T iger hi-lineTHE

1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613

Volume 50 Issue 11

DEC. 8, 2009

Sara GabrieleStaff Writer

For a different twist to his citizenship unit this year, social studies teacher Bob Schmidt is having his sophomore government class run a toy drive. The class will be running the drive as a class project in time for the holidays.

“It’s one thing to talk about citizenship and another to do it,” Schmidt said.

Every student in the class has an active role in planning and running the drive. Jobs include helping with publicity, contacting

churches and other organi-zations, collecting toys at sporting events, and deliver-ing and counting the toys.

“It’s more fun and ex-citing than just a standard assignment. You get better feedback; it’s not just a written grade, it’s actual accomplishment,” sopho-more Briana Gulbranson said. “You get a good feeling about what you’re doing.”

The class will be col-lecting toys at basketball games, local churches and at the high school in room 256. Both new and used toys will be accepted. Student Senate is also endorsing the drive

and will contribute $500 for the class to buy toys at Wal-mart. All the toys collected will be donated to the Toys for Tots foundation and dis-tributed to underprivileged children.

“There’s no motivation other than doing the right thing — no pizza party or any other reward. [I’m] trying to teach the fact that citizenship usually happens when no one’s looking,” Schmidt said. “There’s no downside to it. It’s all good. Whatever we collect we’re going to be happy with.”

The class will be accept-ing toys until Dec. 14.

Civics class applies unit, collects toys

Alex EntzSenior Writer

Three Cedar Falls High School dance teams went down to the State competi-tion last Friday, finishing no lower than third in any of their four events. The women’s team finished second in its pom competi-tion and third in the hip-hop competition; the all-male team finished third as well, as did the co-ed team.

Head coach Gayle Bru-ene was impressed with this year’s team.

“A big part of that was the senior leadership — both guys and girls — that stepped up to move this team forward,” Bruene said. “Our work ethic (impressed me the most).”

Senior captain Megan Pattee agreed.

“We busted our butts,”

Pattee said. “It’s really an endurance-building process; not only is it physically hard to do while smiling, but we have to run our routines a number of times to fix little things.”

The atmosphere at the state competition is an intense phenomenon, as Pat-tee pointed out.

“It’s a really charged atmosphere, and you know that everyone there wants to win; to a lot of them, dance is their life,” Pattee said. “It’s really neat to look around and see people in witch’s hats and in colored shoes; it’s not like every-one does the same dance, because there are so many things teams can do that most people wouldn’t even think about.”

Brianna Glenn, an-other senior captain for the women’s competition team,

found the atmosphere dif-ficult to describe, especially since a day and a half of that atmosphere left her without a voice.

“I can’t even tell you how amazing it all is to take in,” Glenn rasped. “It’s a lot like the movie Bring It On, every girl is in it to win it.”

The team finished sec-ond in the hip-hop division behind Linn-Mar, who took first place again. Neverthe-less, the team is very excited about their performance and particularly about the creativity shown in their hip-hop routine.

“Right after our hip-hop routine, college representa-tives came over and gave our coaches scholarship info,” Glenn said. “It was really cool to be part of such an impressive routine.”

Pattee emphasized the reaction that the hip-hop

performance elicited from the crowd.

“We had a better audi-ence response than the first place team, and I think that part of that came from how much we incorporated our costumes into our dance. We did some cool stuff with our bandanas. We had stuff on our arms, and we used what we were wearing,” she said. The team even used colorful Nike shoes to fill out their repertoire as “gangster dancers.”

Taken as a whole, the women’s competition team was exuberant with its highly-rated finish.

“We held our own this year,” Glenn said. “We hadn’t placed in pom since the 1980s, but now we’ve done it two years in a row.”

Pattee was especially up-beat about the team facing some difficult competition.

“We were up against some really hard competi-tion, and to do this well I’m floored,” Pattee said. “It worked out really, really well in the end.”

The all-male team, in its first year of performance, was still decidedly opti-mistic about its third-place finish.

“For the first year that CF had an all-male team, we did really well,” senior Colin Ashwood said. “We needed to be manly men, and we were.”

Though the co-ed team was slightly more disap-pointed with its finish, Glenn brushed it aside. “The judges were looking more for clean routines than for hard ones,” she said.

Ashwood agreed, add-ing, “I think that we did better than our final result shows, but we’ll take it.”

Sophomore Kaitlin Izer recently collected and pack-aged toy donations as part of her government class.

Dance teams post strong showings at State

Sara Gabriele Photo

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

dar 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 publication 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 StaffEditors-in-Chief: Maggie Devine and Vincent Stigliani

News Editors: Vincent Stigliani and Ben SadkowskiOpinion Editor: Monica Clark

Sports Editor: Ben OlsonFeature Editor: Aubrey Caruso

On-Line Editors: Vincent Stigliani and Maggie DevineEntertainment Editor: Maggie Devine

Senior Writer: Alex EntzPhoto Editor: Ben Sadkowski

Dec. 8, 2009

our view

Paper or plastic? Eleva-tor or stairs? Coffee or tea?

It seems tea is less common here than, say, England, but it's still a popular drink and has more benefits than you might think. The history of tea brewing dates back to as far as 500,000 years ago in India and China. In fact, the popular phrase "chai" literally means "tea" in India.

Lately green tea has been advertised for its antioxidants (What are those anyway?), but some studies show that tea can do everything from preventing cancer to increasing short term memory. It might even be a better way to start your day than the traditional cup of morning Joe.

While coffee has more caffeine than tea, that might not be a good thing. Too much caffeine is hard on your heart and other organs, and withdrawal may cause headaches and crankiness. Tea, on the other hand, has enough caffeine to raise your me-tabolism while not giving you the jitters.

And then there's the aforementioned anti-oxidants, also known as

polyphenals. They basically protect the body from free radicals, which cause cell damage and potentially cancer. The antioxidants can also help reduce acne. One cup of tea can contain 50 to 150 mg of antioxidants, which one estimate showed to be 10 times the amount in fruits and vegetables. There are many types of tea, in-cluding green, black, white and red. The difference be-tween all the varieties is just how mature the leaves were when they were picked, and some kinds have more antioxidants than others.

Tea also is good for your teeth, something coffee stains definitely can't say. Tea contains fluoride and tannins that reduce plaque. (Unfortunately, adding sugar cancels this out, so opt for adding lemon, ginger or cinnamon for extra flavor.) The polyphenols in tea can also help bad breath. In addition, tea has been proven to prevent the risk of arthritis, diabetes, high

cholesterol, food poisoning, and Parkinson's disease.

Worried about getting sick this winter? Start drink-ing some tea. Studies show it revs up the immune sys-tem. This can help fight off the flu and infections, and it can clear up nasal conges-tion. In addition, drinking a hot liquid like tea eases a sore throat.

Then there are the benefits tea can have on your waistline. It raises your metabolism and, when unsweetened, is calorie-free. In addition, drinking a hot liquid like tea before a meal reduces your appetite.

Tea is not only good for the body, but the mind too. Drinking tea reduces stress levels and insomnia, and it increases your short term memory due the amino acid L-theanine, which creates a calmer yet more alert state of mind.

So next time you head to Starbucks or Cup o' Joe, try something new. Sit down and have a nice cup of tea.

Drinking tea provides numerous benefits

Ellen GustavsonStaff Writer

Photo by Ellen Gustavson

Many times our “good will” projects for others come with some benefits for ourselves. If we sell so many T-shirts, we get to bring food on Friday. If we collect so many clothing items, we have a pizza party.

Social studies teacher Bob Schmidt and his students have taken upon themselves to change this precedent. For a citizen unit in one of his classes, the students are running a toy drive for the less fortunate children in our community. This project is purely for the sake of helping others and not for a possible reward at the end.

So many times during our lives, we think about what we get out of it, even if we are doing it for someone else. Many of us do service projects because we know it looks nice on a resume, or we might help out with chores around the house to be in good graces with our parents. We are a very self-centered society; we always think about ourselves, always worrying about how things will turn out for us. Around the holiday season, our families are busy getting ready for the big day, baking cookies, getting the tree ready, doing last minute Christmas shopping, and with all that going on, it is extreme-ly hard to think about the less fortunate.

We challenge you this season to do something for others, if that be helping an elderly person decorate for Christmas, or volunteering at the food bank. To paraphrase Schmidt, every bit can help, and it will certainly make someone’s holiday season a little brighter.

Student toy drives opensgreat chance for giving

“This project is purely for the

sake of helping others, and not

for a possible re-ward at the end.”

Tea has many benefits including preventing cancer, increasing short term memory loss and increasing your immune system.

THE

tiger hi-lineopinion2

THE

tiger hi-line SPORTS 3Dec. 8, 2009

Womens BasketballAway 12/8 vs. CR Prairie, 6 pmHome 12/11 vs. Wahlert, 6 pmAway 12/12 vs. Decorah, 5 pmHome 12/14 vs. W’loo West, 7 pmMens BasketballAway 12/11 vs. Wahlert, 6 pmAway 12/14 vs. W’loo West, 7 pmMens SwimmingAway 12/8 vs. W’loo East, 6 pmWrestlingAway 12/10 vs. CR Prairie, 6:15 pmAway 12/12 @ Cedar Rapids Duals, 9 amBowlingAway 12/11 vs, Dub. Wahlert, 3:45 pm

1. What do you think are the team’s strengths this season?Pushing the ball up the court and getting transition lay ups. Also our communication on the court.2. What things do you guys need to work on as a team?Taking care of the ball and keeping our composure in pressure situations.3. How is the team different this year from last year?We are a younger team and are quicker than last year.4. What will it take to do well in the conference this season?Every team in our conference is tough, so we have to be mentally ready to play every game and compete with every team.5. What are your goals for the team?State.

Tigersin

Action

Athleteof

the Week

Laura JohnsonWomen’s Basketball

Senior

Ali MillerStaff Writer

There seems to be no off-season for men’s swimming coach Dick Marcussen. The Monday after a weekend of State swimming, he jumped right back in to coaching the boys, and he noted that there is a difference between coach-ing the boys and coaching the girls.

“Well I think first of all, women pick up the technical stuff a lot faster, because the guys are so stubborn. The girls fire up a lot more before meets. They get the team going.”

Marcussen also noted, “With the men, their employ-ment comes a little slower. The guys grow and have other problems to work with. I think both the men’s and women’s teams are very hard working.” Marcussen said he thinks the boys have a very good chance to win state champs. “They’ve gotta work together and not let anyone slack off. If they don’t work as a team, we can’t do this.”

Ames, Dubuque Senior and Iowa City are Marcus-sen’s picks to be the biggest rivals of the season. The Tiger

team consists of four or five more athletes than last year’s numbers, and the letterwin-ners are sophomore Spencer Schoentag, juniors Jon Baker, Taylor Burks, Josh Sund, Aus-tin Abbas and senior Garrett Moses.

Neither Baker, Burks, nor Moses attend Cedar Falls High School. Baker and Burks go to Waverly-Schell Rock and Moses goes to Dike-New Hartford. Both of those towns don’t have swim teams, so they’re allowed to swim for Cedar Falls.

Assistant Coach Jerry Backstrom said, “I’d say the strength is just the versitility of all the guys we’ve got. Like Abbas and Moses could both go in four different events each, along with some of the freshmen.”

He said that this will help out immensely due to the team losing a lot of key, senior athletes from last year’s gradu-ation.

There are many newcom-ers participating this winter. Coach Backstrom said, “We’ve got 10 freshmen that are new to the program. Just to be in a high school swim team environment is new.” He also said they’ll work hard and

train the boys. Many of them may surprise the coaches at the first meets.

Tuesday night, Dec.1, the boys swam against Waterloo West and Decorah. Overall, Marcussen was pleased with the outcome.

“We had a lot of great times, and kids dropping five or 10 seconds compared to what their time-trials were. They did a pretty good job, and they swam as a team. They swam with a good attitude and had a lot of confidence out there, and that’s what I look for early in the season,”

Marcussen said with all the incoming freshmen, the coaches didn’t really know what to expect, but once they got in the water, the boys got rolling. Senior Garrett Moses has a goal of breaking the 100 Butterfly pool record and came extremely close.

“The kids showed a lot of speed and showed that they were listening from the very beginning. The guys look like completely different swimmers when they get in that water.”

Saturday, Dec. 5, was the Ames Invitational. Cedar Falls had its biggest competition with Mason City, Ames, and Cedar Rapids Washington. Out

of eight teams, Cedar Falls placed second, Iowa City in third, and Ames taking the win.

Tonight, the boys go head to head with Waterloo East, which Marcussen expects will be a sweep. The team only has about 18 swimmers, which “is an upgrade compared to the two or three the girls had,” Marcussen joked.

He said he plans to mix the boys up a little for the meet, test their limits, see what their boundaries are and what they could potentially swim that they aren’t used to.

Saturday, Dec. 12, is the Marcussen Invitational, which is not only one of the biggest home meets of the season but one of the biggest meets in general. The girls had a lot of competition at this meet in the Fall, but this isn’t going to be as competitive for the guys, and coach is expecting this to be an easy win, with only five teams competing.

After that is Dubuque Senior, followed by the Iowa City Invite. “(Dubuque Senior) was state champions last year, so it will be a challenge. Hope-fully, nobody will be sick, and we’ll have everyone there swimming,” Marcussen said.

Donald HalbmaierStaff Writer

After coming off of a los-ing season, the men’s bowling team has made a decent start to this year. Even though they lost their first meet away against Dubuque Hempstead, men’s and women’s bowl-ing coach Diana Sidler isn’t worried.

“There are a lot of great teams in our conference.

Dubuque being one of them,” Sidler said.

The loss to Hempstead didn’t last too long. The Tiger’s won their latest meet against Iowa City West on Dec. 4. Two outstanding ath-letes at this meet were junior Keith Gruis whose combined score after both games was 384 and also junior Nelson who scored a 351 against the Little Hawks.

“Our current record is 1-1,

and even though we lost quite a few members from last year, I think we have a good chance of finishing well,” junior bowler Nick Miller said.

Sidler also had promising things to say about her team.

“This is a rebuilding year for out team. We are working with only three seniors this season, but the two freshman we have on our team are show-ing great promise. I think we will finish in the middle of our division this season,” Sidler

said.All this positivity is

also backed by statements regarding the team as well as individuals.

“The one thing I believe the team needs to work on, and what we have been working on, is lane adjustment in our bowling,” Sidler said.

The team is hoping to add to its wins when they face the Dubuque Wahlert Golden Eagles on Friday, Dec 11.

Men’s swimming looks towards season

Bowlers strong against IC West, aim to rebuild, fine-tune teams

Pool time

THE

tiger hi-linefeature4Dec. 8, 2009

SupportStudent Press

The list of businesses and individuals included here are backers of the real world educational opportunities made possible by all the publication and broadcasting programs at Cedar Falls High School. Check out their links at our website: http://www.hiline.co.nr

Gold Star Sponsors ($250)•Cedar Falls Community Credit Union•Element Portraits and Design•National Dance Academy Cedar Falls•Sandee’s•The Shirt Shack•Together for Youth at Allen Women’s Clinic

To find out how you can be a Journalism Backer, call 553-2590 or email hiline.devine@gmail.com or hiline.stigliani@gmail.com.

Silver Star Sponsors ($180)•Gary and Margaret ClarkBronze Star Sponsors ($100)•Raymond and Judith Burfeind•Jiva Salon Spa•Larry and Judy Timmins

The holidays are approaching fast, and gifts can get pretty expensive. As high school students, we generally don't have much extra money to spend on presents for our loved ones. Here are some homemade gift ideas to charm your friends and family, and to save money for you this holiday season.

Homemade OrnamentsOrnaments make great presents for the holidays,

but they can mean much more if you make them your-self and personalize them. For this gift, you will need:

1 cup salt2 cups all purpose flour1 cup waterassorted acrylic paintssparkles/sequins (optional)cookie cutters: snowflakes, Christmas trees, snow

menPreheat your oven to 250 degrees F. Mix together

the salt, flour and water until a dough is formed. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If the dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour and continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Don’t add too much flour to avoid drying out the dough. Roll the dough flat. Use cookie cutters or a butter knife to cut out shapes. Poke a hole at the top so you can hang them when they are finished.

Bake for approximately 2-2.5 hours, flipping the cookies after about an hour so they do not curl. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely. Add your special touch by decorating.

Homemade Holidays affordable gift ideas for high school students

Chocolate Cookie Mix in a JarChocolate Chip Cookie Mix in a JarThis gift is simple to make and not only looks

great, but it also holds a delicious recipe for chocolate chip cookies. For this gift, you will need:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon baking soda3/4 teaspoon salt3/4 cup dark brown sugar1/2 cup white sugar1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips1 wide-mouth 1-quart Mason jar1 gift tag to write the baking instructionsAnything you want to decorate the jarMix together the baking soda, salt, and flour.

Layer the ingredients attractively. Start with the flour mixture on the bottom, then brown sugar, white sugar, and finally, top it off with the chocolate chips. Or you can layer it in any order you would like.

On the tag write the following baking instructions:1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.2. Empty cookie mix into large bowl. Blend thor-

oughly. Mix in 3/4 cup softened butter or margarine, one egg, slightly beaten and one teaspoon vanilla. Shape into walnut size balls, and place two inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.

3. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes. Cool five minutes on baking sheet, then move to wire racks.

Also you can include a personal message or greet-ing.

Burnt CDEveryone enjoys receiving a burnt CD. Whether

it’s holiday music or just a mix of your favorite songs, this is a inexpensive and simple gift for someone.

One way to do this is to copy a CD that you already have and copy it to a computer with a CD burner and copy the songs onto a blank CD. If you have a big collection of songs in your computer’s music player, you can make a mix from those songs if you know what music the gift receiver likes. For iTunes users, a good way to find suitable songs is to use the Genius application. Find at least one song that you know they’ll love and Genius will automati-cally find other songs that are similar to that one. Once your CD is finished, it’s a good idea to deco-rate it with permanent markers and personalize it.

All photos and writing by Jayne Durnin