had to deal with it.

I didn’t like the concept of moving as a child. I’ve always lived here in Iowa, in the same house my whole life, going to the same schools with the same people. I didn’t like my friends’ parents when they moved, I thought it was selfish of them to make their children deal with the evils of making new friends and going new places. In the back of my mind, I

always knew that it was better for their family to move. That didn’t stop me from crying on the last day of school when I realized I wouldn’t see my friends again.

One thing I’ve always wondered is if it would be different if I didn’t live in Iowa City. If without the university here, people would stay instead of move on to the next town. I love this city, but I blame it on separating me from my friends time and time again.

I still keep in touch with some of my friends who have moved away, through social media or occasional visits. When each one of them left, I promised myself that I would keep in contaact with them and we would see each other again one day. It makes me sad to think of the friends I have lost just because I wasn’t able to keep in touch.

The positive side of having friends move places is that I can now say I have friends who live all over the world. I know people who live in all kinds of places, like Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and even Korea. I also know that our friendships are strong enough to endure the miles apart, and whenever I want to talk to them, they’re always just a Facebook message away.

Is Cheerleading A Real Sport?

More cheerleaders are being sterotyped for the

Sport that they do. people think cheerleading, they think sideline cheerleaders or the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders.

Unless you are someone like me, competitive cheerleaders. When people say cheerleading I think of people flying and twisting through the air, bending their bodies in ways that it probably should not bend. The crazy tumbling that makes us like gymnasts. The fact that we only have 2 ½ minutes to prove ourselves in a routine that is worked on for months. Not a whole season like other sports

BY NATALIE TROUT

Nataliejtrout@gmail.com

Stranger: “Wait, so do you use Pom Poms?”

Me: “No.” Stranger: “Do you like can-can-kick then?”

Me: “Lol, no” Stranger: “Do you yell ‘go team go’?”

Me: “NO!” This has been my life since junior high. It is always been, “Do you use spirit fingers or wave pom poms like you just don’t care?” When

Fifty percent of people think cheerleading isn’t a sport, according to debate.org. Why do so many people think this? People say we are just clapping our hands and yelling ‘Go Team!’

That can only count for one part of cheerleading though. Most people link sideline cheerleading and competitive cheerleading together, thinking they are the same thing. When they are very much different. I am on West High Cheerleading and a competitive club called Iowa Elite Cheerleading, and I can’t emphasize how different they are.

At West High we practice once or twice a week. We do a small warm up, stretch, work on cheers, and maybe work on stunts. At Iowa Elite we also do a small warm up and stretch, but then the atmosphere changes. We start

doing conditioning, which is probably about as hard as the insanity videos you do in PE, if not harder. Then we move to stunts, making sure everything is rock solid, flyers toes are pointed, and everything is legal for our level. There are different levels in cheerleading. The levels are based on how many skills a team has. This also helps with a safety factor; 3 year old should not be throwing backflips. Then we move to our tumbling section. Our coaches sit on the edge of the mat and watch our tumbling with hawk eyes.

If they see one thing that they do not like, they will call you out. Tucks HAVE to be as high as you are tall and if you tumble with others, your hand should go down at the same time theirs do, and your feet have to land at the same time.

This can be pretty hard if you’re tumbling with someone who is almost 5’10 or someone who is 4’10. Then there are jumps; they expect us to have high, beautiful jumps, but we have to be in synchronization with each other. This is only about 30 minutes of the two hour practice.

Sadly, there aren’t a lot of competitive cheerleaders that go to west high. Or they are too scared to say that they are cheerleaders because they want to be thought as an athlete. Next time when you say cheerleading isn’t a sport, think of the competitive side, not just the sideline.

POKÉMON TCG: BEST THING EVER A GAME THAT CAN HELP YOU MAKE ALL OF YOUR LIFE DECISIONS BECAUSE RESERCH SHOWS THAT FACT* *NO RESERCH WAS CONDUCTED ON THIS TOPIC, PLEASE HELP ME FIND SOME

By: CONNER bURNS

notconnerburns@gmail.com

I sit and wait, my opponent passes the turn to me. I draw my card. Yay for me, I drew a Supporter in which my starting hand lacked.

What game am I playing? That’s right, Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG). And I’ve played for about five years now. This is one of my favorite pastimes Almost every week I spend my PreMonday (Sunday) playing Pokémon at Iowa City’s Critical Hit Games. I’ve played the video games of Pokémon for eight of my 14 years years of existence, and I would like to share it with you.

Pokémon had taught me a bushel of good things, and it can teach you too - if you let it. I learned I’m naturally strategic and

can generally think of a combo that not many players would think about or notice.

Pokémon also gave me the opportunity to make friends, though it does lack people of my age. I have made various friends who are older than me and younger than me.

Pokémon’s competitive scene is very advanced and requires the most concentration and preparation. To me, a Pokémon deck is a child that need attention and nourishment in order to grow and be successful and strengthens the bond between player and deck.

Or I’m insane. Either way, Pokémon is and probably always will be one of my favorite pastimes.

Well, in my experiences in playing Pokémon, it is a lot more in depth and very not friendly to some who despise math. It requires LOTS of mental math. I have played the competitive scene for Pokémon TCG for two years now, and have seen the meanest of players, gods of the card game (#Jwittz #Pooka #DustinZimerman). All of those guys are famous among the Pokémon community both as being amazing players and Jwittz and Pooka are famous youtubers (Pokétubers in the Pokémon community) these people also attend about EVERY World’s Championship.

Sadly none of them can bring tears to your

eyes like a judge. Getting “judge called,” out generally involves someone doing something considered illegal in the card game, and when your opponent calls them on you, your heart will never EVER race that fast again.

Despite all this, casual play does involve a lot of laughter and fun. While competitive battling is one of my favorite things to do, casual playing is very calming to my nerves. Making complete garbage decks and battling friend’s complete garbage decks is some of the most hilarious moments one could ever encounter while playing Pokémon. My favorite garbage deck I have created involved breaking the rule, “No player’s deck should have four copies a card with the same name,” The decks name was “30 Magikraps,” (a mix between the “worst pokémon” Magikarp [pronounced Magic-Karp] and crap) which really speaks for itself.

If you are up for a challenge or want to just have some fun with me and some of my best friends, come down to Critical Hit Games in Iowa City on Kennedy Plaza near the Iowa City Rec Center.

The “G” Word.

The word “Gay” has been used lately to mock people based on what they do. Our generation seems to be having difficulties getting used to our gay society and it needs to stop.

By : fanta Karembe fantak53@gmail.com

It’s the second trimester for me as a freshman in West High School and I am in my fourth period math class obsessing over Twitter while I wait for the bell to ring and class to start. The bell rings and I see one of my classmates (let’s call him David) walks in the class with his Iphone 4 covered with a pink polk- a- dotted case, before he even gets to his table, “That’s gay” yells another classmate (lets call him Jack).

David replies with a “how” and before he even gets to finish his sentence, he’s interrupted with another, “No, you gay” said Jack.

David sits down and put his phone back in his

pocket. Nowadays people are misusing the word “Gay”, usually gay is a way to designate both male and female homosexuals. But, in our generation the word “gay” is used in a negative way as if it’s disease you should try to stay away from. Our generation makes it look like there’s a certain limit a man has to reach to be called “gay” like having a: pink polka dotted phone case, singing in a girly- like voice, being too emotional or just winking and blowing a kiss. So, it’s as if we don’t really have the freedom to say and do whatever we want because once you reach that certain limit your automatically called “gay.”

Being called “gay” doesn’t only happen to men, it has happened many times to women too, but men are just most likely to get targeted because the word “gay” is a common term used for men.

Most of the time the person calling someone “gay” are for pointless reasons, because they’re they think it’s humorous to them when it’s hurting the victim.

This topic goes back to when gay- marriage was illegal, and because of that gays were outcast and it seems as if our generation hasn’t really let that go, mostly because it is illegal in 30 states due to state laws and state constitution, so it’s a fight not yet finished unless everyone pitches in to legalize gay marriage. In February 4, 2010 at the National Prayer Breakfast, Barack Obama

announces his feeling on gay marriage saying, “We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are.”

Though David had not really stood up for himself and told Jack and there’s nothing with being gay, most of the times it’s best to stick up for yourself. Sooner or later our generation will have to turn the word “gay” from something negative to positive and we’ll just have learn to accept people for who they are. It won’t be easy but it’s a step we’ll have to make to better the generation in the future. One way to solve this issue will be to inform people the true meaning of gay, and that there’s actually nothing wrong with being gay.

The Bystanders Take a chill pill.

school and society; the bystanders.

The chill people who will not smirk or pay you any mind, the ones who turn the other cheek to spare you the grief and witness of your burning face, the ones who advert their eyes and remain aloof, the ones who try to make us more comfortBy Yiming Liu able in the embarrassing situation.

Never are these blessed people ever mentioned or praised for their kind Imagine yourself in your packed deeds, but oh, are they appreciated.

5th period class distant as ever be- There is sadly no way to thank these fore, when a teacher has suddenly people while sounding particularly decided to beseech the victim to stable, but we sure can return the answer some obscure question: you. favor, and make an effort to behave You fumble on your words, trying to like these models of a human being fake that you have been paying at- and hopefully also bring comfort to tention to the teacher whose voice others in their dark times. Another has become almost white noise in reason these people are the best your state of indifference. Mum- kind of people, is their air of matubling and uummm-ing, you have rity, which is not seen in the tittermade a complete dunce of yourself, ers. They hold a certain poise in whilst the classroom titters. In this their warm yet detached air. These moment, there are those whose kind people just seem to be able to rowwork almost goes unnoticed in our with-the-flow and stay cool and col-

lected at a time where the esteem of another is at stake.The word to describe these people is cool. When a fellow student may be rambling and frankly, making a dunce of themselves, there are the people who will roll their eyes or smirk. Is there really a need to do this? This reaction is hurtful; and more so because they are patronizing someone in front of their peers. You may not realize how horrible this reaction really is, if you have never experienced it. But when you do, you too will rejoice to see the blank and distant face of the divine bystander. So why not retrocede, and become the bystander? So just be cool, and chill, and don’t feel the need to even react, when someone’s reverence is bruising. Be the better person, the non-participant.

Be the bystander.

Paintit

White.

HOPEFULLY WE’RE ALL REASONABLE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THAT RACIAL STEREOTYPING IS A BAD THING BUT SOMETIMES NEGATIVE STIGMAS CROP UP IN WAYS THAT YOU MIGHT NOT REALIZE

By ebony mckeever

ebonyamckeever@gmail.com

No matter how many times it happens or how different the circumstances are, one thing never changes, I always know what they’re about to ask. Often preceded by a twitch of the lips and a bit of awkward shuffling, and then it’s said, almost jokingly-“...SOOoOOo… like, why do you always act so white?”

Whoa. Wait. What. However many times I’ve heard this question I’m almost always at a loss for words when it comes up. First of all, I was unaware that in or-

der to qualify as a certain race a person had to fulfill a set of requirements that someone decided to relate to that race.

And if they didn’t meet all of those predetermined standards they’re suddenly not that race anymore? Not only is that mindset inherently discriminatory and racist, it also reveals a lot about what might be going on in the offender’s head. If a person’s behavior doesn’t match up perfectly with someone’s preconceived stereotypes of that race, is it really so surprising that a person actually has to inquire as to why they act the way they do? Is it so unnerving that they are driven to labeling a fellow human being as a different race just so they feel can more comfortable and still uphold their skewed perspective of races?

But the real question of this situation is, what was the personality that they had assigned to me before knowing me personally, the stereotype that they expected me to fulfill simply because of my race.

To assign certain characteristics to each

individual race is oppressive to say the least, and if someone appears who fails to fit into one of those neat little boxes they will undoubtedly be assigned a different race that others deem more “fit” for their behavior. When in reality they will never be anything more or anything less than their own original race.

Besides that fact, the central belief that someone can act like anything other than their own race is flawed. Putting restrictions on what is qualified for that race, is essentially the same as limiting the achievements of a group of people and instead puts them in a lower place in the view of other people.

So, next time you’re tempted to accuse someone of acting outside the parameters of what you qualify as acceptable for them, remember the inherent negative connotations of that statement and how negatively it will probably reflect on you.

To save yourself some embarrassment just think to yourself for a moment and then firmly decide to just not.

ASK SOMEONE WHO’S RAISING

THEIR HAND.

WE’VE ALL HAD THOSE CERTAIN TEACHERS THAT ENJOY TORTURING STUDENTS WHO PREFER QUIETLY LISTENING IN THE BACK. THEY NEED TO STOP.

By HANNAH SONG

hannahsong1098@gmail.com

On the list of things I hate, my top three would have to be mushrooms, worms and when teachers randomly call on students during class. Now I suppose I can understand it when students are being obnoxious and make it obvious they aren’t paying attention, but I don’t see the benefits in it otherwise. Many teachers will claim that “participation is important, when you’re older you’ll be put in situations like this all the time.” In the future, no matter what career path I follow, I plan on being just as anti-social when I’m an adult as I am now.

All that I’ve learned from being called on during class is that I happen to have a very quiet voice, my hands can get incredibly clammy in a matter of seconds, and I have an incredible lack of talent at forming properly structured and understandable responses to questions I might not even know the answer to. Which brings me to the embarrassment that comes with this very important issue.

Some teachers don’t realize that if I’m not participating with my voice, it doesn’t mean I’m not paying attention, and that there is a possibility of me being insanely embarrassed if I don’t know the answer.

It’s more discouraging for me to participate in the future, as I associate the dreadful sound of my name coming out of teachers’ mouths with fear and anxiety.

I understand when teachers say they only call on students without mutual consent on the matter to make sure they know if said students

“

are following the material. At least, I understand it to an extent. I understand that they want their students to be successful, but my understanding stops at a certain extent because they’re assuming I don’t understand, when in reality, I might just be a quiet person. If I want to succeed, I’ll go to my teacher for one-on-one help. It’s almost an insult to me, now that I think about it, because not only is this teacher hinting that they suspect I’m not following along or paying attention, but that I’m not understanding? Again, unless I’m obviously not paying attention or am disrupting class, assume I’m paying attention.

If I want to do well, I’ll do what I feel is necessary to succeed. If teachers could understand this, I could cross something off my hate list and become a better, less hate-filled person.

Yeah, eliminating on the spot student torture would make the world a much better place.

i plan on being just as

anti-social

when i’m an adult as i am now.”

Why Wear Shoes?

If You Don’t Want To. If you want to do somethimg then you should be allowed to do what you want.

Nobody should stop you. found that not wearing shoes was quite relaxing and now I have gotten used to not wearing them.

Can you really blame me? I mean you can move freely and not worry about stinky feet because they’re being aired out all the time.

By Nate Armento nate137@me.com

I have not worn shoes the last two trimesters of school.

Half of the school has asked me, “Why don’t you wear shoes?” The other half has given me a disgusted look as I pass them in the hall.

It’s gotten so bad that half of my classes have made it a rule for me to wear shoes in their classroom either because it’s disrupting or disturbing the class.

At first my excuse was that I had gym and I didn’t have time to put them back on, but as soon as gym was over, so was my excuse. Secretly I

The school will tell you that you have to wear them for protection and hygiene, but really they’re scared that if you hurt yourself that you might sue, so they’ll try to say anything to keep you safe.

I think that if you hurt yourself that you’re the only one at fault, but it’s the law. It’s a complicated political topic that I don’t really understand, and, honestly, don’t really care about. All I want is to be comfortable in everything I do.

People ask if it hurts, and of course it does, I am constantly stepping on tacks or tip-toeing on gravel to save my tender feet.

Some people are all for it saying, “Yeah, just do you man,” and, “they can’t control you,” trying to boost my self-confidence or just being a usual rebellious teen.

Some people even go as far as to join me, like

Jena Shaver ‘17, who comes up to me almost everyday, shoes in hand, and makes the usual joke about how we’re hippies, and trying to do some weird thing with our feet like a “foot-five,” claiming that she is “weird” or “awkward.” But most people just scoff at us and go on with their day.

Sometimes I ask people what’s wrong with not wearing shoes, most people stutter trying to find a reason and proclaim that, “they’re shoes!” with no real definition to their answer.

Then other people go on to say that it’s plain disgusting, but when I ask them why they begin to stutter trying to find a reason and end up proclaiming that, “they’re shoes!”

People worry about the smallest things, weather if it’s not wearing shoes or doing whatever else people find annoying. If someone wants to do something they like then they should be able to do whatever they want.

I honestly don’t think my feet smell that bad, but if the whole school thinks so then I should probably think about buying some foot salts.

SNIP

SNIP

Don’t agree with the budget plan for next year? Do something! Email the members of the board at Tuyet.Dorau@iowacityschools.org, Patti.Fields@iowacityschools. org, Sally.Hoelscher@iowacityschools.org, Brian.Kirschling@iowacityschools.org, Chris.

Lynch@iowacityschools.org, Jeff.McGinness@ iowacityschools.org, and Marla.Swesey@ iowacityschools.org and tell them this is NOT OKAY.

SNIP

Why the budget plan is acting like a hairdresser

BY ELEANOR HO

eleanorcpbw12@gmail.com

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who wanted to be good at everything. So, his parents gave him books about all sorts of subjects; instruments to learn, toys, and a beautiful garden where he could play with them. One day, his parents came into his room, and told him, “I’m sorry, son, but we can’t keep giving you all these things! It just costs too much.” And so, the boy agreed that some of his books and toys could be taken away.

One morning, he woke up to find some of the things gone. He wasn’t terribly bothered, until he noticed some of his most important books were missing! The boy was dismayed. The books had been about things very important to his and his parents’ past. Meanwhile, they had barely touched his toys. He didn’t need them, his books were more important!

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m either really bad at making allusions, or you’re like that girl from 50 First Dates and lose your memory every time you get some sleep (which, being a teenager, is easier said than done). I’m

talking about the plans to cut $3.6 million from the school district budget because if we don’t, *gasp*, we’ll lose money! Because nothing, and I mean nothing (including the education of our youth), is more important than keeping our books out of the red.

Now, sadly the budget cuts are unavoidable.

After all, the big bad meanies (the Iowa Department of Education) say we have to. The “but…” is that the district is making them in the wrong places. Not only is the orchestra program for fourth graders being cut, the elementary level staffing will be reduced to two orchestra teachers and five band teachers for the 19 elementary schools. That’s not reasonable, in any way, shape, or form, especially with the small group lessons and teachers’ commutes between the schools making their job harder than the average teacher. Being able to play an instrument is an asset because, well, frankly it makes you look classy. And in this day and age, our generation definitely needs it. Countless studies show how playing an instrument drastically betters a person’s life: it improves your memory, increases your focus, and in some cases, it helps you hold your breath longer underwater. Besides that, there’s a sense of unity you get from sitting in a room, instrument in hand, with the same people for an hour every week.

The plan also includes cutting the entire German curriculum. As in zero amount. Or “null” in German, but no one’s going to know that now. There are several problems with that.

First, 38% of Iowans can trace their heritage to German origins. By depriving students the opportunity to be exposed to some of their

heritage their parents can’t teach them, the district is removing a huge chance for students to widen their perspectives.

Even more cuts include librarians (who we really need based on the number of people who actually know the Dewey Decimal System!!) and discretionary busing, busing for kids in the walking zone when the weather is too dangerous.

And may I ask, what should we be cutting instead of, I don’t know, a safety precaution?

For one, cut down the classes that no one likes.

They made typing optional, so why not make us take health only once? Trust me, everyone hates the awkward sex ed part, and it’s plain unnecessary the second and third time around, not to mention the repetitiveness of the other curriculum; the same old “eat good food” and “no drugs. Drugs bad”.

The other thing we need to cut (brace yourself) is sports. In contrast to the $807,000 being cut in the World Languages and Music Departments (NOT including general music), a whopping $30,000 is being cut from the sports program.

It’s painfully clear that America has a love affair with sports. We are unique with our huge dedication to high school sports, for example dragging out us band geeks, sticking us in hot wool uniforms, making us play and what not.

Ask anyone, we’re all traumatized.

But we’re not alone in our obsession. Wait, we are. No other countries have school sports to the degree we do, successful or not. America needs to refocus, this school district included. Why don’t other countries’ schools have big sports programs too? Because school is about getting an education. Duh.

LOL 2

TTYL

TEENAGERS ARE CONSTANTLY LECTURED BY THEIR PARENTS TO NEVER TEXT AND DRIVE, BUT MAYBE WE AREN’T THE PROBLEM. WHAT IF IT’S THE PARENTS WHO NEED TO STOP?

By Simran Sarin

simran.ranisarin@gmail.com

We’ve all watched the AT&T texting while driving commercials (If you haven’t, you either have never watched TV or have a DVR so you can skip all the commercials). The commercials are pretty intense and demand a moment of silence from you and your family afterwards. If your family is like mine, one of your parents will interrupt that beautiful moment with a mutter that’s something along these lines: “That’s why you shouldn’t text and drive…”

Hold up. You talkin’ to me? Ummmm, hello….

Mom, Dad, I’ve seen you text a few times while driving. The media, schools and the older

generation all think that teenagers are the only ones texting and driving, that we are the only ones putting people’s lives at risk. Well guess what? According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 82 percent of adults use their phones while driving. How many teenagers use their phones? A meager 58 percent.

So why do our parents always tell us to put our phones away when they are texting and driving as well? (Speaking of hypocrites...) Well, our parents didn’t grow up with this problem- they grew up with their parents warning them not to drink and drive. Now they want a chance to nag someone about their driving skills. Since drinking and driving isn’t as big of a problem anymore (don’t get me wrong, there are still idiots out there who do it), they needed to find another topic to harass us about.

Texting and driving is the perfect problem.

Teenagers are seriously attached to their phones, so parents get to deprive us of our one lovetexting, and on top of that, they can constantly nag us about it too! That worked out great, until our parents decided to text more than us.

Texting is now one of the easiest ways of

communication. There’s no need to send emails anymore (I don’t know if some teenagers even know how to address a letter…) and it’s simply inconvenient to call someone. Who knows what they are doing at that moment? They could be anywhere, from in class to the bathroom.

Texting is perfect. You can communicate with your colleagues at work and no one has to hear your nasally voice! What more could anyone ask for?

Whether for teenagers or adults, texting is the way to go. But seriously, is your text so important that you can’t wait 10 minutes to send it? Our parents may not realize this, but we all notice when they text and drive. And when they say, “It’s for work,” or “I’m an experienced driver, so I can text and drive,” it gives us the impression that texting and driving isn’t that bad after all.

So stop texting and driving. If it’s too hard for you to resist, turn off your phone, give it to someone else, or put it somewhere where you can’t reach it while driving. And if Mom or Dad don’t stop, offer to text for them or simply grab the phone out of their hand and toss it out the window...lol jk.

{

No One’s Reading About It

Much of the world today, kids and adults alike, don’t seem to care about what’s actually going on globally. Is there a way to end this epidemic?

By Olivia Read

olivia.read17@gmail.com

Putin is the leader of Russia. True or false?.

True, obviously.

Well, it may not be so true to you.

In fact, one in four Americans did not know this, according to the newspaper The Telegraph in a 2014 survey.

Of course, some adults would say this doesn’t affect themselves or their children. They want to mind their own business and stay inside a bubble. But, at the same time, many believe that logic and awareness of what is going on in the world today is much more relevant than any knowledge to be gained in class through textbooks. It teaches children and grownups alike certain content that can’t be grasped elsewhere.

So, why is there such a lack of consciousness?

The answer is simple: American education.

In school, the subject of current events is seldom brought up. I have not once heard a teacher ask about what’s going on in the news (except Mrs. Whittaker, of course), nor heard students speak to each other about recent happenings that don’t involve Disney stars going off the deep end. The most relevant thing I’ve heard students talk about is Nelson Mandela’s death (in actuality, they don’t really know who he is, but want to seem like a cultured hipster). How are students, who later become the adults that lead the world, expected to know about current events when they were never informed?

There are plenty of answers out there. Some propose hastily integrating daily news quizzes and a current

Can you answer these current event questions?

events unit into the required curriculum. Others call for an entirely different class that focuses on global happenings.

My response: let’s not.

There’s a simple solution to this exponentially (finally using something from Algebra 2 in real life) growing dilemma. It’s one that doesn’t make teenagers’ contempt for school rise even more by piling on extra content to memorize or mandate students watch CNN every night.

Instead, we could just emphasize the significance of current events.

There’s nothing like growing up with certain values at hand. If youth are going to be reached later in life by current events, it won’t matter to them since they didn’t learn it earlier. Sure, they’ll do the assignments; but, will they really know and be able to apply the information?

By simply teaching children, both at home and in school, that current events are just as crucial as the “core” subjects, like math, science, and English, they will consider it worth caring about. Growing up with the current events being apart of academic and daily life will ensure that people are truly aware. It’s not essential to make it a new school subject or extracurricular, but rather an expectation of children as they grow up: a responsibility, just like doing chores or finishing homework. This way, they will learn the salience *importance* of world knowledge.

And, with world knowledge comes comprehension of other life aspects - which brings the intelligence to know what salience means.

1. Where did the ferry full of students that capsized come from? a. Japan b. France c. Korea d. California 2. How old was the shooter at the Jewish Community Center in Kansas? a. 72 b. 17 c. 47 d. 33

3. Which country recently invaded Ukraine? a. China b. Turkey c. Russia d. Romania 4. Which country’s airline crashed and is currently missing? a. Indonesia b. Japan c. Malaysia d. New Zealand 5. When will the presidential elections in Egypt begin? a. November 2016 b. May 2014 c. they are going on right now d. January 2015

1. c, 2. a, 3. c, 4. c, 5. b

Extra! Extra!

quick trivia

COMPILED by//Olivia Read

Me,

Me,

or Me?

What makes us act so differently around different people? Many of us have certain personalities and we don’t seem to have a real, genuine aura. So, what is it that makes us this way?

By Christina Dai

christina.dai18@gmail.com

Alice: quiet, pretentious, prissy, uptight, too Asian to know what fun is Xena: cray, absolutely nuts, headstrong, at times demented, actually kind of funnyish Mary: beyond sweet, sickeningly saccharine, cute (ew), the “aunty”/advice-giver Me: the real me Let’s begin with Me Number 1. She seems like an Alice, so we’ll call her that. Alice is usually around when I’m unfamiliar with the situation I’m in. She closes my mouth and basically shuts off any flow of wittiness from my brain. It seems the only words she allows me to utter are “hi,” “please,” and “thank you”. For some reason, this always happens when I’m at dance. The girls there are mostly “white girls”. They actually take Starbucks orders from the other girls during their break, and we only have, at the maximum, five brunettes. Starbucks is good and all, but it’s way (insert five extra ys here) overpriced. If I bought Starbucks every day, I’d be chock out of money by the second week. The point is, we’re pretty much of different breeds. Alice, for some

reason, becomes super introverted when she encounters them. She frustrates me to no end, but it seems I yield no power over her.

Me Number 2 is the complete opposite. She’s more of a Xena (yes, like the warrior princess).

Xena’s a wild thing and thinks very irrationally.

She makes decisions without thinking and loves to make me question authority, meaning that I feel justified in mouthing off to adults. Which, you know, isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but things can get way out of hand, like last night when my dad was trying to explain a math problem to me.

Xena decided to show herself, and she was all like, “Nuh-uh! That is WRONG!” when my dad was actually right. I was screaming and yelling which, consequently, made my sore throat worse. Xena can be quite a brat sometimes. She’s also really good at thinking of dirty jokes and stellar comebacks. Sometimes I have to shush her, though, because the things she thinks of aren’t very nice at all (she has a penchant for making sexual references around her friends that are in relationships).

Me Number 3, however, is a different story.

She’s the mature, sweet one who can be trusted to make sound decisions ‒ a Mary, I suppose. I personally like her the best and I try to listen to her over the others. She’s sensible, a quick thinker and really likes apples, so I eat healthier with her influence, too. When I’m in a Mary kind of mood, homework is finished within the first two hours after school. I know, her rate of productivity is stunning. Sometimes I wish I could be Mary all of the time, but Alice and Xena can be uncontrollable.

I often think about the “real me”. She only comes out of her hermit-like habitat once in a while, which is a shame. She’s a mix of all three of my personalities, so she’s probably a pretty cool thang. She’s rare these days and I can’t seem to coax her out of hiding. After having a deep, philosophical session with her, I’ve realized why.

It’s simple, really: I’m afraid people won’t like her.

This is completely utterly absolutely entirely wrong.

I’m not supposed to be ashamed of the person I really am. If someone doesn’t like me, my first thought should be that they can go continue being a faker and a judgmental buttface.

However, people (including me) don’t always think that telling people to go “stuff it” is the way to deal with haters. For a lot of people, their selfimage is other peoples’ perception of them. This is incredibly sad because if you’re not you, no one else can be you. The world is missing out on your genius, your distinctly different view on the world, your wholly individual thoughts.

All I have to say now is just be you. I know, it sounds dangerously cliche, but it’s so completely and entirely true. If the real you really likes cheese, don’t let anything stop you from moving to Wisconsin. If the real you loves cosplay, get yourself over to Comic-Con. Don’t let yourself be dictated by the different “yous” you create for yourself. Be you every day, every hour, every second. There is no one else that is you, and that fact alone should be cherished. After all, as the great Dr. Seuss said, “No one can be you-er than you.”

THE WAR FOR SLEEP

1st Hour? More like nap time. Reasons as to why the school district needs to push back the schools start time.

Which does not make me overly happy with the districts current start time.

By taylor Libby

taylor.libby.2016@gmail.com

*Beep, beep, beep*, My alarm goes off on another symphony of monotone rings at 6:15 in the morning. Why am I getting up at such an ungodly hour, you ask? Because my school district thinks that we are fully functional at 8 a.m. and believes that I should be ready to learn about how the product of x and y equals the square root of 200. Unfortunately my body takes at least another hour to even process the fact that I am awake and forced to leave the comfort of my own bed.

I will give the district some credit though, the district had discussions about changing the schools starting time to an hour later than its currently is about five years ago.

They decided at to not change the start time due to the fact that football practice would be out too late for kids to have time with their families. While I respect the district's decision, is it not the school who tells us that education will take us farther in life then our athletics?

If, that is the case then why are they making an academic decision based off of an athletic problem? I am sure that the short term issue of an occasional missed dinner is far less important than the long term goal of teaching our kids to be productive citizens.

As an athlete, I usually just come home after a hard practice and am definitely ok with just eating the most fattening thing in the fridge I can find and then falling asleep without having to spend time with my family.

Other school districts in Iowa have talked about a change as well. In Davenport the superintendent is considering moving back their start time by an hour because he found that it is healthier and safer. According to the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, studies have shown that a later start time would benefit the overall educational experience with less dropouts, less depression, and higher grades.

In Minnesota, Edina High school pushed back their start time by an hour and a quick survey shows that 92% of respondents in Edina say that they prefer later start times.

While I believe that these benefits should be enough to at least consider changing the start time, I will concede that a possible compromise could be reached. A later start could be possible without affecting family time if perhaps we as high schoolers made a commitment to get off of our phones for an hour while we are at home thus giving us the extra time to have quality family interactions. Well, I better go set my monotone rings for 6:15 again.

Into Clarity

Other peoples Opinions on the Topic

{

Crashing

on the spot

Should the driving age be changed to 18?

By Layla Hannaford

Danetta Dobre ’17

“No, because I dont think its necessary, there will always be crashes.”

Sasha Wemmie ’17

llhannaford@gmail.com

When most people think of an important age they think of 16, 18 or 21. Why is this?

Well when you turn 18 you are an officially an adult, when you turn 21 you can legally drink. So When you turn 16 you take a big step into freedom, the freedom that you get is called being able to drive, but how about if we take away that freedom until you are 18? This has been a conflict between people for many years. Personally I like to go places without my parents or adult around all the time. The idea of doing things on my own schedule and not based on when another person’s wants to do something is also very appealing. So Should they change the driving age to 18?

One argument a person will give is that 16 year olds brain’s are not fully developed and thats why they should wait until 18 to drive, but technically your brain isn’t fully developed until your mid 20s. So even if they move the driving age to 18 your brain is still not fully developed and you will still have many accidents as we do now.

Another argument someone will give is that teenage drivers are the cause for more accidents than adult drivers and that is why we should up the driving age. Of course

teenage drivers will have more accidents because they aren’t as experienced as adult drivers. If we start to drive at 18, the 18 year olds will have the same amount of accidents as 16 years olds now, because of how much experience they’ve had. Using the phrase “practice makes perfect, ” well that is the case for mostly everything. You aren’t just magically going to be great at something you need to have experience to make you better, so if you take away that time for experience and expect the 18 year olds without any driving experience, you will have the same problem, and this same argument, but about wanting to change the driving age to 20.

Many people believe its because of a teenager’s car habits as in listening to music, texting or calling and speeding, but countless studies show that teens picked up these bad habits from their parents. So if you want to change teens’ driving habits you also might want to change the parents’, too. Teenage drivers will always be less experienced, won’t have a fully developed brain and bad driving habits, which is inevitable to change that.

“No, beacuse it makes it easier for the parents and the students.”

Ben Brandauer ’15

“No, because so parents don’t have to worry about driving their children everywhere.”

Allie Biscupski ’17

“No, because there are not as nearly any crashes caused by teens as we think.”

COMPILED by//Hannah Muellerleile

BAKE ON BETTY CROCKER

The younger generations have faced different challenges and advances with ease, however nowadays, they can’t quite face themselves as easily. This is my outlook on the younger generations not having the ability to take resposnibility for themselves, or their actions.

By EMMA Fowler

fowler480@gmail.com

I know I am apart of a very unique generation, one that has incredible technologies, new discoveries, and amazing advances that no other generations have seen. However my generation has a flaw, one that can be seen in any age group. A flaw seen even more in the youngest of my generation. I like to believe that I do not have this particular flaw, but I think we all do in some way. In 1980 or even 1990, if you had a D on your report card, who would be to blame? You? Yes. It would be your fault, not your teachers, but now, it happens

almost every day, a kid walking down the hallway complaining about how his teacher gave him a c on his test. No, the teacher did not give you a c, you only applied yourself enough to get that c, that is the grade you worked for, that is not the grade the teacher gave you.

There are exceptions of course, the few that can realize they dug their own grave, or created their own success, but maybe those exceptions are becoming less and less common with time.

Our generations ability to blame the rest of the world is absolutely incredible.

How anything and everything can be blamed on someone else, a food company sued because someone burnt themselves baking the cake? It is all your fault Betty Crocker, you knew that if you sold me this cake my hands would be fried to a crisp! I hate you Betty Crocker!

One woman by the name of Stella Lieback spilled a McDonalds cup of coffee

on her lap that gave her sever burns on her legs, but nonetheless, who is to blame?

McDonalds of course! Lieback then sued McDonalds, because how dare McDonalds do their job and provide her with a hot cup of coffee!

We need to realize that the outcome of our lives depends directly on the decisions and actions we make. Even the little things, like running over a pothole and popping a tire, forgetting to pay the electric bill or leaving your windows down in a storm. It was not the pothole’s fault. It is not the electric company’s fault. It is not mother nature’s fault. It is your fault. As soon as you realize that you control your own destiny, you make your own decisions, and are responsible for whatever comes out of them, life becomes a whole lot simpler.

So, bake on, Betty Crocker, I just thought you might want some food for thought.

{

Your Prom Night

Top 5 things a guy and girl should have before and during Prom

prom can get crazy and you never know if its going to be a good nigth with all you friends and youdate and none of us want a drama filled prom but we

By Alexis gronewold cant always control that. kklexis521@gmail.com

Well I guess for some people prom can get pretty out of hand before and after. When getting ready, and then when wanting to have more fun after prom. When you want to keep the party going, it doesn’t always turn out so good for some people.

Before prom many things could go wrong it could be the dress, it could be the hair, the shoes, the makeup, the jewelry. I know for me last year my dress ripped as I was getting into it so it wouldn’t zip up, so we had to hurry to my grandmothers so she could fix it. We were already running late with everything but we got it fixed and we still had to do my hair and makeup so while my sister did my makeup, my mom was working on my hair. We finished in time it was such a relief. Then I saw my date pull in the driveway and everything was a’ OK again and on track.

For some people it doesn’t always work out. I know my sister a former west high student had a hard time with prom. She never had a date to worry about though. she liked going solo, but she had problems with her dress and hair the two years she went. When at prom she would somehow get water or some kind food on her dress but her friends where good and they helped her every time. They got her back to her perfect prom self, so they could have fun.

Don’t get anything wrong prom is amazing and fun you are with friends. Your dancing and being crazy, silly and laughing the whole night.

For those who have dates you get to have a slow dance. Have a nice conversation sometimes, you

just laugh the whole time, or for some you just lay your head on their shoulder. fro me it was putting my head on his shoulder and having a nice conversation.

Then you have the part where you get a little upset because the night is ending and you want the fun to keep going. You can always keep it going by going to the after prom party. The school puts together. I know I know like the school put it on so it could be boring. Not always you can have fun and you get to be with your friends and date longer.

There are all those rumors about oh its prom night, you think oh so people are going to get lucky. Yes there are people like that but its prom you’re meant to hang out and have fun with friends and your date. Everything is your decision when out and about though.

After the after party some stay at friends’ houses, some just go home and hit the hay, and some might sneak off for a sec, but it was prom a fun night hopefully and if not that really sucks.

Hopefully you had a little fun that night if some things didn’t go as planned.

“

1.

Make up for the girls for the guys the corsage if they have a date

2.

for the girls a sewing kit, and for the guys the tux

3.

4.

for the girls some hair spray and for the guys the tickets

For the girls a hair tie to keep your hair out of your face if need be then for the guys nice smelling cologne

5.

prom always is amazing but theres always that one person that is jealous so just don’t listson to them .” -Amberlie Gronewold

For the girls some comfortable shoes or just kick off the heels and dance or if you don’t feel like having dirty feet at the end of the night then bring some socks. for the guys some good dance skill.

Raising Minumum Wage And Why It’s A Bad Idea

By BENJAMIN BLIVEN

benjamin.blivenwss@gmail.com

According to ABC News, President Obama wants to try to increase the wages of middle class Americans to $10.10 an hour. This seems like a good idea to most people right? I mean, everyone gets a little bit more money in their pocket. What could be wrong with that? Many things, actually. If we raised the minimum wage it would be forcing businesses to give people raises, which is a bad idea. While it may seem like a good idea, you are actually forcing the businesses to pay more money to their workers, which will give less money going into the business itself. It will cause many small businesses to lay off workers, or even close the business due to more expenses. Think about it. What if a worker is doing a job that is only worth about $4. But you are being forced to pay the $9? That’s not worth it at all, and you would be better off just doing the job on your own.

Minimum wage was not created to provide families with all of the support they need. It was created to provide a good start to the workforce, and work your way up. (Not to provide teenagers with money to spend on video games.) Since the poverty line for a family of four is $20,000, with two working parents they are making $30,000 which is clearly above the poverty line. As for single parents, most of them don’t have jobs that pay minimum wage. Most of them have jobs that pay over that amount. To be exact, only 4% of single parents get paid minimum wage. If you raise the minimum wage it will hurt the people trying to find a start into the workforce, because a business owner would want to find someone with a lot of experience instead of someone without it, because they want to make sure they get more work done, however if the minimum wage was low, the owner would actually have the opportunity to hire inexperienced workers. If minimum wage was raised, it might even cause people to not work as hard. If we give them no reason to try to get a raise, they will just think “Oh, it’s not like they can decrease my pay if I don’t do anything productive, so i can just do barely anything!” However, if we are able to give them less pay for doing less work, it will motivate people to try to work hard. Because think about it, all we want to do is have a good job. But, we can’t do that if all of the businesses are filing for bankruptcy because they don’t have enough money to pay their workers. So remember to think twice before wanting to raise minimum wage.

Or else the workforce as we know it will fall.

Due Tomorrow?

Do Tomorrow.

AS STUDENTS HEAD TO HIGH SCHOOL, PROCRASTINATION CAN BECOME A BIGGER PROBLEM IN THEIR LIFE. LEARN ABOUT THE EFFECTS AND HOW TO STOP PROCRASTINATING. why people procrastinate, for me it’s a motivational thing. I just don’t wanna do it, I usually have the common mindset of “Due tomorrow = do tomorrow.” Other people just work better when the deadline is near.

Either way, it can be a bad thing. What if you don’t finish? What if all your work magically gets sucked into a blackhole?

You’re screwed.

By KEVAN PATEL

I

kevan.patel525@gmail.com

started one year ago, for some reason in possibly the most important years in my life for a while. It’s an addiction that might stick with me for the rest of my life, or the rest of high school. It has caused me less hours of sleep, more stress, and possibly a cause of grades going down. It’s an addiction, almost like drugs, which is very hard to stop: procrastinating.

Everyone has procrastinated at least one time in our life, unless you’re a freak (just kidding). There are many reasons

The effects of procrastinating can be bad, worse than what many people think. According to the American Sleep Association, the stress that you put yourself through and the little sleep can lead to increased tiredness throughout the day, decreased alertness, and a weakened memory. So basically, procrastinating for one class, can have a negative effect on another. If you get a bad grade on a test it’s most likely from getting little sleep the night before and not remembering things, or just from procrastinating your studying, and not studying at all. Remember, you can never study for the test after you’ve already taken it.

While I’ve been dealing with this problem for a while, I’ve discovered a few ways to prevent it. One way is to have a reward system in place, after you get homework or a task done, reward yourself: go hang out with your friends for a bit, watch some T.V., play some video games. This is a way of motivating yourself. Another way I have learned is to make a checklist. Use your planner or another sheet of paper to write your tasks down. It’s important to have this by you at ALL TIMES. Have your planner with you in the bathroom, when you go in the time machine, EVERYWHERE. Be prepared to fight if someone takes your planner, defend it with your life! Before you go out, watch T.V. or play video games, look at this checklist, and then look at yourself in the mirror. Do you really want to lay this off? Having a visual aid of the tasks you need to get done can also be another effective way of getting tasks done.

I should really use the advice that I just gave, because I typed this the morning before it was due, I don’t think I’ll be stopping this problem anytime soon.

The Pursuit of Happiness In this day and age, 67 percent people remain unhappy, despite us being so advanced and having more oppourtunites than our ancestors.

CARTER LEAVESSEUR

cleavesseur@gmail.com

The pursuit of happiness is one of the basic unalienable rights that you receive when you become a legal citizen of the United States of America. Citizen or not, this is one of the most unused of rights. Among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness; which begs the question, why aren’t people striving toward happiness?

A basic google search will show you that “Only one in three Americans is very happy,” according to Huffington Post, and whether or not that is true, it’s sad. Let’s say that your neighbor has a dog and it just roams free.

You water your plants every day, and this dog comes to your house at the same time you’re out, and pees on your bushes. You spray the dog and this becomes a routine, even though it really, grinds your gears, so to speak. You have two choices, continue playing the game with the dog, or if it really bothers you to a major extent, tell the neighbor to put the dog

on a leash or in it’s own yard. Simple decision, right? Well there are plenty of other factors to consider, like if you just don’t want to be, ‘that guy’, or that you have a bum leg and don’t want to walk all the way to said neighbors house. The point being, if it really bothered you, you would have done something about it. So either don’t complain about it because it’s a miniscule part of life, or yell at your neighbor. But your friends will thank you for finally shutting up about the dog.

I’ve found that not only are people unhappy, but they tend to be straight up lazy as well.

This isn’t a bad thing, but not many things are going to get done while being unmotivated.

30 percent of people in this day and age are failing high school, but that doesn’t mean they’re stupid. Again, that whole being unmotivated thing kind of gets the better of people. If you really don’t like your math teacher, you’re most likely to underperform in that class. Or maybe the class is really hard, and you just don’t like the material, so you figure, I don’t need to learn what causes the wind to blow if I want to be a lawyer. I’ve actually thought that at several times in my life, especially when a subject gets insanely hard as an excuse to do poorly in that class. But how would it be possible to know if you wanted to be a climatologist, if you didn’t learn about it, or try some things relating to the subject, how can it be certain that it’s a useless skill? While

it may seem stupid to bother with it now, who knows, maybe all of the hot singles in your area just might like all of the climatologists in 2035. Or in all possibility as well, you may want to be a lawyer for various reasons, but you hate the job as soon as soon as you start working there, and you immediately think back to math class while calculating statistics and want to do that. But instead, you failed math class because you didn’t like the teacher, so your chances of being a statistician are at an all time low. High school is about shaping your future, and preparing yourself for what comes next, so don’t spit at what you’re being given, accept it with open arms.

Here’s what you need to do. Go against what bad things people say, prove people wrong. If there is something in the way of making you happy, it shouldn’t be factored into your life.

Whether it’s a person or a job, don’t just say, I don’t need this, I quit and I hate you. You might need that person in the future. Just slowly back away, and find something new that makes you happy. Kind of like there is a ravenous dog in the same alley as you. If you try and fight the dog, you will get bit and you might die. Sure you may mam it, but what did

you gain from that, that you couldn’t have gotten from slowly backing away? Don’t just go straight to nuclear war, try and slip out of a crisis.

Give

the NRA

a

Chance

THE NRA, OR THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION, RECIEVES HARSH CRITICISM JUST ABOUT EVERYDAY ABOUT THEIR IDEAS ON HOW TO SOLVE GUN VIOLENCE. DO THEY DESERVE THIS CRITISICM? The NRA, or the National rifle association, believes in arming more citizens as a solution to gun violence. Wayne LaPierre, chief of NRA, said, “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.”

By Jiung Jung

jjjiung@gmail.com

L

ooking back on the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary, which not only broke the hearts of our nation, it also sparked many people to search for an answer to gun violence. Yet, even since the Sandy Hook incident, at least 16 more mass shootings have occurred where four or more people have died from the gun shooter. (Huffington Post). This is why now, more than ever, we need to find an answer to gun violence.

Gun Violence is a huge issue especially in the United States. According to the Washington Post, the United States has the highest rate of firearm homicide in the developed world; and let’s just say that this rate wants to go anywhere but down.

The NRA has recently been receiving a lot of criticism for their ideas. A vast majority of uninformed criticizers say, “How can we solve gun violence by adding more guns into our society?

That’s stupid!” You yourself may be wondering the exact same thing. At a point of time, I believed the same thing as well. However, the NRA isn’t just a group of uninformed gun enthusiasts.The NRA has spent countless hours developing their ideas.

First off, with gun control laws, law-abiding citizens, like you (hopefully), will not be able to get there hands on guns while criminals will be able to get guns throughout the black market. This will leave the law-abiding citizens defenseless. When citizens are armed and trained well, which the NRA plans to do, this will leave the citizens in a position where they can defend themselves.

Second, the majority of mass shootings have occurred in gun-free zones. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, recently discovered while studying mass shootings that, except for one incident, every public shooting since 1950 in the U.S. in which more than three people

have been killed has taken place where citizens are not allowed to carry guns. Criminals are attracted to areas where they know they will not be encountered with armed resistance. If someone would have had a gun when an intruder had came in, there would have been a better chance of less lives being lost.

Lastly, guns could make women less inferior to intruders. Take Sarah McKinley, for example.

Mckinley was home alone with her baby when two violent intruders began to break into her house. One of the men was armed with a footlong hunting knife. Mckinley fired her weapon and fatally wounded one intruder and caused the other intruder to flee. Guns reverse the balance of power when a woman is confronted with a violent situation. An armed women does not need superior strength to fend off intruders.

So, as you can see, the NRA isn’t all bad. As residents of the United States, we need to see what is the best thing for our country. We must be informed of each sides ideas and opinions and keep an open mind about them.

I am not saying that this is the only solution. I do believe in stricter gun control laws. However, I believe we should have an equal balance of guns in our society. This doesn’t mean we should all go out and buy guns, nevertheless does it mean to completely get rid of guns, I believe we must find a balance.

My True High School Experience

By Sydney hemphill

sydneyhemphill16@gmail.com

When I think of high school I think of mean girls, jocks, nerds, drugs, and mean teachers trying to ruin your life. Those things come to mind because some television shows and movies make out high school to be a place so scary and weird.

The Movie “Mean Girls” puts an idea in peoples head that high school is a place where you get bullied. The leader of the Mean girls Regina George made every girl feel like, they weren’t pretty or smart and a loser. She made herself the queen bee of everyone. The TV show “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” gives the impression that high school is a place that you won’t survive. Ned wrote a survival guide in a

comprehension notebook about what to do and not. The movie “2l Jump Street” puts the idea that drugs are being sold at high school. Cops had to go undercover at a high school to catch a student selling deadly drugs to students. Also the television show “Degrassi” puts the idea out that high school is full of drama. There was tons of drama in degrassi like girls fighting over boys, boys cheating on their girlfriend and physical fights.

I’m here to tell you that those movies and TV shows are wrong. High school is nothing like it is in the movies and TV shows My first year in high school was incredible,wonderful, and exciting. I learned so many things in high school. I learned how to: 1. Carry more books in my bookbag so I’m not late for class 2. Socialize with my friends about Instagram, facebook statuses and outfits for the next day for a certain amount of minutes and go to the bathroom to do my business,check my hair and lipstick before it’s time for class.

3. Stay on top of my work with a planner because helps me keep track of due date’s and important assignments.

4. Make new friends and try new things.

My high school experience is still currently going on and its still going great. Nothing like those television shows and movies like “Mean Girls” where you have girls hating each other and making each other feel bad about themselves.

The teachers are nice and super helpful. They want you to be successful. The food isn’t that bad either like the pizza and chicken burritos .The TV show “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” gives an impression that high school food, will get up and walk away from your plate.

The food is nothing like that. There isn’t really any drama because the kid’s are nice and cool people. My freshman year isn’t going how I thought it would be. It’s going better than I could ever imagine.

UNDETECTED:

BULLYING WE ARE ALL TOLD TO BE GOOD PEOPLE AND STOP BULLYING.

BUT IS IT THAT EASY?

By Ryo Ohashi RYOHASH1231@GMAIL.COM As I open my facebook after school with a plan to stalk my friends and laugh at their pictures from sixth grade, I noticed that I had two unread messages from two different people. One was from a person I literally never talked to before saying how they lost 20 pounds in two weeks by using a pill, another was an exploding group chat called “The Intervention.” Curious, I opened the conversation read all of the messages. I was surprised of the content.

It was about how a friend (Let’s call him Joseph) had been continuously making fun of two of my other friends (Let’s call them Dan and Sarah) and people wanted him to stop.

I typed angrily about how we should go up to

him and talk about it as a whole team.

After the third “I am angry” emoji, I noticed something. This group of people including myself have been continuously making fun of Joseph. We criticized everything from his crush to the sweater that he wears everyday, and nobody did anything about it. However, when Dan and Sarah are insulted by Joseph, we all flip out and make a chat group on Facebook called “The Joseph Intervention”?

It’s not just my friend group. It’s about every single friend group there is. There is the person that is usually made fun of in a “friendly” joking way. Then the person who does the joking and there are the person who just watches and laughs.

Then I realized. This is exactly what bullying is. There is the bully itself, then the victim, and then the bystanders. Without even noticing, I let bullying pass by me as one would pass a spam mail.

Everybody knows what bullying is. There has been multiple presentations given in the schools about it to raise awareness about it and we take the information in. You know, the typical “stand up for your peers and don’t be a bystander”.

As we nod with thoughts of becoming a better person, we wonder if there are any conflicts like that around us.

But it’s harder to recognize these conflicts than we think it is because the bullying is usually disguised with humor. We like humor, so it sticks without us noticing it. It then becomes a habit.

So what should we do?

Well, take a breath.

I told my friends how I felt and what we’ve been doing to Joseph, and the conflict resolved.

Although I don’t know if my comment really did anything, it still felt good standing up for Joseph.

I think that’s what they want us to learn when they have bullying presenters. really wanted us to learn. Instead of apologizing to every person we stood by and laughed at, we should just stop the conflicts we find and notice. It’s impossible to stop everything by yourself so calm down and do the things you can do.

So the next time you find an email with a weight loss pill, give it some attention. Give it some care and do the right thing. (Make sure your firewall is strong though)

basically

WHITE “

LuLu Lemon headband

By Mckenna Harris

mckennaharris78@gmail.com

IPhone

Infitity scarf

Starbucks

Crew Neck

{

Okay, soooo I’ve been getting called a “basic white girl” lately and I’m not quite sure what to think of it. I dont know what “basic white girl” even means, tbh.

I thought “white” was just the color of my skin, and now people are pretty much putting a label on me, like my whiteness means something. But idk, maybe i’m just taking this all the wrong way. I mean. what do I know anyway? After all, I am blonde... Ya “dumb blonde”, everyone knows that one.. but white? When did that become a thing.

So what if i’m holding a starbucks frappe with extra whip and wearing my PINK yoga leggings that are currently tucked into my grey knit bailey button UGGs? Maybe I do own like 15 pairs of the exact same leggings, and maybe I do live in these UGGs 24/7 and maybe casually nap in them sometimes… but that not what makes me “white girl”, right?

Okay, I will admit that baggy crew necks and infinity scarves are kinda my go to outfit… its kinda an obsession/ collection I have been gaining lately, nbd or anything. And lately the “white girl” comments have been coming at me quite hard when I wear my Olaf crew neck, but they just need to let it go.

So can I just advise you all to keep the comments to yourselves… because soon these manicured claws are commin out. Ugg. Whatever, I’m sooooo over this, please excuse me while I get back to Wanelo. Ttyl.

”

Grey knit UGGs

PINK yogas

Politcally Correct?

OR JUST PLAIN WRONG

FROM OVERSENSITIVITY TO CENSORSHIP, THESE ARE THE SOME OF THE MANY PRACTICES THAT RUIN OUR FREE SPEECH

By aLI ALI

AliAliHabba@gmail.com

As I walk out into the winter cold, I remember it is Christmas break, oops! I meant winter holiday break, I catch myself.

Wouldn’t want to insult any Jews or AfricanAmericans who might be celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, now would I? I continue down the long street, where I see some children building a snowman.

No wait, that’s sexist, it’s “snowperson.”

I chuckle to myself for my mistake and continue on my way.

You see where I am getting? I’m talking about this political correctness bull

that’s been plaguing our speech the last few decades. I perfectly understand the need to not be overly offensive to people, but don’t tell me that something isn’t wrong when we all have to choose our words extra carefully so as not to “offend” someone everytime we open our mouths. It’s as if all of America became politicians overnight.

Whatever happened to a person saying what he or she thinks is right, no matter how unpopular it may be? Or the phrase “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”?

If our ancestors had spent their lives being politically correct all the time, we wouldn’t ever get things done.Why can’t we all just be Americans, without the needless line dashes behind it? Are we Americans now afraid to ever disagree with the popular opinion?

In some colleges such as Oberlin and University of California, Santa Barbara, a couple of over-sensitive students and professors are trying to normalize the use of “trigger warnings,” which are supposed to warn and protect students who might be offended from taking part in certain class

discussions and media. All it really does, though, is impose censorship by stopping students from getting out and learning something. It makes absolutely no sense to me to not learn about a certain subject because of the possibility that it might offend you.

Another downside with political correctness is the fact that with it, people can’t always say what they truly mean, to the point that it can make the discussion of some subjects like immigration and affirmative action taboo, which in doing so we prevent our ability to solve urgent problems and learn from new perspectives on a particular topic.

But have no fear, there are solutions to this great issue, like building class and social environments where it’s considered okay to have a difference of opinions, and where people can finally agree to disagree without the fear of being ostracized. We could also teach our kids to be a little more open minded and to try and see disputes from both sides. Us Americans have a right and a privilege to our own thoughts and beliefs, so get out there and use it!!

GOOD COACH BAD COACH

Throughout their athletic career, every athlete will experience at least one coach whose coaching styles just doesn’t float their boat.

By katie mcgrane

mcgrane.katie@gmail.com

Every athlete at one point or another in their career has had that one coach that you just don’t like. I have experienced that feeling towards some of my past coaches as well and I think I know why.

A good coach is one that will encourage you and push you to your limits. A bad coach pushes you past those limits and puts your body at risk for injury. Now don’t get me wrong, I can be pushed way past my limits but, that being said, when my body tells me that it has to take a break from sprints or weights, I have to listen.

When you tell your coach that you need a break, a good coach would listen and say ok sit off to the side and stretch or go get ice. A bad coach would roll his/ her eyes and say “well that’s a shame” or “are you sure you’re hurt and not just tired?” Athletes know what their body’s limits are and it’s the coaches job to listen to the warning signs such as “ coach I’m really dizzy” or “ wow coach. My leg is really hurting.” At

volleyball practice one day, I was sick and i was having a really hard time breathing. My coach made it a point to make sure to ask if i was ok and also made me sit out until I felt better. She also made sure that i wasn’t pushing myself too hard. That is a good coach.

A good coach will be sarcastic in a joking way that they know they will not offend you or hurt your feelings. It sounds like I am just being sensitive however, we have all had an experience that we say something or ask something in all seriousness and then the person we are talking to decides to make a joke out of us such as “Hey coach, do you want us to go get the hurdles now?” and the coach says “Well gee I don’t know! Let’s just jump over some sticks today. Hahaha!” I am totally ok with that! But only if it is laughing with me not at me. A bad coach would make it a point to use the question or comment to make a fool out of you in front of the other coaching staff or even the whole team. That can be really embarrassing and can make you wish you would have just kept your thoughts to yourself. Bottom line, a good coach will never make you want to hide away in the shadows.

My last point concerning good and bad coaching styles is that a good coach would never make you want to quit a sport. And if you had to quit that sport they should support that decision. I recently had to go through this

experience and it was not fun. I didn’t want to quit. I had to quit. I had so much going on in my life that i had to drop one thing. I dropped the thing that my heart wasn’t in to begin with.

My coach didn’t support me and called me out on my decision in front of the whole team. Up to that point i thought i was making a huge mistake but after my friends and teammates told me about that i knew that i couldn’t have made a better choice. An athlete shouldn’t have to deal with a coach that doesn’t support their decisions or who doesn’t make a conscientious effort to resolve the problem before assuming the worst about the person.

Good coaches are ones who understand that we are high school athletes and that we have our whole lives ahead of us. That we have other things going on in our lives than just that one sport. A bad coach is one who puts his/her players at risk and jumps at the opportunity to make an example out of you. A good coach is understanding, reasonable, supportive, and makes me want to work harder. For athletes, there is nothing that can beat the feeling of a coches pride towards them. And that’s the best motivation, right?

I SURVIVED A

5 GRADE BULLY TH

The tragically powerful story of a fifth grader that wanted nothing but to ditch his friends and achieve “popularity.”

By avery smith

avery.ian.smith.ais@gmail.com

Being the new kid can be kinda tough, depending on the age you become “new.” I like to think of it as bell curve, with the x-axis being age and y-axis being amount of suckiness for being “new kid.” There’s a nice little period from kindergarten (since everyone is new) to about third grade where assimilating to a new school is fairly easy. Then from about 4th to 8th grade there is a period of, essentially, “good luck kid,” with the rest of high school being fairly easy once again.

I fell right on the edge of that “good luck” period, moving from Coralville Central (I like to call it Cougar Ville) to Lincoln in 4th grade. Adjusting actually wasn’t too hard for me, I befriended my new neighbors and joined their little group and enjoyed pretending to be a Pokenom* However, somewhere from the end of 4th grade and beginning of 5th, I came to the realization that this group wasn’t a part of the “cool” group. At first I didn’t mind, but slowly it started to consume me with worry and fear. What if they’ll be my only friends in junior high? What if kids bully me? WHAT IF THEY STUFF ME IN LOCKERS? These scenarios were too scary for me to continue with this group, so I “ditched” my friends (I still hung out with them on the weekends) and set off to become a cool kid.

Now, I saw it as a kid trying to make new friends. However, everyone else saw it as, “This creepy kid is following us around everywhere we go with no social skills whatsoever, please send help.” As you can probably assume, that led to some “bullying.”

I say “bullying” because, looking back on it, I really don’t think it was bullying.

But as a self absorbed, socially awkward fifth grader, any kind of criticism was something that I considered bullying. Which is a shame, because I really didn’t actually take anything they said to heart until around 7th grade, and realized that I wasn’t a hopelessly trapped victim, rather I’m someone who can take action to improve myself so people enjoy my company.

That’s not to say I changed the type of person I am. I just made changes.

I learned what defines creepiness and what I can do to avoid coming off as it. I started dressing better (=not pajama shirts). Shaved that pathetic, gross looking “beard,” if you can even remotely call it that. I didn’t try to become copies of who I was trying to hang out with anymore, instead I became my own person. Once I did, I was, to my surprise, accepted by them. More than just them, I was accepted by everyone.

I think that, sometimes, people are like fifth grade Avery. They still haven’t become comfortable enough with themselves yet to be able to handle criticism and begin to victimize yourself. But maybe if you slow down, take a deep breath, and really internalize what people are saying, you really can become a better person, both for your self and others. If I had never set out to improve myself to join the “cool kids,” I would’ve never realized that I really wasn’t that into who they were as people and move on to make the friends I have now.

One Day Project

By Zayetzy luna

lunazayetzy@gmail.com

DREAMS FROZEN IN TIME

PRINCESS MOVIES ARE TEACHING KIDS TO VALUE OLD RULES AND FALSE FANTASIES. OLD FASHIONED IDEALS NEED TO CHANGE IN THE MEDIA OR SOCIETY WILL NEVER CHANGE.

By Paige Brazina

brazina.paige@gmail.com

“A dream is a wish your heart makes…”

Cinderella sings. She is hopeful that someday her dream of finding true love will become a reality. This simple dream appears to be this one dimensional character’s sole purpose throughout the entire story, and she devoutly believes that it will happen. And with the help of her friends and her fairy godmother, Cinderella eventually does find her prince charming. Most people in the U.S. know this popular princess story, and many young girls who watch it end up dreaming to be like Cinderella. But is this really someone whom children should be idolizing?

While most people do wish to find true love, it’s simply not practical to expect something to come true just because you believe it. Dreams come from hard work and determination, not a magical fairygodmother, Cinderella.

These stories are mesmerizing to little kids.

Princesses get everything that anyone could ever dream of having. The way that Cinderella seems so happy in her palace and fancy carriage shows little viewers that these materialistic things are what make you successful. But if we as a society only remark on how kids look and what they have, how can they believe that they have anything better to offer than becoming society’s ideal princess?

There has to be a princess who has other values.

How about Mulan? She was strong-minded and independent, and she didn’t wear a sparkly dress or shiny heels to make her dream come true.

But there is something wrong here too. During Mulan’s fierce training, a song was played, titled: “I’ll make a man out of you.” Very catchy, but the entire song suggests that you need to be a man to be a strong-minded and independent like Mulan. The song dares to go even further by comparing the two genders in some of the opening lyrics: “Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?

You’re the saddest bunch I ever met, But you can bet before we’re through, Mister, I’ll make a man out of you.”

Perhaps this wasn’t the greatest example after all. Mulan may have showed the world that a girl has the physical ability become a warrior, but it also showed that she had to think and act like a man to bring that warrior out. And not only was she portrayed as the weakest in the beginning, she had her friends to help her throughout the

entire movie. It turns out that Mulan really isn’t so different from Cinderella in that they both promote this way of looking at princesses.

Well, maybe these are just the wrong movies to look at. Cinderella was made in 1950 and Mulan was made in 1998, so by now we should have learned to let it(gender roles) go. The most recent princess movie Frozen actually features two princesses. People praise the fact that it allowed Elsa to have magical powers and rule a kingdom of her own. However, as a powerful princess, all of the soldiers that went up against her were male, and she was almost defeated by Prince Hans in the end without even putting up a good fight. Meanwhile, Anna needed Kristoff to help her up the mountain to find her sister (and back down again when the snow monster came after them). Furthermore, the ending was all about Kristoff charming on his noble reindeer coming to save her from becoming frozen.

This plot may be a little different than previous princess movies, but it still sends the same message to those who watch it. It shows that girls in pretty dresses rule the kingdom, and that they can’t do anything of importance without the strength of some male character. This message needs to change immediately, or society will not change. We need to look at princesses in a way that really is strong-minded and independent.

We need princesses who take their dreams into their own hands and don’t just wear charming dresses, but have charming intellect as well. We can’t be frozen in this mindset any longer.