Oct. 29, 2010 West Side Story

westsidestory

BEHIND THE SCENES from recycling to monster cookies, the west wing functional lifeskills stu-dents have a major impact on the school p. 18-19

IOWA CITY WEST HIGH SCHOOL VOLUME 42 ISSEE 2 OCTOBER 29, 20102901 MELROSE AVE. IOWA CITY, IA 52246WSSPAPER.COM

FASHION these west high students excel in style p. 16-17

ELECTION 2010everything you need to know about this year’s candidates. p. 6-7

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to dis-criminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices.

If you believe you have (or your child has) been discriminated against or treated unjustly at school, please contact the Equity Director, Ross Wilburn, at 509 Dubuque Street, 319-688-1000.

october tableofcontents

november elections [news 6-7]everything you need to know about the upcoming midterm elections

a day in the life [profiles 8]think you have a tough job? find out how the west high custodians spend their days

star in the making [a&e 11]meet cassandra ceurvorst, a former west high stu-dent building her career as a performer

fashion forward [feature 16-17]west high trendsetters share their fashion tips

west wing [in-depth 18-19]as the founders of several clubs and businesses associated with west high, the west wing functional lifeskills students are a major force in the school

overachievers [sports 27]athletes training outside of the high school season

wss staff memberslilli oetting editor-in-chief anna hippee design editor, in-depth edi-tor emily kreiter managing editor garrett anstreicher managing editor david huang copy editor eleanor marshall copy editor lau-ren parsons business editor alissa rothman news editor madhu sri-kantha opinion editor becky sweeney feature editor anna egeland feature editor olivia lofgren profiles editor caroline van voorhis profiles editor evan smith a&e editor caroline found sports edi-tor daniel rothman sports editor elizabeth dagle backpage editor saranya subramanian beats editor bridget novak artist sarah dirks photo editor jojo silverman photographer lindsay best photogra-pher elizabeth lin ad designer, staff designer audrey evans staff designer laura stamnes staff designer leah murray staff designer ashton duncan staff writer ansel landini staff writer amir sabbagh staff writer juliann skarda staff writer pombie silverman staff writer adam canady webmaster sara jane whittaker advisor

equity statement

last week marked the last home foot-ball game, but west high fans have a lot to look forward to with state competitions right around the corner. check out pages 22-27 for more sports coverage

PHOTO BY//LINDSAY BEST

COVER PHOTO BY//SARAH DIRKS

03 news

On Oct. 17 no one cares who’s from City or West. It’s not about what colors you wear or your mile splits. It’s about the time of education. Run for the Schools raised money for the school district. All ages turn out

to support our schools, ranging from infants in strollers to old women wearing fanny packs. West High was represented not only by runners but volunteers as well. “Student Senate also always has 20-30 student volunteers along the race course each year,’ said Shutt. Both Student Senate and 1440 placed volunteers all around the course to direct runners in the right direction. Videos of Run for the Schools can be found at wsspaper.com and photos and runners times can be found at runforth-eschools.com.

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Brian Martz takes the tags of runners as they come to the end of their race. Martz is also the boys’ cross coun-try coach at West High. “[Run for the Schools is] another reminder of why I enjoy living and teaching in Iowa City,”

said Martz.

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Actively pursuing education

Mike Wagner ‘14 pours water cups for runners at the vol-unteer table. Over 2,200 people registered and ran on Oct. 17 to celebrate the 17th year of Run for the Schools. “Our community values education and is very supportive of this

event as evidenced by the number of participants each year,” said Brian Martz, the boys cross country coach.

Coming in seventh over-all in the half marathon, teacher Brady Shutt ran the half marathon in 1

hour and 26 minutes. He also placed first in his age group. “I love Run for the Schools the most because our community comes together to support each other in an activity that is something so many people can do.”

21 3

Halloween is this Sunday! Check out these scrolling facts about pumpkins

BY SARANYA [email protected]

GRAPHIC BY//ANNA EGELAND

CURRENT EVENTS

QUIZDO YOU LIVE UNDER A ROCK?

Google recently announced that it has developed .

A) A VOICE CONTROLLED INTERNET BROWSERB) CARS THAT DRIVE THEMSELVESC) THE WORLD’S FASTEST INTERNET BROWSERD) ROBOTS

compiled by alissa rothman

1.B, 2.A, 3.D, 4.C, 5.A, 6.D

12

34

56

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a human rights activist in .

A) CHINAB) IRANC) SUDAND) NORTH KOREA

In the new survey released by Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life were most knowledge-able about religion.

A) CATHOLICSB) PROTESTANTSC) JEWSD) ATHEISTS AND AGNOSTICS

Millions of gallons of toxic sludge have spilled out of a reservoir in

, killing seven people.A) RUSSIAB) POLANDC) HUNGARYD) LATVIA

Chilean miners were finally rescued from a mine collapse.

A) 31B) 33C) 23D) 41

Human rights activist and former president of recently re-leased his memoirs.

A) CHILEB) UNITED STATESC) CHINAD) SOUTH AFRICA

04 news

04

Kai Patterson-Stark ’14 is a normal teenager. She faces high school stress and loves cheerleading practice. She likes to text, shop and go on Skype and Facebook. The only difference is Patterson-Stark is in a wheelchair af-ter suffering from a spinal stroke.

“I was just sitting in class, Ameri-can Studies first period . . . [when] my legs felt like they were burning. I thought they were just falling asleep so I asked Mr. Jones if I could go to the bathroom. I tried to get up, but I just fell down and couldn’t get up. They had to call the wheelchair peo-ple and then I was sent to hospital,” said Patterson-Stark.

Patterson-Stark went to Mercy Hospital and spent three hours in the MRI. She was then sent to the University of Iowa Medical Center for five days. Later, she was trans-ferred to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo where she spent three weeks in rehabilitation. Now, she is finally home and back at school (though she will continue going to rehab three times a week at the University of Iowa).

“It took the whole month at Covenant to figure out what had happened. At first I couldn’t feel anything from the belly button down. Now I can feel some-times, if I press down, I can feel it,” Patterson-Stark said.

Patterson-Stark is very thankful for all the support she has gotten from her friends.

“When I was in the hospital there were probably always six to nine people visiting me at a time. I like having friends around. It’s better than sitting on my bed, by myself, playing Mario,” Patterson-Stark said.

“We almost beat [Mario Galaxy]; we’re on the last world,” added Patterson-Stark’s friend Nicole Gaeta ’13, who stayed with Patterson for almost her entire first week back.

Now that Patterson-Stark is back home, her family is starting to see the full effect of her stroke.

“This is as new and unknown for us as it is for ev-eryone else. It has affected everything in our lives. My wife has quit work to help out full time. Things you never think about all of a sudden matter. You change your outlook on everything, you’re more aware of space and things. Our house has narrow doorways and stairwells, it’s very old. We have had to install a chairlift and widen doorways and rearrange the house. It is things like that that you don’t nor-mally think about,” said Patterson-Stark’s father,Chad Stark.

Luckily the family is getting some assistance.“Habitat for Humanity has been very helpful

already,” said Stark. “This van is here because Habitat put us in contact with a family from Hills

who had it and didn’t need it anymore. They’ve already come and talked to us about the ramp and did primary measurements.”

Support doesn’t stop there. 1440 Interact recently hosted a bake sale at North Central Junior High in order to help raise money for Habitat to build the ramp. The cheerleaders are also trying to raise money to help cover Patterson-Stark’s medical bills. There will also be a live benefit concert to help cover the medical bills on Nov. 7 at 2:00 p.m. at the Johnson County Fairgrouds, featuring Nashville recording artist Jake McVey.

“I think its cool people want to help. Clearly we have financial problems, I was in the hospital for a while and that ends up being a lot of money,” Pat-terson-Stark said. “We could use help with anything people can come up with.”

Patterson-Stark is now back in school, something that she was not very excited for. However, her friends were thrilled.

“I am excited for you to come back,” Gaeta said to Patterson-Stark. “That way I won’t have to worry about you sending me ten texts during class.”

Patterson-Stark hopes to one day become a pho-tographer.

“I like to take pictures of myself or my friends or just of other people. I like taking pictures of people when they don’t expect it, like when they are walk-ing down the street or just not looking at me,” Pat-terson-Stark said.

Right now though, Patterson-Stark’s goals are a little simpler.

“I’m hoping I’ll be able to walk… I am just hoping for it. They don’t know if it will happen… it is just a hope,” Patterson-Stark said.

Kai Patterson ’14 gets a lift into the famlies new van with the help of her father before heading to the mall with friends. Patterson is learning to adjust to her new life, while still enjoying typical teen activities.


BY ALISSA [email protected]

Freshman recovering from recent spinal stroke

The largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,025 pounds (900 of which were pumpkin) and stretched twelve feet in diameter. It produced 3,000 slices.

More than 50 million pumpkin pies are consumed in the U.S. each year.

RUMORBUSTER

MR. GROSS ON TV? Those double takes at your TV

and a quick playback on TiVo will confirm this one.

“Yes, I’m in an ad. As a city coun-cilor I am in it talking about a new bridge being built with money from [the] I-JOBS program,” said social studies teacher Mitch Gross.

Gross said the experience was enjoyable overall.

“It took quite a while to shoot, so I was shocked that I was only on for ten seconds,” Gross said.

CONFIRMEDSCHOOL HEATING HAS SPECIFIC DATE TO START? After a week of cooler weather,

students shivering in the north side classrooms asked, “When is the heat coming on?”

According to Principal Jerry Ar-ganbright, the school usually has a target to turn the heat on between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1.

“We try to get through a good part of October,” said Argan-bright.

Students will be happy to know that Mike O’Connor, the head cus-todian, expects for the heat to be on by sometime this week.

MAYBE?

MAGNET SCHOOL IN ICCSD? Rumors have surfaced that the

proposed third high school may turn into a magnet school, similar to those in the Des Moines area.

“Yes, no, maybe,” Arganbright said. “Nobody knows yet what we’re going to do. The third atten-dance center could be a tradition-al high school or something else. I know North Liberty is expecting a traditional high school, but I know the superintendent is going to lead the discussion and try to find the best fit for the community.”

So, for right now it seems as though anything is possible.

CONFIRMED

05 news

05

The latest in a string of awards and accomplishments, the West High fo-rensics team attained a degree rating of 200 or more last year, placing it among the top five percent of Na-tional Forensics League teams nation-wide. Degrees are allocated based on the number of points won at compe-tition events as well as the number of participating students.

This is the second straight year that the team has won the honor, an acco-lade West also recieved in 2005 and 2006.

This distinction places the team in the league’s elite “200 Club,” accord-ing to forensics program coordinator, Cyndy Woodhouse.

“It really attests to the consistent quality of the kids, year after year,” said Woodhouse. “I’m very proud of them.”

Students attribute their success to

hard work all around. “It really comes down to how well the

coaching staff works with the students and how much we work at it,” said Dan-iel Dai ’11, a member of the debate

team. “We have really dedicated members, and I think that’s why we continually succeed.”

S p e e c h captain Paul McKinley ’11 agreed, cit-ing the overall quality of the

program and the preparedness of the teams at competitions.

“The coaches, [Megan and Melanie Johnson, Kathleen Hession, Michael Smith and Travis Henderson], continu-ously make it possible for the team to travel to larger out of state tourna-ments where we can compete against

the best in the country. On top of that, the team understands what needs to happen in order to perform well at these tournaments,” said McKinley.

Despite the honor, members of both teams haven’t put their guards down, focusing on winning up-coming tour-naments, and, in the long run, perform-ing well at na-tionals.

“I think this award will be nice for the team, but we’re really not a team that succeeds and then stops trying. To us, speech is about continual improvement. With a season that spans over the length of the school year, we’re constantly asking ourselves what we can do to get better,” McKinley said.

BY AMIR [email protected]

Speech and debate excel

What in the WORLD?

WATSONVILLE, CAMark Smith, 59, was arrested at a bank after he had alleg-edly threatened a teller with a bomb (spelled “bom” in the ransom note) and demanded $2,000. The teller, apparently skeptical of Smith’s tough-ness, convinced him to borrow the money instead, and she had him wait while she re-trieved an application (during which time she called 911). By the time police arrived, Smith was filling out the loan form.

JAPANBroken hips and sprained ankles might be a thing of the past for elderly Japanese citizens thanks to the invention of the human airbag. A pouch is strapped around the waist, and if sensors detect any sudden movement, airbags inflate in a tenth of a second and provide padding on the “most vulnerable parts of the body in a fall: the back of the head and the bottom.”

GERMANYRisto Koiva of Bielefeld University has in-vented the “Intelli Chair” after researching “sonification” -- the use of noise to convey information. If the chair detects that its oc-cupant is sitting in the wrong position or has remained seated for too long, it makes a noise to tell the user it is time to change position.

ART BY//BRIDGET NOVAKCOMPILED BY//ALISSA ROTHMAN

Edible “dirt” has recently appeared on the menus of several of the world’s most renowned restau-rants Actually, the “dirt” only looks and feels like dirt. Each chef cre-ates signature tastes from dried or charred powders with the appear-ance and consistency of sand, soil or ash -- from a base of plants, veg-etables or eggs, or even dried beer.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

DANIEL DAI ’11 PAUL MCKINLEY’11

Forensics recieves 200 degree ranking

06 news

06

ELECTIONS 2010COMPILED BY ELEANOR [email protected]

Name: Chet CulverParty: DemocraticAge: 44Political background: Culver began his career in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office as an environ-mental and consumer advocate. He was elected as Iowa Secretary of State in 1998, reelected in 2002 Record as governor: A 2010 study called “The Best and Worst Run States named Iowa the third best-run state in America. “This is just more great news for our state that shows our commitment to fiscal responsibility,” Culver said in an October press release. “Last week we celebrated a higher-than-expected surplus for our ending balance, and this week we are being recognized for it.”

Name: Terry BranstadParty: RepublicanAge: 63Political background: Branstad was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1972, ’74 and ’76, elected lieutenant governor in 1978, elected governor in 1983 and served as governor until 1999.Record as governor: When Branstad left office in 1999, the unemployment rate was the lowest in the nation (2.5%) and there was a budget surplus of $900 million.

CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR

21-only ordinance: An Iowa City ordinance to prohibit people younger than 21 from being in bars later than 10 p.m. was enacted on June 1, but will be subject to vote via referendum on Nov. 2. The 21 Makes Sense campaign sites Iowa City police statistics about reduced public-intoxication charges and PAULAs as evidence of the ordinance’s success and a reason to continue

Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Amend-ment: On Nov. 2, Iowans will get a chance to vote directly on a constitutional amendment to establish a conservation trust fund used for soil conservation,water quality improvement, grassland and wetland restoration and outdoor recreational activities. Iowa currently ranks 47th in the nation in conservation spending. If passed, the amendment

Culver’s views on:Job creation and business: passed and implemented $875 million I-Jobs program to create jobs and economic growth without raising taxes, created the Iowa Power Fund investing $35 million to employ Iowans in renewable energy developmentHealth care: proposes requiring health care insurance companies to cover chil-dren on their parents insurance until age 25, keep free health insurance option for state employees, place a cap on the cost increase of long-term insurance policies at 12% per year, force insurance companies to cover pre-existing condi-tions and drop the required waiting period between switching from a group to individual trading policyMilitary personnel and veterans: passed legislation enhancing housing, unemployment and education support and benefits for the spouses of deployed soldiers, creating programs to hire unemployed veterans and inform them of their benefitsMarriage: supports upholding the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage in Varnum v. Brien and opposes a vote on the issueGovernment reform: government efficiency initiative projected to save $300 millionEducation: raised teacher salary up to the national average, would provide pub-licly-funded pre-school for all four-year-olds and increase funding for schools by up to 4%Abortion: pro-choiceEnvironment: supports government regulation on the amount of commercial agricultural chemicals applied to the land, I-Jobs will supply $55 million in wa-ter quality improvement and $11.5 million for habitat reconstruction after the 2008 floods, established the Iowa Power Fund in 2007 to invest $100 million over four years in renewable energy

Brandstad’s views on:Job creation and business: opposes Culver’s I-Jobs program as too costly for the creation of too few jobs, promises to create a better climate for business by reducing commercial property taxes and cutting corporate income taxes in half, use the Iowa Partnership for Economic Prosperity to make entrepreneur-ship skills a part of each student’s core curriculum, 50% tuition tax credit for businesses who agree to pay tuition for an applied science community college student and hire the student upon graduationHealth care: supports requiring partial health insurance payment from public employees to cut costs Military personnel and veterans: exempt soldiers on active duty outside of Iowa from the state income tax, create the Iowa Veterans’ Job Bank to match unemployed veterans with jobs suiting their skill levelMarriage: supported the 1998 Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman through a constitutional amendment ap-proved through a voteGovernment reform: strict enforcement of the government’s state spending limitation laws, adopt a biennial instead of annual budget process, implement a five-year financial planEducation: disallow illegal immigrants to attend schoolAbortion: pro-life, supports the Oklahoma Law requiring women consider-ing abortion to watch ultrasounds of the fetus before making the decision (no exemptions for rape or incest)Environment: doesn’t support government regulation of the amount of agri-cultural chemicals applied to the land or other government environmental regu-lations or conservation spending

Pumpkin blossoms are edible.

OTHER BALLOT ISSUEScompiled by eleanor marshall

PHOTO BY//SARAH DIRKS

it. anti-21-ordinance campaign Yes to Enter-taining Students Safely argues that the facts are misleading and don’t account for the un-monitored house parties underage drinkers will turn to. Careful, the ballot language is counter-intuitive. Voting “no” will preserve the ordinance while voting “yes” will get rid of it.

07 news

07

ELECTIONS 2010 Name: Roxanne ConlinParty: DemocraticAge: 65Political experience: Conlin ran in and lost the 1982 election for governor and served as the 1998-99 chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic PartyRecord/history: served as United States Attorney for Iowa and has led wom-en’s rights, wrote the first law protecting the privacy of rape victims, passed a law making firing women for pregnancy illegal, owns and manages the law firm Roxanne Conlin & AssociatesEconomy: opposes the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, wants to provide $50 million in aid to state and local governments to retain public employees, end tax cuts for the top 2% of Americans, create tax incentives for businesses to keep and create jobs, invest in small businesses, impose a tariff on imports from countries that don’t follow American regulations and invest in domestic goodsEducation: ensure preschool education for every student through increased funding for Head Start, increase the American Opportunity tax credit to attend a university from $2,500 to $4,000 and lower the interest on student loansHealth care: supports the health care reform bill, wants to repeal the MacCa-rran-Ferguson Act to allow competition in the insurance industryEnvironment: eliminate $36.5 billion in subsidies for oil companies and invest in clean energy, invest in a smart grid across the MidwestAfghanistan: favors better cooperation with the Afghani government and a nar-rowly focused mission, opposes deployment of 30,000 more troopsLBGT rights: supports legalization of same-sex marriage, supports repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, would support and co-sponsor the Employee Non-Dis-crimination ActAbortion: pro-choice

Name: Chuck GrassleyParty: RepublicanAge: 77Political experience: Grassley has served as a U.S. Senator for Iowa since 1981. Served three terms in the US House of Representatives, represented Butler Coun-ty in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1959-74Record/history: is currently a senior member of the Committee on Finance, the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on the Budget. He is the only working farmer on the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and is co-chair of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. In 1992 he won the federal first tax incentive for wind energy productionEconomy: Smaller government, increased international trade, opposes tax in-creases, supports small businessesEducation: universities re-examine endowment policies, tax-free college savings account, remove 60-payment limit for deducting student loan interest, tax deduc-tions for college tuitionHealth care: Opposes Obama’s health care bill, create payment incentives to reward quality versus quantity of services, recognize differences in rural versus urban healthcareEnvironment: energy independence through development of alternative renew-able fuels, authored successful bill for wind energy tax credits, supports extending biodiesel tax credit and creating ethanol, cellulosic ethanol and small producer tax creditsAfghanistan: National security is the number one priority, opposes closing Guantanamo Bay and trials for prisoners accused of terrorist actsLBGT rights: voted for the Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, supports retaining Don’t Ask, Don’t TellAbortion: pro-life

Name: Dave LoebsackParty: DemocraticAge: 65Political experience: Has served in the US House of Representa-tives since 2006, Professor Emeritus of political science at Cornell College in Mt. VernonRecord/history: Currently serves on the Committee of Armed Ser-vices and the Committee of Education and LaborEconomy: Supports American Recovery and Reinvestment ActEducation: Provide for development ofHealth care: supports the health care reform bill, wants to repeal the MacCarran-Ferguson Act to allow competition in the insurance industryEnvironment: eliminate $36.5 billion in subsidies for oil companies and invest in clean energy, invest in a smart grid across the MidwestAfghanistan: favors better cooperation with the Afghani government and a narrowly focused mission, opposes 30,000 more troopsWomen’s/LBGT rights: supports legalization of same-sex marriage, supports repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, would support the Employee Non-Discrimination ActAbortion: pro-choice

Name: Mariannette Miller-MeeksParty: RepublicanAge: 65Political experience: 2008 candidate for the Second Congressional District of the U.S. House of RepresentativesRecord/history: 24 years of service in the U.S. Army, first woman president of the Iowa Medical Society Economy: Enact a balanced budget amendment, decrease taxes and regulation of businesses and lower corporate income tax rate, extend Bush-era tax cuts, de-prioritize reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and give TARP bailout money from banks directly to taxpayers, new system of competitive bidding for local projects based on merit to reduce wasteful projectsHealth care: opposes health care reform bill and government-run option, reduce costs through increased competition by opening up inter-state health purchasing, insurance as safety net rather than primary means of complete coverageEnvironment: Opposes cap-and-trade, supports developing cleaner coal technology, in-creasing domestic oil production, helping bring second nuclear power plant to Iowa, develop-ing wind power, ethanol and biofuelAfghanistan: Supports increased troops, more political input from military experts, opposes civilian trials for Guantanamo Bay detainees, increased veteran support and medical careLBGT rights: supports repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t TellAbortion: pro-life with exceptions for rape and incest victims and when the mother’s life is endangered

Retaining Iowa’s Supreme Court Justices: This Midterm election, three of the justices on the Iowa Supreme Court will be subject to a public vote on their retention. No justice has ever lost in a retention race since the vote was implemented in 1962, but in light of the ruling to legal-ize same-sex marriage in Varnum v. Brien, campaigns to oust the judges have popped up across the state, led by former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats. Re-

CANDIDATES FOR 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

CANDIDATES FOR U. S. SENATE

The largest pumpkin ever recorded weighed 1,140 pounds.

wouldn’t provide immediate funds, since the money would come from three-eighths of every cent in the next sales tax increase approved by the Iowa legislature. The tax would provide an estimated $150 million per year in conservation funding. Opponents question its potential impact on low-income families.

moving the judges wouldn’t automatically reverse the rul-ing, but those who oppose the judges’ retention hope it could lead to a different ruling in the future. Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and groups like the Fair Courts for Us Committee have counter-cam-paigned for the retention of the judges in support of the independence of the judicial branch and/or the same-sex marriage ruling.

08 profiles

08

A day in the life of a Custodian Meet the three daytime custodians, the backbones of West High

Ron Melsha7:00 a.m. prepares the Main Office for the day.

9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Miscel-laneous tasks and handiwork. “What I most enjoy about my job is that everyday is different,” he said. His least favorite task is cleaning up vomit.

3:00 p.m. Cleans restrooms. He feels that the effort put into the cleanliness of the bathrooms goes unnoticed by the student body.

3:30 p.m. End of shift.

Melsha’s pet peeve is when he pushes carts down the hallways and students ignore him by not moving out of his way.

Mike O’Connor 5:00 a.m. Arrives at West to make sure things are ready to go for the day. “A difficult thing about being a custodian is being short staffed and trying to get all of the work done,” O’Connor said.

12:00 p.m. Cleaning up after 1,800 kids in the lunchroom is always a highlight. The day is almost over for Mike, a couple more hours of doing jobs and helping people will make it complete. “Helping people is something I enjoy doing every-day,” O’Connor said.

2:30 p.m. The day is over, and Mike is ready to go home. “Being a custodian, there is no such thing as a normal day. Everyday is a new adventure.”

Brian Donohoe2:00 p.m. arrives at West and picks up the plaza. Afterwards he responds to pages for miscel-laneous tasks.

4:00 p.m.cleans17 to 18 classrooms and cleans chalkboards, sweeps and sometimes mops the floors.

6:00 p.m. cleans the West Wing office.

Donohoe enjoys working with people, students and parents at football dinners and band concerts. “The custodians set up a lot of the behind the scenes things such as bleachers and score boards for games.”

[email protected] & [email protected] JULIANN SKARDA AND CAROLINE FOUND

Pumpkins are 90% water.

PHOTOS BY//SARAH DIRKS

09

Lauren’s leaps and boundsBY ELEANOR [email protected]

Lauren Carmen ’12 executed her first plie when she was five years old. Tendus came next, then pirouhettes and pointe shoes. Grace came last

of all.She dances ballet, pointe and “a little bit of modern” at

the Nolte Academy of Dance and is already rehearsing for featured roles in the Nutcracker ballet including a sugar plum, the snow queen and the Arabian knight. This is Carmen’s seventh year performing in the Nutcracker.

“My mom signed me up [for dance class] because I was always running into tables and she hoped it would help me be a little less clumsy. And then I liked it and stuck with it,” Carmen said.

Carmen has been in search of grace in more ways than one – saying she was first inspired to pursue

dance seriously in fourth grade when she transferred to the Dance forum and met her current teacher Grace Snyder.

Amanda Bartels ’13 dances with Lauren everyday, and after seven years of classes, Bartels respects Lauren as a dancer and a close friend.

“She brings a lot of energy to the classroom and a lot of focus. Every [dance skill] she has is stuff that she works for. . . . She is always nice. If your hair looks like crap, she’ll point out that your eye makeup is really pretty,” Bartels said.

Bartels added that although Carmen has a lot of natural ability, it’s her determination that really stands out.

“[Dance is] supposed to be impossible. Everything you do can always be better. There’s always something to work at. . . . It’s life compacted down. All aspects of life can be condensed into it,” Carmen said. But when you expand Carmen’s life back out, it still

looks a lot like a ballet. She dances every single day for several hours, and for nine hours on Saturday. Five to six weeks of her past few summers have been spent training with prestigious dance companies like the Houston Ballet and Texas Ballet Theatre. “I don’t really have a life. I end up staying up late a lot and in the summer it feels like you didn’t really have a summer. You come back and all of the sudden school starts. But I can’t think of anything I’d rather do,” Carmen said.

In fact, Carmen dreams of dancing professionally for a company like Houston one day. She’s interested in all aspects of the performance, and hopes to also work in costume design and even create her own ballet.

While dance is first and foremost an art form to Carmen, she isn’t quick to dismiss the caliber of athleticism required. To the non-believers she just says, “You try dancing on your toes all day.”

The word pumpkin comes from the Greek word “pepon” meaning large melon.

Blake Boseneiler ’14 has legs long enough to carry her across the country, leaping from Iowa City to Seattle to Texas (and everywhere in between) to

pursue dance.From her first twirls at age six to the pirouettes she now

spends hours perfecting at the Nolte Academy of Dance, Boseneiler has worked her entire life for dance, taking few breaks. She has attended the Houston Ballet in Texas for six weeks during the summer, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Wash. for five weeks.

“My favorite part was dancing for so many hours in a day

and learning from so many new instructors,” she said.She’s quite the jet-setter, but Nolte will always be

Boseneiler’s “second home.” She has a soft spot for ballet, but she also participates in jazz and contemporary dance classes along with Affect, the studio’s competitive dance team. This winter will mark Boseneiler’s seventh appearance in Nolte’s performance of The Nutcracker ballet.

Last year, Boseneiler snagged the lead role of Clara, which was “a scary experience because of all the acting that goes along with the dancing.”

This year Boseneiler will be Snow Queen, Arabian and Sugar Plum, which are all leads.

“I’m split casting these roles with Lauren Carmen [’12], who I spend many of my dancing hours with,” Boseneiler said.

Miranda Sauvé ’13 also dances at Nolte and has danced with Boseneiler for three years.

“I love doing Nutcracker with Blake, she is an amazing dancer and inspires me to work harder to achieve my goals,” she said.

Although the future is distant, Boseneiler plans to go to school to dance.

“I know I’d like to go out of Iowa, there are so many places and opportunities that I’m undecided on a school as of now,” she said.

BY OLIVIA [email protected]

PHOTOS BY//JOJO SILVERMAN

ART BY//BRIDGET NOVAKBallet is Blake’s forté

From left: Blake Boseneiler leaps at Nolte Academy of Dance; Lauren Carmen and Boseneiler stay in sync; Carmen executes a stag leap during dance practice.

09 profiles

10 A&E

10

P.O.S of the month

Upcoming Events

Saturday, Oct. 307:00-11:00 p.m.

Rocky Horror Picture Show, at the Englert The-atre, tickets are $15.

compiled by evan smith

compiled by audrey evans

“Gloria is in the prime of her life.”1991 Off-White Toyota Previa named Gloria

“It’s very spacious and excellent for parties.”

“I have a CD player, but there’s a CD stuck in it, so that sucks.”

Davy Perlman ’12

“The back shocks don’t work so it’s a really bumpy ride.”

“The side sliding door doesn’t open, so passengers have to climb through the trunk to get in.”

Antarctica is the only continent pumpkins can’t grow on.

art by bridget novak

1Sunday, Nov. 7 7:00 p.m.

Jack’s Mannequin performs at the University of Iowa main lounge, tickets are $31.85.2

4Monday, Nov. 8

Kate Nash preforms at the Englert theatre. Student tick-ets are $14.

7:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m.

3 State Competitions for fall sports

Saturday, Nov. 6Girls’ SwimmingCheerleading

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 12 & 13Girls’ Volleyball

5Tuesday, Nov. 97:00 p.m.

The Fall Sports Awards Program is taking place in the West High Auditorium.

6Thursday, Dec. 2-37:30 p.m.

West High’s Fall Musical- Guys and Dolls will be in the West High Auditorium.

“Last week, someone put this thing in it, I don’t know what it is, but I kind of like it.”

Saturday, Dec. 4 2:00 p.m.

11 A&E

11

Ceurvorst takes on CaliforniaBY JULIANN [email protected]

From Iowa to California, Cassan-dra Ceurvorst ’12 has talent that is taking her places ... literally.

Though friends and family know her as Cassandra Ceurvorst, the music industry knows otherwise. Most who work with her know her under her stage name, Cassandra Michaels.

“I’m working on my first demo right now, which has been a lot of fun. I eventually want to get into the music industry. I’m excited [to see] where that takes me,” she said.

This year the former West High student moved to Burbank, Calif. to pursue a career in the entertain-ment industry. Along with working on her first demo CD, she is taking acting classes, meeting with music producers and taking dance lessons from talented choreographers like Shane Sparks from America’s Best Dance Crew and Sonya Tayeh of So You Think You Can Dance.

Beginning dance lessons at the age of two, Ceurvorst’s hobby grew until she was taking 12 hours of dance per week by sixth grade. With a busy dance schedule, her singing hobby was confined to les-sons with a private vocal instructor. Further proving her versatility, she also writes songs and plays both the piano and guitar.

“One of my acting coaches heard me singing and encouraged me to start writing my own music. I haven’t had much training in piano and guitar, but I play by ear so I can pick up tunes,” Ceurvorst said.

She was able to get her first big taste of the entertainment indus-try while working on The Young Artist Project. The youngest of ten performers aged 16 - 23 cast out

THE MONTHLY CD REVIEWby pombie silverman & anna egeland

Brought to you by the same man who sang the hooks of B.o.B’s “Nothin’ on You” and Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire,” Mars’ debut CD belts out his silky smooth Doo-Wops for the ladies (“Just the Way You Are”) and Hooligans for the guys (“Marry You”). A standout track of the album is “The Lazy Song,” filled with clever lyrics about just wanting to stay at home: “I’ll be lying on the couch just chillin’ in my snuggie/Click to MTV so they can teach me how to dougie.” This newcomer proves his talent through his ten ra-dio-ready, Jason-Mraz-like catchy pop tunes.

Lil’ WayneI Am Not A Human Being

While Lil’ Wayne is most famous for his lollipop licking innuendos, it’s nice to see Weezy F. Baby moving in a new direction. Not only does he fea-ture up-and-coming artists like Nicki Minaj and Gudda Gudda on eleven of his thirteen tracks, there seems to be a more serious tone stirring in Lil’ Wayne’s lyrics.

Despite his lyrical growth, he seems to be los-ing some of his individuality when it comes to his sound. There are less psychedelic guitar riffs and his voice is, well, less weezy. “Single” is a good example of why Lil’ Wayne doesn’t attempt slow songs often and “With You” had me wondering if I was actually listening to Mariah Carey.

I can’t picture any of these songs becoming hits like “Lollipop,” but “Bill Gates” and “Right above it” seem to have potential. This album is a clear sign that Lil’ Wayne should continue to collaborate with other artists.

COMPLETE THE

LYRICSwith jon bach

WSS: When I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change cause your...BACH: face is nice and symmetric.WSS: Yeah, baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again so dance, dance, like it’s the...BACH: end of the world.WSS: You know I know how

To make ‘em stop and stare as I ____,

The club can’t even handle me right nowBACH: do my thing.WSS: I was thinkin about her, thinkin about me, thinkin about us...BACH: thinkin about our retire-ment.WSS: Party like like its the end of the world, we gonna party like like...

BACH: 1999.WSS: If it’s love, and we’re two birds of a feather, then the rest is just whenever, and if I’m addicted to loving you, and you’re addicted to my love too, we can be them two birds of a feather that...BACH: roll together.

The tradition of pumpkin carving originated with the Irish, although they originally carved radishes and turnips.

Cassandra Ceurvorst ‘12 records her first demo in the studio. Ceurvorst has spent this year in California, pursuing her of dreams of acting and singing professionally.

PHOTO COURTESY OF//CASSANDRA CEURVORST

of the Los Angeles area, Ceurvorst and her peers had 12 days to cre-ate, write and produce a show at the La Miranda Theatre. Working together, the group created a string of vignettes that were tied together with the common theme of rela-tionships. Ceurvorst wrote scenes, choreographed, composed and per-formed music for the show.

Although California boasts warm weather and a promising shot at the music industry, leaving Iowa has brought it’s share of struggles.

“I really miss my family and friends. It’s a weird feeling that I have to use Skype to talk to my little

brother,” she said.For former West High classmate

and close friend Allie Gilbaugh ‘12, the separation is trying, but not im-possible to overcome.

“I miss her... but we have a lot of good memories together which keeps our relationship strong and sweet,” said Gilbaugh.

Her parents switch off staying with her in California, and her mother Tami Ceurvorst says that Cassandra is adjusting to life on her own very quickly.

Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans

Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.

12 A&E

12

The whole enchilada

Los Portales could only be described as a classic Mexican restaurant. From the good, authentic food to the décor of sombreros and piñatas, Los Portales fits perfectly into the mold. The chips and salsa were good, but nothing particularly special. The large variety of ingredients in the taco salad ensured that the consumer would not be bored with the wonderful concoction. Most of all, the chile rellenos were the best of all the restaurants visited. All craving a typical Mexican meal will surely find their fix at Los Portales.

A semi-recent newcomer to the Iowa City Mexican food scene, El Cactus is a pretty decent place to get your Mexican on. And no, we won’t say that out loud, even if you ask. The burrito, while lacking in the anything-other-than-meat-inside-the-tortilla department, made up for it in the well-seasoned-meat category. The chile relleno was nothing special, but was comparably one of the better ones we ate during our excursions and the enchilada was rather average. The service is nice, the place is cozy and it is in a decent location. Overall, El Cactus is on the good side of average.

El Dorado was by far the most hit-or-miss place we ate at, with the quality of the food varying greatly from dish to dish. The fajitas, for example, were very strong (especially the steak), but the burritos left much to be desired. I understand that authentic Mexican burritos typically have very few ingredients, but after ordering a steak burrito I couldn’t help but be disappointed to only get a bit of tasteless ground beef in a tortilla. A special mention must be made, however, to the pre-meal chips, which were our per-sonal favorites.

Azul Tequila was, in a word, Californiatacostand. In other words, wonderful. Azul Tequila features a large variety of seafood creations on their menu, from the traditional fish taco to the more unusual lobster burrito. Despite the lack of a nearby sea or ocean (or just any relatively large body of water), the quality of the fish was top-notch. The fish taco was a perfect combination of pico de gallo, cabbage and fried cod, topped with a sauce reminiscent of California taco stands. The seafood fajita provided an outstanding mix of grilled vegetables, shrimp, and scallops. Most importantly, the complementary chips and salsa at the beginning of the meal were marvelous.

Iguana’s only positive – their tasty, warm chips – only created a juxtaposition that highlighted the unfortunate rest of the meal: an olive-covered chile relleno with an oddly sweet aftertaste and a beef taco without seasoning except for one well-seasoned chunk that lay on the latter half of the taco. We did not finish our food and the service was surprisingly slow for only having two tables to cover in the restaurant. Overall, Iguana’s is not a place we will be returning to willingly. As in, we would need to be tied, gagged, blind-folded and driven there by an enemy. And no, we’re not encouraging this.

La Reyna is located in a tiny building nestled away next to the Iowa City K-mart, but while the location is less than ideal the food is a step above the rest. The food is both authentic and delicious, just what you would expect from a family-owned resteraunt. The burritos and enchiladas were both top-notch, and a whole meal could be (and in our case, was) made out of their fantastic guacamole. By combining great food with an authentic atmosphere, La Reyna was exactally what a great Mexican place should be, and was one of our favorites.

COMPILED BY DAN ROTHMAN, EMILY KREITER, & MADHU SRIKANTHA

D+B-

B+ A

B A+

PHOTOS BY//EMILY KREITER

ART BY//BRIDGET NOVAK

WSS: When did you start collecting?EV: My mom gave me a perfume sample. And then the lady at the Chanel counter gave me one. And then the lady at the Clinique counter gave me a lipstick sample.WSS: What inspired you to start collecting?EV: I’m saving up for when I become the ruler of a small European country. I’ve heard through the grapevine that one of the requirements for entering the country is owning a large supply of cosmetics.WSS: Any stories from items that stand out from your collection?EV: It’s actually not too shabby, but I’m holding out for another hundred items before I show anyone else.WSS: How do people react when they find out or see your collection?EV: My grandmothers wear Chanel number five (because they’re old school) and so I spritzed some at my wrist when I was at the Chanel counter. The lady who was manning the booth gave me a strange look (not that many sixteen-year-olds are willing to shell out the big bucks for perfume), so I told her that my grandmothers wore it and she gave me a sample bottle. Obviously, she observed that I am a particularly awesome person.

14 feature

14

wacky collectionsWest High is a collection of people. Specific people in that collection of people have collections of things that are not usually collected. The

WSS set out to find a collection of people who don’t have collections of mundane items, but of unusual ones.

West Side Story: When did you start collecting?MG: Probably about ’98. I was working for the government, in politics, and want-ed a way to show where I’d been.WSS: What inspired you to start collect-ing?MG: What inspired

me to display my magnets at school was when I was a student teacher for [social studies teacher Brady] Shutt. He had a porcelain thimble collection and probably spent about an hour a week polishing them.WSS: Any stories from items that stand out from your collection?MG: I have a Marlin [magnet] from the island of Kawaii and I actually caught a Marlin there. I [also] have a pre-9/11 magnet from New York City that has the twin towers on it.WSS: How do people react when they find out or see your collection?MG: People are always shocked when they see all of the places I’ve been.

WSS: When did you start collect-ing?EC: I’m not really sure when I started making a horde of emp-tied packages in my sock draw-er, but I’d estimate about two or three years ago.WSS: What inspired you to start collecting?EC: I just have some great memories that go along with them, and decided to keep them to remind me.WSS: How do people react when they find out or see your collection?EC: Most people just look at me strangely, and then check to make sure that they’re all empty. The odd person out will actually ask me why I collect empty sugar packets, but mostly they just stare.WSS: Any stories from items that stand out from your collection?EC: My favorite one is probably the pink Sweet ‘n’ Low one ... because it re-minds me of the time that I was at Terrapin with a couple of my friends, and there was a phone number on the package to call if you had questions. One of my friends called the number and started asking dumb questions like, “What’s it made out of?” and, “Why does it taste so sweet?” while the rest of us just cracked up and almost choked on our donuts.

Pumpkins were originally recommended for curing snake bites and freckles.

Mitch Gross, social studies teacher, collects magnets

Elizabeth Vandenberg ’12 collects makeup samples

Erin Cook ‘14 collects sugar packets

COMPILED BY ASHTON [email protected]

PHOTO BY//JOJO SILVERMAN


PHOTO BY//ASHTON DUNCAN

Morton, IL is the pumpkin capital of the world.

During the West High Football games, you can hear the marching band from

blocks away. The section highest in volume? The drumline. Curtis Boysen ’11 has reaped the bene-fits, and the costs,

of being part of the loudest section of the band.

“I began to realize I was losing my hear-ing when I started to reply to people’s questions with the word ‘what?’ Today, even after p r o t e c t -ing my ears with e a r p l u g s when I play drums or snare in drumline, I still find m y s e l f asking peo-ple ‘what did you just say?’ or ‘would you speak up?’,” said Boysen.

And he’s not alone. According to a re-port published by CBS News, hearing loss is up 30% in teens since the 1980s and 1990s, and increased headphone

15 feature

BY EMILY [email protected]

use is targeted as a possibility for this increase.

“The issue isn’t the earbuds, per se, but the increased length of time per-sons use the systems and the volume at which they listen,” said University of Iowa Audiologist Dr. Shea Becker. “The availability of personal headsets has greatly increased the use time; this, coupled with the desire to increase the volume to overcome environmental interference and/or for listener prefer-ence, can result in levels that are dam-aging to the ear.”

Boysen said that to avoid further hear-ing loss he is starting to wear earplugs.

“Anytime I play drums I wear them. Drums are the main reason for my hearing loss. I also try to avoid be-ing around really loud things, but if I

have to be near things that make a lot of noise I make sure to wear earplugs,” he said.

Becker said that these measures are what she would recommend, as well as a few other tips.

“If you notice any ringing in your ears or feel that sounds are muffled (espe-cially after a concert or sporting event), consider it a warning that you’ve dam-aged your ears. With repeated expo-sure, that damage will become per-manent. A basic rule of thumb is that if you can’t talk over it, it might be loud enough to damage your hearing. Limit the use of personal headphones, and when wearing them be sure that you can hear a person talking an arm’s length away – any louder than that may be damaging; wear earplugs when us-

DR. SHEA BECKER, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA AUDIOLOGIST

“IF YOU NOTICE ANY RINGING IN YOUR EARS OR FEELTHAT SOUNDS ARE MUFFLED, CONSIDER IT

A WARNING THATYOU’VE DAMAGED [ [YOUR EARS.”

ing power tools, mowing, or shooting recreationally,” she said. “I would also recommend that anyone suspecting hearing loss have a hearing test by an audiologist to get confirmation.”

Despite the expense of drumline, Boysen said that he will not give it up. “[I like drumline because] I like to think up complicated ideas such as polyrhythms or play melodies with out actually having different pitches to play them … It is a form of music and I love music.”

www.asha.com[American Speech-Language-Hearing Association]

www.audiology.org [American Academy of Audiology]

www.hearingloss.org [Hearing Loss Association of America]

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

WHEN HEADPHONES AND DRUM RHYTHMS BECOME HEARING AIDSAND DOCTORS VISITS, IT’S TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC.

CURTIS BOYSEN’11

15


FASHIONYou’re searching through online cloth-

ing websites when you come across the cutest skirt. The price? 80 dollars. At this point, Katherine Stratton ’12 would think to herself, “Hey, I could make that myself and not have to spend so much money.”

“I’ll see something online or in a store that I couldn’t afford, and try to make it myself,” Stratton said.

In fact, Stratton has made countless ar-ticles of clothing since second grade, when she took her first sewing class.

“[In the class] I made a pair of box-ers that I still wear sometimes. But they’re falling apart,” Stratton said.

Aside from the classes, she has improved her sewing skills with the help of her grandma.

“My grandma sews a lot, so if I ever need help with a project, I just take it over to her,” Stratton said.

Since making the boxers, she has sewed many more sophisticated pieces, includ-ing dresses for homecoming and prom. She made herself a feather dress for prom last year, as well as West High graduate

WESTMegan Stroback ’10’s homecoming dress.

“The dress is based off a Japanese fashion that is called Sweet Lolita. I am an offbeat kind of girl and I wanted a dress that described me. I ordered the fabric [online] from Japan and [Stratton] made the dress. Katherine has also made me skirts. She has an amazing talent . . . [the dress] turned out amazing,” Stroback said.

Stratton’s inspiration for clothing pieces comes from her fashion icons Zooey Deschanel and Janis Joplin, and also from fashion blogs. Her favorite blog is www.lookbook.nu, a web-site where people post pictures of their outfits after they apply and are accepted to the blog.

Although she doesn’t make and wear home-made clothes as much as she would like to, Stratton still tries to keep her outfits unique.

“This year I’m trying not to wear jeans all year [to school]. And I don’t wear sweatpants, ever. These are my only two rules,” Stratton said.

As for fashion plans in the future?“I would like to [do something with

fashion] maybe once in a while. I don’t know if I could do it as a job; it would be really time-consuming and draining.”

16

Fashion: forward and backwardBY CAROLINE VAN [email protected]

AT

Chic-er than New York, New York. Even fashion-forwarder than Paris and a world above Milan. Homemade used to mean frumpy home economics projects, but lately DIY is the new DKNY. Just ask Acacia Wil-liams ’12, with style that’s anything but safe.

After learning the “ins and outs” of sewing from her mother (a seamstress), Williams started sew-ing her own clothes two years ago while creating a costume for an anime convention. Realizing her knack for sewing, Williams stitched her way to a wider audience, and she has already started booking clients for her new sewing business.

“This year at the anime convention peo-ple started asking me where I got my cos-tume, and when I told them I made it, they asked if I would help them make theirs. [. . .] People really enjoy what I make and I can make money from it,” Williams said.

Patterns are often just a starting point for Williams, and the end is wherever a cre-ative mind and a cross-stitch lead. Wil-liams began sewing “big, poofy dresses,” moving to body suits and Lolita dresses.

“[Acacia] can make you something com-pletely different from anything else, as opposed to those who stick to patterns and precise cookie-cutter designs,” said Elle Short, for-mer West student and one of William’s clients.

Williams’ business is new, and she’s rapidly expanding. With Halloween just around the corner, Acacia is working on up to four commis-sions at a time, but she always remains commit-ted to working collaboratively with the client.

“She did well with getting me what I wanted out of the dress and also made some altera-tions that fit my body type and I really ended up loving. It was so much fun working with her and being able to get input from her. It made me want to go home and sew all the time,” said Emmi Clarkson ’13, who sewed her first anime costume with Williams’ help.

“It feels good to sit down and focus on some-thing and be able to create something. ... I think my business will last after high school. It will stay a hobby to have fun and make money. It’s nice to know I could fall back and support myself with it,” Williams said.

Making anime avant gardeBY ELEANOR [email protected]



Pumpkin seeds may help prevent prostate cancer.16

16 feature

17 feature

DIG THIS?

CHECK OUT OUR SITE:WSSPAPER.COMFOR AN EXTENDED INTERVIEW AND MORE PHOTOS.

HAUTE TOPICWSS: What styles in magazines or celebrities’ styles do you try to emulate?NICOLL MANHICA: Emma Watson. She has some of the best styles out there. It’s always classic, but she makes it her own.ERIN RICHMOND: I like anything that stands out. If I see something in a magazine, I want to rec-reate it.WSS: What are your favorite stores? What do you like about these clothes?NM: Oh, this is an easy question! Revival, White Rabbit, Ann Taylor Loft and Dillard’s. Revival has used clothing. The first time I went into White Rab-bit was because of the art. But now I like that you never know what you’ll find.ER: I love J-Crew. That is great for classic pieces. But for the fun things I like Revival and H&M for more unique pieces.WSS: Who are your favorite designers?ER: Alexander McQueen. You have to see [his de-signs]. They are very artistic. You would never wear them, but the presentation of them are magical.NM: Kate Spade because everything she designs is

On Richmond (left): Banana Republic

black leather jacket. BCBG Maxazria purple and white geometric dress,

$100. Express black pattern tights, $6.

On Manhica (right): Revival boots, $20. Gap denim jacket,

$35. Earrings, $3.50. Vintage yellow dress.

On Erin Weathers ‘13: White Rabbit dress, $18. Gap black blazer, $60. Steve Madden sandals, $50. Revival Earrings, $15. White Rabbit bag, $12.

brightly colored. Also Marc Jacobs, his styles are all clean and fresh.WSS: Where else do you get inspiration?ER: I like lookbook because it’s everyday people, not models or people with lots of money. They put togeth-er really cohesive looks with non-expensive clothes.NM: I’m just a people watcher. I know that sounds really creepy, but I look at other people’s clothing. My mom and I do this all the time. We look at people and say “look at what they’re wearing.”WSS: What do you like about each other’s style?ER: I like how our styles are the same but different. Things that she would wear, I would wear.NM: Yeah, when we go shopping we will reach for the same thing.WSS: How has your style changed since junior high?NM: No more ties, thank god. I was such a weirdo. I used to wear my dad’s ties to school.ER: I think I’ve just discovered more in the world of fashion. I went from wearing really basic things to more adventurous things.

On Tim Yu ‘12: Urban Outfitters fedora, $28. Urban Outfitters blue cardigan, $35. Polo Ralph Lauren button down, $50. Ray-Ban sunglasses, $159. Polo Ralph Lauren khaki pants, $55.

WSS interviewed two stylish seniors Erin Richmond ‘11 and Nicoll Manhica ‘11




George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew pumpkins in their gardens.

compiled by becky sweeney

17

BEYOND FUNCTIONALThey’ve been called a lot

of things. Special. Chal-lenged. Handicapped. But what about just call-

ing them kids? High school students. Friends. The West Wing Functional Program teaches students with mental disabilities to be much more than func-tional, but to be a wide and deep pres-ence around West High.

“A school like this allows a lot of opportunities to present themselves and makes it happen,” said Steve Merkle, West High’s Special Pro-grams coordinator.

From making mon-s t e r

cookies to helping West High go green, the functional program students play a role in each West High students’ life, no matter how small.

RECYCLING CLASSTwelve years ago, West High was

recognized for being a green school for starting a recycling program, a fairly new concept at the time. Since then, the recycling program has grown into a larger program that meets every day during fifth period. The class, with the help of student volunteers, picks up all the bottles, cans, and papers that are collected each day in various classrooms.

The students divide the school up into four routes to pick up re-

cyclables from classrooms and sort them to be taken to the recycling center.

Charmel Davis ’13 is an active participant in recy-cling class.

“Charmel works and runs his own route all by

himself,” said Merkle. “He doesn’t need any help. He

likes the i n -de-

pendence, right?”“Yeah,” said Davis. “I like sorting

and recycling.” “We create projects that teach voca-

tional skills so students can be indepen-dent workers. There are all sorts of skills we work on, from memorizing the route to even organizing the route and being totally independent in all the skills nec-essary to complete the route. Get the paper, put in its proper channels, and the plastics and the tin cans, we even sort the cans that are worth money from the cans that aren’t worth money to take to the can shed,” Merkle said.

Much of the money raised from the Recycling Class goes towards buying more recycling bins for the school.

PRODUCTION CLASSWith fruit from the music depart-

ment, Girl Scout Cookies and Boy Scout popcorn, it’s easy to overlook smaller organizations trying to package and sell their own goods. Despite the competition, West High’s Production Class has been working hard to hold their own in the market.

The class makes a wide array of

products, from monster cookies to ce-dar lawn chairs.

“I like making chairs. I like put-ting things together,” Davis said.

“I started [the class] around ten years ago, and we just started out making some cookies and my goal was that they would sell them to pay for the ingre-dients so we could continue to do it. [We do it] as a production line to give them production skills and vocational training, working in a plan where you would have an assigned task and you’d have to complete that and as the group does each task, you produce a final product. That’s what Production Class is all about, and I’ve found that we can really make almost anything on that principle,” Merkle said.

The students have created their own sales brochure to sell their goods to all who are interested. The class dis-cusses quality control, as well as re-search and design of various products.

Still in the works is a coffee shop to replace the school store that was dises-

tablished at the end of last year. “It’s being coordinated through the BPA. City High has had a successful

one for years, and we’re probably not going to follow


PHOT

OS B

Y//S

ARAH

DIR

KS

A look at the West Wing Educational Program

their model, but we still might sell some of our monster cookies, scotcheroos and puppy chow,” Merkle said.

Profits from the production class go towards funding the students’ ski trip

and a trip to Camp Courageous in the summer, as well as towards supplies to make new goods.

THE TALENT SHOWEvery April, West High’s Special Pro-

grams puts on a Talent Show to perform for parents, teachers and students.

“I would have to say the Talent Show [is my favorite part of the year]. It started off as a really small idea of just

getting family and friends to come together and now it’s turned into a pretty

big event. The whole staff gets involved throughout the build-ing, and students and parents attend, and it has just really taken off.

Every year it’s just a blast once it all comes together,” Merkle said.

“[I like the Talent Show because] I get

to show that I have talent to other peo-ple. This year we’re singing ‘Celebra-tion,’ ‘Locomotion’ and the ‘Banana Boat Song,’” said Stephanie Crawford ’12, a participant.

A wide variety of acts such as singing, dancing and skits are put together with a unifying theme. This year’s theme is transportation.

“The kids will probably be doing a PowerPoint project about trains or air-planes or something about transporta-tion,” Merkle said. “It’s a great show. It gives our kids an opportunity to per-form at their own levels, it seems like anybody who has ever come to it goes away feeling good about what they’ve witnessed. … It’s a pretty good ex-perience for people to get involved in and parents really love to see their kids getting up there and giving their best performance.”

This year’s show will take place on April 28 at 6:30 p.m in the North Band Room.

SPECIAL OLYMPICSBowling, softball, basketball and

skiing are just a few of the sports that Special Education students are involved in during Special Olympics. The students compete every season in various sports with students from all over the state of Iowa.

“[I like Special Olympics] because I can do fun stuff with all my friends,” said Crawford. “I like doing bowling,

basketball, track and field and softball.”Merkle has also

created a program known as the “Cycling Project” where students with various levels of disabilities are accommodated if they have a desire to ride a bicycle.

“We have probably over $30,000 of cycling equipment now. Pretty much any kid who wants to ride some kind of a cycle, we can make that happen, no

matter what their disability, from get-ting out of a wheelchair and going for a ride to being able to choose to pedal or not to pedal, or even the kids that can’t ride a bike but can independently steer and brake. We have [tricycles] that they can ride that they don’t have to worry about the balance, so it’s pretty neat,” Merkle said.

And the Cycling Project has grown dramatically. From its kick-off in 2001 with five participants, Merkle has now integrated more than 50 students throughout the district.

“It gives them the opportunity to be social and get involved in physical ac-tivity. The whole concept is a chance for them to be a winner and earn the medals, especially at a school like West High, where just your regular Joe tries to go out for football and finds it very competitive, and then having a dis-ability on top of that can make it more c h a l l e n g -ing. Special O ly m p i c s gives them that op-portunity to compete and have fun with it,” Merkle said.

BEST BUDDIESSince its inception last

year, Best Buddies has taken off as a club, with more than 30 participants. Each “buddy” is matched up with a student with special needs, with the hope that they develop a meaningful relationship. However, this year, the problem has not been in developing a friend-ship, but in making sure all the volunteers have someone to be a buddy to.

“Participation is way up from last year,” said Best Bud-dies volunteer Maddie Bushnell, “We’ve been doubling up on buddies. There’s also a part of the program called an ‘associate bud-dies’ which is a little different. As-sociate buddies just say hi to their buddy at school and eat lunch with them, rather than doing activities outside of school.”

Merkle cited the school’s large volun-teer base as a reason for the program’s success.

“I think just the concept of what it’s all about is just a fun idea for a lot of kids that have had club experience through junior high of helping out with Special Olympics and special needs students, and they see Best Buddies as just another opportunity to continue that,” he said. “This year we’re still in the process of putting together the one-on-one stuff. We’re kind of taking a path where we want to create some party ideas and get all the kids together and maybe see if some of these relationships kind of spark their own beginning and turn those into one-on-one relationships that can grow. [We are trying to] work on simple stuff like group activities to create opportunities for the kids.”

“It’s really an eye-opening experience working with them. You really get to know the students and how they see the world,” said Bushnell.

Special Programs students said that they enjoy the activities during and

outside of Best Buddies meetings.“Katie Kelley [’11] is my Best

Buddy. We went to the home-coming parade with Pheobe [Yetley ’11]. On Tuesday (Oct. 12) I went to watch her

play volleyball. She’s a good volley-ball player. They kicked Kenne-dy’s butt,” said Seth McNeish ’11.

“I like it be-cause I can hang out with new people. We go to the movies and the library,” Crawford said.

“IT’S REALLY AN EYE-OPENING EXPERIENCE

WORKING WITH THEM.YOU REALLY GET TO KNOW{THE STUDENTSAND HOW THEY SEE THE WORLD.”-MADDIE BUSHNELL ’11, BEST BUDDY MEMBER

}

Daniel Gardasson ‘14 is out of sight before you can say Reyk-javik. Hailing from Iceland, Gardasson is now running all

over West High cross country. As a member of the Northwest track

team, Gardasson ran in the 800 and 1600 meter races and also broke 2010 West High graduate Frank Canady’s two mile junior high re-cord. This summer he competed at the Junior Nationals Track and Field competition in Iceland, winning the 3000 meter run.

Gardasson started running with his mother in fun runs and became a member of the Northwest track and cross country team. Now he’s a member of West’s varsity team.

Gardasson’s goals for this sea-son include breaking 16:30 in the 5K and winning state as a team. He looks up to Canady and profession-als Steve Prefontaine

and Haile Gebrselassie. Gardasson hopes to achieve his goals by working hard at practice.

“Practice is the most exciting part of the day. I just look forward to seeing all the guys and run-ning with them. Our team is very motivated, so we all want to go out there and do the best we can. We all help each other out and try to help each other reach our goals,” Gardasson said.

Along with support from the team, Gar-dasson has a specific race tactic.

“I always try to stay with the lead group. If I feel like the pace is going to slow, I try to push

the pace and tear down everyone’s energy by the end. I try pushing myself mentally as well,” Gardas-son said.

“It’s hard to expect freshmen to perform consis-tently at a varsity level due to their current stage

of development but [Gardasson] is ahead of most kids his age. He consistently has been one of the top freshmen in all of our meets,” said Coach Brian Martz. Gardasson hopes to become a professional

runner someday. Until then, the freshman hopes for a successful cross country season.

21

Sports Picture of the MonthLinebacker Michael Cooper ’14 closes in on running back Andre Marsh ’13 during Sophmore team practice on Tuesday Oct. 19. The team finished the season with a 5-4 record after losing their final four games. The varsity team finished the regular season with a 4-5 record going into Wednesday’s substate game agaisnt North Scott.


BY POMBIE [email protected]

Freshman ahead of the packDaniel Gardasson ‘12

Favorite Food: PizzaFavorite Sports Drink: Blue Pow-eradeFavorite Class: American StudiesFavorite Store: White RabbitFavorite Band: Death Cab for Cutie

Native Americans called pumpkins “isqoutm squash”.

21 sports


With swim season un-derway, the team has high hopes for the meets ahead.

“Our number one goal is to win the MVC Super Meet. We have been sec-ond a number of times in the past 12 years I have been coaching, but with the large size of our con-ference and the tremendous talent we have not yet been able to pull off an overall conference title,” Head Coach, Robert Miecznikowski, said.

In addition to a win at the MVC Super Meet, the team is also striving for other goals this season, such as placing at state.

“I think the team goals are to finish the season by kicking City’s butt at Tuesday’s meet and getting as many girls to state as possible,” team captain, Stephanie Keith ‘11, said.

Although the team is undefeated so far, the highlight of the season has not yet come.

“Conference, re-gionals and state. Those will be the meets that should give us the satisfac-tion for a season of hard work,” Miec-znikowski said.

Fortunately for the team, they have a strong basis in the upperc la s smen, as well as talented

sophomores and freshmen. The team doesn’t achieve their best by just swimming during

the school season, many of the members train year round.“We have 15plus swimmers training year round now instead

of the two to four swimmers, which has been the case in previ-ous seasons. We are hoping to increase that number to 30 or more year-round swimmers which will solidify our program’s success and place as one of the state’s top tier programs,” Miec-znikowski said.

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Swimmers make a splashThe girls swim team sets its sights on state

BY KATIE [email protected]

The original pumpkin pie was made by baking honey, spices and milk in a hollowed-out pumpkin.

Junior Kathleen Bowman practices her starts after school at the Coralville Recreation Center. “We have really improved this season, being second in MVC is a great accomlishment for us,” Bowman said.


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOUR TEAM?

My favorite part about the West High Swimming team is when I am swimming I can see them cheering on the side of the pool, and I really like the aspect of our team.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR AD-VICE TO OTHER SWIMMERS TO GET TO THIS POINT?If it’s something they enjoy and would like to continue doing, I would say to stick with it. If it is something you want to do in college, try to get your name out there to get the at-tentions of recruiters and make sure you are always having fun with it!

HOW DID IT FEEL TO WIN THIS AWARD?I was surprised to get the award because there are a lot of other really good swimmers that were at our conference meet. I definitely think that the relationships with the people that I swim with have helped me because I know that they are going to be there every practice, and we push each other to get better. I also have a lot of support [from] my parents.

Q&ASARAH WEIHE

{“WE HAVE BEEN SECONDALMOST EVERY YEAR FOR THE PAST 12 YEARS.WE WANT FIRST.”}

THIS VARSITY SWIMMER WAS RECENTLY NAMED ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AT THE CONFERENCE MEET.

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With the cross coun-try season wrapped up, the West High boys’ team has had

a fair season. Despite failing to qualify for the state cross country meet for by one point, the team has hopes for Ry-son Stuart ‘10, who qualified individu-ally at the district meet on Oct. 21.

Despite the upset, the team has had a successful season.The team recently had a victory at the West High Invita-tional on Sept. 28, the first home meet win in six years.

“This race showed us that we could go out there and run with the best. We

were definitely a stronger team this year than last year and certainly a lot deeper. Going into the year we knew that we had a chance to surprise some people who wouldn’t be expecting us to be that strong. Our main goal was just to go out there and compete to the best of our ability and see where it got us,” said returning varsity runner Isaac Jensen ’13. “We had a pretty good sea-son this year.”

With a greater depth at the varsity level this year, the team has placed higher in meets compared to last sea-son.

“The guys have spent a lot of time working together to reach their goals. We sharpened our speed and competi-tive focus on getting all we can out of ourselves in 3.1 miles,” said Coach Brain Martz.

The teammates have used each other as motivational support. In addition,the team used other race tactics to help them succeed.

Bailey Wetherell ‘13Height: 5’ 10”How long he’s been running: for 2 1/2 yearsFavorite Pre-Race Meal: Anything with pastaPre-Race Rituals: Thinks about what he has to doNewest Obsession: Trying to beat people who are better than he is

Ben Fick ‘12Height: 5’ 6”How long he’s been running: since fourth gradeFavorite Pre-Race Meal: SpaghettiPre-Race Rituals: Get enough sleep, warm up properly, eat 1 1/2 hours beforeNewest Obsession: Drumming

MEET THEcompiled by caroline van voorhis

RUNNERS

Crossing the finish lineBY POMBIE [email protected]

PHOTO USED WITH PERMISSION FROM//LINCOLN ROSEBOOM

Stuart will be competing at the state cross country meet on Oct. 30.

“I was pretty happy when I found out that I qualified,” Stuart said. “It had been a pretty tough year for me. I had been sick at the beginning of the year and didn’t recover until the very end. I just hope to compete to the best of my abilities. I know that my teammates will go [to the state meet] to support me.”

The boys cross country team lines up at the MVC Super Meet at Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids on Oct 7.

Pumpkin pie wasn’t actually served at the first Thanksgiving. It made its debut at the second Thanksgiving dinner

As for next year, the team hopes to keep improving.

“We have a good mix of talent at all grade levels. We could be a better team next year if the returning runners con-tinue to train consistently, review their goals and be willing to do what it takes to reach them. I’m excited to continue to build and prepare teams that can re-main highly competitive in the future,” head coach Brian Martz said.

[ ]Coach Brian Martz

we have sharpened our speed and competitive focus on getting all we can out of ourselves in 3.1 miles.

24 sports

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“When a ball dreams, it dreams it is a disk.”

So states Tyson Smith, a social studies teacher at West High who has been an avid player of ulti-mate frisbee (or “disk,” as they call it. According to Smith, “Frisbee” is just a trademark name of an inferior brand of disks) for six years.

Smith, along with John Goupell, a teacher at Regina High School, is attempting to cre-ate a multi-school competitive ulti-mate team that would partici-pate in compe-titions in the spring. Sev-eral West High stu-dents have joined in on the f u n . P r i o r experi-e n c e i n play-i n g Ul-ti-

mate is not needed; most student mem-bers, such as Dil-lon Galer ’11, only tossed disks

around casually with their friends

before joining the team.“I had always loved

throwing a Fris-bee around with my friends,” said Patrick

Carr ’11, another stu-dent member of the

team. “Then we played ul-timate in P.E, and I thought it

was the best thing ever. When I heard there was a team forming,

I jumped in it.”While there aren’t a large number

of schools that have Ultimate teams, there may still be some serious compe-tition between the schools that do.

“My understanding is that there were a small handful of teams in the state that competed this past spring,” Smith said. “Hopefully, we will have some opportunities against them and maybe some against other regional schools. Minnesota and Wisconsin have strong club teams and collegiate teams, and my guess is that they have more active high school teams than Iowa.”

The team practices for an hour and a half every Wednesday. Although the team is not yet playing competitively, it does emulate a competitive environ-ment.

Ultimate is a game that demands both physical fitness and precision to play well. According to Smith, although be-ing in good running shape is the most

important qualification to play ultimate well, one must also be able to throw the disk precisely and coordinate with their teammates when formulating strate-gies. In its practic-es, the team does its best to cover all of these areas. Of course, the best way to improve in Ultimate skills is to simply play the game.

“[Practices] are pretty simple,” Carr said. “[We do] a few stretches and run around, then we play against each other.”

Of course, with enough scrimmages, entertaining incidents are sure to hap-pen eventually.

“A Frisbee landed on one of our teammates [bodies] when he was on the ground,” Carr said. “It counted as a catch.”

“Another per-son and I caught the disk [at the same time],” Galer said. “We sat there for a split second, both of us holding either end. Then I ripped it out of his hands and threw a touchdown pass.”

One of the most intriguing areas of Ultimate is the numerous different kinds of throws that exist. While fancy throws like “scoobers” and “chicken-wings” exist, the West High team is

focusing on the more basic throws.

“There are a lot of ways that you can throw a Frisbee,” Carr said. “I’m still learning some, but the most popular are the backhand, the forehand and the hammer. . . . It just takes prac-tice; the coach said that you have

to throw the fore-hand at least 150

times before you can get it down.”“I’m starting to learn

some of the more ad-vanced throws,” Galer said,

“It’s really not that hard; you just have to use your wrist cor-

rectly. . . . It looks really cool when done the right way.”

Despite the fun in throwing a disk with style, however, the true fun in ultimate lies in the people that play the game.

“The idea of ‘Spirit of the Game,’ which includes sports-manship but also calling your

own fouls and overall respect for opponent and game before desire to win [is present],” Smith said. “Since I started playing, nearly everyone I have run into who is involved in ul-timate has that good spirit.”

FRISBEELINGOULTIMATE

BY GARRETT [email protected]

HANDLER: An offensive player whose main task is throwing to recievers.

CHICKEN-WINGS: An uncommon throw where the thumb is in the inside of the disk’s lip while the other fingers are on top. Thrown on the forehand side.

SCOOBERS: An uncommon throw where the disk flies upside-down.

STACK: An offensive tactic where four receivers line up horizontally.

LAYOUT D: A play where a defender dives to stop a pass completion.

I/O FLICK: A forehand throw where the disk’s outer edge is pointing down.

POP: An offensive player whose main task is to “pop” into a guarded area to receive a short pass.

Z: Zone defense (a type of defense where areas, instead of spaces, are guarded.)

compiled by garrett anstreicher

Pumpkins are a fruit. The world’s largest fruit, in fact.

THE ULTIMATE GAME

PHOTOS BY//JOJO SILVERMANDillon Galer ’11 practices his passing during Ultimate Frisbee practice.

The Women of Troy are looking forward to their two regional games which they easily won last year. The team is back at it again, fully expecting to ac-

complish just as much, if not more, than they did last year.

“We fully expect good compe-tition but that we will prevail

and make it to the state tour-ney,” said Kathy Bresnahan, the teams’ head coach.

Katie Kelley ‘11 and Alli O’Deen ‘11, both captains of the team, feel as

though the season is off to a good start. “We have overcome a lot of adversity

with new players, new positions and inju-ries,” O’Deen said.

Injuries including O’Deen’s torn ACL. She was on the bench for the earlier games, recovering from her injury last Februrary.

So far, the teams record is 31-7. But being undefeated is not where their goals stand this season.“We’ve had a few disappoint-

ing losses but we’re not really worried about our record if it pays off in the post season,” Kelley said.

After a 3-7 record last year, West High football (4-5) this year is making drastic improvements. Defeating Waterloo East, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Jefferson and tenth-ranked Cedar Rapids Washington is just a beginning for the future years of West High football.

“We showed improvement Friday night against Washington,” head coach Brian Sauser said, “We made a decision to play, execute responsibili-ties and do jobs.”

The Trojans took special pride i n knocking off Washington in their second to last regular season game.

“It felt awesome, man,” Sauser said. “Other than City, there is no other team I would rather beat.”

Sauser said his team’s speed has been one of its biggest strengths.

“We can match anyone speed-wise. Both sides of the line, offense and defense,” he said.

The Trojans concluded their regular season at home against Cedar Falls. To open the playoffs, West High faced Noth Scott at North Scott on Wednesday, October 27, playing to advance in sub-state.

This football season, it wasn’t just fans cheering on our football team. The team brought in four victories with the sup-port of a riskier cheer team. This year, the cheerleaders added a whole new list of stunts like extensions, pendulums and basket tosses.

The team will be taking their new stunts to state on Nov. 6 in Des Moines.

“I think we improved our difficulty level with our stunts. We’ll definitely be more competitive this year,” said Sara Anson ’11, a cheerleader who competed at state last year.

Last year at state the team felt they did well. They only competed in large group, bringing seventh place home.

This year, the team has two different stu-dent group, and one large group teams. In a stunt group the routine is a continuous flow of stunts by a five- person team ac-

companied by music. West High is bring-ing 25 girls to dance to a mash-up of many songs. One of the cheers the team will be presenting at state has never been done on the football field.

For those interested in attending, stunt groups will be competing at 3:50 p.m and 4 p.m. Large group will compete at 8:30 p.m.

The team is hoping to attract a good-sized audience at the competition. Fans will have a chance to choose winners in a category called sideline in which in one minute schools will try to get their fans and others riled up. West High will not be competing in this category, but this part of the competition has always been a favorite for fans.

It seems like Trojan fans may have one more thing to cheer for next year: a win-ning cheerleading team.

The West High girls’ cross country team is on it’s way to state after last Thurs-day’s regional meet. The team placed second behind Linn-Mar by only two points. Leading the way was Molly Leveille ’13, who finished third with a time of 15:03, and Brett Guerra ’12, who placed fifth with time of 15:12. The team will compete in the state meet tomor-row in Fort Dodge, try-ing to improve upon last year’s third place finish.

25 sports

25

Volleyball Football

Competitive cheering

BY LEAH [email protected]

BY DAN [email protected]

BY CAROLINE [email protected]


Girls’ Cross


PHOTO BY//JOJO SIVLERMAN

PHOTOS BY//LINDSAY BESTPHOTO BY//SARAH DIRKS

Pumpkins have been grown in North America for 5,000 years.

FLYIN’ HIGH: The West High Cheerleaders practice their stunts they plan to use for state as well as other competitions throughout Iowa.

Country

Cheerleaders head to state with riskier routines

26 sports

26

As West High’s football captain, Ian McBrearty ‘12 is a leader. A player. A Trojan. And like a true Trojan he shows no weakness, even when wounded in battle.

McBrearty is still playing hard and supporting his team after sustaining an injury to his shoulder last season. The in-jury, a tear to his right labrum (cartilage attached to the shoulder socket), caused enough damage to the nerves in his shoulder to require surgery last winter. Since then, he has worked hard to get himself back into top physical condition for the new football season. Even if that comes with the price of an occasional shot of Cortisone, a steroid hormone used to alleviate pain.

“It makes it feel numb, not that I can’t feel my arm, but it makes the pain go away,” McBrearty said.

However, a shot of Cortisone doesn’t always take all of the pain away. After the first hit, with his shoulder is jarred, the familiar pain starts to come back. It’s difficult for him during practices but his will to play the game masks it. He’s in every defensive play, takes hits all game

long and still plays his hardest.“I just want to play ... I had to sit out all

of basketball season with the injury, and I just can’t sit out again,” McBrearty said.

The nice thing about being on any sort of team is you’re playing with a family. Teammates like quarterback and free safety Charles Rogers ‘12. As team cap-tain, McBrearty is very enthusiastic, and keeps his team going as they play.

“It’s a great feeling [playing beside him], he just plays hard and isn’t both-ered by his injury,” Rogers said.

His team helps him as much as he helps them, by taking his mind off his injury and keeping his focus on the game. And he plays just as well as he would without the injury.

Whomever the opponent, whatever their rank and whenever they play, McBrearty brings all he’s got, and shows the crowd that no injury can slow him down.

“Being out on the field, and hearing the crowd, it just gets my adrenaline going and I’m able to play through it all,” he said.

To most West High students, she goes by Ashlynn Yokom ’14. To her teammates, her name is “the baby.” West High’s “baby” holds a best time of 15:40 on the cross country course. Her quick feet and per-severance have made Yokom this month’s rising star.

“I want to beat my time every single meet. I’ve [been successful] so far,” Yokom said.

Yokom has been running cross country since eighth grade, but she began her run-ning career in seventh grade track. After running long distance, she was encour-aged to run cross country the following year. She took twelfth in the state cross country meet.

Her biggest meet was at Kansas this year. The team took the top seven varsity girls, which included Brett Guerra ‘12 and Molly Leveille ’13. However, for the girls’ team, the cost of being good meant missing Homecoming.

“I was a little bothered by [missing Homecoming] but I realized this was a re-ally big opportunity. Kansas became one on the best moments of the year,” Yokom said.

As the star continues to rise...well, race... her teammates are more than ex-cited to see her lead the team to victory in upcoming years. Her teammates have confidence in her speed, hard work and socks.

“I always have to wear a [certain] pair of green socks [when I’m racing], “ Yokom said.

The combination, though a bit odd, proves to be quite successful for Yokom and the team. Keep running, baby.


BY ANSEL [email protected]

Run, baby, run

RIGHT: Ashlynn Yokun races down the finish chute at the West High home corss country meet at the University of Iowa’s Ashton Cross Coun-try course. The team won the meet, beating out out second place Kennedy by 34 points. Ashlynn placed third on the West high team behind Molly Leville ‘13 and Pombie Silverman ‘13. PHOTO BY//JOJO SILVERMAN

The U.S. produced 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkin in 2008.

A true greek trojan


27 sports

27

Imagine a piano player who practices for only three months a year playing in the same

concert as one who plays all year round. Or imagine

you’re consider-ing two job ap-

plicants, one with years

of training and experience

and another who just considers it a

hobby. Now imagine a locker room. They’re subtler and sweatier, but the same dynam-ics apply. Many athletes pour time, money and dedication into year-round club sports, leav-ing strictly school ath-letes in the JV dust.

Club focuses individu-ally on the specific ath-lete. Club coaches help

their athletes perform in skill, training

them to help them improve i n weak areas. In addition, it is easier to get attention from college scouts while participating in club sports. Practices can last up to three hours and require a great amount of effort such as weight train-

ing and morning practice. But only hard work will show results, according to varsity swimmer Savannah Butler ’13. “Club can get pretty intense, and you have to be willing to work really hard to get results that you want. Club won’t necessarily make you better, unless you put in the work.,” said Butler.

“Club swimming is fun too, but it focuses more on the individual. Everyone always told me I had talent in swimming, but without club I wouldn’t be anywhere close to my times now.”

Although club sports help with skill significantly and provide opportunities to travel, cost is a disad-vantage. Club has a high-priced monthly fee, in ad-dition to travel and equipment costs.

“Club is grotesquely more expensive than West. We may pay for a few t-shirts and sandwiches during high school season, but in club, players and their families foot the bill for uniforms, tournaments, travel, fees just for being in the club. I think my parents could probably send me to college with the money they’ve spent on soccer for me and my siblings,” said varsity soccer player Sarah Moore ’11.

With high costs, financial issues can be a prob-lem for athletes who cannot afford to pay for club. Usually most club sports have scholarships or other forms of financial aid for athletes unable to pay.

“Clubs want people who are committed and tal-ented. If the only thing holding a player back is finances, the club usually tries to help the player,” Moore said.

Even though the participation in club sports is of-ten related to making the high school varsity level team, it does not guarantee a spot on varsity.

“I don’t think you need to play club in order to make varsity. There are girls I know in soccer who had never even touched a ball in their lives and then

THE NAME OFTHE GAME

Austin Swank ‘13Shelly Stumpff ‘12 Paige Yoder ‘11


Are club sports taking over West High athletics?

“High school, be-cause although club has better competition, you get to play with your friends in school sports.”

DO YOU LIKE TO PLAYCLUB ORHIGH SCHOOLSPORTS MORE?

“High school, be-cause it doesn’t get any better then playing in front of the West High fans with all my friends watching me.”

“Club, because you get to play with players from other schools and meet new people. It is a higher level of competition.”

One cup of pumpkin contains 30 calories and is fat free.

compiled by caroline found

ended up on the varsity team. But if you look at who’s playing at that top level, most of them are club players. Participating in club sports definitely helps,” Moore said.

Hard work, dedication and commitment are just some of the factors required to make var-sity, according to West High soccer coach Da-vid Rosenthal.

“I chose varsity players based on physical, mental, and abil-ity factors, but I do not choose players based on their participa-tion in club sports. [However]the team’s performance would be nowhere near its current level without the contribu-tion of these club players who dedi-cate a lot of time to the sport,” Rosenthal said.

Club sports are even less of a factor for sports like track. Last season, the Women of Troy track team won their sixth team state championship.

“We won State last year and there was no one involved in a club sport relating to track,” said returning varsity mem-ber Molly Leveille ‘13.

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29 radish

BY THE GRAPHS

After years of priming, practicing, praying and secluding himself from the likes of society, Bung Hole, a senior at local high

school Best High recently received an unheard of 37 on his ACT.

“It’s quite remarkable how intelligent I am. I re-ceived a 36 the first ten times I took it, but I desired to excel above all others,” Hole said with the voice of an impetuous robot.

And that he did. According to a representative from the ACT agency, Hole received extra-credit for the brilliance of his answers.

“Well, us boys at the agency take real pleasure in re-grading Bung Hole’s test. I mean he’s just so bril-liant that it brings tears of joy to our eyes. Look, I’m crying right now,” said Stu Phid of the ACT testing agency as he lapped up the tears dripping down his face.

“But in all seriousness. On his most recent test,

Bung Hole actually created questions for himself to answer and then answered them correctly. Who else but our good pal Bungy would have thought to do something so magnificent?” asked Phid as he gazed longingly out the window at a cloud miraculously shaped like Hole’s profile.

But not everyone is impressed with his feat.“I’m not impressed with his feat,” said Sue Gelus, a

student at Best High. “I mean, I got a 36 on my ACT – a PERFECT SCORE. Why isn’t anyone building a shrine for me on the front lawn? Seriously, they’re building a shrine for him on the front lawn.”

With Hole’s huge fan base, and evidence of its exis-tence, he is sure he’ll be successful in life.

“I will go to the best of all colleges and have the most money when I die,” Hole said with the amount of enthusiasm only a robot could muster.

And finally, Hole said that to study for the ACT he simply oiled his joints and downloaded the latest software, whatever that means in newfangled teen-ager terms.

SPINZONE

More than perfectBY MADHU [email protected]

29

Terrified by having almost the entire world freak out about them, wishing to retain some form of a private life and sorely missing their cylindrically-baked pies, the recently rescued Chilean miners quickly decide to return to being trapped underground.

After distributing his new nail polish, Justin Bieber finally decides to reveal that he is actually a teenage girl. Nobody is surprised.

Christine O’Donnel, unable to face further drops in ght polls, throws herself into a lake tied to a rock. Unfortunately, she floats.

compiled by garrett anstreicher

Offe

nsiv

enes

s

Racial Insensitivity

TheRadishReport

compiled by david huang

Note: All Radish content is satirical and is not meant to be perceived as factual

Local student Bung Hole receives unheard of extra credit on his ACT

Michael Scott asymptote

Chris Rock equilibriumPercent of this pie that

is each type of pie

Pumpkin

Rhubarb

Apple

30 opinion

30

The Internet has always been a free domain. Free for wonders like the KKK homepage (they

offer a message of “love, NOT hate,” their website will kindly remind you). Free for the American Nazi Party (which supports freedom from per-secution for beliefs, don’tcha know). Free for pornography (for those eigh-teen years and older, of course. Let’s not break the law).

And even free to answer the question of whether Charlie bit my finger.

We love the Internet because it’s filled with endless opportunities for anything imaginable.

But Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and sixteen other co-sponsoring Sena-tors have decided that leaving the In-ternet a free domain is an absolutely deplorable idea, furthering their de-cision in the form of S. 3804, the Combatting Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), a piece of legislation which would give the gov-ernment the power to blacklist certain web domains.

Not web domains that directly spon-sor illegal activity or promote hatred and violence outright, by the way, but those which “facilitate a vilation of title

17.”Essentially, websites which facilitate

copyright infringement or intellectual property theft would be blocked for every American who is provided Inter-net within the United States.

The bill would allow the government to issue and create two blacklists. One, created by courts would list websites that are required to be blocked by ISPs (Internet service providers). A sec-ond, created by the Attorney General, would list websites which are encour-aged to be blocked by ISPs.

The WSS strongly opposes the COI-CA.

The first issue with such a piece of legislation is that it is outright censor-ship. Any website with the potential to facilitate copyright infringement can be taken to court or sued under this act, and very likely could be blocked. Thus, web domains which are other-wise perfectly legal, but used by others for illegal purposes would blacklisted. Useful websites like MegaShare, drop.io or even YouTube could be blacklist-ed if companies like Viacom complain enough and decide that Jon Stewart is, in fact, not a public good to be viewed by all.

Because remember, folks: Every time you watch lengthy clips from TV shows or movies on YouTube not spon-sored by the owner of the content, you are engaging in criminal activity. And the government don’t like no criminal activity.

Secondly, if we’re being honest, as tech-savvy as the government is, it is more likely than not that intellectual property theft will occur regardless of whether the government says it’s okay or not. Not only would requiring a court ruling on every web domain that can potentially result in copyright infringement take time, it would be ineffective. Just as there are such web domains today though the government says that’s not okay, there will be “il-legal” web domains tomorrow, even if the government says “that’s not okay!” with an exclamation point.

The COICA would thus amount to only a hindrance to the general public who wish to use useful online services that are then blocked.

Finally, legislation such as the COI-CA always has the potential for slid-ing down the ominous, oft-mentioned slippery slope. If it is okay for the gov-ernment to blacklist websites that may

result in this specific illegal activity, why isn’t it okay for the government to blacklist websites that may result in any other illegal activity? Websites that offer information about drug use? Those that condone anarchy or vio-lent revolution? Even domains which are satirical in nature but perceived as promoting illegal activity?

The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act is a bad idea. Not only because it’s useless, but because it’s censorship. Plain and simple.

Internet crackdown

Should the government have the right to censor websites?

0-11The WSS thinks not.

ART BY//BRIDGET NOVAK

31 opinion

31

Quality of Life Index

OctoberHalloweenGirls have an excuse to be a slut, boys have an excuse to look at slutty girls and little children in the kosher, won-derfully cute versions of the slutty girl costumes! Halloween is the best time to be... well… anyone.

Douchey DriversThere are far more drivers that have been worthy of obscene language and heftily violent gestures this month than ever before. Have people just gotten worse? Or have I just gotten so good at driving that everyone else pales in comparison? I’m betting on the latter.

Harry Potter Numero SieteTICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE FOR THE MIDNIGHT SHOWING!!!

The ColdDid you guys get how clever that double meaning is? HAHAOMGTTYL-LYLAS. Yay to the weather being cold, neigh (the horse kind) to the widely un-recognized sickness called “the cold.” Which I think I have. So if you want to join the bandwagon, come closer.

Interviews on local news channels“Lately the area has been, uh, smellier than usual.” Facebook quote! Serious-ly, go check my FB.

compiled by madhu srikantha

Total 6

Plus 3

Minus 2

Plus 4

Minus 1

Plus 2

Hey, here’s a funny joke.So, this group of lawmakers that

control this enormous nation are sitting around, talking. This one proposal comes up; it’s to give $1 billion of aid to an already impoverished nation that has recent-ly been completely ravaged by a cataclysmic earthquake. Then, one single lawmaker pre-vented a single cent of aid from reaching said devastated country. Here’s the punchline: that lawmaker was hailed for stopping the waste of taxpayers’ dollars. Isn’t that hilari-ous?

Apparently the Senate thought so.The American populace has begun to view

politics with a healthy dose of skepticism, and with good reason: the legislative body of the American government is a hopelessly inefficient and congested institution that rarely gets anything done. A bill to provide health services to 9/11 veterans that were seriously afflicted was blocked. The effort to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell failed miserably, and Haiti has not received a penny of the money that the U.S government promised to give it.

This isn’t a problem that can be fixed in one election cycle. And no fresh faces promising to work for US in Washington will offer real change. The problem isn’t in the people that are currently in office but the nature and rules of the political system that make it so difficult to get anything done.

For example, a single person can anony-mously inhibit the progress of a bill, and anybody can read out of a phonebook all day to simply stall, and then stall some more. The solution? Simple. Disallow the filibuster and all of the tactics that senators can use to pre-vent progress.

True, it may seem like the filibuster is what keeps the majority party from becoming a complete tyrant in the legislature. However, the filibuster is no longer used as a legitimate procedural check. Legislators use the filibus-ter only when they believe that doing so will get them political brownie points from their constituents; the prevention of tyranny is hardly a factor. Although the filibuster and many other legislative rules may have started as a decent idea, they have degraded into the rules of a political game that gets the nation nowhere.

And hey, what about that whole incum-bency problem? Because people in the leg-islative branch have potentially endless incumbency, to them it seems far more ap-pealing to make legislation based on how happy it will make their constituents, not how it will benefit America. In essence, the cycle of incumbency turns legislation into a political game instead of a legitimate effort to improve America. The solution is, again, simple: establish congressional term limits so that there’s no point in playing the game anymore.

In the end, the solution to ending the grid-lock in congress isn’t by getting rid of all of the people in it. As long as the political sys-tem has so many opportunities and provides so many incentives for stalling, congress will never be able to move with the speed that Americans want. Thus, it is integral for us to stop thinking that throwing everybody out of D.C will solve everything and instead start to petition for changes in how our system works to ensure that it works to legitimately improve America, to ensure that it passes legislation more quickly and efficiently, and to ensure that Haiti finally gets that aid.

Perfecting the political process

Editorial PolicyThe 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 or reader contribu-tions. 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 reject-ed.

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 respon-sibility of the opinion editor to verify authorship. Editors can make minor edits for the sake of clarity, length and grammati-cal correctness. Staff responses to letters are not allowed.

A full copy of the Editorial Policy is available in Room 111.

We apologize for incorrectly implying that Melanie John-son left her position as 1440 advisor due to budget cuts in our September issue. The club understands that Johnson left due to other responsibilities in the school.

Correction

Loose laces

After whittling away the nonessential parts of any person (i.e. face, personality, likes/dislikes, identity) I have found the basic difference between people lies in whether they were supremely

disappointed when their twelfth birthday came about and they had not received affirmation of their magical talents, or they had no idea what I was talking about when I brought up my irreparable despair, i.e. “Who is Hagwarts?”

April 8, 2004 was by far the most disappointing day of my life. Not only was I not yet a teen and not yet old enough for middle school, but my window for acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had closed. Apparently it didn’t matter to Headmaster Dumbledore that I considered myself a perfect Ron-Harry-Hermione mixture of talent, humor; and resilient bravery or that I had been diligently practicing my magic ever since reading the books a year before. I am, in fact, quite proud to say that I had perfected the act to a tee – whispering well-pronounced incantations under my breath and waving my wand in a perfectly crisp arc just as Hermione had advised, playing along any time a spell had been cast against me, and conjuring up potions that clogged my bathroom’s sink each time without fail. My heart was broken at that surprisingly young age when I finally faced the fact that I just did not have the gift of sponta-neous desire followed by immediate satisfaction – I was not magical.

For others in my grade, 2005 passed without a batted eye. But between the post-12th-birthday Harry Potter readers, there was a certain under-standing that came from experiencing such a large disappointment at such a young age – the others would have to wait for their first love, discover-ing one of their parent’s affairs or finding out that their favorite athlete was on steroids. They did not feel the same remorseful bite that we did but as a tradeoff, they could never experience magic the same way we did. But then again, for them, there was no sinking disappointment as each red X on the calendar marked a day closer to their twelfth birthday, the date of no-return, as there had been for me.

But even taking into consideration the pains I went through, I still don’t regret wishing that magic was real so earnestly. Although I had to face the fact that actual magic was not within my grasp, I learned to settle for something much more human. I became willing to believe the unbeliev-able – my small venture into the impossibility of magic made me willing to accept the unrealistically idealistic possibility of no limits. Without that all-consuming belief in magic and the endurance of the disappointment in learning its nonexistence, I would not have come to be the absolutely magnificently strong being that I am today. Just kidding.

But now, as the Harry Potter movies approach their end, I’m reminded of those years in which I was way too old to believe that magic was real, but still believed it anyway. And I know that there are still some of us out

there (anyone?) still waiting for an owl to drop an acceptance let-ter, seven years late, on their porch.


BY MADHU [email protected]

32 opinion

32

It’s the little things that matter. The trivial stuff. The details you never remember, but shouldn’t forget. Measure twice, cut once. Look both ways, then look again. Loop the bunny

through the hole and pull tight. Everyone knows these expres-sions. But I cut twice, only looked one way and decided it looked cooler to wear my laces loose. I should have known it would be that last one that would get me. In elementary school, the only thing that looked cool were gauchos and Lizzie McGuire chokers. Somehow, I was the only naive fifth-grader in school unaware of this.

The Thursday before the elementary school track meet, the class decided to practice on the playground. The event I looked forward to the most was the 300 meter run. This was an event only for the ten year-olds capable of enduring astounding feats like running three-quarters of an entire track. I decided I was up to the challenge of beating all of the boys.

My shoelaces were untied when Mr. P.E. teacher blew his whistle and we were off in a sprint. About fifty meters in, my race was cut short. Suddenly, I was flying through the air, flipping and twist-ing like a rampaging bird. Sadly, my ninja skills were not fully developed, and I could feel my squirrel-sized wrist crack. I heard the screeching halt of my classmates’ Batman shoes and my own voice, crying out in annoying bursts. Somewhere along the way, I stupidly managed to hurt myself by tripping over my laces.

A mob of students huddled around me as if I were Lady Gaga in the mosh pit and interrogated me with their embarrassing, tear-inducing questions. I used a classmate’s shoulder to hold steady my non-existent limp, trying to make it seem that there was more damage than I actually had. It would be my second excuse, in case my arm wasn’t broken.

My father drove me to the emergency room, where I got my x-ray and I waited for my results. The hope of a broken arm contin-ued, I needed a reason for crying so expressively. The results came, and I got the next best thing: my wrist was broken.

I felt ecstatic the next day. I had proof of my little battle, and I was going to let everyone see my bright green cast. No heroics had been required to break my wrist; I was merely being stupid. I needed to be the victim, even though the accident was clearly my fault, and the incident was not that big of a deal. As people signed my cast, I considered buying Velcro shoes so no more accidents would happen; when I realized that I should just take responsibil-ity for myself and tie my own shoes. I accepted that I had simply forgotten to knot the laces. Sometimes, something as simple as tying a shoe or checking the coffee-maker can have the largest consequences. Hm… I’m sure I turned off the faucet over the tub … well, I think I did.

Harry disappointed

33

A Treatise on Hallway management

BY DAVID [email protected]

The madness of our dear West High’s hall-way policies are now beginning to affect me personally. While this originally was in-

tended to be an idea for the Radish (“Vice-principal escorted out of middle hallway during A lunch for using ‘outside voice’”), I realized that the issue was obnoxious enough to deserve an entire treatise of Lockean quality. And so here it is.

If you’re unaware of the recent addition of fascist oppression to our lunch periods, simply stroll into a “non-designated for use” hallway during an unfor-tunate time. Chances are, you will be targeted like a Mexican in Arizona and told to leave and use the “designated” floor instead.

I imagine the reasoning is that students walking around during lunch are often disruptive to those still in class, being the loud, talkative, hormonal ado-lescents we, admittedly, often are.

But while I realize that despotism and terror are

often excellent tactics for establishing peace and har-mony (see: early 20th century), there is a problem with our hallway management style.

It’s, like, really freaking dumb.There are a couple logical inconsistencies I would

like to graciously point out for the uncritical think-er.

The other day, a few minutes into A lunch, I was walking along to the newspaper room to acquire some homework to finish, as I had fourth period open. Although I often give the impression of loud, obnoxious and disruptive, appearances can be de-ceiving, and I was actually walking silently (as I have no friends to talk to).

Nonetheless, I was stopped, my useless pleas that I was getting something from a classroom reduced to nothing but echoes through a dark, lifeless chamber as I was dragged by the ears through shards of glass to outside the hall.

This illustrates the first fallacy behind arguments in support of the status quo. I’ll explain it for the slow.

If even silent behavior is disruptive, the mere pres-ence of hallway monitors (and indeed, air, lockers, floor tiles, ceilings, millions of bacteria and other microscopic living organisms, dust and walls) should be disallowed because they exist in the hallway, re-gardless of whether they are being loud or not, be-cause clearly volume is not the problem. Otherwise it would be ridiculous

to close off entire hallways at a time, hindering access to entire thirds of the school to those who may just want to get to a locker or a classroom.

But David, one might say, though your logic is un-deniably brilliant and refreshing, if we open up the hallways, then won’t disruptive people also be al-lowed through?

And that brings me to my second argument: there are much better, less annoying methods to deter classroom disturbance that should be enforced in-stead.

For instance: punish disturbers (I know, genius. I don’t even get paid for these ideas). I realize they’re called “hallway” monitors, but I think the actual in-tent is to monitor activity in hallways, not the empty hallways themselves. Not that watching over empty hallways isn’t useful (though, you are putting a lot of rocks out of their jobs by hiring humans to sit around and do nothing).

And as I see I’m probably approaching the limits of my word count, I’ll address remaining grievances in short, snippy sentences: Walking isn’t loud. The ad-ditional distance needed to go up or down stairs to get to the library is actually quite annoying. Students need access to their lockers or teachers who have open periods regardless of the floor they’re on. Snape kills Dumbledore. Darth Vader is Luke’s father.

33 opinion

Certainly uncertain

After I’ve wasted all of the time allotted to morning preparation, avoiding even getting out of my comfy, warm bed, and realized

that if I don’t get up right that instant I’m going to be late, I’m about three minutes away from running out the door. When I do sprint down my street, I’ve barely shaken off my four to five hours of sleep. No breakfast.

I’m not a great example of what students should aim for, and I accept that fact. I could, and (admit-tedly) should change, but at midnight the night be-fore a huge test, I find myself still awake, plugging away at something I don’t need to be worried about for another month. I procrastinate going to sleep be-cause sleep just part of an endless, monotonous cycle of weekday life and avoiding it is my little rebellion. Useless, but crucial to my sanity. Go to school, seven periods, come home, do homework, sleep, rinse and repeat.

If Dante Alighieri had known the horrors of the American public school system, I can’t help but think that there would’ve been another circle in hell. That circle would be reserved for students who do their homework during class and whose minds are in an-other galaxy completely as teachers try to drill phras-es and proofs into them for their own good.

I would be one of the guilty.However, I take some solace in the fact that Dante

might not have been as cruel as national educational board members because I know that high school is just a necessary evil that plagues us for four years af-ter which we escape into the world that isn’t much better. Or that might just be my own special brand of cynicism.

Just the other day, somewhere between where my mind actually is (in a galaxy far, far away) and 3:15 p.m., it occurred to me. When am I going to use all of the information I’m (not really) slaving over in real life? Considering I have absolutely no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life, or even what I want for lunch today, I came to the conclusion that it was time I draw up a list. A list of things to do before I push up any daisies:

1. Cultivate a new life form in my fridge. 2. Invent a crayon color.

3. Have a Chinese fire drill in a clown car. 4. Run with scissors and live to tell the tale. 5. Get a gold medal in the Olympics for speed-

typing. 6. Spoil the Sixth Sense Bruce Willis was dead the

ENTIRE movie. 7. Find Waldo. Give the poor, stalked man a

moose. 8. Crush the pineapple under the sea. (And while

I’m down there, find Nemo.) 9. Beat Extreme on Beatles Rockband. Become

the Walrus. 10. Duel against Abe Lincoln with a light saber. 11. Construct an origami army. 12. Use the word “hippootomonstosesquipedalian”

casually in a sentence. 13. Wage war with said army in an epic battle

against the French. Win. 14. Hitchhike through Europe. Hitchhike to Nep-

tune. 15. Have a soundtrack to my daily life. 16. Cross a black cat’s path and give the cat bad

luck. 17. Grow to the great heights of... taller than 5

feet 1 inch. 18. Save the whales, and, subsequently, save the

world.

BY ASHTON [email protected]

Extra-preppedLiving with my regret

July 7, 2010 marks the day of my first regret. I don’t really like to talk about my accident but let’s just say I ended up in the hos-pital for a while and my car was sent to the junkyard. I lost the

18-year-old family car, my independence and more importantly my and my parents’ innocence.

On the way to the hospital I kept repeating to myself ‘I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe I just hit another guy. I can’t believe I’m in an ambulance with a neck brace.’ I even remember sitting in drivers’ education thinking I’m not dumb enough to be in an acci-dent, because I’m not the speeder, the partier or the risk taker. Soon after taking every kind of x-ray in the book, my parents finally got to see me. The minute they stepped into the room a whole new set of tears came rushing down my face. My mom was a mess but my dad…he could hardly look at me because it was too painful. I became the nightmare parents prayed to never see. We never said it to each other but it was then we realized they couldn’t protect me forever. They couldn’t stop the world from inflicting any pain on me. Thirty sec-onds changed our lives and perspectives. Regret means to feel sorry. I feel sorry not for myself but for my parents. Accidents happen, and I’ll always heal, but I regret the pain my parents felt (and the 14,000 dollar bill that’s driving their insurance premium).

Carless, I now rely on my parents and friends to take me places. I feel like an inconvenience at least two to three times a day; the feeling lies somewhere between guilt and self-pity. While they watch the road my eyes tend to wander to the car next to me. I see the not-so casual look down towards your lap. I see your left hand leave the steering wheel. That’s right I see you texting. I’ve heard it all from my friends like, I’m a good driver, I don’t care, or it doesn’t count if I’m at a red light. Listen people, just forget the text. Pretend that you don’t have friends or a crazy girlfriend or boyfriend who requires you to text them ev-ery second. Seventeen is way too young to have any regrets. Do you really want to lose a car or sleep for that matter?

When I had my car I texted occasionally and I knew that there were times that were just too close, but each time I managed to stop be-fore anything happened. For lack of a better word I would almost describe myself as lucky, because those times I texted and sped I was able to squeeze by, but I never learned my lesson. I definitely learned my lesson, but my debt is a possible lifetime sentence of night mares and guilt. I imagine one day I will get over it, but it’s not today. I’m on my way. Last weekend was the first time I drove since July. Just think

about it: A text spends spend around two to three days in a person’s inbox but regrets live forever.

It started just over a year ago, on a particularly swelteringly hot July afternoon. Two fellow West students and I were enduring the tortur-ously boring rite of passage that is driver’s ed. When it was not our

turn at the steering wheel, we squeezed into the back of that small car for hours on end, trapped, with no hope of escape, coming up with any possible topic of conversation that could possibly entertain ourselves. It was during just such a conversation when one fellow prisoner made the seemingly innocent comment that would stick with me much longer than it really had any reason to.

“You know, I saw Transformers 2 last night,” he said. “It was awesome. Probably even better than The Dark Knight!”

I was immediately awakened from my daily driver’s ed nap by the shock-ing level of bad taste displayed by this comment. Sure, I hadn’t actually SEEN the movie, but it was the recipient of a mere 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (a website that compiles the percentage of movie critics who gave a given film a positive review), where critics complained about the lack of a coherent plot or well-written dialogue. The Dark Knight, by comparison, sports a 93%.

“What are you talking about!” I exclaimed, any hope of sleep rapidly van-ishing. “How can you even compare the two? Transformers 2 has no plot and terrible dialogue. It’s just 2 ½ hours of explosions!”

Confident in my superior taste (a.k.a. ability to use Google), I set about trying to recapture that elusive sleep.

It wasn’t until much later that I reflected on that exchange and realized something very important: Why are any of those criticisms a bad thing? Sure, the movie is dumb, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be ridiculously entertaining. Sure, there are more explosions than lines of dialogue, but you know what? Explosions are awesome.

At the time I had felt like I needed to be sophisticated. I had what I like to call College Prep Syndrome: as high-schoolers we often feel like in order to get into a strong college, we must live up to their standards, starting in the classroom and extending into our private lives. I have known count-less smart kids who, due to the consistent pressures of the college process thrust upon them by their parents, have built up incredibly inflated image of themselves. They feel as if they must look down condescendingly upon those unsophisticated things, and in many cases people, that don’t match up with their image of an ideal college applicant. But seriously, we’re just high schoolers.

I think that that right there may be one of the most important lessons that I’ve learned in my time here at West: being well-cultured has its place, but sometimes we all must release with some pure dumb fun. Is it good to be able to appreciate a classic black-and-white movie? Sure, but given the choice I’d much rather go see Jackass 3-D. Is it good to be able to enjoy a piece of classical music composed by Beethoven? Sure, but I’ll take the new Bruno Mars CD any day. The day we forget the importance of chill-ing out and having fun is the day that high school gets the best of us. I’m determined to not let it happen to me again.

BY DAN [email protected]


34 opinion

34


Fall air bites like a good apple: cool and crisp and just a little sweet. As summer’s exuber-ance matures into a cornuco-

pia of leaf piles and thanksgiving din-ners, it is finally cold enough outside to curl up and be cozy. It’s a time for slowing down, for preserving and re-flecting and for sharing. We share slices of pumpkin pie and sips of warm cider as puffs of condensed air act as speech bubbles, punctuating our words with something decidedly ethereal.

LEFT: Cara Jansen ’11 tests out an apple while at Wilson’s Apple Orchard on a Saturday morning.

MIDDLE LEFT: The sun peeks over the stalks of the corn maze in Bloomsbury Farms in Atkins, IA.

BOTTOM LEFT: Justin Gorgone ’12 walks down the neverending paths of Wilson’s Apple Orchard in Iowa City. The orchard is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. from August to September and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in October.

BOTTOM: Bloomsbury Farms in Atkins, IA boasts a number of attractions, such as pumpkin picking, a petting zoo and a corn maze.





FALLWHENLEAVESBEGIN TO

{ c r e a t e your own {Choose one from each category, and viola, you’ve got the perfect dilema.

...attend Hogwarts or Harvard?

Ve r bFlirt withEatPlay cards withScream atCheat withGo scuba diving withTalk toCuddle with

N o u nA rockDr. ArganbrightA hoboCorn-on-the-cobYour neighborA tubaBarneyJohn Travolta

Ve r b # 2Sing toFight withTickleScratchSmile atCookDream aboutSmell

N o u n # 2Your math textbookA tigerA bacon-cheeseburgerYour little sisterJustin BeiberDirty laundryAll of your Facebook friends

OR

...walk on your hands wherever you go or slither like a snake?

“I would rather slith-er because it seems easier.” - D a q u a n Crawford ’13

“I would slither like a snake and hiss at the same time.” - J u s t i n G o r g o n e ’12

“Probably [talk in an] opera-like manner because [with interpre-tive dance] you couldn’t talk, and I can’t go without talking for that long. Also, you would get tired dancing all over the place.” -Sophie McClatchey ’14

...communicate solely through interpretive dance or talk only in an opera-like manner?

“Interpretive dance, because I’m re-ally active. And since I couldn’t talk, I’d have to let it out in some way.” -Ivy Vance ’12

...eat a jar or flies or a jar of snails?“I would want to get a jar of snail-eating flies and have the flies eat all of the snails, and then the flies would get

snail poisoning and die and decay so that there would be no way for me to eat either. Or I would just rather have a jar full of flies.” -Wadood Daoud ’14

compiled by anna egeland

compiled by elizabeth dagle

“Probably dead flies be-cause they wouldn’t be as crunchy.” -Rachel Anderson ’13

Would you rather........age only from the neck up or down?

...lick a toilet clean at West or lick the caf-eteria floor after all three lunches?

...have super hearing or laser vision?

...be adopted by Lady Gaga or Madonna?

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