Sept 19 2014 hi line

ALAM By Online Editor Zuhayr

STEM options lifting off

The

HI-LINETiger

Friday, Sept. 19, 2014 Volume 55 Edition 1

Wet & WildStaff particpate in ALS Bucket Challenge fundraiser/page 8

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AVILA By Staff Writer Kaela

The robotics team has been all across America to par-ticipate in competitions in the past. From St. Louis to Min-neapolis and Houston to Du-luth, the team has been nearly everywhere, and this fall they added a new place to the list. The team jumped across the pond to the west and found themselves in China.

The Swartdogs, or “Team 525” went to China in order to participate in practice events and help team members and volunteers in China along the way.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics is grow-ing in China, and last year, eight Chinese teams partici-pated in robotics competitions in the United States. Since it is difficult for teams to bring a ro-bot and all of their team mem-bers to America, members are looking to host regionals inside of China, but FIRST requires that there be at least 15 local

teams.Since teams that are already

established are looking to gain experience, a group called “The China Robotics Chal-lenge” hosted a simulation of a real regional competition.

This is the view of the UNI Dome from a rocket recently launched by robot-ics adviser Zeb Nicholson. See the whole video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-rpBAcC8GE.

Rocketry club aims for mix of competition, exploration

“Our goal with the trip was to organize a scrimmage, train volunteers on the teams, help build robots and participate ourselves,” physics teacher and robotics mentor Kenton Swartley said.

Junior Sam Zhang, one of eight students to make the trip, said he thinks that the team ac-complished its goals.

“We had a very success-ful trip to China,” Zhang said. “The Chinese teams learned a lot and had a great hands-on experience of what FRC (FIRST Robotics Challenge) is about. They enjoyed being able to build a robot.”

FRC is a subsection of FIRST aimed toward high school stu-dents. FIRST has created FIRST Lego League for younger stu-dents, and FIRST Tech Chal-lenge for high school students as well.

Some Swartdog mentors made a trip to China last De-cember to provide training for new robotics mentors in China. That trip was part of an ongo-ing partnership with a Chinese businessman, Mr. Yue, who is leading the growth of FRC teams in China.

Since Swartley went to China last December, his most

Robotics team returns from Chinese partnershipmemorable moment was not experiencing a new culture, but happened during the com-petition.

“The final match was very memorable for me. The match, which had three robots on each team, was exclusively Chinese teams,” Swartley said. “There were about 300 people in the crowd, and they were all very excited.”

In addition to helping out local teams, the Swartdogs had a good time in China as well. The team stayed in China for six days at a hotel in Shen-zhen.

“China is a country filled with culture and manners,” Zhang said. “On the last day, we hiked up a mountain and got to see all of Shenzhen. The hike was very scenic, and when we got to the top, we got a breathtaking view of the Shenzhen skyline.”

In the midst of all the re-turning clubs this year, a new rocket club has sprung up this fall. Only an idea last year, it has now officially been set to meet together the first Tuesday of each month in room 30 at 3 p.m. The club is led by math teacher and rocket enthusiast Zeb Nicholson.

“It is an easy going, ex-tremely exciting activity,” Nich-olson said. With the idea of building custom rockets and launching them at the high school, students will be able to experience the thrill that rockets bring in flight, while unknowingly learning bits of aerospace and teamwork skills.

“This club is both casual and competitive,” Nicholson said. He said those who want to join with their friends are able to work on group projects, and those who prefer to attend alone are able to work individ-

ually; the only requirement is a desire to build rockets.

The club also aspires to at-tend regional rocket launches around the end of October and beat the world record for the fastest custom rocket launch this first semester.

“We hope parents, spon-sors and companies could help with the supplies of these rockets. It is very inexpensive,” Nicholson said on the topic of supplies.

The club is welcome to donations, with items such as clear plastic tubes, balsa wood, super glue, styrofoam cones, elastic cords and several others items adding up to generally less than a single Andrew Jack-son. With the donated parts, students will be able to build for many weeks to come. Submitted Photo

Junior Jason Cheng goes over the CAD book with a member of the Chinese team while he and the Swart-dogs were on their visit to China back in August.

Submitted Photo

Friday, Sept. 19, 2014 HI-LINETiger

The

FEATURE2

ODOBASIC By Staff Writer Dino

English teacher Heidi AndersonOther than her four years at Walnut Ridge Academy, which is now the Wa-

terloo Christian School, and her degree from the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Heidi Anderson has been a lifelong Cedar Falls resident. She taught at Dunkerton High School before coming to Cedar Falls. “I want to teach students how to effectively use words because there is great power in words. We can en-courage, persuade, joke around, develop relationships, etc. with words, so if I can help students use words effectively in the classroom and beyond school walls, I will have prepared them for success,” she said.

Counselor Amy DenholmAmy Denholm, a double major in psychology and political science, has two

years of field experience in elementary schools in Waverly and Shell Rock. After graduating from Wartburg, she enrolled at UNI to pursue her teaching degree, and then taught for four years at Marshalltown High School and obtained her master’s degree in school counseling. Denholm has been hard at work to get to where she is today. “I hope that I can help students make successful transitions to adulthood,” she said. Born in Charles City, before coming to Cedar Falls, she was a counselor at Charles City Middle/High School for four years, Waverly-Shell Rock High School for two years and Waterloo East High School for five years.

English teacher Joe FrennaJoseph Frenna, born in Long Island, New York, got his teaching degree at the

University of Northern Iowa. Previously, Frenna taught at Denver Middle School in Denver, Iowa, and Malcolm Price Laboratory School in Cedar Falls. Back in the spring of 2007, Frenna decided to go back to school to become a teacher be-cause he had a desire to use his talents to do a job that would help others. “My best feature as a teacher is the passion I have for sharing the content I teach with my students,” he said.

English teacher Janae KennedyWebster City is where the English education major Jenae Kennedy was born

and raised. Before coming to Cedar Falls to teach English at the high school, she taught at Fort Dodge Senior High for nine years. Kennedy graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2005 with a major in English education and a minor in creative writing. In 2009, she achieved a master’s degree from Nova Southeast-ern University in curriculum and instruction. ”Both of my parents are teachers, and growing up, I noticed how much they loved their jobs and also that their students adored them.” She said the reason she has wanted to become a teacher from a very young age is “I wanted to be able to have an impact on youth in the same way they did.”

Science teacher Shelly LauritsenBorn and raised in Cedar Falls, Shelly Lauritsen taught for 12 years at Holmes

Junior High. She graduated from Cedar Falls High School and went to college at the University of Northern Iowa. She did a lot of volunteer work with the Christian youth group, Young Life, and really enjoyed working with students. “I also enjoy seeing students get excited about science,” she said, and that really helped her make her decision to become a teacher.

New Tigersand their

TalesEleven staff plunge into CFHS positions

Friday, Sept. 19, 2014HI-LINETiger

The

FEATURE3English teacher Heather NicholsonCedar Falls is where Heather Nicholson was born and raised. She graduated

from Cedar Falls High School, got her English degree at the University of Iowa and her teaching degree at the University of Northern Iowa. She was a student teacher for some time with various teachers, but other than that, this is Nicholson’s first year of teaching. She got inspired to become a teacher by her husband, Zeb Nicholson, who is the Intro to Engineering Design teacher at the high school. “English class isn’t just about learning terms and writing papers; I think it’s im-portant to grow as individuals and work together to succeed in today’s world,” Nicholson said.

Science teacher Meghan ReynoldsPreviously working at an environmental testing and research lab for five years,

Meghan Reynolds loved her job, but her favorite part she said was “training the other workers and college students that worked for me on how to do the tests, and the science behind each test.” She left the science industry world three years ago to go back to school and get teaching licensure and a master’s in science education at the University of Northern Iowa. Before coming to the high school, she taught two semesters of physical science as faculty at the University of North-ern Iowa. She was born and raised in Des Moines and graduated from Lincoln High School.

Social studies teacher Melissa RogersFor as long as she can remember, Melissa Rogers has always wanted to be a

teacher. She went to Milligan College, a small private school in Tennessee. Other than her seven years in long-term substitute teaching at Southeast Polk and West Des Moines Valley, this is her first year teaching. She likes to make connections with students and enjoys helping them truly understand a concept. “I am passion-ate about working with teenagers and psychology. It’s the best of both worlds,” she said. She was born and raised in Indiana and also home schooled during her high school years.

Health assistant Betsy SchmitzBorn in Madison, Wisconsin, and raised in Waterloo, Betsy Schmitz has been a

health assistant for seven years. She went to Iowa State University after she gradu-ated from West High School. She has a degree in dietetics and was a dietitian in a hospital when she graduated from college. “As a health assistant, I hope I can help kids with their basic medical needs and problems so they can stay in school and keep learning,” Schmitz said. She was a health assistant at Edison Elementary in Waterloo and at Peet Junior High.

Principal Jason WedgburyBorn in Hampton, Iowa, this is Jason Wedgbury’s ninth year being a principal.

He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and got his bachelor of arts there too. He got his masters of science in educational leadership at Northern Missouri State. Wedgbury said he wanted to become a principal to move into more of a leadership role in education. “I believe a principal’s job is to build systems and make sure the systems work reliably,” he said. He wants to optimize opportunities for all students and systems to help teachers grow professionally.

Counselor Chris WoodThis is Chris Wood’s second year of counseling. He was born in Nevada, Iowa,

where he attended elementary and then moved to Mount Vernon, Iowa, where he went to middle and high school. Before coming to Cedar Falls, he worked at Don Bosco Catholic High School in Gilbertville. Before becoming a school coun-selor, Wood worked as an admissions counselor at Wartburg College. He traveled the United States to recruit juniors and seniors to apply at Wartburg. During this time of travel, he had the opportunity to meet incredible school counselors from around the nation. He didn’t plan on becoming a school counselor at first, but he said after meeting all the counselors that, “poured their hearts into their jobs and loved every minute of it, I realized that I could help so many more students as a school counselor rather than just one or two as an admissions counselor, so I started my master’s in counseling program.” Wood attended Wartburg College where he received his Bachelor of Arts in communication arts with an emphasis in public relations and a minor in business administration. He completed his master of arts in school counseling from the University of Northern Iowa. He officially graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in August of 2014.


The

OPINION4

Junior Charlie Langner

Junior Denison Harrington

Seniors Addison Long and Ben Fienup

Seniors Brittni Wright and Rayce Willet

Martee GraingerSpecial Needs TEacher Katie Wilson

and Health Teacher Megan Youngkent

Photos by Ashley Brimacomb, Olivia Mickey, Jackie Norman, Kailin Reed, Abby Wilder and Madison Wright


The

OPINION 5Senior Rebecca Lyman

Seniors Martee Grang-er and Ben Dagit

Senior Jayla Jackson

Seniors Elizabeth Sesker and Drew Marchesani Seniori Brian Keiser Junior Emily Wikner

Jackie Norman and Olivia MickeyAgatha Fenech

Sophomores Kaylee Olsen, Addy Asby and Tyler CampbellMartee Grainger

08Friday, Sept. 19, 2014 HI-LINE

TigerThe

OPINION6BACK

To The

EIGHTIES

HOMECOMING

Kyler Boss

Trey Bronner

Benjamin Dagit

Benjamin Fienup

Haley Alexander

Jamie Becker

Martee Grainger

Addison Long

My favorite ’80s movie is Back to the Future’ My

favorite ’80s song is “Don’t You” by Simple Minds, and my favorite artist has got to

be Michael Jackson.

My favorite ’80s band is Def Leppard. My favorite ’80s song is “Pour Some

Sugar on Me.”

My favorite ’80s movie is Footloose. My favorite band and song from the

‘80s is Devo and “Come on Eileen “ by Dexys MIdnight

Runners.

My favorite ’80s movie is Back to the Future. My fa-

vorite ’80s song is “We are the World” by Billy Joel.

Also the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in

1982.

My favorite ’80s movie is Dirty Dancing. My favorite ’80s song is “Don’t Stop Believin.”

My favorite ’80s song is “Thriller” by Michael Jack-son.

My favorite ’80s movie is between Top Gun and The Breakfast Club. Song: Definitely Jesse’s Girl by Rick Springfield. Band: Big fan of U2. Apple was invented in the ’80s so that’s pretty awe-some.

My favorite ’80s movie is Sixteen Candles, and my fa-vorite ‘80s band is Journey.

0Friday, Sept. 19, 2014HI-LINE

TigerThe

OPINION 7

HOMECOMING2014

Caleb Iehl

Brian Keiser

Andrew Marchesani

Rayce WilletT

Rebecca Lyman

Holly Schmitz

Elizabeth Sesker

Brittni Wright

My favorite movies from the ’80s are definitely Back

to the Future and Karate Kid. I’m not a huge ’80s music person, but Bruce

Springsteen always makes me feel more patriotic.

My favorite ’80s movie is Alien. My favorite ‘80s song is “Africa” by Toto. My favorite ‘80s band is

Journey.

My favorite ’80s athlete is Michael Jordan.

My favorite ’80s movies are all the Rambo and Rocky movies. My favorite ’80s

artist is John Mellencamp. My favorite ’80s songs are “Hurts So Good” and “Pink

Houses.”

My favorite 80’s movie is The Breakfast Club. It never gets old! My favorite 80’s song is “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cydi Lauper.

My favorite ’80s movie is The Goonies. My favorite ’80s song is “Like a Prayer” by Madonna. One of my favorite ’80s bands is Jour-ney, and I specifically love their song “Faithfully.”

My favorite ’80s TV show is Full House.

My favorite ’80s song is “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Friday Sept. 19, 2014 HI-LINETiger

The

CAPTURED8BucketBASHERS

At top left, senior Anne Hetherton and junior Andrea Schreiber react to the mayhem on Friday, Sept. 5 when senior leadership sponsored an ALS Bucket Challenge involving CFHS staff. Below them are sci-ence teacher Scott Bohlmann, math teacher Ethan Wiechmann, English teacher Diane Flaherty and health teacher Megan Youngkent. Above is Spanish teacher Patricia Black, and at right is Principal Jason Wedgbury.

Who knew dumping a bucket full of ice water over your head could raise over $100 million? That is what the ALS ice bucket challenge has done, and now senior leadership and the high school teachers have joined in the cause to raise money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

The original idea came from social studies teacher Chad Van Cleve, who brought the idea to senior leadership, and senior leadership made it happen. Van Cleve thought this would be a mean-ingful and different thing to do that would bring students and teachers together. The senior leadership organized the ice bucket challenge by getting ice donated and advertising the effort. All of the hard work paid off when the challenge raised $252 during the lunch shifts on Friday, Sept. 5.

The money will go to fight Lou Geh-rig’s Disease, a progressive neurodegen-erative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

Emily Wheeler is one of the teachers that advises senior leadership and helped a lot in putting this on at school. “It was a very effective way to bring students and staff together doing something different and effective,” Wheeler said.

Brian Winkel’s broadcast journal-ism class is also making a video of it to capture what happened and to motivate and challenge other schools to partake in their own ice bucket challenge at their schools. Other high schools around Ce-dar Falls heard about this happening at our school, and want to do the same at their own schools.

All Photos by Emily Barth

AHRENHOLZ By Staff Writer Annebeth

Fridday, Sept. 19, 2014HI-LINETiger

The

FEATURE9

STORTZ By Staff Writier Sarah

Cedar Falls High School has had a long tradi-tion of hosting exchange students from all over the world, and this year three students will con-tinue this tradition. Sophomore Maria Juan Rol-lan, junior Mahmud Mazdy and sophomore Saina Abdollahzadeh have individually answered a set of questions regarding how the exchange pro-gram has been going for them so far.

What city are you from? What is it like?Maria: Vigo, Spain. It’s pretty much has the same tempera-

ture as Cedar Falls, but it rains a lot more.Mahmud: Bogor, Indonesia. It’s mostly urban, and the

temperature there is very warm and humid.Saina: Sahiraza, Iran. I lived in Georgia for one year due to

my exchange program.

What activities did you do at your old school? Are there any that you’d want to do at CF?

Maria: I’ve played basketball in my school’s old team, Chi-nese classes and drawing classes. I’m in cross country and would like to try basketball and tennis here.

Mahmud: I played soccer, and a hiking and camping team, and was in student council. I’m in cross country now, and I would like to try basketball.

Saina: I played volleyball, basketball and did art activities. I’d like to do tennis and bowling here.

Do you have a host family? If so, how has it been living with them?

Maria: My parents have three children: one daughter who is my age and two other sons who are 15 and 11. I’m really happy with them, and they’ve been really nice to me.

Mahmud: They’re good. I only have a father and mother. I don’t have a host sibling.

Saina: I have four sisters, but two of them live separately, and my mom and dad. It’s good and fun living with them. I have a sister here my age, and we have lessons here together.

What was the reason exactly you decided to do the foreign exchange program? Why the United States in par-ticular?

Maria: I wanted to learn the language English, and I want-ed to live in the United States and try to live the American lifestyle. I’ve already to been to Ireland, and I wanted to try something different because the others were too similar to the ones in Spain.

Mahmud: It wasn’t really my choice to go to the United States. I first joined AFS, but I then switched to the YES pro-gram and was placed here. I wanted to experience this and learn the culture and spread my culture around to other coun-tries.

Saina: I really wanted to see America and improve my English.

Are you planning any siteseeing adventures over the course of this year?

Maria: Yes, I would like to visit more states in America and maybe join in a bus trip that visits all of the big cities in the United States.

Mahmud: Yeah, I hope so, but I might not have the chance. I hope to go to the Smithsonian Museum and do something like skiing and snowboarding.

Saina: I’m not sure, but I think I might be going to Chicago with my host family.

What are you most excited about in this program?Maria: That I will visit another continent, I will travel a lot

and live in a different country. Mahmud: Going outside of the country is already exciting

for me. Almost all of it is exciting for me.Saina: To see how America is really like. Everyone has a

different imagination on what a country is like, and I wanted to see what it’s really like.

What would you say is the most difficult aspect about doing the exchange program?

Maria: That you have to leave your family and your friends and your old life. You will return to it in a year, but it’s hard to return to something completely different.

Mahmud: The most difficult is trying to make a lot of friends because they all speak English really fast. You still don’t know what they’re talking about.

Saina: Adjusting to a new environment and having to talk in English all day.

Who has been particularly helpful in your adjustments to Cedar Falls? How so?

Maria: My host family, of course. They’ve been too nice and try to make me feel comfortable because they know how much of a change it is.

Mahmud: Mostly my hosts and the counselors in the school. They give me tips on how to make it and what to do and not do at school or anywhere.

Saina: My host sisters and my host parents. My sisters help me to find where my classes are at the school because I’ve been lost the first couple days. They also help me understand people who speak English really fast and help me learn more about this culture.

What are some key differences you can explain about your school experience here at Cedar Falls from the school you had at home. What’s one big similarity?

Maria: You stay in a class with one teacher, and you don’t have one that comes in and out. At lunch, you finish all your school activities beforehand, and you can go home right after lunch. One similarity is that the teachers are always there to help you.

Mahmud: First, my school in Indonesia was kind of a small school, and you almost know all of the people there, and it’s easier to make friends. I usually stay in one classroom in Indo-nesia, but here, you have to move around a lot to go to your different classes. I also usually finish school at 12, and I also have school on Saturday. The lessons here are similar, and the subjects aren’t very different from my country, and system is the same.

Saina: The school is so much bigger. They have different clubs here, and in my old school, they had a different sched-ule every day, but here, the schedule is the same. A similarity is that they both teach lessons in English.

Have you ever felt homesick so far? What particularly do you miss the most about your home country?

Maria: My family. It’s hard to not have them because you feel alone when you’re here.

Mahmud: My friends definitely. My family too, sometimes.Saina: No. I haven’t been homesick, but I miss my friend

and family sometimes, but I still talk to them a lot.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?Maria: I hope to gain understanding of the English lan-

guage, have a lot of friends from here and have a lot of good relationships.

Mahmud: To build my confidence, to make more friends and to make my English better. Also to manage myself to be a better person.

Saina: To make more friends, improve my English and learn the American culture.

Cultural Connections

Sophomore Maria Juan Rollan from Vigo, Spain

Junior Mahmud Mazdy from Bogor, Indonesia

Sophomore Saina Abdollahzadeh from Sahiraza, Iran

Exchange students offer insightinto their global explorations


The

OPINION10Our View

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.

Editor-in-Chief: Austin AndersonOnline Editor: Zuhayr AlamStaff Writers: Annebeth Ahrenholz, Kaela Avila, Kaleb Bengsten, Dino Odobasic, Skylar Starbeck, Sarah Stortz

Contact Us

It is unfortunate that the recent vote on the bond for the new high school and renovations was not passed by the Cedar Falls District, but there are ideas that could help improve the project and let it be presented to the community in a more clear and understanding way.

The project can still be seen as very beneficial, even with the amount of doubts it has. For future students of both elementary and high school levels, the schools available to them would be renovated and top-notch.

“You can look around the building and see that we’re short of rooms and larger class sizes,” business edu-cation teacher Mike Hansel said. “We are in dire need of a new high school.”

With new rooms available to the students and teachers, both the educational needs and the school activities would have available facili-ties ready for them to use to their full advantage. These places, built specifically for certain activities and courses, can let the students be able tap into their full potential

whatever the activity may be. “We’re doing good things,

so why don’t we do great things?” English teacher Doug Wilkinson said.

While the overall project has its best mind for the chil-dren’s and teenagers’ educa-tional surroundings, some of its details remain a bit shaky.

“I think there were many factors that caused people to vote no including the cost, inaccurate information, eco-nomic impact, etc.,” Superin-tendent Andy Pattee said.

As part of the community, the presentation of this expen-sive and long-term project was not very well shown, thus giv-ing some people inaccurate in-formation. Had there been an earlier window of plans, fuller details and clearer answers to questions at public hearings, those who were questionable about the bond as a whole would have understood and most likely voted under more solid judgements.

“Things to improve would certainly be to give a more clearer understanding for this bond,” Wilkinson said. “There was so many things on there that it made it confusing,”

Included with the confu-sion of facts would be the large price tag attached to this plan. For the elemen-taries and the high schools renovations and construc-tion, the whole thing adds up to a whopping $118 million project. Much of the money would be from escalating taxes of the civilians of Cedar Falls. For some this would be up to $700 dollars annually over the course of the bond. For those who would like the bond to pass the next round, it would be best to lower the prices and reconsider them to a certain degree. “The price tag was just too high. We have to adjust the price,” Hansel said.

While the bond has the right ideas for students of Cedar Falls, its current state will need some adjustments for it to be fully accepted by the majority of the adults and students alike. If the bond in general is not something that the community can agree on as a whole, we can only ex-pect the next generations to be falling asleep in the same classrooms we did years be-fore.

On Aug. 9 of this year, in Ferguson, Mo., a 17-year-old black, unarmed teenager named Michael Brown was shot several times and killed by a white po-lice officer, Darren Wilson, for suspicion of theft. His body was left uncovered in the middle of the street for residents of the neighborhood to see before it was loaded into the back of an unmarked SUV.

This eventually led to a peaceful protest of about 100 people at the Ferguson police station, demanding justice for the unwarranted event that had occurred, only for the police to respond by sending in backup troops armed with tanks and rifles, eventually turning the pro-test into a violent rampage.

Something to note is that this recent police brutality isn’t a unique instance against people of color. Some examples include Sean Bell, another black man who was unarmed, who was shot and killed by the police the morning before his own wed-ding and Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly black man, who accidentally used his life alert, causing police to be at his door. When he insisted that he was fine and that he didn’t need help, the police then proceeded to break down his door, tasered him and shot him to death.

A common pattern that fre-quently shows up is that the police automatically assume that the men have done some kind of criminal act just because of the color of their skin.

According to FBI records, between 2005 and 2012, a white police officer uses brutality against somebody who is black almost two times each week. Nearly one-fifth of them are are under the age of 21. To com-pare, only 8.7 percent of people

who are white that were killed by the police were younger than 21.

This has been an extremely racist mentality still continues post-shooting of Brown. About 75 people have been arrested so far during the protest. Protest-ers have faced tear gas, mace, rubber bullets while holding up signs saying “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” This all seems too out-dated to be happening in 2014.

A common argument that’s used is that many claim Brown reacted in an aggressive man-ner when being told to have his hands up in the air, causing Wilson to panic in the situation and shoot him. Even if this was really the case, a police officer should be trained how to handle being in a dangerous situation before using a weapon against anybody.

Regardless whether or not Brown had criminal involvements that day, shooting him at point blank range while he was un-armed was definitely an extreme punishment that was not de-served. Wilson’s five-week leave while being paid shows how much the police department at Ferguson will not owe up to its racist actions.

Suggestions to have the Fer-guson police station handle the situation in a better way include getting rid of their militarized backup to decrease the amount of violence happening during protests and hiring more officers to match the racial make of the community. The station consists of 53 police officers, with only three being black. Since 67 per-cent of the population in Fer-guson are black, it would help to have them add more officers who are black as well to repre-sent the community more.

Republicans and Democrats, cats and dogs, asses and el-ephants. The two parties seem to be complete opposites. But they haven’t always been that way. The Grand Ol’ Party, GOP, is considered to still be the Repub-licans. But the GOP used to be progressive, believe it or not. It hasn’t always been paranoid, cor-poration loving and super con-servative. So what happened? Why is there so much gridlock?

The problem was the shift to extremes. The left went even more left, and the right fell off of the chart. When you have near-socialists facing off against Tea Party members, you may as well have the First Continental Con-gress facing off Stalin’s regime. It’s pure headbutting on behalf of fundamentals, and there are no more mediums. It’s left or right with the Red and Blue, and any-one with moderate ideas “can’t make up their minds” or are those crazy libertarians.

We’ve had really good Re-publican presidents. Regan is a great example. He balanced our national budget, strengthened national security and ended the Cold War. He revitalized the Re-publican party after a long time run by Democrats. Abraham

Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Reagan are considered by many political science analysts to be the best presidents this coun-try has ever had. They were all Republican. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, led the country through a crippling civil war, and we still came out strong. Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican, but, believe it or not, was the leader of the progressive movement at the time. He made the antitrust laws that prevented American capitalism from sliding into greed and collapsing in on itself.

So what happened to the Republican party? Today all we see is a split and momentous in-fighting. They pose that they still have the identity of less govern-ment and more states rights, but they contradict their own state-ment by turning their backs on the needy while trying to control the lives of women, men and un-born children. What happened to Barry Goldwater’s view of women controlling their own destinies? They swear by the Constitution, as they should, but turn around and force decisions about bodies and force their Christian beliefs into government where it abso-lutely doesn’t belong.

These men and women

have a skewed sense of reality. The Republican party has fallen into a corporate love affair and a never ending cycle of lobby money and corporate interest. Corporations lobby for the can-didate they want, almost always a Republican, and the candidate they want advocates for them, and the corporations keep mak-ing money to continue lobbying. That is the Grand ol’ Party work-ing for big business, not you. Not all of them are in bed with big business, might I add. We have a few Republicans that still abide by what Lincoln and Roosevelt did. Ted Cruz, Ron and Rand Paul, Toomey and Flake; some are more radical than others, but they stand hard beside the con-stitution and don’t budge.

The Republican Party is on a decline. We will not see a Repub-lican president for a long time, whether good or bad, unless they reform and come together in a more moderate fashion. Whoever runs for the Democratic party in 2016 will win, whether it be the next Clinton or whoever. It will not be a GOP member, be-cause they are falling apart.

District should learn some lessons from failed bond vote

STORTZ By Staff Writer Sarah

Ferguson exposes lingering needsto address ongoing civil rights fight

Hands up. Don’t shoot.

Extreme camps ruining progressive GOP heritage

BENGSTON By Staff Writer Kaleb


The

Sports11

ALAM By Online Editor Zuhayr

Senior captain defensive end Chase Koch recorded two sacks and received a great birthday present as he recovered a fumble for a touchdown, leading the Ti-gers to a win at Mason City.

How is the team looking?We’re playing really well,

and we are really coming to-gether well as a team, and we are showing a lot of growth and development.

What did it mean to play so well on your birthday?

It was really exciting. It was the best birthday ever because not too often a defensive end gets to score a touchdown.

What did it mean to you to be named captain?

It’s a big honor knowing that your teammates look up to you and respect you.

What’s your favorite part about homecoming?

I love school spirit.

Chase Koch Football

TigersActionin

Football (2-1)Beat Mason City 34-6Next up: Urbandale

on Sept. 19 at 7:45 p.m.

Volleyball (8-5)Lost 3-1 vs CR Kennedy

Next up: @ D-NH tournament Sept. 20 at 9 a.m.

Women’s CCNext up: Roosevelt Invite Sept. 20 away 9:45 a.m.

Men’s CC Next up: Metro Meet

@ Bontrager Park Oct. 2 at 4:30 p.m.

Women’s Swimming Won @ Dubuque Senior

Next up: Little Hawk InviteSept. 20 at 12 p.m.

Men’s GolfNext up: Tiger Invite

Sept. 19 at 9 a.m.

A six-year-old boy walks into the Cedar Falls Hy-Vee with his mom on a Sunday after-

noon and instantly his eyes light up be-hind the lenses of his glasses. The boy, wearing a red Cedar Falls Tigers foot-ball shirt timidly approached the check out counter and asked, “Are you the quarterback for the Cedar Falls Tigers?”

“Yeah.” The clerk responds to the young Tiger fan.

“That’s always been my dream.”Trey Hansen is the starting quar-

terback for the Cedar Falls Tigers, but not too long ago, he was that young fan looking at his idols and dreaming of his future. “Football is my passion,” Hansen said. “It’s my favorite thing to

Senior football player embraces ghosts of many expectations

New head volleyball coach Matt Johnson brings his winning ways to lead the Tigers this season.

Moving from Charles City with a 302-113 record, John-son has coached volleyball the last 13 years. In his past 10 years of coaching Charles City, his teams made region-al finals in all 10 years, and made four trips to State.

“We made the state semi-finals in 2013, and were state champions in 2012. I hope to carry on my success with the Tigers this year. We have a lot of talent, which makes us such a special team.”

Johnson said he has high expectations for the return-ing players on the team. “We have a great senior class that is doing a good job of pro-viding leadership in the gym.

We ask a lot of our seniors to provide the leadership our program needs, and they are doing a great job. They have made my transition to CF a lot easier.”

Senior Anne Hetherton said the leadership goes both ways. “Coach is great. He has a great teaching ability and always is encouraging us to do our best. He helps us improve in all areas of the court.”

Johnson teaches at both Holmes and Peet Junior Highs, teaching three math courses and four Gateway to Technol-ogy classes. He said that the move has been gradually eas-ier every day with all the volley-ball girls helping him out.

So far the team is on its way with a 8-5 record.

The cross country team has a chance to make state his-tory by making state for a 23rd consecutive time at the end of this season, and so far, things are looking good for the team to accomplish that. Currently, the team is tied with Ankeny’s record of 22 consecutive trips to State.

In the season’s first meet on Sept. 4, the Tigers won the Ames Invitational and placed five runners in the top nine. Sophomore Sam Schillinger finished first for the Tigers and third overall with a time of 17:04.

A few days later on the 11th was the Marshalltown Invite. There were 22 teams at the meet, and seven of the top 15 ranked teams in the state, so the competition was stiff. At the end of the meet, however, the Tigers placed five runners in the top 20 and won the meet. Schillinger finished fifth overall and first for the Tigers once again, running a 16:11.

The Rich Engel Classic ran on Thursday Sept. 18, but re-sults were not available at the deadline of the paper. The Ti-gers next meet is on Thursday, Oct. 2.

“The fact that we are un-beaten through two meets and

that we beat the third ranked school in the state last year says a lot about how the sea-son is going so far,” senior Hiram Marquez said. “We did that without one of our best guys, Jake Hartman, who is out with an injury.”

Marquez was not the only one that was enthusiastic about the season so far.

“This summer, everyone trained harder than before,” Marquez said. “We promised ourselves that we were going to get on the podium at State this year.”

Head coach Troy Becker shares the same ambition.

“We have some very big goals this season for all of our teams. We want to win a district team title and finish in the top three at State. We have a chance at doing this if we stay healthy and keep working as hard as we have been,” Becker said.

Assistant coach Jeff Hart-man said that the team has a relaxed outlook this season.

“The boys are running re-laxed and are having fun. In the end, I guess that’s what it takes,” Hartman said.

Two teams setting sites on memorable seasonsMen’s cross country on streak for State

STARBECKBy Staff Writer Skylar

New volleyball coachbrings tradition of wins

do.” This passion has been running

through the veins of the senior for as long as he can remember. His dad Den-ny, a former Tiger himself, worked with the Minnesota Vikings when Trey was a kid. From September to the beginning of February, Sundays at the Hansen household were devoted to the NFL. During time outs of the games, Trey would take off across the living room, dive into the couch and attempt to catch the throws from his father.

It was all fun and games until Trey became old enough to finally test out the gridiron for himself. He started play-ing tackle football in the first grade with the second and third graders. He re-

calls his first ever championship game at quarterback, “I think I fumbled every snap that game, and I cried all night after we lost that game,” he explained with a laugh.

Even back in first grade, Hansen hat-ed to lose. His competitiveness hasn’t eased up at all and extends to the point that he didn’t talk to his friend for over a week after the beating he received on a last second kickoff return for a touch-down in Madden. “There are times when you need to calm yourself down, but being competitive is a good thing,” Hansen said.

Growing up in Becker, Minn., Han-

See Ghosts, Page 12

The vol-leyball

team celebrates

a point over Ken-

nedy at home on Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Madison Wright Photo


The

Sports12sen was just like the boy who idolizes him. He was the ball boy in sixth grade for the Becker Bulldogs football team and just like everyone else, always had his eyes on the quarterback.

It’s often called the most important position in sports. The high profile posi-tion always has the spotlight on, makes millions and dates super models. Many guys want to be that guy and as many girls want to be with him. The kid in Hy-Vee didn’t approach Hansen be-cause he was on the football team, he approached him because he was the quarterback of the football team. It has all the glitz and glamour anyone could ever want.

Except Trey Hansen. Hurling the ball in a tight spiral as

fast as he can will get Hansen into a Division I college, but it won’t be as a quarterback. He is currently ranked as the seventh overall long snapper in the entire country and holds a five star rat-ing by Kohl’s kicking. Kohl’s ranks for ESPN.com and selects the participants for the Under Armour All-American game.

Going into Hansen’s freshman year, his dad attended a coaching clinic where one of the instructors was a long snapping coach. The very next day the Hansen duo wa s out trying to figure how to do a job that is so often over-looked. “I had no idea what I was do-ing. It was never a spiral to start. It was crazy,” Hansen said, laughing.

His competitive nature forced a de-sire to get on the field any way he could to emerge. He went to a Kohl’s training camp where he could get professional instruction. He got the knack for it and was invited to attend a competition camp. He got to try his hand with some of the best specialists in the country. Two months after he snapped a ball for the first time, he was the starting long snapper for the Becker High Bulldogs as a freshman.

After attending numerous camps around the entire country, Hansen started to make a name for himself. At one point he was the third ranked snapper in the country, and his mailbox started to fill up a lot quicker with let-ters from colleges. At first he received heavy interest from Division II schools, but as he progressed, schools such as Alabama, Florida and Oklahoma started showing their interest. The University of Minnesota has been Hansen’s dream school since he was a kid, and he and the special teams coach keep in touch on a weekly basis. The University of Ne-braska has also emerged as a front run-ner and contender to Minnesota.

Hansen worked to improve his stock as a prospect by lowering his 40 yard dash time to under 4.8 seconds and pound for pound being “probably close” to the strongest athlete on the team. He was 10 pounds shy of joining a select few in the 1,000 pound club, which adds total weight squatted, clean pulled and benched together. Hansen

was elected a team captain by his team-mates and leads with confidence. “He’s taken his leadership to the next level and sets a good example on and off the field,” said fellow captain Chase Koch.

His hard work nearly paid off in the highest regards as he nearly became the second consecutive Cedar Falls Ti-ger to represent the school in the Under Armour All-American game. Seventy snappers competed in a Kohl’s camp this summer that would qualify the top two scorers for the Under Armour All-American game. Hansen finished in third place, 6 points behind the leaders who both had the highest score in the history of the camp. There then was a snap off to see who would attend the Semper Fi All-American game, spon-sored by the Marines. Quinn Sonntag of Dowling Catholic automatically quali-fied for the event, and Hansen was go-ing to be the second player selected. The Marine rules state, however, that a player from the west side of the United States and the east side of the coun-try must be picked. Because Sonntag already qualified from Iowa, Hansen would not be eligible.

After leaving his hometown of Becker, before his junior year, his tightly knit group of friends were the hardest things to leave behind. Hansen stayed in contact with his friends, and they even made a trip down to Cedar Falls in October. Dec. 1, 2013 was just like any other night, Hansen was catching up with his best friend Anthony Nelson via text. Hansen had decided to quit bas-ketball that day, whereas Nelson was struggling with his grades and was go-ing to be ineligible to play for his Beck-er Bulldogs. Everything seemed normal that night. The next day however, was the day that resembled anything but normal and the day that would change the lives of so many.

Hansen was sitting in his final class of the day, eighth hour entrepreneur-ship. His phone started to buzz and his friend from Becker, Blake, had texted him four times demanding that he an-swer his phone call. He excused himself and when he heard the words that came out of Blake’s mouth, he couldn’t speak, tears started streaming down his face, and he hung up the phone without a word spoken. The only other people in the hallway were the basketball coach-es, Ryan Schultz and Chris Dyvig, who wanted to have a word with Hansen about quitting the team. He stormed right past them and couldn’t muster words enough to speak.

The morning of Dec. 2, Nelson told his parents he had to go in 45 minutes early to take a test. At 8:35 am, Nelson tweeted “I’m taking the easy way out.” Twenty five minutes after school had started, Nelson’s car was found crushed into a tree all the way across town. There were no skid marks on the road and no reason to believe this was an ac-cident. Nelson died on impact. It was the third suicide at Becker in one year.

“He just wasn’t the kid you think would do it. He was the most happy, go lucky kid you’ve ever met. He had two younger brothers that looked up to him like none other. He was always happy. I just don’t know, but that tweet just gives it away that there’s no other explanation.” Hansen said.

The night of the wake was the first home basket-ball game for Becker. The are-na was sold out and packed with green, Nelson’s favorite color. The Bulldogs lost the game by two, but Nelson’s best friend Blake had the game of his life. “He just couldn’t miss. It was cool to see because you know he was watching over him,” Hansen said.

N e l s o n Strong #39 and the Bible verse Isaiah 41:10 are printed on the wristbands that rest on the wrist of Hansen every day since. He plays with his name on his cleats, says a prayer before every game and plays for Anthony Nelson.

“Don’t take every day for granted and just know there are always people there to talk to even when life is going rough,” Hansen said.

The fame of Friday night lights and the thrill that comes with it can get you caught up in a temporary high. But no matter if you’re the star quarterback or “just” the long snapper, sometimes it’s best to take a step back and appreciate all that you have, on and off the field.

From Ghosts, Page 11

“Don’t take every day for granted and just know there are always people there to talk to even when life is going rough.” —Trey Hansen

HANSEN By Editor-in-Chief Austin

Documents

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