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Photo by S. LyleWorkers began construction on the school as soon as the yearwas finished. They barely finished before the year began.

BByy EErriinn PPeerrsshhaallll

Over the summer, air conditioning was installedinto West High.

During the installmentof the air conditioning,there was some trouble.One of the problemsbeing that school startedearlier this year. Ryan andAssociates, the companywho was hired to do thejob, had only about twomonths to finish a job thatwould normally take ninemonths to complete. Ryanand Associates actuallystarted working installingpipes in February in theschools tunnels.

The time crunch was-n’t the only problem,principal Nancy Jacobsensaid. “The Friday beforeschool started, theyturned the air on and a coil broke. There was watereverywhere.” Another time there was even a latedelivery.

While work was being done, more problems werefound.

Contractors found, “Major deterioration under theoverhang in the front of the building,” said Jacobsen.“Over time, water had gotten behind the brick andcaused it to deteriorate.” The school plans on fixingthe east and west ends of the overhang beforeDecember. Then, when school is out, they will contin-ue working on the rest of the overhang.

The air conditioning was funded by a grant. Thegrant money was put together by one of the local

taxes. The tax is otherwise known as the ‘penny tax’.“Every time you buy something other than food andsome other items, one penny is taken out per itemfrom the taxes paid. In the end, the tax payers paid for

the air,” saidJacobsen. With the air condi-tioning, West is nowopened to newo p p o r t u n i t i e s .Summer school, col-lege for kids, daycamps, and such maybe able to start backup at West again.“Before when therewas no air, it wasway to hot in theschool for the kids,”said Jacobsen.

Five other schoolsgot air conditioningthis summer, includ-ing Central, Smart,Walcott, and

Garfield. Now all 36 schools in the district have airconditioning.

The music rooms, science rooms, offices, and nurs-es office were the rooms that had air already installedin them at West. In the past, the offices and nurse’soffice had window air conditioners.

“I think it’s (air conditioning) is awesome. I canwear jeans at the beginning of the school year and notworry about the temperature in the school,” said soph-omore TaLia Pulley.

Polly Brownson, English, said the air has made “aworld of difference” in students’ attitude toward learn-ing. “I don’t dread coming to work in a hot room any-more,” she said.

Cold air is a blessing

Photo by Emily ThumannSteve Saladino teaches class in his new attire. In previousyears Saladino would have been seen in shorts, however thenew dress code prohibits such clothing in the classroom.

BByy EEmmiillyy TThhuummaannnn

You won’t see teachers wearingshorts or jeans this year because ofthe new dress code that has beenput in place. Most teachers saythey’re okay with it, but some misswearing jeans on Friday.

The new dress code was madeto ensure that employees dress inan appropriate way in order toestablish a professional imageexpected by students, parents, andthe community. Employees areexpected to use good judgmentwith the guidelines and their choic-es on what they wear to work.

Teachers are no longer allowedto dress casual; they are to dress“business casual” excluding jeans,shorts, flip flops, t-shirts, sweat-pants, and hats from theirwardrobe.

Teachers are also not allowed towear clothing that reveals cleav-age, back, chest, or stomach. Thedress code applies to all contractedwork days for all employees atWest High.

Some of the teachers like thedress code.

“I love the dress code in a waybecause the staff separates our-selves from students, we look pro-fessional and it gave me an excuseto do more shopping,” said AlyssaHansel, math.

Some teachers were affected alot by the dress code.“The new dress code mostly affect-ed my checkbook. I had to buy awhole new wardrobe,” said BrianHeller, math. Heller’s newwardrobe consists of khaki pantsand collared shirts instead of t-shirts and shorts.

Heller’s wardrobe wasn’t theonly one that changed. Scienceteacher, Steve Saladino’s oldwardrobe consisted of basketballshorts and tennis shoes. With thenew dress code he can no longerwear his shorts.

“My boy Mr. Verdon and I werereally affected because we like

shorts,” said Saladino. “I had tobuy more pants, but I was reallyjust looking for comfort.”

There are consequences forteachers if they don’t follow thedress code.

The employee’s supervisor candetermine whether the employee’sclothing meets the expectations ofthe dress code. If their clothingfails to meet the standards theemployee will be asked to not wearthe inappropriate clothing in thefuture. If the employee continuesto go against the dress code theemployee will be sent home tochange clothes.

Most teachers say that it won’taffect their teaching.

“The dress code wasn’t neces-sary. It’s not a matter of how youdress, dressing a certain way won’tearn respect from students,” saidHeller.Saladino also didn’t think it wasnecessary.

“I don’t think how we dress dis-tracts the students or changes howthey look at us. I think if our bellieswere hanging out it would cause adistraction but I haven’t seen thathappen before,” said Saladino.

“I really miss wearing jeans,because that’s what I would weareveryday,” said Hansel.

Dress code for teachers gets mixed reviews

Do you thinkteachers shouldbe allowed

to wear jeans onFriday?

poll��

Yes 98% No 2%

SOURCE: Beak ‘n’ Eye surveyof 130 students

Photo by Erin Pershall

Other changesin the building:■ Purple House is thenewest edition to theFreshman Academy dueto an increase of over50 freshman this year.

■ Student Senate inher-ited two new advisers,Jodi Zimmerman andDavid Kintigh.

■ Students are no longerrequired to wear ID’s ontheir lanyards like theprevious two years.

Photo by S. Lyle

At freshman orientation both thecheerleaders and dance team per-formed for the class of 2015 forthe first time.

During the summer months the school was underconstruction with much of it inaccesible.

Do scare tactics work? --See Page 6

BeaknEye_1_11_ISSUU 9/22/2011 3:58 PM Page 1

News 3Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

briefs

BByy EErriinn PPeerrsshhaallll

On a Midwest tour, President Barack Obama went toAtkinson, Illinois to speak. There were around 200 people whocould attend. A few of those people were Barbra Lipnick, WestSpanish teacher, and her family.

Lipnick got to attend the speech due to special connectionsfrom one of her son’s old friends from high school. “My son’sfriend is the event organizer for Obama. Hecalled us one morning and said, ‘Hey, I havethese tickets and you can go if you want to,”Lipnick said. “We had to go!”

Unlike the others, Lipnick and her familydidn’t have to wait in line for them. Certainpolitical leaders attended the conference.Their tickets were held for them as wereLipnick’s.

“The rest of the tickets were given out forfree to the people who waited in line,”Lipnick said.

Lipnick and her family got to sit in thefront row.

“We were in the back, and then all of a sudden a manapproached us, and said, ‘Will you three please follow me?’ andwe were in the front row,” she said.

To Lipnick, the lecture was held in a good manner. “For thefirst 20 minutes, he talked, and for the rest of the time he let theaudience ask questions,” said Lipnick.

“I had my hand up to ask a question, but at the same time, I

didn’t want him to call on me. I was so nervous!” Lipnick didn’t get called on, but he still touched her heart. “He was talking about education and he called on a young

woman fresh out of college (she went to school to be a foreignlanguage teacher) and she asked him what was needed the mostin education and he said ‘foreign language teachers’. I felt hon-ored,” Lipnick said.

“In a way, he was saying in order to get the job done, weneed to put our differences aside andstop worrying about what we can do tomake our different sides grow andmake the decision to better our countryas a whole,” she added.

Lipnick got to shake Obama’shand. This isn’t the only president thatshe got to see speak and shake handswith.

“When Bill Clinton came to Iowa,I got to shake his hand as well,” shesaid.

The President also talked abouthow both political parties needed to

focus on the good of the country. If you watch the video, you can see the Lipnick family in the

background. Her husband and son made the New York Times. “ My husband was reading the New York Times one morning,and all of a sudden he said “There is a picture of us in the NewYork Times!” said Lipnick.

West teacher meets president

BByy JJoossiiee MMiilllleerrEcology Club plans to do a planet march for

using other resources other then fossil fuels at 10a.m. Sept. 24 in downtown Davenport. They willwalk over the bridge and finish at the bus terminal.During the walk there will be t-shirt hand outs andmaybe some bikers.

The club was active over the summer. Membersvolunteered at Floatzilla at Sunset Park in RockIsland, and they were involved in the river clean upon Aug. 15.

The club will have a hay rack ride on Oct. 2nd. The president is Emily Thompson, the vice presi-dent is Brianna Fisher, the treasurer is ShelbyRamsay, the secretary is Erin Pershall, and the leadactivist is Courtney Haines.

Adviser Jodi Zimmerman said the purpose ofthis club is “to allow people to explore the ecolog-ical connection to the planet.”

Ecology Club makes plans

Casting begins for play

S.O.U.P. gets new adviser

Leo Club helps with dance

BByy PPaaiiggee PPaarrssoonnssMore than 60 students tried out for the produc-

tion of Beauty and the Beast on Aug. 22.Rehearsals are now underway for the 40 that werecast.

Drama teacher Wayne Hess said he is lookingforward to top-notch performances this year. “Thisyear’s shows are going to be extra special,” hesays, “so I hope a lot of people will attend.”

Meetings for the Drama Club have also begunrecently, and will continue to be held every otherweek. Topics for discussion will include pointsfor Honors, as well as upcoming events. Some ofthe events Drama Club will participate in laterinclude visits to other schools in the area, as wellas a trip to see Grease at Circa 21 this February.

BByy:: CCoouurrttnneeyy GGeeiikkeennS.O.U.P. will participate in the Homecoming

Car Rally Sept. 16.to spread the word aboutS.O.U.P.

S.O.U.P. welcomed their new advisor, NancyAllen, this year because their old one retired.

S.O.U.P. stands for Students Organized toUnite People. Ms. Allen said that the goal of thegroup is to recruit more members. “S.O.U.P. is agroup that treats everyone equal,” Allen said.

Planning is something that the students do a lotof. They make sure students are informed aboutdifferent events like Day of Silence, Women’sHistory Month, Black History Month, and GayPride, which is coming up in October.

They raise money so they can get supplies forposters to put up around the school.

S.O.U.P. meets every Thursday in the library.

BByy OOlliivviiaa TTeerrrroonneezzLeo Club will help decorate for Homecoming

from 8 a.m. – noon Sept. 12 at the River Center.This will be the first year Leo Club has decorat-

ed for homecoming. Last year they collected foodfor the food drive, helped with Festival of Trees,and paired up with Ecology Club to help around thecommunity. Adviser Stephanie Hansen said, “Welike to help out wherever we can.”

The purpose of the Leo Club is to help out withthe school and around the community. The benefitsof joining are scholarship opportunities, meetingnew people, and helping out in the community.

Leo Club meets every Wednesday after schooland wants new people to join and show their sup-port for their community.

BByy HHiieeuu NNgguuyyeenn

West installed eight flat screen TVs in thehallways and cafeteria to promote school eventsand organizations.

Bob Tollefson, associate principal, was theperson who had the idea of bringing TV’s to theschool.

The purposes of the TVs are to show weath-er alerts, messages to school, videos and pic-tures of clubs, and sports.

“I think people are more visual learners thanaudio learners. They’ll pay attention,” associateprincipal Matt Hassig said. “All stuff is poten-tial, it has benefits for students, and I think it’sgreat. I hope that it gives students honorship.”

The district contractors installed the TVsinto the school a week before school started. Four of them arein the cafeteria. The others are located at the athletic entrance,in the main office, near the nurse’s office, and in front of thelibrary.

“The installments for TV’s are not completed yet. T h e

Internet channels and networks will be plugged intoTVs,” said Hassig. There are sports channels andnews channels such as CNN and, local news sta-tions.

The TVs were bought from Best Buy at thecost of $600 each. Students and teachers at Westcan watch the TVs before school, during lunch, andduring passing time.

North and Central also have TVs. They hadTVs at the end of last year, but only cable TVs. TheTVs at West show what channels other schoolsshow, but we will have Internet and TV networks.

“They show positive aspects of West,”Amanda Schwartzhoff, ESL teacher, said.

“I like TVs at our school,” Jeremy Horvats,sophomore, said.

Some students say that they cannot hear theaudio because people are talking in the cafeteria. “I think that TVs are good, but there’s no sound, I just think thatit’s kind of waste of money. We can go home and watch TV,”said Dakota Kirkley, senior.

West gets flat screens in hallways

Have youwatched thenew TVs inthe hallways?

Yes 57%No 43%

poll��

SOURCE: Beak ’n’ Eye survey of 143 students

A manapproached usand said, “willyou please fol-low me?” andhe moved us tothe frongt row. ”

“

CNN - The new TVs that are located around the school playCNN, Sports Center, pictures, and announcements.

Photo by Hieu Nguyen

Photo by Hieu Nguyen

STOP ANDGAWK -Kayla Lyle -Garcia,freshman,stops towatch anEcologyClubannounce-ment onthe newTVs in themain hall-way.

AAAA Driving SchoolClasses held at West High

3:15 - 5:15 p.m. Room 102

563 332-6941Steve Verdon, instructor

4adrivingschool.com

1432 W. Locust St.Davenport, IA 52804

563 323-5070Roxanne Hampton, Stylist

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Please support our advertisers

2 News Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

BByy EErriikkaa RReeeedd

The police are continuing their investigation withthe students who were caught participating in thesenior pranks that occurred the night before schoolstarted on Aug. 14.

The pranks consisted of tee-peeing the trees,writing with window paint on multiple windows ofthe school, and writing on the band’s trailer.

Principal Nancy Jacobsen said that several carloads of students were involved; some studentsweren’t even from West. Charges haven’t been filed,but Jacobsen said that they may face communityservice for the school or other consequences fortheir behavior.

Senior pranks may seem harmless, but it coststime and money to investigate and clean up. “I don’tthink it’s fair that the custodians had to wake upextra early to clean up that mess,” said securityguard, Troy Harrington. The custodians were called

between the times of 1 and 2 a.m. to come to workto clean the school. It took the custodians all morn-ing, and even when everything was cleaned up theystill had to come inside to work for six more hours.

“You should think about it. We shouldn’t have tocome out and clean up that mess and then go onwith a normal work day,” said first year custodian,Mary Smith.

Ultimately tax payers paid for it. The money usedto clean up the things left by the senior classcould’ve been used to go towards more importantthings that the school needs.

There are other ways to show seniority andschool spirit other than vandalizing the school,Jacobsen said.

“Is there a better way to say that we’re youngadults and ready to go out into the world? Let’s onour own prove we can be adults. It’d be really coolto see as much spirit as the seniors had last year atthe basketball games!”

Seniors go all out with pranks

photo by S. Lyle

BONFIRE - Last year’s Homecoming queen Lindsay Strittmatter lights the bon-fire the day before the 2010 Homecoming game. This year’s bonfire will be at7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 15 at the football field. The theme of the dance is“When Worlds Collide.” The dance is from 7 -10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 at theRiver Center. Tickets cost $15 a person.

BByy HHiieeuu NNgguuyyeenn

Homecoming of 2011 features a tug ofwar as well as the bonfire and parade.

“The senate tries to focus on fewer butbigger events,” said David Kintigh, Senateadviser.

Senate hopes to draw people to a newevent-a tug of war on Sept. 13. They havecut out other competitions and the drive inmove in the parking lot, showing scarymovies.

“It’s a good time to celebrate and be aFalcon,” Kintigh said about homecoming.The theme of this year is When WorldCollide and the colors are blue, green, andwhite. Student senate and volunteers arethe ones in charge and organize the home-coming.

Homecoming week is from Sept. 12 to17. Each day has dress up theme.

There are 12 queen candidates and sen-iors and faculty select the candidates on thefirst senior’s advisory.

The tug of war is on September 13 atthe band field. Students will choose theirteam and play against each other.

The bonfire will be 7:00 p.m. on Sept.15 at football/track field and there won’t beany balloon.

West will play against North HighSchool for homecoming this year on Sept.16 at Brady Street stadium. The footballgame will be at 7:30 p.m.

All West students are invited to go tothe dance. They just need to buy the tick-ets, have no detention and bring their I.D.sto the dance. The dance will be held atRiver Center, downtown of Davenport.

“Students are more interested about thegame with North High School and thedance than the aud, car rally, and bonfire,”said Kintigh.

“Homecoming is headache and crazy forus, but it’s worth it at the end,” AlisaBehrens, member of Student Senate.

BByy KKrriissttaa JJoohhnnssoonn

Blood drives at West High willnow be held by the sciencedepartment instead of StudentSenate. Their first blood drivewas held Thursday, Aug. 25.

“Student Senate was makingchanges in the way they operateand was looking for someone totake over the blood drives,” saidRenee Lietz, head of the sciencedepartment. “The science depart-ment thought it made sense forthem to do so.”

“I know blood drives areimportant and if the sciencedepartment can do it then I’m finewith letting them,” said JodiZimmerman, advisor of StudentSenate. “But if they weren’t able,

then Student Senate would defi-nitely continue to.”

However, the first blood driveheld was an unexpected one.

“We felt a little unorganized,but that was most likely becausethe blood center asked us to makethe date after another high schoolcancelled the Aug. 25th drive.That left the blood center ten per-cent short for what they need fora week,” said Lietz.

Rock Island High School wasthe school who cancelled. Theblood center does several impor-tant drives a week in order to col-lect their needed 2000 pints.

“So we stepped up and saidwe could pull it off in two weeksbecause West is best,” exclaimedLietz.

Homecoming Weekoffers many activities

SPIRIT WEEKMonday-Super Hero DayTuesday-Twin DayWednesday- Western DayThursday-Nerd DayFriday-Crazy Red WhiteDay

Science Department takesover Blood Drive efforts

SEPT. 12 - Homecoming court aud, 1st block in gym

SEPT. 13 - Tug of war, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the band field

SEPT. 15 - Bonfire, 7 p.m. at the football field

SEPT. 16 -Car rally, 5:15 p.m. in the West parking lot

SEPT. 17 -Dance, 7 to 10 p.m. at River Center, downtown

Calendar

photo by S. Lyle

DONOR- Senior Austin Price gives blood on Aug. 25 in the West YMCA gym. This was his thirdtime donating his Type O negative blood. “They seemed pretty happy when I told them that.”

photo by S. Lyle

BUSY WORK - Seniors painted the walls of West High the nightbefore school started, causing custodians to come in early.

Students in advisory decorate a poster for the door in Room 161.

BeaknEye_1_11_ISSUU 9/22/2011 3:58 PM Page 2

4 Faces Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

Photos by Arina RusskikhELECTRIC SHOCK - Head custodian, GaryHayes, takes a look at one of the many electri-cal boxes in the school.

LINDSAY GOSSEMath

Degree: B.A.; Loras College.Years teaching: 1Last school: J.B. Young.Favorite thing about teaching:Getting students excited aboutmath.Hobbies and interests: Golf,running, biking, reading, spend-ing time with family and friends.Favorite book: “The Pact” byJodi Picoult.Something silly I have done: Ibelieved it when my dad hid in acloset while we were gone andtried to scare us by acting likean intruder.I dislike: Potatoes because -just because.

New teachers

KATHERINE MENTZERMath

Degree: B.A.; KentuckyWeskyan University.Years teaching: 15Last school: Ottumwa HighSchool.Favorite thing about teaching: The “light bulb” moment when astudent “gets it”.Hobbies and interests: Playingwith my kids, reading, cooking,baking, scrapbooking.Favorite book: “Shapaholic” bySophie Kinsella.As I kid, I wanted to be a: ERnurse.I dislike: Whining because itdoesn’t help solve the problemor accomplish anything.

CASEY NOEMath

Degree: B.A.; Western, Illinois.Years teaching: 11Last school: West ( I was gone1 year for deployment).Favorite thing about teaching: Watching a student catch onand actually “get in” when learn-ing something new.Hobbies and interests:Spending time with my familyand riding motorcycleFavorite book: Brown Walter“Black Berets”As I kid, I wanted to be a:Fighter pilot - Navy.I dislike: People’s new sense ofentitlement because anythingworth getting is worth earning!

JENNIFER LEUDOSpanish

Degree: B.A.; Northern IllinoisUniversity.Years teaching: 1Last school: McHenry WestHigh.Favorite thing about teaching: No day is ever the same!Hobbies and interests:Spending time with my friends,family and dog Izzy, theChicago Cubs, Bears and Blackhawks.Favorite author: Rob Bell.Something silly I have done:In high school, I gave blood andpassed out in front of my wholechemistry class. I dislike: Cilantro because ittastes awful!!!

HEATHER ADKINSScience

Degree: B.A.; St. AmbroseUniversity.Years teaching: 3Last school: Central HighSchool.Favorite thing about teaching:Relathionships with staff andstudents.Hobbies and interests:Gardening, reading, fishing,swimming, hiking, laughing.Favorite book: “The Memoriesof Cleopatra” by MargaretGeorge.Something silly I have done: Ifell down a mountain in theAndes .I dislike: Dishonesty because itis deceitful.

LISA VERDONSpecial Education

Degree: B.A.; St. AmbroseCollege.Years teaching: 24Last school: Central HighSchool.Favorite thing about teaching:The nice, respectful students.Hobbies and interests:Reading, camping, travel-ing,sporting events.Favorite author: DanielleSteele. Something silly I have done:Chalk broke while I was writingon the board and half of it wentdown the front on my shirt.I dislike: Tapping noises

because it’s annoying!

MARY MILLMANSpecial Education

Degree: B.A.; AugustanaCollege.Years teaching: 1Last school: Moline HighSchool.I have always wanted to: trav-el everywhere! Hobbies and interests:Volleyball, skiing, snowboard-ing.Favorite book: Corrently, TheHelp.Something silly I have done:probably asking students fordirections around West. I dislike: Complaining becauseit’s waste of time!

ERIC JOHNSONSpecial Education

Degree: B.A.; University ofNorthern Iowa.Years teaching: 6Last school: WoodIntermediate School.I have always wanted to: Goto Alaska.Hobbies and interests: Sports.Favorite author: JonathanKozol.As I kid, I wanted to be a: Gasstation attendent.Something silly I have done: Idon’t do silly things.

GABRIELE AUERBACHGerman I

Degree: Masters; Univeristy ofIowa.Years teaching: 27Last school: Cornell College.I have always wanted to:Spend a whole year in Franceor Italy. Hobbies and interests:Traveling, reading, working out.As I kid, I wanted to be a:Doctor.Something silly I have done:Too many to tell.I dislike: Rudeness because ithurts my feelings.

West’s new head custodian, GaryHayes, took over the job after GaryMcKibben transferred to anotherschool. Hayes talks about what heenjoys doing in his free time andabout how he got his job.

What are your hobbies?I like to run and play golf.

How long you have been custodi-an? Do you like it?I have been custodian a while.Started the March of 1984. West wasmy first building. And I really likemy job. I have done a lot to get to behead custodian. I like challenges andI am happy where I am at now.

Do you have any goals for theschool this year?My goals for the school is to try and keep it clean and to makeeveryone happy. And sometimes it is very hard to do.

What is your favorite thingabout West?The way I get treated also staffand students. Keeping schoolclean and attention custodiangets.

What is like to keep a schoolfacility clean and maintained?There are several custodians,who take care about school afterschool and through night.Wehave three people a day.

What ineteresting experiencehave you had while working ata job?We were working on conditionconstruction on 2nd floor wholesummer. We wanted to end our

work by classes started, so we were working all Saturdays andSundays.

Custodian appointed new head of department

NEW OFFICE - As the new head custodian,Gary Hayes, takes time to work in his newoffice. In his office, Hayes has numerouspages on the walls such as, a map of theschool, phone list, and calendars.

BByy EEddvviinn TTuurrcciinnhhooddzziicc

Iowa’s fairs and festivals showcase thebest that Iowa has to offer, from diversefoods, agricultural, industrial and home lifeexhibits, carnival rides guaranteed to thrill,and a wide range of entertainment for fair-goers of all ages.

Millions of people attend the Iowa fairsannually and it has proved to be a good timefor everyone. However locally, theMississippi Valley Fair is the one that usual-ly gets our attention.

The Mississippi Valley Fair comes toDavenport, Iowa every year, lasting fromabout late July to the end of the first week ofAugust. Many things attract people to thefair. The delicious greasy food, amateurrides, grand stand concerts and simplymeeting up with friends. This year theMississippi Valley fair brought all thingsand more!

The fair had fun for concert-goers andkids of all ages, with livestock judging,baby tigers and diving acts, chainsaw carv-ing and racing pigs.

“The Pirate Diving act was prettyintense! They were jumping off of 100 footdiving boards and doing all sorts of flipsand twists,” said senior Paige Bird of theexciting fair show.

Besides the events, some people take thegames very seriously, and frankly, as a chal-lenge. Even though many believe they arerigged, there is a select few that are deter-mined.

“The basketball hoops are something thatgets me every time! I know they’re riggedbut I still give it a shot,” said senior,Devonne Brown.

“Even though I spent half a paycheck, Itmade my girl happy to win her one of thelittle yellow minions from Despicable Me,”said junior Jacob Stewart about the addict-ing games that present them self at the fair.

The concert schedule for this years fairfeatured Joe Nichols, Blake Shelton, DariusRucker, The Steve Miller Band, The CharlieDaniels Band, and Miranda Lambert.

“My favorite concert was The SteveMiller Band because old rock is one of myfavorite types of music,” said junior, SkylarKraft.

Above all, most people pay the price ofadmission to simply enjoy time and makememories with their friends.

“One of the biggest reasons I even go tothe fair is to hang out with friends and makegood memories,” explained junior, RockiButcher.

The Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowais the single largest event in the state ofIowa and one of the oldest and largest agri-cultural and industrial showings in the coun-try. Annually attracting more than a millionpeople from all over the world, the IowaState Fair in Des Moines is Iowa’s great cel-ebration, a salute to the state’s agriculture,industry, entertainment and achievement.

“The Iowa State Fair was really fun. I gotto take my horses to show and have themget judged. I also hung out with myfriends,” said junior Aleana Riley.

Summer life in Iowaconsists of enjoyingtime at the fair

poll

SOURCE: Beak ‘n’ Eye survey of 107 students

��

Yes 64%No 36%

Did you go to theMississippi ValleyFair this year?

Leisure 5Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

RR EE VV II EE WW

SS

IOWA FAIRS

The Madden football series has been aproud franchise for nearly two decades andtheir next release will be another exceptionaladdition to its succession.

EA Sports is trying to make this newestMadden the most realistic. With its pastgames already being amazingly realistic,making it even better will be a mission, butwith its new features they hope to be as trueto the game as possible.

They will do this with a brand new collisionsystem, broadcast authenticity, smarter defen-sive tactics, and new features such asBecome a Superstar and Create a Franchise.The game was released in stores on Aug. 30with the Cleveland Browns’ massive runningback, Peyton Hillis gracing the cover.

Rise of the Planets of the Apes is an originstory in the truest sense of the word. Itshows us what happens when experiments ingenetic engineering, leads scientists to pro-duce an intelligent ape. The film is a caution-ary tale that blends sci-fi with science.

The cast of the movie also isn’t half bad. Itstars James Franco (Pineapple Express,Spiderman), Amanda Silver, and FreidaPinto. Franco nails his character WillRodman. He's your typical cold and isolatedscientist. Pinto and Silver also make for anice supporting cast.

This is a film for people of all ages. Butthe animal abuse scenes are hard to take. Ifyou bring kids, you might want to tell them toclose their eyes.

Mac Miller is somewhat of an uprising intoday’s Hip-Hop stage. His style of music,solely based on his hometown of Pittsburgh,and his favorite memories experienced there,expressed through rap. While certainly gain-ing plenty of new fans thanks to an openinggig on fellow Pittsburgh MC Wiz Khalifa’sWaken Baken tour, he has yet to gain the crit-ical attention that some of his peers have,Blue Slide Park should change that.

After several mix-tapes and features withother rappers, Mac is finally getting theacclaim he deserves. Blue Slide Park will beMac’s third album release after K.I.D.S andBest Day Ever. Although Mac isn’t even onyour local radio stations yet, it won’t be longuntil your hearing his name at Music Awards.

Mac Miller has noteworthy sound

‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’

‘Madden 12’ is aheadof the game

Photo by Amanda RobertsSHELTON - One of the most anticipated concerts at this years’ Mississippi ValleyFair was the Blake Shelton concert. He also sang his hit song, “Honey Bee.”

Music GameMovie

To advertise in the Oct. 7 issue of the Beak ‘n’ Eye,

call 563 386-5500 ext. 161

Photo by Karli MurrensMEMORIES-Friends spend time together at theMississippi Valley Fair. From left to right,Sydney Lee, Karli Murrins, Zach Elias, ThuyNyguen, Sara Moritz, Hayley Allen, and JessicaCarstens.

BeaknEye_1_11_ISSUU 9/22/2011 3:58 PM Page 3

BByy BBllaakkee RReeeess

Each day 60,000 children underthe age of 18 start smoking accord-ing to teenhelp.com. The FDApassed the law for warning labelson cigarette packs in order to warnthe country of the risks involvedwith smoking. These warningsmark the first change in cigarettewarnings in more than 25 years andare a significant advancement incommunicating the dangers ofsmoking.

The reason for requiring these 9labels is to promote awareness,encourage smokers to quit, andempower youth to say no to tobac-co according to the FDA. Thelabels will be on the top of the frontand back of every pack. The newwarnings also must be included in20 percent of any cigarette adver-tising. They also all include a num-ber for a stop-smoking hotline.

The labels will show how smok-ing can be addicting, harm chil-dren, and cause lung and heart dis-ease. Some of the pictures may begraphic showing a dead corpse ordiseased lungs. The cost of thelabels will be paid by the cigarettecompanies not by the government.

“In my opinion, kids who wantto smoke are going to, regardless ofa picture. Maybe it will affect asmall number, but most likely itwill not make a huge difference,”

says Marci Barnhart, healthParaprofessional.

“I think they need to take theaddictive additives out then people

will be able to make a better deci-sion without being already addict-ed,” says Mrs. Sands, photography.

These labels will be on all ciga-rette packs in September 2012.However, the companies have suedthe federal government, claimingthe labels violate their FirstAmendment rights. The lawsuitsaid the images were enhanced tobe more emotional. The tobaccocompanies said the corpse photo isactually an actor with a fake scar,and the healthy lungs were sani-tized to make the diseased organlook worse.

The companies said the warn-ings no longer simply convey thefacts to allow people to make adecision whether to smoke. Theyinstead force them to put govern-ment anti-smoking protests moreprominently on their packs thantheir own brands, the companiessay. They want a judge to stop thelabels.

“Cancer causing companiesshould not be protected by the firstamendment right,” says AaronCousins, Social Studies.

“I think it will work for half ofthe people and the other half wontcare,” says Laren Skulte, junior.

poll

SOURCE: Beak ‘n’ Eye survey of 109 Students

��

6 Focus Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011 Focus 7Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

Here are three of the ten different graphics that willbe used for cigarette packaging starting inSeptember 2012.

Drivers ed instructor Jack Achs gives this picture along with a story of a dead teenagedgirl in order to show them the reality that a vehicle can be deadly.

BByy BBeetthhaannyy PPuueettsscchh

The first time seeing the grotesque, brutal andrepulsive images shown in the videos used in driverseducation class your first reaction may be shock. Forone girl the images even brought tears, as she watchedthe rescue team take care of the disgusting remains.Seeing human bodies torn apart like paper and strewnalong the cement may have a sobering effect. It’s ascary realization that teenagers everywhere die everyday because of vehicle crashes, which it can happen toanyone at anytime. ` When you scare someone it makes an impression,it’s a small reminder of what could happen and how toprevent it, but does it really work? Will students thinkabout the videos and stories they heard as they drivedown the road?

The number one killer of teenagers ages 15 to 20years old is motor vehicle crashes. A majority of teens

know and have heard the dangers of unsafe driving. Atthe age of 14 teens are given the option to receive theirpermit and begin learning, only two years later at 16they can receive their intermediate license. 16 yearolds have a higher crash rate than any other age, 16year olds are three times more likely to die in a drivingaccident than the average of all other drivers.

Drivers ed class is one of the most common waysteens learn how to drive throughout the class there ismovies, stories and pictures designed to scare theminto driving safely.

“Driving is one of the most dangerous thingsyou’re going to do every day of your life it can becomeroutine and we show the movies so that teens knowdeath can happen,”said Steve Verdon, drivers edteacher. Every video and picture shown is real life, realpeople and real situations.

“It gives them perspective and shows them howfrail the body actually is,” said Jack Achs, drivers edteacher.

With all the new technology students are easily dis-tracted from the road and their driving. “Driving takesall of your attention there’s no room in your focus tobe on the phone talking or texting,” explained IowaState Patrol Officer Dan Loussart. “Crashes arecaused by overconfidence, distractions, and lack ofexperience.”

One Documentary shows a girl who is texting anddriving and she ends up killing a total of five people,some of which she knew. Eighty-one percent of theteens who die in crashes are passengers.

Although the scare tactic works relatively wellimprovement is always the goal. “Our new philosophyis showing kids how and why crashes happen,” saidLoussart. “A lot of times teens don’t relate to the goreand horror of the videos, which makes it easier forthem to believe it won’t happen to them and that wasjust one bizarre situation. The more effective the les-sons are, the less crashes that will happen,” saidLoussart.

BByy KKrriissttaa JJoohhnnssoonn

Growing up, children often hear thetales of Santa Clause and the list thathe checks twice or the threat of thepolice taking misbehaved childrenaway. Fear is often used by patentsas a motivational tool.

“My mom would tell me Iwas going to get kidnappedwhen I went somewhere I was-n’t supposed to,” said EricaJennings, senior. “And now shelikes to say I’m going to getraped.”

Due to the fear that isinstilled in children that issomewhat true but often exag-gerated and artificial, many couldwonder if the actions of others aredone out of ethical standards or outof the fear of consequences.

“I hope students do the right thingbecause they know it is right. Realitytells me that often it is out of fear ofpunishment,”said Kathy Jacobsen,social studies teacher. “This is unfor-tunate because they have learnednothing and no one has truly benefit-ed. I believe when students do some-thing because it is the right thing to

do everyone benefits.”From adolescents to grown

adults, fear is pushed into the mind.Those who fear too much tend to livelife in a less fulfilling way but thosewho are fearless usually cannot func-tion properly in society.

“We want fear to be instructional

because that is how nature intendedit to be,” said Jodi Zimmerman, psy-chology teacher. “We need fear to beconnected with consequences.”

Examples of how fear has beenrelated to consequences can be seenall through out the community andcountry. Campaigns on HIV began inthe early 80’s and today have beencombined with campaigns on allSTDs in order to prevent the spreadof them. However, many campaignsuse graphic pictures and horrible sto-

ries to persuade people to practicesafe sex.

The FDA is now requiring graph-ic warning labels to be put on all cig-arette packaging to in order to warnpeople of the risk.

On television security businessesuse commercials that frighten people

of robbery so their home alarmsare bought. Basic understandingand fear develop in children atnearly the same time and liveswith them all the way throughadulthood.

“If you use fear too much itcan lose its affect,” saidZimmerman. If someone contin-ually is threatened by something

but does not actually see a conse-quence their fear lessens sheexplained.

Without fear, many would agreethat society would not exist. Lawsare put in place in order to preventchaos and mayhem, and jail exists sopeople fear breaking those laws.With many of the laws of this coun-try being ethical, unfortunately manyare still broken and many otherswould be if it weren’t for the conse-quence that followed.

History of Cigarettes

1492: Columbus discovers tobacco

1558: Tobacco introduced France, Spain, andPortugal

1564: Tobacco introduced England

1762: General Israel Putnam introduces cigar smok-ing to the US.

1830: First organized anti-tobacco movement in USbegins along with the temperance movement

1923: Camel captures 45% of the US market.

1964: Marlboro country ad campaign is launched.Marlboro sales begin growing at 10% a year.

1972: Marlboro becomes the best selling cigarette inthe world. It remains so today by a wide margin.

1999: About 10 million Americans smoke cigars.

2002: CDC estimates smoking health and productiv-ity costs reach $150 billion a year.

2012: FDA requires cigarette companies to addgraphic warning labels to all cigarette packs.

WARNING:SMOKING CAN KILL YOU.

BByy BBeetthhaannyy PPuueettsscchh

Sitting in a truck with juniorRyan Guizar, you would never beable to figure out that he was on theverge of death less than a year ago.He seems completely at easebehind the wheel of his bright redChevy truck, humming along to theJason Aldean song that plays on theradio.

Only a few people closest toRyan know the details of what hap-pened in a field the night Ryanrolled his truck, but even Ryanhimself has trouble rememberingwhat had happened. He rolled his

truck out in a field while goofingaround with his uncle, his brother,and his uncle’s friend and ended upin the Iowa City hospital.The others walked away without a

scratch. The difference was thatRyan wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

“While I was in Iowa City theydid surgery on my head, theyremoved part of my skull,” Guizarsaid. If you feel the side of his headyou can feel the place where thesurgery was done. “But it’s hard forme to remember that part of mylife,” he explained.

After he got back from IowaCity he spent about three weeks to

a month in Genesis medical centerdoing rehabilitation. He was finallyreleased to go home on Nov. 30th.

Last April Ryan went throughdrivers ed. and passed. He current-ly has his license and is moving onwith his life; he is making up cred-its in school and plans on going tocollege after he graduates. “Lifedidn’t just pause when I got intothe accident,” Guizar said.

“The biggest lesson I learnedform this experience was to wearyour seatbelt. I never drive withoutmine now,” said Guizar.

Fear can be used to motivateFDA wins battle over new graphic warning labels

West student barely survives car crash Drivers Ed fights for good driving through fear

Childhood Fears“I was scared of monsters grabbingmy legs when I ran up stairs in the

dark.” — Sam Slagle, senior.

“I was afraid of rice crispies as achild. I thought they were talking tome.” — Alex Faison, sophomore.

“When i was like four I was scaredof the automatic toilets. I thought

they were going to eat me.” — Sam Thompson, sophomore.

“I’m scared of going over bridgesbecause any random bridge couldjust collapse at any time. I’ve seenit.” — Allie Garlisch, sophomore.

We need fear to beconnected withconsequences.”“ Do you think the

new, more graphicwarning labels oncigarette packageswill discourage more people from

smoking?

Yes - 27%No - 73%

Photo accredited by Jack Achs

BeaknEye_1_11_ISSUU 9/22/2011 3:58 PM Page 4

Sports 9Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

GET LOW - Alisa Behrens, junior passes the ball in a game against PleasantValley on Sept. 6. The girls finished with the scores of 25-14, 25-7 and 25-10.

Photo by Sydney Fetters

VICTORY - Softball coach and science teacher Steve Saladinofeels very accomplished for his 1000th victory during this sum-mer.

BByy SSyyddnneeyy FFeetttteerrss

Steve Saladino, science teacherand softball coach, achieved his1,000th victory in softball thissummer against Assumption Highschool .

He is the second MAC coach toreceive this many wins and the11th in the state of Iowa .

Steve Saladino started coachingsoftball 31 years ago. During thoseyears he has coached many ath-letes. Saladino stated that “greatparents, great athletes, and greatwork ethic” led his team throughthese 1,000 victories.

Saladino started coaching in1981. He also coaches girls’ bas-ketball; he has for three years now.He said he likes to coach becauseof, “the passion to compete, athlet-ics, and watching young athletes

develop into great people and play-ers.” Saladino also said that therewas never a time he didn’t want tobe a coach.

Saladino’s key to success is“Determination, Dedication,Discipline, and Desire.” He alsostated that some of his favoritememories from coaching softballare “state championships, and see-ing the athletes succeed in lifebeyond athletics.” Saladino hasgiven up many things for coachingsoftball; he’s missed family time,summers off, and personal hobbytime.” He was asked what made agood coach; he stated “One who’snot all caught up in being a coach.”

This summer, the Falcon soft-ball team was playing AssumptionHigh School. The girls reallypushed themselves in that game.They beat Assumption 9-8 in eight

innings, and 7-6 in nine innings.Lexi Quandt hit a double, and therewas a catch by Sara Dorton thatsaved the game. Samie Belz helpedend the game with a strikeout.

Saladino was the seventh coachto make it to 1000 wins with justone team. Saladino said that hisfavorite games they have played isall of the victories that have addedup to this achievement.

Saladino was asked what is com-ing up for next season; heanswered, “Try to be better as acoach and as a team.” He also wasasked if there is anything differentthat he is planning on doing nextseason, and he stated “work harderto instill energy and passion in myathletes.” As all of the softball sea-sons go by, Saladino will beapproaching new goals in coaching

Saladino gets 1,000th win

FREESTYLE - Kelsey Ralfs, senior practices for her meet on Saturday, Sept. 17 at the Clintoninvite.

Photo by Erin Pershall

Photo by Erin Pershall

FootballSept. 9 @PVSept. 12 @UTHS JV gameSept. 16 @BradySept. 22 @BradySept. 29 @BradyOct. 1 @BradyOct. 7 @ClintonOct. 10 @Muscatine JV gameOct. 14 @BradyOct. 20 @Brady

VolleyballSept. 10 @ North ScottSept. 13 @NorthSept. 20 @WestSept. 24 @WestSept. 27 @North ScottOct. 1 @MolineOct. 4 @WestOct. 10 @West (Senior Night)

Oct. 18 @BurlingtonOct. 24 @TBAOct. 26 @TBANov. 9-12 @CR Ice Area

GolfSept. 12 @ EmeisSept. 13 @ EmeisSept. 19 @ Burl Golf Club,Greyhound InviteSept. 21 @Duck CreekSept. 23 @KewanneeSept. 24 @KewanneeOct. 4 @TBAOct. 7&8 @Finkbine

Girls SwimmingSept. 8 @UTHSSept. 13 @BurlingtonSept. 17 @ClintonSept. 20 @West

Sept. 24 @BurlingtonSept. 27 @CentralOct. 4 @WestOct. 6 @WestOct. 10 @ClintonOct. 18 @BettendorfOct. 22 @TBAOct. 27 @TBAOct. 29 @TBANov. 4 @MarshalltownNov. 5 @Marshalltown

Cross CountrySept. 8 @NoelridgeSept. 17 @Richmond HillSept. 24 @Rock IslandSept. 29 @Credit IslandOct. 4 @MuscatineOct. 13 @Scott Co. ParkOct. 20 @TBAOct. 29 @Ft. Dodge

Sports Calendar

BByy SSyyddnneeyy FFeetttteerrss

The volleyball season has began with aloss to Muscatine on Aug. 30th. Muscatinewon 3-0 with the scores of 25-18, 25-11,and 25-14.

There were six kills and three aces bySamie Belz, and fourkills by sophomoreMorgan Rippergerand freshman HannahBellman.

Coach VerneKeeney said, “We’vegiven good effort, buthave a lot of work to do to compete in theMAC.” Even though the season is off to arough start, everyone is working hard inpractice to improve themselves.

Keeney said, “Servings been real good,passing has gotten better. We need morework on offense. Hitters and setters are con-necting.” He also said the 2011 season is dif-

ferent than others because “We are young,especially at the net. Because of someinjuries this last year, we’ve lost key peopleso it’s a learning stage right now. We can geta whole lot better. How long that will take,lies on the shoulders of the players.”

The captains are seniors BriannaBellman, SavannaBramstedt, and SamieBelz. They help therest of the girls withany problems that theyneed solved.

K e e n e ybelieves that the key to

winning is “Hard work and a belief that yournever out of a match. The will to win canovercome incredible odds.”

Coach Keeney said, “With the work weredoing in practice, I hope it translates into thegame, especially on the offense side of it.The stronger we attack the other team thebetter chance we have to win.”

Volleyball needs work

BByy LLiibbbbyy BBuurrkkeenn

Because more than half theteam was out with injuries or sick-ness, the girls swim team lostMoline on Aug. 30, but the varsityand JV swimmers improved timesfor their individual events.

Coach Brian Heller and MikeWells are hopeful that the fullteam is healthy enough for thefirst home meet Tuesday Sept.6against Pleasant Valley.

Coach Heller says there are alot of new faces on the team thisyear, but everyone has a lot ofwork to do before the state swim

meet in November. Heller wantsevery swimmer to accomplishtheir goals for the season. Helleralso said the girls need to pushthemselves, and never give up.

The swim team voted JordanRemley and Kelsey Ralfs, bothseniors, swim captains for the2011 season.

The girls started practicingAug. 1st, from 7-9 a.m. and 1-3p.m. every day. Varsity swimmerspractice three mornings a weekand JV swimmesr join in on after-noon practices.

Swimmers struggle

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The will to win canovercome incredibleodds..”“

8 Sports Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

BByy SSeebbaassttiiaann RRooee

The West High School AthleticsDepartment has a new method of testing forconcussions, which utilizes a computer pro-gram to judge memory and reaction time,for comparison later.

The test saves the results, and the trainercan use them for a comparison if a concus-sion is suspected. It can identify symptomsquicker, and can be done on multiple peopleat a time.

Last year over 190,000 high school ath-letes were diagnosed with concussions.Twenty-two were suffered at West last year,according to the West High AthleticsDepartment. This year six concussions havebeen confirmed—two in swimming, andfour in football.

West High’s athletic trainer, Allie

Stephenson, performs these new tests onetime per student during the pre-season foreach sport. All student athletes are requiredto take the test, which takes around an hourand a half.

“The most dangerous part about a con-cussion is that it is a brain injury,”Stephenson said. “You don’t know you haveit until you test for it.”

A concussion is a form of brain damagethat can affect a person’s cognitive abilitiesand memories. It happens when a personsuffers impact to their head. Symptoms caninclude lack of clear thinking, low concen-tration, poor short term memory, amongmany other serious problems.

The only treatment is prevention.Swelling and symptoms can be treated withice and Tylenol. The next step is to talk to adoctor.

Varsity football fights for first win of seasonBByy MMaalliikk SSaallssbbeerrrryy

The varsity football team lost tothe Bettendorf Bulldogs 55-6 onFriday, Aug. 26.

Skylar Moore made the onlytouchdown for the Falcons with apunt return for 6 points, but thefield goal was missed.

We lost to a great football pro-gram that is fourth in state and isalways at the top of the MAC, saidcoach Jeremy Mosier. “There are alot of things that we can learn fromthis game and Bettendorf’s foot-ball program.”

Last week the Falcons fell toMuscatine 44-7. QuarterbackShawn Simmons made the onlytouchdown, on a quarterbacksneak, and senior Joe Bierl madethe field goal.

The Falcons get ready to dobattle with the Pleasant ValleySpartans on Friday, Sept. 9 atPleasant Valley High School. It’s agreat program that is senior domi-nated and has a great offense forthis year, Mosier said. Headded that theyn e e d

to step up their defense andcontinue to watch game filmon PV to be able to win thatgame.

To be able to win againstPleasant Valley, Mosier saidthey will have to step it up inpractice as well as on the field.

The varsity team is made of55 student athletes, consistingof both juniors and seniors. The

practices consist of warm-ups, conditioning, singleposition groups and teamgroup time.

New concussion test

Photo by Krista Johnson

The Falcons begin their season with their first game vs theBettendorf Bulldogs at Brady St Stadium. West lost 55-6

The Falcons’ second game is away at Muscatine.The team scores one touchdown and finishes withthe field goal. West lost 44-7

Photo by Krista Johnson

The risk of a concussion on the football field is very high due to the roughness.

What is your favorite foot-ball team? Colts.What position do youplay?Middle linebacker/fullback.How long have you beenplaying football?Four years.What’s one of your seasongoals?Make it to the playoffs andlead the team in tackles.

COLLINGILLASPIEJunior

Meet the varsity football players

What is your favorite foot-ball team? Bears.What position do youplay?Defensive end.How long have you beenplaying football?Five years.What’s one of your goalsfor this season?Go to playoff.

DYLANWILEYJunior

What is your favorite foot-ball team? Cowboys.What position do youplay?Defensive back & widereceiver.How long have you beenplaying football?Six years.What’s one of your goalsfor this season?To win.

SKYLARMOORESenior

What is your favorite foot-ball team? Steelers.What position do youplay?Center & linebacker.How long have you beenplaying football?Nine years.What’s one of your goalsfor this season?To win more than last year.

JOSHUAWENDELLSenior

Photos by Jarrin Williams

BeaknEye_1_11_ISSUU 9/22/2011 3:58 PM Page 5

10 Editorials Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

Shooting a bird that you see everydayin your backyard is one thing, but hurtingour environment is a completely differ-ent one. Last March the Iowa legislatureapproved the hunting of mourning doves.That might seem like the issue, but thereis an even larger one. The DNR bannedlead bullets from use, and a legislativepanel overruled that last month.

The panel overruled this ban, becausethey believe it could create up nearly $7million in economic activity and about$423,000 a year in state revenue.

They also overruled the ban becauselead bullets are much cheaper then steelbullets. Lead bullets can cost anywherebetween $10-$60. Steel bullets can costbetween $15-$190. According tothemod-eratevoice.com, the use of non-toxic shotresults in only a 1-2 percent increase intotal costs for hunters, according to astudy conducted by the National WildlifeResearch Centre - certainly not enoughto justify the NRA’s paranoid panic thatnon-toxic bullets will lead to a decrease

in hunting.Lots of people know about lead poi-

soning, but do people know what hap-pens to lead bullets after they have beenshot off? Lead can cause behavioralproblems, learning disabilities, reducedreproduction, neurological damage, andgenetic mutation. That can happen in ani-mals or humans. That could be like a frogwith three eyes. Lead can also be inplants that humans eat. Also animals thateat other lead contaminated animalswould also get lead poisoning.

The Center for Biological Diversityhas claimed that consuming lead bullets,in Arizona caused the deaths of threecondors found last January. By eatinglead bullets the bird’s digestive systemsshut down causing them to starve todeath. The condor is endangered, yetsince 1997 their have been 18 condordeaths in California due to lead poison-ing and 15 others in Arizona who met thesame fate, writes thethemoderat-evoice.com.

It’s also not just animals or humans,plants are being hurt by this also. Manyscientists have found that trees aroundshooting ranges tend to have lead inthem. One scientist said that if the trees,that have lead in them, were harvested,they would be contaminated.

The government would have to putmoney back into a lot of things. All thetrees that were contaminated would haveto be cut down. They would also have todo something about the animals; theyjust can’t leave them out there makingthe lead contamination worse.

The DNR banned lead bullets for areason. We believe that the governmentshould have listened to the DNR, insteadof thinking of the money they wouldmake, when it will eventually go backinto the environment. The governmentspent millions of dollars bulldozing con-taminated soil from lead shotguns atNahant Marsh in the 1980s. You’d thinkwe’d learn our lesson.

Kill birdies, not the environment

Beak ‘n’ Eye

The Beak ‘n’ Eye serves the West High student body byinforming, investigating, and interpreting events which con-cern students. It also provides an open forum for its diversereadership.

The school board grants student editors the FirstAmendment right to determine the coverage and content oftheir pages. The adviser’s role is to teach and advise the staffso that it can follow responsible journalistic practices.

Readers are encouraged to submit letters to Room 161.Letters should be 300 words or less and should be signed.We reserve the right to edit the letters for length.

Unsigned editorials represent the consensus of the stu-dent editorial board and not necessarily the views of theadviser, administration, or Davenport Community SchoolDistrict.

The Beak ‘n’ Eye is published eight times a year from3505 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA 52804.

Member of Iowa High School Press Association, NationalScholastic Press Association, and Quill & Scroll InternationalHonor Society.

Art by Sami Mills

our view

What’s the best thing you did over the summer?

“I went to Ohio to visitfriends and family.”

- Keysha Long senior

“I went to California and Iwent to Venice beachand I also went to LosAngeles”

- Alex Bockjunior

“I went to six flags forthe first time in my lifeand it was amazing.”

- Junior McGeesophmore

“I went swimming at theY and I hung out withfriends at the fair.”

-Angel AdlemanFreshman

Compiled by Vicki Gomez

With limited funds, DavenportCommunity School District is doing thebest they can to get technology in theclassrooms.

Schools everywhere are beginning tomodernize education. Schools are start-ing to use iPads, laptops, andSmartBoards.

Several teachers would like to haveiPads in the classroom but the districtscurrent budget will just not allow it at thistime. The Davenport Community School2011 budget is $2,163,903. In 2008, therewas a greater spending for technology.$2,429,473 was spent for technology. iPads cost about $500- $700 each. Itwould be more expensive now, but prices

do decline over time.The Davenport Community School

District should consider more funding foriPads but not laptops.

Some of the benefits of getting iPadsare that it is low cost, more computeraccess to students, and assignmentswould be better to work with.

iPads are a lot cheaper than comput-ers. The cost of having to renew a com-puter every year along with its installa-tions cost a lot more than it would be tobuy a set of iPads.

The iPads would need wireless con-nections and chargers or charging sta-tions to add to the cost.

If we all had iPads, students would

have a better learning experience. Thenormal classroom has one computer, andthat computer is just for the teacher. Ifeveryone had an iPad they would eachhave a computer that they could use tosearch things.

iPads would allow students to be ableto work on assignments on a computerlike object. If students were to allow towork on them it would save time and theenvironment. It would be worth it since astudent can interact with models andreviews for reviewing for a test.

Schools will always be behind thetechnological curve, but hopefully theiPad will bring the next big advancementin school technology.

Schools should invest in iPads

Editors-in-chief Erin PershallKrista Johnson

News editors Hieu NguyenErika ReedAllie SislerJessica Corbertt

Faces editor Arina RusskikhFocus editors Bethany Puetsch

Blake ReesSports editors Sydney Fetters

Sebastian RoeLeisure editor Edi TurcinhodzicVoice editors Haley Benisch

Logan AllenVicki Gomez

Trend editors Kelsey RalfsEmily Thumann

Artist Sami MillsAdviser Steve Lyle

We all know it’s not easy to concentrate withsweat dripping down your face. Nobody likes to workor go to school in conditions like that. Crews workedover the summer to install geothermal air condition-ing and heating to the second floor classrooms. Westis one of the last schools to have gotten the air condi-tioning done.

We appreciate having air conditioning this year.Thanks to the school board for approving the $1.4million project. We should also thank Ryan andAssociates, who helped construct air conditioningunit this past summer. The construction workers onlyhad about ten weeks to actually get in the school andwork on the unit. They had to put air in about 47rooms upstairs.

There were some problems, but not enough that itaffects the way the air feels. West’s air conditioningunit will be finished by the next school year. For Westbeing so large, this is a huge accomplishment.

The air conditioning in West was very necessary,for a couple very important reasons. This year westarted school August 15th, therefore which meansit’s a lot hotter during the day for students. Anotherreason would be it is very hard for some students toconcentrate while it is very hot. Also the school boardjust wants us, as students, to be comfortable.

The air conditioning was definitely worth it. Theincoming freshmen and the other students that haveclasses upstairs seem very pleased with it. NancyJacobsen, principal, feels as if, “The air conditioningwill improve our educational environment and cli-mate.” Either way we know that school will be cool.

There is one drawback to this new addition to ourschool, no more two hour early outs due to the heat.

Air conditioningbrings neededrelief during hot months

SHHHH! Do you hear that voice? ‘Tis I, youropinions! As of right now, I am absolutely fumingand/or rejoicing about one of the topics that wereaddressed in this issue. I am becoming rather dis-quieted, because you are shutting me inside yourhead, and to be honest, I’m extremely claustropho-bic, so please, for the sake of your ego, and for thesake of any student who may benefit from youropinion (believe me, it can happen!), write a letterto the editor, detailing just how irritated and/orover-joyed I am.

All letters should be 300 words or less, andthere’s a good chance that it will shortened if it’stoo long. Don’t forget to include your name andgrade in your letter. Just drop them off in Room161, and staff will kindly take care of the rest!

Letters Wanted

Voice 11Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

NASA launchingsgo commercial

The US government has stopped funding of theNASA space programs. The government didn’t haveenough money for it since it cost about $450 million.The program is now funded by commercial business-es and wealthy people who pay for NASA.

The US government should reconsider the fundingfor the NASA space programs. Ifthere is a major discovery; nowit’s thanks to the commercialbusinesses and people who arenow funding it. Personally Iwould like it to be our own coun-try to be the one responsible forthe discovery.

According towww.thespacerreview.com, forevery $1 that is spent on NASA’sbudget $98 is spent on its socialprograms. People wanted to take away the NASA’sbudget and give it the social programs. According towww.universetoday.com how can the president cut offthe NASA program even when American citizensspend more money on pizza than NASA’s budget?

We don’t need some budget programs or we couldjust minimize their budget just a bit. One program forexample would be the one where the government triesto interfere with the food schools are feeding students.The government could also stop the worthless adver-tising.

We still need to reach for the stars, to learn moreabout us and our world.

Logan AllenMichelle Obama saves all the calories for herself

“You’re a Wizard, Harry!” Mostof us probably remember when wesaw the first Harry Potter film. Justas memorable are the elegantdinosaurs in“Jurassic Park”,and thea d o r a b l eHobbits in PeterJackson’s “Lordof the Rings”trilogy. Somemay ask them-selves: “Wheredo ‘they’ findinspiration forsuch timeless and inspirationalfilms?” The answer, simply put, isLiterature. Many of the films andtelevision shows we know and loveare adapted from books and stories.

It was only a year or so ago thatI discovered, with much awe, thatthe world’s most beloved spy,James Bond, was not simply a filmcharacter, but instead his origins liewithin Ian Fleming’s mystery nov-els starring the suave super spy,which were wrote in the 1950’s. Iwas similarly amazed when I dis-covered the writings of pulp authorRobert E. Howard, the creator of“Conan the Barbarian” (which isabout to get another film reboot,starring Jason Momoa and RonPerlman).

It seems that recently more thanever, adaptations from print to filmare at a rise. A few years ago wesaw Isaac Asimov’s “I Robot” hitthe big screen, starring Will Smith,and more recently, the third popu-lar film adaptation of RichardMatheson’s “I Am Legend,” star-ring the same well known actor. It

was “I Am Legend”, and the filmadaptations of Stephen King sto-ries, that got me hooked on readingthe books on which films werebased.

I adore film adaptations,because it brings fantastic tales toyounger generations, such as myown. When I was little, I lovedDisney’s “Jungle Book” and“Tarzan”. Little did I know thatthose were two of the most famousadventure tales of all time!

Nowadays, it seems that a filmadaptation is what really brings afiction writer the most money. Tome, I find it highly unfortunate thatour generation doesn’t read nearlyas much as generations past, but Ifind it to be very good that othermediums bring them the tales, toinspire them to read the originals.With recent success of CharlaineHarris’ “Sookie Stackhouse/’TrueBlood’ Chronicles”, StephanieMyer’s “Twilight Saga”, and J.K.Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, itis horribly hard to deny that thefilm industry certainly helps the lit-erary market. An issue I have come across, how-ever, is a movie hardly following abook, or in some people’s opinion,ruining the story! A perfect exam-ple is the legacy of the aforemen-tioned James Bond series. Twelvebooks were published by the authorIan Fleming, yet twenty-onemovies have been made. Themovies themselves have little to dowith the stories of the same name(for example, the ties between“Casino Royale” and “Quantum ofSolace” wouldn’t exist due to acompletely new subplot further

explaining an important occur-rence in the first tale) and eventual-ly took on a life of their own,where many people of our genera-tion are unbeknownst to the exis-tence of the stories.

Another issue relating to theabove, is when you are reading abook for an English class, that hasbeen made into a movie (or three,depending). Our teachers tend tobecome broken records about“actually read the story, don’twatch the movie”. I fully under-stand the temptation to cut cornersin classes, but this is one place Iwould recommend not doing this.An exemplary example of this is“Fast Food Nation”. I saw this filmlong before I took Mrs.Zimmerman’s honors AmericanHistory class, and as soon as Istarted reading it, I found that shewas completely correct (despitemy initial thought: “Oh, she’s justsaying that.”), the movie turnedbasic elements of a nonfiction bookinto a fictional dramedy! It’s trulyamazing, the creative freedomssome screenwriters and directorstake.

Movies are great, but to me, lit-erature is more important. AsJames Russell Lowell once said,“Books are the bees which carrythe quickening pollen from one toanother mind.” Most of us enjoyfilm more than reading, but I trulyhope you may find the one moviethat intrigues you so much, thatyou find the book and read it (forwithout the book, the movie wouldhave never been made!). You mayfind, as I did, that the book can bemuch better than the movie.

SeanDobbins

‘Quite frankly, Scarlet, it puts the lotion in the basket, or it gets the hose again’

dim view

Art by Sami Mills

NAY- Driving in the school park-ing lot is hazardous. When studentswalk into the parking lot, they haveto look around for a place to cross,because cars drive like maniacs.

Student drivers need to be moreconsiderate of other students walk-ing in the parking lot.NAY- For homecoming this yearStudent Senate is playing songs atlunch to raise money for decora-tions. If you like a song then you

can pay to hear it or not.The songs they are playing are

old and not many people like them.It tends to annoy students andmake us not want to donate. Songssuch as: Forever Young and BodyLanguage. Student Senate shouldplay new songs that we like, andcan dance too.

YAY- Many students this year arehappy that we do not have to wear

our ID’s during classes. We stillneed them to get into schoolevents, and get lunch. YAY- The school board has beenvery nice when giving us earlierouts, from the heat. The schoolboard is doing this, because theweather got to 100 degrees onSeptember first and second.

By next year all West will haveair conditioning; meaning no moreearlier outs.

First it was the rule “no fries would beserved on Wednesday. Then it was the icecream, the cookies and the fried chips.One by one the foodsthat used to be avail-able to us are disap-pearing becauseMichelle Obama’sHealthy FoodCampaign. Herintentions are good,being as the point ofthis campaign is to provide students withhealthy alternatives and to lower the

number of overweight children in theU.S. But is she taking it too far?

Firstly I am not against health foodand her campaign; however, I dislike heractions, mainly because I’ve noticed thatat lunch our food choices are almost cutin half day to day.

We have less sides to choose from.Some days we have mashed potatoes, ifpotatoes become unhealthy? They’re agreat energizing carbohydrate. Butmashed potatoes aren’t the worst. Theworst is what they’re chosen to replacethe fries with sweet potato tots. Sweet

potatoes shouldn’t be served in tot form.If it’s healthy have it tastey.

It goes beyond our school and if it fol-lows through could affect all America. Apart of the Healthy Kids and Healthyfood campaign wants to classify over-feeding children as abuse. Michelle’scampaign wants to take obese kids awayfrom their families. To me, that is takingit way too far. I could understand issuingthose families to diet counseling or evensending the kids away to a dietary camp,but taking them from home is not goodfor their well-being.

Sami Mills

YAY or NAY

BeaknEye_1_11_ISSUU 9/22/2011 3:58 PM Page 6

BByy KKeellsseeyy RRaallffss

All girls have heard the phrase “it hurtsto be beautiful” while they’re getting theirhair done for prom or when their mascarabrush stabs them in the eye. Unfortunately,a lot of people are unaware of the healthrisks that come along with being beautiful.

Beauty has many controversial topicsincluded with it, but tanning is at the top ofthe list. Tanning has a lot of benefits, but ithas even more negative effects.

Being tan makes people look good.Muscles are more defined on a tan bodyand a tan body is a thinner looking body.“I looked healthy, I looked like 10 poundsskinnier, and it started to make me look atmy body in a different way,” said KellyOsbourne in an article entitled “SelfEsteem.”

Not only does tanning make you lookgood, but it makes you feel good too. If apatient is depressed, a doctor will some-times “prescribe” them to a session at atanning salon. Vitamin D is beneficial tothe human body and in the middle of win-ter it’s sometimes hard to obtain enough ofit.

On the other hand, tanning is absolute-ly awful for your skin. More than 11,700

people die from skin cancer every year.There are three types of skin cancer: BasalCell Carcinoma, Squemous CellCarcinoma, and Malignant Melanoma. Allof these are caused by too much ultravio-let radiation. Tanning beds work solely onradiation.

“I don’t go tanning anymore becauseObama put a 10 percent tax on it,” saidSnooki from MTV’s Jersey Shore. The

real reason for her cease in tanning wasbecause she had had an intervention withThe Skin Cancer Foundation’s Senior VicePresident, Dr. Deborah S. Sarnoff.

We all think “it won’t happen to me,”but according to the Skin CancerFoundation: indoor tanners are 74 percentmore likely to develop melanoma skincancer than non-tanners. We all want to bebeautiful, but we also need to be aware ofthe lasting effects of what we’re doing toour bodies.

12 Trends Beak ‘n’ Eye Friday, September 9, 2011

It started to makeme look at my bodyin a different way.”“

Photo by Kelsey RalfsHOT! - Vinny Cannavo, senior, getshis “tan on” to maintain his italianstallion body. ;)

Health vs. Beauty

BByy KKeellsseeyy RRaallffss

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the beholder’stastes are forever changing. Over centuries, or evenweeks, what’s “trending” is always altering.

In the 1700’s, beauty was the opposite or what it istoday: plump and pale. If a person were wealthy, therewould be no reason to be outside, resulting in pasty-whiteskin. There was also a very apparent separation betweenthe upper and lower classes. While the upper classes woreextravagant dresses, the less fortunate wore rags.

Moving forward a few years, the 50’s were a time of

rock-and-roll and blues. Women wore more makeup andstarted wearing more revealing dresses.

The 80’s were all about the hair. And the aviator glass-es, of course. Women started wearing even more makeupand being thin was definitely popular.

Today, the thinner and tanner someone is, the better.Name-brands like Hollister and American Eagle are chic,while wearing 1700’s extravagant dresses is just plainweird.

Fashion does more than just make us look “hot”. Itexpresses our individuality and our culture over hundredsof years. Beauty is an immense part of our history.

History of fashion and beauty

BByy EEmmiillyy TThhuummaannnnIt is estimated that there are

500,000 detectable earthquakes inthe world each year.

The most recent earthquakehappened in Virginia on August23rd with a magnitude of 5.8,causing a few minor injuries andlittle damage to buildings. It wasone of the biggest earthquakesVirginia has ever had, withtremors reported in Detroit andNew York City.

The biggest earthquake in theworld was in Chile in 1960 witha magnitude of 9.5, according toearthquake.usgs.gov.

Quake hits U.S.

Hair Centric.com

BLING BLING - In the 1700’s, Queen Elizabeth strutsher stuff with an extravagant dress and tons of jewelry.

Life Magazine

OH LA LA - A flapper girl from the 1950’s wears a col-orful and short dress.

Life MagazineGO BIG - Anna Nicole Smith showsoff big hair from the 80’s.

HollisterBEACH BOD - Hollister models show off today’s cool style.

Name Description

BasalCellCarcinoma

Responsible for 75% of allskin cancers. Grows veryslowly. Appears as small,shiny bump-mainly thoseareas exposed to the sun.Occurs most often on light-skinned people.

SquamousCell Carcinoma

Responsible for about 20% ofall skin cancers. Scaly patch-es of skin appear on face,ears, lips, and mouth. Occursmost on light-skinned poeple.

MalignantMelanoma

Responsible for 4% of all skincancers. Starts in themelanocytes-cells that pro-duce pigment in the skin.Begins as a mole-turns intocancer. Spreads quickly.

Types of Skin Cancer

A bronzed look today may harm you later

RRiittzzii RReerruunnss1621 W. Locust St.Davnport, IA 52804

563 345-6181PARKING LOCATED IN REAR OF BUILDING

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