Speech and debate qualify for nationals leknudson18@gmail.com
Speech and debate qualified seven people to the national tournament at the Eastern Iowa District tournament on Feb. 15. Partners Layla Siddig ’15 and Kai Trepka ’16 and Amelia Moser ’14 and Kai Yan ’14 qualified for the National Speech and Debate Association’s national policy debate tournament. Qualifying for nationals as a junior and sophomore, such as Siddig and Trepka have done, is an unusual occurrence. “I feel incredibly lucky to have qualified to nationals as a sophomore, and I am glad that all my hard work finally paid off,” Trepka said. Speech and Debate Director Megan Johnson is very proud. “Layla and Kai have excelled beyond where most juniorsophomore teams do. In addition to qualifying to the national
tournament, they have earned a bid to the Tournament of Champions (TOC), another national championship tournament held in April,” said Johnson. They are currently working hard on preparing for nationals. “I plan to work on judge adaptation since there are a lot of lay (inexperienced) judges [at] nationals. I want to be able to effectively persuade anyone who judges me,” Siddig said. The two have high hopes for next year’s season. “[I]want to be able to qualify for the TOC and NFL nationals again. But also, I want to be able to leave an impact on the debate community and influence people,” Siddig said. Amelia Moser ’14 and Kai Yan ’14 have had a very successful year, qualifying to the Tournament of
PHOTO by//Sophi Brenneman
Champions and getting far in the national tournaments they have attended such as the University of Michigan tournament. Yan has high hopes for the rest of the year. “[I hope] to close out finals of state, win the top 2 speakers at state, break at the TOC and be in late elimination rounds at NFLs,” Yan said. Paul Curry ’14, Daniel Syed ’14 and Yannik Encarnação ’14 qualified for nationals in speech events. Encarnação qualified in dramatic interpretation for speech. “I plan on working with my fellow speech members … and others, and to work with coaches that we have to come in to help us with our pieces,” he said.
ICCSD postpones EATS composting plans By rebecca wen
wen.y.rebecca@gmail.com
West High previously planned to implement post-consumer composting in mid-February. However, post-consumer composting was postponed to March 10 due to intervention by the school board. Pre-consumer compost is still in action, with 1320 pounds of food waste diverted in just ten days. Assistant Principal Colby Miller said the school board “wanted to make sure what we were doing was meeting district guidelines.” The composting at West is not funded by the school board, but it cannot run until approved by the school board. “This is completely funded through our environmental club (EATS), grants and efforts being made by the student body, Miller said. “My main role is to communicate with the district office with updates.” DESIGN BY//LAUREN KNUDSON
During the first two for several years.” weeks of composting, She and other club Steve Merkle, special members are now programs teacher, will working on ways to get be hauling all of the all students educated compost to the landfill. about compost. This costs between $2-4 “I helped design the each day. kiosk and make signs After that, EATS will that explain what can Olivia Sheff ’15 hire a company to haul be composted. I’ve been the compost. The club to meetings where we plans to pay for the composting discuss composting and recycling,” with grants and fundraisers, but the Sheff said. costs for composting at West each Scott Koepke, the New Pioneer year will be about $3000. Co-op Outreach and Education “Funding will always be a barrier,” coordinator is part of the Miller said. “But I hope it will be a sustainability committee linked to permanent thing.” the school district. He informed Despite concerns for the future, the school board of composting EATS Club member Olivia Sheff ’15 plans. is glad to hear that the composting “Scott plays a big role. He’s very plan is good to go. active in schools and very good “I’m really excited to be able to at educating the public about have West do composting because the importance of gardens and it’s just a big step to make West more composting,” Sheff said. environmentally friendly,” Sheff said. “We’ve tried implementing it
current EVENTS
Quiz march
1
The U of I President Sally Mason made a controversial speech over which topic? A) Iowa football B) Sexual assaults C) Underage drinking D) Admissions
The boys swim team won state for the _____ time. A) Second B) Third C) First D) Fourth
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2
Which country has been in the news for recent riots? A) France B) Ukraine C) Cuba D) Mexico
What caused part of Iowa City to be unable to drink their water for several days? A) Main water break B) Acid rain C) Construction problems D) Pollution in the Iowa River
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COMPilED by//LAUREN KNUDSON
Answers: 1. B 2. C 3. B 4. A
By LAUREN KNUDSON
MARCH 2014 NEWS 5