The

HI-LINETiger

Friday, Jan. 31, 2014 Volume 53 Edition 14

Acting expertStudent actor shines on stage as lead in two plays/page 6

Follow us on Twitter at tigerhiline,Facebook at TigerHilineOnline and on our websiteat www.hiline.cfschools.org

By Staff Writer KaitlynBROCKA

By Editor-in-Chief MarthaHALL

Half a year ago exchange students Dina Kardovic from Montenegro and Rikke Arild-sen from Denmark packed up their things and flew across the globe to live in a new place with a new family and new school right here in Cedar Falls, and they both said they have come to feel right at home.

Of course a big part of each of their days is learning while adjusting to the differences in the American schools. Kardovic said that there are a lot more choices here and that she likes that about the school. They both say that the subjects are quite similar but are just taught in different ways or methods.

Also the extracurriculars of the school are similar to Kardo-vic but Arildsen said, “In Den-mark there aren’t any of those in the school. You have to go find the activity outside of the school if you wanna do it.” She also said that she likes how the activities are here because she gets to know more people at the school when she partici-

pates in one. They both said that when

they first got here that people were very helpful and posi-tive towards them. Kardovic said that the only thing she would change about American schools is that they should be a little more strict and have high-er expectations. Arildsen said that the only thing she wants is

more time in between classes. After school Kardovic plans

to go to college somewhere in Europe or possibly Turkey, and Arildsen would like to go trav-eling.

They say it’s interesting and fun to live with a host family but also different. To introduce their guests to America, their host families have taken them

to other places around the country; for example, they’ve both been to Minneapolis, and on spring break they both have vacations planned. Kardovic is going to Florida with her host family, and Arildsen is flying to Hawaii with hers.

They both like America but also miss their family and friends back at home. Both Kardovic and Arildsen stay in contact with their families and friends through Facebook, Sky-pe and other social networks.

Kardovic also misses skiing. She said that the winter here is similar to hers at home but Arildsen said its very different from Denmark. She said she likes the difference though be-cause she has never had snow days before and she likes to hang out with her friends when there is no school.

Kardovic was led here be-cause she wanted to travel and being an exchange student opened up a good scholar-ship for her. Arildsen said that her mom once came here to

work and met her host mom. Afterward, they stayed friends, and as Arildsen grew up they had the idea of exchange stu-dents. Arildsen’s host mom has her own children and said she hopes they decide to be ex-change students in the future as well.

Food has also been a new horizon to explore for both girls. Kardovic likes Subway but misses her mom’s cooking. Arildsen said she likes bread-sticks and pizza, but she also misses Denmark food such as Risengrød and Frikadeller.

Both exchanges students also encouraged CFHS stu-dents to ask any questions they’d like to learn about their countries. They are more than happy to return the friendliness they’ve enjoyed.

Dina Kardovic Rikke Arildsen

Exchange students experience American life

Student leaders prevent violence through trainingThere is a new student

leadership group at CFHS. It is a student mentoring program called Mentors Preventing Violence or MVP for short, of-fered through the UNI Center for Violence Prevention. The group of about 70 will help the current freshmen with their registration next year.

Students who were select-ed for MVP are doing very well in school, both grade and at-tendance wise. They also must be involved in community or school activities.

CFHS Counselor Susan Lan-gan is involved in MVP.

Langan thinks that MVP can impact the school positively in the long term.

“MVP will provide positive role models for incoming soph-omores. It will also provide welcoming arms for incoming students, and let them know that there are safe people ev-

erywhere for them to talk to,” Langan said. “The group will hold anti-bullying and positive

ideas, and can really help to make the school a more posi-tive place.”

Sophomore Jacob Watters is a member of MVP.

“I joined MVP because I wanted to be able to help oth-ers. I want to have a positive effect on our school,” Watters said. “Students who are in any sort of trouble should know that there are a whole lot of kids that can help them, and that is really what MVP is. There are always people to talk to.”

Langan said she looks for-ward to getting to know the students involved in MVP.

“This group of kids is an awesome and diverse group. Almost every group at CFHS is represented here. From drama to football to trapshooting, we’re all here,” Langan said. “It’s really fun.”

Mentors in Violence Prevention

• founded in 1993

• focuses on gender violence prevention education

• empowers bystanders to confront harrassment and abuse

• study battery, gender roles, alcohol and consent and sexual harassment

Both make plans to travel during spring break in March this year

CFHS students trainers to be MVP mentors on a day earlier this month.

Agatha Fenech Photo

Friday, May 31, 2014 HI-LINETiger

The

NEWS2

Wallingford By Editor-inChief Elle

P.E. teacher continues recovery in midst of her pregnancy

Smith—P.E. teacher Jamie

“I have to be vig-ilant in remind-ing myself that I am strong and to trust in my faith.”

Last semester, the unthinkable hap-pened: physical education teacher Jamie Smith suffered an unexpected stroke, in the middle of her fourth pregnancy. The school rallied in support of Smith, as she embarked on her journey of recovery and are anxiously waiting her return next fall.

Smith’s stroke came from a bleed in her brainstem, which controls basic bodi-ly functions, on Oct. 25. The stroke im-paired much of her left side and her right eye. Both are improv-ing, although her vision has returned much more slowly.

Beyond that, Smith and her baby were un-harmed, partially due to her robust state of health and fitness be-fore the stroke.

Over Christ-mas break, the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier featured a front-page story on Smith’s rapid recovery. Therefore, many expected her to come back right away in January. Unfortunately, Smith will not be back at all this semester, as she needs to continue to focus on recovering and hav-ing her baby in the spring.

Mrs. Bockes, who filled in for Smith last semester, has continued teaching Smith’s classes for the remainder of the school year.

Smith’s journey has been a long one, starting several months ago last fall. She recalls how she almost passed out around first hour on Oct. 21. Throughout that week, she began to feel nausea and tin-gling in her left hand and foot.

On Thursday. Oct. 24, she went to the doctor after feeling tingling in her face. Thinking that it was a side effect of the flu, Smith’s doctor sent her to Sartori to receive fluids. That night, however, she woke up feeling dizzy and nauseous, and she had lost fine motor function in her left hand.

She went to Covenant right away, where she did many tests, including a CT scan. The CT scan showed a hemorrhage, or bleeding in the Pons area of the brain-stem, which controls many basic functions and movements.

Smith was then airlifted to the hospi-tals at the University of Iowa where she received another CT scan and an MRI scan. While the MRI showed no tumor, the picture was unclear due to the blood still in the affected area. The bleed was 2

Above: P.E. teacher Jamie Smith relaxes in bed during her re-covery. Above right: Bracelets with Smith’s personal mantra “Do Better. Be Better” were made to support her recovery.

centimeters, very large for the brainstem. After a few days, Smith was trans-

ferred to The Covenant Rehabilitation Unit and began physical and occupation-al therapy. She stayed there until Nov. 21 and then spent four days at New Aldaya Lifescapes for more physical therapy. She came home the day before Thanksgiving, while continuing physical therapy.

However, on Dec. 26, Smith discov-ered that the bleed in her brainstem was caused by a cavernous malfor-mation cavernoma (CM), also called popcorn legions. Smith was told by one surgeon that she would need surgery after de-livering her baby, and that she would never be the same afterwards. A sec-ond opinion at Mayo assured her

that surgery was not needed, since it could seriously reduce her quality of life. Therefore, she and the doctors decided to wait to see if her brainstem will bleed again, the likelihood of which decreases over time.

While Smith planned to come back to school this semester, the prognosis she received on Dec. 26 made it clear that she would not be able to. She is physically able to work, but she would not be able to demonstrate or set up equipment, and she would need to sit often.

Currently her vision is corrected with a prism lens because it is still double, and when she uses the computer, she ei-ther speaks into it or types on her iPad with one finger. On top of these obsta-cles, Smith said she needs to focus on her health and the health of her baby. “My first priority is continuing to have a healthy pregnancy and have baby Smith smoothly,” Smith said.

The baby is due on April 12, but will be delivered a week earlier by C-section so natural labor does not cause added stress on Smith’s brain. “She has been my major concern this entire time,” Smith said of her baby.

Smith said the hardest thing about re-covery is the constant mental battle. “It is frustrating to tell your body to do some-thing and have it completely ignore you. It is humbling to have to constantly ask for help and just resign yourself to the fact that you are unable when everything used to be so easy and second nature.” Smith has learned to ask for help and to “slow

down, enjoy the little things, tell those I love and appreciate how important they are every day, to trust in my faith and so much more.”

For those struggling with health or un-expected obstacles, Smith said to focus on how far they have come rather than how far they need to go. She also encour-ages them to talk about it.

“It helps so much to just be open with what you are experiencing, whether it’s good or bad,” Smith said.

She has recounted much of her jour-ney on her Facebook page, journaling at

least once a week. “It helps me release my fears and

keep my friends and family up-to-date,” Smith said. She said that she has had complete strangers reach out and tell her their personal stories. “The support and encouragement that I get from peo-ple’s comments to those posts helps so much,” Smith said. They help to remind me that I can do it and am going to be OK.”

HEATH

MUSIC

NEWRELEASES

MOVIES

GAMES

• KATY BLittle Red on Feb. 3•BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUBSee You Tomorrow on Feb. 4• PETER ULRICHThe Painted Caravanon Feb. 4•XIU XIUAngel Guts: Red Classroom on Feb. 4•BAND OF HORSESAcoustic At The Ryman Feb. 11•TEMPLESSun Structure on Feb. 11

ONLINEEXTRAS

•THAT AWKWARD MOMENTon Jan. 31•THE LEGO MOVIEon Feb. 7•VAMPIRE ACADEMY on Feb. 7•ROBOCOP on Feb. 12•ABOUT LAST NIGHTon Feb. 14

•THE LEGO MOVIE VIDEOGAME on PS4 on Feb. 7• FABLE ANNIVERSARYon X360 on Feb. 4• JAZZPUNKon PC on Feb. 7• BRAVELY DEFAULTon 3DS on Feb. 7• ADAM’S VENTURE CHRONICLESon PS3 on Feb. 4

AMBERCAST:Crayon Lipstick

Find all the weekly pod-casts as well as the weekly broadcast news show by vis-iting us on the web at http://www.hiline.cfschools.org. Staff Writer Olivia

Friday, Jan. 31, 2013HI-LINETiger

The

ENTERTAINMENT 3

By Amber Schaub

Watch as Amber and her guest Grecia Diaz turn Crayolas into cosmetics.

Minecraft is a game that al-lows users to create an entirely new world completely unique to you. You can either play it as the original game, or you can install mods or skins to make it even more unique. The mods are for the PC version of Mine-craft and may not yet be on the Xbox 360 or PS3 version.

In Minecraft there are many skins you can have for your character. You can be a super-hero or a character from some of your favorite video games as well. One skin pack that is very cool, though, is the My Little Pony skins. With these skins you look exactly like which-ever pony you pick, and other people that you play with in the “Mine Little Pony” mod will look like ponies from the show even if their skin isn’t re-ally a pony. Also with this skin, you have wings and can fly. You can also install the “Mine Little Pony” mod to make the world look more cartoonish, like the My Little Pony world.

Another mod that animal lovers will love is the Mo’ Crea-tures mod that puts many new animals and enemies into the game. In this mod, there are lions and tigers and bears, but if you prefer to not to be vi-ciously attacked, less threaten-ing animals are avaliable, like bunnies, birds and even light-ning bugs. The creatures can be your beloved pet or your worst enemy.

For those who love Sky-rim, there is a Skyrim mod that changes how the villagers and

the blocks around the world look to make it look more like Skyrim. It even makes the animals look different. A lot of the cities that you visit in ad-ventures in Skyrim exist in this Minecraft mod as well.

For anyone who wants to continue to try to “catch them all,” there is a Pokemon mod called Pixelmon allows users to mine in the Pokemon world. In Pixelmon you can see all kinds Pokemon in different types of biomes, such as water Poke-mon in the sea and grass Poke-mon in the woods and plains. It might be surprising when a Charizard suddenly flies through the sky, but it’s easy get used to the many Poke-mon living in your world with Pixelmon.

If you’re looking for a sim-ple mod that won’t take up too much space on your comput-er, there are many to choose from. For example, there is the timber mod which lets you chop down the bottom block of a tree with an axe and the rest of the wood blocks break without needing to chop each one down. There is also a fa-miliars mod where you can use your levels to buy familiars like Navi from The Legend of Zelda games. She is a familiar that, if attached, will start saying her famous “Hey Listen!” when there are diamonds or emer-alds around you.

A dyeable beds mod allows you to dye your beds other col-ors than red, which is the origi-nal color in the game. If you

like farming in Minecraft, you should also look into the “Har-vestcraft” mod which gives you many new trees and plants to grow and harvest. Just be care-ful and make sure to fence your garden off, or the animals will get in and destroy your crops.

If none of these mods for Minecraft interest you, simply look online for other types of mods, and there should be plenty that raise your interest. Have fun playing Minecraft!

An interesting controversy regarding video games is the debate of seeing video games as an art form. The concept of video games as an expres-sive medium is a controversial topic within the entertainment industry. Even though video games are legally protected as creative works by the Supreme Court of the United States, the philosophical concept that video games are considered works of art remains in ques-tion, even when considering the contribution of many cre-ative aspects such as graphics, storytelling and music. Even art games, which are designed to allow the player to express themselves artistically, are questioned by some critics.

When I think of video games being used as an artis-tic medium, I think of Naughty

Dog’s The Last of Us. The game itself has been nominated and won numerous awards since its release in June. The story is set 20 years after a pandemic that has changed life as we know it. In a post-apocalyptic world where society has collapsed, nature has reclaimed its do-main, creating contrastingly beautiful imagery to the harsh-ness of civilization. The earth is inhabited with people who are infected with a cordyceps fungus that has turned them into zombies. Along with that threat, there are also groups of dangerous people that will do anything to survive, including killing you for the clothes on

your back. A common com-parison and inspiration to this story is the one of Cormac Mc-Carthy’s “The Road.”

The two main characters, Ellie and Joel, are some of the most complex characters that I have seen in any video game. These two characters and the growth of their relationship is at the core of this game. In the beginning, Ellie is just cargo to Joel, and Joel is just another dude stuck with Ellie. But as months pass and plans don’t work out, they rely on each other for survival, and their re-lationship grows to one resem-bling a father and a daughter. By the end of the game, we

Mods dig up new views for Minecraft

Explore this issue further on Olivia Heath’s website created in CFHS Web Design class:

https://sites.google.com/a/cfu.net/2013heath/home/blog

see two completely changed characters from the beginning. They are able to regain their sense of humanity and see the world as a new beginning.

This game tells a lot about moral ambiguity. By the end of the story, without giving any spoilers, the game really has you questioning the actions of Joel, as well as your own morals, and you wonder if you could really do what it takes to survive.

With The Last of Us just be-ing one example from a long list of games that include ele-ments of cinematic storytell-ing, characters, music, acting, design and philosophy, I don’t see how video games can be seen as anything less than an artistic platform.

Video games adding new horizons to worlds of artBROCKA

Staff Writer Kaitlyn

My Little Pony screenshot from Youtube user LDShadowLady.

Top: Pixelmon screenshot from Youtube user Yammy xox.Bottom: Skyrim mod screen-shot from Youtube user Rooster Teeth.

Friday, Jan. 31, 2014 HI-LINETiger

The

OPINION4With the new year comes

the rush of a large population of high school girls who are determined to find the perfect prom dress. There are a little less than four months left be-fore prom on May 3, and many girls are scrambling to find the prom dress to suit their needs. Girls who are veterans to the prom dress hunt know exactly what to look for and where to go, but those who have never attended prom before may be slightly confused.

There are three very impor-tant factors to consider when selecting a prom dress: style, comfort and price. These, along with other minor factors, are what all girls need to think about when debating on buy-ing one dress or another, as one flaw in any of these areas could make prom night incred-ibly miserable.

It is quite possible that the first thing girls consider when picking out a prom dress is the style of it. With so many grow-ing types and colors of dresses in the world, it can be incred-ibly hard to know what you are looking for or what style will look best. Choosing the perfect style of dress requires hundreds of decisions: strap-less or one shoulder or halter top, sweetheart or straight neckline, mermaid or princess or straight-lined skirt, short or long skirt, open or closed back, lots of detail or simplicity? On top of that one must choose from all of the colors a girl could possibly imagine. The best solution to finding out what you prefer is doing re-

search. The Internet is incred-ibly crucial to this, as you can browse through millions of dif-ferent prom dress styles online, and even though they are not a good reference for body type, models in prom dresses online can give you a good idea of what color of dress looks good with what skin tone. The next step is to go out and try on dif-ferent styles of dresses to find out what looks good with your body type. The best thing you can do is experiment, it gives you all of the freedom to find out what you like with no com-mitment necessary. The most important thing to consider in this situation is that you may not find the perfect prom dress at the first store you visit, and that’s OK because most girls don’t.

Another important factor to consider in selecting a prom dress is comfort. Surprisingly, a lot of girls do not think about the fact that they will be danc-ing all night in their dress and do not factor comfort into their decision. However, it is crucial to the success of your prom night to wear a dress you feel comfortable in. If you are not prepared for the possibility of your arms being cut up and bleeding by the end of the night, do not wear a dress with sequins or ginormous jewels completely covering the top. Long dresses occasionally re-quire effort to keep the skirts from dragging on the ground and getting dirty as you walk to a restaurant pre-prom, so if you don’t want to have to con-stantly be lifting your skirt, a

short dress may be preferable. Strapless dresses provide the possibility of a similar problem, as dancing may require you to be constantly pulling up your dress. Shoes are also an im-portant part of prom comfort. If you wish to wear heels spe-cifically for pictures, but don’t want to deal with the pain of dancing in them all night, the best solution is to bring a pair of flats (or even cheap, foldable flats that are easily stored in a purse and found at Walmart) along with you. Otherwise, if you are OK with walking bare-foot on the dance floor with the risk of being stepped on, just drop your heels in a safe place until you have danced to your heart’s content.

By far the most important part of prom dress shopping is making sure that you are within your price limit. Since a lot of high school girls have to pay for their dresses themselves, it is incredibly important that they know where they can go to find the perfect dress for a decent price. For those with a higher budget who wish to find unique dresses that are very unlikely to also be worn by someone else, bridal stores, such as An Elegant Affair on Main Street or Simply “I Do” are usually your best bet. Girls who have a flexible budget that’s still in the lower price range should visit Dillard’s, as it contains a wide selection of great looking prom dresses that cost anywhere from $24 to $300. Finally, possibly the best place to shop for a prom dress is on promgirl.com. On

this site you can easily look for high-quality, stylish dresses within your price range. For those with a smaller budget, the dresses on PromGirl can cost as low as $39. Those with a very high or no budget can spend up to $1,150 on a dress from PromGirl. The website has an incredibly large selection, in which you are bound to find something you like. Also, for those who are afraid of shop-ping online because they are afraid the dress will not fit right, the best option is to order the

By Editor-in-Chief Mallory

VALLENTINE

Several decisions to be made in successful prom dress selectionProm Panic:

dress a size bigger than you think it needs to be, and then it can be altered in town easily for a small fee.

As long as all of the above factors are considered when buying a prom dress, your prom is guaranteed to be en-joyable. Once you stop worry-ing about finding the perfect dress, all you have to do is put it on, be confident and have the time of your life at prom.

Senior Anna Hubbard models her 2013 prom dress, which cost her $500. She purchased it at Simply “I Do.” “I liked my dress because it was unique and very comfortable,” Hubbard said.

The Tiger Hi-Line is a weekly publication of the journalism classes at Cedar Falls High School, 1015 Division Street, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613. Our website is www.hiline.cfschools.org. The Hi-Line is distributed to CFHS students on Fridays to read during their fifth period classes.

Columns and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hi-Line staff or Cedar Falls Schools. The Hi-Line editorial is presented weekly in the editorial labeled Our View, and it is the view of the major-ity of the editors listed below.

Reader opinions on any topic are welcome and should be sent to The Tiger Hi-Line staff or delivered to room 208. All letters must be signed. Letters must be submitted by 3 p.m. on Monday for publication in the following Friday edition. Letters may not exceed 300 words and may be edited to meet space limitations. Writers should include their contact information for verification.

Editors-in-Chief: Austin Anderson, Martha Hall, Mallory Vallen-tine and Ellen Wallingford Staff: Zuhayr Alam, Kaleb Bengston, Kaitlyn Brocka, Macken-zie Dallenbach, Olivia Heath and Abby Young

Contact UsOur View

Lisa Hubbard Photo

This is the year of changes. We now have eight periods, Chromebooks, academic zones and small study halls, and the data from the fall semester shows some of these changes may be paying off. During the fall semester of 2012 there were 173 F’s in the four core subjects: math, social stud-ies, science and English. However, with the help of our new academic zones, small study halls and other teacher intervention plans, the number of F’s given during the 2013 fall semester was 116. That’s 57 , or one third, less than 2012’s fall semester.

The success of this improvement is shared by both students and teachers. The teachers have done a fantastic job of helping any student that makes the effort of coming in for a little extra as-sistance on parts of a class that he or she doesn’t understand. It’s a win-win situation.

Last semester there were over 438 referrals to the small study halls; however, students can be referred multiple times, so that doesn’t mean that 438 students were referred to the smalls study halls.

Like the smalls study halls, the academic zone was an equal success with students dropping in for a little extra help over 1,000 times during the course of last semester.

While each of the four subjects had good success, it was the social studies department that had the most improvement from the 2012 fall semester’s 50 F’s to this past 2013 fall semester’s 22. That’s over a 50 percent improvement.

As Principal Dr. Rich Powers said, “Everyone is capable of achieving at a successful level. [With these current programs] students get support when they need it.”

Assistance plans delivering results

Beauty routines go back thousands of years. Kohl powder was used in ancient times to darken the eyelids in the Middle East and Af-rica. Around 3000 B.C., the Chinese started to paint their nails with vibrant colors to represent which social class they belonged to.

Today, makeup doesn’t define someone’s social class, but it is used as a form of per-sonal expression. The aver-age woman puts 12 products on her skin each day, with men clocking in around four.

But it’s surprising how little the public knows about the products they liberally apply. The European Union has banned 1,300 harmful ingredients used in cosmet-ics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned 10: choloroflurorocarbon, chloroform, halogenated sali-cylanilide, hexachlorophene, mercury, ethylene chloride, bithionol, tallow, trichloro-ethane and zirconium. Dan-gerous chemicals like these increase the risk of cancer and are carcinogenic, as well as being harmful to the envi-ronment.

Friday, Jan. 31, 2014HI-LINETiger

The

OPINION5

With all these dangerous chemicals that could find their way into makeup, the Food and Drug Administration has a surprising lack of supervision over cosmetic company in-gredients. Over 80 percent of cosmetic products have never

been tested for safety, only performance. The last (and only) law regarding cosmetics was passed in 1938, over 75 years ago.

According to the Center of Disease Control, no safe blood lead level has been found. In

Many people drink diet sodas thinking that they are healthier and could even help them lose weight, but they are wrong.

Studies show that diet soda could actually make you gain weight and have some-thing called a diet soda belly. Not only that, but there are ingredients, such as Aspar-tame, that can be very bad to your health. The artificial sweeteners in diet soda act like real sugars and they trig-ger your insulin, which makes your body store fat, which causes you to gain weight.

Another part of the weight game is the psycho-logical part. People think that if they aren’t getting

any calories from the soda that they are free to eat things full of calories and not have to wor-ry. A study at the University of Minnesota shows that drinking diet soda can also lead to type

Drinks with Aspartame *Diet Coke *Coca Cola Zero *Diet Pepsi *Pepsi Max*Sprite Zero *Tango *7up Free *Fanta Zero *Fanta Orange

Consumer Shoppers should consider ingredients hiding behind many enticing products

Cosmetics receive very little regulationConsciousness

2010, the FDA did a study of lead amounts in lipsticks. The results were alarming. The top offenders were CoverGirl, Maybelline, L’Oreal and Rev-lon. Maybelline’s Color Sensa-tional lipstick in Pink Petal had 7.19 parts per million of lead. L’Oréal’s Color Riche lipstick in Volcanic had 7.00 ppm. This may not seem like a big deal, but compare it to the FDA’s limits on lead in other ingested substances, and we’ve got a problem: the limit for lead in candy is 0.1 ppm. The FDA justified this through a Q and A they published: “It is not sci-entifically valid to equate the risk to consumers presented by lead levels in candy, a product intended for ingestion, with that associated with lead levels in lipstick, a product intended for topical use and ingested in much smaller quantities than candy.”

True, though anyone who has worn a lip product before knows that it comes off dur-ing the day with eating, licking your lips, kissing and drinking.

The lax FDA regulations mean there will be no change in the immediate future. Stud-ies on the ingredients in cos-

two diabetes, and it can also put people in a higher risk of heart attack or stroke.

Now back to Aspartame, an artificial sweetener in diet sodas. It is linked to many people’s headaches. Many studies have been done on As-partame, and some say that it is completely fine for you, but others say the opposite. There have been complaints to the FDA about Aspartame from many people. In some research labs they have started to see brain tumors in rats because of this artificial sweetener. Even seizures have happened to people that have no history of epilepsy. Aspartame is a mix of three ingredients, but it is such a high amount that Aspartame

overloads your system. The En-vironmental Protection Agency has even put it on a list of pol-lutants possibly related to dis-orders such as autism, lupus, and others.

The artificial sweeteners that are in diet soda also trick your bodies into thinking that they are getting the right sugar, which makes your body forget how to process real sugar, so your body fails to release the hormones that controls your blood sugar and blood pres-sure. There was even a study in 2010 that found a link between pregnant woman drinking diet soda and preterm delivery.

So along with not losing the weight you thought you were by drinking diet soda, you are

also being affected on other areas of health. Diet soda can mess with your metabo-lism, lead to cell damage, rot teeth, and possibly even cre-ate reproduction issues. So before you drink diet soda think about the things you could be doing to yourself. If you’re looking to lose weight, try not drinking soda at all, or only doing it occasionally. Pick up a juice box or some milk, they’ll help you a lot more than diet soda would.

P.S.: You can find this ar-tificial sweetener in yogurts, gum, flavored water, drink powders and even cereals.

Diet sodas face unanswered questions

metics and their effects on humans are few and far between, which prevents consumers from making in-formed decisions about what they are putting onto their skins. Makeup users don’t ex-pect to be facing health risks when shopping for their fa-vorite products. The FDA ex-pects cosmetic companies to regulate their own products, a practice that doesn’t seem very practical. It seems that the job is up to consumers.

So how does one re-ally avoid unsafe cosmetics? There’s no need to com-pletely stop using makeup. Resources like cosdna.com and paulaschoice.com/beau-typedia make safe makeup hunting easy for consumers. Use makeup in moderation. Look for makeup with shorter ingredient lists. Pay attention to your skin and its sensitivi-ties when trying a new prod-uct. Avoid buying knockoff makeup brands, which are often advertised as unrealis-tically cheap.

By Editor-in-Chief Martha

HALL

By Staff Writer Kaitlin

BROCKA

Consumers face dangerous choices as they shop for cosmetics when the industry is self-regulated. Shop-pers deserve safe choices when searching for makeup in online and department stores.

Martha Hall Photo

Friday, Jan. 31, 2014 HI-LINETiger

The

FEATURE6

CFHS student stars as lead in two shows

Cedar Falls High School is filled with many talented ac-tors who take several hours out of their days throughout many months to put on great performances for anyone will-ing to watch. The CFHS drama department has a reputation for its great performances and stupendous actors, and one actor in the drama department, junior John Nicol, has brought his talent and his love of the-ater and acting not only to the high school, but also to the Black Hawk Children’s Theater (BHCT).

Nicol is currently attend-ing rehearsals for two plays at once: the CFHS drama de-partment’s production of “The Hamlet Thrill-ma-geddon,” di-rected by Michelle Rathe, and BHCT’s production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” directed by Daniel and Rose-mary Gast and directed and choreographed by Anita Ross. He plays Hamlet in the CFHS production, and Charlie Brown in the BHCT production, both being lead roles.

Securing the role of Charlie Brown at BHCT was fairly sim-ple for Nicol. The audition pro-cess required three separate auditions: one for dancing, one for singing and one for acting.

The dancing audition in-volved learning a simple dance in a group, and then perform-

ing it to the choreographer. For the singing portion, the actors had to sing excerpts from the show that were announced and prepared before the audition. Finally, the acting audition in-volved acting out small scenes from the show with others at the audition, trying out differ-ent characters so the directors could figure out who would best fit each role.

“I felt really good about my audition, so I felt like I was definitely a strong competitor. However, I saw a lot of talent at the audition and wasn’t sure whether I would get it or not until the director called me and asked me to play the part,” Ni-col said.

Having two lead roles at once, Nicol said time manage-ment is the most difficult part of theater for him. CFHS play rehearsals are every school day from 3:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. (5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays), and BHCT rehearsals are almost every day from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. In addition, once tech and costumes are added to the show and performance dates draw near, BHCT will practice every night. Nicol said, “I lit-erally go straight from one re-hearsal to the next. Juggling both shows, homework and a social life is really difficult, but I’m trying to make it work out the best I can.”

Playing the role of Charlie Brown is somewhat of a special experience for Nicol, as his fa-ther played the same character in the same play 35 years ago. It gives Nicol a strong connec-tion to his father and the role. However, Nicol said, “The most challenging thing with this character is making sure I seem young enough, while still maintaining my dancing, act-ing and singing abilities.”

Nicol particularly enjoys “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” because he believes that the cast is “amazing,” cre-ating a happy atmosphere and putting together a strong show. He also likes the show because it creates an enjoyable world, and although Charlie “doesn’t seem to get much of the good in it,” he stays hopeful through it all. “It really shows how hope shines through, despite all the bad things that might hap-pen,” Nicol said.

Public performances for “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” are Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., March 1 at 2 p.m. and March 2 at 2 p.m. The show will be performed at the Hope Martin Theater in the Waterloo Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10.

“The thing I want to tell potential audience members is to come see it, because it’s go-ing to be amazing. The thing I would want to tell people who

are [already] going to come see it for sure is have fun,” Ni-col said.

Nicol has participated in theater since he was eight years old, creating a total of eight years performing. He loves theater so much that he plans to make it his career in the future, his ideal job be-ing performing in a musical on Broadway. Nicol said, “What I really love about acting and theater is that it gives me an

By Editor-in-Chief MalloryVALLENTINE

Lucia McNeal Photo Lucia McNeal PhotoJohn Nicol sneakily reaches for a doughnut out of a box as his character Norman Bulansky in the 2013 Cedar Falls High School production of “The Boys Next Door.”

Nicol, playing Norman Bulansky, clutches a pillow in fear as Carrsan Morrissey, playing Arnold Wiggins, discusses the plan to rid of a rat in their apartment in “The Boys Next Door.”

Anna Love Photo

Nicol, playing Dennis, belts out a sad song while waddling across the stage with his pants down in the 2013 CFHS musical, “All Shook Up.”

opportunity to not have to worry about anything going on in my life and completely indulge myself in the produc-tion. It’s sort of an escape from reality, you might say.”

Friday, Jan. 31, 2014HI-LINETiger

The

Sports7Athlete Weekof the

the

Junior Adriene Boett-ger is stepping in to the starting lineup for the Ti-gers after playmaker Ad-dison Long went down with injury.

How are you stepping up in place of Addison?

I wouldn’t say I personal-ly am stepping in her place. The whole team as a whole has had to take on some different positions, and we have all had to adjust some.

How is the team com-ing together?

All the girls really care for each other and encour-age each other. Addison has been very encouraging to us all.

What are your goals for the rest of the seaon?

To make it to State and do the best we can there.

Adriene Boettger Basketball

TigersActionin

Men’s BasketballJan. 31 @ CR Xavier

6 p.m.

Women’s BasketballJan. 31 Home

CR Xavier 6 p.m.

WrestlingFeb. 1 MVC Tourney

@ Waterloo East 10 a.m.

Men’s SwimmingFeb. 1 MVC Soph Super

Meet @ Iowa City High 12:30 p.m.

BowlingJan. 31 CR Prarie @

Maple Lanes 3:45 p.m.

JV Men’s BasketballFeb. 6 Home

Waverly 7 p.m.

ANDERSON By Editor-in-Chief Austin

The National Football League now has at least 765 million reasons to believe that football is in fact, a dangerous sport.

In August, the NFL agreed to pay $765 million to former players in order to settle cases accusing the league of with-holding information about the dangers of concussions. A fed-eral judge rejected the settle-ment between the NFL and thousands of former players. The judge ruled that the agree-ment of over three quarters of a billion dollars may not go far enough in covering all of the costs of every player’s need and the monetary value may need to be increased.

Baseball is said to be Amer-ica’s pastime, but it might be time to modernize that age old saying. Football is at an all time high and has overtaken baseball to become the most common favorite sport in the United States. The upcoming Super Bowl will be watched on half the televisions across the country as well as in over 150 countries worldwide. Col-lege football is also thriving on its own as well as fueling the National Football League. A record 98 underclassmen elected to forgo their remain-ing college eligibility to pursue their dreams of being a profes-sional football player.

Football and America go hand and hand, so when the leader of the country comes out saying that if he had a son, he would have to think long and hard about whether he would allow him to play foot-ball or not, questions certainly arise. Brett Favre, Adrian Peter-son and Kurt Warner amongst others, agreed with Obama saying they wouldn’t let their sons play football. One hun-dred fifty two concussions were officially reported in 2013, and 171 the year before may be leading to the opinions of these decorated athletes.

PBS recently released a documentary titled “League of Denial.” The two-hour-long documentary reveals the truth associated with brain injuries caused by concussions and the regular wear and tear in former football players. Until recently the NFL heavily denied that football could be damaging to its players health after their careers were over. League of

Denial discusses the work and research of doctors connecting the link between brain dam-age such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy and dementia to football.

Mike Webster was a hall of fame offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was known as “Iron Mike.” He suffered from CTE after his football career and was stud-ied by Dr. Edward Westbrook who said, “by the time I saw Mike Webster, I don’t think he could’ve handled grade school.” Webster died at 54 years old.

Junior Seau was a top five draft pick and 10-time all-pro linebacker in the NFL who knew early on in his career of the price he was willing to pay: ”You have to sacrifice your body. You have to sacri-fice years down the line. When

we’re 50 or 40 years old, we probably won’t be able to walk. That’s the sacrifice you make to play this game.” Three years after retiring, Seau took his own life at just 43 years old. His brain was studied, and it was determined that he had CTE.

In fact, 45 of the 46 former NFL players studied by Dr. Ann McKee and documented on League of Denial were found to have chronic traumatic en-cephalopathy.

It is clear that football is absolutely dangerous and damaging to football play-ers’ health. The NFL has taken measures to make the game safer. National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement at the be-ginning of the 2013 season that included, “Within the NFL, safety-related rules will always be clearly defined and strictly

enforced, and we will con-tinue to work with our players, coaches and others to identify new and safer ways to play the game. We will build on our on-going efforts to fund indepen-dent scientific research, devel-op better equipment, educate parents, players and coaches on safe and fair play, advocate for safety in all sports and en-hance programs that support the health and well-being of NFL players and athletes at all levels.”

It is clear that the league is trying to make the game safer, but the question remains if that is even possible. Award win-ning Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan said this about the safety of football: “The simple truth is that football can never be made safe. Even if the es-sential ‘kill’ mentality were changed, football can never be made safe. And it has never been more dangerous than it is now, thanks to a combination of there being larger, quicker, more lethal people delivering the blows and the lingering mentality brought to the game by coaches and players who cannot or will not change.”

It is undeniable that if you take the path of being a pro-fessional football player, you have the chance of giving your life to the game. Former play-ers suffering from CTE have experienced depression possi-bly leading to suicide, memory loss, a short fuse, aggression and loss of motor skills. These symptoms not only affect the player but also the family as the divorce rate is very high with players suffering from CTE.

Football’s popularity is at an all time high, but many fans are calling the game “soft.” Fans love to see the big hits, but with recent research and the expansion of this research in the future, football will have to eliminate these plays if it wants to stick around. A future without football seems un-imaginable, but it is becoming more and more clear with con-cussions and brain disease that the players who love the game are inevitably digging their own grave and literally giving their lives to football.

Players face health concerns long after Super Bowl

Visit the PBS Frontline website for further reporting of the consussion story.

Shadow Grows over America’s Game

Friday, Jan. 31, 2014 HI-LINETiger

The

Sports8

The men’s swim team has not started off the season the way they had hoped to. So far, they have a 0-6 record in dual meets, but they are a young team that is working every morning and every day after school to improve.

The team is made up of 17 swimmers, nine of them are freshmen and eight of those nine had no competitive swim-ming background, but the growth is evident. In the 50 freestyle race, all the first year swimmers improved their times

by four to eight seconds. All of the team’s veteran swimmers have also gotten or met their personal records this season.

“With such a youthful squad, this season our main goal was improvement. They have spent hours upon hours in the mornings, nights and weekends training. We have made great strides because of this. This is exciting because we have yet to start resting for our fastest swims of the sea-son,” head coach Joe Brown said.

There will still be elite strength, speed, talent and passion clashing against each other on fall Friday nights, but the players who are clashing under the lights across Iowa high school football fields will be faced with a sense of unfamiliarity. Changes are surging through Iowa high school football as the Iowa High School School Athletic Association (IHSAA) has announced it will go to district football for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

Cedar Falls will play in class 4-A District 4 alongside metro rivals Waterloo East and Waterloo West. Joining the metro trio is a triplet of Cedar Rapids area schools: Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Linn-Mar.

Junior quarterback Trey Hansen, who moved to Ce-dar Falls this year from Min-nesota is optimistic about the new districts. “Even

District 1AmesAnkenyCouncil Bluffs, Thomas Jefferson Des Moines, EastSioux City, NorthSoutheast Polk

District 2Des Moines, NorthDes Moines, RooseveltDowling Catholic, West Des Moines JohnstonLewis CentralSioux City, East

District 3Ankeny CentennialCouncil Bluffs, Abraham Lincoln Des Moines, HooverDes Moines, LincolnSioux City, WestValley, West Des Moines

District 4Fort Dodge Indianola Marshalltown Mason City Urbandale Waukee

District 5 Cedar FallsCedar Rapids, Jefferson Cedar Rapids, Kennedy Linn-Mar, Marion Waterloo, East Waterloo, West

District 6BurlingtonCedar Rapids, Washington Iowa City, City High MuscatineOttumwaPrairie, Cedar Rapids

District 7Davenport, Central Davenport, North Dubuque, Hempstead Iowa City, West Pleasant Valley

District 8BettendorfClintonDavenport, West Dubuque, Senior North Scott, Eldridge

though I’m new, I have quickly found out that everyone brings their best against CF, and even though we have new teams, that doesn’t mean it will be easier. I think our district is good to us, but we don’t know who our other games will be against.”

The combined 2013 re-cords of East, West, Jefferson, Kennedy and Linn-Mar were an unimpressive 15-34.

“We all have the same goal, and that is to make the playoffs and win State,” Hansen said. While his goal will remain in-tact, the road will look a little bit different.

Postseason brackets have been eliminated and playoff matchups will now be deter-mined on a round to round basis. The IHSAA stated that “reasonable attempts will be made to find non-district play-off opponents for the first and second round games, but dis-trict match-ups could reoccur if an opponent cannot be found

within a reasonable distance.”Even with cold tempera-

tures and white snow still hanging around another Iowa winter, football is always on

Hansen’s mind. “I’m hoping we can all come together and work hard and get better. I am excited to see what we will do next season with new guys and

opponents.”

ANDERSON By Editor-in-Chief Austin

Cedar Falls switches from MVC to District 5 for 2014 football season

Cedar Falls will retain longtime foes Waterloo East and Waterloo West as these teams abandon the Mississippi Valley Conference for district football next year.

The swim team practices every morning and every day after school. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays they swim in the morning from 5:45 to 6:45, and then in the after-noon from 4 to 6. On Tuesdays and Thursdays they lift in the mornings and swim at night. Not only does the team prac-tice twice on each weekday, they also practice on Saturday mornings if they do not have a meet.

“Each member wants to be there and improve. My favorite

part has been watching those improvements. The improve-ments made have justified the long practices, early mornings and enormous commitment they have made since early November,” Brown said.

This year the team has three seniors: Daniel Reinart, Max Su and Joe Kosmicki. “I am going to miss all the friends and experiences that I had on the team,” Reinart said.

The seniors have brought a lot to the team and are still im-proving their times. “All of our

veterans have really stepped up. They did not have much choice. They knew I was going need a lot of help in order for all of the brand new swimmers to be successful. There are a lot aspects of a swim meet to understand, rules to follow and techniques to learn. The upperclassmen have provided rides, proper work ethic and much more for the non-veteran swimmers,” Brown said.

Young men’s swimmers dedicate time to building skills

YOUNG By Staff Writer Abby