2014-04-18

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[04] NEWS

LOSING A WINNER

Volleyball Coach Kathy Bresnahan is stepping down after 22 years of leading the West girls team to eight state tournaments and multiple championships.

[16-17] FEATURE

the sun will come out

Meet students involved in Theatre West’s production of “Annie,” including leads and people working on tech. The musical opens April 24.

[22-25] IN-DEPTH

an army of one

Students share their stories of struggles with depression and their paths to recovery as the West group Behind the Mask works to raise awareness of mental illness.

04.18.14

Lushia Anson Fiona Armstrong-Pavlik Stephon Berry Lucy Blair Abby Burgess Aaron Carter Meredith Cullen Paul Curry Schyler Davis Nick Deerberg Anna Furlong Lydia Hinman Kelsey Keranen Megumi Kitamoto

which teacher are you?

Answer the questions and see whether you’re most like Karen Meyer, Jenifer Secrist, Tom Lindsey or Wayne Thelander.

WSS staff

Madie Miller Anna Mondanaro Katie Mons Amelia Moser Matthew Murry Blake Oetting

Katie Peplow Anthony Pizzimenti Lizzie Pruneau Apoorva Raikwar Velarchana Santhana Leela Sathyaputri Daniel Syed Julia Truszkowski Gage Van Dyke Tyler Voss Shirley Wang Jaycie Weathers Rebecca Wen Sara Whittaker Grace Young

Photo editor, Sports Co-editor Designer Managing Editor Editor-in-Chief Copy Co-editor Assistant Editor, Arts and Entertainment Co-editor Designer Writer, Co-Web Master Photographer Video Editor, Designer, Videographer Profiles Editor Artist Writer Web Copy Editor Photographer Design Co-editor, Feature Co-editor, Backpage Editor Design Co-editor Feature Co-editor Writer Adviser Business Editor, Designer Cover ART by//JAEHO LEE

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ycle this

agazine

Copy Co-editor Opinion Editor Writer Archivist Photographer Sports Co-editor News Co-editor Videographer Co-Web Master Photographer Artist Web Sports Editor, Designer Writer, Artist Social Media Editor, Arts and Entertainment Co-editor Writer News Co-editor Sports Co-editor Artist, Designer Photographer Feature Co-editor Writer News Co-editor

M

Hilah Kohen Lauren Knudson Brittani Langland Jaeho Lee Brooke Lofgren Kaitlyn McCurdy Consuelo Mendoza Hannah Merrill

[48] BACK PAGE

Please R

Preparing for “Annie,” which opens April 24, Nidhi Patel ’15 and Annika Kopf ’17 paint sets in the auditorium.

photo by//madie miller

Science olympians

@wsspaper asked West High students

What cancelled TV show do you wish would come back?

West’s first Science Olympiad team competed with 14 other Iowa schools at the state tournament on March 29.

“Science Olympiad is a team science test, but it’s different [from other academic competitions] in that it has Kai Gui ’15 a bunch of individual events inside of it,” said team member Kai Gui ’15.

The team won first place in the chemistry and water quality divisions, second in experimental design and designer genes and third in elastic launched glider.

Members of West’s team hadn’t prepared for the experimental design category, but decided to participate because of free time during the competition.

“I thought it would be easy because ... all of our teachers are really good about being harsh on [lab reports],” Gui said.

@NightHawkHatzky:

Zoboomafoo because it taught me Richmond that with enough persisZach ’14 tence, you can tame wild lemurs. It was also kid friendly.

Cole Hatzky ’14

@AJmcfiiiine:

Courage the Cowardly Dog.

side stories

WEST SIDE WORD

bougie (boo-zhee) Describes someone or something that

characterizes the upper middle class or bourgeoisie, like velvet bath robes and quinoa.

Adam: “Ugh, I just can’t get used to this generic brand olive oil. It doesn’t give the same zing to my pizza crust.”

Tom: “You are so bougie, it’s disgusting.”

COMPilED by//blake oetting

West High grad top 16 in policy debate

COMPilED by//amelia moser

That’s So Raven do I even need to give a reason.

Sometimes I think silence can speak louder than words.”

- Aileen Norris ’15, participant in the Day of Silence on April 11 to raise awareness for the LGBTQ community.

COMPilED by//lauren knudson

Hannah Abram ’14 COMPilED by//brittani langland

9000 25 0 NEWS BY THE NUMBERS:

Approximate number of dollars the MOST Benefit Concert raised for the Iowa Miles of Smiles Team to help people with cleft palates in Guatemala.

Units of blood were collected during the blood drive held at West in conjunction with the DeGowin Blood Center. 19 of the 25 units were from first-time donors.

Dollars for seventh grade football, seventh grade language programs and junior high general music as part of the recently proposed budget cuts.

COMPilED by//AMELIA MOSER

Downtown to host Eat Drink Local week The Iowa City Downtown District will be hosting its first Eat Drink Local Week from April 21 to April 27. Thirty local restaurants and bars will be participating by offering food and drink choices highlighting local ingredients from area farmers. A full list of the participating locations can be found at www.downtowniowacity.com.

The restaurants will be offering a special Eat Drink Local Week menu which features a threecourse menu for under $25 per person for dinner and two-course lunch options at less than $12 per person.

Additionally, kids can spend time at the Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center on April 25 with a fee of $7 for preregistering and $10 for

drop-offs.

Prizes will be offered at various restaurant locations. To share pictures and experiences from Eat Drink Local Week, use the hashtag #EDLWeek. photo by//nick deerberg

West High graduate Liam Hancock ’12 and his partner Sharon Kann made it to the top 16 policy debate teams at the National Debate Tournament (NDT).

The tournament was held at Indiana University the weekend of March 2731. Hancock, a two-time high school national champion policy debater and current University of Iowa sophomore, lost to a team from the University of Houston in the octofinal round.

“I was kind of hoping our basketball team would do it for us, but I guess we had to be the ones to take Iowa to the Sweet Sixteen,” Hancock said.

Georgetown University eventually won the tournament, defeating a team from the University of Michigan. The University of Iowa is set to host the 2015 NDT.

@HYA_bram:

“

COMPilED by//fiona armstrong-pavlik

Aliyah Lukes ’15

COMPilED by//katie peplow DESIGN BY//SHIRLEY WANG

APRIL 2014 NEWS 3

PHOTO by//MADIE MILLER Kathy Bresnahan stands with her volleyball memorabilia at West High. Bresnahan will retire from coaching volleyball after 22 years at West High.

Twenty-two years of coaching come to an end

By MADIE MILLER & REBECCA WEN

madiemllr@gmail.com wen.y.rebecca@gmail.com

After leading the Women of Troy to eight state tournaments and back-to-back championships in 2010 and 2011, Kathy Bresnahan will end her 22 years of coaching volleyball at West.

“I left when I did because we’re going to be so strong. We are really going to be a super team the next few years,” Bresnahan said. “So someone’s going to come in, and they’re not going to fail. They’re going to have immediate success and be accepted.”

Another key component in Bresnahan’s decision to retire was the passing of her father in January.

“That was the final thing that made me say, ‘I’m going to spend time with my mom,’” she said.

It will be difficult for Bresnahan to adjust after having a career that 4 NEWS APRIL 2014

spent in the gym as a head coach.

“I’m not going to miss competitions, I’m not going to miss bus rides, I’m not going to miss stadium cleanup,” she said, defined her for 30 years. “but I am going to miss that close “In two years, I’m not going to interaction you can only experience have a student know I used to be a with a team.” coach,” she said. “That’s fine, but it The relationships forged during will just be different.” a total of 30 years of coaching is Bresnahan will something that she take advantage will carry with her of her schedule through the rest of opening up in the her life. fall to visit her “You look at the former players who people you’ve met, are competing at and other coaches the college level. and parents, and “If I was coaching most importantly I would never my players, and get to see them there’s just nothing compete,” she said. like spending two “I hope to go watch hours every day some of the former -Kathy Bresnahan and more after players who play in school, just getting college do their thing.” to know people,” she said.

Hoping to continue her Being able to watch bonds form in involvement with volleyball, front of her, Bresnahan appreciates Bresnahan plans on officiating at the value of relationships formed the junior high level. However, she within groups. She believes it is wants to avoid those long nights difficult for someone who isn’t

“

I am going to miss that close interaction you can only

experience

with a team.”

involved in team activities to understand the intensity of the relationships.

“I don’t care if it’s forensics or band, [if you’re not in a group] you don’t understand what those bonds are like,” she said.

One of the most memorable moments of Bresnahan’s career was watching the community come together during the 2011 season after the death of Caroline Found.

“My hope for those players is that that experience shapes who they become, but [does] not define who they become,” she said. “What I’m hoping is that those bonds are strong enough to get them through the tough times they are still going through.”

In the meantime, Bresnahan will continue to sport green and gold at West as a health and gym teacher.

With a laugh, Bresnahan explains her overall reason to retire in three simple words, “’Cause I’m old.”

DESIGN BY//MEREDITH CULLEN

COLORS spreads the word by being silent fiona.armstrongpavlik@gmail.com

If typically talkative students were quiet in class last Friday, they were probably participating in the Day of Silence, which COLORS, West’s gay-straight alliance, organized.

On the Day of Silence, students can choose not to speak for the entire day to raise awareness for their LGBT peers.

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, is a national organization which has been setting the date for the National Day of Silence each year since the first one in 1996.

“It’s pretty hard, but it’s eye-opening, for sure,” said Kate Thorne ’14, one of COLORS’s co-presidents. “[The purpose is] to raise aware-

ness for LGBT kids who feel like they can’t express who they really are or are forced to remain silent through harassment or violence,” Thorne said.

“It’s a respect thing,” said Jacob Kinlein ’14, another of COLORS’s co-presidents. He noted that the day is important for suicide prevention and awareness as well.

This year, approximately 171 West students chose to participate.

Students wore asterisk stickers or duct tape to note that they were participating in or supporting the event.

“Everyone knew what was going on that day. Sometimes people aren’t aware, but everyone seemed to know what was going on,” Thorne said, citing the group’s improved publicity for the day this

Election Season

As the school year nears its close, preparation for another year of Student Senate is just beginning.

Several students have already chosen to seek special positions in next year’s school legislature.*

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES CANDIDATES

COMPILED by//hilah kohen

Akash Borde ’15 Molly Lipman ’15

PUBLICITY CHAIR CANDIDATE

DESIGN BY//MEREDITH CULLEN

april

1

A flight to Beijing departed on March 8, disappeared and has not yet been located. Which airline controlled the flight?

A) Korean Air B) Malaysia Airlines C) Singapore Airlines D) Cathay Pacific Airways

Whom did Rep. Bruce Braley call “a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school”?

2

A) Gov. Terry Branstad B) Rep. Steve King C) Sen. Chuck Grassley D) Rep. Tom Latham

3

Which of the following universities’ men’s basketball team was not in the Final Four?

A) University of Florida B) University of Wisconsin C) Michigan State University D) University of Kentucky

An Iowa Supreme Court case decided five years ago this month had which of the following effects?

Alex Gudenkauf ’16

*This is not necessarily a comprehensive list, as people can still join the race later and WSS was unable to contact some participants.

Quiz

Ceci White-Baer ’15

Sam Fleagle ’15

Layla Siddig ’15

current EVENTS

VOTE

A) It upheld a law requiring voters to show a photo ID. B) It prohibited affirmative action in Iowa’s public schools.

C) It outlawed wage discrimination based on gender.

D) It struck down a ban on samesex marriage.

4

COMPilED by//HILAH KOHEN Answers: 1. B 2. C 3.C 4. D

By FIONA ARMSTRONGPAVLIK

year, which included a Facebook page.

“Usually, teachers are really accommodating … I’ve even had, in past years, teachers plan specific lessons for the day so that the kids don’t have to talk if they don’t want to,” Thorne said.

“Lots of teachers are very supportive of it. Some teachers wear the COLORS t-shirts in support,” Kinlein said.

However, students’ free speech rights don’t necessarily apply to remaining silent in public school classrooms.

“Legally, kids have to participate in class if the teacher makes them, so it’s nice to have teachers that are willing to make accommodations,” Thorne said.

After years of success with the event, COLORS plans to continue it in the future to spread awareness of community LGBT issues.

APRIL 2014 NEWS 5

WhaTin the World?

Norway

United States

NYT colmnist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz cited Johnson County as having the 3rd highest rate of producing “notable” people, based on the number with Wikipedia pages per capita.

United States

Sprinkles, a popular bakery chain in New York City, opened the first-ever cupcake ATM attached to their store. Consumers can easily swipe their card and have a cupcake delivered without having to go into the store.

COMPILED by//meredith cullen

Stian Ytterdahl, a teenager from Lorenskog, Norway, was convinced by a friend to get a tattoo of a receipt from his recent McDonald’s purchase on his arm.

China

A man’s Samsung Galaxy S4 cell phone caught fire while he was playing the game “Love Machine,” and ended up burning his house down in Hong Kong.

Future changes to the football field and track By hannah merrill

hannah.merrillwss@gmail.com

When asked about the changes being made to the football field and track, Athletic Director Scott Kibby said, “Everything.”

And he was right. Before the upcoming football season, the fields will have had a makeover.

Why now? The dated fields have not been renovated in years. The track is ready to be refinished, while the crown of the football field, or the field’s “hump” as Kibby put it, is not what it should be.

“It needs some tender love and care,” Kibby said, pointing out that due to the grass field, the crown can become heavy with the water that the field absorbs.

The grass field will be replaced with a turf field. The turf will be helpful for playing in the vagaries of Iowa weather; in the past, rain created such a muddy field that the football team would avoid the field before the game, so as not to tear up the grass. Now, that will less of a concern. Not only is the grass field less reliable, but it is not as 6 NEWS APRIL 2014

safe. Turf fields have been tested for the amount of impact that they will take to protect players from concussions and other serious injuries.

Besides the upgrades, the football field will have a bit of redesigning. There will be gold lettering at the ends and a large “W” in the middle. The school has been working with an architectural firm called Shive-Hattery. Depending on the cost of the already planned changes, the school might also add a fence and a road. Field turfs typically cost around $750,000, while tracks cost $100,000. Kibby was not yet aware of the actual ABOVE: The football field will become a total cost; however the turf field for the 2014 season.

ICCSD will pay for it with their one-cent local option money. of football practice, which begins Renovations will begin on May Aug. 11. During this time, the 5 and should finish by Aug. 15, team will most likely practice on depending on the summer weather. the lower fields.

Because of this, the construction should only affect the first week

RUmor BUster Hours not days?

The Iowa City Community School District will not be changing the calendar from requiring 180 days to hours next school year, Principal Jerry Arganbright confirmed. “[In the] future, more conversation [may occur], but when the school administration talked it was too complicated for next year,” he said.

busted Could AP test dates moved?

Advanced Placement classes across the country will have the choice of moving their national test dates back due to loss the large amount of snow days, Dr. Arganbright confirmed. The decision to move the dates is left up to the teachers of the AP classes.

CONFIRMED

COMPILED by Lauren Knudson DESIGN BY//HANNAH MERRILL

www.birthright.org/iowacity

APRIL 2014 ADS 07

On the road to excellence

West is known for its diverse staff and student body, and the student teachers are no exception. West Side Story investigates their backgrounds.

COMPilED by/KELSEY KERANEN, mEGUMI KITAMOTO AND GAGE VAN DYKE

Bradley Beale

Student teacher for Ryan Person

Bradley Beale attends Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and partook in the Nordic Choir there. After his last official concert, Beale was already on his way to Iowa City.

“I had my last Nordic concert where I had to leave my friends and move,” Beale said. “The next day I was teaching.”

Beale didn’t know what to expect coming into student teaching, but from the first day choir teacher Ryan Person was giving Beale opportunities to interact musically with West Singers, one of West High’s premiere choirs.

“Mr. Person has made my life 8,000 times better,” Beale said. “On the first day I was doing warm-ups. They gave me a lot of opportunities.

They, and the students, acknowledge what I am doing. Reassurance helps a lot.”

PHOTO by//GAGE VAN DYKE

Joe Sloma

Student teacher for Kerri Barnhouse

For Joe Sloma, pursuing a degree in English wasn’t the first option. After trying out a business major, Sloma quickly realized that path was not something he was necessarily passionate for.

“I was a business major for two weeks,” Sloma said. “It was the easiest decision to quit that, ever.

After that I was undecided for awhile. I actually worked at ACT in Iowa City, grading student essays. That was the teaching spark.”

Sloma was a kid when he realized he liked to write; an attempt that was successful not in its completion, but in its beginning of Sloma’s love for writing.

“I read ‘Harry Potter’ and the ‘Lord of the Rings’ as I was growing up,” Sloma said. “I tried to write a novel when I was in middle school ... I didn’t make it that far, but I had a few dozen pages of chicken scratch involving time travel in the Medieval era and war and monsters and elves. I’m not into that stuff anymore, but I guess you could say that was the germination period of my writing.”

Photo by//Nick Deerberg

Kendra Wisely

Student teacher for Dave McNair

8 PROFILES APRIL 2014

PHOTO by//GAGE VAN DYKE

Current Cornell College student Kendra Wisely, although clearly passionate about teaching the Spanish language, is ready to try anything.

Wisely, with one more class to take before her schooling and time as a student teacher is complete, says that currently the future seems a little intimidating.

“Right now is the scariest time of my life,” she said. “I’m almost done with school, I graduate in May, and it’s about time for me to step out into the real world – I need to get a job, I need to support myself.

I have no idea where I’m going to be in a few months.”

Wisely’s own life has proven to be a series of unexpected events, which she says has given her the ability to take life as it comes.

“Over winter break this year I got the opportunity to travel to the Virgin Islands to go try out for their national soccer team. That’s something unexpected that just popped up in my life that’s pretty exciting,” Wisely said. “The experiences, like randomly getting invited to try out for the national team and accepting it without hesitation, have shown me that life can throw you curveballs, and that’s not a bad thing. Sometimes it’s okay to say yes to things even if you don’t know what’s going to come out of it.”

Despite the inevitable fear that comes with the encroaching and unpredictable future, Wisely feels she is prepared for whatever cards she’s dealt.

“Whatever choice I make, I’m not scared it’s going to be the wrong one, because even if it’s hard I will learn something from it,” she said.

DESIGN BY//KATIE MONS

Amelia Stuhr

Student teacher for Ann Rocarek

PHOTO by//GAGE VAN DYKE

Born in Waterloo, Iowa and an alumnus of Ankeny High School, Amelia Stuhr’s passion for teaching was visible at a young age.

“I used to watch “Big Comfy Couch.” It was this really creepy girl with big curly hair who sat on this couch, and underneath the cushions, she’d pull something out,” Stuhr said. “She had reading time, so she’d pull out her books and read to the audience. I used to pretend to be that girl and hide books under my couch cushions and then I’d read to my imaginary classroom. I think that was my defining teaching moment.”

In high school, Stuhr applied her leadership qualities to a program which focused on working with students who needed more attention and company along with their school work.

“I did Big Brothers Big Sisters in high school,” Stuhr said. “It’s a mentoring program where you’re set up with a buddy. Mine was in first grade. You spend one day a week with them at an after-school program, and so I did homework with them. I loved that and I came to Iowa City and did it too.”

PHOTO by//GAGE VAN DYKE

HEIDI HEATON

Student teacher for Theresa Juhl

Heidi Heaton, a current student at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is gracing the French program with her upbeat attitude and love for the French language.

While the foreign language students at West were gallivanting across Europe, Heaton took on the full-time position as French teacher for Madame Juhl’s French classes.

Although taking on student teaching for four different language levels may seem a daunting task, Heaton isn’t easily rattled by the wide variation of French-speaking students.

“I think they all have different challenges - French II definitely because they’re younger students who are starting with the language, and they have a different kind of energy AP poses other challenges, but speaking in French all the time is fun for conversation,” Heaton said.

Heaton’s past experiences in France have given her insight as to how to adjust to and handle the classroom environment.

“I was able to teach students 10 and 11 years old English at a French school, and I still keep all of those contacts with these students and teachers, and we email back and forth in French,” she said.

The experience at West, Heaton says, has ultimately made her look forward to a future teaching position.

PHOTO by//NICK DEERBERG

Travis Henderson

Student teacher for Brady Shutt

It can be difficult to be in a completely new environment and adjust. For Travis Henderson, having coached debate at West for seven years prior to his role as a student teacher made the process flow much more smoothly.

“I had friends in the [social studies] department, and my good friend Megan [Johnson, social studies teacher and West Director of Speech and Debate] asked Mr. [Brady] Shutt if I could student teach,” Henderson said.

Henderson balances his student teaching position with classes for getting his master’s degree in education, along with debate, which has been a very significant aspect of his life.

“When I started at Valley [High School in West Des Moines], I was looking for something challenging, so I joined the team through the recommendation of a friend,” he said. “After debating through high school, I knew that I want to keep on doing [debate] because it is so intellectually competitive.”

Participating in debate has helped him as a teacher as well.

“Debate has made me a more intelligent and articulate speaker, but it is centered on complicated arguments, which makes it pretty difficult to know where students are at,” Henderson said. “Because of debate, I also used to believe that a more competitive environment was more beneficial for learning, but that was quickly for in-depth articles changed after a while.” and more Profiles go to wsspaper.com

APRIL 2014 PROFILES 9

PHOTO BY//NICK DEERBERG

CHASE DUERLINGER ’16:

SKATEBOARD AFICIONADO Chase Duerlinger ’16 lands a hardflip after twenty minutes of tries.

BY NICK DEERBERG

nick.deerberg@gmail.com

What would drive a person to launch themselves over five concrete stairs over and over, hoping to land flawlessly on a plank of wood and four wheels?

For most people, nothing about this is appealing, but for Chase Duerlinger ’16, it brings a sense of accomplishment that nothing can match.

Duerlinger started skateboarding when he was 10 years old. He had seen his older brother skateboarding often and was curious. He picked up a board and tried it out.

“I was just looking for something really fun and creative; something that would push me,” he said.

Duerlinger, like most kids, was exposed to the lifestyle and culture of many sports while growing up, including participating in an elementary hockey league. He eventually decided on skateboarding because of the individuality it allows for the athlete.

“I was just tired of people telling me what to do. I want to be able to 10 PROFILES APRIL 2014

do something my own way; I don’t want anyone coaching me or telling me what they want me to do right,” Duerlinger said.

Despite not being a fan of team sports, Duerlinger has been on a local skate team by the name of Foliage since 2009. The team itself was started in 2008 and recruited Duerlinger after he met the team’s creator, Eli Shepherd, at the Iowa City Skatepark.

“We became good friends and he asked me to join the team. I didn’t really see myself being on a team, but I did think about it. It looked really fun,” he said.

Now, Duerlinger tries to find time every day to get out and skate. Although he finds the sport enjoyable alone, he prefers to skateboard with other people in a variety of places.

“I don’t get as much motivation by myself; it’s just a good feeling when you’re with friends,” he said.

Duerlinger explains that when you’re skateboarding with your friends, it is a better feeling when you land things because “someone sees you land it and that just gets you hyped.”

Despite the joy and freedom

skateboarding gives Duerlinger, he still feels restricted by rules that govern skateboard use around town.

Duerlinger has had to face the

“

I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING MY OWN WAY; I DON’T WANT ANYONE COACHING ME OR TELLING ME WHAT THEY WANT ME TO DO RIGHT.”

-Chase Duerlinger ’16

fact that there are laws that try to prevent him from doing his passion. These laws ban the riding

of skateboards in certain areas and if broken, the punishment is a hefty fine.

“I think [the laws are] a waste of time. I know they don’t want us to hurt ourselves, but we should be in charge of that,” he said.

Duerlinger has first hand experience with these laws and their punishments. In his words, Duerlinger received a ticket for “something I didn’t do.” Duerlinger got the ticket because he was downtown with some friends who were skateboarding at the Old Capitol. Duerlinger himself was not participating in the skateboarding.

Although he didn’t receive a ticket that day, Duerlinger was surprised the next day at the skatepark when an officer ticketed him after explaining that he had seen him the day before at the Old Capitol.

For the future, Duerlinger hopes to continue skating and eventually get recognized by some bigger names in the sport. But even if that doesn’t work out, he would be fine with just skating.

“I hope I’ll be able to [skateboard] for the rest of my life,” he said.

DESIGN BY//VELARCHANA SANTHANA

westsidestory APRIL 2014 ADS 11

1

2000

in

You know that girl in your English class? The one who wears the same pair of sneakers every day? Or that boy in your physics class who shows up five minutes late on a daily basis? Sure, they could be defined by these appearances. That is, after all, what we notice without any effort. However, if we dig a little deeper, strike up a conversation or ask a question, maybe we can find a reason why. Based on the idea that everyone has a story to tell, West Side Story randomly chose five students to find the source behind the things that define them.

Compiled by//velarchana santhana photos by//abby burgess, brooke lofgren and nick deerberg

ASHLYNN DALE ’16

By JULIA TRUSZKOWSKI

juliatruszkowski@gmail.com

“Sophomore slump” is certainly not the phrase that comes to mind as Ashlynn Dale ’16 makes her mark in Theatre West, from being cast in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” to working behind the scenes for hair and makeup in the spring production of “Annie.”

Dale’s acting debut was “behind real cameras” in a local film that she starred in during fifth grade, she said.

“It was definitely what got me started in theater,” she said of the thriller, in which she played a police officer’s daughter who is held hostage by a serial killer.

Being cast in the movie was unexpected for Dale, who had “told [her] mom, ‘Hey, I wanna be an actress when I grow up,’” just a week prior to auditions. “[My mom] heard about auditions on the radio,” Dale said.

And, to Dale’s surprise, she was thrust into the acting world.

“I was really scared during my audition because there was a huge camera, and they asked questions on the spot that I had no idea how to answer. I thought I did horribly,” she said. “But then I got a callback.”

Dale landed the role, and the experience left an impact on her.

“I was a lot more shy than I am now,” Dale says of her fifth-grade self. “Getting the part helped me with social skills. I learned from it. I’ve gotten a lot better [at acting]. It made me want to take acting and theater classes at school.”

This year, Dale played the role of an Oompa Loompa in West High’s production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

“My face was painted orange, and I got to be goofy,” she said. “My personality’s just goofy, so it was a good part for me.”

As Dale thrived in the fun environment, she strengthened relationships as well.

“It’s a bonding experience,” she said. “That’s one thing I love about theater. People in theater stick together.”

JINGYAO LI ’15

By REBECCA WEN

wen.y.rebecca@gmail.com

12 FEATURE APRIL 2014

1

in

2000

When she was nine years old, Jingyao Li, ’15 moved to Iowa from Beijing.

“My mom had to come to Iowa City to work in a lab, so she just brought the whole family here because we wanted to be together,” she said.

After about seven years, Li is nearly fluent in English and now is considering graduating one year early.

“I haven’t figured that out yet. If I graduate early, I’m probably going to go the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. I think they’re awesome,” Li said. “I think there are so many possibilities with business. It’s high risk and high return, and I enjoy having risks.”

Li became interested in business last summer, when she attended a Harvard summer program.

“It was an eight-week program, and there are residential and commuting options, and I commuted.

My parents rented an apartment. They took a vacation while I was studying,” Li said.

Li took economics with juniors and a few sophomores. Many of the students were taking five or six classes.

“There were about 100 students. [Economics] was a popular choice,” Li said.

Her summer at Harvard gave her a taste of college life.

“I really look forward to college. There is so much diversity. I think I’ll just go step by step and see how I will end up,” Li said.

for more 1 IN 2000 profiles go to wsspaper.com

DARIAN SHOWALTER ’16

By ANNA MONDANARO

mondanaro.anna@gmail.com

GUSTAVE STEWART ’15

Standing at an average five feet five inches, with bright blue eyes and a constant one hundredwatt smile, Darian Showalter ’16 seems like a perfectly normal teenage girl to most people.

However, where “normal” teenage girls have locks of hair, Darian sports a beanie.

“Shaving my head at Dance Marathon was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision,” she said.

“One of the families that I’m really close to, their son has leukemia. He loves sports, but when he got sick he lost a lot of the muscles in his arm and so now that has impacted his life forever. I kind of sat back and thought, ‘hair is such a superficial thing. It grows back, and if a little girl wants hair to make her feel beautiful, I would be more than willing to give that to her.’ Honestly, the first day after I regretted it a little bit. I didn’t look like myself. But on the inside, I’ve realized a lot about inner beauty.

I’m very passionate about giving back. I feel like many of us are very fortunate and others are not so much and when we have an excess of things that we don’t even need, why not give to those people?”

By MATTHEW MURRY mattlm67@gmail.com

In the middle of sixth grade, Gustave Stewart nervously boarded a plane that would take him to a new country and a new life.

“I was with my family, because my parents had a sabbatical and I lived in apartment near downtown,” he explained.

Culture shock set in quickly, but Stewart acclimated.

“When I first arrived in Brazil, it was really confusing, because I didn’t know the language. I didn’t really know anyone either,” he said. “After a few months, I started making friends in Brazil and [could] actually understand and speak the language.”

The differences between American and Brazilian cultures was immediately apparent to Stewart. For example, Brazilian school ran from 7:00 a.m. to noon.

“Culture is really different there,” Stewart explained. “In my opinion, you definitely live a more relaxed lifestyle in Brazil.”

Stewart’s life in Brazil left a profound impact on him.

“When I was there, I didn’t value being in Brazil, but after I came back to the United States, I appreciate that experience a lot more,” he said. “I learned that cultures aren’t as different as they seem and no culture is better than the other.”

Stewart has taken his experience back to the United States. He now has a better grasp on different cultures, and how to understand ones that aren’t his own.

“It just depends on your willingness to adapt,” he said. “I will value diversity of knowledge while facing problems other people haven’t.”

SYDNEY BEAURIVAGE ’14

By REBECCA WEN

wen.y.rebecca@gmail.com

“He took his own life, and no one saw it coming.”

When senior Sydney Beaurivage was 15, her father committed suicide.

“It still feels really surreal. I thought I would actually be able to understand the concept that [he is] gone forever ... But I guess that just almost never really kicks in,” she said.

Beaurivage still does not fully understand why her father took his life.

“I just have so many questions that are unanswered,” she said. “He had a drinking problem, and he also had a lot of willpower. So he kept it under control for a long, long time.”

Her father had been to rehabilitation several times, urged by his family members to go.

“You get into the mindset that ‘if he loves you, he’ll stop, and it’ll be okay,’ but that’s not the way alcohol works,” Beaurivage said. “That’s just not how it is. The most important thing is to be sure not to blame yourself.”

Beaurivage tried various things in order to cope.

“This is weird, but I just remember after he died I always took a lot of showers, and I cut my hair,” she said.

She made sure to stay busy in order to try to move on.

“I remember that’s why I joined tennis, which ended up being a great decision, because I really love tennis now,” Beaurivage said.

Although Beaurivage wishes to move on, she does not want to forget her father.

“As time progresses, you kind of start to forget what they look like, and what they sound like and what they would say in that certain situation, and I think that’s the worst part about it,” Beaurivage said. “Sometimes I just try to think of him. Like when I’m doing things, how he will react to a situation or things he said to me. But it’s getting harder and harder to picture that.”

Before Beaurivage’s father died, he visited Italy with his siblings.

“It was sad because he was gone for two weeks, so I never got to say goodbye, but I’m glad that he got to finally visit Italy,” Beaurivage said.

DESIGN BY//KAITLYN MCCURDY

APRIL 2014 FEATURE 13

14 ADS APRIL 2014

By kelsey keranen

kelseyjanekeranen@gmail.com

The threat on campus

Created due to decades of societal pressures and the rise and fall of social stigmas, there’s an unspoken A recent increase in reported sexual assaults has brought up concern collection of topics that are too for public safety in the Iowa City community. often swept under the universal rug. Trivialized to the point of mockery and joked about until they loses any seriousness, sexual assault and harassment are some – I don’t feel comfortable walking never even thought about them if it’s consistent in that all things of the largest dust bunnies beneath around downtown at night alone, in most cases. A lot of times are actually carried through and the floor cover on which we so just because it’s been sort of taught they didn’t even remember the sustained,” she said. “A lot of times, delicately step. However, recent to me that I shouldn’t feel safe victim’s name – I don’t want them people do [make progress], but allegations at the University of there, that that’s not a safe space for remembering that information, with sexual abuse it can go right Iowa have brought to light the women.” but it angered me that the victim back to the way it was very quickly.”

However, Miller thinks that, so conclusion that, even in our own The seriousness of sexual assault probably thought of them every seemingly safe little corn town, is a concept often brought into day and it didn’t even register in far, the university has been making improvements in their policy. rape is a very real issue. question by the media and society. [the rapist.]”

“We haven’t gotten the total Kate Thorne ’14 recognizes that In past rape cases this year, more Thorne believes that part of this sexual assault is a reality in Iowa recently a few in Missoula County, lack of understanding is heavily compliance all the time, but there City, no matter how unfortunate.

Mont., the victims have been attributed to societal negligence to have been several people at the university who have “I think in any forced to keep quiet teach the seriousness of done an excellent job community sexual about their assault sexual assault. in making sure victims assault and harassment under the juridical “We should teach don’t fall through are problems,” she said. claim “boys will be people to take sexual the cracks, ... making “It’s a pervasive problem boys.” For Karla Miller, harassment and assault sure to work with throughout American executive director of seriously and not just administration to make society and Iowa City is the University’s Rape as something that’s sure cases are handled not immune.”

Victim Advocacy kind of a joke,” she said.

Kate Thorne ’14 well and according to In the past two months, Audrey Hopewell ’15 Program (RVAP), this “If someone’s doing protocol,” Miller said. protests have been presumption is no something you don’t Iowa City, as safe and sheltered as breaking out across the University excuse for criminal behavior. like, they need to be taught to stop.” of Iowa campus to combat the Miller, who has firsthand The university, amidst the it may seem at first glance, is not rising number of reported rape experience with sexual outbreak of protests throughout exempt from the rape culture that cases at the university, which perpetrators, finds their lack of Iowa City, has taken moves to is present in our nation. However, went from one to seven in the regret and effective punishment to recognize the severity of this issue for Hopewell, this reality can act as a basis for constructing a sound past August-February period. foundation for public safety.

Reports of sexual assault across “I think everyone has a right to the U.S. have gone up by 88% feel safe in their own community, since the US Dept. of Education A lot of times people do [make regardless of the time of day or released guidelines for a school’s progress], but with sexual abuse it whether they have someone with obligation to prevent and respond them,” she said. “We can’t forget to rape, according to the American can go right back to the way it was that this is a college campus Association of University Women. very quickly .” and that a huge amount of the These cases have made people -Karla Miller, executive director of the population in Iowa City is young question just exactly how safe they University’s Rape Victim Advocacy Program college-aged women who are are in the Iowa City area.

Audrey Hopewell ’15 considers be, at the very least, concerning. and put into place a six-point plan surrounded by young college-aged walking around downtown alone at “[Officials] treat a criminal by for action against sexual assault. men and often do not feel safe night to be a hazard. sending him to a class or looking Miller believes that although around those people, especially “I think that we have a culture at them as a bad boy, believing this plan was made with good when they’re alone at night, and I where women are told that it’s that they should be let off the hook intentions, it is dependent on total think one of our priorities should be making sure that everyone feels not safe to go out by themselves, because they’re sorry,” Miller said. compliance. particularly at night or when “When I dealt with perpetrators, “It depends on if there’s total safe.” they’re alone,” Hopewell said. “And the hardest part was they didn’t commitment to it and if there are I definitely feel the effects of that really care about the victim, they resources put towards it, and also PHOTO by//NICK DEERBERG

“

Sally Mason’s SIX-point plan to combat sexual assault and rape on campus: DESIGN by//SHIRLEY WANG

COMPILED by//Kelsey keranen

Cracking down on offenders

Increasing support for survivors

Improving prevention

Improving communications

Funding for increased resources

Implementing a student advisory board

APRIL 2014 FEATURE 15

TECH BRAD OCKENFELS: SET

“

Because of the family like bond ... in Theatre West, I know that if I experience any difficulties there will always be someone there to help. -Brad Ockenfels ’14

“

I ... have to get everybody in control and crack the whip, because my job is what keeps people going.”

-Jenna Choi ’15

JENNA CHOI:

HEAD STAGE MANAGER

16 FEATURE APRIL 2014

ALLISON CLEMENTS:

LIGHTS

“

Experiencing my first show was really rewarding because everyone worked hard to put it together and it showcased some amazing talent.”

CONNOR SCHUELER: SOUND

“

I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and being on Sound is the best way to be involved in West’s theatre program.”

-Connor Schueler ’14

-Allison Clements ’14

“

“

ART BY//SHIRLEY WANG COMPILED BY//BLAKE OETTING, MEGUMI KITAMOTO, CONSUELO MENDOZA, VELARCHANA SANTHANA & MATTHEW MURRY

The sun will come out tomorrow and the musical is coming out on April 24 and will go through April 26. Tickets will be sold in the commons and at the box office. The WSS asked students involved about what their role in Theatre West means to them.

FOR FULL Q&A COVERAGE GO TO WSSPAPER.COM

“

[Tech Week is] really chaotic but a lot of fun ... we fix and add things to people’s costumes.”

I’ve met such I really enjoy tech wonderful people because it’s where while doing [theater], all the magic which I probably happens.”

-Alexandra Eldridge ’14 wouldn’t have had the pleasure of meeting otherwise.”

OLIVIA SHEFF: COSTUMES

BARBARA BADOVINAC:

-Olivia Sheff ’15

-Barbara Badovinac ’16

RUN CREW

ALEXANDRA ELDRIDGE:

HAIR AND MAKEUP

DESIGN BY//VELARCHANA SANTHANA

and

leads

PHOTOS by//GAGE VAN DYKE, ABBY BURGESS & LIZZIE PRUNEAU

WSS: What part do you play in “Annie”?

Paul Curry ’14: Daddy Warbucks. He is the classic robber baron from the 1920s originally; but Annie softens him up and makes him see the human side of life.

WSS: What is your favorite part about theatre?

PC: Getting to go out on stage and make everything blown out of proportion and being able to have fun and letting the audience have fun vicariously; it’s a win win.

WSS: What previous theater experience do you have?

PC: My most recent experience

is “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” which was the fall show; I played Willy Wonka.

WSS: Describe a typical day of rehearsal.

PC: We show up and if it is a choir rehearsal we go to the choir room and go through the notes and lines of the songs. If not we go to the auditorium and run through scenes in chronological order.

WSS: Why did you choose to audition for the musical?

PC: The same reason a lot of people audition: to be a part of something really fun and ... I’ve never sung in front of people a lot so I decided it would be a fun challenge.

Paul curry: oliver warbucks WSS: Describe your character.

Piper Wenzel ’16: Annie is an

eleven-year-old orphan. Her one wish is to find her mother and father.

She is full of optimism and knows her parents are going to come get her soon.

WSS: What is your favorite part about theater?

PW: My favorite part of theater is watching everything come together on opening night. It is exciting to see that all of our hard work has paid off.

WSS: What previous theater experience do you have?

PW: I was most recently Alice in “Alice in Wonderland” at the Coralville Center for the Performing

MAYA bassuk: Grace Farrell WSS: What part do you play in “Annie”?

Maya Bassuk ’14: I play the role of Grace, the private secretary (and love interest) of Oliver Warbucks. She is smart, practical and loving, and becomes sort of a mother figure to Annie.

WSS: What is your favorite part about theater?

MB: My favorite part about theater is being able to become someone else for a moment in time. I love the fact that it can be a transporting experience for both the performers and the audience. This is my eighth show; I’ve been involved in most of the Theatre West plays and musicals over the last four years as well as a community theater production.

WSS: Describe a typical day of rehearsal.

MB: Rehearsal really varies day to day; some days we rehearse

Arts. Last summer I was Iago in “Aladdin.” As a freshman, I played the role of Serena, one of Elle’s best friends and sorority sisters, in Theatre West’s production of “Legally Blonde.”

WSS: Describe a typical day of rehearsal.

PW: We have rehearsal everyday from 3:30 to 6 in the Little Theatre or auditorium. We used to have specified days for learning choreography, learning songs and blocking scenes, but now as we move closer to opening night, we have learned most everything we need to and now it’s just about putting all the pieces together and changing specific details.

lines, scenes, blocking and characterization [and] other days we go through dances and music, and when we get closer to opening night we begin to put it all together and work on the technical aspects of the show like lights, set, sound and props.

WSS: Why did you choose to audition for the musical?

MB: I chose to audition because Theatre West has been a huge part of my life for the past four years.

It’s such a welcoming, inclusive, positive environment, and I have loved everything about being in West High shows - especially the wonderful directors and everyone who contributes to the show. I wouldn’t trade the friendships I’ve made and experiences I’ve had through Theatre West for anything.

PIPER WENZEL: Annie

APRIL 2014 FEATURE 17

Picking app(le)s

West High is a culture of phone users. Many students use their phones before, during, and after every single class. And with this heavy phone use comes a kind of app diversity; different people use different apps. These little programs are used for anything ranging from Twitter to workouts to pocket games - and everything else.

We found people that use some of the more overlooked and underappreciated apps on the market.

COMPilED by//abby burgess, anna mondanaro & anthony pizzimenti

photo by//gage van dyke

“

[In Puzzle and Dragons] you drag around gems in a Bejeweled-esque manner in order to match 3+ gems, and then there is a Pokemon aspect, where you collect monsters, and they do damage to enemies in the dungeons where you make combos.”

-Jacob Nishimura ’16

18 FEATURE APRIL 2014

“

My favorite app is Nike Training because it has tons of different workouts and it teaches you how to do them all. It also talks to you during the workout to give you encouraging words. It has yoga, cardio, abs, legs, everything. They have workouts you can do at home without equipment (running and abs) and some that you need gym equipment for.” -Ceci White-Baer ’15

“ “

I use SoundCloud ... you get to stream music on it. I use it to find new music ... artists put their music on SoundCloud first before anywhere else.”

-Sid Singh ’15

“ “

“My favorite app on my phone is the notes app. I like being able to quickly make note of something that I either see or hear, whether it be a quote or a song that I like. For instance, I have a whole page of quotes and this is one of my favorites.

It’s from the movie ‘Lone Survivor’ - after hearing it being said in the movie, I copied it down immediately. ‘When faced with pain and evil, we have to make a choice. We can choose to be taken by the evil. Or we can try to embrace the good.’” -Adrienne Jensen ’14

I enjoy the convenient nature of the Reddit is Fun app. If I were IGN I would rate it a 10/10 because it is innovative and fulfills the needs of the redditing community. It gives the ease of being on an app compared to being on a web browser.” -Colin Waldron ’16

I like to use an app called Dragon. It’s an app that helps me spell words that I can’t spell right away. You type in a word as best as you can, or you can talk into it and the app will help you find the word you are trying to spell. I use it because when I’m texting people and I don’t know how to spell a word it helps me.” -Julia Baker ’17

DESIGN BY//APOORVA RAIKWAR

APRIL 2014 FEATURE 19

ARt by//Kelsey Keranen

ticket counter

How do you drive in University Heights? For many West High students, the answer is automatic.

“Slower,” said Sam Fleagle ’15. “The cops there are stricter.”

The infamous speed traps of the 192-acre municipality play prominently in Iowa City area lore, but their effects are rarely investigated. The WSS set out to discover the truth about three common perceptions of driving in University Heights.

By HILAH KOHEN

hilah12@gmail.com

“Every time I go down there, I never go above 25 [miles per hour], never 26. I heard people get pulled over for going 26.”

Sophie Shoultz ’14

“We don’t stop people for a 26.”

Jeremy Stenda, a detective in the University Heights Police Department, is well aware of the UHPD’s reputation. He said the last time the city’s traffic enforcement was as strict as many suspect was at the turn of the century.

Sophie Shoultz ’14 “Stopping one or two over [the speed limit], that’s the persona of 15 years ago,” he said. “We don’t stop people unless they’re at least 10 over.”

Stenda attributed the shift in part to a change in command. The department’s current chief of police, Ron Fort, took his position about 11 years ago.

“I looked at tickets for as long as they have records, and the lowest speed I found was 30. They were actually going 36; the officer wrote it down to 30,” Fort said.

Fort is quite confident in the consistency of the department’s policy.

“I’ve even gone on TV saying if someone brings me [a ticket for slight speeding], I’ll pay for it,” he said.

“They’re bored. Any speed limit violation, they hop on you.”

C.J. Cunningham ’14

University Heights detective Jeremy Stenda said the small size of the University Heights Police Department does limit the activities it can undertake.

“I’m not going to cover a domestic [call for assistance] by myself,” he said. According to Stenda, the Iowa City or University of Iowa squads often take over in extreme situations because University Heights keeps only one officer on duty at a time. That leaves a few specialties to Stenda’s C.J. Cunningham ’14 department.

“Either we drive around and do nothing, or we do traffic enforcement,” he said.

Chief of police Ron Fort said that focus comes with a number of benefits.

“We don’t mind the reputation of being a speed trap ... the town has a lot of bicyclists, a lot of young children,” Fort said. “I really don’t want to see one of them killed.”

“I’ve been in a car that was pulled over there and received a ticket. The ticket was more expensive than it would be in Iowa City, I believe. I don’t know.”

Maggie Taylor ’15

Fort said one list of fees applies to every police department in Iowa, and many of them are surcharges and court costs that do not contribute to local budgets. According to Stenda, University Heights police officers occasionally decrease even those penalties.

“If someone’s going 40, we may write 35 to lower the fine. We cut people Maggie Taylor ’15 some slack,” Stenda said.

“We make an average of $20 on a ticket. That doesn’t even pay for the officer sitting out there,” said Fort. “Tickets are not a big revenue generator for any city.”

SOURCE: ICGOV.ORG ARt by//HILAH KOHEN

20 FEATURE APRIL 2014

SOURCE: RON FORT DESIGN BY//KATIE MONS

What’s in these __________?

Bosco Sticks

It’s a sad day when the pizza line runs out of Bosco Sticks. Although these cheesy, doughy tubes have been a lunchtime favorite for many West students since junior high, the lack of ingredients on the label makes choosing them as part of a Healthy by//FIONA ARMSTRONG-PAVLIK Kids Act-approved lunch a potentially risky venture. Compiled photo by//NICK DEERBERG

ABC News Bosco’s Pizza official website Columbia health Mrs. Clark’s official website Livestrong website

DOUGH CONDITIONER Along with flour, yeast, sugar, corn oil and salt, the Bosco Sticks’ bready outer layer also contains dough conditioner. Unlike the controversial ingredient Subway recently decided to stop putting in their bread products, this mixture consists of soybean oil, vegetable glycerides and soy flakes.

Dough conditioners help the yeast in the Bosco sticks’ bread layer grow and helps the sticks retain their texture.

l-cysteine Bosco Sticks have L-cysteine, which is a non-essential amino acid that makes bread products stay soft. Most commonly, it is sourced from either bird feathers or mammal hair.

POTASSIUM CHLORIDE Potassium chloride is often used in foods in place of table salt (sodium chloride) because it gives them a salty flavor without boosting the sodium content.

White aND whole WHEAT FLOUR SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURES AND SALT

comparisons

West Side Story compared Bosco’s products to ones from Pizza Hut. Compiled by// STEPHON BERRY Source//PIZZAHUT.COM AND BOSCOSPIZZA.COM DESIGN BY//KAITLYN MCCURDY

BOSCO’S

food

PIZZA HUT

The mozzarella cheese filling contains a surprisingly normal mixture of skim milk, cheese cultures and salt.

Bosco Sticks have both white and whole wheat flour, so they pack a nutritious eight grams of fiber (which is 40% of what everyone should have daily) per two-stick packet.

MALTODEXTRIN Maltodextrin is used as a filler and a thickener in the sauce. It is particularly useful because it helps foods have an appealing texture without adding fat.

CINNAMON STICKS

BREADSTICKS WITH CHEESE

Serving Size: two sticks Total Fat: four and a half grams Sugar: eight grams

Serving Size: 56 grams Total Fat: eight grams Sugar: two grams

7” WHOLE GRAIN APPLE BOSCO STICK

7” CHEESE BOSCO STICK

7” PIZZASTICK

Serving Size: one stick Total Fat: seven grams Sugar: two grams

Serving Size: one stick Total Fat: ten grams Sugar: three grams

Serving Size: one stick Total Fat: one and a half grams Sugar: eight grams

STUFFED PIZZA ROLLERS Serving Size: 78 grams Total Fat: ten grams Sugar: two grams

APRIL 2014 FEATURE 21

Army of

one

Stories of Depression

By Lauren Knudson and Danial SYED leknudson18@gmail.com danialsyed2007@gmail.com

DESIGN BY//TYLER VOSS

M

ental illness.

Often, these two words are easy to ignore. They, in the popular mind, belong to misfits and victims of tragedy-certainly not to “ordinary” people.

However mental illness is subtle and pervasive, capable of taking root in anyone.

Furthermore, mental illness is far more common than it might initially seem to be.

Perhaps the most well-known instance of mental illness is depression -- a mental health disorder that strains and withers countless lives. Aside from giving its victims the blues, depression can affect their eating and sleeping habits. Moreover, depression doesn’t necessarily arise from a surge of sorrowful emotions; frequently, it takes form as a persistent lack of happiness that can lead to self-hate, selfmutilation, and ultimately suicide, according to the website of Mental Health America, a communitybased network for people with mental health issues.

Also mentioned on the Mental Health America’s website, fewer than half of depression victims seek out treatment. Some of these people don’t think that their issues are serious, while others believe that their problems are caused by personal weakness -- which is

extremely unfortunate, because according to the National Institute of Mental Health, 80% of people who seek treatment for mental health issues show improvement.

Behind the Mask, a new student organization, has risen to the task of tackling mental health issues and West High. Ryan Hansen ’15 created the club earlier this year, after struggling with depression himself. Amy Kanellis, guidance counselor, is the adviser to the club.

“I’ve always wanted to offer some sort of a group for students and Ryan Hansen actually came in to talk to me ...and when we were talking we were talking about kinds of things might be helpful for him and I’m a big believer that having friendship support peer support is a really critical thing when students are going through down times so when he suggested we do this I said I would love to be the adviser.”

The club meets once a week and gives people an opportunity to tell their story and learn that they are not the only ones struggling with mental illness.

“I would describe [the meetings] as a safe haven for people to share their stories or to just share what’s happened during the day ... it’s just a time where you know that no one is going to do anything but support you,” said Kanellis. “We genuinely

“

we really want to have an impact on the way people feel about themselves. we

want them to feel good.”

-Amy Kanellis, guidance counselor

want people to feel better. We are not just doing it because it is a trendy thing to do, we really want to have an impact on way people feel about themselves. We want them to feel good.”

Recently the club has been raising money for the national Storytellers campaign.

“We’ve been raising money for the national Storytellers campaign ... and all that money goes directly to support mental health programs and the awareness programs at the national level and so that’s what [we are] raising the money for ... and our goal was a thousand and I think we’ve gone way over that. So we were just thinking of fundraising activities and we wanted the activities to relate to making others feel good. I think sometimes if you are really sad if you make someone else feel better you feel better,” said Kanellis.

Kanellis hopes the club will be able to help people at West feel more comfortable and happy.

“If you are depressed or you are sad or getting lower and lower you tend to just play the tape of ‘I’m worthless I’m hopeless I’m awful,’ and we need to change those words so that the tape that’s playing in your head is ‘I’m great I’m valuable I’m worthwhile I deserve to be here,’” she said.

In Army of One, the WSS brings you the stories of four West High students, showing both their struggles and their ultimate successes. Read on to find out more.

for VIDEO COVERAGE go to wsspaper.com

Mental health facts will experience at least one episode of Major depression Adolescent girls develop depressive disorders

twice as often as boys.

7%

of teens

1-2%

< age 13

3-7%

ages 13–15

of all teens

28%

*

*Source: National Association of School Psychology

who develop major depressive disorder

may eventually commit suicide

COMPilED by//Lauren knudson

Ryan Hansen ’15 Ryan Hansen ’15 recently started West’s mental health awareness club, Behind the Mask. Here he talks about his own struggle with depression.

All smiles on the outside, Ryan Hansen ’15 has been dealing with signs of depression for about four years now.

“The day before my birthday, actually, my sister was admitted into the hospital for depression, and I guess that kind of tipped things off a little,” he said. “It just kept getting worse to the point where I wasn’t feeling happy ever, or it would be like weeks before I felt happy, and then it started getting to the point where I just wasn’t feeling anything at all. That was when, around the end of April, I went to one of my teachers with fingernail marks in my arm because I had been trying to feel something, and [the only thing I felt like I could feel] was pain.”

After talking to his teacher and parents, Hansen started seeing a therapist to help him through his illness and was put on antidepressant drugs.

“I felt a lot better, and I felt like I could do things again, and then it stopped working, because eventually you build up a tolerance and a resistance to the meds,” he said. “Around the week before winter break, I had a therapy appointment on a Friday, and then I wasn’t able to tell my therapist that I would be able to keep myself safe, and that is when we decided to admit [me] into the hospital.”

While in the hospital, Hansen was put on stronger anti-depressant drugs, and although these helped for a while he began to see dramatic mood swings. “[I felt] extreme differences [in]

“

what I was feeling,” he said. “There was one time I was really happy and I asked my mom to go downtown, and she said no, and I started crying and threatening suicide and stuff, so they were very intense, and that was kind of when my sister got involved and she helped me decide to go off of meds entirely.”

Hansen eventually decided to stop taking medication, and has been making great strides since then. “[At the] beginning of this year

not unusual for students with depression. “[One of the hardest parts of depression is] just the helpless feeling ... that they just cannot shake it,” she said. “People, I think, always come at them with suggestions: ‘come on, come on, let’s go for a walk, let’s do this, that.’

If you truly are depressed, you just – you can’t. I mean, there are people who just can’t feel. It is not within their power to feel better.”

Hansen’s illness also had an

said. “It’s a competitive world ... and I think, yes, there is life after high school, and I think sometimes [kids] really wonder if there is and that makes me sad.”

Although his schoolwork has given him some trouble, Hansen has found his teachers to be very accommodating.

“Teachers will do everything they can, because they do just want you to learn. Sometimes people forget that, and teachers do sometimes forget that students have other

it just kept getting worse to the point where i wasn’t feeling happy ever, or it would be like weeks before i felt happy, and then it started getting to the

point where i just wasn’t feeling anything at all.” -Ryan Hansen ’15 my psychiatrist approved me going off of the meds, and so I’ve been off meds for about a month and a half now, and I’ve been doing really well,” he said.

Hansen has seen depression take a toll on many aspects of his life, including his social life and how he interacts with people.

“I stopped wanting to hang out with people, wanting to talk to people, and I would get irritated when people would ask me how I’m doing and stuff because ... I’m normally such an upbeat person and everything ... so people would notice when I was feeling down, and they would ask me why, like what was wrong or something, so I would just get mad because I didn’t know what was wrong,” Hansen said.

According to Kanellis, this is

impact on his academics.

“It definitely has affected my grades; that was one of the first things that we noticed, was just I wasn’t doing as well in school,” he said. “Another thing was I had stopped being involved in the things that I normally did, like stopped caring so much about show choir and the play ... and so that was a little rocky because ... it had a major impact on my school life.”

Hansen is not alone in feeling stress from school.

“I think there are people that think they are letting people down if they are not in five AP classes, or they’re not getting all As, or they’re not in 10 extracurricular activities, or there’s just always someone to compare yourself to … it’s a competitive school,” Kanellis

things going on,” he said.

Hansen recently wrote about his illness on Facebook, and he spoke about it on advisory. Since people have learned of his illness, Hansen has not noticed much of a difference in how people treat him, but he has had several people contact him.

“I have had people message me on Facebook, or just tell me they are also feeling like this, and they thought they were the only ones ... who were feeling this, and that was the whole reason why I started doing this – so that people could realize they aren’t alone and that there are other people struggling with this.”

Eowyn Twitchell ’17

A bright-eyed freshman, Eowyn Twitchell ’17 isn’t easy to catch in a bad mood. She seems cheery enough as she goes from class to class, but her energetic demeanor cloaks a vortex of swirling emotions and worries.

“Ever since elementary school, I’ve had a lot of problems with anxiety,” she said. “When I went to junior high, that really worsened for me.”

Twitchell attributes much of her issues with depression to genetics.

“I have a family history of depression,” Twitchell said. “Moms attempt to commit suicide a lot in my family … when my mom attempted to commit suicide

towards the end of my seventh “I left [the hospital] with a much grade year, it was very hard on me. better perspective on life,” she said.

I got depressed … [and] I engaged However, Twitchell’s problems in self-harm, cutting myself … [at were far from over. one point,] I went to the hospital, “They put me on Prozac, but a … [and] they admitted me for a couple weeks later I felt worse than I ever had before. Every brain week or two.”

Twitchell described her hospital is different, and you really need a specialized experience as “really medicine just for you. [Around that interesting.” She time] was when I noted that the area in which she did the majority of my cutting,” stayed contained people with all she said.

Twitchell sorts of mental never cut herself health issues, from depression reflexively or without and anorexia pre me d it at i on . to full-blown -Eowyn Twitchell ’17 She planned each s ch i z oph re n i a . and every cut in She noted that patients tended to form factions advance. based on their illness; for instance, “I thought of the cutting as art,” the people with depression she remarked. “I’d generally be were very close-knit, but the very sanitary about it. [My] doctors schizophrenics had their own were used to kids just doing it to feel something … but to me, it was group.

“

i left [the

hospital] with a much better perspective on life.”

art,” she said.

Ironically, Twitchell’s selfharming habits may have played a role in her recovery.

“Ever since kindergarten, I had this symbol that meant ‘remember,’” she said. “I’d cut it into myself to make me remember not to follow the [suicidal] pattern in my family.

I didn’t analyze [my self-harm] until later.”

Fortunately, Twitchell has managed to find a medication that works for her.

“It really helps and changes my brain chemistry back to normal,” she remarked.

Her advice to her fellow students who are suffering from depression?

“Just tell your counselor about it, or a teacher you trust. They’re trained to deal with this sort of thing. My German teacher, Linsey Choun, has been very helpful to my older sister especially. She’s really been an amazing influence.”

Yannik Encarnação ’14

At West, countless students have tried untangling the vast web of stereotypes that surrounds mental illness. Many are actively involved in Behind the Mask. But Yannik Encarnação ’14 has found his own way to spread the word about depression--through performance.

Since October, Encarnação has been performing the book “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” as a dramatic speech piece, essentially condensing the novel into a tenminute presentation.

“In the piece, there’s this regular old kid who gets into a really prestigious school [pre-

professional high school] entirely on his work ethic,” Encarnação said. “He’s hardworking and really happy until he realizes how difficult his new life is. He feels like a shoe’s about to drop. That makes him depressed, even suicidal, because he never wants to see that shoe drop.”

Encarnação feels a personal connection with his piece’s protagonist, because he has his own experience with waiting for a shoe to drop.

“Beginning my junior year, I had an experience with depression. I had just moved to Iowa a year previously, and things just piled on...my grades weren’t where I wanted them to be, I’d have fights with my parents ... there’d even be times where nothing bad was happening, but I was still depressed because I felt like a shoe was about to drop.”

For a period of about two weeks, Encarnação would go to visit a

“

it’s not like everything that you don’t get is because of a failure on your part.” therapist. “[The specialist] gave me tips on how to relax,” he remarked.

“We grow up in a society where we’re taught that we’re completely responsible for our own lives...but I learned that it’s important for us to stop blaming ourselves. It’s not like everything that you don’t get is because of a failure on your part.”

Personal reasons aside, Encarnação chose to perform this novel because of its universal message and believability.

“Every other option I’d seen dealt with big events like killing someone or getting cancer,” said Encarnação. “Those were definitely very powerful...but what I’d been missing was a piece that is small

-Yannik Encarnação ’14

yet powerful, with a climax that most of us could see ourselves in.

After a round of performance, I’d often have a couple of people come up to me and say that they know what that [depression, as conveyed by the piece] feels like.” With his performance, Encarnação has even made those who haven’t suffered from depression understand the universal woes it creates. “[The piece] has really taught me to respect the issue. Depression doesn’t just happen to people who face major tragedies--the possibility for depression is in everyone.

Don’t just look at the people who look depressed,” Encarnação said.

“No one is far away from that state.”

Find more coverage M O at R.C E P A SSP

W

26 ADS APRIL 2014

THE

ON ARTS

MATILDA MACKEY ’17

photo by//Madie miller

BY SHIRLEY WANG

shirley.wang5616@gmail.com

Unlike some of her peers, freshman Matilda Mackey knows exactly what she wants to do and where she wants to go after graduating.

“I want to go to Juilliard School, hopefully, and then get into a contemporary ballet company after that. That’s my ultimate goal,” she said.

This summer, Mackey will be taking one large step towards that goal as she prepares to spend three weeks in the Juilliard Dance Intensive, a program at the school DESIGN BY//KATIE PEPLOW

in New York City. Juilliard accepts only 44 students each year to participate in the classical ballet and modern dance program.

Mackey auditioned in late January along with about 50 other dancers.

They first participated in a ballet class together, then 42 were cut and only eight were left to move onto the next round.

“I was really excited, I wasn’t really nervous,” Mackey said. “I don’t get too nervous, probably because I’m super used to being on stage. It was more of being excited, and I felt prepared for it and it was good.”

Three weeks later, Mackey was in.

“I was surprised and also really

excited. I decided to go there and if I like [the school] as much as what I’ve heard about it, then I’m going to start going to other summer programs or a year-round training program and see if that’ll heighten my chances of getting into the university,” she said.

Mackey, a dancer since the age of two, has been taking classes in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, contemporary, modern, hip hop -or, as Mackey says, “basically every class they teach at Nolte [Dance Academy].”

“I don’t ever remember not being a dancer, so I didn’t have the initiative to go into it myself, but I

just realized that I never got bored of it or wanted to quit,” she said.

Mackey has also attended other prestigious dance programs such as the Alvin Ailey program and Joffrey dance program. She hopes to get a lot out of the new experience at Juilliard.

“I just hope to be able to meet the faculty and have them be able to slightly remember me at least,” Mackey said. “And, of course, be able to learn more information from them, and from the dancers that are there too, because I imagine that they’re going to be really good.”

APRIL 2014 A&E 27

Arts

fashion profile: rob nelsen ’14 West Side Story: How would you describe your style? rob nelsen ’14: What I get told the most is that I look European, particularly French or English. I don’t set out to really be anything specific, so I think my style is more just looking put-together because it makes me feel comfortable. For me, this is usually collared shirts, blue jeans and awesome shoes. I like to wear stylish jackets as well.

WSS: How has your style evolved?

RN: Freshman year was more about me wearing whatever I wanted, because I had just moved to Iowa,

28 A&E A&EAPRIL APRIL2014 2014 28

and I wanted to reinvent myself.

Ever since freshman year, I have tried to wear clothes that I feel comfortable in.

WSS: Where do you like to shop?

RN: Kohl’s is probably the best thing that has ever happened. Affordable clothing, handsome style and great durability seem to be the usual at this store. Other than that I usually shop online via Amazon.

WSS: Do you have any favorite accessories?

RN: I love scarves and clothing items that mess around in the neck area. Whether it is high collars or FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

band crush: MØ

photos by//gage van dyke

the

cool buckles, I like to try to look unique but not overly bulky. I really enjoy hoods as well.

WSS: What advice do you have for people trying to find their own styles?

RN: Wear what you feel comfortable in. I’m not talking about comfy fabrics or baggy pants. I’m mainly referring to clothes that you feel good in. These clothes should make you feel relaxed and contented.

Whatever you wear you should feel good in, not what others deem right and wrong.

COMPilED by//GAGE VAN DYKE

By BLAKE OETTING

oetting.blake@gmail.com

In a world where Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus believe they are able rappers and EDM choruses pervade every song on the radio, “genre” is a dated classification of music. Traditional albums are now considered novel and the horizons of musicianship are rarely explored. Therefore, it is refreshing to hear an artist who uses this jumbled assortment of inspirations and sounds to create something I haven’t heard before, or at least something which points at what we will hear in the future.

Karen Marie Ørsted, or MØ, is a Danish songstress who fuses together hip-hop, punk and shimmering vocals on her debut album, “No Mythologies to Follow.”

In the months preceding her album release, MØ’s soundcloud and Spotify buzzed with activity.

She dropped an EP featuring her trademark song “Maiden” and numerous singles including “Pilgrim” and “Glass.” Her material is surprising because of its layers.

On one hand, MØ has a great voice and showcases her ability to own a song. However, she separates herself from pop purists with the amazing production behind the album. On her website MØ features eight or nine embeddable sounds which she used to add continuity to the album. Not only are the sounds unique, but they also create a bridge between the fast and slow tracks. The pop track on the album, “Don’t Wanna Dance” contains the same echoing vocals and staccato beats as “Slow Love,” a haunting, sexy song.

MØ’s best asset is her ability to be “genreless.” On numerous “what to look forward to in 2014” lists, MØ has been compared to other ambient-centric female pop artists like Grimes and Lulu Rouge. However, MØ’s distinction lies in her ability to instill urban sensibilities into her music. Her music has an edge, and I can’t wait to hear more of it.

DESIGN BY//BLAKE OETTING

A&E calendar COMPILED by//STEPHON BERRY

On April 29, join the Historic Foodies at the Old Capitol Museum for a discussion on historical cooking methods, food history, food photography and recipes.

Anthony Jeselnik is at the Englert Theatre on May 10. He is known for his unfiltered Comedy Central Roast Commentary. He also starred in his own Comedy central show “The Jeselnik Offensive.”

William Fitzsimmons, the architect behind songs “Passion Play” and “Please Don’t Go,” will be gracing the Englert Theatre on May 6. The show begins at 8 p.m.

Ten Tiny Performances at the Englert offers a pastiche of different artistic mediums: dance, theater and some canvas-based forms.

Admission is $12, and there’s a limited number of seats so take advantage of the opportunity as soon as possible and support local charities while getting a good show.

May 16 will showcase the first Friday night concert series of Iowa City’s Summer of the Arts.

Drop by the ped mall to see local bands perform throughout the summer.

PHOTOS//FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

conductor mixtape: david haas Skrillex Scary Monsters “Besides loving the dubstep feel of this song, I really like all of the different sounds used throughout.

This is definitely one to listen to loud.”

Pink Floyd Breathe (in the air) “In Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album, they experiment with incorporating all kinds of different sounds within their music and the whole thing is definitely worth a listen. ‘Breathe’ has a really relaxed tempo, but the lyrics hauntingly tell about how it is important to be paying attention to all the beautiful things around you during your life.”

DESIGN BY//BLAKE OETTING

SoCal Vocals My Heart With You “Although this song was originally performed by a group called The Rescues, I really enjoy SoCal Vocals’ cover of it. SoCal Vocals are an a cappella group based out of the University of Southern California and their interpretation will give you goosebumps.”

Henry Purcell Hear My Prayer, O Lord “There probably aren’t very many times a song from the Baroque period ends up on playlists. More and more voices join in, adding to the feel of desperation in the music before the voices die back into a more reflective dynamic.”

PHOTO BY//LIZZIE PRUNEAU COMPilED by//GAGE VAN DYKE

A&E MARCH 2014 29

set on repeat By anthony pizzimenti

pizzimenti.anthony@gmail.com

The gaming console (e.g. Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, etc.) has controlled the in-home gaming market since the early 2000s.

But what is this “next-gen” going to bring us? Is it going to be new, interesting and downright good quality gameplay, or is it going to be a newer version of the latter part of the Xbox 360/PS3 age with repeated games and repeated boredom?

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013 (E3 for short), the designs and concepts for both the Xbox One and PlayStation

4 were introduced. They were new, innovative, faster and promised a more entertaining game experience. Both these new consoles delivered on the first three fronts. New, check. Innovative? Not really. Faster? A little bit. But the consoles did what the developers said they were going to do, so they have that going for them. But what about the entertainment part, the entire reason that consoles exist?

The games on the PS3 (predecessor to the PS4) that achieved a 90/100 or above on their Metacritic review were few and far between: 50 in its entire lifespan of 2006-2014. The Xbox 360 (the creepy dad of the Xbox One) had 55 games with a 90/100 score or above, and they’re basically the same games as the PS3, just with Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

and Rock Band III added in.

That means that there are collectively 1,809 games that didn’t receive a 90 or above. And why didn’t they get a 90?

Take a look at the “Call of Duty” series. It has only 2 titles in the combined top-105 games between the PS3 and Xbox One. Why is this happening to one of the, if not the, most popular first-person-shooter (FPS) developers in the world?

There’s two reasons.

Nothing’s new. For the past few generations of the Modern Warfare and Black-Ops series, basically the same game engine (the code that produces the image on your screen) was used. It hasn’t been revisited, redeveloped or looked at for years.

The games have little campaign storyline because developers are

looking to design games for the online competition experience, not for anyone interested in a story.

The other reason is that there is too much flooding of games of the same genre. The FPS category dominates the scene, comprising more than 10% of the market since 2005, and yet is still one of the most popular.

The purpose of these gaming consoles is to allow us to play games, whether it be FPS, action, adventure, puzzle or super-fly games. With this new technology of the next-generation consoles, we can only hope that developers, instead of replicating the same missteps as their predecessors, deliver on the fourth and final point they promised six months ago at E3.

artist of the month: andrea childs ’17

“

art is a way to show what you love and why you love it. That’s why I made the book; [it] comes alive.

That’s what the colored strips of paper are for; they represent the book coming alive.” -Andrea Childs ’17

COMPilED by//lushia anson

30 A&E APRIL 2014

art used with permission from andrea childs DESIGN BY/MEGUMI KITAMOTO

speech and debate performance night

The speech and debate team will showcase their work on May 5 in the auditorium. WSS asked the participants about the pieces they will be performing.

COMPilED by//stephon berry and megumi kitamoto

humorous interpretation: “Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet”

“

photo by//madie miller

It’s about a SIXth grader named Danvers who loves muppets, so he abandons his friend pascal and becomes a muppet. Once he learns that the muppets aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, he returns to his friend and [human] society.”

-Paul Curry ’14

“

humorous interpretation: “Death: A Life”

photo by//gage van dyke

[my piece is about] death and when he becomes addicted to life, goes to a psychiatric ward and gets better. besides to not do drugs, there’s not much of a deeper meaning.” -Jack Christensen ’14

poetry: “Embracing Our Struggles”

“

Poetry is different from the rest of speech because you have to have a binder, so it doesn’t have to be memorized.

It’s all about the facial expressions. My piece is about maintaining your culture, overcoming adversities you face and celebrating it as well.” -Layla Siddig ’15

photo by//madie miller DESIGN BY//MEGUMI KITAMOTO

APRIL 2014 A&E 31

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risinG star

Jiung Jung ’16: Tennis

PHOTOs by//MADIE MILLER

Jiung Jung ’17 has experienced success in tennis around the nation. He is now playing in a different format, but the freshman is continuing to impress. Playing #2 on the two-time defending state championship team, Jung joins a legacy where he hopes to make his own mark.

The varsity team is now looking forward to a great season.

WEST SIDE STORY: How old were you when you started tennis?

Jiung Jung: Eight.

WSS: What made you want to start?

JJ: When I lived in Ohio, there was a big tennis facility near where I lived and my mom wanted me to start a sport, so I chose tennis.

WSS: What is the hardest part of the sport?

JJ: Probably being on your own because you have nobody else to help you and if you mess up it is all your fault.

WSS: How often do you play per week?

JJ: Five or six times a week.

WSS: What is it like to be a part of the team?

JJ: It’s fun and a new experience.

It is fun to play with better players because it is more of a challenge.

WSS: What is the team atmosphere like?

JJ: It can be serious but at times it can be pretty laid back. It is fun and challenging at the same time.

WSS: What is it like being a freshman on an upper-classmen dominated team?

JJ: It’s different because I can’t connect as well but it’s nice playing with seniors.

WSS: What’s your greatest accomplishment?

JJ: Probably getting third place at a sweet 16 [tournament] this past fall in St. Joeseph.

WSS: What are you looking forward to this season?

JJ: Winning state and improving while playing with better players.

WSS: What are your goals for future?

JJ: I want to play college tennis.

WSS: What are the best and worst parts of your game?

JJ: My consistent is my best part and my worst is probably my backhand.

COMPilED by//blake oetting

DESIGN BY//MADIE MILLER

APRIL 2014 SPORTS 33

star risinG STAR

Regan Steigleder ’17: Soccer

PHOTOs used with permission from//regan steigleder

Starting soccer at the age of three, practicing 12 hours a week, and already having competed against a World Cup team; there was no doubt that Regan Steigleder ’17 was ready for high school soccer. After a week of tryouts, Steigleder made the varsity team and is now looking forward to a great season.

COMPilED by//Consuelo Mendoza

34 SPORTS APRIL 2014

West Side Story: How old were you when you first started playing soccer?

Regan Steigleder: I first started playing when I was three years old.

WSS: What got you started in soccer?

RS: My older sister Quinn encouraged me to start playing.

WSS: What is your favorite thing about soccer?

RS: Getting to travel to different places for games.

WSS: What is the hardest thing about soccer?

RS: Definitely conditioning, as well as balancing academics and practice at the same time.

WSS: What motivates you to become better or push through the tough practices?

RS: Just reminding myself how much better I can become.

WSS: How many hours or days do you practice a week?

RS: [I] practice ten to twelve hours a week.

WSS: What was your reaction when you heard you made the varsity team?

RS: I was really happy, and excited to start playing with the team.

WSS: What is it like to be a part of the varsity team?

RS: It’s really fun and a good experience.

WSS: What position do you play?

RS: Center middle.

WSS: How are your teammates in soccer?

RS: They are all really supportive and nice.

WSS: Do you do club soccer too? If so, for what club?

RS: Yes, I play for Sereno, Iowa Soccer Club (ISC) and Davis Legacy.

WSS: What has been your greatest accomplishment in soccer so far?

RS: Beating the U17 World Cup team.

WSS: Do you have any pre-game rituals? What do you do to calm your nerves?

RS: I usually listen to music to get motivated.

WSS: What are your goals for this season?

RS: Just to become a better player and to win state.

WSS: What are you most looking forward to this season?

RS: Getting to meet new people and to bond with the team.

WSS: What is it like balancing school and soccer at the same time?

RS: Sometimes it gets really hard and I have to stay up late to get everything done, but in the end it’s all worth it.

WSS: Who is your favorite soccer team?

RS: Barcelona.

WSS: Who’s your favorite soccer player?

RS: [Lionel] Messi or Alex Morgan.

WSS: What other sports do you play? Which one do you like better?

RS: Basketball, and I prefer soccer because I get a lot more opportunities with it.

WSS: What has been your favorite game you have played in?

RS: The game against the World Cup team, in Costa Rica.

DESIGN BY//KATIE PEPLOW

APRIL 2014 ADS 35

SPRING CLEANING

It’s that time of the year when spring sports start up again, and West is ready to go. The boys tennis team is chasing their third straight state championship while girls soccer, golf and tennis look to have a strong season.

RIGHT: Beth Lynch ’15 and Annie Peterson ’16 practice their foot skills during practice on April 7.

BELOW: Megan Jans ’15 hits a backhand while at varsity tennis practice.

FAR BELOW: The sophomore boys soccer team warms up for their game against Cedar Rapids Washington on April 10.

PHOTO by//BROOKE LOFGREN

PHOTO by//nick deerbErg

PHOTO COURTESY OF PEGGY MCGUIRE

PHOTO by//BROOKE LOFGREN

RIGHT: The girls track team celebrates their win at the Lady Spartan Invite in Pleasant Valley on April 11.

PHOTO by//lizzie pruneau Above: Aspen Van Fleet ’14 hits the ball onto the green during practice on April 7.

PHOTO by//BROOKE LOFGREN Above: Beth Lynch ’15, Emma Cooper ’17 and Anna Hausler ’14 practice their passing on April 7.

36 SPORTS APRIL 2014

DESIGN BY//LYDIA HINMAN

PHOTO by//BROOKE LOFGREN ABOVE: The varsity girls soccer team huddles after practice on April 7.

PHOTO by//nick deerbErg

PHOTO by//BROOKE LOFGREN PHOTO by//MADIE MILLER LEFT: Ben Dellos ’14 hits a forehand during varsity tennis practice. Above: Midfielder Adam Rose ’17 practices passing before the game on April 10. Above Right: Robert Netolicky ’14 participates in warmup activities with his teammates before practice on April 14.

APRIL 2014 SPORTS 37

38 ADS APRIL 2014

Batter up

By aaron carter

aaroncarter51298@gmail.com

PHOTO by//nick deerberg During practice at North Central Junior High, Anthony Batie ’14 jumps to catch the disc.

Ultimate Frisbee

By Lydia Hinman

lydiahinman29@gmail.com

As spring finally rolls around, sports like soccer and tennis start up. However, for ultimate, the season has been in full swing for months now.

“We’ve been practicing every week since the fall to help develop our nearly new team basics of ultimate,” said Tyler Whitehead ’14.

This intramural Ultimate team has been very successful despite

Rugby

By Brittani Langland

Langland.Brittani@gmail.com

Across the street you can find West High’s rugby team practicing at the University of Iowa’s rugby field. Rugby is similar to football, but one major difference between the two is that in rugby, the only padding required is a mouth guard.

West’s rugby team has made it to the state tournament both of the last two years, and is training to make it to the top.

“Our goal this year is to win it all,” said Hayden Hendricks ’15, a member of the team.

According to Hendricks, the best part of being on the team is getting to travel, but Jordan Stern ’15 thinks differently.

“My favorite part is hanging out with all-star team captain Michael Krupp [’15],” said Stern.

DESIGN BY//BRITTANI LANGLAND

only being put together last year. “[The team started] when West alum Colin Lord contacted a few kids at West interested in ultimate,” Whitehead said. “They recruited lots of athletic kids and turned us into ultimate players.”

Last year, the team went undefeated and won state.

“We graduated 12 of our best players [last year], but still have a strong core of returners mixed with a great new recruiting class of athletes,” Whitehead said.

But the lack of returning starters hasn’t hurt the team.

“Everyone has caught on really quickly, and everyone on the team

has been fun,” said Ben Johnson ’15.

The team not only plays teams from Iowa, but all over the country.

“At the Chicago Invite [there were] teams fron1m all over the midwest along with teams traveling all the way from Utah, Arkansas, New Jersey and Vermont,” said Justin Barry ’15.

The team placed seventh in Chicago and plans to have similar success in the future.

“We understand that it takes a lot of hard work, and with newer players, our goal is to improve and get better at ultimate,” Johnson said.

Wil Simpson ’14 receives a pass during practice on April 10.

PHOTO by//BROOKE LOFGREN

Yogi Berra once said, “Baseball is 90 percent mental, and the other half is physical.” Berra may not have been that good at math, but he sure knew how to send a message. In this case it’s loud and clear. In order to be a great team in the majors you have to have talent, but you also have to be extremely cohesive and be mentally tough.

When I think of great teams, the St. Louis Cardinals come to mind (I’m being completely impartial, as always.) The Cardinals are repeatedly consistent and always on point with success. I predict they will be even better than last year, when they made the World Series. Despite the loss of veteran outfielder Carlos Beltran, they seem to be a deeper and healthier team.

In the off-season the Cardinals traded away hometown hero David Freese but picked up outfielder Peter Bourjous and shortstop Jhonny Peralta. Then you have the pitching, which is said to be one of the best rotations in baseball.

Capped off by Adam Wainwright and the phenom Michael Wacha, who highlighted the Cardinals postseason run.

There is also the Los Angeles Dodgers, an exciting team. The Dodgers could be a very dangerous team and should win the NL West, which is a mediocre division at best.

Finally, there are the Boston Red Sox, who used the “fear the beard” mentality to supply their World Series title last year. They are returning almost every starter from last year and even making some key additions to their outfield, even after losing All-Star center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury to the rival Yankees. Despite this loss, the Red Sox seem to have created more depth.

Whoever wins the title this year must surely meet Berra’s requirements, and will surely give baseball fans a wild ride.

APRIL 2014 SPORTS 39

THE Trojan PINBOARD n o ti Na

10

things you didn’t know about the girls soccer coach

Dave Rosenthal

1. Despite being a Spanish teacher, in high school he studied French.

2. His family and he faithfully watch “Dancing with the Stars.”

3. He’s a member of two different Hall of Fames. One as a player, one as a coach.

4. He attended a Quaker high school and a Quaker college.

5. He had a rat tail in the 1980s.

6. He snores.

7. His father developed the first race relations courses at the college where he taught in the late 1950s.

8. His team finished third at the national 3 v. 3 tournament.

9. He doesn’t own a cell phone.

10. He can say the alphabet backwards and knock down doors.

COMPILED by//CONSUELO Mendoza

Trojan trophies

1. Aidan Keen ’16 was named MVC athlete of the year for boys swimming.

was named Iowa’s Gatorade player of the year for boys basketball.

3. West High won the Sportsmanship Award at the boys basketball state tournament.

4. Jasmine Bailey ’14

got first place at the USA Wrestling Girls Junior Folkstyle Nationals.

5. Mark McGlaughlin ’16 won KCRG’s Athlete of

the Week for swimming.

COMPilED by//consuelo mendoza

art by//Kelsey keranen

2. Wyatt Lohaus ’14

Sports updates of this month.

Mendoza mania

In the past two years, Sofia Mendoza ’14 has run in three marathons.

“Marathon running has given me a lot of courage and has helped me focus on setting goals and completing them, not only in running, but in school as well,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza only needs to drop 10 minutes from her time to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Her next marathon is called Grandma’s Marathon and it will take place in Sofia Mendoza ’14 Duluth, Minn. in June.

Name

Date

Time

Chicago Springland Marathon

Spring 2013

4 hours

Twin Cities Marathon

October 2013

3 hours 48 minutes

Disney World Marathon

January 2014

3 hours 43 minutes COMPilED by//Madie Miller

Boys track members qualify for Drake Relays

As a high school athlete at the Drake Relays, you get to watch college runners and professional athletes, as well as compete. Daniel Gardarsson ’14 is going to be busy this year, qualifying for both the 4X800 and also the 1600. Even though Gardarsson has great individual success, he is very team-oriented.

“Track is hard but enjoyable, because I have such great teammates,” Gardarsson said. “We make each other better runners.”

Preparing for state and the Drake Relays is tough work, but Gardarsson and company are up to the challenge.

To qualify for the Drake Relays, you have to be in Daniel Gardarsson ’14 the top 16 of the fastest runners in the state.

Along with Gardarsson, Kaleb Greiner ’14 also qualified for the 4X800 at the Drake Relays. Noah Brase ’15 and Wynton Karanja ’14 are part of the 4X800 team as well.

“There’s nothing better than crossing the finish line in first with thousands of fans standing up in their seats and cheering you on,” Greiner said.

This success comes at a price though, and sometimes the work required takes its toll.

“It’s not like other sports, where conditioning is just part of it,” Greiner said. “In track, all you do is condition, which is tough. But it’s all worth it once you cross that finish line.”

COMPilED by//aaron Carter

40 SPORTS APRIL 2014

DESIGN BY//BRITTANI LANGLAND

Editorial: Best in class At West, the only real benefits of being a valedictorian are the medal and bragging rights. Without a better system, we end up with quite a few for no good reason.

Ah, the valedictorian speech. It’s a concept that is abused by many a teen movie, embedding sentimental high school graduation scenes with wisdom, nostalgia or complete and utter cheese. In American media and culture, the position of valedictorian has become an integral part of the graduation process. But what exactly is the role of the valedictorian?

Most dictionaries emphasize that the valedictorian is the one who gives the farewell address at graduation. In fact, the word “valedictorian” comes from the Latin vale dicere, meaning to say farewell.

At West, it’s different. Seniors elect their class’s president each year, and he or she will be the one who gives the speech at graduation. However, there are still “valedictorians” who are recognized for their 4.0 GPA. Each receives a medal at graduation and is recognized with highest honors upon receiving the diploma. Last year, there were 24 valedictorians from West High.

The West High recognition of valedictorians seems to be less of an honor and more of a pat on the back and a shiny medal for keeping straight A’s. However, without the (ideally) profound end-of-theyear speech, is the designation of valedictorian still worth having?

The main problem with this system is that there is no weighted grade-point system for students who choose to take honors or Advanced Placement courses. A weighted system would incorporate earning five grade points for an A in a more difficult class, four for a B, three for a C, et cetera. While switching to a weighted system entirely might be going too far, using a weighted GPA to find who the “true” valedictorian is would be more ideal than the current situation.

By this logic, with the current system, someone could become a valedictorian by intentionally not challenging themselves and taking easier or fewer classes just to keep up the appearance of their fourpoint.

Having such an excessive number of valedictorians doesn’t really benefit students. It does, on the other hand, make West look great.

However, that is not a very good attitude toward learning and education, and certainly not one that schools should reward.

In contrast, a student who challenges themselves and takes more difficult classes even though an A is not guaranteed would end up benefitting from their education more than their peers who may slack off to look better on paper.

That being said, has the true concept of the “valedictorian” died at West High? The definition of “valedictorian” seems to have changed significantly, if not completely lost its meaning.

As part of a nation that defines academic achievement and success primarily through numerical values, we should at least do our best to make these numbers accurate by rewarding students who challenge themselves more.

If there is no immediate solution, such as a weighted grade-point, then there is no use in recognizing people for “successes” that they may or may not have worked hard to accomplish.

Should the ICCSD change its valedictorian policy?

20-3

Editorial Policy

The West Side Story reflects the views of the staff and does not represent the school administration, faculty or student body. Guest articles may be accepted to represent an additional point of view or as a part of a collection of reader contributions. The staff will carefully scrutinize all reader submissions.

All ads are subject to approval by the business staff. Those that are libelous, obscene or plainly offensive may be rejected. The West Side Story attempts to publish all letters, which must be signed, to the Editors, but may reject submissions due to space limitations, inaccuracy or poor quality. It is the responsibility of the opinion editor to verify authorship. Editors can make minor edits for the sake of clarity, length and grammatical correctness.

DESIGN BY//FIONA ARMSTRONG-PAVLIK

index april Prom It will all be over soon.

But there will be a lot of Instagrams first.

plus 2

It’s almost grad party season

I don’t even have to eat meals at home on the weekends because they have free food!

plus 5

Applying for summer jobs Can I use my parents as a reference? Probably not.

The WSS editorial board voted for the change.

minus 1

Dwindling motivation Am I going to do poorly on a test? Almost certainly. Do I care enough to do anything about it? Absolutely not.

minus 2

Equity Statement

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, martial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or socioeconomic programs, activities, or employment practices. If you believe you have (or your child has) been discriminated against or treated unjustly at your school, please contact the Equity Director, Ross Wilburn, at 509 Dubuque Street, 319-688-1000.

Quality of life

2013-2014 Editorial Board Lushia Anson Fiona Armstrong-Pavlik Stephon Berry Abby Burgess Meredith Cullen Schyler Davis Nick Deerberg Megumi Kitamoto Brittani Langland Kaitlyn McCurdy Hannah Merrill Anna Mondanaro

Katie Mons Amelia Moser Matthew Murry Blake Oetting Katie Peplow Velarchana Santhana Julia Truszkowski Tyler Voss Shirley Wang Jaycie Weathers Grace Young

Lame financial aid packages No scholarships? :(

minus 5

Total: minus 1 COMPILED by/FIona armstrong-pavlik

opinion APRIL 2014 41

Editorial: Not-so-funny money Due to a lack of funding, the Iowa City Community School District will cut millions of dollars from its budget. With all the focus on cuts at the junior high level, how will West be affected?

STAFFING CHANGES

1)Eight retirees: a guidance counselor, four resource teachers, a family and consumer science teacher, an English teacher and a math teacher. No one will be hired full-time to replace them, but some part-time hires are a possibility.

2) Social studies has 1.8 (.8 meaning someone who teaches four sections instead of five) longterm substitutes who will not be continuing as subs next year.

3) The one full-time hire West will have next year will be in the social studies department, to permanently fill the “1” of the 1.8 long-term substitutes. The other “.8” will be absorbed into other classes.

4) The current number of deans will shrink from two-and-a-half to 42 OPINION APRIL 2014

one.

PROGRAM CHANGES

1) $10,000 to be cut in athletics.

2) German will be phased out.

While we don’t like how the cuts are being discussed, a large and relatively obvious part of the problem is simply a lack of funding from the state.

The Gazette quoted Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal as stating that “Iowa’s per-pupil spending currently lags behind the national average by about $1,500.”

That kind of money adds up fast, and attempts to change that shortfall haven’t gone anywhere – Democrats in the Iowa Senate weren’t able to pass their proposed 6% rise in support for schools.

Additionally, The Gazette reported that there has been a $5.6 million decrease in “primarily federal funding the past four years.”

Complain all you want about Superintendent Murley eliminating teachers’ positions and how all the school programs will suffer, but at the end of the day if you aren’t also calling up your state legislators and demanding real funding increases, the money simply isn’t going to be there.

The district can only become so efficient, and at this point ‘no cuts’ is definitely preferable to even the ‘best’ cuts.

Scrap the political correctness. Be thankful teachers aren’t being laid off. And above all: up the funding.

Starting next year, the Aspirational class size for high school will be 24-32 students.

The district aims to cut

$3.6 million in upcoming years, over $3.3 million of which will be from personnel costs.

$2.2

million

is the ICCSD’s projected unspent balance for June 2015 with budget cuts.

81% of the ICCSD’s current budget goes to paying staff salaries.

Over 2000 more students are projected to enroll in ICCSD schools in the next five years .

students

In case you haven’t heard, the Iowa City Community School District is going to be just a little shy of a balanced budget come July 1, absent changes.

Luckily, the administration is all over the “budget adjustments” (a.k.a. eliminating $3.6 millionworth of teachers and programs) that will be affecting “attendance centers” (a.k.a. the school you attend).

A sensible solution: just add some politically correct, diplomatic language – we’re sure it will comfort the teachers who are reassigned and the students who are now crammed into classrooms with 30+ of their peers.

If we can’t even talk about these problems in a way that’s as real and serious as they are, how are we supposed to actually get anything done about them?

It’s starting to seem like this happens every year. The school district is spending too much money, cuts have to be made, every portion of the budget will be closely examined, yada yada yada.

We’ve heard it all before. So how is it going to affect West THIS time?

YEAR Source for all infographics: District Budget Adjustment Summary DESIGN BY//FIONA ARMSTRONG-PAVLIK

Things you won’t learn in Algebra II

So many prom-blems

By julia truszkowski

abbynburgess@gmail.com blofgren13@gmail.com

juliatruszkowski@gmail.com

1. Your dad was not being paranoid when he warned of the horrors of the West High parking lot. There are atrocities even worse than door dings – 30-minute traffic, sophomores using their friends’ cars as surfboards and the dreaded honking game.

2. An unavoidable bond will form between you and your peers that you share sweat/groan/expletivefilled hours with. Join sports.

3. Wanna know what’s more of a relief than keeping your 4.0?

Breaking it and realizing you still did your best.

4. When you get a C on a test, the world does, in fact, keep rotating.

5. If your teacher is excited about teaching, then you’ll be excited about writing that essay, dammit (This one’s for you, Shullaw and Barnhouse).

6. Math class might suck, but a mutual hatred for matrices might help you find your best friend (And this one’s for you, Kayla).

7. Always listen to your teachers’ anecdotes. They have a sense of humor too (And who knows, if you keep ’em talking, they might forget to check your homework).

8. Don’t take AP classes because you want to prove your boyfriend wrong when he says you’re not smart enough. You might break up during the first week of school and end up taking a (REALLY FLIPPING HARD) class about something you don’t care about.

9. It’s okay to be bitter. This will lead to angst-filled spiral notebooks. This builds character.

10. If you enjoy your music, then you have good taste in music.

Forget the hipsters. If Carly Rae Jepsen speaks to you, embrace it.

11. Those that derive happiness from putting others down tend to be the most insecure. This might make you feel better about yourself, DESIGN BY//FIONA ARMSTRONG-PAVLIK

but it will not make others feel better about you.

12. Find a friend that is kind, accepting, supportive and able to make you laugh until animal noises come out your nostrils. You are having just as much fun as the “cool” kids, I promise. Heck, you are the cool kids!

13. “The Breakfast Club” can teach us all a lesson. You can find a friend in the jock, the basket case and the princess. We all hate Mondays. We all spend too much time on the Internet. We all have something to say.

14. The cafeteria’s monster cookies are really freaking good.

15. Your anonymous Twitter account is not any less obnoxious than the 47 other anonymous Twitter accounts.

16. If you didn’t utilize your twohour delays to finish your essay the first 15 times, you will not utilize the two-hour delay to finish your essay this time, either.

17. If, in a rare circumstance, a certain parking spot consequently leads you to Sauser’s office, take out your nose ring before you get there.

18. The 125th day of school in your senior year is not too late to start bringing your ID, even if the librarians have learned to spell “Truszkowski” by now.

19. Facebook may have died, but your AP Biology class page will be the buoy to pull you out of 12 foot deep, choppy (and not to mention adhesive, cohesive and possessing a high surface tension) waters on the night before an exam.

20. You may say you can’t wait to be done with this place 1004 times, but compiling lists of your high school experiences might just leave you thinking that maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

By Abby Burgess and brooke lofgren Awkward stares across the grind circle, people you don’t know sweating on you and pretending that you know how to eat like a lady in front of your date. We all know how many struggles come along with prom night, and whether it’s good or bad, it’s always a night to remember. So let’s take it back to the beginning: finding a date. Why is it the girl’s job to find herself a date? Do you realize how many other things we have to do to prepare for this night? In case you don’t, we decided to put it all out there for you.

The first order of business is the dress. Let’s talk online shopping...

How many times have you ordered a dress and it actually fit you? Oh, that’s right, none. I swear these things just never work out. So you’re in a panic the week before prom and you run to your local Dillard’s to find a dress that works.

Little did you know, another girl in your group had the exact same dress...embarrassing.

Heels. Unless you’re short, the chances of you towering over your date in your five inch heels are very likely. Can anyone actually walk in them? No. Does this mean we should be carried around until we reach the destination? Yes. We’re talkin’ dinner, pictures, and all the way to the dance. Delicate flowers are we.

Hair. If you have absolutely no idea how to work a curling iron then you had better make an appointment. Actually, don’t. Because most of the time you’ll hate it and go home freaking out more than the Dance Moms before a competition. So you’re forced to straighten those poodle curls that the salon gave you and apply more hairspray than you thought was humanly possible. All of the trouble you go through to get the perfect hair is

silly because the second you walk into the dance the curls will fall and you’ll only want to pull the hair that is sticking to the back of your neck up into a ponytail.

Pictures. Is it just our moms, or does every single parent in the group have to get ten good shots before they back away and let the next parent in? It’s our five minutes of fame. But when your mom starts asking you to take individual pictures to post to her Facebook for all her friends to see, you know it’s time to be done.

Dinner. Acting like a lady is no easy task. For some reason, people always choose to go to Italian restaurants. Not only are the portion sizes huge, making it difficult to suck in for the rest of the night, but the noodles are impossible to eat without getting them on your dress.

The dance. The hardest part of the whole night is finding your friends packed tightly like sardines in a circle where the girls all face each other in the center with the boys behind them. For some reason, society decided that instead of looking at your date while you dance, you have to feel their presence behind you the whole night. The awkward eye contact from across the circle is simply unavoidable, so let the uncomfortable hip grinding begin.

After you’ve gone through what seems like the longest day of your life (due to the unnatural manners you show) it all ends just as quickly as it started. So whether your prom night is what you’ve always dreamed of or mediocre, you know that it will be a night to remember.

OPINION APRIL 2014 43

Build a house up on that grass By blake oetting and shirley wang

By ANNA MONDANARO

oetting.blake@gmail.com shirley.wang5615@gmail.com

Ah, the front lawn, in all its glory: wide openness, thick and luscious green grass and randomly scattered trees. Despite its vast size, according to Dr. Arganbright, the purpose of the front lawn is pretty much just for aesthetic appeal. But just in case he changes his mind, we’ve compiled a list of things for which West can use it.

West High athletics are fantastic.

The classic high school sport, football, however, has not followed suit. It seems we’re always so close, but something stops us from “touching down” (ay lmao) in the winners’ circle. We’ve heard rumors that the team is continually disappointed with our lackluster student section. Maybe we can use the front lawn as a tailgating area?

The pervasive sense of school spirit would leave little room to continue other pre-game “traditions,” and our presence at the game would make the team’s tackles harder, better, faster, stronger. We’ll be in a jocular-ass stadium; hurry up with our damn trophy.

The front lawn is huge. It’s natural to expect there to be some unexpected treasures hidden beneath the manicured greenery. Thus, assuming we garner unlimited access to the space and the district is willing to use air conditioning money on another super awesome and really super awesomely useful project, we should dig up them up. Maybe we will discover $3.6 million that we just had no clue about!

Equally weird things have already happened (remember 2011?).

We’d all like to have just a little more room for lunch. There are 2000 of us in a building designed for a much smaller student population.

Dr. Arganbright informed us that one of the reasons we cannot eat on 44 OPINION APRIL 2014

Use your noggin

mondanaro.anna@gmail.com

the front lawn is because of the risk of accident when crossing the street in between West and the lawn. So after building a very steady bridge, complete with handrails and padding, students can declutter the hallways and step on over to our little slice of lunchtime heaven.

Scratch that, we should build a skywalk because there is always a risk of falling off the bridge into the road that all those cars are parked in. Better safe than probably also safe.

As proposed by the EATS club, we could restore the land into natural Iowan prairie. Basically this land could be used by all classes; in biology you study the wildlife, in math you determine the exponential growth rate of the milkweeds, and in art you could paint some Grant Woodworthy landscapes. This would not only increase the diversity of living species on West High grounds, there would also be a lot less maintenance with no need for mowing or other typical lawn stuff.

Prairies only need to be reset by the occasional controlled fire (don’t read this part, Dr. A)What could be a better way to build a senior prank into the maintenance system and turn it into something productive?

When it rains, it pours and the small indent towards the front of the front lawn floods and creates a small pond. We’re not experts on pond-creationism, but we’re pretty sure Dr. Arganbright could just throw some clay and water on the grass, get some rest on the seventh day, toss in some fish and call it a miracle.

West High, let’s reconsider the use of our front lawn. If the first thing people see when they come to West isn’t excellent, then can it really be our tradition?

Let’s face it: in the world we live in, dating is defunct. I hear very few people talk about their most recent ventures to restaurants in hopes of getting to know another person.

Unfortunately, it’s all about getting a number, hooking up and moving on to the next in a blink of an eye. Because of this recent realization, it has come to my attention that the tactics used to snag a significant other are absolutely ludicrous.

We all know those people. The people that dumb themselves down in order to appear attractive to others. Maybe some of us even are those people. Well, if that is the case, please, keep reading, and PLEASE let this be a lesson.

I have a few important things to say to the creatures that think this behavior is acceptable and/or somehow alluring.

Um, hello? Stupidity has not been, is not, and never will be an appealing quality in any person.

Let me say that again. Acting like an idiot in hopes of making your significant other swoon is not only ridiculous, but also the most annoying thing since Miley Cyrus became popular.

Look, I get it. Flirting is fun, whatever. But seriously, since when was subjecting yourself to embarrassment an actual strategy to impress possible suitors? I cannot count how many times I have heard girls say stupid things, things that they would not otherwise question, in order to get a boy’s attention (and vice versa).

Let’s take most recent Bachelor, Juan Pablo Galavanis, for example.

Clearly, the guy is attractive. He’s a retired professional soccer player, he has a moderately cute daughter, and his accent doesn’t hurt him

one bit. Besides his distaste for the English language, his one pitfall is his lack of intelligence - something that he clearly had no intention of improving throughout the show.

Obviously, intelligent people are attracted to other intelligent people. Maybe that’s why Juan Pabs is arguably the most hated Bachelor in the show’s history?

The bottom line is this: the people that you, and everyone, are looking to attract - hopefully smart, interesting individuals, will not be looking to be involved in immature relationships. And that is what this “wannabe-ditzy” behavior is, after all: immature.

In general, I think that we are all a little prone to dimming our own lights in fear of outshining others. Having spent more than one Friday night with my girlfriends discussing dating and why we are or are not interested in relationships, it comes down to this ultimate piece of stellar advice: playing coy in relationships is silly.

Dumbing yourself down in hopes of making another person feel more intelligent is absolutely ridiculous. And if this other person is uninterested in you because you are not willing to play that part, do not run, but sprint, in the opposite direction.

DESIGN BY//FIONA ARMSTRONG-PAVLIK

P.O.S. of the month

1996 Pontiac grand prix

Olaf Sunleaf ’14

“

A piece of the power steering once fell off the bottom of my car while I was parked and then my brother had to retrieve it after my car got towed.”

“

The door is falling apart where both the window and the lock buttons are.”

“

The car can only go 50 MPH before it starts to shake and the ‘get help soon’ light comes on.”

“

The light cover on the side of the door is falling off.”

{

Complete the

lyrics

With Stacey Strief

DESIGN BY//BROOKE LOFGREN

“Talk Dirty to me”

by Jason Derulo

WSS: I’m that flight that you get on, international Strief: Harvester.

WSS: Been around the world, don’t speak the language But your booty don’t need explaining Strief: I don’t even know what that means, should it need explaining?

WSS: You know the words to my songs No habla inglés strief: Espanol.

COMPILED by//BROOKE LOFGREN

“Dark Horse”

by Katy perry

WSS: And here you are But you better choose carefully ‘Cause I, strief: I’m coming at you like a dark horse.

WSS: Make me your Aphrodite Make me your one and only strief: ’cause I’m coming at you like a dark horse WSS: So you wanna play with magic Boy, you should know what you’re falling for strief: What is a dark horse?

“Happy”

by Pharrell

WSS: It might seem crazy what I’m about to say strief: Can we go outside and play?

WSS: I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space strief: So let’s have a race.

WSS: Here come bad news talking this and that strief: Let’s hope it’s not about my cat.

COMPILED by//Brooke Lofgren

APRIL 2014 HUMOR 45

2

3

1 for

1

4

wsspaper.com more coverage go to

scan this with your smartphone to link to our website

MOST BENEFIT CONCERT West High hosted the MOST Benefit concert March 30 to support the Iowa Miles of Smiles Team with their work in cleft lip and palate reconstruction. Go online to see video coverage.

1

VIDEO BY//APOORVA RAIKWAR

WSS Takes a look Behind the MASk In honor of Behind the Mask, West High’s new mental health awareness club, West Side Story investigates what it’s really like behind the mask of mental illness.

2

SENIOR STUDY HABITS West Side Story investigates two seniors’ varying study techniques as graduation looms just around the corner.

3

VIDEO by//PAUL CURRY

Top 8 Tips for a Great Trip To Spain “...all of the residual stress just melted away as soon as I set foot in Spain. There, I was free to have fun and laugh without worry, so my advice is cherish it.”

4

Article by//Jaycie Weathers

“Divergent” Review Trying to decide whether to book your ticket to the movie adaptation of Veronica Roth’s hit “Divergent”? Check out Kaitlyn McCurdy’s review of the film on the web.

5

5

REVIEW BY//KAITLYN MCCURDY

Profile: Gabby Skopec ’17 Varsity track runner Gabby Skopec ’17 shares her track experiences and inspiration. Go online to see the full profile.

6

Summit Entertainment & Lionsgate

6

Profile By//Yiming Liu

VIDEO by//JULIA TRUSZKOWSKI

46 WEB APRIL 2014

Design By//Julia Truszkowski

photo by//Gage Van dyke

photo by//lizzie pruneau

West Side Story photographers capture moments out in the sun as we welcome spring after a long winter.

ABOVE: Geese float on a pond in Coralville.

BELOW: A shadow casts over the walking trail behind West High.

RIGHT: Taelor Mormon-Thein ’14 enjoys a warm day downtown at the Old Capital.

photo by//Gage Van dyke photo by//Brooke Lofgren

DESIGN BY//ABBY BURGESS

photo by//nick deerberg ABOVE: Students hang out at the Pentacrest.

SPRING FEVER

ABOVE: Kate Gylten ’15 relaxes by a dock near Lake Macbride. The swing is adorned with carvings of people’s names.

photo by//abby burgess

BELOW: Sun pervades over the Oyer Trail.

BOTTOM MIDDLE: Mariah Davis ’16 reads a book during her lunch break. photo by//Gage Van dyke

APRIL 2014 47

Which teacher are you most like?

COMPilED by//kelsey keranen and nick deerberg DESIGN BY//SHIRLEY WANG

Ever wonder what’s going on inside your teacher’s head? Answer these questions to find out which teacher you’re most like.

1.

B. D.

2.

B. D.

3.

B. D.

4.

B. D.

What would you eat for your last meal?

A.

A bit o’ honey.

Carne Adovada.

C.

Wouldn’t want to waste time eating.

A 1/2 lb hamburger cooked on the grill, medium, with all the fixin’s, but no pickles.

wHAT DO YOU THINK PEOPLE LABELED YOU AS IN HIGH SCHOOL?

A.

An enigma.

Athlete.

D.

6.

D.

Total jock.

If you could be eaten alive by an animal of your choice, what animal would it be?

A.

B.

B.

One of the music guys.

C.

5.

Killer whale.

7.

B.

Tyrannosaurus Rex.

C.

Fungi or Bacteria.

An ant, because it would take a really long time.

D.

iF YOU HAD A RAP GROUP WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED?

8.

A.

The Misanthropes.

B.

The Entourage.

C.

BeYOUtiful.

D.

Probably Really Bad.

MOSTLY A’s

Tom Lindsey English teacher

DESIGN BY//SHIRLEY WANG

MOSTLY b’s

Wayne Thelander Orchestra teacher

wHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WERE ON FIRE?

A.

Drop an F-bomb. As in fire bomb.

Drop and roll.

C.

Be “smokin hot.”

Roll on the ground as fast as I can.

wHAT’S YOUR PREFERED DIPPING SAUCE?

A.

Guacamole dip.

Pace.

C.

Honey mustard.

Blue Cheese.

iF YOU WERE STUCK IN PURGATORY , WHO WOULD YOU TRY TO CONTACT, DR. A OR OBAMA?

A.

Dr. A.

Dr. A.

C.

Couldn’t decide, hence why I’m in purgatory.

Dr.A.

iF YOU COULD BE A KITCHEN APPLICANCE, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU BE?

A.

A toaster.

Ricer.

C.

Can opener.

An oven - then I could give out warmth to all those around me.

MOSTLY c’s

Jenifer Secrist Science teacher

MOSTLY d’s Karen Meyer Math teacher