march 2011
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Washington High School's student-run newspaperTRANSCRIPT
Students walk up and give him high fives, call him by name and ask him for advice. Patrolling the halls of Washington, Craig Taylor is not your ordinary security guard.
A former Warrior himself, Taylor was hired to temporarily fill a vacancy in the security staff, but his time here has outlasted the originally intended eight weeks. The burly but approachable head security officer has had years of
experience dealing with what he affectionately calls “the crux between order and disorder.”
Searching for structure, 17-year-old Taylor enlisted with army recruiters visiting Washington during his junior year, a
decision that changed the course of his life. After completing basic training and more specialized training, he moved to Fort Campbell, Ky.
Taylor was a member of the 101st Airborne and a highly motivated combat division called The Screaming Eagles. He specialized in combat arms. In 1981 his Tour of Duty took him 6,400 miles away to a base in
P’anmunjom-ni as a peacekeeper on the border between North and South Korea. He patrolled the border on foot or by humvee looking for North Korean’s committing
“no no’s” (trying to cross the border, or trying to recruit South Koreans to join the North.)
While stationed along the mountainous and sometimes violent border, he had many interactions with North Korean soldiers.
“I was surprised by their fluency in English, and how much they knew about the history of the U.S., especially civil rights,” Taylor said. He also described the North Koreans as manipulative. “They were always trying to convince me that, as a black man I would have a better life in the north,” Taylor said.
Living in Korea was rarely relaxing. Deafening sirens would ring out with no regard for the time of day or night, signaling a potential attack from the north. Taylor and his infantry would have to dress in their combat suits and rush to
the border towards the danger. “I saw how fragile the South Koreans’ freedom was, that was scary,” Taylor
explained. He described the imminent threat of a communist takeover at any moment and the South Koreans’ unity and willingness of fight for their
freedom. “Watching them grab their weapons, you see how serious they are about keeping democracy,” he said.
After being stationed in Korea for 12 months he returned to Fort Campbell until the end of his active duty, at which time he moved home to Cedar Rapids. He spent some time in school at Coe College and then worked for 10 years as a sales
representative for various local companies. Taylor then followed his true passion, private security. He worked for 16 years at
the University of Iowa watching for more “no no’s”. He was a crowd management supervisor for the student section and as a part of
head football coach, Kirk Ferentz’s security detail. Ferentz has told Taylor he can have his position back anytime his “temporary” assignment at Wash is over, but many staff and students hope that will not be any time soon.
“He does an exemplary job keeping Wash safe. He is extremely sincere and by build-ing relationships with students they have grown to demonstrate respect for him,” said
Cheryl Aucutt, Wash special ed teacher.He is currently writing an autobiography with the working title, “Standing on
the Front Lines.” It tells the story of his life as a military man and security guard. These same experiences, working with University of Iowa students and faculty as well as his time in the military, that have made him successful in his current job at Wash.
He loves working with Warriors and wants to make improvements in the envi-ronment at Wash. “There is a whole lot of social triviality interfering with what should be a wonderful
high school experience,” Taylor said. He blames drinking, drama, disrespect and violence for what he sees as the declining high school experience. He summed up his duty at Wash as “I want everyone to enjoy high school. You can’t buy back the years and you only hamper them by committing no no’s.”
1. No shenanigans2. No hitting the girls3. No skipping class4. No hanging in the north lot, bad things go on there5. No wild parties in some-one’s basement6. No bearing false witness on passes7. No speeding on school grounds8. No parking in the fire lane9. No skipping class10. No hassling the librarian
2205 Forest Drive SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa [email protected]
Volume 54, Number 7March 18, 2011
SurveyorThe George Washington
Profiles
page 10
Opinions
page 6
Focus
pages 8-9
News
page 3 page 11
A& E
Sports
page 14
Patrolling the front lines
Inside this Issue
Lauren SinesEditor-in-chief
Gail does it allJill BroghammerStaff Writer
Three sport athlete, second highest GPA in the senior class and homecoming court candidate, senior Gail Barnum is a very busy and successful student at Washington. Barnum has participated in cross country, basketball and softball all four years of high school as well as participating in soccer her freshman and junior year.
Since Barnum participates in sports on the major-ity of all school days, she has to spend her time wisely getting all of her school work done. Being in difficult classes such as AP Calculus and AP Physics, Barnum does not have a lot of time to relax after school like some of her peers. (continued on page 14)
Mr. Taylor’s “No no’s”
Phot
o by
Lau
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Sine
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News2 3-18-2011Ian Fischer
A quick summary of the chaos in WisconsinSara LarsonCopy Editor
Founder of Wikipedia speaks in Iowa CityIan FischerNews Editor Friends and family remember
Chandler GoucheeMichael AnderslandStaff Writer
Public outrage erupted on the steps of Wisconsin’s Capitol after Republican governor Scott Walker announced his plans to require public workers to pay more for health insurance and pension. Walker is taking these actions in order to fight the current state budget deficit of $137 million.
The majority of the outrage is over the issue of collective bargaining. Collective bargaining, as de-fined by Cornell University Law School, “consists of negotiations between an employer and a group of
employees so as to determine the conditions of employment.” With Governor Walker’s proposal, unions would have less of an ability to bargain collectively, therefore losing some of their rights.
“The workers were really impassioned about their bargaining rights being taken away. They were really polite, had valid reasons and carried some witty signs,” said Brianna Zumhof, ’11, who witnessed the protests occurring in Madison in late February.
Democrat Senate members fled to Illinois in order to prevent a vote from occurring on the controversial labor bill. Howev-er, due to a legal maneuver, the Senate voted 18-1, in favor of the bill, the assembly followed short after, and Governor Walker signed it successfully restricting the rights of collective bargaining.
Photo by Brianna ZumhofProtestors hold up signs outside of the Wisconsin State Capitol in rejection of the idea of ending “collective bargaining,” proposed by Governor Scott Walker, which would limit their ability to discuss health insurance and pension costs with their employers.
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, stopped by March 8 to speak at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City as part of the University’s lecture series. The lecture was supposed to focus on “the internet and democracy” but tended to stray away on other topics, such as Wikipedia’s past history and current obstacles.
The non-profit web site is main-tained to one day provide “free access to the sum of all knowledge,” which includes focusing on third world coun-tries to enable them with the world’s knowledge. The major problem of expansion concerns native translation for remote languages.
A startling fact was of the obsession developed countries have with popular culture, which in some cases defined almost 70 percent of their search results.
During the question and answer portion of the lecture, Wales stayed neutral on most questions concerning unrest in the Middle East, as well as eager to say Wikipedia wasn’t expected to have advertisements anytime soon.
If you’re interested in attending a future lecture at the Union, check out http://www.lectures.uiowa.edu for upcoming lectures.
Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 Wisconsin Capitol Governor Scott Walker announces his budget repair bill, which will cause public employees to pay more for health care and pension.
Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011 Capitol Square Over 13,000 protestors gather at Capitol Square and in the Capitol. Schools are closed because of teacher absences.
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 Capitol Square More than 70,000 protestors come to the Capitol, setting a record high in participa-tion.
Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 Neighboring States Democratic assembly members flee to surrounding states to deny Republicans a quorum, which requires a fixed number or percentage of people who must be present before a vote can be made.
Friday, March 11, 2011 Wisconsin Capitol Governor Walker signs the law restricting collective bargaining after the Senate and Assembly both pass it in the preceding days.
Timeline of events
On Feb. 21, 2011, Washington High School suffered a terrible tragedy. Chan-dler Gouchee, ’13, passed away. He was 16 years old.
In the weeks after this sad event, Wash-ington students and staff have attempted to understand why it happened and to honor Chandler’s memory while help-ing his family through a time of great hard-ship.
Chandler had many good friends at Washington and a loving family at home. “He really enjoyed his friends, and he also enjoyed spending time with his family,” said Lance Gouchee, Chandler’s father. Chandler spent a lot of time with his father; they often went biking or went for camping trips together. “He was sort of quiet, and a lot like me. We were very close,” said Lance.
Chandler also had a great interest in how things worked. He enjoyed disassembling various objects or machines, learning their inner workings and then reassembling them, or creating something entirely new with the old parts.
Chandler was very friendly and outgoing at school. “He was always a happy person, always cheerful… he liked to joke around,” said Noah Messerschmitt, ’13, a good friend of Chandler’s. Chandler loved to skateboard and had a passion for music. “He always had his earbuds in and loved to listen to Bob Marley,” said Messerschmitt.
The family and friends of Chandler would like to thank all the staff and faculty at Washington for
everything they have done to help during this difficult time.
Photo used with permission of imubuddy’s Flickr accountWikipedia Founder, Jimmy Wales, speaks about “De-mocracy and the Internet” in the Iowa Memorial Union sponsored by the University of Iowa Lecture Series.
Photo courtesy of Monument
Graphic by Stacia Drafahl
News 33-18-2011
Orchestral performer, backstage manager, speech team participant and now miming cham-pion, John Reasoner has seen it all and clearly shines while on stage.
Reasoner, ’11, has been involved in stage performances since he was in seventh grade. His first acting performance occurred when he performed in a Theater Cedar Rapids produc-
tion of Peter Pan. As much fun as he had in the spotlight, however, in high school Reasoner’s theatrical interests took him behind the scenes.
“It is kind of sad not to be recognized, but it is a great feeling to know that, without us, the performance would not go on,” said Reasoner of his backstage experiences. Although Reasoner was known for working offstage, during the production of Chicago his true colors shone.
“He had a couple of small opportunities to be on stage during the musical, so that was where I saw him emerge,” said Bill Lammers, language arts instructor and technical director for the performing arts. One of these opportunities came when Reasoner, originally cast as the backstage manager for Chicago, had to fill in for one of the actors when they did not show.
“When he is around people he doesn’t know, he is reserved. He seems very orderly. When he is around people he knows, he is a nut,” said Lammers. Reasoner used his “reserved” personality to his advantage during the State miming competition, where he managed to take first place without making a sound.
Getting to the state competition took a lot of work. “I didn’t talk much and spent a lot of time alone. I also practiced a lot with Andrew Clair, ’11, who was a mime before me,” said Reasoner. Along with this extensive preparation, Reasoner also practiced for 48 hours a week outside of school.
“It [winning the state miming award] was completely unexpected and I yelled at the top of my lungs and watched the eyes of 3,600 people fall upon me as if I was the strangest person on earth,” said Reasoner.
“Making people laugh is my biggest joy of miming,” said Reasoner. “I’m going to make a fool of myself either way, so I do it with gusto.”
Although Reasoner has a passion for miming, he says that he will not be continuing it after high school. However, he will definitely be pursuing acting and other backstage work throughout his future at Washington High School and beyond.
World NewsIan FischerNews Editor
Graphic by Brian Kopec
Backstage man, John Reasoner shines on stageMadeline BergStaff Writer
Photo by Ellen HartJohn Reasoner mid-action in his award-winning solo mime performance in which he depicts a boy in class whose ultimate goal is to reach the bathroom stall.
Earthquakes and after-shocks Japan swayed when a destructive earth-quake shook the world March 11, register-ing as a magnitude 8.9 on the Richter scale. Not only an earthquake, but many high magnitude aftershocks followed, as well as a disastrous tsunami that rolled through the eastern shore of Japan. As many as 10,000 people are believed to be missing or dead from one city alone, as the death toll steadily increases. The earthquake was supposedly much stronger than the one in Haiti just last year, and the resulting tsunami almost comparable to the tsunami that hit Indone-sia back in 2004, which resulted in the death of 230,000 people.
Color of the AtlanticScientists from the United States, France,
Brazil and Argentina set out on an American vessel to determine the true hue of the Atlan-tic Ocean. The ocean absorbs over one-third of the carbon dioxide produced by humans, which supports the growth of algae, resulting in a greenish color. Recently there have been more formations of aerosol clouds that reflect the sun’s rays back into the ocean, decreasing the amount of algae. A popular misconcep-tion of ocean water is that it is blue because of the sky’s reflection. In truth, water is naturally blue, and only reflects the sky when relatively still.
“Up” and awayA team of scientists from National Geographic successfully
managed to construct a flying house first created from the Pixar film “Up” in Los Angeles, Calif. Over a span of two weeks the team attached 300 weather balloons to the 2,000-pound house. The floating house reached a maximum height of 10,000 feet, setting a world record. On its voyage upward, the house carried scientists, engineers, pilots and other volunteers.
Crisis in CubaA U.S. contractor in Cuba has been sentenced to 15 years in
prison for crimes against the Cuban state. Alan Gross was accused of trying to undermine the govern-
ment by providing access to satellite communications. United State’s officials said Gross was only trying to give a small Jewish population on the island access to the Internet.
Gross has already served a 15 month sentence in Cuba, and U.S officials are astonished by the severe sentence recently handed down.
News4 3-18-2011Ian Fischer
Wash Grad opens chain in Iowa City
Photo by Lauren JohnsonAbove photo, the menu in the Cheba Hut restaurant in Iowa City offers vegetarian, old school, deli classics and grilled chicken toasted subs, along with various salads.
Photo by Lauren JohnsonBelow photo, Iowa City’s Cheba Hut co-owner David Timmons (right) with business manager Kent Wedemeier (left.)
The new breed of Wash studentsBritt BergquistStaff Writer
Photo by Lauren JohnsonCheba Hut, located at 314 E. Burlington St. in Iowa City.
Cheba Hut, a marijuana-themed sandwich shop, opened its doors in Iowa City on Feb. 18. Being the na-tion’s only counter-culture restaurant franchise, they proudly boast that “The only thing fried is the occasional customer!”
The co-owner of the restaurant is David Timmons, who graduated from Wash in 2006 and went on to Kansas to get his finance degree. Knowing that he didn’t want to spend his entire life in a cubicle, David planned the open-ing of Cheba Hut while he was still a senior at Kansas. Working with Kent and Deb Wedemeier, they signed the franchise deal on March 1.
“We’ve done much better than we had ever expected, the shop has been very busy every day,” said Timmons. Cheba Hut is very connected to the Iowa City community, the three murals on the walls, which feature the American Gothic (Cheba Hut style,) Bob Marley and Janice Joplin, and a beach theme, were painted by a biolo-gy major at Iowa. Many of the stickers
that are spread around the restaurant were brought in by locals.
The menu features subs all named after various types of cannabis. Their most popular sandwich by far is the white widow; chicken, bacon and ranch crammed onto toasted bread.
The sandwiches all come in three sizes, a nug which is four inches, a pinner, which is eight inches and a blunt, the footlong. Their soups and salads, made with the freshest “greens,” and rice crispy treats (sticky icky, goo balls) finish out the menu. A disclaim-er proclaims below the choices: “All names refer to subs only. Any similari-ties are purely coincidental.”
The whole idea behind Cheba Hut is to make sure they stand out from the 33,000 Subways in the world and they are doing very well at that. In 2010 they had huge growth of almost 30 percent in revenue compared to 2009. To achieve that growth they take pride in their friendly and relaxed atmo-sphere. The hippy feel, with louder than normal music, featuring artists like Bob Marley and Sublime, is one of the many things that gets customers to come back over and over.
“Take as many entrepreneurial classes as possible. Work your butt off and be there all day every day.” It was this kind of mentality that resulted in Timmons’ restaurant’s success.
Look for more Cheba Huts to open under Timmons in the coming future in cities like Madison, Wis. and Lawrence, Kan.
Top sub sellers:
Grant KaminStaff Writer
Freshman year is a difficult, yet exciting jump for most people. The transition into high school is scary for a lot of reasons: it’s bigger, the kids are older and the classes are harder. Most students at Wash learn to start calling it home the first trimester of freshman year, but some eighth graders take the leap early and start attending classes while they are still in middle school. Oliver Hammond, ’15, is one of these “new” freshmen.
There are a hand-ful of eighth graders taking Pre-AP Biology, Advanced Geometry or both. Most of these students come from McKinley, although there are a couple that come from Regis and Franklin. Ham-mond, who currently attends McKinley, is taking both Pre-AP Biology and Advanced Geometry along with five other 8th graders. With the transition to high school being scary enough as a freshman, it’s natural to wonder how taking the leap a year early feels.
“At first I was scared and nervous because I was the youngest compared to everyone else. It was just really scary. As the year progressed it became more fun as I learned my way around,” recounts Hammond. It’s convenient that Oliver has big sister, Katie Hammond, ’12, and big brother, Charlie Hammond, ’11, helping him out.
“I feel like I’m at an advantage. They’ve helped me get around, to get to know my way,” Hammond admits.
High school is pretty different from middle school, especially with such older students stalking the hallways. But despite how intimidating some of the upperclassmen may seem, Hammond is not the least bit phased. He claims that everyone has been really nice and ac-commodating.
“[The students] have been helping with the great experience and making me feel more comfortable.”
The real question, however, is how Hammond feels about being surrounded by older ladies.
“I really don’t notice it,” Hammond replies, completely nonchalant.
Photo by Staci PawledgeWill Versteegh (foreground) and Oliver Hammond (back-ground) work on advanced geometry homework while in class.
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Opinions 53-18-2011
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I had my wisdom teeth pulled just the other week. My trip to the oral surgeon was rather uninviting. First, they took my blood
pressure as I anxiously scratched at my wrist. The nurse asked me if I had lost any large amount of blood within the past week due to my rather low blood pressure. Then they hooked me up to a respiratory and pulse monitor and I watched my heart rate steadily increase from forty-two beats per minute (bpm) to about ninety as my nerves were getting to me. Finally, the doctor came in and they put an inviting looking needle in my arm and I went out cold.
I was an unusual case at the oral surgeon. I woke up twice during the operation from my dreams. The first time to was to hear the nurse say that the intensity from the bone graft could have woken me, while the second time was to hear the nurse ask me if I was a drug addict and if I had a tolerance to general anesthetic. Now, I don’t know if I’m clue-less or anything, but I don’t know any high school kids who can get a hold of a general anesthetic to spend their nights trippin’ like Michael Jackson.
The operation finally ended after about an hour and a half, and the nurse began to shuffle me out the door so the other patients wouldn’t have to see a kid with bloody gauze sticking out of his mouth. This is where I realized that those kids on YouTube who have those “after the dentist” videos are full of $#!+. I could have driven home if they would have let me. I was not a delirious moron like little David was as his daddy videotaped him on the way home.
I got home and began to take my hydrocodone. I questioned the power of hydro before I took it. I’ve heard many people say “Dude, getting your wisdom teeth pulled rules. You just get to trip on hydro for like three days.” This is also a load of crap. It does nothing but take the pain away, there are no feelings of euphoria, and there are no Dr. House hallucinations. Then you have the people who defend themselves by saying that they got to do “hard drugs” for three days. “Nah man, I was on Vicodin.” Vicodin is just a name brand of hydrocodone plus some acetaminophen. So I experimented, I took a hydrocodone and two Tylenol tablets and did anything happen? Nope.
When it’s time to get your wisdom teeth pulled you have two options. You can go with the “hype-up effect” where you are going to trick yourself into getting “high” off anes-thetic and your mommy is going to attempt to videotape you as she fumbles around with her cell phone. The “hype-up effect” will also involve you convincing yourself that you are high off hydro and you get a bit of attention for a day. Option two is the more relaxed approach; you can get your wisdom teeth pulled knowing you aren’t going to say anything stupid in front of mommy and daddy and just sit around and eat ice cream for two days. Trust me, it works out.
Pain killer myths Brian KopecManaging Editor
Cole RhatiganStaff Writer
Nothing about the day suggested anything other
than normality. I stumbled through the Wash-ington doors at 8:02 a.m. and was greeted by Mr. Johnson disapprovingly shaking his head at my tardiness as if he was thinking, “Just once, Cole. Could you be on time just once?” I laughed, shrugged my shoulders and sped off to Doc Wenzel’s class. Another normal start to another normal school day at Wash.
It was now third hour, Spanish. Mrs. Johan-son was rushing through the directions for the day in fluent Spanish. This quickly caused me to space-out, and soon she sounded like an exotic version of the teacher from the Peanuts series. When the Spanish “Wah wahs” came to a halt, I looked up to find my classmates leaving. We would be working in the computer lab today. Everything still seemed normal.
I was the last one to leave the class. My classmates had all arrived at the lab by the time I stepped out into the hallway. I was alone. How-ever, after just a couple steps, the lonely silence was broken by frantic whimpering. I looked up to find a man in shades and police attire, follow-ing a leashed Shepherd-mix that was diligently sniffing the vents of the student body lockers. Suddenly, nothing was normal. For that mo-ment, Washington was no longer the safe refuge of education that had served as my second home for the last four years. For that moment, the iconic building I so proudly took my first steps in as a freshman transformed. Visions of cocaine bags stuffed in lockers and handcuffed students being thrown into police cruisers filled my mind. It wasn’t normal, and I didn’t feel safe.
Many students may recall this event. It oc-curred a couple of weeks ago. The Washington halls were filled with police officers and drug dogs searching each student’s locker for illegal substances. This event generated many common questions amongst the student body. Why is this happening? Is this going to be a regular thing? Many were left confused and worried. However,
Officer Paiser has provided entail by stating, “Every quarter, all K-9s in the force do a project together. The project this time was to search all the local high schools.” Washington students won’t be surprised by such an event again.
Apart from this event, there has been a dramatic increase in the presence of a drug dog at Washington. “I try to utilize the shift-dog on a weekly to biweekly basis with the goal of keeping illegal activities out of the school,” said Officer Paiser. While keeping illegal substances away from school grounds is more than just cause, one wonders if this steady presence of a K-9 unit affects the students. “It just kind of makes you nervous in general. It makes you nervous for everyone else, even if you have nothing to be nervous for yourself,” says Cicely Deaton, ’12. However, Officer Paiser assures us that, “If you don’t participate in the activity then you have nothing to worry about.”
Also, there’s the question of necessity. Before Officer Paiser arrived, the drug dog presence was much lower and more sporadic. A drug search was a rare event. Even more rare, it seemed, was a student actually being caught. I recall an instance during my junior year in which I witnessed an officer speak with a student whom had just been caught with illegal substances in his car. My first thought was, “Wow, I’ve never seen that before.”
I like and respect Officer Paiser. He’s a very approachable person, and from what I’ve observed, he works well with the student body. However, I can’t say I like what his presence has done to Wash. A full-time officer and weekly drug searches have severely scarred the home-away-from-home feeling I had grown comfort-able to throughout my years as a student. The school environment I felt as a freshman was incredible. I felt like there wasn’t one place better for a high school student to be. Now it seems we’re receiving constant reminders that some-thing is wrong with our school, that something is wrong with our home. We were told Wash would receive a full-time officer to make us feel safer. I don’t feel safer.
Do drug searches make us safer?
Graphic by Stacia Drafahl
Opinions6 3-18-2011Patrick Anderl
The Surveyor is established as a school-spon-sored open forum dedicated to informing and entertaining its readers. It is published nine times each school year by students enrolled in the Jour-nalism News class at Washington High School. The staff will report as fairly and well-balanced as possible. All activities and news will be covered to the best of the staff’s ability. The Surveyor accepts the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics as the basis for good journalism. Editorials and the reviews that appear under a byline are the opinion of the writer, not necessarily the staff. Unsigned editorials represent the major-ity of the Editorial Board. The opinions section is designed to provide a forum for the opinions of The Surveyor staff and the Washington High School Community. Readers are encouraged to express their view-points through guest editorials. The Surveyor also welcomes letters to the editor, with these guide-lines:1. It is not libelous or obscene. 2. It explains the material clearly. 3. It is not longer than 300 words. 4. It is signed.
Ian FischerNews editor
Joe EkenSports editor
Lauren SinesEditor-in-chief
Brian KopecManaging editor
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Patrick AnderlOpinions editor
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Ellen HartPhoto editor
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The Surveyor Editorial Policy
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WritersMichael AnderslandMadeline BergJoe BerryJill BroghammerCatheryn CooperLily GaswayShanay Gonder
Katharine GoodwinSpencer HarvieuxNick HeinsFrancesca Hildalgo-WohllebenGrant KaminMJ KaminChloe Kohl
John KopecKitty McGurkNatalie NepplCole RhatiganPhotographersMegan AndersonNatalee BirchanskyLauren Johnson
Amy ParkerGraphicsStacia DrafahlWeb MasterAnna FisherAdviserKyle Phillips
Dealing with a vandals is tough. The worst part about it is that you never know when they will strike
again. My family and I are dealing with these pressures on a day to day basis. We must always keep watchful eyes on our doors, lest the vandals catch us by surprise. One minute I’ll be watching television, the next minute I’ve got little eyes burning holes in the side of my face, watching me until I notice them. One might find it surprising that I actually enjoy the company of those who vandalize our property unless we give them the “goods,” but then again, who wouldn’t enjoy the company of a tamed squirrel?
I am almost sure that my patient readers and many others at Washington know that I tend to tame squirrels for the mere enjoyment. I cannot think of one squirrel in my backyard that won’t hop its way to the house door and take food from my family or my own hands. However, impressive as it may sound, taming a squirrel isn’t as hard as it seems. The act of taming only requires two things; patience and nuts.
I figured this out about six years ago when I was about 12 years old. It may come as a surprise, but I did not start out taming squirrels; I began taming chipmunks. I would
sit outside during warm and sunny days with sunflower seeds in my hand. Soon I would see a chipmunk’s head peering behind some flowers. It wouldn’t take more than a few days before his curiosity and hunger overcame his instincts. From there I did the same, but with squirrels. Each time I went outside they would get a little braver until finally they would take seeds out of my hands. Other squirrels in the yard would watch this phenomenon with high regard, which they expressed though haphazard mo-tions of their tails.
It wasn’t long before the relationship between human and squirrel evolved into a more friendly association. When the parents of the offspring were tamed, they would soon follow. My family and I once tamed a squirrel that we called Blondie, who became curious enough to venture close when my brother and I would kick a red bouncy ball around the yard. When the ball would pop into the air, the squirrel would stand up and raise its arms to the sky as if to say, “I got it! I got it!” When the ball came down, Blondie would run to it, only to walk away in fear of the ball’s unknown intentions.
In a later generation of squirrels, there was one that my family and I named Little Boy. He would soon become
unafraid and consequently would leap onto our screen door, look in at us and tear at it if we did not bring the food fast enough for his liking. He would later to become known as our little extortionist. This brought us to the conclusion that all squirrels have their own personalities. One thing my squirrels have in common is the way they indicate their hunger. When my family and I would talk to them, they would intently watch our mouths and try to mimic them with side to side jaw movements. This later developed into their way of indicating hunger to us.
Taming squirrels may be an unusual hobby, but one that interests me because of their surprising intelligence. Not only are they smart enough to watch each other and figure out rudimentary puzzles (squirrel see, squirrel do,) but they also have the yard-smarts to try and communicate their wants with a human. Of course they are no Ein-steins, but it is quite intriguing when they have the ability to share a certain kinship with something of greater size and mass. This is well portrayed by Blondie who would attempt to play ball with my brother and me. But then again they might just want me for the food. Which raises the question, am I training the squirrels, or are they train-ing me?
The art of taming squirrelsNick HeinsStaff Writer
Photos by Nick Heins
Rocky the Flying Squirrelfrom “Rocky and Bullwinkle”
Real Life Twiggyworld’s only water skiing squirrel
Slappy and Skippy Squirreldebuted on “Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs”
Skunny the Squirrelstar of computer games from Atomic Entertainment
Honey Nut Clusters Cereal Squirrelposition implied
The Zhejiang Squirrelmascot of China’s first professional basketball team
Famous Squirrels
Information from: http://www.squirreltracks.com/famous/famous.html
Profiles 73-18-2011
Japanese students have the opportuni-ty to end their educational careers after the completion of ninth grade. They are only required to go to school until they reach what is our tenth grade. However, along with 96 percent of the Japanese population, Risa Kinjo and Genta Shimabukuro decided not to drop out and to continue with their high school education. As foreign exchange students at Washington, Kinjo and Shimabukuro both see many differences between Wash and their high school in Japan.
“There is no cafeteria in my school,” said Kinjo, “I bring a lunch from home and we eat in the classroom.”
“We do not move between classes, we stay in one room all day,” said Shimabu-kuro. In Japan, the teachers are the ones who move to the next class, unlike Wash where it is the students who go to the teachers. Also, Japanese students are with the same classmates at all times throughout the school day.
In order to go to school Japanese students are required to take entrance exams. These tests allow them to be placed in a school with students who are approximately at the same educational level.
“The teachers in Japan don’t have to teach to everybody, where as in our public schools we have to teach to re-ally low and really high students at the same time, which can be challenging,” said Julie Cain, Wash Japanese teacher.
When in school, school is their focus. Japanese students attend school from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., when they go home and continue with their studies.
“We are not allowed to listen to music in class,” said Shimabukuro.“While the teacher talks we have to take notes and listen; no sleeping on the
desks or texting like some Washington students,” said Kinjo.Beyond the classroom, Wash students have the opportunity to hold outside
jobs to earn some extra money, but in Japan, this is prohibited. As Japanese stu-
dents, school is their only job.Similar to Wash students, Japanese students participate in many clubs. How-
ever, in Japan membership in at least one club or sport is not only the popular choice, it is required.
Wash is a new experience for Kinjo and Shimabukro, as it is culturally distinct from what they are accustomed to at school in Japan, but they have enjoyed learning about American customs and love meeting and talking with new people.
Katharine GoodwinStaff Writer
To the Max [Claassen]
Okinawa says “Konnichiwa”CJ CooperStaff Writer
What kind of characteristics do you look for in a girlfriend?
A sense of humor, someone who’s fun to be with at all times and easygoing.
What is your dream date?BK loungeWho is your celebrity crush?Cameron Diaz, I’ve always loved her.What would you bring to a relationship?Honesty, loyalty and lots of fun.
Freshman FavoritesFavorite Band
Cut CopyFavorite TV Show
ScrubsFavorite Class
BiologyFavorite Color
Yellow
“It’s difficult for me to talk with Washington’s high school stu-dents, but, If I speak cheerfully they speak to me. So I learned it.”
Photo by Amy Parker
The sixteen Japanese foreign exchange students and two foreign exchange teachers gather as Warriors.
Photo by Natalee Birchansky
“I’m looking forward to going to Super Skate and [the] mall.”G
enta
Shi
mbu
kuro
Risa K
injo
Photos provided by Julie Cain
Focus8 3-18-2011 93-18-2011Sangamithra [email protected]
Photo
Bonnaroo is a four day music and arts festival established by Superfly produc-tions and AC Entertainment. It is held on a 700 acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee every June. The word Bonnarroo means “a really good time”. Although, the literal transla-tion, taken from the French language is different ;“bon” meaning good and “rue” meaning street. The first Bonnarro festival took place in 2002. Even without any advertising, the festival sold out within two weeks. Attendance for last year’s festival, in 2010, was over 75,000. CNN claimed Bonnaroo was a place where “Music and sub-culture melted together into a pot of creative bubbling energy” and Rolling Stone magazine
declared the event as one of the “50 moments that changed rock & roll” along with Wood-stock.
Q U I C K L O O K : b o n n a r o o Popular Artists : Bands on the lineup
Arc
ade
FireFlor
ence
+
The
Mac
hine
Lollapalooza is an annual musical festival
that features heavy met-al, alternative rock, hip-hop
and punk rock. Lolla’s first tour took place in 1991 and was
put together by Jane’s Addiction’s lead singer Perry Farell as a farewell
tour for his band. It ran yearly until 1997 when it was shut down but was shortly
revived in 2003. In 2005, the festival found its current home in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois. Lol-lapalooza set a new record in 2010, with 240,000
people in attendance for the three day event. This is 15,000 more than the previous record set in 2008 and 2009. This past year, the festival expanded to eight stages spanning 115 acres; up from 80 acres in years before. The 2011 festival will be held from August 5-7.
Emin
em
cc by courtneyBolton, kindofadraag, Rev
Stan, ManAlive!, The Cosmopolitan of Las
Vegas
Lil W
ayne
The
Stro
kes
cc by ginnerobot
The Vans Warped Tour, quite popular with teens, is
not only a touring music festival, but also an exhibit for extreme sports. Established by Kevin Lyman in 1994, the tour has experienced many changes. In 1988, the tour went international; in 1999, the tour started off with New Zealand and Australia before continuing onto United States and Europe. The tour also took on a more eco-friendly practice in 2006 when it started using biod-iesel to ful its buses, installed a stage that runs on solar power and compostable take out boxes.
Mattie McDowell answers question about her experi-ence at Lollapalooza.
What part of Lollapa-looza did you enjoy the most? Any interesting or funny moments?
The best part was the atmosphere. You’re squished between thousands of sweaty people who are just there to have a good time and listen to music in the sun. It’s fun going to different bands at different stages throughout the day. There’s a lot of variety so you can go from listening to something really chill to going completely wild at the Perrys stage. There’s also a lot of different people from different areas. Its fun to watch people,especially drunk people. Everyone is also pretty friendly
so you make a lot of new friends.
cc by mike warren
Although farthest away from Iowa, Coachella Valley Music
and Arts Festival, held in Indio, California, is the music festi-
val most Wash students seem to wish to attend. As the event
takes place in a desert setting, during the festival, attendees
experience skin-burning temperatures during the day and
teeth chattering temperatures during the evening. Past
cc by naughton321
notable performers include Madon-
na, Daft Punk, Radiohead and the
Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
“If music be the food of love, play on” said William Shakespere. Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Coachella and the Vans Warped Tour give students the op-portunity to explore and extend their passion for music.
Spencer HarvieuxStaff Writer
Photo provided by Tonya Boots
Musicfor the soul...
Focus8 3-18-2011 93-18-2011Sangamithra [email protected]
Photo
Bonnaroo is a four day music and arts festival established by Superfly produc-tions and AC Entertainment. It is held on a 700 acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee every June. The word Bonnarroo means “a really good time”. Although, the literal transla-tion, taken from the French language is different ;“bon” meaning good and “rue” meaning street. The first Bonnarro festival took place in 2002. Even without any advertising, the festival sold out within two weeks. Attendance for last year’s festival, in 2010, was over 75,000. CNN claimed Bonnaroo was a place where “Music and sub-culture melted together into a pot of creative bubbling energy” and Rolling Stone magazine
declared the event as one of the “50 moments that changed rock & roll” along with Wood-stock.
Q U I C K L O O K : b o n n a r o o Popular Artists : Bands on the lineup
Arc
ade
FireFlor
ence
+
The
Mac
hine
Lollapalooza is an annual musical festival
that features heavy met-al, alternative rock, hip-hop
and punk rock. Lolla’s first tour took place in 1991 and was
put together by Jane’s Addiction’s lead singer Perry Farell as a farewell
tour for his band. It ran yearly until 1997 when it was shut down but was shortly
revived in 2003. In 2005, the festival found its current home in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois. Lol-lapalooza set a new record in 2010, with 240,000
people in attendance for the three day event. This is 15,000 more than the previous record set in 2008 and 2009. This past year, the festival expanded to eight stages spanning 115 acres; up from 80 acres in years before. The 2011 festival will be held from August 5-7.
Emin
em
cc by courtneyBolton, kindofadraag, Rev
Stan, ManAlive!, The Cosmopolitan of Las
Vegas
Lil W
ayne
The
Stro
kes
cc by ginnerobot
The Vans Warped Tour, quite popular with teens, is
not only a touring music festival, but also an exhibit for extreme sports. Established by Kevin Lyman in 1994, the tour has experienced many changes. In 1988, the tour went international; in 1999, the tour started off with New Zealand and Australia before continuing onto United States and Europe. The tour also took on a more eco-friendly practice in 2006 when it started using biod-iesel to ful its buses, installed a stage that runs on solar power and compostable take out boxes.
Mattie McDowell answers question about her experi-ence at Lollapalooza.
What part of Lollapa-looza did you enjoy the most? Any interesting or funny moments?
The best part was the atmosphere. You’re squished between thousands of sweaty people who are just there to have a good time and listen to music in the sun. It’s fun going to different bands at different stages throughout the day. There’s a lot of variety so you can go from listening to something really chill to going completely wild at the Perrys stage. There’s also a lot of different people from different areas. Its fun to watch people,especially drunk people. Everyone is also pretty friendly
so you make a lot of new friends.
cc by mike warren
Although farthest away from Iowa, Coachella Valley Music
and Arts Festival, held in Indio, California, is the music festi-
val most Wash students seem to wish to attend. As the event
takes place in a desert setting, during the festival, attendees
experience skin-burning temperatures during the day and
teeth chattering temperatures during the evening. Past
cc by naughton321
notable performers include Madon-
na, Daft Punk, Radiohead and the
Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
“If music be the food of love, play on” said William Shakespere. Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Coachella and the Vans Warped Tour give students the op-portunity to explore and extend their passion for music.
Spencer HarvieuxStaff Writer
Photo provided by Tonya Boots
Musicfor the soul...
Profiles10 3-18-2011Alyssa Christian
The “Milk Man”Francesca Hidalgo-WohllebenStaff Writer
Ryan Cain, ’12, is an athlete at Washington High School who is defined not only by his moves on the football field, but also by his well-built body. So what is the secret to his sculpted figure? Chocolate milk.
Cain began avidly drinking chocolate milk after a doctor suggested it as a way to help put on muscle weight for sports.
Though many athletes turn to an assortment of protein drinks to gain bulk, Cain recognizes the benefits of milk over such drinks.
“I like it because it actually has much more protein than traditional protein drinks. It also has the right amount of total fats, which are important for putting on muscle.”
Tony Lombardi, the varsity football coach, supports this work ethic. “Athletes need a lot of calories, around six to seven thousand a day, in order
to slow down their metabolic rate and gain muscle weight. Many athletes turn to protein drinks, or in Ryan’s case, milk to supplement their calorie intake,” said Lombardi.
Shanay GonderStaff Writer
7,568 miles from home, Ruth Na-kombe is adjusting to life in the U.S. af-ter her move in November. The Demo-cratic Republic of Congo native, fluent in both Lingala and French, moved to the United States late last year with her parents to join her two already resettled brothers and sisters.
Nakombe has acclimated herself to a language, culture and climate that is much different to that of her home country.
Located on the equator, The Repub-lic of Congo has a relatively consistent temperature of 75 degrees year round, unlike the fluctuating weather condi-tions experienced in the Midwest. The Iowa winter has been brutal in compari-son to the unwavering tropical region most familiar to Nakombe.
“I only had to wear a sweater some-times at night,” said Nakombe.
American food staples differ greatly to those of the The Republic of Congo also; legumes and most specifically Cassava leaves are dietary staples in the region.
Nakombe’s favorite food most in-digenous to the Democratic Republic
Cain works out twice a day, and is always sure to “wash down” his workout with a glass of chocolate milk. This routine has apparently paid off for Cain.
“I’m putting on the weight in order to perform bet-ter for next season and to also increase my chances of achieving my goal to play college football.”
The only downfall of this chocolate milk, Cain said, is that it doesn’t contain the amino acids that help ease the soreness of working out. When it comes to the type of milk, however, Cain is especially particular. It’s either chocolate milk or no milk.
Teammate Alonzo Carr, ’13, agrees with this partiality. “I drink chocolate milk too because, well, it’s just better than white milk.
Chocolate is the way to go,” said Carr.
These days, Cain has contin-ued his routine to the school day. He’s known for carrying his signature half-gallon of chocolate milk throughout the day.
“I figured, I might as well take it to school and drink it there too.”
Photo by Staci Pawledge Graphic by Lauren Sines
Drawing by Stacia Drafahl cc by vibracobra23
of Congo are “les haricot verts,” most similar to green beans, but natively more complex in flavor. The contradistinction between her love for green beans and new found fondness of hamburgers and fries is humorous to the Iowa newcomer.
School hours are very comparable from the Congo to those at Washington; girls and boys attend school with one another and learn subjects familiar to students in the U.S. The most obvious contrast in the schools accord-ing to Nakombe are the compulsory uniforms required of students.
Naomi Sengiyumva, ’13, said, “Ruth is the sweetest girl I’ve ever met; she’s very quiet, but a very fast learner and already has learned a lot of English.”
Nakombe continues to become accustomed to life in the United States. Her sweet dispo-sition and evident desire to learn promises a meaningful acquaintance with Nakombe regardless of your fluency in Lingala or French.
Student overcomes language barrier
A&E 113-18-2011Isaac [email protected]
“Slice of Jazz” is a group of 16 intermixed male and female singers here at Washington. “Slice” has won numerous competitions and has been recognized as one of the nation’s most outstanding high school jazz choirs.
Accordingly, after sending in tapes of their performances from the last four years, they were recently one of two jazz choirs nation wide to be invited to perform for ACDA.
ACDA is the American Choral Directors Association, and from March 9-12, they held what is said to be one of the most inspirational, comprehensive and technological gatherings of the Association in its 52 year history.
The group is made up of sophomores, juniors and seniors, who all auditioned. “Slice of Jazz” covers timeless and modern pieces but always is looking for a challenge. The group as a whole willingly takes on pieces of tough literature at accelerating speeds.
“It was such an accomplishment to be invited to a national conference with the best directors around as our audience. It’s so exciting we get to perform and see top notch groups from around the world as well,” said Allison Klasson, ’11.
Although the singers are generally looked at
and acknowledged when under the spotlights, they are not the only ones contributing to the admirable music reigning throughout their venue.
The “Slice of Jazz” band helps create the harmonious songs which are being projected by the singers.
The “Slice” Band is made up of 8 talented musicians playing a variety of instruments in-cluding the drums (played by Michael Olson, ’11), the piano (played by Andrew Clair, ’11), the trumpet (played by Will Roberts, ’12) and the tenor sax (played by Max McGee, ’11), just to name a few.
This selection of talented characters helps bring together a truly amazing group of people all dedicated to music.
“I personally like the connection between the choir and the band, you can tell that ev-eryone there enjoys jazz and respects the effort everyone puts into ‘Slice’,” said Ian Draves, ’11.
It is clear to all that “Slice of Jazz” is so suc-cessful due to the group’s dedication and ability to synthesize voices and musicians of all sorts.
“I love how close the group is and perform-ing is always fun,” said Tori Wheeler, ’13.
Slice of Jazz receives tremendous national honor
Kitty McGurkStaff Writer “Sweeney Todd” is a tasty treat
Chloe KohlStaff Writer
Murder is the game for the demon barber of Fleet Street, and a path of love and brutality is the reality in the tale told by Theatre Cedar Rapids in their pro-duction of “Sweeney Todd.”
“Sweeney Todd” is a musical being shown at Theatre Cedar Rapids on the weekends of March 2-26. The show portrays the tragic tale of Sweeney Todd, played by Daniel Kelchen, a barber who came back from a voyage on the sea to his hometown in London expecting his wife and his child. Instead, he finds Mrs. Lovett, a widowed pie shop owner who has the “Worst Pies in London.” He is told his wife committed suicide and his daughter has been taken away.
He then sets up his old shop above Mrs. Lovett’s, where he was once known as Benjamin Barker, and swindles a competitor’s as-sistant named Toby, played by Lincoln Ginsberg. To rekindle business in Mrs. Lovett’s shop, Todd starts killing his customers and putting them in Lovett’s pies.
The story is magnifi-cently told through the pain that is so expertly shown in all the characters, through the grunts of his daughter Johanna’s keeper, Judge Turpin, played by ex-Wash teacher, Michael Cervantes, in his lust for Johanna, and through the deep, menacing voice of Sweeney Todd.
The set included a neat contraption where the bod-ies would slide from Todd’s shop to under the stage. The background was dark, a dusty veil intruding in the stage lights.
A show that can involve love, murder and cannibal-ism and still create an inter-nal connection and sorrow for every character is a show that cannot be missed.
Photo by Beth Tessier
Sopranos
Ellen Hart ’11Rachel Jones ’11Nikki Stewart ’12 Tori Wheeler ’13
Altos
Emma Azelborn ’12 Katharine Bergman ’12
Allison Klasson ’11Lindsey Taylor ’11
Tenors
Jordan Abben ’11Neel Ghosh ’11
Miles Maurice ’11 Brendon Wheberg ’12,
Basses
Ian Butler ’13Wes Carlson ’11
Clayton Willet ’12 Connor Zuber ’13
Photos by Amy Parker
“Slice” Members
A&E12 3-18-2011
“The Roots” take one week off of their nightly duties as the house band for “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” to play one of their famous live shows. They played this one show in Iowa City.
The group responsible for bringing such a high in demand group to the University of Iowa is the entirely student run, Student Commission on Programming and Entertainment (SCOPE).
Functioning both as a commission for bring-ing quality shows to the University of Iowa and an educational experience in the music business for students, SCOPE continues to enlighten the Iowa City area with some of the most popular live shows in the music world. They accomplish what many professional entertainment agencies strive to.
Class of ’08 Washington alum, Abbey Gesing, is the Hospitality Coordinator for SCOPE. This means she works directly with the big names who come through Iowa City, to make sure their stay goes well and their needs of transportation and the numerous details of show business like dress-ing room areas are met.
Gesing described the process in which SCOPE uses a Talent Buyer to call agencies, put in bids for shows and approve contracts once the details have been agreed upon. How successful exactly is this Talent Buyer? Largely, it seems, as in the past two years SCOPE has copped “The Cool Kids,” “Girl Talk” (twice,) “Shwayze,” “Third Eye Blind,”
“Wilco,” “The Black Keys,” “Nas and Damien Marley” and “Iron and Wine,” not to mention many others. Possibly the only thing more impressive is “Hawkapalooza,” the kickoff to the athletic season each September. The past two years, SCOPE has provided entirely free performances at Hubbard Park, by “Lupe Fiasco” in 2009 and “Big Boi” & “Super Mash Bros.” in 2010. The relatively small Iowa City would seem to lose shows to larger areas like Minneapolis or Chicago, but SCOPE works hard to make sure eastern Iowa doesn’t miss out on the music.
“The truth is SCOPE has a very good reputation in the music business. People know we are students but they also know we act like professionals,” said Gesing. As far as ticket prices go, SCOPE likes to keep things reasonable.“Our job is to bring great music to students for the lowest price possible,” said Gesing. SCOPE is funded by the University of Iowa and has a very strict budget. As a result, they occasionally have to pass up on great, yet pricey shows that college students couldn’t afford. When one finds out that “The Roots” are playing in Iowa City, and tickets are only 35 dollars, SCOPE leaves a hard offer to pass up. One of a kind shows in a state that rarely boasts
anything more than corn.
Isaac [email protected]
SCOPE gets “The Roots” to rock Iowa CityIsaac HalyardA&E Editor
New music rolls in with springBritish soul singers have been finding
their way into our playlists since artists like Amy Winehouse and Duffy brought their style to America. Yet none of these names have become quite the pop sensa-tion as the vivacious Adele Adkins; and her new Album “21” solidifies her role as an idol.
Adele starts off “21” with fierce blues tracks that ignite a seductive power in her voice. Her hit track “Roll-ing in Deep” has heavy radio play but the song “Rumour Has It” has a similar rock n’ blues sound that really exem-plifies what fits her voice the best.
As the album moves forward, it loses the edge and turns into a modern twist on seventies soul ballads that sound like they could come straight out of
Soul Train. Though a different twist on her former music, it’s overdone. Adele’s voice is such a rare cross between the rough power of Etta James and the smoky subtlety of Dusty Springfield it doesn’t have to be bogged down by overproduction.
As the album closes, it graces us with simple tracks that really expose Adele for what she’s worth. Her voice is raw and is actually complimented by acoustics and piano accom-paniment on the tracks “Lovesong” and “Someone Like You.”
“21” is a strong album for Adele. Though the in-clusion of classic covers or
simple songs would’ve best fit her style, like those found on “19”, it’s still fresh, beautiful music that adds color to a monochromatic mainstream.
“Lasers” Isaac Halyard - A&E Editor
“21” Chloe Kohl - Staff Writer
“The Roots” lead man BlackThought brings lyrical mastery to the IMU.
They call him Lupe, he’ll be your new day. And he’s back. On March 8, Lupe Fiasco dropped his third album, “Lasers.” After a two year hiatus and countless setbacks, the long awaited “Lasers” was finally in the hands of Lupe’s loyal fans.
The rapper from the windy city released his first album “Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor” in 2003. He quickly attracted a fan base of listeners who clicked with his intellectual and upbeat lyrics, with the widely popularized single, “Kick Push.”
In 2007, Lupe dropped the album “Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool,” which rooted into a darker style, focusing on the societal precognitions of hip hop cul-ture. With songs like “Dumb it Down,” and “Hip Hop Saved My Life,” Lupe attacked the simplicity and supposed lack
of intelligence that had become associated with hip hop.
After “The Cool,” for one reason or a another, Lupe did not release an album for four years. Web interviews have shown his distaste with the record industry, primarily
the leaking of music by record company officials, that may have contribut-ed to his refusal to release an album.
Lupe began to release free mix tapes, all the while promoting the unreleased album “La-sers.” When the album finally dropped earlier this month, a lot of buzz surrounded it.
The album itself takes a more “pop” turn away from the simplistic beats and complex rhymes of his last two al-bums. With many featured artists and well done samples in songs like “The Show Goes On,” Lupe has widened his fan base.
http://lupefiasco.com/photo/lasers-cover-art/
http://adele.tv/home
Upcoming Scope Concerts
April 18- The Decemberists IMU Main Lounge - $33.90
April 27 - The New Pornog-raphers and the Walkmen IMU Ballroom - $30.85
April 28 - Mason Jennings IMU Main Lounge - TBA
Photo by Isaac Halyard
A&E 133-18-2011Isaac [email protected]
ACADEMIC ACADEMIC ACADEMIC ACADEMIC DECATHLON TEAMDECATHLON TEAMDECATHLON TEAMDECATHLON TEAM
Madalyn Adams Emma Azelborn
Mason Buonadonna John Deal
Suzanne Keck Zach Klug
Chessa Loushin Vance Mueller James Strobel Tom Werner
MATH TEAMMATH TEAMMATH TEAMMATH TEAM Emma Azelborn
Bradlee Birchansky Tom Chase
Fangzhou (Joyce) Du
Joe Eken Mike Eken Zach Grief
Isaac Halyard Charlie Hammond
Becca Herron Rob Hogg
Sara Larson Joe Melsha
Vance Mueller Manvith Munagala
Michael Olson Eric Roush Dylan Shah Jonah Shah
Lauren Sines James Strobel
Jacob VanderVaart Tom Werner
SCIENCESCIENCESCIENCESCIENCE OLYMPIAD TEAMOLYMPIAD TEAMOLYMPIAD TEAMOLYMPIAD TEAM Madalyn Adams Nathan Benya
Benjamin Davenport John Deal
Zachary Klug Ethan Lindley Vance Mueller Robert Nesmith
Sangamithra Sathuian James Strobel Taylor Temple
Charlie Sheen’s wisest words
Art wizards “pop” out in C.R.
What’s your favorite children’s book? Which story takes you for a riveting walk down memory lane every time your hands approach the binding?
The children of today may be experiencing a whole new world in the life of children’s books, and Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart have definitely had a hand in it.
From Jan. 22 to May 1 the Ce-dar Rapids Museum of Art, will be featuring these two artists in “The Wizards of Pop” exhibit. It includes more than 60 images from 13 pic-ture and pop-up books. This exhibi-tion is organized by the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature, Abilene, Texas.
These two pop-up book wizards are the best-known artists in their area. Cedar Rapidians can take pride in Reinhart’s accomplish-ments for he was originally from Cedar Rapids.
Although Sabuda is from Pick-ney, Michigan, these two crossed paths and have now been working together for the last 10 years. Together they have created quite the name for themselves and are only getting more impressive.
The process begins with plain white paper and average shapes. These cut out figures are then trans-formed into 3-D masterpieces that move and alter at the turn of a page.
After the artists are satisfied with the movement
of the paper, they then go back and begin adding the small details and color with their handmade paper.
Sabuda and Reinhart started off with a few acceptable pages but are now recreating their own versions of the classics; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book.
As their abilities increased, so did the difficulty of books they were interpreting. Some including Star Wars, Peter Pan, books covering the different types of Dinosaurs, Sharks, and Beasts.
Flipping through these familiar stories one can feel a return to their childhood. Each flip had the ca-pability of literally jumping off the page and it made reading children’s books enjoyable yet again.
Kitty McGurkStaff Writer
Matthew Reinhart, Cinderella, 2005. Published by Little Simon, A Division of Simon & Schuster, New York. Courtesy Matthew Reinhart.
Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda, Dinosaurs, 2005, from the Encyclo-pedia Prehistorica series. Published by Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.
Courtesy of Matthew Reinhart
Matthew Reinhart, The Jungle Book, 2006. Published by Little Simon, A Division of Simon & Schuster, New York. Courtesy Matthew Reinhart.
“Cedar Rapids” not Cedar RapidsThere is defi-
nitely an undeni-able sweetness to Miguel Arteta’s most recent film “Cedar Rapids,” re-leased Friday, Feb. 11. It had its mo-ments that made it wildly funny and hard to resist, but is by no means a
masterpiece, or a realistic representation of our hometown.
“Cedar Rapids” is funny, extremely raunchy and goofy, but also has underly-ing warmth that make it most appealing.
“Cedar Rapids” takes a number of wrong turns, including a digression into a bully-filled party complete with dropouts and cocaine, but also springs a few explicit funny surprises. While the script is clever and funny in a lot of moments, overall it is a harmless comedy that is just for fun and not meant to be taken seriously.
Picking up with the orthodontically compromised character from where “The Hangover” left off, Ed Helms plays Ted Lippe, a total nerd who seems to have lost all touch with reality as he leaves his small town behind for the first time and heads for the bright lights of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Fortunately for the viewers, a support-ing cast of characters helps turn Lippe’s dull life upside down. Genuinely, the funniest thing in this outlandish movie is John C. Reilly as he plays Dean (“Dean-zie”) Ziegler, the party animal insurance agent who is energetically inappropriate. Whenever “Deanzie” is off the screen the film seems to be taking a breather.
Despite a few scenes, “Cedar Rapids” was deceivingly filmed in Ann Arbor, Mich. and is generally a rowdy comedy that makes a mockery of small town Midwesterners. With the right attitude, viewers may be able to accept “Cedar Rap-ids” as a funny film that will leave them smiling long after they leave the theater.
John KopecStaff Writer
1. “I dare anyone to debate me on things.”
2. “I’m tired of pretending I’m not a total b!$%^$@ rock star from Mars.”
3. “I’m bi-winning. I win here and I win there.”
4. “I got tiger blood, man.”
5. “I am on a drug. It’s called Charlie Sheen. It’s not available. If you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.”
6. ”Blame the studio for giving me this much dough knowing who they were giving it to.”
Sports14 3-18-2011
Joe BerryStaff Writer
As the high school basketball season ends, the attention of the school’s players and fans turns towards the world of college hoops. March Madness has begun, and high school students go to drastic measures to stay in tune with the Big Dance.
“I plan on using my phone to keep up with the tourney,” said Gavin Jones, ’13. Other ways students have historically stayed up to date on tournament news is by
watching games on school TVs, putting the GameCast up on the Smart Board and David Rosenthal’s, ’13 method of an annual March-long sickness that leaves him on his couch, watching every game of the tournament.
The tournament’s bracket came out on Sunday March 13, with a few minor alterations. In addition to the usual sixty-five teams playing field, three more teams have been added, bringing the total to 68 teams competing.
Therefore, the schedule of the tournament is now, the First Four, then rounds two and three, then the traditional Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four and Championship game.
With the expanded playing field, you would expect that more teams with an impressive resume would be able to make the tournament, but teams such as St. Mary’s, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Colorado and Alabama were “snubbed” in the selection. They didn’t make the
tournament despite having better Rating Percentage Indexes (RPI), (a composite ranking system based on record, strength of schedule and other factors) than teams like UAB and VCU.
Although there was uncertainty regarding the lower seeds for the tournament, the top seeds were clear-cut before Selection Sunday.
The top four seeds are Ohio State, Kansas, Pittsburgh and Duke. Other hopefuls that fell into number two seeds were Notre Dame and North Carolina. The tournament title is up for grabs though, and the only way to find out who wins is to get caught up in the madness.
Joe EkenSports Editor
Most years basketball fans have to wait till the end of March to watch pulse pound-ing tournament action. This year however, Washington supporters were rewarded with post season a little earlier than expected.
Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams had successful seasons which culmi-nated in state tournament trips.
For the girls, it was their first trip back to Des Moines since the ’07-’08 season when they finished runner up to Iowa City High.
“We had success on a lot of different levels this year. A 19-4 record, tying for the conference championship and qualifying for the state tournament,” said coach Frank Howell.
Although the team lost to Iowa City West
in the first round, Howell saw a lot of posi-tives in the experience.
“I’m glad they [the seniors] had the op-portunity to do it. I knew we had a chance to win, we were playing a difficult opponent, but win or lose I’m glad we had the experi-ence to play at Wells Fargo.”
The men’s basketball team also made a trip to the Wells Fargo Center, qualifying for state for the second year in a row.
Led by seniors Josh Oglesby and Wes Washpun, the Warriors went 17-8 during the regular season, after playing one of the most difficult schedules in the state.
Like last year, however, the boys had a brutal first round pairing, once again playing the number one team in the state, and fell to Linn-Mar 71-54.
Both teams will hope build on this year’s success for next season.
MJ KaminStaff Writer
After back-to-back state champion-ships, the men’s track season got into full swing on Feb. 14. The Warriors are optimistic they can put together a strong season and “three-peat” this year.
Assistant Coach Willis Harte has high hopes for the season, noting that the pres-sure to take state again seems to only fuel the team. “We’ve got a great bunch of kids who care about each other, who want to win not only for themselves but for their team and school,” said Harte.
Will Griffin, ’12, agrees about how the team will approach the pressure this year. “Just going out, try the same thing [and] do our best,” said Griffin.
Harte says one great aspect of this year’s is their endurance. Many of the athletes hoping to make it to state again partici-pated in winter sports and also racked up miles to prepare for the upcoming season.
“We have guys with different strengths, [but] equally strong runners,” said Harte.
Even though the Warriors only finished first in one event at state last year, the 4x8 meter relay, the many third and fifth place finishes helped boost the Warriors. Griffin hopes to qualify again for state, and to place at state as well as at Drake Relays. The Warriors hope to have the same success at state again this year. “We have a good chance of having guys in every event,” said Harte. This will be especially helpful in the field events, an area in which the Warriors have lacked strength in the past years.
The Warrior’s first meet was the Mississippi Valley Conference Indoor Championship at the UNI-Dome on March 14. The Drake Relays, a key meet for the Warriors and which they have often performed well, is on April 28 in Des Moines. The state tournament begins three weeks later on May 19.
Quest for a three-peat
Let the madness begin
Photo by Megan AndersonMembers of the track team run laps during practice
Warriors invade Des Moines
Rob Hogg’s Final Four
East: Ohio StateWest: DukeSouthwest: Notre DameSoutheast: Wisconsin
Mr. Kleman’s Final Four
East: North CarolinaWest: ConnecticutSouthwest: LouisvilleSoutheast: BYU
Mr. Howell’s Final Four
East: Ohio StateWest: Duke Southwest: Notre DameSoutheast: BYU
Josh Oglesby’s Final Four
East: North CarolinaWest: DukeSouthwest: KansasSoutheast: Florida
Bracketology
Mr. Miller’s Final Four
East: SyracuseWest: ConnecticutSouthwest: KansasSoutheast: Florida
Photo by Lauren SinesJosh Oglesby looks for a way around a Linn Mar defender
Washington students and facutly give their picks for the big tournament
Sports 153-18-2011Joe [email protected]
Jill BroghammerStaff Writer
Continued from page 1
“After practice I go home and starting working on my homework right away and stay really focused until I get it done,” said Barnum.
Barnum does not have an all-time favorite sport, but loves all of the sports she participates in for dif-ferent reasons. Barnum has enjoyed getting to know people better through all of her activities.
“Spending time with my teammates is a lot of fun and a way to social-ize while bonding with them,” said Barnum.
While Barnum does spend a lot of time participating in sports, she does not follow them with the same passion as she plays. Barnum watches sports on television when her schedule allows but is not a sports fanatic. “I don’t follow specific teams that much ex-cept for the Hawkeyes. I love the Hawkeyes,” said Barnum.
Barnum describes her favorite sports memory of all-time as being the recent state
qualification of the Washington women’s basket-ball team.
“Going to state for basketball was a re-ally big accomplishment even though we didn’t win in the end,” said Barnum. While Barnum is still unsure about where she wants to further her education, she plans to major in food science. Barnum does not plan to partici-pate in sports in college but hopes to participate in intramural sports.
Gail does it all
Photo by Natalee BirchanskyGail Barnum tries to hang on to all of her athletic equiptment
Photo by Natalee BirchanskyGail barnum has played 4 different sports in her four years here at Washington
Natalie NepplStaff Writer
The Warrior men’s soccer team has a large number of returning varsity players; but some of them are dealing with the consequences of violating the school’s good conduct policy. and are suspended from the team for a period of the season.
The team is missing five players, four of whom are out for one third of the season, and one more who is out for half of the season. Although many of the team’s leaders are absent for the first portion of the season, there are players who are capable of stepping up and filling the varsity spots, which will help the team’s performance in the next couple years.
Coach J.P. Graham is still looking forward to a successful season and expects a state championship from the team but knows the journey there may be slightly different than he originally expected.
“My view has changed in a way that I feel I will need to be more patient because we will have new guys getting varsity experience,” said Graham.
Alex Zalesky, ’11, a member of the team who has to sit out, regrets the choice he made that got him into trouble.
“It was a very poor decision on my part,” said Zalesky. The players sitting out must still practice with the team every day, and in addition,
may have to run stairs during home games as punishment. “I have confidence in the team that we will have a good season and finish with a good
record,” said Zalesky. The team got together and had a meeting to discuss their season and what to expect.
At the meeting, Graham spoke to the team about the decisions they make and how they affect them. Brandon Besong, ’11, spoke up as a senior leader and reassured the team that he would do all he could to lead the team through a successful season.
“I haven’t decided how I feel about the season, we have a solid team and I know we will do alright. Our team is young, and we have guys with a lot of potential,” said Besong.
The Warrior men’s soccer team is still very confident that they will continue the strong tradition of men’s soccer at Wash and hopes to bring back the championship trophy at the end of the season.
Good Conduct Policy
Fighting adversity
Possession, use or purchase of tobacco products•Possession, use or purchase of alcoholic beverages•Possession, use or purchase of illegal drugs•Engaging in any act that would be grounds for arrest or citation in the criminal •or juvenile court systemInappropriateoroffensiveconductsuchasfighting,insubordination•
PenaltiesFirst offense: One third of a season of ineligibility•Second offense:One half of a season of ineligibility•Third offense: One full year of ineligibility•
Violations
Back Page16 3-18-2011Ellen Hart
Charlie HammondMr. Washington
Photos by Ellen Hart and Natalee Birachansky
How does it feel to be Mr. Washington?“I feel very honored and slightly surprised.”
How do you plan to up hold the name of Mr. Washington?“I plan on continuing to be the best Washington student I can be both in and out of the classroom.”
What advice do you have for future Mr. Washington?“You’ve got to signup and be creative with your talent.”
What was your favorite part of the competition? “I liked performing my talent and making people laugh.”
What would you like to say to the student body, who voted you Mr. Washington?“Roll Tide.”
Mr.Washington’s Favorites Favorite Band: Kid Cudi Favorite Food: SushiFavorite Color: OrangeFavorite Class: PhysicsFavorite TV Show: Anything about the universeFavorite Movie: Anything with Will FerrellCelebrity Crush: “Justin Bie-ber. I wish I was Justin Bie-ber.”
Interview by Katharine Goodwin