T iger hi-lineTHE

1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613

Volume 50 Issue 16

Feb. 9, 2010

Jayne DurninStaff Writer

On Saturday, Feb. 6, the CFHS speech team went to the state competition with high hopes, and came home victori-ously.

Every one of the nine events that went to State re-ceived Division I ratings.

Each performance receives Division I, II, III, or IV rat-ings, with Division I being the highest.

The overall rating is a com-bination of all three judges’ scores.

Thirteen speech groups from Cedar Falls High School performed at District Large Group Speech Contest two weeks ago at Union LaPorte City High School and nine of the events advanced to State Speech Contest.

The CFHS speech team has had All-State performers consistently since 2003.

“Last year, one of the musi-cal theater groups was selected to perform at the All State Festival and several people were nominated for indi-

vidual events,” coach Rebecca Kauten said.

“Groups that receive three Division I ratings and are nominated by one or more judges are then eligible to perform at the Large Group All-State Festival, which is Saturday, February 20 at Iowa State University. The top 300 performances from across Iowa are selected by the IHS-

SA All-State Committee and recognized with a ceremony at the Iowa State Center.

All State nominations will be announced Monday, Feb. 8 by the IHSSA all-state com-mittee,” Kauten said.

The events that were nominated for the All State Speech festival will be updated soon on the Iowa High School Speech Association website.

Speech team receives top marks at State

Ellen GustavsonStaff Writer

The CFHS Model United Nations is starting up again for its spring session with a large number of participants. Cedar Falls will represent Israel, the Netherlands and Indonesia. Originally they had planned to represent only Israel and the Netherlands, but because so many students are interested in participating this year, another country had to be added.

About 25 to 30 people will be part of Model U.N. this spring. “I’ve been encouraged

by the number of people will-ing to participate,” Model U.N. advisor Andrea Aykens said. “It energizes the group to have new people, and then they can continue on the ‘tradition’ for next year.”

Spring Model U.N. will have meetings every Thursday until April. They have broken up into groups of student del-egates and chosen which coun-try to represent. Individual delegates have been assigned a U.N. committee that they will represent in a conference at UNI in April.

In preparation for the con-ference, students will research

to find out as much as possible about their country in order to defend that country’s position on a variety of topics. The top-ics are broken into categories including Social Humanitar-ian & Cultural, Political & Security, ECOSOC (Economic and Social), Disarmament, Se-curity Council and three Legal categories.

In addition to research, stu-dents will also write a position paper that states the issues and their views on the topics. The papers should define the issue and past action the U.N. has taken for it, state the country’s position on the issue, and

justify the position. They will be sent in to secretariat mem-bers of the Iowa High School United Nations to be evaluated in February.

The secretariat members are students at UNI, usually with a major in politics or something related to the social studies.

Leadership is an important part of Model U.N. There is one Head Delegate for each country. They look over and edit the position papers, as well as help guide their country’s delegates and keep them working as a team. The Head Delegates this spring are

Sarah Wallingford for Israel, Tori Hurst for Indonesia and Shannon McClintock for the Netherlands. “I’m definitely looking forward to this ses-sion,” Wallingford said. “I had a really good time last semes-ter. The time commitment’s not that bad, and you don’t have to sacrifice anything to be in it.”

Students will also learn debate skills and the parlia-mentary procedure the U.N. goes through. “It’s pretty con-fusing at first, but you catch on quickly,” Wallingford said. “You learn by watching, and it’s really fun after that.”

Model UN gears up for spring conference

State Speech Acts and PerformersONE ACT PLAY: The Actor’s NightmareCarter Allen, Leah Franke, Katelin DeSerano, Sarah Postel, Mason Walsh, Scott Sesterhenn, Lukas Schwekendiek

ENSEMBLE ACTING:The PhiladelphiaGreyson Henderson, Gage Stoneman, Darby Sheehan

ENSEMBLE ACTING – Captive AudienceBlake Cervetti, Logan Henderson, Dylan Martin, Jillian Ross

ENSEMBLE ACTING – MachinalOlivia Franke, Kassy Salmon, Maggie Devine

READERS’ THEATRE – The War at Home/WastelandCasey Andrews, Austyn Christiansen, Anne Feinup, Olivia Franke, Sam Gaffney, Courtney Hicks, Emma Husome, Raud Kaschef, Brii Keiga, Noelle Konieczny, Grace Mc-Neal, Lukas Schwekendiek, Zachary Souhrada-Rogers

GROUP IMPROVISATION (Two Groups)Mija Bean, Raud Kashef, Zachary Souhrada-Rogers, Justin Marshall, Mason Wise, Michaela Oehler, Elena Bruess, Scott Sesterhenn

CHORAL READINGMaya Amjadi, Leah Franke, Sam Heinen, Logan Hender-son, Emily Highnam, Nathan Hua, Justin Marshall, Saman-tha Takes

MUSICAL THEATRE – Spelling BeeCarter Allen, Katelin DeSerano, Karen Davison, Riley Mar-tin, Gage Stoneman, Samantha Takes

Seniors Carter Allen (top left), Katelin DeSerano (right), Karen Davison (center of bottom left) and ju-nior Samantha Takes (right of bottom left) were among the 9 Division I ratings at the recent state competition.

Darby Sheehan Photos

Maybe it's the ludicrous outfits and platinum blond hair. Maybe it's because she's such a diva. Or maybe it's just the music.

Whatever the reason is, Lady Gaga has become hugely popu-lar.

Even the CFHS pep band has gotten into all the hype about Lady Gaga by playing arrangements of songs like "Bad Romance" at basketball games.

She was nominated for five Grammys this year includ-ing Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Dance Recording for her single "Poker Face," winning Best Dance Record-ing. Her album The Fame was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Electronic/Dance Album, the latter of which she won as well.

Junior Kelsey Einertsen said, "Every time I hear a Lady Gaga song, I get very excited and want to dance."

But it's not just the awards and catchy music

Contact the Tiger Hi-LineThe Tiger Hi-Line is a weekly publication of the journalism classes

of Cedar Falls High School, 1015 Division St., Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613. Our website is www.hiline.co.nr. The Hi-Line is distributed to CFHS students on Tuesdays to read in their DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) classes.

Columns and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Hi-Line or Cedar Falls Schools. The Hi-Line editorial staff view is presented weekly in the editorial labeled as Our View.

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 Thursday for publica-tion the following Tuesday. Letters may not exceed 300 words and may be edited to meet space limitations. Include address and phone number for verification. Editorial Staff

Editors-in-Chief: Maggie Devine and Vincent StiglianiNews Editors: Vincent Stigliani and Ben Sadkowski

Opinion Editor: Monica ClarkSports Editor: Alex Entz

Feature Editor: Aubrey CarusoOn-Line Editors: Vincent Stigliani and Maggie Devine

Entertainment Editor: Maggie Devine Senior Writer: Alex Entz

Photo Editor: Ben Sadkowski

THE

tiger hi-lineopinion2feb. 9, 2009

our view

Ellen GustavsonStaff Writer

Since the 17-year-old “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy took effect during Bill Clinton’s presidency, gays and lesbians have essentially had to lie about their identity. The United States’ top officials and Barack Obama want to lift the ban, and we couldn’t agree more.

Although many want this policy lifted as soon as possible, it looks like it will be a while before we see it happen. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen have asked for a full year to study how this will impact the military if Congress lifted the hindering and controversial policy. Repealing this ban is no small feat either; it will take a huge push in Congress, something many will not back up.

We as a country have seen many forward ad-vances for gay rights. Five states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing gay couples to get married — a huge advancement since the mili-tary policy started. People have to come to be much more willing to accept gays serving in the military since 1994. Fifty-nine percent of Americans favor it compared with 52 percent 17 years ago.

We would like everyone to be allowed to serve freely in the military no matter what their sexual orientation is. The Uniteds States has striven to lead others in acceptance, and to lift this policy would be just as important as when blacks and whites could serve side by side in the military.

Lift ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy

that make Lady Gaga who she is. Her extreme performances are turning

heads every-where, not to mention her fashion sense which would be better described as art.

"I've start-ed to dig her crazy fashion and how she made her

music in a way that she wanted

to," sophomore Mija Bean said. "Her music is just way too addicting to not want to listen to ... she's just everywhere!"

But like any other music artist, Lady Gaga is not well received by all. "For one, she's just another pop

star, and her music is ter-rible and unoriginal. She is just like Britney Spears, but the only difference is that she is appealing to the 'non-main-stream' people because she is 'weird,'" sophomore Oliver Weilein said. "Second, personally I believe that her 'weirdness' is just a clever marketing strategy to sell records ... like all so-called 'musi-cians' signed to major cor-porate labels are ... puppets to make money ... I can't stand the sorry excuse for a musician like Lady Gaga."

Even Bean admitted, "At first, I thought Lady Gaga was so lame and overrated."

But whether you love her or hate her, it seems the fame, sense fashion, and music of Lady Gaga is hard to ignore.

Lady Gaga was nominated for five Grammys this year includ-ing Best Dance Recording for her single “Poker Face.”

Lady Gaga: Turning heads with more than her music

THE

tiger hi-line SPORTS 3Feb. 9, 2010

Men’s Swimming Away 2/13 @ State Swim Meet @ Marshalltown, 12:00 p.m.WrestlingAway 2/13 @ District Meet @ Marshalltown BowlingAway 2/12 vs. Dubuque Senior, 3:45 p.m.Home 2/16 vs. Linn-Mar, 3:45 p.m.Women’s BasketballHome 2/9 vs. Iowa City West, 7:30 p.m.Away 2/12 vs. Waterloo East, 7:30 p.m.Men’s BasketballAway 2/9 vs. Iowa City West, 6 p.m.Home 2/12 vs. Waterloo East, 6 p.m.

1. What are the team’s strengths this year? Our strengths are shooting and defense.2. What is your role on the team?As a senior, I’m a leader on the floor, and as a player, I’m a shooter.3. What have you done to prepare to be successful?Many shooting drills in the summer have prepared me for this year.4. What is your favorite activity outside of basketball?Hanging out with friends and Big House on Wednesdays.

Tigersin Action

Athleteof

the WeekAndrew Wirth

Men’s BasketballSenior

When the Tigers face their competitors at the Districts competition this Saturday, they’ll be facing Waverly-Shell Rock, one of the top ranked teams in the state.

Assistant coach Ethan Weichmann is looking toward his upperclassmen for leadership.”Being we have several underclassmen in our lineup, we will be looking for them to use this opportunity to set the stage for Tiger wrestling not only this year, but next as well,” Weichmann said.

North Des Moines, Mar-shalltown, Newton, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Waterloo East, Waterloo West, and Waverly-Shell Rock will all be participating in the meet, but the competition level of the other schools besides Waverly Shell-Rock is unknown.

Weichmann said the

coaches emphasize to their kids to wrestle in every position and battle for the whole match. “If we do both those things, the scores and the placing will take care of themselves. The real-ity is we’ve got one of the toughest if not the toughest Districts in the state. Every team is bringing in quality wrestling.”

Last week, the boys had tough practices prepar-ing for the JV MVC, and this weekend’s Districts. Weichmann explained the drill, “We’ll hit it hard at first, then slowly taper off so we have fresh legs on Saturday.” With State the following weekend, the coaches are confident as to how well it will go. With Waverly-Shell Rock being the stand-out and number one team in the state, they are expected to be the big-gest competitors with the Tiger’s hopes to win.

Weichmann expressed his belief that anything can

Districts loom for TigersAli MillerStaff Writer

happen on the drive to State. “The great thing about wrestling is everyone has a

shot. One move in the right position can catapult a kid to State.”

Sam Dagit (top) wrestles his Linn-Mar opponent in last Thursday’s meet. Michael Kelly (below) pinned his opponent in 49 seconds for the Tigers (4-4 conference, 8-13 overall).

Danielle Robertson Photos

THEtiger hi-line feature 4

feb. 9, 2010

Kaylee MicuStaff Writer

Diabetes isn't something most of us have to worry about every day, but some day, that may all change.

In a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control, the findings were that one in every three babies born after the year 2000 will go on to develop type II diabetes. Clearly, the trend for all Americans over the last few decades has also been an unhealthy rise in body masses and increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

Both of these are high risks for developing type II diabetes, but CFHS PE teachers are developing a plan for making sure students avoid becoming unfortunate statistics.

There are two types of diabetes. Type I diabetes is a life-long condition in which the pancreas stops making insulin. The body is not able to use sugar for energy. Un-fortunately, type I diabetes cannot be cured.

Type II diabetes is when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to meet the body's needs or the insulin is not metabolized effectively. If caught early, this type of diabetes can be cured with diet and exercise.

The signs that someone has diabetes are constant thirst, eating a lot while still

losing weight and constant bathroom breaks.

In 1992, it was fairly rare for pediatric centers to even have a patient with type II diabetes, but by 1994, the amount of patients rose about 16 percent, and by 1999, it rose 45 percent.

"I've noticed about a 25 percent increase of patients since 2002," Endocrinolo-gist Chitra Mallavarapu, who practices here in the Cedar Valley, said. She has noted this 25 percent in-crease particularly in those who are obese and range from ages 20-30. According to Mallavarapu, most of the patients she saw in 2002 and earlier ranged from ages 50-60. Most of those people were diagnosed with type II diabetes.

The major complications with having diabetes are bad eyesight, failing kidneys, heart attacks and strokes. Theses symptoms can be greatly lessoned with a healthy diet and exercise.

"Type II diabetes is growing along with obesity. We need to do something about it before it gets out of hand," Mallavarapu said.

And the changes in the CFHS PE programs will directly affect this need. Cedar Falls High School is receiving a 25-piece cardio room, an ergometer, six new weight platforms, two functional trainers, various

weights, kettle balls, a class set of dumbbells, mats, jump ropes, various replace-ment equipment for units, an iPod with speakers, E600 Heart Rate Monitors, and all of the software Pocket PC's and laptops for data collec-tion and software purposes in the first year of a $1 mil-lion grant that was awarded last summer.

Near the second and third year, Dance Dance Revolution, replacement equipment, polar TriFit machines, DineHealthy and TredWall equipment will also be provided.

With all this new equip-ment, students struggling with weight or diabetes will have a better chance to become healthy.

"The equipment we are receiving will allow us to teach students how their bodies work and how to exercise so that when they graduate from CFHS they will be self-motivated and knowledgeable about how to achieve their fitness goals and desired wellness level," PE teacher Jamie Smith said.

According to Smith, though new machines and

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technology don't necessar-ily mean students will get healthy faster, it is more likely that they will be more motivated to do their best thanks to help from peers as well as health instructors.

"Students will be in their target heart rate zone for at least 30 minutes every day. In addition, they will be learning training principles and basic nutrition and ap-plying all of these concepts daily," Smith said.

This plan should greatly assist students who have type II diabetes. The best thing to do for students who have it is to learn as much as possible about it. When it comes to food, one of the best things to do is to count carbs and calories. The nutrition unit offered in CFHS health classes may help those who want/need to eat better.

Either way one looks at it, Americans are grow-ing bigger and need to do something about it before it gets out of hand. The PE teachers are already collect-ing extensive data to see if their new curriculum and grant is making an impact on not only type II diabetes, but also the overall health of students as they learn to eat right, get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day and make measurable plans to reduce the risk of becoming obese and getting type II diabetes.

PE curriculum fights type II diabetes

Photo by Brian Hughes

Seniors Greyson Henderson and Brandon Wood lift weights in P.E. New machines are on the way.