February, 2013

the black and white. jan. 2013. volume 21 issue 7. 5152780449. 6501 NW 62nd ave. johnston, ia

Dear Valentine, I know it’s been two weeks since

Valentine’s Day, but love is still in the

air. I cannot decide if Valentine’s Day

should be everyday or is it another

overrated holiday? You decide...Love,

Your secret admirer

follow us @jhsnewspaper Find us on Facebook! t f Friend and like us on Facebook Jhs Black and White Find us on Twitter! www.jhsblackandwhite.com

Game of the year Social media policiesJohnston wins game of the year for Johnston vs. Urbandale game.

pg. 6/7

See pg. 11 to read more on whether Valentine’s Day should be everyday or if it is overrated.

Carbon monoxideJackie Sapp survives carbon monoxide poisoning.

pg. 9pg. 8

Teacher to student communica-tion policy is cleared of confusion.

the b&w index

The Black and White is published solely by the Johnston High School newspa-per staff. Its goal is to inform, enlighten and entertain Johnston students. It is an open forum. In accordance with Iowa law and board policy, students assign and edit material and make all decisions of content. The paper is published ten times per school year. The paper will avoid material that is libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. The law does not require parental permission to use student quotes. Ethically, we believe students can speak for themselves. Staff editorials represent the opinion of a majority of the editorial board. Editorial and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the adviser, school officials or the district. Letters to the editor must be signed. Like all material, letters may not be libelous, obscene or an invasion of privacy. Bring letters to room 413 within one week after publication to be considered for the next issue. The Black and White strives to report accurate and timely information. If you believe that an error has been printed, please contact the editors at jhsblacka-ndwhite@gmail.com. The Black and White is a member of CSPA, NSPA, Quill & Scroll, and IHSPA. Recent issues of the paper earned these honors: Colum-bia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist, National Scholastic Press As-sociation First Class rating, Quill & Scroll Gallup Award, IHSPA state placings and sixth in the National Best of Show.

PHILOSOPHYLaura Scieszinski

Austin BuschClare FarrellNiki FergusonMonica GagneAaron GrayMollie GreenwoodMyles GlandorfTaylor JoensKatelyn LundersEthan MarshallCourtney Mithelman

Staff writersmeet the staffEditorial boardHannah Soyereditors in chief

Paige Cramerdesign editorKenzie Foldessub-editorsSarah Margolin- CopyAnne Rogers- SportsSarah Ross- Feature

Zoe WilsonJeremy Caracci Kevin WuSenad BesicDaisha McAvaddyEllen BennettAmra DevedzicMedina Jusufovic Carly KinningAshleigh Edwards

Mallorie Goodale- News

in this issue

]february2013ne

ws 3 Photo Essay

4

New logoPlans for the new dis-trict logo start up 5

Rumor Busters- Joining silver cord- IHaveAPlan Iowa- Privatising busing

To Bear or Not To Bear

feat

ure

Game of the year

Social media policy

The inside story of the Johnston vs. Urbandale football game that won the Game of the Year award

New policy limits interac-tions between teachers and students and causes con-fusion

edito

rial

The ups and downs of Valen-tine’s DayTwo different stances on the nation’s most heart- and chocolate-filled holi-day

12

opin

ion

What’s the word?

Suicide preven-tion bill

11

The popular iPad game with a new spin

Brian Carico presents suicide prevention bill to state legislation

back

page9

10

spor

ts

76

Carbon MonoxideJackie Sapp recounts her experience of car-bon monoxide poisoning, along with ways to protect your home

Coat Drive

8

It is not dumb to be smartBeing ashamed of be-ing smart is dumb

[Sneak peaks at some new photo collections that are on the B&W online

the b&w photo essayp.3

Team Gibson and the Rain-bow Gang participated in the dodgeball intramural Feb. 10. “I have no idea how we got that [name], we didn’t know what to name the team so I just took whatever name someone gave me,” team member Nick Young, soph-omre, said. There were 12 participating teams, and each student had to pay $5 to play.

Februaryin

Senior Zach Robinson tries to pin Charles Weaver from Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson. Robinson par-ticipated at the state tour-nament Feb. 14-16. Sopho-mores Henry Pohlmeyer, Travis Price and senior Lo-gan Walkup were all 2013 state qualifiers.

At the FCA (Fellowship of-Christian Athletes) meeting Feb. 19, junior Addy Evans and sophomore Brady Harp-er compete in a hoop game. Evans, as well as seniors Karsen Kramer, Jessie Tin-dall and sophomore Heze-kiah Applegate shared their testimonies with the group.

Senior Olivia Guns, sopho-more Meredith Toebben and senior Hailey Krom-minga warm up for the 2013 Masterworks Con-cert. The concert featured Women’s Choir, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, Concert Band and Wind Symphony. The concert took place Feb. 14.

photoswords Courtney Mithelman layout Kenzie Foldes

Provided/Laura Schwartz

Paige Cramer/BW

Courtney Mithelman/BW

1.

2.

3.

4.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Courtney Mithelman/BW

the b&w newsp.4

Johnston is required by state law to have all students complete the program. There has never been a student who did not complete I Have a Plan Those students that do not are subject to penalties or punishments, although the state has not yet specified what penalties students may face.“I don’t get why we have to do it,” junior Michael Goss said. “It takes forever and it doesn’t help at all.” Stu-dents tend to dislike completing I Have a Plan, but it of-fers many services, including personality tests and skill inventories.

The school is considering using private busing as an alternative to the school’s current transportation services. “We are looking at op-erations, and one happens to be transportations,” superintendent Clay Guthmiller said. The district currently spends over $2 million a year on transportation, and is looking at ways to reduce the cost. Furthermore, there would be fewer complications with personnel and operating costs.

Students are able to join the volunteer program, Silver Cord, at any time in the year. “I’m not going to tell students they can’t volunteer,” Silver Cord coordinator Chris Be-guhn said. Regardless of when students join, they have to meet the minimum 150 hours by the time they graduate. Silver Cord emails regarding volunteering opportunities and other pertinent information sent out by Beguhn are di-rected at students who joined at the beginning, and might not apply to those who join later.

words & layout Kevin Wu

You got ‘em. We bust ‘em.

CONFIRMED:

RUMORBUSTERS

STUDENTS CAN JOIN SILVER CORD ANYTIME

CONFIRMED

CONFIRMEDEVERYONE HAS TO COMPLETE I HAVE A PLAN

LOOKING INTO PRIVATE BUSING

Middle School principal Brian Carico sat down with State Senator Janet Petersen in February at Panera on Merle Hay Road to discuss the possibility of a new piece of legislation for Iowa. A few hours later Senator Petersen sent the proposed bill, Sen-ate File 216, to the state legislature through a web-based program.

Currently, certified teachers need to be trained in OSHA regulations (Occupational Safety and Health), Blood Borne Pathogens and Mandatory Reporting for Child Abuse. Senate File 216 would add suicide prevention and trauma care training for all teachers. The training would be two hours long and teachers would receive the training every five years. “We’re teaching teachers what to look for,” Carico said.

Senate File 216 was introduced to the Senate and the Education Committee Director on Feb. 18. The bill passed out of subcommittee on Feb. 25 and will move forward if lawmakers support it. The bill then has to be approved by both the Senate and the House. Governor Terry Branstad must then sign in it for the bill to be made law.

Carico started working with the Iowa Health As-sociation to learn how to help teachers deal with suicide, depression and other mental health issues after the deaths of his son Cameron Carico and Spenser Nelson last January. Cameron was a fresh-men, Spenser a sophomore.

The 8/9 building has been implementing the “Gatekeeper rule” for teachers to recognize signs of suicide. The rule follows the acronym, “Is The Path Warm?” (pictured on top right). Carico then decided to take another step toward making sure teachers and school employees were well prepared in suicide prevention and trauma care. He contacted Senator Petersen and the two of them started working on the bill.

The exact training program for teachers will be decided if and when the bill passes. The bill will have help from the Department of Public Health and De-partment of Education to pick which training is best.

For the bill to be passed, community support is needed, particularly in the form of individuals con-tacting their senators and voicing their opinions. “If legislators don’t hear from people saying they want it to pass, it won’t move forward,” Senator Petersen said. “I’m hopeful we can pass it, but it’s going to re-quire students and people from all around the state to reach out to their state legislators.”

Senator Petersen encourages students and staff to support this bill because of what the community has been through. “I went to the Johnston parent meeting after both of the completed suicides, and as a former student of Johnston, the students within the Johnston community have a chance to reach out and make Iowa a better place. I’m really hoping they’ll reach out as an honor and a tribute to their classmates.”

Carico has worked on getting the word out through Facebook and the Johnston Community School Dis-trict website, and has encouraged lobbyists to sup-port the bill. Carico has also been encouraging an app called A Friend Asks which has answers and tips on what to do when dealing with this topic.

For Carico, a big part of getting the bill passed is giving people information on what to do when sui-cide comes up. “A lot of the times people think if you discuss it, it will cause people to do it,” Carico said. “That’s not the case. We want to train them on how to identify it.”

To directly help this proposed bill, the webpage https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Legislators/find.aspx is available for contacting local senators that could support this legislation. The bill needs to make it out of committee by March 8 in order to continue on this session. “I would encourage people to con-tact as many legislators as they can - starting with legislators on the education committee. Sharing a personal story about why the bill is important to you is one of the most effective ways to help a bill along the process,” Senator Petersen said.

Suicide awareness bill proposed

words & layout Paige Cramer

CONFIRMED

Brian Carico holds up this mug found on his desk that has the Gatekeeper Acronym for warning signs of sui-cide. Part of informing the staff of what to look for will be based on this acronym.

the b&w newsp.5

The look of the Dragon is about to change. Laura Dillavou, the district communications and marketing coordinator, is leading the redesign process.

“We’re working really hard to standardize how all the teams are branded so we do have a stronger identity going out there,” Dillavou said. The district is working with (c)3 Marketing, the non-profit branch of Love Scott, who has created Meals from Heartland marketing designs and the new Valley Tigers designs.

The first step involved all middle and high school students and teachers taking a survey by email. The survey consisted of 20 different Dragon images. Participants rated each one on a scale of one to five. Each example had an op-tional comment box. Over 500 people answered the survey.

The company used the samples to get an idea of what the general group of people want. Dillavou compiled the survey with (c)3 Market-ing creative director Adam Jensen’s additions. “I just tried to pick different styles of things,” Jen-sen said. “Just to get that kind of feedback to figure out what people like or don’t like.”

New dragon planned words Laura Scieszinski

The new Dragon will be used for all depart-ments of the district, including sports, music and academics. The colors will remain purple and gold. A systematic logo including the Fiery J and Dragon would allow pieces to be used singularly, or all together. For example, a t-shirt could have just the Fiery J, just the Dragon or the systematic logo of the two together, and all would be recog-nized as the Johnston logo. However, nothing has been finalized.

“The timing was really good when you look at the 100 year anniversary of the schools (in 2014),” principal Brent Reissen said. “If we can get a new high school built it would be great to have this newer logo as part of the artwork that goes on inside the building. And as you look around our district we’ve got eight, nine different renditions of Dragons. It would be nice if there was a little more consistency with it.”

Redesigning

The survey

Who the Dragon affects

The processThe next step is setting up a meeting with

student and faculty representatives and parents to get more feedback. “In that meeting there’s a good opportunity for back and forth,” president

of (c)3 Marketing Andrea James Iverson said. “Where a survey is just a set of answers given, this (meeting) is our way of asking more ques-tions.”

The meeting will allow the company to form a better idea of what to create. Then, (c)3 Mar-keting will create two Dragon design options. A smaller group will meet with the company more than once, to give feedback as the final designs are being worked through. After each session of feedback, the Dragon will be adjusted and brought to the next session for more feedback.

The final Dragon is planned to be complete by April or May.

History of the DragonThe name “Dragons” was adopted in 1946

after a contest for a school name/mascot. Only Johnston or the letter “J” was used to identify the school beforehand. The old spiral winged Dragon was created in 1950. It is found on the cover of the 1950 yearbook, although the book is still named “The Beaconite”. The yearbook transferred to “The Dragon” in 1966. The athletic uniforms did not incorporate the Dragon until 1958.

The Tiger Paw

The Prowling Tiger

The Valley “V”The traditional Valley V continues to be an identifying mark of Val-ley High School.

The tiger paw is used as a secondary mark to the Tiger to repre-sent the elementaries. The paw is a less imtimidating symbol for Valley’s primary schools.

The Tiger can be used alone or emerging from the V. Both are recongized as a sym-bol of the school.

Piecing it together

The revised logos of Valley High School were created as a system by (c)3 Marketing. The sys-tematic design and design process of the Tiger, V and paw is an inspiration for the development of the future Johnston Dragon.

Johnston did not have a mascot until 1948. The Beacon was a “symbol of the school”, not a mascot. Adriana Ansley, a junior in 1946, entered a school contest to determine a new school name/mascot. Ansley won the contest with the idea of a Dragon and the following year the football team became the first “Dragon” team. The spiraled Dragon currently used was first on the yearbook cover of 1950.

Before theDragonThe past for Johnston High School.

layout Kenzie Foldes

Dow

n w

ithUthe b&w game of the yearp.6&7 february 2013

Johnston wins Game of the YearSenior Michael Kin-ning sets up his mo-tion to pass the ball for a touchdown attempt. Kinning finished the season totaling 1,162 passing yards with a longest touchdown throw of 51 yards.

Hezekiah Applegate, player, sophomoreThe most memorable moment (for me) was blocking the PAT and helping us get into overtime.

Jordan Weddington, player, sophomore“Johnston hasn’t made it past the first round in a long time, and to do it against our rivals was just a great thing.”

Justin Atterberg, superfan, senior“I had so much adrenaline I stood on the trash can and started the ‘I Believe’ cheer. Like we did it.”

Karsen Kramer, superfan, senior“It was cool when all of the ninth graders came over into our section for overtime and we could barely fit.”

Senior Marcus M o n t g o m e r y receives the ball from senior Michael Kinning, running it for a gain in yards. Montgomery finished his senior season with a total of 275 rushing and recieving yards.

Johnston beat Urbandale 58-55 in

a first round playoff game in double

overtime Oct. 24. Central Iowa Sports

Awards (CISA) chose the high-scoring

thriller as its 2012 Game of the Year.

The CISA has been presenting

awards for four years. There are four

other awards given within the high

school category. These include Male

and Female Athlete of the Year, Game

of the Year, and Event of the Year. “The

CISA was created to honor athletes for

their achievements in central Iowa,” Ka-

tie Fencl, the Sports Project Manager at

Des Moines Area Sports Commission

(DMASC), said.

“Johnston/Urbandale is a well known

rivalry,” senior Marcus Montgomery

said. “The fight that both teams showed

and the desire to win is why we were

nominated.” The other two finalists were

the Iowa City West vs. Ankeny state

basketball game and the Pride of Iowa

Conference senior All Star game.

“There is a CISA Honors Commit-

tee made up of individuals in the sports

community who help facilitate nomina-

tions,” Fencl said. The winners of each

category were announced Feb. 20.

Montgomery and head football

coach Brian Woodley represented John-

ston at the ceremony Jan. 28. “They

went through each category, so we got

to see who else was nominated and who

we’re going against in our category,”

Montgomery said. “It was definitely an

experience.”

Woodley found out about the nomi-

nation by email. “They (CISA) wanted

myself and a representative from the

team to come down, have a dinner, and

be recognized,” Woodley said. “They

actually asked for Marcus to come be-

cause he was the one who scored the

winning touchdown in the double over-

time.”

For Montgomery, the touchtime was

exhilarating. “When I scored that last

touchdown, there was just this feeling of

accomplishment,” Montgomery said. “I

put in such hard work over the season,

and that’s where I wanted to get.”

Woodley agrees with the intensity of

the game. “I tell people I honestly think I

aged 10 years in the last five minutes of

that game,” he said. “I think the whole

team felt accomplished of winning that

playoff game because it was sudden re-

lief once we won, and there was a lot of

excitement.”

The ceremony for all the finalists was

held at the Iowa Hall of Pride. “It (the

ceremony) brought back memories of

the game, and it was very flattering that

they thought that much of it,” Woodley

said.

Quarterback Michael Kinning, a se-

nior, also enjoyed reliving those mem-

ories. “When we won, that was awe-

some,” Kinning said. “I handed the ball

off and literally saw a parting in the way

while Marcus ran into the end zone, I

just went nuts.”

For Kinning, the game is something

he will never forget. “Seeing everyone

from the sidelines running into the end

zone after the final touchdown in over-

time was definitely an image that went

through my mind.”

Montgomery felt confident the game

would be win. “Honestly, I knew we

would win because the game was so

amazing,” Montgomery said. “Both

teams going back and forth trying to

come out on top in order to advance to

the playoffs, as well as it being a cross

town rivalry, made the victory even

sweeter.”

Winning the award has helped the

players, coaches, and fans realize how

much the football program has grown.

“At the beginning it felt like a lot of peo-

ple wrote us off, but the work and im-

provements we made led us to be apart

of a game of the year performance,”

Kinning said. “It says that this team may

have not been the biggest, most talent-

ed, or most athletic, but we had chem-

istry and put the work in to become a

scary team.”

Senior Marcus Montgomery and senior Michael Kinning celebrate with the team in the end zone after Montgomery ran the ball in to win against Urbandale. The team went on to the second round in play offs to compete against Valley High School for a loss at Valley.

A game to

RememberStudents reminisce about the

2012 Game of the Year.

words Anne Rogers layout Kenzie Foldes & Carly Kinning

the b&w featurep.8

New policy causes

A new social media policy was passed by the Board of Education as a part of the technology policy that

went along with the 1:1 iPad initiative this se-mester. This policy was meant to clear up the boundaries between teacher and student

communication. However, it would ap-pear that the main thing it is has done is caused confusion. “I guess I characterize it as a sort of

commonsense policy,” Vice President of the Board, Greg Dockum said. “Social media has be-

come a much more bigger issue and is used much more nowadays than it was a few years ago.”

The policy itself states that employees of the dis-trict “must maintain professional relationships with current students enrolled in the District.” According

to the policy, this includes not becoming “friends” with students through social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter and refraining from contacting them through electronic messaging. The policy never states what

“electronic messaging” refers to, although many teachers have taken it to mean texting. The policy also states that employees should refrain from “providing personal contact information to students currently en-rolled in the District” and that while employees can use classroom web pages or social networking tools that are approved by the District and used solely for school-related purposes, they must first notify parents of students with their intentions.

Following the unhappiness of a majority of the staff, the Johnston Education Association and Technology Department sent out an email attempting to clarify what employees could and could not do. In this email, it said that “The policy references the word ‘refrain’ in regard to social media and for personal contact information. These are guide-lines with the intent to protect you, the employee. The district is not saying you can or cannot utilize these modes of social media. How-ever, employees need to be aware if something were to occur, that discipline or other adverse consequences may result.” According to the policy, these “adverse consequences” can include discharge.

Because staff had to sign the policy, many of them are choosing to follow it. However, confusion over what is in fact allowed is still abun-dant. Girls’ cross country coach Chris Siewert has found a program called XC Stats through which he is able to send players’ stats to their iPad or phone through his school computer. “It’s all through the school’s things which takes me out of it so I feel more comfortable,” he said. However, he believes that the policy actually means texting students is “status quo.”

The policy, even with the email from the JEA, has still caused displeasure. ELP and AP Psychology teacher Sue Cline said that be-fore everyone had their iPads, no one would check their email, and so Facebook was one of the main ways she would contact students outside of school.

Cline also takes students on field trips. In these cases, she feels that having her students’ phone numbers and allowing them to have hers is necessary in case cars get separated. There are other cases where being able to contact students through their phone is helpful. “I know I have had the argument given to me that I could send an email from the iPad to the kids on their phones or their iPads,” Cline said. “But when all I’m trying to do is to get people on the bus, I don’t understand what the problem is with texting.”

Coaches also often keep their players’ phone numbers in order to get a hold of them for games or practices. Baseball coach Michael Barta is one of these. “I understand how texting can, if done a certain way, be unprofessional,” he said. “But at the same time that is the one thing that kids are constantly on that I can make contact with them that I know they’ll see. The only other way to do it that works really well is Twitter but they’ve pretty much put the kibosh on Twitter too.” Barta has compromised by putting up a schedule of practices in the weight room. “It’s really hard because you constantly have changes: weight room closes one day or I’m sick one day and have to move things to tomorrow,” he said. “It’s tough to constantly do that because it takes me two seconds to send a text to all the team and it takes 20 minutes or an half hour to type up a schedule and put it up outside of the room.”

Principal Brent Riessen said that because each circumstance is going to be different, different con-sequences will apply. “It might be one thing that’s really bad or another thing that’s really minor, but they all need to be addressed,” he said. He does, however, agree that it is confusing. “There is always gray area,” he said. “For instance, myself with a son in high school - does that mean I shouldn’t be face-booking with him or tex-ting him? Well obviously not. As a parent I have full right to do that, but it’s really a fuzzy area in a lot of different circumstances which makes it really hard to say that it’s black-and-white and done deal.”

While most employees see the reasoning behind the policy, they are unsure about the way the issue is being handled. “Communication should never be a bad thing,” Cline said. “Banning people from being able to communicate with students through those different kinds of media is just asking for kids to not have information they need.”

A portion of the new technology policy has a few people riled upwords&layout Hannah Soyer

confusion

the b&w featurep.9

words & layout Monica Gagne

The Silent KillerHealth teacher Jackie Sapp survives carbon monoxide poisoning

Protect Yourself Stores offer numerous brands of CO detectors ranging from very cheap to semi-pricey

First Alert Combo

-$59.99-CO, Gas, and Smoke detector-Target

-$19.99-CO detector-Target

-$39.99-Talking fire alarm, CO and natural gas de-tector-Target

Every year about

450 people in the US

are killed from car-

bon monoxide (CO)

poisoning. Health

teacher Jackie Sapp

survived.

Sapp woke up

Feb. 1 to a terrible

headache. Ignoring

it, she continued on

with her morning. “I

couldn’t even stand in the shower,” Sapp said. “I was

weak and having trouble breathing.” When Sapp got

out of the bathroom she could barely walk and was

forced to crawl up the stairs to the main level. “I was

calling out to my dad to tell him to get my inhaler and

help me out,” Sapp said.

Her father, Elwood Sapp, woke to similar problems

and could not reach his daughter before passing out.

“I woke up when Jackie was calling out to me to get

something for her,” Elwood said. “I got out of bed and

walked to the kitchen, feeling fine at first, and then I had

to sit down in the living room because I was so dizzy.

I couldn’t even get her a glass of water.” This is all El-

wood even remembers, according to Sapp he passed

out and was unresponsive.

“I crawled to my bag and grabbed my phone then

dragged myself to the door, opened it, and called 911,”

Sapp said. When the operator picked up Sapp immedi-

ately told them she had an 85 year old man who was in

and out of consciousness and that they both were very

weak, dizzy and having trouble breathing. The operator

concluded it was carbon monoxide leakage and sent

emergency respondents immediately. “I live in a small

town so an ambulance, EMT’s, sheriff and local fire de-

partment all showed up at my house,” Sapp said.

Sapp was most worried about her father as the am-

bulances took them to Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames.

The doctors drew blood from them both to test gas

levels to see how much CO affected them. Normally

CO level should be at or below 1%, however Sapp was

at a level of 31% and her father at 35%.

The doctors thought it best that the Sapps be trans-

ferred, so the ambulance took Sapp and her father to

Mercy Hospital where they were put in a hyperbaric

chamber. The device is used for blood gas levels be-

cause it is infused with 100% oxygen to help flush out

the CO in the red blood cells. “My dad went in first and

was in for 90 minutes and then it was my turn,” Sapp

said. Due to her head cold, the pressure on her ears

from the oxygen was too much and Sapp had to be

removed and given oxygen through a mask in bed.

After a few days of recuperating, both Sapp and

her father returned home. “Turns out that the gas leak

came from a pipe connected to our furnace that heats

the house,” Sapp said. The furnace had been leaking

lightly and unnoticed for years, but when the Sapp’s

started construction on their bathroom and the con-

struction worker removed a pipe, the CO overflowed

and filled the whole house. Without a CO detector in

their home the gas poisoned the family and their dog

while they all slept. Luckily the dog, after a few hours

of down time was okay. “I asked the police officers to

bring the dog to our neighbors, which they did, while

we were gone,” Sapp said. “The neighbors told me that

she was really different and quiet, almost lethargic for a

while but after some time was her normal self.”

“One of the most dangerous components of CO

versus natural gas is the fact that it is both colorless

and odorless,” National Media Consultant for MidAm-

erican Energy Tina Pothoff said.

There are many ways to prevent CO poisoning.

Having furnaces and heating systems checked annu-

ally can help prevent CO poisoning. “We recommend

everyone has a fire alarm and CO detector in each

house,” Tim Wickam, Community Health Consultant

for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said. “If you

don’t already have a CO detector you can get one very

cheap to have in the house.”

In 2012 the Iowa Department for Public Health re-

ceived one report for death by carbon monoxide and

69 reports of exposure to CO. Pothoff reported that

they receive several dozen reports of CO or natural gas

poisoning every year.

Wickam recommended the first action in a possible

CO situation would be to leave the building or house

immediately and call 911. Most of the time MidAmeri-

can will be contacted by the fire department immedi-

ately after the emergency call has been made to test

the scene. “We work hand-in-hand with the fire depart-

ment,” Pothoff said. “Usually they’ll call us but we end

up calling them a lot too.”

Pothoff explained that MidAmerican works hard to

educate their customers on the dangers of natural gas

and CO poisoning and how they can prevent it in their

home. “We can’t push it enough that our customers

have a CO detector on every level,” Pothoff said.

Since the incident Sapp has taken the initiative to

have a CO detector installed on every level, protecting

her and her family from this silent killer. “I just wish I had

paid more attention to this issue before and gone out

and bought the detector before this happened,” Sapp

said.

First Alert CO detector First Alert 3 in 1 Alarm

the b&w editorialp.10

A’‘not okay

When senior Karsen Kramer gained the title of homecoming queen, she also gained the old fash-ioned stereotypes that came along with it. “One per-son said, because I had already taken pre-calc last year, ‘Oh wow, you’ve already taken pre-calc and you’re actually smart!’ and I was just like ‘I don’t know, I guess?’” Kramer said. In movies the homecoming queen is usually portrayed as the ditzy popular girl who barely knows one plus one.

Whether it’s dumbing yourself down to become more popular, or making up a fake grade when asked what you got on a test, students are ashamed to be intelligent.

This is no surprise, considering that humans fol-low examples. Take movies. Specifically Mean Girls. Cady, the main character, fails her math tests just to fit in with the popular girls. Throughout the movie her unhappiness grows, as she realizes dumbing down is not the right thing to do. So why do kids still do it? Students should not be afraid to succeed, let alone score well on a test.

Being ashamed of your intelligence is, with no pun intended, stupid. “When kids try out different roles, dif-ferent cliques, different things like that, part of that is

just wanting to fit in and be with the crowd,” school psychologist Kelly Petersma said. “That can be not a good thing if the crowd that you’re joining doesn’t view education as important.”

There is no sense in putting who to sit with at lunch ahead of being successful in school. It is good to have a group of friends, but it should be one that accepts people as they are. If people are constantly worrying about saying or doing the ‘cool’ thing, they are never going to be happy and relaxed.

“When you’re in high school there is so much pres-sure to fit in that it can be hard to navigate the appro-priate avenue to do that,” Petersma said. “You really have to be confident in yourself and know yourself, and not really worry about what others think of you.”

Easier said than done, right? People are natu-rally going to surround themselves with others that they feel comfortable with. “There’s always a group of people that, for whatever reason, are not going to accept others,” Petersma said. “All teenagers worry, and all people want to be liked, unless you’re a hermit. Most people want to be liked and do things that other people think of as good.”

It’s not just the person who changes to fit in, it’s

also the fact that there are people making them feel like they need to change, or that they are not good enough. “I think part of it is jealousy or envy over peoples’ success and not wanting others to do better than you,” psychology teacher Jesse Dowell said. “It’s a way to kind of keep everyone down at your level.”

Honestly, high school is four years of a person’s life. By not trying on tests or purposefully not prepar-ing to get worse grades will transfer into college and future jobs.

“This is such a short period in your life and there could be some really long term ramifications for play-ing the slacker role or dumbing yourself down, be-cause that can affect college or getting the job you want, or meeting up with the people you really want to surround yourself with,” Petersma said. “That will be the most beneficial to you in the long run.”

But putting all the report cards down and applica-tions aside, the main thing is happiness. “You’ll never say that it was worth if you were hiding something that you’re actually passionate about or that you’re good at, it’s never worth hiding it no matter who you want to be friends with,” Kramer said. “I’m really glad that who I’m friends with are accepting of what I like to do.”

Later that night...I can’t believe how hard that test was! I know I failed for sure!

Me too!

words Niki Fergusonlayout Sarah Ross

the b&w opinionp.11

How often do you show the people in your life that you love and appreciate them? This is something that should, but unfortunately does not, happen ev-ery day of the year.

If I had it my way Valentine’s Day would be every day. This is because my image of Valentine’s Day is not just two people that love each other trying to show it through chocolate, flowers, or stuffed animals. It could also be two best friends, a family, or an entire class. Valentine’s day is one more day of the year when people take the time to make someone else feel special.

There is no right or wrong way to show someone that you love them. You could open your heart to someone in person, or through a simple note. Although chocolate and flowers get a bad rap for not being original, they still have the right idea. A more personal gift could be something that your val-entine really wants but does not need, like their favorite movie. You could take them out to dinner, or make them their favorite dish at home. Money is not a waste if it makes someone’s day. Don’t buy something just to seem like you care. If a gift is from the heart, the price is not what really matters.

Of course, I do recognize that not everyone is a fan of Valentine’s Day. Maybe it is too commercialized for your taste, or maybe you are slightly bitter due to your lack of a relationship status. If that is the case, I challenge you to take a whole new perspective on Feb. 14. I remember every gift I have ever

Dear Valentine Skeptics, Hearts awayonValentine’sDay

be celebrated on June 2. “No red, no hearts, no nothing,” Bradley said. “It’s just an appreciation day,”

On Valentine’s Day, Bradley tends to wear black and watch movies starring actor Bradley Cooper. “I think it’s just like another day. With Bradley Cooper.” One of the few things Bradley likes re-lating to Valentine’s Day is the movie “Valentine’s Day”, which of course has Bradley Cooper in it. “He turned out to be gay, and I yelled in the theater,” Bradley said. “ I got some weird looks there.”

Some may argue that Valentine’s day brings people closer together since it is centered around love. “Buy-ing things for each other shows that they love each other and that they care about each other,” Assistant manager of Hallmark at Jordan Creek Mall Amy Aird said.

If you are an absolute die-hard Val-entine’s day fanatic, and you will go into convulsions without celebrating it, be sensible. Write a thoughtful note to someone. Spend time with your loved one at home or make dinner for them. Tell someone you love them. All of these things require little to no money. Do not just pull out your wallet. If dating someone requires holes in your pocket, reconsider the relationship.

Sincerely,

Mollie Greenwood

The candy wrappers have been thrown away and the teddy bears stuffed in the closet now that Valentine’s Day has passed. These two opinions argue whether this holiday of love should continue year long, or be cut out from the calander.

Dear Hopeless RomanticWhen you buy the overpriced

chocolate and teddy bear for your spe-cial someone, you are contributing to around $17.02 billion total spent by Americans on Valentine’s Day gifts,

according to Time magazine. The fact that the average person

spends around $126 for Val-entine’s Day is ridiculous. The chocolate and candy

may taste good, but it will be gone within five minutes and

your significant other will have poured valuable money down the drain in an overpriced candy item.

Valentine’s Day began as a cel-ebration of love for one another. It is believed that Valentine’s Day began in Ancient Rome when an emperor named Claudius II outlawed marriages. A priest named Valentine continued performing marriages and was caught and sent to prison. Valentine allegedly fell in love with the jailor’s daughter and sent her a love note signed “From Your Valentine”.

Now, people feel obligated to give expensive gifts for Valentine’s Day. Someone’s mere presence in our lives should be enough. If you truly care about someone, you should show your affections toward them daily.

Junior Megan Bradley feels as though people are forced to get each other gifts on Valentine’s Day. “I’ve always thought it was stupid,” Brad-ley said. Bradley came up with a new holiday to replace Valentine’s Day that is called “Us Day”. She said it should

been given for Valentine’s Day, rang-ing from Diet Coke to Twilight movies. Some of my favorite memories from elementary school were the Valentine’s Day parties and decorating boxes to hold all of my Valentine’s day cards. Whether I got a gift from a boyfriend, a secret admirer, or my mom, I knew that someone cared enough to think of me on a day other than my birth-day.

Valentine’s Day is junior Kelsey Acheson’s favorite holiday. Every year Acheson buys Valentine’s Day cards and cookies for all of her friends. On Valentine’s Day she saw the new mov-ie, Safe Haven, with her friends.

“I get even better presents for Val-entine’s Day than I do for my birthday.” Acheson said. “My mom gets little presents at Hallmark every year and sends them to all of her col-lege friends.”

This day gives people one more holiday to come together and celebrate love. A day to eat chocolate guilt free or buy someone something they want but do not need. A chance to be more spon-taneous, or tell someone how you really feel. I urge you to celebrate Valentine’s Day with the people you love and care about. Take this day to make someone else’s day, because someday in the future someone else will make yours.

XOXO,

Katelyn Lunders

layout Kenzie Foldes

words Katelyn Lunders &Mollie Greenwood

the b&w backpagep.12

words Katelyn Lunders

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